Wolf Dream (25 page)

Glowing bright red against the black satin interior was her necklace. It always
had a glow when it wasn’t around her neck. Her father never told her what kind of power it held, but she knew it was strong by the way it pulsed in rhythm with her energy. She wasn’t sure how it could help her now, but having it close helped the ache in her heart.

The necklace was a gold circular pendant with swirls inside, embedded in the middle with a ruby-red stone. Karis picked it up and placed it around her neck. The humming stopped as well as the glowing. She traced her fingers over the familiar shape of the pendent as it rested at the top of her collarbone.

“Karis my sweet, come here. I have something I want to give you before I leave again.” Her father lifted her to his lap.

She was eight years old but still liked to be close to him. It made her sad when he had to leave, so she took all she could get. “Papa, what is it?”

He gestured to Tarine, who held a box. Tarine came closer and waved his hand over the seal, unlocking it. Her father lifted out a beautiful necklace with a red glow. He slipped it around her neck and gave her a smile. “You must keep this always. Guard it well, my princess.”

Karis felt a strange purr as her body connected with the different power that now hung on around her neck. She nodded. “I will.”

He sat her back down on her feet and stood. Leaning over, he gave her a quick kiss on top of her head before leaving.

She hated those moments. She knew he did too and always left before she could see his sadness. Tarine wrapped an arm around her. “He’ll be home soon, my dear.”

She turned and buried her face in Tarine’s coat.

She swallowed the lump that formed in the back of her throat from the memory and placed the crumpled note inside the box, then sealed it shut. Taking it with her, she climbed out of the inlet and proceeded inland, pushing wide leaves out of her way as she searched for her new home. She would have plenty of time to explore her island; right now she needed to
find out what else the council allowed her to have.

Spreading the leaves on one more tree, she came upon a clearing.
It was there that she spotted a tall wooden structure with a wraparound porch. After living in a grand palace for all of her twenty years, this was hard to appreciate. Wooden slabs and bamboo poles made up the frame of the house, but upon closer inspection, the walls were dried grass woven into a weave-like pattern.

Wooden steps led up to the porch with vines hanging from the railing all the way up. A thatched roof hung over the sides, giving some shade. The stilts made the house sit up off the ground enough that she could walk underneath it easily, but wide leaves filled the area, making it hard to move through. Colorful flowers were scattered among the plants, leaving a trail of violets, pinks, and oranges around her new home.

Karis straightened her shoulders and climbed the stairs. She braced herself against the doorframe, leaning slightly but not too hard, afraid she’d fall through. Nothing about this felt like home. She opened the door.

It was nearly a bare room; a single bed sat on the far wall. There were at least four open windows with sheer treatments that danced in the breeze. Her trunk rested unscathed, taking up the whole end of the wide bed. She quickly walked over and opene
d it, letting out a sigh of relief when she noticed most of her clothing neatly folded inside. She pulled each piece out and then laid them on the bed. Among her clothing, she found her hairbrush and other essentials. It surprised her to find a few personal items, such as a picture of herself and her father taken not too long ago, hidden underneath all the clothing. She pulled it out and held it tightly to her chest.

“Oh, Father, what has happened? Everything is all wrong.”

She slumped onto the floor, taking the picture with her. At least the council saw fit to let her have such a personal remembrance.

A small yet stunning yellow bird perched on her windowsill, startling Karis out of her misery. The tiny creature observed her through its white rimmed eyes.

“Hello, Sweet Thing. What are you doing here in this dark paradise? I bet you're just as curious about me, wondering what I’m doing here in your home.”

The bird continued to dance around. Karis moved slightly, causing it to fly away. Her shoulders dropped as her loneliness became reality.

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Mark of the Dragon

By Bill Morgan and M.R. Polish

Preview

Chapter One

(1251)

A Talk of Peace

With his eyes
closed, Sorem tightened his legs around his dragon’s massive body.  He couldn’t remember how long it had been since they dove in the water, but the deeper they went, the harder the water pressed in on them. His body was numb from the cold temperature and his lungs burned from lack of oxygen.  An underwater entrance tunnel was the only way to get to Aquaistra since a curtain of caustic gases surrounded the continent, which was the only reason for them to swim this far under the sea.

“
The
entrance is near,”
Syreth’s deep voice spoke in his mind, a telepathy only a dragon and his rider shared.

Long green blades from the deep seaweed,
Mariserba, moved with the current as they swam through it, feeling like silk as it rubbed against his bare arms.  Sorem pried his eyes open but with their speed, the water stung his pupils so he shut them again, trusting Syreth to get them to Maris safely.

“Hold on.”
  Syreth’s voice again filled his head and he grasped the leather straps that wrapped around the dragon’s neck tighter with his right hand.

