Dragons Rising (21 page)

Amity
looked at Korvin again. "You sure Beatrix will be on her balcony
this dawn?"

He
nodded. "It's the morning of winter solstice. The High Priestess
always speaks to the crowds this day. She will deliver a great speech
of victory, boasting of defeating the Horde . . . and then we will
descend upon her with dragonfire."

His
jaw clenched with rage, and his eyes narrowed. Amity looked at him.

He
loved her once,
she thought.
He loved Beatrix. How must it
feel to fly against one you love? How must it feel--that the woman he
loved betrayed him, that she rules an army that hunts him?

A
pang twisted Amity's heart, and she winced.

I
too betrayed him.

Her
secret weighed heavily on her heart. The shame flooded Amity, even
here and now, only moments from battle. She had drunk too much
brandy. She had been so scared, thinking Korvin dead. She had lain
with Cade, seeking some comfort before a death she had thought
unavoidable. Yet now, looking at Korvin, Amity realized how much she
loved this charcoal dragon, this gruff man, how big a mistake she had
made. No, she was not married to Korvin. No, she had never sworn any
vows to him. Yet she loved him--truly, fully, eternally. And she had
betrayed him.

I'm
sorry, Korvin. I'm so sorry.
Tears burned in her eyes, tears of
shame, of disgust at herself.

She
turned aside and looked at Cade. The golden dragon flew at her side.
Gemini now rode on his back instead of Domi's; the brothers would
fight together this day. Cade met Amity's eyes, and she saw the pain
in him too, the shame he too felt. The gold dragon looked away
quickly. Amity knew that they would never speak of that night.

If
we survive today,
she vowed,
I will become a different woman.
No longer wild and reckless but strong, loyal. If we survive, I will
marry you, Korvin.
She growled.
So we better survive.

Through
a patch of clouds, she saw herself approaching the walls of the city.

"Higher!"
Korvin whispered and soared, gesturing for the others to follow. They
obeyed, ascending so high the city houses looked like mere toys. From
down there, the five dragons would look like distant specks, perhaps
eagles far above, perhaps firedrakes. They kept flying. The clouds
thinned and Amity saw the walls directly below now. Firedrakes, small
beads of color from up here, sat upon the ramparts. The five dragons
flew above those walls and glided over the city, heading toward the
Temple.

And
still no bonedrakes rose.

"Where
are they?" Amity whispered.

Were
all the bonedrakes scouring the wilderness, none left to guard the
city? Did Beatrix not even bother protecting the sky above her own
home?

The
dragons kept gliding above, peering at the city through holes in the
cloud cover. Soon Amity found herself flying over what had to be the
fabled Square of the Spirit. It was a massive place, and countless
people filled it, mere specks from up here. Amity thought that more
people filled that square than all the fallen warriors of the Horde.
The vast crowd stood facing the Cured Temple, that great palace of
light and crystal.

They're
waiting for Beatrix to emerge,
Amity thought, her chest
tightening.

Horns
blared below.

The
crowds cheered.

Amity
sucked in her breath and let fire fill her maw.

"Beatrix
emerges," she whispered.

She
glanced at the other dragons. They stared back. Fire kindled between
their teeth. Upon Cade's back, Gemini hefted his spear.

The
five dragons tilted together and began to dive.

 
 
KORVIN

They
swooped from the sky, five comets of fury and fire, roaring down
toward the Temple.

Amity
dived at Korvin's right-hand side, snarling--the woman he loved.
Fidelity and Domi flew to his left, sisters of fire--his daughters.
Cade veered in the sky, Gemini on his back, heading toward the back
of the Temple, the place where Eliana would be kept.

But
now, Korvin put all thoughts of others aside. He no longer thought of
his lover, his daughters, of the babe to rescue. He no longer thought
of the souls of the fallen Vir Requis, of the ghosts of Requiem
crying out from the earth. He thought of but one soul now, of one
task.

He
thought of Beatrix.

And
he thought of how he'd burn her.

The
four dragons plunged downward, the wind shrieking around them, and
readied their fire. The crowd below saw them, pointed up, and
screamed. Still no bonedrakes flew. Upon the Temple balcony, a figure
stared up, wrapped in white.

Beatrix.

Korvin
gathered his fire.

