Chapter 2
Verrian’s eyes strained in the moonlight. He wasn’t game to leave the last stand of stunted trees and step out into the sand dunes until she was sure. Lyrian’s Mesmer chamber had to be somewhere around here.
The dunes, ever shifting in the wind, spoke to Lyrian’s wandering soul.
And made it hard to find her resting place.
Uncertainty nagged at Verrian’s heart. What if he’d chosen the wrong place? What if, in three hundred years, the sand had shifted so completely, he couldn’t find her chamber?
What if he failed?
He could sense Lisa’s impatience, but he wasn’t ready to move yet. As soon as they stepped out onto the sand, they’d be exposed. A Trima dragon could be anywhere out there, hidden behind a dune, just waiting for them. He needed to be sure before he made his move. Once they left the dubious cover of the trees, they needed to get to the Mesmer chamber as quickly as possible.
Narrian waited patiently for his orders, her own eyes constantly scanning the area around them. She didn’t push him to move, or even wriggle impatiently like Lisa had.
He hated to admit it, but Taurian had been right. She’d been an excellent choice for a fourth for this party.
When his brother had first suggested her, Verrian had thought it was because he didn’t think he could do this. That thought had stuck in Verrian’s throat, and made him feel even more like a failure.
He hadn’t been able to resist Taurian’s plea to accept her on this mission. His brother’s story, about how Narrian had never gotten over her father’s death trying to wake the princess, and her need to complete her father’s failed mission, had overcome his pride.
And Taurian had rightly pointed out that Verrian couldn’t be fighting a Trima dragon and watching Bruce at the same time. He’d assured Verrian that Narrian wouldn’t interfere in his decisions, and he’d been right.
Verrian glanced over at Bruce, who sat on a fallen log. They’d had to walk the last few kilometres, Verrian had been concerned the noise from the car would alert any nearby Trima dragons. The man seemed fit enough, but the heat, even in the early hours before the sun had risen, seemed to be too much for him.
Verrian wondered how he was going to handle dragon heat?
Not his problem though. His only problem was getting him there.
He scanned the dunes again, but nothing moved. He couldn’t sit here waiting all day. They needed to move.
He signalled to Narrian, who tapped Bruce on the shoulder.
“Time to move,” he told Lisa, mind to mind.
Lisa didn’t say anything, she didn’t need too. Verrian could almost hear her ‘about time’ in his mind. He couldn’t help smiling. For some reason, her impatience was cute.
He really was in a sad way. It didn’t seem to matter what she did, it just made him love her more.
Pushing that thought out of his mind, Verrian stepped out of the trees. He sent out some inaudible pulses of sound, searching for the deeper, more solid response that would tell him where Lyrian’s Mesmer chamber was.
He should have been able to sense it. That was why he had hesitated so long. But he felt nothing.
His sonar found nothing.
Verrian tried not to panic. It had been three hundred years. Of course the sand would have shifted. It had to be around here somewhere. He’d find it. No matter how long it took. Verrian struck out with a confidence he didn’t feel, keeping an eye on the sky and the surrounding dunes.
Narrian scanned the skies as obsessively as he did. Lisa too. Even Bruce glanced up once or twice, though most of his attention was spent trying to keep his feet on the shifting sand.
They walked for some time, Verrian sending out constant sonar pulses, searching for the Mesmer chamber. As they walked further and further without finding any sign of it, Verrian’s concern grew. Surely the sand couldn’t have shifted this far.
Could it?
“How much further is it?” Lisa’s voice in his mind was quiet. Surprisingly undemanding.
Verrian hesitated over admitting the truth. If her question had been out loud, he wouldn’t have even considered it, but Lisa was his lifemate. He trusted her, more than he’d trusted anyone ever before.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It should have been back close to the trees. The sand must have shifted. I don’t know where it is.”
Lisa didn’t say anything, and for a moment, Verrian wondered if she thought he was a failure. He glanced over at her, but her face wore only a frown of concentration. “We need to stop and make a plan,” she said firmly. “No point just walking if we don’t know where we’re going.”
She was right. Verrian just didn’t want to admit it.
Lisa stopped walking, her breathing heavy.
Verrian frowned. She’d been walking just fine a few minutes ago. “I need a break,” she said out loud. “Walking on this sand is difficult.”
She was making an excuse for him. Helping him hide the fact that he didn’t know where he was going. He’d never had anyone to do that for him before, and it felt good. Like he wasn’t alone in the world. Lisa had his back. Verrian’s heart warmed. How did she always know the right thing to do?
