Wings of Renewal: A Solarpunk Dragon Anthology (19 page)

Haru's brows drew together at that. “Anja told me it wouldn't be as bad as you're saying. We've kept some of these dragons down here for …” He hesitated, then moved on. “They're still all right. Not very happy, I'll admit, but they're alive.”

“Which ones?” I demanded. “Sahara? Karoo? Arabian?” I didn't give him time to answer. “You know, we always wondered what had happened to those dragons. Guess before long we can add Amazon to the list of famous deserts.”
 

He sighed and pressed both palms against his forehead. “I was paid to capture them. Paid, and made promises. I still have to pay rent, and I have dreams too.”

As if that was any defense.

But he continued, “Anja didn't tell me they were so closely tied. She locked them up because she wants humans to save themselves, not have to rely on the dragons. Plus she thinks they're dangerous. You saw what that Arctic dragon did to her. The experience hasn't exactly sat well with her, you know? Like someone who grows up afraid of dogs.”

“Yeah. Something similar happened to Prince Rocco. Funny though, instead of trying to capture and torture an entire endangered species, he tamed that dragon and she became his most loyal guardian.” When this produced a grim look rather than a response, I sighed and folded my arms. “If you're here to gloat, Haru, get it over with. I'm very busy, rotting in the dark. Not much time to waste talking with criminals. You know how it is.” My gaze flickered to the door. It didn't seem to be locked. I'd nearly beaten Haru in our last fight …
 

He unhooked a long, thin wand from his side and flipped it in his hand, a motion which showed off the metal prongs on one end. “Don't try it. And I'm not here to gloat.” He bit his lower lip. “I'm here to find out about the solar dragons. I'd seen them up close before”—obviously, the jerk—“but Zon is the first to let me ride him. And I even thought he wouldn't, after Hai.” Haru rubbed the corner of his eye and looked down, scuffing the floor with the toe of his shoe.

Despite my untamable anger, I had to ask. “Who's Hai?”
 

“She's one of our dragons,” he explained. “One of the bigger females, and her eyes are more golden than orange.” Haru met my eyes, the guilt and curiosity in his expression now mixed with an enthusiastic light. “Anja promised that when we introduce these dragons, I can take her flying. She already responds well to me, and I think we could do great things together.” His mouth quirked to one side. “If Anja will let me, like she says.”

For an instant, I saw myself talking with my lieutenant, Henry, the green hatchling that was Zon cradled in my arms. I quenched the memory. Pity. Haru was trying to get on my good side.

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Again I thought of Zon. I swallowed, and tried again. “I don't understand. Those dragons are no better than robots. How could it respond to you?”

He scowled. “
She
responds just fine. She's still a living, breathing dragon, even though she's not a sparkly river spirit.” He pointed at me. “See, that's the arrogance of the Dawnlight Knights Anja tells me about. All you do is prove it, Saumyi. Every moment.”

The accusation stung. “What on earth do you mean? Arrogant? Do you so easily forget what we've done for humanity?”
 

Haru folded his arms and stared at me until it sank in. “Oh.” I was lucky it was still fairly dark as I blushed. “That's what you meant by arrogant …” Well, it wasn't my fault we were amazing.

Oh wait, yes it was.

“I know what you've done for humanity,” he answered. “Or what you say you've done. And it's because of that …” He took a deep breath, still fingering the stun wand in one hand. “That I'm willing to trust you now.”

I didn't respond. The trust thing wasn't exactly going both ways at the moment. “Yeah? Prove it.”
 

“Sure.” Haru stepped back and pushed the cell door open. “But you're going to need a plan, before you just run out there.”

I eyed him warily, particularly that prod. He could easily catch me in the back as I shot past. And then … what? Dump me back into the cell he'd just let me out of. What would be the point of that? Maybe the traitor was actually sincere. I thought of the tenderness in his voice as he'd spoken of his dragon. That, at least, I could relate to.

My hand drifted to my empty scabbard. “Anja broke my sword. I was going to use it to cut their bonds.”

“Would picking the locks work?” Haru asked. He produced a shard of my sword, about as long as my finger.

I frowned as I took it from him. “Where's the rest of it?”

“Just be happy I got this much. It wasn't easy.”
 

“Oh poor you.” Even so, I evaluated his offer. “We might be able to pick the locks, but that will only get us so far. Without sunlight …” My gaze flashed to Haru. “Wait a moment. How close are we to the surface?”
 

