Avian (The Dragonrider Chronicles) (39 page)

“Stop it,” Felix whispered suddenly. Behind him, I could see Thrane unfurling his whip. “We had a deal.”

I stopped struggling long enough to whisper back, “He’s going to kill you!”

Felix sent me one of his typical, carefree grins. He opened his mouth to speak, but he never got the words out.

The whip cracked in the air.

It cracked over, and over, and over. Each time, Felix yelled, and his whole body jerked violently against the chains. His blood ran down his legs to drip onto the ground at our feet. His head sagged to his chest, and his knees had buckled so that he was basically dangling by the shackles on his wrists. I could hear him struggling to breathe. I was terrified he’d stop, that any one of those haggard breaths might be his last.

But the lashes kept coming. Even after Felix stopped screaming altogether, as though he didn’t even have the strength to make a sound anymore. The metallic smell of his blood hung in the air. It made me sick with rage. Thrane curled that whip again and again, smiling at me the whole time.

I hated myself for not stopping this. I hated Felix for not letting me. I hated Thrane because there was nothing I wanted more than to rip his heart right out of his chest. I hated Jace for not intervening. Didn’t he see what was happening? This wasn’t training. This was torture.

Another instructor beside Thrane was keeping count of the lashes. It was the only other sound other than the awful sound of that whip cracking in the air.

“Twenty-two. Twenty-three. Twenty-four…”

I squeezed my eyes shut. I let my head sag to my chest. Deep inside me, something was starting to rise up. It was a familiar burning heat, like someone had poured dragon venom into my veins. Before, I had always tried to fight it. I’d been so afraid of it, or of what would happen if I lost control. But now I had no reason to be afraid. I didn’t have any reason to resist it.

So I surrendered.

Immediately, my mind snapped into focus. Strength bloomed through my body despite the pain, hunger, and thirst. None of it mattered anymore as I raised my head, and stared past Felix’s slumped body to where Thrane was standing.

I wanted to kill him, and nothing was going to stop me.

I didn’t even notice the way the post was beginning to sprout branches. At least, not until I felt the ground move under my feet. The post was coming to life. It was sprouting roots that dove into the earth around our feet. It was growing branches and leaves in a matter of seconds.

I heard the others starting to scream, but that sound only stoked the fire in my chest. I could feel the post now. It wasn’t just wood anymore. It was a living thing, and it would obey me.

I commanded it to set us free. Immediately, a branch began twisting round the thick iron chains and squeezing them like a boa constrictor.

The chains snapped.

Felix was badly hurt. He couldn’t even stand. As soon as his chains were broken, he started to fall. I caught him long enough to make sure he made it to the ground without cracking his head. Then I set my eyes upon Thrane.

Thrane was terrified. Everyone else was, too. They were running, yelling, or standing in awe as the whipping post grew bigger, turning into a large tree in the middle of the courtyard. But none of that mattered to me.

“You will pay with your blood,” I snarled at Thrane. I barely recognized my own voice. I sounded like some kind of a growling beast.

Thrane was fumbling around, trying to figure out how to fend me off. He drew back his whip, and lashed it at me.

I caught it in the air and let it wrap around my forearm. Then I pulled on it hard enough to make him loose his footing. Thrane fell to his knees.

He started frantically grasping for his sword. His expression of fear changed to rage and hatred. When he got to his feet, he started toward me, bellowing like a maniac. He raised his sword, ready to cut me in half.

The heat in my chest suddenly swelled. It spread throughout my body, blazing out to every finger and toe like a roaring inferno. It sent such a jolt through me that my legs buckled. I was on my knees, but I wasn’t surrendering.

I was just getting started.

Thrane took three steps before the ground beneath him started to rumble and move. Three huge vines erupted out of the soil around him. They wrapped around his arms and legs, snagging him like giant tentacles. He started to scream as they lifted him into the air.

“End it,” I heard myself snarl.

A splinter of doubt pierced my chest, but I couldn’t stop it. The rage had overtaken me. It was battle fever—the
kulunai
. Thrane was getting what he wanted, a lot more than he bargained for, and precisely what he deserved.

