Rex (Dakota Kekoa Book 2)

by Rita Stradling

  “We all agreed at the time that it was his right. The draqui had been hiding this ability from us for millennia.”

  “Or he never had the ability. And why wouldn’t you believe Vrykolakas, he’s probably an authority on magic, right? But, I am positive he knew that they didn’t have the ability to curse. He silenced them, all of them, and made sure that no one could learn that the Draqui dragon didn’t have the aspect to curse either.”

  “This is guesswork. It is all conjecture, give me evidence or nothing at all.”

  “Vrykolakas’s loyal son, Benjamin, took over the area, probably to guard the gemstone that Vrykolakas was still hiding there—”

  “I said evidence!”

  “I know that it was Benjamin that helped the humans attack my sister and uncle with the gemstone, I saw it in one of the human’s memories. Benjamin probably gave her the gemstone because all the servers were checked for magic.”

  “You have ten more seconds to give me something concrete or you will be silent on the subject forever.”

  “The vampires that tried to kill me were from Oceania, they came over with Benjamin. The humans that attacked with Wyvern also had a concrete connection to Benjamin.”

  “That humans attacked my son is the only verifiable piece of information that you gave me. I will hear no more accusations against your betters. I see that there are many lessons I will need to teach you. Thankfully for us both, I will have more than sufficient time to do it.”

  I swallowed down what I really wanted to say. Taking a step back, I bowed low. “I’ll take my leave of you then, High Rex.”

  “Do not go far, Dakota.” He turned back to the fire.

  I ran, flat out, for the staircase leading to the third level of my grandfather’s fortress of a home. ‘Stupid!’ I repeated in my head with each step up the stairs. I only insulted the High Rex in my head though, as he’d likely hear me even if I whispered insults under my breath.

  When I got to my grandfather’s room, I pushed open the door and charged in.

  Three heads turned to me.

  And I halted, realizing that obviously no one had thought to wake me when my grandfather woke, as he was standing beside Glacier and Pax in the middle of the room.

  “Obviously you have met my ill-mannered granddaughter, Father,” My grandfather’s voice came out stronger than I expected.

  “That I have.”

  My grandfather and Pax looked a little amused, though Glacier’s soul radiated disapproval as he regarded me.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, but instead of leaving, I walked to the chair by my grandfather’s bed and dropped into it.

  “Come in, Granddaughter,” my grandfather said, even though I already had. His face still had a pale sheen to it that I didn’t like, but otherwise he looked a million times better.

  The group turned back to each other, speaking in low voices. My grandfather did some sort of signal with his hands to Glacier. Immediately, Glacier turned on his heel and without a word or glance, left the room. He paused only once to close the door on the way out.

  The moment Glacier was gone, I jumped up from the chair and rushed to my grandfather. I ran up to him and threw my arms around his waist. My face was immediately wet with tears, and I couldn’t help a few sobs that escaped my throat. “I thought that you were dying or dead or going to die... It’s been—I don’t even know. I need you, I realized that so much and… You can never die on me again!”

  His hand smoothed down the back of my head as I squeezed him. “You do not need me or anyone, Dakota, I would think that your experiences in the last few days would have shown that to you.”

  “Everything fell apart without you. Everything.” I whispered.

  “Everything except you,” Pax said from behind me.

  I stepped back, realizing I was probably embarrassing my grandfather in front of Pax. But when I looked up at my grandfather’s face and massive soul, neither showed embarrassment.

  Pax stepped up beside me. His voice was low as he said, “We need to address the issue of your bargain with the High Rex and how we will make sure you succeed. Do you have your portal to the boy on you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Take it out. As soon as George tells you how to heal the boy, you need to go through the portal that leads to my hoard.”

  I unpinned the purse from where I had stored it in the back of my jeans.

  “Unzip it, so that you’ll be ready to put your hand through,” my grandfather said.

  My heart pounded in my chest as I unzipped the purse. “Okay.”

