Scaled Soul (Dragon Academy Book 1)

by Gage Lee

  The crown prince's soaring tombship was docked at the top of the building they'd sheltered against. Shadows hid the friends from the guards posted up there, but Taun wasn't sure how they'd reach their target. It was at least twenty stories above them, and there was no telling how many troops were posted to keep the prince's toy safe and sound. Auris was probably sleeping aboard the massive tombship, wrapped up in luxurious furs after a meal of veal and roasted kittens.

  At Lira's signal, the team gathered closely around her. "This is a transport tower," she explained in a whisper. "Few guards inside, most likely. If we're careful, we should be able to get to the rooftop without attracting any attention."

  Sutari squinted at Lira and crossed her arms over her chest. "How could you possibly know that?"

  Lira let out a faint sigh and shook her head. "While you learned how to bash things with your sword, I learned how to get to places my enemies don't want me to be. Scouts have to know tactics, and we must understand how the opposition thinks. Also, I spent five years as a bandit. I know what a transport tower looks like, and I know how dragons protect their buildings."

  The scout's admission caught Taun by surprise. "She's the boss," he said to Sutari and Kam. "If we have to fight, Sutari's in charge. Got it?"

  They all nodded, and Lira pointed into the darkness. "Our door is up there. Follow exactly what I do, understand?"

  Without waiting for confirmation, she slipped into the shadows and moved silently toward her target. The others did their best to mimic her, but between Kam's glasses reflecting the overhead lights and Sutari's armor jangling, Taun was sure anyone looking for them knew they were coming. He prayed Lira was right and they wouldn't face any guards inside. If they had to fight their way up to the soaring tombship, he'd have to call the whole thing off. They needed surprise and stealth, not an armed assault on the crown prince's pleasure ship.

  By the time the rest of the lodge reached Lira's previous position, the scout had already opened the door and slipped inside. She held the way open for the rest of them, then quietly locked the door once they were safely inside.

  They'd entered a small room furnished with a desk and a chair, the smell of cherry tobacco hanging in the air like a ghost of memory. Ledgers and sheafs of loose paper covered the desk, their pages lined in dense rows of draconic script. Taun couldn't make out the details, but he desperately wanted to take as many of the books as he could carry. They'd no doubt prove very enlightening.

  We are not book worms. We are conquerors. Follow the bandit.

  Lira had left the room after a few moments of listening at the door to make sure she wasn't about to walk into a guard making his rounds. The hallway outside the door was narrow, with doorways dotting its sides. Paintings of flying dragons peered down at the intruders from the ceiling with haughty expressions. The tapestries on the walls displayed the symbols of the dragon houses. Along with the thick carpet, they deadened the sound of the group's footsteps. Thirty feet ahead, the long corridor met a much wider hallway. A spiral staircase rose from the floor at the center of the intersection. Lira slipped forward, crouched low, and peered up from the base of the stairs when she'd reached it. After a few tense moments, she motioned for the others to follow her, and began her ascent.

  This part of their clandestine journey made Taun's stomach tighten into a fist of nerves. The staircase rose through the center of the building, and he could see all the way to the top. If anyone looked down from an upper floor or up from the bottom, they'd spot the Broken Blades instantly. There was nowhere for the students to hide, and if they left the stairwell, they'd soon find themselves lost in a warren of offices and storage spaces with guards searching for them. Taun didn't think he'd breathe again until this whole mess was behind him.

  Two floors from the roof, disaster struck.

  Kam's foot slipped off the edge of a step and he lost his balance. His windmilling arms slapped across Sutari's face, drawing a surprised yelp from the silver warrior. She caught herself, then righted Kam, but the damage was done. While the pair regained their balance, a lock creaked in the hatch leading to the roof, and a square of light appeared above the team. A shadow appeared up there as a guard peered down into the darkness. As soon as their eyes adjusted to the dim interior, the Broken Blades were lost.

  "No one move," Lira whispered.

