by Sam Hall
“So what’s this going to cost me?” I asked, scared of the answer. Fabric like this couldn’t come cheap.
“I’m sure we can come to an arrangement,” he said, getting to his feet, holding out the spare helmet.
“I’d rather know now,” I said, imagining double Battle Techniques or something just as physical to keep him amused.
He smiled, that sparkle in his green eyes well and truly back. “Fine, then a kiss.”
I frowned at this. “What? One for the helmet and one for the suit?”
“I hadn’t thought of that. I was going to ask for the one.”
I paused for a moment. The offer was too good to be true and the smile on his face said he knew it. I could either be stubborn and get kicked from this place or I could give in and get a very good deal. He didn’t realise though, how much I would’ve loved for someone wearing the same face as his to offer me what I needed in return for a kiss. I would’ve given Merlin many more than required and anything else he wanted. My eyes dropped to his mouth and his smile widened. I’d sat up night after night wondering what he’d taste like, how his lips would feel. But then I’d realised it wasn’t going to happen and disappeared through the gate. It felt odd like I was given an unsought do-over.
My eyes stuttered over the lips in front of me, my tongue flickering out to wet my now bone dry ones. I swallowed hard and moved towards him, feeling the prickle of nerves rippling up my spine. I grabbed his hand in mine, feeling his warm and dry against my now sweaty one. His eyelids dropped low and he shifted closer to me. I looked up into those bright green eyes, brought his knuckles up to my mouth and bestowed a gentle, languid kiss across them before dropping it and stepping back.
“Paid in full, yeah?” I said.
He burst out laughing, raking his hair away from his face before handing me an angular helmet, quite different looking than the one I’d worn back in the battle with the prince. That one had been open-faced and made of similar material to the suit, but this one looked more like an angular bike helmet, complete with a visor. It was a little loose, but it fit well enough for now. I tightened the chinstrap and it felt secure.
“Let’s go before the captain has a fit.”
Which is how I ended up on Miazydar’s back, suited up but barefooted, several metres up in the air. “You’re doing well,” Captain Keya said via the commlink in the helmet. “Now take that first step.”
I stood there, paralysed. I could see the university, the field, the other dragon riders, all tiny, beneath me. I was way, way outside my comfort zone, one little step and I’d be flat as a pancake on the ground below and to make it worse, Miazydar moves. I was not only standing on a relatively narrow surface way up in the air; it wasn’t stable as M circled his wings with small motions.
“What a surprise, we’ve got a frozen 'grounder pounder’. Let’s move onto the other riders. None of them are ready for war game participation and it’ll be our arses in the sling with Her Majesty if they don’t make it through.”
“Shut up Barron, you’re making it worse. Listen to me, cadet, not the naysayers. Take the first step. Take it. Your dragon is completely attuned to you, your movements. He will not allow you to fall. You’ve done the hard work, standing up on his back while he’s airborne and now you’re letting your head make the decisions. Your head can’t walk down the dragon’s spine, only your body can. Take the first step, you’ll find out one way or the other if you can do it safely or not. You stay where you are, you’ll never know.”
Her voice sounded like it was coming from far away, hollow and distorted and partially drowned out by the thunder of my heartbeat in my ears. My limbs were shaking and they wanted me to take a step? I didn’t even know if I could, to shut up the insistent Captain in my ears. I willed my fingers to move, just my little finger and nothing happened. I can’t move! I can’t move! The hysteria I’m trying to keep a lid on started to unfurl in my chest, forcing my limbs into rigidity.
You have nothing to fear, Miazydar said in his usual deep soothing voice. You are the dragon.
I’m not! I can’t fly my way out of this! I can’t flame my stupid fucking enemies! To stay together, I don’t have to run from your tail to your shoulders and back again; I have to be able to fight!
You are the dragon; he says. Take the step.
