The Hearts of Dragons

by Josh VanBrakle

  The Lodian groaned, “Oh, hell.”

  Iren’s jaw dropped. “You survived?”

  Balear pushed against the logs with his arms. Slowly, he got to his knees, then to his feet. “Seems that way,” he said. He did a few stretches. “I don’t think anything’s broken. All the same, I wouldn’t want to go through that again.”

  “Does this mean you passed the dragon’s test?”

  “I guess so. He called himself Ariok.”

  “That’s the Sky Dragon,” Hana said from behind them. “His sword is the Auryozaki. He tests would-be knights on bravery.”

  Iren eyed her as she crossed the devastation. “You’re well informed.”

  “Any Maantec could tell you that,” she said with a shrug before facing Balear. “Not bad. It takes guts even for a Maantec to touch a Ryokaiten. Speaking of which, let’s go get it. Now that it’s yours, you’ll need to practice your push-ups if you want to lift that monster, let alone wield it in battle.”

  They clambered out of the log pile and met up with Dirio before returning to the Auryozaki’s resting place. When they arrived, Balear knelt before the enormous blade, clearly hesitant to touch it after what had happened the last time.

  Iren frowned. Whether or not Balear had passed Ariok’s test made little difference. Iren knew how heavy that weapon was. If he couldn’t lift it, there was no way Balear could.

  Balear grasped the hilt with both hands. The muscles on his arms tensed. Then, with casual ease, he picked up the sword.

  Everyone around Balear gaped, and the Lodian looked at the giant sword with disbelief. “It’s so light,” he said. “It’s like it’s weightless.” As though to confirm his suspicions, he let go of the sword with his left hand and swung it several times using only his right arm.

  “How can that be?” Iren demanded. “That sword is gigantic! Here, let me try holding it again.” He reached out, and Balear reluctantly handed over the Auryozaki. For a moment Iren held it there, but when Balear let go of the hilt, the sword plummeted. It dragged Iren with it, and his face bounced off the ground.

  Iren spat out dirt and spruce needles. He shook his head and pulled on the sword with all his might. He couldn’t raise it an inch. “You keep it,” he said. “I’ll stick to my katana.”

  He stalked away from the others. Behind him, he heard Hana and Dirio exclaim as Balear picked up the Auryozaki again and swung it. Iren could feel the wind off the slash. He cursed. Now even a human like Balear could become a Dragon Knight and use magic.

  But not him.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Cured?

  Four days later, Iren stood once more in Akaku Forest. He held the Muryozaki vertically before him.

  “Remember,” he muttered. “Remember how it felt.”

  He focused on a tree thirty feet away. He couldn’t use magic on his own, but the Muryozaki itself was magical. That might make the difference.

  Iren pulled the katana back over his right shoulder. Last year, he had channeled magic through the sword to lengthen it so it could cut through Feng’s leg. If he did the same here, an arc of light would reach out and slice the tree in half.

  He took a deep breath and swung.

  No magic came. The sword didn’t extend. It didn’t even glow.

  “You should try getting closer,” a female voice said from behind him. “Your sword isn’t as long as Balear’s.”

  Iren turned and saw Hana approaching. He glowered at her.

  “Whoa, testy!” Hana said, raising her hands in front of her. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  Her smirk gave away the lie. Iren sheathed the Muryozaki and stalked away from her. He hoped she’d leave him alone, but she bounded after him.

  Iren headed in Balear’s direction. The former general was practicing in the forest too, and with much greater success. As his giant Auryozaki sliced through the air, it dropped three-foot-wide trees like twigs.

  “Tired of wrecking the forest yet?” Iren called.

  Balear stopped in midswing. Sweat dripped off him. He had come to Akaku to train every day since he’d become the Sky Dragon Knight. “I didn’t expect to see you out here,” he said. He paused a moment, then grinned. He pointed his sword at Iren. “Hey, how about a match?”

  Iren hesitated. He knew the Auryozaki’s capabilities from his fight with Zuberi. Its length would keep him out of reach, and its weightlessness would let Balear swing it so quickly that Iren would have few chances to counterattack.

  The situation would be different if he had magic. The spells he’d learned training with Rondel far surpassed what Balear could do.

