Furthermore, why was Zaith so quick to make this offer? He didn’t want me in his territory and tried to stop me by force, and now he wanted to work alongside us. What did he truly want?
Xaneth stepped forward. “It may not seem it, but we are as much involved as you are. We are bound to hiding instead of choosing to blend in. No one is uninvolved. No one is safe.”
I thought over what she said and then looked at Zaith. “Very well, but you will listen to me and do as I say, when I say, whether you like it or not.”
“No,” Zaith said. “I won’t take orders from a female.”
“You want to be allies but won’t take orders from a female?” I laughed dryly. “Then we don’t have an alliance, Red.”
He stepped forward and growled. “Don’t insult my color!”
With a few quick steps I closed the distance between us and wrapped my hand around his neck, dragged him over to the nearest tree, and slammed him against it. Zaith grabbed onto my wrist as I squeezed his throat and got right up in his face.
“I will insult your color all I please since you have no reservations regarding insulting my comrade,” I said. “Don’t insult him and I won’t insult you. Do I make myself clear?”
Zaith struggled against my grip and struggled to breathe. Taking his struggling as a small sign that he understood I wasn’t to be pushed around, I threw him away and watched him stumble.
I turned on my heels and stalked away. “Weak. How no one has taken your leadership from you is beyond me.”
“I’m not weak, you—”
“Save it, Zaith,” Raikidan said. “You’ve gotten your ass handed to you by her twice today and she barely lifted a finger doing so.”
“Shut it, half—”
Xaneth growled maliciously at Zaith and he flinched. I grinned as I looked at her. She looked absolutely livid and who could blame her? I could also see her mate from his perch on a house roof and he looked no happier than she did.
“Really, Zaith?” a masculine voice sighed. “I’m beginning to wonder how you’ve kept my clan together this long.”
Zaith looked over to where the voice was coming from and gulped. “P–Pyralis.”
Pyralis stepped out of the shadows and locked his gaze on me.
I dipped my head in respect. “I didn’t think I put that much spiritual energy into your tomb.”
Pyralis pointed to the floating Spiritual Crystal in the center of the village. “You didn’t. I’m using that as an anchor.”
I nodded. “I see, so you must have something to say then.”
“I request you ally with my clan. They can be a useful asset to you, even if Zaith is less than willing to listen to you.”
“Females don’t fight,” Zaith muttered.
“But we do,” a female voice chimed in behind me.
I turned to see a small group of my men stroll into the village. The woman leading them in stopped when she was several feet away from us and pulled off her helmet. Her long wavy black hair rolled over her shoulders upon its release from the confinement of her helmet. More soldiers followed her lead showing that most of this small group that entered were all women.
Zaith stood up and looked at all of them. “But why?”
“Because we have no reason to see a difference,” Talon said. “Both men and women have strength and weaknesses. We have no reason to treat one sex differently than the other because of it.”
“Just deal with it, Zaith,” Raikidan muttered. “It’s how they do things.”
“Don’t—”
“Enough!” Ir’esh faced Zaith. “It’s how it is, kid, and whether you like it or not you’re going to have to get used to it. I may be elven but I won’t live forever. My wife died of illness many years ago but I have forced myself to hang onto life for my tribe and my daughter. But there will be a time where my body won’t allow me to fight any longer and my daughter will take my place as our traditions state. Would you break our alliance because she would take over?”
Zaith sighed. “No.”
“Then what seems to be the problem?” Pyralis challenged.
I was grateful for the elder dragon’s support, but I did understand Zaith’s reluctance. Secretly, I envied female dragons and their place among their kind.
Zaith bowed his head to me. “I apologize. I was not thinking clearly. My will is yours to command.”
I folded my arms. “You were thinking clearly. For a dragon that is.” Zaith eyed me. “But now that type of thinking ends. With this alliance we are no longer separate. We are no longer humans and dragons. We are no longer black or red. We are no longer shaman and soldiers. We are one alliance. One way of thinking. One goal.”
“Well said, Eira,” Ir’esh complimented. “Now shall we unite this alliance?”
I nodded. “What did you have in mind?”
“An ancient tradition that hasn’t been used in a century. A physical reminder of what we are doing. It requires an offering. Something unique from each of us.”
Something unique? I thought this over. If this was a physical manifestation of what we were creating and we needed something unique to ourselves to act as a type of offering…
“Life Fire,” I said. “I give Life Fire.”
Ir’esh grinned. “I was hoping you’d offer that. I give Life Earth.”
Ir’esh and I looked at Zaith expectantly.
He looked at us both. “What are you two talking about?”
“Life Elements,” Ir’esh told him. “The source of our life and the life of our element.”
“One cannot exist without the other,” I added. “They are connected and if one were to cease existing and disappear we’d cease to exist as well.”
“They are manifestations of our inner selves,” Tla’lli concluded.
Ir’esh held out his hand and, showing no signs of movement, lifted a small group of rocks on the ground by his feet. “Earth.”
Tla’lli tilted her head skyward and whistled. The wind picked up and battered everyone before dying down to a gentle breeze. “Wind.”
