Requiem's Hope (Dawn of Dragons) (4 page)

Requiem. Our home.

All around Dorvin, the dragons sang prayers—singing for their stars,
singing for Requiem.

Twenty-one banished, lost, hurt souls, the dragons glided upon the
wind, tears in their eyes and songs in their hearts, flying toward
their new home.

They
spiraled down, twenty-one lost dragons. Dorvin landed first between
the birches, and the others landed around him, their claws sinking
into the forest floor. Before them it rose—the Pillar of Requiem.
King's Column. Even standing in dragon form, Dorvin felt smaller than
a mouse. The pillar rose to the height of fifty men, its capital
shaped as rearing dragons in the sunlight. A circle of marble tiles
spread around its base, and spring grass grew between the tiles. The
birches rustled around the column, their leaves fresh. It was a
spring for the world and a spring for dragons.

And before the column they stood—more dragons. The children of
Requiem.

"Requiem," Alina whispered at his side. The lavender dragon
knelt and bowed her head. "A home for dragons."

A silver dragon, Dorvin tilted his head, a sudden tightness in his
chest. "Is . . . this it?"

He narrowed his eyes. He had expected cities. He had dreamed of
hundreds of dragons—
thousands
of them. And only four stood
here before him! Surely they'd come to the wrong place. Surely this
couldn't be the kingdom of dragons. Dorvin took a step closer,
snorting out fire.

"I am Dorvin! A leader of dragons. We seek the fabled Requiem."

One of the four dragons ahead—a burly, copper beast—stepped
forward. He blasted out smoke and bowed his head. "You have
found Requiem, my son." The dragon's eyes dampened. "Welcome."

With that, the copper dragon released his magic. He became a hulking
bear of a man. His hair was shaggy, his beard bushy, and he wore an
old fur cloak. The three other dragons of Requiem took human forms
too: a young man with brown hair, a gruff-looking woman with golden
hair and tattooed arms, and a runt of a woman—small as a child—with
short black hair. They looked as humble, weak, and frightened as the
twenty dragons Dorvin himself led.

"Where is Requiem?" Dorvin said, remaining in dragon form.
"Stars damn it! What the Abyss is this piss-pot of a camp?"
He spat. "I've seen piles of mammoth dung more noble than this.
Where are the houses, the towers, the armies of hundreds?
Shag-a-sheep! I thought this was a kingdom. With a proper king and
all. Not . . . not this."

The bearded man said nothing, but the gruff woman—the one with
tattooed arms and blond hair—stepped forth. She raised her chin,
bared her teeth, and growled.

"Watch your tongue, boy." She flexed her muscles; they were
damn big for a woman. "Requiem is a kingdom—a kingdom in its
infancy but a kingdom nonetheless." She gestured at the bearded
man. "And you stand before King Aeternum, the Light of Requiem.
Your king."

The brown-haired young man stepped forward next; he was a tall one,
but Dorvin knew he could take this boy in a fight.

"There are four of us," the young man said. "I'm
Tanin, and this is my sister Maev. The fourth is Laira. We are few,
but we serve the stars and we're strong." Tanin squared his
shoulders. "Join us, friends. Together we will build this
kingdom."

Dorvin blinked, scarcely believing it.

Then he burst out laughing—a hoarse, twisted laughter that sounded
dangerously close to tears. Finally he released his own magic and
stood as a young man again, the wind billowing his black hair and fur
tunic. He turned back toward his followers; they were releasing their
magic one by one, turning from dragons back into men, women, and
children.

"I told you I'd bring you to Requiem!" Dorvin said to them,
still laughing, almost sobbing. "Bloody bollocks, here we are. A
column and four piss-drinkers whose arses I could kick in my sleep."

Maev leaped forward, sneering, and gave Dorvin a shove so mighty he
nearly toppled down. "We'll see whose backside gets kicked."

Dorvin barked a laugh. "I don't normally clobber girls, but
today I'll make an exception." He raised his fist. "You lot
are a sorry pile of—"

"Dorvin!" The cry rang across the forest. Her lavender
robes swaying, Alina—that cursed druid—stepped forth. She grabbed
him and tugged him away from Maev, her purple eyes flashing. "You
lout! Step back and cool down."

Maev was still growling and trying to lunge at him. Her own
companions were holding her back, though their eyes glared at Dorvin;
they seemed to detest him no less than Maev did.

