Dragon School_Bright Hopes

by Sarah K. L. Wilson

“A kind offer,” Hubric said, “but we can’t help her. Only Haz’drazen can now. And skies and stars I hope we can get her to the Dragon Queen in time. She’s ... she’s important.”

  “How important?” Haskel asked, her head tilted to the side.

  Hubric hesitated. Why hesitate now? He hadn’t been shy before about sharing his suspicions.

  I spoke in his place. “Savette Leedris is the Chosen One of legend – the real Chosen One – and if she dies in this cage we are all doomed.”

  “Are you sure?” Haskel asked Hubric, as if he was the one who had spoken.

  “I’m betting my life on it.”

  “I don’t know how to treat the Chosen One.”

  “In a cage surrounded by enemies? The best way is probably to pretend you don’t know. After all, we don’t want to draw attention to her.” He ran a hand through his hair and then pulled out a deck of cards. “If we’re going to be here for a while – and I’m guessing we are, would you like to help me teach my apprentice to play cards properly. She’s terrible at the game.”

  “Only because I’ve never been taught,” I said, but I was grateful for a distraction.

  Distractions are good. A plan to get out of here would be better. I’ve tested our cages. They can be cut by flame, but we’d need a good opportunity. A distraction or some other way to ensure they don’t kill you before we melt the metal fully away.

  We needed a way out. A cure for Savette. A plan to overthrow the Dominar, find the real Dominar, reinstate him, destroy Starie’s evil plans and the Dusk Covenant and...

  Calm down. One step at a time. I’ll work on our escape. You take care of Savette and Hubric.

  How was he going to work on our escape?

  I have my ways. They don’t call me Prince of Dragons for no reason.

  Did anyone call him that?

  That’s a harsh way to speak to your best friend. Now, I need to focus.

  And I needed to think about how to help Savette while we were in a cage with nothing but a deck of cards, a few friends, a bottle of water, and a little book of prophecies. I must really have been going crazy because I was actually considering reading that little book again and trying to see if there was some way it could help me out of this. Had Hubric just rubbed off on me, or had I become a true believer without realizing it was happening to me?

  I played the hand Hubric dealt me and watched the cards as he explained how to play cards properly – not to pass messages, just to play - but all the while, I was thinking about Savette and her cough and what it meant that my eyes were glowing, too. Had she somehow passed some of her light to me? Did that mean that somehow, I would be able to make things true just like she did? Should I try?

  Chapter Eleven

  The next day, we were still playing cards and Savette was still drifting in and out of fitful sleep. Her coughs made my own lungs ache whenever I heard them, and black fluid was beginning to leak from the corners of her eyes. In the night, no solutions had come to me. We’d stopped by a creek and our guards camped around the cages, distributing water and biscuits to us, but nothing else. We huddled together in the cold - the blankets I’d brought were all we had to share between five people. The soldiers had fires and off to the side was Raolcan’s cage – if I was there I would be warm and safe - but we hadn’t been let out to stretch our legs or get warm.

  The same was true for the other cages of people and dragons. I felt hope draining from me as the cold hours of the night stretched into an endless sea of hopelessness. I’d had so many bright hopes when we left the Feet of the River so many days ago. I’d been certain back then that we could find Hubric and deliver the messages and keep Savette safe while Rakturan went to try to garner peace in his homeland. Now, those bright hopes were gone, replaced with a sinking heart.

  That’s going to be a problem. Hopelessness is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

  I played my card. I was getting better at cards under my friend’s instructions, but I still lost more than I won.

  “I think we’ll start to teach you the language of the cards,” Hubric said with a yawn. He hadn’t slept either.

  “We usually wait until someone is properly inducted into the Lightbringers,” Analia said severely.

  “She’s made the oaths. What more do you want?” Hubric said, laying down his own card and then clearing them away to deal again.

  Analia looked at me. “Usually, we’d test your loyalty.”

