A Memory of Fire (The Dragon War, Book 3)

  A MEMORY OF FIRE

  THE DRAGON WAR, BOOK THREE

  by

  Daniel Arenson

  Copyright © 2013 by Daniel Arenson

  All rights reserved.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination, or, if real, used fictitiously.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by an electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the author.

  FOREWORD

  A Memory of Fire is the third volume of The Dragon War, a fantasy series about an ancient kingdom whose people can turn into dragons.

  This novel assumes you've already read the first two Dragon War novels, A Legacy of Light and A Birthright of Blood. If you haven't, you'll probably still get the gist of things here, though I do recommend reading Legacy and Birthright first.

  With this introduction out of the way, I welcome you back into a world of blood, steel, and dragonfire.

  KAELYN

  Kaelyn was scouting the islet when fire blazed, rocks flew, and she met the crazy old man who changed her life.

  Many islands dotted this sea, rising in a ridge like the spine of some sunken, ancient sea god. This islet rose leagues away from the others, barely larger than a rock. When Kaelyn first saw it from above, she was going to keep flying. Valien had sent her to find new bases for their Resistance, and this place looked too small to even host a single fighter. A carob tree crested its peak, and two palm trees swayed across its shore. The cay seemed no larger than Kaelyn's old bedroom back at the capital.

  A green dragon on the wind, Kaelyn was gliding directly above the islet, heading farther south, when the explosion rocked the sea.

  The sound roared in her ears, loud as cannon fire. The shock wave tossed her into a spin and cracked two scales. Before she could right herself, a cloud of dust burst from below, enveloping her. Rocks pummeled her stomach and she yelped. The skin on her belly was thick, but those rocks jabbed her like arrows.

  A volcano? she wondered. No. The smell of gunpowder flared here. After fighting the Regime for three years, Kaelyn would recognize that smell anywhere.

  Blinded, she beat her wings mightily, churning the dust and ash. She rose higher, grimacing. Fire blazed below and smoke twisted around her like demons. She flew, not even knowing what direction she headed, until she emerged back into blue sky.

  "What in the Abyss?" she said, coughing, and looked behind her.

  Dust still plumed from the islet, trailing north with the wind like a rising serpent. Kaelyn hovered in place, whipping her head from side to side. Was somebody attacking her? Did imperial ships sail here armed with cannons? Had her father found her?

  That was when she heard laughter and saw the old loon.

  He burst out from the smoke below, racing across the islet. He wore only a loincloth, and his long, white hair hung wild about his sooty face. He ran down the islet's slope, laughing, and danced a jig.

  "Fire!" He jumped and snapped his ankles together. "Explosion! Boom!"

  Kaelyn squinted, hovering above. The man seemed unharmed, if blackened with soot. This was no enemy. This was... who was he? Kaelyn dived a hundred yards lower, heading down to the islet.

  When the old man saw her, he waved enthusiastically, his whole body swaying with the gesture, and grinned.

  "Hello, pretty green bird!" he said. "Caw! Caw! Are you a bird or a dragon? Bantis kills dragons. Bantis booms them away. Go, dragon, go!"

  Kaelyn kept diving. She circled above the islet, taking a closer look. The man was still dancing, waving his arms, and cackling. His left arm ended at the elbow, she noticed. He wore a prosthetic topped with a blade.

  Kaelyn gasped.

  "An exiled axehand?" she whispered. She squinted, bringing him into clearer focus.

  No, she decided. The Axehand Order, a fanatical priesthood whose warriors wore axes upon their stumps, had been founded fifteen years ago. The elder below, even back then, would have been too old to join.

  She filled her wings with air, descended, and landed upon the shore. The old man cawed before her, waving his arms and kicking sand as if trying to scare her off. Kaelyn released her magic, returning to human form.

  "Caw!" the old man said, standing on one scrawny leg and flapping his arms like wings. "Go, dragon! Leave. No dragons allowed on Genesis Isle."

  Kaelyn stared at him, head tilted. The air still smelled of gunpowder and smoke, though the dust was settling, revealing a hole upon the islet's hillside. When Kaelyn looked back at the old man, she saw that he wasn't wearing an axe upon his stump after all—it was a hammer. Several other prosthetic arms hung from his belt; one ended with a shovel, another with a knife, and a third with a hook.

