Winter, 2064 CE, Japan

  DAURIA WATCHED THE human through the darkness from across the hide tent. His face was relaxed, if pale. His chest rose and fell with his breath in the slow, even rhythm of deep sleep.

  Am I going mad? Or did I see what I think I saw? What could it even mean?

  Closing her eyes, Dauria tried to force herself into the realm of sleep, but it would not come. She tossed and turned, her mind filling its internal view with a hundred-thousand images of what the man could be, what he could be hiding.

  If any one of those imaginings were true, she couldn’t fathom what he could be doing here. Did she still believe he had found her by happenstance? Or was there something larger, something darker at work here?

  There’s an easy way to find out, she thought, eyes flashing open wide.

  “No,” she whispered to the darkness. “I cannot do that. Reading surface thoughts is one thing, but the Delving of minds? No matter what he is, human or otherwise, I won’t do it.”

  It is not forbidden, said a small voice in the back of her mind.

  “Perhaps not,” Dauria whispered, then almost laughed. Was she losing an argument with herself? She sighed. “Other dragons may do as they wish. I will not. I have always believed it an immoral practice.”

  The Delving of minds, of any species, should never have been discovered. It has led to nothing good in all the history of Dragonkind.

  And yet, said the small voice, growing louder in the back of her mind, the general principle of Delving is exactly the basis for telepathic communication between dragons.

  “I won’t do it,” she hissed.

  But what if holding to her ideals ended up getting her killed? Or worse.

  Dauria sighed.

  Is it worth the danger? Delving him might condemn my soul, but if I don’t, and he intends harm, it could be disastrous. Certainly in this body I can be wounded or killed as easily as any human woman. What will happen at the council meeting if I’m not there? Isn’t my soul an acceptable price?

  “Arrogant wretch,” she whispered. “As though you, and you alone, have the power to move The Council to the correct decision! As though you even know what the correct decision is!”

  She sighed again.

  You know you’re going to do it, came the small voice again. So get on with it.

  Dauria only just stopped herself from growling in the back of her throat.

  She couldn’t argue the point, however. She knew it was true. She had already made her decision, much as she despised herself for it.

  With a long, deep breath, Dauria plunged her consciousness into Kaito’s mind.

  How very odd, she thought. He was, at that very moment, thinking about the Amaya from his past, a woman he had known almost thirty years earlier. What were the chances of that?

  She couldn’t quite tell the nature of their relationship, but whatever it had been, his feelings for her had been strong.

  Are strong, she corrected. He still cares for her as much as he ever did. The fact that she is dead and gone doesn’t change that for him.

  While consciously thinking of Amaya, however, he was also immersed in a deep dream in which he watched from the high slopes of the mountains as, from the translation provided by his mind, a bomber jet flew by and dropped the atomic bomb— so that’s the correct word! —that hit Tokyo back in the days of the Second World War.

  Interesting, she thought, then proceeded to Delve deeper into Kaito’s mind.

  Passing beyond his surface thoughts and the imagery of the dream was similar to how she imagined an ant would feel diving into a droplet of rain. The boundary pushed back with as much force as she put into penetrating it. The barrier was firm, yet soft.

  She tried again, putting more mental force behind her attempt to enter his mind, but came back with the same result.

  After several more attempts, she forced her way through the jelly-like barrier and proceeded into the man’s mind.

  That was strange, she thought. Never before had she encountered such a barrier. Not in any mind, human or otherwise.

  Then Dauria slammed into a solid barrier unlike anything she had ever imagined could exist. His mind glowed with a bright, golden light which reflected back every attempt she made to bypass it.

  She thrust her consciousness against the mental barrier again and again and again, but it did not give, did not crack. There was no weakness in it, no point in the whole which might be easier to bypass or penetrate or break.

  She was stuck.

  Now what, by the tails of all my ancestors, is that?

