Dragon Queen (Avery Rome Book 3)

by P. S. Power

  Invisible to everyone else.

  His heart was still beating, but he was trapped under tons of wood. It was shifting around, grinding his bones painfully. The lack of air was probably going to be an issue soon as well. Most people seemed to enjoy breathing in her experience. She knew that she liked it, day to day.

  Avery didn’t wait, jumping out, and trying to get out of her clothing, in case she needed to change in order to save the man.

  Ambassador Sin ran with her, calling out.

  “Tap the amulet! Before you grow.”

  She tried, though it didn’t work at all, the clothing just staying around her. Figuring things out, the strange woman ran to her and did it again. Then, doing the same thing for herself, the pale woman went head first into the water. Ramming her head against a log that she couldn’t see. That didn’t stop her. Not even for a stunned second. The lady just kept moving, heading downward.

  Avery took that as a sign that she needed to do something similar. Her jump was more controlled and not a dive, since landing on things feet first almost always worked better. It had been in her training, every few months at battle camp. In the underwater demolitions section of things.

  Sin tried to lift the logs, which wasn’t going to work, Avery noticed. It wasn’t because she didn’t have the strength to get the job done though. It was clear that, small or not, this Human woman was more than equal to that task. The whole pile tried to drop on her, burying the man who was still trapped painfully. They had to…

  She was stuck, for a moment. What they needed was to do something clever and creative. Her powers that way weren’t that great yet. If she had more time she would have simply taken the top logs off first, but in her current form, or even the evil middle one that marked her as among the most unclean, that would take far too long.

  Meaning that her play would have to be doing it in her grand form. The one that was larger than a giant house.

  Instead of trying to explain, not having that kind of time, she turned, and moved downward in the water. Then she tried to jump forward, away from the pile and the Ambassador, who had moved to get away from the logs suddenly. Working with her as if she got the idea. That seemed to be the case, since she started shouting to the others.

  “Man under the water! Rome is going to free him up… I think? I can’t really read her, but… Then we need to clear the remaining logs and get him free. Clear away. Clear away!” The shouting was done in Standard, but Avery sort of got it all.

  Her voice was strong and didn’t sound worried. Hopefully that would help, when the poor people there had to see what she really was. That wasn’t a bad thing, but she was tense, being pressed for time.

  Concentrating on the change, Avery pushed it in a way that she’d never bothered to do before. It hurt, in a fashion that wasn’t the comfortable and foam like unfolding she was used to, but a burning sensation that lived in every cell of her body. It was enough that she screamed, which came out as a deep bellow, because she wasn’t a tiny Human like girl any longer. The world seemed to shrink around her as she shifted.

  Her form was, she knew, mainly black. She had a small white patch on her upper back, between her small, nearly cute, little wings. Those were leathery see and so small they couldn’t have lifted her body if gravity was going to be affecting her. That wasn’t happening, since her powers could negate that. Splashing carefully, she had to keep her razor sharp claws and barbed tail off of things. Both were so sharp that they’d stick into things and even scrape stone. The sand and small rocks in the river weren’t an issue though. She wasn’t even all that deep in it, meaning it wasn’t hard for her to start plucking logs from the top of the pile over the man. The things were big, which had been the problem in the first place. The man had overloaded the wooden bridge, making it half fall into the river.

  The other man, who was being freed by Lydia and Dumas at the moment, made some pained noises. For some reason the boy was flying while doing that, hovering over the water, so it worked pretty well.

  For her part she just moved as fast as could be done with care. As soon as she had the pile close enough to being safe, half of the wood splintered and tossed aside in her haste, Ambassador Sin called out.

  “I can lift it now. We need to pull him out!” She moved in, but Avery couldn’t.

  She tried to change back as hard as she could again, but by the time she was finished the Countess had gone under the water to pull the larger man out. He was dark skinned, being more so than Avery was, once she had a chance to see him. In fact, everyone there, except for the Countess and Sin, were dark enough that way to be different.

  Countess Thomson was lovely, even when wet and naked. She didn't seem to care about that part, simply crying out.

  What she said didn’t make sense, until Sin came up, gasping for air. Translating for them.

  “He isn’t breathing.”

  Avery ran then, jumping really, since she’d turned back in the river. In three big, splashing hops, using powers that were clearly not normal, she got over to the man, who was on the far bank. Then she started using resuscitation techniques. It was a rough thing, really, meant to free up lungs from water fast. It also tended to snap ribs like twigs. After all they were designed for Shifters. They could heal from things like that quickly, so their training had been about getting them air fast, not taking care of the injured persons comfort.

  As soon as the fellow coughed, a gout of clear liquid coming out, the Countess pulled at her neck. Removing a magical seeming thing. It had a man on it, in silhouette. He was in a dozen shades of green, giving him shape and even some semblance of dimensionality. To her. Most would have missed it, she was willing to bet. The tile was tapped by the pale woman, and settled on the drowned man’s forehead.

  At first nothing happened, but after a few tense minutes there was a snapping sound from his chest. Popping and clicking, really. Then the man shuddered and spoke. Sounding pained, but fine.

