by R. L. King
“You already know he’s accepted?”
Kolinsky inclined his head. He, too, was looking grim.
Stone glanced at the third man. He was tall, somewhat chubby, and looked to be in his middle fifties. Unlike Kolinsky’s severe, old-fashioned suit and Madame Huan’s high-necked blouse of fine red silk, he wore a simple blue polo shirt.
“Who’s this, then?” He wasn’t sure how he felt about an ancient dragon in a polo shirt. The guy looked like someone’s suburban dad, taking time away from his backyard barbecue to attend.
“You can call me Vic,” the man said. He didn’t appear stressed; he sat with a relaxed slouch, and looked like the whole process was amusing him. “It’s good to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.” His accent was American, with a hint of a down-east twang.
“Likewise.” Stone turned back to the others. “Bringing new guests to the party? Where are Morathi and Thalassa? I’d have thought at least Thalassa would be salivating over the thought of me getting my arse kicked.”
Kolinsky’s eyes narrowed. “Enough, Alastair, please. I do not think you fully realize the gravity of your situation.”
“I absolutely do. Honestly, at this point I just want to get it over with. How long does Cassius get to keep me waiting? If he’s off choosing an outfit and getting a manicure so he’ll look his best for the proceedings, I shouldn’t have rushed to get here myself.”
“I am here, scion,” said a voice from behind him.
Stone turned. “You know, that’s starting to get bloody old.”
Cassius ignored his words. He came forward and stood next to him, six feet away, facing the table. He inclined his head to each of the three. “With all due respect, honored ones, this is a waste of all our time.”
“It is his right to challenge you,” Madame Huan said. “If you didn’t wish it to be so, you should not have attacked him without provocation.”
“I would argue that I had a valid reason for what I did. But that is for our own kind to decide, is it not?”
“The challenge has been issued,” Vic said. He still appeared relaxed, but something in his eyes told Stone he was taking things a lot more seriously than at first look. “And you’ve accepted. No point in discussing it further.”
Cassius sighed and shot a sideways, contemptuous glance at Stone. “So be it,” he said, bored. “When shall we begin?”
“First, the rules of the contest must be formally acknowledged by both participants.” Kolinsky said.
“Rules are simple,” Vic said. “We’re going to send you somewhere—a tiny pocket dimension we control. You won’t have your magic to start out with. You’ll need to figure out how to get it back.” He shrugged. “Or not. It’s perfectly fine if you want to beat the stuffing out of each other physically.”
“How…primal,” Stone said.
“You should have seen some of our old fights, back in the day,” Vic said. “‘Primal’ doesn’t even begin to cover it.”
“The time will be limited,” Madame Huan said. “You won’t know exactly how long you have, but the limitation will be obvious when you arrive.”
Stone wondered what she meant by that. “What happens after that, if there’s no winner? Is the whole thing declared a draw?”
“You have both agreed to compete honorably,” Kolinsky said. “You are not permitted to hide, avoid each other, or attempt to wait out the time limit. We will be watching.”
“Brilliant. But that still doesn’t answer my question. What if we do compete honorably, but there’s no clear winner?”
“There will be a winner,” Cassius said with a sly smile. “You needn’t worry about that.”
Stone didn’t spare him a look. “I wasn’t talking to you.”
“If there is no definitive winner,” Kolinsky said, “the decision of the judges will be final. But due to the nature of the contest venue, that is unlikely.”
“Judges?” He narrowed his eyes. “You lot?”
“Yes.” Kolinsky could have been a carved statue. “All of us have given our word to provide a fair and unbiased assessment of what occurs.”
Ah, so no perks for his long association with two of the judges. Disappointing, but not surprising.
“Do both of you accept us as impartial judges?” Madame Huan asked.
“I do,” Stone said.
“I do,” Cassius said, almost as quickly.
