The Dragon and the Dreamwalker (Elemental Series) (31 page)

“Dracus is going to consume you. I’m trying to stop him, but I don’t know how.”

“Brynn, you don’t need to risk your life to save me. I’m not worth it. Let the dragon have me. You’ll be better off without me.”

“Nay! Don’t say that. I won’t do that Drake, I can’t.”

“Why not?” They were standing on the battlements now, Dracus and Drake’s limp body directly above their heads.

“I love you, Drake,” she blurted out her feelings without a second thought.

“You do?” he asked, bewildered.

“I do,” she answered, falling into his arms. Their
dreamwalking
bodies held each other closely, and she felt the love vibrating from Drake into herself. It was a strong feeling. A good feeling. A feeling that they belonged together. It was the right thing.

Then, with a horrible screech from Dracus, the dragon dropped Drake’s body at their feet. It wasn’t a gentle drop onto the battlements, but the distance to the ground was thankfully close. The etheric Drake winced as his physical body fell with a thump. He jolted back into his physical form with a sharp jerk. Drake’s eyes opened briefly, making contact with her
dreamwalking
form for a mere second.

“Brynn?” he asked, dazed and confused. Then his eyes closed and he lie still upon the cold stone.

“Drake!” she called, feeling herself being whisked back into her own physical form, though she longed to stay with him.

“Drake?” she called again, and sat upright, this time in her physical body. It had stopped raining. The sky was no longer cloudy. The moon shone down upon Asad with a bluish glow. The squire rubbed his cheek, swollen and bruised and jumped to his feet. The rest of Drake’s men were running about in a frenzy, apprehending whichever of Drake’s attackers they could lay their hands on.

“Lady Brynn!” Asad rushed over to her. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, but Drake’s not.” She grabbed her skirts and rushed to the battlements with Asad at her heels.

“Where are you going? Where is Lord Dunsbard?”

“He’s atop the battlements,” she relayed, climbing the steps quickly. “Dracus dropped him.”

They made it to the battlements and Brynn could see Drake’s crumpled form lying right where she knew she’d find him.

“God’s teeth!” Exclaimed Asad, slipping his sword back into his sheath. “He’s dead!”

Brynn sat at the bedside, holding Drake’s hand. Asad had called for help, and the men had moved Drake into their bedchamber. He wasn’t dead as Asad thought, but very close to it. Brynn had helped Asad remove Drake’s clothing and dress his wounds the best she could. But Drake was bleeding heavily, and his body was bruised badly. His breathing was shallow, and his skin pale. If she hadn’t seen his chest barely moving up and down with breath, she would have thought he truly was dead.

Tears filled her eyes as she clasped his hand tightly. She couldn’t lose Drake like this. He had to live. He just had to.

A knock on the door brought Asad from the window to open it quickly.

“Is it Juturna?” asked Brynn anxiously. She had called for the old seer immediately when they’d found Drake’s body crumpled and bleeding, but for some reason they were having a hard time locating her.

“Nay,” answered Asad, opening the door wider so she could see the priest who stood there with a Bible in his hand.

“I’ve come to give him last rites, my lady.”

“We’ve no need for your services. If you want to do something, go to the chapel and pray.”

“My lady,” said Asad softly. “It may be a comfort to let the priest - ”

“Nay!” she shouted. “Juturna will be here soon and see to his healing. Now get out!”

Asad spoke softly to the priest and escorted him out into the hall. The next time the door opened, it was Juturna who stood there, a bag in her hand.

“Thank the heavens!” exclaimed Brynn, running to her side. “Drake needs you. Please hurry.” She pulled the old woman over to his side, pulling back the blood-stained coverlet to show her his wounds. Drake’s naked body was bruised in black and purple welts. The dragon’s claws had slashed his chest badly, the wounds still gaping and bleeding through the wrappings she’d applied. Juturna removed one of the cloths and gasped.

