《Annotated Case Files of a Summoned Hero》 1. Arrival
This is one of three worlds that His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, implies was his first assignment. While I don¡¯t personally believe this is the strongest candidate, it is demonstrably very early in his career. More significantly, it provides an excellent introduction into the skills he would later become famous for. We have therefore selected it as our first attempt to release His Devotion¡¯s personal writings to the wider community. Please confirm clearances before reading or sharing any information contained within.
Despite the explanation, finding myself in a brand new body on a brand new world was somewhat of a shock. The other two people I was summoned alongside were handling it with composure, however, so I clamped down on my natural instincts to hide under a nearby table, and played along. I was somewhat disappointed that I was neither in the wrecked scraps of clothing from the time of my death, nor in the ill-fitting suit they¡¯d stuffed me into at the funeral. Instead I was in a white tunic and robe. Could I even say that it was my body? Or was it more of a rental, and my body the one unnaturally embalmed in a coffin somewhere? Who was I, even? The body, the mind, or some meta-physical soul? To take my mind off my existential crisis, I examined the surroundings. It was rather bland. It seemed like they¡¯d gone with a chalk circle and chanting people in green robes. There was incense burning somewhere, but subtle restrained jasmine or rose water, rather than musk. The temperature was what the enthusiastic described as ¡®crisp¡¯ in the open space. The robes weren¡¯t just an affectation ¨C I imagined the place would be impossible to heat. Shafts of coloured light fell on us, but it was hardly enough to warm the skin. I looked up to the triple height ceiling. As I had expected ¨C a vaulted stained-glass affair. Stylised depictions of gods and goddesses I couldn¡¯t immediately identify. It seemed that they worshipped a pantheon ¨C hardly a surprise, given the summoning ¨C but this was not identical to the representations I had seen in the afterlife. Some variation allowed, it seemed. A nice, day time ritual in a nice, accessible temple. Not some desperate secret attempt in some dark dungeon. I added a mental point into the ¡®not a cult¡¯ column. The chanters swelled to a high note and fell silent. Well-practiced, very enthusiastic. Eight out of ten. ¡°Welcome, Heroes!¡± came the voice of a middle manager who was being forced to play nice with clients. I sympathised entirely. We all turned to see a tall, thin man approach us as the chanters split to either side. He was in the same style of robes as them, but of finer fabric and more embroidery. His hood was pushed away from his face, which was another point in the ¡®respectable religion¡¯ column. I had the impression that cult members generally think it looks cooler to keep theirs up. Or was it that they thought a little bit of shade was enough to conceal their identities? Either way, showing his face was a good sign about what they¡¯d expect from us. ¡°I am Minister Greenfield,¡± he said. ¡°Do I have your permission to check you for any health concerns?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± I replied, joined by similar sentiments from my two new colleagues. A health check was not an auspicious beginning. I had at least expected to at least get through the summoning ceremony without facing any danger, but I had clearly been overly optimistic. I watched him carefully. There was no particular guide to what he was doing ¨C no shouted spell or light show. I could just about feel the prickling of my skin as something washed over it, although that could just as easily have been placebo as anything else. I relaxed when he relaxed, but I did not like the idea that someone could use magic on me that easily in other circumstances. ¡°The summoning was a success. Gods be thanked!¡± he announced to the room, triggering cheers and praise. At least they were happy. ¡°Honoured heroes,¡± he said to us, not sounding particularly honoured, ¡°We are grateful the gods have sent you to us. May we know your names?¡± The other male hero took a step forward, raised a hand to his chest and bowed with a rather excessive flourish. It was very smooth. I wondered how long he¡¯d spent practicing this particular moment in a mirror. He was broad-shouldered with very short hair, and looked as uncomfortable in his robes as I felt. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°I am Branneth, son of Starment, late of the Sapphire Coast,¡± he said, as if that would mean anything to any of us. ¡°I have been working towards becoming a hero from the age of eight. On my death, I was honoured to be raised to that position, and I am now a loyal servant of the Court of War. I have studied the use of multiple weapons¡­¡± I rather tuned out during Branneth¡¯s ever lengthening list. He must have missed the part where the minister asked for his name, and not his entire resume. After all, what were they going to do if they didn¡¯t like us? Send us back? Which wasn¡¯t to say I was upset to have him as part of our group. I was thrilled. He sounded exactly like the kind of companion I needed. We could point him towards the enemy while I stayed back and cheered him on. Eventually he came to an end, and the eyes turned to the next hero. She looked like a young girl, late teens or early twenties, although who knew how death messed ages up. Her hair was a waist length drape of glossy blonde that hinted of a very wealthy upbringing. ¡°My name is Lilianna de la Fosse. I came from a world that doesn¡¯t know of heroes. I died in a natural disaster, and the gods said that my willingness to sacrifice myself to assist others had earned me another chance at life. The Celestial Court of Mercy has sent me here to assist you in your plight. I hope that I can live up to that promise.¡± That sounded like the background of someone who would end up being some kind of healer. Or was that just me being sexist? Or rather, trope-ist? Perhaps she¡¯d be happier as an axe-wielding berserker and I was unfairly pigeon-holing her based on her origin story. Regardless, I night have to be careful how I interacted with her. She seemed a little brighter than Brannath and less easy to manipulate. If I ever needed her skills, I wanted her to go above and beyond for me out of her own free will. Finally, it was my turn. All I had, looks wise, was my height, so I made full use of it. ¡°Percy,¡± I said. ¡°I was asked to assist by the Celestial Court of Discovery.¡± That was as much as I could honestly say. The important details would not go over well, I suspected. After my death, my attempts to explain how I was an atheist who respected the scientific method had gone a little wrong. When they asked if I was willing to do a little favour before going on to meet this god I had accidentally claimed to worship, I had jumped at the chance without doing proper due diligence about what exactly I was getting myself in for. I blame the shock of my recent death experience for that particular stupidity. One would have thought ¡®never volunteer for anything¡¯ would have been a simple enough rule to follow, but I guess everyone screws up sometimes.
