Invasion and Dragons

by Jekka Jones

  Another dragon screeched. Landon tore his eyes from Sri’Lanca and saw a second dragon streaking above the trees. Hope flared in his body as Ti’Luthin swept low over the pines, two humans clutched in his front claws. Ti’Luthin flared his wings, slowed enough to safely drop Morgan and Liliana into the trees, and shot towards Sri’Lanca. He did all this in a heartbeat.

  Sri’Lanca let out a roar of rage and banked to the left. “Stay out of this, old drake!” he yelled.

  Ti’Luthin didn’t answer. He rolled in the air and latched onto one of Sri’Lanca’s wings, throwing off the rogue dragon’s balance. Both dragons spiraled through the air and crashed into the valley’s center. Tails and wings flashed above boughs, and the sound of snapping wood and trees filled the air.

  “Landon, hurry!”

  Landon jumped. He had stopped to watch the dragon brawl. Myra was a few yards in front of him. She had kept moving, jogging more than running as she tried to keep an eye on Sri’Lanca. Diego and Sierra were standing at the tunnel opening. Sierra was clutching the pouch with the Wizard’s Seal, her eyes flicking between Landon and the distant dragons. She had one finger poised to dive into the small opening.

  “Lan, wait!” called Morgan from one of the pines. “We need you!”

  “I was right,” Liliana yelled. “Landon, I’m sorry, but I was right!”

  Landon’s heart plummeted at those words. Liliana dropped to the ground and ran towards him, her eyes wide and pleading. Morgan was right on her heels.

  Landon turned his attention inward, reading the emotions tumbling inside him. Sri’Lanca wasn’t angry with Ti’Luthin’s intrusion, but annoyed. The dragon had a plan and he intended to go through with it. No one could stop him.

  Except Landon.

  He took off running. Voices shouted behind him, but he paid them no heed. Landon tore past Morgan and Liliana, putting all his energy into making his legs move. The dragons grew louder with every step. He heard trees and rocks being torn from the earth. He felt Sri’Lanca’s anger building, his resolve hardening into committing murder. He redoubled his efforts to get to the dragons.

  “No more killing,” Landon vowed through his teeth. He jumped a fallen log and twisted to the side as a branch whipped out of nowhere and nearly grazed his face. “No more deaths.”

  Landon was forced to stop at a pile of logs ten feet high. The cacophony of the two battling dragons was deafening, and he knew they were on the other side. He scrambled up the fallen trees, heedless of the branches and needles scratching at his face and clothes.

  “What are you doing, Landon?” screamed Diego from behind.

  “I won’t marry you if you’re dead!” shouted Myra.

  Landon ignored them. He reached the top of the pile, gasping for air, and paused.

  A ring of fallen trees and churned earth lay where a forest once stood, with the dragons in the center. It reminded him of when Ti’Luthin had attacked Sri’Lanca at the samurai camp days ago. That battle had been intense, but it was like a spat between kittens compared to the fight happening now.

  The dragons rolled and tumbled about, raking and biting so fast that it was a blur of gray and brown. They left gouges as long as Landon’s body on each other. Scales were ripped away to reveal white skin beneath, and blood oozed from deeper wounds.

  A screaming roar shook the area and caused Landon’s hairs to stand on end. Ti’Luthin staggered back, a thin trickle of blood coming from a cut on his neck. Sri’Lanca lunged at Ti’Luthin’s throat only to have his opponents tail slice towards his mouth. The club-like tip skimmed inches from Sri’Lanca’s eye, yet he managed to clamp onto Ti’Luthin’s neck. Ti’Luthin retaliated by jabbing a clawed foot into Sri’Lanca’s belly. Sri’Lanca grunted and Ti’Luthin kicked his belly over and over until Sri’Lanca released him.

  “No fire, Sri’Lanca?” growled Ti’Luthin. “You have repented of your ways and decided to save the forest instead?”

  Sri’Lanca snarled. “How dare you accuse me of sin. You have sided with the enemy! With Judan’s murderers! You have been lying this whole time! You should be thrust into the frozen wastelands!”

  “I am following Balaam’s will, and His will is to find a home for my tamer,” Ti’Luthin spat. He raked a giant claw across Sri’Lanca’s back, drawing a roar of pain. “She belongs with the Nircanians far more than the Dagnorians. As do you, Sri’Lanca. You were always a dragon out of your time.”

