The colonists scattered out of the square into the safety of the buildings.
"Liar," Samdrasen screamed at Devaj. "Did you think you could trick us into letting our guard down? It won't work." He thrust the torch into the oil-slicked wood and then raced along with the rest of the soldiers to the defense of the colony.
Kanvar uncurled his arm from the tower support and snatched up his bundle of possessions. He tucked it under his short left arm and hurtled down the tower stairs, using his good hand to steady himself.
He stumbled across the square, fighting the urge to run away from the piercing song from the stone bound on Devaj's forehead. The fire from the torch smoked then sprang to life, catching on the oil and wood. Kanvar glanced up at the tower to make sure the watchers were focused on the attacking blue dragons, then shook his night shirt and sandals out of the blanket and used the blanket to smother the flames.
The heat scorched his hands and face, but the dragon armor protected the rest of his body. He didn't stop beating at the flames until the fire had subsided to a heated smolder. He spread the blanket across the wood and climbed up beside Devaj.
The song from the singing stone seared his mind in intense agony as he came up close to it. Crying out, he tore the leather thong from Devaj's forehead and hurled the stone as far across the square as he could.
"Kanvar," Devaj said, his eyes streaming from the heat of the fire. "You are alive. Father said he felt you, so he sent me to look. But you're supposed to be dead. Mani told the All Council she'd killed you and thrown your body into the bay."
"She tried," Kanvar said, coughing from the smoke. "But you shouldn't have come. I don't know how I'm going to get you out of here alive."
"You can start by cutting my hands free. Use the sword."
Kanvar recognized the sword now that he was up close. It was his father's. A sword he'd claimed to have raided from a Great Gold's treasure hoard. Kanvar pulled it from its sheath. Ancient golden runes ran along the edges of the blade, glowing with a light of their own.
"You shouldn't have come," Kanvar said again as he set the edge of the sword against the rope that bound his brother. He had to be careful not to sever Devaj's hands along with the rope. His father had claimed the sword could go through anything, even solid steel. "They would have burned you."
Devaj laughed. "We could never leave one of our own to the mercy of these uncivilized brutes. Besides, I knew I could count on Dharanidhar to try to stop any kind of peace proceedings. His lust for human blood is insatiable."
"Who's Dharanidhar?" Kanvar asked.
"The Great Blue," Devaj said. "The blue's leader."
Kanvar shuddered, but managed to cut through the first bit of rope without drawing any of his brother's blood. "I don't know how we're going to get out of here. It won't take the watchers long to notice I'm cutting you free."
Kanvar glanced up at the tower and caught a flash of gold at the same time the watchers did. Too late for them. The Great Gold had flown out to the coast and come across the colony from the side while the watchers were focused on the attacking blues. The Great Gold let out a burst of glittering gold breath. It settled over the watchers putting them in a state of blissful ecstasy. They sank to the floor of the tower and began humming happily to themselves.
The Great Gold swooped toward Kanvar and Devaj. The precious gold dragon jewel in his forehead glowing with an inner fire of its own.
A streak of blue shot from across the square and intercepted the gold dragon. Kanvar froze in terror. It was Dharanidhar, giant and furious. The gold was less than a third his size. Dharanidhar barreled straight into the gold dragon, digging his claws into the gold's chest and tearing him through the sky out across the water. He shook the gold viciously and let him drop into the bay. Then he swung around and headed back for Devaj.
Kanvar got Devaj's hands free of the rope, but Devaj fell to his knees clutching his chest. Blood trickled from holes in his torso that matched where the Great Blue had sunk his claws into the gold.
Dharanidhar settled onto the square in front of them. Devaj swore, struggled to his feet, and thrust Kanvar behind him. Dharanidhar's great wings beat furious gusts of air, and his tail lashed out behind him, toppling the closest building. The dragon roared in fury. Kanvar sensed its intent to kill Devaj, but couldn't make out the dragon's voice in his head.
"It's not what you think," Devaj said, holding his hands palm-out toward the angry dragon. "I just came for the boy. You can carry on fighting all you want, though your failure to embrace peace will someday bring a horrible price."
