by Randal Sloan
In many ways the trail downward was more difficult than the one they’d climbed up, but they were forced to push themselves on the downward journey. Like the trail on the other side, it consisted of multiple switchbacks that gradually wound down the mountain. Still they had to be extremely careful, as a slip could cause a deadly fall. Plus they had the extended burden of Corrie, who put on a brave face, but was obviously struggling. The wind had also started to pick up, making their task even more difficult.
They had just come to an especially difficult spot, with Jailyn brushing past Corrie when she held her hand up. “Wait,” she said.
As they stood there, an extreme gust of wind blew past them and up the trail to the switchback above them. The wind was so strong, it must have knocked something loose as a scattering of stone came down, knocking even bigger debris loose, so by the time it passed them it was a real landslide. If they hadn’t stopped, they would have all been caught in that!
“How did you do that?” Kynin asked her. He looked back at Corrie, who was usually the one who would warn them of danger. Corrie for his part was pale once more and that worried him. For a different reason this time.
“I don’t know,” Jailyn said, “I just sensed it. I don’t understand it.”
Kynin shook his head. “I’m afraid I know, but we can’t talk about it right now.” He looked at Jailyn. “I’m going to make a rather unusual request of you. We’ve got to get to the bottom of this section and look for a safe place to camp and then I promise I’ll explain. I need you to avoid touching anyone for now.”
“I don’t understand,” she told him. “Why would you say that?”
“Look at your ring,” he told her.
Jailyn had forgotten that she’d kept the healing ring on. When she looked at it, she realized it was completely dead. She was totally shocked.
“But I feel fine,” she said, looking at him in puzzlement.
“Let’s just get to the bottom and set up camp. I promise I’ll tell you what’s going on.”
She nodded, but Kynin could tell she was worried. He was worried too.
They finished their climb down by mid-afternoon, some of them suggesting they go on, but Kynin was insistent they set up camp. He could tell Jailyn was feeling a little hurt by his request to not touch anyone, but he knew she was going to feel worse when he told her the truth.
Finally, camp was set up and they all gathered around him. Jailyn had taken a seat on her bedroll, sitting with her knees extended in front of her.
She looked up at Kynin. The hurt look was there in her eyes, but it was overshadowed with worry. “Tell me what’s going on,” she told him.
“I don’t know anything to do but come out and say it. You’ve been infected — infected with whatever claimed that Beast.”
More than one in the group caught their breath. Jailyn looked at him in horror. “No! Why would you say that? I’m nothing like that.”
“Not yet, but you said it yourself, he was originally human before he became that Beast. But you’ve already started, consuming magic that is.” He pointed to her amulet, which was dead again. Jailyn hadn’t even noticed. “You drained the amulet and the healing ring, and then when you brushed against Corrie, for a moment you had his ability to see danger. Big Boy was confused by your magical signal and that’s why he growled and left. To make it worse, you’re already so strong in your magic, I doubt it will take very long with you.”
He saw the terror in Jailyn’s eyes and knew she now believed him. Sadly, he went on, “I hope against hope I’m wrong, but I know I’m not. Tonight, I’ll send a message to the Dream Master, and hopefully he can help.”
Jailyn was so filled with horror she felt sick. “Oh God,” she said. “Before I become like that Beast, promise me you’ll kill me.”
“It won’t come to that. I’m sure the Dream Master will have the answer. You’re just going to have to be extremely careful until I can talk to him.”
Jailyn shook her head. “No, that’s not good enough. Now that you’ve told me, I can feel it already trying to make me reach out to take your magic.” She pointed to the tree behind her. “Tie me to that tree. I don’t trust myself not to try in my sleep.”
The group looked at each other in horror. No one wanted to do it; truth be told, each one was not only reluctant because she was their friend, but also because they were each a little afraid.
Finally Corrie shook his head. “I don’t want to, but I will. My magic was always the weakest and I think you really did drain a good part of it. Hopefully, you’ll be able to resist me.”
“You’ve always wished that I couldn’t resist your charms,” Jailyn said, making a play on his words as he wound the rope around her. The early attraction they’d felt for each other had seemed to fade away. “Except, perhaps not so much now.” She tempered her words with a smile.
She pointed to the dead amulet around her neck. “Hey, if they do send an assassin team, all you’ll have to do is turn me loose on them,” she told them all with a smile as Corrie finished the deed.
Kynin shook his head. “No! The more magic you consume, the worse it will be. We dare not let you do that.”
Jailyn had lost her smile. “Then you’d better find a cure quickly. There’s a team on the way, just across on the other side of the desert. That must have been the only location they have for a portal out here.”
She laughed. “Sure couldn’t put one in these mountains. They’re full of all kinds of bad, twisted magic.” For a moment her eyes turned almost white. “I can see it now. The dragons fought a war here. This is the leftovers from their wars millennia ago.”
She shook her head. “This disease, whatever it is that I have, I think it’s from that too. Best tell that to the Master.”
