Infinity (8 page)

Chapter Nine

“What do you mean that’s not—”

We watched in horror as blue flames shot from the dragon’s mouth, and the trees exploded. More dragons poured out from behind clouds, all of them long and snakelike, their wings shorter but wider than those of the dragons we were used to seeing.

“That’s definitely not Winston.” Kitsuna grabbed us both by the arms and tugged us to the ground, throwing herself down over our backs. “Get down. Don’t let them see you.”

“But—” I swallowed as we cowered low, underneath the window, and I heard the high-pitched, shrieking wails of dragons flying in the night. I turned to look at Kitsuna and could see that her eyes were closed and her mouth was twisted up in a way that made her look as terrified as I felt.

“Stay here.” Mercedes let go of my hand, and I watched as she scrambled across the room on all fours, snatching some things up into her arms and then turning to scoot across the floor on her knees back to us.

“Here.” She let her arms open, and both Kitsuna’s and my swords fell onto the floor between us. I looked up to see the thick red welts on her arms from where the iron had touched her skin. “We need to go,” she said.

“Go?” Kitsuna asked. I looked over to see her staring at Mercedes before she looked down at the swords at our feet. “Right, we need to go. Allie, you need to stay here and—”

“Shut up, Kit,” I said as Mercedes huddled next to us, keeping her head low while we hurriedly buckled on our sword belts. My fingers slipped on the slick brown leather, and I couldn’t get it to fasten properly.

“Come on,” I snapped as the leather slid again in the dark, and I felt the heavy sword bang against my hip.

“Here.” Kitsuna took the ends of the belt out of my hands and fastened it, pulling it tight enough around my waist that it wouldn’t slide down my hips in the middle of a fight.

“You ready?” Mercedes asked as she grabbed her bow and slid it on her back.

“Are you going to be able to use that?” I asked. “Its pitch black out there.”

“Lucky for us,” Mercedes retorted. “Dragons like to breathe fire when they attack. Turns them into a nice, big target.”

“Yeah? Well, try to make sure it’s Bavasama’s dragons you’re shooting and not ours. We’re going to need them,” I said as we all scurried to the door, still crouched over and keeping our heads low.

“I’ll do my best,” she said when we reached the portal stone. I grabbed her hand with my left and felt Kitsuna grab onto my belt. “Now where do you think we should go?”

“The aerie,” Kitsuna said, her voice high and shaky. “If they’re attacking us at night, they’ll go to the aerie first. Take out our dragons so that they can attack us without worrying about them.”

“Right. Take me to the aerie,” I said, my voice a command, as I brushed my fingers across the stone.

The world shifted apart, and the only thing I could feel was my two friends pressed against me as we were transported. Then the world came back together again, dropping us into the thick grass that surrounded the large stone tower where the dragon clans made their home at the Crystal Palace.

“Where are they?” I asked, turning in a quick circle and looking around before pulling my sword. “Where are the dragon warriors who are supposed to be standing guard?”

“Your Majesty?” Dravak yelled, and I turned to see the boy standing in the doorway of the aerie. “What are you doing here?”

“Where are the rest of the dragon clans?”

“Most of them are on patrol.” Dravak hurried toward us still in human form. “They left me and Tietsen here to guard the aerie and rest our wings after our flight to Dramera while everyone else…”

He looked up, and I let my eyes follow his into the sky. The rest of them were up there while he’d been left on the ground to keep watch, too young to fight. A child caught in a grown-up’s war.

“How many dragons up there are ours?” Mercedes asked as she scanned the dragons darting across the sky, shooting fireballs and screaming as they attacked one another.

“Six,” Dravak said. “Why?”

“Do you keep any bows in the aerie? An armory of sorts?” Mercedes asked.

“Yes.” Dravak nodded quickly, his floppy red hair bouncing in front of his face.

“Good.” Mercedes nodded. “Because I’m going to need a lot more arrows.”

“Right.” Dravak took off at a run as the three of us stood, back-to-back, and stared up at the night sky.

