Lawless
Page 23
“Protect me? You used me as an experiment!”
“I honored you.” Lord Garishton turned around. She felt the scrape of his claws upon the ground, his every step vibrating the stone beneath her. “I gave you the power of Those Above, to give and to take away a basic right of human and dragon. The precious Talents.”
Kesia tilted her head to the side. “Give? How could I give Talents?”
“Oh, how little you know, my dear niece. How much I have longed to teach you. But alas, I couldn’t. Not while your parents hid you. At last, when they were dead, I thought to finally reveal your true strengths, but that weakness in you—that embermate bond—demanded satisfaction. I couldn’t reach you while that prince held you captive in a heartflame bond.”
She felt the wash of his commanding vocal Talent. Knew the compulsion was there, but only as rain splashing against a window. She wasn’t affected. Because of her green smoke powers? Or her bond with Zephryn?
Perhaps both.
The claws scraped closer, like knives over a whetstone. Kesia longed to shift, to meet Garishton in dragon form, but that would be a move of challenge. With three other dragons in the room, she wouldn’t survive for a moment.
She forced a laugh to hide the fear that shook her hands. “You blame Zephryn now? The embermate bond is undeniable.”
If only she could shake the room. If only she could sing, wielding the incredible power she’d had in her memory.
Lord Garishton slithered closer to her, his words echoing in her bones. “Not anymore. I’ve found a way to break the embermate bond, to unbind your heartflames so that you may live.”
Her breath caught, heart pounding.
“Why would you do that?”
“To free you, my niece. Just as I was freed.” He sent out a tongue of flame. “I, too, was deceived into an embermate bond. A blessed honor among dragons. Until the most unexpected thing happened.”
“What?” If he kept talking, it would give Zephryn time to get here. Maybe he could find her. “What is so wrong about the bonds?”
“That they aren’t exclusive. My beautiful embermate, my heartflame, was claimed by another equally. An exceptionally rare occurrence, as rare as the birth of a dragon with two Talents. Of course, this being the Scepter of Justice, there was a law governing such situations. The dragon of greater need was bound. The council ruled that since the other potential embermate was the crown prince, he was far more important than I.”
She swallowed, feeling a tiny twinge of pity. “A horrible law. Unfair. I agree.”
“At first I tried to reconcile myself to it. You see, I deeply love my people. I loved the kingdom. I could bear the emptiness of a broken heart for the rest of my years. But the years are longer than you’d think, Kesia. Because I was denied a basic right of dragonhood, I no longer felt kinship with my people. Thank the All-Maker I found others who had been equally deceived, others who had endured poor treatment from the famed Scepter of Justice.”
He was so close now that each word shivered along her bare skin. “And so, you mistreated me? How does your grievance justify my torture?”
Garishton exhaled a gust of flames. She flinched but stood firm. “Don’t you understand? I’ve fixed the system. Now there will be no more torment over lost bonds, no sense of affection to lose. There is only order and discipline and our true primal natures to govern us.”
“You’ve already lost everything. And I don’t need you. I have Zephryn.”
And so many others. Even if she died for them.
“Your fleet-wing? Where is he now? I thought he would give everything to protect you, but apparently not. Maybe he finally realized your worthlessness.”
“No.” Zephryn would be here. He had to be. Even if she couldn’t sense him, he wouldn’t leave her alone to face her uncle and the Pinnacle.
“As I said, I can unbind you.” Garishton’s voice deepened with sorrow. “I had hoped you would come willingly, but I see that you have heard too many lies. Only when you are at the point of death can you be unbound and remade into my true heir. If there was any other way, my niece—but there is not. And I will not lose my only remaining family.”
“All of this, just to claim me as your heir?” Kesia scoffed. “You could have taken me in at any time when I was terrified as a child. Back when that Talent of yours actually worked a little on me!”
“I had to give my sister every chance! She didn’t understand what she was turning away from.”
“No, she just understood that she had to protect her only daughter from a madman.”
“I saved your life.” His words were dangerously calm. As they had been when she was a child and trapped. “You should be grateful.”
Fear trickled up her back, cold water on the fire. Voice compulsion without a Talent. Calling up the small room, chilled to numb the pain. Kesia could almost feel the straps digging into her wrists and ankles.
No! She couldn’t give in now. Kesia’s hands clenched into fists, her fingernails digging into her skin. She had to give Zephryn more time.
“I-I didn’t call to him, you know.” Firmer, Kesia. Firmer! Stronger. She swallowed again. “I did not seek out an embermate. Zephryn Nightstalker found me.”
