The Dragon Empress: The Dragonspire Chronicles Book 6

by James E. Wisher

  He shuddered. Who or what could do that?

  “Are you okay, Mom?”

  She swallowed hard and nodded. “The body just startled me. Let’s keep going. The lab is on this level. We don’t have far to go now.”

  Yaz looked back at Brigid who was still too far down on the steps to see the body. “Don’t look too close when you get up here. This mess is nothing you want to see.”

  He followed his mother up to the landing, stepping carefully around the pooled blood. Just inside the second-floor door, Yaz waited to help Brigid inside. She was shivering when he took her hand to guide her around the body. Silas managed with nothing more than a scowl of distaste.

  The hall beyond the door was dark so Silas increased the glow from his spell. It might have been better if he hadn’t. A streak of blood ran down the center of the hall, staining the stone and dotting it with specks of flesh. His mother hooked a left at the first intersection, toward a long, straight hall.

  Three-quarters of the way down, a thin boy dressed only in ragged, knee-length pants stood facing them. Blood dotted his thin face and chest. He stared at them with a delighted smile.

  “Hello, big brother,” the boy said. “Do you want to play?”

  Shade hadn’t gone on a recruiting trip in a while. The Dark Sages had troops they used on a regular basis, but the only group the boss employed had been wiped out in the dragon’s attack when two of their flying ships went down. Not that Shade expected much trouble convincing the other groups to come on board. When Lord Black asked you to work for him, there was only one answer.

  At least they didn’t have far to go. The nearest group of mercenaries camped a day’s ride from the ruined city. They were called Roebuck’s Raiders and they’d worked with various cadres off and on for years though never in any important capacity. Moving between groups meant no one trusted them with any deep secrets.

  The sun hung high in the sky when the first tent appeared on the horizon, jutting out of the snow like a square mushroom. The sun glinted off the tips of the perimeter guards’ spears, easily marking their location. Had Shade been thinking of sneaking into the compound, that would have made his job easier.

  “What sort of greeting should we expect?” Rondo asked.

  Shade glanced back at his nervous traveling companion. “Don’t worry, we’re coming to offer them an easy job with regular pay. They’ll welcome us with open arms.”

  “I hate it when you say things like that. It’s like you’re trying to jinx us.”

  Shade grinned. Trust Rondo to turn his best attempt at offering reassurance into one more thing to worry about. Still, if Rondo wasn’t worried, then Shade would be.

  Thirty yards from the outer pickets, Shade spotted crossbowmen watching them with loaded weapons. At least they didn’t raise them so that was good. A squad leader in polished mail and carrying a drawn longsword over his shoulder raised a hand.

  Shade reined in. “Morning. I’m Shade Carmine from Most High Black’s cadre. The boss is looking to hire. Is your commander free?”

  The squad leader nodded. “We’ve been between jobs for a month. Not much work in winter. If you’ve got a paying job, Commander Roebuck will be happy to see you.”

  “That’s reassuring. I assume his tent is the one with the pennant flying over it.”

  “You got it.”

  Shade shook his reins and urged his mount deeper into the camp. Off-duty soldiers were gathered around fire pits, throwing dice and generally killing time. To a man they shot Shade and Rondo sullen glares as they passed. At least they didn’t look half starved. That was good. The boss wouldn’t want worn-out weaklings.

  They dismounted in front of the command tent and tied their horses to a makeshift hitching rail outside.

  “Do we knock or what?” Rondo asked.

  “Hello!” Shade said. “Anybody home?”

  A few seconds later a scarred, bearded man poked his head out of the tent flap. “Hell are you?”

  “Shade Carmine. I—”

  “I know who you are. Forgive me, it’s been a rough few weeks. Come in and warm yourself.”

  Shade brightened. “Thank you, I believe we will.”

  He stepped into the tent and sighed as the heat from the small iron stove soaked into him. The commander settled gingerly into a rickety camp chair.

