“You can’t be serious?” Ayawa growled as Gersius paced before a table covered with maps of a city lost early in the war. “You know this is a trap.”
“He told me himself that it was a trap,” Gersius replied as he continued to pace. “But I can not save Sarah without one of the seals.”
“What about combining your powers?” Tavis suggested. “Have a hundred priests work together in a healing rite to channel their energy.”
Gersius sighed as Tavis tried to offer sound counsel. They had just arrived from the north a few hours ago, and Gersius pulled them into a meeting before they had even had time to eat. They explained the situation with Sarah and how her wound failed to heal. Tavis immediately pointed out how it appeared their enemy was targeting the dragons, particularly Sarah, and Gersius acknowledged he already knew. Now he had to explain how the priests of Vellis had already tied to heal her that way, and it was of no use. The wound was infested with divine power, and only a divine could remove it.
“Have you tried using one of the swords?” Gedris asked, hopeful that maybe enough divine power could be channeled through them.
“The swords don't seem to have any effect on healing,” Gersius explained. “Our only option is the seals.”
“Which are hidden in a secret temple, in a fortified city, well behind enemy lines,” Ayawa pointed out.
“What choice do I have?” Gersius asked in a pleading tone as he turned to face them. “I know they planned this, and I know it's a trap. But I cannot save Sarah without a seal, and I will not sit here and watch her sleep for the next hundred years.”
“Then take the city by a military campaign,” Ayawa suggested. “You have all the time in the world to do this right.”
“If I manage to threaten the city, they might move the seals,” Gersius said. “My only choice is to strike quickly and recover them before anyone knows we are coming.”
“Gersius,” Tavis said as he took off his hat to look at him with a worried expression. “This is a suicide mission.”
“That is why you must act as the empire's head while I am gone,” Gersius said. “The leadership must be preserved.”
“Not a chance,” Ayawa replied with bile in her words. “If you are insistent on going into this bloodbath, we are going with you.”
“I am not taking more people into this trap than I have to,” Gersius replied.
“So you and your wives die and leave us here to tell Sarah what happened to you when she wakes up?” Ayawa asked.
“If she wakes up,” Gedris corrected. “I have my doubts she ever will.”
“So do the priests of Vellis,” Gersius said as she turned to look at the map. “There is a courtyard here that we can land in and then reach the temple in a matter of minutes.”
“And you don't think they will have this courtyard guarded?” Ayawa asked. “They know you are using the dragons for mounts, and they have to expect it.”
“I have to try,” he said. “Maybe I should leave Thayle here to lead the empire if….”
“You think she will stay behind while you two fly off to die?” Ayawa laughed. “Now you're starting to talk madness.”
“What about Shadros?” Gedris asked. “Can he help?”
“If by help you mean with Sarah's condition, no,” Gersius said. “He is even less informed about things than Lilly is, but I have considered bringing him with me. I worry dragons will be waiting for us when we get there, and he might help turn the tide.”
“Lilly and Shadros are small compared to Sarah and some of the dragons you have faced,” Ayawa countered. “What happens if the one that killed Numidel is there waiting?”
“I do not know,” Gersius replied and ran his fingers through his hair. “I just do not know.”
“Well, you can forget about us staying here,” Ayawa quipped. “We are going with you. Alayse and Jessivel can manage the empire in your absence. They know how you want everything run and can push the empire ahead.”
“So be it,” Gersius replied as his mind was plagued with doubts. He knew this was a massive risk, but there was no choice. If Sarah was going to be saved, they had to act before their enemies did. Once word of her condition spread, they might very well see rival dragons in the skies over Calathen. He turned to the others with a final sigh of regret and bid them to follow.
----------------------------------------
Lilly lay with Sarah, hugging the woman tightly as a final tear ran down her cheek. She was tired of this terrible conflict and the risks it brought to her family. All she wanted now was to steal them away and hide in her valley. Thayle sat nearby while five priests of Vellis constantly monitored Sarah's condition. Thus far, nothing had changed, and as far as they could tell, she was simply asleep. However, all of them could detect the presence of something festering inside, and no amount of praying could wipe it away.
