Cari
A heavy weight was holding her spirit down. Sinking it into a bottomless pit where it detached from her body and she watched helplessly as she sank away from it. She opened her mouth to scream, but she had no voice. Her muscles locked, though how she had muscles to lock was a mystery.
The darkness surrounding her deepened until it was tangible. It leached her mind as she fought to hold on to who she was, fought to keep the memories of her loved ones. Even her identity oozed slowly out of her. It clung to her as she fell. Instead of seeing it as a hold to her fall, Cari's heart became heavy in fear. Primal knowledge told her it was dangerous, fatal if she became tangled in it.
Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do. Her being was heavy, holding her immobile as she sped into the dark abyss. Black strands stuck to her, seeping into her. She felt there more than she saw them. In no time her being was held in them. Even her eyes were clouded over, as was her kind. She relaxed as her will deserted her at last.
She existed.
Time held and yet nothing happened.
Until a voice intruded on her peace. "This is where I found you before." It said softly.
Heavy lids fought to part as curiosity sparked in the emptiness that she was. She marvelled at the fact that she was and thought about that for a moment before her eyes opened to look up at the comforting face looming over her.
"Who are you?" She questioned as she stared up at the ancient brown eyes.
"This' a memory Cari, don't get lost in it."
She frowned. "Nana? Wha...where are we?"
"The well of souls."
She blinked as the fog over her mind slowly dissipated. "You gave me a straight answer?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I overstepped and interfered in your fate."
She sat up, though there seemed to be no up, down or any direction. There was something ominous in that, something final. "What do you mean?"
"I went against the others in taking you out of this well. You and the others are needed if the races are to survive but they couldn't see it. They finally heard my plan and agreed to it as long as I didn't interfere in your fate. But I did."
"How? Nana will you just explain please!"
"The dragon prince had to find you and Dani but he wasn't going to so I led him to you."
"You...?"
"Yes. I came to say goodbye."
"Nana..." she cried.
"There're consequences to everything Cari, sometimes even the good things we do. I need you to remember what happened here and that only a few souls are reborn. It's important."
"Why?"
"I'll lead you out again. Once you wake up, you'll need to find the dragon's library."
"What?"
Her Nana grabbed her arm and with remarkable speed, she led her up the dark well until they saw light up above. The dark was just as vicious, doing its all to hold on to her. They splashed into the light, living light that seemed wet and yet not. They burst out and Cari took a deep breath and looked around at the dark plane she found herself in.
"Remember it all Cari." Her Nana reminded but it felt like it was coming from too far away and she was already forgetting.
Cari gasped for breath, everything hurt. She couldn't remember shifting back, the last thing she remembered was...fear. She sat up quickly then groaned as dizziness overcame her. No one had ever said a first shift was like this. Was it because she was too old?
"Here, drink this," Dani said in a soft voice as she handed her a glass.
Blinking hard, she accepted the glass and drank from it. Whatever was in there was sickly sweet and Cari gagged after she drained it. "What the heck was that?"
"Glucose." Her cousin replied. "It helps with the magical drawback."
"Drawback?" Cari asked as her sight became better and she could see Dani's outline.
"From being teleported by reapers."
Cari groaned, her mind unable to keep track of what Dani was saying.
"Why would we even want to teleport?"
"We didn't, we were kidnapped and sold to a dragon."
"What?!" The sound of her voice rang through her mind giving her a sharp headache. "Ooow."
"Yeah, it doesn't help that they forced the shift on you."
"What do you mean sold? I thought dragons had stopped taking slaves and how did reapers get onto our land?"
Dani flopped onto the bed beside her with an aggrieved sigh. "One guess who sold us out?"
A shot of pain tried to pierce her heart but Cari stilled herself to it. She was done letting Claire get to her. Done making excuses for her. More than that, she was done being used by anyone who thought they deserved what she had. "I don't remember much after shifting."
"Yeah, it'll come back after a while. Mine came back after half an hour or so."
"What does the dragon want anyway?"
"I don't know if we're slaves but he wants the hidden wolf as his mate."
Yeah, she was done being a puppet someone controlled. There was no way she was letting this dragon force her into a mating. "That's not happening." She stated in a cold voice.
"He dampened our abilities. And he said this place is warded."
"Our gifts?" She asked.
Dani smiled at that. "He wouldn't know we have them. And since he said we're not bound to this room..."
