Liah and Dare led the way, as Theo had never ventured into the mountains before. Her guides knew the area well, taking the easiest route along ridges and valleys to the place where the Golden Dragon lived. Theo did not oppose their decision to travel on foot, so as to decrease their chances of being seen.
Liah informed her of Laurel’s servants on the way. Snare, Falkon, Knox, and Torrance- her guards, all had stayed faithful to the duchess during the time everything had changed for the Cragerians.
“They’ve been capturing young dragons for a while now,” Liah said, eyes narrowed on the glen ahead. “Mostly hatchlings and frisks. Once they get about late pupil age, they’re too big for what Laurel uses them for.”
“What does Laurel use them for?” Theo asked.
“They build up her hoard,” Liah growled disgustedly. “Her guards take turns flying the little ones over the mountain range to the rich houses in Wystil. The adolescents have to sneak in and bring out anything valuable. If they can’t find anything then- Well, let’s just say what happens then depends on how the guards are feeling.”
“What happens when the little ones get too big?” Theo forced herself to ask.
“Right around their striker age, Laurel has her guards kill them, preferably without the younger ones knowing,” Liah replied simply.
Theo fell quiet. That’s awful.
She hadn’t heard Dare utter a single word yet. He just walked at the head, surveying the upward slopes and dips below. Occasionally, he looked back to his mate, and she smiled fondly in response. But besides those times, Liah’s face was set with a sharp, focused stare at whatever was before her. Theo noted that she paid strong attention to only one thing at a time, while Dare took in the sum of everything else, checking that all was well. The two of them made a compatible pair.
“So with a name like Liah,” Theo brought up, “you must be a Cragerian.” The thought was strange to Theo. Liah seems younger than that.
“No,” Liah replied curtly and Dare cast a glance back at them. “My mentor was a Cragerian. Her human name was Liah, but she later changed it.”
“You two were very close, then?” Theo asked. “That’s why you named yourself after her?”
“Yes,” Liah answered, almost darkly.
Why is she being so guarded? Theo wondered.
“How do you know where the Golden Dragon lives?” Theo changed the subject.
“She stole me as a frisk. She just didn’t realize I was precocious enough to have already taken on a mentor.”
“You were a pupil at frisk age?” Theo puzzled. “I didn’t know that was even heard of.”
“I think I’m the first,” Liah clarified. “Dare and I shared the same mentor. He was older than me, but we were great together.”
“So I would assume,” Theo said. “What happened when the Golden Dragon took you?”
“I was sent on one thieving trip before our mentor found me. The guards were just about to kill some striker named Wolfe when our mentor came flying in. She fought just enough to get me and run out again, but I think Wolfe was able to make her own escape with the distraction.”
Wolfe! Theo was amazed. That must be why she’s so insane…She was almost killed!
“Your mentor sounds wonderful,” Theo piped.
“She was,” Liah responded, but Theo noticed that she was tense again. “Laurel never forgets those who cross her, though. I was almost a striker when two of her guards came and killed her. Dare and I should’ve been there.” Liah spat sparks into the brush.
“I accepted the firesap right after I found out,” Liah went on. “I swear I would have slaughtered her and her guards right then, but Dare stopped me,” she ended on a bitter note.
Theo said nothing, gathering that the subject was well beyond her business.
Their journey continued on, until, “We’re here,” Liah hushed, pulling up beside her mate. The three of them stood on a ledge overlooking a sizable pit in the mounts. A tiny spring bubbled up to form a shallow pool near the foot of the mountain they were on. At the farthest corner of the area rose a gleaming pile of treasures, from silver goblets to pearl necklaces, from gold coins to ivory figurines. Theo swallowed, taken away by the sight of it.
All around, young dragons huddled frightfully in the presence of two over watching males. The guards were intimidatingly large, no doubt larger than Theo and her allies. Their bodies were trimmed down to the solid bulk of muscle.
“Snare and Knox,” Liah identified them quietly. “Looks like Torrance and Falkon are out on a gathering. Or they could be hunting for more hatchlings.”
“Is the Golden Dragon here?” Theo whispered.
“The hoard,” Liah answered and Theo studied the treasure pile harder.
