by Brindi Quinn
“You love him with your Sapian heart, but what of your angel’s heart? I know you still contain it. I can hear it there, beating below your bones.”
The air was tense. He was not lying. Everything he uttered was truth. But although it was truth, I could not admit it. I was to aid in the spawning of a new race – the Creator’s special race: the Songstresses. For that purpose, I had been given a Sapian heart. For the purpose of holding the gift of song and passing it on.
But I could not pass it to the offspring of a dragon. Dragons were darkness, and I was light. My song would only cause their demise.
“One night,” whispered Dragon, bringing his mouth to my ear. He nibbled.
I did not pull away.
“One night, Angel. Then you will be able to make a wiser decision, will you not?”
It was tempting. Flesh’s limitations won.
“Yes,” I answered without thinking.
“You will not regret it. Angels and dragons were not meant to conflict. They were meant to compliment. They were meant to be the parents of the races. It is right for us to be together.” He nibbled again.
He spoke not lies. I was conflicted, but he spoke not lies.
“Your heart,” I whispered.
“What?”
“I will have your heart for one night first.”
He moved his hand to the small of my back and forcefully pulled me to him. “And then I may have you?”
“Yes. And then you may have me.”
“It is a small price to pay. Kiss me.”
“Dragon?”
“Before I revert to my true form, you must kiss me to seal the arrangement. I do not wish to crush you, so you must do it now.”
“Very well.”
I pushed the hair from his forehead and kissed him there. His smoke-filled veins darkened beneath his skin.
“Thank you,” he said and smiled. “Stand away.”
I backed into the corner of the cavern, the same one that he had been hiding in, and waited for him to transform.
He called upon the shadow from the corners of the room. They pulled into him, covering his flesh in moist blackness. The purest blackness. The same color as the blackness beneath his skin. It was enticing. I waited, and that blackness turned into a cloud of smoke that surrounded him and hid him from view.
This was my favorite part. It was the true display of dragon’s power. There was a loud roar, and the smoke lifted to the ceiling. When it fell, he was wearing his true form.
“You are beautiful like this, Dragon,” I told him.
“You are beautiful always, Angel. I have prepared my heart for you. You may take it.”
He opened his mouth wide, revealing a sharp, white set of teeth. They were so white that it was blinding. I shielded my eyes from them and reached in without fear. At the back of his tongue was his heart, black and wisped like shadow. I drew it from his mouth.
“It is yours for the night.” He looked me in the eye. “But, Angel?”
“Yes, Dragon?”
“Do not betray me.”
“I will not,” I lied.
I turned from him to conceal my tears. Although I wished to, I could not give him myself. I could not risk the passage of my song to the offspring of a dragon. It would only do them harm. It was meant for the new races, not the old.
I had a duty. I could not love him.
His heart beat softly atop my two palms, alike a sparrow. I carried it gently, careful not to lose any of its smoke.
I returned to my husband.
“Did he pass at you?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Did you oblige?”
“I can only be yours.”
“Thank you, my cherry.”
Cherry. They were red fruit that were both sweet and bitter. It was a complicated fruit, shouldering two conflicting tastes at the same time. Cherry? The cherry trees bore no fruit now, but after the time of snow, they would come again.
“Why do you call me that, my husband?”
He laughed. “The way your cheeks turn to rose in the cold. Even now, they are like cherries.”
He cupped them with his cool palms. “It does not help, does it?”
I laughed and shook my head. “I like the coolness of your skin. It is refreshing.”
We were silent. He looked back at the zebron. “Is there something else?” he asked. I had interrupted his work, and there was not much time remaining until the time of the stars.
“Yes,” I answered. “I have brought you something, my husband.”
I held my hand to him. The blackness swirled in my palm.
“What is it? From the dragon?” he asked.
I nodded. “It is his heart. He gave it to me, but I now give it to you.”
“Why? Why would you give it to me?”
“With his heart, you will be able to control him. If you hold his heart, he will follow the whistle’s call. You will be his true keeper.”
“Thank you, my cherry. I know it must not have been easy for you to come by.”
“It was not.”
My husband did not know how very difficult it had been.
~
The next morning, I returned to the place where the dragon was waiting for me. He had maintained his true form.
“You cut your hair,” he said.
“Do you like it?”
“I like anything you do, Angel. And it is the color, not the length, that I am drawn to. It is like the purest shadow. I wonder how an angel ended up with hair like yours.”
I held my tears from falling.
“I will return this to you,” I said.
He opened his mouth, and I slipped the ball of my hair inside.
“Thank you for returning it. Now may I have you?”
“Not tonight,” I said.
“Why?”
“I have conceived. Yesterday I conceived. You may have me after I bear an offspring to pass my song unto.”
“WITH HIM!? YOU HAVE-”
“I had not a choice. There is but one duty I have been given by the Creator. To pass my song is more important than anything.”
“You lied!”
“I did not. I will give you one night. It will merely be at a time of my choosing.”
