The Knight of Her Dreams (Dragons and Dreamphasers) (49 page)

Carilya clicked her tongue
as she reentered the room with her husband.  “Apparently, you were wrong,” she
replied.  “You should have known better with Pyro.  By now, he’s obviously
gotten them lost elsewhere in the galaxy.”

“Or worse still, the
universe,” sighed Lendric, rubbing his forehead.  “When it had only been a
month, at first I thought they’d simply gotten sidetracked.  But even Zaruldar
wouldn’t disappear for longer than that.  They were due back nearly three
months ago, and there’s been no word from either since.”

“But surely there’s some
way to contact them,” pressed Dominick.  “A spell of communication?”

“It’s been attempted, with
no success.  Even skilled dreamphasers were unable to find them.  Seeing no
other choice, I contacted some demons I know and sent them after my brothers a
month ago, in the hope of locating and bringing them back.”

“You sent
demons
after them?” asked Discord.  “Aren’t you concerned they might steal the Staff
for themselves if they do find them?”

“This pair won’t, since
they already owe me for several debts, let alone I’m taking care of their
infant son in the meantime.”

Carilya’s eyes widened. 
“You have a demon child
here
?  Do you have any idea what kind of
trouble they cause?”

As if in answer, a loud
wail erupted, followed by what sounded like a small explosion.  Lendric glared
at his sister.  “Dammit, Carilya, you
know
that even from
infancy, they’re highly intelligent and temperamental when offended.  Thank you
for indirectly destroying my back room!”

Another explosion
emphasized this.

Not wanting to deal with
another tongue-lashing from her brother, Carilya went to see to the infant,
along with Devon, both hoping the damage wasn’t as bad as it sounded.

“As I was saying,”
continued Lendric, rolling his eyes at an angry screech from his sister, “Those
demons are my most reliable sources, as well as friends of my brothers, and
they’re equally concerned by their disappearance.  If anyone can locate
Zaruldar and Pyrozill, they can.  In which case, if the staff is brought back
safely as well, I can surely bring you and your Julianna together in reality. 
But until then, there’s not much I can do to help you.”

Dominick leaned forward in
his chair, clasping his hands.  “Then I suppose that’ll have to be enough,
unless an alternate means can be found,” he sighed.  “I only wish I’d met
Julianna six months ago, when the means was still a certainty.”

Lendric rested one hand
against his shoulder.  “Time and space cannot bar the path of destiny,
Dominick,” he said quietly.  “If you and Julianna are truly meant to be
together, a way will be found.  And I swear I’ll contact you as soon as I have
more information.”

The younger man glanced up
at him with a somber nod, oblivious to when his parents stood.  “We’d best get
you back to the island now, sweetheart,” Warp interceded.  “Night falls quickly
at this time of year, and I’d hate to push our luck with the creatures of this
area.”

Seeing their son’s hesitancy
to speak, Discord patted his back once.  “Hey,” he murmured, earning Dominick’s
attention.  “It’s not like all hope’s been snatched forever here.  The
teleportation staff’s still a viable possibility.  It just may take some time
to locate it and its two bearers, that’s all.  Look at the bright side.  At
least Chaos won’t force you to wed Sionne in the meantime.”

As if he could,
Dominick thought, nodding
silently with a grim smile.

“It’s just as well,” Warp
added curtly.  “There’s something about that girl’s nature that seems to be
more of an illusion than that ability of hers.  I’m sure your Julianna will be
a much more suitable marriage partner.”

“I doubt the boy would be
putting himself through this ordeal if he thought otherwise,” retorted Discord.

“Hmph!” sneered Warp.  “He
should only know the ordeal I went through getting you to the altar, with us
being on the
same
world.”

As she swept past her
husband, Discord gestured towards Lendric with a forced smile.  “If you’ll
excuse me while I straighten out my wife’s obviously confused memory on the
subject, I’ll wait with her by the exit.”

Dominick stood quickly. 
“Actually, Dad, would you and Mom give me another few minutes with Lendric.  I
have something else I need to speak with him about, and it shouldn’t take
long.”

