by James Patton
- Effect 5: Bone Crafter: You have learned how to craft with bones. You can use bones to create items. This follows regular crafting rules, and you can discover items on your own. Initially, you will need to find a trainer willing to teach you the more advanced recipes.
- Verbal Incantation: Bones
Boh’s fingers stopped responding and refused to cast; she could not even close her fist for a verbal cast. Her limbs were frozen and refused to budge. Bite, claw, stab, and whatever else she could think of all failed. A growl, deep and menacing, escaped her.
“Die damn you!” Boh roared feeling her voice scraping her throat raw as air escaped her mouth with small crystals of ice. Vasia suffered from the Drache Bond, but not on the same level as Boh. The dragon was not frozen and looked like she only was suffering mentally.
“Boh, do you even have any idea what the Shadow Council is?” Heinrich said, and he paused just out of her reach. She even saw his shield up.
“Heinrich… You have the ability. Finish her off. Please, I will do anything you ask. I will owe you, and as you just saw, I always keep my promises. Just. Fucking. Kill. Her. They promised me Vasia’s death. Please.” Boh wept and begged, but the Mind Wraith remained indifferent.
“I am sorry, Boh. I will not go against the Shadow Council, and especially since you killed one of them. I want nothing to do with you or this. Deliver my message; our relationship ends here.”
“You mean the Shroud?” Boh switched tactics, and Vasia was still struggling nearby. Close enough that Heinrich could reach her.
Heinrich turned back.
“Vasia is a victim. The Shroud is an affliction. I need you to listen carefully because if I could kill you right now, I would. You killed Rayna, my drake, whose strength turned me into a general below. I want you dead for your poor manners. However, I fear the council too much and you should too. Now that you are also a conduit stay the fuck away from me.”
“Then help me. If you fear the Shadow Council so much, then kill Vasia.”
“Why?”
“Because I plan to kill the council. You saw it; I already took down one of the members, we both know I can kill them. I want Vasia dead; she is too weak for this responsibility, always was. My Dragonrider’s Fury targeted the council, which means my power will only grow until I kill them all. Do you understand?”
“You are insane,” Heinrich said softly. “Deliver my message, and tell that witch of yours what you have done. Maybe she can help, probably not.”
Anger rose in her, and darkness flared around her.
“Then you deliver a message for me. If Osric comes, and he has creatures like you and those mindless drakes, then I will make him bow to me. He will recognize me as his Matriarch, and I will make sure I destroy every last one of your kind.”
Heinrich paused and turned back to look at Boh.
“Malinite wasted his sacrifice on you. I am sorry he is gone, and you are not deserving of the title Matriarch. You lack manners and couth. Better start crawling, you have three days.”
*You should kill the Wraith. Better Osric does not know about you.* A voice whispered in the back of her mind, and it had a point. *I can help, but I only give you one free pass.*
The veins in her hand started melting, and it flowed up through her arm until she could move it. The pistol cleared the holster, and once more she found her hand holding steady, a sign of a more significant change. She was willing to kill now.
The laughter that came out of her was cold and deadly, enough that the Mind Wraith started to turn back. Boh squeezed the trigger feeling energy infusing the bullets as they escaped the barrel.
It was almost like shooting slime as each bullet went through Heinrich’s transparent dome with little effort. Each round struck that center mass of tentacles, and she fired three more times, just to be safe.
Heinrich fell over dead.
“On second thought,” she laughed. “I’ll tell Osric myself.”
Boh’s gun moved towards Vasia, but she was already aloft and receding quickly into the distance. No curse felt appropriate for her disappointment. Yelling coward just felt childish, and internally she slouched in defeat.
*Felt good didn’t it?* The voice started whispering in her head again.
“Stop talking to me. I am not Vasia.” She said aloud, and the voice went silent.
The Shroud covered her, and within she saw a single mote of light. Her Dragonrider’s Fury was still present, like a slow simmer, but it was staying dormant.
Why? She questioned, wondering if the voice was somehow not part of the council.
With the last bit of her strength and before her body refroze, she pulled herself to Malinite and laid against him. His dead cold body felt wrong, unreal. Tears rolled softly down her cheeks. For the first time in her life, she cried in the moment, letting herself feel the grief, pain, and loss. She felt empty and lost inside. Hollow.
The sun had set, and out in the darkness, she felt a cold presence. Her dragon was moving away from her.
Boh’s heart started to slow from the cold, and her tears froze on her face. She gave into the pain and closed her eyes, not sure if she would survive the night.
Synth
Chapter 75
Three Scars
When my father died, I did not feel sad. Not really. I just felt empty, like a void opened up under me and sucked out every bit of emotion. It left me hollow.
-from Boh, Audio Roll 1254
“You should sleep more often.” He spoke to the prone form of Boh. The girl rolled over, and he winced upon seeing her face. He used a few spells he had, activating the dormant spores in her body to assist with her healing.
