Dragon Force: The Complete Series

by Lucia Ashta

  They would defend us? Even talking in my mind, I could make out Rane’s incredulity. It was similar to my own when Luma told me how different her people were from ours.

  Luma sounded sure they would, though she said it would ultimately be up to them. She told me something else too. She said that Yoon was thinking he should recruit some of the forcers to ensure that nothing would interfere with him getting the job done.

  Crap. We don’t know the rest of the charmers and tamers well enough to guess whom he might enlist.

  Exactly, which means we don’t know whom we can trust, and they might attack at any moment.

  Damn. And Dean and Shula, and the rest of the Alpha Team, the only ones we know for sure we can trust, are gone.

  Get out of bed right now, Nir. We can’t stay here. We have to move.

  Agreed, but how exactly are we going to do that? There’s only one way in and out of this place. There are three of us, and you know Rosie won’t leave my side willingly. She has to come with us. If Yoon and who knows who else are preparing to attack us, they’ll definitely be watching the hut.

  For sure they will. But Nir, have you forgotten who you are?

  How could I? Because we’re twins, and they’ve finally caught on to that obvious fact, we’ll be lucky if we survive beyond dusk. Luck hadn’t been on my side yet. Today, I needed it to be. For Rane’s sake. For Traya. Even for Rosie. The shadow people clearly wouldn’t hurt the dragonling, but I didn’t trust Yoon at all. There was just something about him I didn’t like, and that was enough for me to be on guard.

  Nir, come back to me. I need you to focus. We can’t afford to give in to fear right now. We can do this. You can do this. I wasn’t referring to us being twins. I was referring to you being invisible.

  But I’m not invisible right now.

  No, but you can be.

  Aye, I can be. But what about you?

  I’ve seen enough to believe you’re capable of more faithum than we’d ever hoped for.

  I chortled darkly, then stopped abruptly, realizing I’d done so aloud. Do you know that Luma says her people have been training her to use her faithum her entire life? Can you even begin to imagine how different our lives would be if we’d had the same?

  I’ll imagine later. Once we get out of here and out of Yoon’s range. Whether trained or not, you have faithum. We’re twins, so it’s likely I have faithum too. Rosie is a dragon, by the oasis, she must have faithum also. The three of us have faithum. Sure, we’re untrained, but so what? We’ve got this, Nir. You’ve got this.

  Me? What about you?

  I’ll do what I can, but you’re the only one who’s been able to be invisible so far. I also saw you extend your invisibility to Rosie, remember?

  I nodded. That had been pretty amazing. My entire life, my invisibility had only included the clothing immediately against my skin. Nothing else. I’d always assumed it was just another odd part of my inexplicable nature. Now I realized it was almost certainly my faithum doing it all along. How it happened when I was an infant I wasn’t sure, but I must have been the one allowing my clothes to become as invisible as I was—or something like that. There was a lot to be figured out in the something, but that would have to wait.

  I’d managed to extend my invisibility to Rosie, so I should be able to do it with Rane too, especially since he and I were so connected. I might not be able to stretch my invisibility over just anything, but if I could do it with Rosie, I could do it with my twin.

  I stood. You’re right, I can do this. I can make all three of us invisible. And dammit, I sure hoped I was right, and that I could hold the effect better than I did with Rosie when I ended up revealing her existence to the Dragon Force. Indirectly, that one thing had caused all the events that landed Rane and me here, at risk of death. The truth was that it was likely that Pumpoo would have done what he did anyway, and that I’d been no more than the catalyst for long-laid plans.

  Good, that’s what we need right now, Rane said. Confidence. We aren’t going to manage what we need to unless we believe in ourselves.

  I smiled despite my nerves. You’re starting to sound like Dean.

  Is that a bad thing?

  No, not at all. Ready?

  To become invisible? He grinned. Heck yeah. I’ve been waiting all my life to do the cool things you can. You might have wanted to join my world, but I wanted to be like you.

