The Wings of Dragons: Book One of the Dragoon Saga (30 page)

To worsen matters, the plain was no desert.
Thick, moisture-laden clouds filled the sky, stretching over the
expanse all the way to the horizon. Lightning arced from sky to
ground and cloud to cloud dozens of times each second. The storm
gushed with rain, the greatest downpour Iren had ever witnessed.
Even so, the ground remained baked. The heat of the flames
evaporated any precipitation long before it hit the ground.
Combined with the fires, the storm bathed the field in an unearthly
glow.

Iren fell to his knees before the terrible
landscape. Juxtaposed with the natural splendor of Ziorsecth, he
could hardly believe such polar opposites could stand one another’s
presence.

“
Welcome to Serona, Iren,”
Rondel said. “Welcome to the home of the Maantecs.”

Iren whipped his head to face her. He
couldn’t believe this was Serona, home of the greatest civilization
in the history of Raa.

Rondel clutched her arms to her chest. “It
didn’t always look this way. For thousands of years, Serona was
lush and green. The final battle of the Kodama-Maantec War turned
it into what you see.”

Iren struggled to find his voice, finally
saying dubiously, “That happened a thousand years ago.”

“
The dragons don’t think
about time the way we do. When we cause disasters like this, the
repercussions must linger. That way, future generations will
understand the consequences of wielding weapons they cannot
control.” Rondel pointed at the nearest crevasse as its flame rent
the air asunder. “See those fires? Underneath Serona sits a
gigantic lake of lava. Prior to the Kodama-Maantec War, it provided
us with hot springs and majestic geysers. On the day of the final
battle, though, it became Serona’s undoing. When the Kodamas
invaded, the Fire Dragon Knight, a Maantec named Nadav, used his
biological magic to call the fires from the depths. He died in the
process. The very fires he summoned enveloped and consumed
him.”

Iren gave her an odd look. “Did you say
Nadav?”

“
Yes, what of
it?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. I have the
feeling I’ve heard that name before.”

Rolling her eyes, Rondel replied, “You
interrupted me just for that? Honestly, do you have any attention
span whatsoever? Anyway, after Nadav died, neither the Kodamas nor
the Maantecs could rescind the fires. Working with the Water Dragon
Knight, a Kodama, I used nearly all my magic to create a massive
storm, the clouds you see overhead. The Water Dragon Knight
perished, and I became the withered crone before you. Despite our
sacrifice, though, the fires surpassed us. Their heat simply
energized the storm, ensuring that it would never abate. I tried to
improve the situation, but in the end, I only made it worse.”

Iren stared across the desolate landscape.
All this destruction had happened because of Iren Saito and his
war. Iren gulped. Although he didn’t want to, he knew he needed to
ask. “Rondel, why did you name me after Iren Saito, someone who
brought so much pain into the world? Was it because you hated
Maantecs? You wanted me to suffer, so you gave me his name as a
punishment?”

Rondel’s focus shifted out over Serona. Her
mouth worked slowly, chewing on the words she planned to say. At
length she answered, “Despite what you may think, I am not that
vindictive. Amroth merely caught me by surprise when he revealed
you. When I first saw you, I couldn’t help but think of Saito. Even
as an infant, you bore an uncanny resemblance to him. I wish now
that I had named you differently, but I must admit, it fits you
well. You still look like him, and the two of you have a lot in
common, more than you realize.”

“
How can you compare me to
him?” Iren protested. “Iren Saito was a monster!”

She shook her head, a nostalgic smile on her
face. “In the end, yes, but when I first met him, I had never
encountered a gentler person. After my parents died, other than the
Storm Dragon Knight, no one cared about or even noticed me. Iren
Saito did. He healed me from my sorrow. I don’t think I ever
laughed as much as when I spent time with him. The day he asked me
to marry him was the happiest of my life.”

Iren’s jaw dropped. “Iren Saito was your
husband?”

Rondel flushed. “When he and I wed, I
thought of nothing but the bliss of our immortality together.” Her
expression soured. “How dreams fade.”

“
What happened?”