  “She’s in this cage with us. Is that not loyalty?” Hubric sounded grumpy. He was probably missing his morning caf on top of everything else.

  “And then we’d mark you with our sign.”

  “Her eyes are glowing. Tell me that’s not a mark.”

  Analia shrugged. “I don’t like giving up traditions. They bring structure to life, but Hubric has a point. I suppose sometimes the Light marks you before you can even get there on your own or through the Lightbringers.”

  “So?” Hubric asked, one eyebrow raised.

  Analia chuckled in defeat. “So, we’ll teach her the signs, you old crow.”

  There was a commotion from behind us. With so many guards and cages, it was impossible to tell what was happening, but riders rode past us, looking like men with messages to deliver, while the chatter around us increased. Perhaps Raolcan knew what was happening.

  Not yet...

  “Ignore them. Anything that bothers them is good for us, but it’s too soon to tell what that might be,” Hubric said, laying the cards out for me to see. “As often as possible, we try to be literal. So, if you were to lay three dragons down, that means that whatever you have to say has to do with three dragons. Our two dragons are in cages here, so if I were to tell another Lightbringer about what’s happening to us, I’d lay down two dragons.” He laid down two. “If it was important to relay that we are traveling, I’d lay down the road next. If I wanted to say who was behind our capture, I might lay down a king – to symbolize a Castelan. Just as often, it’s the comments that the other players make in gameplay that communicate the message. So, if I lay the dragons and you say, ‘A dangerous play,’ or ‘I wouldn’t bid so high’ that’s a warning to me of trouble. If you said, ‘With a hand like that I’d think you’d bid higher!’ that tells me that things are looking good for us. Understand?”

  We were thrown to the side suddenly, our benches toppling over. I caught Savette, while Hubric scrambled to collect the cards so that none fell through the cage sides or floor. Beside us, a cage was pulled quickly by - a single occupant within. His guards were in such a hurry to bring him to the front of the line that they’d pushed our own horses aside.

  The eyes of the man inside the cage met mine and my heart leapt in my chest. He was young and dark, and the stump of his arm was bandaged at the shoulder. I gasped, and I saw in his eyes a look of recognition. He knew me just as I knew him. I was one of only two people in the whole Dominion who knew that face without the silver mask that used to cover it.

  “Hubric?” I asked as the cage pulled past ours. A tingling spread out across my skin as if ants were crawling over me. The young man gripped the bars, desperation and hope searing across his face as his eyes held mine. Were they glowing slightly? I had no way to save him, no hope to give him and yet I knew that there had to be a way to get to him and to help him, too. “What does it mean if I play the Dominar card?”

  “It means that you’re talking about either the Dominar himself or his rule,” Hubric said.

  Already the Berrycrushers were laying out one of the benches as a table and Hubric was dealing the cards. I picked mine up, balancing Savette on my shoulder and slowly, deliberately, laid down the single Dominar I’d been dealt.

  He was here with us and only I knew about it. It was time to change that.

  Chapter Twelve

  Hubric gave me a curious look but I made my face firm. I’d played that card on purpose and I wasn’t taking it back.

  A moment later our cage was jolted to the side again and this time a seco
nd cage went by. Inside, was a wild-eyed Rasipaer. From the expression on his face, he was barely able to contain his fury. They must have threatened him, too. Who would they threaten to kill that would make Rasipaer so angry? Ashana was far from here in the lands of Haz’drazen.

  The real Dominar. They are friends now. He’s filling me in.

  By the pre-occupied look on Hubric’s face as we scrambled to fix everything again, Kyrowat was also talking to him.

  He came out a long way from where we were. Both he and the Dominar were in the same spot, but he couldn’t contact us or find us. The Dominar didn’t have his mask, but Rasipaer knew who he was. Remember when he spoke to him mind-to-mind in the warrens? Remember how I told you that was rare? Well, he recognized the Dominar’s mind immediately and they flew together. At first, they searched for us. When they couldn’t find us, they flew south. Rasipaer wanted to find Ashana. The Dominar was looking for Lightbringers. He thought that perhaps they could help him. Perhaps they would believe him. He wasn’t sure who would know him now that he has lost his crown.

