If you place your head in a lion's mouth, then you cannot complain one day if he happens to bite it off. -- Agatha Christie
Gradoné was a large and sprawling city. To search all of it Abi would have had to make constant back-and-forth trips from one end to the other, which would take at least a day. She didn't spot any survivors in the city centre. Nor did she spot any outdoor theatres, or any other place she could lure the monsters into.
She was just about to turn back and admit defeat when she discovered the very thing she'd been looking for. It was a very large outdoor theatre. A banner strung over the stage proclaimed that it would soon host a performance of a famous playwright's best-known work. The stage was large enough to hold an ordinary-sized house. Best of all, it had no permanent seats like in an indoor theatre and therefore nothing for the monsters to hide behind.
Abi descended to have a better look. She examined the stone steps where the chairs would be placed. She examined the orchestra pit, which was concealed from the weather by a large and heavy door that would be rolled back during a performance. She examined the stage, which was carved out of stone. The only flammable thing in the place was the banner. It was an ideal place to lure the monsters to a fiery death.
She wheeled round and headed back to the spaceport.
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Somehow or other Lian had found a board game in the spaceport -- though Irímé suspected he had actually teleported away somewhere to get it -- and when Shizuki woke up the three of them played a round. None of them were quite sure of the rules or why some pieces were shaped like mice and others like fish, so they treated it as if it was a game of langhar[1].
Within minutes what had started as a way to pass the time became an intense battle. Any onlooker would have assumed that vast sums of money rested on the outcome of the game, from how carefully the three of them considered each move.
Shizuki picked up one of his pieces and moved it in front of Lian's. "You're out!"
Lian shook his head. "Not yet. I still have two more pieces."
Irímé moved one of his pieces in front of both Shizuki's and another of Lian's. "One more piece."
Shizuki picked up two pieces at a time and placed one in front of Irímé's and the other in front of Lian's remaining piece. "You're both out!"
"That's against the rules," Irímé objected.
"What rules?"
"The rules we agreed on. We said we can only move one piece at a time."
Shizuki stuck his tongue out. "Doesn't matter. We didn't write it down so it doesn't count."
"Oh yes I did." Irímé took his notebook out of his pocket. He flipped to the page where he'd written their makeshift rules. "See for yourself."
Shizuki scowled and folded his arms. "Still doesn't matter. "
The argument would have continued in that vein, but came to an abrupt halt when they heard the sound of a door closing. At once they all froze. Footsteps crossed the hall, heading directly towards them. Irímé looked nervously to Lian for guidance.
"I don't think it's a monster. They walk more slowly," Lian said.
The door opened.
"I have good news and bad news," Abi announced as if she was continuing a conversation started a few minutes ago. "The good news is, I found a place we can lure them to. The bad news is, it's about two miles away. And the monsters become more active as the sun sets. On my way back here I saw a crowd of them crawl out of the city hall as soon as the light stopped shining on the doorway. And I didn't see any survivors." She saw the appalled look on Irímé's face and quickly tried to make things slightly better. "That doesn't mean there aren't any! I just didn't see them!"
Lian went to the window. "Did you see any monsters heading this way?"
"No. But I thought that if there are any around, it would be better to call them here than let them wander around the city. We can kill them as soon as they walk in."
"Good idea," Lian said, to Irímé's horror.
"What do you mean, good idea? Shizuki's here!"
"But we can barricade him into this room so the monsters can't get anywhere near him."
"I don't wanna be left out!" Shizuki complained. "I can kill monsters too!"
"You most certainly will not," Irímé said grimly. It looked like Shizuki was still going to protest, so he added, "Just think of what your father would say." Shizuki fell silent, but he still looked mutinous. Irímé continued in a resigned voice, "I still think this is a terrible idea. But if anything will dissuade the monsters from attacking at all, it'll be a dragon. And I might as well turn into a dragon now."
Shizuki brightened up at once. "Take me flying?" he asked hopefully.
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Irímé considered this, realised he had to learn how to fly at some point and really couldn't get out of it, and nodded wearily. "But only around the spaceport, and not very high."
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Turning into a dragon this time was easier than Irímé feared. In his snake form Shizuki wrapped himself tightly around Irímé's neck. To make absolutely sure he wouldn't fall off, Irímé shook his head gently. Shizuki stayed firmly in place.
Lian stared up at Irímé in bemusement. "Huh. I've never seen a blue dragon before. All the others have been black or red."
Until now it hadn't occurred to Irímé that there were any other dragons on Vanerth. No one had heard or seen of any since the last one flew away centuries ago, long before Irímé was born. If there were any other dragon immortals around, they kept it very quiet.
Abi voiced what he was thinking. "You've met other dragons?"
"Not on this planet," Lian said, to Irímé's mingled relief and disappointment. He felt nervous at the idea of meeting another dragon, but at the same time he would like to meet one. "On another planet in a different galaxy."
Shizuki hissed in Irímé's ear. "Come on! Let's go!"
Irímé opened his wings then paused. How was he supposed to fly, anyway? More to the point, how would he keep from falling?
Abi guessed what the problem was. "You don't know how to fly, do you?" Irímé shook his head. "I'll show you. Just follow me, and try not to think too much about it. If you think too much you'll fall."
