A Broken Throne

by Jordan Baker

  "Vale is not hurt," Storm said. "I was with her a short time ago."

  "Is it safe where you will go?" Borrican asked.

  "I will be fine," Ariana said. "The dragons will not touch me. You, on the other hand, make for a most interesting challenge, Borrican, and I am pretty sure that is my fault."

  "I understand," Borrican told her. "And yes, it is entirely your fault."

  "Then let us fly to my valley," Vana said. "They are not likely challenge you there."

  "Take me to Vale," Ariana said to Storm, and they cut away from Borrican and Vana and headed out over the rocky peaks, quickly disappearing into the clouds of smoke that rose from the rivers of lava below.

  "Hold on," Storm said as he tucked his wings and fell from the sky, streaking downward among the crags and cliffs. He flew around tight corners, narrowly missing sharp rocks and sheer faces, making his way deeper between seemingly impossible crevices, until they reached a deep gorge that steamed and smoked with pools of water and streams of hot lava. The four dragons Ariana had met before stood guard outside the mouth of a cavern and Ariana felt their eyes upon them as Storm spread his wings and slowed their descent.

  "Couldn't we have just flown over the top of all those mountains and dropped down here?" Ariana asked as Storm came to land upon the ground outside the cavern.

  "No," he said. "This is a private place, where other dragons are not welcome. The rocks block dragonsight, so others cannot easily see where we went."

  "I understand," Ariana said as she climbed off of his shoulders and dropped to the ground. She nodded to the four drakes, who stared back at her with challenging looks in their eyes, and she turned to Storm. "Why do they want to fight me?"

  "They are drakes," Storm said. "They seek a queen who is worthy of claiming them."

  Ariana now knew a lot more about what it meant to claim a drake than when she had fought Storm and she also understood what was expected if she claimed them as vassals. It was bad enough that she had already claimed Storm and she shook her head, pushing such things from her mind.

  "I can't think about that right now," she said.

  "I am aware of this," Storm said. "They are aware of it as well."

  "I am glad," Ariana said. "I am only becoming aware of these things. I was not born with the wisdom of Akandra, you know."

  "You did well with the elders," Storm told her. "I have never heard of any dragon speaking to them as you did. I continue to be curious about the wisdom of Akandra."

  "I don't know if I can give you that wisdom, Storm," Ariana told him, figuring she might as well be honest with him. "It may be the way of dragonkind, and there are many among my people who bond with more than one, but it is not so common that I am entirely comfortable with it. I am not sure what to make of it yet."

  "Worry not," Storm said.

  "If I do not bond with you, will you end up wild like Borrican?" Ariana asked.

  "If I remain unbonded, then yes, eventually," he told her.

  "And it is the same for them?" Ariana looked over at the four young dragons.

  "It is the same for all drakes."

  "What have I got myself into?" Ariana said with a sigh.

  "You have become dragonkind," Storm said. "It is the way of things."

  "Remind me not to accept any more gifts from dragons," Ariana said.

  "I do not understand this," Storm replied.

  "I suppose it does not matter," Ariana said, shaking her head. "I would do it again."

  "That is good," Storm said. "You have claimed me and I must be bonded."

  Ariana stared at him, unable to hide her exasperation. Storm chuckled, a rumbling laugh from deep in his throat and she could tell that he thought the situation was somehow humorous.

  "You find this amusing?"

  "No, my queen," he said, dutifully. "It is strange to me that such things would worry you, but from your thoughts I am starting to understand a little of your ways. Unlike the problem with Akandar, there is still much time before I would be in any danger of becoming a wildling."

  "How much time?"

  "Time enough," Storm replied and Ariana got the impression from his thoughts that it was not urgent, though he appeared to find her discomfort amusing for some reason.

  "Well, let's not worry about it, shall we?" Ariana suggested.

  "I am not worried," Storm replied. "You might consider claiming those four drakes as your vassals, if you truly plan to fight this god-king."

