Chapter 10

  Reunion

  It was uncertain how long they clung to each other, but it was Ari who pulled away first once her father’s embrace became too stifling.

  “I knew you’d make it,” Ashlain said with pride.

  She smiled up at him, wiping her eyes dry on her sleeve. He looked her over, noting every bruise and scrape on her hands and face.

  “Are you hurt?” he asked as he pulled back the hood of her sweater.

  “Wait--” Ari’s hands flew up to cover her head, but it was too late, he’d seen them, and so had everyone else.

  “Oh! They’re so tiny!” Hannah gushed.

  Ari blushed, her heart racing with embarrassment and confusion.

  Ashlain took her hands in his and lowered them to her lap, revealing the horns.

  “It's okay. You don’t have to hide here.”

  Ari was relieved, at first, but after a beat of silence, her smile waned. “You . . . knew this was going to happen, didn’t you?”

  Ashlain nodded.

  The dam broke. Questions leaped rapid-fire her mouth. She didn’t know which she wanted answered first, but she needed to ask, needed to know.

  “Why didn’t you tell me? I thought I was cursed! Was our whole life a lie? Who are you? What am I!?”

  Ashlain held up his hands as if to block the tide of demands, his face taught with a mix of shame and pity. When she finished, panting, eyes dripping with fresh tears, he took a deep breath and gave his answer.

  “I didn’t tell you, because I’m a selfish fool who grew to love the lie I built. Our simple life on Earth was never meant to last forever. I sensed the changes in you months ago--your aura shifting, growing stronger. I should have explained everything to you then. I held on one day too many and put us both in grave danger. I’m sorry.”

  Before Ari could demand clarification, Elysia cleared her throat, the sharp sound cutting through the tension between them. They turned to her, ruffled by the sudden interruption.

  “I hate to intrude on this emotional reunion, but before you burden this child with any more truths, Ashlain, she needs a bath and a meal.”

  As if to punctuate her statement, Ari’s stomach groaned loudly. Ashlain gave a laugh and so did she. They stood.

  “I think that’s a good idea. I need to speak with Hamza and the Guild Heads anyway. We’ll talk after dinner, alright?” he asked Ari. She nodded, but when she didn’t let go of his hand, he gave hers a squeeze and offered a reassuring smile. “I won't disappear, I promise.”

  Ari attempted a smile of her own. “Good. You’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

  “I certainly do,” he said solemnly.

  She let go of his hand. He left up the rough-hewn staircase with a bounce in his step. Ari watched him disappear. Elysia and Hannah steered her through the broad door across from the entrance, taking her down to the guildhall’s bathing room, where two, crescent shaped pools breathed heavy steam into the air. A handful of women and men soaked in the baths, chatting or quietly minding themselves. Ari’s face burned like a furnace. Shyly, she averted her eyes, and followed Hannah’s feet. To her immense relief, they entered a separate, smaller room with a private bath and shower. Hannah showed her where to stow her things and where to find soap and towels. Then she pointed to a narrow chute in the wall opposite the bath.

  “Drop your dirty clothes in there. The maids will get it clean for you. They’re quick. Should have it done by the time you get out of the bath,” she said.

  “Awesome,” Ari said, digging around her pack. She dumped her clothes into the chute. Dirt and sand peppered the floor and rasped against the metal tube’s walls.

  Hannah gave her a thumbs up and turned to leave. “I’m gonna copy you and take a bath myself. I’ll be in the room next door. Meet you in . . . half an hour? How’s that sound?”

  “That’s perfect. Thanks for the help,” Ari said.

  “No problem. Earthlings gotta stick together,” Hannah said, flashing her brilliant smile.

  With that, she left. Ari waited three heartbeats and then tore off her dirty clothes with a gasp of relief. She chucked them down the laundry chute, padded into the shower, and scrubbed the grit off herself before sinking into the bath. The hot water eased knots in her shoulders and back. She was so relaxed she didn’t even notice the maid sweep in and out of the room with her fresh laundry.

  Hunger was the only thing strong enough chase her from the bath. Obeying the demands of her snarling stomach, she dried off, and got dressed. She packed the clean clothes into her pack and rushed out of the bathing room to escape the steamy heat. She met Hannah in the hall outside.

  “There you are, I was half a second away from fishing you out of that tub myself. Come on, I’m hungry,” she said, waving for Ari to follow her back the way they’d come. “Normally guild members have dinner together in the mess hall, but your dad had food sent up to his rooms for privacy. Which is weird, ‘cause he invited me and Elysia too. I figured he’d want to speak with you alone.”

