I reacted by singing a song to give Velos strength.
“Wait,” Faso said, “if we leak the remaining reserve from the cannon into the armour…”
“What?”
“We didn’t take our last shot,” Faso said, and he reached down to the spigot while Ratter jumped over and began to work at the control panel on the other side. Velos then reached the end of the beak and he dropped headfirst towards the ocean.
But the dragon opened his wings so we could glide down a little slower. Yet he had no strength left in him to fly.
“I thought you said there was no secicao left in the armour?” I asked.
“It wasn’t in the armour, but in the cannon. And if we’d taken a third shot, we would have used it all up.”
Dragonheats, I hated that man for withholding valuable information from me. But I didn’t have time to express my anger at that present moment. Instead, I pulled up on Velos’ steering fin. “Dragonheats, Velos, fly,” I willed. But his muscles were weak, I could feel it. And he’d lost the will to survive.
But Faso’s plan worked. The armour beneath us began to glow green. Strength rushed to Velos’ wings, and just as his head crashed into the water, he slapped the waves away with a massive flap and lifted us back up into the air.
“That’s it Velos,” I said.
“Up, up and away,” Faso shouted.
“Hoooooiiiiieeeee,” Taka called out, and I looked back at him in surprise.
Then, I turned Velos back towards the Saye Explorer. Meanwhile, gondolas and balloons floated on the water and I could see them burning as thousands of Finesia’s dragons coated them in flame. I caught sight of Cini’s flagship and the king who raised a flask of secicao oil to his lips and then jumped into the water.
I didn’t see what happened to him after that.
The Saye Explorer wasn’t far away and our crew had already returned it to operation. The war automatons had been turned over deck, and the redguards who were asleep there had now been tied to the railings. Meanwhile, the admiral and general stood on the edge of the quarterdeck, watching the battle unfold in front of them.
The men had returned the trolley designed for landing Velos when he was equipped with the cannon. I landed him there and I promptly leapt off the dragon and rushed over to join them.
“We need to make our escape,” I said.
“But the dragons,” General Sako said, “they’ll come after us once they’re finished with Cini. What are those things? I thought it was just Charth and Alsie.”
I shook my head. “I’ll explain later. And somehow, I don’t think we’re their target. Admiral Sandao, head east. I think Alsie Fioreletta will let us go.”
He saluted and scurried off to give the orders. Meanwhile, General Sako turned to me, then looked up to Velos where Taka still sat strapped into his harness.
“You made it… And you brought my grandson back.”
Grandson… Hopefully, he’d finally learned to accept the boy’s changed gender.
I nodded. “Yes, but at what cost?”
General Sako stared out into the distance.
“Did you hear it? Before our men mutinied and overturned the automatons, everyone said they heard a woman’s voice in their head. Then, the automatons holding our men hostage below went dead and we managed to reclaim the ship.”
I nodded. “That was Alsie Fioreletta in the collective unconscious. She created a strong enough source for everyone to hear her, it seems.”
General Sako’s jaw dropped. “What? Impossible.”
“We need to call a meeting with Gerhaun as soon as we get home – whether she’s sleeping or not. Alsie Fioreletta is no longer loyal to King Cini and the world is about to change.”
And on that note, we thus crept away from a churning sea as Alsie’s dragonmen and dragonwomen tore up the last of King Cini’s fleet.
“Escape, for now,” Alsie said in my mind once we were out of sight. “But Finesia will continue to work on you and Taka and you both will join our side.”
“Not if I can help it,” I replied. And I shut Alsie Fioreletta and Finesia out of my mind.
Or, at least for the time being…
24
After the battle, Faso applied some special balm made of secicao and aloe vera to Velos’ tail, which seemed to have magical healing abilities. And as soon as he was fit to fly again, we decided to take Velos ahead so we could report to Gerhaun as soon as possible. Of course, Velos didn’t carry the cannon all the way to the Southlands. Everyone agreed that there would unlikely be any need for it on the journey.
