Chapter 7
Ariane sensed that she was being hunted. After being paired for two years with a powerful predator, she knew what it felt like to stalk prey. She had experienced the fiery intensity of it. She could identify that passion when she felt it on the wind.
Someone or something knew she was here. The darkling who had attacked? Who had torn Rin's hide and possibly killed him?
She felt a wave of dizziness, but she fought it off. She had to stay strong. She had practiced for situations like this. Well, maybe not exactly like this. But she had been in a couple of tricky spots before.
If she was being tracked by some sort of sophisticated magic or technology, she didn't think there was much she could do to evade it. But if her stalker was a creature or a human, perhaps she could.
Crouching in the dark, she moved silently from the shelter of one large boulder to the next. She stayed near the ocean's edge. When it was possible to do so, she ducked into the sea to wash off any scent she might be leaving in her wake. But she couldn't stay in that water long, given how cold it was.
There was no moon, which made it easier for her to stay hidden.
But he kept coming.
She ran, she crept, she used all her training to evade her pursuer. But still he followed. And now she had come to the edge of a large headland that jutted out into a whirl of crashing ocean waves. Without Rin, she could not safely swim around them. Nor, in the dark, could she climb the stony cliff that was looming over her head.
She was trapped.
Panting in the lee of a large boulder, she weighed her options. There was nowhere left to run. She could hide, but so far she hadn't been able to lose her pursuer, so he must have a way of tracking her that she couldn't elude.
She would have to stand and fight.
Or bargain.
Maybe she should pretend to be someone who lived here? But she didn't know the language, the customs, or the manner of dressing. Everything about her would scream alien. Depending where she had ended up, she might be thought a witch or a magician or some other evil being.
Well. She could deal with that. Travelers were often the first people who made contact with new races.
Leaning against her rock, shivering with cold, and unable to shake her worry about Rin, Ariane knew she could run no farther. Whatever this threat was, she would have to meet it. She decided to do so with dignity.
Drawing a deep steadying breath, she stepped out from behind her rock.
He stood there, not far away, waiting. A tall, broad-shouldered man. As for customs and clothing, this was a puzzle—he was naked. This seemed strange, given the temperature. It was not exactly cold here—they were not in a wintery season—but the wind was chilly. Both the temperature of the water and what little she could see of vegetation in the dark suggested that she had landed in a northern clime. Even if this was an undeveloped civilization, he ought to be wearing a garment of some sort. Clothing was one of the hallmarks of civilization.
On the other hand, he was stalking her. Perhaps he had removed his garments upon realizing she was cornered. He looked like a strong, finely-built male, and he appeared to be young. Perhaps there was only one reason here to chase a woman, and that was to rape her when you captured her.
His sexual organs did not present the universal sign of arousal, but that didn't necessarily mean rape was not his goal.
Lifting her chin, she stood straight and tall. She put both hands up in what she hoped indicated that he should not approach any closer. She tried not to look frightened, though, since that often encouraged aggression. She could, if it came down to it, fight him, but given the advantage of height and weight that he presented, she doubted she would win.
He raised his hands in a similar gesture, palm outward. And then he smiled. Surely a smile was universal. It made her feel a little easier. That smile. He was a comely young man, with smooth yet prominent muscles and brown hair that flopped down over his forehead just above his friendly eyes.
She relaxed slightly, but reminded herself to remain alert.
He spoke. She could not understand his words. And yet...and yet...the sounds were familiar. It sounded something like Arralic, a language spoken in her own world. Was this a tongue of the same language family? She was clever with languages. If there were similarities, she hoped she'd be able to pick up the dialect quickly.
She said in answer, "I do not understand, but I can learn if we begin with some basic words." She tapped her chest and said her name, knowing that gestures and signs were easily understood.
"Ariane," he repeated. He tapped his own chest and said something that sounded like, "Col-in." When she repeated it, he smiled again, a warm smile that made her body tingle in a distinctly sexual way. That was interesting. Was it normal for her body to react to an attractive male from a different world?
The next thing he said, she did understand:
"Forgive my errors in this language. Are you a Traveler?"
Her breath caught. Was she in her own world after all? His accent was thick, but he was speaking the Common Tongue. "I am. I have had an accident. I am feeling a little shocked and confused." Indeed, she thought of Rin and instantly felt as if she were about to break down and weep. "Where am I?"
