The secicao forest rolled underneath us, rhododendron-like shrubs reaching up with thorns and sharp-speared buds pointing at the sky. Before I’d met Sukina, I’d seen these as having some kind of exotic beauty. But only now did I realise how hideous they were. Part of a chaos-ridden artificial forest, which twisted and choked and strangled the earth beneath. On the fringes of the Southlands, harvesting teams would have to wade through twenty-or-so centimetres of secicao resin. They’d wear wellies that they replaced every month or so since the stuff ate through everything, even dragon scales. Fortunately, Velos’ scales regenerated, so the effects on him were never permanent.
Soon enough, we were so deep into the clouds that I couldn't make out any more than the escort on either side of us. As we flew, the secicao clouds stung my skin. I’d taken a swig from my hip flask, so I couldn’t feel the chill so much. But still, I found it best to focus at this point, to relax in the saddle and control my faint and shallow breathing.
“Time to test it,” Faso’s voice came muffled from behind. I turned around to see him fiddling with the tap on Velos' flank. Beneath me, the armour began to glow a faint lime-green and heated up a little.
“Amazing!” Faso shouted. “It works.” And before I knew it, the wind was screaming against us, ripping back my hair as Velos overtook the Greys.
“Shut it off Faso!” Sukina shouted.
“But—”
“No buts! We can’t lose the Greys, or we’ll be shot down on sight.”
Faso reached down to Velos’ side again, made some adjustments, and the glow and the warmth quickly subsided. I shook my head and gritted my teeth. I liked nothing about the armour, and I hoped that as soon as we met Gerhaun Forsi that she'd be able to get it off Velos. But Velos lifted his head and roared into the clouds as if he disagreed with Sukina’s orders.
“It seems Velos quite liked that rush of secicao,” Faso pointed out.
“And he’ll need to learn that he shouldn’t use it without good reason,” Sukina said. “Discipline is important in the Southlands.”
It took another twenty minutes or so before Fortress Gerhaun came into sight. We didn't see it approaching as such, more it just sprung up on us. One moment we were travelling through thick brown fog, unable to see the light of day. Then all of a sudden, the clouds broke, and we entered a huge open space where some invisible force seemed to repel the secicao fumes. Great iron searchlights scanned the sky, with a blinding intensity when one of their beams crossed my gaze.
“That,” Sukina shouted. “Is the power of the collective unconscious. It's so strong here that the secicao can't get in. You see the same effect around any dragon queen.”
My jaw dropped in awe. Fortress Gerhaun was huge. It had a massive moat and a drawbridge leading over what I presumed to be the canal that linked the two rivers. The canal wasn’t as narrow as I'd imagined, broad enough in fact to house a good five or so small ironclads. The castle was impressive too. A thick wall surrounded an inner bailey, from where four cylindrical towers jutted out. We approached a spacious patio at the centre of this, with mosaics of coloured and grey dragons spread across it. By one depiction of a golden dragon in flight, a short and stocky man in a flat cap stood twiddling his moustache, staring up at us.
“I guess you'll meet my father sooner than I expected,” Sukina said. “That's him now.”
The man beckoned us in to land. The Greys of our formation pushed ahead of us and raised their feet ready for landing. Their claws scuffed against the stone once they touched down.
A moment later, we hit the ground with a thud, and I caught Sukina's father's stare for a moment. His expression was cold and assessing. But when he saw Faso, anger ignited in his eyes.
CHAPTER 12
Sukina's father was even shorter than Sukina. But he made up for that with a heavyset stockiness which kept him rooted to the ground, despite the wind buffeting against him from the dragons’ wings. Once we had landed, the man examined the armour on Velos then walked around to help us off the ladder. Sukina dismounted first.
I looked behind me and I noticed Faso seemed stuck on his seat, pushed against the back of it as if he didn’t want to leave the saddle.
“What have you got to be nervous about?” I asked.
“You'll see. If Sukina's father is anything like he used to be, anyway.”
