Glory, he thought to himself. It had always been his destiny, he had known it from the moment he had crawled from his egg. Now, at long last, everyone else would know it as well.
Chapter 21
When Lariah opened her eyes the next morning she was, at first, confused. She couldn’t quite figure out what she was looking at. She pulled her head back and refocused her eyes, but it didn’t seem to help. The chest she had been laying on didn’t look right. It was too many colors. Brown and cream and tan…was it covered with something?
Lariah sat up and took a good look at Garen, who lay stretched out on the bed beside her. He was awake and smiling at her, but she barely noticed. She was far more interested in the design on his skin. It was a dracon, she realized. A decidedly feminine dracon with spotted fur, green eyes, delicate features and a smaller, more slender body than she was used to seeing in her men’s dracons. The dracon’s head was on his upper chest just below his throat. The neck wound around the side of Garen’s neck, and as she followed the design with her eyes, Garen obligingly rolled to his side so that she could see that the dracon’s body flowed down his back at an angle, ending with a long tail that wrapped around his abdomen.
Garen rolled back and grinned at her. She frowned and turned to look at Val as he sat up in the bed beside her. Her eyes widened when she saw the same green-eyed dracon on Val’s right arm, the dracon’s head on his shoulder, her body and tail winding sinuously around his arm to his wrist.
Lariah immediately turned around again, looking for Trey, who picked that moment to step out of the bathroom. She was not quite as surprised to see the dracon on Trey. His was in the same position as Val’s, only on his left side.
Lariah pulled a blanket up to cover herself as she gazed at the tattoos on her men. They just smiled at her, so she supposed they were waiting for her to compliment them on their body art. She had to admit the tattoos were beautiful. Far more intricately detailed than anything she had ever seen before. She cast around for the right thing to say.
“Um, really nice tattoos,” she said lamely. She blushed with embarrassment. She could certainly do better than that. She cleared her throat. “I mean, they really are very nice. And that’s a very pretty dracon.” Well, it wasn’t perfect, but it was the best she could do.
She lowered her eyes and bit her lip. They were still staring at her, but honestly, what did they want from her? After everything they had been through yesterday, they celebrated by going out and getting body art while she slept? Hmmph. They were lucky she had said as much as she did. She wasn’t going to say more.
Lariah turned around and began trying to work her way off the giant bed while holding the blanket around her. Suddenly, Garen, Trey, and Val started laughing. Lariah felt tears burn her eyes, but she kept her head down, hair covering her face until she reached the edge of the bed, tears she couldn’t stop streaking her cheeks.
Suddenly the laughter stopped, and she felt strong arms scoop her up, blanket and all, and pull her close. “Sharali, why do you cry?” Garen asked her, his voice gentle. Val and Trey crowded close, Trey leaning in to kiss her tears away. Lariah could not speak around the lump in her throat, so she shrugged and kept her eyes down.
“Little love,” Trey said, “we were not laughing at you. We were laughing at the idea that we would leave you, our most precious one, on the most precious night of our lives, and go have ourselves marked in such a primitive manner.”
Lariah peeked up at him through her lashes to gauge his expression. He didn’t seem to be laughing or teasing her. But what about the dracons on their skin?
Garen placed a finger under her chin and pressed lightly until she looked up at him. “Lariah, these are not tattoos,” he said. Lariah frowned. “Come, we will show you.” He walked toward the bathroom, still carrying her and the blanket, Val and Trey close behind. When they reached the bathroom Garen set her carefully on her feet in front of the long mirror that ran along the countertop and pulled the blanket away from her. Lariah stared at herself in the mirror, her mouth open, her eyes wide with shock.
She too had some new body art. Only she didn’t have the single female dracon that the men each had. She had three dracons, and there was nothing feminine about them. They were exact copies of Val, Trey and Garen in their dracon form. Not only that, but they duplicated the positions of the dracons on the men. Garen, with his golden eyes, around her neck and upper chest, his tail around her waist; Val, with his stormy gray eyes on her right shoulder and arm, and Trey, with his blue-green eyes on her left shoulder and arm. She ran her fingers over the amazingly intricate designs, but felt nothing other than her own skin.
