The Dragon and the Dreamwalker (Elemental Series) (37 page)

He opened the door to find Birdie bending close to the keyhole. She fell into his arms and he stood her upright. Her body trembled and she jumped away from him. She wrung her hands in worry and looked at him with wide eyes.

“Lord Dunsbard!”

He should have known she’d be listening at the door. Birdie was young and likable, but she had a habit of making other people’s business hers, and then spreading it throughout the castle. That’s how he’d found out Brynn called Juturna to her bedchamber in secret. That’s also why he instructed the girl to listen at the door earlier and report to him what had been discussed between Brynn and the old seer.

Birdie was frightened enough of him not to object, not to mention her curiosity wouldn’t let her say no.

“You’ve done well, Birdie,” he told her with a nod.

“Yes, my lord,” she said with a nervous curtsy.

“Now stay and watch over Brynn and tend to her needs while I’m gone.

He left the chamber quickly and headed out to the courtyard. Tonight would be the final night his dragon father roamed the earth.

Chapter 29

Brynn felt herself floating, drifting in a sea of white mist. She felt warm and comfortable and lost within the midst of the most beautiful clouds she’d ever seen. She knew she was in the dream state and liked it. She didn’t care if she ever came back to waking life again.

“Brynn. Brynn!” called a harsh, old female voice, disturbing her comfort. “Open your eyes, Brynn.” She felt as if the earth were shaking. The pounding in her head was louder than thunder.

“’Tis no use,” she heard another feminine voice that sounded a lot like her handmaiden Birdie. “’Tis my fault she drank the potion. I never should have listened at the door for Lord Dunsbard when you two were making your plans. She is my good friend, and I’ve deceived her.”

Deceived? Plans? Suddenly Brynn remembered just what had happened. Drake had tricked her into drinking the sleeping potion. She needed to wake up. She needed to set the prisoners free before he executed them.

“I know another way to reach her. You just let me be.”

“Aye,” she heard Birdie answer with a whimper to her voice. “I’ll wait in the kitchens for your word of her recovery.”

She heard the sound of a closing door, and then smelled sage burning nearby. She felt warmth near her hand, like fire. Fire giving her the strength to moan, but not to open her eyes.

“Brynn, this is Juturna.”

Good. At least Drake hadn’t thrown her into the dungeon with the prisoners. Not yet, anyway.

“I know you can hear me. Drake has gone to kill Dracus. You need to stop him. You need to help him.”

Brynn found herself in her
dreamwalking
form, hovering above her own sleeping body. Juturna was burning sage by her head. She held a prayer candle near Brynn’s skin - the warmth that brought her the strength to leave her body.

“You need to go to him. Go to the water. You need to go to Drake’s father and convince him not to kill his son.”

Go to Dracus? Why
? she thought.

As if Juturna could hear her thoughts, the old seer moved the candle flame away from her hand and spoke close to Brynn’s ear. “Convince his father to let him live. Go to Dracus in your
dreamwalking
form.”

Yes, I’ll go.

Brynn no sooner thought about Drake than she was at his side. He was standing on the sacrificial rock, his sword with the dragon-head hilt raised high in the air. She saw Asad standing nearby, sword at the ready, and archers in position with swordsmen on the side.

No
, she said though no one could hear her.
This is not right. No one else must di
e
because of Aurelius Pendragon
.

Drake called forth the dragon, but he did not come. She could see the sadness in his eyes overtaking the anger. The sky wasn’t even cloudy, and she was not surprised.

Take me to Dracus
, she said, not at all sure she wanted to go to the depths of the sea to the dragon’s lair, even if it were only in her
dreamwalking
form. Still, she knew she had to do it. For Drake’s sake, she needed to try to talk to his father and convince him not to strike.

She found herself in darkness. She knew water enveloped her, and even in her
dreamwalking
form she was apprehensive. It couldn’t hurt her now. She was spirit, not flesh. She had to be strong. She had to convince Aurelius Pendragon not to kill his son.

Show me the dragon
, she said with conviction. Immediately, she was whisked away to the dragon’s lair. It was a gloomy, horrid place, in a void of darkness and unbearable discomfort. It reminded her a lot of the place deep beneath the pool in the cave. Her surroundings reeked of hatred, greed, death, and all things evil.
This must be
where the sinners go once they die
, she thought. It was murky, and putrid, more foul than the garderobes on a hot day, or even the slime at the bottom of the moat. This was hell if she would ever see it. This was the dragon’s lair.

She saw Dracus directly ahead. He was lying on the mucky ground, head down in submission. The dragon’s eyes were closed as it slumbered, probably digesting the last of the sacrificed virgins.

Face me, Aurelius Pendragon
, she called, trying to lure the man’s etheric form out of the dragon’s physical body.
I want you to stop killing people. Please don’t kill your son. Let him be. You are an evil, evil soul.

While the dragon continued to sleep, a greenish mist rose above it, seeping out of every one of the beast’s scaly pores. She knew it was the
dreamwalking
form of the beast coming to greet her. She floated motionlessly, waiting, watching, wondering if this man were as horrid as he was in the pool at the cave. The mist lifted, swirling around her head, slowly taking the shape of a man. Then the mist settled at her feet, showing her the dragon’s etheric form.

Brynn screamed when she saw it. The sight scared her more than anything ever had. He didn’t talk, but didn’t need to, because she knew this man better than most people - or so she’d thought.

Aurelius Pendragon was nowhere in sight. He wasn’t the feared and infamous Dracus as Drake had thought. Standing directly in front of her stood the
Dragon’s Son
. Dracus was no other than her husband, Drake!

Chapter 30

Brynn jerked herself out of her
dreamwalking
state, too disturbed to even let the sleeping potion stop her. She tried to sit upright in the bed, but Juturna pushed her back into the pillows.

