Unleash the Inferno (Heart of a Dragon Book 3)

by Tamara Shoemaker

  Kayeck grunted a rusty croak of agreement. “Aye. Though, of course, it will be more difficult as he controls the Touches.”

  “As do I,” Ayden reminded her. He shook his head ruefully. “All of this could be avoided if I went to Sebastian right now to begin the destruction ritual for the Amulet.”

  Kayeck cackled her amusement. “How very noble, Ayden Dragondimn, to take the weight of the world on your shoulders and to think that you hold the power to forestall all bloodshed and violence.”

  Ayden met her filmy gaze. “Well, don't I?”

  Kayeck shook her head. “In the first place, Ayden, you're forgetting the fact that you and Sebastian will not meet alone. I must be there, and I must have the Seer Fey knife, which we cannot retrieve until Paik pulls all of the Ancients from the Marron Mountains to attend Sebastian in battle, and of course, the four—”

  “The four Great Dragons must come,” Ayden nodded. “I'd nearly forgotten.”

  “Aye. And Ayden,” Kayeck's voice was unusually gentle. “Though you may wish to end this war by offering yourself upon the sacrificial altar, your blood in itself cannot overcome Sebastian's corruption. The Amulet may be destroyed in the ritual, but the far-reaching effects of Sebastian's malicious tyranny cannot be erased. Those touched by Sebastian's hatred and vitriol will not suddenly regain an unshadowed life. Many have lost loved ones, many are bent on revenge, and they will visit their own hatred on those they think instigated their pain. Corruption spreads, Ayden, like a plague, and it has already taken hold of this nation. War is only a side-effect. We will end the Amulet, but it will be a long road to peace, even so.”

  Ayden stared at the ground, his jaw clamped. At last he nodded. “Then by the Stars, we must begin the process.” He kicked dirt over the meager fire. “Will you accompany me on my journey to join Kinna?”

  “Nay,” Kayeck answered, “but I will send company along with you.”

  “Who?” Ayden asked in surprise.

  “Hold. They come now.”

  Ayden whirled to see where Kayeck indicated. The turquoise flash of color gave it away first, followed by the tall, dark figure of a young man Ayden hated—no, worse, loathed.

  “Julian,” he growled as the young Pixiedimn hiked up the hill beside his turquoise-haired Pixie, Sage. “What are you doing here?” he demanded as they drew closer.

  “We come at Kayeck's request,” Julian said, his dark gaze fixing unwaveringly on Ayden. “Will you let us pass.” It was not a question.

  Ayden stood still, staring at the young man. After an internal struggle, he finally stepped aside, and Sage and Julian passed by him. Julian bowed low before Kayeck. “We are honored by your request to meet with us, Seer Fey.”

  If Kayeck's eyes were not milky with age and supposed blindness, Ayden was sure they would have been sparkling with amusement. Ayden didn't find much to be amused about. The fact that Kinna had ever been betrothed to this traitor still rankled in his mind, no matter how much Kinna herself had hated the connection.

  “Aye, the honor is mine,” Kayeck replied with formality if not entire sincerity. Sage stared uncomfortably at the ground as the old Seer Fey turned to her daughter. “You are well?” she asked.

  “I am well enough,” Sage said. “Happier than I have been in a while, Mada.” She still shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other, but her eyes sparked each time she looked at Julian, and it didn't take Ayden long to notice Julian's fingers hook through Sage's as he pulled her to a stump, sinking onto the ground beside her.

  Ayden lifted a brow. “So you can show loyalty after all,” he muttered under his breath.

  “Beg pardon, Dragondimn?” Julian asked, turning a hardened face toward Ayden.

  “I'm sorry; I must not have spoken loudly enough,” Ayden answered, enunciating each word. He felt abrasive; no matter that this Pixiedimn had supposedly found happiness with his psuche partner; he'd caused Kinna many agonizing moments months before when he'd purposefully caused her to believe her father was in Sebastian's dungeons, his life hanging by a thread, in order to keep Kinna in an agreement of betrothal to him. He cleared his throat and continued at full volume. “I was commenting on your fickle loyalty,” he said.

  Julian surged to his feet, his hands in fists at his side. “What is your problem, Dragondimn?” he snapped. “I've done nothing to you.”

