The Dragon Knight and the Light Read online

  “What’s the desiccation disease?”

  “It’s an uncommon sickness that’s normally only seen in the southern desert lands of the Chiszir people. It’s a terrible way to die. Your body will just keep losing water until your very organs turn to dust. You can keep an afflicted person alive by giving them a near constant supply of water, but that becomes less and less effective after a few months. The victims are also said to become contagious near the end. We didn’t believe there to be a cure, not until one of our emissaries brought word that a Chiszir healer knew how to inhibit the disease using an edible paste of their creation.”

  “But it doesn’t completely eradicate it.”

  “Precisely. You see where I’m going with this, yes? There was a deal made between the healer’s clan and the emperor. As long as the healer used his knowledge and paste to keep the disease at bay, the empire would not make any moves against his tribe. It’s only after I heard that you and the dragon knight were coming to investigate the Hoic-Dro did I begin to question their connections to us.”

  “And so you’ve come to believe this healer is actually with the Advent?”

  “I do. We’ve tried finding another way to abolish the disease, but nothing works as well as the Chiszir’s paste. He says it comes from a special plant his tribe grows, but our inquiries suggest that neighboring tribes have no awareness of this plant. Maybe it’s a closely guarded secret so that other tribes don’t steal their crop, or maybe it’s a way for the Hoic-Dro to hold sway over the emperor. I find it suspicious that my family in an isolated manor fell ill to this rare sickness in the first place. That’s not something the Chiszir can manage.”

  “But it is something the Advent have done more than once,” said Gerard.

  “And they’ve had centuries of practice. Until recently, the Hoic-Dro were thought of as nothing more than uninspired troublemakers, causing chaos for the sake of chaos all those years ago. But in the time they were active, I believe the true masterminds behind the cult were refining their methods to their madness. Now they’ve been using these perfected techniques to accomplish all the horror they’ve been spreading.”

  “Is the Chiszir healer here?” I asked.

  “No. His tribe keeps him deep in his own homeland. We have to request his aid and meet at their border when someone requires the paste. Only last month Satiko needed more of the medicine when she started showing symptoms again.” The candle and the flame it held quivered in her hand. “I was so thankful that we found someone to help my family. Now I’m almost certain they’ll die if my brother goes against them…” She stifled a sniffle. “I’m sorry. I’m here to say that I know my brother will help you if he was confident that doing so would not harm his family.”

  “So, as far as you know,” began Gerard, “your brother has never had any direct contact with the Advent?”

  She shook her head. “However, I don’t pretend to be aware of all of his affairs. Perhaps the cult has been more forthright with him than he’s been with me. My brother has never been a warm man, but he’s never acted as actively cold as he’s been since the disease struck. I don’t believe him to be in league with the Hoic-Dro, but he’s conflicted and increasingly desperate. He may be hoping for something to happen that makes his next decision clearer. I’m even thinking it’s no coincidence that he put you in one of the two rooms in this wing with a trapdoor. Whatever we do next, it must help make up my brother’s mind in your favor.”

  “Why is there a trapdoor under my bed? Are there more?”

  “Oh, this hall was once the royal quarters. Secret passages had been built in case of attack. Most were filled in when they were changed to guest quarters, but a pair had been left clear. Outside of our most trusted protectors, only my immediate family are aware of their continued existence. I can’t eliminate the possibility that the Hoic-Dro have someone watching over palace activity, maybe the very same person who spread the disease. I sent you to the only place I can feel safe from meddling eyes.”

  “Fine thinking, Princess Ashina,” I said. “I’m glad someone else in Orda is not underestimating the Advent’s penchant for infiltration. Now, do you have any idea how we can make your brother’s mind less troubled?”

  “Short of curing my family of the desiccation, I’m afraid I don’t have any other idea to move forward with.”

  Gerard turned to look at me, an eyebrow raised. “Do you think we should give Ghevont and his nismerdon crystal a chance to heal them?”

  I nodded. To Ikumi, I said, “If there’s any hope that the Advent’s hold over your family can be broken, then our scholar carries that hope. His staff bears a unique power only the Advent are privy to. His own mind bears much knowledge and his hands wield experience, so it’s possible he can finish the job the Chiszir healer will not or cannot do.”

  Ikumi’s eyes enlarged. “Really?! Even if the disease has nothing to do with the Advent, it would be a grand gesture of goodwill to my family. My brother would have no choice but to do everything he can to express his gratitude to you.”

  “I pray that be the case, but how to go about testing the viability of this goal? We can’t very well be too open about our intentions, especially if the situation does not work out in our favor.”

  “First, we’ll need to find out how feasible curing the disease will be,” said Gerard. “Let’s talk to the scholar. We’ll see what he suggests.”

  “Yes, yes, do that,” said Ikumi. “I have to go before somebody notices I’m gone. Please meet me back here tomorrow night, same time. I’ll try thinking of anything more I may have missed. Thank you for everything.”

