by JA Andrews
“Lukas wouldn’t,” Will agreed, “but Anguine might.”
“Then let’s hope Lukas has good control over the dragon,” Sini answered. She pulled her black robe off and handed it to Will. “I need to look…familiar.”
“This is a terrible idea,” Mikal said.
“It is,” Will agreed, “but she’s right. She’s the only one who can get Lukas’s attention.” He squeezed Sini’s shoulder with a look more worried than reassuring. He turned to the older Keepers. “Bring it down near that wall, and we’ll use those rocks to pin it. We’ll need help with the bigger ones.”
“We should be able to roll some of them with vitalle,” Alaric said.
“Then let’s find some big rocks.” Will sighed. “Those of us who can’t move rocks with vitalle can use brute strength.”
Everyone but Mikal and Gerone ran back to the broken rock wall along the far end of the yard and began to pull rocks loose.
Anguine began a long, slow dive into the valley and Sini walked over to the grass in the middle of the yard. Her heart pounding in her chest. Taking a deep breath, she yelled, “Lukas!”
The air shimmered slightly. Sini glanced up and saw the twins stretching their hands out toward her. She swallowed. Would their shield deflect dragon fire?
“Lukas!” she yelled again, spreading her arms wide.
Anguine shifted his flight slightly and hurtled toward her, his belly brushing over the tops of trees, his claws ripping off branches. The sunlight glittered along his neck and sides, sending shimmers of lighter red and black chasing each other across his body.
When he reached the edge of the grass, Gerone pulled a wavy ball of water out of the well and floated it almost to the wall where the others waited. Mikal waited until the dragon was almost on top of the water before blasting it with a huge stream of fire from the stable.
The fire hit the water and a geyser of steam shot out from it, exploding into the air and catching the dragon under the back of its wings. Anguine’s body flipped forward, his tail whipping over his body. He tumbled all the way over, crashing to the ground on his belly and slamming his wide, scaled head into the ground.
The dragon lay stunned, his wings spread crookedly along the ground. The spindly bones that ran down them like stretched-out fingers almost poked through the web of tissue and scales spread between them.
His snout was as tall as Sini’s waist. Her heartbeat thrashed in her ears and she stood frozen before the huge shape, every muscle clenched.
The others ran forward, piling rocks on the thin membrane. Large stones rolled forward, directed by the Keepers, and smaller ones were dropped in piles by the others.
Sini forced herself to step toward Anguine’s head. Sunlight glinted off his scales in a mesmerizing display of reds and orange and black. Every movement of her head sent splinters of light shooting across the surface of his snout. Each scale perfectly nestled into the ones around it.
Anguine stirred.
Douglon and Roan each dropped a final large stone onto the outermost sections of his wings, pinning them to the ground.
Anguine shook his head and his eyes focused on Sini. She drew in a breath that quivered her entire body, watching to see any sign of recognition from the dragon. A low growl began deep in the red scaled chest.
“Hello, Anguine.” Sini’s voice was small and tremulous. “And hello, Lukas.”
The dragon shifted. The front of his wing lifted off the ground, sending ripples of light across it. But the rocks sat heavily on the thin skin of his wings and the movement jerked to a stop. He twisted his head around, snapping his jaw in fury. The rocks on his other wing cut the motion short.
He snapped his head around and sent a jet of fire at the people behind him. They dove behind the small wall. Anguine’s head swung back around and Sini dropped to her knees, ducking as the fire poured out over her head.
Anguine stopped to draw in a breath and Sini faced him. “Lukas!” She stood on shaking legs and held her hands out toward the dragon, wishing they’d stop trembling. “Lukas, stop!”
Anguine’s eyes flashed with recognition just as the next burst of flames came. His head whipped away from her and fire charred the grass beside her. The heat hit her like a wall, and she threw her arms up before a shimmery barrier spread between her and the fire blocking it off. The coolness was like a spray of water on her singed cheeks.
The fire stopped and Anguine drew in a breath, fixing Sini with a glare of absolute hatred. He bids you remove yourself if you would live.