To borrow a phrase from the original world of His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator: "That''s not how it works. That''s not how any of this works.¡±
The group stared at me for a moment until it become clear that I didn¡¯t intend to say anything further. ¡°Honoured heroes, we have summoned you here to help us against the evil empire.¡± Of course it was an evil empire. I suppose it had been unreasonable for me to hope it was to help them with choosing the colour scheme for their local beer festival.
We hope eventually in future to release the case files for when His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, had this particular wish granted.
I kept my own expression understanding and sombre. No need to give them too much warning that I had no intention of doing any such thing for them. That was what Branneth was for. As I had expected, Branneth looked ready to go kill someone with his teeth. Lilianna, on the hand, looked sensibly more concerned. Another member of the welcoming party jumped in to reassure her. ¡°That is still in the future, don¡¯t worry.¡± Good news. Potentially excellent news. It would months, potentially years until we would be expected to¡ª He continued, ¡°We have brought you here at this time to participate in the bonding ceremony between riders and dragons. We will have plenty of time to prepare you all.¡± Well, if the new speaker had intended to be reassuring, he had completely failed in his mission. That plan sounded like a terrible way of keeping me safely away from pain and discomfort. I felt the sweat starting to run down the centre of my spine before being absorbed by the white tunic. No, I shouldn¡¯t panic too quickly. The word ¡®dragon¡¯ could cover a lot of ground, and I didn¡¯t know exactly what it meant in this world. It might not even be a fire-breathing creature, I told myself. My attempts at reassuring myself were not successful. At the very least, anything big enough to be ridden sounded like something to be avoided. Something for the Branneths of the world, not the Percys. ¡°But in the meantime,¡± he said, ¡°please come this way. We have food prepared for you.¡± That was something, I supposed. Food was always better than no food.
Memo to Self
Stuff to avoid:
¡¤ Becoming a dragon rider
2. Introductions We were led out of the chapel into the courtyard. The chanters were left behind, but the numbers were more than made up by the people waiting for us. They were also wearing outer robes, but in a variety of colours, many with embroidery of contrasting shades. There was even more variation in their visible undergarments. Minister Greenfield matched his name with ankle length green tunics the exact shade of the outer robe, but most had tunics that ended at the knee. In a few cases the tunics were barely long enough that their unmentionables were covered, rather than being fully outlined by the stretchy leggings. The last set was also the most likely to be wearing sheathed knives on their belts. I was grateful for the warmth of my own robe. It could have been worse ¨C the courtyard was protected on all four sides from the wind and the heavy stones of the surrounding buildings radiated heat ¨C but it was still colder than I was used to. The lunch provided was finger foods, provided buffet style from several stations around the room. There were many tall little tables scattered around, but no seating of any description. A system designed for mingling rather than for comfort. We were provided with magic towels to clean our hands with first. It was one of my first exposures to magic, and I was very disappointed. I think it¡¯s reasonable to assume such things should be warm, fluffy bundles of comfort. Instead, they were aggressively enthusiastic snakes of sandpaper. This was nothing that I thought would be tolerated in a civilised society. This was clearly the result of some plot of an evil god.
Some researchers take this as proof that His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, was aware of the insurrection within the Court of Purity since the very earliest of stages. I believe that is reading somewhat too deeply into a throwaway complaint.
I collected my small plateful of bite-sized foods while keeping an ear on my two fellow ¡®heroes¡¯. Branneth found a group of younger men to impress with tales of his previous exploits. Lilianna had been collected by one of the few women present at the gathering. She was doing a reasonable job of acquiring more information on the expectations and provisions for a female hero. To my surprise, given the make-up of the room, dragon-riders were evenly split between the genders. It wasn¡¯t clear to me whether the practice of bonding female dragons to female riders, and male to males was societal or biological. I would have to investigate more details about the bonding to see if there were further ways I could render myself ineligible. I slowly drifted away to pursue some sleuthing of my own. My best source was a bubbly young man who had eagerly introduced himself as a fellow adherent of the god I supposedly worshipped, by the name of Assistant Oxeden. I gathered the primary threat we were expected to defend against was some creatures called thunderstorm owls, sent by the neighbouring people of the Cammions. The Cammions were, as I understood it, a group of clans with a similar cultural heritage, rather than a country as I would have defined the term. A group that resorted to violence as the appropriate solution to all their problems. It sounded chaotic and uncomfortable and, as expected, entirely too likely to end with me in pain somewhere. After that subject had been exhausted for the time, I brought up my most recent concerns about how careful I would have to be in revealing my true feelings. ¡°One thing that does occur to me,¡± I said. ¡°When Minister Greenfield used magic on us, it was close to undetectable. Is it possible that an enemy or a spy might similarly perform magic and have it pass without notice?¡± ¡°Ah, no,¡± said Assistant Oxenden. ¡°That is a fear we share with you, Hero Percy. It is truly admirable how quickly you identified that weakness. Not to worry. The whole complex is saturated with anti-magic carvings. We explicitly add the magics we allow as an exception. Many places have a similar system. Minister Greenfield is an accredited healer, so he is permitted to perform any healing ritual he has been certified for. Other people have exceptions allowed for their professions. Those Cammion barbarians wouldn¡¯t be able to perform any magic whatsoever.