General Sako insisted on coming with Faso, Taka and I, and he sat in the middle with his grandson seated on his lap. Somehow, despite the heavy turbulence, both Taka and his grandfather slept most of the journey, and General Sako’s snores were quite audible, even above the roar of the wind. Of course, we had to wake them to remind them to put their gas masks on just before we hit the secicao clouds in the Southlands. Then, they both just moaned, reached down for the masks, placed them over their faces, and were very shortly afterwards fast asleep again.
Faso was also incredibly quiet on his journey. Probably musing over what the old academics had told him about his heritage. I hadn’t sensed them in the covey of dragons that Alsie had brought over from the volcano or the ones that had followed me to the Saye Explorer. So, I had a feeling that they’d perished during the eruption.
The first people to greet us when we arrived were my parents. They waited in the courtyard and, just as we were about to land, I caught sight of their pale faces and the enormous bags they sported underneath their eyes. They looked as if they hadn’t slept for a month. We touched down quickly and Velos let out a light roar to greet my parents. I immediately scrambled down Velos’ ladder and ran into my father’s arms.
“Pontopa,” he said. “You look like you aged years.”
I laughed. “Such a sweet thing to say to your daughter.”
“I’m sorry, it’s just. I can’t get over how much you’ve grown in the last few years. And there’s something different about you. In your eyes…”
I smiled and then I embraced my mother with a hug. “What happened out there, dear?” she asked. “You seem like you’ve endured a lot.”
Wellies, why did parents have to be so perceptive. “I’ll explain later. For now, I need to talk to Gerhaun. Is she awake?”
Papo smiled. “I believe so… And she has news.”
So it appeared East Cadigan Island wasn’t the only place things had happened. “What?” I asked.
“I think she’ll like to explain this herself.” Mamo looked up at Velos. “But it’s quite exciting.”
“Dragonheats,” I said. And I stormed through the corridors so fast that neither my parents nor General Sako would be able to keep up with me. The double doors to Gerhaun’s treasure chamber were open and it looked sparkling clean.
“You didn’t announce your visit,” Gerhaun said in the collective unconscious.
But I ignored her slight objection. “Gerhaun,” I said instead. “My parents tell me you have the news.”
“Later Dragonseer… There’s something different about you.” Gerhaun furrowed her massive golden brow. “Finesia… You took Exalmpora.”
I felt my heart leap in my chest, and I wanted to cry. “It was forced upon me. Colas shot me in the stomach, and I had no choice but to take it otherwise I’d die.”
And then, it all came out it a flurry of tears and words. I told Gerhaun about the storm, and the tribespeople we’d met in the jungle and how Colas had converted them to his cause. I told her about the academics and their theories – something which Gerhaun admitted to already knowing a lot about. I then told her about Colas and how he’d incited a volcanic eruption, and how his nefarious plan had managed to birth thousands of dragonmen and dragonwomen from the soil. And how he’d shot me in the stomach and I’d almost died. And when teetering over the abyss of death, I’d managed to transcend the collective unconsciou
s and had become something else entirely. And thus I’d had no choice but to take the Exalmpora down my throat, as Taka still needed saving and it wasn’t time to die. And how I’d then almost become a dragonwoman and I started hearing the voice of Finesia inside my head. Finally, I told her about Charth. How he’d lost himself to Finesia. That, it seemed, he’d never help us again.
There was only one thing that I held back telling her, and that was about the vision I’d had in the jungle when I’d become the Tree Immortal and destroyed the world. It terrified me, and I was also terrified of how Gerhaun would react if she knew about it. She might cast me out or worse, once she learned what a threat I was to this world, tear me to shreds on the spot.
After I’d finished speaking, there was a long pause as I waited for Gerhaun to digest the words. Eventually, she nodded and looked down upon me with her wise eyes. “If you kept Finesia out, then you’ve not lost yourself yet.”
