“No, she didn’t exactly pressure me into service, and I don’t exactly blame her, but… Agh! It’s hard to explain. Sure she’s got a cooler head now, but she was acting reckless back then. I had to rein her in before she got herself killed.”
“I think I know the feeling.”
“Holy shit,” said Alex. “You don’t have to talk about me every chance you get.”
“Interesting you assumed I was. How bigheaded of you. Unless you want to argue otherwise.”
“Uggh. Fuck you.”
Isabel chuckled. “There’s no love lost between you two, is there?”
“I’m not exactly sure what you mean by that,” I said.
“A phrase you’re not used to, eh? I guess it’s confusing if you haven’t heard it before. I’m saying neither of you exactly like each other, right?”
“It’s like you’re not deaf and blind or something,” said Alex.
“Careful, ghoul. You’ve got to play nice if we’re gonna keep you around, especially without a dragon to back you up.”
“See, it’s people saying exactly those kind of things which add to his loathing of me,” I said.
“Ah. Wait, hold on a sec…” She stopped in front of a split in the passage and pulled out a piece of white chalk from a pocket. She rubbed that chalk over a faint white arrow on the right side of the tunnel wall. “How hard is it to mark a wall clearly?”
As we took the right path, I asked, “What’s at the end of the other one?”
“Nothing. A couple of storage rooms. Confirmed it myself when I sent a fireball into them to investigate. Hey, speaking of magic, how does it work in Orda?”
“Uh, can you be more specific?”
“Yeah. I mean, I think it’s strange that Felicia and I use different elements. Usually, a family bloodline favors one pretty heavily. Our father’s side is occasionally known to produce fire weavers, but my freakin’ twin controls air. Is that weird in Orda?”
“Not really. Our father chose to cast air spells, so he learned air spells. If he wanted to go another way, he could have. I don’t believe his blood’s history would have constrained him.”
“That doesn’t sound fair. Does that mean there are a bunch of weavers who can cast all the elements?”
“I don’t know what your idea of ‘a bunch’ is, but there are certainly casters who can cast a variety of spells. Still, most hardly get the time to learn and master more than a couple of types.”
“I don’t think it’s all about time. You and your brother are young, yet you’re both pretty strong already.”
“Well, I suppose we’ve squeezed in a lot of experience in a fairly short amount of time. And I would think wielding corruption and dragon fire would make any fool strong.”
“That’s true,” she said with a smirk.
“Now, let me ask you how magic works here. How did you and your sister know you can cast spells in a world where many can’t?”
“The Rhorit Test. The krewen made it up a long time ago. Every day there are kids, and I guess some adults, who go up to four big bowls in their chantry to try and move around the elements inside them. If you don’t end up moving anything after about a thousand tries, it’s pretty much confirmed you don’t have what it takes to weave a spell.”
“That’s it? There’s no instruction at all?”
“I mean, yeah, there’s a little more to it. I was just keeping it basic for your sake. Like, there’s generally some old geezer reciting something from Balance while we’re trying to focus, and there are game-like activities they make us play. It’s pretty much the only reason people still go to chantries. The bowls or the stuff in them are supposed to be sanctified or some crock of shit, but there have been plenty of weavers who discovered their talent without any chantry help… Orda people still respect the gods, I assume?”
“A good deal do, yes.”
“Including you? I suppose you do. You’re a godsdamn dragon knight. That has to mean you must have their favor or something, right?”
I blurted out a laugh. My first real mirthful exclamation in Dretkeshna. “You know, I’ve never looked at it that way. Except for a frantic prayer or two, I’ve never considered what the gods may or may not want with me. They must know I don’t fight in any of their names, and I would think seeking out the power of corruption wouldn’t exactly endear me to the honorable ones.”
