Daybreak (43 page)

Another dragon circled the sky above Rua’s head. His thick body was covered in blue-black scales, and the under edges of his wings turned almost purple as he crossed over the sun. The horns that curved behind his ears seemed a bit too large for his head: his long neck had to snap in a whip’s motion just to lift them.

Gorm, one of the unmated
, His-Rua said as she cut sharply aside.
Follow me, halved one. We must give Rua his space
.

Though she spoke calmly, the other dragons moved as if they’d been jolted by a shock: they clambered under arches and hid in the depths of caves. The three daughters crammed themselves behind a boulder, all of their eyes fixed warily upon Rua.

The scales across his muzzle began to glow as he watched Gorm circle. He roared in warning, snapped open his monstrous wings. But the blue-black dragon didn’t flinch. In fact, he tucked his wings and fell into a dive.

Gorm dropped like an arrow’s bolt. Flames spewed out the sides of his mouth in wet tendrils as he fell; the weight of his horns dragged his great body to a perilous speed. In the half-blink before he reached Rua, he swung his claws out before him. Each of their dagger points was aimed for Rua’s eyes. He bellowed as if he meant to gouge them out, meant to snap his neck.

Rua still hadn’t budged. For a moment, Kael thought he might be crushed. He gripped Kyleigh’s spines and braced himself for the moment when the dragons’ bodies would collide.

At the last second, Rua swung his head forward. It fell like a hammer on the back of Gorm’s neck, rent the air with a crash so loud and sharp that it stung Kael’s ears. And he won the battle with a single blow.

Gorm slammed into the cliffs beneath him, launched by Rua’s head and dragged down by the weight of his horns. Chunks of stone spewed up behind him as he tumbled from one arch the next. His claws scrabbled madly as he tried to regain his footing. In the end, he didn’t stop until he reached the mountains’ bottom — a tangle of wings and limbs buried beneath a pile of rocks.

Rua glared as Gorm dug his way free, scales burning across his face. The blue-black dragon grumbled back, but seemed to think better of going after him a second time. Rua scowled until Gorm slunk beneath one of the arches. Then he looked away.

Kael clenched Kyleigh’s spines tightly. Scales popped up across his skin and his warrior half sharpened, ready for trouble. But the red dragon’s gaze hardly touched him before they drifted to follow His-Rua.

My-Rua
, he boomed. 

One of his great wings unfurled, revealing a gap of rock by his side. The white dragon slipped into it gracefully. He bent to press his muzzle against her scaly cheek. His great head dwarfed hers easily.

Kael was so busy watching them that he didn’t realize Kyleigh was about to stop. She landed hard on the small peak beneath Rua, and the jolt sent Kael rolling across her shoulder. His legs broke into a stumbling run the moment his feet touched the ground — the only thing that saved him from scraping his chin.

Rua’s crackling voice shook the ground beneath his boots. Kael rushed over to Kyleigh and pressed his hand against her flank, trying to listen.

…
will not wear that skin in my presence. It is a mockery of one who was dear to me
.

“What’s he talking about?” he hissed as Kyleigh slipped into her human skin.

The fires in her eyes whipped about as she stared at the red dragon. “Nothing. He’s mad.”

You do not understand the depths of my anger
, Rua rumbled back — though Kael was fairly certain she’d meant the
other
sort of madness.
You live only because I wish you to know how you’ve hurt us. I wish you to remember everything you’ve done, so that the stain of your cowardly act may never fade from your eyes
.

“So says the dragon who sent his mate after us. You ought to think twice before crying coward,” Kael said back, his blood burning hot. “Were you too afraid to come face me yourself? Didn’t want another scar, did you?”

Molten scales flared to life across Rua’s muzzle. His wings snapped open with enough force to roll several rocks off the side of the cliff.
I will face you now, human
!
I will tear your
face
from your skull —
!
No,
his eyes widened and he pulled back from His-Rua suddenly.
No, my heart. It will hurt you
.

Then hold it carefully. Do not let it overcome you
, she growled.

His great head dipped in a nod, and the fire in his face went out.
I sent My-Rua to you because I knew you would not harm her. We males only quarrel with each other. But now she has led you here, into a mountain filled with males
. 
If I fall to your magic, they will have you torn apart before you cast again
.

