Chapter Sixteen
The room inside the Dragon’s Breath was sparsely appointed. There was a narrow bed and a basin with water in it and nothing else. Fes crouched near the window, looking out and searching for signs of movement on the street below, but so far saw none. Jayell sat on the bed, staring down at her hands. The completely spent dragon pearls were cupped in her palms.
“Thank you,” Fes said.
“I should not have used them in such a way,” she whispered.
“If you hadn’t, then I don’t know that I would still be here.”
“You could have gotten to me sooner,” she said.
Fes kept his attention focused outside the window. He had been waiting for her to realize that. What would she do when she realized that he had only attacked Jaken so that he could grab the dragonglass sword?
“They came too quickly,” Fes said.
“Too quickly? I saw the way that you jumped. You could have easily reached the rooftop. You didn’t need to kill those men.”
“I didn’t kill all of them,” Fes said. And had he the opportunity, he wouldn’t have killed any of them. Either way, he had left Jaken alive, which he knew was a mistake. Word would get back to the emperor, and Fes would be sought. If he wasn’t already.
Could he ever return to the capital?
That shouldn’t bother him, but it did. It shouldn’t trouble him that he would not have an opportunity to return, to take additional jobs for Azithan, but the more that happened, the less likely it was that he would be able to return safely.
What did that mean for his future?
Those were questions for another time, much like trying to understand what it meant that he was Deshazl was a question for another time. Much like trying to understand what it meant that Jaken had to be Deshazl.
“Was it worth it?” she asked.
Fes turned toward her. “Do you understand what the sword is?”
Her gaze drifted down to the sword resting across his lap. Fes had taken only a little time to study it. It was much like his daggers, made completely of dragonglass, the entire surface slick and smooth and the blade incredibly sharp, never needing to be sharpened again.
“If you want some way of killing more easily, you needn’t have bothered. I’ve seen you. With those daggers of yours—”
Fes shook his head. “It’s not about killing more easily. It’s about having something that we can use to counter Elizabeth.”
“And you think that will allow you to counter her more effectively?”
“I don’t know,” Fes said.
“Something else happened there, didn’t it?” she asked.
“Did you see the way that he countered your spells?”
“That was him? I thought that was you.”
“Why would I have countered your spells?”
“Because one of them nearly caught you.”
“You weren’t aiming at me,” Fes said.
“How certain are you?”
He glanced over. She was looking back down at her lap again. “I think he’s Deshazl.”
“Are you sure?”
He shook his head. “I’m not sure, which troubles me.”
“You left him alive.”
Fes breathed out heavily. “I still don’t have answers,” he said.
“And that is reason for you to leave him alive?”
“If he’s Deshazl—”
“If he is Deshazl, I’m not sure you should have left him live. Deshazl who work for the empire are…”
“Are what?”
Jayell clenched her jaw. “There were Deshazl who worked with the empire. There always have been. They have been viewed as something of a traitor to those within the priesthood for generations.”
“Why?”
“Because they have the closest connection to the dragon lands, and they have poisoned themselves by working with the emperor.”
Could that be what Azithan had wanted for Griffin?
He imagined that he would have wanted to bring somebody of power with him. Especially if it meant that he could gain more favor with the emperor. Something like that would be exactly the kind of thing that Azithan would do.
“How many Deshazl remain?”
“There aren’t many. Had you asked me a few years ago when I was first learning of the Deshazl, I would have said that I thought the Deshazl were extinct. How could they be anything other than extinct when the emperor had spent so much energy trying to destroy them? But in the last few years, I have learned that the emperor has tried to find those who are the descendants of the Deshazl, wanting their connection.”
“For what?”
“To reach the heart of the dragon fields. I’m not even sure if that’s possible.”
“It would work,” Fes said.
“What do you mean?”
“Only that it would work.” Fes looked away from her. “I chased a powerful fire mage to the Draconis Pass, so I’ve seen it.”
“The fire mage should not have been able to reach the heart of the dragon lands. It would take something more than that for them to reach there.”
Fes didn’t know what else it might take, but Reina had certainly gone to the heart of the dragon plains. Had she had some other way? He had thought she was after the dragon heart, but there had been something else that she had been after, relics that she could not have gotten any other way.
“I don’t know how she had, but she got there at the same time as me.”
“Then that’s how she was able to reach it,” Jayell said.
“What do you mean?”
“You. If you are Deshazl,” she said, watching him for a moment, “then you would have something of a mitigating effect on others who attempt to reach there. Those with enough power would be able to survive long enough to get to the heart of the dragon plains. Without your presence, I doubt they would have been able to do so.”
“Unless she had another of the Deshazl with her.”
“That’s possible, but there haven’t been that many Deshazl discovered.”
