Siege: The Rider's Dragon 02, page 31
And all the while, her mood never shifted from a blade-like focus.
After a moment, he’d decided on his answer to her initial question. “Our explosive growth after the battle with the orcs has caused us to outgrow our saddles. Neither Talia nor I have the appropriate harnesses to ensure our riders remain safe. I decided to fly slow to both minimize chances that someone might fall, and to ensure the area we passed over had remained pacified.”
The woman simply nodded. “I can respect that decision. I will set the leatherworkers to preparing new saddles. One of my retainers is an enchanter, so we will see that those saddles are enchanted to grow with you. I understand you can both assume a companion form?”
When Nemesis nodded, the general snapped her fingers. He almost growled at the act, then realized she was signaling a soldier standing off to the side, not him. That man raced up with several stacks of clothing cradled in his arms.
Harper and the others had dismounted, which meant it was simple enough for Nemesis and Talia to transform. His glare ensured no eyes lingered on Talia, though the gold didn’t seem to care. She simply walked over to the flustered young man and accepted a pair of loose trousers and a short robe to cover herself.
Nemesis joined her and selected a crimson tunic and black pants that pleased his sense of aesthetics. General Alecto waited until they were dressed, then focused her eyes on them. “Please accompany me to the conference chambers so we can discuss where we go from here.”
Once again Nemesis noticed the phrasing was polite, though it wasn’t even remotely a question. It might have been offensive if she had seemed at all arrogant about it. He tentatively reached out telepathically to see if he could skim her surface thoughts, but a glassy barrier rebuffed him.
If the general noticed, she gave no sign.
With a sigh, Nemesis inclined his head and began following her toward the building Jaden had had erected. While they walked, he studied the camp for signs of changes. The broken walls had been repaired, thickened, and made taller. On top of that, crushed buildings had been removed, though many were left as flat lots.
Nemesis saw a number of new formation flags set up around the camp. These were attached to mana collectors, and he saw that each had several types of cores slotted into place. Metal, wood, stone, even flame mana were all being funneled into the inscriptions. Before his eyes the structures were growing more complex… and far stronger.
He had thought the general was coming to the base alone, yet everywhere he looked he saw new soldiers. These men and women were dressed in hardened leathers and carried huge wooden shields. Locked to the inner face of their shields were javelins, while across their backs were longer spears. Many also had a sword or ax at their waist.
The weakest of these legionnaires was C-rank.
‘Why,’ he began, connecting his lovers together mentally, ‘are these troops far stronger than the ones Jaden brought? I would wager the men in charge of these groups are equal to Toh.’
‘This is a special unit,’ Kaia answered almost immediately. ‘Jaden’s troops were rank and file, a simple occupation force. This is a mainline combat group. The difference between fodder and fighters. But I have no idea why they’ve been sent here… or how they got here so fast.’
‘Clearly they used a gate spell,’ Min added. She waved her hand in the direction of one of the towers. The metal wires and poles that Jaden and Toh had used to move the legion were once more set up… though Nemesis saw that they currently appeared half melted.
Talia produced a mental hum before she actually spoke up. ‘They must be taking a former Scaleguard prodigy attempt to forge a rival kingdom seriously, though we can’t discount the possibility the group is here to cover up Jaden’s betrayal. We all know the reach of noble families.’
The gold dragon reached out and patted Min on the shoulder. The move suddenly reminded Nemesis that Jaden had been her brother.
I have to stop thinking of the man as a worthless cull and remember that he did have contacts and connections to people I care about. Min doesn’t seem overly heartbroken that her brother died, but she has mentioned her father will likely cause issues for her… especially now that she doesn’t have Artax.
His teeth ground against each other at the thought that he might have to fight some human noble to keep Min at his side. Harper noticed his mood shift and stepped up to brush her hand down the center of his back.
‘Nemmy, did you get a read on General Alecto’s thoughts?’ Harper asked, changing the subject away from Min’s family.
