by Aaron Ehasz
Soren shuddered. No matter how many times his sister or father did dark magic, he could never get used to the glowy-purple-eyes-thing.
Claudia held her hand to the tip of the ballista bolt, and the energy ignited around its deadly point, charging the bolt with magic. She started to chant: “Kram ruoy dnif tlob rekeestraeh.”
Soren angled the ballista to face the dragon, who had turned back around to the scorched town. As the dragon neared, Claudia took careful aim and fired. The bolt streaked through the sky, trailed by a magical tracer.
The dragon twirled elegantly in the air to elude the ballista. Soren couldn’t believe his eyes—Claudia’s magic had failed.
But just as Soren was giving up hope, the enchanted ballista appeared to grow wings. It changed directions to follow the dragon.
Confused, the dragon panicked and banked to the left. At the last second, it dodged the bolt. But then the enchanted bolt made another impossibly sharp turn. This time, it hit the dragon deep beneath its wing.
GAAAAHHHRRRR!”
Rayla, Callum, Ezran, Zym, and Bait woke up to an earth-shaking rumble.
“Oh no. I know that sound,” Rayla said. “That’s not a good sound.” Rayla’s assassin training immediately kicked in and she leaped up, ready for anything. She ran out of the cave and everyone followed behind. Night was just ending, and the first pink rays of sun were peeking up above the horizon.
“Ezran, it’s not safe out here!” Rayla shouted. “Go back in the cave with Zym. Protect him.”
Zym looked up at Rayla with his wide, round eyes.
“Don’t worry, little dragon,” Rayla said.
“Bait will stay inside with Zym,” Ezran said.
“Fine.” That grumpy toad would make a good-enough babysitter. At least he wouldn’t be outside giving her dirty looks. She watched as Zym followed Bait back into the cave like an obedient puppy.
From the top of the overlook, Rayla could see the nearby town. The entire village was burning. Flames licked at dozens of buildings, some of which were so damaged they were beginning to crumble. The dragon circled high above. If Rayla knew anything about dragons, this one was preparing to attack.
“What’s it doing here?” Callum asked her. “Why is it attacking that town?”
Rayla shook her head, stunned. “I don’t know,” she said.
“Are we too late?” Callum asked. “Has the Dragon Queen declared all-out war?”
Before Rayla could answer, she saw blood dripping down from underneath the dragon’s wing. The dragon roared again in agony.
Tears sprang to Rayla’s eyes. Even though it seemed to be attacking the town, she couldn’t bear to see the great creature suffer a devastating injury.
“They hit it,” she said.
Ezran clutched his side—there was a sharp pain in his rib cage. The dragon lurched in the air as it struggled to escape from the village. Please get away, please get away.
Ezran stared at the dragon and hoped with all his energy that it would escape. He felt the dragon’s fear and its pain. He reached his hand out into the sky. Although the dragon was still flapping its wings, Ezran knew the animal was going to crash. Its pain was too great. Then he felt his own body slam to the ground.
“Get down! Get down!” Rayla was yelling.
The dragon’s wings could no longer support the weight of its body. It nosedived into the forest, passing right over their heads. Branches snapped off the trees as it plummeted down, and a huge wind followed in its wake.
BOOM.
The dragon crashed, and the earth shook. A shock wave of dust rushed up into the air like a volcanic eruption.
Ezran got onto his feet and started to run before the dust had even settled. Please be okay, please be okay, Ezran thought as his feet pounded across the forest floor. He skidded down the hillside and into the clearing where the dragon had gone down.
Ezran froze. There was a crater in the earth surrounding the enormous creature. The ground beneath the dragon smoldered, but the injured animal remained still and silent.
“Wait up, Ez!” Callum yelled. “You can’t just take off without us!”
Ezran turned. His brother was out of breath from trying to keep up with him. Rayla was right behind him.
“Is it dead?” Callum asked.
