Leonidas was standing in the tower throne room brooding when he felt the magic shift. It was still there, but the flow felt different. Like something was missing. Frowning, he went to the lower level. Shade and Rondo glanced at him as he walked by.
“Boss?”
Leonidas raised a hand and kept going. Something was wrong, he knew it. He pushed the door open, stepped out, and looked up. His worst fear had come true. The northwest tower had been deactivated. His first thought was to blame the spirit of the forest, but if she had been able to turn off the energy flow, she would have done it long before now. Deep in his heart, Leonidas knew it was the dark wizard.
He turned back, slamming the door behind him. How could he have been so stupid as to leave the towers unguarded? That was easy; he assumed no one else knew how to deactivate them. It appeared he was mistaken.
Leonidas returned to the throne room. “Wake up, girl.”
Ariel looked at him expectantly.
“I want you to order dragons to protect all of the outer towers.”
She closed her eyes and scrunched up her face.
“Show me what you’re doing.”
The viewing window appeared, showing sky and clouds. A moment later the sand of the desert appeared followed quickly by the tattered remains of the tent city and the tower they surrounded. He let out a sigh of relief. One of the towers was protected at least.
The view quickly shifted to the sky again followed by the expanse of the Vast Swamp. The tower appeared in its pit.
“Have that dragon land and lie in wait for anyone that might show up,” Leonidas said.
The image changed as the dragon got ever closer to the ground. It landed and crouched down so the view was only a foot off the ground. He nodded to himself. So far so good.
The image shifted for a final time to the village where all this started. The dragons there were small, but as he recalled there were six of them. That should be enough to cause anyone trouble.
“Order all the dragons there to kill anyone that approaches the tower.”
The screen shifted rapidly as she touched the minds of each dragon. At last Ariel looked up at him, waiting for her next order.
Leonidas patted her on the head. “That’s enough. You did well.”
She showed no reaction to his praise. He sighed and shrugged. What had he expected? The girl was only a puppet after all.
Chapter 19
Yaz had never seen a desert. From above it looked like an empty wasteland of sand in every direction dotted by an occasional spot of green. Despite its apparent emptiness, he flew over a trio of caravans making their way through the sand. What he didn’t encounter were any towns. Those caravans had to be going somewhere, but he’d be damned if he could figure out where.
Who cares? Those people mean nothing to us.
The voice had a point, but he couldn’t turn his curiosity off like a lantern at bedtime. Whenever he ran into something he didn’t understand, Yaz felt a powerful need to figure out what was happening.
I blame your mother for that.
“Oh, shut up. I have enough on my mind without you blabbering away at me.”
For someone with such great curiosity about everything else, you don’t seem terribly interested in knowing more about me.
“The little you’ve told me doesn’t exactly encourage greater exploration of the subject. I’m stuck with you, I accept that, but I don’t have to like it. Now hush, I can see the tower.”
A little to his left, a dragonspire jutted up out of the sand, lightning gushing from the top in an endless stream. Where did it all come from? While he understood the tower’s basic function, he had yet to figure out the source of all the energy they transmitted.
Much like the caravans, it was a mystery for another day. As he got closer, it became clear that some sort of town had once surrounded the tower. Blackened canvas stretched for hundreds of yards in every direction. It looked like a great fire had consumed the town. The air still stank of smoke. As he flew lower Yaz spotted bodies mingled with the debris. Some looked like little more than skeletons, but others were more intact.
With all this flesh ripe for the taking, there should have been scavengers everywhere, yet the area was still and silent, like an open-air tomb.
A faint gust of wind was all the warning Yaz got. He leapt forward, just avoiding a blast of flame.
He spun to get a look at what attacked him. A red-scaled dragon was banking around to come at him again. So they set a guardian on this tower. He should have expected it after shutting down the first one.
The best thing to do would be to get inside and deactivate the tower. Hopefully the beast would just fly off afterward.
Optimist.
Yaz ignored the comment and raced for the tower door. The only good thing about fighting dragons was that they took forever to make a turn. Still, he had to cover a hundred or so yards and she wasn’t turning that slowly. It would be close.
He reached the tower a heartbeat ahead of the dragon. A gout of flame scorched his back as it strafed him again. As he’d hoped, it couldn’t attack too close to the tower.
The moment the coast was clear, Yaz stepped out and tapped the rune pad. He stepped inside and slammed the door behind him. A library of books spread out in every direction, illuminated by the glow of the sigil. Now this was what he expected. Yaz could spend a happy decade reading in here. But, as with everything else, not today.
He made his way through the stacks to the central area. Deactivating this sigil proved as simple as the first one. In less than a minute, he was standing in the dark.
Two down, two to go.
Yaz went to the door and opened it. The red dragon was staring straight at him.
He slammed the door, heart racing. Gods’ blood! How was he going to get out of here? It wasn’t like the towers had a back door.
Why don’t you just make a back door?
“What, just cut through the wall? Can I do that?”
Please don’t insult my power. If you were determined, you could blow this tower to gravel. I will admit, that might strain your feeble mortal body. But cutting a hole should be within your limited ability.
