The Cyborg Tinkerer

by Meg LaTorre

  He could remember things from ten years ago? But how? Her memories were already fading and fast.

  Surprise streaked across her face. “That’s terrible.”

  “It was well deserved from what I can remember. As the eldest child, I’d been set on a course to inherit my father’s estate. Where I’m from—outside the Union—first children must prove their worthiness to their parents before they can take over the family business. I’d worked hard and made parts of the estate more efficient.

  “But when I refused to take part in a certain aspect of my family’s estate, my father withdrew my inheritance. Not long after, I became ill and needed money for a medical procedure. When I asked my father for assistance, he wouldn’t allow me a portion of the inheritance, even as a loan for the procedure.

  “I didn’t have any options. If I didn’t have the procedure, I’d likely die. I was forced to participate in my family’s illegal operations and prove myself to them. Only then would I receive the money I needed.

  “I hated every moment of it. Eventually, I turned myself in to the authorities. In the process, I lost everything—my family, my fiancée, and my inheritance. I had been about to lose my life as well when Carlisle found me and offered me a second chance at life.”

  Gwen was surprised by how similar their circumstances had been that led them to the circus. Both she and Bastian had been about to die when a ringleader had found them and offered a way to evade death.

  “It sounds like you and this Carlisle got along.” She rolled onto her stomach, resting her chin in a hand. “Was he the ringleader before?”

  He nodded. “I loved that man like a father. Perhaps more than my father.”

  “Did you get the procedure you’d needed when you joined the circus?”

  “Yes. I have a bad heart, you see. When I got here, they gave me a pacemaker to keep my heart going.” He scratched his head. “When I joined the circus, the role of ringleader was already taken. I’d been apprenticed to Celeste. At the time, there’d been a lot of experimentation on animals to try to make them cyborgs, too. Bigger crowd appeal, the Mistress had said. It had been before the emperor’s rise to power.

  “But the implants didn’t take. We later learned it was because of the anesthesia. After that, we did surgeries under the lightest anesthesia possible. When the animals awoke and saw me mid-surgery, most attacked. After several near-death experiences, I was given a second cyborg implant—plates beneath my chest and back—to protect my vital organs from the beasts we were attempting to turn into cyborgs.”

  Gwen’s eyes widened.

  That’s why you nearly broke my fucking hands today.

  “This competition isn’t the first of our unspeakable crimes,” he said. “It’s simply the first against our own people.”

  “So… you can’t be killed, then? With your second implants?”

  “Not with swords or knives to the back or gut, no,” he admitted. “A bullet to the head or a knife to the throat would suffice, I suspect.”

  Interestingly, he didn’t look at her, keeping his eyes on the trees above.

  Some time passed, and he didn’t say anything for so long that she thought he might have fallen asleep.

  “I have no home or family to return to at the end of my contract,” he said at last. “The show management position—it’s all I have left.”

  She sat up. “I’m sorry for what happened to you. But you’re wrong.”

  His gaze snapped to hers.

  “I wouldn’t call us friends, exactly,” she began. “But for what it’s worth, you’re not alone. You have me. You also have the circus and all the performers you’ve recruited. They need you.”

  I need you.

  Where the hell had that come from? Since when was she cozying up to Bastian?

  Chill the fuck out.

  Clearing his throat, he said, “We’d best get some sleep. I expect we’ll make it to the dragon’s cave tomorrow.”

  Slowly, he sank to the ground and pulled his coat over him.

  As she drifted off to sleep, she thought of Rora, praying that she was all right and her hand was working. When sleep finally came, she dreamed of both Bastian and Rora—and the feel of their naked bodies pressed against hers.

  Gwen awoke the next morning when a sound ripped through the trees, sending birds squawking and soaring into the air. It was a sound she’d never heard before on any of the Union’s planets she’d traveled to as a tinkerer.

  Somewhere above them, a dragon roared.

  Chapter 18

  Taking a breath, Rora swung her arm up, letting go of her previous handhold on the cliff to grab the nearest ledge. She hung in the air from one arm for several long moments before her feet found purchase and she scrambled up.

