The Dragon Knight and the Steam World Read online

  The Dragon Knight and the Steam World

  By D.C. Clemens

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter One

  Under a wool blanket, Alexandros Eberwolf squirmed again on his bed. His eyes squinted open. A lone candle on the nightstand illuminated the windowless room as weakly as my brother’s visage appeared. He turned to see me sitting on a chair by the bed, my right foot resting on my left knee.

  In a raspy voice, Alex said, “C-Cyrus?”

  “Aye. Strong enough to drink some water?” Alex faced away from me to vacantly stare at the ceiling. “Going to pass out again? You did the last time you woke up.”

  “Don’t remember that.”

  I picked up a small water jug and took a sip. “Ah, still cool. Do you want some or not? Our corruption is no substitute for a fresh drink.”

  “What’s the point? Won’t I just be executed?”

  “I’d rather avoid telling our family it came down to that. As long as you agree to be under my care, no noose will go around your neck.”

  He turned to give me a tired, scrunched expression of anger mixed with distrust. “Why protect me? You don’t even remember me.”

  “No, but I still understand you better than anyone else. The Advent put us on similar paths, gave us our terrible gift.”

  He grunted. “But you have a dragon. People will always respect that… People will only see me as some corrupted beast that can bite at any time.”

  “If that turns out to be the case, I’ll hand you the execution you expect myself. For now, I’d prefer not to be so impulsive. My scholar discovered traces of nismerdon prana in you. It may be from the life absorbing bulb we found you in, but if that power was in you even before that, then there’s a good chance the Advent were influencing your very thoughts. Helps explain why so many of the cultists were so damn devout.”

  “Hmph. I didn’t feel like I was being controlled.” A dry cough. “I wanted to be a part of something bigger. I wanted to be stronger.”

  “You didn’t care about being taken away from your family? Or that they took me and other innocents? You couldn’t have believed I was doing fine.”

  “At first they told me you were helping them… That I could see you again if I mastered my power and helped them too. Then they said you turned against us. I figured they lied to me at some point, but by then I resolved to stick with them.”

  “By becoming a willing sacrifice for a would-be god? Still sounds like some kind of outsider influence to me.”

  “Omen would have revived us… And even if you’re the tiniest bit right, I didn’t try to fight against it. Why would I? For all my life I felt so frail. The corruption changed me for the better. It felt like a missing part of myself. It completed me.”

  “Aye, I know what you mean.”

  He shook his head. Once he cleared his throat, he said, “I was jealous of you. You got to play with the other kids all you wanted. No one worried you’d make them sick. You were always praised for your smarts.” Another cough. “You were expected to be anything you wanted to be. I was going to be stuck in my room forever, waiting to officially die… Then the Advent came. It was finally my turn to prove I could be more than a burden… to surpass you… Then you show up with a godsdamn dragon.”

  I belted out a short-lived laugh. “And once again you’re stuck in a room expecting to officially die.”

  Perhaps too drained to put any real heated hatred in the words, he coolly said, “Fuck you.”

  “A sentiment shared by the rest of the Advent, I’m sure. By the way, you wouldn’t happen to know where any surviving Advent might have gone, do you?”

  “They’re long gone. Besides, I wouldn’t tell you even if there was a chance you could catch up with them. They were better friends to me than anyone else in my life.”

  “Taking the stubborn route, eh? Fine.” I stood up and put the jug on the chair. Opening the door, I said, “Whenever you feel like dying, simply get up and start attacking people. I’ll come right over and end it all for you.” His eyes closed as I shut the door behind me.

  Waiting in the hall were Clarissa, Odet, and Gerard.

  “Can I stab him yet?” asked the vampire.

  “Soon.”

  “Mercer,” said a disapproving Odet. “This is a serious matter. If your brother shows no hope of repentance, then only his death can come close to rebalancing the wrong he caused.”

  “I’m aware, princess. It’s only that we didn’t get much further than before. I kinda needed to repeat myself. As far as he’s aware, he woke up for the first time.”

  “So he doesn’t remember the first conversation you had with him?” asked Gerard.

  “No, though there wasn’t much to remember that first time. He was more lucid this time around. In any case, I wouldn’t say he’s hopeless. Misguided fool simply wanted something more out of his purposeless life as an invalid. If he still wants to make something out of himself, then staying with his dragon knight brother is the only way he can accomplish anything grand. He won’t like it, but I didn’t like taking vampires and princesses along with me, and look how that ended up.” Specifically to Odet, I said, “Speaking of which, the Warriors Guild should be taking you home by now, no?”

  “Some Advent remain unaccounted for.”

  “And probably will be for a while yet. Hundreds of prana seekers have found no giants or their servants after three days of searching. I suspect Ghevont will return from his search with the same news. They’ll hide a thousand feet underground for a century if they can. And even if someone finds something, there’s still a Wregor army here to help me take care of them. You have to go home, see your family, and figure out how long it will take Mytariss to recover.”

