Dragon Fire (46 page)

“Well, if June isn’t a mix of the two, then she’s changed so deeply that she’s no longer Paaliaq. Either way, we shouldn’t kill her.”

Dvara snorted. “It doesn’t matter who she is. If we kill her we can start a new life. We’ll all be free.”

“But her kais will die.”

“She’ll free them.”

“No, she won’t.” Rakan sank into his favorite chair. “She doesn’t even know they’re there. I don’t know how to explain what I saw. It’s like they’re in suspension. They’re suffering.”

“It’s not our problem,” Dvara said.

“Yes, it is. I can’t just let them die. There are over a hundred of them. Father, can’t you make Yarlung understand that?”

Khotan shook his head. “No.”

“Can’t you even try?”

“There are some things you can’t change, Rakan. Yarlung was my Kairök. She won’t listen to me.”

“But she isn’t anymore—”

Khotan held up a hand, silencing Rakan. “Even when she gave me back my rök, I knew I’d have to choose my battles. I was willing to give up almost everything. But there was one thing I couldn’t,” said Khotan. “And that was you. I fought her to have you here with me and Dvara. And I’ll never regret what she made me accept in order to have that.”

“What did she make you accept?” Rakan asked warily.

Khotan growled and turned his back. But Rakan could feel his father’s pain.

“He can’t talk about it, okay?” snapped Dvara. She squared her shoulders and crossed her arms. “But I can, since I’m no longer connected to him.” She looked defiantly at Khotan and then back at Rakan. “Why haven’t you ever wondered how he and Yarlung can speak? He has his rök.”

Rakan felt his pulse slow down. “Kraal’s poison.” He had never questioned that they could mind-link. They always had.

“No. Her own. And she made it so that no one, not even her, can remove it without killing Khotan.”

Khotan walked towards the fire that flickered in the stone hearth. “It’s okay.” His voice was choked. He leaned against the stone mantle. “I have chosen my final battle.” He faced Rakan. “I will give my life so that you and Dvara can live yours. Remember that, when the time comes,” he said. “It is my choice.”

Rakan stared at his father’s outline, wondering how to protect June from a suicide attack without anyone getting hurt. Including his father.

R
AKAN PACED HIS FATHER’S LAIR. HE
wanted to go back to Anna, but if the Meet adjourned he wouldn’t feel it in Tromso. Especially not if he was with Anna… he shut his eyes, imagining her lips press against his, her energy that felt like a shielder’s mingle with his. Warmth filled his body and he realized a second too late that he was being shifted by one of the Eld.

“You disappoint me,”
said the disembodied voice of the Trailer Eld before dropping him into a free fall.

Rakan flipped in midair and landed on his feet, both knives drawn, ready to fight. The rotunda had been restructured so that the Eld were clearly in charge. They were seated behind a stone podium facing a semicircle of Kairöks on their thrones. The alcoves behind the Eld were empty. Rakan straightened and put his knives away. They’d be useless anyway. He faced the Eld.

“Show us your memory of Paaliaq,” they said in unison.

“No,” Rakan answered. A murmur of surprise rippled behind him.

“It was not a request.”
The Mind Eld stood. The rust and iron lining of her cloak flashed brightly. She spread her hands. An image appeared of June launching herself at Liv and Erling. Their wings and fair hair left no doubt as to their identity as Elythia. The rotunda broke into cries of anger and hatred that intensified as June morphed into an emerald green dragon with a gold crest, her black claws stretched to attack Liv. Fury exploded within Rakan and the image shattered. But it was too late. Everyone had seen June as Paaliaq. And they had seen the Elythia.

“Well,” said T’eng Sten coolly, his voice carrying above the mayhem. “I suppose that disproves Haakaramanoth’s claim to having taken Paaliaq’s place as Kairök after she died. Perhaps he should leave now.”

A gong sounded. “Kairök Haakaramanoth’s position is not subject to discussion. He remains,” said the Eld. “The question at hand is Kairök Yarlung’s claim to have found Kairök Paaliaq.”

“But the Elythia are alive. Who cares about Paaliaq?” cried Kairök Japetus.

“Silence. Kairök Yarlung’s claim is legitimate. A duel between Kairök Yarlung and Kairök Paaliaq will be held at the next Call to Rise. The Elythia will be left alone as per our truce.”

