The Dragon and the Dreamwalker (Elemental Series) (30 page)

“If he is a dragon, how could I see his physical human body reflected in the pool?” she asked.

“There’s obviously sorcery involved,” he told her with determination knitting his brow. “I don’t believe the vision you saw was my father.”

“And what of the red dragon in the cave? ’Tis not the same color as Dracus. ’Tis a different dragon altogether.”

“It was obviously a trick. My father is Dracus, and I intend on stopping him. I should have done it long ago. But the prophecies say even a Pendragon can’t kill a dragon without the help of one with magical abilities. He must mate with her and become one. Together, and only together, can they find a way to kill the dragon.”

Brynn suddenly understood everything. A bit too clearly. Drake had been using her. All along, he intended to use her to help him stop the dragon, nothing more.

“So that’s why you stormed my father’s castle looking for me?”

“Aye.”

“You couldn’t have just asked for me instead of killing everyone in the process?”

“My name in infamous, Brynn. No one welcomes a Pendragon with open arms. And as I’ve told you, I only meant to speak with your father, and did not know the Klarens followed me. A siege was not my intent.”

“So the only reason you saved me from the sacrificial stake and the dragon’s jaws was because of a personal vendetta against your father? For your own benefit, you saved my life?”

“My reasons should not take your concern. The important part is that when I’m finished, the dragon will no longer exist.”

Brynn crossed her arms and made her way back to the bench. She’d wanted to know the man called Drake, but now she felt she knew too much. She wanted to believe he was capable of love. That the reason he wanted her to become his wife and couple with him was because he cared about her. Well, she no longer believed it. Drake only cared about himself. He had guilt eating at him from his childhood and he’d go to any extreme to pay a personal debt. Even if killing others in the process was part of this road.

“Now it’s your turn,” he said, laying his hand on her shoulder. Where she had welcomed his touch earlier, she no longer felt comfortable being near the man. “Answer me a question as well.”

“If I answer your question, you’ll forfeit lying with me. ’Tis one condition only, remember.”

“The power against the dragon will be no good unless you come to me willingly. If I have to force you, it will not work.”

“Then state your question, so I can give you my answer and be done with it.” She couldn’t help but hear the contempt in her own voice.

“Are you a virgin?”

Her heart jumped at the question. Any question but this would have been more comfortable at the moment. But she’d promised to answer, and she could no longer keep the truth from him. He asked, and she would tell him what he wanted to know.

“Nay, my lord. I am not.”

She waited for a reaction. When none came, she drew up enough courage to look him in the eye. His eyes were dark in the night. His face was unreadable. If he was disappointed in her, she couldn’t tell.

“Who took your virginity, Brynn? Who is the man who did what I am unable to do?”

“It matters not,” she told him. “I am married to you now, my lord husband, and it won’t happen again.”

“It matters to me.” She could hear the irritation in his voice now. The night was no longer warm. A cool breeze picked up and the cloudless sky was suddenly a bit hazy. The moonlight flickered as clouds passed by.

“What if I refuse to tell you? Would you beat me or drag the truth from me by harming me somehow?”

“Have I harmed you yet, Brynn? Have I ever laid a hand on you in any way that would be considered violent?”

She knew he hadn’t. Though he scared her immensely with the anger he vented, he had yet to physically hurt her in any way.

“Nay, my lord. You have saved me from the dragon’s claws and for that I am eternally grateful.”

“Then tell me. Who is it that took your virginity?”

“If she won’t tell you, I will.” Calais walked into the garden, followed by some of Drake’s men, the falconer, and a few others that Brynn recognized as occupants of Thorndale Castle before Drake had stormed it.

“Calais, no!” cried Brynn.

Drake looked to her and then back to the semi-crippled man.

“’Twas me, Lord Dunsbard. I am the man who was able to bed your wife, though you don’t seem to be enough of a man to accomplish the task. I have the Elders here to vouch for me. I kept it a secret at Brynn’s request, but I can keep quiet no longer.”

Brynn noticed Hermod and the Elders at the back of the group. They held no weapons, but they did hold disdain for her in their eyes.

Before Brynn could stop him, Drake pulled his sword, only to be met by the sword of one of his own knights, Sir Burgess.

“What is this?” Drake asked, appalled that his own man was standing against him.

“A conspiracy,” answered Calais. “You can thank your little wife there for getting you away from the crowd where we didn’t have to make a scene. As a matter of fact, it was her idea to go up against you so she could reclaim her father’s castle as her own.”

“Brynn, you are a part of all this? How could you?”

“Nay, ’tis not true,” she told him.

“So you’re saying what Calais says is a lie?”

“I never wanted anyone to hurt you. I only wanted Thorndale Castle to be under my command.”

Drake shook his head, the disappointment in his eyes obvious. “And you say I only do things for my own benefit. Now look who’s guilty of her own accusations. You were my wife, Brynn. You could have ruled along with me, but you wanted it all.”

“Please, Drake. You must listen to me.”

“Did Calais take your virginity or not?” he snapped. “And don’t even think of lying to me.”

She paused for a moment, looking at Calais with an eerie smile on his face, then over to Drake with anger in his eyes. She knew now she never should have kept the secret from her husband. All her plans were for naught. They didn’t matter any more. She never wanted it to end like this.

“He did,” she answered bravely, feeling a weight lifted from her shoulders and yet feeling like she’d just made a big mistake.

Drake nodded his head. “Then he’ll die for it.” The anger in Drake was ugly. Brynn had never seen Drake so mad. He fought off the men one by one, taking them down at his feet, trying to get to Calais. The sky rolled with thunder, and the clouds opened up, the rain pelting down against them.

“Nay!” Brynn screamed, watching Drake take on a small army of men by himself.