"You're in Scotland."
Scotland? There was no such place in her world. Nor had she ever heard the Common Tongue spoken with a thick brogue like his. No. Her original conclusion must be correct—she must have fallen through the Abyss.
"Are you injured?" He touched his own cheek. "You've been weeping. Will you tell me why?"
She should not respond. This man was hunting her, and now he had cornered her. But there was something so soothing about his voice. "It's Rin. He is my bonded companion. I can no longer feel him. I fear he is dead."
"Your bonded companion? Your lover?"
She frowned. Her lover? That was an odd idea. "Rin is a predator of the seas. His kind probably don't exist here."
"Is he a zrakon?"
"A zrakon? I do not know this word."
"A dragon of the seas."
"Yes. He and all his kin were banished from the skies in the days of Heroes. How do you know this? There are sea dragons in these seas, too?"
Instead of replying, he asked another question. "Is Rin a shape dancer?"
"What is that?"
"A shape shifter? Does he change his form from sea dragon to man?"
"How would he do that?"
He did not explain. "So you have no shape shifters in your world?"
It was a different world. And he obviously knew about hers. How much else did he know? "Do you have them in yours?" she countered.
His attention had shifted to the sky. "I would like to explain. And to help you, but I think we must act fast, because I can hear a helicopter approaching."
"A helicopter?" He had used a foreign word.
"Sorry, there's no equivalent in your language. Come. Quickly. Let's get behind that rock. If they have night vision scopes, though, it won't do us much good."
More strange words. She didn't resist when he grasped one of her hands and pulled her into the lee of a large boulder. His flesh was warm, and the attraction she had felt from a distance was magnified now that he was close to her. She glanced at his bare body—all muscled and strong. It was not just his smile that was appealing.
"I apologize for being undressed. It's one of the awkward things about shifting. But don't be afraid. I won't harm you."
"Why are we hiding?"
"Hear that sound?"
She nodded. She did hear the distant whop-whop sound, although she was surprised that he could hear it, too. Her Traveler senses were acute. It was the same sound made by the flying boat, or whatever that thing was. It was returning in their direction. "I saw it a little while ago. A helicopter, you say? Are there creatures inside it?"
"Yes. Creatures like me. Your passage through the Barrier was noticed."
She had been afraid of that. "They are searching for me?"
"For you and your sea dragon, aye. Your appearance has caused a stir."
"Why do you speak the Common Tongue? The language you spoke at first sounded like a variant of Arralic."
"That was English. It does sound like Arralic, doesn't it? I don't speak Arralic very well. I learned the Common Tongue in your world. It is not known in mine."
"So you are not from my world?"
"No, I'm a Scot."
"But you have visited my world?"
He shrugged, not answering her question. Instead, he jerked his chin up toward the sky. "Hush now. They're going to be overhead soon so we need to be quiet. I hope they aren't inspecting every shadow."
Her eyes widened as the thing in the sky came into view. It projected a harsh, strong light that didn't look natural. The light swept over the shoreline, moving in wide arcs. The mechanical sounds became louder, then dropped in pitch as the flying boat moved past their position.
When it was gone she whispered, "Did it sense us?"
"I don't think so."
"But there are people inside?"
"Yes, we have aircraft in this world. There people inside, flying them."
She digested this. She reflected once again that if people could fly in these machines, this world probably didn't have much use for the skills of the Travelers.
"We have boats also," he told her. "Well, you have boats, of course, but ours are fast and don't require wind or oars to power them. We also have submarines that can dive deep down under the sea."
Rin, she thought, as another pulse of agony shot through her. She was grateful for this man, this naked man, who was supporting her body with strength and his warmth as they stood behind the rock.
"What is it?" he asked. He must have felt her stiffen with pain as she thought of Rin.
She remembered the darkling and seemed to feel its icy breath all over again. "It's nothing," she said it in a low, cracking voice. She stiffened her spine. She couldn't allow him to think her weak. "I am fine."
The man crooned something in his lilting native language. Then he said in the Common Tongue, "I need to get you to a safe place. I think the best way for us to travel is the way you're accustomed to. If you can bear it."
"What do you mean?"
"Do you know anything of my world? It is said that the Travelers of Zanovar are finely educated. But do you know of the Rift? Of the Barrier? Do you understand that you have fallen through into an alien world?"
