‘‘Two? Why two?’’

‘‘The first dragon formed the blue sept. He kept a shard for himself, and one for his sept, given to the wyvern he chose.’’

‘‘Is he still around? The first dragon, I mean?’’ I asked, wondering if there was some connection between him and the mysterious Baltic, who may or may not be pulling the strings for everything going on.

‘‘No,’’ Gabriel said. ‘‘No one is certain he ever truly existed. He is more myth than reality.’’

‘‘He existed. He still exists, in all dragonkin,’’ Kaawa said with calm assurance.

‘‘So the shards were divided up. How did this Ysolde person end up having one?’’ I asked.

‘‘Ysolde was mated to the black dragon Baltic but was claimed by Constantine Norka as his mate. There is some confusion as to which wyvern she accepted— her diaries for that time are missing. But we do know that she was torn up by the Endless War, and determined to bring about its end before more dragons died at the hands of the two men who fought over her. She somehow acquired the shard of the first dragon, and used it along with the shards of Baltic and Constantine in an attempt to bind together the other shards. It didn’t work, of course—the dragon heart has a mind of its own, and it did not wish to be used in such a manner—and in the process, the phylactery which held the first dragon’s shard was destroyed, and it claimed her as its vessel.’’

‘‘What happened to Ysolde?’’ I asked. ‘‘I’ve heard her name mentioned before. Is she still alive?’’

Kaawa was silent for a moment, absently stirring the fire with a long stick. ‘‘She disappeared when Baltic was killed by his heir. Some said that was proof she was truly his mate, but there is some evidence that she survived his death, remaining hidden. Nothing was heard from her after Constantine Norka was killed by an avalanche, however, so it could be that she was really his mate. It’s likely we’ll never know.’’

‘‘And was the shard destroyed with her?’’

‘‘No. She successfully decanted it into another vessel.’’ She raised her eyebrows as she looked over at Gabriel. ‘‘You will have to find the other shards, child.’’

He nodded. ‘‘I know where they are.’’

‘‘Why do we have to find the other shards?’’ I asked, confused.

‘‘The shard that resides within each vessel cannot be separated from it unless the vessel itself is destroyed.’’

‘‘Urgh,’’ I said, not liking the sound of that.

‘‘Exactly,’’ she said, nodding. ‘‘It can be formed into the dragon heart, however, and then resharded into appropriate vessels. That is how Ysolde eventually decanted her shard—she brought together the shards, re-formed the heart, then separated the pieces again into their current phylacteries. Current with the obvious exception of you.’’

‘‘I thought you said that when she tried to bring the pieces together the heart objected and the phylactery was destroyed,’’ I said, more confused than ever.

‘‘That was the first time, when she tried to use the heart for her own purposes. The dragon heart is immensely powerful,’’ she answered, her dark eyes serious as she considered me. ‘‘It has the ability to destroy entire septs, child, possibly the entire weyr itself. The shards themselves contain much power, but they are nothing compared to the sum total. To wield such a thing is beyond most beings, dragon or otherwise. Ysolde meant well, but she did not have the ability to control the heart, and it recognized that fact, causing the first failure. But when she sought to re-form it for the purpose of ensuring the safety of all the shards—for by that time, the weyr was in disarray, with many septs close to complete annihilation—it allowed her to do so.’’

‘‘So you’re saying we need to repeat that? To bring together all the shards, re-form the dragon heart, then break it back up again into the individual shards and put them in nonhuman vessels?’’

‘‘It is the only way to separate the shard from your being,’’ she said, nodding.

I glanced at Gabriel, filled with hopeless dismay. ‘‘How am I supposed to do that? Ysolde was a dragon, wasn’t she? Is this dragon heart going to allow me to re-form it when I’m only your mate?’’

‘‘We have to try, Mayling,’’ he answered, his jaw tightening.

I nodded but said nothing. There was nothing else to say—either we succeeded in re-forming the dragon heart and separating it back into shards, or I’d be stuck being a vessel for the remainder of my days. There was Magoth to think about—he hadn’t been able to access any of my abilities thus far, but who knew whether the dragon shard would be accessible by him? I couldn’t risk giving him any more power than he had.

Given Magoth and the number of dragons out there who would literally kill to gain power over others, there was simply no other option.

Chapter Thirteen

‘‘Gabriel is nervous,’’ Maata said out of the blue the following day.

I stopped pacing back and forth across the small room to which we’d been shown. Outside the room, thousands of people passed through the Auckland airport, but inside it, noise was muffled to the point of being almost inaudible, as was the conversation I could see Gabriel holding with a couple of customs officials, one of whom had reservations about my (admittedly hastily forged) passport.

‘‘I don’t blame him. I wish he’d just let me shadow to get through customs. There’s going to be hell to pay if they discover the passport isn’t genuine.’’

She smiled. Maata didn’t often smile, and it made me wonder how she came about being one of Gabriel’s elite guards. She was a pretty woman, her appearance reflecting more Polynesian influence than Aboriginal, and that stirred up even more curiosity about the woman who would literally give her life for her wyvern. ‘‘You think he’s worried about mortals? He’s dealt with much worse, I can tell you. He’s worried you won’t like his home.’’

I gave her a puzzled look. ‘‘Why on earth would he think I wouldn’t like it?’’

‘‘He’s worried you’ll compare it to Drake’s homes and find it lacking . . . find him lacking.’’