Great Chief

by Lindsay Buroker

  Since people died every time a soul construct was created, Yanko hoped the same thing.

  “Do you mind if I look in your thoughts to see what you saw?” Yanko asked.

  “You can do that now?”

  Yanko nodded.

  “Thanks to our pirate mother?”

  “No, thanks to a book a prison mage wrote and gave me to show the Great Chief. If I’d managed to keep it throughout my journey, I might have actually been able to fulfill that promise.” Yanko vowed to send a letter to Senshoth if he ended up with the Great Chief’s ear at the end of all this. Maybe he could still facilitate the delivery of a book.

  “Go ahead, Yanko. I’m thinking of it now.”

  Yanko brushed his brother’s thoughts and saw the massive dragon, just as Falcon had described, like some creature out of a children’s book. No doubt it would gnaw on Yanko’s bones if he didn’t do his chores tonight.

  The dragon sat on its haunches in front of the gate, its head well above the twenty-foot-tall stone wall behind it. A single guard looked out from one of the two stone towers rising adjacent to the gate. Numerous other guard towers dotted the wall, but Falcon and his partner hadn’t been able to get close before dawn came to check them all or the two other gates into the capital.

  Yanko hadn’t realized the wall around the Great City was so tall. He hoped Dak had rope and a grappling hook in his pack. A few hundred homes scattered the open fields around the city, but the university, palace, access to the harbor, and essentially everything of value lay behind the walls. And the dragon.

  In Falcon’s thoughts, a red-robed figure with long gray hair swept up in a topknot strode into view atop the wall. He was tall and lean and carried a staff with a golden claw on the top. It seemed to glow in the weak morning light as he gazed down at the dragon and smiled.

  His creation?

  “I think that’s Luy Hano Sun Dragon,” Falcon said.

  “If that’s true, and he doesn’t fear walking openly on the wall, the Sun Dragon faction must have come out on top of the Swift Wolves.”

  “From information I was able to gather from people living outside the city walls, both factions are still inside and vying for the key buildings. The Wolves have the palace and the university. The Sun Dragons have the harbor, smelters, warehouses, and other key industrial facilities near the waterfront. If they now guard the entrances, things may have changed. It’s also possible the two factions declared a temporary truce to deal with our group.”

  “A lovely thought,” Yanko said.

  News, Yanko? Zirabo leaned out the carriage window.

  I think we’re going to have to fight as soon as we get to the city. Can I have permission to round up all the mages in our army? You’re going to want us to go in first. To deal with the dragon.

  Yanko grimaced as he volunteered himself for that. He didn’t want to hide under a carriage, but there was a part of him that found the idea of battling a dragon, magical or not, terrifying, and he couldn’t help but feel a stab of homesickness for his mountain valley and his old life. But he’d battled soul constructs, and he would battle this. It was his duty, and his elders had taught him never to shirk his duty.

  I see, was all Zirabo said, the words grim.

  The rain fell harder as Yanko and twenty other mages, most wearing regular silks instead of the robes that denoted their specialties, gazed down on the city, the main gate, and the dragon. A cloudy, misty twilight approached, but they had no trouble seeing its massive form, sitting on its haunches and regarding the fields and the highway. Did it know they were there? Sun Dragon surely did.

  The way the raindrops spattered on the dragon’s scaly hide was very realistic. As Yanko studied the creature with his senses, he detected a solid body, not an illusion. And that body radiated magical power with the same intensity that the sun radiated light. It almost hurt to look at it with his mind’s eye.

  Yanko knew the mages could help, but he wished Dak were still with him. He’d broken away from the army an hour earlier to cut across the fields, find an unguarded route, and slip into the city.

  Jhali stood a couple of paces back, regarding the dragon balefully. Yanko was glad to have her support, but he couldn’t imagine what throwing stars would do against this. They should have asked Dak to leave some of his explosives behind.

  “Shit,” someone said from Yanko’s side. A mind mage.

