Yes.
A pistol fired, the bullet clanging off the wall two feet above Tolemek’s head. He flinched, almost knocking over his fresh brew. He had donned the mask, but it wouldn’t protect him from acid burning through his skin.
“…the pirate still over there?” someone whispered.
“The curtains moved. I think he might have gone down the storage hall.”
Yeah, keep thinking that. Tolemek found the sturdiest gloves he could, then grabbed the jar he had heated, its contents steaming and sloshing inside. He slid a lid atop it, carried it around a tall bookshelf, then risked standing to his full height. He threw the jar, hoping most of it would spatter on the men instead of flying free before it reached them.
In return, someone fired again. Tolemek dropped to his belly on the floor and crawled back to his corner.
A scream of pain came from the other side of the room. The nitric acid had spattered at least one of them. A second cry of pain joined the first, and he allowed himself a feeling of grim satisfaction. Whatever sympathy he might have had for soldiers stationed out in this backwater, he had none of it for anyone keeping Tylie in a hole in the ground. A hole adorned with sarcophagi. Bastards.
Furniture scraped and fell over. Something clattered to the ground—someone’s pistol? The cries of pain continued. “Get it off,” a man bellowed.
Others shoved through the lab, knocking over equipment and cabinets. One charged out the door. From his position, Tolemek could have shot the man in the back, but he decided the soldier had enough trouble. He wasn’t the only one. The others sprinted after him, crying for water and ice.
Though Tolemek also wanted to sprint, he forced himself to take it slow, keeping his pistol up and staying behind cover as he approached the corner with the grate. The dragon was still moving on the other side of the shattered glass—the wall continued to stand, but cracks streaked in every direction, and shards littered the floor. As he kept an eye on the giant creature, Tolemek stepped lightly to keep from crunching them under his feet. He couldn’t yet be certain all of the guards had fled the lab. At least the dragon had stopped hammering at the wall. Only his head and neck were moving now. It was hard to tell from down here, but he seemed to be lifting it to peer into the holes in the wall up there, perhaps into the very passage Tolemek had been in earlier. Did that mean the dragon could thrust its head through that barrier? Or had he turned it off somehow? Tolemek had assumed he was a prisoner, but if the dragon could access the control panel, what kept him here?
The thousands of pounds of rock that the humans built over his head while he slept, Tylie thought.
Can’t he break through it?
He is very weak. This is the first time I’ve seen him stand since they brought me here.
The corner of the grate came into view. As did holes in the metal and stone where the acid had eaten through it. Tolemek was glad he had kept his gloves. At the moment, they were stuffed in his belt, but he would put them back on before—
A man in a helmet leaped around a cabinet, a pistol in his hand. Tolemek ducked at the same instant as it went off. It was so close that it ripped off some of his hair, but it didn’t strike him, and he lunged, barreling into the man. In the fall, he lost his pistol, but he was too busy punching his foe in the gut to care. The grate lay under the man, the grate they had thrust Tylie through and then locked for the gods knew how many weeks. He pounded his rage into his opponent, slamming the man’s head against the iron bars. A hand groped for his face, but he squinted his eyes shut and kept hammering his enemy into the floor. Finally, the man stopped moving.
Tolemek rolled him off the grate, found his pistol, and kicked the extra one across the room. It disappeared under a cabinet. As Tolemek shifted to look for the grate opening, he spotted a dark chunk of hair on the floor. He blinked, realizing exactly how close he had come to being shot in the head.
I never cared for that hairstyle, anyway.
Funny, Tylie. Want to explain to me why you’re so… cogent when the dragon is awake?
By cogent, you mean not crazy?
Uhm. Tolemek didn’t know what to say—or think. Never before had Tylie seemed to think there was anything strange about her speech or mannerisms, not since she had first started acting strangely. In a moment, he would crush her with a hug, but he had to get through the lock on the grate first. The shank had been corroded by acid spattering on it. Tolemek doubted the iron would have dissolved all the way through, but he grabbed it and pulled, nonetheless, hoping it might snap. It didn’t.
