Here Be Dragons: Book 1 of the Emergence Series

“Get the medical supplies!” Pryce snapped, sending half the crew back below deck. “How’s your neck? And your other injuries?” he asked urgently.

“Throat…hurts…” Fathom wheezed through stilted coughs, his less injured arm clenching the midsection of his throat. “I…will not die. Go…see others first,” he rasped, not quite meeting Pryce’s eyes as he gingerly sat himself down.

“After I stop the bleeding,” Pryce said, examining the wounds. Long trails of bright red blood trickled down Fathom’s neck like a grisly scarf, but he was relieved to see blood seep out from under the dragon’s talons at a slow and steady rate, which meant that no major arteries had been punctured.

“Here,” Callan panted as she set down and ripped open a box of bandages. Pryce muttered a thanks before pressing the dressing to the wounds, while Fathom slowly lifted his talons away before replacing them above the gauze.

“How are your other injuries?” Pryce asked, pacing around Fathom’s body.

“Not bad,” Fathom hissed, wincing as Pryce pressed another bandage against a particularly deep cut on his thigh.

“Press down on this,” Pryce said, instructing the nearby crewmen as he tore off a piece of duct tape to keep the bandage in place. He swiftly placed several more bandages over the worst injuries before Fathom coughed pointedly. “Go help…others now,” he said, gingerly shifting to a more comfortable sitting position.

Pryce paused for a moment, and nodded when the bandages did not immediately soak through. “Hold your head high to keep the blood from flowing out. I’ll be back soon,” he said, and left to tend to the others.

Thankfully none of the allied dragons were in life-threatening condition, though Devotion, Xylem, and the twins had particularly severe injuries. Pryce worked together with Doctor Corbin and the rest of the crew, and over the course of the next few hours they triaged and treated the allied dragons’ wounds to the best of their abilities.

When they ran out of bandages, they used sterilized cloth. When they ran out of sutures, they used sterilized sewing threads.

As they worked to patch the worst of the injuries, Pryce ordered the crew to give the dragons a small dose of the penicillin that he’d synthesized over the last few months – not enough to be a real dose, but to check for allergic reactions. If any infection took place, then they’d need to know who could be given a dose without resulting in adverse effects.

A few of the allied dragons refused the treatment, as they were understandably wary of having foreign substances injected into their bodies, but most had agreed to the test, and those who did fortunately did not experience any allergic reactions.

“It looks like bleeding has mostly stopped,” Pryce said as he replaced the bandages. “I’m glad. Things could have easily been much worse.”

“His bite…awkward position,” Fathom explained without looking at Pryce. “His neck…also wounded. He did not…have full strength.”

“That’s good,” Pryce said absently, unsure of how to breach the topic that was certainly on both of their minds. “I know you wouldn’t have wanted me to interrupt your fight,” he said abruptly, “but this wasn’t a proper duel, and then you were hit by that fire, and-”

Fathom slowly and gingerly shook his head, cutting Pryce off. “You…surprised me,” he wheezed, wincing a little as he pulled on his stitches. “But I…understand why you did…what you did. I know you…did not want to kill anyone. I am sorry…that you had to, because of me. Thank you.”

Pryce pressed his lips into a thin line, and went to check on the next bandage.

“If I had killed him… The fight…might have continued…until someone else died…so it is good…that you did what you did,” Fathom wheezed. A glance back towards the beach showed a group of dragons inspecting Ighnahr’s corpse – or rather, the fatal injury he had received. “It is a shame…that we could not end things properly.”

«What a miserable display,» Igansa growled as Anzath examined Ighnahr’s corpse. «We should be doing something, anything other than standing around doing nothing. I wouldn’t be surprised if those humans decided it was better to eliminate us after all.»

«The damage is much greater on the other side,» Anzath said gravely. «It’s almost like…a very small rock was thrown at incredible speed. And those noises…it was almost like that time we saw that falling star explode, wasn’t it?»

