Stephen Deas - The adamantine palace

The Alchemist and the Dragon

Kailin was terrified. He had no idea what he should do or say. In front of him were dragon-knights from Queen Shezira's eyrie. He didn't know them by name, but some of the faces were familiar. And the alchemist, of course. He knew Master Huros. They'd all want him to bring Snow back home, and a Scales always obeyed. That was his life. Look after the dragons and do as he was told. Except that behind him was a dragon who didn't want to go home. He walked through the shallow rushing water of the river as though lead weights were shackled to his feet.

'That's far enough!' The dragon-knight standing next to Master Huros held up a hand. Kailin stopped. They were still a good twenty feet apart. The other riders were spreading out, edging towards the trees.

Snow spoke in his head. Make them understand that I will not come back. Not yet. They should cease their pursuit of us.

Kailin winced. I don't know how. They won't listen.

'Um, what is your name, Scales?' shouted Master Huros.

Kailin looked at his feet, too used to averting his eyes from his masters. 'Kailin,' he said.

'Scales Kailin. We are here to take you home. You and your dragon.'

'Queen Shezira will congratulate you herself,' called the knight. 'Her dragon is still intact and has not been lost. She will be greatly pleased. There may be a reward.'

He didn't know what to say. He shook his head. He couldn't force the words out of his mouth. As soon as he did, they'd kill him. They'd take him back to Outwatch and string him up for all the other Scales to see, and then they'd very slowly execute him.

This is what happens to a Scales who does not obey.

Tell them no!

He was shaking. He glanced up at the dragon-knight and at Master Huros, pleading with his eyes. 'I can't. I don't know how to. What if… Snow doesn't want to-'

'This is not a request, Scales,' shouted the knight. 'This is an order!'

Master Huros stepped forward. He walked over to Kailin and put a hand on his shoulder. 'Um, listen to me, Scales. Whatever has happened out here, it, er, it doesn't matter. If you've ridden the dragon, that doesn't matter. Whatever petty crimes you may have committed, they can be forgiven. The rules that we live by do not extend to circumstances such as these. You've done your duty and done it well. The dragon is intact but, um, she must come back to an eyrie at once.'

Kailin still couldn't meet the alchemist's eyes. 'I can't. She won't.'

Tell them no! Or I will.

'Scales, you do not understand. There are, er, things you don't know. She must come back to an eyrie. If she doesn't, she will change. You might even have noticed little differences in her behaviour already. We have to take her back.'

Change? He could feel Snow's curiosity grow.

'I should not even have told you this much, Scales. These are the secrets of our order, but you must believe me, and so I tell you that without the elixirs I and the other alchemists at the eyrie will prepare for her, she… she will change. She will become a wild thing. She'll be dangerous, not just to you but to everyone.'

What does he mean? Ask him what he means!

He felt the edge in Snow's thoughts, the suspicion, the horror, the incipient fury. He felt it in himself. 'No! Stop!' He wasn't sure whether he meant it for Master Huros or for Snow.

The alchemist suddenly looked very surprised. 'Yes,' he said. 'Yes, that's right. More intelligent. More independent. How did you know?'

Kailin went rigid. 'Master, Master Huros, please-'

Leave him be!

'How did you know this, Scales?' The alchemist's voice had dropped to a whisper and he was glancing back at the knights. 'Yes. They remember things. That's exactly what happens, and that cannot be, cannot be allowed to be! But, but you shouldn't know this. How do you know this?'

Something in the air began to change. The anger inside his head was growing, blooming, pouring into him. 'Master Huros! She's in your head! She's reading your mind! She knows!'

He caught a glimpse of abject horror in the alchemist's eyes, and then Snow moved so fast that Kailin didn't even see it happen. One moment the alchemist was there in front of him, the next he had shot up into the air, the tip of Snow's tail wrapped around him. He dangled helpless in front of Snow's face – shrieking, screaming, pleading – while everyone else froze and watched. Stray thoughts flickered through Kailin's mind, thoughts that weren't his and were filled with such a frenzied rage that he fell to his knees in the water, clutching his head. Preparations? Memories? How? How long? How long have you done this? HOW LONG?

He didn't see the moment when Snow squeezed the knot in her tail and crushed the life out of the alchemist, almost splitting him in two. He saw the body, though, flung through the air like a stone from a catapult, straight into one of the knights, so hard that the force of it lifted him off the ground and both sprawled like broken rag dolls. He felt the sky go dark as Snow leapt straight over his head. She landed, shaking the ground where the knight had been, and snapped up another in her claws. The man screamed as she crushed him, and Kailin heard the metal plates of his armour bend and break. The other knights were bolting for the cover of the trees. Snow's tail whipped around again, casually flinging a rock the size of half a man. It caught another rider, smashing him into a tree. He didn't get up.

Then came the fire. She swept her head from side to side, sweeping the edge of the forest with torrents of flame. The knights, if they were quick enough, would cower behind their dragonscale shields and the heat would pass them by.

But if they were crouched behind their shields, they weren't running. Snow sprang out of the river and up the bank to the forest. The fire came again, and this time her tail cracked into the trees. She plucked out one knight, cartwheeling him a hundred feet into the air, and then another, this one smashed head first into the stones of the river bed. Kailin whimpered and covered his face. He couldn't bring himself to watch. He heard men scream, branches crack, tree trunks bend and break.

Sprinting footsteps splashed through the water towards him. He heard a voice: 'What are you doing? Are you mad?'

Arms roughly pulled him up and gripped him tight. Raw steel touched his throat.

'You tell that dragon to fucking stop, right?'

Another voice: 'Kemir! Get away from him, you idiot.'

Kailin screwed up his face. 'I can't.' I can't stop her. She's not listening to me.

'Kemir! It's gone berserk! You can't stop it!'

'He's right.' Snow. Stop! Help me!

The man with the knife at his throat tensed as if preparing to make his killing cut. 'Well then, you're coming with us.' He started to drag Kailin out of the river. 'If it's going to burn us, it's going to burn you too, you bastard.'

The man was doomed. They were all doomed. Kailin knew it as soon as they started to move. He could feel Snow had sensed his plea. She wasn't done with the other knights yet, but as soon as she was…

'Shit!'

They had almost made it when Snow exploded out of the inferno on the other side of the river, showering ash and embers and burning branches all around them. The fire flashed again, and the other man shrieked.

'Sollos!' Kailin's captor stumbled and the two of them went down together on the soggy grass. The man didn't let go, but rolled so that he was lying on his back with Kailin on top of him, both of them staring up at Snow, who glared back down at them. Her teeth were bloody, her eyes blazed, and she had someone in her tail again. Through the haze of smoke and gibbering terror, Kailin thought he recognised one of Knight-Marshal Nastria's sell-swords.

'Let him go!' roared the man with the knife. 'Let him go or I'll kill your rider.'