  Eventually, she made it to the top of the next ledge, tied off the rope to a nearby rock, tested it, and tossed it down to Marzanna and their wayward allies. When the rope drew taut, she knew someone must be climbing up.

  Besides the whistling of the wind, it was eerily quiet.

  Where is Abrecan?

  Rora had expected him to make a move against them hours ago before they started climbing the cliff where the Mistress had said the dragon lived. Thus far, Abrecan, his followers, and the dragon were nowhere to be seen.

  As the most skilled climber, Rora led the way as they climbed hundreds of feet. For every cave they passed, she scanned each before tying ropes off so their teams could ascend without the need to climb unassisted up the cliff. However, it had been hours since they’d started their ascent. After searching countless caves, they were all growing restless and tired.

  There was another cave a short distance down a narrow ledge.

  Just one more, and then we can rest.

  Marzanna appeared first over the ledge, followed by their reluctant allies. Rora helped them up as quickly as she could. Once they were all there, she wiggled her way to the head of the group again, peering down the narrow path.

  When Marzanna came up beside her, Rora stopped short. “Are you hurt?”

  During their march up the mountain, they’d been forced to go slower as Marzanna struggled to maintain their pace. She’d insisted she was fine before, but she hadn’t been limping. Now, her cyborg foot dragged visibly, far worse than before.

  “It’s my damn foot,” Marzanna replied. “Nothing to worry about now. We have a dragon to find.”

  Rora wanted to object, but there simply wasn’t the time or resources to help Marzanna. “Stay at the back of the group. If we need to get away in a hurry, I want you safe.”

  Marzanna’s mouth drew into a thin line. Clearly, she didn’t like Rora’s orders as much as Rora disliked giving them.

  Slowly, Rora moved toward the cave.

  Unlike most of the other caves they’d searched, this one was nestled into an alcove that protected the mouth of the cave from the gusting wind. The strands of hair that had fallen loose from her bun settled around her face, tickling her cheeks. She nearly sighed in relief at the lack of wind.

  As they crept toward the cave, they were forced to shimmy sideways as the path grew dangerously thin. Was the air getting warmer?

  Once a few feet from the cave, she leaped, her pack jingling as her feet hit the ground outside the cave. A rock bounced, skittering off the side of the cliff. Below, the trees were the size of her little nail. Forcing her eyes ahead, she scanned her surroundings. This cave was far bigger than the others they’d seen so far, which had simply been indents in the cliff.

  Deep in the darkness, she thought she could hear something. Could it be a rustling? The hair around her face lifted from her cheeks as though from a wind deep within the cave. Could there be an opening on the other side? It would certainly make navigating this cliff a whole lot easier if they didn’t have to climb the entire thing and could walk through it instead.

  As she stepped into the cave, the air grew definitively warmer, sending gooseflesh across her skin at the sudden heat.

  But rather t
han being relaxed by the warmth, fear rocketed through her.

  They’d found the dragon.

  Behind her, boots crunched on the rocky ground. Rocks pattered into the cave, echoing as they went deeper into the dark abyss. Rora spun around, waving her arms frantically as Marzanna jumped into the mouth of the cave, followed by their allies.

  Seeing her, they froze in place.

  Pointing toward the depths of the cave, she mouthed, “Dragon!” as she crept toward the wall. The others did likewise.

  Blinking, she tried to force her eyes to adjust to the dim light of the cave, but she could see little beyond the sharp ridges along the wall. Removing her pack, she pulled out a portable lantern.

  It took several tries with her shaking hands, but she managed to light it. She paused only long enough to grab the spear she’d tied to her pack. Extending the lantern up, she gaped as the cave glittered. The firelight reflected off thousands of clear crystals lining the walls of a cave the size of the theater. Down the tunnel at the center of the cave was a scarlet dragon.

  For a second, Rora was tempted to shit herself.

