by Lilly Pink
And it worked. The dragon uncoiled itself with an angry hiss of scales and its great leathery wings snapped open. Zoe and Shahin turned their faces aside to avoid the gouts of dust and broken crystal his wingbeats drove into the air. Then he flew out of sight, much faster than Zoe would have thought possible, though she remembered how easily he had caught up to them the last time she and Kian had faced him.
But that made her worry, and she couldn’t afford to think about that now. She and Shahin sped to the tree. There had been some discussion about how one destroyed a tree made of crystal. Did you damage it like you would a tree or like you would a rock? Kian assured them that with sufficient belief, you could pillow fight the thing to death, but Zoe didn’t see why they ought to make things harder on themselves. Shahin opted to attempt to burn the tree down. Zoe went for pickaxe, only because she wasn’t sure she knew enough about jackhammers to conjure one.
She hefted the thing onto her shoulder, remembering what Kian had said about belief. She imagined how the tip of the axe would slam into the crystal and shatter, trying to psych herself up. All right tree, get ready to feel the pain, she thought, lifting the tool like a baseball bat, swinging back, and WHAM! Chips of crystal flew off in every direction and cracks spider webbed from the fist-sized crater in the trunk. A good start, but we can do better. How about… a flaming, diamond pickaxe?
Her next strike shook the whole tree, and Shahin came over to look. “Whatever you are doing is working much better than trying to set it on fire. I think I’m going to try it your way.” Now they worked on the same side of the tree, alternating swings. Occasionally her arms would get tired, and Zoe would do her best to tell her arms that this wasn’t real, while also trying very hard to believe that the pickaxe was the realest thing that had ever been.
It was…a difficult balance to achieve. But they were making progress, despite the size of the tree; she thought they had hammered about a quarter of the way through. Cracks had begun to spread through the trunk and it shuddered alarmingly with every strike.
Then they heard the roar. “Time to duck and cover,” Shahin shouted, and they ran for it, diving into the underbrush at the bottom of a nearby gully. The black dragon came screaming back to the tree, but to Zoe’s relief, she could see him followed, and harried by two others. In fact, she realized that they seemed bigger in comparison. Damaging the tree was making Jahan smaller!
He couldn’t see them; at his size it had to be difficult to see anything so small, but he obviously knew they were there. Still, Kian and Darya were hurting him too. Great gouts of fire and spears of ice assailed him, singeing his wings, sticking in between his scales like darts, and they could all feel his anger at the unexpected and barely remembered sensation of pain.
He didn’t want to leave the tree now, sensing the danger, but neither did he want these little things to keep hurting him, so he scaled the trunk, lashing out with claws and teeth and flames from there. Zoe saw that Kian was goading him higher, and she suddenly realized that the dragon was so enraged, he was hurting the tree in his efforts to stop Kian and Darya.
She nudged Shain. “You should join them. They’re trying to make Jahan angry enough to hurt the tree himself.”
“And what are you going to do? The second you start up with the pickaxe, you’ll be down the beast’s throat.”
“I’ll fire arrows from cover. At least until he thinks I’m more interesting than you.” The hunter nodded and rolled out from the underbrush, not wanting to give the dragon any reason to notice Zoe. Shahin’s dragon form was a bright yellow orange, with stripes like a tiger. Because of course, it was. She watched him dart into the fray, and to her surprise, he bit the giant dragon’s tail. It was astonishingly effective.
Not because the bite itself did any damage. In fact, Zoe was far more worried about how Shahin fared after he was flung off into the sky like a biting fly. But Jahan roared in furious surprise and spun around, knocking an entire branch to the ground in his thrashing. The tree groaned under his weight.
Zoe raised her bow and pulled the arrow to her cheek. Let’s see if I can manage an exploding arrow. The fireball against the side of Jahan’s face said she could. She smiled grimly to herself and waited a moment, letting the huge black dragon be distracted by the three other combatants. Then she fired another arrow at the massive wound in the trunk. That explosion was a doozy. Jahan roared, the tree wavered, and he shrank in size by a noticeable amount.
