“Where is the white dragon, my lord?” Gin asked. “Having heard stories about her since I was a child, I cannot pass up a chance to meet her, if such a thing is possible.” Puffs of smoke came out of Omerith’s nose in short bursts. “Apologies, my lord, it was presumptuous of me -”
“Andyth—defied Mother and tried to return to your side of the world. I have heard nothing from her since that time.”
“Omerith! I had no idea!” Before Sath could get an arm around her, Gin closed the distance between herself and the red dragon and placed a hand on his formidable leg. Magical healing and calm flowed out of her hand, and Sath could see the light they produced flowing up to his shoulder. Omerith closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, Sath could see that the fervid pain previously present within them had faded. He looked down at her and smiled. “That is why you were not comfortable keeping the orb, wasn’t it? You were tempted to use it to return your mate. Oh, you break my heart, Omerith.”
“I appreciate your kindness, Ginolwenye of the Trees. There are so few of us, the loss of any dragon is tragic. Andyth and I have been together for a long time. I was willing to do almost anything to bring her home, including unleashing the power of that orb.”
“I am thankful that you have not Omerith.” Gin held her breath as the immense creature gently wound his neck around her for a moment. Sath shifted his attention to Daelyth who was slowly moving closer to Omerith and Gin.
“Father, I should retire, I am so drained.” Omerith released Gin so quickly that she nearly fell to the floor.
“Of course, my little one.” Sath watched Daelyth’s face as her father walked over to her—was she murmuring? It was so hard to tell with dragon faces. Sath glanced at Gin, who looked around and nodded at him. She had seen the same thing.
Her eyes, Sath, they were silver for a moment. If I didn’t know better, I would think—but they changed back.
Sath waved at Omerith, but nothing could take the red dragon’s eyes off his daughter. “Perhaps we will wait and leave tomorrow when you are not so busy with your daughter’s return.” Omerith nodded, not looking back. Sath held a hand out to Gin and pulled her through the doors before picking up speed.
“Sath, we are not really leaving, are we?”
“Of course not.”
“Does this have to do with what you saw when you were in the bond? How did you do that, anyway? I mean, you are progressing well with what I’ve taught you, but -”
“I’m not even sure, Gin.” Sath rubbed a hand over the top of his head as Gin opened the door to the room where they were staying. “I was trying to find the golden dragon in the bond. I did what you taught me, blank wall, nothingness, and then I said the name of the person I wanted to find.” She nodded at him.
“Who did you find?”
“Well, I found Omerith, but he was asleep, so I tried to find the Mother Dragon -”
“What?”
“Yeah, I don’t know how, but I contacted her.” Gin stared at him, slack-jawed. “She was as surprised as I was, and I severed that connection as quickly as I started it. So after that, that was when things went a little sideways.”
“You tried to connect with the Ikedrian?”
“Um, no. Now, Gin, please don’t be angry, but I wanted to see if I could -”
“YOU TRIED TO CONTACT BEN, ON PURPOSE?”
“Taeben, Gin, please.” She took a deep breath and fisted her hands at her sides as she nodded. “And yes, I did. I thought I could figure him out. You saw the whole thing, apparently, so stop taking this out on me.”
“I’m sorry. I did see what happened, and I saw that the first contact you made was with the apprentice, Elspethe. Did I ever tell you that I saw Maelfie in Cursik’s memories once? That Elspethe—she is Maelfie’s identical twin. I would know her anywhere.”
“But I saw him come through that mirror, Gin. He took over every part of her—and he saw me watching him. I have no idea how.”
“That’s when she collapsed in your vision?” Sath nodded, worry creasing his furry face. “I don’t know what else to do, Gin.” She was sitting on the bed listening to him, and she patted the bed next to her. “That is not the real Daelyth.” He sat down next to her, his body tense with worry.
“No, it isn’t. I don’t know how Omerith doesn’t see it.”
“I do.” Sath leaned back on one hand. “I was watching Daelyth. She was casting something the whole time you were healing Omerith.”
Gin frowned. “I thought so. I was afraid so. Sath, I’m worried that—Daelyth is being controlled by Taeben.” Sath nodded sadly.
“When he came into his apprentice’s body, you saw what happened—she was gone. And he was only in there for a short time. What would happen to a body that he tried to inhabit and did not leave?”
“The soul would die, eventually, Sath. If he has been inside Daelyth’s mind for a long time, Omerith’s daughter is gone—and Taeben knows where the orb is.”
“So now the physically weak high elf wizard has all of his immense magical ability in the physically powerful body of a dragon. A young dragon, whom we know has already lived for at least 200 years because she was a little one at the end of the Forest War.”
“And he has the ear of both Omerith and the Mother Dragon. I don’t know if Taeben’s magic has superseded hers or blended with it, but either way, he may be powerful enough to defeat the Mother Dragon, Gin.” Sath wandered away
