by Gage Lee
Niddhogg’s shoulders slumped and his pointed ears lay flat against his skull. His wings rustled behind them, and he strode forward to throw his arm around my shoulders. He crushed me in a giant bear hug and whispered, “Yeah, you get it. That’s all I can tell you.”
He held me tight for a moment, then pushed me back to get a look at me. “You’re playing with serious fire here, Jace. If anyone finds out what you’re up to, the dragons will move heaven and earth to stop you.”
“Why wouldn’t Shambala want the Five Dragons returned?” I asked. “You’d think the Scaled Council would want their most powerful allies back if they thought a war was coming.”
Niddhogg held one finger up in front of his snout and shook his head. “Keep it down, dragons have sensitive hearing. Think about it. Let’s say your clan gave you up to Tycho, and he exiled you to an isolated pocket of nowhere for a few thousand years. If you clawed your way back to the world of mortals, who would you go after first?”
That was easy enough to imagine. I’d scour the Earth until I was sure that everyone involved in my betrayal paid the price for their crime. And while I was powerful enough to make even an elder shake in her boots, the Five Dragons were infinitely more powerful than me. Those creatures were like nuclear weapons aimed at Shambala’s head. If anyone ever found the launch codes, it could be the end of dragons.
“I see,” I said. “What if I promise I’ll talk them out of taking revenge?”
Niddhogg chuckled and shook his head. “Ever the optimist. I’m not saying you shouldn’t finish the quest. Just be careful. If the Five Dragons are still alive, they’ve had a long time to think about how they were wronged, and who pulled the trigger on them. If you go poking your nose into their jail cell, they might just take it off.”
I saw my reflection in a frozen puddle on the stone floor. I looked a lot older than I felt, as if all the changes I’d gone through had stolen years from my youth. The black pits of my eyes looked way creepier in that reflection than I remembered. Not the kind of face the Five Dragons would like to see, I imagined.
But there was no turning back now. No matter how dangerous this journey would be, and I knew it was the most insane thing I’d ever done, this was where my path led. The journey would pit me against Shambala and the sages, and probably most of Empyreal society, too.
That was all right, though. Nobody ever said being a hero was easy.
My reflection stared back at me, hard lines on his face, jaw set in grim determination.
“Thank you, Niddhogg,” I said. “Until we meet again.”
Niddhogg crossed the cavern and grabbed me by the shoulders. He lowered his forehead until it was pressed against mine. “I just hope we’re on the same side when that happens.”
“Me too,” I murmured.
The Worry
NIDDHOGG WARNED ME to stay out of sight and not to light any fires, then headed off to finish his shift. While I’d have preferred to head straight back to the School, that option wasn’t in the cards. I needed time to recover from my most recent use of the Gate if I didn’t want to wreck my kitchen again. After waiting a solid hour to gather my strength, I was so sick of the freezing cold I didn’t care if I tipped over every table in the School. It was time to go home.
I stepped out of the little cave to look down on the empire of dragons one last time. I wished things had been different, that there’d been more time to wander these jagged mountains and explore the ruins scattered at their bases. Spending time with the First Scepter now seemed like a precious treasure that I’d never quite appreciated. I’d have given anything to roam those golden halls as a friend of the dragons once more. Shambala was a magical place, and it would have been an honor to train with the students of their battle lodges and learn their fearsome techniques.
It seemed such a waste for dragons and humans to have spent so long at war, fighting over a destiny that neither truly understood. When this was all over, I’d see if that could change. Mortals would only benefit from the two most powerful empires working together.
With that thought still burning in my mind, I activated the technique and left Shambala.
I arrived in my bedroom, safe and sound, without dumping over my bed or knocking my closet door off its rails. I called it a win and made a mental note to always give myself sufficient rest before using the Gate. Maybe the technique would benefit from soul scrivening.
If Ishigara ever let me back into her classroom to get supplies.
