Dragonvein (Book Two) (31 page)

He felt her tongue searching for his. Gently at first, then more passionately. Closer still she moved, until he could feel her breasts pressing against his chest. The heat of her body sent his desires into a frenzy. All of his uncertainty was now gone; as was the little girl who was once Kat.

“Ahem.”

Their lips parted and Kat sat up. In the doorway stood Lylinora, her hands planted firmly on her hips.

“I see you two are getting reacquainted,” she said with undisguised anger.

“You might say that,” replied Kat, giving her a tiny smile.

Lylinora fixed her gaze on Ethan. “Renald wants to speak to you before you see Val and Jake,” she told him. “He’s waiting for you under an apple tree about halfway to the boat.”

Ethan was unsure how to handle the situation. Nothing the voices of his ancestors whispered into his mind had prepared him for this. He smiled inwardly. Though as problems go, this wasn’t the worst one he could think of.

He tried to sit up, but the pain had him hissing and groaning with each attempt.

Lylinora crossed the room. After roughly moving Kat aside with her body, she sat on the bed and placed her hands on his chest. He had felt the power of her healing magic before. Usually, it was pleasant. Or at least, not painful. This time, however, it felt as if she was touching him with hot coals rather than warm flesh. He sucked his teeth, trying to mask his discomfort. After a few seconds, she stood up and took several steps back.

“You should be able to walk now,” she told him curtly.

Ethan tried again to move. This time the pain was nearly gone, with only a bit of stiffness remaining. “Thank you,” he said. “I feel much better.”

Lylinora sniffed. “I bet you do.” She glared at Kat, who once again smiled in return.

After finding his boots near the door, Ethan quickly put them on and took one more look at the two women.

“You do realize that she was just a child when you last saw her,” Lylinora said.

Kat jumped in before Ethan could respond. “I think he knows what I was,” she said, giving Lylinora a dismissive flick of her wrist. “And I’m
sure
that he knows what I am now.”

Her smile became almost spiteful as the two women locked eyes.

Ethan hurried out, not bothering to close the door behind him. This was one argument of which he most surely did not want to be caught in the middle.

With the sun halfway to its apex, the familiar taste of salty air and the scent of blossoms produced a contented sigh. He paused just beyond the porch. Lumnia - this was his true home. Even the ground beneath his feet felt right. Earth was now an alien land to him. As he walked on to meet Renald, he wondered what had made him feel this way. Was it due to all the adventures he had experienced since arriving? Or perhaps the people he had met and befriended? Of course, it could simply be the fact that generations of his family now resided within him that had produced this sense of belonging. Whatever the reason. He was happy to be back.

Renald was waiting for him as promised, sitting beneath an apple tree just off the path. He had Maytra curled up in his lap and was stroking her snout with his fingertip.

The little dragon growled a welcome when Ethan sat down, though she was not about to move while receiving affection. “You want to speak to me?” Ethan said.

Renald nodded. “Does the name Martok mean anything to you?”

Ethan shook his head. “Not that I can remember. Why? Does it have something to do with how Kat came back?”

“Indeed it does,” he affirmed. “I take it you have no memory of what transpired after you returned from Earth. Am I right?”

“Nothing,” he replied. “I was hoping you’d tell me.”

“I will, very soon.” He pulled a sealed parchment from his pocket and handed it to Ethan. “But first I would like you to read this.”

“What is it?”

“A message,” he answered.

“From who?”

Renald’s expression darkened. “That is what I need to find out.”

“Why didn’t you just open it yourself?” Ethan asked. He turned the parchment over in his hand. Aside from the wax seal, there seemed to be nothing especially remarkable about it.

“I couldn’t,” explained Renald. “It is sealed with far more than just wax.”

“And you think
I
can open it?”

“I am certain of it,” he replied.

Ethan traced his finger around the wax before easily breaking the seal. From the way Renald had been eyeing the parchment, he’d half expected it to erupt into some sort of magical flame. But nothing happened. From all appearances, it was merely a letter. It read:

Ethan,

I bid you warm greetings. My name is Martok. The power I have used to rescue your companion has shortened my time, so I must be brief.

