“So hewastelling the truth,” Marci said, relieved. “I was a little worried he was just playing me for more power.”
“He was probably doing both,” Amelia said. “Like I said, all spirits are self-aware magic, buthowself-aware depends on how much power they have access to. Given how low yours is running, it’s completely possible he doesn’t even know what he’s a spirit of.”
“So what happens if I do feed him magic, then?”
The dragon frowned thoughtfully. “Difficult to say. Without knowing what type of Mortal Spirit we’re talking about, it’s impossible to predict how he’ll react once he gets above the threshold for true self-awareness. But that’s a question for later. All you need to understand right now is that your spirit could potentially be a Very Big Deal. Equally important, though, is the fact that he allowedyouto bind him.”
Marci nodded. “You said something like that before. Why is the binding part so important?”
“It’s the choice that’s important, not the binding,” Amelia said. “Mortal Spirits are the magical creations of humanity’s fears and beliefs and so on. As such, they tend to bereally intowhatever aspect of your kind they represent. Depending on what they’re a spirit of, this obsessive focus can make them critically unstable. So, to prevent a collapse, most Mortal Spirits are drawn to mages whose strengths help to balance them out.” She frowned. “Or, at least, that’s how it used to work before the magic vanished. Since we don’t know what kind of spirit we’re dealing with yet, I don’t know if that’s why Ghost picked you specifically, but however it came to be, binding him was a pro move on your part.”
“How so?” Marci asked.
“Because by tying your magic to his, you’ve now effectively plugged into the domain of Mortal Spirits, which is basically all human magic,” Amelia explained, her eyes flashing. “That’sbig,Marci. Way too big to risk losing to an obsessed idiot like Vann Jeger, or a fool like Julius.”
Marci jerked back. “What?”
“Oh, come on,” Amelia said, rolling her eyes. “He’s a sweet kid, but you have to know by now that your baby dragon isn’t exactly a power player. You’re a mage with a Mortal Spirit, possibly thevery firstMortal Spirit to re-emerge. I don’t know how or why Ghost happened, but your connection to him puts you decades ahead of the curve.” The dragon flashed her a knowing smile. “You are a very valuable commodity, Marci Novalli, and you deserve better than some random kid at the bottom of Heartstriker. Youneedbetter. You need me.”
It took Marci a few seconds to be sure she’d heard that right. “Are you trying torecruitme?”
“Don’t sound so surprised,” she said. “Did you not understand what I just told you? You are a prime asset. I’m just happy I decided to drop by Julius’s and found you before Vann Jeger ruined everything.”
She said this casually, like she was just pointing out the obvious, but Marci could already see the writing on the wall. “That’s the deal, isn’t it?” she said, staring the dragon down. “That’s why you wanted to get me alone. You’ll save us from Vann Jeger, but only if I join you.”
“You make it sound like a bad thing,” Amelia said, pouting. “Surely you’ve grasped by now just how much a real alliance with a proper dragon would benefit you? Or did you think I spent the last thirty minutes telling you the secrets of magic out of the goodness of my heart?”
Marci had. Or, rather, she’d been too excited about what she was hearing to worry about the cost, and from the smug look on her face, Amelia knew it.
“The first hit is free,” she cooed. “But there’ssomuch more. I was born only a century after Bethesda herself. That makes me a contemporary of many of the mages you now think of as legends.” She pointed up the coast toward the main body of the island. “You can’t see it through the trees, but I have a tower on the northern coast with a library full of their writings. Books, scrolls, letters explaining the highest workings of magic, I have it all. That’smytreasure. While other dragons hoarded gold and weapons and the various other material trappings of power, I hoardedknowledge, which we both know is far more valuable. It’s all still there, too. Even while I was away on the outer planes, my protections kept it safe all this time. You think what I just told you was amazing? That’s nothing. Child’s play. My collection of magical texts was the envy of the world even before the new generations of mortal idiots became terrified by the idea of magic and started burning the treasures of their past. Now, it can be yours as well. Yoursspecifically, Marci Novalli, and all you have to do is promise your life to me.”
