Daybreak (50 page)

The truth was that he’d had no idea how the mind-walking had exhausted him. Add to that his battle with a dragon, and Kael could barely hold his eyes open.

It helped when Kyleigh kissed the top of his head. The fires that began at his scalp raced down the back of his neck and warmed him against the slowing rain. The skies trilled more frequently than the drops came down. It fell at hardly a drizzle, now. He supposed they ought to find someplace dry to sleep.

“I’m sorry,” Kyleigh whispered. Her arms tightened about him — as if she clung to the edge of everything. “I was just …”

“Worried?”

“Terrified,” she admitted. “Scared out of my wits. But if you haven’t thrown yourself into the sea by now, I suppose I must not have been too horrible.”

“I would never throw myself into the sea. You know I can’t swim.”

Her laughter warmed him every bit as much as her kiss. She squeezed him again.

A long moment passed when they didn’t speak. Kael waited until her heart slowed to its usual steady thud before he spoke again: “I don’t suppose you’d want to know what I —?”

“Never,” she said firmly. “There was a time when I might’ve wanted to hear it, but that was before all this. I know where I belong, now. And that’s enough.”

Kael sighed and wrapped his arms around her waist. There would be a time to worry about the things he’d seen. But for now, he was simply happy to be back at her side. “That’s probably for the best. There was nothing much in there but some cobwebs, and a bit of dust —”

“Shut it,” she said, half-laughing. 

He grinned when she slapped his arm. Then he lifted his head so he could meet her eyes. “I love you, Kyleigh. Nothing will ever change that.”

She kissed him on the chin. “I know.”

Kael waited, wondering if she would finally say it — on her own and unprovoked. But then her hand slipped beneath the collar of his shirt and bumped across the scars that scraped down his right shoulder. Her fingers traced the four lines down to their ends … and they fit against them perfectly.

Her smile slipped into a frown. “I wish you’d erase this.”

“Why?”

“I don’t like being reminded that I hurt you.”

“We hurt each other,” he whispered. “But that night was the start of everything. I don’t want to forget it.”

He’d bent to kiss her when a monstrous shadow crossed over their heads. Kael looked up and groaned when he saw that Gorm had made himself comfortable on the hill just above them.

His face burned when the dragon’s yellow gaze scraped across their tangled bodies, but Kyleigh hardly flinched. She arched her head back and snarled: “Do you mind?”

Judging by the way the dragon settled his wings about him, he minded very little.

“He’s just going to sit there and stare at us all night, isn’t he?” Kael muttered.

Kyleigh shrugged. “Probably. But I’m not sure he can help it … dragons are rather curious creatures.”

“I’m certain he could help it. He’s just being nosy.” Kael rolled away and lay down beside her — close enough that their shoulders touched. “It’s not as if you go around watching everybody.”

She gave him a wicked grin. “Perhaps … then again, perhaps I’m just very rarely spotted.”

It’d been days since Rua first called them to the red mountains — and Kael spent the long hours of each one trying desperately to be patient.
 

He was beginning to understand Kyleigh, now. The time he’d spent with her dragon half opened his eyes: he believed her when she said she couldn’t bear to see him hurt. What she’d done to him wasn’t a selfish thing. It wasn’t even a part of her mischief.
 

No, it was a desperate attempt to save him.

They truly
were
tied together. He understood now that his worry made her miserable. The darkness that plagued his thoughts must’ve stung her as meanly as it stung him. Kyleigh must’ve been able to feel his anger, his frustration. But worst of all, she must’ve sensed the hopelessness he felt — the wave that rose in the back of his mind, growing taller and fiercer with each passing day.
 

And if he couldn’t push it aside, it would drown them both.

So Kael tried to keep his worries at bay. He shoved the Kingdom to the back of his mind and tried to stay busy. For now, he would focus himself on the task at hand … and hope to mercy that his companions were safe.

Finally, the morning came when Gorm called them into the skies. He flew out ahead, leading them back towards the arched red mountains of Rua’s domain. Kael could practically hear the glee in his brassy voice as he told the others of their coming. The morning light drew the blue from his darkened scales as he wove in towards the mountains. 