¡± I considered whether that helped me or not. On the balance of it, not. By that logic, they could easily introduce an exception that allowed the resident spy-master to function. ¡°Also,¡± Assistant Oxenden continued, ¡°I would mention that Minister Greenfield is one of the most skilled magic users in the country. There aren¡¯t many who are able to cast a ritual without even a hand gesture. Most of us need the full chalk-and-chanting process to manage anything significant. We were very lucky that he agreed to direct the summoning, considering.¡± ¡°Considering what?¡± I asked. ¡°I would be interested in hearing the answer to that question as well,¡± interrupted Minister Greenfield from behind poor Assistant Oxenden. Assistant Oxenden jumped and paled. He looked ready to stab himself with his decorative dagger. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°I apologise, Minister. I shouldn¡¯t¡ª¡± he said. ¡°No, no, carry on with your explanation,¡± said Minister Greenfield cruelly. ¡°Ah, that is, it¡¯s said that you feel there are better solutions to our current problems.¡± Minister Greenfield held his strict expression for a further few heartbeats, long enough for sweat to visibly gather on Assistant Oxenden¡¯s forehead. ¡°That is true enough,¡± Minister Greenfield said at length. ¡°However, I would not have been so impolitic to mention it directly to the face of a hero. Since we have presumed on the heroes to bring them to our land, we should be doing everything in our power to make them feel welcomed and appreciated.¡± The words were intended as a reprimand, and Assistant Oxenden took them that way. ¡°Of course. My apologies again. I was careless and thoughtless.¡± ¡°May I ask what your preferred solution is?¡± I said, drawing Minister Greenfield¡¯s attention away before he could pursue it any further. The kindly hero I was trying to present myself as would not just stand there and watch someone be bullied in front of him. Besides, I was honestly interested. A little dissention within the ranks could be nothing but a good thing for me. Minister Greenfield sighed theatrically. ¡°My absolute preferred solution is unfortunately not a genuine possibility. I believe we should simply cease breeding dragons on the border. I do not believe there is any genuine risk of the Cammions crossing the spires to make war on the plains. No army of any size could make it. If they had no dragons to fight against, their thunderstorm owls would have no targets.¡± ¡°I can see how that might be seen as an act of weakness,¡± I said, trying figure out how intelligent it was wisest to appear. ¡°It would be unpopular to seem to be running away from the conflict.¡± ¡°That is a part of it, yes,¡± said Minister Greenfield. ¡°But it¡¯s the smaller part. The larger part is that they have largely been unsuccessful in breeding dragons anywhere outside of the spires. It would be a death sentence to the entire dragon force.¡± It was interesting that the good minister did not consider himself part of the group that was breeding dragons. Before I could consider another question, Assistant Oxenden looked over my shoulder with such an expression of relief that I turned myself. An older man in red and black and a knife of his own was hurrying over. ¡°Oxenden,¡± he said as soon as he was in comfortable speaking distance. ¡°Thank you for keeping the hero company.¡± Assistant Oxenden immediately bowed and excused himself. I imagine he was relieved to have an excuse to make a getaway from the looming menace of Minister Greenfield, and didn¡¯t take his swift retreat personally. ¡°Hero Percy, may I present Academy Leader Silver?¡± said Minister Greenfield, his fake politeness managing that difficult task of being both immediately apparent and impossible to complain about. ¡°Thank you, Minister,¡± said Academy Leader Silver. His own fake politeness wasn¡¯t bad, but it lacked the sharp edges of Minister Greenfield¡¯s. ¡°Hero Percy, I am so glad you have come to us. There are some people I would like to introduce you to, if you could excuse us, Minister?¡± Minister Greenfield half-bowed mockingly, and I let myself be taken away. Academy Leader Silver brought me into a group of people who would definitely have played rugby at their boarding schools.
His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, is referring to an aggressive ball sport common on his home world. From other works, we can deduce that he is characterising them as being physically large, coming from old money, and alcoholic.
¡°Rescue mission achieved,¡± said one, to a general cheer. I was handed a glass of something chilled and suspicious. I pretended to drink from it while plotting to dispose of it when I could. Although if they kept us outside for much later into the evening, I might come to regret whatever insulation it seemed to be providing to the group. Half had swept their robes entirely back and behind their shoulders, and two had removed theirs entirely. ¡°Greenfield¡¯s face!¡± crowed another. ¡°He looks like we just pissed on his shoes.¡± ¡°Why¡¯d he even officiate the summoning? He can¡¯t possibly be the only minister they could have sent.¡± ¡°Just ignore him. He¡¯ll be gone soon enough.¡± Tentatively, I prompted, ¡°I get the impression that Minister Greenfield doesn¡¯t approve of dragons.¡± ¡°Ha! He¡¯s just upset Academy Leader Silver was awarded the position here and cut his family out of it.¡± ¡°Now, now,¡± said Academy Leader Silver insincerely. ¡°I¡¯m sure that Minister Greenfield is simply advocating for the health and peace of the people.¡± ¡°More like advocating for health of his own coin-purse,¡± muttered another. Academy Leader Silver pretended he hadn¡¯t heard the aside, so I politely pretended likewise. It might not be immediately useful information. I didn¡¯t have any money or skills that would appeal to Minister Greenfield in my personal capacity. But it did suggest that some long-term plans might be possible. And perhaps I could convince him that simply removing me from the scope of his enemies would be a victory in and of itself.
