Chapter 34. They Fade in Death
It was only a matter of minutes before Aubrey’s men returned, carrying a bloated carcass on a stretcher between them. There were many things to look at in the Shields. Men were fighting and dying. Dragons, ridden by falsemarked, were hunting packs of EU. The main feint had worked and there was a thick knot of battle at the top of the main stairs. Still, there was something about the sight of four blues running with a naked, long-dead body held between them that drew a lot of eyes.
Even the dragons paused in what they were doing, whether fighting or simply preening in the sun and ignoring the commotion, to watch the body be carried past. One in particular looked closely as the body went past him, even taking a few steps after it before shaking his head and returning to cleaning his scales, taking no notice of the sounds of the battle. He had no rider to order him about. No one could challenge him here. He wanted to enjoy the afternoon sun.
…
“Drop it,” Bray ordered. The men let the body fall to the floor. The smell of death filled the air.
One of the guards said, “No sign of Mast or Clay. DaNeel is tracking them. He’s pulled men down.” Bray nodded impatiently.
“Well, Lorne, we’re waiting.” He looked darkly at Aaron, last vestiges of patience seeping out of him.
“You don’t recognize your own?” Aaron looked at Bray while doing his best to keep the sides of his eyes on the dragons in the distance. One had stirred as the body went past but had settled back down. Aaron was hoping for more than that.
“I looked earlier,” Bray replied. “I don’t know him.”
“What about Aubrey? Did you look?” Now the dragon was up again, wandering over to another group.
Aubrey scowled, but looked closer. “No.” He stood for a long moment, then held up a hand. “Wait.” There was another lengthy pause. “This is one of ours.”
Off in the distance the first dragon had roused another. The two turned and looked at the group clustered around the corpse.
Aubrey was still looking down. “He had a beard before. He was a rider, a Captain. But he’s got no marks now. He used to have a lot.”
“The fake marks Bray has on you all, they fade in death,” Aaron said. “It takes about a month.”
“A month,” Aubrey said, thinking. “This is Drew Yorke, the Captain Lorne killed down in the Cove.”
Now the two dragons were coming towards the group, heads held low, powerful claws clicking on the porcelain. Aaron was the only one who seemed to see their approach. He silently willed them to come faster.
“Why do I care about a dead captain?” Bray asked. “That’s it? You brought him here as some sort of trophy? Not much of a secret. There will be plenty more NEST who die before the war is over. At least at the end I’ll have many alive. You’ll have none. Not a single Corvale or Vylass. Or a member of EU.” Bray made a gesture and the swords around Aaron and Shale moved closer.
“It’s not a secret,” Aaron said, “It’s a message.”
“I’ve heard all you have to say. Kill him.”
“It’s not for you.”
Suddenly the two dragons were at the edge of the circle, pushing their way implacably inside. The falsemarked appeared stunned, as did Bray. The dragons generally stayed out of the way on the ground. They had no interest in butting their way into conversations. They only came near men when called by a worthy rider. These two sauntered brashly into the group. The NEST men had to shift to accommodate them, Bray’s last order forgotten.
Aaron carefully repositioned himself as the dragons came between him and Bray. He had to move slowly, not panic the guards around him, give them incentive to stick him, but he still wanted to keep a clean line of sight to Bray. He wanted to see the bastard’s face when he realized what was happening to him. Aaron couldn’t resist a taunt as the two dragons lowered their heads over the body, looking it over carefully. “How long did it take Aubrey to recognize the body, Bray? How long do you think it takes them?”
And there it was, at long last. Hideon Bray’s confident sneer slid off his face. He paled. Just then one of the dragons sharply recoiled his head, raising it into the air. The group froze at the violent motion, aside from Bray, who grabbed Aubrey’s arm, speaking quickly in a hushed tone. “That was one of the ones stationed in Garen. It would have been in Cove. It knew Yorke. And now it knows we lied to it.” The dragon put his head close to the corpse of Drew Yorke again. Looking over every inch of it. Aubrey looked confused. Bray looked like he was going to vomit.