  “Shut it!” Sri’Lanca lunged but Ti’Luthin twisted out of the way. In a flash that Landon couldn’t follow, Ti’Luthin had Sri’Lanca on his back. The older dragon stood over the younger one, both wings and tail pinned with his back legs and one front leg. Ti’Luthin’s other foreleg held Sri’Lanca’s lower neck to the ground. Ti’Luthin was trying to latch onto Sri’Lanca’s throat, but Sri’Lanca kept flinging his head about, jaws snapping. He twisted and squirmed, slowly working his wings from beneath Ti’Luthin.

  Ti’Luthin held his ground, yet Landon knew he couldn’t keep it up for long. Blood seeped from the dragon’s neck and body, and his legs trembled.

  He was alone, unarmed, but he couldn’t stand by and do nothing. Landon scrambled down the log pile. “Sri’Lanca, stop!” he yelled.

  Ti’Luthin’s head jerked towards Landon, and relief flooded into his orange eyes. Unfortunately, Landon became the distraction Sri’Lanca needed. With a great twist of his body, Sri’Lanca got both wings free and threw Ti’Luthin off him. Ti’Luthin screamed as he smashed into a thick stand of pines. He tried to get to his feet, but the logs rolled and rocked beneath him, throwing off his balance. Sri’Lanca rolled to his feet and turned towards Ti’Luthin, his face split with ecstasy.

  “Any last requests, old drake?” asked Sri’Lanca.

  “No!” Landon shouted, putting all his anger and grief into his words and soul. “Sri’Lanca, stop! Don’t you dare kill him!”

  Sri’Lanca’s yellow eyes turned to Landon. He spat on the ground. “You’re next, Dayn. Or more precisely, another person you care deeply for. Oh look! Here they are!”

  Landon spun around. Liliana, Morgan, and Myra stood atop the pile of trees. They were followed by the Dayns, Juan, Alyssa, Will, Johnston, and five other peacekeepers. Every person except Sierra had a weapon of some kind. Landon’s mother was opening the pouch, terror twisting her face into something inhuman. Sri’Lanca saw this and laughed.

  “Go ahead, woman. Kill me,” he said, laughing. “Your son tried but didn’t have the claws to do it. Show me you are not a coward like he is. Kill me!”

  “No!” cried Liliana, and she lunged for the pouch in Sierra’s hand. She shouted and stumbled back, almost slipping off the log pile.

  “What are you doing?” shouted Diego.

  “Liliana, stop that!” cried one of the peacekeepers. He grabbed Liliana’s arm and dragged her back, but Morgan darted forward and grabbed for the pouch.

  “Morgan!” shouted several voices at once.

  “I’m doing y’all a favor for angels’ sake!” Morgan shot back, struggling with Diego, Juan, and Myra all at once. “Sierra, do not kill Sri’Lanca!”

  Landon’s body shuddered. He looked at Sri’Lanca. The dragon crouched exactly like a cat ready to pounce. Fire licked his teeth. Landon knew what he was about to do, and in that same moment realized what needed to be done.

  “Sri’Lanca!” Landon bellowed, and marched towards the dragon. “You will stop right now!”

  “Why should I, Dayn?” Sri’Lanca hissed.

  “Because I say so.” Landon planted himself between Sri’Lanca and Ti’Luthin. He held his body straight and maintained eye contact with the dragon. With all the authority of a nobleman speaking to a servant, he said, “I am your tamer and you will do as I command! Right now, I am ordering you to stop!”

  Chapter 19

  Landon’s words hung in the air. He felt everyone’s eyes on him. He stood less than ten strides from Sri’Lanca, yet he felt no fear. The truth that had been sitting on his tongue for days was
finally free. He stared into those yellow cat-like eyes, his shoulder muscles quivering in time with Sri’Lanca’s wings. They both panted in time with each other, and Landon knew their hearts were beating as one.

  “How long have you known?” Sri’Lanca asked. There was no fear coming from the dragon, only anger.

  “Long enough,” Landon said, hating himself for how much he sounded like a nobleman. Amusement flickered in the bond, and the corner of Sri’Lanca’s mouth twitched.

  “Your true nature finally shows, Landon Dayn,” he purred. “Your king would be proud.”

  “I have no king,” Landon snapped. “And wipe that smile off your face. Why did you attack us in the canyon?”

