David Wells - Cursed Bones

“No! Please let me stay like this for a while,” Anja begged. “I have so many questions. I just want to talk with Alexander for a while. Please?”

Bragador let out an exasperated sigh, looking to Alexander for his approval.

“On one condition,” Alexander said. “Promise me that you won’t go behind your mother’s back again.”

“I promise,” Anja said.

Bragador gave her a fond smile, before turning to Alexander. “Don’t reveal too much to her, she’s just a child, after all, and far too young to bear the weight of the world.”

They spent the evening talking. Jack regaled them with stories of their adventures over the past year, told with mastery and more than a little exaggeration. Anja laughed and gasped in surprise and asked a thousand questions. Alexander answered her honestly in every instance, with Chloe adding detail as the opportunity presented itself. They deliberately shied away from some of the darker moments they’d experienced, sticking to their victories and focusing on the happy moments.

Anja wanted to know everything about Alexander’s childhood, what it was like growing up on a ranch, how he met Isabel and if she was worthy of him, what his parents were like, even what he liked to eat. She was fond of large fish, preferably whole.

She cried when he told her of his brother’s murder and cried again when he told her about his wedding. She cheered when he won the Thinblade and gasped in surprise when Jataan P’Tal abruptly switched sides because the Sovereign Stone bonded to Alexander. She sat on the edge of her seat with childlike wonder and limitless exuberance, hanging on every word of their stories.

And then she stopped, cocking her head to the side and looking at his wounded leg.

“How were you injured?” she asked, pointing at his leg.

“Perhaps another time,” Alexander said, as a knowing came over him … Bragador was coming.

“But I want to know, Alexander,” Anja said. “You haven’t told me why you came here or how you got hurt.” She frowned, dark and angry. “Someone did this to you, didn’t they?”

“Indeed, Child,” Bragador said, entering the Wizard’s Den quietly. “Thieves stole into our home and took you, attempted to use you as a bargaining chip against me. They demanded that I kill Alexander or they would kill you. And I meant to meet their demand.” She fixed her daughter with a look of dreadful purpose. “And though I hunted him, he found you before I found him and he protected you against those who took you from me, protected you from their blade with his own flesh. Alexander saved your life before you took your first breath, and that is why I have permitted him to remain among us. As a rule, humans are not permitted within the ring of the Spires, though we do make exceptions from time to time.”

“You were hurt protecting me? But why? You didn’t even know me. I wasn’t even hatched yet.”

Alexander smiled gently before answering. He realized in that moment that he had come to love this whelp of a dragon, masked in human form by a spell beyond her ability and so full of life that she was practically overflowing with it.

“I protected you because you’re alive,” Alexander said, “because you have a right to your life, because you are innocent and those who would have harmed you are not. I protected you because you were a child in harm’s way and I had the power to do so.”

She rushed to him, then stopped abruptly so that she could hug him gently. “Thank you, Alexander,” she said.

“You’re most welcome, Anja.”

She stopped at the doorway as she was leaving with her mother and turned back to him.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you, too,” Alexander said.

He saw Bragador close her eyes in pain for just a brief moment before she slipped past the edge of the doorway and into the dark of the cavern.

As the days passed, Alexander worked on projecting an illusion through his clairvoyance until his head ached. He had limited success but nothing significant enough to be useful. He had just finished a particularly grueling meditation session and was resting his mind when Bragador stopped in the doorway. Again, he knew she was approaching moments before she appeared. He was starting to trust his newfound ability, even though it hadn’t predicted much except her approach.

“May we speak?” she asked.

“Of course, please come in,” Alexander said.

He closed the door to the Wizard’s Den behind her. She stopped midstride, looking about warily.

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “I’ve closed the door as a precaution that I believe you’ll understand and accept once I’ve explained.”

“Then by all means, explain,” she said, without taking another step.

Alexander told her of Phane and his ability to see them, and how he could now detect the Reishi Prince’s surveillance.

“Very well, I accept your precaution, for now,” Bragador said. “I have come to speak of Anja, but first I would like to apologize for questioning your report concerning Aedan. My agents confirm that Aedan is possessed by the shade and is holding station high over the ship carrying the princess, which is still sailing in circles.”

Alexander nodded, motioning to a nearby chair.

“Thank you,” he said. “I’m sorry I was right.”

“Indeed. Aedan is, or perhaps was, a remarkable dragon,” Bragador said. “He is very dangerous, resourceful and experienced. As for the shade, I don’t understand his behavior. Why not just take the keystone?”

“I’ve given that question a lot of thought,” Alexander said. “The shade was on that ship for some time, but he didn’t take the keystone and he left Lacy alone as well. I believe he knows something about how the box is opened … and Lacy plays a necessary part. If I’m right, he won’t harm her until the box is open. It could be that he intends to let Phane’s ruse play out.”

“So he would definitely move against us if we attempt to bring the princess and the box here,” Bragador said. “I don’t want to harm Aedan or the dragons I would have to send against him. For the time being, I believe that inaction is the best course. We are watching him and the ship, and we’re prepared to move when the opportunity presents itself.”

“Aedan is one of your own,” Alexander said. “I wouldn’t expect you to give up on him, but I should warn you, I was possessed by a shade once … they don’t let go easily.”

“How did you survive?” Bragador asked.

“Isabel,” Alexander said. “Her magic saved me.”

Bragador nodded thoughtfully.

“Another time I would like to speak with you about this magic your wife can wield,” she said, “but right now, I’ve come to have a much more personal conversation with you.

“My daughter has bonded with you. That is something we dragons try very hard to prevent. A dragon that bonds with a human will have a difficult life.

“First, the child will wish to live in the world of humans in order to be near to the one they have bonded with, a world hostile to them, unwilling to understand, and afraid. Being a child, she …” Bragador closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “the child bonded with a human will not have the wisdom to see the danger. Humans are violent and warlike, some are driven by an unquenchable thirst for power. Dragons are potent and fearsome, so those who lust for power will seek to control any dragon in their midst, usually through control of the human they are bonded with, while the rest of the humans will simply try to kill her out of fear.

“Second, humans are short-lived creatures. When you die, Anja will be devastated. She will survive, but as a shell of her former self, left to live the majority of her years brokenhearted and suffering.