Destiny (The Chosen One Trilogy:Book Three) (39 page)

“Easy, now. I’m getting used to feeling your
energy most of the time now, but warn a person when you’re going to
do that.”

Matthew grinned. “I agree.”

“Sorry.”

I’m not complaining. That’s much better
than nervous.
I heard Ternach chuckle.

“Where are you?”

I’m sitting by the gates of Paradin having a
shot of jeckden with the guards.

I started to laugh. “Are you kidding?”

No.

“Well, I’m glad you’re having a good time.” I
snorted.

I’m finding out crucial information, my
love. For instance, Yves, here was nice enough to divulge that most
of the human army is inside the keep walls and that they are
concentrating on the south and east sides. His friend George is a
bit overconfident and says there is no way they will lose this
fight since Braw has the staff and the immortal Ternach on his
side.
He chuckled.

Jasper frowned. “Well, here’s hoping they’re
wrong about the second one.”

Do you doubt my loyalties?

“No. I believe you’re with us on this one, up
until the point where we try to destroy the staff. Then I seem to
recall you saying you mean to kill my mate.”

Yes, well, that isn’t by choice. I still have
three days to figure something out.

“Alright. Enough chit chat.” I pulled my pack
on. “Let’s get moving.”

I’m going to go north of the keep today and
see where Melana is.

I nodded. “Thanks.” I swung onto Dodge. “All
set, Bud?”

He nodded.

“Hayden?”

I looked down and smiled at Marianne. Rodney
was sitting by a tree chatting with a group of his friends. He
glanced up, stared at her for a moment then turned back to the
conversation. It had been that way since she’d let him comfort her
on the day we’d gotten back from the camp. Even though she’d
admitted to him she thought he was a great man, she couldn’t get
over the fact that he was a cat.

“I found some chitta berries. I thought you
might want them.” She handed me a bag that contained a handful of
pink berries.

“Thanks! That’s great!” The berries could be
used to help hydrate a being. Though they were only the size of a
dime, they seemed to hold just as much liquid as a big glass of
water. I caught her looking at Rodney. “It’s not really my place to
say anything, Marianne, but maybe if you let yourself get to know
him a bit better…” I let the statement hang in the air.

She jerked then looked at me with a frown
before walking away. Tara started to laugh.

“You always sucked at matchmaking.”

I smirked at her. “Fine. Oh, well, we have
bigger things to worry about besides Marianne’s love life.” I heard
a chuckle in my head and frowned. It hadn’t been Dodge or
Ternach.

“Everyone down!” Someone ahead of us yelled
and everybody dropped where they were. I lay against Dodge’s neck,
trying to see what the commotion was about. I caught a glimpse of a
sparrow sized form flying toward us and burst out laughing.

“It’s alright, everyone. Bryenk is with me.”
The little burgundy colored dragon landed between Dodge’s ears.

Hello, Chosen One
. He bowed low.

“Hello, Bryenk. What are you doing here?”

The water dragon tilted his head to the side
and blinked his blue eyes.
I should think that would be
obvious.
You could hear the smile in his voice.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here. Is Faren with
you?”

He nodded.
She was about five minutes
behind me.

“Dragon!” I started to laugh as someone
pointed to the sky and everyone scattered. Jasper smiled.

“Everyone calm down!” His voice carried over
the chaos around us. “For future reference, if you see a dragon,
they are with us.” He got a few untrusting looks. The air around us
swirled as Faren landed near us. Her black scales shone and her red
eyes focused on me.

Chosen One.

“Faren.” I smiled up at her. “Are there any
more dragons coming?”

The thirty foot long fire dragon shook her
head.
The mother wishes you luck but gave orders for the dragons
to stay away.

“And yet, here you two are.”

She chuckled.
Being bonded to you makes it
easier to ignore what comes naturally.

I nodded. “It works that way with
everybody.”

Bryenk’s voice took over my head.
Melana
should be about five days to the north of the keep.

“What happened?”

Have you heard of the Jintoles?

I shook my head.