  “What?” cried Ti’Luthin, causing both Landon and Sri’Lanca to jump. The gray dragon was clamoring to his feet, holding one wing at an awkward angle. There was a commotion at the log pile, and Liliana raced to her dragon’s side.

  “Ti’Luthin, you shouldn’t be moving,” she said, removing her jacket and pressing it against a wound on the dragon’s shoulder.

  “The only moving I will do is to break that dragonet’s wings,” Ti’Luthin replied, growling. “Landon, did I hear correctly? Did Sri’Lanca attack you?”

  Landon opened his mouth to answer but Juan shouted, “Sri’Lanca attacked us in the pass as we were heading into the mountains. He ripped the rocks from the wall and dropped them on us. One boulder fell on Eli and killed him. He was about to attack us just now, and who knows how many would’ve died if you hadn’t showed up.”

  These words had an instant effect on Ti’Luthin and Liliana. Both spun on Sri’Lanca, rage twisting their features. “You attacked your tamer?” they cried as one.

  Sri’Lanca cringed and curled into a ball, wrapping his tail about his body like a cat. He began muttering, looking everywhere but at Ti’Luthin.

  “Speak up, drake!” Ti’Luthin bellowed.

  Sri’Lanca mumbled some more.

  “Answer me!” Ti’Luthin demanded. He lunged forward and swatted Sri’Lanca’s nose with his claws. Sri’Lanca wailed and grabbed his snout.

  “Yes!” Sri’Lanca shouted back. “I attacked them. But I wasn’t trying to kill Landon, not even with the rocks. You know I can’t kill him directly!”

  Landon’s blood ran cold. “What do you mean?” he said. “You dropped a rock right on top of me.”

  “A dragon cannot intentionally harm his tamer, Landon,” said Ti’Luthin, glaring at Sri’Lanca with loathing. “Sri’Lanca was only hoping you would happen to end up beneath a boulder. The precepts of Balaam forbid a bonded human and dragon harming each other. The emotional tie between dragon and human is so strong that it drives them to help each other instead. Even if you were able to, Landon, you wouldn’t be able to harm Sri’Lanca, unless you were not yourself.” Ti’Luthin turned his gaze on Sierra.

  Landon looked from his mother, to Ti’Luthin, and back again. “What are you saying?”

  “The Wizard’s Seal,” said Sierra, clutching the pouch in one hand. “You were hoping to force Landon to use the Seal. It warps the mind, dulls the weilder’s sense of right and wrong.” She looked sharply at Liliana. “You said you were trying to save Landon’s life. What happens to Landon if Sri’Lanca is killed?”

  Ti’Luthin was about to respond but Sri’Lanca burst out laughing.

  “You haven’t told him everything about the bond?” Sri’Lanca asked maliciously. His glee sliced into Landon’s soul like a knife. “You left that honor to me? Wonderful! I will gladly enlighten him as to the blessings that come with taming me.”

  Those yellow eyes turned to Landon, flooding his senses with fierce amusement and ecstasy. It was so cruel that it hurt. Landon’s knees became weak, and he swayed. He stumbled to a log and sat down, not once breaking eye contact with Sri’Lanca.

  “Go on,” he whispered. “Explain then.”

  “No,” Ti’Luthin said and limped between Landon and Sri’Lanca. “It is better if Liliana and I explain. Sri’Lanca will only make things worse.”

  Sri’Lanca bared his teeth. “Go freeze yourself, Ti’Luthin. It is my right and you know it!”

  “Not when you are acting like a greedy dragonet!” Ti’Luthin retorted.

  “Let him talk, Ti’Luthin,” Landon replied. He was so tired that he couldn’t decide if he was angry or not. “If it’s going to get worse then let it. I . . .” he sucked in a breath, “I don’t care anymore.”

  A scrape of a foot on a rock drew Landon’s attention. Myra, Juan, and Morgan walked towards him, followed by Sierra, Diego, Alyssa, Will, and Johnston with his small posse of officers. Sierra had the pouch clenched in her fist, her knuckles white and trembling.

  They stopped at a respectful distance from Landon and the two dragons, looking wary. Johnston quietly excused the five peacekeepers, asking them to keep the Nircanians away until he gave word Sri’Lanca was no longer a threat. Morgan’s face was pale, and he opened and closed his mouth several times but no words came. Landon’s heart tugged with guilt when he saw Myra’s face. She stared at him with an expression of betrayal.

  He looked back at Sri’Lanca. One thing at a time. His priority was to understand this connection between himself and the dragon.

