Dragonswan.doc by Unknown Read Free Book Online Page A

Because we have human hearts, we have compassion and higher
    reasoning."
    "And the ones with animal hearts?"
    "They are called Katagaria, meaning miscreant or rogue. Because of their animal
    hearts, they lack human compassion and are ruled by their baser instincts. Like
    their human brethren, they hold the same psychic abilities and shape-shifting,
    time-bending powers, but not the self-control."
    That didn't sound good to her. "And the other people who were experimented on?
    Were there two of them, too?"
    "Yes. And we formed the basis of two societies: the Arcadians and the Katagaria.
    As with nature, like went with like, and we created groups or patrias based on our
    animals. Wolf lives with wolf, hawk with hawk, dragon with dragon. We use Greek
    terms to differentiate between them. Therefore dragon is drakos, wolf is lykos,
    etcetera."
    That made sense to her. "And all the while the Arcadians stayed with the Arcadians
    and Katagaria with Katagaria?"
    "For the most part, yes."
    "But I take it from the sound of your voice that no one lived happily-ever-after."
    "No. The Fates were furious that Lycaon dared thwart them. To punish him, they
    ordered him to kill the creature-based children. He refused. So, the gods cursed us
    all."
    "Cursed you how?"
    A tic started in his jaw, and she saw the deep-seated agony in his eyes. "For one
    thing, we don't hit puberty until our mid-twenties. Because it is delayed, when it
    hits, it hits us hard. Many of us are driven to madness, and if we don't find a way to
    control and channel our powers we can become Slayers."
    "I take it you don't mean the good vampire slayer kind of slayer that kills evil
    things."
    "No. These are creatures that are bent on absolute destruction. They kill without
    remorse and with total barbarism."
    "How awful," she breathed.
    He agreed. "Until puberty, our children are either human or animal, depending on
    the parents' base-forms."
    "Base-forms? What are those?"
    "Arcadians are human so their base-forms are human. The Katagaria have a
    base-form of whatever animal part they are related to. An Ursulan would be a bear,
    a Ger-akian would be a hawk."
    "A Drakos would be a dragon."
    He nodded. "A child has no powers at all, but with the onset of puberty, all the
    powers come in. We try to contain those who are going through it and teach them
    how to harness their powers. Most of the time we succeed as Arcadians, but with
    the Katagaria this isn't true. They encourage their children to destroy both humans
    and Arcadians."
    "Because we have vowed to stop them and their Slayers, they hate us and have
    sworn to kill us and our families. In short, we are at war with one another."
    Channon sat quietly as she absorbed that last bit. So that was the eternal struggle
    he'd mentioned yesterday. "Is that why you are here?"
    This time the anguish in his eyes was so severe that she winced from it. "No. I'm
    here because I made a promise."
    "About what?"
    He didn't answer, but she felt the rigidness return to his body. He was a man in
    pain, and she wondered why.
    But then she figured it out. "The Katagaria destroyed your family, didn't they?"
    "They took everything from me." The agony in his voice was so raw, so savage.
    Never in her life had she heard anything like it.
    Channon wanted to soothe him in a way she'd never
    wanted to soothe anyone else. She wished she could erase the past and return his
    family to him.
    Seeking to distract him, she went back to the prior topic. "If you're at war with each

other, do you have armies?"
    He shook his head. "Not really. We have Sentinels, who are stronger and faster
    than the rest of our species. They are the designated protectors of both man and
    were-kind."
    Reaching up, she touched his mask that covered the tattoo on his face. "Do all
    Arcadians have your markings?"
    Sebastian looked away. "No. Only Sentinels have them."
    She smiled at the knowledge. "You're a Sentinel."
    "I was a Sentinel."
    The stress on the past tense told her