My mind floundered. Didn't she want Eona? My female energy? Wasn't that the point of it all? Why did she want Eon? I hesitated as I had in the arena, a chasm of doubt ripping through the gold euphoria. I had fought so hard to bring my male energy forwards and subdue the female within me. If I let Eon go now, what would replace him? I had made Eona too small.
Too weak. What if the dragon took Eon and there was nothing left?
I dragged my gaze from the shimmering flames of possibility to Ido's silver eyes. His hands were locked so tightly around my wrists that I could feel my sinews grinding under his hold.
He was waiting for my power. Waiting to take everything. What if he was too strong for the Mirror Dragon? He had overpowered me every time we had met in the energy world. Won every time wc
had clashed through the might of the blue dragon. Would it be different through the red dragon?
It had to be different. She was my dragon, my power.
I thrust my hands against the gold pearl. Let me be enough, 1 prayed. Let us be enough.
'I am Eona,' I roared. 'I am the Mirror Dragoneye.'
And then it happened: a tearing release of old needs, stunted power, and narrow pathways built from fear and skewed belief! The gold nugget of power within me exploded into radiant strength.
The red dragon shrieked, a piercing celebration that resonated in every part of my mind and body But within the joy was the soft, keening presence of other voices. A bereft chorus that wove its way into our union. Was it the other dragons? The faint song of mourning was suddenly cut short.
My mind-sight split. I was the Mirror Dragon, my huge head whipping around to face the fury of the blue dragon on my back. His huge jaws closed around the arch of my neck. His opal claws sliced down my flanks, opening up bright, searing wounds of golden light.
But I was also in the alley, fighting Ido as he slammed my hands back into the wall and locked my wrists against the cold stone with his forearm. He forced his leg between mine, his other hand tearing silk and linen. Above, the Mirror Dragon rolled, and I was a desperate twist of red and orange muscle that sent a rumbling shock of power through the air. Paving and dirt flew up as my effort ploughed a seam of devastation along the alley I heard Lady Dela scream and watched from above as the guards ran for cover, leaving the tiny figure of Ryko crouched under the rain of stones.
Give her to me. Ido's hunger was like a fist punching through my mind.
'No,' I screamed.
The red dragon shrieked my defiance, meeting the blue dragon in a thunderous clash of heavy chests and raking claws that boomed across the sky. The world burst into pure energy as the dragon and I fused into one shimmering being. In front of us, the flesh and blood of Ido melted into a streaming network of Hua. The silvery pathways were dulled by a coating of Sun drug, but his life force pumped frantically through the swirling catchments of his points of power. His hold on us faltered, the blue dragon rearing back in confusion.
We watched Ido's fear flick and jump in the flow through his transparent body, collecting in the bright red point at the base of his spine. Above it, on the central meridian that held the seven points, the orange sacral and the yellow delta flared with his power — his charisma and the burn of his desire. Then we saw the dull green point nestled in his chest. The heart-point: the centre of compassion and unity. Grey and shrivelled, the flow through it choked into a thin, stuttering thread. A sickness. Easy to heal. We channelled our power into it, watching the greyness drain from the green point and slowly build into a huge rise of dark emotion. It crashed over us: a thick roiling mass of thwarted desire, wounded innocence, harsh rejection.
So much hopelessness and anger. The blue dragon howled. Our hand touched Ido's chest and the connection of Hua shivered between us. Gold and silver power blending, building into a burst of compassion that snapped his green point wide open, releasing the mass of leaden pain.
Ido screamed and staggered back, ripping my other hand off the pearl. The brutal rending from my dragon twisted me out of the energy world and back into the alley.
She was gone.
It felt as if my spirit was being wrenched from my body. I slumped back against the wall, groping for some sense of our union. It was there — a warm, gold echo of her presence that cushioned the shock of our separation.
Ido dropped to his knees, his energy body moulding back into the solid planes of flesh and heavy muscle. Waves of shivering spasmed through his bowed form. He lifted his head, his eyes muddy with shock.
'What have you done to me?' he gasped. 'I have never seen such power.'
With trembling hands, 1 pulled the edges of my shredded tunics across my exposed body. I was not sure what I'd done. What we had done.