“He can't be that bad.”
“You'll see… You'll see...”
I dismounted and reached the bottom of the make-shift ladder. Above me, I could swear Faso was trembling in his seat. I heard the click of a lighter and I turned my head to see Sukina’s father light a pipe. Stale secicao smoke rose from it.
He wore a camo flat-cap and a khaki short-sleeved shirt, with an impressive array of badges and stars sewn onto his shoulders and several pennants dangling from his breast pocket. His face was round with a fluffy moustache that curled upwards a little at each side, and the same almond eyes as Sukina, raised at the outside corners. He held the pipe firmly in his hand while he glared up at Faso, just sitting up there, clutching the bar on the harness in front of him. Sukina looked at her father's pipe and shook her head, but she didn't say anything about it.
“Blunders and dragonheats!” Sukina's father shouted up. “Come on down, you buffoon. You think you want to sit up there all day and starve?”
Faso looked down at him and his eyes widened. “I'm sorry, sir. I just need to make a few modifications up here.” He reached down away from us to where the spigot was on Velos' flank.
Sir? How exactly had this man got Faso treating him like a knight of all things.
Sukina, stood beside her father, her hands folded neatly in front of her white blouse, now stained yellow from the secicao clouds. She turned and put her mouth to her father’s ear. It was strange, even though she was whispering, I could hear her words perfectly in my head.
“Go easy on him, Butan,” Sukina said. “He's not as bad as you think.”
He harrumphed. “I'll be the judge of that.” He looked up again at Faso. “You don't come to ground soon,” he shouted, “I'll order my guards to shoot you down. Just because you had relations with my daughter, doesn't mean I'll go easy on you.”
Faso sat up and puffed out his cheeks. “Okay, I'll be right down.” He crawled towards the ladder.
Sukina's father turned to me and glared right at me. He took another puff on his pipe and I had to turn my head away from the sickening fumes.
“And so you came,” He said.
I waited for Sukina to say something, not really wanting to address this cantankerous man. But she simply nodded at me as if giving me approval to introduce myself. I approached timorously and offered him my hand.
“Pontopa Wells, at your service, Mr Sako.”
He twitched his moustache and looked generally unimpressed. “That's General Sako to you. What makes you so high and mighty that you think you can ignore my honorific?”
“I'm sorry, I didn't know.” My heart was hammering in my chest. I never thought a man so short could be so intimidating.
Faso's boots scuffed against the ground behind me. As he approached, he kept as close to Velos' flank as he could. Ratter was nowhere to be seen.
“Gordoni, boy,” General Sako said. “So, you’ve finally emerged from your hiding hole. Why don't you come forward and tell your ex-father-in-law-to-be what you've been doing all these years?”
“Well…” Faso tugged his collar.
“Yes, yes, I know. I take it that you've decided to take up Gerhaun's offer of a position with us. Dragonheats knows why Gerhaun would have ignored my condemnations of your professional qualities.”
Faso’s head was low. “It's not as if I was given much choice.”
He glanced at Sukina. Her eyes had become slits and her face as sour as a lime. “You mean to tell me that you didn't come here on your own will?” General Sako asked. “Then how exactly do I know you can be trusted? After all, I heard you signed a contract with King Cini. For all I know, y
ou could be performing reconnaissance for that pompous fool who thinks everything about him, including his own backside, should be called 'your majesty'.”
Faso didn’t utter a word. Probably a good thing, really, I don’t think General Sako was in the mood for listening to him. Still, I also signed that same contract with the king and I didn’t want to be accused of cooperating with any enemies.
“With all due respect,” I said. “Faso is only pursuing his own best interests. My parents and I are much the same. Although we deplore many of Cini's actions, we need to make sure we bring home enough money to live.”
General Sako looked up at Velos with scorn. “I hear, Miss Wells, that you've made quite a living from the secicao you send to the king. Tell me, what do you do with all the surplus cash you tuck away?” He pointed to the armour. “Perhaps it's put into revolting contraptions like that thing on your dragon's back.”
