Warning: contains self-harm (...sort of).
When people say impossible, they usually mean improbable. -- Leigh Bardugo, Siege and Storm
The three of them listened to Abi's story in horror.
"Someone stole a monster? Someone stole a monster?" Irímé repeated the words under his breath as if he couldn't quite grasp their meaning. Finally he demanded, "Why?"
Abi could only shrug helplessly. "I don't know, but it's not for anything good. I can't imagine anyone wanting to unleash the monsters on another planet, especially when they're likely to become a victim themselves, but that's what will happen if the one on that ship bites anyone. Hell, it might have already bitten someone on board." She just knew she was going to have nightmares about that thought. "So we've got to get rid of all the monsters here and then get back to Saoridhlém as fast as we can. Ilaran thinks the ship might be connected to Haliran."
Something sharpened in Lian's eyes. "Haliran? Do you by any chance mean Haliran Norshinthadsvóeln d'ran-Ohéridh?"
"I don't know her matronymic or clan name[1]," Abi admitted. "I only know her as Haliran-rúduan."
Lian nodded slowly. His lips thinned and his eyes narrowed. "Is she the one who forced her husband to marry her?"
Abi glanced down at Shizuki -- who had gone eerily still when his mother was mentioned -- then exchanged a look with Irímé. Both of them were thinking the exact same thing. Shizuki picked up on it and complained at once.
"I know what you're thinking," he said in an aggrieved tone. "You think I'm too young to listen! I'm not!"
Abi sensed a tantrum was imminent. She and Irímé exchanged distinctly more panicked glances this time. Lian stepped in before Shizuki could get too angry.
He knelt down so he was on eye level with Shizuki. "It's not that you're too young, just that some things are better not spoken about to anyone unless we have no choice."
Shizuki scowled. "It's stupid. Everyone cares so much about not talking about things. I've seen those things! Father lived them! Not talking about it doesn't do anything."
Lian gave Abi a questioning look. She explained with a very brief, "Haliran's his mother."
Lian looked startled, while Shizuki's scowl intensified. "Not my mother. I hate her."
"Can't say I blame you," Lian said, recovering quickly from his surprise. "I take it that you already know the... deeply unpleasant nature of your parents' marriage?"
Shizuki nodded and shrugged at the same time. "Don't know everything. Know Father hates her and she hates him."
"How do you know about Haliran and Siarvin?" Irímé asked Lian.
"It's a long story." Everything seemed to be a long story with Lian. "After I left my parents' home--" What an understated way to describe that incident, "--I worked with an alchemist for a while. Haliran was an old friend of hers and she often talked about her. I've never met Haliran but I heard a lot about her. Like how she ended up married to that unfortunate man. Siarvin, did you say his name is? I hope his life has improved now?"
Abi and Irímé nodded. "He divorced her and now he's living in Ilaran's principality."
"I hope they have guards," Lian said grimly. "I wouldn't be surprised if Haliran wants to unleash that monster on them."
Shizuki drew his breath in sharply. He looked up at Abi. "Warn Ilaran! You have to warn him!"
"He already knows," Abi assured him. "Haliran won't get anywhere near them." To Lian and Irímé she added, "We'd better finish up here as fast as we can. When all the monsters are dead we'll find a survivor who can fly a spaceship, or Lian can take us home through the Void." She shuddered at the idea, but it was certainly the fastest way she knew of that would get them home. "Irímé, follow me in your dragon form and I'll lead you to the theatre. Then I'll summon all the monsters and we can destroy them. Lian, keep Shizuki here."
Shizuki immediately let go of Abi and ran over to cling to Irímé instead. "No! I want to go flying! You promised!"
Before anyone could answer Lian said, "I'm the strongest magician here. It's foolish at best to leave me behind when you might need my help. We've no idea how many monsters there are or how long it will take them all to reach the theatre. As long as Shizuki stays on Irímé's back he should be perfectly safe."
Abi glared at him. "Do you want to go home and tell Siarvin that his son has been turned into a monster? Because I most certainly do not."
"Do you think any monster would dare to attack a dragon?"
"I don't want to be left out," Shizuki complained.
Irímé cleared his throat. "I have an idea. As long as Shizuki stays in his snake form and as long as I stay in the air, he should be perfectly safe. And if there's any danger Lian can take him home then come back."
Abi considered this. "Wait and I'll ask Ilaran." She did the telepathic equivalent of knocking on his door. This time she waited politely until he answered. We're going to kill the monsters. Do you mind if we take Shizuki with us? Irímé's going to keep him safe.
Ilaran was silent for a moment. She got the impression he was relaying that information to someone else. Finally he replied. Siarvin says that even if you left Shizuki behind he'd find some way to follow you, so it's safer for him if you bring him and keep an eye on him. But make sure he never gets within twenty feet of a monster!
Don't worry about that, Abi reassured him. Lian and I are going to kill the monsters on the ground. Irímé will fly overhead with Shizuki.
"Ilaran says that Siarvin says it's all right," she reported to the other three.
Shizuki gave a delighted cheer. "Turn into a dragon now!" he begged Irímé. "Let's go flying!"
Abi turned to Lian. "What about you? How are you going to get there? I'd offer to let you fly on my back, but my wings tend to burn people."
She remembered the deaths of the parasites and the monsters she'd killed and shuddered at the thought of that happening to Lian.
Irímé looked alarmed. "Whatever you do, I hope you don't want to fly on my back. I can manage Shizuki, but I don't think I can carry an adult."
