The Rage of Dragons (Book of the Burning)

by Evan Winter

  The Sah priest, a short but curvy Governor Caste woman, bound his cuts, rubbed foul-smelling ointment on his back, checked his head for injuries, and waved her hand over his eyes. She told Jayyed he'd be fine and that he should rest. Jayyed thanked her and, when he turned to speak with Anan, the doctor leaned close to Tau.

  "You've shown us the truth," she said. "We can be more than the limits of our Caste. The Goddess blesses us equally." She patted him on the shoulder, like his mother used to do, and walked out of the tent.

  Jayyed waited until she left. "What did she say?"

  Tau was sitting on a cot, staring at the ground. "She said the Goddess blesses us equally. That we are more than the limits of our Caste."

  "Demon's in the mist!" swore Jayyed, making Tau flinch. "Now the priests?"

  "Why not, Jayyed?" said Anan in a hushed voice. "They've watched the same Melee we have."

  "Now is not the time for this."

  "Because we are at war?" Anan asked. Jayyed looked away. "We're always at war."

  "Come Anan. Tau needs rest." Jayyed held the tent's flap open and they walked out.

  Tau lay back and closed his eyes, but the pain was too much and he had to roll to his side. He reached for the oblivion of sleep. It would not come, chased away by thoughts that haunted him. Tau had hesitated. He had held back, when he could have killed Kellan.

  The tent rustled. Tau shot up, snatching the closer of his two swords as he did. It was Hadith.

  "Put it down," Hadith said, as if they were still on the battleground, as if he could still deliver orders that Tau had to obey.

  Tau compromised, lowered his blade, but did not put it down. "How's Uduak?"

  Hadith grimaced. "He'll live and recover. He's already up and walking, Goddess be praised. But, that's not why I'm here."

  "Why then?" Tau asked, the sword twitching in his hand.

  "Put it away, Tau. Everyone knows you can fight." Hadith stepped up, standing a hand's span from Tau's face. "I want to know if you can think."

  Tau pushed him away. "Leave me be, Hadith."

  "You self-righteous Cek, we could have changed everything. We had it in our grasp and your threw it away. You threw all of us away, to take your petty revenge."

  "Petty? Mka!"

  "Nceku! Your father died? Does that make you special? How many fathers have died in this war? How many more will die because the Nobles use Lessers like a breakwall against the Xiddeen hordes? How many more, before Lessers have a say in the way our lives are spent?"

  "A say? A say? We're Lessers. And you, that doctor, and everyone else thinks I do this, for what? To upend the Castes?"

  "Doctor?"

  "Never mind," said Tau.

  "Why do you do it?"

  "To make them feel some of the pain I feel! To force them to see that my life, my father's life, are worth more than their whims."

  "We're fighting for the same thing. Why do you keep trying to do it alone?"

  Tau felt caught and didn't like it. "I'm not looking to change the Chosen," he said.

  "Even so, the changes come."

  "They come too late and are no longer necessary," Tau told Hadith.

  Hadith narrowed his eyes. "What does that mean?"

  "You were born too late to make a difference. We all were."

  Hadith got right in Tau's face. "What does that mean?"

  The tent's flap rustled and in came Zuri. "Tau! I came as... You have company—"

  "Lady Gifted." Hadith backed away from Tau, bowing to Zuri.

  "I'll come back," she said.

  "Please Lady. I was leaving." Hadith marched out.

  Zuri seemed to forget him as soon as he was out of sight. "Goddess, Tau! Are you okay?"

  "Hello, Zuri."

  She ran into his arms and hugged him, making him wince when her hands pressed against the welt on his back.

  She let go. "You're hurt?"

  "I'm well. How are you... You were watching?"

  "Most of the Gifted Citadel was watching. It was horrible."

  "I didn't kill him."

  "Thank the Goddess."

  Tau gave her a sharp look.

  "Tau... I have something to tell you. I don't want there to be secrets between us."

  Tau said nothing, aware that the day was about to get worse and unsure how it could manage it. Whatever came, he would face it with Zuri, without secrets, with nothing held back.

  He decided he would tell her about how he had tracked Odili to the meeting with the Xiddeen. He would tell her about the surrender. She should know. He wanted her to know. "No more secrets," he said.