“I can free you,” Sini said, her voice still sounding too thin. “I can destroy the stones Lukas uses to control you. If you promise to leave.”
Anguine’s eyes slitted with anger. Douglon inched forward, peering at the place where the dragon’s wing met his body. The dwarf held his axe out. Avina, who still sat on his shoulder, formed a little fireball and held it to the blade. When the blade glowed red, Douglon placed the tip of it against the scales at the base of Anguine’s wing. There was a small hiss and Anguine’s whole body jolted.
“Looks like you’ve got a weak spot here,” Douglon called, pulling out the axe.
Sora’s head appeared over the dragon’s back on the other side. She pulled out her sword and it chinked across the scales until Anguine flinched again. “Can’t be too far inside here before we’d reach something essential,” Sora said over Anguine’s back.
Douglon grinned at her. “Can’t be far at all.”
“You want to be free,” Sini said drawing the dragon’s attention back to herself. “And we want to free you.”
“Do we really?” Douglon grumbled.
“We would like,” Will said, stepping up next to Sini and sending a quelling look at the dwarf, “to never see you again. Ever.”
“That we agree on,” the dwarf said. From his shoulder, Avina hissed.
“Sini,” Will warned her quietly. “I can feel Lukas fighting for control, trying to get Anguine to stop listening.”
Anguine stretched his neck forward until his snout was within Sini’s reach. His eyes were amber in the center with flecks of gold, darkening out to a deep red on the edges. His pupils, tall and thin like a snakes’, tightened into slashes of hatred. His body trembled.
“Promise me you’ll leave,” Sini said, her voice strengthening, “Leave Queensland Queensland forever, and I’ll free you from Lukas.”
It is more than the stones, Anguine’s voice was laced with rage. He holds what is mine.
“When you’re free,” Will said, “you can take it back.”
Anguine rumbled a long, threatening sound and Sini forced herself not to take a step back. Yes. Even his sword that wields death could not stop me.
Sword that wields death? Sini’s stomach sank. The black sword. “What does it—?”
She was cut off by Anguine thrashing his head wildly to the side. Will grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
“Lukas is gaining control.” Will’s eyes were wide. “He’s making Anguine angrier.”
The dragon snapped his head forward and stretched until his muzzle was within Sini’s reach, his body quivering. Cautiously she set her hand on the red scales of his nose. “I can help you.”
Scalding hot breath shot out of his nostrils, singeing her arm. Measured footsteps came up from her left and Rett came into view.
Sini’s heart stuttered. “Stay back, Rett!”
“Dragon not hurt Sini,” the big man said, his voice soothing. He reached out and set his hand on Anguine’s neck just behind his jaw. “Paxa,” Rett crooned softly. The dragon shuddered. “Paxa,” Rett ran his hand over the red scales. A trail of green light flowed out of him and seeped into Anguine. The dragon’s head settled onto the ground. Alaric set his hand on the scales along Anguine’s tail and the dragon’s entire body relaxed.
The dragon’s eyes were still fixed on Sini and his breath still came in hot, quick bursts. His scales were warm beneath her hand, but he was still.
“That helped
,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm. She cast out, looking for the compulsion stone Lukas must be using to control him. But the vitalle from the dragon was overwhelming. He burned with energy, every bit of him infused with power waiting to be unleashed. It took forever to notice the spattering of bright spots along the back of Anguine’s neck, sparkling like a trail of stars.
She craned her neck to see around Anguine’s head and caught the glimmer of light blue gems set deep into his scales. Compulsion stones. Dozens of them.
She faced Anguine’s terrifying, unblinking eye. “I can destroy the compulsion stones. Promise me you’ll leave.”
Anguine’s eyes bored into her and she fought not to step back.
“That made Lukas nervous,” Will said quietly.