Ezran wasn’t sure. He approached the dragon cautiously until he was directly in front of it. As he did so, a calm came over him, as it always did when he approached an injured creature. Ezran reached out his hand and placed it softly on the dragon’s face. Something stirred beneath his hand.
Very slowly, the dragon opened one yellow eye. Ezran knew the dragon didn’t trust him, but she didn’t seem angry at him either. She was waiting for a cue. Ezran did his best to reassure her.
“You’re in pain,” Ezran said. “Don’t worry—we can help you.” He leaned in and placed his head on the dragon’s forehead. Where are you hurt? He listened, his heart beating in time with the dragon’s.
When he had his answer, he stepped back and turned to the others.
“It’s there, beneath her wing,” Ezran told Rayla and Callum.
Rayla approached the wing cautiously and tried to lift it, but it was too heavy. “Come on. Help me,” she said to Callum.
As Callum and Rayla worked together to lift the dragon’s limp, injured wing, Ezran continued to soothe her. He just had to keep her calm long enough for them to remove the bolt. Ezran knew the dragon was listening to him. He could feel her head nestle further into his arm.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ezran saw Rayla extract the bolt. The dragon groaned and shuddered. Then she slumped in Ezran’s arms, and her eye drifted shut. She didn’t say anything else to Ezran.
Ezran was trying to think of what else he could do to help the dragon when he heard horses approaching. He didn’t know exactly who to expect, but Ezran knew they weren’t safe in this clearing. He placed his hand on the dragon one last time to say goodbye. Then he locked eyes with Callum and they started running back toward the cave. But Rayla had drawn her weapons and wasn’t following.
“What are you doing?” Callum called.
“The humans are coming—we have to protect her.” Rayla sounded desperate.
“We can’t fight them, Rayla,” Callum said.
“I can’t just leave her,” Rayla replied.
Ezran hated to leave an injured animal too, but Callum was right. “Even if we could fight them off, we have to get back to Zym,” he said to Rayla.
“We did what we could—come on,” Callum said.
Callum and Ezran hurried to leave. Rayla lingered a moment longer, then folded her weapons and followed the princes.
When Ezran looked back to make sure Rayla was behind them, he spotted Soren and Claudia approaching in the distance, followed by several human soldiers. From the frozen look on Callum’s face, Ezran could tell he had seen them too.
“Come on,” Ezran whispered, tugging on Callum’s arm.
By the light of dawn, Claudia led the way to the fallen dragon. It was easy enough to guess where she had landed, considering the massive debris and destruction she had left in her wake.
Soon enough, Claudia, Soren, and a handful of troops arrived at the spot in the forest where the dragon lay, apparently dead. Claudia thought Soren was looking a little bit pompous, considering she’d done all the hard work.
“I always thought it’d be you who took down a dragon, not me,” she said.
“Huh?” Soren wasn’t really paying attention.
“I mean, wasn’t this one of your life goals? Slaying a dragon?” Claudia asked, making sure to keep a completely straight face.
Soren’s expression flattened in irritation as he moved ahead. They approached the unmoving dragon. Soren stared at her for a moment, then kicked her jaw with his foot.
Crass, Claudia thought.
“I think it’s dead,” Soren said. “But we can’t be too sure.” He turned to the gathered soldiers. “Secure the dragon!”
“There’s so many things we can do with a dragon,” she said to Soren. “There’s even a whole chapter about spells that use dragon snot—it’s some seriously powerful goo!” Claudia flipped a few more pages. “Oh, and I hope it has gross waxy ears! Dragon earwax is the key ingredient for plenty of magical candles.” She put the book down at the base of a tree next to her satchel. “We don’t have the Dragon Prince, but do you think if we brought this whole dragon home, Dad would—?”
“It’s something,” Soren said. “But it does weigh about, I don’t know, a million tons. How are we going to move it?”
Claudia smiled. “In pieces.”
Rayla, Callum, and Ezran arrived back at the cave with Ezran leading the way.