The wounds on her face healed over, but the scars would be permanent. She had three going down the left side of her face, one started about mid-forehead and sliced through the eyebrow before skipping down to the cheek below and ending parallel to her nose. The second one went from her temple, under her eye, and down to her cheekbone. The last went from her hairline near her ear, and down to her jawline.
Her slim figure had always screamed warrior, but her wound finished out the look.
“What the hell happened to you?” He asked Boh.
“Malinite died.” She cried and curled into a ball, but he could see all her surface thoughts. Her dad, Malinite, Midnight, Taro and others crossed through her grief. “I failed to kill Vasia, too.”
The Shroud flared up around Boh, a defensive mechanism designed to protect her. It had been a long time since he had come into contact with the Shroud, and it scared him then as it did now. What did you do?
“What is this? Tell me the hell happened to you.” Synth growled low in his throat and edged back from the darkness growing around the girl. Those dragons that were old enough to remember, knew better than to mess with the Shroud.
“Malinite’s idea. I— I killed my dragon. He was already dead—dying, but somehow he knew I needed the Dragon Slayer class. I bonded Vasia; he showed me it was the only way to save my life.”
Boh told him everything, and he did not know if he wanted to praise her bravery, berate her stupidity, or just fear her.
“Am I dying? I cannot feel my body.”
“You are not dead, or you would not be here. You are unconscious, but if you went through enough trauma, you could get stuck here. That is the danger of these shadow worlds.”
“Sounds swell.” She said laying back down.
“Boh. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Would you like to hear a story?”
“Let me guess, Aesop the Wise Ancient Dragon?” She asked.
“Good guess and you aren’t really getting a choice. He used to tell the story of a dragon and a man discussing their triumphs. The man pointed to a statue that depicted a great warrior who had slain a dragon, the spear lodged deep in the dragon’s eye. He told the dragon ‘how great is man?’ The dragon replied that if they created statues, many men would be under a single talon.”
“Great, so you are say
ing I am weak, great pep talk.”
Synth sighed. “You are not listening Boh. The moral is this: One story is good until another is told. You are not dead, and you may have committed a serious error in judgment by bonding Vasia. However, I have to admit it was inspired and probably saved your life. You still have a story to tell, so are you going to sit here and mope, or do something about her?”
“Like what?” She shouted. “I have failed, again. Killed two dragons I cared about, and what has it got me?”
“I am here. Aila, Taro, and others. They care about you.” Synth said. “So shut up!”
He did not mean to roar, but it got her attention. He saw her spine straighten and her eyes harden.
“You fight Boh. You are a warrior and have always fought. You are the only one who cannot see the warrior in you. During your feverish dreams, I saw you. All your life you have been fighting to live. So dammit, fight!”
“I have fought!” She roared, surging to her feet and standing nose to nose with him. “I put everything into it, and I still came up short.”
“Did you?” He asked more softly. “Bigger dragons and two-legs with more experience have fought against Vasia. You know the difference between them and you?”
“What?” Boh snarled.
“You lived. You think you failed, but you fought the most dangerous dragon in the world, and you lived.”
“And my friends are still dead.”
“Boh, they gave up their lives for you. They believe you will stop her. Hell, I believe you will stop her. If the day comes you need a dragon to fly you to that evil bitch, I will take you myself. I will die to get you there, just to see that dragon’s life snuffed out.”
“And if I fail again?”
“You won’t. You dealt Vasia a mortal wound when you bonded her, and she is limping off to a corner to die.” Synth grinned at her before growling. “So shut the fuck up and fight.”
“You are a dick,” she said.
He rumbled with laughter. “No doubt about it.”
“I need to get back to Crosspointe. Osric lives—“
“What?” Synth interrupted her.
“Osric, I have proof he is alive, and if I do not deliver the message in three days, his army will destroy everything.”
“That news is probably worse than you bonding with Vasia. Osric was bad before, but getting his throne stolen and betrayed by those closest to him. Rune, help us all. You have no idea how dark and twisted that dragon is. If you were not already airborne, I’d have come for you myself.”
“I’m not airborne. My dragon is dead.”
“You need to listen. I can hear the wind whistling about you. Sounds bleed in from the outside, and you are flying.”
“How? No one knew where I was, and worse my body is broken. Not sure how they could move me with hurting me.”
Synth smiled at her, his big green face lighting up. “You did join the Military, and your commanders know where you are. Remember, you do have friends. People that are looking out for you, and you need to start trusting and relying on them. Or you will always be lonely.”
“Like you?”
“Nah. I’m a cranky old dragon. I don’t need friends.” Synth eyed her with a serious face before he started laughing. “Sorry. I would gladly be your friend. Not that you can get rid of me because you’ll see me every time you dream. I’m your ray of sunshine every night.”
“Oh geez, and you still need to name this place,” Boh said rolling her eyes at him.
Synth saw Boh reach for her face, fingering the scars for the first time.