Memo to Self
Stuff to avoid:
¡¤ Becoming a dragon rider
Information gathering:
¡¤ Find out about alternative occupations and opportunities ¡¤ Speak to Minister Greenfield in private ¡¤ Find out when he is due to leave
3. Dragons The sound of bells rang out over the courtyard. I couldn¡¯t determine the origin, other than to tell it did not come from the chapel. ¡°Is it that time already?¡± asked Academy Leader Silver rhetorically. ¡°Time to wrap things up here. Join me, Hero Percy.¡± With very little choice in the matter, I followed him back towards the chapel and up the first steps. At least I had a convenient excuse to abandon my drink on a table next to my path. ¡°Everyone!¡± announced Academy Leader Silver. He continued with only the slightest pause to allow people to quiet down and face us. ¡°Thank you very much for witnessing this historical moment with us. Unfortunately, we will have to steal the heroes away from you for a time, but fear not, you will have another opportunity to speak to them at supper. Please feel free to speak to any of the staff if you have any requirements.¡± There was a murmur that wasn¡¯t quite agreement or disagreement, but Academy Leader Silver ignored it. He decisively turned to face me instead. I had to fight the instinct to take a few steps back and off the steps. I was relieved to see that Branneth and Lilianna join me, and that hadn¡¯t been an emotion I¡¯d expected to feel. Some more of our hosts also joined the group, including Assistant Oxenden, with his face freshly scrubbed. In a more conversational volume, Academy Leader Silver said, ¡°Heroes, let me present to you some of the staff here at the dragon academy. I am Academy Leader Silver, in charge of the new section, and this is my right-hand, Assistant Oxenden. To my right is Academy Leader Darkwater, and Assistant Altengart, of the old section. Now what you¡¯ve been waiting for ¨C a tour of the academy and a visit to the dragons!¡± Yes. Yes, that was exactly what I had been waiting for. We exited the courtyard into a large empty hall, carelessly dismissed by Academy Leader Silver as the upper dining hall. Walking straight through the middle, we came out onto a covered walkway overhanging the edge of a cliff. The mountains fell away dramatically beneath our feet. Far below us I could make out a patchwork of fields, forests and villages. An involuntary shiver run down the middle of my back. There wasn¡¯t any wind, but the threat of it was a heavy presence of its own. ¡°The Enduring Lands,¡± announced Academy Leader Silver proudly. ¡°Magnificent, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Magnificent,¡± I agreed. Branneth strode forward to lean on the railing, while Lillianna moved as far away from the edge as she could. I moved to stand between her and the plunging depths. I offered her an arm, and she took it with a quick grateful smile. We were led along the walkway and down steps carved directly out of the stone of the mountain. The steps twisted round in between cliff faces. The back of the chapel was now above us. Then we were through the little pass. The space would probably have opened up if it hadn¡¯t been for a massive wall filling the space from side to side. The building had multiple entrances. We were led to a pair of human sized doors, and I eyed the larger versions. I hoped that was a result of excessive pride, and not a typical height of a dragon. ¡°Welcome to the new section,¡± said Academy Leader Silver. ¡°We¡¯re still in the process of constructing it, but it¡¯s coming along well. Heavens be thanked, we haven¡¯t had an incident since we started using them.¡± ¡°What type of incident?¡± asked Branneth. ¡°Thunderstorm owls,¡± said Academy Leader Silver. ¡°They were getting into the old section and taking off with the eggs and even the younger dragonets.¡± Academy Leader Darkwater¡¯s face looked like a thunderstorm of its own, but he didn¡¯t say anything to contradict Academy Leader Silver. ¡°How terrible,¡± said Lillianna. I hastened to share her sentiments. If I was considerably less sincere, then it was no-one¡¯s business but my own. ¡°We¡¯ll have to stop that,¡± declared Branneth. I couldn¡¯t quite tell if he thought he was sharing some unthought of wisdom, or if he was making a personal vow. Either way, I hoped he kept me out of it. ¡°The ceremony grounds are that way,¡± said Academy Leader Silver, moving us down a passageway and past the indicated doors. ¡°You¡¯ll see them tonight, when the other candidates have arrived.¡± Other candidates. Excellent. I very much approved of other candidates. Many candidates. Enough candidates that there wouldn¡¯t be enough dragons to go around. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°And don¡¯t worry,¡± said Academy Leader Silver. ¡°You¡¯ll also get your chance to fly sooner than you might have expected! We will take you on am excursion with our experienced riders tomorrow afternoon.¡± I hadn¡¯t been worried before, but I certainly was after that announcement. It was just one flight, I told myself. Supervised and planned. Very little chance of an attack or any other type of unpleasantness. It would be fine. ¡°In the meantime, here are our mature dragons,¡± he said, with a dramatic gesture as he swept open another door. The area we walked into was a collection of what could barely be considered pens, considering the size of the animals. The dragons were about two meters off the ground, with wings laid flat along their sides. Their bodies were between three and five meters long, with another similar length of large, muscular tails. Roughly half had a row of spines down their backs, and they were a mixture of colours and patterns. In the first pen, a single dragon was pacing back and forth, a distance of only five steps each way. Two further had dragons draped unmoving over large logs. Another was submerged in an insufficiently large pond. I was forcibly reminded of documentaries of badly funded zoos.
I''m sure you''ve all seen the painting "Saint Percival First Meets Dragons". I find added appreciation for that great artwork in knowing just how inaccurate it is.