Dorvin snickered and mussed Alina's hair. "Hey, sweet sister, I
was only joking with them. You know how I like to joke."

The druid shoved him backward and smacked his chest with her staff.
"You can have your little pissing contest another time. We stand
on holy ground. Go back!" She shoved him another step back
toward their followers, then turned toward the four dragons of
Requiem. Her eyes softened and she lowered her head. "Please
forgive my brother. Dorvin is a child of wildfire, but I was born in
starlight. His heart is rash, his mind is small, but he brought us
safely to this place." She smiled softly, gazing up at the
column. "We've come to join you. To join Requiem." She
knelt upon the marble tiles and lowered her head. "We've come to
serve you, King Aeternum."

Standing among his followers, Dorvin stared in disbelief. Rage,
disappointment, and fear battled inside him. He had thought to find
safety here, to find glory, a kingdom he would be proud to join, a
king he'd be proud to fight for. Instead he'd found nothing—not even
a village. Just four more ragged survivors. And his sister knelt
before them? Before this shaggy, bearded brute who called himself a
king?

"He's not a king," Dorvin spat out. Several of his people
were following Alina's lead; they too were bowing. Dorvin grunted and
tugged them up. "On your feet! Stand straight and proud. We do
not serve this man." He pointed at Jeid, this so-called King
Aeternum. "He's nothing but another outcast. I've led you all
winter. I fought for you. I slew monsters for you and brought you
here. This is all Requiem is?" Dorvin laughed mirthlessly. "Then
so be it. I will lead this kingdom. I will serve as Requiem's king.
Requiem will be ours!"

With that, he leaped into the air, shifted into a dragon, and lunged
toward Jeid.

I won't kill you, old man,
he thought, grinning savagely.
But
I will crush you into subservience.

With a roar, Jeid shifted too and leaped.

As the others cried out, the two dragons slammed together.

Scales cracked, loud as thunder. Fire blasted out and smoke covered
the forest.

"Dorvin, stop!" Alina shouted somewhere in the distance.

"Grizzly, kill the boy!" Maev was shouting, shaking her
fist.

The two dragons drew apart, and Dorvin grinned again, hissing out
smoke. "I'm a leader of dragons." He let the flames grow in
his belly. "I lead twenty people; you lead three. Requiem is
mine." With that, he blasted out a stream of fire.

Jeid was a larger dragon, wide and cumbersome, a lumbering beast of
heavy copper scales. Yet his wings beat mightily, and he soared fast
enough to dodge the flames. The jet raced across the earth and
slammed into the base of King's Column, blackening the marble. With a
roar, Jeid swooped, barreling into Dorvin.

Their horns clattered together like the antlers of battling elks. A
silver dragon, Dorvin was smaller than Jeid but also half his age,
quicker and more feral. He snapped his teeth, tore a scale off Jeid's
shoulder, and spat it out. Blood gushed from the exposed flesh. The
tangy taste filled Dorvin's mouth, and he licked his lips.

"Your reign ends now, old man!" He laughed and swiped his
claws, aiming at an eye. "I am King Dorvin, Lord of Requi—"

Jeid's tail cracked like a whip, slamming into Dorvin's head.

He fell, seeing stars.

"Kill him, Grizzly!" Maev shouted, hopping up and down.

"Bash his head in!" Tanin cried.

Somewhere, Dorvin heard his own people chanting for him, shouting at
him to stand up, to keep fighting. But they sounded so far away; he
could barely cling to the voices. Alina was shouting too—something
about an end to violence—but Dorvin couldn't hear her either.
Grumbling, he shoved himself to his feet. But Jeid struck again. The
beast's jaws closed around Dorvin's neck, cracking scales, cutting
into flesh.

Dorvin screamed.

He slashed his claws against Jeid, drawing blood. His wings pounded
against the earth. He tail whipped, hitting Jeid's back, but the
coppery dragon would not release him. The jaws tightened, squeezing
Dorvin's neck, constricting his breath. He tried to shove the beast
off, to fly, to fight back, but could not.

"Serve me," Jeid grumbled, crushing Dorvin's neck. "Serve
me now or I snap your neck. Serve me or die. Choose."

"He chooses death!" Maev said. The young woman ran forward,
still in human form, and knelt before Dorvin. She stared into his
eyes, smirking. "Say it, boy! Say you choose death. I'll enjoy
pissing on your grave."

He tried to burn her, but only a stream of smoke left his jaws,
scattering uselessly against the woman.

