by Gage Lee
Reth stiffened, but didn't protest. He snapped his fingers and a brightly colored cloth rectangle swooped out of the sky and landed at his feet. He stepped onto it and gestured for Taun to join him. “This will get us to the Academy by morning, but only if we leave immediately.”
Kaul stepped forward, his eyes bright and shining as stars. He embraced his son, then held him by the shoulders at arm's length. “I'm proud of you son. Keep your chin up. Don't worry about us. I'll hold the keep together until you return.”
A storm of emotions swept through Taun at his father's words. For the first time in his life, he saw his father's worries crack through the knight's stoic mask. The keep was in trouble, and the eldwyr raiding party was a new trouble none of them had seen coming. Kaul needed his son's help. That concerned Taun, but it also strengthened his resolve. He would find the answers to his family's problems at the Academy. Then he'd come back here and put things to right.
“I know you will,” Taun said. “And I'll be back before you know it.”
Reth cleared his throat and gestured for Taun to take a spot on the carpet next to him. When the young knight had stepped onto the fabric, Reth bowed to the assembled members of the Koth'tok family. “Thank you for your hospitality. I will not coat my tongue in honey on your behalf, though. What Axaranth has demanded will put your son in the gravest danger of his life. Your odds of seeing him return are slim. Prepare for the worst.”
Before Taun could respond, the black-scaled dragon sent the carpet streaking into the sky.
The young knight fell to his knees to keep from sliding off the strange vehicle, but the dragon didn't so much as adjust his position for balance. He glanced down at Taun with a smirk. “I told you, Axaranth, this body is too weak. He will never survive the training.”
“You have forgotten the lessons I taught to your ancestors, Emissary Reth Vash,” the dragon's voice crackled with anger as it left Taun's lips. “Pneuma knows no loyalty. It respects only mastery and will. Between the two of us, this boy and I have both in measures you can only imagine. I will rest, for a time. Do not attempt to hurl the boy off the carpet again.”
Reth looked sick to his stomach. Taun wanted Axaranth to deliver a more brutal tongue lashing, but it seemed the dragon had other plans. It retreated into the boy's thoughts, losing itself in the shadows of memory and dream that lurked at the back of all men's minds. The knight was disappointed at the dragon's departure, but took the opportunity to admire the ride and the vehicle that carried him through the air.
Taun was surprised at how stable the flying carpet was. Though the edges of the fabric flapped in the wind of their passage, the main body was held rigid by a metal frame hidden within the carpet's edges. “I've never seen one of these before,” Taun said, hoping Reth would talk more freely now that they were away from the keep. If he wanted to survive at the Dragon Academy, he'd need to hit the ground running. To do that, Taun would need a lot more information than he currently had. “Do all draconic emissaries fly on these?”
Reth sat at the front of the carpet, his eyes fixed on the middle distance. He nibbled on a piece of spiced jerky for a few moments, before glancing over his shoulder. “Do you plan on talking the whole trip back?”
“Yes,” Taun said. “I'm curious and it helps to pass the time.”
Reth grunted at that and took another bite of his jerky. Finally, he sighed, and shifted his position until he was sitting next to Taun in the middle of the carpet. “Few people see a carpet, and even fewer ride one,” the emissary said. “I was issued one to respond to Axaranth's summons. The Scaled Council wanted this resolved quickly. Hopefully they'll be pleased with our agreement.”
That was an interesting tidbit of information. Taun had known that the soul scale was valuable, but maybe it was even more important to the dragons than he thought. He decided to dig in a little deeper on that, to see just how much he could learn about Axaranth before Reth caught on and clammed up.
“How did Axaranth summon you?” Taun asked.
For a moment, it seemed as though Reth had decided not to answer. The black-scaled dragon just looked out in the distance, eyes unfocused. After a bit, though, he dug into one of the pouches at his belt and turned his attention to Taun.
