Avian (The Dragonrider Chronicles) (23 page)

The minute I got a deep breath of the free air in my lungs, I felt all the stress and worry in my mind melt away. None of it seemed that important anymore. I could fly away and leave it all behind. When we flew like this, I had a hard time telling which feelings were mine and which were Mavrik’s—not that it mattered. When we flew, it was like our souls touched, and the spark could be seen for miles and miles.

Felix and Nova flew considerably fast, but they were no match for our speed. Mavrik caught up to them quickly. We zipped past, and rolled over into another steep dive. Nova chased us, and we started doing spirals and rolls as fast as we could. We flew up, punching holes through the clouds and getting a glimpse of the first few evening stars before we stalled and started falling. The freefall was incredible, and Mavrik roared with delight as we plummeted back toward the ground.

When we were all winded and exhausted, we landed on a nearby cliff to rest. The sun was beginning to slip down behind the distant ocean. From where we were sitting, we could barely make out the surface of the water, glittering like a mirror on the horizon. The cliff gave us a really great view of the academy, which stood out on the valley floor like a big stone circle. The dark shapes of dragons flew all around it.

I sat on the edge of the cliff with my legs dangling over the drop. Mavrik was crouched beside me, still panting with his mouth open. On the other side of me, Felix was drinking from a canteen he’d clipped to his saddle. Nova was preening her brown and golden scales. Everything between us felt calm. It felt right.

“Where did you get Nova, anyway?” I didn’t know why I’d never thought to ask him that before. “Did she choose you?”

Felix wiped his chin and handed me the canteen so I could drink, too. “No, of course not. I bought her when she was a hatchling. That’s the way it usually goes, these days. It’s like when people breed horses, or dogs. Whoever owns the female pays a siring fee for a male to come and, well, you know. When she lays her eggs, people start bidding to get one of the hatchlings. The highest bidder gets first choice.”

“And she was your first choice?” I looked up at Nova. I could see why he would choose her. She was big, for a female. She had beautiful markings, and there was definitely something regal about her.

“She was the dominant of the clutch. When dragons hatch, there’s always a dominant baby. Just like with eagles, you know? There’s always one that’s bigger and stronger. They call it the dominant hatchling. Nova came out of her egg squawking like she owned the place, and she showed me her teeth when I tried to touch her. I can’t explain it. I knew she was the one I wanted, even if she didn’t like me. I knew I could win her over.” Felix laughed and winked at me. “I’m great with girls.”

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not sure that applies to dragons.”

“Well, does she like me?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

Felix arched a brow at me curiously. “I mean, you can talk to animals, right? So ask her if she likes me.”

I eyed Nova uncomfortably. I’d never tried to talk to another dragon other than Mavrik except for Icarus. That hadn’t ended so well for the rider. Besides, Mavrik was the only one who had been able to talk back to me.

“I-I’ll try,” I stammered and got to my feet. I started walking toward Nova.

As soon as I got close she turned her big head around to look right at me. Her intelligent, dark green eyes studied me. I swallowed back my fear, and reached a hand out toward her. She shied back, her pupils narrowing with distrust. I’d never tried to touch her before.

I started searching through my mind like before, looking for that quiet warmth that spread over my body. I felt her presence in that warmth, like a ripple on a pond. I could feel Mavrik, too, but his presence was so familiar to me now it was like second nature. Still, letting my guard down so I could sense these things gave me chills. My ability was getting stronger. I could focus faster. My fingertips buzzed and tingled with energy.

“It’s okay,” I said softly. “You can feel me, too, right? You know I won’t hurt you. I just want to talk.”

Behind me, Mavrik gave her some encouraging chirps.

Nova looked hesitant, but finally she pushed her snout against my hand. I could feel the blast of her strong breaths against my chest.

I couldn’t keep myself from smiling. “You can understand me, can’t you?”

She made a low, chattering noise. Her wise eyes focused directly into mine. It was silent except for the wind.

Then it happened.

Felix’s dragon, Nova, spoke back to me.

