Dragonseers and Bloodlines: The Steampunk Fantasy Adventure Continues (Secicao Blight Book 2)

by Chris Behrsin

  CHAPTER 19

  WE ROSE FASTER THAN AN airship usually would, the balloon buoyed up by the heat currents coming off the volcano. Meanwhile, I watched through the telescope at Wiggea and Faso getting increasingly tinier, as they dangled tied to their wooden stakes, unable to do anything. And I felt strangely passive, with a thirst in my mouth for Exalmpora.

  Is this my dark side? I thought. Do the lives of these men matter? No, there were other things far too important. Sukina would have told me that had she been alive. How I had to sometimes sacrifice the lives of only a few for a better world. A stronger race of dragonpeople. Or at least that’s how I felt at the time.

  Yes, you understand it now, Finesia’s voice came in my head. It was sweet and melodic and had undertones that almost sounded like a dragonsong.

  “Finesia tells me you’re ready to meet the boy, now.” Colas said. He sat on a wooden stool, propped forward upon his cane and looking directly into my eyes. He turned to the burly man who was looking down over the side of the airship, plucking at his teeth with a toothpick while he still nursed the yard of Exalmpora against his chest. “Yarand. Bring Taka up. Her auntie wants to meet him.”

  I cocked my head. Yes, I was curious to see how Taka had evolved. Because something told me he was part of this too. He’d already been raised in King Cini’s palace on a hefty dose of Exalmpora. Given his remarkable ancestry, it seemed that he’d be incredibly important for Finesia’s plan indeed.

  Yarand entered a slouch, as if not wanting to follow Colas’ orders at all. Still, he stomped below deck, at least half-obediently. The gondola rocked with each step the giant took. Strangely he took the yard of Exalmpora with him, as if it wouldn’t be safe to put it down anywhere. Presently, a door creaked open from below, and soon enough Yarand emerged from the bottom of the deck, still carrying the Exalmpora.

  Taka followed him in tow. The boy had his head bowed low, and he’d lost much of the playfulness that he’d had when I’d last seen him in Fortress Gerhaun. His hair was a little greyer now and his eyes seemed to let out a white ethereal glow.

  Auntie Pontopa, he said in the collective unconscious. His voice was distant in my head, but definitely there, at the same volume as those empty thoughts that pass through the mind before sleeping. I thought I detected a source.

  A source? I asked Is Charth nearby? Or Alsie? And I found myself suddenly on high alert looking around for any sign of my rival.

  It’s not them, Taka said. His voice took a flat, lifeless tone. Like one of a child who’d already seen great pain. You’re the source, Auntie Pontopa. You have the power within.

  But how?

  Can’t you feel it? You’re becoming a dragonwoman, auntie. Like Alsie.

  I touched my hand to my face and felt how dry and cracked the skin felt. Something was changing within me, yes. And it was for the better. Surely it was for the better. Now, I didn’t have Sukina around to stop me, to hold me back from the Exalmpora and Finesia.

  I’m still within you, Sukina’s voice resonated in my head, much as it had in her shrine in Fortress Gerhaun, many days past. I’ll always be here in the collective unconscious. But I batted her words away as worthless. She was only a construct of my imagination, anyway. Gerhaun had pretty much told me that.

  Colas waved his hands around in the air as if to attract my attention. “Oh, don’t tell me you two are doing that telepathy thing again. I bring you together and offer you great powers, and you don’t think to include me in your conversations. Well, I’ll soon be able to hear you there too, once the transformation is complete. Drink the solution, Dragonseer Wells, and all who have tasted the concoction will become just like you — your servants who’ll together rule this world.”

  Taka’s gaze was one of nonchalance. He stared straight ahead as he spoke out loud. “Auntie, is this right? It sounds great, but something… I don’t know Auntie Pontopa…”

  I smiled and rubbed him on the head. “We’ll find a way, Taka. Now tell me, has Colas treated you well?” Despite the fact I wanted the Exalmpora and Colas was the man who would deliver it to me, I still didn’t quite trust him. What if he knew a way to take my power and rule the world alone? He knew a lot more about how Exalmpora worked than me and he might be planning to usurp me as soon as he got the chance.

