Chapter 33 #2
They also make far better handholds than scales do.
I run alongside them, and Sidon dives. Immediately, I grab hold of one and hang on with an iron grip.
My wings are pressed tight against my back, and I feel like if a single feather catches this wind, I’ll go flying.
My feet slide out from under me, and the wind whips at me hard enough that my cloak turns upside down.
Several of my Infusions fall out, but I barely notice.
My bow beats against me as the wind buffets it. My armor is rattling against me under my tunic. Several of my arrows catch a gust at the right angle and fly. I notice none of it.
Instead, I only worry about not falling. The world has become nothing but the feel of my fingers against the bony spine. It’s rough with thin barbs that extend every few inches. My fingers press against two of those barbs, and they slowly but surely cut through my skin.
Still, I hang on for dear life.
Then it all stops. I fall, not toward the ground, but flat against Sidon’s back. There’s no roaring wind. The ground isn’t moving under me.
He landed.
I leap to my feet, blood pouring from my cut fingers, and I pull my bow from my shoulders. Sidon’s sinuous head has turned, and like a dog trying to bite a flea, his gaping maw races toward me.
For a moment, I see a strange shining bit of light behind one of the scales where his neck and chest meet.
It’s unlike any of the rest of him. Where they’re like rain clouds with the sun hiding behind them, this is like the moon on a cloudless night.
Soft, yet undeniably bright. Impossible to ignore, yet easy to look at.
I ignore it. Without even a moment’s hesitation, I draw a lightning arrow and fire into his mouth.
Shadows appear from nowhere, and it’s like the world has taken a breath.
The arrow hangs halfway between me and Sidon’s mouth.
Shadows have wrapped around his neck, holding him in place.
They’re wrapped around me as well, and I can’t move a single muscle.
Even the bowstring is caught in them, held in the midst of vibration.
“That’s enough,” Azric says as he settles on Sidon’s back. He turns to me and says, “That arrow will create lightning?”
I can’t open my mouth, and the best I can do is a mumbled, “Yes.”
Azric looks from me to Sidon. “You’d be dead. She won.”
The arrow slowly moves through the air to Azric’s hand, and as soon as he’s holding it, the shadows disappear, releasing us.
Sidon lets out a roar, and Azric races to me, his hand wrapping around my waist while Sidon leaps into the air again.
This time, though, I hang onto Azric as tightly as possible rather than the spine on Sidon’s back.
Wings sprout from Azric’s back, and he keeps us aloft as Sidon flies to his spot in the forest.
Normally, I know my body would go crazy being held by him like this, but I’m still a little surprised I’m alive. Instead of carrying me to where we normally train, he carries me to the area just in front of the remaining four dragons.
He sets me down on the stone, and my legs are shaking as I stand up. He examines the arrow. “How does it work?”
“I…” I pause, trying to get my thoughts together. Then I shake my head. “I made an oath not to reveal any secrets. I can’t tell you how it’s made.”
He turns to me, his eyes little more than slits. “This is important, Fiona. This could change everything.”
I shrug. “It isn’t my secret to tell. When these trials are done, and we’ve ended this war between the gods, I can probably convince my fath… Rhaskar to walk you through it.”
He sighs and shakes his head. “It’s fine. The gods don’t work together. Why should I expect humans to work with me?”
He hands me the arrow and turns to the dragons. “What did she do wrong?”
Vyran the Black is the first to speak. “She seemed surprised he would fly. A dragon always prefers to take things to the skies. She should have known this.”
Azric turns to me. “Did you know this?”
I begin to shake my head and stop myself. “I didn’t, but I should have. A bird wouldn’t want to be on the ground when there’s danger, so why would a dragon? Yes, you’re powerful while on the ground, but you’re not as mobile.”
Vyran nods to me, an obvious sign of respect, but it’s Kasan the Lifegiver, the brown dragon, that speaks next. “She did not expect him to use any magic. Human, did you know dragons are more than teeth and claws and flames?”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
Azric interprets for me. “Those were Vyran’s shadows that caught the arrow. Not mine. I couldn’t have done it that quickly, and I certainly couldn’t have held Sidon in place.”
“Then what is Sidon’s magic? He didn’t use any, I don’t think.”
The dragons look at each other, and several of them shake their heads. Finally, Kasan turns to me and says, “You do not wish to speak of arrows. We will not tell you of another dragon’s powers. It is not our secret to tell.”
“So, he has powers, but they’re not widely known?”
Kasan nods to me, and Azric chuckles. “Anyone who knows anything about the history of Nyth should know what his powers are. Regardless, he didn’t use them.”
“So why’s he mad?” I ask.
Calyr speaks then. “Sidon is angry with himself. He believes he has grown old and won’t be as worthy a warrior when the time comes to fight the Hunters.
He has more reason than most to want to go to war with them.
They killed his mate, and dragons never truly get over losing a mate.
