Embrace the Fire Read online

  The only sign of their exit from the gorge was a loud splash as Chennuh's tail swung into the water. Then they were soaring through the afternoon sky toward Iolar and the Elves, whose cries of distress Kinna could hear, even from her position.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Ayden

  Ayden urged Luasa forward until he was sure he was even with Kinna and Chennuh in the air, even though he couldn't see them. “Down there,” he pointed, and knew Kinna saw what he referred to.

  Iolar had posted his men in a semi-circle around the cavernous area where he had said Sebastian planned to meet Lianna at dusk to exchange Cedric for Lanier and the Amulet. But Nicholas Erlane's scouts had found the Elves' position, and from the air, Ayden could see Direwolves and their Dimn creeping through the dales toward them. Iolar's few hundred were in desperate straights as they formed a large circle, facing outward, their swords drawn and ready. None of them had yet looked toward the sky, not that they would find the Mirages even if they had.

  Ayden blessed Ashleen for staying behind. She would have endangered the plan if she had been seen in the skies above Sebastian's chosen spot, and if she could still be tracked, she posed even more risk. Still, she was essential to Cedric's escape, and worry nudged him as he considered the next course of action.

  “I'm going down,” Kinna yelled through the whipping air.

  “Not without me!”

  “Yes! You head to the south, I'll go to the north! It's the only way, Ayden. We have to defend them from both sides!”

  With a muttered curse, Ayden guided Luasa toward the southern portion of the circle of Elves where they huddled, facing the advancing Direwolves. The monstrous creatures were easily as tall at the withers as an Elf, and their hackles were raised, their jowls bared, slaver dripping from their sharp fangs.

  Short snarls punctuated the silence as Luasa circled. Ayden watched for his chance. Suddenly, Luasa folded her wings and dropped like a rock, snapping the membranes open only spans from the ground, landing with a crash on top of the nearest wolves.

  The Elves cried out in confusion, and Luasa snapped into visibility again when Ayden touched her fin. He leaped free of her, and she displayed the insanity of her wild nature as she tore into the wolves, biting and snapping, hurling blasts of flame that sent Direwolves yipping, squealing, and rolling until they found their feet and escaped with high-pitched howls. Their Dimn issued outraged cries, leaping forward with swords drawn, entering the fray. The rocky landscape was a writhing, roiling mass of snarling creatures and humans.

  Ayden drew his sword and leaped into the midst of the attack, supported by the Elves who fought with a vengeance.

  The Direwolves launched themselves at Luasa, but their sharp teeth slid ineffectively from her slippery scales. Only her sensitive muzzle was vulnerable, but she kept a roll of fire so steady that no wolf or Dimn could get close. Her powerful tail swished back and forth, sweeping aside Direwolves, Dimn, and the occasional Elf that got too close.

  Ayden spotted Iolar in the midst of enormous Direwolves, swinging his sword and wielding his bow and quiver at the same time. The Elf moved as if he were liquid silver, flashing so quickly, he hardly had time to register movement in his sight.

  Direwolves fell to his right and left, but more kept coming. Over the valley they swept, but Luasa and Chennuh kept them at bay.

  Then the Direwolves were replaced with Goblins. Ayden looked around; he was sure Sebastian or Nicholas Erlane would have focused on this pocket of fighting, but the castle was not visible from this area, and the main fighting was happening beyond them, out of sight. The Elves wore no colors so their opponents could not be sure to which army they belonged.

  Ayden dashed among the Goblins. They were easier to fight than the Direwolves; though they relied on swords and spears and teeth, they were slower and clumsier than the Direwolves, and Ayden buried his sword to the hilt in many of them.

  He checked over his shoulder for Kinna's bright red hair. He couldn't see her, but swaths of fire cut the air, barreling across the Goblins. At one point, a Goblin swung his sword when Chennuh had evidently swept low over the company, and the sword clashed with the Dragon scales, refracting both Chennuh and Kinna into visibility once more. Kinna didn't pause to touch the fin again. She wielded a sword and swung it to one side and the other. Concentration tightened her jaw, and pain, too.

