Legend of the Inero Dragon (10 page)

"My lord?" A young voice entered the room,
echoing throughout.

For a brief moment, Matt panicked, thinking
someone had walked in and interrupted their spell. Then he noticed
the face of a boy forming in the fire.

"I'm here," Lynx said, breathless.

"I'm glad you were able to contact me. I was
worried."

"You have nothing to worry over. Tell me what
troubles you so."

Matt blinked in awe. The boy looked about him
as if he were afraid. Then his eyes settled on Matt.

"The Touched. Half, but still Touched all the
same."

Matt nodded at the boy. "Yes, my brother and
I."

"He is not here?"

"No," Lynx said. "He's not ready to
understand what is going on. Jason is logical. He needs facts and
evidence. He is not a man of faith like Matthias."

"He will have his evidence when it is time
for them to receive the greatest foresight possible. A message from
God himself that only they are to receive."

Matt's jaw dropped. "What's going on?"

The boy ignored him. "The Oceina Lord is
aware of your plans. He is a danger to your true glory. You must
eliminate him as soon as possible. When he falls, the Oceina Empire
will as well."

"Yes, I am prepared, just as you've advised
me. My army has combined with the Terran, our weapons infused with
their magic. Once the Oceina Lord is fallen, we will be able to
strike hard and fast. They will not be our weakness any longer,"
Lynx said.

"God will smile upon your battle. Your true
land will be reclaimed. Your true power fulfilled. From your blood
the Great Dragon will be born in the city once known as Oceina, and
peace will reign. Their arrogance will be their downfall."

The pounding of Matt's heart was beginning to
overwhelm him. "Father, I think..."

"Lord, let him rest," the boy said, speaking
on his behalf. "I only have one last thing I need to share with you
tonight. There are spies in your nation. The Oceina Lord is looking
for his proof. Do not let him receive it. Eliminate him before it
can arrive. With him, the suspicion will die."

The fire from Matt's palms disappeared and he
grunted loudly. He gagged as the nausea caught up with him, and he
felt too weak to keep it at bay. Sweat dripped from his
forehead.

"Are you all right?" Lynx asked, finally
noticing the physical stress the spell had caused.

Matt nodded, hunching forward and panting.
"I'll be alright, but I think you owe me a more thorough
explanation."

"Yes, I do owe you that much. I would prefer
to give more details to you when we are in a safer location,
however."

"An outline is fine."

"You already know that the Oceina are ungodly
in their lifestyle. They and the Aero do not rule over the humans
as according to God's original will." Matt nodded, and his father
continued. "In the Holy Book, the original translation, it says
that the Great Dragon will come from the Oceina city. He will be
born of Inero blood. This is something all of the original Dragon
Lords knew, but the other tribes have conveniently forgotten now
that centuries have passed. Then again, the other tribes do not
study the Holy Book anymore, a mistake which will be their
downfall. It is displeasing to our Heavenly Father."

The room resonated in silence for a moment
while his father let Matt process what was said. The Great
Dragon—the one, true, answer to everything— would be born of Inero
blood? Matt couldn't help but beam with pride. More often than not,
the Inero were thought the least of the four tribes because of
their smaller size and inability to fly. To be chosen to bring the
Great Dragon was a huge honor.

"I'm glad you are pleased. The Oceina land
was originally supposed to be our own. The first Lord over the
Inero, Ry, saw it first on the day of creation and wanted it for
himself. The other Great Lords knew this because he made sure to
vocalize his request. The Terran, being the first to choose,
respected this desire. He chose the rocky terrain to amplify his
power. The Aero, next to choose, also were respectful of the Lord's
wishes and wished for the wind and sky. The Oceina Lord, however,
decided to take the land for himself as it was more fitting for his
water magic."

That wasn't the story Matt was familiar with,
but he trusted his father to tell him the truth. In school, he had
been taught that all four lords had equally chosen their land. The
decision had been mutual.

"The battle we are preparing for has been a
long time coming. Oceina City is supposed to be ours to rule. Order
must be restored to the world between our kind and the humans. It
is my calling to do so."

"I understand now," Matt said, and for the
most part he did. No one could fight the destiny God had put upon
him. Many tried, but in the end, things would happen as they were
meant to. It angered him that the Oceina would try to hinder his
people from fulfilling their life's calling. There was still a lot
he wanted to know but it would have to wait.

His body less weak now, Matt stood.
Everything would feel normal again by the morning. Making a rising
motion with his hands, he suggested his father do the same.

"Thank you for telling me. I'm honored you
trust me so much. You do not need to explain anymore here. We can
talk again at home. I know it was a great risk for you to even do
this to begin with," Matt said.

Lynx put a hand on Matt's shoulder. "You're a
good man. You will be rewarded for all you have done for our
cause."

They walked back to the complex together,
neither one saying a word. When Matt returned to his room, his
brother was awake and watching the television in the den.

"Where'd you go?" Jason asked, his eyebrows
perking up.

"Out for a run. I thought it might help me
feel more tired since it is daytime back home. I can never get used
to the time change," Matt said. He hated lying to him, especially
right after promising to be more honest, but he didn't want to
betray his father's trust either. In the end, he needed to be loyal
to the needs of his nation. Nobody else was ready to know about
this.

His brother bought the story. He nodded,
returning his attention to the TV. "Get some sleep."

"You as well," Matthias managed. Guilt tugged
at his heart, making it hard for him to speak. He retreated to his
room and took a shower. He knew he should have called to check on
Kat, but he was far too tired to think of anything else beyond his
father's revelations. If the smell of his own sweat hadn't been so
overwhelming, he would have simply gone straight to bed.

