Legend of the Touched (31 page)

God must have been watching out for him, because when
he arrived at the door, not only did he find another Oceina man,
but his brother and Katelyn. There was also the young man who had
seen him at the Council Island, the one who tried to warn Darien of
what the Inero Lord was doing. Jason, that was his name, he was
sure of it but he looked different. Darien stopped in his tracks, a
mix of stunned and curious.

"Where's Tai?" he asked, not seeing her face amongst
the group.

"Three minutes," the other Oceina man said. "She told
me to wait for three minutes and then get her."

"Tai did? What's going on?" Darien asked.

Lance moved to his side, keeping Katelyn close. He
then shook his head. "You shouldn't have come. Don't get me wrong,
I'm glad to see you, but it's crazy stupid that you did."

"And divine appointment that all of your rescue plans
seem to have lined up," Katelyn said.

"Must be."

Darien let out a breath in frustration. "What. Is.
Going. On?"

"One more minute, and then we're going for them," the
man said.

"Our plan to leave here once and for all," Jason said
quietly. "I'm going to agree with your council and say it was
probably a bad idea for you to come here. It will make getting away
easier though because he doesn't think he can fly. The guard will
be notified soon that something is amiss. I can feel it."

The Oceina man stepped forward to move past them all.
"It's time. I'm going to get them. If I'm not back in twenty
minutes, it'd be best to go on without me. Something must be
wrong."

They all faced the door as it opened. The three
dragon men present all summoned their magic, and the Oceina man's
hand went to his belt. Standing in the frame was a young Inero
woman and Tai. She pushed her way through the door and practically
flew into Darien's arms.

"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" Darien asked. Tai
shook her head against his chest.

"Not to break this up, but we should probably get
moving," Lance said. "Darien, if you could please transform again
so we can go home? That would be fantastic."

Jason shook his head and waved his hands in front of
him in one swift, sharp motion. "Not without my wife. She's in the
forest. We've been lingering out here for too long as it is. It'll
be better to do this in the woods."

"Is there room for it in the woods?"

"Stop asking questions and move." He stalked off to
the forest and Darien noticed it was manmade. Perhaps he would be
able to transform since his dragon shape wasn't too large. Waiting
in the woods was a young woman holding the reigns of three horses.
Her eyes widened at the sight of their group.

"I don't think I have enough," she said.

Jason went to her side and put an arm around her
waist, looking into her eyes. "We won't have need of them. Did you
have problems? Were you seen?" She shook her head. "Good. I'm
impressed by how smoothly this went. Now we can go before that
changes. I'm sure even God's favor runs out eventually?"

"I'm not sure about that, but I do agree we should
go," Darien said. He distanced himself from the group, making sure
he had enough room to change shape again. In less than a minute he
was once more the long snake-like dragon. There was just enough
room to carry the others. He had a lot of questions to ask, but
they could wait until they were back home again and safe.

"Hold on,"
he said in the dragon tongue.

"What?" the new young woman asked, and he heard Jason
whisper into her ear though Darien couldn't quite make out the
words. Multiple hands gripped the scales of his back so tight it
almost hurt. He moved forward, building speed as he flew along the
forest floor. While he could burst through the trees, he didn't
want to risk losing one of his passengers by hitting a tree branch.
As soon as he reached a clearing he angled upward sharply, just
barely missing a large stone wall.

It took a few minutes for him to get to a safe
altitude. Once there he slowed his pace slightly. As much as he
wanted to barrel home at top speed, he didn't think his magic would
be able to hold out if he did. Crossing over the border would only
take around ten minutes for him to do. The rest of the journey
would be easy.

What he didn't anticipate was the Royal Guard sending
blasts of magic his way. Fire magic mixed with that of the Earth
hit his belly, and it burned, a lot. Each hit rocked his body, and
he was more afraid of that than the pain. If the others fell...

"Are you kidding me?" Lance shouted. And then Darien
noticed a faint blue glow surrounding him. His brother was
providing him with a magic shield, but it was weak.

