Faith Of The Dragon Tamer (Book 2) (45 page)

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Authors: Cole Pain

BOOK: Faith Of The Dragon Tamer (Book 2)

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Chapter 31

Morrus’ laughter boomed over the courtyard as Neki and Galvin plunged the Druid into the garden’s pond for the second time. Morrus, naked as a newborn babe, emerged grinning like a dragon.

Neki nodded his approval. “Morrus, you’re now officially de-coronated.”

Ren smiled and turned away, noticing even Nigel had a grin on his face. But Ren’s thoughts were elsewhere. His focus shifted to the silver dragon. The dragon hadn’t stopped watching him since the Eyes’ power had been stilled. It was waiting for something, but Ren was unsure what.

The dragon’s focus shifted. It’s eyes appeared clouded, as if the dragon itself were a twin, listening to its other half. Ren’s brow furrowed. The dragon had the same clouded look just before Aidan had merged with it. It was as if the dragon had a human understanding.

Then something strange happened. The dragon’s eyes faded to their true silver sheen. It refocused it gaze. Ren could almost hear the dragon’s unspoken plea.

Ren rose to his feet as a desperate hope rose within him. Was Aidan whole? Did Aidan have to merge to teach the dragon how to love? The dragon watched him with neither blue nor violet eyes, but silver.

An understanding began to take shape. Aidan was whole. She was waiting for him to help her re-form, but the dragon had an even greater purpose than Ren had first thought. Not only was the dragon a sign of magic’s return, it was carrying another. Like Aidan, someone else lived inside the dragon, someone who had brought it into the future, someone with blue eyes.

Ren looked down at the Silver Eye. Krov said it could create life. If it could create life, it could also rejoin life.

Ren brought to mind the day he merged Aidan’s body with her spirit. He relived each heartbeat, remembering her essence and her shape. When he was sure he had recalled every nuance, he glanced at Zorc. He couldn’t tell the wizard what he planned. Zorc may try to stop him.

Zorc and the others weren’t paying him any heed. They were chuckling at Morrus who was walking out of the water, almond skin glistening in the sun’s rays.

Ren put his hands on the Silver Eye. The dragon lowered its head as if to say it was ready. Ren rose above the internal elements until he reached the calm. He called upon the Silver Eye’s power. White light exploded from the crystal. Ren heard Zorc’s intake of breath but didn’t turn.

He felt the man first. His mien was powerful, so powerful Ren knew he was a wizard. Ren didn’t have to do more than call. The wizard’s essence seeped though the dragon’s skin like a mist and funneled through the Silver Eye. The mist careened out of the Eye and began to take shape.

The man’s curly brown hair stirred in the slight breeze. His eyes were as blue as the sky. He wore a long blue robe, belted at the waist with a silver cord. He nodded to Ren, but almost immediately his appearance began to change. His hair began to gray and his skin began to wrinkle. His eyes sent Ren a silent plea.

Hurry.

Ren turned back to the dragon and called Aidan. The dragon slouched forward as Aidan’s essence seeped from its skin. Because she possessed no magic both her spirit and body tried to dissipate with the wind, but Ren caught her before she was whisked away. Then slowly, carefully, he siphoned her essence through the Eye. When the mist reemerged on the other side, she began to take shape.

Within heartbeats Aidan stood before him, a faint silver gleam to her skin and hair.

Ren released his hold on the Eye and let go of the calm. As his emotions washed through him, instead of overwhelming him they were a mere trickle as Aidan stepped forward and took his hand.

“I didn’t know if you would remember my promise,” he said.

Aidan smiled. The slight silver tint to her skin made her appear as if she were riding the moonlight. “Faith is a powerful thing,” she said. “Your words were such a shock I immediately began to give myself away, but then I realized a profound truth.”

“If a doubt mars your soul,” Ren said, “you’ll give it fire.”

Aidan gave Ren a smile that took his breath away. “Faith is a powerful thing. It can damn you or it can raise you.”

“Ren.”

At the sound of his name, he felt his friends form a tight circle around him. Ren turned to the newcomer.

Although the man gazed at him with conviction, his skin pulsed with constant aging.

“I don’t have much time. You must hear what I have to say before I cannot say it.”

Aidan tightened her grip on Ren’s hand. The defenders closed the gap between them. Even Zorc stepped forward, as if protecting him from the newcomer’s words.

“The Eye of the Dragon is a gateway of sorts. I came through the Eye inside Similian to bring you a message. Now I need to tell you much more than I thought.”

Aidan stiffened at his side. “It’s over, Magnus, isn’t it?”

Magnus, the name sounded familiar. When Zorc drew in a sharp breath, Ren remembered where he had heard the name before. Magnus had been the first mage, the same mage who had sought the Red Eye when it had been stolen from the Oracle. He had lived before the Dark Ages.

Magnus’s uncanny blue eyes flickered to Aidan. “Oh no, my child. It has only just begun.”

THE END

Ren’s adventure continues in Book Three of the Oracle Series
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