Igansa snorted. «I would hardly call it the same thing…but I do see your point,» she conceded, tossing a disdainful look at the corpse of her son. «Well, if there’s a white lining to all of this, it’s that we won’t be embarrassed any further by his inadequacy.»

«You know, if it wasn’t for him, the humans probably would have targeted Vosae, or one of us,» Anzath said neutrally. «Are you confident in surviving such a wound?»

Igansa narrowed her eyes, and her silence was all the answer Anzath needed.

«What terrifying power,» Anzath sighed. «We can’t let them do as they please, but…I don’t know what we could do to stop them.»

«I don’t like this at all,» Igansa growled, pacing restlessly. «The only good thing is that they seem reluctant to resort to violence… At least, these ones are, but who knows what else they’re hiding?»

Anzath nodded gravely. «It would be best to cooperate with them for now.»

“You went against the plan,” Captain Siebert said, stopping Pryce in the ship’s corridors.

“I did,” Pryce said.

Captain Siebert sighed. “I didn’t think you were the type to act out on your own like that.” He paused for a moment, rubbing his temples. “I haven’t forgotten what you’ve done for my family and gods know how many others, but I can’t have anyone ignoring the chain of command, else we’d have chaos. I’ll overlook it just this once, but only this once, understand?”

“...understood, Captain.”

Siebert nodded, clapped him on the back, and continued down the hallway.

For a moment Pryce was still, then he continued on his way to take inventory of their remaining supplies.

«I suppose now is a good time to finally introduce ourselves,» said a dragon with matching blue eyes and hide. «I am Wakori, Qnaoro’s mother.»

Likewise, Iakahn, Vhaka, Yintra, Eohmn, Ungal, and Leonahr briefly introduced themselves. The latter two dragons had been recruited by Callan’s allies, and so had never seen a human before.

“My name is Pryce, and thank you for your help.” Pryce nodded to Celeste who translated for him. With introductions done, Kharno took it upon herself to summarize the events that had transpired thus far.

“How are all of you feeling?” Pryce asked as Kharno prattled on.

“I am well,” Devotion said, wincing as Fortitude poked her side.

“No, you are not,” her partner insisted, “Look at all those wounds.”

“It is not so bad,” Devotion grumbled. “I could still fly, if I wanted to.”

«Don’t. You. Dare,» Fortitude hissed, causing Devotion to bow her head in begrudging acquiescence.

”I will be okay,” Devotion said more honestly, then added with a note of pride, “Jooral is barely wounded.”

“Only because you weakened them for me,” Fortitude said modestly. “Ahnoumh, how are you feeling?”

“…I am fine,” Celeste said, not rising from her curled up position.

“You did well,” Fathom grunted stiltedly, nudging her reassuringly. “Very well…against dragons…much older than you.”

Celeste gave a noncommittal grumble, and scratched around the stitches on her shoulder.

«How are your wounds?» Fortitude asked Kharno, who had briefly paused her conversation with the others.

«Oh, I wasn’t hurt much,» Kharno said, shrugging with her uninjured shoulder. «Helsha-ǂ is much more badly hurt, but he is well enough to ask about human medicine, so he should be fine. Oh, look, here comes that dragonet,» she said, glancing in the direction of the gathered clan members.

«Um…hello,» Icahna said, nervously glancing around as she tried to decide on who to greet first. The dragonet stood at half the height of an adult, her head only coming up to Pryce’s chest.

«What do you want, whelp?» Devotion asked.

«I…um, saw that the humans have tools to help fix wounds,» the dragonet said uncertainly. She glanced back at her mother, who had not yet noticed her absence, then visibly gathered herself to ask in a rush, «MyMotherHasAFangClotCanYouPleaseHealHer?»

«Fang clot? That explains why she looks so terrible,» Fortitude said, her eyes widening slightly in realization. «How long has she had it?»