  "Let's not talk about that right now either," Ariana said. "Vale is waiting."

  "Yes, of course," Storm said. "I will wait for you here."

  Ariana smiled and walked into the mouth of the cavern. Inside, the steam from hot pools of water that gathered in breaks in the rock created a thick, warm fog and the rocks dripped wet and were green with moss, algae and small vines. Ariana touched a hand to the green growth on the wall of the cavern and felt the earthy peace of her elven powers awaken. It was like a cool breeze cutting through sweltering heat, and the tranquility of touching something alive and growing calmed the flames that now burned relentlessly within her. Ariana continued deeper into the cave and was surprised to find that the flora became even thicker the further in she went and that some of the vines and plants gave off a kind of light that reminded her of the way the stones that Dala and her people wore glowed with power, as did the ones that had melded with her own body, though in a way that was far more subtle, so much so that she hardly noticed them now. Thinking about it, Ariana realized that the gemstones that adorned the many dragons she had seen did not seem to give off any light and she wondered if it had something to do with the difference in the nature of her power.

  Deep inside, the cavern widened into a surprisingly vast chamber, almost like an underground valley, complete with trickling streams, bubbling pools of water, and thick vines that hung from high above that looked almost like trees growing upside down. On the far side of a large pond of water that glowed like many of the plants in the cavern Ariana saw Vale, curled up and resting on the ground just beyond a bunch of large round stones. Ariana touched her toe to the water and found that it was very hot, but nothing like the lava flows, so she waded in and swam across it, discovering that it was far deeper than it looked, and unexpectedly refreshing, despite the heat. She emerged on the other side and saw that Vale had opened her eyes, though she had already felt the dragon in her thoughts, acknowledging her when she had first set foot in the cave. Ariana stopped and stared when she realized that what she had thought were stones covering the ground in front of the dragon were nothing of the sort. All around her were at least several dozen eggs, each of them at least as big as her head, and she could tell from her link to Vale's thoughts, though they remained guarded, that the dragon was upset.

  "Vale, are these all yours?" she asked.

  Vale drew in a deep breath and sighed, smoke and steam pouring out of her nostrils as she stared at the eggs. Ariana felt Vale's power change and the dragon shifted before her eyes into the young woman she had been before. She rose to her feet and walked between the eggs toward Ariana.

  "They are," she said and as she drew near, she reached out and put her arms around Ariana and rested her head on her shoulder.

  Ariana felt a flood of emotion enter her, and the same overwhelming sensation she had felt when she and Vale had touched one another before. It was almost the same as what had happened when she and Borrican had been together, which was a little unnerving but Ariana could not worry about such a thing with Vale in such a state. She was confused, upset and angry with herself, but mostly she was worried.

  "What's wrong?" Ariana asked, pushing away Vale's thoughts from her own mind so she could tell her herself, in her own way.

  "What's wrong?" Vale looked up at her, her eyes filled with tears, then she looked around at the dragon eggs. "Can't you see?"

  "I see," Ariana said. "I just don't understand."

  Vale stared at her and realized that Ariana might not understand, despite
the wisdom she had gained. And why would she? Such a thing was almost completely unheard of among dragonkind.

  "It is rare for there to be more than a few eggs to a clutch," Vale told her. "Long ago, there were more, five or six, and every generation, there have been fewer and fewer. Now it is common for a bonding to produce one, maybe two. This has never occurred."

  "Isn't this a good thing for dragonkind?" Ariana asked, putting aside her own awkward thoughts about with whom it was Vale had bonded.

  "I don't know," she said, and she slid down and sat on the ground among the many eggs, with her legs to the side. Ariana crouched down and then joined her, sitting with her legs crossed.

  "Will there be any troubles from this?" Ariana asked.

  "I don't know," Vale said. "It is very confusing for me."

  "Then explain so I can understand," Ariana said.

  Vale steadied herself, taking a deep breath, and she pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs.