I tried to hold back the sobs, unsuccessfully, shamed not only that I’d been reduced to tears, but that everyone tuned into the commlinks would hear them. I gritted my teeth, blinking furiously to clear my eyes, unwilling to drop my arms to try and wipe them away. This is it, I told myself, I’ve just got to jump off. My feet were ice cold but I lifted one up and then put it down again, further along Miazydar’s spine. “Good work, cadet! Now another, before you start to overthink it.”
I didn’t feel a sense of achievement, just a heavy, flat feeling of resignation. I had no choice; I hadn’t since I came here. Live, die, be poisoned, fall to my death, I was powerless, all I could do was submit. It’s unpleasant, all my wants, needs, tears, fears, desires were sucked away for a moment until all that was left was the empty shell of me. A me that took one step, then another, moving down Miazydar’s spine with the loose-kneed gait they instructed me to use to counter the bounce of my dragon in the air stream. I got to the end, turned on my heel and walked back, nodding to the Captain.
“Excellent, cadet,” she says, her tone much more muted now. “Practise that for a bit while I set the other riders their tasks.”
I watched them, the other riders as I walked back and forth. I no longer trained my eyes on my every step. I needed to let my muscle memory develop as I certainly wouldn’t be watching my feet when fighting. I noticed that Miazydar shifts slightly sideways when my foot goes wide. The dragons tore through the air in a series of complex crisscrossing manoeuvres, seeming to fly within metres of each other, the dragon’s wings looking close enough to touch. Do you think we’d ever be able to do that? I said.
We could now, M replied. I got from the fair woman’s mind that what you’re doing is not something they would start a youngster on until they had mastered some basic balance exercises. You’ve skipped several years in training already.
I didn’t realise you could read people’s minds.
Not well, they need to be connected to mine as hers was when she was coaching us. All dragons can push communication to receptive beings, it’s how most speak to humans. The doctor the other day didn’t know how to give and receive information so it all came as an onslaught. This was just taking a little of the Lieutenant’s foremost thoughts as we were communicating.
What was she talking to you about? How to talk me down from a ledge?
More like along a ledge, but yes. I was never worried, I knew you’d be fine. You should try some of your basic fight stances, see how they feel. I looked at his back in trepidation. I was beginning to feel comfortable walking but fighting?
I’ll always catch you if you fall, my dragon said.
I sighed and fell into a basic sword stance.
“Good, good, you’ve noticed that your centre of gravity is different on dragon back?” Keya said, drawing her beast up close to mine. It was a large blue animal, its scales glittering in a range of hues from turquoise to ultramarine. She shifted so she was in a similar pose to mine after pulling the spear from the holster at the dragon’s shoulder. She spun it around and showed me some of the basic stances, moving slowly so I could see how they flowed from one to the other. “Keel said you have some fighting skills. You’re going to need to practise them. Land your dragon, he’s been hovering for some time. Too much puts strain on the wing joints.”
Miazydar snorted at this but waited for me to take a seat before angling us down, heading for the ground.
“You’re going to need to practise this a lot,” the Captain said with a slight wince. “You’ve done very well today, but the VC is being difficult. It’s a bad business, no doubt he thinks his enrolments will improve when he’s seen to be dispensing dragons to �
��more worthy’ candidates or that idiot Blake has promised him more funding. At any rate, your job is to make theirs as hard as you can, OK?”
“I’m doing my best but…”
“You’ve been set an impossible task. Be reassured, we know. Everyone tries to use dragon riders as pawns, to solve problems, to support their bids for power, and we stay apart but know this, we look after our own. You seem to have a fan in Keel.” She nodded to the dragon rider who had joined us. “He’s offered to do some extra tutoring with you, take him up on that.”
She turned and went back to the other riders. “So, I’ll see you in the afternoons, after school?” Keel said with a smile.
“Yeah, if you give me say half an hour to get changed and get a coffee in me, we can meet in the area near the eyries.”
“Your brother won’t run me off?”
“Brother? Oh, you mean Flea. He’s not my brother, he and Jez came with me as moral support.”
“So, not a yes or a no. Interesting. We also need to settle the matter of payment.”