  You did? I blinked. It’d never occurred to me.

  Of course I did! You got to run around like a wild child while I had all the responsibilities of a boy in the Ooba tribe.

  As if you weren’t wild yourself....

  I was only as wild as I could get away with, he said, while we positioned ourselves near the hut’s entrance.

  I was a freak.

  You were my twin, free to roam the forests without restraint. I wanted that.

  And I wanted to have purpose, to be a part of what the Ooba tribe was.

  Now that you know more about the Ooba, and what our tribe is really like, I’m sure that’s gone.

  Totally gone, I said, with as much regret as he. Pumpoo nearly ruined our people.

  Well, that might end today, if the Alpha Team and the shadow leader manage to capture him. I believe they will, and then they can begin setting things right for our people.

  Aye. Ready to be invisible?

  Totally, but we can’t include me yet.

  What? Why not?

  How else are we going to explain the flap opening? If it opens on its own, and someone is watching, they’ll wise up to what’s happening. Any advantage we might have gained will be gone. I’ll open the flap, allow you and Rosie out, and then we’ll meet somewhere.

  Except that then you’ll be exposed!

  Do you see any other way around it? We have to get out—and now. We’re easy, contained prey in this hut. The only way out is through this doorway. You’re the only one who can become invisible and extend that to include any of us. This is the only way.

  I stared at him, understanding he was right, but looking desperately for another way regardless.

  I won’t risk myself unnecessarily, I promise. Just long enough to draw any potential watchers away from you, and then I’ll meet you.

  Can you get Traya?

  Of course I’ll get Traya. They could use her to draw us out, if it comes to that.

  Somehow, I had the feeling that it would. We needed Traya safe. All right, get Traya, and find me, as quickly as you can.

  I will, I promise. I’ll go straight to her, wake her, and then lead her off to get water or some such excuse. Where will I find you?

  I have no idea. I was asleep for our approach here, remember? You tell me.

  He thought, but just for a few seconds. Hang a right once we get out. As soon as you clear the huts, take a sharp left and keep going until you run into a stream. Hide by the stream until I arrive with Traya. I’ll make sure we lose any tail we have. You make us all invisible, and then we get out of there together, and disappear.

  What about Luma? How will she find us?

  Better that we be hidden from sight until Dean returns than worry about Luma finding us. We can’t complicate things by involving Luma right now.

  He was right. Luma could help us without knowing where we were.

  All right. I don’t like the plan one little bit, but let’s do it.

  I don’t like it either, Nir, but it’s what we have to do.

  Will there ever be a time we don’t have to risk our lives doing things we don’t want to?

  I sure hope so. But first, we have to survive today.

  We’d been focused just on surviving today for far too long.

  Do your invisibility thing for you and Rosie—now.

  I wanted reason to delay, wanted to extend the moment as long as possible. There were too many things that could go wrong with our plan. But Rane was right about this too. We’d already wasted too much time.

  I kissed Rane on the cheek, and he kissed me back
. I gulped in the sight of my twin as it were the last time I’d ever see him.

  Then, with Rane’s encouraging look, which hid his worry for my sake, I closed my eyes.

  I pushed away the hut with its sparse furnishings. I pushed away the shadow people. I urged any worry about Yoon and Pumpoo and what they might manage to do to us—until all was left was me, my energy tingling and swirling.

  I was defined by my beliefs, just as Dean said. If I chose to be invisible, I could adjust my energy to reflect that.

  And just like that, I became invisible. I didn’t have to open my eyes to confirm it. The feeling of being invisible was the most natural to me. I felt like I was home in my invisible skin again. Even though I’d wanted to escape it most of my life, now it comforted me. Hidden from sight, I could be and do whatever I chose.

  It sure was different being invisible when I came at it from a place of empowerment instead of its opposite. I wasn’t a victim, I was filled with faithum—and I’d step into more of that ability soon.

