Dragon School: Starie Night

by Wilson, Sarah K. L.

  “See? They’re taking your friends to the Dominar. You think you’ve split us up with your words, but it is you who are divided. I can count the minutes of your life on my fingers.”

  Surely it hadn’t been that long yet! Was she planning to kill me prematurely?

  Something glimmered in the distance to the north-east as the Silver dragons launched into the air. Leng couldn’t sign with his hands ties, but his gaze never left me. When I finally tore my gaze from him. I felt like I was tearing myself in half.

  “I’m not done yet,” I said.

  “You will be when I slide my knife across your throat.”

  “I mean I’m not done describing the battlefield.”

  She laughed harshly. “Don’t let me stop you.”

  “From the north, the armies of Baojang are entering the fray. I can see the Sentries at the front of their ranks. They descend.”

  “What?!”

  I was yanked back to the platform, coughing and clutching my throat as Grandis Elfar stepped to the edge, stretching to look north-east.

  “They’re led by Jalla, the Winged Prince,” I said through my raw throat. “She is so feared in Baojang, that their war leaders united under her in a single day. She comes not to join you, but to finish you.”

  I thought I might see her in the distance, a flash of gold across the sky. The Silver dragon bearing Leng was growing smaller and smaller. There was suddenly a lot of activity around the Observatory.

  “Baojang stands with the Lightbringers,” I continued, this time, louder. “Baojang has read the prophecies. Savette Leedris is the one they call the Hasa’leen, the bringer of light.”

  The Magikas around us shifted uncomfortably, but Grandis Elfar was still looking to the north-east, her hands clenched in fists. I remembered those hands teaching me to oil and care for tack. What could have turned her so far against the truth?

  “I was so certain ...” she whispered. “How could they choose your side?”

  “It’s like the prophecies said:

  In secret, their doom is sealed.

  In secret, it is wrought.

  Evil brings its own demise.

  The dusk may still be fought.

  How could you have turned on your own people, Grandis? How could you have chosen to serve the Dusk Covenant?”

  “I believed ...”

  Keep pushing! I’ve almost found a way out...

  There were three dots heading toward us, dodging Ifrits and dragons as they came. I could almost pick them out by color. Gold. Purple. White.

  “And the people will be free of terror and the nations of uproar,

  when the Chosen One brings truth to the heart of the Dominion,

  when the dominion of darkness comes to an end.” I quoted.

  Grandis Elfar wasn’t looking at me. She was watching those dots like her life depended on it.

  “You’re misquoting the prophecies,” she said.

  “Or maybe it’s you who has been misquoting them all this time.”

  They weren’t dots anymore. They were dragons – and they were heading right for us. I could almost see Jalla’s flint-hard face when I quoted one last final prophecy.

  “Advised by folly and deception,

  Reflection but not the truth,

  Dark falls twixt the cities,

  And all her children scatter.

  Woe to her mother.

  Woe to the one who gave her birth.”

  I paused a moment before I asked. “That’s you, isn’t Grandis Elfar? After all, you’re her advisor. You’re the one who birthed that child of darkness.”

  Her slap rang across my face, so hard that it seemed to loosen my bones. I felt the whip wound open up again as hot fluid dripped down my cheek.

  Chapter Sixteen

  I didn’t have time to be shocked, didn’t have time to wonder if any part of me was going to survive unscathed after all of this was done. I reeled back and then the Grandis was whipping me, fury in her eyes.

  Crack!

  I threw my arm up over my face to protect it and felt the sharp agony of the whip’s snake-like strike on my arm. My Dragon Rider leathers squeaked as the leather pulled at them but they protected me from the worst of it.

  I stole a glance at the Grandis from behind my arm. She’d turned her back to the battle below us and the Magikas guard was turning inward, too, focused on our private battle instead of the armies clashing below. Frustration and uncertainty painted the Grandis’ face as she channeled her emotions into her strikes.

  Crack!

  The whip shot out again, slashing across my ribcage.

