Dragons Lost

by Daniel Arenson

  Cade gasped and his eyes lit up. "Blimey! We could distribute copies all over the Commonwealth. Fly over towns and drop 'em down! Let everyone learn the truth, learn that the Cured are a bunch of liars. Learn that we're not cursed, that we're Vir Requis." His eyes dampened, and he rose from his seat, leaped toward Fidelity, and grabbed her hands. "It's brilliant, Fidelity. Bloody brilliant! So where do we get this machine?"

  She sighed. "That's the problem. They only exist in the city of Oldnale."

  Cade's chest deflated. "One of the Commonwealth's largest cities. A stronghold of the Temple."

  Silence fell upon the assembly. Fidelity heard only the song of birds, the chirp of insects, the howls of monkeys, and the hum of the Horde's camp in the distance.

  Finally Cade nodded. "Fine. No problem. We go to Oldnale. We're no firedrakes; we all have human forms. We walk into the city, we buy this printing press, and we take it somewhere safe."

  Korvin grumbled. "It won't be that easy. I've seen Oldnale. I served there as a soldier before they shipped me off to fight the Horde across the sea. Hundreds of Temple soldiers guard its walls and gates, inspecting every item that enters and leaves. They search for anything contraband in the Commonwealth: fabrics other than burlap, cosmetics, jewelry, and banned books. They'd find us smuggling out a printing press, sure as a monkey's backside is red."

  "Well, this monkey is going to try anyway." Cade pounded his chest and scratched under his arms.

  Amity groaned. She paced across the forest clearing, her leather boots snapping twigs and crunching fallen leaves. "This is all ridiculous." She lifted a fig fallen from a nearby tree and hurled it into the branches, scaring away a flock of parrots. "Sneaking around? Smuggling metal letters up our arses? Writing bloody books about rotting old kings?" She hawked noisily and spat. "To the Abyss with that shite. I've been living with the Horde since I was a girl. I'm one of the Horde." She turned toward Korvin and grabbed his arms. "Korvin, we have weapons here. Soldiers. Griffins and archers to ride them. And we're only an outpost—a hundred thousand Horde soldiers train in the mainland in the south. We must incite war!" She snarled. "We'll convince the Horde that it's time to finally invade the Commonwealth, to crush its paladins, to topple the walls of the Temple."

  "War?" Fidelity said, aghast. "Invasion? Amity, we don't want a war. We want to spread the word of Requiem."

  The older woman scoffed. "You think you're the only one who cares about Requiem? Griffin shite. While you were holed up in your little library, girl, reading your little books, I was training in swordplay, in archery, preparing to fight for Requiem. I found an army, not some book of fairy tales." Amity's eyes flashed. "Fight with me. With the Horde. All of you. I care about Requiem just as much as any of you. Maybe more!" She drew her sword and swung the blade through the air. "I've been training with this blade since I was a girl. It's time to wield it in battle. It's time to reclaim Requiem with fire and blood and—"

  "To what end?" Fidelity said, interrupting her. "So your precious Horde can take over the Commonwealth, replacing the Temple with another foreign power? The people of Requiem—people oppressed, their magic stolen away—must be those to reclaim their own kingdom. To wake up. To find the magic within them, to realize that magic is no disease. To turn the purifications away."

  Amity's face flushed and sweat dampened her hair. She stomped forward, grabbed Fidelity's arms, and snarled down at her. Fidelity forced herself to glare back at the taller woman, though fear filled her; Amity was older than her, fiercer and stronger, and could probably snap all her bones.

  "I realize this," Amity said in a slow, dangerous hiss. "My parents realized this. They saved me from purification, refusing to let the paladins steal my magic. They paid for that defiance against the Temple with their lives." Her fingers dug painfully into Fidelity's arms. "Never dare question my loyalty to Requiem again, girl. Every breath I take, every beat of my heart, every swing of my sword, every flap of my wings—they are for Requiem."

  "Then help restore Requiem's memory," Fidelity said. "I can't do this without you, Amity. I'm a librarian. But I need a soldier helping me. We need to work together, books and blades. Will you help me? Will you be my sister?"

  The anger seemed to leave Amity. She released Fidelity and took a few steps away, turned to stare at the forest, and said nothing.

