Spine of the Dragon

by Kevin J. Anderson

  Conndur pushed aside the ledger and the quill, disturbed. “What do you mean, Utho? You’re worrying me.”

  “There can be no peace, Sire.” He hardened his voice, tensed his muscles. “Not until all the Isharans are wiped out.”

  Conndur recoiled. “What are you talking about?”

  “You have to die, my konag, and I’ll make sure they believe the Isharans did it. The treachery will be plain for all to see.” He shot out a hand and grasped Conndur’s throat. Although the konag struggled, kicked, tried to pull away, Utho did not release him. His grip was tight enough to cut off Conndur’s breath, so his attempts to shout for help came out as nothing more than muffled gurgles.

  Utho loomed over him, pressing harder while the konag clawed at his arms, tried to break free of the grasp. Now that he had made his move and the inevitable wheels were in motion, he felt calmer, more determined. He was doing what was necessary for the Commonwealth, as a Brava was sworn to do.

  “Because the Isharans are such heinous animals, I’m afraid I can’t make this easy for you. I am sorry.” His lips trembled; his voice was hoarse, cracking with the strain. He paid no attention to the sounds Conndur made, to his ineffective struggles. He squeezed harder, rendering the man unconscious and pliable as he focused on the awful things the Isharans had done to Mareka and his daughters, and he wept not just for what had happened to them, but for what he had to do to Conndur, the konag … his friend.

  Tears blinded him, but he did not lose his resolve throughout the entire long hour as he killed Conndur, slowly and painfully.

  In his early struggles, the konag knocked over the small pot of ink, spilling a black splash on the writing desk. But soon enough, so much red had been thrown about in the chamber that no one would pay attention to the ink.

  89

  AS wreth workers set up the desert camp, thrusting poles into the sand and stretching awnings for shelter, Queen Voo and her noble companions lounged in the shade. The colorful wreth encampment had sprung up like desert flowers after a rainstorm.

  Adan watched Penda absorbing all the details. She caught him looking at her. “Cra, never in history have our people witnessed anything like this. I hope we survive to tell about it. I want to report to my people.” Xar squawked in agreement and fluffed his green plumage.

  “I hope we survive for a lot more reasons than that.” He stroked her arm. “Especially our child.”

  A group of wreth mages marched out to the flat expanse of the dry lake bed, while others headed up into the rough crags and climbed the rocky slopes. As the mages walked across the salt pan, they extended their cupped hands behind them, trailing out a line of magic that melted a glassy trail that curved and turned at abrupt angles as they changed course. Together, the mages scribed their spell design on a gigantic scale.

  In the nearby mountains, Axus stood high on a pinnacle of rock. The bald mage raised his hands, directing his counterparts. From that towering vantage, he would have been able to see the lines and marks of the spell drawn on the canvas of salt.

  From beneath the shade of the awning, Adan could see only part of the pattern. Penda leaned forward, squinting; her hair and most of her face were still wrapped in the white scarf. “I recognize the type of symbol. We’ve seen letters like those in the wreth ruins, where Utauks often camp.”

  As Voo chatted casually with her brother and the wreth nobles, Adan caught her attention. “What are those mages doing? Is this part of the hunt?”

  Quo sniffed. “Of course it is part of the hunt. We cannot succeed in our hunt if we have no dragon.”

  Voo explained more patiently, “The mages are starting the process of summoning the dragon.”

  The mages finished making their symbol on the flat pan, drawing lines in the sand that spiraled to a focal point in the center, then they stood together. Queen Voo and the wreth nobles emerged from the awnings and walked to the edge of the design. She gestured to Adan and Penda. “Come, you will want to witness all of it. I insist.”

  As the heat roiled like shouts around them, Adan and Penda adjusted their head coverings. Voo’s tan skin glowed under the yellow sunlight, and a haze of dust hung over the basin. The other wreths gathered to watch.

  At the focal point of their spell design, the gathered mages raised their hands and brought them down together in an invisible hammer blow. Bright lights shot out from the spell line, and the glassy sand erupted, spraying sheets of gold light up into the air, like the curtains of an aurora.