They are a cousin of the Burries. They are
about the same size but are furry and dark green in color with red
eyes. Jintoles are nowhere near as civilized as Burries. In fact, a
Jintole’s only objective is to eat whatever it can get its hands
on. Melana’s pack came across a tribe and a fight ensued. I’d say
that next to Ternach, Jintoles are the second worst thing to live
in the Northern Regions.
This coming from a dragon. I wanted to
laugh.

I object to that comment, Bryenk. I’ve never
eaten anyone and you know it.

Both of the dragons’ heads came up in
surprise. I shrugged. “I’m bonded to Ternach.”

Faren grunted.
We could kill him for you
and fix the problem. The man is a nuisance.

I shook my head. “It turns out he’s not as
horrible as everyone thought him to be. His sense of humor when it
comes to magic was a bit strange, but now that he’s stopped testing
my abilities I’d even go so far as to say he’s a decent being. He’s
saved my life more than once and has been crucial in getting us
here with minor casualties.”

Why, thank you, my love.

Jasper burst out laughing. “By the moons,
every once in a while I remember how absolutely strange this
situation is.” He frowned. “You know, I just realized I can hear
the dragons.”

“Hmmm. I wonder if it has anything to do with
our three way link with Ternach.” I shook my head. “So many weird
situations with no explanations.”

“Alright then Rainen, Damian?” Jasper waited
until the two Majs were standing with us, both of them looking with
amazement at the dragons. “We’re two days ahead of Melana. Do we
risk getting closer to the keep?” He was already shaking his head
as he suggested it. Damian mirrored him.

“I’d say staying put would be our safest
bet.” His strange grey eyes were looking into Faren’s red ones
curiously.

Where do you want me, my love?

“Come back. That is, if you’re done
socializing with the enemy.” I smiled.

I am. Should I kill them?

“No.”

As you wish.
He reappeared by my side
as I slid off of Dodge. I did a double take at the blond man
standing there. His dark blue eyes squinted with his smile and he
laughed.
It’s nice to know I can still surprise you.
He
shifted back into his true self.

“Cole? Pass it along that we’re staying here
for at least today.” Jasper turned from one friend to the other.
“Kendall?”

Kendall walked cautiously around Faren. He
ran a hand through his black hair and his light blue eyes widened
as they settled on Bryenk who was sitting on my shoulder. “Why is
it so small?”

I burst out laughing.

Who is he calling small?

I turned my body so that I stood between the
two of them. I didn’t want Kendall to turn into an ice statue.
“He’s not small, Kendall, he’s average size for a water dragon. And
don’t get huffy, Bryenk. I thought the same thing when I first saw
you. Compared to Faren, you’re small.”

Bryenk grunted and Faren laughed, at least
that’s how it sounded in my head. To everyone who couldn’t hear
them mentally, it came out as growls. Everyone nearby stepped away
from us.

“Kendall.” Jasper’s voice snapped his friend
out of whatever trance he was in. “We need to hunt.”

Kendall nodded. “I’ll get a small pack
together.”

“I’ll come along,” volunteered Kacey. The two
of them left in search of a hunting party.

“Are you going with them?” I leaned against
Jasper. He shook his head.

“I’m going to stay here and make sure you
stay calm.”

“Ooh, look,” Tara pointed to the sky.
“Delaleh is coming.”

We all watched as the Faelie landed
gracefully.

“Why are you not moving?”

“Hello to you too, Delaleh.” I smiled. “We
aren’t moving because Melana is behind schedule and we need to sit
for a day or two.”

She nodded and flew off. I grunted. “See you
later.”

Jasper chuckled. “Don’t take it personally,
Shlova. I don’t think they’re used to talking to anyone but
themselves.” He pulled me close. “The last crossing before we get
to Paradin is about an hour from here,” he mumbled. Ternach looked
up. I shook my head.

“I can’t.”

Jasper nodded. “Just thought I’d mention
it.”

The immortal was frowning.

“Don’t get any ideas, Ternach.” I could see
the wheels turning in his head.

He took a deep breath. “Fine, though in my
defense, having you cross over would be a perfect solution to our
dilemma.”

“I have to agree with him, Shlova.”

