Culmination

by Selena IR Drake

  The drum beat ended with an exciting flare. Dimitri was forced to look at the bent woman as she stood between him and Godilai. The old woman took his arm and raised it parallel with the ground. Then, speaking only in Kinös Elda, she set a skull totem in his hand and ran a sharp fingernail over the flesh of his wrist. Once his blood was flowing freely, she repeated the process with Godilai.

  Dimitri locked eyes with Godilai and suppressed the urge to smile as the old woman tied their bleeding wrists together with an ornate sash. The ceremony complete, the old woman ululated and the drums boomed with a renewed frenzy.

  Without warning, Godilai leaned in and kissed him passionately on the lips. When they finally parted to catch their breath, Dimitri met her aquamarine gaze. Seeing the sheer lust for him swimming in her expression, he led her away from the noisy crowd.

  Two apparitions in white watched from afar as the newlyweds snuck away to privacy. The two looked at each other for a moment. The shorter of the two slowly nodded. They turned away from the festivities and disappeared into the night.

  It has been exactly one hundred years since the day a man named Agasei rose up in defiance against the entire world. The descendants of High King Aadrian I have declared today a day of reminiscence. Today we honor the many men and women who lost their lives in the fight against the Tyrant King.

  – FROM “THE CHRONICLES OF ITHNEZ, VOL. X” BY CILLA TAEN, COURT HISTORIAN

  A heartbeat; gentle, tremulous... echoing.

  A breath of cold, stale air.

  Feeling slowly returned to numb limbs.

  Dark eyelashes flittered.

  Dragon green eyes slowly slid open.

  The world came back into focus.

  I groaned and forced myself to sit up even though every muscle in my body protested. A burst of pain exploded behind my eyes and made me cry out. Clutching my head and ignoring the throbbing pain as best as I could, I took a look around.

  I was on a small cot that had been chained to one of the three complete walls. Prayers, hatch marks, and obscene things had long ago been carved into the ageless stones. Adjacent to the cot was a small latrine and a sink with a tiny mirror. They all looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in eons. Opposite the rudimentary bathroom was a frosty, metal gate that spanned floor to ceiling.

  I shivered from the sheer chill in the air and decided some exercise was in order. The instant my bare feet touched the stone floor, I hissed at the biting cold. I slipped into the thin footwear that had been set out for me and hobbled over to the barred portcullis. Looking through the frost-covered bars, I realized my cell was in the middle of a long and narrow corridor. Several other barred antechambers branched off from that main line.

  I sighed and muttered a curse when I realized I could see my breath. “Don’t they believe in heat here?”

  “Apparently not.” Came a muttered reply. My heartbeat quickened at the voice and I eagerly peered through the bars of the cell in front of mine. Kitfox was lying flat on the cot and staring up at the frosted ceiling. He looked unhurt except for the heavy bandages that covered his otherwise bare chest.

  “Are you okay?”

  Kitfox shifted his position so he could look at me. He smiled warmly and nodded. “I’ll be fine. I just need a few days to heal.”

  “I thought Dimitri broke your ribs.”

  He winced as he chuckled. “He did. But I heal much faster than Humes, so broken bones are nothing to worry about.”

  “So you say, Demon.” I smiled in relief as Shazza’s voice came from the cell to my immediate right.

  “If not for the anti-magic ward that surrounds this place, I could have healed you in seconds.” Thera’s voice called from the cell left of Kitfox’s.

  “How nice of them to put all of us in adjacent cells.” I muttered.

  “Not all of us.” Shazza corrected sharply. I gulped at the barely contained rage in her voice. “That traitorous Hume was locked up in another wing.”

  “I can’t believe he sold us out to Dimitri.” Uttered Thera.

  Kitfox sighed. “I told you that he couldn’t be trusted.”

  I heard Shazza punch the wall in her fury. “The next time I see him, he’s dead!”

  I sighed and sank to the floor. Hugging my knees to my chest, I listened as the others bad mouthed Kkorian for what he did. I couldn’t deny the fact that I was angry at him as well, but something told me that the pirate had been left with no other alternative. After all, Dimitri was a dangerous and conniving man who stopped at nothing to get what he wanted.

