Tani's Destiny (Hearts of ICARUS Book 2) (39 page)

Steel nearly gasped in surprise when she went up on her toes and kissed him on the jaw.  He smiled and kissed her back, then turned to face the Dracons.  “If you will excuse me, I must see to my people, and I’m sure you’d like some time alone with your daughter.”

“Of course, Ganzorig Khaan,” Garen said.

“Please, Highness, call me Steel,” he replied.  He touched Tani lightly on the cheek with his fingertips, then turned and walked away, disappearing over the edge of the cliff.

“You have much to tell us, Daughter,” Lariah said softly, her eyes dancing. 

“I do,” Tani said.  “And I’m very afraid that you’re not going to like any of it.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I’m…different now.”

Val approached Tani and wrapped his arms around her.  “We know that, little one,” he said into her hair.  “We sense the difference, of course.  But you’re well, and happy, and at the moment, quite safe.  Those are the things that matter to us.”

“Thank you,
Popi
,” Tani said, hugging him tightly. 

“Will you tell us what happened?” Lariah asked.

“Yes Mom,” Tani said, then took a deep breath.  “I guess the first thing I need to tell you is that I’m not
berezi
.”

“Yes, Tani, we know,” Garen said. 

Tani’s eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed in anger, surprising her parents.  “This makes you angry?” Lariah asked.

“Well, yes, it does,” Tani said.  “That information was supposed to be private.”

Lariah laughed.  “That’s wonderful!” she said, hugging Tani hard.  “I’ve worried for so long about your inability to get angry.  It’s an enormous relief to see it now.”

“Well, I’ll explain all that too, but first, how did you find out?”

“Your sisters told us several days ago,” Trey said, then held one hand up when Tani’s eyes started to glow, grinning even more widely than Lariah.  “Don’t be angry with them.  They told us because they believed that whatever was happening to you was your destiny, and they wanted us to understand that.”

Tani nodded.  “Yes, all right, I would have probably done the same thing in their place.”  She looked at her parents’ faces and frowned.  “You aren’t bothered by it?”

“We were shocked, of course, but we’ve had time to get used to the idea,” Lariah said.  “After giving it some thought we realized that it explained a few things we’d wondered about.  Right now though, we’d like to hear your story.”

Tani nodded, then began speaking.  Once she started, the words flowed quickly, though she left out the part where she shifted into a dragon, not wanting the shock of that news to overshadow the rest.  When she was finished, the Dracons were silent for a long moment, absorbing all that she’d told them. 

 “So that’s why Riata wanted you to have that necklace,” Lariah said softly.  “To strengthen your latent talent for healing.”

“Yes,” Tani said.

“Do you need to wear the necklace in order to heal?” Trey asked.

“No,
Dede
,” she replied.  “It’s just a necklace now, though a very special one that I will always wear in honor of Riata.  Without her aid, I don’t know what would have happened these past couple of weeks.”

“Riata has ever been a blessing to us and our people,” Lariah agreed.

“We should probably go to the mine now so you can see the Nomen and the android.”

“Of course,” Garen said.  “If you’ll guide me, we should be able to speed travel there.”

A few seconds later they all stood in the middle of the mine compound.  Tani led them to the empty armory where the Khun had put the android.  The Dracons nearly smiled at all the chains wrapped around it until they saw that, in spite of the damage done to it, it was still active. 

“Trey, let’s get some men down here to secure this thing for transport, as well as some of these Nomen remains.”  He turned to Tani.  “Will the Khun mind if we search the office for information?  We’ll return anything we find, of course.” 

“No, they won’t mind,” Tani said.  “Anything that might help identify who is behind all of this is yours to take.  The Nomen with the controller that Steel mentioned is in that bunkhouse there,” she added, pointing.  “You’re free to take him as well.”

Trey nodded and stepped away to make the call while Tani took the others into the mine to see the liquid metal after Garen checked to be sure the gas had dissipated.  They took a canister of the metal which was carefully packed and sent up to the
Ugaztun
.

“I’m sorry it’s not really whole,” Tani said while they watched the android being readied for transport.  “It was threatening to kill everyone with some sort of built-in laser weapon.  The only thing I could think to do was take it as high as I could and drop it.  It was either that or melt it, and I knew you’d want something for the council to examine.”

“You dropped it,” Lariah said, arching a brow at her.  “Is this where you finally explain to us why we feel such a powerful presence within you?”

Tani sighed.  She’d never been good at hiding things.  “Yes, I suppose it is.  One of the latent talents Riata’s necklace brought out in me was a dracon.  A dracon trapped inside of me without strength enough to come forth.  Magda’s magic strengthened my dracon, but also changed it.  My alter form is not a dracon.  It’s a dragon.  It’s…reptilian.”

Lariah stepped forward and placed a gentle finger under Tani’s chin until her daughter looked up.  “The Jasani were angry with the Narrasti for centuries for something, it turned out, that they’d never done.  Because the Narrasti were reptilian, the Jasani were prejudiced against all things reptilian which, when you think about it, is more than a little unreasonable.  But those days are in the past, Tani.  We have no aversion to reptiles, nor do we object to them and even if we did, that would be
our
problem, not yours.  You must accept who and what you are Tani, as we will accept you.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Tani said, hugging her tightly.  “That helps.”

 “Shall we fly back to the caves?” Garen asked Tani, knowing that she was nervous about letting them see her new alter form.

“Yes, I suppose so,” she said reluctantly. 

“Good, I’m looking forward to seeing your dragon,” Lariah said. 

Tani nodded, stepped back so she had a little room, and summoned her dragon.  A moment later she looked out through eyes that were sharper and clearer than her human eyes, relieved to see her parents smiling up at her.  Then they shifted into their leopard spotted dracons and a moment later they all leapt into the air and circled the compound.  Tani was surprised to find that she was closer to her father’s size than her mother’s.

