The Dragonspire Chronicles Omnibus 2

by James E. Wisher

  Moz glanced up again and caught sight of the dragon on the western side of the city breathing fire at something. Let it keep playing over there for five more minutes.

  He darted out and raced across the open space over to the fallen wall. The chunks of stone were large and reasonably stable. The situation was about as good as he could have dared hope for. Moz picked out a path that looked promising and waved the others over.

  When Callie and the king joined him, Moz began climbing. The going was pretty easy and he kept looking back at the king. He was keeping pace so far. At the top of the heap Moz paused and checked the sky.

  The dragon was coming right for them.

  When the first catapult stone bounced off the dragon’s scales, Leonidas had been shocked, both at how ineffective it was and that King Rend would dare to strike his dragon before it attacked. They must have had a death wish. Well, if they did, he was the perfect one to grant it.

  He glanced down at Ariel who sat rigid in the throne, her face screwed up in intense concentration. He still didn’t fully understand how her power worked and as long as it continued to do so he didn’t especially care. She was a useful little tool, one that would serve him well for many decades.

  Polymus and the rest of his cadre had withdrawn to the lower level to rest. Leonidas should have joined them, but he was too excited. Just watching events through the dragon’s eyes was thrilling beyond belief. Watching it smash and burn at his command made him feel like a god. But god or not, exhaustion was creeping up on him. Maybe the early attack was a good thing. He could catch a quick nap before seeing if Carttoom had more sense than Rend.

  He grinned to himself. Part of him hoped they didn’t. Watching cities burn was great fun.

  Leonidas returned his focus to the viewing window. There was movement near the palace. Some stray soldiers looking to escape perhaps.

  “Take a closer look at that group,” he said.

  The dragon banked and flew toward them. Soon enough he got a clear view. He instantly recognized the woman as one of the bards that had opposed him in capturing Ariel. The man in dragonscale armor had to be the ranger and between them was King Rend himself.

  “Burn them!”

  The dragon was already past.

  “Circle back and kill them all as soon as you see them!”

  The view shifted as the dragon made a wide, lazy turn. When the pile of rubble appeared in view again, the targets were gone.

  “Damn it! Find them.”

  The image shifted left and right as the dragon searched for the king and his protectors. It hadn’t taken a minute to make the second run. They couldn’t have gotten far.

  He pointed at the window. “There!”

  Fire gushed out at a nearby building, blasting it to pieces. When the smoke cleared, he saw that he’d ordered the destruction of someone’s scarecrow.

  Cursing the universe and everyone in it, Leonidas resumed studying the window. After five minutes it became clear that they had slipped away.

  “Destroy the rest of the city and release the dragon. We’ll eat then see if Carttoom is inclined to be more reasonable.”

  Ariel couldn’t even smile without the bad man’s permission, but if she could, she would have smiled when Moz and Callie escaped. She knew where they were the whole time; the dragon could smell them and through their link so could Ariel, but that information didn’t appear in the window so he couldn’t order her to shoot fire at their hiding spot. The dragon was pleased that she was happy, but also worried. She wanted to help Ariel escape, but no one could help her as long as she wore the crown.

  “Destroy the city and release the dragon,” her master said.

  Her entire mind became focused on obeying. More than anything she wanted to stop breaking things, but she could no more ignore his command than she could get up and walk out of the tower.

  She sent her thoughts to the dragon. Burn it all down, but try not to hurt anyone hiding or trying to escape.

  The dragon acknowledged her command and began swooping around, breathing fire on buildings where she couldn’t smell any people. Ariel had been happy to learn that while she had to obey, unless he gave very specific orders, she was free to give the commands any way she wanted. It was just a little rebellion, but that sliver of freedom gave her hope that maybe she wasn’t doomed to be his slave forever.

  When the last building caught, she sent a final command. Good dragon. Sorry I made you burn everything. You can go now.

