Dragon Fire (26 page)

He shifted.

* * *

“Rakan?” said Khotan, standing like a guard in front of the entrance to his lair. “What are you doing here?”

Rakan faced the three Old Dragons, unsteady on his feet. A wave of nausea welled up from exhaustion. He could sense Yttresken’s and T’eng Sten’s kais lurking in two separate groups on the wind swept plain that lay below Khotan’s lair. “I need to see Dvara… it’s my fault she’s hurt.”

“You said you were staying in Tromso,” snapped T’eng Sten.

“He’s an unruly whelp,” Yttresken said derisively. “Just like his half-sister.”

“How can it be your fault if she and T’eng Sten got into a fight?” asked Khotan, ignoring Yttresken’s insulting comment.

“What?” Rakan said. Why had T’eng Sten lied? He hadn’t fought with Dvara. Dvara had jumped into the shield around the void-trails’ lair on her own.

“Well, as touching as sibling affection is,” said Yttresken with a denigrating drawl, “I must return to Yarlung’s. I suppose your presence on this planet was because you intend to join us? Or are you spying on us for your cohorts?”

“I’m here to listen to what Yarlung has to offer,” said T’eng Sten. “The only difference between us is that I admit the fact that I look out for my Cairn’s best interest.”

Yttresken raised his eyebrows. “Then we should be going. Dvara is safe with Khotan.”

“She’s in your hands now,” said T’eng Sten with a polite nod to Khotan. In a near whisper he added, “Rakan should rest for a while. I believe the events of the evening were too much for him. I urged him to stay at home because he was a bit delirious.”

“I’m not—” began Rakan before Khotan silenced him.

“I care for my own,” said Khotan. “They’ll both be out of harm’s way.”

Yttresken snorted. “They should have become kais before now. There’s a reason for the Code we have always followed.”

“Are you challenging Yarlung’s decision?” T’eng Sten feigned surprise.

“Not at all. I leave that honor to you.”

“Then we should be going.” T’eng Sten bowed again to Khotan and shifted, followed directly by Yttresken.

“Where’s Dvara? Is she okay?” asked Rakan. He was too tired to reach out with his mind-touch.

“She’s in the nook.” Khotan stepped to the side and let Rakan pass first into his lair.

Rakan crossed the vast stone hall and walked towards the dimly lit spiral stairs that led down to Dvara’s favorite place in Khotan’s lair. He stopped short on the top step. He turned to his father. “Why didn’t you come when she was in trouble?” Khotan was the only one Dvara had a mind-link with. He would have felt her distress even more clearly than Rakan had with their partial link. Or than T’eng Sten had through the Firemark.

Khotan sat down in his massive arm chair, looking suddenly frail and worn. “She’ll have to tell you that. I can’t.”

Rakan looked at his father, confused. “Why not?”

“Rakan’dzor, please. Not now.”

Rakan turned and descended into the lower reaches of Khotan’s lair, not sure if he’d find his sister in dragon or human form. He turned the final corner and stopped. She was curled around T’eng Sten, her dress reflecting the blazing fire.

“What are you doing here?” asked Rakan. “I thought you were at Yarlung’s.”

“I am,” said T’eng Sten with a lift of his eyebrows. “Being a Master Transformer has its advantages. Once the meeting starts, I’ll have to go. I can’t maintain more than one real conversation at a time. For the moment no one knows if they can trust me or not, so they’re ignoring me and I appear to be in a deep discussion with my seconds. Which means I can be here.”

“Is that how you’ve managed to play both sides all the time? By creating illusions and pretending to be in two places at once?”

“I didn’t come to argue with you Rakan’dzor,” said T’eng Sten, standing up. “I came to thank you. And to tell you both to stop being so stupid.”

“Does Khotan know you’re here?” asked Rakan.

“No. And he can’t. For his own sake. He’s already done too much against Yarlung’s will.”

“Then why don’t you leave?”

“Because you followed us here. No one can know what really happened to Dvara. Let them think I was so angry that I attacked her myself.”

