The Last Dragon Chronicles: The Fire Ascending (41 page)

Rosa gulped as one screeched past, thefourth or fifth she’d seen in the last few

minutes. Was it her imagination or were they becoming more numerous, more active? “They seem anxious. Is something wrong?”

“Nothing can be wrong. The Shadow is everything.” An unconvincing reply, Rosa thought. He sounded as if he was reading from a script.

“So why are you looking at the sea for so long – assuming you’re
 
not
 
writing poetry, of course?”

Saying nothing, he crouched to the ground and roughed his palm in the gravel and dust. Then he stood again, shaking his hand, as if he was trying to throw something off. It was the second time Rosa

had seen him do this.

“What’s the matter with your hand?” She was remembering now how David had grabbed him and turned the palms upward, wanting Tam to find something. “What did David say to you? Back in the chamber?”

“Be silent,” said Tam.

But this was important, Rosa suspected. She could hear footsteps loosening the scree. Someone was approaching at a speed that suggested urgency. As Tam went to meet them, she closed her eyes and concentrated hard. Somewhere in

Zanna’s memories there had to be

something  about  Tam’s   hands.   The Pennykettle kitchen swept into her mind. Zanna, making tea for him in…
 
the snow
?

No, Zanna was imagining snowflakesfalling, something to do with what he wassaying to her.

“Commander… ” panted a voice nearby.

Rosa half-listened, but the messengerwas too exhausted to report.
 
Concentrate
,she told herself.

Kitchen. Tea. Biscuits. Conversation.

Then suddenly it came, a whole slew ofinformation. Tam’s voice, talking aboutsomething he’d received from David.

They weren’t snowflakes, Zanna. Theywere bear flakes. A small pack of them,come to battle the Ix. Two of them landed

on   my   hands.   Since   then   I’ve remembered things about the Arctic – stuff I shouldn’t know, legends I can’t know – coupled with a crushing desire to

protect you and Lucy.

“Bears,” Rosa gasped, opening her

eyes.

Tam turned and looked at her furiously. The man beside him nodded. “She’s right. An army of bears is approaching the island from all directions.”

“How could you know this?” Tam

Farrell said.

“Your hands,” Rosa said again. “Look at your hands.”

Tam turned his palms up and gulped. Two polar bears were glimmering under his skin.

The messenger saw them and shook hishead in confusion. He began to mutterabout reporting this abnormality to the Prime when Tam’s fist punched his jaw

sideways and the man collapsed like an empty sack.

Rosa saw her chance and leaped to her feet. “Where are they keeping David? Come on, we’ve got to free him. You

are… Tam now, aren’t you?”

He looked at her as if the truth had

poisoned him. “Stay where you are. I

don’t know what I am.”

“But… you’ve just knocked one of your men out cold. Very impressive, by the way.”

Tam didn’t seem to think so. “I bought myself some time before they kill me, that’s all. When the Collective absorbs

this mutation, Voss will seek me out.”

“It’s not a mutation, you idiot, it’s a gift. If the bears are coming then you should –

ohhh… ” She fell to her knees again, cradling her head. The pulses were growing stronger by the second.

“I have to go,” he said, turning away.

“Don’t leave me!” she cried. “You’re

Tam. Tam Farrell. You swore to protect Zanna. Protect me now. Please, Tam. Myhead’s exploding.”

“I can’t help you,” he said. “The Pri:magon will decide your fate.”

“Not without a
fight
 
!” she screamed. “Then I’ll come for you, you useless pieceof alien…
 
agh
.” But he was already gone,leaving her clutching her temples again. There were voices far below, shoutingdanger. The screech of darklings. Therumble of the dragon. But none of thistroubled Rosa as much as what was

happening inside her head.

“No!” she argued, shaking herself. “No. Not you. Get out of me.
 
Go
 
.”

Suddenly, there were images to go with the pain.

And the auma of Gwilanna swept into her mind.

“I won’t let you in. I will
 
not
 
let you in. You won’t infect me. Get out, you witch!”

Then the sibyl’s voice broke through, a ghostly relation of the snappy, croaking voice of old. Just two words entered

Rosa’s consciousness.

Help me
.

14. A Vital Kiss

“Who gave you the authority to
 
attack
 
the prisoner?”

Another bolt of Voss’s
 
shade
 
swept into the nodes at Lucy’s head. She jerked in pain. It was all she could do to remain kneeling. If he upped the intensity any more, she was going to pass out, maybe even die. “I was acting for the good of the Shadow,” she gasped. “He was trying to escape. What else was I to do?”

Voss leaned over her, twisting like a snake. “You used a tipped arrow. The kind of dose we save for
 
rats
 
. His

inversion will now be slow and erratic;

that’s always supposing he
 
lives
.”

“It’s not too late to withdraw it,” muttered Zanna. She was standing over David, checking him for vital signs. His motionless body had been laid out on a ledge on the far side of the chamber. The arrow had been removed, along with his jacket and shirt. From the centre of the wound, a web of black veins was spreading up his shoulder and into his neck. He was barely breathing. “The infection isn’t pure. If we stop it now, he will recover.”

Voss cracked his knuckles. Leaningover Lucy again, he said, “Even if the Pri:magon brings him back, his connectionto his daughter will be weaker than it was

–  though  maybe
 
your
 
allegiance has

changed, Commander… ?”