  She had no way to answer the question, however. She’d never even heard of such a barrier before. Not in any mind, not in any species to ever walk the Earth— or fly above it.

  With no other recourse, she pushed and prodded and thrust at the barrier in Kaito’s mind until exhaustion descended and sleep claimed her.

  * * * * *

  The soft swish of cured hide against human flesh woke Dauria from a deep, dreamless sleep. The tent was still dark, much too dark for ordinary human eyes to see with any clarity.

  She picked out Kaito across the tent. He was stuffing his bedding and other effects into his large, hide bag. Every few seconds, he glanced out the doorway to the horizon which was just beginning to glow pale orange.

  Dauria sat up and began folding her own blankets. She didn’t need to be told it was time to pack up and get moving.

  Kaito stopped, hand halfway to a shapeless lump on the floor, and stared at her. Even with her enhanced sight, Dauria couldn’t see the expression on his face. The stiffness of his posture, however, spoke volumes.

  “Everything okay?” she asked.

  He grunted. There were no words in the sound, yet it sounded suspiciously like a “No.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I have to go,” he said.

  “Of course. It’s time to get moving.”

  “No, Amaya. I have to leave you.”

  “What?!” she almost shouted.

  Kaito shook his head and went back to packing his bag in silence.

  “What in the name of m–” she froze. That wasn’t right.

  She breathed in, long and deep, then spoke with as much calm as she could muster. “What in the hell is going on, Kaito?” Curse you, she silently berated herself. What a wonderful time to slip!

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  “I can’t stay with you any longer,” he said. “I have somewhere to be.”

  Dauria’s control vanished. She couldn’t stop herself from yelling this time. “You didn’t have anywhere to be three days ago!”

  Kaito stilled. Staring down into his half-full bag, he took a long breath and released it slowly. “Being with you has become dangerous. That slip on the rocks yesterday… ordinarily, that would never have happened. Somehow, you distract me. I need to go back to being on my own out there.”

  “So that’s it,” Dauria snapped. “You’re just going to abandon me because I’m distracting? What about your promise to get me where I need to go? What about your promise to keep me safe?”

  Kaito turned to her, looking into her eyes for the first time since his stumble. “You know as well as I do that you don’t need me to keep you safe.”

  Dauria blinked. What did he know?

  Behind her, Ryujin’s Blaze crested the horizon and a beam of orange light stabbed through the tent to illuminate Kaito’s bright, metallic gold eyes.

  He stared at her, and this time his eyes did not change. His vertically slit pupils shone lustrous gold and were surrounded by scleras of deep, matte bronze. There were no irises.

  Like a dragon’s eyes, she thought in wonder.

  “Damn,” Kaito mouthed, but no sound came.

  “What are you?” Dauria breathed, fighting through her shock. There was, of course, an obvious answer. But throughout her life, the obvious answers rarely proved correct.

  And besides, if he were one of The Watchers in disguise, why would he be wasting his time with me? Surely he would know who I am and this charade would not have been necessary.

  What was the answer, then?

  “I…” Kaito began, then faltered. After a pause, he said, “I don’t know how to answer that.”

  “How about with the truth?” Dauria said with a gentleness which surprised even herself.

  He inclined his head ever-so-slightly. “That would be the obvious answer, wouldn’t it? But then, nothing about my life has ever been obvious. Or easy. And I’m not sure I’m ready to admit the truth to you.”

  Dauria crawled across the floor, closer to him. He did not move away, nor did he give any sign of wanting her to stay away.

  She stopped less than a human hand-span from him and stood on her knees, looking down into his golden eyes. “Do you know what I am?”

  Kaito nodded. “I’ve known since I first saw you. We’ve been dancing around this for days.”

  Dancing? she wondered. What a curious expression.

  Dauria swallowed, forcing down the solid lump in her throat. “Do you know who I am?”

  He shook his head. “I could offer a guess, Mistress, but no, I do not know who you are.”