Ariane's brain was in a whirl, but she had prepared for contact with other cultures for most of her life.
I can do this. Even without Rin, I can do it. I must.
"We are taught that there are nine contiguous worlds. They are separate, but sometimes a gateway opens. That's really all I know. There might be senior members of my order who know more."
He laughed. It was a pleasant sound, and it made her feel a little better. Laughter always eased the aches of life. "Well, lassie (another word she had never heard) you're getting the advanced course, aren't ye? In our world there are people who can shape shift. I'm one of them. It's how I got here so fast. I have a zrakon form. Since you're accustomed to swimming with a sea dragon, I'm going to take you back to Mallochbirn with me that way. You'll be safe there while I sort things out and try to figure out a way to get you home."
"I am not sure I understand," she said carefully.
"Aye, and I'll show you. Don't be scared. I'm sorry about your companion, and I hope this doesn't make your grief worse, but if we don't move soon, we'll have to give an account of ourselves. Which'll be difficult for you, with your not speaking the English, now, won't it?"
"I can learn this English quickly."
"Not quickly enough, my lass. Stand back, and try not to freak. I am going to transform my body to my sea dragon form. I wouldn't do it so suddenly, but we have to get out of here fast or they'll find us. Cam'll have his wolves out by now and they're built for speed. Trust me, you don't want to encounter those dudes."
He was peppering his speech with more foreign words and his accent had gotten thicker. He was clearly under some kind of stress.
He started to change. His body shuddered and groaned and widened. The transformation caused a magical aura and an unpleasant sound of crunching, breaking bones. From the expression on his face, it must be hurting. Then his human face was gone and a monstrous hunk of a creature—unrecognizable as the change continued—was looming over her.
Ariane nearly lost her composure. She had to chant over and over to herself don't panic, don't panic, don't panic. There were legends about shape shifters. If they existed in Zanovar, she had never met one. She had certainly never witnessed the change.
But she was in another world. Anything was possible.
She gasped when the transformation was complete and a fully-formed and perfectly-shaped sea dragon stood before her. He had the ridged forehead, broad snout, widely-hinged jaw and large, vertically-slit eyes of a sea dragon. He also had the long, curved neck, huge hulking shoulders, and two humanoid arms. His broad chest was crisscrossed with powerful tentacles, and beneath them, she knew, was the breathing bud a Traveler pressed her face against while they were swimming underwater.
His torso was long; he had thick hips and flexible legs that ended in flipper-like feet. His tail was long and tapered to a fin. On his back you could see fragile appendages that appeared to be ragged wings. A strange creature—one who could navigate well in the sea, yet didn't seem constructed for ocean living. Perhaps they had never reconciled themselves to being dragons of the sea instead of dragons of the sky.
Even though the monster standing proudly before her resembled Rin in all the physical particulars, he was so obviously not Rin that Ariane felt a pang. He was bigger and his scales were a different hue. His face was different. And his eyes...his eyes were intelligent in a way that Rin's had never been.
Oh Mother, please guide me.
This was a magical sea dragon. Not her familiar Rin. Once again, her heart cracked.
He opened his jaws as if to speak, but the sound emerged in a growl. No more language. How were they to communicate? Should she try to forge the bond with him? But he was human, if she understood him correctly. It was forbidden to form a telepathic bond with another human.
When she hesitated, the look in his eyes changed to urgent. She heard a droning again from the sky. The thing, the helicopter, was returning. Tentacles came away from his chest and wrapped around her. Lifted her. Carrying her, he stalked down to the edge of the sea and splashed into the surf.
She did panic then. She had never been seized by one of the predatory animals she interacted with. Sea dragon or tiger or snake or mammoth eagle—she controlled them, not the other way around. That was what the Traveler's Bond meant—she took mental control of the animal and bade him to carry her where she wanted. Never, never did a Traveler cede power to a creature. That was a sure way to become prey.
She tried to form the mental bond—to force it on him if necessary. It was through the Traveler's Bond that she controlled her creatures. But when she reached out of her own mind to contact his, she hit a wall. She was struggling with it, seeking a way through his considerable defenses, when icy water swirled around her body.
He was hurting her. Holding her too tightly, which didn't help her panic and confusion. What the fires was he doing? Did he even know how a Traveler partnered with a sea dragon?
