The Rage of Dragons (Book of the Burning)

by Evan Winter

  HEX

  The Queen's Guard, the ones in the courtyard, died. After the bloodbath, one of the Indlovu noticed the Queen, her cloud-white gown standing out in the dark, and many of them splintered off from the main group, rushing the stairs to the battlements. Kellan ordered the men with him to hold the stairs and asked Kana to stay back. Tau moved to obey, but the Queen took his wrist. Her skin was soft, warm, like ash from a recently cooled fire.

  "Will you stay with us, Tau Solarin?"

  "... my Queen," he said, after a breath's hesitation.

  She did not release his wrist. "Our thanks."

  Feeling taut as a kora's strings, Tau stood by while Kellan and his sword-brothers struggled to hold the stairs against a seething mass of Full-blooded Indlovu. He flinched and tensed with every hit that his brothers took. And, when Yaw was struck on his injured shoulder by a blow that sent him spinning to the battlement floor, Tau tested the Queen's hold. Her grip was firm, staying him.

  He looked at her, trying to convey his need. She saw him and looked back to the battle for the stairs. Her face was placid, but her chest heaved and her fingers were clenched.

  "My Queen," Nyah said, "you should leave the battlements. It won't be much longer."

  Tau thought the same. It would not be much longer.

  "Dear Nyah," Queen Tsiora said, voice steady. "There is nowhere to go."

  Nyah moved her head like a wind vane, seeing Odili's men outside the walls, inside the courtyard, and pushing up the stairs. The Queen was right.

  "Tau Solarin, if the time comes, we would ask a favor of you," Tsiora said.

  "My Queen," he said, wanting nothing more than to join his brothers.

  "When hope is lost, do not allow us to fall into our enemy's hands."

  "Tsiora!" said Nyah. "Queen Tsiora, no!"

  The Queen shushed her Vizier with a raised finger. "Tau Solarin, will you aid us in this matter?

  Kana watched the three of them like they had lost their minds. His spear was out and aimed towards the fighting, though he'd taken heed of Kellan and stayed out of it. He was waiting to hear what Tau would say.

  "I cannot do this," he told her.

  "Cannot?" she asked.

  "I will die first."

  She paused, surprised, but would not be dissuaded. "And leave us to be used then killed by those who wish us harm? We would be at Odili and his men's mercy, such as it would be."

  Tau could feel her shaking. Her grip was tight, but she was shaking.

  "I will not let them have you," he promised. "I will stop them."

  It shouldn't have worked. Anyone with sense could foresee the evening's end, and yet Tau's words settled her.

  "We have faith," she said, "in the Goddess and in those loyal to us."

  Silently, Nyah began to weep. Kana fidgeted with his spear. Kellan and the others had fallen back. Uduak was dragging Yaw with him. The stairs had been captured and Tau hated himself for making an impossible promise.

  The end was coming and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He was not so powerful, he thought, as the ground beneath his feet began to writhe and the sound of a hundred thunderclaps tore through the night.

  Indlovu were tossed from the stairs by the quake and Queen's Guards fell from the battlements. Tau pulled the Queen away from its edge, forcing her down. It sounded and felt like he was in the middle of an avalanche. Tau had seem them before. They were in the valley though and, lying on the floor of the battlements, he couldn't see what was going on. He heard the screams though. He heard the horror in the voices of the men below.

  Then, a torrent of blazing fire, a column of twisting flame, lit the sky. Even behind the battlements' thick walls, the fire's blistering heat curled the hairs on Tau's skin.

  "Goddess!" whimpered Nyah.

  "Fire-demon!" said Kana, on the ground beside Tau and the Queen.

  Tau stood, helping the Queen to her feet. He looked down on the courtyard. An entire section of it was gone, fallen away into a molten sinkhole from which the Youngling had crawled.

  The creature was, in turns, awe-inspiring and piteous. It was huge, but less than half the size of the Dragon that had burned the hedeni in Daba. It had open sores on its body and many of its shimmering black Scales were missing. Its wings were torn at the edges and its long sinuous neck was collared, though the bronze chain, that had held it in whatever prison from which it had escaped, was snapped in two.