«A little over three years now,» Icahna said earnestly, «it hurts her so much that she can’t even sleep, even though she pretends that it’s fine. I know she’s attacked you, but she’s just afraid of how weak she’s grown.»

“She says Vosae has a fang…ball?” Fortitude hesitantly translated. “I am not sure how to translate this. It is a type of tooth problem.”

“A tooth problem…?” Pryce asked. “But I thought dragons could grow new teeth?”

“It is rare, but sometimes a tooth will get stuck, so new teeth cannot grow properly,” Fortitude explained. “That is what Vosae has.”

“I don’t see why we should bother helping her,” Celeste grumbled. “Let her suffer; she chose to attack us first.”

“That is true, but we have nothing to gain from not helping her either.” Fortitude said thoughtfully. “Her clan has many connections, and we are both weakened.”

«Icahna! What are you doing over there? Get back here!» Vosae ordered.

Icahna glanced nervously between her mother and the allied dragons. «Please help her,» she murmured, then dashed back to her mother’s side.

“It is your decision,” Fathom rasped. “I would not offer to help her unless it is needed.”

“It is a tactically sound decision,” Captain Siebert said when Pryce explained what he’d learnt. “So long as they’re willing to bury the hatchet, so to speak, but we ought to make the most out of the situation.”

“Why do you have to deal with these dragons who attacked us?” Scott asked. “Why can’t we deal with some other clan tomorrow when we invite that horde of dragons over here?”

“There are twenty dragons in the Brewer clan, the next largest clan only has twelve,” Fortitude said. “They make alcohol, but they also trade things. Many dragons owe them favors, and they are easily the most powerful clan.” She paused for a moment, then added, “This is a strange situation. Normally the stakes of a fight are determined before the fight begins. Pryce spared her clan in exchange for a promise that they will not attack unless attacked first, but this does not include what the clan must do for you as the victors.”

“Vosae mentioned fears that humans will gradually take control over all the land, and I can’t honestly say her fears are unfounded,” Pryce said. “I believe it would be better to build one settlement for now, else we’d seem like invaders.”

“What about the…operation itself? Can you two do it?” Callan asked, eyebrow raised. “It’s not like either of you are dentists.”

“It’s just pulling out teeth,” Corbin snorted. “I’d wager that anyone here could do it; it’s just a matter of doing it cleanly.”

“It should be quite doable,” Pryce agreed.

“Well…so long as you’re confident,” Callan said, casting an uneasy glance at the clan members.

«I acknowledge that you do not wish to harm us,» Vosae said, «and we are grateful for your mercy, but that does not mean we can just allow thousands upon thousands of humans to live in our homes.»

“We can agree to limit the number of humans on the island at a time,” Captain Siebert offered. While this was hardly an ideal arrangement, the hope was that in time dragons would grow used to humans, and eventually agree to a greater human presence.

«They have avoided killing you at great cost to us, their allies,» Devotion added onto her translation. «The humans need a place to build their things, and your territory would be an ideal place for them to live, considering that the southern tip of the island is the closest to the far land. I think allowing them such use of your home would hardly be an unfair reparation – unless you believe your lives are worth so little.»

«Please, don’t patronize me,» Vosae growled, «If they lived with us then they might as well have joined our clan. Their business would become our business, and we’d be forced to support them fully. Surely you don’t consider that to be ‘a little reparation’.»

«Are you not afraid that the humans will render your clan obsolete? An alliance with them would nullify such fears.»

«If they are as capable as I fear then they would usurp us anyway, alliance or no.»

Back and forth the elders went, making little progress over the course of several minutes. Finally, Devotion ran out of patience. «We know about your ‘problem’. If you lend us your support, the humans could try and remove your problem teeth.»

«What – how did you…?!» Vosae stammered, then turned to glare murder at a quailing dragonet. «Icahna,» she growled.

«I just thought…that they could help you…?» Icahna suggested meekly.

