Dragon_The Final War

by JC Andrijeski

  It blotted out the stars in a cool ring around where it stood in the sky. It was beautiful, filled with detail––larger than he remembered. He got shivers of feeling from that rock in the sky, the weight of it lingering in his mind as he touched it with his light.

  He didn’t dislike the feeling; its alienness intrigued him.

  He walked through the darkened gardens, alone.

  Or, he thought he was alone.

  When he had nearly reached the first stretch of wall, he discovered he wasn’t.

  Alone, that is.

  Another seer was there. Revik saw the seer under a tree. It crouched in the dark, a faint glow around its face. Something that trickled with lesser wisps of living light lay at his feet.

  It was a male seer, Revik realized.

  He was eating something.

  Revik walked over to him, curious.

  “Hello, brother,” he said, once he’d gotten close enough.

  The seer’s head jerked up and around, as if Revik had startled him.

  Revik held up a hand to reassure him.

  “I did not mean to alarm you,” he said politely. “What is that you have there, brother?”

  The seer rose slowly to his feet. He moved precisely, gracefully, like some kind of great cat. Revik followed those motions with his eyes, feeling some stirring in a lower part of him, some memory. Fighting.

  His uncle told him he used to like to fight.

  He told him that he’d liked it very much.

  Memories flickered through his light. Flesh hitting flesh… moving feet and hands. But not only that. Not only pain and avoidance. Strategy. Fun. Thinking on your feet.

  Like chess, someone said to him once.

  Yes, brother, the seer in front of him said. Yes. Very much like that. Was it your wife who said that to you?

  Revik frowned, staring at the shadowed form of the seer.

  The seer smiled in reassurance, his white teeth shining in the dark.

  Revik noticed then that his mouth had some kind of dark juice on it, something thicker than most of the drinks he’d been handed in the City.

  Coppery and tangy, it smelled like…

  “Blood,” he said aloud. Revik looked down reflexively at his own hands. Seeing nothing there, he returned his gaze to the male seer. For the first time, he noticed they were nearly identical in height. That was unusual.

  “Are you hurt, brother?” he asked him.

  No. No, brother, I am not hurt.

  The seer stepped closer to him.

  Revik was not alarmed. He still felt mostly curiosity around this tall seer.

  He watched him move, saw his face leave the shadow of the trees as he did. Revik saw the tint of red to accompany that coppery smell, saw the male’s long dark hair as he shook it back from an angular face. The lower part of that face and neck were covered in the same dark liquid, what Revik now knew without a doubt to be blood.

  But whose blood?

  Revik remembered that the male seer had been eating…

  Then something else pulled his eyes and mind, causing him to stare.

  The male seer’s eyes.

  Clear eyes, they glowed faintly with a pale green light.

  Something in that glow pulled at him, nearly got him hard.

  Moreover, it allowed him to see. They illuminated his face and neck. The irises emitted just enough that he could see the color behind that glow, the lack of color, a pale tint like glass where they caught the edge of the softer light of the moon.

  The seer had colorless eyes.

  His eyes glowed.

  A scar ran across the front of his face. Revik had seen similar scars on other seers. It confused his impressions of the seer’s features at first, as did his longer hair––crow-black hair that fell past his shoulders in a shaggy line.

  But that face––

  “You are like me,” Revik said, wonder in his voice.

  Yes, brother.

  “You… look like me,” Revik said.

  I do, the seer sent warmly. You are my brother. We are brothers. Real ones.

  “Brothers.” Revik said in wonder.

  He didn’t have a brother.

  His mind paused, even as he thought it.

  He remembered another seer.

  That one didn’t look like him. He had yellow eyes, long, dark red hair––

  Yes, the clear-eyed seer agreed. He is your brother, too. And mine.

  Revik continued to gaze at those faintly glowing, clear eyes, touched past where he could speak. His mind fought with the information, with the many many questions he suddenly wanted to ask. None of them felt important though. None of them felt right.