Thirty guards taken from every faith stood by, and Shadros in his dragon form was on the terrace with Mingfe at his side. They were here just in case a dragon attack was made and to keep them safe at the same time. Lilly and Shadros were the only two dragons left to the empire and likely the next targets.
“Please wake up,” Lilly whispered as she hugged Sarah. “I can’t do this without you.”
Lilly closed her eyes as the final tear fell, and for the first time since the terrible attack, she fell asleep. Maybe it was because of need or her close proximity to Sarah, but she suddenly found herself standing in a towering cave tunnel. She was in her human form as she spun around, trying to make sense of where she was. Was she in the dream, and if so, where was this place?
“Sarah?” Lilly called as her voice echoed from silent walls. Her heart started to beat faster as she remembered Sarah's warnings about how dangerous the dream could be. There were places even mighty Sarah feared to go where the dream was more of a nightmare. Now Lilly wondered if she had wandered into one of these places and began to worry she might never come out.
“Find her,” a voice whispered with an almost soothing tone.
“Who said that?” Lilly called as that voice tickled her memory. She had heard it before but couldn’t place it as her hands trembled in fear. Without knowing what to do, she chose a path and headed down the relatively flat tunnel. The walls were cut with deep gouges indicating that this was a dragon-made cave and, judging by the pattern of scratches, was heading deeper in. For minutes she walked in silence, following a meandering path cut from a black stone. Eventually, she arrived at a ledge before a massive chamber, and there in the darkness was a struggling figure.
“Sarah!” Lilly cried and nearly fell over the ledge.
Sarah was in her dragon form, but there were what looked like black chains all around her. They were shifting and growing as they twisted around her limbs and wings.
“Lilly!” Sarah screamed in desperation, her voice echoing from the walls. “Lilly, I can't get free!”
Lilly was quickly engulfed in white mist, her body changing to that of Azurastra. In seconds she spread her wings and flew into the massive chamber, desperate to free her struggling wife.
She hit the ground hard enough to crack it as Sarah pulled with all her might against the dark binds. Lilly grabbed the closest chain, nearly as big around as her neck, and tried with all her might to break it. All she managed to do was rattle it a little, and touching it burned her skin.
“Lilly, I can't wake up!” Sarah cried and thrashed her neck as the chains struggled to pull her down. “I am trapped in the dream, and I can't wake up!”
Lilly screamed in rage as she tried again and again to free her trapped wife. But, unfortunately, she was too small a dragon to make a difference, and the chains were strong enough to hold even Sarah. She tried biting them and clawing the metal, but they were made of something more akin to shadows. Nothing she could do was having any effect, and Sarah began to cry over its futility.
“I don't know how to free you!” she finally wailed. “Gersius and the others keep trying to heal you awake, but it won't work!”
“This is divine power,” Sarah cried and struggled to bring her head closer to Lilly. “The gods have imprisoned me, and only they can free me. You have to go back and tell Gersius to go on without me.”
“NO!” Lilly cried and struggled to pull a chain. “I won’t leave you here like this!”
“Child, I can't break the chains, so what hope do you have?” Sarah demanded.
“Balisha, help me!” Lilly pleaded as she struggled to rattle the chain on Sarah’s neck.
“Lilly, please,” Sarah said and managed to nuzzle Lilly. “There is nothing you can do. Please, go back and tell our family that I love them dearly.”
“I can’t leave you like this!” Lilly pleaded. “Why isn’t Balisha helping me?”
“Something is staying their hands,” Sarah replied as a tear of fire rolled down her cheek. “I am sorry it has to end like this.”
“No, it won’t end,” Lilly replied and latched on to Sarah’s jaw. “Gersius is working on a plan. He knows how to save you, and he is talking to the people he needs right now. Please be strong, we are coming for you, and we will break these chains.”
“You are my heart,” Sarah replied as another tear rolled down her cheek. “Go back, little dragon. There is nothing more you can do here, and this place isn’t safe.”
