Meanwhile, another presence is drawing nigh. My cohorts have answered my call.
“Join me,” I say to Rastano. And I pull back up into the sky.
A line of black dragons emerges through the secicao clouds. “Hooooiiieeee,” one of them cries. “Your wish is my command,” another says. And I wheel around to join them, so we can destroy the charging army en force.
This time, the shades have weapons that they can use to defend themselves. But they are only sticks and stones that glance off our tough skin.
Meanwhile, we are one. A coordinated, awesome force that nothing on this world stands a chance against. But my energy is fading. I haven’t yet adapted to the life of a dragonwoman. Until Finesia allows me to transcend, I will still be mortal upon this land.
“Come, Rastano,” I say. “Let us leave this battle for another day.”
“As you wish,” he replies. And we leave the covey of dragons alone to wreak havoc upon the shades.
We fly over a wonderfully barren land, bereft of all life but secicao. Not a fox, or hare, or hawk, or squirrel, to be seen. Only yellowness stretching out so far that it’s hard to make out where the secicao clouds end and the sky begins.
This is our world now.
We find a brown river, flowing wildly. It splits off into two tributaries which converge around an island and then meet to again become one. Rastano and I land on this island, and we laugh and transform back into our human forms. A shroud of black dust rises around us – our very own private curtain. And because the cold cannot affect us, we cannot wait to strip off our clothes.
We are naked, we are immortal, and we can breathe the secicao here. I gaze into Rastano’s eyes and then I beckon him forward.
He nods with a grin – one that didn’t belong to the old Wiggea. But I prefer this version. Finesia has made him a better man. A wild creature with passion and allure.
He takes hold of me by the waist, and I flatten him down onto the ground, for I have more strength than he. Our bodies meld as the yellow clouds boil around us, and the sounds of destruction and death linger on the stale air.
Then, my memories become lost to roars and screams of passion…
And wonder…
And pain…
Anguish for those who I have lost – and the soul I have sacrificed.
I collapse on the floor, my energy spent, not caring anymore about Wiggea. And it’s no longer a ground rife with secicao, but a cold, hoary and barren floor. As I lie there shivering, thoughts rage in my head that Finesia has betrayed me.
It’s only a matter of seconds until I black out.
23
I woke up with my eyelids stuck tight together, feeling surprisingly warm, given I’d just gone to sleep naked on the snow. As I came to, I realised I was wrapped in a blanket, lying in a bed, with people milling around me. Human voices – and a sense of dragons being there in the collective unconscious.
The dreams, what had they meant? Had they been real?
Velos. Yes, I could sense Velos. And a voice, one so familiar and close to me. It stopped a moment as I forced my eyes open.
Then, I realised I wasn’t outside, but surrounded by a white canvas that rose to a central point. Some marines worked away adding firewood to a pit in the centre of the tent. But they hadn’t had time to light it yet, and so I couldn’t have been here long.
“She’s awake.”
The man’s footsteps moved towards me, and I looked up into that gentle face. He had a tidy beard, a calm expression, and a polite manner.
“Admiral Sandao,” I said.
“Dragonseer Wells… You made it. We feared we’d come too late, and we’d heard that they’d already shot you. But we couldn’t find the body, so we thought they’d incinerated it or something. And then we find you lying out here, naked in the cold.”
“You came to rescue us?” My voice was weak, and my brain found it hard to find the words.”
“Aye,” Sandao said. “Our dragons heard a call from you and got alarmed, and so we immediately knew you were in danger. So, we brought in the dragons and the marines. But we had no idea how outnumbered we were. And we would have lost, hadn’t we had other help.”
I shook my head, remembering. “But Travast… He said that he sent out an army of automatons against you.”
Admiral Sandao smiled. “That he did. There were Mammoths and giant things General Sako has started calling Ogres, and there must have been hundreds of them. They marched out over the ice, and for a moment we didn’t think we had a chance. But they were so heavy, that we only needed to send out the dragons to melt them into the water. And the rest is now history.”
