by David Ekrut
Feffer followed. The wooden walkway was sturdy beneath his feet, but he placed each foot with great care. That’d make a pretty portrait, him toppling into the river below. Instead of seeing him as an Elite Guardian of the White Hand, they’d dub him the royal jester.
He felt immense relief to step onto the dock. So much so, he almost bumped into Zarah when she came to an abrupt stop. Zaak and Jasmine faced the crowd, joined hands, and bowed to their city. Zarah inclined her head as well, a graceful smile upon her lips.
At least Feffer wasn’t the only one at a loss for what to do with himself. Elwin stared straight ahead, jaw clenching and relaxing rapidly. It was the look he always had when feeling anxious.
The guards from the city pushed into the crowd, making a pathway all the way to the gate. Once the crowd parted, the king and queen marched into their city as if they’d won some great war.
Elwin was right. It wouldn’t take much for these people to forget Bain’s attack. Not even a month had passed and already they had moved on. And why wouldn’t they? They had new enemies to contend with now. Just like in Northport, several of the buildings inside the city wall had been crushed, a firm reminder of the destruction awaiting any tamings.
After moving beyond the gate, the cheers lessened. Several of the guards fell into step around the royal procession. More than a few gave Feffer a nod of respect. Though his tongue was dry and his hands dripped with sweat, he did his best to look regal as he returned their nods.
Soon, the only sounds were the marching boots. A few heads peeked out of doors and alleys, but the city appeared to be empty. Most of the people were likely in the market anticipating the royal family’s arrival.
The street opened to a huge square. A small crowd surrounded a raised platform. Both men and women wore an assortment of burlap or cheap cotton. A group of children stood off to the side. None appeared to have bathed in years. Only a few of the onlookers turned to see their king and queen. Those who looked, scowled. One older man spat.
The man at the center of the stage stared at the parade with open hostility. He wore the garb of a Guardian of Life, the crescent moon large on his breastplate.
“Behold,” the guardian shouted, then gave a sweeping gesture toward the royal procession. “See now, those who brought this destruction upon our lands have returned. Their wicked tamings have incited the Lifebringer’s wrath upon our great city. They have stolen power from our Lifebringer, and He will not stand idle any longer. But fear not, the dragons have come to protect us from these black savants and elementalists. The dragons know their sins are not ours. Did the dragons not leave us goodly folk in peace? I speak truth. Not one innocent was harmed when they reigned down upon us. Those who died were agents of the Seeker. I tell you the truth, it is not the dragons who should concern us. As His instrument of justice, the dragons protect those who live in righteousness. Rest assured, we need not cower to the Bains of the world any longer. Hear me well. It is the elementalists who bring woe to our lives. But they will be purged from our lands. For it is written …”
The man’s voice faded as the square disappeared behind them. Feffer watched for a reaction from Zaak or Jasmine, but they gave no sign of irritation as they marched toward the castle’s gates. None of the others seemed alarmed by the speech, so Feffer bit his tongue.
Ahead, the castle courtyard was surprisingly empty.
Once onto the royal grounds, most of the guards dispersed. Only a dozen or so remained at the gate. Two moved ahead to open the large double-doors to the castle. Zaak and Jasmine never slowed. They marched through the antechamber and beyond the reception hall to the throne room.
There were two chairs on a dais where the king and queen would hear petitioners and settle disputes between the nobles.
Zaak held Jasmine’s hand as she sat, then he nodded to the guard by the entryway. As the doors banged closed, the clang echoed through the empty hall. Zaak gave a deep sigh and took the throne next to Jasmine.
“Can you believe that guardian?” Zarah said. “Why did you not have him seized for treason?”
“Arvin Teblin is the least of our concerns at the moment,” Jasmine said.
“Teblin?” Elwin asked.
“Aye,” Jasmine replied. “He is brother to the high inquisitor.”
“You knew about him.” Zarah’s voice was accusatory.
“We heard reports via pigeons while we were in Northport,” Zaak said, “where similar speeches were made in the streets there. Though, admittedly, the crowds are larger here.”