“What truce? We thought they were dead.”

“We signed a truce with the Ascended after the war.” The mention of the Elythian rulers brought a communal hiss of anger from the assembly. “Enough. The Draak and the Elythia will forever remain apart. The truce remains.” The Eld’s statements caused an uproar.

“A duel can’t be set without both parties being present,” stated Kairök Tetherys, once silence had been restored.

“Kairök Paaliaq is being summoned.” Another ripple of anger travelled around the rotunda. Rakan clenched his fists, ready to protect June.

A tense silence filled the hall as the Eld shimmered, searching for June. Rakan hoped that she was in the light. Even if her kais were suffering, it would be better than being called into the Meet. Time dragged on and Rakan glanced at Haakon. His face was immobile and he seemed unconcerned until Rakan noticed the tension in his jaw.

The flickering light of the huge torches that had been installed for the trial made the rotunda look like the inside of a dead dragon’s ribcage. Rakan looked closer. The torches were made of the black metal known as kor. The only metal not found on Earth. And the only metal that could slice through a dragon’s hide. But they didn’t feel like the metal of his knives. They felt cold to his mind-touch. And strangely empty. The flames that licked up the sides of the vault gave no light. Instead they absorbed it, making the dark markings that looked like ribs. It was a shield, disguised as light. Or rather, a shield against light. A shield against the Elythia. Maybe the Eld weren’t as sure of the Elythian adherence to the truce as they tried to appear.

The enforced silence began to weigh on Rakan. All but the Kairöks were shifting their weight uneasily. Rakan hadn’t noticed before, but Haakon didn’t have the standard two bodyguards with him. Rakan felt Haakon’s awareness turn to him, even though he didn’t move. Rakan resisted the urge to look away. He focused on Haakon’s trail. It wasn’t a Kairök’s, but it wasn’t exactly a kai’s either. And it occasionally shimmered oxidized green.

Rakan felt a strange sense of calm wrap around him. A wave of warmth filled him and he floated in limbo. Rakan forced himself to resist, but it was too strong. The Eld were altering his perception of time, and there was nothing he could do.

When he came back to himself everything was as it had been. Except that June was curled up on a stone throne that had been added next to Haakon’s. Rakan cursed himself for not having been able to resist the Eld’s manipulation of his center of gravity. He hadn’t seen her arrive and had no idea how long she had been there. The Kairöks were fully awake, but most of the kais were unnaturally still. The Eld were speaking but he couldn’t catch what they were saying. He focused on June. She looked out of place in jeans and a plain black turtleneck, her hair in a ponytail.

“The Meet can now be adjourned.”

Rakan forced himself into motion and staggered forward. The air was as thick and cloying as mud. “June isn’t Paaliaq,” he said. Angry cries greeted his words. “Could Paaliaq go in the light?” asked Rakan, raising his voice to be heard.

“Of course not,” said Kairök Tetherys. “No Draak can.”

“June can. She isn’t Paaliaq. There’s no fight.”

“Rakan, that’s enough. How dare you interrupt?” snapped Yarlung.

Rakan walked towards June. But she didn’t react to his presence. The throne was nearly as high as he was and she was curled up in a corner. He put a hand on her leg. Her head jerked up like a rabid animal’s and Rakan cursed his mother’s poison. June’s eyes were a wild mix of blue and green and he wasn’t even sure if she could hear him. “June? Are you okay?”

“Pemba?” she said, her eyes not quite focusing on him. “What are you doing here?”

“You need to go in the light.”

“Why?”

“Because even if you are Paaliaq, you’ve changed. And you can prove it.”

“I have nothing to prove.”

“You can stop the fight.”

June gave him a sad smile. “Maybe I don’t want to.”

The Eld stood in unison. “Enough. There will be no discussion. How she has evolved is of no concern to us. Her trail is that of Kairök Paaliaq. The Code applies.”

Rakan tried to protest, but the Eld silenced him.

Haakon strode over to the Eld. “She’s in no shape to fight.”

“It’s just a show,” hissed Yarlung. “Smell her. She’s made herself seem even younger than she was when she killed Kraal. How can you believe anything in her appearance? She’s always manipulated everyone—” Yarlung’s voice was drowned in the uproar that greeted her words.