She almost gasped as she saw the dragon wrapped around the pile of precious metals. It was the Golden Dragon, well-named, for her body looked as though it were made of solid gold. Her eyes were like gemstones.
Just then, another adult came flying in, a small dragon in his claws. He dropped it not far from the ground and the little one cowered childishly, a necklace hanging jangling from his mouth.
“Come, darling,” Laurel purred from her hoard. “Show Your Highness what you have.”
The dragon ducked his head and crawled forward, opening his small jaws to let the jewelry become a part of the pile. Theo thought he looked the size of a frisk, but his behavior did not reflect that of one. All the spirit and energy of a frisk seemed to have been taken from him. He reminded her of the drooping flame of a dying candle, sad and waning.
“Good.” The Golden Dragon smiled down at him. “Your contribution satisfies me. You are dismissed.”
The youngling scampered away to a dark space between a rock and shrub. When he found another tiny dragon already there, he squabbled with it, trying desperately to fit himself inside.
The newly arrived adult had landed and now reported to Laurel. Theo couldn’t catch all the words he said, but was sure she heard him finish with, “He did well.”
Theo’s scales crawled in repulsion of it all. These Cragerians deserve to die!
“So that’s Falkon,” Liah murmured. “Where’s Torrance?”
“There,” Dare spoke for the first time. Over another peak, a fourth male appeared. He was followed by a rather reluctant female, of striker age.
Torrance looked infuriated, alighting beside Falkon and turning his head to snap at the female, “Get over here!”
The striker landed, trembling. Some of the older slave dragons watched with large eyes as she crept to the foot of the hoard.
“Fern was spotted!” Torrance boomed and the female shrunk to the ground. “She is no longer fit for this task!” He whirled around to face Fern. “What do you have to show for your unwieldy performance? Where are the coins?”
“I-” Fern choked, “I lost them…”
Torrance stiffened. There was a pause in which nothing moved. The little dragon that had brought the necklace peeked out from his hiding place, eyes wide in terror of the loud voice that still echoed around the mountain range.
“Kill her,” the Golden Dragon said softly and Fern cried out. She tried to flee but Falkon leapt on top of her. He and Torrance wrestled her behind Laurel’s pile of prizes. Theo heard another scream.
“Stop!” Theo yelled, jumping to her feet.
Liah cursed as Snare and Knox’s sharp gaze snapped onto Theo. Like condors, they gathered themselves, beating their wings in huge powerful strokes to come flying towards them. But right as the two guards were upon them, Liah and Dare sprung up, each catching onto their own opponent like cats attacking an eagle.
As the guards struggled in surprise to shake their assailants off, Theo took the opportunity to scrabble down the rocky slope and come to the striker’s aid.
The Golden Dragon lifted her head to stare at Theo running past. But Theo was halted when she reached the bend. Before her, Torrance had his jaws locked onto Fern’s throat, who gasped through her collapsed windpipe, des
perate for air.
Falkon stood over her. Behind them, dozens of chalk white skeletons scattered the space. Dry spines twisted morbidly upwards, stabilized by cracked rib cages. Hollow skulls gloomed at nothing but the bones staked in the ground. The sight was so horrifying that Theo almost missed her chance to react before Falkon was on top of her.
Instinctively, she flew upwards when he leapt for her. He followed her in her climb for the sky, gaining on her. Theo’s heart pounded; she could feel each beat in her wings. She saw that Falkon was close to catching her and she dropped suddenly in hopes to evade him- but failed and he caught her.
Mightily, Falkon gripped her around the middle and plunged back down to earth with her underneath to break his fall.
Terrified as they plummeted, Theo scratched at him, but it was no use- her claws only slipped across his smooth plates, catching no flesh to tear.
Just as she was about to be crushed beneath him, she twisted, wrenching herself out of his grip and switching places. Given no time to respond, Falkon was swung with great force into a fence of jagged bones that impaled him through the chest.
Shakily, Theo pushed herself away from the red, splintered bones that stuck up from his back. He had died instantly.
Torrance, having just witnessed the brutal death of his ally, now cursed, stepping over Fern’s body to advance on Theo.
Theo, gasping for breath, scrambled away from him, out to where she could see her companions.
Liah was still up on the slope, with both forelegs pinning Snare as she blasted endless fire into his face.
