by J B Cantwell
We were in trouble. The hole in the clouds let in not only light but predators.
Dragons.
There were three. Two were smaller, one black with shiny scales upon his back like knives cutting into the air around him, and the other red with a horned neck and wings as wide as the market street back home.
The third, the largest, had green, shimmering skin like the scales of a snake.
Ridden on the back by Wicks, these dragons were coming for me, I was sure. These were no ordinary flying Wicks, and Torin must’ve known I'd discovered enough talent to kill them.
But dragons…
I knew that my knives wouldn't help me. I shoved them into my belt and opened up my arms as if to embrace the closest flying beast.
I had been close to Wicks before, but I had never seen the flaming jaws of a dragon. The Wick upon the red's back was beating him on the head from behind, and with each blow, the dragon let out a burst of fire as he drew closer and closer to us.
I'd thought dragons were good. Those were the stories I'd been told about Mother, that she'd had her own dragon who came night after night to protect her from Zahn. In fact, it was my belief that it made Zahn so angry, he had refused to train me, her daughter.
But now, I couldn't deny that this red beast before me was more deadly than any I had ever seen. He flew around and around the bear's head, and I let my own fire magic burst from my hands in defense.
The Wick atop this animal was caught off guard, and he fell over, grappling desperately to hold on. With a great shake, the dragon rid himself of the Wick. He shook his head wildly, seemingly relieved, but instead of stopping, he opened his mouth wide and let go a fire so fierce it incinerated the top of the mountain until it became smooth as glass from the heat.
The bear continued to descend, swiping at clouds as she took each step, freeing the range from its black prison. The sky above the clouds was beginning to darken, but the moon was white, and its reflection off the snow was nearly as bright as the setting sun had been.
The red dragon flew away, free now from the pain its master had inflicted, but the other two stayed, and they were focused on me. I put up a barrier between us, trying to save the bear's head from any more damage, but it wasn't enough. White fire broke through the barrier, burning the bear's face while I hid in the fur of her neck.
She roared in pain, and she swatted at one of the dragons, the biggest of the three. The dragon fell for a moment but then returned to the fight. It was then that I realized this dragon was not ridden on by a Wick. It was a man, a tall man dressed in silver.
Phalen.
I had to get him off that dragon.
But suddenly, I was distracted by a scream I didn't expect to hear. The Wick on the black monster was fighting with Tosia, trying to toss her over the edge of the precipice she was balancing on. I sent a line of fire in their direction, praying I wouldn't hit her, as I knew it would be a death blow if I did.
I hit the dragon and not Tosia, but it had little effect. The dragon's hide was so thick it seemed nothing could penetrate it. The only good thing that came of it was that I distracted it for just long enough for Tosia to hide once more.
"Good," I said to myself quietly. "Stay there."
We were getting closer to the valley now, the bear's giant steps practically running down the side of the mountain. There was a swarm of Wicks further down, and I could see that what was left of Ezvar village was under attack. I wanted to be on the ground, helping these people to find their escape from this madness. But the dragons did not relent. The bear swiped again and again, but her eyes were damaged from the attack by the Wicks, and it seemed all she could do was remove more and more clouds from the sky.
I watched the dragons as they flew in and out of range as if they'd practiced it for years. Now it was just the Wick and Phalen.
Which to choose?
I waited, trying to figure out the complicated dance they were performing. I knew I needed to jump onto one of them; then I'd be able to help the bear, to bring the beasts away from the fight. My fight.
But no, we were all fighting, every single one of us trying to preserve our lives. All because of Torin.
The black Dragon with the Wick rider was headed in our direction.
"Stay still!" I yelled.
The bear stopped for just a moment, shoving down her anger to let me have a turn. When the dragon passed by, I jumped for it and landed, just barely, on its back. I clung desperately to the scales on his tail, forever grateful for the power in my hands that kept me from falling to the earth. It thrust its tail back and forth, doing all it could to try to unseat me. But though my legs were flying out behind me, my hands held fast. I began to crawl up the its back, avoiding his razor-sharp scales, and soon I was close enough to the Wick to reach out and touch him if I so wanted.
