by N. M. Howell
She lifted her face and found that her neck hurt tremendously, too. She looked straight ahead and she could see glass on the carpet. The hole she’d made in the window after the blast hit her was huge and there was glass everywhere. She began the slow process of picking herself up and it was excruciating. But she knew she needed to get back to Saeryn and the others. If they were still there. For all she knew, the spell—with all its millions of sacrifices—had worked perfectly and the dragonborn on Brie were no more. She needed to get back up there to see it for herself.
And even if Saeryn and her people were still alive, millions of people were dead. The chancellor’s spell had killed everyone in Arvall, and, regardless of how they had hated the dragonborn or wanted them dead, she knew that they deserved better than the fate that had found them in the end. She was frustrated, confused, and angry with herself for not being able to stop him. She had failed.
She had no idea his hatred could run so deep or that he had been hiding such power and such evil. She knew she would never be able to come to terms with the horror that lay outside. And there was still everyone back in the Hot Salts to think of. A part of her wanted to lie back down and stay there forever. It was all too much.
“We thought you were dead.”
Andie sprang to her feet, momentarily disregarding her pain, and spun to face the voice. It was a woman. She was dressed in a knee-length gray skirt and a pink blouse that was almost see-through. She had her hair up in a tight bun and she wore glasses with a thin frame. Just a regular woman. And all around her there were other people dressed in regular, office appropriate clothes. The room was full of people and they were all staring at Andie.
“Who are you?” Andie asked, her hands up and ready to defend herself.
“We work here,” the woman said cautiously, backing up a few steps. “We were working last night when everything started turning to chaos. First, there were a lot of screams and then there were these terrible crashes. And then we died. All of us. But a few hours ago, we woke up and we’ve kind of just been too freaked out to go outside. We were going to wake you, but we didn’t know if you were hurt or how badly. And, well...”
“Well what?” Andie shouted.
“Well, you weren’t exactly... here last night. And we just wondered where you came from. Who you are...”
“My name is Andie,” she said, calming down a little. “I was knocked over here by a blast of magic. I was trying to save you all, but I failed. Which is why I don’t understand how you’re all alive right now.”
“It was the dragon Queen,” the woman said. “She brought us back.”
Andie stared at the woman for a long moment, trying to process what she had just been told. “I don’t understand. Saeryn saved you? How? Is she here? Is she alive?”
“She’s not here, but I’m pretty sure she’s still alive,” the woman explained. “It’s kind of hard to explain, but it’s like we all got this transmission in our brains. A woman’s voice. I just remember hearing this soft voice, chanting in my ear, coaxing me back towards life in a language I didn’t quite understand.”
Andie sunk to the floor to steady herself. Had they actually won? She had no idea Saeryn was capable of such magic. Part of her didn’t believe what she was hearing. But, the woman was alive, so she must be speaking the truth.
“The magic was so strange, so unfamiliar.” The woman bent down on the floor near Andie, smiling softly at her as she recounted her memories. “I remember waking up and feeling like my soul was flying, like my mind was on the back of a dragon or something. It was breathtaking and terrifying all at once. But then, when I opened my eyes, I was alive. Your dragons gave back our lives after Chancellor Mharú tried to sacrifice us all for a spell.”
“The dragons brought you back?” Andie spoke the words softly, only mildly believing it.
Another woman came to join them, placing her hand on Andie’s shoulder. “Not long after we woke, we heard voices from the streets. People are saying the dragon Queen saved us and gave us back our lives because they had been taken away from us in an act of such immense evil.”
The two women helped pull Andie to her feet when she didn’t respond. They led her to the nearest chair and kindly waited for her to collect her thoughts.
Andie tried to think things through. If the women spoke the truth, and she had no reason to doubt them, it meant the dragonborn were still alive. It also meant that the chancellor was truly dead and that everyone else had died but been brought back. The truth was finally about to be exposed. She was confused at first until it finally dawned on her. It was good news. Something good had finally happened. They’d won.
“Can I have some water?” Andie finally managed to say.
“Sure,” the woman said, grabbing a bottle off of her desk. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, it’s just,” Andie began. “I don’t know. It’s over. I’m not sure if I believe it.”
The woman who handed her the water smiled. “You look confused.”
Andie nodded. “I am. I think… I think I’m happy.”
“Is that unusual?”
“For my life? You’d be surprised.”
Andie drank the water and rested for a moment while her body began to heal. When she felt stronger she stood, thanked the women, and then led all of them outside where they met a huge crowd of people standing in the street. An excited chatter filled the streets, hundreds of people gathering together and speaking frantically, each looking around and above them, searching for something. Andie walked up to the first person she saw.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“We’re waiting for her to come back around again.”
“Who?”
“The dragon Queen.”
Andie gasped and grabbed the man by his shoulders so abruptly that she startled him. “What do mean ‘waiting for her to come back around again?’ What is she doing?”
“She’s been flying around the city for hours now. She’s looking for someone, I think.”