She struggled as they splashed in the shallow water just off the shore. She tried again to form the bond, and this time she felt his resistance go down. Sparkles of light gleamed all around them where her body was pressed up against his. She had never seen that before. The golden channel that symbolized the mental link slammed into place between them and she tumbled through into the binding tunnel. It was almost as terrifying as falling through the Abyss.
Then she was in his mind. His infinitely complex and intricate mind. Awareness of his power, his intelligence and his dominance flashed through her. Bloody Karth! He could crush her.
As if he felt her fear, he sent soothing vibrations through her. Then she heard his voice in her head. It seemed to come direct from his brain to hers. You're fine, he told her. Relax. I'm not going to hurt you.
But she was not so easily placated. "What are you doing, you oaf? The water is freezing and I cannot breathe."
Bloody hell! That must be some sort of oath. You heard that? This is wild, in'it? You can read my mind!
It was a shock to her, too, because sea dragons and mammoth eagles didn't have complicated thoughts. "It's the Traveler's Bond. It's how we control our companions so they don't tear us apart."
Well, no fear of that, lassie, I'm not the tear apart sort. So you can breathe from my lungs, aye? Because we'll be seen on the surface. We'll have to dive.
"Where are we going? How can I direct you if I don't know where we are?"
You just sit tight. No need to direct me; I know where I'm going. I'm gonna swing you around under me now, so hold your breath until you can get your lips on the breathing valve, okay?
"Wait!"
Can't wait. Helicopters coming. Two of the fucking things. Here we go.
She had time to gulp a breath and try to push her hair away from her face before he thrust her down into the dark, cold water and pulled her under his great smooth belly. He helped her find the bud, for which she was grateful, but he wasn't exactly coordinated about it. Her thoughts were all over the place, and her feelings too. This should be Rin! There was something almost sacrilegious about connecting with another sea dragon so quickly after she had lost Rin.
Have you got it? Can you breathe?
"Yes. Keep your hand on the back of my head so I don't lose contact with the bud as we speed up. There is turbulence, especially when accelerating. If you can reduce the turbulence somehow, there's less chance my face will come away from where it needs to be."
Got it. She felt the large pectoral tentacles lace around her body, pulling her into the sea dragon embrace that was so familiar to her. Is that okay? I'm not hurting you, am I? I've never done this before.
"Never done what before?" she asked, alarmed. She hoped he didn't mean he had never shape shifted to a sea dragon before. But he was already diving into the deeper waters, and swimming at speed, so he seemed competent enough.
Never had a companion, as you say. Never swum with a Traveler. I mean, I know about it theoretically, and from my brother, but—"
"You have a brother who is a Traveler?"
No, I have a brother who is the Zrakon. King of all shifters around here. Well, there are always disputes about that, of course, and Ross isn't the type of guy who bothers to sling his weight around. Now Cam, on the other hand, that's Ross's twin....This is amazing. I can talk to you so easily.
Ariane wasn't sure how she felt about a talking sea dragon. Particularly one who wasn't allowing her to control their bond. She was used to being the dominant partner. But with this man, this Colin, she was at his mercy.
"You can tighten the web of pectoral tentacles a little. Not too much. In this cold sea, I need your body heat or I'll freeze."
Got it. How's that? Are you snug? Warming up at all? Sorry it's so cold, but Scotland is fairly far north.
It was better. He seemed to be all around her now and his body was warm. The way she was pressed to his chest and belly and wrapped in several sets of chest tentacles quickly warmed her up, despite the temperature of the water. "That's much better. Where are you taking me? I need to find my companion. I need to locate Rin."
Rin's your zrakon, aye?
She received a mental image of blood and injury that terrified her before he guarded the thought. "Have you seen him? Is he dead? I can't contact him. Oh fires, I'm such an idiot. I'm so afraid he'd going to die because of me."
It's okay, this new strange sea dragon crooned to her. I haven't seen him, but I felt a struggle and I smelled his blood. At least, I reckon it was his. He might still be alive. This didn't sound like a confident thought. Maybe he got back through the Barrier, and that's why you can't feel him anymore.
"He saved me. We were attacked and he was injured, but Rin got me to shore. I don't even know how. I had passed out."
Who attacked?
"A darkling," she said, seeing it again as if in a nightmare. "I know it makes no sense, but I think it was the darkling that herded us right through your Barrier into this world and then pursued us into it. It felt...I got the sense...that it wanted us here."