Light Dragons 03 - Sparks Fly

him.
    “Why should I do so?” he asked.
    “You’re his father!” I screamed, tears washing my cheeks, the pain inside me so great it almost brought me to my knees.
    “I am the all-father.”
    “But he’s your son. Your last son.”
    “I did not resurrect my other sons when they died,” the First Dragon said.
    “You have to bring him back because I love him.” My voice was mostly a wail now, one painful to hear.
    “Some of my other sons, too, had mates who loved them.”
    “But this is different,” I gave in, sinking to my knees. “I can’t go on without him.”
    “You are willing to die, as well? What of your child? Are you willing to leave him behind in your desire to quit the mortal world?”
    I thought of Brom, the best part of me, my adorable, quirky child, and my heart contracted even more. “No. I can’t leave Brom. I can’t leave ... no. I’m not willing to die. But if I have to live without Baltic, my heart will be dead. My soul will be dead. I will continue on because I must, and I will love and cherish those dear to me, but I will not truly live. I will just ... be.”
    He said nothing. I had to try to reach him. I had to try to make him understand. “You have to bring him back. He’s the last of your children.”
    “All here are my children,” he said gently, waving a hand at the people collected. “Even you. Even the child growing inside you.”
    “Whoa!” Jim said, squinting at my midsection. “You’re preggers?”
    I put my hand protectively over my belly. “How do you know about that? I haven’t even told Baltic.”
    He just looked at me with those wise eyes, and an emotion boiled up within me until I knew it would spill out like acid.
    “I hate you,” I snarled, getting to my feet, ignoring the distressed murmurs of everyone present. “You are an abomination. You call yourself the ancestor of everyone, but you don’t want the responsibility that goes along with that. I am ashamed to know that my child will bear your blood.”
    “Ysolde,” May warned, her voice filled with shock. “Think of what you’re saying. Think of whom you’re saying it to.”
    “I don’t care,” I answered, never taking my eyes from the First Dragon. “If you won’t resurrect Baltic, then I will scour the world to find a necromancer who will. I don’t care how long it takes, or how much it costs, or what I have to sacrifice to do it, I will bring him back. And when he is safe in my arms, then you will know my full wrath.”
    He tipped his head to the side as he considered me. “You think to threaten me, daughter of light?”
    “Yes,” I said evenly, letting him see the soul-deep intention in my eyes. “I am threatening you.”
    “Oh, Ysolde, I really don’t think that’s wise,” Aisling said, starting toward me. She stopped when May put out a hand.
    “No one has ever threatened me,” the First Dragon said meditatively. His gaze sharpened. “What would you give to return Baltic to your side? Would you give your son’s life?”
    “No!”
    “That of your unborn child?”
    “Never.” I thought for a moment I would vomit, so sickened was I, but I managed to quell my emotions enough to speak. “You’re truly a monster, aren’t you? Are we all just a game to you? Something to amuse yourself with whenever you’re bored? You reprehensible, disgusting, vile-”
    He held up a hand, stopping me. “You would not give your own life, and you would not give your child’s life. What, then, do you have to offer me?”
    I stared at him, absolutely flabbergasted. “You’re ... bargaining? You’re trying to cut a deal with me to resurrect Baltic?”
    “I am asking what you would give to have him returned to life.” He was silent for a moment. “I did not ask you what you would give before, when I had him brought back. Now, I do so.”
    “Before?” I shook my head. “You didn’t resurrect him. Thala did.”
    I swear I saw a twinkle of enjoyment in his fathomless eyes. It just made me want to scream and rip his head off. “Baltic is my son. Even the most gifted of necromancers could not resurrect him without my guidance.”
    I stumbled forward, tears once again filling my eyes as I knelt before the First Dragon. “Then do so again. Please. I will give you whatever you want, so far as I can. I love him with every ounce of my being, and I swear before everyone here that whatever you want, you will have.”
    “I’ve heard those words from you before,” he said, half