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Our days were spent in battle training. A different kind of training than any I’d had in the past. He worked with me as I learned to summon the power of the Seven Stars at will.
“Everything is connected by energy flowing through the Universe like a river. Humans, animals, plants, and trees. Wind and water. The mountains have energy pouring through them.”
We’d moved outside to the flat plain around the temple. Drayke picked up a small rock and held it in his palm. “See this pebble? You are connected to it through the flow. Now close your eyes. Breathe in and out. Step into the river. Drink from it. Do not think. Justfeel. Feel it filling you until youbecomethe energy.”
I emptied my mind, concentrated on my breathing. My body started to tingle all over, and I felt a rush thrumming through my veins.
“Put out your hand. Palm up.”
His voice was commanding. I’d been trained to obey it in the throes of passion, and that training carried through. I stretched out a hand.
“Now become one with the rock. Call it to you. Let the Universe carry it on the flow of the river.”
I didn’t question. I didn’t argue or doubt. I saw the river of light in my mind, watched it flow through the stone. The image was so real, I wasn’t surprised when I felt the weight of it in the palm of my hand.
Not until I opened my eyes – and saw the rock was really there.
He worked with me until I could summon the power in an instant.
“The Lord of Darkness isn’t going to wait while you put yourself into a trance,” he reminded me.
When we weren’t training or making love, we developed our plan. Drayke wasn’t allowed to hear the prophecy, but he’d spent much more time with the Oracle than I had. She’d prepared him for his role, giving him cryptic clues as well as access to the library in the fortress, with its hundreds of old books and scrolls.
My royal ancestors were only human, and very few humans are capable of keeping secrets. Sometimes it’s the desire to impress another with special knowledge, sometimes the weight of the secret is too great a burden to bear alone. Whatever their reasons, occasionally my forbearers had let parts of the prophecy slip. Over the centuries, they’d been woven into myths and legends. It was there he found the key.
“The Lord of Darkness has a band of loyal followers. Over generations, they’ve put their faith in a different prophecy,” he explained. “One that says their lord will awaken and battle once more with the forces of light to control the World of the Seven Stars. They believe he will be victorious this time, and anyone who helps him in this battle will be rewarded beyond their wildest dreams. Those who oppose him are doomed to pain and misery. They will become the slaves of his legion of followers.”
“They guard five sacred objects hidden in five different places in the kingdom, keeping them safe until their lord awakens. I believe I was given the power to shift into dragon form to help you find and destroy the first of these objects. The Flask of Fire.”
I nodded. He’d spoken of the flask before. “And you think you know where it is?”
He paused. Took a deep breath. “I believe it’s in a cavern deep in the caldera of the volcano.”
Our mountain range had only one active volcano, on the southern edge. According to our scientists, the last major eruption occurred thousands of years ago, but the caldera was ringed by a band of molten lava constantly rising to the surface. As it bubbled out, it cooled and hardened, raising the fiery summit higher and higher.
My shoulders slumped. “No one can get past that barrier.”
“No human can.”
Comprehension dawned. “Your dragon can fly over it!”
“Fly over it. Withstand the heat. Even walk on the lava, if need be. I’ll enter the caldera and find the flask. Bring it to you and together, we’ll destroy it.”
“How?”
He smiled. “Have you ever heard the old saying ‘fight fire with fire’?
Chapter Eighteen
Melisandre
On the fourth day, we trained in the morning, then he insisted we get some sleep, since we’d be leaving when night fell. Goddess knows, I needed the rest. My days had been spent learning to concentrate and focus the power I possessed. Then I’d be up half the night, my body buzzing with unspent energy.
My dragon lord taught me creative ways to harness that energy as well. I was an eager pupil. We spent endless hours in his huge bed in one of the private suites in the fortress.
Despite my lack of sleep over the last few days, my mind refused to rest. Once I knew he was sound asleep, I slipped out of bed, put on one of his old shirts, and wandered through the fortress.
Drayke had taken me on a short tour the first day. The place was a warren of passages heading off in several directions from a Great Hall behind the door to the temple. Each one led to a series of smaller rooms. One wing held the meeting room where he’d laid me on the table, a memory that still made me blush, as well as a vast library of ancient works, most of them completely unknown to me. Other passages held storage rooms, where provisions enough to feed an army for months were kept.
