Chapter 23

Kalif awoke to see a large blue wall surrounding him. He sat up suddenly and his head throbbed mercilessly, causing him to fall back to the leaf-covered ground. The wall moved and blinding sunlight filled Kalif’s face. Sun? It must be a dream. What happened to the rain? He sat up again, this time slowly, wishing the dream would never end. The sun was so warm and welcoming. The trees were swaying gently with a light breeze, the dragons were snoozing contentedly, and…Kalif stood suddenly, his mind awakening from its daze.

“Ëdro!” Kalif, unsteady on his feet, began to drift closer to the ground, but Ëdro’s large head held him up. Kalif softly rubbed the beast’s forehead. “Was it you that helped me last night?” He smiled a little. The blue wall slid along Kalif’s back and he turned to find Nyowan’s dark eyes staring at him, her wing stretched out behind Kalif. “You kept me from the rain,” he whispered. He coughed, hunching over, and his lungs burned. Ëdro pushed him against a tree and Kalif slid down the trunk, cursing his inability to stand.

Kalif closed his eyes for a moment, organizing his thoughts so he could understand them. “Something happened yesterday, Ëdro,” he said softly. He looked up at the dragon’s orange eyes. “I created fire.” Kalif thought he saw Ëdro smile.

The dragon lifted his head toward the sky and snorted. A thin jet of fire spurted from his nose and ignited a few leaves of the trees. He looked at Kalif and nodded his head.

Kalif grinned. “I guess I am not the only one.” Still exhausted, he closed his eyes again, falling quickly into a deep sleep.

--

Something disturbed Kalif. He stirred and opened his eyes. It was dark again, but Kalif had regained enough strength to be able to see clearly. Ëdro and Nyowan had surrounded Kalif with their bodies, keeping him warm, but Kalif shivered. He had heard something, perhaps in his dream, which had given him the chills. He shifted, wincing with the movement, and prepared to fall back asleep. The night was silent. Suddenly Ëdro lifted his head, staring through the dark forest like a cat about to pounce. Kalif knew he had not dreamed the sound. Slowly he got to his feet, watching the same trees as the dragon.

“What is it?” Kalif whispered. He placed his hand on Ëdro’s neck. The sound grew louder, yet the longer Kalif heard it, the less afraid he became. It was a song, almost a song of mourning, its melody sifting through the leaves of the trees. The song seemed familiar to Kalif, but he did not know where he had heard it before. He listened closely, but the words were of an unfamiliar tongue.

Nyowan’s tail twitched, but she continued to look asleep, ignoring the distant song.

A tear fell from Kalif’s eye. It couldn’t be… “Addie,” he whispered. He burst forward, stumbling toward the sound, ignoring the cries of complaint from his aching chest. His eyes never left the spot from where the sound came. While he ran, he couldn’t help but wonder what Addie was doing in the middle of the forest. She had left Botomac over a week earlier. Why was she back? Kalif suddenly stopped, wildly glancing around. The song was reaching his ears quickly and was quite loud, but he couldn’t see where it was coming from. “Addie?” The trees shimmered, and to Kalif surprise, a golden dragon appeared before him. Kalif’s jaw dropped. Gold. The dragon of light is…gold.

The dragon stopped the singing and stared at Kalif with luminescent blue eyes and cocked its head. It nudged Kalif’s arm with its nose.

“Addie is a Dragon rider?” Kalif whispered. “Why didn’t Klone tell me?”

Ëdro, having followed Kalif, stretched his neck forward and smelled the gold dragon, curious to see another dragon other than Nyowan.

Kalif fell to his knees. “Where is Addie?” he asked the shimmering creature. “What happened to her?” He began to sob, hunched over with the fear of having lost the young farm girl he loved so much.

“Kalif!”

The gold dragon disappeared again and Kalif turned slowly to find Kaidior staring at him in disbelief. He stood to face her, but his weakness caused his to fall back toward the ground. Ëdro moved his head forward and pushed him back to his feet, using his nose to hold his master upright.

Kaidior ran to him and placed his arm over her shoulder. “Come, Kalif, we must get you to a fire. You look half-dead.”

