Chapter 27
Fern
Oh no, he didn’t just say that.
That deathly rattle started up in Auren’s throat again, but she didn’t bother with a display of anger. Instead, she jumped to her feet, her wings whipping out.
Which meant I needed to move.
You think you can barter me away as you do your women? The way the general flinched at my dragon’s verbal lash was very satisfying. Think again, human. I chose to obey your ridiculous rules, but no more.
If you asked me twenty minutes before if I’d want to get back into the saddle of a dragon, I’d have thought you were mad, yet here I was launching myself at my dragon’s side, then clambering up onto her back.
You’re sure you wish to come? Auren’s thoughts were full of tension. I don’t when or if I’ll be back.
Riding off into the sunset to find a place by a large lake to build our home, remember? My hands may have gripped the saddle horn extra tight, remembering just how easy it was to lose my hold. That promise still stands.
Very well. Auren approached the table and I admit I had to admire the general’s self-possession.
He looked up from his cup idly, as if in response to a comment across the dining table.
Know this, leader of humans. What happened during the training exercise is a problem for you and your tame dragons to deal with. It has nothing to do with me.
As she turned to take off, Zafira rose.
Ride far, darling. Her head pressed into Auren’s and for just a moment, they shared something I felt the aftershocks of. A wave of the most intense love washed through the bond with my dragon. Ride to the ends of the earth if that’s what it takes to stay free.
Thank you, my queen. A glance over her shoulder at me was all the warning I got from Auren. Hold on tight, Fern.
I did just that as she launched herself off the edge of the keep. That thrill that came each time she took flight, it was tinged with fear for the first time, but I did as I was bid, holding on for dear life as she climbed into the sky to the sound of dragons’ roars.
Auren… I looked back to see other beasts launching themselves off the roof. Auren, I think we have company.
Not for long. Her wings moved like scythes through the air, slicing through drafts and clouds alike as she propelled herself forward. Queen dragons are built sleeker than males and have more stamina when flying. When, if I choose to rise to mate, males will have to fight hard to catch me.
Just as they did now.
My view of our pursuers was blurred by the speed of which we were flying, but one by one, brightly coloured spots dropped away. All but one. A green blob got closer and closer, revealing itself as Viridian sometime later.
You seek to be rid of those troublesome males, my queen? I noted that he had no rider on his back, obviously not willing to wait for Lance. May I suggest a place to shelter for the night? You are fearsome and strong, but even a queen as mighty as yourself must rest.
Auren had stiffened when he drew abreast, but his speech seemed to mollify her.
You may, was all she said in return.
Down here, my queen.
He angled his wings to the left, circling down over one of the many ruins that dotted the length of my country. The remains of an amphitheatre revealed themselves as we grew close enough to land.
I must hunt for food for Fern, Auren informed Viridian. And find her shelter. Humans are not as hardy as dragonkind.
I went to snort at that, then realised everything she said was true.
Food, I would be honoured to supply, Viridian insisted, but shelter… He strode across an open expanse, then seemed to disappear as he reached the side of the circle. Can be found down here.
My feet dragged, wanting to pause to inspect each one of the bas relief sculptures we passed.
They were of dragons and humans, that much I did see, but not what they were doing.
Down a ramp we went, then entered a lower level of the amphitheatre.
The gloom had my feet slowing, but a trickle of fire along Auren’s jaws revealed a large, empty space.
Mostly empty, I realised, as we drew closer to the centre.
The floor was inlaid with incised markings that created a complex wheel I did not understand at all, but Auren did.
This is one of the great halls of my people. She moved closer to the centre, following the markings with her eyes. It was a place where ceremonies were performed, dragon and human alike.
For now, it is shelter, Viridian replied. Stay safe and dry here. I will return with food and kindling.
Bringing Fern food, providing her with fuel for a fire. My dragon stood beside me. These are not gifts you may use to buy my time, my regard.
Never, my queen. Viridian’s head dropped low in what felt like an approximation of a bow. Others of my kind may have forgotten what a dragon queen is, but I have not. To serve is a pleasure all on its own.
Without another word, he turned to walk back up the ramp, leaving the two of us standing near the centre of the floor design. The far off sound of thunder rumbling made our inspection of the inlay seem somewhat ominous.
What is this, Auren? I ran my fingers along the channels carved neatly in the stone floor. And why does everything lead to this centre point?
Like the petals of a flower, stone was carved into a series of spiked lobes around a circular centre, the slightly raised dome bisected by six equal cuts.
Much of this knowledge has been lost. The dragon sounded a little distracted as she came to stare over my shoulder. I was hatched in a nest of stones that were saturated with my mother’s memories and yet I…
Her talon extended, raking along the thin lines, only for her pad to catch on one of the sharp petals.
With a snarl, she jerked her claw back, but not before a drop of blood dropped free.
I watched it fall as if in slow motion, one perfectly red droplet.
My mouth fell open as I felt the stones themselves begin to shake.
As the blood hit the centre stone, the lines widened and then shot backwards, revealing something else entirely.
Some mechanism whirred and from the hole in the floor, a milky crystal appeared, carved in the shape of an egg.
