held at the man's throat, and an enraged dragon glaring down at him. It already had Sollos, crushing him in its tail. Kemir's mind froze. He couldn't think. He was going to die.
Where are the alchemists? The words came from somewhere. He was staring at the dragon's mouth, waiting for the moment when the fire would come. Its mouth didn't move, but the words came anyway. Where are they? They filled him up on the inside, as big as the dragon itself. Where are the others? Where? He thought his head would explode. Alchemists! Where?
He could feel the Scales' skin, soft underneath, hard and brittle as glass where it was flaking away. Will a knife even cut him? 'I know where they are!' he shouted, if only to make the noise in his head go away. 'I know how to find them.'
The rage in the dragon's eyes faded to a simmering anger. It peered at him and snarled, and then it threw Sollos up into the air and caught him with its tail again, holding him head down just inches above Kemir's face.
Tell me!
'Don't tell it!' croaked Sollos, and then he screamed as the tail tightened around him.
Kemir squeezed his arm into the Scales' throat. 'If I tell you and let this one go, you'll burn me.'
Mountains. I see mountains in your mind. They are close. Tell me or I will burn you both.
'There are mountains all around you, dragon. Burn me and you'll never know which one.' Above him, Sollos screwed up his face in agony as the dragon flexed its tail again. Then the monster looked up. Abruptly, it let go of Sollos, turned and ran down the river. A few seconds later, it was rising into the air. Kemir could see two dark dots moving against the clouds high above. Reluctantly, he let go of the Scales and ran to Sollos.
'Are you all right?'
Sollos sat up. Blood covered his face from a shallow gash in his scalp and he held his left hand gingerly. 'Nothing that won't get better.'
'Do your legs work?' Kemir glanced over his shoulder. The Scales was standing up, looking into the sky, dazed and lost. Sollos got up.
'Well enough.'
'That's good. I'll grab him. Let's get running.'
'Wait! The riders.'
Kemir grimaced. 'What about them? They're all dead.'
'No, they're not.' Sollos pointed. In the middle of the river an armoured figure was staggering to his feet. Kemir grinned. Rider Semian. What luck!
'Well that can soon be corrected.' He raised his voice. 'Hey! Rider Rod! Over here.'
'Wait.'
'I'll make it quick. We'll get out of here before his friends come back.'
'Wait!'
Kemir growled. 'What?' Rider Semian was stumbling through the water and the stones towards them.
'Who was telling the white dragon what to do?'
'I don't think anyone was telling it what to do.'
'But that's not right.'
Kemir shrugged. 'Maybe, maybe not. I know shit about dragons, except what they do when they have riders on their backs.' He fingered a knife. Semian was getting closer. He looked bewildered, as though he hadn't the first idea what had happened. Easy prey.
'Let me talk to him.' Sollos picked his way over the stones towards the dazed dragon-knight. From above, a series of soul-rending shrieks echoed through the valley. Kemir winced.
'Rider! Rider Semian! Are you all right?'
Semian didn't say anything. His face was strangely blank. Kemir felt the hairs on his neck prickle. Danger! He took a step towards them. 'Sollos!'
Semian's mouth was half-open, his eyes vacant and distant, but when he moved, he moved with a sudden speed and purpose. In the blink of an eye he had drawn his sword and run Sollos through. Sollos gave a little grunt and doubled up. As Semian pulled free his sword, Sollos crumpled and fell into the water. Kemir found he couldn't move.
'Sollos!'
Semian lifted his sword and thrust down, burying the point in the exposed skin at the back of Sollos's neck.
'Sollos!'
Semian turned to look at Kemir. The vacant stare had gone.
'You bastard!' Kemir hesitated. Fury and revenge surged through him, demanding retribution, immediate and bloody. Yet Semian was armoured. He was a knight. And he'd been so unexpectedly quick.
I'm afraid of him. The realisation was horrifying, almost as bad as seeing Sollos die. If I fight him, he might actually win. I'm afraid of him. And he's not afraid of me.
Semian came slowly towards him. There could be no doubting his purpose now. He knew exactly where he was and exactly what he was doing.
'You and me, sell-sword. That's what you wanted.'
'He never drew his sword. He was trying to help you. You're filth. You and your kind.'
'It's clear.' Semian's eyes were wild. 'You were a part of this all along. Both of you. You made a fool of me, but I will redeem myself with this.' He waved his sword in the air. 'Now I have the vile stain of a traitor on my blade, I can barely bring myself to hold it in my hand. Quick now, man, before 1 can stand the stink no more. Let us be done. Kill me if you can, or add your blood to his.'
Kemir took a step away, keeping his distance. 'Killing you here and now, that would be too quick. I want to watch you die slowly.'
'Are you too great a coward to fight me, sell-sword?'
The rage surged again, but the fear kept it in check. 'One day there'll be a shadow in an alley, and I'll be in that shadow with my bow, waiting for you. You'll never know. You'll never see it coming.' Kemir scuttled away through the rushing water and the rocks, putting more distance between them. Semian would never catch him dressed in so much dragonscale, and he didn't try. The knight simply stood and watched him retreat.
'Coward.'
'You'll never know!' Kemir turned and ran. When he'd crossed the river and reached the trees, he looked back again. Semian was still standing there, stock still, out in the open. A perfect target. Kemir took his bow from his shoulder and started to string it. Seventy, eighty yards. A man in armour. If he's stupid enough to stay still, I'll probably hit him. I won't kill him. Then I can finish him slowly. Yes, that would be perfect.
He'd almost forgotten the dragons when there came another shriek, so loud and close that he flinched. A moment later the entire river exploded. Water and stones flew everywhere as two dragons crashed into the river bed, locked together, teeth and claws sunk into each other. One of them was the white. The other was dark brown with flashes of iridescent green on the insides of its legs. It had a rider on its back, but he quickly disappeared as the dragons thrashed and rolled in the water. Then the thrashing stopped and the dragons parted. The white dragon was limping. The darker beast got up, nosed at something in the water and roared. One of its wings was clearly broken, and it seemed to barely notice the white now.
It was still in the way, though. Kemir ran a few dozen yards through the trees, following the river, but Rider Semian had gone.
The Scales was still alive. Somehow. Stumbling blindly though the stones. The white dragon picked him up in one claw, turned and ran.
Kemir watched them go. Inside him something broke.
35
The Dragon-Queen
Hyram went out to watch Zafir's dragons fly in to the Adamantine Eyrie, but his mind was still on Jehal. After