How reassuring, Irímé thought sarcastically in Abi's general direction.
She turned into a phoenix again and took off as if she'd known how to fly for all her life. Irímé intently studied the way her wings moved as she circled overhead. Very warily he attempted to move his own wings in the same way. He was so intent on trying to copy her that it took him a minute to realise he was flying -- though slowly and less than a foot above the ground. Then he panicked and landed abruptly with a thud.
Shizuki gave a disappointed hiss. "Fly again! Higher this time! You can do it!"
To be honest Irímé would have preferred to do it without an audience trying to encourage him. He grimaced but tried again. This time he managed to fly higher and for longer. Abi literally flew circles around him and made weird chirping sing-song noises that she probably meant to be reassuring.
Then Irímé's wings tired and he had to land again. Abi, damn her, acted as if she'd never learnt the meaning of the word "tired" and swooped around as carelessly as if she was a real bird.
By the time Irímé managed to fly all the way around the spaceport, the sun was starting to set and Shizuki was starting to shiver. Irímé couldn't feel the cold himself, but he sensed that the temperature had changed.
The monsters could be on their way here right now, he thought with a shudder.
He turned his head to look at Shizuki. "Go inside now. It's too cold for you to stay out." It was also too dangerous, but he knew that argument wouldn't get him anywhere.
Shizuki thought for a minute, then nodded and slithered down. He turned back into a boy and went back into the spaceport. Lian had already gone inside and was apparently turning the entrance room into a makeshift kitchen. As soon as Shizuki went in Lian gave him a bowl of what looked like soup and sent him back to the room they'd turned into their headquarters.
Abi landed on the roof of the spaceship still parked on the landing area. In the growing darkness her feathers shone with increasing brightness. Their clashing colours blurred together into a brilliant mixture of white and purplish fire. When it was fully dark her phoenix form might as well be a beacon visible for miles around.
Lian leaned out the door. "Do either of you want soup?"
Irímé shook his head. Logically he knew he should feel hungry after going so long without eating anything, but he found he didn't. Abi flew over and turned back into her winged in-between form. She took a bowl of soup and sat down on one of the benches outside the spaceport to eat it.
"Where did you find soup?" she asked. To prevent her wings getting stuck in the back of the bench she held them awkwardly outstretched and raised.
"In the kitchen," Lian said. "I think it was meant for the staff; it isn't big enough to provide for all the passengers. But it has a few unopened tins of soup and I think I saw some packets of biscuits and dried fruit, so we won't starve." He looked at Abi's wings. "Why don't you fully change back?"
"I'm warmer like this. And I'm going to change into a phoenix again, so there's not much point in fully changing." She looked at him curiously. "Are you a shapeshifter too?"
It was hard to tell in the gathering darkness, but Irímé thought he saw Lian wince. "I used to be. Then I discovered that dark magic does something to your ability to shapeshift."
"You can't shapeshift any more?" Abi sounded horrified at this idea.
"I can, but into something... Well, it's better if I don't."
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On the day after Kitri's arrival the mayor finally risked giving the order to open the gates. None of the monsters had reappeared since that first night, and the town was running short of supplies.
"We weren't expecting a siege so we didn't stockpile food," the mayor explained. "When we collect enough supplies we can shut the gates again and hold out for at least a month."
Kitri took a gun, a sword, and a crossbow from the armoury. "I'm going to the capital."
The mayor wrung her hands in dismay. "You can't, young lady! It's too dangerous! Why, you'd have to cover ninety miles just to get to the Strait of Vauralok, and Gradoné is another fifty miles from there!"
"I'm not planning to go on foot. The nearest station of the ghurmalath-úthernu[2] is less than ten miles away. I'll take a horse and I'll get there long before night. My uncle's a conductor on one of the lines and taught me how to control the carriages. They're high off the ground so those monsters can't get at them. I'll travel to the capital in one of them."
The mayor shook her head. "I think you're just putting yourself in unnecessary danger."
"I have to get to Saoridhlém."
Nothing anyone could say would make her change her mind. Finally they all gave up and let her go. Kitri borrowed a horse, took a map, and set off on her journey.
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Night fell. It wasn't normal for a city to be quiet. Irímé remembered his trips to Eldrin with a shudder. When staying in a hotel he'd always found it hard to get to sleep with all the noise outside, and no matter where you were in the city you couldn't drown it out completely. This city was the opposite. It was so quiet that the faint rustling sound of Abi's feathers was distinctly audible when she flew around the spaceport, even when she was on the far side of the building.
Dragons had better hearing than immortals. If there were any other noises he should have picked them up at once. But the place was as silent as the royal crypt. It set Irímé's teeth on edge.
Abi circled overhead. Her feathers shone so brightly she looked like a small comet. She landed on the gate of the spaceport. It was the only way in and Irímé lay facing it so nothing could sneak up on them. She trilled softly. In this form Irímé had no way to tell her he couldn't understand her. He tried to get the message across by tilting his head to the side and giving her an unimpressed look.
It didn't work. She took off and glided away towards the main city. Irímé watched her until she was just a tiny speck in the distance. He frowned.
Where was she going, and how much trouble was she going to get them all into?