Chapter
Nineteen

Kat didn't receive a phone call from Matt
until right before bed. She had crawled under the covers, turned
off the light, and had done her best to be strong and not worry
about him. She knew he could take care of himself. She knew that he
loved her. He wasn't good at expressing it, but she could feel it
in her heart. What bothered her was that she hadn't heard from him
once since his arrival. The only reason she knew he was still alive
was because sometimes she could hear him thinking. She didn't dare
interrupt him. All of these thoughts were about the meetings, and
she knew better than to butt in while he worked. When the phone
rang, she felt her heart relax.

"Matt!"

"You weren't sleeping were you? I was going
to call earlier, but it was such a busy day. I needed to rest."

"I wasn't sleeping. I promise. Even if I was,
I wouldn't mind," she said, just happy to hear his voice—his real
voice and not simply whatever random thoughts happened to pass her
way.

Silence filled the air for a while. The only
sound she could hear was her own breathing, and occasionally his.
Finally, he said, "I miss you."

Every doubt Kat had disappeared with those
three words. His tone was light and sincere. For the first time
since they were wed, he reminded her of the guy she'd met years
ago.

"I miss you too," she said.

"You're doing okay though, right? Navi and
Gwen are treating you well?"

Kat rolled her eyes and snorted. "Yes, when
they have time for me, they're nice."

"What do you mean when they have time for
you?"

"They gave the impression that they'd rather
be doing other things than talking with me," Kat said, waving a
hand even if he couldn't see it. "It doesn't matter. I've made
other friends, and they treat me well."

"I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize. I like Gwen and
Navi, I do. We just don't have much in common without you guys
around. It happens." That's what she told herself. It helped the
rejection hurt less. Even if she did have other friends now, Gwen
was her sister-in-law. Shouldn't they get along?

"Who have you made friends with?"

"Lenora."

"...oh."

She frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I like Lenora. She's nice. I can see why
father is still hung up on her, but you didn't hear that from me."
He paused. "I just know things are complicated between her and Navi
because of it. I don't want you to get caught up in the middle of
their drama. I'm guessing you're spending time with Tiffy and
Ariana as well then?"

"I just met Tiffy and Ariana today, actually.
They're super nice to me. It's good because they're closer to my
age. Lenora is wonderful, but she's kind of old."

"More like a second mom than a friend right?"
He laughed. She loved hearing his laugh, especially when it sounded
sincere. Before he left, every other time he'd done it he had
sounded stiff and forced.

She sighed. "Yeah, and I like that. I like
having a real mom."

"We could visit yours if you—"

"No, I don't want to go home. I'm fine
leaving all of that behind. My parents wanted me to be an Elite. I
am one now. I doubt they're missing me much." The last thing she
wanted to see was her family. Sure, they had their few good
moments, but the bad ones were more often. Now she had a new
family, and they were everything she'd always dreamed of
having.

"Right, I forgot about that. If my father was
using me for his own personal gain, I wouldn't want to have
anything to do with him either. This is good, then. I mean, that
you're getting close to Lenora. She is a good mother. She's been
nothing but amazing to me and she doesn't have to be. It's selfless
and admirable."

"I feel the same way. Things have been good
these few days but I still miss you. I know you've wanted this
though."

"Wanted what?"

"Time for yourself." She bit back her tears.
She had caught the occasional thought from him, expressing joy in
having a bit of freedom. Those thoughts were part of the reason she
had been so worried to begin with. "Why didn't you say
something?"

"Can we talk about this when I get home?" She
heard him yawn. "I'm not quite ready to have this
conversation."

You're copping out.
"I don't have much of a choice. I can't make you
talk if you don't want to." She made no effort to hide how much it
hurt her.

I'm just not ready.
He sighed. "You always have a choice. I'd just
appreciate doing this in person."

"Then I'll let you go. I'm tired anyway.
Thank you for calling. I mean that."

"I'll call again soon, and earlier. I
promise."

She closed her eyes, feeling
a wave of exhaustion wash over her.
He can
talk to me about everything else, but not the thing that's most
important?
She didn't get it, and she was
too tired to keeping fighting him on the matter. "All right, have a
good day then."

"Sleep well. Kat, I...."

"Hmm?"

"I'll call you first thing
in the morning."
I'll try finding the words
by then.

Chapter
Twenty

The council lasted for a week. Jason did his
best to pay attention, but a lot of the terminology went over his
head. People-watching was fascinating. He got a lot more out of
watching the Dragon Lords interacting with one another than he did
out of actually listening. For instance, he noticed how the Oceina
Lord was by far the most relaxed of all four Great Lords. Even when
discussing things like the Inero plague and the Terran natural
disasters, he sat with his hands folded in front of him, listening
to every word spoken. The Aero lord, on the other hand, looked
bored. He slouched, resting his head in his hand. Every so often,
he perked up if something interesting was being said or something
involved him, but for the most part he was silent. These were small
mannerisms, but they said a lot about the Lords.

Jason watched the rest of the audience as
well, most specifically his brother. While most of the young men
were doodling or whispering to one another, Matt sat completely
engrossed in everything going on. It didn't surprise Jason, as his
brother had always been interested in politics. In fact, his dream
was to one day be chosen as their father's successor. He'd
mentioned it to Jason on more than one occasion. It would happen,
Jason was sure of it. The two were too close and his brother was
far too invested in the life of a politician
not
to be
involved as an important figure. Whether or not Matt would be a
good leader was another story. He was good at heart, but that
didn't always translate into good leadership.

Matt scribbled some notes furiously, but his
handwriting was far from legible. Jason could only make out a
handful of words. Oceina was one. He saw the huge O first and
figured out the rest of the letters from there. 'Terran deal' was
another phrase he was able to pick out. 'How to win?' was another.
In fact, Jason saw several question marks on the page.