“Here!” he called out a few moments later as he ran toward us, two quivers of arrows in his arms and another slung across his back.

“Thanks,” Mercedes said as she took the arrows from him and dumped them on the ground beside her feet. She dropped to one knee and removed the bow from her back.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” I asked as I pulled my own sword free of its scabbard and clutched it with both hands.

“Don’t worry, Allie, I can do this.”

“Sure you can,” I said, trying to sound supportive instead of scared out of my mind.

“Stay out of the way.” Kitsuna pushed me behind her, one of her own swords clutched in each hand. “Just in case she accidentally shoots one wide. Our best tactic is to stay back and let her shoot them down, and then when they hit the ground, we’ll finish them off.”

“And how are you supposed to tell which dragon is which?” I asked as Mercedes pulled back on her bowstring and aimed.

“Our dragons are big and bulky. Theirs are long and skinny.”

“And that’s how you’re telling them apart? Shoot the skinny ones and let the fat ones go? What if they have fat dragons, too?”

“Okay, so I’m guessing.” Mercedes grunted as she let an arrow loose and a loud shriek filled the night sky.

“Guessing?” I asked.

“If they’re dive bombing the aerie”—Mercedes drew back another arrow and took aim again—“I’m going to assume they aren’t one of ours. How does that sound to you?”

“Sounds like a plan,” I agreed as I scanned the skies above us, looking for where the next attack might come from in the darkness, waiting for Winston and the rest of our warriors to fly to the rescue before we found ourselves in another blaze like the one in the Forest of Ananth this morning.

“Dravak?”

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

“Winston? Where was he on patrol?” I asked.

“He’s part of the squad that flew northward, guarding Lord Rhys’s land near the White Mountains.”

“Good.” I nodded, still keeping my eyes fixed on the skies above us. “Let’s get this mess cleaned up before he gets back.”

“Allie!” I jerked my head down and over to see my father and his men racing into the clearing, Rhys and some of his men behind them.

“We’ve got men surrounding the palace,” Rhys said as he slid to a stop beside me.

There was a dull
thwack
and then the loud scream of an animal in pain. I turned away from him to see Mercedes still on the ground, another arrow in her bow as a large, red, snake-style dragon crumpled in midair, twisting so that he was facing upward and curling in on himself as he crashed down somewhere in the night.

“Woodsmen!” John snapped. “The dryad appears to have the first kill. Do you intend to let her do this single-handed or do you intend to help?”

Seven men hurried forward, slinging their own bows off their back and hurriedly loading them with arrows before lifting the weapons up and loosing arrows into the sky.

Rhys’s men started to circle the rest of the aerie, their swords drawn. “What’s your plan?” Rhys asked.

“We stay back and try to stay out of the way. If something comes down, and it’s not one of our dragons”—I swallowed—“kill it.”

“We can do that,” Rhys said as he pulled his own sword. “Why don’t you find somewhere safe to hide?”

“When have you ever known me to hide?” I asked. “Besides, this is my castle. I’m not going to run away while a bunch of flying lizards trash the place.”

“No, because running and hiding would have been the sensible things for a queen to do.”

“Oh, shut up, Sullivan. Before I decide to behead you or something.”

Instead of answering, he put his fingers in his mouth and let out a loud whistle that pierced the night. I heard another loud cry after that, this one more of a squawk than a roar as Balmeer—Rhys’s pet roc—flew into the clearing and then landed heavily on his shoulder, his sharp, knifelike talons curling into Rhys shoulder. “If one of those lizards land,” I heard Rhys say quietly to the bird, “do whatever it takes to kill it.”

The heavy, three-foot-tall bird let out a soft cooing sound and shifted on Rhys’s shoulder, Balmeer’s eyes dark and his wings tensed. The roc lifted his head, watching the sky above like he was just waiting for something to fall into his new hunting area.

I heard the stinging slap of Mercedes’s and the Woodsmen’s bows all releasing at the same time and then the sharp shriek of the dragons in the air howling in pain.