  Crack!

  The leathers protected my skin from splitting, but each whipcrack was like a blow and this one knocked me backward. I barely managed to keep my balance on the crutch.

  Crack!

  This time the whipcrack hit my leg. Growls of appreciation escaped the nearest Magika. Grandis Elfar wasn’t the only one who needed a release for her pent-up emotions. If I could keep them off balance and focused on me, maybe I could distract them for long enough that they’d forget why they were really here.

  The Grandis wasn’t speaking, but her face was red and her lips trembled as if she wanted to say something but the words wouldn’t form.

  Crack!

  This time, the whip wrapped around my crutch, pulling it out from under me. I crashed to the ground, barely breaking my own fall. My bad leg twisted under me awkwardly. Was it broken? I couldn’t feel if it was.

  With the surge of urgency pulsing through me, I couldn’t feel much of anything.

  I scrambled up, pressed the button on my crutch and with a flicking motion, I let the retractable end shoot out.

  This time, when the tip of the whip snaked toward me, I caught it on the crutch and jerked it toward me.

  The Grandis stumbled forward, her teeth gritted and a snarl on her face and she pulled back. I twisted to one side, carefully balancing on my crutch, and then pushing all my weight onto my good leg so I could pull the crutch to the side with a quick snap.

  The Grandis cried out, startled as she tripped, falling to one knee, and finally freed her whip.

  “I don’t have to wait a full hour, girl.” She pulled a wicked-looking curved knife as long as my forearm from a sheath at her belt and started forward again.

  I moved into a defensive position, bracing myself against my crutch. The Grandis nodded to the Magika beside her and he nodded back. What-?

  I tried to take a step back, but I was frozen in place. The smile on the Magika’s face was all I needed to see to know who was responsible. I didn’t need him to raise his glowing hand or wink at me – though he did.

  The Grandis bounced the flat back of the knife across her other palm as she walked toward me.

  In the distance, I could hear shouting. It seemed to be growing closer, but I couldn’t move to look at it, and my captors were preoccupied.

  “I suppose I could wait the full hour before I finish you off,” Grandis Elfar said, speculatively. “You don’t need to be whole to work as bait, do you? After all, you aren’t whole now.”

  If she thought that old insult had any power over me anymore, she could think again. I was so much more than the body I’d been given. I was so much more than the limitations others might try to put on me. I wasn’t going to die a cowering cripple. I would never be that again. When she slit my throat with that knife, I would die a Purple Dragon Rider, human to the Prince of Dragons, married to Leng Shardson, Lightbringer.

  In my wildest dreams, I couldn’t have asked for more than that.

  Yes! Yes! Finally, you get it!

  When it’s done, get to Haz’drazen as quickly as you can and see if she can save you. And take care of Leng.

  The Grandis raised the knife. Her eyes were so close that I could see my own face reflected in the pupils, I was proud that I looked so calm. I was ... wait ... was that ...?

  Fire flashed past me, incinerating the Magika holding my bonds. I dove to
the ground as screams and a howling wind of sudden flames filled the air around me.

  I rolled to the side to see the Grandis running, the curved knife in her hand. She dodged a burning Magika leaving him to stumble off the edge of the platform with an agonized scream. But she wasn’t fast enough.

  A golden blur flashed past me. Jalla and Renn rode Ahummal like angels of death. Ahummal’s tail smacked my shoulder and I flinched at the accidental hit, but my eyes grew wider as Jalla carefully drew her big sword.

  She leaned out precisely from Ahummal – like a master clothier preparing to cut cloth – and then, in a single, decisive movement, she lopped the Grandis’ head off her running body.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I pulled myself to my feet, looking around me at the chaos. There wasn’t a guard or Magika still standing on the platform. I stood, alone, in a tiny clear spot between clouds of smoke. Behind me, the wooden towers roared in flames while Ahummal carefully flamed any part of them not already consumed. No one ran to put out the fires. No one worked to assemble a counter-attack. Ahummal circled the platform and set down beside me.