  “It is a theory only, but I believe the logic is sound.” My grandfather closed his eyes. “I researched for years, afraid that Kaipo or others from our family would face the same fate as the Regina, though I never expected to be unconscious when it happened. Most accounts say that six dragons passed through the Mabiian volcano millennia ago, but in eastern Europa, there was a different account. I heard tell of a series of paintings from before the dragons made another attempt to enter the world that indicated that there was a seventh dragon.”

  “I saw it. The Seventh Dragon painting in the Mabiian Heritage Society?”

  “The same.”

  “Why would you give it to them?”

  “I have my reasons. Regardless, I purchased the artwork and had it sent here. We believed that the accounts of what happened in Mabi had not spread, but there was a trader colony that might have had contact with the ancient Mabiians during that interim time. Though the account of the seventh dragon was not substantiated, the existence of another dragon would explain how the High Rexes knew of the gemstones, knew enough to send our family to safeguard them. It would be a reasonable assumption that if there was a seventh dragon, he escaped before being wounded, yet the artistic depiction clearly shows the spear impaling his side. His depiction is also not present in the painting the extinction.”

  “So you think he found a cure? Because if the High Rexes know of a cure then I don’t think the Wyvern High Rex would be here.”

  “I do not think he found a cure, I think he was accidentally cured.”

  “How?”

  “That is the part that is mostly theory. When Kaipo described the Regina’s soul after she was ‘cursed’ he had said that it had grown, her power center had doubled in size. This led me to believe that these gemstones are not antithetic to dragon magic, but instead, they increase it.”

  “It makes sense with what I’ve seen with Wyvern’s soul.”

  “It leads me to believe that contact with these gemstones is constantly overcharging the power center.”

  “That makes sense, the magic stays in their souls, even after they die.”

  “When the dracon uses a great deal of power, they need to replenish their body with nutrients, specifically elemental ones, a dragon even more so. With a dragon’s power levels, it would literally be cannibalizing itself to keep producing power.”

  “Then how is Wyvern still alive? I thought it was me…”

  “I think it more likely that he is still alive because though he has the power level of a dragon, half of that magic is human magic. Humans are immune to the stones. Though he’s exercising enough power that he’s at the point of death, I believe his unique power structure is prolonging his death.”

  “But how do I save him?”

  “You need to be ready to go through the portal, Dakota.” Pax nodded to the purse in my hand. “It will be a race against the High Rex once he realizes you’re gone.”

  I held out the purse.

  My grandfather nodded. “I believe that if you reversed the magic of the gemstone within the body, it would destroy the lingering magic.”

  “How would I do that?”

  Pax said, “Put your hand in the portal now, Dakota.”

  I slipped my fingers into the folds of the purse. Strangely, my fingers immediately found Wyvern’s scale. I pinched the scale between my fingers as I waited for my grandfather to deliver what I needed to know.
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  “As the magic was formed by rapid cooling of magical elements, the magic will only be destroyed by being rapidly heated. The only way I could think of is being sent through a lava portal.”

  The door to my grandfather’s room flew off its hinges and went flying into the room and through the air. A flash of white came zooming at me and my portal purse was ripped off my hand at such force that I was thrown backwards. I let out a loud cry as I fell into Pax’s arms. When I looked up, only my grandfather stood over me.

  Chapter Thirty-two

  “No!” I shouted. I straightened out of Pax’s arms and went barreling forward out of the hole at the side of my grandfather’s room. I threw myself down the hall and stairs, finding more blown off doors at every junction.

  My grandfather’s front doors had exploded out as well, but when I looked out into the compound around the house, no one was there.

  “No!” I yelled again.

  I spun to find that Pax and my grandfather had followed me out, though neither of them were out of breath. And, they were suppressing grins.

  Their expressions made me halt and look between them.

  “Why are you happy? What am I missing here?”

  Pax clapped my grandfather on his back. “Very well played, son.”

  “Thank you.”

  “What’s going on?” I demanded.