“Easy, Brynn,” warned Juturna. “The sedative won’t wear off for awhile yet.”

She looked at the window and realized the sun was just rising on the horizon. It was the start of a new day. A day she wasn’t looking forward to at all.

“What did you see?” asked Juturna. “What did Drake’s father say when you asked him not to kill his son?”

“He didn’t say anything,” she told him. “Dracus is not Aurelius Pendragon. Dracus is Drake!”

“Impossible.” Juturna seemed very puzzled. “He can’t be. If he was the dragon, then he wouldn’t be in human form also. A Pendragon is said to take shape of the dragon, but not two forms at once.”

“I don’t understand it either,” said Brynn. “None of this makes any sense to me. One dragon sits at the bottom of a pool as Drake’s father, and the other - the other I’m beginning to think is my husband somehow.”

“I know who can help us,” said Juturna. “Come with me, Brynn.”

“I can’t stand.”

“You’ve got to try. Drake’s life may depend upon it.”

“Where are we going?”

“Down to the dungeon.”

“To set the prisoners free?”

“At least one of them,” was all Juturna said before she helped Brynn to her feet and led her to the door.

* * *

“I don’t understand it,” said Asad, handing Drake a chunk of bread. “We’ve waited throughout the night, and yet Dracus does not come.”

Drake took the bread he offered, gnawing at the hard crust. He looked around, seeing half his men sleeping, the other half engaged in a game of chance. He was feeling tired and weary himself. Also a bit bad for what he’d done to Brynn.

“You’re thinking about her again, aren’t you?’

“Hmmm?” Drake ripped off another hunk of bread and raised a brow. “Who?”

“Who else? Your wife. You haven’t even cursed once since we’ve been here. And here your men sleep and play dice and yet you say nothing to reprimand them.”

“I guess I’m just tired.”

“Or in love.” Asad handed the flask of ale to Drake. Drake raised it to his lips, drained it, and handed it back.

“Mayhap,” he agreed. “I’ve never felt this way before.”

“You’ve never been married before either.”

“Or in love,” he admitted. “Strange feeling, isn’t it?”

Asad smiled and nodded his head eagerly. “I’ve known it many times in my country.”

“You’ve lived the life of a son of a sheik, Asad. You had a harem of women at your fingertips. What you knew wasn’t love, it was lust.”

“Perhaps it was.” Asad frowned, considering the thought.  “Mayhap I need to take lessons from you on how to love a woman?”

That made Drake laugh. Asad laughed along with him. “When I figure it out, I’ll let you know.”

“Good enough, my lord. In the meantime, I’ll watch for Dracus.”

Drake threw the crust into the sea and stood, wiping crumbs from his clothes. “He’s not coming.”

“How can you be sure?” Asad squinted, looking into the morning sun, searching the waves for any disturbance.

“I think Brynn was right.”

“My lord?”

“She said Dracus only came when I was angry. I guess I’m not angry enough for the dragon to show its ugly head.”

“I don’t understand, Lord Dunsbard.”

“Neither do I, Asad. Since I don’t feel the least bit angry at the moment, I suggest we go back to the castle and wait for Brynn to awake.”

“And then?” Asad cleaned up the remnants from their meal and stuffed them into the saddle bags.

“And then I’ll have something to be angry about. No matter what that girl does it’s going to anger me. So then we’ll have a dragon to kill.”

“Is this part of love?” asked Asad, amused. “You have to anger each other in order to love each other?”

Drake chuckled. “It is where we’re concerned. Brynn and I feed off each other’s emotions. That’s what makes the relationship so exciting.”

“I still don’t understand,” said Asad, scrunching his face in concentration.

“Mayhap I’ll explain it to you one day. When I figure it out.”

Drake rounded up his men, preparing to make their way back to the castle.

* * *

“Open this door, anon,” Brynn instructed the guard. She held on to Juturna for balance and pointed at the cell that held the old man.

“Lord Dunsbard hasn’t instructed me to release any of the prisoners,” answered the guard.

“I am his wife. You’ll do as I order.”

“I’m under instructions not to open the cells for anyone but Lord Dunsbard. I’m sorry, but I cannot do as you request.”

Brynn looked inside the cell and noticed a rat nibbling on the body of a dead man. She realized the older knight, Sir Burgess, had died since she last saw him. It horrified her to think she was partly responsible for this death. Her heart went out to the prisoners, yet Drake’s accusing words of her betrayal stuck in her head. The woman prisoner sat in the corner comforting her crying children, and the younger knight tried to comfort them all. The old man was talking to the rat like it was an old friend. Brynn wanted nothing more than to run far from this whole situation, but she knew she had to be strong and face it head on.

“There’s a man in there who’s hurt,” said Juturna. “I need to administer herbs to him. Now let me in.”

The guard looked at her, then slowly turned his head and observed Sir Burgess. “He looks dead to me,” said the guard. “Why bother?”

“Look closer,” said Juturna. “I just saw him breathe.”

When the guard took a step closer, Juturna took her bag and hit him over the head. He fell to the ground with a loud thump.

Brynn jumped back, startled at the sight. “What did you hit him with?” she asked Juturna.

“My gazing crystal.” Juturna opened the bag to show her. However, the impact against the guard’s head had caused the crystal to shatter.

“Juturna, I’m so sorry.” She eyed the broken bits and pieces of shattered crystal.

“Not as sorry as that guard will be when he wakes up and finds himself in the cell with the prisoners. Help me get the keys.”

Brynn felt dizzy and had to hold on to the wall for support. Juturna unlatched the keys from the guard’s waist and opened the door. “Come here, old man,” she called, and he came. She pulled him out the door and tried to push the guard inside. Sir Broderick ran over and helped her, grabbing the man under the arms, pulling him into the cell.