The Balance of Power (Godsland Series: Books Four, Five, and Six)

by Rathbone, Brian

  "Not much," Sinjin said.

  "Is your vision blurry?"

  "A little," he admitted.

  "You need rest," she said with a sad smile. "You're very lucky, and so is your cat." She pointed at the pocket that held the carving. "No one will take anything from you," she said in response to his expression.

  "I'm sorry," was all Sinjin's muddled mind could think to say. She smiled that sad smile again and moved to the tent flap.

  "Rest," she said. "I'll bring you some water in a few minutes."

  Sinjin leaned back, but his head never hit the rolled blanket beneath it. A sudden clamor erupted outside and through the entire encampment. Unable to remain where he was, Sinjin crawled to the tent flap and looked outside. At first he could find no reason for the sudden alarm. Soldiers milled in confusion, but many were arming themselves, and Sinjin knew the fight must have arrived and apparently sooner than expected.

  Another uproar suddenly split the air, and this one had a note of amazement and confusion. Pushing himself slowly upright, Sinjin waited for the dizziness to pass. A moment later, he nearly fell over backward. The Dragon's Wing raced across the desert, leaving a swirling cloud of dust in its wake. Directly above the ship flew Valterius, and behind him came the rest of the flock. The crew of the Dragon's Wing and the Drakon had come to save him. He'd never felt so grateful and so terrified all at the same time. They should not be there. War was upon them, and now everything Sinjin cared about was in its path, and it was all his fault. The weight of responsibility was his as a leader, but this wasn't the same. If he'd only done something differently, then they wouldn't have risked everything to come here looking for him.

  Doing his best to wave and jump up and down without falling over, Sinjin somehow managed to get the attention of those aboard the Dragon's Wing.

  "There!" Brother Vaughn's voice carried across the tension-filled air.

  Valterius saw him then and swooped in front of the Dragon's Wing. Soldiers from the Midlands lined up with long spears, ready to hold off a charge.

  "They're on our side!" Sinjin cried out desperately. "Don't attack!" His words were heard, but the men held their ground, and Sinjin ran screaming toward the lines, ready to tear the spears from the men's hands. "Those are my people!"

  The shrill note in Sinjin's voice cut through the din, and someone cried out, "Hold your formation! Lower your weapons! Allow them to approach. If they make an aggressive move, leave none alive."

  Sinjin's heart was on the verge of breaking as the Dragon's Wing gradually lowered and slowed until she skimmed the sands; then she slowed abruptly and jerked to a stop. Valterius flew ahead and landed in front of Sinjin, using his wings to shield Sinjin, daring anyone to threaten him. Where had this sentiment been when the dragon had left him there? Sinjin wondered. At least his mount had returned for him and with help.

  The Drakon landed behind Valterius and assumed defensive postures.

  "Please remain calm," Sinjin said. "These are my people, and they mean you no harm. They have simply come to get me because my dragon left me here." He cast a reproachful look at Valterius, who didn't even have the decency to look apologetic. Sinjin turned to the Drakon. "These people have treated me fairly, and they've battled the ferals for years. We share a common foe; we share a common cause, and I will stand with them." He knew he gave those from the Heights more credit than they deserved, but it would serve none of them to fight among themselves with the ferals preparing their attack.

  Looking out to the desert, Sinjin saw black dragons there, bringing troops ever closer. These troops were far ahead of the others, but they were safe. Even if an attack were launched against them, they would have sufficient time to fall back to the main force. If no attack came, then the ferals had established a forward presence. It was a brilliant tactic, and one Sinjin could think of no defense against, and those facts frightened him terribly.

  * * *

  Feeling tingly all over, Sinjin strapped himself into the saddle and looked around. It could not truly be real. He could not really be on some previously unknown continent about to fight ferals adragonback. Around him could not truly be the Drakon, and surely the Dragon's Wing did not rest on her side in the middle of the desert.

