EPIC: Fourteen Books of Fantasy (193 page)

“Swarm!” Nairi cried above. She flew toward the sun, turned, and dived. “Follow, Black Rose—rain fire!”

Tilla howled, spun, and swooped. Her phalanx followed. They crashed down, spewing fire. Dragons of the Resistance soared toward them.

The two forces slammed together.

The thud of crashing bodies shook the sky.

Flames burst and claws slashed at scales. Tilla screamed and lashed her tail, clubbing a dragon’s head until its neck snapped; the resistor fell as a man, his skull caved in. Flames rose. A dragon at Tilla’s side, once a seamstress from Cadport and now a soldier, screamed and burned. She lost her magic and tumbled, a human girl aflame.

In an instant of respite, Tilla looked around her. Her heart pounded and her chest heaved. The battle was moving closer to the fortress; the Resistance was still howling in berserk rage and pushing forward. The emperor was leading a charge against their northern flank, roaring flames.

Where is Valien Eleison?
Tilla thought, tongue lolling as she panted.
Where is the leader of this rabble? I will slay him.

She looked across the Resistance, seeking him. She had only seen him in paintings and drawings—a scarred, silver dragon, one of his horns chipped off. He was said to be the largest among them, a demon of bloodlust and fire. Where—

Tilla’s breath died.

No.

Her head spun.

No, please, no, this can’t be.

“Charge, break their lines!” Nairi was shouting hoarsely, her wings beating. A gash ran down her face, and blood splashed her scales. “Black Rose Phalanx, charge! Assault formation, go!”

The Black Roses began to charge. Tilla could barely move. She shook.

Oh, stars, it can’t be him...

“Come on, Tilla!” Erry screamed at her side. The young copper dragon slapped Tilla with her tail. “Fly!”

Tilla looked over her shoulder to the east, and she saw him again. Tears filled her eyes.

A young black dragon.

“Rune,” she whispered.

“Attack!” Nairi shouted.

Fire rained and dragons crashed against them.

Heart thrashing, Tilla joined the charge. She screamed. A claw slashed her shoulder, her blood spurted, and she blew her flames. She clawed a resistor and sent the beast tumbling.

“Break their lines!” Nairi was howling. “Hail the red spiral! Attack—for Requiem!”

Tilla looked over her shoulder again, seeking him. Yet the black dragon was gone.

No. No!
It couldn’t have been him. Tilla shook her head wildly. There were many black young dragons. How could this have been Rune?

And yet... the dragon had dived just like him. Tilla had flown alongside Rune so many nights. She would recognize his dragon form anywhere.

How could he—

“Death to Cadigus!”

The howl rose below.

Tilla whipped her head down, and she gasped.

A burly beast rose from flames. He was the largest dragon Tilla had ever seen, perhaps even larger than Emperor Frey. His left horn was missing; he had only a chipped stub. Scratches and dents covered his scales. And yet he ascended with the fury and might of a demon, blowing his flame and lashing his claws.

Valien Eleison, leader of the Resistance.

“Charge!” Nairi screamed and dived.

The Black Rose Phalanx roared and blew their flames.

KAELYN

S
HE
FLEW
ON
THE
WIND
, roaring fire.

The battle raged around her, thousands of dragons crashing through flame and blood.

Her father’s troops flew with horrible precision. Their phalanxes changed formation at a single order. They charged as arrowheads, breaking through the Resistance lines. They swooped in the shape of great claws, trapping resistors amongst them. They flew toward the sun, then dived, the light at their backs, blinding the Resistance before raining flame.

The Resistance fought like wildfire; the Legions were clockwork killers.

We can’t beat them,
Kaelyn thought, heart pounding against her ribs. She beat her wings mightily, rose higher, and blazed her fire.
They’re too well trained. They wear armor. They fight like machines. We can’t defeat them.

“Kaelyn, you harlot!” rose a shriek ahead. “Come die in my flames!”

Kaelyn gasped.

