Dragon Blessed

by D. K. Holmberg

  When he returned to the capital, he would need answers.

  Maybe Azithan would provide them. And if he didn’t, what would Fes do?

  Chapter Two

  Fes had visited the palace many times in his service of Azithan. The palace was an impressive structure, constructed nearly a thousand years ago when the empire was first forged. In that time, it had been added upon, but its bones remained original. He was allowed access, granted the privilege of passing through without escort. He rarely paused to think about what that meant and the privilege he was afforded. Mostly because it didn’t always feel as if it were a privilege. Sometimes, serving Azithan felt less a privilege and more like a penance.

  He had struggled during the return to the capital. The journey itself wasn’t difficult, but the fact that he had been attacked by a fire mage troubled him. If Azithan had known a fire mage would attack, why had he sent Fes?

  Did he know that Fes had some ability to counteract the fire mages?

  He turned a corner and caught a glimpse of a procession making its way through the hallway. A half dozen guards, all garbed in the maroon and gold of the empire, slipped along the hallway. At the head of the procession was the emperor. Fes barely caught sight of him, noticing only the peppered hair. The man was rumored to be a powerful fire mage himself.

  He stayed off to the side, not wanting to get in the way of the emperor’s procession and not wanting to attract the attention of the Dragon Guard escort.

  Fes turned the corner and made his way toward Azithan’s room.

  When he reached it, he knocked. Oftentimes, Fes would simply head in, but until he knew exactly what Azithan knew about him, he wanted to be careful.

  The door came open, and Azithan poked his head out. He was slender, with delicate features and a narrow chin. His black hair was slicked back and his brown eyes seemed to take in everything around him.

  “Fezarn,” Azithan said, clasping his hands in front of him. “I had not expected you to return quite so soon.”

  Fes took a deep breath. Was that an admission? Did Azithan reveal that he had expected Fes to fail in this task? It wouldn’t be the first time for him to make such an attempt. Fes had been given other tasks in which it had been likely that he would fail.

  “Are you disappointed?”

  Azithan smiled at him. “Disappointed? You are my most trusted collector.”

  “Am I?”

  Azithan grinned. “Don’t say it like that, Fezarn. You know I can trust no one else the way I trust you to complete a task.”

  “Even when you intend for the task to fail?”

  It was a little more direct than he typically was with Azithan, but given what he had gone through, Fes figured it was appropriate.

  Azithan studied him, a deep frown pulling on the corners of his mouth. “Why would I expect you to fail?”

  “Did you know I would encounter a fire mage?”

  Azithan looked along the hallway before motioning for Fes to join him in the room. When he did, he motioned for Fes to take a seat. Fes had been in Azithan’s quarters many times and had grown comfortable within them—probably too comfortable. Instinctively, he knew Azithan wasn’t a man to trifle with. He was a high-level advisor to the emperor, and a fire mage as well. That was reason enough to be cautious around him, but Fes had never allowed himself to be overly cautious. Too often, he was impulsive, and his impulsivity had gotten him in trouble.

  Fes looked around the room, taking in the sight of Azithan’s decorations. A massive bookcase lined one wall, and every so often when he was here, Fes wondered what the mage kept there. What kind of books would intrigue Azithan? The hearth glowed with a bright fire, and items stacked on the table along the back wall called to him, but Fes ignored them.

  “Tell me about the fire mage you encountered,” Azithan said, standing in front of the hearth.

  Fes knew better than to allow himself to be too relaxed around Azithan. He gripped one of his dragonglass daggers, running his finger along the hilt. Every so often, he shifted the dagger in his hand, maneuvering it so that he could resist whatever it was that Azithan might do to him. Reina had been a blunt fire mage, and when Fes had been around her, he had recognized the heat and power she exuded. It was the same with the fire mage he had encountered in Vayan.

  Azithan was different. His magic was subtle, and Fes was lucky to recognize when he was using it, but it was better to be prepared for what he was doing than to rely upon luck.

  “Did you know I would encounter a fire mage?” Fes asked again.

  “I would not have sent to you, Fezarn, had I known that you would encounter a fire mage. Now. Answer the question.”

  Wouldn’t he?

  Azithan knew Fes had a connection to the dragon relics. That the connection allowed him to search for them when others couldn’t. Would he know about his connection to the Deshazl—and how that connection seemed to make him able to overpower fire magic?

  “She was tall with black hair,” Fes said, beginning to describe her. He shared with Azithan everything that he could recall about the fire mage but wasn’t certain that he knew enough. He had been so focused on surviving the stone man and his attack that he hadn’t paid nearly as much attention to the fire mage. Perhaps that had been his mistake. Perhaps he should have been more careful.

  “Is that all you can remember?”

  “She had someone with her. He was strong, and I could barely do anything that worked against him.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean that my daggers seemed to bounce off him.” Fes leaned back in the chair and fixed Azithan with a hard glare. “If I didn’t know better, I would have thought him made of stone.”

  Even stone had occasionally been cut by his daggers, so whatever the man was, it was something that his daggers could not get through.

