With a Dragon's Heart

by Marissa Farrar

  Was that where Vehel and Warsgra and Orergon were now? Or were they somewhere else in the city? She prayed to the Gods that they’d made it there safely. She trusted Vehel’s magic, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t run into trouble when they’d arrived. She missed them immensely. Did they feel the same way about her? Did they even know she was still alive? She was starting to grow weary of everyone she cared about thinking she was dead.

  They would use the wall surrounding the city as further protection from prying eyes, though Dela would need to get off on this side of the wall rather than on the outside. If she was on the outside, the City Guard might not let her in, and she couldn’t afford to take that risk.

  The streets were too narrow for the dragon to land, so it chose a rooftop. The houses on the outskirts of the city were owned by the richer families, and they tended to be larger and with more space around them. The dragon settled on the roof with a crunch of claws on thatch that must have woken whoever was inside. But he did so with surprising grace and used his wings to balance his body weight to prevent them crashing through the roof and into the house below. For a moment, Dela wondered how she was going to get down, but the dragon spread out one of his wings, creating a sling for her to reach the ground upon.

  “Thank you,” she told him as she clambered down the smooth skin of his wing and onto the ground below. She wished he could stay, but that would be impossible. A dragon didn’t belong in a city like this—not yet, anyway. Perhaps, if things changed, there would come a time where dragons circling the sky would be no more unusual than seeing buzzards hovered in the eddies, but that day was not today.

  The dragon didn’t make a sound as he beat his wings and lifted his massive body into the air. She stood and watched him lift higher and higher into the darkness of the night sky until he was only a black spec, and then he vanished altogether. She missed him already. Flying with a dragon had been the most incredible experience of her life, and she wanted to do it again, but she had other things she needed to deal with. She prayed to the Gods that flying with him had simply been the first time of many.

  Movement came from inside the house, and then a voice called out, “Hey, what was that?”

  Dela darted away, running light-footed down the street, away from the house. People would question what she was doing there, and she wouldn’t exactly be able to tell them the truth.

  The dragon had dropped her in her quarter of the city, but it was still a good walk to get home.

  Home.

  Nerves and excitement in equal measures roiled inside her stomach. She was going to see her parents again. She prayed they were all right, and the news of what had happened in the Southern Pass hadn’t hit them too hard. She wondered what else she would hear, too. Which of her traveling companions had survived to make it home again? Some of them must have for news of Vehel using magic to make it back to Anthoinia. In her heart, she prayed her friend Layla had been one of those survivors, though she didn’t want to give herself hope. The chances would be extremely unlikely.

  She moved at a fast pace through the streets. Daylight was almost upon them, but she was aware of the all the normal dangers of a young woman walking the streets of Anthoinia alone. She hadn’t come all this way just to be raped and murdered by one of her own people.

  She’d slept while riding on the dragon, and had been well fed at the Seer’s cavern, so physically she felt strong and was able to keep up her speed. Gradually, she started to recognize the streets around her as being those she’d grown up on. Her heart thrummed in her chest, and her mouth ran dry. It was crazy to be nervous about seeing her parents, but she was.

  Dela reached her street and slowed her pace. She felt lightheaded and a little nauseated, but she couldn’t have explained why she was so nervous. The sun had risen now, and it was strange to see the narrow alleyway leading to her home looking exactly as she had left it. Unsteady steps took her closer to her house, until finally she stopped in the open doorway of their one-room home. It felt like a lifetime ago since she’d last been here, as though the memory of this place had only come from her dreams, and now standing here felt unreal. A familiar shape stood with her back to her in the corner they used as their kitchen. Dela’s breath caught and tears filled her eyes. Her nostrils flared as she did her best to hold back a sob, and she clamped her hand to her mouth.

  “Mama?”

  Her voice came out strangled, but the shape spun around to face her. Her mother’s eyes, so like hers and Ridley’s, widened at the sight of her, and she cupped her own hand to her mouth in a mimic of Dela’s actions.

  “Dela? Is that really you? Tell me I’m not seeing things.”

  At the sight of her daughter, Johanna’s eyes flooded with tears and Dela found herself unable to keep her own at bay.

  “It’s me, Mama. I came home. I’m alive.”

  “Oh, by the Gods!”

  They both stumbled forward, meeting halfway and scooping each other up in their arms. Sobs of happiness burst from their lungs, and they hugged and kissed through salty tears.

  Movement came from out back. “What’s going—?”

  Her father’s words cut off as he saw his daughter standing in the middle of their home.

  “Dela?”

  “Hello, Pops.”

  “Oh, Gods, Dela! We thought you were dead.”

  She crossed their small house to hug her father, Godfrey. “I know. I’m so sorry. I wish there had been some way to get word back to let you know I was all right.”

  He held her at arm’s length and looked her up and down, as though inspecting her for injuries. “The few who made it back said everyone else had perished in the Long White Cloud.”

  Her heart lifted with hope “Who made it back?”

  He shook his head. “Not Layla. I’m sorry. It was a couple of the younger men.”