  “I’ve never worked for the Most High’s cadre,” he said. “What brings you here now?”

  “We need men and your band was the closest to our headquarters. I’ll be visiting others as well. In fact if you could direct us to your closest neighbors when we’re finished I would be grateful.”

  “That’s easy enough. McGregor’s heavy infantry is twenty miles south of here. So what’s the job?”

  “Lord Black is building an army to occupy Rend and Carttoom. He’s already softened them up with dragon fire so there shouldn’t be much actual fighting. Mostly you’ll protect our agents as they seize control of various cities and strategic locations. You’ll get paid from the taxes we collect. Understand, this isn’t a looting exercise. Lord Black is rebuilding the Dragon Empire. You’ll become regular soldiers in our army.”

  “Do we get a down payment?”

  “If you agree then Lord Black will offer your first week’s pay when you report to him.”

  “That’ll do. Roebuck’s Raiders are at your service.”

  “Excellent. Your first job will be to join us when we go to hire McGregor. I assume you know the man.”

  “Unfortunately. He’s a stubborn jackass, but his men are the finest heavy infantry I’ve ever served with. We did a job for High Sage Kranic last year. They know their business.”

  Shade nodded, showing more confidence than he felt. If McGregor was associated with Kranic’s cadre, he might be difficult. “Shall we depart?”

  “Sure. It’ll take a couple hours to break camp.”

  “I’m sure your men can handle it while we go see McGregor.”

  Roebuck shrugged. “You’re the boss.”

  Three hours later Shade, Rondo, and Roebuck rode up to a tightly packed collection of tents. They were greeted by a wall of twenty men in banded mail carrying spears and shields.

  “State your business,” one of the soldiers said.

  “We’d like to speak to McGregor about a contract,” Shade said.

  The soldier’s head turned a fraction to address Roebuck. “You sign on with them?”

  “A few hours ago. Sounds like easy enough work.”

  The soldier spat. “Just the kind you like, Roebuck. Wait here while I fetch Commander McGregor.”

  “Charming people,” Rondo muttered.

  “I warned you,” Roebuck said.

  “I don’t care about their personalities, as long as they can get the job done,” Shade said.

  They didn’t have long to wait before a short, barrel-chested man between forty and fifty came stomping their way. He wore a green-and-red checked shirt and matching wool pants. The hilt of a long sword jutted up over his left shoulder.

  He stopped in front of his shield wall and planted his fists on his hips. “Well?”

  “I’m Shade—”

  “I know who you are. What does one of Black’s lackeys want with me?”

  “Lord Black would like to hire your heavy infantry. You’ll be working with other groups of mercenaries to provide security for our agents as they seize control of Rend and Carttoom. Your pay will—”

  “Me and mine will never work for the likes of Leonidas Black. We’re loyal to Lord Kranic. You can tell your master that. Now be off before I have my men run you through.”

  Shade shrugged. He’d been given ruder send-offs over the years. “Suit yourself. I just came to make the offer.”

  He turned his horse around and led the others off. He trotted for about a mile before reining in.

  “What is it?” Rondo asked.

  “Give me the mirror. The boss is going to want to hear about this.”

  Rondo pulled the ench
anted mirror out of his saddlebag and unwrapped it before handing it to Shade. The assassin nicked his finger and touched the bloody digit to the mirror’s frame. “Are you there, Boss?”

  Half a minute later Leonidas’s face appeared in the reflection. “Trouble already?”

  “Don’t know if it’s trouble, but McGregor’s heavy infantry told us off, claiming to be loyal to Kranic. Figured you’d want to know since that’s the sort of loyalty that might be trouble later on.”

  “Indeed. Are you still within sight of their camp?”

  Shade craned his neck but couldn’t see anything beyond a thin trickle of smoke from their cook fires. “Sorry, boss. We’re about a mile due east. You want us to ride back?”

  “No, that’s fine. Where’s the camp in relation to the tower?”

  “Twenty-five miles southeast give or take a mile.”

