The Summer Dragon

by Todd Lockwood

  I stepped past Rov, toward Addai. “Why would the Juza do that?”

  Bellua looked at the arrow with alarm clouding his features. “Is this true, Prelate?”

  “It’s but an attempt by this headstrong young heretic to sway opinion against the Rasaal. That’s all,” said Addai, with absolute calm. “The cancer of heresy gnawing at the foundation of the Temple.”

  I trembled with fury. “Why did you do it, Addai?”

  As he spoke, his chin lifted, his eyelids lowered. “It’s finally time we did something about the conspiracy in this town, these aeries, and this corrupt Temple.”

  Mabir advanced with shock and tears in his eyes. “What in Gadia are you talking about?”

  “There is a nest of Ashaani in this village, and they infiltrate every level of society, from the lowest muck scraper at the bottom of the pinnacle to the daughter of the broodmaster—or former broodmaster.”

  Mabir’s mouth quivered before he found words. “You have no grounds for such an accusation—”

  “Don’t we? We have your own pronouncements based in heretical scripture concerning events in the cavern. We have this feeble effort to frame me and my warriors for something unwholesome.”

  There wasn’t a flicker of remorse on his face. But I was in deep now; I could only press my case. “Asha scares you. And because Borgomos was open about his respect for the old ways you silenced him and everyone who might have been tainted by—”

  “Out of her own mouth, the damning name: Asha.” His lips twitched. “Because you can steal an arrow doesn’t mean that your charges have any merit, no matter what else you found.” He glanced at the staff on the floor. “However tragic it might be.”

  “I didn’t steal this arrow.”

  “Of course you did. Or found it. It doesn’t matter. And when you came across Borgomos’s relic on the prairie you concocted this story—”

  When Jhem stepped forward Tauman tried to pull her back, but she brushed his hand off her arm. “It happened exactly as she said it did. I was there. I saw it, too.”

  Addai leveled his gaze at her. Turned it toward me. “Did you think we wouldn’t investigate thoroughly any claimed sightings of a High Dragon? That we wouldn’t make certain of the people spreading the tales? Asha’s is an insurgency of deceit. But then, the entire cult of Asha is a lie.”

  He turned to Bellua. “And it permeates this town. Is that not correct, Merihem?”

  Bellua stood silent, staring at me, his brows pinching tighter and tighter.

  Addai pressed, “Was it not your spies, cultivated over the last year, that unearthed this hidden church? Well? Was it not your report that drew me here?”

  Bellua nodded slowly, his eyes never once leaving mine. I couldn’t tell what he meant to convey, but it wouldn’t have mattered. Fury throbbed in my temples. Your spies? All this time he laid low in our manor, making conciliatory statements to me, while buying information in Riat with Temple gold. I only wanted to kill him, to stab him in the heart with this Juza arrow.

  Addai pointed at Jhem and me. “Both of you will be held here, your dragons shackled in the Temple stable. We’ll begin a trial for heresy and crimes against the Rasaal at first light.”

  “What?” Tauman started forward, but two of the Juza stepped into his path, their hands on the hilts of their swords.

  Keirr growled nervously behind me. I felt her breath against my cheek.

  “And you, Dhalla.” Addai sneered at Mabir with disgust. “You who should have exposed this cancer or converted its adherents—you accommodated them instead. You will stand trial as well.”

  Disbelief pulled at Tauman’s face. “Rov, you can’t let this happen.”

  Rov crossed his arms and turned a scowl toward Addai before he answered. “I swore my oath to the Dragonry. The Dragonry serves Korruzon. Addai is the ranking Juza official here—the highest authority in this military installation. You should have kept these volatile children in check, Broodmaster.”

  Jhem’s face drained of all color. “I don’t believe what I’m hearing. He murdered the refugees from Cuuloda! How can you not—”

  “Matters of heresy are his battlefield, not mine,” Rov said.

  No one spoke for several seconds. Astonishment marked every face. Cairek looked at me with concern creasing his brow.

