“Fire!” Mari shouted to the other Mechanics. The booms of the Mechanic weapons echoed from the buildings around the courtyard, startling the dragon so that it fell back one step. Bullets sparked from the dragon’s head as the Mechanics tried to hit its eyes, flying off with high-pitched keening sounds instead of bouncing away as the crossbow bolts had.
All of the Mages except Alain disappeared as they used concealment spells, under cover of which they would be moving in to attack the dragon as well.
Standing slightly back, Alain felt like an observer to the fight rather than a participant. It frustrated him because he wanted to be among those in front, but he understood the wisdom of Mari placing him far enough back to be able to act immediately if a good target presented itself.
But as the dragon shook off the first volley of Mechanic rifle fire and refocused on the fallen soldier, Alain was too far back to stop her as Mari suddenly ran forward.
She was firing her weapon as fast as possible, but something appeared to stick on it. Mari wrestled with the rifle for a moment, then hurled it away, drawing her pistol. Standing over the fallen soldier as the dragon bent to strike, Mari unleashed a stream of bullets that caused the dragon to flinch up and back.
“Somebody help me here!” Mari cried as she reloaded her pistol.
Mage Dav appeared next to her, dropping his concealment spell to grab the soldier by one arm and pull him quickly back to where some of the soldier’s comrades were forming ranks behind the Mechanics. Mechanic Alli dashed out to help get the man to the small relative safety that existed behind the screen of the other soldiers.
Alain knew he should not waste strength on an attack that could not seriously harm the dragon, but it had recovered from the shock of Mari’s attack and was now fixing on her. He imagined the heat above his hand, using the power available in this spot along with his own strength to feed the illusion. Not waiting for the illusion to build to the maximum he could manage, Alain imagined the heat no longer above his hand but next to the dragon’s head.
The dragon screamed again, the sound deafening so close and confined in the courtyard. It sidestepped, its huge tail sweeping around to strike at Mari, who was running backwards. Alain’s distraction, on top of that caused by the Mechanic bullets continuing to strike the creature, slowed the beast enough that the tail barely missed striking Mari. She was able to make it back among the others so that she no longer stood out as a target for the dragon.
“I am angry at you!” Alain yelled over the cacophony of combat.
“Save it for later!” Mari shouted back. “Get that thing!”
“I cannot see a place to strike!” The dragon twisted and lunged, making abortive strikes that kept breaking off as hits from other directions caused it to forget its original target.
The common soldiers had formed up behind the very thin screen of Mechanics, those carrying pikes which looked ridiculously small against the dragon planting their weapons to protect the remaining crossbow wielders, who were shooting out bolts as fast as they could. But every crossbow bolt glanced harmlessly off the dragon’s scales.
On the other side of the courtyard Alain could see Mechanic Alli, carrying one of the bundles she called explosives, also frustrated by her inability to use it. “It won’t hold still!” Alli cried to Mari.
The booming of the Mechanic weapons had slowed, Calu, Dav, and Mari taking time to aim each shot. But the creature’s darting head presented a poor target, and none of the bullets succeeded in hitting an eye. So far no real damage had been done.
“I’ve only got so many bullets, Mari!” Calu called.
“Only fire often enough to keep the dragon from fixing on one target!” Mari yelled back, firing her pistol a moment later.
The dragon twisted, its head lunging toward Mari, who scrambled to one side as both Calu and Dav fired. Both shots hit the dragon’s head. The creature halted its lunge, shook its head, then looked around for some other enemy to fix on.
The ring of metal on scales sounded in the interval between the crashes of the Mechanic weapons. The dragon jerked its leg forward, then back. Mage Asha appeared suddenly, her long knife flying from her hand, stumbling to one side as the dragon’s leg brushed her with bruising force. Seeking its latest attacker, the dragon pivoted, its tail slamming into Asha hard enough to hurl her across the courtyard.
Mechanic Dav gave a cry of mingled rage and distress as she rolled to a stop, rushing to stand next to Asha and fire his weapon again and again. The dragon screamed its own challenge in reply, taking a step toward him as bullets sparked off its muzzle.
