Last Dragon Standing (Heartstrikers #5)(92)
“Because now is different,” Julius said. “Back then, she had all the power. Now she has none, because she’s given it up to the Leviathan. All I want is to help her get it back, and it’s a lot easier to listen to someone when they’re saying what you want to hear.”
“It will. Not. Work,” the seer growled. “Just like Brohomir, you are allowing what you want to blind you to what is, and what is is over. The Nameless End has won. This plane is doomed. The only statistically likely chance of survival we have left is for you to accept my offer and flee to a new world before this one is devoured.” He leaned in closer, dropping his voice to a whisper. “You refused me before because you said I was leaving too many behind, but thanks to your efforts, almost every dragon in the world is currently in the DFZ. If you agree to run with me right now, there’s a very good chance we could get everyone gathered and through the portal before the planar barrier collapses. You could save them all that way, no long shots needed.”
“But not Amelia,” Julius said. “Spirits are tied to this plane, which means no Marci, either. She’d never leave Ghost behind.”
“There would be sacrifices,” the Black Reach admitted. “But for a much greater good.”
“How good can it be if the only way to get there is by abandoning my friends and family?” Julius said angrily. “I’m not leaving them behind.”
“So you would risk everyone?” the seer said. “Risk your brothers and sisters, all of your kind, to save the world’s most arrogant dragon mage and a single human?”
“I’m not risking anyone,” Julius snapped. “I’m refusing to let you sacrifice them to buy an easy out. I still believe we can do this. You’re the one with doubts.” He tilted his head. “Why are you making this my decision anyway? You already have the Kosmolabe. You could open that portal and run whenever you want, with or without me.”
To his surprise, the Black Reach lowered his eyes. “I am not without fault,” the construct admitted quietly. “I was built to guard the future of our species. A perfect seer, uncorrupted by the usual draconic appetites for conquest and domination. But steering the future cannot be done coldly. Guiding our kind to a better place requires a certain degree of optimism, and that leaves me as vulnerable to the beguilement of hope as any other dragon. Hope for the future is why I fell prey to Brohomir’s plan, and why I still linger now. The course with the highest chance of success would have been to open the portal the moment it became clear that your Merlin’s plan had failed, but I could not bring myself to do it, because I knew if I ran away then, the one dragon I wanted to bring most wouldn’t be with me.”
Julius’s skin flushed beneath his feathers. “You don’t mean me, do you?”
“Whom else could I mean?” the Black Reach asked, his ancient eyes pleading when he lifted them again. “You are the opportunity I’ve waited ten thousand years for, Julius Heartstriker. That’s why Brohomir chose you. He knew you were the only one I couldn’t kill, because killing you would mean killing my own hope. I’m certain you’re the one who can push us to a better future. No dragon has ever gotten all the clans to work together, but you did so in under an hour. What other miracles could you work, given the time?”
“But that wasn’t me!” Julius said. “Amelia got them here with threats!”
“But why did Amelia call them?” the Black Reach asked. “And why did Svena help her? Why did the Golden Emperor pledge his support to the Heartstrikers, his sworn enemies for the last six centuries? Why did the Daughters of Three Sisters, the clan who has hated yours more than any other, fly to your aid? That wasn’t because of anyone’s threats. That was you. You forged those bonds just as you took your clan from Bethesda’s poison claws and made it into something better.”
A smile broke over the construct’s face. “Do you know how long I’ve waited for a dragon like you? How many times I’ve tried to engineer the situations Bob created simply by placing you in them? I’ve spent my entire existence trying and failing to make dragons act as they do when you’re around, which is why I can’t leave unless you come with me. Brohomir positioned you well, but you were always the one who chose the better path, and I would risk almost anything to let you keep going.”
Julius was ready to sink into the ground by the time the seer finished. He’d never been praised so much, and it felt all wrong, like something terrible was going to happen if the Black Reach kept talking. That said, everything terrible had already happened, which was the only reason Julius was able to swallow his embarrassment and meet the Black Reach’s gaze once more.
“If you’re willing to risk that much for my sake, then help me,” he said, voice shaking. “Dragons can live in any world, but we’d do best in this one. You called her arrogant, but Amelia became the Spirit of Dragons for the same reason you want to save me. She’s also trying to make a better future. The Planeswalker sacrificed her ability to go to other planes so she could make us a home in this one. We’ve run from one plane already. Let’s do better with this one. We can save this world, I know it. But only if you’ll help.”
The Black Reach looked away with a deep breath. “You ask more than you know,” he whispered. “I stand by my claim that your endeavor is almost certainly doomed, but to be honest, I’m no longer sure that I care. I am sick of watching my charges stupidly repeating the same mistakes. If the duty built into me by your ancestors wasn’t pushing me to save them at any cost, I’d help you in a heartbeat. I’d much rather dragonkind die here nobly defending their home than flee to another plane so they can kill each other pointlessly for another ten thousand years. But duty isn’t the only reason I’ve held back. There’s also this.”