two
Elyssa skulked along a deserted street, following Wallace, the one-eyed boy who had promised to be her guide in the dragon village. Cloud-obscured moonlight spilled over the landscape, and an occasional lantern illuminated the small, one-story structures. Towering over them, enormous cathedral-like edifices—spires, domes, and a belfry—cast an array of long shadows.
Wallace used his borrowed sword to point at one of the larger buildings. “That’s the Zodiac.” With a dozen spires encircling a domed roof and marble columns supporting a portico in front of massive double doors, the Zodiac emanated white radiance, as if energized by a land-bound moon harnessed within. The spires shone with a silvery paint that glowed in spite of the lack of outside light.
Keeping his back bent, Wallace scurried toward the closest column. Elyssa shadowed him step for step. When they reached the column, they stooped behind it, out of sight of any human or dragon who might pass by on the cobblestone street.
“What’s the Zodiac?” Elyssa asked.
Wallace looked at her, his single eye blinking as he brushed an insect from his chest, visible through his open shirt. Although he was probably only twelve or thirteen years old, slave labor had sculpted the muscles of an older teen. “It’s where the priests study the stars and get prophecies. One of the priests is Arxad, a dragon who might be willing to help us find Jason and Koren.”
“Might be willing?” Elyssa sighed. “If we have a choice that doesn’t include trusting a dragon, I’d like to hear it.”
“No other choice comes to mind.” Wallace nodded toward the empty street. “It’s strange. Normally the night-duty slaves go from place to place in preparation for morning, to get meals ready for their masters or to collect supplies for daytime laborers. Between this and what we saw at the cattle camp, it looks like something terrible has happened. Everyone must be in lockdown.”
Elyssa gave Wallace a questioning glance.
“A lockdown,” he said, “means that all slaves are supposed to stay in their homes. If any are caught outside, they are killed. The dragons do it when they’re searching for an escaped slave.”
“I see.”
“So we’ll have to watch for Wardens,” Wallace added.
“Wardens?”
He set his hand about a foot from the ground. “They’re like round little dogs, and they spit out a strange light like a dragon shoots flames. It feels like a million needle pricks, and it will knock you flat. Wardens can even hurt dragons, so they don’t use them very often. Maybe they didn’t have time to get them out of the kennels.”
“If I see one, I’ll stay as far away from it as I can.” Elyssa laid a hand on the cool, smooth column and leaned toward the street. A shop of some kind lay to the right, dark and void of activity. Far to the left, a cactus-adorned patio separated them from a much larger building, one with a fence of black iron bars guarding its massive inner courtyard. Something large moved within the dark railing, perhaps a dragon.
Earlier in the evening, when she and Wallace journeyed to the cattle camp, she had expected to see such a guard within the camp’s stone walls, but nothing stirred inside. All lay still, as if death itself had stalked the grounds. In fact, from their vantage point atop the wall, it seemed that a dead dragon lay on the ground near a stream. A shudder rippled through her body. Something wicked had left its mark.
Before their visit to the camp, she and Wallace had sent a group of slaves home to Major Four, accompanied by Randall and Tibalt. To that point, everything seemed to be progressing well. Now with the specter of death hanging over the world of dragons, her spirits sagged.
She reached into the pocket of the trousers she had borrowed from the lumber camp house at the beginning of her journey and felt the crystal, a two-finger-length peg she had found in the mining pit, the key that opened the portal leading home. Its smooth surface eased her anxiety. As long as it stayed in her possession, she always had a way to escape this horrible place.
“What’s that building over there?” Elyssa asked, pointing. “The one with the black bars. I see something lurking.”
“The Basilica. That’s where the Separators decide where the slaves go, and it’s guarded by a dragon. Humans aren’t allowed in there unless they’re being separated, and only then if they’re drugged.”
“Drugged? Why?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t remember ever going there. Maybe I did, and the drug kept me from remembering. Or maybe my Assignment didn’t need approval.” Wallace shrugged. “I guess I’ll never know.”
