Heir To The Nova (Book 3)

by T. Michael Ford

  Dawn shifted uneasily, but smiled as she took stock of the sandy beach. “Well, if it wouldn’t make either of you uncomfortable, the sand does look wonderful.”

  Maya shook her head. A few moments later, the log we were sitting on was entirely encircled by over seventy feet of silver-scaled dragon. Tails intertwined their huge bodies along either side of us. They bent their long necks out and around and gently lowered their heads to the sand in front of us waiting calmly. I felt a pang of sadness at how much the gesture reminded me of their mother’s last minutes. Unconsciously, Maya reached down and scratched under Dusk’s chin, probably thinking about the first time we met them in the stable at my foster parents’ home.

  Dusk closed her big eyes and purred, “I don’t know what it is, but there’s nothing like a good scratch under the chin. It’s just not the same in human form.

  Attempting to push sentiment aside, I sighed and just blurted out what was on my mind. “Girls, I have some bad news…your mother is dead. I am so very sorry.”

  “Our mother?” they said simultaneously.

  Nia and I retold the entire tale of our brush with the chimera; how their mother had sacrificed to hide her eggs, and what the Lifebane had done to her as a result. How in the end, she had spared our lives, dying herself in the process. I also relayed her last words and wishes.

  By the time we were finished, Nia, of course, was bawling uncontrollably on Maya’s shoulder, and Maya and I were both down on the sand each cradling a huge dragon head in our laps as large salty tears ran down our arms and sunk into the sand below.

  “Our mother was evil?” Dawn blubbered weakly.

  I stroked her head and tried to wipe some of the tears away. “Dawn, Dusk, the important thing to remember is that she loved you both with all of her heart. Sometimes the lines between good and evil are not always very clear. When I was growing up in Foalshead, my favorite books were adventures where the handsome knight in shining armor rode out alone to vanquish the evil dragon. There was usually a beautiful, swooning princess in there somewhere as well.”

  I glanced over at my dark elf maiden. “Well, you’re certainly a beautiful princess, but not the swooning type, I suspect.” She gave me a rude gesture and continued to stroke Dusk’s head and neck. “The point is…I’ve come to see that the knight in shining armor isn’t always the hero of the story. To be fair, many times what others see as a monster is a far nobler creature than any paladin who has ever breathed.”

  “Thank you, Alex, you are very kind,” Dusk sniffled plaintively, and then broke down into more sobs, as Maya struggled to comfort her.

  I felt absolutely awful. “Girls, again, I am very sorry; and I understand if you are angry or disappointed in me. If there’s anything I can do to…”

  “Well, there is one teensy little thing,” Dawn interrupted, rolling her head more to the side so I could better scratch under her chin.

  Maya stiffened and glared at her, growling, “Don’t even think about it young lady…err…dragon! It’s not going to happen! He’s mine and only mine!”

  “Why, Mistress, I would never suggest anything improper,” Dawn said primly. “I was merely going to mention that Dusk and I are now truly orphans and so very alone in this big, cold, hostile world.”

  “You like it cold,” Nia pointed out, as she dried her own tears.

  “Ok, but it’s undeniably big and hostile,” the dragon huffed and continued, “Anyway, we were thinking it would be ever-so-nice if you and Maya adopted us like you have Nia.”

  “What?…huh?

  “And you did promise our dying mother that you would take care of us,” Dusk added with a wet sniffle.

  I was momentarily stunned. All I could think to do was to look over at my dark elf. Maya just stared back at me and shrugged. But then a light of understanding came on behind those deep green eyes, and she smirked triumphantly. “You do realize girls that if we adopt you, Alex would become your father. That means you won’t be able to admire his body and chase wantonly after him like you have been doing; it just wouldn’t be right.”

  “Oh yes, Mistress, all inappropriate behavior toward Alex…err…our father, would cease immediately!” both dragons chimed back earnestly.

  Maya paused, seemingly happy with the answer, but still harbored some suspicions. I could see the wheels turning in her pretty head. Apparently finding no good reason to object, she just looked at me and announced, “It looks like our family just got larger.”