I held out one hand, intending to kill him, but then I stopped. The great dragon's wings, black as obsidian with shiny edges, pumped in the air, and I had an idea. What I needed was control, and suddenly I knew what I had to do.
Phalen was riding fast in my direction on the green and largest dragon. I straddled my dragon, and instead of attacking the Wick, I tried something I hadn't done since I'd been with Bevyn, something I'd told myself I would never do again.
I closed my eyes, thought about the being in front of me, and tried to lead my consciousness away from myself and into him.
It was an odd feeling, entering his mind. This was no Bevyn, who had been so full of pain and misery. Though, the Wick was a man. Or he had been once. His mind was nearly empty, occupied only by two small things: the will to murder, and the tiniest breath of human life, hanging on. His inner light, forever battling his overwhelming darkness.
A moment later, I was him, and he was me. My human form slouched on the back of the dragon, but my hands held onto his hide. I was looking out from the place where the Wick's eyes once were, and it was a strange sight, indeed. I could only see snippets of things, flashes of light, but the smell was remarkable. There was no sweetness to it, but rather like a dog's nose, it led the way.
I picked up the reins and pulled the dragon to my right, toward Phalen.
My magic was left behind, it existed only in my human form, and I had little control over that now. Instead, I hit the top of the dragon's head as the Wick had done, and we approached Phalen. It hurt me to injure it, but I had no other defense. The Dragon spewed white fire from its mouth and nostrils, enough to kill any man or woman, no matter how big or small.
But I missed. Phalen had put his dragon into a dive right at the last moment, and the fire blew harmlessly into the cold winter air.
It's going to need to be more.
As I pulled my consciousness out of the Wick's mind, I knew for sure that there was still a man inside there. Somewhere. I took pity, knowing that it could be this very thing that resulted in my death. But I couldn't help it. These creatures controlled by Torin were innocent. Perhaps they’d come to Torin over the many years he'd been in existence. Or maybe some of them had been taken by force. All they were now were empty vessels, just a few grains of sand remaining of what had been their lives before.
As we flew toward the mountaintop, I grabbed onto the Wick, who was still confused, and flung him from the back of the dragon. He landed hard, cracking the surface of the newly formed glass at the top of the mountain. He stood up, confused, and I pulled the dragon in the other direction, leaving him there.
Stay hidden, Tosia.
It was then that I held on tight to the dragon's hide and let myself enter his mind.
It wasn't so unlike the Wick; only this monster had more power. From within him, I felt the heat burning in his chest, aching to be released. I opened my mouth, and fire burst from my throat with a roar so great it shook me from the inside out. I was glad that my human form was stuck to the back of the animal, holding me tightly to it while I directed it in its flight
The other dragon was in sight, and I didn't think Phalen yet
understood what had happened. He was too far away, and a Wick was too small to see at such a distance.
But Phalen was dressed in shining silver, and I could see him clearly, glimmering in the last of the sunlight. Foolishly, I reached down my torso, so used to pulling out my knives when I was on the offensive. But there were no knives, only fire.
I flew toward Phalen and the other dragon, still unsure if he could see my dragon for what it really was, a puppet. My puppet. It was only at the last moment, as we flew up behind him and I opened my mouth to incinerate him, that he turned. With a wave of his hand, I was thrown off course, and for a few moments, I thought I would fall.
"You won't fall," I heard in my mind. At first, I was terrified, but then I understood. This beast, this being, had recognized me for what I was: just a human girl's spirit, desperate for help. There was enough of himself left in his body, and though he didn't have the ability to make his own choices, he recognized I was on his side.
Suddenly, he and I were truly one. I felt his body swerving through the air, the wind whipping the edges of his wings, the fire waiting from behind his nose.