By the time she finished, Marci’s heart was hammering. “What do you mean, ‘promise my life’?”
“It means you would be my human,” Amelia explained. “I understand if you have some confusion with the concept given the ridiculous way Julius treats you, but I promise you’d enjoy it. Unlike some dragons, I treat my mortals like treasures. You’d live here with me in this paradise, and I’d give you the best of everything. One month in my library would be enough to make you the greatest mage alive. The knowledge you’ll emerge with will make the last sixty-years of magical theory look like the dark ages, and that’s only the beginning. Once we get your Mortal Spirit up to speed, the full potential of human magic will be within our reach once again.”
“Ourreach?” Marci said, confused. “But you’re a dragon. What do you care about human magic?”
“I care because this isyourworld,” Amelia said, rising to her feet. “Dragons are just interlopers on this plane, but you were born to master it. There are places here that only you can go, things you can do that no spirit or dragon can touch. I want to see that. Like you, I want toknow,but, being a dragon, I can’t do it on my own. You and your spirit are the chance I’ve been waiting on for ten centuries. Ally with me, and I’ll give you everything you could ever want: power, knowledge, safety, comfort, fame, wealth. Also, and I only bring this up because apparently it needs to be repeated, you won’t die tonight. Unlike some,Ican keepmyhumans safe from dragon hunters.”
“But not Julius’s,” Marci finished for her.
Amelia lifted her shoulders in an elegant shrug. “Now you see the benefit of having a proper master. Really, though, I don’t understand why you’re hesitating. I’m offering you everything a woman in your position could possibly want. But maybe I read you wrong? Maybe you’re not someone who cares about reclaiming your race’s lost knowledge?”
Marci swallowed. That wasn’t true at all. Amelia couldn’t have baited her hook better if she’d tried. Even now, the urge to run into the jungle to find that library and start digging through it was making her twitchy. The dragon’s words had rekindled childhood dreams. With Amelia’s help, Marci could become an archmage in the classic sense. Someone who wielded the true power of magic, not just an academician who wrote theoretical papers for peer review. She could reclaim the glory of the old mages forherself. No more scrabbling in the dirt or being looked down on by more powerful creatures, because she would be one of them, an equal at last. But amazing as all of that was, the way Amelia offered it bothered her.
“It’s very tempting,” she admitted. “But…you make it sound like I’d be your slave.”
“Treasure,” Amelia corrected. “You’d be mytreasure. Big difference.”
“But still a possession.”
“Well, what else could you be?” the dragon said, scowling. “I take care of you. That makes you mine. But I’m not a harsh master. Cruelty is a waste of time and resources. I want you happy, eager, and productive. I would, of course, require you to breed once in a while to help me rebuild my population, but I’d only pick the strongest, most handsome specimens for you to partner with, so it’s not like it’d be a hardship. Plus, you’d be my first, which means you and your children would have rank over all the other mages I’ll be bringing in. You’d pretty much be a queen, answerable only to me. Tell me that’s not a great deal.”
She finished with a show-stopping smile, but Marci could only stare. Even now, part of her still wanted to take it, to seize the power Amelia offered. And that was the problem, because it wouldn’t be power at all. She’d be a possession, and hungry as Marci was for the knowledge Amelia dangled in front of her, she didn’t know if she could live like that. Then again, if shedidn’ttake Amelia’s offer, she probably wouldn’t live past tonight, period. At best, she’d be under Vann Jeger and Algonquin’s thumb for the rest of her life, the human they’d “rescued” from the dragon. Next to that, being queen of Amelia’s slaves actually sounded like a pretty good deal, but there was one issue they hadn’t touched on yet.
“IfI agreed,” Marci said cautiously. “Could I still see Julius?”
“I don’t think you’d have the time,” Amelia said. “And weak as he is, he’s still a dragon, which is a problem.” Her smile turned pointed. “We don’t share.”