  She looked nervous. She took his hands in hers, and she told him. "Days ago, before the Melee, the Gifted Citadel learned that the Queen intends to meet with the Gifted leadership and Guardian Council. She will do it the day after tomorrow, after she has declared the Melee's winner."

  "So soon?" Tau said, surprising her.

  "You heard it too?" she asked. "The Queen will call her war leaders to the Guardian Keep." She gripped Tau's hands. "I think they're planning a massive attack. I think they're going to graduate the Ihashe, Indlovu, and Gifted initiates. I think they're going to join us with rest of the military, to take the war to the Xiddeen."

  "You... you what? No."

  "The signs are there. Tau, they've called me to active duty. I'll be an Enrager. I'll be an Enrager for Kellan Okar."

  There it was. "Enrage? Kellan Okar?" His voice rose with every word and his hands came free of hers. His hands were balled into fists.

  "I couldn't do it. I wouldn't. Not after what you told me. I confronted him, Tau. I ordered him to me and I confronted him. I accused him of Aren's murder. I told him it was you in the circle in Citadel City."

  "You did what!"

  "It wasn't Kellan's fault—"

  "You did what!"

  "It was Odili. He wanted Kellan to kill you and, when your father stepped in, he wanted Aren to die. Kellan thought the only way he could spare Aren's life was by taking his hand. He used the maiming as an excuse. He used it to claim that he had taken everything that made Aren a man. Tau, he was ordered by a Guardian Councillor to kill you and your father. He tried to save you both."

  Tau's hands were shaking and he could see demons in the tent with them. There were two behind Zuri and he could hear the slavering of another behind him. He slammed his eyes shut, tried to calm down, but the demons were there when he opened them.

  "Get out," he said, his voice trembling with strain.

  "Kellan's father was killed for treason cycles ago. His family disgraced. Odili became his patron when he saw how well Kellan was doing at the Citadel. Kellan knows Odili's reputation but his patronage keeps Kellan's mother and sisters from poverty." Zuri was trying to read his face to see if she was getting through. "He had a hard time telling me that, Tau. I don't think he's the man you believe him to be."

  "You betrayed me," Tau said. "You betrayed me and gave that cur the weapons he needed to defeat me and my brothers."

  "I didn't. That was not my—"

  "Get out!"

  "No, I won't!" Zuri shouted back. "You're not listening. You're twisting this."

  "Twisting it? You come to me, tell me you're consorting with—"

  "Consorting?"

  "You spin tales of military attacks, hiding behind lies to mask the fact that you'll be tied to the man who helped murder my father."

  "He was trying to save you! Both of you!"

  The two demons were standing right behind her. Leering from over her shoulders. One of them showing teeth as long as Tau's hands. "Get out!"

  "No!"

  Tau stood and retrieved his swords. "I can't stomach it, the filth and lies spewing from your mouth." He stalked to the tent's entrance, avoiding the demons, and paused there. "No more secrets?" he said. "I know why the Queen is calling the military leadership together. It's not to wage war. She's calling them to arrange our surrender."

  "What? No... No, that's not right..."
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  If Zuri said anything more, Tau didn't hear. He left her and her lies in that demon-filled tent. He left to find Jayyed. No more secrets.

  HORNS

  Jayyed was in the Scale's tent. He was sitting on the dirt floor with Anan. They had their heads together, talking. Tau moved through the room, ignoring the stares from his sword-brothers. He went straight for Jayyed.

  "Umqondisi, I need to speak with you."

  "Tau? You should be resting and, more than that, you should not be here. Armed and Full-blooded Indlovu have been wandering through the Lesser half of the Crags all evening. I have little doubt they'd love to run across you."

  "It's important."

  "Let it keep till morning. Let everyone's blood cool."

  "Umqondisi," Tau insisted.

  Jayyed sighed. "Join us."

  "All respect, it's a private matter."

  Anan's eyebrows went up at that and he stood. "Have your talk."

  "Umqondisi, here would not be a good place."

  "Mmm..." said Jayyed. "The tent we gave to you, then?"

  "Somewhere else."

  "It's been a strange day. This isn't helping. Follow me."

