The Adventurer's Guide to Dragons (and Why They Keep Biting Me)

by Wade Albert White

  “Does the forge operate on its own, too, like the security grid?” asked Anne.

  “No,” said the Construct. “It most definitely does not.”

  The humming grew to a crescendo and then abruptly ceased. The flashing light changed from red to green, and somewhere a bell chimed. Everyone stepped back as the giant door swung slowly open. Inside, rotating in the air in the center of the cube, hung an eight-foot gleaming blade.

  The Three-Handed Sword of the Guardian had been reforged.

  “Wow,” said Penelope. “That’s the most awesomest sword I’ve ever seen in even my whole life.”

  “Too awesome for proper grammar, apparently,” said Hiro, and Penelope elbowed him in the ribs.

  “But—but how did it get in there?” asked Anne.

  “I do not know,” said the Construct. “This is very troubling.”

  Suddenly, a large figure emerged from the shadows behind them.

  It was Rokk.

  “Please stand aside,” he said.

  As before, Rokk didn’t show any sign that he knew who Anne, Penelope, and Hiro were.

  “Why should we?” said Penelope.

  While Anne appreciated Penelope’s courage, she wasn’t sure it was such a great idea to provoke a ten-foot-tall robot that hadn’t exactly been functioning properly as of late. That was the sort of thing that got you squashed.

  “I am the Guardian,” said Rokk. “The Three-Handed Sword belongs to me.”

  “And what are you going to do with it?” asked Anne.

  Rokk’s eyes glowed red. “Kill the queen.”

  Psychopathic killer robots don’t make good friends.

  —Lyrics from “Psychopathic Killer Robots Don’t Make Good Friends,” by the bard formerly known as That Guy Who Played in the Local Tavern One Time

  The Knights of Saint Lupin’s

  We can’t let you do that,” said Anne.

  “You cannot stop me,” said Rokk.

  “He’s got a point there,” said Hiro.

  Something clanked above them, and Anne looked up. The six Copper Knights were standing on a catwalk directly overhead. They leapt off and landed next to Rokk. Each held its staff at the ready, prepared to send out a lightning bolt at the least provocation.

  “Do as he commands,” said one of the knights. “Step aside and give us the sword.”

  “Or else what?” said Penelope.

  In reply, the knight fired a bolt of lightning from its staff, hitting the floor and leaving a black scorch mark.

  Penelope nodded. “Fair enough. I was just confirming.”

  Valerian leaned over and whispered into Anne’s ear. “Like before. You three grab the sword. I’ll deal with them.”

  Before Anne could reply, Valerian transformed into a red dragon and charged at Rokk and the knights. Even though Valerian had done the exact same thing to the knights only a few hours before, the surprise attack still caught them off guard. Valerian bowled over three of the knights and sent Rokk stumbling backward before they could react. Rokk quickly recovered, however, and tackled the red dragon around the neck, twisting him and forcing him against the wall. The three knights who had managed to remain on their feet each grabbed a leg and tried to pull the red dragon to the ground.

  “We need to help him,” shouted Penelope.

  “No,” said Anne. “Come with me.”

  Anne charged into the forge and grabbed for the sword. As soon as she touched it, the sword dropped out of the air, but it was too heavy to hold. The hilt struck the floor, and the sword toppled over and clanged onto the ground. Penelope ran over, and they tried to lift it. Hiro joined them, but even with the three of them lifting, they were barely able to raise it an inch. Finally, they dropped it.

  “How are we supposed to get out of here with that thing?” asked Hiro.

  The Construct approached Anne. “I might be able to gain control of the Copper Knights. There is a terminal in here that will allow me to link directly with the forge’s network. It has a small button at the back. You need only press it.”

  “Why can’t you do it?”

  “My programming does not allow me to take a course of action that could potentially damage this structure.”

  Anne scanned the room. “Where is it?”

  The Construct pointed to a gray box next to the back wall, past where Rokk and the knights were fighting with the red dragon.

  “It figures,” said Anne. She turned to Penelope and Hiro. “Get the sword out of here.”

  Anne peeked out the door. The red dragon had one knight clutched in each of his front paws, and he expelled a burst of fire at Rokk, who rolled away to avoid the flames.

  It was now or never. Anne dashed for the back wall, leaping over a fallen knight and ducking under a twirling staff that bounced off the wall. She reached the gray box and ran her hand down the back until she located a small indentation. She pressed in with her finger and felt it lock into place.

  “And just what do you think you’re doing?” said a voice.

  One of the knights reached for her, but she spun out of its grasp and ran back to help Penelope and Hiro with the sword. The knight gave chase, but it was forced to stop its pursuit when the red dragon landed across its path. The dragon righted himself and swung his tail at the knight, knocking it off its feet.

  Anne reached the Construct.

  “It’s done,” said Anne.

  The Construct nodded.

  “Okay,” said Anne. “Anytime now.”

  “Yes,” said the Construct.

  Anne could tell Valerian was tiring from his battle with the knights and Rokk. He had already held on to his dragon form far longer than before, and Anne doubted he had much more fight left in him.

  “Are you going to take control of the knights or not?” she asked.

