“Pemba?” she said, her eyes not quite focusing on him. “What are you doing here?”
“You need to go in the light.”
“Why?”
“Because even if you are Paaliaq, you’ve changed. And you can prove it.”
“I have nothing to prove.”
“You can stop the fight.”
June gave him a sad smile. “Maybe I don’t want to.”
The Eld stood in unison. “Enough. There will be no discussion. How she has evolved is of no concern to us. Her trail is that of Kairök Paaliaq. The Code applies.”
Rakan tried to protest, but the Eld silenced him.
Haakon strode over to the Eld. “She’s in no shape to fight.”
“It’s just a show,” hissed Yarlung. “Smell her. She’s made herself seem even younger than she was when she killed Kraal. How can you believe anything in her appearance? She’s always manipulated everyone—” Yarlung’s voice was drowned in the uproar that greeted her words.
“Then I will fight Paaliaq,” Rakan said, facing the Eld. “I will uphold the Code. There was a stunned silence.
“How can you uphold the Code when you prefer a human mate over a dragon?” said the Eld, speaking as one.
The uproar re-ignited and Rakan wondered if the Eld were doing it on purpose. He waited for the snorting and hollering to calm down. “My private life has nothing to do with this,” he said calmly. He knew what he had to do.
“It does, when you put the survival of the human race in peril by exposing our existence. They are incapable of understanding.” The Trailer Eld put up a hand for silence. “The humans belong here. Their extinction is not desirable.” The copper eyed Eld leaned forward. “Why did you refuse to mate with Kariaksuq, Angalaan or Yuli? Even if you wanted to take the human—” A murmur of displeasure rose and the Trailer Eld once again lifted her hand. “Silence. The only Kairök who hasn’t taken a human here is T’eng Sten.” She turned back to Rakan. “There was still no reason to turn from your own kind.”
Rakan bowed his head. He needed to get the conversation off of Anna. “I was not yet one with my rök. But now I am.” He stood on the black sand in the middle of the rotunda and hit a fist to his chest. “I request the right to uphold my blood pact—” Rakan let the noise die down. “The blood pact that I entered upon with Kairök Yarlung.”
The Eld turned to Yarlung. “Show us.”
Yarlung snarled, but she extended her hands and the coral-colored water dragon appeared. The rotunda fell silent as the miniature dragon swam to the Eld.
The Trigger Eld held out his hand and the dragon alighted. “The blood pact is real,” he said, holding his hand high. “But you can’t replace her. You aren’t a Kairök.”
“I am a Kairök. I have held another dragon’s rök.” He morphed into his air dragon form and spread his black claws. He felt the Eld search him and he pushed them out in a wild rage, spraying them with his fire. No one had the right to do that.
A tumultuous uproar exploded.
“Indeed,” said the Trigger Eld, eyeing him carefully. “So you have.”
Rakan morphed back to human.
“Although your motivation is still unclear. But even if it were, you have no second since Kariaksuq, your only kai, is dead. You are not technically a Kairök right now.”
“That can be remedied,” Rakan said, his anger flowing towards the Eld. “I refused to take Yuli because she belongs to my mother. Let me have her rök and I will fight.”
“I will offer a kai to Rakan,” said T’eng Sten. He jumped off his throne in a flash of indigo and platinum. He joined Rakan in front of the podium.
“That won’t be necessary,” said Yarlung. “I can offer Rakan’dzor Nima’kor, a much stronger second than Yuli or any of Kairök T’eng Sten’s kais.”
Rakan clenched his fists. If there was any kai of his mother’s he didn’t want, it was Nima’kor. He should never have tried to save Yuli instead of asking T’eng Sten for a kai.
The Eld shimmered in silent discussion. A gong sounded. “Kairök Paaliaq will face Kairök Rakan’dzor. They will be seconded by Haakaramanoth and Yuli.”
Yarlung started to hiss, but was silenced by a flash of platinum as the Transformer Eld spread his fingers and drew a circle in the air. Yuli’s sparkling lime-green rök appeared, floating between the Eld’s brilliantly shimmering fingers that reflected Yuli’s fire in a crackling display of sparks.
