Free Dragons Rising by Daniel Arenson

knew he must supplant. He walked on.
    He
was a mile away from the killing field when the firedrakes saw him.
Three of the beasts tossed back their heads and cried out, then beat
their wings and wheeled in the sky toward him. Like vultures
departing from carrion, they left the burnt city and came flying
toward the hills. Paladins sat on their backs, armor brilliant in the
sunlight, and their banners streamed.
    Gemini
stood on the hill, waiting. He forced himself to breathe deeply, to
remain calm. A memory of the dungeon shot back into him--the screams,
the agony of torture, the stench . . . Fear flooded his belly, icy
cold, and sweat trickled down his back, and he felt his pulse
quicken.
    Calm
yourself. Breathe. He inhaled deeply and raised his chin. You
are Lord Gemini Deus. You will show them your nobility.
    The
three drakes circled above, cawing, then spiraled down. They landed
on the hill around Gemini, claws tearing up dirt and shattering
rocks. Chunks of chalk spilled down the slopes, crushing cyclamens,
and one firedrakes lashed its tail, shattering a pine. All three
thrust forth their heads, fangs bared, their hot breath blasting
Gemini. Their riders, bedecked in white steel, pointed their lances
at him. Gemini was covered in grime, his hair caked with mud, and he
wore only rags, but he forced himself to stand proudly, to raise his
chin.
    "Lower
your lances!" he said. "Paladins, dismount and kneel. I am
Gemini Deus, your lord. Kneel!"
    The
paladins glanced at one another, uncertain.
    "You are--" one began.
    "Silence!"
Gemini shouted. "I did not tell you to talk back but to dismount
and kneel before your lord." He stared at the talkative
paladin's firedrake, a scarred yellow beast. "You ride upon
Lore. That scar on his head is from battling the rebels in
Salvandos." He turned toward the other two firedrakes. "These
are Pelaron and Telesar, siblings from the same brood. Do not mistake
me for some common wanderer. I lost my armor in the sea, and the
grime and blood of battle covers me, as it would any true warrior."
He stared pointedly at the men's gleaming, polished armor. "Yet
I am still your lord. Now kneel!"
    The
paladins stared at one another again, then dismounted their drakes,
but they did not kneel. One among them--the tall man who had first
spoken--took a careful step forward.
    "Yes,
you are Gemini," he said. "I recognize your face. Last I
heard you were tossed into the dungeon, a traitor to the Cured
Temple."
    Fear
flooded Gemini. Again he could feel the cold stones beneath him, feel
the chains clasping him, feel the torturer ripping off his
fingernail. He forced himself to stare steadily at the man.
    "Do
not meddle in the affairs of those of higher station. The squabbles
of the Deus family are none of your concern. Raise your visor! Let me
see your face. Who are you that you should speak so impudently to
your lord?"
    The
man hesitated. Gemini stomped toward him and reached toward the
paladin's visor. The man stepped back, seemed almost ready to attack
Gemini, but hesitated just long enough. Gemini managed to grab the
visor and yank it up.
    "Ah
. . ." Gemini smiled thinly at the pale, hard face. "Sir
Ker Albinor, is it not? Yes, I know your face. I know your family.
Only two generations ago, your family was shoveling shite in the
fields. You will kneel before your lord now, Albinor, or you will be
shoveling shite again." He spun toward the other two paladins--a
burly man and a tall woman. Both had raised their visors too. "I
don't even recognize you two. Must be even lower than the Albinor
family. Worms, you are. Worms I can easily crush."
    "My
lord, you . . ." Sir Albinor swallowed. "You were a
prisoner. Lady Mercy told us you fight against us, that--"
    "Mercy
isn't here. My bitch sister flew back north, I imagine, leaving you
lot in the south. She's dining on peacock and sipping wine from
golden chalices. I'm here in the south, fighting in the mud, for the
Cured Temple. For you. For our glory. I'm taking