  “I am trying,” said the Construct.

  Anne frowned. “I thought you said you could stop them.”

  “I am unable to establish a connection.”

  Anne looked on helplessly as the battled raged. The red dragon pounced on two of the knights, but they rolled aside and targeted him with their staffs. The dragon howled in pain as the lightning bolts struck his flanks. Two knights grabbed Penelope and Hiro and held them captive.

  “There is another possibility,” said the Construct. “An electromagnetic pulse might temporarily sever the connection and incapacitate them. You did it once before, when you destroyed the dragonflies on your previous quest. Be aware, however, that it will also adversely affect any unshielded electronics in the vicinity.”

  “Does that include Rokk?” asked Anne, suddenly fearful for the robot’s life.

  “I cannot be certain. You must decide which is more important right now: your friend, or preventing the knights from completing their mission.”

  How could Anne possibly choose? In their short time together, Rokk had become a good friend. More than that: He had become like family. How could she knowingly hurt him? And yet, if he could speak for himself in this moment, his true self, she knew he would tell her to do whatever she had to in order to stop the knights, even if it meant hurting him.

  Anne looked at Rokk and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

  Anne tried to remember how she had sent out the pulse before. She recalled feeling utterly overwhelmed and just wishing the attacks would stop. She willed the pulse to activate, but nothing happened.

  “Activate electromagnetic pulse,” she said, but still nothing happened.

  Rokk delivered a devastating blow, and the red dragon fell to the floor, where he transformed back into human form. One of the knights picked up its staff and walked over to the prone form of Valerian. It aimed the staff directly at him.

  “Stop!” screamed Anne.

  A wall of blue energy burst forth from the gauntlet and swept through the room. The knights froze in place, and Penelope and Hiro escaped from their grasp. Anne had done it. Or had she? One of the figures still moved:

  Rokk.

 
Anne was equal parts relieved and terrified—Rokk had survived the electromagnetic pulse, but what would he do next? As if in answer, Rokk stepped past Anne to where the Three-Handed Sword lay on the floor. He picked it up with ease, his three hands wrapping around the hilt perfectly. Then one of his hands opened a panel in his side, reached in, and brought out the dragon stone. Emmanuelle’s last breath. Before Anne could speak, Rokk inserted the stone into the pommel of the sword. There was a brief flash, and the entire blade glowed blue. Without a word, Rokk turned and sprinted from the room.

  Anne started after him.

  “Wait!” said the Construct.

  “But he’s getting away,” said Anne.

  “You will not be able to catch him. Even if you could, you would not have the strength to overpower him.”

  Anne slumped against the door of the forge. “Then they’re still going to win.”

  “Not necessarily,” said the Construct. She motioned for Anne to follow her.

  The Construct approached a Copper Knight and pointed to a small circle on the back of the knight’s collar. In it was an engraving of a bird with its wings outstretched, and beneath the circle were inscribed four words:

  MAGICKAL ALL-TERRAIN RECONNAISSANCE VEHICLE

  Next to the words were a letter and a number: A1.

  “Do you see this image?” asked the Construct.

  Anne shrugged. “It’s a sparrow, I think.”

  “Watch this.”

  The Construct pushed on the circle, which turned out to be a button. With a hissing noise, a seam appeared down the center of the knight’s back, as if by magick. The armor plates on either side of the seam retracted, creating an opening. Without warning, a man fell backward out of the knight. Anne jumped aside to avoid being squashed as the man collapsed onto the floor. He was pale and disheveled, but Anne recognized him.

  It was Niles Twinkletoes, the Lord Chamberlain of the Sapphire Palace.

  Anne knelt next to the Lord Chamberlain. His chest was rising and falling. Oddly, he was still in the same clothes he had worn to the awards ceremony several days ago.

  Penelope peered over Anne’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s that old guy from the royal palace. How did he get in there?”

  How, indeed? Anne’s mind reeled.

  “I suggest checking the other knights as well,” said the Construct.

  Anne, Penelope, and Hiro quickly hurried over to the other knights. Each knight was labeled as the first one, except each one had its own unique number, A2 through A6. As they pressed the buttons, five more people tumbled out of the other metal suits. They all turned out to be committee members from the awards ceremony.

  “How did they end up inside the knights?” said Penelope. “Is this who we’ve been fighting all along?”

  Anne, Penelope, and Hiro looked at Valerian, who was now conscious and sitting up.

  “I had no idea there were people inside,” he said. “I thought they were empty.”

  Anne recalled the events in the library. “You arrived while the ceremony was going on. The committee members definitely weren’t inside them then. They were still on stage.”

  “And they were still there after the knights left, too,” added Penelope.

  “Maybe the knights returned to the capital and kidnapped them later,” suggested Hiro, “while Valerian was traveling with us.”

  “Maybe,” said Valerian, but his tone was doubtful. Nor did Anne believe that was the case. She felt certain something else was going on, but she couldn’t put her finger on what. She turned to the Construct.

  “How did you know they would be in there?” said Anne.

  “I didn’t,” said the Construct.

  “But you at least knew there could be people inside.”

