Eona - Alison Goodman [141]
He crouched and carefully dug, clearing the sand away in two piles behind him. Cautiously, I crossed the short space and peered into the hole he had made.
“There,” he said. Something white poked up from the sand. “Help me get it out.”
“What is it?” I dropped to my knees and dug on the other side of the protrusion.
“Careful. It’s brittle.”
We dug down, clearing the cooler sand away. Finally, he gently withdrew a jagged white rod, as long as the stretch of my arms and encrusted with sand. It was no wider than my wrist, and hollow, like a length of bamboo.
“Listen.” He gently flicked his fingernail against the top, causing a sharp, ringing chink.
“That sounds like glass.”
“It is.” He held it out to me. “Glass lightning.” His head bent in a small bow. “A gift, Lady Dragoneye.”
He placed it in my outstretched hands. It was very light and delicate, the rough, sandy surface edged with long ridges. I turned it on end; inside, it was a lustrous milky color, with tiny bubbles caught in pools of translucent glass. I smiled at its beauty. And its promise of power.
“Can I make one of these, too?”
“Of course,” Ido said. “This is how I was taught to separate energy. Lightning is concentrated and has a definite form as it comes to earth, so it is easier to recognize and catch.”
“How do you do it?”
“It is always about balance. Lightning is hot energy, so you catch it with cold.” He flicked the captured lightning again, making the glass ring. “You will see when we are in the energy world. I’ll block the ten dragons while you practice.”
I flexed my hands. The desire to commune with my dragon and finally use my true power was overwhelming, but so was my mistrust of Ido. What if he did not hold back the other dragons?
“You don’t trust me,” he said. “It is written plain on your face.”
“Why should I?”
“True,” he said. “Never rely on trust. Rely on the fact that neither of us wants to lose our power. And we cannot save it without each other.”
“Mutual survival,” I whispered. It was my original pledge to Kygo. The echo brought an ache to my throat.
Ido’s keen eyes watched me. “Exactly.”
I placed the glass lightning on the sand between us. “Show me how to make one of these.”
“Take your sandals off and press your feet into the earth’s energy, as well as your hands,” Ido ordered. “Use the gateways.”
I settled opposite him and dug my soles and palms past the warmth of the top sand to the cooler depths.
Ido gave a nod of approval and did the same. “Wait until I have united with my dragon, then follow.” He gave a knowing half-smile. “I believe you can now feel that moment within me.”
I stared down at the sand, bristling at his snort of amusement.
His breathing smoothed into the rhythm of mind-sight as silver flooded his eyes again. Then, deep within my body, I felt his joy as he called the Rat Dragon.
My turn.
Trying to ignore the sensual link to him, I focused on my own pathways of Hua. The air I drew in was warm and salty, the acrid remnants from the lightning strike lingering at its edges. I held each breath in my Axis as Ido had taught me, the swell of energy slowly easing the tension in my body and opening the way into the celestial plane. Around me the beach shivered and folded into the streaming colors of the energy world: the surging silver of the water, the rainbow swirls of the earth and air, and the tiny specks of bright Hua that were the brief burn of circling flies.
“Good,” Ido said.
I watched the flow of Hua through the long meridians of his transparent body, spinning the seven points of power into dense vitality. Yet the dark gap still cut into the purple glow of his crown. Beyond him the villagers watched, their energy bodies bright against the dull backdrop of their cottages.
Above, the Rat Dragon circled the glory of my Mirror Dragon. The blue brilliance of his scales was like