  “No, thank you, Princess Ashina,” I said. “Now we have a better idea of where we stand.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Ghevont, as usual, said a lot to say something that could be explained succinctly. I normally found his long-winded elucidations to be as sedating as the swells of an ocean crashing on to the shore, but when those same elucidations cut into my impatient moods, they felt like I was hearing the crashing swells of the ocean while I drowned beneath them. Essentially, he said he needed to read up on the disease before he actually saw someone stricken with it. We thus used our next trapdoor meeting to ask Princess Ashina for the appropriate literature.

  In the meantime, I met with the emperor’s council to discuss what I had seen and what I recommended. Many were military strategists and former soldiers, so they seemed eager to take my advice and expressed their desire to test their mettle against the nismerdon while they were still at their most vulnerable. The two minotaurs summoned for the consultation also conveyed the same sentiment in grunts and a few sonorous words. Nevertheless, they had yet to receive any orders regarding taking an offensive against a ravaged Jegeru.

  Since they managed to look less hostile in their former attire, Clarissa and Ghevont were able to change back into their clothes when the servants returned them good as new. I also put on my clothes and light armor, but to keep myself from appearing ungrateful, I requested a looser fitting Wregor dress to wear over everything. No practical robe could hide his heavyset armor, so Gerard submitted to wearing his lent clothing in place of his conspicuous coverings.

  It took Ghevont two days to review the handful of books Ikumi provided. There were more she could have brought, but then Ghevont would need a few months to understand the Wregor language. With the knight staying above ground, the scholar came down the trapdoor with me soon after he finished reading what he needed to learn.

  “Princess Ashina, this is Ghevont Rathmore.”

  “A pleasure, master scholar. Please tell me what you’ve found, what you need.”

  “I need one inflicted with the desiccation disease to study… and possibly cast a spell or two on. Nothing major at first. Some blood may be drawn. Nothing major. A bit of skin samples. Noth-”

  “Why do you need the samples?” I asked.

  “It will be easier to determine whether the afflicted have desiccation spores rooted throughout their bo
dies or are merely being confined in the lungs. If I can extract the spores, then those who only have them restricted to a single area will take less prana and effort to accomplish the feat. I preferably wish to examine someone who has not been treated too recently. Or who has suffered the worst of the affliction’s symptoms. Anyone come to mind?”

  “Someone we can trust,” I added.

  “Well, okay, let me think…” Ikumi put her back to the wall, chewed on her thumb’s nail, and looked at her feet. Two moments later, she said, “Yutaka. Yutaka will help.”

  “The emperor’s son, correct? The youngest?”

  “Yes. He’s only fourteen, but he trains hard to emulate his older brother and father. He used to be brash and hardheaded, as many young men are, but ever since succumbing to the affliction, he’s become shier and curt. He would leap at the chance to be rid of his disease. He’s also usually around the palace somewhere, meaning he can be available at any time.”

  “So you can convince him to keep quiet while Ghevont makes his assessment?”

  “He should pose no problems. It’s separating him from his guards and healers that will require some kind of arrangement.”

  “Right… Well, let’s see… You say he likes to train, yes? Does he still do so?”

  “Not as often nor as energetically, but yes.”

  “Then, as a fellow royal valkrean, I can impart ‘secret’ training wisdom only he and I should be privy to. That will get us alone, and any prana aberrations can be taken as part of the training. Will your orders be sufficient to keep his father from intruding?”

  “I can’t say with absolute certainty someone won’t mention something to him. However, my brother wants his son to train, and if he hears that the young prince is training hard again, then I suspect he’ll allow it. I say your plan works, and better yet, we can use this excuse repeatedly. We can use the sparring room below the war wing for privacy. Tomorrow I’ll bring him to you and we can begin. Please, master scholar, do your utmost to help us.”

  “Oh, I will. Most diseases I study are in books or long forgotten corpses. This is a marvelous opportunity to study an infected person before they-”

  I cleared my throat roughly enough to stop an elephant from trumpeting. “What the good scholar means, Princess Ashina, is that men of his ilk can’t help but become captivated at the idea of finding ways to help and heal people. Isn’t that right, Ghevont?”

  “Ah, quite right. You and Mercer have always been good at clearing up my explications.”

  “Right, Master Eberwolf,” said Ikumi. “Any word concerning his whereabouts?”

  “No, I’m afraid not,” I said. “And the longer he remains absent, the clearer your brother’s choices become. The sooner Ghevont works his magic, the better.”

  That “sooner” happened shortly after the lunch hour the next day. A soldier came to my room to inform me that the sister-princess requested my presence in the war wing’s sparring room. Gerard and Ghevont joined me as the soldier escorted us to the proper chamber. Clarissa’s idea to pass the time, conserve her blood reserves, and stay vigilant at night was to sleep during the day, so I let her be. Our guide took us down a spiraling staircase that led to an expansive room filled with mock weapons, archery targets, and people made of packed straw.

  Waiting for us was Ikumi, Yutaka, and two of the boy’s attendants. The youth, dressed not too dissimilar from Gerard, had a body between strapping and rotund. If Ikumi’s account was to be believed, then not only had the young man reduced his training, he likely added some water weight recently due to his fear of succumbing to the disease again. The added size made him resemble the paintings of his late grandfather more than his own father. Besides the permanent little glower around his gray eyes, he looked like a sweet boy.

