The Dragon Master

by Allyson James

  "Whatever the spell was, the memory of my part in it has been blurred. That might have been part of the spell, or maybe the Dragon Master commanded us to forget." Seth took another sip of the beer. "Does the Archive say what happened to the other dragons?"

  Malcolm gave him a grim nod. "The Order feared that the dragons would band together and try to free the Dragon Master. So they killed the dragons."

  Seth froze, his glass halfway to his mouth. "Killed them?" He set the glass down again. "Dragons are hard to kill."

  "Banded together, the Order had that power. They got to the dragons before they could find their way back to Dragonspace. All except the elusive fire dragon, who got away in a burst of flame."

  As a dragon, Seth would have felt no remorse. Every dragon took care of himself and that was the way of things.

  But now. he thought of the strength of those four grumbling dragons, their magic, their powerful bodies stretched out in the sunshine. They'd been feared and revered, and then slaughtered like animals. His anger rose.

  "The Order has survived," Malcolm continued. "They've passed down its secrets until this day."

  "And they've kept track of the Dragon Master."

  "It was one of their society's missions�to keep watch on the imprisoned Dragon Master, to make sure he didn't escape. They also kept watch on one other person: the Dragon Master's assistant."

  Still thinking of the horrific deaths of the other dragons, all those centuries ago, Seth barely heard him. "Assistant?"

  "Every Dragon Master has a faithful second who watches out for their physical welfare. In ancient times, they made sure the Dragon Master was given enough to eat and looked after so he could spend his time communing with his dragons. The position was inherited, passing from one generation to the next, the same way inclusion in the Order of the Black Lotus is passed down."

  Seth had barely paid attention to the humans surrounding the Dragon Master. He hadn't cared.

  "Zhen," he said now with conviction.

  "Yes, the one called the Junk Man. He's stayed close to Ming Ue and her family, ready to serve the next Dragon Master. The Order seems to know him well."

  Seth itched to grip the old man between his fingers and ask him some pointed questions. "Why does the Order still want to kill Carol? They have the Dragon Master imprisoned, their god is gone, and it happened a long time ago. Is their need for revenge that strong?"

  "The Order only wants one thing: power. I mentioned that prominent businessmen make up its ranks. It's no accident that they're all wealthy and powerful. Their inherited magic and their demon-god's lingering magic helps them."

  Seth's anger burned inside like a slow furnace. "How many are in this Order?"

  "In San Francisco? Fifty-two. Many of them are Asian business leaders or outright mobsters like Danny Lok. The Order was pretty much obliterated in China in the early twentieth century although a few linger in Taiwan. The largest concentration is now in California, although many branches no longer believe in mages, dragons, and Dragon Masters. Some look at it as a quaint old title passed down by their grandfathers."

  "Fools," Seth said.

  "Humans have grown forgetful and interested in mundane life. Magic and philosophy have been subsumed by the need for food, clothing, and the latest computer games."

  Pompous black dragons. "I think I'll pay the Dragon Master a visit. Come with me."

  Malcolm gave him a speculative look. "What about Carol?"

  "I don't want Carol there. She's too vulnerable, and she's safer in her apartment behind my marks."

  Malcolm signaled to the waitress and paid her for the drinks. "What are you planning to do?"

  "I'm not sure yet." Seth walked out onto the chill street and waited for Malcolm to catch up. Malcolm led him down the hill to a building from which he retrieved the small car Saba had used to take Seth to the warehouse earlier that day.

  In near silence, they wound through the streets, Malcolm following Seth's directions. The street in front of the small warehouse was empty, this part of the city very dark, although Seth had no doubt that the Order was keeping watch on the building.

  Malcolm parked the car, then wove strong magic over it before he left it to follow Seth inside. The stink of the place had dimmed slightly�incubi decomposed to dust and vanished relatively quickly. The walls glowed with the marks Seth and Axel had put on them.

  The basement stairs had been smashed. Seth lowered himself by his hands through the opening and then dropped, and Malcolm followed suit.

