I’d seen one of these automatons up close in person. They were great hulking beasts with Gatling guns arrayed all around them. Though heavily armed and armoured, their principal function wasn’t to kill. Instead, they’d been created to churn up vast strands of secicao within their whirring blades at their mouths, tossed in through two massive tusks which rose and lowered as the machines trundled along. And, Mammoths were highly impervious to damage.
I walked to the front row, passing Faso who had placed himself at the back. He sat next to Winda – the chief engineer, who seemed to be quite taken with Faso. I’d spoken with her about him recently, and she said that Faso had seemed a little aloof since Sukina’s death. I reassured her then that he only needed a little time, although I was unsure if anyone could really teach Faso how to be kind to people. I sat down next to Wiggea, and he gave me a warm smile.
General Sako stormed to the front of the room and stood by the projector. “Come on, come on,” he bawled out. “We don’t employ you all so you can sleep all day. Candiorno did you send out the scouts?”
The officer on duty was sitting on the second row. He stood up and saluted. “Already on their way, sir. Three Greys with riders, accompanied by Hummingbird scouts on Mr Gordoni’s request.”
“Hummingbird scouts. Blunders and dragonheats. Gordoni, what’s the meaning of this? Stand up, boy, so I can see you.”
I turned around to see Faso tugging at the collar on his shirt. “Sir, I managed to use Sukina’s blend of secicao for science. Now, these automatons can see a much wider blend of electromagnetic radiation than our regular automatons. They’ll be able to see much further than our enemy, sir.”
“Hah, further than a dragonman?” He was referring to Alsie Fioreletta, who was technically a dragonwoman. But I doubted General Sako cared.
“I don’t know,” Faso said. “I don’t really have much data on her right now. We need more people who can turn into dragons. Do you have access to any, sir, who I can use for some experiments?” And he put an extra sarcastic emphasis on the ‘sir’.
General Sako’s eyes widened. “Blunders and dragonheats, Gordoni. This isn’t a time for joking. Or do you want to spend some time in the cells?”
“I don’t think Gerhaun would allow that in the heat of battle.” Faso was getting a little more ballsy around the general, on occasion, now he had some prestige around the fortress.
Perhaps it was because he had a woman nearby he wanted to impress. So, maybe things might develop between him and Winda after all. Faso had apparently given up on me, after deciding – as he said to my face – that I’d be too high maintenance. Little did that man realise how much maintenance he was himself.
“Just try me…” General Sako said, his face puce.
“Actually, I think you might be interested in hearing about my new technology. I think this would give us the winning edge.”
General Sako cast Faso a hard gaze, turned to the picture of the automaton of the screen, and then looked at an officer in the front row – specifically at the pistol at the man’s hip. “Faso Gordoni,” he said. “Circumvent my authority like that again and I’ll have you hung from the ramparts. Now sit down.”
“Don’t you want to hear what I have to offer?”
“Winda can do that quite well, don’t you think?”
Asinal Winda stood up, cast Faso an abashed look, pushed him down by the shoulders and then walked towards the screen at the front. Once she reached it, she pointed a remote control at Ratter. The projector in the ferret automaton’s mouth cast a new image on the screen at the front. And my jaw dropped in horror at what I saw.
It was a painting of Velos, with this huge cannon thing underneath his belly, almost as long as his tail. Out of it, came this intense beam of white light, cast against a war automaton where it erupted in this brilliant display of energy.
“Faso Gordoni and I,” Asinal Winda said, putting extra emphasis on the last word, “have been working on the ultimate weapon. A pure tunnel of brass lined on the inside with microscopically woven carbon fibres. The weapon’s source, a highly compressed chamber of secicao oil, ignited at 1,300 degrees Celsius. A wonder of nature and mathematics, because that number also happens to be two to the power of fifteen.”
General Sako let off a loud cough. “Mumbo jumbo, Asinal Winda. Please, get to the point. We want to know what it does.”