Dorvin managed to whisper hoarsely. "You dare not kill me, Jeid.
You're a coward." He spat out smoke. "I surrender to no
one."

"I'm not asking you to surrender." Jeid shook his head
wildly, slamming Dorvin's head repeatedly against the earth. "Dragons
of Requiem do not surrender. I'm asking you to fight for me. Fight
for your king. Fight for Requiem. Do not fight for one you think
weak; fight for one who showed you strength."

With that, Jeid tugged his jaws backward, lifting Dorvin's head
several feet above the ground. Then Jeid slammed him back down.
Dorvin's temple thumped against the earth so powerfully his ears
rang, his eyes blackened, and his magic left him. He lay in the dust,
a man again, blood trickling from his head. He tried to rise but Jeid
stood above him, still a dragon, pinning him down.

"Wormy pig guts," Dorvin said, blinking to bring the world
into focus. "You're a tough old bastard, you son of a
goat-shagger."

With a grumble, Jeid released his magic and tugged Dorvin to his
feet. "Stand up." Disgust filled his voice. "Now kneel
before me. Do it now before I clobber you again."

Head spinning and blood trickling, Dorvin looked around him. Everyone
was staring at him—his sister, Jeid's people, his own people. They
were all silent, waiting for his move. Dorvin cursed inwardly. If he
surrendered like a coward, he'd look weak. If he tried to fight again
and lost, he'd look even weaker. He had only one thing to do.

Stars damn it.

He burst out laughing, blood in his mouth.

"You bastard!" He grabbed Jeid and squeezed his shoulder.
"You're tougher than rocks in a dragon's gullet." He
nodded. "I was only testing you, you lump of tarred mammoth
shite. Aye. You proved your strength to me. I'll fight for you, old
man." He knelt. "There, I'm kneeling all proper like, you
grizzled chunk of meat." He rose again, stared at Jeid solemnly,
and nodded. "I'll fly for you. For Requiem." He turned
toward his people and raised his voice. "We fight for Requiem,
for King Aeternum! Ours are the stars!"

They repeated the chant. "Ours are the stars!"

As the others stepped closer, Dorvin thrust out his bottom lip,
looking around and nodding. "Well, it's a shite-hole, this place
is. But not a bad column you've got here, Grizzly King. This column
is a backbone. We'll build a body around it."

His sister smiled and began leading the people in prayer. Dorvin was
about to join them, to sing the song of starlight and dragon wings,
when the cry rose behind him.

He spun around, narrowed his eyes, and tilted his head.

A young woman came running from the forest, her green eyes wide with
fear. A dark braid hung across her shoulder, and she wore an uncured
pelt of bear fur. The garment stank of blood and old meat, and flies
bustled around it, as if the girl had simply torn it off the animal.
Beneath, she wore a bloodstained cotton tunic. Strangest of all was
her hand; when she reached forward, she revealed a silver amulet
embedded into the flesh of her palm.

"Requiem!" she cried. "Demons attack—an army of
demons." She ran a few more steps, then collapsed.

"Issari!" Tanin shouted and ran toward her. He knelt above
the girl. "Issari, by the stars, what are you doing here?"

The others all crowded around, gasping and whispering. Dorvin stared
down at the strange young woman, confusion welling inside him.

Lying in Tanin's arms, pale and shivering and coated in blood, Issari
stared up and whispered through pale lips, "He is coming. Raem.
My father. He flies here leading a thousand demons. He flies to
destroy Requiem."

With that, her eyes closed, and she said no more.

 
 
RAEM

They
streamed across the world, festering, screeching, howling for blood,
an unholy host, a darkness to crush reptiles. The demon army swarmed.

"You will feast upon dragon flesh!" Raem shouted, standing
in his stirrups. "You will drink dragon blood and suck marrow
from their bones!"

They howled, cheered, laughed, screeched, hissed, bellowed—a
thousand creatures flying around him. Some were balls of fat, their
sores oozing. Others were long, scaled strips of festering flesh.
Some were feathered, others naked, some encased with the screaming
faces of victims like plates of fleshy armor. Drool dripped between
their teeth. Their eyes blazed like torches. Their wings churned the
clouds and sent waves of stench across the land.

Soon, my daughters.
Raem's lips peeled back as he inhaled the
sweet miasma of his host.
Soon you will join this army. I will
break you. I will reform you. I will turn you into creatures.