Dragon Guard

by Devonnie Asher

  The idea that she was upset seemed strange. Though, now that I thought about it, the last thing I remembered was her voice. What she said was fuzzy in my brain, but the annoyance in her tone was clear. As soon as I was finished eating, I needed to see her. If she was upset at me, I needed to make amends.

  The fact that Cuinn had been feeding her unnerved me. Of course, she needed food. But I would've much preferred if someone else had been doing it.

  He was the one who had realized that the dragonsnake venom was poisonous, he had asked for me to leave training early to see the alchemist, and he had strapped me into Ignimitra's harness. I was certain he had been the one to carry me into Betheka's guest room too.

  Now, he was feeding my dragon in my absence? I knew very little about him, and what I did know didn't make me a fan of his. He was overstepping a boundary that I didn’t want him to cross, though I wasn’t sure what that boundary was.

  At the first opportunity I got, I would remind him that we weren't friends.

  When I refocused on Betheka, I saw her filling two cups. The kitchen smelled of meat and charred tubers, and I couldn't wait to dig into it. Her hands weren't shaky when she placed the plate in front of me.

  "You look better," I said simply, taking the fork from her.

  She smiled, her whole face lighting up.

  " I found a plant that helps my symptoms," She said. "It's not much, but it's mighty great being able to string a needle again." I liked the sound of that.

  The food was even more delicious than it smelled.

  "What did you want to talk to me about?" I said when I'd eaten enough to satiate the hunger burning through me. Half the food was gone.

  Betheka paused mid-sip to speak.

  "I just wanted to clarify that what Cuinn told me was true," she licked her lips. "You were poisoned by a dragonsnake?"

  I nodded. "It spewed something at me after I attacked it."

  She had leaned forward slightly, holding on to my every word. "Did you injure it?"

  "I did land a good strike I think, on its cheek," I pointed to my own. "But it didn't seem very hurt, for it sprayed me right after then just...disappeared."

  She was silent, staring off into the vacuum behind me.

  "How many people have you told this?" She pressed.

  I shrugged. "Well, Cuinn knows. And he told Commander Ofisi so I could be dismissed to come see you. And well, you know."

  She mulled over my words for a while. While she thought, I finished up my food.

  "Don't tell anyone else," She leaned forward to look me in the eye. "I'm serious."

  My chewing on the piece of meat slowed.

  "Sure, but what's the big deal?" I said.

  She stirred her tea. A soft chuckle escaped her, like the question I had asked was painfully obvious. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

  "What do you know about the Great Dragon War?"

  I chewed my lip, transported to the days leading up to my visit to the Forbidden Ruins. Hakan had given me a brief history lesson so I knew what to expect, expanding on what I already knew about it. "It was about two hundred years ago, Shadow Dragons attacked us, but the Dragon Guard was able to drive them out." The story had always been one of Pyralian triumph, and on some levels, it made me want to join the Guard as a child.

  Betheka nodded vigorously, pleased with my recollection.

  "Yes, but how did they drive them out?"

  Her question hung in the air between us. I didn’t have an answer.

  "That's the part they don't teach you in schools," she shook a gnarled finger at me. "We won with poison. Dragonsnake poison."

  I quirked an eyebrow, my interest piqued.

  "It was probably one of the darkest times in the history of Pyralian Alchemy. They used villagers as bait to lure the dragonsnakes out of hiding and killed the creatures in hordes. Soldiers died from handling the corpses. Alchemists died from creating the poison. And the villagers who they tested it on died too. The Fire Drakken thought it was the only way to win the war."

  My mouth fell open. Human testing? Betheka continued.

  "Our soldiers coated their swords with it, and vials of it were used as projectiles. It was extremely effective. In two weeks, we thinned their numbers enough to run the blockade they had used to cut off our access to the mainland. Within a month they began to retreat. The poison had been our linchpin."

