by Viola Grace
“Ah, but will the dragons let her keep it? She has broken one of the basic laws of our fair city. She has used magic on dragons and let the mages run free.”
“I will sort it out. I have the basis for a defense, but first, we have to get things back to normal. Or the normal for Rekker.”
“Good. I would rather be worked over by the council a thousand times than have my daughter taken from me.” The mage was certain.
Nole knew that if anyone threatened a hair on Aeli’s head, this man would snap. Someone had gifted this mage with a purpose, and the heavens help anyone who tried to take it from him.
They stood in silence while Aeli snored softly. The mage said to Nole, “If you ever tell her she snores, I will summon an ifrit to rip your tail off and shove it down your throat.”
Nole nodded. “Understood.”
Yes, this mage was dangerous in the right setting, so it was a better thing that he was never pushed over the edge. The fate of the continent might rest on it.
* * * *
Aeli came awake suddenly. The spell was ready.
She flipped back the covers and got to her feet. Peeping around the curtain, the two men in her life had gone outside to watch the dawn.
Aeli crept into the workroom, and she looked at her spell. It was bigger than the first, larger than her head, in fact.
She looked inward for her dragon. Can we do this?
I need soil or stone to move through. Once we are in contact with it, I can take us there. How do you wish to move, in my body or yours?
Aeli thought about it. Can you shift as we leave the earth and take over?
I can. Ah, I see what you wish. Press the spell to your lips when you are in position, and we will proceed.
Aeli’s hands shook as she gripped the spell. She carried it out past the conversing men and into the garden. She cast a quick, “Wish me luck,” over her shoulder, and then, she pressed the spell to her lips and let the dragon pull her through the earth.
Aeli could see the soil they moved through, the infrastructure of the city and the cellars that had been in place for centuries that were buried underground. She was moving so fast that it should have been a blur, but every grain of sand mixed in with the soil was visible to her senses. She could see the roots of all the garden plants and feel the small streams that ran beneath the surface of the city.
The council hall was in front of them, and the pulse of the banishment spell was a lodestone for her. She and her dragon travelled toward it with determination and her counter-spell held in front of her.
The dirt above her gave way to the stone of the building, and the dragon took her deeper while they transformed with the counter-spell held in her jaws.
Are you ready, Aeli?
I am.
Then, do what you need to do, I will travel toward the orb.
I will. She focused and got her spell ready, using her talons as the dragon propelled her upward with a heavy, energy-laden sweep of her tail.
Light burst around them as they cleared the soil and regained physical form. Dimly, Aeli heard a shout, and the mages attacked while the dragon headed for the orb that had expanded dramatically in the hole in the ceiling.
She used the dragon’s claws to draw glyphs in the air for defense while the mainly decorative wings beat the air until they pushed closer and closer to the orb.
This is difficult.
Aeli could feel the strain the dragon was under, but she had her hands full keeping the mages at bay. Open your mouth and release the counter-spell.
The dragon opened her mouth and exhaled hard at the initial orb. The counter-spell fired through the air and collided with the banishment spell with force.
Aeli could feel the moment that the spell was destroyed. So could her dragon. The huge beast dropped to the ground, no longer having to fight the force that was pushing against her.
Aeli pulled the dragon into her again, and she faced off against the mages. “Stop it. The banishment spell is down. The dragons are coming back.”
The nearest mage sneered at her. “I have known you for years, Miss Warrok. You are not enough to handle us all.”
Aeli braced herself and took the first hit. Then the second. Her inner wards held her body together, but she still felt the pain. She could feel it, but she wouldn’t show it.
I will deal with the pain; you keep fighting until our reinforcements arrive.
Are they on the way?
They are nearly here.
Aeli didn’t want to give away her relief. Some of these mages had been her tutors, and now, the insane lust for power in their eyes was driving them to kill her. She took another hit and floundered for a way to stop it.
When she saw the next set of glyphs being drawn, she held up her hands, and her voice echoed. “Enough!”
Vines shot out of her hands and wrapped around the offending mages. She lifted them off their feet and hung them in the air, their arms pinned to their sides.
“I said enough.”
She held them up there, and they stared at her in shock and dismay. She heard. “Bitch. Traitor!”
Aeli waited with them held in place while reinforcements for their part of the battle ran in, and then, a scream of power from above her warned her that Nolesander was returning, and he was carrying her father.
Mage Warrok was at full power as he attacked the mages that she hadn’t snagged. Anyone who fired a spell was sent flipping end over end, their minds blanked.
Nole’s dragon form held her father on upturned palms while the mage brought the entire uproar to eerie silence in a few seconds.
Aeli slowly lowered the three elder mages, and they all looked at her father and took a knee in submission the moment she pulled in the tendrils of vines.
Aeli stared at her hands and took a deep breath, absorbing the ambient magic floating through the air. Her fingers faded from green and brown to their normal tinge. She flexed her hands and filtered all the magic through her until there was none left for the revolutionaries to use.