  Cade stood in the forest clearing, looking at the others one by one. Finally the boy seemed to make a decision. He took a deep breath and stepped toward Fidelity.

  "I'll go with you," he said.

  Warmth filled Fidelity and she smiled. Perhaps she had judged the boy too harshly. Cade had come into her library, paladins on his tail, and had disrupted her life. Thanks to Cade, she was now in exile, her library destroyed, all her books but one burnt and buried. Since fleeing the devastation, she had thought Cade a menace. Many times, she had come close to hating him. But now, seeing the eagerness in his eyes, the light that shone there for Requiem, her anger at him faded. She took his hand, kissed his cheek, and smiled to see him blush.

  "Thank you, Cade." She turned to look at her father and Amity. "Will you join Cade and me? Will—"

  A chorus of shouts rose in the distance, interrupting her. Fidelity frowned, spun around, and faced the forest. The sound came from the Horde's camp: screaming men, shrieking griffins, and above them all the roar of firedrakes.

  A distant trumpet blared, war drums boomed, and a man cried out, "The Temple attacks! The Temple attacks!"

  Fidelity grabbed her book and clutched it to her chest. Her spectacles slid off her nose and fell to the ground. Fear, cold and all-consuming, gripped her like the claws of a firedrake.

  CADE

  He ran through the brush, emerged into the camp, and gasped.

  "Oh Spirit's flea-ridden beard," he whispered.

  When arriving on these islands, the northeastern outposts of the Horde, Cade had thought to find safety from the Cured Temple. Now the might of that cruel faith descended upon the islands with warships, howling soldiers, and a flight of firedrakes. Cannons blasted from the brigantines in the water, soldiers raced across the beaches, and the firedrakes swooped toward the camp, blasting out flame.

  Warriors of the Horde raced about, firing arrows. More warriors took flight on the backs of griffins and salvanae, soaring toward the firedrakes. Screams rose and blood washed the camp. Already the flames of firedrakes were burning down huts, and the beasts' claws were tearing men apart.

  "Cade, fly with me!" Korvin shouted, emerging from the forest. The old soldier shifted, rose into the sky as a gray dragon, and blasted out flame.

  Cade sucked in breath, shifted, and rose into the air. An instant later, Fidelity rose at his side, a blue dragon blowing fire, and Amity soared above them, a roaring red dragon.

  Requiem flies again, Cade thought, pride welling in him to fight alongside his comrades.

  "The weredragons!" rose a voice above—Mercy's voice. "The weredragons are here! Slay them!"

  Cade looked up and growled. Mercy flew above upon a new firedrake, a burly copper beast; Domi was nowhere to be seen. With screeches like shattering glass, the firedrakes and their riders charged across the sky toward the four dragons.

  With heat, blood, and pounding fury, the battle exploded around Cade.

  The firedrakes spewed down jets of flame, and Cade screamed as the fire washed across his scales. Mercy's armor flashed above. With her firedrake engulfed in smoke, the paladin seemed to be flying alone through the air. She aimed a crossbow. A bolt whizzed and glanced off Cade's scales, and he cried out in pain. He flew toward Mercy, blasting out flames, only for her firedrake to soar and dodge his dragonfire. Before Cade could pursue Mercy and her mount, two other firedrakes—both black as tar—swooped toward him, claws extended.

  The beasts crashed into Cade with the clatter of cracking scales.

  Cade tumbled from the sky, tail flailing, wings beating uselessly. He slammed against a burning hut, crashed through the roof, and landed ins
ide the smoky remains of the house. The pain yanked the magic out of him. He returned to human form, coughing, bleeding.

  The firedrakes swooped from above, and their twin jets of fire streamed down toward him.

  Cade screamed, leaped aside, and ran through what remained of the hut's doorway. He emerged into the battlefield, singed and bleeding, burn marks spreading across his burlap tunic. All around him, warriors of the Horde ran through the camp, firing arrows up at the firedrakes. Already swordsmen of the Temple—burly soldiers clad in chainmail—were emerging from among the trees. Griffins, salvanae, firedrakes, and Vir Requis all battled above, and—

  The two black firedrakes burst through the burning hut, scattering logs. They raced toward Cade.

