Legend of the Touched (36 page)

"Ooh, the Council Island. That sounds so official,"
Etz said with heavy sarcasm. "Gonna hold a big meeting?"

"Nope, a small one. Exclusive invite only party,"
Darien said with a smirk.

"Right, sure, see you later." Etz pointed for them to
go out the door.

The three young men walked out of the cabin and back
out into the cold.

"He's a pleasant fellow," Chris muttered under his
breath.

"I told you, waste of time." Jason's voice grew
darker in tone. It was deeper, almost inhuman. "You won't win."

Watch me,
Darien thought, determination
filling him. He had hope. After all, Etz had said "see you
later".

Chapter Eighty-Seven

The Inero

After a long and emotionally exhausting day with
Lenora, Kat was spending time alone. Not something she would have
wanted to do even two months ago. More often than not, she didn't
like to be by herself. Her life wasn't the only thing that had
changed. Everything about her was different. She'd grown up
fast.

She wandered the hallways of the castle with her
daughter's egg, making sure to keep to the more secluded areas. A
door opened and Matt walked out, but he didn't see her. He went in
the opposite direction. As tempting as it was to chase after him,
she noticed how tense his body was and decided against it. He might
have needed some time alone as well. Slowly, she made her way down
the hall and noticed the door to the room he'd been in was still
open. Curious as to what he was doing in there, she peeked inside.
There was a boy sitting on the floor in front of a fireplace.

"Great One, hear me. Your time is coming, and I need
your guidance," the boy pleaded softly.

"I can hear you. Be quick with your troubles. My host
is fighting me again," a deep voice replied, and it sent shivers
down her spine. Especially since the boy was alone, and she was
pretty sure the second voice came from inside of the fire.

"I have convinced the Touched to slay the
Oceina."

"That is not a problem. That's what we want. With the
Oceina gone, then the Great Dragon will not be able to come."

"And your eternal reign will begin. He's still
connected to your host, loves him even though he'd never admit it.
It's hindering his drive," the boy said. Were they talking about
Matt? And who was the host? Who was the stranger the boy was
talking to?

There was a quiet growl that caused Kat to whimper
quietly. She put a hand over her mouth. These two men were
obviously bad news.

The boy started to scream, and Kat bit into her lip
to prevent herself from joining in. Who would want to hurt a child
like that? She clutched her daughter closer to her body.

Then the voice began to bellow. "Do not ever bother
me with these petty problems. You are my servant. I have given you
power. Use it, you idiot."

The door slammed shut, and Kat fled for home. She had
to get back to Matt and warn him, but would he believe her?

Chapter Eighty-Eight

The Oceina

They flew straight to the Council Island, and Darien
took the next three days to relax and prepare for his meeting with
the Terran. He had to focus on not being angry or lashing out.
Believing the best in someone who was indirectly involved with
destroying his family was not the easiest thing to do.

Three days was the perfect amount of time for him. He
remained calm until he saw the lone Terran dragon flying through
the sky preparing to land on the shore. Darien went to wait at the
dock. His brothers were nearby to help protect him. If they failed
at doing so, Etzli was somewhere on the island. His wind magic
would weaken the earth dragon's.

Unless there was a secret ambush happening elsewhere
on the island, Darien was pretty sure this Terran was alone. It
didn't take long for the dragon to land and then shift into his
human shape. He was around Darien's age, maybe a few years older.
Tall and thin, he didn't look all too strong. There was a
gentleness about him in fact. His dark brown eyes locked on
Darien's, and he smiled. The man walked over to Darien with a
slight bounce in his step. He appeared so harmless it made Darien
put his guard up more.

"Lord Oceina." The young man bowed.

Darien returned it briefly. "You wanted to talk? I'm
sorry I don't know your name."

"Taj, I'm Lord Taylor's son. And yes, he sent me to
talk with you on his behalf."

That news definitely surprised Darien. "Okay, I'm all
ears. Come on up to the library with me."

