Dragon Chameleon: Episodes 9-12

by Wilson, Sarah K. L.

  She didn’t mean that she meant to take them all as lovers, did she? I felt my face going hot at the thought.

  Seriously, Tor. You need to stop being so human!

  “Can I help it?”

  It doesn’t work like that. There are a lot fewer females than males. A LOT fewer. And when a female establishes a family, it’s not like a human family. It’s like ... a human skycity. It’s a big deal. She has a lot of progeny over many decades and they are a force all on their own. Do you know about bee hives?

  “I’m a city boy, remember?”

  I’ll take that as a ‘no.’ She sighed again. Let me try to simplify this for you. Tachril is courting me. But his wing – Hyoogan, Nazscal, Elumans, Nelmper, and Izhoedi – they are offering to be his cohort. That means they will guard the nest and warm the eggs and basically begin a dragon city with us. They’re offering to be like an elite guard division with me as their queen.

  “I’m not sure if you noticed, but we don’t have time to be building cities of dragons. Or engaging in elaborate courtships. Even if it’s flattering to be offered a role as a queen. We’re fleeing creeping hordes of golems!”

  Once the ceremony begins, it must not be stopped without an answer.

  “So say ‘no’ and let’s be on our way!”

  The look she gave me was distinctly hostile. I stepped back.

  “You do want to say ‘no’ don’t you?”

  I am not certain.

  “You aren’t certain?!” I could have pulled my hair out in chunks. All this because a dragon was proposing marriage!

  Are you certain about Zyla? Would you like to marry her?

  “I don’t know!” I was almost shouting now. I clamped down on my own words and looked around in the darkness. Hopefully, I hadn’t disturbed the camp. We hadn’t posted a guard. We all just assumed that the dragons would notice if enemies arrived.

  Well, I don’t know either.

  “Be reasonable,” I hissed, whispering now. I didn’t even need to talk out loud, but it was too hard to feel this strongly and not speak. “Where would you even put a city? Surely, the Lands of Haz’Drazen are crowded by now. The Dominion doesn’t have room for a Dragon City. Think of the practicalities.”

  I was thinking perhaps Kav’ai. Or Ko’Torenth.

  “What?” I almost broke out of a whisper.

  Well, you are marked with their signs. When you’re done defeating these golem armies, I think they’ll owe you something. Like maybe a place to put your dragon city. Although we call them, “Drazenloft” not “city.”

  “I’ll remember that,” I said hollowly. She was serious. She was seriously considering this. “If you say yes, can I assume that we’ll be stuck with these Green dragons indefinitely?”

  She lifted an eyebrow ridge.

  I have been nothing but supportive regarding your attachment to Zyla.

  “She doesn’t come with five other dragons and six humans!”

  The eyebrow ridge rose further.

  I sighed.

  “Can you at least decide quickly, before our enemies arrive and we all die?”

  The eye narrowed.

  Skies and stars!

  I heard laughing and spun to see my mimic perched along the cliff. “You could go down there and kill a dragon or two. That would put a damper on things. Or you could tell her that if she agrees to this, you’ll leave her. She likes you. She’d have to take that threat seriously.”

  “If you know what’s best for you,” I muttered, glaring at him. “You’ll stay behind me, mimic. You’re nothing but trouble.”

  He was still laughing when I slunk back to my blanket and tried to sleep but sleep did not come easy. I couldn’t stop worrying about how I was going to find a place for Saboraak’s Drazenloft. I had no illusions that she would say no. She looked far too pleased at that ridiculous green frill.

  I’ll have you know that the frill is a very attractive part of a male dragon.

  I jammed my hands over my ears, but her laughter echoed in my mind anyhow.

  Chapter Four

  Zyla shook me awake the next morning and shoved a hot mug into my hands. I sipped at it, bleary-eyed.

  “Come on, Tor,” she said, “you need to see this.”

  My eyes went wide. “Golems?”