  The two dragons instantly turned back into human girls. Without even waiting for their clothes to reform on their bodies, they squealed in delight and flung themselves on Maya, kissing and hugging her until the three of them were all out of breath.

  “Thank you, Mom!” they giggled, and then disengaging while their dresses and shoes appeared, they came over and gave me a chaste kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Father!” Both of them even gave Nia a polite little pat and called her “dearest sister.” When that was done, they looked at each other, laughed insanely and said something in a hissing language I didn’t even remotely understand. After that they hugged each other tightly, danced around a bit more, and then finally started settling down.

  Whew! I was speechless; that was not the ending I was expecting. Puzzled, shaken, and confused, I hooked Maya’s arm in my own and began heading back to camp. Looking back at them, I asked, “Are you girls coming?”

  Dusk answered shyly, “If it’s alright with you, Father, we would like to stay behind for a little while, change back, and take a nice sand bath on this lovely beach. We will rejoin you shortly, I promise.”

  “Um…sure, have fun.”

  Walking back with Maya’s head on my shoulder, I said, “That went well. Better than I expected…I think.” Then I heard Nia snickering, which rapidly turned into outright hysterics.

  “Alright, half-pint, spill it,” I growled impatiently.

  “Mr. Alex, you’re a great guy, but totally clueless,” she giggled. “But then I can’t really blame you, they even had me going for a while there, and pixies are the ultimate tricksters. It went well alright…for them!”

  “What are you talking about, Nia? By the stars, I just told them their mother was dead! They’re probably in shock or something.”

  “More likely in shock that you gave them everything they wanted. It wouldn’t surprise me if they have a couple bottles of celebratory wine stashed in the underbrush back there.” The pixie chuckled, buzzing around under our noses.

  “Nia, what are you talking about?” Maya whispered, starting to get concerned.

  “You better sit down. Ok, dragon coursework 101. Dragons may sometimes look like humans, but dragons never think like humans. Their brain is totally wired differently. Alex, you thought we were telling them a heart-rending tale of a mother’s love and sacrifice; and how even though she was evil, her first thought was for her babies, and how sorry you were that you caused her death. You expected them to be unimaginatively sad, because that would be the human reaction to that kind of situation,” Nia paused and took a deep breath.

  “You have to remember–they never actually met their mother. They might possibly have been able to identify her by scent, but that’s pretty much it. You don’t get much information in a buried egg. But, Alex, what they heard from you was music to their ears; what they actually perceived was…our mother loved us {check}. Our mother was evil, but in the end she did the right thing by defying the Lifebane {check}. Our mother saved the life of one of the most important people in our lives {check}. Our mother was a hero {double check}! All is well in Dragonville.”

  “You’re saying they were faking all that sorrow?” Maya demanded.

  “More like they empathized with Alex’s emotions very, very well. Hell, I was crying, too, and I knew it was a scam. Of course, it’s impossible to prove. You do both remember that dragons are really, really smart, right?” Nia smirked. “Besides, Mr. Alex, you may be able to beat down a demon, but you’re helpless in the face of female tear
s…I learned that the first day I met you!”

  I ignored the last jibe, focusing on the main mystery. “But why do they want to be our adopted daughters so badly?” I questioned, my mind still reeling.

  “Wait,” Maya blustered, “if they think for one minute that just because they are my daughters they are going to get out of chores and their handmaiden responsibilities, I’ve got news for them!”

  “Getting warmer, Mom, but not quite there yet,” Nia said seriously. “They will continue to do those things because they love you, not because they are obligated to do them.

  “So why, then?” I pressed.

  “One, as your loving daughters, you just presented them the keys to the magic castle which is now their forever home. They’ll prowl around in the underground labyrinths beneath Sky Raven until they find the perfect secret grotto as far away from the lava flows as possible, and they will establish their nest and hoard. Silvers don’t care about gold, gems and treasure much, but they do enjoy gifts and little trinkets that hold memories for them, and many will keep a case or ten of good wine as well. As long as Sky Raven is manned and defended, they will never have to worry about guarding their stash. An additional bonus is that there will always be powerful wizards and great warriors drawn to the fortress, so the ready supply of potential mates is assured.”