  She, the symbol of hope for a nation of creatures, was forced to kill some for the sake of others. When a King urged his Dimn to subjugate his creatures with vile forms of torture, this was the end result.

  Ayden thrust his sword with extra vim through a Goblin and whirled to hack at another one approaching from behind.

  A sharp, high cry from Luasa pierced his thoughts, and he jerked his head in her direction. Two goblins had gained her back, and while one hacked at her wing, having little success against her armor, the other climbed her twisting, writhing neck, and brought his sword point-down into her soft snout.

  She screamed and flailed. The Goblin flew from her head, but his sword remained impaled in her muzzle.

  “Luasa!” Ayden charged toward her. He was nearly there when a wave of Goblins rolled over Luasa with their swords and shields, stabbing and hacking, aiming especially for her head where she was the most vulnerable.

  “No!” Ayden yelled, feeling helpless and ineffective.

  Then he reached them, fighting with the fury of a tornado, whirling and slashing at each Goblin. Several Elves ran to Ayden, swinging their own swords and firing arrows into the midst of the warty, dark creatures.

  The furor subsided as Ayden dispatched the last few Goblins from the Dragon's neck and looked around, realizing that the Elves and the Dragons had all but contained the Goblins.

  “How many more?” Ayden murmured as he searched the ridges for any more incoming hordes.

  He turned to Luasa. His Dragon lay, inert and still, her sides heaving, her scales slitted and hacked, her plated wings slashed, blood running in slick rivulets over mirrored scales.

  “No,” Ayden's voice broke as he knelt next to his Dragon. Wisping, pain-filled rumbles issued from her throat, and smoke hissed from her mouth in short, sharp bursts. Tears blurred Ayden's gaze; he touched the destroyed snout where a sword still protruded.

  Luasa's smoky iris gazed up at him. She blinked once and then closed her eye, groaning deep inside.

  “No,” Ayden cried again, wrapping his arms around her bloody scales and burying his head in the crook where her jawline met her neck. “Luasa, no.”

  He heard another Dragon's snort of alarm. Chennuh was charging toward them. Kinna was crying, her panicked face white and scared where she rode on Chennuh's neck. Chennuh released a stream of fire into the sky. He slowed as he reached Luasa, his snout nosing hers, high anxious noises issuing from his throat as he tried to rouse her.

  Her every breath seemed labored and harsh.

  Kinna slid from Chennuh's back, hurrying to Ayden's side, her hands gently touching Luasa's jaw, fingering the shattered scales. Luasa didn't even react.

  “We're losing her,” Ayden cried.

  “No!” Kinna shook her head. “We can't. Because if she goes, you go, too. You've achieved psuche.”

  Dread circled in Ayden's stomach. She was right. A creature and its Dimn, if they'd achieved psuche, could not live without the other. The connection was too intense, too close, to continue on one's own.

  Luasa was as much a part of him as he was of her, and if one of them was pulled from the other, like the slow drain of a bath, his life would flow from him as well.

  “Ayden,” Kinna pulled her hand back. “Can you heal her?”

  Ayden jerked his head up, staring at her. “I—haven't tried.”

  “Well, try!” Kinna snapped, motioning at the sword in the snout. “If it works on humans, maybe it'll work on Dragons, too? Particularly if you have psuche with her?”

  Ayden scrambled forward on his hands and knees, leaning over Luasa, calling the fire to his
hands. They didn't obey.

  Panic flooded Ayden's mind as he glanced desperately at his palms. “Not now, please. Please work!”

  No flames appeared. He slammed his hands against the unscaled portion of Luasa's snout, wrapping them around the base of the sword where it was buried in her hide. There were no flames. No heat flooded his fingertips.

  But—

  A sensation crept into his palms, one that he hadn't felt in four months, since the moment he'd handed the Amulet to Sebastian.

  Death, decay, and ash flooded his senses.

  “Kinna!” Ayden gasped, weakness and horror washing through him.

  Kinna, misunderstanding his cry, pushed Chennuh's snout out of the way. The Dragon protested, but allowed her space. She grasped the hilt of the sword, and with a sharp pull, released it from its Dragon-flesh prison.