Kolinsky inclined his head. “Then it shall be so recorded.” He settled his gaze first on Stone, then on Cassius. “Once you have arrived at the venue, you may use any and all tools, abilities, or tactics at your disposal. You are limited only by your intellect, your will, and your strength. Do you understand?”
I understand I’d better figure out how to get my magic back before he does, Stone thought, but didn’t say it. That was probably what Kolinsky had meant when he’d said both sides would have a chance, but not necessarily an equal one. If he didn’t get his magic back first, he’d be at a big disadvantage. Maybe an insurmountable one.
Another absurd vision from his childhood in the common room at Barrow popped unbidden to his mind: Cassius was a dragon, right? Big green scaly lizard? Maybe this would end up being like that old Star Trek episode where Captain Kirk had to fight a giant lizard (okay, a stuntman in a bad rubber suit) on an arid, deserted planet. Maybe he could find some sulfur and diamonds and put them in a bamboo tube to make a bazooka.
Or maybe he should just stop acting like a prat and take this seriously. “I do.”
“I do,” Cassius said.
“Finally,” Madame Huan said, “there is the matter of the stakes. Alastair, as the challenger, it is your right to state whether the contest shall be to the death, to first blood, or until one side concedes.”
Kolinsky had said dragons weren’t “strictly immortal,” and that it was possible but highly difficult to kill them. He wondered if his own strange new ability worked in the same way. “I don’t see any point in anyone dying over this,” he said. “I choose concession.” Either he’d get lucky or he wouldn’t, but hitting Cassius fast and hard would be his best option.
“Noted,” Madame Huan said. “Cassius, you have first right to define your victory prize.”
The sly smile was back. Cassius’s eyes glittered. “I thought the scion might be a coward. He offers challenge but refuses to accept real stakes. All right, then: if that is the way he chooses it to be, then my victory prize will be this: If the scion loses, he will reveal to me everything he knows about the nature and source of the portal in Colorado.”
Stone’s insides went cold. “I can’t do that.”
The other three dragons’ expressions were unreadable. “These are the rules of the contest, Alastair,” Madame Huan said gently. “They cannot be changed.”
He shook his head. “I can’t do it,” he said again. Images of Cassius finding his way to Calanar rocketed through his mind. “That information is not mine to give.”
Cassius’s smile widened. “You heard Madame Huan, scion. I’m feeling magnanimous, though, so I’ll give you a chance to change your choice. You’ve been an irritant to me twice, now, and I’d prefer to be rid of you. If you lose, you may choose between death or revealing the information. I will discover it one way or another, but this will make things simpler.” He made a dismissive wave. “Make your choice. It is not seemly to keep our honored judges waiting.”
Stone’s heart pounded harder. He turned back to the three at the table. “Is that permitted, what he just did?”
“It is,” Kolinsky said. “The participants are welcome to discuss the stakes until both are in agreement.”
“But I’ve got to choose between what he offers?”
“You can make other suggestions,” Madame Huan said. “But he is not required to honor them.”
“Let me make things easy for you,” Cassius said. “I won’t honor them, no matter what they are. Those are your two choices. Death, or reveal the information.”
This got out
of hand fast. “And what about me?” he asked the three. “Do I get to choose my prize if I win?”
“Sure,” Vic said. “That’s the way it works.”
Except it didn’t matter, because there was no way on Earth—or anywhere else—he was going to spill the beans about Calanar to a bunch of dragons. Or even one.
He took a deep breath.
“Right, then. If those are my only choices, I choose to make it to the death.”
Madame Huan’s eyes widened, and Kolinsky’s jaw tightened.
“Alastair—” Madame Huan said.
“I’m sorry, Madame Huan. I don’t plan to lose, but I know what my chances look like. And I can’t reveal that information. I won’t. It’s not an option.”
“Is that truly so?” she asked softly, meeting his gaze.
It was then that the cold pit in Stone’s stomach turned first to ice, and then to something even colder than ice, as a memory returned to him. A memory he’d completely submerged over the past few years.