“Well, it takes around a minute to charge, from its own secicao reserves inside an inbuilt tank, detached from the armour. The cannon’s load must then be released immediately after charging, and there’s enough power in there for three shots. If it hits its mark, it can punch a hole in any automaton armour, right to its central control system and out the other side. A shot from this will fell a mammoth in one burst.”
I could just about make out the smile underneath General Sako’s moustache. “Indeed, it’s remarkable. You’ve truly exceeded yourself Winda. Congratulations.”
Winda looked awkwardly towards Faso. “Well, it wasn’t…”
“Nonsense. I know who does the work and who just busies himself barking orders in your laboratory.”
And all the while this exchange was going on, anxiety was beginning to rise in my chest. I stood up. “Winda,” I said. “I’m guessing you can’t put this on any dragon.”
“No. Just dragon armour for now.”
“So why not develop more armour for the other dragons?” General Sako said.
Faso stood up again at the back of the crowd and shouted out, “because the need for dragon armour will soon be rendered obsolete by the introduction of my dragon automaton.”
“Exactly,” I said. “I can imagine the cannon suiting dragon automatons. But you’ve got to be kidding me if you think you’re going to put that cannon on Velos. He won’t be able to sit down or run around. And how will he have the space to breathe?”
Winda scratched her ear. “With all due respect, Dragonseer Wells, this weapon is only intended to be used when airborne. It has foldable wheels on its base and hinges for easy installation and removal. It’s also possible to install it in flight, providing Velos flies absolutely straight. Then, all Velos needs to do is land in a specially constructed frame and the cannon will detach itself.”
“But Velos would hate this thing.”
“Dragonseer Wells, this could win us the war,” General Sako pointed out. “You may want to protect your dragon, but so long as he can handle the weight.”
“We’ve made modifications to lighten the cannon, and the use of carbon fibres makes this as portable as it can possibly be,” Winda said.
“And the best thing is,” Faso said, glee evident in his voice. “Our team of engineers are installing this as we speak.”
“What?” I said. “Faso, you… You didn’t have my permission, you swine.”
“Oh, relax,” Faso said. He showed me his talkie. “I’ve already heard reports that Velos quite enjoys the extra accessory. We’ve made him look even meaner than he looked with the armour alone.”
“Dragonheats,” I muttered under my breath. And I was already up and getting ready to rush to the stables. “If you excuse me, General. Continue the briefing and I’ll be back promptly. I need to sort this one out.”
“Dragonseer Wells,” he said. But I was already storming through the doors at the back of the courtyard. The tapestries and torches whizzed past me, and my head was spinning with rage as I remembered when Faso had installed that armour without my permission in the first place. I told him then that if he ever tried anything like that again, I’d fly Velos over his metal workshop and melt him down within his abode.
The first thing I saw as I swung open the doors to Velos’ stable was the cannon, pointed right at me as if it wanted to annihilate me on the spot. Velos, admittedly, didn’t seem too bothered about it and had his neck craned to the sky as if posing for a photograph. He stood on top of a brass scaffolding, his legs on platforms on either side and the cannon pointing out of the centre. Meanwhile, engineers in
blue denim coveralls scurried around him, fixing cogs, tightening screws and polishing the massive gleaming gun.
But that wasn’t the worst of it. Papo stood there watching the progress with his hands on his hips, spine arched backwards, and head held high. He didn’t notice me come charging into the room. Instead, his gaze was fixated on the engineers and the massive gun leading out of Velos’ underbelly.
“Papo!” It was kind of ironic really, My father had also helped Faso put the armour on Velos. And now, here he was supervising another one of Faso’s hare-brained experiments on Velos, without my permission!
“Oh, hi, Pontopa,” Papo said. “Marvellous, isn’t it? I heard you’re going out on a mission and Faso’s ensured me that this cannon will keep you out of danger. But keep your distance from your enemies, will you? And I’ve decided to come too, to make sure you’re safe.”
