Dragon's Cage

by Daniel Potter

  "There's a sight I thought I'd never see again!" A cheerful shout filled the air.

  Yaki turned to find a woman in a colorful kimono grinning a dimpled smile. "Risu!" Yaki stood preparing to bow but found herself swept up into a hug. "Risu!" Yaki said again in a slightly scandalized tone before laughingly returning the embrace.

  "Come with me and bring your man there. Can't let any gawkers know you're in town. Rumor were that Madria had taken up with Lyndon of all places! But I told them the Silver Fox would never stoop that low." Risu guided Yaki deeper into the garden to a walled pagoda.

  "No, Mother would never do something so crass." Yaki agreed as she took her seat at a table being hastily decorated with sweet bean cakes by a servant dressed in black and not the color of Risu's family, the Hana's pale yellow. Someone had died or worse recently. Yaki quirked an eyebrow in question as Gama took a place near the edge of the gazebo.

  "Mother became enshadowed two weeks ago, following father six months ago. It all stemmed from the same accident." Risu's smile went flat.

  "I'm so sorry for your loss." The servant scurried out. No tea yet. Risu really had not wanted her to be seen by anyone. The shoulder less dress displayed her mark.

  "Oh, don't mourn them yet. They still leave all sort notes in the dead of night. And mother's affliction had been perfectly manageable until some nose priests were sent over for tea by the Shibata." Risu voice grew bitter. "Now that Kuze, my idiotic brother is officially in charge of the east forge, it’s only a matter of time before takes a bath in the iron. I might have to start paying attention to how the foundry works at this rate." Risu frowned.

  "How's that escape plan coming?" Yaki found herself nibbling at a bean cake.

  "Terrible, absolutely terrible." Risu's lips pressed together as they struggled to contain something and her eyes twinkled.

  Yaki sat back and made a show of studying her former classmate. "Found someone have you?"

  Risu quickly hide her face behind mug that the servant had just filled with piping hot tea and slurped loudly, trying to cover the flushing of her lightly tanned cheeks. "No." She said as she set down her cup.

  "Ooooh, bad match then. I'm sorry." Yaki winked.

  "Yaki of Madria!" Risu spat out the name as an exasperated curse. "Stop reading me like that!" In mistress Mana's school Risu had been a masterful gossip monger but when it came to her own affairs her mask didn't simply crack, it shattered.

  "Sorry." Yaki grinned, holding up her hands to ward off any projectile bean cakes. "I do hope you let him down gently." Yaki shifted herself to the side to dodge the first cake and snatched the second one from the air.

  "You are terrible. Absolutely terrible Yaki." Risu chattered, her cheeks bright red.

  Yaki bit into her captured cake resisting the urge to pop the whole thing in her mouth. A silence settled as Risu composed herself "You'd rather I ask about whether or not you need an extra thick pallet?" Yaki asked as Risu took a sip of tea.

  To Risu's credit, she didn't spew the all over the table in front of them but turned her head to her side. The servant had to dodge however. "Bitch." Risu grumbled between coughs but the smile dimpled both her cheeks. "Did you come to needle at my marriage prospects or was it something else?"

  "I'm on an official errand. Mother wouldn't let me out of her sight otherwise." Yaki yawned. "Mother's getting bored of being a pirate."

  "Well she left port as if the queen of hell had tied her tail in a knot. There were whispers she'd defect." Risu eyes hadn't come back to look at Yaki, they stared off into nothing Yaki could see. "He writes me the worst poetry."

  "Yech," Yaki sucked in air through her teeth as if she'd been stabbed. "I'm very sorry. The poets are the worst. Especially if you get a real one."

  "A real one?"

  "Yes, a real one. They're always reading and it’s impossible to walk around their abodes because books are usually strewn everywhere. They're always in debt to the Steward's library." Yaki kept her tone casual and bored but her toes curled in her boots as she set this hook.

  Worry creased across Risu's brow. "Really. And if they don't do that?"

  "They probably copied the poem from a library. That’s usually how it’s done. You're better off with liars instead of poets. Mother always said poetry came from minds without a sense of purpose."