“The armour was Faso's doing,” I snapped back, without thinking. There was no way that I'd be held responsible for doing anything of the sort to Velos, even for a moment.
“Yes, yes, I might have known.” General Sako turned to Sukina. “I don't trust them. They need to be locked up.”
Sukina's lips tightened. “Butan, no!” Butan was Sukina’s word for father.
“Look, these two are clearly working for the king and they don’t seem to be doing so under duress. I have no reason to trust them and they must be locked up until we can properly vet them.”
“But I've already confirmed Miss Wells' abilities as a dragonseer.”
“And dragonseers have never turned traitor through history? We must go through proper procedures.”
“But Butan, Gerhaun said—”
“Blunders and dragonheats! I don't care what Gerhaun said, right now. If you want to wake up Gerhaun, go be my guest. For now, this is what we're going to do.” He turned to a guard behind him, who was wearing the same mustard yellow uniform as his comrades, as well as a navy-blue sash over his right shoulder to his opposite waist. “Wiggea, you heard me. Arrest them both... But go easy on the girl.”
The long-faced guard looked at General Sako in surprise. Then he saluted and ordered two of his guards forward. As soon as they approached, Ratter poked his shiny nose out of Faso's sleeve. The automaton scurried up to Faso’s shoulder and, beneath red glowing eyes, bared a monstrous array of razor-sharp teeth. Out emanated an ingratiating hiss. This stopped the guard in his tracks.
“What in the dragonheats?” General Sako said.
Sukina sighed. “Faso, if you know what's best for you, you'd disable that thing.”
Faso let out a huff then tapped Ratter three times.
“Take it to containment,” General Sako said.
“Yes sir,” Wiggea said and he motioned another soldier forward to retrieve Ratter, who Faso had placed neatly on the floor.
Sukina then caught my eye. I heard her voice in my head, even though she didn’t move her lips. Pontopa, don't be alarmed. This is how we talk in the collective unconscious. Please forgive my father, he's just paranoid and he likes to think he’s in charge here. But as soon as Gerhaun wakes up, I'll talk to her and get you out.
I didn't know how to respond really. I half thought I was going mad.
Sukina turned to face her father. “Cells are no accommodation fit for them.”
“Pfft! They'll need to get used to such conditions if they're going to work for us. There's no cosy heating and royal divans over here. Wiggea, why are you slacking? You have your orders.”
The guards shuffled forwards and then escorted us off towards a set of double doors. Just as we were about to enter, from behind me, I heard a great roar. I turned just in time to see Velos gnashing out at one of the guards, who rolled out of the way and pointed a long narrow rifle at Velos’ head.
“No!” Sukina and I shouted at the same time. Sukina rushed forwards to steady the guard's gun and then pushed it downwards. She sang out a song to Velos and I could feel his rage soothing a little. But his angst was still there, subdued.
“There's no need to sedate him,” Sukina said to the guard. “The dragon will behave.”
Velos turned to me and I very faintly heard a soft croon.
“It will be okay,” I said under my breath. And I felt my thoughts reach out to Velos, who then lowered his head to the ground. It will be okay…
“Don't worry, Maam,” Wiggea said, now standing next to me. “We'll treat you as well as we can down there.”
I nodded and allowed myself to be led through the double doors, which one of the guards had pulled open for us. We walked into a dark, dusty brick corridor that smelt of mildew. I couldn’t see Velos now, and I hoped with all my heart that he would behave.
PART IV
Gerhaun
“Secicao is as much a drug to humanity as it is a threat to the planet. Its roots churn up the earth and take away its nutrients. They dig deep into our planet's mantle, increasing the acidity of the soil so nothing else can grow. But dragons are there to protect us from this. Without them, the leaders of this world would rule contently addicted to secicao, until the inevitable moment that the blight wipes out every single human and dragon on this planet.”