  The Youngling roared at the sky and turned its baleful look on the courtyard's invading Indlovu, who were stunned to immobility. It opened its maw and belched a river of flames, incinerating thirty men. Tau had to cover his eyes, the fires were so bright and, when they died down, Tau saw that Odili's Indlovu were attacking the beast. The stupidity and bravery of it made Tau believe that, perhaps, the Chosen were the greatest fighting force on Uhmlaba.

  Tau's opinion, however, made no difference to the Youngling, which caught a man in its jaws, snapped him in two, snatched at another with the clawed tips of its foreleg and flung that man like a rock, smashing him to pieces against one of the Keep's walls. The Dragon roared again and the Indlovu, brave as they were, fell back. They knew what was to come. The knowledge did not save them. The Youngling breathed fire, turning the courtyard into an inferno.

  "No one should control such. No one," Kana said as Tau spotted the Youngling's handler.

  "Zuri," he whispered.

  Zuri had her hands out, fingers splayed, towards the Dragon and, from a hundred strides away, Tau could see the strain on her face.

  "What did you do?" Tau said. "What did you do... "

  Kellan, Hadith and Uduak had crawled over. Yaw was being tended by one of the Queen's Guard. His shoulder was a mess.

  "That is not a Central Mountain Dragon," Hadith said.

  "She freed the Youngling," Kellan added.

  "The coterie," Tau said. "Where is her Hex?"

  Uduak saw them first. "There."

  Tau followed Uduak's hand. The coterie were there, under guard by the five men Hadith had sent with Zuri.

  "They're not drawing energy from Isihogo," Tau said.

  "How can you know?" asked Hadith.

  "They don't have the look, the focus," answered Kellan.

  "Ah," said Hadith, bouncing his eyes from Zuri to the coterie and, no doubt, seeing the difference. "But, without a Hex..." Hadith paused, working it out. "She knew. There was no time to bring us Guardians from the Central Mountains. She knew from the start."

  "What did you do..." Tau whispered as the Youngling blew fire at Odili's retreating Indlovu and Zuri stumbled, only just keeping to her feet.

  Zuri directed it to the stairs and the Youngling scorched the Indlovu on them, leaving behind nothing but char and ashes. The Queen's Guard cheered, their voices holding an edge of hope and the Dragon whipped its head back and forth, looking for some unseen attacker.

  The Youngling had torn through the Indlovu and, no longer distracted, it was fighting Zuri's control, weakening her hold, demanding that she pull ever greater amounts of energy from Isihogo. It was collapsing her shroud.

  "It's Odili!" shouted Kellan.

  The wretch, along with four Indlovu, had emerged from one of the hallways leading to the courtyard. The Youngling was between him and the destroyed gates. He was trapped.

  "Kellan Okar," Queen Tsiora said. "We wish that traitor captured or killed."

  "My Queen!" Kellan signaled the men of Scale Jayyed and they headed for the stairs.

  Tau had seen Odili. He didn't care. Zuri had begun to bleed from her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.

  "What have you done?" Tau said, going to his knees, emptying his mind, and flying to Isihogo.

  EXPULSION

  The Youngling was there and its wings were not damaged, its scales were not missing. The Youngling looked powerful, indestructible. Zuri was in front of it, holding her hands out and up. It had to be impossible, that someone so small could command such a majestic creature. Yet, the Dragon heeled, thoug
h it would not for much longer.

  Zuri's shroud was little more than smoke before a breeze — thinning, vanishing, gone. And, there she was, beautiful, glowing like the sun at dusk, warm and filled with life. Tau had never seen her in Isihogo unshrouded. She was the purest, most magnificent of the Goddess' creations, and her light drew the demons in droves.

  Tau ran to her through the blasting winds and gray-colored landscape. He ran to her side, pulled loose his swords and steadied himself.

  "Leave!" he yelled to Zuri, struggling to be heard over the underworld's incessant storming.

  Zuri, still fought the Dragon for control. "I can't," she said, nodding at the Youngling, "She won't let me?"

  "They're coming."

  "I know. I'm sorry."

  The first demon had emerged from the mists. It charged them on six articulating legs. It had two sections of body — an abdomen and thorax, its head embedded where a man's chest would be. Its eyes, five of them, were fixed on Zuri and its mouth, a gaping hole edged by bone-like pincers stretched open. It snatched for her and Tau fought it back.

