by Billy Wong
"No more than both of you. I'm alright. I took a beating, but the giant dragon got it worse."
Russ reached up with a wince to poke her nose. "That's our Willow. Cute as a button, but always the toughest guy around."
"Guy? Who did you pick up that line of thinking from? You better quit it before I start putting the jokes back on you."
"Yeah, that wouldn't end well for me. Anyway, how did things go after we left? I assume we won, but how does the city fare?"
"I was having my own fight for most of it, so I didn't see much of how the larger battle went. But from what I've heard..." After telling them what happened and wishing them a swift recovery, she headed agonizingly back towards her manor, trying to walk straight and unbowed for appearances' sake. The medics told her E was still unconscious, making Cart-Dragger worry about her, but at least that meant she didn't have to feel obliged to visit her too. She really needed to lie down soon, but supposed she could read that message first. She found the sealed letter on the desk in her office and opened it with shaky hands. Her eyes widened.
We have not gained new information about the other King Elemental or the relationship between the two, but the King Elemental of Water may not be completely dead. Though its body is gone, spiritual energy remains in its core. We believe its consciousness might yet linger there.
But that didn't make sense... when she'd killed Leviathan, the previous King Elemental of Water, the core had deteriorated and lost its light eventually just like any smaller elemental's. They couldn't live on in core form... yet if they couldn't survive indefinitely, perhaps it took some time before their essence dissipated? Nevertheless, she told herself not to worry about it. She'd seen that they couldn't regenerate from their cores, so it shouldn't matter too much if it took some extra time before their spirits departed completely. Maybe she would consider sending the druids a message instructing them to destroy the core tomorrow, but for now it was off to bed for some very needed sleep.
Chapter 11
Cart-Dragger awoke to somebody lightly shaking her, and opened sticky eyes to find it was Scott. "What are you doing?" she murmured in a thick voice. "Stop that, it hurts."
He stopped, quickly pulling his hands away. "I'm sorry. I was trying to do it as gently as I could, but I needed you to wake up."
"Why, what happened?"
"E woke up."
"That's good. I'm glad..."
He looked away. "She's awake, but the healers don't think she'll make it. There seems to be nothing they can do. She keeps coughing up blood and black gore, and is asking to see you."
She swallowed. Her human friends had been fortunate to get through the huge battle alive, but apparently it would be too much to ask for that to apply to all her non-humans ones as well. "I'm coming." Struggling out of bed, she got dressed and returned to the warehouse turned hospital. In a corner where they had put her hidden behind curtains, she found E. The God Soldier lay on her belly, much dark liquid drenching the floorboards around her head. Even with little knowledge of elemental physiology, Cart-Dragger could tell she wasn't going to last. "Hi," she said weakly. "Sorry about getting you hurt like this."
E looked up, her wet rasp of a voice sounding ancient and weary. "It's all right. I'm a citizen of this city now, so it was appropriate for me to defend it as a warrior. There's nothing to blame yourself for. Besides, you're not looking so well either."
The bleeding from her worst wound had mostly stopped though it still leaked a little, as she felt fresh wetness on her bandages. "You know how absurdly resilient I am. I'll be just fine... as you will be."
"You needn't try to fool me. I'm hardly a child with no grasp on reality, I know when my body's at its limit."
"Yeah, you're like a wise old woman who knows everything, aren't you?" She gave a brittle laugh, but tears sprang from her eyes as she did. "Sorry about that. I sometimes try to lighten the mood with humor, but I'm not very good at it."
"Didn't I tell you to stop apologizing. I know you mean the best. You're crying."
"What can I do for you? I'll avenge you by ending Tiamat, if I ever see her again."
E raised her head with great effort and shook it. "No, don't do that. I mean, kill her if you have to defend yourself, but don't do it for my sake. I'd rather... I would rather she live, and the two of you come to an understanding."
"What? But she did this to you, and she and her underlings have slaughtered thousands. I don't think we can ever be friends."
