Dragon School: Dragon Piper

by Wilson, Sarah K. L.

  As their weapons almost grazed our feet, I pulled out the Pipe and was more moderate this time, managing to call the dragons with two notes rather than putting them in a full trance. But the flight through the night was long and cold. We were nearing the mountains and as autumn approached the cold came with it. I needed a cloak. Fur-lined would be best.

  It was mid-afternoon now, and we were in the foothills of the mountains near Vanika on the shores of a tiny mountain lake. Dismounting had been better this time with Raolcan helping me, his neck arched completely around so he could support me with his snout as I maneuvered down.

  We were watching Vanika. It’s one thing to talk about retaking a city and another thing to actually do it. Tension rolled over all of us with that realization. It was up to us to figure this out.

  How must Savette feel in the middle of a siege against our own capital? Did she feel like worms were writhing in her belly, just like I did right now?

  Our only hopes rested in the dragons. It was difficult to tell how they felt about this plan. They were following us – so that must be good, right? Every so often, a few flew away, but they always came back again.

  They’re eating. The mountain sheep are tasty, and some horses are lost in the mountains.

  Seriously, he needed to stop it with the horse jokes.

  The dragons are happy enough. They are interested in the idea of using the warrens. Many of them have never seen the pathways.

  He told them about that?

  They deserve to know.

  And how did they feel about the possibility of attacking a human city?

  We don’t usually do that anymore. The Pipe is powerful, however.

  I supposed we could assault the city front-on, but it didn’t look as easy as it had sounded back at the Healing Arches.

  The city below us was a ruin - a heap of broken buildings and tangled sky city structure like wreckage on a beach. Shanty houses and makeshift structures were scattered between the rubble. But despite the dilapidated state of the city, dark figures roamed the portion we could see and patrols ringed the city. There were men on horses and archers stationed on the makeshift walls. From here, it was hard to see clothing or read insignia, but if I had to guess I would have said it was a combination of Dusk Covenant, Baojang and possibly even some of those Rock Eaters we’d seen before.

  I see Rock Eater costumes on the sentries. Your analysis seems to be right. They are fearless in battle. They’d fight in the middle of a storm and not even notice the hail and lightning.

  If we just flew straight in there, we might encounter Magikas.

  I’ve counted six so far.

  Or catapults.

  Also possible.

  What we needed was an inside look.

  “When do we attack?” Ephretti asked.

  I yawned. But I didn’t feel lazy. I felt tense and worried. We weren’t the right people for this job. What if people who weren’t Dusk Covenant got hurt in the attack? Maybe we should wait for Jalla and her armies.

  Jalla will not have your concern for the innocent citizens in the city.

  “Not tonight,” Dax said, quietly coaxing Idlosias to light a small fire for his tea. The tiny fire was reflected across the waves of the lake. We watched him. “What? He’s going to flame anyway, he might as well make tea. He can have some tea, too, if he wants. Idlosias? Tea?”

  Idlosias snorted. No tea for him.

  Dragons aren’t big on muddy water. We don’t mind a good beef broth, though.

  “We need to know more before we attack, or we’ll lose dragons for no reason,” I said. “None of us are Reds. At the very least, we should have some sort of a plan we can follow. I’m worried that if we don’t, we’ll cause more damage than we should. Didn’t you say there was a fortress around here?”

  “Gerdath,” Ephretti said. “The Dominar fled to it after the fall of Vanika. After he was driven from the fortress, it was abandoned. I was there for a time in the aftermath. It’s nothing but ruins now. Any supplies it once had have been taken.”

  “So, we need to send someone to sneak in and find out the information we need,” Dax said, noting something in his little book. “And it can’t be a dragon. They won’t blend in.”

  Har har.

  I watched the city as he spoke, wishing I could see it better. Tiny figures traveled to and from the city despite the occupation – some allowed to enter, others turned away.

  “I can sneak in as a merchant,” Ephretti said with a cough.

  “Because no one will notice you coughing up black tar,” I said dryly as I watched the heap of rubble below us. How were people still living there? How were they eating and trading? How would we find this entrance to the warrens under the tumbledown buildings and wreckage?

  “Well you can’t go,” Ephretti objected. “You still can barely walk. I’ve noticed that you won’t step more than a few feet away from your dragon. Not even to-”

  “Enough,” Dax said gently. “She’s healing well. We’ve made it this far. Let’s think up a plan rather than fight, hmmm?”

  “What we need,” I said, still looking at the city despite my hot cheeks. I really would get better, I just needed time! “What we need, is a resident of that place to answer all our questions.”

  “Ha! Wouldn’t that be nice!” Ephretti laughed.

  “We should rest up for the afternoon and let the dragons hunt, and then in the evening we sneak down to a hidden spot along the road and grab someone coming out of the city.”

  “And how would we get them to talk?” Dax asked, gravely.

  I shrugged. “If it’s just a citizen and not a soldier, maybe she’ll want to talk.”

  “And if it’s a soldier?”

  “We have a lot of dragons here and they can do more than light fires for tea,” I said.

  Some of us are very chatty.

  Dax nodded but Ephretti was looking stubborn.