  Of course, if he could use those abilities, the match wouldn’t be a contest. He returned Balear’s smile. “Bring it on.” He drew the Muryozaki.

  Hana looked from one young man to the next and then, rolling her eyes, stepped between them. “Boys, those aren’t wooden sticks. If you spar with sharpened blades, you’ll kill each other.”

  Iren didn’t listen. Hana had just provided the perfect distraction; Balear couldn’t swing his long sword without hitting her. Iren ducked low, ran past Hana, and was under Balear’s guard in a second. He slashed up, intending to stop his blade just beneath Balear’s jaw.

  He was almost there when Balear noticed what was about to happen and leapt backward. At the same time, he swung the Auryozaki down. It plowed into the earth and disrupted Iren’s attack with a burst of debris.

  The dirt momentarily blinded Iren, and that was all Balear needed. His sword whooshed as it carved a horizontal arc through the air. Iren raised his katana to block, but the force of Balear’s blow sent him sprawling nonetheless. Apparently the Auryozaki was only weightless to its owner.

  Iren staggered to his feet and readied for Balear’s next strike. Hana shouted at them to stop, that they were both being stupid, but she might as well have disappeared.

  Balear lunged, his arm and blade together giving him a ten-foot reach. Iren barely sidestepped the blow.

  Then he saw his opening. Weightless sword or not, Balear was no Zuberi. He couldn’t attack as fast as the Quodivar leader had, and because of his shorter height, he could only swing his weapon in a couple directions. Iren deflected the Auryozaki with his katana and forced the giant sword sideways. He charged and penetrated Balear’s defense again. This time, he knew the soldier was too unsteady to jump away. Iren thrust. He would send the Muryozaki past Balear’s face and leave a harmless scratch along the Lodian’s left cheek.

  Iren was so intent on victory that he almost missed seeing Balear whirl the Auryozaki back around. With the sword weightless, the Lodian could swing it even while off balance. Iren cursed and converted his own strike into a vertical guard. Unlike his last block, though, he was close enough to Balear that only the base of the Auryozaki connected with his katana. Balear’s leverage was less there, so Iren kept his feet.

  The two pushed with all their strength as each tried to break his opponent’s guard. Their eyes met, and Iren saw joy in Balear’s face.

  Something about that expression broke through to Iren, and he realized that he wore an identical look. He heard his own laughter, though he hadn’t known he was making the sound until just then.

  At once, as if they’d prearranged the spectacle, Iren and Balear separated. Iren sheathed the Muryozaki. He was panting and sweating, but he’d never felt so alive.

  That was when it occurred to him. Magic didn’t matter. He wasn’t helpless without it. He could stand his own against a Dragon Knight. Maybe he couldn’t live with the Kodamas, but he wasn’t crippled.

  “That was good,” he wheezed. “You learned how to handle that thing quickly.”

  Balear hefted the Auryozaki over his shoulder. “Keep practicing with me,” he said, just as winded, “and I’ll be better than Dad and Zuberi in no time.”

  “Fine by me. I’ll just get that much stronger too. I refuse to lose to you.”

  “Well, I’m not going to lose to you either.”

  Iren and
Balear stared at each other across the expanse of forest for a few seconds, laughing as they caught their breath. Finally, Hana ran up and stood between them again. She folded her arms and glared. “If you boys are done screwing around, we should get back to Veliaf. Something’s wrong here.”

  “You mean besides the fact that even though Balear’s sword is twice as long as mine, he still couldn’t win?” Iren asked with a smirk.

  Hana’s expression didn’t relent. “No, this is something else. Don’t you feel it? It’s getting colder.”

  In truth, Iren felt warmer now than he had for a long time. As his sweat cooled, though, he realized Hana was right. The temperature had dropped significantly since he and Balear had started fighting.

  Then he noticed something that made him step back in surprise. A snowflake had fluttered by his face.

  “What on Raa?” he asked. “It’s nearly summer. Even this far north, there’s no way it can be snowing.”

  Yet snow it did, and it grew stronger by the second. Soon the flakes accelerated into a squall, and a white layer covered the ground and spruce branches.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Iren said. He had no idea what was going on, but it stank of magic. These woods were still the Yokai’s domain. Even if their numbers were reduced, they might have something to do with this.

