Dragonvein (Book Two) (25 page)

Slowly, Jonas regained his composure. “He allowed me to live – though I have no idea why. I had hoped it was because some part of Praxis remained. But as the atrocities mounted, I knew that wasn’t true. I never told Lady Illyrian. But I should have told you, Ethan. It’s just that I was so ashamed. I am the reason why your father is dead, and why his body is now a vessel for evil.”

“Nonsense, you old fool,” snapped Renald, suddenly joining the conversation. He moved away from the stove and sat in the only unoccupied chair. “My brother was no puppet. Nor would he be shamed into fighting unless that was what he already wanted to do. It was Lady Illyrian who shamed him into fleeing. All you did was give him the reason he needed to change his mind.”

Jonas shook his head. “No. Lady Illyrian was…”

“Was a wise and kind woman,” Renald said, cutting him short. “And my brother loved her very much. But Praxis was a vain and arrogant man. He truly believed he could triumph, and hated that the other mages had fled. He
wanted
to challenge Shinzan. It was
his
decision.”

The old mage’s features softened and his tone became kindly. “Jonas, listen to me. If you hadn’t said what you did, he would have simply found another reason to go. I promise you. I knew him better than anyone. It wasn’t your fault.”

Jonas nodded slowly. “Thank you. Though it’s hard for me. I can still see him…his eyes…his face. It was Praxis, and yet it wasn’t.”

“Well, old friend,” said Renald. “You’ll have plenty of time here to heal your wounds.” He leaned back to address the others. “Jonas cannot leave the boundary of my wards. When Praxis lived, he cast a spell on Jonas. It created a way to locate him should he ever be lost or captured. Though my brother is dead, the body lives, and with it the spell.”

“You can’t remove it?” asked Lylinora.

“No. I have to hand it to Praxis, he was one hell of a powerful mage. Removing the spell would almost certainly kill Jonas.”

“How did I miss it?” she asked.

“You didn’t know what you were looking for,” he explained. “A weakness in your education I intend to remedy.”

“That’s all well and good,” Kat interjected. “But I want to hear about what happened with the dragons. We’ve come all this way, so I think I deserve to know.”

Renald nodded in agreement. Returning to the stove, he served a meal of grilled fish and vegetables while Ethan began his story. He was half way through this when Maytra entered through the open window and perched herself atop Renald’s bedpost. Ethan paused speaking long enough to smile at her. Maytra gurgled a response and flapped her wings.

As he completed his tale, he could see that both Lylinora and Kat were deeply concerned.

“So you’re…possessed?” asked Kat.

Ethan chuckled. “In a way, I guess I am. But it’s not like they have control over me or anything like that. With the dragons forcing Shinzan to remain close to his source of power, I have shared the burden of my family with them, so to speak. Their spirits partially dwell inside me.”

“Does it hurt?” she asked.

“No. But it does feel strange. I’m me. But it’s like I’ve…I don’t know how to put it.”

“Aged,” added Markus. “I can hear it in the way you speak.”

Ethan shrugged. “I guess that’s one way to put it. But I think it’s more like I can benefit from their experience.”

“Are you saying that you know everything they knew?” asked an incredulous Jonas.

Ethan shook his head. “I wish. It sure would save a lot of time. But unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. I get impressions mostly. Feelings. And they’re kind of foggy and distant.”

“That may change with time,” Renald noted. “Recalling what you told me about your encounters with Maytra’s mate and the dragon on the mountain, there might be a way to tap into their knowledge.”

For some reason, this was a disturbing thought to Ethan. It seemed somehow dangerous. Though he didn’t know why he should feel that way.

“I’m worried,” said Lylinora. “Without the dragons to fight with us, how can we possibly prevail?”

“Shinzan is powerful,” Ethan replied. “But he’s not invulnerable. There is a way. But first we must find the other children of the mages.”

“You know where they are?” asked Lylinora.

Ethan nodded. “Earth.”

She sat up straight. “You can’t be serious.”

Kat’s reaction was entirely different. Bubbling with excitement, she clapped her hands enthusiastically. “I can’t wait. When do we go?”