She looked up.

“Nairi,” she whispered. “Nairi Blackrose.”

She had known the young woman all her life; they’d been born only days apart and raised together in the palace. Nairi’s father was Lord Herin himself, the most powerful man in the empire aside from Frey. Nairi’s house ruled the Axehand Order, enforcers and torturers.

Nairi herself tortured me in my childhood,
Kaelyn remembered. The cruel young girl, with her mocking green eyes, would strut around the palace, spreading rumors about Kaelyn bedding common soldiers.

She always saw me as a rival,
Kaelyn thought, teeth grinding.
She is the firstborn daughter of the Axehand; I’m the lastborn of the emperor. She is the prince’s lover; I’m his twin. Two girls, of an age, equal in power: one cruel, the other hurt.

“Kaelyn Cadigus!” Nairi was screaming, an iron dragon wreathed in fire; a hundred soldiers flew behind her. “The Whore of the Resistance! The traitor of the empire! Come to me, Kaelyn, and burn!”

Kaelyn growled.

“Fly with me, Rune!” she said. “Keep to my right and blow your fire with mine.”

The young black dragon flew beside her. Fear filled his eyes. Smoke burst from his nostrils, trembling with his breath. Flames charred his scales. And yet he reared, clawed the sky, and bared his fangs.

“We fly!” he howled.

“We charge!” Kaelyn shouted. “Resistance, fly! Slay the iron dragon.”

Kaelyn roared and they shot forward. Around them, a hundred other resistors howled and blew flame.

The two forces streamed toward each other: a hundred dragons of the Legions, clad in black helms and breastplates, and a hundred dragons of the Resistance, howling wild and bare.

Streams of fire blazed and crashed together.

An instant later, the dragons shot through the flames and slammed together.

Kaelyn screamed. Flames showered her. Claws lashed her back, ripping off scales. Blood flowed.

“Scream for me, sow!” Nairi shouted somewhere above. “Scream like a pig as I gore you!”

Kaelyn roared flames and lashed claws. The Legions’ dragons mobbed her. Blades topped their helms; one scratched along her leg, and more blood poured. Kaelyn howled and clawed the beast. It screamed, lost its magic, and fell as a young woman.

“Kaelyn!” Nairi cried above and laughed. “Come die, Kaelyn.”

The iron dragon shot down, a shard of fangs and fire.

Kaelyn screamed, bucked, and raised her claws.

The two dragons, green and gray, thudded together. Flames engulfed them.

Nairi laughed and bit.

Fangs drove into Kaelyn’s shoulder.

She screamed.

The gray dragon drove her fangs deeper, and her claws lashed, and Kaelyn writhed but could not tear her off. Pain exploded through her. She dipped in the sky. Nairi clung to her like a scaled leech, biting deeper, tasting her blood,
drinking
it.

“Rune!” Kaelyn cried, looking around for him, but could not see him. She could not see any of her dragons. The legionaries surrounded her, horns drove into her, and fire bathed her. Kaelyn screamed and the flames covered her. She bucked and clawed, but couldn’t dislodge Nairi, and the beast’s fangs drove deeper. Nairi’s throat bobbed as she guzzled the blood.

Goodbye, Requiem,
Kaelyn thought, eyes rolling back.
Goodbye, Rune.

But no. No! She could not give up, not now, not so close to the end. Kaelyn growled. There was only one thing she could do now, one maneuver Valien had taught her. If she failed, she’d die at once. She would have to take that risk.

Screaming, Kaelyn released her magic.

She returned to human form.

She expected Nairi’s fangs to tear through her. But Kaelyn wriggled, pushed back, and tumbled from the gray dragon’s jaws.

She fell through fire and blood.

Above her, Nairi screamed and reared, then began to dive.

Kaelyn fell, cloak billowing, and drew an arrow from her quiver. She thudded against a dragon’s back, tumbled over the beast, and kept falling.

Nairi swooped above, a dragon wreathed in flames.

