“But all the females talk about is their eggs and their young and trying to teach their young to fly and hunt and cast spells.” Passion lit her great blue eyes. “I don’t care about any of that! I want to see Avalon. I want to meet humans and have adventures!”
“Yeah, well, sometimes adventures suck,” Nineva muttered.
Eithne looked down at her. Hostility flared in that pretty blue gaze before she returned her attention to Kel. “They say you mate with her. Is it true?”
“And you think this is your business why?” Nineva growled, glowering.
Eithne just growled, apparently reading her answer in his face. “It is true.” She wheeled away with an angry flick of her tail. “I cannot believe this! I am one of your own kind. I’m in season! And you reject me for this…ape!”
Nineva’s eyes narrowed. “In season? As in…”
“Hormones,” Kel snapped. To the dragon he added, “I’m not rejecting you, Eithne. I simply know it won’t work. Your clan…”
“And mating with this creature would work? She’s not even our kind!”
Nineva folded her arms and looked up at Kel. “You know, for somebody so enlightened when it comes to interspecies relationships, her bigoted streak is awfully close to the surface.”
Eithne curled her lip and took a menacing step toward her small rival. “It’s not bigoted to know when something’s unnatural!”
Kel decided he’d had enough. “Eithne, get out.”
“Kel…”
“Now!” It was a full-throated roar.
Eithne gave him a wounded look, then whirled to fling herself from the cave. Kel and Nineva stood silent, listening to the angry beat of her wings.
“You think she’s got a point?” Nineva’s voice was very quiet.
Kel snorted. “She’s full of shit.”
“But look at us!” She turned to face him. “I barely come to your elbow.”
“At the moment. I could change that in five seconds flat.”
“But that’s just magic.”
“No, it’s reality. And we’re damn lucky we can change it to accommodate how we feel.” He made a hissing sound of pure frustration. “Look, you said you loved me. Did you mean it?”
She spread her hands in a gesture of helplessness. “Of course, but it’s not that easy. For one thing, we’ve only known each other for one high-pressure week, which we spent either fighting for our lives or fucking like bunnies. How do we know this is real?”
“Nineva, I’m almost two thousand years old. I know how I feel. And I know that this”—he thrust out a scaled claw—“doesn’t mean shit. Most of my life, I was a piece of metal, but I was still me. I’m me when I’m a dragon, and I’m me when I’m human. And I know exactly what I want. You’re it. Now the only real question is—what do you want?”
Nineva stared up into his magnificent, alien face. And realized he was right. It didn’t really matter what form he wore. “I want you.”
“Good. Remember that.”
“Kel? Nineva?” The question sounded over the heavy thump of a big body landing. Soren walked in, looking dispirited and shaking his head.
Nineva wasn’t even surprised. “So what now?”
“I keep working on them. Maybe sheer persistence will wear them down.” The big dragon flung himself down on his back and extended his wings as though trying to rid them of a cramp. They stretched from one cave wall to the other. “It would probably be best if you and Kel headed back to Avalon and continued…whatever it is your goddess needs you to do.”
Kel nodded. “We’ve certainly done all we can do here.” He cut a wary glance toward the cave entrance. Three or four dragons circled just beyond it, peering inside with obvious hostility. “And frankly, I think we’ve pushed our welcome just about as far as we can. We need to get the hell out of here before one of those idiots starts something I have to finish.”
So they thanked Soren for his efforts, mounted up, and flew off, both trying to ignore the cold, hostile dragon eyes that watched them leave.
Nineva was glad of her armor.
Some time later, Kel’s voice broke the silence that had fallen dismally between them. “We’re through the Dragon Lands’ wards now. I could gate the rest of the way back to Avalon, but I’d like to fly a little longer. Burn off some frustration. Unless you’d rather?”
“No, that’s fine. It feels good up here.” And it did, with the afternoon sun just warm enough on her armored shoulders. Far below them, the ground spread out in a rollingquilt of winter-bare trees and half-frozen rivers, looking like a Christmas miniature at this altitude.
It was pleasant having nothing to do, particularly given that she knew the moment they arrived home, they’d be plunged back into the frantic race to find Grim, Semira, and the sword.