“
We
don’t,” Ethan told her, his expression uncharacteristically grim. “Markus and I will go. That’s all. And there will be no argument over this. Am I understood?”

With the wind snatched out of her sails, Kat’s bottom lip protruded. “But you promised to take me if you ever went home.”

“I’m not going home,” Ethan said. “I don’t even know that I
can
go home. There’s no telling where the other children who were sent to Earth ended up. For all I know, we might appear inside Nazi Germany or worse. I can’t risk your life. I’m sorry.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared angrily. “I can decide for myself if I want…”

“Enough!” Ethan snapped. “I said you aren’t coming. And that’s that.”

Kat puffed up defiantly, but one look from Ethan told her that his mind was set. Throwing back her chair, she stormed out, spitting curses with each step.

Ethan sighed, regretting being so harsh. He promised himself to talk to her later.

Lylinora’s voice brought him back to the matter in hand. “How will we do it?” she asked.

“Renald will teach you the spell,” he explained. “Once you’ve learned it, we’ll return to the dragons. I’m hoping they can help stabilize the portal long enough for us to enter and return safely.”

This drew a laugh from Markus. “Hoping? Well, that sure sounds like a plan to me.”

“Sounds like suicide,” said Lylinora.

Ethan cocked his head. “Let’s hope not.”

They talked for a while longer, then Ethan left to find Kat. After searching near the house, he made his way to the boat, only to find she was not there either. Hiding, he thought. And with her ability to disappear, she would only be found if she wanted to be.

The sound of the waves crashing ashore was soothing. Once again, unfamiliar images flooded into his mind. This time it was a young girl, laughing as she took a moonlight stroll with him along the beach. Except, of course, it wasn’t him.

Leaving the dock, he sat down on the sand just beyond where the oncoming tide reached before receding again. The image in his head was pleasant, and it certainly gave him a warm feeling inside. But again the feeling was not
his
.

“I have to learn to control this,” he muttered under his breath.

“Control what?”

Lylinora was standing a few feet behind him, an intense look on her young face.

Ethan forced a smile. “Nothing.” He gestured for her to sit beside him.

“So, can I assume you’re ready to talk now?” she asked sarcastically.

“I’m ready.”

She moved gracefully to his right and sat, hugging her knees to her chest. “So why did you push me away? Is it because of what happened when you were with the dragons?”

Ethan sighed, leaned back on his elbows, and looked directly into her eyes. “Why do you want to be with me, Lylinora?” His gaze intensified. “Or maybe, a better question might be: In your heart, do you really want to be with me at all?”

“Of course I do,” she replied. A look of deep offense formed. “Do you seriously imagine I would pretend to have feelings for you? If so…”

“Then explain why you came to my bedroom in Elyfoss,” he cut in. “Explain why you tried to erase it from my memory.”

Lylinora shot to her feet. “What did Kat tell you?”

“Kat didn’t tell me anything. It was after I drank the dragon’s blood that the memory came back. But that’s only a part of it. The truth is, you don’t love me. And I don’t think you ever will.”

Lylinora knelt down and took his hands. “That’s not true. I
do
love you. I want us to be together.” She moved in to kiss him, but Ethan held her back. She lowered her head, stifling her sobs. “I’m sorry I deceived you. I should not have hidden what I’d done. I was confused at the time.” She looked back up with pleading eyes. “But I’m not anymore. I know what I want now.”

Ethan pulled his hands free and grasped her firmly by the shoulders. His eyes were fixed; his face a stone mask. “What you want is for the mages to return. Because of that, you think that I am the only choice for you. But you’re wrong. You are free to choose anyone you want. And would you like to know why?”

Lylinora averted her eyes.

“Because the days of the old mages are
not
going to return,” he said.

She grabbed his wrists and threw them back. “Don’t say that. Yes they will.”

“How? Through our children? How many do you imagine we can have?”

