Solar Dare [D.A.R.E. 6] Read online

  “Of course. All ten of us do. We are her guard for life.” He smiled and walked past her into the wardrobe.

  “Ten? We only saw five of you.”

  “There was no need to taunt those who had not been chosen as matches to the queen’s children. They will still come when she calls.” She watched him as he moved past her into the closet and selected clothing that mimicked hers.

  “First, breakfast and then practice.” He smiled and offered her his arm.

  With images of his broad, tattooed back flitting through her mind, she took his arm and let him lead her in to breakfast.

  Seeing his aura as hot as hers was also having an effect on her, but as she concentrated enough to drink a glass of juice and some more water, she decided that it was time to focus on the matter at hand.

  While Haringk cleared the dishes away, Denhar led her out onto a large patio that had a series of rugs hanging from a line on one side.

  Denhar smiled, “Those are your targets. Now, let me explain how to throw fire.”

  “Fire?”

  “Well, it is a concentrated pulse of radiation, so fire just seems easier.” Denhar released her arm and looked at the rugs. “I will demonstrate. Watch closely.”

  Denhar extended his right arm, opened his hand, revved his aura into a focus on his hand and released it in a burst. The ball of energy streaked across the patio until it struck one of the rugs, punching a neat hole in it.

  He grinned and nodded to her. “Now you. Concentrate your energy into your hand and then push it toward your target.”

  Solar settled on her heels and turned her body three-quarters of a turn to the target. She held up her hand and watched her aura flicker and twist, and she tried to increase her power.

  “Breathe deep, focus your power, increase the heat and let it go.” Denhar was sitting near her, watching closely.

  Solar jumped in surprise when the first ball of power rippled away from her hand. “I did it. Sort of.”

  She giggled as the ball of energy sparked and twisted on the ground near her feet. “Do I pick it up?”

  “Sure, if you want the shock of your life. Once the power separates from you, it is as painful to you as it is to your target.”

  Solar took a deep breath and grabbed the skittering ball. The searing agony that rippled up her arm knocked her to her knees.

  Denhar was at her side in a moment. “I told you not to do that.”

  “I needed to know what it was like. I needed to make sure that I could survive it.” She rubbed at the tingling skin of her hand and fought back to her feet.

  “Okay, time to try again.” Knowing how the ball felt clicked something inside her. Solar held out her hand, watched her aura build in intensity, but this time, she bent her hand and then thrust it forward to propel her power across the patio. The ball wobbled a bit but struck the nearest rug and punched a hole in it before setting it aflame.

  Slow, steady applause came from Denhar.

  “Wonderful. More power, more speed and you will have it.”

  Solar grinned. “I know.”

  She shifted to the left side and tried again. This time, the ball flew true and punched a simple hole in the fabric.

  “Again. Left or right, keep going until those rugs are tattered.”

  She grinned. “I will.”

  Left, right, left, right and both arms at the same time, Solar fired ball after ball. The sun climbed higher and her energy spiked. She had a strange, heavy sensation in her eyes, so she closed them and tried to send a beam out through her optical ports. It worked. She was able to stare a line of energy that cut one of the rugs from the hanger.

  She tried the same sort of feel with her hands, and she created a slicing blade that removed half of a rug. Solar had to get in closer to use it, but it was a definite option.

  Finally, Denhar called a halt for lunch.

  “Why am I getting stronger as the day goes by?”

  He grinned, “The sun calls to you and gives to you. Others are powered by starlight, celestial gasses, lunar shifts or other stellar events. You and yours are solar powered. The stars keep you from drawing on your personal energy, but you still can do this in the dark. You will then be drawing off stored energy and the power of your body. It is a considerable amount.”

  Chapter Six

  Solar practiced more after lunch. First, projecting and controlling the energy and then restraining it once again. By the end of the day, she was exhausted and the rugs she used for practice hung in smoking tatters. It was probably a good thing the structure was made of sandstone, otherwise she may have burned the place down with her efforts.

  “You did well,” Denhar said as they walked inside. It was strange knowing that she could control her energy. It was also strange to be able to feel the difference in temperature as they entered the gleaming castle.

  They sat at the shining sandstone table where Haringk served them some delectable fruit dish and more of the cool, sweet water that she had come to love. Solar had never had anything raw before. She’d always managed to burn almost anything before she brought it to her lips if she wasn’t wearing a containment suit, and even then, she always warmed it. That was why all of them had been so proud when they finally cooked a meal and managed to eat it without charring it beyond recognition.

  The fruit dish was cool against her lips, and she closed her eyes with a smile. Never had she tasted anything so cold or sweet before. It was a treat.

  One she planned to savour.

  “What will you teach me tomorrow?” she asked before spooning another bite of the lovely orange fruit into her mouth.

  “Nothing. You have learned how to control your energy quite well and faster than I did, I might add.”

  Denhar looked both proud and apprehensive when he took a bite of his fruit. He didn’t even bat an eyelash at the taste. What must it have been like to live without the encumbrances and dangers of his power for so long that he had begun to take such a wondrous thing for granted?

