The Dragon Empress: The Dragonspire Chronicles Book 6

by James E. Wisher

  “I warned the earth spirits to be on the lookout for slithering,” Albert offered.

  Moz smiled. The kid reminded him of a puppy, always eager to please.

  He stopped just short of the rubble. “From here we enter enemy territory. No talking or other noise unless we’re about to be attacked. I’ll take point. Watch my hand signals. Questions?”

  There were none, so he stepped over a pile of broken rock and entered the ruins. Nothing attacked or struck him down, so at least every inch of the place outside the safe path wasn’t a death trap. With any luck, the danger had been overstated. The obvious problem was where to look for five fallen wizards in this huge city. He also wanted to have a glance at the tower, try and figure out if there was any way to sneak in.

  He settled on a direct course to the tower. If they should cut a survivor’s trail, he’d decide what to do then.

  It didn’t take long to discover that in a ruined city, direct was a relative term. Fallen buildings clogged the streets, forcing long detours. They walked steadily for half an hour and he doubted they made more than a quarter mile of progress. Moz stopped in front of a heap of debris that had once been a three-story building and considered how best to get around it.

  As Moz thought, Albert tugged on his cloak.

  “What?” Moz whispered.

  Albert pointed west. “There’s something moving over that way. It’s not slithering, but it doesn’t seem human either.”

  Moz grimaced. The smart thing would be to avoid any potential threat, but he also wanted to know what else they might have to worry about in these ruins. This might be a good chance to find out.

  Just enough room existed between the fallen building and its more upright neighbor for them to slip by and head west. Moz motioned the others to follow him and squeezed through the gap. It was so tight his breastplate scraped the stone. Luckily, he was the biggest of the group, so the others should have no trouble.

  On the opposite side he waited until everyone joined him then gave Albert an inquiring look. The young man pointed west and a little south then held his thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. Whatever he sensed was close then. Good to know.

  He set out, keeping close to the still-standing buildings. While they were reasonably intact, there were enough holes that a quick escape would be possible.

  Fifty yards further on the sounds of crunching were followed by a loud hiss then more crashes. Moz tiptoed to the end of the street and peeked around the last building. One of the giant snakes, an eighty-foot specimen with a flared hood, was slamming its head into a building as though trying to force its bulk into a too-small opening.

  Must be something in there it wanted. In that case, Moz wanted it too. Besides, this would be an excellent opportunity to see if Lucy could actually control one of the monsters.

  He caught Lucy’s eye and whispered, “You’re up.”

  The bard eased over beside him, took one look at the snake, and blanched. “It’s huge. I’ve never tried to control anything that big.”

  “Well, now’s your chance.”

  She shot Moz an ugly look and started to hum. Lucy swayed back and forth, the humming growing louder by the moment. After twenty seconds, Moz noticed the snake swaying in rhythm with her. So far so good.

  Lucy stopped and the snake stopped. She looked west, down the street away from the building it had been trying to batter down. The snake looked that way and she hissed. It took off like a shot, slithering away as fast as it could.

  When it was out of sight, Lucy blew out a long breath. “I told it there was prey that way. It shouldn’t be back for a while.”

  “Good,” Moz said. “Well done handling that monster.”

  “It was a near thing. Its mind is more advanced than any snake I’ve ever encountered. Not as alien as a dragon’s but different enough that I wasn’t sure it would obey.”

  “But it did and that’s what counts. Let’s see what it was after.” Moz ran across the street with the others behind him.

  The snake had smashed a pretty big hole through the wall. The target of its fury was immediately obvious. A man lay in the rubble, his body a mass of burns.

  He opened his mouth to say something but only a meaningless gurgle emerged.

  “Callie,” Moz said. “Heal him enough so he can talk, but no more until we know who he is.”

  She shot him a look, but Moz didn’t blink. They both knew better than to take anything for granted. The gods alone knew who this poor bastard was. Until Moz was sure he wasn’t an enemy, he’d treat him as a potential threat.