"I know you," the voice said in my mind. "You are Alina's child. I am Urvar, her protector."
I could hear him, though his voice was quiet within me. I wondered if I should leave him, leave his mind alone.
He seemed to understand this, though it had been nothing more than a fleeting thought in my own mind.
"Do not leave. I am not alone. The man Phalen has me in his grasp, only now I have you to fight for me."
"What do we do?" I thought. "I don't want to attack your brother." I could think of no other way than to bring down the last dragon, taking Phalen with him.
"That is no brother but a sister. She is Ananta. He has chosen her because she is the strongest of us. He sees it as a challenge to possess her. He thinks it's fun. Don't worry. When we get close enough, open my mouth, and I will do the rest."
I did as he told me, grateful that some piece of him had held as strongly as it had. This was the joke of the dragons. They were possessed, yes, but so much stronger than a man that they were underestimated by those same men.
Phalen didn't know yet who it was riding this Dragon, and maybe he thought it didn't matter. But I knew whom he was after, and what a surprise he would have when he saw it was me clinging to Urvar's back.
I imagined that Phalen must’ve been fighting the strength of the dragon he was riding. It was difficult, this possession, but it also felt natural to me, as if I'd been practicing it my whole life. Somewhere in the back of my mind, it registered that there was something about what I was doing that wasn't right, that it was inherently wrong.
But Urvar and I, working together, were far more powerful than either the dragon Phalen rode or even Phalen, himself.
We soared across the valley toward him. Down below, the sounds of a battle made their way up to our ears, and I looked to see my friends fighting valiantly against the Wicks. The bear had joined them, and seeing that filled my heart as I watched her swat at the Wicks like flies on a hot summer day. They were dwindling in number now, and I knew it was only a matter of time before the battle would be over.
There were bodies on the ground. We had sustained losses.
But I had my own battle to fight, and my questions would have to wait.
Soon, we were atop Phalen, and this time as we flew by, he saw that it was me atop the dragon that he, himself, had captured. He shouted out angrily, his words garbled as he spat them from the back of his own beast. I wondered how much power she still held within her, wondered if he was distracted enough and if she could get it all back.
"How precise can you be with your fire?" I asked.
"We shall see."
We dove, and as we closed in on Phalen, we let loose Urvar's power, enough to burn any man to cinders.
But Phalen wasn't any man.
He drew out his staff and sent a red bolt into Urvar's hide. I felt the blow like a hot knife slicing through my skin, and both Urvar and I screamed. That didn't stop us, though. We flew up and down, breathing fire any time Phalen was in range. But we had to be careful; we couldn't hit the other dragon, his sister. It was this that made me realize I couldn't win in this way.
"I must go," I said.
"Do not. He will take control again."
"No, he won't. Take me down to him."
Urvar grumbled, but he obeyed as if I were his master. I pulled myself from his mind and back into my own body, thankfully still stuck to his thick, sharp scales.
Without me to control him, he began to buck, trying to get me off of his back as if he were a horse angered by an inexperienced rider. But we were close enough now, and I climbed to my feet, riding on his back with nothing but my own balance to keep me from falling to the earth.
Phalen saw me, and he turned his dragon in my direction. Holding up his staff, he sent a bolt of lightning the color of blood, hitting Urvar, missing me. In the fray, I had only a moment to make the leap, but I did. I jumped off Urvar's back and landed squarely behind Phalen.
Everything happened so fast, and his power was so strong I almost fell. The feel of his shimmering cloak was like fire against my cheeks.
But I didn't let go. Instead, I went inside.
He was strong, stronger than the Wick, stronger, even, than Urvar. But it was impossible for me to deny that he’d once been nothing more than a normal man. Somewhere inside of him lived that man, and I wondered how it had come to this.
He fought me, but I held onto his mind easily. I directed the dragon down to the valley, and she flew with great elegance all the way down, I imagined, relieved to have her own mind back.
