Dragon School

by Sarah K. L. Wilson

  “We knew he was hurt. And we found him in a sack, carried by our enemies.”

  Hubric batted my hands away as I finished the knot. “Enough with that. We haven’t the time. What if Findar hit Savette and Rakturan over the head and hauled them off, too?”

  “Enkenay would never have flown them.”

  The dragons snored on. Why didn’t they wake? Hubric followed my gaze and snorted.

  “My fault,” he said. “Dragons can enter a deep sleep to replenish what was lost in prior days. It’s why they can fly for days on end without a proper sleep. I told these two they could enter it and replenish. I thought that with the Ifrit defeated and Savette and Rakrturan on our side...”

  I nodded. It made perfect sense.

  “Both boats are missing,” I said.

  “So, he could have loaded them into the boats...”

  “I think you’re upset, Hubric.”

  His eagle-eyed gaze locked onto mine. He shook his head and began to stuff loose items into his bags, scanning the burnt-out husks of the buildings.

  I tried again. “If Findar had kidnapped Savette and Rakturan, then Enkenay would still be here. I think that they left first on Enkenay. Probably to go to the Feet of the River and probably as soon as we were asleep. I think that after that, Findar saw his chance, stole your messages and hit you over the head to keep you from chasing after him. It makes sense that he’d take a boat. It’s fast. Raolcan said it would take you to the Feet of the River in a single day.”

  “And the other boat?”

  “Maybe he didn’t want us following.”

  We looked toward the river and then Hubric said, “Come on.”

  I followed him to the dock, looking down the river with him, a second time. This time, I saw the second boat stuck in the reeds, so far down the river that it was almost out of sight.

  “Your theory holds up,” Hubric said.

  “Findar must think that your messages would be valuable to the Dusk Covenant.”

  “Of course, they are!”

  “Can you deliver them without the physical copies?”

  He sighed. “We don’t read the messages. I don’t know what they say.”

  “That seems like a bad policy in this situation.”

  “It’s been our policy for the last hundred years.”

  “Age doesn’t confer brilliance.”

  His laugh was so bitter that I flinched.

  “Oh, don’t flinch like that, girl.” He sighed and raked a hand through his hair. The lines on his face looked deeper. “You didn’t leave me, Amel. You didn’t sneak off into the night even though I know you wanted to.”

  “No, I didn’t.” I felt overwhelmed with an emotion I couldn’t explain. It brought tears to my eyes. Hubric’s own eyes were glassy.

  “You stayed with me. You kept your vow.”

  I nodded, unable to speak at the emotion. I didn’t know what I was feeling – because it was just a flood of feelings. Frustration and relief. Loyalty and anger. Affection and bitterness. It was a toxic, roiling mix of it all because I wasn’t sure if I should be proud or ashamed, if I should feel cherished or captive. I felt like a big hot mess.

  “That means something to me, girl. I know you didn’t just stay to save your own skin. You chose to stay. Now we are in the pot together, about to get cooked. But we’re not alone. We’re together and I’m just grateful to have you.”

  I couldn’t hold back tears. Especially when he hugged me. He was the prickliest person I’d ever met. He was like a second father. He drove me crazy. I thought maybe he understood me.

  “We’d better wake the dragons,” he said when he was done hugging me. “It will take them a few minutes to wake up fully. Can you re-saddle them while I take a gander around?”

  “Sure,” I said.

  Raolcan was incredibly difficult to awaken. In the end, I pushed one of his eyelids open with two hands while shouting “Wake up!” in his face.

  It took him about thirty seconds to glean the situation from my brain as I saddled him and loaded the gear we had left.

  We’re in big trouble.

  Understatement.

  Something is different between you and Hubric.

  Hubric and I were friends. I moved to saddle Kyrowat. He let me, but the look in his eyes was suspicious and he burped once into the trees, lighting a small one ablaze, as if to remind me that I was a human and he was a dragon.

  You were always friends.

  A different kind of friends. Like me and Raolcan.

