The Queen of Dragons (Tales from the New Earth Book 8)

by J. J. Thompson

  He patted the weapon fondly.

  “I would draw it and show it to you, but I am a little superstitious about doing that. I believe that a sword should not be drawn unless it is meant to be used. My apologies.”

  “No problem,” Sylvie said as she looked at the sword.

  Lei's description didn't really tell her much, but then again she wasn't very knowledgeable about swords, or weapons in general.

  She turned away, gazing down the length of the Great Wall and considered its history. So much had been lost to them thanks to the dark gods and the dragons.

  “I wonder how long it will take Ellas to do her search?” Sylvie asked quietly.

  Chao stepped up to her side and she turned to see him smiling at her.

  “What?”

  “Nothing,” he replied, and then his smile widened. “It's just that your vague reaction to my brother's sword mirrored my own when he first dug it up in an old ruin on the outskirts of Beijing. I know nothing of weapons either. We went there on the strength of a dream he had had. Can you imagine that? Digging through rubble all the while watching the skies for signs of dragons? Ridiculous really, but I've always trusted my brother. This was before Lei exhibited any of his paladin's powers and before he had found his armor.”

  He looked past Sylvie at Lei, who had begun to pace along the edge of the wall impatiently watching the lands around them.

  “Traditional sword or not, neither of us were fighters back before our Change. We owned a small shop together, selling vegetables and herbs. We were both, what is the word, bookworms?”

  Sylvie nodded.

  “Ah good. Yes, we enjoyed reading, watching television, and playing video games. Both of us were single. We were born less than a year apart and were as close as twins, I think. We still are, for that matter.”

  “How old were you when you began to Change, Chao?” the mage asked curiously.

  “Nowhere near as old as some of the others. I have been told that Simon O'Toole was over sixty when the magic claimed him.”

  “He was, yes.”

  “Lei and I were in our thirties when it started.” His voice shook at the memory. “We thought that we were cursed. Our friends deserted us as our bodies began to alter. Our few relatives shunned us. We locked ourselves away in our rooms over our shop for our own safety. Changlings had been killed outright in the streets by gangs of vigilantes; religious fanatics mostly, screaming about demons. How ironic that the process they claimed was a curse was actually our salvation.”

  He slipped his fan out of his sash and flipped it absently from hand to hand.

  “I wonder what those people thought as they looked up to see dragons criss-crossing the sky and saw fire raining down to engulf them. Did they regret their actions or did they continue to blame the Changlings for their deaths? It is a question that I have pondered many times over the past few years.”

  “I can't answer that. Veronique and I had a similar experience, and most of the others that I've spoken to went through it as well. Fear and prejudice can make small-minded people do terrible things.”

  Chao sighed and nodded as he watched his brother.

  “True enough.”

  Sylvie looked at the metal fan that he was flipping around so deftly.

  “And where did you get that interesting piece?” she asked and pointed at it.

  “Ah, the fan. It was actually buried close to Lei's sword. We found it by accident, or at least we thought so at the time. Now I'm not so sure. I believe that the lords of Justice gave me a gift along with my brother. Perhaps they found it easier to nudge me into discovering the fan because both objects were buried close to each other. I cannot say. But when I saw it, it called to me in a way that I have never experienced before.”

  He opened the fan with a flourish and moved it around slowly so that Sylvie could get a good look at it.

  “I learned the hard way that the edges are razor-sharp, which makes me assume that it was made to be a weapon. Perhaps for a courtesan or noble lady. I don't really know. I also don't know what kind of metal it is made of. It isn't copper or any other element that I know of, so perhaps it is an amalgam of several different metals. Who knows? What I do know is that my powers work best when I channel them through the fan. I can still summon creatures without it, but it takes much more effort and time to do so.”

  “Hmm. I wonder if there are other objects like it hidden out there somewhere,” the mage said speculatively as she looked off to the horizon. “Tamara has that wand that Simon found for her, and of course he uses a staff. It would be to everyone's benefit if the rest of the magic-users had a means to use their talents more efficiently as well.”

  “I suspect that there are many such things in the world now,” Lei rumbled from behind her.

  Sylvie jumped a little and he laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

  “Forgive me, I didn't mean to startle you.”

  She laughed and waved away his apology.

  “No, it's fine. So what makes you think that there are other objects like that,” she nodded at his brother's fan, “out there?”

  “Logic mostly. We know that the gods of Chaos have reintroduced magic to the world to reshape it into the planet they once knew, to make it possible for them to escape the Void and take over again. They have also brought back magical animals and other creatures for the same reason. It makes sense that if the world was once littered with magical items, tomes of spells and whatnot, that they would bring them back as well, don't you think?”

  “Possibly. I'm not sure that I'd want to use any items created by those evil beings though.”

  Lei patted the hilt of his sword.

  “I assure you, lady mage, that this weapon was not forged by any dark god. It is blessed by the lords of Light and is anathema to evil.”

  “Maybe you and Liliana are special cases,” Sylvie suggested with a smile.

  The paladin bowed politely.

  “Somehow I doubt that, but thank you for the compliment.”