Her father looked at her. “Have you got it all?”
“I do. The spell has been neutralized.” She wanted to sit down, was trying not to sway, but it was taking all her energy not to show weakness.
Nole was still in his dragon form, and his head was lifted toward the sky. She tried to sense what he was sensing, but it wasn’t any good. She was done.
A minute later, her father had the mages tied up, and the arrivals from the sky were slowly coming down.
Aeli had never imagined that there were so many dragons in the area, and she had the definite feeling that they were coming for her. She looked at her father’s grim expression, and she knew that they were.
Chapter Eleven
“Aelemilial Warrok, you are under arrest for illegal spell work in the city of Rekker.” A black dragon landed and was speaking before he had finished his transformation to a man dressed in the same black tunic that the others around him wore.
Nole shifted to human and stepped between them. “Brommin, I thought you would be at the side of your lady.”
“The engagement has begun, so Trin is free to resume her normal activities, and so am I, Councillor Kreelo.”
The way they spoke to each other, it was obvious that they had met. Aeli watched the two men interact as much as she could from her position behind Nole’s back.
She stepped forward and put her hand on Nole’s arm. “I think he is here to arrest me. That’s what I am expecting. It’s all right. I knew this would happen when I cast the first spell and when it was undone.”
The other dragons were forming a wall behind their leader. Each human body was clothed in black and on alert.
The man that Nole was speaking to looked at her with surprise. “You? You cast the spell?”
Her father stepped forward. “I created the spell.”
She wrinkled her nose and stepped away from Nole, putting herself between her father and the man her dragon had decided to keep for her
own.
“My father designed the spell before I was born, but I was the one who decided to use it. I selected the herbs, I brought in the ingredients that I needed, and I carried the spell into the hall. I ejected the dragons.” She lifted her chin. “The punishment is mine alone.”
Nole also spoke up. “She also was ejected with the dragons, found a way to break the spell, and carried it out with no loss of life.”
Brommin frowned. “What do you mean, she was ejected with the dragons? How is that possible?”
Her father came up next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. “My daughter... is adopted.”
Aeli grinned at him and looked back to the newcomer. “That is appropriate. I am adopted.”
Brommin let out a deep sigh and turned to his men. “Assure the populace that the dragons have resumed control and make sure that all of the mages are prepared to resume business as usual under our council.”
Aeli scowled. “I would hope that the dragon council could do better than that.”
He looked at her in surprise. “You are in no position to be making comments of that nature, Miss.”
She frowned. “I beg to differ. If the rule of the dragons had been as benevolent as you appear to think and not a harsh restriction and silencing of the very mages that make Rekker City so famous, we wouldn’t be here. I have been sneered at, spat at, had my ability to make everyday purchases denied, and been dragged into the council hall to check on my magical development every five years. It is humiliating to grow up as a mage in this city.”
Brommin paused. “Wait a moment. I need to make a call.”
Aeli stood and stiffened her spine. She didn’t want to collapse on her father, but it was a near thing.
He murmured, “You are at the end of your strength, aren’t you, Aelemilial?”
She nodded. “I hope that they just arrest me and have done with it.”
Nole moved toward her. “They can’t arrest you. Not if the other dragons behaved with even a fifth of the contempt for the mages that you have mentioned. You are a citizen, and you are entitled to your voice.”
He held out his hands, and she took a step toward him, pitching forward into his arms as her control broke.
She woke suddenly, sitting up with a jerk and hearing a sigh from a remarkably close distance.
“Thank the wide wings that you are awake. The senator has arrived, and he is impatient to speak with you.” Nole had her ensconced on his lap, and his arms were around her in support.
They were sitting in the council hall, and her father and more mature version of Brommin was sitting at the far end of the room, deep in conversation.
Next to her was a small table with some food and a pitcher of water on it. She licked her lips. “Is that for me?”
“It is. As soon as you are feeling more like yourself, we will go and speak with Senator Lefarge.”
She nodded and looked around. “Is there a chair?”
“Just the one I am sitting on. It has been a long day for me as well.”
Aeli blushed and reached for the tray. “Right. I am sorry about that. Did you at least eat?”
“I did. Sorry if I got crumbs on you.”
She looked at him and then looked down at herself. “I appear to be fine.”
He chuckled. “Then, enjoy your sandwich and fruit, as well as the water. I will be here, keeping you warm.”
Nole leaned back and closed his eyes. She paused, and then, she grabbed for the food, eating as quickly as she could so that she could get to the water. She wanted that water more than anything, but her body needed the food as well. The compromise worked well, and when she had finished everything on the tray and burped delicately, she nudged Nole. “I am ready to go if you are.”
He set her on her feet and stood up next to her. “Let’s go meet with the senator.”
She straightened her shoulders and checked her mouth for crumbs. Her brain was a bit foggy, but her dragon was confident another dragon would listen.
The senator rose to his feet as she approached. The image on the unit in his hand was familiar to her now.