  Ariel broke the mental connection and the window vanished. The bad man stared down at her. She looked back as if eager for his next order. He seemed to like it when she looked at him like that. Knowing that made her not want to do it, but the crown forced her to.

  “Let’s go down and eat.” He held out his hand and Ariel took it.

  Together, master and slave left the throne room, for a little while anyway. Ariel had no doubt she’d be back soon enough, to burn and kill and destroy. She hated it, but the crown didn’t care and neither did the bad man. Someday, she promised herself, someday she’d escape and never have to hurt anyone again.

  Chapter 4

  Callie’s legs burned and her lungs ached as she marched beside Moz and the king down the main road away from the capital. Thousands of fleeing refugees had ground the snow down into the dirt making it muddy despite the cold. At least they wouldn’t have any trouble finding everyone. She took no solace in the fact that King Rend appeared to be suffering even more than she was. When did he last have to walk further than from the throne room to his waiting horse? She suspected it had been a while.

  She glanced back at the smoke-filled sky. There was no sign of the dragon, so hopefully they were safe, for the moment anyway. Callie turned back and flicked a peek at the king. His head hung low and his once-fine clothes were smeared with soot and mud. Aside from the gold on his fingers and around his neck, he would blend right in with the rest of the refugees. Not that she took any pleasure in his suffering. Better a fat, happy king ruling a peaceful land than this mess.

  A few strides ahead, Moz was a dark, silent presence. He hadn’t spoken since they left the city. Not that silence was unusual for the ranger.

  “What are we going to do?” the king said, almost to himself more than to her.

  “We have to take the battle to them,” Moz said.

  Callie nearly jumped when he spoke.

  “How do you take the fight to dragons?” King Rend snorted and spat to one side. “Our best catapults didn’t even make it flinch.”

  “Not to the dragons, to the men controlling them. If we eliminate the Dark Sages, the dragons will be no problem. We know where they live, I can lead you right to their front door.”

  “As soon as you get close, they’ll send a dragon to burn the army to ash.”

  “You’re right,” Moz said. “That’s why we send a force of bards and rangers, no more than thirty or so. The enemy won’t even see us coming. A small group can evade a dragon’s attacks where an army or fixed weapons can’t. In the meantime, we keep our refugee groups small and separated. We give them nothing that looks worth attacking. If Leonidas Black wants to rule the world, I assume he wants people living in it. As long as it doesn’t look like we’re marching against him, I doubt he’ll order a random slaughter.”

  “What do you think, Callie?” the king asked.

  “I’m hardly a general, but what Moz suggests makes a lot of sense. A conventional assault would be a total waste of lives. I wager eventually another messenger will show up demanding your surrender. So you’ll need to keep moving. If the enemy can’t find you, they can’t very well give you a message.”

  “I’m to run and hide while others do the fighting?”

  Callie smiled. “Think of it as checking on your people. Going from town to town to make sure everyone has what they need is a very noble thing to do and will no doubt raise everyone’s morale.”

  “You’re coddling me and don’t think I don’t know it.” King Rend ble
w out a long sigh. “I’m grateful to both of you. Perhaps I don’t show it as often as I should, but I appreciate all you both do to keep the kingdom safe.”

  The attack must have shaken him more than Callie first thought. The king never talked like this to anyone, not that she’d ever heard anyway. Near death from the fiery breath of a dragon was enough to change anyone’s outlook.

  She shot Moz another sidelong look. Well, almost anyone.

  They marched on until an hour before sunset. That’s when Callie caught a whiff of smoke mingled with simmering stew. They had to be close to the refugees’ camp. And thank the gods for that. Her legs were ready to fall off.

  The first tents came into view a few minutes later. A squad of guards spotted them coming and stood at rigid attention. King Rend didn’t even have the energy to wave them off so Moz did it for him. They entered the camp and made for the nearest fire. Callie was hungry enough to eat a whole sheep, but she’d settle for whatever stew was bubbling in the cast iron pot.

