"And what is it that I want?" Cerric asked.
"You want me to become an animal, like my father."
"Is that what you think?" Cerric tutted. "I merely wish for you to be at your most powerful so you might prove a challenge. Your little brother was not afraid to fight me, though he did not last long and ran away. You are stronger than your baby brother, are you not?"
"I do not know," Elric said. "I do not know what is anymore, only that I do not want to be a beast."
"But you are a beast," Cerric said. "That is exactly what you are."
CHAPTER TWELVE
Borrican followed Vale through the clouds of smoke, ducking through the rocky crags. The young female dragon had grudgingly agreed with her mother to take him to the flows, and to teach him the ways of dragons. Her mother, Vana, had spoken to the elder dragons, to request that Borrican be excluded from challenges by other dragons, since, in dragon terms, he was little more than a hatchling and could barely defend himself. After much debate and only after Vana had threatened to accompany Borrican everywhere to ensure his safety, a threat that put the elders on edge, had they grudgingly agreed that Borrican should be given a chance to learn their ways. Still they refused to grant him any more than five days to learn what he must.
Vale and her mother had spent the first four of those days teaching Borrican how to protect his thoughts, and to direct them only to those with whom he wished to speak. Borrican found it difficult, especially when he was frustrated and his emotions were piqued, but he managed to learn how to control the flow of his thoughts, even if his emotions still raged underneath them. Since he no longer sent his every thought out into every direction, it meant they could venture out of the safety of the valley, and Vale had suggested that they might visit the flows to enjoy his last day of being a hatchling, a term she had taken to using even when she was not irritated with him, which was almost never.
"Why did the elders not want your mother to accompany us?" Borrican asked as they flew through the low mountains toward the black clouds of smoke and ash that lay ahead.
"The elders do not go to the flows because they no longer compete for vassals."
"But mother isn't an elder," Borrican said.
"She was an elder," she told him. "And she has bonded many dragons, even some of the elders. If she were attacked, then every dragon she has bonded would defend her."
"How many dragons has she bonded?" Borrican asked.
"Many," Vale said. "It is not important."
"But bonding means mating," Borrican said. "How is it that she only has you?"
"I am not the only dragon to be hatched from my mother," Vale told him. "But I am the only wyvern."
"So you have brothers," Borrican commented, trying to get his head around how things worked among the dragons.
"Not in the way you are thinking, but yes," she said. "I have as many brothers as I do teeth. They are all older and have been bonded so they will not bother us."
"Well that's good," Borrican said. "I'd hate to have to deal with a bunch of older brothers."
"Older dragons will not bother you. Only females such as myself, who are looking for vassals and young drakes, who are always looking to fight."
"Why do they want to fight all the time?"
"It is just the way they are," Vale said. "Drakes are wild and stupid. They fight all the time and make all kinds of trouble, but they will never attack a wyvern of their line, and they will attack anyone who tries, so they can be helpful."
"It sounds as if no one attacks wyverns," Borrican commented.
"They do," Vale said. "Drakes from other lines might attack, mostly because they attack everything, but they usually lose and get bonded. Other wyverns are more dangerous."
"Why would one wyvern attack another?"
"To take your vassals," she said. "If a wyvern defeats another wyvern, she gets all the vassals."
"Does that happen a lot?" Borrican asked.
"Long ago, it was common," Vale told him. "Once there were many wyverns, but now there are very few, so such a thing does not happen."
"Why are there so few wyverns?"
"Once a new wyvern is born the mother will no longer bond."
"Why not?"
"It does not happen."
"So there is only one female dragon for each line?"
"Yes," Vale replied. "Only one that can bond."
"And what if something happens to her?" Borrican asked.
"Then the line dies, along with all of the wisdom of the line."
"The wisdom of the line?"
"Yes," Vale said. "All the wisdom of every wyvern since the beginning is passed down. Once you are bonded, you will understand."
"So, do we have to worry about these drakes?" Borrican asked.
"No," Vale said. "Most of them are small and weak, though there are some who are mature enough to cause trouble, and there are a few among them who I would consider making my vassals."
"And what should we do if we run into them?"
"You are my vassal," Vale said. "You do what I tell you and if we are attacked, then you will defend me. That is what vassals do."
"But I'm not bonded," Borrican said.
"I could give you a beating if you like," she said, glancing over her shoulder at him.
"I think I will pass on that idea," Borrican replied.
"Your wisdom is astounding," Vale said then they topped a ridge and flew out over a wide valley that was choked with smoke and ash under which red rivers of molten rock flowed and bubbled below. "We are here."
Borrican followed her down to a large mass of solid black rock at the center of the lava flows that was solid enough to land on. He knew the rock was hot enough to cook a piece of meat, but it only felt warm under the tough, leathery pads of his feet.
"So, what are we doing here?" he asked.
"I thought you we might go swimming," she said, leaning over the thick, hot lava and taking a deep breath as though it was a pot of stew.
"Where? In that?" Borrican asked.
"Of course," Vale replied. "The flows are important if you want to become powerful."
