by Rain Oxford
She is conspiring with someone at Magnus’s castle! There was only one person at the castle who I didn’t trust— Blue. Did they let Blue out? Was she faking being captured? Was it her intention all along to go to the castle? I have to warn Merlin.
A moment later, she added, “No, don’t kill the wolf yet. I can use him to control Ayden.”
My wand transformed itself back into its normal form. I was just about to crack open the door to see who she was talking to when I heard a loud roar. My first thought was that it was another quake… until I heard a monstrous crash in the kitchen above me. My mother started shouting curses and I was fortunate to be hidden behind the door.
It was over quickly, however, and the house fell silent. Then the door was ripped open, right out of the wall, and there was a dragon glaring at me. I reacted as any reasonable person would; I squeaked and fell back. Fortunately, the dragon gently snatched me out of thin air before I could crash into the stone floor and break every bone in my body. His grip around my entire body was strangely gentle.
He was so large that his body extended over the height of the old roof, which was now nothing more than rubble on the ground. His scales ranged from white to dark gray like clouds, while his narrowed eyes were as blue as sapphires.
“Please don’t eat me,” I said calmly, trying not to show fear.
The dragon laughed. “Fear not, Ayden Dracre. I am here to save you from your mother’s clutches.”
“Are you with Cennuth or are you one of the dragons living with my grandmother?”
“I live on Kalika with the Rynorm family. My name is Vængbrandr.”
Relief filled me and I dropped my head against his scaly skin. “Thank you! You couldn’t have come at a better time.”
“No one has ever sounded so excited to see me before.”
“I have to get to Magnus’s castle on Mokora and warn them that there is a traitor there. Do you know about my quest?”
“Of course. All dragons know of you, Merlin, and your quest.”
“How? I can’t be the only one who can save the egg.”
“You are not the only one; you will need help.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Nevertheless, it cannot be saved without you and Merlin. You are running out of time.”
“I’m trying. Unless you know where Baltezore is, please just take me to Merlin.”
“As you wish, Ayden Dracre.” He flapped his wings, taking out the north and south walls of my childhood home as he did. An instant later, we were flying high in the sky.
I closed my eyes because it was either that or vomit, and I didn’t want to disrespect the dragon by painting his claws with my stomach contents. Fortunately, I hadn’t eaten anything since I was captured. I felt slightly better with my eyes closed.
“Perhaps you should try to get some sleep.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to sleep again!”
Chapter 13
We were flying over the Dark Forest when a blast of magic struck me. Vængbrandr roared as I was dropped. My staff pulled magic out of me and started forming a ward around me, but before it could, I was grabbed by a massive black bird. Despite the bird’s size, my weight caused it to drop nearly to the trees. My staff transformed itself into a sword, which I used to stab the bird’s leg. Although the bird cawed in pain, it didn’t drop me… until the dragon struck it with his wing. The bird and I crashed into the trees before it was forced to let me go.
I hit the hard ground without a sound of pain, except for the cracking of bones and the breath being forcefully expelled from my lungs. For a moment, I heard nothing at all. I desperately struggled to breathe.
When I was pulled up, I was able to inhale, but the pain of doing so caused me to scream involuntarily. “Quiet!” Sven shouted, shaking me. The burning pain in my chest spread and spots formed in my eyes. “Stand up!” I couldn’t. Everything was spinning.
I saw the massive bird shrink and transform into Kalyn at the same time that Vængbrandr landed. “You dare attack a dragon?” Vængbrandr asked, his deep voice shaking the ground… or maybe that was just me.
Sven wrapped his arm around my chest, easily strong enough to restrain me in my disoriented state, and pressed a dagger against my throat. “Move a muscle and I’ll kill him. You wouldn’t have been saving him if you didn’t need him alive.”
Still struggling to breathe, I couldn’t fight him off like I normally would have been able to. “I’m no… good to him… if you cap-capture…” I coughed, which caused more pain to shoot down my chest. I desperately needed a healing potion.
Kalyn joined him, limping and leaving a trail of blood behind her. “If you try to follow us, we’ll kill him,” she said.
I felt Sven’s sorcery engulf me and passed out.
* * *
I woke as Sven was chaining me to a bed. It wasn’t hard to realize that he was intentionally being rough to make it hurt. “Why…?” My voice broke and I made an effort to swallow a few times before trying again. “I’ve never done anything… to you.”
“Why do I hate you?” he asked. I nodded. “Your mother kidnapped my wife. I never bothered anyone.”
I knew I should have kept my mouth shut, but I was in a lot of pain, sick of his harassment, and wanted to bite back. “I’m amazed… you got anyone to… marry you.”
“Says the one who has never been kissed.”
“Do you know if she’s even still alive?”
“Of course she’s alive!” he yelled. Kalyn jumped and darted out of the room. He tightened the restraint around my right knee, causing pain to shoot up my body. I hadn’t even realized my knee was injured.
“I can help you.”
“Siding with you would get my wife killed.” He abruptly left.