  “All valid points, but if the emperor comes to believe the Advent have permanently retreated, then he’ll soon send you to the Chiszir border to fulfill the promise you made him. That will be a delicate situation. I certainly will not leave any political negotiations to someone as inexperienced as you.”

  “Unless you wed the prince, what happens with the Chiszir should not be of great concern to you. You can argue with me all you want about the Advent, it was personal and threatened all of Orda, but some temperamental tribesmen wandering the other side of the world are not worth risking your life over.”

  “I’ll try not to give them anything to be temperamental about. Honestly, if Aranath was uninjured, I probably would be comfortable leaving you to it. As it is, a grounded dragon knight can always use an extra shield, no?”

  I sighed. Not wanting to completely give in, I said, “Let’s wait and see if Ghevont returns with any new information.”

  The word of new information came early in the afternoon, though not from the scholar. I
was asked to meet with the Wregor prince in the wall tower he set his headquarters in. Odet and her bodyguard tagged along, of course. We climbed to the highest floor to see the prince and a gaunt, bushed Jegeru commander waiting for us.

  After a bow, Wuhen said, “Commander Lom So here is not officially part of this meeting, but considering these next few days will determine the path of his nation, I thought it prudent that he be here.”

  “And I thank you, Prince Ashina,” said the commander. “If only I had more faith in your father’s future ideas for my people.”

  We took our seats around a table with pitchers of water and two big bowls of fruit.

  “First things first,” began the prince, “my father is aware Master Rathmore has successfully gathered more nismerdon prana from the affected Jegeru soldiers. He would like him to finish his curative mission at the capital. As for you, he has requested your services at the Chiszir border.”

  With a glance at Odet, I said, “In other words, he wants me out of the way so he can start consolidating power here.”

  “No doubt. However, there are legitimate reports of the Chiszir becoming troublesome in the regions we could not replace our manpower quickly enough.”

  “And don’t forget you gave your word to assist him if and when such an event occurred,” said an annoyed Odet. “You might otherwise have been freer to stay here as long as you wanted.”

  “I don’t regret giving my word,” I said. “It got armies moving at greater speed. There might not be a Jegeru to consolidate if we dealt with politics too long.”

  “It may have only taken another day or two of negotiating. No matter, what’s done is done. Prince Ashina, what is your father’s next step here?”

  “To learn how much of Jegeru’s armies and nobility truly remain. The more organized they are, the less blunt his actions will be. I can help embellish the numbers and mobilization capacity, but there is no hiding the fact that many of Jegeru’s major western and southern cities lie in shambles. Jegeru will need much aid to rebuild and be kept fed, something the empire can provide in mass within the coming months.”

  “So he will ingratiate himself to the people with food and aid.”

  “There is a small chance he keeps my army here in the hopes Jegeru is provoked into attacking, but yes, my bet would an indirect assimilation through trade deals with select nobility.”

  “Then the military will take over such deals,” said the commander.

  “I see it now,” said Odet. “The emperor will insist on only brokering with civilian leadership, and what’s left of your nobility and traders will not appreciate seeing so much of their coin go to the army. People will split from being pulled one way and the other, exactly what the emperor wants. You must first gain a consensus among your people, commander. Your lands to the north and northeast have not been too disturbed by the Advent. You must convey their most influential merchants and nobles from those cities and settle them in Watawara.”

  “And do it quietly,” said the prince. “It would be best that my father believes it’s your military handling matters for as long as possible. That way he will strategize around the hope of internal conflict brewing.”

  “Yes, I see,” said the commander. “Your father should be surprised when he discovers he cannot so easily fracture Jegeru and pick up its pieces.”

  “Nevertheless, that will require the bulk of your armies to behave themselves. Any hint of provocation will give him an excuse to withhold aid and hold territory. So while your military commanders seemingly take control, I would keep your armies in central and eastern Jegeru.”

  “And leave Watawara so exposed?”

  “A justifiable concern,” said Odet. “However, if Wregor’s emperor makes any move to take advantage of Watawara’s vulnerability, the dragon knight and his guild will intervene.”

  “Which brings me to the next point, commander,” I said. “When I go west, so will much of the guild warriors. I will leave a number of them in Watawara to help reestablish the guild house. While we recommend your armies stay out of sight, those who wish to join the guild are welcome. So perhaps you’ll encourage a lot of promising young fighters to make the journey west, hmm? It will take time for them to go through the whole process of becoming guild members, but they can certainly wield weapons and wear armor during training. Emperor Ashina can’t say shit about that.”

  “Ah, yes. I will mention in passing how the guild could use more people, people who will serve the dragon knight.”

  I whistled sharply. “Don’t say exactly that. The guild is supposed to be about serving Orda or the gods or something, not a single dragon knight. I can’t even promise they’ll see me for a while, though I’ll check in when I can.”

  “I understand, master dragon knight.”