“Payment? I gave you your damn kiss. If you were dumb enough not to specify where you wanted it, that’s no fault of mine.”
“Yes, the suit is paid for. The boots and helmet are another matter.” My mouth fell open. I wanted to say something smart, but I had nothing. “I very much look forward to hammering out a deal that should be mutually satisfying. Until this afternoon then?”
You’re going to need to do something about this, Miazydar said. Mating battles between dragons can be brutal. I doubt it would be any different between two armed and competent male humans.
I sighed as I shimmied out of the dragon rider suit, rolling it into a neat ball and shoving it into my gym bag. Been in a few, huh? Have I got to look out for you getting feisty with the other dragons here? Any of the other dragons turned your head?
Considering they are all male, no. It’s not unheard of for same sex pairings, but it doesn’t happen often.
Really? Every dragon here is male? Even the dragon riders’ beasts?
Every dragon I’ve met since coming back to Aravisia has been male.
That’s weird, isn’t it? They would need at least a few females to keep the species going.
It is, something I think is tied to the current aberration of the dragon and rider bond. I’ve done some initial snooping, talking to the others. All I got is there’s some kind of queen. Whether this monarch is human or dragon, I don’t know.
Something else to keep an eye out for. Let the others know about the poison investigation.
Of course, he said and took off into the air.
The rest of the day went by in a blur. Some classes I was escorted by one of the riders, the rest I managed to find myself with my new knowledge of the teaching building. I didn’t see Scalla in any of them though, which worried me.
“Was Scalla one of the people affected by the poisoning?” I asked the riders when we were having lunch.
There was a bit of side-eye going on before Alden smiled pleasantly, ever the politician. “I have no idea. I can make enquiries if you like?”
I shook my head, “I’ll go past the infirmary on the way home today. Whereabouts is it?”
18
The infirmary turned out to be a building separate to the teaching and dining halls. I opened the door, smelling the familiar harsh stench of disinfectant. There was an unmanned admissions desk and rows of beds, many occupied. A harried looking woman, her brown hair pulling free from her bun and wearing a stained white pinafore over her dress bustled up.
“Please, for the love of the gods, tell me you haven’t contracted kelethian poisoning.”
“Ah, no.”
“Nausea, loose stools, abdominal pain?”
“No, no, and no. I came by to—.”
“Dizziness? Loss of vision?”
“No, but—.”
“Then what are you doing here then? I’m completely depleted of magic and have a third of the student population down, some of my staff among them, all due to Bhechro’s ham-fisted handling of this new student. Dr Kerrin has sent down some of his students to take over as healers, but it’s just not enough. At this rate we’ll be looking at a death in the school and I’ll be very interested to see how the VC handles that. All so he can sunder a dragon bond and ingratiate himself with the middle classes. What rubbish. Is that what you are?”
“I’m sorry? I wanted—.”
“You must be.” She looked me over more closely now, taking a few steps forward and peering at me. “You’re positively teeming with magic. Never seen the like. Come, come! Why did you let me go on like that! There're students who need you!” I tried to explain that she had the wrong person as the doctor hauled me along the ward, but she wasn’t listening, pointing out the various patients and describing their degree of illness as we quick marched to one of the beds. She finally let me go when we arrived next to someone buried under a pile of blankets. She picked up the person’s wrist, obviously taking their pulse. She placed it gently back on their chest. “His pulse is thready and his electrolyte balance is completely out of whack due to not being able to keep down fluids. What should be done?”
“Are you serious?” I said, meeting her expectant gaze head on. “Look lady—.”
“Dr Acorn.”
“Fine, Dr Acorn, there’s been a mistake. I have no idea how to do this because I’m no healer. I’ll have my first ever magic class tomorrow.”
“First ever? But how can that be? It’s just an on-the-fly diagnosis, but you seem to be tied to a massive reservoir of magic.” The doc came in closer, her head bobbing as she looked me over. “Well, nevertheless, this boy needs help and I’m almost tapped. Do you object to being a conduit?”