The dragon growled and lowered its head so its one good eye could get a look at Devaj and Kanvar behind him. The scales on Dharanidhar's face were pitted and scarred from fighting. His left eye was a milky white orb, but he turned his head and his right eye focused on Kanvar. The dragon jewel in the center of his forehead between his eyecrests burned a deep blue. It was the biggest jewel Kanvar had ever seen, easily dwarfing all the ones Grandpa Raza had pried from the Great dragons he'd slain. The dragon jewel marked the difference between the lesser dragons and the Great Dragons. Some figured it was the jewel itself that lent mind speech to the dragons. True or not, all the Great Dragons grew a jewel of their skin color in their foreheads.
Kanvar had always considered Great Dragons to be magnificent and awe inspiring. But Dharanidhar's scarred face twisted Kanvar's gut with revulsion. Dharanidhar's jaws opened, revealing teeth worn sharp by constant use against enemies.
Kanvar could not make out the words Dharanidhar spoke into Devaj's mind, but Kanvar could sense his intent to kill Devaj and Kanvar. The ancient blue wouldn't let another repulsive Naga bond and come into power.
Just as Dharanidhar lunged to finish them, Kanvar shoved Devaj aside, lifted the sword, and thrust it into Dharanidhar's good eye. Kanvar doubted he could defeat the blue dragon, but he didn't intend to die without a fight. He pulled the sword free and tried to stab a second time, but Dharanidhar reared back and let out a roar that shook the ground. He sucked in a deep breath.
Devaj wrapped his arms around Kanvar and dove to the side as Dharanidhar let out a torch of intense blue flame.
But the ancient dragon, though cruelly injured, had not lost his wits. Devaj's dive away from the flames threw both of them straight into Dharanidhar's waiting claw. The claw snapped shut around both the humans, and Dharanidhar leapt into the air. He hovered for a moment, cocking his head to listen, getting his bearings from the sounds of the battle that raged along the colony wall between the soldiers and the other blues. With a sweep of his wings Dharanidhar swooped out of the colony and over the jungle back toward the mountains. He roared a command and the other blues broke off the fight and came after him.
Chapter Four
The sudden rush of wind stole Kanvar's breath as the Great Blue Dragon shot through the air.
Kanvar knew he should be terrified. Dharanidhar's pain and fury at being blinded, screamed into Kanvar's mind. He could not block the dragon's boiling hatred for humanity. Dharanidhar's emotions crashed against him like thunderous waves. Despite that, the sudden joy of flight made Kanvar's heart leap. All his life he'd spent struggling along the ground. Limping. Forcing his deformed body to move with great effort. Now he flew, the wind in his face, the jungle trees flashing by below him, the mountain slopes rising up ahead. He let out a cry of exhilaration.
Dharanidhar clamped his claw tighter, and Kanvar's cry went from joy to pain as his father's sword, trapped unsheathed at his side, cut through his armor and into his leg. No dragon armor could have protected his body from that sword. Kanvar's leg burned from the cut of the hot steel pressed into it. The opposite edge of the sword had to be cutting into the Great Blue dragon's claw as well, but Dharanidhar's hold remained tight around Kanvar and Devaj. The earthy scent of the dragon's blood mixed with Kanvar's own, making his head spin.
Devaj moaned and stared out across the ocean, his eyes fixed on the crumpled gold form of his dragon. The dragon was s
till moving, though, swimming toward shore.
"Is he all right?" Kanvar asked through his own pain. He knew Devaj felt everything his dragon did. Blood still seeped from the punctures on his chest where Dharanidhar had attacked the gold.
"He's too weak to fly. But if the humans don't get him, he should recover. I smell blood, yours and Dharanidhar's. Are you hurt?" Devaj tried to squeezed a protective arm around Kanvar's shoulders, but was blocked by Kanvar's crossbow and bolts. Kanvar shuddered and tried to twist the sword blade so the flat side lay against his leg instead. He only succeeded in cutting himself more.
Devaj's mind slipped into Kanvar's thoughts and he understood Kanvar's sudden panic. If the dragon tightened his hand any more the sword could sever Kanvar's right leg. "Not good," Devaj muttered. "Very not good. But don't worry. Father's on his way."
Devaj's words were meant to be reassuring, but a spike of fear seeped from Devaj's brain. Amar and his mighty gold would be no match against the full flight of blue dragons, and Dharanidhar was far too hurt and angry to listen to reason.
Out over the mist-covered hills, Kanvar thought he saw a flash of gold. Then the closest mountain reached out and tore Dharanidhar from the sky.
