Christopher Rowley - Bazil 07 - Dragon Ultimate

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Dragon Ultimate by

Christopher Rowley

Prologue

On the great slope carved by Eras stood the pyramids of the Sinni.

Bathed in the perpetual brilliance of the giant blue sun, they resembled a

small city, clustered in concentric rings.

Within the protection of these pyramidal 'structs, the Sinni dwelled in

crystal bubbles.

From here they fought the war against chaos and darkness, right

across the Sphereboard of Destiny. Thus they had dwelled for aeons. But

now an ancient menace had turned its attention to them.

"And I say unto you my brothers and sisters. He was defeated, but not

destroyed."

"I hear you, great Yeer," said Vuga, known for his mildness of

temperament. "But what can be done? He retired to Haddish, and there

he broods."

" We must prepare, for he now knows where we are. For aeons we

have kept him from that knowledge, but he has now acquired it."

An anxious silence fell. Then debate welled up, colored by newfound

fear.

"If he has learned our location, then it is only a matter of time." So

spoke grave Auriga. "He will find away to attack us."

"How can he approach us? It is not as if he can simply come here. He

wouldn't survive a moment on the surface."

"My dear Voolan, you have not thought it through. He will come in

some protected form. He is a master of transformations. He will find a

way."

"Then we must destroy him We must seek him out and put an end to

his existence, as should have been done long, long ago "

"But we have never had the strength to do that "

"I fear that he cannot be destroyed He is beyond the power of the

mortals "

"We must make some provision, " said Yeer "For he will come "

Chapter One

The bells of the Temple in Marneri rang out with wild exhilaration.

Drums thundered in Tower Street and crowds stretched all the way down

to the harbor, where the great white ships Barley and Oat rode at anchor,

flying flags at every mast. Their ships' horns blared out a response to the

bells of the land, adding to the riotous joy.

The siege of Axoxo was over. The enemy fortress, that matchless barrier

of serried walls, mighty towers, and frowning battlements, had fallen. By a

brilliant stroke of arms, the most difficult military engagement ever

undertaken by the armies of the Empire of the Rose had come to a sudden

and complete success.

As a result, the strategic balance of power with the old enemy in

Padmasa had shifted toward the Empire of the Rose. Victory in the long

war, which had continued for hundreds of years, was now conceivable.

Armies of the Argonath cities now held both ends of the Padmasan

defense system: Tummuz Orgmeen in the northern Gan had fallen a few

years before. Now Axoxo of the White Bones Mountains had succumbed

as well.

All over the Argonath bells were ringing as the troops came marching

home. The crowds along Tower Street had come from all across Marneri,

and even from the other city-states. Together they cheered the men of the

Marneri First Legion, the Bea Legion and the Pennar Legion, who had

fought alongside the Marneri First in the final assault on the fortress.

There was a manic edge to the joy in the streets. Just a few months

before the city had been facing the possibility of a siege at the hands of

rebels from the province of Aubinas. Now not only was that threat

removed, but the long, draining siege of Axoxo had ended.

Marneri and the other cities had suffered heavy casualties in recent

campaigns, particularly the mission to distant Eigo. That cost in lives had

a disastrous effect on morale, and the fear of further casualties had

inhibited the Argonath army at Axoxo. Now, that mighty fortress was

taken, and with the loss of only 130 men and no dragons.

The stunning victory was achieved through a daring surprise assault,

performed by meticulously trained troops in the hour before dawn. They

had breached the walls and caught the troll guard asleep in quarters.

Trolls that were lying down, groggy with sleep, proved quite killable by

men working with spears and axes. They cut the monsters' throats and

bashed in their skulls before they could get themselves onto their

ponderous feet and seize their weapons.

The slaughter of imps, trolls, and mercenary men had continued fitfully

through the day as pockets of resistance were taken, sometimes in fierce

fighting. But by then the Argonathi soldiers were assisted by the dragons

of the 66th, 59th and 120th Dragon Squadrons, and this kept the

casualties down to a minimum.

The city of Marneri was decked out in bunting and flags for the

occasion, and the taverns were dispensing free wheat beer, and feasts were

being held on every street and every corner.

Folk had flocked in from all the surrounding provinces. Men of Seant,

Lucule, and Blue Hills, were there in great numbers. But they also came

from places much farther away, like the village of Quosh in Blue Stone,

which was a good five days' ride to the south.

There were even folk from Aubinas, the great wheat-growing province

in the west. The rebellion there had subsided to a sputtering guerrilla

conflict, consisting for the most part of raids by night riders. The towns

were pacified, and the chief rebels were either in custody or had fled. The

common folk of Aubinas had not been altogether behind the rebellion,

except when inflamed by the burning of Redhill a much-misunderstood

event during the early fighting. Now the common folk of Aubinas were

there in the city to celebrate alongside their fellow citizens.

For once, the 109th Marneri Dragons were not in the ranks of the

marching victors. Following their special service in the Aubinan fighting

of the previous summer, they had been put on reserve duty. Since then the

109th, the most famous dragon squadron in the Legions, had been cooling

its heels up at Dashwood Camp.

