“Actually, Serpol and I have been discussing the friendship spell,” Tavarian said. “I’ve made a few tweaks to it, and I believe we can successfully implement it now that the old bond has been dissolved. The friendship bond will allow dragons and riders to communicate over distances and sense one another’s location, but our lifespans will no longer be connected.”
Excitement rippled through the dragons at this prospect. “Can we do it now?” Kiethara, Halldor’s dragon, asked eagerly. The sound of her sassy voice in my head, which sounded like an older version of Lessie’s, made me smile.
“No,” Serpol said. “Both parties must be present and consent, and besides, neither Tavarian or I have the energy right now.”
The rain finally started to let up, and Ykos rejoined us. “What did you do with Salcombe?” I asked him. He’d been gone longer than I thought.
“I dropped his body in a gorge, then stacked a few boulders on top of him for good measure,” Ykos said. “Trust me, Zara, he’s dead.”
"Good." A powerful wave of relief swept through me. "What about Reichstein's body? We need to bring it to Dragon's Table, show the others that their leader has been defeated."
“It’s still in the same spot he fell in,” Muza confirmed. It was so odd to hear his rumbling voice in my head, since I was only able to communicate with him via Lessie or Tavarian before. He twisted his long neck toward the horizon, which was starting to lighten. “We should deliver it now.”
“We don’t all need to be there for that,” Kiethara pointed out. “What do you want the rest of us to do, Zara?”
I considered the options. “You guys were in the middle of attacking a munitions depot,” I said to Ykos and Kiethara. “Was the mission successful?”
“Yes,” Ykos said, “but Rhia and Halldor are probably worried sick. We were camping out when we heard the dragon god’s call, and we left them behind.”
Dragon’s balls. “You should go retrieve them, then, and bring them back to Zuar City. The rest of you will join Muza. He and Lessie were going to carry out a similar attack on the base outside Zuar City.”
Decided, Tavarian and I rode Serpol and Lessie to Dragon's Table. Dawn's rays were spreading over the horizon, so Serpol used his magic to shield us from view while Lessie carried the autocrator's body in her claws. We swooped over the city's main square, just outside the capitol building, and dropped the autocrator's body. Only a few people were milling about—street cleaners and vendors starting their day, and the guards who had not yet been relieved of the night shift—but they all rushed toward the corpse, which to them would have come out of nowhere.
Satisfied that news of the autocrator’s death would spread quickly, we banked right, heading for the military encampment outside the city. An alarm blared as the sentries spotted us, but Serpol activated his shields again, protecting us from the shrapnel cannons.
The other dragons, seeing that the coast was clear, joined us as we attacked the camp’s defenses. We focused on melting down the cannons, and had nearly gotten all of them when Serpol’s magic finally failed.
“Get out of here!” Kiethara ordered as four of the dragons closed ranks, shielding Serpol and Lessie. The soldiers had switched to shorter range weapons, shooting at the dragons with their rifles and tossing spears at them. “We can handle this!”
“Are you sure?” I asked, but I knew it was true. A few of the spears had found their marks, tearing through dragon wings, but this only served to make the dragons even angrier, and they retaliated by spewing fire at their assailants. The rifle bullets themselves were of no consequence—the ones that did manage to strike bounced harmlessly off dragon hide.
Plus, I was so tired it was taking every ounce of effort just to stay astride Lessie.
Even without our bond, Lessie seemed to sense my exhaustion. Without another word, she and Serpol banked left, taking Tavarian and me back to the Underground Palace. As we flew past Zuar City again, I caught a glimpse of rebels and soldiers fighting in the streets, no doubt encouraged by the dragon attack. I should have felt happy that the citizens were finally rising up against the enemy, but I could only worry about how my friends were faring. I hoped Carina and all my other friends had barricaded themselves somewhere safe. At least the orphans had been safely evacuated and were far away.
“Maybe we should go down there and try to rescue them—” I started.
“Not a chance,” Lessie said. “In your state, Zara, you’ll just get yourself killed. Carina would be furious.”
