Hundreds remained after weeks of evaluation, and those who had been appointed by The Guard as unit leaders grouped them into tense knots of men and women, young and mature, around colored flags that matched the armbands they wore. A raised platform had been erected at the edge of the field. When the milling about settled, all waited expectantly in the waning light.
Alyssa smiled to herself when she felt Jael’s whisper in her mind.
“Ready, Advocate?”
“Always.”
The fatigue that had etched Jael’s face the night before was gone as she strode to the command dais and activated the IC strapped to her forearm. She seemed impossibly tall and imposing in a flowing red cape that clasped at her neck and draped fully around her shoulders to reach just above black knee-length boots.
A hush fell over the crowd as Jael paced the long platform. Loose from the usual braid, her wheat-colored hair lifted in the wind and danced against her broad shoulders. When only the snapping of flags in the wind sounded, her low, rich tones flowed like warm silk from her communicator’s amplifier.
“Each of you is here because you have blindly answered an ancient blood call. You honor The Collective with your presence and, more importantly, your patience.” Her laser-blue gaze scanned their faces. “Now it is time for understanding. The things I will reveal to you tonight will test your loyalty and your concept of reality.”
An uneasiness nibbled at Alyssa. What if they panicked? What if their fear overcame her?
The Guard, cloaked like Jael, discreetly moved to ring the field. Others began to notice, too, and the crowd shifted nervously. She looked to the dais and Jael’s eyes held hers. She nodded at the unspoken request and focused to project feelings that would calm the rising restlessness.
Jael turned back to the crowd. “I will demonstrate, and then I will explain. Please sit so everyone can see.”
When the crowd settled again, she swept the cloak behind her shoulders and every bit of breath was sucked from Alyssa’s lungs. A silvery tunic and leggings hugged every muscle of her lean, strong body. The ruby-red tribal image of a winged horse was emblazoned across her chest. She licked her lips but her mouth was just as dry. Calm. Project calm. Stars, but Jael should have prepared her better. If she didn’t block off the erotic images in her head, Jael’s audience would be tearing their clothes off and storming the stage. Jael shot her an amused glance and paused to give Alyssa time to settle. Then, she held out her right hand, palm skyward. Only a sliver of sun still peeked over the mountains, and the flame that flickered and sprang from her palm burned bright in the twilight.
“Some, most of you, already know that you possess some pyrotechnic ability, but I’m going to show you much more than simple magic tricks.”
The flame grew in volume and intensity, and when she cupped her hand, it spun into a turbulent ball. The crowd gasped as Jael flung the burning orb into the sky and it exploded like fireworks at a New Year celebration. An uncertain applause tittered across the field and then died when the fireball dissipated and they realized the sun was gone, too.
Huge solar panels positioned on the edges of the field flickered to life and pushed back the darkness to reveal that Jael was no longer on the platform, but standing on the ground with a glittering ghost-like horse. Murmurs of appreciation rippled through the ranks as Specter pranced in place under the lights.
“Do not be afraid of what you see next. There is absolutely no danger.”
Jael’s command was filled with authority rather than reassurance, and Alyssa fought the urge to roll her eyes. Warriors. You couldn’t just command people to be calm.
“You’ve all read fairy tales of great lizards called dragons that breathed fire. And you know the Greek legend of a great winged horse. The truth is not far from those children’s stories.”
Specter’s eyes glowed an eerie red and the crowd went completely silent.
“Get ready,” Alyssa murmured to Uri and Nicole.
“Behold, a living, breathing dragon horse.”
Specter reared as Jael’s voice rang strong and loud across the field. His gleaming hide moved and shifted. Clouded breath escaped in great puffs from his wide nostrils. His deep neigh rose to a chilling shriek as great leathery wings sprouted forth from his withers and fanned the full length of his body.
Men and women sitting in the forefront crab-crawled backward, their faces white with disbelief. Some stood and stumbled backward. Alyssa felt their panic rise. Uri made a choking sound, and Nicole’s fingernails dug into Alyssa’s forearm.
