Truth of Embers

by Caitlyn McFarland

  Juli shook her head. “Sometimes I still wake up and think I’m back in our college apartment with Charlotte and Pan.”

  “Wow.” Kai leaned back on the couch and put her hands behind her head. “Pan and Charlotte. I haven’t thought about them in weeks. Can you imagine what she’d think about that?” Kai tilted her head to indicate the dragons sitting in a circle on the floor, playing cards. Ashem laid down his hand—not a very good one—and Cadoc, who had been playing a folksy-sounding song on the guitar, changed the tune to some kind of dirge. Ashem growled a threat to Cadoc’s person, and Cadoc grinned.

  Despite the camaraderie, though, there were empty spaces. Silences that Deryn should have filled. An empty spot next to Ffion. The gathering held a bittersweet intensity unlike anything Kai had known. They came together for hope, but they were also making a memory on purpose. Just in case, when tomorrow came, they said goodbye to someone else.

  Juli leaned forward and flicked Ashem’s ear when he swore. “I don’t even know what I think about it. We’ve gone from finals to battles. I don’t like danger. I don’t like complications.”

  “But you love Ashem.”

  Juli raised an eyebrow, but couldn’t quite hide her smile. “He’ll do.”

  Kai snuck a glance at Rhys, and met his gaze instead, their blue as bright as a Bunsen burner flame. Her heartbeat sped at the slow smile that spread across his face. She knew him better than she’d ever known anyone—except maybe Juli—yet somehow, with one look, he could turn her brain and knees to jelly.

  Later, when everyone had gone and they’d made some memories of their own, Kai held on to Rhys, listening to his heartbeat.

  Whatever happens, please let him live.

  * * *

  Ashem stood in his spare bedroom, watching Kavar as he slept. He didn’t know what to do about his brother. For so many years, they’d wished each other dead. Now, even though they were still heartsworn to the same woman, they had come to an uneasy truce.

  Even so, things could not stand as they were for long.

  “What are you doing? It’s the middle of the night.” Kavar’s voice was thick with sleep. He sat up, silver eyes glinting in the sliver of moonlight that came through the window. “I’m not going to murder you in your bed, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

  Ashem scowled. “I’ve never been afraid of you, Kavar.”

  His brother chuckled. “We both know that’s not true.”

  Silence.

  “Why have you come, Ashem?” Kavar asked.

  Ashem leaned back against the wall. “Henry Harrow just woke me to tell me that Owain will arrive in a few hours, as expected. I need to know whose side you’re on.”

  Kavar was nothing but a shadow in the darkness, impossible to read. “If I said I still support Owain, would you kill me?”

  “If I was going to kill you, I would’ve done it already.”

  A flash of white teeth. “At the moment, I’m on my own side.”

  “How are your wounds?”

  “The Quetzal girl knows what she’s doing.”

  Ashem scowled. “Councilwoman Citlali is almost as skilled a healer as Izel is a torturer.”

  “As you say.”

  “Can you fly?”

  Kavar nodded.

  “What will you do?”

  His brother toyed with the blanket on the cot. “I was thinking of going home.”

  Home. Yellow-brown mountains and pistachio groves and the scent of spices on the breeze. Ashem wouldn’t mind going home, someday.

  “What about Juliet?” Ashem asked.

  Kavar grunted. “Keep her. For now.”

  “You won’t fight with us?”

  Kavar threw off his covers and got to his feet, wobbling a little. He was healed, but his body had to be exhausted from the effort. “Don’t mistake me, brother—I support neither Rhys nor his cause. Owain has asked one too many things of me, but that doesn’t mean I’m with you. At the end of things, humans still need to be taken care of before they take care of us.”

  Ashem snorted, but declined to argue. It didn’t seem like a good time to delve into the topic that had caused their rift in the first place. “So you will fight with Owain?”