The dragon tore off a piece of jerky and offered it to the young knight. “I suppose talking will help us pass the time. The last war against the eldwyr cost us some of our greatest minds and strongest warriors. The dark times that followed devoured the locations of their sacred tombs,” he said. “Our oracles are always on the lookout for emanations in the spirit realm. Axaranth's call sent ripples through the ether that attracted their attention. The Scaled Council sent me to investigate, because reclaiming lost soul scales is vital to surviving our future. Especially if you're father's tale of eldwyr attacking from the wyld is true.”
Anger boiled up inside Taun at the dragon's doubt. His father was an honest man, and loyal to the Dragon Empire. The idea that he would lie, or even mislead, this emissary was ludicrous. “My father told you the truth,” he said.
“You have no idea what your father even said to me,” Reth responded. “The dragon was controlling your body like a marionette when I arrived. Now give me a moment's peace while I open the Tombworld Gate. If I make a mistake, we'll both end up in the belly of a shiggorath.”
The sky ahead of the carpet took on an unhealthy purple-black hue, like a bad bruise. Wind, cold and stale as a forgotten wine cellar, met the flying carpet, ruffling its fringe and tugging at Taun's hair. Reth hadn't moved from his position nor even said any magic words, but it was clear that he was doing something. Taun felt the power that surrounded the dragon. He even caught glimpses of it in swirls of golden light that orbited Reth's torso. Intrigued by this strange display, Taun stared more intently at the dragon.
Another light burned beneath the swarm of golden streaks. It was a deep blue, but translucent, like a sapphire polished to a mirror sheen. As Taun studied that deep blue glow, it took shape, becoming more solid. It seemed to be a sphere that occupied a fist-sized space directly behind Reth's solar plexus.
“It's impolite to stare at another person's core,” Reth said. “But I have to admit I'm impressed you can even see it.”
Taun narrowed his eyes at the dragon's words. “Why wouldn't I be able to see it? It glows bright as a torch.”
Reth chuckled at that, then furrowed his brow in concentration. He said nothing for a few more seconds, then raised one hand toward the bruise-like blemish on the sky. The dark, turbulent colors shifted and split into long straight lines. A moment later those beams snapped into a rectangle twice as wide as it was tall. The sky transformed to an ashen gray color, featureless as a blank sheet of paper. The carpet angled toward the muted slash of color across the sky, and the stale cold wind buffeted its riders.
“Only a handful of humans can detect pneuma, much less see cores,” Reth explained. “It takes training and sensitivity that is beyond the grasp of humans.”
That is a lie. In my day, humans controlled pneuma as well as weaker dragons. Your kind would have been far too weak to be of any use to us.
“Maybe if your kind kept up the traditions of your forebears, more of my kind would be able to see cores,” Taun shot back, spurred by Axaranth's words.
Reth shifted his gaze from the black and purple frame hanging in the sky ahead of them to Taun. “You should watch that tongue of yours,” he said.
“And why is that?” Taun asked sarcastically.
“Because dragons do not abide by such impudence from humans,” Reth replied. “That soul scale attached to your chest is precious to us. But don't mistake its value as a shield that will protect you from your actions.”
Taun shrugged and rested his hands on his knees. The rectangle was close now, and Taun smelled something strange on the breeze. It reminded him of the harsh, stinging scent that filled the air after a lightning strike. “What is that thing?”
Reth answered by raising both hands ove
r his head. Golden light poured from his fingertips into the complex patterns woven into the carpet's surface. The intricately woven threads ignited in streams of light, and the carpet surged ahead at an alarming speed. If the same golden power that caused its acceleration hadn't also rose up to support Reth and Taun, the pair of them would've tumbled off its back and taken an ugly fall to the earth below.
Instead, they remained stable at the center of the carpet as it soared through the rectangle that Reth's power had created. With a start, Taun realized that the gray color he'd seen was his view of an entirely different sky. The carpet hadn't merely flown into a patch of color, but to a world unlike any Taun had ever imagined.
