Stephen Deas - The adamantine palace

'Leave her. She's almost dead already.'

The one with the rope wiped it clean, then used it to hog-tie the woman. Kailin closed his eyes as they turned away from her, looking up towards him.

'Enjoy watching did you, cripple?' shouted one of them.

'Hey! Thief! Wake up!' A stone hit him in the stomach, and then another one, this time in the shoulder. He managed not to flinch.

'Ah, leave him. He's not going anywhere.'

'Look at him! He's diseased.'

"Well I'm not touching him.'

'Was it worth it, thief? Thing? Whatever you are? Look! Look what she got you! Almost nothing. Here, you can have it. Make sure you give your whore her half. She worked for it.' Kailin had no idea what they were talking about.

'When the snappers come by, don't forget to pull your feet up. They can reach you if they're hungry enough to jump. Your whore's not going to be enough for them.'

'They probably wouldn't touch him. Look at him. Diseased, I tell you.'

They went away laughing. When the voices were long gone, Kailin opened his eyes. The woman was still there, tied up, motionless. His arms felt as though they were on fire.

'Hello? Hey?'

She didn't answer, but he saw her move, very slightly.

'Hey! Hey!'

After a while he gave up. He screwed up his face against the pain across his shoulders and tried to pretend he was somewhere else. Maybe that was what the woman was doing, why she was ignoring him. Not that either of them could help the other. All he could do was wait for Snow.

By the time she came, he was so consumed with his own misery he didn't even notice until she landed. Until he heard the woman's screams over his own whimpering.

Little One Kailin! She was crashing down the river, running on her hind legs, flapping her wings for extra speed, straight towards him. With her wings outstretched, Snow was almost as wide as the river, a hundred feet across and more.

The woman's shrieks grew louder and more hysterical, until they turned into a high-pitch keening wail.

You are hurt!

'Get me down from this tree!' shouted Kailin.

How did this happen? Snow skidded to a stop, flapping her wings and scattering boulders the size of Kailin's head. Her head darted forward; her teeth closed around the branch above Kailin's head. She bit through it as though it was putty and lowered Kailin carefully to the ground. Kailin hugged his arms to his chest. The relief was blissful.

I cannot untie you. Snow peered at Kailin, and then sniffed at the woman. Where did this one come from? Why is it bound? Is it food?

The woman's wailing subsided to whimpers.

'Snow, leave her alone. Don't hurt her. She's terrified.'

I know. It feels pleasant. It is the way I remember it.

'Talk to her.' Kailin struggled to his feet and started to walk back into the trees. 'Let her know you don't mean her any harm.'

You are in great pain, Little One Kailin. I feel it. I cannot help you. Why did you do this?

He could feel the confusion in Snow's thoughts. The dragon had no idea.

'Other men did this to us. Bad men, Snow. I don't know why.' He tilted his head towards the woman. 'She might.' He winced and walked gingerly among the stones until he found one sharp enough to cut the rope around his wrist. It was painstaking work, but at least when he was done the woman wasn't screaming any more. She was looking at Snow with an expression of bewildered terror. Kailin went over and unpicked the knots that bound her. Once she was free he slumped down against a boulder. The woman hugged her knees. She was shivering badly. He tried to give her his flying furs, but when he came close, she shrank away. He put them close by and then stepped away. Her back was still a bloody mess.

'I'm Kailin,' he said. 'This is Snow. She's my dragon.'

The woman looked at him as though he was mad. She seemed to be almost as afraid of him as she was of the dragon.

Her name is Nadira. She is terrified of you. She things you mean to hurt her. She sees you in armour, with a sword and a lance, as most men who ride dragons clothe themselves. And she things there is something wrong with you.

He sat down on a stone and watched her carefully. 'I'm not a rider; I'm just a Scales. Do you know what that means? It means I look after a dragon. I do the feeding and the grooming. Like a stable hand. I look the way 1 do because of her. When they come out of their eggs, dragons carry a disease. It did this to me. Even with the potions from the alchemists, it does this. Don't be afraid, though. This happened to me a long time ago. It's dormant now. Until the next hatchling I'm given to care for. I'm not allowed to ride her, by the way. She says your name is Nadira.'

She is confused. She doesn't understand how we got to be here. She still believes we will hurt her.

'We got lost,' said Kailin. 'We came from Queen Shezira's eyrie. I don't suppose you've heard of her…'

No.

'Queen Shezira's daughter is marrying King Tyan's son. Snow and I were supposed to be wedding gifts. We were attacked by other dragon-knights. I don't know who they were. We escaped and ran away. We've been lost in these mountains for weeks. I don't suppose you know where we are?' Kailin stretched his shoulders and winced.

Very slightly, the woman shook her head.

Little One Kailin, what is Soul Dust?

'I don't know.' Kailin looked at the woman. 'What's Soul Dust?'

She flinched and looked away, and Kailin saw her eyes pause on something lying among the rocks. A tiny leather pouch.

Men who make it bought her for pleasure. She wants it. She needs it like food or drink. She took some and ran away. She was being punished for this. Punishment. Revenge. Retribution. Yes, I understand this. It is wasteful. Foolish.

'They did this to her because she stole from them?'

That is what is in her mind. Another Little One, Maryk, he is the one who did this. I see that name in your thoughts too.

'They raped and beat her and left her to die. They left me to die too. Why?'

We are alike. We both miss our own kind in the same way. We miss what they could be, or should be, but not what they truly are. I have to go now, Little One Kailin. I have not finished hunting for the day. I will not be long.

Snow turned and Kailin watched her launch herself down the river, the same way the men had gone. That could have been coincidence, but something in the tenor of Snow's last thoughts said otherwise. She'd gone to find them. She didn't look back, and by the time he made himself stand up and call after her, she was too far away to hear his thoughts any more.

When she came back, he meant to ask her what she'd done and to tell her that it was wrong, but he never got a chance. Even as the thoughts were forming up in his head, she came crashing into his mind.

More dragons are coming.

The Hunters and the Hunted

When the white dragon came back, she caught them all by surprise. Sollos had barely started on the fire when a great shadow flashed over his head. The knights looked up and stared as the dragon wheeled overhead. She was clutching something in one claw, Sollos saw. She flared her wings and stretched out her massive hind claws, swooping down like an eagle towards them. When she landed in the river bed and took a few steps to steady herself, the mountains seemed to shake. Then she stood there, still, poised on her hind legs, wings not quite fully folded, head raised a little on her long neck, her massive tail stretched out straight behind her for balance.

Sollos retreated slowly from the beginnings of his fire towards the woods. He'd seen dragons stand like that before. So had the riders, who began to fan out across the river bed.

'How long before your own dragons get here, Rider Semian?' Sollos muttered. Semian wasn't there to answer, but Sollos already knew as much as he needed to. Not for some time.