Dragonseed_ A Novel Of Dragon Age Part 31

Burke's stomach gurgled at the thought of food. "Let me rest my eyes for a minute, then I'll help cook it."

Th.o.r.n.y said something in response, but the words sounded distant. Sleep yawned before him like an open pit. He slipped into its depths.

When he woke, there were voices outside the door. It was still dark outside; he could smell a campfire and charred meat, and something else, something he couldn't identify at first.

It smelled musty, slightly sour, almost like... a dragon? He sat up, his eyes wide as they probed the darkness. He bit his lower lip to keep from crying out in pain as he tried to move his left arm. The blisters had scabbed over as he slept; it was like his upper arm had been glued to his rib cage. His eyes watered as he peeled his arm free.

Burke was freezing. They'd escaped Dragon Forge with only the clothes on their backs, plus the few meager supplies they'd stolen from the cabin. His toes were full of tiny little knives of ice. His phantom leg shared the symptoms. He reached down and rubbed the toes of his remaining foot through his boot. Though he knew it was irrational, he moved his hand to where his nerves told him his other foot lay. On some instinctive level, he was disappointed when his fingers closed on empty air. On a more rational level, he was relieved that he still had at least some tenuous understanding of reality.

He scooted closer to the wall and carefully peeked through a crack to see what was happening. That tenuous understanding of reality took a sharp blow as he found himself staring at the side of an impossibly long, multi-limbed dragon covered with overlapping copper scales. The head of the beast reminded him of old prints he'd seen of eastern dragons-purely mythological creatures, unlike the flesh and blood dragons he was used to fighting. For a mythical beast, it looked solid enough. Its breath came out as great puffs of steam in the frosty night.

The beast turned its giant head toward the chicken coop. Burke jerked his eyes from the crack and pressed his back against the wall, his heart racing. He searched the blackness of the chicken coop for a weapon. The shotgun must be outside with Vance.

As the seconds ticked past, he began to a.s.semble a theory about the oversized lizard waiting at his door. Jandra had talked about a new kind of dragon, a long-wyrm, that fit the description. More importantly, she'd told him about the long-wyrm riders. These creatures weren't as smart as other dragons and were closer in intelligence and temperament to horses.

He could still hear Vance and Th.o.r.n.y talking. They didn't sound particularly nervous. From time to time a little girl's voice chimed in. And, there was an older male voice, gruff and gravelly. Bitterwood?

He steadied himself with a hand against the wall and rose. He didn't bother trying to find his crutch. He hopped into the doorway and studied the scene once more. Beyond the long-wyrm, there was the glow of a fire. This is where the voices were coming from.

The long-wyrm turned its head to him once more, but didn't show any signs of attacking. It seemed merely aware.

"Th.o.r.n.y?" Burke called out.

Th.o.r.n.y stood up on the other side of the long-wyrm. "Burke! Sorry. We didn't mean to wake you. We have visitors."

"I see," said Burke.

A second man rose up beside Th.o.r.n.y. He wore a heavy cloak, his face hidden in the shadows of the cowl. "You look like h.e.l.l, Kanati," the man said.

"It is you," said Burke. "Now I see why you didn't want a horse. I take it this beast is yours?"

"He belongs to Zeeky, actually."

The little girl's voice called out, "No he doesn't! Skitter's my friend, not my property!"

Burked hopped out of the chicken coop, keeping his hand on the wall for balance. Vance ran to his side to help him hop to the fire.

In addition to Bitterwood and Th.o.r.n.y a boy slept on a blanket by the fire, and a small, blonde girl he a.s.sumed was Zeeky sat next to him. There was also a pig, wearing a metallic visor and a sneer.

Vance helped lower Burke to the ground only a few feet from the fire. Burke welcomed the heat. He hadn't been truly warm since he crawled out of the river. Not so long ago, whenever he closed his eyes, he would see visions of new weapons he might design. Now, he kept imagining bath tubs continuously filled with hot water, regulated by a finely balanced system of pipes and gauges.

"This is Zeeky," said Bitterwood. "The pig is Poocher."

"I've never been introduced to a pig before," said Burke.

"Poocher's family," said Bitterwood. "Sleepyhead over there is Jeremiah. Keep your distance. He's got yellow-mouth."

"Oh," said Burke. He'd never had the disease. He wasn't certain in his weakened state he'd survive it. "How'd you find us?"

"Skitter smelled cooking possum," said Zeeky.

"Skitter?"

"The long-wyrm," said Bitterwood.