"Not friends necessarily, but I wish that there can be peace between you. She slew thousands yes, believing she acted justly while at war—how many of our kind's lives have you claimed while thinking the same?"
It surprised her that E identified with her killer, but she couldn't bring herself to dismiss it. "What can I do, though? Even if I was willing to make peace, I doubt she would be. She might not attack again herself now that she's blind, but I'd be shocked if she didn't try to come up with another scheme against us."
"When we elementals die, some of our emotions linger in our core for a time." E met her eyes. "I wasn't able to talk with her much before, but I hope that if she touches my core after I pass, the strength of my feelings about you can convince her you are not a race who must be despised and destroyed. You don't have to deliver it yourself if you feel it isn't safe, but it's my wish that you get my core to her in some way."
Learning that made Cart-Dragger a bit queasy about so many injured eating the cores of defeated water elementals to heal, but she supposed there hadn't been much choice in the case of those who would've died otherwise. "I don't know if it'll work, but if that's what you want, I'll do as you say. One question though, you say some of your emotions linger? The druids say there is still spiritual energy in Tentacle Nest's core—is that what they're referring to, or could even more of a King Elemental's self remain?"
"I would answer, but I know little of the King Elementals myself."
"Thank you anyway for providing a possible solution. Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"You've done more than enough, freeing us from the empire and allowing us to live among you." E paused. "If there's one thing I would ask, could you please leave? I'd like to see if I can dream about flying across the open sky once more."
Cart-Dragger sniffed. "Goodbye. Maybe we'll see each other again in the afterlife."
"Perhaps. But I hope it will be a long time before then. Have many more happy years in this world, young duchess."
She stepped out and left the hospital, knowing E would be dead soon. She needn't wait there to be informed, considering someone would tell her and she thought E probably wanted her to move on and concentrate on her duties anyway. An hour later in her office, she received word the friend she had fought alongside and ridden so much in recent months was gone. She acknowledged it with a nod and wiped away tears after the guard left, but then continued drafting the letter to Athendar informing them of the situation and asking if they might try being allies again.
Later that day, one of the Wings of Galantria she had sent to follow Tiamat's force returned and she went outside to hear his report. Dismounting from what resembled a giant metal-feathered canary, the armored rider said, "The enemy army has scattered! It seems that elementals can be demoralized too. The crippling of their leader, along with losing so many of their number, must have broken them."
Cart-Dragger balled a fist and thrust it towards the sky. "Victory! Righteousness prevails!" she proclaimed with all the enthusiasm she could muster, more as a show for the crowd that had gathered than anything.
"There is something else you might want to know. The blinded dragon herself, aided by a small handful of what we took for loyal supporters, flew slowly southwest rather than east like most of her followers."
"Southwest? But what's-" Wait a minute. "Tentacle Nest's core was taken southwest, to the Merciful's forest." She bit her lip. "If Tiamat is headed that way, maybe her brother is calling her."
Beside her, Lars stared. "Y
ou think so? What does she intend to do with a dead elemental's core? Might she have a way to revive him?"
"I don't know. But if she's going there in her condition, she must think it can do something to help her. I'm going to find out what."
"You're going after her," Scott asked softly, "hurt as badly as you are?"
"I'm not hurt worse than her. Don't worry, I don't plan to die. But if you're so concerned about me, some of you can come along to watch my back. I'll need help anyway. A battered me against a blind giant dragon sounds like a fair fight; me against the same dragon along with her friends, not so much." She turned to the Wing who had delivered the news. "What did Tiamat's entourage consist of, anyway?"
"Three smaller dragonkin, which some call wyverns."
She mulled it over, but not for too long. "Lars, Ruth and Strength, why don't you come? Galantria's own should be able to hold things down here along with Abaddon, in case this is a ruse and there's an attack. It'll be a fine company with me representing this great city, Lars representing the rest of what used to be our country, and you two ladies... the former empire."
"Along with the man in your head," Strength put in.