  The trio had only taken a few steps toward Veliaf when over the wind came a long, low, terrifying roar. The sound froze Iren in place. He craned his neck to look in the direction of the call. The others stared back too.

  “What was that?” Balear asked.

  Iren gulped. He had fought both Yokai and their larger cousins, the Oni. Though monstrous, neither could have made that sound. It was primal, more animal than anything sentient.

  Heavy footfalls and a sloughing sound confirmed Iren’s suspicions. Not even the ten-foot-tall Oni would be this loud moving through the woods.

  At last, through the snow, the creature came into view. The moment it did, Iren’s hands fell to his sides, quivering.

  The monster towered fifteen feet high, and its girth was so great Iren doubted he could reach his arms around it. It wore no clothes, but white fur covered it. Its hands sported claws the length of Iren’s forearm. On each foot, instead of toes, the monster had a single pointed nail as long and sharp as a dagger. Most horrifying of all, though, were its burning eyes the color of blood and its needle-like teeth protruding from its oversized maw.

  Balear stood beside Iren, his body rigid. “That’s a Fubuki,” he breathed.

  The Fubuki had no need of a weapon, but it nevertheless carried the most brutal creation Iren had ever seen. One end was a long, jagged bone spear, while the other bore a hammer larger than Iren’s torso.

  As Iren studied the weapon, his panic increased tenfold. Along the edges of the Fubuki’s hand, familiar writing poked out. “Impossible,” he said. “That weapon is a Ryokaiten. That thing is a Dragon Knight!”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Frozen Wind

  “We should run,” Iren said.

  Balear stepped toward the Fubuki and raised his Sky Dragon Sword. “We can’t,” he replied, the waver in his voice barely concealed. “If we do, and this thing follows us to Veliaf, people will die. We have to stop it here.”

  Iren had no idea how they could fight such a monster, even had it not been a Dragon Knight. Yet something in Balear’s stance made Iren hold his ground. He drew the Muryozaki.

  If he fought, he would die. Even so, Balear was willing to face this thing. Iren wouldn’t let him do it alone.

  “Hana,” Balear called without turning around. “Go to Veliaf and warn them. Whatever happens, you have to live.” The man had never sounded so intense.

  Iren couldn’t tell if Hana was happy to have the chance for escape. She looked at Balear, her expression one of genuine astonishment that Iren had never seen from her. Finally, though, she fled south.

  At the sight of its quarry escaping, the Fubuki bellowed in challenge. Its cry sent shivers through Iren, and he almost dropped the Muryozaki.

  “I wanted to bring peace to Lodia,” Balear said. “It might not turn out that way. But if I have to die here, at least I can give Hana enough time to raise the alarm!”

  Balear’s resolve amazed Iren. If Ariok chose his knights according to bravery as Hana had claimed, then the Sky Dragon had chosen well in Balear.

  With another horrible roar, the Fubuki charged. Balear stood firm, but Iren couldn’t stop himself from retreating a step. It was a small movement, yet it was enough to expose his weakness. The Fubuki focused on him. Its spear thrust at Iren’s face. Iren managed to sweep the weapon aside and countered with a slash to the monster’s wrist, hoping to disarm it.

  He had to abort his strike, though, as the Fubuki’s Ryokaiten spun around. Iren leapt back as the hammer end swung at him. The bizarre weapon missed him by an inch, yet the force of its passing threw Iren to the snow.

  Iren swore. If that hammer landed a direct hit, his corpse would be less recognizable than those Ariok had dropped from the sky. Worse, he couldn’t block it. The hammer would smash through any guard he could manage.

  “Lodia!” Balear cried as he struck at the monster’s exposed left side. Iren smiled; it was a good plan. The Fubuki’s Ryokaiten was in its right hand, so it had to cross its own body to bring the weapon to bear. Even if it did, the spear would do little against Balear’s gigantic sword.

  Unfortunately, the hammer could do plenty. Faster than Iren thought possible, the Fubuki used the heavy weapon’s momentum to spin it into Balear’s sword.

  The crash of the two massive Ryokaiten rang across the forest. Iren nearly bit off his tongue as his teeth clapped together. Balear went sprawling, and clouds of snow flew into the air as he tumbled along the ground. The Fubuki was unfazed.