  "I'm sorry," Zuri said again.

  Tau yelled at the demon, slashing at it over and over, as the next monstrosity, this one slithering across the ground like some enormous worm, attacked. He cut for the new beast's head, but it avoided his blade and snapped back at him. Tau dodged and brought his strong-side sword crashing down on its back. It shrieked and retreated, giving Tau a chance to battle the six-legged freak.

  "I'm sorry," Zuri said, her golden glowing face filled with sorrow and fear. "I can't... I hope—"

  "No! Hold on," Tau screamed, wheeling out of the way of a third demon that stood like a man, but was covered in matted fur and had claws instead of hands. That one caught him, ripping into his upper right arm and tearing thumb-long gashes of flesh away. A fourth demon howled from the mists, snuffed the air, and careened on all fours towards Zuri.

  Tau couldn't do it. Hard as he fought, he could not keep the demons off them both. So, he made them want him more. He reached for Isihogo.

  "Tau!" Zuri shouted in a panic.

  Tau pulled as much energy as he could from Ananthi's prison. He filled himself with it to the bursting. He gorged until the power of it threatened to burn through him, until he shone brighter than a noonday sun.

  The demons stopped in their tracks, no longer interested in Zuri. Tau heard the grunts, howls, roars, and hisses from a hundred others in the mists and he stepped away from her, calling to them. "I am here for you, finally here in the flesh. Come, come if you dare!"

  They came.

  Tau lifted his swords. They blazed with the powers of the underworld, burning like they'd been dipped in tar and lit by torches and, with those fiery blades, he set upon Ukufa's thralls.

  He whirled and spun, thrust and swung, moving as fast as he was able, striking with as much power as he could muster. His blades burned the beasts and they shrank back from his blows.

  Tau felt triumph. Tau felt power. Tau felt that he could kill these demons with his Gift-infused swords and, if that was what was necessary to save Zuri, then it was what he would do.

  He sliced the arm from one demon, chopped the legs out from under another. He laughed. This was what it was to be a God. He swung again, connecting, he danced back, came forward, and a demon, one he did not see, lanced him through the back with several of its dozen spear-like protuberances.

  The pain coursed through Tau like a tsunami. It owned him and, when the thing he had not seen ripped its jagged limb out of him, the pain stole his senses. Tau stumbled away, swinging wildly. Through the haze of pain he saw Zuri, still there, still glowing. The Dragon had not released her.

  He looked down at his wound. The demon had him open from belly to groin. He swung about himself, doing what he could to keep monsters at bay. He tried to shout for Zuri, but didn't have the strength. His legs were going numb, his arms were heavy as boulders, and his breathing was labored. He was done and a new demon had come from the mists.

  It was twice Tau's height and covered in spikes from head to toe. It had no eyes and its head was horned. It could not see, but knew where Tau was. It tracked towards him. Tau forced his arms up, his swords blazing.

  "Do you bleed?" he spat, words daring and voice weak. "Shall we see?"

  Tau staggered towards the demon of spikes, going to his death. The demon roared. Tau roared back and there was a flash that lit up all of Isihogo, briefly banishing its mists and revealing horrors and monsters beyond Tau's darkest nightmares. The demon hordes were endless, out there in the distance, endless, and then the light was gone and Tau was joined by a Gifted in the heaviest shroud he had ever seen.

  "Tau Solarin," said his Queen. "You will die here."

  "Tsiora?" Tau spluttered, her honorific forgotten.

  "The Omehi line has ever been Gifted." She raised her hand and blasted him with something that felt like enervation twisted in on itself. It sucked his insides out and pulled him away from Isihogo.

  "Zuri!" he screamed.

  "We will try to save your friend," Queen Tsiora said, as she increased the strength of the blast, ejecting him from the underworld.

  LIMITS

  "Zuri!" Tau was on the ground. He didn't know why. He sat up and was assaulted by pain. Nyah came to his aid, holding him still.

  "Don't move, you're hurt," she said.

  Tau ran a quivering hand over his body. There was nothing to find.

  "He went to the spirit world! He was in the Reflection," said Kana.

  "He drew energy and was injured by a demon," Nyah said.

  "How is he alive?" asked Kana. "Is he a shaman? I thought only your women had these powers."