“You’re alive,” Hahen said as I emerged from the bedroom. The little rat sat at the table in the dining area, a steaming cup of tea in front of him. “Thank you for letting me know you weren’t obliterated by the elemental you accidentally summoned.”
A pang of guilt needled my conscience. I hadn’t considered how my sudden exit from the scriptorium would look to everyone else. “My apologies, honored Spirit,” I said, another worry preying on my mind. “Nexignus is gone?”
“Yes. Ishigara says the detonation used the last of its energy and forced it to return to its home in the dragon lines.” Hahen came around the table and put a hand on my arm. “But she thought you were dead. We all did.”
“Me, too,” I admitted. If my use of Kalani’s technique hadn’t sapped most of the power from Nexignus’s attack, if the Gate hadn’t opened, and if my connection to Niddhogg hadn’t been strong enough, things might have ended very badly for me. “How mad is Ishigara about her scriptorium?”
Hahen chuckled. “Once she realizes you’re alive, she will be very upset about the damage you caused. But she expected it to be far worse than it turned out, so she may be merciful.”
I felt bad about worrying everyone, but I could handle Ishigara’s anger. I’d just have to find time to purify jinsei and pay off the debt I’d owe her for the repair. I was also glad that Nexignus hadn’t died. Despite the creature’s anger and willingness to obliterate me for the sake of honor, it hadn’t deserved to die. I’d summoned it, even if by accident, so that made it my responsibility. Now that I knew it had survived, maybe I could find some way to make it my ally. That was one problem I might be able to defuse before it exploded in my face.
The Five Dragons, on the other hand, were a much bigger issue that I didn’t know how to resolve. I hadn’t expected the Scaled Council to oppose their ancestors’ return to the mortal world. But Niddhogg’s warning made sense. The exiled dragons had every reason to be unhappy with the descendants of those who’d betrayed them.
“You smell like dragons,” Hahen said. “Tell me you weren’t talking to Tru.”
“Worse,” I said, knowing he’d be very angry with me. “I went to see Niddhogg.”
I explained everything to him, and the rat spirit’s expression darkened with every new revelation. When I’d finished, he threw up his hands and stomped away, only to turn back a moment later and shake his fist at me. “I told you not to go to Shambala. I warned you how dangerous it would be. And you went anyway!”
If I’d had a little more energy, and if he hadn’t been one hundred percent correct, I would’ve shouted right back. As it was, I shrugged and said, “I needed to talk to a dragon, and Niddhogg seemed like my safest bet. Tru’s too militant, and you warned me to avoid the Scepter. That didn’t leave me many options.”
Hahen fumed and stalked back and forth across the little kitchen area, his spectral tail whipping the floor in agitation. “I am furious you took this risk. Was the information you gathered worth it?”
“Everything I’ve done for the past few years carried more than its fair share of risk,” I said. “At this point, any clue that brings me closer to finishing this quest before the sages can enslave all mortals is worth any risk. I learned that the Five Dragons’ point of exile is somewhere near the School. Knowing that brings me one step closer to finishing this mess.”
Though, if I were honest with myself, a lot of steps remained. I still didn’t know how to convince the exiles to work with me instead of eating my face. With any luck,
they’d give me the information I needed to build the Temple of Maps. With that out of the way, I could anchor the Design and figure out how to build Maps herself.
It was a lot to do, and I needed to plan out every step of it before I made a move. Because if Niddhogg was right, the instant I contacted the Five Dragons, the sages and Scaled Council would come down on me like a bag of hammers. That was a lot of enemies to contend with by myself.
“I need allies,” I grumbled to Hahen. “But Eric’s out of the picture, and Clem made it pretty clear she wasn’t interested in any more adventures with me. I’d talk to Abi, but I’m honestly worried how he’ll react if I show up at his assignment.”
Hahen stopped pacing and walked over to the counter. He lifted an envelope I hadn’t noticed off the Formica and delivered it to me. “You still have your clan.”
