by Amy Bearce
All the eyes in the street bore down on her. She felt their weight but had nothing else to offer them. Then Corbin clasped her shoulder, giving her a hard squeeze. He believed in her. His presence gave her strength.
She touched his hand in silent thanks, gathered her wits, and tried again. “I’ve met this Dragon myself. He made a lot of threats and promises he can’t keep. And he’s wrong. We must honor the magic in our lands. Stealing from our magical brethren isn’t an option anymore.”
Anger was beginning to heat the forge in her belly. The familiar feeling gave her power to stand tall.
A bearded man she didn’t recognize shouted, “We’re better than any fairy fanatic or fish-lover. If we ruled over them all, life would be better. The Dragon’s got that part right.”
He came closer. He had the look of a crew member, with heavy scarring on his hands and arms. The growing crowd tightened, muttering among themselves. Two more men stepped out of the pub, hands on their swords.
“And who is this Dragon? Do you even know?” Nell asked.
The bearded man sneered. “What do you care? You’ve not been here in four or five months, Nell. The Dragon’s been talking to folks around here about lots of things. He makes sense. We’ve made our choice.”
“Sounds to me like this Dragon’s just preying on your fears,” Sierra snapped. “Is that who you want to serve? The people of Aluvia have no kings.”
“He says he can bring us untold riches. He’ll keep us safe from the dragons.”
Corbin spoke up. “And is life so bad now? Have you actually been threatened by any dragons, other than his?”
Nell scanned the area. More people had arrived, filling the only road out of the port.
The butcher said, “Life’s been better. Cost of everything’s gone way up since the merfolk started charging for things that used to be free, and our healers say a little nectar in their potions could help cure plenty of illnesses faster.”
Nell tried once more. “If we lose magic again, life will be far worse than now. Have you forgotten the earthquakes?”
The bearded man replied, “If we lose our homes, it’ll be worse sooner rather than later. Better to move with the tide and take our chances.”
The crowd whispered among themselves. The crew members had definitely been preparing the way for their new master.
Nell looked over at the horizon again, and this time, a shape had taken form. Dots in the distance grew larger, the same deep blue as the sea, but high in the sky. They were large, with wings.
Corbin followed her gaze, along with Sierra. They both stiffened.
“Is that―?” Sierra began.
“Dragons.” Corbin bit out the word.
Nell’s mind finally made sense of the shapes, and she stifled a gasp. The wide bodies were clear now, along with the pointed wings and long tails. Three dragons. Though they looked small from this distance, she knew each would be as big as a cottage.
She narrowed her eyes at the dark speck on the back of the biggest. A man riding it, the Dragon himself, no doubt.
Everyone needed to run. Nell opened her mouth to shout, but she couldn’t move. The voice rose up through her without warning.
The prophetic voice spoke, loudly, urgently to the crowd, “It’s not too late! Reject the enemy and stay faithful to what you know is true! If you return to your old ways, all of Aluvia will suffer. My children, my people, do not forget who you are!”
“Who we are?” the butcher yelled. “We’re dead. Unless your magic can save us from those beasts right now!”
The voice relinquished its control of her body. Nell gasped and stood stunned, unable to move. Help us defeat the Dragon! Nell cried to the voice. Prove yourself!
You must show them the way. You can do it. The voice came quickly.
I don’t know how! Nell yelled back in her mind, prickles of sweat beading her brow.
The butcher shook his head, eyes narrowing. “The Dragon was right. You’re a fraud. He may be a hard master, but least he’ll give us back our dignity. Any leader’s better than you.”
Nell dragged in a breath and threw back her shoulders. “No. I’ll protect you from him and his dragons. We must continue to preserve the world’s magic. The voice has said so.”
The dragons were closer now, in a triangle formation. White mist blew from their noses like fog, the source of white flashes she’d seen. The man on the back of the lead dragon wore solid black. She waited for the voice to speak, to inspire, to give hope. But there was silence.
