Dragons Shining (31 page)

Briana turned to face her, and the swarm of fairies, unicorns, dragons, scores of animals, and Baird still carrying the severed arm. She realized that all of these could hear her thoughts, so there was little point in speaking aloud.

"So what do we do with that",
asked Briana. She indicated Baird's gruesome possession.

"As long as the fiend is trapped in this ring, he is no threat to us",
said Baird
.
He spoke phrases of high magic and passed his free hand around the ring in swirls. It fell off of the dead hand at his feet. Casting the arm away, he used both hands to weave his magic without once touching the dangerous ring. Slowly, a weave of green filaments formed a cocoon around the ring and hardened into a diamond hard casing.

"
That looks solid Baird, yet his mother will come for him, bringing even more souls from Hell. Were Owen healthy I would suggest you join with him Briana, and take this ring into the void to our Mother. She will have no pity on this monster
"
, said Zana.

"They are not ready for that, great dam",
said Delishaterina. "
If we deliver the ring to Lucifer, he can safeguard it in Hell. That way the bitch will not be rushing to kill our people to be hosts to the damned souls that would take the ring from us. We will buy enough time for the Dragon Lords to mature, and gain their main strength."

"Only Owen and Briana together can hope to cross the Pitt and drop the ring now. They have both been tainted by the Demon this day. It will take all of their strength to cross",
said Baird
.

“
Before they go, Owen must be brought before Znost”.
Falos had joined the discussion. He was bleeding from wounds to his wings, chest and leg.

“Nay, great one”,
said Baird
.
“
They must be cleansed first. If they fail in this there will be no audience with Znost, and if they pass over it will be an indicator the old great one will appreciate.”

“
As you say, wizard. But it is I who must answer for not doing what he asked of me, and if healthy he would be here now. To defy his wishes grinds against my nature as a dragon!”

“Hmph. Fret not, Falos. Znost is not so insecure that he would begrudge Baird’s judgment
"
, said Zana.

“Here, let me look at you Falos; you are sorely injured”.
Briana approached him and raised her hands. She felt strong again, thanks to Owen’s swords.

Falos lowered himself so that she should go over him, stretching his wings and his leg when she asked. Her touch was gentle but firm, and healing warmth spread from wherever she touched him.
“That feels so good, Briana. You are not so abrupt and wasteful as your mate.”

Briana blushed.
“I guess it’s true”,
she thought
. “My mate. What a dragonish point of view. Well, I AM a dragon after all.”

The animals wandered off, and most of the fairies. The dragons, Baird and the fairy Queen and her guardians remained, to camp near the mother tree.

Later, as Briana made ready to sleep under Zana’s wing, Delishaterina approached.
“Sleep upon the mound this night, Dragon Queen. Owen and the mother need you, and you will be drawn in next to him.”

The idea actually appealed to her, so she lay in the softness of the living mound and being very tired, drifted into fitful dreams.

Briana dreamed. She dreamed of the forest, the trees, the grass, the flowers and the many creatures within. She dreamed of the fairies and the unicorns and felt their magic entering and making fiery tracks through her muscles and bones. She dreamed of the great trees and the roots deep underground and deeper still the halls in bedrock where the rock gnomes live. She dreamed she was a great tree, and could feel the nutrients flowing from the soil below, the sunlight playing upon the leaves above and the flowing sap between. She became aware of Owen, lying by her side within the living mound.

Chapter Twelve – Father?

He drifted in a sea of darkness, deep within its frigid depths. Things slipped past unseen, and as they brushed against him he felt their stark terror, dismal despair, fury or bitter hatred. There was no love in this dark realm, no hope, no will. More and more lost souls congregated near the faintest glimmer of his undead thoughts.

“
Here prowl the uncollected souls. Many were trapped by the Demon, cast out of their living bodies to provide bodies for his army of the damned.”

He knew not the origin of such thought. It was, so he listened.

“
You can free them all from purgatory, my son. Will it while they gather around you, and so it will be.”

So he tried, yet to will required life and he had none.

While pondering this in the molasses of his scattered and fractured mind, he felt the hateful black implement of his torture removed. He sensed a spark of light, the first drops of a coming flood.

Collecting his scattered thoughts, he
managed:
“Father?”

Trying his will once more, he held the light at bay for a moment. His will, yes, he could do it! He willed the light to come, not only to him but to the host of souls that clung to him. The light did come, from a vast source of power, washing purgatory clean, then came power and terrible, terrible pain. In his pain racked mind, he saw the host of collectors in their true form, winged Angels of both darkness and light.

“Only
the truly dead are without pain, which is the harbinger of life
”, said his Father.

Chapter Thirteen – Forest Mother

Owen drifted in a world of green security and warm comfort.

