Anna dropped her eyes and turned away. “Do you?”
Rakan inched closer, pulled forward by the intoxicating scent of her skin. “Maybe.” Even if he shouldn’t.
Rakan felt Anna relax. She took his arm, and they walked slowly up the hill. He was relieved that her anger was gone, even if he didn’t know why.
* * *
Pemba and Anna sat on her apartment steps, shoulders touching every once in a while as they talked. Anna didn’t even notice Ulf coming up until he was in front of them.
“I thought you were working tonight,” Anna said, scrambling to her feet.
“I am. But I thought we could have dinner together first.” Ulf’s eyes narrowed on Pemba who had remained seated. “Who’s he?”
“It’s none of your business.”
Pemba stood slowly and placed himself between Ulf and Anna. “Stay away from her.”
“My, my. Aren’t you possessive,” Ulf said with a lift of his eyebrows. He walked around Pemba and up the stairs. “It just shows you’re unsure of her feelings for you. Because if you knew she cared, you wouldn’t feel threatened by me. Don’t be late for dinner,” he said to Anna and disappeared inside.
Anna reached for Pemba. “I hate him,” she said, curling up into his neck.
Pemba put his arms protectively around her. “Who is he?”
“My mother’s boyfriend.”
Pemba rubbed his cheek against hers. “And she doesn’t keep him in control?”
Anna laughed at the image of her mother being in control of anything. “No.”
“Then I will,” said Pemba solemnly.
Anna closed her eyes and leaned into him. Pemba’s energy wrapped around her and she relaxed. For the first time since her father died, she let herself be comforted by someone else.
* * *
Later, Anna sat next to her mom at the movie theatre wishing Pemba had asked her out earlier. Her mother’s incessant chatter was getting on her nerves. She handed her mom the popcorn. “Can you hold this while I go to the bathroom?” Her mom was in gossip mode and there was no point in trying for a real conversation.
“Oh sure, honey. Hurry up though, the movie will start soon.”
“Don’t worry.” She walked out with a sigh of relief. She’d make sure the movie had started before going back in. Anna wandered around the lobby. She stopped in front of the poster displays for the upcoming movies, her mind on Pemba.
“I knew you’d come looking for me,” said Ulf in her ear, making her jump. “You just can’t stay away. I feel you watching me all the time, even if you like to pretend you’re avoiding me.”
“I’m not pretending,” she snapped. “I don’t want to have anything to do with you.” She turned and walked away.
“Not so fast, my sweet little Anna.” He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back. “So far I’m enjoying our little game of hide and seek, but at some point the foreplay will have to end.” His hand squeezed so hard it hurt. “And there are two things you should know. One, I always get what I want. And two, I hate being second.”
Anna yanked her arm away from his grip and pushed him away. “Get away from me.”
A security guard came over. “Everything okay?”
“My girlfriend’s daughter is going through a rebellious phase.” Ulf adjusted his silk scarf and buttoned his three-quarter length wool coat. “I said I’d try to help out, but it’s not easy.”
“That’s not true,” Anna yelled. “She never asked you to help with anything.” She balled her fists. If only she could wipe the wolfish smirk off his face. “You’re not even supposed to be here.”
“Keep your voice down, young lady, or I’ll have to ask you to leave,” said the guard to Anna. “Good luck,” he said with a nod to Ulf and walked on.
Ulf lifted his eyebrows with a self-satisfied nod and strolled leisurely out of the movie theater. He disappeared into the night as Anna stood, fists still clenched, glaring at his back. She hated herself for letting him get to her. But she hated him even more.
* * *
Rakan followed Ulf down the street, wondering if the Old Dragons were right about certain humans. It wouldn’t be a loss to humankind if Ulf were to disappear. Rakan hesitated. It would be so easy.
Rakan trailed Ulf until he went into a bar, and then he shifted home. He ripped off his shirt and flung himself at their punching bag, pounding it with a volley of hooks and punches. He had once promised himself never to kill another human. But if Ulf ever attacked Anna, he would. It wouldn’t be killing an innocent human. And that was a distinction he could live with. He threw in a few kicks and knees for good measure. He’d rip Ulf apart, bone by bone, molecule by molecule, until there was nothing left. And he’d enjoy doing it.