  “Why are you here, brother?” he said finally.

  Understanding reached him, then.

  Once it had, it caught in his throat, nearly brought tears to his eyes.

  “Are you here for me?” he said, fighting the emotion in his voice.

  For a long moment, the clear-eyed seer only looked at him.

  Then, after what felt like a long pause…

  The seer smiled.

  I CROUCHED WITH A gun in my hand, leaning against a tree with scratchy bark. I’d brought the Desert Eagle, mostly out of habit, I guess.

  That sick feeling in my stomach and light kept getting worse.

  It was late. Late enough that I was worried beyond where I could think clearly. I fought to decide what to do if he didn’t show up. I thought about what Jem said, about Revik not understanding me… possibly not even hearing me, not consciously at least.

  I wasn’t sure where that left me, though, if he couldn’t.

  Could I risk trying to sneak in to find him?

  There was a good chance they had my light markers written into the construct alarms.

  Even so, the thought made me pause. I knew I might actually have the Lao Hu on my side if I tried something like that, even Voi Pai. That would have been true anyway, given the occupation, but might be especially true if I told them what was going on with Brooks. On the other hand, I knew Menlim would probably just flip the switch on Revik as soon as he felt me there, and it would be Dubai all over again.

  No, I wouldn’t get very far. Not with the construct live.

  Chances were, I wouldn’t be able to use the telekinesis at all inside those walls.

  I wanted to go anyway, of course.

  I knew that wasn’t exactly coming from a rational place, but I also knew I might not be able to stop myself if Revik didn’t come out on his own.

  I had direct line of sight on the door I knew to be there, even though I couldn’t see it. Hell, I knew I might be standing too close already; I would risk both of us if I got too near the edges of that construct with Revik still inside. I guessed it started somewhere at the edge of those trees, but I wasn’t about to use my light to verify that.

  I could feel the dawn coming. I could fucking feel it.

  Somehow I knew––it was tonight or never.

  I wouldn’t get another chance.

  I rose the rest of the way to my feet at the thought, biting my lip as I tried to decide what to do. I could risk the shield. Try to crack the wall from this side, then look for Lao Hu loyalists to help me on the other side. I was still wearing the dress. I might be able to slip in as a consort, if Barrier security didn’t ID my light.

  If I could manage to organize the Lao Hu infiltrators, even a little—

  The thought died.

  The wall in front of me was opening.

  I froze, heart hammering in my chest.

  It opened slowly, the door appearing out of nowhere in that stone and mortar-looking surface; it blended in seamlessly even where it was partway open. The hands I saw pushing on it were precise, unhurried, but not particularly cautious.

  Instead, I got the sense they were testing the door panel in some way, perhaps experimenting with how the door opened and swung. Perhaps their owner was trying to understand the design––or merely curious about it.

&nbs
p; I saw a form there, in the shadow of the wall.

  He was tall.

  I watched him exit through the opening he created then hesitate, as if trying to remember why he was there. He stopped to glance around unhurriedly, then remembered the door and pushed it closed behind him.

  Right before it would have disappeared back into the wall, he paused again, as if thinking better of locking himself on the other side.

  I watched, dumbfounded, as he felt around on the grass under the overhanging trees.

  Seconds later, he’d wedged a rock into the opening between the door and wall.

  He did it all so easily, like he was taking an afternoon stroll.

  When he straightened, I found myself staring at the shape of that shadow, even as my heart leapt into my throat.

  I didn’t move, though. I also didn’t hide.

  I just stood there and watched him approach me, his steps casual.

  He walked directly up to me, his body and face still in shadow.

  He had his hands in his pockets, I realized. He was looking at me, but he didn’t seem worried, or particularly aggressive… or particularly anything.

  Once he was close to me however, I could feel his light, so tangibly it cut my breath.

  “Hello, sister,” he said.

  It was Revik’s voice, but I didn’t know it at all.