  “Are you certain about what you saw?”

  “I thought you said I was your most reliable,” Fes said.

  “Most of the time,” Azithan said. “Which is why I question what you witnessed.”

  Fes shook his head. “There’s no reason to question. There was something else odd about this man. When he walked, it was almost as if he were incredibly heavy, crushing the ground beneath him.”

  It sounded strange to describe it that way, even to him, and he had been there.

  Azithan watched him for a long moment. After a while, he turned his back to the fire and did something that left it sizzling and cracking. “How is it that you survived a fire mage and a golem?”

  “A what?”

  “A golem. I am surprised that she would have the ability to harness one, but that must be what you experienced. Most people who experience a golem do not live through it.”

  “I barely did. I ran when I got the chance.”

  “And yet you survived both. And managed to escape. I find that interesting.”

  “Interesting or not, I think you should have warned me.”

  “Warned you? I had no idea. For that matter, the temple has no fire mages active in Vayan.”

  “You just thought I would come across the dragon relic without any resistance?”

  “Oh, Fezarn, I expected you to meet resistance, but nothing you couldn’t manage.” Azithan turned back to him. “Did you retrieve it?”

  Fes sighed. He had debated how much to share with Azithan. During his return to Anuhr, he had examined the dragon pearls and came to the conclusion that they both had to be real. There was something about dragon relics that allowed him to know whether they were real or forgeries. Shimmery colors streaked within them, and dragon pearls had some of the most vibrant colors of all. Both of these were incredibly bright—one green and one orange—and neither much larger than a small stone. Both were warm—an indication that they were not inert.

  And then there was the length of bone he had claimed off the fire mage. He didn’t know which part of the dragon it came from, maybe a finger or a toe, but it was almost as long as his palm and the striati
ons were quite fine, along with the streaks of red that ran through it.

  That dragon bone would not be something that Azithan would expect him to have acquired.

  Fes reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the dragon pearls. He palmed it, and when Azithan reached for it, Fes closed his hand around it.

  “I think the terms of our arrangements aren’t always workable,” he said to Azithan.

  “You are being compensated more than fairly.”

  “Is that right? And when you send me against a fire mage and a golem?”

  “As I said, I didn’t send you against them. They were not supposed to be there.” Azithan met his gaze and held it for a long moment before turning his attention back to the fire. “I knew there would be power coming to that city. I could feel it. That was why you were sent. And you have succeeded, though this is not entirely what I had expected.”

  “You don’t want the dragon pearl?”

  Azithan looked over his shoulder at Fes. “I have acquired many dragon pearls. The temple has many more. Another is valuable, but not so valuable as what else I had hoped you might acquire.”

  “There wasn’t anything else.”

  “Are you certain?”

  “This was on the golem. This was what she handed him.”

  “Likely because she knew you were following. It was a diversion, and she intended for you to know that she had handed them to the golem.”

  If that were true, then there was something else that the fire mage must’ve held that Fes hadn’t seen. What would it have been?

  Unless it was the length of bone that he had hidden in his pocket.

  No. She had been willing to use that, willing to expend the energy from the relic to stop him. If it were something valuable, she wouldn’t have used it against him.

  Fes held the dragon pearl in his palm, running his finger along the surface. It was smooth, different than the other dragon relics that he had come across. Dragon pearls were unique in how they stored power, and from what the priest had told him, the dragon pearls were able to focus even more fire magic within them than even the dragon bones could.

  “Maybe you should have sent someone else,” Fes said.

  Azithan glanced over his shoulder. “What makes you think I did not?”

  Fes stared at him. It wouldn’t be the first time that Azithan had sent more than one person to complete a task, but this time, against this opponent, Fes would rather have had someone with him. Most of the time, he worked alone, and that was the way he wanted it. Before chasing the dragon heart and working with Alison again, he had forgotten what it was like to have others with him, watching his back.

  “Did you?” Fes asked.

  “Do you believe that I would share with you if I had someone else follow you?”

  Fes met the other man’s gaze. It was difficult to tell with him. Azithan was powerful, and with his connections to the emperor, he didn’t need to share anything about what he was doing, but Fes wished that he would. He wished he understood exactly what Azithan was after. It might make it easier to work for him.

  “Do you want the dragon pearl or not?”

  “If you acquired anything other than the dragon pearl, it might be valuable,” Azithan said.

  “There were two.”

  He hesitated to share that with Azithan. If he revealed too much and too quickly, he ruined his bargaining ability with Azithan. Most of the time, the bargaining was merely a game. At least, it felt that way to Fes, and Azithan never really seemed to mind playing it.

  “Two dragon pearls?”

  “There were two.” Fes reached into his pocket and pulled out the other dragon pearl, palming it the way that he palmed the other. When they were both in his hand, warmth radiated through his arms, running from his fingers up to his shoulders and then into his chest. It wasn’t necessarily unpleasant, but it wasn’t a sensation that he wanted to maintain.

  “Who was she?” Fes asked.