It wasn’t until he eased off the bag that he realized Dvara wasn’t home. He reached out and she responded. She was on a glacier on the other side of the fjord. Alone. Rakan shifted next to her and into a long, sinuous crevasse that was nearly ten feet wide. The majestic blue glacier radiated a quiet warmth that made the space feel sacred. Dvara was perched on a narrow ledge, staring at the opposite side.
“What are you…” but the rest of the question died in his throat when he saw the intricate rendering of a dragon cove.
Never had he seen such a perfect vision of the coves of the Red Planet. Rakan stood in awe, amazed at the prowess of the Master Craftsman who had made each and every surface of the sculpture within the ice seem alive. The aquamarine cove was surrounded by a towering red mountain whose majestic spires reached proudly up to the sky.
Rakan let his mind-touch slip forward and move around the brilliant masterpiece of minute carving done in the inner reaches of the glacier itself. But something was missing. Rakan looked around, trying to figure out what. And then it hit him. The cove was empty. There were no dragons even though the sand floor of the sleeping arena still bore the marks of the Cairn that had slept there. The imprints even felt warm to his mind-touch. But an eerie silence encompassed the whole thing, broken only by the sound of the aquamarine ripples that lapped gently against the sand in a pathetic attempt to ease the pain of the mountain that cried for its inhabitants.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Dvara said, calling him back out of the glacier.
“No,” Rakan said, shaking his head. “It’s empty.” His rök twisted in pain, clamoring for attention, but Rakan quickly stifled it back into control. He’d deal with his rök later. After all this was over. He couldn’t join a Cairn before Paaliaq was found. And dead.
“They were here for the sunrise. At least a hundred of them, just as the sun touched the ice wall.”
Rakan stared at his sister in surprise. “T’eng Sten made the sculpture for you?”
“No,” Dvara said, laughing. “He found it on a previous visit to Earth.”
Rakan nodded. “I didn’t think he’d have the patience to carve something like this.”
“Idiot,” Dvara said, throwing an ice ball. “You barely even know him.”
Rakan stopped the clump of ice midair and let it float to the ground. “So who made it?”
“It’s beautiful. Isn’t that enough?”
Rakan groaned. Why didn’t Dvara ever pay attention to details? “Well, whose cove was it then?” Rakan ran his mind-touch over it again, trying to find the Master’s imprint. But he couldn’t find anything. He tried to alter different parts of the sculpture, but it was protected. Even the time release triggers had been protected – he couldn’t feel any of them.
“T’eng Sten said the cove could be one of dozens that were on the southern shores of Ka. He said it was a typical structure for breeding grounds.” Her voice softened.
Rakan looked back at Dvara. “I thought you didn’t want to join his Cairn?”
“Rakan, sometimes you’re just such a puppy. How can I avenge my father’s death if I give my rök to a Kairök? I’d have to do what he or she wanted. Not what I want.” Dvara jumped gracefully from the ledge. Her vermillion dress t
ransformed into fighting pants and red chest armor. “But soon, very soon, Paaliaq will pay for having destroyed the Red Planet. And I will be free.”
“There’s no proof that Jing Mei is Paaliaq.”
“I found the other dragon,” she said, tilting her chin up. “I caught his scent. Once.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that before? When? Where?”
“Here.” She held out a glistening metal ball. “And you were right, it’s not Erling.”
Rakan took the small, but extremely heavy, ball of iridium. He penetrated it with his mind. He eased some of the atoms apart, creating a porous opening in the dense silvery-white metal. He inhaled once and resealed the ball. It was a mixture of musk and something metallic. Clearly a male dragon. And an Old Dragon. He handed the vial back to Dvara. “It corresponds to the faded trails.”
“Of course it does,” snapped Dvara. “It’s Haakaramanoth.”
“It isn’t the smell of any of the 1337 male dragons that Khotan has catalogued on the Fragments. So, whoever he is, he must have been one of Paaliaq’s Cairn. But whether it’s Haakaramanoth or not is another question.”