A Tanis egg…
Her reverential tone had me staring at the crystal, then the dragon, the gleam of the stone lighting up the room.
This was reflected in her golden eyes as her claw shot out, snatching the egg from its pedestal.
Bright, bright light, that’s all I remembered, before the ruins fell away, replaced by this.
“She comes!”
It was a human’s voice that heralded the incoming danger.
People strolling along the streets, looking at market stalls, talking with their fellows, all turned as someone came sprinting up the main street.
I didn’t recognise the clothing, the hairstyles, but fear?
That needed no translation and I soon saw why.
“Gods above…”
My curse was drowned out by the thunderous sound.
Surely that was coming from the shaking ruins?
Dimly, I was aware that perhaps I should be doing something about standing beneath tonnes of rumbling rock, but the vision forged on.
Smoke and dust billowed in the distance, heralding a landslide or earthquake or something.
No, her.
Just as Lumina and Frostmere came barrelling out of the plumes of steam they created together, this dragon emerged from a swirling maelstrom of her making.
But it was far more catastrophic than mere steam.
Clouds crackled and snapped like water droplets dancing on a hot skillet, lightning flashing, thunder rumbling as the dragon zeroed in on the town.
People screamed, went running to their homes, or just to get away, and I envied them that.
My feet were stuck to the ground, unable to move for a second as I stared at the queen dragon who had come to destroy this town entirely.
I thought the silver dragons gleamed bright, but their cold glittering scales had nothing on this queen’s.
So bright it hurt to look at her directly, though that was down to more than just the colour of her scales.
Her size was so immense my brain fought to conceptualise it, unconsciously making comparisons between this queen and every other dragon I’d seen and still unable to comprehend how a dragon that big could exist.
Only for her massive jaws to open, scooping up people, buildings, everything in her wake.
“Laila, run!”
A face I’d never seen before, yet felt completely familiar appeared in front of me, breaking the spell I was under.
The older woman gave my shoulder a shove and that’s all it took to get moving.
My heart was beating so fast, my lungs sucking in oxygen in preparation for just this.
Hands slicing through the air, I took off after the woman.
Past collapsing buildings, leaping over rubble, I spared a glance for those screaming and crying, but the woman kept me running.
“No time, Laila!” she shouted, grabbing my hand and hauling me after her. “We need to get to the great repository.”
“The archive?” That had my feet slowing, some animal part of me taking over. It wanted to run, hide, find somewhere very small and very dark to hunker down in until all of this carnage was over.
“This way!”
My arm was half jerked out of its socket as she pulled me after her. Our feet slapped down on the stone ramp as we descended, just in time to hear the roar of our own dragons, rising to defend the city. Dreaded Drathnor had attacked while most of them were out on a hunt—
Drathnor…?
It felt like my own consciousness was an apple bobbing up out of the water as it floated in a barrel, but whatever was contained within the egg shoved it back down again.
“Here!”
The woman nicked her finger, pressing it to a smooth pad of stone by the entrance and that had light flickering to life.
Across the walls, markings were illuminating, the light zipping along the preset paths, spreading to the floor.
The incisions I’d seen with my own eyes were far crisper, cleaner, than they were now and they started to glow as well, right before the two of them dropped to the floor.
“There should be six of us,” the woman said, setting her finger to the sharp petal and then pressing mine to the other. “Our blood might not be strong enough to awaken the archive.”
“For what?” I snapped, fighting the older woman’s hold. “For what, Mother?”
Her eyes met mine and it was then I saw the tears forming. A kind of helplessness existed there that killed off any remaining hope I might have.
“None survive the wrath of Drathnor,” she said, lips quivering. The terrible screams of dragons overhead jerked my eyes upward. Dragons were our guardians, our protectors, so why—? “She is the White Death. When she comes, nothing is left alive in her wake, so we must leave a record.”
“Of what?” My voice broke on that. “Of what, Mother? If we aren’t going to survive, then what…?”
Our blood seeped into the receptacle at the centre of the carving, opening the gateway to the archive stones. A crystal egg appeared in its place, gleaming almost as bright as the dragon’s scales.
“Of our life here.” Mother clasped my hand around the stone, hers following suit and the crystal glowed brighter. “All that we know. We might not survive, but—”
Abruptly my view shifted, and it was then I peered into the eyes of a young woman like one might a mirror’s reflection.
She didn’t look like me, didn’t have the same facial features or colouring, and yet I knew her. Fear, hopelessness filled her eyes as they began to shine.
“Find a way to bring down the white queen,” she ground out, blood smeared across her face as she tried to brush away her tears. “Bring down dreaded Drathnor!”
With a gasp I blinked, the calm of the auditorium almost eerie compared to the insanity of what I had just witnessed.
My breath was the only sound, that and Auren’s.
When we heard the pad of Viridian’s claws, we both whirled around, flame billowing out of her jaws in response, forcing the green dragon back.
I come with food, my queen. Food and firewood, he spluttered.
Food and firewood. Such prosaic things seemed impossible to comprehend right now, the two of us sinking down to the ground, but when we did, the crystal egg rolled free of her claws, spinning before coming to a stop.
You found a Tanis stone? Viridian moved forward. How did you come by this?