  He looked me over in the green dress, and I felt an equally unhurried whisper of pain leave his light. It made me flinch, but otherwise, I didn’t move.

  Curiosity touched his voice when he spoke to me next.

  “What are you doing out here?” he said.

  I opened my mouth, unable to speak.

  “You’re very pretty,” he said, still looking at me. His voice remained light, but I felt a near shyness that time. “Do I know you, sister? Do you live here, in the City?”

  I was still fighting to make a sound. To say anything.

  Then I heard a soft but strangely familiar noise.

  Whuffft.

  Revik flinched visibly, especially his head and neck.

  He clamped a hand briefly over the same side of his neck where he’d jerked, then removed the hand again, as if startled.

  Looking up, I saw something sticking out of his throat. My mind took in the tufted barb, even as Revik’s other hand left his pocket, his fingers tentatively touching around the thing sticking out of him. I felt him wince, a faint worry stealing over his light.

  “What… what is it?” he said. “Am I hurt?”

  Without warning, he collapsed.

  I let out a low cry, still conscious of needing to make little noise, even then. I leapt forward, maybe in the thought of catching him, but I barely managed to get my arms around his back before he brought both of us heavily to the ground.

  I let out a low grunt as we landed.

  Panic flooded my light as I looked down at him.

  “Revik!” I whispered. “Revik… can you hear me?”

  He didn’t move.

  He was breathing, though. He was breathing.

  His eyes half-opened, even as I thought it. Reaching up, he went back to touching the dart hanging out of his neck. Moving his fingers aside gently, I grasped it in my hand, yanking it out in one hard pull. Revik let out a low sound when I did, and I wrapped my arms around him, shushing him with my light and hands even as I cradled him. He lay with his head and part of his upper body in my lap.

  I looked around then, breathing hard… nearly panting.

  Someone else was out here. Someone just shot him in the neck with a tranquilizer dart.

  What the fuck was I going to do? I couldn’t carry him––

  A shape appeared out of the trees.

  I tensed, gripping Revik tighter. Then I realized I knew that form, too. I stared, jaw hardening so that it hurt my face as the male seer walked towards me, holding a dart rifle and wearing full combat gear.

  At first I had to keep my jaw clenched to keep from screaming at him.

  When he got close enough I unleashed a low whisper instead.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” I hissed.

  “You needed him down.” Jem bent his knees in a smooth crouch, leaning down next to me and checking Revik’s pulse with his fingers. “He’s fine, Allie,” he said, exhaling. Probably feeling the fury on my light, he turned, meeting my gaze. “I wasn’t going to let you do it alone. You weren’t being fucking rational, Alyson.”

  “I can’t do this with him unconscious!” I said, keeping my whisper low with an effort. “Goddamn it, Jem! We’ll have to carry him out of here now! You might have blown everything with this––”

  But Dalejem shook his head. “No,” he said. “I didn’t hit him with a Dehgoies dose. I hit him with a regular one.” Still looking at me, he frowned with those sculpted lips, just visible in the light of the moon. “It’ll keep him calm, Allie. It’ll keep him from killing you, at least. Just work fast. It won’t keep him down for very long.”

  I clicked at him, again so soft it was barely a murmur.

  “We need Balidor, Jem. I need him––”

  “You’ll have him,” Dalejem cut in. “I’m going now. I just did this first.”

  “You’ve been out here this whole time?” I said, disbelieving.

  He looked at me, his expression unmoving. Then he shrugged.

  Feeling a pulse off his light, I flinched, fighting the emotion that wanted to rise in mine. I shook my head, maybe to get it away from me.

  “You’ll never get away in time,” I said. “You won’t.”

  “Yes I will.” He caressed my hair, leaning over both of us as he slung the rifle over his shoulder. “A little faith, sister. I have done this before.”

  I let out a disbelieving snort, but he only smiled at me.

  He was starting to straighten when I grabbed his arm.

