Dragonfire: Freedom in Flames (Secrets of the Makai Book 3)

by Toni Kerr

  “You don’t want the kiss of a Valkyrie?”

  Dorian kept silent.

  “Listen up, everyone. Everyone but you, that is.” She snapped a finger at Donovan and his face reddened with more rage. “To be kissed by a Valkyrie grants you immortality. I’ll of course be giving Tristan this gift, so he can proceed with his plans, and because you have all willingly chosen to make this journey with him, I will grant you this gift as well. If you wish. Being immortal isn’t always as glamorous as it seems, but it does have benefits.” The woman sauntered over to Victor, apparently having heard his thoughts. “You do have a point, but would you have chosen differently?”

  Victor thought about it for half a second, then grinned.

  “Didn’t think so. You’ve already agreed to die for him, will you live for him as well?”

  “Yes,” answered Dorian. “I will.”

  The woman closed the distance, gripped Dorian’s shoulders and kissed her on the lips.

  Tristan watched the strange scene, paralyzed by the pain searing through his back and legs. Memories of Donovan drilling him for hours about clothing—various cultures and seasons—trickled into his mind. He couldn’t tell if he’d succeeded or not.

  “Always at the last possible moment, I see.” The woman used the point of her boot to lift his shoulder and roll him to his back.

  Dorian rushed to adjust his wings and rested his head in her lap. “You don’t have to be so rough.”

  The woman shrugged. “Makes no difference.” She turned from Tristan to Landon and Victor. “You might consider putting the body in a trough with ice.”

  “He’s not even dead yet!” said Victor.

  The Valkyrie kissed the tip of a white arrow and shot it through Tristan’s heart.

  36

  VALKYRIE RULES

  “YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE to escape,” the valkyrie said, circling Donovan with a finger trailing along his chest. “Not because I can’t handle you, but because you’re so rarely faced with an actual challenge.” She winked and walked away, stopping in front of Tristan. Do not wander, or you and your memories will be scattered beyond recognition.

  A lifeless body lay on the ground, with an arrow protruding from its chest. It took a moment for Tristan to realize the body was his. He reached out to close the eyelids over vacant eyes.

  Do not touch until it is time.

  Tristan retracted his hand without question and jumped back when Landon and Victor charged forward, arguing over what sort of trough to ice him in.

  It made no difference; he followed the warrior woman in his wraith-like state, completely detached from his physical self.

  The woman stopped in front of Alvi. “Design a mark and it will be placed upon each of you as a symbol of devotion to the dragon. Anyone can steal a scent to create confusion, but no one can replicate the power in a mark placed by me.” She kissed Alvi on the lips and turned to Madam Galina. “You, my dear, are a true hero with little recognition for the work you do. Immortality does not negate the need for a good healer.” She hugged the doctor, kissed her gently on the lips, then once on each cheek. “Help the boys ice the body, then be ready when the poison is gone.”

  “Excuse me,” interrupted Dorian. “How long are you going to let him stay like this?”

  A smirk tempted Tristan’s lips. Maybe she did have feelings for him? Or maybe she was just being impatient, as usual.

  “As long as necessary.” The woman continued to Talak, following the curve of a jagged tattoo with a long fingernail. “You are completely adorable.” She kissed him for an uncomfortably long moment. “Your secrets are safe with me.”

  The spell on Alpheus and Eleonora broke; Alpheus lunged to keep her from falling.

  “You two are already so old,” said the valkyrie. “Are you sure you want this life? To be stuck at such an age forever?”

  The elderly couple glanced at each other, carrying on an unheard conversation between themselves. “Yes,” answered Alpheus. “We want to make a difference, and the longer we’re around, the more we can help.”

  “Very well. Just remember that being immortal doesn’t protect you from everything. You can still be killed.”

  Eleonora nodded her understanding. The valkyrie kissed her first, then Alpheus, then made her way through the rest of the group to end with Donovan.