“Leave me! Do not return until it has passed!”
Tears falling freely, I fled the cave. A burst of hot fire followed closely behind me.
Dragon was upset. I had betrayed him, but I had done so to save his offspring. I had done so to fulfill my duty. I had done so to protect my husband, whom I loved with all of my Sapian heart.
Nevertheless, I experienced another new emotion: regret.
~
“She is beautiful,” said my husband.
“She is,” I said.
“You have still not been back to see him? Even though it is your ad’ai?”
“I have not. He could taste the false heart. He will not see me.”
“Our child has grown.” My husband brushed a finger along her sleeping back. “She will soon be a year.”
“You will take care of her always, my husband?”
“Of course I will.”
I placed my eyes onto his. “I love you, husband. With all of my heart, I love you.”
“I love you too, my cherry.”
The crack of fire was the only sound inside of our windowless house for a while. When I was ready to move on, I spoke again.
“I must leave for a spell. Sit with her while I am gone, will you?”
“I will.”
I left him. I left him forever.
In the darkest part of the night, I stole away to meet with my dragon for a final time. The yonder mounts were capped again. I could not clearly see them through the moonless night, but their presence still brought me awe. They brought me as much awe as they had the first time I’d seen them.
“It has passed,” I said at the mouth of his cavern.
A brush of flame welcomed me.
“May I
enter?”
“You may not,” said Dragon.
“I have something for you.”
“I do not want it.”
“I choose tonight,” I said. “Tonight you may have me.”
“Our deal was broken the moment I tasted the false heart. It could deceive me a week, but you were foolish to think I would not taste it sooner or later.”
“I did not think you would mind. Did it not taste like I taste?”
“It made me hungry to devour the rest of you.” He let out a roar and another burst of flame.
“Do not be brutish.”
He said nothing.
“I will ask you a gain: May I enter? I have something to give you.”
He said nothing, so I entered anyway.
“I have come to warn you,” I said. “Tonight my husband will swallow your heart, and you will be changed. I regret what has passed, but it was something that had to be done. On this day, I have finished what I was meant to do. My song has been passed. My child spoke today, and there were traces of song within the air. I am finished, so I will leave you something to take the place of that which I stole.”
In his Daem form, the dragon approached from the shadows.
“Angel?” he said.
“For you, Dragon, I give my heart. Take it freely.”
“What?”
“My angel’s heart is yours.”
“You do not mean-?!”
“It has been done.” Without hesitation, I willed the material part of me to cease.
“Angel? Angel?! NO!” The dragon put his hands upon my shoulders, but my Sapian form was already melting away. “NO! ANGEL! DO NOT!”
It was too late. All that remained was a golden glow. At its center was my heart.
“When my husband swallows yours, you will need something to take its place. Do not reject it, or you shall remain heartless until your end of days.”
The last of my words left the space as the last of my gold disappeared. I was no more.
The memory ended in a cloud of blackness. That same blackness gradually faded from behind my eyes. Ardette and I were still close, our lips nearly touching.
“Dragon?” I whispered.
Ardette shook his head.
“I am not the dragon.”
“You aren’t?”
He was silent a moment and then,
“I am its keeper.”
“What? But I thought-”
He pulled his face away from mine. “I contain within me the dragon’s heart. Therefore, I am neither Daem nor dragon. I am the only one of my kind. It’s rather fascinating, don’t you think?”
“If I’m the angel, and you’re the keeper, then who’s-?”
“Darch.”
“WHAT?!”
Laughing, Ardette shook his head. “You’re too gullible, my pit. No, Darch is Darch. The dragon was Sowpa’s first life. He’s the dark part of our desire. He is vengeance. Dragons consist wholly of darkness. They’re all bad. Every inch of them. Except for their hearts. You gave him your angel’s heart, and it kept the darkness at bay, but when his memories came back to him, he rejected the heart by pushing it out of his chest.”
“The star?” I whispered.
Ardette nodded. “He now wears it as a tattoo. The star is your first heart, and it is the only thing that can save the world. It is the only thing that can keep Illuma from singing her song.”
“But, Ardette, this is crazy! That was an old fable! It’s lore, and I just saw it happen! How could we be those people?”
But though I denied it, something about it felt kind of familiar.
“After your death,” he said, “we formed a pact and made a deal with the moon that we might be reborn to find our lover once more. Darch was wrong. There were three of us that were granted another life. You, me, and Sowpa. It took the sacrifice of a dragon to do so.”
“How is that possible?” But I’d known. Deep, deep down, I’d known all along that it was something like this. “I’m . . . sorry. I’m so sorry! Because of me-”
Ardette put a finger to my lips.
“You did what you had to do. Your job was to pass the gift of song unto the races. You accomplished that. You were one of the mothers of your kind.”
Nyte had been silently watching us from his place near the tree. I didn’t know how much of it he’d caught, but it had been enough for him to bear a face of complete astonishment. Gaping at us, he stumbled with his words but finally managed to ask, “Do you contain the feelings of the dragon? Or the feeling of the keeper?”
