Black Dragon

by Jada Fisher

  She didn’t get to enjoy that expression for long, however, as Estelle landed on one of the ramparts leading out from the council room and let them climb down. Surprisingly, Cassinda had demanded that she come along, and Ukrah once again felt guilty that she didn’t have a stronger connection to the girl. Clearly, the redhead felt some sort of loyalty to her that she didn’t quite understand. Ukrah kept telling herself that she should try to get to know the girl better, but considering she lived at the academy and Cassinda lived on Eist’s estate, time kept slipping away from her.

  Elspeth was already there, waiting for them with a grim expression. To Ukrah’s surprise, the woman marched up to her, arms extended, and she took both of Ukrah’s hands in hers.

  “I need to warn you. This will not be pleasant.”

  “I surmised as much.”

  “I’m sure. People are going to say cruel things. They’re going to accuse you of being evil, of crimes you were never around for. And, I have to be honest, there will be those who will malign Lady W’allenhaus. I need to know if you’ll be able to handle that.”

  Ukrah sent the woman a sharp look. “Why would they do that? She has nothing to do with a black dragon choosing me.”

  “I know that, and you know that, but what you must understand is that, while many nearly worship Eist for what she has done to save all of us, there are those who think…less of her. I’ve heard that you met some of them at your nameday celebration.

  “We tend to live in a protective bubble at the academy, where folks either know the truth and accept all the changes that have happened, or they’re too busy trying to ingratiate themselves to the governess and the council for power. Outside of the academy, it can be quite different. Witch hunters, sects of the Church of the Three, or even just predators in general all live and breathe and look the same as normal folks. We’re all about to see the ugly side of those already ugly people, as well as everyone else who they embolden.”

  “That’s a grim picture.”

  “It is a grim situation.”

  Ukrah wished that was an understatement, but it certainly didn’t seem to be. For once, she wished that things could just go normally.

  Then again, what kind of normal journey started with surviving being burned at the stake?

  Voirdr let out one of his attention-seeking sounds as he wound about her feet. Ukrah bent down to heft him up, knowing she was probably spoiling him but not particularly caring. Looking at her little guy, she tried to find the big, scary monster that most of the yelling people probably saw, but she couldn’t find that anywhere.

  There was only his beautiful, opal eyes, shining and shimmering like a rainbow. His cute little smile with his tongue hanging out between his little nobby teeth that were only barely pressing up from his pink gums that were dappled with black spots. His too-large paws and his overly long tail and snout. His cute little spines were just going into their hardening stage, transitioning from floppy to erect.

  He was a baby, in every sense of the word. A cute, charming, lovable little baby who had stolen her heart, and she had no desire to have it back.

  “Come. This way,” Elspeth said, leading them down to a flight of stairs and eventually the ground. “This should be a good enough place to wait for Eist to arrive.”

  “Do you think she’ll be here soon?”

  “Perhaps,” Elspeth answered calmly. “But it doesn’t really matter. Eist would kill me if she knew that I took you into the council without her. In fact, I’ll probably have to leave you for a bit to go up ahead and calm them.”

  Ukrah nodded, trying not to listen to the angry screams and other things that she could hear from all the way out at the wall surrounding the academy. It was too close to a memory. Reminded her too much of things that she didn’t want to think of, and the more she stood there, the more her heart began to pound and stomach began to twist.

  What if they all managed to break down the wall? What if there was a coup? What if… What if… What if…

  So many thoughts churned in her head, most of them frightful, and Voirdr definitely seemed to pick up on it, licking at her chin and nuzzling into her neck.

  “It’s okay, little one. It’s going to be okay.”

  Goodness, she hoped she was right.

  Elspeth stayed with them for quite a bit, quiet and with a furrowed brow. Ukrah wanted to ask her things, so many things, but it wasn’t the right time. Besides, she doubted that she would be able to actually listen to anything the woman had to say, considering all her ears seemed to focus on were the chanting and banging.

  When Ale’a ran up the stairs to join them, Ukrah could tell that she did not bring good news.

  “Several of the students and teachers are now gathered outside of the council. Do I have your permission to clear them?”

  Elspeth sighed. “None of this would have happened if I’d just thought things through for a moment.”

  Ukrah could feel the guilt rolling off the woman and she reached out, resting her hand over Elspeth’s arm. “I understand. I know what it’s like to be drawn to something and not be able to think about anything else.”

  “Thank you. Comforting, but at my age, I really should know better.” She let out another long, long sigh. “We can’t clear them. We need to hear them out, if only to tell them that their concerns are unfounded. Just because one dragon was corrupted, that doesn’t mean they all share the same fate. The Blight has been banished.”

  She looked to Ukrah and Crispin, grimacing. “You two wait here. I’ll have Eist and Athar meet you here. Ale’a, with me. The good part of listening to their hatred is it will let us stall without seeming to.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Oh, and no punching anyone.”

  The redhead stopped mid-step, almost stumbling down the stairs. “…are you certain?”

  “Yes. You’re a council member now. You can’t be seen fighting students or professors.”

  “…as you order, Elspeth.”

  The two women descended the stairs together, shoulders tense, leaving Ukrah, Crispin, and Voirdr alone.

