Dragon Equinox

by Ophelia Bell

  “Why a contest?” Asha asked. “She’s a dragon. Mama had a whole harem before I was born. Can’t Aunt Numa have one too?”

  “The ritual to open the portal calls for a level of power that exists only between fully bonded mates. The harems the immortal dragons like your aunt used to keep were humans who were never fully marked. There is no reversing an immortal dragon mark, so she needs to be sure the mate she chooses is both powerful enough to help her complete the ritual, and is compatible with her for an eternal bond.”

  “You fear her,” Zorion said, sensing a deeper secret under Ozzie’s words. “I suspect you are relieved she is not your Fated mate.”

  Ozzie’s shoulders dropped when he stopped outside another door. “I would do anything to help destroy the enemy, but the truth is I don’t think I’m cut out to be an immortal’s mate. Though I admit I am weary of waiting. Whatever Fate has planned, I wish I could just get on with it.”

  Zorion let out a soft snort of understanding and patted Ozzie on the shoulder. “The wait sometimes makes it all worthwhile. You will appreciate your mate all the more for it, trust me.” He bent and gave Neela a soft kiss on the temple, but his mate was too agitated and impatient to register the gesture.

  Ozzie looked at Neela, his expression softening. “Deva is an amazing child. She is well-loved here, for all that she is barely a day old. I think the entire lodge witnessed her birth, which Numa midwifed. She particularly adores Numa, perhaps because hers is the first face she saw when she opened her eyes.”

  Neela’s skin flared hot beside him. “Better let her in soon,” Zorion said. “Everything in this lodge is made of wood—wouldn’t want her to catch the place on fire making her wait.”

  Ozzie eyed the subtle crackling glow beneath Neela’s skin and pushed the door open. Beyond was a big, comfortable sitting room with an immense fireplace against the inner wall. The room was empty, its picture windows overlooking the gardens below. Zorion caught sight of a huge horned man lounging on the bank of a pool, his skin glistening. His aura was like nothing Zorion had ever seen—a pure, watery aqua with deeper green veins threading through it. That creature, whatever he was, was beyond simply immortal.

  A knocking drew his attention back to the room where Ozzie gently rapped at another closed door. Neela was practically climbing the man in her eagerness to get to her daughter.

  A moment later, the door opened, revealing a big man with jet-black hair and swirling eyes. His entire frame blocked the view into the room. He scowled out at them, but when his gaze found Neela, he froze and stared in incomprehension.

  “Neph, please let me see my baby,” Neela said.

  The man’s brows twitched and he darted a glance over his shoulder, then shoved through the door, closing it behind him.

  “I apologize. I seem to have lost track of time. My link to the River is distorted due to the bubble we’re in. I wasn’t sure when you would arrive … I had hoped we would have more time with her.”

  Neela’s heat flared, betraying her agitation at being made to wait. “Why are you keeping me from her?!”

  Neph rested big hands on Neela’s shoulders for a split-second, but let out a hiss and jerked away. “I will let you see her in a moment, but I don’t want you to be alarmed. She is a very special child.”

  “So you keep saying,” Zorion said, pushing forward to confront the satyr. “Why not tell us exactly how special so we know what to expect?” He tilted his chin to the door. “I can already see through the walls that her aura is unusual. She is not human, despite being conceived by two human parents, but after witnessing Meri’s experiments, that does not surprise me. I suspect there is far more to her than that.”

  Neph took a deep breath. “She is a hybrid of all the creatures Meri held captive. Born of two Blessed human parents, and then mutated with the genetic material of all four of the higher races. This is what Aodh, Vrishti, and I have been able to discern from observing her since her birth. The time surges are accelerating her growth, and with each surge, she displays evidence of potential power.”

  “Is she healthy?” Neela asked. “Please tell me she isn’t hurting after what Meri did to her.”

  Neph gazed deep into Neela’s eyes, and her barely contained fire slowly dimmed. After a second, he gently gripped her upper arm and steered her to a chair near the window. To Zorion’s amazement, she willingly sat, looking eagerly up into Neph’s face.