  “Callie!” Tamsin came running up. “Are you okay? I barely cleared the city before the dragon attacked. I was afraid…”

  Tears ran down the girl’s face. Despite everything she’d seen, it was easy to forget that Tamsin was only sixteen. Callie hugged her and stroked her hair.

  “I’m okay. We’re all going to be okay. Did the other bards get set up?”

  “Yeah.” Tamsin’s eyes went wide when she finally noticed the ragged king standing beside Callie. “We prepared a tent for Your Majesty as well. It’s not much, I’m afraid, but—”

  “If it has a place to sit and a hot meal waiting, you’ll hear no word of complaint from me. Did my uncle make it back?”

  “We’ve seen no sign of General Rend. I’m sorry.”

  The king let out another in a long string of sighs and shook his head.

  “Don’t count him out, Majesty,” Moz said. “The general’s a tough son of a bitch. I wouldn’t bet against him even facing a dragon.”

  The king snorted a laugh. “So he is. Show me that tent if you please, young lady.”

  Tamsin beamed and guided King Rend deeper into the camp.

  When they’d gone Callie asked, “Do you believe that?”

  Moz shrugged. “He needed to hear it. Doesn’t matter if I believe it. If the king loses heart, we’re finished. He doesn’t need to come up with great plans, but he needs to show that we have a chance. If I need to stretch the truth a little to help with that, I don’t mind.”

  Callie smiled. That was such a perfectly Moz thing to say. Somehow it made her think they might actually have a chance.

  While burning the two kingdoms’ capitals had been a fine demonstration of his power, it also demonstrated how limited the dragons’ might really was. Leonidas left Ariel in the throne room and descended to the bottom floor where his cadre awaited further orders. As he drifted down, his mind raced. While he had the power to destroy anyone or anything that might dare oppose him, the dragons couldn’t control and administer territory. He needed a proper army and a noble class to oversee the day-to-day operation of his new empire.

  The Dark Sage agents scattered throughout the land could emerge from hiding to assume those roles, but before they did, they’d need soldiers to back up their power. It was becoming clear that the dragons’ greatest value lay in being a seldom-used threat. If everyone knew that resistance meant you and everything you cared about ending up ash, the necessary soldiers should be minimal.

  His feet hit the stone at the bottom of the tower. Shade and Rondo were playing cards at a table to his right. Polymus was reading one of the thousands of volumes lining the many bookshelves. Domina and Jax were both absent. She was likely in her lab while Jax was no doubt somewhere dark, but close by.

  “Listen up,” Leonidas said.

  Everyone present had turned their attention his way. A moment later Jax materialized out of a shadow. He didn’t need Domina at the moment, so he didn’t bother sending someone for her.

  “Shade, I want you to take Rondo and recruit as many mercenaries as you can. Now that we’ve softened up our targets, it’s time to seize control. They’ll become the first of my imperial legions.”

  “What about pay?” Shade asked. “You know that’s what they’ll ask.”

  “Standard rate, plus the usual bonus if there’s combat. Frankly, I expect little resistance after what we just did.”

  “What if some of them say no?”

  “If any of them are that stupid, contact me and I’ll instruct them in the error of their ways. I promise you the next group will be eager to join up. Is the mirror ready, Jax?”

  “It is.” The wizard walked over to Shade and handed him a mirror with a black, rune-marked frame. “A single drop of blood will activate it and allow you to speak with Leonidas. You can activate it three times a day for five minutes each time. And do be careful, Shade. I spent nearly a month enchanting it.”

  “Relax. You want us to contact all the usual crews, Boss?”

  “Yes, we’ll need everyone and then some, but our usual groups will do to start.”

  Rondo stood then he and Shade hurried out.

  When they’d gone Polymus said, “I see you’ve already realized the dragons’ weakness. This is why there was an imperial army as well.”

  Leonidas hardly needed the obvious pointed out. He’d known this would happen from the beginning. Finding soldiers was easy, far easier than controlling dragons.

