by T. J. Klune
“Holy shit,” Justin breathed, and I realized that he’d never seen Zero before. He hadn’t been in the desert. “That’s…. I think I just shit myself.”
“How princely of you,” Gary said dryly.
Zero slowed as he got closer, and I could feel a low pulse of uncertainty, like he was shy, of all things, so I stepped forward and grinned at him. “Hey, dude.”
“Sam,” Zero said, body coiling underneath him as he came to a stop a few feet away. “Hi.” His serpentine eyes darted to the people behind me, and he swallowed thickly before he looked down at me again. “That took you forever.”
I rolled my eyes. “Only been a few days.”
“Yeah, but you left me with old people.” He scowled. “That was so dumb. And the forest smelled weird. And I hated it. And then Pat and Leslie wouldn’t let me go very far, even though I’m fourteen years old and that’s practically an adult. I can make my own decisions!”
“Oh boy.”
“Hey, little bro!” Kevin said, coming to stand next to me. “How goes it?”
“My life is so hard,” Zero moaned. “Everything is dark and dank, like the fetid recesses of my mind.”
“Yeah,” Kevin said. “That’s so… you. Come look at Gary’s horn.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice, even though everyone could clearly still hear him. “Make sure you tell him how nice it looks, because if you don’t, he might not let me have the Buttery Herb Cheese Muffin later.”
“What’s a Buttery Herb Cheese—”
“You keep your depravity to yourself,” I warned Kevin. “Zero doesn’t need to be corrupted.”
“Hey! I can take it!”
“So can Gary,” Kevin said. “That’s why we have a bakery to begin with.”
Two feathered dragons walked regally from the trees, their heads held high, their hardened feathers sparkling like ice in the sunlight. Pat’s eyes were narrowed, taking in every little thing around them, assessing for conceivable threats against her mate. Leslie was smiling at me, and I couldn’t help but grin back at her. She’d been kind to me in the Dark Woods and had spoken up more than once against GW when she thought I’d had enough for the day.
“Sam,” Pat said as I bowed low to them. I didn’t have to do it, but I could see she was pleased at the action.
“Oh, look at all of you,” Leslie tittered. “Like a band of merry heroes gathered together. So brave with your little faces. Kevin, come here and bring your young man so that I may gaze upon him. I hear that his horn is rather long, and if I weren’t a lesbian, I would surely be a size queen. Dimitri, you are looking fit.”
“Pat,” Dimitri said, nodding. “Leslie.”
“Tiny speck of dust,” Pat said, and I adored her.
And then the sun was blocked out.
I sighed as I looked at Randall. “Don’t make this weird.”
Everyone turned their faces skyward, excluding Randall. He had that grumpy look that he sometimes got when, say, for example, his old mentor happened to be flying around overhead. “I have no idea what you mean.”
“Yes, you do. You’re going to be all stiff and snarly, and he’s going to be all growly and reticent, and then the walls will come crumbling down and you’ll both cry and hug each other. And then you’ll tell him you love him, and he’ll say the same, and then you guys can go do old people stuff like going for dinner at three in the afternoon or play chess in the park—and yes, I realize we don’t have a park right now, but you get what I mean—and then you’ll sit around and complain about the youth of today not knowing how good they have it and how back in your day, you had to work to get anything you wanted, not like the kids who get everything handed to them.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Tell that to Eduardo and Morely.”
“I’m going to regret asking this, but who are Eduardo and Morely?”
“Two elderly side characters in the seminal novel The Butler and the Manticore, which I never want to read again.”
Randall looked like he didn’t know whether to strangle me or walk away. I was used to that from him.
“Why is he just circling overhead?” Justin asked, sounding reverential.
“He’s showing off,” I explained. “He’s a dragon. It’s what they do.”
“Hey!” four dragons snapped at me.
I waited.
“Okay,” Kevin allowed. “That might be true.”
“I like it when people look at me,” Leslie said, preening her feathers.