His pain is still just as fresh as it was the day she died. ”
Azric says in a low voice, “That was not your secret to tell, Calyr.”
“It is a necessary conversation, Prince of Bones. Do not forget who and what I am.”
“I forget nothing when it comes to you, Calyr. You are not Sidon. Even my mother could best you.”
Calyr gnashes his teeth at Azric, but Azric doesn’t flinch. “What advice do you have for Fiona about her fight with Sidon?” he asks.
The gold dragon’s gaze lingers on Azric for several moments before turning to me.
“You did well for a human. For a Priest. But you worried for your safety. Why did you climb him rather than draw the arrow while you were still on the ground? A dragon is more comfortable in the sky, but for one without functional wings, you should not climb onto a dragon’s back to combat it. ”
My wings flare at the remark, and with a little concentration, I flap them, hovering several feet off the ground. “I’m not good at flying, but they are functional. I wouldn’t want to try an aerial fight with a dragon, but if I fell off him, I didn’t want to decorate Castle Lachlan with my insides.”
Calyr cocks his head in a decidedly human look. “You have not had wings before. Why do you only use them now?”
I turn to Azric, who’s grinning widely. Then I turn back to Calyr. “I can’t use them regularly. I have a very limited number of potions that will allow me to grow wings.”
“Are you not human? I do not sense magic within you, though you do smell… different. How can you consume something and grow wings as though you were a part of the House of Steel?”
I didn’t plan on having to hide how Infusions are made or any of the other secrets of the Order from a dragon. “It’s not my secret to tell. I’ve made oaths, and I won’t break them. What I can tell you is that I can drink different potions, and they change my body in different ways.”
“That is why you grow fur at times?” Calyr asks.
I nod to him, and he doesn’t respond, simply stepping back. Then it’s Inni’s turn to interrogate me. “Do you know what would have happened if Vyran hadn’t stopped that arrow?”
What does this have to do with the way I fought? “Azric said that you didn’t like to fight against the Stormbringers because you feared lightning. I assume it would have hurt or maybe even killed Sidon.”
“And you still fired it?” she asks slowly.
I glance at the other dragons, all of whom are staring directly at me. “He said I should try to kill him.”
“And if Azric wanted you to attempt to kill him? What if he stumbled? Would you cut his head off?”
“Obviously not,” I say defensively. “But he’s a man. I understand…”
A ripple of scales and wings moves down Inni’s back, and a sputter of flame leaves her jaws.
“A man could be healed. We cannot. Azric would survive having his head removed. Sidon may not have survived had you struck true with that arrow. It is important that you learn that everyone, dragons included, can die, Fiona. It is also important that you recognize that all of us, again, dragons included, are fallible. We have all made mistakes over the years, and Sidon made a mistake by allowing your attempt to kill him.”
She turns to her side and raises a wing to show a wicked scar that runs down her flank.
As wide as I am tall and twice as long, no scales cover gray flesh.
“I was struck by lightning in a fight with Stormbringers. It is only because Azric turned my flesh to stone that I survived. I will never regrow those scales. That flesh will never be anything but stone again.”
The night is silent as I stare at the wound. “What should I have done, then?” I ask.
“You should have recognized that it was the only way you could have fought Sidon, and you should have refused to fight. We are not the enemy, Fiona. None of us. You must be aware of the tenuousness on which everything has hung. For eighty years, we have used this war to train ourselves just as the Godforged have, but every wound we take will never truly heal. We do not have potions.”
I glance at Azric. “He can’t heal you like he healed me?”
Inni shakes her head. “His mistress’s powers are limited to those she claims dominion over. A dragon’s soul does not go to her world if we die. We go to the Void to become one of the many to rest.”
Azric intervenes. “We should not have suggested you fight Sidon. To be completely honest, none of us thought you could harm him. The arrows were a surprise. Inni is right, though. You cannot try to hurt any of the dragons, even if they’re on the opposite side in a trial or in a future battle once you are a champion.
Vyran let Echo ride her for many years, and it might be possible for you to take her place if you become Nyxthos’s champion.
But regardless of what battle you are in, you must never try to injure any of the rest of the dragons.
Fight the champion if you decide to, but do not fight the dragon, and the dragon will not fight you.
These are the agreements that most of the champions have agreed to. ”
I take a deep breath. “I assume the normal soldiers aren’t told that?”
“They are not,” Inni says. “And that is acceptable. Other than Stormbringers, few can injure us easily. We still need to train if we are to lead the charge against the true enemy.”
She pauses for a moment before saying, “You have spent your life being one thing, a human with limited power, with limited abilities to change the world. Soon, you will be something very different, and when that happens, your actions will affect far more. It is important that you understand this.”
I don’t know what else to say, and Azric takes my hand. He turns to the dragons and says, “I’ll be back later after I escort Fiona to Darian.”
Then we fall through shadows into the Void.