  “Nothing!” Ayden crossed his arms over his chest. “How very comfortable for you to feel you've done nothing to me.” He paced forward, gripping his tunic to keep from flinging his fists forward into Julian's handsome face, or worse yet, using his grasp of the Touches to smother him in fire, ice, or ash. Kinna—and Sage and Kayeck—would never forgive him that. Steel entered his voice. “You did nothing to me when you betrothed yourself to the girl I love more than anything or anyone this whole world over. You did nothing to me when you lied to her about Tristan, wounding her deeply when she discovered her best friend from childhood had used even her own father as a weapon against her. You did nothing when you couldn't see past the end of your nose to realize that your time on this solid earth does not revolve only around you, and that your self-absorbed, pompous assumptions nearly destroyed the girl you claimed to love. So don't stand there and proclaim your generosity in 'doing nothing' to me.”

  Sage's voice broke in, but not interrupting as Ayden had half-expected. A song fell from her lips in a low, husky alto that blanketed the clearing with a sleepy, nearly sensuous quality. Ayden's jaw clamped together against his desire to continue to rant against Julian and the powerful effects of her soothing Pixie charm. Ayden turned on her furiously, but then immediately felt ashamed; the Pixie looked terrified. She held one hand out toward Julian as though to stop him from fighting, but her eyes were fastened to Ayden's face.

  At last, Ayden exhaled a long, slow sigh. “I'm sorry,” he murmured. “I... lost my temper.”

  “A not altogether unenjoyable moment,” Kayeck said, croaking out a rusty laugh, “but perhaps a good time to intervene, Sage, thank you.”

  Julian returned to his seat by Sage on her stump, and Ayden leaned against a nearby tree, smoothing Luasa's heated muzzle gently. The she-Dragon still eyed Julian with a malicious gleam in her iron-gray eyes.

  “We waste time,” Kayeck murmured as Sage's song died away. “Ayden, as Sebastian now controls the Touches, you must return to Kinna immediately.”

  “I had hoped to take you with me,” Ayden said, straightening. “There will be few Seer Fey fighting on our side as most of them have chosen to follow Paik. I realize this would give away your true position, but—”

  “I will come when I am ready. I prefer to remain in my role for a few days more while Sebastian is at his most dangerous with the Touches. He has gained a tenuous mastery over them, but it is still the beginning. He is like a caged Dragon now, caught betwixt walls of stone and weapons of torture, and while his thrashing about does not stem from panic, he still wields the Touches as if he were in a desperate plight. Besides, he will need someone to guide him to you in order to complete the ritual.”

  Ayden's lips pressed together as he turned his gaze toward Sage and Julian. “So in the meantime, I am expected to transport them to Kinna and Cedric. One might question their loyalty, Kayeck, after the events of the Battle at ClarenVale.”

  “They must accompany you,” Kayeck said, cackling noisily. “They have learned some of the bare essentials of The Rebellion's battle plans, and have recently been suspected by some of Sebastian's ranking officers as having divided loyalties. They've proven nothing yet, but—”

  “I would never betray Kinna,” Julian interrupted, his brown eyes fierce as he glared at Ayden.

  “Divided loyalties,” Ayden muttered. “Aye, they would be right, wouldn't they? How long exactly did it take you to pen the letter to Kinna, supposedly from Sebastian, stating that her father Tristan suffered in Sebastian's dungeons and would die unless she wed you?”

  Julian's glare intensified, but he didn't answer.

>   Ayden returned his attention to Kayeck. “So we meet in the Midland Ridges then.”

  “Aye,” Kayeck answered, “and by the Stars' guidance and in their wisdom, we will destroy the Amulet that has gathered darkness over the centuries.”

  “Who is to say that Sebastian will bring the Amulet into battle?” Sage asked, her low voice hardly more than a whisper. “He possesses the power of all four Touches now; would he risk bringing the Amulet lest it be taken from him?”

  “Because, my daughter,” Kayeck answered, “he is Sebastian, and anything that is a symbol of his power on this earth upon which we tread, he keeps close beside him. He will not leave it behind; it is against his very nature.”