“The guardians can wait,” Jasmine said. “Until we can freely tame again, there is little we can do about fanatics screaming nonsense in the streets. Right now, we need to—”
Jasmine stood, abruptly. Her eyes glowed, and lights winked into existence around her. She held out her hand. Feffer felt a breeze just before something pushed him aside. He rolled into the fall but almost tripped over Elwin when he jumped back to his feet.
A man stood where Feffer had been. The sleeves of his tan robes were tied around his forearms and ankles. His shaven head was covered in tattoos. Foreign script covered most of his exposed skin. Feffer only recognized the one in the middle of his forehead—a crescent moon with a flame at its center. What in the abyss? That was the mark of the Guardians of Life.
The tattoos on his thumbs lit. The symbols vanished, and two daggers appeared in the man’s hands. He reared back as if taking aim at Elwin.
Before Feffer could blink, Jasmine leapt into the air and surged forward. The moment the daggers left the man’s fingers, wind burst them from their path. Jasmine slammed down in front of Elwin, placing herself between him and the assassin. A bar of light appeared in each of her hands. She threw both in rapid succession. The man dodged each with a slight twisting of his torso. He moved unnaturally fast. Without warning, he became a streak. His fist struck Jasmine’s midsection with a loud crunch. She was knocked backward, crashing into Elwin. They both tumbled several paces away.
The man never slowed. He was above them, somehow holding two more daggers. Behind him, Feffer heard Zaak running. The large man swept his colossal blade at the assassin, who leapt back without a hint of concern in his expression. He danced around Zaak’s attacks as if exercising in the yard.
Elwin and Jasmine regained their feet. Wisps of light still whirled around Jasmine and began to shift around Elwin and Zarah as well.
The glyphs on Zaak’s sword lit up in various shades. Zaak broke his attack, staring down at his sword with an expression of deep confusion, which quickly became angst. The glow of the blade traveled into Zaak’s hand and up his arm.
“Dragons take me,” Feffer said, unsheathing his own sword. “This is bad.”
That’s when he felt the ground beneath him shake. Something banged into the castle. Stones behind the dais came loose with each strike. As part of the wall fell inward, he could see beyond the castle.
Feffer’s reflection looked back at him from a gargantuan, serpentine eye. The diamond pupil shifted to Jasmine and widened in delight.
Chapter 6
Consequences
Dear Anetia,
I understand your trepidations with my chosen course, but there is no turning back now. As you know, there is only one way to leave the Makers, and I was already on rocky ground before my “death.” I apologize for the lapse in correspondence. It took a bit of time to convince the Keepers of my devotion to their cause, enough to have liberties to come and go of my own accord. As you can imagine, many other orders have attempted to install spies within their ranks over the centuries, so they are understandably cautious. But I am trusted enough to travel to Delcoa, which is much closer to our stronghold than modern maps depict.
Despite our disagreements, I do hope you will maintain discretion concerning my business here. But if you wish to continue our debates, you’ll need to send letters to Ardelbert’s Post
in Delcoa. I will come by every other tenday to check my post-chest.
You’ll be glad to know the Keepers have given me ample space to perform my experimentations, but my capacity to test my theories is limited. We do not allow elementalists into our order, so I do not have access to an essence. Still, the Keeper’s libraries are filled with volumes on this topic, and the dragons hold a wealth of knowledge. I will exhaust these avenues before I consider more extreme measures. I’ll not bore you with the details—at least not until I have something more substantial. In the interim, you have my warmest thoughts and best wishes.
~R.,2993 A.S.
~
Elwin had pulled a torrent of Air and Fire into himself and was preparing to strike out with a taming, then he heard the resounding bang just outside. He froze. Was nowhere safe? He was inside the thumping castle for Life’s sake. The ground beneath him quaked again.
The dragon wanted to devour his essence. It would break through.
Across from him, fear flashed in Zarah’s face just before the Air rushed out of her. The mere thought of losing his ability to tame forever made him release his stored energies as well.
