Dragon Emperor

by Eric Vall

  She glanced over her shoulder and shot a small smile at me. “I am safest here, Sir Evan, this is how I can protect Hatra.”

  “Safe?” I moved toward the steps, and my heart pounded in my chest. “What the fuck do you mean?”

  Suddenly, all I saw was a silvery white light that shrouded everything and blinded me. It was the exact opposite of the miasma. Where the smoke had smelled of decay and death, the light smelled of life and spring, and for a moment, I was reminded of a valley of flowers.

  Instead of responding to me, Alyona turned back around and lifted her hands.

  “O ten great stars in the northern sky,” she intoned in a sonorous voice, “your child of jade beseeches you to exert your influence over this baleful existence and spread enlightenment and protection.” Alyona stood on the same wall we had admired the stars on earlier, only this time her hands were outstretched in front of her, as if in supplication to the stars. “Come, o myriad of stars, grant to us your victory and might!”

  A pale blue light full of paler pink stars began to glow in her hands. The strange light spread and jumped from her hands, and then it stretched into the sky above us and formed a dome around the ruined city. All of the darkness that enveloped the city had disappeared, and the dome had become a sun in the night for us. The only darkness came from the shadows cast by the ruined buildings and the dark smoke that was the miasma.

  The light that I had seen emanate from the priestess shone again. It seeped out of her as if someone held tightly onto a tiny star, and its light was desperate to get out. She shone like a beacon in the night, and the miasma dove toward her. It slammed itself against the barrier she had brought up, and I knew that it wouldn’t stop until it had reached her or it was destroyed.

  Miasma had been trapped inside of the barrier, and it moved sluggishly as if it had been drained of energy and power. Some of the miasma trapped inside began to die out and fade as it was purified by Alyona’s power.

  It spun up in the air and away as a swirl of black and red that never stopped its movement. The miasma could have been almost beautiful if it weren’t so deadly. The way it moved furiously in the air belied a sort of grace.

  What looked like lightning crackled on the surface of the dome every time the miasma outside of it approached the barrier. It smelled sharp and clean, and there was an absence of any rot and decay. I had expected to smell ozone, but all that filled my nose from the direction of the barrier was a clean and pure scent.

  I could still smell its poison and taint within the air. It lingered, and I could feel my mouth stretch itself into a snarl. The miasma infuriated me. These people were innocent, and it plagued them for no reason.

  “Evan!”

  I whirled around to find Laika had a man in a stranglehold behind me. The fur of her tail bristled, and her embroidered gorget glowed. The man had the same protruding veins as the villagers I had healed earlier, and the entirety of his eyes had gone black and were filled with a vicious rage.

  “We need to immobilize them!” Laika shouted as she struggled with the man.

  “What happened to him?” My senses suddenly became aware of the chaos that surrounded me. I could hear screams and the sounds of fighting. I flexed my claws, but I didn’t know how to fight this enemy. The stone giants had been simple, all I had to do was tear them apart. I didn’t know what I could do to help the people of Hatra.

  “Miasma poisoning,” Laika grunted, “he’s gone mad, just like the others. That’s the first stage.” The wolf let go of the man the moment his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and his body went slack as it slumped to the ground. “The only thing they can think of is to destroy everything and everyone in their path.”

  As I stared at the man sprawled in the dirt, words flashed across my vision again.

  Classification: Human.

  Condition: Miasma poisoning.

  Priority: Immediate healing required to stop further corruption.

  Status: Corrupted.

  Was this what Alyona and the people of Hatra have been dealing with? It was like they were possessed by evil. I glanced up at Alyona and saw that she hadn't moved from her place on the wall.

  “What is she doing?” I nodded toward the priestess who remained on the top of the wall as her hair swayed in a breeze I couldn’t feel or hear.

  “She’s making sure no more miasma can enter,” Laika replied as she stepped over the prone man at her feet. “It’s up to us to make sure that the villagers are safe until the miasma leaves, and they can be treated.” The Demi-Human sniffed the air. “Anton and the girls are bringing the contaminated villagers to the infirmary.”