And Nineva was so damned tired. She’d adjusted to Avalon’s vampire hours, and her body insisted she should have been in bed long ago. “I’m wrecked,” she groaned.
“So get some sleep.”
“I’ll fall.”
Kel snorted. “Give me a break.”
Nineva smiled slightly, knowing what he meant: he’d never let her fall. So she slumped in her sun-warmed armor and let her eyes drift shut. A moment later, she felt the ghostly touch of a spell taking hold, holding her upright in the harness he’d earlier conjured for her. Comforted, she allowed herself to drift down into sleep.
Her dreams were jumbled, chaotic with images of angry dragons and Dark Ones rampaging through Times Square. She woke barely half an hour later with a pounding heart and palms gone sweat-damp inside her gauntlets.
Peering around as they flew, she gradually began to relax. Everything looked at peace. Below them was a majestic canyon cut by the snaking silver blade of a river. The water foamed white in rapids as it crashed over great boulders, sending up sprays of droplets that glinted in the sunlight. Trees crowded the river edge or jutted from the canyon walls at strange angles.
A bald eagle cut slow circles in an updraft, scanning for its next meal. Without warning, it stooped, shooting downward like an arrow, then arcing skyward again. Silver scales flashed as a fish lashed helplessly in its talons.
A smile of pure pleasure curled Nineva’s mouth. “Kel, did you see—”
“Traitor!” The blast of malevolent satisfaction brought her jerking around so fast, she’d have fallen if not for her harness. The blue dragon appeared out of thin air, his jaws opening, a plume of magical flame shooting right at her face.
Nineva’s shield popped into place without conscious thought. The deadly blast boiled over it, only to roll off like water. Kel twisted beneath her, his wings spreading wide as he braked and spun away.
“Irial!” Rage rumbled in his voice. “I told you what I’d do if you tried to hurt her again!”
“You should have thought of that before you stole the Egg!” Irial shot after him, his jaws snapping a fraction from the tip of Kel’s tail. “You’ve done it now, brother! You’ll be hunted down like the blasphemer you are. I’ll be only the first to spill your blood…”
“What the hell is he talking about?” Nineva clung dizzily to her harness as Kel twisted and bit at Irial as he sped by. The other dragon roared in pain.
“Looks like I’m the one who spilled the blood.” Kel lunged for his brother’s throat.
A sensation of massing power dragged Nineva’s eyes skyward just in time to see six more dragons appear. They’d apparently worn some kind of invisibility spell. “Kel! There are more of them!” She conjured a fireball and sent it shooting at the newcomers, but it went wide as Kel closed with Irial for another raking pass.
Blood splashed across Nineva’s face, blinding and sticky. She scrubbed it from her eyes. “Kel, dammit, look up!”
“Shit!” Kel snarled, finally spotting their attackers. He folded his wings and fell toward the river below, stooping just as the eagle had.
The six dragons shot after them, their wings beating the air in thunderous flaps, their eyes wild
with fury. Almost at Kel’s tail, Irial dove in pursuit, talons reaching. Nineva fired off another blast and had the satisfaction of seeing it hit him. Irial yelped, tossing his head at the pain. “Ape, you’re going to pay for that!”
“I’m not an ape!” The Goddess Mark began to burn as Nineva’s power rose. The fireball she conjured this time was so hot, she felt it even through her gauntlets. She shot it at him, forcing him to jerk aside. He lost control and tumbled.
But the rest of the dragons were gaining, growing ever closer to Kel’s whipping tail. “Speed it up!” Nineva cried, conjuring another fireball and shooting it at the nearest pursuer. “We’re about to get toasted!”
The leader, a big gold, opened his jaws. Something began to glow white hot down in the darkness of his maw. Nineva threw up a shield…
Suddenly she was hanging head-down in her harness. She swallowed a scream, realizing Kel had dived into a loop. The dragons shot past even as he came up behind them—and gave them a furious rolling blast of magical fire. Several cried out, startled, but they didn’t burn. They didn’t even look hurt.