“Zym! Zym, are you okay?” he called out.
Rayla let out a sigh of relief when Zym scampered up to Ezran immediately, wagging his tail. But she still felt like a complete failure. While Callum and Ezran cooed over Zym and an especially grumpy Bait, Rayla stayed a few feet back.
“I should have done something,” she said. How could she have left that dragon at the mercy of the humans?
“Rayla, you’re always the one who reminds us that the only thing that matters is getting Zym back to Xadia,” Callum said. “Why are you hesitating now?”
That was unfair. She wasn’t hesitating. Zym did have to get to his mother. At the same time, she felt physically compelled to help that poor dragon. But could Callum even understand that both were true?
“I’m not hesitating,” Rayla said. “This is different—every fiber in my body is telling me this is wrong. That dragon is defenseless. And I just left her there.”
Callum shook his head. “Our mission is Zym. He is the most important dragon in the world. He is the dragon we swore to protect.”
Rayla looked off in the direction of the fallen dragon. Callum didn’t understand.
Why was Rayla being so distant? It had been two hours. She was still staring silently in the direction of the dragon with her lips set in a thin line.
“I don’t get it, Rayla,” Callum said. He felt irritated with her. They had done their best. “Why are you so worried about a dragon that just set fire to a town?”
“I’ve been thinking about something someone once told me,” Rayla said. “About how when one person hurts another, then that person hurts them back—it becomes a cycle that never ends.”
“Who told you that?” Callum asked.
“You did,” she said.
“Oh,” Callum said. Now that she mentioned it, he did vaguely recall using that logic to convince Rayla not to kill him or Ezran.
“But Callum, to break that cycle, someone must take a stand when no one else will,” Rayla said.
And then suddenly, Callum got it. Breaking the cycle of violence was the whole point of his stepfather’s letter. It was what he wanted Callum to do. Callum looked at his feet. It was a tall order, to stand up when nobody else would. But he owed it to his stepfather—and to Rayla. “You’re right,” he said. “If we’re really going to change things, we can’t just watch while humans and Xadia keep hurting each other.”
“That’s right,” Rayla said.
“But how do I take a stand?” Callum asked. “Believe me, I want to go down there with you and be the hero who stops all the fighting and saves the day, but I can’t do that. I can’t do anything.”
Rayla squeezed his arm. “It’s okay, Callum. I’m not asking you to come with me. Protecting that dragon doesn’t just feel like the right thing to do—it feels like the right thing for ME to do. It’s where I’m meant to be.” She stared into the distance.
Callum was suddenly struck by an intense wave of gratitude. He’d never met anyone as brave as Rayla. How did he get so lucky as to be her friend?
“I’m going back down there,” Rayla said. “If I don’t come back, you and Ezran can get Zym to Xadia. I believe in you.”
Callum blushed. No one had ever said those words to him before, or at least not that he remembered.
“Thanks, Ray—”
But by the time Callum looked up, Rayla was gone.
The sun was beginning to rise over the uneven towers of Katolis Castle when Viren and his troops returned from the failed summit of the Pentarchy. Viren dismounted slowly, still in a daze of disbelief at the decision the other kingdoms had made. He felt defeated; a worn-down husk of a man battling alone to save humanity. What he wouldn’t give to have his wife, Lissa, here with him now.
Where did that thought come from? he wondered. He hadn’t seen Lissa in years. For the past decade, all Viren needed to get him through the day was dark magic and a few cups of hot brown morning potion.
“How dare you?” a sharp, angry voice shouted from the courtyard gate.
Lissa’s here! It was the first thought that ran through Viren’s head. Almost immediately, he laughed at his own foolishness. It was Opeli. Of course, Viren thought. I must now deal with the person in Katolis who reviles me the most. He looked up and tried to acknowledge Opeli, but noting the horror on her face, he quickly looked away again.
