Dragon's Child (The Mindbender's Rise Book 4)

by D J Salisbury

  “Now through the piercing.” Leysamura held him up to her ear and waited.

  Even five feet from the corner of her mouth, he could smell raw fish and fresh blood. Of course, he might be smelling dragon blood instead of gory fish. By the time he got the cord near the piercing, his hands were covered with Leysamura’s blood.

  Trying not to hurt her, he pushed the cord through the bloody hole, but he had to stick his fist halfway through her earlobe to force the cord to the other side. Before he was finished, he was coated in her blood to his elbows.

  “Tie a tight knot,” she whispered. “A sailor’s knot.”

  Viper looked askance at the huge profile, but obeyed. Where would a dragon learn about knots? “It’s done.”

  “Good. Now hold it out where Surizhan can reach it.”

  With only a hand’s width of free loop between the earring and her earlobe, he didn’t have much space to work with. What could the male dragon do to it? “I’ll try.”

  Surizhan reached out with his tongue and licked the knot into his mouth – along with both of Viper’s hands.

  The stench of raw fish guts stunned him. He closed his watering eyes and concentrated on holding still. Would it be dishonorable to faint from fear under these circumstances? Probably. Especially if he failed in his duty, odd as it was. He forced himself to hold the knot steady.

  The dragon’s fangs slid along the sides of his hands, meeting tight upon the knot.

  He heard a crunch. His hands went numb. Did he still have hands? His head swam, but he held himself motionless. Praise the Thunderer that Leysamura held him up. His knees couldn’t give out and shame him.

  Surizhan’s hot, fishy breath blew over his face as the dragon opened his mouth.

  Viper counted to seven before he opened his eyes.

  How amazing. His hands were still attached. He flexed his numb fingers.

  “The expression on your face, child.” Leysamura shook her head and chuckled. “Beloved?”

  The blue dragon extended both hands.

  She placed Viper on Surizhan’s palms. “Sit still, my Adoriel.”

  Now what would they do to him? Viper swallowed convulsively, but kept his mouth shut.

  With one enormous fingertip, Leysamura lifted his left hand straight out to the side. A claw longer than his forearm swept in from behind him.

  Thunderer preserve him. After all this time, did she plan to slice off his arm? No, he must trust her. He must hold still.

  He had to see what the moon-crazy dragon was up to.

  She slit his left sleeves from shoulder to wrist, cutting through coat, jacket, and shirt without even scraping the skin.

  Gooseflesh shuddered up his naked arm, both from cold and terror.

  Thunder and lightning. She had better control than Lorel had with her swords, and he thought the girl’s blade work was astonishing.

  He’d never seen his skin so pale. He looked jaundiced rather than a healthy Setoyan-tawny gold. How long had he been trapped in the dark like a mushroom? Even the horrible fungus in the deepest tunnel was darker than he was.

  Leysamura released his hand and pulled the remaining earring off her fingertip. “Now you’ll regret you didn’t fulfill my commission exactly, even though these are prettier than anything I expected.”

  She eased the teardrop-shaped opening over his hand, wingtips pointing toward his shoulder and the tail curled around the back of his wrist.

  Ivory scraped against his skin. Sharp edges he’d never guessed were there cut into him. Thunderer’s drums, the abrasions burned from his fingertips clear down to his groin.

  Streaks of blood trickled down his arm. He held his breath to keep from screaming. It felt like his whole arm was being flayed, inch by inch.

  Leysamura forced the earring – no, armring – higher and higher, until the wingtips finally touched his naked shoulder. “Hmm. It’s still not quite right.” She twisted the armlet until the ivory dragon head faced forward.

  Agony swarmed through him. Blood splurted across his clothing. His arm felt cut off just below the shoulder. Viper screamed.

  “Do stop that noise. I’m almost finished.” She lowered her head and swallowed his whole arm.

  The pain stopped.

  He probably didn’t have an arm anymore, but the agony stopped. Now he was missing both his left foot and his left arm. How could he make his way in the world?

  The way he always had. He’d simply be a little slower. He wasn’t a cripple, no matter what parts of himself he lost.