A knowing smile filled the monk’s expression, and he leapt forward, pressing his attack on Zaak once more. He spoke the same words the dragon had and moved with speed and grace beyond what could be called natural. He dodged around Zaak’s swings with casual ease. The giant sword was now glowing. The eloiglyphs moved as if alive.
The wall behind the thrones caved inward. A massive serpentine head peeked through, knocking away stones with its snout. There was a stark intelligence in the sapphire eyes. The dragon’s gaze swept across the room then settled for a moment on Jasmine. Her back was to the thing. She’d never turned away from the monk. Light crackled in her fingers as she prepared another lightning hurl.
The dragon’s eyes fell on Zaak and widened for the briefest of moments. Was it afraid of the sword?
Foreign words boomed through the room. There was a rhythm to the speech, almost like a song. The phonetics of each syllable hit with sharp intention, every sound deliberate and practiced. There was weight with the language, each clipped sound emanated energy he could feel.
The dragon’s body morphed as it leapt into the castle, shrinking to fit into the space. Still, it was gigantic. Each of its green scales, as large as a tower shield on its back, grew smaller and lighter in color toward its underbelly. Spikes ran along its spine and down the broad tail. Its long snout ended with round nostrils and a wide mouth, like a hound’s.
As if unaware of the dragon lunging toward her, Jasmine leapt into the air and threw lightning hurls at the monk. The robed man rolled beneath the streaks of light. He leapt away from Zaak’s sword sweep. A lightning hurl struck the monk in the torso. His body lurched backwards and into Jasmine’s wind thrust. His body was flung away and crunched into the wall. Before the monk had time to crumple to the floor, the dragon was there. Even flying, Jasmine looked so small next to it. Like a bird beside a giant.
“Jasmine,” Elwin shouted. “Look out!”
She turned as the dragon reached for her. Air flowed into her with increasing fervor. Life energies joined with the Air. A thin layer of light covered her skin. The dragon swept a claw at her. Jasmine surged backward. Zaak ran at the creature, sword high. The dragon spoke more words, lips moving much like a person’s. Just as Zaak swung, the dragon vanished. And appeared behind Jasmine. The energy surrounding her body dissipated beneath the dragon’s touch. Jasmine gasped, face contorted in agony. More lightning formed in her hand but fizzled on the dragon’s scales, much as Breaklin’s had.
Elwin watched with increasing horror. It was going to kill her, and there was nothing he could do. Tamings wouldn’t hurt it. Swords would not cut it. What could be done against that?
Boots slammed into the stone. Both Feffer and Zaak ran toward the dragon. Feffer was closer, but the dragon didn’t so much as glance at him as Feffer slammed his blade into the scaly leg. The dragon’s focus turned to Zaak.
The light from Zaak’s sword had swallowed his arm and crept up his shoulder. Elemental energies entered the dragon. A cage of stone ripped up from the ground to the ceiling and trapped Zaak on all four sides. The king slammed into the bars with a pained grunt. But he never slowed. His sword swept across the bars, hacking one away with each swing.
Another incantation flowed off the dragon’s tongue.
Jasmine’s essence appeared in front of her. It looked just as it had every night in the shadow realm, only somehow more corporeal. The dragon took a deep breath. Jasmine screamed. Her essence streamed into the dragon’s mouth like inhaled smoke.
Elwin felt it then. The dragon’s essence stirred, growing as Jasmine’s essence merged into it.
“No!” Zaak shouted.
He reared back, slamming his sword into his cage with increased vigor. Elemental energies fell away with his strikes, until finally, Zaak broke free of the prison. He ran, sword glowing with increasing fervor. The dragon reared back and hurled Jasmine. Zaak lowered his sword in time to keep from impaling his wife upon his blade.
Both crashed to the stone.
Jasmine’s limp form bounced, head cracking hard on the ground. She rolled to a stop and laid still. Zaak pushed onto his back, only half-rising, eyes dazed.
The dragon looked down to Feffer, who was still hacking away at the scaled leg. He never saw the large hand coming as it swatted him aside like a fly.
Without pause, the dragon spoke one more incantation. Then it vanished.