"Don't worry," Lian said. "I can travel through the Void now that I have an idea of where I'm travelling to."
~~~~
Legend said many things about dragons. The history books claimed that in the reign of Empress Únrovien there had been dragons in the imperial army, and when Saoridhlém went to war against the Navnari Confederation the dragons had carried soldiers on their backs. The more restrained accounts said they carried only one or two soldiers at a time, mainly for reconnaissance or to transport someone who urgently needed to be somewhere else. The wilder ones claimed they carried entire companies at once.
Irímé had always doubted the second group of stories. Now he doubted the first one as well. Flying was hard. Flap his wings too often and he flew too fast or too high. If he didn't flap them often enough he would start to sink. It would have been a nerve-wracking experience if he'd been on his own. It was ten times more nerve-wracking when Shizuki was coiled around his neck.
Abi, damn her, literally flew circles around him and cawed encouragement -- at least he assumed she was trying to be encouraging; she might also have been laughing at his clumsiness in the air -- as if she hadn't flown a grand total of three times before.
From time to time Abi would zoom off into the distance or even high into the sky, circle round a few times, then dive back down and point him in the right direction. It occurred to Irímé that it would have been much faster if he and Shizuki had gone with Lian and if he'd waited until they arrived at the theatre to transform.
Occasionally Abi gave a weird, whooping sort of call. Irímé couldn't explain why but it set his teeth on edge. He finally understood what she was doing when they passed over a group of monsters. They were slowly shambling along a street. At Abi's call they turned and began following Abi and Irímé instead.
Before they reached the theatre they passed over several other groups. All of them were now headed in the same direction. There were far more of them than Irímé had expected. None of them moved fast and they were soon left far behind.
At last the distinctive high walls of an open-air theatre appeared in front. Abi landed on the sign over the doorway. Lian appeared in the doorway. Irímé considered landing on the stage, the only place large enough for him to land on comfortably, but decided against it when he remembered the monsters. Instead he flew higher until he had clear view of both the theatre and all the streets around it.
None of the monsters had reached them yet. Abi gave her eerie call again. Irímé spread his wings and tried to hold as still as he could. To his surprise he found he could hover much better than he had expected. Abi swooped down to the ground and turned back into her immortal form.
She and Lian spoke for a while. Irímé caught only a few words of what they said. It sounded like "some are coming", "what if-- didn't hear me--", and most disturbingly "need blood". Lian handed something to Abi. The two of them walked back into the theatre. Lian waited on the inside of the door while Abi walked down to the stage.
She stopped in the middle of it like an actor about to begin a soliloquy. In one hand she held the thing Lian had given her. To Irímé's shock he saw it was a knife. He watched in horror as she rolled up her sleeve and made a shallow cut on her arm.
"What did she do that for?" Shizuki asked.
Irímé could only shrug helplessly. "She must know what she's doing."
He watched as Abi's blood trickled down her arm and dripped onto the stage.
~~~~
"Blood has power in all sorts of dark magic," Lian said. "If nothing else works the monsters might need blood to summon them. Any blood would work, but your blood would be most effective."
Abi nodded. "Some of them are coming, but they're coming very slowly. We need all of them here as quickly as possible. Do you have a knife?"
Lian reached into his coat pocket and drew out a small knife. Its handle was made of copper-coloured metal and its blade was concealed in a black sheath with silver and gold decorations. When he drew it out of its sheath she saw its blade had an ornate design etched down the centre. It looked more like a ceremonial knife used during the New Year's Celebrations[2] than an actual weapon meant to be used on people.
"Don't cut your hand," Lian said. "I know it seems the most convenient place, but hands have a lot of nerves. No matter where you cut you'll hurt yourself. Try the back of your arm. There are fewer nerves there and it won't hurt as much. And don't cut deep! Just enough to bleed and no more."
Abi took the knife and walked down to the stage. We have to draw them as far into the theatre as possible so they can't escape, she thought.
She climbed onto the stage, took out the knife, and rolled up her sleeve.
~~~~
Kitri woke up with a start. At first she couldn't remember where she was or what had happened. She stared blankly at the windscreen, dials and levers in front of her. Then it all came back. She was on a ghurmalath-úthernu carriage, and it had just stopped at the last station before the Strait of Vauralok.
Ahead of her she saw the glittering water of the Strait. At this point it was less than twenty feet wide and crossed by a bridge. The bridge had been built high up onto the cliffs on either side of the Strait so that there was plenty of room left underneath for boats to get through. To get from the station to the bridge she would have to climb down the stairs, run along the road that led up to the bridge, and then race across it and find the first ghurmalath-úthernu station on the other side.
Kitri put on the handbrake and left the driver's compartment. A flash of movement down on the ground caught her eye. She looked down. Her mouth dropped open.
A long line of monsters streamed over the bridge. They ran faster than she'd ever seen them run before, jostling each other out of the way in their haste. On the other side she saw the line stretch away into the distance. There were at least five hundred monsters down there.
And they were all heading directly for the capital.
Chapter Footnotes:
[1] To recap: Saoridhians use matronymics (for women) and patronymics (for men) instead of European-style surnames. Most of them also have clan names which they use only on official documents or to prevent confusion between people with similar names. These clan names are indicated by the prefix "d'ran-" (an abbreviation of dóljen ran, meaning "part of; belonging to").
[2] During Saoridhin New Year's Celebrations priests use ornately-decorated knives to cut ribbons, symbolising the end of the old year.