And if she needed time and solitude, well, he'd dig deep and get over his own desperate need to glue himself to her side. The need to wrap himself around her and hold on tight.
The way she'd allowed him to hold her on the dark village street, only a couple of hours ago.
Theodoric rising abruptly and crossing to intercept Helena pulled Sterling from his spiraling thoughts and he watched the quiet, intense exchange with avid interest.
"My family has been storykeepers for generation," Helena hissed, loud enough to draw attention and halt the other whispered conversations going on around the room.
Under the sudden scrutiny, the Healer drew herself up, looking as regal as a queen and as dangerous as any of the warriors in the room.
"It's always been our choice when to share the stories," she haughtily reminded the Clan Chief. "And who to share them with. Nothing you say can change tradition."
Helena waited until Theodoric raised his hands in defeat and retook his seat before she turned to Sterling, Kaile, and Jelverck.
"What do you know about the Old Ones?"
The question startled Sterling enough that he let go his grip on the table and glanced at Kaile before he could catch himself. Kaile's reaction made it clear he'd been just as caught off guard. Only Jelverck maintained his usual stoic mask.
Kaile glanced at Sterling, who dipped his chin slightly. Silently acknowledging that there was no point in pretending ignorance.
Settling his elbows on the table, Kaile leaned forward to answer the Healer.
"They are like the Fey. Wayfarers who settle in a Realm for a time, studying the world, its people, and its magic. Sometimes they share their own knowledge as well. Unlike the Fey, who disappeared as mysteriously as they appeared, the Old Ones left our Realm after some kind of civil war. So long ago, even the legends of them have been forgotten."
Helena's eyebrows curved upward, her mouth open and closing before she finally settled into a smile of resigned acceptance.
"Well, I expected the hard part to be convincing you they existed at all. Not many have heard the stories. Fewer believe. Our Clan remembers more than most. But even we know very little of the time before the war or the war itself."
Helena's lip pinched for a moment, and she gave Theodoric a quelling glance before continuing.
"What we do know is that the Old Ones used a magical device to create the first drakes."
One of the Councilors started to protest. Not the revelation itself, but that Helena was sharing with outsiders.
A few seats away, Myra finally looked up from her intent study of the table. She leaned forward in her seat, curiosity brightening her eyes and chasing away the shadow that had settled over her.
Sterling frowned thoughtfully, noting the only ones, besides Myra, who seemed at all surprised were Alna, and the Clan Chief's brother, Balyn.
"As I told Theodoric, I am the storykeeper," Helena cut into the elder drake's diatribe. "It is up to me to decide who needs to hear the tales."
Her mouth twitched in wry amusement when her attention switched back to Sterling, Jelverck, and Kaile.
"Besides, it seems like most everyone in the room already knew." Helena asked archly, "Didn't they?"
Sterling ducked his head sheepishly, Jelverck only shrugged, but Kaile grinned openly. "Yes, ma'am. Sorry. Should have mentioned that earlier."
"Right. How about I share what we know of the Old Ones, their magic, and their history. And then you fill in the blanks with anything else you know," Helena suggested. The stern set of her jaw, though, made it clear she wasn't really asking so much as insisting.
Kaile's smile slipped a little into discomfort but he nodded in quick agreement.
Helena held his gaze a moment more, before addressing the rest of the chamber and continuing.
"As I said, not many stories of the Old Ones’ civil war were passed on. We know only that it was begun when the Evil One discovered a way to gain control of some of our kind and turn them against the rest of us. Thankfully, the other the Old Ones found a way to reunite all the drakes. Along with the rest of their army, we defeated the Evil One.
"After the war, the Old Ones chose a group of drakes and created the first clan. The Mountain Clan. Before they left our Realm, they asked us to settle here and hold the pass, though they never explained why. The first fall, the Ice Trolls attacked. Our forefathers assumed our mission was to protect the small settlements springing up on the southern face of the mountain from the Trolls. Until—"
Helena stopped, mouth settling into a grim line.