“Give me a moment,” he said and reached for his corrosive goo again. It could burn through metal far more efficiently than simpler acids. While he tugged it out and brushed some on the lock, he kept his pistol close, guessing the soldiers would return, likely with reinforcements.
As for Phelistoth, it’s hard to explain, Tylie thought. I’m not sure I understand it completely. He’s been awake so little, and we’ve had so few actual conversations. But we’re connected.
Tolemek returned his vial to his pocket. While he listened to Tylie and waited for the substance to eat through the metal, he tried not to think about how concerning it was that his little sister might be “connected” to a dragon.
His subconscious mind has been reaching out to me from his living tomb here, seeking help. He knew that even with the stasis chamber, his body could not last much longer. This was not the logical, rational part of his mind, only the part that knew he must survive. It sent telepathic calls out into the world, hoping someone could respond to him, hoping that a cure for his illness might have been discovered in the countless generations that have passed since his kin locked him away in here.
As in quarantined him? Is his illness what’s affecting people out here now?
Yes. It’s not his fault. He was only trying to survive. I didn’t understand any of this then, just that his presence was there in my mind, and it was so strong that I couldn’t think straight. All I knew was this overwhelming desire to come to this place, to help him somehow. When the military came for me, I was happy at first, because they asked me all about him and wanted to bring me here, but I was scared too. I saw in their thoughts that they wanted to use him. I knew he was sick, and I was afraid he wouldn’t survive. I was… afraid of what they would do to me too.
So if the dragon was affecting your consciousness, your ability to think, he was the reason Father thought you were crazy all those years? The lock fell open. Tolemek shifted his position so he could tug open the grate.
You thought I was crazy, too, I seem to recall, she thought dryly.
I just knew you needed help. And that I didn’t know how to give it.
I know.
Tolemek peered into the gloom. Her captors hadn’t even thought to provide her with a light? He was about to lower himself down, when a shadow came in from over his shoulder.
He grabbed for the pistol even as he realized it couldn’t be a guard, not from that direction. He looked toward the shattered wall, to where a huge silver head faced him through the glass, two large reptilian eyes burning into his soul with such intensity that he almost couldn’t breathe.
For a sick-and-dying dragon, he still looks deadly, Tolemek thought. He also looked like he was thinking of breaking through the rest of the glass with his snout.
This is the liveliest I’ve seen him. He’s incensed about the Iskandian intruders. He thinks they’re here to kill him, and he doesn’t want to die by enemy hands. I would love to see him healthy again. He’s too weak to break out of here now. He certainly couldn’t fly. Tolemek, dragons are meant to fly.
At the moment, Tolemek was more concerned about whether dragons were meant to eat people.
He’s protective of me, but he won’t hurt you. I told him you’re my brother.
If he’s protective, how come he let the soldiers lock you up down there? Tolemek didn’t want to say as much, but he wondered if Tylie might be making some of this up, or believing something because she want
ed to believe it.
They haven’t tried to hurt me, and he’s not sure what the ramifications might be to me if he hurts any of the men here. Also, they’ve told him that they’re working on a cure for him. That they’ve been taking his blood samples and studying them here and also sending them to the best labs back in Cofahre.
Tylie… they’re using his blood to fly aircraft and create weapons. I’ve seen them.
She didn’t respond immediately, and he wondered if she was relaying the information to the dragon. He also wondered when she had learned to speak telepathically to people. And how she was able to keep from getting sick if the dragon was contagious.
Not everybody catches the disease. We have strong blood, Tolemek. He said so.
A gunshot fired in the distance, reminding Tolemek that he didn’t have unlimited time. Hoping the dragon wasn’t going to break through the glass and eat him, he lay on his belly and extended an arm downward.