  “Send a team to the village and see for yourself,” I said. “Then you’ll know that he’s lying.”

  Rov only stared back at me, the gravings on his face like a cage written to contain his emotions. The icy demeanor was all wrong. It tickled at the back of my neck and down my spine. Realization struck me. “You knew about it,” I said.

  He didn’t even blink. “My task here is clear: protect the aeries. The continued defiance of the children here makes it all but impossible. I’ve been tempted to lock the bunch of you up myself.”

  I was stunned to silence. Was this the same man who defended Keirr and me against Bellua’s threats so many long months ago?

  Addai stalked an arc around the four of us—Jhem, Tauman, Mabir, and me—breathing heavily, staring at me. “Which brings up the final issue I was sent here to adjudicate.” He stopped in front of Tauman. “The disposition of these aeries.”

  Tauman startled. “What are you saying?”

  “The Ministry of Dragons tasked me with making the decisive opinion on your Petition for Charter.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. One of my duties here is to determine your worthiness for the charter created for these aeries.”

  “The aeries are ours.”

  “Don’t be a fool. You own nothing, except at the indulgence of the emperor. Certainly you understood that others might apply for your charter.”

  Tauman’s face whitened. “What? Who?”

  Addai glanced at Rov, but the Captain showed no emotion. Incredulity drained Tauman’s face, and he stepped toward Rov, shaking visibly. “Rov? You can’t be serious.”

  The Dragonry Captain faced him.

  “When?” said Tauman. “When did you apply?”

  “Two couriers ago, after the incident on the mountain. I showed the petition to Addai before I sent it. I only look out for the Empire’s interests, Tauman.” He turned to Addai and Bellua in turn. Then to me. Then back to Tauman. “I do what I must to protect this facility.”

  Finally, I understood: Rov had a stake in the decision, some degree of ownership in our aeries. Our aeries. All the Dragonry teams that arrived late with the engineers were friends of his. Rov wanted our aeries. Addai knew that, used it as leverage, and Rov supported him with silence. I thought of the road Captain Rov was building across Cinvat to the cliffs. What else was in his plans? Expansion? A broodmaster of his own choosing?

  Tauman stood trembling with anger. Addai brushed something off his armor, then folded his hands behind his back once more. “It’s my duty to make certain the aeries are in the best possible hands, Broodmaster. There is too much at stake here, and at this moment you’re on very shaky footing. Very shaky footing indeed. I expect your full cooperation.”

  I advanced toward Addai with rage burning in my cheeks, my fists. “You’re unfit to judge us,” I snarled. “Murderer! And you buy the silence of a thief with bribery—” Two more of Addai’s Juza intercepted me, each grabbing an arm. I struggled but couldn’t break their hold. Cairek started toward them, but Rov grabbed his arm. Addai stepped between us.

  Keirr growled and moved tentatively in our direction. I shouted, “No! Keirr, No!” The remaining three Juza nocked arrows and drew bead on her. “Oh, gods, baby, No . . . Whoa! Please!” Keirr hesitated, circling slowly, growling low in her throat. The archers fanned out to track her.

  I let the red arrow fall to the floor, struggling against the fingers digging into my arms. “Please don’t shoot her,” I cried. “Damn it, let me go.”

  “Pr
elate,” said Rov with a reprimanding tone, “That’s a valuable animal. I want her in this stable.”

  Addai nodded, and the soldiers released me. I ran to Keirr, took her by the ear frills and purred for her, saying “Shhh, baby. Please.” She stopped, backed up a step, looked at me with confusion. A low rumble still filled her throat. The soldiers kept their arrows targeted. I hung on her neck to keep her head low and myself in the line of fire.

  Addai picked the arrow up off the floor. “We will begin by rounding up the rest of the cult leaders, starting with Kaisi the cook and the woodsman Fren.”

  Kaisi? And Fren? My chest ached and my temples pounded. My throat tightened. “They’re innocent. They haven’t hurt anyone. Leave them alone.”

  “They’re no more innocent than you are.” He handed the arrow to one of his lieutenants, who poked it into his quiver, now one arrow among many.

