by K J Taylor
‘Yes, we do,’ said Elynor. ‘And that’s why we’re here. The time has come.’
Nils wiped his eyes on his sleeve, fiercely hard. ‘What time?’
‘Our time,’ said Rutger. ‘Elynor and I agreed on that. Your mother told us about her dream. She saw that each of us would have a special weapon, and we’d use it to kill the Drachengott. Well, I have the Magic Taker and Elynor has the Bond Breaker, and you have the Soul Thief.’
‘But the fourth,’ said Nils. ‘She said there was a fourth.’
Perhaps your mother is the fourth, said Spurling. It does not matter. With the Bond Breaker, Elynor can cut the Drachengott away from all those dragons still under his control. With the Magic Taker, Rutger can take his magic from him. With the Soul Thief, you can take his life. What more could need to be done?
‘I don’t know,’ said Nils.
‘It doesn’t matter anyway,’ said Rutger. ‘We have to save her from him, and if I have to die to do it, then . . . then so be it.’
‘But . . . she lied to you,’ said Nils. ‘She lied to all of us.’
‘He’s right,’ Elynor said gently. ‘None of us even know her true name, or where she came from. You’re being naïve, Rutger.’
He glared at her. ‘And your husband, Ambrose — would you leave him in the Drachengott’s clutches? Well, would you?’
‘That’s different,’ Elynor said stiffly. ‘Ambrose and I trust each other; we don’t have any secrets. But you . . . you said she warned you that she would break your heart. She has once already, and I think she will again.’
Nils paused, on the point of telling them both the truth — but then he saw the pain in his father’s eyes. Finally, he said, ‘Rutger . . . She told me something about you.’
‘What is it?’ he asked at once.
‘She said . . .’ Nils hesitated again. ‘She said she really does love you.’
His father’s eyes reddened. ‘Well,’ he said gruffly. ‘Well then. We have to go. Even if we can’t kill the Drachengott, we should try. And not just for her sake, but for everyone’s sakes.’
‘I agree,’ said Elynor. ‘Theodor, will you come with us?’
‘He’s wounded,’ said Rutger. ‘He needs time to recover.’
He will have plenty, said Spurling. We should take him back with us, to the army.
‘Army?’ Nils repeated.
‘Of course,’ Elynor smiled. ‘You didn’t think we were planning to do this alone, did you? The combined armies of the Gottlosen and the Ketzer are marching this way from Drachenburg now. The Jüngen have been scattered. Some even chose to join us. We have them outnumbered and on the run — now is the time to press our advantage and march on the Drachengott himself. Will you come with us?’
Nils looked his father in the eye. ‘Yes,’ he said softly. ‘Yes, I will.’
Chapter Twelve
Nils managed another transformation, and the four of them flew back toward Drachenburg together, Elynor riding on Spurling’s back in her cat shape. But they didn’t have to go very far, and certainly not all the way to the city itself. A good way out from its broken walls they came in to land again, at the front ranks of an army bigger than anything Nils had seen before. Thousands of humans and hundreds of dragons, the humans marching or riding in formation, the dragons guarding them from the air. They roared at the sight of Spurling.
The grey dragon quickly dropped Elynor off and flew up to join his fellows, leaving Nils, Rutger and Elynor to meet up with the group riding at the head of the army. They were on deerback, of course, a group of men and women, all armoured and some armed. Nils made himself human, and he and the other two walked alongside as Rutger and Elynor greeted their friends. The first of those was a red-haired man with deep scars on his forehead, who leaned down to kiss Elynor. She kissed him back, and then pulled herself up onto the back of the spare deer he had been leading beside him. ‘Ambrose, love,’ she smiled at him.
Rutger climbed up onto a second deer, and offered a third to Nils. ‘Will you ride with me?’
Reluctantly, Nils climbed up onto the animal, which snorted uneasily but didn’t try to throw him off. He slung the Soul Thief on his back and took the reins.
‘Now who is this?’ asked the red-haired man. ‘Is this the man you were looking for, Dragonsbane?’ He, too, had a Gallien accent, and his face was long and sly-looking.
‘Yes, this is him,’ said Rutger. ‘Theodor, this is Ambrose von Ketzergard.’
