“When can I begin, oh Patient One?” She would definitely not let her revulsion show
“Immediately. Dragon SWAT has been alerted to the whereabouts and condition of their wounded member. That will take them some time because he cannot transform into a human, correct?”
“Yes, my lord. He cannot transform, not in the state I left him in.” She had assumed she’d needed to leave Lumos so pulverized that he wouldn’t be able to change shape and was pleased to see she had been correct.
“Excellent. From there, they will receive another false call for help. You will have a very narrow window to fight the Steel Dragon alone and without any of her allies there to provide her assistance.”
She bowed. “Then I will begin immediately, my lord. Although, I must admit, I have one small trace of curiosity that has yet to be satiated.”
“Speak quickly. Time wastes.”
“What are the machinations that the Steel Dragon stopped, my lord? After I do this task, I hope to be able to continue to serve you.” She didn’t add what she was really thinking. So you don’t slit my throat once you’re done with me.
“My plans are simply to stop the chaos that has festered in the last century and restore order to the world. I am but a player of a game with many unseen pieces, as you are now as well.”
Obscura nodded and bowed once more. “It is an honor to play at your table.” She saw herself out.
While she didn’t know what to think of the Masked One, she knew how she felt about him. He was terrifying, powerful, and not someone she wanted to cross.
But none of that mattered right now. What was relevant was that she was free and the blood oath she’d sworn on the grave of her son would soon be fulfilled. It had almost destroyed her in prison, consuming her from the inside. If not for the inhibiting power of the silver anklet she’d worn there, she would doubtlessly be dead already.
But now, she was free and flying toward the coordinates that one of the Masked One’s servants had given her. She was strong from eating fresh meat, emboldened by her masked benefactor, and empowered by her blood oath.
Today would end very well. The Steel Dragon would die.
Chapter Seventy-Three
Kristen had Jim climb on her back again and flew the short distance to the mansion. She landed a block away and they approached on foot. It was a charming place, she thought. Thick ivy covered in tiny blue flowers overflowed over the fencing, and through the gate—the only place that wasn’t overgrown with ivy—a landscape cluttered with flowers and herbs could be seen. It looked more like a witch’s garden than a dragon’s estate. Immediately, she felt a pang of concern for the resident. Why were they targeted by the assassin? She already had the sense that this wasn’t a typical pompous dragon based on the aesthetic of their property. Cautiously, she pushed the gates with one of her talons. It was unlocked and they exchanged a concerned glance before they went in.
As they stepped onto the property, an audible alarm activated, and red lights began to flash. Movement inside some of the bushy herbs caught their attention. They could be cameras rotating to follow the intruders or something more sinister. She had already seen machine guns mounted to defend one dragon, and there were magical defenses to think about as well.
But there was also a life at stake, so she took a few more determined steps toward the mansion.
The lights began to flash faster and a recorded message added its voice to the wailing claxon. “Stop. You have been detected. If you would like to visit the owner of this estate, please send a written request for permission to visit. Leave now. Stop. You have been detected—”
Kristen—knowing full well that some of the defenses were magical in nature—stopped moving. She didn’t know if they could hurt her, but after being bound in the prison using magic, she knew it was at least possible.
But what to do? She glanced at Washington who positioned himself beside her.
He looked warily at the lights but was still a cop so he didn’t show any fear. Instead, he appraised them with the eyes of a tactician in an attempt to determine what kind of threat they posed. She was thankful to have him there. “They don’t seem to care about me.” He took another three steps forward.
“Jim, stop.”
“What will they do to me? Turn me to stone?” He moved on. The alarms hadn’t intensified and no weapons appeared.
Kristen realized that perhaps the system had recognized her aura. After all, dragons didn’t believe that humans could harm them. Why make armed defenses for a creature they thought was about as harmful as a guinea pig? Windfire had possessed proximity alarms and motion sensors, but he’d also been allied with humans. And even his defenses had seemed to primarily rely on some kind of aural sensor.
“I think you’re right,” she said. “Go knock on the door.”
“Oh, sure. You stay there while I go and ask to be eaten.”
“If the owner of this place really didn’t want human visitors, don’t you think they would have locked the gate?”
“Maybe they like food delivery,” he grumbled, but he approached all the same.
He knew as well as she did that every moment they wasted was another moment in which Constance could get into position. She hoped that the alarms had scared the assassin away but she wouldn’t let her guard down. An unforeseen surprise could ruin an infiltration attempt, but it could also provide the perfect distraction.
Jim knocked on the door.
The door creaked open and an old woman stepped out. Kristen could feel a dragon aura emanating from her, which indicated that she was annoyed and impatient but also curious about the human standing on her steps.
She didn’t address him, however, and instead, raised a hand and snapped her fingers once. The blaring alarms and the vocal recording ceased instantly, but the red lights continued to flash. More disturbingly, weapons disgorged from the bushes of herbs scattered around the messy, overgrown garden. Kristen frowned when she identified a pair of laser-sighted automatic machine guns, some kind of sphere that crackled with electricity, and an honest-to-God floating sword.
