by Kym Dillon
“Right. Absolutely. I’d love a nice stroll before my legs become dogfood.”
Daya tried to keep her mood level until they reached the winding staircase beyond earshot of the guards. Then, she impulsively pulled the priest into a hug. “I’m so happy to see you,” she gushed. “Now, where the hell have you been?”
“You’re not the only one I’m tasked with helping, you know. I have a life outside the Fire Realm. Anyway, I’m happy to see you looking well.”
“Can you get me out of this, Ainley?”
“I’m afraid I can’t, my dear,” he continued in a masculine voice. “There isn’t much I can do in this realm. My role is messenger and guide. The rest is up to you.”
“Well, tell me my future still looks bright, at least. I don’t think I can handle more bad news,” she sighed, following him down the stairs.
“I can tell you this. Feis is desperate, which makes her a different kind of threat. When the dragon eaters starve, their powers are affected. She needs to eat, or she’ll die. It works to your advantage to play upon that eventuality to sway her to your side.”
“Or, she’ll kill me. You know, I’m getting very sick of the options around here. Everything is ‘either do this or death.’ Ugh!”
“I’m afraid those are the options, no matter where you are, at this point. Step lively. She’s already in a foul mood, and you don’t want to keep her waiting.”
“Of course, of course. When is she ever in a good mood? Are you coming in with me?” she asked. Neigen smiled apologetically and shook his head.
“I came only to get you an audience with the high priestess and to warn you of her vulnerabilities. The rest is up to you.”
Daya pushed a hand through her hair and fluffed it out, trying to rid herself of the ick of the tower cell. Ahead of her, Neigen breezed through the corridor at a quick pace for a gnarled old man or even a spry old woman.
Daya made herself stop considering the likelihood of failure. She had to survive. She hadn’t come this far to lie down and take whatever Feis dished out. When they arrived at the temple worship room, she was girded with the confidence that had aided her through many a high-stakes heist. If she could steal Feis’ trust and persuade her to hold off on going to battle, then she could do anything.
Feis stood before the altar with the fake red diamond in hand. “How did you find it?” she asked. Her flaming eyes were on the stone, instead of Daya. The girl from the Blue Sky Realm lifted her chin and squared her shoulders.
“I already told you!” she said forcefully. “When I arrived at the keep, Arken looked like any other man. I thought he was a servant and the injured dragon was the guardian of the stone. So, I befriended him and kept my mission a secret. If he was a servant, I reasoned, then he would know where the diamond was hidden. By the time I found out who he really was, he trusted me.”
“Enough to give it to you freely?” Feis arched a slender red brow.
Daya smoothed her sweaty palms down her thighs. “As I explained, he unwittingly revealed the location of the stone to me. He didn’t give it up freely. But, yes, he trusted me enough to let his guard down, and here we are. Now, why don’t you tell me why I’m a prisoner instead of halfway home to my own realm?”
“I like your story, Oedaya of the Sky Realm,” the high priestess smiled sanguinely. “It’s full of all the right stuff—intrigue, deception, a hint of seduction. There’s just one problem.” She dropped the decoy, and a huge chunk of it crumbled off, revealing the white interior. “This isn’t the Heart of the Dragon.”
Daya gasped. “That can’t be right! I saw him handling that stone with my very own eyes!”
“Did you, really? Then, how stupid of you! To think you had won him over. He clearly saw through your act. What’d you do? Get him to sleep with you?” Feis’ laughter had a cruel streak. “You worthless whore!”
Daya tightened her lips. “How was I supposed to know it wasn’t the real stone? You sent me off with an illustration! It’s not like I’m native to this place! You think, for one second, anyone from the Fire Realm would’ve encountered a dragon and not known it?”
“No! That’s why I wish to do this myself,” Feis growled. She paced along the step at the foot of the altar. Her balled fist looked claw-like. She was more haggard than the last time Daya had seen her. Her gold skin had the sickly hue of greased bronze now.