  They left the Scale's tent and climbed further up the Crags. Neither man said a word until they left the fires and noise of the Melee encampment behind.

  "What is this?" Jayyed asked.

  "I followed you and Odili to the Crags."

  Jayyed brought a hand to his face, tugging the left side of his mouth like it itched. "How many times would you like them to hang you, Tau? You left the Isikolo to follow me and a Guardian Councillor into the Crags?"

  "I saw and heard everything, but that was not my intent. I followed so that I could kill Odili."

  This time, Jayyed brought both hands to his face. He pressed his middle fingers against his temples and bowed his head. "You followed so you could kill the chairman of the Omehi Guardian Council?"

  "I did."

  "And, today, you abandoned your brothers so you could kill the nephew of the Queen's Champion."

  "You know why."

  "Have you learned nothing other than how to swing a sword?"

  "When I first came to you, I came because it was my path to justice."

  "You didn't hear me after Citadel City? Okar is a Greater-Noble, and I have little love for most of them, but he is not an evil man."

  "You're the second person to tell me that today. Which I find strange, since I am neither asking nor looking for opinions."

  "Do you trust the other person? The one who vouched for Okar?" Jayyed asked.

  "I thought so."

  "Until they told you what you didn't want to hear."

  "I know who he is."

  "But you don't," said Jayyed. "You do know who I am. You do, I think, know who the other person is, the one vouching for Okar. Trust the people you know. Trust those who care for your wellbeing."

  Tau shook his head. "This is not why I asked you here."

  "No, I don't imagine it is."

  "Why are you going along with the surrender? Why is it happening at all? We're not afraid to fight. We are Chosen," Tau said.

  "If this war continues, there won't be any Chosen."

  Tau gestured with his hands. "There is only so much that can be given before there is nothing left at all. If we lose there won't any Chosen? What do you think happens if we surrender? How much do we give up?" He pointed to Jayyed. "Already, your daughter has been bargained away. I saw that. I also saw Odili's face. He was part of that trade. I know it. He wanted you to suffer."

  "It would be difficult for me to deny that," Jayyed said, his eyes locked on Tau's face. "But, with the arrangement between our Queen and the Xiddeen Shul, Abasi Odili loses everything. He wanted to make me pay for my part in that. Though, I am surprised the KaEid went along with it. She loves power as much as he does. It's not like her to give a Gifted like my daughter to the Xiddeen."

  "She's a powerful Enervator," admitted Tau. "I was out of the line of fire when she blasted the Xiddeen and could still feel the force of what she did."

  With so much at stake, and Jamilah among the enemy, Jayyed's voice was still pride-tinged when he spoke of his only child. "Enervator? She is one of the most powerful Enragers, Edifiers, and Entreaters in all the Citadel." He looked down. "And, she was given away. I thought the KaEid played for bigger stakes. I was wrong. Or, in the face of what will follow, these petty punishments are all the Royal-Nobles have left." Jayyed fixed Tau with a look. "Tau, I would give anything to have my daughter safe by my side but I want my people to live without war. If Odili is so small that he must put my child in the Dragon's mouth then I pray the Dragon thinks Jamilah too wonderful to devour. Nothing Odili can do will make me forsake our chance for peace."

  "Its results might."

  "I won't pretend things will be the same, but the terms of our agreement are set to protect the vast majority of the Omehi people. They will protect the Lessers from having to send their men to die on the hot sands of The Wrist, from being raided by the hedeni in the middle of the night, from starving to death in cycles with a poor Harvest. This war has deprived our people of so much and peace could mean a better life for so many."

  "If that's true, why is peace not all we talk about? Why has it taken so long?"

  "Because the Nobles lose. They fall under the purview of the Xiddeen Shul, and he will not permit Castes. The Nobles will farm like Harvesters, teach like Governors, work like Commoners."

  "Maybe," said Tau. "Or, we give up our swords and they kill us all. Or, we Lessers exchange one master for another."

  "The Xiddeen are weary of war. They want peace and they want the Guardians gone, so the land can heal."

  "The land?"

  "We have Gifted, the Xiddeen have Shamans. Their Shamans believe that the Guardians pour evil from Isihogo into our world. They think the Dragons are poisoning Xidda, that they cause the Curse."

