Burn(89)

She knew what it was. She knew everything now. It had all come back to her.

Dragon blood and dragon magic.

She would greet them with fire. She would greet them with death. And when she had the Spur, there was nothing—not one single thing in this wretched dragon-free world—that could stop her.

She pumped her wings faster. The clouds broke open.

“Now,” Kazimir said, quietly, as the distant dragon appeared.

“Now?” Sarah asked.

He looked at her, incredulous at being questioned at this of all moments, and she ran to the side of the field, toward the fence that marked the beginning of the Inagawas’ land. They weren’t stupid; they were pretty sure the dragon would come in flaming, but Kazimir thought he could stop her before that.

Only thought, though, so Sarah was to run the instant they spotted her and hope she went for Kazimir first. And not the girl prophesied to defeat her, Sarah thought, leaping over the low wooden fence and hiding. This plan makes perfect sense.

Here came the dragon.

“Here she comes,” Agent Dernovich said, still looking through his binoculars.

“Holy God,” Hisao whispered.

“Where’s Sarah?” Gareth asked.

“She’s moved as planned,” Agent Dernovich said.

“For all the good it will do her,” Darlene muttered, but she put her arm through her ex-husband’s. He held it tightly back.

Agent Dernovich felt a little tug at his own elbow. Grace, eyes on the dragon flying toward the field, had reached up, asking to take his hand. He gave it to her with gratitude, using the other to hold his binoculars.

There was nothing they could do but watch.

She saw him, the dragon now dressed as a man, alone in a field. She smelled the girl from the other world, hiding behind a fence off to one side. She saw the tanks and troops arrayed behind them, and she laughed to herself, actually laughed.

This would be so easy. So very, very easy.

The ground flew past as she lowered herself toward it, slowing but staying in the air. She got close enough to see his face.

“Goddess!” she heard him yell. “I wish to speak with you!”

She opened her mouth and buried him in flame.

Sarah screamed as the fire geysered down from the great dragon’s mouth. In all her life, she had only seen dragons flame for farmwork. That was impressive enough: the disintegration of fields, the casual way Kazimir himself would vaporize stumps and debris.

It was nothing like this.

She could feel her face burning even from this distance and had to turn away. The air seemed to boil. She struggled to breathe, falling facedown into the snow, which was already turning to steam around her. The flannel of her shirt grew so hot she thought it would burst into flames.

She was sure she was dying.

“Oh, dear God,” Darlene said, her hand to her mouth. “That poor boy.”

“We should have run,” Hisao said. “Why didn’t we run?”

“Because there’s nowhere to run to,” Grace said, calmly, too calmly. Agent Dernovich put an arm around her, pulling her close.

“Let this play out,” he said, having to look away from the binoculars because the dragonfire was so bright.

“Play out?” Gareth shouted. “That thing just killed that—”

“Wait,” Darlene said, grasping his arm.

“Are you finished?” Kazimir asked, as the smoke cleared.

The dragon formerly known as Agent Veronica Woolf was so surprised she dropped to the ground in front of him.

He was now standing in a crater of bare earth, all grass and snow burnt away, the soil beneath blackened into charcoal. All his clothes had been annihilated from his body, but he stood there quite whole, if completely naked, the hair on his head barely ruffled. His eye scarf was gone, but the stitching still held his eye shut.

“I am dragon,” he said to her. “Dragonfire does not harm dragon.”

“You wear their shape,” she said. “Dragonfire may not harm you, but claws and teeth surely will.”

She took a step toward him.

“We can solve this,” he said.

She took another step. And another.

“This does not have to end this way.”

She picked up speed, smiling now.

He sighed, and said, “They know how to find where you hide.”

This stopped her cold. “What did you say?”

“You destroyed the satellite in the other world,” he said. “You were driven to do it. Perhaps not even knowing why. But you forgot to ensure this world did not have one either.”

She raised her head. “You’re bluffing. I’ve not seen nor smelled anything—”

“You did not look enough. Because of you, the satellite now knows how to find the heat signature of a dragon. Not an issue in a world teeming with dragons, but in a world where they only need to find one? You do know a direct hit from one of their nuclear weapons would probably destroy even you, Goddess.”

“They would not dare.”

“You killed a million people. They would dare.” He clenched his hand; more black blood came out. “I used to laugh at them, just as you do. At their society. Their lack of honor. Their lies.” He took the Spur into his bloody hand. “When you get to know them as a dragon, though, they can still be quite wondrous.”