Nemesis snorted, then shook his head. ‘No. She’s wearing a different kind of defensive charm than Persephone and Glaive, but it is equally effective in blocking my scans. Her emotions never shifted from whatever she is focusing on… I also can’t sense her cultivation at all.’
‘Powerful,’ Harper said. She took a deep breath and then smiled, choosing to speak out loud for the benefit of the soldiers walking around them: “The camp seems to be coming back together stronger than ever.”
General Alecto glanced back over her shoulder. The tall woman motioned to the headquarters they were approaching. “Yes, this building is still an eyesore, but my goal is to ensure the base itself is secure before I have it remodeled. The repaired walls are adequate for the moment, which means that improving the barracks and workshops is my current priority. We won’t see replacement gryphons for some time, though, as I had their stables removed. You have moved to secondary lairs?”
Nemesis glanced at Talia, and then he turned his focus on Alecto. “We have. After learning there was a traitor, we had concerns about dragon slayers attempting to kill us while we hibernated. For now, no one will know where we are staying.”
Surprisingly, the general nodded. “Wise. I approve. I’ll make the saddles a priority so you can return to the base faster next time you’re summoned.”
The woman was being reasonable, yet that simply made the tension that Nemesis felt start winding even tighter within him. He’d not seen sign of Persephone or Glaive, which led to him asking after them.
“Our observers from the Scaleguard returned to the outpost a week ago, but I haven’t seen any sign of them yet. Are they on patrol?”
For the first time, General Alecto’s mood shifted. A brief flicker of annoyance rippled through her focus, then it was gone immediately. Nemesis narrowed his crimson eyes as he tried to get more information… sadly her mind had returned to being a vault.
“Persephone and Glaive are waiting for us at the headquarters. They have insisted on taking part in any discussion on how my resources are to be utilized,” the general explained. They had reached the main building while she spoke, and the woman strode in through the door while an underling held it open.
Their arrival in the renovated main floor explained why she was annoyed.
Persephone appeared to be… redecorating. The tiny dragon skipped around the room with a paint brush and Nemesis blinked at the violently pink embellishments she was adding to Jaden’s engravings.
Glaive sat in a wooden chair with his arms crossed over his chest. The purple-eyed man showed no sign of doing anything to rein in his dragon. If Nemesis hadn’t seen the gleam from his eyes, he’d have thought the man was asleep.
Making it worse, Persephone didn’t appear to care if a soldier walked in the way of her painting. Several individuals were carrying files around the room with splashes of pink across their armor. One gruff individual even had a stripe of paint across the center of his face.
General Alecto’s eyebrows came together as she stood glaring at Persephone. That flicker of annoyance returned… and intensified. Yet the only thing the general did was take three distinct breaths, then seat herself at a desk.
“Now that the surviving members of the Scaleguard are here, we can begin our briefing,” she announced.
Persephone whirled toward them, sending pink paint flying in an arc across the room. Acting on impulse, Nemesis caught the paint telekinetically and gathered it in a sphere that floated down to plop into Persephone’s bucket.
While he was doing that, the silver dragon was charging across the room and barreling into his chest. Nemesis grunted when her arms wrapped around him. She caused him to stumble back several steps and the building shook when they impacted the wall.
“That’s enough, Persephone,” Glaive murmured. The man pushed himself to his feet and approached Alecto’s desk.
Persephone let out a whining sound, though she did release Nemesis and skip over to join her partner at the desk.
Nemesis rolled his shoulders and twisted his back in an attempt to regain feeling in his torso. Min put a hand to his shoulder, and a pulse of wood mana thrummed through him. ‘Thank you,’ he sent silently. She nodded in response.
Together, the group approached the general’s desk and waited as the woman dismissed her various aides and assistants. The blue-haired commander clasped her hands beneath her chin with elbows resting on the desk, leaned into her fists, and stared at them. The silence extended long enough for Persephone to start twitching, and finally Alecto spoke:
“Alright, let’s begin at your arrival in this area. Please try to remember every detail. I cannot say what may or may not be important, so tell me everything.”