“They are so beautiful,” she whispered. “But, how?” She looked into the mirror and saw Garen, Val and Trey all standing behind her, the female dracon standing out against their cinnamon skin, and she gasped. She remembered that feeling she’d had during the soul-link ritual, how certain she had been that all three men had settled into her very skin, becoming a part of her forever.
These were not tattoos, she realized. A part of each of her men, a part of their essence, had been infused into her very flesh. And a part of her had been infused into theirs.
Lariah turned and ran her fingers over the dracon on Garen’s chest, wonder in her eyes. “Is that me?” she asked.
“Yes, it is you,” Garen replied. “You are now fully dracon, fully Jasani, and fully our Arima.”
“Does that mean that I can…transform…into a dracon now?” she asked, hardly daring to believe such a thing could be possible.
They all smiled at her. “Yes, that is what it means,” Trey answered her. “And when you do, this is what you will look like.” He held his arm out to her, and she ran her fingers lightly over his skin. “Your dracon is as beautiful as you are,” Val said softly.
Lariah smiled. Then she bit her lip. She had another question, one more important to her than any other, but she was almost afraid to ask it. Once more she felt Garen’s finger under her chin pressing up. She looked at him, and he gently freed her lip from her teeth. “What is it you wish to know?” he asked her, his voice so gentle it almost brought tears to her eyes again.
She was afraid to ask, but she had to know. “Children?” she asked finally, her voice a soft whisper that only her men could have heard.
Garen, Trey and Val all smiled at her. “Yes, little love,” Trey replied, true excitement and joy in his voice.
“As many as we want,” Val added.
Lariah felt tears spill over again, but this time they were happy tears. She jumped up, throwing her arms around Garen’s neck, laughing with joy. Trey and Val crowded close and they all hugged each other tightly for a long time. They had their very own miracle, and they knew it.
Later that morning the four of them sat at the dining room table eating what Lariah supposed had to be the largest meal of her life. She couldn’t believe how hungry she had been, nor how much food she was eating. When she expressed her surprise, Garen explained what her body had gone through the day before, and how important it was that she eat as much protein as she could to help replenish herself. She didn’t really understand all of it, but it made her feel like less of a glutton when she reached for her third helping of bacon and scrambled eggs.
As she ate she noticed that the dracons on her arms kept fading in and out. Garen had explained that as she was now a shifter, she had the ability to hide or display the markings whenever she wanted, so she was still practicing with that. The problem was that while she kept trying to hide them, she also wanted to see them. She smiled as Val’s dracon appeared again as she watched.
There was a soft knock at the kitchen door, and Val went to answer it. When he came back into the room, Faron was close behind him.
“Good Morning, my Princes,” he said with a deep nod. “Forgive me for interrupting your breakfast…” Faron trailed off as he looked at Lariah, his eyes widening in surprise. Lariah looked up when Faron stopped speaking, then followed his stunned gaz
e to her own arms. She blushed hotly.
“Oops, sorry,” she said, suddenly feeling as though she had done something wrong when Faron continued to stare. She couldn’t focus well enough to make the markings fade, so she quickly hid her arms beneath the table. Val and Trey moved quickly to stand beside her chair, their hands lightly stoking her shoulders.
“Forgive me, please,” Faron said quickly. “I did not mean to stare.”
Lariah looked at Garen and was reassured by his smile. “It’s all right,” she said to Faron, though she knew her face was still red. “I’m just not used to them yet myself.”
Faron bowed low to her, his palm to his heart. When he straightened again Lariah was startled to see tears in the eyes of the normally stern man. “They are incredibly beautiful, Lehen Arima,” he said, “and should never be hidden. They are the first lau-lotu I have ever had the privilege to see with my own eyes.”
