Cassandra Pendragon
"That's unfair," Mei complained petulantly. Her nervousness had evaporated like mist under the sun the very second I had spread my wings and soared into the sky. That I had left her father and grandfather and their humongous flying swords far behind with just a single wingbeat might have helped as well. Boys and their toys… bigger didn't necessarily mean better.
Now, barely a handful of minutes later, we had already crossed half of the valley and the girl had become about as restrained as Kermit on Ecstasy. Not even the biting wind of our passage had been able to dampen her mood, even though she had to bury her entire body in my fur to stay somewhat warm. Viyara could have helped, of course, but the dragoness had her own problems to deal with, as she was sitting a few steps behind the girl, her eyes closed and her thoughts constantly assuaging the worries of the foaming humans far behind us. As for me… I was just a servant, wasn't I?
"Unfair," I chuckled raspingly. My vocal chords had never been meant to form words and by now I had picked enough of them from Viyara's mind to engage in a proper conversation. Hurray. Learning the 10001st language hadn't taken much time. With the dragoness' help fifteen minutes, to be exact, give or take. "Mei, the world's unfair." I had just told her that I'd need to enter the mountain one way or the other and that her peers' stance on the matter wouldn't make much of a difference. "What would you do, if you lost that hair pin of yours in an ant hive? Would it really matter if they complained, because you'd most likely destroy their home in an attempt to retrieve it?" She didn't reply, at first, but I felt her fingers tremble close to my skin, as if she was fighting back the urge to pinch me. Instead she asked:
"You don't have many friends, do you?" My gaze followed a golden eagle as it dove toward the river far below us. With a splash it struck and carried away a wiggling fish through a cloud of sparkling water drops that glowed like gems under the sun. The warmth above the forest allowed the bird to rise quickly and veer off towards the western mountain, its meal safe in its talons.
"You'd be surprised. Some of them are even human. Like I said, I'm not a dragon and most of the time I'm pretty easygoing, but in this instance I don't have a choice. Now, do you know a way into the mountain? Is there a… a cave system or some such?"
"Of course there…," she began, but immediately bit her tongue. "I don't know if I'm supposed to tell you," she added in a muffled voice. The light pressure and her warm, tickling breath told me, that she had buried her face in my fur. I didn't mind, but there was an ever so slight discrepancy between her words and her actions. Most people were hypocrites, though, me included. The ones who weren't were usually a real pain in the ass.
"Where's the harm," I tried to cajole her. "I have to get in there and your entire sect will probably be grateful if I don't have to take the direct route. I…," paused when the thread of mana, connected to her jade pin, pulsed. It wasn't the first time during our conversation and I expected whoever had given her the piece of jewellery to have listened and prompted her with replies. Her master, probably, but I hadn't asked, yet.
"You're starting to irritate me," I ended in a growl. Mei immediately stiffened:
"What have I…"
"Nothing. But if the one whispering in you ear is eager to talk, I don't quite see why we have to pretend like it's just the two of us."
"You knew?" I sighed.
"Child, I can not only see magic. I feel it, I breathe it. Of course I knew. Don't panic, just watch." Silver light illuminated the sky in front of me when I sent a trickle of power towards my eyes and followed the thin trace towards its origin. "She's a relative of yours, isn't she? Same eyes, but she's got arctic blue hair. Wears a boring white robe, sits on a rock underneath a waterfall in a cave lit by fireflies and strange, pink-blue, fluorescent flowers. She's… much stronger than your grandfather and… wounded. Oh… that can't be good." Or it could be a godsend. We'd have to see. At the very least I'd give me something to bargain with.
"You… what," Mei began to splutter, but I cut her off sharply:
"Later. She's listening, right? You healed the cut, but the curse is still there, it's just dormant. From what I can see, someone cursed you with their dying breath. A duel, or a fight I presume? Pretty nasty. You've heard me before. Here's the deal: I need to get inside your mountain. Make it happen and in return I'll patch you up. Think about it. If you're interested, come greet us." Afterwards I used a minuscule speck of my power to cork their connection. I didn't sever it, but until I was going to break the seal they wouldn't be able to communicate.
"What have you done," came the prompt response, accompanied by the rustling of silk against my scales and the touch of two small hands when Mei pushed her self upright. "No… she's still wounded?" I hummed and the vibrations made Viyara click her tongue.