As Aaron had hinted to the SDC shareholders, what felt like weeks ago, NEST had several weaknesses. None were so exploitable as the lie central to their well-being. No other dragon army could grow so fast because riders earned their marks over time through dangerous exploits. NEST cheated their way past that. But if the dragons ever discovered the deception, they would turn on their masters. So Aaron and Conners had discussed all the possible ways of bringing it to light. They had captured falsemarked, seen how the ink withstood fire and blade. It behaved like real marks with one exception. Over time, the marks faded. Bray had used this to control his men. But when death came to them, the marks faded far more quickly. So Aaron had set out to harvest a body. One that was high-ranking enough to be known, but not too well-known in Ellis. He had claimed it in Dragon’s Cove, conveniently kicking off the war at the same time. Then he brought it to the Shields, where he could show it to Bray’s army, the only way he knew how. By pulling at Bray’s obsessive competitiveness and desire to never be bested. By using the one person Bray could not leave alone, could not leave to the hands of others. Aaron brought it himself. In front of the dragons, where he could only hope one of them recognized the body and the story it had to tell. They had been lied to.
The dragon let out something between a scream and a roar. Aaron had never heard that kind of rage and pain from them before, from anything on this world. It echoed through the Shields. Every other dragon immediately stopped what they were doing to turn towards the group. Several others picked up the cry immediately. Somewhere between an alarm and a battle cry. The dragon in the center picked up the corpse in its jaws and shook it violently. Then he dropped it and lashed out with his tail, bowling over half of the blues near Aaron. The other dragon attacked a nearby falsemarked, bit his arm off. Blood fountained out over the porcelain floor. All hell broke loose.
Dragons up above, hearing the cries of the dragons around the body, threw off their riders. Bodies rained down. Dragons on the ground attacked everything on two legs. Falsemarked, blues, EU. Even the ones with true marks didn’t seem immune as the first dragon snapped at Aubrey Narrows, just missed taking his head off. Shale was off running, hand raised in the air, summoning her men to return to her.
Aaron tried to keep eyes on Bray. He’d have an escape plan in place, but he probably never counted on the ties he held with the dragons being cleanly severed when the lie that lay at the core of NEST was exposed. But he’d have an escape plan. Aaron wanted Bray. He could still put this army back together. Without him, they would be broken. Aaron shoved a nearby blue to the ground, took his sword off of him. Narrows and Bray had edged around the dragons, had gotten other men between the wild creatures. They were looking at Aaron, coming for him. The screams and sounds of fighting were everywhere.
As they had nearly reached him, were spacing out to attack, a great pane of glass from the Shields above fell amongst the group, spraying missiles of broken glass in every direction. The crystalline sound of shattering was loud enough to make the noise of the battle raging all around them, the choir of furious dragons venting frustration and betrayal seem quiet by comparison. Before the last deadly shards had settled, those of the group who could still move had scattered.
…
Bray ran. First time Aaron had seen him move faster than a slow walk. The chaos of the Shields around them slid by in a blur as Aaron followed at Bray’s heels. He lost sight of Shale, of Aubrey, of everyone else as he chased NEST’s m
astermind across the Shields.
Aaron was expecting Bray to attempt to organize his men, at least send a few back to cut off Aaron. But he just kept running. Bray wanted the chaos. He wasn’t looking to fix NEST or keep the Shields intact. At least not today. He was trying to get out. There were plenty more NEST locations throughout the west. Bray could survive losing his headquarters, more than half his army, if he were only able to get out with his skin intact. Aaron ran faster, but was still far behind his enemy. In his mind he could see Bray gathering up the remaining NEST forces, retreating back to the mountains, remaining strong. Remaining a threat to the Corvale. Still just as eager to line them up.
They were nearing the edge of the Shields, the side that opened to the bluffs. Was Bray going to jump? At the last minute, he veered towards one of the slender porcelain columns, grabbed it and swung his feet out over the cliffs. Aaron was confused until he saw Bray moving up the column. There was a ladder on the outside. He was headed to the very top of the Shields, the sloping arcs of glass that gave the building its name. Bray was a good part of the way up by the time Aaron reached the base of the ladder. Before committing to it, Aaron looked quickly around. It was quieter in this corner of the Shields. He and Bray were attracting little attention as men and dragons all around them fought for their lives. Why was Bray headed up?