“Mercedes got another one,” Kitsuna said. We both watched the bright blue dragon above tearing at its own wing with its teeth, trying to pull the arrow free as it tumbled, end over end, toward us.

“Balmeer,” Rhys said sharply. The bird instantly launched itself upward with a battle cry of sorts.

“Watch out,” one of the soldiers said in warning. “It’s going to land close.”

Close
, I thought to myself as the blue dragon Mercedes had wounded crashed into the clearing,
was definitely the word for it.

The animal let out a low moan as it hit the dirt, and I felt my entire body trembling as the creature let out a long, low hiss before rolling onto its stomach, struggling to get to its feet.

The dragon lifted his head, but before it could move, Balmeer dropped from the sky in a graceful, predatory dive, his beak aimed straight for the other creature’s eyes. The dragon brought its one good wing up to swipe at the roc, and Balmeer dodged it at the last second, pulling himself away and aiming his claws at the dragon’s back. He raked his talons across the creature’s spine.

The dragon roared, throwing his head back and letting out a huge burst of fire, trying to incinerate the roc before he could do any more damage. But Balmeer shifted to the side, still flying low, and came in again, his claws ripping into the dragon’s good wing before he climbed the sky again, preparing for another strike.

The dragon, angry and in pain, managed to rear itself up on its back legs and let out another roar, this one loud enough that I could feel the stones of the aerie shake. The dragon beat its wings together as if trying to fight people off by waving in front of its face and hoping that no one would be able to touch them. Usually, for humans, it wasn’t a very good self-defense tactic, but when you’re the size of a dragon, it could shift a fight in your favor pretty easily.

Another arrow flew into the dragon’s side, and the creature lifted his head again, roaring in pain. The dragon extended one wing, making contact with the smaller roc and throwing him across the clearing before dropping back down onto all four legs. The dragon turned toward the archers who still peppered his thick hide with arrows, the ends sticking out of his side like bristles on a hairbrush.

The dragon took one lumbering step toward us, then another, his movements shaky and his head bobbing back in forth like he was trying to keep his balance. The creature roared again and took another step forward, not giving the archers enough room to take their shot before they had to flee.

“Men,” Rhys said. We all tightened our grips on our swords, ready to fight.

The dragon turned his head toward the sound and changed course, now moving toward the aerie and the men guarding it. Heading straight for us, in fact. A low hissing sound came from its mouth as it weaved from side to side.

“For Nerissette and the Golden Rose!” Dravak screeched as he ran forward, putting himself between me and the creature before his shape began to waver, shifting in the dim light from human to that of a small red dragon, without even the slightest bit of a moan from the child.

“Dravak!” I lunged toward him, but Kitsuna grabbed my hand, pulling me back.

“Let him handle it,” she snapped. “If you get in the middle of a fight between dragons, you’ll get stomped on. Besides, we need to stay back in case they bring anything else down.”

The blue dragon stood on his hind legs, roaring at Dravak, and the tinier, much younger dragon lifted himself higher, roaring in return and beating his wings together in a full-fledged, teenage-boy temper tantrum. Instead of dropping back down though, Dravak let his wings lift him, bringing him forward in what looked like a giant hop as he spread his wings and beat them against the blue dragon’s head, distracting him enough for Dravak to press the advantage. He gave the dragon what looked like a reptilian equivalent of a football tackle.

The young red dragon pulled himself off his opponent and spread his wings before throwing his entire body into the attack. There was a crack like a gunshot and then a wet, sickening sound that made my stomach turn.

Chapter Ten

There was a loud roar in the night and the sound of yelling from the Woodsmen before I heard the sharp snap of arrows being shot. Then the night went silent again.

I shivered and tried to convince myself that this wasn’t real. It was all some sort of dream. I was home, at Gran Mosely’s, and this was all just a really bad dream brought on by reading one too many fantasy novels or a late-night showing of
Lord of the Rings
on television. None of this was real. None of this could be—

There was another loud roar, farther away this time, and I opened my eyes to see Dravak with the other dragon’s head clutched in his teeth. My stomach lurched, and I tried my best not to gag as the enemy’s head began to shimmer, reverting back to its—
his
—human shape.