Kynin nodded. If what she said was true, that made perfect sense. “You need to eat as much food as you can tonight. Maybe that will help with the hunger.”
“Yes,” Jailyn said. “That and sleep. He was able to do that rather well at least. Make sure everyone stays as far away as they can and I think I can make it through tonight.”
She said nothing more, turning away and trying to get as comfortable as one could tied to a tree. But before she did, Kynin caught sight of the tears in her eyes.
The group soberly prepared the evening meal. All the enjoyment of the food was gone as each mechanically chewed his food. Jailyn ate as much as she could stand without getting sick. It seemed to help a little but she knew it wouldn’t last all night. Already she could feel a couple of twinges.
Kynin left the others to figure out who would take first watch. He had already said he would take the last. Left unsaid was the fear that would be the worst time for Jailyn and perhaps even the rope wouldn’t be enough.
He quickly went through his exercise to prepare himself for entry into the Dream World. He wasn’t surprised to see the Master waiting on him, nor that the Master’s countenance was grim.
“So you know what I’ve come about,” Kynin told him. “What do we do?”
“There is nothing that you can do,” the Master replied. “It is up to another and he alone can decide. Hopefully, he will come in the morning. If not, all hope is lost.”
“Can you not help her at all?”
The Master shook his head. “There is but one thing I can do, which I will. I can bring her here and hold her for a time, here in the Dream World. It will in no way help with the cure, but it will keep you safe tonight and give her a little rest.”
Kynin nodded. “Best I be gone then so you can call her. How will I know if the one sent has arrived?”
For the first time that evening, the Master smiled. “Oh, you’ll know. You’ll know.” Shaking his head, he waved his hands and his student disappeared.
I hope he comes and I can only hope he makes the right choice.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
At What Price
GAVR’IEL WAS DEPRESSED. His human friend, the girl with the golden hair, had left the island
and he had been forbidden to accompany her by the Master wizard. Something about a quest and how he would endanger her if he went. He’d never told anyone else about his feelings, but he found himself missing his time with her. Her magic was just so beautiful it filled him with pleasure to see her. He had gone to all his usual places to visit on the island, but they all seemed empty without her there.
He was moping about near the waterfall, where even there the magic seemed dulled, when he received a mental call from his mother, something she was able to do even over the great distance separating them. “Gavr’iel, I need you to come see me. Something has come up, something very important.”
“I’ll come at once, Mother,” he replied, leaping into the air, thrusting with his mighty wings to rush off into the night sky. He circled around the island, gaining height on each circle so that finally he was able to fly above the great winds that encircled the island. He could have flown through them if necessary, but it was easier to go above. A lot less work.
Gavr’iel flew straight and swift, his destination the old dragon city of Ker'ferfyre, the ancient capital city of the Dragon Empire. Once the treasure of the world, the city was high in the Western Mountains and even in ruins it was still a beautiful place. Beyond the reach of man and still protected by magic, for millennia it had stood as a symbol of Gavr’iel’s heritage.
The other dragon children still lived there, for Tia'laryl had brought them all back as eggs with her when she returned with the humans from the world beyond. Gavr’iel had never understood why he’d been chosen to go live on the wizard island but he’d taken his job seriously. The others were tasked with repairing the important buildings in the city for the day of the New Beginning.
As Gavr’iel flew over the city, he was met in the air by Chry’na, the only other white dragon besides his mother. “Come to help with the real work, Gavr’iel?” she asked.
Gavr’iel had often spent time with Chry’na when they were younger. Despite her words, he thought she was just a little sweet on him, not that they were old enough to mate. He had never really felt the same way about her, but he respected her as the one assigned to one of the most important tasks of them all, restoring the Hall of Knowledge, the repository of all the knowledge of the dragons. He did like her, though.
Gavr’iel replied with a laugh, “No. The last time you talked me into helping you, it was a dirty and thankless job. No thanks.”
He grew serious as she turned to fly beside him. “Actually, I’ve been summoned by Mother. It sounded rather important.”
Chry’na flew closer so she could be certain no other could intercept their conversation. “I don’t know what’s going on, but she summoned me to bring her one of the Forbidden Scrolls earlier this evening. I’m not even allowed to open those. I could have sworn she was crying as she read it.”
They grew near to the Imperial Palace where Gavr’iel’s mother lived alone. “I thank you for the warning, Chry’na. I best go directly to see her.”
“Good flight.”
“Safe landings.”
Gavr’iel made for the landing outside the room in the palace where he knew his mother spent most of her time. He was now more than a little worried, all sorts of things running through his head. He would find out soon enough what was up.
His musings weren’t even close to the truth.
Tia'laryl sat waiting for her son to come. She had memorized the words to the spell she would use if her son chose to allow her to do it. Her mate, the dragon with the strongest spell binding ability of their generation, had written that spell and hidden it for her. But now that the moment was nigh, she was quite hesitant.
The world hung on the edge of a precipice, but what was to happen next was no longer up to her. She knew what they had planned for all those years based on the future she had seen as possible. The future she had worked so hard to help bring to fruition and for which she had given up all those years she could have had with her mate. Yet here they were and not only was it not her decision to make, she knew what she would do if it were her choice.
