Last Dragon Standing (Heartstrikers #5)(93)
He placed a hand on his chest over the spot where the dragon fire burned when they were in human form. “The reason my fire is still able to burn the Leviathan is because it was never mine at all. I’m a construct. A magical creation, not a living thing, which means I can’t make fire of my own. I survive on the magic your ancestors breathed into me before they opened the portal to this world. As I am now, that combined flame is enough to keep me running indefinitely. But if I spend it to create a path through the Leviathan, the magic I burn will be gone forever, and what is left might not be enough to keep me functional.”
Julius stepped back. “You mean you’ll die?”
“That depends on how much I have to use,” the Black Reach said with a shrug. “If I use it all, then yes, I will cease to be. But even if I spend only a portion, what is left will almost certainly not be enough to allow me to continue my duties as guardian of the future, and as much as I wish to help you, that is a sacrifice I cannot make. I can bend the rules if I deem it necessary for the greater good, as I did with you and Brohomir, but I cannot abandon my duty entirely. Every seer tries to sell the future at some point. If I am not there to stop them, it won’t matter if we save this world today, because sooner or later, one of our own seers will end it.”
“You don’t know that,” Julius said. “We can always destroy ourselves, but that’s the price of having choice: we have to choose correctly. I understand why my ancestors created you. They wanted someone to keep us from making the same mistakes they did. But by putting our future in your hands, they took the responsibility for it away from us, and that’s no good. If dragonkind is ever to mature as a species, you can’t make our decisions for us. Our future has to be our own to worry about and protect, not yours.”
The Black Reach stared at him in horror. “You would have me abandon you,” he said. “Give up the purpose for which I was created!”
“I want you to trust us to take care of ourselves,” Julius said. “You’ve said a lot of very nice things about me, but to be honest, the only noteworthy thing I’ve done is convince dragons that they could do what they already longed to. I didn’t make the Qilin choose happiness with Chelsie over suffering for his empire forever. He already desperately wanted to do that. All I did was convince him to go for it. Everything you want dragonkind to be is already inside us. It’s our culture that tells us to dominate and be cruel, not our nature. There are lots of nice dragons in the world. I’m just the only one so far who’s had a chance to show his true colors and live.”
“Because of Brohomir,” the Black Reach said. “If dragons really are as far along as you claim, why did it take the greatest seer in centuries to ensure your survival?”
“Because we’re having to fight against our own stereotype,” Julius said fiercely. “Against what venerable dragons like you are constantly telling us we are! If you really want to make a better dragonkind, start with that. Because the real problem isn’t that seers are selling the future, it’s that they feel that’s the only way. They’d rather face you, their death, than compromise or work together or do any of the other things we’re told from birth that we’re weak and stupid for wanting. That’s the mistake that must never be repeated! Not her.” He pointed back at Bob’s pigeon. “Amelia knew it too, which is why she tied herself to this plane. She was trying to buy us a chance to live long enough to mature past our megalomania stage. That’s the sort of progress you should be fighting to save, not me. I’m just one dragon, but this plane and what we’ve already achieved coming together trying to save it is the best shot you’re ever going to get at actually changing dragon culture. Our better future is already here! I just need you to help me make sure it doesn’t end before it can begin.”
The Black Reach sighed. “And by that I suppose you mean burn a hole in the Leviathan for you?”
“Only if you can do it without dying,” Julius said quickly. “I believe in everything I just said, but it’s still a long shot. Just because I’m willing to bet my life on that doesn’t mean I want to burn up everyone else’s last chance to run. No matter what happens, though, our entire species still came together today. That’s a huge step in the right direction, one you can carry into any other world. Just don’t let what we started today die, and I think you’ll have a better future no matter how this ends. So if you can help me, I’d appreciate it, but if it’ll cost you too much, go ahead and start evacuating as many dragons as you can. I’ll just find another way in.”
By the time he finished, the Black Reach looked almost angry. That wasn’t what Julius had intended. He’d been trying his best to be reasonable, but when he opened his mouth to apologize for whatever he’d said wrong, the construct began to laugh.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d swear Brohomir was feeding you lines,” the Black Reach said, shaking his head. “You truly are a dragon of a different color, Julius Heartstriker. It will be my honor to light your way into the Leviathan.”
“Wait, really?” Julius said, shocked. “You’re sure it won’t kill you?”
“I cannot say,” the Black Reach said calmly, looking up at the Leviathan. “It will take a massive amount of fire to burn through the carapace the enemy has built from Algonquin’s magic, and even more to keep the Nameless End from consuming you once you’re inside. I have no idea if I have enough, but I know I am the only one who could. With the death of the Three Sisters, no dragon remains who is old enough to produce a flame that could challenge a power of this magnitude. But I am Dragon Sees Eternity, one of the two greatest creations of our old realm! Inside me burn the flames of all the ancient clan leaders, including those of your grandfather, the Quetzalcoatl. He was the wisest of all the great dragons, and you remind me very much of him. I believe he would have been proud to know his fire helped you now.”