“Why?” asked Rakan, openly challenging the Kairök.

“Because you have no idea what you’re doing or what the stakes are.” T’eng Sten’s voice shook with anger. “Just promise me to stay away from the valley and the shield.”

“You’re the one who threw yourself into it.”

“I wasn’t reacting rationally.” T’eng Sten moved forward menacingly. “Whether you promise or not, I’ll know if you go there.”

“And then?”

“Oh, leave him alone,” Dvara said, her voice faint. “He’s not that stupid. He wasn’t the one who threw himself into the shield without thinking.”

T’eng Sten shifted out of the room, leaving behind only a faint rippling in the air.

“He’ll be back,” Dvara said, more to herself than to Rakan.

“Do you want me to put up a shield?” Rakan asked, but Dvara didn’t answer. He put a hand on her forehead. Her energy was dangerously low.

“You can’t make a shield that Khotan wouldn’t feel. Only T’eng Sten has managed to do that.”

“So why don’t you tell Khotan if you’d rather not see T’eng Sten?”

“I take back what I said earlier. You really are stupid, Rakan.”

Rakan walked around the nook that was big enough for Dvara to curl up in even when she was in her dragon form. The smooth sandstone walls reflected the crackling fire, making them look like brushed gold. Finally, Rakan sat on the bench that had been shaped out of the rock near the fire. “Why didn’t Khotan come when you were hurt?”

Dvara hesitated before answering. “T’eng Sten took away my tattoos.”

“What? Why did he do that?” Rakan jumped to his feet. “How did he even know?”

“He felt the poison I was carrying,” Dvara said, her voice so low that Rakan had to kneel in front of her to hear. “The day Anna came up into our rooms when Kariaksuq tried to catch me for Yttresken. She chased me into the earth where a couple of fire dragons were waiting for me. I was out numbered. I had nowhere else to go but home, even though I knew Anna was there.”

Rakan bowed his head. He hadn’t realized that she had tried to protect Anna. “But why did T’eng Sten remove the tattoos?”

Dvara didn’t answer at first. “He said I should live as free as I was pretending to be.”

“What do you mean, free? You have your rök. You are free. And so am I.”

“No. The tattoos bind you to the marker. Your rök can’t be taken. You’re not free.”

“What?” The burning sensation Rakan had felt several times recently flared in his veins. He stood with a groan and leaned his head against the wall. He needed to rest. He had pushed himself too far.

The air shimmered and T’eng Sten shifted back into the nook. He sat down and Dvara curled herself around him. “I can’t live like this anymore,” she said, burying her face in his lap. Her rök began to hum as if it was about to manifest. “Take it now, please.”

“No. You’re too weak. And even if you weren’t you know why I can’t.”

Dvara curled away from T’eng Sten. “I hate you,” she said viciously, her whole body shaking.

“Ask Khotan to take your rök,” said T’eng Sten tenderly. “He’s always been fair to you and he’d release you when the time came. We can trust him.”

Dvara flipped around, her red eyes wild. “I can’t ask Khotan. It would kill him.”

“Then stay here until I can shift you back to the lair in Tromso.” T’eng Sten leaned forward and kissed her softly. “I’ll come as often as I can. I promise.”

With a mournful wail, Dvara morphed into her dragon form. Her increased bulk snuffed out the fire and pushed T’eng Sten off the bed. Rakan jumped back, avoiding her black crested tail as it flicked angrily. Khotan rushed down the stairs, and T’eng Sten shifted out of the room.

“She’s okay,” Rakan said. He pressed a hand to his throbbing head. “I think.” Her vermillion scales were dull and her crest drooped to the side.
I hope.

Khotan’s eyes flared. “No she isn’t. And she hasn’t been since I gave her back her rök.” His voice softened. “It’s not your fault. Go rest, you’re tired. I’ll take care of her.”

A
RE YOU SURE HE DIDN’T SLIP
something into her drink?” asked Ingrid quietly on the other side of Anna’s bedroom door. “She didn’t even want breakfast.”

Anna rolled her eyes. Why was her mother so against Pemba?