  “You’re out of time,” she whispered, her lips an inch from his. She glided a step back and released him from her invisible hold.

  “Explain what you’ve done before I rip your lovely head off.” Donovan drew his sword and she met it with an identical blade.

  “Lovely, is it?”

  “More so than your heart, I fear.”

  “Such an honest gentleman.” She twisted her sword arm and spun it toward his knees, forcing him to leap back and lunge at a trap opening.

  Tristan wandered the clearing to give them space, restless to take flight. They continued sparring, evenly matched with sweat glistening on their skin. Swords changed shapes and sizes without warning, as did the general weapon of choice.

  Tristan settled at the edge of the clearing and took in the expanse of open space; the need to fly over the water consuming him.

  The valkyrie’s sickle and chain disappeared and she held her arms out wide. Donovan’s sword stopped an inch from her throat and he stepped in with a dagger to her chest plate. “You concede to me?”

  “Never. But the poison is now desperate for a new host.”

  “Perhaps another time then.” Donovan’s weapons vanished.

  “If you’re lucky.” She turned toward Tristan’s body, then changed her mind and faced Donovan.

  “What is your name?” he asked, with such awe and curiosity, it drew Tristan’s attention as well.

  “For me to know and you to find out, little school boy.” In two strides, the warrior woman kissed Donovan hard, wrapping her arms around his neck and gripping a fistful of hair.

  By the time he moved to set a hand on her side, she was out of reach, leaving him in a rare state of flustered confusion.

  Tristan almost laughed, happy to see Donovan so…out of his element.

  “I do not play these games,” he said, raking his fingers through tousled hair to smooth it back down.

  “Sounds like a personal problem.” She knelt beside Tristan’s body and yanked out the arrow, now black with poison.

  Tristan cringed, Dorian glared. “You should work on your bedside manners.”

  “Why?” The icy water vanished, leaving the stiff body dry on the ground. “Burn the arrow.”

  The black arrow burst into flames and everyone gathered closer. The woman pulled the body into her lap, held him against her chest.

  “What are you doing?” ask Donovan.

  She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I do wish you’d trust me.”

  Pink and her two friends flew in at that moment, Pink’s fury leading the way. “It’s true!” she cried. “What have you done? You were supposed to love him!” She flew in frantic circles around the valkyrie’s head, slapping the woman’s nose whenever she dared get close enough, until Ardon called her to the branches above.

  “Well?” repeated Donovan.

  “I’m taking what’s left of the poison.”

  “Won’t that put you in the same situation Tristan was in?” asked Eleonora.

  “All it wants is a living organism. By the time it realizes I’m not a dragon, it’ll be too late to retreat, not that there’s anything worth retreating to.”

  “If this doesn’t work….” Donovan whispered, glaring at the woman.

  “Oh, do tell. What will you do?”

  “Hello!” interrupted Alvi. “People present!”

  Donovan scowled and his cheeks reddened at the suggestive implication. He stuttered several times before clamping his mouth shut.

  “This is going to be so much fun,” said the woman. “You should see how horrified you look!”

  Victor laughed first, while others seemed unsure h
ow Donovan would take the teasing.

  “Clearly the poison is getting to your head.”

  “Is it still lovely?”

  “This is not the time or place.” Donovan approached the woman. “I can take the rest.”

  “No!” she shouted, startling everyone into silence. “I would ask you not to be near him right now, unless you want me to repeat the process with you.”

  Donovan dropped his gaze to take in Tristan’s lifeless body, then turned away. “Someone else then.”

  “Considerate. But I assure you, it isn’t necessary.”

  Tristan tensed as the flickering shadows beyond the lantern light coalesced into a seeping blob, swallowing the light as it moved toward him. Uh—Ma’am? Not to interrupt but—.

  He’d seen this thing before, devouring a soul from one of the statues Lazaro destroyed, when he and Dorian were being held captive.