  "I tried to tame the wildness in him," she said. "My mother warned me of the risk, that the bonding might only be a partial one, but I did not imagine it would mean this. I don't know why I was so determined. I tried the bonding over and over, and it was so close every time, and I could feel the bond in me, but the wildness stayed and grew worse and worse. If you had not come, if you had not bonded him, he would have been killed."

  "I know," Ariana said. "I am glad I arrived in time for it would have brought me great sorrow if something had befallen him."

  "I know that, Ariana," Vale said. "The reason I wanted to see you alone was so we could speak privately, away from the prying minds of the elders. I have seen the wisdom of Akandra."

  "You have?" Ariana was surprised.

  "Yes," Vale said. "You gifted it to me when we first met, and I do not know how such a thing is possible, but when we touched we shared our wisdom. I think very soon you will also begin to know the wisdom of the Aledra, if you don't already."

  "Is bonding how wisdom is shared?" Ariana asked.

  "Yes, but you must come to understand about bonding," Vale replied. "The wisdom of a line is passed down to wyverns by birth, and then that wisdom is shared by bonding with drakes and dragons, but only wyverns can pass true wisdom to others, though all dragons can slowly gain some amount of wisdom through the thoughts of those they have bonded."

  "So you have passed your wisdom to me and I have passed mine to you?" Ariana was trying to understand why Vale was so bothered.

  "Yes, but that does not happen," Vale told her. "I have never heard of two queens bonding before."

  "What does it matter?" Ariana asked.

  "Perhaps it doesn't, but it is confusing since it appears that if either of us claim a drake or bond a dragon, they become bonded to both of us. You have chosen to claim Storm as your vassal, and yet he is also now my vassal."

  "I did not choose to claim Storm," Ariana said. "He challenged me and I fought him, and now he does what I tell him, but he also wants me to bond with him."

  "Of course he does," Vale said. "If he is not bonded by a queen, then he will become a wildling. Bonding also gives wisdom, and dragonkind pride themselves on being wise."

  "I think we have a different understanding of wisdom," Ariana said. "The wisdom of which you speak is the memories and knowledge of all the dragons."

  "Yes that would be a way to describe it," Vale said. "What is wisdom to you?"

  Ariana thought about how to say it in the clearest way.

  "Wisdom isn't simply having knowledge," Ariana said. "It is understanding what to do with that knowledge. There are those who have great knowledge and have lived many experiences, but that does not always make them wise. Some become bitter, like my uncle, while others become satisfied by what they know and they become blind, thinking their knowledge to be complete. The priesthood is like that."

  "You have thought about this a lot," Vale said, feeling Ariana's thoughts and catching glimpses of the memories she had shared with her.

  "If I understand the nature of this wisdom, then you have my memories," Ariana said. "You know of my life."

  "As you know mine," Vale replied. "Your path is very different from the life of a dragon. You have had many hardships."

  "The life of a dragon is very different from what I have known," Ariana said, smiling at her. "I may see some things in your thoughts and memories, but they are still your experiences, and I understand them from my own life. It will take some getting used to, to say the least."

  "I suppose it is something we must both learn," Vale said. "It was difficult for me to accept that you could bond the Akandra and I could not, but somehow he is now bonded to me through our bond. I do not understand this. Somehow two queens have become bonded, though it is true that you are a very unusual queen. It is also very strange that you have come to have the wisdom of the Akandra, not by hatching from your mother, as is the way for wyverns, but as a gift, given to you by a dragon. "

  "Perhaps it is not to be understood, but simply something that is," Ariana said.

  "I believe it is part of the wisdom of Akandra," Vale said. "Truthfully, I am only beginning to understand the wisdom of my own line."

  "All of these dragon thoughts are a little unexpected for me as well," Ariana said.

  "Of course," Vale said. "I must ask, will you claim the other drakes as vassals?"

  "I am not sure I am ready to commit to that," Ariana said, surprised that she would be so forward about such a thing, and Vale immediately felt her trepidation. "Is this normal among dragons, all this talk of bonding? I am still trying to understand what has happened between me and Borrican and now I am being asked if I will bond with other dragons?"