I propped myself up on my elbow, taking a moment to look underneath the blanket. Someone had put on me a shirt and some trousers, but my hands and my feet were bare and looked bruised and scratched.
“You mentioned reinforcements at the factory. Who were they?” I asked Admiral Sandao.
“A black dragon. No, actually, two of them. But they were ruthless. We watched them for a while, and they not only wanted to melt down the automatons but scorch the slaves. We’re not sure a single man or woman there survived. Then more dragons came, and we took advantage of the distraction to break our people out from the cells.”
A wave of repulsion rose in me as Admiral Sandao spoke. Could those two dragons have been me and Wiggea?
“And what about Taka?” I asked. I’d abandoned him, because I’d let a blind rage build within. And then Finesia had used that rage to rein control.
Sandao lowered his head. “We couldn’t find the boy,” he said. “We saw an airship fleeing from the factory towards Ginlast, and we suspect Taka was on board.”
I raised an eyebrow. “But you don’t know for sure?”
“We don’t,” Admiral Sandao admitted.
I nodded. “Taka,” I said in the collective unconscious. I thought it worth a try. But there was no reply.
“The dragons?” I asked.
“Velos made it out alive, and Faso also managed to fix the dragon automaton on the way out to get it flying again. They’re waiting with the other dragons outside.”
I heard some more footsteps approaching. I looked up to see Lieutenant Talato holding a cup. She reached out and offered it to me. “Cup of tea, Maam?”
I took it, trying hard not to drop it as its heat seared my fingers – my hands still tender from the cold. “Thank you.”
“It’s not a problem. I was so worried that we’d lost you, Maam. A guard came down and told us they had sent you to your execution and that we would be next. Then, he went away. There was some commotion from outside, the sounds of dragons and rifle fire. Then, the next thing we knew, we were being broken out by the marines, and then we find you lying naked on the ground.”
I shook my head. “Those weren’t normal dragons.” She hadn’t seen what had happened at East Cadigan Island, before the battle against Cini. How the volcano had erupted, and we’d escaped through the billowing ash after which the black dragons arose from the earth. Finesia had called them mine to command when I first encountered them. Alsie had been there, and Charth. And we’d had many the king’s airships barring our escape. Then Finesia had appeared in my head and instructed me to call my minions. And I’d refused, much to Finesia’s dismay. But in my head, she then promised me I would one day command them.
Now, it seemed, I finally had. Destroyed innocent lives, through my powers, without even being in control of my senses.
It was me. I had attacked the slaves at the factory. I’d scorched them out of existence. Wiggea had been there as well. And the other dragons had come on my call.
If Finesia could gain such power over me, did I have any chance at all?
Sandao’s marines added the last log to the fire pit. They then poured on some oil and set it up in flames. I relished the heat coming from it, even though it stung at my face a little. I mustered some energy from somewhere to swing my legs around on the bed and sat up, still keeping the
blanket clenched against me to protect me from both the heat and the cold.
“Blunders and dragonheats! Dragonseer Wells, you’re alive.” I turned to see General Sako had just entered the door, the flaps billowing out in front of him. “And you’re not in a coma. You looked so blue when we found you, I wasn’t sure you’d make it through.”
I shook my head. “Me neither,” I said.
“What the dragonheats happened? How did you end up getting from the firing range to lying naked on the floor? They said that they’d shoot you, but what they did seemed an even crueller way to make you die.”
“I don’t know,” I lied. “I blacked out, and then I was here in this tent.”
“Are you well enough to get up? Because we have to fight back. Alsie, or someone, is up there with those same black dragons she used to take down Cini at the Battle of East Cadigan Island. They caused so much destruction, that this is our opportunity to march in and burn down the place, so it never sees the light of day again.”