  Kavar threw up his hands.”You still don’t listen. I’m leaving. I hope Owain kills Rhys and wipes out the human plague that has overtaken the Earth, but he can do it without me. I won’t be his pawn any longer. Are you going to let me leave, or are you going to throw me in a cell?”

  Ashem folded his arms and wished he could see Kavar’s face—wished that their bond was open, so he could sense what his brother was feeling. Part of him—the stupid part—wanted his brother to stay. Perhaps they could start counting caves on the islands. “You can go.”

  “Good. I hope I never see you again.”

  “We’re heartsworn to the same woman,” Ashem said, exasperated.

  “I’ll pick her up at the airport.” Kavar pulled on a shirt over his bandaged abdomen. “Get out so I can escape.”

  Ashem snorted. “You aren’t a prisoner.” Not formally, anyway. Once the Council had a second to spare, he would be.

  Kavar, face in moonlight now that he was standing, raised an eyebrow and said nothing. Sighing, Ashem left. He was outside the mountain, flying with Tane to check on their traps before he realized Kavar hadn’t closed down their connection.

  Maybe it wouldn’t be so long until they saw each other, after all.

  Ashem returned to his apartments an hour or so before dawn. Kavar’s room was empty.

  He kissed Juliet awake, and she returned his kisses with a fervor that made him light-headed. They made love, and he refused to let himself think it could be the last time.

  At least if he died, she had his brother and all his dubious charm.

  “Don’t be an idiot.” Juliet smacked his shoulder as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. “I do not. Kavar and I don’t want each other.”

  Ashem shrugged one shoulder. For all Kavar’s poisoned smiles and snide comments, if Juliet wanted him, he would have her. Gladly.

  He pulled on pants and a shirt and tossed Juliet some clothes, then watched her put them on with mild regret.

  Juli snorted. “Only mild?”

  “Don’t distract me, woman. I have a war to win.”

  She walked over and put her hand in his. “I’m sorry, who’s helping the Wonambi put up a barrier large enough to cover the entire archipelago so humans don’t see a bunch of dragons fighting next time they’re messing around on Google Earth? You don’t distract me.”

  He pulled her in and held her for a long moment. Battles existed. He fought them. He survived. He would make sure she did, as well. Just another job. As Kavar was fond of pointing out, Ashem always did his job.

  “Come.” If his voice was rough, she didn’t comment.

  He led her out of their rooms and up to the chamber on the top of the mountain where they had pledged. The crystals that lined the interior walls glinted in the faint light provided by Rhys and one of his fireballs. A handful of Wonambi had arrived already, as had a handful of Wingless, including Councilwoman Sarangerel.

  “What are you doing here?” Ashem asked.

  Standing at her full height put the top of the tiny Mongolian woman’s head somewhere around his chest. “We will fight wherever we are needed.”

  “We thank you for it.” The boost of power a Wingless could give a dragon was not a gift that should be taken lightly.

  Tharah, returned from her mission to the rogues of her clan, unwound a long string of blue quartz beads on a wire. “Are you ready?” she asked, looking at Juliet.

  Juliet stepped into the circle the Wonambi had formed, and Tharah handed her the end of the string of beads. The Wonambi of Australia—unlike the Que
tzal and Noodinoon of the Americas—didn’t have the ability to link naturally, and the quartz would allow the sharing of magic between them.

  Tharah walked around to the other Wonambi, who clasped hands, and wound the beads around their wrists, connecting every person in the circle and taking her place next to Juli. Rhys took the end of the string from her so that Tharah could take Juliet’s hand, then he wound the remainder of it around their wrists and twisted the end of the wire together, melting it.

  “The circle is closed,” Rhys said. He indicated the Wingless and three juveniles who looked anxious. “If you need anything, they will take care of you. He pointed to a mousy-looking girl. “Angharad is a Fire Elemental. If you need to break the circle, she can remelt the wire.”