  Surizhan snickered. “Your hatching doesn’t trust you.”

  “Of course he does.” Leysamura released Viper’s shoulder and licked the side of his face. “It wouldn’t have worked if he didn’t.”

  Surizhan tilted his head, nodded, and handed Viper back to his mate.

  Viper wiped dragon spit off his cheek with his remaining hand. He so didn’t want to see how much of him was left, or how badly he was bleeding, but he couldn’t resist a peek.

  He left arm was still attached. But the armring was missing. In its place were intricate inked lines that showed ivory white against his pale yellow skin. He poked at the marks.

  Not ink. Not just lines. He could feel the earring – the armring – under his skin, solid, but not rising above the curve of his muscles. “This is amazing. I’ve never even read about this kind of magic.”

  Surizhan growled. “And you won’t. No one writes about dragon magic. Including you.”

  He suspected they had some way to enforce the implied threat. He’d ask Leysamura after the grumpy male flew away.

  “After you become a full wizard, you’ll be able to call me through the link we’ve forged.” She tapped the side of one claw against the armring. “The contact won’t be as clear as between dragons, seeing that we had to fudge a bit, but I will hear you.”

  She scratched her earlobe gingerly. “When you call me, I will come. I may need several days to reach you, but I will come. It will be important, however. If you call me on a whim, I’ll eat you. Or worse.”

  Viper shuddered and nodded understanding.

  “However, I anticipate working against whatever is befouling Shi.” She frowned and placed him on his shelf. “I have lost several dear friends in that place, and I want revenge. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, fully.” What friends could a dragon lose and still care about, knowing she’d outlive every human she ever met? But he didn’t dare ask.

  “Good. Now go gather your tools and bring them here. Shoo.” Leysamura swatted at him.

  He ran into the nearest tunnel. Why would she want his tools? Diamonds didn’t seem to mean anything to her, given the way they were scattered at the base of his shelf.

  Gems had been important to him while he journeyed in Dureme-Lor. He wasn’t sure why now. Something to do with traveling. Buying supplies, perhaps. He supposed he ought to be sad at giving the diamonds up.

  Could he keep the crystal that showed the green-eyed girl? Would she appear in any diamond? Any large gemstone? He should have experimented when he had the chance.

  Finally he reached his workshop. He’d stored the girl’s crystal and the smaller cutting diamonds on the ridges covering the cave’s walls. Larger gems, those bigger than his hand, lined the floor where it met the wall.

  He grabbed the largest gems and shoved them into his pockets.

  Cloth ripped. Stones thudded to the ground.

  What on Menajr was wrong? How could he be so clumsy as to miss his pockets? He wasn’t in that big a hurry.

  He lifted his elbows and examined his coat. Cloth dangled where the pockets should be. Had his pockets rotted out? It looked like it.

  He tugged at his jacket’s side seam. Thread shrieked. Cloth tore.

  At this rate he’d be naked soon. He eased his hands away from the fabric and hoped the material held until he got back to the wagon. It was far too cold to expose his skin any more than it was already.

  How could he carry the sandblasted
diamonds? They wouldn’t all fit inside his purse.

  Maybe the little ones would. After placing the green-glowing diamond at the bottom of the pouch, he scraped the others off their shelves and into the purse. Even with the leftover egg-lining scrapes stowed inside, he still had room for most of the larger crystals. The rest he jammed into the crook of his arm and free hand.

  The walk back to his shelf seemed to take forever.

  Leysamura took one look at his bulging purse and laughed.

  Surizhan rolled his eyes. “Is that all of them?”

  “All but my anvil.” He’d forgotten about it until the dragon asked. “I’ll go back for it.”

  “You needed an anvil?” Surizhan’s eye ridges bounced upward.

  “Don’t bother with it.” Leysamura waved one hand. “Soon a new fungus bed will grow there.”

  “How does that stuff survive?” He dropped his armload of diamonds onto the shelf and opened his purse, intending to empty it.

  “Leave those where they are.” She swiped the remaining diamonds off the shelf. They clattered down the cliff and thudded into the sand below. “Magic. How else could it sustain you?”

