by Rain Oxford
“That really took no work at all, so I’m ready to roll,” Dylan said. “You good?” he asked me. I nodded. He put his hand on the crystal ball and poured his energy into it. I added my fire and the energy quickly shaped into a new star map.
“That’s Duran,” Edward said with one glance.
I opened my mouth to ask if he was sure, but Rojan interrupted me. He’s right. That is definitely Duran. Figures a dragon would know the formation of the stars.
I could feel overwhelming memories radiating from Dylan and deliberately let them into my own mind. Images, feelings, and thoughts that Dylan experienced when he first arrived on Duran bombarded me. It was such a significant time for him that the seven-year-old memories were still very strong.
The energy immediately formed the image of a throne room. I groaned. “I’ve seen that room before,” I said.
“It’s a huge throne room. Is it in the Ishte kingdom?”
“No. It’s Emiko’s kingdom. Figures; we’re looking for a fire wand. Where else would it be but in the only kingdom of dragons on Duran. The water cup was in the water city on Vaigda. The air dagger was in the air tribe on Malta. I see a pattern here.”
“Well, that was easy. Patterns are good. Now for the time.”
Edward held up a card with the fire wand on it. It was a long red wand with two yellow bands and a yellow base. The top was shaped like a flame with a mix of red and yellow. Getting into the routine, we both closed our eyes and focused on the fire wand. The moment the impression of time came to me, Rojan nearly broke my concentration.
It is in the future, but only about fifteen hours.
“Are you sure?” Dylan asked.
I looked at him in shock. “You heard Rojan?”
“Yeah. It’s not the first time, either, it’s just really uncommon. If it’s only fifteen hours from now, maybe we shouldn’t use the apple.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I think we need to get these artifacts as soon as possible. If we use it, we can get back here with little time wasted.”
“Alright,” he said. He put the card and the crystal ball in his bag and looked at Edward. “The next one is a pantacle.”
Edward took another card and handed it to Dylan, who slipped it in his bag without even looking at it. I shrugged off my friend’s weird behavior as he held the glass apple out for me. I put my hand on it and thought of the throne room.
“Try to focus on the place and not Emiko’s ass, yeah?” Dylan suggested.
I growled. “You focus on the time and I’ll focus on whatever I want to.”
It only took a couple of seconds of picturing the throne room, probably because it was a real memory and not just an image we saw in the crystal. I opened my eyes to a startled yelp. We were in the throne room and Emiko was sitting in her chair, wearing a dark blue sundress and the same silver shoes as before. Her hair was halfway up in a strap, but still managed to drape over her shoulders in heavy curls.
She bounded out of the throne and into my arms. I could have refused her, but there was an underlying scent that distracted me.
“You came back for me!” she exclaimed.
I pushed her away and sneezed. Dylan darted off to grab the wand, which appeared on a small table against the wall, and then slipped it into his bag.
“What is going on?” Emiko asked, her excitement dampened.
Dylan went right up to Emiko and held out his hand, which she took without hesitation. “I’m Dylan,” my friend said.
Rojan growled and I forced my way between them. “Sit down,” I demanded, glaring at her. She did. I leaned over her so that she had to lean back and scented her, then turned away and sneezed. “How long have you been sick?” I asked her.
“Sick? Why do you think I’m sick?”
“I can smell your illness.”
“In person form? You are so powerful. Is that why you came back for me?” she asked, giving me her sweetest smile. Despite the fact that Rojan and I both knew she was deceitful, she gave off a “protect me” aura.
“How long?” I repeated.
She shrugged. “A day maybe. I have been unable to eat anything today.”
“Where are your guards?”
“Most of them were poisoned and died. The ones who lived left,” she said. “Only ten of my people are still here on the island.”
“If you were poisoned with whatever killed the others, how are you still alive?” Dylan asked. He grabbed my arm and pulled me away from her. Although it was for my protection, Rojan didn’t like it.