“I have big teefs,” Zero slurred as his fangs dropped.
“We are dragons,” Pat said. “Everyone should be in awe of us.”
“I hate dragons,” I muttered.
The Great White landed in the empty field next to Camp HaveHeart. If he wanted to, it would take only a couple of swipes and the camp would be reduced to rubble, its inhabitants buried. I wondered if the Darks all the way in the City of Lockes could see him towering over the camp. I hoped they could and were starting to panic.
He lowered his great head toward us, and I could hear people in Camp HaveHeart oohing and aahing over him. The other dragons were deferential, Ryan looked like he was fighting the urge to draw his sword again, Justin’s eyes were wide and unblinking, Gary had little rainbows shooting from the tip of his horn (for reasons I didn’t want to think of), Dimitri and his fairies were buzzing brightly, and Tiggy was waving frantically up at the biggest dragon in the world.
I said, “GW. Glad you could join us. Thanks for the flyover. At least three people were impressed. I wasn’t one of them.”
Everyone turned slowly to look at me, agape.
Randall said, “You’ve aged rather poorly. I’m not surprised.”
Everyone turned slowly to look at him, mouths opening still wider. Even me.
The Great White rumbled, eyes shifting to Randall. “You can understand me, yes?”
“Yes,” Randall said.
“Good. You were a terrible apprentice.”
“You were a terrible mentor,” Randall retorted.
“Draaaammmmmmaaaaaaaa,” Gary whispered. “Yaaaassss.”
“Is that so?” GW asked.
“Quite.”
“Your human emotions became your undoing.”
“Not all of us are born without a soul.” Randall sniffed delicately. “Or rather, one as black as the inside of a troll cave.”
“Oh my gods,” I whispered fervently. “They’re being growly and reticent. They’re Eduardo and Morely. I knew it. Break down and cry so you can be old in the park!”
GW glanced in my direction. “What’s he mumbling about now?”
Randall waved a hand dismissively at me. “If you ignore him, eventually he either gets distracted by something shiny or starts having relations with the knight.”
“Rude,” I said. “But also pretty much true.”
“I wish I’d known that before I accepted him as my apprentice,” GW said, gigantic head shifting. “I am ancient. A century is but a drop in the ocean for me. That being said, the last year was the longest of my life.”
“Aww,” I said.
GW blinked slowly. “What.”
Randall rolled his eyes. “He chose to take that as a compliment.”
“That’s not how that works.”
“It is in Sam’s mind.”
“I’m a handful,” I said. “Right, Ryan?” I jabbed him in the stomach with my elbow. “Right? I’m a handful? Get it? Yeah. You get it.”
He was sweating profusely.
“Ryan?” the Great White growled. “The Knight Commander? Is this who stands before me?”
“Eep,” Ryan said. “I mean, yes, sir. Lord Dragon. Sir. Great White. Master. Your Excellency.”
“He gets weird sometimes,” I said, frowning at Ryan.
“I don’t get weird,” Ryan snapped out the side of his mouth, gaze still trained on GW.
“A cornerstone,” GW scoffed derisively. “A waste.”
“Oh man,” I bre
athed. “You shouldn’t have said that. You’re so dead, and you don’t even know it yet. Ryan! Stab him in the eye and show him no one talks about my cornerstone that way!”
“I can’t stab him,” Ryan said frantically. “He’s the Great White!”
“You most certainly can stab him.”
“You did such a wonderful job with your apprentice,” Randall said to GW. “Really. You must be so proud.”
“He came to me like this,” GW snapped. “So any fault rests firmly on those who held his stewardship before me. Like you, for one.”
“You’re lucky my hip aches today. Otherwise I’d have half a mind to give you the business end of my business.”
“Your hip?” GW snorted. “I’m surprised you’re even still standing with how brittle your bones must be.”
“I noticed your left hand is curling in, and you favored it while landing. Arthritis is such an awful thing. I’m glad you have it.”
