Earlier, Lord Ido had handed me his ley-line calculations with a superior smile; we both knew that, even with them, I had very little chance of success. I mentally overlaid his diagram onto the dais and tried to memorise where the deep earth power meridians crisscrossed the huge stone compass. According to Ido, the new year had changed the energy flows, and the best power could now be drawn from the lines that intersected in the northern sector of the dais. Of course, those calculations were for the Rat Dragoneye. They may not be of any use to me.
Part of me wondered if the lines were really where Ido said they were; maybe he had taken the chance to put another obstacle in my way. Squinting, I took a deep breath and tried to focus on the energy world. Maybe I would be able to see the network of earth power beneath the dais.
'Lord Eon.' A voice broke my concentration.
'What?'
Elder Hiron was bowing before me. 'My lord, surely it is time to mount the compassarium?'
I nodded, my irritation swamped by fear. The test had finally arrived. The other Dragoneyes were standing a little apart from each other, lost in their own private preparations for the ordeal ahead.
'Shall I open the circle, my lord?' Hiron asked anxiously
'Yes, we'll start.' I searched the crowd again, but there was still no sign of Ryko.
Elder Hiron bowed again and kneeled on the low step that encircled the dais. Carefully he pushed my bench inwards, breaking the closed circle of seats, then quickly backed away.
'Lord Dragoneyes,' I called, but my voice was drowned in the loud prayer chants. I tried again.
'Lord Dragoneyes, please take your positions.'
Finally I had their attention. Lord Ido, with an ironic bow, stepped up behind me, acknowledging my leadership during the test. The other Dragoneyes silently formed a queue after him in
order of ascendancy, with Lord Meram, the young Pig Dragoneye who'd ascended last cycle, bringing up the rear. The chanting intensified and the sound pounded against my ears like the piercing throb of cicadas. I led the Dragoneyes onto the stone dais, careful not to trip on my red silk robe. The pearls around my arm had slackened even more over the past tew hours. 1
touched my sleeve to check the position of the folio. It had slipped a little, but most of the pearls were still holding it against me.
As was Ascendant tradition, I stood in the centre of the compassarium. When all the other Dragoneyes were standing at their jade marker, Elder Hiron kneeled on the step and pulled my bench back, locking it' against its neighbours and closing the Dragoneye circle.
Immediately the chanting stopped, leaving an eerie quiet. As if on cue, the heat thickened, distorting the air into shimmering waves. Searing heat and silence: the two harbingers of the King Monsoon.
My legs felt stiff as I walked over to my seat and turned to face the ring of men who would look to me for leadership during the long hours of delicate work. One by one, I met their eyes.
Lord Silvo nodded, Garon dropped his gaze from mine, and Tyron gave me a strained smile. I saw caution, anger, hope, dislike, anxiety, spite, ambivalence and, lastly, the wolf stare of Lord Ido. He was waiting for me to fail.
I sat down on my bench, holding the ruby compass out before me. The other Dragoneyes immediately did the same, the glint of the twelve gold discs flashing in the sunlight. A deep rumble made everyone look to the horizon. A huge bank of black cloud was moving steadily towards us, spitting jagged bursts of lightning that raked the ground.
I licked my lips, silently rehearsing the traditional call to power that Hollin had taught me in the carriage. Eleven men stared at me, poised over their instruments, waiting for my words.
Another cracking boom rolled towards us, sending a flinch of fear through the villagers.
'Dragoneyes,' I yelled over the fading thunder, 'call your dragons, draw upon your power, prepare to do your sacred duty for our bountiful land and our glorious Emperor.'
As one, they chanted, 'For our land and Emperor.'
I had been told that every Dragoneye had his own method of calling his dragon's power. Lord Tyron pressed his compass between his palms, as if in prayer, his mouth moving in a private chant. Silvo, his head thrown back to look at the heavens, held his compass up in the cradle of his hands. I glanced across at Ido and my body locked in shock. He was pressing a sharpened edge of his compass across his palm, a thin welling of blood rising around the makeshift blade. I met his eyes in a long, silent moment of realisation: this man's only desire was power and he would do anything for it. I watched him grind the blade further into his flesh. Then his eyes half closed, surrendering to an ecstasy I did not understand, his amber gaze flooding with liquid silver.
Repulsed, I broke away from his blank stare. Around the circle, the other Dragoneyes were still easing into trances, slowly connecting with their beasts. Only Lord Ido and I could step into the energy world as quickly as walking through a doorway Was it because we were both Ascendant? Or was I like him in some other way? The thought made my skin crawl.
I tightened my grip on the ruby compass. Had the Sun drug done its job? That was the real test: whether or not I could finally unite with the Mirror Dragon. For all the stifling heat, I felt a cold wash of hope and dread rush through me. This was my last chance.
I looked down at my compass. Beautiful and useless, but I had to pretend I knew how to work it. I focused on the ruby as Tyron had shown me and breathed deeply, seeking the pathways of my Hua. Slowly, the facets of red stone merged and swirled in my eyes, twisting and folding me into the energy world.
Thunder boomed overhead, forcing my head up. The sky was full of dragons. Immense beasts crouching over the village, over
the roiling black clouds, over the heavens, their huge spirit eyes staring down at me. They lowered in a circle, each guarding their compass point. Green, purple, grey, pink, blue, orange. All of them ready to do our bidding. I stood and spun around, eager to see the red Mirror Dragon behind me. Eager to feel his power. Eager to finally be a true Dragoneye.
Gone.
The crushing loss hit me in the chest before my mind made sense of it. There was no dragon.
Not even a faint outline of his red body Only the villagers gaping up at me. Only the dark thunderous sky
I staggered back, dropping the compass. It clanged on the stone and rolled away.
My dragon was gone.
I had already failed. The terrible reality dropped me onto my hands and knees. A hesitant murmur around the square rose into the shriller tones of alarm. The villagers knew something was wrong. I lifted my head. The other Dragoneyes were still deep in the energy world.
Around me, the dragons were listening; huge heads tilted, answering the call to service.
'Where are you?' I screamed at the huge gap in their circle. 'Come back. What have I done wrong?'
A brutal grip on my arm pulled me to my feet. My eyes focused on blue silk. I looked up into the pitiless face of Lord Ido.
'Quiet.' His harsh whisper was hot against my ear. I jerked my head away from the brutal intimacy, but he held me tight against his body. The silver was ebbing from his eyes, leaving gold-flecked triumph. 'Get back into your position. I'll take over now.'
I wrenched my arm out of his hold. My shock was igniting into fury. At him. At myself. At the Mirror Dragon.
'Let me go!'
I was not quick enough. Ido grabbed my wrist, twisting my arm back into agony, pushing me to my seat. I felt the blood from his wound slick against my skin.
'You have railed, Lord Eon,' he called out to the crowd. 'Now get out of the way while I save this province from your youthful pride,'
Above him loomed the blue immensity of the Rat Dragon. Lord [do had broken his communion with the beast to gloat over my failure. I stared up into the blue dragon's dark otherworld eyes. I had called him before. I could call him again. There was st ill a chance to be a Dragoneye. I dug into my Hua, gathering up the thick grey Sun-drug energy in my seven centres of power. I did not have the Mirror Dragon, but I could have the Rat Dragon. With all of my anger and pain, I hurled the energy at the huge blue beast in front of me and grabbed at his power,
Lord Ido gasped as the silver burst back across his eyes.
'What?' He fell to his knees, pulling me with him.