  That’s called ‘family.’

  Like Savette.

  That’s family, too.

  We needed to find her and to find Leng and to make them safe, but there were fewer of us now. What could two Purple dragons and two Purple Dragon Riders do?

  Just about anything.

  “There was nothing left in any of the buildings. Nothing of value and nothing that says this was a safehouse of the Lightbringers.” Hubric came up from behind me. “We have no reason to stay. Best to mount up and leave. I have a plan.”

  “A plan?” That was more than I had.

  “We’ll go up as high as we can and look for allies. We need those messages back and we need to protect the Chosen One. We can’t do this alone. Follow my lead and mind the signals.”

  I nodded, although we both knew that since we were Purples, it was the dragons who would be doing the flying – and most of the communicating.

  Aren’t you glad we’re here? You’d be lost without us.

  Chapter Twelve

  We spiraled upward slowly, following Kyrowat.

  The trick is to get as high as we can. It’s a clear day. No cloud cover. If we get high enough, we might see other dragons.

  How far would they be when we found them?

  They could be very far. Days away, even.

  Would we see the Feet of the River?

  Sort of. Everything will look very small to you. We’ll mostly be scanning for movement, and by “we” I mean Kyrowat and me, of course.

  Of course. Sometimes I wondered why dragons ever agreed to let humans ride them. We seemed to get all the advantages.

  A long time ago, long before the Dominion, dragons were free and roamed the land without human interference. There were few humans then and those that there were lived mostly to the north of here. In those days, volcanoes were frequent things and tremors shook the lands. And in those days, the Ancients of Baoqueea – the nation that existed before Baojang – brought up Ifrits to exercise dominion over their enemies. Nations lay in ruins and people were shredded like stalks of wheat in the harvest.

  We dragons suffered, too. We were unorganized and scattered. We were hunted down and destroyed by Ifrits. All but Haz’drazen, Queen of Dragons and her brood. She sought a new land for us to increase and find safety in the south where the red of volcanoes bloom in the skies.

  It was there that she found a man – Haz, the first of the Dominars. Haz and his small nation made a truce with Haz’drazen- it’s how she received her name because she was just ‘Drazen’ before but when she adopted him she became ‘Haz’drazen’ or ‘Dragon of Haz’ - and together they routed the Ifrits and drove back Baoqueea. It was on that day that dragons and the Dominion swore one to another that we would forever be bound to the prosperity of the other. You give of your young and healthy and we of ours to form the dragons and Dragon Riders that defend the Dominion - and with it the safety of our shared lands.

  As much as it pains me to admit it, there are some things that humans do better than dragons.

  Such as?

  I said I’d admit it, not that I’d elaborate.

  I couldn’t help but laugh at that.

  There. Hubric signals to us.

  His signal said we’d be heading north by northeast two hours. I couldn’t see a thing except for the ground below laid out like a tiny carpet. I could barely make out the track of the winding river or see where it flowed into the gray sea beyond. The air felt too thin. It made
it hard to concentrate.

  Heading lower. Hold on.

  We dove, following Kyrowat’s swooping trajectory and I was grateful when the air began to thicken again. What had Kyrowat seen?

  I saw them, too. A group of about twenty Reds. They fly toward the coast – east - and south. Perhaps they have heard of the fall of Casaban and fly to her aid.

  Perhaps. It didn’t seem like enough to take back a city, but what did I know of war?

  We’ll know soon enough. We will intercept them in about two hours. Rest and be patient.

  Patience had never been my strongest point, but I had something to occupy me. As we flew, I took out the small book of Ibrenicus Prophecies I’d found in Talsan’s pocket and began to read.

  These are the prophecies collected by Ibrenicus of Haz, son of dragons.

  For the time comes soon in which these prophecies will be needed so that the world is not broken by a war between the earth and the sky. For long years we have fought, but peace is brokered, and we lay down arms. We shall grow sleepy in comfort and one day our children will have forgotten the grim battles fought for the peace they think they hold in their palms.