“Yes, Ingrid, I’m sure,” she heard Red answer. “We were with her the whole time. And, besides, Pemba wouldn’t do something like that.”

“Are you sure? You don’t really know him…”

“Yes, I’m sure. He’s really not that kind of guy. Trust me.”

Anna pulled up her comforter.
Thanks, Red.

“Alright, well, I hope you’re right,” she heard her mom say.

“I am. She promised to come with me to the Botanical Gardens today. I’ll go shake her out of bed.”

Anna’s eyes flew open.
What?
After a long silence Anna heard her mother say, “Okay. Thanks.”

The door opened and Red walked in. “Time to get up, sleepyhead.”

“Humph.”

“We’re going for a walk.”

“I never said I would.”

“No,” laughed Red. “But now your mother thinks you did, so you had better get up.”

Anna smiled. “How do you always make me laugh even when I don’t want to?”

Red sat down on the side of the bed. “He didn’t call?”

“No.”

“It’s still early.” Red glanced at the clock. “Sort of.”

“He’s gone.”

“Just because he hasn’t called you yet?”

Anna looked at Red. “No. I can feel when he’s here. And he isn’t.”

Red met her eyes, his face uncharacteristically serious. “You’re right. I can feel it too.”

Anna shot up. “Really?”

“Easy, girl,” said Red, moving out of the way. “Get dressed. We can talk about it in the Gardens, okay?”

* * *

Anna got out of the car in the Botanical Garden parking lot and tucked her chin into her scarf. She frowned at the dismal grey fog of late March. It was so thick she couldn’t even see the fjord. “Why did you want to come here?”

Red faced the sky and spread his arms. “Because it’s nicer to be outdoors where you can feel the sun.”

Anna squinted at the blurry orange orb that hung miserably in the sky. “Maybe.”

Red laughed and hooked his arm through hers. He guided her up a winding path covered in compact snow. It was still white, in spite of the many people who had trod there before. “How well do you know the Gardens?” he asked.

“Uh, like everyone else? Every year since kindergarten?”

“Have you ever felt anything here?”

“Like what?” she said, eyeing him.

Red smiled and pulled her forward.

“Like what?” she repeated. Curiosity quickened her stride.

“Like that.” Red pointed to a huge black rock that contrasted starkly with the snow covered mountainside.

“The rock?” Anna went over and sat on it, not sure what to expect. A faint tingling in the back of her neck reminded her of how it felt when a new energy was about to appear. She looked at the rectangular rock again and then at Red.

“Touch it,” he said quietly.

Anna took off her glove and placed her hand on the rock’s surface. It felt warm, even though she knew it couldn’t be. Curious, she let her mind-touch slip forward to the tips of her fingers. The rock almost felt like it should breathe. “It feels…”

Red sat down. “Alive. I don’t know how or why. But it is.”

Anna looked carefully at Red; she felt a sadness about him that she had never sensed before. Slowly, she let her mind-touch reach out to him.

Red nudged her in the shoulder. “Pemba teach you how to do that?”

Anna pulled back. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, just…”

“Be careful.”

“Yeah.”

Anna felt the warmth of the sun on her face and looked up. The clouds were breaking. She could almost make out the long winding ridge of the Tinden peak on the other side of the fjord. “Why is your energy flat?”

Red didn’t answer. Anna glanced at him, wondering if she had offended him. He gave her a terse smile. “It’s not,” he said finally. For a split second he shimmered. “I just hide it.”

“How do you do that?” asked Anna, so amazed by her cousin’s sudden transformation into a whirling mass of energy that she didn’t even notice Liv come up.

“What are you doing?” snapped Liv, her eyes flaring like sparks. “You didn’t even put up a shield.”

Red jumped up to face Liv. “I trust Anna,” he snarled.

“It’s not a question of trust.”

“Then what is it? I’m sick of creeping around and hiding.”

Anna looked from one to the other. Red’s energy was flat again, but Liv’s shimmered like an electric blue shroud. Why did Red have to hide his energy when Liv didn’t? and what did her own look like?