“Yea, Vasia marked your face pretty badly.”
“No…” Boh’s hand clawed at the scars, panic or mania was setting in. Synth had no idea how to prevent her from harming herself, and he was catching glimpses of a girl standing on an island before the darkness. The Matriarch of Sorrows? How does Boh know about her? Then he saw the scars and felt a deep unsettling dread. It cannot be…
“The three scars have significance to you then?” He asked, feeling like a coward. “I want to know the story about the scars, but for now, I am going to try and wake you. Get to Aila, tell her everything. You have no idea how dangerous the Shroud is.”
A green energy surrounded his vine-covered body, before he released it into Boh. He felt her body connecting with his before she disappeared. Synth knew he acted rashly. The Matriarch of Sorrows had marked the girl, and he could not recall the last time he felt fear.
Boh
Chapter 76
Frostbite
Champions do not honor their mothers like a matriarch. There was an incident where a dragon ate his rider over a ‘yo momma’ joke. It is hard to reconcile a people that fail to show their mother proper respect. In the Talons, making fun of a matriarch is considered the gravest of insults.
-from Champions, A Study in Behavior
A powerful burst of energy rocked her body, and Boh felt the jolt in both places. The pain made her once more aware of her body, and her heart thumped hard against her chest. A gasp escaped her busted lips as her eyes snapped open.
Far below, lit by the moon in a cloudless night sky, were all the drakes she passed coming out this way. Most were sleeping, while others roamed the edge of the camps.
Next, she noticed her dangling arms and their lack of feeling. A talon wrapped around her waist, but she could not make out the color of the scales. They appeared to be black, and she had a moment of fright until she remembered Vasia had no scales.
She tried to look up, but she was clutched tightly to the beast’s chest as it flew. Her body was mostly held immobile and the pain of moving nearly caused her to black out. Pain she understood, pain she could cope with.
The dragon was not trying to kill her, and it was flying towards safety. She would survive awhile longer. Boh slowed her breathing and felt control returning.
Synth had been right, she had been through an ordeal, but Vasia would not come for her anytime soon. She had outsmarted the bitch, and while it hurt to lose Malinite, she knew she won the day. Her pain was minor compared to what the queen was suffering now.
If Malinite were any indication, the Dark Queen would feel all the pain heaped on her. Anytime she was in danger, Vasia would have to fight the urge to come to her rescue. That evil, conniving witch was getting a taste of her own torturous medicine.
Crosspointe had three days reprieve. Time enough for her to get a good night’s sleep and relax in a bed. Maybe take the time to learn a few skills that did not revolve around killing things.
Maybe it was finally time to become a Tinkerer because she always enjoyed making gadgets. She was unsure whether or not there was a Workshop in the outpost, she would ask Geo about it.
Boh’s eyes were dried from the wind, so she closed them. She would need to get new goggles first thing she did when she got back. She had dozed off at one point until she heard singing. At first, she thought she was delusional because the lyric she heard was not heavy metal.
“I’ve been through the tundra, as a dragon with no name
On my back is a girl who is insane
In the tundra, there is no one to be slain
And there was no one else to be blamed
La la lalalal la.”
She found herself chuckling at the lyrics, but had no idea if she heard it or if it was all in her head. Her waking moments held quite a bit of pain, and she doubted her lucidity.
“I arrive in the freeze of an eternal night
I ride the darkness like a frozen blight
The world is my tundra, and I its plague
As I settle in, your thoughts become vague
Frostbite!”
A deep male voice sang out through the darkness.
Boh knew that voice anywhere, and she knew he was singing Metallicores’s Frostbite! just to mess with her. He probably found her frozen and was taunting her, daring her to join him. So she did.
“I am not evil; I just do as I am told
I am
not an illness, but I arrive with the cold
Your fire cannot counter my desire to freeze
My darkness fills your blood and takes your extremities
I am Frostbite! Yes, I am.
Frostbite!
Frostbite!”
Thank you for reading!
This book is something special because a request in a Facebook group touched it off. Caldwell was asking people to donate books to a friend of his who was recently diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). I proposed that I would write a novella for Kristi Haase, and I just needed to know some of the things she liked, a general description and some things to tie the story together.
No joke his response was, she loves dragons, guns, and heavy metal. Almost immediately I thought of doing something with dragonriders, and I had a magic system in mind, but I wanted to tie guns into it too. So I picked a time around the early 1900s to use as some of the world building. Obviously, this world is not ours, but I made some choices due to a longer-term goal of the series (no spoilers, haha). This book does not touch on the reasoning behind that too much, but I think as the series progresses it will start to make sense.
Anyway, long story short, my novella turned into the first book of a trilogy (with a possible second trilogy I’ve mapped out if people are interested in this one.) I do hope you enjoyed it. If you know anyone with MS, I encourage to reach out and if nothing else, let them know you are thinking about them.
Thank you.
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