It felt as if my spirit was being wrenched from my body. I slumped back against the wall, groping for some sense of our union. It was there — a warm, gold echo of her presence that cushioned the shock of our separation.
Ido dropped to his knees, his energy body moulding back into the solid planes of flesh and heavy muscle. Waves of shivering spasmed through his bowed form. He lifted his head, his eyes muddy with shock.
'What have you done to me?' he gasped. 'I have never seen such power.'
With trembling hands, 1 pulled the edges of my shredded tunics across my exposed body. I was not sure what I'd done. What we had done.
''Your heart-point is open,' I said.
He took a deep, sobbing breath. 'You have made me feel it all,' he said. All at once.
Everything I've ever done.' He rocked forwards, doubling over with inner pain, his arms wrapped across his chest.
The clink of stone hitting stone made me look up. Something was moving. It took a moment for the dusty, ragged mound to make sense: Ryko, dragging himself through the razed alley towards us, his mutilated hand held to his chest. Panting, he crawled past the sprawled body of one of the guards, his eyes fixed on Ido.
'Kill him,' he said hoarsely. 'Kill him. While you've got the chance.'
Lady Dela emerged from behind a pile of tumbled bales and struggled upright, one of my swords in a wavering grip. Her face was caked with dirt and streaks of blood. She lifted the weapon, the effort making her sway 'I'll do it.'
'No!' The words burst out from somewhere deep in me. Somewhere newly forged. 'We can't.'
'Why not?' Ryko demanded.
I bit my lip, knowing my reasons would mean nothing to a man who had just been tortured. I hardly understood them myself. Part of me still felt the touch of Ido's hands on me and wanted him to suffer and die, but a bigger part — a golden part — wanted to stop his pain. In forcing compassion onto Ido, I had somehow opened my own heart to him.
The Dragoneye slowly pushed himself back onto his heels. The arrogant tilt to his head was gone. 'Because if you kill me, you kill Dillon,' he said quietly.
Ryko looked across at me. 'Is that true?'
'1 don't know,' I said. 'Perhaps. He has bound Dillon's Hua to his _»
A sudden fear clipped my words short. Had I somehow bound Ido's Hua to mine?
The sound of sliding pebbles pulled my attention past Ryko. The older guard was stumbling out of the alley, his limping haste sending a clear message.
'He's going to got help.' I stepped away from the wall. 'We have to go.'
'There's unfinished business here,' Ryko said. He pushed himself to his knees, hooking the dead guard's sword towards him in a drag of dust.
'No!' I met the vengeful hardness in the islander's eyes. 'I have her power, Ryko. I called the Mirror Dragon.' The wonder of it softened my voice; I had united with my dragon. I forced myself away from dwelling in the joy 'We can still help the Pearl Emperor and the Resistance.
But not if we get taken by Sethon. We go. Now!'
'You have her power?' His fierceness turned on me. 'Is that the truth?' He looked at Lady Dela, searching for confirmation. 'Did you find the name?'
She nodded, a smile forming through the dirt and blood.
Ryko's face brightened for a moment then settled back into grim pain. 'You're right. We go.'
Wearily, he dug the sword tip into a crevice and used it as a balance to stand.
Ido was doubled over again, enduring another wave of shaking. Seeing his powerful body in the grip of such weakness shocked me. But deep below my pity stirred a dark exhilaration.
My power had brought Lord Ido to his knees.
Clutching together the remnants of the tunics, I started towards the grate. Even as I took the first step, I knew something fundamental had changed: my bad hip was flexing into a new stretch of muscle and sinew. No pain. No awkward
gait. I stopped, disoriented, then stepped forwards again; a longer stride that should have buckled into a limp. But it was straight and true. I yanked back the edge of the tunic and touched the pale skin over my hip, It was smooth. No scar. I was whole again. A laugh broke out of me. My dragon had healed me too.
'What is it?' Lady Dela asked. Are you injured?'
'No,' I said. 'My hip is healed!' 1 ran my hand down the smooth line of my thigh again.
'Healed? By your dragon power?'
I nodded, meeting her wonder. I was free. No longer a cripple. No longer untouchable. I was strong and powerful. 1 ran a few steps then lunged, finding my balance with a quick confidence that made my heart sing.
Distant shouts cut through my elation. The guard had raised the alarm. There was no time to revel in my new body. Not yet. I squatted in front of the grate, smiling at the easy movement, and quickly dug away the dirt and broken stones that had piled up against the metal cover. As I wrapped my fingers around the bars, it occurred to me that I was also feeling invigorated.
Did the new energy come from my bond with her as well? Our true union. I smiled — even just thinking about the red dragon started a rise of jubilation, a yearning to call her name. Our name. I wrenched the grate out of its niche and eased it to the ground.
'This is for my hand,' Ryko said.
It was the tone more than the words that spun me around. The islander was standing in front of Ido with the heavy sword hilt aimed at the Dragoneye's bowed head.
'I understand,' Ido said. He closed his eyes.
With a savage jerk, Ryko slammed the hilt end into Ido's face, the force of his own blow making him stagger. Ido collapsed to the ground in a curl of agony, his hands pressed to his forehead. He made no sound, just rocked into the pain as blood ran between his knuckles.
I stood, appalled. 'Ryko! Stop!'
The islander let out a deep breath. 'Now we can go.' He dropped the sword.
Lady Dela crossed to me, a pile of emerald silk draped over her uninjured arm.
'Leave it,' she said, blocking me with her body 'He's trying to follow your orders. Trying not to kill him.'
I caught the warning in her voice and nodded. 'Do you still have the red folio?' I asked.
She patted the armour over her chest. 'It's safe.' Her eyes flicked over my nakedness and she held out the Story Robe. 'Here, put this on.'
Gratefully, I slid my arms into the wide sleeves. I brushed my hand over the plaques pushed into the breast- band — they were still secure — then tied the inner binding. The robe was loose but at least it covered me. I glanced across at Ido. He was slowly pulling himself up into a sitting position. The old Ido would never have sat still for a beating. How long would this change last? I did not trust it.
Ryko limped up to us. 'I have one of your swords. The other is over there,' he said, indicating a nearby crate. He leaned a hand on the wall and sucked in air through clenched teeth. Was he going to make it to the river?
'You go first,' I said to Lady Dela. 'Help Ryko through.'
I expected a protest from the islander, but he just nodded. As Lady Dela eased her way into the hole, I ran across to the crate and picked up my sword. The familiar jolt of rage added its own strength to the glorious renewal in my body. I returned to the grate just as Ryko awkwardly crawled through the small opening. For a moment, I saw Lady Dela's strained face as she steered him down the first of the steps, then I stepped a foot into the opening and pulled the grate up towards the wall. It was not worth wasting the time to fit it back in place. I dropped it.
'I am sorry' Ido said across the few lengths between us. 'It is not enough, but I am sorry'
He was watching me out of one eye, the Other already swollen shut, and his breathing was ragged — every inhalation edged with pain.
I drew the Story Robe tighter across my body. 'I know you are.' I had felt it in the meld of Hua.
'My ambitions have made us the last two Dragoneyes. Sethon won't rest until he has our power harnessed to his war machine.' The harsh arrogance in his face had been stripped away.
'There's Dillon too,' I said stubbornly.
He pressed the palm of his hand against his mouth, wiping away blood. 'We both know I have ruined him.' I
