The Divine Path (The Divine Series) (14 page)

It had to end at any moment,
Kade thought, but still, it held on.  Once more he let the healing flow into Darcienna, but this time, it had very little affect if any.

             
Wiping the sweat from his own forehead, he continued to work the calling as fast as possible.  Darcienna was sinking to the floor once again, holding her breath.  The king was moaning under the strain.  His eyes flew open wide as he inhaled sharply and held it.  This had to work now or they had lost.  Crayken was motionless as though trying to decide what to do next.  Kade poured his heart into the Healing Calling, willing it to work as Darcienna’s arms waivered.  Her right knee touched the ground.  Rakna came up behind Darcienna and held her from falling any further or her hands would have pulled free of the king.

             
Kade recalled the determination he had while saving the dragon after the targoth attempted to rip the life from it.  He called on that very same determination for the king.  He was not going to let Crayken die.  Not today.

             
There was a high-pitched keening sound that started to echo throughout the room.  The black spiders began to back out of the chamber in terror.  Darcienna’s arms were slowly dropping as she gritted her teeth, straining to keep them on the king.  Kade put his hands on Crayken for what had to be the thirtieth time or fortieth time, fighting exhaustion himself.  It was all a blur.  It could have been sixty times for all he knew.  Darcienna screamed as she fell to the floor, her arms collapsing to her side.  There was a deafening snap as the room exploded in a mix of colors.  The tree shook under the explosion.  Kade stumbled against the far wall and then immediately returned to place his hands on the king once more.  Crayken let out the breath he was holding and then…took in another.

             
Kade knelt down next to Darcienna and put a supportive hand on her shoulder as she took several ragged breaths.  He put his arms around her to give her support, and she leaned into his embrace.  He would hold her as long as she needed.

             
“Are you okay?” Kade asked, trying to catch his breath.

             
“I…think…so,” Darcienna said in between pants.

             
“Rakna?” Kade asked.

             
“I’m fine, Chosen.”

             
Kade turned toward the king as his vision cleared little by little.  He looked down and saw that the bed was empty.  Just as he was about to say something, there was a deep, commanding voice to his right.

             
“What has been happening?” Crayken demanded as he glared at the black spiders.

             
“My king, you are okay,” Rakna said with intense joy as she moved over to stand next to him.

             
“I am a little sore, but that will pass.”  Crayken said as he turned to face Kade, who was helping Darcienna to her feet.  “You saved my life.  And, by doing that, you saved my queen.  She is more precious to me than life itself.  I am at your service,” the king said while bowing gracefully.  The queen joined him in the bow.

             
“Thank you.  Any enemy of Morg is an ally of ours,” Kade said, smiling at the regal couple.  There was not a king or queen in all the lands that could surpass the presence of royalty he was seeing.  Their personalities alone justified their right to leadership.  He inclined his head in deep respect. “It was my honor to save such a noble and deserving life,” Kade said as pride welled up in him.

             
“And who do I have the pleasure of meeting?” the king asked as he walked up to Kade, every step exuding confidence.  His stride was confidence as his fur swayed with each step.  He presented a magnificent image.

             
“Yes, you never did introduce yourself,” the queen added.

             
“My name is Kade, and this is Darcienna,” he said, indicating the beautiful blue-eyed woman standing at his side, who smiled weakly, still trying to catch her breath.

             
“Did you say…Kade?” Rakna asked in surprise.

             
“Yes,” he responded, sensing that she knew the name already.

             
“If I had only known when we first met,” Rakna said with a look of awe in her eyes.  I would have helped you immediately.”

             
“Well, I find it hard to trust those who attack me in the middle of the night,” Kade said with a grin.

             
“You do have a good point,” the queen said.

             
“Enough talk for now.  I need to address our clutch and let them know all is well,” the king said as he headed for the exit.  “We will have food brought for you shortly,” Crayken called over his shoulder as he exited the room.

             
“You will have to forgive the king.  He is very loyal to his people,” Rakna said.

             
“There is no need for apologies,” Darcienna added, recovering quickly.

             
“What did you mean when you said I should have told you my name sooner?” Kade asked.

             
“We heard that Morg was looking for a Chosen by the name of Kade.  It has become known that the evil man is removing anyone who can be a threat to him.  If he was looking for you, then that means you are a threat to him.”

             
“I would have introduced myself right away, but I must be cautious of almost everyone I meet,” Kade said.

             
“It’s getting late,” the queen said.  “And you humans probably need to get some sleep; after you eat, of course.”

             
“That’s a good idea.  We do need to get some sleep,” Kade said, feeling himself crashing after his adrenalin rush.  “Tomorrow we will figure out what we are going to do,” he added, feeling the fatigue start to set in every part of his body.  He motioned for Rakna to lead the way.

             
Kade felt honored to have the queen of this society acting as his personal guide.  Darcienna slid up next to Kade and smiled.  He offered her his arm and she gladly took it.

             
Exiting the tree, Kade could see hundreds of spiders that had come from all around to watch the newcomers.  Rayden was a serious curiosity for them.  They circled the massive killing machine, touching his tail here and a wing there. 

No
longer a threat, Rayden considered the spiders mostly a nuisance.  Kade could feel indecision through the link.  The dragon was torn between preferring them as a nuisance or as a threat.  A threat it could do something about.  A nuisance it had to tolerate.  Kade let out a laugh and the dragon’s head swung around to watch him. 

