Dragon's Heart (30 page)

     
As Draakar’s
powers built he formed an energy seal to close the portal to Earth.
 
But…something…something very old and
very powerful on the other side of this portal fought the combined powers of
the brethren, voraciously fighting the seal forced on the portal connected to
Earth. A guardian perhaps stood on the other side and wrestled with them for
control.

     
The Dark Lord
called brethren he sensed in the area, and to Mother Earth, and on the power of
the Stones for help in sealing this side of the gate because their powers could
go no farther into the other realm. And still the power on the other side
resisted the seal.

     
The center of
the hole grew brighter and brighter until no one could look directly at it. But
Mother Earth would not be denied; she ruled here. The sound of a sonic boom
rent the air. The bright light went dark and so did the brethren, leaving only
the falling rain bathing their faces as they lay on the ground.

     
Draakar, the first
to regain consciousness, lay on his side. He raised his head to check on Maya,
who rested beside him, her breathing even and steady. She stirred and her
lashes opened as he watched. He placed his hand on her arm to help them both
stand.
Are you all right?

     
Yes, yes I think so. What…about the
others? What happened?

     
They turned to look around
them. They found Darryl against one side of the rock arch and Cass on the
other. Both were coming around and didn’t appear any worse for wear.
 
They could hear Ian before they saw
him, staggering toward them a few feet away from the arch.

     
What happened?
Maya asked again.

     
Whatever controls this portal has strong
magicks, maybe as strong as the magicks of the Stones. Thank the Claw it does
not work on this side of the realm. We were able to close the portal on this
side of the gate, using Earth magicks. The magicks of the realms maybe equal in
power, but no one on the other side will be able to open the portal.

    
Can it be opened on this side?
Maya
asked.

     
Only with Earth magicks and only by someone
strong enough to wield a lot of power. We’ll have to keep an eye on this area.
I will open a branch of Akgon near here. I have already called upon brethren in
the area to watch over this place. But I’ll have to find one strong in the
blood to run the operation here.

     
I’ll stay, Lord.

     
Draakar turned to Darryl and
grasped his shoulder. “You don’t have to. I would like you to come to Akgon
with me.”

    
“It’s fine. I’ll get
to Akgon eventually, but for now, I’m the most logical choice.
 
Besides, one of my great, great, great
grandpas somewhere down the line claimed Navajo origins, or at least that’s the
story I was told. I could do some digging about that.” He grinned showing
straight white teeth. “Get to know the people around here. It would make it
easier for us to keep an eye on this portal. Maybe even find out what happened
to the people who were supposed to guard this place.”

     
“Are you sure?
I can get someone else to do this. I sense another not far from here who has
potential.”

     
“I’m sure. You
need one of us with power.”

     
“And you do
have power. What worries me is although the stench of the silver dragon is
around this portal, he did not return to Earth. I think this is where he left
and he may have had help from this side. That would explain the blood, a
sacrifice in an attempt to open the portal.”

“Is the betrayer the one that won’t let us close the portal?”
Darryl asked.

“No. That wasn’t his magicks at work. It’s the magicks in the
other realm. But it doesn’t matter; he will not be able to break the seal. Not
from the other side.”

“But it can be broken from this side.”

“Yes,” Draakar replied. “Using Earth magicks, but it would
have to be very powerful magicks.”

“Then it’s even more important one of your Firsts stays to
keep an eye on things, at least for awhile.”

“All right,” Draakar reluctantly agreed. “We’ll drop you off
at the hotel. By the time we get there I will have everything in place. Tonight
there will be two others who will join you who are strong in the blood. Train
them. If you need help, call on Talon. He’ll remain in Ireland for some time
and run the brethren worldwide business, but I’ll have you head the Akgon
Enterprises here in the U.S. and you can report to Talon and have full access
to all the necessary resources. Also there maybe other brethren on Akgon who
would like to cross over and you can help them here. Whenever you’re ready to
come to Akgon, get to the Stones and either Talon or I will bring you across.”