Dare had reached the bottom of the grounds, darting around Knox with erratic attacks of tooth and claw. Knox’s eyes rolled as he spun around repeatedly, trying to keep up with Dare’s unpredictable, patternless strategy.
Right as Theo had gathered her allies’ positions, Torrance knocked her down from behind. His blows were heavy and they left Theo panting. She tried desperately to crawl away, talons clutching at loose earth, but Torrance flipped her onto her back. She cried out as her wing bent the wrong way underneath her. The pain only increased when he planted his two front feet on her chest. Then, looking terribly thoughtful as he took the feeble fight out of her, he replaced his claws onto her throat and let the pressure mount.
Theo wheezed. I’ll die…
Suddenly, he was knocked off of her.
Barely able to turn her head, she saw Liah taking him on directly, providing Dare no opening to jump in and help. Theo couldn’t watch as Liah scraped Torrance’s eyes out of his sockets, finishing him off by burrowing her talons deep into his head.
“River?” Dare was there, standing over her where she lay.
“Fern,” Theo gasped, throwing herself over onto her feet, though her wing screamed in protest. She limped laboriously back to the graveyard behind the hoard, not thinking to look up to see if the Golden Dragon was still there.
Theo retched at the sight of the poor striker. Blood drained from her mangled, lacerated neck- she’d probably been dead since the moment Torrance released his champ from her throat.
“Laurel!” Theo heard Liah yell and the Golden Dragon flinched from under layers of treasures, where she had buried herself during the fight.
From behind the hoard, Theo saw Liah pounce and drag the dragon, squirming, from her hiding place. Theo ventured closer to see what would follow next.
Laurel screamed unceasingly, though Liah had not yet harmed her.
Liah just looked down at the deposed ruler with queer satisfaction. Pure terror had won over the Golden Dragon and she now lay with no fight, expressing her fear through one scream promptly followed by another. The dragon’s jaws were strained wide open.
Something about it all panicked Theo. Laurel’s screams called out to her.
“Stop, please!” Theo begged, and ran to Liah, trying to push her away from the Golden Dragon.
“River,” Liah warned, “don’t shoulder me.”
“No, no,” Theo implored, though she couldn’t understand why. It’s the Golden Dragon! she told herself. She deserves to die, doesn’t she? Still, she couldn’t help but fear for Laurel.
Liah stared down at the writhing dragon. “You had it coming to you,” she scorned and, with both sets of claws, broke Laurel’s jaws apart- bottom from top.
“No!” Theo cried one last time as Liah ended things by bashing the back of Laurel’s skull against hard rock.
Theo was paralyzed with trauma, but slowly her feelings for the Golden Dragon faded. Now Laurel was just the dead body of a cruel ruler who’d gotten what she deserved. Why was I fighting for her?
Theo had never witnessed anything so brutal. It opened her mind to the true power that a dragon had- teeth, claw, and fire all thrown into one flying, armored beast.
Caged inside her chest, her heart thrummed.
Liah stood over Laurel’s gaping body for a long time. Dare paced nearby, always keeping within a whisper’s reach of his mate.
Theo had grown a new fear for them. Not only for the two of them, not only for the rogues, but for all dragons. They were to be respected. Such passion and strength tied together made them incredibly dangerous.
It made Theo question herself of whether or not she truly fit among them.
Numerous hatchlings and pupils alike huddled in their own hiding places. Theo approached them each but they only drew farther into themselves, trembling whenever she came close. Nonetheless, she offered them a place in the Colony, not sure if they even understood her.
What will happen to all of them? she wondered. Some of them had their whole youth taken from them. Do they feel the freedom we just won for them? Will they take control of their own lives, or will they just wait for someone else to come and overtake them?
It bothered Theo that she was unable to provide them more comfort. But the art of consolation was not for a dragon to master. For anyone so built for independence, such a quality failed to come easily.
When it was clear that nothing was left for her to do at Laurel’s hideaway, Theo found her way out. She wandered, willingly lost within the clefts of the mountains, all the while replaying the latest events in her head.
It was in the middle of these thoughts that Theo noticed a figure from between the branches of two scraggly pines. She drew in her breath and waited, helplessly paranoid after what she’d just been through.
