She patted his cheek. “You’re fun. I’m glad I let you live.”
“Glad I didn’t disappoint,” he murmured.
Her eyelids drooped, and she rubbed the inside of her thigh against him while regarding him with an inviting smile. It crossed his mind that he might be able to reach her clothes and search the pockets while distracting her with sex, but knowing what he knew now, he doubted his performance would be very convincing.
Instead, he shifted her to the side and rolled away. “We don’t want to delay, do we? You were eager to see the capital. It looks like it’s going to be a sunny day. That’s not that common along the shore, so we had better take advantage of it.”
As he spoke, he casually went to his clothing. He reached for his shirt, eyeing her garments while he did so. She studied him like a hawk watching a titmouse, but with rather more sexual interest. It made him especially aware of and uncomfortable in his nakedness, but he supposed it was better to have her thinking about that than noticing the way he bumped her garments, trying to knock things out of the pockets while he donned his own clothing.
“I only made one dose, hero,” Mara said, “but I am flattered that you would rather drug me than kill me.”
Ridge focused on buttoning his uniform jacket and keeping the panic off his face. “Are we done with pretenses now?” he asked, trying to sound casual. Hawks probably went for the most worried titmice first.
“Since my sword has taken to sharing confidences with you, I believe so.” She stretched languidly, then rolled to her feet. She sashayed over to him, patted his ass, and grabbed her shirt.
He didn’t give in to irritation that often, especially when dealing with women, but he considered knocking her away. He had a half a foot and a lot of muscle on her; he ought to be able to keep her from manhandling him.
Don’t try, Wreltad said. Trust me.
Her slitted eyes seemed to hold a challenge in them, as if she wanted him to try something. She might enjoy flattening him to the ground with some magical power.
As she was aware of his every thought, she smirked. With her shirt hanging open, she reached up toward him. He started to step back, but some force held him in place. As surely as if he were drugged again, he couldn’t move away from her, nor could he lift a hand to block her when she gripped him by the back of the neck and pulled him down for a kiss. At least he could keep from responding this time.
She didn’t seem to care. She got what she wanted, then released him with another degrading pat on the cheek. “Finish dressing and turn on your machine. I’m ready to go.”
He had no choice but to obey.
• • • • •
Cas did not know whether to be relieved or horrified when Phelistoth landed on the railing of the emperor’s airship and drove his head down into the deck like a steam hammer. It looked like it hurt, but he must have magical protection. Wood smashed and boards flew. Soldiers fired at him, but the bullets bounced off. Phelistoth didn’t seem to notice he was being attacked. Some unexplained fury drove him, and he smashed his head into the ship again, this time into the hull below the railing.
If Tolemek hadn’t been somewhere in the bowels of the craft, Cas would have cheered for the dragon’s frenzy, but he and Kaika had disappeared into the cargo hold a few minutes before. Cas had been watching as she flew around the airship, trying to be a supreme pest to the Cofah to buy her teammates the time they needed to find and kidnap the emperor. She had no idea if that was still feasible. What had been planned as a stealth mission had turned into such a ruckus that everyone on the continent must know about the battle.
Another shot fired from the seat behind her. Colonel Quataldo had such deadly accuracy that Cas was surprised she hadn’t run into him out on the range before. He must practice religiously. She welcomed the help now, since it meant she could concentrate on flying and wreaking havoc with her machine guns while he focused on picking out officers on the deck. A couple of times, when they flew close, she caught him leaning over the side, looking like he might jump out so that he could join Kaika and Tolemek’s incursion, but he hadn’t yet ordered her to get him in close enough for that. They were probably doing more damage from the air than a single man on foot could do.
Naval vessels fired from the waters below, giant shells arching into the air and exploding. Cas and Pimples were careful to stay near the emperor’s craft, flying beside it or above it. Neither the other airships nor the warships in the water would dare risk shooting too close to the vessel holding their supreme political and military commander.