You will hear things, terrible things, connected to my name that you must judge for yourself to be either true or false. That doddering old fool Renald will certainly want you to think the worst of me. But what little he actually knows will have been passed down by those who murdered me long ago. So I would ask only that you reserve judgement until I have my say. I hope the help that I have provided you with has earned me this courtesy.

But until we meet again, I must give you this warning. Do not rush to challenge Shinzan. If you do, you will be destroyed. I have looked into this demon’s spirit and seen the truth behind who and what he really is. His power is far greater than you realize. Only with my help can you succeed. Only I know the creature’s vulnerabilities. Without me, you, our family, and all the peoples of Lumnia are doomed.

When you are ready, I will be waiting. Simply call for me, and I will come. I can be the teacher and the friend you will need. Together we can find victory. We can save this world and all who dwell here.

Martok

Ethan handed the letter to Renald, who read it carefully several times before passing it back.

“Who is Martok?” Ethan asked.

“You mean, who
was
Martok,” Renald corrected. “He lived thousands of years ago. His name is rarely spoken. He was the most powerful mage who ever lived, as well as the greatest shame our family bears.”

“Shame?”

Renald nodded. “Yes. Before Shinzan, only one evil had ever threatened to consume this world. And that evil was Martok. His power made him arrogant and cruel. He sought to rule all lands and all races. And those who resisted were slaughtered. Entire cities were reduced to ashes as his armies spread across the land like locusts. Whole populations were wiped out completely.”

“So how was he defeated?” asked Ethan.

“The great mages of that time formed the Council of Volnar. How they overcame his power, I don’t know. Only a few rare texts tell the actual account, and I’ve never read them. What I do know was told to me by your father. He studied the life of Martok in great detail.”

Maytra was now asleep in his lap. “I know he was able to command the dragons, and that he used them to terrible purpose. If he is offering you his help, I would strongly urge you to decline.”

“What if he’s telling the truth?” countered Ethan. “What if your history has misjudged him?”

“I don’t see how it could have,” he replied. “Not completely.”

Ethan considered this for a long moment before speaking again. “Suppose it
is
true. All of it. If he can help me, shouldn’t I accept it anyway? I mean, it’s not like he’s here in the flesh. He’s just a spirit, after all.”

Renald locked eyes with him. “What I witnessed you do tells me there is more danger than you may understand. And I fear where it may lead. When you came back through the portal, I had never been so relieved in my life. Markus, Val, and Jake came through first, as you already know. Only Markus was conscious, and he was too disoriented to tell us what had happened. None of us knew if you were coming or not, and Lylinora was growing weaker by the second.”

Ethan recalled the desperation he’d felt knowing that Kat had been left behind. Then the voice came. It promised to help. Then…after that, everything seemed distant and strange. It was like a dream at the edge of his memories, teasingly just out of reach.

“After the portal vanished,” Renald continued. “I could feel the power of the dragons receding. Even with their power to aid me, I could have opened the portal for only a second or two, and the effort would have almost certainly killed me. But without their help, I didn’t even have the strength to do that much.”

Ethan could hear the frustration in his voice. Renald was not a man who dealt well with helplessness. “I didn’t blame you,” he said.

Renald chuckled. “Of course you did. Not as much as you blamed yourself. But you were distraught, and your reaction was perfectly normal. Don’t dwell on it. What came next should be your concern.”

Ethan leaned forward.

“I saw you weeping. You were talking – at the time I thought to Jonas. But I was wrong. As if transformed, you stiffened and stood up. Your tears had vanished, and your face…I’ve seen that look before: the confidence that only great and terrible power affords. You pushed Jonas aside and commanded him to carry Lylinora from the dais. I wasn’t sure what was happening at first. You walked straight toward me, looked me up and down, and spoke the words: ‘Yul et amon’. It means weak and feeble in the old language. You then turned to the dragons and raised your arms high, as if in greeting. To my utter astonishment, the ground trembled in response.”