I tried not to laugh at that and managed to keep it to a low chuckle. Dusalia was under the thumb of someone powerful, and she’d only work with me if it suited her agenda. “What’s this? Another command from the elder?”
Hahen shrugged. “It’s a message. She said you’d know what it meant.”
“What it means is that she wants more information about Tycho,” I grumbled. “I’ve been in scrivening class all week, so this is her way of putting the screws to me.”
Hahen gave me a little shrug. “Open it and see. Who knows, maybe she’ll surprise you with some good news.”
That seemed unlikely, but there was no point in avoiding the inevitable. I ripped the envelope’s flap open and pulled out a thin sheet of glassy-smooth paper. It bore the faint watermark of a phoenix inside a circle.
“Jace,” I read, “I’m sure you have more information to relate to me, as per our agreement. Write it on this page, and I will respond as soon as possible.”
The page was lined with scrivenings for vision and distance, like a farcaster only much simpler. I walked over to my desk, retrieved a pencil, and came back to the kitchen. “I wonder what I should tell her,” I said. “I could stall. Tell her a lie that’ll take some time to unravel. That would give me a little breathing room.”
Hahen raised a finger and waggled it at me. “You know better than this. You just said you need allies. Perhaps you should look at your elder as something other than your worst enemy.”
“She took my title,” I grumbled. “There’s less than zero chance she’ll listen to me, and even less chance she’ll ever see me as anything other than a tool to use.”
Hahen offered me a little smile, then pointed at the page. “You won’t know if you don’t try. I know your experience with people in positions of power has been unpleasant, but this elder hasn’t betrayed you, so far.”
Hahen wasn’t wrong, exactly, but my elder hadn’t gone out of her way to help me, either. The best I could say was that she didn’t actively oppose me.
But, maybe Hahen was right. Maybe I could make her my ally.
She was clearly interested in whatever dirty pool the sage was up to. Maybe a juicy offer would bring her over to my side of the fence. I considered that for a moment, then wrote a single line on the page.
“I tossed her a bone,” I said. “Let’s see if she bites.”
My mentor sipped on his tea, and I cycled my breathing to recover the energy I’d spent and push my core toward the next advancement. The Empyrean Flame had warned me I’d need to reach the eternal core to complete this quest. That would require a lot of work, and every minute I didn’t push for it was a minute wasted.
“Have you given any more consideration to what you plan to do about Maps?” Hahen asked, interrupting the silence.
He and I had had more than one conversation about the Flame’s quest. This piece bothered me more than any of the others.
“I have to get my hands on one of the Machina,” I said. “Even then, it won’t be easy. And I’m not sure how I’ll find one.”
“Your mother made those,” Hahen said. “Regardless of your differences, the two of you were connected. If anyone could find one of those devices, Jace, it’s you. And with your powers to interpret the Design, who knows what you might find?”
Hahen didn’t understand the Grand Design, and he didn’t pretend to. But he knew I could use it to gather information. What he didn’t know was that I was more than a little nervous about digging too deeply into what it showed me.
“Rooting around in the Design feels unreliable right now,” I said. “With the divergences the sages created, I’m worried it won’t show me the truth. The Vision of the Design is already acting weird.”
“You are stronger than you think, and I am wiser,” Hahen chided me. “Between the two of us, surely we could divine the truth.”
“Maybe you’re right,” I admitted. “But even if I find the Machina, I’m not sure what to do with it. And as soon as I show up with one, you know the spies will find out and send in the hit teams.”
“Ah, yes,” Hahen said. “It seems you have once again become the center of the universe.”
While Hahen usually said things like that when he was feeling sarcastic, I didn’t detect any of that this time. It was true. No matter what I did, any move to complete the quest would bring bad guys to my doorstep.
The dragons because they feared the return of their most powerful ancestors from exile. Ultima Thule was fine where it was, as far as they were concerned.