  What was a mind mage to do against a dragon? Yanko had already checked to see if the creature had an animal-like brain in its head, one they might be able to manipulate, but he didn’t get any sense of thoughts or intelligence. Like the soul constructs, it was a magical creation designed to do whatever duty it had been imbued with. Defending the gate and eating mages, most likely.

  “It’s not a soul construct,” someone else said. “I don’t sense any life, or former life, in it.”

  “No, it’s a sun dragon,” another mage said. “Right out of the legends. It seems the Sun Dragon line hasn’t forgotten how to conjure its namesake.”

  Yanko scratched his damp jaw and eyed the city wall, wondering if Luy Hano Sun Dragon was still out there.

  He also wondered if his mother’s fleet had arrived and if she had any thoughts on fighting dragons. He reached out with his senses but didn’t spot any of the pirate ships in the harbor yet. As odd as it seemed, the route had been faster across land, traveling on the well-built Great Highway, so it was possible Pey Lu’s fleet hadn’t yet arrived. It was also possible they were outside of his range, biding their time. Or they could have abandoned this mission.

  He grimaced at that thought.

  Pey Lu? he called out, throwing as much power as he knew how into his telepathic ability as he imagined her face in his mind.

  Yes, Yanko, came her dry response. I’m not far away. You needn’t shout.

  Sorry. I didn’t sense the ships.

  We’re ten miles from the city harbor, at Point Fallen Geese. Tell us when you’re ready for us to sail in, and we will. We didn’t want to tip off the enemy prematurely. There’s no way to hide your army, but they might not be expecting us.

  Good, thank you. In the meantime, do you have any tips on how to fight a dragon?

  A what?

  Yanko shared what he was looking at.

  “They say the sun dragons of old were impervious to fire,” one of the few mages who’d acquired a suitable robe—orange for fire—said. “They supposedly stomped armies into the dirt.”

  “Won’t it be fun to see if a new one can do that?” a weather mage asked.

  “Do we need to fight it?” Jhali asked. “The wall around the Great City has two other gates.”

  “I’m sure it can move to follow us,” someone said.

  General Kree Nu strode up with Zirabo.

  “We’ll try the south entrance with our main force.” The general pointed to the road leading around the city wall away from the highway. “While our mages distract the dragon.”

  The mages exchanged uneasy glances. Yanko nodded. He had expected no less. Kei had already abandoned the army, having sensed the dragon from miles away, and had flown toward the city to find some safe perch.

  “The south entrance will take us in closest to the palace,” Zirabo said. “We’ll make that our goal. Falcon said the Swift Wolves hold it—which happens to be the faction all of our troops have reason to loathe—so it makes an ideal starting point.”

  Huh, Pey Lu responded after a thoughtful moment. Did the Sun Dragons make it? They could never be bothered during the war. We all assumed they’d lost the knowledge.

  Apparently, they did not, Yanko replied. They’re impervious to fire?

  So the legends say. As far as I know, nobody has ever conjured one in my lifetime. I don’t know any more about how to fight it than you do. Though I’d love to try. I don’t suppose your forces want to wait for my fleet to arrive so I can come ashore and help battle it? I could be there by midnight.

  I’ll ask.

  Yanko imagine
d striding down to the gate and fighting side by side with his mother. Her power was likely greater than Sun Dragon’s, though Yanko didn’t know if it was greater than that of a dragon. He guessed Sun Dragon might have had the help of several allies or family members in creating it. Had they all channeled their energy into it to create something stronger than any single one of them?

  “Honored Prince?” Yanko asked. “General? Captain Pey Lu has volunteered to help with the dragon if we can wait until midnight. She—”

  “We can’t wait,” Jhali blurted, pointing.

  The dragon dropped to all fours and strode up the highway. It was coming to attack.

  “Mages,” Yanko said, “with me. General, we’ll do our best to distract it, but you had better hurry.”

  “Right.” Kree Nu hollered orders to the troops, telling the squad leaders to get their people to the south gate.

  Zirabo gave Yanko an encouraging pat before he joined the troops in veering off the highway.

  Yanko drew his scimitar and faced the approaching dragon. Jhali was the first one to step up to his side as the other mages hesitated uncertainly behind him.

