The Flames of Dragons (24 page)

A hundred yards from Kataile, the pair reunited. Balear opened his mouth. “Hana, I—”

She held up a palm. “Don’t even try,” she said. She reached down, and her Enryokiri, her Stone Dragon Hammer, emerged from the ground. She clutched it in both hands. “I didn’t kill you back there because no one would have seen it. I want them all to know how hopeless their situation is. Now everyone in Kataile can watch their champion die.”

Her pulse hadn’t risen. Her breathing hadn’t tightened. It was an illusion.

Hana kept telling herself all that as she stared at the face of Balear Platarch. They were enemies, and that was all there was to it. She had her orders.

“Lead half of the army south to Kataile,” Lord Melwar had told her. “Attack the city.”

She had known Balear would be waiting for her. She couldn’t let him die from some random soldier’s arrow, spear, or burst of flame. She had to do this herself.

“I’m going to kill you, Balear,” she said through gritted teeth.

Balear looked at her with sad, world-weary eyes. They seemed out of place on so young a man. “If at all possible,” he said, “I would prefer not to fight you.”

He wasn’t angry. He didn’t shout or scream or cry. Hana wanted him to. She wanted him to rage at her, to swear vengeance upon her for murdering the men on the fields and the plateau.

But he didn’t. Stupid, stupid, beautiful man.

“Shogun Melwar’s orders cannot be defied,” she told him.

“Melwar . . .” Balear said. He paused a moment. “He’s the one you and Iren went to see last year. He’s your teacher.”

“My master,” Hana corrected. “He’s in Ceere with the rest of the army. Your nation, your people, will die. The Maantecs will be free at last.”

Why was she explaining this to him? She could call up two walls of stone, crush him, and be done with this nonsense in a second. He was nothing compared with Shogun Melwar, or Faro, or even that insufferable Forest Dragon Knight. He was a worthless, stinking, rotting human.

Balear loosed a long sigh. “The people of this country have a lot to answer for when it comes to Maantecs,” he said. “We’ve treated Lefts like demons. We’ve ostracized them, even murdered them. I’m as guilty of it as anyone else. I can understand why Maantecs would hate us. What I can’t understand, though, is why you would enslave yourself to a genocidal madman.”

“You don’t know Shogun Melwar,” Hana replied. “I can’t defy him. He’ll kill me.”

“So you know what he is,” Balear said. “You didn’t even try to argue with me. You aren’t loyal to him. It’s written all over your face. Join with me. We’ll find Iren, Rondel, and Minawë, and we’ll stop Melwar together.” He stretched out his hand to her.

She slapped it away. “Don’t you get it?” she yelled. “Lord Melwar could kill us all in a second. He’s become more powerful than any Dragon Knight. This is the only hope we have for survival!”

Balear’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of survival is that, to be the dog of a deranged master?”

“You’re a fine one to talk,” Hana scoffed. “You served Amroth.”

“And abandoned him. You can do it too.”

Hana stormed up and down the beach. “You just don’t get it, do you? Amroth was a low-class who up-jumped his status by getting his unworthy hands on the Karyozaki.” She jabbed a finger at Balear. “Did you know he didn’t even have a clan name? That’s why he adopted the human name ‘Angustion.’ Shogun Melwar’s different. He’s the highest of the high. I don’t want him to kill me.”

“You’re afraid of death,” Balear murmured.

“Shut up! What do you know?”

Balear met her eyes. She looked away.

“I know you wear that armor for more than fighting,” Balear said. “I know you hide from the world because it’s too painful for you to face. I know you’re stronger than you believe yourself to be. I know I love you, and I know you love me too.”

Her gaze flashed up to his. “You . . . I . . .”

There was no point in denying it. Her heart raced. Her breath came in spurts. She wanted nothing more than to run to him, wrap her arms around him, and kiss him in front of both armies.

No. She couldn’t. This had to stop.

And there was only one way to do it.

“I will kill you, Balear,” she said, “and then I will raze this city to the ground. That way I won’t die.”

Balear shook his head. “If what you fear most is death, than coming here was a mistake. You’ve trapped yourself into death. If you leave, Melwar will kill you. If you stay, I will kill you.”

Hana laughed. It sounded strained even to her. “You’ll kill me? You’re a human. You’re hopeless.”

She forced herself under control. “Fine, I’ll make you a deal.” She looked over her shoulder and shouted, “Commander Daichi!”