Opeli was clutching a scroll bearing one of the other kingdoms’ seals.
“I’ve been to the Crow Master,” she said. “You used King Harrow’s seal to summon the Pentarchy—and then you lied to them!” There was venom in her voice … and truth in her words. “You called yourself regent of Katolis. You committed treason, Viren. And for what?”
Viren paused. There was no use in denying it. He’d thought his lie would work out for the best. He’d believed the end would justify the means. He’d been wrong. “For nothing,” he said, shrugging. He turned to walk toward the castle.
“You’ll be removed from the council for this—and you’ll be lucky if that’s all!” Opeli shouted after him.
Viren trudged down the spiral staircase to his dark-magic chamber. He stared at the ground as he walked.
“Welcome back. I hope you had a pleasant trip,” Gren said. He struggled to stand up in all his shackles.
Viren froze in his tracks and stared at Gren for a long moment. He’d almost forgotten about his remaining prisoner. As bad a situation as he was in, there was no arguing … Gren’s plight was worse.
“How can you possibly remain so cheerful in your dire circumstances?” Viren asked. He truly wanted to understand.
The prisoner appeared to consider the question carefully. “Well, I think about it like this: Why see myself as chained down, when I can be chained … up?” With chained hands, he gave Viren two thumbs-ups.
“I admire your tenacity,” Viren said. He shook his head. When all was said and done, he had no desire to be so optimistic. Optimism was a foolhardy approach to life. A positive bias is still a bias, and Viren knew he would always rather see the stone-cold truth. Optimists could be magnetic and charismatic, no doubt—but they tended to miss things in their need to always turn to the light. Their optimism left them vulnerable to anything lurking in the shadows of reality, which they refused to gaze upon.
Viren entered the dungeon chamber and closed the door behind him. The stone walls provided no insulation, and he shivered in the dank darkness. The mirror remained covered, and the spell ingredients and tools lay untouched on the nearby table.
Viren surveyed them, focusing on the long, sharp dagger. He reached for the cover on the mirror, then paused, repulsed by the decision he was about to make. He clenched his fist in determination.
“I have nothing left to lose,” he said.
Viren yanked the cover off the mirror—but the Mirror Mage was nowhere to be seen. The room on the other side was empty. Viren sighed, frustrated, and sat down to wait.
Hood up, eyes narrowed
, Rayla retraced their steps through the forest to find the fallen dragon. It wasn’t long before she spotted her.
Rayla hid behind a few bushes and watched as human soldiers patrolled the area. Soren was standing watch over the injured animal, whose bright red wings were tied to the ground with stakes and chains.
Rayla knew she was absurdly outnumbered. She didn’t care. She drew her weapons. It didn’t matter what happened to her. Live or die, that dragon was going home.
Rayla snuck up on one soldier from behind a boulder and took him down without a sound. With utmost stealth, she began disarming and incapacitating soldiers one by one, and she cut the ropes binding the dragon as she went.
Soon she’d moved toward the metal chains holding the dragon down. She was considering how best to break them when suddenly Soren stepped in front of her. He had a group of cronies behind him. They all brandished their swords.
“Oh. This guy again,” Rayla said. “Of course.”
“A dead dragon and a dead elf all in one day,” the big doofus said. “Everything’s coming up Soren.”
Rayla barely had time to blink before Soren charged her with his sword. She dodged and weaved, but he seemed determined to hack off at least one of her limbs.
Once again, Rayla was surprised by Soren’s strength, which seemed close to her own. She’d never given humans much credit in the way of strength.
When he shoved her to the ground, she rolled as far away from him as she could get, only to find herself surrounded by troops who slowly and deliberately closed in on her. She backflipped onto the dragon’s back while fighting off two of the soldiers. She hacked at the chains with her blades, but barely made a dent.
“So, chains are made of metal,” Soren said. “Kinda hard to cut.”
That idiot and his taunting ways. “I’m not backing down,” Rayla said.