  Chao was listening to the exchange while watching their surroundings. A distant flicker of color got his attention and he interrupted the others.

  “I do believe that my little friend is returning,” he said, pointing toward the approaching speck of dazzling color.

  “She does love to make an entrance,” Lei said sarcastically.

  Sylvie laughed lightly and watched as Ellas shot toward them just above the surface of the wall. She moved with amazing speed and was on them in seconds.

  “I'm back!” the sprite exclaimed brightly.

  “We can see that,” Lei replied in a bland tone.

  Ellas glared at him and Chao stepped in to quell a possible argument.

  “Any news?” he asked quickly.

  “There is, yes,” she squeaked, with a final glare at the paladin. “I have sensed the presence of a human nearby; possibly more than one. I cannot tell; my magic isn't that specific. But he or they are no more than two miles away from this very spot. I did not go to see if it is your missing wizard, because I have no idea what he looks like. I'll leave that up to you.”

  “Excellent. Thank you, Ellas; you've come through for me again. Brilliant work.”

  The sprite was almost purring as Chao heaped compliments on her and Lei caught Sylvie's eyes as he rolled his own.

  She hid a smile behind her hand and remained silent.

  “Now, which way do we need to go?” Chao finally asked.

  The sprite pointed to the southwest, into the thick trees that grew in that direction.

  “I sense the human there. The emanations are weak though, meaning that he might be shielded. Possibly he is underground or perhaps he is wounded. I cannot tell which.”

  “Very well, let's get moving,” Lei said briskly, obviously happy to have something to do again. “Sylvie, can you Gate us down to the ground? Climbing off of the wall would take some time and might be a bit perilous.”

  “Certainly.”

  She wal
ked to the southern edge of the wall and looked for an open spot below. Fortunately there was the remnants of an old road, covered in weeds but still visible, and she pointed down at it.

  “There?”

  Both brothers looked down and nodded.

  “That will do nicely, thank you,” Lei assured her.

  “Good. Then Chao, if you would touch both my arm and your brother's at the same time, I'll take us there. Ellas? I know that you can fly down, but feel free to sit on my shoulder if you'd like. You have had a busy day, after all.”

  “Oh, you are polite, aren't you?” the sprite said approvingly. “I'm liking you more and more. But I shall meet you down there. Gating unsettles my stomach. I'll pass on your offer and fly down.”

  “As you wish. Take hold, gentlemen; we are leaving on the count of three.”

  Lei quickly touched her robe and put a hand on his brother's armor.

  Sylvie muttered the incantation for the teleportation spell and checked to make sure that the three of them were connected. She watched Ellas flutter off over the edge of the wall and smiled to herself. She was becoming more fond of the sprite, as quirky as she was, the more she got to know her. She was a strange little person, but fascinating as well.

  Ah well, let's concentrate on the mission for the moment, the mage told herself. Simon could be in danger.

  With a final check, Sylvie took a deep breath and concentrated on the road far below.

  “And one, two, three...Gate!”

  Chapter 10

  “I was just a poor little Canadian boy, born of Korean immigrants,” Aiden protested. “How was I supposed to even afford to travel to Paris? I was more worried about making a living.”

  “But it's Paris, Aiden,” Tamara replied with exaggerated patience. “You should have found the money and made the time, at least once.”

  The pair was standing next to the River Seine in the middle of the old French capital city, staring at what remained of the famous Eiffel Tower. It was a sad, depressing sight. The City of Lights had obviously been devastated on the Night of Burning.

  “If you could have seen it in its glory, you would have been quite impressed,” Tamara continued, her voice heavy with sadness as she turned away from the what had once been the historic tower.

  “It was...beyond beautiful.”

  The Seine, at least, was still running strong. In fact, the water was as clear and pristine as she had ever seen it. The one positive that had come from the dragons' return; the Earth was clean of man-made pollution.

  Great benefit, she thought bitterly.

  “I saw many pictures of the city,” Aiden assured her. “And Malcolm told me that he had thought about visiting a few times too. But back then, money was hard to come by and we were just a pair of small-town boys. Of course, we didn't know each other until after the Change. Who could have imagined that one day I'd have a mage for a friend who could instantly whiz me to Paris using magic?”

  The mage gave him a quick look and smiled at his obvious effort to cheer her up.

  “Not me, that's for sure. I was never one to dream of magic or play those video games that were popular back then. Mages? What was a mage? I didn't know.”

  She turned and leaned back against the metal railing that ran along the edge of the river. Strangely, it was still intact.

  Tamara slipped her wand from the sash on her robe and rolled it between her palms.

  “And yet, look at me now. Magic at my command and the world open before me. And for what? To see unhappy sights like that?”

  She nodded at the Eiffel Tower and Aiden looked back at it again.

  The edifice that had stretched skyward so proudly for so many years was now a twisted hulk. Its many steel beams and beautiful arches were heaped in a pile of wreckage about fifty feet high. The broken ends of metal were green with rust and a light breeze carried the acrid smell of metallic rot to their noses.

  Around the former tower, the city looked like it had been carpet-bombed. An occasional wall stood alone, oddly out of place, but for the most part all of the shops, offices and homes had been flattened and burned by the devastating draconian attack. It was heart-breaking to see.

