The Dragonswarm (13 page)

I needed power. I needed power to survive. I needed victory and death.

But first
, Vechernyvetr said,
you need some rest.
I moved to his side entirely of my own accord.
And there is still so very much for you to learn.
I curled up upon the stone beside his warmth.
A little while more, and we'll be strong.
I took some comfort in those words and went to sleep.

After that the days and nights passed like running water, and the world went on without us. I learned to forget what the world was like outside, what human company had been like. Most of the time I even forgot that there were those who communicated out loud. When I remembered, it sometimes struck me as terribly lonely how much time I spent in the silence.

But I did not often remember. I lived within the quiet thrum of borrowed Chaos. I wrapped myself in air and summoned bursts of flame. We went to capture the green dame's clutch, but a vicious frenzy fell over me, and I tore three of the seven drakes to shreds before I bound their mother to the floor. Then Vechernyvetr crushed her mind beneath his own. And we grew strong.

We took her lair and added his hoard to hers so that our territory covered two and a half mountainsides. Some time later we found another lair just on the border of Vechernyvetr's new territory and subsumed a blue barely old enough to fly.

That one had no hoard to speak of, but it gave us another pair of wings, and we would send it searching every night for some new fight. It found villages and farms, but nothing rich enough to run the risk of facing men. It found a pair of drakes on different days, but by their markings they seemed to come from the same clutch. Vechernyvetr sent it searching farther and farther along the mountains, but it never found the dame.

The only item of any value from its hoard was a silver mirror set in gold. I'd fixed it in the wall of Vechernyvetr's lair and made myself a razor of Chaos power. The sixth night of the blue's hunt for the missing dame, I stood shaving at the mirror by the moonlight.

I barely recognized the man who looked out at me. I was skinny now, long and lean and hard as steel. My face was pale and sunken. And there was a sharpness to my eyes, an animal ferocity. I had never seen it in a mirror before, but it felt right at home for me. I grinned at my reflection, and all I saw was teeth.

A motion tore my attention to the cavern mouth as the blue came settling in. I turned to Vechernyvetr, sprawled lazily on his hoard. "
Anything tonight?
"

No. There is no sign of her anywhere inside my territory.

I growled low in my throat and stalked toward the blue. A Chaos blade formed in my grip as I went. "
We cannot trust in this one. It is weak and useless.
"

It is me
, Vechernyvetr snarled.
I use its wings, its eyes, but it is me, and I am not weak
.

"
Are you useless, then? Why can't you find us a fight?
"

He huffed two furious breaths before he answered.
She does not intrude on my domain. I cannot find her if she doesn't come—

"
She can't be far
," I thought. "
Let's go to her.
"

We should not leave my territory. Pazyarev has not forgotten us.

I spun the sword's blade in a wide arc, testing the feel of it. "
I have not forgotten Pazyarev either.
"

For a moment I felt worry from the dragon's heart, but then he laughed inside my head.
I have never had a man within my brood before. Have patience, little man. There are many nights to come, and much power yet to gain. We will fight Pazyarev in our time.

"I have no wish to wait. It has been days since we spilled blood."

Shall we strike against the farms, then? Just for fun?
His huge eyes fixed on me, intense, while he waited for the answer.

I considered it, and my eyes flicked to the dame, to the tired blue, to the handful of drakes fighting on the floor. At last I shook my head. "
Farmers who live this far from civilization will not be soft men. And what will they offer us? No. We need dragons for now.
"

Vechernyvetr's mouth fell open, and I realized after a moment he was trying unconsciously to smile. His delight glowed in the back of my mind.

That is your reason? You don't object to killing men?

I frowned. Something deep inside me shouted, "Yes. Of course I object." But the words never reached my mouth. There was power to be had, and that came first.

"
No,
" I said at last. "
I don't guess I do. But first, I want to find that dame.
"

I'll send the blue again at sunset,
he replied.

