The Dracons' Woman (41 page)

Chapter 20

For long minutes the four of them collapsed in a pile on the bed, their bodies trembling from the intensity of their experience.  Once they had their breath back, Garen lifted himself off of Lariah as Val disentangled himself, and together they shifted her body enough for Trey to slide out from beneath her.  They all sent their magic into her at once, relieved to find that she was simply asleep.  After everything that she had been through that day, Garen thought, it was not surprising. 

“I never thought to see the binding marks in my life time,” Val said quietly.  “I certainly never thought to see them on myself.”

Garen grinned at him.  “Nor did I,” he said.  “Aren’t they magnificent?”

Trey laughed softly. “It is difficult to realize that this is not a dream,” he said.  “That something which started out so hideously could end like this.”

“We are beyond blessed,” Garen said soberly, gazing at the woman who had so completely changed their lives.  “As much as I would like to remain here in this room, it is not yet night, and I wish to hear what Faron has learned of today’s events.”

Trey and Val both nodded in agreement, their faces hardening as they too thought of the attack on Lariah.

“Shall we bathe her first?” Trey asked.  Garen considered for a moment, then shook his head.  “No, not now.  I do not wish to waken her.  Let’s cleanse her as best we can, and let her sleep for awhile.  When we come back, we will bathe her properly.”

“Good idea,” Val said, then headed for the bathroom.  Once again they brought warm damp cloths to the bed and cleansed Lariah’s body, checking her over again to be sure that she was well.  When they were finished they covered her with a light blanket, then nudged her gently with their magic into a deeper sleep, assuring that she would not awaken until they returned.

They dressed quickly and opened the bedroom door to find Tiny lying in the hallway, a sad, but resigned expression on his face.  They all stopped to praise the giant dog once again, then Garen gestured to him.  Tiny leapt to his feet, tail wagging, and hurried into the bedroom.  After one quick peek to be sure that Lariah was on the bed asleep, the dog settled down on the floor with a huge sigh and fell instantly to sleep. 

Satisfied that Lariah was safe with Tiny guarding her, Garen pulled the door almost closed, then followed his brothers down the short hall, across the living room, and into the dining room.  The soft voices they had heard from the bedroom stopped as they entered the dining room.  Garen had expected to find Riata and Faron there, but seeing Pater as well was a relief.

“How is Lariah?” Riata asked at once.  For a moment Garen wondered if Riata would have told the others what had occurred, but a quick look into her eyes gave him his answer.  She would never reveal such private information, and it shamed him that he had even considered that she would.  Riata smiled at him, and Garen was reminded that she was not just a Healer, but an Empath as well.

“She is sleeping,” he said, “but she is quite well.”

The relief of all those around the table was immediate.  Garen heard a soft sob from the doorway and looked up to see Suly with tears in her eyes.  He detoured from the seat he was about to take at the table, and instead gave Suly a gentle hug. 

“Do not worry Suly,” he said softly to her.  “Our Lariah is perfectly healed now, I promise you.”

Suly smiled and wiped her tears, then shooed Garen toward the table.  “Sit, sit,” she ordered all three of them.  “I will bring you some hot food.”  She then turned and rushed out of the room toward the kitchen.

“She is truly well?” Faron asked.  Garen nodded.  “Yes my friend, she is.  But she has been through much today and needs rest now.”

Faron let out a huge relieved sigh and scrubbed his hands over his face.  “I saw her injury,” he said.  “I cannot imagine what it must have been like for you to see such.”

Garen gritted his teeth, then relaxed.  It was over now and there was no need to think about it.  Except to discover what had really happened.

“I understand you put Yanger in a stasis bag,” Garen said.

Faron nodded, but did not look directly at Garen for a moment.  When he did meet Garen’s eyes, Garen had a difficult time deciphering what he saw there. 

Suly bustled into the room with loaded plates of food for Garen, Trey and Val.  Everyone else had already eaten, and though at first they felt strange eating while others weren’t, they were too hungry to worry about it much.