  The old man is part of the plan, the voice said in my head. Dragonseer, you will be the most powerful creature on this planet. This is my will.

  While the voice came in my head, both Taka and Colas stood stock still as if also listening to something. We’d all been exposed to Exalmpora, and so we could all hear Finesia. Although what she’d just said to the other two, I had no idea.

  Finesia. How long had she been talking to Taka? Her voice may even had led the boy to Colas. Had this all been part of her grand scheme?

  I raised my head to a sudden breeze that came from the sky. “So tell me your plan, Colas. I’m curious. Why is Taka so important? I think he should know his worth as well as I know mine.”

  I didn’t just want to learn the final piece of the puzzle, I wanted Taka to know it too. Because my destiny and the boy’s destiny intertwined. I knew this for a fact, even though he hadn’t been part of my vision.

  “Hah,” Colas said. “Didn’t you listen to what the elders told you? I heard every part, for my automatons have ears throughout this land.”

  Taka walked to the side of the airship and looked down, his posture straight and his eyes fixated in the distance, as if still entranced.

  “Taka,” Colas continued, “was the first time that the male offspring of dragonseers once again crossed with the true dragonseer bloodline. Which means that he’s the only product of the union between dragonseers and normal humans.” Colas turned to the burly man. “Yarand, take Taka below, because the rest should not be for his ears.”

  “You better take care of the boy, mind,” I said. “For he’s my responsibility.” And at the back of my mind, I could still hear the slur in my words. I didn’t quite have the wits about me then to understand what that responsibility entailed, nor did I remember my promises to Sukina, General Sako and Gerhaun Forsi that I’d protect the boy at all costs.

  Yarand nodded unenthusiastically, and he shepherded Taka back below deck, the yard of Exalmpora nestled against his massive chest. While the Taka I knew in Fortress Gerhaun would no doubt have a lot to say about this, this version of him didn’t even mumble a complaint.

  “So tell me,” I said to Colas.

  “Have you closed off your mind so the boy can’t hear you?”

  “Why are you giving me commands, Colas? I thought you said I would be the leader.”

  “As soon as I know that you’ve truly turned you will be. But until it’s time to drink the Exalmpora, you better heed my instructions.”

  So, there was a part of me that could still resist. A part of me that could still refuse the Exalmpora, and Colas knew it. But I had no idea where in my head that part of me resided.

  “Very well. It’s done.” I said, and I closed off all channels in my mind.

  “Good. So, Taka is the only creature in this world who will be able to mate with humans to create more dragonmen and dragonwomen, once he’s metamorphosed into his true form, that is. You see, Exalmpora is a special substance that has the power to latch on to your DNA. Unlike no other person ever to have lived, Taka was born with Finesia inside his head. With my help at Cini’s palace, the empress has been moulding him into a powerful being since birth.”

  I nodded and folded my hands behind my back. “And that’s why Alsie wants him so bad.”

  “Exactly,” Colas said. “Alsie is barren. Charth is barren and so was his brother.”

  “But if Francoiso was barren, what was to be gained from my union with him.”

  Colas laughed. “Nothing,” he said. “King Cini is a fool to have thought so. Now, Taka is Finesia’s only hope to propagate our new race of immortals. With one exception.”

  “What’s that?”

  �
��We’ll come to that later,” Colas said, “once you’ve completed your transformation. But for now… Yarand!”

  “What?” Colas’ lackey called up from below deck, sounding ever so frustrated. It seemed he really didn’t like to be ordered around.

  “The Exalmpora should have mixed by now. Bring it.” Colas turned to me. “From what I’ve seen through my panther’s eyes and by my calculations.” He reached forward and ran the back of his dry wrinkly hand across my cheek. “Yes, it’s as I expected. Now, you’re ready to complete your transformation into Finesia’s beloved.”

  The lackey came back up carrying the yard of Exalmpora. It had a different hue to it now. The river of red was much stronger in there and seemed to emanate a faint glow.