She shook her head and looked at Brynn sadly. “I don’t know if I can save him.”

“Don’t talk that way. Of course you can. You are a healer. Now fix his wounds the way you did mine.”

“Your wounds were not so deep, my lady. Drake’s run deeper than any I’ve ever seen.”

“You can heal him, can’t you?” She the heard the tremble of her own voice.

“I can only try. He needs to be stitched.” Juturna pulled a needle and thread from her bag, and Brynn felt ill at the thought. Still, she knew it must be done in order to save her husband’s life.

“I may be able to heal his broken body,” said the healer, “but I can do nothing to heal his broken soul.”

“You’re starting to sound like that addlepated old man,” Brynn accused, watching the old woman quickly thread the needle and cleanse Drake’s wounds.

“You saw the old man?” she asked. “Where was he?”

“In the garden. Just before the dragon attacked.”

Juturna stitched quickly, pulling Drake’s wounds closed. “What did he say?” she asked without looking up.

Brynn thought about the old man’s words. They didn’t make any sense. Nothing made sense any more.

“I’m not sure,” she said, wincing with each stab of the needle into Drake’s flesh. “He was speaking in riddles of sort.”

Juturna worked on the wounds, asking Brynn to hand her herbs and creams. When she threaded the needle a second time, Brynn felt her body convulse. The blood was bad enough. Brynn couldn’t stay and watch the needle piercing the man’s skin any longer. She closed her eyes, feeling dizzy, knowing she wanted to be by Drake’s side, but not sure she wasn’t going to swoon in the process.

“Why don’t you go out for some air?”

Brynn thanked the woman for her suggestion and did just that.

* * *

Brynn walked in the garden, now void of dead bodies, but the stones on the pathway were still covered with blood. How much killing would it take to bring man to his senses? Drake’s warrior heart was heated with anger and hate. The vengeance for his father had poisoned him. He would do whatever it took to try to right the wrong he’d seen as a child. But didn’t he understand that in the process he was only creating wrongs of his own?

“My Lady?” Asad stepped from the shadows. “I feel ’tis my duty to protect you now that Lord Dunsbard is unable.”

“He looks awful,” said Brynn, staring at nothing in particular. “His wounds are deep. The blood is so much.”

“Aye, my lady. I know. I just came from his side, having reentered the chamber right after you left.”

“How is he?” she asked, not feeling brave enough to really want to know the answer.

“Juturna has sewed him up. His wounds are all closed, my lady. The bleeding has stopped. The old healer is with him as we speak. She said she’ll stay the night to watch over him.”

“Has he opened his eyes yet?”

“Nay.”

Brynn nodded to acknowledge him, but felt her own tears choking her. She found herself unable to talk. The silence between them was thick and heavy.

“I tried to protect him from Dracus, my lady.”

She took a deep breath and released it. She reached out and touched Asad’s arm to let him know she wasn’t angry with him. The squire was almost as upset as Brynn about the whole situation. He didn’t need guilt eating at his mind.

“You did well, Asad. Drake didn’t want any help. He tried to protect you, as well as me. He was willing to die to stop Dracus.”

“Aye, my lady. That he was.”

“How is your cheek?” She looked at the spot where Drake had hit him. Asad’s handsome bronzed face, his perfect features, his foreign eyes all seemed different now. His face was lopsided. His lip had been sewn together by Juturna, and blood caked his hair. He had a gash above one bushy dark eyebrow that would no doubt leave a nasty scar.

“I’ll live,” he answered. “’Tis more than I can say for Lord Dunsbard.”

“He’ll be fine,” she answered with strength and determination.

“You can’t be sure, my lady.”

“I can,” she told him. “He can’t die. I won’t let him. He needs to know I didn’t betray him, and lead the rebellion against him.”

“I’m sure he knows, Lady Brynn.”

“If you had seen his face when Calais and the others attacked, you wouldn’t be so sure of your words.”