Fes thought about the men he had rescued. Could it be that they were Deshazl? They had run across the dragon plains without any problems, disappearing following the attack. Maybe that was how Reina had managed to get so deep into the dragon fields.
He hadn’t bothered to chase them down, not thinking that there was anything important about knowing who those men were, but maybe he should have done something differently.
“What’s it like?”
He thought about what he remembered of the dragon fields. The steam that rose from the ground was unforgettable. Fes could imagine it easily by simply closing his eyes. Inside the dragon fields, there had been a sense of power. That had been unmistakable. But when he reached the Draconis Pass, that was when he had truly understood the power that the dragons once possessed.
“A haze covers everything. It makes it difficult for you to see anything. When it lifts—”
“How would it lift?”
“When I was there, I was chased by a powerful fire mage. She was drawing on the relics that remained there, and somehow, the way that she was using her power caused the haze to part, sending it into the sky so that she could more easily see the remaining dragon relics.”
“I never would’ve imagined attempting that.”
“I don’t think that it was easy to do. The priest that I was with—”
“You were with a priest?”
Fes looked over. “There was a priest with me. He was trying to prevent her from reaching too deeply into the dragon fields. Reina was almost too much for us.”
Her breath caught. “Reina?”
Fes nodded. “Do you know her?”
“All who train to be a fire mage know her. She is incredibly powerful.”
“Was.” When she arched her brow, Fes shrugged. “She was powerful. She’s not anymore.”
“You killed Reina?”
“I had help.” Fes thought of what it had taken to s
top her. Much of it had been luck, or at least, it seemed it at the time. Maybe he had been more than lucky. Maybe there had been something to the fact that he was Deshazl that had allowed him to bring down Reina, but it still felt as if there was an enormous amount of luck to it.
“If you were able to defeat Reina, then Elizabeth shouldn’t be a challenge for you.”
“As I said, I had help. With Elizabeth, I won’t have the same help. That’s why I wanted this sword.”
Jayell climbed off the bed and joined him near the window. She held her hands out, and he handed over the dragonglass sword. “I’m still not sure that you even need this.”
“I think the sword makes a difference. It’s like the daggers. Whether or not it’s something within me or whether it’s the blade itself, I think that using it, I am better equipped to cut through a spell.”
And with the sword, Fes hoped that he would be able to overcome even a powerful spell.
“It’s too bad that there isn’t anyone who can train you,” she said.
“You mean like the priests?”
Jayell shook her head. “I don’t mean like the priests. What you can do is different than them. Your connection to the dragons is ancient—even more ancient than that which the priests claim. Their power flows through you.”
He held his hands out, and Jayell passed the sword back to him. “Either way, I thought the sword would be helpful. I don’t know whether or not it will be, but if we do come across Elizabeth, and if we do need to stop her, I wanted to be ready.”
“What of that soldier?”
“I suspect he’s going to search for me.”
“What happens if he finds you?”
Fes took a deep breath. He had little doubt about what would happen if Jaken found him. He had made it quite clear what he intended. Not only had Fes gone against the emperor when he had attacked the Dragon Guard, but he had also made an enemy. Jaken was not the kind of man that Fes would typically willingly make an enemy of, and he suspected that he had been lucky having Jayell with him, using her magic so that he could overpower the other man. Had he not had her with him, the outcome might have been entirely different.
“I prefer not to think about what will happen if he finds me,” Fes said.
“How long do you think we can hide here?”
They had their room in the Dragon’s Breath, and he thought that they could remain for a night or two, but he wasn’t willing to remain there for too long. The longer they stayed, the easier it would be for Elizabeth to drag Indra away.
And yet, given the heat that he still felt when he focused on it, he wasn’t certain whether Elizabeth had brought Indra out of the city. It was possible that she remained here, captured within Idaris, so close that Fes could almost reach her.
And he needed to.
“I don’t know how much longer we can remain here,” Fes admitted. “It’s not going to be safe to move during the daylight.”
“Then why did we get a room for the night?”
“Because otherwise we would’ve had to stay in the common room, and I wasn’t willing to risk that without knowing whether or not it was safe.”
“That seems like a waste of coin.”
“You can get some rest. I will keep watch.”
“What are you looking for?”
“Movement. Signs of soldiers. Anything that might give away our position.”
“And if you see something?”
“If I see something, then we need to be ready to move.”
“Then I shouldn’t sleep.”
Fes shook his head. “Sleep if you can. You might need it. Besides, we might need your strength and your abilities again.”
“I can’t keep using them,” she whispered.
“I know you don’t want to, but—”
“It’s more than me not wanting to. I joined the priesthood for a reason,” she said.
“And what reason was that?”
“Because I came to understand the power of the dragons. I came to understand that there was more to them that I needed to know. I came to understand that there was more to what happened a thousand years ago than the stories that the empire spreads.”