For a moment Vosae seemed ready to berate the dragonet, but after a moment’s consideration – possibly to avoid further embarrassment to the clan – she closed her mouth. «We are going to have a very long talk after this,» she growled before turning back to Devotion. «And you. What, did you think I was just going to let them poke around in my mouth?» She spoke with her usual denigrating tone, but with the slightest bit less confidence than before.

«I’ve heard of individuals who’ve ended their lives over such pain,» Devotion grinned, «It must be difficult, having to manage a clan while suffering so.»

«I don’t need your help,» Vosae growled. «I have a responsibility to my clan. You think I’m going to tear off our wings just to relieve a little of my own pain?»

«Far from it,» Devotion snorted, «You know you don’t have the power to stop the humans. They are willing to help you, and to let you act as an intermediary between them and everyone else. It seems to me that the choice is obvious.»

Anzath made a clicking noise, then stepped forward. «It is better to keep an enemy near than to have one afar. I believe you should accept their terms,» he said, with his partner nodding in agreement.

«Easy for you to say when you aren’t the one bearing the cost.» Vosae huffed.

«If the humans wanted to harm us then they would have already done so, instead of suggesting this roundabout method,» Hakra murmured. «I think you should let them help you, mother.»

«I don’t like them either,» Manthk grumbled, «but if they can help you I think we should take the risk. If we cannot stop them, then it is better to have them work for us than against us.»

This sentiment was soon echoed by the other clan members, causing Vosae to finally hesitate.

«...if I agreed to this, what would it entail?» Vosae slowly asked.

«The humans would extract the teeth with their tools,» Fortitude explained. «They have medicine that can numb the pain, but it needs to be…‘squeezed’ into your flesh.»

Vosae narrowed her eyes, silently weighing her options. «...fine,» she sighed, «but no medicine; I can handle the pain. How long will it take?»

«Depends on how bad your teeth are,» Devotion shrugged. «First, the humans will need to perform an inspection.»

«What is that?» Vosae asked warily.

“It's called a fluoroscope, it’s a machine that lets us see bones and teeth using x-rays,” Pryce explained. “In the same way that normal light can pass through ice but not rock, x-rays can pass through flesh but not bones or teeth. Since it passes through flesh, we can see which teeth are out of place – those ones will be the ones that are causing you pain.”

«You’re going to…’see’ my bones?» Vosae asked incredulously.

«I don’t understand it either,» Fortitude shrugged. «I think it might be easier to see how it works than to listen to their explanations. All you need to do is to put your jaw into that box.»

Vosae stared at the odd box skeptically, but begrudgingly did as she was instructed, fitting her lower jaw into the cavity meant for a human torso while her upper jaw hovered over the outside of the device.

“Can’t see anything at medium power,” Corbin muttered. “Not surprising. Turning it up…and…there. Wait.” He paused, rubbed his eyes, and brought his eyes back to the eyepieces. “That…can’t be right. Doctor Pryce, could you take a look and tell me what you think?”

«Are they done yet? What are they saying?» Vosae asked awkwardly.

«They seem surprised,» Devotion said. “Is something wrong?”

Pryce glanced into the eyepieces, then stared. “The angle isn’t great, but…is that mass there nothing but teeth?”

“There’s no other explanation,” Corbin said grimly as Fortitude nudged Pryce out of the way for her turn. “How is she functioning? There has to be at least three teeth stuck in one socket!”

As they discussed what to do next, the other dragons began looking through the fluoroscope to get a look for themselves.

«Oh, I really can see your bones and teeth!» Fortitude exclaimed, and moved out of the way for Devotion to take a glance – which didn’t last long, considering all the dragons present were visibly curious.

«Amazing, you can see someone’s insides without killing them,» Leonahr rumbled, having nearly bowled over Celeste for a turn.

«Did you have to bring her, of all dragons?» Sharnha hissed to Wakori.

«She’s strong, and she’d do anything to get her hands on some human tools,» Wakori rumbled back. «There’s no reason to shun her help just because she’s a little eccentric.»