Emiko’s emotions were in turmoil, but as much as she tried to hide it, I could smell that she felt abandoned. She was threatened and everyone who was supposed to protect her ran. That didn’t sit well with Rojan or me.
“I guess I am stronger than the others,” she said.
“If you let me near your girlfriend, I can heal her,” Dylan said.
“Do it.”
Dylan smirked and held out his hand to Emiko. “Come on, little lady, let’s get you into bed.” She didn’t hesitate to jump out of the chair and take his hand. I really tried not to growl as she led us to her bedroom. It would have helped had the room been a little less suggestive.
She obviously liked softness. The room was dark and the walls were painted dark blue, and everything about it screamed sensual. The floor was a soft wood that you could fall to from a decent height and not be hurt. Dominating the room was a large bed, big enough for at least four people and covered with thick, dark red satin and cotton blankets and more pillows than any bed needed. The bedposts were tall and metal, the kind meant for tying people to them. There was a foot chest, a wardrobe, and two bedside tables, all made of dark wood with elegant, decorative etchings. A silk folding screen just about my height, gold with trees full of pink and red flowers, was against the wall opposite the door. In front of the screen was a large, elegant, white tub on four gold legs. Beside the door, across from the bed, was a large fireplace, which I lit with little thought. On the nightstands were candles, which I also lit with magic.
Be careful about using your dragon fire in front of dragons, Rojan warned.
She would assume it is wizard magic. After all, my father is a wizard. Whether I was trying to convince him or myself, I didn’t know… which was awkward because Rojan and I were essentially the same being… Nevertheless, I really had no idea what Emiko thought. She believed I was a dragon, but knew my father was sago. Since dragons and people were absolutely incompatible as far as breeding goes, she was likely very confused.
Emiko reclined on the bed and Dylan sat next to her. He put one hand on her stomach and the other on her forehead. I sensed his magic, but while I knew my friend wouldn’t hurt her, Rojan didn’t like it. Rojan seemed to be upset because she was in such a dangerous situation to begin with.
After a moment, my friend looked at me. “She’s fighting it. I don’t know for sure she would have died from the poison. I’m going to give her a little more strength to fight it off herself. That way if she is poisoned again, she has a better chance of overcoming it on her own.”
“She will not be poisoned again,” Rojan growled, taking control of my mouth.
Dylan got back to work and I felt her discomfort as her body fought the poison. I expected her to whine and moan, but she didn’t open her mouth at all. It was interesting that she could be so petulant when she was safe, yet so dignified at this time.
“I’m going to make her sleep. It’s better for her,” Dylan said. I nodded. As Dylan worked, I sensed her breathing even out. Finally, Dylan sat back. “She’ll be fine now.”
Dylan stood up and I took his place next to her. A deep inhale made my nose burn and started another series of sneezes, but Emiko smelled healthy again. If the poison was still on her, that would explain my reaction, but that would also mean the poison didn’t have a scent. I couldn’t smell anything particularly wrong on her.
“Dylan, you should go back and get the pantacle. I need to stay and help Emiko,” I said.
Dylan sighed and pulled out the crystal ball and map. “I figured. You have to help me find out where it is. I’ll return to the house and ask Edward to go with me. When you get done here, head home by ship.”
He set the map on the foot chest and put the crystal ball on top of it. When we both poured our magic into it, a star map formed. “How are we supposed to know what world that is supposed to be of?” I asked.
“We guess… but we take an educated guess. You were right; there is a pattern. The air dagger was in the air tribe, the water cup was in the water city, and the fire wand was in the dragon kingdom. That means the pantacle is associated with earth or ground. If I’m not way off, we are either looking at Earth’s sky, which is unlikely, or one of the underground worlds.”
“Can you tell if it’s Earth?”