Nemesis managed to choke off his groan. The last thing he wanted to do was recount months of hunting yet again… but he settled in to do his best. Fortunately, they’d taken some time away from their cultivating to review their notes. The debriefing would be time consuming, but he didn’t expect it to be difficult.
Of course, Nemesis had made his assumptions without understanding the general. Alecto, it seemed, had a technique that allowed her to spot numerous kinds of deceptions. Even omissions seemed obvious to her.
Her polite interrogation resulted in them revealing every aspect of their time at the outpost. Somehow the woman created an aura that prevented them from hiding anything… and Nemesis grew more panicked the longer they spoke.
Once it began, none of them could bring it to a halt.
Alarmingly, Persephone and Glaive appeared just as caught up in the woman’s power. Nemesis listened numbly while Glaive recounted his intention to ship them to the praetorian guards… and Persephone countering with her declaration that would get them killed.
The sun had gone down by the time they’d finished speaking.
Through it all, Alecto had remained focused and stoic. The woman gave no hints of her thoughts. But when the talking was done, she looked over at Persephone with a look of determination on her face.
“It’s time,” the general said.
That was all the warning any of them had before Persephone drove her fist through Glaive’s back and tore his beating heart from his chest.
Nemesis was too stunned to react immediately.
Min didn’t have that problem. “What the fuck?” she shouted. Vines tore through the stone floor and wrapped her form in bark armor. Beside her, Harper’s body took on the gleam of steel that matched the blade she wrenched off her back.
Kaia and Talia spun back to back and flames roared into life to spiral around them in a shield. Through it all, General Alecto didn’t move in response to the defensive gestures. She nodded to Persephone and the silver dragon pursed her lips and whistled. The strange cascade of notes seemed to be everywhere… and outside the headquarters, all hell broke loose.
Nemesis reached out with his mind and took command of everything his telekinetics could grasp. Alecto’s desk rose into the air… followed by chairs, unattended weapons, even chunks of armor. They began to circle the dragon while he stepped between Persephone and his lovers.
Glaive’s purple eyes had shot open wide enough that the whites were completely visible around his iris. Blood trickled down from his lips, yet such was the power of his cultivation that he hadn’t died immediately. He had time to look down and see Persephone’s small hand holding his heart. His eyes glazed in time with the slowing beats. When Persephone crushed it completely, the man finally collapsed.
She turned slowly to look at Nemesis and her eyes reflected intense pain. A flick of her wrist splashed blood off her fingers and onto the floor. The dragon failed to react when Alecto ducked under the floating desk and came to stand by her; Alecto rested a hand on Persephone’s shoulder, but her words were for Nemesis.
“I am sure you have questions. You and your lovers are safe. The fighting outside is my personal guard dealing with the remnant of the legion that was originally sent here. My report to the imperial seat will show that a second plot was discovered among the survivors—in the chaos Glaive was killed.”
Persephone’s face was disturbingly blank. She looked tiny next to Alecto, and the impression of a child next to her mother was made worse when Alecto knelt and began to clean Persephone’s hand with a cloth.
Nemesis had been struggling to deal with the chaotic whispering going on between his lovers over his telepathic net. They’d all been firing rapid suggestions on how to fight their way from the base, but the noise gradually calmed as Alecto failed to act with hostility.
‘We need to find out what their intentions are,’ Kaia insisted. With the net stabilizing, her voice came through the clearest.
‘Killing her rider is going to have done soul damage to Persephone. We’ll have to watch her,’ Talia added.
‘Look at her face, she appears dead…’ Harper said. Nemesis wasn’t shocked to find his rider expressing the most sympathy.