He had his arm in a sling now. Obviously, he’d overdone something and I imagined the beratement that he’d later get from his old pal, Doctor Forsolano.
“Papo, will you ever learn? Faso’s not to be trusted. And certainly, he shouldn’t be putting things on Velos without my permission.”
Papo looked at me, surprise registering in the arch of his bushy eyebrows. “Pontopa, this makes a lot of sense. Surely Faso’s shown you the schematics. The cannon’s easy to remove and is much mightier than the Gatling cannons and will surely get you out of a pinch. Don’t worry, I made sure to ask plenty of questions.”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “Don’t worry! I’m not worried, because that thing’s coming off.”
Velos turned his head towards me sharply and bared his teeth.
“Whose side are you on, Velos? You can’t sit down with that thing on. What happens if you need to rest?”
“I think you’re on your own with this one, Pontopa,” Papo said.
“And I’m the only one who’s making sense. Take it off now! That’s an order.” Although I wasn’t sure exactly who I was giving orders to at the time.
The engineers had halted there, their hands frozen as if time had suddenly stopped. There came a commotion from the doorway and Faso, Winda, General Sako, and Lieutenant Candiorno came rushing into the room.
General Sako came right up to me and pointed his finger at my nose. Really the guy was so small that he only came up to my chin. But still, he made up for that in stockiness, and many said he was as strong as an ox.
“Don’t you dare circumvent my authority again, Dragonseer Wells.” He turned to the engineers. “Why have you stopped working? That cannon needs installing pronto.”
I tried to imagine how Sukina would have behaved in this situation. She wouldn’t take any of this kind of flak, even from her father. And so, I knocked the offending finger away. “You have no authority over me, general. You know full well that we rank the same.”
“Yes, but munitions and armaments are my responsibility.”
“And the well-being of the dragons is mine.”
“He looks very well to me if you ask my opinion. A fine figure of war, in fact. Winda, you heard me, order your men to start working again.”
Winda looked from General Sako to me and then back to General Sako as if trying to decide who it would be safer to obey. Faso had taken a spot next to my father and he looked at Papo as if asking for approval. My father smiled, and then Faso said, “Okay, I’m in charge of this operation. You can start work again as the general asks.”
But I wasn’t going to let them get away with things so easily. I let out a harsh song to reprimand Velos for taking the wrong side. And that caused the dragon to reach his head up to the sky and roar, sending the engineers scattering.
“Dragonseer Wells,” General Sako said. “Stop that immediately.”
“I agree,” Gerhaun’s voice came in my head. “What have I told you about keeping your calm, Pontopa? In situations like this, you can’t be so headstrong.“
Unsurprisingly, having a dragon queen talking in my head all of a sudden jolted me out of my senses, even though we’d spoken this way many times before. I’d been so angry that I’d forgotten to mask my thoughts from her.
“Gerhaun,” I said. “I thought you were busy.”
“I wanted to see how you handled this situation by yourself. But clearly, you still have a lot to learn.”
“But Faso did it again. He went ahead and installed something on Velos without my permission.”
“I know you have your connection to Velos, but you are responsible for every dragon in the fortress now. I’ll talk to Faso about his methods, but you have to admit, this action makes a lot of sense. At least for the time being.”
“He went behind my back. Was this what he was working on when he should have been spending time with Taka for his birthday?”
“The man works too hard, yes. That is his flaw. Yours is your inability to delegate, rather than taking everything on yourself. You need to learn the value of patience, Pontopa. Then, you will be in control.”
I took a deep breath. She was right, I guess. Still, I didn’t like the way that everyone had gone behind my back with this. I let off a big sigh and then centred myself. We had bigger fish to fry right now.
“How’s it going with the interrogation?” I asked Gerhaun.
“Making progress,” she said. “But I’ve intervened all I need to and you seem to have your wits about you again. If you excuse me, I’ll get back to my job, and you can get back to yours.”
