Dragon's Cage Read online

  The Flower Whithers

  Rise of the Horned Serpent Part 2

  Daniel Potter

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 1

  A shiver went down the Steward's spine and made his hand twitch, causing a bump in the arc in the thick line that extended from his brush. He frowned at the flaw in the drawing before lifting his eyes to the vast open balcony of the Sun Emperor's throne room. In the distance the grand Torii stood as tall and as wide as mountain. The timbers that held it aloft had to come from a tree as grand as the World Tree that made up the entirety of the Vahallan nation. It stood a mile high and those timber bore burn scars from the when the Great Wrym ruled the entire continent. Generations ago, his ancestor had declared the it to be the gate through all legal air traffic must pass.

  Setting his brush aside, The Steward hauled his lanky frame out of his modest throne and walked out through the sliding doors and onto the balcony. The cold mountain wind cut through his rich clothing like a knife as soon as he crossed the line that divided the inside and the outside. A ward that the west wind did not care for as it never missed the opportunity to make the Steward shiver.

  On the railing, a spy long glass had been mounted on the railing. Yet the Steward ignored the device, instead leaning over the railing and squinting in the morning sun. Seven shapes floated with in the shape of the Grand Torii. One. The largest, was a floating lift wood grove, the empowered trees surrounding the squat shape of the gate fortress. A relic from the ancient days when entire islands dueled in the skies. Extending from this shape was a spindly tower around which six airships gathered around like bees competing for a flower.

  Among one of those ships was something had for a brief moment, stirred the great Kami of the Grand Torii itself. One of those six ships carried something or someone that, if left unchecked could threaten the city itself.

  Acting on the advice of the Kami strayed into the trap of prophecy. Over reacting, having all the ship’s crew killed and their cargo burned could easily create the very threat the Torii had warned him about. Plus, several of them were Lyndon traders and that would hand that crystalized demon they all worshiped a perfect excuse to declare war before the Golden hills were ready.

  Scowling the Steward straightened and carefully folded his hands together, so not to damage his long delicate nails. He stepped back inside, into crystal provided warmth and light. "Shuri." He said.

  A young woman in the long flowing robes of a royal concubine, looked up from her book. "My Steward?" She stood, the robes rippling as they moved to hug her shapely body. The weaponry concealed in her large sleeves momentarily visible as she moved.

  "Dispatch priests to the docks, I want everything that comes off the ships arriving this morning documented and inspected." The Steward said.

  "As you wish." She bowed formally and began the trek to the closed doors that indicated that the Steward had wished for solitude this morning. Behind which at least nobles and military officials all jockeyed to be the first person to stride through it.

  The Steward reached his own throne and pause to look at the larger one behind it. The Sun Emperor's throne sat vacant, as it had for over a thousand years, it dwarfed the Steward's by six times, instead of rich dark wood, silver, gold and jade blended together as if unevenly stirred together. At the Apex, it encircled a small sun that burned eternally. As a young boy, he had dreamed of forging an empire, growing the Golden Hills from a single place into many. Earning the right to sit on that grand chair, to call himself Emperor instead of a mere Steward, waiting eternally for the return of a God man who had died so long ago.

  Now he fretted that even holding onto Golden Hills might be beyond him.

  Settling on his throne he stared down at the almost completed drawing before him. A noble wolf, snarled at the viewer with an eyeless face. The dip in its back a stark flaw in the elegant design. He grabbed at the corner, moving to crumble up the drawing and toss it into the burning urn besides his throne. Yet a thought a stopped him. He took up his brush and dripped two drops for the wolf's eyes. A deep growl made the paper diver in place as the wolf began to move. It turned in place on the paper and fell with a whimper. Its back canted at an odd angle. The Steward winced in sympathy as the wolf struggled back to its feet, favoring its right leg. It looked up at the Steward and then rolled onto its belly, offering her throat.

  "No." The Steward's voice was firm. "You have a mission. You will find the source of your flaw and bring me it's image. Will you brave?"

  The wolf stood, still squinting in pain and the nodded.

  The Steward drew his seal, a stylized chair in the shadow of a larger one. "Take this to assure your passage."

  The wolf swallowed the seal, it floated up his throat and to his head, were it took up resident on the animal's forehead.

  "Good." The Steward held his hands out on either side of the paper and called out to the Sun Emperor's gift. A golden light threaded out along the veins of his hands. The wolf gave a yipe as the paper folded and twisted itself until a paper crane stood on the table, slightly larger than a Pidgeon. The Steward lifted the crane aloft. The Crane flapped its wings experimentally, eyeless head peering around its surroundings.

  "Go release your cargo on the docks." The Steward said before gently foisting the bird in the air. It flapped its wings once and sailed out over the balcony before diving down beyond his view.

  It did not that he did not trust the priests, they were certain to find something foul and dangerous but would it be some plot that actually threatened the city or simply a noble's pocket?