Lucy shook her head. “I only serve the

Shadow—”

With a thwack, Voss’s tail came down

on  her   shoulder,   the   barbed   end dangerously close to her skin. “A darkling was found with an arrow through its gut. Explain that to me.”

Zanna spoke up in Lucy’s defence. “He may have begun the conflict to distract her. It would be easy for him to draw down a darkling. They’re natural enemies, Voss. She may have even done you a service. With his powers diminished, he wouldn’t have survived a darkling’s bite.”

Voss pressed his tail under Lucy’s ear. “Is this your claim?”

“Y-yes.” She half-nodded.

He put himself close to her face and

whispered. “I do not believe you.”

“But—”

“Do not
 
speak
.” A barb nicked her skin, drawing out a dot of thick black blood. “If he dies…  you burn.” He turned his head towards the swirling lava.

Lucy shuddered. Gawain was now deep within the Earth once more.

With a snarl, Voss whirled awaytowards Zanna. “What can you do?”

“I’ll need to commingle with him.”

“Commingle?” Voss didn’t like thesound of that.

“He’s too weak to be a threat. If I reach

into his auma I might even be able to access his memories. It will be quicker than forcing him to talk.”

Still Voss didn’t seem sure. “You

forget, you were close to him once.”

“In another timeline,” she said, plainly.

A guard burst in then, shouting the alarm.

“How dare you disturb me!” Voss

roared at him.

He fell to one knee. “Forgive me,

Prime. The island is under attack.”

“From what?” scoffed Voss. Every species on Earth had been dimmed by the Shadow.

“Bears,” said the guard.

Lucy looked up.

“White bears,” the guard added. He was a burly man with impressive muscles, but the odour of his sweat was drenched

with fear. “They are running on the water.

The sea has frozen.”

“That would take powerful magicks,” said Zanna, throwing an urgent look at Voss.

Voss spread his wings. His clawsextended. Battle stigs came up along hisspine. “It’s the child,” he said, withmalevolent certainty. “It appears she hasdecided to come to us. What direction are

these bears coming from?”

“Every direction,” the guard jabbered. “Even the bridge. They are falling from the sky in great number. The darklings are fighting but the bears are strong.”

Lucy clambered to her feet. “Prime, I will defend you… ”

Voss stared at her and beckoned the

messenger to stand. “Bind her and take her

outside. Hide her in one of the caves.”

“Bind…
 
her
?” The man pointed at his

former commander.

“Unless you want to die on your overweight knees.”

“But I’m Shadow,” Lucy protested.

“No,” he corrected her. “From now on, you’re hostage.”

Without dwelling on his options, the messenger stood up and attended to his orders. Within moments, Lucy’s hands were tied and she’d been pushed outside on the point of a sword.

“Voss, wait,” Zanna called, as he prepared to leave. “If magicks are being used, I should come with you. I might be able to undo the freezing spell. The bears would still be able to swim, but in the water they would be easy victims for the

flock.”

He nodded and took a knife from his

belt. He threw it across the chamber floor.

It stopped spinning at Zanna’s feet. “Dowhat you can, but kill the Fain first. He isno use to us now.”

And he swept towards the opening andflew into the sky.

Zanna bent down and picked up theknife. An old hunting blade. Not overlysharp, but effective against the humantemplate. She scraped it over David’sbody, making a nick in the region of hisheart. “You should have come to us

willingly,” she whispered. “Who knows what might have been?”

David tried to speak. His lips parted and he made a quiet ‘zz’ sound.

“Touching,” she said, thinking he was trying to speak her name. She placed the blade flat to his lips to quiet him. “Sssshhh, David. This won’t take long… ”

And for whatever reason she cared to

imagine, she took the knife away and

kissed his mouth.

As she rose, he managed to say what

he’d wanted to.

“Z… ookie.”

The Pri:magon touched her lips. Theywere tingling slightly. The Ix inside herswarmed to the point of alien contact. “What have you done?” she hissed. “Whathave you
 
done
?” The faintest smile brokeover his lips. She gave a cry of fury. Clenching her teeth, she raised the knife. Ithad reached no further than the height of

her chin when something heavy thudded across her shoulders. She collapsed in a zigzagging motion to the ground.

“Cow,” said Rosa, throwing the rock aside. “You leave my David alone.”

And careful not to make any contact with her clone, she stepped over Zanna and shook David awake.

15. A Dialogue with Gwilanna

She had to slap him twice to bring himround fully. “David, wake up. We need toget out of here.” She cradled his face. “Look at me, will you? Are you okay?”

He nodded woozily. “Umm. Just cold.”

She found his jacket and draped it overhis shoulders.

“Voss?” he murmured, looking around.

“They’re all outside. We’re safe for now. A messenger came saying bears were attacking.”

“Bears?” That woke him like a shot of

adrenalin. He refocused his gaze at the

entrance to the chamber.

“They think Alexa sent them. They think

she might be here.”

Still bleary, he swung himself upright.

He saw Zanna laid out at his feet and

slowly worked out what must have happened. “Please tell me you didn’t kill her?”

“She was kissing you.”

“That’s  no  excuse  to  knock  her

senseless.”

“Oh, and about to drive this through your heart.” She twiddled the knife, a supercilious grin slapped hard to her face.

He found the nick in his chest and drew

his fingers across it, smearing the tips with blood. “Yeah, well. She’d have a few good reasons.”