He grabbed the door and yanked it open. A foot of solid steel wasn’t easy even for someone as strong as him to move. When the gap was barely wide enough to squeeze through, he slipped inside and pulled it shut.
Inside was a large wheel which he spun, throwing eight, four-inch-diameter rods into sockets bored into the wall, locking the room shut.
Finally, he drew a deep breath and relaxed. He’d worry about how to escape later. For now it was enough that he was safe.
Something grabbed his ankle and lifted him off the floor. A face made of dark energy appeared and laughed at him.
“You didn’t think a door would stop me?” The weapon cackled some more. A pair of dark claws formed. “We still have to see how much blood I can get out of you.”
Inside his safe room, no one could hear Kranic scream.
Chapter 1
Leonidas smiled as his flying ship soared towards the center of the ruined imperial capital. He stood beside Domina at the helm and let his gaze wander over to the master tower. Four powerful energy flows now converged on the central spire, confirming what he already knew: the four satellite towers were all up and functioning like they were supposed to.
The crackling white lightning lit up the daytime sky in a stunning display of power. He couldn’t wait to see it at night. It must have made midnight feel like noon to the men and women living in the city. Did those ancient people look upon their emperor’s power with pride or fear? Probably a little of both.
Domina reached out and touched his arm. “We’ve done it at last.”
He took her hand in his. For the first time in a long time, Leonidas was feeling satisfied with his situation. Decades of effort had all culminated in this moment. Despite her many failures, he couldn’t have done it without Domina. She’d earned her place at his side.
“We have indeed, my dear. The hard part is over. Now we need only bring the nations to heel. With dragons at our beck and call, I doubt we’ll have much difficulty. A year at most should see the empire secured. Then we can move on to making our rule eternal.”
She sighed and brought the ship down into its spot in front of the tower. Shade, Jax, Rondo, and Polymus emerged from below deck with Ariel in tow. The immortal prince appeared to have his new body fully under control. It was quite an astonishing feat when you considered only days ago he’d been nothing but a head.
“I doubted that I’d ever see the master tower crackling with life again,” Polymus said. “The many years had dulled my memory of its brilliance.”
“It is a wonder.” Leonidas grabbed everyone and lowered them to the ground.
Together, the group strode over to the door, where Leonidas touched the runes to unlock the tower. The moment they stepped inside, he noticed something different. There was a hole in the ceiling about eight feet in diameter. He looked up but couldn’t see where the passage ended.
“That leads to the throne room,” Polymus said. “At the top of the tower you will witness the true seat of imperial power.”
Leonidas could hardly wait. He marched to the center of the room and an invisible force tried to lift him. His ring absorbed the energy until he willed it to cease. The moment he did, he found himself flying upward at a slow, steady pace. At the top, a chamber with a single golden throne situated ten feet from the entrance waited. It was surrounded by a circle of runes colored a dull gold. Somehow Leonidas had expected more flair.
He stepped aside and soon enough Polymus appeared, followed by the others. When Shade arrived leading Ariel by the hand the throne began to pulse with faint energy.
“It’s reacting to the girl,” Polymus said in answer to his unspoken question. “You need to sit her on the throne. From there you can use her to control the tower’s various magical functions.”
“It allows for more than controlling dragons?” Leonidas asked.
Polymus nodded. “Much more. The runes can generate an impenetrable shield. You can also link the tower to a dragon’s vision so you can see what they see. Quite useful when you need more precise control. You can also seal this chamber and deactivate all the towers remotely should you wish to, though I can’t imagine why you would.”
Leonidas couldn’t either, not after all the trouble he went through to get them operational.
“What now, Boss?” Shade asked.
There was still a day before his ultimatum was up. Perhaps a little practice using the tower and seeing the limits to Ariel’s power would be prudent.
“Now we see what our little empress is capable of. Ariel, sit in the throne and contact the nearest dragon. When you’ve done so, will the tower to show you what it sees.”
Like a little zombie, she shuffled to the oversized chair and sat. Her brow furrowed. Ten seconds later a rectangular window appeared in the air. Leonidas walked around so he was behind the throne. In the window was an image of blue sky and clouds rushing by. Not surprising given the sort of creature whose sight they shared.
The rest of his cadre had joined him to get a better look, not that there was much to see at the moment.
“Link to a second dragon, the next closest,” Leonidas said.
“Can’t,” Ariel said.
He looked down at the top of her head. The circlet was still in place, so she had to be telling the truth. If she could only control a single dragon at a time, that would limit his options more than he liked. Surely the emperors of old hadn’t been so constrained.
Leonidas turned to Polymus. “Could your father only control a single dragon at a time?”
“When he was a child, certainly,” Polymus said. “Even as an adult I don’t believe he could manage more than three. Grandfather only ever controlled two at a time and even then, only when he had them performing the same task. Flying side by side when strafing a village that had defied him for example.”
“That seems very inconvenient. How did your father get around it?”
“We didn’t speak a great deal after it became clear that I wasn’t to be his heir. I believe he instructed the dragons to perform various duties then severed his direct connection and moved on to the next.”