  “Here you are,” Yarand said. “Breakfast is served, I guess. Although why you’d want to drink this stuff.” He walked over to stare over the edge of the airship at the jungle below and the great gaping maw of the volcano.

  “Prop it down against the deck,” Colas said. “I’m sure you’ve mixed it well by carrying it everywhere by now.”

  “Fine,” Yarand said and he plunked it down on the floor with such force, I half expected the glass to break.

  “Very well Yarand,” Colas said. “Your duty is now served.” And he clapped his hands.

  From right next to me, the panther automaton stood up quickly. It pushed itself underneath the front of Yarand’s legs and lifted its head to push them upwards. Yarand was sent tumbling over the edge, letting out a scream as he fell.

  “What—” I began to ask, and the hackles rose on the back of my neck.

  “That’s the problem with hired hands,” Colas said. “They’re always wanting more, no matter how much you give them. Automatons are much more reliable, don’t you think? Not to mention the primitive beings in this very jungle who once hailed me as a god. You caused them to lose faith in me, but I don’t think it matters anymore. So long as you repay me in immortality for all you’ve done.”

  “Colas, what are you—” A sense of alarm started to rise in my chest, and I forgot about the Exalmpora for a moment.

  Do not worry Dragonseer, Finesia said. This old scientist is simply executing a well thought out plan. This is my will, and you will soon be part of it. Put your fears to rest.

  There was something about that lilting melodic voice that calmed my spirits as soon as I heard it. I stared ahead at the horizon, into oblivion, not feeling anything for the death of this huge man, except that it was necessary. A part of my mind thought it as strange for me not to have any empathy whatsoever. But a stronger part of it didn’t care one bit.

  “Look through the telescope, Dragonseer,” Colas said. “I can now reveal to you the rest of the plan.”

  I nodded and then walked up to the thin device that had hit me in the chin just a moment ago. I put the thin eyepiece to my eye and I searched with the scope. Something inside me guided me towards what I was looking for. A panther automaton with a stick of dynamite in its teeth, moving down the inside of the crater. I moved the telescope up and to the right a little and found another one, again with dynamite in its teeth. Then another, then another, then another. How many of these things did Colas have?

  “You see,” Colas continued as I watched the graceful movements of the beasts, “I’ve been working on this volcano for a long, long time. So many tend to see volcanoes as just a lump of rocks, but really, they’re just part of a larger phenomenon — a vent that connects to the centre of the planet, helping to circulate its blood. And so I’ve had my automatons work away at this island, redirecting lava flows underground, loosening the rock ob the edges so I can create landslides and get the thing to pop all at once.”

  Remarkable, I thought. And here I was believing Faso to be the greatest scientist I’d ever known, even though I’d never say that to his face.

  “You’re going to create an eruption?” I asked.

  The old man looked down towards the crater and nodded. “You know, it’s no small feat. You can’t just drill a hole in the earth and expect it to blow. You need to spend years of planning and know that you’ve got the variables just right. But fortunately, I’ve had Finesia in my head all this time to help. She knows how the collective unconscious flows through this earth and so she knows how to create the lithostatic pressure to set this crater off. Then, the cooling earth will be incredibly acidic, creating perfect conditions for the secicao I’ve planted here to grow. Soon enough, my dear, East Cadigan island will be just like The Southlands. With a new race of dragonpeople to rule the throne.”

  I nodded and looked over at the yard of Exalmpora again. I’d been so close to transforming back at King Cini’s palace that I knew instinctively that the entire yard would be enough to tip me over the edge. And, because I was salivating for it so much, the lives that would be taken by the erupting volcano meant nothing to me. I simply wanted to be part of Finesia’s plan.

  No! I thought. There has to be a part of me that can resist. But still that thought drifted casually away.

  “So, go on,” Colas gestured towards the yard that Yarand had placed on the floor in front of me. “If you want to transform, you’ll have to drink the whole thing. Much as Francoiso did. Your blood and Taka’s blood will catalyse the process”

  I smiled, and I picked up the yard of Exalmpora with both hands. It felt warm to the touch. Inside, the two red streams had no mixed, creating one cloudy whole that glowed as a ran my hands over the glass. I raised the glass to my lips, and started to tip back back the neck of the vial.

