Dark Hope of the Dragons Read online

  She lowered her burning gaze to him. “A part of me is in you, Dephithus. You are my son. I should have saved them, but my child was dying. I could think of nothing else.”

  He wanted to scream at her then. He could not though. There was something in her demeanor that made him believe she saw him as her son and something in him that made him believe she was, in some part, his mother.

  He stared at the floor of the temple, at the dragons carved there, connected by a web of lines. He had known from the moment she mentioned the child that life was not going to be any easier this time around. There was much he had done that he could not undo. He could only try to make it right. “How will I find them?”

  “You must go to the Dunues Mountains. The cave system the daenox was driven into is east of a village called Kithin. You will find the child there. I can offer no more than that.”

  Unarmed and barely dressed as he was, the whole thing sounded rather hopeless. Yet, was there any other way to redeem himself of his wrongs? A child needed him. His child. “How long have I been here in this temple?”

  Vanuthan sighed. “I had no way to track the passing of time. I would guess a few years have passed at least.”

  His mouth went dry. There were too many powers at work here that he could not begin to comprehend. His child already born and being raised as a captive to his enemies? Setting his jaw, he stood before Vanuthan. “Is the child even alive?”

  “Of that I am certain.”

  “And Myara?” He steeled himself for the worst possible answer.

  “I cannot say. Without the child in her, I have no connection to her.”

  It was not a no. “I owe you much it seems. All I can offer in return is my promise that I will find my child.”

  Vanuthan nodded, eyes glistening with tears. “That is all I ask. Be strong, my son.”

  Already knowing where he would go first, Dephithus bowed to the dragon and left her there. Everything he remembered from his sixteenth birthday on was like something out of a nightmare. As he stepped out into the mixed light of a cloudy day, he wondered what might have changed in the uncertain amount of time he had been gone. Regardless, having already died once, he had experienced more than many twice his age. He had to hope he had learned enough to do what needed to be done.

  The dull throb of the closed wound in his back kept time to his steps as he began his journey.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Amahna might not have despised the child as much if Theruses were not so fascinated with her. Within a month of returning to the cave, Amahna became accustomed to finding him in the balcony chamber above the child’s prison whenever she went searching for him. He stood up on the balcony and watched the child for hours on end, and sometimes the child would sit below and watch him in return. Perhaps he was watching her grow, which was a distinct possibility.

  Not long after the child stopped nursing, which was itself unnaturally fast, they took her away from Myara. Theruses put her into Amahna’s full time care, a duty Amahna immediately delegated down to Kara. The girl was given very little attention, though Kara sometimes lingered with her and had taken to calling her Raine, the name Myara had given her, when she brought food and other such necessities to her. Despite the solitude they forced upon her, Raine flourished.

  Myara, on the other hand, had not done so well alone, especially after Amahna told her they had killed her daughter. A week later, they found her dead at the bottom of one of many deep pits in the cave. She suspected Theruses may have compelled the young woman since he no longer needed her. Whether she had ended up there through her own efforts or had been assisted by someone did not matter much. It was one less mouth to feed.

  Raine grew at a terrifying speed, maturing both physically and mentally much faster than a normal child. According to Theruses, she matured at the speed of a dragon. By two years, at which time she had the appearance and intelligence of a six or seven-year-old child, Raine had taught herself how to create an orb of light using the daenox that surrounded her. From then on, she never had to sit in darkness, though she did so quite often anyway, perhaps because she was used to it. Within a few days of this discovery she began to build upon it and soon could entertain herself for hours with increasingly complex light shows using daenox. The shows became so elaborate that some of the mid-level daemons were often lured in to watch in senseless fascination. Amahna wondered how long it would be before Raine started to figure out the power that was keeping her imprisoned.

  Now, at around four and a half years of age Raine was the physical equivalent of a girl of about fourteen or fifteen, and her intellect would convince any skeptics that she was at least that age. Her long hair and piercing catlike eyes were brassy black in color. The scaling that appeared on areas of her arms, legs, and back was also black with a light brassy sheen. The same scaling could be seen at her temples and running down behind her ears when she brushed back her long hair. Her features were delicate and refined, but the strength of the dragons was concealed behind that illusion. What troubled Amahna most deeply was that the whites of her eyes were no darker now than when she was born despite living her life practically inundated in the daemon power.

  Amahna sat cross-legged in the dark at the edge of the balcony opening. She had been sitting that way for some considerable time before a light appeared in the chambers below. Raine rose from the few blankets they allowed her to use for a bed and pulled her shabby cloak around her. Standing quietly, she angled her head a bit as if listening for something and peered into the darkness. After a still moment, she turned her gaze up toward the balcony.

  “I know you’re there, Amahna.” Raine’s voice, already starting to get fuller and more mature, penetrated the dark like a candy-coated dagger. She smiled then, and it might have seemed sweet if their relationship were different. “You are not alone.”

  Amahna started, discovering with a quick glance over her shoulder that she was not alone. At some point, Theruses had joined her on the balcony. Pondering their captive had so absorbed her awareness that she had not noticed her lord’s approach.

