It had been hours since his encounter with the gray-soul and the Jade dragon, Osod, and he still didn’t understand what the gray boy was. Osod was clear: they were to be feared and avoided at all costs. The Jade killed the gray-soul, puncturing his head with a claw. Lailoken protested, but it was too late. Osod had killed the gray boy, ending his struggle.
Waiting by the fire for Etain to attend to her dragons, Lailoken watched the flames dance and twirl as they rose from the pit and subsided just as quickly. He wondered how things had gotten so far out of hand from the only life he ever knew.
“Lailoken, my dear, are you well?”
It was Etain, her voice echoing within the cavern. She often changed into her human form around him.
He turned to face her. “Maybe. My life is not mine, it seems, and it certainly isn’t what I expected it to be.”
She approached and sat on the ground next to him. Lailoken noticed that several dragons followed her, flanking out from behind her and lining the walls. They were mostly Garnet and Onyx dragons, with a couple of Jades. The retinue was eight to ten dragons, though it was difficult to tell in the flickering light. They made him uneasy.
“Why the guards? Do you fear me?”
“Not at all, my love. I know your heart is pure, despite what some of my kind think.”
Months ago, Lailoken would have salivated at all the potential dragon kills he’d have here. Now, knowing what he did about his wife and her stature amongst them, he wasn’t as quick to seek their deaths, though the itch was still there buried deep within him.
“Osod tells me you encountered a gray-soul today. That’s unfortunate. They truly are creatures to be pitied. He did the right thing with it.”
“Etain, you must see things from my point of view. I’m grateful for your healing, but all this,” he said waving his hand, “is more than I can understand. Dragons that change into humans, infighting amongst your kind, my wife the Dragon Lord, and now…now there are gray-souls roaming the lands? None of it makes sense!”
Etain rose and slowly circled the fire. The glow of flames on her lovely cheek reminded Lailoken of the first mid-summer celebration when they met.
“My love, we are facing an unfortunate series of events of which I am chiefly to blame. My dragons are all too eager to remind me of my folly.” She turned and glanced at one of the Onyx dragons along the far wall.
“I don’t understand.”
“The gray-souls. Our son Myrthyd. The Blood Stone. They’re all connected.”
Lailoken said nothing for a while, trying to process her words.
“How is Myrthyd our son? When I returned from the hunt, you’d already had Alushia. Not long after, you left. How can the Kull Naga be ours?”
Etain turned from him and crossed her arms. She seemed at a loss for words. When she turned back to him, he noticed her eyes glistening.
“I had hoped to bridge the divide between humans and dragons. Tregaron is a hostile place for my kind. You know what they do with our blood, how they slaughter us for our life essence to be infused with their infernal gems.”
“How does that have anything to do with Myrthyd? I can’t accept that he’s my son!”
“Myrthyd is Alushia’s twin. When you were gone, I gave birth to twins. Afterwards, I kissed Myrthyd, clutching him close because I knew what I had to do. I knew my chance to close that divide was with him. It tore my soul to give him up, but it had to be done. The midwife was one of my servants. I instructed her to take him to the Black Tower and leave him for the Order. It crushed me to know I was handing our child over to the one force that actively sought the death of the Drakku. If they had discovered he was a halfling, he never would have made it to adulthood. Same with Alushia.”
“You had twins and didn’t tell me? Etain…they were my children as well,” he said quietly.
“I know, my love. You have no idea how horrific it felt to betray you and our children. My grief was overwhelming.”
“For years I’ve searched for you. I’ve slaughtered many dragons because I knew not which Drakku stole you from me.”
Etain dropped her gaze to the floor. “My heart has been broken ever since that day. I’ve failed you and our family. I’ve failed my dragons. Not a day goes by that my grief doesn’t threaten to overpower me. It’s been my terrible fate, but I can blame no one but myself.”
Lailoken turned from her and gazed at the dragons standing stoically along the walls, guardians of an ancient dragon that happened to be the mother of his children.
