Ruin of Dragons Read online

  "Then don't do it for you," Aris said. "You're obviously safe here in your mountain fortress, and you clearly couldn't care less if a bunch of Republic cities get wiped off the map."

  Kale laughed. "Am I that transparent?"

  "Do it for her," Aris continued, his voice soft. "How long has it been since you've last seen her?" Kale looked back up at him at this, and Aris could feel the axe rising, but he pressed on anyway. "Family means more to you than almost anything and I don't have to know you to be able to see that. But I suspect the feeling isn't mutual on her end. Help us out, because you know that if you don't, she'll wash her hands of you and your whole stubborn childishness." His voice dropped a few degrees. "And she'll do it without a second's hesitation."

  Kale's eyes flashed, and there was no mistaking his anger now. "Recall what I said earlier. Threaten me in my own home," he spat, "and there will be nothing left for the hounds."

  Aris didn't flinch, despite the axe at his throat. "It's not a threat. At least…" His eyes flicked to his right. "Not from me."

  Kale followed his gaze and found Voss still standing there, her arms crossed and an aggrieved look on her face. Mira was standing slightly behind, a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Put the axe down, uncle," Voss said.

  Kale looked back to Aris, took a couple of deep breaths, then lowered his weapon. "You're lucky I care more about her than your Republic."

  "Then it's a good thing I'm not here on behalf of our Republic," Aris said, stepping back a bit and taking a small black rectangle out of a belt compartment. "This is security feed from the night of the Barrast attack," he said, handing Kale the memory unit. "It's not much, but it may be more than you have."

  Kale nodded, then took the unit, pocketing it. He turned to Voss, stepping up in front of her. She wasn't dropping her look and seemed to be waiting for him to speak first. He turned instead to Mira, who was likewise unyielding to Kale's stare. The elf, for her part, was used to scrutiny. Her people had developed a pronounced sense of altruism and benevolence, which had the unfortunate side effect of being seen as weakness in the eyes of more aggressive cultures. This in turn led some to the mistaken impression that they were easily intimidated, and she relished every opportunity to defy those expectations.

  Kale seemed to recognize the unspoken challenge on her face and instead turned back to Voss, exhaling slowly. "You always did do whatever the hell you wanted," he said, his expression softening. "Don't be a stranger."

  Voss smirked. "Don't expect a hug, I don't want you bleeding on me."

  Kale nodded, wiping his face one more time. "I owe you for that one," he said. "Go." Voss reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, then turned for the door. The others fell in step beside, and the four of them walked out and up the stairs.

  They made it back to the ship, the contingent of armed guards no longer present on the landing pad. It wasn't until they were back on board that Voss let out a long breath. Mira watched as the dwarf's shoulders dropped slightly, the muscles in her neck and shoulders seeming to relax slightly. Voss turned to look at her and Mira could see a tension in her face that she hadn't noticed before.

  "Are you okay?" Mira asked. "That didn't seem to be too bad…"

  Voss nodded. "All things considered, that was relatively painless." She attempted a thin smile, some of the tension in her face appearing to ease. "Just glad my father wasn't at court. That would've been a different thing entirely." She turned her gaze forward again. "So what now?"

  "We need to regroup," Aris said, switching ship systems over from standby and starting the engines. "That didn't get us anywhere."

  "Seems we may be on the right track, at least," Mira said, "if the Ranger Corps came to the same conclusion."

  "But they're following the wrong hypothesis," Aris said as he pulled the ship into the air. "Those drop ships wouldn't have been capable of making attacks like that."

  "But they might have been what were used to get the dragons through the city shields," Mira suggested.

  Aris's eyes brightened. He hadn't considered that. "Yes," he said. "Good point. But it would've taken Sanctuary technology to pacify and transport them, so … home is really where we need to start, see if there's any equipment unaccounted for." He turned the ship east and Mira started programming coordinates into the navigation system.

