by D K Drake
Chapter 36
The Aftershock
The storm raged on for more than an hour after Micah crawled inside the crowded wheelhouse, along with the five folks he had helped crawl in before him. They used their shredded clothes as bandages to patch each other up and sat in agonized silence against the glass wall waiting for the storm to end.
None of them were in good shape, yet none of them complained. They shared the same scrapes, cuts and bruises inflicted by those enraged birds, and that seemed to give them a sense of camaraderie. Which was a new experience for Micah. He didn’t much care for the pain he felt with every breath, but he did like feeling as though he belonged somewhere.
Eventually the howling wind eased to a gentle breeze, the rain gave way to the sun, and the boat settled into a stable position on the calming water.
Andre spoke first. “That sun is going to set soon, and we’ll be in the dark again.” He pulled himself up using the navigation pedestal in the middle of the room. “Let’s go assess the damage while we still have daylight.”
One by one, Mirela, Orlan, Phenix, and Helena stood, but Micah let out an involuntary whimper when he tried to stand.
“You’ve done enough,” Mirela said, putting her hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t you stay put until we can get the doc in here to see you?”
“No.” Micah shook his head. “I’m part of this crew. I’m coming with you.”
“Then you’re going to need some help.” Mirela offered her bandaged hand. His first instinct was to ignore it and get up on his own, but the concept of receiving help intrigued him. Why would she want to assist him without being ordered to? Is this what friends did for one another?
He held his breath, took her hand, and let her pull him up. She was surprisingly strong and didn’t waver one bit, despite being nearly a foot shorter than him.
“Thanks,” Micah said, testing his balance. He felt a bit wobbly until Mirela put his arm around her shoulder and helped him out to the walkway in front of the others. From there, he was able to use the railing as a crutch while hobbling toward the stern of the boat.
“Check out the sunset,” she said, nudging Micah from behind.
Micah had never paid much attention to sunsets before. He didn’t see the point in starting now, but he glanced up through the dragon-sized tear in the canopy anyway. “Oh. Wow. That’s beautiful.” The purple and pink smudged sky brightened his spirit, and he decided he would have to start noticing sunsets more often.
“Oh my! Talk about wow.” Mirela nudged him again, this time directing his gaze to the shore. “That’s a dragon!”
The grey-scaled Noon Stalker swooped down and cleared a space among the trees for himself with his long tail, sharp teeth, and strong legs. Once he curled into the spot, he nestled his wings alongside his body and stretched his neck across the water.
“Varjiek!” Javan appeared from under the covered walkway ten feet ahead of Micah. He stretched his hands over the railing, but Varjiek’s head was too far away for Javan to touch. “I can’t believe you fought off all those animals. You were awesome!”
Why was he praising his dragon? Dragons didn’t respond to praise. All they understood were orders from their masters.
“That’s tempting.” Javan continued talking like he was having an actual conversation with his dragon. “I want to ride you out of here, but I can’t. I have to finish what I’ve started with these guys.”
Varjiek snorted and turned his head away from Javan.
“Don’t be like that. I want to hear what’s happened with you since we were separated, but things have gotten complicated.” The dragon swiveled his head back toward Javan. After a slight pause, Javan carried on his one-sided conversation. “Really? That’s…no. I can’t. But we’ll get there a lot faster if you stick with us and help us out.”
“Javan?” Micah closed the distance between him and the Collector. As he approached, he noticed that Taliya, Cyr, Kai, and Lydia were standing behind Javan. They looked concerned about the Collector’s sanity as well. “Did that bird attack make you crazy? Why are you talking to your dragon as if he can talk back?”
“I didn’t realize I had company.” Javan bit his lip and adjusted his sunglasses. “I thought everyone was still inside.”
“No,” Taliya said. “You have an audience. Can you really hear what Varjiek is saying?”
Javan scrunched his nose and ran his fingers through his hair. “Maybe.”
“That’s preposterous,” Micah said. “The dragon hasn’t said anything. Dragons are animals. Dragons don’t talk.”
“Of course he doesn’t talk,” Javan said. “But he does think, and I can kinda read his mind.”
“Impossible.” Micah had heard that some Collectors had the ability to read the minds of their dragons, but Micah didn’t believe those rumors. “No one can read minds, especially the minds of dragons.”
“The Collector who is the answer to the prophecy can,” Taliya said.
“The prophecy?” Micah knew about the prophecy. The prophecy is the one thing that scared his father. Omri had banned Dartez to the Land of No Return because of the prophecy. Dartez with his shiny green eyes was the threat, not Javan. Javan had brown eyes. “He can’t be the answer to the prophecy. His eyes are brown.”
“Are they?” Taliya asked.
“Yeah.” Micah hadn’t memorized the man’s eyes, but he knew they weren’t green. “Well, they might be blue or black. But they definitely aren’t a bright emerald green color.”
“Javan,” Taliya said, “show him. Take off your glasses.”
“No!” Javan crossed his arms and shook his head.
Taliya stepped up and put her hand on Javan’s elbow. “It’s time to stop hiding. People are going to see the true you eventually. Might as well be now.”
“I’m not ready,” Javan said.
