Although… it’s also somewhat puzzling… since Milena killed one of them and that seems counter to an alliance.
Unless that dragon offered itself to the task?
No. I’m sure it didn’t. Its rage was too great. When I held the imprinted medallion, I experienced firsthand the pain and fury of its death. It was murdered. I may only have theories about many things, butthat, I’m sure of.
My brow is deeply furrowed, confusion swirling within me. “Why would dragons align themselves with humans?”
Queen Karasi is suddenly wearing a wry smile. “You know… Malak asked the very same question when he first heard of their alliance.”
“Malak?” Her statement cuts through the mire within my mind like an icy blade. “What are you talking about?”
“I met him,” she says. “I was the previous Queen’s Champion when he came to visit.” Her face is an emotionless mask as she speaks. There is no regret, no sadness. Not a hint of failure even though she didn’t protect her monarch. “Malak was charming.” She shrugs. “Until he wasn’t.”
She clears her throat and continues. “But as for the dragons, I, too, didn’t believe they could align with such fragile beings as humans until I saw it for myself. A human delegation from the northwest arrived soon after Malak did. They brought their beasts with them. Two fire dragons. Great, snarling creatures that could nip your head from your shoulders like a tasty, little treat.”
Now, shadows form in her eyes, her expression once again haunted. “There aren’t many dragons, but they are unbeatable.”
Fuck.If I was uncertain about my family coming with me on the hunt for Milena, my mind is now made up. My interactions with Thaden have confirmed that Blacksmith magic has no effect on dragon scales. My siblings would be as powerless as humans against them. I have to keep Tamra and Gallium as far away from the northwest as I can.
I grip the balustrade, taking comfort in the press of the medallions in my left hand, even though they won’t help me in a fight with a dragon.
Something Gliss mentioned makes sense to me now. She said that Elowynn’s dual powers make her particularly useful to the Queen. She also indicated that she herself can forcibly read the mind of an animal. Along with being able to heal the Queen if she’s injured, it’s very possible that Elowynn and Gliss could read the thoughts of an enemy dragon. It reminds me of the way Gliss tipped her head back when the dragon’s voice roared from the imprinted medallion when I woke it. As if she’d been listening more intently than everyone else.
Regardless, my task is the same and the risk is mine to face.
“I’ve promised you Milena’s dead body,” I say.
“But now you must doubt your chances of success.”
For a brief moment, I consider asking the Queen to send Gliss with us, but I immediately dismiss that option. As much as Gliss has proven herself helpful, her allegiance is wholly to her Queen. I don’t need a potential traitor in my midst.
Karasi’s voice lowers to a whisper. “Do not fear, Asha Silverspun. Your magic is the oldest of the old. It is wrung from the very fabric of this Earth. The very power of creation lives within you.”
She edges closer to me. “Do you know that the bright elves, who live in the far south, call the magic of creation ‘deep magic’? They can access it too, but only by an act of true sacrifice.”
She holds up her hand and clicks her fingers. Another bright flame bursts to life in her hands, causing me to take a step back until the flame fades.
“Mypower is elemental,” she says. “I harness the energy in the world around me—the sun’s energy—and concentrate it. At night, my power is weakest because the sun no longer shines. But you…” She gleams at me. “You hold the power of creation without having to draw on the environment or sacrifice any part of yourself.”
My throat is tight. “That doesn’t distinguish me from Milena. She, too, has this power.”
“Does she, though?” Queen Karasi gives me a smile that chills me. “Your sister tells me that you hold the power of creation over both living and non-living matter. That is a truly frightening skill, indeed. If the gods still deigned to grace us with their presence, you would sit at their left hand, Asha Silverspun.”
My heart is only colder at her words, the darkness in the titanium medallion burning beneath the silver one. “Malak had this power. He did terrible things with it.”
I don’t know for certain if Milena has this power too. Many Blacksmiths aspired to it. It was at the heart of their experiments, which Malak encouraged.
What I do know is that Milena is also a hammer-maker. I never had a reason to give much thought to what set apart hammer-makers from other Blacksmiths. Milena was the only one alive when I was little and too soon, she was ‘dead.’
For all I know, she could be even more powerful than her brother. In fact, she must be, given that she captured and killed a dragon. Or possibly lured it to its death under the guise of being its friend.
Queen Karasi is once again peering at me as if I’m a specimen she’s trying to dissect. “You baffle me, Asha Silverspun.”
“Why?” I ask, not certain I want her answer.
“Your sister betrayed you. Yet every time you looked at her during dinner, I sensed only your need to protect her, not punish her. This intrigues me.”
My grip on the balustrade tightens. Then relaxes. “That is for me and my sister to discuss.”