Taj nodded with a lot of enthusiasm, and his smile
was so large. "He wanted to come himself, but he had to do other
business. Plus he didn't think it would go over well if word got
out. It's harder for him to go anywhere incognito. Nobody cares
about what I do. I'm just the son."

For a moment, Darien didn't quite understand.
Elsewhere, being the son was quite possibly the most
pressure-filled position. A lot was expected of a Great Lord's
children. The Terran were elected though, so Taj would be allowed
to take any job he wanted. He didn't have to do anything in
politics if he didn't want to. Darien was a little jealous because
while he had a choice, it was clear that if he hadn't done his
father's will a lot would be lost. It felt right to follow the path
set before him, but it wasn't one he would have chosen without the
push.

"My father passes on his condolences. He also wanted
you to know that this attack, this agreement, was not one he made
with the Inero. Lord Kinsley made the agreement right before he was
voted out of office, leaving my father in an awkward position. Lord
Lynx was terrifying. Being on his bad side wouldn't have boded
well. Not without knowing what all is going on at least. So much of
this happened without my father's consent," Taj added.

"That's all nice to know, but what is he planning on
doing to fix the problem?" Darien asked.

Taj grabbed the door for the library entrance when
they arrived, holding it open. He waved for Darien to go in first.
"The Inero are planning to march straight up to Oceina City to
finish it. They'll destroy everything in their path. We can't take
away the magic already given to them for their weapons, but we
won't be marching by their side. We'll be outside of the city,
protecting it."

"It's something. So Taj, you're Touched?"

"I am."

"You can help us by doing something else too. Right
now, we're searching for the instructions to a ceremony that will,
I guess you could say, unleash all of our power. By doing this, it
will banish the one corrupting the Inero into doing all of this.
The prophecies say it'll be a time of peace until the coming of the
Great Dragon."

"And you need my help?" Taj asked.

"Four is one, one is four," Darien said. "You're the
last one."

The two entered the small library of the island. It
was filled with ancient books that made the room smell musky. All
it contained was several shelves of books, most of which Darien was
afraid to touch for fear of destroying them. Chris and Jason were
currently huddling over a copy of the Holy Book. Supposedly it was
the original book that compiled all of the ancient texts.

Chris glanced up at Darien, and then back down at the
book. "I figured out how they combined the magics of the Terran and
the Inero. Any dragon whose blood is let, his magic leaves with
him. I'm not sure I want to think about how they were able to make
those magical items. The dragon slayers are known to put the magic
of the dragons they kill into jewelry for protective armor. It
takes a lot of blood to do it." Jason's face paled a little. Chris
shifted his weight and then continued. "The Touched can become like
brothers, taking each other's magic, through the similar fashion as
Guardians are made. Other dragons have been known to make an
attempt at this process, but it's so powerful few survive. It also
must be something ordained by God. They will be like one."

"One is four, four is one," Darien whispered. "Do you
think this is what he meant?"

Jason shrugged. "Possibly. It's worth a shot, because
if you're going to be fighting against my brother you're going to
need a boost to combat his power. He can do things with his magic
that I've never seen before."

"Shouldn't be too hard," Darien said.

"He's Touched too. We both are, so it might be harder
than you think. He has a lot of aggressive spells in his arsenal.
Once he's down, the rest of the army will fall too. They respect
him and trust his judgment. He's the last real connection to my
father."

Darien looked down at the book and then at Taj. "You
wanna help? This is how."

Chapter Eighty-Nine

The Inero

It's not going to work,
the demon said. It'd
been taunting Jason ever since he arrived at the island.