  “And if they lie?” she asked. “If we find someone who betrays us?”

  “Well, I hope you won’t pick someone like that,” I said mildly.

  “Me?”

  “It is you who is going to choose someone and grab them, isn’t it Ephretti? I just assumed you’d want to...” I left the question hanging there, knowing she wouldn’t be able to refuse.

  “Yes, it will be me. You can’t do it and Dax won’t want to.”

  “Good,” I said, laying down beside Dax’s fire. “Then wake me up when it gets dark.”

  I felt the rush of air as Raolcan soared away to go and eat.

  I won’t be long. I’ll have a half of an eye on you at all times.

  It wasn’t horses he was hunting, was it? That had to be a joke. I was too tired to worry more than that as I drifted off to sleep.

  My mind filled with a vision of Hubric flying north, rain lashing at him. What was that city he was looking at? It seemed so familiar.

  It wasn’t until I woke up that I realized I’d been looking at Cabradis.

  Chapter Seven

  Rise and shine, spider.

  I yawned. Dusk blanketed the forest and in the glimmer of the rising moon reflected over the lake, Ephretti was taking off her extra scarves and cinching her hair back.

  “Wish me luck,” she whispered before ghosting into the trees. Tyalmae would fly her close to the road so she wouldn’t have to walk the whole way, but she’d have to sneak after that.

  “Don’t forget to choose your target well,” Dax said. “Pick someone who won’t be missed, preferably a common person, preferably someone who won’t be inclined to report the incident.”

  “And how will I know all of that?” Ephretti sounded cranky.

  “If you don’t think you’re able to do the job-”

  “No, no, I’m fine. Stop delaying me.”

  She was gone before he could answer, leaping onto Tyalmae in a way I envied. Why couldn’t I walk so easily? What in the skies and stars had planned to make me a cripple but still give me so many responsibilities?
r />   I thought you were done with all the self-pity.

  I coughed and adjusted my thoughts. He was right. We had a purpose and a goal and as long as our problems weren’t keeping us from doing them we had no right to complain.

  I’m not the one complaining.

  Fine. I had no reason to complain.

  “Want a cup of tea? I won’t be able to sleep until she’s done,” Dax said.

  “Should we be lighting fires out here? Won’t people notice?”

  “There are refugees everywhere,” he said, gesturing to the horizon. I followed his hand, squinting as I realized I could see tiny glows across the landscape. “They can’t investigate everything.”

  It still seemed like a needless risk.

  If they send anyone to check it out, I’ll eat them. Mmm. Tasty swords and chain mail and maybe even a horse or two...

  “Tea sounds lovely,” I said, but when Dax was done preparing it, we were both too tense to enjoy it. The minutes seemed to take too long.

  It could take her all night to find the right person. Not many people travel at night. Especially not during a war. She’ll need to find someone undesirable.

  “Do you know anything about where a tunnel to the underground might be in Vanika?” I asked Dax, trying to make the most of my time waiting.

  “I’d guess it would be under the base of the city. The bases are made of skysteel – woven, not solid. If I was going to hide something, that’s where I’d put it. Anything else would be open to anyone to see.”

  “But how would someone even access that?”

  He shrugged. “There were ways to get into the base of the cities. Hidden doors. I don’t know if they are big enough for a dragon. It’s more something a Magika engineer would know than a White Dragon Rider.”

  A Magika Engineer. Hmmm. “If Ephretti is right that it’s a pathway to the south – a shortcut there – and if Magika Engineers built it, is it crazy to think our enemies might already be using it?”

  “I’d say it would be crazy if they weren’t – if these warrens really are accessible and really work the way you think they do.”

  I had a mental image of a stream of Ifrits disappearing down a dark tunnel into the warrens, flooding the channels underground with their spectral bodies. I shivered.

  We both sat in silence after that, stewing on our own personal mix of fears. When Ephretti landed beside us with a rough skid, I was almost relieved to have a distraction.

  Tyalmae hit the ground too hard, skidding through the trees until he hit one. It swayed precariously before a loud crack ripped through the air and the tree fell over. Tyalmae shook himself and Dax leapt to his feet, running across the scar on the earth to help.

  I pulled myself painfully up on my crutches.

  Don’t worry, she’s fine. She just got more than she bargained for. So did Tyalmae.

  It was long moments before Ephretti and Dax emerged with a struggling figure. A green scarf was tied around his eyes and another around his mouth while his hands were trussed together, but that didn’t stop him from bucking and lashing out in every direction. Dax leaned easily out of the way, but Ephretti took a knock to the gut and another to the ear.

  “Would you stop already?” she asked, frustrated, as she shoved the captive to the ground beside me.

  I sat back down. I couldn’t help with the physical part anyway, and maybe seeing me sitting so calmly here would help him calm down when they took the blindfold away.

  “I’m surprised you managed to get him on your own,” Dax said. “This one has a lot of fight to him.”

  “I lured him to Tyalmae and we worked together. Dragon jaws are strong.”

  Tyalmae is still cursing because the boy punched him on the inside of his mouth. It hurts.

  “Let’s see what you found,” Dax said.