Serona’s flames reflected in the old
Maantec’s emerald eyes. “He became the Holy Dragon Knight and
Emperor of the Maantecs along with it. Over time, his status
changed him. He became convinced of Maantec superiority. He said
the other races needed our guidance to survive and that Raa could
only have peace if Maantecs ruled it. I went along with him at
first. He still captivated me, and when he spoke, I couldn’t help
but melt before him. Eventually, though, I could no longer support
him. I know I made the right choice when I marched against him in
the final battle, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have any regrets.
To this day, when I think of him, I still see the young man who
rescued me from despair and taught me how to love.”

Rondel gazed at Iren with longing. “Remember
how I told you I drank so that I could approach you? I did that not
just because of your Maantec heritage, but because you reminded me
of Saito. Though he died a thousand years ago, you and he share a
lot in common. Iren Saito was selfish and arrogant, but he also had
a kindness and nobility that few Maantecs possess. He had a strong
desire to protect others, no matter the cost to himself.” She
laughed a little. “He also had a tendency to be headstrong and not
to listen to his elders. Sound familiar?”

Iren gestured harshly at the burning plain.
“Now I understand why you and Aletas wanted me brought here. By
showing me the disaster Iren Saito created, you thought you would
provide such a searing image that I wouldn’t repeat his mistake.
You believed that since I share so much in common with Saito, I
would turn out just like him.”

Rondel shrugged. “Aletas might think that,
but I don’t. At least, not anymore. Admittedly, that’s why I didn’t
tell you everything about magic when we first met in Lodia. I
feared teaching you more than absolutely necessary, in case you did
wind up like him. However, I no longer have that fear.”

Desperate hope filled Iren’s heart. “Why
not?”

“
When we first encountered
Minawë, in Akaku, you could have left her and pursued your revenge.
Instead, you helped her. Iren Saito would not have made that
choice. He may have started the Kodama-Maantec War with intentions
of protecting others, but he became so obsessed with victory that
he lost sight of that goal. When I reunited with you in
Yuushingaral and saw Minawë still alive, I knew I could put my
faith in you. Tell me; after all the alcohol you saw me drink in
Lodia, how much have I had since we met in Aletas’s
tree?”

Iren thought back. “Aside from the glass you
were drinking when we first reconnected, not a drop. You didn’t
bring any with you on this trip.”

“
Correct. I no longer need
it. When you threw away your desire for revenge in order to help
Minawë, I realized that while you and my husband are similar,
you’re also very different. Back when we were traveling in Lodia
with Amroth and Balear, I couldn’t bring myself to look at your
face. Every time I tried, I saw Saito staring back at me. But now I
don’t have any difficulty looking you in the eye, because when I
look at you now, I no longer see Iren Saito.” She smiled genuinely.
“I see Iren Saitosan.”

Iren beamed at the compliment, but then a
new confusion came to him. “Wait. If you didn’t bring me here
because you feared I would become another Iren Saito, why did we
have to trudge all the way out here in the first place?”

Rondel folded her arms. “I say all these
kind things to you, and that’s how you respond? If you must know, I
wanted to motivate you, slacker. See those fires out there? The
Karyozaki created them. I brought you here not because of Iren
Saito, but because of the Fire Dragon, Feng. That monster enjoys
destruction, and he chooses his Dragon Knights well. Nadav believed
in strength and nothing else. He believed that the strong deserved
to live, and the weak deserved to die. A thousand years later,
Amroth seems almost like Nadav reincarnated. I brought you here to
understand the consequences of failure. Should Amroth triumph, the
fires of Serona will no doubt spread and engulf the world.”

Iren’s throat felt dry, and not just because
of Serona’s heat. Horrid visions danced through his mind: Lodia’s
fertile fields naked and withered, and Ziorsecth and Akaku Forests
without a single tree.

“
Come,” Rondel interjected
on his reverie. “We must not linger. No living creature can survive
Serona, and even to dwell on its edge invites death. We’ll find a
place to rest and then resume your training.”

The old Maantec turned to reenter the woods,
but Iren suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist. “Rondel, I
just remembered.”

She looked curiously back at him, then
started at his ashen face. “What is it?”