  Yaki picked up the tea mug in front of here and studied its orientate knot like decorations. A clear Vahallan trade product. The servant had poured the tea for both of them from a metal pitcher styled after Yaz'noth, complete with antlers and his tail forming the handle, Yaki wondered if the dragon had crafted them himself. She refocused on the mug, "The wind is shifting."

  "It’s all the rage now." Risu turned her own mug around in her hand. "We'll all be wearing furs and trading in the rapier for axes for the winter balls at this rate. What's that got to do with your mother."

  A half shrug. "Mother has privateered successfully for the Steward for two years and there hasn't been a whiff of a pardon from him. Mother's decided to seek other opportunities. What's the use of having a port of call that doesn't let you off the ship?"

  "What opportunities?" Risu leaned forward.

  "Well that crowd that raids the Federated cities are interested in new possibilities. I'm sure they can be motivated to help with the war effort."

  Risu's eyes went wide. "She's not planning on leading them south to here?"

  Yaki spread her hands. "Depends on how all those duels for Admiralty go. But with Hawk as her champion I'm not concerned for the outcome."

  "She not calling herself the pirate queen, is she?" Risu eyes strayed from Yaki as she pondered.

  "Give my mother more class than that. Don't think of it as threat Risu. Think of as an opportunity to ensure a good outcome for this conflict. With trade to the Federated cities hampered Lyndon will be far more desperate goods from Golden hills and Valhalla. Lyndon has no lift wood groves. Money and support now will insure good will later." Yaki sat back internally wincing at the fear that Risu betrayed in her calculating smile was lopsided. Framing mother as a pirate queen made nearly too much sense. No reeling back that lie now. "I can trust you to be discreet these are only rumors after all." Yaki hardened her tone, "Since I'm not here officially."

  "Oh of course." Risu's smile broadened. "And it’s not as if you have much say in the matter as messenger."

  Yaki allowed herself to bristle. "I have enough pull to put in a good word or three."

  "And why would we need that? The Steward buys everything the House can produce. Don't get me wrong Yaki, I believe you but I don't have the greatest of pull. My great grandmother doesn't give a wit for the game of chicken Madria is playing with the Steward." Risu reached over and poured more tea with a smug air.

  "Come on Risu, your granny knows as well as everyone else that Hana and Nakamura's designs are years behind both Lyndon and Valhalla's. Valhalla might be willing to help but our navy's going get crushed."

  Risu's narrowed, "We'll give as good as we get. Most of Lyndon's Navy is built with Golden Hill's liftwood. If it’s a war of attrition, we win."

  "They can use the Federated cities’ grove-"

  "Nonsense!" Risu snapped, "That liftwood has half the capacity of ours. It be like fighting us with balloons."

  "Which they can build into ships three times as fast as you can in the foundry." Yaki countered, hoping she was remembering correctly. "Think about it Risu, it’s in everyone's interest to support my mother."

  Sitting back, Risu took a long slurp of her tea and studied Yaki with narrowed eyes. Yaki let her take in her quiet smirk, ignoring the way her stomach churned with something other than hunger. Whether or not Risu bought this, coming to her would be the equivalent to waving the Emblem of the Silver Fox through a public square. That alone might armor her for a little while but one hint that Madria had left the world and the jackals would emerge.

  Slowly Risu set down her tea and spread her hands. "I'm sure I can convince my brother to mak
e a minor investment now but we'll need more proof that Madria managed to assemble her armada before we bring it to Grandmother."

  "You doubt my mother?" Yaki feigned surprise. Internally she smiled, having Risu precisely where she wanted her.

  Chapter 35

  Hawk grimaced as she watched the dragon launch himself from the mountain. Yaz'Noth had caught the Odin's Sphere's crew with its pants down. The first shot did not fly until he had several wing beats of altitude. An audible hum of power crystals filled the valley as the ship shot straight up in the air. The rapid movement fouled the aim of the gunners so the huge Dragon did need to dodge the first salvos. The gunners fired in group of ten or so cannons, flinging green stars designed to eat through his armored hide. Yaz'Noth swung wide to avoid coming under the sphere and let loose with his lance of brilliant blue energy. With a turn of his head it passed through several groups of oncoming shells, they exploded, far too distant to harm Yaz'Noth. The beam had lost focus by the time it reached the sphere itself but a green energy shimmered into existence, if only to prevent it from bubbling the paint.