It was Isabel’s turn to laugh. “Gods damn themselves! Either they’re helping someone who doesn’t even worship properly, or they’re not helping a dragon knight at all! If I didn’t already think they were worthless spirits with self-esteem issues, I’d spiral into a drunken depression thinking about all the implications. Thank hard liquor that all I have to do right now is shoot at stuff I’m ordered to shoot at.”
“Indeed. Whether a god is intervening in my life or not, all I can do is take things as they come, and right now that means burning through a metal door.”
Before reaching the men’s camp, we passed two pairs of Vanguard guarding three tunnel entrances, which, not counting the slits on the sides, had been blocked with raised rock. They apparently led to a confusing array of mining tunnels that may or may not have turncoats hiding out in them.
After going down a rather steep slope, the passage opened up to a cavern three times as commodious as the one containing the women’s camp. Twenty-five tents were spread around and between five large columns. Metal carts, crates, barrels, tables, chairs, and lanterns dotted the area. Isabel no longer needed her fireball within the well-lit camp. Several Vanguard roamed the middle of the encampment, but many had taken a place by one of the six tunnel openings ringing the edges of the oversized chamber, which included the one we came through. These openings were at least partially obstructed by rock or crates.
Crossing across the blood-spattered, bullet strewn campground, I made eye contact with Xavier. He sat on a chair so his right leg, which showed off a white wrapping at its upper thigh, could rest on a stool. I returned his friendly wave with a quick one of my own. My unbroken strides eventually took me to the far end of the camp. The major was here with Felicia and one of the younger looking Vanguard men.
Seeing us coming, the major, in a voice louder than normal, said, “I can hear you if you speak to my left ear.”
Leaning toward said ear, I asked, “You wanted me to burn something for you?”
He pointed at the nearest tunnel, which also happened to be the broadest one. Lowering his voice a touch, he replied, “There’s a metal door at the end there. Get it out of our way. Nick, get those in the camp to join us. You stay with Xavier.”
“Why can’t I come?”
“What?”
We all knew he did hear him, but the young Vanguard got the hint and proceeded to follow orders. Meanwhile, I followed the major and the twins to the wide tunnel. It smoothly slanted downward for about sixty feet before a lantern on the ground illuminated a dark gray door five feet wide and nine feet high. On the door’s face were two yellowish levers that seemed to be connected to two heavy horizontal bars and four serrated wheels by way of gears and steel ropes.
Lest a fight waited for us on the other side, Eric had me wait a minute for the three support Vanguard to reach us. When they arrived, I popped a dragon flare into existence. My corruption had recovered faster than my cleaner prana, but since pure dragon fire would be better at attacking something so solid and heavy, I stuck with my regular power.
The door hissed like an angry, frightened feline when the flame made contact with its center. A hole instantly formed in a door that must have been as thick as the length of my hand. The circular region directly around the vaporized hole started to glow a reddish white as it melted, but the metal there quickly steamed as well when I spread my personal furnace outward. There was a taste of resistance when I thinned the fire, but given that the target was immobile and in close range, it was easy to adjust for.
In a minute, I created a five foot by three foot breach in the entryway. The fri
nges still dripped and oozed liquid metal, forcing the group to wait a minute if they did not want to get a drop of near boiling ore on their head. As we waited, Isabel sent a probing fireball. Its light first revealed a mere continuation of the tunnel. The second revelation surprised the Vanguard when they spotted the glinting lumps hanging from the ceiling.
“Are those light bulbs?” asked Felicia.
“No, the glass bulbs connected by wires are natural cave formations,” answered her twin.
Not hearing the girls, Eric said, “Look up there… light bulbs. They can get electricity down here.”
At the end of the fireball’s range, a system of pulleys could be seen above a dark pit. Catching no indication of the enemy, we moved through the tunnel when there looked to be no chance at getting severely burned. In the event the turncoats were planning an ambush, I suggested Alex take point and use his shadow spell to “feel out” for hidden souls. The suggestion was applied.