So she made a promise, just from her. “I might not be able to defeat him today, not with those dragons, but I’ll find a way. I’ll help you take back your city even if he claims it.”
“Big words for a little girl.” Jasper stepped out of the crowd.
Nell reached for her dagger. “Following me, now, Jasper?” Her lip curled in a snarl of loathing.
He laughed, but it held no humor. “What, no fairies to protect you, little fanatics?” Jasper sneered at Sierra and Corbin. “That’s okay. If Nell gives herself up, the rest of you can go. He doesn’t care about you, not even you keepers. He’s beyond you now.”
Sierra stepped closer. “Nell’s not going anywhere.”
“Oh, so you’ll let all these nice people die, then? If Nell doesn’t submit, the Dragon won’t show them mercy.” He waved his hand back toward the inner city streets.
Sierra and Corbin exchanged horrified glances.
“You’re lying,” Nell said.
“Was I lying about the dragons flying toward us right this minute? I told you I’m in tight with him. I know his plans, see, and they don’t end with this one puny port. Why would I lie?”
Nell said, “You lie because that’s what liars do.”
The butcher scowled, holding his weeping wife. “I think that ‘voice’ of yours is the liar. You’ve done nothing for us but tell us what to do, how to live.”
During this exchange, an even larger crowd had gathered in the street, spilling into the square. People cried out at the sight of the approaching dragons, bracing against their door frames. Their eyes turned calculating as they stared at her, then back at the approaching threat. Nell took in their expressions, and her lips pressed into a hard line.
Jasper turned to the crowd. “Let’s hand over Nell to the Dragon and live! Take back our lands from the wretched magical creatures pushing us from the sea and mountains! She’s already proven she’s worthless when it really matters! Who will save you? Not Nell! The Dragon! The Dragon!”
he faces in the square warmed with hope. Nell could tell they’d hand her over in a heartbeat, but she had no intention of giving herself up without a fight. “You know that going back to the old ways would destroy our world. Giving me up to him won’t prevent that.”
“The only ones benefiting these days are you and your fanatic friends,” Jasper said. “The people here are finally seeing through you, Nell. I told you they wouldn’t love you forever.”
She cursed under her breath. He was right. There was no easy way out of this now. Retreat would be the smart thing to do, but not enough people would be able to escape even if she convinced them to abandon the port. The best she could do was try to spare most of them.
Nell whispered to her friends, “You all run. Regroup and come back to fight with the sword once you find it.”
Before any of them could react, she spun to face Jasper. “I’ll duel your Dragon. If I win, he leaves the ports alone. If he wins, you’ll get your king. How’s that for a deal?”
Corbin didn’t bother to muffle his curse behind her. She’d rarely heard him use such language. “What do you think you’re―?”
Jasper leapt on the square’s watering well and pitched his voice to carry down the street. “What say you, my people? Shall we let her fight the Dragon? Are you ready to see what a real leader looks like, a king who will keep you safe from the abominations in our world?”
For a second, silence filled the square. The last chance
of resistance hung like a trembling leaf clinging to its branch. Then the crowd yelled, “Let ’em fight!” Throngs of bloodthirsty people pushed into the square. The trembling leaf broke from its branch and was lost, floating away on the wind of fear and rage.
Her dagger was in her hand, but she couldn’t use it, not against the very people she’d worked so hard to save all these years. Wild rage and desperation coated the faces in the crowd like soot over a beautiful painting. These were people ruled by fear, a mob.
Her friends gathered behind her, and she yelled at them over her shoulder, “Get back. Go to the sea; call the other merfolk. I’ll come for you after I fight him.”
A sacrifice from you now will not save them. You first need the sword to defeat his wrath.
She startled at the voice in her mind, which had a new sharp tone. It sounded… worried? Upset? With her, maybe.
I can’t give up now, she told the voice. I’m sorry. But these people need to see me fight for them. And if I win, he won’t use his dragons to destroy the port. I can do this.