“Defend my honor!” I demanded.
“You defend your honor,” Ryan said. “You’re the one who can do magic. I just have a sword.”
“Yeah, but you always brag how big it is!”
“Do you have any understanding just how large that dragon is?”
“Say something. He hates cornerstones. You’re a cornerstone. Ergo, he hates you. You need to show him how wrong he is and how cool you are.”
“Yes, please,” Gary said gleefully. “Ryan, do show the biggest dragon in the world just how cool you are.”
“But I thought Knight Delicious Face not cool?” Tiggy whispered.
“Oh, he’s not,” Gary whispered back. “I just want to see what happens.”
“I’ll defend your honor,” Dimitri said, fluttering up around my face. His little penis was eye level, and I couldn’t not stare at it.
“I think you mean something entirely different than what I’m asking for,” I told him.
“Probably. Still. Shall I?”
“You shall not.”
“Old people are the worst,” Zero moaned. “Gods, why can’t there be someone normal here?”
“I pretty normal,” Tiggy told him. “I have brooms.”
“I feel like I need to be doing something with my horn,” Gary said to no one in particular. “Does anyone require any assistance involving my horn?”
“I could use a good buggering,” Kevin said.
“They grow up so fast,” Leslie said fondly.
“Good,” Pat said. “Then maybe we can leave and go home and never have to deal with any of them ever again.”
“I regret everything about you,” GW growled at Randall.
“My heart breaks at such a thought,” Randall snapped back.
“Enough!”
We all turned to the source of the angry voice.
Grand Prince Justin of Verania stood tall, glaring at all of us, arms across his chest. A breeze blew over him at that moment, making his clothes billow slightly, his dreamy curls bouncing on his head. He looked kingly as hell, and I was at once jealous of how amazing it was and proud that he was my best friend 5eva.
“You look really good,” I told him, in case he didn’t know. “Like, dude. I’m thinking about breaking up with Ryan and wooing—oh my gods, I’m kidding. Ryan, put your sword away. Justin, stop gagging.”
“I’m watching you,” Ryan warned Justin.
Justin rolled his eyes. “I should hope so. That’s your job.”
“Oh. Right. Well. Carry on, then.”
Justin looked as if he wanted to punch something “As delightful as all of this is—”
“I don’t think he means that at all,” Gary whispered to Tiggy.
“—we didn’t gather here for more of your shenanigans. Whatever grievances you may have, it is time to put them aside. Or at the very least, hold them until after we’ve saved Verania.”
“Grievances,” GW rumbled, cocking his exceptionally large head. “You reduce the betrayal by an apprentice to a grievance. Who do you think you are, human?”
Any normal person would have been shitting themselves. Justin was not a normal person. He squared his shoulders and narrowed his eyes. “I’m the King-In-Waiting. I am the Prince of Verania. I shall have your respect if you hope to ever have mine.”
“Holy shit,” Gary breathed. “Did anyone else just get a power boner?”
Kevin raised his hand. So did Dimitri. I was going to, but Ryan was glaring at me. Inexplicably, Leslie also raised a hand. I felt it better not to ask.
Justin ignored them, eyes only on GW. “This is bigger than you. Than myself. Than any of us. Our very way of life is threatened. Myrin will not stop until he controls all he sees. This is my country. These are my people. He has taken from me—from all of us—and I will see to it that he has paid for his crimes against Verania. I don’t care about apprentices or cornerstones or whatever has brought us to this moment. The time for blame has passed. We’re made up of our histories, but we control our futures. Sam is my wizard. He’s been chosen by the gods to bring about the end of the man in shadows. And I will stand by him. I expect you to do the same. Sam, get that look off your face. Now is not the time for hugging.”
“But—”
“No.”
“I just—”
“No.”
I sighed.
