Dragonseed

'And now you're here to lay down the law as the new king.'

'I shall never be king,' said Hex.

'You're laying down rules. You're enforcing those rules with violence. It strikes me as kingly behavior.'

'I have only one rule, Burke. I have explained it to all the sun-dragons. Now I'll explain it to you. If you send an army from this fort and attempt to seize neighboring land by force, you will find me opposing you. The age when disputes are settled by armies is at an end. There is nothing else that I care about.'

'You used to care about ending slavery,' said Burke.

'True. I still hope that slavery will end. But I'm keenly aware it would be possible for me to abuse my newfound power. In the end, I decided that enforcing a single law was all I could trust of myself.'

'Even one rule has a way of growing,' said Burke. 'One day you'll realize that the world is too big for you to be everywhere at once. You'll decide to raise your own army, and you'll tax all the kingdoms where you keep the peace, because, after all, it's for our own benefit. Why shouldn't we bear the cost?'

'Your genius is no match for your cynicism, Burke.'

Burke turned away. He saw Anza and Stonewall on the fortress wall, with the big cannon rotated to target Hex. While he was curious to see what the gun would do against the shell, he was also happy that Hex was doing what he was doing, at least for now. He would never admit it to the big lizard, but maybe what the world needed right now was an all-powerful idealist to let things calm down for a few years.

He waved his fingers back and forth under his chin, signaling Anza not to fire. She frowned, crossing her arms.

Dirt swirled on the streets as Hex's mighty wings beat down.

He watched as the mighty beast vanished over the eastern wall. He suspected Bitterwood was about to get company.

BITTERWOOD'S FARM WAS simple enough to spot from the air. Rows of fields plowed in perfect parallel lines radiated out for two or three acres from a simple log cabin. At the back of the cabin, the long-wyrm was curled up, napping.

There was a big gray barn near a stream, though it didn't look as if it would stay gray for long. Jeremiah and Zeeky stood before it with big broad brushes in their hands and buckets of red paint at their feet. Poocher rooted about at the banks of the stream. He was the first to look up at the bright slivers of light that reflected from Hex's shell and danced across the water before him.

The pig let out a sharp, short squeal and Zeeky and Jeremiah turned to face Hex. As he drifted to a landing, the figure of a man appeared in the barn door. Hex wondered for half a second who the old man was. His jaw slackened as the farmer stepped out into the light.

Hex had never seen Bitterwood without his cloak or the buckskin pants that clung to him like a second skin. Now, Bitterwood wore a pair of brown cotton overalls flecked with mud and dirt. His hair had been cropped close to his scalp. His skin was still leathery, but there was a subtle change in the man that Hex struggled to pinpoint. Finally, he understood.

Bitterwood was smiling.

'You still have the shell,' said Bitterwood.

'I wouldn't know how to take it off it I wanted to,' said Hex.

'Vendevorex or Jandra could probably help you with that.'

'Vendevorex is going to stay in Atlantis to help teach the humans there how to survive in the absence of their god,' said Hex. 'And who knows how long Jandra and Shay will spend on their honeymoon? There's so much of the world they wish to see.'

'I hear tell you've been seeing a fair bit of the world yourself,' said Bitterwood. 'The anti-king. I'm not certain I like the sound of it.'

Hex shrugged. 'You aren't in a position to judge me. You killed my father and brother. If I were a king, I'd demand justice. But I'm no king.'

'You're a big golden bully, then,' said Bitterwood.

'And you're the Murder God,' said Hex. 'I would like to think, after the adventures we've shared, that we could call each other friends.'

Bitterwood's frown returned. 'I've never called any dragon friend,' he said.

'I'm your friend,' said Zeeky, coming up and placing her hand on Hex's wing.

'Me too,' said Jeremiah. The boy had a big splotch of red paint on his cheek. Poocher trotted over and gave a gentle grunt as he set down next to Hex. The pig was a full-blown hog now, easily three hundred pounds.

'It's three against one, Bant,' said Hex.

Bitterwood shook his head. 'My feelings aren't up for a vote.'

Hex sighed.

Bitterwood lowered his head, looking at the ground before him, weighing his thoughts. Finally, he said, 'For what it's worth, I don't intend to kill you.'

Hex nodded. 'That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me.'

'But if you ever do anything to hurt the folks in Dragon Forge, I won't hesitate to finish you off,' Bitterwood continued. 'I've hung up my bow. I didn't bury it.'

'It might be interesting to see the tree that would grow if you did bury it, yes?'

Bitterwood didn't grin at the joke. Instead, he had his eyes fixed on Hex's jaws. 'Did you know that the shell doesn't cover the inside of your mouth?' he asked.

Hex clamped his jaws shut.

'I've got a barn to paint,' said Bitterwood.

'I've got a villain to bring to justice,' said Hex.

'That's king talk,' said Bitterwood.

'I've always been aware of my fundamental contradictions,' said Hex, leaping into the air.

He glanced back down. It definitely wasn't a trick of the light. Bitterwood grinned as he watched Hex fly away.

He flew downstream another five miles to the agreed upon meeting place. As he dropped toward the bank, he saw his companions lurking among the trees. They walked out as they saw him. Their blue scales were especially bright beneath the spring sun. All two hundred of the valkyries wore armor. He wondered if they would need it.

JANDRA KNELT ON both knees as she placed the bouquet of yellow tulips in front of the rough stone pyramid. All along the valley, the rhododendrons bloomed, flecking the steep stony mountains with white. She carved the name 'Lizard' into the largest stone with a flaming fingertip. She let the flame fade away and she stared at the word for a long, quiet moment.

'Even though I wasn't in control, I could still feel the warmth of his scales under my fingers.'

Shay placed his hand on her shoulder.

'It's not your fault,' he said.

She leaned her cheek against his arm. 'I remember everything she did,' whispered Jandra. 'Do you want to know what the worst of it was?'

'Tell me,' he said.

'She was so absolutely confident that she was right,' said Jandra. 'She thought the world was broken, and only she had the wisdom and courage and power to fix it.'

Shay squeezed her shoulder. She knew he knew the significance of these words. 'You're nothing like her,' he said.

'I know,' said Jandra. 'But I've been thinking a lot about her journey. She started with good intentions. It's difficult to pinpoint the moment she went off the path from being a good person to being a monster.'

'Perhaps it was around the time she decided it was okay to kill people to get what she wanted.'

'I've killed,' said Jandra. 'Long before I'd met her I'd killed both dragons and men.'

'You were acting to defend yourself and others,' said Shay.

'She was acting to save the world,' said Jandra.

She stood up, wiping the grit from her blue silk trousers. Shay already had his wings unfolded. He looked quite heroic in his red coat, with his shoulders pulled back. Vendevorex had repaired his muscles and scars. With the powers she commanded, she could have healed him herself… she could heal anyone and everyone. She could feed the hungry and give shelter to the homeless and strength to the weak.