  Ashem’s communicator buzzed, and he answered the call, listening to the scout’s report, muscles growing tense. “I’ll tell the king.” He cut off the communication. “Rhys, Owain has been spotted approaching the islands from the north. It’s time to go.”

  Rhys hesitated, then grasped Sarangerel’s hand. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you,” she said, “for letting the Wingless fight.”

  Ashem stole up behind Juliet and hugged her, careful not to break the chain. “Doset doram. I swear that I will keep you safe.”

  “I know, and I love you, too.” She leaned her head back against his chest, and he closed his eyes, memorizing the feel of her.

  Ancients, in all his life, he never could have imagined a love like this.

  He kissed her hair and followed Rhys from the room. Maybe some men would have had to tear themselves away, but Ashem went eagerly to battle. Human mythology held that dragons would die to protect their treasures.

  Human mythology was right.

  He walked with Rhys into his rooms, where Kai was waiting in a new set of riding leathers, the white raven flying mask perched on top of her dark, braided hair. She greeted them with a nod. “Are you ready?”

  Ashem glanced over at Rhys. His friend’s mind roiled, but his only tell was a single jump of muscles in his jaw, a second of pale-knuckled fists. Azhdahā were in the business of reading thoughts, not emotion, but even he could tell that the last thing Rhys wanted in the world was to take Kai into this fight.

  Rhys said, “I am.”

  They met what was left of the vee on Rhys’s ledge. Cadoc, Evan and Morwenna. Ffion had gone to the southernmost island, where she and handful of other pregnant dragons were waiting with the humans. If things went wrong, Tane and the Invisible would break through the weakest point of Owain’s lines and try to get them all away. Seren and Citlali were standing by to heal the wounded in the temporary infirmary set up in the festival cavern at the base of the mountain.

  “You can still leave,” Ashem told Rhys.

  Rhys’s and Kai’s expressions of flat dismissal were so alike that Ashem wished he had a human camera.

  “My parents began this war,” Rhys said. “I intend to finish it. And I need to be here in case Owain decides to start using the mantle.”

  Ashem sighed. “Owain is going to be looking for you. He’s going to have every one of his dragons on the lookout for you. His goal is to minimize casualties, and the best way to do that is by getting to you. I won’t force you to stay here and I can’t force you to leave, but you will stay as far from the thick of things as possible or, Ancients help me, I will knock your brains out of your fool heads.”

  Protect Juliet, protect Rhys, protect what was left of his vee. Love made everything far too complicated.

  Rhys gave him a wry smile. “Don’t worry, Commander, I’ll do what I’m supposed to.”

  Ashem snorted and stalked out to the ledge. The dragons of Eryri had already begun to fill the sky, some heading for other islands, some flying in formation around the mountain.

  Cadoc, Evan and Morwenna were waiting. Cadoc kept flexing his right hand then shaking it out, then smiling like a scalebrain. Ashem paused next to him.

  “Thank you.”

  Cadoc looked up in surprise. “For what, Chief?”

  “You know what, you yodeling idiot.” Cadoc had nearly given his life to save Juliet and Kavar. “I’m glad you’re alive. Stay that way.”

  Cadoc opened his mouth to say something, but Ashem had had enough of feelings. “Transform,” he barked.

  They did so, him included. He and Cadoc helped Kai get the harness on Rhys, then Kai scrambled up and onto his back and pulled down her raven mask.

  Ashem surveyed them, offering a silent prayer that every single one of them would come to the end of the day, still alive.

  “May the wind carry you well.”

  They took off.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  Traps

  “These traps are good to go.”

  Rhys nodded at Kai and resettled his wings, listening to the distant sounds of battle. The Noodinoon had raised a fog to the north that made it more difficult for Owain’s dragons to see the traps laid on the islands. Kai wore a communicator that connected her to Ashem. So far, everything was going well.