  “You should stay with the main force,” Yanko whispered to her. “I’m positive your weapons won’t hurt it.”

  “I can still push you out of the way if need be,” she said.

  Yanko shook his head. He selfishly admitted he wanted her to stay, that he would always prefer to go into battle with her than without, but this wouldn’t be a fight she could participate in.

  Jhali looked at the other mages. A few of them also had bodyguards, bodyguards who were sticking with their mages. She firmed her chin and gazed determinedly into Yanko’s eyes.

  There wasn’t time to argue further. He touched her arm, then strode up the highway toward their scaled opponent.

  The other mages and their bodyguards hesitated, all exchanging nervous looks with each other. Yanko highly doubted he could do this alone.

  He put as much persuasion into his voice as he could and called over his shoulder, “Come with me. This is your chance to fight a legendary creature and be remembered forever for beating it. This is your chance to help an honorable man take the dais, not some power-hungry opportunist who cowardly imprisoned you because he was afraid of a fair fight.”

  The words worked better than he expected. All of the mages and their bodyguards shouted in agreement and strode after Yanko. The hundred closest troops did, too, parting from the rest of the formation as it marched off the highway.

  Yanko hadn’t meant to recruit them.

  He caught General Kree Nu giving him an exasperated glare. But Zirabo smiled and nodded at Yanko as they moved farther away.

  Then the dragon’s pace changed from an amble to a charge, and there was no more time to worry about divvying up the troops. They had to worry about surviving.

  Yanko tried using his strength first. He threw his energy into the highway in front of the dragon. He ripped open a huge fissure in the earth as their great enemy reached it. He shook the ground, thrusting portions upward, hoping the creature would stumble and fall in. Maybe if he made the hole deep enough, he could force boulders to break free and tumble in on top of their enemy. Could a dragon survive being buried alive?

  Cheers came from behind him as the earth ripped open. The dragon faltered as the ground fell away under its forelegs. Yanko tried to throw a gust of wind at it, but that didn’t affect it at all. He opened more of the earth, still hoping it would fall in and that he could bury it, but the dragon crouched low, and sprang. It unfurled its wings and flew into the sky.

  “Oh,” he mumbled, feeling stupid. “Wings, right.”

  An eerie screech echoed across the land as the dragon flew straight toward their group. The mages’ cheers fell silent.

  “Barriers!” Yanko called. “Combine forces to form one around all of us.”

  He had no idea what form of attack the dragon would use, but if they channeled their energy to create a single stronger shield, maybe physical and magical assaults would be deflected.

  He sensed the other mages adding their power to his, building a dome-shaped barrier between them and their approaching foe.

  Somewhere behind the clouds, the sun had fully set, leaving the land wreathed in its misty twilight, but a yellow glow emanated from the dragon. Its eyes lit with the same glow as it flew closer.

  Thick beams of light shot out of those eyes, startling Yanko. He almost dropped his barrier but managed to keep it up—thankfully. As soon as the twin beams struck, he felt the energy being drained from their collective shield. A nearby mage gasped and dropped to the ground as his knees buckled.

  Yanko gritted his teeth and reinforced the barrier. The beams raked jerkily over it as the dragon flew past, its flight more akin to that of a bumblebee than a bird.

  When it turned its head, the beams hit the highway at the edge of the barrier, and dirt and shattered cobblestone flew dozens of yards in all directions. Smoke wafted up, along with the scent of scorched earth.

  The dragon flew past the group of mages and troops. Yanko feared it would chase after the rest of the army, people less able to defend themselves from magical power, and he yelled into its mind.

  Back here, you cowardly beast!

  He didn’t think a magical creation would understand and answer him any more than a soul construct would have, but the dragon banked and headed back toward them. Good.

  But perhaps not according to his comrades. Several of them groaned. Others stepped forward and raised their arms to fling their own attacks.

  Lower the barrier and attack with whatever you have, Yanko ordered the group.

  Not surprisingly, fireballs were the favored attack. Five mages let them loose, and they lit the deepening twilight as they streaked toward the dragon.

