by TJ Reynolds
I don’t care what Jakodi says, Kai thought. If the little guy won’t toughen up a little, he will never become the dragon he needs to be.
The group of dragons descended from their height as one.
Kai had taken them this way seven days in a row in hopes the Ananri might master the unique obstacle the Knife’s Edge presented. They’d been searching for food, a near-constant pastime, when Kai heedlessly flew into the gale of wind.
At first, none of the dragonlings could master it, but one by one, and starting with the ever-competent Azure Dragon, they’d learned to get through.
All but you, Kai thought. I won’t always been here to protect you, ya know? You need to grow bold like your siblings. And you need to do so quickly.
Kai folded his wings and dropped down the opposite slope of the mountain.
One by one, the dragonlings did the same.
A long, narrow canyon opened up before them, a strip of verdant green tucked between the hoary peaks. This had proved an excellent hunting grounds of late.
It was also breathtakingly beautiful.
Kai still marveled at far he’d come in less than a year’s time.
He’d once considered the Pinea Forest outside of Mindonne to be the absolute height of natural beauty. But the Zargan Mountains spoke to something deep inside. They made him feel at home in a way he’d never experienced before.
Though the Sunken Keep proved to be a valuable resource, Kai still wished Ban had allowed him to travel much deeper into the mountains.
No sense in bringing that up again, Kai told himself. Besides, we achieved one of our greatest goals. We took out Hastings, the greatest threat to our quest of reviving the shivvered Earth Cores.
Kai dipped low enough to make out the stand of fir trees that grew along the edge of the canyon. He spotted wildlife dart left and right, fleeing for whatever cover could be found when his huge shadow crossed over them.
Most of the animals were too small to consider a meal.
Mountain goats and a few bounding deer might once have served to fill the gullets of the growing dragonlings, but those days were long gone.
Even the smallest Ananri dragon had grown to nearly half Kai’s length.
The dragonlings were scrawny things, of course. They would acquire bulk much later. But Jakodi insisted that should they continue to hunt, absorb the ether of their kills, and devour their flesh, the beasts would be ready for what would inevitably come.
An ear-splitting shriek erupted beside Kai’s head.
It was the Azure, eager for a kill.
He was the most promising of the four dragonlings who’d hatched, always pushing his own limits time and again.
It gave Kai hope that Jakodi’s assessment was correct.
Glancing ahead once more, Kai discovered the crisscross leaping pattern of a herd of beasts.
When he got close enough, he inspected the creatures.
Ringuard Faun
Mega Fauna
Golden 1
Kai veered to the right, pulling the dragonlings around for a more advantageous approach. They followed, rising up over the fir trees and circling around.
Then, as Kai came at the ringuard fauns, he scanned their herd for signs of danger.
Though the creatures were a much higher ascension than the dragonlings, who had yet to reach Amber, he’d learned one thing about dragons.
Their strength differed greatly when compared to other creatures.
Even his own progress now seemed sluggish compared to his half-brothers and sisters.
Each of the dragonlings could bring down one of the bulky grazers. Their twisted horns presented some danger, but the little dragons were quick.
The ringuard fauns reminded Kai of men who’d been mixed up with mountain goats. The combination was frankly disturbing, but he’d grown used to them by now.
They moved about on all fours, their shoulders and haunches bulging with muscle. But when they fought or presented a defense, the fauns would rise up on their back legs and strut about.
This gave them greater power when striking with their horns, something Kai could attest to directly. But it also made them appear like twisted men, stocky and possessing the wall-eyed gaze of sheep.
There you are, Kai thought, finding the alpha of the herd. And it just so happens I’m hungry myself. Sorry, my friend, but a dragon has to eat.
Kai opened his wings and flexed his torso. Pulling his legs forward, he opened his clawed feet and prepared to pounce on the poor beast.
This seemingly natural movement had taken Kai three times as long to master as his young charges. In fact, the blasted Azure had tackled a deer to the ground after his very first attempt, tearing into its neck and feasting as if it had been born to it.
After training himself all through the winter, however, Kai felt confident in his dragonly abilities now… at least insofar as to avoid embarrassment.
The alpha spotted Kai and immediately rose up on his hind legs.
Bleating its deep-throated challenge, the faun shook its head and twisted sideways to get a good look at Kai as he swooped in.
Seeing a huge dragon would make nearly any creature flee.
The ringuard were stout-hearted, though, and not once had an alpha left its duties and fled.
Kai timed his attack well, clutching the beast up in his claws and impaling it instantly.
The ringuard’s struggles ceased after Kai landed, crushing the faun in the process.
Concerned mostly about the progress of his young brethren, Kia swiveled his head around to observe the dragonlings.
The Azure and Mireen attacked first.
Though the Azure dragon had relatively small claws and fangs, his natural defenses lying in his massive tail, he still took down his prey first. Crashing into the side of a fleeing faun, the Azure collapsed his wings and increased the force of his impact.
The stunned faun could only bleed as the Azure dipped his horned head and tore out its throat.
