Dragon Bonds (Return of the Darkening Series Book 3) (11 page)

I let out a sigh. I missed Kalax—I missed Seb. They were my real family.

Now I saw I’d been afraid—afraid to find the one Dragon Stone that controlled them all. I was still afraid.

A memory of cold steel stealing my breath as Lord Vincent’s sword pierced my back rose in my mind. I tried to shut it off, but it came back again and again. But I was a Dragon Rider—I had to have as much courage as that first rider had. It was time I faced my fears.

I glanced from Arkady and Sansha, then to silent Turri, and pretty Afiyah and young Roluz. These were the faces of so many who were fleeing the war. But what hope did they have? What hope did any of us have? Would there be more battles, more fighting, until Lord Vincent held all the lands? If he held the Southern Realm, the North and the Middle Kingdom, then we needed far more than a few more dragons.

Seb had been right—and I’d been too stubborn to listen. Too afraid.

I shivered, thinking again of Lord Vincent’s blade piercing me. But I stood, the firelight warm on my face. “Sansha, Arkady, Turri, I am sorry, but I must go. Your hospitality has been, as always, better than any king’s.” I nodded to each, smiling at Afiya and Roulez.

Sansha came over and gave me a hug. “You stay safe out there.”

“And come find us someday. Come find us as west as west, and as south as south can go,” Arkady said. “But bring Seb and your dragon next time.”

With a nod, I turned and headed to my own small tent. I’d pitched it beside one of the wagons. It took no time to bundle my few belongings into a small pack. I wanted to travel light, with only the bare minimum of equipment and weapons.

When I stepped out, Beris poked his head out from under the wagon where he had spread his blankets.

Crouching down beside his pale, moon-like face, I said, “Take this to Commander Ryan at first light. Tell him you found it by your bed roll which, in a way, is true.”

“Agathea? Wait?” Beris wiped his face and struggled to sit up. I pressed the folded note into his chest. I hadn’t even bothered to seal the hastily scribbled scrawl. I didn’t care if he read it or not. In fact, I was rather hoping he would.

It was short and simply told Ryan that I was sorry—but a Flamma was never far from their dragon. I left the camp, heading over the hills, back the way we had come until I found a narrow path that cut through the highlands. I followed an old sheep trail, my heart beating faster with exhilaration and effort. Behind me, there was no sound of hue and cry, no one following me.

For the first time in what seemed days, I felt as if I was doing the right thing. I wasn’t afraid.

By noon that day, a shadow fell over me. I looked up, braced to see a black dragon. I had my bow and six arrows with me. But it was Gaxtal who circled once. I knew that blue anywhere. Gaxtal landed in the clearing ahead of me, and I headed for Beris. “I thought I said—”

“We were sent to find you,” Beris said.

Syl grinned.

Hand falling to my sword hilt, I backed up a step. “I’m not going back. I’m going to help Seb, and Varla and Merik.”

Beris shook his head and glanced at Syl. “Well, we found her.”

Syl nodded. “Yes, we did.”

I glanced from one to the other. “You’re not taking me back.”

Beris shrugged. “We could say you overpowered us. But I think we’d rather not go back until we get you to where you need to go to.”

Looking at Gaxtal, I asked, “Can you find Kalax?”

Gaxtal snorted as if I’d asked a stupid question. I was starting to think the Dragon Affinity really did rub off on you.

Beris held out a hand to me. “It’s going to be tight, sharing a saddle.”

I laughed. “Just don’t crowd me.”

With a grin, Syl gave Gaxtal his head and the blue leapt into the sky. It was better than wonderful to be flying again. I closed my eyes and put my face into the wind. And in the back of my mind, I felt a pleased rumbling that sounded like Kalax.

Together, we are strong.

T
he scent
of wild dragon was heavy in my nose when I woke. But Kalax would have warned me if black dragons were near. She’d known hours before Gaxtal had showed up.