  The prince’s retainers included a lithe, tall man wearing red and gold armor consisting of both plate and cloth. A red cape seemed to flow out from his helmet, which covered everything but his eyes and mouth. He must have been ambidextrous, for both hips supported a scabbard that each held two thick, curved blades. Yukata’s second attendant was a strict looking woman in a yellow dress. She wielded a reedy staff, though she was not yet at the age where she used it as a walking stick. Three talons at the top of the staff clutched a sky blue crystal.

  To reinforce the notion that only royal valkrean were permitted to witness the training technique I was about to show him, I sent away Gerard. Ghevont’s excuse to stay was saying that he already knew what the secret technique entailed and could assist us in managing our prana. Seeing my protector leaving, Yukata ordered his retainers to leave him, including Ikumi. Two of the three palace residents looked none too pleased about the order, but they followed Gerard up the stairway. I closed the door behind them.

  To Yukata, I said, “Ikumi told you everything?”

  “She did. Er, at least I think she did. Your scholar is supposed to examine me, right? Look to see if he can get the desiccation out of me?”

  “Correct. If we can help you, then we may be able to help the rest of those affected.”

  “Okay, s-sounds good to me. Will it, uh, hurt or anything? Cause I can take pain.”

  I smiled. “Well, it won’t be anything a royal valkrean can’t handle. Isn’t that right, Ghevont?”

  “Hmm, I don’t know. How much pain can a royal valkrean handle over a regular human? Will you allow me to create a test?”

  “Ugh, never mind. What does Prince Ashina have to do first?”

  “Ah, I need him to disrobe and lay on a table.”

  “Uh, disrobe?” asked a bashful Yukata.

  “Yes, the fewer layers between me and the spores, the easier it will be to determine their location and their tenacity.”

  Seeing the problem Ghevont did not, I said, “You may of course keep something wrapped around your waist.”

  “Oh, right,” said a comforted Yukata.

  A few moments later and the prince was lying on a table with a clean sheet of linen draped over his waist. Not wishing for the prince to feel too self-conscious about a woman staring at him, I sat near the staircase and watched from afar. All I could really see were Ghevont’s general movements as he inspected the boy’s body segment by segment. Sometimes he cast a minor elemental spell and waved the staff over his patient. Yukata, for the most part, lied still and only spoke when Ghevont requested an answer.

  Almost two hours into his examination, I went up to them and said, “We can’t be here too much longer without someone checking in. How’s it looking?”

  “For me or for the prince?”

  “The prince.”

  “Well, the nismerdon crystal is certainly augmenting my spells to the point I can detect foreign bodies within the prince. I’ve so far concluded that the desiccation spores have indeed spread throughout much of his body, but I believe I can use a spell to lure them into his lungs. From there I should be able to lead them up his airway and expel them into a flame that should incinerate all trace.”

  “That’s amazing news, Ghevont! How long will such a procedure take?”

  “Hours. Three or four, maybe five. Maybe six. It will depend on several fickle variables, known and unknown.”

  “And will the procedure be dangerous?”

  “Only if I rush it, though I imagine manipulating the boy’s blood and prana will feel quite odd to the young prince.”

  “It already feels odd,” said Yukata.

  Ghevont chuckled. “Mere prodding at the experimentation level. Brace yourself for quickening heart palpitations, fluctuations in temperature, bouts of lightheadedness and nausea, an-”

  “That’s enough, Ghevont. Can’t you place a sleeping spell on him during the procedure?”

  “My sleeping spell is not very powerful, and considering how much I plan to manipulate the young man’s prana and blood, even a stronger sleeping spell will be speedily eroded away. It won’t be worth the extra energy. In addition, expelling the spores and detecting discomfort will be easier if the p
atient is awake.”

  “Very well.” To the prince, I said, “The procedure will have its own maladies, but I promise you my scholar will not endanger you. Do you wish for him to go ahead with the procedure tomorrow?”

  Looking away from the ceiling to gaze at me, he answered, “I’ll take all the maladies if it means I never have to worry about the desiccation ever again.”

  “You’re a brave young man.”

  “I’m old enough to know when someone is patronizing me.”

  Patting his hand, I said, “I assure you, my lord, it was more obligatory than patronizing.”

  He smirked and looked up at the ceiling again. “Can’t we start the procedure now and get it over with?”

  “I feel the same way. Alas, patience is needed. Your attendants will soon wonder what we’re doing and force their way down here. Get dressed and preserve your strength. Remember to keep this secret. We don’t know whether your father will approve of the procedure, but it’s important we try.”

  “Yes, I understand, Princess Astor. This won’t be the first secret I keep from my family. Like when I blamed my little sister for the time I freed her pet fox and it tore up some of my mother’s clothes.”

  “Er, yes, this is like that. Now get dressed, my lord. We’ll see each other again tomorrow.”

  In a few minutes the young lord put his clothes on and we went our separate ways. Ghevont spent the rest of his day planning every phase of the operation while the rest of us went about as normal.