“
That
name . . . Nadav. I knew I’d heard it before,
but I couldn’t place it. What you said just now, though, triggered
my memory. Amroth mentioned it to me, the first night we left
Haldessa. He said Nadav was his commander in Caardit.”

Now Rondel’s turn to tremble and sweat had
come. “Nadav?” she repeated, panic in her voice. “You’re
certain?”

The moment Iren nodded, all the color
drained from her face as well. “We must return to Yuushingaral
immediately!” she cried. “Even now, we may be too late!”

Rondel shot back into the forest, her speed
enhanced by magic. Iren kept pace with her, and she loosed a grim
smile at his progress. In four short months of training, he had
come far. As he sped through Ziorsecth, his body blurring alongside
Rondel’s, she wondered if he finally comprehended her tough
teaching strategy. By pushing Iren to the brink of what his body
could do, Rondel had forced the young Maantec to greatly increase
the amount of environmental magic he could use. That magic now
carried him as swift as any eagle. Still, she knew he hadn’t
progressed enough, not considering what Iren had just told her.

She finally understood Amroth. All of his
plans, all of his deceptions, the true purposes behind them made
perfect sense to her. It made her furious, the way the man had
fooled her. In spite of her Lightning Sight, he had totally blinded
her to his true identity.

“
Rondel,” Iren shouted,
“what’s happened? What does some militia leader in Caardit have to
do with the Fire Dragon Knight of a thousand years ago?”

“
Everything,” she replied,
Lightning Sight activating as her rage took her, “they’re one and
the same.”

“
What? How is that
possible?”

She gritted her teeth. “Nadav isn’t a Lodian
name. It’s Maantec, and in the last thousand years, I’ve known of
only one.”

“
You said Nadav died in the
Kodama-Maantec War!” Iren countered. “How could Amroth know about
him?”

“
Because Amroth is a
Maantec.”

“
Impossible! You’re
joking!”

“
I wish. He must have
hidden his left-handedness all the time he lived in Lodia. He
probably even strategically used some of his biological magic in
Haldessa to gradually age himself, all to reduce any suspicion of
his Maantec heritage.”

“
Maantec or not,” Iren
asked, “what connects Amroth to Nadav?”

“
Amroth must have served
under Nadav in the Kodama-Maantec War. During the war, Nadav
campaigned in Lodia, trying to bring the humans under Maantec
control to fight the Kodamas. However, a force of humans, Tengu,
and Kodamas rose in union against him and all but wiped out his
army outside Caardit. With no other options for retreat, Nadav took
his few survivors north into the frozen wastes of Charda, where the
other races dared not follow. According to the report he later gave
Iren Saito, Nadav relied on his fire magic to keep his men alive.
He even risked excursions into Ziorsecth to bring the men food,
since almost none exists in Charda. Eventually, Nadav got the
entire group back to Serona, thin and weary but alive. From that
moment on, Nadav’s companies showed absolute loyalty to their
commander, and they always fought harder than any other unit. Any
one of them would gladly have died to support the man who
successfully brought them through that icy nightmare.”

“
That means Amroth fought
in the Kodama-Maantec War,” Iren said. “He’s one of the few
Maantecs who survived the final battle.”

Rondel nodded. “During that battle, all
Nadav’s men rallied around him. When Nadav unleashed the fires
beneath Serona, the flames swallowed up him and his companions.
They even destroyed the Karyozaki.”

“
If the fires destroyed the
sword,” Iren asked, “how did that Oni back in Akaku get
it?”

“
That had me puzzled from
the moment I first laid eyes on Hezna, but I think I can finally
guess at least some of what happened. Amroth, perhaps alone of
Nadav’s men, escaped the fires and found Feng’s gem, the Burning
Ruby. The stones containing the dragons are indestructible, so even
Serona’s flames couldn’t melt it. Amroth must have spent the last
thousand years trying to reforge the Karyozaki.”

“
He obviously
succeeded.”

“
Yes,” Rondel admitted,
“which begs the question, how did Hezna acquire it and not Amroth?
I suppose at this point it has little relevance. The more immediate
problem is that Amroth can finally achieve his ultimate
objective.”