Then the doors to the great hall opened and Asad ran out, sword drawn. A large group of Drake’s loyal men followed.

“Attack!” shouted Asad, “Save Lord Dunsbard.”

Brynn watched in horror as man after man fell in a puddle of blood. This shouldn’t be happening. This outrage was uncalled for. So many needless deaths - just like the deaths of her own parents. And this time it was all her fault.

Calais somehow managed to slip away unnoticed into the shadows while the battle continued. Brynn backed up against the trunk of the tree in order to be out of the way of danger.

“The dragon comes.”

Brynn jumped at the sound of the voice behind her. She turned to find the addlepated old man watching the action from behind the tree. He nodded his white head and then squinted upward in the rain, searching for something in the sky.

“What did you say?” Brynn asked.

“The dragon comes,” he repeated. “The dragon needs to be fed, and will find what he needs here. ’Tis going to consume him, it will, unless you help.”

“What are you talking about, old man? There is no dragon here. And who is the dragon going to consume unless I help?”

“Look.” He pointed to the sky, and to her horror, he was right. Dracus swept through the sky just above the castle, searching for its next meal. Its claws were clenched tightly beneath its scaled stomach, while its wings of green and gray stretched like sails across the stormy sky. Smoke streamed from its nostrils and fire beaded its small eyes. It glided smoothly as if it owned the sky. Its spiked tail whipped back and forth as it turned circles in the air. Then it spotted them and dived right for the garden.

“Drake! The dragon!” she called, hoping he’d hear her through the clashing of swords and cries of battle.

He looked over his shoulder and then quickly up to the sky. The anger he held earlier was masked with a new sort of vengeance that shone in his dark eyes.

“Come for me, you bastard!” he shouted, waving his dragon-headed sword toward the beast. Dracus took up the invitation and swooped down toward Drake.

The attackers ran in fear, and even Drake’s loyal knights backed up to give the dragon room. Only Asad stood next to his lord, ready to take on the dragon with him.

“Get away!” Drake shouted to Asad, but the squire would not leave his lord stranded.

“I’ll fight to protect you, my lord. I’ll fight to the death if need be.”

“You’ll die at my hand if you don’t do as ordered. This is my fight, Asad, not yours.”

When Asad started to protest, Drake took his fist, clenched around the hilt of his sword, and smashed it into the man’s face. Asad fell to the ground, unconscious.

“Nay!” screamed Brynn, horrified at everything that was happening so fast. She had to do something to stop this madness.

“He can’t kill the dragon with a sword,” said the old man. “He’ll only kill himself in the process.”

The old man’s words brought to mind the words of Drake’s father. Hadn’t he also warned Brynn that the dragon couldn’t be killed with a weapon? She had to stop Drake before he was killed by the beast.

She lunged forward just as Dracus swooped down to attack. She jumped in front of Drake and blocked the dragon’s fiery breath, stopping it from scorching Drake. She and Drake both fell to the ground in the process. The dragon headed back up to the sky, getting ready for another attack.

“What are you doing?” Drake screamed. He helped her to her feet quickly. “You’re going to get killed out here. Now get inside the keep, quickly.”

“I will not!” she answered. “You are the one that’ll be consumed by the dragon. Your father told me that the dragon couldn’t be stopped with a sword. Or any weapon for that matter.”

“My father is the dragon, Brynn. Why would he tell you that? It makes no sense. He’s trying to kill me, but I’ll kill him first. Now get out of my way or I’ll be forced to do to you what I did to Asad.”

The dragon dove in for another attack. Drake pushed Brynn out of the way, and managed to slash the dragon’s wing with his sword. The beast screeched and reared back in the air, stunned. Drake grabbed a shield from one of the men he’d killed and held it up in front of him just in time to save him from the dragon’s flame.

Drake’s anger grew, and so did the dragon’s. It furled its hurt wing, then with a roar, grew in size. Another set of wings brown in color, sprouted out from the dragon’s back only aiding him in flying that much faster.

Brynn could see what was happening. Every time Drake managed to slash the dragon, it not only grew in size, but sprouted an extra wing or talon or grew another set of teeth. He was feeding the dragon’s anger with his own anger. He would never kill it this way. His father and the old man were right.

“You’d better help him,” warned the old man. “The dragon’s anger will kill him with one more blow.”

“But how?” she asked. “How can I stop a dragon from attacking? I don’t even have a weapon.”

“That’s the answer,” said the man. He chuckled and disappeared into the night.

She didn’t know what the man meant, and didn’t have time to ponder the thought. The dragon swooped in again, this time hooking its razor sharp talon on Drake’s tunic, lifting him high in the air.

“Nay!” she shouted. “Let him go!”

The dragon lifted into the sky with Drake in tow. His sword fell from his hand to the ground, landing at Brynn’s feet with a clank. He struggled at first, but then seemed to go limp - eyes closed and head tilted to the side. She watched in helpless horror as did the rest of Drake’s men. Dracus lifted him higher and higher above the castle walls.

“I need to think, I need to think.” Brynn repeated frantically. She sat down on the bench, body shaking. She didn’t have any weapons. Even if she did, the old man said they wouldn’t help. She didn’t have any special powers to stop this dragon. All she knew how to do was
dreamwalk
. She had to try something, anything. She had to
dreamwalk
and try to save Drake.

She lay down on the bench and closed her eyes, willing herself to relax. Immediately, she was able to leave her body. Her etheric form followed Dracus through the sky. He circled above the battlements, Drake dangling limply from its taloned claw.

“Drake,” she called, willing him to wake up from his own slumber. She hoped somehow his physical body would know she was there, but it wasn’t his physical voice she heard answer.

“Brynn, what’s happening?” He was out of his body as well. His etheric body floated next to hers, watching Dracus circling above the battlements with his physical form dangling from its claw, unconscious.