Scaled Soul (Dragon Academy Book 1)
Page 20
Taun's breath caught in his throat. That would solve some of their problems. If Auris disappeared...
"No," he said after a few moments. "We can't do that. There would be questions. They'd either figure out who actually did it, or they'd pin it on someone innocent."
"But the lodge would win," she said. "And Axaranth could tell the Scaled Council of the eldwyr and the danger to your keep."
She is right. If we take her up on this offer, you could win without damaging yourself and the scale.
Which was true, but also beside the point. Killing Auris would end badly for everyone, especially for Lira.
"I can't ask you to do that," Taun said. "It's not worth the sacrifice."
Lira let out a short, barking laugh. "Sacrifice? I'm a slave and criminal, Taun. My death is no loss to anyone. Not even myself. And if it helped me do something good, something to set things right, that would be a worthy end to my life."
She stood and walked to the edge of the building. Her eyes slid closed as she breathed in the wind that flowed around them. For a moment, Taun worried she was about to jump. But Lira opened her eyes and gazed down at the campus below them.
Taun felt a bond of kinship with the scout. They were both outsiders, different from everyone around them. He was a human, she was an outcast. The other dragons looked down on them both. Even Sutari slipped and made inappropriate comments about Lira from time to time. Position and tradition were too strong in draconic society for Taun's liking.
"How do you do it?" Taun asked.
"What?" Lira looked back at the knight from where she stood on the edge of the building.
"Coming to the Celestial Academy was as big a change for you as it was for me," Taun said. "Maybe bigger. And this isn't the first time the world threw your life upside down, right? So how do you roll with the punches and get back on your feet, again and again?"
Lira chuckled at that and shook her head. "You don't understand. I don't get back on my feet. Or roll with the punches. When I was a little whelp, not more than four years out of the shell, monsters destroyed my village. The poor little girl they left behind wouldn't have survived the world's cruelty. To live, I had to let her die."
Taun furrowed his brow as he weighed the scout's words. "I don't understand. You're here."
"I am," she agreed. "But she isn't. That little girl is as dead as my mother and father. And so is the girl who fell in with bandits to survive. And the slave who carried this name before Emissary Reth brought me to the Academy. Surviving isn't about holding on to the past. It's about becoming whatever you must when what you were is no longer strong enough to withstand life's cruelties."
The words hit Taun like punches to his solar plexus. The truth of Lira's words was so plain he was stunned he hadn't realized it before. The answer was so clear to him now.
"Thank you," he blurted out. He jumped to his feet, threw both arms around the scout's neck, and pulled her into a hug that surprised them both.
"What are you doing?" the young dragon asked, her voice electric with shock.
"I'm sorry," Taun said, leaning away from Lira. "It's just. You gave me exactly what I needed."
Lira observed the knight, as if worried he'd strike her. "And what is that?"
"The key to all our problems," Taun said. "The way we win the Glory Chase."
YOU CANNOT THINK THIS is a good idea. Axaranth had said the same thing at least ten times as Taun raced down the stairs from Lira's thinking place and crossed the courtyard to the workshop tower. He hadn't let up while Taun lit the forge's fire.
"It may not be a good idea," Taun said as he sat next to the glowing forge, "but it's an idea. If we want to win, I have to take this shot."
It is incredibly dangerous. If you are wrong, we will both suffer. We may die.
Taun had considered that. He was about to do something that was theoretically possible, but practically insane. Axaranth had told him, emphatically, that no one had ever done anything like it before.
"What happens if the eldwyr come out of the wyld and wipe out the Ruby Blade Keep?" Taun asked. "My family dies. Every landsman who works for them becomes food for the monsters. The dragons won't send reinforcements in time; they can't. The distance between the wyld and the nearest dragon city is much too far. Eldwyr horrors will surge across the territory my father once protected. None of the dragon houses in the Ruby Blade Kingdom are prepared for an enemy of that magnitude. By the time your people mount a defense, who knows how many of them will be dead. This is our chance to save a lot of lives."
Your prediction is pessimistic, but I cannot fault it. You are asking me to risk a terrible sacrifice. I am not sure it is worth the potential cost.
"I am," Taun said. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and let meditation scour his thoughts away. He needed a clear head before he attempted this.
Then I will assist you as best I am able. But if this little experiment of yours damages the soul scale, I will stop you from killing us both.
"Thanks," Taun said, and went to work.
The first phase of his experiment involved expanding his hoard. He let his mind drift until he felt the collection of coins and precious items stored in his vault. He held it in his thoughts until it was as clear to him as if he were sitting atop the pile of coins.
The serums and fungus hovered at the edge of his senses. As Taun let his thoughts drift and expand, those vital components became more real to him. Within a few minutes, they might as well have been in the room with him. Taun reached out to one serum and directed pneuma through his hoard and into the bottle.
That stretched his focus almost to its limits. It was like trying to touch a point on a mirror while using only the reflection from another mirror to guide his hand. It was possible, but difficult.
And to make matters even worse, he'd have to repeat the process at least twenty-nine more times to give this experiment its best chance of success.
I will hold the connection for you. I cannot forge new ones, but I can maintain what you create. If you can supply the pneuma we need.