I looked over at the gleaming pile of treasures. “But I’m a dragonwoman,” I said.” Just like Charth.”
“No,” Gerhaun replied. “You’re not like Charth at all.”
I shook my head. “Gerhaun, what happened to Charth? Why did you throw him out?”
And that caused her to sink her head and let out a low and sad growl. “First, I need to know, Pontopa. Did you ever call on Finesia, or use her powers?”
“Never,” I said. “And I told Taka not to let her in.”
Gerhaun nodded. “Then keep it that way. You see, Charth turned on us when we least expected it. He returned to us after what his father had done to him in the palace and continued to work for us, while his brother travelled the world wooing women and Alsie decided to try and create a life of her own in the palace. But King Cini II kept sending automatons to the Southlands and Charth felt he needed to use his abilities to destroy the king’s operations. I told him he shouldn’t call on Finesia. That the power she gave him was dangerous, but he wouldn’t listen.
“One day, he went out with a task force and he turned into a black dragon to fight the king’s airships. But in doing so, he lost his will and he ended up massacring our own men. After that, I had no option but to cast him out.
“He said he was sorry. He vouched never to turn again. But I could see that it was only a matter of time until he became lost to Finesia’s will. He didn’t have the strength inside to resist.”
I felt a tear well at the corner of my eye. “Charth works for Alsie now.”
“Yes,” Gerhaun replied. “Because, Finesia kept exploiting that weakness, much as she’ll try to exploit your own.”
I clenched my fists by my sides. “I won’t let her. I’ll be strong.”
“You need more than strength.” Gerhaun said, and she looked down at me with her yellow knowing eyes. “You need patience, Dragonseer Wells. You need to accept you can’t have everything at once. It will take time to become who you want to be.”
And with those words, a tear dropped from my cheek. That’s what I’d found so hard to accept. “We lost so much out there. The dragons. The fleet. East Cadigan island is now a wasteland and Alsie tells me that secicao will grow there soon.”
“The world is changing,” Gerhaun said. “And we must be strong to face it.”
A gust of wind came from the chimney and I smelt the egginess of the secicao fumes trying to close in through the collective unconscious.
“Gerhaun,” I said. “There’s something else.”
“Tell me.”
I took a deep breath. I had to tell Gerhaun. Maybe she’d help me understand. Or at least, perhaps she could give me the courage to face up to what I was becoming.
“I had a vision,” I explained. “The first time Exalmpora was forced on me in the jungle, I saw myself in battle against Alsie. I beat her and I became the Tree Immortal, Gerhaun, and I… I caused secicao to grow across the world, and I couldn’t stop it. I was the catalyst, Gerhaun… I destroyed this world.”
Gerhaun’s lips folded downwards. Her response wasn’t one of anger or fear as I’d feared, but instead compassion. “Do not let Finesia in,” she said. “She wants you to believe that you’re not in control of your own destiny. She wants you to think that you’re a servant to her will.”
“But you said there’s a prophecy.”
“Yes, one where we’ll rise with free will and decide what the fate of this world will be. You have to believe, Dragonseer Wells. And you have to have the patience to hold on to those beliefs, even in the darkest of times.”
“I see that now,” I said. “Thank you, Gerhaun.”
“No, thank you,” she said. “You’ve done great things for us all.”
I nodded. “What about Lieutenant Wiggea?” I asked. “Will he have a funeral?” And, again, a tinge of sadness rose up to me as I remembered him holding my chin and the warm kiss he placed upon my lips.
Rastano Wiggea had done nothing to deserve this. He’d been a humble servant of dragonseers all his life and had already witnessed the death of two of them, the first being his wife. And now, he’d been forced to join the side that he’d fought so hard to protect the dragonseers from.
And that thought caused me to hate Finesia even more.
“But Lieutenant Wiggea’s not dead yet, is he?” Gerhaun said.
“We lost him to Finesia.”