I sighed, knowing she was right, and leaned my head against Lessie’s warm scales, my eyes sliding closed. When I opened them again, I was back in the underground palace, snuggled up with Tavarian and the dragons. A fire crackled peacefully a few feet away, casting a warm glow over Tavarian’s sleeping face, and I brushed my hand against his cheek before falling back asleep.
I didn’t know how long I was out, but I woke to the sensation of Lessie nuzzling the top of my head. "Get up, sleepyhead," she said, a whuff of warm breath ruffling my hair. “Serpol is ready to do the spell.”
“Huh?” I lifted my head, still groggy. “What spell?”
“The friendship binding,” Serpol said. He was curled up a few feet away, his bronze scales rippling in the firelight. That the fire was the only source of light told me it must be nightfall—had I slept all day? “I am refreshed, so I can do it on the two of you now. And if it is successful I can repeat it with the other dragons and riders, if they so wish to be bound.”
“Wow. Okay.” I pushed myself up into a sitting position to face Serpol properly. Tavarian sat up too, and threaded his fingers with mine in a silent show of support. “Umm, what do we need to do?”
“Let us return to the surface.” Serpol lumbered to his feet. “This is best done in the open air, and under the light of the moon.”
The dragons helped us out of the Underground Palace, and Lessie and I stood together in the center of a large clearing, while Tavarian waited off to the side. A crisp, cold wind whipped through the clearing, and I took a deep breath of the fresh air as I lifted my face toward the full moon.
“Since you no longer have the original bond, a blood exchange is required,” Serpol told us. “Are you both okay with this?”
I glanced up at Lessie. “Of course I am,” she said, thrashing her tail impatiently. “Just tell us what we need to do!”
Serpol gave us instructions, and I used my dragon blade to make a small cut in my palm. Lessie presented one of her right claws to me, upturned, and used a claw from her left foot to slash it open. Dark blood welled from the wound, and I covered it with my hand, letting our blood mingle together.
Serpol nodded approvingly, then began to chant in the same foreign language he and his mother had used last time. A blue glow began to emanate from our joined appendages, and I gasped as Lessie’s thoughts and emotions rushed into the empty space where our bond used to be.
“It’s working, Zara!” Lessie squealed, and I laughed. Her excitement and joy were infectious. “I can feel you again!”
“I know! Me too!” I wanted to throw my arms around her, but we forced ourselves to wait until Serpol was done. A minute later, he finished chanting, and the blue glow disappeared. I pulled back my hand to see that the cut had healed, and so had Lessie’s.
“Hmm.” I took the blade and slashed my hand again, ignoring the streak of pain.
“Zara!” Lessie cried. “What are you doing?”
I held up my bleeding hand. “Do you feel that?” I asked.
“Do I…” Lessie narrowed her fiery eyes in thought. “No. No, I don’t feel it.”
“Excellent.” Serpol flashed a toothy grin. “I wouldn’t have tested it quite that way, but this is proof that your lifespans are no longer intertwined. You won’t feel each other’s pain anymore, and if one of you dies, the other will not be affected.”
“I didn’t doubt that, but thank you for proving it,” Lessie said dryly. “Now can someone please heal Zara’s ha
nd?”
Tavarian stepped in and quickly took care of it. “Now that we are refreshed, we should return to the city,” he said. “I am anxious to see how the fighting is going.”
We flew back to the capital, expecting to see fighting in the streets. But despite the signs of recent battle—damaged property, dead bodies, smoke rising from recently burned buildings—the city seemed contained. The streets were patrolled by civilians now, with no sign of the Zallabarian soldiers anywhere, and I spotted dragons circling both the higher and lower cities, keeping a lookout and simultaneously discouraging any potential dissenters.
Two of the dragons broke away to meet us, and I started as I recognized Ykos and Kiethara.
“Zara!” Rhia exclaimed as her dragon drew alongside me. She looked a bit worse for the wear, a freshly stitched cut on one cheek and a ring of purple bruises around her neck. Halldor also had bruises, and seemed to be heavily favoring his right arm. “I was wondering when you’d turn up. Are you feeling better?”