  “Jax, I’d like you to scry on the kingdoms and see if you can get a feel for what they might be planning by way of a counterattack. I’m sure they’ll try something, regardless of how pointless it might be.”

  “As you wish, Leonidas.” Jax vanished into the shadows again.

  “And me?” Polymus asked. “Do I get an assignment as well?”

  “You can start by teaching Domina how to make the immortality potion.”

  “It would be simpler to make it for you myself.”

  “I imagine it would, but since I don’t trust you, you’ll have to make do.”

  Polymus offered a mocking bow and withdrew toward Domina’s lab. Leonidas seriously doubted the man meant him any good, but hopefully Domina could see through his tricks and glean the secrets of the potion.

  All his pieces were in play. Now all Leonidas could do was wait.

  Callie wiped the sweat from her brow and moved on to the next wounded person, in this case a little girl with a nasty scrape on her arm. A heated tent had been set up for those in need to see a healer. She’d been working her way through the refugees, helping out where she could. Most of the injuries were from panicked people falling or getting shoved aside.

  A soft hum and brush with her hand soothed the girl, turning the nasty red section of her arm back to pale, smooth skin. The girl hugged her before running to her mother.

  Her back popped when she straightened. Beyond the tent flap, darkness had fallen. The group was due to move out at first light, so she’d best get to her tent and get some sleep.

  Before she could take a step, a wild-eyed soldier burst through. “General Rend has returned and he’s burned bad.”

  “Clear a space,” Callie said. “Bring him here, quickly.”

  The soldier disappeared again but only for a few seconds, just enough time for the helpers to clear a cot. Two stretcher-bearers pushed through. Callie winced at the smell of burned flesh. The right side of the general’s body was a charred mess, and most of his hair was gone as was his uniform. It was a miracle he was still breathing.

  She didn’t even wait for the bearers to set him down. Callie hummed and summoned her power. Healing energy flowed into the general. Slowly, the burns scabbed over. She focused on the side of his face. There would be some scarring, even her gift wasn’t powerful enough to avoid that given the amount of damage, but if she was quick and thorough, she could keep it to a minimum.

  “Where is my uncle?” King Rend forced his way past the crowd that had gathered. “Gods’ blood.”
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br />   Callie ignored the outburst and focused on healing. The king knelt on his uncle’s good side, took his hand, and bowed his head in prayer.

  It took half an hour of concentrated effort, but when she finished, the general was breathing deep and steady. He had light scarring on the side of his face and chest, but given that those injuries should have killed him, she was content to call it a good night’s work.

  Callie slumped and settled on the floor. She hadn’t been this tired in a long time.

  “You did well,” the king said. “When this business is over, assuming we’re still alive, there’ll be a medal waiting for you.”

  She forced a smile. “If I live through this, all I want is to go back to my school and teach.”

  There was a hint of movement at the tent flap. She turned to see Moz standing there wearing his we’ve-got-trouble look. Just what they needed, fresh trouble.

  “Majesty,” Moz said. “We have a guest.”

  The king forced himself away from his uncle’s side. “What sort of a guest?”

  “A wizard from Carttoom. She says she has a message from the king and will only give it to you. She’s waiting in your tent.”

  “That was fast.” King Rend walked toward the exit.

  Callie forced herself up and after him. Whatever was happening, it was best if she heard it directly from the source rather than secondhand.

  She fell in beside Moz who offered her his arm. She took the support gladly.

  “I see you haven’t lost your touch,” he said. “Good thing. I suspect we’ll be needing it.”

  Callie feared he was right but didn’t want to talk about it. “Did the wizard say anything?”

  He shook his head. “Only that she wanted to talk to the king. Crazy woman landed right in front of our northern picket. One of the guards took a shot at her. The crossbow bolt bounced right off some kind of magic barrier. We took the fact that she didn’t blast him to ash on the spot as a sign of good faith.”