Onyx Dreams Ch. 20

Chapter 20: Past and Present

Isaac sat with Martha and worried. "He didn't take it well."

"He never takes things well. You should have told him before today," she scolded.

"I know, I know. I was afraid he'd do something cocky." He sighed and ran his fingers through his thinning hair.

"Well you'd better hope he doesn't go off and injure himself or someone. You know how he's prone to rages."

"I guess I'd better go find him." He reluctantly stood and went to find his son.

Cyrus, however, had not strayed far Isaac had taken no more than a few steps before the front door burst open and Cyrus stormed in.

His baleful expression showed he was in no mood for stalling or lying chitchat. "Why the HELL didn't you tell me this before now! You could've told me when I was fifteen! Hell you could've told me before I left for the monastery! At least then I would've had an EXCUSE to be miserable!" He could barely contain himself and pushed his father. The air hummed and brimmed with the power build up, one strong enough to cause some serious damage to the house if released. "And what else did you lie about? If you were really my father then why the hell didn't you help my mother? Why didn't you carry her to the hospital? Or steal a car to get there! Any REAL man would've done that!" He shoved Isaac again, unable to contain his anger anymore, his powers partially releasing at the same time, blasting Isaac across the room and sending him crashing down onto the wide kitchen table.

"Cyrus, no!" Martha shouted and started for him as Isaac struggled to free himself from the shattered table pieces.

He was already advancing on his father though, hands brimming with power and grabbed him by the lapels of his shirt, pushing him up against the wall. "Answer me! You murdered her didn't you? DIDN'T YOU!"

"I didn't kill your mother! They got to her before I could save her!" Isaac burst into tears. He was not ashamed to cry. His memories of that day were fresh on his mind as if it had just occurred. He remembered her psionic scream of terror and then the excruciating pain of her dying. They had injected her with a poison to kill her and their unborn son but Tera had always been strong. She had managed to give birth to Cyrus before dying. Her final gift to him. A true selfless act of love and one that had brought him pain every day.

Cyrus' anger skyrocketed a he heard these words. He slammed his father against the wall again, harder this time. "WHO? WHO KILLED HER?"

"Don't do this, my son! If you take revenge you will be just like them! I will not have blood on your hands!"

Martha fluttered about anxiously. Isaac shook his head frantically. He didn't want her injured if Cyrus completely lost it and let loose the full force of his powers.

Cyrus drove him harder against the wall, cracking the plaster. His muscles bulged and strained as he screamed at him. "God damnit tell me! Or I swear to the gods above I will beat the answer out of you!"

"That is enough!" Suddenly Martha's skin rippled and her hands and fingers turned into vines that whipped out and wrapped first around Cyrus's neck, choking him and then around his arms, effectively pulling him away from Isaac. The last set wrapped around his legs and jerked him off his feet sending him crashing to the floor.

As he hit the floor, struggling for breath, he dropped his restraint on his abilities. The resulting shockwave took Martha and Isaac off their feet. The force of the blast shattered crockery where it stood, cutlery was sent flying and embedded several inches into the walls.

Martha let out a hurt cry and lay unmoving where she had been thrown. Isaac surged to his feet, his whole body glowing. He held up one hand and a blast of energy slammed into Cyrus so hard it knocked the breath out of him, snapped his neck back and sent him into unconsciousness.

As darkness consumed him once more, the last thing Cyrus heard was the soft, deep laughter of the rage that had emerged within him. The demon on his shoulder was grinning; his target was progressing at superhuman rates. Soon justice would be served.

***

Katherine looked down at Cyrus and back up at the somber Isaac. She had felt rather than saw the battle and when her sapphire dragon, Julian, had told her Cyrus was in trouble she had run as fast as she could from the marsh but had been too late to stop it. So she had done what she could to help everyone. She had to give Martha a healing potion.

Cyrus was still unconscious. The demon was worming deeper in to his mind, its suggestions and words making more and more sense to Cyrus as he struggled toward wakefulness. His father had refused to tell him who had killed his mother. So obviously he was in on her murder. Well he would find out who had done it, and he would make them pay. They were all going to pay!

{Katherine, his thoughts are poison} Julian told her.

{He's just angry, J, we have to cut him some slack}

{No, my rider. You do not understand. The darkness is consuming him. I am amazed he even managed to find a dragon to tolerate his wild ways} Julian's tone was laced with disproval.