"
That's fine, but I am going now. Perhaps I'll find something you overlooked.
"

He hesitated, concerned, but he did not stop me. I nodded once, then headed out onto the hillside. I flew on the threads of air and stretched my legs across the steep terrain. I found a huge black bear and speared it through the eye for fun. I tracked all across Vechernyvetr's land, but I found no sign of the dame. At sunset I went back.

Are you satisfied?
he asked.

"
Not at all. I'll try again tomorrow.
"

After that, I didn't bother scouring the ground that he already searched. I went out to the border, and just as I approached the boundary he spoke within my mind.
Do not go far.

I didn't answer, I just left his mountainside and went exploring. The locations of the drakes we'd found offered a general direction, and it should not have been too hard to find her lair. Weeks living with Vechernyvetr's brood had taught me what to look for: boulders carved into a star by dragons sharpening their claws, abandoned corpses of their meals left undisturbed by scavengers, the scaling walls, the airing ledges, the charring vents.

Half a mile out, I caught a glimpse of a sharpening stone and cautiously crept closer. The rock was most of a pace across and scored with a five-pointed star. That represented strength enough to be a full adult. I scanned the shape of the terrain and found a likely-looking ledge. My wizard's sight revealed the opaque shadow of a dragon's lair buried in the hillside.

"
I've found her lair,
" I thought, but I got no reply. I looked over my shoulder, toward Vechernyvetr's lair, but it was miles away. He'd heard my thoughts from the far edge of his domain, but he couldn't hear them here.

I almost went back, but after threatening the blue for returning empty-handed, I wanted to be sure. My disguise would hide me well enough, I knew, and if it came down to a fight I'd probably win one empty-handed. I had powers no dragon had ever seen before. A sneer curled my lip as I started forward. I suspected my disguise alone might be enough to win the day. I wrapped myself in threads of air and called a Chaos blade into my hand.

But no blade came. No thunder pounded in my veins. The threads of air I'd caught danced lightly on the folds of my clothes, then washed away. I stopped, startled, then caught the smell, then saw what lay before me.

There was a dragon on the ledge. The dame I stalked, mottled green and brown, lay cooling on the stones outside her lair. She was breathing, if just barely. Her blood painted the dry stones, and her maw gaped as she wheezed a feeble keen. The belly was torn open, and the talons scrabbled weakly at the air.

For too long I stood paralyzed, stunned and motionless, then I turned on my heel and ran, straight for Vechernyvetr's lair.

I nearly made it there.

Pazyarev's voice came crashing in my head, victorious and smug.
I smelled you from a mile away
.

I stumbled from the weight of it, then shored up my defenses. They were much stronger now. I tried again to spin a cloak of air, but it would not manifest. I scanned the sky above and saw a dragon coming from the west. It was not Pazyarev, but one of his broodlings—perhaps the red that had carried me to his lair. It flew in low and fast, aiming for me like an arrow.

I ran.

I was ready to give up
. He laughed.
Ready to forget these worn-down hills. I killed a hundred wretched little worms trying to find your lair. And now you come to me.

I didn't answer. I sprinted for all I was worth, trying desperately to recognize the spot where I'd last heard from Vechernyvetr. It shouldn't have been far, and I could feel the right direction, but nothing looked familiar now.

Thirty nights I've searched for you. You hide like a champion rabbit. But I've been savoring the kill that was to come. And not just you.
He laughed again, and it hammered at my mind.

I missed a step and slipped on loose stone, and the stumble saved my life. The dragon's talons closed on empty air where I had been. I rolled aside and barely dodged the tail strike, then I was on my feet and running again. And there, ahead, I saw a fallen log I recognized.

I dove for it while the dragon doubled back.

A clever hare
, he said, still so self-assured.
But I will have you yet. I'm near, you know, or this little red couldn't reach your mind. I've cast my shadow over cities on the plains. I've burned some down. But there's no pleasure while you both still live.
He sighed inside my head.
It won't be long
.

