Dust and Cinder (Rise of the Dragons Trilogy Book 3)

by N. R. Hairston

  The men broke their canes down the middle, and each now held two large glimmering blades in each hand.

  The woman in the blue dress held up her umbrella and ducked as a Yango man leveled a stream of lejet her way. It bounced off the blades and turned back on the Yango, striking him straight through both eyes, causing him to scream out in pain and hit the ground.

  Once down, the man in the blue dress suit, ran his blade across the Yango’s middle, cutting him in half. My eyes went wide at their skills, as the metallic smell of blood filled the air.

  “Wow,” Reid said, mouth open a little as he watched on.

  While the Yango were distracted, looking at their fallen comrade, the men quickly tucked the blades under their arms and pulled knives from each end of their bowties. When the Yango turned back their way, they threw them in such a synchronized fashion that it was easy to believe they’d practiced it every day of their lives.

  One knife hit each remaining Yango dead center in the eye, exploding on contact, and taking off half the Yango’s faces in the process. I gasped, hand over my mouth, because I’d never seen weapons liked that and the two couples had barely even broken a sweat.

  Coen clapped and stepped forward as the smell of burning Yango flesh polluted the air, turning everything sour and putrid.

  The couples turned, still on their guard, then stopped when they saw who it was, their bodies relaxing. At their feet lay five dead Yango, and they stepped right over them as if they were nothing but trash waiting to be tossed aside. This group certainly didn’t seem ashamed or bothered by what they’d done.

  They’d defended themselves, no doubt about that, and as far as I knew, this was something they probably had to do on a daily basis. It was a depressing thought, and my mind turned to worlds like Vilion, making me wonder how the people remained so strong and determined to fight after being worn down by the Yango for years. It was inspiring to say the least.

  Both couples smiled as Iago, Trout, and Lantana also stepped forward, and I figured they must all be old friends. Reid and I hung back a little, neither of us sure what to do, as this world was as unfamiliar to us as Emor had been.

  “Coen, Lantana, glad to see you’re still taking the fight to the Yango. At least I hope you are,” the woman in the blue dress said, fixing her hat back in place, as it had gone a little askew in the attack. She talked to them the way one would an old friend, making me think they’d known each other for a while.

  Lantana shook her head, an urgent look on her face. “This is not a social visit, Tana. The Yango are gathering tomorrow night, and we have a chance to end this for good.” Trout opened a portal, and I sensed it was to Lechen, where the Yango would be meeting tomorrow night.

  The woman in the yellow dress looked from Iago to Coen as if expecting one of them to back up the truth she’d just heard.

  The man in the blue suit ran a single hand through the portal. “Got it,” he said, and stepped back. The man in the gray suit then ran his hand through, as did the women.

  Lantana waited until they were finished, then nodded. “We’re not sure of the time, just keep an eye on that world, and spread the word. The more people we have fighting against them, the better.”

  The woman in the blue dress put a long-gloved finger to her chin. “We have ways of getting the word out, don’t worry about that. We’ll be there.”

  Chapter 16

  The next world we entered was named Tangule and had people training in midair with swords on high alert for a Yango attack. Iago talked to one of them. A tall, slim woman with tan skin.

  Her eyes lit up with excitement when we told her what was happening. She looked like she’d waited for this moment her whole life and now that it was here, she didn’t know quite how to contain herself.

  She got the pattern of the portal down, and we left, hoping her and her people would join us.

  Then Trout opened a portal that landed us on a mountaintop in a world named Lehin. It was full of large houses made of stone and people were using quarterstaff sticks to fight. Their movements were quick and fast, and though I was freezing to the point of having chill bumps running up and down my arms, these people were pouring buckets of sweat.

  Lantana and Iago talked to the man and woman who seemed to be in charge. They both wore fur coats that I was sure was made from real animal skin. During the course of the conversation I heard the man say they had three Yangos locked in a cave midway down the mountain and would be glad to finally end them.

  The last place we went to was Loden, Fletcher’s world. We portaled just outside his house. The sound of whooshing air and things being broken apart hit us immediately.

  “It’s coming from the back,” Coen said, eyes straining that way.

  Fletcher lived in a simple white clapboard, with blue shutters and a rocking chair on the front porch. Beautiful pink and white flowers rested on the window sills, and the grass had been cut to within an inch of its life.

  It was a nice, quaint, comfortable looking place, something I didn’t really associate with Fletcher or his sister Yemsa, but maybe it was something they’d built before the world had gone crazy and Yango had taken over.

  We heard more whooshing, and then the sound of laughter filled the air. Coen waved a hand. “Let’s say we join the party.”

  We walked to the backyard, which was covered with people of all shapes and sizes. They were lined up, rows of them as if this was some elite exercise class and Fletcher and Yemsa were the instructors.

  They both stood in front of the crowd, whistles around their necks, barking out orders. They paused when they saw us approach, and all eyes turned our way.

  Yemsa looked less than pleased to see me, and I remembered that things had ended badly between us the last time I’d been here. I’d pleaded for the lives of Brad and Melinda, the two Yango who’d thrown me into this mess to begin with, and she’d broken their necks.