“Lau-lotu?” Lariah asked, pronouncing the strange words carefully.
“It is what the markings are called,” Trey explained. “Literally, it means “four bound” or “binding of four. They occur only on those who are soul-linked, and bound together for all time.”
Lariah smiled. “I like that,” she said, raising her arms above the table once more so she could gaze at the markings again.
Faron looked at Garen and scowled. “You hid them from us last night, didn’t you?” he accused.
Garen chuckled, as did Trey and Val. “Of course we did,” he replied. “We could not announce such news without our Arima.”
Faron’s scowl disappeared as he grinned at his friend. “I am so happy for you,” he said as he gave Garen a bracing hug. “For all of you,” he added as he stepped back, looking at Val, Trey and Lariah. “This is such joyous news for all of our people.”
“You are the first to know,” Garen told him.
“I am most honored,” Faron said. “Am I to be held to secrecy?” he asked.
“No, you are not held to secrecy,” Garen said with a laugh. “I doubt it would be possible to keep this news to ourselves even if we wanted to.”
Suddenly Faron’s expression changed. “I am sorry,” he said quickly, “I had all but forgotten my reason for barging in here. Eldar Hamat is about to arrive, perhaps has by now.”
Garen nodded and looked to his brothers. They bent down to kiss Lariah before heading quickly for the door.
“Forgive me for stealing your men away, Lehen Arima,” Faron said with a smile.
“What does that mean, Lehen Arima?” she asked suspiciously.
“It means First Soul,” Garen told her. “It is a title with much the same importance you might impart to a queen, only to our people, much more important.”
Lariah blushed again, though she was still frowning. “Well, my name is Lariah,” she said. “That works just fine for me,” she said. “Besides, as I told you before, I’m a one fork girl.”
Faron frowned in confusion at her statement, but Garen laughed before bending to kiss her as Val and Trey had.
“We will discuss this later, one fork sharali,” he said with a grin.
Lariah sighed as she watched him leave, Faron right behind him. Then she stood up and began gathering the breakfast dishes.
Garen, Trey, Val and Faron stood at the edge of the home pasture where Faron had directed Eldar Hamat’s pilot to land the airship. The cattle and horses had been moved out of the pasture hours earlier and a large area cleared in preparation for the landing.
Three large figures emerged from the airship first. Two of them immediately shifted into their katrenca forms and began quartering the area, searching for danger. Under other circumstances Faron might have taken offense at the implication that he would allow danger to approach so closely to his charges. At this time however, he approved. In fact, as Prime Guardian, he would have certainly ripped into them for carelessness if they had not acted as they were.
The third figure rapidly approached the group waiting at the edge of the field, moving with fluid, sinuous grace. He paused several feet away and bowed formally in greeting to the Princes. Once the Princes had returned his greeting, the man looked to Faron who nodded once, granting him permission to approach the Princes.
“Maxim,” Faron said, “I am pleased to see you here.”
“It is true?” Maxim asked, unable to withhold his curiosity, a typical Katre trait that Faron did not take offense at.
Faron nodded solemnly. “It is,” he said shortly. Maxim sighed and shook his head. A soft growling sounded from near the ship and Maxim turned, gesturing to his brothers. They transformed back to their human forms and reentered the air transport. A few moments later they emerged with Eldar Hamat between them, all of their senses on full alert as they escorted him toward the edge of the field and the party that awaited them.
Maxim, Lonim and Ranim were taller than the Dracons, but much leaner, their long limbs wiry with hard muscle. Their eyes were yellow with narrow pupils, their long shaggy hair a dark tawny blonde, reminiscent of old Earth lions. The distinguishing characteristic between them was their tail lock, a feature unique to the Katre Clan while in their human form. It appeared to be no more than a thick lock of hair that emerged from the back of their necks and hung down over their left shoulders. It was, however, more than a simple lock of hair. It was a thin tail-like appendage covered with thick fur which the Katre’s could move independently if they wished.
