Keeper of the Flame: Dragon Knights, Book 7 Read online

  “If your mate had not set you on this path, would you have allied yourself with my cousin, Sendra?”

  “No.” The answer puffed out of the gryphon’s beak.

  “If your mate had not disapproved of your child, would you have thrown her out into the storm to die?”

  “No.” This time the word broke in half. In agony. A mother’s agony.

  “Would you have kept her, even with her differences?”

  “I wanted to keep her, but I could not. He would not allow it with the way sshe hatched,” Xerata admitted brokenly. “I tried my besst to keep her out of hiss way. To teach her how to be resspectful and quiet. But that lasst night, sshe did ssomething to anger him and he forced her out of the nesst. Sshe fell down the cliff to her death.”

  The gryphon mother made a sound the likes of which Hugh had never heard from one of

  her kind. It was of pain. Of soul-deep anguish. Of a mother’s loss. Her desperate hopelessness.

  “She’s not dead,” Lera whispered.

  The gryphon stirred. Her head rose the few inches she was able to lift it. Her raptor’s eyes blinked in surprise—and something that looked like hope.

  “Sshe ssurvived the fall?”

  “A prince of Draconia found her in the storm. She was attracted by his magic and he took her in and protected her for days. He gave her the love and magic she needed to survive and he has offered to adopt her.”

  “My girl will be raissed by dragon folk? Will sshe be ssafe with them?” The mother’s concern for her baby was genuine and truthful considering she was still under the watchful magic of the eternal flame.

  “Safer than she has been with her own kind,” Lera reminded the gryphon.

  “I am glad sshe lives. If sshe ever asskss about me, pleasse tell her I tried but I wassn’t sstrong enough to sstand up to her ssire.” The gryphon’s head lowered back to the ground. She was clearly losing what little strength remained. “Tell her I loved her and that I’m ssorry I failed her.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lera had heard enough. This gryphon was weak, but neither Lera nor the flame judged her failures worthy of the ultimate penalty. The eternal flame dissipated. It did not want Xerata’s life in payment for her sins. There would be punishment, but the sentence would not be death.

  At least not by the flame’s power. If the gryphon died, it would be of her wounds, though Lera didn’t think Xerata’s injuries were fatal. She was in bad shape. There was no doubt of that. She had broken bones and contusions from her fall. And vledtoink Xerataher tail feathers were badly burnt.

  She would heal, given time. For now, she was immobilized, which was the safest place for her to be with her mate still on the loose.

  Lera looked to the sky, watching the action up there for a moment. The race in the sky looked like a stalemate. The dragons and the emissary were able to keep Ylianthror in the area, but they couldn’t pin him down or run him to ground. Something had to tip the balance and end this standoff.

  “Hugh, can you take me up?”

  “I’d rather not. I can’t guarantee your safety up there. And what about her?”

  “The flame does not want her death this day. She will keep for now.” Lera felt a mixture of anger and sorrow for the female gryphon she would examine in depth later. Now was still the time for action. “You need to be up there, Hugh, and I need to be with you.”

  The dragon that was Hugh craned his long neck upward to study the sky for a moment.

  “Dammit, you’re right. I don’t like taking you up into that, but I dare not leave you here.”

  “You need to be up there, and so do I.”

  The dragon nodded. “Yes. All right.” He seemed to come to a decision and bent downward so Lera could mount. She moved quickly and a moment later they were airborne.

  As Lera looked backward, she could see Jenet and Drake standing guard over the fallen gryphon. Drake was doing some preliminary work on immobilizing Xerata’s broken wings and dressing her wounds. Drake of the Five Lands had a big heart and Lera was glad he was there to help Xerata. Perhaps someday the female gryphon could redeem herself. Lera didn’t know how or when, but perhaps in time, there might be some way for her to atone for what she’d done. At least the eternal flame seemed to think so…else it would not have left her alive.

  Lera noted the coordinated way in which the dragons flew. No doubt, Hugh was orchestrating their movements with silent discussion. The way they flew as a unit was a thing of beauty.