  With a yelp, Cade shifted back into a dragon and flew toward them. He roared madly, blasting out fire, and crashed into the pair.

  Flames and blood engulfed him.

  Claws tore at him. Upon the firedrakes' backs, paladins fired crossbows, and bolts slammed into Cade, cracking his scales. He cried out in pain. He almost lost his magic again. He clung desperately to his dragon form, roared, and closed his jaws around one firedrake's neck. He tugged back, tearing out flesh, spitting out blood. As the wounded firedrake fell, spilling its rider from the saddle, the second beast lashed its claws. The blow slammed into Cade's head, knocking him down.

  The firedrake's rider shot his crossbow just as Cade, wounded and dizzy, lost his magic again. The quarrel flew to where his dragon neck had been instants ago, hitting the soil instead.

  "Boy, stop playing around and fight as a dragon, damn you!" Amity roared, flying above as a red dragon, three firedrakes on her tail.

  Cade shifted back into a dragon, leaped toward the firedrake facing him, and slammed his claws into the beast. The animal screeched, stumbled backward, and crashed into a hut. The structure collapsed, and the firedrake's paladin fell from the saddle.

  Cade beat his wings, soared twenty feet into the air, and rained down an inferno of dragonfire.

  The flames crashed against the firedrake and its rider. Both beast and man screamed as they burned.

  With a brief moment for breath, Cade panted and glanced around. His heart sank.

  Spirit damn it.

  The Horde's forces were falling fast. The corpses of men from motley nations lay charred, red bones rising from blackened flesh, and the sickening sights and stench reminded Cade of the corpses of his parents. A griffin fell from the sky and slammed down beside him; both the animal and its rider were dead. A salvana coiled overhead, a great flying serpent that blasted lightning from its mouth. Its bolts took down one firedrake, but three others descended upon the salvana, bit deep, and tore the ancient true dragon apart. Scales rained. On the ground, a battle was raging too. Hundreds of Temple soldiers kept emerging from their rainforest, thrusting their swords at the Horde, and Cade still heard the cannons blasting from the sea.

  Cade beat his wings and rose high. He spewed out fire, holding back a firedrake, and kept ascending. The battle raged in every direction, and the trees burned.

  "Fidelity, do you have the book?" Cade shouted. He saw the blue dragon flying nearby, blowing fire down onto enemy soldiers.

  She glanced at him and nodded. "Yes!"

  "Then let's get the Abyss out of here!" Cade shouted. "Come on!"

  "Not without Korvin and Amity!" she cried back. "Where are they?"

  Cade whipped his head from side to side, then had to swerve when a firedrake charged toward him, blowing flames. Cade rose higher, blasted out his own dragonfire, and hit the creature. Fidelity added her flames to his. As a human, she was perhaps only a spectacled, bookish young woman, but as a blue dragon, Fidelity roared and blasted out death from her jaws. The firedrake and its rider crashed down, and warriors of the Horde leaped toward the fallen, lashing swords.

  "There!" Cade shouted and pointed a claw. "They're attacking the ships!"

  When he looked west, he saw the enemy charging up the island, racing up paths cut into the cliffs. In the water, more Templers kept emerging from brigantines and rowing landing craft toward the beaches. Cannons blasted from the ships, shattering the huts the Horde had raised upon the beaches. As Cade watched, one of the Horde's griffins swooped toward a ship, only for a cannonball to blast toward it. The iron projectile tore the griffin apart. Blood, feathers, and gobbets of flesh fell into the sea, rocking the rowboats still heading to the shore.

  A gray dragon and a red dragon—Korvin and Amity—flew above the ships, dodging the cannonballs. Korvin blasted down dragonfire, burning one of the warships, while Amity was battling three firedrakes that flew around her. The firedrakes' riders were firing crossbows. Already Amity bled from several cuts, yet still she fought.

  Cade snarled and flew across the island, heading toward them. He had not known Korvin for long, but the gruff old soldier was already dear to him, as precious as a father. Cade had known Amity for even less time, and though the woman had spent the past few days taunting and even smacking him more than once, he suddenly loved her too. She was a fellow Vir Requis; therefore she was his sister. Cade roared as he flew toward them, and Fidelity flew at his side, sending forth her dragonfire.