The Transformer Eld turned to Rakan, his platinum eyes reflecting Rakan’s coral. “We are willing to grant you the care of Yuli’s rök if you agree to the terms of the fight.”
As disturbing as it was to see his own eyes reflected back at him, Rakan held the Eld’s stare. “If the outcome of this duel is final, no matter what that outcome is, then I do. I will fight Paaliaq and I will fight to the death.” He allowed his hatred of the Eld to project out, hoping his motives wouldn’t be questioned further.
Next to him, he could feel T’eng Sten’s anger. Behind him, his mother crooned in pleasure. The Kairöks, at least, believed he would fight to kill.
The Eld’s eyes narrowed. But he said nothing. He simply spread his hands and Rakan instinctively reached out and took Yuli’s rök before she had time to feel the panic of being alone. She burst into his consciousness with a flood of terror and relief all mixed together.
“Hold back,” he snapped and she disappeared to the back of his mind.
“Then so be it,” said the Eld. The gong sounded.
He would fight. And he would die. And he’d have to find a new home for Yuli. He’d never give her back to Yarlung.
“No,” said Khotan from under the arch where he had been standing. “Circumstances may have made Rakan’dzor a Kairök before his time, but nothing changes the fact that he is barely more than an acolyte. He hasn’t even filled out completely, as anyone here can see.”
The rotunda fell silent as all eyes turned to see how the Eld would react.
Khotan walked forward, his head held high. “I request a parent’s right to replace his offspring in a duel to the death, as permitted by the Code. The fight is not his. It is ours.”
“It is time that Rakan’dzor prove himself,” they answered.
“He has nothing to prove. His rök is free.”
“Then he is ready to die.”
Khotan trembled in rage. “You’re supposed to protect us, not destroy us.”
“It’s alright, Father,” Rakan said. “It’s my choice.”
“I should be the one to fight Paaliaq,” Dvara said, coming forward. T’eng Sten turned to block her, but was stopped by the Eld. Dvara tilted her chin. “Kraal was my father.”
“Go home,” snapped Khotan. “You’re in no state to fight anyone.”
Dvara launched herself at Khotan, morphing in a streak of vermillion in midair. Rakan lunged and slammed Khotan out of her path. He morphed to neutralize her, but the Trigger Eld had morphed into a nearly transparent fire dragon and held her to the ground. Rakan stared. His crest, his eyes, his claws and his hide were all the same translucent grey. He could make out a shadowy version of Dvara’s vermillion through the Eld’s body.
Once again, the platinum eyed Transformer Eld spread his fingers and Dvara’s jewel-like vermillion rök appeared. The Eld turned to T’eng Sten. “Do you accept the care of Dvara Azura’s rök?”
“No!” yelled Dvara, twisting in agony. “He won’t let me kill Paaliaq.”
T’eng Sten bowed his head. “I’ll wait until she’s ready to give it to me.”
“You may refuse,” said the Eld. “But her rök can’t wait.” He spread his hands. The rök flew in the air and a mad scramble ensued, pierced only by Dvara’s screeching agony.
T’eng Sten emerged from the scuffle with Dvara’s rök, seething with rage. “How can you treat someone’s rök like that? Have you no respect for anyone or anything?” He spit on the ground. “You force us to your will in a barbaric distortion of the Code.”
“What Dvar
a desired was irrelevant,” said the Transformer Eld sharply. “As you will see when you take her to your lair and unblock the walls she has erected within her rök. She can no longer be alone, and you knew that. But instead of taking her you let her suffer in a misguided desire to let her choose, because of your own pride in wanting her to come to you. You have failed as a Kairök. We will reconvene for the Call to Rise tomorrow.”
“Wait,” said Haakon, his voice booming throughout the rotunda.
“Speak,” said the Eld, once again in unison.
“Given the animosity between Yarlung and Paaliaq, I request that the fight take place on neutral ground in the open.”
“Oh, Haakon,” June said, speaking for the first time. “Who cares? It makes no difference. Let’s go.”
“Request granted,” said the Eld as one and disappeared.
The pent up tension exploded and the rotunda became a squabbling mass. Rakan ignored it and mind-touched Yuli. She sprang to life inside him. He’d have to figure out how to block her a bit. “We’ll go to my father’s,” he said, not sure he wanted someone else in his rök right now.