  Her lord? In that she bent knee to him she supposed he was her lord, though she now knew that much he had told her was not true.

  “She has grown so quickly,” Amahna murmured, though she was not sure why she lowered her voice. Raine knew they were talking about her. The gleam in her eyes and that little sideways smirk made that much clear.

  Theruses moved up beside her now, his voice also kept low. “And I have told you before, dragons mature very quickly.”

  “Dragons,” Amahna mused in the same soft voice. Raine’s orb of light had moved up higher in the chamber, close enough now to create a silhouette of light around each of them. “I think she is more dragon than human.”

  “Do you think she knows that?” Theruses growled, plainly annoyed with the familiar direction of the conversation.

  Amahna could not help her fears. They were greatly underestimating the potential this child possessed. She was sure of that. The bars that kept Raine in her designated prison were reinforced with daenox, but Amahna did not think they would hold her much longer. Eventually, Raine would realize her own power and figure out how to break free.

  Another fear tormented her as well. The fear that Theruses would act upon his obvious desire for the child that grew as she did. That would open up a whole new chamber full of possible disasters. Though, there was always the welcome possibility that it would result in the girl’s death.

  “No, I don’t think she knows that, yet. I do think she will figure it out on her own. The daenox is free. We should kill her.”

  “No!”

  Amahna startled at the ferocity of his negation and the child below looked up at them directly now. Staring down into those brassy black eyes, anger welled in Amahna. Anger at knowing that Theruses had been lying to her for so long. She was sure of it now and her anger drove her past her fear of him. “It’s because your freedom hinges upon this child. You can’t leave this pl
ace until she is free, can you?”

  Amahna could feel his gaze on her, but his temper remained hidden. Even his tail was still. When she dared a glance his way, he had turned to look at Raine again. Together they watched the child in silence as she sat in the chamber below them and began to work her light shows. For someone who had never seen the world outside, she created a surprising array of color in her lights. Perhaps it was that which lured the twisted daemon forms from other parts of the cave. They seemed to have some sense that drew them to her when she was playing like this and Raine appeared to enjoy their audience. The child was not at all put off by their grotesque appearance.

  “You’re perceptive,” he finally answered. “I should have expected as much from you. You realize the extent of my dilemma then?”

  “I realize that you don’t want the other dragons free and yet the key to your freedom is the key to their freedom. Perhaps you believed freeing the daenox would convince that power to return the favor?”

  There was no response from Theruses. He was unusually tolerant of her anymore. He had allowed her more and more boldness of manner over the last several years, especially around the child.

  “Is there not some other way you can escape this prison? Maybe even some way to change the child so her freedom doesn’t bring about theirs?”

  Theruses nodded in unexpected approval. “These are things I considered. I have tried many works of daemon power upon her from up here. She is oddly resistant to it.”

  Troubled, Amahna watched the child below them. Raine appeared so very simple at a glance. Elegant and quiet. The child seemed almost peaceful despite having been captive from birth. Then, maybe that was because she had never known anything else.

  “Do you think that resistance will weaken?”

  “It might,” Theruses replied simply.

  “But it might not. That is why you have called upon Kyouin.” Amahna thought she heard him growl, but the sound was too soft for her to be sure. The young daenox priest had continued to grow in power and reputation despite Amahna’s certainty that he would not last. Over the last several years he had increased his army tenfold and kept up his battles, but always with a deliberateness and patience that hinted at some greater plan.

  As if mentioning the subject were some sort of summons, Kara entered the balcony chamber with the messenger Theruses had sent to Kyouin. Both Kara and the messenger—who was an alluring sort, but sadly interested only in men—knelt and bowed their heads in respect. Theruses dismissed Kara with a thought and bade the messenger speak as soon as she was gone. Amahna was given a great privilege by being allowed to stay.

  “My lord.” The messenger’s voice trembled, promising unfavorable news and the knowledge that such was likely to bring punishment. He licked his lips and began again. “My Lord, the High Priest Kyouin has refused your request. He insists that any meeting between you must be held outside of your lair.”

  Now Theruses did growl, very loudly, and Amahna trembled, though not as visibly as the messenger.

  Below them, Raine looked up, smiling that child-sweet smile. Sweat beaded instantly on the messenger’s forehead when Theruses stepped up to him with rage rippling through his muscles. The man looked pitiful next to the powerful mass of Theruses.

  “He dared refuse?”

  The response came out as a whimper.

  “You will return to him. By the time you arrive he will have witnessed a demonstration of my power and you will again lay my request before him, this time as a command. He has only one month to present himself once you have given my message.”

  “Yes, my lord.” The messenger’s voice cracked with fear. Upon his dismissal he ran stumbling from the room.

  Amahna watched Theruses in silence as he turned and looked down on the child below them again. Raine looked up at him for a moment, her face suddenly devoid of expression, then she returned her attention to entertaining her audience of daemons with just a hint of a smile turning her lips once more. Her insolence enraged Amahna, but Theruses seemed almost amused by it.