  The big satyr pulled up a footstool and sat facing her. “Your daughter is a chimera, which we are far from equipped to understand. The higher races have never interbred before, so we have no idea how two would mix, much less all five. To add insult to injury …” He paused and in a gentler tone continued. “Deva was born without a soul. We believe this was by design, that Meri intended to use her as a vessel. Her permanent vessel, owing to Deva’s exposure to the power of the Source inside Vrishti’s womb. Deva is immortal.”

  Neela’s brows crinkled with worry. “But if she doesn’t have a soul, how is she even alive?”

  “Souls are bestowed by Fate. Thanks to her origins, she was likely overlooked—or Meri found a way to hide her. She is a perfectly well-adjusted child. Or she was, until the latest power fluctuation of the temporal bubble.” He frowned and glanced back at Zorion and the others. “It was Meri, wasn’t it?”

  Zorion nodded and moved to stand at Neela’s shoulder, Zil slipping silently up to lean his big, dark frame against the windowsill beside her. “What we saw was a leech, but it was most definitely powered by Meri’s essence.”

  “That’s what we feared,” Neph said. “We believed we had neutralized her in the Haven, but there were signs that she still maintained her power over her puppets. That she is here suggests she has far more power than we believed.”

  In a shaky voice, Neela said, “You keep referring to Deva as a child. Don’t you mean baby? She can’t be more than a few hours old.”

  “That’s the other thing,” Neph said. “Every time there is a surge in the power of the barrier, Deva ages. The last one was more pronounced than before. Not only is her physical growth accelerated, so is her mental development. She has already learned to talk, quite eloquently, and has mastered basic motor skills almost the instant her body is capable. But the acceleration isn’t without side effects.”

  A fierce, child-like wail interrupted their conversation, and Neela jumped.

  “I’m going in,” Ozzie said, and before the others could react, he shoved the door open and was gone.

  The pitiful cries of a child continued for a moment longer, Zorion’s heart aching with each sound. But as he and Neela passed through the doorway, another sound hit his ears. A rich, deep voice rose in song, quiet, yet powerful enough to cause a hush to fall over all the others.

  Neela slipped her hand into his and held on tight, her palm a searing brand, her emotion barely contained, but even her agitation settled when they drew close to the big turul where he crouched on the floor beside the crying child. Zorion’s uncle, who he recognized from the bright glow of his aura, was holding Deva in his arms.

  Far from the infant they had expected, Deva was the size of a child of about six. She was clad in a dress of white silk that contrasted with the rich brown of her skin. His heartbeat raced when Neela fell to her knees on the other side of the chair opposite the singing Turul. Deva looked like a younger version of his mate in almost every way, from the smooth, flawless richness of her skin to the dark, shining curls on her head.

  She seemed entranced by Ozzie. Her hitching sobs slowed and her breathing calmed bit by bit.

  Neela reached out, but paused when she came close to touching Deva’s small hand where it clung to Aodh’s shirt.

  “You won’t harm her,” Aodh said gently. “She is part-dragon.”

  Neela nodded. “Deva, honey, it’s all right. You will be all right. I’m here now. Mama’s here.”

  S
he touched Deva’s hand gently and the little girl’s brows twitched. Her gaze tore away from Ozzie to look at Neela’s hand, her head tilting in wonder before her teary eyes lifted.

  That was where the resemblance to Neela stopped. While Neela had the most vibrant blue eyes that were a reflection of the dragon who had blessed her and infused her blood for most of her life, only the very center of Deva’s irises were blue. The outer edges were an oddly variegated gold with veins of other colors. In the right light, Zorion saw the power beneath.

  Neph was right, though. While evidence of her origins was clear in her aura, as was her potential power, something was missing that all the other creatures in the room possessed. Their auras all had a more tangible quality that Zorion recognized as tied to their purpose—to their fates. Neph, Aodh, and Vrishti’s auras were all linked by threads of power that made them almost identical. His own mate’s aura was bound to his and Zil’s in a similar fashion, as were Naaz and Asha’s.