  “Come with me, Dakota.” Pax turned back to the hole that was once the front doors. “I had the boy moved. He was sent through a portal to my consulate in Hydria.”

  I ran to catch up as my grandfather and Pax rushed up the stairs. “You pulled a double con on me?”

  “You had to be convincing.” Pax looked over with a grin still on his face.

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence. So… what? What do we do now?”

  “We will use a blood portal into Hydria, I suggest we hurry.”

  My toes clicked on the stone as I ran to keep up with their pace.

  “Unfortunately, you will have to go through the lava portal again on your way out.”

  “I’ll do it… anything. I’m ready. But, how long do we have until the High Rex breaks free of your hoard?”

  “An hour. Perhaps two, if we’re lucky and he goes berserk rather than keep his head. He’ll either have to break through several floors or find one of the hidden portals.”

  We rushed through the long expanse of the hearth room to my grandfather’s private hearth room. It was a familiar sight, though I rarely was allowed in here. Like everything in my grandfather’s home, the private hearth room was large with boxy, functional furnishings. We crossed to a large, unhidden safe in the wall where my grandfather typed in a code.

  Pax turned to me. “The High Rex will have something in place to stop us. He also has no talent for subtlety so I expect his only move will be a direct one. We are in a temporary alliance with the High Rex, which means he cannot attack us, remember this. He will do everything in his power to collect you and the boy, but even no matter how it looks, he or any of his dragons cannot hurt me or mine until the boy is healed or perishes.”

  “Okay.”

  The metal door of the safe slid open showing two large drake serpent leather briefcases.

  I whistled. “Is that what you use for passing messages? I bet those set you back.”

  My grandfather ignored my comment and handed one of the briefcases to Pax. “This one is to your Hydria home.”

  Pax didn’t hesitate to put his hand through. “I will be transforming as you arrive, do not be alarmed.”

  “I won’t,” I said.

  “So we can’t just use a blood portal to heal Wyvern?”

  “Blood portals are different, they’re significantly less—”

  Then he was gone.

  I picked up the briefcase, but my grandfather put his hand on mine.

  “If I could go for you my dear, I would. It sickens me that I am sending you into the Dragon Kingdoms.”

  I stuck my hand into the portal. “I’ll be back soon, I promise.”

  Suddenly, my grandfather looked a thousand years old, his waxy drawn complexion only adding to the effect. “Sometimes I question if the gods have cursed me that those I love most will always pay the price for my greed.”

  “I’d pay any price for you, Grandfather, you know that.”

  “I do, but I do not want that.”

  Then, again, the portal stretched me into infinity.

  Moments later, I was in another large hearth room. I toppled to the ground, the immense heat of the space immediately attacking my skin. My palms slipped, slick with sweat on the hot stone floor and I had to sit up so I didn’t face-plant.

  Glancing over, I saw that the room had a strange white haziness. In the center of the space stretched Wyvern, still not completely transformed. When I stood, my head came out of the whitish hazy cloud. And when I really looked, I saw that that same cloud bent around my body.

  I touched the cloud, immediately recognizing the feel of Wyvern’s soul. The room we were in was long as a baseball infield and as tall as a shopping mall leading, and Wyvern’s soul filled the entire space up to my neck.

  “Pax?” I shouted, the sound echoing in the room.

  When I turned again, I saw the view of Hydria through an open wall of windows.

  The level of light on the city was the exact same as when I had left it hours ago, a red, hazy light. The city too, looked exactly the same with its thousands of fires, but I was so much closer.

  Pax’s consulate must have been in a high tower as I could see for miles around. The bottom floor of each stalactite-like home was open, like the landing on the lava portal building. Dragons flew in every direction, scaly, streaks of color moving quickly in a haphazard chaos.

  A loud snorting sound made me spin around.

  Pax’s large dragon body flew up from what I didn’t realize was a large hole in the floor, he landed lightly on the stone, making a soft clicking and swishing sound as he did. He was significantly larger than Wyvern, maybe even twice his size.

