Dragonseer (Secicao Blight Book 1)

by Chris Behrsin

  Velos lowered his head to the ground so Faso and I could help Taka off Velos. The boy was barely awake. But Wiggea and another dragonelite had a stretcher ready. “Take him to the infirmary,” I said.

  “Is that the king's nephew?” Wiggea said.

  “That's my granddaughter,” General Sako said. “Didn't you listen to the brief?”

  “Umm…” I tugged at my collar. “You should probably know he's your grandson now General Sako.”

  He looked at me lifelessly. “Granddaughter.”

  “Grandson. Look it's a long story, I'll explain but first I need to see Gerhaun.”

  “Wait!” General Sako said. “Dragonseer Wells, I'd rather hear it from you.” he looked at Faso. “Is it true?”

  I had wanted to wait a little before delivering the news. But it seemed that someone had told him already.

  “How did you know?” I asked.

  “A man. He came into the ramparts. Demanded to speak to me and only me. He had this long face and these bright blue eyes—”

  “Francoiso?” My heart fluttered in hope.

  “He called himself Charth,” General Sako said. “The man, he could… He could turn into a dragon. And he told me my daughter had been murdered by that King's consort…” The short stocky man took hold of me by the shoulders. A sickly smell of secicao smoke washed over me. “Please tell me it isn't true, Dragonseer.”

  My heart sunk. I hadn't quite come to admit it myself. “It's true,” I said. “We have her ashes. There's no way we could have got her body across the Southern Barrier, so we had to cremate her. I'm sorry, General Sako.”

  General Sako twitched his moustache. “That's what she had always wanted,” he said. “Cremation.” And he turned on his heels and left the courtyard, his posture sunken low.

  Faso turned to me. “I'm sorry, Pontopa,” he said. “Is there anything I can do to help? I mean secicao can help heal Velos, if you'd let me.”

  I looked at Faso. I really didn't have the energy to reprimand him once again about the armour. Though it had admittedly saved our life wellies knows how many times.

  “You should probably go and check on your son, Faso,” I said.

  “Yes, I should probably tell Taka I’m his father,” Faso said.

  “Just know that Sukina wanted to tell you,” I said. “And remember, he's a dragonseer, so Gerhaun will want to talk to him too.”

  “Dragonseers are female.”

  “It's complicated.”

  Faso shook his head. “It certainly is,” he said. “Well I better go and check up on him. I mean her… I mean him… Wait, which one should I use?”

  “He sees himself as a boy now, as I said.”

  “Yes well. I'll make a fine inventor out of him.” He gave a little bow and left.

  ✽✽✽

  Gerhaun was sleeping in her chambers. But this time I didn't think twice about waking her. This was the type of news that shouldn't have to wait. We spoke in the collective unconscious.

  I'm sorry, Gerhaun said before I even had a chance to explain.

  You heard too? I said. Charth visited here?

  Not from the dragonman.

  This woman, Alsie. She seems to have an agenda of her own.

  The murderer, yes. I've heard her name spoken before by other dragon queens. In myth, they called her the Banshee.

  Because of her scream? Taka's picked up that ability too.

  Oh, she must have taught him something. Though, if legends are true, Taka's scream is not a patch on Mistress Alsie's. That, it would seem, is one of the most dangerous weapons known to man and dragon alike.

  I raised an eyebrow. Tell me more.

  The Banshee is a minion of Finesia, who can bring down battalions with her voice. Now legends say that if the Banshee is allowed to revive the Tree Immortal then she'll become the most powerful creature on this world.

  Through secicao? I asked. It made sense so much sense now.

  That's right. Once secicao has covered the entire planet then the Tree Immortal can grow again. Then the Banshee will drink of its sap, to regrow Finesia and claim immortality. Together Finesia, her right hand, and a new race of immortals shall rule. That is the prophecy.

  Aren't prophecies meant to come true?

  Not if find a way to stop it. But we need to do research. We need to find out exactly what Alsie is planning, and what she wants with the king.

  And I thought King Cini was the villain, I said.

  We've known for a long time that King Cini is just a puppet. But now we know who's pulling the strings.

  I shook my head. We lost Sukina, I said.

  I felt it, Gerhaun said. She lowered her great head. It's a great loss to all of us. But she will always live on through the collective unconscious. You must believe that.

  I heard her voice in the battle, I said. At least I think I did.

  No you didn't. Once dragonseers die, they lose their voices. But still their presence augments the collective unconscious in so many other ways.

  I fell silent for a moment.

  You'll stay with us, won't you Dragonseer, Gerhaun said eventually.

  Of course, I said. Someone needs to carry on what Sukina was fighting for.

  That's good.

  I just need one thing, I said. To find a way to get my parents down here. They're in a safe place for now, but if Cini ever finds them then, I don't know what I'd do.

  Don't worry, Gerhaun said. We will find a way to save them, and I see you're becoming a fine woman Dragonseer Wells.

  Thank you, I said. And I bowed and took my leave.

  ✽✽✽

  We burned Sukina's ashes for a second time, though this time they stayed within her urn. Her spirit wouldn't be sealed, legend stated until she'd been engulfed with the flame of a dragon queen.

