That revelation didn’t make me feel like I’d been Enlightened. It felt horrible. And it tasted like ashes in my mouth.
“You certainly ‘immersed’ me,” I said bitterly. “You had me populate it with my own mind. With people I’d lost and grieved over. But why?”
“As I told you before, I met Master Wayfarer early in my travels. He welcomed my company, for he enjoyed sharing his knowledge. About so many things. How spells could be crafted to slow or speed up time. How different schools of magic pass on their teachings. And about reading all possible outcomes of prophecy.”
“Especially about prophecy,” I said, recalling an earlier conversation.
“Mais bien sûr. I learned what I spoke to you about at the OME. Each strand of destiny led you here, where I saw you fall under Sirrahon’s talons. There was no way out. No way beyond ruin. Not unless I acted.”
The pooka paused for a moment, as if he were growing tired, before continuing.
“I came to Sirrahon and Archer shortly before they were able gain entrée to the Los Angeles police force. I went as a supplicant, offering a specific service in exchange for the safety of my people.”
“A ‘specific service’? That involved me, I take it.”
Destry tossed his head, indicating that I should follow. His hooves made clops that echoed off the stone walls and ceiling. I fell in beside him.
“I offered Sirrahon a way to nullify you, even though you were a vertice. That offer was my bait. Bait that was too tasty for the dragon to ignore.”
“Wait a minute,” I said, as I looked up at the big black horse. “The offer to nullify me…was bait? Bait for what?”
“As you well know, we pooka are masters at going about sans detection. Before I approached Sirrahon, I observed him. And I saw how the dragon used the crystal known as the Heart of the Mother.”
Destry motioned towards the massive pulsing ruby. I stared at the thing uneasily. The opening that led to the interior still gaped wide open.
“The chamber, or ‘crypt’ within allowed anyone inside to absorb an incredible amount of magical energy,” Destry went on. “So much energy that I began to think. I was created as a weapon to strike at the Creatures of the Dark, was I not? And in time, I came up with a plan to do just that. A plan that could even change something as firmly destined as the height of the tides or the direction the sun rises each matin. All I needed was enough power.”
“The power of the Scarlet Crypt,” I said, understanding. “You needed to get inside of it to absorb all that energy.”
“Ah, but Sirrahon did not fully trust me to use the power of the Crypt. I was your friend before, was I not? The only way I could gain his confidence was to advance his plans. And to remove one of your sources of support.”
“Which is why you returned to Master Wayfarer. With a way to murder the unicorn’s Senior Archmage.”
“And why I pushed McClatchy to…how might you say it? To ‘self-destruct’.”
I stopped and gave Destry a look. “Bob wasn’t a source of support. Taking him out of the equation was a net plus, not negative. How did you sell that one to Sirrahon?”
“He is a dragon,” the pooka replied, and I heard the Gallic shrug in his voice. “To him, McClatchy was your superior, thus a source of ‘support’. Treating a subordinate harshly or unfairly is not considered unusual among Sirrahon’s kind.”
“Dragons sound like charming people,” I groused. “And as far as that episode with Bob is concerned, you almost got me killed!”
“I would have broken his mind before he could have hurt you. And besides, a mere madman cannot kill a vertice,” Destry assured me. “In the end, I got what I wanted. The power within the Heart of the Mother, and an assurance from Sirrahon that I would be present at the right time.”
We’d come around Sirrahon’s side and returned to where I’d first recognized myself. Four figures remained in their initial poses: dragon, pooka, fayleene, and woman. All was as before.
No, not quite.
The woman’s anguished expression had changed a jot. The dragon’s head had moved an inch or two. A droplet of sticky saliva had detached from the reptile’s mouth and hung suspended in mid-air.
“And here we are,” Destry said, with an air of finality. “The time of your ultimate confrontation with the dragon. The time of your failure.”