     
They said their
goodbyes in front of the hotel and returned to the car, waiting to take them to
the airport and back to Ireland.

     
“Do you think
he’ll be all right?” Maya asked after they’d boarded the plane.

     
“As long as the
seal holds, and it will, he’ll be fine. Even if the betrayer finds someway to
breach it, Darryl is very powerful and will be able to hold it in place with
the help of the brethren I’ve awakened until additional help can get here.” He
paused and took her hand. “Come, my love, let’s go home.”

     
“Back to Akgon
castle?” Maya asked.

     
“No.” Draakar
waited to see if she would put voice to what he already knew worried her. When
she remained silent, he kissed her fingers and continued. “It’s time to go
home. I must and I need you with me. I want to show you Akgon.”

     
She squeezed
his hand. “I know. And I want to go with you. It’s just…”

     
“I know,
beloved, and understand. But you have nothing to fear.”

     
Maya released
some of her anxiety, knowing he understood. “It’s just hard to leave my world.”

    
“We’ll come back from
time to time. And I know your parents will come with us when we leave, and
they’re more than welcome.”

     
“Yes, at least
for awhile. I can’t see my dad leaving his volunteer charities or my mother
leaving her friends for any significant amount of time. But don’t worry, we’ll
take it one step at a time. Just know when you leave I will be by your side.
That’s where I want to be. I just hope the brethren accept me.”

     
Draakar pulled
her closer to his side. At last she’d admitted the real issue. Maya still
didn’t understand. Not only would they accept her, but she would be their
queen. Her very existence on Akgon would save their world. They would love her
for that alone, but they would love her even more for herself—her warmth
and her caring, generous nature. She helped his son with no thought to herself,
and she had been willing to help him when she hadn’t been sure of him. He
opened himself fully to her, and let her hear his thoughts and examine his
feelings so there would be no doubt in her head or heart of her place in his
life.

     
“Thank you,”
she said. “Have I told you how much I love you?”

     
“Not since last
night.”

     
“Well, I love
you. Let’s go home.”

“A
re you sure you won’t come with us?” Maya asked Talon
for the third time.

     
“Maya,” Talon
replied smiling, “yes, I’m sure. I have to be here for her if she needs me.” He
spoke of his truemate. Maya smiled, glad for him.

     
Draakar had
decided to tell him they had seen her at the airport, but he had not been able
to locate her since then. The same way Maya had initially blocked her presence
from Draakar, Talon’s mate also seemed able to block him as well as Draakar.
They thought she could do this partly because she was a child and not
completely awakened to her powers yet, and it also acted as a defense
mechanism. Her block protected her from any other magicks searching for her,
including the silver dragon. But Draakar had established a connection with her,
so if she called to him, he would be able to find her. When she got older, so
would Talon.

     
“I know you
have to stay, it’s just that…” Maya’s voice trailed off.

     
Talon hugged
her. “You’ll be fine. You’ll make a great queen. Tell Valour I said so.”

     
Maya smiled. “I
guess I can’t put this off any longer.”

     
“No,” Draakar
said, coming to stand behind her, “you can’t.” He wrapped his arms around her
and she leaned back into his embrace.

     
“Well then,
what are we waiting for?” she said. “I’ve kept the others waiting long enough.
Let’s go.”

      
Draakar
transferred himself, Maya, and Talon to the circle. Maya’s parents were already
there; each held a suitcase. Cass stood next to Ian. Robert and James stood
apart from the others but approached as their Lord and Lady appeared.

     
Maya stepped
out of Draakar’s embrace to hug James goodbye.

“Take care,
lassie,” James said, kissing Maya’s cheek. “And don’t worry about a thing.
Everything will be fine.”

     
“That’s right,”
Robert agreed, also kissing Maya’s cheek and shaking Draakar’s hand. “We’ll
take care of everything at this end.”

     
“I know you
will,” Draakar stated. “There will be other brethren crossing over. As my
Firsts they will answer to you and Talon. Help them to adjust and whenever you
all wish to cross over, I will know.”

