by Arthur Slade
I stopped my slow movement and straightened a little. I swallowed. As long as he was talking, he wouldn’t be able to turn me to ashes. “What’s your name?”
“Braxas,” he said. “Though you can call me Brax. Now, how about coming a little closer and seeing what you can do about this manacle and chain?”
“But you haven’t had anything to eat for at least two weeks. How can I trust you?”
“I wish it was only two weeks.” He began counting on his talons. “It’s been thirty days, thirty-one nights, and twelve hours to be exact. You’ll just have to trust that I don’t want to eat you.” He scratched at his lip with a claw. The front arms were rather dextrous, I noted. “Well, that’s not quite true. I do want to eat you. You’ll just have to trust that I won’t eat you.”
“It would be foolish to eat me.” I was surprised I was talking so bravely and logically to something that might gobble me up for lunch. “You wouldn’t be able to escape from here.”
“Yes, that’s a quandary. Plus, to be honest, humans taste horrible.” He let out another of his laughs. “Now come forward, Carmen. Get closer to your new friend, Brax. You can trust me.”
I took a deep breath. There really wasn’t another choice.
I stepped forward.
8
The Logical Thing
Each step made me tremble more. I misjudged and crunched down on the hand of the enchanter, which crumbled to dust. I kept going, getting closer and closer to the dragon. His scales had begun to sag a little—he really had lost weight. I also noted that each bone of the sheep and goats in front of me had been snapped in two and the marrow sucked out.
The biggest surprise of all was his smell.
I thought he would stink like death. Or have a swampy scent like a lizard.
Instead, he smelled like flowers. Familiar flowers, but I couldn’t place the scent. There were several gardens in the Red Adept Assassin Fortress, and tending them was one of my biggest pleasures. I knew the flowers well. Of course, the garden was composed mostly of poisonous herbs and berries. But it was a place of beauty. I sometimes wished I could just become the maestru gardener and look after it for the rest of my life.
No one would bother me about my missing eye up there.
I ran through a list of flowers in my head before it came to me: Brax smelled like chrysanthemums. It was more of an earthy, herblike smell. They were curious flowers that way because they really didn’t have a sweet scent like tulips or roses.
“Why are you sniffing?” Brax asked.
“I’m not sniffing.”
“Yes, you are. Humans and your sensitive noses! Every little smell is an affront to your delicate natures.”
“It’s just that you smell like flowers.”
He looked shocked. I continued to be surprised at how expressive a dragon face could be. He raised one scaly eyebrow. “I smell like flowers? Do you want me to fry you where you stand?”
“Now look who’s being delicate.” The words were out before I could run them through my brain to decide whether or not they were offensive. I couldn’t take them back now. I braced for a blast of flames.
Instead I was blasted by another gruff laugh. “You are a brave one, Carmen Crow. Please come around my right side. You will see the cursed chain that holds me.”
I walked along his side, avoiding his foot. Very few humans would have ever stood so near to a live dragon. A dead one, certainly, for their hides made some of the best armor. And their brains could be dried and used for extremely strong potions.
“They were going to skin you,” I said. The horror of it. Starving him so that his scales and skin were loose and easier to skin.
“Yes, they were, my dear friend,” he said. “Oh, the money they would make on the market, even though I am not fully grown. A runt, if I’m truthful. Dragon claws. Horns. Scaled shields and scaled armor—all are worth big buckets of gold. Plus, my brain is valuable too. Those schemers would have been rich for the rest of their lives.”
“But to kill something so beautiful. That’s wrong!”
“Are you trying to soften me up with your words, child? I will take the compliment. The mercenaries are dead now. They thought I was beautiful too, in their own way. I didn’t really like their look though. Too desperate. They look a lot better to me dead.” I shivered, for he said these last words coldly. “Now, examine my chain, child.”
I went past his muscled haunches. The dark wings were flat against his back. They looked strong. Wings that would take him to the air. We had studied flight in class because we had been trained to use large kites to fly into high places.
The idea of flying on a kite seemed silly now. This dragon was able to ride every current in the air.
I went around to his back leg and saw that the long chain was not much thicker than my wrist. The only thing that made it look interesting was that it had a slight glow. The other end was hammered into the wall. Obviously, I couldn’t pull it out of there.
“It’s just a chain,” I said.
“Look closer.” A tight manacle was locked around his back-right leg and scrawled with runes. I had studied a few magic runes in class. Magic was unreliable, so assassins were taught to rarely use it. But it was knowledge we still couldn’t ignore. It took me a moment to read the runes. “Binder,” I said. “This is a binding spell.”
“So, they do teach you something useful in that den of death dealers. Good. Good. Perhaps you’ll be helpful after all.”
I touched the chain. It was warm, and it pulsed with magic. The manacle had cut into his leg, leaving sores and worn-away scales.
“It has wounded you.”
“It does burn. But I’m not one to complain. Can you undo the chain?” His voice actually went a bit higher when he spoke the last sentence.
The lock looked pickable, and I reached into the pouch on my belt and drew out two of my best picks. I was adept at picking locks, even better than my brother. I began poking inside the keyhole on the manacle, using the sharp edges like they were the ends of my fingers. I could find the smallest breach.