"It'll work," he whispered. It had to. It was the
only way they'd be able to stop Matt. Jason didn't mind sharing his
magic with Darien in order to make it happen. He trusted the Oceina
Lord. The more time they spent together, the closer they became.
They were close to being best friends even. Taj and Eztli were
another story entirely. The Terran seemed to be a nice enough guy,
but they'd just met. He believed the story about his father wanting
to change the direction of the motions put forward by Lord Kinsley.
Hopefully, he wouldn't abuse the power. Jason didn't want the Aero
Touched to have any of his magic. Unfortunately, it was the magic
Darien would need the most to help fight Matt. The wind was the
weakness to the Earth.

They all met in the Great Council Hall where the
meetings were always held. It was strange being there without the
rest of the dragon kin. Every sound echoed off of the walls, and
the space seemed so much larger without the seats being filled. The
four Touched dragons stood in the center of the room. Chris was off
to the side, reading the Holy Book.

"We need a fire," Chris said.

Jason created a flame in his hand. "Okay, no problem
there."

Chris shook his head. "A fire of all the
elements."

The others exchanged glances. Darien was the next to
produce his flame, a bright, beautiful blue color that accented his
eyes and made them glow more vivid than usual. Then there was Etz's
flame which was a blinding white. It took Taj longer than Jason
would have anticipated a Touched to do it, but he created a richly
colored green fire. Not the typical color for a Terran dragon.

"In the center." Chris pointed to a pile of wood and
papers on the floor.

One by one they stepped forward and added their fire
to the wood. When the last element was added, there was a gust of
wind and the fire grew, spiraling up towards the ceiling like a
pillar. The color of the flames was that of all the magics
combined. Blue flames swirled and collided with red creating bursts
of purple while the white and green weaved in and out. Beautiful
and hypnotizing all at once.

"Pray," Chris said. His voice was soft.

Pray? Jason didn't know how to do that. "Please let
this be the answer we're looking for," he murmured. That was about
all he could offer. As he looked around the room, he saw mixed
expressions. Darien's eyes were closed and he breathed slowly, Taj
spoke but his words were lost in the roar of the fire, and Etz
stared straight on with a tense jaw and furrowed brow.

The fire began to change shape. The pillar became
wider and the colors swirled up its length in harmony. At the top
of the pillar, the fire began to spread out and create a canopy
that reminded Jason of a tree. He couldn't take his eyes off of it.
Soon the others were also looking up with similar awe on their
faces. Not one of them had their mouth closed.

"The prayer has been heard," Darien whispered. "I can
feel it."

"Same," Taj said in a quiet voice.

A prayer that will fall on deaf ears. You're
wasting your time,
the demon said. Jason was positive the
creature only fought against him so much because he was doing the
right thing. It helped him to press onward even if sometimes he
felt like the demon was right. But he couldn't give up.

Chris produced a knife. "That's good because if it
hasn't been heard, this next part could kill you all."

Each of their palms was slit and they joined hands.
The sting of the blade against his skin was nothing compared to the
burning he felt when his hand grasped Darien's hand. Etz was on the
other side of him and Jason noticed him wince when they touched as
well. He could feel both of their magics entering into him. The
water magic created a searing pain in his veins while the magic of
the wind cooled and soothed it. Soon, a new magic filled him, and
he wondered if it was the Terran. Whatever it was, it bridged the
other two together so that the pain stopped, as did the cool
flowing of the wind. In its place was a surge of new energy.

That was when the demon began to laugh.
You make
this so easy for me. Now I have access to all of the magic of the
dragons.

"No," Jason whispered and that was when he lost
control of his body and blacked out.

Chapter Ninety

The Inero

"I know you're scared Kat, but making things up to
try and keep me here is kind of insulting," Matt snapped. He
couldn't believe the nerve of her. Accusing the holy prophet of
being a fraud? What was she thinking?

She shook her head. "I know what I saw. I know what I
heard
. He's manipulating you. Why would I make this up?"

"Because you want this to end. My own wife doesn't
support me? I'm so disappointed in you." And it stung. Without her
encouragement, everything he did started to feel empty. If she
wasn't happy with him, what was the point? He'd never failed
before, and now the one time he does, it's in his marriage?