“But, you can’t do it yourself,” Daya said quietly. “That’s why you hired me, but you didn’t prepare me for the job properly. I’m willing to go back, if it’ll buy my freedom. In fact, you and your huntsmen can come with me to wait in the forest while I get the real stone. Consider it insurance.”
“No, no, no,” Feis chuckled harshly. “You think I’ll send you back after how you’ve botched this? He’ll never trust you again. Wait—what of the other dragon?” She pressed her fist to her lips hopefully.
“Vyda? She’s still there,” Daya replied. “She eventually transformed into a woman, too. That’s how I learned there were two of them.”
Feis punched the air triumphantly. “Then, there’s hope. He kept her there. She can succeed where you failed.”
“What are you talking about? Are you saying you sent her after the same stone?” she asked with false indignation. “That means you wanted me to fail! You never intended to set me free!”
“Wrong, silly girl. You were my best hope. The dragon female has ulterior motives. She came to me because she hoped I could help her defeat the dragon king so her rebel warriors could usurp his throne.”
“What?” This time her stunned reaction was authentic. Daya staggered back a step and clutched her chest. Her eyes swept the room as her jaw dropped at the disarming revelation that Vyda had deceived her. Arken was in danger.
“But, perhaps that’s even better,” Feis whispered speculatively. “Vyda will see to it that he dies a miserable death for the trouble he’s caused me. If she delivers the diamond, I might even give her the amnesty I promised her. She’ll be lonely, of course, without the rest of her friends. The dragon eaters must be fed.”
“You can’t let that happen,” Daya pleaded. Something in her tone drew the attention of the high priestess.
Feis locked eyes with her, a smile frozen on her lips. Her jagged teeth looked sinister. She made a sound of sudden understanding. “Oh, I see,” she replied. “You developed feelings for him. How lovely! Well, this does change everything. This just…Opens up all kinds of doors.”
The mercurial woman glided toward her, and Daya cringed into herself as she lost her courage. Feis yanked a fistful of her hair and brought their faces within inches of one another. She studied Oedaya intently, and her eyes widened as realization dawned.
“He set you up to this,” the woman gasped. “He sent you here to deceive me, and I nearly fell for it.”
“That’s not true. You have no reason to believe that,” Daya fumbled to correct course as tears sprang to her eyes. Feis jerked her hair with more force, bringing the girl to her knees in pain. “Please…You’re hurting me…”
“Tell me, Oedaya of the Sky Realm, where is your dragon lover?” Feis asked. “Is he waiting at the keep for you to lead me and my men to his doorstep? Is that why you so handily suggested I allow you to go back and try again with me along for the trip?”
“No, that’s not what I meant!”
“What was I supposed to do?” the high priestess continued with a charismatic grin. “Sit idly by while you told him our location so he could wipe me out?”
“No, I—!”
“We both know he can’t reach me here. And, you were just going to deliver me to certain death with a bat of your pretty eyelashes. I’m almost impressed,” Feis laughed. “I’m the most powerful woman you’ve ever encountered! But, you think I’d let a sniveling human destroy me?”
She flung Daya to the floor and raised a hand. Daya braced herself, but there was nothing she could do to prepare for the blast of searing heat that enveloped her. It was like be
ing cooked alive. Daya emitted a high-pitched scream. The pain was blessedly temporary. Her strangled outcry faded to a whimper as Feis dropped her hand.
“Guards!” the high priestess yelled.
“Please, wait! Let me explain,” Daya sobbed. She tried to crawl toward the pews to get away, but she was paralyzed by fear. Her vision swam, and a heat haze rippled around her. She panted for air and slumped to the semi-cool stones of the floor, watching guards race into the room. Her salty tears spilled over her fingers.
She lifted her gaze and saw her nemesis leaning heavily against the altar. Suddenly, she remembered Neigen’s revelation that the dragon eaters grew weaker the longer they were without sustenance. But, Feis wasn’t weak enough, and where she faced limitations, her guards didn’t. They were leverage.
“What are you going to do to me?” Daya asked, remaining on the floor.
Feis glared at her, a smug grin plastered to her face. “Well, look at you,” she snarled. “You’re suffering while he’s living in the lap of luxury. How long do you think it’ll be before he realizes you’re never coming back? How long, before he turns to my dragon for comfort?”