  Callie knelt beside the injured man and made soothing noises. The burns on his face and throat slowly vanished.

  “Who are you?” Moz asked when she’d stopped.

  “Pyrim Flameborn. My thanks for saving me from that beast and healing some of my burns.”

  Moz recognized the name at once. He was the elemental dragon of fire. Even someone not steeped in the world of wizardry would know that name.

  “I’d heard you and your fellows attacked the tower. I take it things went poorly.”

  “That’s putting it mildly. We were arrogant, confident in our power and certain nothing could stand against us.” A bitter laugh started him coughing.

  Moz glanced at Callie and nodded. This wasn’t an ally they could afford to risk losing. She resumed her healing and soon his coughing subsided.

  “Thank you again. As I was saying, we were certain all we had to do was show up and crush these upstarts. Unfortunately, there’s some kind of barrier protecting the tower. We couldn’t even scratch it. Then the dragon came. A huge, black beast, bigger than any I’d ever seen. Despite its size, we believed our magic was superior so we didn’t even try to dodge. Our strongest spells bounced off its scales like water. Its fire however worked wonderfully against us. Even me, the master of fire, stood helpless against it. I only survived by turning a fraction of its attack aside. I can’t imagine the others being so lucky.”

  “Do you know about where they fell?” Moz asked.

  “We had the tower surrounded at first, but when the dragon came, it was chaos. They could have gone down anywhere.” He hung his head, unable to look at Moz. “I didn’t try to save the others. When I saw that dragon, all I wanted was to survive. Now that I have, I find it bitter indeed.”

  “That may be, but we can still use your help. My companions and I are here to deal with the Dark Sages and end their plans. Having a master of fire magic on our side would be welcome.”

  “Despite my proven cowardice and general uselessness?”

  “I’ve seen the dragon you faced. There’s no shame in losing to such a creature. Our hope is to find a way into the tower so we can deal with the humans controlling the dragon rather than fighting the dragon itself.”

  “A wise plan. Alas, I see no way through their barrier. Still, if I can be of any help, I am more than willing.” Callie fell silent and Pyrim flexed his arm. “Amazing. You must be a bard. No other magic could have healed me like this.”

  “Healing is my gift,” Callie said.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Moz said. “Maybe we can find your compatriots and maybe we can’t, but it wouldn’t hurt to look.”

  At this point, Moz wasn’t willing to ignore any avenue that might strengthen his position. After hearing Pyrim’s story, he figured he’d need all the help he could get.

  Moz, his squad, and Pyrim searched the ruins for the entire day without finding another living person. They did find the charred bodies of the elemental dragons of lightning, water, and earth. There wasn’t enough left of them to bother moving. The dragon of wind was nowhere to be found. Pyrim suggested she might have escaped by turning incorporeal which seemed as likely as anything else to Moz. If she survived, maybe she’d put in an appearance when they needed her, but he wasn’t counting on it.

  So it was with a single extra ally that they returned to the edge of the city. Scouting the tower would have to wait until tomorrow as he did
n’t relish wandering around the ruin after dark. The gods alone knew what else might be waiting for the sun to go down.

  He had barely stepped beyond the final pile of rubble when Tonia came flying out of the sky. She landed a few feet away and ran over. “We’ve got trouble.”

  Moz swallowed a curse. “What kind of trouble?”

  “An army is marching right toward us.”

  Moz scowled. They couldn’t be soldiers from Rend or Carttoom. Both kings had agreed to avoid exposing a large force to the dragons. That meant they had to be working for the Dark Sages. Which made a certain amount of sense. You might be able to destroy a kingdom with dragons, but they couldn’t control it. You needed men on the ground for that.

  “How big of an army?”

  Tonia pursed her lips. “Enough that I had trouble counting them. Over a thousand for sure.”

  Way more than Moz’s small force could deal with that was certain.