  She raised one hand toward the light, the gray scales of her dragon sign rippling from her fingertips and down her forearm. As her path’s power manifested, a sphere of shadow unfolded from Lira's fingertips. In less than a heartbeat, she'd surrounded the entire lodge in a field of inky darkness. To Taun's eyes, the light above them had faded to a misty gray as wan as a star's reflection.

  "Whoa," Kam whispered.

  "Shut. Up." Sutari growled and plastered her hand over the occultist's mouth to make him follow her order.

  They all waited, terrified they'd be discovered.

  Then the door above them closed, leaving them in darkness.

  "I can't believe you can do that," Kam whispered. He sounded excited, not scared. "Do it again."

  "Can't," Lira gasped. She pulled in air, filling her lungs and core with pneuma. "First time I did that with a group. Need a bit to rest."

  Taun wanted to push Lira, to get off the stairwell, but he held his tongue. The scout had just saved the entire mission. She'd earned however much of a break she wanted.

  Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Lira looked down at the rest of the lodge. "Not another sound, do you hear me?" She whispered. "I have to save my energy for when we get up to the roof."

  When they'd safely reached the hatch that opened onto the roof, Lira put her hand against it and closed her eyes. A trickle of pneuma flowed out of the scout and into the wooden barrier. A few seconds later, she opened her eyes. "Up and to the right. Kam, if I point to you, make a distraction. Something with a lot of light and sound. Far away from us, please."

  The occultist looked more frightened than Taun had ever seen him. He did not deal well with pressure, that was for certain. "I'll try."

  Lira eased the hatch open and pulled herself onto the roof in a single agile move. The rest of the lodge followed her up and out of the building, though none of them was as smooth as the scout. The blue white glare of the roof's lights stung Taun's eyes like windblown dust.

  "This way," Lira whispered, pointing at a shadowed spot behind a massive stack of cargo crates. "Go, Sutari."

  The silver dragon led the way to their target, hustling along low to the rooftop to avoid attracting any attention. Kam did the same, but his shuffling gait looked awkward next to the warrior's fluid grace. Taun took up the rear, scarcely daring to breathe for fear of attracting attention.

  There were guards aboard the tombship and peering over its rails, more guards on the rooftop's perimeter, looking out into the night. But none of the mercenaries had turned back toward the scurrying members of the Broken Blades lodge.

  Yet.

  Lira caught up to them a moment later and gestured for them to follow her into a deep bank of shadows cast by the tombship. She motioned for them all to hunker down around her and then whispered the next step of her plan. "We're in luck. They aren't taking security seriously. There's a service hatch right near the rear pneuma engine on this side. I'll sneak over there and check it out. If it seems safe, I'll motion you to come along. Kam, if you see me throw both hands in the air, we need that distraction. Got it?"

  The occultist will get us all killed. Better if you toss him over the roof's edge before something stupid happens.

  While Taun was fairly sure that Axaranth was right, Kam had shown none of them what he'd learned as an occultist. He was not about to toss anyone off the roof. He watched Lira with a hawk’s eyes, and the instant she gave the signal for the rest of the lodge to join her beside the ship, he tapped Sutari and Kam on the shoulder and whispered, "Go."

  If the climb up the staircase had been torture, the rush to the ship felt like a live fire exercise.
Taun's shoulders were hunched up to his ears, and he was dead certain he'd be called out as an intruder with every passing moment. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of distraction Kam would unleash and hoped it wouldn't set the entire building on fire.

  Fortunately, he never found out. The lodge slipped through the shadows and through the open door, quiet as mouses in a kennel. They'd made it this far, but now the team was in the beast's belly. If anything went wrong, there'd be no escape. As trespassers on the prince's personal tombship, their punishment would be very severe.

  Taun didn't want to think about how satisfied Auris would look when he handed down their sentence.

  "The ship won't leave until sunup," Sutari whispered. "They wouldn't dare risk going into a tombworld at night. We need some place to wait until dawn. Cargo hold should be back here somewhere."

