Light Dragons 02 - The Unbearable Lightness of Dragons

Baltic, and you have committed acts that I may not have liked, but you’ve never been power-mad. So why did you want the dragon heart?”
    “To re-form it is to summon the First Dragon,” he answered.
    “You wanted to talk to him?” I searched his face for answers, but as usual, there were none there. Baltic was at his most dragon, his eyes glittering with a light that wasn’t human. “But . . . why?”
    “Always you ask why, but the answer is ever before you,” he said, shaking his head with mock exasperation. He lifted my hand and kissed my fingers.
    “It was me,” I said softly, reading the truth in the depths of his mysterious eyes. “You wanted to ask the First Dragon to bring me back. That’s why you tried to kidnap May. And attacked the sárkány . You were going after the shards, one by one, systematically forcing the wyverns into situations where they would have to hand over the shards. That’s why you were helping Fiat, isn’t it? Aisling said he held two shards. It all makes sense now. But, oh, Baltic, no wonder everyone thought you were mad. It was a crazy plan!”
    “The promise of having you back was worth any sacrifice,” he said simply.
    “Not that of innocent dragons. Could you have stopped Fiat from killing his own people?”
    He was silent for a minute, brushing a strand of hair from my cheek. “I don’t know. I didn’t think he would go through with his plans. I thought . . .”
    “What?” I prompted.
    He hesitated. “I thought his plans too mad to be successful. I still think they were.”
    Thala shouted for him, asking for his help to move a heavy rock. He gave my hand a squeeze, then climbed up to heave the boulder out of the way.
    I thought about what he didn’t say—that Fiat’s plans couldn’t have been successful . . . not without help. Not unless someone else was involved, someone like the leader of a band of outlaw dragons. I looked at my watch. I had just an hour before I was supposed to meet with Maura back in Riga.
    “I’m going to look around a bit,” I called to Baltic, waving a hand vaguely to indicate the trees. “It’s fascinating seeing Dauva as it was, even if it’s not real.”
    “There is nothing to see out there but Constantine’s army.” Baltic climbed down and took my hand again, leading me past a fallen tree to where a ghostly tower thrust up out of the earth. The light shifted back and forth across the bushes and leaves, to solid stone and mortar, faint, distant noises reaching us as the castle’s few remaining occupants ran about preparing for the siege that would destroy most, if not all, of them. “Thala will be busy for some time unmaking the magic. We will go into the tunnels and watch as I battle Kostya.”
    “I’ve already seen you die, thank you.” I pulled my hand from his. “And I don’t want to see it again.”
    “That was only the end. We fought the traitors for almost a day before Kostya struck me down. You will enjoy watching me fight him. I did not wear heavy armor then, just a cuirass, but you always enjoyed seeing me wield a sword.”
    “I’m sure you were beyond manly with a sword, but I think I’ll pass on the sight of you and Kostya hacking away at each other. I know how it ends, and honestly, I don’t think I could witness that again.”
    “You control the vision, chérie , not me.”
    “On the contrary, I don’t control it at all. It runs like a movie in front of me.” A thought occurred to me. If this was, in fact, the fall of Dauva, then I might be able to see if Constantine was killed here as well. It would make summoning his spirit a hundred times easier if I knew where to find it. “I’m just going to look around for a bit, if you don’t mind.”
    “As you like. But it will only upset you if you see Constantine strike you down again.”
    “I don’t intend to watch that, but I wouldn’t mind seeing where he died.”
    “That would be satisfying. You will mark the place and I will dance on it later.”
    I laughed at him, seeing the twitch of his lips that let me know he was teasing me.
    “You think I am not serious?”
    “I think you’re pulling my leg, yes. You have no reason to dance on Constantine’s grave, assuming I find it.”
    “I have many reasons, but I will not go into them now. I am more concerned as to why you are so determined to find where he fell.”
    “My little job for the First Dragon, remember?”
    Baltic made a face. “You take that too much to heart. Do not go