“The conclusion of my prophecy,” I said dejectedly, even as I grabbed at the last bit of hope, like a drowning person clawing for a life preserver ring. “But you said that you’d found a way to change this!”
“Ah, oui. Your destiny ended here. All your actions were not enough to prevent it, I saw that much. But it made sense to me that someone else might be able to nudge things in a different direction. To set you back up with one more chance to change this ending. If only you had the knowledge you needed. And the power.”
Finally, my brain made a belated click as I realized what Destry meant.
“You set all this up,” I breathed. “Just so you could train me to…”
“I did.”
“Then those three years I experienced on the island…”
“The mind accepts what is presented as real. And that will make all the difference.”
Suddenly, my heart surged within my chest. I thought of all the time I’d spent learning magic under Destry’s tutelage. The time spent with my friends under the tropical sun.
I thought of Perrin, asleep on his perch by my bed.
I thought of Holly, and the sadness in the look she’d given me before turning away.
“What must I do next?” I whispered.
The pooka’s voice had deepened from tired to haggard-sounding.
“Go and say your goodbyes, Dayna. But you must hurry. This moment I have created is rapidly falling apart. Then return, so that you can finish what you promised me.”
Legs shaking, I sprinted towards the door leading back to the Île de Rêverie.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
I can’t honestly say whether my heart or my head had a harder time of it during my run back to the Château de Magicien. Even though it was downhill from Destry’s place, I found myself gasping and fighting off the pain of a stitch in my side. Some of it came from the anxiety I felt playing along my nerves.
What was I going to tell my friends when I met them?
My all-too-chatty inner voice had no reply to any of my questions.
Creaky floorboards protested my footsteps as I pounded my way across the porch. As soon as I burst through the door, I began calling for Holly and Perrin.
No one replied. Everything was quiet. Deathly quiet.
I reached the bottom of the staircase to the second floor before the stitch in my side forced me to stop and gasp for air. The ache was bad enough that I had to hold onto the wooden bannister while I forced myself to slow my breathing. I peeked into the breakfast nook and spotted something.
As soon as the pain subsided, I limped my way over to the nook’s small table. A short note lay between a pair of crumb-laden plates. AT THE BEACH.
So down to the beach I went. My side burned, so I didn’t run. But I could feel the clock ticking away, which made me hurry all the same.
I heard their voices over the gentle wash of the surf as I made my way through the coconut palms at the edge of the beach. Of course, the two were down at the spot where I’d ‘woken up’ three years ago. It seemed only right.
Hollyhock sat on the sun-warm sand, gazing out towards the ocean. Every inch of her, from golden-furred paws to white eagle’s head, looked noble and yet resigned. Perrin sailed aloft, though he quickly descended and flew in circles about me, showering me with questions as he did so.
“Where were you, Dayna? You missed breakfast!” he exclaimed. “Holly said you went to take your final exam. Is that right? Did you pass? Are you a sorceress now?”
“Hold on, one question at a time!” I said, doing my best to smile. Perrin settled upon a large driftwood log next to Holly as I went
on. “I missed breakfast because I went to see Destry. He gave me my final exam. Yes, I passed.”
Holly didn’t look away from the blue of the ocean deeps.
“Congratulations,” she said, in as downcast a voice as I’d ever heard. Perrin gave her a curious glance.
“But…aren’t we supposed to be happy for her?” he asked, glancing between us. The owlet’s face was a picture of bewilderment. “What’s wrong?”
“I think you should ask her,” came the reeve’s quiet reply.
“Ask her…” Perrin looked up at me. “What happened? Did Destry tell you something…bad?”
I nodded, even as I tried and utterly failed to keep my smile intact. “Destry showed me something. The worst possible thing I could have imagined.”
Perrin froze. He hunched down a little, as if expecting me to hit him. I had to say something. I had to tell him the truth. Time wouldn’t permit a lie to soften the blow.