  Hawk kept an eye on the battle as she climbed, the bitter cold wind guided her hands to secure crannies. It had howled in her ears as she had woken before the dawn and bade her toward the mountain. The rock face wasn't sheer but it was brittle. Several times rocks shifted beneath her grip. The wind might be on her side but the abused mountain had taken the side of the dragon. Hawk busied her mind trying to think what she would do when she reached the cave she had first entered the mountain by. Run down into its gullet and kill until she found the girls? Let Blinky back into the mountain to help Yaki form a plan? Did the spider himself have a plan?

  Pausing a moment, she looked back over at the battle. It looked like a stale mate, Yaz'noth circled around the ship, swatting down salvos with either a lancing breath or dodging them entirely. But the dragon continually gained altitude. The Sphere's propellers remained folded close against the sphere inside the limits of the shield. They were spinning but the Sphere wasn't going anywhere, caught in the angry winds.

  Wouldn't be long now. Whatever she was here to do, she was going to have to do it soon. Looking up, she still had another thousand feet of height to climb. No way to do that unless she suddenly took the form of a mountain goat or someone tossed her a rope.

  Tossed her a rope.

  Heaving herself into a sheltered nook in the rock Hawk peeled Blinky off her back and set him down. He clicked in a disgruntled manner, holding up four of his legs so the other half wouldn't touch the freezing cold stone.

  "You wanted to come." Hawk said.

  "C-c-c-c-chrrrrch!" Blinky imitated the chattering of teeth with his mandibles.

  "Spin now." Hawk said

  Blinky blinked all of his eyes at once.

  "Now." Hawk tapped her foot. "You want to save Yaki or not?"

  The spider turned around so Hawk could see his spinnerets working furiously, his back legged pulling out a length of the cable strong thread.

  "Good boy." Hawk knelt and thrust her hands beneath the spider palms up. "Keep spinning."

  "Scrrrk?" Blinky questioned as Hawk placed both hands beneath his fuzzy under body.

  Hawk pistoned her entire body upward.

  "SCCRREEEEEEEEEE!" Blinky cried as he flew heavenward, his leg flailing. He managed to latch on to a ledge and pull himself beneath it. The silken thread about as thick as a strand of twine dangled just over Hawk's head. Hawk gave it a gentle tug. Blinky repositioned himself to shoot her a baleful glare through his eight narrowed eyes as he stuck the silk strand to the underside of the ledge. "SCrk!"

  Hawk grinned back, grabbed the silk with too hands and began to climb.

  Blinky kept himself out of reach but scaled the mountain ahead of her, laying lines for her to follow up as the rocks became more and more sheer. They climbed much faster. Each time she reached the end of a line she'd check on the Dragon and the battleship. The Sphere stalled Yaz'noth by launching two small skiffs back towards Valhalla, forcing the dragon to dive for them. He smashed the ships but had to start his climb all over again. Now there was smoke trailing from his nose, speaking to his frustration.

  No more skiffs were launched as Blinky busily woven a line as he hung to the underside of the airship dock. Yaz'noth had reached a higher altitude than the Odin's Sphere. He tucked in his wings. A cloud of fire rose to meet him but juked at away at the last moment. The majority ammunition missing him entirely but he fell off his collision course. Yet as he fell past the Sphere, he lashed out with that lancing breath. Hawk expected it to merely score the armor but it cut through the ship as if it were an apple. A quarter of the sphere fell away, trailing debris and men. The Six decks of the Odin Sphere were exposed. Yaz'Noth spread his wings and pulled out of his dive, swooping up into that exposed internal workings of the ship. As he dug his claws into that internal structure, the falling slice of the ship hit the top of the mountain peak below and shattered. The mountain bucked as if it had been hit by a heavenly hammer. The shock wave visibly traveled down the mountain, falling rocks chasing after it.

  Hawk quickly swing herself over to more solid footing as cheering erupted over head. They all screamed as the mountain bucked as the shock wave reached them. Hawk felt bile rise in her own throat. A dragon that could fell the mightiest of ships. The Death Panther walks with a child of the tribe that never knew it.