Kael felt the weight of their glowing eyes upon him: the dragons down the mountain rumbled their warnings while Rua’s daughters peered tentatively over the boulder. Even if he’d
had
magic, he didn’t like his chances.

Kyleigh’s hand tightened around his. “Look, I honestly can’t remember what I’ve done to you. There’s much about my life — my lives — that’s lost to me. It often happens during the … change.”

Kael stayed still. She was admitting this to him as much as she was to Rua. Though she’d never said it aloud, he’d already guessed.

“The thing you asked of me … it’s gone, faded away. I can’t remember, and keeping me trapped on this island isn’t going to help.”

It might come back in time
, Rua growled.
 

Kyleigh set her jaw tightly, though her voice was strained: “Whatever I’ve done, I’m sorry for it. I can’t offer you any more than that. There’s a war in our homelands, and our companions need us.”

Men are always at war
, Rua muttered, without an ounce of concern. His monstrous head tilted to the side.
What do you wish, My-Rua
?
Ask, and it shall be yours
.

Kael felt his mouth drop open. The white dragon watched him intently — and he couldn’t help but think that her eyes weren’t nearly as kind as they’d been before.

Something dangerous burst within them for a moment. Her muscles coiled and swelled. Kael took a half step forward. He wasn’t sure what he would do if His-Rua charged, but she would have to go through him to get to Kyleigh. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

Rua pressed his muzzle into her cheek, and the fires went out. Her eyes were wide and calm once more when she replied:
For the halved one to remember what she has done would be punishment enough. When she comes to us with both of her names, we’ll lead her to them. Then she will be free to go
.

You’ve heard my mate. Do not step back into my presence until you remember
. 

The crackling in Rua’s voice had grown into a steady growl. When his eyes snapped open, Kael’s breath caught in his throat.

His-Rua hadn’t calmed. Her fury was still there, every flame still burning bright — but they burned inside Rua’s eyes now. It was
his
muscles that coiled,
his
teeth that bared. And when he spoke again, his voice shook the mountains:

Leave us —
now!

They were only a few miles outside of Harborville, now. And it couldn’t have come at a better time.

The moment Lysander gave the order to halt, Shamus plunked down hard. There were blisters on the sides of his feet and holes worn into the creases of his boots. Though pebbles had been rattling around their soles for days, he was afraid to take them off.

He didn’t want to think about what his skin might look like underneath.

“Seas men weren’t made for hiking around,” he grumbled as he sat. The ache dropped from his legs and went to pound at the tips of his toes. He groaned against it.

They’d spent several clouded days and long, damp nights trekking through the spiny woods along the shore. The air only got colder the further they went. The pirates’ hair and clothes were salt-crusted, their boots squeaked as they dragged their bodies across the hills. Not a one of them said much of anything: they sat down atop rocks and bits of fallen trees, mumbling curses as they peeled off their boots.

Lysander marched away from them and went to stand beside Shamus. He glared at the horizon like it’d cheated him. “It’s been days, now. There hasn’t been so much as a flash of light or a wisp of flame behind us.”

“Isn’t that a good thing, Captain?”

“Perhaps,” he whispered, his mouth gone taut. “Whatever was after us has obviously given up … but it’s still out there. I get chills just thinking about where it might be going next. Scout ahead, dogs,” he called behind him. “I think we’ve gone far enough, for today. See if you can’t find us somewhere with fewer blasted rocks to make camp.”

The pirates shuffled off with a muttering of
ayes
.

Shamus knew all too well what’d been after them. It’d started to haunt him the moment he saw the flames. He waited until the pirates had wandered out of earshot before he growled: “It was those blasted mages again — I know it was. They’re always tearing across the seas, dragging decent men to early graves. My bones start trembling any time there’s a mage around.”

“Perhaps if they’d started trembling sooner, I’d still have my ship,” Lysander muttered.

“Just because you’re bitter about the Witch doesn’t mean every mage in the Kingdom decided to drop spells on our heads.” Jonathan’s dark hair was wilder than usual: stiff with salt and poking up at every angle. “What could the mages possibly want with us?”
 

