‘It wasn’t exactly a very big castle, was it?’ he muttered, and then gasped as Snow’s tail drew a fraction tighter. She landed amid the stone.
Look, Kemir! Look, you alchemists, you who would enslave my kind. This is what will come. She set Kemir down in front of her and then lowered her face so they were almost eye to eye. I have told you, little one, that dragons do not act out of spite or revenge, but as you have seen, we have little patience, we are prone to anger, and if we do not avenge, nor do we forgive. I will not forget your Rider Semian, Kemir. In time he will cross our paths and burn like all the rest, and I will hardly notice his passing, but as I do, I will think of you and consider any last debt between us paid. She set him down and turned to look at him. And now you have served your purpose. You have given me these alchemists. You are no longer useful.
Kemir took a step away. ‘You need me.’ He tried to sound convincing but didn’t really manage it. Belatedly he remembered that the dragon could see into his thoughts.
Yes, Kemir. I see how riven with fear you are. You may hide it from your own kind, but not from me. And fear me you might. She reached out a front claw, still with a wriggling, screaming alchemist held tight within. Kemir could see his face, white with terror and lost blood, only a few feet from his own. He could see the hopeless plea, the tears, the sheer utter despair, the mad idea of mercy…
Mercy? Snow snarled. Why? What mercy have you shown to me? Very slowly, she squeezed. The screaming became frenzied. Then something cracked, and the screaming stopped. Kemir closed his eyes. No matter, Kemir. Do not forget the one you left behind, the one still under the ground. That is the greatest achievement of your kind. No matter what we do, there are always more of you. So you will always have ears to bleed with your questions.
For a moment he thought of running, of how quickly he might reach the nearest pile of rubble. Maybe there would be a tunnel. Could he move fast enough?
I see it in you, Kemir, the empty hole where your purpose used to be. You think, somehow, that striking those who have wronged you will make this change, but it never does and never will. The wrong is never undone. Your hole remains. So you tempt me, over and over, to put an end to your meaningless life. Very well. This time I shall oblige. You may have your wish.
No. That was the very obvious answer. No, he couldn’t run fast enough. Nowhere near fast enough.
Stay very still, Kemir. Watch and listen. Snow kept squeezing. More bones cracked, and then there was a soft popping noise. A thick reddish brown ooze began to leak between her claws. Abruptly, Snow opened them. What was left of the alchemist landed by Kemir’s feet. He’d been crushed to a pulp.
Tail, claw, tooth or fire? Or do you wish to die in battle? There may still be some dragon-riders that are still alive. I sense their thoughts. They are somewhere underneath us. You may look for them if you wish.
Kemir didn’t move. Absolutely nothing was left intact.
Yes. Alive but buried. You may dig if you wish. Do you know how many dragons we have found here?
Kemir shrugged.
Seventeen. Twelve are young, five are full grown. There were more here not long ago.
He was shaking. She didn’t mean it. Did she? Dragons lied. He knew that now. ‘You still need me, dragon.’
Why, Kemir?
A brief flash of anger pushed past the sight of Snow’s jaws, right in front of him. ‘Because you’re so bloody impatiently stupid…’
We fly, Kemir. Sooner or later we would have found this place without your map.
‘Well you still-’
Scorpions? Would have hurt us, but they would not have stopped us. She set the other alchemist onto the ground next to Kemir and gently pinned him there with the tip of one claw resting on his chest. Look around you, Kemir. This is what I bring. We will destroy every place like this. We will annihilate every dragon-rider and every alchemist and every man who calls himself a king or a queen or a prince, but that this is only the beginning. What of the little people whose life is nothing but toil and graft, whose wants are simply a full belly and strong sons? We will feed on them as we feed on kings and princes, for to our kind you are all the same. Ants. You see the future, I know you do, for I have plucked these questions from your thoughts. We have begun and we cannot stop and there can only be one end. Some of you will try to fight us, some will hide, others will simply stand and do nothing as they die. You are one of those who will fight. I see it in you. You will turn on us. You will die.
The alchemist on the ground put a feeble struggle and then gave up.
Yes. Like that, and every bit as futile. Sometimes we will play with you before we eat you. We will not be able to resist. We are, as you once told me, like children. It is true.
She tapped her claw on the last alchemist, very softly but still enough to make him squeal. This one knows. Your kind war upon one other. Realms here have seized power and prepare to make war against realms there. And all the while your king in the mountains watches and bides his time to strike, but it matters not to us which realm is which. Your kind has fallen to chaos. You will not even see us coming until it is far, far too late. She tapped the alchemist again. Tell him, alchemist. Tell him what you have told me. The claw pressed harder into the alchemist’s chest. He screamed.
‘Potions!’
Tell him, alchemist.
‘The potions! They’re running out!’
Yes. The potions are running out. At last Kemir sensed a colour to Snow’s thoughts. Anticipation. Glee. Joy. Lots of all of them. Our first fight was not so wasted after all. They are running out of potions. They can no longer make them quickly enough to contain us. The man this alchemist calls master speaks of a cull to conserve their supplies. So that is where we will start. With potions. Her thoughts grew black and savage. A cull, Kemir. A cull of dragons. Your kind mean to poison us. Every one of us.
Abruptly she lifted her claw, balled it into a fist and brought it down on the alchemist with enough force to make the earth quiver. She completely crushed everything between his neck and his knees. A fine spray of blood spattered Kemir’s face.
‘You going to eat me now after all that, or not?’ He managed to keep his voice steady, at least. Would it be so bad to be dead? To join his ancestors? To find Sollos again?
Your nest-mate Nadira wanted to die and you would not believe me. Now do you see? Your emptiness is the same.
‘Bones and piss, dragon.’ His bow wasn’t strung, so he went for his knives, one in each hand, and hurled himself at Snow’s head. Completely futile, but maybe, just maybe, he could grab a hold of her and stick a knife in one eye far enough to do some real damage. He was quick, very quick…
Somehow her head wasn’t there. Instead, the end of her tail whipped in from one side and snatched him out of the air with such speed it almost wrenched his spine apart. So fast… how could something so big be so blindingly fast?
I see you move in your head, Kemir, that is how. I know what you will do before even your feet understand. She sat back, lifted her head in the air and dangled him high up in front of her. I have thought about this often, what I will do with you when I no longer have a use for you. I had thought I would simply eat you, but now in this moment I am not hungry. So I will let you go. For what little service you have rendered, you are free to leave us. Run, Kemir. Long and far. When I am hungry again, I will come for you.
‘And how long and far will be enough, dragon?’
Snow seemed to laugh. There is never an enough, Kemir.
‘Then perhaps I’ll stay here and see if I can put your eye out after all. Or perhaps you’d better just get on with it and eat me.’
If that is what you would prefer, I will ask the other dragons. We have eaten well, but perhaps one of them still has an appetite.
‘And then? What about you, Snow. What do you do?’
I will take my sleeping brothers and sisters far away where we will not be found until they awake. And then we will come, and our hunger will be endless. I am surprised at you, little one Kemir. Most of your kind have not been given such a generous choice, and yet I do sense that you are… ungrateful.
‘You sound a lot like a rider.’
Arrogant? Cruel? Heartless? Without mercy? Look at me, Kemir. Look at what I am. Your riders are nothing