The figure appeared to be crouching. Leaves rustled at its feet. Then the being stood and began to walk, perplexing Theo with its perfect balance on two feet.
It was coming closer and closer, reaching out to move the branches aside and reveal-
“Damon.” Theo relaxed. Her brother was alone, one hand still holding the tree, the other full of small round things.
He looked slightly surprised. Theo had caught him with his hair windswept out of his face and he hurriedly shook his head to remedy it.
“Theora…” he murmured. “I’ve never seen you this far up the mountain.”
He opened his hand to reveal the things cupped in his palm. “I was just gathering tygen berries,” he explained. “They only grow at high elevation, but the magic inside of them is vital for a certain potion I have in mind.”
He looked back up at her. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
Theo shuddered. How much should I tell him?
“There was something I had to address,” she replied, looking away.
From the corner of her eye, she could barely see Damon’s face, but knew that he was peering at her.
There was silence between them for a moment. A hawk screeched. Then, “You don’t look so well,” Damon mentioned. “Were you in a fight?”
Theo slumped and turned her head back to face him.
“It was awful,” she cried. Her legs began to tremble as she told him all that had happened. It felt as though she was reliving it.
When there was nothing else left for her to say, she finished awkwardly, waiting for him to do…something. Damon wasn’t very good
at showing it when he was listening, and Theo had to trust that she hadn’t just wasted her breath. But she could see a contemplative expression hidden behind his overgrown bangs.
As he processed, he leaned into one of the pines- an uncomfortable position, Theo thought, but he looked bothered not at all. He shoved the handful of tygen berries into his satchel.
“So the Golden Dragon is dead now,” he finally spoke. “Someone was able to resist her charm.”
What? Theo wondered. “Had you…met her before?” she asked, perplexed.
“In a way,” he answered, folding his arms against his chest. A beetle tried to crawl from a pine branch into his garments, but got knocked off. “Not long after I ran away and passed through the Archway, I found the firesap fruit. I felt its lure, but instead of giving in and eating it, I decided to experiment with it. By a precise and complicated process I discovered through trial and error, I managed to isolate the magic that gave the fruit its lure. In its purest form, the type of magic was powerfully strong. But still I was able to resist it, for in the end, one’s decision falls on his own will.”
He was able to find a way to concentrate the certain type of magic? Theo was impressed. It’s weird to think that he is my brother. She studied his partially hidden face as he continued to talk. Although, the thought doesn’t bother me. He’s talented.
“By then, the last surviving Cragerians had fled to this place,” Damon went on. “I was not aware of them until one snuck into my shelter. You can imagine my surprise when I walked in and found a finely dressed woman already there. She had my glass vial full of magic gripped in her hands, staring at it. She panicked when she noticed me, screaming as if I was a threat. Next thing I knew, she’d slipped past me and ran out.”
“You didn’t try to get the vial back from her?” Theo asked. It seemed like the sensible thing to do.
“No, I let her take it. She was so scared of me I didn’t want to go after her,” Damon sighed. “Then, a while later I met Adder. He was a dragon by then, along with all the other Cragerian survivors. He told me about a female, the Golden Dragon, who had a seemingly magical lure to her. She demanded that she be served as she once was in Crageria. Her closest guards were readily willing, but Adder saw through to reason and was able to convince the others that there was no point.”
“I felt the attraction,” Theo dawned. “When she started screaming, I tried to protect her. But Liah didn’t even hesitate to kill her. Why is that?”
Damon scratched his head absentmindedly. “The Golden Dragon had a stronger influence on Cragerians because of the human imprint left on them. It must have been the same for you.”
“See,” he explained, “the firesap fruit is a lure to humans and animals, except for dragons and monigons. Since the later generations of dragons were never human, the Golden Dragon didn’t have the same effect on them.”
“Oh,” Theo began to comprehend. “So you think she drank the luring magic and it somehow…applied itself to her?”
“That’s my understanding of it.” Damon got out of the tree, sap and pine needles clinging to his back. Crouching, he helped the fallen beetle off its back with his finger, then again straightened somewhat. “Well,” he said, rolling his shoulders, seemingly sore. “I have what I came up here for. Fancy accompanying me on the way down?”
“No, thank you,” Theo quietly declined and watched as Damon shuffled down the mountain without her.
Chapter 23