The pit at the end went down forty or so feet. A trio of ladders allowed the group to descend quickly. At the bottom were five empty carts on two pairs of train tracks. Alex sensed no one become trapped in his paralysis hex, so Isabel cast another flame spell and thrust it ahead of us. Alex next went to the absolute border of the light’s scope so he could cast his spell again. This pattern continued from anywhere between fifteen hundred and two thousand feet.
I smelled the change before seeing it. It was something like smelling the ocean from the sky. The air became wetter and cooler. A distant trickle of water reminded me I needed to take a piss soon.
Isabel’s light diffused considerably when it entered a great hollow. At the same time it softened, the feeble rays also bounced off several reflective surfaces. One of those shimmering surfaces belonged to a lake, one that extended well beyond the reach of the meager light source. Debris in semi-organized piles or in rows lied between the tunnel and lake shined as well. What drew in all our eyes the most was what I first believed to be a large pile of scrap floating at the water’s brink. Even my second guess of an oddly curved ship with silver, brown, and yellow hues wasn’t exactly precise.
“Well, I’ll be jitterbugged,” said Isabel. “That’s a godsdamn submarine.”
Looking back at me, Felicia said, “So the brat was right.”
“We’re gonna need a camera,” said Eric. “No one at command will believe the turncoats have taken it this far.”
“But a fuckin’ submarine?” said one of the Vanguards I didn’t know. “You’d think they’d use all these resources for something more reliable. Guess it’s a good thing this boat would’ve probably malfunctioned and drowned them.”
“But it has high potential if they can do more than drown in it,” said Felicia. “They can go out, sink a couple lonely ships, and then return here without anyone knowing what in the gods’ balls happened.”
“We need to get our best engineers in here as soon as we can,” said Eric. “We have to find out how close they were to getting this thing out to the open sea. Mercer, the second you can summon your dragon, I want you to take me back to the Orkan so we can pick up Simon and Anthony.”
“The faster I can get some sleep, the faster I can do so.”
“Then find a tent and rest up.”
Chapter Twenty
Since a turncoat counterattack might happen at any time, I only removed my cloak, which meant I had to wake up on occasion to reposition myself. All the same, I felt I had gotten enough sleep after six or seven of these linked, lengthy naps. There was an ample supply of canned foods to choose from, so I ate my full of several varieties in an attempt to uncover a flavor I actually enjoyed. However, it seemed as if providence predetermined that no food here would thrill my tongue.
Maya sat by herself in a small tent, a spoon listlessly stirring the mush in her can. To satisfy my curiosity, I went up to her and crouched outside the tent. She looked up from her food container only to the point where she could identify me.
“You knew about the submarine, didn’t you?”
She looked back down. “Yes. I’d never seen it, but I heard them talking about how they finished building it a few weeks ago. I-I don’t think I was supposed to know about it, but they were too excited for the news not to reach me and the children.”
“Then it’s a completed machine? Why didn’t you confirm it earlier?”
“The children told you enough. I didn’t think there was a point saying anything else once your leader decided to raid the mountain.”
“Hmm… Did you think telling us as little as possible would make you feel better about betraying people who betrayed other people?”
“I don’t know.”
“Or maybe you were saving it as something to bargain later?”
“Why do you care? My life is over no matter what I say or don’t say.”
I glanced back to see Alex eating alone in his tent. “My brother recently belonged to a cult. They wanted to transform the world. To strengthen it. Surprise, surprise, only a few would benefit from the change. He’s upset I took him away from them. Except he never really mentions his regret about failing to bring about a new age. He mainly talks about how they treated him seriously, how they trusted him with power. You remind me a bit of him. I’m starting to think a lot of the Advent and turncoats I’ve met merely wanted attention they’ve never been given. What do you think?”
“W-what do I think?”
“Aye. Is there hope for him? For you? Or are the people who gave you your first taste of attention and fellowship forever your masters, whether they’re gone or not?”