  “So,” said Landon, taking a deep breath. “Give me your worst. Tell me about this bond. As far as I know, it’s to help us draw closer to . . . to Balaam,” his stomach twisted at the thought of belonging to another god. “It makes it harder for me to lie, and if I die then you will go ballistic.”

  Sri’Lanca looked around, and seeing no one was going to intervene, he stood. He examined the gouges on his body and clamped his wings to a few that were bleeding steadily, before settling down on the ground. The dragon made a show of thinking, tapping the side of his jaw with one claw and humming under his breath. The amused feelings continued to bombard Landon, and he let it consume him. It was easier than trying to fight it.

  “What happens to me if you’re killed?” Landon said after a minute.

  “The exact same thing,” Sri’Lanca said simply. “Your mind will break and madness will drive you to your own death. You will be in so much physical and emotional pain that you will kill to be free of it. You will kill others and drink their blood, hoping that will heal your soul, but it won’t. Your family, friends, and religious men will try to stop you, try to console you, but in the end, you will kill yourself. That, or your loved ones will be forced to put you down like a sick dog. It is the same if disease kills one of us.”

  “There’s no way to prevent it?” Landon asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

  Sri’Lanca smiled, his reptilian mouth curling up at the corners to show his pointed fangs. “No. That is one of the many blessings of the bond: as we are bound in life, so are we in death. Except now,” here the dragon made a face, “where the bond has managed to reform through unholy circumstances.”

  Landon silently agreed with that last statement. “And it’s the same when the tamer dies. The dragon goes on a killing spree. Like what you did.”

  “Yes,” said Ti’Luthin. He was resting on the ground, glaring at Sri’Lanca. “The only way to stop them is to kill them, or drive them north to freeze in the snow and ice.”

  “No one has ever remade the bond?” Sierra asked, looking from one dragon to the other. “Surely Landon cannot be the first.”

  “We didn’t think it was possible until now,” said Liliana, giving Landon a sympathetic glance. “And even then, Ti’Luthin and I are the only ones who suspected it happened. The holy books depict the bond as a one-time event, like marriage. Although many humans remarry in their lifetimes, the tamer-dragon bond isn’t the same. It is a deep emotional bond that connects two souls for life. The Guard, Dre’Goran most of all, think Sri’Lanca has killed himself. It is unthinkable that the bond can be reformed after being severed.”

  In the distance came the sounds of battle, of men shouting and dragons roaring. No doubt seeing Sri’Lanca plummet into a known Nircanian-occupi
ed valley had goaded the armies into fighting each other again.

  “What if neither is killed?” Will blurted. “What if Landon, or Sri’Lanca, dies of old age? Will the other go mad then?”

  All eyes focused on Sri’Lanca. The dragon scowled and squirmed, once again growling and muttering under his breath. Landon was about to order him to speak, hating himself for acting as such, when Ti’Luthin spoke.

  “Old age is less violent,” he explained. “Whichever one dies first, the other will die in the same manner: quiet and peacefully in his sleep. We call it Balaam’s mercy. Dragons naturally live as long as humans, but the bond can extend their lives by a few decades. Tamer and dragon will not live to be centuries old, but they will have a good, long life together.”

  For the first time since he had seen Sri’Lanca, hope blossomed in Landon. “Does it affect their spouse too?” He could deal with Sri’Lanca if Myra could be by his side.

  Both Ti’Luthin and Liliana’s faces saddened, and Sri’Lanca grinned. “Nope!” he said, cackling. “Unless she manages to tame a dragon herself, there’s no extra years for her. Dre’Goran is nearly a hundred and on his fourth wife. The third died of old age a few years ago. Or was she executed? I can’t remember. He goes through women as fast as a blacksmith goes through aprons.”

  Anger flared in Landon at those words. “Shut it!”

  “Fine,” snapped Sri’Lanca. “But I speak the truth and you know it!”

  Landon couldn’t bring himself to look at Myra now. He heard her footsteps approach, but he kept his gaze fixed on Sri’Lanca. His dragon was overflowing with malicious glee, enjoying the emotional pain he was inflicting on his tamer. It was the Twin’s Revenge all over again, but Landon’s mind and heart were being tortured instead of his body. Bile rose in his throat, and he had to suck deep breaths before the nausea passed.

  “Is there really no way to get rid of the bond?” He asked, looking to Liliana. “Isn’t there a loophole or something?”