  "He has no Gifts. He's a fool, who has put our Queen in danger."

  Queen Tsiora was kneeling in front of Tau. Her eyes open, but sightless. Her focus in Isihogo.

  "So many lies," said Kana. "You claimed your Queens had lost their ability to Mirror."

  Tau had no time. He had to protect Zuri. He made a second attempt to stand and collapsed.

  "Stop it!" Nyah said. "You've a demon wound. You took in energy, didn't you? The damage the demon did to you in Isihogo has come into our world."

  Tau felt at his abdomen again, nothing.

  "It is psychic damage. It cannot be seen, but it can kill."

  "Help me," Tau said, reaching for Nyah.

  Nyah recoiled.

  "Help him, witch," Kana said, coming to Tau's aid. The men gripped wrists, Nyah glared, but helped, and they dragged Tau, groaning, to his feet and to the edge of the battlements.

  Behind Tau, Tsiora let out a deep sigh. Nyah left Tau's side and he would have fallen if not for Kana.

  "My Queen!" the Vizier said.

  "We are well," Tsiora said. "We must warn everyone away from the Youngling. It is no longer Entreated. It has been freed."

  She was alive, Tau saw. She was on her hands and knees in the courtyard, tears of blood etched on her weary face, but Zuri was alive.

  Not far from her, Kellan and what remained of Scale Jayyed were crossing the courtyard, making their way to Odili. They were careful to avoid coming too close to the Youngling, which seemed confused. It snuffed the air and moved its head back and forth, as if searching for something that had vanished.

  It was, Tau realized, still focused on Isihogo. It was searching for Zuri. It would not find her. Her soul was wholly in Uhmlaba.

  Odili shared the Youngling's confusion. He was searching for a way out of the noose tightening around his treacherous neck, but with Kellan and Scale Jayyed coming for him, he was trapped. Tau didn't care. Damn the man, he thought, as Zuri wobbled to her feet, looked up, and gave him a crooked smile. He had to get down to her.

  Tau took a step towards the stairs, muffled a yelp of pain, and crumpled against the battlement's crenellations.

  "You are injured," said Kana at the same time that Odili began to yell orders to his men.

  "What?" Tau asked, not willing to believe his
own ears. "What did he say?"

  Odili's men were hesitant, but his orders were their only chance and they followed them.

  "He...he told them to attack the Fire-demon," Kana said as Odili's Indlovu set upon the Youngling with their swords.

  The creature's reaction was instant. It left Isihogo, returning its senses to the world, and lashed out with a claw, killing one of Odili's men. It reared, blew flame into the sky and, when it came back down, Odili's men had retreated. They were running for the broken gates, Odili far in front.

  Kellan and Scale Jayyed went to intercept. They would catch him. They were closer to the gates. The Dragon roared and, seeing so many running men, it blew flame.

  Kellan was in front. He saw what was coming, yelled a warning to the Scale and dove aside. Uduak was running with Hadith and Themba. The three men were focused on Odili. They did not see the Dragon's twisting ropes of flame shooting towards them. Jabari, behind them and taller, did. He threw himself into the three men, knocking them down.

  The rest of the Scale were not so lucky. The Dragon's blast exploded outward smashing into a dozen of Tau's sword-brothers, killing them instantly. He saw Mshindi blown to pieces and another man, half his body on fire, flailed around screaming. It took Tau a breath, but he realized the burning man was Jabari. He'd fallen on top of Uduak, Hadith, and Themba. The edge of the Dragon's fire had caught him.

  The Youngling roared, preparing a second blast, this one to kill the men who had survived. Zuri shouted, drawing attention to herself. The Youngling swung its head to her and she raised her arms, the sleeves of her black Gifted robes falling to her elbows. Zuri was back in Isihogo, drawing power, and the Youngling stiffened, caught on a puppet master's strings. The second blast of fire did not come.

  "It's too soon," Tau whispered, and it was.

  Zuri's invisible strings broke and the Dragon had its tormentor. It shot fire at Zuri and there wasn't time for her to flinch. One breath she was there, arms outstretched, robes billowing against the incoming inferno, her skin glowing with reflected light, her eyes sparkling, beautiful, a woman beyond measure. Then, the Youngling's fire hit, incinerating her, blasting her from existence.