  Fresh tears filled her eyes, and she blinked and glanced away. “It’s okay. I kind of knew that in my heart.”

  He clasped her chin between his finger and thumb and looked into her face. “What happened to you? Where have you been all this time?”

  She untangled herself from his grasp. “I got caught up in the trouble in the Southern Pass, and I ended up a long way from here, all the way in the north.”

  Her mother’s eyes widened. “The north? Who were you in the north with?”

  “Members of the other races. They took care of me.”

  “Other races? Didn’t they hurt you?”

  Dela gave a small laugh at the idea. “Not in the slightest.”

  “But what were you doing there all this time?”

  “It’s a long story,” she said, exhaling a sigh.

  Her mother caught her by the arm and pulled her over to the bed. She sat first and tugged Dela down to sit beside her. Her father grabbed a wooden chair from beside the small table they owned and took a seat in front of them.

  “We want to hear it,” Johanna said. “You have all the time in the world now you’re back.”

  Sadly, Dela shook her head. “But I don’t. I’m sorry, Mama,” she looked to her father, “Pops. I can’t stay.”

  Her father, Godfrey, bristled. “What are you talking about, Dela? You’re home now. Where else would you be going?”

  “I have other things I need to do.”

  His face grew taut with tension, and he half rose to standing. “Haven’t you heard? We’re at war now! You can’t just go wandering off again.”

  “I know that, Pops. That’s partly why I’m here.”

  Anger deepened on his face, but he dropped back into his seat. “What?”

  Her mother shook her head in bewilderment. “What are you talking about, Dela?”

  Her mind whirred, trying to think of the best way to explain things to them. The things she’d seen and experienced were so outside of the realm of her parents’ normality that it was as though she was sitting down to tell them a fairytale. She needed to ground what she had to say in the things her mother and father knew a
nd understood, to connect it with them, somehow.

  “Did Ridley ever talk about his dreams?” she said eventually.

  Johanna frowned. “His dreams? Not that I can remember.”

  “So he didn’t have a reoccurring dream about flying?”

  Her father leaned forward in his chair. “That’s a strange question, Dela.”

  “Because I do,” she continued. “I mean, I have most of my life, and while I was away, I found out why. The thing is, I think Ridley might have shared those same dreams, too.”

  Her parents glanced at one another, matching expressions of confusion on their faces.

  “What about Dragonsayers?” she asked. “Did he ever mention those to you?”

  Johanna shook her head. “No. Why would he?”

  Godfrey stared at her, his expression serious. It appeared he was starting to see what she was getting at. “What have you learned, Dela?”

  She bit her lip, unsure how much to tell them. It wasn’t that she didn’t think they’d understand, it was that she knew they’d try to stop her, and there was no possibility that life existed for her any more. She loved her parents with all her heart, but if they loved her, too, they needed to set her free now. She needed to go out into the world and become what was in her destiny. Their world was so small, and hers had grown exponentially over the last few weeks. Her future was so much greater than it could ever be if she’d remained in this house.

  “Somewhere in our history, we must have Dragonsayers in our family. I am one, and I believe Ridley was, too, though he died before he’d been able to learn what it meant.”

  Her mother’s bafflement didn’t wane. “But … but … those are just myths of old. There aren’t any Dragonsayers anymore. There aren’t any dragons.”

  She smiled gently. “There are, Mama. One brought me here.”

  “One what? A dragon?”

  “Yes.”

  Her mother got to her feet and paced their small home. “This is crazy.”

  Dela dug her hand into her pants pocket and pulled out the piece of Dragonstone she’d found. She held it out for her parents to see. “When I was in the north, I visited Drusgra with the three leaders of the other races. We found this there.” She lifted her other hand to hold out the ring she wore around her throat. “Do you see the stone? It matches the one in Ridley’s ring.”

  “So?” Her father frowned, his gaze flicking between the ring and the Dragonstone. “It’s just a piece of stone.”

  “No, it isn’t. On our journey to Drusga, we came across the Fae. Their leader told us this was Dragonstone, and the only people able to touch it are Dragonsayers. I can hold it, and Ridley wore it. Our dreams are linked to it, too.”

  Godfrey shook his head in wonder. “I can’t believe it.”

  “You have to. I’m telling the truth. I wouldn’t lie to you. The dragon brought me back here, and my friends are here, too. We want to stop the war. The other races aren’t our enemies. King and Queen Crowmere, and our rulers before them, have been using us and manipulating us for their own gains, just as they are now. With the help of the dragon and my friends, I want to put a stop to them.”

  “You’re just a girl, Dela! You can’t do anything.”

  Her father’s lack of faith in her hurt her heart, and she thought to Vehel and how he’d been told he was a disappointment his whole life. “You’re wrong, Pops. I’m a Dragonsayer.”

  Chapter 26

  Dela

  Her father’s mouth dropped open. “A Dragonsayer? That’s … that’s … not possible.”