Sunfire warmed the top of Sini’s head. The heat from the still-smoldering grass and nearby barn was hot and dry and destructive. But the sunfire rested on her like a gentle hand. She could feel it on her shoulders. She turned her face up toward the light and let the wholesomeness of it sink into her skin, healing the sting leftover from the dragon’s heat, driving back her fear. The light seeped into her and she pressed it out into Anguine. It ran along his neck, searching for the pinpricks of vitalle burrowed deep in his scales.
Each stone trickled energy into the dragon like a dripping icicle. Sini pushed the vitalle from the sun back through those paths and into the stones. One compulsion stone cracked, its energy spilling out uselessly down the scales of Anguine’s neck. Another split and darkened. Then a third.
Anguine drew in a sharp breath.
“I can destroy them all,” Sini said softly.
You do not have the power, Anguine’s voice came through strangled.
“That was Lukas,” Will said. “He’s scared.”
The dragon tossed his head, and his voice boomed out, wild and commanding. Destroy them all!
Will flinched. “That was not Lukas.”
FREE ME! Anguine’s voice roared into her mind with enough force that she stumbled back into Will. Anguine’s head began to thrash, his wings strained against the stones. Unchain me and I will take what is mine!
“His wing is ripping!” Roan called from the far edge of one wing.
The dragon showed no sign of noticing. He flung his body to the side, whipping his tail at the people standing along his wings.
Sini flung more vitalle into him and another handful of compulsion stones shattered.
Anguine let out a savage snarl. Do it, he choked out. Do it and I will not harm— His words were cut off in a roar of pain. He lifted his head and shot a stream of fire high into the air.
“Sini!” Will yelled, “Get away from him! He’ll tear himself apart! Lukas is driving him mad!”
She dove around Anguine’s face to the side of his neck as his head thrashed to the side, spewing fire. Will, too, lunged out of the way and Sini caught a glimpse of a shimmer following him. She glanced up at the twins and saw them, on their knees now, reaching down toward the group. How could they still have the strength for shields?
Sini slammed herself against the heat of the dragon’s neck, splaying her hands across his scales. She poured vitalle into him, streaming it toward the compulsion stones. The nearest blue gems split so fast they burst out of the scales, leaving blackened pockmarks.
Her vitalle rippled along his neck, breaking stone after stone. The sunfire thrummed in her again, a blanket of warmth instead of the dragon’s vicious heat. Bright. Blazing with freedom. Compulsion stones snapped one after the other until all that remained were three larger stones set on the back of Anguine’s head.
The dragon thrashed to the side, gushing fire. He turned trying to snap at Sini, his teeth biting the air beside her, the flames rushing past, deflected by a thin, wavering shield. She pressed herself against his neck, funneling more and more sunfire through his glittering red scales.
There was a horrible rending sound and the end of his wing came free, blood streaming from a deep rip. She closed her eyes, feeling the sunfire light her muscles, her bones.
Her fingers glowed and the edges blurred as bits of light floated off them. She shook her head to clear it. “Keep him grounded!” she yelled.
Anguine’s whole body shifted and he turned his head, trying to reach Sini along his own neck. Sora gave a yell from the other side and Sini caught a flash of her sword before the ranger stabbed it into the chink behind Anguine’s right wing. The dragon whipped his head away from Sini, spraying fire as Sora dove over his tail.
Avina leapt off Douglon’s shoulders and raced over the dragon’s wide back, her bare feet flitting over the bright scales, flinging fireball after fireball at his face. The dragon yanked and his left wing came completely free. He spun, snapping at the tiny elf on his back.
Sini clung to Anguine’s neck, pouring more energy into the stones.
Douglon shouted, raising his axe and driving it home into the gap behind the left wing. Anguine let out a roar and twisted, dragging his other wing out from under the rocks.
“I have wanted to do that for so long!” Douglon yelled, swinging again with his axe. This time he caught the scales and his axe skittered harmlessly off Anguine’s side.