  But for now... I reached for Rosie with invisible tentacles, and pulled her into my energy field. I sensed her plump body merge with my energy. She joined me in invisibility, something I sensed with so much certainty I didn’t need to confirm it with sight.

  I was coming into myself. I was beginning to see all that I could become because of how different I felt. I couldn’t wait to learn more, experience more, reach for more. With the shadow people’s help, who knew what I might become capable of?

  The anticipation tingled within me as vividly as the life I was determined to hold onto. Now that I had my true sacred purpose in sight, I wasn’t about to let go of it.

  I’m ready, I told Rane. From the look on his face, I suspected he understood that I was finally ready for so much more than our immediate escape.

  My twin would be a part of this exciting future with me. His look said he knew it too.

  The grin he gave me belied the danger we were in. We were the only twins of the Ooba people. It was high time we started acting like that meant something spectacular. We were one of a kind. Just let Yoon come for us... he wouldn’t catch us. We’d caught the wave of our momentum. No one could stop us now unless we let them.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Rane was taking too long. I didn’t know exactly where Traya had been resting, but it couldn’t have been too far away from where I’d slept. I knew my sister well enough to realize that, even while she rested, she wouldn’t agree to being too far away that she couldn’t arrive at my side in minutes should I need her help.

  That was the kind of sister she was. And even though she was a part of the Dragon Force because of her own decision, I couldn’t help but feel responsible. That familiar pang of guilt arrived, and I couldn’t shake it loose. Traya probably wouldn’t have joined the force if not for me and the constant danger I was in—or maybe she would have all the more, feeling freer of burdens that shouldn’t have been hers to bear. She was only a year older than Rane and me. She was far too young to shoulder problems such as I posed.

  I paced by the stream. This was the place Rane told me to meet them. I kept to the shadows of reeds and rock as I moved. I was nearly as skilled at concealing myself in shadows as the shadow people. Invisible, there wasn’t a chance they’d see me or notice the minor visual distortions I caused to my surroundings.

  The rushing sounds of the stream would have ordinarily been enough to soothe the ragged edges of my eternality—but they weren’t then. I moved like an animal anticipating attack, back and forth without further purpose than passing the time until action was required. I was caught in a loop of releasing the tension from my neck and shoulders, only to notice it built again.

  I ran what I hoped was a comforting touch along Rosie’s back. I didn’t sense anyone around us, watching; it was highly unlikely that anyone would know Rane and I had chosen this spot to reconvene. But I wasn’t taking any chances. I didn’t speak to Rosie. I probably shouldn’t have moved at all and risked the small ripples I caused to the images of the world through me, but if I were forced to remain still, I might go mad with angst.

  They’re taking too long, I thought. Rane must’ve run into some trouble extracting Traya.

  I chewed on an already-short nail and moved back and forth along the stream edge.

  A pang of guilt strong enough to churn my stomach hit. I stopped moving for a moment and perked my ears to listen. There wasn’t a single sign of anyone’s approach. What if I’d put my siblings in danger by allowing them to assist me? What if they needed my help while I walked the stream?

  That wouldn’t do—it wouldn’t do at all.

  I chewed on another nail. If they needed me, I had to go to them. But if they arrived here after I’d abandoned the spot, they’d only panic and potentially put themselves in greater danger by setting off to find me.

  I dropped my hands from my face in frustration. What should I do?

  Guilt rolled through me so hard that I stopped thinking entirely. Until I realized what I was feeling wasn’t guilt. It was my intuition... warning me my siblings were in trouble!

  Dammit! Without any real idea of what I might do to help them, I set off back the way I’d come. I moved quickly despite Rosie’s shadowing. She constantly bumped into my legs and threatened to trip me. But now I was moving so fast, she lagged a step behind. I picked up the pace.

  Now that I understood what I was feeling, I couldn’t shake it. What could have happened? Rane was a newcomer to the Dragon Force; he had next to no training. But Rane didn’t need official training to be fast and cunning.