Once again, I was in a basement, but it wasn’t nearly as large as my mother’s. From the smell, chill, and lack of any light that wasn’t through the cracks in the door, I guessed I was underground. There was barely enough space between the stiff bed I was strapped to and the walls for someone to walk around. My wand and staff were nowhere to be seen.
Eventually, pain overcame me and I passed out.
* * *
“Ayden.”
The sound of Merlin’s voice caused me to jerk awake, only to find myself alone, still in Sven’s basement.
Being captured was really getting old.
Before I could fall back to sleep, the door opened and Kalyn entered. She hesitated for a moment when she saw that I was awake, but then shut the door behind her. A white, glowing sphere formed in her hand as she made her way down the steps. “Don’t speak. Sven is in the other room.” She held up a potion bottle. “Sotis made a healing potion for you.”
“I’m not drinking anything from you, Sven, or Sotis.”
“You need it. You’re bleeding from your nose and ears, and your chest is purple.” The ball of light floated beside her when she let it go.
“Why would you help me?”
“You saved me. I don’t want you to die; I just can’t let you go until after the black star comes.” Without giving me a chance to argue, she opened the bottle and shoved the lip in my mouth. I tried not to swallow, but the pain in my chest caused me to choke and swallow on reflex. The potion tasted of leaves and garlic.
I passed out again before it was empty.
* * *
“Ayden, where are you?”
I was dreaming of sitting by the creek near Magnus’s castle. Merlin appeared as a man on the other side of the creek. He looked like he had before he was cursed.
“I was captured by my mother, a dragon saved me, and then Sven attacked and captured me.”
“Are you hurt?”
“I think my chest is broken, but I was given a healing potion.”
“Is it your sternum or your ribs that are damaged?”
“Um… I’m not a mage.”
“Have you coughed up any blood?”
“No. But my ears and nose
were bleeding.”
“Then you probably have a concussion and should not be sleeping right now.”
“Is the water cold even though this is a dream?” I asked.
Merlin sighed. “Focus, young sorcerer. You let your mind wander too much.”
“I’m not a mage, so healing magic and injuries are out of my control.”
“When you were with your mother, I was unable to contact you. Now that you are with Sven, his power only prevents me from finding you physically.”
“How are you able to talk to me?”
“Using the small amount of magic I have regained and our bond, I am dreamwalking. I suspect it was the cause of our previous shared dreams. Do you know where Sven is keeping you?”
“No.”
“He is shielding himself and you, so it will take time for Magnus and me to find you.”
“I have more important news. I overheard my mother talking to someone at the castle.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know; I didn’t hear their voice. I think it’s Blue, though, because whoever it is, they’re conspiring with my mother.”
Merlin frowned with concern. “Blue woke up a few days after the eclipse and they decided not to put her back under.”
“Get a warning to Mist’s parents and Koufax that my father might go after them. Also, warn Livia that Ilvera is going to write a fake message to her with my handwriting.”
“How do you expect me to do that?”
“I don’t know, but if anyone can figure something out, it’s you.”
* * *
At that point, I woke to find Kalyn freeing my left hand from the restrains. The rope had scratched my wrist, but that was nothing compared to the pain in my chest. The soporific effects of the healing potion made it difficult to keep my eyes open. She opened a jar of green paste beside me and started slathering it on my wound. It was cold and soothing.
“Where are my wand and staff?” I asked. My voice was better, at least, even though my throat was still sore.
“Sven has them. He grabbed them just in case he could use them against you or your mother.”
“Why do you want magic to die?”
“I don’t care about the black star. I’m doing this because Sven needs me.”
“How does he…? Do you love him?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“He’s married. I don’t know who in the world would marry him, but he is at least loyal to her.”
“I know. I don’t expect to ever have him, but I want him to be happy anyway. If that means saving his wife and being alone, so be it. That’s why I have to stop you.”
“I see. You’re just doing whatever Sven says. You’re weak.”
“You of all people shouldn’t be judging me for following my heart.”
“I’m not judging you for that; I’m judging you for loving a man who treats you worse than dirt. If you don’t believe that you’re worth more than that, how is anyone else supposed to?”
She frowned and fiddled with the empty bottle. “I’m not weak. He doesn’t really treat me badly, and when the black star comes, we’ll be the only ones left with power. We’ll rule everything.”
“Rule what? You saw that quake. Imagine that in the middle of town. The black star will tear this world apart.”
“You can’t know that.”
“I do know that, just like I know Sven doesn’t care about you.”
“He does.”
“Prove it. The next thing he tells you to do, whatever it is, say no. Tell him that you don’t want to do it. If he cares about you, he’s going to accept it. If he doesn’t, he’s going to get mad. Do you believe in him enough to risk his wrath?”
Her face drained of color, her hands squeezed the jar until her knuckles turned white, and she swallowed hard. She was imagining Sven angry with her. Without another word, she restrained my wrist and left.
My body was weak as a baby bat, so I focused on coming up with a plan. Even if I could free myself somehow with magic, I doubted I could stand. Unfortunately, since the potion was still repairing the damage to my body, I couldn’t stay awake for long.