He scrutinized it real hard. “Astronomy was never one of my interests. In a magazine, I can pick out the big dipper or something, but I lived in Houston. Stars are hard to see in large cities. If we focus on one world and nothing happens, then we can focus on another. Really, I don’t think it’s Earth; I think it’ll be an underground world.”
“Like Dios?”
“Enep and Dios are underground worlds because the people destroyed the surface. I think Mulo is the only world that was originally not habitable to people.”
“That should be easy to focus on; just remember the blizzard.”
“Actually, all I remember is pain until we woke in the cabin. I can remember the feel of Mulo’s energy.”
“I’ll just concentrate on the miserable blizzard,” I said. We did concentrate, but after about five minutes, it was obvious that nothing was happening. “Either our memories aren’t strong enough, or we made the wrong guess. Let’s go on, and if nothing happens, we can try again. Enep or Dios?”
Dylan frowned. “I’ve only been to Enep for like a minute, and you weren’t there. Let’s try Dios.”
I recalled Nila’s underground kingdom, the dark tunnels, and the synthetic forest that Nano lived it. The gravity was similar to Duran, but everything smelled like dirt and everything smelled sun-starved… even the people.
The energy in the sphere reformed to a new room, which we both recognized as an old study in Nila’s kingdom. Neither of us broke our concentration as Dylan pulled the card Edward had given him out of his bag. It was a small, white, circular plaque with a painted hexagram. After a moment of thinking about the room and the pantacle, the pantacle appeared in the crystal ball on a bookcase and the sense of time came to me.
That is a few years in the past.
Dylan slipped everything in his bag. “I think the apple should work with Edward. He knows Dios well and can concentrate. Keep the sword in case you need it. I can’t risk flashing back here and running into myself. If you get sick, come home as soon as possible, no matter what. Don’t try to finish anything off, just get home so I can heal you.”
“Of course. I’ll come back as soon as I take care of this situation.”
“Maybe I should stay.”
“It could take days for me to find out who has been poisoning these people and stop it. You need to get the artifacts and close the gates. If I could get away with coming with you and solving this poison problem afterwards, I would, but the longer I wait, the more people that could die.”
“It’s alright, Edward can help me. Should I send one of the other Guardians to help you?” he asked.
I shook my head because I didn’t know any of the Guardians enough to trust them except for Dylan and Edward. “Are you kidding? Next to you, who else in this world could protect me if I really needed it?”
He nodded and said, “Rojan. I get it. You know, from Sammy and Ron’s point of view, you vanished from existence for fifteen hours.” He sighed. “Do you really like this girl?” he asked.
I looked at him. “I don’t even know her. I can smell that she’s malicious, selfish, and cruel. She is extremely irritating and she tried to stab me.”
“Yeah, but she’s pretty and seems to need a man to protect her. I knew you wouldn’t go for someone like Divina, I just didn’t think you wanted a pretty brat who needed a good spanking,” he said. I opened my mouth to argue, but I really didn’t know what to say to that. “I’m looking forward to meeting her outside your dreams when she isn’t ill. Just don’t be upset if she is a little more capable than she looks.”
“Capable?”
“She’s small and harmless looking, but she has made it as a queen of dragons. She might be spoiled and selfish, but I doubt she’s weak. Maybe you should see what she can do in dragon form. Right now, though, ask Rojan for the time at home.”
Before he even finished, that familiar, weird feeling came to mind. My friend may have started to understand it, but it was alien to me. I knew he felt the time that Rojan gave me when he pulled out the apple and closed his eyes. There was no bright light, nor did he instantly vanish. Instead, Dylan faded.
That was disturbing.
I turned back to see Emiko waking up. Even though Dylan was worlds… and hours… away, I thought his magic over the young queen would last longer than that. As she rolled onto her side, I tried to scent her lightly and got only a small irritation instead of another sneezing attack. The poison was still on her, even if she wasn’t dying from it.
A heavy lock of curled hair fell across her face, accenting the color of her skin. After a moment, I reached out and brushed it aside. It was like waves of thick silk. Her eyes opened and immediately focused on me, then she smiled and I knew nothing but evil would come from her sweet-looking lips.