  “Well, this isn’t the best situation, is it?”

  “No,” Ukrah answered honestly. “It’s a bit too familiar, if you ask me.”

  “Ah, you’ve dealt with angry mobs before, have ya?”

  “Something like that.”

  “You know, for someone who is basically my closest companion, I don’t know a lot about your life.”

  “It wasn’t much of a life,” she answered with a shrug, hugging Voirdr closer. However, her arms began to ache, and somehow, Crispin seemed to just know and held his arms out. She debated a moment, but she didn’t want to be weak and trembling by the time it was her turn to stand in the center of the council again, so she handed him over.

  Voirdr trilled happily, however, and clung to Crispin’s lanky front. Seeing them together made Ukrah feel a little easier, but only slightly.

  “That doesn’t matter. You’re my friend, Ukrah. I want to know everything about you.”

  Ukrah shifted uncomfortably. “Perhaps… Perhaps a time when there is not an angry mob to contend with.”

  “Alright, fair enough. But don’t think that I’m going to forget. When all this is settled down, we’re gonna go back to our suite, stuff ourselves with Braddock’s biscuits, and laugh at how silly all these bloviating folks are. Or, uh, were. Whichever.”

  “I… I’m not so sure that it’s going to be that easy.”

  “I never said that it was easy. Just that, one way or another, we’ll get through this. I mean, advantages are stacked in our corner. We have the Head of the Dragon Council, the god-woman, her husband, and the governess all behind us.”

  “I think you are perhaps making the situation less dire than it is.”

  He shrugged. “Call me an optimist.”

  She smiled wanly at that. She couldn’t remember the last time she had ever felt optimistic in any form. At least she had the lanky boy to balance her.
r />   “I wish that was what the crowd was calling us.”

  “Ignore them. They’re just misinformed. Eventually, they’ll find out the truth and then they’ll slink home, embarrassed.”

  “Like that sect that interrupted our nameday?”

  “I mean, they certainly didn’t seem to enjoy being thrown into a wall.”

  “We can’t throw an entire mob into a wall. Or the academy.”

  “Why not?” She gave him a look, and he huffed. “Alright, fine, fine. You may have a point about that one, but I’m telling you, it’s going to be okay. You’ve got me, little guy, and all the rest of us behind you. What more could you need?”

  She didn’t have an answer for that, so she just gave him an appreciative smile. It was about all she had the wherewithal for.

  Thankfully, it didn’t take too much longer for her to spot the carriage quickly approaching the main gates. Unfortunately, Ukrah could also make out the crowd moving in two specific forms of motion. One shifting toward the carriage to block its path, and the other crowding the gates to try to shove in when they opened for the W’allenhauses. She started and took a step back toward where they had landed, but that turned out to be quite unnecessary.

  Because at that moment, Fior swirled down from the sky, landing in front of a carriage and letting out a roar that made Ukrah’s heart skip even from all the way where she was. The people around him scattered pretty quickly, but there were still others by the gate.

  That didn’t last for long either, however, because more of the brindled dragons landed, lining either side of the path to the gate, rumbling with a sort of power that made the hair on the back of Ukrah’s neck stand up.

  Unsurprisingly, the couple didn’t have any trouble getting into the gate and having it close behind them without a single person from the panicked mob getting in. In fact, Ukrah was pretty sure she saw a good chunk of them scatter through the hills and leave. That made sense, in a way. It was one thing to yell at some unknown black dragon, it was another to have a hero of the realm and her mount show up and make a scene.

  It would be too easy if that made them all go away, however, and a good number of the mob was still there. At least they seemed slightly less angry and more uncertain than anything else. She couldn’t hear them chanting anymore.

  “Should we go down to the gates and meet them?” Crispin asked, shifting Voirdr in his arms.

  “No, Elspeth told us that we would meet them here, so we should meet them here.”

  “Uh, are you sure Lady W’allenhaus will be able to make it up the stairs? Her babe is getting big inside her.”

  “If not, she’ll send Athar up to fetch us.”

  He flashed her a crooked grin. “For someone who broke a whole bunch of laws to save me, you sure do suddenly seem to like the rules a lot.”

  “We’re in this situation because I keep seeming to break all the rules that people are supposed to live by and look where it’s gotten us. Maybe we should try following them for a bit.”

  “Ugh, sounds boring. Besides, I trust you more than I trust any of these people. Especially considering that some of these folks apparently wanted to execute Lady W’allenhaus back in the day.” He shuddered. “I can’t imagine how they live with themselves knowing that they tried to murder the only person who could save their sorry rears.”

  “Me neither,” Ukrah murmured, watching the carriage.

  Despite her decision to follow the rules, she did wish she was down there with Eist as the carriage finally stopped and she stepped out of it. As if they were connected, the woman looked up and their eyes locked.

  Ukrah wasn’t sure what she saw in those eyes, one pupil blown out and the other quite small. Apparently, in her heyday, magic had eventually shifted to give her two witch’s eyes instead of one, but that had left her when she’d exiled the Blight and given up all of her connection to the power of the Three and the life-stream of their world.