  He pulled off the blindfold and we were met with a burning glare that managed to take us all in. If Raolcan was a human, he’d look like this.

  Ha! I think I like that.

  He was about my age, I realized. Wiry, but muscular. Average height. Green eyes with a mischievous twinkle in them. A mouth shaped like a gash in a pie. He looked like more trouble than we’d bargained for.

  I like him already. He has an entertaining mind.

  As soon as Dax pulled the gag off the boy started talking. He opened his eyes so they were wide and innocent looking.

  “I’m not in some kind of trouble, am I?”

  Chapter Eight

  “Listen to me-” Ephretti began, but he rode right over her.

  He scowled, “I’m not sure I need to listen to kidnappers. If you think you’ll get a good ransom price for me, you can think again. I make my own way in the world. There’s no one paying my way.” His expression changed slightly – just a flicker – as if he’d had a realization. “Not that no one will notice me gone. Sergeant Rickers in the Dusk Covenant Defense will notice. He runs patrols every day. In fact, I think I heard he was headed to the mountains tomorrow morning.”

  “We’re not afraid of a single patrol,” Ephretti said defiantly. “You’re going to answer our questions!”

  He looked up at the sky dramatically. “It’s almost morning already...”

  She rolled her eyes. “We’ll start with a simple one. Are you Dusk Covenant?”

  “You said you’re not worried about patrols?” His eyes narrowed as he scanned the trees. “That means there’s more than three of you. So why show me a sick woman, an old man, and a cripple? Where are the real Dragon Riders hiding?”

  “We are real Dragon Riders!” Ephretti stormed, but Dax laid a hand on her arm. Dealing with irritating people was clearly not her strength.

  “All we want is some information from a man who lives in the city. We can’t get it on our own,” Dax said reasonably. He sat down in front of the boy, the flickering fire illuminating both their faces.

  “So, I’m really supposed to believe that all you want is to chat about where the best place for a drink is in Vanika?” the boy asked with a twist to his mouth. “You kidnapped me and trussed me up because you’re just a really curious bunch and you just want to write down a few new facts for a book you’re writing? I don’t buy it.”

  “Let’s start with your name,” Dax said.

  “Tor.”

  “Your real name.”

  “That’s my real name. Or at least, that’s what everyone calls me.”

  “Fine,” Dax said. “Tor, can you tell us about the city? How well it is defended and by who?”

  “Sergeant Rickers-”

  Dax threw a hand up. “Let’s start with something true. Are there Magikas in the city.”

  The boy tilted his head. “Before I go answering questions, let’s talk about a price.”

  “The price is your freedom. Answer the questions well and we’ll free you. Answer them poorly and you can get to know us a little better.”

  “I was thinking gold,” Tor said.

  Dax sighed. “We’ll try this again. What-”

  “Gold or nothing.”

  “You little rat!” Ephretti said, bursting back into the conversation like a maddened bull. She shook a finger under Tor’s nose so he had to pull his head back to keep it from hitting him. He looked more entertained than threatened. “Don’t you realize what we could do to you? These dragons aren’t for show! They could light you on fire and watch you burn just for the fun of it.”

  I doubt that would be very fun. Make sure you never agree to an entertaining afternoon with Ephretti.

  “Unless there’s gold, I guess I’ll live with the sunburn.” He was examining his nails by the firelight, as if they were vastly more interesting than Ephretti, but I had a feeling that he noticed everything. The corner of his mouth had ticked slightly when Dax reached into a pocket for his pencil and only relaxed when Dax began to write. He was looking for weapons and opportunities.

  This was clearly going nowhere. I’d known boys like Tor before. There was a man who ran a ferry in the neighb
oring town and sometimes his son would manage it while he was gone. He’d always ask for more than the agreed upon price and if anyone said no or that they’d tell his father, they’d find the ferry suddenly “jammed” for an hour halfway across the river. There was no point in trying to haggle with those people. You gave them what they wanted and moved on or you paid the price.

  “This kind of gold?” I asked quietly, pulling one of Jalla’s coins from my pocket.

  His eyes narrowed as they met mine. “Who are you?”

  “I’m the one paying you to talk.”

  He laughed. “That doesn’t look like a Dominion coin.”

  “It’s from Baojang.”

  His eyes glittered, and he smiled secretively. “I also have some water to sell if you need it. Direct from Baojang.”

  Ephretti looked puzzled but I laughed. “So, you’ve dealt with Baojang Princes before, have you?”

  “Not really, though there was one visiting Vanika before the city fell. Rakturan, I think his name was. Supposed to marry someone special.”

  I smiled. “You’ve lived in Vanika a long time then.”

  “Maybe.” He smiled confidently. “Any chance we can get these ropes off? They chafe.”

  “Maybe.” I smiled back. I was pretty sure I knew what type of person Tor was. “You’re the type of man who knows a little of everything. Like maybe how to get to things that no one else knows about.”

  “Things?” He tilted his head to the side, considering.

  “There’s a door leading underground. In the ruined base of the city.”

  Even by firelight, I could see the blood drain from his face, his features taking on a haunted look.

  “I don’t know anything about that.”

  “Or about dust demons using it as a passageway?” I asked.