  Ari frowned, she was just as confused as Hannah. “Did he say why?”

  “Something about Elysia being there to answer any questions he couldn’t. Don’t know what that means.”

  “She said she knows my mother, maybe that has something to do with it?” Ari suggested.

  Hannah shrugged. “Guess we’ll find out, huh?”

  At the top floor of the guildhall they found the door to her father’s room. Ari looked around as they stepped inside, astonished by the fine leather chairs and the thick mahogany bookshelves filled with old tomes. These rooms were too well appointed for a simple guest.

  Who are you really? She wondered as her father waved them over to a circle of chairs beside the fireplace. Like Hannah had mentioned, Elysia was present, seated next to Ashlain on his left. On his right, sat Hamza. The broad man grinned as Ari rushed over to embrace him.

  “Missed me?” he asked.

  “Mhm,” Ari mumbled into his shoulder.

  Hamza gave her a tight squeeze and guided her to the chair between him and Ashlain. Hannah took the remaining chair next to her teacher.

  “Thank you for being patient with me,” Ashlain said as he pulled plates from the middle shelf of a serving cart laden with covered dishes. “I know you have more questions than you can bear, but there are some things we can’t speak of in the open.”

  He nodded to Elysia. She stood, raised her arms, and Ari felt something wash over the room, a veil of energy that seemed to seal them inside like an invisible dome. It shimmered in the periphery of her vision.

  “Now these rooms are sealed, no one outside will hear what is spoken here. But first, let's eat.”

  Ari opened her mouth to argue that she’d waited long enough for answers, but the moment the first dish was uncovered, and the scent of braised pork and roasted vegetables filled the room, she lost the words. Days spent running through the Wilds left her with a ravenous hunger. She gladly accepted the plate her father handed her and dug in.

  Soon enough the dishes were picked clean. Ari eased back in her chair, stuffed and sleepy. She might have drifted off if Ashlain hadn’t loudly cleared his throat.

  “The time for answers has come. Ask me anything, and I’ll answer to the best of my ability.”

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  The girl rubbed her eyes and sorted through the mound of questions she’d compiled since she left Earth. She didn’t know where to start. In frustration, she threw up her hands.

  “I don’t know--why is all this happening? Why were we attacked? Who were those guys, the hunters?”

  “Ezekiel Evangel and his band of rabid monster hunters. They have a deep mistrust of magic and any who wield it. Every non-human being is an enemy, even if it’s intelligent enough to reason with,” Ashlain explained. He paused for a moment, stroking his chin in contemplation. “I don’t have proof . . . but I believe Ezekiel was hired to hunt us. Earth’s gate is sealed and heavily warded. He couldn’t have gotten through without the help of the Strongholds.”

  “And Strongholds are?” Ari asked.

  “They are worlds settled by magi like myself, Hamza, and Hannah,” Ashlain said, gesturing to her and then himself. He didn’t include Elysia. “There are seven in total, all united under the leadership of the Council of Magi in Halcyon Stronghold.”

  “I find thiso be an unlikely alliance, Ashlain. The Freeholders detest the magi,” Elysia said.

  “There’s no other way for them to reach Earth, let alone track us there. Only the Archmage and his knights know how to open Earth’s gate,” Hamza said.

  “Archmage?” Ari asked.

  “The Archmage is the leader of the Council of Magi. Supposed to be the strongest and wisest of the magi. Their word is law in the Strongholds. Not every mage is loyal to him or her, but magi in the Strongholds are,” Hannah explained.

  “Which is unfortunate, seeing as the current Archmage is a usurper,” Elysia said as she turned to Ari, “He stole his title. He was not chosen by the Eye as your father was.”

  Ari had been waiting for a reveal like this since Hannah asked if she was royalty back in the lift, though, this wasn’t exactly what she’d expected. What did an Archmage even do?

  “So you’re a magical king or something?” she asked her father.

  “Not exactly,” he said, “The Archmage does provide some guidance to the Strongholds and has final say on laws and legislature, but it’s the Council of Magi that handles the brunt of governmental matters. The primary duty of the Archmage is to safeguard Earth. We and our appointed knights ensure the realm of mankind isn’t destroyed by the capricious demons and gods of the Realm Sea.”

  Ari perked up, “That’s awesome!”