  “Am I correct in assuming you know everything about what we’ve been doing?” asked Donovan.

  “I would say so, since the Ireland incident. Though I cannot say I’ve ever seen you so squeamish.”

  It’s getting closer. Should I do something? He could always fly away.

  “I am not squeamish.” Donovan kept his back to the group as they waited. “It just happens that this is not an image I wish to keep in my memories.”

  Miss Valkyrie? The woman needed a name. She finally turned her attention toward Tristan and let his body fall to Dorian, standing with her bow drawn.

  Donovan drew his sword. “What is it?” he demanded, scanning the barrier of shrubs. A shimmering dome enclosed the clearing, tall enough to include Ardon’s highest branches.

  “Whoever sealed the area, take it down. Someone warm the body.”

  “I don’t see anything,” said Landon.

  “You won’t.” Feathery wings erupted from the woman’s back and she leaped to stand between Tristan and the shadow. “Hundrodr Kolbeinson.”

  “Helene Ketildottir,” replied the shadow, his hollow voice translating in Tristan’s mind. “You are greedy in age.”

  “Nice to see you, too. But this one is mine.”

  “How many do you really need? Besides, you released this one. He is game.”

  Tristan inched closer to the woman. Donovan remained fixed on a spot between the tip of her arrow and the ground, though he didn’t adjust his aim as the shadow grew in height.

  “Give me an alternative then. Besides the chimera, none of these humans seem your type. What are you up to? Why so many?”

  “I leave nothing for you this day. Be gone.”

  “Whiromanie made an agreement with me.”

  “He is dead and gone, as are his negotiations.”

  “Not true. All the dragons are mine. Every last one.”

  “You have no such bargain with me.” Ten black arrows appeared notched in her bow, two rows of five.

  “You can’t kill me.”

  “I can set you back for an unspeakably torturous time.”

  Something landed in the tree above them, drawing everyone’s attention upward.

  Jacques? Tristan gazed up at the large bird.

  “Him, then,” snarled the shadow. “I care not what form it takes.”

  “He is also mine.”

  How?

  “He was with you when you touched the emerald.”

  But the contract—he should have been freed.

  “He couldn’t have gone with them, even if he’d wanted to,” said the valkyrie. “He was mine before the contract broke.”

  “But your claim on him is weak.” The shadow converged into a pencil-thin cord and shot toward the bird.

  No! Tristan sprang into the air, desperate to reach the falcon first. An icy ribbon of barbed needles snaked around his ankle. Below him, the valkyrie released the loaded arrows into the air, pulled back the line and released ten more.

  Still the shadow wouldn’t let go.

  Tristan willed himself higher, pumping his wings instinctively. Horror and fear pushed him harder as the valkyrie swung a glimmering sword alongside his captured leg. The blade seemed impossibly long, shifting between a metallic blood-red and midnight blue.

  The tension on his leg broke and he catapulted skyward, free in the night sky. He soared higher, pulled by the light of the moon and stars. Fear vanished as the pure joy of endless freedom filled every aspect of his being.

  The falcon appeared beside him, darting ahead with white wing joints glowing in the silver moonlight. Tristan raced after the bird until it dove toward the water, aiming for the exceptionally large tree covered in colored lanterns. He altered his course, unwilling to leave the twinkling span of universe beckoning his soul.

  A woman materialized before him, so faint he almost flew through her. Feathered wings spread wide, blocking his path, yet somehow she remained aloft. “I forbid you to leave.”

  The light of stars and planets winked out of existence, leaving him cold and empty inside. Nothing below, nothing above. Only the woman. Valkyrie. For a brief second, he remembered everything, then felt it slip away.

  Your work is not complete.

  Work? The daunting task of releasing races from captive gems, the pressure and urgency, trickled into his mind, then faded like a receding wave.

  They can’t do this job without you. The woman’s gentle voice wrapped around him, weighing him back to the tree with lanterns. The falcon circled.