"Alright, let's do it." Cari agreed as she got off the bed and started looking around for something sturdy to wear. The sweatpants and t-shirt she thankfully still had in were hardly fit for escaping a dragon stronghold.
"Aren't you going to eat first?"
"Can we trust food provided by our kidnappers?" Dani blanched at that and Cari had to backtrack. "I'm sure there's nothing wrong with them."
"Right." Her cousin still looked worried though.
They found some dress selections that had obviously been set for them since they were in their sizes. They were all ornate, in rich shades and bejewelled. Cari had no use for dresses but Dani seemed dazed by them. Which left Cari to search through the full wardrobe for something sensible.
Finding a pair of brown leather pants and another of dark blue jeans she held them out to her cousin. Dani took the leather pants leaving her with the jeans. She had to pull Dani away from the wardrobe closet so they could change.
There were guards outside their room who followed them as they pretended to explore the castle while looking for a way out. Dani hummed as they did, using her gift for song to test the strength if the wards and discover where they were.
Since their mental link was suppressed they resorted to a childish secret language they'd invented. There were quite a few places that were warded, including one surrounding the castle. Both of them stood in awe as they came to a balcony overlooking the city of dragons.
The castle was built into the mountain with the city spread before it. It was as if the mythical king Midas had run around touching all the buildings in the city. It was golden, shining with splendour against the sun. Marble accented the golden walls, with precious stones glittering even more among the gold.
"That's..." Dani began then tapered off.
"A bit much." Cari finished.
"Dragons love their treasure, I guess." Dani shrugged it off. "Okay, now's the time for the final song. Make our two guards oblivious."
Closing her eyes, Cari called up her gift. It was something that should've been simple, innocuous. But like Claire's gift of love, it had some aspects that were surprising. She had the gift of serenity, an ability to calm anyone and anything. She could take it further though and do things she'd rather keep to herself. Even Dani didn't know how far she could go.
She opened her eyes and looked at the two guards and smiled. A smile was a simple thing, an invitation that only the most hardened people were immune to. Even when people didn't respond a smile softened them just a bit. That little bit was all it needed for her serenity to wash over them. For their minds to be clouded by it to the exclusion of all else.
Cari watched them fall to it and smile back at her. She felt a pang of regret at having to manipulate others like that. "Come on," she grabbed her cousin's hand. "Sing us a way out of here."
*
Cari couldn't understand why they were going down. She had thought that they'd find a back way out of the realm but Dani's song led them down, into the bowels of the castle mountain. Into the heart of dragonheim, at least according to the old stories, no other paranormal being had been to the city of dragons in aeons. Not since they freed themselves of the dragons and the dragons had retreated to lick their wounds.
She could feel the magic that surrounded the very walls of the cavernous hallways, magic that seemed alive. Then again dragons were full of magic, enough that their very presence might have seeped magic into them over the aeons. She shivered against the brush of it, a sense that she was not welcome. Dani's song seemed to be the only reason the very air wasn't fighting against them.
Keeping close to her cousin Cari looked around the dark caverns. They were made of natural rock and if they'd been man-made any tool marks had been smoothed out over the aeons. They were darkened by age to give more mystery to the halls. Cari could've done without it.
She missed Andre. Her reasoning told her it was too soon to be missing him but her heart ached and her mind kept straining to him. It was as if she was aching to link her mind to his. Dani had said the dragon had done something to block their abilities. Thank heavens he hadn't known about their gifts.
Still, Cari was pissed. Once again dragons were rearing their heads to take whatever they wanted from the other races. With how separate the other races were chances were the dragons might actually manage to suppress them all as they had in ancient times. Had they discovered what the other races had done to them?
A shiver went down her spine at that thought. Even with their power reduced, the dragons were still the most powerful of the paranormals. Cari didn't know a sure way to kill them. Their magic was stronger than the wizard race, their strength unbeatable. They were cunning, relentless in a fight. Their numbers were less than any other race but they were enough to make even a concerted effort risky.
So how were they going to get out of this? Even if they managed to find a way out of Dragonheim, the distance to even the closest pack was vast. The only thing she could do was evade him until her bond with Andre was complete.
By the first wolf she missed him!
She missed the small crease that folded his forehead as he concentrated on something. Missed how he chewed on the ends of his pen as he paused when writing. It'd irritated her just a bit but now she wanted to see him sitting at the small desk in the cottage as he did that. She needed to cuddle with him as they tried to watch a movie but were too engrossed with each other.