  "No, lower deck, midship," Kam corrected her. "They keep the cargo low in the center to keep the ship stable. My parents lectured me about it enough times when we were loading trade goods onto our airship."

  "Midship it is," Lira whispered. She moved ahead of the group, just far enough to spot any trouble before her much louder companions could spoil her stealth. The team moved down narrow corridors and descended a flight of steps into a darker section of the ship. The wooden planks here were far rougher than those on the deck above, but the passages were wider. Taun figured that was to make it easier to shuffle cargo around between the enormous unloading hatches bolted into the floor. This vessel could easily take on or remove supplies without ever troubling those above decks.

  "Here," the scout finally said, and the team followed her into a hold already filled with crates, bags, and trunks. The Broken Blades were careful not to disturb anything and finally found a small space that could accommodate the four of them near the bulkhead. They were crammed into their space like rats in a warren, but they were safely out of the way and hidden from any guards who made their rounds. Unless someone came poking around in the supplies in the middle of the night, they should be fine.

  "This thing is bigger than I thought," Sutari whispered. "There might be five hundred soldiers onboard."

  Taun heard Kam gulp at that news.

  Think of it this way. If they find us, your last stand will be legendary.

  Chapter 24

  A DEEP, BONE-RATTLING hum jarred Taun awake. He'd only closed his eyes for a moment, just a quick nap while they waited for dawn. But the light shining through the gaps around the soaring tombship's cargo hatch made it clear he'd been asleep far longer than he'd expected. The smell of breakfast—bacon, eggs, ham steaks—made his stomach growl. It took the knight a moment to remember where he was, and he scrambled to his feet, nudging the others awake.

  "We're in the air," he whispered. He carefully stepped over the hatch and found a smaller panel set into the upper half of the barrier. He yanked a handle to the side, opening a narrow slot to the outside world.

  From this vantage, he saw the Academy dwindle away. The tombship soared up the face of the mountain peak, passed through a cloud layer that temporarily obscured Taun's view, then emerged into the clear, blue morning sky. The slot faced west, and the rising sun's rays passed beneath the ship to paint the tops of the clouds in shades of vibrant pink and orange. The young knight's stomach flipped inside him when he realized just how far up they were, and how quickly they were still rising. The great mountain's peak was soon far beneath them. Moments later, it was so small it looked like a child's model, and the wind that blew in through the opening in the cargo hatch was freezing cold despite the nearness of summer.

  "Sit down," Sutari hissed at Taun. "A ship this large will shake like crazy when it goes through the portal. You'll break your neck."

  Taun was too stunned to argue with the warrior and took his seat next to her. The ship vibrated like a struck tuning fork as it rose, and Taun sensed currents of pneuma washing through its hull. There was so much mystic energy around them Taun couldn’t think, much less carry on a conversation. The looks on his friends' faces told him they felt the same. They huddled together in the center of the storm of magic, unsure of what would happen next, their only comfort that they were together.

  That is the power that propels the tombship. Five dragons channel water, fire, and air through the engines. Can you feel the other current, though? That is the helmsman activating the tomb gate. Study the patterns of power around you. You may need to re-create them sooner than you think.

  Taun did not like the sound of that at all. He had no intentions of stealing this tombship. With any luck, the next time he was aboard a vessel like this, he'd be headed home to visit his family. The idea that he might be the helmsman, or even a crewmember on a tombship seemed ludicrous.

  Remember Lira's lesson. You become what you must to survive.

  Taun didn't like the way the dragon's thoughts felt in his head. There was something fatalistic about the ancient creature's opinion, and the young knight didn't care for it at all. He wanted to make his own way in the world, and he was not about to bend his knee to fate or any other power.

  "Here it comes," Sutari whispered. "They’re opening the gate."

  The second after the warrior said those words, Taun felt a gust of cold pneuma roar through his core. It chilled him deeper than any winter he'd ever weathered. There was something dark about the energy, an unwholesome undercurrent dredged up old fears and ignited new ones. The air stank of something ripe and rotted, like a midden heap.