She had nothing left to lose but her life, and that already seemed signed away. “He wouldn’t do that,” Daya replied with certainty.
“Aww, honey...” Feis crooned. She kneeled beside her and tenderly stroked her hair back from her face. Her fingers stung Daya’s reddened skin. “You better hope he does. Because if I don’t get that diamond within the next few days, my forces are sailing against the remainder of the dragons on the Isle of Warriors, and he’ll be only one left. But, you, my darling, won’t last to see the maiden voyage.”
With a twist of her features, the high priestess leveled her hand over Daya’s face. This time Daya was ready for it. She scowled in concentration and quickly rubbed her fingers over the tear-soaked floor.
“What are you doing?” Feis hesitated.
Suddenly, a wall of white water exploded to the ceiling between them. The sound of it was like crashing thunder, and the high priestess was blown off her feet by its volatile force. Daya could hardly see her through the rushing rapids, but she imagined the look of shock on the woman’s face was priceless.
“You’ll find,” Daya grunted as she rose to her feet, “that I’m not so easy to burn.” She glanced around frantically for a way out because she knew the water would only protect against the heat, not the men with weapons.
Behind her, there was a door. She didn’t know where it led, but she had to take it. The barest hint of moisture clung to her fingertips, and the shield of water was holding. If it deterred the guards long enough, she could make it.
Daya lunged toward the exit, running with every ounce of strength. She didn’t have a plan for what she would do once she made it out of the temple. Somehow, she had to reach Arken and warn him of Vyda’s betrayal. She had to tell him that her ploy to buy him time had only hastened the danger.
The shadowy temple walls whizzed by as she sprinted away from Feis and her men. Daya was nearly to the door, and she reached out for the knob with trembling hands. That’s when she realized her fingers were dry. She looked over her shoulder in time to see the butt of a broadsword come toward her face. The temple guard was right on her heel. The sword connected, and her head conked the door.
She hit the wall in a daze and slid down. Her bottom struck the floor. She wagged her head as she peered through swirling stars at Feis striding across the temple toward her. The high priestess looked displeased.
“Restrain her,” she ordered.
Daya whimpered as her arms were jerked forward and a thin, but sturdy rope was wound around her wrists. She bit her quivering bottom lip and stared unflinchingly at the dragon eater.
“You’re a Maker…More powerful than any I’ve ever met. Uncanny that you’re an ally to dragons and you have a gift with water,” the woman said with begrudging respect. She tapped her golden fingers on her thigh and studied Daya warily through narrowed eyes. “What other tricks are you hiding up your sleeve?”
Daya clamped her lips shut and didn’t answer.
The high priestess kneeled to her level. “Congratulations, Oedaya of the Sky Realm,” she whispered. “You just made yourself too valuable to kill. The dragons have fire, and I’ve got someone who can extinguish their flames.”
“I’d sooner die than work with you,” Daya spat.
“Remember, I have your lover right where I want him. I’m the only one who can call off Vyda’s mission. The longer you cooperate, the longer he lives because I don’t need the Heart of the Dragon quite yet, now that I have you.” Feis rose to her feet and turned to her guards. “Take her back to her room, and make sure no water is given to her. Then, send word that I want the ships ready to set sail. We leave for the Isle of Warriors at daybreak.”
14
The Isle of Warriors was smaller than King’s Isle, positioned far away from the main cluster of tropical islands that dotted the vast Dragons Tears Sea. Arken remembered when his brother had parlayed for the prime piece of real estate, back when the dragon eaters had no idea the gem of an island existed.
It was covered in dense vegetation but unmarred by a sprawling metropolis. The waters surrounding it were a pristine turquoise—so clear that magnificent jewel-toned coral reefs could be seen beneath the gentle waves. A towering volcanic mountain lay dormant, and the great houses of dragons studded the emerald hillsides. Crystalline rivers meandered to the sea.