“I promise we are coming for you,” Lilly repeated as the dream faded. Suddenly she jerked awake and realized she was not alone. She looked up to see Gersius glaring down at her with a look of pain while Thayle stood beside him with tears pouring from her eyes. They were touching Lilly's arm, using the bind to share her dream. Lilly knew they had seen and heard everything by the looks in their eyes.
“We leave tonight,” Gersius said as he took his hands away. “She will not spend another week in that prison.”
“At least we know why she can’t wake up,” Thayle said with a voice full of pain.
Lilly looked between them as her eyes filled with tears, and she lunged into Gersius's arms, pleading with him to save Sarah. She couldn't get that terrible sight out of her mind, and knowing she was trapped all alone in the dark was a fate too cruel, especially for a dragon that had come to know love.
Thayle came to her back, and the three held one another as Lilly sobbed like a child while crying that she wanted Sarah back. Around them, the guards respectfully kept silent as the moment of pain was shared by the imperial family. Gedris covered her mouth as she shared a tear while they watched from the terrace with Shadros and Mingfe.
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“Did he say she was in a prison?” Ayawa whispered.
“That sounds like what he said,” Tavis replied. “But how does he know that?”
“I can answer that,” Mingfe replied and stroked Shadros's neck. “The bind allows you to see each other's thoughts and dreams. Lilly must have been dreaming about Sarah, and when they touched her, they could see what she saw.”
“But it was just a dream?” Ayawa said.
“No,” Shadros replied and shook his head slightly. “There is another world called the dream where we dragons go when we sleep. Sarah has been teaching Lilly and I about it when she can, but I admit I still know very little about it.”
“Likely Lilly went into this dream and found Sarah,” Mingfe said. “Whatever she saw has disturbed them immensely.”
“I can’t imagine how much pain they must be in,” Gedris said. “Their aura’s are full of suffering.”
Ayawa nodded as she recalled them telling her about the dream before. It was very similar, if not the exactly same thing, to what her people referred to as spirit walking or dream walking to some tribes. The practice was lost long ago, but it would appear the dragons still knew how. If any of them survived this plan, she would ask Lilly to describe it to her.
An hour later saw, Alayse and Jessivel summoned to the council chambers, where they were formally given control of the empire before an audience of lords and leaders of the faith. The two looked very concerned about why this needed to take place, but Gersius refused to say anything until after the announcement, and they were finally in private.
Alayse was honored and humbled but begged them to reconsider. She assured them that they could take that city in three weeks with a swift attack and hard march. Gersius explained his fear that the enemy might move the seals if they marched on the city. Therefore, the attack had to be so swift and direct that they had no time to relocate them.
“Then take as many men as the dragons can carry,” Jessivel urged. “Bring all the strength you can muster.”
Gersius considered that point, but the flight would be long, and he didn't want to wear his dragons out. Still, maybe a few members of Balisha's army would be warranted; after all, this was a matter of dragons.
“I will bring what I can,” Gersius agreed before turning away. He led his procession into the halls and told Lilly to select the twelve best fighters of Balisha to come with. Lilly nodded and ran off to gather her forces as Gersius went back to speak to Sarah one last time.
He knelt at her side and took her hand, rubbing it gently as he closed his eyes to make a vow.
“I vow before Balisha that my soul will never rest until you are freed from those dark chains,” he said. “I am coming for you, and not even the divines will be able to save our enemies from my wrath.”
He lifted her hand to kiss it, then stood up and told the others to meet in the dragon ring. By the time Lilly arrived with twelve of her blessed followers, Shadros was saddled, and Gersius was going over last-minute instructions with Tavis, Ayawa, and Mingfe.
“We go straight for the temple,” Gersius said. “We get the seals, and we escape.”
Lilly brought up her champions, and Gersius took the time to speak to them all, even clasping shoulders with each one as he explained how dangerous this was going to be. Lilly took the time to change, throwing her bashfulness to the wind and simply changing while nobody was looking. A few minutes later, she was saddled and ready. Dozens of packs of provisions and supplies were added to the saddles, increasing the weight but necessary for the trip. As the sun dipped low on the horizon, the group took to the sky, with each dragon carrying nine riders. It would take over a week to reach the distant city and hopefully find the key to freeing Sarah from her prison.