“Tylie? Can you reach my hand?” He could make out her shape among the shadows, as well as the shapes of two large stone sarcophagi against the walls of her room—her dungeon. He didn’t think she was more than eight or ten feet down. If he had to, he would leap in and boost her up, then figure out a way to climb out himself.
Come down here, she urged.
“What? You can’t reach?”
Sssh. Someone is coming.
All the more reason to leave.
There isn’t time. Tylie walked out of the darkness to look up at him, her brown eyes earnest. And worried. Come down here, and close the grate behind you. We have to hide.
Tylie… I can handle a couple more soldiers. He touched the pistol resting on the floor next to him.
Not this one. This isn’t a soldier.
How can you—
Now, Tolemek! Before it’s too late and he sees you.
Every instinct screamed for him to stay where he was, that he would be trapped and at a huge disadvantage if he dropped into the dark room, but Tylie’s words rang in his head with the authority of a general’s command. He couldn’t disobey.
He grabbed the grate, lowering it most of the way, then slid through, using his head to keep it from slamming down. He didn’t let go with his hands until the cold metal rested on his knuckles. There was no way to keep it from making any noise, but he tried to ensure the clang would be as soft as possible. Surprisingly, as he let go, he didn’t hear the grate bang down.
When he landed on the floor, thick patches of mold squishing beneath his feet, he looked up to make sure it had indeed closed all the way.
Phelistoth softened it, Tylie explained. He’s very weak and can’t call upon much magic, but that was a simple matter, even for a sick dragon. Come over here in the darkness, please.
This was a request, rather than a command, and he didn’t feel the urgency—the power—that had compelled him to obey the last one. But now that he was stuck down here, hiding in the shadows and being quiet seemed like a good idea. He reached out a hand, intending to give Tylie a hug, but her warning stopped him before he reached her.
He’s entered the lab.
Tolemek hadn’t heard anything, not a footstep or the clunk of that door opening and shutting. Who? And how do you know? Is the dragon telling you, or… something else?
Even with his new knowledge that he possessed dragon blood, it was disconcerting to think of his sister as having power. Already developed power, not the latent power Sardelle had spoken of.
I can’t really do anything except for talk. I’m still… normal. A person, I mean. I suppose I wasn’t ever normal. All trace of that commanding tone was gone now, and she sounded like a young girl, one hurt that he had been thinking about the strangeness of her powers rather than thinking about her.
Tolemek reached out again, and this time he found her and pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back and buried her face in his shoulder.
I’m so glad you came. I was afraid I’d never see you again, or Mother, either.
He noted that she didn’t mention their father. Not surprising, since he had been the one to send her to the asylum.
And my friends, Yeesha and Tabi. It’s been so long. I wonder if they even remember me… She didn’t sound certain about that.
Tolemek wished he had been home recently and could promise that the girls from the neighborhood did all remember her, but he didn’t want to lie. I’ll find a way to take you back home to see everything. And I have some new friends now that you might like. Granted, she might not find a bunch of adults interesting. She might be seventeen now, but did she consider herself a grownup? Her childhood had been so abbreviated. One of them is… someone who can teach you how to use your powers better.
Assuming they had made it into the compound. It had been some time since Jaxi had poked her nose into his thoughts. And that gunshot he had heard—who had fired it?
Good. Scoot back now, and be very quiet. He’s searching the lab.
Who? Maybe Zirkander was the one sneaking around up there. Or it could even be Cas. If anyone could move silently, it would be she. Are you sure it’s a man?
Yes. He has a lot of weapons. He’s looking for something. Or someone. He’s a hunter. I can tell.
That didn’t sound a lot like Zirkander, not unless he had his flier with him. This had to be someone else.
As soon as he accepted that realization, the image of the murdered guards jumped into his mind.
Don’t breathe. He’s almost right over us.
Tolemek stayed utterly still and listened as hard as he could. He had yet to hear so much as a footstep, and yet, he didn’t doubt Tylie. Maybe it was some magical sixth sense of his own, but he also believed someone was up there. And then he heard something, the faint rustle of pages being flipped.
