by Leela Ash
“We just had to go fight some bad guys,” he said with a wink. “I killed Richard.”
Archer’s eyes filled with excitement and he ran in, shouting for his father.
Clayton looked worn out when he emerged, and laid eyes on Zaden as if he had finally discovered a missing treasure.
“You had me worried sick!” he exclaimed, embracing Zaden. Zaden softened and allowed Clayton to fuss over him for a few moments before he remembered the importance of Kala’s mission.
“Could we have a word please?”
After speaking briefly with Clayton, it was decided that Kala would make her announcement to the entire clan. Clayton wasn’t sure what it was, but he trusted Zaden that it was important.
“People of Earth,” she began, once the entire clan had gathered around together in an assembly. Everybody shifted nervously, confused by the way she was speaking. “My name is Kala. I was chosen as a messenger from Kaldernon. The trials of traveling through the dimensions took its toll, as you may know. I lost my memory. But upon seeing the noble Zaden defeat Richard, I remembered my goal. People of Earth, you are not alone. Kaldernon has not forgotten you.”
Everybody was silent for a moment, before the room roared with thunderous applause. Kaldernon hadn’t forsaken them. And Kala’s very presence there could only mean one thing.
Soon, they would return to Kaldernon.
THE END
Breaking the Dragon
Novella 3 Dragons of Kaldernon
Leela Ash
Copyright ©2016 by Leela Ash. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Chapter One
Kyna lay outside the Kersh settlement, her golden eyes fixed upon the sky. The dragon shifter men had gone out on a hunt, causing the underground village to feel empty and unsafe. They were usually there to protect everyone and keep the peace, but when they left the underground tunnels were mostly filled with people whose strength dwelled within, leaving them vulnerable. She couldn’t wait for them to get back, and made herself comfortable in her favorite spot on the grass, where she could see the sky with nothing in her way.
Although the leader of the Guardians, who were hell-bent on destroying the dragon shifter people and Loni counterparts, had recently been killed, all it served to do was lend an aura of danger to the air.
Kyna was one of the few Loni women in the settlement, and believed wholeheartedly in keeping up the traditions of Kaldernon. Most of the bloodlines had been diluted after a rip in the fabric of time and space had caused several shifter and Loni people to fall to Earth from their own world, where they were promptly persecuted. The Guardians were formed; men who felt the need to protect Earth from what they considered uncivilized alien life.
But the dragon shifters from Kaldernon had never wanted war, and struggled to maintain peace. Even though it meant sacrificing their freedom of flight and enjoying the world in their dragon forms, they had quickly made a pact to do so, thus avoiding creating a disturbance in the strange new world in which they found themselves. The Lonis, women and men who shared the world of Kaldernon and were able to carry shifter children, were also persecuted. Lonis were naturally adept to the unseen forces of the universe. They were the most sacred and revered of races on Kaldernon.
The fundamentalists had a different name for them though – witches. They soon had to hide their powers to see into the past and future from those who were far less capable. Instead, they resorted to creating things of intrinsic beauty and value. They worked day and night to find a way back to Kaldernon, using their amazing creative powers to peddle a living making blankets, clothing, and music. It was enough to keep them in food and water as the shifters and Lonis sought each other after a devastating earthquake separated them from their world and each other.
When a large enough group was finally settled together, they called themselves the Kersh clan and set to work creating a society where they could uphold the traditions of Kaldernon. It became increasingly important to maintain a refuge where they were free to be themselves. However, not all shifters and Lonis had been recovered after the fall to Earth, and those who were forced to adapt often took human spouses and diluted the bloodlines. Whenever a shifter was discovered, they set to work to show him or her what they were capable of. Sometimes this backfired and got the attention of the Guardians, and sometimes, it led to a new member of the clan.
It wasn’t until the Kersh clan finally wandered through the forest in western North America and looked to the sky that they were able to see something that shocked them all. Kaldernon was glimmering in the distance, the intricate colors of home just out of reach. It was there that the clan began to dig and create the underground city where they all now dwelled.
And how did Kyna know this? She saw it. The Loni blood in her veins was almost pure, though she had been born far from the Kersh clan with a second sight. Dreams of her ancestors and their plight haunted her. Through her, their struggles stayed alive. It meant everything to protect the way of life that they were often killed for maintaining, and no matter where she ended up, she would keep those traditions in the forefront of her daily rituals.
This, of course, meant that she would never marry; never carry a shifter child in her belly and continue propagating the clan. The shifter men seemed wary of her, fearful in a way. As if they wouldn’t be comfortable being with a woman who might one day be able to tell exactly what they were thinking. It was lonely, but she was distracted enough by her job that it didn’t matter. She was there as a last resort, recovered from a small band of Lonis that were traveling toward their visions of the underground settlement just a matter of months ago.
She lay back in the grass, keeping her alert, golden eyes fixed on the lights of Kaldernon. She was waiting. Something was coming, and she was going to be the first to know it.