Kalif allowed himself to be pushed onto Ëdro’s hard back, his overwhelming anguish still the focus of his attention. His hand gripped one of the dragon’s ivory spikes, keeping himself from falling again. His head nodded in exhaustion and he quickly fell into a deep sleep. His body limped over Ëdro’s back lifelessly, and the dragon took extra care to step through the trees smoothly.

--

Tak stared at the Dragon rider’s pale face. Kalif was unconscious, but the princeling could see the pain his leader was in. He looked away, trying to convince himself that no one was at fault, but his inexperience at hiding emotions forced him to feel the burden of guilt. If I hadn’t spoken to him, he would still be in Botomac, without worry, without this great pain…How could I have done this to my great leader? He threw his helmet to the side, causing Kalif’s friends to glare at him for making such a noise. Tak pulled his hood over his head, hiding himself from the burning stares of the two dark-haired men. The warrior, Code, had taken to disliking the princeling ever since they had had the conversation at the gate. And Aiden…the man Aiden knew who Tak was, knew why the princeling had really come to Korelia.

But the young girl…Tak made eye contact with the maiden at Kalif’s side. She was beautiful, there was no doubt of that. But the princeling had no chance with the girl; she was betrothed to the dark-haired Code. Tak glanced at the man. He was staring at the princeling with contempt, watching his every move with a fierceness that only a true warrior could possess. The princeling looked at the maiden again, and this time, she smiled at him. It was only a small, sad smile, but it made Tak’s heart melt. He attempted to smile back, but at that moment, Kalif stirred.

--

Kalif found himself lying by a warm fire, a thick blanket placed over his body and Dania at his side. He looked up at his sister and smiled. “You found me,” he whispered.

Dania nodded, the tears welling up in her eyes. “We found you,” she repeated.

“It took us three days, mind you,” Aiden said softly, appearing next to Dania. “It’s a mystery how you got this far into the forest.”

Kalif pushed himself up onto his elbow. “A dragon travels swiftly.” He smiled at Ëdro.

Dania, unable to contain herself, threw her arms around Kalif’s neck. “I thought you’d be dead. Just like last time.”

Kalif grimaced and fell back to the ground, clutching his chest. He had become even more pale than before.

“Kalif, what is wrong?” Kaidior knelt next to Dania and helped Kalif sit up.

“I don’t know.” Kalif pulled his shirt off, and everyone gasped. The entire right side of Kalif’s chest was purple and blue, every inch bruised. A thin cut was sliced along his ribcage. Kalif closed his eyes and breathed deeply and slowly. “It must have been when I ran into that tree,” he muttered.

“You ran into a tree?” The prince had finally spoken. However much he respected Kalif, not often did a great dragon master hit a tree.

Kalif sat up and looked at Tak. He glowered. “What are you doing here?”

The entire group looked at the princeling, confused. Tak had helped them in the city. Didn’t Kalif know that?

“The prince was the reason we found you, Kalif.” Aiden’s eyes never left the princeling. “Otherwise, we would have been searching for you for weeks. You probably have no idea how deep into this forest you actually are.”

Kalif scrutinized Tak again, noticing the metal armor that belonged to the Marauders. Kalif’s eyes narrowed. “You’re with them!” He stood so suddenly, Dania jumped in fright and ran to Code. She had never seen her brother so angry before. Kalif moved slowly toward the princeling, more ominous than if he had charged the man and attacked. “I was arrested because I spoke to you, and yet you were on their side.”

Tak covered his eyes with the back of his hand. “I didn’t mean…”

Kalif growled and lunged at the prince, forgetting the pain in his side. The princeling looked up just in time to raise his hands in defense.

Tak shouted and sent a huge burst of air at Kalif, knocking the rider back to the ground. The energy it took to send the other flying caused the princeling to slip from his seat on an uprooted tree. He tore the heavy armor from his chest, breathing rapidly. He hadn’t expected it to take such a toll from him. Tak stood and looked at Kalif, who was still on the ground staring at the princeling incredulously.

“How…How did you do that?” Kalif gingerly touched his bruised chest. He had completely lost his anger.

Tak sighed and reached into his tunic. He pulled from it a shining, pale blue jewel on a chain. Hesitantly, he smiled.

Kalif stared at the necklace. He looked up at the prince. “Is this what you meant by…?”

Tak nodded.

“And your…?”