Sadness dripped from the voice’s words like rain. You will do what you must. But pride has no place in a war for survival.
“We won’t leave you,” Corbin said, stepping up beside her.
“We’re all in this together,” Sierra added.
Micah, Tristan, and Phoebe lined up next to her like a wall, but these people would tear them down in a heartbeat. They would be safer with her plan. The Dragon wanted her.
He could have her―if he could take her in an honest fight. She knew what she was up against now. And she excelled at her craft.
The approaching lead dragon bellowed, and people cowered and shrieked. Its growl was so deep it crawled up Nell’s spine like rumbling thunder.
One, two, three dragons swooped over the skies, spiraling in to hover above the center square, close enough for Nell to smell snow, jasmine, and musk heavy on the wind, and see the white where black should be in their eyes. The sun glared bright as she looked for the enemy himself. A dark silhouette of a large man and wings stretched across the sky.
One of the beasts blew a white breath at an abandoned shop along the edge of the square. Frosty ice crackled the thatch rooftop, collapsing it just like her home. If that breath hit the crowd today―she shivered. Three dragons were more than enough to destroy a port.
People were screaming, ducking, shoving. Taking advantage of the distraction, Nell tossed her traveling pack to Corbin, along with her quiver and bow. He clutched them, eyes stunned.
“Go!” she shouted again.
But the crowd already gathered in front of them, blocking off the escape route through town. She turned in time to see Sierra push Phoebe and Tristan toward the temple just beyond the square. They shook their heads, but Sierra pointed fiercely, and they ran around the far corner of the temple that led to the docks and the sea. Sierra, the stubborn girl, raced back to Nell.
The dragons circled above the city, their huge wings casting sweeping shadows over the square. The jostling crowd shoved Nell back and forth among the fleeing citizens.
One dragon dropped suddenly and landed on the far side of the square, blocking off the main street out of the city. The second hovered near the docks, blocking the water.
The last of the creatures to land was the largest. Ridges ran down the long neck to where the man sat atop its back, the man who had come to conquer. The large blue dragon, just as astounding as the first time she saw it, landed on the tiled roof of the port’s school house, one front claw grabbing the spire. The beast mantled its wings so widely they touched the buildings on either side. Its claws sank into the angled roof, cracks spreading from each foot like spider webs. A thatched roof would have never born the weight. The dragon defiantly threw back its head and shrieked.
The sound blew through Nell, and she wanted to clap her hands on her ears. She stiffened her back instead.
High above them, the man raised a sword and shouted a long battle cry through his mask. It was time to do what she’d agreed to. She swallowed hard.
“Cease your running!” The Dragon’s voice boomed across the square, loud and deep. “Stand and proclaim your servitude, and live. Defy me and die!”
People pushed to escape. Some were trampled in the stampede. The man raised his other arm, and in response, the dragon by the dock swept upward, faster than should be possible for a beast of that size. People turned to stare, mouths agape, as if watching a horrible accident, unable to turn away.
The riderless dragon spun in the air, tightened its wings along its sides, and plummeted toward the ground until its wings opened with a giant crack, sending the dragon swooping low across the crowd. People dropped to their knees and covered their heads, as if that would help at all against such a beast.
As it reached the edge of the square, the dragon rose over the port’s city hall and blew a mighty breath. Cold rushed through the air but concentrated along the snowy mist that hit the building with a shriek. The solid stones cracked and split, coated with ice.
Blustery winds like a winter squall buffeted the crowd as the dragon hovered above them. With a hair-raising screech, it blew another flurry of ice and mist at the building, collapsing the stone roof with a thunderous slam. The beast landed in front of it, huffing.
Silence fell across the square at the sudden destruction of one of their oldest and finest buildings made of the hardiest stone.
The man―the Dragon―spoke into the shocked stillness. “You knew dragons could kill, and now you see how quickly. But I have no wish to destroy you. Serve me, and I will make humans strong again, masters of the magical world!”