  At the time, I’d been pissed, and even some of my own crew had started to give me the side eye. I hadn’t grown up under the thumb of the Yango, so I hadn’t fully grasped the depth of suffering they spread wherever they went.

  I’d found out later that Yemsa’s husband and small children had been killed by the Yango, and then I couldn’t find a hole big enough to fling myself into.

  She’d probably never forgive me for begging for the lives of a group of people who’d caused her so much pain, and I didn’t blame her one bit. I wasn’t even sure I’d forgiven myself for such a lack in judgment.

  Fletcher held up a hand to stop the group training. He wiped sweat from his face and then came over to talk to us. “What’s the word?” he asked, shoulders broad, muscles popping.

  Reid scanned the crowd of fighters, who now watched Yemsa intently, focusing on her every word. He looked impressed at the setup they’d built here, and I had to agree. These people were willing and able to fight the Yango and would soon get their chance. “All the Yango are meeting tomorrow night.”

  Reid opened a small portal in front of him, and Fletcher ran his hand through and nodded. “All the rogue Yango will be there, trying to figure out what to do about us. It’s the perfect time to strike,” Reid said.

  Fletcher didn’t look so convinced. He shook his head, chest rising and falling, as he breathed in and out. He spat on the ground. “Been waiting for years for the Yango to make themselves vulnerable. They’re too smart for this. It’s a trap, it has to be.”

  Reid shrugged and widened his hands in front of him as if to say, “So what.” “You going to let this opportunity pass just because it might be a trap?”

  Fletcher looked back to where Yemsa was still busy with the group of fighters. “Oh, we’ll be there,” he said with confidence, turning back around. “I’m just saying we shouldn’t be surprised if everything gets flipped on its head is all.”

  Trout scoffed. He stood in between Iago and Lantana, a hard look on his face. “We’re going to do it anyway. Yango have my people on their knees right now bowing
to their every whim.” He pointed to himself, Iago, Lantana, and Coen. “We bend knees to no one, and we’re willing to fight until our dying breath to prove that. Are you?” He gestured toward the trained fighters. “Are they?”

  Fletcher raised a brow. “Think you’ve spent enough time here to already know the answer to that.”

  “Good,” Iago nodded. “We’ll see you there.”

  Trout started to open a portal, but Fletcher called out my name, making him pause.

  “Yeah,” I said, turning his way, already knowing what this was about. “How’s Vonda holding up in all this? She good?”

  I looked at him. For the couple of weeks he’d stayed in my world, my sister and him had gotten very close. I wondered what the extent of his affections were for her, just as I wondered the same about Coen in regards to my brother.

  Still, it wasn’t my place to meddle in my sibling’s love lives, and the last thing I wanted was to turn into my father. “She’s good,” I said, fighting down the urge to pry a little deeper into his feelings. “I’ll tell her you asked, okay?”

  He nodded, a strained look on his face. I got the feeling he wanted to say more, just didn’t know how to go about it. “Tell her I said... Tell her...” He stopped and shook his head. “Yeah, tell her I asked about her.” With that, he turned and walked away, back to the eager fighters who awaited his command.

  Strange. Reid said into my head.

  I looked at him and laughed. Yes, very strange.

  I put my hand on Trout’s arm as he started to open the portal. “I’m going to Cyphen to let them know what’s going on.”

  Reid cleared his throat, and I looked at him. I saw strong disapproval on his face and blinked, not sure what this was about and why he couldn’t just say it into my head instead of out here in the open for everyone to hear. “Really want to take the chance of someone here learning where the dragons live? Portal from home.”

  Not like the portal would actually take someone not dragon born there, but I nodded anyway, still thinking we could have just as easily had this conversation in our heads. “And you?”

  “I’ll do the same.”

  Then it was settled. Reid and I would be making another trip back to dragon land.

  Chapter 17

  Reid and I landed in my living room while the others went home. I sat down on my yellow couch, needing to take a minute to just relax. “Do you think they’ll help?” I asked Reid, who sat down beside me.

  He pushed strands of hair out of my face, his touch tender and soft. “I don’t know,” he said, his tone almost questioning. “But it can’t hurt to ask.”

  “Do you think Linton and Fryd know what the Dragon Lords did? That they’re partly to blame for the Yango being the way that they are?”

  He thought about it. “I definitely think they know more than they let on, but who knows what’s floating around inside their heads?” He raised an eyebrow, an amused look on his face. “Why, you want to tell ‘em?”

  Is that what I wanted? I bit my bottom lip as I thought it over. It certainly wouldn’t hurt anything, and the Dragon Lords hadn’t said we couldn’t tell, so... “I think it’ll be a good way to catch them off guard,” I said.

  Reid tapped a finger to his chin. “They may mess up and let something slip if we confront them that way.”

  I smiled and nodded. “Besides, they were all so anxious to see how our meeting with the Dragon Lords went. I guess now would be the perfect time to tell them.”

  I PORTALED INTO THE large room where I’d first met Erain in the others. The only person there was Linton. He sat on one of the couches, hands in front of him as if he knew I’d be coming and had been waiting for me.