«It’s more than just a little,» Sharnha grumbled, looking torn between shuffling away from the dragon in question and taking a turn to look through the fluoroscope. «I’ve heard she duels others just so she can cut open their corpses and study their insides. Are you sure she won’t do the same with a human? Or one of us?» He asked, his eyes wide with fear.

«I already told her that humans have extensive knowledge of their own anatomy, of course,» Wakori sighed in exasperation. «So there’s no reason for her to do that at all.»

Meanwhile, Vosae rumbled in annoyance, clearly uncomfortable from holding her head at such an awkward level. «...can I see it?» she asked, half-expectantly, half-irritably.

“You can’t see your own teeth,” Pryce said. “You can see someone else’s if they took your place, but now it’s time for the operation…unless you’ve changed your mind.”

«They’re telling the truth, I can see your bones move along with you,» Hakra said in amazement.

«...very well, let’s get this over with,» Vosae growled.

“I’m not putting my hands in there,” Doctor Corbin said, eyeing Vosae’s sharp and serrated teeth warily. “Can she bite on a tree to keep her mouth open?”

«I’m not going to bite a tree,» Vosae growled, but was eventually persuaded to allow her jaws to be propped open with wooden plank.

“Last chance not to use anesthesia,” Corbin warned. Vosae hissed her refusal, and he sighed before reaching into her gums.

To her credit, she barely flinched at the probing, and only began to fidget when his pliers clamped onto the first tooth. Pryce thought about asking if she wanted a countdown, but Corbin ripped out the tooth before he could say a word.

The clan leader’s nictitating membranes snapped shut, apparently an instinctive response to the pain, but otherwise she hardly reacted.

“Tough one, aren’t ya?” Corbin muttered, dropping the malformed tooth into a pan. “The next ones are too deep to reach, I’ll need to make a few incisions.”

Devotion echoed his words with perhaps a little more smugness than was necessary, but Vosae only grunted in acknowledgement, the wooden plank between her jaws creaking under the increased strain.

Not three, not four, but five dental fragments were removed from Vosae’s lower jaw by the time the operation was complete. The infection and inflammation of the gums made it a difficult job, but it was nothing that Corbin could not handle with Pryce’s support. With all the dental fragments and putrefied flesh cleaned away, the only thing left to do was to simply wash the empty socket with antibiotic solution before allowing the wound to clot.

«...Are they done?» Vosae asked weakly, the elder dragon’s chest rising and falling at a higher rate than normal.

«Yes, you can get up now,» Devotion said, watching as Vosae rose to her feet, the elder appearing rather unsteady.

«How do you feel?» Icahna asked, her concern having only risen throughout the operation along with the pain that her mother could not quite hide.

«I feel…strange,» Vosae said faintly. «The pain is gone, and my mind…feels so clear, like I’ve finally flown out of a cloud.»

«Your mouth is still bleeding. Does it not hurt? What about your horn?» Hakra said, eyeing her mother with concern.

«Of course it does,» Vosae said distractedly. «But the pain is nothing compared to before.» The elder stared at the humans, an indecipherable expression in her eyes.

“Feeling better?” Corbin asked, the doctor eyeing the clan leader warily as Fortitude translated for him.

«…Yes, I am,» Vosae said, her head lightly tilted at an almost awkward angle. «Thank you.»

“Just don’t try to kill us again and I’ll be happy,” Corbin grumbled. “...now that I think about it, you didn’t bring anything with you to trade, did you?”

«…No,» Vosae said, slowly shaking her head as she received the translation. «We did not bring anything with us, but…I will be sure to thank you properly, should you be among the humans who live in our territory.»

«He said he’ll be looking forward to it,» Fortitude translated, causing Vosae to nod in acceptance.

«What are they doing now?» The clan leader asked, noticing the commotion taking place upon the ship.