“Why do you get that way? It has to be Haakaramanoth. How much more proof do you need?”
“You should bring it to Yarlung so that she can confirm it.”
“No.”
“Khotan then. It’ll fade soon. And he can make a facsimile to add to his library.”
“Leave Khotan out of this. We don’t need their help, okay? Let’s go, so you can figure out which trail is his.” Dvara got ready to shift.
“Wait. Tell me how you caught his scent first.”
Dvara growled, but answered. “I made triggers for their Maii-as all over town. And after the first one was triggered earlier this evening, all the others were disarmed. But not by someone wearing a Maii-a. I had made them to react to being disarmed differently, depending on whether the person was wearing a Maii-a or not. Can we go now?”
“If it is Haakaramanoth, then it proves that Jing Mei isn’t Paaliaq,” Rakan said. “Since he was Paaliaq’s mate and Jing Mei’s mate is Erling.”
“Except that Paaliaq wasn’t monogamous.”
“But Jing Mei is.”
“Yeah, well, Jing Mei appears to be a lot of things that Paaliaq wasn’t. She’s made herself a perfect disguise, that’s all.”
“No,” Rakan said. “It’s not a disguise. Or they wouldn’t—” be able to mind-speak.
“What?”
“Nothing.” If Dvara knew that June and Erling could mind-speak she’d take it as proof that the void-trails were dragons. But in his gut he knew that they weren’t.
Rakan felt a tingling on his arms and watched ruefully as the black dragons appeared on his biceps. “Any news, Rakan’dzor?” asked Yarlung. “You feel agitated.”
“Yarlung,” Rakan answered out loud so that Dvara could hear his part of the conversation. “Dvara captured the other dragon’s scent. He’s here, but hiding.”
“Ah, that is good news. Have you identified his trail?”
“Not yet. We’re going there now.”
“And the girl? Has she proved useful?”
“No, she doesn’t seem to know anything.”
“Humans always know more than they think they do. The problem is finding a way to get it out of them. If seducing her doesn’t open her mind enough for you to sift through her memories, then you can always force your way in.”
“No.”
“You’re too soft with the humans, Rakan’dzor. And you don’t need to be. Most of them survive that kind of thing.”
“I’ll get the information without that.”
“Do what is necessary to get the information that we need – that is important, not the human,” said Yarlung. “If you can’t do it, Dvara will. Just like she’s playing into T’eng Sten’s desire to believe that he can claim her.”
Yarlung disappeared, leaving Rakan to contemplate her last sentence.
“You okay?” asked Dvara, sending him a mental nudge.
“No.” He pulled away. His was fairly sure his mother was wrong about Dvara and T’eng Sten. But she was probably right about Dvara’s willingness to get the information from Anna if they needed it to confirm June was Paaliaq.
“Life isn’t always easy, Rakan. But it helps when you remember the big picture. We need to kill Paaliaq so that we can be free. Once she’s dead, we can start a new life here. It’s the only way that the other dragons can come and breed before they get too old.” Dvara walked over to the image of the cove. “And then we’ll be able to be part of a Cairn.”
The longing in her voice resonated with Rakan’s rök and deep down he knew she was right. They both needed to join a Cairn. And even if he did have a relationship with Anna, she’d die long before he did anyhow. A human’s life was measured in years. But a dragon’s life was measured in cycles of geomagnetic reversal. There was no future for them together.
“I need your help with his trail while it’s still fresh,” Dvara said. “Can we shift now?”
“I guess so.” He followed her to the Botanical Gardens on the northern side of the island. But his heart wasn’t in the hunt.
“It was here.” Dvara stood next to a large boulder, looking around. “Why are there so many trails? They look like… ours. But we weren’t just here.”
Rakan stifled the urge to jump off the path and into the trails that crisscrossed over the entire park. They floated above the pristine snow that showed no footprints.
Dvara took a step towards the trails.