The sages would come gunning for me because I threatened their plan to secure power over the Grand Design for all time. The only reason they hadn’t tried to snap my neck and toss me in a dumpster was that Tycho needed me to keep his pet project running. I was simultaneously the biggest threat to, and most important cog in, their hideous machine.
If they didn’t have a hold on Rachel...
I shook my head and pushed that thought away. They did have her, and until I figured out how to liberate her from their clutches, she was the human shield that kept the sages safe.
A faint scratching sound like a pencil moving across the page attracted my attention back to my elder’s fancy paper.
“Solid information on subject’s activities earns one month of freedom. I will be the judge of the data’s quality.”
One month of freedom might be enough to finish this. I’d go through a lot of midnight oil in those four short weeks, but it would be worth it.
“She wants to know what he’s up to,” I said to Hahen.
My mentor looked away, his eyes narrowed and his whiskers twitching. “I don’t know the details,” he said. “And it will be very dangerous to snoop around his work area.”
“Everything I do is dangerous, Hahen,” I said. “But you were the one who said it would be worth the trouble to turn her to our side. Maybe it’s worth the risk.”
“You think it’s worth the risk of angering him?” Hahen asked. I realized neither of us was using Tycho’s name, like we were afraid the mere sound of it was enough to summon him to exact his revenge.
That was a very good question with no easy answer. I tapped the pencil’s eraser against my lower lip as I considered the situation. My elder was under someone’s thumb. If it was Tycho, this whole thing was a setup, and I’d be severely punished the next time I rolled into the sage’s lab.
If it was someone else, this information might be enough to get Dusalia out from under her enemy’s leverage. That would make her not just an ally, but a grateful ally.
“I’m doing it,” I said at last, and sent my elder a simple message.
“I’ll find out,” I wrote.
And hoped I could.
The Investigation
FOR THE FIRST TIME all that year, I headed to Tycho’s secret laboratory with a goal: find out what the sage was up to. Pulling that off would, at the very least, get my elder off my back. I might even get her to help me finish my quest, though I still wasn’t sure how that would work. Still, things were sort of looking up.
“You seem too happy,” Hahen said. “Put on that angry face again or Tycho will suspect you are up to somet
hing.”
I sighed and rolled my eyes. “This is how my face looks,” I said. “I’m not an actor. I can’t put masks on and off at the drop of a hat.”
Hahen grumbled at me. “The true venerable controls his emotions and his body. You should be able to look however you wish at any time. Besides, sullen anger is your natural state of being.”
“That’s not true,” I said, “but even if I was angry all the time, it would be because my mentor is intent on driving me insane.”
“It’s a very short drive,” Hahen said.
We’d nearly reached the secret passage between the main hallway and Tycho’s laboratory. While I knew he was only getting on my nerves to change my expression, it still worked. I frowned and clasped my hands behind my back as we walked.
“It shows what a mess this world is that my best chance of pulling this off is to look grumpy and unhappy,” I muttered. “I bet there was a time when parents and elders sent their kids to meet each day with a smile.”
Hahen raised a finger and nodded wisely. “Ah, yes,” he said, “the glorious days before you were born and plunged the world into its current calamitous state.”
“Hilarious,” I said dryly. “Fine, you win. Now I’m grouchy.”
Tycho was already inside when I pushed through the laboratory’s door, as were today’s patients. I was more than a little surprised to find every table held one of Tycho’s clanmates. Samara, Augustus, and to my deep surprise, Rachel, had all returned for another round of treatment.
That worried me.
Every day in the laboratory brought new patients. Usually just a handful. I’d never seen the same students come back for a second treatment. I wasn’t sure what that meant, but I didn’t like seeing familiar faces.
Tycho beamed at me as I entered. “Ah, good,” he said, “you’re on time. We have much to do, Jace. Some very special patients need your help.”
I did not like the way he said that, and I liked the sickly smile that Rachel offered me as I approached the examination tables even less. Her eyes were sunk into dark pits, and sweat dappled her pale skin.