The woman looked at her. Her back was slightly hunched and her fingers were a little gnarled with calcium deposits, but her eyes were sharp and her expression impatient. “I could have you obliterated with one word. Why are you here?”
“I’m sorry to disturb you, my lady. My name is Kristen Hall, although you might know me better as the Steel Dragon—”
“I know who you are, Lady Steel. Everyone does. The lost dragon who was raised by humans and who now fights for their rights. You’ve caused quite a stir. I don’t know what you think I’ve done but I won’t come willingly. I put some tea on a moment ago and don’t intend to waste my first fresh harvest. If you’re in such a hurry, keep stepping on my flowers and watch what the orb of lightning does to you. I didn’t get it for your steel skin but I have a feeling it will work all the same if the tabloids can be believed.”
“You seem to have me at a disadvantage, Lady—”
“Amythist. Amythist Skyjewel.” She curtsied slightly to show her some respect, although she continued to completely ignore Jim despite the fact that he stood a few feet in front of her.
“I know you killed that Shadowstorm boy and I know you were there when Windfire died. You’ll find that my dragon form isn’t quite as decrepit as this human body. I will ask you once more and I strongly suggest you answer. Why are you here?”
Kristen—with no intention to seem threatening—transformed into her human form, although she didn’t move any closer. “If you know who I am you also know I work with Dragon SWAT. What you might not know is that there is a dragon killer on the loose. I have reason to believe that the assassin has selected you as their next target. We came to stop her.”
“Well, it seems you’ve succeeded.” Amythist made a complicated gesture with her hands and the weapons system no longer focused on her. They didn’t go away but they did return to some kind of algorithmic control no doubt desig
ned to keep them aimed in as many directions as possible.
“Lady Skyjewel, I don’t think it’s wise to turn your security off,” she said.
“Nonsense. I didn’t turn it off, merely told it to stop treating you like a threat. It’ll still blast any dragon who dares to step into my territory. If this serial killer is looking for me, consider them fried.” Amythist chuckled. “Now, who wants tea? Maybe we can determine why they plan to kill me, eh? Young man”—she finally looked at Jim—“please go into the kitchen and fetch the teapot as well as the plate of cookies. You two really did come at an opportune moment.”
The Wonderkid looked at Kristen for confirmation. She didn’t really like the idea of him going inside on his own, but it didn’t make sense that Skyjewel would kill him. She had enough weapons on her property to kill both of them immediately. Why send him inside if her wish was to simply end his life? It made more sense—given what little she knew about dragon culture—that Skyjewel simply attempted to flex her political muscles. She issued orders to what she assumed was her visitor’s servant simply because they were on her property. It was also very likely that she aimed to intimidate them by making them sip tea while the lightning orb and the rest of her weapons loomed.
Kristen nodded to Jim to go inside. If she was right and Skyjewel was posturing, she could play along. Besides, she’d warned her of the threat and the security system seemed to be functioning. At least they would have warning if Constance were to strike.
A minute later, she was seated at a small, wrought iron table in the ancient dragon’s herbaceous garden. Her guard was still up but it seemed less and less like it needed to be. The floating sword that never went farther than a few feet from Skyjewel was oddly comforting. The old dragon probably intended it as threatening but all the Steel Dragon could think about was how good it was that she had a piece of her defense equipment so close to her.
“So, tell me, why me?” Lady Amythist asked. “Why does this assassin of yours wish to murder an old gardener who is persnickety about her herbs?”
She wasn’t sure, of course, but she wanted to know. If she could identify a pattern, maybe they could catch Constance in the act next time or even lure her into a trap. At the same time, she couldn’t tell Amythist everything either. The old dragon doubtlessly believed that humans were incapable of harming her. She had no motion sensors on her property, not even cameras. The machine guns seemed to be the only acknowledgment of the idea that humans could be a threat, but that didn’t necessarily mean that humans were their intended targets. Machine gunfire could still be quite painful to dragons who didn’t have steel skin, although rarely lethal.
“I’m not sure, Lady Skyjewel.”
“Please, call me Amythist. Or Amy. Some of the humans do.”
Kristen seized that clue like a drowning victim grasping a rope from a ship in the ocean. “You have human friends?”
The old dragon smirked and the expression reminded her of her own grandmother when she’d still been alive. “Not friends, exactly. It’s hard to be friends with humans when they’re so fragile and short-sighted—no offense,” she added for Jim’s benefit. “But I am friendly with people. I have been for centuries.”
“Why?”
“Must I explain my feelings for humans to you? Rumor has it you still think of yourself as one of them. I had thought that of all the dragons on this planet, you would understand what it means to care for people.”
She noticed that Amythist didn’t call them monkeys or servants or anything else denigrating. “No, I understand, of course, but I think there might be a connection between humans and the dragons who’ve been attacked.”
The old dragon sucked her teeth at that and nodded. “It makes sense, I suppose. Icebreeze always pushed the boundaries of acceptable influence over humankind. He tailored politicians and befriended those in power, always from the background, you understand.”
Kristen nodded. “Do you know anything about the last victim?”
“I know she fought in a human war.”