He gently lifted her chin with his finger and eased his tone. “Your duty isn’t to be a breeding vessel. Your duty is to be a teacher. Once Shinzan is gone, you will be responsible for introducing a whole new generation of mages to the world. You are the only one who can do this.”

“But there are no mages for me to teach,” she countered, albeit weakly.

“Sure there are. They’re just hiding. Kat is proof of that. And once people aren’t afraid any longer, others will come. They’ll come to learn about their gifts. They’ll come to
you
.”

Ethan could see the conflict and confusion raging inside her head. She had been desperately holding on to the idea that the world of her parents could live once again. The world she loved. A world of wonders and magic. To give this up and accept that there was nothing left of it but memories was a bitter pill.

Lylinora turned away from him and rested her head on her knees. “I need to be alone.”

Ethan stood and touched her shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

He started back in the direction of the dock.

“You’re wrong, you know,” Lylinora called after him.

Ethan paused.

“I
do
love you,” she continued. “I didn’t before. But I do now.”

Ethan felt his pulse quicken as he looked back at her delicate silhouette curled up on the beach. He may have been changed by the dragon’s blood, but he still found her incredibly beautiful. A rush of carnal desire stirred his passions. Her naked flesh pressed against his - the ecstasy he felt when he was inside her – these were memories impossible to erase. Beads of sweat formed on his brow and only with great effort was he able to continue on his way back to the house.

Kat was sitting on the porch when he arrived. A fist-sized ball of flame danced above her head – spinning and dipping as if to music. When she saw Ethan, it vanished.

“Not bad,” he said, smiling.

“You’re a liar,” she sulked. “You promised to take me. I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Well
I
want to talk to
you
,” he said, taking a seat beside her. “So you can just sit there and listen.”

She pouted. “Just because all of a sudden you sound grown up, that doesn’t mean you are. And it doesn’t give you the right to talk to me like a child either.”

“You’re right,” he agreed, giving a slight nod. “I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”

Kat gave him a sideways glance. “So does that mean I can go?”

“No. I’m sorry, I just can’t let you. I’m not sure what’s going to happen. If you got hurt…”

“But I won’t,” she jumped in quickly. “I’ll be careful. I promise.”

“No, it’s bad enough I have to risk Markus’ life. I won’t risk yours too. Especially when there’s no reason for it.”

With her brief flicker of hope extinguished, Kat went back to sulking. “Like I said, you’re a liar.” She held out her palm and another ball of flame flashed into existence. “I bet if Lylinora asked to go, you’d let
her
.”

“No I wouldn’t,” he retorted. “Hell,
I
wouldn’t go myself if I didn’t have to.”

The flame renewed its dance. “Then don’t. Stay here. Be with Lylinora if that’s what you want. But just stay here.”

Ethan could see moonlight reflecting on a single tear as it rolled slowly down her cheek. He reached out and pulled her close. “I’m coming back,” he said.

She extinguished the flame and buried her head in his chest. “But you can’t promise me that, can you?”

“I promise I’ll do my best.”

“And what if you get trapped on Earth?” she argued. “Won’t Shinzan win if that happens?” When Ethan offered no reply to this, she tilted her head up to him. “In that case,
you
shouldn’t go either.”

He kissed her forehead and smiled. “I know I shouldn’t. But I can’t send someone else in my place, can I? Who would go? Jonas?”

Kat tried not to laugh, but couldn’t stop herself. “No. You sure couldn’t send him. Markus would end up killing him.”

She wrapped her arms around his body and squeezed. “Just make sure you come back. If you don’t, I swear I’ll find a way to Earth and fetch you myself.”

Chapter Twenty-One

E
than heaved a
sigh of frustration. “Half of these pages are too damn faded to read,” he complained, pushing back his chair and twisting sharply. The stiffness in his muscles reminded him unkindly that he had been sitting in one position for far too long.

Kat sat down beside him. She crossed her arms on the table and laid her head sideways, blinking up at him playfully. “Lylinora says you’re wasting your time with all that stuff anyway. She says wards are useless.”