  “We’re even now,” Jalla said, flicking her blade to one side to shake the last drops of blood off it. “Twice blood sisters, but equal in debt. This alliance is going to be good for us!” She grinned, and my eyes widened. Only Jalla would find this amusing. Only Jalla wouldn’t even flinch after single-handedly devastating a pair of towers and a half a dozen Magikas! “Good job distracting them. The Snake Prince is going to be envious of my tally. He’s never taken down so many magic-users at one time.”

  Was my mouth hanging open? Yes. I shut it quickly.

  “Well, I don’t have time to sit and girl talk right now. We have a war to win and Renn is feeling ill.” He looked ill. His face was green and his hands gripped Ahummal’s reins like they were the only thing keeping him tethered to reality. If I had ever wished revenge on Renn for his betrayal and moral weakness ... well, he certainly looked like a man who was suffering. What would a lifetime of being married to Jalla be like?

  Ahummal launched into the air and she was gone before I could thank her for saving my life or even ask her to carry me off the smoking platform. I gritted my teeth against the pain and hobbled to the stairs. If I waited too long, I’d run out of time. The tower end of the platform was already engulfed, black smoke swirling up through the leaping flames and embracing the sky.

  I hurried down the steps and then stopped. Between me and any allies was an army of soldiers, generals, Magikas and Ifrits bent on my destruction. Now that I was on the ground, I’d lost perspective. Even the caged wagons were too far away to hobble to easily.

  I watched as a squad of soldiers ran by, surrounding a Magika. His hands were alight with magical energy, and his intense gaze focused far away. In their wake, an Ifirit followed. I shrank back into the platform’s supporting stones. I didn’t want to catch his eye.

  When they were past, I shuffled out from my hiding place, blinking at the obstacle before me. I couldn’t stay here – not with a fire raging behind me. No one was even bothering to fight it. They all had bigger worries. I also couldn’t just stroll across a battlefield. I stood frozen, fear and worry clouding my mind.

  A shadow fell over me.

  I looked up, shielding my face with a hand, but all I saw was a dragon’s belly as he swooped over my head. He landed a few feet away.

  Raolcan!

  Amel!

  Chains wreathed his neck, rattling as he settled onto the ground. His eyes, blind now, were also swathed with metal chains, as if they could lock up his vision with their metal weight.

  I hurried to him, throwing my arms around his huge neck and nestling my cheek against his.

  Sorry it took so long. It was hard to convince the guards to unlock the chains.

  He managed that?

  I’m not proud of it. We aren’t supposed to use our mental voices to manipulate humans.

  I didn’t care about that. I only cared that he was alive and with me again. I tugged at the chains around his eyes.

  Leave them. We have other things to deal with right now. Can you ride without a saddle?

  If he was careful with me. And I could hold the chains, unless he thought that would hurt.

  Don’t baby me. I’m not a weakling. Look at me! With these chains on me, I look twice as tough as ever! Those Reds and their gnarled scales don’t have anything on this chain look!

  He still had his sense of humor.

  I smiled, kissed his cheek and then hobbled to his side to mount. He helped me, pushing me up onto his back with the help of his snout.

  I find that in life there are a lot of times where you can choose to either cry or laugh. I’d rather laugh.

  In the middle of a battle?

  Especially then!

  With our lives in the balance?

  What better time?

  I laughed, too.

  Okay, let’s show these dust demons what a blind dragon and lame rider can do!

  Blind and lame ... that reminded me of something.

  It should. It’s from the prophecies:

  When the people of the earth sound horn of battle,

  And the land trembles and is torn,

  When the skies are rent in sorrow,

  And the depths bring help no more,

  Then the lame and the blind shall lead them,

  And guide them from the storm.

  We rose up into the air and I tried to orient myself to see what was happening in the chaos of the battle. Jalla was flying back to her ranks. A White dragon – Enkenay! – closed in on Savette. Hubric ... where was Hubric? ... There! He was at the cages, a fleet of Sentries at his back. They were fighting the guards as a unit. That was something I’d never expected to see!