I leaped the fallen log, heart hammering in my chest, and now I felt a counter-tempo beat. Chaos power came flooding in. The dragon passed again, and as it came I made a blade. I spun and dove and slashed, and the monster's blood carved an arc in the air over my head. The dragon roared in pain and rage, but I didn't stay to fight it. I wrapped myself in air and flew away.

I saw the injured red circling down below, searching for me, and in the distance heard Pazyarev's voice, the thunder falling smaller and smaller with distance.
I'll find you yet. Now I know you're here. But not just you. I've tasted your memories. It will be fun to kill your...Isabelle
.

The name was barely more than a whisper, but it nearly ripped me from the sky. My concentration shattered and I lost control of the web of air around me. I barely kept enough focus to hold my camouflage in place. I hit the ground as fast as a galloping horse and rolled a dozen paces over stony, rough terrain.

I skidded to a stop, then lay perfectly still, fighting for my breath and focusing on my thin disguise. I watched the sky, but the commotion of my crash had not drawn the red's attention. Still I waited, Chaos fear and anger pounding in my veins.

But there was something else. An unfamiliar warmth, an empty pain deep in my belly. My chest felt crushed, and I fought to catch a breath. Inside my head, I heard her name again.
Isabelle
. My Isabelle. I could see her blue-gray eyes and taste her scent. The memory of human touch—of her soft fingers on my skin—sank into me like hunger. Loneliness and fear and pain that I had held so long at bay while in the Chaos fever dream all now came crashing down.

I remembered Isabelle when Pazyarev spoke her name. He meant to harm her because he could not harm me. I imagined Teelevon beneath his shadow. They had no walls; they had no guards; they had no chance against a dragon.

Scrapes and bruises could not stop me. I found my feet and wrapped myself in air again and flew toward Vechernyvetr's lair. As I went, I heard him in my mind.

You are alive?

"
I am. Where have you been?
"

Watching him. He spent some time within my territory, searching for you and calling out to me.

"
Now he's gone?
"

For the moment, yes.
He was silent for a while, angry and afraid. At last he said,
I told you not to leave our territory
.

"
It would not have mattered. He was close. If any of us had been near that border he'd have seen us.
"

But it was you he saw. You almost died.

"
I got away
," I snapped, my mind on other things.

The Chaos threads of air set me down inside his den, and I went straight to the corner I considered mine. There was the mirror in the wall, a pile of blankets on the floor, and a pathetic little hoard off to one side. No treasures there, but human things—castoffs and scavenged clothes. We hadn't raided villages, but the blue had found abandoned farms as well, and I'd collected boots and cloaks and clothes my size.

But now I had to leave. I had to go to Teelevon. With the power I controlled, I might protect them. It was a better chance than they had on their own, anyway. I tried not to think what had happened near the dame's lair. It didn't matter. I had to go to Isabelle.

I traded out my belt for one slightly less worn and kicked several boots aside but saw none better. I stooped to grab a heavy cloak and swung it around my shoulders, then glanced in the mirror. My face was torn and bruised. A hand scrubbed across my cheek only smeared the mud and blood there, so I shook my head and turned away.

Vechernyvetr stood before me, blocking the cavern's exit. His head was low against the ground, his eyes narrowed.
What is in your heart?
he asked.

"
We have to go to Teelevon,
" I told him. "
You've been there once before. We must protect them again.
"

He shook his massive head.
We will not leave this place. Not while he still hunts us.

"
I have to go. There is no choice. Pazyarev means to kill my family. He means to destroy my home."

You have a lair right here
, he said, his voice a growl.
You have a brood with me.

I stretched an imploring hand toward him. "
You are my brood. You're all I have against that monster. But this is something I must do. Take me there.
"

No. It would be foolish to go now. I told you that already. We bide our time, we build our strength—

"
I can't wait for that. He's hunting Isabelle.
"

There are other dames. Your kind has quite a few
.

I stared at him for a moment, trying to find the words. There was something that felt like reason in his argument. Something inside me wanted to stay here, to cower from the bigger beast and conquer smaller prey. Fear and hunger, survival and power, they'd driven me for days outside my human reason.