  That’s it, my child. Finesia said. We’ll go far together.

  I ran the liquid over my lips and let the metallic fumes seep up my nostrils. Colas’ eyes were affixed on me, as if in anticipation.

  It tastes good doesn’t it? The voice of Finesia said in my head. Think of the power you’ll have. The adulation your minions will give you. A people who’ll look up to you as their god. With me, you’ll never have to worry about death again.

  But then, and I don’t know where it came from, a sudden flash of images came to my head.

  My father raising me up in the air when I was six years old, and I looked down into his happy eyes as he spun me around and around.

  My mother tangling the knots out my hair. Her smile, as she told me that I was a special lady who’d go far in life.

  Velos, when he was just a child, not much larger than an adult human, rubbing his nose into my hand and then tumbling across the floor.

  Then came the darkness. The bareness of my farmhouse in the Five Hamlets burnt to shreds.

  Alsie snapping Francoiso’s neck as I watched it helpless from the air.

  Sukina’s wide eyes, when the dart thrown from Alsie’s hand buried itself in her neck.

  Watching her die in Forsolano’s sickbed. And the promise I made to her that I’d look after Taka.

  Her body crumbling to ashes under the flames at her first funeral, just outside Forsolano’s cottage.

  And then, finally, I saw myself growing out of the ground as the Tree Immortal. My roots burying into the soil and becoming the spirit of secicao. Me, the destroyer of worlds.

  Worse than King Cini.

  Worse than Alsie Fioreletta.

  Worse than Finesia incarnate.

  And all this terrified me so much that the righteous part of my mind surfaced once again.

  “No!” I screamed out. And, with a strength that I didn’t know I had, I launched the yard of Exalmpora over the deck.

  Colas’ jaw dropped.

  And he reacted fast. He pushed himself forwards on his cane, took hold of a hipflask from his hip and poured some liquid down his throat. I lurched forwards to strangle him, but the panther rushed in front of Colas to him. The automaton tripped me and sent me stumbling towards the back of the airship. I caught myself against the railings and I spun around.

  I found myself looking headfirst into the glaring red eyes of the panther. Its spire started to glow white and I backed away from him.
It edged me towards the other side of the hole where the telescope was. Meanwhile, Colas lurched towards the lever, and grasped it with one hand.

  “I thought it might come to this, Pontopa Wells,” Clearly, he’d decided no longer to address me as Dragonseer. “So, it’s time to make your choice.” His voice had raised in volume quite significantly, perhaps one of the side effects of his secicao blend. “It’s either the soldier or the inventor. Which one is more important to you? Will you choose the future of science, an important heir to the dragonseer line? Or will you choose the man you care about, the one you have feelings for?”

  “I won’t—”

  “You will choose,” Colas cut in, bellowing at a volume that defied his age.

  “No,” I said, and I spat bile out of my mouth onto the floor. “I won’t play your stupid games.”

  “Why? Are you telling me that you can’t make the hard decisions? How will you lead thousands into battle against Alsie, if you can’t sacrifice one insignificant life?”

  For a moment, my breath caught in my throat. “Why’s it so important to you Colas?” he said. “What do the lives of these men mean to you?”

  “Absolutely nothing,” Colas said. “Except Finesia is testing you. She wants to know that indeed you have the capability to be her right-hand woman. Prove to her your true worth.”

  One name, that would be all it would take to extinguish a life. And part of me wanted to choose Faso, not so much out of malice, but how I felt for Wiggea. But that was a selfish reason and I had to push it away. “I said it once, I said it again. I will not play your games.”

  Colas shook his head and looked genuinely disappointed. “Very well, I hoped it wouldn’t come to this. But unfortunately, I’ll have to choose for you.” And before I could react, he pulled down on the lever. In the distance, I saw the blade swing to the right. Then the tiny ant who I knew to be Wiggea fell into the gaping maw of the volcano.

  “No!” I muttered under my breath. “Colas, you bastard!” How could he? And the rage flared in my chest, like the lava pit Rastano Wiggea had just plummeted into.