“Tell me,” Garen ordered once Suly had disappeared back into the kitchen.

Faron stared directly into his Prince’s eyes, and said the words he had never thought to say in his lifetime.  “The Narrasti have returned.”

For a long moment no one moved or even breathed as Garen, Val and Trey attempted to absorb Faron’s statement.  Val and Trey swore softly in the ancient tongue, and Garen wondered briefly if Faron was playing some sort of prank.  One look into his old friend’s eyes was enough to disabuse him of that notion.

Garen turned and met his brothers’ gazes.  They were as shocked as he was, but none of them doubted Faron for a moment.  Garen turned back to Faron.

“Explain please,” he said.

Starting with the odd markings on Frith Yanger’s body, Faron told Garen, Trey and Val everything that had happened, including his growing suspicions.  When he related the scene that Ban and Dav had found at the café in town all three of his Princes grimaced in disgust. 

“How is Fera?” Garen asked.

“The human doctor says that she will be fine.  She has a mild concussion and a broken jaw,” Faron replied.  “She’s devastated by her husband’s death.  She saw Frith murder him, so that’s going to be difficult for her.”

“Did Bearen agree with Dav and Ban that Lenno had been eaten, like the security guard?” Garen asked.

Faron nodded.  “Luckily, Fera is not aware of that and I see no reason for her to be.”

“Agreed,” Garen said at once.  “That poor woman has paid a high enough price for being the sister of a madman.”

“Bearen called in a full forensics team.  When they complete their investigation, they will have the kitchen cleaned up.  When Fera goes back, there won’t be any sign of what occurred there.”

Garen nodded.  Not only was that a good thing for her, it also was important to the Jasani that the humans didn’t know more than they needed to about this situation. 

Garen ate quietly for a time, running everything Faron had told him through his mind.  He agreed with Faron’s assessment that the Narrasti was most likely a shape-changer.  The thought of the Narrasti suddenly making an appearance after so many millennia made his blood run cold.  But the immediate threat of a mere shape-changer was not too serious.  If they had to deal with a Narrasti, he could not think of many that would be easier to dispose of.

He compared what he’d been told with the obvious tension he felt still radiating from Faron, and thought some more.  When he finished eating he pushed his plate away.

“Alright, tell me the rest,” he said.

Faron nodded, not at all surprised that Garen knew there was more to the story.  “The only thing I haven’t told you yet is not mine to tell,” he said.  “This next bit is Pater’s story.”

Everyone looked at the thin, elderly man.  He still felt frightened by what he had seen, but Riata had Healed his injury and, he thought, helped him distance himself from the horror of what he’d witnessed.  He knew from the way Faron, Dav and Ban had reacted that what he’d seen was important, and very bad.  He was nervous to have everyone suddenly looking at him, but he cared for the Dracons as he did his own sons, and he was not afraid of them.

“I got a call from the Nursery that the plants I ordered for the Lady came in,” he said, his voice old and weathered, but easily understandable.  “I just come up over that last rise to the main gate when I saw a ground-car suddenly shoot backwards and slam into those boulders on the far side of the road.”  He paused and looked at Garen, his brows raised.  Garen nodded that he knew what boulders Pater meant, and the old man went on with his story.

“I drove up to the gate and waited, but nobody got out of the ground-car and I got worried they was hurt.  So I got out of the truck.”  Pater paused and shook his head.  “I’m an old fool, that’s for sure,” he said.  “A man got out of the ground-car and came running at me so fast I barely had time to think.  He hauled off and punched me so hard I liked to see stars.  I went down, and I musta hit my head cause after that I don’t remember nothin’ for awhile.”

Pater hesitated, then reached for the glass sitting on the table in front of him.  His hand shook as he raised the glass to his lips and took a healthy swallow of the contents.  This next part was the hard part, and he was gearing himself up for it.  He swallowed hard and looked up at Garen. 