  “Would be, if Casimir wasn’t the one in charge,” Hannah said.

  “Who’s Casimir?” Ari asked.

  Ashlain’s lips thinned like he’d tasted something fowl, “He was a friend once . . . but that was long ago, before he betrayed me.”

  “Why’d he betray you?” Ari asked.

  Ashlain sighed. “Fear and hate. That’s why.”

  Ari’s look of bewilderment prompted him to continue.

  “The title of Archmage is not inherited by bloodlines or granted by councils. It is the Eye of Hazeon that chooses. It is an ancient artifact that sees past the facade and into the spirit, choosing the just and wise to lead. Any mage can be chosen, including the child of the current Archmage. Your mother is favored by Hazeon. For this reason, Casimir feared that our offspring would be chosen by default, and control of the strongholds would fall out of the hands of humanity.”

  “What do you mean? I’m human . . . or half human, at least. Right?” Ari asked.

  “Yes . . . and no,” Ashlain said with another sigh. “This is going to sound very strange, Ari-”

  “Everything here’s strange, Dad! Just tell me! What am I? What’s happening to me?”

  The forcefulness of her demand rendered him silent for a moment. She took a deep breath, but couldn’t quell the fear and anticipation scrambling her guts. She needed to know.

  “In order to explain what you are, I have to explain what I am. I am a mage. I was born a human man, three hundred years ago--”

  “Three hundred!?” Ari couldn’t conceive of it. At sixteen, thirty seemed far away, but three hundred? How? He only looked to be in his thirties.

  A smile broke the thin line of Ashlain’s lips. “Three hundred and twenty three, to be exact.”

  “Three hundred, twenty seven, over here,” Hamza added.

  Ari gaped at them. Ashlain gave a laugh and continued his explanation. “Let me get to the point. Magi are humans who have mixed their blood with the ichor of a slain god. This grants us magic and extends our life-span by hundreds of years. So, from my end you inherit both the blood of man and a god.”

  “Okay . . . what do I get from Mom, then?”

  “The blood of a dragon.”

  The room was silent for a few heartbeats.

  “Are you messing with me right now?” Ari asked.

  He shook his head. Ari’s brows scrunched as she contemplated the implications of this revelation. She had a question, but she didn’t know how to ask it. “How . . . ?”

  Ashlain shifted uncomfortably in his chair and cleared his throat.

  “Dragons can shape-shift,” he said.

  “Oooooh, okay,” she said, nodding. Her mind chewed on the flood of new information. Man, god, and dragon. Three different kinds of blood flowed in her veins. What did that make her then? Some kind of chimera? What would she become? Would she morph into a scaly monster, something broken in the ravine between man and beast?

  Elysia broke the silence. “Humans are a very adaptive social species, willing to pack-bond with just about anything, even if it sees them as prey. As such, human hybrids are very common in the Realm Sea. You are what we call a Dragon Mage. And no, child, you aren’t going to turn into a monster.”

  Ari jumped a little in her seat. How had she known?

  “Mind reading comes easy to our kind,” Elysia said with a sly smile.

  “Our . . . kind?” Ari asked.

  In response, Elysia removed her cloak. Ari gasped. Silver horns crowned the woman’s head, decorated with rings just like her thick locks. Dark scales of blended amethyst and indigo speckled her forehead and coated the back of her neck and arms. Elysia smirked at the girl's astonishment. She’d been waiting for this reveal.

  “Right now, you are in a stage we call the walking egg. As your human ‘shell’ crumbles, your slumbering draconic nature begins to show. It was necessary to keep this knowledge from you as long as possible. Now that you know what you are, the process of your ‘hatching’ will quicken. At the same time, the ichor in your blood has been ignited by the magic of the Realm Sea, and its power is blossoming within you. The intense melding of your aura, between the stolen blood of a god and the wild magic of dragons, is like a burning sun. Any being capable of sensing auras can feel you, even realms away from here. Young and vulnerable as you are, many will seek to destroy you before you can come into your full strength.”

  “But why? I haven’t done anything?”

  “Dragons are natural disasters with will and whims. Gods and demons resent them. Magi covet their knowledge. Humans fear their power. And when humans fear something, they either dominate it or destroy it,” Hamza explained.

  “Many of your enemies you are mine. It's my fault the Strongholds are after us,” Ashlain said.

  “Other foes, you inherited from your mother.” Elysia added.