     
Draakar looked
over at Maya. “It is time.”
 

     
“Wait,” Cass
said. “Where are your bags? Aren’t you taking anything with you?”
 
Cass held two bags in her hand and one
of the suitcases Ian held also belonged to her.

     
Maya smiled. “I
already have everything I’ll need.” Maya had decided she would live as the
brethren lived. She dressed from an image Draakar had provided for her of the
types of garments the women on Akgon wore—a very sheer, sleeveless, ankle
length gown, woven with golden thread, with one slit at the side, but you could
not see through it. It reminded Maya of a Roman toga, but this dress wrapped
around her curves and moved as she walked. Maya felt beautiful in it and by the
look in Draakar’s eyes when she first showed it to him, he agreed.

Around her throat she wore a torque Draakar had given her the
night before. He also now wore a matching one around his neck. Hers was made of
onyx in the shape of a dragon with emerald eyes, whose tail wrapped around her
neck. Draakar’s was bronze, with a gold-tipped tail, and his dragon had golden
eyes.

Maya briefly wondered if their daughter’s eyes would be the
color of her father’s or her mother’s. She had to stifle a sharp intake of
breath, and her hand flew to cover her stomach.
She was pregnant
. How did she know? She just did…and…it was a girl
child. She smiled.

Their first time together in the realm of the mist, she had
conceived. She glanced quickly at her mate. He didn’t know, but he was a little
busy just then. Maya would tell him once they were on Akgon. Their child would
be born there.

Once again Draakar shone when he called his powers and the
magicks of the Stones, to open the gate.
 

     
When the gray
mass appeared, Maya gasped. “You…you did that alone!”

     
“Yes. My powers
have actually been growing. I can open the gate alone now, and I think so can
you. Now help me get everyone safely across.” He raised his hand and she placed
her palm in his.
 

She
had forgotten about the bond. The moment he touched her, he knew too.
We’re having a child, a daughter.
His
voice sounded hoarse in her mind. She nodded at him in confirmation. His smile
matched the golden light surrounding them as they watched her parents, then Ian
and Cass, walk into the gray cloud.

     
Together, beloved. Shall we?

     
Let’s.

    
Maya
wasn’t
sure what to expect when she stepped into the cloud with
Draakar, however it was not the sensation of her body moving forward. Her legs
remained standing still but her feet no longer stood on solid ground. Draakar
remained beside her, his hand clasped tightly in hers but she couldn’t see him.
Maya could see nothing but bright light. Then suddenly the brightness
dissipated and she could see color, the colors of the rainbow, and her feet
rested on solid ground once again.

     
She blinked to
adjust her sight and saw they stood out in the open surrounded by what appeared
to be a circle of stones, like on Earth, but looming just beyond the circle a
fortress rose made of stone of gigantic proportions. She looked up. The sky
would take a little getting used to. A light purple, and not the blue her mind
kept insisting it should be. She turned around to examine the width of the
fortress but her eyes slid past it and she kept turning into a half circle. Her
lips parted.

     
The circle of
stones and fortress stood on top of a plateau. But it no longer claimed her
attention. She walked beyond the perimeter of the stones and looked down.
Before her on bended knees, were thousands of brightly dressed brethren in
human form.

     
“What…what’s
going on?” a stunned Maya asked. “What are they doing?”

     
“They are
paying homage to their queen, to you.” Draakar replied in a husky voice.

     
“Did you…did
you tell them to do this?” she gasped. “Do they know I’m pregnant?”

     
“No, how could
they? We only both just realized it. They do this on their own, for you.”

     
Draakar kissed
her hand before raising it above their heads.
My brethren
,
I give you your
queen, Maya.

  
  
Several thousand heads
raised and their voices chanted “Maya” to the purple heavens of Akgon.

     
Maya looked
down through the tears in her eyes at the happy excited faces and felt as
though she had come home. She saw her parents in the front of the crowd along
with their Firsts beside them.

