Hex pushed aside the flap of Shandrazel's tent. The tent was palatial, an acre or more of canvas propped up by thick poles cut from the tallest pines. Though it was still early afternoon, the space was lit by hundreds of lanterns. Shandrazel was alone in the tent, sitting near the center, perched atop a mound of golden cushions. His cheeks were wet with tears. His bloodshot eyes looked haunted as he looked up.
"Who's there?" he asked hoarsely. "I gave orders that I wasn't to be disturbed."
"Remove the invisibility," Hex said.
Jandra released the dust around them. She hopped from Hex's back onto the long, broad crimson rugs that covered the ground. The muffled crunch of dry leaves came from beneath the rugs as she walked.
Shandrazel looked up, staring at them as if he wasn't positive they were real.
"Hexilizan?" he whispered.
"Brother," Hex said. "What has transpired?"
"We lost," said Shandrazel. "Charkon was so impatient. I wanted to wait for more forces. He convinced me that we had enough troops, and that the longer we waited, the better prepared the rebels would be."
"How many troops did you have?" Hex asked.
"Ten thousand earth-dragons, two hundred sun-dragons. Nearly half that number is dead or wounded. Thousands more lie incapacitated in their tents, the victims of some unknown digestive illness that swept the camp."
"I can't believe things went so badly," said Hex. "How many did we face?"
"Our spies said there were only a few thousand rebels. But they possessed a new bow that reached higher than any weapon we've ever seen. There are also reports of some monstrous armored giant. The earth-dragons claim he's fifty feet tall, and has eyes of fire. I sent my troops into slaughter, Hex."
Shadrazel sounded on the verge of tears.
Jandra stepped up. "What happened to the peace talks? Where's Pet? Maybe he can talk to the rebels and-"
"Pet proved disloyal," Shandrazel said, cutting her off. "There's evidence he conspired with Blasphet. He's now a fugitive."
"You can't be serious," she said. "Pet? Working with Blasphet? On what? His nails? Nobody knows Pet better than I do. It's absurd to think he'd help the Murder God. What really happened?"
"It isn't important at the moment," said Shandrazel.
"It's important to me," said Jandra.
"We have a much more pressing crisis," said Shandrazel. "The humans still hold Dragon Forge. Many of the surviving sun-dragons have deserted. If we don't retake the town, it won't be a human rebellion I face, but a rebellion of my own race."
"It was your goal to be the king who brought an end to kings," said Hex. "It looks as if you'll see your dreams come true."
"Do not taunt me, brother," Shandrazel growled. "I wanted to launch a new world order! I didn't intend to unleash anarchy throughout the Commonwealth!"
"Anarchy need not be a bad thing," Hex said. "Indeed, it may-"
"Silence," Shandrazel said, raising up onto his hind-talons and spreading his wings wide to make himself look more intimidating. "I have no stomach for your juvenile philosophies."
"Fine," Hex said, coolly. "Then do you have the stomach for brutality? Because that's the only choice remaining to you. The humans repelled a direct assault with bows and a mechanical giant. But they still occupy only one small patch of Earth, while you have the resources of the world to draw upon. You can starve the humans if you want a victory."
"That could take months," said Shandrazel.
"If it's a quick victory you desire, you now know the range of the new bows. I wager it's less than the range of your catapults. Shower the town with balls of flaming pitch."
"That would burn Dragon Forge to cinders!"
"You would destroy the town," agreed Hex, "but you would kill the rebels and command the ground Dragon Forge stands upon. You would look very kingly as you magnificently spend our father's treasure to rebuild the forge."
Shandrazel stroked the underside of his jaws with his fore-talon as he contemplated Hex's advice.
Jandra felt it was time to intervene. "Excuse me," she said. "But before you destroy the town and kill everyone in it, have you thought about talking with these people? They're rebelling because of the actions of Albekizan. Maybe they just don't know that you want to give them a better deal."
"It's too late for negotiation," said Shandrazel. "I didn't choose to start this war. Men spilt the first blood."
"They probably think Albekizan spilt the first blood at the Free City," said Jandra. "Let me go inside as your ambassador. I'll talk to the leader. Find out his demands."
Shandrazel took his head. "My spies say the leader is a survivor of the Free City named Ragnar. He's a religious fanatic who would rather die than make peace with dragons. His only demand, from what I told, is that all dragons be slain. You can see why I've no interest in accommodating him."
"If what you say is true and I can't convince this Ragnar to make peace, then you won't have to kill thousands to stop this rebellion," she said. "It sounds as if one person might be enough."
"Yes," Shandrazel said, perking up. "Yes, if you killed Ragnar, the others would break. It's only his charisma that holds their army together. If you kill him, victory is assured."
"I didn't volunteer to be your assassin," said Jandra. "I'm going in to talk. After I speak to him, I'll give thought to the appropriate actions."
"Do it," said Shandrazel. "I give you full authority to undertake this mission."
"Shall I fly you there?" Hex asked.
"No," said Jandra, fading into invisibility. "I'm in the mood for a little walk."
Chapter Thirty-One:
Revelations
The snow crunched beneath Jandra's boots as she hiked toward the fortress. The day was at its end. Long shadows painted the ground, and the dark clouds beyond Dragon Forge were tinted red. Here among the gleaner mounds, the winter evening was silent and peaceful. As she'd walked toward the fortress, she'd built dozens of hopeful scenarios in her mind, plausible, logical ways that this siege could end without further blood being spilled.
As she walked past the gleaner mound, she spotted the corpse of an earth-dragon. His body was riddled with arrows. His eyes were frozen open in death. From the scrapes in the mud behind him, she surmised he had crawled hundreds of yards in an attempt to escape the assault on Dragon Forge and return to Shandrazel's camp before finally succumbing to his wounds.
Her optimism that further violence could be avoided was suddenly rattled. Earth-dragons wouldn't soon forget this infamous day. Could she blame them? They'd want revenge. Would evicting the rebels from Dragon Forge be enough to calm them? Earth-dragons were such alien, stoic beings, it was hard to say. Perhaps there was still hope of peace, despite the atrocities committed by the humans.
She walked past the dead earth-dragon and found herself in the presence of another corpse only a dozen yards away. Her stomach tightened as she recognized that this twisted thing before her had once been a sun-dragon, like Hex or Shandrazel. The great beast had hit the ground so hard its body was half buried in the red clay. Only a single crimson wing, largely intact and jutting into the air like a sail, instantly identified the hill of flesh before her as a member of the royal race.
She knew, in her gut, that all hope of a peaceful solution was gone. Albekizan had launched genocide over the death of his son, Bodiel. Today, countless sons, brothers, and fathers had been slaughtered by rebel bows. The sun-dragons would now be a race of Albekizans. Human blood would be spilled throughout the kingdom if swift justice wasn't visited upon the rebels.
She bit her lower lip, knowing what she had to do. She'd undertaken this mission as a diplomat. Shandrazel wanted her to be his assassin. Could she bring an end to this madness by killing, or at least capturing, Ragnar?