“Over here!” Mari yelled, running toward the dragon and firing rapidly again.
“My rifle’s jammed!” Calu shouted, working frantically at the inert weapon.
The dragon jerked its head back to focus on Mari. Alain saw the light of recognition fill its eyes and knew the creature had finally realized that Mari was the one it had been sent to destroy.
The dragon would not be diverted from its target again.
He had only moments left to stop it.
As the dragon pivoted to face Mari, Alain saw the flash of one of its inner thighs, the scales thin enough there for the difference to be clear. He knew he did not have time to create a fire spell and place it on that part of the dragon before the beast moved again and left him unable to see the spot. He did not have time. It was impossible.
Mari was about to die.
He never knew how it happened, how he achieved something that could not be done. The fire appeared above his hand and was exploding next to the most vulnerable part of the dragon in a single instant. The scales on the dragon’s inner thigh blackened and melted from the intense heat.
The dragon’s scream was louder than ever, this time wracked with pain. The beast’s right leg crumpled under it and the dragon began falling toward Mari, who was racing back toward Alain.
The dragon hit the pavement with enough force to make the ground jump under the feet of everyone facing it.
Alain, barely able to stand after the sudden expenditure of so much of his strength, felt himself falling.
Mechanic Alli was running forward, one arm drawn back. As the dragon opened its mouth to snap at Mari’s retreating figure, Alli hurled her burden into it.
Alain fell to his knees, trying desperately not to collapse entirely.
Alli had skidded into a sliding turn that brought her just clear of the monster’s jaws. She ran all out toward Calu. “Everybody get down!” she shouted loudly enough to carry over the choking scream of the dragon.
Mari leaped and hit Alain, knocking him to the pavement and covering his body with her own. He had a confused image of the common soldiers obediently dropping to the ground, the other Mages appearing and going flat as they saw Mari doing so, and Mechanic Dav falling to protect Mage Asha.
No more weapons were firing. The dragon had broken off its last scream. For a long moment, the only sound was the scrabbling of the dragon’s claws on the pavement as it struggled to rise.
Alain heard it make an odd gagging sound, as if something were stuck in its throat.
Something exploded with a sound that dwarfed that of the Mechanic weapons, the noise reverberating from the buildings around the courtyard. Alain felt a hail of small objects pelt him, the ones that hit his skin striking hard enough to sting.
And then silence made all the more profound by the vast noise that had preceded it.
Despite Mari being on top of him, Alain managed to twist his head enough to see the dragon.
The monster’s body lay in the courtyard, twitching.
Nothing was left of the dragon above its shoulders.
Mari staggered to her feet, helping Alain up, then wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. “Thank the stars you’re all right. Alain, when Alli says get down, you get down.”
“I will remember,” Alain said.
She looked up at him, frowned, and reached to touch something on his cheek that felt wet. “Wha
“It is pieces of the dragon’s head,” Alain said. Once he had seen that the dragon’s head was gone, the answer had seemed obvious. He did not mention that similar pieces speckled her face and clothes.
“I’ve got little pieces of dragon brain in my hair?” Mari asked, horrified.
“Yeah,” Mechanic Alli said, running her fingers through her own hair and gazing distastefully at the results as she got to her feet. “Little pieces of dragon brain, little pieces of dragon skull, little pieces of dragon snot—”
“Euwwww!” Mari cried. “Could you have used a little less explosive!?!”
“I didn’t know how much I’d need to blow off a dragon’s head! Excuse me for ensuring that thing won’t get up again!”
“The pieces will dissolve in several days as the power that created them dissipates,” Alain offered.
“Several days?” Mari asked. “No. I am washing my hair as soon as possible. We’re just lucky no one was hurt—” She broke off, turned, and ran over to where Asha lay with Mechanic Dav kneeling beside her. “Asha. How is she, Dav?”
“I don’t know,” Mechanic Dav said, frantic with worry.