After a long, uncomfortable moment, Theodoric sat forward and picked up where the Healer had left off.
"Until a few decades ago. When the first rumors of the Mirror King began to trickle across the mountain. And the Taken began to tell their stories. And talk of a polished Crystal Mirror. The descriptions were almost identical to the Old Ones’ magical device from our origin tale. Those of us who knew the story started to wonder if we'd been guarding against the wrong thing all along."
"You should have been keeping people from going up the mountain, rather than stopping the Trolls from getting down," Jelverck murmured.
"Yes. We realized we'd made a horrible mistake," the Clan Chief admitted. "We set to work trying to find him. We searched above the pass for any sign of him. And then the rest of the mountain. But we never found anything. Not even after one of ours was Taken."
For a moment, the whole room seemed held in the grip of grief and questions rushed to Sterling's tongue. He bit them back, though, after following the quick, compassionate way Theodoric's gazed flickered toward Helena. He lingered for only a split second before jerking his eyes away. But it was enough to draw Sterling's attention to the way a hint of tears glittering in the Healer’s dark lashes.
The answers to those questions could wait for another time.
The Healer cleared her throat, and Sterling wasn't surprised to find she'd tucked her sorrow away behind a blank mask.
"After the Evil One's defeat and the departure of the Old Ones, the world and even other drake clans began to slowly forget. The war. The Old Ones. Over generations, most of our kind lost the ability to use their inborn magic for anything more than transformation."
Helena paused to glance around the room, as if expecting another objection. The elder Councilors were grim and disapproving but stayed silent. Theodoric just looked resigned.
"A few of us, however, those who can trace their bloodline back to the very first group of drakes, remembered. At least, I suppose, what the Old Ones wanted us to remember. And we retained some gifts, even if full magic was eventually beyond our reach. The Mountain Clan is made up of more than the usual number of those, for some reason no one's ever understood. Now though, I think it was so we'd be ready to deal with a threat like the Mirror King. We cannot let him continue his reign of terror on the mountain, let alone unleash it in the wide world beyond."
Helena's declaration rang through the room with a sharp finality. It was several long heartbeats before Myra's fidgeting broke the silence.
"How...How did the Evil One use your own kind against you?" The question was stilted and fear trembled through the words.
Sterling's heart clutched in his chest. Back at her cottage, Sterling had admitted his unease at the possibility the Mirror King could control him and his pack. He'd never explicitly told her it was the Mirror, but it really wasn't that much of leap to figure it out after hearing what Helena had shared.
Helena's eyes widened as she put the pieces together, as well.
"The Evil One found a way to use the power of the Mirror to control the will of those dragon shifters created by the device. Those born to drake parents, however, were immune."
"You said the Old Ones reunited the drakes. They were able to break the Evil One's control?" Myra asked hopefully.
Helena smiled reassuringly at Myra.
"There were stories of some created drake
s breaking away from his domination after a time. More importantly, the Old Ones created an elixir of diluted Dragonsbane and other magic herbs. I'll begin brewing it as soon as we're done here, and it will be ready in the morning."
Myra sagged with relief and Sterling found himself exhaling a breath he'd held for much too long.
With that settled, Helena turned expectantly back to Sterling and his friends.
Kaile glanced at Sterling with anticipation and question. Sterling nodded, knowing Kaile had memorized every detail that Gwen had shared with them about the Old Ones and their own origin. He'd probably badgered her for more, after the rest of the pack had moved on.
And Sterling was still reeling with worry for Myra. When he considered how close the Mirror King had been to her...
"We heard the tale of the Old Ones from one of the Fey," Kaile started when he took his place at the head of the table. Sterling winced, but Kaile just bulldozed his way over the doubt and questions. "Yes, the Fey are long gone. And yes, there are some still here living in secret for their own reasons. One of them has helped us out a time or two in the past and we won't betray them by giving any details."