‘Pleased to meet you, Theodor,’ said Ambrose. He inspected Nils with interest. ‘It’s true — you’re the very image of your father. But you should meet my children.’ He indicated two young adults who were riding just behind him. One was a girl with long red hair and sparkling green eyes, the other a brown-eyed boy whose blond hair had strange dark stripes rippling through it.
The boy put his head on one side. ‘Hello,’ he said. ‘My name’s Tancred.’
‘I’m Lilith,’ said the girl. ‘We’re shapeshifters, too, just like you.’
Nils smiled shyly at her. ‘I’m not like you,’ he said. ‘I was born a shapeshifter.’
‘So were we,’ said Tancred. ‘We grew up very fast, just like you.’
Nils gaped. ‘You mean—?’
‘You’re not the only one,’ said Lilith. ‘Don’t worry. But I wish I could turn into a dragon,’ she added.
‘What do you turn into, then?’
‘A fox, like Papa,’ said Lilith. ‘Tancred’s a cat like our mother.’
‘But with stripes,’ Tancred added. ‘Will you show us your dragon shape again later? Maybe we could run together. That’s what shapeshifters do.’
An older woman riding nearby laughed. ‘Enough of that, you two,’ she said. ‘We have more important things to do than playing around in the moonlight.’
Despite himself, Nils started to relax in their company. ‘How many of you are shapeshifters?’
‘All of the Ketzer high command,’ said the woman. ‘Including me. Lady Elynor gives the shapeshifter’s gift to those she deems worthy — including the dragons she sets free. Spurling can become human when he wants to, and so can most of his fellows.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes,’ said Elynor. ‘I gave Spurling the gift to help him blend in when we first went to Ketzergard. But after I took the Amber Tear,’ she tapped the stone set into her dagger, ‘and made it into the Bond Breaker, Spurling insisted that I give the gift to all the others. A dragon cut off from the Drachengott loses his fire, and since nobody knows how to give them magic, the power to shapeshift is the best I can manage for them.’
‘Only one person knows how to give magic to others, besides the Drachengott himself,’ said Rutger, ‘and that’s your mother.’
‘It’s true,’ said Ambrose. ‘That’s why we need her. That and her dreams. If she can tell us the future—’
‘But we will hear no more lies from her,’ Elynor said sternly. ‘As soon as we set her free, I will have the truth from her. She has lied to me once too often already.’
Nils rubbed the wound on his side; it was throbbing again. ‘What did she lie to you about?’
‘She told me Ambrose was dead,’ said Elynor, ‘when she knew he was alive.’
‘But she did not tell that lie to be hurtful,’ Ambrose interrupted. ‘She knew that if Elynor knew I was alive she would stop at nothing to rescue me, and most likely die. Finding the Amber Tear and becoming leader of the Ketzer was more important.’
Elynor still seemed angry. ‘I suffered for months before you found me again,’ she said. ‘I can understand her reasons, but I can’t forgive her.’
‘But you can’t call her a hypocrite,’ Ambrose said gently. ‘You know she put her own love aside for the sake of all our futures.’
Rutger’s jaw was set, his stare ahead fierce. ‘I won’t let her leave me again,’ he said. ‘Once we find her, I’ll tell her that. No matter what happens, I’ll stay with her.’
She killed your brother, Nils thoug
ht. He looked sideways at Rutger, wondering whether he should tell him the truth. Syn had begged him not to, but should he be helping her to tell her lies? But perhaps Ambrose was right, and there were more important things.
Finally he said, ‘Are you a shapeshifter, too, Rutger?’
Rutger glanced at him. ‘Yes. Not by birth, though. Elynor offered me the gift and I accepted. It was her way of sealing our alliance, and I couldn’t see any reason to say no.’
‘Then what do you turn into?’ asked Nils.
Rutger grinned slyly at Elynor. ‘The last thing she would have wanted. But I’ll show you later. Something I’ve learned about shapeshifters is that it’s best to keep your other shape a secret. They’re most useful for spying and hiding out. Why, when Elynor and I first met—’
‘I was spying on him,’ said Elynor. ‘And he was very helpful. He told me some very interesting things while he was petting my ears.’
For the first time in months — perhaps the first time since his foster-mother’s death — Nils laughed. Were these really heretics? Pagans? Blasphemers? Why, they were people! They were as kind as any of the Jüngen he’d ever known, and as brave. They were even funny.