'"Your heart-point is open,' I said.
He took a deep, sobbing breath. 'You have made me feel it all,' he said. All at once.
Everything I've ever done.' He rocked forwards, doubling over with inner pain, his arms wrapped across his chest.
The clink of stone hitting stone made me look up. Something was moving. It took a moment for the dusty, ragged mound to make sense: Ryko, dragging himself through the razed alley towards us, his mutilated hand held to his chest. Panting, he crawled past the sprawled body of one of the guards, his eyes fixed on Ido.
'Kill him,' he said hoarsely. 'Kill him. While you've got the chance.'
Lady Dela emerged from behind a pile of tumbled bales and struggled upright, one of my swords in a wavering grip. Her face was caked with dirt and streaks of blood. She lifted the weapon, the effort making her sway 'I'll do it.'
'No!' The words burst out from somewhere deep in me. Somewhere newly forged. 'We can't.'
'Why not?' Ryko demanded.
I bit my lip, knowing my reasons would mean nothing to a man who had just been tortured. I hardly understood them myself. Part of me still felt the touch of Ido's hands on me and wanted him to suffer and die, but a bigger part — a golden part — wanted to stop his pain. In forcing compassion onto Ido, I had somehow opened my own heart to him.
The Dragoneye slowly pushed himself back onto his heels. The arrogant tilt to his head was gone. 'Because if you kill me, you kill Dillon,' he said quietly.
Ryko looked across at me. 'Is that true?'
'1 don't know,' I said. 'Perhaps. He has bound Dillon's Hua to his _»
A sudden fear clipped my words short. Had I somehow bound Ido's Hua to mine?
The sound of sliding pebbles pulled my attention past Ryko. The older guard was stumbling out of the alley, his limping haste sending a clear message.
'He's going to got help.' I stepped away from the wall. 'We have to go.'
'There's unfinished business here,' Ryko said. He pushed himself to his knees, hooking the dead guard's sword towards him in a drag of dust.
'No!' I met the vengeful hardness in the islander's eyes. 'I have her power, Ryko. I called the Mirror Dragon.' The wonder of it softened my voice; I had united with my dragon. I forced myself away from dwelling in the joy 'We can still help the Pearl Emperor and the Resistance.
But not if we get taken by Sethon. We go. Now!'
'You have her power?' His fierceness turned on me. 'Is that the truth?' He looked at Lady Dela, searching for confirmation. 'Did you find the name?'
She nodded, a smile forming through the dirt and blood.
Ryko's face brightened for a moment then settled back into grim pain. 'You're right. We go.'
Wearily, he dug the sword tip into a crevice and used it as a balance to stand.
Ido was doubled over again, enduring another wave of shaking. Seeing his powerful body in the grip of such weakness shocked me. But deep below my pity stirred a dark exhilaration.
My power had brought Lord Ido to his knees.
Clutching together the remnants of the tunics, I started towards the grate. Even as I took the first step, I knew something fundamental had changed: my bad hip was flexing into a new stretch of muscle and sinew. No pain. No awkward
gait. I stopped, diso
riented, then stepped forwards again; a longer stride that should have buckled into a limp. But it was straight and true. I yanked back the edge of the tunic and touched the pale skin over my hip, It was smooth. No scar. I was whole again. A laugh broke out of me. My dragon had healed me too.
'What is it?' Lady Dela asked. Are you injured?'
'No,' I said. 'My hip is healed!' 1 ran my hand down the smooth line of my thigh again.
'Healed? By your dragon power?'
I nodded, meeting her wonder. I was free. No longer a cripple. No longer untouchable. I was strong and powerful. 1 ran a few steps then lunged, finding my balance with a quick confidence that made my heart sing.
Distant shouts cut through my elation. The guard had raised the alarm. There was no time to revel in my new body. Not yet. I squatted in front of the grate, smiling at the easy movement, and quickly dug away the dirt and broken stones that had piled up against the metal cover. As I wrapped my fingers around the bars, it occurred to me that I was also feeling invigorated.
Did the new energy come from my bond with her as well? Our true union. I smiled — even just thinking about the red dragon started a rise of jubilation, a yearning to call her name. Our name. I wrenched the grate out of its niche and eased it to the ground.