A man in heavy lamellar armor jogged forward. He bowed as he approached. “How may I serve, my lady?”

“Balear, this is the deal I make to you,” Hana said. “Let’s settle this battle in the ancient custom of the Maantecs, with a duel of champions.”

“Duel of champions?”

“Maantecs reproduce slowly. In ancient times, to keep from wiping ourselves out in wars, we didn’t fight open battles. Instead, we settled conflicts by each side electing a single champion to represent them. The pair would fight to the death, and the winner’s side won the war.”

“That’s what you propose for us, then,” Balear said.

Hana nodded. “If you win, this army will withdraw to Ceere and leave Kataile. But if I win, they’ll slay every man, woman, and child in the city.”

Daichi bolted upright. “My lady! What would Shogun Melwar think of this?”

“He gave me two commands,” Hana said. “Lead the army to Kataile, and attack it. I’ve done both. He gave this army no orders, only me. So, Commander, I give you this order. If this man defeats me, then take the army and return to Ceere. Leave Kataile intact.”

“But my lady!”

“If you cannot follow such a simple request, then I will order you to commit seppuku, and I will find a replacement who obeys his superiors!”

The commander bowed as low as he could in his bulky armor. “Of course, my lady. I will do as you say.”

“Besides,” Hana said, “my order makes no difference. Balear can’t defeat me, so you’ll never have to follow it. Now get out of my way.”

Daichi scrambled back to the rest of the army. Hana watched him go, then put her eyes on Balear. She raised her Stone Dragon Hammer. “Now, let’s begin.”

Balear freed his Sky Dragon Sword. “Yes, let’s.”

There was no more need for words. Balear struck.

The Auryozaki rang against Hana’s hardened skin armor. The female Maantec didn’t even flinch.

Balear swung a second time, this time an overhead blow. Again Hana’s armor stopped the attack.

The Lodian grimaced. His Auryozaki was immensely heavy to everyone but him. No one he had fought before could withstand a direct strike from it. Even a blocked attack sent the defender sprawling.

Yet Hana just stood there, immune.

She didn’t smile or gloat, despite her obvious advantage. When Balear looked at her, he could tell. She didn’t want this any more than he did.

Hana raised an arm. Balear braced for an attack that could come from anywhere.

A cracking sound behind him signaled that Hana had freed another section of rock from the plateau. Balear looked over his shoulder in time to see a boulder the size of his torso flying toward him.

It was an impressive sight, but the rock’s size made it slow. Balear jumped out of the way, and the boulder sailed past him harmlessly.

But instead of continuing straight, the rock careened in an arc. It was coming back.

Dodging it wouldn’t do Balear any good. He faced the stone. As it approached, he swung the Auryozaki down and split the rock in two. Both sections smashed into the beach.

“I won’t die that easily,” Balear said.

Hana looked at him, then at the boulder’s halves, then back at Balear. She raised her arm again. This time, rather than a rock, a curtain of sand lifted into the air.

“It’s as heavy as that boulder,” she said, “but just try knocking it out of the way.”

Balear scowled. Hana was right. Swinging the Auryozaki wouldn’t do anything against sand. The sand would curl around it like water and hit him anyway.

There was only one way he could stop it. He’d promised not to, though. He’d sworn an oath.

For a moment he was back in Veliaf, floating above the frozen town. Wind whipped in a sphere at its center. The ball’s pressure released, and tiny, glittering shards that had once been homes rained from the sky.

It had been his fault. He’d sworn he would never let it happen again.

The sand charged toward him. Balear swung at it on instinct, but the attack was useless. The sand flowed around his sword and struck him in the chest. He landed on his back on the beach.

Balear stumbled to his feet. When he did, gray rings formed around his vision. That blow had almost knocked him out. He couldn’t take another hit like that.

Hana was already raising a second sand curtain. Balear had no choice. He’d known it from the moment he’d stepped beyond the city. Yes, he’d made an oath not to use magic. But he’d made a second oath, one even more important.

He’d sworn to protect Lodia.

The sand rushed for him. But this time, when Balear swung, he let magic into the blow. Wind danced around the sword’s edges, and it scattered the sand in all directions.

Hana stepped back in surprise, and that gave Balear an opening. He charged and thrust. Unlike his previous attacks, wind magic gave this one added speed and strength. Hana’s armor wouldn’t stop it.

Hana must have realized that too, because at the last second, she raised a wall of sand to protect herself. The Auryozaki’s wind pressure blew aside the defense, but the effort cost it momentum. The sword knocked Hana off her feet, but it didn’t pierce her armor.