“I can stand,” I said. And I put my feet on the floor and eased myself gently on to them. I started teetering a little at first, and Lieutenant Talato reached out to catch me. But I put up my hand to stop her, and I waited a moment to endure the pins and needles that stabbed at my feet and ankles.
I looked around at the men and women who had gathered at the fire pit, then at Admiral Sandao, then General Sako, and finally Lieutenant Talato. I wondered if they could have any inkling of what had just happened. What I had just done.
But then, the only person in the room who knew I could turn into a dragon was Talato. And she still seemed to trust me. “Lieutenant, can I have a word a moment?” I said, and I beckoned her over to the other side of the tent. I led her far out of earshot of everyone else.
“What is it, Maam?” Talato asked.
“I need to know, have you still got cyagora?” Even if I could no longer control the dragons on the march, even if I lost my connection to Velos, I couldn’t risk having Finesia take control of my mind again.
“No, Maam. I’m afraid Travast confiscated it in the factory. Do you need them?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know…” And I watched her for any suspicion that I was part of that flock of black dragons that had attacked the slaves. But I detected nothing. It was no surprise, really. She’d found it incredibly hard to believe in Finesia and the power she had over us. And it was probably better that it stayed that way.
But even so, my chest felt heavy as the gravity of Lieutenant Talato’s information weighed down on it. Without the cyagora, I had no way out. Finesia could do what she wanted with me whenever she pleased.
I nodded and Talato and I walked over to General Sako and Admiral Sandao, who were discussing the situation from besides the bed.
“The problem is,” General Sako was saying, “that Taka could still be in the factory. I don’t want my grandson to get caught in the crossfire. I know you have good marines, Sandao. But they still need to proceed with utmost caution.”
Admiral Sandao scratched at his beard. “You don’t think he’s on the airship. From what the guards told Lieutenant Talato, the king wanted to take him back to the palace and return him to his life as Prince Artua.”
“And the king didn’t care if Taka died at East Cadigan Island, for wellies’ sake. I heard him say it over the loudspeaker myself.”
“I think the king must have taken Taka,” I said. “He forced us to swear fealty to him, and Taka accepted, and… I refused. That’s why they wanted to execute me. But now, King Cini thinks Taka is on his side.”
“You did what?” General Sako’s face went purple.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I acted on impulse, and I messed up.”
General Sako nodded, but he said nothing else.
“This isn’t what we need to focus on right now, General,” Admiral Sandao said, and he reached out and put a hand on the general’s shoulder. “Taka is in danger, and if he’s in the factory, we’ll rescue him. But if not, we’ll send Dragonseer Wells, Lieutenant Talato, and the marines to Ginlast to retrieve him back. He can’t have gone far.”
I nodded my affirmation. I was glad that we had Sandao with a level head, because both General Sako and I were incredibly emotional at this point.
“Very well,” General Sako said, and the colour had started to drain from his cheeks. “Dragonseer Wells, promise me you’ll do whatever you can to get the boy back.”
“I promise,” I said.
And I turned away, no longer able to hide the guilt for everything that I’d done.
Part VII
Alsie
“Who wouldn’t want to gain the power of a god?”
Alsie Fioreletta
24
This time, Sandao’s marines set up the screen outside to prepare for the briefing, while others packed the tents away, ready for us to spring into action.
It was now mid-afternoon, and the sun shone the brightest we’d seen since we arrived, melting the snow to slush and preparing the land for spring. This was one of the reasons we wanted to get to the factory fast. We not only wanted to take advantage of the attack the previous day, but we also knew that the slush would freeze to ice overnight. This wouldn’t make marching easy, and could give those huge automatons, with their massive feet, the advantage.
The troops latched the screen onto two high pine trees. No one sat – it was far too cold to be doing so. Instead, we stood in lines, Lieutenant Talato and me at the front as usual, as Ratter dangled from a helium balloon behind us all and projected images of the carnage onto the screen.