That made sense. If the dragons obeyed the emperor’s commands even when he wasn’t directly linked to them, it would be simple to order them to guard a location or kill anyone that entered a particular place. Unless an enemy force gathered, there would seldom be a need to control more than a single dragon. Certainly one dragon would be enough to raze either of the capital cities should Rend or Carttoom prove stubborn.
“Send two large dragons to circle Carttoom City and Rend City. That will give them something to focus their thinking.”
With any luck, the sight of their doom flying overhead would help the kings make the correct choice. If it didn’t, well, no doubt whoever replaced them as rulers of their respective kingdoms would find the instruction valuable.
Moz, Callie, King Rend, and his uncle the general were gathered around a map of Rend City that covered most of a large table. The king had ordered court canceled until further notice. Moz had only arrived two days ago, but the line of refugees he met on the road told him there was serious trouble in the city. When he met up with Callie, she filled him in on the situation. He couldn’t believe the Dark Sages expected the two largest kingdoms on the continent to simply swear allegiance to them, or to Most High Black specifically.
Then again, maybe he shouldn’t be so surprised. With Ariel’s power at his disposal, the bastard probably thought he was invincible. And maybe he was. Moz knew better than most what a dragon could do. The one he saw in action wasn’t even especially large compared to the black one that had encircled the swamp tower.
“We’ve moved catapults all along the top of the wall.” General Rend adjusted several tokens that represented the weapons to the correct position on the map. There were twenty-four of them ringing the city. “Those plus the ballistae should give even a dragon pause.”
Moz restrained a laugh. Even the best artilleryman wouldn’t be able to hi
t a dragon as it flew by. They were simply too fast. Not to mention the line of fire that would precede them. He and Callie had done their best to convince the king to abandon the city and save his men for a fight they could win, but it was no good. They saw the city as too important to give up without a fight.
“How goes the evacuation?” King Rend asked.
“Almost done.” Callie and her bards had taken charge of the civilians since their magic allowed them to keep people calm and together. “Before dark we should have nothing but soldiers remaining in the city.”
“Outstanding. I didn’t believe you could do it in a week, but I’m pleased to be proven wrong.”
“There’s the matter of getting you out as well,” Callie said.
The king shook his head. “I’m not abandoning my home. Such a sign of weakness would ruin me.”
The muscles in Callie’s jaw worked as she forced herself not to argue. Moz knew how she felt, but he also knew the arrogance of the nobility. Besides, there was an underground passage out of the palace when it became necessary for them to flee. He knew exactly where it was and how all the locks worked. Even if he couldn’t get the king out, he’d damn sure get Callie to safety. He’d lost Ariel, no way was he losing anyone else he cared about.
“Is there anything else we can do, Uncle?” King Rend asked.
“I don’t think so, Majesty,” General Rend said. “Ordinary weapons are useless against dragons, as is magic. If the heavy weapons can’t bring whatever they send to the ground, nothing we have can.”
The door to the war room burst open and a young man in armor clattered in. “Majesty, you must see it. In the sky. Above the city.”
“Calm down, man, and speak clearly,” the king said.
“Forgive me, Majesty, but a dragon has arrived in the skies over the city.”
They all shared a look.
“I thought we had another day,” the king said.
“According to the message, we do,” Callie said.
“They’re trying to intimidate us.” Moz crossed his arms and scowled. “Like when an enemy force gathers outside a besieged town before the catapults begin to fire. The Dark Sages want us scared. They want us to yield.”
They were all staring at him. Moz shrugged. “I’m just saying. If this Lord Black sees the kingdom as part of his future empire, he isn’t going to want to burn down its largest city if he doesn’t have to. Better to scare us into doing what he wants.”
General Rend nodded. “Had I the power to command dragons, it’s what I would do. Let’s have a look at what we’re facing.”
“Excellent idea, Uncle.”
The king led the way out of the war room and they tromped through back passages that would have ordinarily been crowded with servants. To his credit, the king had sent his servants out of the city along with the other noncombatants. He had low-ranking soldiers filling in for the important tasks and the rest would have to wait. Despite their differences, Moz respected his king for that decision more than any other.
A pair of soldiers stood at attention as they approached the door to the battlements. They scrambled to unlock the door and open it so the king wouldn’t have to break stride. It was close, but the door opened with two steps to spare.
A brisk wind sent a chill down Moz’s spine. The capital was enough further north that it was chillier than the swamp. He forgot all about the cold a moment later when a shadow passed over them.
He craned his neck up just in time to see a two-hundred-foot-long red dragon soar over them. Its belly scales were dark as port wine and its wings cast shade over half the city as it passed. The heat radiating off of it caused the snow covering the battlements to begin to melt.
No one spoke until it banked away to make another pass.
Finally, the king gasped. “Gods’ mercy. I never thought it would be that big.”
“It’s smaller than the black they commanded in the swamp,” Moz said.
The king turned to face him. “I thought you said the girl’s dragon was only sixty feet long.”
Moz shook his head. Did the king truly not understand? “Majesty, all the dragons are hers. She can simply choose which one she wishes to command.”