  Smart. After all, it would be hard to prove who you are when no one had ever seen your face.

  Worse, you heard them all tell you – the crown is the Dominar, not the man. He really isn’t the Dominar anymore. Just a man who knows a lot and is missing an arm.

  I needed to get him here into the cage with us. Was there a way to do that?

  Working on it...

  “How did you know?” Hubric asked me. He looked like he’d seen a ghost.

  “I told you what I saw. I told you it was Iskaris in the mask.” There was no point hiding what we knew from the Berrycrusher mother and daughter. They were as doomed as we were.

  “But you knew as soon as you saw him and ... no one should be able to recognize that face.”

  The women’s gaze swiveled back and forth between us as if they could follow our subtle conversation.

  “He’s missing an arm,” I hedged.

  “In war, that happens. It wasn’t the arm that tipped you off. You know his face. It was not just messages that you snuck a peek at in the cave, was it?” Hubric’s lowered voice was grim. Was he going to be angry about that, too?

  “You were unconscious, and someone had to help him. He was dying.” I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

  “You are too headstrong by half, Apprentice. This is a very grave crime you’ve committed.”

  I leaned in close. “If I hadn’t committed it, then no one would know who he is.”

  “No one but Rasipaer,” he replied.

  “And you know as well as I do that people don’t listen to dragons the way that they should.”

  “Amel.” Hubric’s voice was tight. “I care about you like a daughter, which is why I beg you to please listen. There will be many times that you will want to throw everything away because you think you know better. It happens to me all the time. Please, please remember that the outcome does not make any path getting there a good one. What paths you go down affect the future and there is no closing some doors once they have been opened. Please tell me you are hearing this.”

  I nodded, trying to look guiltless.

  He tsked. “At least promise me this. Promise you will try to think twice before you do these things. That you’ll take a big breath before you leap into these things.”

  “I promise.”

  His wry smile told me that he didn’t believe me.

  I didn’t promise anything.

  There was more commotion up the line. A scream and loud cursing. What was happening?

  The only cages without dragons are packed tightly with people – and yours of course. I scorched the Dominar’s cage – melted the bars. They’ll have to put him somewhere else. It will definitely be with you.

  Hadn’t he melted his own bars in the process?

  I was careful. The black dragons are clear. If I melt my own cage or yours, they’ll kill you. No one said anything about not melting his.

  But they would almost have to punish him somehow. Worry gnawed at my belly. What would they do to him?

  They’ve already done it. Five arrows to my flanks.

  I bit my lip, tasting blood.

  It’s only a flesh wound. Worth it to finally do something instead of just sitting in a cage like a canary.

  And there was no one to pull out the arrows or tend to him! I remembered how Kyrowat looked when we found him full of arrows.

  I’m younger and fitter. I’ll have them pulled out and be fever-burning them off in no time. Don’t worry about me. Oh! And don’t worry if I get quiet. I might go into a deep sleep to recover faster. After all, I have nothing better to do right now.

  I wished I could be in his cage. It was cruel to keep us apart. Especially when he needed me.

  I need nothing.

  He needed me.

  Fine, I need you.

  There was commotion all down the line of cages and guards and then suddenly our horses stopped and the constant sway and squeak of the cage on a trailer stopped. A pair of guards marched forward, swords drawn and held at the ready while a third moved to unlock our cage. What did they expect us to do?

  If Savette was well, she could blast them all into dust, though I doubt they know that.

  “Stay back or we’ll strike you down!” the guard said.

  The lock opened with a clink, and then from behind the first guards, a new pair strode over and pushed a man with only one arm into the cage. He had a woven sack over his head. Hubric caught him as he stumbled forward, snatching the sack off of his face.

  Raolcan’s plan had worked. We had the Dominar with us now.