“Destry showed me that you, Holly, the château, even this entire island…was created solely to train me to become a sorceress. I had to become a sorceress to fight the worst evil that Andeluvia has ever seen.”
“If you go and fight this evil,” Perrin reasoned, “then you’re going to come back to us once you’ve won, right?”
I couldn’t speak. My tongue felt too big for my mouth. I shook my head.
“She won’t be back because we have fulfilled our purpose,” Holly said frankly. “Her training is complete. We shan’t be needed again.”
Her words stung worse than if she’d slapped me across the face with her talons out.
“Holly,” I finally managed, “I needed all of this just to give me a chance, one last chance, to end this evil before a lot of people die. Before my friends die.”
“But we’re your friends!” Perrin insisted.
“I know,” I said, and my voice started breaking again. “I needed both of you so much…so I could become better than I was.”
Holly’s tail thumped irritably. “Time is short, Dayna. Tell my fledgling the truth of why you must choose those others over us.”
I stared at her helplessly. She was right, but it tore at me to say it.
“Perrin,” I began to say. My legs threatened to buckle, so I went to my knees. I felt the warmth of the sand radiate up through my shins. “Oh, God help me…”
I swallowed. I had to say it. I couldn’t avoid it any longer.
“Perrin, I don’t know…if you’re real. If any of this is real. Whether it’s all a dream fantasy created by Destry just to keep my sanity intact while I learned, or if it’s something else.”
The little owlet let out a series of distressed ‘hoos!’ as he bobbed upon his perch.
“Dayna, you’re frightening me! I’m scared!”
“There’s no need to be scared–” I began desperately.
“Then stop saying these things!” he cried. He flapped his wings as he began to wail. “You can’t leave us! I don’t want this to end! I’m real! I don’t want to go back into the darkness!”
“Our wants do not count here,” Holly stated flatly. Her tone made both of us flinch, but she turned to give the owlet a reassuring look. “Do not fret aloud, for that is unbecoming of a warrior, no matter how young. Know that when the time comes, I shall not leave you. You and I shall step into that darkness together.”
Perrin shook his head back and forth as if to deny everything he’d heard. He let out a last despairing cry as he spread his Dreamsicle-colored wings and took to the air. I reached out for him, but he vanished into the trees.
“I shall talk to the little one and calm him down,” Holly said. “But I’m not sure what else to tell him. Did Destry say anything about what shall become of us once you leave?”
“No,” I husked. “He didn’t. I’m sorry, but I think Perrin is right. About what happens to this place.”
“I think he is right too.” Holly’s voice dropped to a whisper. “There is one more thing I would like to know. Does leaving us…leaving me…hurt at all?”
I came close to sobbing.
“It hurts. It hurts worse than anything I’ve ever felt.”
She nodded, almost approvingly. “Then it was real, Dayna. It hurt because it was real. Because it mattered.”
For the first time, Hollyhock finally turned to look at me. Her gold-green eyes were wet and close to brimming over. I looked at her in something akin to wonder.
“You knew about all this, didn’t you?” I asked.
“I didn’t know. I merely sensed it. This whole island, the world around it, was all too good. It was better, so much better than someone like me ever deserved.”
“Don’t say that! You deserved more than any griffin ever–”
Now it was Holly’s turn to shake her head.
“Just as Perrin knows that he is real, so do I. Destry blocked some of my memories as well as yours. I know, deep down, that I’ve done horrible things. I’ve been a traitor to my aerie and a murderer of my kind.
“I don’t know how many I’ve killed, but it’s more than any griffin can do and come away with her honor intact. I only exist here, in this tiny spot of grace, because of you. It is a miracle that you and Destry created, and I’m grateful that you chose me for it.”
“Holly…” I gasped, as she put her lion’s paw upon my shoulder.
“It’s all right. If this was your miracle…then maybe I will find one for me and Perrin as well.” Hollyhock removed her paw and motioned for me to stand before her. “Now. Go fight like a griffin. Fight for me.”