  Sure they can. Whatever the job was. Memories washed in and out of his thoughts. They hardly seemed worth his time, when the entire universe was waiting for him. He fought the woman’s hold and glanced at the falcon, certain the bird should be somewhere else as well.

  Pay attention, Tristan. The falcon is free to go if I release him. But he stays willingly because he believes in you and your cause. They all do.

  You’ll keep us like prisoners? The map with all the colored pins flooded his mind. He shook his head, confused by the conflicting emotions of duty and freedom, and voluntary enslavement. Suddenly he was on the ground, facing his own body. Can’t I just explore for a little while?

  When you are well, you may fly all you wish. But for now, you must return to your body.

  The thought of such dreary confined space sent a ripple of dread through the vast existence he currently held. He didn’t dare go back. But if you released me, you have no power over me. So why am I still here?

  Because you are not finished with what you need to do, and I really would prefer you to stay willingly.

  Something important hovered just out reach. What if I refuse?

  Then you are nothing more than a stubborn, foolish child. Anger flashed in her golden-green eyes. Do not force me into this position.

  Her words stung. What position was he forcing her into? Was he not the puppet, and she the master?

  If you refuse, your ultimate cause will suffer and no one left standing here will have any purpose to me. I would release them.

  What’s so horrible about releasing them from a life of servitude? We aren’t yours to control.

  They will be freed in the same manner in which I released you. They’ll fight me after the first one, but make no mistake—even Donovan cannot best my skills as a warrior. Make your decision.

  Memories and plans flowed through him, ebbing away once again. He held on to threads desperately. Of course he would stay to finish what he’d started, and everyone knew what they were doing when they agreed to help him in the first place. They weren’t serving her, they were serving a cause. His cause.

  Strangers surrounded his body, but there were no signs of the shadow creature. Tristan took a terrified step back—stepping into his skin would be the equivalent of death. Was it cowardly to resist? What kind of life would it be if the woman could kill them all at any moment, just because he refused to do as she asked? Was he committing them all to something he didn’t quite understand?

  Trust me, Tristan. My only intention is to grant all of you immortality, so you might succeed. I do not intend
to control or guide you in this matter. You have my word.

  Tristan frowned. Succeed in what?

  The woman sighed, glancing at Donovan. “He doesn’t want to come back.”

  “What?” shouted the man, followed by shocked gasps and outbursts from several others. His face softened. “Does he not realize we’re all in this together?”

  “I’d hoped this would work, but he’s been drifting too long—his thoughts and will are too far apart.” The woman shook her head. “I can force him to stay, but he won’t be the same and I will forever be seen as the enemy. I’m okay with that if you are.”

  “How off will he be?”

  The woman turned away. “The only thing you really need is the dragonfire. We’ll have to train him if he does not understand.”

  Donovan tightened the grip on his sword and clenched his jaw. “This isn’t how it was supposed to be.”

  There was no time to think. The instant his goals, dreams, and aspirations feathered into his thoughts, he leaped into his flesh, flinging his terror to the far reaches of his mind where they could not hold him back.

  Icy flesh pinned his spirit to the ground. His heart constricted insufferably slow, forcing shards of resistance through his veins with each pulse.

  And numbing darkness. Voices murmured around him as something hot covered his mouth, forcing his lungs to expand with breaths that were not his own.

  As much as his body resisted, he couldn’t be selfish; this had to be done. He would endure the conflicting emotions, ignore the urge to flee, and live for the sake of others. No matter what the costs.

  37

  VISIT FROM THE UNDERWORLD

  WITHOUT WARNING, Tristan’s mind snapped to attention. He gulped his own air, shivering as a cold sweat coated his skin, blinking away the cobwebs he’d wrapped himself in.

  Something about the area was terribly wrong.

  His wings prevented him from bolting upright; Donovan dropped to his knees beside him, next to the woman, and gripped his shoulders before he could turn to his side. “Wait. Be still.”