“Then I will fight Paaliaq,” Rakan said, facing the Eld. “I will uphold the Code. There was a stunned silence.

“How can you uphold the Code when you prefer a human mate over a dragon?” said the Eld, speaking as one.

The uproar re-ignited and Rakan wondered if the Eld were doing it on purpose. He waited for the snorting and hollering to calm down. “My private life has nothing to do with this,” he said calmly. He knew what he had to do.

“It does, when you put the survival of the human race in peril by exposing our existence. They are incapable of understanding.” The Trailer Eld put up a hand for silence. “The humans belong here. Their extinction is not desirable.” The copper eyed Eld leaned forward. “Why did you refuse to mate with Kariaksuq, Angalaan or Yuli? Even if you wanted to take the human—” A murmur of displeasure rose and the Trailer Eld once again lifted her hand. “Silence. The only Kairök who hasn’t taken a human here is T’eng Sten.” She turned back to Rakan. “There was still no reason to turn from your own kind.”

Rakan bowed his head. He needed to get the conversation off of Anna. “I was not yet one with my rök. But now I am.” He stood on the black sand in the middle of the rotunda and hit a fist to his chest. “I request the right to uphold my blood pact—” Rakan let the noise die down. “The blood pact that I entered upon with Kairök Yarlung.”

The Eld turned to Yarlung. “Show us.”

Yarlung snarled, but she extended her hands and the coral-colored water dragon appeared. The rotunda fell silent as the miniature dragon swam to the Eld.

The Trigger Eld held out his hand and the dragon alighted. “The blood pact is real,” he said, holding his hand high. “But you can’t replace her. You aren’t a Kairök.”

“I am a Kairök. I have held another dragon’s rök.” He morphed into his air dragon form and spread his black claws. He felt the Eld search him and he pushed them out in a wild rage, spraying them with his fire. No one had the right to do that.

A tumultuous uproar exploded.

“Indeed,” said the Trigger Eld, eyeing him carefully. “So you have.”

Rakan morphed back to human.

“Although your motivation is still unclear. But even if it were, you have no second since Kariaksuq, your only kai, is dead. You are not technically a Kairök right now.”

“That can be remedied,” Rakan said, his anger flowing towards the Eld. “I refused to take Yuli because she belongs to my mother. Let me have her rök and I will fight.”

“I will offer a kai to Rakan,” said T’eng Sten. He jumped off his throne in a flash of indigo and platinum. He joined Rakan in front of the podium.

“That won’t be necessary,” said Yarlung. “I can offer Rakan’dzor Nima’kor, a much stronger second than Yuli or any of Kairök T’eng Sten’s kais.”

Rakan clenched his fists. If there was any kai of his mother’s he didn’t want, it was Nima’kor. He should never have tried to save Yuli instead of asking T’eng Sten for a kai.

The Eld shimmered in silent discussion. A gong sounded. “Kairök Paaliaq will face Kairök Rakan’dzor. They will be seconded by Haakaramanoth and Yuli.”

Yarlung started to hiss, but was silenced by a flash of platinum as the Transformer Eld spread his fingers and drew a circle in the air. Yuli’s sparkling lime-green rök appeared, floating between the Eld’s brilliantly shimmering fingers that reflected Yuli’s fire in a crackling display of sparks.

The Transformer Eld turned to Rakan, his platinum eyes reflecting Rakan’s coral. “We are willing to grant you the care of Yuli’s rök if you agree to the terms of the fight.”

As disturbing as it was to see his own eyes reflected back at him, Rakan held the Eld’s stare. “If the outcome of this duel is final, no matter what that outcome is, then I do. I will fight Paaliaq and I will fight to the death.” He allowed his hatred of the Eld to project out, hoping his motives wouldn’t be questioned further.

Next to him, he could feel T’eng Sten’s anger. Behind him, his mother crooned in pleasure. The Kairöks, at least, believed he would fight to kill.

The Eld’s eyes narrowed. But he said nothing. He simply spread his hands and Rakan instinctively reached out and took Yuli’s rök before she had time to feel the panic of being alone. She burst into his consciousness with a flood of terror and relief all mixed together.