The blinded dragon never saw the rocky precipice that jutted up in front of him. His left wing struck it full-force. The impact spun him around and sent him head-first into a towering tree that grew up the side of the precipice. Wood crunched and splintered beneath the dragon's falling body. Leaves and vines flashed past Kanvar, and he ducked to keep from being speared by a splintered tree limb. With a thunderous crash and bellow of rage and pain, Dharanidhar hit the ground on a wide shelf halfway down the cliff face.
The impact forced his claw open.
Devaj rolled out of Dharanidhar's grasp, carrying Kanvar with him.
Dharanidhar let out a gout of searing blue flame, torching the remains of the tree above them.
Devaj jumped to his feet and dragged Kanvar away from the crazed dragon.
"Stop!" Kanvar screamed. Devaj had his eye on Kanvar and Dharanidhar and not the sudden drop off behind him. Devaj's foot went off the edge, and he slipped down. Kanvar let go of his father's sword and grabbed Devaj's arm, stopping his fall. Devaj hung precariously for a moment, his greater weight threatening to pull both of them off the cliff until Devaj jammed his foot into the pitted volcanic rock and manage to scramble back up to safety. If one could call facing off with a furious Great Blue dragon safe.
Dharanidhar's left wing hung at his side, the main bone broken. Blood and mucus seeped from his wounded eye. The palm of his right claw gushed blood where the sword had cut into it. He reared up and screamed in rage and licked at the wound with his long forked tongue.
Kanvar felt a sudden pressure on his own hurt leg and realized that Devaj had torn off his shirt and was wrapping it tight around the slice on the side of Kanvar's thigh. "Too bad we can't get him to lick this," Devaj muttered as he unfastened his belt, pulled the sheath free and used the leather belt to secure the shirt more tightly around Kanvar's leg. He cleaned the sword, sheathed it, and fastened it to Kanvar's belt instead.
Barely aware of Devaj's hurried actions to save his life, Kanvar watched the Great Blue dragon in shock as the cut on Dharanidhar's claw sealed over. Kanvar had learned as a child that Great Dragon saliva could heal wounds, but he'd never imagined it could work so fast. He noticed that the punctures on Devaj's chest had stopped bleeding as well and wondered if it was because Devaj's dragon had got to shore and licked the wounds closed.
Dharanidhar put his claw down and leaned forward. He sniffed the air and then turned his great head toward Devaj and Kanvar. You've stopped running. I guess that means you have nowhere to go.
Dharanidhar's words boomed into Kanvar's mind. Kanvar winced, and Devaj put a steadying hand on Kanvar's stumpy left arm. A sharp pain speared through his arm at Devaj's touch. Kanvar cried out. He must have broken his arm when the dragon crashed.
"Not, not, not good," Devaj said, pulling his hand back from Kanvar's arm.
What's that, little Naga? Dharanidhar said. You don't want to die? Dharanidhar let out a deep growl and opened his jaws. They were big enough he could snap Devaj and Kanvar up together and it would only make half a mouthful for him. But he kept his face out of sword range this time.
"Dharanidhar, please," Devaj said. "We have no quarrel with you. Let us go."
Your little brat blinded me. Me. Leader of the Great Blue dragons. Dharanidhar snatched Devaj into the air and shook him. I'm going to kill you so slowly and painfully that every Naga on this continent will feel your torture.
Fear for his brother forced Kanvar to sit up. He unstrapped his crossbow, reached down, and hooked the stirrup onto his right foot. He'd never loaded a crossbow sitting down before, but he had to try. He leaned forward and got the gaffle onto the string while Dharanidhar pressed the tip of his very sharp claw against Devaj's chest.
Kanvar leaned back, pulling the string tight, and guiding it into the catch despite the hot pain it caused his wounded leg.
Dharanidhar's claw pressed into Devaj's chest. Devaj screamed.
Kanvar got the bolt into the track, lifted the bow and aimed at the dragon. He knew a light bow like this would never send a bolt hard enough to penetrate Dharanidhar's scales. He could shoot for the eyes again and hope the bolt went deep into the dragon's brain, but the angle was wrong. The bolt would only glance off the eye ridges. That left only one target, the inside of Dharanidhar's gaping mouth. It wouldn't seriously injure him, but might get him to drop Devaj and come after Kanvar instead.
But something else pulled Dharanidhar's attention away from Devaj.
A dark shadow covered Kanvar, and he looked behind him to see a Great Blue dragon glide down to land beside Dharanidhar. The mountain shelf barely had room for the two dragons to glare at each other nose-to-nose.