“We’re coming in to help,” Blazer said over the crystal.
Cas glimpsed the captain’s flier cruising toward them from the direction of the city. Duck was right behind her. He didn’t have a crystal, since that was the one Tolemek had removed, but he waved as they approached.
“Watch out, Raptor,” Pimples said.
The massive gold dragon was circling, trying to attack Phelistoth without damaging the emperor’s ship—at least, Cas assumed that was why she hadn’t unleashed as much power as she possessed. However, seeing Phelistoth tearing into the hull and deck must have incensed her. She dove for him, talons outstretched. Before she touched him physically, some force struck him, flinging him from the railing and to the deck. He rolled in an ungainly somersault, his tail smashing into people and cabins. The female landed atop him, fangs snapping for his throat.
By now, Cas knew well that her bullets would not do any damage, but she flew in, anyway, hoping she might distract the dragon. She wished she still had some of the special ceramic bullets Tolemek had made to fight Morishtomaric. But nobody had expected dragon battles over here. It frustrated her to think that this female had flown right over here, seeking out an alliance with the emperor when Angulus, the one who had ultimately been responsible for freeing all of those dragons from that cavern, couldn’t even get Phelistoth to stay loyal to him. Oh, the silver dragon might be fighting against the emperor now, but from what Tylie had hinted at, it was only because the emperor had rejected his deal—or maybe because the female had already claimed the emperor and the empire for her own. Cas couldn’t begin to guess how dragon politics worked.
Briefly, the female was on top, and Cas had a good view of her back. She fired several short bursts.
Surprisingly, they struck the scales. Maybe the dragon couldn’t keep her magical defenses up when she was fighting Phelistoth. Cas could not tell if her bullets burrowed through the scales or did any serious damage, but the female’s head jerked up as Cas flew past. She leaped away from Phelistoth, knocking soldiers aside as she raced for the railing, her head ducked to keep from hitting the bottom of the balloon. She sprang into the air and chased after Cas.
“Lieutenant,” Quataldo warned. “There’s a—”
“I see her,” she said, taking her flier out of there at top speed.
The dragon followed them, pouring fire from her maw.
Cas dipped toward the trees on the north side of the bay. Flames crackled in the air above her head. Her tail smoked, but she had evaded the brunt of the attack. Booms erupted from the ships in the water, and a cannonball sailed by less than a meter off her port side. Now that she had moved away from the emperor’s ship, the rest of the vessels were opening fire on her.
Gunshots came from behind her. As good as Quataldo’s aim was, Cas doubted it would do any good.
The dragon continued after them, gaining ground, far more agile in the air than a flier. Cas expected another burst of fire. Instead, a wave of power slammed into her. Her tail flipped over her nose, and the harness dug into her shoulders as gravity tried to dump her out of the flier. Trees blurred past, then the sky, then trees again. The flier frame groaned under the abuse. Cas managed to right herself. Her first thought was to pull up and put a safety margin between her and the trees that skimmed past, almost brushing her belly. But the dragon was still behind her. Instead, she made her wings wobble, then bucked, hoping the dragon would believe the craft
was damaged so severely that a crash was inevitable. She dove between a couple of trees, twisting her wings to avoid striking the branches.
“Lieutenant,” Quataldo said again. “This is a ruse, right?” A note of concern had entered his generally calm voice.
She was too focused on flying to answer. She dove under branches and between trees, searching for a landing spot. When she had dropped fully below the canopy, she switched the power from her propeller to her thrusters, trying to slow herself. She would surely crash if she tried to navigate between the densely packed trees at full speed. As quickly as she could, she settled on some fern-like plants under a tree. She cut her power and spun in her seat, looking past Quataldo’s head. Had the dragon fallen for it?
His face pale, he also looked back, his gaze riveted. Cas couldn’t see anything through the canopy, but nothing parted the leaves and came crashing through the branches to chomp on her.
