Soulblade (36 page)

Serankil? That’s the dragon name for this world, right?

Yes.
One of the dragon scientists who remained here was the one to create the repository that you found for me.
Bhrava Saruth rolled his head sideways on the grass and made an approving sound.

Sardelle took that as a thank you. He twitched his claw, and she went back to rubbing his side.

His entries read almost like a confession,
Bhrava Saruth said.
I think he came to regret that he’d played a part in getting rid of all of the other dragons, especially when years passed and none of them returned. He questioned whether they had truly found another plane of existence to send them to, or if he and his cohorts had tricked them into flying to their deaths. He wanted to reopen the portal to see if they could find the others or invite some of them back, but his colleagues refused to allow it. They liked sharing the world amongst themselves. I don’t know what happened to those last six bronzes, but can only assume they eventually died, leaving the world bereft of dragons.

Bereft,
Jaxi said,
as if the rest of the world was mourning the loss. People were probably delighted that nobody was eating their sheep and burning down their barns anymore.

Not
all
dragons did those things,
Bhrava Saruth said, hearing Jaxi’s comment even though it had been directed at Sardelle.

You don’t eat sheep? I don’t believe you. I can see wool in your teeth.

Not sheep that belong to humans. High priestess, your sword is being mouthy again. I believe she should be punished.

Sardelle laid a hand on Jaxi’s pommel.
Can you wait until after we find Ridge to provoke him? Unless you want him to use you as a toothpick to clean around the gums.

Jaxi made an incoherent grumbling noise.

Bhrava Saruth,
Sardelle asked,
why hide the crystal? Why not share what you learned with the other dragons? Don’t you think they would like to know?

They might do something foolish. Like seek out the portal and try to open it again. I believe there are a perfect number of dragons in the world now. There’s no need to open a portal and invite others to return. Besides, those were the dragons who condemned me to that prison for thousands of years. Let them stay where they are.

It sounds like your god wants to keep Iskandia all to himself
, Jaxi said.

Sardelle did not know whether she objected to the idea or not. The world had to be a safer place without dragons involved in and instigating wars, but she didn’t know if she or Bhrava Saruth had the right to decide that.

Therrik is coming, so you may want to save the philosophical questions for later,
Jaxi said.

Sardelle shifted so she could see down the road. A minute later, Therrik jogged into view, Kasandral’s hilt visible over his shoulder. Bhrava Saruth, still on his back with his head upside down, made a noise between a grumble and a sigh.

I guess he doesn’t enjoy seeing that sword returning
, Sardelle thought.

Therrik has actually been doing an admirable job of sublimating the urges Kasandral is sending him as we ride around on Bhrava Saruth’s back
, Jaxi said.

Are you praising him? I wouldn’t have guessed I’d ever hear that.

Just making an observation. Now that he’s aware of the sword’s influence over him, he’s fighting to keep it at bay. Maybe he’s the rightful wielder for Kasandral.

Maybe we’ll convince Eversong to leave Iskandia, and there will be no need for
anyone
to wield Kasandral.

I think the only way that will happen is with a sword through the heart.

Bhrava Saruth did not bother to right himself as Therrik approached. Sardelle lowered her hand, and the dragon sighed, his twitching tail flopping to the grass.

“What are you doing to that dragon?” Therrik came to a halt in the road, frowning over at them.

“Rubbing his belly. Has Ridge been to the town? Was there a flier?”

Therrik mouthed
rubbing his belly
incredulously before answering the other questions.

“Yes, we just missed him. The retired colonel there let him take his flier. He took off at dawn.” His face twisted into an odd expression. “With the woman in his lap.”

“His
lap
?” Why was he flying with some
other
woman in his lap? He’d only done that with her once, and only to save her when the flying fortress had been crashing. Sardelle forced her feelings down, searching for the logical explanation. “Because it wasn’t a two-seat flier, I assume. And he had to take her with him because...” Because
why
?