During that time there had come a move to disband the unit and

disperse its members to other, newer dragon squadrons. Voices high in

the army command claimed that the unit was too famous, too well known,

and too prone to insubordination. All sorts of rumors abounded about

what had happened at the battle of Avery Woods as well as in Aubinas.

The fighting 109th broken up? Never! Roared their supporters. A fierce

bureaucratic struggle was joined.

Meanwhile the winter passed, then the spring and the summer. Again

and again they received word that they were about to be sent to Axoxo.

Again and again the final order never came. Officers relaxed, dragonboys

wearily gave back all the extra freecoats and other equipment they'd

accumulated for the arctic conditions to be expected in the White Bones

Mountains, and dragons cheerfully took up their axes and marched out to

the woodlots to cut and haul firewood.

And then there'd come the sudden, groundshaking news that the

fortress had fallen to a brilliant surprise stroke. So the 109th Marneri

Dragons were standing among the crowds welcoming home the

conquering heroes, a change for them, they had noted with some

amusement.

"This dragon happy not to have had to march all the way to Axoxo in

the first place," said Alsebra, expressing a view held by all.

For the parade they were positioned very well, just where Tower Street

opened out onto the wide parade ground in front of the tower. They sang

dragon songs and even a round or two of the Kenor song to welcome the

men back, but they really lit up when the dragon squadrons came

marching up the street. The dragons roared welcomes back and forth.

There was Burthong, the champion Brasshide dragon, who'd stood

beside them at the battle of Sprian's Ridge, and Champa, the old

leatherback veteran from the Teetol Wars.

After the marching and the speeches were over, festivities got under

way in the dragonhouse. Beer and hot vittles were served up in great

quantities, and dragonboys from all the units present were mixed together

in the refectory. It wasn't long before the question was asked.

"Where's Relkin?"

"Don't ask," came the response from Swane of Seant.

"Poor Relkin," said little Jak.

"What happened?"

"Witches got him. They took him away."

"Where?"

"The Islands. Months back."

"He wrote us a letter once."

"They cut bits out of it before they let us see it."

"He'll never get back."

"Who's looking after his dragon?"

"Curf."

"Curf!"

"Don't ask."

Indeed, dragonboy eyes could instantly see the difference in the

Broketail dragon. His hide hadn't been brushed very well in a long time.

His joboquin was full of loose places. The dragonboys sighed at the waste.

The legendary Broketail dragon, which any one of them would have given

an arm to tend for, was in the care of Curf!

The carousing went on late into the night. The dancing on the temple

forecourt was still going strong as the bells rang for midnight.

In all the commotion no one noticed the hunched figure stumbling

along Dock Street. No one noticed it drop a squirming sack on the ground

behind the run-down warehouses by Bleek Street.

A knife flashed and the sack was cut open to disgorge a dozen or more

black rats which streaked away to cover as soon as they were out of the

bag.

Chapter Two

Across the Bright Sea from the Argonath lay the Isles of Cunfshon, the

spiritual home of the reborn civilization of the Nine Argonath cities.

There, on a bluff overlooking the great harbor of the city of Cunfshon

stood the official city of Andiquant, nerve center of the Empire of the

Rose.

Within the walls of Andiquant stretched rows of brick buildings,

housing the offices of the bureaucracy that ran the empire. In one of those

anonymous buildings lay the Office of Insight, an organization that dealt

with diplomatic matters, trade issues, and military strategy.

Buried within the Office of Insight was a hidden suite of offices for the

shadowy Office of Unusual Insight, the witch-run secret service of the

empire.

In a plain little room at the end of a bland corridor of equally plain little

rooms, four witches met around a square, wooden table.

On the left side sat a woman of plain and unexpressive features clad in

an old, well-worn, gray smock under a homespun robe. On the right sat a

regal figure in black velvet, her face a mask of ancient full-lipped beauty,

her eyes alight with a deadly, penetrating intelligence.

Between these two polar opposites—the Gray Lady, Lessis of Valmes,

and the Queen of Mice, Ribela of Defwode—sat the minor witches Bell and

Selera.

Clad in the robes of their order, the younger witches kept a humble

profile while in the presence of these two greatwitches.

It could be very intimidating to be caught in the gaze of those

five-hundred-year-old minds. But neither Bell's broad brown face, nor

Selera's pale, narrow features betrayed their unease.

"You have worked hard, sisters," said Lessis.

Bell felt her spirits lift. At least that much had been recognized.

"Indeed, as an inquisition it was very thorough," Lessis murmured.

Bell watched for the signs of a spell. Lessis was famous for throwing the

most subtle spells in ordinary conversation. She needn't have concerned

herself. No spells could be cast under the eyes of the other greatwitch

present.

Lessis sighed. "Still, we've learned very little."

This was the embarrassing truth.

"Relkin has no understanding of the processes involved in the magic,"

said Selera.

"He is an elemental, of a new type," said Bell, boldly.