The Stone Dragon Knight rose, unharmed. Balear looked at her with pity. “I saw what you did to that Fubuki in Akaku Forest last year,” he said. “You could have killed me a dozen times over by now. Your heart isn’t in this fight.”

“I’ll show you what my heart’s in,” Hana spat. She raised a hand. The sand around Balear’s ankles rose up and trapped him. It covered his legs, chest, and arm until only his head remained exposed.

Balear couldn’t help but appreciate the irony of the situation. The Ice Dragon Knight had defeated him in Veliaf last year using a similar trap.

Hana approached Balear’s helpless form. “So,” she said, “how would you like me to kill you? I could compress the sand against your chest and cave it in. I could sink you a half mile underground like I did to the Water Dragon Knight. Or maybe you’d prefer burial at sea like your father. I could send you out over the ocean and let you drown.”

Balear wasn’t listening. Hana’s words were for herself, not for him. Besides, he needed to concentrate. It was time.

He pulled in air from outside the sand surrounding him. The trap looked solid, but there was a lot of space between each sand grain. Air rushed in and forced them apart. Balear shouted in defiance as a small tornado whipped around him. It scattered the sand and sent Hana launching fifty feet up the beach. Balear landed on his feet, free.

Not for long though. He knew from Veliaf that tornado spells demanded a lot of magic.

A presence brushed against his mind, one he knew all too well. “Hello, Ariok,” he said.

“Balear,” the dragon sneered the name, “what happened to your oath? What happened to your honor?”

“Shut up,” Balear snarled. “I have more important issues here.”

“I would say so. How are you going to kill her when you’ve used up all your magic?”

Balear knew the answer, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

“I know a way,” Ariok said. He pushed against Balear’s mind.

“No!” Balear shouted. “Stay out of my head!”

But the transformation had already begun. Balear’s legs bulged. They grew blue and scaly.

Hana had recovered and come back to Balear. Now she stepped away in fear. “Balear,” she gasped, “you’re becoming a dragon!”

“You . . . didn’t know,” Balear managed. “That Fubuki returned to Veliaf. I fought him, but I couldn’t win. I transformed into Ariok, and he slew the beast. Afterward, though, he destroyed the town.”

Hana’s arms fell to her sides. “No . . .”

“How many more times?” Balear asked. He was growing taller as his body elongated into a serpentine shape. “How many more times will you make us murderers? You gave the Fubuki the Ice Dragon Hammer. He told me so.”

“It was Shogun Melwar’s order. Balear, I—”

“Enough!” Balear’s mouth filled with needle-sharp teeth. “I obliterated a town. Wasn’t that enough? Now you’ll make me wipe out a city?”

“You have no choice,” Ariok said inside his mind. “You know this is the only way to kill her. You’ve known that ever since you stepped out here. And don’t worry. Once I finish with her, I’ll slaughter the Maantec army for you too. So what if Kataile shatters in the process? If Hana defeats you, the Maantecs will destroy it. At least this way your enemies die too.”

“I won’t let you,” Balear replied. “I swore to protect Lodia. How is it protecting them if I kill them in the process?”

“Sometimes we must sacrifice a city to save a nation. It is the only way.”

“Not . . . this time,” Balear struggled to say. “There is another way. I’m taking your power, Ariok. I won’t become a dragon. I’ll become a Dragoon.”

Ariok laughed. He threw his will at Balear. “You’ll what? You’re a weakling!”

Balear met the dragon’s mind head-on. “You heard Hana. I’m Lodia’s champion. I swore to protect its people. I would fight any battle, any foe, to keep them safe. Even you!”

Ariok cowered against the force of Balear’s will. In his mind’s eye, Balear saw the dragon give in. The mighty creature, a god, bowed to him.

Balear’s body shrank. The needle-teeth retracted, and the serpentine shape collapsed. His legs regained their human form.

Then blue scales formed around them. They rose up and coated his body in gleaming armor. Balear cried out, and a pair of white, bat-like wings twenty feet long erupted from his back. Wind spiraled around him. It floated him six inches off the ground. The sand shot from beneath him in a tempest.

Hana shielded her eyes. “Impossible!”

Balear looked down at her. Ariok touched his mind, but the dragon was no longer a threat. “Do you mind if I speak to her?” Ariok asked. His tone was one of subdued respect.

“Very well,” Balear replied.