The frilly black crest that Dravak had been holding gently in his teeth turned to a long, silky, black topknot. The long snout pushed back in, returning to a thick, fleshy face the color of brown, dried grass with heavy black eyebrows that seemed to crawl across his face like caterpillars.

“Good,” I said as my knees start to shake at the sight of the young dragon with his opponent’s head in his mouth. Right now he needed me to be brave. No matter how much looking at a dead guy’s head made me want to throw up. “Very good job, Dravak. I’m proud of you. Now, if you’ll excuse me?”

“My queen.” One of the young soldiers standing near me stepped forward and grabbed my hand, stopping me from making my escape into the dark.

Instead of pulling away, I turned and dropped my head, vomiting all over the toes of what I’m pretty sure were exceptionally shiny black boots. My stomach clenched, and I was sick again. But this time the soldier was fast enough to step aside, saving his feet.

Strong arms wrapped around my waist, and I could smell both Kitsuna and Rhys behind me, her holding me up and him with a supportive hand on my shoulder. Kitsuna helped me stand upright again, and I looked at the soldier standing in front of me, his face a mixture of shock and disgust, his nose scrunched and his mouth turned up in a grimace, whether at the vomit or the body I wasn’t really sure.

Either way, it was probably better if I apologized. “Sorry,” I muttered, feeling my cheeks burn.

“It’s fine, Your Majesty.” He swallowed, and I could see he was trying not to look down. “Can’t say I blame you.”

“Right.” I nodded weakly.

“Men,” John said loudly. The soldiers all turned to him instead of staring at me as I tried to keep from vomiting again. “Find the wounded and finish them.”

“What about me?” Mercedes asked, her voice high pitched and sounding strangely excited.

“Do you have arrows?” John asked.

“No.”

“She can have some of mine,” another voice, rough-sounding but still young, said.

“And mine!” a second voice chimed in, older and deeper this time.

“I’ll share with the Dryad Sapling,” a third young man said, his voice cracking on the
ing
. The others all laughed softly.

“Fine then,” John said. “Hunt well, Sapling. You’ve earned your share of our meat.”

“Ugh.” I wrinkled my nose as my stomach roiled, and I tried to keep from losing my dinner again.

“Your Majesty?” Kitsuna gently took my elbow, and I had to fight not to flinch even though it was my best friend touching me.

“I know.” I nodded. “The ceremony.”

“The ceremony,” she said quietly as I swallowed.

Dragons had elaborate rituals when it came to war, and one of their most sacred were the ceremonies surrounding a dragon warrior’s first battle and his first kill. Both dragons were honored—the one that had done the killing and the dragon who had given its life.

Every time we’d had to fight the Fate Maker, I had taken part in ceremonies just like this one, but that didn’t make it any better. Every time someone showed me a dead body, I still wanted to run away and hide, pretend this was all some sort of insane, never-ending nightmare.

“Okay.” I took a deep breath before turning back to where Dravak was standing, shifting from claw to claw with the head still in his teeth. “Go for it.”

Dravak dropped the head in front of me so that it was resting at my feet and lowered his head, wings outstretched. I lowered my head in return, my eyes closed so that I didn’t accidentally catch a sneak peek at the lump resting against my toes like some sort of zombie soccer ball, and bowed to him.

“Thank you for protecting me,” I said as I tried my best not to gag. “I will never forget the things you have done in my name.”

There was a roar, and Dravak and I both jerked upright, watching as the six dragons that had been left to guard the aerie flew back into sight and swooped low, circling as they looked for a clear space to land. The first, a large, gold dragon, dropped down behind Dravak and the others, two green dragons, a blue, a red, and a smaller black dragon all landed behind him, clumping together.