“I-I’m not sure… I do know you’re going to put me in a cage. The people here took me out of the streets when no one else would. And now… look how I’ve repaid them…”
“But what of your daughter? If you could still talk to her, teach her, would you urge her to join a group who will always be hunted? Will they be her masters as well? Or would she have gotten a choice?” I suddenly felt as if I were encroaching on abstract territory I was far too unwise to navigate on my own, much less with a woman on the verge of tears. I stood up. “Agh, never mind. Your wound is still fresh, as is my brother’s. Forgive me for delving into it.” I walked away, trying to get Eric’s sight to come across my own. When it did, I nodded. He returned it. Going up to Alex, I said, “Let’s get going.”
“I’m not finished eating.”
“No one is stopping you from eating on the way.”
“Why do I have to come, anyway? Aren’t you just gonna pick up some people?”
“As I understood it, they are not warriors. I’ll will be busy with Aranath, so I’d like it if someone with a useful amount of prana backed me up. Unless you don’t think you’ve recovered?”
He stood up with his ubiquitous sigh.
Eric, Alex, and I exited the mountain, needing to brace ourselves against the coldest part of the nocturnal phase. To give some relief to Lieutenant Gaos and Ishree, who had switched with Bregman and Svren at some point, I had Aranath burn a random patch of ground for a few seconds. The baked rock would provide a reinvigorating warmth for an hour or two to anyone standing nearby.
Several rolling cloud formations split up the strong moonlight into dozens of rays and beams, creating the radiance necessary for the dragon to see a long way. It’s why, despite being two or so miles away from the coast, I trusted his observation when he said, “There are many people and several small boats at the shoreline.”
Not liking the sound of that, I urged Aranath to go faster and to begin circling downward. When my inferior eyes finally spotted what the dragon had, they estimated a number close to three hundred milling around the shore. Three burning heaps of unknown debris were all that prevented them from feeling nature’s full frozen brunt. On seeing the dragon, some of the men, which appeared to be Vanguard sailors, waved their arms to attract an attention they did not know they already had.
The dragon landed. By the time Eric descended the steed, a small group of sailors h
ad gotten within speaking distance. However, Eric still turned his head so his healthier ear could catch every word.
“What happened, commander?” asked the major to one of the few clean shaven men I had seen on this world.
“Submarine torpedoed us not two hours ago! Their first missile missed us by a hair, but the second hit the stern. She sank in half an hour.”
“Cunts had another submarine? And what of the captain?”
“Think we lost him, too.” His fist went to his chest and traced a tight circle twice. “He went below decks to try and get as many people out as he could. Philip said he saw ‘em hold back a whole mess of rushing water all on his own. That seems to be the last time anyone saw him.”
The major and the others mirrored the same motion with their dominant hand. “How many are still missing?”
“Twenty-nine, sir.”
“What about those turncoat kids?”
“Accounted for. Hard to put those turncoats imps on the boats, but I guess they got shot at as much as we did. We didn’t have enough boats to get everyone out of the water at once. Some of us were in it awhile.”
From my seat on the saddle, I told Aranath, “Burn a piece of the ground.”
The dragon obliged.
Once the streak of sizzling rock had been created, Eric told me, “Fly over the water and recover anyone you find.”
We obliged.
It took only a few moments to find the epicenter of wreckage floating in an ocean sporting growing ice floes. The area was also easy to find thanks to a boat of sailors still searching the area with a fire spell and flashlights to guide them. We quickly noted that the buoyant remnants of the Orkan followed a slow, southerly current. Checking this current’s course for two thousand yards had Aranath pinpointing two lifeless bodies drifting farther into obscurity. He picked them up with his left foot.
A second sweep closer to shore put a third body within the dragon’s keen vision, except this one was hanging on to the edge of a small ice sheet. A clawed, scaled foot gingerly grabbed this sailor before its owner hurried back to the main group of survivors. We went to search again once we dropped off the bodies, but the second perusal merely got us one other rigid corpse to return.
The Dragon Knight and the Steam World Page 25