Noble Dragon (The Elven-Trinity Book 2)

by Mark Albany

  I watched the three sisters—reunited after however long—staring at each other and trying to make out what the other was thinking. Surprisingly, Braire was the one to finally blink first, shrugging and moving away from them as she walked past me to whisper a few words to the snake in a language I knew wasn’t elvish. It seemed to understand anyway and quickly uncoiled, moving across the river again and toward the woods.

  “I am still allowed to be angry with you,” Braire said, speaking to her sisters but keeping it in a language I understood, interestingly enough. “It is partly your fault that I am here, after all. I made the choice, yes, but you helped.”

  I realized she was talking directly to Norel when a hint of shame slipped through our bond. I wondered what it was they were talking about. From the look on Aliana’s face, she was similarly confused.

  “What are you talking about?” Aliana asked, though this time it seemed the question was directed at both sisters.

  “Ask Norel,” Braire said venomously as she moved back to where the wolf was sitting on its haunches.

  “It’s none of your concern, Ali,” Norel said. “It happened a long time ago, longer than grudges should be held.”

  “You would feel differently if you were the one holding the grudge,” Braire hissed.

  “What happened?” Aliana insisted.

  “I don’t want to talk about it!” Norel said, almost shouting. It looked like a shouting match was about to erupt between the three of them, and if nothing was done, maybe more than just words would be exchanged.

  “Enough!” I roared, stepping in between them, suddenly realizing how much danger I was in. I decided to stand my ground anyways. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think the three of you really were sisters, the way you act. This is getting us nowhere. Can we all agree to move past whatever happened however long ago for the greater fucking good?”

  The silence that ensued had me regretting my position between the three of them. If any power was thrown, I would be caught in the crossfire. I doubted I would be able to keep them from killing each other, even with the sword in my hand.

  Braire took a deep breath, visibly calming herself before nodding. “Come. I will show you to my home. And the reason why the three of you have come here had better be good.”

  21

  We followed Braire and her wolf across the shallow river and into the forest. What felt like a few hours of trekking through the frankly gorgeous woods led us into a small clearing with a longhouse. I’d missed it the first time I looked, thinking for a second that it was just small hill in the clearing from the way the roof dipped to meld with the grass growing around the building, but as we got closer I could make out a small stone chimney, which eventually broke the illusion for the rest of the building. Braire jumped down from the wolf, who bounded away like a huge puppy. Oddly enough the red had faded from his eyes.

  “Welcome to my home,” Braire said. She didn’t sound particularly welcoming, but as she stepped inside, she left the door open for us. I looked at the two sisters as they hesitated and decided to make the leap of faith. If everything went wrong, it wasn’t like I was the strongest member of this party anyway, right?

  I scuffed my boots on the grass to knock the mud and dirt from them before stepping past the threshold, then looked around. It was larger inside than I would have expected from the outside, as it was sunk slightly into the ground to provide more room. It was airy too, with large windows providing light and fresh air, making it seem like it was only a slightly more civilized extension of the woods we’d just left behind.

  The three sisters came together, and this time there appeared to be no intention of including me in the discussion. They spoke in musical elvish tones, but their words flew rapidly as the three women who had known each other for centuries tried to get past what I had to assume were deep wounds that needed mending.

  I dropped in a comfortable seat, giving the three of them some space to talk. I looked down at where the djinn’s attack had singed my arm. The skin was still red from the contact, and a few blisters were starting to show. It was unfortunate that Vis had never bothered to teach any of us some kind of healing magic, as it was starting to hurt like a son of a bitch.

  I closed my eyes, trying to focus on something else, and found myself reciting the meditation chant that Aliana taught me. I didn’t really want to slip too deep into my own consciousness, but it did help me relax, keeping my mind calm and away from the pain.

  I was jolted back to the present when I felt Aliana drop into my lap. My eyes opened quickly, and I looked around to see that I was now part of the conversation. I had no idea how much time had passed, but the air in the house was considerably less hostile.

  Aliana cuddled closer, pulling my arms around her and laying her head on my chest as Norel dropped into a seat next to me, running her fingers lightly over the burns on my arm. Braire was seated on an old rocking chair across from the three of us, an eyebrow raised.

  “So that’s how it is, then?” Braire asked, sounding confused and intrigued by what she was seeing.

  Aliana grinned ferally at her sister. “Sex is the best way to make him more comfortable with his abilities. Or the way that has proven to be the most successful. You know that, and since it just so happens to be fun and enjoyable, why shouldn’t it be like that?” Her voice was a low purr, one that was very difficult to ignore as I let my mind wander anywhere it could to avoid focusing on the way she was wiggling her ass over a spot that would show off my arousal very quickly.

  Braire looked at Norel. “Is that how you see it as well, sister?”

  Norel shrugged, making a noncommittal face. “When you see the face he makes on completion, you will understand.”

  “When?” Braire asked, raising her eyebrow again. I felt the need to stop the conversation in its tracks.

  “While talking about my… our sex life is great fun for all of us,” I said, trying to keep my voice low as my face turned red, “aren’t we here to talk about the dark djinn, and maybe even how Cyron is trying to take over our world and let the evil elf out? What was his name again?”