Elyssa turned to the Zodiac and stared at its closed doors. With an arched top as high as the tallest dragons and a breadth as wide as five human body lengths, if someone opened the wooden doors, a dragon could easily fly in or out. Light from within seeped through the crack at the bottom, an alluring glow that promised answers to her many questions.
She focused on the crack and used her Diviner’s powers to probe beyond the doors for any sign of life, dragon or human. The space within felt empty, void of movement, yet energy radiated from something inside.
Rising, she signaled for Wallace to stand. “Lead the way.”
“Lead the way to what?”
“Sorry. You’re not used to me yet.” She gestured with her hands as she explained. “I often skip steps without telling why, so it’s hard to keep up with me. You didn’t offer any other choices, so finding Arxad is the only one we have. If he is in the habit of consulting the stars, then it stands to reason that if some kind of crisis is happening, he might be inside right now, trying to get a reading before dawn. But the early hour means no other dragon is likely to be there. Get it?”
Wallace gave her a firm nod. “I get it. It’s now or never.”
“Right. And since you have the sword, you’re supposed to lead the way.” She tiptoed to the door and laid a hand on the rough wooden panel. “I’ll push it open, and you go inside.”
He readied the sword. “Let’s do it.”
Elyssa pushed, but the door didn’t budge. Bending her knees, she leaned her shoulder against the massive slab of wood and shoved with all her might. The door swung open slowly, letting out a creaking sound as it scuffed against the floor.
She halted the door’s swing and waited for any reaction on the other side. As light poured through the narrow gap, Wallace peered in. Leading with his sword, he walked through, whispering, “I think it’s safe.”
Elyssa eased away from the door. It stayed in place. “Perfect,” she whispered to herself. “A way out.”
She tiptoed behind Wallace through a huge hallway, trying to keep her shoes from squeaking on the marble tiles. A line of lanterns, mounted on protruding iron rods along each wall, sat dark in their frames. At the far end of the corridor, maybe a hundred paces away, another set of double doors blocked escape in that direction.
On the left wall, a mural displayed a life-sized dragon aiming a jet of flames at a radiant sphere. In the midst of a background of star-studded darkness, the dragon flew toward the sphere, fury evident in his ruby eyes, scaly reddish brow, and toothy, wide-open maw. A woman cowered behind the sphere, apparently hiding from the dragon. Long auburn hair dressed her delicate head and draped her petite frame.
Elyssa stepped toward the wall to get a better look. The sphere’s glow washed over the woman, as if offering a veil of protection, but how could an aura of light provide a barrier to that torrent of flames?
Rubbing her fingers together, Elyssa felt the air. Particles of radiance streamed from the wall, as if the painting itself emitted light. But how could that be?
On the opposite wall, a redheaded girl stood within a semitransparent spherical aura that acted as another source of light in the corridor. Wearing a long white dress and a dark blue cloak, she looked upward, her mouth open as if in prayer or song. Her green eyes glowed, giving her the appearance of a prophetess or …
“Or a Diviner,” Elyssa whispered.
Behind the girl, a woman dressed in black approac
hed, clutching a dagger in her bony fingers. With a gaunt pale face, black eyes, and thin gray lips, the attacker looked like a corpse come to life.
Elyssa called with a loud whisper. “Wallace, do you recognize anyone in these paintings?”
He stood in front of the redhead. “This girl looks a little like Koren.” Narrowing his eye, Wallace took a step closer. “It’s strange, though. Magnar called Koren a Starlighter, and that reminded me of a story one of the elders, a man named Lattimer, told me. A Starlighter is someone who can make stories come to life, and Lattimer said to be on the watch for a redheaded girl who could do that.”
“I only got a glimpse of Koren before the dragon took her away.” Elyssa stared at the girl’s soul-piercing countenance, so passionate, so riveting, as though her green eyes could actually see those who admired the painting. “Do you think Koren is really a Starlighter?”