  "I had no idea..." my voice was barely a whisper, dozens of questions springing to life in my mind. "But why don't they ever talk about that part?" Growing up, we'd been taught about the Great Dragon War every year in school. But this was never mentioned. Instead, I'd always believed that we won because of the superiority of our Fire Dragons.

  "Is it wise to tell the people you rule that you'd kill them at a moment's notice to win a stupid war?" Betheka's nostrils flared, and her teacup clattered to the table, spilling a few drops of tea. She took a deep breath before continuing. "And an antidote was never found."

  My mouth grew dry as I processed what she told me. The question on my tongue was burning a hole through it, but I was too scared to ask. Her eyes hardened. She knew what I was thinking.

  "If you're quick enough, you can purge the infected area with a mixture of herbs and a whole lot of luck. Sometimes, an amputation before it’s circulated through your bloodstream works too. But nobody has ever survived it...whole."

  Instinctively, I brushed a hand over my foot, just to check if it was still there. It was. None of this made any sense. Betheka had saved me...without an antidote? How was I alive?

  "When they brought you here, I thought you were dead, Kaos." Betheka's voice cracked. "I treated and bandaged your wound, gave you a bath, and forced you to swallow a mixture of herbs. It was all I could do, and I feared it wasn't enough."

  My lips quivered as we held each other's gaze. Her eyes were wet. The panic in her voice tugged on my heart. She leaned over to put a hand on my cheek, and I covered it with mine. My own eyes were burning by then.

  "But you saved me, Beth." I tried to smile. “You figured it out.”

  She shook her head. "I didn't, Kaos. I would love to take credit for this, but I know it wasn’t me. All I have is a theory.”

  I leaned forward, not wanting a word to slip by me. I got the impression that what she was about to say was important.

  "I spent a few months in Hydralia studying under an alchemist there. This was before I gained my own Qualification of Alchemy" she began. "The Great Dragon War was always something that I was especially interested in. They worked so hard to have us forget that part of our history. I needed to know more, and luckily that alchemist shared my leanings. He had amassed a huge collection of information on it."

  I smiled, trying to imagine Betheka back then. Young, intelligent and thirsty for knowledge. Every conversation with her left me brimming with a newfound understanding of everything around me. It made me nostalgic, though I hadn't lost her yet.

  "And in his notes, I remember this distinctly because I spent so much time thinking about it, he'd discovered that not all the soldiers and dragons who were poisoned with the dragonsnake venom died. Some of them survived." By this, I was clinging to every word she said. "The soldiers who survived were all bonded to the same breed of dragon, and the poison didn't kill those dragons. It was like they were immune."

  "Great Shadowtail?" I asked.

  We hadn't been able to confirm Ignimitra's breed for sure, but Betheka had theorized that she could've been from the Great Shadowtail family, for she bore a striking resemblance to one she had met in her youth. I wanted to believe that, but she ate charcoal just like a fire dragon and as we recently discovered that she could spit fire. Maybe she was mixed with it?

  To my surprise, Betheka shook her head.

  "It was a breed that they theorize is now extinct. The Ancient Blackclaw."

  Confusion muddled my thoughts.

  "I don't understand. Ignimitra is an,” the name seemed fierce and sent a shiver down my spine
. “Ancient Blackclaw?”

  “I can’t say for certain, Kaos. We still don’t know Ignimitra’s true parentage.” She didn’t seem as troubled by the question of Ignimitra’s breed as much as I was. She held my wrist, urging me to look in her eyes as she spoke the next sentence. “But you found her here, in Pyralis. Somebody here knows what she is. If that person finds out that you survived dragonsnake poisoning, it’s a risk. I fear what they’ll do to you and your sweet one.” She sighed. “A Fire Dragon that can survive dragonsnake poisoning would be a jewel in the Fire Drakken’s crown. They’d want to test, breed...cut her open.” Then she added, “I haven't heard any good things about the new alchemist Vulcan brought in, and if he catches wind of this...it won’t end well."

  The seriousness of her warning made my vision swim. There was danger everywhere it seemed, and even now that we were closer to active duty, it only seemed to be getting worse. I had to bite back the sob that was building in my chest.