“I opened my eyes and saw a feller standing there, didn’t look like anyone or anything I’d ever seen before.  He was tall and thin, didn’t seem to have no hair on his head, and his arms and legs were short and skinny.  And he was green.  An ugly, dirty kinda green.  He was staring at me with his little red eyes and hissing, baring big yellow fangs at me.  He kept trying to get through the gate, but he couldn’t.  Every time he tried he…well he….”  Pater swallowed hard and looked back and forth between Garen and Faron.  “I know this’ll sound crazy but I swear it’s the truth.”

“I would not doubt anything you said,” Garen assured him. 

Pater nodded his head and took a deep breath.  “Every time that thing tried to get through the gate he acted like he was being shocked or stunned by something.  And each time, he changed.  One second he was tall and green, then he was an old man.  Or a little old lady.  Or a tall skinny man in a black uniform, like a guard.  I liked to thought I was losing my mind to watch it, but it happened over and over again.  And that thing got madder and madder.  It wanted to get through that gate so it could kill me, I know that much for sure.  But it couldn’t get to me cause it couldn’t cross the barrier.” 

Pater paused a moment and put a hand to his chest, his heart racing.  Riata rose from her chair and stepped behind him, and after a moment his heart slowed down and he felt calm again.  He turned and looked up at her.  “Thank you,” he whispered to her.  She smiled and took her seat again.

Pater once again looked at Garen, because he had to look somewhere and all those eyes watching him made him nervous.

“After awhile it gave up trying to get through the barrier,” Pater said.  “It just stood there and stared at me for a minute, then it changed again, only this time on purpose.  Sorta like you do when you shift to your dracon, but different.  When you do it, you sort of expand and it’s fast and kinda fun to watch.  But this thing, it was horrible.  It looked like it was…well…like it was turning itself inside out.”  Pater shuddered at the memory.

“What did it turn into?” Garen asked, though there was a large part of him that did not want an answer to that question.

Pater nodded, a tiny little movement that let Garen know he understood.  Pater didn’t want to know either.  “A snake,” Pater said, his voice hoarse. “It turned into a gigantic snake.  As big as your dracon I figure, or close to it.  It was that ugly, dirty green color, and it still had those little tiny legs and arms, but they had big claws on them.  And it had wings.  Great big ones.  It stretched those wings out and flapped them a bit, then it sort of hopped a few times.  Then, all of a sudden, it jumped up and took off into the sky, flying so fast it disappeared before I could draw my next breath.” 

Slater had never been so excited in all of his existence.  He snuggled himself deeper into a dark corner of the cargo hold and relaxed as he felt the ship accelerate away from the Jasani skyport.  He could hardly believe how well everything had gone.

He did not know whether or not Frith had succeeded in his appointed task, but, he told himself, that didn’t really matter.  What mattered was that Slater had succeeded.  He had transformed into one of the greatest forms in the history of his people, a mighty sugea.  It had been an electrifying experience for him.  He had never dreamed of such strength! Such power! Such speed! 

It had taken him mere minutes to return to the spaceport in the form of a sugea, a distance it had taken hours to traverse in a ground-car.  The only part of the entire experience that had shaken him was when the sugea had urged him to strafe the spaceport with flame, rather than keep itself hidden.  Slater had to force himself to land a distance away and take the form of a human before returning to the spaceport. 

Now, safely hidden on a cargo ship, Slater imagined his triumphant return to Onddo.  He would approach Magoa in the form of the sugea, and if anyone dared suggest he be exterminated, he would fry them where they stood.  They would be made to see his importance and his power.

Suddenly it occurred to him that sugea were supposed to have had great magical ability.  He wondered if, in that form, he would as well, and chastised himself for not taking the opportunity to find out.  He shrugged.  It did not matter.  It would take him many months to travel back to Onddo, moving from ship to ship, planet to planet.  When he got close enough, he would have to seek out the annual welfare ship and find a way to board it before it made its visit to Onddo.  He had no doubt that he would have many opportunities to discover all there was to know about his strengths in that form.