“I wasn’t sure back then, so I didn’t mention her to Lattimer, but when she and I were in the cattle camp together, she helped me get food. Since I’m missing an eye and I was so small, I couldn’t compete for the bread the dragons dropped from the sky. Koren and I sometimes sneaked out together, and she helped me beg in the village streets. Her ability to tell stories made people feel sorry for us, so we stayed pretty well fed, and that helped me grow strong enough to get transferred to another Assignment. It was a lot easier for Koren. Since she has red hair and green eyes, the dragons think she’s a good-luck charm, so she was picked up by the Traders, and Arxad bought her.”
Elyssa reached up and touched the glowing aura. Somehow an attachment took hold between herself and this mysterious girl, this Starlighter. Maybe their gifts were related. Bringing stories to life seemed similar to reading invisible realities in the air.
“Shouldn’t we get going?” Wallace asked.
“Sure.” Elyssa followed Wallace to the end of the corridor. She pressed her ear against a sliver of a gap between the doors, closed her eyes, and allowed her mind to sweep through. Inside lay a circular chamber with a high ceiling. The upper boundary clarified in her thoughts, a curved shape with a small hole at the center. An observatory? Probably. Arxad might be studying the stars at this very moment.
Letting her mind probe sink to the floor, she surveyed the open expanse. Something stood at the center, dark and indistinct. Elyssa squeezed her eyelids tightly shut and concentrated. The object appeared to be a short column with a sphere mounted on top. Could that be the observation device? A sky scope?
Before she could delve into the sphere further, the air around the short column quivered, as with an exhale. Something odd lay nearby, a large living mass that breathed slow, shallow breaths. It was too large to be a single human. Maybe a group of slaves or …
She pushed her thoughts toward the center of life energy, a singular source rather than many. It seemed morose, despondent, defeated, as if imprisoned and waiting to die. Its size and intelligence could mean only one thing—a dragon.
Opening her eyes, Elyssa stepped back and looked at Wallace. “I’m going first this time. There’s a dragon inside, and I think my gifts will be better than a sword.”
“I don’t think any dragon is going to be impressed with your gifts,” Wallace said. “Unless the gifts make him laugh so you have time to run away.”
“This dragon isn’t in any mood to fight. Trust me.”
“If you say so.” Wallace leaned against the door and pushed. This one swung much more easily.
Elyssa padded toward the central object, a crystalline sphere atop a column-like pedestal, also made of crystal. The sphere pulsed with a dim white glow, like frost reflecting moonlight, plenty of illumination on this obstruction-free tile floor.
Indeed, a dragon lay close to the pedestal. With his neck curled and his head tucked under a wing, he appeared to be asleep.
Signaling for Wallace to follow, she closed in. A heavy chain and an iron manacle bound the dragon’s back leg to the pedestal. Long scratches covered his wings, and a gouge divided two scales on his neck. He appeared to have been scourged and then shackled, a prisoner left here alone, but for what purpose?
As she drew even closer, she penetrated the sphere’s glow. A buzzing sensation burned her skin. She raised a hand, signaling for Wallace to stop, and stepped back. She rubbed her forearm. The light from the orb carried a sting.
Pulling Wallace close, she whispered, “Do you recognize the dragon? He looks like he’s been flogged.”
“I can’t see his face, but I’m pretty sure it’s Arxad, the high priest. I have no idea what happened to him.”
“Hide the sword,” she said. “I’m going to talk to him.”
After Wallace laid the sword on the ground behind him, Elyssa walked within a few paces of the dragon, cringing as the stinging sensation returned. “Arxad,” she called. “Can you hear me?”
A low rumbling voice rose from the body, muffled by the wing. “I have heard you ever since you intruded into my domain. The Zodiac is off limits to slaves who have not been invited, especially during lockdown.”
“You appear to be a prisoner,” Elyssa said, “yet the chains seem inadequate for a dragon of your size. Does the orb weaken you?”
“I find it irritating that an intruder would ignore my warning and go on to conduct an interrogation.” He withdrew his head from under his wing and glared at Elyssa with throbbing scarlet eyes. “To answer your question, I am physically strong enough to escape, but I have vowed to my captors that I would neither break my bonds nor lie to the Reflections Crystal to darken its light.”