“The dragons moved?” asked Ethan, stunned.

“Their bodies, no,” he replied. “But I’m sure they caused the ground to shake. That was when I first suspected I was looking at Martok and not you. Next, you called Markus over. He said you were courteous, albeit direct, when requesting that he return for Kat. You’ll need to ask him yourself if you want to know exactly what he said in reply.

“Once Markus was ready, you began chanting the spell. I could feel the power of the dragons flood over the entire dais like a tidal surge. It was so strong that it took my breath away. Where Lylinora had labored for many minutes, you opened the portal with ease within seconds. What’s more, when Markus returned with Kat and the portal vanished, I expected you - or Martok - to be showing signs of fatigue. But you stood there as if it had taken no more effort than a flick of your finger. Of course, neither Markus nor Kat were in any condition to walk very far. And as for Jake and Val, they were in an even worse state.”

He paused to take a breath. “
That they brought horses for themselves would be too much to hope for
, you said. But before I could respond to this, you smiled at me and a black cloud began swirling around the dais. Lylinora and the others were all lifted from the ground and placed beside me. You didn’t utter a single word or move a muscle. You simply willed the spell to happen. In time, you’ll realize just how impressive that was.” He shook his head and whispered: “Fearsome power.”

Ethan remained silent, eager to hear the rest of the old mage’s story.

“Suddenly, we were all consumed within the black vortex,” he continued. “And there we stayed, immobile for several minutes. Throughout, you just stood there as if nothing was happening, completely unconcern with your surroundings. I swear I never felt my feet leave the dais for an instant. But when the cloud dissipated, I saw that we had all somehow been transported to within just a few feet of my own house.”

No matter how eager he was to hear everything, this time Ethan could not prevent himself from making a comment. “You mean, he carried everyone an entire day’s walk in just a few minutes?”

Renald nodded. “Like I told you, Martok was the most powerful mage to have ever been born. There are legends about him conjuring one-hundred horses for his men to ride into battle.”

He could see that this claim had only mildly impressed Ethan, so added: “Your father, who was a truly great mage, could not conjure more than three or four. And even those few would disappear very quickly if you tried to mount them.”

Renald waited for a more enthusiastic reaction. But after a moment he shrugged and continued with the story. “Once we were all inside the house you asked me - no, asked is not the right word - you
commanded
me, to find some parchment and a quill.”

Ethan glanced down at Martok’s message. Suddenly, it felt heavier in his hand. With great care, he placed it on the ground beside him.

His action drew a laugh from Renald. “There is nothing to be afraid of now. Once opened, it became nothing but a piece of parchment. The ward used to seal it was spent the moment you broke the wax.” He picked it up, waved it back and forth, and then tossed it into Ethan’s lap. “See? It’s harmless.”

For an instant, Ethan looked sheepish. But this rapidly faded. “Please continue,” he said.

Renald shifted his old bones slightly. “Very well. By the time you finished writing, Val and Jake were regaining their senses. You removed your boots, stretched out on the bed, and beckoned me over.
Do not fill his head with useless nonsense and wild stories
, you told me.
Your fear of my name and the power I wield will only become an instrument of your doom
.
I am not your enemy
.
After all
…w
e are family, are we not?
Having said that, you smiled and laughed softly. I could see Martok’s hold on you was fading. Within a minute or so you had fallen into a deep sleep.

“After that, when everyone was fully recovered from the effects of the portal, Lylinora, Jonas and I spent most of the time trying to explain things to Val and Jake.” He wagged an admonishing finger. “You really should have explained things to them more fully. Don’t expect a warm greeting when they see you.”

“I did what I felt I had to,” Ethan responded. “I need them here in Lumnia, and couldn’t risk them being too afraid to come.”

Maytra growled unhappily as Renald shook her awake and lifted her from his lap. “But shouldn’t they have been given the choice?” he asked.