Dragon's Blood (The Dragon's Gift Trilogy #2)

He half-wondered if maybe he would feel a gentle gust of wind, a stirring in the air, maybe a whispered word. But there was no sign that the dragon god had heard him at all. The minutes passed in utter silence, the only sound in the cave that of his breathing and the movements of the critters who dwelled there.

“This is ridiculous,” he finally said, when his knees started to ache in earnest. As he pushed himself to his feet, the air around him grew hazy. He gripped the wall, feeling woozy…

I must admit, I had thought you would hold out longer than this, a deep voice echoed in his head. His vision blurred, and then everything around him changed. He was at the top of a mountain, his knees buried in several inches of snow, and he was so high up that there was only fog, the clouds obscuring the world below. And above, hanging in the sky, was a giant golden dragon with eyes of pure flame.

“By the gods,” Lucyan croaked, his mouth dry. The dragon was at least a hundred feet tall, twice the size of his father, with a wingspan that seemed to stretch endlessly. Warmth radiated from the enormous beast, melting the snow around him into puddles and turning the frozen ground to mud.

Did you think I was not real? The dragon cocked his giant head. There was no censure in his booming voice, only curiosity. That I would not come?

“I…there was a moment…” Lucyan trailed off, not wanting to offend the god. Really, what was there to say? “Thank you for answering my prayers, Your Eminence,” he said, bowing his head.

The god snorted, emitting a stream of fire from his nostrils that scorched the air. I cannot remember the last time anyone called me Your Eminence, he said. I quite like the sound of it.

Lucyan’s lips twitched. “When was the last time you were called upon?”

Three centuries ago, by your great-grandfather, Barimius. He wished to know my opinion on what to get his wife for their twentieth anniversary.

“You can’t be serious.” Lucyan gaped up at the dragon, certain that the god was pulling his leg. Had his ancestors really dared to bother the dragon god for something so trivial?

The dragon god laughed. No, I am not, he admitted. Your grandfather and father have come to see me since then, though sporadically, and the last visit was some thirty years ago. But the conversation I had with Barimius was the last one I truly enjoyed. Once, I had a much closer relationship with my descendants than I do now.

The dragon god’s voice carried genuine sadness, and pity stirred in Lucyan’s heart. “What did my father ask you the last time you spoke to him?” Had madness started to take root in him already?

The dragon god was silent for a long moment. He came to beg me for a cure to the curse, he finally said. One of his daughters was in tears—she had fallen in love with a male and wanted to marry him, but she could not due to her inability to bear children.

Lucyan went still, remembering Tariana’s story. She hadn’t seemed very distraught when she’d told them about Ryolas’s offer of marriage being shot down in flames, but if it had really been so many decades ago, she would have buried those feelings deep. Could his father have come here seeking answers on his eldest daughter’s behalf?

Unfortunately, I was unable to give your father the answer he sought, as the time was not right. But it would seem that your Dragon’s Gift has found what he could not. The dragon god smiled, baring rows of sharp teeth that sparkled like diamonds.

Lucyan’s heart leapt. “So, you really did intend for all three of us to wed Dareena, then?” That the dragon god had given him a real answer was more than he could have hoped for.

Yes, and don’t let that imposter fool you into thinking otherwise, the dragon god said. It is a good thing you came to me right away—if one of you dies before Dareena gives birth to her child, you will ruin all chances of lifting Shalia’s Curse.

Lucyan felt as if someone had yanked the rug out from beneath him. “Dareena…what? Are you saying she’s pregnant already?”

Indeed. She is a few weeks along. Alistair has already informed her.

The heavy weight that had been sitting on Lucyan’s shoulders dissipated, and he wanted to dance. “A child!” he cried, his heart filling with elation. “Do you know which of us is the father?”

Does it matter? the dragon god asked. All three of you will care for that babe as though he were your own. I brought the four of you together because this situation is far too complicated for a single ruler to handle. Working together, you may just have a chance.

A son. Lucyan stared up at the god, stunned. They were to have a son, on the very first try. It was unheard of. “I…thank you,” he said fervently, bowing his head again. He had never felt so humbled in his life, but as he knelt before the dragon god, gratitude overcame him.

“You said the oracle was an imposter?” Lucyan asked, his brain finally catching up. “Has he always been one?”

No, the dragon god growled. His real name is Mathias Black, and he is a warlock. You should kill him sooner rather than later, as he murdered the real oracle some six years ago and took his face and name for himself. He has been subtly manipulating the population, turning the masses against us, as part of a larger plan to take over both Dragonfell and Elvenhame.

“I knew it,” Lucyan spat. “The warlocks killed my mother, didn’t they?”

Yes, the dragon god confirmed. They are the true enemy, though after all that has transpired between Elvenhame and Dragonfell, the elves are not your friends either. Dareena and Alistair are not safe at Castle Whitestone—you must get them back before it is too late.

“We’ll need to recover the treasure first,” Lucyan said, his mind racing. “The ransom—”

Never mind the ransom, the dragon god said. Arolas is a petty bastard—he has not said as much to his father, but he would sooner see the dragon line end than accept any sum, no matter how high. If you play your cards right, you can get them back without paying, but much depends upon the elves. They must do something treacherous or dishonorable so that their goddess will be forced to concede a boon.

“And how am I supposed to make that happen?” Lucyan demanded. “I cannot very well manipulate the elves into doing such a thing from all the way over here.”

All in good time, the dragon god said, sounding amused. He waved a hand, and the world turned hazy again. Lucyan tried to speak, but his mouth felt as if it had been stuffed with cotton. The world turned black around him as he sank to the ground, and the last thing he heard was the dragon god’s chuckle before he lost consciousness.





14





By the time Alistair and Dareena were escorted back to their rooms, his sickly pallor had returned, and he was beginning to sweat with fever again. A healer was sent to look at him, but once determining that it was dragon sickness resulting from the spell, she merely gave him a potion to cool his temperature, then left him to suffer.