Gavr’iel came in with his usual youthful exuberance, practically dancing across the floor. After all, he was only a relatively few hundred years old. How could she even ask him to make the choice he had to make? Yet all the future depended on it.
As he knelt before her she craned her neck around him, both to show her love and to hide the tears in her eyes.
“Join me in the Dream World,” she told her son.
Jailyn had barely gone to sleep when she found herself standing in the Dream World. The Dream Master stood beside her with a sad smile on his face.
“I’ve brought you here, my dear one, to help you pass the night. As long as you remain here, you will be safe from the infection that has taken you. It will help you make it through the night.”
“I thank you for that. At least my friends will be safe for a little while. But what of tomorrow? Do you know of a cure for what ails me?”
The Master shook his head. “There is just one, one that I do not have in my power to make happen, but that belongs to another. I don’t know what that one will choose, for the cure comes at a great price — a very great price — but all depends on it.”
“No one should have to pay such a price,” Jailyn told him, tears in her eyes. She didn’t know exactly what he meant, but it sounded very bad. “It would be best for all if I must die before such a thing should happen.”
The Master shuddered at the thought. If he were in her place, he knew he would feel the same way. “We all love you so very much and many of us would give ourselves for you if it were in our power.” He shook his head. “And without you, so much of the future we’re depending on will be lost.”
His musing was interrupted as a shadow passed overhead. Smiling sadly, he told her, “Behold one comes. I’ll leave you two to talk.”
Jailyn looked up as the dragon she knew from the island swooped across the meadow to land in front of her. As she watched, he morphed into a young man somewhat near her age. His red hair matched his coloring as a dragon. Looking into his eyes, Jailyn could still see the dragon in there.
She was surprised by something else she saw in those eyes, something that made her catch her breath. She could get lost in those eyes, she knew.
“My lady,” the young man said, reaching out to take her hand and kiss it, causing her to catch her breath again.
“None of that,” she told him with a laugh to partially cover her sudden nervousness. “Such formal speech might well become you as a dragon, but it is not expected as a young man. I’m just Jailyn, only another human as any other.”
“Very much human, but not like any other I think,” he said to her. “As a human, I believe I would be known as Gavriel. My mother has granted me the boon of appearing as human here in the Dream World so as to allow us to talk more easily.” He flexed his arms and clasped and unclasped his fingers together.
“I believe I could get quite used to these hands. Very useful.” He gestured and a couple of stones appeared in front of them. “Would you like to be seated? I believe we need to talk.”
Laughing, Jailyn took a seat on the nearest one. “You’ve got to show me how you did that.”
“It’s quite easy. Mother and the Dream Master could do mountains. I usually stick to something a little simpler. It’s like how you do your magic, you just will it and make it happen.”
Jailyn thought about it a moment. “Like this?” she asked, waving her hands in front of her. A full rainbow splashed across the sky in front of them, its brilliant colors gleaming.
Gavriel laughed. “I said simple. I can’t believe you just did that. When I said easy, I meant after a handful of tries, I finally got it right, and we’re only talking about these small stones.”
“Sorry. When you said like magic, it was suddenly easy for me to do.” She shook her head. “The Dream Master has been trying to teach me, but up until now I was really a slow learner.”
“I don’
t think so; just an impatient one, probably. I’ve never seen you have a problem learning anything. I’ve watched you sometimes on the island. You do the same thing with your magic.”
“I didn’t know you were watching. You should have joined us. I think you’d make easy company.”
He laughed. “I don’t usually get that as a dragon. Most are quite a bit afraid of me.”
“Nonsense. Anyone should be able to see you have quite a beautiful soul. I don’t believe you would harm anyone unless they deserved it.”
He shook his head. “They don’t see it. They see this huge beast that could kill with the flick of his tail.”
“Well, I see it. I saw it from the day we first met.”
Gavriel couldn’t believe it. He had always held himself back when dealing with the humans. Even after they started meeting in the evenings with the hellhounds, he’d been very careful in his movements so as not to frighten her. In this body, he didn’t have to worry about that.
He’d noticed something else in this human body. Before when he’d seen her, he’d found her physical form very attractive, but now it was even more so to him. “I’m glad mother allowed me to do this. Now I know you are beautiful, not just your magic. For the first time, I’m able to tell you of those feelings and not have you worry about them coming from a dragon. I could never say those things very well either.”
Jailyn’s heart skipped a beat at that. He really thought she was beautiful? “Well, you’re here now, aren’t you? And you’re saying everything very well.” She laughed. Very well indeed.
“I can only wish I had done this sooner,” Gavriel told her. “Thanks to Mother and the Dream Master, we were given this chance. Mother said we could take as long as we liked.”
Jailyn’s eyes grew sad. Up until now, she’d forgotten about her desperate problem. “I guess we have all night. This may be our only chance. After tomorrow, it may not be possible.”