  Dauria nodded and offered a small smile. “You are one of us, then.” It was not a question.

  He gave a cautious nod.

  “Not one of The Watchers, I should think. You would have come out and said so as soon as you were sure of what I am. Similarly, if you had been wakened by The Watchers, you wouldn’t be hiding your wings here, you’d be doing something or heading somewhere important.”

  A muscle in his shoulder twitched, but otherwise he did not respond.

  “Which leaves, as far as I can tell, only one possibility. Somehow, through some monumental show of power, will, or both, you chose to ignore the mandate to Sleep and have been living here in the human world. Quite possibly for a very long time, and without proper authorization from the Council of Elders.”

  Kaito’s jaw tightened and his eyes narrowed.

  “Fear not, whatever your real name is. I’ll not do anything about it. Quite frankly, I have my own problems just now.”

  He seemed to relax, the tightness of his features fading. “Is it really your sire’s lair we’re going to?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “I have a… problem.”

  “Come now,” Kaito said. “You know my dark secret, what harm will it do to tell me yours?”

  Perhaps much, Dauria thought, then breathed a deep sigh or resignation. “Alright. I will trust you in this. The story goes back only a few days to when I was awakened by one of The Watchers…”

  Although the story didn’t take long, Ryujin’s Blaze was nearly above the horizon now and Dauria felt as though the story had taken days to tell.

  “That’s quite a story,” Kaito said. “So you’re stuck like this?”

  “If you so much as smile, I’ll rip your throat out,” she said sweetly.

  He shrugged and turned away to begin taking down the tent. He mumbled something she couldn’t quite catch, but it sounded suspiciously like, “Lucky you.”

  If he transforms, he could kill me in the beat of a heart, she thought with not a little concern. And there’d be nothing I could do about it.

  After a long moment, she shrugged as well. Since there would be nothing she could do to stop it, she decided, there was no sense in worrying over it.

  She started gathering up her things, placing them in her own hide bag.

  “What are you hoping to find?” Kaito asked.

  “The lair is filled with Baalhalllu’s essence. My hope is that there will be enough residual power there to break whatever has me locked in this form so I can get to Graayyyavalllia and speak to her about all this before the meeting of the Elders. Or, barring that, I might get lucky and find some trinket or ritual in his old things to accomplish it. The Earth could be facing unprecedented disaster if this goes poorly.”

  “Well, best be on our way then.”

  Dauria nodded, scooped up the last of her things, and deposited them into her bag while Kaito dropped the last of the tent into its leather case. How long has he been in this form? He seems, in nearly every way, so… human.

  She let him lead her back to the rocky path and they turned what she assumed was northward.

  Warmth blossomed in her cheeks and she imagined her skin was likely as red as Graayyyavalllia’s scales. She couldn’t help feeling embarrassed at how poor her sense of direction was in this body. She silently thanked both Lord Ryujin and her ancestors that Kaito walked in front of her and not to her side.

  “How much farther, do you think?” she asked.

  “If it’s as close to the bottom as you say–“

  “Which is difficult to be certain of, since I always came and went in dragon form. And even at that, it has been a very long time.”

  “If it’s as close to the bottom as you say,” he repeated with emphasis. “We should be there within half a day or so.”

  Dauria couldn’t help smiling.

  * * * * *

  “I don’t understand!” Dauria wailed in frustration. “It should be right here!”

  “What are we looking for?”

  Dauria sighed. “There should be a star-shaped keyhole about a tenth of a wingspan in diameter above the sigil of Ryujin.”

  Kaito’s eyes turned golden again and he scanned the rock wall around and above them.

  Within seconds, he grinned. “Got it.”

  “What?!” Her blood boiled in her veins. How could this rogue dragon find the thing in five seconds when she’d been searching for it for the better part of an hour?

  He pointed to it and her jaw fell open.

  Somehow, when he pointed it out she saw it easily, in spite of having looked past that exact point at least a dozen times since she started looking for the entrance.