  "But don't worry about it too much, my dear." She sounded hopeful, leaning back in her chair. "After all, I'm still here to protect you."

  I smiled at the thought, though it brought with it more awful feelings. I hoped that I would have her for a few more years yet. "I wouldn't have survived my first week here without you, Betheka."

  She nodded. "It's the least I can do for you Kaos. Your father was very dear to me. And now, you are too." Her eyes twinkled.

  "Strangely, it felt like he knew this would happen. He told me that when I got to the Academy, I would know what to do and that there would be help for me." Just saying the words out loud threatened to dredge up all the emotions. "I still don't know what I should be doing, but you're definitely a great help." I held her hand.

  "When did he tell you that?" She asked abruptly.

  "He left me a letter. But he told my guardian not to give it to me unless I chose to attend the Academy." How Hakan had managed to keep it under wraps for so long was a mystery to me.

  "Did he specifically mention me in it?"

  "No," I shook my head. "He mentioned help, and I think you're the help he meant though."

  She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Betheka was many things—dragon whisperer, alchemist extraordinaire—but she was incredibly bad at hiding her emotions.

  "Does that bother you?"

  Her face fell a little further, and with shaky hands she kneaded her temple.

  "I don't want to weigh you down with all this information at once," she began, her lips trembling. "I always told myself that I'd tell you the next time I saw you. I kept putting it off. And now, with my condition getting worse, I don't know how much time we have left. It almost feels cruel to tell you."

  I froze. What was she talking about? My heart sped up—what could weigh on her so much? Did she have something to do with my father's death? What could Betheka be hiding? My lunch threatened to make a reappearance. There was no way I could handle another upset. Not after everything...

  "Your father wasn't just my friend. He was my son."

  My eyes widened, and my mouth fell open. The world faded to white around us. "What?"

  "His father took him from me. We never spoke again until he made it to the Academy."

  I recognized the words she spoke, but they just didn't make sense to me. I had a living relative? Betheka was my...grandmother?

  "When I met his father, I was too young. He was the Fire Drakken's nephew, and came from a long line of Dragon Guard soldiers. Even as a Deftero I wasn't good enough for his family. We kept our relationship secret, until I fell pregnant. He wanted us to get married, and his family seemed to agree. But they wanted to control my life. They didn't think it was becoming for a woman to be an alchemist. They wanted me to stay home and bear children. I couldn't agree to it."

  My vision swam. There were so many things to feel, so many things to think about. The fact that she'd hid this from me came second to how all this must've been affecting her. I wouldn't want to be forced into a life I didn't want either. Love, family—all of it was good. But at the expense of your dreams and aspirations? Betheka was an amazing Alchemist. I can’t imagine what her life would have been if she didn’t choose this path.

  "I didn't even get to see your father after he was born. I had a rough labor. It was all so hazy. All I remember is a few hours of the most unbearable pain, and then the world going black. When I woke up, the midwife told me that they'd given the baby to his father's family. And that was the last I saw of him for two decades."

  I was up and rushing into Betheka's arms before I realized what I was doing. She shook in my grasp but I didn't want to let her go. Not now, not ever. She was my grandmother. She had given me life. The blood that flowed through my veins flowed in hers. We were kin.

  "I'm sorry, little one." She stroked my hair, her fingers working through the gnarls. "I didn't know how to tell you without explaining that I'd abandoned Branton and Keode."

  "It doesn't sound like you did," I said, my eyes soaking the fabric of her dress.

  We were like that for a while—me leaning over her, clutching on to everything I could, while she stroked my hair and rubbed soothing circles into my arm. It felt immensely calming, like finding out this information was something I needed but hadn't known until now. Betheka was my family.

  When we broke apart, she looked different to me.

  I could see our resemblance. It was in our defiant chin, and the determination in our eyes. The way our thick eyebrows arched almost perfectly, and how the curves of our nose shaded the swell of our lips. A younger version of Betheka could’ve passed for my sister.