The crowd roared. Nell cried out in denial but couldn’t even hear it over the noise.
He stood in his stirrups, raising both arms left bare by his leather chest plate. “What will it be Port Iona? Are you for me or against me?”
Port Iona’s people, some with joy and some with fear, shouted back, “For you!”
The man climbed down the dragon’s back and long curving tail to the ground. Then the creature climbed higher along the bell tower, leaving deep divots in the orange-tiled roof. After speaking with Jasper, the Dragon strolled to the middle of the square to where Nell waited. The crowds opened for him and closed right behind like water filling in the wake of a boat.
Her palms didn’t sweat, but prickles ran along her scalp.
“I hear we are to have a duel, Nellwyn. Didn’t you learn your lesson the last time?”
“A duel of honor requires using only your own strength, your own weapons. Dragons don’t count. I’m not sure I can trust you for that.”
He laughed. “I won’t need my dragons to defeat you.”
Anger burned a flush along her cheeks. Nell pulled her longsword and strode away from Corbin and her friends to meet the Dragon in the center of the square.
Her friends shouted at her to stop, but she didn’t. Couldn’t. For once in her life, her cool head in battle failed her. He’d come after her family, threatened everything she loved. The need to defeat him beckoned too powerfully to resist.
She stood alone in a wide circle in the center of the square. The crowd pressed away from her even as people crammed into open windows to watch. Silence was heavy.
With the people contained and quieted, the two dragons without saddles lifted as a unit and circled around the city. Each time they soared directly overhead, the people hunkered low. The sun still burned in the summer sky, spreading light like icing along the rooftops.
The ringing of a sword pulled from a sheath snapped Nell to attention and called to the deepest part of her, the tough young girl who fought her way to a top position in a dangerous crew for the sake of her family.
The people of Port Iona had betrayed her―her and their own world, but there was no time for tears. She braced herself for the first strike.
The Dragon moved fast. The blows came one after another, quicker than he’d fought before. She had just enough time to realize he must h
ave been toying with her, and that she was in deep, deep trouble. Then her focus tunneled until she only knew movement and response.
She ducked a fast strike, heard the whistle as it cut through the air. Lunging, she thrust her own blade, but he knocked it aside and slammed his heavy fist on her shoulder. She staggered but threw off his following sword strike and jabbed one of her own.
“You can do better than this, can’t you?” He sidestepped past her.
Rolling her sore shoulder, Nell ignored the taunt and circled him, crouching slightly on the balls of her feet. He pressed his attack, and she blocked one hit after another with the flat of her blade, her fingers tingling from the force of his attacks. Her eyes narrowed. Taking advantage of a small opening, she slipped her sword past his guard and sliced a thin red line across his shoulder. Before she could feel any sense of triumph, he picked up the tempo without missing a beat, pushing her backward step by step with a series of rattling strikes.
She glanced around to quickly check her location. Her lips tightened. The ancient temple was visible behind her ―she’d been pushed to the edge of the square. With a shout, she threw herself at him and delivered a dozen fast blows. Her foot snagged on an uneven cobblestone, breaking the rhythm of her swings, and his sword jabbed at her ribs. She missed her parry but pivoted away fast enough so he only sliced her leather vest, not her skin. Too close, though.
Nell’s breath burned in her lungs, and her hands were nearly numb. She danced back, light on her feet, to take a moment to breathe, but he followed her, sweeping his sword in a whirling arc. Her blade blocked his with a clash and trembled, close to breaking. She deflected the strike downward, the sound of sliding metal screeching. This fight needed to end fast. She licked her lips and considered her limited options.
Then the Dragon pulled the second sword from the sheath on his back with his free hand. The entire edge of the blade shone with the same dark liquid she’d seen on his blade the first time they fought. The sticky-looking glaze was the wrong color for Flight but could be any number of other options, none good.