The Dragon's Eyes

  The Dragon’s Eyes

  By Rain Oxford

  The Dragon’s Eyes © 2015 Rain Oxford

  All Rights Reserved

  Book 2 of the “Guardian Series”

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  When I was about a year old, I set my nursery on fire, and my father said I would be a powerful wizard. When I was five, I screamed in anger so loudly I broke every window in the room, and my father said I would be a powerful man. When I was ten, one of my tutors hit me and I threw him across the room, and my father said I would be a powerful warrior. When I was fifteen, I told my father his most trusted advisor was a liar and the only reason for saying so was that I could smell the deceit. When I went against my father’s orders and exposed the assassin, my father said I would be a powerful king.

  My father was trying to return power to the kings, to bring Duran back from the laws of the people to the monarchy. He felt that Duran should be governed by the most powerful of the wizards and politicians and not by the people. He felt that only the powerful know best. And he felt that I was to rule in his place when he retired. The only problem; there was no way I was going to be king.

  Mokii was a different land than the others. Each of the other lands had a king, a ruler over the entire land, ocean to ocean, but they obeyed the votes of people. The kingship over Mokii had always been in battle. My father was technically king of all of Mokii, but he ignored the masses. Instead, most of Mokii was governed by individual kingdoms, which had to pay allegiance and a salary to my father’s kingdom. His were the only people he cared about and everyone outside his kingdom was not his problem.

  I have always strived to make my father proud and never succeeded on purpose. The harder I tried to be something I wasn’t, to believe in something I didn’t, and do something I couldn’t, the more catastrophic the results. I suppose I could blame my mother for this; but it would have to be for dying. She was a seer, but not a very good one it seems. She knew she would die giving birth to me, her first child, and yet allowed the pregnancy to continue. The moment I was born, she placed an outlawed spell on me to absorb her power as she died from a sudden, incurable illness.

  The servants of the house said I was born with no voice, silent as my mother was. My father demanded they leave and the next morning, he brought me out of the room as a healthy child. A frightfully powerful child with no mother.

  From the moment I could walk, I was exploring, escaping, and searching. I didn’t know what I was searching for. My caretakers hated my exploring, my tutors hated my escaping, and my father hated me. Oh, sure, he never said so. When he hit me, he truly thought it was an acceptable means of shaping me into a future king. It was the way he looked at me with disappointment when one of the servants or townspeople spoke of my antics.

  And it was never on purpose. I would step on a stick in the forest and set off a stampede of large herd animals that would destroy the village, mistake one plant for another and create a poisonous gas instead of useful potion, or be in the wrong place at the wrong time and overhear a horrible secret.

  This leads to my current predicament. I was standing in front of my father’s throne as he lectured me with all the importance of an angry ruler, and all I could think of was that there was a ship leaving for the Aradlin forest. I had never been, for my father would not allow his only heir to visit a place so dangerous, but I didn’t plan on asking his permission.

  I still had a couple of months before I reached twenty-two years of age and became independent. This was another thing my father was trying to change; he believed a child wasn’t a man or woman until they were twenty-five, and women had to be married by such age. He felt a woman had to be taken care of, first by the father, and then by the husband. Speaking of women…

  “… will be the day before your birthday,” he was saying. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach; father was making plans that involved me.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I know it is not soon enough, but the girl’s father will not---”

  “No, I mean I was not listening to what you were saying,” I interrupted.

  He sighed. “Then listen closely. You will be married to the Corsicot daughter of Banjii. With Banjii’s ruling family’s alliance, we will have taxing rights to all homesteads of the entire west-central lands.”

  “Father, I know how much you love sucking klahs out of people who have none, but I will not be married. Not now, not tomorrow, not the day before my birthday, and not by your hand. I have never met this girl and I do not intend to,” I said, using the best “king” voice I could.

  He gave me an unsure frown. “They have a son who---”

  “Father!” I yelled.

  He shrugged. “I just wanted you to have that option. You will have a child to carry on the line. I don’t care who you marry as long as the person is in the Corsicot family and you do it by your next birthday.”

  I had always been useful to my father as a form of currency; many families of Mokii wanted their daughters married to the king’s son. Luckily for me, my father’s greed drove him to hold off, waiting for the best deal, until it was almost too late. On my next birthday, he could no longer marry me to anyone against my will. Unfortunately, he was getting desperate.

  “I will not. I think I’m coming down with the six-month plague.”

  “Then you will be wed in your bedchambers.”

  “They’re a mess, too shameful to bring a woman into.”

  “I will send the servants immediately.”

  “I think I’m infertile.”

  “I will enlist a sperm donor; no one will know.”

  “I hate children.”

  “You need never see the child.” He frowned. “You adore children. This matter is settled. You will be married before your birthday to the Corsicot daughter and I will accept no excuses. I do not authorize any sickness or disasters. Now, return to your rooms.”