Unfortunately, in his furious thrashing his tail whipped around, flinging Shahin hard into the dirt, and an errant burst of flame from his jaws hit Darya full on. She shrieked in pain and disappeared. Zoe hoped that meant Ameretat had woken her up. Kian was in the air alone.
However, now Jahan was maybe only two or three times his size. That was good of course, it meant the dragon was feeling the pain and it also meant he would be easier to damage. But now Kian had little advantage in maneuverability. “When I attack his face, hit the tree with your arrow once more,” Kian said into her mind over the subdued sound of Jahan’s hatred. “Then transform and fly up into the branches. We shall see what happens then.”
Jahan turned his eyes away and Zoe raised her bow, fitting an arrow to the string and taking a breath. She saw Kian circle and dive, aiming for the beast’s eyes, and she fired.
Once again the explosion rocked the tree; it wavered, but did not fall. Jahan roared, Zoe transformed and flapped her wings, only to feel a flash of pain as Jahan struck her out of the air, ripping out some of her feathers. She went back to human form as fast as she could, concealing herself with a cloak of magic. “Zoe! Are you all right? We can go, think of home!”
“No,” she thought at him as hard as she could, hoping he would hear. “I’m fine. We have practically won. You just need to finish it.”
She didn’t know if he heard, but Jahan was bearing down on her, his thoughts more sane than she had ever heard before, but still murderous. “Intruder. Don’t belong. Kill you. I smell you.”
On the other side, Kian flung himself to the ground, planning to go to Zoe. He would protect her with his life if he had to. Then he heard… something… like a whisper in the back of his mind… Practically won… Finish it…
He came back to his human form, glancing at the dragon and at the tree. The voice was right, the tree was wavering. One good hit would topple it. A spear came into his hand, something half-remembered from a book of fairy tales. He raised it up and turned toward the tree, and then, seeing the dragon bending low over a bush and roaring, he changed his mind.
With a whispered spell and a plea to any and all deities, he threw, and watched, for an eternal moment, the spear twirling through the air in a silvery arc and slamming with brutal, bloody precision into the black dragon’s right eye.
It seemed to Kian that for a moment, everything was still and silent. Then Jahan, his grandfather, and the reason behind this whole fractured world, toppled to the ground in a spray of blood. The tree cracked and started to fall. Toward where Kian was certain Zoe was lying. If she lived. Please let her be alive.
He ran, faster than he had ever run before, the tree leaning over him with ridiculous slowness. She had to be here, somewhere, he had been sure. He tripped and fell heavily to the ground over and invisible and rather soft lump.
“Ow,” said the lump, and dismissed the concealment spell around it to reveal Zoe, giving him a look somewhere between relief and annoyance.
He wrapped his arms around her, pressing relieved kisses to her forehead and cheek before she could even speak. “Zoe, you’re alive. I thought the worst.”
She smiled at him then. “I’m fine, he only ripped out a few feathers and knocked me down, but I didn’t dare move, so I couldn’t see what was going on. Since I don’t hear anyone screaming murderously in my head, I guess we must have won the day. And you didn’t die either, so I don’t have to learn necromancy.”
“We did win. Now we are probably about to be crushed by a giant tree, but I find I cannot m
ake myself care that much,” he said, laughing and kissing her again.
Zoe sat up and gasped. “Actually, we seem to have avoided that fate too. Look.” Kian turned and saw that she was right. The tree was disappearing now, disintegrating into a million sparkling motes of light that blew away on an ethereal breeze.
They stood and approached the place where the tree had been. A huge magic circle glowed beneath their feet, the lines stretching out to either horizon. And in the center there was a large stone chest, more like a coffin really, but inside they did not find a body but four objects that nearly glowed with power.
“These are the Tools of Creation. Legendary magical objects. Some believe the gods gave these to the Kumari at the beginning of time,” Kian said, lifting a shining longsword with a look of awe.
“Really? Tools of the gods?” Zoe said with raised eyebrows, now a bit frightened to touch anything inside.