Chapter Two
Cain’s boots crunched heavily on the turf. Most people didn’t understand why he had taken to hunting at night. The solitude and peace of mind it gave him was unmatched.
“Isn’t it hard to see?” one man had asked.
“I’ve always had good night vision,” he replied.
That was true. He’d been adopted as a baby, and his parents had some strange stories to tell about him. He could navigate the dark like a predator, and had never broken a bone in his life, despite an inclination for dangerous situations. He seemed to spring back like it was nothing.
Cain leaned his gun over his shoulder, keeping an eye out for any movement. He had decided to try a new area this year, but so far he had been shit out of luck. There must have been other people working the vicinity.
He stumbled into a clearing and inhaled deeply. Something smelled great; almost like somebody was cooking off in the distance. He tried to place the type of meat that he felt sure was simmering, but there were too many spices to be able to pinpoint it. They were spices he didn’t recognize, but they instantly made his mouth water.
Cain dropped to the ground and rooted through the bag on his hip for his small pack of rations. He didn’t know how long he had been out there, but it certainly warranted a snack. Cain munched absently on trail mix and jerky, his eyes wandering the forest for any movement.
“Whoa, what the hell?” he breathed quietly.
Above him, the sky was shimmering in colors he had never seen before. He blinked hard and rubbed his eyes, sure that he was imagining things. Before he was able to fully recover from the lights in the sky above him, a woman who looked like she had just walked right out of a dream approached him from the distance.
“You,” she said softly, staring at him.
Cain stared back, raising his blue-green eyes in disbelief. The woman was stunning. It wasn’t necessarily the specific way she looked that struck him so powerfully, but rat
her the ethereal way she moved and kept her gentle, amber-colored eyes fixed upon him. Her hair was silver-blonde, almost the exact shade of the moon shimmering above their heads, and she wore a gown that reflected the same impossible colors in the sky.
“Who are you?” he asked, trying to summon all of his courage. He had been renowned for his boldness and his bravery all his life, and women had always been oddly attracted to his brazen nature. They considered him an anomaly. A rugged outdoorsman raised in the city, stubborn and a man of his own narrow vision, they surrounded him like flies. But they hadn’t interested him much. What he truly loved was solitude; chances to find himself surrounded by the natural world. No women had held his interest longer than three seconds. Until now.
“My name is Kyna,” she said, her eyes intent upon him. She came toward him, her body more gliding than walking. Was she some kind of spirit? There was something otherworldly about her.
“What are you doing out here all alone at night, Kyna?” he asked, his voice strong, as if he encountered this kind of thing regularly. In truth he was terrified. And enraptured. “Don’t you know it’s dangerous?”
“It’s all right if you’re afraid,” she said with a soft laugh. She stopped walking then and peered at him, her eyes squinted in contemplation. “I sense your fear, but you should know it is unfounded. I won’t do anything strange.”
I don’t think –“
They stared at each other. He trailed off, feeling as if it was impossible to lie to her. That was all right, he usually spoke his mind just as he saw fit. The only thing he was never completely honest about was his fear. But if he was honest about that he would have no way to fight back and face the fears head on.
“Are you hungry?” she asked suddenly.
Immediately, thoughts of the delicious smelling meat flooded his mind and he nodded, almost involuntarily. Was he under some kind of a spell? The mysterious woman smiled, a gesture that lit up her entire face and brought him from his comfortable perch on the forest floor to standing on his feet. He walked toward her, holding his hand out. If he could touch her, maybe he would be able to believe that she was real.
“Who are you again?” he whispered, lowering his hand as he approached her. He felt suddenly silly, but she didn’t laugh at him.
“Kyna. What’s your name?”
“Cain.”
“Follow me, Cain. Dinner is ready to be served.”
He looked around, raising his eyebrow at her as if she were stupid.
“There’s nothing here,” he said, staying steadfastly in his spot. In truth, he was afraid to follow this strange woman into any unknown place. But she had captivated him so fully that he wasn’t sure he wanted her to leave without him either.
“Do you really believe that?” she asked, her face creasing in a knowing smile. He was surprised to realize that he didn’t, and looked up again at the incredible colors in the sky above his head.
“What is that place?” he breathed.
“Come,” she said. And without another word, she began walking into the darkness.
Chapter Three
Kyna led Cain toward the underground tunnels, her mind reeling. She had been waiting outside for a sign when suddenly this man appeared. But he wasn’t just any man, of this she was certain. He was shockingly handsome. He wore his dark hair tied behind his head, and she could sense his power from yards away.
In fact, her entire body had been electrified upon seeing him. He moved stealthily, with grace and a dynamism, like the men from the Kersh clan. He kept her attention rapt to him as he settled in to have his meal, and it wasn’t until he was able to see the lights of Kaldernon that she knew exactly what the feeling meant.