  The column lay untouched where Seth and Axel had unburied it. Seth felt a flicker of power from inside, a small taint of evil overlaid with fear and desperation.

  He put his hands on the column. The dragon in him sensed the powerful magic holding the Dragon Master inside, but the magic or spell or whatever it was felt like thick, cool glass.

  Malcolm followed more slowly, studying the column with a frown. "What are you going to do?"

  "Free the Dragon Master," Seth said. "And then use him to help me hunt down and kill the Order of the Black Lotus."

  * * *

  Chapter Fifteen

  Carol wrapped her silk dressing gown around her as she hurried through the living room. Someone was pounding on the front door, and she heard Zhen's thin voice through it.

  "Please, Li Mei, I must speak with you urgently."

  Carol unlocked the door and yanked it open, ignoring her downstairs neighbor peering up through the ornate staircase. Her neighbors weren't used to dusty old Chinese men banging on doors and calling out in the middle of the night.

  Carol pulled Zhen inside and shut the door. "What's the matter?"

  "Where is the fire dragon? Is he here? Please say he is here."

  "He isn't. He went out." She waved her hand toward the window. "He didn't say where."

  Zhen looked frantic. "Call him. Bring him back."

  "I don't want to. I tell him I don't want to enslave him and then I keep yanking him around by his name."

  "That doesn't matter. If he's gone to the other Dragon Master, he must be stopped."

  Carol felt a qualm of disquiet. "Why do you think he's gone to the other Dragon Master?"

  "Saba told Ming Ue that Malcolm learned much about the Dragon Master, and he was seeking Seth. If he has told Seth�"

  "Told Seth what?"

  Tears ran down his wrinkled cheeks. "All of this is my fault."

  "How is this your fault?" Carol began. "Never mind. Stay right here while I get dressed."

  She left Zhen wringing his hands and hurried into the bedroom to pull on jeans and a sweatshirt.

  Zhen hadn't moved by the time she returned. He was crying in small sobs, hugging himself.

  Carol tugged his sleeve and got him to follow her. She grabbed her spare set of keys and headed out of the building and around the corner to where she garaged her car, hoping Axel had returned it there.

  He had, and a cursory examination showed no scratches or damage. Zhen hung back, but Carol urged him into the car and started it up.

  She didn't want to call to Seth, but Zhen was so distressed and she needed to know where he was. She reached out tentatively, trying to keep the musical syllables in her head gentle.

  Seth, where are you ?

  She got a growl for an answer. She carefully tugged at the threads between them and got another growl.

  Please answer me.

  Stay home, he flashed. You are safe there.

  Too late. I'm on my way to where we left the Dragon Master. Unless you say different, I'm assuming you're there.

  Don't come!

  Zhen is worried, Carol sent doggedly. He wants me to stop you, whatever you're doing.

  Zhen betrayed you, Seth snapped, then went silent.

  She glanced at Zhen next to her, who was chewing his lip, looking small and incongruous in her large leather seat.

  "What does he mean?" Carol asked. Zhen looked confused, and Carol repeated Seth's words, still not used to conducting
conversations inside her head. "Seth says you betrayed me. What did he mean?"

  Zhen's eyes became wells of pain. "The night your mother first called a dragon�so easily, and then she let it go just as easily�I reported it to the Order of the Black Lotus."

  Carol hit her breaks and pulled over to the side of the street, earning her honks and foul language from the drivers behind her. She turned to Zhen, her hands locked on the steering wheel.

  "You told them?"

  "You don't understand. They watch me all the time. They have watched all my life I have to tell them what they want to know."

  Carol felt empty, drained of everything. "Zhen," she whispered.

  "I did not know they would kill her. They said they wanted to recruit her, have her pledge her powers to help them. They said they'd teach her how to use them. Her magic terrified her. I thought they could help her."

  Carol drew a breath that hurt. "So what really happened that night?"