He had been semi-conscious and drowning in pain as the dragon had grabbed him up and laid him under the Forest Mother’s canopy. He was aware of Briana and his swords, yet he could not speak, and his eyes seemed glued shut. He had felt the vines that wound themselves securely around him and could smell the flowers. He jerked as a new power flowed through him, wild and old as magic itself. He felt himself healing and being cleansed of the black sword’s poison.

"
Owen, can you hear me?
"
It was Briana. The timber of her mental voice was too high, and she thought so quickly and so faintly that it took time for him to understand.

He answered her.
“Yes, Briana, my heart, I hear you. You have saved me.”

He felt himself drifting off.
“I must sleep now.”

Owen dreamed. He dreamed of the forest, the trees, the grass, the flowers and the many creatures within. He dreamed of the fairies and the unicorns and felt their magic entering and making fiery tracks through his muscles and bones. He dreamed of the great trees and the roots deep underground and deeper still the halls in bedrock where the rock gnomes live. He dreamed he was a great tree, and could feel the nutrients flowing from the soil below, the sunlight playing upon the leaves above and the flowing sap between. He sensed Briana, now lying beside him.

“
I am the Forest Mother, fully awake now for the first time since Kragon. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, Forest Mother, and I feel your life blood flowing all around me, everywhere to the ends of your realm. I thank you for sharing this with me.”

“Yes, I hear you as well”, said Briana. “I know what you have done.”

“All such boons bear a price of some kind or another. First know that time passed for me is not the same as that known by mortals. Also know that I have given you other boons than simply healing your body, Owen. These changes are irreversible, and in time you may regret the price.”

“Tell me, Mother. I sense no evil here, so what harm can come of knowing what you have shown me in my dreams?”
asked Owen
.

“Dreams? Not so Dragon King. The fairy magic and the magic of the unicorn are but further immersion into our arcane planes. For one such as you this means being less and less like a mortal. To take on my power as your own is different entirely. What I give you has never been gifted. However I now realize that I need partners, a blood brother and sister that live in mortal time, who can be arbiters of my power in the protection of this forest and all who reside here. We have made a bargain, although I did not ask your permission. Your father wanted this. You will become an arbiter of his power also, in time.”

Mention of Owen’s father startled him more than the bargain she had implied.
“Our father spoke to me in purgatory, and gave me the power to free the trapped souls in that awful place.  If you know who he is, please tell us. We want to know!”

“That is for him to tell you, not me. He is my master, and that’s all I will say.”

Briana said
“We would have protected the forest and you, its soul of magic without these boons, yet will honor this bargain made for us. If my suspicions are correct, neither of us has a choice anyway.”

“You and Owen must leave the comprehension limits of mortals behind, and remember – you are NOT siblings. Rise then. Your healing is done. You can call upon any magic of fairy, unicorn or of the forest itself. Use this power with restraint and with more wisdom than you have demonstrated so far!”

Chapter Twelve – The Pit

It was just dawn on the third day since Owen had been laid under the mother tree, while it only seemed a single night to Owen and Briana. When they woke, the four Unicorns had scattered the now dead flowers and vines so that the two dragon elves were free to stand and look about. They headed over to the glowing coals, remains of the nights camp fire, where Baird was sleeping in his bed roll, and where
Delishaterina sat watching from a branch of the Mother's Tree.

"
Good morning Owen, and Briana
",
said Delishaterina, gliding down from the tree with her fairy eyes twinkling.
"
Or should I say good morning, my brother and my sister? It seems we are all Mother's children now
."

"
That's true, I think
",
said Briana
.
"Its allot to absorb in a single night."

"Twas three days you lay there, Briana, not a single night! "

"We were sleeping three days?"
asked Owen.

"Three of our days. One night of the Mother's time. I can sense the fairy in you, ha! The Unicorn too. The Mother has really done it this time. You must come to the fairy dance. All fairies must dance. The dance of Mother's awakening, once the word has spread, will be in the forest around the Dawn Glade. When we call, you must come."

"How long will it take to arrange this?"
asked Briana.

"A week maybe. We will call. For now, you must take that damned ring and drop it in the pit!"

"What ring?",
asked Owen
.

"You killed the Demon's body, or don't you remember? His spirit entered a great black jewel that Baird has encased in magic. It must be delivered to Satan in the great pit. Only you can do that, if you are not pulled into it yourself after that fool stunt you pulled with black magic!"

"Oh yes. I vaguely remember the ring, but I was certain that I was dying at the time. As for the black magic, how else could I have penetrated his wards? None but the Forest Mother could do that without black magic. I expect that's one of the reasons she gave us her power. I believe the reason for doing what I did was sound and will pay whatever price I must. But I also have reason to believe this is forgiven, at least this time."

"What assurance do you have, Owen?",
asked Briana, looking at him intently
.

"Our father spoke to me in purgatory, Briana. He must be a very powerful Angel to give me the means to free all the lost souls from there. I get the feeling that made up for my bad behavior, although that was the only good in an experience I would NOT wish to repeat!"