Onyx Dreams Ch. 27

The slender feminine voice was swift in its reply. ~Ah, daughter. finally we have him in our grasp. Bring him to the elder village. We will trap him there...it will be his final resting place.~

~~As you will so shall it be. He has killed a rogue dragon rider who was captured during the battle. The others were impressed with his actions and are becoming more and more willing to follow him and less inclined to return to the old ways. I must go now. He is hounding me. I think he questions my resemblance to Kennice, a fact for which he dreams up punishments to inflict on me.~~

~~He is a cold one my daughter. Be cautious young one, he is far more dangerous than he appears, to have wrought such destruction in such a short volume of time resembles a creature I thought banished centuries ago...~~

A shiver ran down Katherine's spine as she terminated the connection. Thoughtfully she climbed back up on Julian. ~Take us back to the sky. I have the coordinates for where we must persuade our esteemed leader to go.~

~Very well, do you think he suspects anything Katherine? I fear he may do worse if he already knows...~

His great wings beat the air as he began to rise into the skies once more, getting a good height before gliding to the location his rider provided.

In the far distance, a through Kaie's eyes, Cyrus watched...

* * *

It was the silence that roused her. For one confused moment she thought she was back home but then memories rushed in and she remembered what had transpired. With a sob she got out of the bed and looked frantically around. Her stomach was rebelling and she was about to lose the battle to keep the contents from coming back up.

As her feelings of nausea radiated out across the psychic links in the dragon realm her door slide open and a handsome looking young rider stepped in with concern on his face. Quietly he approached her, gently placing his hand upon her stomach before she could react and closing his eyes.

The room filled with a dull white light, dazzling her for a moment before fading as if it had never been there

Kennice looked at the man in surprise. "Thank you. I'm grateful for your help." The queasiness was gone and that was a blessing. "Please, I, I need to speak to Hayden."

A smile crossed his face a moment, a long scar visible from his left temple to the right side of his jaw visible. It looked fresh, like he had recently been in battle. Nodding slowly he closed eyes and quietly called his dragon, asking her to contact Hayden if the meeting was over.

Hayden was out on the sun rock, taking in the last rays of the evening sun when Gerilyn's soft female touch brushed his mind. He listened to her question and asked her to tell her rider that he would be back at the dragon home immediately. He could feel Kennice's confused emotions and decided that for the moment it was best that he give her time to fully wake up and understand what was going on.

The rider opened his eyes and looked at Kennice smiling. He motioned his hands in what looked like sign language, communicating the message he had been relayed.

"What did he say?" She stared at the rider, at first not noticing the hand signs. After a moment of waiting and hearing no words she looked down and saw him signing. She blushed, embarrassed that she hadn't caught on sooner. Smiling she signed back to him. "I'm sorry I did not see you hand talking. What was the message?"

He paused a moment then bowed politely and began to sign once more, slower this time so she could understand him easily. He paused after each sentence to make sure that she understood.

"Then you'd better lead the way to him." She walked to his side. "Is there any way I could get something to eat, please?"

He nodded once more and held his arm out for her to take, silently guiding her through the hallways towards the grand hall.

As they entered they could see that that grand hall was more than cavernous. There were massive kitchens at the far end accompanied by huge entrance doors for the dragons that ate there.

"It's so, so large. How many riders and dragons are there?" Even craning her neck to see everything was futile. There was no way to take it all in.

He motioned to indicate that there were potentially hundreds of dragons that could be held in the grand hall all at once, but normally there were around 50 to 100 dragons at a time.

She pondered this information as he led her to table that was occupied by at least ten riders. They were all males. No women were around. She made a note to herself to ask Hayden why there were no female riders or at least any that she could see.

Immediately a servant came across and began signing in quick succession to Kennice's escort, communicating the specials and drinks that they would require.

She was content to let him do the ordering. Different cultures had a variety of styles of food and one of the first lessons she had been taught was that as future high priestess she had to honor them all, even if she didn't personally see any relevance in them.

In a few minutes a variety of dishes were brought across, the word strange would be a grave understatement of the way they looked. Some looked like they had mold growing on them, others looked questionable as to their source.

Taking a fortifying breath she began to eat. The mold-like dish was surprisingly good. It tasted like a vegetable stew her mother cooked on cold wintry days. A small pain blossomed in her heart at the thought of her parents' death at Cyrus's hands. How could he be so cruel? True, life had not been easy for any of them but did that justify such hatred? She could not fathom it. Nor could she understand why he would turn on her. If nothing else she thought they were friends. His betrayal hurt and dwelling on it only made her throat constrict and her heart to race.

Her escort looked at her for a moment, his eyes seeming to gleam in the dim light of the grand hall. His gaze was inescapable. Around her, the world began to shimmer and change, darkening further, a heavy weight settling on her shoulders. She gasped, closing her eyes against the onslaught of dizziness.

* * * Abruptly it was gone and she dared to look. The glance turned into a confused stare. She recognized this place. It was an area known only to the druidic council. She should not be here yet. She was not fully inducted and this was sacred ground.

The place was different, looking more sinister than it should. The shadows on the walls seemed to dance, shifting and writhing as if they were alive and watching her. From the darkness stepped a figure cloaked in shadow. When the hood fell back it revealed an older, graying and a little wrinkled Cyrus, his expression dark and menacing. His jet-black armor glinted in the dim light, highlighting his form.

"No, this cannot be! What has happened to you? Oh my love!" Her heart ached. Even though he had betrayed her, she still loved him. Her gaze was on his face as she tried to figure out what to do, what else to say to call him back from the darkness.

His voice sounded out in the dim light, echoing around the room as torches ignited, illuminating the inscriptions on the wall. they were incredibly damaged some marks evident of a recent battle. In the light his armor was stained with blood and he had injuries. "So it has come to this my son. the final battle to settle everything between us. Are you prepared to pay the price for your actions against the one true OverLord of this realm?"

"I will not pay any price. Please, father, let your hatred go!"

"There is nothing to let go my son, you have defied me for the last time. It ends now."

The air hummed with the deep drown of his now legendary bass blade, the one weapon not based of magic that could harm a dragon. "Prepare yourself, I will show you no quarter this night."

"Trey, don't fight father. You must think of mother!"

"I can't. He must be stopped!" He held out his hand and a glowing sword of light appeared. "Die!" He charged his father heedless of his sister's pleas.

Kennice let out a wail and reached for him but then her world went dark.

* * *

A soft shaking hand roused her from the darkness that had encompassed her mind, the face of her escort filling her vision, displaying concern for her condition.

"what, what happened?"

Slowly, with careful precision, he signed out a sentence, informing her that she had fainted a few moments ago and that perhaps the food did not agree with her.

"I think you're right. I, I should go lay down."

~My rider, are you all right?~ Hayden's voice slid into her mind and immediately she felt safe, protected.

~I'm not sure. I don't think the food agreed with me.~

~I'll have your escort bring you to me. I will ease your pain.~

Kennice looked at the deaf man and with his aid came to her feet. Quietly she followed him out of the dining hall, her thoughts on the horrible things she had seen.