  Ayden had chosen to place Julian and Sage in front of him on Luasa's back for the flight to rejoin Kinna and Cedric. Though they complained of the heat of Luasa's scales, Ayden knew they would be grateful for the warmth once they were thousands of spans above ground in the frigid air. His reason for positioning them before him, though, was because he didn't trust the Pixie not to sing the she-Dragon into crash landing or Julian not to ask her to do it. Halfway through the trip, however, he regretted it. Luasa violently resisted anyone but Ayden riding so high on her neck, and like a flea-bitten mongrel, she yanked her huge head back again and again to nip at the unfamiliar appendages that hung on either side of her back.

  Be still, Luasa, he pleaded silently.

  Disgruntled thoughts were his only answer. She was still hungry, and her hunger was vented in frustration.

  The Midland Ridges spread across the middle of Lismaria like a gray, lumpy blanket. These mountains weren't as high as the Rue Ridges of West Ashwynd or the Marron Mountains in eastern Lismaria, but they covered much more ground. Ayden guided Luasa to the north where he could see the glimmer of the Northern Sea tainting the horizon. Ongalia would be just fieldspans to the east, but Kinna and Cedric were no longer there; their last message had come from the Dryads of the Midland Ridges, where they and a contingent of men from Lord Fellowes were setting up a stronghold in preparation to draw Sebastian and his forces from the west.

  Unease stirred in the pit of Ayden's stomach. Even with assistance from the Valley of the Dragons, even though Kinna had managed to convince Lord Fellowes to lead his men into battle—even supposing the Stars themselves helped in their fight against Sebastian—if Cedric and Ashleen hadn't made enough headway with the army payroll to cause some of Sebastian's army ranks to desert, there would still be little chance of victory—not with Sebastian's manipulation of the Touches and his possession of the Amulet, which would increase the power of his Touches exponentially.

  Who were they to march against the most powerful King in centuries? Despicable as Sebastian was, there was no doubt of his power. Kinna's ideas of uprising, of revolt against Sebastian's tyranny had sounded good when laid out around the campfire with only Kinna, Lincoln, and himself. But now the armies of half the known world would be marching against The Rebellion's pitiful force, no matter how just, no matter how expertly led under Lanier, that Kinna and Cedric had managed to pull together.

  Deep dread and sick despair circled in Ayden's mind, and his forehead thumped against the hand he rested on Luasa's fin in front of him. What am I doing?

  Melody washed over him, low and soothing... and hopeful. Sage had half-turned to watch him, and her turquoise irises were fastened to his face.

  Do not doubt, and do not fret,

  Naught but pain is what you'll get,

  Aye, just trust to Cedric's plan,

  He'll bring the world to one large Clan.

  Andrachen seed will justly rule,

  Sebastian cannot stand the fuel

  Of minds made up to do what's right.

  Peace, now, see, the end's in sight.

  Ayden relaxed beneath her Pixie charm, and he studied her intently. “You have a bit of the wisdom of your mother, it seems,” he murmured. “How did you come to fall for Julian?”

  Her back stiffened and she faced the front again.

  Ayden reached forward and touched her shoulder. She turned, startled.

  “I'm sorry,” he said. “That was... uncalled for.”

  Her gaze softened. She started to face front again, but thought better of it. “Ayden,” she said, “you know what it is to love someone. When that happens, there is no going back. There is only forward and through.”

  She blinked at him, motionless. Ayden at last nodded, easing his tense grip on Luasa's fin. “Wise words, Sage.”

  They didn't speak again for the remainder of the trip, but Ayden's heart had softened at least toward the Pixie, if not toward her psuche partner.

  Luasa found Chennuh before Ayden could see the group. They were on the eastern side of the Midland Ridges, waiting on the edges of the Marshlands of Cayne, farther east than Ayden had expected. In the distance, he could see the choppy waters of Loche Annelin, and the tall marshland grasses were interspersed with craggy and twisted trees whose stumps sprouted roots above the watery patches.

  When Luasa landed, she sent a plume of water splashing into the tall grasses that bordered the edges of the marsh. She lurched through the water toward Chennuh, where he awaited her beneath the trees. Their deep grunts and rumbles of satisfaction clouded the still air. A lump rose in Ayden's throat as he sensed Luasa's bittersweet joy. She knew, and hid the fact from Chennuh, that she and her mate had only a little more time together. Ayden took a deep breath, settling and veiling his own thoughts, and looked down at Kinna from the she-Dragon's back.