  Gareth, who had been keeping an eye on tactical, spoke up. "Guys, I think we have a tail."

  "What?" Aris asked, pulling it up on his own monitor.

  "A ship lifted into the air from the opposite side of the mountain range same time we took off," Gareth said. "Pretty sure they're following us, but they're trying not to look like it."

  "They probably don't think we can see them," Aris said, smiling, thankful for the full complement of short and long-range sensors on his ship, essential equipment when a quarry often needed to be detected from orbit.

  "Do we have enough of a headstart to make it up to slipstream first?" Voss asked.

  "We're on the wrong side of the planet," Aris said, shaking his head. "But we don't know who we're dealing with yet, they could overtake us if we make it to deep space. We may have the advantage in maneuverability, but we're not built for long distance speed." He increased power to the engines anyway, keeping a close eye on his side monitor. "And yes, they're definitely following us. I've already made three course corrections and they've adjusted to match."

  "Can't make an ID on them yet," Mira added. "They're still too far out."

  "And we're nowhere near any populated centers, so for the moment we're on our own," Aris said, leveling off and increasing speed one last time. "Going for the terminator now, let's see if they like being put in the light."

  Kale's fortress sat in a crook on the lower edge of a range of craggy peaks, overlooking much of his territory directly to the south. They were putting all of this behind them, speeding east through a rough region of rocky foothills that lined the southern edge of the mountains, all leveling out to become an expanse of barren flatland spreading for miles to the south.

  Voss was watching the terrain, and as the sun crested the horizon in front of them, she suddenly stood up and leaned over Mira's shoulder, bringing up a terrain map on the elf's side monitor. A short distance east from their position, a deep crevice cut into the rock and wound its way north, slowly widening into a large canyon. She highlighted it and changed magnification, bringing that sector up to full screen.

  "Head here," Voss said, tapping near the mouth of the canyon. "There's a place we can lose them, or at least get around behind them."

  "Think they've figured out we're onto them," Gareth said. "They're closing the gap."

  "Their transponder's not broadcasting," Mira said, scanning communications. "Whoever they are, they don't want us to know."

  Aris looked over his shoulder at Gareth. "Can you get a make on the ship?"

  "Analyzing," he said, calibrating his sensors. "Looks like a modified assault craft, Republic design."

  "Republic?" Aris said, surprised.

  "Early era, though," Gareth said. "Not in official use anymore. So someone in a stolen ship is clearly interested in whatever we've found. Which either means we're on the right track, or we've just stepped in someone's playground."

  "They're not local," Voss said. "Dwarves may be a bit backward, but we build our own ships, thank you very much."

  "So we were probably followed here from Barrast," Aris said. "Great."

  "One of Frakes' minions?" Gareth asked.

  "Most likely," Aris said. "Let's see if we can shake them off." He pointed ahead, where the first fissure in the rock was fast approaching. "There?"

  Voss nodded. "Dive," she said. "About mid depth will be an ancient hall carved into the rock itself, the south wall exposed on the canyon face."

  Aris turned to her. "A hall?"

  "Believe me, it's massive," she said
. "You could fly a bulk cruiser through it. Just don't stop."

  Aris took them in lower, and followed the curve of the fissure, watching it slowly expand. The gap widened suddenly, opening up into a deep chasm that Aris dropped neatly down into, descending into shadow from the morning sun.

  The canyon walls were shear and nearly vertical, cutting deep into the earth below, and twisted widely like a great ribbon in the rock, the sediment layers running in bands of orange and red. Aris brought topography up on the heads-up, showing him the layout of the canyon ahead of what was immediately visible, which helped him better navigate the tight turns without losing as much speed.

  Gareth still had an eye on the rear sensors. "They're following," he said.

  "Good," Voss said, pointing ahead. "It'll be coming up on the left. Drop down a bit … there." A gap some distance ahead became visible in the green-lined overlay, approaching swiftly.

  "I see it," Aris said.