“Don’t touch them,” he said, putting out his hand to block her. “The other dragon must have made them. There must be triggers here somewhere.” He had never seen anything like it. Part of a trailer’s training was learning to create static images of trails which looked like abstract sculptures made of wire. But this was something entirely different. It was a vibrant, pulsing trail. It looked real.
“I’ll check.” Dvara reached out with her mind-touch. Suddenly, her trail shimmered and a second Dvara came to life. The perfect double screamed hysterically and ran over the snow, following the fake trail that disappeared behind her. The double morphed into Dvara’s fire dragon form in an eruption of vermillion sparks. The dragon thrashed wildly as blood and guts spewed in volcanic profusion.
Dvara stifled a scream as the image of her dragon self disappeared into nothingness, leaving behind the terrifying void of emptiness.
“That’s the answer,” Rakan said calmly.
“What are you talking about?”
“He’s the one who made the sculpture in the glacier.”
“You just watched me explode and that’s all you can think of? The sculpture? He knows our dragon forms even though we’ve never morphed here. And we know next to nothing about him. How are we going to fight him?” Dvara growled in frustration and shifted home.
Rakan studied his fake trail. It was almost his. But not quite. The stripe of his rök didn’t glow. Rakan smiled. You’re good, but so am I. If the Old Dragon had figured out how to hide his trail without seeing everything that Rakan could, then he should be able to figure it out too. He was curious to see the animation of his trail that the Old Dragon had left them as a warning, but he knew it would be more important to see if the trail evolved over time. If the Old Dragon had managed to make it into a four dimensional sculpture and not just a normal trigger, fighting him would be a whole different challenge. Manipulating matter over time was a sign of the High Masters.
And there weren’t many of them.
Chapter 9
Games
ANNA SAT IN THE LOCKER ROOM and fiddled with her necklace. Ever since dinner with Pemba, she had felt uncomfortable wearing it. She didn’t like the idea of it being an amulet with special powers.
“What’s up?” asked June, coming back into the locker room. “It’s not like you to be the last one out. Especially when we have a game to play.”
Anna hid her necklace in her backpack. “I’
m coming.”
“Is it the pendant?”
“No. Yes. I mean…” Anna hesitated. “How would you know if something had a charm or something on it if you couldn’t feel it?”
“You wouldn’t, I guess.”
“What is the pendant supposed to do?” Anna asked quietly.
June paused. “Protect you from dragons.”
“But what if I don’t want to be protected?”
“Then you take it off,” June said. “Or you undo the protection.”
“How?”
“Give me the pendant.”
Anna handed it to June and watched as she held it. Nothing happened.
“Did Pemba touch it?” asked June with a smile.
“Yes… you can feel that?”
“Here,” June said. “Just make sure you don’t run into any unwanted dragons.”
Anna laughed. “I’ll let you know if I do. But I haven’t seen any yet.”
The pendant looked the same, but it no longer felt like it could come alive. Anna wrapped her hand around it. “How did you do that?”
“I don’t really know, I just feel it,” June said. “I mean, how do you feel it’s different?”
“I don’t know.”
“Me neither.”
“I guess some things can’t be explained.” Anna put the necklace back on. She was relieved to know that it wasn’t an amulet anymore, but a part of her missed feeling that it could somehow turn into a miniature dragon. “We’d better go, or Coach Knudsen will yell at us for being late.”
June laughed. “You forget that Dawa’s here. Coach doesn’t even see us anymore.”
Anna shook her head as they walked out to join the rest of the team.
* * *
Rakan sat in the crowd on the bleachers, waiting for the game to start. He could feel the other dragon’s hidden presence. But he couldn’t find him. His gaze went back to Erling and his sister Lysa. They were sitting a couple of rows in front of him, unconcerned by his proximity.
Rakan’s attention snapped to Anna and June as they came onto the court from the direction of the locker rooms. They had taken a longer than usual. Anna was always one of the first ones out. And he had liked that, it reminded him of a puppy eager to play. Rakan let his mind-touch reach out to Anna to see if she could still feel him. She turned and smiled. He waved, happy that June hadn’t discovered the change in the shield.
Dragon Fire Page 9