  “Are you all right back there?” Hugh took a moment to ask. His acrobatic flying continued as he worked his way around into the formation that would force Ylianthror down.

  “Fine,” Lera shouted above the wind. She’d flown on gryphons before. She’d even flown with Hugh before. She was an experienced rider, but this kind of flying was something vastly different than anything she’d experienced.

  “Hold on tight, Lera. This is going to be tricky.”

  He didn’t have to tell her twice. She could feel the way his wings sculpted the wind. He was flying fast and making incredibly tight turns as he joined the chase.

  The sun was beginning its rise, but it was still dark enough for Hugh to take full advantage of his inky hide. He coordinated with his brothers and managed to tip the scaled in one fell swoop, coming up in front of Ylianthror’s flight path and hitting him with a warning burst of flame that brought the acrobatically talented gryphon up short.

  He tried to backwing, but some of his feathers were on fire. He had to land or the feathers would continue to smolder and burn. The only way for him to stop the damage would be to land and brush his feathers through the dirt. Only when the fire was out would it be safe to take to the skies again.

  It was a masterful bit of flying that forced the gryphon down. He screeched all the way and Hugh never let the pressure {then>Ioff. He followed Ylianthror down, spiraling and shooting bursts of fire all around him with the help of the other dragons, to make Ylianthror go where they wanted him to go.

  Finally.

  They had control of the situation. Or, at least some control. Which was a lot more than they had before.

  The gryphon landed and dragged his wings in the dusty dirt of the courtyard, putting out the fire. He screeched at the dragons that landed around him, hemming him in. Unless he got another lucky shot in at the wing joint, his claws couldn’t do much to dragon scale, which was one of the hardest substances in the world. Only diamond blades could pierce it. Gryphon talons were no match for it unless he knew just where to aim and the dragon was foolish or unlucky enough to let him close enough.

  Jenet had been unlucky. Nobody else would suffer that kind of damage, Lera vowed as she jumped off Hugh’s back the moment he set down. It was time to end this.

  Lera called the eternal flame. It came to her hand, to her soul, stronger than it had in a long, long time. The flame was ready. And Lera was more than ready.

  “Ylianthror! Stand and be judged by the eternal flame,” she ordered as she strode forward. She had no fear. The flame surrounded her with its gossamer tendrils of power.

  Lera knew that while it held her in its embrace, she could not be harmed by conventional means. It was the first time the flame had chosen to manifest in this way for her, though the skills to handle it were taught to every Keeper. The flame could not have picked a better time. Silently, she thanked the Lady for helping her stand strong against this threat.

  Ylianthror screamed in feathery outrage but didn’t speak. Lera reached for more of her magic, finding the link she shared with Hugh and drawing on their joined power. The eternal flame leapt inside her in answer to her summons.

  Lera pointed her fingers, and tendrils of gossamer flame reached out to wrap around each of Ylianthror’s front feet. His claws were tethered to the ground. He could not fly while the flame held him prisoner.

  She didn’t know how long this unprecedented ability would last. She hoped she’d at least get to question the gryphon and let the flame make a
judgment. That was important. It was her duty as Keeper to dispense the flame’s justice. But every creature of the goddess deserved to be heard before judgment was passed. This was Ylianthror’s chance.

  “I do not ansswer to you,” the gryphon finally growled when he’d given up tugging at the bonds of flame around his ankles. As long as he didn’t move his front feet, the fire did not burn. It encircled him, but would not harm him unless he fought it.

  “All gryphons of Helios answer to the Lady,” Lera argued.

  “Only the weak do not forge their own desstiny,” Ylianthror countered.

  “Ssacrilege!” Hyadror’s voice came from behind Lera. She noted that the gryphons with priests led by Hyadror had drawn closer, ringing the scene in the center of the large yard.

  “You are weak, Hyadror!” Ylianthror screamed back, irate. “You alwayss were!”

