by Arthur Slade
Banderius brought his blade toward us and, in a heartbeat, I had my daggers out, deflecting the blow. I had hoped that the magic in my blades would make his shatter or cut right through it, but it only sparked. Lilith was clearly powerfully enchanted.
Megan darted around his other side and made a quick lunge, but he easily deflected her blow and, at the same time, kicked Thord so that he fell over. Even with the wine in his system Banderius was incredibly skilled. His black armor protected him but obviously didn't slow him down at all. My next blow was blocked, and he stopped his blade only an inch from my eye and then laughed at me. The move he had used reminded me of when Corwin had poked out my eye.
So Banderius had taught Corwin that trick.
Corwin edged closer to get a better view. I guessed he didn’t want to miss a single drop of blood.
It was clear that Banderius could destroy us at any moment. He, too, was playing a game. Or he felt enough guilt he chose to give us a few more seconds of life.
I tried to work with my classmates. Thord made a move from one side, so I stabbed from the other. But Banderius was able to easily knock the dagger from my right hand with the flat of his blade and spin in such a way as to deflect Thord’s blow. We backed off.
“This is taking too long,” Corwin shouted. “I still haven’t had my dinner.”
My dragon eye started to hurt again. It filled with tears and then after several blinks came clear. We fought back and forth, near the crack in the wall.
I was able to catch both Megan’s and Thord’s eyes. We nodded and all three of us charged at Banderius at once.
He smiled at the challenge and dropped to one hand, then spun his legs in an arc, catching each of us in the knees so that we fell over. And from that position Banderius sliced at the back of Thord’s heel. Not a deep cut, but when Thord tried to stand again, his leg collapsed and Banderius stepped on him.
I blinked away the pain from my eye. I was now seeing Banderius as a glowing figure. But with my other eye his face was clear, and it was clearly showing some anguish.
“It’s better if I’m quick with this,” he said. He stabbed down and though Thord twisted, the blade caught him and Thord cried out.
“Damn!” Banderius said. “That was meant to be a death blow.”
“Finish him!” Corwin sounded like he’d moved closer. Both he and Banderius were near the hole in the wall.
Banderius drew back his blade. I now felt like my eye was on fire, but I lowered myself down to my haunches in order to launch myself at him.
Then abruptly I stopped.
For Banderius had burst into flames, the blaze licking around him. I threw myself to the ground. The heat was almost unbearable above me. My hair sizzled.
Banderius stood for a second or two and then fell over. Dead.
The side of the wall crumbled inwards and Brax came charging in, roaring.
“Oh dear,” my brother said. “I really didn’t plan for that.”
23
What Is Fair?
Brax blasted out another burst of flame and half the Immortals went tumbling to the ground, screaming and shaking their limbs to try to put out the fires. The others were loosing their bows but Brax was unstoppable. Bolts stuck in his snout, his chest, and his forelegs, but he kept smashing his way through the hole and into the room.
I pushed myself up to my knees and, with a huge effort, stood up straight. The burning sensation in my eye was gone. I glanced left and right.
Corwin had fled.
I picked up my daggers then stopped. Thord lay on his back, hand clenched to his side. It was too dark to see the wound and how bad it was, but Megan packed it with some sort of healing leaves she had pulled from her cloak. “Go get him,” Thord said. He lifted a hand to wave me away. “Kill him. Please.”
I nodded, turned and dashed past the remaining Immortals who faced Brax. He smashed one down with his foot, snapped his massive jaws at another one. The last three kept their blades up and did their best to battle back. They were brave, I had to give them that, but they only had moments to live.
By the time I reached the door my footing grew more steady. The room brightened as Brax unleashed more flames. A wave of heat rushed over me.
I charged into a smaller room full of broken benches and smashed tables and sped as quick as my legs would carry me—my thoughts boiled with anger. Corwin's glowing footprints were easy to follow with my dragon eye. I would have marveled at the ability to see the prints, but there was no time. I went up a set of steps and into a long hallway. A black shadow swept ahead of me. Too far for a dagger throw.