  "Are you hurt?" Kaelyn asked him.

  The man stopped jumping and waving his arms. He hunched forward, tilted his head too, and squinted at her. He was rail-thin; Kaelyn could see his ribs pushing against his sooty skin.

  "Is Bantis hurt?" he asked, voice high and quavering like a taut lute string. "No. Well, yes. Some hurts run deep. Some hurts are... inside. My heart." He slammed his prosthetic hammer-hand against his chest, then yelped. "Hurts! Heart hurts! Wait. No. That's just my hammer. Wrong hand."

  He danced another jig, pulled off his hammer prosthetic, and tossed it aside. He grabbed a different prosthetic from his belt—this one shaped as a shovel—and attached it to his stump.

  "Better," he said and grinned. "See? Right hand. Bantis is a digger. Bantis digs! Bantis digs for a big, big weapon. Kills dragons! Come, come, Bantis show you."

  With that, he spun around, darted across the sand, and began to climb the island's hillside.

  Kaelyn followed, waving aside the last plumes of dust. Despite his scrawny frame and advanced years, Bantis scuttled up the hill like a spider, scampering over boulders and bushes. Even Kaelyn, slim and young and light on her feet, struggled to keep up. Soot darkened her long yellow hair, and her bow and quiver swung across her back.

  As she climbed and the dust cleared, she saw many strange items strewn across the hillside. Some she recognized: barrels of gunpowder, a cannon, and tinderboxes. Other items were foreign to her: iron spheres that looked like cannonballs but were topped with fuses; shafts of wood topped with metal pipes, possibly miniature cannons; and larger pipes—these ones made of leather and wood—with glass circles filling each end.

  "Did you invent these things?" Kaelyn said, treading carefully between them, unsure if they'd explode under her feet.

  The old man hopped ahead. "Invent them? Yes, yes. Bantis is the inventor. Bantis deals with booms. But now Bantis digs for greatest weapon. Here, come!" He leaped onto a boulder, turned toward her, and gestured her onward. "Come, see it, see it!"

  She followed, climbing over the boulder, and beheld a cave upon the hillside. Smoke still rose from it, and the smell of gunpowder invaded her nostrils.

  "Bantis made this hole," the elder said, nodded, and scuttled down into the darkness. "Bantis boomed it. Bantis digs! Come, see. Biggest weapon buried below. Kills dragons."

  With that, he disappeared into the cavern. Kaelyn climbed the last few feet, coughed, and peered into the shadows.

  "Be careful!" she cried down to him. "It's not safe."

  His head peeked out from the pit. He grinned, revealing only three teeth. "Safe? No. No, it's not safe here. It's not safe anywhere from the cruel dragons. But Bantis will kill them. Yes. Yes, Bantis will dig. Dig!"

  He raised his shovel-hand and
spun back into the cavern.

  With a sigh, Kaelyn followed into the darkness.

  "Who are you?" she called after him. "Where are you from?"

  She had never heard such an accent before. Could this man be... a foreigner? Not Vir Requis like her, but a survivor of the great wars?

  Kaelyn sucked in her breath.

  He has to be, she thought.

  She had been only a child when Emperor Frey Cadigus, her cruel father, had begun his conquests of "purification". His Legions had swept across the known world in those years, burning all foreign lands. The griffins, the true dragons of the west, the wyverns, and all other flying beasts fell. They burned in dragonfire, her father's vengeance for ancient wars a thousand years gone-by.

  And he burned men too, Kaelyn remembered. Two great kingdoms of men had bordered Requiem in those years: Osanna in the east, an ancient land of forests and plains, and Tiranor in the south, a desert realm. No magic had blessed their people. They could not become dragons like the Vir Requis, but rode horses, built great cities, and lived in peace with Requiem.

  Until my father burned them all, Kaelyn thought. Until he deemed them impure, slaughtered them, and annexed the wastelands.

  Could this frail old man be a human survivor—a true human with no dragon form?

