Chapter 26
Sana slipped from Rhyel's back the moment the sky lit up in a fiery streak of lightning over the beyond.
Panic seized his heart as her lifeless body plummeted to the ground.
A thunderous roar erupted from his chest as his dragon came to life within him, surging forward and taking control of his consciousness.
Black wings fanned out from his back as he dove from the sky while black horns curled out of his forehead, his hands formed into her sharp claws while a black spiked tail unfurled from his backside.
Kal's half transformation was enough to catch Sana before she crashed into the icy river below. Cradling her chilled and shivering form against him he sped through the sky to the castle.
What's happening? What's wrong with her? Why have you taken control!
Rhyel paced inside his mind, trying to regain control of his body.
Our phoenix is being attacked by wraiths and you are not ready to handle this.
As if to punctuate Kal's retort, cackling screams erupted from beyond the wall while the castle came to life with Zena and Oziel shouting commands to the warriors shifting and taking up arms below them.
Sana squirmed and cried out in his arms as another streak of red lighting lit up the sky.
Her eyes flew open, pained and unfocused as she dug her nails into Kal's skin while she choked in gasps of the cool night air.
"Just breathe," Kal murmured against her head, holding her close as he flew around the castle to her room. "They will come again, but you're safe for now."
"What do you—" her words choked on her lips as a scream tore from her and her body tensed, seizing in pain.
"You're going to be okay," Kal whispered as he cradled her head against his bare chest. Hoping his warmth would stave off the shadows and the wraiths he knew were waiting for her in that darkened abyss in her mind.
"I promise I'll protect you," he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead as he wrapped his thick black wings around her, landing on the balcony outside of her room. "You won't be alone."
"K-Kal," she whispered as her eyes rolled to the back of her head and her body slumped in his arms.
Oh no. No, no, no!
Sune's panicked voice called out as he materialized around Kal.
This wasn't supposed to happen to my little flame.
Sune fluttered worriedly around him.
Dragon, are you certain you know what you're doing? Can you even sustain your appearance like this?
"My name is Kal and my brother and I are fine," he said, kicking open the balcony doors, startling Eula and Kezi tidying Sana's room. "I know what I'm doing. My soul is just as ancient as yours."
Yes, but you've only just reawakened! The wraiths will tear her mind apart unless you keep her grounded on this plane.
Sune fluttered wildly around him.
You need to leave this to me. You're not ready to handle this in your state. You'll be better served fighting with the warriors securing the breach in the wall.
"I'm not leaving her." Kal snarled, baring his fangs at the insolent moth, doubting his strength.
"If you knew anything about the blood she carries," he said, looking down at the dark circles staining the skin beneath Sana's eyes and the sweat beading across her clammy forehead.
"You'd know only the might of a dragon can sustain her in this state. "
Kal waved a glowing hand over Sana as a loose white nightgown replaced her travel leathers. "If you desire to be useful, moth," he said, glaring into Sune's opaque eyes. "Then weave protection over the room."
Sune fluttered back from his face, gave him a small nod and flew away to the windows with his wings igniting in a golden red hue as he lined the window panes with a tightly knit five layer weave of protection.
Kal turned his gaze on the wide-eyed maids, who quickly bowed. "Wh-what would you like us to do, my Lord?"
"Draw a bath with lavender and witch hazel," he said, climbing into the bed, keeping Sana cradled in his arms. "And fill the fireplace with sage," he said, pinning them with a deadly glare. "Do not let it burn out."
"Yes, my Lord," they said as Eula ran into the bathroom while Kezi scurried across the room to get to work on the fire.
Sana cried out as a streak of lightning lit up the night sky in a hazy red hue. The dragon's breath on her chest pulsed as she dug her nails into his skin, drawing blood as she clung to him.
"Help...me," she whispered before she fell limp in his arms again.
This is our fault.
I was careless with her.
I shouldn't have taken her to the cliffs.
It was too close to the wall.
The wraiths will kill her like our mother.
I shouldn't have kept her out so late.
Or flown so far.
We did this.
Rhys and Rhyel's dejected whispers of guilt, that Kal had been trying to hold back, flooded his mind with their painful woes.
Brothers, pull yourselves together.
Kal growled.
None of this is your fault. Sana will not die like our mother.
He seethed, cocooning his big black wings around Sana to warm her frigid body.
She needs us right now, but we can't protect her if you don't let go of your guilt and allow me the headroom to reach her.
Cradling Sana's head against his chest, Kal closed his eyes as he pressed his forehead against hers.
We can shield her pain, but you have to trust me. Can you do that?
Use us as you need, brother.