  We know it is never so. No man owns peace. No man may hold it tightly and forbid its theft. We may only respond when war is brought to our gates and pray we respond rightly, for truth is often mocked and lies win hearts faster than flames consume a forest. Who can stand when men give way on every side to the force of their desires twisted against them?

  It is for the wise that I collect these words and store them up in this book. That when the Chosen One arrives you will recognize what you see. When your salvation is near, you may lay hold of it. Do not wait. Do not doubt. Seize life while you still have breath and peace before it has dissolved like snow.

  Eerie words. Ibrenicus was quite the optimist.

  And yet, Raolcan reminded me, you have seen what the Dusk Covenant can do. You have seen the Ifrits they have raised up. Does a battle between the sky and the ground really seem so strange?

  Some of my worst enemies were in the sky, too. Wasn’t it obvious that Starie and Mistress Elfar were bent on their own purposes?

  Haz’drazen will never permit Ifrits. Perhaps it doesn’t mean every dragon and every creature of the land. Perhaps it means the heads of them will be at war.

  I wasn’t very good at this speculation.

  I have a bad feeling that you will need to learn it. We are the only ones who can keep Savette safe, and I grow certain she is the one of that prophecy.

  Him, too! Was he planning on joining the Lightbringers?

  You joined. That means I did, too. Though Hubric needs to make your joining formal. I think he planned to do that at Backwater Manor with others of the Order, but that didn’t happen. He was as troubled to delay your formal entry as he was by Findar’s betrayal.

  It mattered a lot to him.

  I have a bad feeling that this coming war will be a close one. Every soul on one side or the other counts. Every choice will mean death for someone down the line. We must be so careful to be wise in what we do.

  I bit my lip. I was anything but wise. I’d wrestled with each decision along the way; often not certain I was making the right one. Why was so much on my shoulders? Weren’t there better people for this job? Hopefully, there really would be wisdom in this little book I carried. If there wasn’t, the consequences could be deadly.

  Chapter Thirteen

  We met the Reds as they landed beside a tributary of the Great Drake River. They landed in formation and crisply dismounted like it was a military drill – which I supposed it was. I noticed that though they wore leathers and scarves like regular Dragon Riders, they also had badges and insignia on their leathers and their dragons’ saddles prickled with weapons. Polearms, swords, shields, bows, and arrows – they were like flying armories. The scales of the Reds looked thicker, tougher, more gnarled that that of our Purples.

  Are you saying they look more masculine?

  Actually, they looked more like someone had left them in the ocean and they’d developed a barnacle crust. Raolcan’s mental laughter made me smile. So, he didn’t like thinking some other dragon was more masculine, did he?

  There’s nothing tender about me, Amel. Not even my ego.

  Liar.

  Fine. I’ll admit it. I wish I had a thicker crust.

  If he wasn’t careful, I’d be the one laughing and now was a bad time for that. Kyrowat landed in front of the Reds seconds before we did. The closest Red snapped at him and Kyrowat reared up, flaming the grass beneath the Red’s feet. A blaze of grass fire rushed through the group of Reds accompanied by loud curses and shouts.

  “Hubric Duneshifter,” the rider of the Red dragon said as he strode forward. “I see your Purple is as touchy as ever. Well met, friend.”

  “And you, Cynos Vineplanter. Is that still Mionshc? He looks more crusted than ever.”

  “Don’t say that too loud, or your friend won’t be the only one lighting grass fires!” Cynos laughed heartily.

  He was heavyset for a Dragon Rider – almost as thick as a warrior was – with thick black hair and stubble across his brown chin. Knives and short swords were strapped all over the outside of his leathers. Was it possible that I could wear those even though I was Purple? They made him look so intimidating.

  Only if you learn to use them. Otherwise, someone will grab one from your belt and stab you with it.

  I didn’t want that.

  “Do you fly to Casaban?” Hubric asked, stamping out the fires as he dismounted Kyrowat. Was that a smirk on Kyrowat’s face?

