Black Dragon of Amber Book Two: The Road to Amber

  “How? How will he raise a creature that hasn’t been seen alive for twenty thousand years?” He demanded and the Princess shrugged.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Do you love him?” Corwin demanded.

  “I do. Though I have only seen him three times as a human. He was our mule for a time as I was a young boy. Many people have died helping him, my Lord. Many more will yet die if he does not succeed.”

  “First he has to live,” Corwin stated flatly and returned to his grandson’s bedside. Roelle and the doctor were washing Raven, a small towel laid discreetly across his privates and towels under him to catch the rivulets of soapy water laced with Sani-scrub used as a pre-surgical scrub and disinfectant. Flauvel had already placed the x-ray plates under his back and arm having Marcus use magic to activate them. He’d hung them in the window so that light from the sun illuminated the black plates.

  “Shoulder’s fractured, collarbone’s displaced and both bones broken in his left arm,” he told Corwin. “Marcus used a spell to wire the bones together but I still need to cast his arm. Here.” He gave Corwin the scrub and instructed him to wash his hands, paying particular attention to the nails and finger wells. “I need your help to realign the bones and assist me in treating the chest wound for debris and stitching.” Corwin swallowed, looked white and then relieved when Annaliese offered to help. For the next hour, there were only murmured conversations between the doctor and the aide as they worked on the boy.

  Once finished, Dr. Flauvel removed his gloves, checked Raven’s vitals and seemed relieved. The Prince had a cast from his elbow to mid-palm and another padded shell that cradled his shoulder locking his arm into his chest. He slept peacefully, his breathing slow and even, the leather thong pulled snugly on his throat so that the stones were hidden beneath the hair on his neck. Flauvel went to cut it off and Lyndseye stopped him.

  “No,” she said sharply. “He must wear the Star Stone until he unleashes the Horde.”

  “What horde?”

  “The Dragon Horde,” she returned. The doctor pulled the cord around and all that glimmered on it was the simple gold ring that had been Mallei’s. Lyndseye went nuts, searching with careful hands under Raven’s neck and on the bed striving to find the stone. She had them on their hands and knees searching through the thick pile of the room’s carpeting, retracing their steps and even tore apart the bedding of the mule cart to no avail. The Star Stone was nowhere to be found.

  The soft rose curtains on the window blew in a gentle breeze and fluttered the silk bed skirts. Flauvel pulled the sheets up and covered Raven to his chin. “So young to have seen such hardship,” he murmured. They watched over him, jumping every time he moved or sighed yet he did not wake or acknowledge anyone.

  Messengers hurried past the bedroom doors going to and from the War Room but it wasn’t until the king returned that they heard any news. He stood just inside the double brass hammered doors and knocked. “How is he?” He asked quietly, entering the room. He was dressed in clean jeans and a pale green Oxford with a blade in a scabbard at his side.

  Corwin led him up to the bed and he studied the people sprawled on chaise lounges and armchairs. He tugged on the bed pull and when the quiet maid servant entered, gave her orders. “Jenny, can you see to everyone’s comfort? Rooms, baths and meals? Clothing?”

  “Yes, sire,” the woman agreed and gently woke the ladies first. There was a bit of an argument over whether the two young women would leave Raven but between Annaliese and Jenny, they convinced both that Raven would be fine and they would feel much better cleaned and rested.

  In the men’s case, Doctor Flauvel ordered both of them out for at least an hour so they could bathe, sleep and come back when they all smelled better. Grumbling, all of them departed except for Murphy whose presence loomed in the room like a statue of Michelangelo.

  “You don’t need to eat, shower or rest, Murphy?” Flauvel asked and the gargoyle shook his head.

  “Neither food nor rest although I have rested many times for centuries,” he answered.

  “Where did you come from?” Flauvel asked curious.

  “I came from Ireland in the centuries when the Druids ruled and built stone henges long before men worshipped the stars.”

  The doctor adjusted the nasal prongs in Raven’s nostrils and peeled back the lid on his good eye. What he saw pleased him. “He’s dreaming.”

  “This is good?”