  Iren struggled to his feet. The Fubuki had its back to him as it focused on Balear. Rather than shout and reveal his presence like Balear had, Iren snuck up behind the creature and slashed silently at its arm.

  The monster couldn’t see him, but whether through scent or some other means, it must have known he was there. Its spear lunged backward. Iren’s shirt ripped as the weapon sliced through his right side.

  It missed his flesh, though, and the Fubuki’s mistake was made. In failing to impale Iren, it had let him get too close. Iren stabbed up into where he hoped one of the monster’s kidneys was.

  Iren had thrown his full strength into the thrust, yet his sword only penetrated a couple inches into the monster’s thick hide. Undaunted, the Fubuki backhanded Iren in the shoulder. The force of the blow made Iren drop the Muryozaki and sent him flying. He landed with a crash next to Balear.

  The Fubuki reached down with its left hand and grabbed the Muryozaki. The katana looked like a toy in the beast’s enormous paw. With a howl that shook the forest, the Fubuki hurled the sword in the opposite direction from Iren. The blade speared a tree forty feet up all the way to the hilt.

  Iren’s eyes flicked from the Fubuki to the Muryozaki with despair. Even if he could climb that high, he’d never be able to pull the weapon out of three feet of wood.

  “It doesn’t look good for us,” he said.

  “No, it doesn’t,” Balear admitted, “but that doesn’t mean I’m giving up.”

  The soldier stood and pointed the Auryozaki at the Fubuki. Iren couldn’t help but be impressed.

  “Don’t charge him,” Iren advised. “He wants you to get in close so he can hit you with that hammer. Take advantage of your sword’s length and attack from far away. Aim for his right hand or arm. If you can make him drop his Ryokaiten, you might have a chance.”

  Balear nodded but didn’t speak. He circled the Fubuki warily.

  Then the monster did something that made Iren’s blood chill more than it already had. It smiled.

  The tip of the Fubuki’s spear glowed a light blue, and a spike of ice lanced from it. Balear saw it at the last second and raised his sword to block. The ice shattered against t
he blade.

  When he lowered his weapon, the once-implacable Balear was shaking. The fifteen-foot-tall Fubuki was impossibly tough on its own, but it could use magic as well.

  Again the spear illuminated, but instead of a single shard, this time a barrage of them launched from it. Balear stabbed the Auryozaki into the ground and hid behind it. The spikes bounced off it without harm.

  The rain of shards stopped, and Iren saw the Fubuki’s plan. “Balear, move!” he shouted, but he was too late. Balear’s sword protected him, but it also blinded him to what his enemy was doing. The Fubuki surged around Balear’s defense.

  With a victorious howl the Fubuki thrust its spear. Balear flung himself away, but surprise slowed his reaction time. The spear pierced his right arm at the elbow.

  Balear’s wound wasn’t fatal, but then it turned blue. Iren watched in horror as the flesh around the spear froze. The ice radiated out, creeping over Balear’s arm.

  It had just reached his shoulder when the ground shook. The Fubuki backed its weapon out of Balear and whipped its body around in search of the disturbance’s source.

  The monster’s blood-red eyes settled on Iren. He gulped. The Fubuki must have decided he was causing the tremors.

  Iren was sure the Fubuki would slay him, but then he realized he’d misinterpreted the beast’s gaze. It wasn’t looking at him, but past him.

  Hoping the Fubuki wouldn’t pounce on him the second he turned his back, Iren looked over his shoulder. The moment he did, he gasped.

  Hana stood fifty feet away. In her hands she clutched a long-hafted brown war hammer.

  The Fubuki bellowed in challenge, but Hana stood firm and unafraid. When the Fubuki pointed its spear at her, Iren called, “Look out for the ice shards!”

  Hana didn’t move. The spear glowed blue, and a barrage of bolts shot toward her. Iren slammed a fist into the snow, unable to do anything to stop the slaughter.

  As the shots landed, though, they bounced off Hana as if she wore heavy armor. She cocked an eyebrow. “Is that all?” she asked. “I guess I shouldn’t expect anything more from someone who isn’t a Maantec.”