“Oh, I know he did.” Something slithered over the edge of her foot, hard and ridged with scales. The barbed edge cut into her flesh, and warm blood trickled to the floor. “He had been seeking you. Even the night you murdered your father, he tossed and turned in his cell, soaked in sweat and pain, using all his power to find you.”
The night she murdered—killed the monster her father had become. Killed in self-defense. Kesia repeated the phrase in her mind. She couldn’t let Garishton delude her again.
Then another part of her uncle’s words struck her.
Zephryn, giving all his power. Even alone, in his cell.
“He was as selfish as his father, taking my own rightful kindred from me. What irony. The king takes my embermate, and his son takes my niece.”
Garishton’s tail coiled around her further. It was the coward’s way, to take out another dragon in their skin form instead of meeting them in battle. Kesia tried to remember that, tried to hang on to it to still the shudders in her body.
She closed her eyes, willing herself to think back to that night in the cavern instead of burying it. Remembering the sudden swell of power within her that had shaken the cavern itself. It had been a power beyond hers, one that amplified her capabilities to frightening levels, even without a bond.
“Embermates.” Her word was a whisper.
Kesia could sense the heat building in Lord Garishton’s body preparing to blast her with flame.
No.
She was not dying today without a fight. In her last, desperate battle, perhaps Zephryn might find her again. It was the only chance for success. Rage and purpose flared through her. Dragon scales speckled her skin, and her body flamed with fire.
Garishton gave a harsh chuckle. “Do you think this will deter me? I am made of flame and ash, and I have killed many more than you, my niece.”
“I am Ironfire. And you have not seen the half of what I can burn.”
She shifted, scales slipping over her skin with violent speed, her form matching those of the others in the room. She angled her long neck out of his hold, her wings pushing out behind her, creating a circle of protection.
The lights around the other figures flickered wildly as the dragons turned around, their eyes glinting dangerously.
Let them. She had nothing to lose.
Eleven years ago, a small dragonet had faced a monster in her cave and shook the walls. Now, Kesia called upon that same force, reaching out with everything in her. With all of her passion, all of her strength, all of her grief at what was taken, and all of her unspoken love.
Inexplicable power filled her. More than herself. More tha
n she could have ever been alone.
Kesia Ironfire opened her mouth and sang a song of high, bone-shattering notes and vibrations that quaked the ground beneath into fragments. A song of flame and power and hope.
Even if it was her last.
***
She was dying.
Zephryn flapped his wings faster, catching the powerful wind currents and letting them drive him toward the Pinnacle. The tower loomed in the distance, but his mind held only one purpose.
Get there in time.
He felt Kesia pulling on his heartflame, the same as he had when he was a child. The moment he’d seen her on the cell floor in chains, he’d known that she was the dragon who had stolen into his dreams and drawn upon his power.
Using it. Amplifying it.
Many had mistaken the Nightstalker ability for a simple Cloaking Talent, but the monarchy of the Scepter of Justice hadn’t been established based on mere Cloaking. It was so much more. It was a perception of the elements that bound the world together, elements that allowed dragons to shift their forms to and from the Nether. A Talent that allowed the Nightstalkers to break the boundaries that held the very world together.
Garishton had never discovered the truth.
Before they had even met, Kesia had called out to Zephryn and summoned the power from his heartflame. He had responded, giving this unknown being every ounce of his strength and will, allowing her a full share in his inheritance and expecting nothing in return, except to stand by her side forever. To care for her, even though he hardly knew how.
Now, Kesia was calling on him again. He felt the power leave his heartflame and amplify her Talents. His Cloak left his form, exposing him to the eyes of any who would look. She would only do that if there was no other way.
Why hadn’t he told her about it? Why had he hidden so much? To protect her? To protect himself? The only thing that mattered now was getting to the Pinnacle before she brought it down and buried herself beneath the rubble. His power was strong and terrible, and she had never been trained to use it.
No answer. Zephryn pushed on. Dragons patrolled the airspace around the Pinnacle, swooping in defensive patterns that allowed no one in except by permission.
He was the prince. He had permission.
Another dragon with bright orange scales flew to intercept him.
The intercepting dragon hesitated. It was a moment too long. Zephryn blasted him with a fountain of flames. They danced over his scales, flickering along the surface. Normally, Zephryn’s Talent could undo any slatesheen protection, but right now, all of his power had to go to Kesia, which meant using less savory tactics.
He pulled his wings in and dropped down suddenly, dodging beneath the other dragon’s belly. His claws cut through flesh, dragging long gashes into it. Then Zephryn retracted his legs and whirled into a barrel roll, flying away.
A shape loomed above him. The first dragon swooped down, claws extended. Zephryn didn’t have time for this!