  Bellua tore his eyes away from me at last and turned to Addai. “This is not a proper quorum. You and I alone can’t decide their innocence or guilt. There is protocol—”

  “This isn’t a court,” snapped Addai. “It’s a battlefield. I won’t brook heresy when the interests of Korruzon are threatened. These aeries are all but falling apart from lack of discipline, from a culture of disobedience and arrogant self-interest.”

  He approached me, stood with his black eyes mere inches from mine even though Keirr rumbled a warning. “And here I stand accused by this one, who brings disaster with her every move, and summons demons out of the mountain. No monsters appeared except when you were there.”

  “You’re insane,” I said.

  “What pact did you make in the dark in exchange for your animal? What did you offer to your unholy Asha? What depths will you sink to in your quest to undermine the aeries and the Rasaal? I see nothing but calamity in your wake.”

  He leaned closer and whispered, “Witch, in service to darkness.” Then he turned from me with his hands clasped behind him. “I must do what you failed to do, Bellua: stamp out this dangerous cult before it gets any greater foothold than it has. Before it destroys this important asset of Korruzon and Gurvaan. I will finally have order in this compound.”

  FORTY-FIVE

  TAUMAN WAS FORCED at arrow-point to return to the aeries. With Juza bows trained on us, Jhem and I led our mounts to the Temple stables to be unsaddled and shackled. To keep them from rearing, a chain connected the manacles on their forelimbs through an eyebolt set in the stone floor. There were eyebolts like these in any aerie stable, but we never used ours. We never had need.

  Neither Audax nor Keirr understood what the shackles meant until the lock went through the hasp. First they tested them, then they pulled and stamped. Audax growled and bit at the chain. Keirr tugged until I feared she would cut her wrists. “No, Maia!” she said. “Off!”

  “Shh, baby! Shh.” I took her ear frills and pulled her head down, wrapped my arms around her snout, and covered her eyes with my hands. “Calm, sweetheart. Be patient. I’ll get us out of this somehow.” Next to us Audax roared and made the chain ring with the force he exerted.

  “Calm that animal,” said Addai, silhouetted in the doorway. Jhem shot him a withering glance.

  “This isn’t necessary,” she growled. “They’re no threat.”

  “Calm him down, or I’ll put him down.”

  Jhem’s face turned pale. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  “Oh, I will if he becomes dangerous.”

  “What threat could they be with us locked in the Temple?” I snapped. “Are you insane?”

  Addai pointed at Audax, still shaking his manacles and growling. “Gentlemen, prepare.” His Juza archers nocked blood-red arrows to their bows.

  I couldn’t tell if he was serious or bluffing. The square runes covering his face made his beady eyes impossible to read. He couldn’t possibly mean it. It would truly be insane. But he had murdered an entire village of innocents to further his dogma, whatever it was.

  Jhem’s eyes on mine were terrified. In desperation I started the calming tune that we used during the writing of the bond marks. Jhem joined in, and Addai raised his hand to stay his men. Soon Audax ceased his struggles. His growls subsided to a low harmonic rumble—still annoyed, but in control of himself. Jhem embraced Audax’s head, trembling. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

  With some further coaxing we got both our dragons to lay down, and finally gave them the water and food they needed after our long flight home.

  As we left the stable I passed close to Addai. “Is that how you would protect the aeries? By killing the broodsires?”

  “I do nothing lightly, witch. But sires can be found for dams—”

  “You know nothing about raising dragons—”

  “And any pair of dragons can raise a brood,” he clipped.

  That shocked me to silence. It was true. He could steal the entire brood and replace our dragons with breeding pairs of his choosing, with an aerie and supporting community ready-made. In so doing, he would spare his own animals from combat, so why not? Once hatched, the qits would identify with whichever dragons cared for them. It didn’t have to be their true parents. He could even keep some qits to preserve the bloodline. They might lose an entire season of breeding, but they’d gain everything that we and our ancestors before us had worked for, refined, and made sustainable. Stripped from us by fiat, and given to investors. Sense be damned when there was profit to be made, or power to be gained.