“Because the bitch is controlling him and has been all along,” Therrik growled.

“We don’t know that.”

“What’s the other possibility? That he’s found a new sorceress he’s screwing, and he couldn’t wait to give her a tour of the countryside?”

Sardelle winced at the blunt language—and the unpleasant images it put into her mind. “Let’s just catch up with them and find out,” she said, forcing herself to react reasonably.

Bhrava Saruth rolled to his feet, dropping to his belly so they could climb on.

“Either way, I’m sticking this sword into her,” Therrik said.

I’ll hold her down so he can do it
, Jaxi said.
Assuming I can get past her soulblade to do so.

Sardelle climbed up to what she was starting to think of as her place over Bhrava Saruth’s shoulder blades. She waved Therrik up to the base of the dragon’s neck, wanting him in front of her, no matter what praise Jaxi offered for his control.

If the soulblade is who’s responsible for controlling Ridge...
Sardelle balked at the idea that he was under someone’s control, but she pressed on.
We might need you to hold
it
down. Him
, she corrected.
It was a him, wasn’t it?

Wreltad, yes. Maybe I can distract him by making fun of his name.

A soulblade battle tactic I’m not familiar with?

It’s only applicable in certain battles. Such as when your foe has a three-thousand-year-old name. Maybe I’ll call him Tad. Or Taddy.

Bhrava Saruth leaped into the air, wings flapping. As soon as he cleared the trees, he turned toward the capital.

Can we catch them in time?
Sardelle wondered. It was a couple of hours past dawn. What if Ridge and the sorceress had landed in the capital?

I will do my best, high priestess. I am much faster than the human flying contraptions.

Are we going to barrel into the city on his back?
Jaxi asked.
That might alarm the people a tad.
She snickered.
Tad.

Refining insults to use on him? We’ll stay high, out of gunfire range. And hope we can catch Ridge before he reaches the capital.

Yes, they are going to the big city,
Bhrava Saruth said.
I can sense them in the air many miles ahead of us.

You can?
All along, Sardelle had been disturbed that none of them could sense Ridge—or the sorceress—ahead of them. Her range was limited, but dragons could see much farther, both with their eyes and their minds.

In a creative manner, yes. She’s able to hide her presence, and that of the human male with her, so I haven’t felt her during this journey, but a flier is an odd thing to pass through the skies, at least from the perspective of an animal or bird. I started reaching out to the birds ahead of us, which I
can
sense, even at a distance of many miles. I can see the world through their eyes, and several are fleeing from the noisy flying machine. Through the birds, I can track your mate.

Good work.
Sardelle patted the scales under her. She assumed Ridge would head straight for the butte so he could land on the flier runway, but it would be useful to know if he deviated from that route.

Yes.
Bhrava Saruth beamed pleasure at this praise.
I will find your mate for you, high priestess. Then he will become my first true worshipper in this time.

Sardelle forced a smile. She recalled that she had implied to the dragon that Ridge might be a potential worshipper, back when she had been trying to finagle his help the first time. How Ridge would feel about that, she didn’t know, but it was a problem to worry about once she had pried him away from Eversong, and he was safe in
her
arms.

• • • • •

Before Tolemek opened his eyes, he grew aware of something heavy pressing on his chest. A boot. Stabs of pain pulsed at the back of his head. He could feel the deck under him rocking with the motion of the sea. When had they come down out of the air?

His eyes crossed as the muzzle of a rifle came to rest on the bridge of his nose. He was still in the passageway near the boiler room, and he could glimpse support beams broken all about him, but he was more concerned about all of the faces staring down at him. Several guards in the emperor’s colors, dark gray and purple, loomed over him. The boot belonged to the emperor himself. He glowered down at Tolemek, his head shaven, his white goatee bound by beads.

