Isabel Read online

  “Half the size of Crithos.”

  Norak looked around his cozy cavern. “All I have is this space and these mountains. You have the power to give me an entire continent?”

  “It’s not inhabited by man aside from the occasional travelers. It’s arid but pleasant, though I’ve never been there, so you should see for yourself before you agree. And I won’t give it to only you. It needs to be for any dragon who wants a safe haven.”

  He cocked his head to one side and stared at a mossy spot as if in deep contemplation.

  I took a moment to explain my conversation to Charles.

  “And the fire?” Charles touched a hand to my face. “It didn’t hurt you?”

  “It revitalized me actually.”

  “Isabel, you look ten years younger.”

  I touched a hand to his hand on my face. “I feel ten years younger.”

  “Who are your companions and what spell have you put on this dragon?” Norak demanded.

  Indigo straightened his long neck. “No spells, my lord. This man, Charles, rescued me from captivity. In exchange for the sorceress, Isabel, healing my wounds so that I can fly once again, I brought her here to meet you. Now that I have heard her proposition—this dragon preserve or reservation she wishes to create—I would like to take refuge there myself.”

  Norak turned his piercing gaze back to me. “I agree to see this landmass. But I am not yet consenting to your offer.”

  I gave him a bow, which seemed to startle him. He probably had never talked to a human, much less had one show him respect.

  When I’d first formulated my plan to secure the dragons their own continent, I’d had one of my ambassadors, who’d traveled extensively, take me to Wallos—the continent south of Bellos. I had wanted to both see the land for myself and have the ability to rapidly transport to the continent.

  Now, standing before this massive creature that was rightfully leery of my proposed bargain, I reconsidered my previous plan to offer to transport everyone directly to Wallos. Norak needed to fly there himself to both observe the lay of the land and see for his own eyes that this was not a trick. If I transported us directly to Wallos, he might think I had done nothing more than create an illusion.

  My stomach felt suddenly queasy. The downside to not readily transporting to Wallos was that I was going to have to fly halfway across the globe on the back of a dragon.

  After I transported Charles and I back to the castle and procured winter jackets, we returned and were airborne again in no time. This time when we rode Indigo, I sat behind Charles so I could hold on tightly to him, close my eyes, and try not to think about being a thousand meters high.

  On the first day we traveled from the mountains of Karnelik across Crithos and over the ocean to an island chain. At dusk, we stopped on one of the deserted islands. It was a small island with a single volcano jutting out like a black thumb against the dark, smoky sky. The surrounding land was made of hardened lava with no vegetation. The beach consisted of lava rocks and fine obsidian sand.

  Charles picked up a lava rock and casually cast it into the ocean. “Not a very welcoming place.”

  “No, it isn’t. In fact, there’s nothing here to explore and no reason anyone would try to settle this island.”

  Charles looked at me with an arched eyebrow. “I know that look, Isabel. What are you scheming?”

  I nodded. “I need a safe place for Malos’s stone. I need to keep it out of the hands of mankind. And I believe this is the place I’m meant to store it.”

  I looked toward the volcano where the two dragons were exploring. Norak looked breathtaking with his white scales against the blackness of the volcano. Seeing his magnificence helped solidify my resolve—dragons needed to be protected and preserved. My spell would both preserve the stone for future use and enable dragons to repopulate.

  I explained to Indigo that I was going to travel back home with Charles so that we could have a meal and an overnight rest.

  “Do you want me to bring food back for you?” I asked.

  “I used to be a good fisher-dragon. I’d forgotten that, having not seen the ocean in so long. I think I will try fishing before I ask for handouts.”

  I touched a hand to Charles’s forearm. In the blink of an eye we were back in my castle room. We took off our heavy coats.

  “Shall I check with the cook and see about dinner?” Charles asked.

  “Why don’t we walk down together?”

  * * *

  Within forty-five minutes we were seated in a small tearoom away from the large dining room, and a waiter brought roasted duck and asparagus.

  I sipped my tea, lemon ginger, and relished the warmth coursing through me. The candlelight from a small ceiling chandelier glowed soft against the auburn tapestries hanging on the walls.

  “I’ve enjoyed our dinners together these last few nights,” Charles said. “I’ve enjoyed not having to hide my feelings for you. And I want to marry you.” His eyes went wide. “I’m sorry. That came out unexpectedly. I think I’m still feeling the adrenaline surge from riding the dragon.”

  “I have no objection to making our relationship official in the form of a marriage document.”

  Charles leaned back in his chair and blinked at me. “No objection?”

  “I love you. I can put that in writing if that’s what you need.”

  “What I need?” He bristled as his cheeks flushed.

  I could see I had to choose my words carefully because we had different concepts about marriage. My marriage to the king of Karnelik was a document to unite two kingdoms, not forge a bond of love.

  “Charles, I love you. My word is my bond, and my bond is my life. I speak the truth that I want to spend my life with you, and I would never betray that love or trust in the arms of another man.” I opened my palm and let a small yellow flame dance within it. When I closed my fist the room gently pulsed with magic as a trembling rippled through the air, making the crystals on the chandelier sway. “I seal my bond and my truth with magic as the Universal Deity is my witness.”