     
I’ve come home.

     
The noise the brethren made
at her declaration rose even stronger.

     
Yes, you have, Maya. Yes you have.

Nine months later…

     
The cry of the child could be heard
throughout the realm. A new brethren had been born to the Dark Lord and his
queen. The dragons raised their heads and roared in celebration. But within the
walls of the castle, Draakar’s advisor beheld the female child for the first
time and clutching at his heart, stumbled backward before fainting.
      

     
An exhausted fearful Maya cradled
her child closer to her breast as Draakar and Valour’s seer sisters bent to
take care of Valour.

“What’s wrong with him?” Draakar
demanded. “What did he see?”
 

     
“I do not know, Lord,” the oldest of
the three sisters replied. “But he saw something.”
 

     
Sherri came running into the room;
she had stepped out for a few minutes after delivering the child. Draakar had
summoned her before Valour even hit the floor.
 

She rushed to his side and Paul stood
framed in the doorway. They were never far apart. “What happened?” Sherri
asked.
 

     
Draakar
answered, “We’re not sure, but I think he had a vision.”

     
Maya spoke in a
soft voice from the bed. “Sherri, he was looking at the baby when he just kinda
staggered away, and his eyes rolled back into his head before he passed out.”

     
“Ooooh…”

     
All heads turned toward the sound of
the groan. Valour moved, raised his hand toward his head and opened his eyes.
“Oh my, what…what happened?” he asked.

     
Sherri kneeled closest to his head
and answered him. “You gave us quite a scare. You fainted.”

     
Valour tried to sit up, and Draakar
immediately moved to help him. “Easy, old friend. Just stay still for a
second.”

     
His advisor looked at him before
glancing over at the bed. He quickly returned his attention to his Lord. “I…I
will be fine.”

     
“Did you have a vision?” his eldest
sister asked.

     
His mouth opened and closed twice
before he spoke. “Yes. Like none before.” His eyes swung back around to Maya
and the child who lay on the bed wrapped protectively in her mother’s arms.

     
“What…what is it, Valour? You saw
something about the baby, didn’t you?”
 
Maya’s voice wobbled. In the nine months since she had been on Akgon,
she and Valour had become more than close friends. He became her teacher, her
mentor, and she trusted him like a brother. She couldn’t think of him as
elderly. With his long brownish hair, smooth skin, and lean physique he seemed
only a few years older than she. He was in fact even older than Draakar, but
she preferred not to think about the age thing. It blew her mind.
 
If what he saw caused such a reaction
in him, Maya didn’t want to know about it. Her body trembled.

     
Valour crossed to stand beside the
bed. Draakar followed and sat on the other side, engulfing his mate and child
in his arms.

     
“What is it, my friend?” Draakar
said, “Tell us.”

     
The advisor looked down at the
child. Maya noticed her daughter turned her head so she could gaze trustingly
up at him with vibrant green eyes, surprisingly clear and alert for a
newborn.
 

     
“Wow! Look at that!” Sherri
exclaimed. “It takes most newborns a few days before they can turn their heads;
she has very strong neck muscles.”

     
“That’s not the only thing she’s
strong in,” Valour said. “I am sorry, Your Majesties. I…I did not mean to scare
you. It was such a shock. I didn’t know such a thing could ever happen. But we
should have known, so much has changed on Earth and the forgotten brethren have
been surprising us everyday.” Valour shook his head in seeming exasperation. “I
did indeed have a vision.” Then he smiled and his smile told Maya everything.
She had nothing to fear.

     
“Your child, this child,” he
continued, “will be the next Dragon Lord, ah Lady, ah Queen.” He took a deep
excited breath. “I’m sorry. There is no precedent for this.”

     
“What are you talking about?”
Draakar said as each of Valour’s sisters gasped at Valour’s words. Maya glanced
at them. They wore shell-shocked expressions.

     
“But…but I thought only brethren
males could be Dragon Lords,” Maya said, clearly confused, “because only the
males are strong enough to wield that much magicks?”