  “And am I weak as well, Ylianthror?” The emissary padded silently up to the imprisoned gryphon. “The Lady made me in the image of your daughter. The daughter you kicked out into the storm. For that transgression alone you should be judged. But for plotting against the Keeper…” Jalinar growled in outrage. “That is a killing offense. For only the truly evil w { tr But foould try to subvert the Lady’s will.”

  “You are not a gryphon,” Ylianthror screeched. “You are an abomination!”

  “Was your daughter an abomination?” Lera asked carefully, trying to control her temper.

  “That…thing…wass no daughter of mine.”

  “Then by my authority as Keeper, I take the child under my protection. From this moment on, you can have no claim on her. She is no longer yours.”

  “Good riddance.” He fairly spat the words and it was all Lera could do to hold her anger at bay.

  There was more she needed to do here and she had to do it quickly. She didn’t know how much longer the flame would imprison him. She had to work faster.

  “What was your deal with Sendra?” Lera changed tactics, invoking the eternal flame’s truth seeking power. Tendrils wrapped around the gryphon, squeezing the truth from his traitorous soul.

  “In exchange for my help, sshe would make me king of all gryphonss in Helioss when sshe took the throne.”

  “Why?” Lera wanted to know. “Why did you want so much power? What would you do with it?”

  “I wanted my kind to be free of human rule. We are bigger, better, sstronger and fasster than you. Why sshould you order uss around? Why sshould the Keeper threaten uss with death by fire if we don’t do what sshe ssayss? We are better than humanss. Ssuperior in every way. You need uss. We do not need you at all.”

  Lera begged to differ, but she wouldn’t even try to reason with this creature. His heart was so filled with hate. She could feel the evil of it pulsing at her through the protective flame. The magic of the eternal flame connected them, but it also protected her from his malice. She’d never had it do that before. It had never had to.

  Never before had she run up against a creature so intent on defying the rules the Lady had set forth to govern not only gryphons, but humans as well. This was a first. And Lera prayed with all her might it would be the last she ever saw of this kind of hatred directed at her or any other creature of the Lady.

  The simple truth was gryphons and humans needed each other. In Helios, the balance had been struck long ago. Both races contributed to the health and welfare of all within the borders of her land. They had a symbiotic relationship. If Ylianthror didn’t understand that very basic tenet, she held out little hope he would ever come around.

  “Did you agree with Sendra hiring Eyes to kill me?”

  “Agree? I ssuggessted it!” he roared. “It wass I who flew out to make contact with their brotherhood. You needed to die and if sshe would not do it hersself, ssomeone had to be found who would.”

  Lera’s heart plummeted. There could be no reconciliation with someone who hated her this much.

  “I’m sorry, Ylianthror,” she whispered, unable to say more. The flame was making it hard for her to talk. It was fluctuating with her emotions and becoming more difficult to hold steady as a binding around the gryphon’s front ankles.

  Suddenly, he broke free, lunging for her with outstretched claws. She was too close!

  Fire erupted from the dragon at her side. Hugh had come to her defense, using his fire to push the gryphon back.

  But the gryphon didn’t move back. In fact, he didn’t move at all. And there was something strange about th {ang>

  e stream of fire coming from Hugh’s dragonish mouth. It wasn’t the normal orange and yellow of dragon fire. It resembled something much closer to the magical, eternal flame of the Lady. It was a phosphorescent orange, pink, yellow and purple, billowing out in waves that were almost translucent with the sparkling magic that flowed on every lick of flame.

  The fire engulfed Ylianthror, freezing him in place. This time, rather than just holding him, it burned. Not like fire normally burns, but in a way that only the magical flame of the Lady burns. Everywhere it touched Ylianthror, he began to sparkle, then to shimmer, then to…dissipate.

  Lera felt the pull of the Lady’s magic out of her, into her mate. The way it twined and meshed with Hugh’s dragon fire was familiar but at the same time altogether new. It was like the way their magics joined when they were intimate, but this was so much…more.

  More powerful. More magical.

  More dangerous.

