by Scott King
"What is that?" Cooke asked.
"A very special flower filled with more magic than you could ever imagine. This is the same kind of flower that Medrayt used to put the dragons under his control."
"Why do you have it?"
"I was going to use the same spell Medrayt used and take the dragons for myself. I was going to be the new dragon lord. It is what the Sisters want." Carter opened his other hand revealing the spell stone.
The dragon took a catlike stance. Its knees bent, ready to spring and attack. "Why haven't you used the spell?"
"Too much. It's all too much. The things I saw on Kale. The things I saw before getting there. I don't want any of it. I want to go home to Master Owen. I want to see my friends, Allison and Dale. I don't want to be a hero. I don't want to risk my life. I want to go home." Carter placed the spell and the Dragon Lotus on the ground. He then backed away from them with his arms raised. "Can I please go home?"
The dragon relaxed. Carter took it as a sign that Medrayt had agreed to the deal. Cooke must have come to the same conclusion because she threw down a pair of manacles. "Put those on and bring me the stone and petal. If what you are saying is true, I'm sure Medrayt will let you go home."
Carter clanked the cold iron around both his wrists. He picked up the Dragon Lotus and stone, carrying them to Cooke. "Please make him understand, I didn't know what I was getting into. I was foolish. I let the idea of controlling my own army of dragons blind me. I don't want that much power. The power to destroy islands and cities on a whim. The one who controls that much power would be unstoppable, and I couldn't handle it."
"The power has a price beyond that." Cooke stared at the blossom. "Medrayt has paid it tenfold."
"He is strong then," Carter said.
"He was strong." Her voice quivered. There was regret and pain there. She cared for Medrayt. That could be a problem.
Cooke flipped the petal between two fingers. "The spell. Is it for real? It would have let you take control of the dragons?"
"Yes."
"What do you want to do with the boy?" Cooke leaned forward speaking to the dragon's aura. Carter was sure then that she could see it.
The dragon turned its back to Carter. At first Carter was terrified, thinking it meant he was supposed to come with them, but then he realized it was a pass. Medrayt was letting him go.
"Are you sure?" Cooke asked the dragon. Her high tone suggested she was as shocked as Carter.
The dragon flapped its wings and leapt into the air.
This was it. It all came down to this.
Carter watched, refusing to blink.
Magic erupted from Cooke.
She had done it! She had taken the bait and tried to take control of the dragons. Though from the way she had acted, Carter thought maybe it hadn't been to betray Medrayt, but done in some way to help him.
Beams of power, shot through the air and struck the dragons. On impact, the auras splintered, exploding like fireworks. Glittering bursts of light filled the sky, merging and mixing.
Through closed eyelids, the brightness of the energy burned Carter's pupils.
When it faded, he opened his eyes again.
Across the city, he saw the dragons snap out of their mechanical movements. Many shook their heads or reared back, retreating confused. Some lashed out at nearby soldiers as if they were the ones to blame.
A big black dragon, with scales the color of midnight and tiny clusters of red, landed in front of Carter. It had no aura, and it looked at him with its head tilted.
"Woah," Carter held up his shackled hands. "I mean no trouble. I'm sure you are confused, and I'd be happy to explain. See–"
The dragon whipped its tail at Carter.
His ribs crunched.
Pain shot through his chest, and he flew backward.
Carter hit the ground hard, dislocating his shoulder and cracking his head on a rock. Everything went black.
46
Burned Out
Allsday, 33rd of Winewen, 1162.111
Carter awoke in a warm bed. Not his own, but still, it was a bed, and it had been months since he had slept in a real bed. Blinking, he looked around the room and did not recognize it. The walls were stone, though heavy tapestries covered most of them. One, he was sure, was of The Silver Lady.
"'Bout time," Owen said. He sat in a chair, no not a chair. Carter wasn't sure what it was. It was as if a chair and a couch had hooked up and made a baby. Owen seemed relaxed in it. In one hand, he held a cup of tea, and in the other a book. Setting the book down, he looked to Carter. "Don't move fast. You took a nasty blow to the head."
Carter touched the back of his head and felt pain. He also felt no hair and a long line of stitches. "Did you have to shave it?"
"It's superficial and will grow back. Better to be bald for a time, though you don't pull it off like I do." Owen fluffed his shoulder as if clearing away invisible locks of hair.
"It's over?" Carter asked.
"For now."
"Doug and Alex?"
"They are safe," Owen said. "I was told Doug was pretty rough, bleeding from fighting off dragons, but at dawn when he changed into a human his wounds healed. Fascinating magic there. I've since observed the change myself. In all the years I've lived, I've not seen anything like it."
"How bad is the city? How many people died."
"Too many."
"I'm sorry," Carter said. "I'm sorry we didn't save more lives."
"You did the best you could, and in the end, you still freed the dragons."
"I didn't," Carter said.
"What?" Owen sounded taken back, surprising him wasn't something Carter ever found easy to do.