“The healers,” Alain said, pointing to where Cas and Pol had entered the courtyard. He found it hard to look at Asha as she lay there, as if he could feel the pain of her injuries just as he once had felt a blow to Mari’s head.
Cas examined Asha carefully. “She’s very tough, which helped. Her muscles were able to absorb some of the force of the blow. It feels like a couple of broken ribs. I’m not sure whether her arm is broken or not. She’s going to have some serious bruises on this side of her body.”
“What does that mean?” Mechanic Dav demanded. “Is Asha going to be all right?”
“I think so,” Cas said. “We should get her to one of Edinton’s hospitals so specialists can look her over, though.”
Alain looked at Mage Dav. “Is this acceptable to you?”
“It is,” Mage Dav said. “My niece believes in the wisdom of Lady Mari.”
Mari shook her head wearily at Mage Dav, then turned to the common soldiers who were watching. “We need a stretcher and someone to carry it.”
“We have healers on the way,” an officer replied. “We have many injured.”
“I’m sorry,” Mari said.
Alain heard the regret in her voice, and knew without asking that Mari was blaming herself for the dragon having been unleashed.
“Sorry?” the officer said. “Lady, you killed the monster. You and yours stood between us and the death it carried. I have never heard of such a thing.”
“The only reason Corporal Rik is still alive is because you stood over him,” another soldier said. “We saw it. The dragon lunging and you not giving way until Rik was safe. Lady, we have heard rumors. I have long ceased believing in myths and legends, but now I see one before me and I know the stories are true.”
As if an order had been given, the soldiers all knelt before Mari.
Alain saw her dismay as she looked upon them.
“Not the kneeling!” Mari said. “What is with the kneeling thing? Stand up, all of you! I don’t care how you…do homage to your own rulers, but no one should be kneeling to me. Ever.”
The soldiers climbed to their feet, looking sheepish. “We do not kneel to our city councilors,” the officer explained. “Or any official of the Confederation. It is a rule among us that even the least deserves the same dignity as the greatest.”
“That’s a very good rule,” Mari said.
“It came down from Jules herself,” the officer said. “Small wonder the daughter of her daughters feels the same. We thought perhaps— We were wrong.”
Cries of welcome marked the arrival of a large group of new soldiers carrying stretchers and several healers who hastened to assist Cas and Pol.
Mari slumped against one wall, her eyes distant, as Asha was carefully placed on a stretcher by soldiers who seemed terrified to be touching a Mage. Standing next to them, Mechanic Dav looked helpless and afraid.
Alain leaned closer to Mari. “You cannot rest yet.”
She nodded, drawing in a deep breath, her eyes refocusing. “What—? Asha.” Mari took in everything at a glance. “Dav? Mechanic Dav? Someone is going to need to guard Mage Asha. Protect her and ensure she gets safely back to our ships. You do it. Stay with her.”
Mechanic Dav blinked at her in disbelief. “Seriously?”
“Seriously,” Mari said. “You have your instructions, Mechanic. Get the job done!”
“Thanks, Mari! You really are the greatest.” Dav walked alongside the stretcher as the soldiers carrying Asha followed one of the local healers toward the nearest hospital. He still held his rifle, and looked ready to battle another dragon singlehandedly if one showed up and threatened Asha.
Mari gazed after them, her expression tragic. “Why did she— Why did anyone have to be hurt?” Her face changed, growing stiff and angry. She looked at Alain, her eyes blazing. “Alain, didn’t you tell me that one of the new Mages was the type who could send messages to other Mages?”
“Yes. Mage Dimitri.” Alain gestured and Mage Dimitri came up, eyeing them both impassively. A long cut in Dimitri’s Mage robes marked a slash from the dragon which had narrowly missed him.
“Mage Dimitri,” Mari said, breathing hard, “I want you to send a message to the Mage Guild in this city. To the elders in the Mage Guild Hall.”
“What is the message?” Dimitri asked.