  Cynos nodded. “We were headed to the Capitol when we received word of the fall of Casaban and we set out that very hour. I wish I had more dragons, but we were off on guard duty watching the back of a traveling High Castelan and he required no more protection than this.”

  “I have also heard of Casaban. The situation is dire – but what will you do with only twenty dragons?”

  Cynos frowned. “Hold them back, I suppose. Keep them from taking more territory until we are joined by others. Only a week ago we received news of the fall of Vanika – a sky city! – and now this. These are dire times, Hubric. Do you carry messages to the north?”

  “I did.”

  “Did?”

  Hubric looked uncomfortable, his eyes wandering over the Reds as they cared for their dragons and took care of necessities. I took the moment to dismount and secure my crutch.

  “We rescued two men captured by our enemies in the fall of Casaban,” Hubric said eventually. I could tell he was ashamed to admit it. “In the night, one of them stole my messages and fled.”

  “And how did he outrun Dragon Riders? Are Purples as slow as people say?” Was he teasing, or mocking? It was hard to say.

  “He had a boat and the river is fast.”

  Cynos nodded.

  “So, you go with your apprentice to recover the messages.”

  Hubric nodded. “But I have a small problem.”

  Cynos smiled cynically. “Would a Purple talk to people if they didn’t need help? You would have let us pass without ever knowing you were here if you had the choice.”

  “Don’t take it personally.”

  “Trust me, I don’t. The rest of us are very happy without your company.”

  This time it was Hubric who frowned. “The Dusk Covenant gathers at the Feet of the River. We heard news that they stole Purple Dragon Riders at the fall of Casaban and brought them there. That’s where our messages are heading. We don’t have the strength to recover them on our own.”

  “The Dusk Covenant? They’re the stuff of stories. No more real than unicorns or machines that replace horses.” Cynos shook his head, reaching into his dragon’s saddlebag to pull out a water skin.

  “Who do you think was responsible for the fall of Vanika?”

  “Baojang.”

  “Alone? We were there. We saw what happened. Baojang may have led the charge against the Dominar – long may he
reign – but it was the Dusk Covenant that felled the city.”

  Cynos swallowed, worry etching lines in his forehead. “You were there, you say?”

  “Yes,” Hubric said. “I bore messages from the Dominar to Dominion City. Now, I am on my way back – but I can’t bear messages that I don’t have. Please. Please, Cynos. Reds are our allies. Help us to recover the messages and our captive brothers. A few days will not make a difference to Casaban.”

  “It could. You know what a raided city is like. You know how badly we need to take her back and bring safety to her people again.”

  Hubric ran his hand over his face. “You know how important our messages are. They mean the difference between men moving or stationary, supplies sent or people starving, war or peace. Please, Cynos. Please help me recover them.”

  Cynos stood a long time looking at the burnt grass at his feet while behind him the other Reds bustled around making the most of their temporary stop. Eventually, he looked up at me.

  “You took a cripple as an apprentice?”

  “Yes,” Hubric said. I liked that he felt no need to explain himself.

  Cynos gave me a long look. I clenched my jaw and looked back with a steady, level gaze. He didn’t know me. He didn’t know that my leg made no real difference at all.

  “You see things others don’t, Hubric Duneshifter. If you say these messages come first over Casaban – well, maybe you see something I don’t.”

  His mouth twisted like he was going to say no to us anyway. He couldn’t. If we didn’t have his help, who else would help us? They would kill Leng. Kill Savette and Rakturan when they arrived. Destroy the messages or use them against the Dominar. I didn’t know everything that they’d do, but I knew the Dusk Covenant well enough to know that they’d use anything they could to destroy us all.

  “This is a matter of war or peace, of life or death for us all, Cynos Vineplanter,” I said, keeping my expression hard as a rock. He must see how desperate this was! He must.

  He stared at me with wide eyes, like he hadn’t expected me to speak, but after a moment he nodded.

  “We fly with you,” he said and then turned to Hubric. “Three days. No more.”