“Does it really matter?” Fes looked over at her. “Do you think that it really matters whether or not the empire destroyed the dragons?”
“There’s no question about what they did.”
“And does it matter?” Fes looked back out the window. “The dragons are gone. Everything from that time is gone. We have to find our place in the world as it exists today.”
“They might be gone, but they don’t have to be.”
Fes laughed, shaking his head. “That’s the same reaction I get from all the priests. Everyone seems to believe that the dragons can return if only the priests manage to collect the necessary components. What would you even do if you managed to find one of the dragons?”
“They deserve to return.”
“Deserve? They were defeated by men. If nothing else, that shows you that the dragons weren’t as smart as what people believe. They weren’t as strong as what people believe.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know that you and Donathon believed that the Deshazl controlled the dragons. What would happen if they were to return? What would happen without Deshazl to ensure safety?”
“You still exist.”
Fes laughed. “Sure. And I would know how to control a dragon. We are better off letting the emperor do whatever it is that he wants when it comes to the dragons.”
“Then why did you attack one of his Dragon Guards?”
“Because I refuse to allow him to harm someone unnecessarily.”
“You are an odd man.”
“I am.”
There was movement on the street below. A pair of soldiers made their way along the street, and Fes watched them. None of them glanced up in his direction. Already too many people were after him. And now he had changed things, allowing himself to get brought into a bigger fight, something that he had steadfastly refused over the years. He didn’t want to be placed in a confrontation with the empire, and he didn’t want to be put into a position where he would have to choose a side. It was easier to stay focused on payment rather than politics.
The soldiers continued on the street and disappeared from view. Fes breathed out before settling back on his heels. “Do you still detect the fire mage?” Jayell asked.
“If I try to focus on it, I can still feel the heat,” Fes said. “It’s subtle, but it’s definitely there.”
She nodded. “Even if I were willing, I won’t be of much use to you anymore.”
“Why is that?”
She held out the dragon pearls. “I’ve used everything that I have.”
They might need for her to use her connection to her magic, but without any dragon relics, they wouldn’t be able to. Somehow, they would have to acquire more.
The pair of soldiers that he had seen making their way down the street had stopped at one end. Another pair of soldiers were at the opposite end of the street. They were waiting, and it was clear to Fes from the way that they kept their attention focused on the Dragon’s Breath that they must have discovered where they were hiding.
Had the server mentioned it?
He pointed, and Jayell came over to the window, staring out. “How do you intend for us to get out of here safely?”
“I would’ve said the front door, but given that they’re watching it, I think we’re going to have to find another way out.”
That likely was going to involve them going up to the rooftop, but even when they did, would they be able to get anywhere from there? At the door of their room, Fes peeked out into the hallway. He stepped back, quickly shutting the door behind him.
“What is it?”
“It seems as if we weren’t nearly as well hidden as I imagined,” Fes said.
“Do you think they have some way of tracking us?”
He hadn’t thought so, but then h
e hadn’t given any thought of that before. “More likely it’s that they spoke with the server and he told them where he advised us to come to stay.”
They shouldn’t have been foolish enough to take his advice after attacking Jaken. Now they would have done nothing more than draw attention to themselves.
“Where are we going to go?” she asked.
“For now? Nowhere.”
“Fes—”
“We can’t go out in the hall, and the guards have the street watched.”
“What if they go door to door?”
“Then we will deal with it if it comes to that.”
Jayell started pacing. He understood the nervousness. He felt the same way; only he recognized that there was nothing that he could do that would change their situation. They had to ride this out.
“How long do you think we can last?” she asked.
Fes leaned his head against the door, listening to the sound of boots thudding along the hallway. He counted two distinct sets of boots but wasn’t sure whether that was accurate or not. For all he knew, there could be more than two soldiers coming their way. Two soldiers, he thought he could manage. Anything more than that… In the close confines of the room and the hallway, he wasn’t sure how well they would cope.
Worse, he didn’t know what might happen were he to attack the soldiers. Would it draw the attention of others out in the street? Would it alert Jaken to the fact that he was here?
For all he knew, Jaken was injured and remained out in the street, though Fes didn’t think so. It was more likely that Jaken was somewhere nearby.
A hard knock came on the door.
Jayell’s eyes widened.
“Open it,” Fes said. He stood behind the door and unsheathed his daggers.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea?” she whispered.
The knock came again.
He nodded.
As she reached for the door, heat began to burn through him.
She opened it before he could stop her. As she pulled the door open, it exploded the rest of the way.
Chapter Seventeen
Heat burst along Fes. He held onto the daggers, not wanting to cut through the spell—not yet. The rough surface of the door pressed against his arm, and he remained in place, wanting to ensure that he knew what he was going up against.
Dragon Blessed Page 17