"Could you not do that," she complained irritably. I didn't have a dragon's neck so I couldn't quite turn my head all the way around, but it was enough to see her move and change her position carefully into something resembling riding side-saddle, instead of heaving her legs dangling down on either side of my rather narrow back.
"Sorry," I huffed mentally. "I didn't expect you to be that sensitive." She didn't even bother with a reply and simply stuck her tongue out cheekily, before she closed her eyes again. On the very edge of my perception I could hear her smoothly continue her conversation with Li Hong, Mei's grandfather. I didn't miss a beat either and said:
"You should already know. To me it looked like a nasty cut across the abdomen, a sabre, maybe, or an axe, but it's several months old. She managed to heal herself, but fragments of a remnant soul are still inside. If she can't get rid of them, she'll soon have much bigger problems. Incidentally, do you know who tried to skewer her?"
"Aunt Lin is our Sect Master," the girl replied after a few moments. She had probably tried to figure out whether or not there'd be any harm in telling me. "Two months ago there was a battle against… it doesn't matter, you won't recognise the name anyways. Aunt Lin faced the opposing family head in a duel to prevent further bloodshed. She won, but it was close, and she got hurt. Badly hurt, but I thought…," her voice had become quieter with every word and the salty smell of tears had just about reached my nose before it was carried away. Right… her mother and grandmother had died in battle against the Qin family, hadn't they? Was prevent further bloodshed a euphemism for keeping the rest of her family safe? Either way, Master Lin had already earned my respect before I had ever met her. Which made extorting her even more distasteful than it already was. Damn it.
"A bloody hero, isn't she," I rasped and studied the unfolding scenery before me. From a distance it had seemed like the tallest mountain was covered in forest with a few, lonely structures interspersed here and there, but once we had gotten closer I realised that the sheer size of the valley had fooled me. What I had taken for buildings were actually small towns, the palaces turned out to be large, interconnected mansions with their own courtyards, hot springs and groves.
Blacksmiths, carpenters, artificers, weavers and scribes had erected their own shops, residential buildings cluttered the paved or trampled pathways between the larger structures and the river, originating from a mesmerisingly blue lake near the summit, had been skilfully guided into a complex arrangement of ponds and little streams. It was eerily quiet, though. Neither the song of anvil and hammer, nor the screams of a saw disturbed the silence. Tools, weapons, silk, cotton, dried herbs, fruits and beast carcasses were still on display along the roads and in front of the shops, but, aside from a few, curious adolescents who filled the protected courtyards, not a single soul was in sight. They had probably rushed to the closest shelter, once the sect had mobilised their defences.
The higher up the mountain my gaze travelled, the more lavish the edifices became and when the wind turned I even smelled a variety of invisible, but highly magical beasts, hiding in the lush vegetation around and throughout the sprawling complex. Combined with the sharp, almost medical smell of several emerald green lotus ponds, a few ginseng and turmeric fields and gargantuan pots filled with colourful spiritual herbs I couldn't name, it made my mouth water and my stomach rumble. I swallowed quickly and used a trickle of power to quench my appetite.
Another wingbeat brought us close to a massive, carved jade gate, that towered above the road and guarded the entrance to the mountain. On first glance it seemed like the structure had been erected merely as a testament to the wealth and prowess of the sect, but when I looked closer I realised that thin strands of mana surged from either side and sealed the entire domain behind a translucent veil of magic. I could have easily pushed my way through, but waiting for our escort seemed like the more appropriate course of action.
I tilted my wings and used my tails to aim for a marble tiled square directly in front of the gate. It wasn't as large as the one at the entrance to the valley, but the flawlessly polished slabs of stone added a sense of gravitas that I hadn't felt before, like I was finally approaching the heart of this little paradise. A warm wind caressed my tails as we gradually descended and the smell of heated jade overpowered the taste of nature. "Mei," I sighed when the ground wasn't more than a few tree lengths away, "the battle… can you tell me more? It was fought against the Qin family wasn't it? But I thought their rebellion was already put down ages ago. A while back we met someone from the Hu family. He travelled with five girls. To be honest he's a bit strange, but he told us their aspirations had been crushed ages a ago." Luckily I had remembered Constantine's local name.