  "That makes no sense. We live closest to the Dragons and the Curse begins at the edge of our valley."

  "The Dragons send their poisonous energies out and away from their nests. We are protected from the Curse precisely because we live so close to them. Have you never wondered how we sailed The Roar? The ocean wasn't always as it is now. It could not have been. It would have been impossible to cross."

  Tau was doubtful. "The Guardians cause The Roar?"

  "They do. Unintentionally, but they do. They are nomadic. By moving, always, they do not destroy any one place with their maleficent energies."

  "But they've found a reason to ignore their nature and remain on Xidda, with us," Tau said, thinking of the secrets piled on secrets.

  "They have and they have been our best bargaining tool. The Queen and her Ruling Council pushed the Xiddeen as far as they could. The Guardians leave and we are given much in return. It is peace we are founding, not surrender."

  "Peace..."

  "Yes, after almost two-hundred cycles, peace." Jayyed looked old. Perhaps he had always been so. "We should be getting back," he said. "Tell no one of this. We wait until a final agreement with the Xiddeen can be reached. The situation is fragile."

  "I won't tell anyone," Tau said, worrying about what he had told Zuri. He hoped she would not tell it to anyone else. More, he wished he could take back his behavior.

  "Thank you, Tau."

  Tau didn't know what to say or how to feel. Peace...

  "My hope is that, in the coming days, we'll discuss this openly," Jayyed said. "We'll look to a better future for ourselves, our kin—"

  The war horns blew, drowning out Jayyed's hope. Tau had never heard so many. They came from high in The Fist, their call to battle belittling the night's stillness. More horns sounded, calling all Omehi to arms and Jayyed's face went slack.

  "Goddess," he said. "It's an invasion. We're being invaded!"

  Jayyed ran and Tau followed.

  PEACE

  The Crags were chaos. There were people everywhere, watch fires had been lit to push b
ack the dark and Full-blooded warriors, Ihashe and Indlovu, were arming themselves.

  "We must gather the Scale," said Jayyed. "Put on your gear, don't forget to bring water. Warriors new to a fight always forget water."

  Scale Jayyed were already assembled outside their tent. Anan was bellowing orders, getting his men ready to kill, and to die. He tried to hide it but the relief on his face, when he saw Jayyed, was palpable.

  "Umqondisi present!" he hollered and the initiates stood at attention. Tau ran into an open space in the line-up of men.

  "My Scale," Jayyed said to the men, "I know nothing more than you at the moment but the horns are calling us to defend The Rend from invasion." A few of the men muttered at that. "It appears you will be graduating early, because every man that fights tonight does not do so as an initiate. They do so as a Full-blooded warrior of the Omehi Military!" A few cheered that. The rest, Tau included, were too chilled by the news to bring themselves to shout.

  "Watch for your brothers," Jayyed said. "Keep them safe. They will do the same for you. Fight hard. The only surrender in war is death's embrace and I'd ask you to hold that cold touch away for as long as you can." Jayyed looked down the line, meeting as many of his men's eyes as he could. "March with me. We will learn our orders and we will execute them."

  The men clapped their feet together, standing tall and they saluted their Umqondisi, who, in live battle, would be their Inkokeli. Jayyed turned on his heel and led them to the Noble's side of the Crags.

  Hadith marched beside Uduak and Tau joined them. Uduak had one set of bandages on his head and another up his shield arm. His face was puffy from a litany of bruises and his nose looked broken. He blinked at Tau in acknowledgement. Yaw was there too, next to Uduak. Chinedu must have been further back in the marching line

  "By the Goddess, we are fortunate," said Hadith to Uduak and Yaw. It seemed, Tau thought, Hadith was no longer speaking with him.

  "Fortunate?" asked Tau, ignoring Hadith's behavior.

  "Think about it," he said, tapping his head. "The hedeni have launched a major invasion from the ocean. They must hope to race over The Fist, down the Crags, into Citadel City and then on to The Palm. They're trying to avoid our military by going over the water. They want to take the center of our valley and lay siege to our capital before our forces in The Wrist have time to react. And, with enough hedeni warriors, they could do it on any other grouping of days except for this grouping."