He pulled back on his power, just enough to fuel his flames into a slatesheen penetrating inferno. Whipping his neck around, he blasted the dragon with them. The firestorm captured the dragon in its fury.
Zephryn flew on, higher and higher toward the top of the Pinnacle. A large outcrop of rock suddenly angled toward him. He shifted to the side, the mass whizzing past his head. At the same time, a dragon song assaulted his bones, harsh and deep and beautiful. More debris fell around him as the arches of the great structure crumbled beneath the notes. Kesia was destroying the Pinnacle.
Two great dragons emerged from the rubble. Lady Oprisa Hailstone, her pale blue scales mottled with debris. Behind her, Lord Garishton Ironfire, with the same deep red scales as Kesia. Both of them struggled through the wreckage.
Garishton turned his head back, his eyes glittering.
More of the arches collapsed. Pain shivered through their bond.
He closed the last few lengths and hovered in the air.
What did she need? Compliments. Telling her she was capable. Naturally, she was. But Kesia needed to hear it again. Her life depended on it.
A chuckle filtered into his mind.
Her voice disappeared from his mind. No presence of her at all. Fear and disbelief punched at his gut. Had she died? Was he too late?
Zephryn flew through the deadly rainfall of debris, trying to catch a glimpse of her.
Something landed on his back. Not heavy as the rocks, but light as a feather. Feathers.
The raven gave a few merry chirps.
Zephryn blew a stream of fire, joy overtaking annoyance.
He felt the lightness disappear as Kesia shifted again, returning to her deep red scale form. Zephryn flicked his tail toward hers.
Chapter 24
Flying using only the ship’s engines rankled Shance’s soul.
Yes, The Silver Streak was the fastest in the fleet. Nothing could equal the strength of its engine, especially with Kesia’s repairs. The hull had been remade with the newest wood and metal polymer alloy, designed to minimize wind drag as well as resist dragon fire. But the vessel was even faster when he controlled the wind currents that filled the auxiliary sails. Sails that weren’t necessary on any Congruency airship except for his, because of his Talent. A Talent that still hadn’t resurfaced and wouldn’t for another eighteen hours.
Sunlight filtered over the edge of the horizon. Even without his Talent, they had made excellent speed to the edge of dragon airspace. Nightstalker was somewhere ahead of them. An unloaded dragon could best the speeds of even The Silver Streak, and the dragon had plenty of reason to speed on.
Shance walked the deck, running his hand along the railing. Doing so reminded him of the past six days, when he and Kesia had worked tirelessly on this ship together, inseparable and focused on the same goal. It had been magical—and he didn’t believe in magic. Who knew having a friendship with a female was possible, much less enjoyable?
All that being said, he could use a good meal and a beautiful woman when this was over. A woman he didn’t have to view as
a sister. And preferably one who wasn’t a killer.
The way Kesia’s sweet, playful exterior had vanished beneath the threat of General Brody and his men had unnerved him. Kesia had become deadly, and it had fit her perfectly. Dragons were predators. Even the least of them were natural hunters. Balanced with a desire for justice, he supposed that made them good at watching over the other Scepters.
As long as there was a council to balance the bloodthirst. That was partially encouraging. Maybe his distaste of violence was rooted in something ancestral and useful instead of being a liability. Perhaps there was purpose behind it.
“Captain Windkeeper?”
He blinked. Captain Tegan had been assigned by General Markem as his first mate. “Yes, Captain—Commander Tegan. How are the sails?”
“They are continuing to wave, sir.” Was there an edge to her voice? He had to be imagining it. “The lookout has spied dragons.”
So, the flamers had sighted them. Shance didn’t feel bad about the slur. These dragons were on the enemy side. “How many?”
“At least eight, sir. Possibly ten.” Tegan cleared her throat. “Are you able to use your Talent?”
“Not yet, Commander.”
Tegan’s eyes widened. “Then perhaps we should attempt a retreat. There was a cloudbank a mile back. We might be able to take shelter there before they reach us.”
“Retreat?”
“Think of it as advancing in the opposite direction to minimize bloodshed and improve future chances of survival. Sir.”
“Granted.” As much as Shance loathed a fire-fight, skulking in a cloud cluster was equally repellant and cowardly. Still, what other options did they have? He wouldn’t risk his crew. “All right. Do it. Once we’re inside, everyone go full-silent.”
“Aye, sir.”
She turned to leave.
“Commander?”
“Sir?”
“You said ‘bloodshed.’ The preferred military term is ‘casualties,’ isn’t it?”
She stiffened, and said in a soft, cold voice, “When people are injured and die, they lose blood, sir. Bloodshed. The loss of a ship is a casualty. It can be far more easily replaced.”