Was that a glare
?
Kade asked himself and then laughed again.

             
He was looking very forward to getting some food, enjoying the fact that he did not have to be the one to make it.  Doing all the cooking was definitely starting to wear on him.  For once, he wanted someone else to take care of preparing the meal, even if just for one night.

             
“Stay here,” Kade said to Rayden as they approached a tree just as large as the one they had just left.  He conjured a piece of meat and tossed it to the dragon as a reward.  He started to turn but felt something from the dragon.  “Fine,” Kade said, rolling his eyes dramatically.  After conjuring ten more pieces of meat, Kade turned to go, happy to be done cooking.  He stopped before taking two steps, retrieved the sack of books from Rayden’s back and slung them over his shoulder.  He patted the dragon affectionately on the side and followed after the queen.

             
After entering the large tree, they traveled down instead of up as they had in the previous tree.  They descended a spiral stairway that was wide enough for five broad chested men to walk shoulder to shoulder.  The steps were hard packed dirt until about ten feet down where the walls and steps turned into stone.  There was a strong earthy smell as they continued to descend.  A glow came from the walls but Kade did not take the time to examine the source.  They continued to spiral down, making eight full turns around the middle until exiting into a grand cave that echoed with their footsteps.  It was a massive cavern that could have held at least fifteen dragons with room to spare.

Darcienna and Kade sat with the king and queen at a table that
barely came up to Kade’s knees.  He looked around and noticed that not even one spider was within ten feet of them, even though there had to be hundreds in the room.  This was obviously meant for royalty as the table was the nicest one.

             
It was not long before one of the spiders brought a large bowl of vegetables and fruits.  It set the food on the table in front of the travelers and quickly retreated.  Kade looked the assortment over skeptically and wondered if he should have done the cooking
. 

Meat, cheese and bread
sounds much better than carrots, nuts and berries,
Kade thought.  Glancing at Darcienna, he could tell that she was thinking the same thing.  But, to reject this offering would be taken as an insult, so they both grabbed some of the food and started to eat.  Kade was pleasantly surprised and pleased to find that it was actually very tasty.  Darcienna returned his smile as they savored the exotic fruits.  Juice dripped down his chin.  Darcienna reached over and wiped away the mess as though she had been taking care of him this way for years.  He felt his heart fill with joy at the simple gesture.  He had no idea why it had such an effect on him, but it did.

             
The king finished his meal quickly.  Soon, Crayken was on his feet and addressing the clutch.  They cheered him for his words, and they cheered him for his good health.  They loved their king and queen and it showed.  To Kade and Darcienna, it was nothing but clicks, hisses and buzzing. But it did not matter.  The queen easily translated for them.  Several times the king made a reference to Kade, having him stand for the congregation to see.  It was inspirational to hear the king speak, and it was clear that this clutch would follow their king, regardless where he led them.

             
“How is it that you have come to be involved where Morg is concerned?” Rakna asked as the king walked off to speak with his subjects.

             
“He killed my mentor,” Kade said, hiding his anger as much as possible.  “He killed her teacher, also,” Kade said, indicating Darcienna.  The queen’s eyes widened in shock, and then she gave a nod.

             
“I am sorry.  My heart goes out to you.  If we can help in any way, we will.  I am sure that goes for the king, also,” the queen said.  “What do you plan on doing now?”

             
“I am not sure.  I only have two options,” Kade said.  Darcienna turned and watched him closely.  “I can continue to search for Morg and try to deal with him myself, or I can try to find another Chosen to help me,” he said as he noticed a look on Darcienna’s face while she was deep in thought.

             
“Did you have something you wanted to add?” Kade asked.

             
“Didn’t you say that your father told you about a doorway to the land of the dead; the very doorway that Morg is trying to find, also?” Darcienna asked.

             
“Yes,” Kade said hesitantly, not sure where she was going with this.

             
“What if we were to try to find this doorway?  If it matters to Morg, then maybe if we find it first, we can stop him.  It is worth a try, don’t you think?” Darcienna asked.

             
“I have heard Valdry speak of such a doorway,” the white queen said.  Kade and Darcienna both froze and then turned to stare in awe at the queen.

             
“You have?” Kade asked in surprise.  “What did he say?”

             
“He had information indicating that the Morphites were in possession of this doorway.  He never had a chance to find out if it was true, though,” Rakna said.

             
“Maybe we can find out,” Darcienna said.

             
“That is as far as the good news goes,” the queen said.  “We have been at war with those creatures for as long as time itself.  If we were able to get to the caves, I believe I could lead you to the doorway, but I do not know how we are going to get past the Morphites.  Valdry did explain where it was, hoping I would assist him in his search.  There is a positive side to this,” Rakna added.  “Valdry does not believe that the creatures know of the door.”

             
“It looks like we have some planning to do,” Kade said.

             
“Yes, we do,” Darcienna said, emphasizing we.  “But first, we need a decent night of rest.”

             
“I will take you to your chamber,” the queen said.

             
“Thank you,” Kade said, looking very forward to sleep.

             
Even though there was plenty of night left, Kade was certain that he could sleep well into the day if left to it.  He sent the dragon a message letting it know the plans.  He could almost picture Rayden running circles around the tree, waiting for him to emerge.