Dragon School: Dust of Death
Dragon School, Volume 17
Sarah K. L. Wilson
Published by Sarah K. L. Wilson, 2018.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
DRAGON SCHOOL: DUST OF DEATH
First edition. August 31, 2018.
Copyright © 2018 Sarah K. L. Wilson.
Written by Sarah K. L. Wilson.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Behind the Scenes:
For my readers who have difficult problems in their lives. May they find answers.
Chapter One
“I DON’T THINK I’M DYING after all,” Ephretti said quietly as we stood, side by side watching the smouldering city below us. The rain had not stopped. It still lashed around us in a torrential downpour, as if the heavens themselves were furious that the fires of Vanika had ever been lit.
My fault. Still my fault.
It was hard to even tell it was morning, the sky was so dark. Behind us, Hubric cursed steadily as his little fire caught and then went out again.
“I can do it myself,” he growled to Kyrowat, but I knew he just wanted the dragon to rest. Kyrowat had smoked and moaned all night. Dragons had protection from the fires, but not from exhaustion and carrying so many people in energetic sprints had been too much for the old dragon.
He’ll be fine. He’s a huge whiner.
But Hubric didn’t usually fuss over him and he was fussing this morning. I huddled a little closer to Raolcan. The Autumn rain was cold and my leathers were poor protection against the storm. I had no reason to complain, though. The refugees from the fire had left with only the clothing on their backs. Our tents and blankets had only gone far enough to protect the most vulnerable.
“I’m glad you aren’t dying, Ephretti.” I meant it. The world would be a poorer place without her stubborn determination. And this place needed her passion and her willingness to risk everything to help the people here.
“Tell the Winged Prince to leave me Lenora. I need help here. Dax and I have our hands full.”
I stole a glance at her – soaked as she was, she was still glowing faintly. Whatever had happened in the depths of the inferno had changed her.
“The fires are almost out,” I said.
“They’ll burn under the ashes for days or weeks,” Ephretti said, shaking her head. “You must continue through the heart of the earth, just as we planned. But Dax and I have other work. There are people here who desperately need us and a city to rebuild.”
She looked certain and hopeful. I felt my bottom lip begin to quiver.
“I’m so sorry about what happened. I didn’t realize when we attacked that this was even possible.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry, too. We were all at fault, Amel. It was not you who brought us here – not really. That was me. It wasn’t you who made the plan of attack. That was Hubric. It wasn’t even you who lit the fires. That was the dragons.”
“I ordered them. I blew the Pipe.”
“Yes. And when you leave this place to fight other battles, don’t forget this. Don’t forget what one terrible error can do. Don’t forget how many people have suffered – have died – because of us.” She ran her hands through her dark hair, combing it back out of her face. Little rivulets of water ran down her cheeks like the heavens were washing away her guilt ... and mine.
“I won’t.” My voice was small and trembling. I barely heard it above the pounding of the rain.
“But Dax and I will work now to restore this place and these people. Don’t forget us here when the war is over, Amel. You owe these people a debt.”
I nodded. “I won’t forget, Ephretti.”
“And don’t forget that I’m proud of you.” She felt embarrassed by the admission. I knew that because she immediately frowned. “Can you mount that dragon of yours without constant assistance?”
“Yes,” I mumbled.
“Hmmm? Speak up!”
I felt my face heat – the only warm part of me right now. “Yes.”
“Then we both have work to be done. The dark night is not over yet. Dawn has not yet come.”
“Dawn has not yet come,” Hubric intoned from behind me. It must be a Lightbringer thing. “Are you going to jaw all day, Ephretti, or go get some real work done?”
Ephretti ignored Hubric, surprising me with a hug. “Goodbye, Amel. I won’t be able to say it later. There’s too much to do. Stay alive. Watch out for that leg. Try not to do anything stupid.”
“I’ll try.” I surprised myself by getting teary as she left us. Through the downpour, she disappeared in moments. I was going to miss all her orders and the way she had of organizing everything.
I jumped when Raolcan lit Hubric’s fire with a burst of orange flame. Hubric muttered thanks and set his caf pot roughly on the ring of stones he’d made.
“She’s a good woman, Ephretti. She and Dax will do what’s needed here,” Hubric said after long minutes had passed. I turned to look at the fire he was still nursing in the rain. He never would have managed to light it without Raolcan. “Come and drink some caf and warm up. We have things to talk about.”
I sat beside him on a sodden log and accepted the caf. At least it could warm my wrinkled fingers.
That’s why I lit it. You two fools would have dissolved before asking for help.
“We have to go back down into those warrens,” Hubric said. “And we have to bring an army with us, Amel.”
“Raolcan thinks he can work those portals – if they’re undamaged. Remember how some were burned out last time?”
“That’s not the thing I’m most worried about.”
We sat in silence for a few moments before I said the word ringing in both our heads. “Ifrits.”
“They’ve been going down into those tunnels, but none came up to fight in the city last night.”