For a few heartbeats, Elwin could not move. Though he hadn’t dreamed in over a year, somehow he knew none of this was real. Any moment, he would wake from this nightmare. Then, Feffer groaned.
Before he was fully aware, Elwin was running to his friend. Feffer had risen to a sitting position. He looked up at Elwin.
“I take it back,” Feffer said, voice groggy. “I’d rather you could tame.”
His eyes rolled in the back of his skull, and he fell over. Elwin dropped and caught Feffer before his head could strike the ground. Feffer’s eyelids flittered as though he was in a deep sleep, and his breathing was steady.
Sounds of running boots filled the antechamber. Within seconds, dozens of soldiers surrounded him. Each held weapon in hand, looking about for signs of danger. More than one stared at Elwin as though he might pose the largest threat. A minute passed before a man with a captain’s rank pushed through and knelt beside Elwin.
“Is he alright?”
“I don’t know,” Elwin said.
“Gurndol,” the man barked. “Get this man to the healers.”
Three soldiers sheathed their weapons and stepped forward. They lifted Feffer from Elwin’s grasp. Elwin stood as if to follow, but a rough hand gripped his shoulder and spun him about.
“Where do you think you’re going, boy?”
Elwin stared at the gruff face. “Feffer’s my friend. I need to know he’s okay.”
“Not a chance. You wait right here. No taming. You hear?” He placed a hand around the hilt of a sword covered in eloiglyphs.
“I wasn’t going to,” Elwin said, looking around for Zaak.
The king stood with Zarah, helping move Jasmine’s limp form onto a litter.
“Is she alive?”
“For your sake, she better be.”
“For my sake?”
But the captain turned his attention back to the litter. Several figures in white robes lifted Jasmine and carried her toward the antechamber. Zarah made as if to follow, but Zaak raised a hand to stop her.
She broke from his grip and said, “I can heal her.”
Zaak’s jaw twitched. His voice brooked no argument. “No. You cannot. There is to be absolutely no taming. Do you understand? Until further notice, taming is outlawed.”
“But Father, she will die if I do noth—”
>
“Do you think I do not realize the stakes? Taming is what got her into this. And that boy.” Zaak’s expression looked about and settled on Elwin. “Sir Gibbins, bring him here.”
A vice took hold of Elwin’s arm and yanked hard, leaving him no choice but to follow or be dragged. He chose to follow, but that did not stop Sir Gibbins from giving Elwin a shove when reaching Zaak.
Elwin fell to his knee, forcing him to look up at the king.
“Leave us,” Zaak said. “Everyone. Get out. I need to speak to this elementalist.”
“You heard him,” Sir Gibbins barked. “Everyone out.”
“Father,” Zarah said in a curt voice. “Surely, you do not blame Elwin for this. The guardians—”
“I said out. And no taming. In fact, Sir Gibbins, would you escort the daughter-heir to her rooms. Double her guards. Post at least two men on her balcony.”
“Yes, my liege.”
Zarah flinched at his tone, her mouth left gaping. Slowly, she nodded. Then she spun on her heel, knocking aside Sir Gibbins’s proffered arm. She marched ahead of the departing soldiers. The doors closed, leaving Elwin alone with Zaak Lifesong.
“Come,” Zaak said, voice much softer. He gestured toward a pair of cushioned chairs in the side hall. “Let us sit.”
Wary of the sudden change in tone, Elwin followed without speaking. Zaak sat first and patted the seat next to him. Elwin obeyed his king and sat. Zaak stared at Elwin for several seconds before speaking.
“I am sorry I was harsh to you before. There are difficult times ahead, and I needed to be seen as stern. I cannot place the blame for this on the queen. She is a symbol for our people. And I cannot damage that, especially now. Do you understand what I am saying?”
“You mean me to be your scapegoat.”
Zaak grimaced. His face smoothed over, and he nodded. “I like you, boy. Before anything else happens, I need you to know that. Despite all else, you have been a good friend to Zarah and an apt pupil for Jasmine. But the fact remains, much destruction and devastation has come to this country in pursuit of you. Of no fault of yours, trouble comes for you still.”