The Mireen dragon was known for her terrible claws. She sunk them in around her faun’s spine and crushed all resistance. She too began to feed in earnest.
Then the Orondi attacked. She was more cautious than the others. Jakodi said it was a sign she’d inherited her race’s superior intelligence, and that they would all be grateful for her tactical prowess when she’d grown.
Finding the one injured faun whose gait was slower than its fellows and inconsistent, the Orondi landed on the creature and ended its life with her terrible fangs. She would never have the brute strength of the Azure, nor the ferocity of the Mireen, but the golden dragons possessed the longest and deadliest fangs for their size.
Finally, and awkwardly, the Ananri fell upon its victim, black claws and fangs sinking into the wooly fur.
In its haste to choose a target, the little dragon had selected one of the largest of the fauns, a male who must have weighed at least four hundred pounds.
It bucked and chuffed, veering around to smash the dragon on its back.
Kai growled, frustrated once more about the white dragon’s slow progress. Yet rather than step in to defend the creature, Kai waited to see what might happen.
Sure enough, the faun tore free and charged. The Ananri was by now over fifteen feet long with a twenty-foot wingspan. But its thin body weighed less than the faun, and its ribs were long and slender.
The male faun crashed into the Ananri, toppling him over in the tall grass.
Kai roared, a warning for the youngling to wake up and present his fangs.
Responding more to Kai’s threat than the faun’s bruising attack, the Ananri rolled away, and when the faun charged a second time, he gave a much more promising display.
He leapt into the air and curled over the top of the faun’s twisted horns. When the danger had passed, the dragonling attacked again. Its black claws sunk home, and it tore out the faun’s throat with a vicious bite.
Then, even as the blood still drained from its wound, the
Ananri breathed in the cloud of blue ether that released from the faun’s body.
Still grumpy, Kai craned his head up and peered around.
The herd had moved on, a new alpha already asserting itself by leading the group of fauns to safety. A stand of fir trees stood some hundred feet off to the south, but only open grass waved in all other directions.
They are safe to eat, Kai thought. Time to enjoy my own meal.
His Progression had scarcely moved after taking the alpha. As an Emerald 3, Kai had been pushing hard to advance his ascension when not training the dragonlings. He had a great advantage the young ones did not.
Shortly after the dragonlings had hatched, Kai had asked Ban to produce a giant rat for them to kill. He’d assumed the dragons could take advantage of the swift ascension an Earth Core could provide.
Ban had assumed it was possible as well.
But his Earth Core had a fragmented memory, and his own knowledge was sorely lacking.
The rats had died and provided fresh meat for the dragonlings, but no ether could be absorbed. Only when Jakodi, of all people, arrived shortly after, had they learned the truth of it.
Dragons couldn’t take ether from the minions their Earth Cores provided.
Kai had protested, calling the notion foolish. He was, after all, a shivving dragon!
Jakodi had only smiled, his old face both sympathetic and amused. You are and always will be half a dragon, Kai. And thank the heavens it is so. For though you have many disadvantages, without the rapid Progression Ban gave you early on, you would not have survived this long.
The old man’s words had stung, but Kai accepted them.
After that, Kai had taken the dragonlings out as often as possible to hunt.
At first, the hatchlings had progressed quickly. When they’d ascended to Crimson, however, they had slowed significantly. Now, months later, the creatures were still working toward their Amber 1 ascension.
He watched them feast for a time, content he’d helped them feed and grow yet again.
Then Kai lowered his head and tore into the stringy flesh of the faun.
Consuming raw beasts was a delight Kai had never anticipated enjoying. In his human form, the prospect still sickened him a bit, especially when he found a clump of hair stuck between his teeth.
But dragons were designed differently.
He took bite after bite, sliding the meat down his gullet like an oversized bird.
When he’d stripped the carcass clean, Kai let the meal settle for a while.
Looking to the mile-long strip of wavering grass, Kai decided a walk would be just the thing.
He transformed back into a human.
The process was no longer quite as painful as it had once been. It wasn’t as if the sensations had diminished so much that Kai had grown used to them.
Suddenly tender-footed and naked, Kai wrapped the broad cloak around his body. He wore the garment around his dragon neck, which provided him with some comfort should he need to transform.
The wind was frigid and the grass cool beneath his feet, but wrapping the thick cloak about himself was enough.
Kai groaned in satisfaction as he glanced over at the four deadly monsters feasting beside him. “How in all of Hintar did I come here?” he wondered aloud. “Such a strange life I find myself in, almost like I’ve stepped into a waking legend.”
He walked to the top of a nearby knoll and sat down.
Folding his legs, he pulled the cloak about his body tighter.
The blue sky, already bleeding into the orange and pink of late afternoon, was a wonder in and of itself. The stony black mountains rose up around the canyon like immense dragons’ teeth, sealing them all away from the rest of the world.
Someday, Kai thought. Someday I’ll build a home up here. Who knows, maybe even Rhona will grace me with her presence from time to time.
Thinking of the monk caused a chain of emotions to collide within his chest.