  "Watch the entrance," Voss said. "It'll be tight. Then kill the lights."

  They banked left and right, keeping to the center of the space as the canyon wound its way east, the undulating walls rushing by at a dangerous clip. Then almost without warning they were upon it, a recessed groove in the rock with a section of crumbling stone that opened into blackness.

  Aris threw everything into the braking and maneuvering thrusters and spun left, punching forward through the low opening in the rock wall—

  And was immediately confronted by a stone column as wide as the ship. Startled, Aris veered right, spinning Vermithrax around to avoid crashing, then slammed on the brakes to drop down into an abrupt landing on the floor of the chamber, cutting all external illumination. Aris looked over at the others while everyone seemed to collectively exhale.

  They sat in silence, watching the small section of canyon visible through the opening. A few tense seconds passed, then, almost too fast to see, their pursuer sped past the opening in a gray blur. Aris released weapons hold and sat for a moment, waiting for any sign that the ship had slowed down or otherwise detected them, ready to bolt and run.

  After another minute, he relaxed a bit and reestablished weapons hold. "Now what?" he said.

  "Keep going," Voss said.

  "Agreed. Is there an exit on the other end of this?" he asked, indicating the dark void behind them.

  "Yes," Voss nodded.

  "Good. May not take them long to notice we aren't ahead of them, and if they double back, I'd rather not still be here. Which direction?" he asked.

  "Due north," Voss said.

  Aris nodded, turning exterior lights back on and swiveling Vermithrax around to get a better look at where they were.

  It was, true enough, a hall, but the term had never felt like more of an understatement to Aris. The space was nothing less than staggering. The ship lights illuminated the column closest to them, a great stone pillar that rose to a vaulted ceiling almost too high to see. It was merely the first in a long line, running parallel to a matching line some distance to the other side of the ship. At least one more row of the massive columns was faintly visible beyond on either side, and all four rows continued north into the interminable distance, the light not making much more than a dent in the swallowing blackness. The chamber appeared endless, and Aris gaped. He had seen capital shipyards that took up less area. Lifting off the floor of the chamber, they started forward, keeping to the center of the space and watching in awe as they passed row after row of unending columns.

  "What is this place?" Mira asked.

  "The great hall of Balaur City," Voss said. "Our ancient forefathers carved it out of the mountain itself. Got a couple miles before we get to the other end, though."

  "Miles?" Aris said.

  Voss nodded. "The city extends under the entire mountain. We spent years as kids exploring tunnels and chambers and didn't see half of it."

  "Impressive," Mira breathed.

  Aris adjusted the sensitivity of the forward sensors, bringing an image of the immediate space onto the heads-up display, allowing him to see a bit better into the darkness and pick up speed.

  "It was a nigh impenetrable stronghold, the ultimate fortress," Voss continued, and it was not difficult to see why. Buried under hundreds of feet of solid rock, it would have taken an immeasurable force to do any kind of significant damage. "It may surprise you to learn that we were a violent people in our past," Voss added with a wry grin.

  "I believe the term is misunderstood," Gareth said.

  Voss laughed, leaned over to slap him on the arm—

  And nearly fell out of her chair as the ship was rocked by a sudden explosion as a missile detonated against a nearby column, illuminating the surrounding chamber for an instant in a large fireball that rained chunks of stone down onto the ship. An alarm flashed on the center console, and as Gareth spun back to his monitor, Aris punched the thrusters, lurching the ship forward. "That didn't take long," he grumbled. "Might want to strap in."

  "They're gaining speed," Gareth said, another warning flashing up. "Firing again."

  Aris dropped the ship and veered left as another missile streaked by, barely missing.

  "Give me weapons control," Voss said. Aris hit a switch on his console, a set of monitors next to her lit up, and she spun her chair to face them. "You've got room to maneuver now," she continued as four directional views popped up on her screens, "but this place bottlenecks near the end, so stay sharp."