  “I hope you comprehend one other thing, commander,” said Odet. “We want to keep Wregor from using this turmoil to expand its influence, but no matter how well we plan, we will fail in places. Wregor will tempt your merchants with riches. Your generals will insist on taking blustering measures against Wregor’s presence in any form. Many of your own people will take advantage of each other. Stay strong, for you can’t simply assure everyone that the dragon knight and Wregor prince are conspiring to support your nation. Doing so will ruin the smoothest path to stability.”

  “I will not allow a few failures to discourage me. Thank you for your own insight, princess. I pray our next king or queen will possess half your wisdom.”

  “I’d pray for the princess to fall in love with your next emperor,” I said. “That will guarantee all her wisdom stays here.”

  After a quick roll of her eyes, Odet said, “Unless I’ve underestimated the gods’ interest in my love life, let’s decide on more realistic goals, shall we?”

  The meeting lasted about ten more minutes before we disbanded.

  The wait for the scholar ended late in the night. As my hunch and previous experience with disappearing Advent suggested, his search bore no fruit. The news brought me back to Alex’s room.

  My brother lied in the same position I left him in the morning. Sitting down, I inspected the water jug. If had he drank from it, it was not more than a few mouthfuls. I dipped my hand into the jug, wetting my fingers. I then flicked the droplets on his face.

  Shaking his head, a cantankerous Alex asked, “What?”

  “I was checking if you were awake.”

  “You could have just asked, fucker.”

  “I feared you’d stay silent out of spite.” I set the jug down. “Now, my friends and I are moving out in the morning to appease a certain emperor. I need to know whether you’re coming along or not. Keep in mind the jug still has plenty of water to sprinkle around.”

  A groaning sigh escaped my brother’s mouth and nostrils. “Death sounds preferable compared to dealing with your childishness.”

  “Childishness? Never been described that way before. Odet was worried taking in a second helping of corruption might change me. Perhaps that’s it.”

  “Second helping?”

  “Aye. Sacrificed my corruption in order to kill a giant. Didn’t like being weaker, so I corrupted myself again, with help from a strife worshiper.”

  “You’re traveling with a strife worshiper?”

  “A short association. In any event, I of all people should know how strong corruption’s allure is. So if you’re worried I’ll force someone to purify you, I won’t. It’s your choice, as is the choice you must make now.”

  “Not much of one. It’s either die or tie myself to your fate.”

  “The Advent did much of the tying for us.”

  “Stop trying to lump us together. Our paths, how we feel about the Advent or corruption, or anything at all. You couldn’t even understand me when you actually remembered me, when we were nothing but little good-for-nothings, so how in the fuck are you going to do it now?”

  I leaned farther back in the creaking chair and sighed. “You’re right. I apologize. My experiences
are not your own.” I stayed quiet, giving Alex a chance to either elaborate or calm himself. After a moment dallying in the latter, I said, “I don’t care about how resentful you are of me. It can last however long you want it to, but I do need to know one thing right now… Do you see me as your enemy? Do you wish to kill me?”

  He closed his eyes in short-lived contemplation. “No. I guess ‘enemy’ is too strong a word right this second. It’ll be a different story if we meet the Advent again.”

  “Maybe so. Then you’ll join me?”

  “‘Join’ is also a strong word.”

  “True. ‘You’ll linger mutely near my presence.’ How’s that? Ah, wait, not completely mutely. You will have to apologize to the vampire you hurt back in Dulcet. Do so and you’ll never have to speak when you don’t have to. Agreed?”

  “Fine. I was trying to cut you, anyway.”

  “Good.” I stood. “We still have a couple of hours before we set off. You can request anything but weapons from the guards. Next time you see me, we’re off on wings, so brace yourself if flying isn’t a pleasing notion for you.”

  Flying was a pleasing notion for me, but it was less so with a dragon’s wing on the mend. With Aranath grounded, I went to awaken the winged riders charged with conveying me and my companions right before dawn. As they finished eating their breakfast, I dragged my feet to fetch my brother.

  I saw a vertical Alex this time. He donned a bright red mantle over a simple, long-sleeved black shirt with yellow strings tying it together down the middle. Dark red pants and leather footwear covered his lower half. He followed me outside without neither of us muttering a syllable. I introduced him to everyone, Clarissa being the last. I slapped Alex’s shoulder to instigate his apology.

  With the expected half-hearted tone, he said, “I’m sorry for… for hurting you.”

  Crossing her arms, Clarissa said, “What a horrible apology, but Mercer says I have to be nice, and since I am nice, I accept. Mercer also says that whenever I need blood fast, you’ll happily supply it. And I am feeling peckish right now…”

  “Quit it,” I said, though I wasn’t mollified by the apology either. Even the best worded admission of guilt could not replace the physical pain he should have received from me or her. “Don’t forget his fully fouled blood will taste even worse than mine. Now let’s get out of here.”