  “You’re a monster,” I hissed before I could stop myself.

  His only answer was a gesture to the Juza warriors whose bows targeted us still. They directed us back to the Temple and into the chambers beyond the Sanctuary. We watched with Mabir and Tulo as two Juza warriors and their dragons took guard positions in the outer chamber. Then they closed and barred the doors—something I’d never witnessed in my entire life.

  “Stop pacing,” said Jhem. “Sit down. Try to rest.”

  “Rest? How can you even suggest—”

  “We need to be sharp tomorrow if we’re going to defend ourselves.”

  “There’s not going to be a trial! What do you think is happening here? The verdict is already decided.”

  Jhem turned to Mabir, who put a comforting arm around Tulo’s thin shoulders. “Maia is right, I fear. In a fair tribunal, at least one of the ordained would act in defense of the accused. But Addai will dismiss protocol because the aeries are in danger. He is a true believer. He’ll stop at nothing to protect the truth as he sees it.”

  “And what is the sentence for heresy?” I asked.

  His sad eyes looked up at me. “If we’re lucky, excommunication and exile. But I doubt that Addai has that in mind for us.”

  “So what, then?”

  He shook his head. “You know what he’ll do. The facts will be made to conform with the outcome he’s decided on.”

  Fear shot through me and left me trembling. The lives of an entire fishing village and the lost exiles of Cuuloda weren’t enough to appease Addai’s “truth.” I bent down to look Mabir in the eye. “Then we have to get out of here somehow. Is there another way out?”

  “There’s a tunnel, but it leads to the stables—which are also guarded. Unless young Tulo here has found a secret way of his own.”

  Mabir’s acolyte shook his head. The poor boy looked gray.

  I resumed pacing back and forth, as my mind rushed through everything that had happened, every possible scenario.

  “Are there weapons here of any sort?”

  “Nothing I am strong enough to wield or have been trained to use.” Mabir shook his head. “A flail, some spears. A pair of crossbows, but they’re in the Sanctuary with our guards.”

  I cursed, frowning at my feet as I paced. “The sun is down. Why does he draw this out?”

  “Addai needs a spectacle,” said Mabir. “He’s setting the stage for his littl
e charade. He’ll want all his Juza present, once he’s gathered as many Ashaani as he thinks he needs to make the right impact. He’ll want Rov and his men visible to bolster his accusations, since Rov is part of his strategy. And I suspect he’ll want Cairek and his teams away on patrol. Somebody has to be, and Cairek showed sympathy for you. Better to remove him.”

  “They haven’t found Fren. Or Kaisi. They’d have brought them here immediately if they had.”

  “They may be locked up somewhere else,” said Mabir.

  True enough. We were on our own, no matter what else happened. I suddenly wished I hadn’t been so hard on Cairek. For a moment I fantasized that he might attempt a rescue. I imagined Father returning, his fury setting things aright, with Darian beside him. But I dismissed the thoughts with sorrow. Addai had sent one of his Juza assassins with Father. We were on our own.

  I moved a table under the stained glass windows and jumped up on it, where I could touch the colored panes. The depictions of Korruzon in his many guises were dark without the light of day behind them, like shadows of the stories they were meant to convey. “We can break a window.”

  “The Juza make their camp in the Temple yard,” said Mabir. “They’ll hear it.”

  I clutched my head with my trembling hands. “We can’t stay here.”

  “What would you do?” said Jhem, anger tainting her voice. “Get out and do what?”

  “Find Father.”

  “Without our dragons? We are days behind him, even if we knew which trails he might have found and followed.”

  “Escape.”

  “To where?”

  I was angry, too. “I don’t know! But we can’t just sit here. What do you propose?”

  Jhem didn’t answer. I turned back to see her huddled close to herself, shaking her head. “First we have to clear ourselves of heresy,” she muttered at last.

  “We have to fight them.”

  “How? With our fists?” Her voice cracked.