"You're not trying to trick me into doing something stupid are you? "
"Don't be silly." She snorted and squinted her eyes at him, a look of irritation that Borrican was getting to know all too well. "Fine, if you're too afraid, I'll go first."
Vale leapt from the rock and dove into the dark, red, churning lava, disappearing beneath it, and leaving Borrican astonished at the edge of the flow. She surfaced a moment later with lava dripping down her face and sliding harmlessly off her dragon scales.
"The flows here are rich," she said with a toothy grin. "It feels so good."
"I think I will take your word for it," Borrican said. "I can relax here."
"No, Borrican," she said. "It is part of being a proper dragon."
"Maybe I don't want to be a proper dragon," Borrican said. "I'm staring to think I would rather go back to being a proper person."
"Why you Akandra live in such a form is very strange," she said as she lay back and floated in the lava. "You are a dragon and you are my vassal, so you will come swimming and you will learn why the flows are so very good."
Borrican ventured a little closer to the lava and, carefully stuck his toe in then pulled it back out. It was hot, but it did not feel as hot as he imagined it should. The molten rock slipped off the leathery skin of his foot and dripped down the claw at the end of his toe then fell back into the flow.
"Do you just close your eyes and hold your breath, like normal swimming?"
"Normal swimming?"
"I mean swimming in water," he said.
"Why would you ever swim in water?"
"I don't know," Borrican said. "To get clean, because you are going somewhere and there is a lake in the way, or if your boat sinks."
"The flows are cleansing, and dragons don't ride in boats."
"I guess they don't," Borrican said. "You didn't answer my questio
n. What if it gets in my eyes? Should I hold my breath?"
"Of course you should hold your breath," she said. "You can't breathe the flows, but if you close your eyes you will not see the flows."
"I can already see the flows," Borrican told her. "I mean, what happens if I go under like you just did?"
"Just get in," she said, then she rolled back and dove under the surface again, disappearing from view.
Borrican stood at the edge as the thick wave of her dive settled and bubbled. He tried focusing his dragon sight to see where she might have gone, but the lava was too hot and too thick, though he noticed that what had appeared to be red, molten rock also had swirls of different colors in it. As he leaned closer to get a look at the different textures the lava bubbled in front of him and Vale emerged from the surface right in front of him. She reached up and grabbed him by the shoulder with her sharp, clawed hand and she pulled him in.
Panicking and still convinced he would be burned alive, Borrican shut his eyes and mouth tight as he splashed into the molten river, and felt the intense heat surround him. A moment later, he realized that he was floating, almost as though he were swimming in a lake or river of water and he found it strangely refreshing. He could sense the surface above him so he kicked and pushed, moving toward it and he felt the air again as his head slid out of the lava. He took a deep breath as the lava slipped off the scales and tough leather of his face and then he opened his eyes to find that he was floating easily, with the rest of his body submerged. Borrican was surprised at how natural it felt, and how the heat of the lava was both calming and rejuvenating.
"So?" Vale asked with an expectant look. "Is it not glorious?"
Borrican leaned back into the flows.
"I admit it, you were right," he said.
"I usually am," she replied and Borrican snorted skeptically. She dropped low into the lava and stared at him. "You are a strange dragon."
"Why do you say that?"
"You don't accept the things I say," she said.
"I don't disagree," Borrican replied. "I just don't believe everything I am told."
"I would not expect such wisdom from a drake," Vale told him.
"I'm not a drake, and I am not a hatchling." Borrican rolled over and swam around to face her. "I am the prince of Kandara, and I have seen enough betrayal to warrant being just a little bit skeptical."
"Is that why you hide your fear?"
"What?"
"Your fear," she repeated. "You forget that all of your thoughts were spilling from your mind until we taught you to master them. Any dragon who came near you would hear everything, especially those thoughts borne of your emotions, your anger, your fear."
"Like what?" Borrican asked, running through his thoughts over these past days since his arrival in the dragon lands, trying to remember what he might have thought about. "What things do I fear?"
"Many things," she said. "Most of all, you fear that you will lose yourself and become a wildling."
Even though that thought had receded from his mind somewhat, especially when he was near Vale, whose presence calmed him, it still weighed heavily upon him. The few times he had been left alone, when Vale had gone off on her own, his sense of self would drift and he would struggle against the beastial thoughts that threatened to take over. Some of his conversations with Vale's mother, Vana, had been almost incoherent and Borrican was starting to have a difficult time remembering things from before, the places he had been and the faces of people he knew. Those things came back into focus when Vale was near, but he knew they were still less clear than they should be.
"I have an obligation to my people," Borrican told her. "I cannot afford to lose myself, to become a wildling. I left Kandara so I could find a way to keep my thoughts and to figure out a way to stop Cerric from destroying everything and everyone that I care about."
"I know," Vale said. "We all know that this is your reason, and though the affairs of the other races are of little interest to dragonkind, it is a noble and honorable reason. It is why you have not been killed for being a wildling."
"But I am not a wildling," Borrican said. "Not yet, anyway."