  The wind whipped up, blowing in a circle that followed the lines of the spell drawing. Dust swirled into the air, rising higher and higher. Adan held Penda as she leaned closer to him, anchoring him. The white cloth around their faces flapped, and Xar spread his green wings to keep himself steady.

  Then, after a long silence, a shrieking cry shattered the air, a roar of condensed fear, anger, and hate, mixed with acid. The noise was a primal thing, and Adan felt his skin crawl. Instinctively, his hand strayed to the hilt of his sword. Adan was ready to face the fight of his life to protect his wife, and Penda touched her long knife, as if to save him.

  Queen Voo cheered, pointing to the sky. “It comes!”

  Whooping, the sandwreths drew their spears and crystal-bladed swords. Voo raised the triangular shield that she claimed was a single scale from Ossus.

  Out on the expanse, the wreth mages continued to release their magic, shining a beacon of golden light that tangled into a spell design in the sky.

  The dragon swooped in, a sharp-edged shape flying so high that Adan couldn’t gauge its real size. It angrily flapped its great wings like the sails of a warship. The creature arched its serpentlike head, spread open its jaws, and let out another roar.

  The wreth warriors raised their weapons, ran for their augas, and mounted up. Voo and Quo were the most eager among them. As the wreths charged into the desert, the dragon plunged down toward them.

  The ska shrieked, and in a flutter of wings abandoned Penda, flying away to hide.

  The dragon came down toward them, its head a frill of spikes that writhed and twisted, its green hide mottled with oily black stains, as if the evil shadows of its existence had begun to leak out of its body. Its faceted eyes gleamed with hatred.

  The golden light of the spell sputtered out and faded as the wreth mages began their attack. They raised milky walls of rippling air that slammed into the dragon, knocking it aside in the air, but the monster arced up and swooped back, its barbed tail lashing.

  Two mages stayed in the center of their spiral design, trying to pull together another spell, while the remaining mages scattered. The plunging dragon snatched one of them in long talons, then flew high again. Not content just to let the wreth drop, the creature hurled him to the ground, smashing the mage into a bloody stain on the dusty flats.

  Wreth warriors thundered out onto the sands, riding their augas. Quo cocked back his arm and cast his spear, augmenting the throw somehow with magic so that the weapon flew high and straight, spinning along its spiral shaft.

  The dragon backflapped, changed course, and the spear tore through its stretched wing membrane. The creature dove back down like a hawk seizing a pigeon. It nearly slammed into the dust, but it pulled up just before impact, snatched another wreth mage, and smashed him to the ground.

  The panicked augas scattered, but Queen Voo threw her spear from her saddle, and it penetrated the dragon’s lower haunch, striking a spark from its scales. The monster roared and lashed back, returning to attack.

  Realizing how exposed they were, Adan grabbed Penda’s arm. “We need to find shelter! Let them fight the thing.” Though they had their own blades, neither weapon could do anything against such a monster.

  The two ran for the colorful camp of awnings and fabric pavilions, but the dragon got there ahead of them. Flying low, the beast dragged its curved claws, uprooting tents and scattering the clustered augas that remained in a makeshift paddock. It grabbed one of the reptilian mounts and bowled it into the
others as if playing a game with gambling sticks.

  Adan dove to the ground, pulling Penda down with him. Dust and sand flew around them, and he quickly, desperately scooped some over Penda and himself, hoping to camouflage them. They covered their faces with the white cloths.

  The dragon ravaged the sandwreth camp. Wreth workers grabbed their weapons and inflicted a few minor wounds before the monster massacred them. Adan watched at least five wreths torn apart.

  He and Penda lay low and he gripped his sword, ready to hack at the claws if the dragon came for them, but the creature didn’t seem to care about the two humans when the wreths kept provoking it.

  The dragon flew up again, rising close to the black cliffs—and Axus appeared on his high outcropping. The mage summoned boulders from the crags and flung them like giant hailstones. One rock smashed the dragon’s wing, breaking its tip. The monster flew much higher, beating its wings to gain altitude.