He’d already told one of the dragons about Harrison.
He’d told Madame Huan.
His mind went back to the dark period after Burning Man, when he’d thought he’d burned out his ability to wield magic after taking a desperate risk with his imperfect understanding of Calanarian power. He’d gone to her for help, and he’d told her not only about Harrison’s existence, but also the basics of his relationship with Calanar.
He didn’t think she’d forgotten that—he doubted dragons forgot much of anything—and the look she gave him confirmed it.
Had she told anyone else? And if not, why not? Surely, she didn’t feel more loyalty to him than to her own kind. By her standards, the scions’ lifespans were nothing more than a blip in a very long timeline.
Maybe that was it: she was waiting until after he was dead to reveal the information. Even without this contest, it couldn’t be long in her reckoning.
Maybe longer than you think. But it wasn’t the time to be thinking about things like that.
He met her gaze and held it long enough to let her know her words hadn’t been lost on him. “It is,” he said firmly. “That’s not my information to reveal, and he’s not getting it from me. If that means the fight’s to the death, then that’s the way it’s got to be. I don’t like it either, but apparently I haven’t got another option.”
“Very well,” Kolinsky said, but he didn’t sound pleased about it. “If neither of you have further questions, then, we will begin.”
“Yes,” Stone said with more bravado than he felt. “Let’s get on with it. And after I’ve won, we’ll all go out and have a posh dinner somewhere.” He glanced at Cassius. “Well…almost all of us. I’m buying.”
“I will accept that offer,” Kolinsky said gravely.
“Of course you will.” Stone flashed him a cheeky grin. “I’ve never once heard you turn down a free meal, Stefan.”
“Indeed. Perhaps my son and yours might join us as well.”
Stone tilted his head. That was an odd thing for him to say. Even if Kolinsky and his son Gabriel had spoken recently, they weren’t on the best of terms. Certainly not enough to share a leisurely dinner.
Still, things changed. Obviously. Why couldn’t this? “Er…absolutely. That would be brilliant. Something to look forward to.”
“Let’s get this show on the road,” Vic said. “I’ve still got things to do today.”
Yes, got to get back to that barbecue before the steaks burn, Stone thought. He didn’t say it, though, because he wasn’t completely sure he might not become the main course at the barbecue if he did. It was always the casual ones you had to watch out for the most.
Kolinsky, all business, raised a hand and the black box’s lid lifted. Inside, nestled in a bed of black velvet, were two sapphire-blue gems of a similar size to the ones Stone and Cassius had used to travel to this room. To magical sight, they both glowed with bright, pulsing nimbuses of power.
Madame Huan made a gesture, and the gems rose from the box, separated, and one hovered in front of each of the challengers. Mostly addressing Stone (as presumably Cassius already knew), she said, “These are similar to the location gems you used to travel here. They will deliver you to the pocket dimension where the contest will take place, and then temporarily deactivate. When the contest is complete, the victor’s gem will reactivate and deliver him back here.”
“So the loser just gets left behind?” Stone asked. The idea of dying didn’t bother him as much as it could have, but being left behind on some wide-spot-in-the-road mini-dimension was something else.
“Someone will…retrieve the body,” Kolinsky said.
Stone took a deep breath. “Well, then.” He squared his shoulders and tried to look confident. “Let’s do this.”
He extended a hand, surprised it wasn’t shaking (good job, me) and grasped the gem in front of him.
The room faded from view. His last sight was Kolinsky and Madame Huan, both watching him with identical grim expressions.
38
Stone hadn’t bothered guessing what kind of space he might reappear in. Kolinsky’s mind had been inscrutable enough as a human—as a dragon there was no telling what he might come up with. Add in at least two more of them and there was no point even trying.
At least it wasn’t a rocky desert landscape. So much for his Star Trek theory. Maybe dragons weren’t connoisseurs of Sixties science fiction.