  He looked toward the door, Shuri stood with her back to the doors as if holding them closed with her small frame alone. He had to smile at the image of her holding back the onslaught of generals and nobles behind that door. The fact that she could probably do so made it all the more amusing. "Let them in Shuri." The Steward reclined back and prepared to plot a war where victory would be far from assured.

  Chapter 2

  "Whooof." Ishe breathed as the miner's fist slammed into her belly. The world teetered and went down on knee. The wooden pole that her arms had been lashed to clacked against the stone floor Dragon lair.

  "Ooo that was a good one." Yaz'noth observed. "What do you say now Ishe?"

  Ishe spat a mouthful of red onto the gray rock floor and pretended to consider the dragon's words. He had been the one who had blown up the Fox Fire with her mother on the deck and then forced her to bargain for her sister's medical treatment to heal a wound that his underlings had inflicted. After making a show of studying her spattered spittle she looked up into the dragon's golden eyes. "Still not sorry."

  "Tsk, tsk Ishe." The Dragon said, "Your uprising killed this man's wife. You could at least express a little remorse
."

  Lifting her head up she studied the man in front of her and a small thrill went through her bruised brain as he massaged his knuckles. A brooding anger looked back at her. Ishe smiled crookedly, "I'm very sorry that it didn't work."

  A twitch in his eyebrow was the only warning she had before his fist swung into her cheek. Ishe's view snapped to the right where she found the mildly surprised face of Miss Cog staring back at her.

  "Enough!" Yaz'noth roared. "I very distinctly said do not hit her in the head." The row of miners who had volunteered for Ishe's "punishment session" shrank back toward the doorway. He gave a rumbling growl of disappointment. "We're done here for now. Miss Cog please take Miss Ishe home."

  "Yes M'lord." Miss Cog gestured and two guards hauled Ishe to her feet. Stumbling they guided her back toward a giant bird cage, tall enough for Ishe to stand in and wide enough to lay down if she chose. Choosing wasn't in the cards, the guards untied her arms, she as tipped over into the cage with soft groan. The guards pushed her feet into the cage with their boots and closed the door. The lock clicked and another team of dragon sworn operated a winch near the edge of the chamber. The chain attached to the cage's top went taunt, hoisting it up into the air until Ishe was eye level with the Dragon.

  "Do anything to say for yourself now?" Yaz'noth nosed the cage, setting it swinging.

  Ishe tried to assemble a suitably tough comeback but with her head spinning and her world swinging words proved difficult. She found a raised middle finger a suitable substitute. The dragon chuckled to himself as she used the bars to drag herself up into a sitting position. Her tenderize mid-section screamed. She had lost count of how many blows had landed as she watched the line of miners file out the lair. Nearly a dozen men had pummeled her with a half dozen blows each.

  Once the miners were gone Yaz'noth starting musing again, "That was so interesting! Most didn't hold back but a few did. Do those not actually blame you? But then why would they volunteer? Do you think the women will be worse?"

  Ishe could not control the image of her mother presiding over a group of sailors who had gotten too drunk to return to the Fox Fire on their own. A single, "heh." Escaped her lips. No, she did not expect the woman to be any easier to deal with. "If they kill me you're not going to get that quicksilver. Ishe's will have it rigged to explode if you show up without me."

  "If you admit guilt and apologize. Then perhaps we could move to more of a community service penance. I've already confined the beatings to the traditional mourning days." Yaz'noth said.

  "You wanted honesty." Ishe let her head rest against the bars. "I'm giving it to you. You're the one who captured the fiercest privateers on the Golden Hills payroll and expected them knuckle under. And then you let me attempt an escape." Ishe spat, still tasting blood.

  "The flaw in that is that I'm a God and your mortal. Here, I do no wrong. I will miss that." He grinned.

  "Miss it? You plan to stop being a dragon?" Ishe shifted so she could get a better angle at his smiling maw.

  "No but sadly I will have to give up on divinity for a century or two. A ruler has more earthly responsibilities and even the most powerful king must listen to the growling of his subjects." Yaz'noth grazed around the chamber at the men and woman watching him. "And I plan to be a very wise king. In return for their mostly loyal and definitely begrudging service. His voice grew louder from a conversational boom to a proclamation. "Tell her, tell her what I have promised you?"

  A chorus of thuds as every Dragon Sworn in the room struck their chests with their fists twice. The curious salute that Ishe had seen dragon sworn make on rare occasions. "At the time of Tenth, the Steward will fall by the hand of the Ninth!"

  The Dragonsworn's voices filled the chamber. "The empty throne will be discarded and a new emperor will rise."

  "And you, my servants, I promise, will be first among all humankind. Serve me in this new order and I will shield your future generations from even the sunset of your species." Yaz'noth spoke the words as prayer.

  "We pay this price for our children. We suffer for the sake of their future." The Dragon sworn echoed.

  "I recognize the burden I press on you." Yaz'noth intoned.

  "We will bare it." They answered.