  “Yes. It means his mind is still functioning on a subconscious level. His temperature is still very high, 104.7°. I’d like to see it come way down.” He pulled the covers down and stared at the mottled purplish and green flesh where he’d been kicked and stomped on. Boot prints could clearly be seen on his ribs, thighs and stomach. “Hmmm, it looks like this leg was broken several times. Hand me that x-ray plate.”

  Murphy pushed over the unused film and Flauvel slid it under the boy’s right leg. He uttered the spell that activated it, slid it out and studied the exposure. “See this? Two fractures–one of the femur and the other in the tibia. Fractured clean in two, that leg is still healing.”

  “Has he been…sexually attacked, Doctor Flauvel?” Murphy questioned and his voice was almost trembling.

  “I haven’t checked him for that, Murphy,” he said soberly. “But I haven’t seen any blood in his stool, either. Once he’s stable, we can transport him to a hospital and I can do a complete workup, blood, urine, etc. on him.”

  “I’m not sure if he can leave this Shadow,” the gargoyle hesitated. “From what I can glean from the history of these dragons, he may be bound here until he frees this horde.”

  “He’s not going anywhere for a while, he’s one sick boy.”

  “So strong a heart this child has and yet so tender,” Murphy spoke in a low grumble and the hand that caressed Raven’s cheek had all the delicacy of the butterfly’s wing.

  Chapter 40

  I was wandering in a blue void, a blue so bright that I could see it through my bones and flesh, even through my closed eyelids. As I tried to open my good eye, all I saw was like the after image of staring at a really bright light bulb. Stranger yet, I could see through my damaged eye---weird because the doctors had removed the whole eyeball from the socket before I had died.

  What I saw through that eye was different, it looked like those images on the Science Channel of wormholes only everything was in shades of blue; some for which there weren’t names. Thousands, millions of variations from almost purple black to nearly white and my eyes and brain could differentiate between each and every one of them.

  Things moved through this blueness, vaguely winged shapes that called to me and invited me into their dreams. They made promises that if I would help them, they would serve me and I felt an instant affinity with them. Their whimpers and pleadings made my heart ache.

  “Who are you?” I asked and my voice was like a melody that sang in this place. My words caused an instant cessation of movement so I sang to them. My words created a web of glittering lines that drifted over everything and pulsed with magic that was powerful beyond anything I had ever touched. It even affected me, bringing a calm to my mind that I had only felt when I died that final time with my family.

  “Lord?” I heard from the deepest part of the purple. “Are you our Prince come to free us from this prison?” I sang to them, a melody that formed words that eventually I could even see.

  Dragons fly with fearsome grace.

  Fly, winged beast of Ancient flame

  With grace and beauty through the skies.

  Jeweled scales that burn with fame,

  Rulers of the Heavens as your world dies,

  With tooth and claw and fired death,

  Till the hero comes and lays to rest

  Your awesome power with his blessed breath.

  Dragon Prince, my promise this;

  Commanded by Star Stone and eye

  The Dragons home where none may bide

  But Dragons and their ve
ry Pride.

  So vows the Dragon Prince and his.

  Shapes solidified and a deep bassoon voice told me his name and that he would willingly serve me if I held to my promise of a world where only dragons ruled and lived without interference from humankind.

  The blue light coalesced into a beam that entered my jeweled eye and living energy filled me until I was so overfull that it leaked from everywhere, even my fingertips. I was the Black Dragon, back in my old body and then, I was slowly awakening inside a form that felt so familiar that it was as if I was coming home.

  Slowly, I opened both eyes and other than a faint shimmery effect from my right, I could see equally as well from both. There were bodies sprawled in chairs and couches in a huge room done in soft shades of rose. The bed I was in looked like an antique straight out of an English castle–four posters, canopy and curtains. Silk sheets and satin coverlet with pale pink and peach flowers covered me. The walls were scarlet and gold paper with Fleur-de-leis and the curtains softest pink. The carpeting was a matching rose and thick. Gold, gilt and Baroque, it was a pleasant, restful room but there was modern hospital equipment around my bed.