“No”, Gerhaun said. “We must believe there’s a way back for him, just as there is for you. But for the rest of the men and the dragons who died, there will be a long period of mourning. And then we’ll need to rally the dragon queens. We’ve not had to call a council since the dragonheats. Yet times are getting dark once again.”
“I understand,” I said. “But tell me… I need to hear the good news amidst all this darkness.”
“Very well,” Gerhaun said. “There is something you’ll be pleased to hear.”
“Go on…”
“Well, something good has come out of all of this. I had to sleep long before you went because I was about to give birth.”
“Another egg?”
“Not just any egg. But the next dragon queen.”
And for the first time in a while, elation rose in my chest. And, as if Velos also felt my feelings and knew what had happened, he let out a distant roar. This roar, I imagined, passed across the courtyard and the through corridors of Fortress Gerhaun and over the parapets.
I imagined it even reached out into the secicao cloud and over the thorny secicao from where Finesia could hear its intent.
“No,” Velos’ roar seemed to say. “We have a will. And, Finesia, you shall not have dominion. For the good and the collective unconscious shall prevail overall.”
Dragonseers and Automatons
Book III
To Ola, for being there through the toughest times.
Part I
Taka
“From my childhood, I gained a confused sense of identity. Was I a boy, a girl, a dragonseer, or just a normal young soul trying to make sense of a chaotic world?”
Taka Sako
1
Just as the spider automaton swivelled its turret towards me, I did a forward roll out of the way. It let off a shot at the now absent target. I raised my rifle and fired.
But I hurried it so much that I missed.
“Dragonheats,” I muttered under my breath. How had it got here so fast? Faso had undoubtedly worked some of his magic into these things, but I knew this magic was pure unadulterated science.
Taka, my twelve-year-old surrogate son, stood next to me with a smaller custom build rifle in his hands. He turned towards the automaton and fired. The automaton bucked over on its eight legs, let out a sputtering sound, and collapsed to the floor.
“Did you see that, Auntie?” he said. “That’s Taka fifteen, Auntie Pontopa, zero.”
I clenched my teeth. I was meant to be training the boy today, and he seemed to be better at the task than me. How he’d become such a sharpshooter so quickly, I hadn’t the faintest.
We were hunting thes
e spider automatons in the secicao jungle. I was trying to train Taka how to fight against automatons, but he seemed to have it under control. Like me, he wore wellies, as protection against the secicao resin. We also both wore gas masks to guard against the brown acidic secicao clouds all around us, which would suffocate us if we took the masks off. The clamminess of the clouds stung at my skin, adding extra discomfort on top of the sweat.
And my profuse sweatiness wasn’t just because of the activity, but also the medicine I was taking – an issue I didn’t want to tell Taka about.
I heard a whirring sound, ever so faint in the distance. Another spider automaton. Then I spotted it, glaring at me with its red infernal glowing eyes. This is the one thing about automatons that never changed. Those same red eyes as their dragon-killing war automaton fathers.
The spider automaton turned and swung its turret around to target me. It was perhaps thirty yards away, sandwiched between two thick secicao branches. I raised my rifle and sighted the automaton down the scope. But I was too slow.
A sharp pain lanced in my shoulder and light flashed out from the automaton’s stun-cannon, momentarily sending a soft flanging sound into the air.
“Dragonheats,” I said. And I clutched my hand to my shoulder. “Did Faso program these things to fire on me alone?”
Taka laughed. “I don’t think it's the automatons, Auntie. You have to be stealthy, see?” and he entered a crouch. “Get down low so they can’t see you.”
I shook my head. “Who’s meant to be the teacher here?”
“Gerhaun said experience is the best teacher of them all.”
“And you have a long way to go until I happily call you experienced.”
All of a sudden, a wave of dizziness washed over me. I clutched my hands to my head. It felt like wool, but such a feeling was better than letting Finesia in. If I hadn’t taken the medication, she’d take control of my mind, and no one wanted that. I had to stay in control.
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