“Stone Dragon Knight,” Ariok said through Balear’s mouth. “You believe Maantecs are superior because of your magic, but I have seen the truth. Humans are stronger than all of you. What they lack in magic, they make up for in willpower. That’s why ever since my first human Dragon Knight, I have only accepted those with human blood. I knew that someday, one of them would have a will that could challenge me, that could best me, that could do what no Maantec could: become the Dragoon.”

Hana raised a wall of sand forty feet high. It encircled Balear and then, all at once, slammed toward him.

Balear didn’t move. As the sand approached, bursts of wind shot from every direction and blasted it away.

Hana next reached out over the ocean. A dozen massive boulders erupted from the water. They launched at Balear, but the wind flashed out again and halted them in midair. Hana struggled, but she couldn’t make them move. They dropped to the ground.

“The air is my weapon,” Balear said. “Anything you use must travel through it to reach me. Now that I’m a Dragoon, you can’t even touch me.”

The Stone Dragon Knight’s fists clenched around her hammer. Balear’s eyes narrowed. That hammer was the key. That was how he would save everyone, including Hana.

He pointed the Auryozaki at her. Wind lashed about Hana, and then her left arm snapped back. Much as Ariok had done against the Fubuki, Balear had created an airless void that gripped Hana’s limb in place. He summoned three more, one around her right wrist and two around her ankles. They lifted her off the ground. As they did, a fifth void wrenched the Stone Dragon Hammer from her hand.

“What are you going to do?” Hana asked. Her eyes were wild. She knew she was at his mercy. He could split her into shreds of flesh on a whim.

Balear didn’t bother responding. Instead, he concentrated on the void holding the Stone Dragon Hammer. He poured magic into it, letting the void grow in size and strength.

Iren Saitosan had needed an explosion a mile across to destroy the Karyozaki. He had barely managed it even as a Dragoon. Balear didn’t know if his plan could work, but he had to try it.

The wind pressure intensified. A great renting sound filled the beach. It screamed and tore at Balear’s hearing, but he pressed on.

At last the Enryokiri, the Stone Dragon Hammer, shattered into a thousand splinters.

The remnants of Hana’s weapon plopped onto the sand, all but one. A gleaming yellow gem still floated in midair.

“The Rock Topaz,” Ariok explained. “The gems that imprison us can’t be destroyed.”

“I know,” Balear said. “I remember what happened to Feng’s Burning Ruby. As long as these gems are in the hands of people—of whatever race—there will always be a chance that they could be turned into Ryokaiten again. That’s why there’s only one option for what to do with that stone.”

Balear flicked his wrist, and a wind current flung the Rock Topaz out to sea. It disappeared over the horizon.

“Even I don’t know where it landed,” Balear told Hana as he released the wind currents holding her and returned her to the beach. “Wherever it did, it will sink to the bottom. The Rock Topaz is beyond anyone’s reach now.”

Hana knelt in the sand. She looked like she wanted to cry and scream and hit him all at the same time. Her mouth moved in an attempt to form words, but she said nothing.

“You did well, Balear,” Ariok said.

“I never expected to hear praise from you,” Balear replied. “You told me you hated people for imprisoning you. I thought you wanted to destroy us all.”

Ariok chuckled inside Balear’s mind. “I did say that, didn’t I? But I also said that some dragons have more honor than others.”

“Yes, and then you lied to me. You said you wouldn’t rage like Feng, and then you blew up Veliaf.”

“How was that a lie? I didn’t rage like Feng. He almost exterminated the Kodamas. How many humans did I kill that day?”

Balear frowned. “Well, none, but—”

“Exactly. The point of destroying Veliaf wasn’t to rage. It was to push you. I knew you had the potential to become the Dragoon. I wanted to see if you were capable.”

“You’re saying you did it to help me?”

“To motivate you. You kept on saying you wanted to protect Lodia. I wanted to show you the consequence of failure. After seeing that, I knew you would succeed the next time.”

Balear shook his head. “You’re a crazy bastard, you know that?”

“I suppose, but if I am, then so are you. After all, you used the same approach on that fountain in Kataile to motivate your soldiers. Do you see? Dragons choose their knights based on people who reflect their personalities and the traits they value most.”

“Hana told me last year that you test knights on their bravery.”

“Bravery, honor, and willpower. You passed all three.”

Inside his mind, Balear offered a hand to the dragon. “Ariok, I’m glad I got to meet you.”