  “Of course. What you refer to as iron knights, or in this particular case as Copper Knights, are in reality Old World power suits. They can be operated manually by someone called a pilot. If necessary, each power suit can place its pilot in temporary stasis, which is like freezing them in time. Given the current condition of the committee members, I would suggest this is what happened.”

  “But if the committee members were frozen this whole time, how were the knights moving and talking?”

  The Construct smiled grimly. “I believe the answer to that question will prove very interesting.”

  The Lord Chamberlain roused. Anne and Penelope helped him into a sitting position.

  “Where am I?” he asked groggily.

  “On a tier very far from the capital,” said Anne. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

  He reached up a wobbly hand to scratch the side of his head. “I remember getting dressed for the awards ceremony. Walking onto the stage. After that? Not too much, I’m afraid.”

  “Do you recall being attacked by the Copper Knights?”

  A look of concern crossed his face. “There’s been an attack?”

  “I don’t think he’s going to be much help,” said Penelope.

  Anne agreed, and she realized they didn’t have much time. Rokk was on his way to kill the queen. If they couldn’t stop him, they at least needed to find a way to warn her.

  Anne turned to Valerian. “Can you send us to the dragon tier by fireball?”

  Valerian shook his head. “Sorry, but I can barely stand, let alone transform again. I need time to recover.”

  They couldn’t wait. Then another way sprang to Anne’s mind.

  “Valerian, you said there was an archway above the throne room that none of the other dragons know about,” said Anne.

  “Yes,” said Valerian. “What of it?”

  “How long would it take to reach it?”

  Valerian thought about this. “Well, we collapsed the cave behind us, so we can’t go back through the archway that brought us here. The next-closest archway is at least a six-hour hike from the city. Then it’s another three hours through the Never-Ending Maze from that point to get to the archway that leads to the throne room. By that time, we’ll be too late.”

  “Not necessarily,” said Anne with a smile.

  Six Copper Knights exited the city at a dead run. Anne took the lead, followed by Penelope, Hiro, and Valerian. Because they would be going out of the range of the remote terminal, the Construct uploaded herself into the fifth knight in order to accompany them. The Lord Chamberlain was operating the sixth. He had recovered sufficiently to travel and decided that operating one of the Copper Knights “looked like a hoot.” Although the remaining committee members had also regained consciousness, there were no more suits available, so they had to remain behind.

  Much to Anne’s amazement, the knight she was piloting fit her perfectly. As soon as she climbed inside, the knight seemed to shrink to fit her body, even though Penelope assured her that from the outside it looked the same size it had been all along. Everyone else reported a similar phenomenon. The interior of each knight transformed to fit its pilot. Perhaps they were like the treasure chest that had contained the pieces of the Three-Handed Sword: The inside didn’t necessarily match the outside.

  After the back of the knight closed behind Anne, a series of panels on the interior of the helmet lit up all around her, showing her images of the outside. Then a band of light appeared around her head, and she found herself instantly in control. When she walked, the knight walked, and when she spoke, everyone could hear her.

  They covered ground quickly and reached the archway in a little over thirty minutes. This one was built into the side of a hill. Once in the maze, it took them only another fifteen minutes of travel to reach the archway Valerian had said led to the throne room.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” asked Valerian. “You’ll be returning to a tier full of angry dragons who tried to execute you.”

  “We’re the Knights of Saint Lupin’s!” cried Penelope. “We laugh in the face of danger!”

  Anne smiled. It was hard to argue with that.

  She exited her knight just long enough to activate the archway’s b
lack pillar and allow the glass sphere to scan the eye. The archway opened, and they proceeded through in single file. The space on the other side of the archway was dark and cramped, especially for six Copper Knights.

  “Hey, quit shoving,” said Penelope.

  “Sorry,” Hiro replied.

  The “wall” in front of the group consisted of large scraps of metal and giant coils of wire and tubes. Light filtered through various cracks, and Anne found one large enough to provide a mostly unobscured view of the throne room.

  “Is it clear?” asked Valerian.

  Their plan was to enter the throne room when it was empty, seek out the queen, and present her with everything they knew (or at least everything they thought they knew). Unfortunately, the throne room was packed with dragons.

  “No,” Anne responded. “It looks like something’s happening.”

  A dragon guard entered and took up a position near the door.

  “Your Majesty,” said the guard. “The committee from the Hierarchy has arrived.”

  “Show them in,” said the queen.

  The guard spoke to someone outside the door, and a moment later a group of people entered. Anne recognized them as the members of the awards committee, but that didn’t make sense. How could the committee members possibly have beaten them here, especially without any form of transportation? Even more baffling, the Lord Chamberlain was with them. How could he be in two places at once?

  “Imposter!” said the Lord Chamberlain next to Anne with indignation.

  The Lord Chamberlain in the throne room stepped forward and unrolled a scroll. As he did, Anne caught a glint of light. When she looked at the other committee members, brief flashes of light came from them as well. Was it just the way the torchlight was striking them?

  Then it struck her. “I—I think they might be holograms,” she said.

  “Who?” asked Penelope.

  “The committee members in the throne room. When they move a certain way, I can see brief flashes of light, like when the Construct moves around.”