Jim tensed at that. He’d seen dragons fight against humans in a war zone. Seeing their powers unleashed on men and women was what had made him so radically anti-dragon.
“I’m not sure of the connection between that and Icebreeze playing politics, but both interacted with people more than most of us, albeit in quite different ways.” Amythist seemed to be thinking aloud.
“What about yourself? How do you interact with people?” she prodded and hoped she sounded polite.
“I don’t. Not anymore, anyway. That’s one of the reasons why I’m still here. I have heard about this dragon killer—how could I not?—but didn’t think they would be interested in me of all people. I’ve been a hermit out here for decades. I rarely leave my mansion anymore and only use humans for a few tasks that I need done—groceries and whatnot—but I pay them these days.”
“What about before that?” she asked while her senses continued to scan all around them without identifying anything even vaguely worrying. Maybe they really had spooked Constance off her attack.
“I did play a part in the second human rebellion.”
“On which side?” Jim asked.
Amythist turned to him. She didn’t scowl but her smile was cold as ice. “On the side of my people, if you must know.”
“Do you mean your people or your dragons?” Kristen asked and tried not to sound accusatory.
“When the second rebellion began, there was a call to arms from the mages who led it. They demanded that all humans serving dragons abandon their posts and their so-called dragon-masters and aide them in the rebellion. Many humans did but mine did not.”
“Were they too afraid?” he asked.
“You are a brave little human, I’ll give you that,” Amythist said. “But no, I never liked it when humans feared me. I don’t think they stuck with me out of fear.”
“Then why?” Kristen pressed.
“They were too loyal. I have always treated my servants well. I think it the proper thing to do and besides, they work better when they’re respected, exactly like everyone else. When the rebellion happened, I told them to take shelter in my castle if they wished.”
“And did they?”
“Oh yes, of course they did. The second rebellion was a bloody thing, you know. It’s tough to kill a dragon, but those mages found ways to do it, especially with their newly minted pixies. My people merely wanted a place to keep their kids safe and their bellies from being empty.”
“Pixies were made for war?” she asked.
“Powerful little things they were too, but fickle and volatile. Some of their magic was strong enough to destroy us, but it was rare that they could manage such a feat without bursting into flames, permanently transforming themselves into a tree, or committing some other form of self-destruction. Those that remain aren’t the powerful warriors the humans created to destroy us but the rejects and their descendants. There are still powerful pixies, mind you, but they know very well the dangers of pulling too firmly on the magic in their blood.
“But I digress.” The old dragon took a sip from her tea. “My people sequestered themselves in my castle, but we weren’t able to stay completely locked inside. We needed fresh meat, salt, hay—things like that.”
“And you sent the humans out,” Jim said.
“You’re bloody well right I did. If I had been killed, they all would have been put to the sword at the first opportunity. The mages knew that without people, we dragons were at a disadvantage. We were powerful, of course—more powerful than mages or pixies—but there were so many humans, you know. And there is creativity and a willingness to sacrifice in numbers. If mankind had truly united against us, they might have been more successful. They saw my people as traitors to their race simply because they wanted to feed their children.”
“What happened to the people you sent out?” she asked and almost dreaded the answer.
“Most of the time? Nothing. But sometimes, a mage woul
d recognize who they were or realize that they were stocking up for me. Those who were discovered still returned, only in pieces.”
“Did you ever catch any of the mages who did that?”
“Oh yes.” Amythist smiled wickedly. For the first time, Kristen had a sense of the dragon hidden in the form of this little woman. She was a powerful being—as all dragons were—but seemed to possess a certainty in her actions. It empowered her to do what she did and she knew why she did it.
“What did you do them?” Jim asked slowly.
“You know, not many species like to eat their own kind. When confronted with a choice between starvation in the cold or the flesh of their kin, most humans choose to starve. I couldn’t let that happen, not when there were horses and sheep to stretch if they didn’t have to use them to feed a dragon’s appetite. This was before humans had found out how to capture swine, cattle, and fowl and cage them in their meat factories, of course. Fresh meat was still hard to come by. Quite simply, I had to share or the humans I sheltered would have starved or turned on each other. They’re only human, after all, and you can’t blame them for being flawed.”
“You ate one of them?” The Wonderkid wasn’t able to keep the horror out of his voice.
“One?” Amythist chuckled. “No, no, no, my child, you do me honor with your kindness. I did not eat one. During the second rebellion, I became known as a mage eater. They said you could see me fly through the sky, sparkling with the magic of my meals as I ate. That’s where I earned the name Skyjewel. I suppose, given that, it makes sense that a dragon killer would target me. After all, in the last rebellion, I both gave hope to humans and cast terror on those who opposed the dragons. I was a candle of hope and a fire of destruction. If they are targeting those of us with unusual ties to people, I make a fine target for many reasons.”
For a moment, there was only silence. Finally, the old dragon stood with a smile. Despite her slightly hunched back, she really was quite spry. “Oh, bother, we’re out of tea. I’ll fetch more. Come inside and I can tell you what I know of the other dragons in the area. Maybe we can see who else has cast long shadows on human history.”
The Steel Dragon (Steel Dragons Series Book 2) Page 53