“Better than you two must feel. What the hell happened?”
“We were captured by a band of soldiers that survived our attack,” Halldor said grimly. “They were torturing us for information when Kiethara and Ykos showed up.” He shook his head. “I’m glad you freed them from the dragon god’s bond, Zara. The enemy soldiers might have killed us if our dragons hadn’t come back to save us.”
Kiethara ducked her head. “I’m sorry we left you like that,” she said.
Halldor patted the side of her neck. “It’s not your fault, Kie,” he said. “You couldn’t help what you did. I’m just glad you’re back with me.”
“What’s the situation on the ground?” Tavarian asked. “I assume the Zallabarians have been routed?”
Rhia nodded. “They attempted to fight back, but the knowledge that their leader was dead, plus all the dragons attacking the city, was too much. Lieutenant Diran is in command right now. She’s routed all the Zallabarian soldiers and officials, as well as the sympathizers, and is awaiting your orders for what to do with them.”
"Wow." I let out a low whistle. A lot had changed in such a short time. "Guess I'd better talk to her, then."
The dragons dropped us off at City Hall, where the Lieutenant had set up a base of operations. “Commandant. Lord Tavarian.” She greeted us with a salute as we stepped into the office she'd commandeered. "I'm glad to see you're still with us. I heard you were injured by that evil sorcerer."
“Evil sorcerer?” I echoed in confusion.
“Yes. The one who summoned the dragon god.” She frowned at my puzzled reaction. “Is he not a sorcerer?”
“I wouldn’t call him that, no,” I said, then decided not to debate it any further. What did it matter? Salcombe was dead, no matter what anyone called him, and he wasn’t coming back. “I hear you’ve detained the survivors. Who is their leader?”
“A General Trattner,” she said. “He says he knows you?”
I bit back a wince. Trattner and I knew each other quite well—I’d befriended him in Traggar under an assumed identity, manipulated him into breaking the Traggaran-Zallabarian alliance, then later on conned my way into his home so I could steal a piece of the dragon god’s heart from a Zallabarian official. I supposed it was only a matter of time before he learned who I truly was—he must have seen a wanted poster with my face on it and put two and two together.
“I’d like to speak with him,” I said. “Where is he?”
Trattner was being held at the dragon rider academy, along with the rest of the soldiers. The Lieutenant sent for him, and I had him brought into a second office, so Tavarian and I could speak with him in private. Two soldiers ushered him in, and I noticed he’d been stripped of his uniform jacket and medals, his hands bound with manacles. Yet despite this, he held his head high, his spine ramrod straight, and met my gaze without flinching as he was made to sit.
“Zara Kenrook,” he said with a faint, bitter smile. “Or is that your real name?”
The jab struck home, but I kept my expression placid. “You know it is. Just as you know why I had to deceive you.”
He sighed. “I suppose I have only myself to blame, for letting myself get taken in by a pretty redhead with a sharp mind.” He sat a little straighter in his chair. “I know what you are about to say, and it’s not necessary. I know that the war was a mistake.”
I blinked. “You do?”
“Any man with half a brain could see it,” Trattner said impatiently, his eyes flashing. “I am loyal to my country, so I had no choice but to go along with the autocrator’s wishes. Now that he is gone, however, my only interest is mitigating the damage now that we have been defeated.”
“The damage to who?” Tavarian asked, a challenge in his voice. “To your people, or to ours as well?”
“My people are the priority,” Trattner said stiffly. “But of course I mean no harm to yours.”
“The way I see it, we’re holding a lot of your people prisoner, and you’re holding a lot of ours,” I said. There were quite a few Elantians still stuck in Zallabarian POW camps, both civilians and soldiers. “There are a lot of other details to work out regarding your surrender, but we can start by trading your people back for ours.”
“Right.” Trattner cleared his throat. “Though I am the ranking officer in Elantia at the moment, I am not an official representative of my country. I will need to confer with the autocrator’s advisors before I can make any decisions.”