The group stretched out as I took my time. Branneth and the two academy leaders pulled forward while I moved from dragon to dragon. Some of the attendants came out to hover at the edge of the space. ¡°They¡¯re all in separate pens?¡± I asked, trying not to include any of my thoughts in my tone of voice. ¡°Yes,¡± agreed Assistant Oxenden. ¡°Fully mature dragons can¡¯t safely be kept together, except strictly during breeding.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t that make it difficult to be a rider?¡± I asked. ¡°Oh! No, that¡¯s not a problem. Dragons with riders are kept safely in induced adolescence. We only advance the dragons that have explicitly chosen to create new dragonets.¡± ¡°Are they just kept like this all the time?¡± I asked. ¡°I imagine it must be a little boring for them here without even riders to interact with.¡± ¡°We do what we can,¡± said one of the attendants defensively. ¡°There is a larger area we cycle the dragons through, but it¡¯s really hard now that we can¡¯t let them go outdoors. Another volunteered, ¡°We try to make feeding them somewhat of a game. For instance, we used to have a device that let us freeze fruits in with their water, but someone confiscated it.¡± ¡°It was being misused for pranks,¡± said Assistant Oxenden, but without much conviction. ¡°It was not!¡± retorted the attendant hotly. ¡°We accounted for everything when applied for the magic exemption. Darkwater¡ª¡± ¡°Academy Leader Darkwater.¡± ¡°¡ªAcademy Leader Darkwater just didn¡¯t want us using anything in the new campus that he didn¡¯t introduce first in the old campus.¡± ¡°Hush, he might hear you. Don¡¯t make more trouble for Academy Leader Silver.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure that the heroes don¡¯t need to hear us gossiping like students,¡± said Assistant Oxenden repressively. He was entirely wrong, of course. I definitely needed to hear all the gossip. My future life and happiness might depend on it. ¡°You said the juvenile dragons are not as aggressive?¡± asked Lilianna, when they settled into embarrassed silence. Good girl. You ask them. ¡°They aren¡¯t aggressive at all,¡± said Assistant Oxenden quickly. ¡°Perfectly safe.¡± Unfortunately for him, it seemed that someone had forgotten to warn the attendants to keep to the party line. ¡°Unless you aren¡¯t paying attention and get caught out by a tail-whip,¡± sniggered one. ¡°Or you take them outside,¡± said another, to general mirth. ¡°Take them outside?¡± repeated Lilianna tentatively. I blinked myself. I had assumed that riding a dragon would necessarily involve, you know, going outside. If it was in fact an entirely indoor pursuit then perhaps I had been too hasty to assume general unpleasantness. Assistant Oxenden must have realised that he¡¯d have to explain. ¡°It¡¯s an old problem. The new section is entirely covered, but the old section has many outdoor sections. We theorise that humans look different to dragons when under glass than when we are under the full holy light of the gods. We recently had a batch of dragonets that had been brought up entirely indoors. When we took outside for the first time, it seems they reacted very badly to how their riders looked. But there were no serious injuries, and we have a process in place now to handle the situation. Shall we catch up with the group?¡±
This seems like superstition but is surprisingly probably accurate. Dragons see far higher into the light spectrum than humans do, and it isn¡¯t uncommon for glass to ¡®shade¡¯ these ranges. Seeing a human in daylight for the first time might well have look like they have been possessed by demons.
He sped walked forwards and beyond the reach of further questions. Lilianna leant in my direction. ¡°I know I might be judging too quickly, but the treatment of their dragons is¡­¡± ¡°Concerning,¡± I agreed in a quiet voice. For more than one reason. A society that didn¡¯t respect the animals under their care tended not to show much decency to the humans, either.
Memo to Self
Stuff to avoid:
¡¤ Becoming a dragon rider
Information gathering:
¡¤ Find out about alternative occupations and opportunities ¡¤ Speak to Minister Greenfield in private ¡¤ Find out when he is due to leave
¡¤ Investigate other countries and cultures to see if they¡¯re a better fit
4. Spires Academy Leader Darkwater declared that it was time to move on to the old section and took charge of the procession. We walked out a door on the far side of the building and up a path with occasional flights of steps, carved into slope. ¡°Will you be okay?¡± I asked Lilianna quietly. She nodded. ¡°This should be fine. It¡¯s vertical drops I have a problem with.¡± To be entirely honest, I was a little disappointed not to have a reason to miss this part of the tour so I could stay behind with her. The steps seemed an endless winding path upwards, and I had to control my breath not to look weak. I pushed my over-robe back over my shoulders. I was tempted to remove it entirely, but I knew I¡¯d regret it when we stopped. When the gods had given me a new body, they had been kind enough to give it without any old injuries. But it would have been nice if they could have gone one step further and given me some stamina, and perhaps even some extra strength. After ten minutes of hard walking, Liliana called for a break, although I suspected she was doing it more on my behalf than on her own. It was another five minutes after that that we abruptly came to the top. All at once we were on a plateau at the very summit of the visible mountains. On one side was the patchwork of the Eternal Lands, and on the other was much wilder and drier plains that I assumed was the territory of the Cammions. Instead of the monolith of the new section, the old section was a collection of five or six pavilions and buildings surrounding The Spire. The Spire had been mentioned before, but I had to see it for myself to truly appreciate the capitalisation. From far above our heads, tiny flashes of light grew and accumulated, swirling in a pyrotechnic whirlwind. The magic was so dense it could be seen with the naked eye. By the time it reached ground level, the gold sparkles churned into the waiting bowl like an overpowered level-up animation. The wind blew steadily across the mountain but had no effect on the lights at all. A dragon, smaller than the ones we had just seen but still uncomfortably large, walked almost silently between us to lie into the bowl. ¡°Bennix, no! Get out of there!¡± shouted a teenager. ¡°Sorry, Academy Leader. Bennix!¡± The kid reached over trying to reach a harness strapped around the dragon¡¯s chest. The dragon spread its wings and used them to pull back out of reach. The kid recovered his balance and reached out again. The dragon pulled just out of reach again, moving much quicker than seemed fair for anything that muscular. Assistant Altengart walked around the pool and grabbed the dragon from the other side with a single firm motion. ¡°Back to class, Brownwood,¡± said Assistant Altengart, pushing the harness back into the kid¡¯s hands. ¡°Yes, Assistant, thank you,¡± said the kid before dragging the dragon towards a pavilion. ¡°The younger dragons can be a little mischievous,¡± said Academy Leader Darkwater to us in apology. ¡°They are naturally attracted to The Spire.