  So, we gathered in the courtyard, the wind surprisingly warm for the Southlands, bringing the faint eggy smell of secicao on it. Despite the losses at the Battle of Sanjiornio, as it had come to be called, we still had over seven hundred Greys fit enough to attend the funeral and thousands of dragonelite, Sako's soldiers, and Admiral Sandao's marines. I'd never in my life seen Fortress Gerhaun's courtyard so full.

  But then, a good portion of it was taken up by Gerhaun Forsi herself, who sat right in the centre, a massive fire pit in front of her ready to be lit. As if by magic, some sunshine managed to find its way through the secicao clouds and bathe Gerhaun's golden skin in a warm glow.

  Behind Gerhaun, the courtyard had been arranged in two long and wide aisles, radiating away from Gerhaun, giving me a good view of the urn at the front, where I sat next to Taka. Faso was on the other side of him and General Sako sat on the other side of me, although he kept looking over at his grandson with discerning eyes as if checking he was behaving himself. Or perhaps trying to work out how his granddaughter could be a grandson. I'd still not had a chance to explain that to him.

  Soon, the ceremony began and General Sako went forward to deliver a eulogy. He spoke of how beautiful his daughter had been both inside and outside, what a free spirit she was and how headstrong she'd been. She'd been the best daughter a man could ask for. General Sako also mentioned how Sukina's mother, also a dragonseer, had died young, executed during the dragonheats.

  After that, he couldn't carry on speaking. I never thought I'd seen someone as strong as General Sako break down crying. I don't blame him, of course, I don't think I could have even delivered the beginning of such a speech in his position.

  Faso then asked permission to General Sako for him to deliver his speech. I was expecting the old general to refuse, but this time his simply nodded his approval and buried his face into his handkerchief. Faso then talked about his good days with Sukina. How he wished he'd treated her better. How he'd never seen a fault in her, even though he knew he had plenty in him. He didn't talk about the breakup or about any hard feelings he'd had towards them during their period of separation. Rather he spoke of Sukina as someone he'd looked up to. Someone
he'd often wanted to be.

  “When times called for courage,” Faso said. “Sukina always showed you how to be courageous. And that's what I loved about her.”

  This caused Sako to break down in tears again. I looked over at him, kind of guilty that he'd never had a chance to see the body. But then, he'd say that this was what Sukina had always wanted. She never seemed the kind of person to want to take up unnecessary space.

  Gerhaun then breathed fire onto the bier. It bathed the whole place in such warmth that I found myself sweating underneath my funeral dress. We waited a minute for the flames to pass. Gerhaun's fire was so powerful though that it burnt out the firewood pretty quickly.

  Then, Wiggea rushed forwards, who had apparently been Sukina's most trusted dragonelite. He carefully pushed the urn onto a tray with a gloved hand, which he carried with him.

  Three dragonelite followed behind him, then General Sako, Faso, Taka and me, followed by the rest of the congregation. The dragons had to wait upstairs, of course, there was no way they'd fit into the crypts.

  I hadn't even realised these chambers had existed before. Corridors and corridors filled with marble statues of each dragonseer who had served Gerhaun and other dragon queens in the past.

  We followed the corridors until we found one lit up by a hundred torches towering up to a high ceiling. A wooden statue of Sukina had already been built in the centre, her hands cupped ready. In one year’s time, Gerhaun would burn this statue with dragonfire and it would be replaced by a marble one. Wiggea stepped forwards, kissed Sukina's statue on one palm and then placed the urn in her hands.

  “Pontopa, this is your time,” Gerhaun's voice came in my head. “To sing the dragonsong.”

  Yes, she'd told me about it. I stepped forward and sung the dirge for the dead. It lifted me out of myself and for three long minutes, I didn't let my voice waiver, despite the tears in my eyes. I felt the song lift out of me and float through all of Fortress Gerhaun, where it touched the souls of men and dragons and did its part to push away the secicao clouds.

  After that, we left Sukina to rest in peace.

  ✽✽✽

  The rest of the day involved the wake and a huge feast, the food rivalling the kind we had eaten in Cini's palace. Though the dishes weren't as elegant — no white stag for us here — the chicken and beef and pork had been cooked in such a way that it reminded me of Mamo's cooking back home.

  Gerhaun and the dragons took this time to rest, while I met some of the troops at the palace. I talked to Wiggea, a lot, though I couldn't really stop feeling guilt or something I can't explain. In a way, it was as if I was still betrothed to Francoiso.

  Eventually, I excused myself and went out to check on Velos. Miraculously, the hole in his wing looked much better, sealed by what seemed some kind of green spongy substance. If that was the secicao healing that Faso had mentioned, I just wellies well hoped that it hadn't hurt Velos in any way.

  Velos woke when I approached. He pushed his head up to me and crooned. He was no longer in pain physically – I could feel that. But he also felt a bit lost now that we didn't have Sukina. Clearly, Velos had also bonded to her.