He came so close to the summit that the muscles in Kyleigh’s back bunched together in anticipation of another fight. But at the last moment, Gorm seemed to think better of taunting Rua: he bolted down to the rocks at the mountains’ bottom and sulked while Kyleigh flew on.
 

“There are more of them,” Kael said. He peered around her horns and swore there were nearly a dozen more pairs of dragons perched atop the mountains’ arches. Their yellow eyes traced Kyleigh’s path unblinkingly. “What could they possibly be waiting for?”

They’re probably hoping I’ll be executed — slowly, and with a great deal of screaming
.

“Don’t even joke about that,” Kael growled.

Kyleigh’s scales warmed with her rumbling laughter.
I told you: dragons are curious. They might never have a chance to see such odd, two-legged creatures again
.

Kael hoped curiosity was all it was …

But he doubted it.

The moment they landed, Rua’s daughters came scrambling out from odd corners of the summit — tittering as they rushed to huddle beside their parents:

They’re back already
?

Do they have the answer, Father
?

If they don’t, will you kill them
?

No, don’t kill them
!
They’re funny little th
—

Rua’s grunt jolted the earth with such force that Kael might’ve toppled over, had he not braced himself against Kyleigh’s wing. 

Silence, daughters. Let your father deal with the humans
, His-Rua answered in a whistling song. She lay between his massive arms, glowing with the sunlight. 

Rua’s chin rested gently atop her back. He kept his eyes shut as Kyleigh slipped into her human form.
Come closer
, he rumbled.

“Absolutely not,” she said.

Kael couldn’t have agreed more. “We’ve done what you asked. We have the names.”

Speak them
.

Kyleigh’s fingers tightened around his arm. “My human name was Riona.”

And the dragon
?

“His-Dorcha.”

If Kyleigh felt strangely about having been a dragon’s mate, she didn’t show it. Kael had expected her to grimace, or to roll her eyes — or perhaps even mutter some insult under her breath. Instead, she’d done nothing more than shrug.

Which wasn’t like Kyleigh, at all.

Even now, her face was smooth and her eyes calm as she waited for Rua’s answer. Kael was more worried about His-Rua. He thought he saw the edges of her teeth for a moment, but then her snarl vanished as quickly as it’d come. 

Instead, it was Rua whose scaly lips peeled back.
You will not speak that name, halved one
!
You do not deserve to speak it
.

“All right, we won’t speak it again.” Kael was growing tired of all this. Now, with the Kingdom closer than ever, his patience hung on by a thread. “We’ve done everything you’ve asked. I think it’s time you let us go.”

No, there is one more thing you must do
. Rua’s eyes cracked open, and Kael swore he could feel the heat that burned within them.
You will follow me. You will see with your own eyes what you’ve done to us. You will feel the full burden of your betrayal, so that it may never be done again.
Then
you may leave.

*******

Rua led them south. They flew past the great mountain in the middle of the island and into a new land beyond. Kael grimaced as they crossed beneath the mountain’s shadow — but he wasn’t sure why. The cave he’d noticed before stared after him again. There was an eeriness about it, a spirit that chilled him to his bones.
 

If Death had a heart, he likely would’ve kept it inside that cave.

But though the mountain troubled him, Kael felt … drawn to it, somehow. He could hardly look away. He craned his neck around to watch it as Kyleigh flew, trying desperately to figure out what it was about the mountain that made him itch. He was still watching when His-Rua dipped in behind them.

Her fiery gaze settled upon his without fear. The black slits carved among the flames widened, seemed to be trying to speak. But their meaning was swept away from him — lost like words upon the wind.

Just beyond the mountain’s shadow stood a ring of sharp hills. From above, it looked like the gaping mouth of a minceworm: their tops were jagged, and an iron gray. The hills sloped inward at such an angle that they draped the valley within them in a thick, black shadow. Kael wagered the only time it saw any light was when the sun stood directly above it.

Rua landed with an earth-rumbling
thud
atop the hills. His great claws wrapped around their jagged crests, holding him in place. Kyleigh landed beside him, while His-Rua landed far behind. Kael was sure to stand where he could keep both dragons in the corner of his eyes.