He looked to the window where Maytra was curled up. The sun had just passed its apex and the afternoon was fast approaching. He twisted again, this time letting out a loud groan. A harsh cracking of joints suggested that perhaps he had studied for long enough.

Smiling, he reached over to pinch Kat lightly on the nose. “What does Lylinora know?”

Kat giggled. “She knows more than you. Hell,
I
know more than you.”

“Is that right?”

“Can you do this?” She sat up and held out her hands. “
Miora Vas Yetuli
.”

A light sparkled and flashed in the center of the table, then exploded with a loud pop. A black rabbit appeared and began scampering back and forth, eventually jumping to the floor and running around the table.

With a snap of her fingers, Kat made it vanish. She looked at Ethan, highly pleased with herself. “No one showed me how to make a rabbit.”

He nodded with approval. “Very nice. But how did you do it if no one showed you?”

“It’s the same spell I use to make mice,” she explained. “All I do…well…I just think about rabbits instead. Later on, I’m going to try something even bigger. You can come watch if you want.”

“I can’t,” he replied. “I have to work with Lylinora later.”

During the past two weeks, Lylinora had taken on a tremendous amount of responsibility. Her heavy schedule of receiving lessons from Renald, and giving them to both Kat and Ethan, meant that she was now beginning to look more than a little weary.

Ethan’s days were equally demanding. Renald had given him a book of wards to study, so when he wasn’t under the tutelage of Lylinora, he was busy poring over the worn tome. Amazingly, he found the contents that were decipherable quite easy to understand. His lessons were going a lot better as well. Spells that he would have previously struggled to cast were now becoming second nature in minutes. An effect of the dragon’s blood, he assumed.

“Do they still bother you?” Kat asked. “The voices, I mean.”

Ethan shrugged. “They’re more of a nuisance than anything else. It’s hard to keep them out when I’m feeling tired.”

Kat frowned. “I wouldn’t want all those people rattling around inside me.” She faked a dramatic shudder.

A minute later, Lylinora and Renald entered the house. Lylinora’s eyes were burning and her face was a vivid crimson. Ethan chuckled. Yet another pleasant lesson, he thought.

“If your mother hadn’t been so bloody proper, she would have taught you how to defend yourself against such things,” Renald grumbled.

“What happened?” asked Ethan.

Lylinora stomped over to the table and sat heavily down. “I’ll tell you what happened. That old pervert went too far.”

Ethan cast Renald a questioning look. But the old man merely sneered and tottered over to his bed.

“Oh, come on,” pressed Kat. “Do tell us.”

“He stripped off all my clothes,” Lylinora muttered, at the same time shooting Renald a hateful stare.

“He did what?” Ethan asked incredulously.

“You heard me,” she snapped back.

By now, Renald was stretched out on his bed. “I did no such thing,” he called over. “All I did was make her clothes invisible for a few seconds.”

“You’re joking,” Kat giggled. But Lylinora’s furious expression told her otherwise. “Oh, sweet spirits. I wish I could have seen it.”

Ethan was trying hard to keep a straight face, but his mouth was twitching into a grin. He cleared his throat. “Can I ask why you did that?”

“You need to be prepared to defend yourself,” Renald replied, with no hint of humor. “Distraction can get you killed. I’ve seen the tactic used before. And it’s very effective.”

Ethan considered this. “I guess it would be. If I found myself suddenly stripped naked in the middle of a fight, it would definitely distract me.”

“You know what I think?” asked Kat, still laughing. “I think poor old Renald just wanted to see a pretty girl without her clothes on.”

He sat up and huffed. “I’ve seen my fair share, child. Don’t you worry about that.”

Kat grinned impishly back at him. “Sure. But how long has it been? You can admit it. You liked what you saw, didn’t you?”

Renald scowled. “One more word from you, and Lylinora won’t be alone in her embarrassment.”

Kat’s mouth snapped shut. With a grunt of satisfaction, Renald laid back down.

“I think we should leave him alone for a while,” Ethan suggested.

“Good idea,” Renald growled, throwing his blanket up over his head and pulling it tight.