  He glanced at Pyrim who shook his head. “After all I’ve done, my magic won’t be worth much for days if not weeks. I’m sorry.”

  Moz waved him off. He hadn’t expected a miracle anyway.

  “We could just let them pass,” Callie said.

  “I’m fine with that,” Moz said. “Having to feed that many men will eat up their stores in a hurry. The problem is I doubt they’re just going to march past us. Our group is too small to target effectively with the dragons but we’re an easy mark for a company of regular soldiers. Even the bards won’t be enough to defeat a thousand men.”

  “No,” Callie agreed. “However, if my bards teamed up with Carttoom’s wizards, we might be able to wipe them out if we can catch them in the open.”

  “They’re marching through an open field right now,” Tonia said.

  Moz snapped his fingers. “Let’s get back to camp. I need to send a message to that Carttoom witch.”

  Chapter 10

  Shade rode at the head of a fair-sized army. They’d recruited six mercenary companies for a total of just over a thousand soldiers. Some had been eager to sign up and others less so, but after what happened to McGregor’s camp, Shade hadn’t had to call the boss again. That suited him fine. While he was by no means squeamish, watching a dragon burn people to death wasn’t really his thing.

  Anyway, it had been a successful first round of recruitment and if their efforts in Carttoom went smoothly, Shade felt certain the second round would be even easier. Maybe mercenaries would even come to them. That would certainly save him a lot of trouble.

  They’d reached the fields surrounding the ruins, but the shadows were getting long and there was no way they’d reach the city tonight. “Let’s make camp!”

  The companies were all experienced campaigners and they didn’t need instructions on how to set up a camp. While the soldiers worked, Rondo guided his mount over beside Shade’s.

  “Think we should inform Lord Black that we’ve nearly arrived?”

  “Why?” Shade asked. “We’re going to see him in person tomorrow afternoon.”

  Rondo shrugged and dismounted. As he looked off in the distance Rondo frowned. “I believe there’s a woman flying over there.”

  Shade nearly laughed then caught himself. With all they’d seen, a flying woman wouldn’t be the strangest thing by a mile. He squinted in the direction Rondo indicated. Sure enough, a decidedly female silhouette was visible in the light of the setting sun. Assuming it wasn’t Domina, then it had to be an enemy.

  “On second thought, contacting the boss might not be such a bad idea after all.”

  Rondo dug out the mirror and handed it to him. The two of them moved a little way away from the mercenaries and Shade activated the device.

  The boss must have been waiting because only seconds after the blood had soaked into the mirror frame, his face appeared.

  “There’s a flying woman watching us,” Shade said. “You didn’t send Domina out, did you, Boss?”

  “No. I’ve been hoping you’d make contact. While you’ve been gone, we’ve had some unwelcome guests arrive. The city is surrounded, sort of, by two small groups. They’re nimble enough to evade the dragon’s fire should I send one out to attack, but numerous enough to be a problem should we need to bring in supplies.”

  “Want us to handle them?” Shade asked. “I’ve got a thousand guys here. Should be enough to get the job done.”

  “Perhaps, though you’ll be facing a number of bards and wizards. Their magic could reduce your numbers to the point that we’d need another army. Where are you?”

  “Around half a day out from the city about to make camp.”

  “I’m going to send you some reinforcements. Don’t panic when it arrives.”

  “You’re sending a dragon?” Shade asked. It would be better than Domina, but not by much.

  “Yes. I’d come myself, but I can’t leave the girl alone.” The boss’s face twisted in distaste. “Useful as her power is, I never imagined I’d have to give her constant orders. It is tedious to say the least. Anyway, the dragon will guard your camp tonight then travel to the city with you in the morning. Let’s see if the enemy has the courage to do anything then.”

  The boss’s face vanished and Shade handed the mirror back to Rondo. “I’d best let the soldiers know we’re going to have company.”

  Rondo nodded. “I’m not sure if I’ll sleep better or worse knowing we’ve got a dragon watching over us.”