The gold dragon peered down over Dravak’s shoulder and snorted once, smoke curling out of his left nostril, before he nudged the younger dragon’s snout with his own and looked at me.

“He fought bravely to protect me.” My voice wavered, and I could see understanding flash in the gold dragon’s eyes as he lowered his head to me once and then lifted it again, nuzzling Dravak’s pointy left ear. The dragon’s wings spread out wide and then wrapped around Dravak and the head, tucking them out of my sight. The gold dragon turned and hopped over to where the other dragons had formed a circle, herding Dravak along with him.

“What are they doing?” I asked Kitsuna as she let go of my shoulders and grabbed my hand instead, tugging me back toward the aerie. I’d been presented with heads before, but usually the dragons just let me say my lines and then they took the head and disappeared. They’d always performed the rest of these ceremonies in private—in a place where only other dragons could see.

“Allowing our enemy his final rest,” she said, her voice low, as we both watched the clutch of dragons drawing closer together, their wings outspread so that none of us could see what was happening inside their tight knot.

The gold dragon lifted his head and roared once, the sound this time a high-pitched wail rather than a scream. The dragons flapped their wings, joining together to let out a howl that made my blood turn to ice. I couldn’t help but shiver.

“Are they…” I didn’t know what I was going to ask. Are they celebrating? Are they crying?

“They’re waking the Pleiades,” Kitsuna said. “Calling for them to open the gates so that a fallen warrior can enter the hunting grounds of the blue dragon clan. They’re calling for the nestmates of his clan to come and retrieve him, to embrace him as one of their own.”

“Why?” I asked. “He’s the enemy.”

“He
was
the enemy.” Rhys reached over and took my other free hand, wrapping it around his own shaking one. “Now he’s just a dragon that’s died far from his home and his nestmates. This is their way of showing his spirit mercy, even if he did try to kill one of their own.”

The gold dragon howled again and lowered his head, a long, steady stream of flame pouring from his open maw. The other dragons joined him, and we watched as brilliant flames leaped into the air between them.

The flames crackled, and the dragons roared again, shifting, moving in a counterclockwise circle around the bonfire and the body in its center, all of them still breathing great bursts of fire into the blaze.

I heard a high, plaintive call from above and looked up, watching as Balmeer flew above them, keeping up with the gold dragon beneath him and crying out at the same time as the dragons, taking part as if he were one of them. The bird cried out again and then circled once before swooping low to land on Rhys’s shoulder again.

The flames burned higher, and from far away I could hear the matching cry of other dragons, howling as they approached, gliding around the aerie and taking stock.

“One of the patrols,” I said quietly.

“Black dragons,” Rhys said, looking upward. “I don’t think its Winston’s patrol, though. He was part of a mixed group of dragons that went north.”

“I know. He’ll be back soon enough,” I said. I tried to sound calm, as though I wasn’t worried about him even though I was terrified. “We’ll need to call together the nobles now. There’s no way that we can even pretend to negotiate after this.”

“So much for stealth.” Rhys shook his head. “Looks like we’re going to just have to use brute force instead.”

I heard another loud howl and looked up as more dragons poured into the sky around us, racing for the aerie. There, among the rest of the teaming mass of dragons, was a familiar black one, and I watched as he swooped down, scanning the ground, and I lifted my hand to wave.

The dragon let out a loud snort, smoke curling from his nose, and then jerked upward, pulling away and heading toward the landing area so that he could shift from one form to another.

There was a roar behind us, and I watched as the flames of the blue dragon’s pyre crackled, climbing higher as the blaze grew hotter. The dragons around him beat at the flames with their wings.

“How long will they…?” I asked, letting my voice trail off.

“They’ll stay with him until dawn,” Kitsuna said quietly. “Once the sun rises, he’ll have reached his final rest.”

“Should we…stay?”

“No,” she said as she led me away from the pyre. “We’ll leave this to the dragons.”

“Okay, then let’s go,” I said. “We’ve got a war to plan, and after tonight, I don’t think we have a week to plan it. We’ve got to make our move now.”