Katherine sighed. {Just keep monitoring. I'm almost done fixing the few injuries he sustained}

Isaac watched Katherine work and hoped it wouldn't be for nothing. Cyrus had never had this much rage before and he feared not only for his son's safety but for everyone living in the monastery with them. As much as he hated to do it, he was going to have to put Cyrus out.

Cyrus' eyes flickered open slowly, the light of room filling his vision and he groaned gently at the fading ache in his chest. The energy blast had packed a hard punch. Where the hell had his father gotten that from? He noticed Katherine by his side and wondered what she was doing. He cautiously sat up wincing a little and looked at his father and spoke coldly. "Tell me who killed my mother, father. Unlike you and everyone else in your fucking order, I am not a coward to the bone."

Katherine winced at his language and Isaac looked disturbed. "Do you think it will make you feel any better once they are dead?"

Cyrus' eyes gleamed with menace for a second and he smiled almost sweetly. "Who said anything about killing them? Where would be the pleasure of being the winner if the losers aren't alive to know they've lost..."

Isaac looked positively ill at his son's words. Katherine gasped in shock and stared at Cyrus in disbelief.

"Riders don't kill. It is not our way," she murmured in distress.

He turned to Katherine with a look of growing irritation. "As I said, who said anything about killing them?" He turned back to his father and slowly rose from the bed. "Now are you going to tell me or do I have to find out for myself? Trust me on this, the beliefs I have developed since you sent me to that god forsaken hell hole are severely different from the last time I was here."

Isaac closed his eyes. "You have to go three towns over to Lokmore. If you are bent on this course you must find the Blearney clan."

"They are the ones who poisoned my mother? The ones who tried to kill ME?"

He saw his father's look of puzzlement at the knowledge he hadn't told Cyrus. "You aren't the only one who saw that night father...an acquaintance of mine also did. And I'd like to know what you or someone else did that would prompt them to kill your unborn child." Cyrus was nose to nose with his father now, his gaze steely, holding no hint of anything but seriousness.

"It's the fact that you were even conceived! They wanted our family line to die out! Then they would be the next powerful ruling psionic clan. They care nothing about protecting those without abilities. They wish to rule. And so they tried to kill the remainder of this bloodline to insure that would happen." Isaac rubbed wearily at his eyes.

"I'm not surprised they don't care, after all you're all too busy beating the crap out of each other!" Cyrus glared at him again before continuing. "Thank you for informing me of those responsible. For their crimes they will be punished, the rules of dragon lore end here. Tonight. This matter has nothing to do with riders and hence lore does not apply. Tonight, justice will be delivered." He pushed past his father and headed out of the room.

"Cyrus, wait!" Katherine cried and hurried after him. She had to stop him. What he was going to do would destroy the bond to his dragon, wherever his dragon might be. This was all wrong!

He spun, glaring with icy coldness. "This has nothing to do with you! Lore does not apply here. Even if you attempt to apply it I am in the right! They attacked and killed the family of a rider. Justice will be served! I am right no matter what laws you apply, Rider!" Once more he spun back and disappeared in a blur of speed.

"Damnit Cyrus!" she swore as she ran from the house and climbed up on Julian who had landed and anxiously offered his leg to her to climb up. She slid into place and they were airborne.

{Do you see him?}

{Yes but barely. He is moving even faster than what dragons fly and though our eyesight is as sharp as an eagle, distance does play a factor} Julian reminded her as he changed course to keep up with the angry young man on the ground below.

Cyrus felt his anger rise and he pushed on harder and faster, the landscape being thrown back as he blasted past it, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. As he reached the clan, men, women and teenagers were taken off their feet. Only the young children were spared the onslaught that left hundreds battered and bruised. Within minutes, the carnage was over and he had the leader of the Blearney clan at his mercy. A blade pressed against his throat. "You are charged with the murder of Isabel Constantine, my mother and wife of the monk Isaac three towns over. How do you plead?"

Tom Blearney looked into Cyrus's eyes and laughed. "So you're the whelp of that little whore. There were rumors but nothing that could be proven."

The blade pressed harder against his flesh and Cyrus spoke with precise accuracy. "Take a moment to look around. Everyone over the age of 10 has had the living daylights beaten out of them with wounds and injuries that will not heal for several weeks, months and in some cases, years. Do you admit to your crimes?"

"I have nothing to hide. I slipped her the poison myself. She was promised to me but instead ran to your pathetic father and became his wife. She chose a coward over me, me, the greatest leader around. She came from a clan of no importance. She had no right to choose."

