by C. K. Rieke
His one eye hardened as a cold ocean breeze blew through the standoff. “I can’t do that.”
“Then our alliance is over,” Lilaci said, “and we are enemies.”
The fires erupted in her hands, the archers drew back their bowstrings, and the knights readied themselves to attack.
“I’m sorry that’s the decision you’ve made, Lilaci, just know that...”
As he was about to finish his statement, a deafening roar burst out from the sky. At first Lilaci thought it was one of the legendary storms of the Aterax coming from the sea, but then she looked up to find a storm even worse.
Its long torso reached nearly from one side of the sky to the other; from snout to tail, and it tore through the sky at astonishing speed. The beast’s black wings were stretched out wide, as Lilaci readied her fires to repel a burst of dragonfire upon them. But the monster’s head wasn’t focused upon them.
“Obsidrox,” Fewn said, in a soft voice as if she was in shock.
Then another hellish roar belted out from behind the dragon’s tail, and Lilaci’s hands dropped to her sides, letting the flames of the Sanzoral fade as her spirit vanished in that very second. What Lilaci saw flying through the sky was far worse than what she could have imagined.
“It’s all of them,” Fewn said, gently touching Lilaci’s arm.
Overhead, it wasn’t only Obsidrox flying past, but the familiar dragon from their battle in Voru, Tirilin, with its monstrous wings spread out wide, as they flapped in the wind. But it wasn’t only them, the other two dragons from their fight back when Roren was killed were there; flying behind the other two. The two dragons flying behind had grown to the same size as Obsidrox and Tirilin, and none of them seemed to care about the standoff taking place.
Lilaci’s gaze then darted to Burr, whose eye was panic-stricken, and he was speechless with his mouth left agape.
“Burr,” Lilaci shouted through loud flapping of the wings overhead. “Burr! What direction is Kera? Where is she?”
He still stood in shock, without an answer. Lilaci sent a swath of sand up quickly from the ground before him that brushed up into his face and beard.
“Burr, where is Kera?” she shouted.
His eye fell to hers, and he slowly lifted a hand with a finger outstretched, shaking. She looked in the direction of his finger. She then looked at Fewn with heavy worry.
“The dragons,” Fewn said. “They’re going after Kera...”
Without thought, Lilaci let the Sanzoral flow through her, and hefting a disk of sand beneath her and Fewn’s boots, she sent the two of them coursing through the air after the dragons.
“Hurry, Lilaci,” Fewn yelled as the winds rushed past them. “Faster, we’re falling behind the dragons.”
“They’re too fast,” Lilaci yelled back, bending her knees and leaning into the winds caused by the dragon wings above.
“Faster, Lilaci. Faster!”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
The dragon’s wings rushed hot air upon them as they raced forward. Both of them ducked low, holding onto the front edge of the sand disk that was propelling them. Obsidrox was well ahead of them now, with its mighty wings launching it forward at an incredible speed. Tirilin had now passed them, and they still didn’t even have Kera in sight.
To the right was the eastern edge of Scindír, flying past in the opposite direction.
“Hurry, Lilaci,” Fewn yelled over to her in the rushing winds. “Can’t we go any faster?”
Lilaci didn’t respond, as her mind was racing just as quickly as the sand was carrying them.
The third dragon appeared over them then, the same dragon they’d met in battle before, but back then it had rotten ribs protruding through its green scales, and now its black wings were pristine, covered in thick, unbroken dragonscale. Another strong wind tried to brush them off the disk. With another strong swipe of its wings downward, it was propelled forward past them. It let out a menacing, dark roar that rippled through the air like a mountain cracking in half.
Lilaci could feel the tension in Fewn, who’d tightened up, and whose breathing had slowed. But Fewn didn’t say a word. There was nothing she could say that could make Lilaci travel any faster.
Kera. I’ll kill you if a single black hair is harmed on her head, Burr. How wrong you were. Then she saw it.
“There!” Fewn yelled, with her fine hair whipping back behind her. “I see it.”