  "Bantis, where are you from?" she said in the darkness.

  When she crawled deeper into the cavern, she found him at the bottom. He was staring at a wall of earth and stone, scratching his head.

  "Have to dig deeper," he said. "Deeper! Buried here, it is. Bantis feels it. Big weapon."

  He knelt and began digging with his prosthetic shovel, tossing dirt and rocks over his shoulder. Kaelyn coughed and spat out dirt.

  "Stop that!" she said. "Talk to me. Do you need help?" Her voice softened. "How long have you been here?"

  He looked over his shoulder and flashed his snaggletoothed grin.

  "They sent me here. They banished Bantis! Poor poor Bantis. The others want to fight. They don't think Bantis can help." He snorted, spitting out dirt. "All because Bantis blew up their camp. And their ship." He tapped his cheek. "And the palm grove. And maybe their last sheep." He raised his shovel in indignation. "Sheep, palm, ships, camp... Who cares? Bantis deals with explosives. Bantis deals with weapons! Bantis will find big weapon here on Genesis Isle. Big weapon to fight the dragons."

  Kaelyn's breath left her.

  "The others," she whispered. "Are there others like you? Others who live on these islands?"

  He was digging again.

  "You talk too much." He frowned over his shoulder at her. "Bantis busy digging. Bantis dig for weapon to kill you. You burned us. You burned our lands. You will die! Let Bantis dig so he can kill you."

  "I'm not your enemy," Kaelyn said. "Are you... from the south? From across the sea? Do you fight Frey Ca—"

  Bantis screamed.

  His face twisted. He fell and cowered and covered his head with his arms.

  "Do not say his name!" the old man wailed. He shivered. "Do not say the name of the demon! He will fly here. He will burn us. He burned my brothers, he is a demon, he must die, I am scared. Please, please, don't burn me, dragons. Don't burn..."

  Kaelyn gasped and knelt by the man. She touched his shoulder, but he only cowered farther into the corner.

  "We fight a common enemy," she said. "Don't be afraid. I too seek to kill the tyrant."

  The old man peeked between his fingers. "You... you are..." He voice dropped to a whisper. "You are Vir Requis?"

  "I am Kaelyn Cadigus of Requiem. I fight for the Resistance, a band of Vir Requis who hate the tyrant and seek to dethrone him. We're your allies, my friend. Will you come with me to meet our leader? Will you help us, and will you let us help you?"

  He lowered his arms. His eyes lit with fire, and anger twisted his face. His hair stuck out, white and wild.

  "The tyrant burned Bantis's land," he said. "The tyrant slew Bantis's brothers. Show me your army, dragon. And then... then Bantis will help you."

  TILLA

  They stood atop Tarath Imperium, a princess and a soldier, and gazed upon a dark empire.

  From here upon the tower, a thousand feet above the world, Tilla could see for many leagues. The city of Nova Vita spread below like a breaking wheel, the tower rising from its center, its boulevards like spokes. Between the streets stood houses and shops, countless buildings of brick, their roofs white with snow. The great Castra Draco rose to the south, a castle with four towers, the heart of the Legions. The twisting, black Castra Academia rose in the east, the school that had broken and remolded her into a commander. The arena where prisoners died, the smithies where steel rang, and the monolithic statues of Frey Cadigus—they all seemed so small from here, toys Tilla could lift and break.

  But it's Rune I will break, she thought. The empire seems small from here, but it is mighty. And Rune will serve it.

  At her side, Princess Shari Cadigus spoke.

  "Has he confessed his sins?" She snarled into the wind, eyes blazing. "You've had a full moon with him, Tilla Siren. Have you broken him yet?"

  A gust of snowy wind whipped Tilla's hair, pinched her cheeks, and stung her eyes. Tilla was a child of the south, of warm Cadport with its mild winters and sea breezes to scatter any snow clouds. Here in the north, in the capital, there was snow and ice and biting winds like blades. Tilla wore steel plates over wool, not enough to warm her, but she was a soldier of Requiem; she buried cold, pain, and weakness deep within her.

  The emperor's daughter does not shiver in this wind, she thought. Nor will I.