Elyssa studied the prisoner. Since the dragon slave masters were likely his captors, perhaps it would be safe to reveal her purpose. How else could she get the information she needed? And if this Reflections Crystal, as he called it, darkened with the telling of a lie, the situation could work to her advantage. Still, she should test it first.
She cleared her throat and spoke directly to the orb. “My name is Jason Masters.”
The crystal darkened to gray, then to black. With the stinging light now gone, she marched up to Arxad and knelt beside him. She laid her hand on the manacle and rubbed her palm across the surface. Arxad emanated concern, perhaps fear. Her gifts weren’t quite enough to know if he could be trusted completely. “Does the crystal detect any lie?”
“Do you want me to answer and risk the return of the light? I am willing to suffer further, but I doubt that you are.” He moved his head in front of her and gazed into her eyes. As he stared, his pupils faded from deep scarlet to grayish red. “You are not an ordinary slave, are you?”
“I am not a slave at all. My name is Elyssa, and I came here with Jason Masters to rescue the slaves and take them home to Major Four.”
The sphere brightened and cast its stinging glow across her body. As she cringed, she grunted, “But I hate Jason. I hate him with all my heart.”
The sphere instantly turned black again.
Elyssa waved for Wallace to join them. “Come over here and tell lies to this oversensitive ball while I talk to Arxad.”
Wallace picked up his sword and ran to the crystal. “I don’t have a sword,” he said, smiling at the orb. “And I have two eyes. It’s just that one is embedded in the back of my head.”
While the sphere stayed dark, Elyssa focused on Arxad. “I hope we don’t confuse your lie detector.”
“You need not worry. It is not fragile.” Arxad glanced between Wallace and Elyssa. “Why have you approached me? Surely you know that I could kill you both with a blast of fire.”
“I didn’t know,” Wallace said. “I have never seen a dragon before in my life.”
Elyssa smiled at Wallace’s antics. “We have a saying in my world. ‘An enemy’s prisoner is an ally indeed.’ I assumed you would be our friend.”
“You assume too much.” Letting out a sigh, Arxad lowered his head to the floor. “Yet, if you really consider me a friend, then have the young man plunge the sword into my belly. It would be better for all if this d
uplicitous dragon were to die.”
Wallace gulped. “Uh … I really want to do that, Elyssa. I have killed dozens of dragons. It won’t be a problem to kill another.”
“Duplicitous?” Elyssa said. “Have you betrayed someone?”
“My own species. I have deceived my king and aided humans in their quest to escape slavery. Although I pity their bondage, if they depart before we can set up an alternative survival apparatus, then I will have contributed to the doom of my race.”
“I see.” Elyssa glanced at the hole in the domed ceiling, a large enough gap for a dragon. “You vowed not to break your chains, but if you would help me locate the key, I could unlock them. Your vow would be intact, and we could fly away.”
“You lack understanding. I do not wish to escape. I wish to suffer the punishment and humiliation I deserve. Not only that, I am not one to parse words in order to escape my vow. I believe in the spirit of truth, so I will not be a slave to literal renderings.”
As the orb brightened, Elyssa shot Wallace a glare.
“Oh, right.” Wallace raised a finger. “I understood every word Arxad said.”
When darkness veiled Arxad again, this time the gap between them seemed denser, as if a curtain of gloom had fallen. Still, his red eyes pierced the dimness, though they pulsed more weakly.
Elyssa rubbed her fingers together, feeling the air — saturated with melancholy and hopelessness. “Can you at least tell us where Jason went? I don’t think I can rescue the slaves alone.”
“You are alone,” Wallace said. “I’m going to desert you the first chance I get.”
Arxad offered a weak smile, revealing two sharp teeth. “I sent Jason and the Starlighter to the Northlands. They will be safe there, and they will find the dragon king of the North as well as a friend they do not expect. If the king decides to send them here to destroy every dragon in this domain, I am content. He is the Creator’s greatest prophet, so his word is both law and spirit.”
Elyssa nodded. “Then Wallace and I should go to this Northlands place immediately.”