The feel of a wolf's paw and a hand rested on Kal's shoulder as a wealth of warm tingling energy spread through his veins.
And bring her back to me.
Rhyel's whispered plea echoed in his mind as he fell into a well of darkness and despair. A snarl curled over his lips at the malevolence that hung in the air of the netherworld.
Without the gift of sight, this plain was like an endless maze, shifting and twisting until the living found death within the shadows.
But he didn't need sight to find Sana.
Raising his snout as he hovered over the murky terrain, he sniffed the pungent air, smelling for the ambrosial scent of her phoenix blood.
A powerful gust of air punched him in the gut, forcing him into the ground, knocking the wind from his lungs.
Wraiths cackled and swarmed around him as decrepit hands slithered up from beneath him, wrapping their icy fingers around his limbs, chaining him to the ground.
"She is ours, dragon." A wraith hissed, swiping its fingernails across his chest, leaving black burns across his golden scales.
"Listen to her suffer." The wraith cackled as Sana's screams of pain and utter fear echoed from every direction across the shadowed lands.
Get up.
Rhys growled as Kal struggled against the vice-like grip of the hands holding him down.
"She will grow tired of running."
Sana's screams grew louder and desperate as the wraiths' fiery eyes blazed in anticipation.
"She will burn."
You will not let her burn.
Rhyel seethed.
"You don't have the power to protect her." The wraith hovering over him curled its mouth into a sinister grin.
Kal howled in agony as it shoved its hand into his chest, wrapping its fingers around his heart. "And you never will."
Choking and struggling against the pain of the wraith tugging and pulling at his heart, fear spread through Kal's veins and doubt clouded his senses.
Maybe he wasn't ready to protect her. It had been so long since he was the guardian of a phoenix like Sana and the first chance he had to prove himself; he failed.
Brothers, I...I'm—
"KAL!"
The deafening cry of Sana calling out for him pierced through his dour thoughts and her voice surged through him like a bolt of rejuvenating light.
She needed him.
Fire bubbled in up in Kal's mouth and he let out a deafening roar, spewing his fire over the wraiths as he ripped his claws through the decaying flesh of the hands wrapped around him.
He leapt into the air, spreading his wings as he tore through the remnants of the wraiths in his path. He followed the scent of Sana, permeating the murky air and filling his soul with the need to find her.
He battled through a forest of the undead twisted into gnarly trees as he burned and shredded the wraiths that dared to stop him from reaching her again.
Kal snarled as he ripped through another wraith and his heart dropped to the pit of his stomach at Sana crawling away from a circle of wraiths slowly trapping her against a jagged cliff edge.
She choked, throwing a rock at the wispy beings while blood pooled out of her mouth and stained her ripped clothes.
The wraiths hissed, raising their cloaked hands. The air grew cold and heavy as red globes of light pulsed in their pale, bony palms.
"You must burn."
Kal's heart was beating in panic as a wave of unfiltered power surged through him, straining against his muscles. He roared, spewing fire against the blackened sky as pools of golden light bled through the melting sky.
The wraiths screeched in agony as the light burned them, crumbling their forms into ash. Kal dove through the shattering pieces of sky, reaching out and scooping Sana up from the ground into the safety of his arms.
"Y-you heard me," Sana whispered, burying her face in his neck as she clung to him. "D-don't leave m-me."
"I never will," he said, holding her tight as he flew up to the beckoning light above them. "I'll keep you safe."
He burst through the warm welcoming light and gasped, jerking awake as a dizzying rush of blood surged through his veins.
My Lord are you alright? What happened? Did you reach her?
Sune's murmured voice buzzed around him as he gazed at the three golden dragon scales affixed to Sana's forehead, pulsing in sync with the necklace resting against her neck.
He brushed his hand over her cheek, wiping away the stray tears that rolled down her face and he sighed in relief that her wounds hadn't followed her to the living.
"I have her. The wraiths can't pull her back to the netherworld," he said, pressing a kiss against her forehead before lowering his wings around her. "She's guarded in the dream you gifted her."
You did well.
Sune fluttered to Sana's head and pressed his feet over the scales on her forehead.
I hoped she'd never have to use that dream in this way.
Kal glared at Sune as a wave of anger licked over his skin.
"You have some explaining to do," he seethed, slipping out of the bed as he carried Sana into the bathroom. "Eula, you and Kezi may leave."
"Yes, my Lord," she said, lowering her glowing hands from the simmering bath water as she bowed to him. "For-forgive me for asking, but will Lady Sana be alright?"