  “Abarat?” Braire asked. I nodded. “He cannot escape. I locked him here myself. It is why I remained here all this time.” She paused, whistling softly in a tone that resembled a bird’s, and sure enough, what looked like a robin flew in through one of the open windows and landed on the arm of Braire’s chair. A quick and interesting exchange followed, which ended with the robin quickly flitting back out the window again.

  “I will prove he is still where I entombed him,” Braire said once the bird left the house.

  “He may still be here, Braire,” I said softly. “But there are a few men in the world above who are trying to break him out. Cyron… well, he can’t be fully human, can he? The more I think about it, the more I think I’ve been stupid to believe he was.”

  “If he is still alive, then no,” Braire said, but there was a change in her tone. I knew they weren’t related but having spent so much time around each other must have made them start to share mannerisms, as all three had the same voice that indicated there might be danger. The robin flew back into the room, chirping and chattering quickly.

  Braire stood from her chair, taking a moment to smooth the long robes that did little to mask her frame.

  “A djinn has been found dead here,” she said, her voice barely controlled.

  “That’s my doing,” I said, raising a hand.

  “Was it your doing to release Abarat from his prison as well?” Braire asked, locking me with a gaze which proved that thankfully, simple looks couldn’t kill.

  “I’m afraid not,” I replied, gulping.

  “Tell me everything!” Braire said. “Everything you know. Leave out no detail, no matter how inconsequential it might seem to you.”

  It felt like it had been a few hours since we’d left Braire’s home, and we hadn’t stopped to rest since. Aliana had offered to open a portal there to make our travels faster, bu
t Braire refused to allow her to use her mind to find the place. There was no sense in giving Abarat or any of his minions an easy path out of the prison she’d made for him. Opening a portal there would do precisely that.

  While the logic made sense to me, I was starting to question it as I started to lay the whole situation out for Braire in between pants as we kept moving at a breakneck pace to keep up with her wolf.

  I told her about everything, from the very beginning. About how Vis had killed my parents and taken me in to mine the power that, as it turned out, I really did have but he hadn’t been able use. Hell, I hadn’t been able to use it either until I found Aliana. I explained how Vis’ instructions had led me into the ruins where I’d found her ring. How I’d escaped from Vis’ tutelage and imprisonment with her help, and how she’d taken the time to train me to use my abilities, pausing in her attempts to find her sisters to help me when I would have released her from me at any time. I told her about our fight with the hellhound, Cyron, and his golem, then about the dragon’s eyes and the dark djinn as well as Aliana’s ring. Even Oro didn’t escape mention. Braire made a face when I mentioned his name, making me wonder if she at least knew about the man, but she volunteered no information. We had greater things to worry about.

  The only part I left out was the actual sex between myself, Norel, and Aliana. While it was a detail, and she’d told me to spare none of those, I didn’t want to fall on her foul side by describing how I was fucking both her sisters. Besides, I didn’t doubt that Aliana had already gone into it in great detail when they were having that conversation I wasn’t part of.

  Finally, Braire brought her wolf to a halt as what looked like a massive maze came into view in front of us. The rough construction of black and dreary grey was a sharp contrast to the soft and welcoming greens and browns of the forest behind us. Like the forest, the maze expanded from the entrance that we were almost at and spread out until it was lost to sight on the horizon.

  “One of my designs, I see,” Norel said with a small smile.

  “You always were the best at these,” Braire said with a gentle nod before turning to face me. “Come here.”

  “What?” I asked, but she didn’t grace me with an answer, just grabbed me by the hand and pulled me closer.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Just try to relax,” Braire replied, pressing her open palms to my temples. I didn’t feel anything at first. Then something cool entered my mind, like an ice-cold liquid in my consciousness, filling everything in it. It wasn’t painful, or even that uncomfortable, but it left me with almost nothing to do but wait for it to end. Eventually, even my eyes drifted shut as I felt the power being sapped from me.

  The world went black as my knees gave out and I collapsed, eyes rolling to the back of my head. I numbly realized that her hands were no longer attached to me. The cold was gone, to my relief, and I was greeted by the warm darkness of my consciousness once more.

  22

  It could have been days, hours or minutes, for all I could tell—all I knew was that when I came to, I was staring up at a sky that was a deep, dark red. It coated the once-beautiful world in something darker, more dangerous, and more terrifying. The thought that I had just been dreaming all this time and was only now arriving in the dreaded underworld occurred to me. It would have been a tempting thought to follow, but as I looked at the forest and the maze we’d reached before Braire’s trick with my mind, I knew I’d been in the underworld all along.

  Something had changed, though.

  I jerked up from my prone position on the ground to find myself staring into Aliana’s concerned expression.

  “What… what happened?” I asked, looking around, feeling confused. More confused than before, anyway.

  “Norel went with Braire to check on Abarat,” Aliana said softly. “Braire wanted us to leave you here, but I insisted on staying behind and making sure nothing made off with your body. Braire was angry that Abarat got out without her realizing it, and she wants to find out where he went, if anywhere, so we can track him down and bring him back here.”