  “As you wish. Will you teach me anything tonight?”

  “No, practice your control over your elemental magic. We will use the practice arena tomorrow and you had better be able to control your fire or the servants will get burned,” he threatened.

  Yes, I had a problem with my fire control but the problem was my father. When alone, I could master fire like nothing else, but around people, and particularly my father, things went wrong.

  I had always been scrawny, no matter how much training I had or courses they put me through. It never helped me to stand up to my tall father, and none of the servants stood up to him for me. To everyone’s shock, including my own, I grew in the last two years. I was no longer small for my age and I had a pretty fair build for someone who only ever fought on the practice field. Still, years of conditioning made it difficult for me to deny my father.

  I left the room as quickly as possible, stopping by the library instead of my room. “Jedes,” I whispered when I spotted the young woman sitting in a big chair. About a head shorter than me, Jedes was a meek, soft-faced girl with red-blond hair and light green eyes, who weighed less than the stack of books she always carried around. While only a few days younger than me, she was just now starting to look like a woman.

  Her parents were servants of my father’s before they decided to move to Banjii.
However, they thought having a girl and no boy would give them less of a standing, so they left their newborn here to be raised by other servants. This worked out for the best, because Jedes was treated like a princess by almost everyone.

  Seeing that she was asleep, I took the book out of her hand, careful to mark the page, and set it aside. I then pulled a blanket off a nearby desk and wrapped it around her. After a small kiss on her lips, I turned to leave.

  “You’re not even going to say goodbye?” she asked quietly.

  I turned back. “I thought you needed sleep. I will only be gone a few days.” I had long since given up trying to run away permanently.

  “You’re going to a forest of monsters and you plan to be back soon?”

  “I’ll be careful,” I said, sitting beside her in the huge chair. She snuggled under my arm and leaned her head on my chest.

  “You will find what you have always been looking for. This place will be your past. The forest is a turning point, and that man, the one who speaks the language of the demons, will help you. Remember that in the dark, when you cannot see your path, you can still walk it. Your light is inside you. Do not come back here.”

  Jedes was a seer, like my mother had been, and her predictions were becoming more clear with every year. “I could take you with me. We could travel together.”

  “No. Your path is with others. My destiny is yet to come, but it will come for me here. I’ll miss you, though.” She leaned up and met my lips in a gentle kiss; the first one she had ever initiated. “Leave tonight. Don’t miss this ship. Tomorrow will be too late. Whatever you do, never come back to this castle, especially not to confront your father.”

  After saying goodbye to Jedes, I headed back to my room to pack. Instead of the light three-night bag I had ready, I collected everything important to me into several bags. It was an easy climb off my terrace and easier still to leave the grounds. Perhaps my father should look into his security better.

  * * *

  I had read about the forest from the few who survived its darkness. The forest was exactly as I expected; tall and forbidding. The small crowd of people blocking my path was not. Curious, I approached.

  “Is everyone ready?” one man in hiking gear asked.

  “Ready for what?” I inquired.

  “This is a tour group,” he said, proudly. It came across as pretentious, but only because his face was sunburned, and obviously not for the first time.

  “To the Aradlin forest? I didn’t think there was one.”

  “We are new. My parents were explorers their whole lives and I have extensive collections of their writings as they explored this forest.”

  “Well, then, you must have many safety tips and medical supplies. I was wondering what to do if I encounter a draxuni?” I asked. Of course, I knew already to back away and be non-threatening. They only attacked anything that was a threat to their pups or food.

  “You climb.”

  “A tree?” I frowned. Draxuni were fair climbers.

  “Of course!” he smiled. “Draxuni cannot climb. You can join the tour if you want, but we have to be very quiet.”

  Actually, you had to be silent, but most people I encountered didn’t understand the concept. We headed into the forest, me taking up the rear, since I was not going to lead. Soon I was trying to find some small alternate path because the group was making so much noise it was like they were yelling “dinner time.” I could feel something watching me.

  It wasn’t long before someone stepped on a porter mushroom, which puffed out a toxic powder that caused hallucinations and heart failure in high doses. One scream from a woman was all it took for the group to scatter. I sighed and continued along the path. Unfortunately, whatever was watching me didn’t go away. I tried to get a scent for it, but it must have been downwind and there were many more powerful odors in the forest.

  The walk was nice. I walked slowly enough to be both silent and to avoid the forest’s vicious traps, while also seeing the beauty of it. The sounds and smells… it was such an incredible place. Suddenly, an explosion in the distance broke the peace. Someone had shot off a gun. I knew this would attract hungry creatures, so I took off fast in the opposite direction. One wrong step had me tumbling down a hill. When I came to a stop, I laid still while I got my bearings. Screaming tourists could be heard in the distance. I was just about to sit up when I heard a little yip and something pounced on my chest.