It hit me like a tidal wave. It wasn’t words, just like Mavrik didn’t speak to me with words. It was a rush of emotion that poured into my thoughts like a dam had broken inside me. I saw visions, flashes of moments, and they blurred through my mind so quickly that I could barely understand all of it. But one thing kept leaping out, gripping me so that it stuck in my brain like a thorn: Danger was coming.

There was a strong sense of impending doom, like she knew something terrible was going to happen. I tried to ask her what it was. Even though I couldn’t get a word out, she seemed to understand my question. She was reading my thoughts like Mavrik did.

But I didn’t understand her answer. It was too jumbled; a furious mixture of images and feelings like a tangled mess of string. I cringed as I felt something familiar surge through our minds—that sense of chaos I’d felt from the wolves and mountain cat. I was starting to hate that feeling. It frustrated me, and dulled my senses. But now, thanks to Nova, I understood something new about it. The animals were afraid of this chaos that was trying to possess them. They could sense it coming, but they couldn’t do anything to stop it.

Finally, Nova settled on one image. She showed me a deep, dark pit surrounded by trees. It was like a cavern in the earth that went straight down. There was a staircase overgrown with roots carved into the side of the cave that went spiraling around and around down into the dark. I didn’t even realize that it really felt like I was standing there on the edge of the pit, until I almost tripped and fell in. Then I got that weird, panicked sensation like I was about to fall. It seemed so real.

Then I heard a voice. A voice echoed up from that dark place, and filled every corner of my mind.

“
Return it.
”

Feelings of anxiety and genuine fear for my life surged through my body. I jerked away from Nova. The instant I took my hand away from her snout, my mind went quiet. The images and emotions were gone. Everything was calm.

Nova was still looking at me, her head canted to the side like she didn’t know why I had stopped our communication all of a sudden. I noticed my nose had started to bleed a little. My heart was pounding in my ears.

“Are you okay?” Felix rushed over. “What happened?”

I choked. My hands were shaking again. I got that cold, clammy feeling like I was going to pass out. Then my knees started to buckle.

Felix caught me before I hit the ground. He helped me sit down, and propped me up against the side of the cliff. He and the dragons gathered around, looking at me with concern.

“Just breathe. You’re fine.” Felix patted my shoulder roughly. “What happened? What did you see?”

My heart was still beating out of control. “I’m not sure,” I managed to answer. “She
answered
me.”

“Answered?” He looked confused. “Of course she did. Don’t they all answer you?”

I shook my head and tried to wipe the blood off my nose. “Only Mavrik. Most animals seem to understand me, but he’s the only one who has ever communicated back. But she answered me.”

Felix started to look pale. “What did she say?”

I hesitated. Telling him what she showed me would definitely lead to questions. I would end up having to tell him everything. Well, almost everything. I hadn’t told him anything about my dreams, but I couldn’t deny that my repeating nightmare was somehow connected to whatever Nova had shown me. That voice that had spoken to me from the depths of that cavern—it was my mother’s voice. There was no mistaking it.

I guess Felix could see me struggling, trying to decide what to tell him. He let out a sigh of frustration and sat down beside me. He leaned against the side of the cliff, rested his hands on his knees, and stared off into the sunset.

“You remember that time last year when you asked me why I wanted to be friends with you?” He said. “We had just gotten into a huge fistfight with Lyon and his buddies. You had been beaten to a pulp again, like always. I honestly didn’t know if we could even win that fight. We were outnumbered. I guess it’s a good thing we’re both either too stupid or too stubborn to know when to run, huh?”

I’d been beaten up more times than I could count. That was a general side effect of being born a halfbreed. Even Lyon had found multiple opportunities to pulverize me. But I knew exactly which fight he was talking about. “You must be a lot more stupid than I am, though, since you still want to be friends with me even after everything that’s happened.”

“Probably. But I’m okay with that.” He smirked. “We work best when we work together. Haven’t you figured that out by now?” Felix looked over at me, and I knew he was right. Neither one of us would have survived last year if we hadn’t been together. He needed me watching his back every bit as badly as I needed him watching mine.