“By all means,” Discord
replied.  Smiling meaningfully for his benefit, he added, “And no need to rush,
son.”

Glancing after the
departing couple, Lendric laughed quietly.  “Some things never change,” he
remarked.

“Maybe not,” agreed Dominick. 
“But there may be one other way you could help my situation with Julianna.” 
Lendric nodded for him to continue.  “Is there any way to prove to her beyond a
doubt the truth of our existence and Chavernos?”

The dragon sorcerer rubbed
his chin thoughtfully.  “Hmmm, you don’t ask easy requests, do you?”

“It would mean a great deal
to me if she was granted the truth, so she needn’t doubt the legitimacy of what
we have.”  Sighing once, he stared at the ceiling.  “I thought of two solutions
myself, but even they can only prove so much.”

“Which are?”

“The first is that I can
appear to her in my astral form while she’s completely awake,” explained
Dominick, “but it would still be difficult for her to see me then, and she
might think it to be a hallucination.”

Sighing once, he went on. 
“The second method involves her elder sister Crystal.  From what Julianna says,
she seems fairly open-minded, so I’ve considered the notion of visiting her in
the dream-state to try and convince her of the truth.”

“Which might only result in
having Crystal believe she’s conjured up images of you from Julianna’s stories,
proving little.”

“Exactly,” exclaimed
Dominick, “but what else can I do?  As things stand, I know part of Julianna
wonders if
any
of this is real at all.”

Lendric was silent for long
moments before replying.  “There may be one other way,” he replied softly, “but
if I tell it to you, you must swear it will never be revealed to anyone else on
Chavernos, with the exception of Chaos.  Since he’s the one who sent you here,
it’s only fitting that you can share this information with him, and my old
friend does well in keeping things confidential when needed, as do I.”

“All right... go ahead.”

“This is
most
serious,” hissed the dragon, his eyes glowing red.  “And I must
insist
you swear silence of it!”

Sobering completely,
Dominick met his gaze.  “On my honor, you have my word, I swear I’ll tell no
one on Chavernos besides Chaos,” he replied.

His eyes returning to their
normal shade, Lendric clasped Dominick’s shoulder.  “Please forgive my seeming
harshness.  It involves a boy I brought to Earth years ago, along with his
parents.”

Dominick’s eyes widened. 
“Others from our world reside there?” he asked incredulously.

“A few, yes, but in secret,
for reasons I’ll explain.”  Steepling his hands, his expression became
concerned.  “The boy I speak of is a half-dragon, as my sister Carilya’s
children will be, and he bears the trait of the violet eyes.  As you heard from
my conversation with Devon, you know what this means.  He was sent to Earth,
with his parents, to protect him from the forces of darkness on Chavernos who
would kill him before he reaches adulthood—when he’ll gain his full powers,
whatever they may be.”

Neither noticed Devon’s
presence as he overheard Lendric’s last words, nor saw the somber look on his
face as he returned to his wife in the back room.

“While it’s imperative
their whereabouts be kept secret from those of our world, I see no reason you
can’t share this with your fiancée.”

Understanding dawned
instantly with Dominick.  “So if Julianna locates his family, they can provide
proof that Chavernos exists, since they’re from our world.”

Lendric nodded slowly. 
“There is but one thing you must stress to her.  She must speak
only
with his parents, for he isn’t meant to know his true identity until his time
comes to return to Chavernos.  For now, he believes he’s from Earth and is
completely human as anyone else.  We mutually agreed from the start that it
would allow him to grow up normally on Earth.”

“I’m sure she’ll comply
with that,” he agreed.

“Good,” replied the dragon
sorcerer.  “You can explain this to Julianna and her sister, but don’t tell
anyone else, and tell them the same as well.  Only they have reason to know the
truth of our world for now, including the family they’ll meet.”  Dominick
nodded.

Another wail from the demon
child rang out, sparking a series of curses from the pair in the back room. 
Sighing once, Lendric commented with a smirk, “You know, if you showed your
grandfather that demon child, he might think twice about his request for
great-grandchildren from you.”

