The Great Game

by O. J. Lowe

  “And I can help you with that,” she said smoothly, not even breaking stride. “I’m offering you a way up out of where you are. A nobody living in your father’s shadow to somebody. Take my hand and people won’t remember you as Luke Maddley’s son. They’ll remember him as Darren Maddley’s father.”

  More than anything, she suddenly realised that might have got through as his eyes lit up with the thoughts of consideration. She could almost see the cogs moving in his head, she rubbed her hands together in glee. Nearly, nearly…

  “Maybe I just want to be me,” Maddley said suddenly, her rising elation suddenly deflated. “I mean why does everyone have to have some grand divine purpose? I mean, you sound ambitious wanting to build your own new world and well, don’t get me wrong, it sounds nuts as well. How are you even planning to do that? I mean, it’s a good dream but you’re almost sounding delusion…”

  She wagged her finger at him sternly, cutting him off. Her heart pounded in her chest with anger but she kept her voice calm. She didn’t like people questioning her sanity. It was rude, more than anything else. “Now that’s a secret I’m not about to share with you at this point in time. All I want from you is your devotion and your faith. That’s all. I ask for that; I give you everything you could ever want.”

  He shook his head. “I doubt that very much.” She was losing him, she could see that, just as she’d thought his interest was on the rise a few moments earlier, it was suddenly fading again. She could taste the first seeds of failure and they were bitter.

  “I can’t give you back your family, admittedly but…”

  He cut her off before she could carry on. “You know what always gets me when they talk about my family? Nobody who tells it ever actually knew my mom or my dad. Because those who did know them had more respect than to go along with the frenzy. Everyone loves knocking someone down who rose higher than them.”

  She could concede that was true.

  “My dad was a winner; it just took a while for the reality to catch up with that. But when he lost, people couldn’t wait to jump on him. You know what it’s like being a running joke in a profession that you love? But winner or loser, he was still my dad and I loved him! I loved my mom too! They loved each other, despite what the stories say about the two of them. You know nothing so don’t talk about stuff!”

  She could see the anger in his eyes and nodded smoothly. “You want to enlighten me?”

  “No, I don’t. I want you to leave me alone,” he said angrily. “I don’t know what you want with me, I don’t know what you intend to do but leave me the hells alone! I want no part of it. You don’t want me to know who you are, that tells me everything I need to know.” He gestured at the scarf covering her faces as he spoke. “Now goodbye!”

  With that, he stood up and made for the door, halfway across the roof before she let out a sharp exhale of breath. “That truly is regretful, Mr Maddley. You do know I can’t let you walk away with what I’ve told you, don’t you?”

  He turned, eyes wide as if he’d just considered that for a moment before the taccaridon lunged down onto him in a flare of wings and he let out a scream as claws went for his face. There was a snap and a flash, he’d gotten his summoner out and suddenly they weren’t alone, an eagle buzzing around Tac’s face. Should she be worried? No, she decided, she shouldn’t. Maddley’s strongest were doubtless still recuperating following his bout, the most she had to likely deal with would be with the best of the rest. And that eagle, as unusually shade of vivid bright blue as it might be, would struggle to deal with Tac.

  Far worse would be the commotion by a vicious battle. And if Maddley had any sense, he’d turn it vicious. This wasn’t a bout in an arena with rules and good intentions, this was a very public arena and a fight for his survival. Already he’d managed to wriggle out from underneath Tac, his eagle and the taccaridon lunging at each other with vicious intent. The eagle’s hooked beak had yanked a clump of scales away from Tac’s face, she heard the howl and rolled her eyes. For divine’s sake, she chided the spirit silently. Stop fottling about with that thing and finish it!

  With a snarl of anger, Tac lunged after the eagle which took to the sky to escape. She fought the urge to laugh derisively. In the sky, the taccaridon was king. Tac went after it with a push off the ground, flaring wings up into a flight position as it went up after the much smaller opponent.