  What if Kkorian tried desperately to pull out of whatever contract he had forged with Dimitri, but the Shadow Keeper wouldn’t allow it? I expected at least one the dragons to provide an answer to my thoughts, but all I got was silence. I brought my hand up to brush against the Amulet in hopes of rousing them from slumber only to find the talisman gone. In a panic, I tore apart my cell looking for it.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “The Dragon’s Eye Amulet is gone!”

  “Just like the diary and all our hopes of stopping Dimitri.” Kitfox resigned himself to misery and stared at the ceiling again.

  “We don’t need the diary to stop Dimitri.”

  “Yeah right, Thera.” The Demon muttered.

  “In case you’ve forgotten, the Riddle of the Twelve was written in that diary.” Said Shazza. “We kind of need that to find the rest of the dragons.”

  “The riddle, yes. The diary, no.” I detected a smugness in the Feykin’s voice and laughed.

  “You made a copy of the riddle, didn’t you, Thera?”

  “Sure did!”

  Kitfox wheezed in pain as he laughed at the good news. “You’re brilliant!”

  “So what?” Shazza’s dark tone deflated the jubilant mood in an instant. “We’re still locked up in this place.”

  “We’ll find a way out.”

  Shazza scoffed. “I doubt that. This is the Arctic Prison, after all. It’s not like we can just walk out of here whenever we please.”

  “You sound like you know all about this place.” I replied.

  The Dákun Daju muttered something I didn’t catch. “I was one of the commanders here before I ran for Queen of Katalania.”

  “How about you give us the run down on it?”

  “Fine.” She sighed. “Several millennia before the Earthic Landings, the Arctic Prison was built by the Dákun Daju to house our hardest criminals. It is contained within a gargantuan, extinct volcano on an uninhabitable island north of the freezing wastelands of the Southern Stretch.

  “The prison itself is fifteen hundred levels high and houses over one million inmates at any given time. The guards are mostly pure-blooded Dákun Daju warriors and a few Hume enforcers. They all reside in the lower twenty levels and are only able to leave via the monthly supply ship, which is permitted to be docked here for two hours at most.

  “When the supply ship is here, the entire prison goes into full lock-down mode. Every individual level is sealed with stone and metal gates and powerful talismans designed to instantly kill anyone who tries to open the gates. Armed guards are stationed on each level while the supplies are unloaded. The ship isn’t allowed to leave until it has been thoroughly searched for stowaways and every supply crate is accounted for. The lock-down is only lifted once the supplies are stored away.

  “There have been escape attempts in the past and only one succeeded. A notorious Dákun Daju Assassin named Solahnj somehow managed to sneak out of her cell before the full lock-down went into effect. She snuck aboard the supply ship and stowed away to freedom, taking a Hume, who was later identified as Agasei, with her. All other attempted escapees were slaughtered before they could make it to a level below their assigned cell.

  “Do you understand why we wouldn’t stand a chance at escaping now?”

  Kitfox cleared his throat in the uncomfortable silence that followed. “So what you’re saying is, we’re screwed.”

  “Exactly.”

&nbs
p; “Do they have a collection room for prisoners’ effects?”

  Shazza scoffed at my inquiry, but answered that there was usually one on each level.

  “I’m betting that is where my Amulet is. If we can get there and summon the dragons, we can make it out of this place.”

  “Have you not heard a word I said?”

  “I heard you plain and clear.” I rolled my eyes at her venomous tone. “But not once in your story did you mention eight dragons tearing the place up in the prisoners’ mad dash to freedom.”

  Kitfox guffawed despite his broken ribs.

  “She’s got a point, Shazza.” Chided Thera. “If we could fight our way to the inmate storage room and summon the dragons, we could break out of here with ease. Then, using my copy of the Riddle of the Twelve, we can finish the quest and kick Dimitri’s sorry ass!”

  Shazza was stunned into silence.

  I told Symbilla that I could not think straight; that so many things were on my mind that I could not sleep. She seemed to smile at me as she said, “Perhaps you are thinking too much, Prince. Rest your mind a while with a distraction.” It is difficult to find a distraction during a time of war.