  “No,” she laughed. “Come see for yourself.”

  I followed her through the camp – what was left of it. The Green Dragon Riders already had most of it packed away and piled at the edge of the hill.

  Saborak wasn’t sitting on her perch anymore. I felt a chill come over me and stopped. Where was she?

  Zyla took my hand with a smile and pulled me to the edge of the hillside.

  “Look,” she said. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

  Below us, inside the burnt symbol, Saboraak and Tachril lay in the grass, their heads on each other’s flanks like a pair of dogs in front of a fire. The other dragons slept in a ring around them. I sighed.

  “This is going to complicate things,” I said.

  “You’re telling me,” Nostar said, coming up from behind us with his own tea. “Think we can get them to fly again?”

  “They’d better,” I said with a dark look. “A flood of golems is coming this way. They’ll have to wait to build their dragon city later.”

  “Dragon city?” Nostar and Zyla asked at once, mirror looks of shock on their faces.

  “That’s what that means,” I said, pointing to the two cuddled dragons. “That cute little display means that all those dragons down there plan to build their own dragon city together for the next few decades and the rest of us are going to just be dragged along for the ride! I hope they can at least hold off until we finish this war.”

  Zyla clicked her tongue. “Don’t be so judgmental, Tor. You didn’t expect to be her whole life, did you?” She carefully folded a scarf in her hands as she spoke. “This is one of mine. Yours is a bit the worse for wear. Katlana spent the night rubbing it on a rock. Here.”

  She reached up and tied the black scarf around my forehead, covering up the golden crown marks.

  Nostar sighed and gave me a grim look, offering a hand. After a moment, I took it.

  “Well, Tor. I guess we’re going to be getting to know each other pretty well. Ready to stop a war and then build a dragon city together?”

  “They call it a Drazenloft,” I said, shaking his hand.

  He chuckled. He was taking this better than I was. “How do you know all this?”

  “Female dragons communicate telepathically,” I said.

  “You mean she’s in your head all the time?”

  I nodded and he laughed, clapping me on the shoulder. “Better you than me.”

  “Alert!” A cry came from camp as Janes ran toward us. He was breathless. “Golems spotted to the north!”

  I strained my eyes, but Nostar pulled a long thin tube from his coat and looked through it.

  “Skies and stars! They’re not an hour away. We’d better hurry!”

  “On land or in the sky?” I asked.

  “Sky.”

  “Can you take Katlana? Three is a big load for Saboraak.”

  He nodded.

  Saboraak! I called in my mind. Up! Up! They’re upon us!

  She went from resting peacefully to leaping up into the air in seconds, Tachril only a wing-beat behind her. The other Greens swirled into the air like a tornado, landing around our makeshift camp. They’d hardly landed before their riders rushed forward, saddles and reins in hand.

  Zyla trotted up and shoved Saboraak’s saddle into my hands. “I’ll get the rest.”

  She was gone in a heartbeat as I threw the saddle over my dragon’s back. She was Green today. Of course.

  “Don’t look so smug,” I told her as I tightened the belly straps.

  You’re going to love the Greens, Saboraak said. They’re as adventure-loving and impulsive as you are!

  One of me was bad enough. Two, if you counted the mimic.

  And they
aren’t nearly as cranky.

  I wasn’t cranky. I was just dealing with the fact that my entourage was growing out of control.

  Technically, you’re all my entourage.

  “Keep telling yourself that,” I said, grabbing the bags that Zyla handed me and strapping them in place.

  My mouth twisted into a worried frown. I was still frowning as I buckled into the saddle and Zyla buckled in behind me, still clasping her polearm. I was still frowning when we launched into the air in a flurry of wings. Still frowning as the golems chased us – black dots in a golden dawn sky. And then my frown began to fade. If they caught us, an extra six dragons might not be the worst thing. In fact, they might turn out to be a distinct help.

  Told you so.

  I frowned again.