“That was a warning shot,” Kel called in a battleground roar. “What maggot lie has my brother fed you to make you attack us?”
“It’s no lie.” The leader banked and shot toward them again. “What have you done with the Egg, thief?”
“What egg?” Kel sounded as bewildered as Nineva felt.
“Don’t bother playing innocent, Kel.” The gold’s eyes narrowed as he and Kel circled each other. “Cachamwri’s Egg. I don’t feel it on you—you must have hidden it. Where? Tell us now, and perhaps we’ll let you live.”
Nineva’s jaw dropped in horror. “Oh, sweet Semira—the rebels must have stolen it!” Remembering the raw power she’d felt in the mystical object, she went cold. Between it, the sword, and the Grimoire, the rebels would have everything they’d need to break the planet’s wards.
Kel shot her an equally horrified look. He snapped his head around and roared, “You idiots! The Egg goes missing, and you automatically chase me while the real thieves get away? How blind stupid can you be? If you don’t sense the Egg, it’s because I don’t have it!”
The gold dragon looked taken aback, as if the very vehemence of Kel’s protest had made him doubt.
“He’s lying.” Irial whipped in close to the leader as the whole group swirled in a frenzy around Kel and Nineva. “He and the ape hid it somewhere. Let’s kill them, and we’ll hunt the Egg at our leisure.”
“Be silent,” the gold snapped. To Kel he added, “You’d better confess. All of Dragonkind is right behind us. If you tell us how to find the Egg, it will go easier for you.”
“We don’t have the Egg!” Kel flew in close to pace the leader. The snap of Irial’s teeth forced him to twist away. “Think—why would we have hidden it, then gone sailing along where we could be easily caught? We’d have gated off with it, exactly as the true thief did!”
“The other ape must have it—that Gawain of his,” another dragon cried. “Kel and this one are decoys, assigned to trick us!”
A great roar dragged Nineva’s attention away from the surrounding pack toward the mouth of the canyon. Her eyes widened. “Holy hell!”
Dragons. A huge writhing cloud of them, flooding along the canyon like a river of multicolored scales, growing larger with every beat of their wings.
Her heart climbed into her throat. They’d rip her and Kel apart. And if past attitudes were any indication, there was no way to talk sense into them. The mob would discover the truth only after the two of them were dead.
Automatically, Nineva started to cast a gate, only to hear one of the dragons howl in rage. “They’re trying to escape!” The circling six darted in. Plumes of fire splashed against the magical shield Kel erected. Nineva ignored the flames and concentrated on creating the gate back to Avalon.
The familiar silver point of a doorway appeared—but failed to grow. Nineva swore in frustration. “They’re blocking me!” She could feel it, the collective magic of the dragons pressing in against her own, smothering it.
Beginning to panic, she looked around at the six creatures circling them. They must have been a delaying force, young and fast enough to find her and Kel and slow them down until the rest of the mob could catch up.
Suddenly the surrounding dragons darted away like sparrows. Even Irial flew off, giving his brother a vicious Draconian smirk as he went.
Giving the mob a clear line of fire.
“Kel!” Nineva cried, staring at the oncoming dragon horde. They were less than two hundred yards away now and closing fast. She conjured a crossbow and the flaming magical quarrels to go with it. The bow would give her blasts greater range. “Any ideas?”
“Go down fighting,” Kel growled back. “I’m not going to cower to these bastards.” He lifted his voice. “We didn’t steal the Egg, you fools! We’re innocent! The real thieves—”
“Lies!” Irial howled. “Kill them! Burn them down!”
“Kill them!” A chant rose up from thousands of Draconian throats, making Nineva’s ears ring and her chest vibrate like a drum.
She hunkered down against Kel’s broad back, staring at the seething mass of scales and wings and claws. Fighting her fear, she aimed the crossbow at the nearest dragon and prepared to fire.
“Wait!” A blue figure dropped into view between them and the mass of furious dragons. Soren. “They did nothing! It was Piaras!”
Dragon voices rose in confusion and anger as the great beasts darted back and forth. Yet they hesitated, either because they believed Soren or they were afraid to catch him in their fire.