Cyrus' smirk widened a moment as he softly whispered. "Well guess what Mr. Murderer. Killing my mother comes with a high price. One you won't soon forget...since you seem so determined to end my family line. How about I do the same to you?" He became a blur once more. In seconds, Tom was hanging several stories above the cold hard ground. The only thing keeping him there was Cyrus' grip.

"I'm ready to die, young fool. Just remember if you kill me our allies will burn your father's monastery to the ground along with everyone inside. Then they will gut you open and leave you to die."

Cyrus' eyes were cold and when Tom looked in to them, flames were visible for a moment as Kaie entered his mind. When Cyrus spoke, it was in a voice dripping with revenge and oaths. "Trust me Tom, if ANYONE comes to my father on the war path...then their entire clan will turn to ashes in the face of the dragon who is bonded with me. Their bodies will be nothing more than charred remains, and I will insure she takes especially long with your pregnant daughters!" With that said and the fear instilled in Tom, Cyrus let go, watching him plummet.

From the skies came a bellow of challenge and Julian dropped low, snagged Tom with his claws, and turned around and flew to the clearing near the clan's lands and safely put the shaken leader down. With another bellow Julian flew back to the building where Cyrus stood.

"Cyrus, just what do you think you are doing?" Katherine demanded angrily as Julian hovered at eye level so that Katherine could speak to Cyrus.

He glared at Katherine and stood firm, the confidence of Kaie flowing through him, her powers rippling through him and intensifying his own. "Delivering justice since all of you are too cowardly or fucking moronic to do it yourselves! What kind of heartless retards let someone get away with MURDER!"

"Cyrus, as painful and as cold as this might sound, Mr. Blearney killed your mother before you ever became a dragon rider. The rules are clear. If your immediate family is harmed then action and retribution can be taken. You are trying to serve justice based on a past crime, not a present one. Thus you are in the wrong at this moment, not Mr. Blearney."

The bass blade almost instantly appeared in his hand, humming with previously unforeseen strength, his rage feeding in to it. "It matters not. He is STILL a MURDERER and MUST be served justice! If you cannot see that then you are as bad as he is and are ENDORSING his actions."

"No one is condoning his actions, Cyrus. You didn't even stop to ask if justice had been served. You assumed it had not and came here to destroy. Did you even ask Mr. Blearney what the penalty was for killing another man's wife?"

"I already told him so, and when I interviewed him about the subject he felt not a shred of regret for his actions. Punishments must cause regret, or else they are hardly punishments."

"Did you stop to consider that his callousness might be hiding true emotions just like you have done on occasion to hide your feelings from others?" she demanded, getting upset at his unreasonableness.

"When a razor sharp blade is pressed to your throat and you have an extremely angry son of the person you murdered holding it after just beating the life out of your entire village for their crimes against another clan then usually you are more concerned with being 100% honest."

"You know nothing of the ways of humans. You act like some raging beast and you expect people to treat you as if you were rational? To them you are a crazed man that needs to be committed. Of course any fearful person will tell you what you want to hear in order to live. Now I want you to stop this insanity and go home Cyrus. Just go home. If you are interested to know what Blearney lost then I will be more than happy to tell you about it. But if you are still bent on destruction and your version of the truth you won't like the consequences. You will lose everything that does matter to you," she warned before Julian turned and flew back to the monastery.

Cyrus' eyes narrowed and his face morphed into a snarl. Great, now people he didn't even WANT to know were trying to tell him what to do! What the hell was with this place? He knew nothing of the ways of humans? What the hell did she think she was instead of human? An alien from Mars?

His frustration and anger rose as he turned and glared down at Tom, calling out in a commanding voice. "What did you lose then Tom? Because right now you are lucky to have your life. You had better speak the truth."

Tom only glared at him. "The dragon council will hear about this unprovoked attack. Your father will pay for this insult!"

Cyrus was in front of him in a heartbeat, the bass blade pressed against Tom's crotch. "Need I remind you that the council has no say over my actions. Right here, right now it is you and I. If you want I can eradicate this entire village and make it look like a dragon delivered swift justice. Or you can tell me and I'll let you live."

"You would turn other clans against the great dragons themselves? You are a stupid child. I have nothing to say to you."

"On the contrary Tom, it would be my living word against your dead word that you tried to kill a rider. Looking at your current history of murder, deceit and general evil I'm pretty sure I'll be the one who they believe."

"Do as you will, dragon rider," he sneered.

"Fine...I will do worse than take you to the council. I will take you to human justice. Where you will spend the rest of your life locked in a six by eight cell with no window and only a bucket to shit in."

Cyrus swiftly planted his boot against Tom's head, knocking him unconscious before carrying him away.