  It would have been a very glamorous first reaction to the most dangerous thing she’d ever done. Her second reaction was to run, to shove past everyone and climb back down the rope to the safety of the hills and trees far below. But if she did that, she’d be condemning herself—and the lives of her friends—to beggary or worse.

  Clenching her butt, she swallowed and crept forward, leaving her pack in the tunnel behind her. Hands sweating, she clutched on to the spear and lantern as she moved forward.

  The dragon’s scarlet scales rose and fell in the rhythmic pattern of sleep as it breathed deeply. Its eyes were closed and its head nestled atop crossed claws. The position looked positively feline.

  What now?

  Turning, she realized Marzanna had followed quietly behind her. “What’s the plan?”

  Hell if I know.

  “We wake it,” Rora replied, “and try to befriend it. But we should be ready if things don’t go our way.”

  Marzanna shook her head. “What creature in this galaxy wants to be woken up from a nap? You’ll just piss it off.”

  “Do you have a better plan?” When Marzanna didn’t reply, Rora continued. “We have to gain its trust and get it back to the palace before Abrecan does. Otherwise, we’ll all be entered into the lottery.”

  Marzanna pointed at the dragon with her own spear. “How are we going to get down a cliff with an unwilling dragon?”

  “Excellent question.”

  Everyone else hovered at the mouth of the cave, looking as scared as Rora felt.

  Before she could figure out what she was going to do, a low rumbling came from the back of the cave, sending loose stones bouncing and some of the crystals along the walls rattling free.

  Swallowing, she turned toward the sound.

  The dragon raised its head from its legs, exposing its fangs in a snarl. The white of its teeth contrasted the bloodred of its scaled flesh, which shimmered in the firelight as it stood. It loosed a roar and pawed its talons on the cave floor.

  Rora’s pulse thumped like a hammer striking an anvil. For a moment, she feared her legs wouldn’t move or that she’d actually shat herself. Licking dry lips, she placed her spear on the ground. She didn’t want the dragon to feel threatened. Then she forced herself to take a step forward and then another. The dragon was dozens of paces away from her. Shattered crystal crunched beneath her boots.

  “We’re not here to hurt you.” Her voice trembled, and she nearly dropped the lantern several times. “We have friends who’d like to meet you.”

  Again, the dragon pawed at the cave floor, leaving sharp grooves in the rock face.

  This was the creature that had ravaged their city countless times, and she wanted to have a chat with it?

  “I’ve never met a dragon before.” She could barely hear her voice over the whooshing in her ears. “I’ve only read about your kind in storybooks. You’re far more impressive in person.”

  Stop rambling. It can’t understand you anyway. Get your act together, or your friends will die.

  To her surprise, her words seemed to calm the beast. Smoke plumed from its nostrils, but it no longer growled or showed its fangs.

  The center of the cave was hollowed for a sort of nest. As she strode down the tunnel, deeper into the cliff, the cave opened up to a space far larger than the theater. In addition to the crystals lining the walls of the cave, bones littered the floor, pushed to the outskirts of the room.

  The dragon was mere paces from her now, eyes narrowing. Compared to the others, she was the shortest and, hopefully, the least threatening to an agitated dragon.

  Some of the fictional stories she’d read about dragons had said the creatures could speak, but as she neared the red dragon, she knew it to be a fantasy. There was primal instinct in those eyes, some intelligence, but mostly vague, irritated curiosity.

  “My name is Rora, and these are my friends.” She gestured over her shoulder. “We’re in a bit of a pickle. I’m hoping you might be able to help us.”

  She raised her cyborg hand toward the dragon’s shoulder, the closest thing to her.

  Please don’t eat me. Please don’t eat me.

  Not for the first time, she wondered at the complete idiocy of this entire task. How was anyone supposed to retrieve a dragon from a cliff without a fleet of air vessels?

  They were doomed. She was going to die. They were all going to die. There was no way anyone could pull this off.