That was the first time I experienced for real the extent of the damage I’d caused, and it hit me hard. I saw so many slaves lying on the snow – their skin burned red and brown but still with that unnatural green tint underneath it. They were distributed in circles around the rocks, with their pickaxes scattered around near them.
What had they done to deserve this? Convicts of the king destroyed by the mad will of Finesia and a dragonwoman who couldn’t control her own mind. In the picture, I could see the melted automatons. Those immense beasts that Travast had developed hadn’t stood a chance against the black dragons. The barrels of their Gatling guns were warped, as if a giant had marched over and bent them in half. Claws had ripped the shields protecting the power cores right off their back. And the hole, where the power core would have been, was surrounded by charcoal black char marks.
General Sako stood in front of us, so he could give his briefing. This time, Admiral Sandao stood next to him, though he remained quiet. It seemed rather odd, to be honest. General Sako had lost his commandos and the marines were the admiral’s troops to command. But the more mild-mannered man didn’t seem to mind the general taking control.
“This is perhaps the easiest mission you’ve ever embarked upon,” General Sako said. “The work has already been done for us by that mysterious dragonwoman, Alsie Fioreletta. None of us yet know what she wants, but it’s the second time she’s rushed in to aid us. So, I guess we should be grateful. But don’t be tricked into thinking she’s on our side.”
Of course, I didn’t tell him it wasn’t actually Alsie Fioreletta controlling those dragons, but me in dreamland. They wouldn’t have believed it, anyway.
“Also,” the general continued, “although I doubt you’ll encounter resistance, you must still be vigilant. I saw many deactivated automatons inside the factory when I escaped, which didn’t look ready for battle. Though, blunders have been made on assumptions before, and we have to expect Commander Indorm might get some of them operational. So, keep your weapons loaded and ready at all times.
“We have forty Greys at our disposal. They will provide support from the air while we charge in and plant explosives in the factory. I’ve indicated the best locations” – the image on the screen changed to an overhead blueprint of the factory, with red crosses on it – “here, and here, and here. Just remember, I want all rooms checked before the explosives are clear. My grands
on might still be in the factory, and he’s far too valuable to us to lose.”
“I can communicate with him in the collective unconscious,” I said. “And so, I can check if he’s still in there.” As long as I wasn’t on cyagora, I’d at least have that ability.
General Sako’s moustache twitched. “And you can do it if he’s sleeping? Or in a coma, wellies forbid.”
“I’ll be able to sense him. As long as he hasn’t purposefully closed off his mind.”
“And why would he do that?” General Sako asked.
“I don’t know. Hopefully, he won’t.”
But I was pretty sure Taka wouldn’t be in the factory. He was on the king’s royal airship to Ginlast. And this was another reason we had to storm the factory as quickly as possible. I needed to get Velos and the other dragons chasing after him.
“General Sako, if I may.” Faso had stopped tinkering with the dragon automaton and walked in to join us at the back. And perhaps something about what had happened had changed him, because it wasn’t like him to be so polite. “Shouldn’t we go in on a scouting mission before we charge?”
“Blunders and dragonheats, Gordoni, boy, we don’t have time.”
“But if Travast activates more automatons, we need to know what we’re up against. We don’t have to lose any time doing so. Pontopa and I can go ahead of the troops as you march. You can keep the dragons nearby, and if we encounter unexpected resistance, Pontopa can call the rest of the dragons in ready for battle.”
He was making sense, I guess. But I didn’t want to go ahead of the marines. I wanted them to be there, so they could shoot me down if Finesia tried taking control of my mind again. That way, this world would be a little safer. At least for a while.
I looked back at the blueprint on the screen, noticing the rocks where I’d seen those slaves working. Many of them were my countrymen. Perhaps important figures convicted for crimes such as trying to resist a despotic king. Perhaps people whose causes weren’t so different from my own. And I’d roasted them under my flames without a care in the world.
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