  “That’s why you wanted to know about jiu-jitsu.” My jaw clenched as I realized how much Hatra had truly suffered. It wasn’t just the illness and death brought on by the miasma, but also the pain of having to fight your friends and family just for the chance to save their lives.

  Laika nodded. “It is too much of a risk, us subduing them like this, but it is all we can do.”

  “I’ll heal them while Alyona keeps the miasma at bay.” My claws twitched as I promised Laika once more that I would do everything I could to help them.

  I’d already healed villagers of the miasma before. I knew how to fight it like that. That was the only way I could help. We would do our part while Alyona did hers.

  And to do my part, I already knew I had to shift back into the form of a dragon.

  This time, it was easier than before to change my body. As I closed my eyes and concentrated, it felt like water on my skin as I shed the smaller, human form that I knew. My frame grew larger quickly, my muscles and bones settled, and I ground my claws into the earth I stood on. The power to heal settled in my throat quickly, and I noticed it came to me easier each time I used it.

  I opened my maw, and the iridescent glitter formed a gentle cloud that settled on the villager. As the glitter healed the man, the black protruding veins on his body returned to normal, and his eyes fluttered open. The taint had faded from his eyes and they were a dark brown that lacked any of the rage from before.

  At the same moment, Laika and I turned to face the long street that led to the homes of the villagers. I heard footsteps and the creak of wheels in the distant shadows, but then we both relaxed once we were able to see who approached us.

  The villagers who hadn’t been affected by the miasma helped draw the wooden carts full of their poisoned friends and family. The dryads guarded the group and peered into the surrounding shadows of the buildings with their pale green eyes. A red haired fox Demi-Human led the way with a torch with a grim look of determination on his youthful face. He seemed like he would be around my own age, but I wasn’t sure how quickly or how slowly Demi-Humans aged, so I figured I’d ask Laika when things had calmed down again.

  “Is this all of them, Ruslan?” Laika stepped forward with her ears alert and erect.

  The fox Demi-Human nodded. “Aye, all but one. Anton is chasing him. The Elders and children made it in time to our Lady’s shelter.”

  I moved closer to the carts, and I knew instinctively that their condition was the same as the man from before. Then I gathered as much power as I could within myself and listened for the hum of energy that would let me know that the moment was right.

  The glitter from my maw filled the air as it shimmered and danced in the air. It settled on the villagers as I felt the cold and decrepit touch of the miasma push against my soul and power. The miasma flickered underneath the weight of my force, but it was extinguished like a weak flame, and all the bruises and scrapes from the villager’s impromptu subjugation were healed as well. My mind dove in further, and I could see older injuries, from years ago, that hadn’t healed properly, and I focused on those as well.

  I swung my head to face the other villagers who had been corrupted by the miasma and wondered how much power was required for healing all of them. How far and deep could I go without harming myself? It wouldn’t stop me from pushing myself, but it would p
revent a repeat of my fainting as I had done earlier. It hadn’t been as difficult this time to heal this one man from the miasma. The difference was that these villagers were in less danger. They weren’t on the threshold of death as the ones from yesterday had been.

  I wouldn’t be of any help to anyone if I didn’t take care of myself to begin with, so I sat down on the ground with a sigh and watched as the healed villager woke from his stupor and apologized to his friends and family. A little girl ran up to the villager and threw her arms around one of his legs. Then the man picked up the child and pointed at me with an ecstatic smile on his face, but I could see the bruises along his neck from where Laika had knocked him unconscious.

  I couldn’t begin to imagine how I would feel if I had to fight Aunt Emma in order to heal her. The sight inspired me, and I changed my mind.

  I was going to do whatever I could to help these people. I’d just healed their miasma, but I could still do more, even if it damaged me.

  I dove inside of myself and grasped onto that same healing power from before and focused on the other twenty-nine villagers.

  One by one, I healed them from the corruption that threatened to kill them and the old injuries they bore. I could feel my power restore shattered bones that had set badly, straighten spines, and sooth deep muscle bruises. Every broken ligament and inch of torn flesh was mended by my power.

