by D. H. Dunn
Nima watched two large men wade through the crowd, each bearing one smaller struggling person. She could not yet see through the crowd the prisoner’s faces, but she had a bad feeling about who they would be.
“How can he already have people working for him? Don’t they hate him?”
Drew sighed. “Didn’t Shamsher hate Jang? When people are afraid, they will do a lot to protect themselves.”
The two men pulled their charges out from the crowd, Nima seeing the faces she was worried they would be. Merin and Trillip.
“Do not bow down to this man,” Merin was yelling. “He is no god!” Standing unsteadily next to her, Trillip stared defiantly at Kater through a mask of bandages.
Nima was already moving, turning back down the alley to find the best path to the bridge.
“Examples only!” Kater yelled, his voice bouncing off the empty buildings of Nalam Wast. “These two stand in the way of the future, the way of a unified Rakhum society! I beg of you to remember this day. As the sun sets over the mountain, and sets upon the insurrection of these two, it will rise tomorrow on a . . . a new tomorrow for you all!”
“I guess Kater didn’t have all of that speech worked out,” Drew said from behind her.
She could hear the worry in Drew’s voice despite his joke. He labored behind her as they ran down the side streets. She now wished the Speaker had placed them closer.
“Take the prisoner!” Nima heard Kater say. His voice was much louder, they were getting close. She ran between the buildings, headed toward the bridge as one empty gray structure after another blurred by her. They likely had no real chance to save their friends, but it didn’t matter, they weren’t going to watch them die.
She cleared the last building, turning the corner and began running up the long slope of the bridge. Her breath came to her in deep gasps now, exhaustion finally threatening to set in.
She could just make out the red-robed form of Kater, Trillip and Merin at the center of the bridge with the two guards. The Thread and Voice had moved to the Rogek Shad side of the bridge, Nima could only see the tops of their heads. Terminus loomed above them all, twin heads looking down.
“Dragon!” Kater said, pointing at Terminus while Merin struggled against the two men holding her. “Consume them!”
One of Terminus’s two necks bent down the level of the bridge, the enormous head arcing past Merin and coming to rest so it looked down at Kater. Its voice was deep and filled with something Nima had not expected. Amusement.
“No,” Terminus said. “I think not.”
Nima froze, the back of her neck suddenly turning to ice. Drew stopped right behind her.
“Do as I command!” Kater said, pointing in Terminus’ direction. In front of him, Merin laughed while the two men held her arms.
“You, command me?” The slight hint of mirth came into Terminus’s thunderous voice. “The Rakhum girl was stronger than you. Resisting you was hardly an effort. Yet I hoped it would be a worthwhile diversion to see the desires of your heart, Manad Vhan. You disappoint me.”
“Oh, shit,” Drew said from behind Nima.
Kater leaned forward, appearing to try and will his control onto Terminus. The light from his Helm was as dim as before, nowhere near as bright as it had been when Tanira had worn it.
“Subjects,” Terminus said. “Consume them. All of them.”
27
Drew pushed a frustrated sigh past his teeth. Predictably, Kater had taken a bad situation and made it worse. Just as predictably, the old bastard wasn’t about to take the problem lying down.
No sooner did Terminus order his subjects to attack the Rakhum but Kater launched a barrage of fire at Terminus, actually managing to drive the massive Dragon back.
It was only for a moment, Drew was sure, but it gave them an opening. Merin and Trillip, seeing their opportunity had run across the bridge through the scattering crowd to join Drew and Nima.
Drew gaped for a moment as Terminus grasped at Kater with his claws, but the Manad Vhan was able to bring up his shield in time.
He pulled himself away from the spectacle. The Voice was already swooping down toward the streets of Rogek Shad, while a fresh crater in the ground was the only evidence of the Worm he could see. The Thread as well had vanished.
Nima, Merin, and Trillip had gathered around him. He didn’t wait for anyone to ask him what to do this time. Drew accepted these were his moments, where the quick decisions needed to be made. He just wished the Speaker would hurry up and get back here with Upala.