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to confine the dragons,¡± said Lilliana, clearly pleased. ¡°No,¡± agreed Academy Leader Darkwater. ¡°Unless something has gone horribly wrong with the bond, a dragon won¡¯t abandon their rider. We do let them bathe here when appropriate, but not, as now, during a lesson.¡± Perhaps later I would have to a chance to enquire what exactly happened when bonds did go horribly wrong. Academy Leader Darkwater launched into what must have been a practiced lecture about the grace of the gods allowing the magic of the heavens to reach the earth at these holy places. It looked much more like natural phenomenon to me, despite the substance being magic. But then, what did I know? I¡¯d spent most of my life as an atheist. That was followed by a detailed explanation of how the magic was absorbed by magic-absorbing stones that could then be used to support the dragons wherever they flew. The steady wind had long since cooled me down. I had initially left my robe open to dry my sweat hopefully whip away any smell at the same time. Not long into the lecture, however, I was forced to close it firmly under my chin. Eventually even Academy Leader Darkwater ran out of information to confer on us. ¡°Why don¡¯t we split up to make it easier to look around? Feel free to listen in to the lessons, although I¡¯d ask you don¡¯t interrupt.¡± I took advantage of his invitation by grabbing the youngest possible tour guide. I walked around the bowl to join Assistant Altengart. From that side, I could see stairs heading downwards that were abruptly interrupted by a wall with a heavy looking locked gate. I walked over next to it. It was a section built up so that the wall was only waist high on our side but fell more than a storey on the other. The view of the plains was magnificent, but what really interested me was that the wall looked identical to the outer walls of the new section. Grey, like the colour of the stones around us, but much too regular to be carved stone blocks. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°When was this built?¡± I asked Assistant Altengart, who had politely followed me. ¡°The old section?¡± he asked. ¡°Coming on fifteen years ago.¡± Fifteen years? That was their definition of ¡®old¡¯? I know we mocked some of our own more recent countries for thinking 100 years was along time, but even they wouldn¡¯t have called something only fifteen years established ¡®old¡¯. It was a puzzle. No-one could have cultivated farmland that extensively and precisely in a short time. Or perhaps I was underestimating the power of magic, and they had done this all in a much shorter period of time.
While hardly as ancient as the Enduring Lands claimed to be, the land had indeed supported agriculture for over six thousand years at the time of the summoning of His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator. I think we should simply assume they were using the term ¡®old¡¯ to differentiate it from ¡®new¡¯.
¡°Was this wall built at the same time?¡± I asked. ¡°No,¡± said Assistant Altengart, ¡°That¡¯s more recent. It was part of the fortification efforts. Before that, the Cammions tried to sneak in here and destroy the magic stones. They regularly target the spires.¡± It was seeming less and less likely that I¡¯d be able to escape my predicament by simply walking away, not with even this mountain goat¡¯s path locked off. Not that it would be my first choice, of course. I¡¯d ideally prefer a solid plan for how I was going to keep myself in food and soft beds before that. I leaned over the wall, trying to judge how difficult it would be to lower myself over, should it ever come to that. ¡°It looks like the wall is damming up an old riverbed,¡± I commented, to conceal my real interest. ¡°A lot of plant growth.¡± ¡°Pretty much,¡± said Assistant Altengart. ¡°Before we started cultivating the spire, the excess magic flowed down this way. The magic encourages plant growth, which breaks down the rocks, which then get washed away by any water. On the other side, most Spires do also form rivers. Not enough water this side though. We water the plants to keep them growing.¡± ¡°You¡¯re actively farming, then?¡± I asked. It said worrying thing about food security if even this mix between a school and an army base had to feed themselves. Assistant Altengart shrugged uncomfortably. ¡°We¡¯re provided with enough basic grains, but the volume of fresh stuffs a dragon can go through is more significant than I think the government appreciates and supplies haven¡¯t kept up with the growth now that we¡¯ve expanded into the new section. Don¡¯t get me wrong, it makes sense that we are prioritising the breeding mothers and dragonets. But the youngsters need treats too, and they adore Night-Flowering Glories.¡± ¡°Do you have to harvest at night?¡± I asked. ¡°When does that happen?¡± ¡°Peak season lasts another week,¡± said Assistant Altengart, ¡°And yes, we harvest from dusk to midnight. The students take it in turns to help us.¡± That suggested at least the chance of an opportunity. I had a week left in which I could join the night-time harvesting outside the walls and ¡®go missing¡¯. On the positive side, with this many cliff faces, I doubted I¡¯d even be the first. On the negative side, trying to navigate an unfamiliar mountain in the dark might be more dangerous and uncomfortable than the life I was trying to avoid. More information was definitely needed. ¡°How expensive is fresh food, generally?¡± I asked. ¡°If I was just an unskilled day labourer, what would could I afford daily? Vegetables, fruits, meat?¡± Assistant Altengart paused for a while. I wondered if he was trying to calculate it, or if he was embarrassed to admit he would know. Finally he said, ¡°Fresh vegetables and some sort of starch for all three meals. Meat maybe three to four times a week. Fruit ¨C depends on the fruit, I guess.¡± I pursued a few more questions, such as how much free time that person would expect to have in a day, a week and a year, and how that compared to those from wealthy families. After a few questions about money, I had the start of a feel for how much money was worth.
More attentive students will recognise the Percival Scale for measuring standards of living across worlds. It is likely that His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, developed this over several worlds and retroactively applied it here.
Unsurprisingly, I did not think I would much enjoy being an unskilled labour. But I might enjoy it more than being a dragon rider.