Bruce heaved a sigh of relief, and collapsed onto the sand. His obvious exhaustion diverted Verrian for a moment, and he studied the man, wondering if he was up to this.
Bruce pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, and wiped his brow. He really did sweat a lot, even for a human.
It wasn’t like Lyrian was going to mate with him forever. Just because that had happened for both Taurian and Verrian, didn’t mean it would happen for Lyrian. He just had to wake her. Even this pale, pasty human would be capable of that.
Of course, first they had to find her Mesmer chamber.
Verrian stared around, wondering how they were going to do that. There were no landmarks out here in the dunes. Nothing at all to indicate which pile of windblown sand hid Lyrian’s resting place. For all Verrian knew, it was miles from here.
“I need to be in the air,” he said to Lisa. “Then I have a chance of pinpointing the location, a little closer at least.”
He could sense Lisa’s hesitation.
Flying was risky. He knew that. He’d experienced all the problems that could arise from a hasty flight. Ultrima and the humans were both, hopefully, busy dealing with each other, but Lyrian’s Mesmer chamber was closer to Ultrima’s lair than any of his other brothers and sisters. Only thirty kilometres away.
But he couldn’t think of any other way.
Neither could Lisa, apparently. “Well, I suppose we are a fair way from Ultrima’s Lair, and hopefully that’s where any searches will be taking place. It’s dark too, so less likely to be noticed.” Still she hesitated.
“We flew up to our lair without any problems,” Verrian reminded her.
Lisa heaved a sigh. “All right,” she allowed. “But I’m coming with you.”
“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”
Lisa put her hands on her hips and glared at him. Verrian saw Narrian glance their way. She would guess that the two were talking. Arguing even. Verrian felt a little in the spotlight.
“You brought me along so I could help, so why not let me? Are you trying to protect me? Cause if so, given the fact that if you die, I do, there’s pretty much no way to do that.”
She had a very good point Verrian had to concede. He bit back a sigh. In truth, he’d rather have her with him anyway.
“Let’s go then.”
He began to undress, and as he did so, he felt a weight in his pocket.
He hesitated, then pulled Lyrian’s medallion out and handed it to Bruce. “This is the key to Lyrian’s Mesmer chamber.”
Bruce took it and stared at it for a moment. Lyrian’s leaves blowing in the wind made a pleasing pattern on the stone.
Then Bruce looked around the dunes. “Where do I use it?”
“Lisa and I are going to find out. Wait here, and we’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Bruce nodded, and seemed more than happy for a chance to rest for longer. He didn’t sit down again though.
Verrian didn’t care what the man did. He had other priorities. He finished stripping off, ignoring how Bruce hurriedly switched his gaze away.
He handed his clothes to Lisa, not minding how her gaze roamed over him appreciatively as she tucked them into her backpack.
Verrian scanned the area one last time, listening carefully for any hint that anyone, human or otherwise, was nearby, then when he found nothing, he let himself shift.
He heard Lisa’s half gasp. Her hand settled on his rump, even before he’d finished transforming, her fingers stroking his scales. Verrian would have loved to stand there and let her stroke him, but now wasn’t the time.
He bent his front leg. “We don’t have a lot of time,” he reminded her.
Nodding, Lisa shouldered her backpack and climbed on, and Verrian launched them into the air.
He gained altitude quickly, just high enough for a good look, then scanned the area.
It had changed more than he’d expected. Once he could line up his position with some larger landmarks in the distance, including Ultrima’s distant mountain, he could estimate that the treeline had been pushed back several kilometres by the encroaching sand dunes. And they were further south than they should be as well.
Verrian’s eyes scanned the moonlit dunes, pinpointing the general area of Lyrian’s Mesmer chamber. It would take them roughly twenty minutes to walk to the general area. Thirty at Bruce’s speed, he amended. Once they’d made it that far, he’d still have to search for the specific spot.
Verrian glanced towards the east, but there was no sign of sunrise yet. They’d have time.
A loud screech filled the night air, causing the scales down Verrian’s back to raise.
He twisted his head back, locating the sound.
The Trima dragon rose out of the dunes near the spot he’d pinpointed, his scales gleaming in the moonlight. Verrian half suspected he’d been napping, buried in the sand.
Verrian’s muscles stiffened, slowing his wings enough that he sunk a few metres. Even though the wind still blew as hot as ever, he suddenly felt cold. This was it.
Now he knew where the Mesmer chamber was.
He just had to get everyone there.