  “Doesn’t her manner infuriate you?”

  Theruses shook his head. “She has learned much of that manner from watching you.”

  He said nothing else then, only walked from the room with his tail switching once or twice lazily as if he had not been fuming over Kyouin only a mere minute before.

  Amahna left the balcony behind him.

  If Theruses was fond of Raine partially because the girl reminded him of her then Amahna was justified in her concerns. Would he dare forget who this child was? At the rate she was maturing, she would look like a young woman all too soon. It seemed much too likely that he might ignore her obvious powers simply to indulge his own desires.

  Going down into the area where Raine was kept put Amahna’s nerves on edge. Kara entered here several times a day to bring the child food and cart away her waste. It seemed that Kara had enough maternal drive that she never complained once about caring for the child. Indeed, the only complaint she had made was about not being allowed to stay and visit with her longer. Amahna suspected Raine shared Kara’s longing, but the only indication of this was the irritation in her eyes every time Kara hurried away to avoid displeasing her masters.

  When Amahna entered the chamber Raine ceased her light show and drove the daemons away with little more than a stern look. That done, the girl stood and clasped her hands before her, managing to look innocent and unassuming even with the odd color of her hair and eyes. Raine was already lovely and every part of her promised that she would be an exotic beauty of a woman. That alone was enough to make Amahna feel bitter toward her. In the outside world, she would be wanted by many a man. Still, the child knew very little of the world outside and would be a social outcast if she ever did escape. Though that fact brought very little comfort.

  “Why have you come to me?”

  The phrasing of the question was almost insulting, but she dismissed it as due to a distinct lack of etiquette training. “I am troubled by you, Raine.”

  “In several ways, I imagine. Of which do you speak?”

  Amahna had not exchanged more than a few words with the child in some time and she was astonished by the refinement of her speech. The boldness was as much because of her innocence as anything. Could someone be born with such word skills? Amahna refocused herself. “You are quite lovely, and many of the men here might start noticing this as you develop more womanly traits.”

  “I do not think Theruses will try anything. Though no one here could stop him if he did.”

  Amahna was speechless. The child’s perceptiveness filled her with fear and made her want to slap it out of her. Her eyes, with the brass amidst the black, seemed perpetually in motion, constantly gathering information even as she gazed at Amahna with an insulting lack of concern.

  “You knew my father.”

  Amahna shrugged roughly, her irritation starting to break away from her. “I killed your father.”

  Raine shook her head. “I’m not interested in that. He was very handsome. I have a picture of him in my mind. Did you find him attractive?”

  “Why do you say that? You’ve never seen your father.”

  Raine maintained her patient silence, waiting for an answer.

  How could she know what Dephithus looked like? “Yes, he was quite attractive, especially his blue eyes.”

  Raine responded with another shake of her head, her tone edged with a touch of reproach. “Silver and green eyes. Do you think I do him justice?”

  A shiver of unease swept through Amahna and she scowled at this enigma standing before her. “Why would you want to? He raped your mother.”

  “No. He did not, but you can continue to believe he did if it makes you feel better.” Raine created a violet light and began to swirl it through a myriad of patterns in the air between them. “Why should that make me want to be any less attractive?”

  Amahna stared at the child with a swiftly expanding sense of dread. Nothing about Raine gave an
y indication to her lack of years. Her speech was the equal of a well-born lady and her questions were not those of a child. What disturbed Amahna the most was her inexplicable knowledge of things she should not know. How did she know the color of her father’s eyes and whether her mother was raped by him? How did she even know what rape was? Could she have somehow inherited knowledge from her parents? Was that also a dragon thing?

  Amahna’s forehead wrinkled down with the weight of her concerns. “If looks were the only factor here, I would couple with you as willingly as I would have with Dephithus.”

  A hint of a smile touched Raine’s lips as she peered past the violet light into Amahna’s eyes. Amahna turned from that gaze and moved to leave, stopping with her back to Raine when the child spoke again.

  “We are related you know. I think you should visit more.”

  Amahna did not respond. She hurried from the chamber so the child would not see the shudder of foreboding that wracked her.

  CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

  An orange cast tinted the storm-gray evening sky. The warm, slightly humid air was as still as glass, promising a strong and wet storm. From his vantage point in a large tree that had not yet begun to lose its browning leaves, Dephithus could see the outer gates of Elysium. Obviously, he could not saunter on up to the gates and expect to be greeted with warm smiles and open arms. Considering his actions before leaving, something he was trying not to consider too often, he would probably be welcomed right in and escorted to the palace in shackles. He had picked this spot where he could watch the comings and goings without being noticed and wait for his opportunity.

  The journey to Imperious from the temple where Vanuthan was had not been overly difficult. Aside from trying to avoid the occasional travelers and alarmingly common daemons, the trip had been uneventful. The last two evenings he had held this vantage point and listened to his stomach complain about the berries and roots he had sustained himself on.