On
the balcony, Beatrix raised a small bundle.

Korvin's
heart felt like it could shatter.

"Wait!"
he shouted just as the other dragons began roaring down their flame.
He shoved them aside, diverting their jets of fire away from the
balcony. The streams washed harmlessly across the Temple walls.

On
the balcony, Beatrix smiled, holding up a baby.

Eliana,
Korvin knew.

"Die,
Beatrix!" Amity screamed. Dodging Korvin's desperate attack to
stop her, the red dragon swooped farther down, stretching out her
claws.

A
hundred beams of light blasted skyward, scattering the flames and
washing over the dragons.

Korvin
howled in pain.

He
still wore his demon armor, but this light was so intense,
overflowing every part of him, blazing against his eyes, searing his
horns, his wings. He cried out in pain, and he heard Amity and his
daughters scream too. He stared down through narrowed eyelids,
struggling to stay in the air, and saw a hundred bonedrakes rising
from between the Temple's steeples and flying toward him.

She
knew,
Korvin realized.
Beatrix knew we're coming.

The
bonedrakes screeched, blasting out their beams and lashing their
claws.

The
world exploded in a shower of blood, light, fire, and snapping bones.

Amity
screamed somewhere in the distance, but she was no longer screaming
for war. She was screaming in agony. Domi cried out somewhere above.
Fidelity fell silent. The light blazed everywhere, and the jaws of
bonedrakes tore at Korvin, ripping at his wings, ripping at his
armor, and he cried out in agony, in loss, in terror.

 
 
FIDELITY

The
city, the sky, the Temple, her life--all drowned in white light, in
pain, in blazing fire.

Fidelity
knew then that their battle was hopeless, that the Temple had known
they were coming, that she would die here, that all the last dragons
of Requiem would perish.

Today,
she knew, was the day of the Falling.

Countless
beams of light blasted from the bonedrake jaws, shattering against
her armor, blazing out in parti-colored rays. Everywhere blazed the
light of the Spirit, filling the world, preparing for the descent of
its lord.

Fidelity
screamed and summoned her fire.

I
cannot let the Spirit emerge into the world. I cannot let Requiem
fall.

She
blasted forth her dragonfire.

The
flames washed across the sky, crashing into bonedrakes, knocking back
the light. For an instant, as the fire pushed back the beams,
Fidelity glimpsed part of the battle. The Cured Temple rose below
her, bonedrakes still emerging from its nest of steeples. More
skeletons flew all around her. The crowd was fleeing the square
below, and archers were firing from rooftops. Red scales flashed by
her--Amity!

"Amity!"
Fidelity cried out. "Amity, fight with me!"

The
red dragon barreled through bonedrakes toward her. Amity laughed as
she fought, swinging her tail in every direction, crushing
bonedrakes.

"Die
with me, Fidelity!" the red dragon cried, laughing, eyes
shining. "We die in glory!"

"Focus
on killing, not dying!" Fidelity shouted.

Amity
laughed and lashed her tail, shattering the ribs of a bonedrake, then
snapped her jaws, tearing off a skeletal rider from another beast.
Fidelity flew at her side, and the two dragons--red and blue--fought
back to back. Their dragonfire blasted out in a ring. Their claws
tore at enemies. Their tails whipped. Their armor reflected the
light.

Together
they fought. Together they killed.

Bonedrakes
fell before them. But Fidelity knew she could not fly forever. They
were too many, too strong. A bonedrake claw tore at her armor,
ripping a rent through the translucent scales. A skeletal paladin
thrust its lance, piercing her armor, cutting her flesh. An arrow
from the city below found her wing, tearing a hole. More light
blasted out, blazing against her other wing, searing the skin.

"Keep
fighting!" Amity cried out. She too was covered with wounds. Her
blood dripped, spreading within her transparent armor like veins. "We
must reach the Temple! We must kill Beatrix! Korvin, where are you,
you bastard?"

More
bonedrakes flew toward them. The two dragons breathed their fire and
lashed their claws, knocking the beasts aside.

We
have to reach the Temple!
Fidelity knew.
We have to burn
Beatrix. We have to--

Deafening
shrieks rose from below, nearly shattering her eardrums. Fidelity
screamed.

The
light from below parted.