  Rhys had planned, and now Ashem was coordinating. The Azhdahā’s deadly venom made him too lethal a weapon to be relegated to triple-checking the traps. Instead, he had taken command of one of the vees of Unsworn that had lost its leader early in the fight, which meant he was somewhere in the thick of things, attempting to lead as many of Owain’s dragons as possible into the traps filled with sleep-inducing Naga toxins.

  Rhys was proud of his people. They’d converted the huge underground cavern normally used for festivals to a temporary infirmary/holding cell for Owain’s soldiers. Containing the prisoners was difficult, and it would take more and more of his people as the battle wore on. But the traps had already done a great deal to chip away at Owain’s numbers with very few casualties.

  For the first time in Rhys’s memory, everyone was working together. Since most vees—especially those filled with older dragons—were mostly of the same clan, it had been easy to assign jobs. The Wonambi would maintain the illusion that hid the battle from human eyes. The Naga, skilled in invention and the creation of magical objects, had designed the traps and were in charge of setting and resetting them. The Mo’o patrolled the sea, protecting underwater entrances to Eryri. They were also pulling the wounded from the ocean, no matter which side they were on. Rhys wasn’t interested in having any dragon drown.

  The Elementals, Bida and Derkin, were doing most of the fighting, keeping Owain’s soldiers away from Eryri and the islands south while luring them into fog and traps. Then the fighters took the drugged dragons—who, once unconscious, reverted to more portable human form—to Eryri.

  Rhys couldn’t believe his plan was actually working. He just wished he could actually see it. He understood why he had to keep away, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

  Now he knew how the Wingless had felt.

  “The traps on the other side of the island are fine, as well,” Cadoc said, his streamlined carnelian head appearing through a stand of trees. Morwenna was with him. Evan stood in the clearing behind Rhys and Kai, silent and watchful. Though a few times Rhys was fairly sure he saw the midnight-blue dragon actually lean in the direction of the battle. Apparently, Rhys wasn’t the only one feeling the pull of the fight.

  Kai clambered onto his back, and he heard the faint click of her carabiners clipping into the harness. He’d insisted that she clip in the way she used to before she’d started fighting with him—using all the straps instead of just the one that allowed her to stand and maneuver as he flew. Without the intimate connection that heartswearing had provided, there was no way she could follow his movements closely enough to prevent being thrown around.

  “Have you heard from Ashem?” Rhys asked.

  Kai shook her head. “Not for a little while.”

  “It
looks like Owain has taken the northernmost island,” Cadoc said, craning his neck to see what he could of the battle. From this distance, the mass of fighting dragons looked like darting, jewel-colored hummingbirds.

  “We expected that,” Morwenna said.

  “The fighting is done on the little island next to it,” said Cadoc. “We could go around and scoop up the wounded. See if there are any prisoners.”

  That would take them temptingly close to the battle.

  “All right.” Rhys moved off toward the beach without waiting to see if any of them would follow. “We’ll skirt the fighting.” But at least they’d be able to see it.

  Though they’d taken some losses throughout the day, the dragons of Eryri now seemed to outnumber those of Cadarnle. Unfortunately, the number of prisoners was tapering off now that Owain’s soldiers had learned about the traps.

  Even so, the white dragon’s forces had been considerable winnowed down. Rhys hoped to hear of Owain’s capture by the end of the day. Once they had Owain, they’d get the necklace from him and Rhys would use it to repair the torn mantle.

  The war would be over. This battle might have gone well, but ultimately, the cost had been too high.

  They took off, soaring over the sea, skimming the waves to stay low and out of sight. The sounds of battle grew louder, the air filled with roars, shrieks and the scent of burning. Tendrils of fog mixed with the nauseating miasma of several different kinds of venom—too faint to have any effect, enough to make everyone feel slightly ill.

  They landed on the beach of the small island and split up again. Rhys, Kai and Evan went around the northern shore while Cadoc and Morwenna headed south, then zigzagged inland to make sure they covered the ground as thoroughly as possible in their search for dragons who were injured or unconscious.