“Uh …” He turned his face toward the ceiling. “Well, there are some vents and things, especially farther up. Why?”

“Vents. Interesting.” Not ideal, but it would work. I took my belt back from him, and after dropping the shard inside, synched it around my waist—tight. “Come on. I've got a plan.” I strode past Haru as his jaw dropped and he raised a finger. Then he shut his mouth and hurried after me.

“Don't tell me you're going to bring the whole mountain down on our heads,” he hissed. “Because that's not going to save anything.”

“Please,” I retorted, voice low to avoid drawing attention. “Of course I'm not. Not the
whole
mountain. Take me back to Zon and the other dragons, and show me the nearest vent.” Remembering what he'd said about arrogance, I grudgingly added, “Please.”
 

“Look, you're improving,” he teased, flashing me a grin as he strode ahead, half-jogging up the tunnel. “They're up here. It's lunchtime, so I highly doubt anyone's patrolling around.”
 

He had to open his big mouth. No sooner had the echoes died than a pair of patrolling guards rounded the corner. “Hey!”

Haru's eyes widened, and he put up his hands. “What? What's wrong?”

Unamused, one of the guards grabbed the radio situated on his shoulder. “The prisoner is loose. I repeat, Saumyi is loose.”

“Oh, is she?” Haru glanced over his shoulder at me. “I hadn't noticed. You guys had better grab her fast. She's dangerous, you know.”

Shooting him a filthy look, the other guard lunged towards me. I prepared to take the blow and fight valiantly to the death, but Haru whipped out the stun wand and jabbed it into the side of the guard's neck, jolting him with electricity. He dropped heavily to the concrete floor.

“Oh hey, that's neat.” I paused, and then corrected, “I mean thanks.” As he offered a faint smile, I pointed to the other guard, fleeing down a distant corridor. “Except you missed one. That isn't going to be a problem later, is it?”

Alarms blared through the compound. “Oh,” I said. “Apparently it's going to be a problem now.”

“Typical efficient mooks,” Haru sighed.

“Mooks?” I repeated. “You're stealing my words now on top of everything else?”

“It's a free language!” Haru retorted as he started running again, towards the keening sounds of the captive dragons.

“You remember
why
it's a free language, don't you?” I demanded as I chased after him.

Ignoring me, he demanded, “What's this trick with the vents you've got?”

“Vent,” I corrected. “We only need to break open one. Are there any near Cascata?” I hadn't seen her before, in the mass of dragons. But then, there had been so many … I bit my lip.
 

He shrugged. “Maybe?”

We entered the cavernous dungeon, and Haru nodded to the left, toward a barely visible mound of blue. “That's her, isn't it? I think we can reach her easily enough.” He tensed and pointed to a gang of mooks tearing down the tunnel toward us. “Before they get us would be nice. Run!”
 

Haru grabbed my hand and sprinted, startling the rows of weakened solar dragons. I had sense enough to yank my hand from his. Some girls might find the cute-boy-turned-traitor-turned-hero fascinatingly romantic. I wasn't one of them.
 

I pulled a crystal egg from the pouch at my hip and tossed it behind us. It exploded in a flash of blinding light. Our attackers slowed, wailing in surprise. Ha!

“Too bad you don't have ten or so of those,” Haru said, eyes on the high ceiling. There was indeed a vent, but it was tiny, and sealed shut to keep the light from shining on these dragons. Or, more importantly, on Cascata.

Though she'd only been missing for a week, she looked terrible. Her massive wings drooped, and she had begun to pull feathers from her plumage in distress. They lay like fallen pieces of sky around the tiny stall where she had been chained. She peered up at Haru as he approached. Her mouth twitched, but it seemed she couldn't even summon the energy to hiss at him. I knelt at her side and touched her head. She leaned into my palm.

“How are we getting that vent open?” Haru asked, looking back at me.

“Working on it.” I pulled away from Cascata. If I could find Zon, he might have enough strength to help, but there were so many dragons … I couldn't see Zon anywhere. I forced down my panic. He was here. Somewhere.

My thumb rubbed against my pouch. I only had two crystal eggs left. They wouldn't have any effect on the vent, even if I could have thrown them that high, and they were too insignificant to power Cascata. A smaller dragon, though …

I peered through the crowd until I spotted her. With a silent signal, I motioned Haru to follow me to Sahara.