“I am.” Micah had to put an end to this nonsense. He reached out and jerked Javan’s glasses off his face.
He nearly fainted when he saw a pair of gleaming green eyes staring back at him.
◊◊◊
Exposed. Javan felt exposed. Vulnerable. Freakish. He had to escape. Now. He turned away from the stunned Micah and turned to Varjiek. “Let me on. I want to leave.”
You said you wanted to stay.
“I changed my mind.” Javan could feel the stares of the crew. He had to get out of there before they had a chance to taunt him about his eyes. “Let’s go.”
As you wish. Varjiek spread his wing over the water so that its round edge reached the railing. Javan jumped on, slid down the slick wing and stopped himself at the base of the dragon’s neck.
“Where are you going?” Taliya yelled her question from the boat, but Javan didn’t have the courage to respond. He needed to get away from her. From all of them.
He leaned forward and spoke to Varjiek. “Make me invisible and fly us out of here.”
Done. Varjiek launched off the ground and shot straight up through the opening in the canopy he had created earlier. Javan clung to Varjiek’s neck, closed his hated eyes and relished the feeling of the warm wind blowing through his tangled hair. Until Varjiek’s thoughts cut into his pity party.
What is this prophecy that made you change your mind about coming with me?
“The prophecy? Oh, I don’t care about that. I care that my eyes make me look like a mutant.” Javan sighed, sat up and drank in the beauty of the colorful sunset as Varjiek coasted over the top of the dark green canopy that looked thick enough to walk on. “No one will want to be around me when my eyes look like this.”
I see nothing wrong with your eyes.
“People will. They’ll make fun of me, call me names, and make me feel like an outcast.”
How do you know?
“I’ve been to high school. I know how cruel people can be.”
I do not understand. You don’t want to feel like an outcast, but didn’t you make yourself an outcast by flying away from the people on that boat?
>
“No. I…” Javan couldn’t think of a way to defend himself against Varjiek’s logic. It did seem silly to run away because he didn’t want to feel like an outsider when in fact running away made him an outsider. Wouldn’t it be better to be known as the freak who did what he said he would do than to be known as the guy who deserted his friends?
I did not hear your response. How am I wrong?
“You’re not wrong. I am.”
Does that mean we have to go back? I could take you to Kisa first. After you collect her, we could return to help your friends.
“How long do you think that will take?” If Javan could get to Kisa before Micah and Taliya, he could ensure he made that dragon his.
A day. Maybe more. Kisa has to decide she likes you before she’ll let you ride her.
“She told you that?”
Yes.
The thrill of adding another dragon to his collection excited him. He had to get to Kisa. Fast. “Take me to her.”
Yes, my Collector.
The last of the light was fading as they soared over the northern border of the Dark Zone, but it was enough light for Javan to notice movement on the ground below. “Slow down, Varjiek. Circle back to where the river exits the Dark Zone.”
Varjiek turned around and followed the river back to the border. “What are we looking for?”
“That.” Javan pointed to the tents along both banks and the armed people patrolling the area. “The crew on the Iria is out of ammunition. They’ll have no way of defending themselves when they get here.”
Shall I destroy these people then?
“No! They’re as innocent as the people on the boat. Nobody needs to get hurt, so I have an idea.”
We’re not going to collect Kisa, are we?
“Not yet.”
Then what’s your plan?
Javan smiled. “We’re going to make the Iria disappear.”
◊◊◊
“How did he make his eyes look like that?” Micah finally found the ability to speak after Taliya led him into the cargo space and sat him down along with the rest of the battered crew. The dozen or so people who were still well enough to walk were in the sleeping quarters hunting frogs.
“His eyes have always looked like that.” Taliya dabbed a cut on Micah’s shoulder with a wet cloth. “Apparently he lost the covers he wore on them to make them look brown when he went for that swim in the Yellow Sea.”
“That can’t be,” Micah said. He needed a different explanation, one that didn’t point to Javan as the fulfillment of the prophecy. “Those can’t be his real eyes. He can’t really hear what his dragon is thinking. He can’t be the answer to the prophecy.”
“Why not?”
“Because my father has devoted his life to ensuring that no one can or will fulfill that prophecy.”
“Javan seems to be a pretty good candidate. He is ‘a young Collector whose eyes shine like emeralds and whose ears can hear the thoughts of any dragon.’”
“He never said he could hear the thoughts of any dragon, just his Noon Stalker. It is true that some Collectors have the ability to hear the thoughts of their own dragons, but no one has ever been able to hear the thoughts of a dragon who isn’t a part of his collection. And if you’re going to quote the prophecy, don’t forget the last part.”
“The part about him entering the throne in final months of a Battle for the Throne year? I think he did that.”
“True, but he hasn’t collected all four dragons yet. Even if he does, the prophecy states that the Collector must unite the four opposing Bloodlines to defeat the reigning King. That means that you, me, and some Destroyer out there will willingly fight with Javan against my father.”
“You’re not the only one of the Hunter Bloodline left, and I’d rather stand with him than with Omri.”