  Ayden clamped his hands over the wound, and the ash, the death that he'd thought himself free of forever, flickered across the thick flesh, darkening the mirrored scales as it worked its way up and over Luasa's head, down her neck, along her body to the wings, and then to the tail—the very end of it.

  Her breathing eased, and for a long, silent moment, Ayden was sure he'd lost her, that he'd somehow finished her off. Ayden, the misfit, the one who could never do anything right, had killed his own Dragon, and then himself in the process. Turning everything to ash, as ever.

  And then Luasa opened her eyes, struggling to raise her head. Ayden let go of her snout, checking the wound. It had completely sealed shut. The other slashes in her scales had also healed, and even though the scales still gaped at those places, the hide beneath no longer bled. As Ayden watched, the scales began regenerating over the scarred flesh. Luasa rolled, shaking herself as she slowly got to her feet. She nosed Chennuh, who nipped her gently, swinging his huge head over her neck, crowding close to her.

  Ayden sagged against a boulder, staring at his hands. Ash-Touch had returned, but with it, some portion of control. He'd never been able to control it before, but as he gazed at his fingers, he felt the Touch ebb as he tugged it away from his flesh.

  He couldn't help it; he bent double and cried into his hands. He didn't know how to process all that had happened.

  Ash had always been his enemy, his curse, but it had saved Luasa's life. It had restored a dream to him that he'd once thought he could never have because of his curse.

  He swiped away the tears and glanced at Kinna where she stood with her hand over her heart, the residue of wide-eyed panic still on her face. Emotion crashed through Ayden.

  Kinna ran to Ayden and threw her arms around his neck. “I was so afraid we were going to lose you and Luasa,” she cried into his skin.

  Ayden pulled her closer, burying his head in her hair. “I know, I was afraid she was gone, too. I'm not ready to leave you, Kinna.”

  “I know,” she sniffed, and then she was kissing him again, despite what they'd decided the night before, and Ayden knew why. Their hearts had already decided, and though fear held Kinna in its firm grip, love had proven more powerful. It only made the road they could walk more difficult.

  Difficult, but not impossible. She would hate herself if her father were killed because she had given in to a moment of passion. He closed his eyes, enjoyed one more lingering second of her soft lips on his, and then gently broke the kiss. He didn't say anything, and the pain in her eyes was too much for him. He turned away, smoothing his hand over Luasa's scales, allowing her to arch her neck around him and nip him gently on the shoulder. Sympathetic noises issued from her throat—she could feel his inner turmoil—even as Chennuh felt Kinna's and tried to comfort her.

  It would have been amusing if it weren't so frustratingly heart-breaking, watching the two Dragons try to comfort their own separate Dimn. It was a challenging situation; Chennuh and Luasa were mates, one in their bodies and minds, and yet their Dimn could never be that way, not ever, and the obstruction was a difficult one to get around.

  Iolar approached from the side, bowing before Kinna. “Your Grace,” he said, “your assistance was invaluable, you and your Dragons.” He nodded to Ayden as well. “Without your help, I fear we would have been lost, and your plan could not succeed. As it is, I believe we will be able to proceed.”

  “Good,” Kinna nodded, shaking her hair over her shoulder and peeling her eyes from Ayden's. “How many have you lost?”

  A shadow crossed Iolar's face. “Several, Your Grace, at least forty-three, though the count is not fully complete. But it was not a complete rout, and we are thankful to you for that.”

  Kinna shook her head. “It was your courage and swift reaction that saved you all. We didn't do much.” She glanced at the darkening sky. “We can't relax yet, though, Iolar. The sun sets, and we are still vulnerable if we stay here. I want you and your men to retreat down to the lake and hide yourselves in the woods. I want you all to have a clear view of Sebastian's meeting place with Lianna, but keep yourselves hidden. Be prepared to leap into action; Sebastian is not known for keeping his promises. I have a feeling he will be accompanied by more men than it will appear at first sight.”

  “Aye, Your Grace.” Iolar strode away, motioning to his banner Elf to raise the signal for them to convene.

  Ayden absently patted Luasa. “You handled that well, Kinna. All goes to plan then?”