  – FROM “CONVERSATIONS WITH DRAGONS” BY DJURDAK ZA’CAR

  Over two weeks had passed since our arrival at the prison. The four of us spent the long days often in silence or quiet conversation about nothing in particular. We were biding our time and allowing wounds to heal before facing the battle for our escape.

  Late last night, while the guards weren’t around, we discussed the best course to take in our breakout. Thera had suggested running outside and flying a-dragonback away from the prison. Kitfox quickly shot that idea down, stating that without the proper gear to fend off the frigid temperatures, we would freeze to death in no time.

  Remembering that Shazza had told us that the prison had been built out of an old volcano, I suggested the idea of escaping through the lava tubes that were sure to still exist. It was a dangerous idea, and one that might ultimately lead to being stuck underground for an unknown amount of time, but we all agreed it was the best course to take.

  On this particularly freezing afternoon, as I watched Kitfox run through some exercises with nary a sign of pain, a deafening buzz exploded in the air. Ignoring the cold, I threw off the blanket I had been provided and rushed to the door of my cell. Three heavily armed, Dákun Daju men, who I recognized as the guards stationed on this floor, strode passed just as the alarm died away.

  “What’s going on?” I dared to ask.

  “Lock-down.” One answered gruffly. I nodded in understanding and returned to my cot to huddle up in my blanket again. My gaze fell on Kitfox as he stepped away from his cell door while tucking something away in the folds of his bandages. Sensing my gaze upon him, he winked at me and put his index finger to his lips in the universal sign to keep quiet. I nodded and he smiled coyly while pointing to the locking mechanism on the door of his cell.

  I suddenly realized what he had done. He just lifted the key! I fought the overwhelming urge to cheer, electing instead to flash him a thumbs up and a cheesy grin.

  “I don’t think the alarm was loud enough.” Kitfox and I both chuckled at Thera’s disgruntled remark.

  “It’s nowhere near as loud as the dragons when they roar upon reconstitution.”

  Kitfox nodded vigorously. “No kidding. Every time they do that, it makes me want to rip off my ears!”

  “Quiet down over there!” Ordered one of the guards.

  “Sorry.”

  ◆◆◆

  “All right, Jailbirds! Meal time!” A guard’s hoarse shout yanked me from my dreamless slumber. I groggily sat up in my cot to watch as the guard stopped the meal cart in the middle of the hall. He removed a tray and stepped up to the gate of my cell. Balancing the platter with long-practice expertise, he reached for the keys to unlock the food slot. Realizing that they weren’t on his belt, he swore.

  “Something wrong?” He glared at me and returned the tray to the food cart.

  “Hey, Vakaron! Did I lend you my keys again?”

  “No.”

  “Did you forget them in your quarters?” Kitfox offered. He raised his hands in surrender when the guard shot him a dirty look. “I do it all the time.”

  The guard cursed again and walked away. “Vakaron, come with me. Ioré, stay here and cover for us.”

  “Sure thing, Ru.”

  I listened as a pair of footsteps receded down the hall. Once they had completely faded from earshot, Kitfox walked up to the bars of his cell. The Demon glanced at me, then at Shazza, before looking down the hall.

  “Hey! Hey, you’re name is Ioré, right?” A quiet ‘yes’ was the only answer. “Can you come here a second? I want to ask you something.”

  The guard sighed in irritation and walked into my view. He paused at the food cart and glowered at Kitfox. “What is it?”

  Kitfox waved him closer. “C’mere and look at this a second and tell me if you know what it is.”

  Ioré hesitated.

  “Oh! I know what you’re talking about!” The guard looked at me over his shoulder. “When it’s light’s out and everything is dark, there’s a weird glow at the base of the bars on his cell. We were wondering what it was, but no one was around to ask.”

  Kitfox easily followed me in the lie. “Yeah, and now that you’re here, maybe you can tell us what it is.”

  “What glow are you talking about?”

  “You probably can’t see it now due to all of the light.” Shazza mixed her two-bits into the lie. Ioré sighed and stepped closer to the cell door. He scoffed and knelt down to take a close look at the bars.