“
Tani
?” Garen asked, wondering if she’d be able to speak with them this way.

“
Yes
, Ata?” she replied.

“
Your dragon is a magnificent creature
,” he said.  “
And, I wager, a formidable one.”

“
Thank you,
Ata,” Tani said, her heart soaring for the second time that day.

“
You’re so beautiful
,” Lariah said, flying beside her. 
“I love the red.  It’s always been a good color on you.”

“Thanks, Mom
,” she said, laughing in their minds.

“You’re stunning, Tani,”
Val added.  Tani laughed some more and did a little loop in the air before taking her place in their formation again.

“
I like the crown,”
Garen said.

“Crown?”
Tani asked
.

“When you shift, Riata’s necklace takes the form of a gold crown with a large oval ruby in the center that bears your likeness,”
Lariah said
.  “You didn’t know that?”

“No, I didn’t know that,”
Tani said.
  “This is only the second time I’ve shifted, and I can’t see it myself.”

“It’s beautiful, and it suits you,”
Lariah said
.

“Do you know what the magic will do to the Khun when they shift, Tani?”
Trey asked.

“No, I don’t,”
Tani said, sobering. 
“I know only that it’s meant to complete what was begun.”

“Complete how?”
Garen asked.

“Their alter forms were…unfinished,” Tani said.  “They could shift, but they didn’t get much benefit from it.  The women’s flesh became tougher, more difficult to injure, but their bodies become so dense and heavy that they could barely walk, and they didn’t have the ability to fly, like the men.  Shifting put them at a definite disadvantage.  The men became much larger, but they also became hard and dense, so they couldn’t run or move with speed.  They had wings, which was helpful, but it took them so long to get off the ground that they were easy targets for anyone with a laser or projectile weapon.”

“They had no magical power at all?”
Val asked.

“Aside from the ability to shift, no,”
Tani said. 

“You said that they looked like gargoyles,”
Trey said. 
“What do you mean, exactly?”

“I remember seeing pictures of gargoyles in school when we studied ancient Earth,”
Tani said.  “
They looked like they were half human, half beast, and that’s how the Khun looked to me.  Like they’re half human, half…something else.  Bat maybe.  Or…I just don’t know.”

“Half dragon?”
Lariah asked.

“Yes, Mom, I think that might be it, I really do, but I’m afraid to say that to Steel or the others.  I don’t want to get their hopes up too high.”

“And none of them have tried shifting yet because they want you to be present?” Garen asked.

“Yes, that’s what Steel told me,”
Tani said.  She felt her parents’ curiosity, but she really didn’t want to get into her personal issues with Steel.
 “I think they’ll try it when we get back.”

 
“We’re almost there
,” Garen said.
  “Should we return to the
Ugaztun
now?”

“No, please stay,”
Tani said
.  “I don’t know what’ll happen and I’m nervous about it.”

“Nervous how?”
Trey asked.

“I’m worried that they’ll be disappointed, and if they are, I’ll need to find a way to help them through that.”

“Why do you doubt that they’ll shift into dragons when you know that the previous inhabitants of this world, those that provided them with the change, were dragons?”
Val asked.

“Because the women don’t have wings when they shift, and the men do.”

“You said that an Earth dragon gave her essence to the women,”
Lariah said. 
“Perhaps earth dragons do not fly.”

“That’s right,”
Tani said as they started to descend, suddenly feeling more hopeful than she had been.

The Khun, who’d been alerted to the arrival of the five enormous creatures, came out of their caves and watched in awe as four furred dracons, and the deep red dragon that they knew was Tani, landed in the valley and shifted into their human forms.  Suddenly, a little boy with black curly hair broke away from the crowd and ran out to meet them. 

Tani spread her arms wide and knelt down so that Dirk could leap up into them.  “Gunji Tani, I want to be a dragon when I grow up.  Can you make me a dragon?  Can you?  Pleathe?”

Tani laughed, then turned around to face her parents.  “This little imp is Dirk,” she said, chucking Dirk under the chin.  “Dirk, these are my parents.  Gunji Lariah, Garen Khan, Trey Khan, and Val Khan.”

Dirk bowed his head deeply as he’d been taught.  “I am honored to meet you,” he said, then grinned, his eyes lighting up.  “You’re tho lucky Gunji Tani to have three daddieth.”

“You’re right, Dirk, I’m very lucky,” Tani said.  “Hey, you were running so fast!  No pain in your leg at all?”

“Nope, and I beated Rikard in a race too!” Dirk crowed proudly.

“Rikard is a whole year older than you!” Tani said.  “You must be very fast indeed.”

Dirk nodded happily, looked at Lariah and the Princes and frowned.  “Gunji Tani healded me when I broked a bone in my leg and she healded Ruya when the Nomen shotted her.  You won’t take her away from uth, will you?  We need her.”

“No, little one,” Garen said, smiling at Dirk.  “We will not take her anywhere she doesn’t want to go, and I have a feeling she wants to stay right here.”

Dirk grinned, then gave Tani a kiss on the cheek before wriggling to be let down.  Tani set him on his feet, but before she released him she asked where Wily was.  “Oh, he went to be with Thteel.  He mithed you.”

“Thank you, Dirk,” she said, then watched him run back to his grandmother.  They followed at a more sedate pace.

“Who is Wily?” Val asked.

“He’s the wyvern I told you about,” Tani said. 

“We would like to see this Wily,” Garen said.  Tani nodded, then placed two fingers at her mouth and blew a long, high whistle.  A moment later a creature no bigger than Tani’s hand flew out of Astra’s cave and headed toward Tani.  It landed on her shoulder, clicking and nodding as it rubbed against her neck and turned in circles with more excitement than it knew how to express.