Late into the night of the fifth day, Mingfe leaned over to share her thoughts with the dragon she called her husband. Shadros was a challenging man, to say the least, full of a sense of pride only a dragon could reach. However, through the careful use of food, wine, and other treats, she managed to coax the man inside out.
“Do you think we will find the answer we seek there?” she asked.
“I know nothing of how the dream or these weaves work?” Shadros replied, his voice heard only in her head. “But I hope for their sake we do.”
Mingfe was proud of him for having such hope when he used to threaten to kill them all. “You have grown so much,” she said and stroked his neck. “I am proud to call you my husband.”
“I am grateful to call you my wife,” he said in return and turned his head to look back as they soared through a dark sky. “But why did you want this with me?”
“Because I could see the man hidden behind all those scales,” Mingfe said as she looked back to see the rest of her riders were asleep. “You were deeply wounded and trapped in the dragon curse, but there was a man inside crying to get out.”
“I don’t know how you saw that,” he replied and looked back. “But I am glad you did.”
“I am glad I did as well,” Mingfe replied with a smile. “I am very fond of you, even when you are being stubborn.”
“You are fond of throwing spears at me,” he laughed and looked at the stars. “But I think I understand why.”
“You have come to understand a great deal since we met,” Mingfe said as her dark hair trailed in the wind. “But I wonder, do you ever think about your mother?”
“All the time,” he replied and glanced back with one eye. “In fact, the more I learn about your kind, the more I think about her. The way she behaved and the things she said. I remember hearing her singing once, and it sounded just like your songs of praise for Ulustrah.”
“Do you think she might have been a priestess?” Mingfe asked as she considered how much sense that would make. It would explain why the sword was hidden in her lair and protected by plants.
“I don't know. I was very young when she died, and I didn't have the kind understanding I have now.” He looked to his left, where Lilly was flying in the moonlight, and had another thought. “She once told me I would thank her for what they were doing to me. I feel like I should.”
“Maybe,” Mingfe agreed. “I should thank her as well. If not for her, I would not have such a good husband.”
“You like calling me that,” he laughed and shared another thought. “It is a funny term for a dragon to use, this husband and wife.”
“Maybe it is,” Mingfe agreed. “But for me, it is very important. It shows that I belong to you and that you are my man, or dragon however you prefer to say it.”
He nodded and looked down, his sharp eyes searching the ground as he had another thought. He explained how he hoped Sarah would wake up because there was so much more he wanted to know about being a dragon. In some small way, Sarah had become like a second mother to him, and he felt the need to defend her. He was also ashamed he hadn't come to speak with her more and wanted the chance to correct that mistake.
“You really have grown,” Mingfe replied and took a deep breath. “I am so very proud of you.”
“I just hope I don't live to regret squandering the time I had with her,” Shadros said.
“We will save her yet,” Mingfe urged. “Gersius is a man of great determination, and Sarah herself has said he has the power to shape the dream. If anyone can break her chains, he can.”
Shadros nodded as they flew into the night, hoping the human woman he called his wife was right. If Gersius couldn't find a way to save Sarah, then he might never learn the truth behind his mother's final words. What did she mean when she said, I love you?
On the evening of the eighth day, the mountains known as the hammer spike came into view. It was here they would find the city of Gillisneal, the once-proud capital of the first non-Doan kingdom west of the border keeps. This land had always been hotly contested as it was good for crops and livestock. The Doan often raided it, but they never settled the land, preferring to leave it unoccupied. Thus the city had been built into the mountains in five great steps and then encircled by a massive stone wall. Unless an enemy could fly, they would find those gates imposing, and even a siege could go on for months. Of course, that's what Gersius was counting on when he was first assembling his army for a counterattack. He never dared to dream the city would be betrayed by the raven guard and it would fall in a matter of days.