Zeeky said, "Normally, I would have had him ride past the campsite, but the villagers whispered that a friend of Bitterwood's was nearby, so I let him follow his nose."

"The villagers?" Burke asked. "From Burke's Tavern?"

"No. From Big Lick."

"They're ghosts," said Bitterwood.

Burke frowned.

"You don't believe in ghosts, do you?" Bitterwood said. "I remember back at Conyers-you didn't believe me when I told you I'd seen a devil get his head chopped off, stick it back on and kill the dragons that had decapitated him. You didn't believe in G.o.ds or ghosts, angels or devils. I've fought all these things and worse. There's more to this world than you understand, Burke."

The toes of Burke's phantom foot thawed as the fire penetrated into his phantom boot. He wasn't in the mood to reopen this old debate.

Zeeky opened it for him. "They ain't ghosts," she said. She held out a crystal ball. The firelight danced across its surface. "They never died. They just don't have bodies no more. The world inside this crystal ball isn't like our own. There's nothing solid there. Everything exists like a dream. The villagers can see into our world if they try, but, for the most part, they're learning to get by in their new world."

The hair on the back of Burke's neck rose. "Are you talking about unders.p.a.ce?"

"That's what the G.o.ddess called it," said Zeeky.

"That's Atlantean science," said Burke. He scratched the stump of his leg as he pondered this. His training was in metallurgy and engineering. Over in Tennessee, he'd had relatives charged with solving the mysteries of extra-dimensional s.p.a.ce, but Burke had always preferred to study things he could do something about.

"I met an Atlantean once," said Bitterwood. "She healed my hands after they'd been bit off by a dragon."

"Your hands were ... of course. Atlanteans were masters of technologies far beyond our imagination. Jandra said she used to have healing powers." He looked toward Vance. "Could that seed you ate have been from Atlantis?"

Vance shrugged, looking as if he didn't understand the question.

"Jandra's healing powers are the reason we're traveling this way," said Bitterwood. "Hex stole the source of her powers-"

"The genie," said Burke, feeling like his mind was full of jigsaw pieces that he could almost, but not quite, fit together.

"When I met Hex in Rorg's cavern, he told me he'd buried the genie in the one place humans would never look for it. The way I figure, the last place humans would go look for anything would be the Free City. So we're going there to hunt for the genie. I don't know how to use it, but it's something I have to try. It may be able to cure Jeremiah."

Two puzzle pieces clicked together in Burke's head. "Shanna said she'd come from the Free City. She had healing seeds. Her body had been repaired to the point that she no longer had tattoos. It suddenly makes sense. Someone has found the genie in the Free City and is using it to heal people. Jandra told me the genie wouldn't work for anyone but her, but it looks like she was wrong."

"There are humans at the Free City?" Bitterwood asked. "When I was there a few weeks ago, I saw earth-dragons around it. I figured refugees from Dragon Forge were using it."

Burke looked down at his missing leg. His armpit throbbed. He thought of Vance's restored vision and Bitterwood's regrown hands. Could he one day walk again?

Zeeky looked up from the crystal ball with a serene smile upon her lips. "We shall all be healed."

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX:.

RESPONSIBILITY TO MANKIND.

BURKE GRIPPED THE edge of the saddle so hard his knuckles turned white. The long-wyrm flew across the landscape at a breakneck speed. They avoided the main road, splashing along the twisting beds of a stream as they raced eastward toward the Free City. The creature veered up a steep river bank, running perpendicular to the water below. Given the speed with which they traveled and the ruggedness of the terrain, Burke couldn't believe he hadn't been thrown off the beast. His b.u.t.t stayed planted firmly on the smooth saddle, as if it were a powerful magnet and the seat of his pants were steel. edge of the saddle so hard his knuckles turned white. The long-wyrm flew across the landscape at a breakneck speed. They avoided the main road, splashing along the twisting beds of a stream as they raced eastward toward the Free City. The creature veered up a steep river bank, running perpendicular to the water below. Given the speed with which they traveled and the ruggedness of the terrain, Burke couldn't believe he hadn't been thrown off the beast. His b.u.t.t stayed planted firmly on the smooth saddle, as if it were a powerful magnet and the seat of his pants were steel.

As strange as the circ.u.mstance of his ride were, there were stranger things still on his mind. Bitterwood rode on the saddle before him carrying Jeremiah in his arms. The boy's face was corpse white, glistening with sweat. The boy somehow slept through the convolutions of the long-wyrm, his mouth hanging open. His gums were puss yellow. Bitterwood risked his life by carrying the boy. Yet, not only did he hold him, he cradled him. He stroked the boy's brow and whispered encouragements.