The new dragon spread its great wings and reared up so it could use its front claws. He was huge. Not as big as Dharanidhar, but almost, and in the full splendor of his prime, not grizzled and scarred. Young and strong and vicious. Kanvar swallowed. He'd seen pictures of this in Raza's dragon book. The blue dragons fought constantly among themselves for status in the blue dragon ranks. A fight for the top position always went to the death, and the new arrival was posturing himself in challenge.
Problem with your wing, Dharanidhar? The new dragon's question cut through Kanvar's mind.
Dharanidhar growled, spread his good wing, and dropped Devaj. Devaj's head thumped against the stone as he hit the ground, and he lay in a crumpled heap, unmoving where Kanvar couldn't get to him. Nothing that won't heal quickly, Abhavasimha.
Abhavasimha let out a deep booming laugh. He moved at the same time, the sound of his movement covered by the noise of his laugh. He lunged forward and sank his claws into Dharanidhar's chest. The strike penetrated the scales and went deep enough Abhavasimha could wrap his talons around Dharanidhar's heart.
Dharanidhar froze, a breath away from death. You plan to kill me without a proper challenge, Abhavasimha? I imagine the others are watching. They'll take you down like a pack of black monkeys on a kitrat.
Kanvar looked over his shoulder, but no other blue dragons were near. He saw flashes of blue fire and sparkling gold far off in the distance.
No one is here, Abhavasimha said. It's just you and I. Lucky for you. You're old, Dharanidhar, past your prime. And now you are fully blind. Your wing might heal, but your eye will not. I'm going to give you this one chance to step aside and turn the leadership over to me. If you willingly go into exile. I won't have to kill you. You know you can't defeat me now in a real challenge.
Dharanidhar's jaws parted in a pant of fear, but Kanvar sensed his ancient and cunning mind working out all the possibilities. Dharanidhar lowered his head and dropped his wing in submission, while in the darkest recesses of his mind he planned to return someday and defeat Abhavasimha in combat.
You are right, I am too old, Dharanidhar said. Tell
the others I've withdrawn myself from the pride. I'll turn leadership over to you and go into exile.
A very good choice. Abhavasimha eased his claw out of Dharanidhar's chest and let Dharanidhar lick the wound closed.
And what do we have here? Abhavasimha lifted Devaj's limp form from the ground. Looks like the young Naga princling. He let out a bellowing laugh. Such a fine prize. Thank you Dharanidhar. He spread his wings, leapt into the air, and shot away.
Kanvar had no one left between him and Dharanidhar.
The small crossbow would not save him from the dragon's wrath. Kanvar fired anyway while Dharanidhar's head was still turned, listening to Abhavasimha fly away. The bolt struck the roof of Dharanidhar's mouth and buried itself in the bone beyond the fleshy part of the palate. Dharanidhar bellowed and pawed at his mouth.
Kanvar sensed Dharanidhar's sharp pain as if it had been in Kanvar's own mouth much like he'd felt the sting of the razor beetle on the camdor. Ignoring the pain, Kanvar slung the crossbow into place on his back and tightened it down. Then he eased his body over the side of the cliff, feeling for the footholds that Devaj had used to keep from falling.
His foot found a place, but the sword cut made his leg give out beneath him, and he slid down the cliff face. His right arm tore at vines and roots as he went down. Finally his fingers caught hold of a large vine. He slid along it until he got his hand wrapped around it and stopped his fall.
"This has not been the best day of my life," he muttered as he hung against the rough stone. Thick jungle waited below him. The vine he held hung almost to the top of the trees, but not quite.
Dharanidhar's head appeared above him. Blind eyes staring down. Ears listening. Nose sniffing. He let out a low grumble. I know you're down there. I've got your scent now. I will hunt you to the ends of the world. And when I catch you, you will pay for what you have done to me. He drew in a deep breath, readying to flame.
"I guess this hasn't been the best day of your life either," Kanvar said, loosening his hold on the vine a little so he slid toward the trees. A spurt of superheated blue flame followed him down. Kanvar let go at the last moment and twisted in the air so the flame hit the dragonscale armor on his back instead of his unprotected head. I knew I should have made gauntlets and a helmet, Kanvar thought as he fell the last few feet into the tree branches.
Dragonbound: Blue Dragon Page 4