Only Dragon Shifters and Lonis were able to see Kaldernon through the rip in the atmosphere. The man was clearly a shifter, but he wasn’t part of the clan. That much was clear. Still, it was where he belonged, and it would be through him that the shifters and the Lonis would be able to return back to their own world. Kaldernon seemed to be shouting this to her, and with the same psychic surety that had led them to the clan, so too, would this man be their salvation.
“Kyna, where have you been?” Krista asked, her voice gentle, but scolding. Kyna ducked into the hidden entrance. Krista’s eyes widened when she saw Cain walk in after her, his eyes troubled and disbelieving. “And who is this?”
“This is Cain. He will solve all our problems.”
Krista was the wife of the clan’s leader, Clayton, and looked at her incredulously. Still, Kyna knew that Krista trusted her intuition and wouldn’t doubt anything she said to her. The Loni people who had recently arrived to the Kersh clan were very closely attuned to Kaldernon and had an unsettling connection with their intuitive powers that was harder for Lonis like Krista, whose bloodline had been diluted over the centuries, to achieve.
“Are you sure?” she asked, her voice hushed. Before Kyna could answer, Cain interrupted.
“What the hell is this place?” he asked, squinting in the darkness.
“You shouldn’t have brought him here,” Krista finally whispered, taking Kyna aside. Kyna sighed, but understood. Krista was nervous that the outsider might alert the Guardians to their location somehow. Times these days were strained as the Kersh clan awaited what could surely turn out to be a violent retaliation to avenge the death of their leader. Things had been quiet for a few years, but that was a bad sign.
“He won’t harm us or reveal us,” Kyna reassured her, looking deeply into Krista’s eyes. Krista nodded and her reservations seemed to dissolve.
“Still don’t know where you brought me, lady,” Cain said loudly. Kyna sighed, turning to face him. His hands were trembling, but his handsome face was composed. She studied him for a moment. He brushed the dark hair away from his face, waiting for her to answer him. His sea-colored eyes sparkled even in the darkness.
“For dinner, of course,” she said with a composed smile. She gave a respectful nod to Krista before continuing down one of the dark tunnels. She thought he might object to walking through the dark tunnels, unable to see, but he followed her through with ease.
“Would you like some light?” she asked him, turning a corner and walking in the direction of the dining hall.
“I’ve always been able to see in the dark,” he said dismissively. She smiled to herself, wondering if he knew anything else about his unique abilities.
“Here we are,” she said, proudly waving her hand to present him with the dining hall. His eyes widened as the festive décor gleamed with the same colors of her dress. The Shifter and Loni people bustled about, getting their meals and laughing loudly. The room fell silent when people began to realize that Cain had entered.
“Is that…?”
“It looks just like…”
“Everybody, this is Cain. He will be joining us for dinner tonight,” Kyna announced.
The room was silent for a moment as everybody took the man in. Some of the older dragon born were staring at him as if they had seen a ghost, while other younger members of the clan eyed him with suspicion. Cain remained oblivious and sat down heavily at the nearest table.
“What are we having?” he asked.
Kyna smiled to herself. She liked this man. Somehow, he managed to make her smile without trying. He was certainly able to hold his own, no matter what anybody thought of him. And he wasn’t bad to look at either…
Kyna shook the thought away. She was an oracle. Her job was to help this man get in the right place at the right time to help his shifter brethren. There was nothing else to it than that. She had long ago accepted the fact that she would never be able to focus on love. Her tendency toward reveling in her own mind and powers was too consuming.
It was odd for a full-blooded Loni to exist, and she was one of the few women who had been in the group. There had been four Loni men and two women. They were about as pure bred as any of the survivors from Kaldernon, but only Kyna had the ability to divine the future. The others were gifted in o
ther ways, which had allowed them to find mates among the Kersh clan, but most men, particularly the diluted bloodlines of shifter who were just as human as they were dragon, were put off by Kyna, just as she was put off by them. So why wasn’t she put off by Cain? Was it because she knew that he was fated to save them all?
She sat down at the table across from him. The other men had shirked away as he tried to make small talk. The official thing to do was to stay mum to newcomers about shifter blood until an official announcement by Clayton showed it was all right to go on living as normal. The men were tense, waiting for just such an announcement.
“We’re having a specialty from our native land,” Kyna said, fixing her eyes upon Cain. He gazed at her for a moment, staring into her eyes as if trying to decide what to make of her. This in itself was impressive. Most men were uncomfortable when they looked into her eyes and saw their truest selves reflected back at them. Cain was perfectly comfortable with who he was. An honest man, she decided.
“Native land? Are you foreigners? Where are you from?” Cain asked, leaning back in his chair. A woman graciously placed a plate of food in front of him and his eyes lit up. “Thank you.”
The woman bowed and moved on to continue serving the food to the others.
“That is a topic best left for after dinner,” she said. He was almost visibly longing to dig into the food and he gave her a short nod before bringing the first tantalizing bite to his lips. He closed his eyes, relishing in the mixture of flavors. Nothing like what could be found normally on Earth. It was food that had been animated and blessed with Loni magic.