A flex of my hand made the vines all squeeze at once. There was a nasty crunching sound, and Thrane’s screams went silent. I felt it as he died, almost like I was crushing a glass ornament in my hands. It was shattered completely, and there was no way to repair it.

Suddenly, something struck me. It hit me hard in the chest, right at my shoulder. I looked down, surprised to see the shaft of an arrow sticking out of my body. It didn’t hurt, though. The battle fever prevented me from feeling anything but the boiling fire in my body. I immediately stood up and started looking around for the person who had shot me. They were the next threat that had to be dealt with.

I saw Jace. He was slowly drawing another arrow back. He stood only a few yards away, his expression just as brutally wrathful as though he were facing down someone he truly hated.

I was confused. I knew his face, even through the haze of the battle fever. I didn’t understand why he was shooting at me. But when he fired again, hitting me in the side, I felt the fires of my own fury start to rise again. It didn’t matter who he was, then. He was a threat that needed to be dealt with, and that was all I cared about.

“No!” Someone yelled. I was sure I had heard that voice before.

Lyon burst from the ranks of panicking avians and threw himself in between us. He was facing me, his eyes wide and desperate. “Jae, you have to stop,” he yelled again. “You have to stop this right now! Thrane is dead! It’s over!”

The roaring fires in my veins start to fizzle—until I felt the pain of the arrows in my body. That sensation spun me back into the battle fever in a matter of seconds.

“Get out of the way,” I growled at him.

Lyon didn’t move. He stood between Jace and I, his arms spread wide, staring me down. Behind him, I could still see Jace, and he had another arrow notched and ready to fly.

“No. I won’t let you do it.” Lyon said. I saw his chin tremble some, like he was trying not to lose his nerve. “Are you with us?”

That question struck a chord. It roused a memory I had almost forgotten. Someone had asked me that before, but I couldn’t remember who. The battle fever made everything seem so out of control.

“Answer me! Are you with us?” Lyon shouted louder.

Coolness washed over me so suddenly that actually gave me chills. The fire within me died, reduced to ashes as the battle fever left my body. Before my legs buckled again, I managed to answer.

“Always.”

* * *

I wasn’t expecting any kindness, not after what I’d done. Part of me was okay with whatever they chose to do with me. I wasn’t going to beg for my life, not when I was so obviously guilty. I was a murderer, and I couldn’t ask for mercy when I hadn’t shown any myself. So I let myself slip away, sleeping off the exhaustion from using so much of my power, and hoped that I would never wake up. Maybe they’d just behead me in my sleep. I didn’t want to face Felix, Lyon, or Jace again, anyway.

As the haze of fatigue finally cleared from my mind, I woke up in the darkness of a prison cell. The wounds left by Jace’s arrows had been bandaged, but they still hurt. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like he had been shooting to kill me, because they were nothing more than flesh wounds.

As I started to get my bearings, I realized there were voices speaking loudly nearby. One of them sounded like Lyon.

“He’s the only one who can do it. Let him show you!” Lyon was pleading. “He’s done it to me dozens of times already!”

“He’s telling the truth,” Jace insisted. “I’ve seen it myself.”

“That… that
thing
cannot be trusted! He almost turned on you, too!” I heard someone arguing. He was joined by a few other voices, all grumbling in agreement.

“But he didn’t,” Jace countered. He sounded as calm and collected as ever. “It was my mistake. I struck him first. If I hadn’t presented myself as a threat, he wouldn’t have even considered me one. You saw how Lyon was able to talk him down. He was rational because he didn’t perceive Lyon as a threat.”

“Don’t be a fool, Lieutenant Rordin,” someone else snarled in defiance. “We’ve all seen these creatures when the battle fever possesses them! We’ve witnessed firsthand what they are capable of! They are not rational!”

No one spoke for a moment. I didn’t move from where I was lying on my back, staring up into the darkness of my prison cell. Then Jace said something that made me go numb.

“I don’t think it was battle fever.” He sounded very solemn. “I know we suspected that after the first incident with Lyon. It certainly seemed the likely explanation, considering his heritage. But now, having witnessed what else he can do, I think this is something else. You all saw how his eyes glowed. You saw how his teeth turned to fangs, and how he made those plants obey him. I’ve never seen that before from battle fever—or from any gray elf, for that matter. Whatever he did—whatever he is—it’s something we’ve never encountered before.”