Ethan led them to a large apple tree a hundred yards or so away from the house. By the time they reached it, though a bit calmer, Lylinora was still clearly upset.

“He’s right,” Ethan said to her after they had all sat down on the soft turf. “You shouldn’t let a thing like that distract you.”

“If you’re trying to make me feel better, it’s not working,” she snapped. “So just stop.”

Ethan smirked. “All I’m saying is that you shouldn’t let it rattle you.”

“Very well. You asked for it,” Lylinora growled. Her hands waved in a grand exaggerated circle. “
Onis Ona
Lim
.”

Ethan sensed what was coming. Even so, this did not reduce his sense of alarm when he looked down to see that every stitch of his clothing was gone. Instantly, he scrambled to cover himself with his hands.

“Now
that’s
what I call
magic
,” remarked Kat, smiling broadly

Lylinora let out a satisfied sigh. “Indeed.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Ethan told her, his face now bright red.

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said. “I think Renald may be on to something now that I see it from his perspective.” She looked him up and down, nodding appreciatively. “What do you think, Kat? Should I leave him like this?”

The young girl fell over backwards laughing. “Yes, please do. At least until Jonas and Markus get back.”

“I said that’s enough,” Ethan repeated, this time more forcefully.

After taking one final, lingering look at him, Lylinora bowed her head. “As you wish…Lord Dragonvein.” With a flick of her wrist, his clothes reappeared.

“Aw,” whined Kat. “He was much cuter before. Now he’s just plain Ethan again.”

He tried to be angry, but soon found himself joining in with their laughter.

“So you’ll be leaving tomorrow,” Lylinora said, once they had settled down.

He nodded. “I should leave tonight, but Renald says it’s too dangerous.”

“I still don’t understand,” Kat said. “Where are you going?”

Ethan gave her a wink. “To fight Shinzan.”

She frowned. “That’s not funny.”

He held up his hand. “I know. I’m sorry. The truth is, I have to do something for the dragons before I go to Earth.”

“I get
that
,” she countered. “But what?”

“I can’t tell you.”

Kat crossed her arms over her chest. “And why not?”

Lylinora answered for him. “Because if we know and are captured, we could reveal it. But you cannot reveal what you do not know.”

“It’s
that
important?” asked Kat, frowning.

Ethan nodded. “Yes, it is. Otherwise I’d tell you. But don’t worry. I’ll be back soon.”

“I bet it has something to do with you studying those wards,” she probed. “What are you trying to protect?”

“Kat!” snapped Lylinora. “If we needed to know, he’d tell us. Don’t pester him about it.”

“Don’t tell me you haven’t wondered too,” she shot back. “And I don’t think it’s fair that he goes wandering off by himself while we sit here not knowing where he is, or if he’s all right.”

“I’ll be fine,” Ethan assured her.

“Kat is right about one thing,” Lylinora remarked. “Isn’t there a way you can take one of us with you? Even Renald would make me feel better. If you were hurt, no one would know to come.”

“Renald is the only one I
could
possibly take,” explained Ethan. “But being so far from his home would drain his strength. It’s too dangerous for him.” He gave them both a roguish grin. “You two worry about me too much. Shouldn’t I be learning magic right now?”

Lylinora nodded. “I think we should go over the things you could use if you are attacked.”

They made their way to an open field. Here, they spent the rest of the afternoon casting simple fireballs and other forms of elemental magic. This bored Kat no end, and she made no secret of her dissatisfaction.

“It’s one thing to be able to cast a spell,” Lylinora told her. “It’s another to do it when someone is attacking you.” Her arms shot forward and a pillar of fire instantly surrounded Kat.

Although taken by surprise, the young girl quickly recovered. She muttered a few words. The next instant, a gale wind lifted the fire and threw it straight back at Lylinora. Just before the flames reached her, they dissipated.

Lylinora smiled, almost clapping her hands with appreciation at first – then instinctively containing her enthusiasm at the last moment. “Yes! Very good. Very good indeed.”

Kat beamed. Her eyes darted to Ethan, who was equally impressed.

“Better than I could do,” he said.