  Axus followed with another volley of rocks, and one smashed the base of its tail. The boulder shattered on impact—as did the dragon’s tail. Though it was high in the sky and barely visible, Adan saw a chunk of the barbed tail dissolve, breaking into smaller black pieces that seemed to take flight, scattering toward the volcanic cliffs.

  As the dragon flew onward, Penda dug herself out of the sand and tugged on Adan’s arm. “While we have a chance, we should get to the cliffs and hide in the shadows.”

  Adan agreed. “Let the wreths finish the fighting. It’s their foolish hunt, not ours.”

  Quo rode up on his auga as Voo ran on foot beside her brother, a fierce grin splitting her face. Around them, the wreth camp lay in ruins. Many of her people had already been killed, but she summoned the mages. She tossed a flippant look toward Adan, then swung herself up behind Quo on the saddle of a new mount. She whistled to rally her companions. “Come, the hunt has just begun!”

  The sandwreths gathered their weapons. Without showing the least bit of fear, they ran off in pursuit of the dragon.

  90

  THE galloping horses charged across the ice. Their studded shoes dug chips out of the frozen lake, and they ran with a sound like thunder and breaking glass. The frostwreths would know the war party was coming. Kollanan urged Storm to greater speed.

  He hoped that Lasis and Elliel—as well as Thon—had reached their positions and were ready.

  Cold blue light shone from within the towering fortress. Koll wondered how many frostwreths resided inside. With only fifty fighters, he couldn’t kill them all, but he could shock them. He could sting them. He could make them think twice.

  Urok rode adjacent to the king. As they galloped across the ice, the Brava man snapped the golden band to his wrist and squeezed it tight to ignite a corona of fire. He shouted a primal cry, and the fire surged up to engulf his hand, creating a long spear of fire—a beacon that could not be ignored.

  Kollanan’s archers lit their pitch-covered arrows, and dozens of bright orange flames spat and crackled from the ends of the arrows. They launched a rain of shooting stars that flew in perfect arcs to land around the shore, the outbuildings and storehouses. The wood began to burn.

  Urging his horse ahead of the king, Urok drew more fire into his hand. Recklessly, he raced up to the shore near the towering gates of the fortress. The huge wooden door had been built out of whole silver pines.

  Koll’s other fighters dismounted on the ice and set up their makeshift catapults, forked aspens anchored to hurl rocks from the elastic bands. The first four projectiles struck the ice-block walls, leaving white starburst impact patterns. The fighters adjusted their aim, pulled the band farther back, and shot the missiles higher. One volley shattered a huge crystal window overlooking the lake.

  In front of the fortress, Urok lashed out with his blazing hand and shot a long stream of fire that began as a sword and extended into a deadly whip. The magical fire crashed against the wooden gate and left a smoking black scar. He slashed with his hand again, putting all his might behind the blow. He struck across and down, and finally the ramer shattered the gate. The thick wood splintered into a shower of burning brands.

  Around the base of the fortress walls, small figures ran about in confusion among the burning barracks and stockpiles. By now, Lasis and Elliel would be among the drones, hunting for Birch, and if necessary they would venture into the fortress itself. Kollanan did not see the other two ignited ramers, not yet.

  Out on the ice, the war party didn’t have long to wait for the wreth warriors to respond and come after them.

  As broad sheets of shattered crystal crashed down from the large window, fifteen ominous figures appeared at the wreckage of the gate. They were tall and pale, their long hair like windswept snow tangled with mist. Koll instantly recognized the leader of the frostwreths, Chief Warrior Rokk. Clad in a silver and blue breastplate, carrying a long spiraled spear and a shield with razor-sharp edges, Rokk led his companions out of the fortress in an attack.

  The wreth warriors rode monstrous shaggy horses covered with white fur. A spiky mane encircled their elongated heads. Their sharp ears were erect, and their eyes smoldered. Their sturdy legs ended in massive feet that were clawed paws instead of hooves.

  Koll raised his hammer in the air. “Another volley! Show them our sting.”