"This is a side of you I've never seen, Bant," said Burke. "I didn't know you had such fatherly instincts."

"I wasn't always the Ghost Who Kills. I had a family once, long ago. I would rather have lived my life as a father than as an avenger."

Burke shook his head as his own regrets welled up. "I've had the opportunity to live as both and I've failed at both. I have no idea where Anza is. You tell me she's gone off to try to recapture the shotgun Vulpine stole, but that could be anywhere, and it will be heavily guarded. It's a terrible risk to chase after it. She'll keep trying to retrieve it until she succeeds, or she's killed. Why didn't I tell her that her life means more to me than the gun does? What if I never learn of her fate?"

"Anza struck me as a woman who could take care of herself," said Bitterwood.

"Maybe. But then what? She'll return to Dragon Forge looking for me, and Ragnar's men will ambush her. Ragnar has a whole army to throw against her, all armed with the guns I designed. Anza's fast, but not faster than a shotgun blast. I can't believe how badly I've let things spin out of control."

Bitterwood narrowed his eyes. "This has always been your great flaw. You treat the world as if it's a giant machine, and if you can only find the right screws to tighten, you can make the whole thing hum."

"Someone's hand needs to be on the controls," said Burke.

"There are no controls," said Bitterwood. "There is no mainspring. Your pride blinds you to this simple truth."

"What have I done to p.i.s.s you off?"

"You started another revolution you couldn't finish," said Bitterwood.

"Technically, Ragnar started it," said Burke. "One might even argue that you started it by killing Albekizan."

Bitterwood turned his back on Burke.

Burke reached out with his crutch and poked him on the shoulder. "I'm not done talking."

"I am," said Bitterwood.

"I've listened to your criticism. You're going to listen to mine. I'm not angry that you killed Albekizan. Your guerilla warfare tactics of the last twenty years have been far more effective than I would have guessed. But I've never figured out what it was you were hoping to accomplish. Ridding the planet of one dragon at a time isn't going to save humanity."

Bitterwood looked back. His face was in shadows beneath is hood. "I care nothing for the fate of humanity. I only want to make certain that dragons suffer at least a fraction of the pain they've caused me."

"That's where we differ. All I've ever wanted was to give humans an equal footing-or better still, an upper hand-when dealing with the dragons. That's never going to happen while men choose to follow fanatics like Ragnar. Mysticism and charisma have a way of trumping logic."

"'Choose' is an interesting word," said Bitterwood. "Did you ever offer the men of Dragon Forge a choice? Did you ever say to them, 'I lead, or Ragnar leads, decide?'"

Burke shook his head. "Ragnar gathered the army. They were loyal to him. They cheered his firebrand speeches. What did I have to offer anyone other than gadgets and advice on sanitation?"

Vance, on the saddle behind Burke, spoke up. "I would have chosen you as the leader in a heartbeat. So would any of the sky-wall team."

Burke shook his head, rejecting Vance's words. "The members of the sky-wall team cheered Ragnar on during his little fire-sermon before the invasion. They lift up their hands in rapture whenever he preaches of war."

"That's because he's making a stand," said Vance. "We're all tired of living under the shadow of dragons. We'll cheer any man who fights them. Ragnar has been willing to get out in front of us. You haven't. You've worked behind the scenes, a plotter, a planner, but never a leader."

Burke grit his teeth as the long-wyrm splashed across a narrow ford in the stream. Vance was right. He was a planner at heart. He'd never thought of this as a character flaw. Nor had he thought that wanting to remain in control of events was a negative trait. This was why he liked machines. He could control all the variables. If one part of the machine failed, he could toss out that part and design a replacement. But the mob Ragnar had gathered... how could he control such a motley collection of variables? They were people with unknown abilities fighting and acting with unknown motivations.

With a shiver, he sat bolt upright in his saddle. This is why he'd raised Anza in such a mechanistic fashion. He'd programmed her to behave the way he thought a rational being should behave. She was his ultimate exercise in controlling all the variables in a human life.

He'd taught her that maintaining control by tracking down and recovering the stolen shotgun was more important than her own safety.

Even Bitterwood was a better father.

SHAY RODE THE wind high above Dragon Forge. Far below, the fortress was a small gray diamond set in a broad circle of red clay. He was so far up that he could hold out his hand and cover the whole town. It was midday, with a clear blue sky above him; the air was clean enough that he could see Talon Lake and the Nest thirty miles to the west. The distant waters gleamed like a mirror. wind high above Dragon Forge. Far below, the fortress was a small gray diamond set in a broad circle of red clay. He was so far up that he could hold out his hand and cover the whole town. It was midday, with a clear blue sky above him; the air was clean enough that he could see Talon Lake and the Nest thirty miles to the west. The distant waters gleamed like a mirror.

