Free Dragons Rising by Daniel Arenson Page A

command of this
garrison. Now kneel before me and swear your allegiance, or by the
Spirit, you will know my vengeance."
    The
paladins glanced at one another again. The female stepped closer to
Albinor and whispered to him. Gemini caught the words "Mercy
gone" and "not our battle."
    Gemini
stepped closer toward them. "Kneel!" he shouted, his voice
so loud it pealed across the hills. He was sure even Domi in her
distant cave heard.
    The
paladins fell silent, then knelt.
    Gemini
approached Lore, the yellow firedrake, and climbed into the saddle.
For a moment he just sat there, eyes narrowed to slits, and inhaled
deeply. Spirit, it felt good to sit in the saddle again. He wore
rags, and wounds and grime covered him, and he looked like what he
was--a ragged prisoner washed up onto the coast with other ruined
things. But here, sitting upon a firedrake, Gemini almost felt like
himself again, the lord who had once ridden Pyre across the
Commonwealth, the most powerful man in the world.
    I
will be the most powerful man in the world again, he silently
vowed.
    He
wore no spurs, but he grabbed the reins and dug his heels into the
drake's tenderspots. The beast tossed back its head, squealed, and
kicked off the hill. Lore's amber wings beat madly, rustling the
grass below and beating back the three paladins' cloaks.
    "Fly
with me!" Gemini called down to them. "You two scum--rise!
Albinor, you walk back."
    He
laughed as he soared higher, the wind in his hair. His servants rose
at his side, a new retinue for his power. He was a lord again, and he
would exert his power to get what he wanted. All those who stood in
his way would die--like the man on the beach had died.
    That
miserable wretch tried to steal my lemons, so I slew him. And I will
slay all my enemies, all those who stand in my way. I will get what I
want, if the world has to burn, if I have to kill every last man,
woman, and child. He licked his lips. I want Domi, and I want
my Temple, and I will have both. Even if the whole world crumbles
around us, and all other souls die, the Cured Temple will rise from
ruin, and I will stand upon its peak with Domi, and I will reign.
    He
curved his flight to pass over the devastation of the Horde's city.
Several pits had been dug into the charred earth, and human remains
smoked within. Many skeletons still littered the earth above these
mass graves, bony hands reaching up in supplication. The burnt corpse
of a griffin lay below, shreds of skin flapping in the wind, ribs
exposed and black. Crows and vultures flew everywhere. These dead had
once followed Gemini; the wrath of Mercy had burned them.
    "You
will pay for this, Mercy," he whispered. "When I'm done
with you, you and Mother will be nothing but two more burnt skeletons
in a pit. And I'm going to piss onto your bones."
    The
three firedrakes kept flying, leaving the ruins behind. A mile south,
Gemini beheld a garrison of troops--perhaps several hundred strong.
Five other firedrakes stood here, hunched over the remains of a dead
griffin like vultures over carrion. Lowborn soldiers in chain mail
moved back and forth across a dirt field, while archers stood in
makeshift, wooden towers. White military tents rose in neat rows,
topped with banners of tillvine blossoms. Gemini directed Lore to
glide directly over the camp, flying so low the firedrake almost
slammed into the wooden towers. The blast of the beast's wings
ruffled the tents, nearly uprooting them.
    "Hear
me!" Gemini shouted. "Your new lord is here!" He
laughed, the power coursing through him. "Kneel, warriors of the
Spirit! Kneel before Lord Gemini Deus!"
    He
dug his heels into Lore, and the firedrake blasted forth a great
stream of fire. The inferno stormed across the sky and rained down
sparks. Soldiers below rushed aside. A few men, cowed by the display,
knelt in the dirt.
    Gemini
landed in a dirt square between tents. The other two firedrakes
landed behind him.
    "Who
rules this cesspool?" Gemini shouted. "Come forth,
commander of