"We had..." Carter trailed off. "There was this thing and creatures and a flaming sun. I used my magic, and we escaped, but I burned it out. I can't do a basic agyl anymore."
"Then how did you free the dragons from Medrayt's control?"
"I didn't do it. I tricked a woman, Cooke, into doing it. She is the one who broke the spell."
Owen took a sip of his tea.
Carter lowered his head.
"See the lamp in the corner?" Owen asked.
"Yeah."
"When you look at it, what do you see?"
"An agyl emitting light."
"You can see the actual thread?"
"Yes."
"Then your magic is not burned out. Merely blocked."
"For how long?"
"I don't know. Could be a week. Could be a century. Depends. I once had a block for ten years." Owen shivered. "Worst ten years of my life."
"How do you know it means I'm blocked and not burned out?"
"Because when I look at the lamp, I can't see the agyl."
"Master Owen!" Carter's mouth hung open. "Are you sure?"
"I've been able to see magic my whole life. I know when I can't see it anymore."
"But–"
"I've led a long life, you know that, right?"
"I've assumed, but you've never told me the details."
"There is only so much one man can do to change the world. I've put in my dues and paid prices more horrible than you can imagine." Owen leaned back and let out a long, slow breath. "I'm tired. This isn't a bad thing. It is my reward."
"I'm sorry." Carter said, not knowing what else to say.
Carter had to suffer through two days of bed rest before Owen would let him out of the room. Alex came by once to make sure he was alright, but otherwise, she was too busy doing whatever things a princess had to do.
It's not that Carter was mad or felt slighted by her. It was that he felt guilty. He had never seen Elene, so he had no idea what the city looked like when in full splendor, but he had seen the destruction. He knew how much rebuilding and how much help the people would need to put their lives back together. He wished he could be by Alex's side or down on the streets doing whatever he could to make things better.
On release, Carter went to the palace stables. They had been emptied o
f animals to give Doug a place to stay. It was the only place big enough for him to transform without risking structural damage.
The sun shone brightly without a cloud in the sky, but it was cool. Fall was on its way out, and already a winter breeze swept through the city.
Entering the stable yard, Carter smelled citrus, which was a comfort since he had been expecting the musk of animals. If Doug had been living there for a week or so, it shouldn't have been a surprise.
"Doug?" Carter called out.
A clanking sound came from inside one of the three barns. The double doors flew open, and Doug walked out. He wiped his hands on a floral apron and set down a metal bucket.
"Carter!"
Doug smiled. An actual smile.
"What are you doing?" Carter asked.
"Making use of my reward for saving the kingdom."
Carter shielded his eyes from the bright sunlight and peered into the barn. It was mostly empty, with high windows keeping it well lit. The only thing in the whole place was a goat wearing a leash tied to a post.
"About time." Carter clapped his hands. "This whole vegetarian thing is stupid."
"Nester isn't for eating!" Doug slapped Carter in the back of the head. "I'm milking it. The kitchen staff is teaching me how to make five kinds of cheese."
Carter couldn't tell if the goat was the reward, or if it was the cheese-making lessons.
"I need to head down to the market, if you want to come. I've been thinking that a bit of herbs, maybe parsley or sage, could really boost the cheese's flavor."
"I'll walk for a bit," Carter said. "Master Owen only gave me a limited release. I'm supposed to be back in an hour. Though I gotta say you have the strangest priorities."
"You make do with what you got." Doug held up his fat hands and wiggled his fingers. "I figure if I'm going to be human for half the day, I should at least get something out of it."
"How is the whole, dragon by night, human by day thing going?"
"I keep ruining clothes," Doug said. "It would be much easier if I could go about naked, but people keep getting upset. Indirect sunlight is enough to keep me human, but if I'm in a dark, enclosed space, I'll revert to being a dragon. That was a weird day when we figured that out."
Doug would be alright. At least that wouldn't weigh on Carter's conscious.
"I'm sorry," Carter said. "I'm sorry for that day in the cave. I dragged you into this whole mess. Alex and I got ourselves into it, but it was forced upon you because of my stupidity, and I'm sorry."
"It's what it is." Doug said. "No hard feelings."
Carter and Doug passed through the palace gates. Sweaty workers, who were making repairs, stared at Doug for a moment before gathering their things and walking away.
"What was that?" Carter asked.
"Word is out about me. They know I'm a dragon."
"Don't they know you helped save the city?"
"No one cares. They know I'm a dragon. It is all that matters."
"You know, with this all over, you can go home."
"That's the idea," Doug said. "Once you are better and once the memorial happens, I plan to fly you and Owen back to Hal. I can't wait to get back to my cave."
Carter hadn't meant the cave in Hal. He had meant home to the other dragons, and he was pretty sure Doug knew that was what he had meant, but Carter let it go. "I've not seen Alex much. How is she doing about Gideon?"
Doug shrugged. "We don't talk about those kinds of things."