  Or a body left too long in the sun.

  Taun didn't have long to worry about that, though. The ship shook harder, every timber vibrating against its neighbor, the rivets that held the planks together groaning with the effort of keeping the vessel intact. The bands of pneuma that surrounded the planks shimmered and sparked as they reached the limits of their power. The engines' roar became a petulant whine that rose several octaves into a keening screech.

  Then the ship fell.

  Taun's stomach lurched into his throat. Sutari's hand clamped around his bicep hard enough to make him wince, but he didn't blame her. They were all about to smash into the ground. He almost gave in to a bitter laugh when he imagined coming this far, only to die in a tombship crash.

  "At least Auris will die with us," Kam said through a toothy grin.

  The smell of lightning flooded Taun's nostrils. The pneuma engines howled as they re-ignited. The tombship rose just as quickly as it had fallen, and Taun's stomach banged against his lungs. He was hungry, but the knight was glad he hadn't had any of the breakfast he'd smelled. It all would have come up in that moment.

  As quickly as it had started, the vibration and noise ceased. The tombship went as still as its namesake, and all feelings of movement vanished. It was as if they were still resting atop the transport tower back at the Celestial Academy. The light leaking in through the gaps surrounding the cargo hatch was different, however. Purple lances of deep twilight replaced the golden rays of dawn. The strange light cast shadows so deep Taun felt as if he could fall into them.

  Bit by bit, the last vestiges of the cold power retreated, leaving the Broken Blades lodge members shivering on the floor of the cargo hold.

  "I do not want to do that again," Lira whispered. "I feel like someone dipped me in rancid grease."

  "That's the necrosis shield," Kam responded. "The tombworlds aren't fond of the living. The shield coats us with the aura of the dead to protect us as we pass through."

  "From what?" Taun asked.

  "Death," Kam said with a shudder. "The power that killed these worlds didn't vanish when it had finished its job. It's still active on some tombworlds. Without a shield, the Roil could destroy us, too."

  The boy exaggerates. The danger here is not the Roil, but it's aftermath. No simple shield would stop the engines of destruction that I created. Be glad they are not still active.

  "Great," Taun said. "Will it be that bad on the way back?"

  "Not as much," Kam said. "Most of what you felt was the shield go
ing up. It isn't so bad when it goes down."

  "Good to know," Sutari grumbled. "What's the plan?"

  "We'll stay hidden here," he said. "Auris and his mercenaries will head out to battle the tombkin. They'll drag the talismans back aboard when they've finished. Once were in the air, we find their trophies and dump them out of a cargo hatch."

  Lira gave Taun an appraising look. "I like that. Let the little prince waste his money on mercenaries and a fancy ship. When he tries to claim the efforts of others for his prize, he'll find all those talismans gone. That is the justice I appreciate."

  Sutari grumbled at that. "I thought we were here to fight," she whispered. "We can get our own talismans out there on the battlefield. That'll widen our lead even more."

  "What if the mercenaries figure out we're not part of their group?" Kam asked. "They'll bring us back to the Celestial Academy in chains. Hard to win the Glory Chase when we're prisoners."

  Lira grinned at the occultist. "Not if they can't see us. If we're careful, we could sneak off under the cover of my dragon sign, then sneak back on when the fighting’s done. Sutari's right, it would give us an edge and some insurance against the unexpected."

  "It's too dangerous," Taun said. "If you want talismans, we can just take them from Auris's loot before we dump the rest."

  Sutari made a disappointed tutting noise. "That makes us no better than him. We should earn our victory."

  "I really would like to see a tombworld from the ground," Kam added. "I've only ever flown above them."

  Taun didn't like the unexpected, but he could see his friends wouldn't let this go. "As long as Lira's sure her sign will hide us from them. But we can't take any more risks, all right? If the battle against the tombkin gets too dangerous, we hightail it back to the ship and hide out. Agreed?"