“Raptor?” Pimples asked over the crystal, uncertainty tinging his voice.
“We’re all right. Did the dragon stop chasing us?”
“Yes, she’s heading back here again. Phelistoth has been hurling imperial soldiers over the sides of the airship railings, but she’s charging in to stop him again.”
Cas turned her thrusters back on. “Coming.”
“You might want to hurry.” Even though Pimples now knew she was all right, the concerned tone hadn’t left his voice. “Kaika blew up the boiler in the emperor’s airship, and it’s going down. Also, Tylie says the emperor has Tolemek.”
Cas cursed. What could she do to help with all that? “Can you relay a message to Tylie?”
“Yes,” Pimples said.
“Tell her to tell Phelistoth to do something useful. Like getting Kaika and Tolemek.”
Chapter 15
Sardelle paced back and forth while Bhrava Saruth lay in the grass on the side of the road. He’d had to change out of his dragon form three times while they had been waiting for Therrik to return from checking on this new village. Even though it was still early, and they were more than a half mile outside of town, they had come down from the Ice Blades and into more populated areas now. This road saw much more foot and horse traffic than any of the others in their journey.
An irreverent part of her—perhaps a part she had developed after meeting Ridge—wanted to tell Bhrava Saruth to remain in dragon form as people passed by, and she would simply lean an elbow against his side and nod and say good morning, as if wayside dragons were perfectly normal.
Yes, I’m sure these farmers and ranchers will simply nod back, Jaxi said.
Sardelle stretched out with her senses for the fifth or sixth time, checking to see if Therrik was on his way up the road yet. With her greater reach, Jaxi had already informed her that Ridge wasn’t in the village. Sardelle had almost asked Bhrava Saruth to continue on, to head straight back to the capital, but she didn’t want to assume anything and risk missing him. What if the person with the flier hadn’t let him borrow it and Ridge had proceeded on foot? Or what if something had happened and he hadn’t made it to the village?
Like what? Jaxi asked. A sorceress was standing on the side of the road with a dragon, and it ate him?
Bhrava Saruth yawned, flopped over on his side, and stretched on his back in the grass.
It would have had to be a more bloodthirsty dragon than this one, Sardelle said.
Back when I had followers, Bhrava Saruth said, looking at Sardelle from an upside down position, some of them used to rub my belly.
For luck? Sardelle touched the pocket that held Ridge’s dragon charm, and she smiled, wondering what he would think of rubbing an actual dragon before flying into battle.
Because their god thought it felt good.
Oh.
Somehow, even with his head upside down, Bhrava Saruth managed to look hopeful.
I believe that look is for you. Jaxi smirked into her mind. Swords aren’t good at rubbing things.
In the light of all the favors he could ask for in exchange for his help, this is an innocuous one.
Sardelle walked over to the supine dragon, hesitated while she debated where to rub, then simply went for a convenient spot. He could correct her if he wanted something else. Bhrava Saruth laid his head back on the grass, crooked his forelegs, and rested there contentedly. The tip of his tail twitched now and then.
Did your romance novels ever mention that dragons liked belly rubs, Jaxi?
No. I think you found yourself a unique dragon.
Unique. That is one word for him.
Sardelle did not find the experience quite as soothing as patting one of Fern’s cats or the friendly dog her brother had kept, perhaps because the scales were cool, with a stone-like feel. Not quite as appealing to touch as fur.
He would probably turn into a ferret—or a dog or a cat—if you asked. Or if it got him more belly rubs.
Hm. Since the dragon was more relaxed than she had seen him, unless she counted the time he had slept on her shoulder in ferret form, Sardelle decided to ask something she had wondered about since his reappearance. Bhrava Saruth? What happened to the crystal we pulled out of the mountain? You all wanted it so badly that I assumed it had invaluable information in it, but you made it sound like you didn’t learn much at all.
I hid it.
He had been uncharacteristically terse when she’d asked about the crystal before, and it didn’t sound like that had changed. So the others can’t find it? she asked.