“You sure you’re going to have that chance?” Micah had to help Taliya see what a mistake opposing Omri would be. He almost considered her a friend, and he found the thought of her being tortured or killed because she stood against his father unpleasant. “How can Javan unite us when he flew away and left us here to die? That’s not someone I want to follow. If I ever get back to Zandador, I think I’ll stay loyal to my father.”
“Javan will be back.”
“Why would he come back? He has free access to our dragons. Once he collects them, he’ll go after a Midnight Stalker. We’ll never see him again.”
A startling thud from something crashing onto the deck above them rocked the boat and prevented Taliya from responding. No one moved as the boat resettled. They all simply shared anxious glances and braced for the next animal attack.
Then the tension broke when the door burst open, and Javan stepped through it. “Miss me?”
His green eyes glowed in the dim lantern light, and Taliya seemed to be the only one who wasn’t too entranced by Javan’s eyes to speak. She suddenly turned from Javan’s defender to his interrogator.
“Why did you leave?” She threw the cloth in Micah’s lap, stood, and crossed her arms. The more she talked, the angrier she sounded. “We have all kinds of problems here, and you just flew away the first chance you got.”
“It’s a good thing I did,” Javan said. “Once we get out of the Dark Zone, we’ll have new problems to deal with.”
“What do you mean?”
“Warriors from Upper Keckrick are guarding the river at the edge of the Dark Zone. There’s enough of them to take us out as soon as we reach their territory.”
“Wonderful.” She dropped her arms and softened her voice. “We can’t divert our path, and with all of our ammunition depleted, we can’t defend ourselves.”
“That’s why I’m back. I have a plan.”
“Let me guess,” Micah said. He could see where this was going. Javan returned so he could brag about having his dragon wipeout the imminent threat. He wanted the crew to think of him as a hero. “You’re going to have your dragon take out the warriors before they can take us out.”
“That’s one option,” Javan said, “but I have a better idea. With Varjiek’s help, we’re going to make the Iria invisible and float right past them.”
“Really?” Taliya took a few steps toward Javan. “Varjiek can cloak the entire boat?”
“It will take a lot of his energy, but he says he can do it.”
“He says he can, huh?” Micah still wasn’t convinced Javan could communicate with his dragon. “What else does he say he can do?”
Javan walked to Micah, leaned down and whispered in Micah’s ear. “He says he can whip you with the spiked end of his tail for whipping Mertzer, but I told him to leave you alone because the people of Keckrick need you to talk to Omri.”
Micah’s blood ran cold. No one knew about that whipping except Mertzer. The only way Javan could know was if Mertzer told Varjiek who then told Javan.
The Collector could hear his dragon’s thoughts. Javan just might be the answer to the prophecy. If that was true, Micah could never return to Zandador without first killing Javan. But how could he kill Javan after he had saved Micah’s life, then returned to save the entire crew?
The dilemma caused a pounding headache, and he could no longer think. “Sleep,” Micah said. “I need sleep.” He leaned his head against the wall, closed his eyes, and shut himself away from the world that had brought him face to face with his father’s greatest fear.
Chapter 37
The Final Stretch
Taliya put her hands on the passed out Micah’s neck and checked his pulse. “What did you say to him?”
“I just told him something Varjiek told me.” Javan nodded toward Micah. “Is he all right?”
“For now. He has a fever, and I’m sure he’s in an incredible amount of pain with those broken ribs. The rest will help him.” She stood and pointed to the door. “Can I talk to you outside?”
“Sure.” When they were alone under the covered walkway, he asked, “What’s up?”
“Is Varjiek the only dr
agon you can talk to?”
“Huh?” That wasn’t the question he was expecting. He thought she would grill him about leaving or want to discuss his eyes.
“Varjiek. Is he the only dragon you can talk to?”
Javan didn’t want to answer, not when he couldn’t read her expression. Although they were only standing a few feet apart, all he could see was a dark shadow in front of him. The determination in her voice, however, told him she wasn’t going to drop the subject until she got her answer. “No.”
“So you could hear Kisa’s thoughts?”
“Yes. And Mertzer’s. And every other dragon I’ve come across. So what? It’s not that big of a deal.”
“Not that big of a deal? I have devoted my life to protecting Kisa so that she would be safe from Hunters and Destroyers. But I knew I would never be able to protect her from the Collector who could read her thoughts.” Her tear-stained voice began to shake. “I thought I’d be ready to give her up for the good of Zandador when he came along. Now that you’re standing right in front of me, it’s all too real. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with my life without Kisa around to care for.”
“Please don’t cry.” He reached out to hug her, but she backed away. “I haven’t collected her yet. I can find another Dawn Stalker.”
“You came to Keckrick for Kisa, and you better not leave without her. I don’t want to see her become Micah’s slave.”
“Maybe you could--”
“My life is here. Not in Zandador. Just promise me you’ll treat her well.”
“Of course.” He’d promise anything to get her to stop crying.
“Good.” She wiped her cheeks and cleared her throat. “I need to get back to the wounded. At least my work as a healer will always give me something to do.” She gave a half-hearted laugh and walked back into the cargo room.
Javan let her go, but he decided he wasn’t going to leave Keckrick without both her and Kisa.