  The air grew chilly, and the skies were clear, allowing the full moon and the comets to cast the world in a mystical hue. Nothing seemed real to Sinjin's eye. He had to be dreaming. Gwen watched him from nearby, her right leg fidgeting, as it always did when she was nervous, and flames dripped from her fingers. She hadn't said anything to him, but she did surprise him with a quick hug--too quick--before he mounted. Complicated thoughts ran through Sinjin's mind, but he had to push them aside. The dragon riders from the Heights were about to mount the first assault, and the Drakon would fly in support, though he knew there wasn't a great deal they could do. Each had been armed with a sword and a lance, even though they all knew engaging ferals in midair would mean a quick death.

  Pelivor stood not far from Gwen, talking with Brother Vaughn, who was doing his best to coordinate with the men from the Heights and from the Midlands. It was chaotic but both groups knew they needed allies. They were still outmatched, but at least the outsider had brought some power to the fight. Sinjin wasn't yet convinced how much help the Drakon would be. They had never flown in battle; most had only a few hours in the saddle, and Sinjin cursed himself for not preparing them better. There simply hadn't been enough time. The events of the world raged around him, and he seemed to have precious little control over the course of events.

  Lights moved through the sky as the verdant dragons approached bearing fire and pitch, a dangerous combination. In each claw the dragons held huge cisterns filled with burning pitch, and the wooden structures on their backs, the things they called tierre, were lit up from within.

  Valterius sprang into the air, which caused a minor uproar among the troops. Regal dragons were nimble and quick in comparison to their formidable cousins. The Drakon followed closely. Sinjin found the front of the formation to be just about the loneliest place in the world. With Valterius beneath him, he could never be alone, and even if the dragon tested his patience with alarming regularity, he could no longer imagine his life without him. They were a unit, even if a dysfunctional one.

  Valterius took them higher. Ferals flew low over their soldiers, while others continued to bring more men and demons. From above, they looked like swarming insects, and Sinjin knew these bore a far more potent sting. The first of the verdants swooped in without a sound save the roar of the wind over its wings and the fanned flames. Sinjin could only imagine how hot those flaming cisterns must be, but the verdants showed their strength. Time seemed to slow as the first verdant released its grip on a cistern, which slowly tumbled away before striking the sands and erupting into flame. Screams rose from the flames, and those who were not on fire were illuminated brightly. The verdant released the second cistern and it struck a feral on its way down, raining fire across a wide expanse. Black smoke now clogged the air over the sands. The instant the verdant released the second cistern, the ferals below attacked as one.

  That was when Sinjin saw the feral queen. Though not as large as a verdant, or even the smaller verdant Jehregard, the feral queen radiated fear. Flying at the fullest of her abilities, the queen came. Atop her back sat a wisp of a girl with dark hair streaming behind her. She didn't even look to be strapped in. With a flick of her hand, she cast red lightning and fire at the lead verdant. Those within the tierre hurled flaming clay pots at the ferals, and one struck the feral queen at about the same time the girl's fire struck the tierre. A thunderous boom sounded, and droplets of fire were cast high and far, like one of Brother Milo's fireworks.

  More verdants released their cisterns, illuminating the clouds of smoke from below and casting huge shadows that danced and writhed. The black army advanced, and screams rose up from behind Sinjin as the ferals attacked from the rear, using the night skies to their advantage and sneaking in low over the Cloud
Forest. More ferals attacked the verdants from above. The verdants did what they could to defend themselves, but the girl riding the feral queen used her power to turn their own weapons against them, sending dragons crashing to the sands in flames. Regal dragons were not immune to the danger, and Sinjin felt the pain as if it were his own when he saw Drakon struck down. The world was in chaos, and all Sinjin could do at that moment was hold on. Valterius made a series of sudden and violent maneuvers, and Sinjin would have protested if he could have spoken, but then he saw the feral bearing down on them, eyes locked on Valterius's neck.

  Sinjin used the staff and the stirrups to help him endure the forces applied by such sudden changes in direction. Something crashed into them, and Sinjin saw Halmsa thrusting his lance into the breast of a feral dragon. Such strength! The lance was torn from the man's hand as the feral flashed by, but the sound of the dragon striking sand that followed was unmistakable. The jolt had shifted his grip on the staff, and he loosened his hold on it enough to slide his hand back up. In that same instant, Valterius veered sideways. Sinjin's grip closed around the staff at the same moment he saw the reason for the evasive action. The feral queen was bearing down on them, and the girl drew back her balled fist, which leaked fire.