The ground beneath them matched the color of the sky. Old, rounded hills marched across the drab plain like ocean waves frozen in time. Tiny figures swarmed over the hills and flooded into the valleys between. Taun couldn't make out any details from this high in the air, but there was something strange about the jerking, clumsy flow of the creatures.
A broken tower rose up from the ashen plain far to the right of the carpet’s position. Though its jagged top was a sure sign of serious damage, it was still over a hundred feet high and looked strong enough to withstand a tornado. Taun wondered what could have damaged such an impressive structure.
My descendants are useless. They have let my creations crumble into dust rather than spend the time and resources to maintain them. I built that tower, and they squandered its might. The fools. If we were free to roam, I would show you how to reignite that structure’s fire, if only to remind these cowards what real strength looks like.
“What is this place?” Taun asked Reth, hoping Axaranth might have something to add.
“This is the Asura Tombworld,” Reth said. “It was the first world we found along the Spirit Rivers after the eldwyr invaded our home for the first time. Our forces held it against those monsters and used it as our staging area for exploring more of the infinite worlds.”
Taun tried to keep up with the conversation. He'd heard of the Spirit Rivers, mystical conduits that supposedly led to many different worlds, but none of his history lessons had ever mentioned the dragons traveling to them. It was hard to imagine anyone living on this world. There was no sign of grass or water, not even a sun hanging in the sullen sky. The only light seemed to come from the drab earth itself, a flat, gray radiance that illuminated everything without casting a shadow. Taun had never seen a place so strange and unwelcoming.
“Was it always like this?” he asked. “It looks dead.”
“That's why it's called a Tombworld,” Reth said. “This world was flooded by the celestial sea after Axaranth and his allies Roiled its waters. The sacred power burned this world clean of the eldwyr, but the flames devoured all other life, as well. The ancient dragons were indiscriminate when it came to waging their wars against the wyld. You would know that if you had truly bonded with Axaranth.”
We had little choice. Those savage creatures that you and I battled would have devoured this world if we did not stop them. No price was too great to pay for our salvation. Also, if you get a chance, shove Reth from the carpet. I do not like that he doubts what we have told him.
Taun ignored the dragon’s words and tried to imagine an entire world burning. It was beyond the powers of his mind. “If the world burned, then what are those creatures down there?”
Reth didn't laugh this time. He pointed with his left hand toward a group of the swarming things. “Those are tombkin. After the burning flood, they rose from the ashes. We believe they're the remnants of the eldwyr. Not quite alive, not quite dead. For the most part, they remain hidden beneath the gray waste.”
“What about those over there?” Taun asked and pointed at a much smaller group arranged in what appeared to be a phalanx formation at the top of a hill.
“Academy students,” Reth said. “Upperclassmen, I would guess. They pay a fee to come here and hunt the tombkin in search of glory and treasure. Their presence is what attracted the tombkin swarm.”
Taun didn't like the sound of that, at all. There were far more tombkin down there than students. “Aren't you afraid the students will be killed?”
Reth let out a single, barking laugh. “Oh, my boy,” he said with a shake of his head. “There are always more whelps where these came from.”
“You can't mean that,” Taun said. “Those are people.”
“You'll see,” Reth said as the carpet swooped low over the heads of the dragons gathered on the hilltop. “The gate to the school is just ahead. I hope you're prepared for the path ahead of you.”
So do I, Taun thought. He hadn't expected the dragons to be so callous with the lives of their own young. If they made their students pay for the privilege of facing off against a horde of undying monstrosities, how much more uncaring would they be with a human?
Chapter 5
RETH GUIDED THE CARPET toward a rectangle that was the opposite of the one they'd just traveled through. The sky seen through this new frame was a striking blue dotted with puffy streaks of white clouds. Enormous birds with jewel-toned plumage soared through the clouds, appearing and vanishing as they chased one another across the sky. The size and vibrant colors of the birds awed Taun. He hadn't even seen the school and his jaw was already hanging open. Even the bitterly cold wind that gusted toward them from the tombgate excited Taun.