  When my eyes settled on Starie – not far now from Savette – I almost froze. She looked like she was looking right at me despite the distance and the blindfold. She lifted the Pipe in the air and waved it at me before blowing it fiercely.

  Uh oh.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Raolcan froze beneath me for a moment and we fell like a stone.

  No, no, no, no!

  His wings spread out suddenly, like a human who threw out his arms when he tripped to keep from falling face-first on the ground. and our descent eased. I scanned the sky, my heart rising into my throat as all around us, dragons dropped from the sky like meteors.

  Hubric and Kyrowat had been close to the earth when they dropped, and the older dragon looked unharmed. Hubric scrambled off him, his movements frantic as he rushed to his dragon’s head.

  I can’t hear their thoughts.

  Everyone or just the dragons?

  Just the dragons.

  I could hear my own heartbeat pulsing in my head and my breath came quickly. Were they dead? I’d played that Pipe many times and never actually hurt the dragons ...

  It was different. I don’t think they are dead. I think they are trapped ... it’s like they are behind stone doors I can’t access.

  Stone doors?

  Mentally.

  We needed to join Hubric. We could decide what to do then.

  Agreed.

  Hubric took up a position at Kyrowat’s head, his short sword drawn and a fierce look on his face, though none of the guards around the cages was coming for him. They seemed as shocked as he was by the dragons’ fall. A pair of legs stuck out from under Kyrowat’s belly and an arm from under his neck. He must have crushed a pair of guards when he fell. How many other people had been crushed across the battlefield? I glanced behind me. Chaos ruled across the plains.

  Keep your eyes ahead!

  I snapped to obey the order.

  It’s easier to see if I only have your mind to read. Easier than reading hundreds of minds at once. It means I can still talk to you and think about other things.

  What else was he thinking about?

  The kind of magic that can take the call of the Pipe and amplify it almost as if the
dragons affected were mirrors facing each other, reflecting that one note over and over and over.

  We were getting close to Kyrowat now and I gasped at his open eyes. Tears leaked from them, but he was unresponsive otherwise. Weren’t the eyes the mirror to the soul? Could Starie have somehow used her mirror magic to multiply the effects of the Pipe and to have them reverberate back and forth from one dragon to another and to another?

  It’s a crazy thought, but not a bad explanation. After all, what do I have that none of these other dragons have?

  Let me guess, ravishing good looks and a rapier wit.

  True. But I was referring to blindness. She can’t use my eyes against me.

  I had a flashback to Grandis Elfar refusing to meet Starie’s gaze. There was something to this theory. It had to do with the eyes. We needed to get that Pipe back from her before every dragon on this field of battle died. They were defenseless like this.

  Raolcan landed close to Kyrowat. Hubric spun toward us, sword raised. His shoulders sunk with relief and his eyes closed for a moment when he saw us.

  “Amel! Skies and stars, I thought you were dead! And that old lizard of yours, too!”

  Sure. Pick on me when you know I can’t talk back because your dragon is unconscious.

  “Is Kyrowat okay?”

  “I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” he said, pointing to Kyrowat. “He just fell – they all did.”

  His eyes narrowed when he looked at Raolcan.

  “Starie,” I gasped, sliding off of Raolcan’s back to limp to the cages. The guards were down, the Sentries and their riders ringing the cages. “I think her mirror magic uses the reflection of their eyes.”

  Hubric squatted down, staring Kyrowat in the eye. He waved a hand, but his dragon was unresponsive. He hung his head for a moment and then startled, tugging suddenly at the arm sticking out from under Kyrowat.

  “Here. Ask Raolcan to give Kyro a push. I’m never gonna get this guy out otherwise.”

  I frowned, watching him speechlessly. Had the old man mentally snapped with his dragon down and incapacitated?

  Raolcan hissed a steamy laugh before leaning forward to help.