  With an angry howl, his archers launched fire arrows toward the enemy warriors, but all the flames were snuffed out as the frostwreths came forward.

  Urok charged toward them, lashing out with his ramer. Crackling like a whip, the fiery blade blasted the group of wreths, but Rokk held up his razor-edged shield and splintered the fiery lash into scattered fire.

  Many of the outbuildings around the fortress were burning now, even some of the drone hovels. The aspen catapult launchers hurled more stones, shattering another crystal window in the primary tower.

  Rokk roared something in a language Koll did not understand, and the wreth warriors charged on their shaggy wolf horses. Kollanan knew it was time. The provocation was only the first, and easiest, part of the plan. Now they had to escape.

  “Turn around!” he yelled. “Back across the lake—fly for your lives!” He had to hope Thon could do as he promised, and that Elliel and Lasis had enough time. Victory could become a massacre in mere moments.

  Archers launched the last of their fiery arrows, though few struck useful targets. Koll wheeled Storm about, and his soldiers retreated with a loud clatter on the solid ice. The horses snorted and began to gallop back toward the far shore.

  Kollanan and his raiding party raced back across the indefensible expanse of Lake Bakal, pursued by their enemy. From behind, Rokk and his murderous frostwreths came after them on enormous white beasts.

  * * *

  When the attack began and Elliel saw the king’s riders charge across the ice, she turned to Lasis. “It’s time.”

  Her companion narrowed his pale eyes as if purified anger had crystallized in his gaze. “I know.”

  Together, she and Lasis slipped out of the dense silver pines and ran toward the side of the looming frostwreth fortress. Beyond the ice-block walls, clusters of crude huts marked where the drones lived. The Brava man crouched as they hurried toward the hovels, built where the ruined village had been. “In her northern palace, Queen Onn assigned the drones to watch over Birch. If she sent the boy down here with Rokk, the drones may still be caring for him. The chief warrior did not seem overly paternal.” He grimaced. “He didn’t want the boy with him.”

  Elliel touched the sharp fighting blades at her side for reassurance. “We’ll search the hovels first while the wreths are distracted.” She glanced at the lake, where the furious battle had intensified, and saw the bright flare of fire as Urok struck with his ramer. The enemy would not be watching for any furtive approach from this direction.

  “If the boy isn’t with the drones,” Lasis said, “then we will have to get inside the fortress.”

  The two made their way toward the storehouses and low shacks. Under the rain
of fire arrows launched by Kollanan’s group, the drones were already stirring in alarm as small blazes caught on the structures and set the roofs on fire. The drones remained eerily silent as they scurried about.

  No longer bothering to hide, Lasis strode forward, his black finemail cape hanging heavy on his shoulders. Elliel accompanied him, drawing her fighting knife, rather than the ramer. Spotting them, the creatures froze in astonishment, then swarmed toward the two Bravas, more curious than afraid. The tallest drone barely came up to Elliel’s chest.

  Lasis stepped in among the strange crowd and spoke to them. “I am the enemy of the frostwreths, as is this woman.” The drones seemed unsettled and confused. Lasis swept his pale gaze across them like a weapon, and the creatures stared at him as if hypnotized. Elliel was fascinated by the connection he seemed to have with them. “Others of your kind helped me when Queen Onn left me for dead at her palace far to the north.” He reached inside his chest armor and withdrew a pale ivory object, which looked to Elliel like a simple button. Strangely, the drones seemed to revere the object. “See, I have proof. One of your people gave this to me. Now we need your help again.”

  Chittering, they gathered closer around him, as if fascinated. Loose fires continued to spread among the outbuildings, and the first fringes of the blaze had reached the outer hovels, but the drones made no move to extinguish the flames.

  Out on the lake, a troop of frostwreth warriors rode out toward Kollanan’s raiders, leaving the fortress behind. Elliel knew that she and Lasis had to make their move, quickly. “We’ll never have a better chance to find Birch.”

  Lasis spoke urgently to the drones. “Queen Onn is holding a human boy prisoner. We are here to save him. Is he with you? In your homes?” The drones chittered, as if confused. “Did Onn ask you to care for him?”