“I am sorry your decisions have brought you such pain. We do the best we can with the knowledge we have, and often that isn’t enough. I’ve made many mistakes that haunt me to this day.” Lailoken thought of Darlonn, his friend, and his demise in the cave as they fought to secure the Blood Stone.
“I’ve learned to accept my decisions and the consequence of them, though still the pain of my mistakes burns bright.”
Etain returned to him and sat, draping her arm over his shoulders. “I will not allow my mistakes to dictate my love for you. It has never stopped, no matter what you may think.”
Lailoken closed his eyes. This is what he’d been fighting for over the years. Having her at his side once again was all he wanted.
A man broke the mood, rushing into the cave. He bent over when he entered their presence, out of breath, lungs working hard. He wore a simple white tunic and had long brown hair. He looked to be no older than Alushia. After Etain, he was the only other person he’d seen here. Was it a person like him or a dragon?
“Your highness, there’s another,” he said breathlessly.
Etain rose from the floor. “Another?”
“Yes, Etain. There’s another gray-soul roaming the forest to the east. A girl. She was spotted a couple hours ago by a patrol. Once they realized what she was, they sent me to report it. That’s five in the last week!”
“Thank you, Naldri. Your service is well appreciated.”
Naldri bowed and ran from the cavern. A bright flash of light illuminated the dark walls and a dragon’s roar echoed within the chamber. Etain shook her head. “The young ones always show off.”
“Another gray-soul?” Lailoken asked.
Etain turned to him. “They’ve been growing more frequent in the past few months. I fear our son has discovered the night-wraith. The power he’s unleashed is a terrible blight on humans and dragons alike. We have a difficult road ahead of us.”
Etain waved a hand at a nearby Onyx dragon and it approached slowly, its head nearly touching the roof of the cave.
Yes, my liege? Lailoken heard in his head.
“Go to the gray-soul. Do what must be done.”
As you wish.
The Onyx turned and flew out of the cavern, the sound of its beating wings stirring old thoughts of the hunt within Lailoken.
Etain closed her eyes and moved her lips as if in silent prayer. When she looked up at Lailoken, tears ran down her cheeks.
“It pains me to do what we have to, but the gray-souls are no longer one of us. They belong to the underworld, to the great beyond where they can rest, and maybe one day join us.”
Lailoken fell silent, unsure how to proceed. How would he return home now? What would the Order do, knowing he lay with a dragon and had a child? What would they do if they found out Myrthyd was a halfling?
“Etain, I need to find Alushia. I need to return to her.”
“She’s with one of mine, a good dragon named Ryn. He’ll keep her safe, I promise.”
“A dragon,” he murmured, “protecting my daughter.”
“Our daughter. She’s part mine, too.”
“Our daughter. I must return to her. What if the Order realizes she’s a halfling? What about Myrthyd?” He couldn’t call him his son. He still didn’t believe it. The man was…dark. An air of evil surrounded him.
“She’ll be safe, I promise. Ryn is dedicated. He will not allow harm to come to her.”
“I hope you’re right.
But I still want to get back. She’s my responsibility. I’m her father.”
“I swear to you, I will keep her safe. She’s my daughter, too!”
Lailoken stood and walked away from Etain. He stopped in front of a large Garnet dragon and stared into its dull yellow eyes. Many times he slaughtered one of these, seeing only an animal worthy of the hunt. Now…now they were different. They were creatures he had to rely on. His own wife was one of them. The leader of them!
Nothing he’d been taught led him to understand this moment. He was on his own, surrounded by what he once considered his enemy. Now, he had no idea who was friend and who was foe.
Meanos, guide me. Show me the way to truth, he prayed. He’d need all the help he could get.
Sixteen
Myrthyd waited in the darkness for what felt like an eternity, calling out for the soul within. “Wraith! Show yourself! Come to your master!”
He waited, his patience wearing thin. Then, there was movement. A small speck against the black backdrop caught his attention.
“Is that you, wraith? Have you answered the call?”
A great roar echoed in the darkness. Myrthyd felt the bond unite once again. He sent a brief shock to the night-wraith, making sure it knew he was agitated.