Two days ago, it had seemed perfectly normal—and wonderful—to see Thea. But it was odd to have her arrive riding with Beris and Syl, on their sinuous blue dragon.

I still felt wary around them, but Thea’s delight at seeing Kalax—and Kalax’s pleased thoughts—made it hard for me to be as jealous as I’d once been of Beris. Varla and Merik seemed relieved, too, to have more help.

That first night, we’d sat in a circle, our dragons warming our backs, and had talked about the search we’d started. We’d pledged to find the one Dragon Stone or die trying. The King’s Dragon Stone, Thea had called it. The name stuck.

And Beris and Syl seemed to realize more than any of the rest of us how important the King’s Dragon Stone was. I was sure the power they had felt from the Memory Stone made them aware that we had to find strong magic to fight magic.

Scrubbing a hand over my face, I sat up. Sharp, winter air made me shiver. Just what was that scent like?

Something like water on rock? Or the smell after a storm?

I didn’t know. And then I remembered that last night I had shared my dreams with Kalax. I reached out for her now, for she was no longer keeping me and Thea warm.

A flash of red over blue lake came to me. She must have left before first light to hunt for lake fish—her favorite. I stiffened as I realized she had sensed the wild dragons. But why was she so quiet?

Kalax, are you hurt?

Seb. Keep your mind small.
She answered me with a thought like a whisper and so fast that it was there and gone. I knew she was worried that my much clumsier use of the Dragon Affinity would betray her position and mine to the wild dragons.

Throwing off my blanket, I rose. A rustle announced Thea was awake. “You felt it, too?” I asked.

She nodded. She was as connected to Kalax as I was, a bond stronger than any friendship. Thea looked a little paler than usual, but we were all sleeping in our jerkins with our armor close by. There was a new calmness to her, a return of her old confidence—I’d missed that.

“Are you ready?” Thea finished buckling on her breastplate and taking up her bow. I nodded, strapping on my boots.

Not far from us, Merik raised his head. “What?” he mumbled.

“Shh. Try not to wake the others yet,” Thea said to him. Her tone sharpened with command. It wasn’t like an order from King Justin—he snapped at people, Mordecai yelled, and even Commander Hegarty liked to bark orders. For Thea, leading people was as natural as shooting an arrow or swinging a sword. She had a knack for seeing what needed to be done.

Merik’s eyes widened. “Trouble?”

“Don’t know yet,” I said. “It’s Kalax.”

“And Lord Vincent?” Merik slipped on his optics and reached for his boots.

“Don’t think so,” I said. “Wild dragons maybe. We’re going to go see if there is anything we can do.”

“We’ll be ready for whatever you bring with you,” Merik said. He gave a nod, and I knew that he was telling the truth. I imagined him packing up the camp, waking others with an easy nudge and a finger over his lips, and urging everyone to have their weapons ready in case we came back with either a wounded dragon or being chased by one.

Of course, there is always the third alternative—we might win over a wild dragon.

That was the idea I had shared with Thea some nights ago. Hope quivered inside me—but I knew Thea had been astounded by the apparent stupidity of the idea.

But we might do it.

Commander Hegarty had even said the others were right in that we needed more troops. Even with the King’s Dragon Stone, we would still be facing a battle to get to him.

“You really think that this is going to work?” Thea asked.

We headed up one of the deer paths to the wooded hills behind us. On the other side of the rise, across a meadow surrounded by birch copses, a mountain lake sparkled in the morning sunlight. Kalax now hid in the trees, watching the wild dragons eat her fish.

I mentally thanked her for being so patient without actually reaching out to her. It wasn’t in a dragon’s nature to give up their territory or kills. Food in particular was the number one cause of dragon on dragon violence in the enclosure at the Academy. That thought had me remembering how I had last seen the Academy. I shut out the image of the tumbled-down tower.

Thank me in fish.

Kalax’s thought carried annoyance at what she was having to put up with for her human riders. She added another thought.
Two dragons. No humans.

Large, small? Fierce? Any problem?