  She looked around at the room and frowned.

  She had wanted to see more of the castle, but if there was nothing more to learn, perhaps it was time she left. He did need to find his mate. Solar frowned at the strange feeling that thought left in her chest.

  “I do think it would be wise for you to practice what you have learned for a few days though. You must have complete control over your energies. You should stay here at least until controlling your energy has become second nature to you.” He took another bite, chewed it then swallowed.

  Solar tried not to stare as the thick muscles of his neck flexed.

  “It took nearly a year for me. I assume it shouldn’t take so long for you. You are a quick study and learning as an adult not a child.” Or perhaps it was just that she was more focussed than he had been at whatever age he was when he was trained. He had most likely grown up in a regular home, with parents and siblings who loved him.

  She, of course, had grown up in a laboratory doing physical and mental exercises for as long as she could remember. Discipline and control had always been a way of life for her and the rest of her set. Solar assumed that would build some form of mental as well as physical discipline.

  “A year?” she didn’t care how long she had to practice every day. She refused to inconvenience this man for a year, no matter what her mother told him. “Don’t worry. I will not be here practicing for a year. I promise you. I will learn control and then get out of your hair.”

  “I thought you might say something like that.” Solar looked down at her plate. Is that a look of relief or disappointment on his face? Solar assumed it should be relief. After all, the sooner she left, the sooner he could resume his search for a mate.

  She stabbed another piece of fruit that before had looked and smelled so appealing. Now, it just looked plain and unappetizing. She may as well be contemplating eating the sandstone floor.

  While the floor looked beautiful, Solar was sure it wouldn’t taste good at all.
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br />   Sighing, she took another bite. If she were to practice controlling the energy that seemed to literally roll of her in waves, she needed to keep up her strength. To do that, she would have to eat, even if her stomach felt like she’d swallowed several kilos of rocks.

  “What’s the matter?” Denhar asked then took another bite of his fruit. It was his last bite. His plate was empty, and Haringk stepped out from the wall and cleared it from the table.

  Solar pushed her plate away and nodded at the servant’s enquiring look.

  Haringk gathered it up with a shake of his head and carried it from the room.

  “Nothing. I guess I’m just tired.”

  “You should be. You pushed yourself much harder than I ever did when I first learned how to control the energy.” He shrugged. “I suppose the fact that I was less than seventeen seasons old could have had something to do with it was well.”

  He grinned. “Or it could be that you’re just better than I am.”

  “I doubt that.” Solar glowered at him. She assumed he wasn’t serious and fought the urge to zap him with her newly acquired laser vision just for his superciliousness. What was it about others, males particularly, that made them think it was acceptable to make others feel inferior?

  “What’s the matter,” he asked, his black eyes gleaming. “You look like you just ate a slug.” She sat up straight. “There is no need to poke fun at me, Denhar.” Solar held up her hand when he would have said something. “Just let me finish. I know I was brought up in an underground lab. You have no need to remind me that my life’s education is so lacking. I know I am not as good as you or others of our kind. You needn’t rub it in.” Solar closed her eyes and breathed deep. She needed to stay in control. She could feel her body’s heat growing, and she didn’t want to lose the tight grip she held on the heat she felt radiating from her. She never wanted to lose control of her energy again.

  “I never said I found you lacking. In fact, I find you most beautiful and intriguing.” Denhar drummed his fingers on the table. “I know how you have lived your life, how all of you have had to live your lives. Like you, your mother’s guards have a psychic bond with their queen. All of your lives, she had made us aware of your existence. It’s only been recently that your mother found that she could help you find your way to your own kind.”

  He reached out, lifted his glass of water and took a drink. “Have a drink yourself, Solar. I can see you’re beginning to heat up. You’ll need the water soon.”

  Slowly, Solar reached out to the glass. Her skin was pink, a definite sign that her powers were getting the best of her. Circling the glass with her fingers, it immediately began to sweat then steam before she could bring her energy to her will. It was warm. She wrinkled her nose. She so disliked drinking warm water, though she should be used to it, she supposed.

  Quick as a wink, Haringk appeared from the wall next to her, took the glass she held and set another glass on the table. “There you are, lady,” he said with a smile. “That water is fresh from our deepest underground spring. It is cold, very cold. Please, enjoy it.”

  With both her temper and her energies under her control, Solar lifted the glass to her lips and took a drink. She felt her eyes widen at the pure, sweet taste and the coldness of the liquid. If it had been a few degrees colder, she was certain that it would have been frozen solid.

  The water slid over her tongue, quenching her thirst that seemed to never leave her, and she set the glass down. She stared at the glass that she had drained more than halfway and sighed. How have I lived so long without knowing the simple pleasure of drinking a glass of cold water?