We landed, and, like him, I pulled my own body from the back of the dragon, readying it for what must come next.
There was no time; he was fighting back against me hard, and though he was easy to hold onto, it would only be a matter of time before reinforcements would arrive.
I positioned his body in front of mine and lifted my hands onto his back before I finally left his mind behind and flew back into my own body.
In an instant, my hands burned through his cloak, reaching his skin. He screamed in anger and horror, perhaps his vanity propelling his mind. He grabbed onto my hands, burning them as I held them around his throat, and with one twist of his body, I was on the ground.
His defense was crude, stomping his spiked boots, trying to bust the metal through my skull. I rolled away, hopping back to my feet easily.
It was a game of cat and mouse now. He seemed strangely unwilling to use his magic against me. Maybe he wanted to enjoy this kill, and using his staff would result in a quick and painless death for me—no fun for him.
Or maybe he was saving me for someone else. Someone with even more power than Phalen possessed.
Torin.
The memory was still so sharp of being inside Urvar's mind and body. I opened my mouth, expecting a jet of burning flame to issue forth and burn him.
But I was no dragon.
We circled one another, each of us waiting for the perfect moment to kill. His cloak shimmered in the evening light, and for a fleeting moment, I thought it must be made from pure silver.
It must be heavy.
I lit my hands with fire, not bothering to go for my knives. At the same moment, he threw a blast in my direction, and our powers met midair, exploding with the brightness of a star, temporarily blinding me. I put one of my hands to my face, covering my eyes, so I didn't see it when he leaped upon my back.
His hands were around my neck, but they were only his hands, no magic. Maybe he wanted to prove to himself that he could kill without his powers. Or maybe he just liked it better this way; it was more… human.
I tried to pretend that everything was going my way, that in mere moments air would find its way to my lungs again. I gripped his hands where he held my throat, burning them with everything I had. He screamed at first, but then he began to laugh.
"You can't
hurt me," he said into my ear. "No matter how badly you wish me dead. What do you have to say about that?"
I couldn't say anything, of course. And I didn't believe him. I let go of his hands and grappled for his hood, and then his face.
It might've been that if he’d decided to use his magic on me, he would've been able to take my head from my body with little effort.
But he wasn't using his magic, and I was. I gripped onto his cheeks, burning his skin, dragging my fingers down along his jaw. For a moment, his grip loosened, and I wondered if what he said was true, that I couldn’t hurt him. I suspected it was a lie.
I flipped around and saw my work upon his face. The skin of his eyelids was torn all the way from his eyes down to his chin, revealing the raw, red flesh beneath. But he didn't cry out. Instead, he smiled.
"You stupid girl," he said.
His skin started to come together, mending itself easily. I leaped for him again, knocking him down to the ground and, grabbing my knives, thrusting them into his chest.
For a moment, he looked surprised, like maybe I’d tried something he hadn't expected. I twisted the knives so that they cut through his torso all the way to the ground at his back.
This time when he smiled, his eyes were worried, giving away his fear. I dared not move away from him, certain that if I did, he would need only a moment to heal before coming at me once more. So I stayed, straddling him, pinning him into the hard dirt with my burning knives. He tried to speak, but no words came out, only a gurgling sound, blood coating his teeth, and a moment later, my hands. His blood was sticky and cold, almost as if he were already dead. He smiled again, but his brow was furrowed now, his eyes looking all around, hoping for assistance from somebody I couldn't see.
He closed his eyes, but I knew he wasn't dead. Instead, his lips were moving as if he were whispering into someone's ear. It only took a few moments then for the sound of wings to make it to me.
He was calling his dragon, and she was obeying his call.
I looked up just for a second, trying to make a plan, trying to outsmart a man who had lived a thousand years longer than I had. But in the end, with the dragon's mouth opening in a great display of teeth and flame, I fell back onto the ground.