“I can block myself,” she said, dimming her presence. “I saw more of you than you intended right there,” she added sheepishly. “Thank you, Rakan’dzor Sa’aq.”
Rakan met Yuli’s eyes and nodded, but before they could shift, Yarlung came up. “You have grown since taking Kariaksuq’s rök,” she said. She touched his cheek with her fingertips. “You have come into your power.”
Rakan bowed, breaking the contact. “I must prepare.”
“Paaliaq’s greatest weakness is her pride. Pretend to be weaker than you are and let her think she is dominating you.” Yarlung leaned closer and the smell of cold salt filled his nostrils. “Her rök is unlike any other: it has multiple parts and is ungraspable except for the split second before she goes for the kill. It’s the only moment she is vulnerable.” Yarlung cupped his chin. “Remember that.” She dropped her hand and shifted out of the rotunda, taking her kais with her.
The black torches flickered and he suddenly realized that had June gone in the light, the torches would have absorbed the energy of her being, just as the shield around Erling’s house absorbed the energy of their röks. She would have died.
“I don’t know what you think you’re doing,” said T’eng Sten, sinking an uppercut into Rakan’s gut. “But this isn’t a game.”
“No, it’s okay,” Rakan said to Yuli who was ready to attack.
“You’re a liar and a manipulator,” continued T’eng Sten. “Just like your mother.”
Rakan bowed his head. “There’s more truth in what you say than you’ll ever know.” He held T’eng Sten’s accusing gaze, even though it hurt to see the hatred that blazed there. “Take care of Dvara,” he said and shifted to his father’s, Yuli in tow.
* * *
“What in Kor’s name has gotten into you?” his father yelled, greeting him with a hook to his jaw. Rakan’s head flew to the side but he didn’t retaliate.
“No,” he yelled at Yuli as she flew forward. “It’s okay. He has the right to be angry.” Yuli growled but backed off. Rakan rubbed his jaw and stopped the bruise from forming. “I didn’t expect that.”
“It’s not your fight,” said Khotan, his voice wavering uncharacteristically. “They’ve hated each other since they day Paaliaq was born.”
“What do you mean – since she was born?”
“They’re sisters, Rakan. It’s their fight. Not yours.”
“What?” Rakan felt the floor move under him. Sisters? “Why didn’t you ever tell me that before?”
“Because Yarlung didn’t want to be reminded of it.”
“Why do you always do what she says, she’s not your Kairök,” exploded Rakan.
“You know why.”
Rakan sank to his favorite chair. How many lives had Yarlung managed to destroy with her poison? He looked at Yuli. “Why can’t I see it in your memories?” Even though he had only seen Kariaksuq’s mind briefly, he knew Yuli’s wasn’t as it should be.
“Because Yarlung blocked my mind from you. But when the Transformer Eld took my rök he felt it and removed it. And then he put it back. I don’t know why.”
Rakan growled and a wave of hatred for the Eld washed over him. “Because they thought that if I knew, I’d refuse to kill family and the fight would be cancelled.” At least it means they didn’t realize that I have no intention of killing her.
“I won’t let you kill yourself,” said Yuli. He could feel her anger flood the room.
Rakan’s attention snapped to Yuli. He wasn’t used to being heard. “It’s the right decision. And it’s not up for discussion.” Outloud he said, “Can you tell me what happened, even if I can’t see it?”
Yuli’s face paled. She shook her head and then clutched the back of a chair to steady herself. Rakan growled in anger at the pain he felt ripping through Yuli. “Don’t. It’s okay,” he said. “How can they let my mother do things like this to her own kai?” He sent a wave of warmth to Yuli but she barely responded. “To my kai,” he corrected himself.
Yuli relaxed and responded with a wave of warmth.
Khotan sat wearily. “I’ll tell you. Briefly. Kraal didn’t take Yarlung’s rök when he found out that she was related to Paaliaq. He wanted Paaliaq instead. But she refused him. And Yarlung never forgave her sister for being Kraal’s first choice.”
Rakan felt the poison oozing into Khotan’s veins. “Stop. You’re killing yourself. It doesn’t matter anymore. The past is gone.”