Kalax snorted at my stupidity.
All dragons problems. Made to be so for humans.

I heard the warning chirrup of the wild dragons.

May have to kill them now,
Kalax said.

Kalax—no!
I urged her, knowing that I was probably radiating worry.

Easy, Seb. Dragons joke. They too busy with fish to hunt me. I stay close. You see their minds.

Kalax abruptly shut off contact, leaving me gasping with the sudden sensation of being alone in my own mind.

“Seb?” Thea glanced back. She was crossing the top of the hill.

I pointed ahead. “Two wild dragons. No humans.”

Thea frowned, as if she was sad not to have a good fight ahead.

She gave a nod, pointed me in one direction, so I would come in from the more north. She headed straight toward the wild dragons. She held up her hand, three fingers in the air, then lightly tapped her own chest.

I nodded, a sign for waiting three breaths, and then crept forward.

This early the air was still, with only the faintest breeze rustling the trees. It was impossible not to think that the dragons couldn’t hear me as my boots crunched against pine needles.

I can hear you.

Kalax needled her thought at me like an arrow, giving me the image of a path to follow so I could find the black dragons. Kalax crouched just ahead of me, managing to hide her bulk and her deep russet-red color behind a thicket of brambles. Her tail flicked lazily in the undergrowth, directing me toward the lake.

The mountain lake was vaguely diamond shaped, formed out of gorges and river hollows. We came on it at the wider, teardrop-shaped end where the two dragons were splashing in the shallows.

A sudden plume of water lifted from the lake surface and a large scaled head with a stubby jaw followed it. The dragon croaked to another black dragon on the shore. Both were wild dragons all right, with sleek scales.

The dragon that stood at the edge of the lake seemed larger than the one in the water and sported a mane of spikes around its ears and jaw. It snuffled the air, and I was sure it could smell me. I worried for Thea, wherever she was. But the dragon bent its long neck once and lapped at the lake water.

Here your dragons, what to? Fish? Or the glory of King Justin’s thanks?

I couldn’t help but hear the sarcasm in Kalax’s voice. She, like Thea, didn’t think much of my plans to win over some wild dragons.

Looking at the two dragons as they fished, I thought they were healthy and strong. Not the biggest by any stretch, but they didn’t seem worried about being chased away from here.

Now that Torvald had fallen, it seemed the wild dragons were spreading much further into the Middle Kingdom. I had to hope these two weren’t controlled by the Darkening. Reaching out with a ghostly thread of awareness, I could detect no dark shadow in their minds.

Maybe even the Darkening and Lord Vincent have limits, as do I
.

I remembered how Lord Vincent had barely been able to keep control over all those in King’s Village.

Careful.

Kalax’s warning came as the wild dragon on the lake’s edge lifted its head and flared its spines. It had felt my presence. I wasn’t sure what idea was worse—the thought we might have to fight these two dragons or that they might fly away.

I won’t control them, not as the Darkening does.

The wild dragons seemed almost perfect, not as perfect as Kalax, of course, but no other dragon could ever be her. The black dragons were beautiful hunters. To control such a wild thing seemed almost a sin. It meant controlling every instinct that made them what they were.

Water splashed, and the dragon by the lake hissed—not in my direction or the direction of its mate. The splash had come from a point where the trees overshadowed the south edge of the lake.

Thea.

I pulled in a breath and tried to concentrate.

Something small hit the water and skipped the surface three times before vanishing with a watery sound into the lake. The head of the half-submerged dragon followed the stone down while the dragon on the shore tipped its head to one side. They appeared like cats, fascinated by anything that moved.

That had to be Thea. Who else would be hiding out there, skipping stones.

Another stone skimmed the surface of the lake. Like before, the dragons followed the stone. The dragon on the shore tensed, muscles trembling. Thea was holding their attention so I could use my Dragon Affinity.

I wrapped my awareness around the black dragons. Thea threw another stone. I just wanted to
feel
their minds—and in my mind I saw they were both coiled tight. Springs, ready to pounce or flee.