I followed his thought. “Which means that they have either gone to their destination-”
“-or they are still under there, waiting for us,” Hubric finished.
I drank my caf and thought about hundreds of Ifrits under the ground with glowing mouths and eyes. I swallowed down the bile that rose at the thought of them. But what else could we do? I’d burned down a city for the chance to use the warrens. I didn’t have the right to back out now.
No, you don’t. The course is set.
“The man who tried to kill me – the one in the city – he said our destruction was prophesied by Ko’Torenth.”
“False prophecies,” Hubric said waving a hand.
“And there were Rock Eaters here when we attacked, although I didn’t see any after in the chaos.”
“They may have fled.” But now he had a thoughtful look on his face.
“And before we recruited Rakturan and Jalla to our side, Baojang led the war against the Dominion.”
“Don’t think they are fully your allies now – not really. In the end, they want what we have.” Hubric was a sharp man. One conversation with Jalla and he�
��d seen that.
“So, what makes three other nations attack us at once? Why band together to destroy us?”
“Maybe they just saw an opportunity. The Dusk Covenant had struck and our Dominar was in jeopardy. Maybe it was just good timing.” He sipped his caf, watching me, like he was expecting something.
“Or maybe they pushed the Dusk Covenant. They’ve lain dormant in our land for generations. Why strike now? What if these nations pushed them, secretly, in the quiet of peaceful times.”
“It’s possible. But why would they do that?” He wasn’t doubting me, but he was pushing me.
“What do we have that they want?”
We sat there in the rain, thinking about it in shared silence. That was the question, wasn’t it? What did they want? The Dominion, maybe. We had wealth and resources. Perhaps it was our sky cities that tempted them. After all, they seemed to have turned all the Magikas against us – but why not just steal the Magikas away if that was what they wanted?
I felt like I should know this answer, like it was obvious somehow, but I just wasn’t seeing it. I pursed my lips and thought about it, but whatever insight I might have found was interrupted.
Chapter Two
LENORA’S FACE HAD A panicked look when she landed. Lypukrm skidded to a wet, mud-flinging stop in front of us and she didn’t even dismount before calling through the rain.
“The Winged Prince wants you, Amel!”
She looked so entirely different from the haughty noblewoman I’d met only a handful of months ago that it still surprised me. We’d been through a lot in the road-worn Dragon School we’d ended up in. No matter how difficult they crafted the courses in the original school, they couldn’t have worked us this hard.
“Lenora,” I said. “Would you like caf?”
Her eyes went big. “Aren’t you coming to see Jalla? She wants you right away.”
“When I’m ready. Have a drink with us.”
She shook her head. “When I get back-”
“You aren’t going back,” Hubric said with a grunt. There was a twinkle in his eye and we shared a smile. We were still on the same page.
“Ephretti says she needs you back now,” I said. Lenora’s eyes became sad. She glanced toward the camp Ephretti and Dax had set up for the refugees as if everything in her were drawing her that way. “You have your things with you in your saddlebags, don’t you?”
“But, Jalla-”
“Will still have an army and a future husband to wait on her with or without you.” Hubric was making interruptions a habit.
“What did Jalla do with the Rock Eaters that fled the city?” I asked.
Lenora looked surprised. “She killed them to a man. Even those who surrendered.”
“And the Magikas?”
“She told us not to go after them. They fled toward Cabradis.”
“And the other soldiers? Archers? Men on horse.”
“Some are prisoners. Some are dead.”
Interesting. So, she didn’t want to fight the Magikas, for whatever reason, and she didn’t want any of the Rock Eaters to live. What if my theory was right and there was some kind of conspiracy between our neighbors? What if Jalla knew more about it than I ever imagined?
“I didn’t get a chance to tell you after the Healing Arches,” I began, but I had to stop and clear my throat. “How glad I am that you survived.” A bit of the old Lenora came back with those words. She sat up a little straighter and held her head a little higher. “Do you want to go back to Ephretti?”
“Yes,” she said fiercely.
“Then I’ll miss you.” We were both smiling, now. “And you’d better be about it. I can see Renn on his way. Jalla was too impatient to wait for you to return with me.”
Lenora glanced over her shoulder, the edgy look back in her eyes for a moment, before calling out, “Thank you!” and leaning low over Lypukrm. His muscles bunched and then he leapt into the air, power and grace uniting in a single motion.
We’re beautiful when we fly. We were made for it. People are always the most beautiful when they’re doing what they were designed for.
And the most miserable when they weren’t. And Renn seemed surprisingly miserable for someone about to seal the biggest negotiation he could manage in a lifetime. He was almost green in the face when he landed at our camp.
We should just call this tiny fire “the Dragon Cotes” and be done with it, there’s so much traffic here.
“Where did Lenora go?” he asked. His good looks were marred by dark circles under his eyes. Sleeplessness didn’t suit him.
“She’s off to bring equality to all people,” I teased.