Lylinora grinned viciously. “Let’s find out, shall we?”

Again the pillar of fire sprang forth, this time surrounding Ethan. He could feel the intense heat bearing down relentlessly on his exposed face and arms. Concentrating as best he could, he focused on the same spell that Kat had used, but was only able to raise a light wind. In seconds, the heat had doubled. He could hear Kat pleading with Lylinora to stop, but the fire persisted. He tried repeating the spell, but with no better result.

He was just about to cry out, conceding defeat, when a brilliant flash shattered his senses. It was as if he had been struck hard in the center of his forehead. The light exploded and sparkled in front of his eyes, blinding him. Then it was gone…and so was the fire.

He felt a dull throbbing in his head, and for a minute his vision remained blurred. “What the hell happened?” he asked. But there was no reply.

As his sight cleared, he saw Kat and Lylinora huddled together against a fruit tree a short distance away, their eyes wide with fear. All around him for thirty yards, the ground was scorched and smoldering. He took a step forward, but Lylinora’s hand shot out.

“Don’t come any closer,” she commanded. Her hand was trembling.

Ethan halted. “What’s wrong?” he asked. He tried to recall how the earth had come to be so badly burned. Lylinora’s spell couldn’t possibly have done this much damage, and his own efforts to free himself had failed. He took another step.

A streak of lightning flew from Lylinora’s palm, striking the ground right next to his feet. “I said don’t come any closer,” she warned.

Ethan held up his hands. “Hey. Wait a minute. What the hell is going on here? How did this happen?”

It was Kat who made the first move. Releasing her hold on Lylinora, she slowly approached him. He could see how badly shaken she was.

“Are you…still you?” she asked.

Ethan frowned. “What kind of question is that? Of course I’m me. Who else would I be?”

Lylinora had still not moved.

Kat stopped a few feet in front of him. “You really don’t remember?”

“Remember what?”

“You almost killed us,” she replied. “Not one minute ago, you almost killed me and Lylinora.”

“What!” he exclaimed.

Lylinora finally decided that it was safe to approach. She positioned herself beside Kat and regarded him with a mixture of awe and suspicion. Ethan noticed that her hands were still glowing red – ready to strike if necessary.

“I’ve only seen magic like that used by the most powerful of mages,” she said, wrapping a protective arm around Kat. “How did you do it?”

Ethan was at a complete loss. “I don’t even know
what
I did, let alone
how
I did it. Why don’t you just tell me what you saw?”

The tension on Lylinora’s face remained. “I was about to release you from the fire,” she began. “You’d already twice tried to use the same spell that Kat did and failed, and I’d held you as long as I dared without risking serious harm. But before I could free you, the ground began to shake and the fire swelled into a massive tower. It just went on climbing higher and higher, and spreading wider. Kat and I were forced to run away or be burned alive.”

Ethan was dumbfounded. How did he not remember this?

“I cast a protection spell around us,” she continued. Her lips were quivering. “But a wave of pure magic shot out from the fire and crushed my spell like parchment. Then you spoke. You said:
‘Feeble child. You think you can trap me? You are nothing. A mere novice. Behold true power.’
Then the flames lifted into the clouds and formed a sphere at least five hundred feet in diameter. You were still standing there, laughing and with your arms spread wide. You looked…evil.”

Evil? Ethan could hear a distant voice in his head. It was mocking her - saying that she didn’t know what true evil was and spitting vile curses.

Lylinora was fighting hard not to weep as she continued. “Finally, the fire exploded with a force that knocked us both completely off our feet. What the hell has happened to you, Ethan?”

At this point, it all became too much for her. She lost the inner struggle and tears began falling freely down her face.

Guilt wracked him. He knew now what had happened, though the implications were terrifying. He wanted to comfort them - tell them that he would never allow such a thing to happen again. But that might well be a lie. All this had taken place without him even being aware of it. So how could he promise there would be no repeat? And next time…next time, he might seriously injure someone he loved. The mere thought of this horrified him. He felt his legs wobble and he dropped to his knees.