  The villagers were in awe, and some of them wept as they were wiped clean from the touch of the miasma.

  I smiled at the healed villagers, but something didn’t feel right. I could feel my heart race, and a ball of anxiety curled itself into my stomach. It was the same feeling that would haunt me just before an EMT shift where I somehow knew things would go sideways. Those were the shifts that had haunted me, when my buddies and I hadn’t been able to save the lives of anyone, and we’d have to break out the body bags. That was the way I felt right now, and the anxiety crept from my stomach along each of the spikes that lined my spine.

  Above us, the miasma outside the dome swirled lazily. It had long stopped throwing itself against Alyona’s barrier, but now and then it would prod curiously at the shining light.

  I focused my senses and could hear the priestess’s slow and steady heartbeat. She was fine, so the cause of my unease couldn’t have come from her.

  I swiveled my head and glared at the ruined buildings behind me. I couldn’t find what had unsettled me. Before me gathered the adventurers and a majority of the villagers. Behind me was Alyona as she steadily maintained the barrier.

  Then I remembered.

  Anton hadn’t come back yet with the last corrupted villager who had run off.

  My heart skipped a beat as I looked over the villagers. “Laika, where’s Anton?”

  The swordswoman turned to face me, and her stormy eyes narrowed as the fur of her tail bristled again. “He should have been back by now.”

  The two of us tilted our noses in search of Anton’s scent. I vaguely remembered the smell of crushed pine and steel that was so similar to Laika’s scent, but different enough so I wouldn’t mistake the two of them. His smell was faint and distant, so he must have been on the other side of the ruins.

  “Thank you for saving us,” Ruslan, the fox Demi-Human from earlier, said as he took a step toward me.

  “I promised I would.” Soft wisps of glitter spilled from my mouth as I lowered my head. “I won’t let the miasma kill anyone.”

  “Yes, but my knee used to be sore,” Ruslan said as he pointed at his leg, “and my neck feels looser. I honestly feel a hundred years younger! Your magic is amazing, Sir Dragon.”

  “Like I said, it’s no--”

  “My Lady!” A scream ripped from Laika’s lips, and I turned to see her run toward the wall. She moved quicker than I had ever seen her move, even during the fight with the giants when she’d been nothing but wind and sharp steel.

  I turned to see a man right behind the priestess with a large stone in his hands. Fresh blood covered his clothes, dark veins bulged from his body, and his eyes were covered with a black sheen. A cruel intelligence lurked inside of those eyes, and I knew that he was corrupted by the miasma. The corruption drew away the sanity from his mind and dragged him down into depravity.

  I didn’t remember moving, but suddenly I was tearing up the dirt with my claws as I bounded forward. All I knew was that I had to make it there before the stone was brought down on Alyona’s head. I roared her name, but nothing drew the priestess’s attention. Her entire being was focused on the barrier that shimmered over our heads and kept the miasma away. The threat behind her hadn’t registered in her mind. All she saw was the threat that floated outside of her barrier.

  Then the miasma poisoned man brought the stone down on her head.

  The priestess crumpled forward, and she reached one hand out to hold on to the stone wall before her while the other hand reached out to the corrupted villager. Miasma flickered around the man, and Alyona shuddered as her hands trembled and spasmed. The barrier held fast, though, and the wounded priestess’ attacker took a half step toward her.

  Laika reached them half a second before me and dove toward the corrupted villager. Her tackle was on point, they both landed in a heap on the stone floor of the wall, and the corrupted man snarled as Laika wrapped her arms around his neck.

  My claws latched onto the edge of the stone wall, and I changed quicker than any of my previous attempts into my human form as I climbed up beside Alyona.

  “I’ve got you, shh,” I whispered to the priestess.

  “I will not fail,” Alyona muttered. Her left hand bled as she tightened her hold on the stone wall, and the broken and jagged rock tore at the flesh of her soft palm. “Hatra el Shamash will not fall again. I promise you. The barrier will not fall even if I do.”