Correct. Under my arm, please.
Sardelle moved to the suggested spot, and he grew quite relaxed. Perhaps he would open up more now. Did you find the information you sought in the crystal?
His leg twitched with contentment as she continued to rub his scales.
I did. Twelve hundred years ago, there was heightened volcanic activity in what we call the Scales and Ridges Mountains, and it caused the temperatures to drop globally for several centuries.
The seemingly random information puzzled Sardelle, but she nodded. The Little Ice Age. We have records of it. The glaciers in the Ice Blades extended all the way into the foothills and valleys around the range.
Yes. My kind do not flourish in the cold. We can fly through the mountains and spend time in freezing temperatures, but we are not fertile in such environments.
That will teach you to give a dragon a belly rub, Jaxi said. Now you’ve got him talking about fertility.
Actually, I’m rubbing his armpit.
Perhaps that’s a sexually sensitive area for a dragon.
Sardelle frowned down at Jaxi. Ssh. I want to hear the rest of the story.
My kind gravitated toward the equatorial regions, Bhrava Saruth continued, but they grew crowded with so many territorial dragons in such a small space. There were wars and daily battles. A group of bronze dragons who were tired of being on the bottom when it came to resources and mates got together and studied other planes of existence. Over the course of a century or two, they experimented and finally created a portal that allowed travel to one of these other existences, one that may or may not have been less crowded. They had no way to know since it was a one-way trip. Unless someone was able to build a portal on the other side, any dragon who went through could never come back.
But they risked it anyway?
Actually, they tricked everyone else into risking it. They pretended that it was a big secret while leaking information about it, information that promised a bountiful and warm climate with room for all the dragons in the world. Like mindless lemmings, the dragons sailed down to the arctic where the portal had been made and flew through it. Bhrava Saruth sniffed. Had I been awake at the time, I wouldn’t have fallen for that ruse.
All of the dragons went through? What happened then?
Not all of them. The six bronze dragons who had created the portal closed it, buried it, and kept Serankil for themselves.
Serankil? That’s the dragon name for this world, right?
Yes. One of the dragon scientists w
ho remained here was the one to create the repository that you found for me. Bhrava Saruth rolled his head sideways on the grass and made an approving sound.
Sardelle took that as a thank you. He twitched his claw, and she went back to rubbing his side.
His entries read almost like a confession, Bhrava Saruth said. I think he came to regret that he’d played a part in getting rid of all of the other dragons, especially when years passed and none of them returned. He questioned whether they had truly found another plane of existence to send them to, or if he and his cohorts had tricked them into flying to their deaths. He wanted to reopen the portal to see if they could find the others or invite some of them back, but his colleagues refused to allow it. They liked sharing the world amongst themselves. I don’t know what happened to those last six bronzes, but can only assume they eventually died, leaving the world bereft of dragons.
Bereft, Jaxi said, as if the rest of the world was mourning the loss. People were probably delighted that nobody was eating their sheep and burning down their barns anymore.
Not all dragons did those things, Bhrava Saruth said, hearing Jaxi’s comment even though it had been directed at Sardelle.
You don’t eat sheep? I don’t believe you. I can see wool in your teeth.
Not sheep that belong to humans. High priestess, your sword is being mouthy again. I believe she should be punished.
Sardelle laid a hand on Jaxi’s pommel. Can you wait until after we find Ridge to provoke him? Unless you want him to use you as a toothpick to clean around the gums.
Jaxi made an incoherent grumbling noise.
Bhrava Saruth, Sardelle asked, why hide the crystal? Why not share what you learned with the other dragons? Don’t you think they would like to know?
They might do something foolish. Like seek out the portal and try to open it again. I believe there are a perfect number of dragons in the world now. There’s no need to open a portal and invite others to return. Besides, those were the dragons who condemned me to that prison for thousands of years. Let them stay where they are.