Sora, Rett, and Roan backed away from the dragon’s whipping tail. Avina leapt off the dragon’s back to Douglon and clung to him as he ran for cover. Will ran to the four of them, pushing them back toward the nearest wall. Anguine twisted, spraying fire, and Sini was slammed by the front of his wing. She grabbed it and funneled in more sunfire, pushing it through the long path up to the remaining compulsion stones in Anguine’s neck. Over the tattered wing she saw Will throw protection for the others. His own shield didn’t shimmer the way the twins’ did, but the flames deflected against an unseen barrier and everyone scrambled over the short wall.
Anguine hurled himself off the ground and Sini lost the connection to him. Her body thrummed with sunfire, but she had no path to the dragon. Anguine’s wings flung streams of blood as they flapped, and he hurtled forward a few feet off the ground before crashing back down.
She ran after him, funneling energy into her ring and trying to shoot fire at the dragon, just to give herself a path. There were still compulsion stones left—but he was too far away.
“Alaric!” she cried, “give me a path!”
The Keeper ran to her and stretched his hand toward Anguine as the dragon pitched himself into the air again. “Doing what?”
“Anything!”
“Paxa!” A shot of orange light shot out of Alaric’s hand and into the dragon. Sini hoped for an instant that it would calm the dragon, but the creature was too enraged.
Sini put her hand next to Alaric’s and threw her own vitalle into the flow, driving the energy toward the dragon’s head. One more compulsion stone burst with a flash of light. The light filled her, still. Sini squinted at the dragon, trying desperately to keep her mind focused. She felt light enough to float into the air. The muscles in her arms filled with so much power she could have thrown the dragon into the air. Alaric’s hand was normal flesh, but hers glowed a bright gold.
“Lukas is still fighting for control!” Will yelled.
The dragon shoved himself up again and his wings caught the air. His wing dipped to the side and a spray of blood flung out from its tip. He flapped once and rose high enough that Alaric’s light struggled to reach him.
Anguine continued rising unsteadily into the air, flying away from them. He let out a ground-shaking roar, and veered sharply to the right, almost falling into the still burning barn. Regaining his balance, he pushed himself higher in the air.
Alaric cut off the now-useless flow of vitalle.
With no more path, the sunfire filled Sini and her desperation to reach the dragon faded.
Warmth, light, peace, hope.
The chaos and smoke of the valley faded. The roars of the dragon were lost in the hum of light that infused every fiber of her body. The last thoughts of the dragon faded away and she breathed in the l
ight.
Someone called her name. It might have been Alaric, but even his voice was too dark to pay attention to. Hands shook her shoulders, but all of that was darkness and chaos and she wanted no more of it. If only she could rest in the light. Embraced by it, a part of it.
Her fingers stung like candle wicks burning away in a flame.
There was nothing but the light.
A crash thundered through the valley, knocking Sini to her knees.
From far away she heard Alaric cry out.
Rubble pelted her face, snapping her attention back to the world around her.
She was holding her hands up towards the sun. Her arms glowed golden almost to her elbows, shining like miniature suns.
A horrible grinding noise dragged her attention to the Stronghold tower. Anguine’s glittering body thrashed against it, his left side smashing through white stones. His legs scrambling for purchase. He thundered out a stream of fire at the rocks above him until they glowed red and began to soften. With a roar he shoved himself out of the tower and flung out his wings. Free, he flapped heavily upwards toward the top of the cliffs, his twisted wings shuddering in the air.
The remaining compulsion stones glittered blue on his neck among the ripple of red scales, and Sini’s watched them go with a sense of dread. Had she destroyed enough stones? Was the dragon free?
Anguine clawed at the top of the cliffs, dragging himself over the edg near Lukas. The dragon let out a bellow of fury laced with pain. He opened his mouth at Lukas to douse him in flame, and terror clamped down on Sini’s heart. But Lukas thrust out a hand and Anguine twisted his face upward, spraying fire into the sky. The dragon let out a roar of anger, but stretched himself low so Lukas could scramble on.
With another thundering cry the dragon shoved himself into the sky and with jagged, faltering thrusts of his wings, flew south.
Sini stared after them, numb, terrified they’d turn back.