"Here goes nothing," Taun said.
With Axaranth holding onto the connection he'd forged to the pneuma serum, Taun could focus all his attention on reaching out to a mushroom.
Excellent work. You are doing well.
The third strand of pneuma connected to a bar of purified steel that Taun had created from an old, rusted iron horseshoe during his time in the workshop.
While Axaranth maintained the connections, Taun paused to refill his core. It took longer than he expected to gather the mystic energy, and his core ached from the effort, but that was all right. Thanks to the soul scale, he could take his time, go slow, and do this right.
With any luck, he wouldn't even die from overexerting himself or the soul scale.
That would be ideal.
Taun felt the dragon's worry in his thoughts, but he felt something else, too.
Excitement. Curiosity.
Greed.
Well, that was new. Taun knew he'd have to monitor what the dragon was up to. Because if his plan worked, Axaranth would very soon have a much more powerful host.
That, of course, was a big if. Taun's plan was far more dangerous than he'd let on to Axaranth.
The dragon thought the knight intended to create a bunch of soul steel at once. What Taun really had in mind was a lot different.
After a solid hour of work, Taun and Axaranth had completed the first phase of the human's plan. They'd forged and maintained connections to enough sets of fungi, serum, and steel to create ten small bars of soul steel.
In the past, Taun had to painstakingly forge connections between steel, fungus, and serum, then weave them together to form a single ingot of soul steel. That had been difficult and prone to failure, because the different elements and their pneuma were all outside of Taun's direct control.
But his new plan was to pull them into his hoard, where he had more direct control. With that complete, it should be a far
simpler matter to combine them.
And it was.
Taun imagined the connections that Axaranth maintained as a series of gleaming silver ribbons all attached to his core. He seized them with his thoughts and gathered the strands together.
Then he repeated the process he'd learned at the forge. He extracted their form and substance pneuma into his core, transforming the physical objects into a flow of mystic energy that he merged with the hoard.
All the pieces needed to create soul steel were now also part of him. In this sliver of time, they hadn't turned back from the streams of pneuma into physical objects. The serum, fungi, and steel were all his to command.
What are you doing? This is not what you planned.
Taun had to hurry, before the dragon could stop him. He held the supplies in their pneuma state, then turned his attention to the last, and most critical, component of his actual plan.
Himself.
Or, rather, his chest and back. He concentrated on the pneuma that flowed through his body and was surprised at how quickly he could identify its form and substance.
Do not do this. If you fail, we will both die.
"And if I don't," Taun said through gritted teeth, "I'll be strong enough to handle much more pneuma. Maybe even strong enough for you to find a new host if that's what you want."
There was no time left for talk or caution. Taun felt himself losing control of the hoard. He held the result of his true plan in mind and saw it as clear and pure as if he'd already accomplished his goal.
Then, before he could think better of it, Taun merged all the form and substance pneuma streams.
Including those within his body.
The soul steel came together with a thunderous crash, but Taun wouldn't let it reform into physical things. He held it in his mind, a strand of pneuma that defined its shape and another that defined its substance.
As he had at the forge a hundred times before, the knight imagined the material in a new shape. In his mind's eye it became a breastplate of pure soul steel covered in scales, the chest emblazoned with the image of a dragon's wings spread wide. A hole remained at the center of the armor, the exact size and shape of the soul scale.
His control slipped. Holding the pure image of the armor and the image of what he intended to do with it was too much for Taun. Maybe Axaranth was right. He should stop before it was too late.
Before he died.
No. You were right, man-child. I see it now. Accept my aid.
For just a moment, Taun resisted the dragon's help. He worried Axaranth would seize control of him and become the master of their shared body.
Then he remembered Lira's truth. He couldn't win at the Celestial Academy as long as he held onto the old version of Taun. He had to become something new to emerge from this new life unscathed.
Together, Taun and Axaranth did the impossible. They combined Taun's flesh and bones seamlessly with the soul steel breastplate. Man and armor became one.
Taun's power grew instantly. He was stronger than he'd imagined possible. The hoard had fully merged with him along with the breastplate, hardening his body and empowering his muscles. At a stroke, the human had become something more than he'd been before.
I am humbled by your ambition and bravery. Who could have imagined such a thing possible, let alone attempted it?
"I'm not done yet," Taun said.
The soul scale was also part of the young knight. He saw its damage in his thoughts, hair-fine fractures that ran through it like cracks in a mirror.
There was still some soul steel waiting for him to use it. Taun let it flow into the scale and guided it into the cracks and imperfections. The mystic metal became glue that didn't merely repair the damage to the soul scale, but transformed the weak faults into seams of strength. The damage was gone, the soul scale made stronger than it had been even before it was broken.
By the Roil...
The dragon's words trailed off as a roar of power rushed through Taun. He hadn't just changed his physical form, he'd laced his core with soul steel as well. That hadn't been part of his plan, but when Taun had rebuilt himself, he’d changed his core, too.
A bolt of indigo light shot up from his center and transformed into a bird that Taun knew he had to catch. If it eluded him, he'd never advance again.