Is the dragon still up there? Tolemek couldn’t imagine where else he would have gone, but wondered what he thought about the intruder. He didn’t hear the tail thumping against the glass.
Yes, but all he can do is watch. He’s overexerted himself. He’s struggling to remain conscious. After an uncertain pause, Tylie added, If that happens, it may affect me. His subconscious is… it’s hard to explain, but we’re linked.
Why you?
I was the only one who could hear his calls and who responded. Maybe I was the only one to hear them at all. I don’t know.
Tolemek wanted to ask how the Cofah had found the dragon and picked her out of the asylum as someone who could communicate with it, but the rustling up above had stopped. He pointed his pistol at the grate.
He’s not moving. Tylie leaned against Tolemek’s side. He may know we’re here.
The shadows shifted up above. Tolemek had the sense of someone walking around the grate, being careful not to step on it, to show himself. Maybe it was nothing; maybe he was examining the divots left by the spattered acid. Or maybe he was waiting with his garrote for Tolemek and Tylie to show themselves.
Chapter 13
Cas crawled through the dim passage after Sardelle, Duck, and Zirkander, trying not to let her rifle scrape on the stone walls, but the thought that a dragon might be about to hurl gouts of fire down the shaft after her didn’t lend itself to moving slowly and with care.
Only the gold dragons can breathe fire, the soulblade spoke into her thoughts.
“Comforting,” Cas muttered, certain the dragon could find some other way to slay her if necessary.
“We have to cross a vertical shaft or go down it,” came Zirkander’s voice from up ahead. He was leading the crawl through the three-foot-wide passage.
“The lab is down,” Sardelle said.
“Can you find it?”
“I think so. If not me, Jaxi says she can.”
“Can Jaxi tell how many soldiers might be between us and that lab?”
Keep your firearms handy, the sword spoke into everyone’s thoughts.
“Wonderful. Down we go.” A faint rasp of clothing on stone followed this statement, and Zirkander disappeared from view.
/> Cas followed Sardelle and Duck down the shaft, her back to the rock, and her legs stuck out to brace herself. She had to hold her rifle in front of her. The descent reminded her of the night she had met Tolemek, when they had descended a millennia-old latrine shaft to escape that Cofah prison.
Gunshots fired in the distance, and her heart lurched. Was that him now? Shooting at the soldiers? Or being shot at by them?
She couldn’t descend any more quickly, not without cracking someone in the head, but when she landed next to Sardelle, she already had her rifle raised and ready. She didn’t truly expect trouble right away—the gunshots were muffled and distant—but two men in Cofah uniforms jogged around a corner in front of her. Their eyes bulged with surprise. Cas fired. She caught the first one in the chest, even as he loosed a round. His flew wide, banging off the stone wall behind her, but the second had time to aim a pistol at her. She snapped the rifle lever, chambering a second round, but knew she would be too late.
An instant before the soldier fired, a pistol boomed behind her ear. The man flew backward, slamming into the corner wall with far more force than should have happened as a result of being shot.
“Thank you, Sardelle,” Cas said.
“You’re welcome,” Zirkander said, waving at the bloody hole in the man’s forehead. It looked like they had struck at the same time. Cas didn’t care, so long as she hadn’t been shot.
“I guess that means we’re not sneaking anymore.” Duck was facing the other way, watching for trouble.
“We haven’t been sneaking since the dragon shouted into everyone’s head.” Sardelle sighed and pointed in the direction Duck was facing. “The lab should be that way.”
Zirkander stepped aside, gesturing for her to lead, his expression wry. Or maybe pained. After the crawl through the tunnels, he was sweating even more than before. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face flushed with fever. Duck’s face had a flushed hue to it, as well. Would she be the next to develop symptoms? She implored the gods to at least let her finish the mission, to help her comrades and to find Tolemek.
More gunshots fired. They sounded closer this time.