Min, meanwhile, had stepped forward and knelt next to Persephone. The blonde carefully reached out and cupped Persephone’s face. “You okay, sweetie?” she asked. The words acted like a trigger. Persephone jerked away from Alecto and immediately threw herself into Min’s arms. The silver dragon sobbed in the arms of the one person in the room most familiar with the pain she was experiencing.
Nemesis kept his eyes on Alecto. He saw a hint of frustration flash through the eyes of the blue-haired general. He chose to walk forward and let the telekinetic aura around him push everything back, away from Min and her sobbing ward.
“She might never recover from what you made her do,” he said in a voice that was half growl. “What games are you playing at… General?”
Alecto stood, and though she hadn’t resisted being pushed back by his aura, he could tell it was by her own choice. Whatever her cultivation level, she was strong enough to fight against a simple shove.
The woman rolled her shoulders and looked down at Persephone. Her mind was once more hidden behind the focused determination, and her emotions were lacking in guilt or remorse. “It was necessary. If she didn’t sever the bond herself, then her loyalties would have always been conflicted. Now, if she recovers, she can dedicate herself to our cause completely.”
“And what cause is that?” Kaia demanded.
As if on cue, his lovers moved protectively around Min and Persephone. Nemesis was proud of them, even as he worried about the forces he felt moving outside the headquarters. Alecto’s troops were gathering… and there were more than he’d expected.
“We serve Nightshade, and though she has fallen… we remain loyal. Now, we serve Nightshade’s heir. All hail Nemesis!” Alecto stated. Her focus suddenly felt different to Nemesis… instead of an intense mental discipline, he saw it in a new light. Fanaticism. The woman was a zealot.
Even while she slammed her fist to her armor over her heart and shouted his praise, he was contemplating whether killing her would be a wise move or not. Similar emotions radiated from everyone but Persephone. His former instructor radiated pain to such a degree he couldn’t imagine it fading any time soon.
“You killed Glaive… and you’re wiping out an imperial legion, all for me? What do you expect me to do? Shall I just declare war on Kolos and the Immortal? Nightshade was S-rank when she fought with Kolos… and she was driven off. If I am her child, then I am a child who gained nothing from his mother except the memory of her corpse in the cave where I hatched.”
Nemesis felt his frustration and anger rising the longer he spoke. It was one thing to think that Persephone had showed him favoritism because she’d had fond memories of Nightshade—it was another to be dragged into open rebellion against the empire against his will.
Alecto’s stare didn’t help. If anything, the woman seemed enchanted by his anger. Her professionalism seemed to melt in the face of his chastisement, and she looked as though she were having a holy experience.
“I understand your doubts, but we did not act on a whim. Our agents were meant to collect your egg, but the ones called Jonas and Caleb found the caves first. It was never our intention for you to be raised the way you were. The Order of Nightshade failed you.”
Alecto dropped to one knee and bowed her head. Nemesis blinked and looked at Harper. His rider shook her head, then spoke in the silence of their link: ‘I think we’re dealing with a sect. A group of cultivators must have formed around Nightshade, and when she died they transferred their loyalty to you. Sects can have powerful resources and many individuals who harvest natural treasures… but they always have their own agenda.’
Nemesis bit off a grunt before it escaped him, but he couldn’t soften the glare he was directing at Alecto. A soft hand pressed to the side of his neck as Kaia joined the conversation. ‘Sect elders often provide wisdom and cultivation techniques so their juniors develop along a path that fits their ethos. We don’t know what expectations this group might have for us, but if Nightshade had a true sect following her, that might explain why the empire banned most records concerning her.’
‘I say we go with them and make them our vassals.’ Talia’s interjection caused a ripple of shock to pass through Harper and Kaia, yet Nemesis understood her thoughts. The gold dragon continued: ‘Nightshade reached S-rank. If the sect supported her in that rise, then they might be able to push Nemesis higher as well… and the higher he grows, the higher we can go. Nightshade might have lost, but she was alone. Nemesis has us. As long as we’re together, we can triumph.’