We argued back and forth for a little while before eventually declaring an armistice. Trattner would travel back to Zallabar, accompanied by Elantian soldiers, to speak to the advisors, while the rest of the soldiers and officials remained here. We would meet again in two weeks, here in Elantia, for peace talks. Finished, I had the soldiers escort Trattner away, then called the lieutenant in to inform her of the new development.
“Tell your men that they are not to mistreat the prisoners under any circumstances,” Tavarian said. “I don’t want to give the Zallabarians any ammunition for the coming negotiations.”
The lieutenant grunted. “The men won’t be happy to hear that, after all these weeks of suffering, but I’ll let them know. Most of them are civilians, Commandant, so they’re not as easy to control.”
The next three weeks passed in a blur of activity. Now that Zuar City was retaken and the autocrator toppled from his throne, the dragons returned to their riders. The armistice didn’t preclude us from chasing the Zallabarians out of our cities, and the soldiers did so with gleeful abandon, led by Captain Ragorin and backed up by the remaining dragon riders.
Meanwhile, Tavarian and I worked relentlessly on re-establishing the Elantian government. New councilmembers from both the Lower and Upper Cities were elected, and together, we hammered out a constitution that gave equal rights to all taxpayers, irrespective of birth. We also finally conducted the peace talks with the Zallabarians, who formally withdrew their troops from Elantia and renounced any claim on our overseas possessions. We also tried to recover the stolen art and artifacts, but that was an uphill battle since so many soldiers had sent back pieces to their families already. Some of the new councilors were keen on imposing punitive fines as recompense for the war damages on the Zallabarans, but the Zallabarians balked at that. Tavarian argued for moderation, pointing out that their economy had already suffered and such payments would surely create more resentment for the future.
As for the autocrator’s demise, the Zallabarians assumed the dragon god and Salcombe were responsible, and we did nothing to disabuse them of that notion. While that meant Tavarian and I would never take credit for that, it also kept a lifelong target off our backs.
Of course, not everything was perfect. Though Serpol had managed to re-establish links between the dragons and their riders via the friendship bond, all the dragon riders were experiencing magical outbursts now. At least once a day I found myself accidentally performing little bits of magic—causing random objects to levitate while I was puzzling
out a problem, making a priceless vase explode during a fit of anger, and so on. When we all signed the constitution, I became so excited and overjoyed that a potted plant in the corner of the room shot up four feet, its delicate fronds plastered against the ceiling.
“Well that’s a new one,” Tavarian said, his eyes twinkling in a rare show of amusement as I cringed. “Don’t worry—I can fix that later.”
“And what about when she does something that can’t be fixed?” another council member demanded, his eyes flashing. He gestured to the other dragon rider council members on the table, Jallis and Rhia amongst them. “Someone needs to be appointed to train these new mages, before someone gets hurt!”
“We are already recruiting experienced mages for this purpose,” Rhia said in a placating voice. “Believe me, we want to be able to control our magic as well. But there are not very many trained mages around, so it will take us time to establish a proper program.”
“What about the collaborators?” Carina asked. As both a champion for the downtrodden and an influential citizen, she’d been a natural choice as one of the Lower City representatives. “They still need to be tried for treason, and not just for stealing from the dragon riders. A lot of Lower City citizens had homes and businesses stolen from them as well, and they demand restitution.”
“Trials are starting in two weeks,” Jallis told her. He’d been appointed as the new Justice Secretary, and would be overseeing them. “I know they’ve been waiting, but tell your constituents to be patient. We’ve only just finished settling with the Zallabarians, and we are still rebuilding and reorganizing all these departments.”
Despite all our squabbling, the one thing everyone agreed on was that it was time for me and Tavarian to finally tie the knot. At first I resisted—there was so much work to do, and the time and money were better spent rebuilding. But the others insisted, and when Rhia and Carina jumped in and began planning the whole affair on their own, I decided to let them run with it.
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