Her mind recalled how he'd always be serious and stern faced until he saw her and his features would relax. He rarely smiled but when he softened like that, it was like the sun finally coming out after a week long storm. More than that, she loved it when he'd speak to her in Greek.
Astéri mou, he called her more often. My star.
Anger burned inside her at the dragon. Helpless anger as she knew he was more than she could handle. How could he justify hurting her and Andre like this? What right did he have to mess with their lives? He was just like her sister, taking what she thought she deserved. Going so far as to hire reapers to kidnap them.
...he wasn't going to so I led him to you...
Cari stumbled as that bit of memory washed over her. When had Nana said that? "Are you okay?" Dani asked.
With the song no longer shifting its melody through the warren, the air became hostile, chocking. It was a rush of magic that suffocated the space around them, almost visible. "Song..." she gasped as she met her cousin's wide eyes.
As Dani tried to take a breath to start again, the air fought her. She chocked, fighting as much as Cari was until a pure note rang through. It was...beautiful, like a breath of spring during a dark winter night. It stole Cari's breath in a new way as awe stopped her in her track.
The emotion in that one ringing note was all encompassing, calling up her own gift and entwining them together. The magic in the air responded as if it'd been waiting a lifetime for that one note. It danced, the walls ringing a resounding counterpart that came back to harmonize with Dani as the echo changed the key.
This time the two young women looked at each other with eyes rounded in surprise. Holding hands, they quickened their pace now that they didn't have to fight the very air. A strand of magic coalesced itself into a string that led their way. Fearing that the dragons would undoubtedly feel the power of Dani's song disrupting their guardian magic, they ran.
...you'll need to find the dragon's library...
What was she missing? Cari strained as they ran deeper into the mountain. Something in her told her it was important that she remember. Her gift pulled out more than she'd ever allowed, more than she thought she had.
Her grandmother had once told her that the side effect of her gift was complacency. For the first time she realized how true that was. She'd allowed Claire and Xander to be together in a misguided self sacrificial martyrdom. She'd allowed her grandparents to belittle her, to have her believe she was unworthy.
Nana had also warned her she'd be dangerous when that complacency gave way and she had things bottled up. Cari knew she had so much held back. Anger at herself, Claire and Xander, and her Alpha and grandparents. She was even angry at Nana.
Why had they all thought her life was worth messing with? Worth disregarding? And now this arrogant dragon thought the same. That she was a tool to be used for his gain. True she hadn't met the dragon but she knew all dragons were arrogant and their prince would be the worst.
Wait, how did she know he was a prince? Dani hadn't said he was one.
Part of the magic in the air settled on her head. Cari panicked, fearing an attack when she couldn't even call upon the wind to push it away or make her swifter. It sank into her and her mind seemed to expand.
Not only did she remember the dream she'd had, a dream she suspected was more than that, but she remembered a lot of what her Nana had told her over the years. Small things that hadn't meant anything at the time but now seemed to fit together neatly.
Ice froze her veins as it all made sense and as her cousin came to a sudden stop and gasped, Cari was sure she'd experienced something similar if not the same. As Dani held her note, Cari wished they still were able to connect mentally.
Their Nana had been preparing them from the time they were kids. If her dream was to be trusted then she'd done something to ensure she and Dani would be taken by the dragon. Was it so they could access the library? Dragons had a wider selection of books than any other race. They held rare copies none other race had. Yet Cari feared her Nana had something bigger in mind.
She wished it was enough for her to forget she hadn't done anything much to ease her ten years of suffering. Though she herself hadn't done anything for herself. Maybe that was the lesson she had to learn, at least one of them.
The strand of magic pooled against a door. It flared into opalescence from being a blue ray. It seeped into the door then there was a click and it opened for them. Looking at each other for a moment of consultation, they walked cautiously forward until they stood at the door.
They both gasped, Dani losing her song and Cari's gift settling back down. With apprehension, they looked around, expecting the oppression but it was as if they were now accepted by the very bones of dragonheim. Which was a scary thought of its own.
The room before them was more than a library. It was three storeys high, holding shelves that high with the requisite railed ladders. Bound books of all shapes and sizes and styles sat next to old scrolls. On the same shelves were wrapped, covered and uncovered artefacts that seemed to have magical auras around them.
The strand they'd followed had formed a ring above a desk that held several open books on it. Hopefully some of their questions would have answers.