'This is for my hand,' Ryko said.
It was the tone more than the words that spun me around. The islander was standing in front of Ido with the heavy sword hilt aimed at the Dragoneye's bowed head.
'I understand,' Ido said. He closed his eyes.
With a savage jerk, Ryko slammed the hilt end into Ido's face, the force of his own blow making him stagger. Ido collapsed to the ground in a curl of agony, his hands pressed to his forehead. He made no sound, just rocked into the pain as blood ran between his knuckles.
I stood, appalled. 'Ryko! Stop!'
The islander let out a deep breath. 'Now we can go.' He dropped the sword.
Lady Dela crossed to me, a pile of emerald silk draped over her uninjured arm.
'Leave it,' she said, blocking me with her body 'He's trying to follow your orders. Trying not to kill him.'
I caught the warning in her voice and nodded. 'Do you still have the red folio?' I asked.
She patted the armour over her chest. 'It's safe.' Her eyes flicked over my nakedness and she held out the Story Robe. 'Here, put this on.'
Gratefully, I slid my arms into the wide sleeves. I brushed my hand over the plaques pushed into the breast-band — they were still secure — then tied the inner binding. The robe was loose but at least it covered me. I glanced across at Ido. He was slowly pulling himself up into a sitting position. The old Ido would never have sat still for a beating. How long would this change last? I did not trust it.
Ryko limped up to us. 'I have one of your swords. The other is over there,' he said, indicating a nearby crate. He leaned a hand on the wall and sucked in air through clenched teeth. Was he going to make it to the river?
'You go first,' I said to Lady Dela. 'Help Ryko through.'
I expected a protest from the islander, but he just nodded. As Lady Dela eased her way into the hole, I ran across to the crate and picked up my sword. The familiar jolt of rage added its own strength to the glorious renewal in my body. I returned to the grate just as Ryko awkwardly crawled through the small opening. For a moment, I saw Lady Dela's strained face as she steered him down the first of the steps, then I stepped a foot into the opening and pulled the grate up towards the wall. It was not worth wasting the time to fit it back in place. I dropped it.
'I am sorry' Ido said across the few lengths between us. 'It is not enough, but I am sorry'
He was watching me out of one eye, the Other already swollen shut, and his breathing was ragged - every inhalation edged with pain.
. I drew the Story Robe tighter across my body. 'I know you are.' I had felt it in the meld of Hua.
'My ambitions have made us the last two Dragoneyes. Sethon won't rest until he has our power harnessed to his war machine.' The harsh arrogance in his face had been stripped away.
'There's Dillon too,' I said stubbornly.
He pressed the palm of his hand against his mouth, wiping away blood. 'We both know I have ruined him.' I le shook his head, the movement making him wince. 'Sethon knows about the String of Pearls. He knows about the black folio. Do you have it? Did you take both folios?'
I shook my head, thinking of Dillon wrenching the black folio from my arm. But I was not going to share that with Ido.
Shouts of command beyond the alley made me withdraw into the hole. I turned on the small top step and looked out. Ido had lunged for the sword abandoned by Ryko. He dragged the hilt onto his lap, the effort making him pant.
He looked across at me with some of his old authority 'Find the black folio. It has ways to bind dragon power and force its use. Make sure Sethon never gets it or we will be his slaves.'
It did not make sense. 'How could Sethon bind us?' I demanded. 'He is not a Dragoneye.'
'No, but he is royal. He has the dragon blood. Anyone with the blood can bind us with the power of the black folio.'
'I thought the dragon blood was a story'
Ido lifted his shoulder in a tiny shrug. 'I thought you were a story' He raised the sword hilt, the blade point barely lifting from the ground. 'Go, I'll keep them away from the grate as long as I can.'
'You can hardly hold the sword.'
'You forced this new generosity on me, so don't waste it,' he said harshly 'Get out of here.'
He was right. I should go — let him make his grand gesture of atonement — and get myself and my friends to safety. I owed him nothing. But even as I backed further into the hole, something stopped me from taking the first step of my escape. I could not leave him to face Sethon. My power had ripped his strength away; I had made him vulnerable. I doubted he even had enough stamina left to connect with his dragon.
I leaned out of the hole again.