  I retraced my steps and only slowed my pace when I reached the first hut of the shadow village. The irony that in a village of strangers the real enemy was our own people tasted bitter in my mouth.

  I noticed a few shadow people milling about on the other side of the clearing, but they all seemed focused on chores and not the strangers among them.

  I bent down next to Rosie and whispered nearly imperceptibly into her floppy ears. “You’re invisible now, girl. I need you to stay right next to me so that my invisibility continues to cloak you. I don’t know if it’ll work if you’re away from me.” Of course, if it were up to Rosie, she’d always be glued to me, but I figured it was worth saying. I was convinced this baby dragon understood me. If she were to leave my side and suddenly become visible, anyone paying attention would deduce that I wasn’t far from her.

  “We’re going to move quietly and carefully, all right girl? We’ll find Rane and Traya and get out of here. Ready?”

  I wished I could see her comforting, scrunched face, even if it wouldn’t convey all the information I sought. But she was as invisible to me as she was to everyone else.

  I stood back up and moved before I could hesitate. I couldn’t afford to delay, not with the intensity of the danger warning that pulsed through me.

  I started skirting the edges of the huts. It would have been faster going through the clearing instead of across fallen branches and rocks no one bothered to clear behind their houses, but the sun still shone brightly, and if anyone were looking my way as a sun ray hit my silhouette just the right way, they could see enough of me to raise the alarm.

  I passed one hut, then two, and saw nothing remarkable. At that point I slowed. Rosie, with her pudgy legs, couldn’t spring across the debris as easily as I.

  Shadow people were the only ones that moved through their village. They went in and out of huts, carrying varied sundries, and occupied themselves with the usual tasks of a community. Men, women, and children were in various stages of food preparation and storage, and clothing cleaning and mending. They did other things too, but I didn’t waste any time deciphering what they were doing because I was certain they weren’t the cause of my unease. The Ooba were. My supposed people were the ones who threatened my brother and sister.

  And I didn’t see a single Ooba anywhere.

  Surely not all of the Ooba Dean left behind would have joined Yoon in his pursuit of
us. Where was everyone else?

  I moved beyond several more huts. No Ooba. None with our signature dark, shiny hair reflecting the sun.

  I tried to calm my frayed nerves with little luck. This didn’t look good, and my intuition was nearly screaming at me to hurry, to run. But in which direction?

  I hadn’t had the chance to explore the shadow people’s village, which put me at a severe disadvantage. If I were Yoon and up to no good, what would I do? I forced my heartbeat to hold on, and thought for a minute. If I were Yoon, about to do something I wasn’t certain the shadow people would condone, I’d do it as far away from them as possible. I couldn’t determine where all the shadow people were. Luma wasn’t among the people in the clearing—at least, I didn’t think she was—and neither were warriors. My assumption was just that, an assumption. When I couldn’t clearly see the people, it was the best I could manage.

  If most of the shadow people were here, then chances were that Yoon would be as far away from them as possible. If Luma and the warriors weren’t here, did that mean they’d intercepted Yoon before he could do anything harmful? I hoped that was the case, but the truth was that I didn’t think the sense of urgency would be hammering at me the way it was if the shadow people were swooping in to rescue Rane and Traya. They might be someplace else entirely.

  It wasn’t great, but I had a direction—if as far away from where I was could be called a direction. I’d head to the opposite end of the clearing, beyond the ring of huts there. With a target, I moved faster, and willed little Rosie with her stubby legs to keep up. When she didn’t, I risked a moment to whisper, “You can fly if you need to, just stay as close as you can.”

  Immediately she rose in flight, confirming that she understood me as well as I believed she did. Without having to worry about her, I skimmed the uneven ground so fast I nearly flew too.

  I traversed the village before I’d had a chance to come up with a plan in case I didn’t find anyone on this side either. This has to work. It had to work because I sensed I was running out of time.