She had to pause, staring at Asha’s stretcher as it was carried out of the courtyard, before speaking in a voice that quivered with anger. “Tell them, tell the elders, that we’ve destroyed their dragon. Tell them that if any more attacks are aimed at me or at this city I will lead everything I have against their Guild Hall, and I will reduce that Guild Hall to a lifeless pile of smoldering rubble that will make the ruins of Marandur pale by comparison. The world illusion will be changed, and changed for all time, in a way that leaves none of them alive in it. Tell them that.”
Dimitri’s Mage composure, as good as it was, was obviously tested by Mari’s words. He looked at Alain.
Alain nodded to Mage Dimitri. “Tell the elders, and tell them that you saw no falseness in the words of Master Mechanic Mari. She is not making a threat. She is making a promise.”
“This one understands.” A common or a Mechanic would have seen no emotion on Mage Dimitri’s face, but Alain saw traces of elation there. This was one message Mage Dimitri would be pleased to send.
Dimitri went off to work his spell. Alain saw Mari rubbing her face with one hand. “I hope the elders listen,” she mumbled so that only Alain could hear.
“If nothing else,” said Alain, “your message should cause the elders to debate what wisdom dictates in this case. It will delay any further action by the Mages in the Guild Hall.”
“I hope you’re right.” Mari sighed and faced a common soldier who approached them.
“Lady?” The officer came to a stop before Mari, saluting. “Corporal Rik asked that he be allowed to thank you personally.”
“He’s awake? Come on, Alain.” Mari followed the officer until they stopped at another stretcher.
Corporal Rik looked as though he had been used as a kickball by a giant, but his bruised and scratched face bore a smile as he saw Mari. “They told me what you did, Lady. I have nothing. I am nothing, except to my wife and children, but on their behalf I cannot thank you enough.”
Mari knelt next to the stretcher. “Who told you that you were nothing? Everyone is something. Even my Mage agrees with that now.”
“Your Mage.” Corporal Rik’s eyes went to Alain. “They said a Mage pulled me to safety. A Mage and a Mechanic, holding onto my arms. What sort of miracle is this, Lady, that those who think the least of us would risk themselves for us?”
“From now on,” Mari said, “you’ll meet more and more Mechanics and Mages who aren’t like the others. Do you see this armband? I have it. Mage Alain has it. All who follow me will have it. If you see the sign of the new day, you will know that whoever bears it, Mechanic or Mage or common, is someone who will help those who need it. If we’re going to free this world, we’re going to have to work together.”
“I will be well enough to help soon—”
“You must wait until it is time,” Mari said. “All of you,” she added, looking around. “Wait until it is time. It won’t be that long now if I can get done what I need to get done. But not today, and not tomorrow. Understand? If you trust me, then wait.”
Corporal Rik, big and bluff, seemed ready to cry. “I did not believe it could be true, but it is. You are the daughter, for who else could lead or would lead Mechanics and Mages in the defense of common folk? Take my sword, Lady! It is yours!”
“Use it to defend your city,” Mari said. “That’s what I need from you now.” She stood up again as Corporal Rik’s stretcher was carried off. “Hey, Calu. How are you doing?”
Calu rubbed his forehead, wiping away sweat. “You’ve already killed two of those? One was more than enough for me.”
“I’m not exactly looking for them, Calu, and now you and Alli can claim one as well.”
Alli, busy trying to comb gobbets of dragon out of her hair, just grimaced in reply.
Mari suddenly looked at Alain, as if seeing him here for the first time. She leaned in and kissed him, holding the kiss uncaring of any spectators. “You are a gift, my Mage. Even when there aren’t any dragons around. In case you’re wondering, I saw that you were the one who crippled that dragon badly enough to give Alli a good shot at it. I owe you another one.”
“We have discussed this before,” Alain said, feeling oddly put out by Mari’s phrasing. “You owe me nothing. I do not ask for payment or repayment, and that is not why I did it.”
“I know, you silly Mage! I’m going to have to talk to Mechanic Dav so he’ll know how you Mages take things.” She cocked her head at him. “Does Asha like him as much as he obviously likes her?”
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