  Ishe scanned the faces of the crowd. A few looked bored, mouthing the words with as if they tasted bitter. Yet the majority gazed at their scaly monarch with serious, solemn expressions, meaning every word.

  Yaz'noth's tail curled as his eyes gleamed as they swept over his subjects. "Very soon. The bargain comes."

  "So let it come." They echoed.

  Ishe scanned his scaly face for some hint that this was one of Yaz'noth's bad jokes. She could feel the attention of the Dragon sworn shifting, falling onto her. They were all celebrating quietly, trading glances. Even Miss Cog wore a smirk.

  "And that quicksilver will somehow make it go differently than the last time?" Ishe scoffed. "The Steward has four ships three times the size of the Fox Fire, not to mention of defensive batteries. They'll knock you out of the sky and then use elemental lances to carve you into dragon salami."

  "Ahhh she doubts." He played the crowd. "She thinks we have but one note to play. When we have an orchestra in reserve. Shall we show her precisely what we have planned for fair home?"

  The crowd went silent, as if unsure.

  "Noooo, I don't think so. But maybe if you hang around, you'll figure it out." He swatted Ishe's cage with a taloned paw.

  The Dragon Sworn laughed while Ishe grimace, thankful that her stomach had already been emptied. "Hit me all you want Yaz'noth but even you can't take on a navy."

  Yaz'noth displayed all of his shiny teeth. "How little you know Rhino."

  Chapter 3

  A knock on sounded Yaki's door as she finished applying a shockingly bright red to her lips. "Oh wiiiife." Guro's voice came sing song through the door, "The ship is docking. Hope you're ready."

  Yaki pressed her lips together and allowed herself a wince. The veteran sailor who Yaz'Noth had appointed as her body guard and leash holder was not man whose company she enjoyed. With a deep breath, Yaki mastered herself. "Enter." She said.

  The door to the tiny cabin opened, and Guro's grinned filled the frame. He wore the clothing that Yaki had selected for him. A hopelessly dated emerald green hori over a shirt and hakama patterned with thorny vines. At least the bright colors distracted from the wig that covered his bald head, which Yaki was fairly certain was made of oiled horse hair.

  His grin fell when Yaki turned around. "That’s... quite a bit of makeup. They only wear that much if they're in the theater. It ruins your eyes."

  "If your only exposure to Golden Hills are traveling Kabuki shows it’s a very easy mistake for an overly enthusiastic immigrant to make." Yaki said, rolling her eyes.

  "Yes." His eyes scanned her up and down. Yaki suppressed a passing urge to stab one out. "Well at least the rest of the outfit doesn't ruin anything else."

  Yaki didn't pretend to suppress her offense, "I'm not dressing for you, you thug. WE are dressed for the custom's official." She wore a matching outfit to his, a kimono, at least a decade out of fashion, she had found among the piles of dross in Yaz'noth's warehouse. Greens, reds, trimmed with worn gold thread. "If you do anything other than what I tell you to do then it’s safer for you to give me that bag of money now and stay on the ship. I don't a need a minder to do this."

  He thrust out his chin. "And have you run right to the Steward screaming dragon?"

  "You and your Lord have my sister, I don't need an additional dagger at my throat." Yaki's hand fell to her own dagger, placed where her sword would usually hang.

  "There are plenty of ways for you to both betray us and deliver the quicksilver. You're stuck with me princess." He grinned at her thread display. "You won't get far with that little poker either. Besides if I don't make my daily report to the Lord, your sister gets a new body part."

  Yaki's dragon made heart flared painfully in her chest, biting
through the muzzy sensation that the medical crystal spread through her body. Still, she took her hand off her weapon. He had shown her the talking crystals he'd use to stay in contact with the Dragon earlier. If she wants to get rid of Guro, she has to make Guro himself think it was an accident. Maybe a slow acting poison?

  "Good girl." Guro's grin turned all the more lecherous. "I brought a wedding gift for you." He bent briefly and picked up something besides the door frame. A rapier.

  Yaki's eyes widened as she snatched it from his hand. Not simply any rapier, her fingers caressed the orientate basket fashion in the style of rose thorns, slipping inside, her thumb found the cold surface of the crystal hidden on the hilt. "Where did you get this?" She pulled it from the sheath, and instantly found the stressed metal where she had attempted saw through a tree branch with it. Still serviceable but getting a smith to repair it would be a good idea.

  "Same place we found the gems that will be funding this endeavor." Guro patted his hip purse.

  Ka-clink, Ka-clink, Ka-clink. That had been the money she had supposed to use to start a new life with! A tithe of iron on his god cursed house! Yaki swallowed the taste of smoke that billowed up her throat and fought back all the violent ways she could kill Guro without taking the sword out of its sheath.

  Calm yourself. The voice of Mistress Mana reached across the span of memories. He's no different from any other gentleman. He has something you want. It doesn't matter if he's disgusting or rude. The more they want, the more they will pay for what you offer.