She closed her eyes to conjure every serene picture she could imagine—a deserted beach, puppies and kittens, and her favorite field of wildflowers—then pushed her calm outward. Her head throbbed with the effort. There were too many. Their terror was too strong.
Then Uri’s large hands settled on her shoulders, and Nicole’s fingers curled around hers. Their energy braced her and she drew strength from them.
Alyssa!
No. We’ve got this. I’m okay.
The crowd steadied. Many of those wearing black armbands—marked for having the strongest DNA match—edged closer, their eyes bright with curiosity.
Specter lifted his bony head and, with a long sweep of his wings, spewed forth flames. Jael raised her hands, and flames shot forth to meet his in an explosion of blue sparks. The exclamations at the fiery display had turned from fear to wonderment.
Dragon horse and master extinguished their show, and Jael leapt onto Specter’s back. She sat easily astride but held tight to his coarse mane as he reared to launch himself into the air and ascend with powerful sweeps of his great wings to fly past the solar lights and into the darkness.
The night went suddenly still, as if holding a collective breath. Then a distant whooshing grew closer and louder until the great noise filled the air. Conflicting winds rocked the solar panels and buffeted those standing. The Guard flung back their capes to reveal silvery uniforms the same as Jael’s, except that their dragon-horse insignia was displayed in black.
Jael and Specter reappeared out of the inky night, and the dragon horse’s hooves rapped sharply against the wood as he settled on the platform. Jael raised her hands, her amplified voice cutting through the lashing wind. “Guard. Call your mounts.”
They raised their arms and a chorus of shouts and whistles rang out. Dragon horses swooped from the sky, first one, then more, until each had a prancing winged steed at their side. The wind and noise quieted as the animals settled.
“Behold, The Guard of Peace.”
Their wings glittered under the lights like raindrops sprinkled on a gossamer web. They were so powerfully beautiful next to their silver-clad handlers that gooseflesh tingled down Alyssa’s arms. Their stances spread and capes popping in the wind, each member of The Guard turned to Jael and saluted their leader, right fists thumping against left shoulders.
“Furcho,” Nicole breathed out. “Oh my stars!”
Alyssa fell into Jael’s vibrant gaze and was flooded with the dragon-horse master’s pride, honor, commitment to duty, and…a wisp of sadness. But she had no chance to decipher that. Jael’s attention returned to her prospective army.
“The Guard is as old as civilization. Dragon-horse warriors were here even before the dark centuries in which the population was filled with fear and fragmented by their misguided beliefs that only chosen souls could ascend to the highest plane. Then the Great War of Religions gave us a clean slate and the unity of The Collective was realized.” She swept her arm toward The Guard. “Only a core of that Guardian army has been maintained as watchers during the long peace that followed.” She strode to the edge of the platform, her expression fierce and her hands clenched into fists. “But a new, dangerous threat to our peace has risen, and The Guard must respond. Their numbers are growing and so must ours.”
Murmurs rippled across the field as they anticipated her next words.
“I told you earlier that instinct drew you here. More specifically, you all possess some fragm
ent of the DNA that produces pyro ability.” She paused and looked into the faces of those wearing black bands. “Some of you have a significant amount of the ancient genetic material required to bond with a dragon horse.”
The hard wall of fear abated, and Alyssa relaxed as the crowd stirred with a mix of excitement and caution. Jael paused, scanning the field as the din of noise rose. When her gaze settled on her, Alyssa felt her triumph. She nodded her encouragement, and Jael returned her attention to the crowd. She raised her hand, but as the crowd quieted a young man stood.
“Choose me! I can ride a dragon horse.” He pulled off his black armband and held it aloft as he flicked his other hand to ignite his fingers in an unnecessary show.
A woman, nearing her fourth decade, stood and mimicked the fist-to-shoulder salute of the Guard. “I’ll pledge to your service,” she declared.
Others came to their feet, their shouts ringing out and overlapping each other in a groundswell. Jael raised both hands over her head and they fell silent.