It angered her to recall how he had let E fall, possibly leading to her death. "Please don't mention him. He's been oddly quiet lately, so let's not encourage him."
"If you insist. As to your suggestion, the three of us are more seasoned than most here, so I don't oppose it."
"Arm still hurts," Lars said.
Ruth added, "Back stings and itches all at once, real bad." She and Lars exchanged looks. "But we're hardly big softies to let that keep us out of a good fight, eh?" He smiled and nodded.
A grin tugged at the corners of Cart-Dragger's mouth. "Then it's decided? Let's go."
After she retrieved a spare quiver with a chain-attached javelin from the manor, they walked to find mounts. Along the way, they passed by Obo and part of his drastically reduced clan. During the battle, a dragon had found them hiding in a half-completed building, and calling them cowards who abandoned their neighbors proceeded to massacre them. Only little more than a dozen had escaped with their lives after Scott slew the beast. While Cart-Dragger might not be responsible for their deaths, having tried to shelter them as best she could in the end, she felt bad about distrusting them before. It might not have been unreasonable at the time, but she'd turned out to be wrong. She wasn't sure if it would do any good to say something, yet decided she should at least suck it up and try.
"I apologize for not believing you," she said to the old brown man. "I'll do all I can to help you and your family make a new home here, if that's what you want."
"I would prefer we go back to our homeland. If Tiamat is defeated, what remains of her horde should be within our people's means to cope with."
"I'll provide whatever you need to get home, then." She hoped he and his kin wouldn't fault her too much, but couldn't tell from their blank faces how they really felt. She had an urge to ask, yet refrained knowing it would seem tacky especially if the response was negative.
He extended a hand towards her, and she supposed whatever his true emotions towards her, he upheld the image of a rational leader too. They shook hands. "I'm grateful for your generosity. The only other thing I would ask is when you meet Tiamat again, you give her a painful death."
Cart-Dragger hesitated to reply, thinking of what E had said. "What must be done will be done."
She continued with the others towards the Wings' tower turned stable where their mounts resided. "Are you really going to kill her?" Lars asked. "Just earlier today, you were talking about peace."
"I didn't technically promise her death. If E's idea with her core works, great—if not, then I'll end her like Obo wanted."
They reached the stable and asked for the fastest mounts. One of those the riders introduced them to was Uhoaydkljiighlsdrerd or something like that, a parrotlike elemental that reminded her at once painfully and nostalgically of E. "You make me think of somebody," she said, striding over to him.
"The one you called E was my cousin," he said in a rough masculine voice. "I would like nothing more than the honor of carrying you as you settle the score."
"I have to warn you it's not a certainty I'll kill her. If you're okay with that, I'll be happy to ride one from such a respectable line as yours... that is, if you don't mind me calling you U either."
He cocked his crested head. "That is rather disrespectful."
She gave a nervous laugh. "Well, uh, you guys have terribly hard names. If I tried to use your full name, it would probably take me weeks to remember and I'd be getting it wrong all the time until then. And even then, I doubt I'd get it consistently correct."
"I was jesting. Egweiotgafuiweryhjf spoke very highly of you. That is all I need to gladly offer my help."
"Thanks, then!" She climbed on his back. "You all find rides to your liking?" she asked her friends.
Lars and Ruth gave her thumbs up from the bird-lizards they had grown accustomed to. "We're good," Ruth said.
"Are you sure this bird can support me for that long of a trip?" Strength asked from atop an enormous armored vulture-thing with spikes protruding from its head and shoulders. In a voice low enough she probably thought others couldn't hear, she muttered, "Gods, I hate flying."
Cart-Dragger rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure that can carry you just fine. A better question would be how fast this bulky monstrosity is able to fly."
"I can understand your speech," the vulture said.
"Oh, sorry. But can you fly fast?"
"I'll have you know I keep up with most any God Soldier in speed just fine."