  The Turul male who had greeted them did not have such threads reaching outside his aura to twine with someone else’s, but he possessed a layer of power that cocooned him like silvery summer fog with the same quality of the power around the others. As he sang, however, his aura’s power enveloped Deva, giving hers the briefest illusion of that layer of a soul the others already had.

  Deva’s gaze fell on Neela and she frowned in confusion. “Mama?” she asked, darting a look to Vrishti where she stood beside Neph at Aodh’s shoulder.

  Vrishti’s worried expression eased into a soft smile. “She is your mama too.”

  The little girl’s tear-streaked face split into a wide smile, and she lurched off Aodh’s lap and into Neela’s arms with a squeal of delight. “Mama! I missed you!”

  Almost bowled over by Deva’s enthusiasm, Neela barely kept her balance. Her heat flared once again as she wrapped her arms around her daughter, but Deva barely seemed to notice.

  “Oh, baby, I missed you so, so much. But I’m here now.”

  She settled onto the floor with Deva on her lap. After a long embrace that she didn’t seem keen on ever ending, she finally let Deva ease out of her arms. The little girl sat back on Neela’s thighs and stared up at her in childish wonder, taking in not only Neela’s face, but more, as though tracing the outer edges of her mother’s shape.

  “She can see auras?” Zorion asked, looking at the trio who had become Deva’s surrogate parents.

  “That is new, if it’s true,” Aodh said. “It’s a skill dragons develop in their early years, so she is coming into it on schedule. We’ve seen evidence of other powers manifesting. Rudimentary ones. She has the powers of all four of the higher races, yet still possesses qualities that are uniquely human.”

  “Such as?” Zorion asked.

  “This is her true form,” Aodh said. “While she can manifest features of the other races, she seems disinclined to shift fully into any other shape. Any child of the higher races whose nature isn’t magically bound will learn to fully shift not long after they are born, if they are even born in a human form to start with, as most dragons are.”

  Deva’s intense gaze moved from Neela up to Zorion and Zil. “Are you my papas too? You belong to her, I can see it.” She moved off Neela’s lap and stood, peering up at the pair of them with a fearless look.

  Zil crouched down to eye-level with the girl and smiled. “You are right. We belong to her, so I guess that does make us your papas, too. You have another father who is not here yet. You’ll meet him soon. His name is Nikhil.”

  She gave them a serious look and nodded. “He is your mama’s mate.”

  Zil blinked at her and glanced up at Zorion. “She’s perceptive.” He pointed at Asha, who had entered the room, but stood back from the group with Naaz’s arm wrapped protectively around her waist. “Do you know who she is?”

  Deva’s strangely shimmering eyes brightened and she ran across the room. Naaz responded just in time for her to launch herself into his arms, catching her easily. The pair of them gazed in pleased bewilderment at the little girl.

  “My family,” Deva said with a firm nod. “And she is my sister.” She leaned over and gave Asha a brief peck on the cheek then proceeded to tangle her fingers in Asha’s gleaming iridescent locks.

  But then she stiffened and pushed away from Naaz, sliding back down to the floor. Neela’s big warrior of a brother looked abashed, then crouched when Deva collapsed and huddled in on herself.

  “Make it go away!” she cried, casting a terrified look at the ceiling and covering her head as she continued to whimper and whine. Neela rushed to her side and rested a hand on Deva’s back.

  “We won’t let her get you, baby. I promise.”

  “No! It’s too strong. It pulls, it hurts. Make it stop!”

  She let out a wail, half-surprise and half-pain, clutching at her head. At the same second, the morning light that filled the room dimmed and flickered in an unearthly rippling rhythm.

  “Give her space,” Aodh said, coming to Neela’s side and gently squeezing her shoulder to urge her back. “We have no way to stop this, but we will protect her at all costs. I can only ease the pain for her when it happens.” He shot a look over his shoulder. “Ozzie, will you sing again? Your song calmed her more than anything else has. It must call to her turul blood.”