* * *
Once again, I was sitting by the creek near Magnus’s castle with Merlin in his real form. I pulled open my shirt and studied my chest, which wasn’t hurting. So, naturally, I poked myself. “I like dreaming.”
“A lot of people insist on living in the dream world.”
“I’m sure you’re making some reference I’m not supposed to understand. Kalyn gave me a healing potion that Sotis made.” I explained everything that had happened since my mother captured me, including what my father showed me.
When I was done, he told me that everyone at the castle was frantically trying to rescue me. They wanted to ambush my mother, but in the time I spent talking to Kalyn, Merlin had explained to them that I was no longer with her. Surprisingly, it was Thaddeus who had understood his wolf gestures and grumbles.
After that, Merlin gave me a lesson on how to navigate in a dream. It was actually the same as my lessons on visualization, except it was easier because everything around me was a dream, so anything I visualized was real in the dream as long as I had confidence in it.
Merlin made me start with something he said was easy; I had to make an apple appear in my hand without my staff or wand. It took me a while, but I mastered it. Merlin then had me envision a piece of paper, bottle of ink, and quill.
“We’re not practicing languages again, are we?” I was picking up the dragon’s language pretty well, but I didn’t enjoy the lessons.
“Focus on your assignment,” he said.
I groaned. “Can I take off my shoes and put my feet in the water?”
“When you have done the assignment.”
“Is the water---”
“Focus!”
“I’m trying!”
“Stop trying and focus!”
I groaned and flopped back into the grass. “I’m bored.”
“It is strenuous for me to maintain this dream and we could lose it any minute.”
“Then why are we wasting time making paper and---”
* * *
I woke as Kalyn was forcing another healing potion down my throat. “This should be all you need,” she said quietly.
“Did you do it?”
She shook her head. After a moment of hesitation, she sat on the bed beside me. “I wasn’t always this way. I always thought I was strong, but I can’t say no to Sven.”
“Did something happen? Did someone hurt you?”
She shook her head again. “I had a good life for the most part. I was an excellent magician and my sisters knew better than to mistreat me. I was my mother’s favorite. We weren’t wealthy or poor, but we were pretty happy.”
“What about your father?”
“My mother preferred daughters because she wanted to continue the name. All of her older sisters were killed after she was born, so she felt like it was up to her to keep our family going. My father wanted sons to sell to the warrior’s guild, so when I was born, he was angry with her, accusing her of using a sorcerer’s curse to make sure she only had daughters. He also wanted to use an illusion to make me look like a boy and sell me. My mother threw him out.”
“So, you had support. That’s nice.” The healing potion was making it difficult to keep my eyes open and every blink took longer and longer.
“It was… until I shifted for the first time. One of my sisters had no magic and I always took care of her. One day, while we were walking in the woods, we were attacked by a griffon. I remember thinking the only creature that could defeat a griffon was a---”
“Chimera,” I interrupted sluggishly. “At least, they’re the only land creatures that can defeat a griffon.”
“What? I thought it was another griffon.”
“No, I’ve read a lot about magical creatures since joining Magnus. Griffons are almost always equally matched. A chimera is their only true pre
dator, and dragons are the only creatures that can defeat a chimera.”
“Then can’t a dragon kill a griffon?”
“Not always. They have magic and fire, but the griffon is immune to their fire and their talons can pierce dragon scales.”
“Oh. I wish I had known that then. The next thing I remembered was a lot of pain. I felt my bones crack, grow, and shrink. I felt my muscles stretch and my skin change. I didn’t understand what was happening, even as I attacked the griffon. I had all of a griffon’s instincts and agility. I killed the opponent, but I almost died. My sister got our mother and the rest of our sisters, who carried me to the village mage. He couldn’t heal me until I shifted back. After healing me, he said there was something wrong with me. I couldn’t be a griffon and a magician. He didn’t understand me, so he told my mother either I leave, or my entire family would be banished. She said we would all leave together, but I couldn’t do that to them. I ran away in the middle of the night before they left.”
I lost my battle with my eyelids and let them close. “You did what you thought was best for them, but don’t you think that might have hurt your mother? Maybe you were worth more to her than where you lived, and you took that choice away from her.”
“I’ve thought that many times since, but I was confused at the time. I had no idea what happened. I didn’t shift again for two years. I survived on my own for five years before I met Sotis and discovered what we were. He had known another Sjau who died.”
“How did you meet Sven?”
“Your mother recruited Sotis and me. Sotis was okay with it, but I didn’t like her and was ready to leave… then she introduced me to Sven. I don’t know what happened. I guess I loved him from the moment I saw him. I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving him. Did you fall asleep?”
I tried to open my eyes and failed. “Almost. The most important thing I’ve learned from Merlin is that being yourself is never wrong, whether you’re a sorcerer, wizard, or something else. Be who you want to be, not what everyone else wants you to be, because you’re the one who has to live with you.”