The black void ceded to an image of snowcapped peaks. Myrthyd found himself standing on a mountainside with cold winds blowing his black robes. Chepon dropped from the sky, her black tattered form contrasting with the white snow. She landed in front of Myrthyd. Her smoky eyes regarded him and her torn wings folded behind her back.
“When I call, I expect obedience. I’ve waited far too long for your return.”
Chepon said nothing. She rested on her haunches, not showing the deference he expected.
Myrthyd narrowed his eyes. “Are you defying me?”
Again, Chepon said nothing. Myrthyd shocked her. She didn’t react terribly to it, but he did notice her shift on her feet. He knew she felt it, but for some reason was choosing not to acknowledge it.
“Have you found the girl? Have you discovered where Alushia is?”
Chepon stood stoically, undeterred by his presence.
“I ask you one more time,” Myrthyd began with a venomous tone, “Where is Alushia?”
Chepon shifted slightly, the smoke rising from her eyes in thin tendrils, but still said nothing.
Myrthyd’s anger blossomed. He channeled through the Blood Stone and jolted the night-wraith with a massive bolt of lightning, knowing it was nearly enough to destroy the ephemeral dragon.
Immediately Chepon fell to the snowy ground, writhing in pain. She howled in agony, the smoke growing denser in her eyes. She flapped her torn wings and screamed out.
“Release me! End this misery!” she cried. At the sound of her voice, Myrthyd’s anger grew more intense and he struck her with several bolts, sending the wraith to miserable crying and wailing.
“How dare you defy me! How dare you refuse my directive!”
Chepon squirmed on the ground, no respite in sight.
Myrthyd struck her one last time, the bright light of the lightning shimmering across her body. She roared louder than before, her voice almost splitting the sky in two.
At last, he relented and let go of the power. Chepon slowly rose from the ground, weary and in obvious distress.
“I ask you again. Where is that wretched girl?”
Chepon shook her head. “I…I do not know,” she said weakly.
Myrthyd struck her with lightning. “That is the wrong answer!”
Chepon roared again, striking at the air as if to ward off the thousands of tiny bolts Myrthyd now flung at her. When he was done, Chepon bent over, barely able to keep from falling to the ground.
“When I conquer more of your kind, I hope they serve me better than you have. Of all the wretched creatures to dominate, I get the only incompetent one.” Myrthyd circled the night-wraith, smirking as she struggled to remain upright. “You have two weeks to discover where she is. If you fail me, I will not withhold my fury. Do you understand me?”
Chepon nodded.
Myrthyd noticed her movement but pushed further. “I asked you a question. Do you understand me?”
“Yes,” she replied in a weak voice.
“Good. Now…take me to my army.”
Chepon lowered a wing for him to climb and he scrambled up the shredded blackness until he was seated on her neck. She flapped her wings and rose in the crisp air, flying high over mountains until she circled above a deep valley, barely noticeable from the sky because of how the mountains rose above it. Lowering from the sky, they fell closer to the valley, and hundreds of gray forms shuffled in the grass. As they got closer, they looked more human-like.
“Take me to them!”
Chepon dropped further, landing on a large boulder on the eastern side of the valley. A constant sound of teeth gnashing and groaning rose from the gray figures shambling in front of him. They weren’t effective in the way a conventional army was, but they were entirely under his control. Their wills were no longer their own but belonged to him.
“Is this all you’ve been able to secure for me? I expected more.”
To emphasize his point, he sent several shocks of lightning through their bond, striking the night-wraith with abandon. She screamed in agony, and several of the gray-souls jerked toward the awful sound.
“Please, stop,” she pleaded when he let go of his power. “Please, the pain—”
“Is nothing compared to what I’ll do if you continue to defy me! I should have many more than this! How can you not find the halflings? How can you let them live?”
“Please, Myrthyd—”
He blasted her again with the lightning. “Watch your tone!”
“Please…master. I have done the best I can to bring more under your control. There are more than enough to begin your conquest.”