From above, the land looked unspoiled. Arken knew the Eden-like vista was as deceptive as his enchanted keep. Where things appeared perfect, chaos lurked beneath the surface. His men plotted against him. His allies were all imprisoned or dead. What should have been a temporary paradise had, instead, become a den of vipers.
As the disillusioned dragon king flew over the island in search of a place to descend, bitterness swamped him. He had no appetite for what lay ahead. To deal with the traitors, he would have to rewrite the rules of engagement. He could no longer afford his principles. Worse, he had none. He had lost too much for the luxury.
He swooped ashore in an area that had no trace of the smell of dragons. With the sun on his scales, he sank talons into soft sand and crossed the empty beach. He crashed through the trees and pushed into the forest where tall tropical plants could partially hide him while he transformed.
Travel had been long, hard and especially disheartening after Vyda’s untimely demise. For a moment, he reveled in being back on solid ground. While he rested his exhausted body and prepared his heart to face his disloyal ranks, his thoughts inevitably turned inward to Daya.
Daya, with hair like midnight silk and eyes as vibrant as a summer day. He had been trying not to revisit the memories. They hurt too much. The taste of her lingered on his tongue and erased some of the acrid flavor of betrayal.
He missed her soft skin, her arms around his neck, her body beneath his. The sound of her laughter and the sweet, hot anguish of her tears. He longed for the respite of meeting her in the Realm of Dreams, but he hadn’t seen her there since that first night.
He hadn’t seen Ainley, either.
Arken refocused on the task at hand. He condensed his consciousness when he had the strength to do so, and he transformed into man-shape. He materialized his backpack from the same mysterious Between where he kept the Heart of the Dragon. He dressed quickly in the humid heat. Here, where his race dominated the landscape, it was safer to act as a mortal. He could hide in plain sight.
Working on fumes, he made camp. Thick, leathery leaves were hoisted onto a frame of sticks to create a lean-to where he could steal an hour or two of sleep. After he bundled shorn grass into a semi-comfortable bed, he built a fire in a sandy pit and roasted a turtle picked from the ocean. Then, he leaned against a fallen tree at the edge of the forest and ate. The soft-textured meat melted in his mouth like butter, but he hardly tasted it.
He mulled over his next moves. Rest, first. He would make the half-night’
s trek across the island to the main camp under cover of darkness. It had been centuries since Arken had been to this island, but he hoped much hadn’t changed. Dragons were routine-driven creatures.
He did away with the turtle shell and food materials before scouting the area around his well-disguised camp. When he was satisfied he wouldn’t be discovered, he slept fitfully with the bright light of day in his face. But, rest was elusive. He had nightmares of Vyda’s sacrifice and visions of Daya’s lifeless body, as he had seen her through Ainley’s eyes in the Realm of Dreams.
“Stay close to her,” he whispered to the Sylph. “Protect her for me.” No one answered his request, however. For all he knew, Oedaya was already dead. His jaw clenched in sleep, and he tightened his fist. If anything had happened to her, Feis would suffer greatly.
Hours later, Arken awakened with a renewed sense of urgency. The black of night was comforting as he scattered sand over the smoldering fire pit. He broke apart the lean-to and erased all evidence of his presence. With the pack over his shoulder, he set off deeper into the woods, following scent signatures. The same keen senses that would help him locate others would help them locate him; so, he kept his eyes peeled for potential threats.
He traveled with the moon at his back. He followed the river and pretended, for a while, this was merely a pleasant stroll. It had been so long since he had enjoyed freedom. Even pretending was a luxury. He began to relax as his boots tread carefully over ferns and greenery that hugged the forest floor.
The soothing music of nocturnal creatures punctuated his steps. He heard birds chittering softly, things rustling in the underbrush. Fluorescent mushrooms that climbed tall, stately trees drew his curious gaze; they glowed in the dark and delicate, papery moths fluttered around their light. Exotic flowers filled the night with thick perfume.
Arken couldn’t understand how anyone could live in a place like this and wish for disorder. However, like the keep that had been his prison for centuries, this perfect place could outlive its sense of wonder. For his impatient soldiers, perhaps any change was better than none at all.
