Yumo-Rezu then caught sight of the Dragon Sword that Rollar was carrying for me.
“My greatsword!” she gasped. “I never thought I’d see it again!”
“It’s my sword now,” I said, gently but firmly. “The price I charge for bringing you back from the dead.”
She stared wistfully at the greatsword and sighed. “Very well. All things considered, it’s a small price to pay; you may keep the sword, Vance. I trust you understand its full potential, and know how to use it?”
“I do, and trust me, it’s the perfect weapon for kicking the Blood God’s ugly ass.”
Despite this little spot of disappointment, Yumo-Rezu perked up quickly. Eager to see the outside world for the first time in a millennium, she headed out onto the balcony. She stared at the landscape beyond with a blend of wonder and sadness in her beautiful, almond-colored eyes.
“With my dragon eyes, I can see for hundreds of miles,” Yumo-Rezu said. “From this point, higher than any of the jutting mountain peaks around us, I can see much of Yeng. The City of Jewels, a sprawling metropolis, gleaming in the dusk like the burning embers of a forest fire. The Forbidden Palace, rising like a sublime sculpture above the city. There must be hundreds of thousands of lights in the City of Jewels, maybe even millions. Then, the vast wilderness beyond; thick, steaming jungle from which innumerable karst mountains jut, and sprawling bamboo forests. Deep valleys with thousands of cascading waterfalls, plunging their issue into turquoise pools. Farms and villages where there were none before, hundreds of roads sprung up across the wild like long scars of brown. Forests felled, giving way to cultivated fields. The ocean beyond, a slash of deep blue across the distant horizon. In Gongxiong Harbor, though, there’s a light that seems…”
“That seems?” I asked.
“No, nothing, never mind. I can’t see clearly enough to say for certain.” She paused to reflect. “So many people, so many lives, yet so much death and destruction in recent times. I can see the dead rotting in fields, piled up in trenches and mass graves. A great tragedy has struck my land, and a terrible sadness has fallen over this continent. So much has changed. In some ways, I barely recognize Yeng. A great forest once stood here below us … now it’s all gone.”
“As are the dragons that once roamed these mountains,” I said. “We can’t bring the old forest back, but we can do something about the extinct dragons. I have the gauntlets, and you’re back in the world of the living.”
“Yes,” she said, her jaw tightening. “Yes, we can. Tell me, what do you all know of dragons?”
The others all told her what they’d read, what rumors and legends they knew of, fact and fiction alike.
“It looks like you’ve all done a bit of reading, but there’s still a lot you don’t know,” Yumo-Rezu said. “And the first thing you’ve got wrong about dragons is what they are.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Dragons are not beasts, but they’re not like men either. They’re not gods, but they’re like gods. Just like ancient deities like the Blood God, they are—were—some of the oldest life forms in this world. The time of dragons preceded the first age of man, and the first age of many beasts. They were alive when the world was little more than fire and molten rock, and the seas were empty of all but the most rudimentary lifeforms. They possess magic, magic of a primeval and potent nature, like that of the Blood God. Dragon fire and dragon lightning are not the same as pure elemental fire and lightning. Instead, they possess an additional intensity that neither of those raw elements contain. No magic wielded by newer gods, or men, can permanently destroy a being of the ancient times; only a dragon can do that.”
“But a thousand years ago, Uger and Kemji harnessed dragons and used them to defeat the Blood God and kill the Demogorgon,” Layna said. “If a dragon’s power can permanently destroy an ancient god, how was the Blood God able to come back?”
“Only his creature, the Demogorgon, was destroyed by Kemji and Uger,” Yumo-Rezu answered. “And, it seems, the Blood Jewel and some of his temples were left intact. While such things exist, the spirit of the Blood God lives. As long as the temples and the Blood Jewel are destroyed, dragon fire can take care of the Blood God and his Demogorgon too. Think of him as a very persistent weed; every one of his roots, however deep below the soil they are, must be destroyed to kill the plant.”
“So, dragons are these weird not-god, not-beast, not-men things,” I said. “Useful information for historians maybe, but I want to know how to resurrect one so that I can use it to blow the Blood God to the other side of the fucking universe. Tell me what you need to make that happen, and I’ll get right on it.”
“A number of things are needed,” Yumo-Rezu answered. “First, a willing human shapeshifter—”
“Right here!” Friya said eagerly, stepping forward. “I have the Cloak of Changing, and I have dreamed of my destiny all my life.”
Yumo-Rezu looked her up and down, sizing her up, and eventually gave a satisfied nod.
“You’re aware that, unlike when you shift into your werewolf form, this change is one way, and permanent?” Yumo-Rezu asked. “You will be able to visit friends and loved ones in their dreams in your human form, but after you change into a dragon you will never again be a human, physically, again.”
“I understand that,” Friya said, “and it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”
“The next thing we’re going to need is a Dragon Heart,” Yumo-Rezu said.
“We’re
