Welcome, Aodan. Welcome home.
Fangorn faced me. We welcome you to the Cavern of the Ancestors, he said. This is your home for as long or as little as you choose to make it so. But now that you are with us, will you share?
What do you mean? I shook my head a little. There were so many voices even though I knew there were only eleven. Everything about them was huge.
You have felt how we share and communicate with each other. Share your life with us. Let us see.
I—it’s not great, I thought bleakly.
It is yours. That is what matters. There was no hesitation in Fangorn’s response.
How?
Open your mind. Let us in. It will not hurt, but it will feel… overwhelming at first. Then it will not. Let us see you, Aodan.
I could feel the forces warring in me. Part of me wanted to be part of this—a family, a part of something bigger. The other side of me was scared to let this many people—beings—see all of me. I knew there would be no hiding.
This was the Devil that Nala had seen. And the Hanged Man. I had to change, and if I didn’t change, it was because I couldn’t get out of my own way.
How I remembered that, I couldn’t even take a guess. But I did. If—when—I got home, I would need to see her. Take Margrite’s notebook and find the ways that her reading had been correct.
I thought that I should have listened better. The whole damn thing was turning into a see-the-future kind of thing for me.
Fangorn’s thoughts brought me back to the present.
Aodan, no matter what happens, we will always be here. You are always a member of our clan. We are always with you. Fangorn sounded gentle.
Has Aine been here?
Yes. She has not yet shifted, but she has shared with us. It is why we know we must end Eilor. It does not matter if the Fae King decides otherwise. We know. We know what he is and what he can do. He dies.
That decided me. We were on the same side. All right. What do I need to do?
This time, close your eyes. Picture yourself opening a door—
What if Eilor comes in? I didn’t want him to see any of this.
He will not, another voice said. We will protect you.
I felt the hum of agreement at those words, and the deep thread of anger that his name stirred. I had a vision of things he’d done, pictures that flashed through my brain like the old flip cards we used in school. In all of them, he was hurting a dragon. Some were blue. Some green, A large red one who looked like he or she had tears falling from its golden eyes. Dark blood glistened at the side of the dragon.
He will not come to you here, a third voice said.
I didn’t know why but I thought that might be the red dragon.
Why?
He knows we would kill him, the same voice said. He very much wants to live. In all the time we were held by him, and he knew of this place, he never ventured here. It’s not just our home, it’s the place our ancestors came to die. When we lost the war, we were allowed to bring our fallen here. They are all here. This is a dangerous place unless you are a dragon.
They’re all here? Like ghosts?
Spirits. Power. Protection. That was Fangorn. Are you ready, Aodan?
Yes. I closed my eyes and let the doors open.
I could feel them. They were on the edges of my consciousness. Not doing anything other than looking. Seeing. Pieces of my life moved through my memory.
My mother, sitting in the window and crying. Holding me, and speaking to me in a language I didn’t understand.
She knew the stories, a voice whispered.
What stories? I asked.
The stories of us.
Lionel must have told her. I shared many with him, Fangorn said.
Then my first foster home, and the first time anyone ever hit me in anger. Then another foster home. And another. And another, until I came to Tina.
The first time I stole, and how I defeated Brandon, the other boy who was in Tina’s home with me. The one who hurt the girls. Sara and Tara. That had been their names. Sara and Tara. He’d hurt them, and I’d stopped it.
My life with Tina, and then with Margrite. We both laughed then, when Tina was alive, and Margrite spent all her time with me.
The cops who came and told me that Tina had died.
Margrite and I when we left her foster parents’ house.
Our apartment in our old, rickety building.
Burning with anger when Caleb humiliated me in the local bar. Wanting to kill him. Margrite holding me back.
Me hiding my stashes all over the building.
Finally, they saw me stealing the box.
A portal?
Was that when you first shifted? Fangorn asked.
Right after that. That’s when I saw Eilor for the first time, I added. I didn’t know it was him then.
Show us.
21
This didn’t feel entirely natural, but I could see why Brennan envied this form of communication. It was fast, and by being in a collective, shared quickly with many. I couldn’t have talked as quickly as I’d let them see all my memories.
Aodan?
Oh, shit. I was supposed to be sharing something specific.
I went back to when I was hanging off the beam, trying not to sneeze my head off. The smoke in the back of my throat, like someone was blowing the smoke from a fire into my face. Seeing Eilor in the portal light and then handing the box over to Luke. His snotty clients.
There was some discussion when they all saw the man and woman who paid for the box. I didn’t pay attention to it. I wanted to watch what happened next.
I went to bed, and woke up on the floor with a broken bed underneath me, and I was a dragon.
Margrite screaming when she came in.
Practicing shifting in the warehouse.
I stopped focusing on what was happening. I let them see without letting myself watch. Worry for Margrite washed over me as did shame. I’d spent the entire evening getting to know all my new family, and the family who’d stood by me since the day we’d met was somewhere in danger.
We will find her. This was a new voice, a male.
We have to. I can’t let her down, I thought. Even I could hear the panic in my thoughts.