  Unable to stop herself, she closed her eyes, preparing for the feel of sharp teeth sinking into her cyborg hand. Instead, she started as her fingers clinked against its scales. The sensation of touch was quite different from her human hand. She could sense the sharp scales on its shoulder but not the warmth of it or the fine ridges. Slowly, she ran her hand back and forth over the scales, as though petting an animal.

  “The people who want to meet you sent us to find you.”

  Hot air tickled her neck as the dragon watched her.

  They’re more beast than you are.

  Slowly, she looked up at the dragon. It wasn’t looking at her, but toward the mouth of the cave. Following its line of gaze, she saw what she’d feared since they’d entered the forest.

  A group of performers stood in the mouth of the cave, and Abrecan directed a nocked bow at the dragon.

  The bow was massive, of a height with him, and the arrow was the size of a spear.

  “I must thank you for leading us to the beast.”

  Without his training as a hunter and his experience at Cirque du Borge, he likely wouldn’t have been able to draw the bow. It was as if the weapon had been made for him to use in this competition. The only bow powerful enough to pierce a dragon’s scaled hide, and the only performer with enough strength or skill to use it.

  Slowly, realization dawned.

  Abrecan didn’t try to kill Rora or her friends before because he wanted to use them as bait for the dragon. He’d thought the beast would be picking them from its teeth by now, and he could swoop in and capture the dragon while it was otherwise preoccupied.

  As he stepped toward them, not letting go of the bow’s string, his followers grabbed two of the acrobats from their allied team and tossed them over the edge of the cliff.

  There wasn’t even time for Rora to call out.

  Abrecan directed an arrow at the dragon’s chest.

  “No!” Rora placed herself between the dragon and Abrecan. For reasons she couldn’t explain, the idea of killing this majestic creature was unthinkable. It might have ravished their city in the past, but it hadn’t harmed her. “We have to bring it back alive.”

  She didn’t move from where she stood in front of the dragon. “Dragons are nearly extinct. We can’t just—”

  “How did you expect us to bring back the dragon? By riding on its back into the sunset?” Abrecan spat. “The creature must be incapacitated if we’re going t
o bring it back to Apparatus. And I have no intention of losing this competition.” To her surprise, he winked at her. “I’ll be sure to comfort our little tinkerer when she learns of your death. She’ll be in need of a man’s touch, I think.”

  Before she could reply, he released the arrow.

  A massive force collided with Rora’s back, sending her flying to the side. She bounced once, sliding across the cave floor.

  A rumble bubbled up from within the dragon’s belly before its roar erupted throughout the cave, sending crystals shattering onto the floor. Throwing her arms up, she covered her head as hundreds of crystals pattered against her skin.

  Looking up, she saw the massive arrow wedged between the dragon’s scales on its flank—deep enough to be painful but not deep enough to kill.

  Had the dragon protected her?

  As the beast breathed, the space between its scales grew bright orange. Abrecan nocked another arrow, which he sent flying just before the dragon released a wave of fire. The arrow bounced off the cave walls, sending more crystals raining down upon them.

  Everyone at the mouth of the cave ducked outside, taking cover.

  As the dragon’s fire billowed outward, Marzanna leaped toward them. She narrowly made it into the dragon’s nest, out of reach of the flames engulfing the mouth of the cave.

  Others were too slow. The smell of roasting flesh filled the air as the dragon barreled forward.

  Rora rose to her feet on shaking legs. As she stumbled forward, the soles of her boots were warm against her feet. All around her, the crystals that hadn’t come crashing down melted into the walls.

  Abrecan shot more arrows at the dragon, and Rora ducked as several bounced off the walls near her.

  Marzanna got to her feet as well, and Rora breathed a sigh of relief to see her friend wasn’t harmed.

  At the cave’s entrance, the dragon snapped at Abrecan, who rolled out of the way. Several of his followers, including Thaniel, descended from ledges on either side of the cave’s entrance to help him fight the beast. But with the swipe of the dragon’s tail, more performers were sent to their deaths over the side of the cliff. From where she stood inside the cave, Rora thought she saw several cyborgs descending the cliff.