Once again there was silence.

All I could do was lie there and try to comprehend what Jace had said. My eyes had glowed? And my teeth had turned to fangs? I poked at them with my tongue to be sure, but they didn’t feel any different from normal now.

“So what exactly are we dealing with?” Another voice asked. It sounded like Lieutenant Haprick. I was too dazed to be sure. “Surely you aren’t thinking he could be some sort of pagan gray elf deity?”

Lyon snorted. “Jae’s not a god. He’d tell you that himself if you asked him.”

“Regardless of what he is, there’s no reason we shouldn’t let him save his friend. Everything he did was for that same purpose, and his ability to heal has never provoked a violent attack before,” Jace said. “Besides, I don’t see any other choice. We can’t escape even to send out a distress call. If we don’t act soon, Felix will die of infection. I can’t let that happen. It’s my fault he’s in this state. Thrane took things too far, and I didn’t stop him in time.”

Hearing that got me on my feet in an instant. I walked to the iron bars at the front of my cell. A small group of instructors and avians stood close by, huddling together under the light of a single torch.

“Let me save him,” I begged. “Please.”

My words made everyone, including Jace and Lyon, jump in surprise. They all turned to face me. I could see the fear in their eyes. It made me realize I was more alone now than I’d ever been before. Now, they all saw me as a potential threat.

“What are you? How do we know we can trust you?” Lieutenant Haprick demanded.

My shoulders sagged. “I don’t know. And I don’t know how to prove to you that I don’t want to hurt anyone else.”

“Well, you’ve done more than that.” Jace sighed and took a step toward me. “After your little outburst, it’s like the whole island has gone mad. We can’t even get out of the compound now. The few of us who have tried were killed in minutes, before they could even reach the wall.”

I stared at him, trying to understand everything he said. “The plants?”

“And animals,” Lyon added. “It’s unbelievable, Jae. Remember how you woke up that ancient turtle everyone thought was extinct? There are monsters outside right now no one has ever seen before. They didn’t even know creatures like that lived on this island. They attack anyone who dares to step foot outside the door.”

“Because of me?” I swallowed hard.

Jace’s expression said it all. It really was my fault. “We can’t even send anyone out to call for help. We’re trapped here. Our supplies won’t last a week. But Felix’s wounds will kill him long before hunger and thirst do.”

I frowned at them as hard as I could. “Then let me out. I have to heal him. If you let me do that much, then I will call the dragons back here for you. You won’t have to send anyone else outside.”

Lieutenant Haprick’s brows rose in surprise. “Are you bargaining with us?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Yes. And as far as I can tell, it’s the best option you’ve got. You don’t even have to take me with you when the dragons come. Leave me here to die alone, if it makes you feel better.”

“Jae, that’s not—” Lyon started to protest.

“They won’t trust me again after this, right? Then it’s better if I stay.” I snapped at him.

“There’s no way the dragons can pick us up here.” Jace started rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “The forest has completely invaded the compound. The canopy is too thick for them to land. We have to get to the beach.”

“Maybe he can talk to the trees?” Lyon suggested. “You know, get them to move or something?”

Lieutenant Haprick scoffed, “Do you even hear yourselves? Talking to trees?! This is ridiculous!”

“No, what’s ridiculous is letting everyone here die on principle because you don’t understand what I am. You don’t have to like me. You don’t even have to trust me. You have to let me try. I’m the only chance you’ve got to escape this place.” I growled at them. “So let me out. Now.”

Felix was in bad shape. When I entered the small, dimly lit room where they had him resting, the smell of infection hit me like a rock to the forehead. It was a disgusting, sickly-sweet smell that made me gag.

Felix was lying on his side facing the door. His back was wrapped in bandages that were soaked with blood. Jace had already warned me about that. They were out of medical supplies, so they were trying to reuse what little they had on hand.

A small audience of instructors and avians were gathered in the doorway, but they didn’t follow me into the room as I went to kneel down at Felix’s bedside. They all kept a safe distance from me now, as though they were afraid I would snap and go crazy again. I couldn’t blame them for that.