  “Alyona, don’t move. I need to check your wound and make sure you’re okay.” I spoke softly, so as not to break her steadfast concentration on her protective magic. “I’m going to touch you, is that okay?”

  Alyona looked up at me, frowned, and I mentally cursed. I’d seen enough head injuries on my shifts as an EMT that I could easily recognize the signs of a concussion.

  “A dragon?” Her dilated amethyst eyes stared at me in confusion. “Why have the dragons come? Did they not all leave?”

  Before I could respond, words flickered in front of my eyes.

  Classification: Unknown.

  Condition: Severe head trauma. Internal bleeding detected. Possible spinal injury.

  Priority: Proceed with immediate healing and in need of immediate rest.

  Status: Fatigued due to continued overuse of power. Disoriented and bleeding.

  I poked at the well of energy and power inside of me and knew that I had emptied myself. I had nothing left to heal Alyona with after I had healed the villagers. Magic wouldn’t help me now, but my training would.

  Shit.

  In that moment, as the blood dripped down the priestess’s face, my own blood ran cold with anger. In that cold anger, I realized something I hadn’t before. To even reach her, the corrupted villager would have had to travel around us. She was targeted by the miasma from the start. That meant the smoke had some sort of sentient consciousness, or it was being controlled by a sentient being. This attack had been planned. The appearance of the miasma wasn’t a random event or just a byproduct of the demons. It was an active participant in this long war that ravaged Inati, just as much as the demons that had started it.

  The miasma outside of the barrier radiated a smug glee, and a growl grew deep in my chest. The barrier couldn’t be brought down or it would consume and poison the villagers again.

  Alyona had to keep the barrier up no matter what.

  There was a shuffle behind me, and I glanced at the swordswoman and the corrupted villager behind me. He was unconscious in her arms, and she placed him on the ground.

  “Laika, how long does the miasma usually last?” I’d turned my gaze back to the priestess as my fingers gently
moved her hair so I could see where the blood was coming from. A deep gash stretched from her scalp down to her temple. I felt Alyona’s own power slowly stitch her head wound together, but I knew it was too slow, and she would bleed out before it was fully healed.

  The swordswoman shook her head and wore a grim expression on her face. “It can be there for hours. Sometimes for a full day.”

  My jaw clenched. Blood had begun to drip from Alyona’s nose, and that was never a good sign when it came to head injuries.

  The priestess swayed, and even though I held her steady, the light of the barrier flickered.

  “Bring me clean bandages,” I ordered the Demi-Human, “anything from the infirmary that’s used to treat wounds.”

  I felt rather than saw Laika leave, and my eyes went back to the wound on the priestess’s scalp. Although my preliminary overview had hinted at an injury to her spine, I prayed that there wasn’t any.

  “Dragon, you are not an enemy, are you?” Alyona’s voice trembled as she spoke, and there was no polite amusement in her voice anymore, only barely disguised pain. “Do I know you, dragon? You seem familiar to me, but I cannot place your face.”

  “It’s Evan, not ‘dragon’, remember?” I kept my voice soft as I spoke. “We met earlier today, and you showed me the stars.”

  She sighed at my words, and her fingers twitched again. Her eyes were turned up toward the sky to where the miasma lurked just out of reach of the barrier. It taunted not only her but the entirety of the village of Hatra.

  “I feel so tired, Evan,” the priestess sighed and brought up a hand to wipe at the blood that dripped from her nose. “I wish to sleep. I need to sleep. Please.”

  “I know you are tired,” I murmured as I stroked her hair, “but you have to stay strong for us, for Hatra. You can’t sleep yet.” My heart ached at saying those words, but I couldn’t let her sleep.

  Or she might never wake up again.

  No matter what, I had to keep her awake and force her to talk to me. Even worse, I knew that it would probably take some time before I was able to heal her properly because of how much power I had used earlier. I had to stabilize her before I did anything else. I should have held back when I was healing the villagers until the attack had been over. Now I knew that I always had to keep something in the tank. Especially when we were in the middle of a miasma attack.