Myrthyd hid the gray-souls in a valley beyond the southern wall of Tregaron. Halfling executions were enough to keep their disappearances quiet. Families feared retribution from the Order and said nothing when they turned up missing.
The executions enhanced his authority as the people considered him to be actively cleansing their blood and dealing with the immediate hunger crisis…which, in a way, he was. Just not how they expected.
“You must do better, or you’ll pay for your missteps. Am I clear?”
“Yes, my master.”
Myrthyd watched the roaming bodies. They moved aimlessly toward any little sound. They were a horrid sight, one that frightened even Myrthyd.
“Now, to try their obedience.”
He raised his arms, creating a ball of blue flame above the valley. The gray-souls turned their rotten heads upwards, engrossed by the bright object. Then, Myrthyd spoke, increasing the volume of his voice to reach all those in the valley.
“Come to the rock before me and wait.” The loud words thundered across the valley and echoed back at him. The gray-souls immediately shambled toward him, groaning and gnashing teeth. He watched in amazement as they huddled as close as they could to him and the wraith. Every horrid face was turned at him, eagerly awaiting his next command. Once they were all as close as possible, he spoke again.
“The time is coming when I will unleash your fury on the south. You will find a land teeming with food and enemies. I will demand much of you. Soon. Soon you shall be set loose upon the heathen. I will not be stopped.”
He was silent as he let the blue flames dissipate. They’d proven they were under his control. Once he located Alushia and forced the wraith to devour her dreams, he’d make her the leader of this army. The daughter of the greatest known slayer would also be the instrument of his choosing to eliminate the mixed blood race of the south and cleanse all of Rowyth. Dragon blood will flow, and it would never infect humanity again.
He’d be the last one standing, and no one would know his secret.
Seventeen
Ryn had been flying for close to half the day.
Alushia couldn’t tell if nightfall was nearing or not. All she knew was that her stomach grumbled and Brida had been sending impressions of food.
“Ryn, can we go down there and rest? We’ve been at this a long time and I need a break!”
Sure thing. Sometimes I forget you aren’t a full-blooded dragon.
They fell through a cloud and Ryn landed softly near the edge of a forest. He released Brida and the snowcat bounded off into the trees, excited to finally have her paws on solid ground.
Alushia chuckled as Brida’s impressions of dirt and grass came to her. She climbed down from Ryn’s neck and stretched, her muscles aching from clinging to him so tight. As she watched, the Garnet dragon was enveloped in a bright flash of light, and when it disappeared, Ryn stood in its place.
“You know, I swore dragons were evil. And to think of them purposely changing into human form and walking amongst us…. Now I think you’re not all that bad,” she said with a wink. It had been a while since she regarded him like she did when they met in the Verdant Tower. Like now, he was handsome and alluring.
“What?” he asked, catching her gazing at him too long.
She collected herself and shook her head. “It’s nothing. Sorry. Got caught in a daydream.”
“As long as you stay clear of the night-wraith, I don’t care what you do!”
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Hungry? I’ll get us something to eat. All that flying takes its toll on me!” he said, rubbing his stomach. “Stay here. I’ll be back in a bit.”
She considered stopping him, afraid to be alone, but held back. If there were gray-souls around, he could stop them. Hopefully that was all that might be lurking in this strange forest.
Ryn hesitated. “Are you all right if I go?”
“Yes, yes. I can take care of myself. I’m not helpless.”
He smiled. “No, you certainly are not. Be back soon.” Ryn raced into the forest like he was already on the trail of something he’d spotted from above. No matter; Alushia had a moment to relax and clear her mind.
She thought about her homestead back in Tregaron and the people around her. All her life she’d been taught dragons were good for only one thing: death. When the crops began to fail several years back, no one knew what the cause was. Most of the old timers considered it a natural part of the world and believed eventually the cycle would turn in their favor. Several had stored up enough grain and other provisions to withstand the long duration. However, there was a growing number of people who didn’t pay heed to the signs around them and soon found themselves and their families starving.
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