Kal's hardened gaze softened at the worried look in Eula's eyes. "Yes. I promise she'll be fine. I'm sorry if this has frightened you, but you and Kezi must speak of what you saw to no one. Do you understand?"
"Yes, my Lord. I understand." She bowed again as tears pooled in her eyes. "Thank you for caring for her. She... she means so much to us."
"I know, and I always will."
Eula nodded, wiping her tears as she left the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
Are you certain they won't speak of this?
"They won't say anything. They wouldn't dare," Kal said, stepping into the tub and slowly easing into the water as he nestled Sana against his chest, keeping her head above the water. "Now tell me why you kept the truth of her bloodline from me."
Sune fluttered to the lip of the tub and walked along it as if he were deep in thought.
I wasn't certain of it and I gave her that dream so she could get closer to you. I didn't know she was an Erius.
"She's the first one my soul has seen in a very long time," he murmured, brushing her wet curls from her cheek and frowned. "How did her mother survive so long without a dragon by her side?"
I don't know, but it's rare for an Erius not to come into her powers. I've never known one to be a carrier like Sana.
"Could be her mixed blood," Kal said as the warm healing waters seeped into his muscles, making his eyes droop in exhaustion. "The Lightbourne lineage could have stunted it."
Maybe.
Sune murmured as he flew to his shoulder.
Rest. You've done all you can now. I'll watch over you both and wake you when Zena returns with the warriors.
"Thank you," Kal mumbled as the smoke from the burning sage around the tub swept over him, soothing and urging him to succumb to the gentle wave of sleep his body needed.
Sana's hair billowed in the wind like a flowing river of fire as she sat watching the colorful birds swoop and dive above the sun-kissed valley of lush green trees.
She looked over her shoulder and scrambled to her feet with a bright smile on her face and joy glowing in her violet eyes as if she had no memory of the harrowing attack she endured.
Just like every Erius he'd ever had the honor of protecting.
They never remembered.
"Kal!" she beamed. "I had the most wonderful day!"
"Oh, did you, now?" he said, curling his tail around her waist and pulling her close. "And what did you do that made you so happy, my Lady?"
"Lord Rhyel took me flying!" she said, throwing her arms out wide. "And it was..." she sighed, as she trailed her fingers over the scaled edge of his wings. "It was amazing."
"I bet it was," he said, nudging his snout against her cheek. "But tell me what was amazing about it?"
She smiled as she sat beside him in the curve of his tail and rested her head against him. "The freedom," she said, brushing her fingers over his scales. "The wind in my air and the smell of the sky."
"Mm," he murmured. "And what about Lord Rhyel? Was he amazing, too?"
"He...he's always amazing and kind," she said, sighing. "But he's only like that because he's pledged his loyalty to me."
"Are you sure about that?" he said, resting his head against her soft curls. "Loyalty and kindness aren't the same thing."
"What else could it be?" she said and the dejected tone in her voice stung his heart. "I'm not... I'm not someone to be desired."
"My Lady, you are someone who deserves more than just being desired," Kal said, wrapping his wings around her. "You deserve the sun, the moon and the heavens to be showered upon you by someone who loves you with every fiber of their being."
A laugh burst from Sana's lips and the melodious sound of it warmed Kal's heart. "Thank you, but you're speaking of that timeless dragon, phoenix bond again," she said, patting his tail. "And I'm sorry to tell you, my friend, but that kind of love is a myth now."
"It is not a myth." Kal huffed into her hair. "And are you saying I'm old?"
"No." Another laugh escaped her mouth as the sun in the sky grew brighter from her joy. "But you do have some antiquated beliefs."
"Yes, but they are not myths," he grumbled.
"Okay, fine," she said, rubbing his tail as if to coddle him. "They are fae tales."
Kal growled at her teasing banter before laughter rumbled through his chest. "You are brave to mock a dragon, Sana."
"But you're not just any dragon," she said, leaning against his side. "You're my friend."
"Yes, I am," he said, nuzzling his snout in her hair as her ambrosial scent washed over him. "Tell me about your flight. Where did Lord Rhyel whisk you off to?"
While Sana spoke of her day flying across the wintry lands of Darcanos, a smile tugged at the corners of Kal's jaws. She was safe. He was strong enough to reach her and his soul was still worthy of protecting the rare and powerful Erius phoenix.
He knew the dangers of her kind and what hunts them. The wraiths would be the least of her worries if the basdringas ever sensed that she exists.
A snarl curled over his lips. He will never let that happen again.
Sana's Erius blood meant he and Rhyel had to become more than brothers and truly share one mind and one soul.
There could be no dissonance between them to protect Sana.
And he wouldn't fail his phoenix this time.