He heard Jason say "We're close," and a thick wall
that glowed red appeared in front of him. He almost halted until he
realized it was Jason's magic he was seeing. The young Inero dragon
was also providing a shield. He could feel the magic hitting his
barrier, but outside of a mild rumble it did nothing. One hundred
feet and they would be over the border.

They passed over, and Darien was grateful for that
because he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep going. The
Terran magic had sapped a lot more of his strength than he had
originally anticipated. Sanctuary was still further away than he
wanted to fly, but at least now he could fly at a more relaxed
pace. He wouldn't stop until they were home again.

Chapter Seventy-Four

The Inero

Matt didn't realize he was so tired until he lay down
next to Kat and fell asleep shortly after. It was dreamless and
solid, and at around twelve-twenty, interrupted by a loud knocking
on the door. His wife sighed, and he could sense the disappointment
in it. Groaning quietly, he got out of bed and answered the door,
not bothering to put on normal clothes instead of his sleep ones.
He wanted to make sure whoever was there knew they were
inconveniencing him a lot.

"Yes?" he asked, curious as to why the active captain
on duty of the Royal Guard, Theo, was at his door.

"They're escaping. The Oceina prisoners are
escaping."

With a grumble Matt found a pair of jeans to throw on
over his sleep shorts and the nearest shirt.
I have to do
everything here?
He gave Kat an apologetic smile, she waved
back lazily, and he was out the door. "I'm not sure how they could
have escaped. Weren't there guards all over that cell? And the
dungeon?"

"They claim you came to take the prisoners to your
father."

Matt snorted. "I've been asleep since nine. Do they
honestly expect anyone to believe that? Tell them to be honest, and
they'll be punished less severely. How dare they try to blame
me
for their failure."

"I am having them brought to the war room as well as
your father. The Oceina are at our borders right now howling and
attacking the guard stations. We've been able to keep them at bay,
but I don't think they're trying to enter."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Almost an hour."

"And you're just
now
waking me up?" Matt
glared at the commander.

"Your father said to not disturb either of you unless
it was an absolute emergency. Since they weren't making progress,
nor have there been casualties, I didn't think it necessary," the
guard mumbled.

Idiot.
Matt stared at the man, wondering how
he made it so high up in the system. Matt shook his head. "Start
from the beginning. Tell me everything you know."

"As I said, an hour ago the Oceina appeared at the
border letting out a battle cry of sorts. A warning was fired at
them, and they retaliated making sure to destroy the buildings
where the guards were posted. This has been the only thing they've
been doing for the past hour, but ten minutes ago I got a word that
an Oceina dragon was seen flying out of the castle grounds. We
deduced that the prisoners escaped, and went to get you and your
father."

Matt's jaw tightened and he nodded as he pushed the
doors to the war room open. He didn't bother to take a seat. Five
men he recognized as the guards who were stationed in the dungeon
were sitting, eyes downcast. Not one looked up when he entered.

"Sir," a shaking voice said from behind. He
recognized it as being from one of his uncles and his father's
chosen First Council, Gale. Matt gave him a small bow and stepped
aside so the man could enter.

"My Lord, thank you for coming on such short notice,"
another member of the Royal Guard, Emery, said as he entered after
the First Council.

"Of course. I—." The man's eyes locked onto Matt.
"I'm afraid I have some terrible news. Your father..."

Matt's eyes narrowed slightly, the realization that
the First Council would only be summoned if something happened to
the Great Lord finally hitting him. "Yes, what? What happened?"

"He...that is to say..." His Uncle Gale stumbled over
his words. Emery finished the task.

"He's dead. Murdered. We believe the Oceina Lady
killed him, though his bride is missing as well. She may have been
taken hostage."

Matt's knees began to feel weak, but he refused to
let it show. If there was ever a time to be strong, this was it.
The First Council was wise, but not a man who knew how to command
power. Without Matt's leadership and confidence, the Inero people
would slowly crumble. Instead he started to pace, running a hand
over his face to mask his sadness and shock over the news.