  Sinjin's fingers landed in the impressions left by his mother's grip; a cold, tingling feeling made the hair on his arm stand, and his own muscles tightened. His fingers clenched of their own volition and no matter how hard his mind tried to release the staff, his hand would not obey. He could feel his mother then, as if she were there with him, as if she had prepared this moment just for him. It was an odd feeling to have, but that was how he felt. Power surged through him, and he felt as if part of him were being washed away, like a dead shell being blasted away. Suddenly he could smell more acutely, and his vision focused on things he shouldn't be able to see. Even his thoughts raced so quickly that the world moved slowly.

  The girl mouthed some words as she approached, and Sinjin could feel the compulsion to let down his guard, to accept his coming death, to make it quick and painless. It would be a gift. That was when he felt his mother's presence more strongly than ever before, more strongly even than when she had been alive. He channeled her energy, her love, her care, and he focused it into single-minded intent. To his utter amazement, a blast of crystalline light shimmered and raced from his outstretched hand. With blinding brightness it illuminated the shock on the girl's face, and it struck before she could release her own attack. With such force that Sinjin thought he might have killed her, the girl was blasted from the back of the dragon and disappeared into a column of smoke.

  The feral queen continued forward, and the impact jarred Sinjin so hard, he thought he might have broken his jaw. Valterius spun three times before righting himself, and Sinjin could feel and taste the blood on his cheek. Looking down, he tried to find the girl, and it didn't take long to locate her. He'd expected to see her broken form lying still, but instead she was rimmed with fire and leading a far more organized charge against those from the Midlands. Verdants continued to rain fire on the black armies, but those weapons were too dangerous to use anywhere close to the fighting. It would do no good for those from the Heights to kill those from the Midlands; the two had been aligned for hundreds of years, even if Sinjin had heard hints of ongoing tension between the two. It would appear, at least, that they could work together when threatened by a common foe.

  Valterius took them higher and did his best to disengage from the conflict; it was apparent to Sinjin that his mount was shaken. Below them, the battle played out, and Sinjin was horrified by what he saw. From his vantage, it was clear they had no chance. Casualties were already starting to mount, and they had no reserves, no reinforcements, no second chances. No matter how much he wanted it, there was no way to go back, no way for his loved ones to escape.

  A deep grunt of exertion was the only warning Sinjin received before the feral queen swept into his vision from his periphery. Still gripping the staff, Sinjin waited until he could see the queen's pupils then he exerted his will. The power still flowed through him, but even so, he'd had doubts. But the staff rewarded him by issuing another blast of crystallized light that sent rainbows in all directions. This one struck the feral queen on the bridge of her long snout. Lightning crawled over the dragon's face, eyes, and nostrils. Her head smoking, the feral queen dropped away.

  Sinjin would have urged Valterius to go after the queen, but he could feel the irregularity of their flight. Valterius was hurt. Sinjin let the lines go slack, and Valterius circled lower, landing behind the Dragon's Wing, where Pelivor and Gwen were rallying the crew. Pelivor unleashed devastating attacks, and Sinjin thought of Koe. Reaching his hand into his pocket, he pulled the carved cat free, and he could feel the vast store of energy trapped within, just waiting for his will to release it. The rush of it made Sinjin's body vibrate, and he began to go numb from it. In the span of the next breath, he had to react or die. The feral queen came in low and quiet, her claws extended toward Sinjin and Valterius. He didn't have time to think, and energy simply leaped from the staff toward the approaching dragon.

  Koe thrummed in Sinjin's hand, and the staff focused the combined energy. Lightning struck the feral queen again in the face, and as soon as it connected, the line of liquid plasma pulsed and grew brighter as more and more energy flowed between them. The massive dragon's skull lit up from within, and Sinjin could see the underlying bone structure. It lasted only a moment, but the outline of it was burned into Sinjin's vision and would not go away. The feral queen could withstand no more and crashed into the trees in the distance; the sound of the snapping timber was horrific.