Faso, General Sako and my father were standing in admiration of the cannon when I zoned back to reality. None of them needed say anything. They just had their eyes wide open with awe.
“Men,” I muttered. “What is it about you and machines?”
General Sako turned his head. “What? Oh, I see you’re back with us, Dragonseer Wells. Have you finished receiving your telling off from Gerhaun?”
I shook my head. “I guess this time, getting to those Mammoths is of prime importance.”
“I’m glad to see you’ve got your head screwed back on your shoulders,” General Sako replied.
Papo stepped forwards. “So, Pontopa, when do we go?”
The general turned to him and looked down at his sling. “You’ve got to be kidding me, Cipao Wells. You’re going nowhere. Men like us are meant to stay at home and supervise.”
“And don’t you ever wish you were out in the battlefield? That’s my daughter we’re talking about.”
The general’s eyes became slits. “Are you forgetting, Cipao? I lost a daughter on a mission. It took me a long time to accept it but going out on missions like this is what dragonseers have to do.”
Papo looked down at the floor defeated. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Faso stepped forwards, the tail of his suit swinging behind him. “My cannon will keep Pontopa safe.”
And everyone in the stable stopped and looked at Faso in astonishment.
“There’s some things Faso,” I said. “You just can’t say.”
Faso looked down at the ground abashed. General Sako stared at him a short moment, as if to rub in his stupidity. He might have agreed with Faso on the decision to install the cannon, but the general seemed to harbour great dislike for the inventor. I wondered if those two would ever get over their differences. They were both family now, after all.
“Right,” General Sako said eventually. “So, now we’ve got this little wrinkle sorted out, we should probably get started.”
“Return to the briefing?” I asked.
“Affirmative. Gordoni boy, you probably need to prepare things here. I think my troops have seen enough of your inventions now, don’t you?”
Faso gave a mock salute. “Aye aye, sir,” he said. “It would be good to supervise operations here and to fill the tanks in the armour.”
“Then get right on it. And make sure everything’s in tip-top condition.”
General Sako turned on his heel and walked out the door. I took one moment to glance at Faso, who was standing on
tiptoes, stretching his arms above his head, and looking smug. I snorted, shook my head, and then I followed General Sako out the door.
From behind me, out echoed a deep growl from Velos, almost as if he was happy to see me go.
Part III
Alsie
“There is no stronger force in this world than the will of an empress.”
Also Fioreletta
7
The rest of the briefing went pretty smoothly, without incident. I sat on the front row playing with my nails, as the secicao clouds whirled overhead and General Sako droned on about battle formations and the like. I could smell the strong stench of secicao in the air that day. The scent somehow managed to permeate through the wall that the collective unconscious formed between Fortress Gerhaun and the clouds. It was almost as if Alsie Fioreletta’s nearby presence infused the secicao with extra power. She, after all, had the spirit of Finesia inside her.
While the briefing was happening, I sensed Charth flying nearby, keeping vigil. So, I reached out to communicate that he could also accompany us into battle.
Charth used to be a female dragonseer before his father, Colas, converted him into a dragonman through a special drug known as Exalmpora. Eventually, as his connection to Finesia grew, Charth lost the ability to command dragons and instead gained near immortality, the ability to breathe secicao, great strength and other powers, and who knows what else. And I say near immortality, because in human form he would be just as fragile as any other human, with one exception. Dragonmen and dragonwomen didn’t age.
Of course, I never told General Sako that Charth would be aiding us. Also, I doubted Charth would want to go anywhere near Alsie Fioreletta. She was around thirty per cent larger than him in dragon form, and much, much stronger.
Although, I did wonder at the time whether the sheer power of the cannon Faso had developed would be enough to bring her down. Perhaps she wasn’t immortal but just extremely tough. Of course, she moved so fast that I doubted I’d ever have a chance to hit her with the cannon and test the limits of her power.
Dragonseers and Airships Page 34