“I see the walls,” Lilly said over the bind, then shouted it out loud to alert Shadros and his riders. He squinted to look ahead and then nodded that he could see them too. The two dragons put their hawk-like gaze to work as they got closer, scanning the walls and streets for their enemies.
“The walls are deserted,” Shadros reported as Lilly nodded in agreement as they started to circle high above.
From their vantage point, Gersius could see fires but little else. He asked Lilly to search the streets, and she reported that they were empty. Not a soul could be spotted anywhere, giving the city a mournful, almost dead feel.
“There must be people there someplace,” Ayawa said as she looked down. “Somebody lit those fires.”
“Maybe they went to sleep inside the buildings,” Gedris said. “They might feel they are too far from the war to warrant a night watch?”
“Maybe,” Gersius agreed but didn't want to believe he could be that lucky. If the enemy wasn't keeping up a guard at night, then they couldn't possibly be ready for their attack, and this might not be a trap after all. It would be the single greatest stroke of luck in the war, but he wasn't about to believe it could be that easy.
“Circle a little lower and find the courtyard,” Gersius said, determined to use caution before chance. Lilly did as instructed, slowly going lower as Shadros followed. She found the courtyard in moments, but it was wholly abandoned like the rest of the city. The number of fires that burned were few for a city of that size, and he began to wonder if maybe the Doan had only occupied it with a small guard.
“Or a powerful dragon,” Thayle added as she read his thoughts.
“That is a possibility, too,” Gersius said as they reached the point where they had to commit to going or turn back.
“We go in, now,” he said and waved to Mingfe to let her know to follow. “Lilly, take us down.”
Lilly nodded and folded her wings, heading for the courtyard close to the temples that lined a mountainside. She was moments away from landing; her wings furled out to slow her descent when Gersius realized the danger and shouted at her to fly up again. Lilly struggled to regain her momentum, beating her wings furiously and failing to clear the room of a nearby building. She scrambled up its stone peak, dislodging tiles and rocks but keeping her riders intact. Shadros carefully landed on the one beside her as Mingfe called out to ask what was wrong with the courtyard.
“I am worried it is trapped like that keep was,” Gersius said as he considered the magic ward that had crippled Sarah and Lilly when they went to rescue Thayle. The courtyard was the perfect place to land if one was going to assault the temple, and their enemy had proven they were capable of such advanced tactics. Just as Lilly was about to suggest she climb down to the street, a dark form swooped out of the sky, and its claws tore through one of her wings. She wailed in pain as it latched on, wrenching her from the roof and spilling her riders to crash some twenty feet to the ground below. Lilly hit the wall of the next building, caving it in as she tumbled to a narrow street. Gersius and Thayle limped to their feet and quickly tried to recover. They ordered heals and formations while searching the night sky for their unseen assailant.
Shadros witnessed the attack and quickly scrambled to a nearby street, nearly collapsing the building he was on in the effort. Once down, his riders hurried to get off before they were attacked, but suddenly the sky filled with fire. The light illuminated a red dragon only a little larger than Lilly. It was bearing down on Shadros and his force, trapped in a narrow street with nowhere to go. With the threat of his wife dying flooding his soul, he reacted the only way he knew how and breathed a cone of ice and cold directly into the fire. The two collided in a burst of steam and rain, filling the air with a sizzling hiss as the red dragon flew overhead and began to laugh.
“Get clear of me,” Shadros ordered as he tracked the beast in the sky and spread his wings.
“What are you doing?” Mingfe cried as Shadros flapped and took back to the sky.
“Stopping that dragon,” he replied as he went higher. “Get the seals. I will meet you at the temple steps.”
“That dragon is bigger than you!” Mingfe shouted as he flew up. “Shadros! At least wait for Lilly!”
“Lilly!” Thayle cried as she limped through the rubble of the building, now choking the narrow street. Lilly was glowing with golden light as she sang her healing song to Balisha. Her badly gouged and twisted wing straightened out with a terrible crack, then started to close the deep holes in the membrane.
“I'm fine,” Lilly replied when she was able to fold her wing closed again. “How are the others?”