The current rushed past him right before feeling Syreth make a fast upward motion, then warm air blasted his skin and he opened his eyes, gasping for much needed air.  Tall trees towered over them and thick foliage with wide broad leaves filled the countryside.  Aquaistra was beautiful in its own right, but the country already seemed too humid for his liking.  The air stuck to him and felt heavy as he breathed.  Syreth flew higher toward the sun, needing the warmth.  Its heat and the wind dried Sorem’s clothes and warmed his body.  Looking down, he saw large groups of
Aquaistrians gathering for his arrival.

They flew above the town of Maris, which was the capitol of the continent of Aquaistra.  They circled once more before descending to the soiled and rocky floor near the outskirts and closest to the water entrance pool.  Syreth’s giant wings took one more backstroke then rested, tucking them closely to his side as he settled on the ground.  He slid his front leg forward so Sorem could climb down.  His blue scales still glistened with tiny droplets of water that hadn’t evaporated yet.

“
Good job, Syreth
,” Sorem mentally told his dragon as his feet hit the ground.  “
Now all I have to do is find Marex and get him to agree to peace.
”

“
You will do it.  I feel it in my heart
.”

Sorem let out a breath.  “
My good friend, I hope you are right
.”  He rested a hand on Syreth’s well-muscled leg.

Sorem shifted his weight but kept his hand on his dragon.  The commotion rose as the crowd gathered closer.  He sucked in a deep breath as he looked around, unsure of where to go since this was his first trip to Maris.  Mothers
held their children close, and men formed groups that eyed him suspiciously.  Their skin was a darker, more bronzed coloring than his people back home.  The women wore long skirts and material that wrapped around their chest.  Most of the men wore no shirts but wore pants similar to his leather ones, though they appeared to be made of sharkskin instead of leather from a land beast.

“You don’t belong here!”  a cry came from the back of the forming crowd.

“Yeah, go back to your own lands!”  another man chimed in.

Sorem exhaled loudly.  He presumed that a warm welcome would be absent, but now he second-guessed his decision to come alone.  Before he thought his appearance would seem less of a threat if it were just him, but now he wondered if he should’ve brought Terrax with him.  He was his best rider back in Santerrian, but it was too late to wonder about the should-haves.  Besides, if this went badly, they would need Terrax’s leadership if he didn’t return.  No matter how the talk with Marex went, he would fly out of here knowing he did all he could do.  He didn’t want war anymore.  No one in Santerrian wanted war.

Syreth held his head high, the two horns that curled out from his skull made him look fierce.  He was larger than most dragons.  It would take three grown men, standing on top of each other, to look Syreth in the eyes.

Sorem saw a couple of the children sneaking in for a closer look.  He smiled at them.  “He won’t hurt you.”

They ran over to Syreth, giggling.  The massive dragon bowed down low so they could climb on him and scratch his cheeks.  A couple men came nearer, nodding their heads in approval of his dragon.  Sorem pivoted on his heel, looking up at Syreth and grinned.  He knew he’d soak up the attention.  At least there was a couple welcoming faces, even if they were only for his dragon.

A hush fell on the crowd.  Even the children stopped laughing.  Sorem turned and watched the crowd part as a beautiful woman in a brown shirt and pants emerged from the trail behind them.  He felt a longing in his chest.  Her long hair and petite body reminded him of his wife.  It had been too long since he left her with their daughter.  The last he saw of them, his daughter had only been in the world for two weeks.  That was well over a month ago.  “
Damn this war,”
he thought.

The woman came closer, her brown hair swayed as she walked.  “Sorem, follow me,” she said curtly before turning on her heel, leaving him.

“I guess I follow,” he said under his breath.  “
Be good, Syreth
.”

“
Don’t worry about me; I’ve got plenty to keep me entertained
.”  He ended with an umph, as a little boy slid down his face, laughing.

Sorem shook his head and took off after the young woman, finding her parting branches of a low tree that revealed a dirt path.  He followed her through the overgrown trail leading away from the crowd.  With Aquaistra being tropical, it was moist and it definitely gave the locals an advantage when growing crops.  Vast trees with flat blades for leaves towered over them, swaying in the breeze.  He could smell the salt from the sea and longed for his home near the mountains.  Everything about this trip made him anxious to go home.

Up ahead, a large dome-shaped building rested on a knoll.  It wasn’t as big as the fortress where he lived in Sendar, so he assumed this was a building for only one family.  The outside was covered in smooth rocks and small blue tinted windows were decoratively placed around it in a spiral pattern.  Sorem walked behind his guide as they climbed the dirt trail higher to the front entrance.

She opened the door and motioned for him to come inside.  The air inside was cool, still heavy, but not nearly as humid and hot as outside.  The scent of the salt water clung to the air, making Sorem wrinkle his nose.