“Look, Kater’s got a better chance against that monster than any of us would. He’s at least keeping him busy. Merin, Trillip - we’ve got to get your people to safety. Is there anywhere you can lead them?”
“Either Nalam Wast or back to the Yeti caves.” Merin whirled around, a large crash coming behind them where Terminus had thrown the shield ball that contained Kater. Drew held his breath for a moment, only to see flame jet out from the rubble. Despite all the tension, he laughed. Kater was still kicking.
“Yeti caves it is, I would say,” Trillip said. “But I do not know if they will accept us.”
“We will convince them,” Merin said, giving Trillip a pat on the shoulder. “I think they like me.”
“Fair enough.” Trillip began running towards Nalam Wast, Merin right behind him.
“We will round up all we can and send them to the caves!” He yelled back to Drew.
Drew watched Merin and Trillip head away from the bridge and into Nalam Wast. He recalled Trillip’s gully shortcut across the river and nodded. Better than crossing the bridge.
There was another loud crash of stone and fire which covered the sound of the Speaker appearing in front of them with Upala and Lhamu. The young Caenolan girl immediately ran to Nima, while Upala took a moment to collect her breath.
“Drew,” Upala said, gasping. “What. What has. . .” she trailed off, looking behind her at the scene by the bridge. “Oh.”
“Right,” Drew said. “Look I know you’re exhausted, but you’re the least hurt of any of us. You and I have got to get over to Rogek Shad and try to deal with the Voice. Speaker, I know we’ve asked a lot of you but can you get us over there?”
Drew’s injury on his side chose that moment to flare up, but he bit his lip and kept the pain inside.
Not now, dammit.
The Speaker nodded once. “When I am expended, I will let you know.”
“Drew,” Nima said. “What about us? Me and Lhamu?”
“She can talk telepathically to the Speaker, so try and keep an eye on Kater and the big guy there.” Drew knelt next to Nima, tapping her upper chest with his finger. “An eye on him, little sister. Stay out of harm’s way.”
“Of course I will,” she said with a smile. She was pulling away. Drew was sure her mind was already ten steps away from here, jumping without looking like always.
Not this time.
With gentle pressure, he held on to her shoulders.
“No,” Drew said, shaking his head. His eyes threatened to water over as he looked down at her.
“Not so fast. Take this seriously, Nima. You could die here, you know? And I …” his voice choked up. He took another breath, trying to put images of Dragons out of his mind. “I need you to be alive. You understand me?”
He watched her face, unsure of how she would react. Her grin never wavered, but he saw tears in her eyes to match his own. She threw her arms around him, the tightest hug she had ever given him.
Her whispered words were almost too quiet for him to hear.
“I’ll do my best, Drew.” Her lips pressed against his cheek. “I love you.”
She released him and took Lhamu’s hand, the pair of them running off down the alley toward the direction of the battle between Kater and Terminus.
“You sure?” Upala said, still gulping air. “You sure sending them. Is a good idea?”
“No,” Drew said, fear running through him like a virus, “But we c
ould use the view of what’s going on there. Plus keeping Nima out of trouble wouldn’t be possible anyway. I’ll just pray she keeps herself in one piece.”
He stood, giving Upala a quick embrace. She groaned, giving voice to all the aches and pains she had gained.
“I feel about the same,” he said. “I’ve got a hundred massages waiting for you when this is over.”
She gave him a quick kiss, a brief second of electricity.
“I will hold you to that, Drew Adley.”
Drew turned back toward the Speaker. The Yeti appeared slightly fatigued, which to Drew meant he was likely exhausted. They all needed more time, but this was all the time they could take.
“Ok, we are ready if you are.”
As the big, furry arms of the Yeti wrapped around them, Drew held his breath. He knew the next sight he would see would be combat with the Voice. He could only hope to be ready, and tried not to think about all the people who depended on him.