  Smaller, it might be more manoeuvrable but was it quicker? She doubted it. Tac was one of the fastest non-mechanical things in the sky. And large as it might be, it was as agile as the best of them. That wasn’t her only problem, Maddley was fleeing, he was already at the door and struggling to yank it open.

  “You should have seen this coming,” she said softly. Down below, she could hear screaming and shouting and she winced. Of course, Tac’s presence in the sky was going to cause some consternation. Howls and screeches from the great grey mouth were drowning them out but it just meant she was running out of time. “To spurn me is to…”

  She heard the shriek of agony, glanced back and saw that Tac had won, the eagle was in its jaws and already it was back on its way towards them. There was a thump between them and the bloodied remains of Maddley’s spirit hit the ground. She took no pleasure in it, folded her arms as Tac landed next to her.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider?” she asked, reaching up to stroke Tac behind the skull, her nails catching on rough leather skin. “I have been known to forget insult in the past. Granted, it doesn’t happen too often.”

  He shook his head, brought back his eagle to a container crystal. She let him do it, antagonising him by prevention to let him do so wouldn’t help anyone. “I’ll never join you, you psycho bitch! What the hells is wrong with you?!”

  Wrong? Wrong? It echoed through her head, she even shaped out a repeat of the word through her lips. “Wrong? You think I’m wrong? There’s nothing wrong with me. I know that. Your lack of foresight betrays you as it does the rest of them. I’m truly sorry that it must end like this, I am. But compassion has no place in the world I’m trying to build. You won’t be the first blood spilled on the foundations of the new. But every transformation has its casualties. It has been so since the dawn of time and will continue to be so. There’s no shame in a death like this so that others can thrive. Goodbye, Mr Maddley. It’s a shame we couldn’t work something out.”

  Something dark flashed across the rooftop below them and she froze on the spot, the sound of beating wings in her ears and slowly she raised her head to look at the sky.

  There was no mistaking the two dark shapes hovering above her and she felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach as she turned up to look at the dragons.

  Not just the dragons. In fact, one of them wasn’t a dragon now she looked closer but a spannerhead shark lizard, streamlined and spindly like a fighter ship. The other was a vivid orange and bigger, a lot bigger. If the spannerhead was a fighter, this was a dreadnought, almost docile looking as it hovered there on giant wings. There was something simple in its face, from its rounded snout to its large green eyes. Cream coloured scales swept down from its jaws to its great thick tail, four muscular limbs tucked in for flight.

  And they weren’t alone, she realised that very quickly with dismay. They had riders, one on the back of each, their clothes indescribable and their faces little more than blurs.

  She knew then what that meant and it terrified her, she wasn’t afraid to admit that. Unisco! Not here! Not now! She let out a little moan and looked at Tac. Two against one, this wouldn’t be easy. She’d done a Rocastle, let her judgement be clouded and it could cost them the whole thing…

  No!

  I will not fall! I will not submit and they will die before I let them take me!

  Brave words, she knew that but she believed in the weight behind them. She had to. She had survived through worse, she wasn’t going to let a few men… She thought they were men but she couldn’t quite be sure… who thought they were doing the r
ight thing get in her way. Their motives didn’t match up, they had to be dealt with. A little violence was good for the soul, Domis had once volunteered to her. It had been the first and only thing he’d ever said to her on his beliefs and it felt strangely appropriate. Sometimes, you needed to cut loose and live a little.

  “Attention!” The voice was distorted, warped beyond humanity into a deep bio-mechanical drone. “You down there with the big bird, wolf thing. Recall your spirit now on the grounds of public disturbance and unauthorised bouting in a residential area without a licence. Kneel down on the ground and prepare to be detained.”

  She fought the urge to roll her eyes. Suffice to say that wouldn’t be happening. At least they were being polite about the whole thing.

