A Destiny of Dragons (Tales From Verania #2)(106)

I turned to look up at him.

And took a step back.

For the dragon Kevin stood above me, wings spread, the tips scraping against buildings on either side. Little tendrils of smoke curled up from his nostrils, and I could feel the heat from the fires that burned inside of him. It struck me as odd that this was probably the most I’d ever seen him actually look like a dragon since the first time he’d crawled over that hill, chasing after sheep before he’d knocked me through an equipment shed and kidnapped Justin. I knew him now, knew what made him tick, knew how his mind worked, crazy though it was. Kevin wasn’t just a dragon. He was my friend.

But this wasn’t my friend. Not now. Now he was a beast, far larger than anything I’d faced in the past.

His eyes were glowing like starlight. They’d never been that color before. They’d never glowed before. That probably wasn’t a very good sign.

“Kevin?” Gary asked, sounding unsure. “Are you okay?”

“He has awoken,” Kevin said, eyes flashing like a storm in summer. He never looked away from me. I could see his tail twitching dangerously behind him. “My brother. Deep in the earth. He wakes. I can feel him. In my head. In my blood. It vibrates. Sam of Wilds, he is calling for me. He is calling for you. He’s—oh gods. I can feel the—”

“Look!” someone in the crowd shouted, and whatever it was caused the others to mutter quietly in their native tongue, words dropping like music notes, spoken almost in veneration, like they were praying.

“Holy shit,” Gary said.

I didn’t take my eyes off Kevin. “What is it?”

“David’s Dragon,” Ryan said, sounding awed. “It’s so bright.”

I took a chance.

I looked away from the dragon toward the heavens.

A chill ran down my spine.

For it seemed all the other stars in the sky had faded into almost nothing, consumed by the light of David’s Dragon. The constellation was so vivid, so real, that it knocked the breath from my chest. I’d never seen it like that before.

“The star dragon!” Vadoma crowed. “The gods have shown you how it shines.”

“Well fuck me silly,” Gary said. “This is some mystic hoodoo shit. I don’t deal in mystic hoodoo shit. I am a godsdamned unicorn. I am glitter and sunshine and motherfucking good feelings. Those stars better stay in the sky or I’m gonna get my rainbow on all up in this bitch.”

“Motherfucking rainbows,” Tiggy echoed.

I tore my gaze away from the stars and looked back toward Kevin. I didn’t flinch when Ryan found my hand, squeezing my fingers tightly.

“The desert dragon,” I said slowly, unsure of who I was talking to. I hoped Kevin was still in there somewhere, but I couldn’t be sure. Because the color of his eyes matched David’s Dragon above. I didn’t know if I was speaking to my friend or a god.

“He of the fire,” the dragon said. “Buried in the sand. He has felt your presence here, Sam of Wilds. His soul is bound to yours as one of the five. But he will fight it until he deems you worthy.”

You are not ready, a memory whispered in my mind.

“Am I worthy?” I asked. “Or will this all be for nothing?”

The dragon’s eyes narrowed. “That is not for me to decide. I have seen all possible paths, Sam of Wilds. I know of all possible endings for you. I do not choose sides.”

That made me angry. “So you’re nothing but a messenger. Fat lot of good that does me.”

The people of Mashallaha moaned around us.

“Um, Sam?” Gary hissed. “Let’s not try and piss off the really large dragon who seems to be possessed by a constellation. If you don’t mind.”

“The stars do not pass judgment, little one,” the dragon said as it took a rumbling step forward. He lowered his head until his face was only a few feet from my own. I felt his breath blowing against me, furnace hot and moist. “They stand and observe.”

“So you’ll watch and do nothing. The gods will watch and do nothing. What if the darkness comes? What if we’re consumed by it?”

“Then you weren’t meant to live at all,” the dragon said as if it were that simple.

“He spoke to me.”

The dragon said nothing.

“Did you know that? You must have. If you can see all paths. All possible outcomes. Myrin.”

“Myrin,” the dragon said. “The man in shadows.”

“Him,” I agreed. “He told me that you’ve shown him the same. That anything we’ve seen, he’s seen as well.”

“It’s the light,” he said. “And the dark. Two sides. Opposites. The balance must be maintained.”

“But he can’t get to the dragons,” I said. “Can he?”

And the star dragon hesitated. Then sighed. “Well shit,” he muttered, his voice suddenly less ominous. He still sounded like Kevin, but just off enough for me to know that it wasn’t our dragon. “You weren’t supposed to figure that out yet.”

I blinked at him. “What.”

“I think you’re being scolded by some stars that have possessed my ex-husband,” Gary whispered.

“That’s… not a sentence I ever expected to hear you say.”