Smoke clogged the passageway, and dozens of holes reminiscent of teeth marks let light in through the bulkhead, but the emperor did not appear worried. Indeed, the battle had grown still out there, the cannonballs and machine guns quiet. How much time had passed? Had Kaika’s explosion destroyed the engine? Was the ship sinking into the bay, even now?

Tolemek berated himself, knowing it had been his insistence to pull the firemen out that had delayed them, kept them from getting far enough away from the boiler room. If they hadn’t been caught by the explosion, they might have been the ones to come across the emperor, catching him off guard or on the deck.

He lifted his head to see if the guards had Kaika too. The rifle muzzle pressed against his nose, pushing his head back down. Not before he glimpsed her on her knees behind the emperor, her hands bound behind her back, a rifle jabbed into the side of her neck.

Tylie?
Tolemek called.

Your sister and your friends cannot help you
, a female voice said into his mind. The dragon. He recognized her from before.
Nor can this gray-scaled cockroach.

Phelistoth?

He is weak. He thought the empire would want an alliance with him, when I am here, Yisharnesh the Mighty.

What can the empire do for you, Yisharnesh? Why ally with humans?

The emperor recognizes my power and greatness. His people will treat me well for my occasional help, provide an excellent lair and see to my needs and whims. I will find a suitable mate and breed babies, making many dragons. My offspring will rule the world as my ancestors once did.

“You look like a baboon with all of that hair, Targoson,” the emperor said.

“Thank you, Your Highness. I prefer it to the melon-head look.” Tolemek had heard a story that the reason Cofah soldiers had been required to shave their heads was because the emperor himself had gone prematurely bald and hadn’t wanted his troops to have more hair than he. It might just be a story, but the emperor’s lips flattened in satisfying annoyance.

“I was just going to have you shot when my men found you lying here, especially since the Iskandian assassins have proven lackadaisical when it comes to killing you. You know, it’s irritated me greatly that you chose to work for those obstinate rebels.”

“Only because the empire turned its back on me.”

“You deserved to be ostracized after Camp Eveningson.”

Tolemek gritted his teeth. Angulus had forgiven him for Tanglewood, and he had twice the heart Salatak had, so those deaths must have stung him even more. As he stared up at the man sneering down at him, he realized for the second time that day that his heart had chosen Iskandia long before his brain had. He might never be beloved by the people there, but he was welcomed by some. That was enough. He had a home. He only hoped he might find a way to return to see it again. And to see Cas again. Was she still out there? Still alive?

“Since I’ve endured a great deal of loss, both financially and in manpower, here because of you, I’m going to have my new ally scour your brain before I kill you.” The emperor lifted his head, as if calling to the heavens. “Dragon? Tell me if he knows where my daughter is, and also, I implore you, steal all of his secrets from him, all of his recipes for his formulas, his salves, all that he has used for good and ill.”

Tolemek hoped the call might go unanswered, that the dragon was busy or would scoff at his demands. Instead harsh fingernails scraped through his brain, making his skull hurt from the inside out. If he had been standing, he would have fallen. As it was, all he could do was thump his head back against the deck, his entire body stiffening as the dragon ruthlessly stole everything from his mind. He tried to think of anything but what the creature sought—he even tried to feed her memories of finding Phelistoth in a Cofah lab, his blood being sucked out by the vial full, to show her what kind of “ally” the emperor might be—but it was hard to do more than writhe in pain at the harshness of the intrusion.

“Maybe he’ll die just from having a dragon pawing at his brain,” someone said with a snicker.

“I hope so. We crashed, thanks to him and that witch.”

The emperor remained silent. Tolemek wanted to protest that Kaika wasn’t a witch, but it hurt too much to talk, too much to think. Only the knowledge that they’d brought the ship down made him feel slightly better, but if it was still seaworthy, they hadn’t done enough.

“The dragon informs me that she has the information,” the emperor said. “But you do not know where my daughter is. That is unfortunate.” He turned slightly. “Check the other one.”