Excitement. Interest. Hunger.

A part of me wondered how Kalax and the other dragons withstood such huge appetites and instincts. It was as if the biggest summer storm ever was trapped in their forms.

Seb, concentrate!
Kalax barked in my mind.

The next stone traveled further than Thea must have been expecting. The swimming dragon watched the stone skip over the lake surface, its head bobbing as it matched the movement. The stone stopped and sank, splashing the dragon’s stubby nose.

Attack! Defend! Claws!

The wave of anger from the dragon had me stumbling backward. The dragon plunged its nose into the spot where the stone had disappeared, seizing nothing but water in its jaws.

Sitting down on the ground, I wondered how we were going to succeed in taming them. The feelings
of a wild dragon seemed impossible to sooth.

Kalax purred against my mind.
Stick with your dragon. No need for these.
She was jealous. I could have laughed if I wasn’t still feeling the hot ebb of anger from the dragons beyond.
No,
I said.
The First Rider did this. I can. We can understand each other.

I threw my awareness out again at the dragons, this time feeling a curiosity replacing the anger. The dragon in the lake swam forward slowly, stealthy and slinky, heading to where the rocks had been coming from. Where Thea hid. The other dragon was starting to puff up the spikes around its neck.

Feelings from the dragons started to become words, but a pounding in my head left me gasping.

The dragon on the shore swiveled its head to look straight at me.

Seb!

Kalax pushed her nose through the undergrowth. I held my throbbing skull. It was too much—I couldn’t hold this. Too much of everything.

Enemy? Come for food?
My thoughts were still latched onto the swimming dragon, which had stopped and raised its head out of the water to also look in my direction.

Our direction.

Kalax wrapped her tail around me. The world spun. I almost couldn’t think because of the pounding in my head. The part of me that was always with Kalax could sense the part of me that was with the swimming dragon. Echoes of the black dragon’s hatred swirled around me.

Attack!
The swimming black dragon surged out of the lake. The dragon on the shore seemed more confused…as if it was aware of the Dragon Affinity.

I threw my thoughts at it.
Clutch friend.
We mean no harm!

The black dragon in the lake let out a long, ululating roar.

I groaned, and Kalax took matters into her own claws.

Stop. Human mine!
she roared and burst out of the foliage, flinging her wings wide. The mountains echoed her fury and the wild dragons quailed. She dwarfed them. The rare crimson reds like Kalax were the largest of dragons.

My meat. My fish. All mine!

Waves of hatred poured off both black dragons.

Minds like sheep,
Kalax thought at me, pawing the ground, ready for a fight.

Thea stepped out of her hiding place behind the trees. I sensed her as a dragon would—small, weak and possible prey.

And then she threw her last stone.

The wild dragons focused their rage against the strange moving target and roared at it.

It was a good throw, I had to give Thea credit for that. She had bought us a second.

I threw my affinity at both of the dragons—this time not using just my awareness, my senses, or my thoughts, but putting all my emotions into it.

Kalax was right, that was the language they understood. I threw my pride at being selected by Kalax as her rider, my confidence when I first put on the Dragon Rider uniform, and the thrill of flying with Kalax.

The dragons’ thoughts faltered.

Using old anger at my father for his drunken rages, and the pain of the loss of Jodreth and the loss of Torvald, I let loose my own fury.

The black dragons shrank back.

Big enemy?

My head throbbed, but I used the pain to add to everything else I was throwing at the black dragons.
Yes.
Much bigger. But we share meat, share hunt, share fish.

Meat share? Fish?

The black dragons hissed, heads low. They turned on each other to vent their anger in any direction they could. But Kalax roared again.

I climbed to my feet. I would make them think I was somehow bigger…more powerful. I would settle territory rights over them.

And I was bringing them food and offering to share everything in the lake. If they did accept that, they had to accept they belonged to me
.

Meat to share,
I repeated at them.
Fly with us. You mine.