Lilaci saw it too. Like tiny black spots on the desert, with a plume of sand behind them, signaling the speed with which they were riding.
“Riders!” Fewn called out, “and at the center, look, it’s a single wagon. That’s her! She’s got to be at the center of that caravan.”
“Kera,” Lilaci said in a grave tone.
Obsidrox roared wildly then, and surely every single remaining person alive in Scindír heard it. King Garrond surely was readying himself for another battle.
Who would have thought the dragons would return this quickly after a loss... but wait... what if the dragons didn’t come of their own accord? What if this is the will of the gods, and not the dragons? Was Dânoz waiting for Kera to be separated from us—from me? The dragons don’t care about the city, they’re only after Kera.
Then another roar soared through the sky, and Lilaci looked over to see Herradax flying next to them, to their left. Her gray scales and red stripes lit in the warm sunlight. Her eyes were a fiery orange and focused straight ahead. Her roar resembled more of a barking, or yelping this time, as she flew as fast as she could, still not matching the speed of the larger dragons.
Kôrran struggled to keep up with them, his smaller red wings flapping as quickly as they could. He screeched as he flew toward Kera.
Fewn clasped her wrist tightly. “Lilaci—”
Lilaci’s gaze shot back forward, and instantly she saw the reason for the tone in Fewn’s voice.
Obsidrox’s chest was heaving out and filling itself with the white-hot dragonfire as he was approaching the caravan.
Kera! No! My—my baby!
Lilaci let the fires of the Sanzoral erupt in her hands and set out a towering inferno of violet flames shooting out toward the great, black dragon. Obsidrox was far off now, but she wouldn’t let that stop her. She was going to try!
“Hurry, Lilaci. It's about to send that dragonfire upon the riders! Do something!”
Lilaci’s determination doubled, and even with the sand disk racing forward, she still sent the flames onward to deflect the dragon’s fires before they could touch the riders, the wagon, and Kera who was its prisoner.
Obsidrox flapped its wings one more time upward, and its chest grew to an enormous size, and as its wings came down in one last frightful manner, panic shot through Lilaci.
No, I’m too late.
The dragon sent its white flames burning through the air, and as the dragonfire hit the caravan in an exploding inferno, Lilaci let her fires die off, as they weren’t even halfway to their target.
“Kera!” Fewn screamed.
The black dragon’s neck swayed from side to side, burning the life away of the dozens of riders as they disappeared in the haze of violent white dragonfire.
Keep going, don’t stop. Even if this is the end, I’m still going to kill at least that one. Obsidrox, I’m coming for you!
As they continued forward, Herradax let out bellowing screeches, as if she were in physical pain, and Kôrran, now far behind barked out in a grieving manner.
The desert before them was nothing but a wildfire of white upon the sands, and with one last flap of its wings, Obsidrox fell to the desert floor, just outside of the flames.
Almost there, just a little farther.
Then, Tirilin fell to the far side of the fires, letting out a loud, angry snarl.
Once they’d reached the desert sands just outside of the fires, Lilaci found all the surrounding brush and plants were scorched to thin slivers of black. There was nothing but death around them now. Lilaci and Fewn fo
und their feet firmly upon the sands, and just as they did this, the last two dragons had landed to surround the fires.
Herradax landed next to Lilaci and roared up at the mammoth dragons. Kôrran still struggled behind.
Obsidrox glared at Lilaci, but only for a moment. Its sights were more fixed upon the white wildfires raging between them.
“You bitch!” Lilaci yelled out to the black dragon. “She was just a girl! I’m going to gut you for this!” The tears had finally taken their place in Lilaci’s eyes, and she fell onto Fewn, wrapping her arms around her, as Fewn had to hold her up.
“I’m sorry,” Fewn said, “it wasn’t supposed to end like this.”
The fires raged with wicked intensity, rising high up into the sky, with black smoke billowing up.
“We were supposed to be together,” Lilaci cried, “I promised her I’d take care of her. I’m sorry, girl. I’m sorry. I failed you again.”