  “And step away from that kid as well,” the other said, the difference in the voice different enough to be distinct but still unrecognisable as anything human. This time she couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of her gesture, she turned and nodded to Tac. The taccaridon rose up onto its hind legs with one sudden motion, the jaws snapping open and both enemy spirits quickly had to take evasive action at the uniblast careening towards them, the orange burst of energy sailing wide into the sky. Before they could recover their composure, painfully aware of how exposed she was on this suddenly very small rooftop, she sprang over to Tac and was on board as the great beast took to the sky.

  She was under no illusion that this would be the end of it.

  Already the orange dragon was closing in on her, pushing itself through the air after Tac with ease, closing in on them. A quick mental command and Tac lashed out with a tail, swiping through the air close to its face. It didn’t go quite close enough to land but the danger was there, enough to stagger the charge. She’d learnt that a long time ago. When facing dragons, always aim for the eyes if possible. A small target but a sensitive one. The spannerhead swooped over next, bursting past the dragon and she saw the hint of a uniblast charging up for fire, lingering gobs of energy already forming up around the mouth and she pushed Tac down into a dive, the blast streaming wide and dissipating.

  Down and down the two of them went, she and the spirit closing in on the ground, she could see the people far down below them, the realisation dawning slowly. Some of them pointed, others ran, she just heard the beat of many wings. Still she fell, she wondered how good the two Unisco agents were. Better to overestimate them than likewise. That way she wouldn’t be badly disappointed if they were able to overcome her. Still Tac fell in the dive, she allowed herself a glance back at her pursuers and slowly, ever so slowly, she counted one, two, three, four…

  Up!

  She felt the tug of the wind resistance dragging her hair behind her head as Tac evened out, curving harshly back up into the air and suddenly where they had been falling before, they were rising. She didn’t allow herself a look back, she could still hear them, heard mechanical curses from behind her and smiled. An annoyed opponent was a reckless opponent. That one had come from her father.

  A sudden roar, her smile was wiped away as something hot and acrid whipped past her cheek, she froze up suddenly and almost fell from Tac’s back in shock. Her knuckles went white as she gripped at the skin, desperate not to lose hold. Her cheek burned, she resisted the urge to clap a hand against it. That smell… She’d never smelled her own flesh burning before. Didn’t like it. She wasn’t worried about it, there were treatments for it, far more pressing was the need to get out of here as quickly as possible so she could have the treatment. Silently she urged Tac on that little bit faster, the spirit already working to the maximum to move as fast as possible.

  And still the two Unisco agents kept on coming. She could fly with the best of them and they were matching her. She stole a look back, this time the orange dragon was charging up a uniblast to aim in her direction, she took evasive manoeuvres back down into the mezzanine of buildings far below. This would have been better amidst the skyscrapers of a major city, here the buildings barely came up above two storeys at most but if she could stop them taking long range shots at her, that’d be an improvement. While she fled, she was defenceless. The most she could do was…

  Hmm…

  A stray thought flashed across her mind as Tac raced along barely six feet above the surface of the ground, the two dragon riders still above and behind her but holding back now. Her cheek stung, she tried to put it out of her mind as she stared up ahead to the gleaming building so out of place with the rest of the island. They’d insisted that it be built first and it be among the finest of them on the island.

  What more could you expect from the ICCC? Their building was just as monstrous and grotesque as some of the egos that resided inside it. Egos that she’d cajoled into holding a prestigious tournament in one of the most dangerous regions in the five kingdoms.

  Sorry boys, she mouthed out to the building, a grin passing across her as she realised truly how little she meant it. You knew the risks. And if this doesn’t distract them, nothing will.