  I went to grab some secicao from the store and tossed it into Velos' trough in his stable, which had only just been allotted to him. I stayed with Velos a while before he went to sleep, then I hit the sack myself.

  When I finally emerged to the land of the living, I grabbed a quick breakfast from the dining hall and then I went to see what everyone was up to. I passed Sukina's bedroom on the way, the door ajar, from which I could see light from a torch burning inside. I opened to see Faso standing there, Ratter on his shoulder watching as Faso painted this stunning oil portrait of Sukina. He had depicted her in three-quarters profile and her gaze was cast a little off to the left. The painting made her look kind of innocent and Faso had painted a golden halo around her.

  Taka was on the bed watching Faso intently. Faso turned to me as I entered the room.

  “Hello,” he said.

  “Faso… I never knew you were so artistic.”

  “I wanted to get this out of my memory, before it's lost to the world.”

  “I can understand that. Mind if I watch a while?”

  “Sure,” he said. And he returned with an admirable focus to his work. I sat down next to Taka and took his hand.

  As I watched the details emerge in Sukina's face, I thought about how much she'd changed me as a person. Yes, I'd loved her novels, and she'd never be able to write another one, damnit.

  But it wasn't until I met her that I started to realise who I was. A dragonseer. Someone who had a purpose in life that involved helping others. Not just making money, consuming secicao and flirting with the occasional airship captain who passed through the Five Hamlets. Instead, I had my own individual destiny.

  That's the thing about great people. They end up changing everyone's lives in some way or another. And for me, Sukina would always occupy a special part in my life.

  Pontopa, can you feel that? Gerhaun spoke to me in the collective unconscious.

  What is it?

  A presence. The same kind I felt when General Sako received the news about the father.”

  Come to think about it, there was some kind of shimmer. But I'd been so enraptured in the painting that I hadn't quite registered it.

  I rushed outside to see if anyone was in the courtyard. But there was no one there.

  Nothing, I told Gerhaun.

  I only felt it for a moment, she said. He must have let slip his mask.

  It was getting late and so I went again to check on Velos. His skin underneath the spongy thing on his wing was returning to normal and it seemed like he would heal up well. He still felt a little lonely though, I could feel it, so I sang him a soothing song.

  Then, I thought I felt the presence again. As if someone was watching me. I turned around thinking I could see the faint silhouette of something dragon-like sitting on Fortress Gerhaun's ramparts.

  But I only needed to blink, and it was gone.

  THANK YOU FOR READING

  First of all, thank you for purchasing this book. I hope you enjoyed it and that it added value to your everyday life.

  If possible, would you consider leaving a review? Just a few words can help others decide if the book is right for them. The following links lead you straight to the book pages where you can leave a review.

  US: https://www.amazon.com/product/dp/B07Q3HK7CP/

  UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/product/dp/B07Q3HK7CP/

  CA: https://www.amazon.ca/product/dp/B07Q3HK7CP/

  Your feedback will help me greatly in improving my craft and delivering the kind of fiction you want to read. Thank you in advance and I wish you all the best in your future success.

  SUKINA’S STORY:

  A NOVELLA

  If you want to learn more about Sukina Sako, then you might be interested in reading the prequel novella, Sukina’s Story. I’m writing this at the moment, and I plan to release it by the end of April 2019.

  Any subscribers to my email list will get a FREE copy of the novella when it’s released. I’ll also keep you up to date when the sequel to Dragonseer will be released, which I’m also working on at the moment.

  I send emails approximately twice a month. You can subscribe at http://chrisbehrsin.com/sukina/.

  If, at any time, you want to shoot me an email, you can reach me at: author@chrisbehrsin.com.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  As my first major release, my list of acknowledgements is rather short. However, there are some specific people I’d like to thank for helping me get this book where it is today.

  Firstly, I’d like to thank my good friend, Patch Willis for giving me some incredibly valuable editorial feedback on the manuscript and helping me iron out plot holes.

  I’d like also to thank my beta readers: Sarah Sutton (sarahmaew on Fiverr) and Bianca (biancalcice on Fiverr), who also offered me some fantastic feedback and helped convince me to publish th
e book.

  A big shout out to my original writing group in Daejeon, South Korea: Jake Disch, Ben Garrido, Tom Cecil, Sung Kim. Your advice was valuable during the early stages of my writing career.

  Also, to my father who has read a lot of my work and given me the verbal encouragement I needed to keep going. And to my mother, for giving me emotional support through those difficult career times.

  And finally, thank you most of all to my dear wife, Ola for reminding me I was a writer and convincing me in 2009 to start writing once again.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Chris Behrsin is a British fiction writer who is pursuing the digital nomad lifestyle, hopping from pond to pond and working remotely he goes. Fiction-wise, he writes in multiple genres, but mainly science fiction and fantasy.

  He’s also a working freelance copywriter and he co-runs the Being a Nomad (beinganomad.com) travel blog with his wife. In his spare time, he enjoys reading and playing the piano, whenever he has access to one.

  He’s travelled extensively, having lived in France, South Korea, Poland, China and Spain. He has a passion for exploring off-the-beaten-path destinations and writing about them in his work.