“I’m happy to help, but I have no idea what that means.” She seemed to only hear the first bit, grabbing my hand and yanking me forward. She muttered something over the sleeping guy. It looked completely ridiculous like a little kid pretending to be a wizard, but a strange feeling crept over me as she ‘worked’. It was a bit like when you drink really cold water and you can feel the spread of the cold inside you. It didn’t mean much to me, but sure enough, colour returned to the guy’s face and his eyes opened. He blinking blearily. “Jelecho, bring the boy some fluids,” she said, gesturing to a nurse who walked by. “Go slowly. We need to reintroduce a small amount, then see if he can keep it down. If he can, he’s moved out of critical, but someone needs to keep supplying those fluids.”
“You’ve never tried intravenous fluids?” I said, looking down the hall for IV stands.
“What? Intravenous? How do you induce fluid directly into the vein?” the doctor said with a frown.
“It’s quite easy, I think. They put these needles into your hand—.”
“You pierce the vein? How on earth do you stop the patient from bleeding out?”
“Um… look, this isn’t really my area of expertise. No one sent me, I was just checking on a friend of mine, Scalla. She didn’t turn up for class so I came by to see if she was OK.”
“Scalla Andus? She’s one of the patients who needs a healer. Come with me,” Acorn said, gesturing for me to follow. She shot me a sharp look. “You’re the new girl from through the dimensional portal, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“The rounded ear tip is quite odd-looking. Never seen it’s like on a humanoid. I take from your conversation that medicine is practised differently in your homeworld.”
“Well, there’s no magic for one.”
“I find that very difficult to get my head around,” she said with a shake. “I guess you don’t have the problem of tapping out of magic when an outbreak happens though.”
“No, it’s all medicines and surgery and hard work.”
“Pfft…herbalism and backyard butchery? You piqued my interest there for a minute. No, our way is much more sophisticated. Now, Miss Andus…” She grabbed Scalla’s chart, flipping through it, but I just sat down in the chair beside her bed and
stared.
There was something of a cutesy anime character about Scalla. Her huge brown eyes and pigtails all gave her that elfin, sweet look many female romantic interests had. Not so now. Her cheeks were sunken, the bags under her eyes puffy and bruised. She lay still, so very still, her hands resting on the blanket over her chest, the skin looking almost translucent, the blood vessels a mottled pale purple. “Poor dear,” Dr Acorn said. “She’s a scholarship student, so I’m supposed to see to the full fee-paying students first, but I can’t leave her like this, not when you have enough to heal the lot of them.”
“What?”
“What what? There was quite a lot of information in that sentence. Narrow it down to what you wish to know.”
“I could heal everyone here with magic?”
“And barely make a dent in it. I find it very hard to believe you come from a non-magical dimension. This is a sacred space, no one will use that information against you here,” the doctor said, looking at me with a frown.
“If you think our medicine is primitive, you wait until you see what passes for magic. Basically sleight of hand kinds of stuff. Seriously, nothing at all.”
“Must come from an over-reliance on hedgewitch workings,” she said with a sniff and grabbed my hand again. I took what she was doing a little more seriously this time and sure enough, within minutes Scalla’s eyes opened and she looked a hell of a lot better.
“Oh,” she said, looking around in alarm. “What happened?”
The doctor felt Scalla’s forehead and then nodded, noting something down on her chart. “Bad batch of fish I’m told. Kelethian poison, love.” Dr Acorn turned to me. “Now, I’ll give you a couple of minutes with your friend and then I’m going to need you to look at the more serious cases, Tess.”
“Friend?” Scalla said, not unkindly.
“Sorry, I didn’t see you in class and someone said heaps of people were sick. I thought I’d come by and see how you were…” What was I doing? I barely knew Scalla and I had a to-do list longer than Miazydar. It was just friendly faces were a bit thin on the ground at the moment. When I turned back, I expected that strange expression of pity and scorn combined together into some sort of bastard love child. Instead, her eyes were all weird and shiny.