I poked. I prodded. But I found nothing. It was as if there wasn’t a lock inside. Or at least no pins to move. Nothing. I kept forcing, pushing harder and harder until I snapped one of my picks.
“Oh, that is not a good sound,” Brax said.
“The runes bind it. Perhaps another spell hides the actual mechanism.”
“I thought as much. But one should try. Any chance you happen to have memorized any unlocking spells from your classes?”
I shook my head.
“Well, that’s too bad.” Brax sighed. “I guess the only logical thing to do is to eat you.”
9
Deals to Dream Of
I tensed and started to run, but Brax reached out quickly with his front claw and grabbed me by the arm. The underside of his talons was rough, and the grip was not painfully tight, though I still couldn’t pull myself away.
“Let me go!”
“Now, now dear,” he said. “I was kidding. You just don’t understand my sense of humor yet. I’m not that hungry.” Then he ground his teeth together. It was a horrible sound. “Actually, I’m very hungry. Maybe I should just eat your arm.”
“What!”
He shook me. “Oh, don’t be so jumpy. I’m being humorous again. Plus, your arms are too skinny.”
“Well … what if I gave you some food?”
“Do you have a cow in your pocket?” He lifted me, so I was directly in front of him. “No cow? Whatever scraps you carry in your pockets are of no use to me.”
Despite my fear, I noted how much control he had of his talons—almost like human hands. He could certainly break my arm just by flexing his muscles.
“I’m good at figuring out puzzles,” I said. “I’ll find a way to feed you.”
“Will you chase a herd of mountain goats into my mouth? Because I eat a lot.”
“If I free you then you can get your own mountain goats.” I
did my best to hold his stare. “But you have to let me go. I’m the only one who can save you.”
“I can save myself.”
“You’ll wither away.”
He smiled. When a dragon smiled, they showed a lot of sharp, sharp teeth. “I can last a long time, Carmen Crow. Perhaps your whole lifetime.”
I looked around the cave, my gaze settling on the three mercenaries. The rising sun was painting them red. They had wanted to kill this amazing creature! What horrible people. Then again, perhaps they had families to feed.
No, this wasn’t like slaughtering a cow and using its hide for leather. A dragon was intelligent. It could speak.
“What thoughts are going through your tiny brain, child? What deals are you dreaming of?”
“I can go to the assassin library. There are plenty of spell books there. I can learn how to unlock that chain and set you free.”
“You say that now. But my guess is you’ll come back here with your maestrus and a hundred assassins, and I will be full of crossbow bolts in a heartbeat. Or perhaps just one blow dart and I’ll succumb to one of your famous poisons.”
“I wouldn’t do that!” My voice went a little high-pitched.
“Why not? What do you owe me? Nothing. And I owe you nothing. All I have to bargain with is your life, and once you’re out of this cave that bargain is forfeit.”
“What … what if I swore?” I asked.
“A swear word? Which one?”
“You know what I mean. An oath that I would return to free you.”
“An oath from a human is as worthless as ashes.” He was squeezing me very tightly now, and I wondered if he were thinking of some past betrayal. Likely his experience with the mercenaries was enough to make him not trust us.
“I swear on the graves of my parents,” I said. “I, Carmen Dore, will find a way to release you.”
Brax was silent for several seconds, staring at me. His eyes glowed gray with fury, as if he expected a trap. He had the same slit pupils as a lizard. It felt as if his gaze was stabbing right into me.
I hoped he could see the truth. Because I meant every word.
“I will take you on your word, Carmen Dore of the Red Adept Assassins. I release you.” Brax let go of my arm. I stumbled a few steps, expecting treachery. Then I walked a few more steps and breathed in.
“Go. Go quickly, child. Before I change my mind. Run!”
I did run. Out of the mouth of the cave and into the sunlight. I paused only to shout, “I’ll return, Brax. I will return.”
He said nothing in reply.
10
A Day of Luck
Belaz, the goddess of all assassins, was on my side, for I had only jogged a short distance from the cave when I discovered the black swan egg. It was still intact and somewhat warm. The egg had somehow careened that last bit down the side of the cliff and rolled to a stop in the open. No creatures of the night had cracked it in half to sup on the joys inside. I knew swan eggs were tough, but this intact egg was almost beyond belief.
“Thank you, Belaz,” I whispered. “For this and for everything else.”
I had just escaped from the clutches of a Scythian dragon. I had stood face-to-snout with it and survived. And I wasn’t too humble to admit that it was my wits that had kept me alive.
I walked ahead, picking my way along the mountain paths. Soon the sun had risen partway in the sky and warmed me enough that I peeled off the last tatters of the bird suit, happy to be in just my ninja trousers and shirt. I used what remained of the costume to wrap up the egg and keep it warm.
It took most of the morning to reach the ten thousand steps that led to the Red Adept Assassin Fortress. The steps were curved back and forth so that an army climbing them would easily be brought down by a rain of arrows or hot oil poured from above.
A bell rang. Nine bells! I’d been out the whole night.