  “Two, as royals, Dawn and Dusk will no longer be subject to being ordered around by your mother’s nebulia maidens; they can basically tell them to take a hike–a wonderful perk from their standpoint.”

  “And last, but not least…bacon!”

  “Bacon?” I repeated stupidly, not comprehending.

  “Do you remember when we found the girls at your parents’? How scrawny they were? Those two absolutely detest having to go pluck a goat off of a mountain and eat it raw. They would rather starve, and almost did, waiting for you two. My new sisters have developed quite a fondness for bacon. Sky Raven sits atop a major trade route, is close to human farms, and by now, has its own operational portal to most of the planet. Bacon and all the other delicious culinary wonders should always be readily available. All told, there are a lot of advantages from a dragon’s standpoint to being your daughters.”

  By this time, Maya and I were leaning on each other laughing; we had been jobbed alright. Maya caught her breath and chuckled.

  “Well, at least I got them to leave off chasing Alex out of the deal.”

  “Not really, Mom. They know that you two will be married soon and Alex will be permanently off the market, so-to-speak. Besides, it was all just harmless flirting; they are much too devoted to you to actually follow through with anything. So from their perspective, they gave up nothing and got a big return instead.”

  “Wow, an amazing analysis, Nia. Tell me again how you got to be such a smart pixie?” I teased.

  “Well, Mr. Alex, I figure if I’m going to be the mother of my race someday, I need to work on that whole inscrutable wisdom thing. Speaking of wisdom…as your bodyguard, I think it would be wise if I flew a very wide perimeter sweep of the entire area, just to be on the safe side. I figure that will take me about fifteen minutes of kissy-face time to complete before I get back to this spot and have to take you back to Mingt.”

  Something else was bothering me. “Hey, wait a minute. If you figured out I had no defense against women’s tears the day we met…”

  “Don’t say it! Believe me, you don’t want to know,” Nia interrupted, laughing sardonically. “Now do you want your alone time with Mom or not?”

  She flew away on treacherous gossamer wings, and I reached for my dark elf sweetheart.

  By the end of the third day, we had fallen into a routine. Rise early, eat, break camp, travel until late afternoon, make camp, eat, talk, go to bed, repeat. At least, we had decent food for the journey, the dark elves had given us generous supplies of fresh food for the trip, and Maya, Nia and I did our best to make up for lost weight.

  On the trail, the girls in the wagon chatted incessantly; the two dragons seemed to just fall into a trance of sorts unless they were part of the conversation. I began to suspect that Dawn and Dusk could sleep perfectly well with their eyes wide open, which was a good thing since the two of them insisted on standing watch all night while the rest of us slept.

  The oddest friendship that the trip sparked was between Mingt and Nia. She sat for hours on his shoulder while he drove the wagon, the two of them conversing in a language I didn’t identify. About once or twice a day if a particularly good target presented itself, Nia would fly out to a dead tree or rock pile and verify it wasn’t the home of a marmot or some truly innocent creature. If it was clear, she would zip back and Mingt would watch as she became the Combat Pixie and blasted the offending target into smithereens. Then the two of them would apparently critique the work, smiling and waving their hands expressively like old colleagues.

  When the girls grew tired of talking–rare, but it did happen–they would occasionally change Ryliss into whatever animal form caught their fancy. The process was the same as they used to break Maya out of the dungeon. Then the two druids would copy that form and go for a run or fly. It wasn’t unusual to see our group flanked by greyhounds or over flown by painted hawks.

  Maya watched all this in fond amusement and commented through our link with Winya, “I don’t see how Ryliss manages that so easily. When Julia turned me into a rat, it was extremely disorienting, not to mention I may never be able to eat marmot again. She seems to pick up every form they throw at her without missing a step.”