“Everybody is fine, but nearly everyone was injured. We are already wasting power we might need for later,” Thayle said as Lilly looked down at her and then reached out a clawed hand. She began her song again as Thayle glowed with golden light, her shoulder in particular suddenly straightening.
“Why didn’t you heal yourself?” Lilly asked when the glow faded.
“I wanted to make sure you were alright first,” Thayle replied.
“Form up on the road,” they heard Gersius calling. “Watch the doors and windows, and let us go as fast as we can.:
Lilly looked up to see Shadros climbing the sky as a red dragon circled above, waiting to meet her challenger.
“I have to help him,” Lilly said and struggled down the street. “I need to get someplace I can spread my wings.”
“We might need you at the temple,” Thayle said as she ran beside Lilly.
“Shadros needs me now,” Lilly replied. “We can put this dragon down together and meet you there in a few minutes.”
“Please be careful,” Thayle said as Lilly reached the edge of the courtyard. She feared Gersius was right and it was trapped, so she entered just far enough to spread her wings and take to the sky, hurrying to catch Shadros.
“Where are they going?” Gersius said as the two dragons flew higher.
“The fool is going after the red,” Mingfe growled as she joined his side. “And by the looks of it, so is your Lilly.”
“We can't afford to stay here,” Ayawa barked as Gedris finished healing her. “After that crashing thunder, the whole city has to know something is going on.”
“Right, we need to go,” Gersius said and went to turn as vines started to crawl up his legs. He looked at Thayle, who was shocked as more started up hers.
“It’s a priestess of Ulustrah!” Gedris cried and turned about to listen for the song. “Their!” she pointed to a dark window where a shadow was moving.
Ayawa had two arrows in the air before the first one went through the open window, causing a woman to call out. The vines stopped growing, but suddenly an orange hammer raced out of the shadows and struck one of the priests of Balisha, throwing him to the ground.
Thayle reacted with speed, drawing glitterroot and using its power to counter the vines, causing them to unfurl. Gersius was free in a moment as another hammer came from behind, where three men and two women stepped out of the shadows.
“We didn’t kill all the traitor priestesses of Ulustrah,” Gersius said as the women raised green shields to protect the men.
“I will correct that mistake here,” Thayle said as she raged to see her Goddess's blessing used by traitors.
Tavis went into a weave as his hands started to glow red. The three men all produced hammers of Astikar and hurled them at the invaders, but dragon's claws rose to catch them. The surprise was over, and the battle began as traitor priests began to crawl out of the shadows. Three dragons twisted in a dance of teeth and claws in the sky above.
“You two, take some of the priests of Balisha and get to the temple!” Ayawa shouted and loosed an arrow into another window. “Go, we will delay them here!”
Gersius realized that time was precious, and the sooner they had the seals, the better. If his worst fears were to come true, then hundreds of enemy battle priests were about to descend on their location. His only hope was to get to the temple and get away before they were overwhelmed.
“You four with me!” Gersius shouted to the closest members of his faith and then turned to Thayle with a dire look in his eyes. “We have to find the seals,” he insisted.
Red weaves and arrows met green protective wards, while dragon's claws attempted to rake the other side even as more people stepped out of the shadows. The tide was going to turn, especially without his dragons, and Thayle realized it. She cried in frustration and ran with him to charge down the street, leaving the others to fight a desperate battle.
They found no opposition as they cleared a stone arch that marked the temple area and then came to a halt as four people stood on the temple steps.
“So our master was right,” the tall man in the center said as he stepped forward. “The prophecy would deliver you here, but I am afraid you will go no further.”
“And who are you to stand in my way?” Gersius asked as he slowed to a stalk and gripped the sword of Astikar tightly.
The strange man smiled, his copper skin reflecting the moonlight as his eyes filled with red fire. Behind him, the others did the same, two filling with blue, while the last red like the speaker.
“They’re all dragons,” Thayle said in alarm.
“Or blessed by them,” Gersius replied as he continued his advance, the four priests of Balisha nervously following.
“Come then and let us finish our game,” the man said as he drew a large sword of his own. “It is time for the dragon knights to die.”