Falling backward toward the forest, Kaelyn nocked her arrow and fired.

The arrow slammed into Nairi’s eye.

The gray dragon screeched.

Kaelyn’s back grazed the trees below. At once she shifted back into a dragon, soared, and roared fire.

Her flames crashed into Nairi. The iron beast screamed, blinded, an arrow in her eye and fire engulfing her.

“You will be the one to die!” Kaelyn screamed.

She flew higher, howling, and slammed her horns into Nairi’s neck.

Pain exploded. Kaelyn’s horns punched through scale and skin like blades through boiled leather. Blood showered Kaelyn.

She knew nothing but fire and blood.

Above her, Nairi returned to human form.

Kaelyn flew higher, the human Nairi skewered upon her horns. Dragons battled and screamed around her. Kaelyn shook her head wildly, tossing Nairi off.

The young lanse fell through the sky, pierced with holes, her eyes wide and mouth crying silently. She was still alive.

“Please,” her lips seemed to whisper as she fell. “Please...”

Kaelyn dived and blew a jet of fire.

The flames engulfed Nairi.

A burning corpse crashed through trees below, thudded into the snow, and lay crackling.

Kaelyn landed above the body, still in dragon form. Blood and ash stained her scales. She panted, and her tongue lolled, and her wounds bled. She growled down at Nairi’s body.

“You fell today, servant of evil,” she hissed. “Your emperor dies today too. I killed you, Nairi Blackrose, and I will kill my father.”

Kaelyn gritted her teeth, flapped her wings, and soared. She crashed back into a sea of dragons and death.

RUNE

“T
ILLA
!”
HE
CRIED
. “T
ILLA
!”

H
E
had seen her! Stars, she flew here in the battle!

“Tilla!” he shouted again, seeking her. He had only glimpsed her white scales, and she was gone, drowned in this sea of fire and blood.

Was it even her? Did he truly fly in battle against Tilla, his best friend, the woman he loved?

“We have to turn back,” he whispered. “Stars, we can’t kill Tilla.” He raised his voice to a howl. “We have to fly back!”

But it was too late. Nobody heard him. The battle raged. Dragons fell all around, returning in death to human form. Three legionaries charged and flamed a resistor; when the dragon became human again, the legionaries bit and tore the body apart. Two other dragons slammed into each other, and claws ripped down one’s belly, spilling blood and organs. The trees below turned red. Smoke hid the sky.

This was slaughter. This was carnage. And Tilla was somewhere here in this sky... or lying upon the forest below.

“Tilla!” Rune shouted again and whisked between the battling dragons, seeking her.

“Rune, get back here!” Kaelyn shouted somewhere below. “Rune, fly among us...”

Her voice faded. Rune ignored her. He darted between the battling dragons, seeking Tilla. He crashed between legionaries, barely dodging their claws. He dived under a falling body; it thudded against his back, then rolled off and kept tumbling. Rune rose higher.

“Tilla!” he shouted.

Shadows hid the sun. Blue wings unfurled. A great dragon cackled above, spraying drool and blood from her jaws.

Shari Cadigus.

Two smaller, metallic dragons flew at her sides, wearing helms topped with blades.

“The pup!” Shari said and laughed. “The vermin child! Slay him.”

The two metallic dragons bared fangs, plunged down, and spewed fire.

Rune soared toward them.

He swerved right, dodging one stream of fire. The other jet crashed against his shoulder. Rune screamed, his scales cracking in the heat.

Shari—the woman who’d murdered a girl in his hometown, who’d taken Tilla from him, who’d crushed the empire under her heel. Rage filled Rune.

I will kill you, Shari.

Screaming, he rose higher and slashed his claws. Blood showered from one metallic dragon’s face. Rune howled and blew flames, bathing the other with fire. He drove forward, shouting, and clawed madly. Scales rained like coins from a cut purse. Rune blew his flames, lashed his tail, and the two metallic dragons screamed.