  “She is of no significance,” Azithan said.

  “She had two dragon pearls. I don’t know how many pearls you fire mages are allowed to have, but I suspect she was of more significance than you’re crediting her.” And then there was that golem. If she had some creature of incredible power—something Fes had never heard of before—then she had to be significant.

  And why would Azithan oppose her?

  As far as he knew, the fire mages worked together, though Reina might have been different. Fes still didn’t know what she had been after.

  Could there be some sort of division among the fire mages?

  “If who you’re describing is accurate, her name is Elizabeth. She is a fire mage of minor ability.”

  “Minor ability? Is it typical for fire mages of minor ability to have the ability to control a golem?”

  “No.”

  “Then who is she?” Fes asked.

  “It has been a long time since I have known her,” Azithan said.

  “Why? I thought all the fire mages serve the empire.”

  “They are supposed to.”

  Supposed to. “Does that mean she serves the rebellion?”

  Azithan met his gaze. “Leave the dragon pearls on my table. You will find your payment there.”

  With that, Azithan turned back to the fire and stared at it, leaving Fes without a complete answer.

  Knowing Azithan, he might not get an answer. And it was a dismissal.

  He made his way to the table, carefully setting the dragon pearls on top of it. A part of him wished that he would have taken the time to have created replicas, but with dragon pearls, it would be more likely that Azithan would know that they were fakes. Dragon pearls were common enough that he would be able to uncover the deception. It was different than with the dragon heart, something Fes doubted the fire mage had seen before.

  He grabbed the pouch and glanced inside. Ten gold coins, paid as Azithan had promised. Fes stuffed the pouch into his pocket and felt the presence of the dragon bone that he taken from the fire mage. He debated whether he should share that with Azithan before deciding to keep it for himself. Azithan didn’t need all dragon relics. And it might come in handy if he had to bargain at some point.

  Making his way back out of the palace, he stuck to the back halls and stairs. When he was outside once more, he took a deep breath of the air, enjoying the fragrance of the palace grounds. Hundreds of flowers were planted along walkways, and trees grew in such a way as to force people onto the path. One of the shrubs had been cut into a shape of a small dragon. At least what Fes imagined the gardener thought was a small dragon.

  He made his way through the city, he passed through various shopping districts before transitioning to rows of homes nestled closely together—nothing like the massive manor homes more centrally located in the city, and therefore closer to the emperor. Fes had a small home on the outskirts of the city, a place that he once would have believed beyond him, but through all the jobs he took from Azithan, he’d been able to afford much more than he once could.

  Nearing his section of the city, all single-story buildings that flowed from one to the next, he had a vague sense that someone was following him, but whenever he paused, he found no one. It wasn’t that he wasn’t able to take care of himself, but the gold in his pocket gave him a quick step.

  The sense that someone followed him persisted. Taking a roundabout way back to his home, not wanting to be surprised, he saw no one.

  Maybe it was only his imagination. He was tired from his travels, so wouldn’t put it past himself to have imagined someone trailing after him. And time with Azithan always exhausted him. When he reached his home, he slipped through the back alley and inside through a back entrance, remaining by the door and looking out through a window to see if anyone passed along the street. No one did.

  Finally, Fes turned his attention back to his home and lit a lantern. When the light was glowing, he looked around.

  Everything was a mess. The table and chairs were toppled over, l
eaving broken pottery strewn around his kitchen. The few belongings he owned were scattered throughout, and a strange odor reached his nostrils, but he didn’t know why.

  Someone had come here before him.

  He hurried to the back room and pulled up the floorboards, quickly looking inside, but the scuff marks around the boards told him all that he needed to know. Someone had come here before him.

  And his gold—all that he’d saved from the jobs he’d taken from Azithan—was missing.

  Chapter Three

  “I had people keeping an eye on your home while you are away,” Tracen said.

  Fes sat in his friend’s shop, staring at his hands. He didn’t know what to say or what to do. The only thing he could think of was to scream, but that wouldn’t solve anything. It wasn’t that he was destitute—he now had the ten gold that he’d acquired from Azithan—but the massive collection of wealth that he had depended on was missing.

  “Apparently, it wasn’t enough.”

  “What happened?”

  “Well, someone broke in my home, and everything was destroyed.”

  “I’m sorry,” Tracen said.

  Fes looked up. His muscular friend held his blacksmith hammer against his leather apron, almost cradling it. There was no question what he held dear. “So am I.”

  “Did they take everything?”

  Fes reached into his pocket. That was the strange part. He still had the totems that he’d been given by Theole, along with the figurine that Indra had carved for him. They had more of an emotional significance than anything else. He doubted he could sell them, even if there was much value to them. Then again, Theole and Indra had come to the Great Market selling similar goods, so Fes probably could sell them for something.

  “They took everything that mattered,” he said. He should have done something different with the gold. That was his way out. With enough money, he would be able to finally leave jobs behind, regardless of whether Azithan wasn’t like the person he’d served before him. Now he was as far away as he had been in a long time.