Andie let him go and started making her way through the crowd. She pushed through until she made it to the center of the intersection and then she cleared a small circle around herself.
“Everybody stay back!”
She raised her arm straight in the air and sent up a beam of purple light that soared so high it touched the soft, morning clouds. She held it there, burning bright but not hot, the beam itself buzzing slightly as it blasted through the sky. She knew that if Saeryn was still in the city or anywhere within ten miles she would be able to see the beacon. And sure enough, Andie soon heard the powerful sound of pumping wings and as she turned she saw the dragon beating through the sky toward her, Saeryn leaning low on its back.
The crowd backed away, leapt away, and cleared the entire intersection and when the dragon landed it had all the space it could want. Saeryn had jumped from its back even before it hit the ground and at the same instant Andie was rushing toward her. They threw themselves into each other’s arms, rejoicing that the other was alive and that there was finally peace.
“You never came back and we had no idea what had happened to you,” Saeryn said, still breathing heavily. “And I came down to find you, but I had no idea where to start. I’ve searched for you for hours. Are you okay? What happened?”
“I’m fine. I’m so sorry. The chancellor blew himself up as a last measure to ensure that everything died and I got caught in the blast and didn’t wake up until just now. But all these people should be dead. You should be gone. What happened?”
“I don’t know. This many people dying in sacrifice should have been enough power to fuel the spell a hundred times over. We should have been torn from the earth, but instead the fissure closed. We lived. All I can think is that he performed the spell wrong. Andie, what happened to him? What did you do?”
“Nothing. I took him down, but that was all. I swear. He wasn’t wounded in any way that he couldn’t have healed from. He just didn’t want to accept defeat. He
ended it.”
Saeryn exhaled a sigh of relief. Andie saw in her face what she had feared and how much she had feared it.
“Don’t worry, Saeryn,” she said. “I won’t deny that I wanted to kill him, to kill everyone in the battalion, but I know it’s not in our nature to kill. And I also know that you would never have looked at me the same if I had done something like that.”
Saeryn touched Andie’s face and they hugged again, now totally free.
Whispers began getting louder around them. Andie couldn’t help but smile as she heard people asking their neighbors excitedly if that was the dragon Queen, if she was the one who they heard in their head when they were brought back to life.
“Excuse me,” a shy-looking man mumbled softly as he stepped towards Andie and Saeryn. “I’m sorry, but… Are you the dragon Queen? Are you the one who brought us back?”
Andie turned to the man and placed her hand on his shoulder. “She is. This is Saeryn.”
The man chewed his lip as he looked to be searching for the right words. He wrung his hands together and then finally knelt down and bowed his head. Others did the same as whispers of thanks began echoing from the buildings around them.
“It was not me,” Saeryn spoke to the crowd. “It was not my magic that brought you back. It was the magic of the dragons and of my people, as a whole. It was the magic of good that grew stronger than I had ever seen it grow. A magic that came together to vanquish evil. It is not me you need to thank, but my people and our dragons.”
The man looked up with wide-eyes, tears brimming his lids. He then spoke with a quiver to his voice, but he spoke loud so all could hear. “I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say, thank you. Thank you to you all. Thank you for saving us. How can we ever repay the debt?”
Saeryn bowed her head to the man. “We ask no repayment. We did what was right, and we had luck on our side. All I ask is your acceptance of our people. We would like to stay in your city for a time.”
Everyone in the crowd grew silent for a moment, and then excited cheers erupted through the crowd as far as Andie could hear. They seemed to really be coming around.
“But what about the University?” someone asked. “The professors and all the people who work for them? What are we gonna do about them? We can’t just let ‘em go, this would start all over again.”
“They’ll be taken care of,” said Saeryn. “For now, they are no longer a danger to any of you. I understand you’re angry and if you decide to execute them, my people and I will not interfere with your laws, but I would urge caution and wisdom. It is compassion that separates us from them and if you sacrifice that then you may as well align yourself with the enemy. I believe you have a very fine prison in this city and I think it would make an excellent permanent home for those who tried to rob you of your freedom and your lives.”
There was some hesitation in the crowd. Many of them seemed to really favor execution, but Saeryn’s words appeared to be having the desired effect. After some more deliberation, they seemed to agree that it was probably best, but they wanted to hold a formal tribunal soon to be thorough.
“And what about the University itself?” a small, elderly lady asked. “Is it still going to be a military training facility?”
“No,” Andie said immediately. She had thought this through long and hard in her months below ground. Her dreams of a new University where all are welcome. “We’re done gearing up for war. I think we can do something better with it. We’ll build it around new ideas. Truth. Safety. And everyone, absolutely everyone, will be welcome to attend. I know that together we can rebuild this world. The hate for my people has spread far and fast, but we can end that. And we can end hate for everything else, too. I know we don’t live in an ideal world and lofty wishes aren’t always practical, but there’s more to life than this and I think we all know that.”
