“Because like you, Ms. Price, I have the ability of a Royal Dragon Bind.” King Falliro’s demeanor was level, his presence utterly frank. “Or I once did, before I killed that body and re-birthed myself in ash and flame to be rid of the void-shadow creature that hunted me down night and day. And caused ruin wherever it went.”
CHAPTER 10 – SOLACE
Layla gaped at the Phoenix King Falliro Arini, knowing her mouth had fallen open; unable to close it. He had just professed to being a Royal Dragon Bind – in one of his past bodies, at least. As they watched each other, him sitting on her bed and Layla still propped up against the pillows, she suddenly realized why the Phoenix King had made a point to meet her at the Dragon party and had come here to her apartment now. He understood what Layla was going through. He understood the dangers and risks of what she was.
Because he had been one also.
“You were a Bind?”
“I was.” King Falliro nodded serenely, though his golden gaze was still piercing upon Layla. “Every time I regenerate, I have Royal Phoenix magic in one variation or another. But once, two thousand years ago, I regenerated into a new body that had very unique abilities. It happens sometimes as Phoenix magic matures, that our bodies do not have quite the same skills from life to life. And in that particular body, I acquired Bind magic. It was strong, highly unpredictable, and I made myself a fortress off the coast of Manarola at that time, to keep my magics from roaring out and binding all the strongest Dragons around me against their will.”
“Your Aviary.”
“Quite so.” He nodded his crested head with elegant precision. “It has been my stronghold ever since, but at that time, it was a refuge. A place I could go with my most trusted, to hone and experiment with my Bind powers. For, as you have been told already, a Bind’s magic develops from their experiences in life, and the flavor of their heart.”
“So you retreated there so your magic wouldn’t reach out and bind other Dragons?” Layla queried, fascinated.
“Indeed.” King Falliro’s gaze was intent upon her. “I have always enjoyed my freedom as a person, and my privacy, and both were severely challenged by having Bind magic. As you are experiencing already, it calls to others, reaching out to Bind strong Dragons long before either you or them realize it consciously. With the wrong people… such a bond can be disastrous.”
“Which was why you created your Aviary.”
“It was a place of solace.” He nodded with a secret smile. “A place I could go, already fortified with some of the strongest hiding-magics known in the entire Twilight Realm, a place used by others long before I discovered it. But when I found that it could stop my bind-magics from reaching out and bringing unwanted mates to my door, I disappeared for a while from my duties as King, entrusting the Lineage to one of my most accomplished Firsts at that time.”
“But you had to come out of hiding eventually,” Layla guessed.
“Eventually. But before that happened, I began to sense thevoid-shadowfollowing me. I was still in hiding at that time, untraceable even by the strongest trackers of the Intercessoria, but the void-shadow had somehow found me when all others failed. It surfaced in the streets of the village on the coast – and people died. It surfaced inside my stronghold, and a terrible case of betrayal took my dearest beloved and ten of my most loyal servants. It followed me when the Phoenix were summoned to war against the Seven Giants, when I came out of hiding to lead one of the most difficult campaigns of my battle career.”
“What happened?” Layla asked, riveted even though a terrible, dark sensation of fear had opened up inside her.
“Where the void-shadow went, slaughter followed.” King Arini eyed her pointedly. “I could not escape this predator, for it tracked me everywhere. And so I took my own life, regenerating in fire in the hopes that the next body would not have Bind magic. It didn’t. I have been safe from the void-shadow ever since, though I have felt it watch me from time to time, especially when I regenerate in a new body. And now I feel it here, stalking you like a hunter in the darkness. Out beyond where you can feel it or reach with your very young abilities.”
“What are you saying?” Layla breathed, horrified. “That I should kill myself?”
“No!” King Falliro gave a soft smile. Reaching out, his black-taloned hand clutched Layla’s reassuringly. “I am merely offering you wisdom, and a warning. You are a bright breath of air through my lungs, Ms. Price, and from the moment I saw you, I felt deep goodness in you. Scorch you may have within your scent, but there is also the brightness of citrus. Citrus is a happy scent; a flavor that brings joy. I would not see that joy darkened by the hunting of this void-shadow.”
“Did you ever discover a way to track it? To find this Royal Dragon?” Layla asked, needing to know. Something dark moved through her, knowing this thing was on her trail now, and her Dragon coiled up tight inside her; afraid.
“I did not. For how do you track a nothing? Like a devouring maw in my mind, I feel it only when it is close by, and it is gone so quickly it is impossible to locate.”
Rising with a sad smile, King Falliro moved from the bed. Layla frowned as he went to her side-bar. She thought he was going to pour them both drinks, but instead the Phoenix King lifted up the crystal decanter of bourbon, easing his fingers underneath and retrieving something from under the bottle. Layla blinked to see it was the cobalt feather he had given her at the party three nights ago – that Dusk had hidden it under her bourbon, the one place she was certain to find it since he couldn’t access her wall-safe.
Moving back to the bed, King Falliro set the feather in Layla’s palm, closing her fingers around it. He gave a soft smile, gazing down upon her. “Come to me when you wish, at my Aviary in Manarola. And I will tell you everything about my life with Bind magic. And we will sing songs of woe and joy until dawn.”
With those strange, archaic words, he departed, easing through the door and closing it softly behind himself. A last twitter of birdsong left with him, and Layla realized it had been in the air the entire time, as if she’d stood in a high-morning forest after a sweet rain. Her body felt strange now, jangled with the departure of the Phoenix King’s calming presence. Layla closed her hand on his feather, feeling a small hum of birdsong echo through her. Reclining back upon the pillows, she stared out the windows as Rikyava rose from her chair.
“Holy shit.” Rikyava breathed as she neared, settling to a seat at Layla’s bedside. From her wide lavender eyes and alert posture, Layla was certain the Guardswoman had heard the entire conversation. “Are you ok?”
“I don’t even know how to begin answering that.” Layla blinked, focusing on Rikyava. “Is this something you know about? Thisvoid-shadow?”
“No.” Rikyava shook her head, her blonde brows scowling. “And that’s averybig problem for Hotel security. If we have a Royal Dragon among us who is able to shift its visage so completely that we can’t even pick it up with our security systems… damn. I’ll need to speak to Dusk about that. He monitors the Orb of Cephalus for the Hotel.”
“The what?” Layla’s brows knit, not understanding.
“The big bad backup security system that can pick up on shadowy shit.” Rikyava gave her a wry smile. “Crystal Dragon-made. Not something you need to be concerned about. But believe me, I am going to look into this, deeply. If something is stalking you – maybe a ridiculously strong visage-shifting Royal Dragon, maybe a member of some ancient Lineage that’s not even on the books anywhere – then the Hotel has a very big problem. The safety of everyone at this establishment, including you, is my job and Dusk’s. And King Falliro’s words have me worried that something bad might happen if we can’t find this void-shadow. Soon.”
“Bad like my Dragon almost rising in the middle of a party bad?” Layla breathed.
“That was entirely Adrian’s fault.” Rikyava gave her a look with sympathy in it. “But I wonder… who told Adrian about your cuff? Who told him about the Hamsa Bind, the only artifact that could bind a Bind, and where to find it? Adrian’s clearly not mature enough to handle the way it coiled you two together. And you don’t know anything about your own magics yet… it’s practically a recipe for disaster, if you both can’t learn your shit, fast.”