«According to the humans…it’s almost time for the eclipse,» Fortitude said as the crew began passing around glasses. «Predicting an eclipse sounds ridiculous, but at this point I’m inclined to believe their claims. Oh, apparently these are to protect one’s eyes from the sun,» she said, and examined a pair of eclipse glasses skeptically – it did not look like it would fit on a dragon’s muzzle as it would a human’s face. After a moment’s puzzlement she simply held the contraption over her left eye.

«The humans are saying that the eclipse actually started about fifty beats ago,» Fortitude said. «But of course, the start of the eclipse is rather difficult to see.»

“I can see it fairly clearly now,” Gordon said as he looked through a telescope designed to observe the eclipse. “Should be visible through the glasses at any moment now.”

“Oh, I see it!” Callan said, looking at the sun through the eclipse glasses, and her observation was soon echoed by the rest of the crew.

Murmurs of excitement ran through the crew – the last total eclipse that the Mainland experienced had occurred 61 years ago, before any of them had been born.

“Have any of you seen a total eclipse before?” Callan asked. “Not just a partial one, but one where the moon fully covers the sun, and the sky turns black.”

“I have not,” Fathom said, wincing as he accidently tried to shake his head.

“Two times,” Devotion said, with Fortitude nodding in agreement. “I look forward to seeing this third one, but there is something else we need to do,” she said, turning to face Anzath and Igansa.

«You want his corpse?» Igansa asked incredulously. «Whatever for?»

«The humans are not familiar with our bodies, which means that we must remedy that before they attempt to fix Jooral’s wing,» Devotion explained. «Naturally, that requires a corpse.»

«Well, he certainly doesn’t deserve a funeral pyre,» Igansa snorted. «Go ahead, do whatever you want with it.»

Anzath was silent for a moment as he casted a regretful glance at Ighnahr. «It is within your right as the victor,» he said, turning away.

«Excellent,» Leonahr said, surprising Devotion. «I’m ready to offer my assistance. When can we begin?»

“Be careful around that dragon,” Celeste murmured to Pryce. “She is known for witnessing duels so that she can examine the loser’s corpse. Sometimes she even duels dragons herself. Her knowledge should be useful, but be careful around her. Pryce, are you listening?”

“...hmm? Oh, yes, be careful of her,” Pryce said distractedly.

“Are you okay?” Celeste asked, her head tilted. “I thought you would want to learn about our biology.”

“I’m fine, just tired,” Pryce sighed. “Yes, you’re right. We need…practice for fixing Fortitude’s wing, but we don’t have the time to study him right now. The ship has a large fridge – a fridge is a cold room that keeps things from rotting. We’ll store his body there for now.”

“Very well,” Devotion rumbled, eyeing him austerely. “But do not forget our promise.”

«Oh,» Leonahr said, sounding quite disappointed. «Are you sure you would not like to study the corpse now, while it is fresh?» she asked hopefully.

«No, I would rather he take the time to do it properly; we cannot expect to have a reliable source of bodies to study,» Devotion said, «and it is true that we must prepare for the Solstice tomorrow.»

No one spoke in the minutes before totality. Even the animals in the nearby forest fell completely silent as the sky darkened further and further, until the moon completely eclipsed the sun.

At that moment, the sky turned black, and suddenly the brightest stars could be seen winking in the sky.

“Amazing,” Fathom breathlessly murmured as he lowered the eclipse-viewing glasses. “One day I’m going to learn how to predict a solar eclipse.”

«Does…something feel like it’s…wrong?» Celeste asked, taking her eyes off the eclipse to glance around uncertainly.

«No, that’s normal, it happened the last two times too,» Fortitude said reassuringly, not taking her eyes off the eclipse itself. ”I wonder when will be the next time I get to see an eclipse.”

“About two years from now, on the south end of the island,” Gordon answered, without looking away from his telescope and camera – he was one of the crew responsible for taking photographs of the event.

“Oh,” Fortitude said. “...it feels less special when you know when and where they will happen.”