We will not. We will get her back.
Before she gets sick or… I couldn’t finish the thought.
Yes. Before.
It was hard to tell who was talking. It didn’t matter. This was why Fangorn had pressured me. This was a part of me, and something that was supposed to be in my life. I knew it.
I didn’t know how this would work with the life I’d planned. Maybe that didn’t matter right now. We’d get Margrite back and go from there.
Thank you, Aodan, the older female who I’d picked out earlier said.
You’re welcome. Thank you, I added. I meant it.
You were right, Fangorn, the stern male said. Our lost ones have returned.
We made the right choice, Fangorn thought. We all did.
Now let us find Eilor. We must get Margrite back, the male said.
Can she come here? Even though she’s not a dragon? I wanted her safe. Just until we can get back?
I think we can manage it. While you are fetching her, we will make a place for her.
What if she’s ill? Not doing well?
We have our ways of healing. They are not the ways of the fae or any other creature of the Fae Realm. We will be able to help her, Aodan. This was the female again.
Thank you, I thought. I sent out all the gratitude I was feeling. I wanted them to know that I was appreciative, and not an ass or an ingrate.
“Let’s do this,” I said. “Help me find that asshole.”
“We need to leave this cavern,” Fangorn said. “I don’t want him to have any sense of what is here.”
“All right. Back out the way we came?”
“No. Follow me.”
I was doing a lot of that. Normally I led. The control thing, again.
When Margrite was back, she needed to look up that reading from Nala. I felt like there was a lot going on that would end up falling into some of the things she’d seen in the reading.
Holy shit. Had I just thought that? Thank hell I hadn’t said it. But I tucked it away for when I saw Margrite again. She’d appreciate it.
We came a stairway and Fangorn leapt up and flew.
“Um,” I said. “I don’t know how to do that.”
“You do. Spread your wings.”
I’d forgotten that I was in dragon form. I’d been so caught up in all that was going on around me that I’d completely forgotten I was a dragon.
That’s because you’re as you’re meant to be, Fangorn thought down at me.
“I can’t—”
“No. Fly, Aodan. Don’t think, just do it.”
This had the makings of me walking on all fours all over again. Except I was pretty sure I was going to end up on my ass and my face.
I hadn’t done anything with the wings that were tucked next to me. I hadn’t even thought about it. Four legs was intimidating enough.
“Why are there stairs here—?”
“Do not tarry, Aodan.”
I opened my wings. At least, I thought I did. When I looked over my shoulder, they were open. Okay. First step down. This was good. I could do this.
Flap them. Make them move.
I thought about them moving, and I could feel the rush of air from them moving. Okay. I had some control over them.
Wasn’t there some skill involved in flying?
You will never learn it if you stay on the ground, Fangorn said.
“Damn it! Ease up!” I shouted.
The entire cavern went quiet. Great. Now I had an attentive audience.
One. Flap. Two. Flap. Three. Flap. I kept counting, speeding up my wing movement. I was so busy counting that I didn’t notice I’d risen off the ground.
The surprise made me lose count, and I sank down.
No, no, no! Count! I ignored everything else, and forced myself to count, and to keep speeding up the count.
Slowly, I rose up again, and kept going.
Holy hell. I was flying. Thirty-seven. Flap. Thirty-eight. Flap, flap. Thirty-nine. Flap.
When I reached sixty-two, I saw that the wall of narrow stairs ended and there was a ledge, or something, above. I gave a final flap and landed on the ledge, nearly losing my balance in the process.
Looking around, I could see that it was night, and we were at the top of the Caverns.
This is the easiest way for us to come and go, Fangorn said. You did well.
“I’m dying,” I rumbled. “I need to lose weight, or something.”
“No. You need to practice flying. Your wings are not used to moving you through the air. With practice, flying will become as normal as walking.”
“You know I fell on my face when I tried to walk with all the legs?” I was pretty sure they’d all seen that down there when I was sharing things with them.
He shrugged. “It is always so when one is learning to use new things. You are a dragon, and these are instinct for you. You will need to practice. However, your time of feeling awkward will be short.” Fangorn nodded off in the distance to the front of us. “This is the edge of the Dragon Realm. There,” he pointed left, “Is the Goblin Realm. And there,” he pointed directly before us, “Is the Fae Realm. The Fae Realm sits at the center of all the Realms. It’s why they are all part of the Fae Realm. The Fae King rules not only his Realm, but over all.”
“What’s he like?”
Fangorn was quiet. I could feel him considering his words. “He is a good man. He was harsher, more strident when I last knew him. Time and circumstances have allowed him to be less so.”
“That’s a good thing, right?”
“Yes. Enough of him. Let us summon Eilor.”
I sighed.
I didn’t want to. He was creeptastic before I knew all the shit he’d done. Now he’d stolen my best friend, and I knew what a terrible person he was. I wanted to just kill him and then take Margrite home.
It will be all right, Fangorn thought.
Hey! Eilor! I’m here. I’m in… I’m in the Dragon Realm.