He didn’t trust either of them.

“Where are we?” Kyleigh whispered, once she’d donned her human skin. Her dark brows furrowed as she drifted up the hill. When Kael grabbed her hand, she held it absently.

You remember it. Surely you must dream of it
, Rua grunted. The shadow of his massive head swept over them as he turned to gaze into the valley.
A she-dragon’s nest is as dear a thing as her fledglings, as her heart. It holds a happiness too great for her spirit to bear
.

Kyleigh’s glare deepened. “Well, I don’t remember it.”

Kael couldn’t be sure, but he thought he saw a tinge of red cross her face. “It’s all right if you remember. I understand —” 

“I don’t,” she insisted, though the way she bared her teeth said otherwise. When she turned to Rua, her voice were harsh: “What do you want from me, dragon? Just tell me what I have to do, and let’s get on with it.”

Rua took so long to blink that Kael had to wonder if he was being slow on purpose.
All you must do is step over to the edge
…
and look
.

“Fine.”

Kael stumbled forward as Kyleigh dragged him up the hill. Her grip was impossibly tight. He had to scramble to keep her pace. Once she’d marched her way to the edge, she stopped. “What am I looking at? What did you bloody well want me to see?”

She came to the edge no more than a pace before him. It only took a breath for Kael to reach her side. But by the time he did, everything had changed.

Kyleigh still scowled. Her teeth were still bared. Her fingers nearly crushed him in their grip. She was absolutely livid in every place, save for one: her eyes.

Flames whipped dangerously within them. Their anger was locked in a desperate battle against another force — a force that rose from the embers and swelled. This second force met the fire’s rage with a depth that covered it to its sputtering top. Then, when her eyes could bear the rise no longer, they closed …

And tears rolled down her cheeks. 

It all happened too quickly. Kael didn’t know what’d caused her tears, but he knew he wanted them to stop. He couldn’t bear to see her cry. “What is it?”

She didn’t answer. Instead, she tore her hand from his and stumbled backwards. Her face went white.

Kael knew it had something to do with the shadowed valley. He ran as close to the edge as he dared, but the darkness was far too thick. He couldn’t see what it was that frightened her. “What’s happening? What’s down th —? Kyleigh!”

It was too late. She collapsed before he could reach her; her face was stark with pain. She had both hands clamped tightly over her mouth — desperate to stop the gasping screams trapped behind them.
 

Kael ran for her. He heard the sound of claws scraping against the stone, saw the white blur barreling down upon him. But he didn’t stop. He dropped his shoulder and matched His-Rua’s charge.
 

His muscles coiled as their bodies struck. The warrior in him planted its feet and tried to shove her away from Kyleigh. He’d gained an inch when the world suddenly turned upon its head.

“Put me down!” he roared as Rua lifted him by his boots. “Get away from her — don’t touch her!”

But Rua only raised him higher, and Kyleigh got further away. She’d fallen to her knees. Her hands were braced against the ground as if it took all of her strength to keep from collapsing onto her chest.

His-Rua leaned over her shoulder, blocking her from Kael’s sight. The dragon’s whistling song filled the air — but he couldn’t understand it. The only thing he understood was Kyleigh when she screamed:

“I don’t want to — let me go!”

His-Rua came up on her hindquarters. Her powerful foreclaws were clamped around Kyleigh’s arms. Her wings burst open in a spray of grit, and Kael swung up with a roar.

He drove his fists into Rua’s snout and the dragon’s mouth fell open in surprise. Wind howled in his ears as he plummeted towards His-Rua. The warrior in him fixed its gaze upon her throat —

Rua’s massive claw snatched him out of the air. The insides of his head slammed against his skull and for half a blink, the world went dark.
 

When Kael’s vision returned, Kyleigh and His-Rua were gone. A shock arced across his ribs as Rua’s massive claw slammed into his back, driving him belly-first into the rock. The red dragon’s palm spanned the length of his middle. Its scales were impossibly rough: they felt like shards of glass and scraped his flesh with even the slightest turn.

Rua had given him less than an inch to breathe. Slowly, Kael managed to lift his head just in time to see His-Rua dip into the valley — Kyleigh hanging from her arms.