  Shade grinned. “I’ll sleep fine either way and you’ll worry all night either way, just like we have every night since we left.”

  Rondo sighed. “True enough. I’m really not cut out for this.”

  Shade shook his head and walked away. Rondo might not have been cut out for war, but Shade was glad he was along. For the comedy relief if nothing else.

  Moz and his counterpart, the female wizard from Carttoom – he was really going to have to learn her name, not that she seemed interested in offering it – stood side by side about a hundred yards in front of their combined force. Tonia was visible in the distance as she returned from her final scouting run. They had gathered in a field ten miles from the city, where they planned to strike the enemy army. With the wizards and bards working together, Moz doubted it would take long to send them running or if they proved especially brave, slaughter them.

  He glanced back at Callie who stood with the other bards. He wanted to invite her to join him so he could take advantage of her experience, but the wizard didn’t like Callie offering her opinion. Carttoom’s military structure was far more rigid than Rend’s, even on a small deployment like this one. It was annoying, but he went along to get along.

  There was a swirl of wind when Tonia landed in front of them. “The situation has changed.”

  “How much could it have changed in eight hours?” the wizard asked.

  “The army now has a dragon marching beside it.”

  “The black one?” Moz asked.

  “No, a red one about half its size. It’s still plenty big I’ll tell you.”

  “This is a problem, but hardly an insurmountable one,” the wizard said. “The beast can only protect one side of the army at a time. My wizards can fly around and hit them from the south. When the dragon reacts, your bards can strike from the north. We simply attack from different directions until the enemy is eliminated.”

  “That might be okay for you, but most of the bards can’t fly. If the dragon attacks them head-on, it’ll difficult for them to evade in time.”

  “Actually,” Tonia said, drawing a glare from the wizard, “we don’t have to be that close to the fight. The spirit masters can control their spirits from a fair distance, as long as they have line of sight.”

  “That could work.” There was a low hill about half a mile from the clearing. It would provide a perfect vantage point for the bards. “I’ll take my people up there. How long do you need to get in position?”

  “Our flight spells aren’t unlimited. We’ll take to the air when the army is in sight.”
r />   “That’ll be in about fifteen minutes,” Tonia offered.

  “We’d better get marching,” Moz said. “Good luck.”

  The wizard sniffed. “As if we need luck against this rabble. Just be sure your bards do their part.”

  She stalked off to rejoin her compatriots. Moz followed her example, Tonia falling in beside him.

  “I don’t think she likes you,” Tonia said.

  “I don’t think she likes anyone,” Moz said. “But like most people in Carttoom, she has a special distaste for rangers. How did the enemy army look to you?”

  “Like they were more afraid of the dragon than an ambush.”

  “So we’re not dealing with idiots, that’s good to know.”

  Tonia smiled and hurried to join the other spirit masters.

  Callie met him a few feet from the group. Moz filled her in as they walked toward the hill. When he finished, she said, “A dragon, terrific. Tonia was smart to suggest attacking from a distance, though it renders my power useless. The earth and fire masters are going to have to carry the load on this one.”

  Moz had come to the same conclusion. “It was always going to fall on them the hardest. I’m sorry about leaving you out of the meeting.”

  “Forget it. If someone from Carttoom wasn’t acting unreasonable I’d worry something was wrong with them.”

  They reached the hilltop and Moz explained the plan to everyone. When he finished he added, “Be sure not to attack until the dragon is focused on the wizards. Should it come for us, remember the fire assault protocol.”

  “Raise an earthen dome over everyone,” the earth masters said.

  “Turn aside as much of the fire as we can,” the fire masters said.

  Moz nodded. “Good. This is an ugly job, but it’s one that needs doing. Remember, these people want to rule our kingdom. They’ve already destroyed the capital. Our job is to make sure they don’t destroy any more. I’m counting on you all and I know you won’t let me down.”