When the world flashed back into focus, the first thing Upala saw was blood. She dropped to the ground, her chest heaving for air from the strange effects of Yeti teleportation. With her hands and knees in the dirt, she scanned the scene of torn tents, smashed wooden poles, and too many body parts.
How many people had died here? Five? Ten? It was horrific, bile rising in her throat at the sheer injustice of it all. All of this, because of her and her brother.
A fierce, angry cry rang through the air, letting her know the Voice was close. She got to one knee, looking around to get her bearings. They were on the outskirts of Rogek Shad, a large field built right on the edge of the great mountain, where the pollen kites were often tied off to take advantage of the winds. The field should be filled with dozens of tents and yurts, hundreds of farmers.
Now it looked like a warzone, a maelstrom of unmoving bodies and shattered homes, with the whirling, screeching golden form of the Voice at its center. It tore through a small, wooden structure, perhaps a former windmill, attacking it as if it were the Dragon’s prey. It moved more like weather than a beast, spinning and thrashing in a dervish of claws and occasional fire.
“Good lord,” Drew said, next to her. “What the hell could we do against that?”
The exhausted Speaker sat behind him, the first time she had even seen the beast sit.
All around them, Rakhum scattered and ran. Some ran toward the center of Rogek Shad, others toward the open plains. A few even ran toward the foothills of Ish Rav Partha, the great mountain rising strikingly right above them.
She looked up at the snowy face of the mountain, huge fields of fresh, white powder from the previous day’s storms.
“Drew,” she called quickly. “Nima told me you can detect snowfalls. Like when the snowslicks happened to us.”
Drew shrugged his shoulders.
“Avalanches? Yeah, I guess.” He followed her gaze, then looked down the mountain. He saw what she did, the beast would be right in the path.
“Can you keep that thing here?” he asked.
She was already walking toward the Voice. It was here, tearing through the small, wooden building. Where would it go next? Could we follow it again?
They had to strike now, finish this now.
She reached inside herself, tapping what remained of her energy. Her guilt sparked a new passion within her.
These were her people, all around her. Rakhums of both cities, now fleeing in terror. With her brother’s help, she had put them in this position.
It was time for someone to take responsibility. She would deliver them from this, or die trying.
“I can keep the Voice here,” she said. “I will. Just get up there, if the Speaker can take you. Bring the mountain down on this thing. I will trap it here inside my shield, then drop it right before the snow hits. If we are lucky, it will be buried.”
“What about you?” Drew asked, concern all over his brow.
She had not thought that far, but perhaps something would come to her. In case it did not, she threw her arms around his neck, kissing him passionately.
“I will think of something.”
“Make sure you do,” he said. He smiled at her, a false gesture to hide the worry. “We’ve got plans, remember.”
“Yes,” she said. “We do indeed. Now get moving!” She turned him around, giving him a smack on his backside and pushing him toward the Speaker.
The big Yeti was already standing, though he was a bit hunched. Upala guessed he had overheard their plan, and like the others, he was digging inside him to find more energy.
She turned around in time to see the Voice shatter the remains of the windmill, flipping and arching on its back as it rolled through the wooden debris. She heard the slight pop of the Speaker’s porting magic as he and Drew disappeared.
Upala ran toward the golden Dragon, yelling at it with all her might. She wished she could call fire into her hands as Kater and Drew seemed to be able to do at this altitude, but her shield would have to do.
She closed the distance between herself and the beast, its golden head now turning in her direction. She would find a way, she told herself. For all she had failed to do for the Rakhum in the past, Upala would find a way to keep this creature from hurting anyone else, even if the last person it killed was her.
“Kater’s losing.”
Lhamu’s voice came from Nima’s right, where they were huddled behind the small stone wall, the battle between the Dragon and the Manad Vhan having ripped through Nalam Wast and now back to the bridge where it began. Between the blasts of fire from Kater, the roars from Terminus and the booming sounds of destruction all around them, the river’s noise had been all but drowned out.