  “Wait for my signal okay?” I said, fighting that emotion seething in my light. “It’ll take me at least twenty minutes to map this. Probably more. Get as far as you can in that time. You won’t be able to get out of Beijing, but––”

  “Don’t worry about me, Alyson,” Jem growled. “I mean it. Just do what you have to do. This isn’t about you and me. It never was.”

  I nodded, biting my lip.

  The pain in my light worsened when I felt Revik gripping my arm. His light was coiling into mine already, pulling on me so hard I could barely think straight, could barely focus my eyes.

  But I was still holding Jem’s arm, too. I could feel him waiting.

  Waiting for me to let go of him, probably.

  “Thank you,” I blurted, looking up at him. Releasing his arm, I felt Revik stir in my lap and wrapped my arms around him, holding him tighter, gripping his chest and shoulder against me. “Thank you, Jem. Thank you… so much.”

  “More gratitude,” he grunted.

  But that time he smiled.

  Leaning down, he kissed me, putting heat into it as he used his tongue.

  In my lap, I felt a flicker of pain off Revik, sharp enough that it got me to pull away from Jem’s mouth. I felt myself flush, but I didn’t look away from Jem’s face.

  “Go,” I told him. “Please go. And don’t get killed, goddamn it.”

  Before I’d even finished saying it, Jem had disappeared into the trees.

  53

  RAIN COMES SOFTLY

  Nine Months Earlier

  The hold of The Abresne

  Somewhere off the coast of India

  I LAY WRAPPED in his bare arms and legs, lying on as much of him as I could, my face pressed against the upper part of his chest.

  I was still in pain. I was still struggling not to pull on him, not to coax him into getting hard again, even though both of us were sore––even though I knew I’d have trouble hiding what we’d been doing that night already.

  Revik wanted it to seem like we weren’t having a lot of sex.

  He wanted it to seem like we weren’t getting along.

  I got that.


  I understood all of it, given everything he’d been telling me, but I still hated everything about what we were doing. My light rebelled against it, my body, my heart. I struggled enough that the public fights we’d been staging almost felt real at times, even when my emotions had no relationship to what I was saying.

  “There’s no other way, wife,” he said softly.

  His light pulled achingly on mine, bringing another low stab of pain, closing my eyes.

  “There has to be another way,” I mumbled against his bare skin.

  “He’d never let me back into his network willingly.” He murmured the words, kissing my temple as he cradled me in his arms. “Not if he knew I wanted it. Never.”

  I slid my arms around him tighter, fighting to think about his words, to think about them rationally in some way, even as some part of me struggled not to see the implications.

  I’d been trying to talk him out of it again.

  I’d been trying to convince both of us to come up with a new plan.

  I’d been trying for weeks now, but I had no new plan. Neither did he.

  This had become a ritual for us, with me arguing and him talking me into it, or sometimes we would reverse roles and I would be forced to defend our crazy plan, if only because I had no other one and I could see all the same things he did.

  But tonight it was my turn.

  Tonight I would force him to be the one to talk us both into it.

  “I don’t see why you think he’d believe this at all,” I argued. “So you want to go to him, say you’re willing to work for him, but that you won’t be in his network…? All in the hopes that he’ll believe you and later force you to be in his network?”

  “Yes,” he said.

  “And you think he’ll believe that?”

  “Yes,” he said, stroking my hair with one hand.

  “Why?” I said. “Why would he believe that, Revik?”

  My husband exhaled, wrapping his arms around me tighter.

  “Dubai,” he said with a sigh, kissing my face. “He would believe it because of Dubai, wife.”

  I bit my lip, fighting not to react to my own memories of what happened in that boathouse. I could see the logic in what he was saying. I knew the only way to sell something this insane to a being like Menlim was to mix as much truth in with the fiction as we possibly could. I could feel the different layers he was threading together. I could see the fucking brilliance there, that damned multi-layered thinking of his and how much sense it made.