Gordon shrugged, and shifted his attention back to his camera.

“What are you doing? Is it not better to appreciate the eclipse?” Fortitude asked.

“We’re trying to confirm something that general relativity predicts,” Gordon answered automatically, then paused. “You don’t know what general relativity is, do you?”

“No, I do not.”

“It’s complicated, and I’m not a scientist, but the basic idea is that very heavy things can cause light to bend,” Captain Siebert explained. “That includes light from the stars. Thanks to the eclipse we can record the position of the stars around the sun. A month or two from now we can record the real positions of those stars, and by comparing the two we can calculate how much the sun has caused the light from those stars to bend. You can have one of the scientists explain it when the eclipse is over,” he said, seeing the dragons tilt their heads in confusion.

The totality lasted an impressive five minutes, and the end came like a veil lifting over the sky, and the stars were once again shrouded by the brilliance of the sun.

“That was impressive, wasn’t it?” Fathom asked, glancing down at Pryce.

“Yes…yes it was,” Pryce said, still staring at the eclipse through his glasses.

«I’m hungry,» Icahna abruptly said, breaking the serious atmosphere. «Can I go hunting?» the dragonet asked, turning to her mother.

«Yes, but go with the others,» Vosae said, calling out the least injured dragons while Fortitude decided to do the same with the allies. «Go with them, and make sure to bring back enough for everyone. And Icahna,» the clan leader said, stopping the dragonet before she could flutter off. Vosae extended a wing, affectionately patting the half-grown dragonet on her head. «I’m glad I brought you along. You did well today. Thank you.»

Icahna blinked, apparently surprised by the gesture, but parted her jaws in a wide grin. «I told you so!» she said smugly, and energetically flapped off to hunt with the others.

“There you are,” Callan said, popping her head into the med bay. “I’ve wanted to chat, now that no one’s dying. So, how are things?”

“Some of their injuries were bad, but they were manageable,” Pryce said. “Xylem and Devotion have it the worst, but I imagine they’ll be healed in a month or so, if Fathom’s rate of healing is any indication.”

“I already knew that. I was asking about you,” Callan said, sighing in exasperation.

Pryce stared for a moment, then sighed. “I don’t know. I killed someone, and no one seems to care. Well, Fathom does, but…you know how dragons are like. He doesn’t really understand, he’s just sorry I had to do something I didn’t want to do.” He ran his fingers through his hair, brushing free the loose gray strands. “I’m not even sure if I feel guilt over what I’ve done, or if I just…feel guilt over not feeling guilt.”

“...well, I haven’t killed anyone before, so I can’t say I sympathize,” Callan said, after a moment. “But the way I see it, you just wanted to save your friend, didn’t you? In fact, now that I think about it…you didn’t ask for help because you didn’t want anyone else to do the dirty work, did you?” she asked, and smiled faintly upon seeing his reaction.

Pryce looked away, not quite meeting her eyes. “That was part of it. Fathom is a dear friend, and it is true that I would…do almost anything to prevent his death, but…” He paused, uncertain if he should continue. “This was no act of passion. I knew Pathogen was shunned by the other dragons, and I knew he would not be missed, so I used him as an example; to show the brewer clan that they could not win, and to force them to surrender.”

Callan did not immediately respond, and only eyed him silently. “You’ve clearly put a lot of thought into this,” she said after a moment. “And you’ve done that because you wanted to cause the least harm possible, right? I don’t see how being calculating about that would make you any more unethical. Quite the opposite, really.”

“That’s…a good point,” Pryce admitted. “...I’ll think about what you said. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Callan said warmly. “Now, go get some rest; we got a horde of dragons to deal with tomorrow.”

JOURNAL ENTRY

Day 101,

Today I

Pryce stared blankly at the journal, his pen frozen at the start of the sentence.

The words simply refused to come.

After a full minute he tore the page out of the journal. Throwing the crumpled page into the garbage, he climbed into bed for a deep and restless sleep.