He didn’t even notice. “As long as she gets back to Jalla soon. The Winged Prince does not like delays. She wants to know where you are and why it’s taking so long. Dawn is more than an hour past.”
“If she’s the Winged Prince, what will you be called when you marry?”
I almost laughed at his pale face and wide eyes – but I felt too sorry for him. He was bound to a force of nature. It was kind of like strapping yourself to the back of an Ifrit and holding on for the ride. What would that do to a person?
“I’ll be whatever she decides. What are we waiting for?”
“We’re waiting for the talent,” I said calmly, sipping my caf.
Hubric chuckled into his coffee. For someone who seemed to derive all his pleasure from watching people, he was having the time of his life here. I wouldn’t have known he was on edge if I didn’t know him so well, but he was twisting and turning one of his scarves when he thought no one was looking. He was as worried about the warrens as I was.
“I’m here,” Tor said, stepping out from behind us. “Have you modified that saddle to fit me, too, old man?”
“Hardly,” Hubric’s tone was gruff, which I’d come to know disguised true affection for someone. “I can hardly carry a sack of potatoes behind me all the way south. You’ll show us the entrance and then you’ll go help Dax and Ephretti until after this war is over.”
“And then?” Tor froze as he waited for the answer. Interesting. This meant something to him.
Last night he had a taste of the life he really wants – dragon riding. Hubric was right. He’s a natural. A perfect fit for a dragon, but boy would it be a job taking him on. I wouldn’t want it.
Maybe his dragon wouldn’t pick. Maybe he would.
I doubt it. He feels sort of Purple to me. Sort of.
Even more interesting.
Hubric had let the answer hang in the air for so long that Renn cursed.
“Just answer him, will you? Jalla is waiting and if I’m late...”
I didn’t even want to know what Jalla would do to him. Well, maybe I did. After all, I wouldn’t be stuck with her if it hadn’t been for him.
And you wouldn’t have the Pipe.
And I wouldn’t have burned a city down.
Or saved us all at the Healing Arches.
Hubric’s roar of an answer surprised me so much that I almost dropped my mug.
“And then we’ll throw you off a cliff and see if you can fly! What did you think we’d do, boy?”
“Promise?” Tor’s eyes were alight. He was crazy. That was the only word for that – crazy.
Or maybe dragon-y.
Chapter Three
THE ARMY OR BAOJANG was surprisingly well organized considering how disorganized everything else about them seemed. Their traditions and laws were still opaque to me and their various leaders seemed to come and go in such a haphazard manner that it surprised me to see their tents laid out in careful rows with group fires spaced equidistantly along the lines. A large pavilion at the center of the camp was dominated by Jalla and her war leaders. It was positioned at the top of a hill, which made it easy to see from even outside the camp – and it also made it possible for her to see everything that happened in her camp.
We landed outside the camp on the city side of it.
“I’ll wait here with the
boy,” Hubric said, nodding at Tor. He watched Renn suspiciously.
You aren’t the only one who doesn’t trust that foot eater. Oh, great, he’s leaving that moldy old rug of a dragon with us.
Why did Raolcan hate Ahummal so much? He hadn’t seemed that bad of a dragon.
You aren’t the only one who feels betrayed by events in Baojang.
Interesting.
My progress was slow as I worked with both crutches and my slowly healing leg. It could move and bend and bear my weight, but I was tired from the night before and both legs were stiff from being pushed too far during last night’s flights.
“Can you hurry?” Renn asked impatiently. “You’ve already taken too long!”
Rakturan stepped out from the shadow of one of the tents. “Why don’t you go soothe your lady love, Renn, and I’ll escort Amel.”
Renn’s expression looked like it didn’t know if it should be offended or grateful. After a moment he just turned on his heel and rushed away.
“You think you have a faster way to get this army to Savette?” Rakturan said without preamble.
“We hope so. Have you decided if you are for us or against us, Dark Prince?” If he didn’t have time for niceties, neither did I.
His eyes glowed behind his blindfold as he said, “I told you before, and I grow tired of telling you – I am for Savette. I will give my life’s blood for her.”
“And your people?” I was slowing as the ache in my leg increased, bringing tears to my eyes. I should have ridden Raolcan in here instead of worrying about crushing the tents along the way.
The soldiers along the way stared at us and I didn’t know if it was Rakturan’s glowing eyes or the foreign Dragon Rider who had their curiosity piqued.
“I brought them here, didn’t I? To fight and die in a war not their own? What more do you want, Amel?”
“I want what you wanted when you asked me to stay in Baojang with you.”
He sighed, but he wouldn’t meet my eye and I knew he felt the shame of knowing it was his request that enslaved me to Jalla – or so he thought. I still was certain I could wiggle out of it somehow. After all, if she could declare me a slave just like that, I could declare myself not a slave just like that, too – just not when her army was nearby. Or any of her relatives. Or anyone else who might kill me for thinking that.
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