The Great White stared down at Justin for a moment that stretched a beat too long. There was a second or two where I was sure GW was just going to eat Justin, but he snorted instead. “You must have a heart of steel to speak to me in such a way.”
“I’ve found that there’s a time and place for diplomacy. This is not it. I will be blunt, as is required of someone in my position.”
“You cannot wipe away the sins of the past.”
“True,” Justin agreed. “But when all the world depends upon you, I would hope you could at least overlook them for now.”
GW’s lip curled. “And you say you will be king?”
“Yes.”
“I can see that. You are impressive.”
“Wow,” I said. “I’m so glad you’ve known him for all of five minutes and come to that conclusion when I’ve known you for a year and the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me was that at least I was more adept at magic than a rotting corpse.”
“You’re my apprentice,” GW said. “I’m not supposed to be nice to you.”
“He’s been coddled far too much,” Randall said.
“I noticed. Rather soft, isn’t he.”
“Like dough.”
“Well,” I said, clapping my hands. “As fun as this is—and really, I just love how the two of you have seemingly already forgotten a centuries-long feud so that you could pile on me, so wonderful, thank you—I think we should move on and do what Justin said. Focus on the big picture and kick some ass and—okay, I really don’t remember what Justin said because I was distracted by how kingly he was being.”
“O, ancient one,” Dimitri said, flying up in front of GW’s face. “Forgive us for this mockery. These humans know not who they speak to. You are the light of the world, the reason for which we all draw breath. Why, your very heartbeats are the pulse of the earth beneath our feet, your breath the wind through the trees, the—”
“Dimitri.”
“Yes, ancient one.”
“Stop it.”
“Yes, ancient one.”
GW turned back to Randall. “Why now?”
Randall arched a tremendous eyebrow at him. “Because we’re running out of time. We have rescued our King. Myrin has seen Sam with his own eyes. It will not be long before he descends.”
“Can he be saved?”
Randall appeared startled at the question. “What?”
“Myrin. Can he be brought back from the shadows?”
Randall stared up at him. “Even if there was a way, why would you care?”
“You think me coldhearted.”
“I think you obstinate. And unsympathetic. Incapable of seeing anything outside of the ways you view
the world.”
“But?”
Randall’s shoulders sagged. “I never thought you cold. You cared about me. In your own way.”
“You loved him.”
“I did.”
“He was your cornerstone.”
“He was.”
“And he turned from you.”
“Yes.”
“And yet you survived. Even after the King of Sorrows. Even after your… experience in Castle Freesias. Somehow, you survived. Tell me, Randall. How is it possible?”
“You knew? About—”
“You were my apprentice. Of course I knew. How did you do it? How did you find your way into the light?”
“Morgan.”
“Is that all?”
Randall sighed. “I remembered what I’d been taught.”
GW looked taken aback. “Truly?”
“Yes.”
“Can the same be done for Myrin?”
Randall hesitated. Then, “No.”
The Great White nodded slowly. “And why is that?”
“Because of the corruption in his heart, the darkness that lurks beneath his skin. I became what I did because of the extent of my grief. Myrin did the same, but of his own volition. It was power he sought, and nothing more.” Randall glanced at me, and a chill ran down my spine. “And to do what he did to—to Morgan, it…. To consume another’s magic is the darkest of all the arts. He took something that did not belong to him. How it must have fractured his soul. So, no. I believe there’s no coming back from that. He has made his choice.”
“And you have made yours.”
“Yes.”
“They gonna hug?” Tiggy whispered to Gary.
“They better,” Gary whispered back. “You can’t just be old and decrepit and talk about bad things in your past and forgive each other without hugging afterward.”
I’d taught him well.
GW looked around at each of us in turn. Kevin and Zero and Pat and Leslie. Gary and Tiggy. Dimitri and his fairies. Ryan. Justin.
Me.
“He reminds me of you,” he told Randall. “Stubborn. Indignant. Mouthy. He speaks before he thinks and is more likely to ignore my orders than to actually follow them.”