From ‘Dragons and Ecology’ by Gerhaun Forsi
CHAPTER 13
Actually, the cell turned out pretty decent, as far as cells go. Not that I'd ever found myself in one before, but I'd heard plenty about Cini's cells in magazines. Dark boxy rooms with hard stone beds, no pillows for comfort, rats running around between rooms, a stench of ammonia emanating from the floor. Probably a lot of that was just propaganda to scare us common folk. I mean, if we fear the cells enough then we won't want to go anywhere near them, right?
But Fortress Gerhaun’s cell had a separate compartment for a toilet, with a working flush and sink, and a door that closed. Two windows brought in a little light from the top of the room, though they were too high up to see out of without at least kneeling on the bed. Unfortunately, the place did still smell of damp and mildew, and down here it was pretty cold. But there were soft beds. Two, thank wellies, on separate sides of the room. I'd ended up in the same cell as Faso. The inventor was kneeling on the mattress, his arms folded over the high window ledge. He was peering out at something.
I'd half expected him to spend his time here leering at me and boasting about himself, perhaps even complaining about how the conditions were unfit for someone as high and mighty as him, but he seemed to have lost his spirits. So, I sat kind of quiet for a moment.
Then, the anxiety started to settle in. After what we'd just done at Fraw, I was kind of worried about my parents. Even if Papo was a buffoon, I’d got angry because I hadn't wanted him putting himself in danger in my place. But now my actions could have put my parents in jeopardy. Once news reached Cini that Faso and I had turned traitor, I was sure the Five Hamlets would be the first place he'd look for us. Then, what he'd do to my parents was anyone's guess.
After a while, I decided that the only way to get over my emotions was to talk. Even if Faso was the person, I least wanted to have conversation with.
“Is there really anything out there?” I asked.
He turned, though his gaze was vacant, lost in some far away thought. “What's that?”
“I mean, there's no birds to watch, the dragons aren't flying around, there's not an automaton in sight. What are you so interested in?”
“Nothing, really. I was just wondering how it all works.”
“Say again?”
“The way that they keep those clouds away. There must be some kind of mechanism.”
“You don't believe in the collective unconscious, huh?”
“Baloney, baloney. You'd never believe some of the nonsense I had to put up with from Sukina. This, indeed, is one of her best.”
I bit my lip to try to hide my amusement. So that was what was on his mind. “You miss her,” I said.
“Miss her? Of course, I miss her. But we were never really compatible.
I need a smart lady for a relationship… Someone who understands my work.”
That must have caused a frown on my face. I mean, for him to say Sukina wasn't smart was baloney itself. “So what attracted you to her in the first place?”
“Wellies, have you seen how beautiful she is? You've seen the way the guards look at her. She melts even their hearts.”
I sighed, why did men always have to be so superficial? I knelt on my pillow to look out of the window. I grasped the bars there, resting my forearms against the dusty brick.
But outside there was little to keep me entertained for long, other than slowly roiling clouds of secicao gas and a dusty, sandy floor. If I listened close enough, I could hear the croons of the dragons in the distance, but I couldn't make out Velos.
Faso got up off the bed, reached down to pull it back a bit, the metal feet scraping against the stone, then knelt back down on it, his knees against the pillow. He poked his head through the bars, as far as it would go. I laughed.
“You that desperate for fresh air?”
He pushed himself back in, both hands clutched to the bars. “I merely wanted to test if there is any difference between the air outside and inside. You have to experiment to hypothesise.”
“So what's your theory?”
“There must be some kind of vacuuming or blowing mechanism in concealed holes where the cloud meets the ground. There's no other possible explanation for it.”
“Why not just accept this is the way things are?”
“If us scientists did that, lady, we would never make any progress.”
I leaned towards Faso. “Why don't you just admit it, Faso? You're bored and you're trying to find a way to pass time.”
“Smart people never get bored. Although I wouldn't expect you to realise that.”
“Smart people never feel the need to put down inferior minds,” I said. “Only those that are greater than them.”
Dragonseer (Secicao Blight Book 1) Page 10