  Pax laid down before me, his giant head coming all the way to the ground beside me.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, taking a step back.

  He snorted, and his pupils fixed on me, then looked upwards, then back at me.

  I glanced up at the bone crown at the top of his head. It wasn’t as defined as Wyvern’s or his father, but it was large, about the size of a loveseat.

  The dragon made another snorting sound, then did the same thing with his eyes.

  “You’re carrying me, right?” I asked.

  Pax slowly shook his head, sweeping it across the floor.

  “Oh, no—”

  He lifted his head to nod.

  “Oh, the gods hate me,” I whispered under my breath. I walked around his face, realizing the only place I could actually manage climbing onto Pax was the tip of his nose. I did a pull up on the long, strong stretch of bone between his nostrils. “Sorry!” I said, feeling him twitch under me. I continued to climb up the rough bridge of his nose. Though he didn’t move much, he shifted just a little, making my stomach drop and my adrenaline spike.

  When I made it to his crown, I threw a leg over and turned around to face forward. I did the best I could to wedge my body between the ridges in the bone, but when he lifted his head my body slipped down.

  “Oh my gods,” I whispered. My body was just long enough to stretch between the base and top of his crown. With both hands, I stretched and grabbed onto the top ridge of his bone crown. Taking a deep breath, I lifted my head.

  Pax swung his head around, so that he now faced Wyvern. As he slowly shifted forward, Wyvern was blocked from my view. With a sudden movement, we lifted off the ground. The crown rocked back and forth, then we were moving forward.

  Part of me wanted to just close my eyes until it was all over, but I didn’t. I watched as Pax flew, head ducked forward, toward the side of his hearth room. And then we were slowly descending. Pax’s wings came up in heavy loud b
eats as we slowly passed three more stories. At the fourth story, the space opened up into a large hole. Yellow clouds passed just outside the opening at great speed. Two large dragons who looked very like Pax, but with no crowns, crouched by the room’s open wall. As we flew by, they bowed, then regained their positions.

  In a slow, consistent pace, Pax pushed forward into the yellow clouds. Within seconds, we were completely submerged in the yellow sulfurous clouds. And even though I knew open air was only a few hundred feet above us, Pax continued his slow flight within the clouds for what felt like forever. Lightning lit up the yellow vapor in quick, blinding streaks that flew by my head.

  I tightened my hold on the ridge of his bone crown, my breath coming faster and faster. The sulfur started to burn in my lungs after only a few minutes, and feeling lightheaded, I whispered, “I’m safe, I’m home, I’m safe…” Over and over again, though my mind wasn’t fooled. I wanted out, out of the clouds, out of the hot, oppressive heat, off the unstable ever-moving bone crown. But when I felt my great-grandfather begin to rise, a hot ball of tension gripped my heart.

  Pax slowed down suddenly, pausing just before we broke the cover of the clouds.

  Thousands upon thousands of wyverns ranging from bright white to dark gray flew in lines of formation to either side of us. They fanned out into two large spheres around the base of the portal building, though almost all of them faced the open skies and very few of them faced directly down to where we were still hidden.

  With a sudden burst of speed, Pax broke through the clouds and dove straight through the center of the sphere. We’d passed half of them before the circle turned and closed in around us.

  I screamed, gripping onto the bone crown as Pax headed straight for three wyverns that had the foresight to get directly into our path. Pax showed no sign of stopping or slowing down, and at the last moment the wyverns dodged out of the way.

  Claws swiped for me, just missing me. Breath coming fast, I tucked myself even closer into the ridges of Pax’s crown.

  Another claw swiped, coming within inches of me, but it seemed to be avoiding contact with the crown and the claw missed. The wyverns who had been blocking the door to the tower dodged out of the way as Pax continued his course, refusing to slow. He did not land as he had done before, instead Pax flew through the building at high speed, then straight up the atrium to the top floor.