"That is true," she said. "But you are more powerful than a drake and you have no queen, which makes you very dangerous. If you are not bonded soon, then you will become wild."
"And what if you bond me?" Borrican asked.
"The elders will not yet permit it, and I do not know if I would want to be bound by the oath of Akandar."
"Your mother was willing, was she not?"
"Yes," Vale said. "And she lost her place among the elders for it."
*****
Vana stared up at the high wall inside the cavern as the dragon elders looked down upon her. She had been to see them almost every day since the arrival of the young Akandran and her discussions with them had been difficult at best. Many of the dragons wanted Borrican captured and confined, so he could be observed and prevented from causing trouble, but Vana hard argued that doing so would likely enrage him, which would only cause him to become wild more quickly. Thankfully, Vale's Akandra blood was having a calming effect on him, which gave the elders pause, though none of them were particularly supportive of the idea of a bonding. It was the fifth and final day of the reprieve they had granted to Borrican and Vana hoped that the elders would see the wisdom in what she had proposed.
"Vana," said one of the dragons from the shadows above a ledge, half way up the rock face. "You have made many arguments on behalf of the Akandra. Some of us wonder about your loyalty to this line that is not your own."
"As you well know, my daughter is half Akandra," she said. "The Akandar are also one of the oldest and most powerful lines among our people, and they have always shown great honor. Whether you agree with the oath of Akandra or not, you cannot dispute that it has been honored faithfully over many generations."
"Until now," said another one of the dragon elders. "It appears that the oath has been betrayed by the other son of Akandra, the one called Elric."
"Yes, it appears thus," Vana said, though it was something she wondered about. "The fate of Elric Akandra is certainly a matter of concern, but the issue at hand is his brother, Borrican, who is among us, and who remains resolute in honoring the oath."
"And yet, he is a wildling," said the first dragon.
"He is not yet a wildling," Vana said. "And it is my hope that he will not become one."
"We have heard your arguments on this," said another dragon from a cavern higher up than the others. "It is our consensus that a bonding be permitted."
Vana was surprised but pleased for she had not expected the elders to agree.
"It is up to you now to convince your daughter," said the second dragon elder. "If the bonding is successful, she will become the queen of the Akandra and the Aledra line will no longer be recognized."
"Why would that be necessary?" Vale asked. "There have been joinings of lines before."
"Long ago," said a dragon much higher up than the others, one Vale knew was one of the oldest among them. "We no longer produce wyverns as we once did. Not since the time of Talon Akandra has there been more than one potential queen born to a line. If Vale bonds with the Akandar, then she and every dragon and wyvern after her will be subject to the oath of Akandar. The Aledran line will be no more."
"That is not true," Vana said. "The Aledran wisdom will continue, combined with the Akandra."
"No," said another dragon. "The Aledran wisdom will replace the Akandran, which appears appears to be no more. The thoughts of the drake, Borrican, have made it clear that the Akandran queen has been dead for some time. It is deeply concerning that the father, Eric, would have hidden this fact for so long. From his son's open thoughts, it appears that he slowly succumbed to the madness, though he maintained his oath unto the end, for which Eric Akandar will be remembered with honor. As Vale will be subject to the oath of Akandra, she will be required to honor that oath and rule in the land that bears their name. The Al
edra will become Akandra, but it will be in name only."
Vale nodded. She was well aware that unless the bonding between Borrican and Vale produced a wyvern, the Akandra line would die with Borrican, but the wisdom of her own line and the time she spent with Eric and his brother Boric, years ago, gave her an understanding of the oath of Akandra and it was one she herself would have accepted had the bonding been successful.
"I understand," she said. "I will speak to Vale of these things."
"If Vale agrees, and there is a successful bonding, then the Akandran may live," said the first dragon. "If he is not bonded, then you know what must be done."
"Yes, I do," Vana said. "And what of the Kandaran people and their plight?"
"It is of little concern to us," said another dragon.
"It is of some concern," said another. "We will continue to discuss these matters."
Vana snorted, recognizing the signs that the elders were divided about the issue of this god-king, Cerric and the fact that he was able to easily best a dragon with his bare hands. She knew the elders would argue at length about the subject, but she doubted that much would come of it. Hopefully, the bonding between Vale and Borrican would tame the wildness in the Akandran and they would find a way to restore the land of Kandara to the peaceful land that Vana remembered from the times she visited, long ago.
"I am grateful to the elders for showing wisdom in this," she said.
"Vale must make her decision soon," the first dragon said. "Once the Akandar becomes wild, the bonding will no longer be possible and you know what must happen."
"I do, and I will deal with it myself if that is to be his fate," she said then she let out a loud roar that was far more powerful than she had given in her previous meetings with them and the sound of it shook the cavern, startling a few of the newer elders so much that they flinched in their caves. If the Aledra line was to end, she was determined that it would certainly be remembered, for there was only one line that was more powerful among the dragons and she set off from the cavern, hoping to do what she could to ensure it would survive.
*****
Book of One 04: A Child of Fire Page 22