Both the greatwitches turned their heads at the same moment at these

words.

"An elemental? One should not make such claims lightly," said Ribela.

"I know, Lady, but consider the powers involved and the complete lack

of the technique required for sorcery on such a scale. Relkin knows not

what he does, but still he does it."

Lessis caught Bell's eye.

"The mark of the Sinni, you have seen it?"

Bell hesitated, looked up into Lessis's eyes, and found them peculiarly

piercing. The witch peers into my very soul...she thought. But of course

Lessis wanted to know if the young witches were sensitive to the mark of

the Sinni…

"Yes, Lady, I think I have. He is just a child of his time and place on the

surface."

"He has virtually no education, Lady," cut in Selera. Lessis ignored her.

"But underneath," continued Bell, "there I sense a difference. He is not

just a youth. There are unreadable things there..."

"Yes, so we have belatedly come to understand."

Ribela drew back into herself with a slight hiss of dismay.

"They have sent one of themselves. It is an incredible thought."

"But Relkin is a mortal man, doomed to die."

"So an elemental will be lost, voluntarily accepting death." Selera spoke

in awe.

"It is an extraordinary thing," said Lessis. "To so love the world that

one would accept the pain of life."

Bell's eyes lit up, and she clapped her hands together with sudden

excitement.

"It is bound up with the dragon, it must be. But dragons are

impervious to magic, they are hard to glimpse in the patterns of the

predicted future."

"Beyond this understanding, though, we know nothing." Ribela was still

unhappy.

"He cannot describe the mechanics of what he has achieved. How did

he project a dream across a distance of many miles and a range of hills so

that it was shared by dragons and one dragonboy? He has no idea. And

nor do we."

Bell thus adequately described their problem. Relkin had none of the

grammar of witchcraft, the knowledge of how sorcery was done. He could

not describe his elemental, spasmodic responses to danger and extreme

need. And thus he could not answer their questions.

"You have questioned him before, repeatedly. What differences have

you seen in him over that time?"

"Little. He is a young man, but one who has seen more than his share of

the horror in the world. Then, of course, he is a dragonboy."

Selera spoke hurriedly, as if almost afraid to speak blasphemy.

"He claims to worship the Old Gods. Refuses catechism and all but

refuses prayer for the Mother."

Ribela made a silent moue.

"He is particularly keen on Caymo, Lady. The Old God of Luck." Selera's

close-set dark eyes sought Ribela's.

"Ah, yes, Old Caymo, the dice thrower," smiled Ribela. "A quaint and

rather wonderful deity, I always thought."

"If Caymo still rolls the dice, he has rolled some difficult numbers for

Relkin," said Lessis.

"There is a depth in Relkin, but he fears his destiny," said Bell. "He

fears that it will strip him from the life he has imagined for himself when

he completes his time in the Legions."

"He has completed it," said Lessis. "He just doesn't know it yet. Both he

and Bazil are to be retired from active duty very shortly."

"But," said Bell, "he left for Marneri three days ago. He has to stand

trial on charges stemming from plunder brought in from Eigo."

"Yes," sighed Lessis. "He remains a dragonboy at heart, no matter what

we might suspect about his origins. He must stand trial. Those charges

could not be dropped. He has admitted bringing in the gold."

"Could the trial be postponed?"

"It had already been held off for ten months. It has to go forward now."

"We shall return to Marneri ourselves then?" wondered Selera.

"Yes, I'm sorry to have to do this to you, but you have handled this case

from the beginning. You know him pretty well by now, I'd say. You will

have to continue, at least until the crisis is past."

"Then we shall take a berth aboard Sorghum, which sails on the tide."

Lessis noted that Bell had anticipated that they would be sent to

Marneri.

"Yes, that would be a good idea." She rubbed her hands together. "You

are both to be commended for this work. A difficult task, to be sure."

The younger witches rose with palms pressed together and made deep

bows to the greatwitches, the very Queens of Birds and Mice.

When they were gone, Ribela turned back to Lessis.

"I begin to feel that we have achieved the optimum position on this

swing of our long struggle. The strategic situation has improved

enormously. We might press on to Padmasa itself."

Lessis had to agree. "The gates of Padmasa are open. With both Axoxo

and Tummuz Orgmeen in our hands, we can breach the mountains and

move onto the inner Hazog. Plus, our alliance with Czardha has borne

fruit. The Czardhan alliance is gathering a fresh army to assault Padmasa

from the west. And, we have succeeded in tempting the Kassimi back into

the ring."

"Ah?" Ribela had not yet heard of this development on the diplomatic

front. Lessis continued. "Their defeats had kept them subdued, but now

the Great King has heard of the Czardhan successes, and most recently of

the fall of Axoxo. He dares to raise his standard once more. Whether he

will have the stomach to take an army north to Padmasa is another

matter."

"But just having Kassim reenter the fight will increase the pressure on

Padmasa."

"And the hidden enemy, the Dominator, what of him?" This was the

purview of the Queen of Mice.

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Christopher Rowley - Bazil 07 - Dragon Ultimate

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