“The Guard is honored. But before you pledge, you must consider some things. Sit and listen very carefully.”
Jael glanced her way and Alyssa drew a sharp breath. For a sliver of a second, little more than a blink, she felt uncertainty. She must have imagined it. Jael was the most certain, absolutely sure person she’d ever encountered.
“Diversity is the very foundation of the peace and has brought many good things to pass. Today, no child is hungry or uneducated. Anyone who falls ill receives care. Women and men are treated equally. We are free to mate and bond with anyone of our choosing.” She paused, as though searching for words. “And while The Collective celebrates this, it has diluted the strength of the dragon-horse warrior bloodlines. None of you are purebloods. Your DNA has mutated into forms that make your suitability for service uncertain. Your participation is fraught with danger before you ever take to the skies on a dragon horse.”
She paced the platform, her cape swirling behind her, and gestured as she explained. “If you elect to serve, you will undergo thirty days of intense physical, pyro, and military training. You will receive a daily dose of an elixir to enhance your pyro abilities. It could make some of you slightly ill and some gravely ill. For a few, it can be potentially fatal. Unfortunately, we have no way to judge your reaction until you ingest it.”
Alyssa drew back in surprise, her assignment forgotten. She felt Uri’s hand on her back, steadying her.
“The physical and pyro training will be dangerous, as well. The elixir will increase your ability a thousandfold.” She turned her hand up and palmed a fireball. Second wheeled over a handcart piled high with building debris from their camp construction and parked it at the end of the stage. Jael’s fireball burned orange, then blue, then nearly white before she flung it. The cart ignited in a whoosh, and, a second later, nothing remained but ash and melted metal. “A misstep during training can seriously injure or incinerate you or your fellow trainees.”
Some glanced about, checking the reaction of their peers, but the eyes of a core group never wavered from Jael’s face.
“Finally, there is a nest of wild dragon horses a short travel from here. If you survive the elixir and the training, then you will have a chance to bond with your own dragon horse. That, in itself, holds great danger. A misstep and the animal you have chosen could incinerate you before you can bond.” She paused, meeting the gaze of one volunteer, then another and another. “If you survive all of this and successfully bond, then you will face your greatest test. Ask yourself this: Can you prematurely end the life of another to defend and preserve The Collective?”
Alyssa stared at the pile of ash. Sure, she’d deduced that Jael’s abilities would be used to cremate the dead, but she’d never considered the possibility that a live person could be intentionally incinerated.
“Many of you have other things you must consider—children, mates, elderly parents dependent on your support. There are potential bond animals for fewer than a hundred. So, you will have no shame in weighing your priorities and returning home. If you stay and fail to qualify at any point, many other support positions are available that are vital to forming and mobilizing this unit. You have twenty-four hours to consider it. No one will be permitted to leave the valley during this period. Those who choose to leave tomorrow will have this place and our mission wiped from their memory. Then each will be given a transport ticket home or to join one of The Collective’s disaster-relief teams.” She straightened to her full height, her hands on her hips. “Guard, take your posts.”
Another salute and each of the six leapt onto the back of their steed and lifted upward in a great flapping of wings. The trainees shielded their eyes from the whirlwind of sand and grass created by the turbulent downdraft. When the echo of the dragon horses’ chilling screams died, she held their attention for a silent minute, then issued the last command. “Dismissed.”
*
Well done, my warriors. The Guard was no longer in sight, but Jael knew the members would receive her telepathed message. They must be vigilant, relentlessly patrolling the exits from the valley over the next twenty-four hours. One spy slipping away unnoticed could give away their location and their secret. No one could leave without having the past weeks wiped from their memory. She would join their patrol, too, after she checked on one fiery-haired matter. Although Alyssa physically remained on the field, her vibrant essence had vanished. She had shut down, shields firmly in place.
Alyssa hadn’t taken her eyes from the pile of ashes and melted metal, and Jael approached her cautiously. A jerk of her head sent Nicole and Uri reluctantly on their way so she could talk to her alone. She laid her hand on the crest of her shoulder, a gesture that would be interpreted as friendly if one didn’t notice the caress of her fingers against Alyssa’s neck.