“Both,” said Ardette. “The dragon and the keeper share their emotions. When Sowpa loved her, I too loved her. When he felt betrayal by her, I felt betrayal too. The difference is that he rejected his heart. One cannot forgive without a heart. I kept mine. Both of them. By the by, do you know what that means, my pit? I love you with the love of both the dragon and its keeper.”
“Both of them?” I asked. “But how can that be? How can a person contain two hearts?”
Ardette took my hand and pulled it to his chest.
“Both of them beat for you.”
“Don’t!” I snatched my hand from him.
How was I supposed to react to something like this?! It was messed up! Ardette was a personification of the two men my first life had loved? He loved me that much, but I only loved him second best? It wasn’t fair! Why did it have to be like that?! Why did I have to be so cruel?!
The small something reeled inside of me. It longed to escape, but no matter how hard it tried, it would never get beyond the love I felt for Nyte. That’s just how it was. That love for Nyte filled me. I didn’t have a second heart to share with Ardette.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered, “but just don’t, okay?”
Ardette took pity. Grinning devilishly, he twisted his back to me. That was better. It was better if I didn’t have to make eye contact.
“I told you once that darkness and light are two forces meant to compliment each other,” he said. “I assure you, it’s entirely true. They do not produce chaos. They produce harmony. The way to clear the mist is to combine those two forces. If the heart of a dragon mixes with the heart of an angel, it will be powerful enough to right the imbalances caused by the races. It will reunite the land.”
I tried to take it all in, but it was hard, considering that my mind had just been blown.
Nyte straightened from his slouch. From his forehead of concentration, it was clear that, like me, his thoughts were racing.
“But this method will not destroy the coast?” he asked.
Ardette shook his head.
“But people will die, right?” I whispered.
“More will die if Illuma has her way.”
Then, it was our best option at this point.
“All right.” I nodded. “Let’s do it.”
Nyte’s forehead was still concentrated. “So you must take the angel’s . . . Aura’s first heart into yourself?”
“Something like that,” said Ardette.
“There’s one thing I don’t understand, though,” I said. “Why here? Why the marsh? Why couldn’t Lusafael enter, and why do the Daems fear a curse?”
“The Daems have their own folklore. Their fire-stories contain a version of our tale similar to Grotts’. They fear it here because before the Great Divisia, this place was cold and barren.” He pointed past me. “And there was a mountain over there.”
“This was where-?”
Ardette nodded. “Do you remember it on your own?”
“No, I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. I didn’t expect you to remember. Actually, it’s probably best for you if you don’t. This is where we made the deal with the moon.”
“The Splitting, huh?” I tossed it around in my head. “So that refers to when the dragon’s heart split from it? Or, I guess, where your heart split from you? Or . . . which is it?”
“It is mine. And it is the dragon’s. I was reborn with it, so the dragon’s he
art is wholly mine, that is, it’s Ardette’s, but it also is the dragon’s – from his first life. It’s a rather complicated situation if you ask me. No matter. What’s important is that this is the place where the hearts split. Therefore, it’s the only place they can be rejoined.”
“But, what about-”
“Listen, my cherry, I’ve really no time to explain it now. We’ve only a pair of hours before ad’ai is through.” He tipped his eyes to the sky. “See the moon? It’s getting ready to fall.”
“Okay.” I’d save my questions for later.
“Elf, take The Mystress, would you? We must return to the others. It’s time to awaken my brother.”
~
“Just what the hell’s goin’ on?!” growled Grotts. He was blotting Kantú’s arm with a strip of his cloak, which was now in shreds.
It wasn’t just Kantú who’d suffered injury. They were all beat up pretty badly, but just like Ardette had said, the feros had retreated. Only scattered body parts of their deceased brethren remained at the campsite.
“We told you,” said Ardette. “Lusafael’s dead. We’re to rejoin the land.” He was acting like it was no big deal, but I knew him well enough to know that it was just one of his nonchalant coping strategies. He had to be at least a little affected by all of this, right? I mean, I barely felt like a real person. I was all twitchy, and I kept getting lost in my own mind even more than usual.
Rend was pacing. She was completely agitated over the fact that Nyte had survived the ordeal. “What happened to letting my cousin fulfill his duty?!” she ranted. “This is completely dishonorable! It is equal to treason!”
“Now, now, Rend.” Ardette put his hands out in a manner that was mockingly defensive. “That was never the plan. You see, I love Aura most. I could never let the thing that she loves most be destroyed, now could I? Not to mention, things were SO much better before that idiot songstress split the world.”
“ARGH! You have deceived us all, vile Da-”
“ENOUGH!” yelled Nyte. “Hold your tongue, Cousin! You shall show him the respect that he deserves!”
Rend’s jaw dropped.
“Wait!” Darch looked wildly at Nyte. “HE knows?! How did you . . . I thought you weren’t allowed to reveal yourself?!”