“Lairen,” the princeling replied. “She is with Ralier and Nyowan, finding a better place to stay.”

Kalif slowly stood, his arm wrapped around his chest. Dania helped him to stay steady. “Who are you?” he whispered. “Who are you, really?”

Tak smiled. “I’ve already told you. I am the prince of Holfe, as well as a fellow rider.” He bowed elegantly. “We have things to talk about.”

--

Ralier felt a soft fear creep into his heart, and he quickly glanced around him to make sure he was alone. Nyowan nudged his back, pushing him forward. Ralier turned. “Go that way and search,” he told the dragon. Nyowan growled, reluctant to leave her master, but lumbered off to the right, weaving through the trees. Ralier glared at the other dragon, which was staring at him accusingly. He pointed to the sky. “You search up there. Perhaps we can get back faster if you do.” He was very irritable, as well as cold, and he was entirely ready to sleep. Lairen shot up into the canopy of the trees, disappearing into the night.

Ralier rolled his eyes. “Dragons,” he muttered. “Kalif may revere them, but I think they’re bloody useless.”

“Good call, my young friend.”

Ralier looked up. A man appeared in the darkness, seeming to come out of nowhere.

“Dragons are merely on this world to be an obstacle of our lives.”

Ralier nodded. “Is there a specific reason you wanted me here, or is this just a ploy to waste my time. I have an unconscious brother that I need to get back to, so—”

“But you don’t really care about your brother, do you?”

Ralier leaned against a tree and smirked. “I can’t hide anything from you, can I, Ginuke? No, we wouldn’t be out here if Kalif hadn’t gone and spoken to…whoever that was.”

“Kalif spoke to someone in Botomac?” Ginuke’s voice was a growl. “Who?”

Ralier shook his head. “A prince of sorts. He never actually told me who it was. In fact, he denied speaking to anyone at all.”

“Did he?”

“Mmm.” Ralier folded his arms, waiting for an answer to his question.

“I’m reminding you of my proposal.”

“I haven’t forgotten.”

“I didn’t think you would. We would like and answer…tonight, if possible.”

“That’s too soon,” Ralier replied. He glanced around the trees once more. “Give me a couple more weeks. I’m still Kalif’s brother, I can’t just abandon him.”

“Ah, but that is not the reason you wish to stay, is it, Master Ralier?”

Ralier could almost see the smirk underneath Ginuke’s hood. He glared. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ginuke laughed, sending shivers down Ralier’s spine. “I know more than you think I do. Be careful; you could get into trouble that would be hard to get out of.” His head peered behind Ralier. “It seems your beastly friend is returning.”

Ralier turned and saw Nyowan picking her way through a dense clump of bushes.

“Remember my offer.”

Ralier looked back. Ginuke was gone.

--

When Ralier returned to the little encampment, Kalif and Tak were deep in conversation, away from the rest of the group. Ralier ignored them, however, and went straight to Kaidior. He smiled and kissed her forehead.

“Did you find anything, Ralier?” Kaidior wrapped a small blanket around Ralier’s shoulders.

Ralier nodded and sat by the fire. “I found a cave within the rocks near the city. It’s a ways away and it could pose a problem for those of us that aren’t in the best of health.” He glanced over at Kalif, an annoyed expression on his face.

“If it is that hard to get to,” Kaidior replied, “then the dragons can help us.”

“Dragons…” Ralier muttered under his breath.

“Is it big enough for all of us?” she asked him. She pulled a leaf from his unkempt hair.

“The dragons won’t fit.”

Suddenly there was a flash of light behind him, and Ralier spun around. A burst of flame was just dissipating in front of Kalif and Tak. Ralier jumped to his feet in surprise.

Kalif fell onto his side laughing, though it hurt his chest. Tak had slipped from the log as well, unable to breathe because he was chuckling so hard. Kalif sat up, wiping the tears from his eyes. “That could have gone a little bit better.” He felt his hair to make sure it was not singed.

“Yes, friend. You might want to practice that a little more.”

“When did you first discover your power?”

Tak shook his head. “I’m not sure. It just sort of…happened…like yours.”

“Kalif, what was that?” Ralier had joined the two, and was staring at Kalif in confusion.

Kalif looked up and grinned. “Hello, brother.”