'You could come with us.'
Even as I said the words I knew they were a mistake. I did not want him near me; I could already feel the slow building rage that was forcing its way through the soft reach of compassion. A sharp, deadly female rage that was not forgiving or pitying or merciful.
He angled his battered face to see me more clearly. 'No.' He gave a lopsided smile that made him look younger. 'I think my chances of survival are better with Sethon than with your islander friend.'
I did not smile back; the image of Sethon aiming his sword at the infant Prince, Lady Jila's anguished screams and the child's sudden silence were too huge in my mind. The High Lord was not only ruthless, he was vicious.
'Sethon will know you killed all the other Dragoneyes by now,' I said. 'He'll make you pay for your treachery'
Ido's smile tightened into a thin line. 'I know. But he has to take me first.'
Could he hold off Sethon? Perhaps — he did have an Ascendant dragon. Still, a Dragoneye had to be conscious to use his magic, and Ido was barely strong enough to stand.
'He won't kill me,' he added. 'Not until he has you.'
We both heard the jangle of armour and weaponry.
'Go,'he said. 'Or else he will have both of us.'
I ducked back into the grate hole and fell for the second step with my foot.
'Find the black folio,' he called, 'Before Sethon does.'
I scrabbled down the sleep staircase, Kinra's sword clinking as I found handholds in the darkness, The black folio was with Dillon. Or it had been a lew hours ago.
Keeping my eyes on the faint glow emanating from the passageway, I brushed my palm along the wall and followed it around the two corners. The lamplit corridor stretched before me in all its blue and gold grandeur. Up ahead, Lady Dela was struggling to keep Ryko upright. I ran along the soft carpet, the sound of my new, even footfalls swinging both of them around into tense readiness. Lady Dela stepped in front of Ryko, Kinra's sword raised.
'It's you,' she said, her shoulders slumping. She lowered the blade. br />
'Ido is holding them off,' I said. 'He won't last long. Come on.'
Ryko gave me a hard look. 'When did he become our ally?'
I bent under his arm and pulled it around my shoulder. 'I would not call him an ally' I said.
I did not know what to call him.
Although I took some of Ryko's weight and carried both swords, our progress was heartstoppingly slow. The three of us lurched along the soft walkway, our heavy breathing obscuring any possible sound from behind. I constantly looked back, expecting to see Sethon's men pounding towards us, but there was no one. Ido was keeping his word.
Finally, we reached the entrance that Ryko and I had used, the glow of the wall lamps abruptly ending. I peered beyond the soft light of the last lamp into the darkness beyond.
'River,' Ryko said, feebly gesturing further along the corridor. 'Waiting for us.'
Lady Dela leaned against the bright tiled wall, the vivid colours accentuating her pallor. 'Will they still be there?'
Ryko cast a scornful look. 'Tozay will wait.
Tozay is waiting for us?' I asked, the name prompting an image of a broad, tanned face and the sea smell of a long-lost home. 'Do you mean Master Tozay?'
'He is our leader,' Ryko said as I took the lamp from its niche.
I grabbed Lady Dela's good hand and pulled her up, then urged Kyko onwards.
'But I have met Master Tozay' I said. 'Before the ceremony' I eyed Ryko. 'That wasn't a chance meeting, was it?'
Through his pained exhaustion, Ryko smiled. 'Tozay made it his business to meet every candidate,' he said. 'You were all potential allies for the Resistance.'
Had Ryko told his leader the truth about me? It probably made no difference: there was no one else. I was their only hope. So much had happened since Master Tozay and I had bowed side by side as Lady Jila passed by in her litter. Now the poor lady was dead, her baby slaughtered, and her other son, the Pearl Emperor, fleeing for his life. Or was he dead too?
Silently, I sent a prayer of hope to the gods. Please, keep him safe.
We laboured onwards, the weak lamplight only ever showing the next few steps along the corridor. The rich blue pathway seemed endless. Ryko's shallow inhalations were breaking wetly in his chest, and Lady Dela's hand rested heavily on my other shoulder. Even my renewed energy was beginning to flag. Then, the carpet suddenly ended. I held up the lamp, the sight of the rough stone floor and the curve of a corner bringing a spin of giddy relief.