Sterling was proud of the way Kaile managed to imply they'd run into Gwen in the course of their treasure hunting without actually lying.
"In the Fey's version of the story, the traitor was known as Wind, but I like Evil One better, so I'm going with it," Kaile continued with a smirk. "He was actually the creator of the crystal matrix. Which I'm pretty sure is what you've been calling the Mirror. Only certain people, those who possessed an unusual magic that resonated with the matrix, could be changed by it. Could be transformed into dragonkin."
"Dragonkin?" Theodoric asked with a sardonic lift of one eyebrow.
"The Fey have a unique way of expressing themselves," Kaile answered with a roll of his eyes. "Anyway, that particular magic affinity was rare and limited and there weren't that many people that could be transformed by the Mirror. Even fewer who volunteered. So Earth, Sun, and Moon experimented, created their own devices and figured out how to transform those with any gift of magic, or even no magic at all. And so were born bearkin, jaguarkin, and wolfkin."
Theodoric snorted in amusement and Kaile paused to throw a mock scowl his way before continuing.
"Apparently the Evil One was furious with the others for stealing his glory and nursed a grudge for centuries. He created a spell that linked him with the Mirror's magic. Almost any created drake he touched was forced to do his bidding."
Myra made a soft sound before sinking her teeth into her lip to hide her distress. The Mirror King was a danger to her in so many ways and Sterling was determined to do whatever was necessary to stop the monster.
"With his new knowledge, the Evil One collected every person with the unique affinity he could find and transformed them. And created a drake army completely under his control."
"I'm guessing this wasn't a volunteer army?" Balyn asked.
"The surviving legends don't say. But considering the Evil One's disregard for personal autonomy, I'd say no," Kaile answered with a grimace. "Once he gathered a strong enough force, he sent them after the other 'kin first. Decimating the ranks of the Old Ones’ best defense."
A primal growl rumbled low in Sterling's throat. Instinct to defend the pack rose fiercely, even though those pack members had died millennia ago. Kaile glanced at him, with a hint of his own wolf's wholehearted agreement in the flinty gaze. Then he refocused on finishing the story.
"We know the remaining 'kin and Old Ones eventually found a way to rescue the drakes and defeat the traitor. That was apparently when the Old Ones decided to leave our Realm. The matrix devices disappeared from history, as well, and everyone assumed the Old Ones took them along when they left."
"But we know there's at least one," Helena said.
"Two," Sterling corrected. "We aren't born wolves. We were changed, too."
Helena's brow furrowed. "Can the Mirror King control you with the Mirror he has?"
"We don't know," Sterling answered, frustration burning in his throat. "The possibility is why I came searching for answers in the first place."
Kaile glared at him balefully, a reminder that Sterling still had a long lecture to look forward to.
Theodoric steepled his hands on the table in front of him, white lines stark around the pinched line of his mouth. Before he spoke a single word, he had the attention of the entire chamber riveted on him.
"So, the clear assumption is that the Mirror King has been trying to figure what it takes to create a drake?"
When no one offered a different theory, the Clan Chief exhaled unhappily and rubbed his hand through his hair. "Now that he's succeeded with Myra, he's that much closer to identifying those who can be changed. He won't stop until he has an army of his own. And when that happens, the Mountain Clan will be the first obstacle in his way."
Sterling wished he could pretend otherwise, could offer another option. But there was no doubt in his mind that was exactly the Mirror King's plan.
Theodoric closed his eyes, face tight with resignation and resolve.
Sterling understood the conflict Theodoric felt. There was an imminent threat to his people. One he hadn't known dwelled so close for so long. The guilt, the sense of failure, the need to fix it now would be demanding he fight. That he go to war and end the threat once and for all.
But that impulse was in direct odds with the need to defend those in his charge. Because protecting his people meant making the decision to send some of them into danger.