Lifting my hands up gracefully, I threw them down to my side with force and ignited the small flames on my fingertips. The fires burned large and hot. Many took a step back and eyed me with shock. Even Zaith didn’t hide his surprise. “Fire.”
“All right, Commander, I think you can stop showing off now,” Talon teased.
I chuckled and let my fires die.
“My element…” Zaith mused as he recovered himself. “Then that would be fire like you, only stronger.”
“We’ll see,” I replied.
He snorted. “So, how do we do this?”
“Everyone who isn’t a part of this will stand back,” I ordered. “Once a Life Element is released it begins a chain and anyone in close proximity will be affected. Therefore, Zaith, the only thing you have to do is stand where you are.”
“Why must we stand back?” Xaneth questioned. “What would be so bad if this inner element came out of us?”
I looked at her. “It’s painful. An elementalist has one point in their body in which they can release their elemental abilities. With training they can learn more ways of releasing their element, but it can only be one point of the body at one time. But life elements are different. They’re forced out of the body unnaturally, causing excruciating pain.”
Xaneth looked worriedly at Zaith and he appeared to be doubting his choice now. It was painful but necessary. I had released my inner element only once before to see what shape it took, and it took commitment to feel that type of pain. If he really wanted this alliance to happen he would have to put himself through this to prove it.
Zaith took a deep breath. “Let’s get this over with.”
I nodded and went to motion to my men to move back when I
r’esh held up his hand. “Before we start, we need one more thing.”
“Nothing else painful, I hope,” Zaith muttered.
Ir’esh chuckled. “I can assure you that this won’t hurt. We need a host object.”
“A host object?” I knew of Life Elements but this ritual Ir’esh was having us do, I was unfamiliar with.
Ir’esh nodded. “This ritual takes our offerings and combines it with a host object to manifest the physical bond of our alliance.”
The image of Pyralis’ new tomb flashed through my head and I had a feeling I knew what this ritual was about to do. “Does the host object have to be something specific?”
Ir’esh shook his head. “No. It just has to be something solid and preferably good to look at.”
I thought this over. What could we use? I wasn’t going to use my last dragon’s eye, that was for sure. This wasn’t the right time for it. I came out of my thought when a young boy, carrying a large rock in his arms, came over to us.
“You could use this,” the boy offered. “It speaks differently different than the other rocks around here.”
Zaith’s eyebrow rose. “It speaks differently?”
“Elements manifest differently in everyone,” Tla’lli said. “It doesn’t have to come out in an aggressive form. The boy can hear the earth as I can hear the wind. I would have figured you’d know this by now since we’ve had our alliance for so long.”
Zaith averted his gaze and muttered to himself.
I knelt down and extended my hands to the boy. “May I?”
He nodded and handed the large rock over to me. I held the rock gently in my hands and looked it over. It looked like a normal rock but there was something off about its weight. Holding it in one hand I knocked on it and was surprised to feel the hollow vibrations. The boy and I looked at each other with curiosity.
Looking to Talon I spoke, “I need a laser.”
He nodded and looked through the pouches on his belt. He pulled out a small, silver, cylindrical object and tossed it to me.
I caught the object and went to press the small button on it to activate the laser but stopped and looked at the boy. “I’m going to cut this open. Is that okay?”
He nodded enthusiastically, curious himself about the mysterious stone. Pressing the button, a short, thin red laser shot out of the silver object and I slowly sliced the rock open. Once I made a complete rotation around the rock, the side I wasn’t holding fell to the ground, revealing the hollow amethyst crystal center.
“A geode,” Ir’esh mused. “Those are quite rare in these parts. Where’d you find it, kiddo?”
“By the river,” he replied as he picked up the portion that fell on the ground.
The boy tried to hand the portion he had back to me, but I refused and closed his hands over the crystallized rock. “You keep it.”
He smiled at me. “Thanks.”
I rubbed his head before he ran off. I watched as a dragon from Zaith’s colony stopped him and tried to barter with him, but I wasn’t going to have that. “You take that from him and I’ll put you six feet under.”
The dragon glared at me but moved away from the boy. The boy smiled and waved at me before disappearing into the trunk of a tree.
I noticed Zaith glaring at me so I stared at him. “What’s your problem?”
“You had no right to threaten him,” he said.
I chuckled. “I had no right? Your kind has no right to be greedy and try to steal from children.”
“My kind?” He began to fume. “How dare you say that!”
I grunted and looked at Pyralis, who was still watching the events unfolding with quiet interest. “Are you sure he’s the right one to lead your colony?”
“I’m beginning to seriously think that over,” Pyralis muttered.
Zaith looked between the two of us in confusion.
“Idiot,” Raikidan said. “She purposely tried to piss you off.”
Xaneth giggled as Zaith groaned and almost pulled out his hair in frustration.
“Maybe I should give leadership to you, Eira,” Pyralis offered. “You’re quite the capable leader.”
I laughed dryly. “And I think that’s a bad idea.”
“And why’s that?” he asked.
I pointed to myself. “Not a dragon.”