  “Dankes.”

  It was a bit weak, but he was clearly recovering. Enough so he stood up after a time, to go and look at the wagon load of wood. The wagon itself was still there, attached to the little car. The difference there was that the wagon had wheels, a broken axle and was cracked across the bed. Probably to a point where it couldn’t be saved. The tiny car thing was just tapped by Dumas, an amulet being snagged from the air with both hands after the thing vanished. Then it was carried over to the man who had been trapped inside.

  It was passed back, with a few words. Those were fairly gentle.

  When the Ambassador came over, she was dressed again, in her military uniform. That got Avery to wince, since she was standing there, totally naked. She wanted to blush, but instead tried to cover herself. She didn’t have her amulet any longer, after all. It was, most likely, at the bottom of the river.

  “The magical clothing!” She felt worried, and was willing to dive back in to search for the small tile, but Dumas simply moved over and tapped at his throat. Leaving himself naked. Then the clothing he’d had on was passed over.

  “Don’t worry about it. I have several more of them. Things happen in emergencies. Thank you, Line Walker Rome. I didn’t even know that this man had been trapped like he was. He would have died as I stood there, worrying over the state of the bridge, if not for you.”

  The Ambassador moved over and got Avery dressed. It was efficient and probably pushy of her, but it also worked. She was just in plain brown again, but clothed. If in trousers and a loose shirt. The cloth wasn’t that soft, she noticed. Not bad, for her, but not what the Countess moved into which was a fine gown.

  It was interesting, since she’d been so busy that she hadn’t noticed that the remains of the bridge were about to fall into the water. At the moment, the whole thing was being propped up by the craft they’d come in, the thing a different shape now, set to hold the whole thing up and out of the way. So it wouldn’t fall on the injured men. Seeing that, she waved at the giant fellow that had brought them
. Gerent.

  It was a different sounding name, but reminded her of The Gray, in a way. A lot of their names were old, but also very odd, for the States. Most people thought they were just made up. At least that had been one of the things that the men of The Gray had told them at night around the camp fire. How they’d stolen from and tricked the Humans, as well as taken offense at almost everything everyone had done, no matter how well meant.

  They were all out of the water, and it seemed that Prince Gerent realized that he couldn’t hold the bridge up forever. When he pulled back the whole thing fell, with a crash that shook their very bones. Then the ship changed again, moving over the road, and sinking, shrinking and reshaping into something that looked more like a pill. It was in green. A glittering thing that shone a bit, glowing from inside. It had a feeling that was unreal, but was lovely to look at.

  When the man got out, he didn't comment on Dumas being naked or anything, just smiling a bit ruefully.

  “That is going to cost a bit to repair.” His words were slow and stilted, clearly being spoken in a language he was still learning. Avery just nodded, given that.

  Sin shook her head.

  “It was just a mistake. I’m not getting it as being sabotage from anyone in the area, at least. Now…” She stopped and glanced at the Countess. The other woman looked back, her hair wet and hanging down limply still, even if she were in dry clothing. Sin was in the same boat. Of all of them, only Avery was totally dry already.

  It was a Dragon trait. She thought. After a moment she nodded, since several of the memories came out, telling her things that she should have been taught at a child. All Dragons shunned water like that. The ones like her, at least. The Lesser Dragons were actually just regular Shifters. Ones that had good taste, picking forms that were kind of similar to those like her people. That was the firm consensus from the different thoughts inside of her. It was interesting, but not an idea she shared all that much.

  The Ambassador waved at Avery.

  “Not to be rude, but could we get some food for Ms. Rome? Changing like that has to be incredibly hard on her system. Really, outside of an emergency, you shouldn’t do that kind of thing. Right? It’s really hard to read you, so I could be wrong, but…”

  She hadn’t been thinking about it, but mention of food made her stomach rumble. Loudly enough that the Countess went wide eyed.

  “I would imagine so. Please, we can hurry back to my home and see to that? Your magic is very great. I’ve heard of such. Dragons. Creations of thought and will, however, not changing flesh. Thank you. All of you. No one would expect friends from another world to leap into the river to save a life that way. It was very heroic.”

  Then the woman bowed, as if she hadn’t gone under the water for the man they’d pulled herself. It meant bowing back, which Lydia did first, going lowest. Everyone did it, including Gerent, who was standing at least fifty feet away. He called out though, to hurry them along.

  Then he flew as if she were going to die if food wasn’t placed in her mouth instantly. Though that might have been about having a naked boy with them. He honestly acted like the only problem was a slight chill. He wasn’t damp, though Lydia still was. Her outfit was real cloth, so she was still a little damp.

  Which got her to make a face.

  “I’ll get your car all wet if I sit on it, Prince Gerent.”

  The man waved at that, smiling hugely.

  “Na. Ist magia.”

  That didn’t really need to be translated, but Sin did it anyway.

  “No, it’s magical. The water will come off when he turns it off.”