“Welcome to the Dragon Academy, Taun Koth'tok,” Reth said formally. “You are the first human to study here in a very, very long time. Enjoy the view.”
The flying carpet passed through the tombgate and into a stiff, icy wind that made Taun's teeth chatter. Even the stoic dragon shivered until he directed a flow of pneuma into the carpet. The temperature rose several degrees as fiery red threads in the weave glowed, and Taun settled into the warmth to enjoy their descent into a new world.
The school perched atop a mountain peak overlooking a vast plain dotted with hundreds of farms. A barrier wall that dwarfed the Ruby Blade Keep's defenses loomed on the horizon beyond the crops, a bulwark against the wyld. Its massive stone towers were shrouded in mist at this distance, and Taun found it impossible to imagine the number of soldiers required to patrol such an enormous border. He was about to ask Reth which dragon knight family was charged with the school's defense when the carpet took another steep dive and all his attention was suddenly devoted to staying alive.
The Dragon Academy was much larger than Taun had imagined. Dozens of irregularly shaped buildings, most of them at least five stories high, hunkered together within impressive defensive walls. The structures were unlike any Taun had seen before. Their walls were smooth and seamless, as if carved from single blocks of marble that had been polished until they reflected the morning sun like mirrors. Wide stone walkways surrounded each of the building's floors, and furniture and equipment that Taun didn't recognize dotted the flat roofs. A secondary wall surrounded a massive building on the east side of the complex, with guards patrolling its length. The place dwarfed the Ruby Blade Keep that Taun had once imagined was the grandest castle in all the Dragon Empire.
But more impressive than the towering buildings and fortifications were the crowds of people.
Hundreds of dragons made their way to the open ground before the school's interior wall. Clothes in more colors than the young knight had ever seen shimmered in the sunlight. The carpet swung low enough for Taun to make out details of those gathering below him, and he felt a shiver of excitement and fear trickle down his back. Many of the dragons down there looked just like him, if a little heavier across the shoulders and hips to support the changes their bodies would undergo as they matured. But he also saw some dragons with tails. The taller dragons had horns of varying lengths, and a few even had wings that emerged from openings in their robes and folded against their spines.
Remember what you see now, the scale rumbled. Your fellow initiates may look like you, but they are not. Dragons and humans have worked together, but they are not the same. Do not forget.
Taun looked over the edge of the carpet to hide his face from Reth, then asked Axaranth, “What difference does it make?”
Dragons are much harder to kill than humans.
Before Taun could ask the dragon what he meant by that, Reth turned the carpet away and landed it smoothly between two buildings on the southwest side of the Academy, out of sight of the gathering dragons. The emissary looked Taun up and down. “This is as far as I go,” the emissary said. “I'll inform the faculty of your arrival, but I must depart for the capital to inform them a soul scale has been recovered.”
“Don’t you mean Axaranth has been recovered?” Taun asked. The distinction seemed important to him.
“That remains to be seen,” Reth answered. “The soul scale is self-evident. Who that scale belonged to is another matter.”
Tell him to get me an audience with the Scaled Council. That will put an end to this foolishness.
“Axaranth asks for a meeting with the Scaled Council,” Taun said, but was immediately shut down by Reth’s laughter.
“That will not happen until after our sources confirm that it is Axaranth,” Reth said. “Until then, you’ll remain here and follow the rules.”
“But they have to know about the eldwyr,” Taun protested. “The Ruby Blade Keep is in danger. They need reinforcements, and—”
“That is not how things work,” Reth said. “I must be off. You've missed the school's opening ceremonies for this year, but you can at least hear the rules before you jump into the deep end.”
Reth turned away and strode swiftly toward the crowd of dragons. Taun hurried after the emissary, his mind racing. He'd thought Reth would show him around and introduce him to the faculty, at least. With no one to guide him, Taun hurried to catch up to the throng streaming through the Academy's wide courtyard. As he neared the trailing edge of the draconic horde, he realized he'd landed in some very deep waters, indeed.