I rolled my eyes. “Again with the two on one
thing. I’m not crossing over.” The urge to take a walk and be by
myself was overwhelming, but I knew that the odds of it happening
were slim to none. There was no way I would be allowed to wander
off this close to Paradin and, to be honest with myself, I knew it
would have been a bad idea to even attempt it. I mean, this was me
we were talking about. I looked into the woods wistfully. Was that
a wolf? I squinted and looked again.

“What are you looking at, Hayden?” Tara was
looking where I had been.

“Hmmm. It must have just been shadows. It
almost looked like there was a wolf watching us.” I took a deep
breath. It was going to be a long two days until we could move
again.

*****

By the following night, everyone was on edge.
At least when we were traveling closer to our destination, we were
paying attention to our surroundings, thinking of staying quiet. At
this very moment, we were all thinking about what we would be
facing in five days. Any time a breeze blew through the brush
someone would twitch and the beings sitting close by would chuckle
nervously.

I heard a noise to my right and looked
up.

“Ok, that’s it.” I stood. “I swear I’m not
imagining things, Jasper. I just saw that wolf again.”

He came to stand beside me. “Kendall, Kacey,
Alex.”

The three of them nodded and disappeared. We
all stood in silence, waiting to for them to come back. I jumped at
the shouts and the sound of daggers being drawn. I heard Kendall
holler to Kacey and the latter yelling back that he’d got whoever
they had been chasing.

“I guess you were right about the wolf,
Shlova.” Jasper let go of me and we waited for our friends to get
back into sight. It wasn’t so much what he looked like because his
face was to the ground, but what he was wearing that made my heart
leap in my chest. Jeans and a t-shirt were not very common in these
parts.

“Oh, my god! Is he ok?” I ran toward them.
Everyone else seemed too shocked to move. Kacey and Kendall were
dragging the unconscious man into our midst. “Put him down!” They
laid him on the ground and I turned his face toward me. The beard
hid most of it, but there was no mistaking the man hiding under the
shaggy dirty blond hair. Hazel eyes opened and locked with mine. He
groaned.

“Jesus, Hayden, is that how you treat all
your friends?”

I smiled. “Only when my friends sneak around
and especially when this particular friend is supposed to be
crossed over! What are you doing here?”

William grinned. “What can I say, this place
grows on you.” He sat up and winced as I checked the bump on his
head.

“You’ll live.”

“I should hope so. I’d hate to have crossed
back over just to get killed by my own pack.”

“So what happened?”

He shrugged. “It turns out that after ten
years there are more people I love here than there.” He stood and
his eyes found Rainen’s.

“How did you cross back? Humans only have
enough magic to do it once.” She frowned.

“I’m not sure. I was having a crappy night
where nothing made sense, I had a lot of those, so I went for a
walk. I knew where I’d crossed before so I went there and I could
still see the path.” He took a step closer to her.

“So you chose to come back.”

He nodded then shook his head. “No. It wasn’t
really a choice. When I saw that path I could have cried I was so
happy. I didn’t even go back home for my pack or my clothes, or
even my dagger, which, as an afterthought, would have been the
smart thing to do, but I was too scared that if I left and came
back the path would be gone. I just started running.”

She bit her bottom lip. “Why did you run when
Hayden saw you?”

“Honestly?”

She nodded.

“I knew Hayden would take me back, that’s
just her.” No one argued with him. “I was going to just walk into
camp. I…well, I saw you and I realized I hadn’t thought of what I’d
say to you. When I thought of that it made me think that I since
I’d left…” He cleared his throat. “I suppose it’s my own damn fault
for leaving you in the first place.” He wiped his hands nervously
on his jeans.

“So have you thought a bit about what you
might say to me?” Her mouth twitched slightly and I was sure
William had missed it because he was looking at his work boots. He
nodded.

“I was going to try and come up with a long
romantic speech, but here’s what I can come up with on short
notice.” He reached over and took her hands. She looked up at him,
her face void of all expression. “Leaving Quelondain was the worst
decision of my life. I was miserable over there. The only thing I
could think of was you. I love you, Rainen, and I know that at one
time you felt the same way, but I understand if things changed when
I left.”