Memo to Self
Stuff to avoid:
¡¤ Becoming a dragon rider
Information gathering:
¡¤ Find out about alternative occupations and opportunities ¡¤ Speak to Minister Greenfield in private ¡¤ Find out when he is due to leave
¡¤ Investigate other countries and cultures to see if they¡¯re a better fit
Opportunities
¡¤ Sneak out when harvesting night flowers [7 days]
5. Candidates The bell rang again, now from below us and further away. This time it continued for longer and sounded considerably more urgent. ¡°Something to worry about?¡± I asked Assistant Altengart. He shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s a warning about approaching dragons, but they¡¯re expected. The other candidates for the bonding are due.¡± ¡°Everyone!¡± said Academy Leader Silver. He had been scrupulously silent since we had arrived in the old section. Now he seemed intent on making up for it by being twice as energetic. ¡°If we could make our way back to the main block.¡± I was concerned that we would have to tackle the hill in the opposite direction, but he moved instead to a small building on the far corner. The door opened to reveal it was actually a spiral staircase leading down. Some two storeys of dizziness later, we exited through another door at the bottom of the stairs. It was somewhat cruder that a room, but less than a natural cave, and I blinked as I came out into the sunlight. I ¨C we all ¨C were confronted with bridge. A very wide bridge, spanning from side to side almost as much as it did across the gap, true. But a bridge over a gap so deep I could not even see the bottom of, between the carved cave we had emerged from and the buildings on the other side. A bridge with absolutely no guardrails of any description. ¡°It¡¯s our take-off and landing platform for dragons,¡± explained Academy Leader Silver proudly. ¡°They can safely fall some distance before needing to recover altitude when leaving, and should they try to land at the wrong angle, there is plenty of space that they can drop behind the platform and come around for another attempt. Magnificent, isn¡¯t it?¡± For a very particular definition of the word ¡®magnificent¡¯, perhaps. This dragon rider profession was just getting better and better. Dragons could use all this space and still fail. ¡°Raise the flag!¡± called Academy Leader Silver to a small tower on the opposite side. The tower was also the home of the bell we had been hearing, and I could finally orientate myself. We had traced a large circle and were almost back to where we had begun. A green flag rose from the tower, and Academy Leader Silver and Assistant Oxenden began walking instantly, like busy pedestrians at a too-short traffic light.
Imagine a heavily trafficked thoroughfare where people are only permitted to cross during predetermined windows of time. This was apparently an attempt to improve the safety of those on foot.
I realised then that the ¡®old-section¡¯ staff, Academy Leader Darkwater and Assistant Altengart, had remained behind at the top of the stairs and it was just us left. Branneth and I started to follow like ducklings. Lilianna came to a halt instead. I offered my arm and suggested, ¡°Close your eyes?¡± She nodded. Step by step we crossed the wooden platform, walking straight through the centre, her hand a death grip on my wrist. We had meters of clearance on either side, and rationally there was no possible way we could have been any danger. But a gust of wind, barely enough to ruffle my hair, was enough for my heart to stutter. Never mind the dragons. The architecture was going to kill me before we even got that far. Once we were across, I continued leading her until we were under the cover of the building. ¡°We¡¯re over,¡± I said quietly. ¡°There¡¯s a wall to your right. Avoid looking left.¡± She reached out to the wall before opening her eyes. She did glance left for a second before determinedly looking ahead. I had done what was necessary to maintain my reputation as a caring person.
We are indeed all very convinced that His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, performed this act ¨C that he took care to hide from everyone else, that no-one else even noticed the need for ¨C purely to maintain his reputation.
I turned with the others to stare out over the view. The green flag went down and was replaced with a red flag. Others started pointing, and after some moments I could see it myself. Six dragons, flying in a V formation. Even at that distance, it was impressive. Their wings were huge when fully outstretched, but my mind still told me I was seeing an impossibility. The bodies of the creatures were far too heavy for them to have stayed in the air by physics alone. I felt an involuntary revulsion ¨C or perhaps it was more accurately described as visceral horror. These things were no part of the natural world, and all my instincts were screaming at me that something was wrong. I maintained a calm but fascinated expression, of course. I was no beginner that would give away my true feelings that easily. Branneth, it must be said, did take a step back. Some time after that, another oddity suddenly explained itself. The human riders weren¡¯t riding behind the dragon¡¯s necks, like I had assumed. They were strapped below the dragon¡¯s chests. That did, on balance, make more sense. Two riders had additional bags to either side, while four had teenagers strapped in turn to the riders. I had just about adjusted to the scale when they were ready to land. They hit the platform in pairs, before pulling to the side for the next two to land. Contrary to Academy Leader Silver¡¯s unflattering words, they all landed exactly to mark, without any indication that they couldn¡¯t have done the job just as well on a landing site a fraction of the size. But if that was a skill issue, then I might still be on the wrong side of the safety spectrum. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. The passengers and the bags were onloaded with practiced speed. The dragons and riders, again in pairs, dropped off the bridge, dipping five meters or so before regaining their height and disappearing again. The red flag went down and was replaced by crossed black. ¡°What do the flags indicate?¡± I asked Assistant Oxenden. ¡°Green is people crossing,¡± he said, ¡°Red is dragons landing. No flag means it¡¯s available for either. Black crossed means it¡¯s reserved. The dragons will be back with family members and more supplies shortly. They¡¯re being ferried up from the bottom of the mountain.¡± ¡°Welcome, students!¡± said Academy Leader Silver. ¡°You are the fortunate candidates to bond with dragons alongside our heroes. So let us begin with our first step in this sacred process. Please all, come forward and declare yourself with a Registration of Intent!