  "I need more time, Commander." Tilla clutched her sword, seeking comfort from the well-worn leather grip. "He is still shocked, hurt, and confused. He will worship our glory. I will sway him."

  Shari spun toward her, teeth bared. Tilla was a tall woman, but Shari loomed above her, a beast of black steel, wild dark hair, and eyes like forge fires. Her pauldrons flared out, and her gloved hands clutched the dagger and hammer that hung upon her belt.

  "Your words are useless, Siren," the princess said. "I will make him confess his sins. I will have him beg to praise us." She drew her weapons, raising hammer and blade. "I will begin by cutting off his nails, then his fingers, then his manhood. I will proceed to hammer his bones, shattering one at a time, until all are broken. I will flay his skin and pull out his bowels as he watches. I will laugh as he begs for death. And I will drag him here to this tower, stand him above the empire, and make him scream his loyalty. I will make him praise the red spiral so the entire empire hears."

  Shari's eyes flashed with bloodlust. She licked her lips and her chest rose and fell.

  Rune tore off her wing, Tilla remembered. She beat him bloody the day he arrived here, but that only whet her appetite. She could never hurt him enough.

  "Commander," Tilla said and lowered her head, knowing she must speak carefully. "I know Relesar. We grew up together. Please give me more time, and I can sway him. If the empire sees a beaten, flayed, mutilated wreck hailing the red spiral, it would instill only rage in their hearts. The Resistance would gain more power. More would rise up against us." She dared to meet Shari's eyes. "But if Relesar stands here tall and unhurt, and he proudly shouts out his allegiance, the empire will see that even the heir of Aeternum worships our glory. The Resistance will lose all legitimacy. Their fire will disperse."

  Shari snorted. "Yes, I've heard of your little plan, Lanse. My father told me. You begged him too for this pup's safety. He agreed with you then, I know it. The man is a fool." Shari reached out, grabbed Tilla's arm, and thrust her face so close their noses almost touched. "But I am not. I see what you're doing, Siren. You still care for the boy. You try to protect him. But you cannot protect him from me."

  Tilla stared back, daring not look away; looking away would show weakness. Shari was stronger, older, and certainly higher-ranking than her, but if Tilla wanted to save Rune, she had to hold her ground.r />
  "Care for him? Protect him? Commander, he slew my comrades in Castra Luna." Tilla allowed herself a snarl. "He cowered in my city, letting us destroy it. I survived nine moons of training to become an officer. I fought at Luna and in Cadport. I slew men for the red spiral, and I watched my own men die." She slammed her fist against her chest. "I hail the red spiral! I wear that spiral upon my shoulders. I worship our cause with every fiber of my being, and Relesar is an enemy of that cause. He will be our greatest champion. Protect him? No, Commander. I care not to protect him. I want him to fight for us—not cower for us, not bleed for us, not scream and weep—but join us. That will be our greatest triumph—not to torture him, but to turn him against Valien."

  As she spoke these words, staring firmly into her commander's eyes, Tilla's insides shook. Did she speak truth or lie? Did she still love Rune, or did she only love the red spiral? Did she truly want him as a champion, or was Shari right—was Tilla just trying to save an old friend?

  I don't know, she thought, her throat tight. He was my childhood friend and then the man I loved. Who is he now?

  Tilla swallowed, looked inward at her fraying soul, and saw the answer. She knew why she had to convince Rune to join them.

  Because I am torn between my past and my present. Because I am torn between Rune and the red spiral. Because if he joins us, I can have both, and I will no longer feel broken.

  Shari stared at her, silent, still gripping her arm. She raised her dagger, bringing it between their faces. Tilla sucked in her breath but refused to flinch.

  "When Relesar tore off my wing, you saved my life, Lanse," Shari said, eyes narrowed. "For that, I will grant you more time. You have until the new moon to sway him. And if you cannot..." Shari growled and tilted her blade. "This steel will make him scream so loudly the entire city will hear."

  With that, Shari spun around, marched to the tower battlements, and shifted. She took flight as a dragon, one wing wide and blue, the other constructed of wood, rope, and leather. With a blast of fire, she flew into the distance.