“Yes,” I swore. “For you.”
She spread her snow-white wings. A flurry of beats, and she was gone.
I needed to hurry back to the doorway. But my feet felt as if they were made of lead. An unsettled breeze kicked up into a strong wind as I worked my way up the hill. The air held the salty taste of deep ocean brine. The promise of an oncoming storm.
Ominous gusts whistled through the palms, rattling the turret’s wooden shutters as I drew close. Finally, I broke out into a run as I crested the hill. I passed the threshold, and suddenly the dead air inside Destry’s place felt charged, electric.
I dashed up the curved flight of stairs, making sure to jump the small gap I’d left from the duel I’d won. The doorway at the top yawed open. The ruby pulses came faster now, like the heartbeat of a drowning man.
Finally, I steeled myself and walked through.
The tableau was as I’d left it. Almost. Again, the figures had changed poses or positions ever so slightly. Destry remained where he was, though he turned to regard me as I came up next to him.
“All right,” I said, between heavy breaths. “Dammit, I said all of my goodbyes! What am I supposed to do now?”
The big black horse let out a mournful nicker. “You shall finish what you promised me. And then you shall decide the ending to this story, once and for all.”
“Finish what I promised…” I began, just as my memory kicked in. The last time I’d seen Destry in equine form, I was sure that he’d betrayed me. I’d glared at him hatefully through a jammed laboratory door, and I’d spat a single sentence at him.
The next time we meet, I swear I’ll kill you.
“I see that you recall your words,” he said. “Do not fret. I have passed on to you all my knowledge. All the energy I absorbed from the Scarlet Crypt. All of the magic and essence that make up a pooka, I freely gave to you.”
“Destry, you can’t…I can’t take that from you.”
“It has been done,” the pooka said, as he slowly settled to his knees. His bristly mane lay limply across his back as he finally lay down. “This moment in time is drawing to a close. What comes next is in your hands now.”
“I don’t know how to defeat Sirrahon!” I protested. “I need your help!”
His voice was fainter now.
“Be adaptif. Draw from what you have been taught. But go outside what you have learned. Focus on what you can change inside yourself. Then find what
is inside your foe to defeat him.”
“Destry, please!” I begged. “Stay with me, I need you–”
A final shake of his night-black head.
“I have lived beyond the warmth and light of my people long enough. It is time for me to return to the ether from which I was made. And I shall rest easy, ma chére. After all, I was created as a weapon…a weapon from which to strike the Darkness.”
Silence for a moment.
And then the world came crashing back with a blaze of light and a hurricane of noise.
Chapter Fifty-Nine
It took a moment to get my bearings.
My world filled with jangles of pain with each breath I took. The horrible vise-like grip around my chest became part of my world again. I craned my neck and tried look around.
The dragon loomed over me. Liam remained where he’d fallen. Destry was the only one who’d changed position. Instead of standing, he now sprawled out across the marble floor. His head lolled and fell limply to one side.
Sirrahon’s voice shook the inside my head.
“What are you doing, Destarius?” the dragon bellowed. “What are you doing?”
Destry’s achingly bright citrine eyes winked out. The pooka faded from midnight black to grayish-white. His body crumbled into tiny particles that drifted away like so much ash from a long-dead wood fire.
But one part of Destry remained within me. The massive amount of energy he’d absorbed from the Scarlet Crypt flowed through my veins, making my skin tingle. And it was time to put it to use.
I couldn’t help poor Liam. Sorcery’s first limitation prevented me from doing that. But I could fix myself. I raised my head to look down at my body.
The flickering, colorful network of lines was marred by two jagged rents up by my chest and one further down at my ankle. I envisioned the breaks sealing up even as Sirrahon watched his pooka ally turn to dust. The agony of broken bones vanished. In fact, I felt better than I had in years.
Dragon with a Deadly Weapon Page 29