Because it was the first place to greet a returning group of dragons. They would see Bray atop the glass, come investigate. He could take whatever dragon came first. He would turn around and leave Ellis, never let the dragons get close enough to hear the cries of their brethren, to learn they’d been betrayed, lied to. Aaron turned and looked out over Ellis. There, in the distance, a dragon patrol was returning. Bray’s key to escape. Aaron’s looming failure.
Aaron grabbed the first rungs of the ladder and began climbing, lungs burning from the accumulated exhaustion of the last four days. If Bray got to the patrol first and Aaron was exposed on the roof, Aaron would die. Fair enough. Seemed everyone was doing it. At least his marks wouldn’t fade when he went.
Chapter 35. What Started It All
Shale Kormet stumbled, ears ringing from the deafening cracks of breaking glass, forehead bleeding from a small cut. As she steadied herself, Matt James appeared at her elbow. He said nothing, waiting for orders. All around her EU was fighting, dying. This was their last stand. Aaron’s big reveal had created a large enough wedge between the falsemarked and their dragons, now Shale needed to take advantage of whatever window she was given and do as much damage as possible. She scanned the chaos of the Shields, looking for a target.
“There!” she said, grabbing Matt’s arm and pointing at a fleeing Aubrey Narrows. “Help me get to Narrows. Gather who you can on the way.”
Together they made their way around the broken glass. In the distance dragons fought seemingly everything on two legs. Some fought each other. Blues skirmished with EU. Men roamed the ground without uniforms, anyone’s guess as to which side they were with. It was madness. Ahead of them, Aubrey was making his way to the cliff’s edge. When he arrived, Shale saw him straighten. Whatever escape plan he had, it wasn’t working out, and he turned back to the interior of the Shields. He started back in Shale’s direction. Matt James had managed to gather ten or so EU, and they quickly formed a circle around Aubrey. Aubrey held no sword, but stood straight and unhurt, a head taller than even Matt.
“A pleasure to see you again,” Shale said, stepping into the circle. At a wave of her hand, Matt retreated to Aubrey’s blindspot, leaving her and the bastard alone in the relative quiet of the circle.
“You come to see if you can fly, bitch?” Aubrey said. “When I find my dragon, I’ll take you away from these little boys, show you how a real man rides.” Aubrey looked around the Shields, treating the armed men around him as though they weren’t there. There was no intimidating this one. He’d have to bleed to learn respect.
“No,” Shale said lightly. “I just wanted to finish our conversation from yesterday. Maybe I can be more entertaining when I’m not tied to a chair.”
Aubrey looked her up and down. “I’ve got a few ideas how you can entertain me.”
“How about for starters I crush your skull and end your sad little army?”
“Nothing’s ending, love. I’m gonna kill all these little boys, throw you off that cliff, find Bray and form up ranks. And if I can’t find Bray, I’ll just take NEST for myself. My marks are real, love, the dragons will come back.”
“Something tells me Bray’s not going to last the day, now that he’s got Aaron on his heels. Clay Duren betrayed you. And Cal Mast is loose in the Shields. My money says Pallor DaNeel goes looking for him and finds a knife in the gut.”
“Just more space for me.”
Shale sighed. “You really are a simple one. I should be talking with Bray or at least DaNeel. Someone who understands the game. But that’s the trouble with playing hostess. You have to see to your guests first.”
Aubrey was still directing his attention over everyone’s shoulders, looking for his dragon or a break in the action. Ignoring Shale.
“Do you get what I’m saying, Aubrey?” she asked. “I’m telling you that Aaron Lorne and Cal Mast are here because of me. I’m the reason they’re in Ellis.”
Aubrey looked at her. “Don’t flatter yourself, love. They’re here for NEST. Nobody is flying anywhere for your pretty face.”
“They weren’t paying any attention to NEST. At least not enough. Not so long as Pallor DaNeel was leading DeMarco Sellers around with an invisible leash.”
