Of Dreams and Dragons

by Karpov Kinrade

  Naoki shakes their head. “This is not true. We can live together. You saw the Red Queen atop her dragon. There can be peace between us. That is the great lie told by the Emperor and the Masters. That the dragons are a threat to be locked beyond this Wall. But they are not. At least… not all of them. Many are angry at the way they have been treated. Many want to kill man. But there are still those who want peace. Those who live in and protect this city," Naoki says. “I will show you." They gesture outside through the open door.

  I nod, and she helps me up more slowly this time. I feel blood traveling to my legs, waking them up with pinpricks of pain. Everything aches, and my muscles still feels sluggish, but I take one tentative step, and then another, as Naoki offers their arm for support.

  And then we step outside into a world I could not have imagined.

  A giant city built within a huge crater stretches far below and above me. The sky is clear and blue, and is filled with dragons flying.

  More dragons than I've ever seen in one place.

  They are black and white and shades of blue. Some breathe fire, others ice.

  I look down again, and I can barely see the bottom of the crater, but there, in the center, lies a massive dragon. Larger by far than anything I've seen.

  "That is Mother," Naoki says with reverence. "Adragasa. She protects us from the dragons who would wish us dead."

  Hatchlings who would normally seem massive, but look small from so high up, snap at each other and hiss fire as they slither around Adragasa. "Are they playing?"

  “Yes. They are learning how to be great hunters,” says Naoki. “I can bring you closer if you’d like.”

  It's tempting, but the images of dragon jaws clamping shut on Clli still haunt me. The crunch of bone. The spray of blood. The screams. “No, thanks." I’m not quite ready to be close to them if I don’t have to be.

  An older man, hunchbacked, with a cane of gnarled wood walks up through the stone paths that wind through the walls of the crater like veins, connecting the carved out living spaces. “A wondrous site, is it not? Two species, both capable of extreme destruction and creation, co-existing in one place.”

  Naoki smiles and gestures at the man. “Sky, this is Makoto, my father, and High Priest of the Wall of Light.”

  “Are you the leader here?” I ask.

  “More a guide than leader,” he says, smiling. His face shows the map of his years lived, but his eyes are bright and sharp. “I teach the truth of things. What others do with the truth is up to them. I see Naoki has begun to show you our city. What do you think of it?”

  I look around at the wonder of it all and bite my lip. “I… I don’t understand. I’ve seen dragons act like mindless beasts. I’ve seen them attack my friends, kill my comrades without a thought. And yet the dragons here seem uninterested in people. Why don’t they attack us?”

  He nods, a sympathetic look on his face. “Dragons, like all things, are innocent at birth. They want to hunt, they want to eat, yes, but like us they put limitations upon themselves. Just as some cultures may eat chicken but not dog, some dragons may eat Boxen but not people. It is not for the food that dragon attacks man.”

  “Then why? Their Spirits?”

  He shakes his head. “When one of you Ashknights sees a dragon, what do you do first?”

  “Consider retreat. If retreat is not possible, take the offensive.”

  “And when a dragon sees one of you Ashknights, what does it do first?”

  I see where he is going. “You mean dragons only fight us because they have to.”

  “When a hatchling is slaughtered, should the pack not fight back? When a drake is cut down, should its brothers and sisters do nothing? When a wall is erected, keeping an entire species trapped and separated from their main source of substance, should they not seek to break free?”

  “So dragons don’t hunt us for food… but vengeance?” I can hardly believe this.

  “Vengeance, liberty, desperation… the dragons have many reasons as varied and natural as our own. What do you call it, when two major forces come in conflict?”

  “A war,” I say, pieces clicking together.

  He nods sagely, as if he can sense my understanding. “War is a complicated thing. It washes away innocence. Reduces some to their basest instincts. It forms heroes and legends. It drives progress. And yet how many suffer in the end? Is one side always right and one always wrong? Is there ever truly a victor?”

  “And you have these answers?”

  He chuckles. “Sadly no. I have but the questions. It is for each of us alone to find the answers.”