“Why do you lie for these thieves, Soren?” one of the mob demanded. “Get out of the way, or die with them!”
“Use your senses—they don’t have the Egg!” Soren used his magic to hover in front of Nineva and Kel, shielding them with his own big body. “I personally saw Piaras take the Egg through a dimensional gate. I tracked him as far as I could, but something blocked my spell before he reached his destination. I do know I landed somewhere in the great mountains of the eastern continent, because it was full dark there. But when I flew around the area, I could find nothing. The rebel stronghold is too well shielded.”
“Don’t be absurd,” a red dragon protested, sounding offended. “Piaras would never have committed such blasphemy!”
Kel suddenly spoke up. “Then where is Lord Piaras? I don’t see him among you, though all the other Dragon Lords jostle to be the first to incinerate us. Why isn’t your leader among them?”
Heads turned in confusion. “Piaras?” the red dragon called. “Lord Piaras?”
“He’s right—everyone else joined the chase,” Soren said. “Down to the youngest fledgling. So why would Piaras be missing—unless he was the one who took the Egg?”
Voices rose in confused murmurs.
At last, a mocking voice called, the dawning light of reason.
Nineva jerked her head up just as a flaming figure materialized in midair before the mob. Some of them almost dropped out of the sky in surprise as a shocked mass gasp rose.
“Cachamwri,” Kel breathed.
Yes, Cachamwri. Fire boiled around the dragon’s flaming body. And I have had more than enough of this! The Dragon God’s mental voice was icy as he thundered at the mob. Why do you attack my champion and the princess of the Sidhe while a thief makes off with my Egg?
“He really is your champion?” Irial’s voice rose over the abrupt silence, sounding a little sick.
Have I not said so? The Dragon God wheeled in a furious circle, sparks shooting from his flaming wings. Pah! I send him to you to give you fair warning, but you are too blinded by old hatreds to listen. Fools! You do not deserve my Egg!
“What would you have us do?” the red dragon asked in a small, humble voice.
You will assist the humans and Sidhe in recovering my Egg, the sword, and the book, Cachamwri growled. I care not if it gags you to touch them. They will ride you in
to battle like the stupid beasts you are, and you will help them turn back the Dark Ones. Fail in this, and you will deserve what you’ll reap from your conquerors!
None of the dragons dared so much as murmur a protest. “It will be as you wish, Cachamwri,” the red Dragon Lord said. “We beg your forgiveness for allowing the theft.”
As well you should. Now get out of my sight. I wish to talk to my champion and his allies.
Nineva watched, feeling dazed, as the entire mob turned and flew away. None of them made a single sound beyond the beat of their wings.
“My thanks, Burning One,” Kel said quietly when they were alone. To Soren, he added, “And to you, too, Lord Soren. They’d have killed us if you hadn’t interfered.”
Cachamwri sighed in disgust. Aye. Fools.
“But I don’t understand,” Soren said quietly. “Why did you allow Piaras to take the Egg to begin with? You could have prevented it.”
The god shot him a look. The theft had to take place, or none of the rest would follow.
Soren shook his head. “I don’t understand.”
Of course not. You are not a god. Cachamwri turned his attention to Kel. Gather Arthur and his allies, and tell them to prepare for war. Our people will meet them outside the city. His expression went grim. It will not be long now.
With that, he vanished, leaving behind only a fading sparkle.
“But where the hell is the rebel stronghold?” Kel growled, frustrated. “Until we know that, we’re screwed.”
Soren shook his head as he flew in a wide loop around them. “I saw a vast mountain range under the moonlight, and the sea roaring beside it. But I sensed nothing.”
“If their wards were strong enough, that could be why,” Nineva pointed out. “Could you take us back there?”
“Oh, of course. But searching those mountains would take days, even assuming they were Piaras’s final destination. He could easily have landed there to confuse me, then gated on.”
Semira? Nineva thought as the two dragons circled each other. If I got close enough, would you be able to guide me to you?
There was a long pause before the goddess finally spoke. I believe so. But you should work another strengthening spell before you make the attempt. I suspect we both will need it.
Master of Dragons Page 22