  Charles’s rising expression of anger had vanished as I spoke.

  I rested my hand on his forearm. “A magic oath is stronger than a paper document.”

  He grinned as he pushed to his feet and leaned over me. “Since I have no magic, I suppose you’ll have to settle for a paper document from me. But I also pledge my life and my love to you. And since I don’t have magic, I seal it with a kiss.” He pressed his lips gently to mine.

  “That’s good enough for me.”

  Chapter 4

  The next morning I woke at dawn to find Charles dressed and ready to go. He sat cross-legged wearing trousers, a tunic, and a blue and silver vest. The gentle morning light gave him an ethereal glow. I felt my heart swell. I’d trade all the magic in the world for the love of a good man. Fortunately for the world, I didn’t have to make such a trade because my plans required a great deal of magic to keep people safe.

  “What are you doing?” I propped up on one elbow.

  “Staring at my beautiful wife. I thought about wrestling with you under the sheets like last night, but then it occurred to me that the sooner you finish your quest, the sooner I can keep you in my arms for days at a time instead of only a few extra stolen moments in the morning.”

  I smiled, feeling my cheeks redden.

  He stood, with a mischievous grin on his lips. Tossing my dress at me, he said, “Up you go. Mustn’t keep the dragons waiting.”

  I gaped at him. “Charles!” I exclaimed with a laugh. No one dared give me orders in a very long time. I adored his humor.

  He closed the door behind him as he left.

  By the time I dressed, Charles had breakfast wrapped in paper to take with us and held our coats in his arms. He’d claimed his urgency was to get the quest over, but I suspected part of him wanted the thrill of riding a dragon again.

  When we arrived back on the volcano island, the dragons were digesting a breakfast of fish.<
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  Charles pocketed a lava rock. “You should name this island,” he told me.

  “Should I?”

  “Absolutely, since you’re going to assign your son’s stone here—his spirit.”

  I contemplated a name. “Something after Malakai. Mal’s Island. Hmm. Too obvious. Perhaps Malan.”

  “Malan. I like that.”

  A wisp of a vision floated through my mind. A typographical error. A mapmaker doesn’t close the first a in Malan, and the replicas retain the misspelling.

  Mulan.

  The volcano island.

  * * *

  When we were airborne, I was grateful I hadn’t eaten breakfast. The worst parts of flying on a dragon were the initial flight—leaping up followed by muscular beating wings taking us higher—and the landing. The rapid descent felt like we were plummeting to our death before flowing to a miraculously gentle halt.

  In the air, Charles and I talked through the spell needed to protect Wallos and confine the dragons. There were many ways to successfully cast spells, and originality was at the discretion of the sorceress. The key to flourish in spell casting was to have a meaning and purpose to every ingredient, every word, and every symbol. Advanced sorceresses had the ability to create any spell they wanted with thoughtful deliberation.

  As a healer, Charles held an understanding of herbs and was able to help give me a practical approach to spell creation. He had helped me work through the logistics of the spell to create Malos, including the purpose of the seven stones and the chant to accompany it. He had a creativity based in logic I found invaluable.

  To bind dragons only and not other animals, we would use dragon scales, ones the creatures had shed and no longer had use for. To keep humans away we would add sulfur and skunk cabbage to instill fear and general displeasure in those who visited—just enough to make them uneasy and want to avoid the continent. To release the spell when the champion took the Fire Stone, we would use rosemary. I didn’t know why, but there was some significance of this herb to the seventh champion.

  * * *

  For two days, endless ocean spread before us. We saw hundreds of flying fish, and several pods of whales and dolphins. I was stiff and sore, but there was nowhere to land except water. When at last we reached the northern Bellosian coast, we opted for a full day’s rest.

  I left Charles relaxing on the beach and went to the chapel at my castle in Karnelik to meditate. When I first became queen, this room with its stone arches and tiny windows felt more like a large prison. I had sections of walls removed to let in sunlight through colorful stained glass windows. Then, I had it filled with flowering plants to further lift the mood. On one end, flames crackled in a fireplace and at the other, water flowed over a miniature waterfall.

  My enchanted meditation room.

  I sat on the rug in the center and rolled my neck in a slow circle.

  “My queen!” A high-pitched voice pierced my serenity.

  “Hello, Snake Eyes. I should remind you I’m no longer queen of Karnelik. I’m duchess now—for a little while. The only queen is the one ruling all of Crithos from Marrington.”

  He bounded toward me. “Where have you—whoa! You look younger.”

  “I do, don’t I?” I was in my midforties and probably looked older from the toll of war, magic, and loss of loved ones. After the dragon’s breath, I looked thirty-five again. “I feel younger.”

  He lost interest in my appearance and started tapping on one of the long hourglass-shaped, golden vases holding flowers.

  “I got to ride a dragon,” I told him.

  “You did?” he marveled.

  Then his face fell. “There are rumors around the castle.” He looked down at his pointed shoes and scuffed one against the edge of the rug I was sitting on.

  “There usually are,” I prompted.

  “They say you’re going to leave Karnelik with the healer.”