“DeMarco who?”
“DeMarco Sellers,” Shale said. “The SDC spy stationed in Ellis. He wasn’t moving fast enough for us, so I had him burned. I gave his name to NEST and the Eostre State Council. He had to leave in a hurry. It was his leaving which prompted Aaron Lorne to look more closely at what NEST was up to. Three months later, the two most dangerous men on the continent are here and NEST is falling apart all around us.”
Aubrey was back to looking around. Shale knew he wouldn’t pay attention much longer. He said, “Why do I care what you did or didn’t do?”
“I’m not really saying this for your benefit,” she replied. “I’m saying it for the benefit of these men.” Shale gestured at the EU men ranged around. “I’m in an elected position with the caravans guild. I need them to understand all the hard work I put in getting us to this point. It wasn’t luck that got us here. It wasn’t Aaron Lorne. It was me. And now I’m finished. Are you ready to die?”
“I’m ready to stop listening to you.” Aubrey stepped forward.
Shale removed a thick metal rod from an interior pocket. It was about the length of her forearm. She held it loosely in her hand. When Aubrey took his first step towards her, she opened the collapsible baton with a flick of her wrist. Cunningly crafted layers of oiled steel slid outwards, locking into position with a click. She now held a light steel club which ended in a thick knot. A gift from her father, about to be put to good use.
Aubrey hesitated a moment at the sight of the weapon, then continued forward. As Shale positioned the baton to strike, he raised his forearm, intending to block it and push it aside. Get at this troublesome bitch. Shale marveled at his arrogance and took the opening. She swung as hard as she could, not aiming past his arm but aiming for it. The impact came shuddering back up the weapon as his forearm broke. Shale moved deftly to the side as Aubrey’s momentum pushed him on. Then she stepped back, giving him time to feel the hurt he’d just absorbed.
She’d always found something special about watching men learn their mistakes. Even men like Aubrey Narrows had the occasion for self-doubt. Like when they were one blow into a fight and an arm had just been broken. It was a beautiful thing to see fear enter the face of one so arrogant. The hospital. Shale had sat up nights, weeks with the families of the dead. Everyone had been so ready to blame EU for the retributive strike. To blame Shale. Someone they could come face-to-face with. Someone who wouldn’t shout back
, or worse. As if she hadn’t been doing everything in her power to stop this unleashed dog and his master. As if she’d given the orders. As if she were in the children’s wing slaughtering Ellis’ innocent youths.
As the pain of the broken arm reached Aubrey’s face, he paled. Shale considered mocking him, seeing what he had to say now that the fight had been joined in earnest. Then she discarded the idea. She’d heard enough.
Shale feinted at a similar attack. Aubrey raised his broken arm to fend off another strike, but he was hesitant, off-balance. His body didn’t want to get hit again. A mistake. Shale pivoted, spinning the baton to her backhand. She bashed him on the shin. It didn’t break, but the pain made him pull away. With his weight shifted entirely to his other foot, Shale was able to circle behind and neatly clip his ankle out from under him.
Aubrey half-fell onto a hip, immediately began struggling to rise, fear all over his face. His positioning gave Shale a perfect opening. She swung down hard, putting all the strength of her small frame into the strike. The metal ball at the end of the baton landed perfectly on Aubrey’s collarbone, breaking it to pieces.
The fight was effectively over, but Shale wasn’t. She possessed a legendarily cool head, known throughout EU as calm in the wildest storms, through the darkest nights. None of that was in evidence, however, as she flung reason to the side and began bashing Aubrey Narrows’ skull over and over again. None of the EU surrounding them interfered as Shale walked Aubrey far over the line, led him straight to the man in the shadows, pounding on his skull until it was just a red smear on the white porcelain floor. At some point she might have started screaming.
Chapter 36. The Only Secret We Shared
“Move. Turn left.” Clay walked behind Cal, crossbow up, barking out orders whenever Cal faltered or slowed. Cal had his hands behind his back, hiding the knife he held. They wanted to give the impression Cal was Clay’s prisoner.
Rise of the Falsemarked (Spies of Dragon and Chalk Book 2) Page 25