Rutger laughed, too. ‘You should be careful around her, son,’ he said. ‘She’s a sly one, and not above using her charm to take what she wants from you.’
‘Oh, all women are like that,’ said Ambrose. ‘Gallien women in particular. I never met a Wend woman who would match any of ours for grace, wit and charm.’
‘And I never met a Wend man who could match you for flattery and sleaziness, Ambrose,’ Rutger retorted.
Nils couldn’t help himself — he put a hand over his eyes and laughed even harder. ‘Stop it!’ he gasped. ‘You’re making my chest hurt!’
Rutger grinned at him. ‘Sorry — you should be resting. Are you sure you’re strong enough to ride?’
Nils managed to grin back at him, a warm, spontaneous grin. ‘I’m stronger than I look,’ he said. ‘I’m a dragon.’
Rutger lost his grin. ‘Yes . . . how did that happen? How are you a shapeshifter? Your mother said it’s what made you grow up so quickly.’
‘Then you must have been born a shapeshifter,’ Lilith said before Nils could answer. ‘Dragonsbane, were you a shapeshifter when you were with his mother?’
‘No,’ said Rutger. He frowned. ‘Then . . . does that mean . . . ?’
‘It means our friend, whatever her name is, is a shapeshifter, and was when you met her,’ said Elynor. ‘Sometimes a shapeshifter passes on her gift to her children, even if the father is not a shapeshifter himself.’
Everyone looked at Nils.
He shook his head vaguely. ‘I don’t know,’ he lied.
‘Well, we’ll find out,’ said Rutger. ‘When we see her again, I’ll ask her to tell me everything. I know she will. If she truly does love me—’
Nils didn’t want to look him. ‘What about the Jüngen?’
‘What about them?’ asked a man riding on Elynor’s other side. ‘We’ve defeated them. There’ll be more at the mountain, no doubt, but with the Magic Taker and the Bond Breaker on our side, and all the dragons—’
‘That’s not what I mean.’ Nils shifted in the saddle. ‘I mean, what will happen to them? If we kill the Drachengott, what then?’
‘With him dead the Jüngen won’t have anything to fight for,’ said Rutger.
‘Other than revenge,’ said the dumpy woman with Elynor.
‘But that’s not fair,’ said Nils. ‘You can’t just kill them all.’
‘Why not?’ said Tancred.
‘Because they’re people, too,’ said Nils. ‘The ones I knew were good. They were kind to me. One of them, she brought me up like her own son.’
The others looked uneasy.
‘I never wanted this,’ Rutger said after a while. ‘Not this. Killing — I never wanted it. I left home because . . . well, I wanted revenge for my brother. But I also wanted to stop the Jüngen from taking over Wendland and wiping out Gottlosen like me. I never wanted to kill anyone, but . . . that’s just how it happened.’
‘In war, killing is necessary,’ said the man who had spoken before. ‘Everyone knows that.’
‘But Nils is right,’ said Rutger. ‘We can’t kill all the Jüngen. Otherwise, where would it stop?’
‘I don’t see why we are talking about this,’ Ambrose said stiffly. ‘The Jüngen are our enemy. Unless we fight them, we will lose.’
‘No,’ said Nils. ‘The Drachengott is our enemy. He’s the one making the Jüngen do bad things. I was a Jünger, and maybe I still am.’
Tancred laughed shortly. ‘Not if the Drachengott sent you away,’ he said. ‘You’re a Ketzer, just the same as us.’
‘I never rebelled,’ Nils retorted. ‘I never wanted to run away and use my power for myself. I wanted to be a loyal Jünger. I had faith in the Drachengott.’
‘Then why did he send you away?’ asked Lilith.
‘Because . . .’ Nils shifted again, uneasy. ‘I stole something from him. I don’t even know why I did it.’
‘What did you steal?’ asked Rutger.
‘This.’ Nils touched the Soul Thief. ‘I found the stone under his mountain, and I don’t know why — I had to take it.’
‘It was meant to be yours, then,’ said Elynor. ‘As your mother foresaw.’
‘I still don’t want to kill Jüngen,’ said Nils, unwilling to let it go.
‘You don’t have to if you don’t want to,’ said Rutger. ‘And I for one don’t intend to commit massacre. I’ll kill when I have to — that’s all.’