  Viper stared at her blankly, and turned back to the tunnel. “That hadn’t occurred to me. I need to examine it again.”

  “You’ve examined everything all you’re going to, this visit.” Leysamura scooped him from the shelf and held him in front of Zhanamuriel. “Take a good look at this one, Zhana. Remember him. He should live long enough to be worth remembering.”

  Zhanamuriel sniffed at his face and gave his chin a quick lick.

  More dragon spit. And the infant’s breath smelled of carrion and old blood. Shouldn’t a baby smell sweet? His little brother had.

  “If he proves out,” Surizhan rumbled.

  “Of course, but I’m betting on him.” Leysamura lifted Viper high and offered him to Surizhan. “Beloved, will you deliver my hatchling to the other human?”

  Viper stared up at her in amazement. “You’re letting me go? Now?”

  “Are you complaining?”

  “No, no, I meant– I only meant– I–”

  Both dragons laughed. Leysamura lifted Viper’s chin with one claw. “Think before you speak and you’ll live a lot longer.”

  Viper pulled back from the saber attached to her finger and nodded violently.

  Leysamura looked at Surizhan. “Don’t go near the horses. Humans without horses are toothless.”

  Surizhan sighed and bowed deeply to Leysamura. He bowed just his head to Zhanamuriel, and after a moment’s consideration, to Viper.

  Viper bowed to each of them. Bowing properly while sitting down was awkward, but he managed respectable genuflections.

  “I told you he had good manners.” Leysamura giggled and bowed back with her head and neck.

  Since he was still riding on her palm, it was an odd experience, rather like sitting on a seawall beside a swinging boat.

  All of the ceremony took long enough he suspected his ‘freedom’ was just another game. A way to torment him, to drive him insane.

  He refused to be intimidated by their nonsense. He opened his mouth to tell her to put him down.

  Surizhan scooped him off Leysamura’s palm. One warm, blue hand gripped his chest and thighs.

  Viper’s jaw slammed shut.

  After glancing over his shoulder and waggling his eye ridges, Surizhan launched out of the cavern.

  Searing white light exploded behind Viper’s eyelids. Tears rushed across his face. He wasn’t crying. It had simply been so long since he’d seen sunlight his eyes didn’t know how to react.

  Leysamura had freed him. He couldn’t believe it.

  His vision cleared a little. He gasped and clutched the dragon’s thumb. They were so incredibly high above the ground. If he fell, there wouldn’t be enough of him left to scrape off the rocks.

  Surizhan soared into the cloudless sapphire sky and spiraled twice around the snowy mountain, gaining altitude.

  Glacial wind swept over him. Viper shuddered and wrapped his hands around his own neck for warmth. His legs felt as if he were standing thigh deep in rushing ice melt.

  The dragon circled the mountain summit again. Ice crusted the edges of the lake crater above the cavern. Snowdrifts burdened the slopes.

  Viper held his breath and tried to not look down.

  Surizhan changed direction.

  How long would this trip be? Wasn’t the wagon camped at the foot of the mountain? He forced himself to look down.

  At the edge of the snow, shades of green extended as far as he could see. Fields of brilliant blue and bright yellow blossomed in the swaths of green.

  His eyes started watering again. From too much cold wind, he was certain.

  An ant-sized emerald dragon launched itself from the top of a neighboring mountain.

  Surizhan leveled out.

  The green dragon surged toward them. It dropped something large. Viper couldn’t tell if it was an elk – or a horse.

  Surizhan glanced back, nodded at the newcomer, and turned his attention to the ground. He appeared to be looking for something.

  The other dragon caught up, flying slightly below Surizhan. As it passed them, it glared directly at Viper.

  He cringed from the anger in its eyes.

  Suddenly, the green dragon furled one wing and flipped upside down. Its hands latched onto Surizhan’s wrists.

  For an endless moment, Viper stared at a crimson tongue and a thousand teeth the size of broadswords.

  Surizhan screeched and tried to shake his assailant off. He lashed out with his hind claws, barely missing the green dragon. His wings snapped tight against his body.

  They plummeted.

  The green dragon thrust away and flapped its wings, righting itself. It plunged, then stretched and soared, gaining altitude. “Traitor!” it screamed. “You’re a traitorous maggot!”