  "They caused a landslide that shoved the car off the road. The car flipped over and caught fire. A few members of the Order pulled your mother out. They told her to join them, that they could help her save your father. She was terrified, and she refused. They beat her. It was horrible."

  Carol still felt nothing, the news too powerful to take in.

  "Why didn't she defend herself? If she was a Dragon Master, why didn't she call a dragon?"

  "She didn't know how to control what she had, and she was too afraid of what the dragons or her own magic might do to you."

  So Carol's mother had let men beat her to death, not wanting to draw a weapon that might mean harm to her husband and child.

  "You were there," Carol said, her voice icy calm.

  "The members of the Order brought me with them. I tried to stop them, but my power, it is so small. They forgot about me, left me behind after they beat Lian. I pulled you out of the car and sat next to your mother while she was dying. She begged me to hide you. The car was burned to nothing by the time the police got there, and I told them you had died in the flames. You were so tiny, and I was certain the Order would never know that you had survived. I took you to Ming Ue. She healed you and took care of you."

  "And the Order never found out? They'd have heard that Ming Ue and Shaiming were raising a child."

  "They didn't care. I never told the Order you had lived, and you showed no sign of having the power. They watched Ming Ue, yes, but as long as you weren't a threat, they left you alone. Many of those men from the Order then are old now or dead themselves."

  Carol stared out the front window, trying to banish the pictures in her mind of the car fire, of her mother rasping her last words, of Zhen cradling her mother in his lap.

  "You told them about me when Seth came to me," Carol said with certainty.

  Ming Ue had probably rushed excitedly to Zhen the night Seth had first appeared with the good news that Carol could call a dragon. She'd have crowed about it, so proud of her family's abilities.

  Zhen bowed his head. "They sensed the call. They came to me and made me tell them. That is why I hurried to your office the next morning and hid myself until you came in. I wanted to warn you and keep you from entering the room with the demons they had sent to capture you. I was so afraid you would get there before I could, but thank all the gods, for the first time in your life, you were late."

  Yes, she had been late, something she never allowed herself to do. But she'd just spent a sleepless night coming to grips with the fact that the very naked male who'd appeared in her apartment had been a dragon.

  Carol drew a breath, put the car in gear, and slowly pulled out into traffic. Zhen hunkered into a lump of misery and didn't speak as she drove carefully through the streets.

  "Why is it so important we stop Seth?" she asked, amazed at how steady her voice was. "Is the Order coming to attack him, too?"

  "You must believe me when I say that you must not help the Dragon Master. Your dragon must not let him out."

  She swung around a corner and down a hill, heading for the south end of town. "Why not? Is he that dangerous?"

  The wrinkles at the corners of Zhen's mouth turned straight down. "I am the caretaker of the Dragon Master. This task has been passed down to me through the ages, and I take it very seriously. But there are things more important than keeping the Dragon Master safe. The Dragon Master himself knows this."

  Carol glanced at him, but he'd gone back to pressing his mouth shut, in the stubborn look she knew well from living with Ming Ue.

  They were almost to their destination anyway. Carol pulled over to park next to Malcolm's car and cut the engine.

  Seth's music jangled in her head, loud and cacophonous. He was enraged and determined, and she felt his fire building.

  Seth.

  Damn it, get away from here.

  She sensed Malcolm with him, the silver threads of his aura troubled but watchful. She hurried inside, Zhen at her heels, her body tingling with the power of the dragon marks swirling through the building.

  Carol stopped at the trapdoor, the firelight from below showing that the staircase had been destroyed.

  "Seth?" she shouted down.

  "You must not free the Dragon Master," Zhen called. "You must not."

  Seth glanced up at them. He was naked, firelight gleaming off his body. Malcolm stood apart from him, still clothed, silver threads shimmering around him with just-contained power.

  "Malcolm help me down." she called.

  Malcolm ignored her, and she muttered a few swear words. She knew she'd never be able to climb down herself, and she'd be foolish to jump. She stayed put, chafing in frustration.

  "You must command him, Li Mei. Make him stop."