  Chapter Five

  It was almost nightfall and we were well over the thick forest before it occurred to me to wonder if the golems were chasing us or herding us. I had thought we’d set the course in choosing to flee to Estabis, but what if we were being herded in that direction?

  Katlana had remained close-lipped and though I liked having Zyla behind me, clinging to my back with warm arms, I would have liked to have more time to question Katlana.

  “We could try other means,” Nostar had suggested quietly when we stopped for a break at noon. “But we can’t try that until nightfall and even then I’m worried about lessening her dose.”

  “Dose?” I’d asked.

  “Well, we can’t keep a Magika captive if she’s not dosed. You know that, right?”

  I hadn’t known it. I’d been shocked when I realized that Nostar and his men had been giving her doses of a herbal concoction from the moment I’d handed her off to them last night.

  “It makes it hard to concentrate,” Nostar had explained. “Too hard to do magic. It won’t hurt her long-term. If you’d actually been trained formally, you’d know all about it.”

  I wanted to object, but I couldn’t see any other option. If we didn’t give her the doses, what would prevent her from escaping or even killing us even with her hands tied behind her back?

  “But why didn’t she use magic against us when we were escaping?” I asked.

  “That,” Nostar said, “is the question. Do you think it is possible that she wanted to be captured?”

  “Why would she want that?”

  “Perhaps she wanted you to lead her to where you were planning to rally troops. Or perhaps she wants something else from you. Either way, we must keep a careful eye on her.”

  I had agreed with that.

  And now, in the dark of the night, clinging to Saboraak’s back with a sleeping Zyla behind me, her dark head resting on my shoulder, I was worried about it again. Why had it been so easy to capture Katlana? What did she really want with us? And how could I keep her from getting it?

  We’d left the golems far behind us, our faster speed working for us again. The dragons were growing tired but Nostar insisted that we push on to Estabis through the night.

  “They can rest in the cotes when we arrive. Our mission is too important,” he said. He was focused, every feature of his face, every movement of his body pointing toward his destination, like a hunting dog. I was starting to like Nostar almost as much as I was worried about Saboraak.

  She’d been distant since she accepted Tachril’s proposal. They flew level with each other, glancing often from one to the other and I felt my tension rising as the hours passed with her silent in my head.

  “You’ve been replaced, boy-o,” my mimic suggested in the early evening. “Better hold on to Zyla or someone will sweep her away, too.”

  “I haven’t been replaced,” I said with a scowl. “I can’t build a dragon city with her. It’s a different thing entirely.

  “But it feels like you have, doesn’t it?” the mimic asked. “And it feels awful.”

  It did feel awful. Even worse, Saboraak didn’t seem to notice that I felt awful. She was too busy making starry-love-eyes at Tachril.

  “You should focus on something else,” my mimic said easily. “How about that Katlana? I knew it was a mistake for you to let her live. As soon as her next dose wears off, she’s going to grab her magic and kill you. Maybe you should arrange for her to have a little ‘accident’ first.”

  I ignored him. But I didn’t shove him away as I should have. After all, most of me agreed with him. And it felt nice to have someone agree with me and understand how I felt, even if it was just a mirror of myself.

  “We’re the same,” he reminded me as the lights of Estabis appeared on the horizon. “The very same.”

  And I listened because I wanted to listen.

  I fell asleep like that, my head bobbing on my chest until Zyla’s limp arms tightened and then she was holding me up and I was leaning back on her instead of the other way around. I relaxed into sleep, letting her strong arms hold me. It was different with me and Zyla than it was for Saboraak and Tachril. For starters, we weren’t complicating the lives of a half-dozen other people. And we also weren’t making anyone feel abandoned. And that was important.

  Bitterness doesn’t suit you, Tor, Saboraak said, finally taking notice of me as I drifted off to sleep. I ignored her. After all, fair was fair.

  I didn’t wake again until Zyla whispered in my ear. “Wake up, Tor. We’re almost there.”