Maxim’s tail lock was black, Lonim, the middle brother, had a dark red tail lock, and the youngest brother, Ranim, had a white tail lock.
When Eldar Hamat reached them, Garen stepped forward and offered his hands in the traditional warrior greeting. Eldar Hamat smiled at Garen, and accepted the honor done to him.
After the greetings were complete, Eldar Hamat looked at Faron. “May we look at the human’s remains now?” he asked. “I find I am both anxious to get this over with, and reluctant to begin.”
“Certainly,” Faron replied. “It’s right this way,” he said, turning to lead the way toward the gardening shed set away from the house.
“I’m afraid I have further news for you Eldar Hamat,” Faron said as they walked. Eldar Hamat looked at him expectantly. “A sugea has been sighted.”
Eldar Hamat halted at once, his face paling at the news. “Tell me,” he said shortly as everyone stopped walking and turned to face him. Faron repeated Pater’s story, leaving nothing out. When he was finished he was surprised to see an expression of relief cross Eldar Hamat’s face.
“In ancient times the sugea were the highest ranking and most powerful of the Narrasti,” he said. “However, even then, they were able to shift only between their humanoid form and their sugea. Only the adinare, the shape changers, possessed the ability to shift as the creature you describe has done.
“On the other hand, I never heard of, or saw a shape changer shift into the form of a sugea. That could be because they did not possess the ability to do so, but I think it more likely that they did not dare to do so. The sugea were extremely arrogant. I cannot imagine what they may have done to a lowly shape changer who dared to take their form.”
“Then you believe that we are dealing with a shape changer who was able to shift into sugea form, rather than a true sugea?” Garen asked.
“I do,” Eldar Hamat said. “The question is, how much power does this adinare have? More importantly, does he possess the power of a sugea while in the form of one?”
Several sets of eyes widened at the implications of that thought.
“Perhaps the human’s remains will give us more clues as to the true power of the being we are dealing with,” Eldar Hamat said.
Faron nodded and turned, resuming the walk to the gardening shed. As they approached, Dav and Ban opened the doors and stood back, allowing the party to enter. They took a few moments to quickly greet the Katres, then followed the others inside, pulling the door shut behind them.
Dav and Ban had cleared off a large work table and set it in the
middle of the gardening shed, then moved Frith Yanger’s body onto it. As a result, there was just room enough for all of them to stand around the table and watch as Faron opened the stasis bag, revealing the body with its strange markings.
Immediately the tension in the gardening shed rose sharply as all ten Jasani males struggled to control their alter forms The sight and scent of the Narrasti, especially now that they knew it to be Narrasti that they were scenting, instantly triggered their combat reflexes. It was long moments before the men began to relax, some of them panting shallowly from the adrenaline rush.
Garen considered suggesting that they all step outside for a few minutes to breath fresh air, but discarded the idea. They would have the same reaction again when they reentered. It was best to get through it and finish the unpleasant task now.
Eldar Hamat waited until his breathing returned to normal before stepping closer to the table. He leaned down and inspected the body minutely with his eyes from end to end. He was grateful that Faron had left the shirt open so that the markings were bare to their view as he had no desire whatsoever to touch it. He lingered over the strange markings on the man’s torso for a long time, before stepping back.
“Does the scent of the markings match the scent you found in the stolen ground-car?” he asked Dav.
“Yes Eldar, it is the same scent,” he said. “It also matches the scent found in the kitchen of this man’s sister.”
“Jackson Bearen examined the body last night, and said that the scent also matches the one he came across on the skyport,” Faron added.
Eldar Hamat sighed. “From all you have told me, we are dealing with one Narrasti, and I believe it to be an adinare who is able to take the shape of a sugea” he said. “However, the only magic that the adinare possessed in ancient times was the ability to shape change. Obviously this one has more powers than that, as he was able to get this human through security, and perform this spell.”
The Dracons' Woman: Book 1 of the Soul-Linked Saga Page 31