Lhamu was right. Nima had been amazed at how well Kater had been able to fight off the huge Dragon, driving the beast backward with repeated strikes with his fire, seeming to know the best places to hurt Terminus.
Yet each wound Kater inflicted healed back in a few moments, just like she had seen Drew do. Every time the Dragon pierced Kater’s shield and landed a claw or blow though, they stayed.
Kater stood in the middle of the bridge, Nima and Lhamu creeping around the alley and back to the side. He stood, and his shield was up, but she could tell he was dazed. He reminded Nima of a climber who had been hit with altitude sickness, as he kept looking around himself like he was lost.
Terminus ran up the river, pounding on all fours with both heads pointed right at Kater. Nima could see the beast was going to dive right into him.
Kater stared in confusion at the charging monster like he didn’t understand what it was. He looked at his hand, a small flame forming in his palm. His crimson shield winked out, and he simply stood there.
“Kater!” Nima yelled. There was no more time for hiding, no matter what Drew told her to do. If Kater dies, how can we stop this thing?
“Kater, look out!” she yelled as she ran towards him, dodging fallen debris and rubble in the street. “Your shield!”
The old man still stood there, just waiting to be killed. Nima ran forward, the light growing dark as the huge shadow of the Dragon came toward them.
She dove with her arms out, knocking Kater down as the mass of Terminus passed just inches over their heads. It glided by with a roar, crashing into the river on the other side of the bridge.
She looked at him, his eyes were open but they weren’t looking at anything. His mouth just opened and shut, like he was trying to talk but no words came out. Lhamu scooted up next to her, as the ground shook from the huge Dragon landing on the other side of the bridge.
It would be back upon them in seconds, she had to get Kater out of sight before Terminus saw them.
Nima stood, grabbing the tattered remains of Kater’s red cloak and began yanking the man toward Nalam Wast. Lhamu took a handful of his clothes as well, though Nima was surprised at how light and easy to pull Kater was.
They scrambled to the other side of the bridge, quickly moving the mumbling Manad Vhan into the nearest abandone
d building, propping the old man up in a seated position against the wall.
She slapped him once, hard, in the face.
“Nima!” Lhamu yelped, surprised.
Kater gave no reaction, still staring off into the blackness of the shadows in the small stone building.
“You hide from me, Manad Vhan?” Terminus’ voice shook Nima’s bones as it vibrated into the city. The Dragon sounded angry and much too close. “Where is your bravado now?”
She could feel the thunder of its approach as it crawled out of the river. She pictured it pushing its way into Nalam Wast, buildings crumbling at its feet. It might crush all three of them and never even know they were there.
“Perhaps you are defeated,” Terminus boomed. “Perhaps I should leave you for dead and return to destroying the feebleness you have built here. Erasing your city as I have erased you.”
Panic filled her heart like a flood. No! Terminus has to stay here! Merin and Trillip needed more time to evacuate the Rakhum. Drew and Upala would have their hands full with the other Dragons, they couldn’t fight Terminus too.
“Kater!” she whispered, violently shaking him. He continued to look broken, a shattered version of the man she had seen confidently fight Tanira and the Thread. As useless as a frayed rope.
She released him, letting him slump forward. She stood, Lhamu looking up at her with terror in her eyes, the light from her headcrystal nearly blinding.
“Make sure the Speaker knows about this,” Nima said. “Stay safe and stay hidden. And keep trying to wake Kater up.”
“What?” Lhamu cried, looking up at Nima in confusion. “Why, what are you doing?”
Nima didn’t have an answer for her. She hated leaving Lhamu like this, but there was no other choice.
She ran toward the door. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her whole body shivered with a cold sweat, borne of the terror that ran through her.
She had known fear before. On Everest, on other mountains, facing Vihrut, yet it was nothing like this. Outside the door it felt like Death itself waited for her. This was no game, no adventure.