Sorem watched his escort carefully, not wanting to lose her in the home.  She went directly to a set of descending stairs along the left wall.  He stepped down after her.  They went about twenty steps before he noticed lamps staggered on the walls burning brightly and he could see no more windows.  Finally, the stairwell ended revealing an underground hall with many rooms branching off.

The woman was still quiet, with only her footfalls to be heard.  Sorem couldn’t help but think that maybe coming to talk of peace was wrong.  She led him to a large room with many lamps hanging from the walls like the ones in the stairwell, lighting the room brightly.

“Marex will be here shortly.” 

Before he could say anything, she was gone.  He looked out of the room down the long tunnel but couldn’t see her so he turned back into the room.  Located directly in the middle of the ceiling was a large glass domed window.  Water that had to be from the entrance pool shimmering above him was visible through the glass.  The stairs must have not only gone down below the ground, but under the water as well.  He hadn’t realized they walked that far.  Sorem watched as the
Mariserba leaves moved in the water.  A large yellow fish swam through the long green blades of the plant, oblivious to the man who walked under it.  Never before had he seen a room as enchanting as this and he smiled as he looked around at the rest of the room. 

A large, white fur rug lay on the floor.  It looked to have belonged to a snow beast from the far northern territory.  He saw a few of them in his life’s adventures but none that big.  Walking over to where a lamp sat fixed against the wall, just above a table, he could see where maps and old parchment papers rested.  Reaching out, he felt the heat radiate from the flame, almost burning his fingertips.  He retracted his hand then sat down in a chair made from branches and woven leaves.  He relaxed and continued to watch the water ripple with the current above him.

“Sorem.”  Marex’s gravelly voice filled the room as he walked in.  His white hair fell down past his shoulders, with a long beard that matched in color.  His life’s journey etched into every wrinkle on his face.

Sorem stood up, holding his hand out to shake the old man’s.  “Marex.  It’s good to see you.”

The woman that was his escort came back into the room behind the old man, her arms folded in front of her.  Sorem’s curiosity peaked and he raised an eyebrow.  “Aw, my escort returns.  From the looks you were throwing my way I was beginning to think I wasn’t here for peace talks after all.”

She narrowed her eyes.  “My name is Regina.  Marex asked me to sit in because I’m his granddaughter and only living heir.  I will take his place as leader of our nation when he dies, so he thinks that I should be here for this conversation.”

Sorem sucked in a deep breath. 
Great
.  He didn’t like thinking that she would be who he’d have to deal with in future years.  Her stance and attitude belied a sort of pride that usually got in the way of what was right.  “By all means, milady,” he said as he held out his arm, gesturing to the other chairs.

With a harrumph, she brushed past him, her shoulder hitting his stretched out hand as she moved.  She sat in a chair with more grace than he thought she would have, considering her attitude.  He began to re-evaluate his earlier classification of her as beautiful.  Somehow, her sour attitude made her look far less appealing to his eye.

“Just breathe,”
he heard Syreth tell him.  He bit his tongue, not wanting to forget why he was there in the first place.  He didn’t need to start a new war by chiding the heir to Aquaistra.

“
Easy for you to say,”
he thought back
.  “You’re out there in the open playing with children and I’m closed in here with the hostiles.”
 

The heavy burden of ceasing the war pressed harder on his shoulders as he felt the heat of her glare on his back. 
Why am I doing this?
It would be easy to stay at war with them.  They hated his people anyway and with her reaction to him, it was obvious that it started close to the top.  Maybe peace wasn’t an option right now.  Then again, Marex wouldn’t have accepted his invitation to talk and promise that his warriors wouldn’t kill him on arrival, if he was completely opposed to peace.

On reflection, Sorem couldn’t remember seeing
any
warriors in the crowd outside.  No dragons or riders either.  Perhaps Marex didn’t trust them to behave, or he didn’t want to give away any numbers, but it did strike Sorem as strange.

Out of respect, he waited for Marex to sit before returning to his seat.  “Thank you for accepting me.”  Sorem stared at
the older man, hoping to see how he truly felt about him being there.  All he could feel, however, was Regina’s arrogant, hatred filled aura.  He held his body taut, ready to defend himself if necessary.

The old man’s eyes lit up.  “I am honored that you came.  My time in this life is limited.  Every day I wake, I wonder if it will be my last.  I am old and haven’t been well.  We need peace and an end to this war in my lifetime.  That way I can say I did at least one good thing before I died.”

“I agree.”  Sorem was glad to hear that and let himself relax a little, but only a little.  He felt exposed under Regina’s hard stare in just his leather vest, pants and copper armbands.  Her glare scorched his skin.

With her arms still folded, she spoke up but her voice sounded more like a growl.  “I am against my grandfather’s wishes for peace, but I have enough honor to follow them.  I want you to know how I feel.”  Her nostrils flared as she clenched her jaw.