  “I used to come to Paris a few times a year,” Tamara told him, her voice thick with emotion. “Sebastian came a couple of times as well, but he never cared for it the way that I did. Our parents brought us here as children, you see, and I just fell in love with it. On a summer night, it was sublime to walk along the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, stare up at the lights, watch the people enjoying themselves at the outdoor patios. Laughter, the smell of rich foods, the wine.” She sighed. “Those were some of the best days of my life.”

  Aiden watched her face and smiled at how young the usually stern woman suddenly looked.

  “And did you fall in love in this wondrous city, once upon a time?” he asked gently.

  Tamara gave him a hard look but couldn't hold it for long against his caring smile. She blushed self-consciously.

  “Once. Yes, once. It was a brief thing, really, but Jacques was a charming young man. A starving artist, naturally. My parents warned me about him, but I was nineteen and knew everything back then.”

  She shook her head and let out a self-deprecating laugh.

  “Gods, I was so stupid. He broke my heart, of course, but it was magical while it lasted.”

  “You weren't stupid, Tamara,” Aiden corrected her. “You were young. And in love. We all know more than our parents do when we're teenagers. I certainly did. I think I finally knew that I was an adult when I realized that I had been wrong about them the whole time.”

  She sighed again as she gazed blankly across the broken city.

  “Well, what does it matter now anyway? Useless memories will only divert us from our goal, which is to find out if Simon made it to Paris. And, if he did, what happened to him.”

  “Right. Well, this is the spot where the coordinates sent us. According to the sprite, Simon would have landed right here. So the question is, did he?”

  “Let's look around and see if we can spot any signs,” Tamara told him. “Footprints or some other marks. I doubt that anyone has passed this way since the city fell.”

  The pair began to scan the area, separating to maximize their efforts. Aiden turned to the right and Tamara went left, moving slowly as they examined the ground for any unusual markings.

  Time passed but neither of them spotted anything unusual. Tamara was frowning in concentration as she searched, unsure about whether she actually wanted to discover that Simon had actually traveled to Paris. The city was, besides depressing to one who had known it in its glory days, quite dangerous. Some buildings that had collapsed had left great gaping holes in the ground, while other openings were hidden by rubble. The mage almost fell into one herself as she wandered through what had once been a restaurant of some kind.

  A section of the floor had fallen away as she had stepped on it and Tamara had only just managed to stumble backwards in time to keep from falling a dozen feet into the darkness below.

  “Aiden!” she called out as she backed away from the jagged opening.

  “What is it?” he answered faintly.

  She left the decrepit building and looked around for him, but the warrior was nowhere to be seen.

  “Where are you?” she yelled as she scanned the area.

  The broken walls and piles of concrete and metal blocked her view and the mage could only see the buildings in her immediate vicinity.

  A crunching of armored soles marked Aiden's approach and she breathed easier as he rounded a corner and came into sight.

  “What is it? Are you okay?”

  Tamara nodded and indicated the building behind her.

  “I am but I wanted to warn you. The floor collapsed in there and I almost fell into the space underneath. I assume it was a storeroom or something. We have to be careful while we're poking around or we could go missing too.”

  Aiden nodded as he looked at the collapsed s
tructure.

  “I know. I actually think that we should avoid entering these buildings altogether, unless we see a clear set of tracks going inside. I really can't imagine that Simon would explore through them anyway. I'm sure that he was as aware as we are of how dangerous they can be.”

  “That's a good point.”

  The two of them walked out of the rubble and into a wide street that wasn't completely choked with debris.

  “So you had no luck?” Tamara asked as she futilely tried to shake the cement dust out of her robe.

  “None. If Simon ever meant to visit Paris, either he changed his mind or he never got a chance to get here in the first place. I think this place is a dead end; no pun intended.”

  The mage smiled weakly but nodded at his statement.

  “I have to agree. Whatever happened to him must have occurred at one of the other sites. I guess we should head back to the castle and...”

  She was cut off by the chilling sound of a distant scream. It rose in the air and echoed across the ruins before being cut off abruptly.

  “Dear God, what was that?”

  Aiden was looking in the direction of the sound, a hand on his sword hilt.

  “It was a man's voice, no question about it,” he said firmly.

  “Simon?”

  “No idea, but we have to check it out.”

  He hesitated and looked down at her.

  “Don't we?”

  “Of course we do,” she assured him. “Even if it isn't him, someone sounds hurt. Maybe it's a survivor. Come on, let's go. And watch your footing; we already know how unstable this place can be.”

  “Well now, this is lovely,” Malcolm said, sounding pleased. “I'd forgotten about the time difference. It can't be more than an hour after sunrise.”

  He was speaking to Veronique as he gazed across the vast expanse of the Grand Canyon. The sun was still just rising in the east and the air was cool and filled with the sweet smell of the night-time desert.

  The mage felt tiny next to the towering warrior, but his presence was also reassuring. It was like traveling with the biggest, toughest bodyguard ever, except that this one was wearing a hundred pounds of steel armor and had a massive sword hanging on his back, with its hilt poking over his shoulder.