Then, seemingly confident in their attack, the four dragons began to let out a low, growling howl all together. It was like an eerie song soldiers might sing together after a victory in battle, uplifting in their accomplishment, but sorrowful for the fallen.
Do the dragons somehow sense Kera was on their side? She was the one who was going to make them free, she was the one that was going to make them truly strong.
The fires had been roaring a full ten minutes, and Lilaci and Fewn had fallen to their knees, crying into each other’s shoulders. Herradax now joined the howling of the other dragons, and it only brought the sadness deeper into Lilaci’s heart. Kôrran joined then too, with a much higher pitch. The dragons were grieving, and the sound that came from their snouts and hearts would be one that would not be soon forgotten in the Arr. The Princess of Dragons was dead.
Lilaci then pulled her head from Fewn’s shoulder.
“She wouldn’t want us to stop,” Lilaci said, looking into Fewn’s eyes full of pain, with the streaks of tears rolling down freely. “We’ve got to make it back to the ships. We can still kill Dânoz and the others. It's not the dragons’ faults for this. They’re just victims, just like you and me, and... her.”
“I—” Fewn struggled to say through the pain. “I didn’t get to say goodbye. You say you failed her, but I’m the one who let them take her. I should’ve seen it coming. It’s my fault. It’s not yours. Just leave me here. I’ll bury her. You go. Go, Lilaci, there’s still time.”
“I’m not leaving you here,” Lilaci said, wiping a tear from her eyes. “You’re all I have left now. You and Gogenanth. You’re my only family. Come now, we’ll head back together.” The dragons continued their sorrowful call.
Lilaci pushed through the pain in her joints and the overwhelming fatigue in her mind to stand, even helping Fewn find her footing. “Come now,” Lilaci said, “we’ve got a quest to finish.” And they began a slow walk back toward the ships.
Step after step, the dragons continued their call, howling up to the sun and moon, to the sky and the smoldering black smoke rising to the Great Realm in the Sky, where Kera now rested.
I’m so sorry, little Kera. But this won’t be the end. I’ll kill Burr for his treason, and then we’re going to the land of the gods. And once we’re done with them, your name will be remem—
Then, suddenly there was a small break in the dragon’s grief. Herradax had abruptly stopped howling, and Lilaci turned to look at her. The fires had been burning bright for at least twenty minutes now, and Herradax stood there with her head cocked.
Lilaci didn’t say a word, she only looked at the dragon’s curious action.
“Come, now,” Fewn said. “She’s only confused. She just lost her mother, after all.”
“Hold up, just for a second,” Lilaci said.
Herradax cocked her head the other way. Lilaci turned and started a slow walk back toward the dragon. Then the last, large dragon with fiery orange scales and red stripes down its wings stopped howling with a high-pitched final note.
“Is—Is there something there?” Lilaci asked, shielding her eyes with her hand on her brow. She couldn’t be sure, but at the center of the fire, with everything burned away, there seemed to be... a shadow?
Fewn’s curiosity had picked up, as the dragons had stopped howling now, and looked intensely at the fires.
“There’s something in there!” Lilaci yelled.
Fewn came running over to her side. “I don’t see it.”
“There, in the center of the dragonfire!” Lilaci yelled again.
“Oh my god,” Fewn said. “You’re right! I see it!”
A fire sparked in Lilaci then, a wild, wild rage shot through her, and she felt the Sanzoral had never been stronger in her heart and veins. She let the fires burn excruciatingly intense in her hand and fingers, and with a great heave, she sent the violet fires and sands of the Sanzoral bursting forward.
The flames of the Sanzoral raged out in a wide inferno that overtook the white dragonfire with ease. It encompassed the white flames, extinguishing them like blowing out a candle, and the black smoke quickly turned to thin, gray wisps.
“There, Lilaci,” Fewn said. “That’s enough.”
The Sanzoral retreated to that dormant spot in her mind then, and as their eyes adjusted to the light once again, they saw an unmistakable sight...
“Kera...” Fewn said and began running toward the body that lay on its side, with nothing around, no soldiers, no wagon, nothing.