  She offered him a small smile and nodded. “It is, Pops. I rode here on the back of a dragon, I swear it to you. The Dragonstone helps me connect to him, but we’re not fully bonded yet. When we are, things will change around here.”

  She could still see the disbelief in her parents’ eyes. Though she didn’t want either of them to be hurt, she knew she was going to have to show them. She held out the Dragonstone. “Touch this.”

  Godfrey frowned, but leaned in and placed his fingers to the stone. He hissed in a breath over his teeth, and snatched his hand away. “What by the Gods …?”

  “Only the Dragonsayers can handle Dragonstone. What I’m saying to you is the truth.”

  They exchanged another glance then her mother nodded. “We believe you, Dela. This has just been a lot to take in.”

  Relief flooded through her. “I know. I felt the same way.”

  “So, what happens now?” Godfrey asked.

  “I can’t stay. I have things to do. I need to try to put an end to the war.”

  Johanna bit her lower lip in worry. “Is there anything we can do to help?”

  “No.” She shook her head sadly. “Just take care of each other.”

  “Wait. I have something to show you.” Her mother got to her feet. She ducked down to pull out a small box from underneath the bed. “When I thought I’d lost both of you, I starting going through some of your old things from when you were children. It brought me some comfort.”

  A painful lump formed in the base of Dela’s throat at the idea of her mother, sitting on the bed, with tears streaming down her face as she went through all of their childhood keepsakes.

  “I found this.” She pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Dela. Dela looked down to see a pencil drawing of her and Ridley when they’d been younger—both of them teenagers. “Do you remember that?”

  Dela nodded and stroked her fingers lightly across the picture. “Yes, I do.”

  One of the neighbors had a talent for capturing faces and had asked to draw them for practice. He’d had great aspirations for becoming a painter for the king and queen one day, imagining giant portraits in the most expensive oils. He’d also been picked at The Choosing one year and hadn’t returned home. She guessed he was dead now, too.

  “You should keep it. A way of remembering your brother.”

  But she shook her head and pressed it back into her mother’s hand. “I can’t. You keep it. You’ll want a way of remembering us, too.”

  She realized she’d said ‘us,’ not ‘him.’

  “I would never forget you. Not either of you. I have this home where you both grew up, and all of your baby clothes, and your first teeth, and the first lock of hair I cut from your little heads. Ridley is gone, and you need to live your life now, Dela. You didn’t come all this way to settle back into your old way of life, did you?”

  She clutched the picture to her chest and shook her head. “No, I didn’t, but I feel terrible leaving you both again.”

  “Now we know you’re alive, we can have hope that you will stay that way, and your father and I can live our lives as well. Nature never intended for our children to remain at our sides when they become adults. We wouldn’t have done our jobs right if you weren’t the brave, confident young woman you’ve become, ready to take on her own life.”

  She reached out her hand and squeezed her mother’s. “Things will be changing, Mama. The city will be changing. Xantearos will be changing. This won’t be the last time we meet, I promise. I’ll bring the picture back as well, and then we can all remember Ridley again.”

  She folded the picture of her and her brother and slipped it into the pocket of her leather pants. On a second thought, she pulled it out again, together with the Dragonstone, and went to the side of the house that had served as her bedroom when she’d lived here. She’d been wearing the same clothes for weeks, and though she’d managed to wash them, she needed a change. Nothing she wore was fancy or luxurious, and was basically the same as what she was currently wearing, but it was fresh and not as worn. She pulled over the curtain strung across a wire on the ceiling to offer herself a little privacy, and then changed her pants and vest top for an almost identical pair. She replaced the stone and picture into the pocket of the new pants and shoved her boots back on. The soles were wearing thin after having walked so long and far, but there was no way her family had money for a second pair of boots. She was lucky she had
one pair.

  A commotion came from outside, and Dela yanked back the curtain. Her father frowned and went to the doorway.

  “What’s going on?” he asked of a young boy passing by.

  The boy stopped, eager to share gossip. “The City Guard has arrested three foreign men. They’re claiming to be here to parlay with the king, but they don’t have any of their own people with them.”

  Her heart lurched. Of course, she knew exactly who the foreigners were.

  She rushed out to join her father in questioning the boy. “Do you know where they were taken?”

  The boy shrugged. “To the castle dungeon, I expect, where all the other races belong.”

  She bit down on her retort. It wasn’t the boy’s fault he’d been brought up to believe such things, and she didn’t want to do anything to bring attention to herself. Warsgra, Orergon, and Vehel were far from defenseless. They had Vehel’s magic to free themselves, but she still needed to get inside the castle.

  “Thanks,” she told the boy before grabbing her father’s arm and tugging him back inside.

  “What is this, Dela?” her father asked. “What’s going on?”

  An idea formed in her mind. “Is Mr. Willetts still in the city?” she said, asking after the blacksmith she used to work for.

  “Yes, of course. He wasn’t allowed to join the army—not that he’d want to. His work is too important. He’s been forging new swords and armory ever since news that the Treaty was broken got back to us.”