  “Okay, when you see the dragon, point towards their camp just to be sure we get the right one.”

  “Shade.” Rondo pointed toward a knoll about a hundred yards off the road. “I bet we could see them from up there.”

  Shade nodded. “We found an observation point, Boss. We’ll be ready when the time comes.”

  “Excellent.”

  The boss severed the connection and Shade handed the mirror back to Rondo. The horses forced their way through the snow and up to the top of the knoll. Below them McGregor’s camp was clearly visible.

  “What was he saying about sending a dragon?” Roebuck asked.

  “Just wait,” Rondo said. “I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.”

  The surprise appeared out of the northwest only minutes later. The boss must have really wanted to show off. He’d sent the big black dragon to deal with McGregor.

  “Gods’ blood!” Roebuck nearly fell out of his saddle.

  Shade grinned and pointed at McGregor’s camp.

  The dragon banked and dove at the collection of tents. When it was twenty yards out, jaws that could swallow a horse whole opened and black flames shot out.

  So wide was the blast that the entire camp was engulfed in a single pass. When the dragon pulled up and banked to the left Shade got a better look at the camp.

  Not that there was much to see. Everything had been disintegrated. Only black ash remained.

  “Now you know why we don’t expect much resistance,” Shade said.

  Roebuck could only offer a mute nod. He was probably wondering if that’s what would have happened to his camp if he’d turned Shade away. Knowing the boss’s temper, it probably was.

  Chapter 6

  Yaz stared. His mind froze and for a moment he forgot he was standing in a cold passage in a fortress filled with blood and corpses. Looking at this kid was like staring into a mirror five years ago. They really might have been brothers. He was mesmerized.

  “Hi,” Yaz finally managed. “I’m Yaz. What’s your name?”

  The boy cocked his head. “I don’t know. Malcom always called me the weapon.”

  “No one even bothered to give you a name? That’s awful.”

  “It’s okay. I played the blood squeeze game with Malcom and he lost.” The boy giggled. “I always win the blood squeeze game.”

  Yaz shuddered. Whatever they did to create this kid, something went wrong. “Do you know any other games? When I was younger, I liked to play hide and seek.”

  The boy did a little dance. “I played hide and seek with Malcom’s master. I won. Then we played the blood squeeze game and I won again, though he gave more blood than anyone else, so I guess he came in second.”

  “Congratulations.” Yaz did his best to stay calm and not say anything that might set this insane creature off. “Winning on your first try is very impressive. If it’s okay, we’d like to visit the lab.”

  “There’s nothing fun in there. Let’s play a game with your companions. I’ll squeeze one and you squeeze another and we’ll see who gets the most blood.”

  “I think my friends would rather keep their blood inside. Maybe we could go outside after and have a snowball fight instead. All five of us. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

  “I can’t go outside.”

  Yaz frowned a little. “Why not?”

  The boy’s face scrunched up. “I just can’t! I have to stay in here. We have to stay here. We’re the same. We can play together. Once I get rid of them, you’ll have no one else to play with.”

  “Get down!” Silas shouted.

  Yaz and his mother dropped to the floor just ahead of a blast of the wizard’s lightning.

  Silas’s spell hit a black barrier and sent the kid flying back through the door behind him.

  “Let’s get out of here.” Yaz grabbed his mother and they ran.

  The four of them retraced their steps back to the entry hall. His mother stopped and said, “We still need the key. There’s another, longer passage to the lab. That, what ever his is, will be looking for us here. We’ll take the long way around.”

  The last thing Yaz wanted to do was go back to the lab with his junior doppelgänger after them, but he wouldn’t let his mother go alone and she looked determined so there was no way he could talk her out of it.

  “You guys wait outside,” Yaz said. “You heard that kid. He can’t leave the castle, so you’ll be safe.”

  “But you won’t,” Brigid said.

  “The longer we talk, the better the odds of him finding us,” Yaz’s mother said. “We need to move.”