  “Do you see what I mean?” Denhar waved his hand toward the glass. “I, like the others, know how difficult it was for you to attempt to remain in command of your dominant talents around the humans. Even after all that their species did to you and yours, you had enough compassion to keep hold of your energies, staying in control though no one had ever trained you to do so.” He shook his head, his glossy black hair spilling over his shoulders. “I would never presume to ridicule you or any of your sisters, Solar. In fact, I admire you all more than you can imagine.” Something happened then. Solar wasn’t certain what it was. All she knew was that a strange pressure hurt her chest and her eyes burned in the same way they did when that one human smoked those horrible smelling cigarettes he carried.

  Solar closed her eyes for a minute. Perhaps a grain of sand had blown into her eyes to somehow make them hurt like that. Though, she was underground and didn’t see them, she knew that Denhar or his people had some type of air-circulation system. They had to breathe, after all.

  Whatever it was that that made her eyes burn so, it made her extremely uncomfortable.

  Lowering her gaze to the tabletop, Solar licked her lips. “I didn’t know you felt so strongly, Denhar.” How could she have known? She’d never been around others of her kind, with the exception of her sisters. They didn’t count since they had all been brought up the same way, in the same facility. Usually, what one knew, the others knew. She looked around. Now, everything would be different. They would be different. She only hoped they didn’t change enough to become like the humans with their way of being selfish and uncaring.

  Without knowing others of dragon kind, she could only assume everyone treated each other with the same lack of respect and disregard for personal feelings as the humans who kept them all these years.

  “I don’t doubt your abilities at all, Solar.” Denhar smiled. “How could I? You’re forgetting that I have met your parents.”

  “What do my parents have to do with it?” Other than giving her life, how could her parents have anything to do with how she had been trained ... or not?

  “Both of your parents have exceptional talent. Your father is the ruler of all dragons and your mother sees generations into the future. They are both extraordinary leaders.” He shrugged. “Why would you and your sisters be any different?” He sat back as Haringk appeared and set two more plates in front of them, whisked the crumbs away and disappeared through the wall once again. The servant’s way of moving through walls unnerved her, and Solar didn’t know if she would ever get used to that. She gave a mental shrug.

  What did it matter? She would leave here when her training was done. She need only endure the unnerving feelings for a little while longer and she would be on her way.

  Chapter Seven

  Her sheets crackled with static and the air around her bed was hot when she rose in the morning. An effort of will later and she was enjoying a nice, cool shower in the en suite bathroom.

  Wrapped in a towel, she exited the bath and found a strange armour breastplate with matching armbands and a stiff leather skirt on her bed.

  There was a strange icon on the breastplate but it made her smile.

  “It is your mother’s mark, the mark of her guard. I thought it would be appropriate for you to wear it one day. For now, something in hard leather will be a good choice for today. You are going to be attacked.” Denhar nodded and left the room.

  She blinked at the closed door and walked to the dressing room. Solar found a leather suit in a red so dark it was almost black and tugged it on over her freshly dried skin. There were bonuses to being able to heat one’s skin to dry off.

  Solar joined Denhar for breakfast and enjoyed waking up with the comfort of food prepared for her by a cheerful attendant instead of the surly folk at the lab. There was a difference in flavour when someone didn’t resent producing a meal.

  “What is on the agenda for today?” She focussed and managed to have some hot cereal and cold fruit. Everything was different when the food was not cooked as she swallowed.

  “Defense practice. Today, I am going on the attack and you will defend yourself.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “You will defend yourself. You can and do have the ability to use your energy as a shield. Yesterday, we projected your power. Today, you hold it out at a steady distance.” His smile he
ld a certain amount of anticipation.

  She shrugged. “You are the instructor. I will do as you say.”

  He frowned. “Aren’t you a little more enthusiastic about it today?”

  Solar smiled. “I am. I was practicing self-control.”

  Hiding emotions was not something that they had ever bothered with. Their set was away from the humans and alone with only themselves for company for the most part, and the humans they did see were wrapped in protective gear.

  Emotions were felt but rarely displayed and control of their talents was not necessary when no one knew that they could be controlled.

  He snorted. “Don’t scare me like that. You were just beginning to relax yesterday, and I believe that you were acknowledging that your talent could be controlled and you could enjoy it.” She cocked her head. “I believe that I was. Shall we test it on the defense matter?” He got to his feet and held out his hand.

  “Please. Let’s continue your lesson plan.” They left Denhar’s home and walked into the front courtyard.

  “Normally, this is done at a training centre and there are safeguards around, but I will try to take it easy on you.” He flexed his arms, and she admired the shift of his pectorals under the tight expanse of the leather vest that he was wearing today over snug trousers.

  Solar rolled her shoulders and flexed her muscles in preparation. “I am warned. How do we start?”

  He walked around and put his hands on her shoulders. “Can you feel the heat of my hands?” She concentrated at the peculiar sensation of physical contact. She had been touched more in the last two days than in all the years of her life.

  Denhar’s hands were humming with heat, and her body was feeling it in more places than her shoulders. “Yes, I can feel it.”

  “Now, gather your energy and slowly push me away.”

  Pushing him away was the last thing she wanted, but she tried. She gathered her power and felt it build inside her, but she couldn’t push his hands away. “It isn’t working.”