The king stared at him for a moment then spun slowly back to watch the dragon preparing for another pass.
“We’re doomed,” he whispered.
Chapter 2
“I don’t think we can go any further!” Silas shouted over the wind.
Even though he was only five feet away in the front seat of the sleigh, Yaz could barely hear him. The storm had come up out of nowhere. When they set out from the base of the mountain up the Lost Path, the sun shone down strong and bright. The air still had a bite to it, but for the end of winter it was nice. Four thousand feet later, nice was a distant memory. Halfway up the mountain might as well have been another world.
Yaz leaned forward. Directly ahead, a narrow, rocky trail broke off from the main pass. That had to lead to Mom’s prison. And Silas was right, no way could the sleigh make it down that narrow passage. It didn’t fly high enough to avoid the many sharp rocks. Looked like they were going on foot.
“Get as close to the nearest rock formation as you can and we’ll lash the sleigh to it,” Yaz said. “I don’t want to come back and find it blown off the side of the mountain.”
Silas nodded and eased the sleigh over the four-foot-high spike. Yaz leapt out and immediately sank in past his knees. Cursing the universe in general and the Dark Sages in particular, he dug a length of rope out of their supplies and tied the sleigh’s runner to the spike. The knots weren’t pretty, but barring an avalanche, at least their transport should be there when they returned.
By the time he finished, Silas and Brigid had climbed out of the sleigh and were waiting for him. Before they set out, he needed to make sure they didn’t get separated. Yaz cut the excess rope off and tied it around his waist. He handed the rope to Brigid who followed his example then passed it on to Silas. When the wizard finished, Yaz set off into the whiteout.
Foot by miserable, frozen foot he probed ahead with his staff before taking a step. He hugged the side of the mountain both to keep as far from the drop-off as possible and to cut a little of the wind’s sting. He couldn’t say for sure that his effort made any difference, but at least they made progress.
Hours later, legs burning and lungs aching, Yaz looked up and saw a rectangle of black jutting up out of the snow. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, but the structure didn’t vanish into the storm. That had to be the Tower of Punishment.
He had trouble judging its size from a distance, but at this point he didn’t care. Anything that got him out of the weather would be welcome, even an enemy prison. With the target in sight, he marched on with fresh energy. He felt certain his mother was in there. She had to be. If they’d moved her or worse…
Yaz brutally cut that thought off. If she wasn’t here, he’d look somewhere else. That was all there was to it.
“Is that it?” Brigid asked.
Yaz looked up to find they were only fifty feet from the base of the tower. Up close it was smaller than he’d first thought, certainly smaller than the dragonspire. He guessed it was fifty feet tall and maybe forty feet square. It couldn’t have held more than a couple dozen prisoners if that.
And where were the guards? The tower didn’t have a single window. The entrance was a heavy, iron-bound door. Hopefully there wasn’t a secret knock needed to gain entry.
When they reached the door, Yaz and his companions untied themselves. Just out of curiosity, Yaz grabbed the iron ring that served as a handle and shook it. The door didn’t budge. No surprise there.
He glanced at his friends and both nodded their readiness. Yaz raised his staff and gave the door three hard raps. After a minute of waiting he tried again, more forcefully this time.
“I think they’re ignoring us,” Silas said.
“No kidding. I don’t suppose you can do anything about that?”
Silas shrugged. “My magic might ruin the door.”
Yaz grinned. “Good.”
Silas pulled out his amulet and began muttering a spell. Yaz might have been able to open it with his own power, but after the massacre in the swamp, he’d been reluctant to draw on the black door’s strength. Eventually that would change, but for now he was content to lean on Silas to handle the magic.
Is if on cue, Silas slapped his hand to the door. A wave of darkness rolled out, reducing the wood to dust and the iron to rust. Beyond the door, a single room, roughly two-thirds the size of the tower itself, stood empty. No guards came running at their intrusion. A smaller door on the far wall was the room’s only notable feature.
“Is this strange or is it me?” Brigid asked. She held her staff tight and raised as if expecting to be attacked at any moment.
“It isn’t you,” Yaz said. “Do you sense anything inside, Silas?”
“There’s magic in there, but nothing that feels dangerous. I can’t sense any life at all.”
Yaz grimaced. That didn’t bode well.
They weren’t going to learn anything out here, that was certain. He stepped across the threshold, paused, and when nothing changed or threatened him continued on to the rear door. Beyond it was a staircase leading up into the darkness.
Silas conjured a light without being asked and they started climbing. Yet another door waited on the second-floor landing. Yaz pushed it open easily and stepped into a hall running left and right. To his left was an open door and to his right a closed one.
There wasn’t likely to be anything in the open room, but he checked anyway. Sure enough he found only an open, empty cube. If it was supposed to be a cell, it was the most barren he’d ever seen. There wasn’t even a waste bucket.
As they walked to the closed door Brigid asked, “Who looks after the prisoners?”
Yaz wished he knew. The empty tower was making him nervous. He kept looking over his shoulder expecting to see someone there waiting to attack. But empty darkness was all there was.
The Dragonspire Chronicles Omnibus 2 Page 36