  “All goes to plan,” she murmured, meeting his gaze.

  And Ayden again saw the Queen she would become. Despite Kinna's insecurities, she embodied the hope of a life without oppression or slavery, the hope of creatures and Dimn alike. His own hope. He, too, had lived too long under Sebastian's Dimn system—which may have been originally designed to organize a chaotic living environment crowded with many different types of creatures, some of whom were quite dangerous if not treated with proper caution—but it had turned into mistreatment and mismanagement. It made Ayden angry, deeply angry, to see the power that Sebastian wielded and used for himself. He had the ability to use his position for so much good, and he refused. A waste, a complete waste, of talent and ambition, subverted by hatred, greed, and envy.

  Kinna would be different.

  * * *

  Ayden launched himself into the sky on Luasa's back, melding his mind with hers, putting his own tortuous thoughts behind him. As he gained altitude, he could see over the ridge, catching sight of ClarenVale. Dusk had fallen across the castle, bathing it in gloom. The war cries from Sebastian's army had faded as his forces had withdrawn for the night, seeking the shelters of their tents as they waited for morning and light again.

  Nicholas Erlane's forces lined the battlements, their gazes carefully trained on Sebastian's distant tents. Tense watchfulness dampened the air, and Ayden flew on Luasa's back toward the section where he knew the Dragons and their Dimn waited.

  He landed lengths behind the rest of them where they crouched in various spots on the side of the mountain, most of them attached to their Dimn with a heavy chain. Few of these Dimn had achieved psuche; it was still a very rare thing among the Dragondimn. Psuche with Dragons was notoriously difficult to achieve. A row of Poison-Quills mournfully watched the castle. Ayden was thankful for the downdraft of wind flowing over the tops of the Marron Mountains; it kept his scent away from them.

  He'd left Kinna behind for her part of the plan, and he wondered how wise it was. Chennuh and Luasa together were a force to be reckoned with. Each Dragon on their own did well in dangerous situations, but since the two were so aligned in their thinking, and Kinna and Ayden so close...

  He shut down that train of thought immediately. It was too painful.

  A Nine-Tail lazily switched his many-pointed tail back and forth only twenty spans downhill. His Dimn sat nearby, basking in the heat from the Dragon's body, talking quietly with the Dimn of one of the Poison-Quills.

  Ayden drew his sword, moving quietly down the slope toward the men.

  “Don't panic,” he murmured when he was just behind them, but of course, they did just that. They leaped to t
heir feet, whirling. Luasa and the Nine-Tail and the Poison-Quills all glared at each other.

  “I'm Ayden from West Ashwynd, and I come to you on behalf of Kinna, heir of Aarkan the Firebringer. Will you at least listen to what I have to say before you kill me?”

  * * *

  It was hard to keep a hundred Dragons quiet enough to surprise anyone or anything, despite the fact that the Dimn kept their Dragons carefully under control as they moved across the ridges around the perimeter of Sebastian's army and toward the lake.

  The King would be furious when he saw his own Dragons breaking rank, but the King deserved it, Ayden thought darkly. He'd used everyone else to gain his own ends, so this little bit of ironic justice would bring him down a peg or two.

  The Dragons stayed on the ground, moving more noisily, but less visibly than if they had been in the air. There were three Embers in the bunch, and while it was hard for an Ember to smother their flames, they could do it with intense concentration for short periods of time.

  At last they reached the ledge where Kinna had ordered them, and the Dragons lined the shelf in formation.

  It wasn't long before Ayden noticed a line of Sebastian's Griffons moving forward through the moonlight. They, too, kept to the ground rather than risk being seen in the skies, and their large, padded feet crept, catlike, through the woods below the Dragons, their sharp bird-eyes glancing all around them. From the other direction, Ayden caught more motion—more Griffons, but these were the larger, more heavily feathered variety native to Lismaria.

  And then, battle erupted. The high, clear shriek of Griffons sounded. All fury broke loose as the opposing lines of Griffons launched into each other, tearing and crying, feathers flying, hides ripping. As Ayden watched, Griffons sought the skies so they could return to earth in their death spiral dive, their way of killing.