“That won’t be necessary,”
laughed Dominick.  “When Julianna and I are married, we’ll be happy to grant
him several.”

“Be sure to have them visit
their Uncle Lendric when you do,” replied the dragon sorcerer, eyes twinkling,
before he continued.  “Now, let me give you the full details of how your future
wife can locate the family of Oliver Dragend.”

*****

Dual stood grinning as he
eyed the captive man before him.  Bound to a chair and gagged, Alarius glared
back at him, his expression fierce.  Without a doubt, if he could have, he’d
have torn his captor to pieces in a heartbeat.

Or at least tried
, Dual thought with
amusement.

“You really should have
made things easier on yourself to begin with,” he told the half-elf.  “By now,
Quell and our assistants have mined most of the jewels, and should complete
their work this night.  Did you really think you’d manage to escape without my
tracking you down?”  Seeing that Alarius was unable to speak through the gag,
he deftly remedied this.  “Well,
did
you?” he demanded.

“I had no choice but to
try,” hissed Alarius.  “As it is, when word of my disappearance spreads, there
will be allies of my own who’ll catch onto your handiwork.  And when they do,
they’ll see you banished from Barokka forever.”

“Maybe,” chortled Dual. 
“But that won’t help you or your precious family, since I’ll most certainly
kill you first.”  The half-elf wouldn’t reply, turning away.  “Oh, by the way,
it might interest you to hear the latest regarding your traitorous friend.  It
seems he’s presently engaged to be married.”  Alarius blinked once, genuinely
surprised.  “Yes, I’m sure I was equally stunned to hear a woman had actually
agreed to spend the rest of her life with that fool.”

“Better him than an
assassin derelict from the swamps.”

Dual grinned menacingly,
slamming his fist into the half-elf’s jaw.  His blow drew blood, but not a
sound from Alarius, who merely continued to face him icily.  Raising a finger
in warning, Dual hissed, “Remember, that derelict you speak of
is
a professional assassin many times over.  And one who won’t hesitate to cut out
your tongue if you don’t curb it.”

“Undoubtedly a specialty of
yours,” spat Alarius, a slight trickle of blood stemming from his mouth.

His captor laughed
harshly.  “You have no idea what other ‘specialties’ I’ve conjured up over the
years.  But as to your friend’s engagement, you might wish to hear what I have
planned as a... wedding present.”  Alarius’s eyes narrowed as he continued. 
“It’s a tricky preparation, since his precious bride-to-be Julianna resides on
the planet Earth, but my trusty associate Shade has kindly lent his assistance
in finding her location.  Thus, I can freely visit her in the dream-state this
night.”

“By Chavernos, Dual, leave
her be!  She’s an innocent in this endless war of yours with Dominick.”

“She’s no longer an
innocent since accepting him into her life, thus I can feel no remorse for what
retribution must befall her.”

Alarius smiled bitterly. 
“I doubt your former innocent betrothed Caralei would condone your logic.”

Dual’s fist plowed into the
side of his head, nearly rendering him unconscious this time.  “
Never
speak her name upon your filthy tongue again!” he hissed.  “It’s because I was
once a fool to trust people like you that she died!”

“She died because of the
allies of the evil demon who sired you,” Alarius replied quietly.  “A demon
whom you killed, which started a chain reaction...”

“Enough!” snarled Dual,
lifting Alarius’s chin with the sharp edge of his sword.  “Understand this,
half-elf, if anyone is to suffer due to a chain reaction, it will most
certainly be your trusted
friend
this time.  In fact, you’re to
be a major key to this whole affair.

Alarius’s expression became
wary, but puzzled.  “You see, I’ve sent a most alarming note to your dear wife,
which should inspire her to beg Westbrooke to rescue you.  And while all this
is transpiring, he’ll be too busy searching for you to notice my visiting his
future wife in the meantime to pay her my own respects.  And just think,” he
laughed, “if you’d acquiesced peacefully earlier, I wouldn’t have this useful
means to deter Dominick tonight.”