  Her eyes lit with green fire when she spotted Ayden's companions. “What are they doing here?” she demanded, planting her hands on her hips.

  Julian slid off of Luasa's back, stepping through the water to dry land at the edge of the forest. “Kayeck sent us to accompany Ayden; she seemed to think The Rebellion would need our help.”

  “No, thank you,” Kinna snapped, wheeling to face Ayden. He cringed internally as she released her ire in his direction. “You, of all people, Ayden—you saw with your own eyes Julian's traitorous admission when we were both in chains, ready to face Sebastian. How could you bring him here after what he's done?”

  Ayden tamped down the defensive anger that rose in him at her tone and shrugged. “And you of all people know, Kinna, that you can't let the actions of one person rule what is best for an entire group. Kayeck asked Julian and Sage to come in hopes that they would be helpful to our cause. Much as I despise Julian, I think she was right. Julian is still head of Sebastian's Third Pixie Division, and as such, he knows some of Sebastian's strategies, having sat in war councils with him. Sage—” he shook his head at Kinna's glare toward the turquoise-haired Pixie, “—Sage shows a little sense, too, Kinna. They can truly be assets, if we allow them.”

  Kinna spat in the ground at Julian's feet. “You may think, Julian, that because you saved my life that day I was stabbed by a Valkyriedimn, you can high-step your way back into—”

  “I—I didn't save your life that day, Kinna,” Julian interrupted, his face pale. “That was—all Ayden. He healed you. He saved your life; he was responsible for it. I came on the tail end... and took the credit, so desperate was I to gain your favor. I'd—I'd seen that you were falling in love with him, and I'd hoped to... but it doesn't matter now. I can offer the loyalty of my Pixie Division under Sebastian. They will follow me and not him, and Kayeck tells me you're in need of numbers.”

  Stunned silence fell before Kinna erupted into even more furor than before. “Is that supposed to make me feel better? That now that you've made that admission, I will let you enter The Rebellion? I won't allow you to betray us—yet again—to Sebastian, not when we're this close to battle!”

  Cedric, who had been watching all this from among the trees where he stood as the Ongalians and Ember and Sperah stalked through the forest above them, shook his head as he strode forward. “Kinna is right, Julian. You may do us good, but simply put, we cannot afford the backlash of facing an entire Pixie division at o
ur backs if you prove treacherous. We may have the numbers we need with or without their help, but if you and your Pixies betray us, we most certainly will lose.”

  “But we will not betray you, and your chances of winning are much greater,” Julian argued.

  Cedric's hazel eyes were flinty and hard as they stared at Julian. “Much as I'd love to believe you, Pixiedimn, your charade cost you my trust and the trust of my sister, and you cannot escape the consequences.” He turned to six Ongalian soldiers who stood behind him. “Arrest them. Keep them bound as Kinna and I decide what to do with them.”

  “You can't arrest us!” Julian shouted as the guards moved forward, pulling his arms behind him. “I can prove our loyalty to you; just give us a chance!”

  “You had your chance,” Kinna said quietly, “and it did not end well.”

  Ayden glanced at Sage, convinced she would sing and place all but the Andrachen twins beneath her Pixie charm. But Cedric's sword was much too near, his hand rested heavily on its hilt, and Lincoln and Marigold stood on either side of Kinna, their faces grave. Sage's lips remained sealed.

  Ayden touched Luasa's scales as Julian and Sage were led away, Sage's mouth tightly bound with a rag to keep her tongue from moving. Ayden's lips tightened; it wasn't that he disagreed with Kinna's decision—Julian was a rat as far as he was concerned—but he worried that Kinna was allowing her anger—and by extension, Cedric's ire—against the Pixiedimn to cloud her judgment. Kayeck had promised to deliver Sebastian and his army to the Midland Ridges in days, and their time was running short.

  Ayden sighed, leaving the Dragons to their reunion while he tramped up the hill. His thoughts darkened as he once again hashed over Kayeck's instructions for the Amulet ritual.

  Cedric came alongside him. “Before you reach headquarters, Ayden,” he murmured, “and before you are alone with my sister again, I must tell you—I believe she is worried about the Amulet destruction. She—she fears that all the plans, all the preparations we have made, will not—work.”