“I knew you would come back for me.”
“Before or after you tried to stab me?”
“You forced your way into my palace and took my pet. You yelled at me and smacked me. I had to try. It does puzzle me, though… I can smell that you are a dragon, but I also smell sago on you, and you called my pet your father. As far as I know, sago are not compatible with us. So what are you exactly?”
Wouldn’t I like to know...? Funny, that was the one question I never could really figure out. “I am Mordon.”
“Are you related to Rojan of Kaled.”
“Seventh orient child of the Kaled,” Rojan growled before I could stop him. It was rare to feel such a high level of pride from him unless he was talking about his children, so it came as a surprise to me.
You just gave it away. Now any wizard magic we do would be suspicious.
She was already questioning whether we are dragon or sago. Whatever we are called, I am a Kaled and that is something to be proud of. You can renounce your throne, but you cannot renounce your blood.
She sat up. “So you are related. You look like the paintings I’ve seen of him and you seem far too powerful for your age.”
“You’re one to talk. How old are you?” I asked.
“Twenty-two,” she lied. I growled and she blushed before shrugging. “I will be twenty in three months.”
She pulled her knees up to her chest, which made her loose dress ride up to her hips and I got a look at her light blue panties. My fire flared and I exhaled smoke through my nose.
She’s underage, I reminded myself. “Do you have any idea who is behind this poison?” I asked.
“So far, I believe what is affecting us is a plant that is only a poison to dragons. Also, I can smell poison even in person form, but this I cannot detect. The dragons who were not instantly dead when exposed seem to become confused and dizzy. One of my guards ingested a single contaminated bite and immediately threw it up. He lived for about an hour before he died, but he was in more pain than I ever saw anyone suffer through. He had no idea where he was or why he was dying.”
“In the desert, Verusta, there is a large clutch. Way too large, really. They said they had found an alien plant dust that disorientates dragons. They got a wizard to harness it to hide from other dragons and exposed themselves to it enough to become immune to it. I don’t know that there is a correlation, but I couldn’t smell it
.” At least not until Dylan gave me some of his magic.
“Alien plant dust?”
“The remains of a plant from another world, I believe.”
“How did it get here?” she asked. There was a thoughtful look in her eyes as she seemed to forget to act cute and pouty. Surely she wasn’t beautiful and smart.
“I don’t know. It could have gotten imported by accident from a traveler.”
“You mean a person who travels to another world?” Emiko asked, shocked.
I never told people about the things Dylan and I get up to, and certainly not about other worlds. While several worlds were open and friendly to visitors, Duran and Earth were not. Humans didn’t believe in other people and while sago knew we were not alone, we wanted to be left alone. As far as sago knew, only the gods and those chosen by the gods could travel worlds.
“A plant isn’t going to fly up into the atmosphere, travel through space, and land here.”
“Maybe it’s a space plant,” she said. I gaped at her until she started laughing.
The room seemed warmer suddenly. It must have been the fireplace.
“I have never heard of anything inherently poisonous to only one species.” It made me wonder what would happen if I were exposed. If it was the same plant that the dragons in the desert used, then we could become immune to it, at least in small doses. The fact that it did affect me meant it was unlikely that I could withstand the real poison.
“That is why I asked Ishte-mor to help me find a cure. He was studying dragons and couldn’t be poisoned by it.”
“Then why did you imprison him?” I asked.
She shrugged. “He failed.”
I would have felt angry if anyone else had said that, but I already expected that level of egocentric immaturity in her. Dragons were arrogant by nature and not designed to live in large clusters. A dragoness as a queen was a disaster, because the level of conceit would be astounding.
“So would you like a tour of my island or are you getting right to work?” she asked.
“Who said I’ll help you?”
She looked appalled. “I am the queen. You will do as you are told.”