He laughed heartily. “Very well.”
“She acts enough like one.” Someone muttered as I walked over to Ir’esh.
“Will this do for a host object?” I asked.
Ir’esh took it and nodded. “It will work perfectly. Due to its size the end result will be quite large as well.”
“Very well, we’ll follow your lead, then,” I said.
“Not always a leader?” Ir’esh teased.
“Only when there is someone more qualified,” I replied with a grin as I backed away.
Ir’esh chuckled and placed the geode on the ground in the middle of the three of us. He backed away and started to prepare himself to start the ritual but he stopped and looked at something behind me. I turned to see Rimu scampering over to us, his gaze focused on the geode.
Knowing full well he had plans to snatch it, I grabbed ahold of him when he came close enough. “Oh no you don’t. We need that.” I struggled to keep my grip, but was finally able to subdue him by picking him up and cradling him on his back. I sighed. “I’m really glad you’re not any bigger or this might be hard.”
Soft chuckles echoed through the village at my joke. Rimu looked over at the geode and then back to me with pleading eyes.
I snickered. “That doesn’t work on me.”
Rimu snorted and tried to squirm away but I wasn’t having it. “Rimu, c’mon knock it off.”
I laughed when he broke free of one of my arms but ended up upside down. Rimu made small grumbling noises and tried to stretch his neck far enough to reach the geode that was definitely too far away from him. Finally giving up, he looked at me and snapped his jaw.
Not liking his attitude, I touched his belly with my free hand and began tickling him. He grunted, snapped his jaw and squirmed, but it did him no good. When I determined he had been punished enough, I stopped. Rimu grunted one last time and then looked up at me. His eyes sparkled, showing his enjoyment of his torture, and I thought I could see a small smile on the corner of his mouth.
He surprised me when his tail moved and wrapped around my neck. His expression remained the same and he gave no hints of the meaning of the gesture, or what he wanted from me.
I shook my head and chuckled. “All right, I’m going to put you down now and you’d better behave.”
Rimu exhaled slowly and I cautiously loosened my grip to allow him to slide down to the ground. He laid partially on the ground and partially up my leg and stared up at me with pure cuteness for a little while before he flipped over and eyed the geode again.
“Rimu,” I warned.
He looked at me cautiously before taking a few steps toward the rock and then looking back at me. I folded my arms and looked at him sternly. He sunk low to the ground and crept closer to the geode.
“Rimu.” He looked back at me and then continued to creep forward. “Rimu, get back here!”
Rimu hung his head low and looked up at me. I knelt down and held out my hand, keeping stern eye contact with him. Slowly, he crept back over to me and rested his head in my hand. He looked up at with sad eyes and I reassured him by stroking his cheek with my thumb.
He had instinctual urges he couldn’t control. I understood that. He was young, and listening wasn’t a part of what a child liked to do. I also understood that. Rimu glanced back at the geode and I smiled. It didn’t matter how stern I was with him. His instinct to hoard was stronger.
“I’m going to make you a deal,” I said as I pulled my
hand away. Rimu tilted his head as I reached up and took out a pair of stud earrings from my ears. “These are the only pair of ruby earrings I own. They’re not exceptionally special, but if you leave that geode alone, so we can use it to finish the pact for our alliance, you can have them.”
Rimu looked at the tiny earrings, at the geode, and then back at the earrings, trying to figure out what he liked more. Finally he chirped at me, took the earrings and scampered away to a far-off tree to lie down. His siblings came over to investigate his new treasure but Rimu curled around the tiny earrings and shooed them away.
I found this amusing and could have watched for a little while longer, but there were more pressing matters at hand. Standing up, I had my clothes change into my favored casual city clothes. If this ritual went anything like I thought it was going to, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t remembered in my military uniform.
I looked at Ir’esh. “Let’s finish this.”
Ir’esh watched me as I took my place in our triangle. He was curious about the clothes, that much was obvious. It wasn’t every day you saw transforming clothes. “I’ll answer your questions after.”
He nodded. “All right, let’s begin then, shall we?”
I motioned for everyone to move back as Ir’esh began to chant. Everyone was still and waited in anticipation. Ir’esh’s chant became lower and lower until it was no longer words, but vibrations that rumbled through my chest.
My body reacted to the chant and began to convulse. I clenched my teeth as tight as I could as fire rushed up my throat. My action forced the fire back down my throat, causing me to choke. My body began to heat up, and I wrapped my arms around myself as it began to ache and pulse. I managed to glance up at Ir’esh to see him on his knees.
He was in obvious pain, but his experience allowed him to continue the chant even while his own body summoned his Life Element. Zaith was the worst off out of us all. He lay on the ground in a crumpled heap, holding his head and body with his arms—barely keeping himself from crying out in pain.
The ground began to shake. I choked again on fire and pain as my body reacted to the ground’s sudden movement. The ground in front of me cracked and split apart, and loud snarling came from its dark depths. It wasn’t long before a large wolf made of rock and other earthy material climbed out from the depths of the earth. I didn’t have long to look at it, however.
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