  The Age was turning. If that was true, then even the sky would not be safe for her Sparrow. Would the gods drive all humans from the sky? Will there even be a place for humans in a new age?

  This is not the time. Hawk told herself as she studied the dock. A drawbridge, lacking the bridge part so she supposed it was a draw plank. She worked her way to the edge of it and peered up. Legs dangled off the dock. It be an easy thing to reach up and pull one off but then she'd alert the whole compound.

  Now where did that spider go?

  Chapter 36

  "There he is." Guro said, he sat across from Yaki, slouched in the corner of the booth in which they sat. Yaki wished she could have brought Gama but it had been too much of a risk, she herself huddled beneath a heavy shawl as if she was an old woman. Course the three empty plates in front of her spoke otherwise.

  Sitting directly behind her sat Risu, in the next booth. The woman radiated a barely constrained anger that Yaki could feel like heat on her back. In the quarter hour she'd been waiting, she'd muttered curses so foul that the wood beneath them shuddered slightly.

  "Heh, He's got some raccoon eyes there." Guro's voice pitched low, eyes narrowed as he sipped his drink.

  "As sweet Risu! You are lovely as white flower shining with the morning dew." Fox's voice pitched high as if he were praising a dog. Yaki recognized it as technique taught by the fop academy. Two squeaky kisses followed it, one to the hand and one to the cheek before he slid into the seat next to Risu

  "And you... uh" Risu voice trembled, that righteous anger popped like a balloon under the compliments. "You look well rested." Yaki let out a breath of relief as she heard the slightly fumbled barb.

  "Yes well, classes are taxing when my all those numbers on the page conspire to remind me of your beauty. The sinuous curl of the six, the curve of your thigh. The sharp angle of the seven, the heel of your sole."

  "Mitsuo..." Risu said.

  "I admit seven's a hard one, but eight-"

  "The two perfect spheres that you hide from my sight?" Risu finished for him.

  "Uh, yes?" Mitsuo's voice fluttered for a moment and silence loomed up between them. Yaki bowed her head and smirked.

  A soft whump of a book being dropped on the table. "Found this in the library. An Accounting of Love, by the Singing Bureaucrat. It’s not bad, but I have to say I really prefer the companion book, a titillating legalese. So much for slaving over your clever prose." Risu

  Mitsuo didn't miss a beat, making his "Uuuuh." Ache with sorrow. "I have to admit to taking some inspiration from that book. But really what is a few borr
owed words that helped me express my sentiments? Risu, I'm truly sorry. Please."

  "Sorry, Sorry?" Risu sputtered. "You lied to me! Said I was on your mind in a constant manner Mitsuo! And instead you're flipping through a book once a week and picking a page."

  "I changed the words." Mitsuo's tone lost some of that sickly sweetness as an edge of defensiveness crept into his voice. "For you."

  "You took out the fat jokes!" Risu's voice was gaining strength now. "Do you have any idea how much of a risk it is for me to court a Nishamura? My mother would disown me. Especially a bottom like you!"

  "So are you!" Mitsuo hissed back, a pause as he collected himself. "Risu, I love you, what is our family’s opinion worth to that?"

  Yaki heard the light click as Risu clicked her front teeth together. Thinking. "It’s worth nothing."

  Yaki bit back a curse of her own. Stay strong Risu! She thought. Risu was confronting a choice before her, accepting the Mitsuo's false love or face the possibly of no love at all.

  "My sweet, let me prove it lets elope. No one-"

  "-needs to know until some of my brothers die in this war." Risu said. "Dammit, I know how this works. Ancestors above and Yozi below Mitsy, I've read all the novels. I might be a fat bitch but I'm not stupid. I..." She sniffed. "Wanted this to be real. I liked the corny poetry."

  "Risu.. Sweetie." Mitsuo said with more desperation than heart. "It is-"

  CRACK! A slap rang across the restaurant. You could hear the everyone in it shift toward the sound. "You worthless sack of excrement! You say that reeking of some else's perfume, AGAIN! And I could take that as long as I was in your thoughts! But I'm not even there! This all a ploy by House Nishmura to merge our houses. I've been asking around. How many of my cousins are in secret relationships with your cousins? Huh? You want to tell me that Mitsuo?"