Lilaci had little energy, and more than a body full of pain, but she limped forward.
Fewn ran at an incredible speed, and Herradax and Kôrran had already sent their wings to motion. But Fewn was halted in a sudden motion as Obsidrox lurched forward with a menacing growl. Its massive head lumbering over Kera. Lilaci continued limping forward. Then, almost sending Lilaci into a state of shock, Kera, who was limp on her side, began to move.
Her body stirred, and she, with great labor, managed to get her knees underneath her, and she remained there, kneeling on both knees, staring into the great dragon’s eyes. Its teeth and nostrils only inches from her.
Lilaci watched as Kera then moved so that she was standing before Obsidrox, who let out a great snarl that rippled through the air. Lilaci was now running toward Kera. She was close now, only twenty feet away now.
“Kera, I’m coming!” she yelled. “Run! Run away!”
But Kera didn’t run, she instead, raised her right hand and extended it out to the black dragon’s maw. She let her fingers touch the thick dragonscale, and as Lilaci was nearly to Kera, she was halted in her tracks as Kera began to speak.
“Great dragon,” Kera said in a voice that sounded divine, “I release you of the curse upon you. Your madness is washed away.” The dragon’s wild eyes closed with heavy eyelids. “Begone the spell that clouded your mind. You are free and wild once again. I cast off the spell Dânoz has placed upon you. Obsidrox, my child, you are free!”
Once she said that, a sudden gust of wind erupted from the west, and Obsidrox opened its eyes quickly, startling Lilaci, but not Kera. Obsidrox’s head and neck shot up, pointing toward the heavens, and it let out a wild roar like nothing Lilaci had heard. It was heartfelt, soul-reaching, and vibrant.
Standing at the center of an area of scorched earth that looked more like the Eternal Fires than the desert, smoldering with smoke and ash, standing before a great roaring dragon, Kera then turned and looked at Lilaci, her eyes were wild like that of a dragon, as the gray and silvers in her pupils had turned to a fiery red and orange.
“The tides have turned,” she said. “Dânoz has no control over them now. The dragons are mine!”
The End
In anticipation for the conclusion to The Dragon Sands, consider reading The Path of Zaan Trilogy
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Author’s Notes
The final battle begins, and as Kera and Lilaci find their army for the upcoming final confrontation with Dânoz, my drive to finish the series has only grown with it. If there’s one t
hing I enjoy writing these books; it's the endings. I love writing endings. I love the battles, the drama, and even the loss.
In the last book it affected me to lose Roren, and in this book what got to me was the scene with King Garrond at the end. How did you feel about it? I didn’t plot out the part with him giving them the gift of ridding the world of the Scaethers, but sometimes the words just come out from the story, and I thought it was the logical, if not necessary touch. I hope it gave the closure that Lilaci needed to move forward. This will be her first time leaving the sands, and I hope that she can leave the Arr with the assurance that even if they don’t succeed in their mission, at least they’d created some good in their homeland.
But now they have full-size dragons! It’ll be an easy win against the gods now! Right?
Burr, oh, Burr... That was a troubling betrayal for me to build up in the book. I’ve seen it coming a couple of books now, and what really irks me about it, is that he wasn’t trying to take Kera for malicious reasons, no, he thought he was saving her life, and that was the only way to do it—in secret. If not for the pixie’s whisper, would Lilaci have even thought anything was wrong until she was on the ship, out in the sea, wondering much later did something happen?
But now she’s stuck with that damned curse. Don’t expect it to get better before it gets worse, that’s not a spoiler, but you may have noticed that just like the spell that is causing the dragons to grow quicker and healthier, her curse has sent her spiraling into frailty and pain.
Crossing the seas in this world is never an easy task, so wish them luck in the last stage of their quest to reach the land of the gods.
One character who impressed me with her courage and strength was Queen Lezeral. She’s really showed her prowess as a leader in the absence of her deceased husband. Could you imagine the determination it would take to denounce the gods, knowing full well that their spite would reign down death on your city. All in the hopes that Kera and Lilaci will be able to fulfill their mission.