“If they can make a storm pop up out of nothing, then they can call down fire from the sky,” Shamus insisted. “Whoever it was is probably trying to trap us inland. Oh, I don’t want to be a fish again! I can feel the scales coming back …”

Jonathan rolled his eyes while Shamus scratched at the sudden itch that’d sprung up across his arms. “No one’s going to turn us into fish. It was probably some fiery boulder launched from shore. Two treetops says it was Alders trying to make more coin off of us.”

“It was mages, I tell you! Listen to you, gabbing on about flaming catapults when it was very
clearly
magic! And they don’t need a reason to spell anybody, I’ll have you know. They just hex and curse wherever they ple —” 

“I’m a coward!” Lysander wailed — so suddenly that Jonathan leapt back with a yelp. “I’m a spineless, shipless coward! I can’t go into Harborville like this. What will my dogs think of me? How could anybody ever listen to a captain with no ship?”

“Hold on there — you’ve still got a ship. We’ve just got to march ourselves into Harborville and get her back.” Shamus tried to be gentle with it, but Lysander seemed beyond consoling.

“I don’t deserve to sail her! I’ve got no right … I should’ve just drowned and been done with it.” He sank down upon the nearest rock, burying his face in his arms.

“Poor Captain,” Shamus whispered.

Jonathan frowned as a noise that sounded suspiciously like blubbering emanated from the crooks of Lysander’s arms. “I don’t know, mate. Maybe the rules are there for a reason.”

“Don’t be a codpiece about it. The poor man lost half his heart in that fire.”

“And
all
of his marbles,” Jonathan muttered under his breath.

Shamus glared at him before he crouched beside Lysander. “I know you’re hurting, Captain. But we’re not far from Harborville. It’ll be a day’s walk at most. There’ll be a ship and a crew waiting for you —”

“Yes, one I can’t do anything about. All of my gold is melted and sunk at the bottom of the seas. If we set foot in Harborville, we’ll be at Alders’ mercy.”

“If only there was some way to rescue it
without
paying for it,” Jonathan whispered loudly as he turned to stare into the distance. “Hmm, there’s a word for this. It’s right on the tip of my —”

“You aren’t helping things,” Shamus growled. He clapped one thick hand on Lysander’s shoulder, jolting him mid-blubber. “I’m sure Alders will be reasonable once he hears what’s happened. He’ll never get his coin if he keeps us locked away. And that doesn’t seem like a very sensible thing for a merchant. What do you say we straighten up and have a chat with him, Captain?”

Lysander raised his head. He dragged a filthy sleeve across his eyes and muttered: “Very well. I suppose we don’t have much choice, do we? Perceval and his lot are probably already at Harborville, spreading nasty rumors. We might as well —”

“Captain!” One of the pirates bounded over the craggy rocks, eyes wild and sword in hand. “You’d better come quick, Captain. Things are about to get thick.”

Lysander followed him at a run. Jonathan loped behind him and Shamus tried to keep up. The running jostled his poor feet so badly that he wound up moving at more a hop than anything. But at least he managed to keep his pace.

They tore through the thorny brush and out into an open stretch of shore. The cliffs beside them dropped straight into the seas. Another outcrop of woods lay ahead. The pirates stood in an arch near the shore’s edge, blades drawn and glinting at the trees.
 

By the time Shamus followed Lysander to the front of the line, he was out of breath — otherwise he might’ve sworn at the sight that lay before them.

A company of stony-eyed soldiers were gathered at the edge of the woods. They wore gold-tinged armor and kept their spears leveled at the pirates. The man at their lead held a thick set of chains in his hand, chains that linked to the shackles of the merchant beside him.

Shamus recognized Perceval immediately. There weren’t many fellows with eyes that stuck out like a frog’s, and they only got wider at the sight of Lysander. He thrust a stubby finger at them and shrieked: “There he is! That’s their leader. I told you there was a band of outlaws roaming around. My crew and I are nothing but honest merchants,” he went on, pleading with the man who held his chains. “If you let us go, we’ll be no trouble at all … or if you could just let
me
go —”

“Shut it.”

A robed man slunk out of the crowd and stood on Perceval’s other side. He kept one hand draped against the twisting black dragon etched into his robes, and in the other he clutched a slender dagger.