  “Estabis?” I asked sleepily, rubbing my blurry eyes.

  “Yes. And we have a problem.”

  Chapter Six

  ‘A problem’ was a mild way of putting it. Cold fear washed over me as I looked at the ground before the skycity of Estabis. I had hoped we would be in time. I had hoped that we were flying fast enough even with the delays. But we were too late.

  Below us, lit with the rising dawn, the thick forest stopped abruptly, becoming the fields and roads surrounding the towering skycity. On the edges of the forest, miles long and three-deep stood motionless golems. As if the city had built a series of statue tributes to wolves, these golems sat in long rows, faces forward. Eyes dark.

  Just like I had in the yellow rain, I felt a pull to them. I stared at one, wondering what it was that connected us. What possible kinship could there be between me and a thing of metal and magic?

  As if I had called the golem’s name, his head lifted, eyes flaring to life. He looked up at me and I gasped.

  That was all. The rest remained still and silent. It was just that one golem staring at me, following me with his head as we flew overhead. And I could feel, like something pulling at the edge of my cloak, every single one of them lined up there, looking at me, waiting for ... something.

  My skin crawled worse than if I’d been covered in ants. I could almost see the future spinning out – these golems marching forward and covering the city. Or ... what if it went otherwise? What if it didn’t have to be that way? What if they turned around and marched the other way? I felt a barrier when I thought that, as if the threads simply wouldn’t spin that way. But in the center of their weaving was something soft – some single point in the weaving of the future that if pressed on, could change everything.

  My hand flared cold at the thought. Truth. Interesting. If I could just find that point, that one place where a little pressure could change everything ...

  Tor?

  Done making moon-eyes for now, Saboraak?

  Don’t be bitter. It’s not a good flavor for you.

  Well, I don’t know about that. Hubric drinks something called caf and the bitterness is quite pleasant.

  She sighed.

  Oh, don’t mind me. I’m just strategizing to prevent a war. You go ahead and meld your heart with a group of Green dragons. Don’t mind me. I’m just the human on your back who thought he could count on you.

  I’m sorry, Tor. I got ... caught up.

  “This is your chance!” The mimic said, flaring to life. “Use this to get her attention back!”

  Whatever he said, I should do the opposite. But it took a moment for me to collect myself enough to
push him mentally away. Saboraak had been begging me to learn compassion. Shouldn’t I offer at least a little bit to her?

  Your city had better be amazing, Saboraak. For the record, I’d prefer a place with a real bed. I don’t ever seem to get to sleep in one.

  I could feel flickers of a smile through our connection.

  And no golems. That’s a deal-breaker for me, I’m afraid.

  I promise there won’t be golems.

  And you name the first baby dragon after me.

  Aren’t you demanding!

  If I’m basically going to spend my life as a dragon babysitter, there should be some perks. Oh, and can you wait until we’re finished stopping this war? Because I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I’ve been a bit busy with armies of golems, mad Magikas, soul-stealing artifact dealers, and face-marking prophecies.

  I did notice that, yes.

  And that’s not really the best environment to raise a family in.

  Tor?

  Yes?

  Can we just make peace without all the sass?

  Then I wouldn’t be me.

  “I caught most of that,” Zyla said from behind me. “It’s a good thing you two have made up. You know you’re lucky to have her, right?”

  “Are all the women in my life telepathic?”

  “Saboraak lets me listen in sometimes,” Zyla said a little too smugly.

  I gritted my teeth. Were all women in a massive conspiracy against me or did it just feel that way sometimes? Now, even my own thoughts weren’t private!

  “Maybe you should be thinking about what you’re going to say to the Castelan when we reach Estabis,” I suggested to Zyla.

  “Me?” She sounded nervous.

  “Well, you’re the one with the spy-knowledge, not me. You’re the one with the famous family. And you’re the one with the intimidating polearm in her hand. I’m not sure why you thought it would be anyone else.”

  “You’re the one with a permanent crown on your face.”