“Will you lead it?” a young boy asked from within the crowd.
“No. But I’d like to attend it,” Andie smiled down at him. “I have a friend who’d be perfect for the job, though.”
The voices around her grow louder as people began speculating who this person might be. Andie raised her voice and spoke clearly, for all to hear. “His name is Lymir. He is a great and wise man, and we should all be lucky to have him as a leader at the new University. We will, of course, consult the public officially before appointing him, but I can assure you there is no one greater to lead us into our new time of peace.”
“Who is this man? What has he done to have earned your trust?” the mother of the boy stepped forward, her arms held firmly on her son’s shoulders.
“That is a story for another time,” Saeryn answered. “But trust me when I say, Andie is correct. There is no greater person to lead everyone into this new era.”
Shouts of Lymir began echoing through the streets as the message passed on. Saeryn turned to Andie.
“What will you do?” the boy called up to Andie.
“I guess I could head up the hortological magic department. Someone’s gotta make it right.”
There were some laughs among the crowd and Andie herself smiled, though it did make her think of Ashur and where he’d gotten off to. She turned to Saeryn and without a word expressed to her all the gratitude and belief that was piled up inside of her. Without a word, Saeryn returned it.
The two of them were about to mount the dragon and leave when the people they had been talking to kneeled. They were both surprised and were even more so when they saw that many others were following the example. Andie turned to look behind them and saw that everyone was beginning to kneel down. In all four directions, as far as the eye could see, all the people were kneeling low. Andie was humbled and warmed by the sight.
“I think they truly respect you,” she said, turning to Saeryn.
“I think so. But make no mistake, Andie... they are paying homage to you, too.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Over the next few weeks, the dragonborn remained among the citizens of Arvall City. The people were happy to have them, though there was a transition period when people had to convince themselves not to be afraid and to accept that everything they had been taught over the course of their lives was nothing more than a pack of ugly lies.
Saeryn was elected to a special board that was put in charge of the city until a formal government could be established in the region. The board was responsible for creating new legislature and carrying out a total restructuring of the city’s cultural and historical institutions. The civilians made an honest effort to erase everything that disparaged or lied about the dragonborn. And since the dragonborn had been pulled from a past centuries before, they were perfect for helping to rewrite the history books to present the absolute truth.
The professors, Searchers, monitors, battalion soldiers, and even the Sentinels were tried for high crimes against the city, the region, the dragonborn, and all of Noelle. The professors were stripped of their degrees and titles, banned from ever being in positions of power again. The Searchers were forced to hand over all weapons and to provide the special board with any and all knowledge of the kidnappings, disappearances, murders, and memory erasures they had perpetrated over the years.
The result of those interviews was a harrowing collection of volumes listing too many evils to comprehend. The white fire and the deighilt were taken from the hooded monitors, who were also banned from any positions and forced to write detailed confessions. The battalion soldiers ceded their armor to the city. The Sentinels were shut down and hidden away where they couldn’t hurt anyone ever again.
The trials took place over the weeks and the information that came out during those days was sickening. All of the people who had been willingly involved in Chancellor Mharú’s crimes were sentenced to prison, without any possibility of ever being released. In fact, they were sent to a holding facility until the dragonborn could help the city finish constructing a special prison with defenses that couldn’t hope to be outsmarted. Where th
ey were going, there was no hope. Yet many thought they were still getting off easy; after all, if it hadn’t been for Saeryn all the conspirators would have been guilty of the murder of an entire city. Approximately six million people. In an odd turn of events, the dragonborn and members of the local police force had to protect the conspirators, lest the civilians have their way with them.
The city had a hard time rebuilding itself. Saeryn and the dragonborn had given them back their lives, but there was still a lot of physical damage to the city. The chancellor’s final wave of magic, having been amplified enormously by his armor, had destroyed and completely blown out a number of buildings and he had already begun a widespread demolition of parts of the city in order to expand the new military University. Much had to be reconstructed and much could never hope to be salvaged.
The University also had to be remodeled, stripped of all its propaganda and military aspirations. The chancellor had certainly left his mark on everything he touched and there was no denying that the people had a long way to go before they could rediscover normal.
Chancellor of West Noelle, Myamar Mharú, became a name no one even whispered. His image and likeness was taken off of every wall, tossed out of every building, burned in the middle of the streets in large piles that burned all night and smoked all morning. His many laws and edicts were struck from the books and every office he had in the University or the city was cleaned out, destroyed and redesigned. Everything he’d left his mark or imprint on was destroyed and they performed this action again and again and again, all throughout the University and the city, until every trace of him was removed.
The board decided to keep a special section with files on the chancellor and the horrors he had committed—they never wanted history to repeat itself. The costs would be too high.
A search began for the soldiers that got away. Some of the men Andie had fought on the train were caught and imprisoned, but according to the battalion’s register quite a few got away. Some men had escaped during the night, but a large group of others had already been stationed at the edge of the city. By the time the dragonborn got there, the building was empty.