  Ari chewed nervously at her bottom lip. She’d never had enemies. Not even a bully. Hamza placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

  “You’ve got allies too. Your father and I’ve been working with the guilds a long time. If you’re ever in trouble and we ain’t around, you can turn to them for help,” he said.

  Ari smiled up at him and nodded. Now that she had the answers she’d longed for, she found herself overwhelmed rather than satisfied. Every answer sprouted new questions like vicious weeds. Any relief gained by learning she wasn’t becoming a monster was underscored by the looming threat of her parents’ enemies.

  “Okay, let me get this straight,” she began with a gesture toward her father. “You’re a three-hundred year old wizard.”

  “Mage, but, yes,” he said.

  “And you used to rule an empire--”

  “The Strongholds aren’t an empire,” he said, “Well, not exactly anyway.”

  “Eh, close enough,” Hanza said with a shrug.

  “Right, right, whatever. You ran a sorta-empire but you got kicked out . . . ‘cause you fucked a dragon?”

  Hamza and Hannah burst out laughing. Ashlain gaped at his daughter, cheeks darkened by a spreading blush, spluttering. “Language!”

  “I just found my whole life’s a lie, Dad! Give me a break!”

  Ashlain released a deep sigh and massaged his temples. Hamza patted him on the back.

  “No, I was not betrayed because of my relations with your mother,” he said.

  “I mean, you kinda were,” Hamza said, still chuckling.

  “Hamza, please.”

  “Well, why were you kicked out then? Does Casimir really hate dragons that much? ” Ari insisted.

  Ashlain sighed once more. “Casimir has always had a deep mistrust of dragonkind. He, as well as many magi, believe that the first Archmage, Manna, was betrayed and murdered by a dragon. Manna was the first of our kind, a liberator who released humanity from capricious whims of the old gods by stealing their power. Her story is more legend than history now, but it still holds great sway over the people of the Strongholds. Many are wary of dragons because of this, some even loathe them and consider them enemies of mankind. In Casimir’s mind dragons are just as dangerous as the old gods the magi fought long ago. I never held the same sentiment.”

  Ashlain turned his gaze to one of the dark windows on the other side of the room.

  “There’s more than one version of Manna’s legend. In the older version, she’s betrayed by a general who served her in the God War. He loved her beauty and strength. When the war was over, he came to her and requested her hand in marriage, but her heart already belonged to another, the dragon Naverath. Driven mad by jealousy, the general killed Manna in her bed chamber one night. When Naverath came to visit and saw her lover’s body, she flew into a rage. She attacked the general, gravely wounding him, but he had the last word. Manna’s knights arrived just as Naverath fled the palace and found him dying. With his last breath, he sold the lie. The dragon betrayed the Archmage, not he.”

  Ashlain rose from his chair. “There’s more to the story than that, but this is all I’ll share tonight. It's late and you have a lot to process.”

  Ari wasn’t going to argue. She could feel the exhaustion seeping into her limbs, turning them heavy. Her mind felt heavy too. All she wanted was to sleep.

  She yawned. Ashlain and the others took that as confirmation that this meeting was over. Elysia broke the invisible dome sealing the room, said her goodbyes, and left with Hannah in toe. Hamza and Ashlain guided their bleary-eyed daughter to the room just across the hall from theirs. The room was simple, just a bed, a desk, and a wardrobe, but the few pieces of furniture were high quality. Ari dropped her pack by the door, glad to be rid of the weight.

  “I see you lost the tent,” Hamza said, inspecting the bag.

  “Had to leave it,” Ari said, her words distorted by another big yawn.

  “You have Boreal in there too, I see,” Ashlain said, pulling the bead of light out of the pack’s front pocket.

  “How’d you know?” Ari asked. She’d tucked him into the pack while her clothes were in the wash.

  “He’s my guardian. I can sense when he’s near,” Ashlain said, examining the glowing bead. “Looks like he’s nearly recovered.”

  He returned the bead to the pocket. “Keep him close. We aren’t out of the woods yet.”

  Ari snorted, “Literally.”

  She held out her arms and they embraced her. Encircled in their arms, she felt safe for the first time in days. It was hard to pull away. Hamza placed her in the bed and took off her shoes. Ashlain tucked her in. She felt like a child, but was too tired to be embarrassed, and too revealed to see them alive to really care.

  “Goodnight, Ari.”

  “Night dad, night Da,” she said, her voice thick as sleep dragged her down. The soft mattress swallowed her into darkness.