  They couldn’t have expected the potency of the uniblast that ripped from Tac and crashed straight into the ICCC building, punching straight through the side with explosive force, flames already catching, screams and wails of terror filling the void of silence left by the sound of the blast. Laughing manically, she kicked Tac up into the air, the taccaridon rising at her urging. Come on, come on, come on…

  Something flashed in out the corner of her eye, something large and orange, she could feel the orange dragon closing in one her, wings pumping vigorously and still it looked comfortable, like it wasn’t even breaking a sweat in the heat. Did dragons sweat? Whether they did or not, it wasn’t important. It threw out a claw, tried to nail her, would have done had Tac not woven out the way with a screech of outrage. That outrage turned to retribution, Tac swung out with its jaws and bit down on the dragon’s foreleg. Only the density of dragon scale kept it from biting straight through and even then, she wouldn’t have bet against the teeth winning out, giving time. But the spannerhead was incoming and reluctantly she drove Tac to let go. The orange dragon, a species she couldn’t quite place amidst the heat of battle, didn’t give her the same respite and body checked into Tac, favouring its wounded foreleg. She could see the blood, the last thing she saw before she was nearly thrown from Tac’s back by the force of the blow, she felt the spirit waver beneath her and she dug her nails deeper into the skin, breathing hard. Her scarf, whipped about by the sharp twists and the tearing of the wind fell away from her face, she couldn’t pull it back, needed to hold on. If she fell…

  Instinctively she mentally screamed out the command to duck and Tac wove down under the flail of the spannerhead’s claws that might have taken her head off if she hadn’t. Tac lunged in, went for the serpentine neck with the teeth and it took a sudden reverse back from the spannerhead to avoid it, the motion nearly pitching the rider off.

  And yet, the strangest thing she had to admit was, she was enjoying herself. Glee flooded through her system and although she was breathing hard, it was the sound of exhilaration pumping through her lungs and her blood. She could feel Tac’s emotions through their connection, a mirror of her own. Only Orange remained close in, Tac swung out a wing to drive spirit and rider back and hissed angrily through bared fangs before lunging in and suddenly the orange dragon was on the run from her, fleeing down past her, past the smoking ICCC building and she followed, the adrenaline singing through her veins. Where the spannerhead was, she couldn’t say. She didn’t care, this was intense. Suddenly chasing rather than running, Tac easily caught up to the orange dragon, this time going for the rider with the broad jaws. Or at least that would have been the plan, if the mount hadn’t jinked and twisted out the way, protecting its caller with every motion. Even that worked for her, if it was defending, then it couldn’t offend. At these high speeds, one of them would make a mistake sooner or later. She just had to hope it wasn’t her.

  In close, Tac raked a claw across Orange’s haunch, drawing blood and a roar of outrage
. It was enough to bring the orange dragon round on her, Orange smashing its skull into Tac’s side, barely inches from where her leg locked around the neck and she let out a strangled sound halfway between disbelief and joy. Nearly, nearly… But so bloody far away! Tac shook itself off, not a decisive blow but one that had been aimed well. Perhaps its movement wasn’t as fluid as it had been seconds ago, maybe some rib damage, but still enough to escape.

  Escape… Somewhere amidst the thrill of the battle, the fight for survival that for so long had been missing from her day to day life, a little voice clamoured for attention at the back of her mind. Escape. Need to escape. Get out of here. You can’t win this fight. Not now. Maybe you never could. The important thing is to survive. Just run now!

  She wasn’t sure escape was an option now, not as things stood. Not with Tac’s movements suddenly laboured and clumsy. An evasive motion that might have been pulled off with ease a few moments ago suddenly became a very near miss as the spannerhead closed in at speeds almost parallel to her own and only just avoided clamping down on one of the great wings.

  Time to end this. She directed Tac down, then up again in a sharp motion, it might get the spannerhead off her back for the moment. But not Orange. No, that’d need to be her distraction. She wondered if the two agents were good friends. If they were devoted to duty or if they’d behave like human beings.

  Time to find out. The spannerhead had dived, the orange dragon had risen with her and that was the opening she needed as Tac span and slashed out a claw towards the throat. It was a good slash, she had to admit that, it did exactly what she intended. Not land however, that hadn’t been her plan, even if Orange’s sudden lunge back just as the spannerhead had done moments earlier was. She’d seen that coming and it gave her the opening as the rider steadied himself and his steed…