She glanced up at me, her golden eyes almost curious. I knelt at her side, and removed the two eggs with one hand as I touched her shoulder with the other. “Sahara. I'm going to give you enough strength to fly up to that vent.” I gently took her chin and tilted her face so she could see it. “If you open it, we can save everyone, okay?”
 

Haru stepped forward. “What do you need me to do?” he asked, staring at Sahara.

I took both eggs and pressed them into his hands, along with the shard of my sword. “Unlock her chains. Then drop both of these on my signal. Now that Sahara knows, someone needs to tell Cascata the plan, and I don't think she likes you.”
 

“I didn't think she did,” Haru said dryly. “I'm not having the greatest effect on girls today.”

“Nope,” I agreed as I raced back to the sky dragon.

She tilted her head as I approached, something flashing in her eyes. It reminded me of clear skies and starlight, but that was the most I could think of before I was kneeling at her head, my hand back on her brow. “Okay, gorgeous,” I whispered. “Ready to save the day?”

She made a sound that might have been a chirp. It would have to do. I nodded to Haru.

He laboriously picked the lock on her neck chain, dropped both crystal eggs beside Sahara, and backed away fast. Golden light washed over her feathers, which burst into a deep, brilliant gold like the sands of the desert which she guarded. She raised her magnificent head, jaws parting in triumph.
 

At that moment, more mooks spilled into the cave. “Go!” I ordered Sahara, but she struggled to get airborne. Biting his lip and in a moment of true daring, Haru scooped her up in his hands and tossed her upward.

It was enough. Sahara took flight, wings sparkling—dazzling compared to the dim fluorescent lights. The other dragons stirred, watching. Somewhere in the masses, I heard Zon's coo. “Zon!”

Haru whirled to me. “Go get him out. Do you have any more of those lightbombs?”

I'd given Haru my last ones. That didn't matter though, I'd find some other way to save Zon. “Don't let anything stop Sahara from reaching that vent!” I ordered Haru. “And you,” I added to Cascata. “Do your thing.” With that, I fled into the mass of dragons, following Zon's cries.
 

Shooting me one of his obnoxious grins, Haru threw a look to the coming onslaught of guards charging down the tunnel. The solar dragons hissed and growled as Haru grit his teeth and lunged for the nearest dragon that could keep its head up. It snapped at him and he ducked, just evading its angry jaws.
 

“Chill, chill,” he muttered, stabbing the piece of sword into the lock and giving it a twist. It snapped open and he turned in triumph—only to face the wrathful, ice-blue eye of the Arctic dragon he'd released. It bared its teeth at him, emitting a low, rattling growl as unforgiving as the tundra itself.

I was on the verge of returning and intervening when, more concerned with its new freedom, the dragon lumbered into the corridor, stopping the mooks in their tracks.
 

Stun wand at his side, Haru raced after the dragon, which remained focused on Anja's goons—for now. Its head whipped around and he dropped low, skidding under its outstretched neck and bared teeth. Once clear, he sprang back to his feet and stabbed the stun wand into the nearest goon, twisting the prod out of his hands to bash it against another's skull. I was almost—almost—glad to have him fighting on my side.

Just ahead of me, Zon chirped again. I spotted a flash of emerald scales, and increased my pace, heart pounding as the skirmish behind me intensified.

I dropped to my knees before Zon. He looked at me, relief touching his eyes. I caught his huge head and hugged him tight. “You can't ditch me that easily, I'm afraid.” He rubbed against my hip.

Haru suddenly cried out. The goons had pinned him to the floor, and had now cornered the Arctic dragon against the wall. At the same moment, Sahara ripped the cover off the air vent directly above Cascata. Sunlight—weakened by the distance—beamed down on the mighty blue dragon. Her plumage ignited, turning a brilliant sapphire blue, and she roared.
 

The guards pulled up short, eyes widening in terror at the sight of the dragon, steadily growing to full power.
 

“Stop her!” Anja's voice cut through the echoes of Cascata's roar. When had she arrived? “Don't let her get free!”

Too late.

Cascata stood, her chains breaking. Her enormous wings spread wide. Their luminosity reflected off the feathers of the other dragons. She lifted her head and roared. Fire lit the ceiling, turning the air above us a blinding white.