Eona - Alison Goodman [139]
“You say that, even after I used those pathways?”
“You did what you had to do, Eona. Just as I did,” he said. “This time, however, I lost, and now Dillon and the black folio are coming. Although we are not ready for them.”
I refused the bait. “Is he near?”
“No. It will take him a while to reach us.”
“How will he follow us over water?”
Ido shrugged. “The black folio will find a way. If there is no boat, the boy will track us along the coast.” He squinted up at the thick, dark clouds. “Our power is diminishing, I am sure of it. ” My shift of alarm brought his eyes back to me. “Do not panic—it is diminishing slowly, not draining away,” he added. “Still, we need to find a way to contain the ten dragons so you can use all the power that you have before Dillon arrives. Then we can both hold him off and get the black folio. It is ironic that once we have the book, you will have no problem with the other dragons—the black folio seems to repel them.”
“Very ironic,” I said dryly. “You really think Dillon will be that strong?”
Ido nodded. “By the time we meet him again, he will be completely taken over by the black folio. I can already feel its presence through the Rat Dragon.”
I shivered, remembering the acid reach of its words. “What is it? What makes it so powerful?”
“Someone wove pure Gan Hua into its pages to protect the secret of the String of Pearls and the way to take all of the dragon power,” he said. “Only a very strong Dragoneye can read the folio without their mind being burned into madness.” He looked at me from under hooded lids. “And only two ascendant Dragoneyes could ever have the combined strength to take all of the dragon power and wield it.”
I leaned forward. “You’ve read the whole folio.”
He bent to meet me. “Then I must be mad or very strong.”
“Most would say you are mad.”
“What do you say, Eona?”
“I think you are very strong, Ido.”
His eyes flickered. “Since when am I just ‘Ido,’ Eona? Since you showed me your true strength? Or since you called my body to yours?”
Abruptly, I pulled back. “How is the String of Pearls made, Lord Ido?”
He followed my retreat until his lips were a breath away from mine. “Nothing is free, Lady Eona,” he said softly. “Especially not that kind of information.”
I licked my lips, my heart quickening.
He laughed and leaned back. “I was thinking more along the lines of an information trade.”
“What kind of information?” I snapped.
“Our bargain was that I would train you, and you would tell me what was in the red folio.”
“I told you about the portent. There is not much else to know.”
“Surely you know who wrote the folio?”
I was loath to tell him, but I needed to know more about the String of Pearls. “It is the journal of my ancestress, Kinra.”
He seemed genuinely taken aback. “The Blossom Woman?”
“No,” I said, shaking my head slowly. “The Ascendant Mirror Dragoneye.”
“Ah.” He smoothed back his ragged hair, eyes fixed on the sand in thought. “Now I understand. As Rat Dragoneye, I hold Lord Somo’s records—or what is left of them—and she is mentioned in them. Often.” He turned his attention back to me with a sly smile. “They were lovers.”
“Ancient history.” I shrugged, hoping he could not see the flush of heat that prickled across my skin. “So, how is the String of Pearls made?”
With his forefinger, he drew in the sand between us: twelve small circles, one slightly larger than the others, connected to create one big circle. “Look familiar?” he asked.
“That’s on the front of the black folio. The symbol for the String of Pearls.”
“It is more than a symbol. It is a representation of the weapon. The dragons form a circle and release the pearls from beneath their chins, so each pearl touches the next. Once they have done so, the combined power is collected into all twelve pearls. As soon as that occurs, the power must be contained or it will destroy everything.” He looked up. “The old scrolls sometimes call it the Necklace of the Gods. More poetic, I think, than the String of Pearls.”
“What happens to the dragons?”
“Once the beasts are