  "Tell us why," Carol said sharply. "Will the Dragon Master be strong enough to enslave Malcolm and take Seth from me? I won't let him."

  "That isn't why. I didn't tell you the whole story."

  Seth turned to flame. He burned white-hot, hotter than she'd ever felt him. Malcolm took a step back, screwing up his face at the brightness.

  Seth's heat reached her like the blast from a furnace as he slowly snaked himself around the column. He was trying to melt it like putting flame to real glass, except this was magical flame and magical glass.

  She didn't really want him to free the Dragon Master, but Zhen was nearly hyperventilating in distress.

  "Tell me now," Carol said in a loud voice. "What did you leave out?"

  "The Dragon Master isn't the only one imprisoned in there. The demon-god is, too. Sying didn't kill the god, he trapped him, and this was his punishment�to spend eternity with him. If you free the Dragon Master, you'll let out a demon-god of destruction, too."

  Zhen was sobbing, winding his hands over and over themselves.

  "Seth," Carol yelled. "Stop!"

  She sent the command straight through the flame.

  She felt Seth's snarl his rage, and he lashed back at her, like an animal instinctively striking. Carol softened her pull, caressing the notes of his name, begging him to stop.

  The flame unwound from the column and poured into the body of Seth, who stood panting, gleaming with sweat, in front of the undamaged column. The flame tattoo on his back, which seared red then changed to deepest black, had doubled again in size.

  Outside Carol and Seth faced each other. He'd dressed again, but his face was dark as thunder. The Dragon Master in Carol was still singing his name.

  "Let me go," he said.

  "You can't free him."

  "I know. I heard Zhen."

  The old man and Malcolm stood a little way away, Malcolm having said he'd take responsibility for getting Zhen home. Black dragons had healing powers, Ming Ue claimed, and perhaps Malcolm was soothing Zhen's panic.

  "I'm exhausted," Carol said. "Can we go home now?"

  "Have Malcolm escort you. You are safe there, and not here."

  "And what will you be doing?"

  "Destroying the Order of the Black Lotus. I can do it without the Dr
agon Master's help."

  "You can't."

  His dark eyes flashed as he tilted his head to study her. "Why not? They murdered your mother and want to murder you. No doubt they're watching as we speak, but can't come closer because of the dragon marks. If I get rid of the Order, end of problem."

  The Dragon Master in her laughed with glee and urged her to let him get to it.

  "That would make us as bad as they are," she said.

  "This is the way of dragons, Carol. We have an enemy, we slay them. No gloating, no torture, no drawing it out. We kill them, we move on."

  "Maybe, but�"

  "Perhaps you'd like to invite them to dine at your restaurant while you talk nicely to them? You can convince them to be your friends, perhaps."

  "That's not what I mean."

  "There is no other way to deal with this," Seth said in a hard voice. "They're dragon killers, and I can't let that pass."

  Carol's throat tightened. This was more evidence Seth wasn't human�he was an animal in human shape, with an animal's ideas of justice and retribution.

  On the other hand, her own complicated human thoughts gave her no answer. The Order wanted her, likely to join their ranks and use her powers like they'd wanted her mother to do. Perhaps they'd wanted her mother to open the trap and let out the other Dragon Master and their demon-god. They'd killed her when she refused. Men like that would stop at nothing.

  She wanted them to die for that, but she tried to stuff her anger and grief into something useful and controlled. The Order wanted to use her powers�well, she'd think of a way to use the Order. Let them be the means of their own destruction.

  "Can we think about this? Axel's a god. I'd like to have his input."

  Seth gave her a disparaging look, and she realized she was trying to face this like she faced a board meeting. We have a god problem, Axel. You're the god expert, what's your view?

  "Please?" she said. "Damn it, Seth, I'm scared, and I don't want them to win, but there has to be a better way than wholesale slaughter. It would come back on me, too. I'd be an accessory to murder�no, accessory to a bloodbath."

  "Your ways are not my ways."

  "Obviously."