  “It’ll be okay,” Yaz said. “We’ll be back before you know it. Whatever happens, don’t come back in.”

  Yaz gave Silas a look and the wizard responded with a faint nod. Hopefully he’d keep Brigid from doing anything crazy.

  His mother went to a wall nearby and touched three stones. A hidden door slid inward. With a final look back at his friends, Yaz followed her.

  As soon as the door closed behind them, magical light burst to life, providing just enough illumination for them to see where they were going. The path was wide enough for them to walk single file and no more. Yaz sneezed when the dust they kicked up got in his nose. No one had been down this passage in a long time.

  “Why didn’t we come this way in the first place?” he asked.

  “I didn’t see any reason to. The castle appeared empty and the main passages are faster. This hidden corridor was designed for emergencies. I wasn’t even sure the door still worked. That girl loves you.”

  Yaz started at the sudden change of subject. There was certainly something between him and Brigid, though from how she reacted when she found out how he came to be, Yaz doubted her feelings would be enough to overcome her distaste. Not that he blamed her. Yaz was horrified by his origin as well.

  “I’ve tried not to think too far into the future. Don’t want to get my hopes up then end up getting killed before they come to anything.”

  He could hear his mother’s smile when she replied, “You are definitely my son.”

  “Who’s my real father?” Yaz asked.

  “You don’t have a blood father. You’re an amalgam of various genetic compounds, primarily human, but also a little dragon and something darker we never really identified. The fact that you gestated inside a human mother allowed you to take on a human identity. That creature had nothing to temper its destructive nature, plus it had no one to raise it in any real sense. Kranic called it a weapon, which is how he treated it. You can hardly complain when your creation acts like you wanted it to.”

  “Would that have been my fate?”

  “Most likely. Quiet now, we’re getting close.”

  Ahead of them, the outline of a door appeared in the wall. His mother pressed her ear to it for a moment then touched a stone that caused it to swing open. What lay beyond might once have been a lab, but now was nothing but a mess. It looked like someone had systematically gone and smashed every piece of glass in the room, including what used to be a tall vat made of heavy glass. If there was ever anything to find here, it was most likely ruined along with everythi
ng else.

  “Gods’ blood!” his mother swore. “This is a complete loss. I couldn’t find the key in this mess, even if it was still intact. Let’s get out of here.”

  The main door to the lab exploded inward. The boy stood there smiling at them. “Found you!”

  They managed one step toward the secret exit before that door slammed shut and a bar of black energy formed across it, sealing them in.

  “No running away this time,” Yaz muttered.

  The boy looked around. “Where are the other two? One isn’t going to last us very long.”

  Yaz racked his brain for something he might say to convince the little monster to let them go. He was supposed to be smart, damn it!

  “Oh well.” The boy gestured and dark energy wrapped around his mother.

  “Run, Yaz!” she said.

  He couldn’t run. He already lost his father. Losing his mother would break him. He’d save her or die trying.

  Yaz went into his mental library and found Wrath waiting. The small emotions were cowering away from the black-robed giant.

  “We aren’t strong enough to open the door,” Wrath said.

  That’s when it hit Yaz like one of Silas’s lightning bolts. They weren’t strong enough alone, but all of them together might be.

  Yaz held his hands out and willed all the lesser emotions to join with him. He shuddered as Fear and Pain slammed into him. One after another, all the emotions he usually locked up charged through his body until only Wrath remained separate.

  He reached out.

  Wrath took his hand. When he did, the hood fell aside revealing Yaz’s face staring back, his skin pale and his eyes pits of darkness. This was what he would have become if his mother hadn’t saved him, if his father hadn’t raised him to put others before himself.

  When Wrath was nothing but a memory, Yaz walked to the black door and imagined a pull.

  It wavered into being.

  He grasped the iron ring. It felt like ice in his hand.

  Bracing one foot on the wall he pulled with all the combined might of his emotions. He put all his desire to save his mother into it.

  The door opened a crack and dark power rushed into him.