  “Charming,” I growled, rubbing at my temples. “And thank you.”

  “Of course,” Aliana said with a small smile, running her fingers through my hair. “The only person who gets to have their way with your body is me. And Norel. And maybe Braire, sometime in the future.”

  “Will you think I’m crazy if I say I don’t think she’s interested in me that way?” I asked. My body was weak. Not sore, or hurting, just… weak. Like I’d been sleeping for weeks and my muscles had atrophied. I looked down and ran my fingers over them, just to make sure, and found that nothing had gotten any smaller.

  “What did she do to me?” I asked, tilting my head and looking at Aliana, who was staring at the maze in front of us.

  “She didn’t believe you when you said you’d absorbed our powers,” Aliana said softly. “She inspected your magic. It’s a trick she learned to do without any help from our instructors. When I asked her to teach me, she said she really wasn’t sure how she did it. That it just came naturally to her one time and she’d been able to replicate it every time since.”

  I nodded. “It felt like she was in my mind… but more than that. Like something icy was filling my consciousness, touching everything like a flood of quicksilver.” I wasn’t sure what quicksilver was, but it sounded right. Judging by Aliana’s nod, it sounded right to her, too.

  “We’ve been around for a long time now,” Aliana said softly. “Longer than most humans, in fact, and there aren’t any who would have been able to do what you did and survive. It’s too much for a human body to sustain without familiars. It’s too much for most elves, too, but we have a known capacity for being able to store more than humans. She didn’t trust you when you told her about it and wanted to investigate for herself.”

  “She could have asked,” I growled, shaking my head. The weakness hadn’t passed, I realized. Aliana noticed it too, and handed me some food and water. I suddenly felt famished. Like I knew I was hungry but didn’t quite understand until the smell of freshly roasted meat and crusty, warm bread reached my nose.

  “How?” I asked a moment after stuffing my mouth full of food.

  Aliana chuckled. “Well, I’m not sure how she acquired her power, but I do know that it had something to with her trip across the ocean. She never told us what happened, but she did return with quite a few new and previously unheard-of abilities.”

  “No,” I said, taking a moment to swallow the food in my mouth before continuing. “How did you get your hands on food that looks, smells and tastes like it was freshly made?”

  “Like I said,” Aliana replied with a grin. “New and previously unheard-of abilities.”

  I opened my mouth but realized that Aliana wasn’t the one I would get answers from on this, so I finished the plate of food she’d set out for me. I felt better immediately after, but the weakness remained.

  “How long is this going to last?” I asked when Aliana had to help me to my feet.

  “It shouldn’t last for more than an hour, I think,” she said with a shrug, but any further information was cut off as she looked toward the maze. One of the upsides of having a connection to someone was to know when they were in trouble.

  “She’s coming back out of the maze,” Aliana said softly. “I need your help.”

  I nodded, pulling my sword from my back as I saw Norel and Braire rushing out of the maze’s entrance, looking behind themselves as they cleared the area and started running toward us. They looked like they had been in trouble the whole way out. I guessed that the only reason why we were just now feeling their fear was because the maze somehow blocked our bond. I wasn’t sure, and it merited further investigation, especially since Braire used one of Norel’s maze designs.

  At first, it seemed like nothing was following them. Then entrance suddenly erupted in a ball of flame that arced up into the darkening sky before turning back around to strike at t
hem.

  I didn’t have time to think about it. If I had, I wouldn’t have done it, but as I gripped my sword and watched the massive globe of flame heading toward my friend and her sister, I couldn’t just stand by and let them die. I gripped the blade tighter, sprinting down the small hill we’d been standing on while chanting a few words of power to push the shield I knew how to cast by heart to protect myself, and the two of them.

  As I rushed forward, I flooded what little I had left into the sword, roaring in effort and pain as the white light erupted from the blade, launching toward the ball of fire.

  It split the sphere in half but didn’t completely extinguish it. The two halves dropped to the ground with enough of an impact to knock me off my feet, but clear of Norel and Braire.

  I pushed myself up to see Norel halfway through the process of setting up shields that would have been finished too late to save them from the attack.

  “Well then,” Braire said, regaining her composure and brushing some of the brimstone from her robe. “Aren’t you full of surprises, human?”

  I tried to come up with something witty to say, but all I could do was keep myself balanced as I raised the sword again to point at what was stepping out from the maze.

  Cyron was there, although there was something different about him. An odd, green light emanated from him. As he moved closer, I realized the light was, in fact, coming from the hundreds of runes etched across his body in lines so fine they were difficult to truly make out. I felt Aliana stepping up next to me and placing her hand on my shoulder to steady me as Cyron moved closer. As he did, I noticed a handful of figures walking behind him.

  “Shit, that’s not good,” Aliana said softly, and I could feel the sense of dread starting to fill her as I tried to push my power into the sword again. It had worked against Cyron before and I was sure it could at least help some now, but as I tried, it felt like I was trying to draw water from an empty well. What little power had been restored earlier had been sapped to stop the fireball. As things stood, I needed some time to recover.