  "You are a queen, and there is much pressure for queens of late, for there is a problem among dragonkind," Vale told her.

  "What kind of problem?" Ariana asked, and the thoughts and memories she had learned from Vale began to filter into her mind, along with the quiet worries and fears shared privately among dragons.

  "Many wyverns are no longer bonding," Vale told her. "They are unable to bond."

  "What does that mean? Will there be no more dragons?"

  "With fewer bondings come fewer hatchings. The wyverns are worried about it, and the elders are concerned, but it is something that dragons find difficult to discuss. It is not our way to show fear."

  Ariana started to understand the problem as more of the knowledge she had gained became clear in her mind.

  "If fewer wyverns will bond, then it means fewer dragons," Ariana said. "It also means the wyverns who will still bond must claim and bond every drake or there will be more of them falling to the madness that affects the males."

  "Yes," Vale said. "It is part of the problem there are many more drakes than wyverns. When a young wyvern is born, she gains much of the wisdom of her mother and queen dragons no longer bond once a wyvern is born, since the daughter carries on the tradition of claiming vassals and bonding dragons. But now, many queens who have not yet hatched a wyvern are no longer able to bond. It creates an imbalance."

  "I would imagine it would not be easy for the queens who now must bond more dragons than before," Ariana said. "But if there are fewer bondings, there must also be fewer drakes."

  "There are, but the balance is tilted very far now," Vale said. "The group of drakes stand guard outside this place because I am the only remaining queen."

  "What about the queens who birthed them?" Ariana asked. "They are not all from the same queen, are they?"

  "Those are their last hatchlings," Vale replied. "None of them will bond, and now I am the only remaining queen who will bond, and a queen cannot bond her own offspring. Do you see the problem?" Vale looked around at the dozens of dragon eggs that surrounded the two of them. "Who will bond with them? And there are so many. It is my fault. I should only have attempted the bonding once."

  Ariana felt several memories pass through her mind and she was both taken aback and impressed with Vale's repe
ated efforts to save Borrican, and she continued to be surprised that she was not jealous. Perhaps it was from sharing Vale's memories and understanding that she had simply done what she thought was right, that she was able to accept that they were bonded in more ways than one.

  "How long have the elders known about this?" Ariana asked.

  "The problem began before I was born, but it has become worse over these past years," Vale told her. "The elders do not know the reason, but my mother believes there is something in the flows, something that is causing the queens to no longer seek vassals. After I was born, my mother joined the elders and tried to tell them of this, but they would not believe that the flows could be harmful to dragons. That is why she no longer sits in the dragonmount."

  "What has your mother seen?" Ariana asked.

  "Something dark," Vale said. "She believes it is the power of the shadow."

  At the mention of the shadow, Ariana's mind flooded with images of an ancient battle, of blinding hot dragonfire reigning down upon the land onto great pools of darkness. Dark energy that consumed all living things flew like bolts into the sky, killing many dragons and quenching their fire, and lightning bolts crackled across the horizon, cutting through the darkness as the wind and rain pushed it toward the burning heat of molten lava, that burned the shadow and turned it to dust.

  "There was a battle," Ariana said. "Long ago."

  "You see the memories," Vale said.

  "It was terrible," Ariana replied, watching the horror in her mind. "The whole world was turned to fire. Many powerful dragons died."

  "All save a few," Vale told her. "The most powerful, the Akandra survived, and so did my line, the Aledra. Of those that endured, ours are the only two lines that retain the wisdom of that time."

  Ariana was still shocked by what she saw and felt in the memories as they ran through her thoughts.

  "So much destruction," she said. "It was almost as terrible as the dark power itself. Was there no other way to stop the shadow?"

  "It was the only way," Vale said. "That is the truth of fire."

  They both sat in silence, the ancient memories they both possessed showing the insidious nature of the dark power and the horrific destruction it had taken to stem the dark tide that had nearly covered the world.