  “Rizhanara!” Surizhan tumbled backwards, but stretched his wings into a glide. “You crazy female!”

  “Traitor!” Rizhanara soared higher.

  Surizhan flapped like a turkey and fought to gain altitude. “What is wrong with you?”

  Rizhanara folded her wings and dove.

  Surizhan squawked.

  The green dragon stooped, landing hard on Surizhan’s back.

  Surizhan shrieked. His hands convulsed.

  Viper’s ribs creaked. Air whooshed out of his lungs. Lightning blast it, that hurt.

  The huge blue hands splayed wide.

  Viper slid through the dragon’s open fingers.

  Blast. Now he really was about to catch lightning.

  He scrabbled, grabbed a claw, skidded free. He plunged headfirst through the air. “Lorel!”

  Surizhan bugled and bucked. “I’ve lost Leysamura’s hatchling!” He arched again, tossing Rizhanara off his back.

  All three plummeted toward the ground.

  “Traitor!” Rizhanara screamed. “Human lover!”

  “It’s not a human!” Surizhan screeched back. “It’s a hatchling!”

  Why on Menajr was he screaming for Lorel? She couldn’t rescue him. What could he do to save himself? He must know some magic to keep from smashing against the ground.

  He tucked his chin and curled into a ball. Maybe that would slow his fall.

  The mountainside rushed toward him.

  Couldn’t think of an existing chant. Couldn’t think of any useful magic.

  So he’d create some.

  He shouted, “Adoriel like a feather be!”

  And soared upward.

  The ground seemed to rotate. He tumbled slowly, tossing like a wing-seed in the breeze, whirling without control, pushed by every breath of wind.

  He began to fall again.

  Rizhanara shrieked, “Traitor!” She stretched her wings and swooped upward.

  Surizhan plunged, twisted, and soared after her.

  Wind rushed past his ears. Dizziness muddled his thoughts. Still slowly spinning,
he gasped, fought for air, and forced himself to uncurl his chin from his chest to look for the dragons.

  The ground whirled up at him.

  Rizhanara spun on her wingtip, reversing course. She caught a thermal and soared higher.

  Bellowing, Surizhan followed her.

  Viper giggled at the silly creatures. How could they fuss when they had all the sky to swim in?

  But his chest felt tight, as if bands of shrinking leather bound his ribs. He wheezed in a slow breath. It didn’t help.

  His fingers tingled as though they were filled with bees. The world around him grayed. His muscles relaxed. Was he dying? He suspected so.

  He stretched out to feel the wind, to enjoy this brief moment of flight before it killed him.

  The ground stopped wheeling. It seemed to float below him, infinitely distant.

  Rizhanara bugled and dove directly at him.

  Surizhan roared and plummeted into her, knocking her off course. “You can’t eat Leysamura’s hatchling!”

  Viper stretched out one arm. His body tilted in that direction. He stretched out both arms. The world below him leveled out.

  “Egg-breaking dung chewer!” Rizhanara tumbled halfway to the ground before righting herself and stretching into a glide.

  Surizhan shadowed her.

  Viper stretched out his legs and arched his back. He glided far above the hillside. Trees smaller than matchsticks waltzed in a slow arc below him.

  He was in control. He was flying!

  Surizhan circled, watching Rizhanara rise, matching her wingbeat by wingbeat.

  She plunged, twisted, and used her speed to soar upward.

  Viper gazed down at a meadow, so far below, lush with summer growth. His eyes ached with the vivid greens, the starflower yellows and paintbrush reds, with the azure brilliance of the sky. Only a blue-streaked brown speck that reminded him of his wagon marred the perfection of the grassland.

  Rizhanara screeched and swooped down on Surizhan.

  Surizhan side slipped and eluded her.

  Viper floated on the wind in ecstasy. A dragon might eat him in the next minute, but he didn’t care.

  He could fly.

  Rizhanara screamed and flapped, fighting to get above the blue dragon.

  Surizhan beat his wings furiously, hovering. He looked at her and yelled, “Why haven’t you gone to visit your granddaughter yet?”