  The thought of it made me giddy with excitement.

  "Will you tell me more about my father?" I took a deep breath and went a little farther. "About my grandfather?"

  It was mind-blowing to even consider that I had more family than just my mother and father. Growing up, it was just the three of us. When they were alive it had been enough, but now that they were gone it was like living on a deserted island—my fading memories of them were my only company.

  "Of course," she gave me a big grin, her eyes crinkling at the sides. "I have many stories, and nothing but time these days."

  I returned to my seat, eager to hear more. But Betheka wore a cheeky grin.

  She shook her finger dismissively. "You don't have time to hear any now, young lady," she quipped, trying to sound serious while amusement spilled from her. "I'm sure there's someone else out there who will be happy to know that you're awake."

  "Ignimitra," I covered my face with my hands. "Now that I know that she's the only reason I survived the dragonsnake venom, I'm even more scared to face her right now."

  Betheka looked at me with those all-seeing eyes. "Why?"

  "She told me not to fight the dragonsnake," I looked down at the scuffed floors beneath my bare feet. "But I didn't listen. It felt like the dragonsnake was taunting me. I wouldn’t have felt satisfied if I didn’t fight it.”

  She nodded as I spoke, as if she understood my tumult. "You're dealing with plenty right now, Kaos," she began in that wise old voice of hers. "But, never lose sight of the people who sustained you during your first year here. You might be doing the right thing, but that doesn't mean you can't listen every now and then."

  My lips twisted into a wry smile. I knew she was right. But the implications of what she said was a bit too much to take in. I got the feeling she was talking about more than Ignimitra.

  "I'll smooth it out with her," I held up my hand, pointing to my dragon mark. "We're bonded after all." Our Fusion Bond didn’t give us a choice. There was no room for malice when she was privy to my deepest thoughts and feelings.

  Betheka smiled.

  "I'd better have someone fetch you a new uniform. You can't walk home in my nightdress! It's my favorite one."

  BY THE TIME I MADE it home, the sun was hanging low in the sky.

  I'd barely opened the front door, when Ignimitra's thoughts jumped into my mind—loud and frantic.<
br />
  Kaos?!

  I'm here, angel.

  I replied, hurrying through the house to the back yard. Ignimitra was looking at me expectantly, swishing her tail. When I was a few steps into the yard, she lurched forward knocking me over with her giant head. She was as gentle as she could manage, but I fell to the ground suddenly, partly thanks to my banged-up leg.

  If you're this excited to see me, does it mean that I'm forgiven?

  I broached the topic quickly. I had learned my lesson about avoiding arguments with Ignimitra—it was in neither of our best interests, especially after everything Betheka had revealed in our conversation.

  She huffed a plume of ash in my direction, a slight glare overtaking her features.

  I'm happy you're alive.

  She was holding back.

  But?

  But you almost died for no reason. I cannot feel happy about that.

  I moved to sit beside her on the grass. Despite the anger I could feel radiating from her, she curled her body around me. Her heat was welcome—despite Pyralis' usual humid weather, I felt cold for some reason.

  I'm sorry, angel. I don't know what came over me.

  She looked at me for a few long moments, her amethyst eyes felt like they were burning a hole into mine. There was a hidden intensity there, one that I hadn’t noticed before. It was as if I was looking at a reflection of myself when I looked in her eyes. Only my reflection looked just like her.

  You scared me. I could feel that the dragonsnake was dangerous. You didn't have to fight it. But you did.

  I sighed. It felt like something I needed to do.

  My answer didn't pacify her. She moved closer to me, so close that I could feel the heat radiating from her skin. The strange feeling overtook me when I looked in her eyes again.

  We are one, she nudged me in the chest. I felt what you were feeling while you attacked it.

  My movements stilled. Hm? What did she mean?

  It felt like you were doing it because you were upset at everyone. Irikai. Solra. The soldiers who treat us badly. Even the headmaster. Like you were trying to prove something to all of them.