“I doubt it,” Kian said with a soft grin. “Ancient Kumari liked for everyone to believe that the gods favored us particularly, but I feel that if deities do exist they would be a bit more fair-minded. In any case, they are certainly ancient and powerful magical artifacts and should be treated with care. For this, you will wield the spear and hold the cup.”
Zoe lifted a slender wooden spear and an engraved silver goblet. Kian had the sword and a large sphere of polished rock. They took their places in the circle, two stars outlined on the ground opposite each other on the innermost ring. “Are you ready?” Kian asked, his own voice wavering with nervousness.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” she replied, setting her feet firmly and resting the shaft of the spear on the ground. She felt a sudden tightening in her abdomen. Now is not a good time, she silently informed the twins.
“It is just like we practiced,” he said, and she knew that was just as much for his benefit as hers. It was, surprisingly, not a difficult spell to the put the world back together. Zoe thought Mehr had probably wanted anyone with the right information to be able to do it.
“What once was done shall be undone,” they said together, raising their magical objects into the air. The circle glowed brightly, and Zoe could feel power flowing under her feet.
“By earth and fire, I call. Let the world be restored!” Kian shouted. The stone in his hand came to life, glowing brilliant green and spinning in the air over his upturned palm, and the sword burst into flame.
Now it was her turn. “By water and air, I call. Let the world be restored!” The cup overflowed with shining water like a fountain and a cyclone of wind swirled around the spear.
“What was sundered, now be mended. What was taken, now returned. By land, sea, and sky, below and on high, let the world be restored!” the shouted together. There was a sound like a planet-sized gong being struck; the ground shook under their feet. The magic circle flared once, and disappeared. The next shift of the earth knocked Zoe to the ground. She fell to her knees with a grunt, and another contraction, this one much stronger than the first, rippled through her abdomen.
“Ouch,” she said testily, once she could breathe again. Kian was at her side then, kneeling with a hand on her back.
“Are you all right, Zoe? Were you hurt in the fall?” She sighed with relief, and let herself be pulled into his embrace. It was over, they had done it. It would probably be a chaotic few months, but she knew that they only had to be as involved as they wanted to be. Plus, as annoying as it might be, politics was not usually risking life and limb.
“I’m fine,” she said, leaning into his chest. “It’s only that our children may be considering today as a birthday possibility.” Kian started to laugh, and Zoe frowned at him. “I’m glad you’re amused. But I think I’ve had enough excitement for one day. I was kind of hoping for a nap. And we don’t seem to be waking up. I think that’s something that ought to be happening.”
“I apologize, Zoe, You are quite right. It is only that I thought it appropriate, that they would choose to be born at the same time as the new world. Our two greatest accomplishments together, come to fruition on the same day.”
“Appropriate, maybe, but exhausting,” Zoe replied, gritting her teeth as her belly tightened again. “And what about going home?”
“Well, I admit I am surprised we did not awaken once the spell was complete,” Zoe scowled at him. “Let us just try to think of home,” he said quickly. “Otherwise, I might have to figure out how to deliver a baby.”
Zoe awoke with a gasp in her own bed, and immediately regretted it. The contraction was much more painful in person. “It’s okay Zoe, just breathe,” came Ameretat’s voice in her ear.
“Remember what we talked about, long deep breaths in and out.” The pain eased after a moment and she pushed herself to sitting to find Ameretat smiling by the bedside. “Everything is going fine. The babies are doing well, you’re dilating nicely. With any luck, you’ll be holding your children by dinnertime.”
“Where’s Kian?” she said, her eyes darting around in confusion. He had been right beside her, but then, they had started the ritual in Darya’s workroom, so she’d been carried here and—
“By all the gods and ancestors, I am perfectly fine!” came his rather irritated voice from the hall. “I am not injured in any way. Please let me see my wife. If you do not have anything better to do, you might make sure no one has been harmed by the earthquakes.”
“Have there been many?” Zoe asked. Their rooms appeared intact, as far as she could see, but the Dreaming had definitely been shaking.
“A few,” Ameretat replied, “But nothing serious. We’ve got everyone else standing by in case of problems. Right now, you just focus on birthing these babies.”