This time, Axaranth was too stunned to compete with the knight. Taun soared after the spirit animal, a whoop of glee erupting from this throat.
He'd done it.
He was strong enough to support the soul scale without damaging it when he advanced.
He'd unlocked a power that he'd never knew possible.
Taun's hands caught the bird, and it turned its head back to look at him with eyes like the gulf between stars.
"You have risen far, son of man," the bird croaked, "but have a care that you do not fall much farther."
Chapter 19
TAUN LEFT THE WORKSHOP both exhilarated and exhausted. He was surprised by how late it was. Judging by the position of the moon low on the horizon, he'd been in the workshop until well past midnight. The commons were empty, and Taun drank in the silence and tranquility. He was rarely fully at peace at the Academy, but at that moment, newly advanced and possessed of new power, he truly felt like he belonged at the school. It took an act of will not to let out a victory shout at the top of his lungs.
Because he'd won. With his new strength, Taun no longer had to worry about damaging the soul scale when he advanced. Axaranth had no reason to fight him now, and that freed Taun to try new experiments and stretch his powers. He imagined this is what it must feel like for a dragon to spread their wings for the first time. He was on the verge of taking flight, and his heart raced with the thrill.
Just as importantly, he'd beaten Auris. His plan was foolproof. The Broken Blades would grind enough soul steel to give them an insurmountable lead. By the time Auris realized what was happening, he'd have no hope of catching up in the Glory Chase.
"Wake up, you lazy bums," Taun said. He'd entered the lodge in silence, but now moved from one room to the next, banging on each door to rouse his friends.
"I will strangle you," Sutari growled as she emerged from her room. She pulled her robe tighter around her, cinching it at the waist with a knot she yanked so hard Taun wondered if it would leave a bruise. "I'm sick. I need my rest."
"You're hardly sick," Taun replied. "And I have amazing news."
The rest of the lodge emerged from their rooms, eyes bleary with sleep. Moglan raked meaty fingers through the tangle of dark hair that jutted from the top of his head in unruly spikes, while Kam blinked like an owl without his glasses. Only Lira seemed unfazed by the late-night disturbance. She watched Taun with cautious eyes and her arms crossed.
"Why'd you wake us up?" The scout asked. "Is something wrong?"
Taun shook his head. "Just the opposite," he said with a grin. "I've solved all our problems."
While the others took seats at the table in the common room, Taun couldn't stop pacing. He was full of energy and was so excited the last thing he wanted to do was sit. The others watched him with a mixture of amusement and concern on their faces until Sutari finally smacked her hand on the table to get his attention.
"Tell us," she insisted.
Taun nodded and stopped pacing. "You know I've had trouble creating the soul steel," he said. "I can do it, but it takes forever and sometimes it fails at the last step. It's made it too slow for us to have any chance of beating Auris."
Lira made a go on motion with one hand. "We know that. You've been beating yourself up over it for weeks."
Taun pointed both index fingers at Lira. "Well, yes. Because you're all depending on me for this, and I've let you down."
"That's not true," Kam said. "You've gotten us up to second place in the Glory Chase. Without your guidance, we'd all be in the bottom. The only member of this lodge disappointed with your performance is you."
Taun started pacing again. His legs seemed to have a mind o
f their own. He had a sudden urge to jump onto the table, just because he could. If he felt this good at the indigo core level, he couldn't imagine how he'd feel when he reached the higher cores.
I worry you will go quite mad. Maybe it is best if you stop advancing, not for the sake of the scale, but for your own sanity.
"I figured it out," the knight said. "It wasn't easy, but I fixed my scale and can make several pieces of soul steel at once. I made more tonight than I have since we started this plan."
Kam leaned forward on the table, his hands steepled in front of him. "So where is it?"
Taun hesitated for a moment. He'd certainly made soul steel, but what he'd done with it after that was more than a little selfish. Hardening his body and improving his core had used up every ounce of the precious metal. "It's, ah...I used it."
The Broken Blades looked startled by that announcement. Before surprise could give way to disappointment, Taun pulled his tunic up over his head to reveal what he'd done. He hadn't looked at his chest since he'd made his alterations, and what he saw took even his breath away.
His muscles were larger and more well-defined than they had been before. The increased mass made the scale seem sunken into Taun's chest. A vibrant green glow swirled upon its surface, casting dancing shadows across his friends' faces. A band of dull silver metal surrounded the soul scale. It was part of Taun, there was no doubt about that, and the threads of silver that extended from it into the cracks of the scale showed him where he'd mended Axaranth's home. Other, thicker lines of soul steel extended away from the band that protected the scale. They spread across Taun's chest like the segmented legs of a spider, the metal somehow blending seamlessly into his skin.
"That is so cool," Kam said as he leaped up from his chair. The occultist hurried around the table to get a closer look at his friend's chest. "Does it hurt? It looks like it hurts."
"Are you all right?" Moglan asked, concern creasing his brow. "We should have talked about what you planned before you did...whatever this is, my friend."
Sutari joined Kam. Her fingers brushed the band that surrounded the scale, seemingly of their own volition. She looked as surprised as Taun by what she'd done and shivered the instant her skin touched the metal. "What did you do?"