  It was a hollow victory, Sinjin knew. The feral queen had not been in charge of this army; it was the wisp of a girl. Sinjin thought of Trinda and knew better than to underestimate the childlike. When his dragon responded to his input and came in for a very awkward landing, Sinjin's concern grew. Running his hands over Valterius, his fingers found a jagged rib and another that caused the dragon to flinch. The saddle was making it worse, by the looks of it, and Sinjin didn't hesitate. He put Koe back in his pocket, drew his belt knife, and cut the saddle free. Unrestricted, Valterius gave him a trembling woof of thanks and took back to the air. Sinjin could only hope he found safety there.

  Chapter 21

  Rare moments exist where the actions of one forever change the world.

  --Imeteri, slave

  * * *

  Bright light on the horizon caused a momentary distraction, and Sinjin gulped in as much air as he could. The end was near, and this might be what finished them. He knew not what horror approached, but he could do nothing to stop it. No matter how much power the staff contained, his body could take only so much. A vast well of power remained available to him, yet he felt that he would simply burn into a wisp of smoke if he let any more of that power flow through him. His hands trembled, and his knees felt weak. Only the sight of his friends fighting for their lives kept him upright. Benjin was under pressure from three demons, and Gwen was cut off from him, unable to protect her father's back as she had been. Pelivor was at his own end from the effort of keeping the ferals at a distance; Sinjin had no idea how the man was still standing after releasing far more power than Sinjin had.

  The light drew closer, and he could see that there were clusters of light, many of them, and that light cast shadows over hulking wooden forms: ships. At the bow of one ship stood a diminutive form in a deep red dress, her blonde hair flowing behind her, and as always, a dour expression on her face. Much of the blinding light coursed from her outstretched fingers and formed a web between the flying ships. Sinjin heard the dark armies could do such things, but never would he have guessed that Trinda could as well. She landed her flat-bottomed ship within a few feet of the Dragon's Wing.

  From the deck of another ship came a different hue. Standing at the prow were Jharmin Kyte and Lady Lissa. He had never seen the lady before, but he knew her instantly; the resemblance to
his mother was painful to witness. Sinjin's grip tightened on the staff even knowing he couldn't use it. The greenish tint came from the flames that danced around Jharmin, who used strategic attacks of green and orange fire to clear a perimeter around the ships, while Trinda plucked ferals from the skies with incredible accuracy. The tide of the battle had changed already, and when the sides of the ships dropped open, a flood of people from the Godfist and the Greatland alike charged out in precise order, rank and file.

  The first group that emerged carried shields, save a few among them with long pikes. They established themselves along the perimeter Jharmin had created. Half went to their knees, and the other half stood behind them, forming a dense matrix of shields. Already the attacks from Trinda and Jharmin were slowing, but the line was established and more soldiers charged out. Each of these carried a bow over a shoulder and ran with cupped hands--hands that leaked blinding light. Kneeling down behind those with shields, the first rank uncapped their hands and set glowing orbs onto the sand. After cocking the odd-looking crossbows they carried, they loaded what Sinjin now recognized as herald globes. His mother had created them as a way to provide light within Dragonhold and as a way to grow food, and now they were poised to act as tools of war. Sinjin couldn't help but hope they were potent weapons in spite of his mother's original intentions.

  Looking down on him, Trinda gave him a wry smile. "I told you that you'd need something from me someday, and even though you weren't always nice to me, I won't make you ask." She raised her voice to her troops. "Fire!"

  On her command, the first volley was released, and dozens of bright lights flashed overhead, further illuminating the battlefield. The ferals, demons, and soldiers had been driven back, and the dark-haired girl was at the heart of the seething mass. Each herald globe struck with concussive force that made the ground tremble. Sand and whatever else within close proximity was thrown into the air and it rained down for long moments after each attack. Those under Trinda's command were calm and efficient, and rather than a hurried and haphazard process of reloading or rotating, the shields parted and a wave of runners sprinted onto the battlefield, looking for the globes. Despite being made mostly of glass, they all rested, unharmed, at the center of circles of destruction.