"We must wrest control of the Old Ones’ relic from the Mirror King," Theodoric announced firmly, eyes on the elder Councilors. When none of them objected, he turned to his brother. "We'll need to gather every warrior in the clan in order to fight him in his own lair."
"We'll need more magic as well," Kaile added. "Our greatest weapon against the Trolls is your fire. As long as he can protect him against the flame, another stalemate is the best we can hope for."
"If we get a message to her quickly enough Kyn will help, I'm sure. Probably Gwen and the triplets might have ideas as well," Sterling suggested.
"We can head back down to Ardell in the morning and let them know what's going on," Kaile agreed, indicating Sterling and Jelverck along with himself.
The denial in Sterling was immediate and automatic.
There was no way he'd leave. Not when Myra was still at so much risk. Not when he'd set all of this in motion by arrogantly assuming he could handle the Mirror King on his own.
"You and Jelverck go," Sterling amended, "Jelverck can only carry one of us in full form and flying back will be much faster than traveling on foot. I'll stay here and help. I think I can remember enough of the lair to create a map that might be useful. Especially the escape tunnel I stumbled over."
He looked toward Theodoric briefly, but lingered only long enough to share a nod of acceptance. Then his full attention centered on Myra.
For the first time since she'd begun speaking, Myra was looking back at him with a hesitant mix of confusion and hope.
Sterling's heart constricted and he swallowed hard against the ache she provoked in him.
"Since there's nothing more we can do tonight, let's adjourn for the night," Theodoric suggested as he rose, unknowingly interrupting the silent communion between Sterling and Myra. "We all deserve a good night's sleep. We'll gather again after breakfast to make more concrete plans."
Chapter Fifteen
STERLING'S EYES SETTLED on Myra and she felt it like a balm on her raw soul. A soothing warmth on wounds that had marred her for so long, she'd forgotten how much they hurt.
It was a look of sympathy and concern, without any humiliating hints of pity.
Myra had feared his disappointment, or worse, once he realized how much of a secret she'd been keeping.
Instead, his steady gaze watched her with affection and tenderness.
The concern tha
t lingered deep in his eyes wasn't much of a surprise. In the short time Myra had known him, the one thing she'd learned about Sterling was his endless capacity for compassion. And his deep compulsion to protect.
All of that was there in the way he watched her. But this wasn't the general kindness he showed to the world.
It was personal. And intimate.
Something centered on her alone. And Myra wanted the moment to last forever.
So when Theodoric suggested they adjourn for the night, Myra took her time getting up. She kept her pace slow and unhurried as she followed Helena out of the Council Chamber.
Hoping Sterling would catch up to her. Anticipating a chance to stand close and speak quietly with him before they parted for the night.
And Sterling didn't disappoint.
He met up with her just as she stepped out onto the dark street. Helena smiled knowingly and headed for the healing rooms with Alna in tow.
Sterling's friends, however, were not quite as perceptive. They emerged from the Council Chamber and flanked Sterling. Kaile looked between them curiously while Jelverck seemed to do his best to disappear into the shadows.
Theodoric, the last to emerge, noticed them hovering outside.
"We have extra rooms for the three of you in the barracks," he offered. "I can show you the way."
Sterling, eyes never leaving Myra, said, "I'll be along in a minute."
The Clan Chief exchanged amused glances with the other two men, but all three took the hint and moved into the night.
"Are you all right?" Sterling asked in a low, concerned voice when they were finally alone.
"I'm fine," Myra assured him. "I told you, he didn't hurt me. He didn't have a chance before everyone came to my rescue."
"The way I remember it, you rescued yourself." Sterling grinned for a second, before worry returned to dim the smile. "But I meant, are you all right after all that?"
He waved toward Council Chamber, encompassing the entirety of the emotional upheaval the meeting had heaped upon her.
"It's not exactly something to be all right with," Myra admitted. "But, surprisingly, I do feel better. You were right. Sharing the burden took away a lot of the weight and the fear."
The Snow Wolf (Wolves Ever After Book 1) Page 11