  “I still don’t see anything.”

  “Really? Too bad.” In a move so fast that I couldn’t follow, Kitfox reached through the bars of his cell, grabbed Ioré by his head, and jerked. There was a sickening crunch as the guard’s neck snapped then Ioré fell limp in the Demon’s grasp. With a low growl, Kitfox shoved the lifeless guard away before removing the stolen keys from the folds of his bandages.

  Shazza praised Kitfox for his swiftness and cunning as the Demon unlocked his cell door. He slipped through without a sound and quickly unlocked my door, then Shazza’s, and finally Thera’s. Together, the four of us slipped quietly to the opposite end of the corridor where the guards usually kept themselves.

  “Isn’t it weird that we’re the only prisoners on this level?” I muttered as Kitfox took a moment to try to find the right key to unlock the door.

  Thera shrugged. “We’re high-profile criminals, apparently.”

  Kitfox snorted and finally managed to unbolt the door. He jerked it open and we all quickly filed into the room before sealing it again. Without a moment’s hesitation, the four of us began to scour the crate-leaden shelves for our belongings.

  “Here!” Shazza called out and pulled four crates down from the top-most shelf. I dug through the bin with my name on it and sighed in relief when my fingers brushed against the Dragon’s Eye Amulet. I hastily removed it from the box and slung it around my neck. I smiled as the familiar buzzing burst into existence in the back of my mind.

  Xyleena! All eight dragons chorused the instant they felt my mind meld with theirs.

  Are you alright, Hatchling?

  What happened?

  Where have you been?

  There’s no time to explain, I told them, but when I summon you, come out fighting!

  They eagerly chorused an agreement to do just that. I thanked them and dumped the contents of the bin on the floor.

  Kitfox politely turned his back to us women to allow a modicum of privacy while we stripped from our prison jumpsuits and donned our armor and battle gear as quickly as possible. I snuck a peek at the Fox Demon while he dressed, and found myself admiring the way his toned muscles rolled with every move he made. His tail wagged slightly, granting me a nice view of his tight buttocks before his trousers covered it. Heat rushed to my face and I forced myself to look away
.

  I heard Riptide snort in amusement. What are you so worked up about all of a sudden?

  N-Nothing. The Dragon of Water made a sound like a laugh.

  “Is everyone ready to do this?” Shazza asked as she finished lacing up her bracers. I took a deep breath to calm myself and nodded once.

  “We can’t turn back now, so we might as well just get it over with.” Thera said as she clicked the last piece of her wing armor into place.

  “In case we don’t make it out of this together,” Kitfox looked back at us with the most serious expression I’ve ever seen, “I just want you all to know that it’s been an honor to live and fight at your side.”

  “Indeed it has, Kitfox-fratim.” Shazza offered him her arm and the Demon grasped it firmly.

  “May the Five Souls guide us, protect us, and offer us their strength.” I said as I clapped both of them on the shoulder.

  Thera walked calmly up to us, embraced us with her wings, and bowed her head. “Meo sortime, meo fratim, illam durus.”

  ◆◆◆

  We lingered in the embrace, quietly praying for the safety of the others. Finally we broke apart and made our way to the door. Kitfox took a moment to listen for any sounds from the other side. Deeming it safe, he pushed the door open and led the way out.

  The minute we were all in the hall, Ru and Vakaron stepped off the ramp that led to the level below. Both guards froze in complete shock upon realizing we had tricked them to escape. Before either guard was given the time to raise an alarm, Kitfox and Shazza burst forth and silently dispatched them.

  “That was close.” Kitfox muttered as we dragged the bodies away from the ramp. I nodded in agreement and watched as he ran his claws over one of the several ring-hilted daggers strapped to Vakaron’s belt. The Fox Demon promptly removed a pair of the blade rings before slipping them over his wrists.

  “Let’s go.” Shazza whispered and knocked two arrows. She took the lead as we made our way down the ramp. The five guards stationed on the level were quickly slaughtered. Some of the inmates thanked us for the deed and asked to be let out of their cells.