  Only to dissipate before doing any damage. Yanko squinted, trying to tell if they had struck the creature’s scales and been absorbed or if some barrier protected it. If the latter, wouldn’t they have been deflected? That energy had to go somewhere….

  Yanko channeled one of his pinpoint gusts of wind at the creature, wondering if he could affect its flight. The creature’s wings didn’t so much as falter a single beat. As with the fireballs, the air—or the energy manipulating it—seemed to be absorbed.

  Do not tease my dragon, young mageling, an unfamiliar voice spoke into Yanko’s mind.

  Your dragon? Yanko replied, though he was careful not to let himself be distracted. Thinking of his luck with the soul construct, he scoured the area for some boulder or chunk of earth he could hurl at the dragon. You’re the one who made it?

  My kin and I. Did you not think a Sun Dragon could make a sun dragon? Laughter echoed in Yanko’s mind.

  Lovely. Yanko had no trouble believing this was some sibling or cousin of the pompous Jaikon Sun Dragon.

  The dragon screeched, and there was no time to answer his taunter—not that he cared to. The creature’s eyes glowed again.

  “Barrier!” Yanko cried.

  They got it up an instant before twin beams lanced out, striking it. Yanko gasped, almost overwhelmed himself this time. The beams were even stronger than before, and he felt their barrier wavering. Three more mages dropped to their hands and knees.

  Yanko rearranged the shield so that it was thicker and stronger overhead. They could conserve power by letting the sides go. Since the dragon’s beams had all lanced down from above so far, it seemed safe.

  Some of the power streaming down on them seemed oddly familiar, and Yanko tried to examine it on a microscopic level even as he poured more of his energy into the barrier. Energy eerily similar in signature to what the dragon was hurling at him. The realization struck him like a gong.

  “No more attacks!” Yanko yelled as the dragon’s path took it past them again and some of the mages took their energy from the barrier to ready more fireballs. “It’s taking in our energy and using it against us.”

  “Then how do we fight it?” someone shoute
d as the dragon banked to head toward them again.

  You do not, the smug voice of this new Sun Dragon spoke into Yanko’s mind. Luy Hano? It had to be.

  Yanko lashed out in annoyance, trying to throw a mental attack at the mage. He could tell from the telepathic contact that Sun Dragon was on the far side of the city from him and doubted he had the range to do anything, but he sensed a satisfying gasp of pain from the other man. Immediately, the mage raised his barriers, and Yanko couldn’t sense anything further from Sun Dragon. He doubted he would get through with a second attack, but he’d at least stung the cocky mage a little.

  The dragon’s eyes glowed, and Yanko shouted, “Barrier!” again.

  Once again, beams shot out of its eyes and gouged their shield with more intense power than any one man could have summoned. Still, Yanko was able to analyze it and determine that it wasn’t stronger on this pass than it had been on the last. If anything, it seemed a little weaker. Had the dragon used some of the energy it had absorbed from them? If they could force it to use all of its energy, would it have nothing left with which to attack?

  Yanko wasn’t quite sure how to do that since he feared he and his mage allies would run out of energy before the creature did.

  As its flight took it past them, scorching a chunk of earth on the way, Yanko searched again for a boulder or something else he could use as a projectile. A mossy log lay on its side near the highway. Not the two-ton boulder he would have wished, but maybe it was a good test object. He didn’t know if this would add to the dragon’s power or be deflected and do nothing.

  A gunshot fired in the distance.

  “At least the rest of the troops have reached the south gate,” a mage growled, pushing himself to his feet.

  “But are they going to get in? What if all of the enemy’s human troops are there waiting?”

  An ear-splitting boom erupted from the city in the direction of that south gate. Yanko couldn’t see what effect it had—blowing a hole in the wall, maybe?—but he smiled tightly, certain Dak had been responsible.

  Thank you, my friend, he thought as he levitated the log into the air. Weathered bits of wood and bark fell off his impromptu weapon. It was soggy from too many years in the elements, so he couldn’t turn it into a decent spear, but as the dragon turned to attack them again, he channeled his energy into hurling it.