  My plans always work. And now ... sleep calls me.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The guards left, returning to formation. Our cage lurched forward, and the caravan continued as if nothing had happened. Hubric helped the Dominar onto a bench. He was pale and wide-eyed.

  “I remember you,” he said, looking at me. He turned to Hubric. “And you. Thank you for your assistance.”

  I didn’t know if he meant the assistance Hubric had just given or our help in the warrens.

  “D-” I began, but he shook his head, his hand clamping over my mouth, fast as a viper.

  “Shonan.” He smiled, tightly. “That’s the name I go by.”

  Was it his real name? I felt a thrill to finally know it after wondering all that time that we were tending him.

  “Hubric Duneshifter,” Hubric said. “Purple Dragon Rider.”

  The Dominar – Shonan – bowed slightly, and pale as a ghost, Hubric bowed back, his bow deeper.

  “Please, allow me to show respect, Dragon Rider,” Shonan said, with authority. He had a point. It would be easier to hide who he was if we weren’t bowing and scraping. “What happened to the bright one?”

  He took Savette’s hand gently in his. She coughed but stayed asleep.

  “Her dragon died in the battle,” Hubric said, deferentially. “She will join him soon.”

  “Unless we can find a way to save her.” I didn’t like admitting defeat. Not when there was still hope.

  The Dominar sat silently between Hubric and Savette, studying her face. The Berrycrushers returned to their cards, but now that I knew the signs of the cards I could see their question to Hubric in the cards they played. They had followed our conversation more than I meant them to. One played the Dominar.

  The other said, “You shouldn’t play your cards so close to your chest, Hubric. It’s a team game.”

  Beside me, Shonan chuckled. “Lightbringers never change. You see what everyone else misses.” He looked around at them. “So, you all know?”

  The Berrycrushers nodded their heads.

  “No one can prove it.”

  “No one can prove that Savette is the Chosen One, either,” Hubric said. “And yet she is.”

  The Dominar’s eyebrows lifted. “This bright one? That is grave news. It’s her bond to the shadow world – to her dead dragon who lives within it – that is ki
lling her. Correct?”

  “Yes,” Hubric said.

  “Then it’s a good thing that you have me with you.” He looked around furtively. “We’ll wait until nightfall. Until then, why don’t you deal me in?”

  The Dominar, it turned out, was pleasant company. He chatted easily with us about the terrain, pointing out local bushes from which dyes were made and local birds that lived in the neighboring hills. It was hard not to like him. He played cards one-handed with a grace that was impossible for me, and yet with his arm missing only a few days, he’d already adapted to living without it – all except his balance. More than once, Hubric caught him as the cage jolted and his one good hand was full of cards.

  He hardly seemed to be playing to win, but I noticed that Hubric’s eyes narrowed with every hand he played while the Berrycrushers didn’t seem to be reading any extra significance into the plays. Was he playing with a card language they didn’t know but that Hubric did? Twice, Hubric lost for no reason. His cards were too good to have made those plays. It was clear to me, if to no-one else, that he was using the game to communicate, not to win. I wish I knew more than the basics of play. I longed to join them in the exchange. Who would have thought that there would be more than one card language?

  “How did the Dusk Covenant capture you, Shonan?” I asked. I’d bowed out of this game, settling back to smooth Savette’s hair in an effort to comfort her. With her breathing more labored, I was getting more and more tense. There had to be some way to save her.

  “Rasipaer and I set down at a Lightbringer safehouse.” He knew where those were? His words were guarded as he spoke, like he was keeping the details vague on purpose. “But it was a trap. The residents there had been slaughtered and at once an Ifrit sprang from the ground and kept us pinned down until these Black Dragon Riders came for us.”

  “An Ifrit?” Haskell exclaimed at the same moment that Hubric grabbed Shonan’s good arm and yanked the sleeve up. Just above his wrist was the sign of the Lightbringers.

  I gasped.