  But one thing was certain, and it was that there were definitely many intense emotions there. Ones that Ukrah could feel burning right through her. She just hoped that the god-woman wasn’t mad at her. She certainly hadn’t meant for any of this to happen.

  Then again, if anyone understood what it was like to have strange and impossible things happen to them that were completely out of their control, it was the god-woman.

  Unsurprisingly, it was indeed Athar who came up the stairs, worry lines etched into his broad forehead. He looked at them and just gave a nod before turning back around.

  Ukrah took that as their cue to follow him, and they silently headed down the stairs. Instead of him assuaging her anxiety, she found it building within her, twisting in her stomach. He looked rattled. Worried. And if anything could make the mountain of a man truly concerned, then it was certainly something to be worried about.

  They managed to reach the landing without any sort of grand attack or apocalypse, and she would have breathed a sigh of relief if it weren’t for Eist waiting for them at the bottom, a stormy expression on her face.

  She had both hands on her stomach, the corners of her lips downturned. Her hands never seemed to still, rubbing in gentle circles as if that would ease the unpleasantness written in her expression. Tension was visible in her shoulders, and her cheeks had a flush to them Ukrah wasn’t used to seeing.

  “Idiots,” she hissed. “All of them. I thought I was done with all of this, but the stupidity of people always surprises me.”

  “Sorry…” Ukrah muttered, her gaze sliding to the ground.

  “Sorry? Don’t be sorry. None of this is your fault. It never is.” The woman started to pace, and the air seemed to stifle around her. “You and I are pieces of some big puzzle, pushed into places by things out of our control, and they want to punish us for it. They’re scared because we’re not abiding by all these neat little rules they’ve applied to the world.” She let out a frustrated sound, and there was a sharp trill from above them.

  “Fior,” Eist breathed, stopping and closing her eyes. “He’s here, isn’t he?”

  Athar nodded, and Ukrah felt confusion flow through her until she remembered that Eist had difficulty hearing. It was so easy to forget considering how well the woman had adapted to the world, but it did make her admire her that much more.

  Soon enough, the brindled dragon lumbered down the stairs, barely squeezing through and only able to because of his relatively small size. His crystalline eyes slid over them before landing on Eist. She seemed to deflate, almost, much of the tension leaving her body, and she held her hands up.

  The rest of them had the good sense to get out of the way as they bounded to each other. Ukrah watched as the dragon killed his pace once he was near her, gently nuzzling her while she hugged him.

  The two held each other for a moment, and Ukrah felt her heart warm a bit. She was looking forward to having that bond with her little guy in time.

  Granted, she hoped she didn’t have to go through what the god-woman and the brindle had in order to forge that bond. Time-hopping and devouring gods and the like was a bit much, in her opinion. She had enough to deal with Tayir, being a vessel, and being the rider to the new black dragon.

  She did wonder where the bird was, however. He’d declined to come with them, citing he wasn’t interested in more human squabbles, but Ukrah couldn’t help but wonder if something else was going on with her feathered friend.

  Well… ‘Friend’ was perhaps stretching the truth a bit.

  Eventually, the two parted and the god-woman looked to Ukrah. “I want you to remember that these folks are scared, and scared people say stupid things. You’re going to hear a whole lot of those stupid things in there, and your job is to not listen.”

  “I… I understand.”

  “Good. It’s not easy, I know, but you have to act like you’re above them all, no matter what they say. But remember who says what. I’ve never tried for revenge or anything like that, but I don’t give my back to a single soul that cried for my execution
.”

  “Yeah, but you don’t think they’ll call for her execution, do you?” Crispin said with no undue amount of alarm.

  Eist didn’t say anything, instead just clicking her tongue for Fior to follow her down yet another long hall. The academy seemed far too full of them, and yet somehow, they were in one she didn’t recognize. Even though she had already been to the council once.

  Eist and Athar navigated it like second nature, though, and Ukrah couldn’t help but wonder if she would ever feel as at home like they did. To her, the academy was a strange and unwelcoming world that often left her feeling more stressed than she thought was necessary. Although she was learning it, and there were bright spots, she didn’t feel like she belonged. Not like Athar and Eist did.

  But maybe that would change in time. Ukrah had heard the stories about how relentlessly Eist had been bullied by Ain, and he had become one of her greatest allies. There were good things that could come from the bad, she just didn’t really seem to have gotten to that part yet.

  And when they finally arrived in front of the large council room doors, Ukrah realized that she still was a very long way from that point.

  While there wasn’t a crowd like she had heard from Ale’a, there was still a dozen or so students all standing around, their dragons in their arms or on their shoulders, and their heads seemed to turn collectively as they approached.

  Of course, Melithindre stepped forward to speak, but Eist just cleared her throat and affixed her with a mismatched stare. “Do you need something?” the god-woman asked sharply.

  For having no magic, the air certainly did seem to crackle around her. “Nothing, m’lady,” Melithindre answered quickly, stepping right back.

  Ukrah allowed herself exactly one moment to gloat before forcing herself to hold a blank face. Unfortunately, Voirdr hadn’t really developed a social sense, so he jumped out of Crispin’s hold and went to the floor, trotting toward the other dragons as if he expected to play.