  Even as I woke, I noticed the sudden tightening on my upper arm of a blood pressure cuff and the hardness of plaster on my shoulder, chest and arm. I felt floaty too and saw the IV drip attached to my free hand. I wore a 02 prong in my nose and felt the gentle puff of oxygen. Swallowed against the dry mouth feeling that it and heavy-duty painkillers caused. I moved gingerly and everything came awake with a fierce response from that my body that said ‘don’t move’. I inhaled and bit my lips and that was enough to cause the dark shadow in the corner to my left to move closer to my bed.

  “Raven?” Murphy asked and I burst into tears when I saw his beloved ugly face. He tried to hold me but settled instead for gripping my free hand and laying his other on my forehead. “I should kill you for this,” he said in his gravelly voice and I swore I saw tears run down his cheeks.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I babbled, my chest heaving and coughing as I tried to catch my breath. This caused the others sleeping to wake up in a rush. Doctor Flauvel and my grandfather leaned over me.

  “Welcome back, Raven,” Corwin said smiling so hard that it looked painful.

  “How do you feel?” The doc asked taking my vitals. “100.2°. Still up but better.”

  “It hurts. But all floaty, too,” I said slowly. I tried to reach my eyes but the IV pinched. “I can see out of my right eye. How?”

  “Well,” Corwin answered. “We know what happened to the Star Stone that the Princess lost.”

  “Huh?”

  “It’s in your eye socket, Raven. A very pretty blue eye but clearly composed of gemstone.”

  “It feels weird. Like it’s alive,” my voice trailed off as I felt waves of sleep drag me down. “Hamburger, Gramps? I’m hungry–.” I didn’t hear him reply.

  *****

  This time when I opened my eyes I saw women’s faces leaning over me. Green eyes and pansy purple, rosy red lips that were parted in breathless anticipation. What I said instead of hello or thanks was, “where’s my hamburger?”

  Roelle said tearfully, “so you miss a meal more than me, pipsqueak?”

  “You’re here?” My eyes searched out and found them all. Tegan, Pire, Gramps, Lyndseye, Murphy, Doctor Flauvel and a woman I vaguely remembered. Two faces I’d never seen before but could guess which one was King Luke.

  “No burgers for you yet, young man,” the doc pointed his finger in my face. “Soup and some high-protein shakes until your stomach gets used to human food.”

  “Okay,” I agreed. “Thirsty.”

  Doctor Flauvel held a crystal goblet of water to my lips with a straw colored purple and designed for a toddler. I sipped slowly and it tasted like ambrosia. “Can I sit up?”

  “You think you can? How did you get hurt and break your leg twice?”

  Many eager hands helped me sit up on the pillows where I could see all the way to my feet. “Hi, I’m Raven,” I said to the people I didn’t know.

  “Luke. Friend of your dad’s, we went to college together. I met you once,” the dark man said.

  “I sort of remember you,” I returned and looked at the one-armed man in uniform.

  “I’m General Cathorian. Your grandfather and I were looking for you. You look like him.”

  “What’s going on? Is Jasra still out there looking for me?” I asked feeling my eyelids lowering. I forced myself awake but found it hard to stop yawning. My voice slurred as I drifted off again only to jerk awake several times until the smell of food got my stomach growling. As my eyes opened and stayed that way, I saw a huge table laid out and filled with a thanksgiving feast, fancy china, crystal champagne flutes and golden wine. Some large section of time must have passed, the shadows were different and I felt as if I’d been asleep for hours. I could hardly recognize anyone, they were all dressed as if for court and as I sat up against my many pillows, and all of them raised their glasses to toast me.

  “Never mind that,” I said grumpily. “Somebody feed me.”

  Linz came over with a plate embossed in gold and piled with small pieces of rare roast beef, peas that were colored lemon and vegetables that tasted like roasted corn. Slowly and carefully, she fed me tiny bites between sips of something like fruity lemonade. Creamy thick yoghurt with passion berries for dessert. I managed a few bites of each. Mumbled that I was full and tried to grasp her arm but the IV lines got in my way. “Leos? Mallei and the others?”

  “Gone, Raven. You tried to save them. You did your best,” she soothed and smoothed my hair back. “What do you remember?”