“Fine.” I surrendered. “But if you give me that look again like I’m turning into some evil gray elf monster…”

He laughed so loud it almost made me have a heart attack. “You already did that once, right? And I survived, arm and all.”

“That’s not what I meant.” My ears were starting to sizzle with embarrassment.

Felix punched my shoulder. I punched him back. We were both going to have permanent bruises on our arms. “I know what you meant. I already said I’m not gonna judge you. So relax and fess up.”

* * *

By the time I finished telling Felix about the dreams I was having, the sun had set and it was almost dark. I couldn’t bring myself to watch his reaction, but whenever he said something or asked a question, I could hear how serious he was. Something about my dream had him worried.

“Jaevid, did anyone ever tell you how this war got started?” Felix asked as we stood up. We started checking our saddles one more time, just to be sure nothing had bent or come loose during our last flight. We had to get back to the academy soon, or Jace would come looking for us.

“No.” To be honest, it had never really mattered to me before. I assumed it was a problem a lot bigger and older than I was. I didn’t see how knowing the details would make any difference.

Felix got quiet. The look on his face was intense. He started rubbing his chin, scratching at the beard that was starting to grow in. Finally, he started to tell the story.

“I mean, after twenty years or so, the details are muddy. Truth gets mixed with rumors. Pretty soon, it’s hard to tell what’s true and what’s not,” he said. “But the way I’ve always heard it was that the gray elves struck first. They launched an attack against our northern border, started burning villages and killing townsfolk. The royal family was traveling up there and got caught in the crossfire. Only the king survived—if you can even call it that. His whole body was so badly burned and mutilated that to this day, he wears a mask and long baggy robes to hide the scars. They say his face was almost burned completely off by shrike venom. He doesn’t come to balls or parties unless he has to. People rarely see him outside the castle. They say his whole mind has been consumed by the desire to win this war at all costs, not that I blame him. Look at what it’s done to him, and to his people. Anyone would want justice for something like that. That’s why he hates gray elves so much.”

I tried to think of what to say or how to respond. Nothing would come out. I stood frozen, staring at Felix. And he stared right back at me with a haunted look in his eyes. I knew we were both wondering the same thing.

“I’m dreaming about something that happened twenty years ago?” I forced myself to ask. I wanted to make sure this wasn’t some kind of twisted Felix-style prank. He was totally capable of doing something like that just to watch me squirm. It was basically his favorite hobby.

Felix frowned and looked away. “No. Don’t be ridiculous. That’s not possible. It’s a coincidence.”

I was starting to panic. If he wasn’t joking, then why was I dreaming about something like that? “But, Felix, the details are the same!”

He turned away and picked up his helmet. “No, they’re not. You said the king died in your dream, right? Well he’s not dead. I’ve seen him myself. He came to one of our solstice parties once. I was a kid then, but I remember it. He was definitely there, and definitely alive.”

“Then why would I dream something like that? And why do I keep dreaming it every night?” I crossed my arms. I was ready to argue this until my ears bled, or until it made sense. Whichever came first.

“Maybe you overheard someone talking about it and you forgot.” Felix shrugged off all my questions and crammed his helmet down onto his head. “I knew you weren’t sleeping. You’ve got bags under your eyes big enough to store gear in. Don’t let something like this distract you, much less keep you from sleeping. You can’t afford to lose your focus now.”

I knew I had never heard anything about this before, but I wasn’t getting anywhere with Felix. I wasn’t even finished telling him everything, yet. “I heard my mom’s voice when I talked with Nova. She said the same thing: Return it. And she showed me a place with a cavern that went straight down into the ground.”

“I’ve never heard of a place like that.” His voice echoed from inside his helmet. “And return what? You haven’t stolen anything, right?”

“No, of course not.” I put my helmet on, too. “I don’t know what she’s talking about.”

“It’s probably some old memory of your mom that you’ve forgotten until now. That’s all. Look, I’ve got something back at the dorm that’ll help you sleep. You need it, especially tonight. Tomorrow is the first day of training, remember?” Felix gave me a thumbs up as he settled himself into the saddle. “They’re only dreams. You’re over thinking this. Not everything is a conspiracy, Jae.”