  After that, the small military woman loaded quickly and still tried not to touch anything, even though she let herself be led inside instantly. Where real things were waiting to get soaked, if they weren’t careful. Instead of getting to change first, the Countess took Avery directly to the kitchen. There was a staff there, made of two women and a man. The tiny woman spoke softly, and politely, which had the three there forcing Avery into a chair with piles of food being delivered from a machine of some kind, moments later.

  It was all a bit strange, but tasted good enough. Hunger tended to make almost everything good though. She ate quickly, stopping only after ten minutes.

  Everyone else was off doing something, but she had a time limit, which she mentioned.

  “Thank you. This is lovely. I need to get back soon. I promised to be back in ten minutes with Lydia. If I take too long they might think that I kidnapped her.” It was a real enough thing, which had the Countess dashing out of the room suddenly.

  Avery kept eating. There was more food after all. She felt greedy, but there really was an ache in her middle still. A burning as it threatened to eat her from the inside out.

  When the lady came back, she had a small stone square in her hand. She was talking, but in a strange language that wasn’t Standard or English at all. After a moment, she nodded, and switched to English.

  “Thanks, Tiera. I should probably get one of those from Tim, but it really hasn’t come up yet. You can get in touch with Second Sara?”

  The voice that came back was a bit hard, but there was an attempt to chuckle over that part of things.

  “I don’t have time for it, but I will. For you. That sounds like it was less than fun. Thank goodness you managed to save those people. Here, let me… There we go. It can take a few minutes for her to answer. She carries the device with her constantly, but there’s almost no way to know if it’s daytime there. Her assistant… You mentioned that Lydia is here? That’s new, then. We should have her up to Harmony for a few days. Delightful woman.”

  It was probably rude, but the woman on the phone, who was pretty looking, if upside down at the moment from Avery’s perspective needed to know the conditions of the moment.

  “It should be daylight there still. I don’t know the time other than that. We haven’t been gone that long. Only about an hour so far?”

  The woman nodded then.

  “Which will be less there. Good. Ah, there you are, Sara! How is your day going?”

  The conversation in the background was very polite. Casual and conversational as well.

  Finally, Tiera, who seemed to have a magical picture producing cell phone that could cross realities, smiled.

  “Would you be able to pass a message for us? There was a bridge collapse here, so the IPB people and your new line walker went to save several people. Successfully, without taking any damage. We’re going to send them back, but we need to hold a parade in their honor first. Possibly seeing if we can arrange squireships with King Richard. Though, I really need to come up with something like that for my own people.” It was kind of clear that the woman was kidding, but also that the conversation was taking place on a lot of layers.

  She was, it seemed, playing things off, while also being half serious. As if they were actually supposed to be given honors for simply doing what anyone else would have, had they been there and able to help. Which she seemed to understand at the same time. It was more complex than what most people did.

  Avery, finishing some very tasty herb bread, nodded.

  “Oh… I don’t know if you’d be interested, but Marcia Turner, Director of the IPB wants to set up some meetings? With Eve Benson, the Vampire line walker from my world. I don’t know how to set that all up, but I can take people around for it. I won’t get paid, but… Well, what my boss doesn’t know won’t hurt me.” She tried to sound bold, but didn’t manage it. The truth was that Zack didn’t care what she gave away that way, outside of work. Most of the people she helped wouldn’t have been paying customers anyway.

  The person on the phone thing looked at her, since the Countess had turned the thing around. Meaning Avery could see she was actually a lot better looking than she’d originally thought. Like an Alede, nearly.

  “That would be wonderful! Thank you. I can set things up on this side for that. Would it be all right to send Will or Dareg, do you think, in order to pass
messages? Dareg spoke quite highly of Eve Benson, if she’s the same person. So I think he can locate her.” The woman was nearly servile on the last bit, as if Avery hadn’t just mentioned helping out.

  That they had two other people who could do it as well was interesting. Possibly more than just that.

  “That would work, I think? I can also check back in here, or with Director Turner? We can do whatever is easiest for you.”

  The woman on the device smiled at her then.

  “All right, you’re one of my new favorite people. Let me see what’s needed for it? Are we holding it here? I can host people… Sara, would it be all right to set an appointment to discuss this with your Director Turner?”

  There was a voice in the background, which sounded youthful and high pitched, but also fairly affirmative sounding. When Director Turner was on the device, Tiera went over the events of the last hour again.

  Finally, Turner spoke.

  “See, this is the kind of thing I like. They made us look good and aren’t even late yet, but still called in to report first thing. You’d be surprised how hard it can be to get people to remember to do that part. Thank you, Queen Tiera.”

  Then they started talking about a meeting that was a lot bigger than just having Eve over for lunch. It still wasn’t larger than she could manage however. For the time being.

  She had a feeling, deep in her soul, that the whole thing was going to grow, for some reason.

  By the time the food was gone from the table, ten minutes later, the stilted and disjointed conversation was wrapping up on the reality phone. Not a lot had been planned out, since there were significant time delays while they spoke, then waited for a reply. Avery just sat there, not knowing what her part was supposed to be. No one was planning to send her off right at that moment to work, so at least there was that. When Director Turner and Sara were both of off the magical device, Tiera waved at them.