  Oh, no. I raised my head in time to see a draxuni pup try to stick his tongue in my nose. I reached up to push him off me and he latched onto my thumb, not hard enough to break my skin, but still a little painful. I had a split second warning growl before another pup tumbled over my shoulder and into the first pup. They joined into a rolling, snarling ball of fluff. As cute as they were, I was terrified; a draxuni pup is much more frightening than an adult. A draxuni will hunt and guard his territory alone, but a pup is never alone. Where there were pups, there were at least six adults on high alert.

  I sat up and scanned my surroundings. Two more pups decided I was a playmate and one jumped in my lap to try his hardest to stick his tongue in my mouth. I couldn’t help but laugh until the parents slowly crept out of the shadows. I was surrounded by four, but they were not advancing. I knew from my studies that half the attack pack stayed hidden, meaning there were eight in total in the immediate area. I could hear the one behind me approach, but the pups continued to play. He started sniffing my head and neck. I couldn’t have been more shocked when he nudged my head and they all relaxed. He turned away.

  No creature is allowed around draxuni pups, and yet this pack not only let me live, they didn’t even chase me out. They all turned, guarding against outside forces. After my nausea settled, I stood to leave, but as I started to pass through the protected circle, the closest draxuni batted me back with his huge paw.

  “What did you do that for?” I asked, getting back up. Trying again, I was swatted again, but the draxuni was being careful not to claw me. I tried to get out the opposite side but another blocked my path. “I’m not a puppy, let me through!” I demanded. They ignored me.

  After several more attempts, I sat down in defeat and was immediately trampled by pups. Having been warned against returning home, being the adopted pup in a draxuni pack was certainly not the worst fate I could have, but it was not the one I wanted.

  For hours I sat in the puppy pile, waiting for the adults to come to their senses and eat me. There had been no more signs of the tourists. Perhaps they made it out alive, but I doubted it.

  Instead of worrying, I took the opportunity to learn. The draxuni were a species powerfully built to survive that formed fierce packs with a strict hierarchy. The coats gave away what part of the world they lived it, because they were colored to camouflage; therefore, this pack had dark brown and black coats to blend in with the dark forest. The mystery that no one could get close enough to understand was the puppies; no matter what part of the world they were from, they had red, black, white, brown, and green multicolored coats and their ears were huge compared to their heads.

  I uncovered the mystery as the pups played; their colors blended when they tumbled together until it was impossible to see how many there were or which way they were moving. At the barest hint of a sound in the forest, they all froze and perked their ears until one of the adults gave them the signal to relax.

  “Smelling like dog is one thing, but I don’t think anyone will let you out of the forest smelling like draxuni puppy.” The last voice I expected to hear in the Aradlin startled me.

  “Dylan!” I stood, but so did the draxuni. While my best friend did not show them fear, he didn’t come any closer. The draxuni formed a wall between me and Dylan. “Would you give me a little help here?” I asked in English. Our common procedure in private was for me to speak his mother language of English and him to speak mine of Sudo.

  The draxuni growled, which Shinobu did not like at all. Shinobu was a dangerous little creature that could kill
a person with a single bite, and she was fiercely protective of Dylan. She was at her normal place, perched upon his shoulder, hissing and spitting at the draxuni. I started to walk around the draxuni to Dylan. One of them broke formation to stay in front of me, but when Shinobu jumped to the ground and advanced, he relented to the tiny creature.

  I joined Dylan. Shinobu ran back to him, crawled up his leg, and up snuggled around his neck. Then she reached her webbed paw out to place on his cheek and made a clicking sound.

  “What is she doing?”

  “She doesn’t like it here. There’s something bigger close. Something she doesn’t even want to deal with.” He turned his back to the draxuni and took off into the woods. “Come on.”

  I had never met a man brave enough to turn his back on a draxuni, let alone a pack. I hurried after him, keeping the pack in sight for as long as I could. “What are you doing here? How did you find me? And why aren’t you afraid?”

  “I really don’t know why I’m here; I just knew I needed to come. It was like something was calling for help. I found some lost and scared people and got them out, but I think I may have found you by accident. And as for being afraid… As of next week, I will have been here for three years. Three years I have trained under Kiro’s guide. Between the magic I know and Shinobu, I’m not worried. What I learned from Divina about the draxuni is that I have to first show that I’m not a threat to their pups, and second that they’re not a threat to me. I didn’t even look at the pups. They figured out I wasn’t going to leave without you and that kind of stated the second part. So what brings you out here?”

  “I wanted to see the forest. You’ve been here before, right?”

  “Yes, when I was still new to this world. A lot has changed, but this forest is exactly the same. It kind of takes me back. Three years was so long ago.”

  He was different than when I first met him, sneaking around on a ship to Anoshii. Belonging to a world of a lighter gravity, he had trouble walking right. I know it should have, but it never bothered me that he was from another world.