  “Not much past the shipwreck,” I said in a low voice. “What’s Jasra doing? How much time do we have?” I looked at her, short blonde hair washed and the color of gold coins, her green eyes lined with black so that I melted into them. Dressed in a sea foam concoction of lace and silk with star stones in her ears and at her throat. She was so lovely that she made breathing difficult and left me tongue-tied.

  “Raven?” she prompted and I had to look away so I could speak.

  “God, you’re so beautiful. How did anyone take you for a boy?”

  She smiled. “A spell, of course. Masking both Tegan and myself. It even fooled Jasra.”

  “Me, too. I thought you were a ten year old kid.”

  “Jasra has invaded Tethys and Gates Cove. Once they have fallen, she’ll take their navy and head here.”

  “What are we planning to do?” I asked and wasn’t ready for the looks of disbelief on all their faces. They yelled at me, asked if I was nuts, I was wounded, couldn’t walk or fight and wasn’t even sure if I could convert back into the dragon. I certainly couldn’t fly with my shoulder and collarbone broken. I let them all sputter to a standstill and when there was quiet, said, “Who else have you got?”

  They had no answer for that. I made everyone leave the room to go to their own and with both the doc’s help and Murphy’s, managed to slide into a sitting position on the bed. I laughed as my feet dangled way off the floor.

  I was over six feet but this monster bed was so high even I couldn’t reach the carpeting. Of course, the moment I sat up, I nearly passed out but both of them were ready and held me.

  Against their wishes, I stood up and my legs barely held me. The one I’d broken twice ached. I tried to keep my face blank but Dr. Flauvel felt my pulse change and caught my escalating inhalations. Still, I ignored them and forced myself to walk four or five steps. I limped and lurched like a three wheeled grocery cart but without the groaning.

  Before I’d gone more than a few steps, Murphy picked up my protesting body and carried me back to bed. Only then did I realize I wasn’t wearing anything.

  “Holy crap,” I said. “Did everyone see me butt naked?”

  “I think the housemaid missed a peek,” Murphy said helpfully as he tucked in the covers.

  “Well, shit. Can I get a nightgown or something? And I have to
pee.” I looked around for the toilet and Doc handed me a urinal with my name on it. I figured I’d already pushed the pair further than I expected I could so I gave up and used it. One handed and smirked when Murphy had to empty it. At least I found out where the loo was. A door that fit into the wall without a seam but next to a boudoir desk.

  “Hey. Is this Jasra’s room?” I was horrified.

  “It is the Queen’s Chamber,” Flauvel shrugged. “It was the Queen’s before Jasra and will be Luke’s Queen after.”

  “Yeah, well, she’s gonna be pissed when she finds out I’m in her bed. She’s got a real nasty temper. What time is it?”

  “Three in the afternoon,” Murphy said. He had his own inner clock and was never off by more than two minutes.

  “Any chance of a meal?”

  “Breakfast or lunch?”

  “Pancakes with maple syrup,” I drooled. “Those little sausage links. Juice and tea with milk and sugar.”

  The doc jerked one of those bed pulls and a neatly dressed woman came in wearing a gray and white uniform. She seemed pleased to see me awake and told me hello.

  “Doctor, Murphy, my Lord.”

  “My name’s Raven,” I said. “I’m nobody’s lord.”

  “What can I do for you? I’m Jenny, the Palace’s Housekeeper.”

  “Please bring Raven some breakfast,” Doc asked and went on to describe what I wanted but she was nodding in agreement.

  “His Majesty likes the same thing for Sunday breakfast,” she smiled. “So the kitchen staff is familiar with it. Fifteen minutes?”

  “Great. I could eat a horse,” I said. “Hey. I think I did once.”

  “Whose?” Murphy asked.

  “I don’t really remember. I was starving. Any chance of getting something to wear?”

  She looked at Flauvel. “Bring him a soft nightgown with a large yoke. Cotton or wool if it’s thin and soft. Easy on and off so I can get to his wounds.”

  “I have the very thing, Doctor. Dr. Arianas has some gowns made up for his patients. Open in the back and tie at the neck.”

  “Johnnies,” Flauvel grinned and I groaned. It was a conspiracy to keep my ass in circulation. I pulled the covers over my head and hid until she could come back with my food.