“Are you okay?”
Alyssa shook her head.
An unfamiliar fear nipped at her insides. “I…I’m sorry. When I tried to shield you, you waved me off. I should have sensed that you were in trouble.” Had she been so buoyed by their initial success that she hadn’t felt Alyssa being overcome?
Alyssa shrugged off her hand and whirled to face her. Her eyes were green sparks of fury. Despite being taller, stronger, and battle-trained, Jael took a step back.
“I wasn’t overwhelmed. I was fine. But this—” She waved her hand at the dark lump that remained of the handcart. “This is not fine.”
“I told you before we started screening people that you should expect to treat burn injuries in the clinic once we began pyro training.”
Alyssa pointed to the ashes again. “How would I treat this if it were a person? Even the most advanced medicine can’t regenerate muscle and skin on a pile of ashes.”
“We’ll take every precaution so something this severe won’t happen.”
Alyssa crossed her arms over her chest. “I almost got caught up in the romantic notion of dragon horses and guardian warriors, too, but this, Jael, is too much.” She punctuated her words with her hands. “There’s got to be a better way to deal with this problem. We don’t have to turn people into human torches.”
“Listen to me. We got word a few hours ago that this cult has taken over a central food-distribution center for the Fifth Sector. They’ve stopped all shipments except to their own followers.”
“Let the peacemakers handle this.”
“With what? These people have armed themselves with stunners they stole from the peacemakers’ headquarters while the officers were assisting disaster victims. We’ve heard that they’ve even fashioned some projectile weapons—guns and rifles—using instructions hacked from encrypted digital archives. Sooner or later, they’re going to figure out how to make weapons that have been banned for more than a hundred years, and I’m not talking about bullets that can be stopped with armor. Lasers, Alyssa. How will we deal with them then? How will we stop their food-hoarding to feed their followers while others starve?”
“I don’t know. B
ut you can’t just fly in there on dragon horses and turn them into ashes.”
Jael was silent.
As Alyssa’s own words sank in, her expression turned from angry to horrified. “That’s exactly what you’ve been planning all along. You’re going to incinerate crowds of live people.”
“Not crowds. Armies.” Jael reached for her as Alyssa stumbled backward, but she batted her hands away.
“Don’t. Don’t touch me. I trusted you. I believed that you had evolved like the rest of the world beyond the violent mayhem of your past. How could I not have sensed that an animal still existed in you?”
Jael’s insides, her heart went cold at Alyssa’s bitter words. “My destiny is to serve The Collective. I am this animal because they need me and my warriors to protect their reign of peace.”
Alyssa stared at her for a long minute, her face unreadable, then turned to walk away. She had gone only a few paces when she turned back, and Jael braced for another wave of vitriol.
“I will never find violence acceptable or those who wield it, especially not in the name of peace.” Her eyes filled with tears and her voice cracked with disappointment. “I trusted you. I was—” The words that were lost in a choked sob twisted into Jael more cruelly than a long, jagged blade. I was falling in love with you.
Chapter Fifteen
“If they don’t have at least second-degree burns, I don’t have time to see them, no matter who it is.” Alyssa regretted snapping at Nicole the minute the words had left her mouth. She sighed and finished wrapping a sterile bandage around the hand of another pyro-training casualty. When Nicole announced she had a visitor, she immediately thought of Jael. It had been ten long, excruciating days since their confrontation, and her nerves were raw to the point of tearing. But it couldn’t be Jael. She wouldn’t have asked Nicole to announce her visit. It must be someone else. “Please tell them I’m too busy treating patients.”
Alyssa gently released her patient’s hand. “It’s looking much better and we need your bed, so I’m going to clear you to return to your quarters. Check in with the medic assigned to your building. They’ll have your treatment plan d-messaged to them and will be responsible for changing your bandage and monitoring your progress.” She made a series of notes on her digital tablet. “Which building are you assigned to?”
Dragon Horse War Page 15