"What was the last thing you talked about?"
"Poop."
"Like the stuff that comes from your butt?"
"If humans poop from somewhere else, I've been doing it wrong."
"Why were you and Alex talking about poop?"
"There were hundreds of dragons here," Doug said. "They were here for over a week. Usually a dragon is aware of where it poops. Dragon poops can be acidic and often solidify, becoming impossible to remove once it melds with an object. So there is a lot of dragon poop all over the city, and they are struggling to clean it up."
Carter thought back to their journey from Kale to Elene. Whenever Doug had to go to the bathroom, he did land, leave, and come back for them when done. Carter hadn't thought to ask about the details.
“Alex wanted me to tell you the soldiers searched the city and the refugee camp,” Doug said. “No one matching Cooke's description has been spotted. I still think she must have died casting the spell, or the dragon she had been riding killed her.
"I guess," Carter said. "I just don't like knowing she might still be out there."
Doug looked west, toward Kale. "I know how you feel."
47
Requiem
Isleday, 5th of Repare, 1162.111
You don't have to do this," Alex's father said as he adjusted the right pauldron of her ceremonial armor.
"I disagree." Alex buffed a smudge from her azure breastplate. Utterly impractical, Arwyn's crest had been burned in its center with a glowing band of white light. If she ever wore something so silly in a real battle, it would do nothing but make her a target. Yet today was about image. The breastplate conveyed strength to her people, which they badly needed now.
"I'll be right beside you." He kissed her forehead.
"I know."
Her father walked through the curtain first. He announced her, and a rumble of cheers and stomping followed. She waited, hoping it would die down, but when it didn't, she parted the curtains and passed through them.
Alex took her place at the front of the pulpit. Below her, people filled the streets of the city. She saw men and woman of all ages. She saw kids sitting on adults' shoulders and elders being supported by their families. These people. They were why she had left Elene. It was for them, and now she got to tell them it was over.
"People of Elene." Alex spoke, and the crowd grew quiet. "What you have experienced has been unfair and unjust. It has been tragic. Every one of you has experienced loss, but the time of fear and of hiding is over. I am pleased to say the dragon threat has ended."
Screams of joy erupted from the crowd.
"This will not be easy," she said. "But in time, we will heal. We are Arwynians, after all. We are strong. Proud. Maybe a bit too proud, but we are survivors."
Laughter sounded in the streets.
"Never forget those who gave their lives, not only for our city, but for our kingdom." Alex took a deep breath and spun, taking in the monument for the first time. The smooth stone forming the obelisk was white, reaching higher than the inner walls of the city and was as wide as a full city block.
Doug and Carter entered from behind the curtain. Both were dressed finer than she'd ever seen them. Oddly, it didn't fit. Lace and embroidery did not suit them ,and yet Carter had an extra bounce in his step. For some reason, he was a fan of frilly clothes.
Carter stopped in front of her, holding a leather bound book open, while Doug stood beside him holding a single inkwell with a quill resting within it.
"We will write the names of those we have lost in this book so they will be remembered." Alex shook excess ink off the quill. In clear plain text, she wrote Gideon of Elene. As she formed the letters, the walls of the monument illuminated, and Gideon's name appeared, carved in elegant letters in the stone.
Alex didn't know how the monument worked, only that her kingdom's agyl masters, under Owen's guidance, had created it. In multiple ways, it was a work of art.
"This memorial does not bring back our loved ones." Alex's eyes watered as she thought of Gideon. "It doesn't make the pain of losing them hurt any less, but it ensures that, for generations, their sacrifice and valor will never be forgotten."
Alex didn't fight back the tears. She allowed them to fall and didn't bother wiping them away.
Epilogue
Turned out better than we thought."
"Did it?"
"The major players lived, even Kane."
"Can you call what she is experiencing living?"
"S
he can only blame herself. We didn't want this path. We didn't want the shoel to awaken yet. She and Medrayt brought this course early."
"Should we warn them?"
"They will know soon enough."
"Besides, on Kale they made it clear they want nothing to do with us."
"But we can't let them proceed without guidance."
"Of course not."
"I say we send an emissary."
"Medrayt lives. There are paths in which his way could still bring us what we want."
"He still has a small contingent of the dragons under his control. He could aid our ducklings."
"Can't trust him. I'd much rather send Friday."
"He is too busy."
"Then who?"
"Look down the paths, sisters. Look at the horrors to come. We need someone who can offer guidance, even when they are out of our reach."
"Stop being coy. Who do you suggest?"
"The Destroyer.”
"It is no longer indebted to us. It most likely hates us."
"For now, but things have a way of changing."
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Author’s Note
I was a freshman in college when I stumbled upon the idea of a fat dragon. Dragons are always big and scary, but never fat. You never hear of an obese dragon. Dragons would be top tier predators. They could eat as much as they wanted. I've seen plenty of fat dogs, cats, and other animals. So why not dragons?