  Ylianthror disappeared particle by particle, caught up in the sparkling magical smoke that rose where the eternal flame met his body.

  The unearthly screech he made as he disintegrated echoed into the dawn.

  Ylianthror was gone.

  Lera had never seen the like.

  Hugh shimmered and turned into his human form. He looked surprised—as if his transformation wasn’t voluntary.

  “What just happened?” he asked, clearly stunned.

  “I’m not sure.”

  He stood still a moment more, then wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close. His chin rested on the top of her head protectively. She felt his love, his fear for her safety, his wonder at the power that had just coursed through him.

  “Are you all right?” Hugh asked her as he rocked her slightly in his embrace.

  “I’m fine. But are you? Hugh, I’ve never seen the flame act through another person like that. When the priests use it, it’s very different. It’s only an echo. What you just did…” She trailed off, at a loss for words.

  “Yeah, that was pretty amazing, but no harm done to me. Ylianthror, on the other hand… He didn’t fare so well.” He drew back and looked at the place the gryphon had been. Not even a singed spot on the ground marked the place he had…burned, for lack of a better word. “I’m sorry I acted without consulting you, but it was in defense and I had no idea that was going to happen. I only meant to keep him away from you.”

  “It’s all right. The flame worked through my link to you. It had already judged Ylianthror and found him guilty of the most heinous betrayal. I delayed because I didn’t want to be the instrument of his death. I’ve never had to do something like that before and I wasn’t looking forward to it, even after what he’d done.”

  “Then perhaps this is the way it was meant to be.” He held her hand, squeezing it gently as they looked at each other.

  The emissary interrupted their moment, padding up to them and fanning her wings. “You are correct, my prince. Valeria is the Keeper of the Flame. You are now the first and only Guardian of its true power.”

  “What did it really do? Where did he go?” Lera asked, flummoxed by the way the flame had acted.

  “There are many worlds and many dimensions unknown to us. But all is known to the Lady. Perhaps She sent him { Sh">

  “Thank you, emissary.” Lera spoke softly, truly touched by the gryphon’s words.

  “If you would permit it, milady, I will assist in the clean-up here. I believe you and your mate should go back to the palace to recover from what has ju
st transpired. Within an hour, you will both slumber and it will be some time before you wake. Neither of you are used to channeling that much magical energy. You’re running on adrenaline right now, but you should get to the safety of the palace as soon as possible.”

  “We’ll take that advice,” Hugh answered for her, putting one arm around Lera’s shoulders. “And we thank you for your willingness to take over here. The dragons, knights and their lady will stay also. Jenet shouldn’t move much, but the others can help you. My brothers will come with us, just in case there are still enemies out there.”

  “It is only right the rulers of Helios travel with an honor guard,” the emissary replied. “I only wish there were more of us to go with you.”

  “Thank you, emissary, but we will be fine with my brothers,” Hugh replied politely.

  Hugh didn’t waste much time. He signaled the twins silently and within moments he had changed back into a dragon and she was on his back. They lifted off in the pearly orange of sunrise and headed back toward Alagarithia.

  Lera’s heart was both heavier and lighter. They’d found the traitors and dealt with them. While she was sad for the way the night had ended with injury, bloodshed and death, she was glad there was no longer any reason to believe assassins were on her trail. She was still in a position of power and there would always be danger, but professional assassins had ratcheted up her fear to the highest level.

  Finally, she would be able to relax somewhat. Relax and enjoy time with her new mate.

  After all, there was a state wedding to plan.

  True to the emissary’s predictions, Lera and Hugh slept for the entire day and night following their return to the palace. The twins did not let anyone in to see them except Father Gregor, who pronounced them healthy—just completely exhausted—after a quick examination.

  The dragons and knights stayed at Portu’s estate with the prisoners. Xerata could not be moved, but would survive. She was in worse shape than the dragoness, Jenet, and would require several weeks—perhaps months—of healing before she would fly again. By contrast, with her knight’s help, the Lady Jenet would be able to fly within a few days.