‘Then I’ll do the same,’ said Nils, with an uncertain smile toward his father.
***
The army crossed the river and marched north-east, avoiding the settlement where Nils had rested and making directly for the Drachengott’s mountain. There were no real human habitations in the open space around the mountain’s base, only forest, and a small cluster of buildings where the Jüngen high command lived. Nils had seen them on his way past, on the day of his initiation.
Along the way the army’s commanders asked him questions about their destination, and Nils answered them readily enough.
‘There are only a few people who live by the mountain,’ he told Rutger, Elynor and their immediate underlings, who included the dumpy woman, whose name was Haedwig, and a Gottlosen nobleman named Peter von Jarlsberg.
‘Do any of them have the final blessing?’ asked Rutger.
Nils frowned. ‘You mean the link to the Drachengott’s magic? Yes, I think so. Nobody knows what they do under the mountain, but the acolytes who initiate new Jüngen channel his power for the ceremony.’
Rutger did not seem intimidated. ‘I’ve fought men like that before,’ he said. ‘I can keep them occupied with the Magic Taker, and then someone else can kill them. Spurling, can you see to that?’
The grey dragon, who had taken on the form of a grey-haired man in a matching robe, nodded. ‘I will choose ten of my strongest dragons to guard you, Dragonsbane,’ he said.
‘Good. Thank you,’ said Rutger.
‘Meanwhile I will free the dragons,’ said Elynor. ‘And once they and the Jüngen are out of the way, we can attack the Drachengott directly.’
‘And what about me?’ asked Nils.
‘You should stay with me,’ said Rutger. ‘We can protect each other.’
Nils smiled, although it was still hesitant. He hadn’t dared to ask Rutger whether he remembered anything about a Jüngen spy named Silke.
‘Are you sure you can fight a Jünger with the final blessing?’ he asked.
‘I did it before,’ said Rutger. ‘I killed Lord Warin. Although, I admit, I had help.’
‘Who from?’ asked Nils.
‘It was the strangest thing,’ Rutger looked thoughtfully ahead at the Drachengott’s mountain, which was growing closer all the time. ‘There was a dragon, you see. I was fighting Warin, pulling his magic out of him, and I realised the
re was too much of it. I couldn’t take it all — it was killing me. But then, while Warin was distracted, a dragon bit him to death.’
‘Odd,’ said Elynor. ‘Why would a dragon turn on a Jünger that way? That was before I had the Bond Breaker.’
‘There’s something even stranger about it,’ said Rutger. ‘I knew that dragon. I’d seen her before.’
Nils’ stomach fluttered. ‘When?’
‘It was the same dragon who killed my brother,’ said Rutger. ‘The same one Warin and his brother summoned that night and ordered to kill us. A black dragon with red eyes, she was. I knew her because of her broken horn — my brother Horst snapped it clean in half before she killed him.’
Nils exclaimed in shock, but his cry was drowned out by Elynor’s.
‘A black dragon, with a broken horn?’ she said.
‘Yes, that’s right,’ said Rutger. ‘Why, did you see her, too?’
‘Yes, I did,’ said Elynor. ‘Well, no, I didn’t see her, but I heard of her. When the Jüngen attacked Ketzergard, my predecessor Lady Tanja was killed by a black dragon with a broken horn. And that same dragon was the one who betrayed Ketzergard and led the Jüngen to us. Spurling ordered his dragons to search for her, but they never found her.’
‘So she’s still out there,’ Rutger growled. ‘Syn.’
‘What’s that?’ said Ambrose.
‘Syn — she said her name was Syn,’ said Rutger.
‘A strange dragon,’ Spurling remarked. ‘She killed a Jünger, yet betrayed the Ketzer to them — who can she be serving?’
Nils bit his tongue.
Rutger scowled. ‘I don’t know what that dragon wants, but I do know I’ll kill her if I ever see her again. Even if she did kill Warin.’
‘I might well do the same,’ said Elynor. ‘Ketzergard was a safe haven until she gave us away. But I would like to know how she knew where it was to begin with.’
Nils stayed silent, but his heart was pounding. The black dragon . . . his mother . . .
‘I have something of her, you know,’ Rutger interrupted. ‘Here.’ He drew the Magic Taker and held it up. The handle grip was carved from silvery dragon horn.