  I clench my fist. “Dragons attack my friends while we speak. They slaughter my comrades and burn villages to ash. If you want me to believe that dragons and people can live in peace, then stop the Sundering.”

  “I am afraid I cannot,” says Makoto. “While Adragasa believes peace is attainable, many of her fellow dragons do not. They have been treated as beasts far too long. It is hatred and vengeance that drives them now, and they will not stop until all their oppressors are gone.”

  “Oppressors? The dragons almost destroyed the Nine Worlds," I say. "That is why Nir trapped them within the Wall in the first place.”

  “Perhaps,” Makoto says, nodding his head, “but how many of those dragons are still alive today? How many new generations have suffered for the sins of others?”

  I… I never considered that.

  Makoto turns toward the path. “Come. It is time you spoke to the Red Queen.”

  “So she rules you?” I ask.

  “Her title is an honorific, but some would prefer it to be more,” says Makoto.

  “The Red Queen has a way with dragons,” says Naoki. “They listen to her more than most, respect her even. She has helped secure peace with a great deal of dragon clans. And she is a great warrior. She has helped keep us safe for many years.”

  There is awe in her eyes. I see she is enthralled by this Red Queen, and probably wants to emulate her.

  “She is a murderer,” I say, wiping away the gleam in her eye. “She killed an Ashlord.”

  Makoto and Naoki exchange a glance. They do not seem shocked or disturbed by my words.

  Makoto sighs. “Though I share the truth of things, this truth I will leave for the Red Queen to share.”

  Naoki shrugs and smiles. "You'll understand when you meet. Much is yet to be revealed."

  I want to ask Naoki what they mean, but we reach the end of a hall, where a thick red curtain acts as a door to another room.

  Makoto moves it aside, revealing an arena with walls made of the stone crater, sand for a floor, and an open ceiling.

  In the center, crouched outside a gray tent, is the Outcast. She is clad in white armor with red accents, her white featureless mask covering her face, her red hair drifting in the wind as she sinks her knife into the body of a large Boxen stretched before her. She appears to be gutting it.

  I step forward. It's time the Outcast and I have a long talk.

  Forty-Two

  The Red Queen

  I expect Naoki and the old priest to join me, but they let the curtain fall in front of them, leaving me alone with the Outcast.

  My Spirit glows within me, warm and bright, and I grasp a thread of it, ready to transmute if necessary. I have no idea what to expect from this woman. She is my enemy, but she has saved my life. She is a murderer, but she is trying to bring peace, if the old man is to be believed.

  I step forward until I am a few feet from her. She continues to carve at the Boxen.

  "No need to hold onto Spirit. I'm not going to hurt you." She looks up, her hands dripping blood. "And I'm not the enemy Kaden believes me to be. There are things he does not know." Her accent sounds slightly different then the locals, but close enough that she's clearly been here awhile.

  "Things? What things?" I ask.

  "Things that are his to hear. When the time is right."

  She talks so vaguely. I don’t have time for this
. “I need to get back to the Cliff.”

  “You are free to go,” says the Outcast, pointing back at the curtained doorway with the tip of her bloody knife. “It’s a three days ride from here to Dragoncliff.”

  “Three days… then how did we get here so quickly?” I pause. “Does it have something to do with how you vanish into thin air?”

  She finally pauses and looks back up at me. “Yes.”

  I wonder if it's like my blinking ability. And if they are similar, then how? And why? What does the Outcast want with me?

  The Outcast refocuses her gaze on the carcass between us and pulls out the guts. I reel from the smell, fighting down nausea, but she doesn’t flinch. She starts to cut off small pieces of meat and collect them in a pile on a white rag. She talks as she works. “I do not want the Sundering, I just want for people to stop hunting the dragons. They keep them from Spirit, but then they hunt them too, for dragonstone. They can stop, and they can give us access to Spirit if they so chose, but they don’t, because they’ve made a monopoly of corpses. Better to live outside the Wall, but dragons can make do within if they are left in peace.”