After moments of awkward silence, Ruth confirmed, "He does. I've seen him in action playing an enemy in the drills."
"You I can trust." She still had some questions about the maneuverability of Strength's chosen mount, but supposed she shouldn't nitpick so much. "Now, off to the grand finale!"
She thought maybe they could beat Tiamat to her destination given she was said to be flying slowly. But by the time they came into view of the valley the wyrm already hovered over it like a winged mountain, surrounded by her smaller escorts each about twice the size of a horse. "Humans," the blind titan rumbled, clearly audible from afar, "I know you are there. Where is the core of my fallen brother? If you do not tell me, I will blow away your entire forest and find it myself."
"Looks like we better hurry," Lars said. They urged their mounts to pick up speed, and the wyverns flew to meet them.
"You all think you can keep these three busy," Cart-Dragger asked, "while I go after the big lady?"
Ruth replied, "I'm not certain that's a practical-"
"Don't worry, we've got this!" Strength burst ahead of them, her mount apparently as prideful about proving his speed as she was her combat prowess. The vulturelike elemental snapped at the wyvern in the lead, but it agilely darted under the bite and latched onto Strength's ride from beneath. "What the?!" She swiped with her glaive at the dragonkin, but ineffectively as she struggled to reach it. It twisted sideways and the three of them went rolling away through the air, wyvern, bird and woman an indistinct blur from which curses spewed.
Lars stared while they fell towards the ground, flailing all the while. "Should we help her?"
Cart-Dragger shook her head. "I doubt one wyvern will be the end of her. Meanwhile, if we don't stop Tiamat from doing whatever she intends, that might be big trouble for all of us."
"I still don't know if Ruth and I can take two wyverns," he said as they approached. "They seem quite fast."
"You two take the one on the right! I'll get the left."
The former mercenaries separated from her, and she eyed her oncoming opponent coldly. "Quick in the air, are you?" She added in a whisper, "U, when I tap your neck, pull up hard." When they got within ten feet, she gave the signal. He rose sharply, enough so that she might have worried about falling off—if that hadn't been her intention. Rolling off his back, she oriented herself
just in time to see the wyvern rush to follow him, exposing its underbelly. She hurled a javelin upward, piercing deep. Her target screeched and thrashed in midair while she continued to fall. "U, catch me!"
He tried to fly under her, but was a hair too slow and rammed her instead with his head. "Ow, careful, I'm injured!" Nonetheless, she caught hold of metallic feathers, managed to drag herself onto his neck and slither back behind his shoulders. "Now get that dragonkin!" He veered towards it while she drew her hammer back. "Air Dragon Slayer Omega!" She smashed in its chest with a wet crunch and its broken shell plummeted to earth. "That's one down. Can I trust you guys to handle the rest?"
"Yeah," Lars said after he leaned aside from a claw-first dive from the wyvern and Ruth put an arrow in its hindquarters. "Why Omega this time, though?"
"It's presumably the final confrontation, so if I don't get in an Omega now I might not have another good chance for a while. Anyway I'm going ahead, good luck!" She turned for Tiamat. "Queen Elemental! You claim you'll exterminate humanity to save the world, yet threaten one of the last vestiges of natural beauty left in it to get your way? How contrary is that?"
"You nuisance! Still you dog me? Your body will rot here unburied when I kill you and then your entire flock!" Tiamat's breath shot out, still aimed by sound in her general direction, but not so well that U couldn't easily dodge it.
"Considering I blinded you, I'd say I'm more than a nuisance." U sped towards the dragon, but then Cart-Dragger remembered something. "Wait, stop! She might be planning to use that whirlwi-"
U slowed in the nick of time, just as powerful winds swirled before them and blew him backwards. He spun out of control for a bit, righted himself as Tiamat fired her breath again. Struck, the blast sending waves of agony through Cart-Dragger as well, he dropped limply through the air. Shit! She would probably survive the fall, even in her wounded state, but didn't want to lose another elemental ally, or know how she'd get back up there...