But it was worth it. Meeting Brax had been exhilarating. I should tell Maestru Alesius about the dragon. He deserved to know that such a powerful creature was only a short distance from the school. Assassins had a long list of uses for every magical creature, but I wasn’t certain if that meant Brax would be unchained and then enslaved by some other means. Or if he would be bled out so his insides and exterior could become potions, armor, and tools.
Or if that would make me as equally horrible as the mercenaries who’d bound him.
I’d sworn an oath on my parents.
I found the thirteenth door and opened it with my lockpick—assassins never carried keys. I partly unwrapped the egg so that my fellow students could see what I had accomplished and strode into the school. I chose to walk down the middle of the hallway so as to lessen the chance of bumping anything. It would be stupid if I’d traveled all that way then broke the egg on a pillar.
The first person I encountered was Megan. Her red hair was tied tightly behind her, making her angular face look severe.
Ha! This will show her!
But Megan didn’t look surprised at all; in fact, she didn’t even give the egg a glance. “Have you heard?”
I adjusted my arm so that more of the egg was revealed. Maybe Megan didn’t recognize what it was.
“Have I heard what?”
“The emperor prince is dead.”
“Dead?” I pulled the egg back a bit as if the new information might somehow hurt it. “How?”
“He was given Abethaus poison. It leaves the scarlet marks.”
“Abethaus poison?” My shock was making me repeat things, but I was unable to stop myself. “What assassin would dare poison a child?”
“It just takes one rogue assassin to taint us all.” Megan did look worried, and it wasn’t until she spoke the next sentence that I understood exactly why. “The emperor has declared a halt to all trade with assassins. And a Kellian knife was found in the room. There are rumors of war. Between the Empire and Kellia.”
“Oh,” I said. The students had spent so many hours memorizing the various treaties between the Five Realms and the Empire. We had also memorized the names and faces of every diplomat, every king and queen, and the entire royal line of every country. We also studied the senators of the city-state of Avenus, where they actually voted for two archons every two years.
A war between Kellia and the Akkad Empire would draw in the other four realms and be so large as to perhaps last generations.
“We won’t have a place to ply our trade,” Megan said. “It’s horrible.” And then she stepped past me. She still hadn’t noticed the egg or the fact I was covered with bruises and cuts.
I sighed and carried the egg up the many steps to my maestru’s chamber. I knocked gently on the door.
“Come in, Carmen,” Maestru Alesius said.
The fact that he knew me from my knock and my approaching footsteps had ceased to surprise me. I’d stopped trying to fool him. I opened the thick wooden door and took a few steps inside his study. My maestru was standing at his table, a parchment in his hand. Scrolls, tomes and other papers were scattered across the table, indicating he’d been searching quickly for something. He was usually impeccably neat.
He had his hood back, so I could clearly see his dark-skinned face. His hair, always kept short, was looking grayer today. It matched his eyes. He turned and gave me an appraising glance. “You have succeeded,” he said. “Congratulations. I will add twenty-five points to your totals. Barring any final surprises, you’ll graduate.” He reached out for the egg, and I handed it to him. “Ah, it is a male swan.”
“You can tell that?” I asked.
“Of course. And since you have no way of keeping track of when the swan hatches, you’ll never know.” He smiled a little, though I did see signs of worry on his face. He handed the egg back to me. “It is in excellent shape, Carmen. You look like you had to fight for it.”
I hadn’t paused to glance in a mirror. I was suddenly aware exactly how much my clothes were torn and how numerous the scratches were on my arms. There were even still
several feathers hanging from my hair.
“It was a long climb,” I said. “And I did fall once. Or twice. Maybe three times.”
“One must watch one’s step near a precipice.” He waved a finger in the air. “That’s my wise saying for today.” He then inhaled deeply, a curious look on his face. “Were you in the gardens before you came here?”
“No. I came straight to you.”
“Well, you smell of chrysanthemums. But the scent isn’t quite right. I can’t place what’s different.”
He knows! I thought. The dragon scent rubbed off on me. I absently felt my arm when Brax had grabbed me.
“Let me see that.” He gently took my elbow. The sleeve of my shirt was torn, revealing a circular bruise. “That’s an odd-shaped bruise.”
“I got it when I fell.” I had only lied to my maestru twice. He’d caught me out both times.
“That’s a contortion bruise. Did you have a rope with you?”
“Yes. Yes,” I said. “I did. I used it to climb to the nesting grounds. I forgot. It must have wrapped around my arm as I was rolling down the cliff. It must have.”
He looked me directly in the eye. “Well, then that must be what happened.” He released my arm. I thought, perhaps, there was a glint of disappointment in his eyes. “Did you hear the latest news?”
“That the emperor prince has been poisoned? Yes. Megan told me.”
“Gossip spreads on black wings. Especially in our school. His death bodes ill for our guild. Emperor Rima has sent several notices and official queries, demanding answers. He wants to see our records. Do you know why?”
It was always a test with Maestru Alesius. “Umm. To discover who was hired by the Kellians? But we can’t show him our records.”
“Correct on both counts. We have maintained over two thousand years of secrecy. No emperor or king has ever walked our halls, let alone been allowed access to our records. We do not give out our secrets.”