“No, Rakan’dzor. It’s not. Let them finish what they started. It’s not too late.”
“No.” June could kill Yarlung easily if she wanted to, but she wouldn’t. She’d just let Yarlung kill her. “I can’t. I need to do this. It’s what’s right, Father. I’m sure.”
“But you don’t have to.” Khotan banged his fist on the table. “Too many lives have been wasted as it is.”
“I know. And that’s why I’ll finish it.”
“But you have no idea what she’s like when she fights. You can’t win. No single dragon can beat her. She can morph into all three forms at will.”
Rakan walked over to the fireplace and then turned to face his father. “So can I.”
“What?” Khotan gripped the arms of his chair. “How long have you known?”
“Since I took Kariaksuq’s rök and felt my true name.”
Khotan’s face radiated hope and Rakan wondered if he shouldn’t have said anything.
“Then maybe you do have a chance, especially now that you’ve finally accepted your rök,” Khotan said. “Does anyone else know?”
“No. Only Dvara. And T’eng Sten now.” Yuli nudged him mentally. “And Yuli.”
“Good. Don’t let anyone else know and keep it secret in the fight until the right moment. You’ll only have one chance to surprise her. And then, when she wavers, you’ll be able to rip her rök out and kill her.” Khotan stood and hugged Rakan. He held him at arm’s length. “You’re thinking of the human.”
“Anna. Her name is Anna.”
Khotan smiled. “It sounds like Hana. Flower. She almost has a dragon name.” Khotan gave Rakan a last hug. “Go to her. The Eld will call you when it is time.” Khotan turned to Yuli. “And I’ll try to undo the blocks Yarlung has embedded in your mind.”
“Thank you, Father.” Rakan turned to Yuli, “Is there anything you can do for his poison?”
“No. Yarlung made it so that it couldn’t be undone without killing him.” She looked at Khotan thoughtfully. “Although I might be able to put a shield around the active poison.”
“That would already be better,” Rakan said. “Thank you.”
She sent him a wave of warmth. “I’ll block you out when you’re with Anna.” He felt her fear of being alone. “You’ll have to want to reach me to feel me again,” she said, disappearing from his mind.
Rakan hesitated. He could feel her tremble even without the m
ind-link.
“Don’t worry,” said Khotan. “I’ll take care of her.”
“I know,” Rakan said, placing a hand on his father’s shoulder. “Thank you.” His father would have to take care of her much longer than he expected. But they would be happier together.
* * *
Anna sat on her bed and hugged her pillow. She stared out her window at the incongruously sunny sky. She hadn’t gone to school since Rakan had left the week before. There was no way she could go to class. Not when Rakan might never come back. The only people she had seen were Red and Liv when they came to remove the trigger Liv had placed in her mind. And Anna had had to insist before Red agreed to remove T’eng Sten’s shield. He would rather have left her with more protection than less. But in the end, they hadn’t stayed long. They had left right after she told them about Yarlung and how she had poisoned June.
The back of her neck tingled. Rakan. She felt him. As soon as he appeared, she jumped up and threw herself into his arms, sending her pillow and comforter flying. He gripped her so tightly she could hardly breathe, but she didn’t care. She’d stay like that forever if she could.
“I’ve missed you,” he said, nuzzling her neck that she stretched for him to bite. She groaned in a wave of pleasure when she felt his teeth sink into her. And then his mouth was on hers, crushing her lips. Her mouth filled with his tongue and the taste of blood and she clawed into him, wanting him to explode into her, aching to feel him burn through her. She resisted as he pulled back, biting down on his lips to keep them next to hers. He smiled, pulling his lips away. “Firecat,” he said. “You’ll make me take you like a dragon.”
“Is that so bad?” she asked, searching his eyes. Her smile faded. “What is it? What did they say?”
Rakan’s hair braided itself. “We fight tomorrow.”
“What do you mean, we?”
“June and I.”
“What? Why?”
Rakan picked up the pillow and sat on the bed. “They wouldn’t listen. And June didn’t want to prove she had changed.” He tossed the pillow to the head of the bed. “I asked to replace Yarlung. June won’t fight back tomorrow. She’s like… a shell. I’ve never seen anyone like that.”
Dragon Fire Page 35