  She stands, picking up the rag. “Come. I want to show you something.”

  I walk around the splayed Boxen and follow the Outcast to the tent. The flap is pulled away and reveals a dark den covered in cracked shells, broken eggs and…

  "Baby dragons?" I ask, awe in my voice.

  There are seven of them, and small enough to fit in the palm of my hand. They are nuzzled together in the center of their nest, and they chirp at each other and wiggle about. Their scales are nearly translucent, as if the color is still growing in them, and they seem to glow from some fire within. Their core, where their magic is made.

  The Outcast takes a piece of meat from the pile and holds it up to the closest baby. It approaches tentatively, its tiny tail whooshing around, its tiny paper-like wings flapping futilely. When its closer, it pauses, as if waiting for something bad to happen. Then it sniffs, and a tiny puff of fire bursts out of its mouth. The Outcast tosses the piece of meat toward the dragon, and it catches it from the air and eats it.

  "They've just learned that," the strange woman next to me says, her voice carrying all the pride of a mother.

  One doesn't have to give birth to be a mother, I remind myself.

  “They're so small,” I say. “I thought hatchlings were huge?”

  “They grow quickly,” says the Outcast. “These are newborns. They will only stay this little a couple of days. Very few people have ever seen dragons this young.” She hands me a piece of meat.

  I’m surprised she would trust me, but I take the meat. “Why show me this? What if I killed them? It’s my duty to hunt dragons.”

  “I’d kill you before you could touch them,” says the Outcast plainly.

  I asses the situation. She and I are about the same height and weight. So depending on how much training she's had, that could tilt the scale. By the set of her shoulders and the strength in her posture, it's clear she means it. She will let no harm come to her babies.

  But harm sometimes comes, whether we mean for it to or not.

  I hold out the meat for the smallest dragon who watched the first feeding with a kind of longing I can relate to. The little one is hesitant at first, sniffing the air and my hand. Then, as if something finally convinces the baby dragon that I'm safe, it puffs itself up and blows a tiny burst of flames. I toss the meat into it and the dragon catches it with its teeth and finds a hiding spot alone to eat without the nagging of its siblings.

  I feel my heart shifting. Melting. Softening. There are secrets to this city. Marvels I couldn’t have imagined. There is life here. Love. Beauty. Magic. Wonder.

  But it also represents everything that is threatening the people I love. My friends are in danger. Pike's next victim is in danger. I must help them.

  “What do you want with me?” I ask. “Why rescue me? Why bring me here?"

  “You’re a High Dragon. You have power that is long since gone. Power that can heal nations. Join with us. What life is there for you out there? If the Masters find out what you are, you’re dead. If the Emperor finds out what you are, you’re dead.” She stares me down, her arms crossed over her chest, as if she knows what I'm going to say next.

  “I intend to kill the Emperor,” I say.

  The Outcast pauses at this. She seems to be waiting for me to continue.

  “I met him years ago, but he was using a different name then," I explain. "One you may have heard. Pike. He stole my daughter. Killed her. Like he's killing another tonight.”

  “And you intend to stop this sacrifice?”

  “I do. I won’t let him kill another innocent.”

  “Even if that means the Sundering will continue?”

  “Yes.” I don’t tell her the other option. Where I kill Pike and destroy all dragons. The choice had seemed so clear before, when this conflict was black and white. Monster against human. Being here has destroyed that certainty. It has carved doubts into my heart, and now I… I don't know what to do. How can I possibly make a decision like this that will affect the fates of the Nine Worlds and everyone I've ever loved?

  But, of course, I say none of that out loud. Instead, I let her believe that I'll do anything to stop Pike. Which, of course, I will. Even if that means deceiving the Outcast.

  “I like this plan,” she says, nodding. “I too, have an issue with Pike. Perhaps we can work together.” She flips the knife over in her hands. “But first we must play a game.”