“You’re kind of an asshole, you know that?”
A feeling of smug amusement washed over Yaz as he walked to the opposite side of the tower. While he hated exposing the books to the elements, he also didn’t want to hurt the dragon. She was just doing as she was compelled after all. Making a door seemed the lesser evil.
Yaz conjured a black sword about three feet long. That should be plenty to get through the wall. He looked from the sword in his hand to the solid gray stone.
You have to believe it will work. Any doubt will weaken your power.
He took a deep breath and let it slowly out. No bloody wall was going to stop him from getting out of here. He slammed the blade into the wall with all his might. It went in up to his top hand like the stone was pudding.
Grinning, Yaz cut two vertical slices then connected them with a horizontal slash. He let the sword vanish and grasped the newly made stone slab with his power. It slid out before him and as soon as he was out in the sand, he slid the slab back in place. That should keep the worst of the sand and critters out.
Now to get out of here before the dragon realized he was out.
An earth-shaking roar filled the air.
So much for that. Yaz shot into the sky as fast as his new power would carry him. He risked a glance back. The dragon was beating her wings furiously to catch him. He was confident he’d win a race.
He shot eastward with everything he had. When he’d left the desert behind, Yaz looked back again. No sign of his pursuer. Her orders must have been to protect the tower. Now that Yaz was a safe distance away, the dragon must have decided that her priority was guard duty.
You got lucky.
Yaz couldn’t argue with that. Now that he knew the dangers awaiting him at the remaining towers, hopefully his luck would hold.
All the plotting and planning and military talk had given Brigid a headache. It didn’t help that she knew next to nothing about the best ways to approach a guarded position, or scouting, or silently eliminating sentries. She was a shepherdess and way out of her depth. She’d been out of her depth since taking that first fateful step out of the valley with Yaz. Only having him beside her helped Brigid deal with the madness they’d faced. Now he was gone, flying around like a wizard, trying to save everyone. And she was stuck here surround by the most formidable people she’d ever met.
Brigid took up her ironwood staff and gave it a spin. The smooth, cool wood felt good in her hand. This was something she understood. How long had it been since she did her combat drills? Felt like forever.
She put about twenty paces between her and the strategy meeting and began. Her staff swished through the air, spun in a defensive circle, and snapped out in a quick thrust.
“Impressive.” Helena was coming her way with Yaz’s ironwood staff in her hand.
Brigid swallowed a sudden lump in her throat. Speaking of formidable people. Yaz’s mother had this look that suggested that whatever you threw at her, she’d handle it without blinking.
“Thanks. I didn’t mean to just walk off, but I didn’t have much to add to the conversation.”
Helena gave her own staff a spin, surprising Brigid. “At this point they’re just talking to keep the bards from getting nervous. Mind if I join you?”
“No, please. Did you take the woman’s self-defense training too?”
Helena smiled. “No, Yazguard taught me himself. He was determined that if anything should happen to him, I’d be able to protect both myself and Yaz. It was a sweet thought, though if I had to protect us, I’d brew some explosive potions instead of swinging a staff. I miss him.”
Side by side they did a few simple forms. Brigid tried to concentrate on her moves but couldn’t stop thinking about who was beside her. After her third peek at Helena she nearly cracked herself on the shin.
Yaz’s mother stopped and faced her. “I don’t bite.”
Brigid’s laugh sounded brittle in her ears. “I suppose not. Do you think he’ll be okay?”
“Yaz is strong and smart. I don’t know what bathing in the dark substance has done to his body, but he appears to have full control of his mind once more.” Helena shook her head and let out a long sigh. “I think he’ll be okay, in large part because he wants to be with you. I’ve seen the way he looks at you and you at him. I’m glad my son found someone like you.”
“I don’t think it’s just me he wants to get back to. When we were trying to find everyone, but especially you and his father, I’ve never seen anyone so determined. He did some things during the journey, hard things that hurt him deep inside, but he never complained.”
“That he got from his father. Yazguard would have done anything to protect the village. Yaz might not have been his blood son, but in every other way he was Yazguard’s boy.”
A cheer went up from behind them.
“What is it?” Helena shouted.
Silas pointed to the southwest. The line of power from the second tower had vanished.
“Looks like he’s making good progress,” Brigid said.
“Yes he is. Best get focused. We’ll be heading into the city soon.”
Brigid fought not to tremble. Part of her, a large part, wanted to stay where it was safe, but she knew that if they failed, nowhere was safe.
Chapter 20
Leonidas felt his second glimmer of concern when the desert tower stopped transmitting power. Despite the dragon guardian, his enemy had succeeded in shutting it down. And only hours after deactivating the first. He looked down at Ariel but could think of no new orders to give her. For now, it was up to him and his cadre to deal with whatever came their way.
He left the throne room and descended to the lower level. Everyone was waiting and they rose when he entered the room. Polymus hung from manacles fastened to the wall. The effects of the paralyzing potion had worn off, but he was going nowhere. After a quick look, Leonidas dismissed the traitor from his thoughts.
“Boss?” Shade asked.