Kian burst into the room looking like he was about to blow a gasket, until his eyes alighted upon her and his face was transformed by relief. He strode to the bed and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I might have actually hit the next person that got in my way. Everyone wanted to ask me a question, as if they weren’t perfectly aware that I was trying to reach you. You would think they would treat childbirth with more urgency.”
Ameretat laughed. “You weren’t in danger of missing anything. We’ve got a few hours to go, at least. Zoe, you can walk around, or try getting in the tub. Hot water will help you relax.”
It took six hours, which, she was informed later, was fairly quick for a first labor, but Ameretat said she’d probably slept through all the early parts. It was the most difficult, tiring and painful thing she had ever done, but then, when Ameretat laid their daughter on her chest, already sporting a cap of curling red hair, and she saw Kian’s face light up with a sort of tender awe, she forgot all about the pain.
A few hours later, everyone else had left. Kian and Zoe sat in the bed side-by-side. Their daughter was already asleep in Kian’s arms, swaddled in a blanket. One of the older women in the castle had demonstrated swaddling an hour previously, and Zoe was sure they would have to be shown again, but it would be worth it to see the woman smile, remembering doing the same for a fussy baby prince, and seeing Kian’s combined scowl and blush. Their son, who had Kian’s eyes already but was bald as a cue ball, was still trying to figure out nursing. It was something, Zoe has been assured, that would take time and practice.
She sighed with contentment and laid her head on Kian’s shoulder for a moment, and he turned and kissed her hair. “They are both so beautiful and perfect,” he whispered, “As are you, jãné del-am. Now that I have seen you birthing our children, I will be much less impressed by tales of soldiers’ bravery.”
Zoe stifled her laugh, not wanting to wake anyone, her son now dozing against her breast. “It has been a long day for everyone. Not too many injuries on the human side, either, I heard,”
“No, it seems the spells I had the others put in place to counteract the tidal waves were successful. No deaths, but a few people were bashed on the head by falling objects. It could hardly have gone better. The scientists are still puzzling over it, but they haven’t even considere
d that anyone might live on this brand new continent.
I suppose we will have to prepare something to say, for when they do come calling. But not today,” he added, wrapping his free arm around her shoulder. “Today is for us, and I would not rather be anywhere else.”
Epilogue
The next month passed in a blur of activity, crying babies, and little sleep, but considering how well everything had been going, Zoe could not bring herself to issue complaint. It had taken less than a week for a group of scientists to venture on to Kumarinatu, and they were met by Shahin and a few other scouts and invited to the palace.
Once the world learned of their existence, the place was swarmed, by reporters, helicopters, more than a few military aircraft trying to get a feel for how much of a threat they were. They had decided not to divulge the whole dragon transformation thing unless someone actually threatened them.
So far, no one had. Kian had expressed to everyone that asked that the Kumari wanted nothing from the nations of the world, except to be left in peace. They would take part in the global community, if invited, and anyone with good intentions was welcome to come to Kumarinatu to learn. Already they had gone to dinner at the White House, which had been surprisingly fun.
Zoe had managed to get a few of the Kumari interested in technology, and with some cajoling, the palace now had cell phone service and wireless internet, at least in their rooms. She had called her parents and sister as soon as she could. They had been disbelieving at first, but once they saw her on television next to Kian, they couldn’t wait to come and visit.
Lauren had brought her two children, who had gravitated to Shahin, with his cheerful nature and his dogs. Zoe couldn’t help but notice that now Lauren was gravitating to him as well. She was dying to ask them about it, but was too afraid to jinx it.
Today, it was the twins’ one month birthday, and, as tradition dictated, they were to be officially presented to the public. It was mostly symbolic, as everyone in the palace had already seen them, but there were no doubt a few journalists lurking around to take videos. Kian and Zoe took the back entrance to the throne room, dressed in their most ridiculous clothing, crowns and all, and each with a squirming bundle held in their arms. “Are you nervous, my heart?” Kian asked, brushing her cheek with the back of his free hand.