“Miss Warrok. I am guessing that this is you?” Senator Lefarge was shocked, and it was showing on his features.
“It is. Why are you so surprised?”
“My son’s fiancé is the diamond dragon. I am a little surprised that another dragon of power is rising so soon after she has come to power.” The senator smiled.
“Ah, if it makes you feel any better, my dragon believes that her birth has been in progress for a few hundred years.”
Senator Lefarge froze. “What?”
Her father got to his feet. “I tried to tell you, Senator. I found her in an oak grove where no grove should have been. She was there, in the middle of the wasteland, with no one around. Even the grove was gone when I went back later. No trace of it remained.”
The senator blinked. “What do you know of your origin?”
Aeli shrugged. “My mother was a dryad who took a lover in Europe before travelling here. She was pregnant for over a century, possibly two. The memory that I have is not precise. Trees do not feel time like humans do.”
“Do you know what your father was?”
She shook her head. “There are sparks of joy and light, mixed with flickers of loss. He had wings.”
“What colour?”
“A red so dark it is almost black. His eyes were gold.” She closed her eyes and opened them in surprise. “He had a blue streak in dark brown hair.”
The senator gave her a soft smile. “Yes, he did. Phillip of Segovia. He was a great researcher in the magic that motivated mages, and he came over on the second wave of immigration. He was enraptured with the wild spaces, and we learn about him in classes when we are finding our place in the universe. He identified that the dragons were a necessary balance to keep humanity and mage kind from ripping each other to pieces.”
“You think he was my father?”
“He was the only dragon of that particular description I have ever heard of. There are records of him throughout our early history. He made treaties and kept our kind enforcing them. He drew the paths for cities that did not infringe on any existing or migrating peoples or animals that also migrated. He was fixated on not altering the existing ecosystems as we now understand them. He kept this continent alive and did amazing research on the energy systems we use today. Phillip was in harmony with nature, and it showed in everything around him.”
The senator chuckled. “If anyone could win a dryad’s heart, it would be him. Did she have a name?”
“No. She was simply the elder.”
Senator Lefarge shook his head and sighed. “This is fascinating, but we have other matters to attend to.”
Aeli nodded. “Right. The last I heard, this kind of sedition carries a life sentence.”
The senator cocked his head and looked at her father. “Only in certain cases. Your father is content to live out his life under location restriction. The thing is if you are truly a dragon, it is not a sentence that would allow you a satisfying or useful life.”
“I risked the lives of everyone in the city, the continent, and possibly the world if the mages here had gained some traction. A life of confinement is all that I am entitled to.” She felt someone take her hand, and she squeezed Nole’s hand with hers.
“There is leeway, considering your status as an arboreal dragon, but we would require a few very specific stipulations, including monitoring your magical activities.”
She blinked. “That seems a very light sentence.”
The senator smiled. “Oh, you have not heard all the stipulations.”
Nole cleared his throat. “I thought you would need to convene a tribunal for this kind of sentencing.”
Senator Lefarge waved that away. “If I were not in charge of the entire continent, that would be true. I have the honour of speaking for all of the species who came here for refuge and the peoples who were already here. I am imbued with the ab
ility to make battlefield judgments.”
Aeli chuckled. “Well, I am waiting to hear the other binding conditions.”
The senator sat her down and rattled off the things that she needed to do. “For one year, you are not to leave Rekker City. When you have met this stipulation, you will join the Rekker council and be the mediator for conflicts between the mages and the dragons. You will be Rekker’s representative in the capitol for all major events, but you will never be unattended by a representative of the Rekker Council.”
Nole squeezed her hand. “I volunteer.”
The senator grinned. “I thought you might.”
Aeli’s dragon started pushing on her mind. “Senator Lefarge, can I begin the year of lockdown today?”
He frowned. “Yes. Why?”
“Because my dragon wants to root, and I get the feeling that it is going to take some time.”
“What do you mean?”
Aeli’s jaw felt heavy. It was getting harder to speak. “I mean that she wants to link herself to Rekker, now that you have declared it our official home. Trees have roots, and she wants to set them down.”
Nole looked at her. “What do you need?”
She turned her head, feeling her joints stiffen up. “I need space. She is going to rest in her form, and she is going to do it here. Feel free to talk to me, I just won’t be able to reply.”
She stepped away from him and walked to the centre of the room while he got the senator and her father to a safe distance.
The dragon chuckled and took her over, stretching her, wrapping her with vines and flowers, and she was crouching inside the council hall of Rekker, taking up most of the space. Her dragon sighed and sat down, curling into a ball and wrapping her tail under her nose while she folded her wings tightly against her back. She got into a comfortable position, and Aeli felt the vines erupt, breaking through the flagstones and connecting her to the soil of Rekker City.
When she was completely settled, she looked at her father with her left eye and slowly winked at him. He smiled just as slowly and walked up to her. “I will be here when you wake up, Aelemilial.”