From
the Temple's steeples soared two bonedrakes, different from the
others. Their bones were blackened with fire, and shreds of flesh
still clung to them. They appeared fresher, no more than a month or
two dead. When they opened their jaws, no beams of light left them
but roaring white fire.

The
flames hit Fidelity, and she screamed in agony.

The
fire was hotter than what any dragon could blow. It blasted against
Fidelity's armor, melting the demon's scales, then burning her own
scales beneath. It was dragonfire mixed with Spirit light, tearing
apart the air. Fidelity cried out, barely able to beat her wings. She
dipped in the sky. Amity fell with her, crying out in pain.

The
two bonedrakes below screeched again, cries that sounded almost
human, almost forming a word.

"Fiiiiii!"
they seemed to cry. "Fiiityyy!"

Fidelity
screamed and lashed her claws against them. They scraped against
bone, and the creatures snapped at her, biting, clawing. Her blood
spilled.

"Fiiii!"
the dragon skeletons cried. "Fiii . . . de . . . tyyy!"

Tears
filled her eyes.

They
know my name.

She
roared in rage.

How
do they know my name?

The
anger flared through her. She raged against the light of the Spirit.
She raged against the perversion that raised bones from the earth.
She raged against the fall of Requiem, the cruelty of the Temple, the
death of Roen and Julian that still filled her heart with mourning.
Fidelity raged and blasted her fire and lashed her claws, fighting in
a fury, tearing at these dragon skeletons, smashing their bones,
burning them, cutting them.

"Die!"
she screamed, tears in her eyes, fire roaring. "Die and fall as
bones!"

She
lashed her tail mightily, driving the spikes into a bonedrake's
skull.

The
bonedrake lost its magic.

It
became a human skeleton and fell.

Fidelity
stared and gasped.

"It
. . . it became human."

The
human skeleton, tumbling down, still had a long bushy beard, still
wore the garb of the forest. It reached out to Fidelity as it fell,
crying out in pain.

"Fiiiility!"

The
skeleton slammed against the Temple's steeples and shattered.

And
Fidelity knew who it was.

"Julian,"
she whispered.

The
second blackened bonedrake flew toward her, still in dragon form,
still calling out her name. Fidelity's tears streamed. She saw a few
last remnants of scales on the dragon's skeleton. Green scales.

Roen.

Fidelity
wept.

"Roen!"

With
a roar, Amity charged forth, blasting fire, and slammed into Roen's
skeleton. The red dragon lashed her claws and snapped her jaws,
gripping bones and tearing them out.

"Amity,
no!" Fidelity cried, weeping and trembling in the sky. She
wanted Roen to die. She wanted this perversion of life to fall and
shatter. But she could not bear it. She could not bear to see her
beloved cry out in pain.

I
have to bury him. I have to . . .

Weeping,
Fidelity charged forth and grabbed Amity.

"Stop,
don't!" she cried, tugging Amity back. "It's not a
bonedrake! It's--"

As
bonedrakes and dragons fought all around them, the creature that had
been Roen roared. Several of his bones were shattered, but the
pulsing heart of Spirit's light still thrummed within his rib cage.

"Fiiilety!"
he screeched in an astral voice. "Fiiiileeeti, ffffly!"

The
dragon skeleton seemed torn, not sure where to fly. Bloody tears
poured from the skull's empty eye sockets. And then he charged toward
her, blasting out white fire.

Fidelity
screamed as Roen's flames washed over her.

Bony
claws grabbed her. Fleshless jaws bit her. Roen's skeleton was
tearing into her, ripping her apart, feeding upon her.

Fidelity wept and bled.

She
fell from the sky.

 
 
KORVIN

Dragons
fell around him. Bonedrakes swarmed. Light flared. And Korvin flew
through the inferno toward his old lover, toward the tyrant who
crushed the world under her heel, toward the woman he must kill,
toward Beatrix.

He
slammed into a bonedrake, shattering its bones. He kept diving.
Arrows flew toward him, clattering against his armor. He roared and
blasted fire, roasting the archers on the Temple steeples, and kept
descending toward the balcony. He saw Beatrix standing there, a small
smile on her face. She still held the babe in her arms. Mercy stood
behind the High Priestess, clad as always in her pale paladin armor.