  “They are correct. It will take some planning, a few months perhaps, but I am retiring. These walls have been my home for a very long time, but now they are a reminder of what I’ve lost. I can’t walk through the gardens without having visions of young Mal and Orrick fighting with wooden swords. There are little notches on the door of their playroom marking their growth over the years. I feel pain and loss here.”

  “Where will you go?”

  I thought of Norak’s former home—a little paradise buried in between icy, forbidding mountains. “North, I think.”

  “Can I come?”

  I sighed. “I need your help with another important matter. I haven’t told you yet because I didn’t want to burden you.”

  “What? Anything.”

  “Orrick needs looking after.”

  Snake Eyes lifted his hand and scratched his head. “But he’s a tree.”

  “He is a tree, and all the more defenseless because of it. He needs your protection. You and your generations to come. I’m asking a lot, small friend. I’m asking that you start a home in the forest where he resides. I need him kept safe until the day a woman sets him free.”

  “A woman?”

  “A woman whom Mal trusts.”

  He seemed to mull over my words. I wasn’t giving him an abundance of information. I trusted Snake Eyes to the task, but brownies weren’t known for keeping secrets. I didn’t think any harm would come if he knew what little I foresaw of events in seven thousand years, but I’d rather not take chances.

  “I’ll do it.”

  “You’re helping me tremendously. Let me finish my dragon quest, and we’ll get you settled in your new home when I get back.”

  “Okay.” He began walking around the room, working his way over to the waterfall, presumably to see if anyone made a wish and dropped a coin inside which he could easily retrieve.

  I smiled to myself, closed my eyes, and meditated.

  * * *

  We traveled south by dragon over the ocean while keeping the coast in sight. When we passed port towns, we could see fishing boats speckled in the water. We had to be getting close to southern Bellos.

  Indigo cried out, faltered in the air, and began to fall.

  “A bolas!” Charles shouted.

  I’d seen those devices used on birds before. But this would have to have sizable metal balls attached to the cords in order to wrap around the legs of a dragon and weigh him down. When I looked over the edge of Indigo’s side, I could see a poaching ship in the water below—dragon hunters with their weaponry on the deck.

  While I was still assessing the situation, Charles was already climbing down the side of Indigo’s haunches and pulling out his dagger to cut the rope. He disappeared out of my sight, below the beast. We were falling even as Indigo beat his wings ferociously to stay in the air.

  I pulled on my power and formed a ball of fire in one hand while I held onto one of Indigo’s horns with the other. I pushed the fireball toward the wooden deck of the ship.

  As it collided with the mast, magical fire spread like flames to tinder. Even while my fireball incinerated parts of the dragon hunters’ deck, they launched a spear from a catapult.

  It sailed through the air and pierced Norak’s chest. The dragon rolled and began to plummet toward the sea, back first, wings pointed toward the sky.

  “No!” I screamed.

  My healing only worked when I could touch the injured. But how to get from here to there? I’d never attempted star travel while moving and certainly not while flying. I’d have to try. If it weren’t for my coaxing Norak away from his safe haven, he wouldn’t have been injured. I had to heal him. And I could see no other way except risk my life to save his.

  The dragon’s white belly reflected the sun as the spear rose up out of his chest while he free-fell.

  Using my Traveler’s Star, I transported from one falling dragon to the other. Norak’s torso was so big around there was no grabbing hold to keep purchase. I was sickeningly weightless with the fall. I placed one hand against his chest and began to pulse my healing m
agic into him. With the other hand, I ripped out the spear. It wasn’t the gentle touch I’d used healing so many soldiers in the past, but I didn’t have time for gentle.

  I forced the magic hard and fast, sealing tissue and blood vessels and re-expanding his lung, hoping to complete my task before the dragon collided with the water. My head spun with the overwhelming effort.

  Now what? We were seconds from striking the water. I couldn’t transport myself to safety. No matter where I tried to transport, I would be traveling at the same lethal speed.

  I felt Norak cocoon his body around me before the harsh impact of the ocean surface. With the boom and rush of cold water, blackness enveloped me.

  * * *

  I choked and spit out salt water before falling breathlessly flat on my back. My body refused to move, and I didn’t know if that was because I was extremely broken or near death or both.

  “I’ve got her breathing again but her pulse is weak,” Charles said.

  I couldn’t see him. I couldn’t even summon strength to open my eyes against the cold, pain, and weakness. It would be far easier to sink back into oblivion.

  There was a flurry of shuffling feet, and then Charles spoke again, “Fire. She needs your fire. But how do I bloody tell a dragon to incinerate the woman who just saved his life?” He stomped in angry, desperate strides around me. “Like this, Norak. Breathe fire onto her.” Charles made a sound of something between a lion’s roar and snake’s hiss.

  Mother Moon! Dragon’s breath would only work if I controlled it. I didn’t know if I had the strength to, and if I couldn’t use magic to absorb it, it would destroy me.

  “Yes! Like that! You can do it!” Charles encouraged the dragon.

  I steeled myself. Fighting the urge to pass out, I summoned magic to absorb the dragon’s breath.

  Heat burst over me, shattering the cold from the ocean water. I felt my body again. Every bone was intact and now every organ was running strong. Growing stronger.