“If ’tis any consolation to you, we’ve caught the men who’ve turned against him. Drake’s loyal knights locked the traitors into cells in the dungeon.”

“Calais, too?” she asked, arms folded across her breasts, eyes staring at the torches burning along the battlements of Thorndale Castle where Dracus had deposited Drake.

“Nay, my lady. Somehow he managed to escape in the midst of the commotion.”

“I’m not surprised. He was most likely the first to run.”

“We’ve looked everywhere for him, but he’s not inside the castle walls. Did you want us to search the woods my lady?”

“Nay,” she answered. “There has been enough bloodshed this evening. Let him go for now. This was supposed to be a celebration feast, but it ended up a death call instead.” Brynn watched Asad rub his sore jaw and she knew the man was probably more exhausted than herself.

“Go get some rest, Asad.”

“I’ll watch over Drake tonight.”

“There’s nothing you can do. Juturna is with him, and I’ll be also. Drake would want you to rest. Now do as you’re ordered.”

“Of course, my lady. I’ll see you back to the bedchamber first.”

“Thank you.” She took Asad’s arm much the same way she did Drake’s earlier that evening. If only she could stop time and start all over. She would do things differently the second time around.

Three days passed and still Drake hadn’t regained consciousness. His wounds were healing nicely, thanks to Juturna, but as she said, his soul was not healing. Juturna finished dressing the wounds and pulled the cover up around Drake’s body. Brynn stared aimlessly out the open-shuttered window. The warm air blew in, and with it so did the smell of damp earth and life. For three days the sun had shone brighter than it had for the last fortnight. If only Drake could be awake to enjoy the nice weather with her.

“I need to replenish my supply of herbs,” Juturna told Brynn. “I’ll have to go up the mountains of Lornoon to find what I need. There’s only a day’s supply left. It’ll take me longer than that to make the trip. I’m not as young as I used to be, and don’t move as quickly anymore.”

“Then I’ll go for you,” Brynn offered. “You can tell me where to find the herbs. I’ll take Gollimer and be back in half the time.”

“If you’d like,” she said, looking down at her bag as she tied it closed.

“Juturna, you’ve known Drake for a long time, haven’t you?”

“Since he was a child.” She looked at Drake’s prone body in admiration.

“Has he always been so angry?”

“No,” she shook her head, looking at Drake’s pale face. “There was a time when he was full of life and love. That was before - that was a long time ago.”

“Before his father killed his mother?”

“So he told you.”

“He didn’t need to. I saw it in a dream. I know all about it.”

“No, you don’t. Not everything.” She gathered up her belongings, taking samples of the dried herbs and putting them in another bag for Brynn to compare to the new ones.

“Is there more I should know?”

“That, I can’t tell you.”

“It has to do with the shapeshifting into a dragon, doesn’t it? Can Drake do that also?”

“I’m not sure,” she answered. “The Pendragons kept their secrets well guarded. Drake’s father wasn’t always evil either,” she told her. “Something happened to him. Something that changes a Pendragon into a dragon. I’m not sure about the process, but I do know that once they’ve changed they are never the same. For some, it takes months, others days, and others no time at all. Either way, once they’ve turned, there’s no going back.”

“So is there hope for Drake or not? The old man told me time was almost up. That I was the only one able to help Drake, but I don’t know how. His father told me that also, at the cave.”

“So you’ve seen his vision in the pool?”

“You know about it? Drake said the cave was secret.”

Juturna looked down to the bag, then handed it over to Brynn. “Drake’s mother confided in me once. She wanted to know how to save her own husband from the dragon.”

“From changing into a dragon?”

“Yes.”

“What did you tell her?”

“I saw in my gazing crystal that there was nothing she could do. Aurelius Pendragon was on his way to self destruction.”

“And then he changed,” added Brynn. “But what happened to him after that? Is Dracus Drake’s father as he believes?”