Apparently they were connoisseurs of something, though.
He was standing in the middle of a road.
It was a bog-standard, two-lane modern road, made of parched gray asphalt with a white line running down its center. To either side, lush green grass grew beyond a graveled shoulder. A few trees dotted the landscape. The sky was a perfect, medium blue with a scattering of uneven clouds.
So, either this pocket dimension was very Earth-like, or the dragons had altered it to make it look like it was.
Stone took an experimental deep breath, sniffing the air. The temperature was moderate, not too cold or too hot. A light breeze blew, ruffling his hair. The air smelled faintly of greenery. Though he couldn’t see any sign of a sun overhead, he got the impression it was early afternoon.
A perfect day in a perfect little slice of land.
Except for the “battle to the death” part, anyway.
The only other thing of interest he saw was a sign up ahead. It was off to the right side of the road, too far away to read.
He glanced around in every direction, trying to spot any sign of movement. But wherever Cassius had been dropped off, he didn’t seem to be nearby at the moment.
Experimentally, he tried shifting to magical sight. Perhaps the dragons were bluffing about his magic. But no, when he tried to look at the aura surrounding his hand, nothing happened.
He wondered what they’d meant about “you’ll need to figure out how to get it back.” Maybe he should have asked—but he doubted they’d have answered. Would there be an object he’d have to find, like a video game power-up? A specific location he’d need to reach? He had no idea. Maybe he’d know it when he saw it.
In any case, he was too exposed out here. Best to get under some kind of cover until he could get a better idea about what was going on.
He started walking. His long strides covered the distance to the sign in less than a minute.
Welcome to Springfield, it said.
There was a town here?
Curiouser and curiouser.
He squinted at the space farther up the road, and noticed the shadowy forms of buildings beyond the trees.
Apparently so.
He was about to resume walking when the ground under his feet shook faintly, like the tiniest of earthquakes. A second later, the shaking increased and a rumbling sound rose from behind him.
He spun, instinctively raising his hands to cast a spell before he remembered that wasn’t happening. Had Cassius already managed to find him? He had no weapons yet—
B
ut what he saw wasn’t Cassius.
As he watched in horror, the rumbling turned to a crack. At the edge of his vision, part of the road broke into jagged sections, and several of them simply…fell.
Disappeared.
“Bloody hell…” Stone murmured, staring with wide eyes. The spot where he’d landed was gone now, replaced by a rough edge dropping off into nothingness.
The road had fallen off the edge of the world.
You won’t know exactly how long you have, Madame Huan had said, but the limitation will be obvious when you arrive.
He’d thought she meant there might be a giant timer floating in the air overhead, or an occasional countdown announcement over an unseen PA system. Maybe even a broadcaster doing color commentary.
He hadn’t thought pieces of the world would literally plummet into the void until nothing was left.
That was hardcore. These dragons weren’t playing around.
“All right, Springfield,” he muttered, “I’d best get on with seeing what you have to offer, before there’s nothing left of you.”
Feeling suddenly even more exposed in the middle of the road, he stepped into the grass and set off at a steady, ground-eating jog toward the town.
By the time he reached its edge, his heart was pounding and every muscle in his body was tense and poised for flight. He expected Cassius to jump out from behind every tree, or maybe to come barreling down the road in a jacked-up pickup truck.
Nothing.
As the old cliché went, it was quiet—too quiet. Stone paused to listen, realizing it was one of the things that had been subliminally bothering him. Except for his own voice and the rumble when part of the world had disappeared, he’d heard no sound at all. No birds, no rustle of small animals, no wind through the trees. Certainly no sounds of human (or dragon, or whatever other intelligent species might be around) habitation. Even the green, woodsy smell had faded.
He examined the space ahead of him. As he’d approached, the trees thinned to reveal an idyllic small town, like something out of one of those homespun American shows from the Fifties some of the guys at Barrow used to make fun of.