He knew well enough he loved the woman. Still, Rhona felt trapped somewhere between a comrade and what he hoped might be a lover someday.
It was confusing to say the least.
And she didn’t at all seem clear on the subject either.
Sometimes she showed him affection, a private smile or a lingering touch. But then other times, the woman would demand solitude and isolate herself for days at a time.
Kai knew she needed space and time to think.
What she’d gone through in past months had been beyond taxing. Betraying the army she’d once served in, nearly being slaughtered by Hastings and his soldiers, and then finally defeating the man by mastering Gold Mind.
The technique was what changed things, Kai mused. And if I’m ever to understand her again, I must master it myself.
Kai closed his eyes and fell into himself. He forced the outside world away one sensation at a time.
The buffeting wind went first, and then the quiet roar of the mountain canyon.
Finally, even the cold was stripped from his consciousness.
Kai followed the instructions Rhona repeated time and again. He progressed up until the point of ultimate surrender. Then he crashed against that wall and felt himself rebuffed.
You have to surrender everything, Kai, Rhona had told him. You have to let go of your past, your dreams, your pain… you have to surrender it all, Kai, and become nothing at all.
As with any task or challenge, Kai gave this his all. He tried being forceful for a time, hoping to crash into the technique somehow.
Then he tried letting go and drifting toward the goal unconsciously.
Regardless of what he attempted, Kai remained a young man bound to the idea of becoming a powerful hero.
He remained a dragon with a deep and never-abating hunger.
He remained himself—flaws, ambition, and promising qualities all.
After perhaps an hour, Kai sighed and gave up. There was a long flight back to the Sunken Keep, and his dragonlings would need a bit of time to rouse from their slumber.
He stood and took a step toward the Azure, who had finished gorging first and whose chest thrummed away in deep sleep.
An odd noise mixed with the thrumming, and at first, Kai didn’t notice the rattle of the nearby predator before it pounced.
The wind shifted slightly, however, and Kai smelled it.
“Rise! Rise and fight!” Kai bellowed, turning around to see the schist lion stalking closer.
With gray skin and fur, the lion could blend in anywhere in the mountains but for the grass it tread upon.
The beast made straight for Kai, conceivably the weakest creature in this canyon.
If he’d had his glaive and armor, Kai could have defeated the monster without transforming. He still might be able to accomplish it with his magic alone.
Grinning, he decided to use this as a teaching opportunity, however.
Kai sprinted away, running behind the rising Azure.
The four dragonlings let out predatory growls as they faced the schist lion.
And since Kai knew transforming would frighten the beast away, he backed up, the grin still plastered to his face, excited to see the battle that was about to occur.
He didn’t have to wait long.
The schist lion was a fearsome beast. It stood six feet tall at the shoulders and was more powerful than the faun alpha had been.
But with only a single enemy to face down, the dragonlings looked eager to test themselves.
The Azure made the first move, spreading its wings and lifting up in the air the second the lion leapt.
The Azure winged backwards, raking the lion’s face with its claws and evading the beast’s attack. Its siblings swarmed the lion from its flanks.
Kai winced as the lion turned on the Mireen, raking her ribs with deadly claws.
She reacted by diving away while the Azure and Orondi moved in.
The schist lion batted the Azure across its snout and snapped at the golden Orondi with its po
werful jaws. Then it barreled toward the still-retreating Mireen.
Kai had to hold himself back once more from transforming. No, I mustn’t. They will face far greater dangers in the year to come. Let them find the strength they need.
The lion shrugged off the dragonlings and bounded forward. It knocked the Mireen down into the grass and drew back its head.
Then, surprising Kai with its ferocity, the Ananri flew at the lion. He sunk his black talons into the lion’s nape and struck down like a snake with his long neck. Targeting an artery, the Ananri landed the first grievous wound on the lion’s body.
Finding itself surrounded by much more challenging prey, the lion roared in outrage, perhaps hoping to cause the dragonlings to scatter.
The lion’s claws blurred, and the battle raged on, reaching a pitched fever as both sides bled in the confrontation. Powerful though it was, the monster cat was growing weak, and the dragonlings fought on with zeal.
These are no common beasts, Kai thought as he watched the young dragons tear into the lion from all sides. You’ve picked a fight with the last of the dragons, and it will be your last.
2
The Rabble Returns
Bancroft
“I don’t precisely care where you put the altar,” Ban complained. “No, I don’t! And nor do I think it a good idea!”
Caw was a good leader, all the daldrim could ever hope for, but dealing with the creature stretched Ban’s patience to its limits.
The grubby monster had once feared Ban’s champion.
Now, after months of cohabitation, even the rough, gravelly tones of Greg’s voice had no effect of the daldrim.
Caw gestured with his hands in frustration. “Altar must be made for Great Leader! Must worship him! Caw only need to know where altar to be built!”
Ban decided it would be best to give in.
He had plenty of work to do, and contending with a creature with such limited faculties would surely ruin his own. “Fine!” Ban barked through his champion. “Build the altar over there, at the edge of the pool, okay? Now, if there is nothing else, I have—“