  “Alright,” she said grudgingly. It must be some sort of enchantment to make human eyes overlook it. I didn’t expect that, though I probably should have.

  She uttered a soft growl as a memory came to her. “You have to be in true form to unlock it,” she said, making no effort to cover her annoyance.

  Why am I just now remembering that? What did I think I was going to do if I found it on my own? she thought bitterly.

  “Using both foreclaws, you’ll place a talon at each of the points of the star and turn it in the direction of the rising of Ryujin’s Blaze.”

  Kaito’s grunted. “Are you certain there’s no other way?”

  She turned back to him. His eyes were hard, his lips twisted in a grimace.

  With a sigh she said, “I’m certain. I can’t believe I didn’t remember it sooner, but Sire put an enchantment on it to ensure only a dragon could access it.”

  He nodded, though his grimace deepened. His flesh seemed to take on a green tinge.

  What does he have against being in dragon form? she wondered. Has he tried to abandon his draconic nature altogether?

  Kaito transformed slowly, with many false starts and sudden, jerky spurts. His limbs lengthened slowly, suddenly elongated in a rush, then slowed again. His fingernails grew, his skin hardened into scales, and his teeth grew long and pointed, all in similar fashion.

  It’s as though he hasn’t done this in a very long time, she thought.

  His head elongated and his torso expanded in all directions.

  After several moments of inconsistent change and growth, the transformation stabilized into a steady pace.

  Before long, the change quickened and his body grew at a phenomenal rate, ending with the sudden sprouting of his tail from the bottom of his spine.

  At last, when his length was a little more than a standard wingspan, his scales turned dull yellow, then brightened, then darkened again to a lusterless gold before they brightened again. And kept brightening, until they shone bright, lustrous gold in the waning light of Ryujin’s Blaze above.

  Where only minutes ago had been a tired, aging man with dark, wrinkled skin, there now stood a long, thin, sinuous dragon of metallic gold with horns of ivory and a long, angular fin running the length of his spine. Blinding red-gold light reflected from his metallic mane shone in her eyes, obliterating her sight.

  Dauria clenched her teeth against the pain in her eyes and slammed them shut. After a moment, she brought her hands up to shade her eyes and slowly opened them. With her hands held in place to shade her from the glare, her vision returned.

  Humans are such frail things, she thought.

  She glanced at the golden dragon again and her breath caught in her throat. His entire body appeared sculpted from a single, massive chunk of pure, polished gold. It took her a moment to find the breath to create sound.

  “Majestic,” she said in a breathy whisper.

  The golden dragon rolled its gold-within-bronze eyes at her and stepped up to the star-shaped lock above. He spent a few moments orienting himself to the star and situating his talons into its grooves.

  With an audible heave, he turned the lock three-quarters of a turn before it clicked. A slight rumble sounded beneath her feet and an entrance opened to the left of the keyhole. The rock wall seemed to rise up into the mountain itself, revealing a wide, deep tunnel.

  Kaito lowered an open claw to the rocky path and, without hesitation, Dauria stepped onto it. He lifter her up to the cave mouth, then followed after her, shrinking back to his human form.

  Dauria’s blood throbbed behind her eyes and thundered in her ears. This is it! I’m finally here! There has to be something here to get me out of this mess!

  The cave walls were every bit as smooth as she remembered, the floor just as clean. The rocky protrusions, stalactites, and stalagmites had all been removed eons earlier by the loving claws of Baalhalllu.

  With the giddy restlessness of extreme youth, she all-but-hopped her first steps into the perfect tunnel for the first time in centuries.

  At last, I am home, she thought.

  “What is that?” Kaito asked.

  “What?”

  “I feel something I can’t identify. It feels dark, yet bright. Energetic, yet lethargic. It doesn’t make sense.”

  “Strange,” Dauria said. “I don’t sense anything.”