“A second tower has gone dark. I have little hope that the precautions I took will be enough to keep the remaining two safe. Without those towers feeding us energy, I can’t maintain the shield that protects the central tower. At the rate matters are accelerating, I believe our enemies will strike before nightfall. This is, without a doubt, the greatest threat to my plans we have yet faced. If we succeed in defeating the dark wizard and his allies, reactivating the towers will be a simple task. If we fail, nothing else matters. Make whatever preparations you need. Jax, can you summon shadow demons?”
“I can, but not until sunset,” Jax said. “They can’t function in daylight.”
“What about sending them to the dark interiors of the ruined buildings?” Rondo asked.
Jax shook his head. “The sun’s presence disrupts their magic. I could try and summon them in a cave a mile underground and they still wouldn’t appear until the sun had set above their position.”
“Maybe I’ll go hunting,” Shade said. “They’re bound to come sneaking through the ruins. I might be able to pick off a couple on their way in.”
“I have a vial of particularly nasty poison I’ve been saving,” Domina said. “Want to try it?”
To Leonidas’s surprise Shade said, “Yeah, thanks.”
That might be the first time he’d heard the assassin thank her for anything. Not that Domina had ever done much to earn thanks from Shade.
“What about me?” Rondo asked.
“You just stay out of everyone’s way,” Domina said.
Leonidas fought a smile. That was more like it.
Out of nowhere Polymus burst out laughing. “It’s all falling down around your ears. You’re pathetic, Leonidas. You call yourself an emperor, but you wouldn’t even be a jester in my father’s court. You’re going to fail before taking control of a single territory. History will mark you as the most pitiful ty—”
Leonidas wrapped his tongue in crimson energy and pulled. With an audible tear and burst of blood, Polymus’s tongue came flying out of his head. Leonidas incinerated it with a thought.
“That’s much better,” he said. “If anyone else has any suggestions, now’s the time to speak.”
No one did.
“Very well. Shade, I wish you good hunting. Don’t take any unnecessary chances as I’ll need you in the final defense of the tower. I will return to the throne room to make my final stand. Whatever happens know that you have been a fine cadre.”
With those final words of encouragement, Leonidas flew back upstairs to await his destiny.
Yaz hung in the air above the swamp tower. The village appeared quiet and empty which worried him. There was no way a dragon was placed on guard duty in the desert but not here. He’d expected some color of dragon to have attacked him by now. What was he missing?
Rushing in blind wasn’t good, but he couldn’t take too long either. Noon had come and gone while he was flying to the swamp. If they were going to attack the central tower during daylight, he only had five more hours to finish up and join the others. Of course, if he got eaten by a dragon, he wasn’t going to be much help to anyone.
Send a few blasts down there. If anything’s hiding, that will flush it out.
A rare bit of good advice from the presence in his head, but Yaz had a better idea. He conjured a copy of himself out of dark energy. The size and silhouette looked right. Time to see how smart this dragon was.
With a thought he sent his construct flying down toward the tower, not too fast and not too slow. It was kind of like fishing. He had to move the lure just right to get a bite.
And what a bite he got. When the construct was ten feet from the ground, the earth erupted and a mottled brown-and-green dragon exploded upward.
She snapped the construct out of the air. The whole thing fit in her mouth with room to sp
are.
Yaz sent the dragon a silent apology and snapped his fingers.
All the energy stored in the construct exploded in the dragon’s face. She went flying away from the tower, smashing already ruined buildings and slamming into the side of the pit.
Yaz wasted no time flying down and entering the tower. No way would the dragon stay down for long.
He hurried to the sigil, deactivated it, and ran back to the door. A minute and a half had passed. He opened the door a foot and peeked out. No tooth-filled mouth waited to devour him. Thank the gods for that.
With the door slammed tight behind him, Yaz powered into the air. He glanced back to find the dragon rolling to her feet and shaking her head. He smiled and shot north. It looked like she’d be fine.
Just over two hours later he reached the outer edge of Dragonspire Valley. This was the last one and would probably be the hardest. At least judging from the six, winged shapes flying around the tower. Ariel must have woken Soto and the other reds. Familiarity wouldn’t save him today.
Those young dragons are no match for you. Just kill them and let’s get this over with.
No way was Yaz going to kill Soto and the other dragons. He practically grew up with them. It would be like trying to kill a favorite pet. He just couldn’t.
That said, he did need to find some way around them. He didn’t need them gone for long. Maybe he could just grab them and throw them some distance like he did with the giant snake back in the old imperial ruin. Couldn’t hurt to try anyway.
Yaz flew closer, conjuring giant black hands as he went. The dragons noticed him about a hundred yards out. They snapped their wings and rushed at him.
The smaller dragons were nimbler than their larger cousins. Yaz sent the hands flying in. One after the other he snatched them out of the air until he held all but one. The sixth dragon avoided the hand trying to grab her and landed in front of the tower door.
He should be able to bind one long enough to sneak by and do what he had to do. But first to get rid of the other five. He could already feel the magic of his constructs breaking as they struggled. Yaz reinforced the magic then sent them flying away in every direction.
The Dragon Empress: The Dragonspire Chronicles Book 6 Page 14