  The firedrakes and cannons turned their way.

  Fire blasted across the coast.

  As he fought, Cade forgot that he even had a human form, forgot his old life, forgot that he had ever been a baker. Here above the sea, he was a dragon of Requiem, a creature of wrath and nobility, of fangs and fire and claws. A firedrake lashed its claws at him; Cade soared, knocked it aside, and burned it down. A cannonball flew right by him, nearly deafening, and he swerved and swooped, burning the ship.

  Yet more firedrakes kept arriving. Soon ten or more were flying toward them, and the cannons kept blasting, and they were only four dragons.

  "Korvin, we must fly!" Cade shouted to the older, larger dragon who still flew in the distance. "We have to protect the book. Fly west with me! Korvin, fl—"

  With blasting fire and roaring rage, Mercy and her firedrake swooped down. The paladin no longer rode the parti-colored Pyre but her beefy, copper beast. A jet of flame crashed into Korvin, and Mercy stood in her stirrups. She held a lance, its tip smeared with green paste; even from the distance, Cade smelled the acrid stench of ilbane. The paladin, all in white, her bleached hair streaming in the wind, tossed her lance.

  The shard flew through the air and sank into Korvin's neck.

  "No!" Cade shouted.

  Korvin opened his jaws to roar, but no sound left him. Green tendrils spread across the dragon's neck—the poison spreading.

  The scarred, charcoal dragon lost his magic.

  Korvin plunged through the air, a human again, and crashed into the sea.

  "Korvin!" Cade shouted, voice torn.

  More firedrakes flew toward them. Their flames crashed against Cade, but still he flew forward, passing through the fire, trying to reach Korvin. Crossbow bolts slammed into Cade, and he cried out in agony.

  "Father!" Fidelity shouted. "Fa—"

  Firedrakes charged toward her, lashing their claws. More flew up toward Cade. Without Korvin, the largest of Requiem's last dragons, the firedrakes flew with renewed vigor, their most dangerous opponent fallen.

  "Korvin!" Cade cried, trying to see if the man still lived, if he swam. "Mercy, damn you!"

  He saw the paladin through the flame and smoke. Mercy still rode on her firedrake, and she raised a new lance, this one too coated with ilbane. She smiled at Cade, and her blue eyes pierced through the smoke to bore into him. Six firedrakes rose around her, and they all came charging toward Cade and Fidelity.

  Cade grimaced, prepared to fight and die.

  Red scales flashed. Fire exploded. Amity—larger, faster, and wilder than Cade and Fidelity—came storming forth. She placed herself between the firedrakes and the two smaller dragons.

  "Fly, Cade!" Amity shouted. "Fidelity, fly with him! Save your book, go!"

  With that, the wild red dr
agon blasted forth a great jet of flame. She charged forward, spread her wings wide, and slammed into the firedrakes, taking all their fire against her. The flames washed across Amity, enveloped her wings, showering outward.

  Cade wanted to stay, wanted to fight with Amity, wanted to find Korvin . . . but he could not let them die in vain. He could not die with them, the lore of Requiem forgotten.

  I have to flee. With Fidelity and her book.

  He grabbed the blue dragon and tugged her back.

  "Fidelity, come! Fly with me!"

  Amity was still battling the firedrakes, taking on all seven alone. The red dragon was a horror to behold, burning but still alive, roaring, lashing her claws through the inferno, screaming for Requiem.

  Hovering above the battle, Fidelity wept. "My father . . ."

  "If he's alive, Amity will find him!" Cade shouted and grabbed her with his claws. "We must save the book. Come on!"

  Cannons blasted below. One cannonball shot between the two dragons, chipping scales along Fidelity's leg. She cried out. An arrow flew from below and drove into her foot, and she yowled. Green lines spread across her leg—the poison of ilbane.

  Gasping, Fidelity lost her magic and tumbled down, a human again.

  Cade swooped, grabbed her in his claws, and flew.

  "I'm getting you out of here." He beat his wings, flying west as fast as he could. Fidelity lay slumped in his claws, bleeding. A hundred other arrows flew around them.

  Cade flew across the sea, heading westward. Behind him, the cannons still blasted, the firedrakes still screeched, and Amity still roared . . . then fell silent.