Lib Novel Page 16
“Stand back!” The words rip from my chest in a throaty growl.
The stranger’s eye widens, and he staggers back just in time as Hinarax explodes into his true form—a sleek dragon with coppery scales and bronze wings. I shift as well and toss my head, shaking off the eddies of the transformative magic before looking down at the human from the height of my long spiked neck.
White-faced, the stranger says, “Well, spank me silly. That answers a few of my questions, and I have a hundred more.”
“Your questions will go unanswered,” I tell him. “There is someone we must find, and time is short. Give us the satchel.”
The man wraps one arm around it protectively. “Not until you agree to talk.”
“I can incinerate you quickly and easily,” I say.
“But you won’t. You two are trying—clumsily—to avoid notice, which means you won’t risk using dragon fire so close to the village. The attempted stealth means you don’t want your presence reported to the King of Vohrain. If you were here as his allies, you wouldn’t mind being seen. Which means you are enemies of his, or at least at odds with him. And since we have a mutual enemy, perhaps we also have grounds for a conversation.”
“There is nothing to discuss, and we’re out of time. Keep the treasure.” I attempt to stretch my wings in the cramped clearing, but Hinarax expands his at the same time and our wingtips collide. We’ll have to take turns mounting into the air.
“You say you’re looking for someone,” persists the stranger. “You’ll never find them if you keep bumbling about like this. I don’t know how you managed to obtain human form, even temporarily, but it’s obvious neither of you knows how to behave among humans. You’ll be caught before you even come close to locating the person you seek.”
“I have knowledge of humans,” Hinarax says proudly.
“Do you now?” The stranger smirks. “What’s a tinderbox?”
“I… well, it’s a… something that you use to… aw, fuck,” grumbles Hinarax.
“Exactly. That’s something every human would know.” The stranger presses his thumb to the same spot on his staff, and the spikes disappear. “Let me instruct you, help you, and guide you. In return, you’ll help me.”
“How?” asks Hinarax.
“I can think of a few ways, but for now, let’s focus on monetary payment. I need this treasure. I came to the coast to see if I could borrow the funds I require, but that didn’t work out, nor have I managed to find an abandoned trove in the manor of an absent lord… not for lack of searching. But this—” he pats the satchel. “It’s more than enough to sway the people I need to bribe.”
I snort. “Humans despise dragons for hoarding treasure, and yet you lust for it yourselves, even more powerfully than we do. You will harm others for it—even kill.”
The stranger’s face sobers, and his gaze pierces me like a spear of blue steel. “And you dragons kill for land. Do you think we, the people of Elekstan, do not know the price you were paid to slaughter us? You wanted islands that belonged to the King of Vohrain, and he gave them to you. You killed thousands of us, for land. Sucked my eye from its socket and ruined my ear, for land. When I say I will help you, it’s not because I want to. It’s because for some reason I cannot fathom, you have turned against your master. You wish to shed your scales and walk upon two legs. For my part, I wish to drive the Vohrainians out of this region. And I want to kill their king.”
A wicked glee sparks in my heart at those words. Vaguely I recall Varex begging me not to start another war… and yet, in this moment, the idea of destroying Rahzien and freeing Elekstan sounds so delectable I cannot resist.
I lower my head until my jaws are level with the stranger’s face. My breath glows faintly orange in the night air. “In this, our purposes are aligned.”
He grins, darkly triumphant. “Then perhaps we have something to discuss, after all.”
The discussion is a long, slow exchange of all the pertinent information, and though I know it’s necessary, the delay frays my patience. The roguish stranger, whose name is Meridian, continues to be far too chatty and inquisitive for my taste.
“Humans talk too much,” I growl, thrashing my tail. It knocks against a tree, and a squirrel scurries out of a hole with an alarmed squawk and chitters angrily at me. I narrow my eyes and hiss at the creature, blowing superheated orange mist in its direction. With a panicked chirp it scrambles away, leaps to another tree, and disappears into the dark forest.
“What I’m proposing is far more satisfying than terrorizing helpless woodland animals,” says our new acquaintance. “It smacks of redemption, reparation, and… and…” He snaps his fingers a few times. “I can’t think of a third thing to go with that, but—ah! Rebellion! That’s the one! Or revolution. Redemption, reparation, and revolution. Brilliant.”
“So you’re part of a group that’s resisting Vohrain’s occupation?” asks Hinarax.
“Not just part of it, mate. I’m the damn organizer—the leader, you might say, if we believed in leaders. When Thora sent me a message about you two, I’d just finished meeting with a gallant band of pirates. They wouldn’t loan me gold, but they did promise to partner with us and harass any Vohrainian ships that approach the Elekstan coast. Vohrain hasn’t got much of a navy, which is a good thing for us—”
“What the fuck does this have to do with my rescue of the Princess?” I interject.
“Settle your spikes, big guy,” says Meridian. “Surely you can see how two enormous dragons could be helpful to the resistance. I’ll help you come up with plausible disguises so you can gain access to not only the city, but the palace itself. That way, you can locate your royal belle and sneak her out from under Rahzien’s nose. In return, you’ll help us kill Rahzien and drive out the Vohrainians so we can set up a new democratic government.”
“Democratic.” Hinarax mouths the word carefully with his long jaws. “What does that mean?”
“Aren’t you adorable.” Meridian pats Hinarax’s muzzle. “It means no more kings or queens.”
“But if you overthrow Rahzien, Serylla should be queen,” I interrupt. “It is her birthright. Is that not how it’s done among humans?”