  Neela stumbled back, and Zorion caught her and held her tight, her body hot with apprehension. Zil moved in close, the pair of them cocooning her in their arms.

  Aodh bent down, exhaling a white cloud that swirled around Deva’s hunched body. She let out an agonized cry as her skin rippled, her bones lengthening and realigning beneath the surface.

  Zorion clung to his mate and his shadow, tormented by helplessness as he watched the little girl’s transformation. She didn’t magically shimmer and shift, but grew physically, her skin thinning until it was near transparent and taut over her expanding shape. Aodh’s magic helped, healing her swiftly, but Zorion’s own perception made it clear that it wasn’t just her body expanding as she grew. Her aura’s power reflected the maturation as well, as though she hadn’t simply gotten bigger, but had aged as well. The darkening tinge to her aura reflected an inner change that only occurred with age and experience.

  “Can you do something?” Neela asked, her gaze beseeching as she peered up at him.

  “They’ve been through this before,” he said. “My powers likely could do no more than delay the inevitable. Let it pass.”

  Along with Aodh’s healing smoke, Ozzie had begun to sing, his soulful rhythm visibly easing Deva’s transformation. Her cries stopped, and even though the fluctuations of her physiology still rippled, she seemed to give into it. As the change gradually ceased, she stretched out a hand to Ozzie, who took it and squeezed, never slowing the tempo of his song. A moment later, Deva took a breath where she lay, and when she opened her mouth again, the sweetest melody arose in harmony with the turul’s song. It was not the song of a child’s voice, however, but a young woman on the verge of maturity.

  “I hate to do this,” Neph said, coming toward them with arms outstretched, “But we need to let her rest. Meet us in the outer room so we can talk in a few moments.”

  It was all Zorion could do to urge Neela out of the room. As they departed, Aodh was lifting Deva in his arms and setting her down on the big bed before coming to join them.

  Only Ozzie remained behind, his voice still mingling with Deva’s for several moments until hers gradually faded and her aura calmed in sleep.

  He closed the door softly behind him and faced the room with a worried frown. “If this keeps up for the full extent of Numa’s contest, it could kill her. We need to find an alternative.”

  “Why is it happening at all?” Neela asked.

  “She was in Vrishti’s womb when we created the temporal bubble,” Neph said. “I think somehow the magic of the bubble became entwined with hers. S
o whenever the power fluctuates and the timeline of the outside world floods in, her own timeline is magnified. I can sense the surges when it happens—it’s like a dam breaking. The barrier repairs itself, but it becomes weaker each time.”

  “We can’t let it fail,” Zorion said. “If it does, Meri will be able to reach her.”

  “Can we go on the offensive? Find her wherever she’s attacking the thing and kill her?” Naaz asked.

  Neph gave them all a grim look and shook his head. “Meri is pure spirit now. What you saw out there was likely only a small fragment of her power. When we rescued Vrishti from the Haven, her entire army behaved like it was possessed. If she has the power to inhabit their minds at the same time as attacking our shield, neutralizing that creature out there likely would only slow her down for a time.”

  “Then we need to get Deva out, before it’s too late.”

  “I can get her through the barrier, perhaps out of the Sanctuary as well,” Zorion said.

  “The barrier needs to come down to stop these surges. If we leave it up, she’ll remain linked to it,” Neph said.

  Aodh nodded. “And we don’t dare take it down until we’re sure my sister is prepared to begin the ritual with whichever mate she chooses as the strongest.”

  “There’s still the trouble of Meri to address,” Ozzie said. “If we send Deva out into the world, there is nothing stopping Meri from reaching her. She is safest right here, as long as the barrier remains strong.”

  Neela paced, her skin glowing with inner fire. The others in the room exchanged looks of concern and warily edged backward. “There has to be someplace we can take her that’s just as secure.” Turning to Zorion, she asked, “What about the Glade? It’s protected, isn’t it?”

  “You’ve seen the Glade?” Aodh asked, a touch of alarm in his voice. “That’s impossible. Humans shouldn’t be able to access it.”