I needed to sound scared. I wanted him to think that I was afraid, and unsure of myself.
Eilor! I’m here!
I sounded angry and worried. Good. I could feel the other dragons around me, almost like a protective ring.
“He won’t know you guys are here?” I whispered. I didn’t want to head talk with Fangorn until I was done with Eilor.
Fangorn shook his head. “No. He knows a great deal about us, but he does not know everything. We did not write our lore down. It’s passed from one to the next. So he does not know all our capabilities.” He grinned.
If you’ve never seen a dragon grin, it’s a little unnerving. Especially when the grin is full of teeth, and you know that the dragon grinning wants very badly to rip something—or in this case, someone—to bits.
I am glad to see you’ve made it, Aodan. I was beginning to wonder if you would.
I felt guilt wash over me. I wouldn’t—I stopped myself.
The human is still alive although she doesn’t seem to be at her best. That shouldn’t create too many problems since you’re here now. Where are you?
Fangorn brought me like you said he would.
Scared scared scared scared.
I want to get Margrite home. What do I need to do?
“He is going to trap you,” Fangorn said next to me.
I will open a portal. You will come to me alone. Once you do, I will open a portal to your world, and send her home.
How can I trust you?
How can you not? You don’t really have a choice.
He was enjoying this, the smarmy bastard.
I need to see where the portal light thing goes. When you send her home.
Done.
What now? I let myself sound plaintive.
I will open a portal for you.
“Hide,” I said to Fangorn. “He’s opening a portal.”
“You cannot go.” He put his larger, clawed arm on mine.
“I have to.” I shook him off. “Can’t you track me or something?”
Fangorn huffed and stalked away from me. Something was going on in his head talk, but his door was shut to me.
I shifted. He didn’t need to know that I was more comfortable in my dragon. I needed to look as weak and as small as I could.
He was not much different from the assholes I’d been fighting all my life.
“What are you doing?” Fangorn hissed, feeling my shift.
“Looking weak.”
He nodded. But he wasn’t happy about it.
I waited to see the light, and finally, it appeared. As it got larger, I could see the shadow of a man within it.
“This is it,” I said. “Back away, so he doesn’t see you right away.”
“I won’t leave you there,” he promised.
“I know,” I said. “That’s why I agreed to this.”
He put his claw on my head. “Be careful, grandson.”
I felt it for the benediction it was.
Then I walked forward and into the portal.
The room was brightly lit with candles. It had been dark when I stood on top of the Caverns. Now it seemed like day.
That was a lot of candles. Where did he get the support for this? Living on the edge made me keenly aware of what it cost in money and supplies to keep yourself going.
I searched the room, looking for Margrite.
“Where is she?” I said.
Eilor came forward from my right. “She is safe.”
“We take her back now.”
“Or what?” He clasped his hands behind his back. “You have put yourself into my hands. You have no control here.”
He was one of those kinds of guys too—the ones that got off on having more power than everyone else. It was like he was a complete stereotype.
>
“Wouldn’t your plans go better if I was willing?”
Eilor raised an eyebrow.
I shrugged. “I can be willing, or I can fight. It doesn’t matter to me. But you honor our agreement, or I will be as difficult as possible.”
“You don’t need to be alive.”
I made sure to shrug more noticeably this time. “Then I’ll be dead.”
“You value your life so little?”
“What I value is none of your damn business. I deal in facts. You made an agreement. We send Margrite home now.” I’d wanted her to be here, with me. The dragons would make somewhere safe for her to hide. I was changing the plans. But they needed to change.
He didn’t speak, only gazed at me.
Dude. A staring contest? How in the hell had he lasted this long? He was like a petty villain. Although according to Aine, he was lucky and sneaky, which aided greatly in his survival. I couldn’t forget that.
“Very well.” He turned, heading for a door off to the side of the room.
I didn’t move. With him focused elsewhere, I took the time to look around. I could shift in here if I needed to. But getting Margrite out of here was the most important thing.
This looked like a dining room. There was a table against the wall, and another closer to the center of the room. Books and paper were scattered across the center table. Off to the left, a curtain surrounded a bed.
Then there was the room Eilor had just gone into. I leaned forward, trying to see. All the walls were stone, which made me think we were in a castle or something like it. Something really well built.
Eilor came out of the room carrying Margrite. Her head lolled against him. I hated that he was touching her. I just knew he had some kind of shitty bad guy funk. Aura. That’s what Margrite called it. You just know, sometimes. And I knew his aura was bad.
“Is she alive?” I kept my voice steady.
“She is. But the Realm is not good for her. We should get her back,” he put on false concern.
I had to focus to keep my breathing steady. “Give her to me. You open the portal.”
“No, that’s not how this will work, boy.”
It’s already started. I’m not Aodan anymore. Just ‘boy’.
“Then how will it work? Because I sure as hell don’t trust you.”
“I will open the portal. Then I will step through and put her back. I will then close the portal. During that, you will not harm me, or attempt to change things in any way. Should you do so, she will die.”
Dragon Lost (Dragon Thief Book 1) Page 20