"I'm sure Miss Navi gladly left," he mumbled.
"Perhaps it was she who did it." He knew there was a reason he
didn't like or trust her. Taking in a deep breath, he blinked back
any tears he felt surging to his eyes. There was plenty of time for
tears later. "How long?"

"I found him when he wouldn't answer his door. No one
was coming, so I entered. This was only a few minutes ago. The body
is still lukewarm. He couldn't have passed too long ago. There's a
lot of blood," Emery said.

Matt's fists clenched, rage filling him in place of
his sorrow. Anger would be a lot more productive. "Please tell me
you blasted the dragon out of the sky. With our new advancement, he
should have been easy to slay. Especially with how weak his magic
should have been from his captivity."

Emery and Theo exchanged a look. Emery stepped
forward. "We tried. Just as we were coming to get you, I received
word that the dragon crossed the border. The Royal Guard was
certain they could take him on, but..."

"But?" Matt raised an eyebrow, arms folding in front
of his chest.

"They said the dragon was protected by a shield of
fire. Inero fire."

"That's not possible." He shook his head and his
heart began to race at the implications. Even if the Oceina somehow
found a way to wield the Inero fire, few were capable of creating
such a shield. Only those with the most powerful of magic would be
able to summon it with such great force. The dragon who flew
couldn't have been the Oceina First Council they had captured.
He
had sneaked past the guard at the borders, the Touched
Lord of the water. But how would he have been able to create a
shield of
Inero
fire? There were only two Inero men he knew
capable of such a task, and he was one of them.

Matt swallowed, his mouth going dry. "Where's my
brother?" He had several of them, but all of the men there knew he
was referring only to his twin. Jason was the only man he ever
called brother so freely.

"Sir?" Theo asked.

"Where is my brother!"

"Sleeping, no doubt. I don't see why he would be in
the know of any of this."

Matt growled and punched the wall. The stone hurt,
but he welcomed the pain. After taking in a number of deep
breathes, he spun on his heel and faced the guards who had been in
the dungeon. "I heard that you think
I
came to collect the
prisoners." They all nodded, eyes still on the floor.
I can't
believe this. Why would you do this to me? To us? What were you
thinking?
If he could have screamed in rage then, he would
have. Instead, he found the nearest object and threw it at the
wall. Everyone gasped.

Emery put a hand on Matt's shoulder. Had it been
anyone but him, Matt might have thrown them to the ground. Emery
was an old, trusted comrade of his though. He must have known, been
following Matt's same train of thought.

"I will search the recordings for any sign of him,
and what may have happened. I'm sorry Sir. I wouldn't have
thought..." Emery said softly.

"Thought what?" Theo asked. His stupidity irritated
Matt to no end. The man would be getting demoted.

Matt clenched his teeth together. "My brother is a
traitor."

Chapter Seventy-Five

The Inero

Jason settled into the guest room that had been
chosen for him and Gwen. They had landed almost an hour ago at a
place Darien called Sanctuary. The First Council, who went by the
name of Lance, insisted that Jason and the others be blindfolded
upon entering. Apparently, it was a sacred place to the Oceina. The
truth was Jason doubted he'd be able to find the way there on his
own. They had been flying so high up, it was dark, and he had been
preoccupied with trying to drown out the sound of his brother's
yelling. Matt had gone on a wild tirade via their telepathy, so
loud and angry that Jason's head hurt. The words still echoed in
his mind.

I can't believe you'd turn your back on your
family. As far as I'm concerned you're dead to me. I never want to
see you or hear from you again. If I do, I
will
kill you.

So much for trying to tell him the truth,
Jason thought sourly. For the first time since the whole conflict
between the Inero and Oceina began, he doubted his actions. Gwen
hugged him from behind, holding him tightly.

"Are you okay?" she asked softly.