"I…," I heard her swallow back her grief before she continued hoarsely: "the Bronze Empire is old and vast. Maybe it's a different family with the same name? I don't know much about our history, so I couldn't tell you. I only know that our Empress has suffered from an unknown sickness ever since childhood. The Qin family provided a remedy that relieved her pain. They used their influence to make the empire turn a blind eye while they slowly gobbled up the neighbouring lands. Our sect… we have blood ties with several of the families they targeted. That's how we got pulled into the conflict." Sickness since childhood, was it? Oh boy…
"The Empress," I began hesitantly, "her surname isn't Jiang, is it?" Her fingers, which had constantly fidgeted with my fur, stilled.
"How do you know? Have you met her?" No, but I had eaten a fourth of her cure out of spite. Probably. The fruits Constantine had been lugging around for the heiress of the Jiang family sounded very much like his attempt to break the political hold of a family he despised.
"I haven't, but maybe I should. I wonder… how did she react, when you killed off the only ones who could alleviate her burden?" I felt her shrug.
"I don't think she knows. Not yet. Even if she knows, she hasn't decided to act. Our nation is vast and it's only been two months. Once she hears, or rather once it becomes public knowledge in the capital… there's no telling. I…," she paused again and her fingers resumed their twiddling. "We've been losing people constantly ever since. They're afraid. If she wants to avenge the Qin family, we won't be able to survive. There's no resisting the empire." I didn't necessarily agree, but that was a bridge I wasn't willing to cross before I was being forced to.
My claws were usually sheathed within my paws, similar to a cat's, and thus, despite my size, I barely produced a whispered when I gently landed at the centre of the square. The white stone felt surprisingly cool and incredibly smooth against the coarse hide on my paws, which made me fan out my tails and wings to keep my balance. I could hardly imagine how the humans managed to assemble here. One wrong move and they'd slip instantly. Or maybe it was on purpose, forcing supplicants or less than respected guests to dance around comically should they be made to wait and greet the officials here.
I nimbly lowered myself to the ground and even arranged my tails in the shape of an impromptu ramp for the girls on my back to slide down. "How thoughtful," Viyara commented dryly, but she still had a smile on her face when she glided through my silver coat. Mei, though, didn't move. Not yet. Instead she leaned in closer and, her voice dark with worry, her body tense, whispered:
"She's coming. I know she is. Please, don't think she's disregarding your offer." For a silent second I wondered what in god's name she might be talking about until it clicked. I had asked her master to greet us, but we were all alone, except for the slowly approaching shadows of six flying swords in the distance. Well, I say slowly, but they were still faster than a race car. It wouldn't take them long to catch up.
A melodious, friendly laugh made me turn and look towards the dragoness in elven form, who had apparently ended her telepathic conversation as soon as we had arrived and was sitting cross legged on one of my tails like an empress on her throne. "Mei," Viyara chuckled, "allow me to give you some advice. Free of charge. Never listen to what people say. They lie and they make mistakes. Try to get a feeling for who they are. Take this pretty lump of meat, for example." She unceremoniously slapped my flank. "Do you really thinks she cares if your master is on time, or if she greets her properly to show respect? By the eternal flame, she's allowed you to ride her and you get nervous because your master is a tiny bit late? Relax. Unless you plan to poison us there's nothing for you to fret over. You don't, do you?"
"Of course not," the pink haired girl protested and scrambled to her feet. A few seconds later she was gone from my back and I lazily coiled my tails, those that weren't in use at least, around myself. With a throaty purr I placed my head on the polished ground and closed my eyes. With the wind whispering through my fur, the sun burning down on me and the marble tiles cooling my belly I didn't mind the delay at all.
A warm hand hesitantly touched my snout and I reluctantly opened a single, glowing eye. Mei was standing before me, her glimmering gaze locked directly onto mine for the first time. I didn't even realise that my tongue had darted out to lick her arm. She tasted… immature. No, incomplete would have been closer. There were a million different nuances that were still mixing and changing freely. She hadn't found her own path, yet, but she was looking. By the gods, she might have been older, but she was actually as much, if not more of a child than Reia. Well… bad example.
Goosebumps erupted along her arm when she felt the fleeting touch, but she didn't avert her eyes. Instead she leaned in closer and breathed: "who are you?"
"Shouldn't you be asking the benevolent, golden dragoness?" She shrugged with a small smile.
"Maybe, but I'm not. I'm asking you. Will you tell me?"