  "Then let's change it up," Aris said, banking right and looping around the nearest column to head the opposite direction.

  "Um…" Gareth started, but Aris seemed to have an idea, hugging close and keeping the line of columns between them and the oncoming ship. Their pursuer was attempting to fire between the rows, but at this distance the angle was too sharp, and none of the shots succeeded in doing anything but punching holes in the stone pillars.

  "If they don't change direction," Aris said, "the gaps in the columns will only give us one shot as we pass by."

  "Like a joust," Gareth said, seeing where this was going.

  "So make it good," Aris finished, glancing back at Voss.

  She grinned, swiveled the starboard wing-mounted pulse cannon out to the side, and waited.

  The approaching ship seemed to have come to the same conclusion, as it had stopped firing blindly as well. It wasn't changing speed or direction, and Voss steadied herself. She glanced out the front viewport, took a deep breath, then pulled the trigger.

  The two ships passed each other, both firing at the same time across the gap. Voss released a repeating burst, cutting a horizontal line across where the ship should have been, but only one or two found their mark. The rest sunk into a badly timed column passing between them. The pursuer's shots likewise went wide, fired a fraction of a second too late.

  "They're coming around," Gareth said.

  "Not for long," Aris said, swinging Vermithrax around once again and cutting across several rows of columns before turning back to the north. "Let's see how big this place is," he said, keeping an eye on his side monitor.

  He increased speed then cut back to the right, heading for the side wall of the chamber. They had circled almost completely around their pursuer, who had attempted to follow. The other ship was smaller but seemed to be having slightly more difficulty navigating the same tight turns Vermithrax was making. Another few seconds and it was back on their tail, firing again.

  Aris pulled Vermithrax up close to the ceiling to avoid fire, finally seeing the side wall of the chamber appear out of the depths in front of them. Their pursuer had matched their course and lifted up toward the top of the space as well, and Aris realized what he was looking at.

  "These guys aren't Ranger Corps," he said. "I don't even think they're Republic, their tactics are too rough."

  "Does it matter?" Gareth asked.

  Aris smiled. "It might,"
he said. "Hang on—"

  He immediately dove the ship toward the floor, cut open the topside thrusters and spun the ship on its nose, bringing them around sharply and aiming back toward their pursuer, rising back up to meet them head on.

  Everyone braced themselves, but the other ship immediately cut left out of their path without firing.

  Aris in turn cut right, heading north once again and trying to put some distance between them and their pursuer. "Hired guns," Aris said. "They aren't following any engagement protocol I'm familiar with. Which means we're onto something."

  "I guess that's encouraging," Gareth said. "How about we get out of this box before we celebrate, huh?" The monitor showed their pursuer falling in line behind them, having turned back around to follow.

  "That's the plan," he said. "Voss? Let's give them some obstacles."

  She grinned, pivoted both wing cannons to aim outward from the ship and started firing indiscriminately. The cannon blasts ripped into the centers of the columns on either side of them as they passed, punching holes through the ancient stone and raining down rubble into the space behind them. Great cracks split up through the center of several of them, and Voss giggled as she watched in the rear feed as large sections of stone fell out into the center of the space, forcing their pursuer to swerve and dodge, losing speed.

  "I think your historical society's going to have a fit," Gareth said.

  Voss continued the barrage, and columns continued to crack and fall apart, adding to the large cloud of dust accumulating behind them. "Little better," Voss said, easing up on the trigger. Their pursuer had fallen back, and was swinging left to try an approach from the next row over.

  "Um, Voss?" Aris said, bringing her attention forward. They were reaching the end of the hall, and the far wall was approaching out of the dark. There was a gap in the center as a narrow colonnade connected the great hall to the antechamber beyond.

  "Ah damn, already?" she grimaced, gesturing forward. "Keep going, straight up the middle…"

  Aris watched the topography overlay. The chamber on the other side was long and expansive, but the passage between the two looked like it was going to be a tight squeeze.