  I nodded in agreement. “I remember her from our old village; it’s a really odd memory because she was physically bigger than me then. Anyway, her nose was always in a book, not adventure books like I read, but history and travel accounts of other lands. It’s sad, but six months before we left to go live in Foalshead, her mother and baby brother both died in childbirth. Ryliss and Ollis both took it really hard. She was a nice lady, a terrible cook, but a nice lady. I was surprised Ollis agreed to let Ryliss out of his sight for this trip; she’s pretty much all he has left.”

  Maya nodded. “There comes a time when parents need to let their children free to forge their own destinies. Before we left, my mother confided to me that she and my father were both heartsick the entire time I was in Xarparion. But somehow, they felt that was where I needed to be. Perhaps Ryliss needs to be with us now.” She paused and I felt a tinge of amusement transmit through. “Besides, Ollis will be just fine. He’s not that old, he’s best friends with the King; and once the Lifebane is defeated and peace restored, there will be a lot of beautiful dark elf widows seeking solace.”

  “Beautiful dark elf widows, you say?” I grinned, flashing a mischievous look in her direction.

  Maya gave me a flinty look and Winya broke in worriedly. “Alex! Don’t even joke about things like that! It riles the cat up something awful, and she’s been on edge as it is. Down, bad, bad kitty!”

  I laughed out loud. “Well, Winya, at least I know how to get back at you for all those times you teased and made fun of me. All I have to do is think of other women.”

  Maya abruptly moved Kaima up against Somnus and reached over and grabbed the back of my neck. Bringing her emerald eyes in direct alignment with mine, she growled, “That would be very inadvisable, Magic Boy. I will repeat this one last time; you are mine and only mine! There are no other women!” With that rebuke still ringing in my head, she pulled me down further and roughly pressed her soft lips upon my own, her tongue tantalizing mine until I’m pretty sure I was seeing stars…oh yeah, those were her tattoos. This behavior eventually elicited a loud, irritated clearing of the throat from her grandfather in the trailing wagon. Maya withdrew, smiling lazily. “Is the cat happy now, Winya?”

  At the end of day four, we were about to start looking for a suitable campsite when Maya smelled smoke and, slipping off Kaima, put on her helm and ghosted out ahead of the party. A few minutes later she was back and reappeared in the middle of the road. Remounting
effortlessly, she leaned around and called back to the wagon. “Nothing to worry about, it’s just the rest of our party around the next bend.”

  We approached, and with our high vantage points on the Vakhas, we could see a small camp set off the road about thirty paces. Two donkeys were munching grass contentedly a few yards away from where a single tent was set up. There was a small campfire smoldering in the center, with some logs drawn up for chairs. The donkey wagon sat still laden with metal off to one side.

  Maya looked inquisitively at me. We pulled up our horses about ten feet from the tent, and I called out, “Hello, the camp,” only to hear a muffled curse and some excited whispering coming from within.

  “Darroth, dark elves have excellent hearing, you remember,” Maya giggled. The front flap of the tent flew open and a flustered, shirtless Darroth roared out, taking great pains not to let us see into the tent.

  “What the…? You two should know better than to sneak up on people out in the wilderness! Why, I could have mistook you for bandits or something,” he groused nervously. He looked back and forth between Maya and me, then his eyes lit on the wagon full of people behind us all staring at him, and he really began to turn interesting colors.

  “Darroth, what are you still doing here? You should have been almost to Sky Raven by now; you had a huge head start.”

  “Umm, well…umm…you see, Lady Gemma bruised the frog on one of her hooves and we were just giving her a couple days to heal up. These roads are brutal on tender jenny feet.”

  About that time, I could hear rustling from within the tent. It sounded like the back flap facing away from us was slowly being pulled back, and someone was attempting to sneak out. Maya heard it too, and she was gamely trying to cover her mouth to avoid giggling even more.

  Suddenly, a dwarf appeared from the other side of the tent, as if just returning from a walk in the forest. Her long yellow braids were let down, and she had a decidedly disheveled appearance, as well as a sheepish grin on her face.