The blue sky filled him with despair. All three of the smokestacks in Dragon Forge were lifeless. The fires of the revolution had gone out.

Shay shivered and pulled his collar higher. The air up here was frightfully cold. He wasn't sure how high he was flying. He was certain it was over a mile, perhaps even two miles. The few guards moving along the walls of Dragon Forge were nothing more than specks. He doubted anyone below could see him. He suspected the wings would fly even higher, though his lungs kept him from testing the notion. Beyond this height, he grew lightheaded due to the thinness of the air.

Sky-dragons circled far below, patrolling in a rough circle around Dragon Forge. Shay could also see dragon troops encamped along the roads leading to the city. It looked like a blockade, a fairly obvious tactic for dealing with an entrenched enemy. Surprisingly, none of the sky-dragons appeared to have seen him. He was high enough that they were the size of flies. No doubt he was only a speck to them as well. Or perhaps dragons simply didn't bother with looking up. They had no predators in the sky; all their threats were on the ground.

Shay wasn't happy about the events that had caused him to be the world's only winged human. He'd rather have Jandra than the wings. But perhaps there was some good that would come from his sorrow. With his wings, he could fly higher, faster, and further than any dragon. He was still firmly committed to the cause of human liberty, despite Ragnar's rather chilly reception. Burke would definitely understand the tactical importance of humans having control of their own wings. He hoped Jandra was right about the technological origins of the wings; if they were nothing but machines, then perhaps Burke could reproduce them. If they were magic, then they would be beyond even the Machinist's understanding.

Getting down into the fort was no easy task, given that the sky-wall archers were likely to fill the sky with arrows the second he approached. The dragons might not be looking up, but the humans almost certainly were. Could he dive fast enough to avoid the arrows, and then pull from the dive quickly enough to survive the drop? If only there was some way of doing this ... invisibly.

He looked at Jandra's bracelet on his wrist. When she'd used it before, she'd simply struck it hard against the stone. She said a strong jolt would activate the tiny machines that could produce invisibility.

Shay pulled the angel's blade from beneath his coat. He'd learned that he could control the heat of the weapon with but a thought. Right now, the blade was merely warm. The broad side of the sword provided a flat, hard surface. He banged Jandra's bracelet against it and the light around him dimmed.

HEX'S NOSTRILS TWITCHED as he caught the distinctive smell of a long-wyrm. As quickly as he'd detected it, the odor vanished. He circled back, searching for the tendril of breeze that had carried the aroma. Long-wyrm scents were an intriguing mix-snake mixed with sulfur mixed with crushed beetles. Ten minutes of searching the air proved fruitless. Had it only been his imagination? He hadn't eaten anything in over a day-his tongue was sore and swollen. Even sipping water was painful. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him. as he caught the distinctive smell of a long-wyrm. As quickly as he'd detected it, the odor vanished. He circled back, searching for the tendril of breeze that had carried the aroma. Long-wyrm scents were an intriguing mix-snake mixed with sulfur mixed with crushed beetles. Ten minutes of searching the air proved fruitless. Had it only been his imagination? He hadn't eaten anything in over a day-his tongue was sore and swollen. Even sipping water was painful. Maybe his mind was playing tricks on him.

Fortunately, Hex was almost at his destination. Off in the distance was the Dragon Palace. His eyes were instantly drawn to the black jagged spire that had once been the Grand Library, now gutted by fire. His heart ached as he thought of all the history and wisdom within its walls, forever lost. Yet, perhaps it was for the best. The books within that tower told of a history of conquest and oppression. It was an age he was happy to see at its end. The era of kings was truly past.

As he studied the burnt tower, he noticed the wooden fortress a few miles beyond. This was the Free City-a clever death-trap designed by his uncle Blasphet and built using the wealth and armies of his father, Albekizan. When last he'd visited the structure, it had been abandoned. Now, it was bustling. Thousands of tents dotted the fields around the city. Within the walls, countless bodies swarmed over the dozens of large buildings under construction.

His mouth went dry. He'd chosen the Free City to hide the genie because he was certain no one would search there. He hadn't expected it to grow overnight into one of the largest human cities he'd ever seen. Or was it a human city? He strained to make sense of the moving figures. There were definitely earth-dragons side-by-side with the men. Here and there, the bright blue form of a sky-dragon flitted from one side of the city to the other.