  “How was your visit with the Dragon Lords?” He asked that before even asking how I was doing and if I was okay. My feelings must have shown on my face because he cocked his head to the side and stared at me. “You’re standing before me alive, and well, so I’ll assume you’re okay or do they do something different where you’re from?” He seemed genuinely curious, which made me take a few steps back to reformulate my rude response.

  “No, it’s fine,” I waved a hand and sat down on one of the settees. “The Dragon Lords are the cause of a lot of suffering. They stripped the Yango of food and the ability to grow more. Many have died behind what they did.”

  His face stayed blank as he watched me talk and something hard and sour twisted in my gut. “You knew,” I whispered, not sure why I was even surprised. “You knew, and you never said a word.”

  He nodded like it was the most natural thing in the world. “You weren’t ready to hear it, and it wasn’t my story to tell.”

  “But—” I started, and he held a hand up to stop me from saying more.

  “The Dragon Lords have to atone for their own actions. It’s not my job to do that for them.”

  I let out a frustrated breath of air, and ran a hand down my face, trying to steel my nerves. I felt betrayed. It was irrational, I knew, but it’s where I was at. “Are you going to help us?” I asked, thinking they could at least do that after all the death and harm the Dragon Lords had caused.

  He waved a hand, smoke coming out of his nose and mouth. “So, you don’t know why we here in dragon land cut contact to all other worlds?”

  I shook my head. How the fuck did he expect me to know that?

  He folded his hands back, and I got the impression that he wanted to pat the seat beside him and urge me to sit.

  I stayed rooted to my spot. “Are you finally going to tell me?” It seemed strange for him to bring it up if he wasn’t.

  He cocked his head to the side. “You think the Dragon Lords could do what they did, and there would be no punishment? That the universe would just let their behavior go unanswered?”

  “But why’d they do it?” I blurted out. I was missing an essential piece of the puzzle and figured nothing much would make sense until I had it.

  “Not my story to tell,” he said dismissively.

  I sent him a hard glare, because really? Were we back to the secrets already? “How did the universe punish them?”

  He exhaled a line of dark smoke, watching as it dissipated into thin air. “Had your friend Reid been here, he would have been able to hold on to that and bend it to his will.”

  What? The smoke? What did that have to do with any... He was trying to distract me, and I wasn’t having it. I closed my eyes and tried to summon patience. “Linton.”

  He chuckled, and I looked up to see him smiling at me, amusement in his eyes. It was uncharacteristic of him to play games this way, which made me think it was probably more of his deflection tactics. “We all pay for what the Dragon Lords did. All contact to those outside of the dragon race was cut off, and rumors ran rampant about what had really happened to us.”

  He held his hands out in front of him. “What was put wrong must then be put right. Only then can past sins be erased. The dead will rise, the Yango will fall, their lands will replenish, and only then will things be as they ought.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked, not able to stop my outburst. He was talking in circles now, and the infuriating thing was, I was sure he knew it.

  His face went back to being blank, but I could see the hint of a smile in his eyes, and I realized that he liked this, getting a rise out of me and making me act on emotion.

  I squared my shoulders and promised myself that from here on out, I would be in control of the conversation. “Where are the others,” I asked, looking around. “Stax, Arden, and Erain.”

  He gave me a curious once over, and his voice sounded almost as if he was seeking something. “You tell me.”

  I thought back to how when I’d first left the Dragon Lords. I’d been able to hone in on my clan when I’d wondered at their whereabouts. I closed my eyes and tried to zero in on their locations now. My mind first went to Stax, probably because he was who I wanted to see the most.

  He was with Arden, in the commons. The commons w
ere where those of my clan went to just hang out. It was in another building, a couple of miles down the road. The room was about the size of three football fields and filled with couches, settees, buffet tables that were constantly refreshed with food, stacks of books, three flat screen TVs with viewing areas, along with a large pool, and a few other things.

  It was a place for clan camaraderie, and I’d always felt relaxed and at ease when I’d visited there. I hadn’t felt like an outsider. They’d made me feel welcome and included when I was here, and I’d always be thankful for that.

  Stax lay back on a blue couch, eating grapes and talking to a girl who stood about three feet away from him. Arden sat on the edge of the same couch, reading quietly to himself. I smiled when I saw them because they conjured such a feeling of tranquility and peace.

  My mind shifted, and this time it was Erain I sought out. I found her at the “Blowback,” a local nightclub. This was something that had shocked me when they’d first shown it to me. I always thought of dragons as mystical, magical beasts. The thought of them going out to party like the rest of us had certainly thrown me for a loop.

  Blue and purple strobe lights flashed throughout the club, and while some danced in the air, others stayed rocking on the floor. Erain had on a shimmering blue dress, and she danced with Cent. A tall guy, with purple hair, that hung in loose strands down his back. He was broad-chested and looked like he hit the gym for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

  They laughed as they slung each other around the dance floor, throwing back shots every few seconds and generally having a good time. I laughed too, because it was good to see them both letting loose and having some fun. I’d met Cent during my time here, and he’d never been anything but helpful and nice, something I’d been grateful for at the time.