“Corwin,” I shouted. “Corwin!”
He didn't acknowledge me. He came to the end of the hallway, pulled up short and let out a swear. It wasn't until I'd taken a few more steps that I could see why. There was nothing but air beyond where he stood because that part of the keep had fallen in. We were far too high up for him to jump.
Corwin turned and faced me.
“Carmen!” he shouted. “It’s not fair to bring a dragon to a sword fight.”
I almost laughed. He’d always been so quick-witted. That was why I had once loved him.
I raised my daggers, and he drew his sword. I didn’t know if I could beat him; my head was still aching, my hair smelled of smoke and even my robes were smoldering. But I had to try.
“I’m even better than I was when last we fought,” he said.
"Then let’s prove it." Confidence and rage rose up in me. He had ordered Banderius to kill my friends, perhaps had mortally wounded Thord. His actions had led to the destruction of the Red Assassin Keep, the deaths of my classmates and of Maestru Alesius. “You’ll pay for everything you’ve done, Corwin. Every. Single. Thing.”
“Oh, sister. I should have taught you more about how life really works.” He sauntered toward me over the rubble, swinging his sword in playful arcs, then tossing it from hand to hand. "The lesson will start now." He had perhaps been holding back from showing his true skills at school. Runes were scratched along both sides of the blade in Oldtongue. It was one of the ancient swords, an enchanted blade.
My anger made me braver. I charged toward him, daggers at the ready.
Then Corwin stopped arcing his sword, and the confidence in his eyes dimmed a little. In fact he paled as I got nearer to him. He took a step back and another. Did he actually fear me?
There was a loud crash behind me and I glanced back. Brax was working his way down the hallway, shouldering stone out of his way and building up speed. He had clearly finished with the Immortals and was now trying to force his body to where we were standing.
“Ah, sis, today is not the day,” Corwin said. Then he turned and ran toward the opening at the end of the hall. He whistled as he did so and jumped into the air, plummeting down to what I was certain would be his death.
I ran to the crumpled edge in time to see him flying low on a black swan. He soon arced upwards over the broken walls of the fortress and winged toward the stars in the sky.
24
Three Hands and a Talon
By the time Brax worked his way to me, Corwin had vanished into the darkness. “Is there any point in chasing him now?” I asked.
“I don’t have the strength,” Brax said. There were bolts sticking out of his shoulders and face and he glistened with lines of blood. But none of the wounds seemed to be causing him pain. He snorted. “I was aiming for your brother with my flames, just to let you know. Not that Banderius fellow. But since you so kindly took my eye out, my aim is off. So it’s your fault Corwin escaped.”
"Well that doesn’t make me feel any better," I said. I pointed at his shoulder. "Do any of those wounds hurt?"
"Bah," he said, pulling a bolt out with his teeth and spitting it to the floor. "Not in the slightest."
I'd have to take his word for it. There wasn't any reason for him to pretend he wasn't in pain. Besides, if he was I'd just feel more guilt. And he'd probably enjoy that. “How did you know we we
re in trouble?”
He smiled his dragon smile. “I’ve been keeping a secret from you.”
“What secret?"
“I can see through your eye. Well, I can see through my eye that's in your head.”
“You can?” I rubbed my dragon eye. I remembered getting a splitting pain just a few moments before Brax arrived. “You mean everything I’ve seen, you also see?”
“No. Not quite. Once in a while I get an image. Like a picture of that ugly seven-eyed seer in Avenus. And the gythia with the horrible tattoo. And, while I was circling above, teasing the swans—I do think they’re actually starting to like me—an image flashed in my head of someone swinging a sword at you. I thought, just maybe, you could use my help.”
“We’d be dead otherwise," I said. "So thank you. Thank you." I put my hand on his shoulder, making sure not to touch any wounds.