  “I don’t have time for games. I need to get back—”

  “It’s a very simple game. Each of us tells a story. A story of how we came to be who we are. If I believe your story, I’ll help you. If I don’t, then you're free to leave alone. See? Simple. To make things easier, I’ll start. Perhaps then you’ll understand what truly happened to Kaden’s friend. Perhaps then you’ll understand who I am.” She takes off her mask, revealing a pale, elfin face with dark brown eyes. Revealing a face almost exactly like my own.

  “My name is Sky Knightly, and this is my story.”

  Forty-Three

  Adragasa

  My name is Sky Knightly. Like you, I lost Kara to Pike. Like you, I traveled to Dragoncliff and trained to become an Ashlord. Like you, I found Pike during the Sundering.

  And then…

  I failed.

  I could not defeat him.

  Though I used all my power, though I became Corrupted in the battle, my dragon and hair turning red, I could not win.

  And so Pike sacrificed Kara to the Pyre of Souls. But it was not enough. The Wall was so weak that even her death could not restore the light, and the dragons swept over the Nine Worlds. I saw my friends burn. My loved ones die. But I endured.

  The dragons did not kill me. I think they felt some sort of kinship with my High Dragon blood, and so they left me to wonder a world of ash. Pike too, remained, though I did not see him again for a many moons. It took ages for me to regain full control of my Spirit, to learn the abilities Kaden had spoken of before he died. And when I finally awoke, I set out to fix my failure.

  For millennium, I searched for the Dragon Graveyard, and one night, in a distant world now forgotten, I found the resting place of the Elder Dragons. There, amongst a corpse the size of Nirandel, I uncovered the Mask of Nir. I placed it upon my face, and then, as foretold, I could see the ocean of time. I could see the ripples of specific events, the waves of lifetimes repeating again and again. I dove into the water, into a time before I lost Kara.

  I set out to change events. First, I went to a ruin where Kaden had told me he and Alec fought a Scabrial once. I killed Alec then, as you probably know. He was not who you think. Not who Kaden thinks. He was in Pike’s service after making dealings with the Emperor. During the Sundering, he would have betrayed you, as he had betrayed me, leading to Kaden’s death. I could not allow it, and so I removed Alec from the timeline.

  I considered telling Ka
den who I was, what I was doing, but he had yet to meet you, or me, if you will, and so there was no reason for him to trust me, no reason for him to care.

  I decided to keep my identity hidden, my changes to the timelines as deliberate as possible. I burned certain ships that carried weapons for the Emperor. I assassinated some of his strongest Shadows and supporters.

  But the next part of my plan, the most crucial part, did not go as planned. Despite a millennium of training, I still could not defeat Pike in battle. As we clashed on the Frozen Mountains, he struck a near mortal blow, and I barely escaped, blinking away into the Ashlands. I had mastered the ability, allowing myself to travel far distances in an instant, though it made me weary.

  It took months to recover. Pike’s blow nearly destroyed both my body and my Sanctuary. I could not stop him from taking Kara as I had planned, as I lay recovering in a cave under the care of Naoki and her father. So I developed a new strategy.

  If I could not stop Pike, perhaps I could stop the Sundering. Or at least change it. Perhaps, by the time the Wall of Light faded, I could convince the dragons not to destroy the Nine Worlds, but to seek peace. Perhaps I could convince them to make a life for themselves out of more than just death.

  And so, I began to travel amongst the dragon clans, speaking of a better future, of a time of peace and prosperity. Some clans listened. Some I made listen through power and force. Eventually, they began to embrace my idea, because I wasn’t on the side of humans. Because I showed them, through my actions of destroying patrols, of slaying those of Ash who invaded the Ashlands past the Wall, I showed them I was on the side of dragon.

  You may think me cruel, for killing those I had trained with at the Cliff. But you must understand, at the start, I only tried to scare them off, to stop their attacks on hatchlings. But the Ashknights always fought. They killed dragons because I had hesitated. So I stopped hesitating. I would always send a warning. A roar, or the beating of wings. But after, it was war. The Ashknights could flee or they could die.