"Don't get all smarmy about it," he said.
But my brain was already swirling with ideas. Which surprised me since I was feeling rather exhausted. "I wonder if there’s a way to control this connection between us? Maybe we could send each other messages."
He shrugged, making his wings hit the side of the hall. "What sort of messages? Pick me up, I'm tired of walking. That sort of message?"
"No," I said. "Just a more clear communication. I..." My thoughts were starting to slow down. My body ached from the fight. "Now is not the time. We had better go back and check on Thord.”
"If we have to," Brax said, but he turned, shouldering more of the wall out of the way, and began to rumble down the hall.
I drew in a breath when we reached the main room. The place looked like, well, it looked like a dragon had gone berserk in it. I turned away from the charred remains of the Immortals—they weren’t immortal when it came to dragon fire. And Banderius hadn’t fared much better. He looked far from handsome now.
Thord was in the center of the room, lit in the moonlight. Even from here I could see he was not in good shape. He had gone much paler. Megan had his head in her lap and was pressing down on the bandage she'd placed on his stomach.
“I want Banderius's sword,” Thord said when I got closer. “The sword that stabbed me.”
He could talk at least. I stopped by Banderius's body and grabbed the blade and scabbard, neither of which had been harmed by the flames. It was a light blade despite its size. I sheathed it, walked over, and Thord took them from me and clutched them to his chest. His hand was a little palsied.
“You need a healer,” I said.
“Only one thing will heal me now.” Thord’s voice cracked. “Just tell me Corwin is dead.”
I shook my head. "He got away."
“I don’t think we’ll be safe anywhere in all of Ellos as long as he is alive,” Megan said. She ran her hand through Thord’s hair. I bit my lip. I suddenly wanted to be the one comforting him.
“No. We won’t,” I said. “He has all the Empire as his resources.”
“Well, I for one...” Thord was gritting his teeth, which made his words hiss a bit. “... I am angry about this hole in me. And the cut in my leg. And, I will do everything possible to hunt him down and…” He drew in a breath. “... Stop him.”
“From breathing,” Megan added.
“You took the words right out of my mouth,” I said.
“Let’s shake on it,” Megan said. I had to bend quite a bit so Thord could reach my hand. His fingers were cold. Megan put her hand on mine. To my surprise, Brax plopped his talon on top of the pile.
“I can always use a few more underlings,” he said.
We all shook, three hands and a talon.
“It’s a deal, then,” Thord said. “Now, take me to a healer. There are plenty in the villages of Woden. I just have to live long enough to get there.”
"You will," Megan said. "You've had worse than this. I have faith in you."
"I-I do, too," I said, though it sounded stupid.
It was a lot of work getting Thord onto the back of his swan and strapping him to the saddle, but soon all three of us were in the air and traveling east, away from the Akkad Empire.
I was certain we'd be flying back this way again. Corwin would hear from us the moment our wounds were healed.
Also by Arthur Slade
Crimson. A ruthless queen. An ancient god. One brave girl with an impossible choice...
“A wildly inventive, action-packed fantasy. A darkly fascinating read.”
— Kevin Sands, author of The Blackthorn Key
Click here to check out Crimson
Book one in the bestselling young adult series. Over 100,000 copies sold and in development for the screen. Modo is the greatest spy of the Victorian era, but it will take all of his skill to survive the Clockwork Guild.
Get Mission Clockwork
About the Author
Arthur Slade was raised in the Cypress Hills of southwest Saskatchewan and began writing at an early age. He is the author of over twenty books, including Dust (which won the Governor General's award), Mission Clockwork, and Amber Fang. He currently lives in the mythical city of Saskatoon, Canada where he writes on a treadmill desk while listening to heavy metal.
It’s true.
Connect with Arthur Slade online:
www.arthurslade.com
[email protected]
If you want to be emailed when the next Dragon Assassin episode is released, just click HERE and join Arthur Slade’s Reader Group.