¡± It took me a little while to interpret that, but to my disappointment it did not turn out to be some challenge I could ¡®unfortunately¡¯ fail. It was just a sign-up sheet. The heroes were indicated to go first. ¡°I¡¯ll need to do the writing for you,¡± said Assistant Oxenden. ¡°The anti-fraud inscriptions interfere with the magic that automatically translates the words of heroes.¡± That was interesting. I had assumed the magic doing the translating was active on my brain directly. That suggested it acted on the world around me. ¡°So,¡± I said, ¡°If I wrote it, it would read like gibberish?¡± ¡°Not immediately,¡± said Assistant Oxenden. ¡°But over time, yes. The words would slide back into your original alphabet. Reactive magic tends to work slower than active magic, you see.¡± I wondered what other assumptions I¡¯d made that were incorrect. That might be useful information to know. ¡°Is there something I can read to familiarise myself with magic as it is used in this world?¡± ¡°Certainly,¡± said Assistant Oxenden. ¡°I¡¯ll arrange a staff member to provide an introduction as soon as possible, and they can bring some works that will be helpful.¡± That was a bit more assistance than I had expected. Or even than I had wanted. ¡°You don¡¯t need to go to that extent. I¡¯m sure I¡ª¡± ¡°No, not at all,¡± he said. ¡°This is exactly what we should be doing for our heroes. In fact, we should have thought about it before.¡± Branneth unsubtly moved forward to push me aside and go first. He was more than welcome to the position, so I let the matter go. The Registration of Intent turned out to be even more symbolic for the heroes than the others, as most of the sections were ¡®not applicable¡¯. Within a very short period of time, it was the turn of the teenagers. The taller of the two girls filled in her form quickly and without any hesitation. When she started to put down the pen, the other girl stopped her. ¡°You can fill it in for me as well,¡± she said. I wondered if she thought the fact that we had been given assistance had been some sort of indication of status. I suppose it would have been a fair assumption to make. ¡°I¡¯m not your servant, Bethany,¡± replied the girl. I glanced down at her registration form to get her name ¨C Shanelly Oakswell. Shanelly must have decided it wasn¡¯t worth the argument and just turned to the next form to comply. She wrote down half of the sheet without any input whatsoever, before Bethany provided a few details. They knew each other well, it seemed. Or at least, Shanelly knew Bethany. The two boys came up last, each filling it in for themselves. Academy Leader Silver started a rousing speech about our wonderous path to becoming dragon riders, before being interrupted by a messenger jogging out from the building. The Academy Leader frowned, but dutifully read from the paper. ¡°I¡¯ve just been told there is a correction to the itinerary. The chapel hasn¡¯t yet recovered sufficient grace to hold the Purification Ceremony. We will instead perform that after supper.¡± I hadn¡¯t seen any itinerary. Was I meant to have? I thought back through the day. No, they definitely hadn¡¯t provided one. Who knew how many opportunities I¡¯d have to disrupt some key step in the process. ¡°Heroes are rightfully expensive,¡± said Branneth with self-importance. ¡°Yes,¡± agreed Lilianna. ¡°Luckily, since we¡¯re rookies, the price wouldn¡¯t have been too excessive.¡± Her expression was so innocent that even I couldn¡¯t tell whether she was making a point. Either way, it was amusing to see Branneth to deflate as quickly as he had inflated. ¡°We will take escort you now to your rooms, and you can rest until supper,¡± said Academy Leader Silver. Thank the gods for small mercies, supposed, and now I had something to say if we were required to pray. I was more than ready to hide myself under the covers and panic for a few hours.
Memo to Self
Stuff to avoid:
¡¤ Becoming a dragon rider
Information gathering:
¡¤ Find out about alternative occupations and opportunities -> Speak to Minister Greenfield in private -> -> Find out when he is due to leave
¡¤ Investigate other countries and cultures to see if they¡¯re a better fit
¡¤ Track down itinerary
Opportunities
¡¤ Sneak out when harvesting night flowers [7 days]
6. Supper, Day 1 The dragons were just coming in for a second landing, but no-one paused to watch them. I suppose that any sight becomes routine if you see it often enough. The dormitories were the very building we were standing in front of, so there wasn¡¯t much delay. Our rooms were on the top floor, subjecting us to yet another flight of stairs. I could feel the stress in my butt muscles, but my knees were unexpectedly unbothered. A perk of the ¡®hero¡¯ package, perhaps ¨C the healthy joints of child. I wondered whether I¡¯d be able to get out of bed the next morning, or whether I¡¯d have the recovery of a child as well. Branneth and I had a two-bedroom suite, with a shared living room, study and bathroom. Lilianna had an identical layout for herself across the hall. I was willing to take a bet that they weren¡¯t normal student rooms. Not with the extravagant fabrics and the magical equivalent of a bellpull to summon assistance.
Other writings suggest that His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, would have lost his bet. They were almost certainly shown to the best available student rooms, perhaps those usually reserved for senior aides, but this was the standard layout for students of that age and class. By sixteen, they would already be considered entitled to many adult privacies and conveniences.
I explored my room and the wardrobe provided for us. More bright white tunics and robes. At this rate, they might as well put us all into striped prison jumpsuits, and I had to wonder if that was their actual intention. I tested out the mattress and rated it about a six out of ten on the cloud scale. Not as good as the overpriced absurdity I¡¯d had on my bed at home, but a step above a cheap hotel. I got up again before my brain took it as an excuse to take a nap. We wouldn¡¯t have that long, and I did not want to be groggy and off my game around others. Wondering back into the study, I examined the bookshelves. Various religious texts and some manuals, all in the same style. Some sort of printing was available then, whether it was technological or magical. My instinct was to disregard the first category of books, but that might not be wise. I was on a world were both religion and magic were real, so I had any number of instinctive thought patterns I would have to unlearn. I dutifully chose a few to start reading, but they were almost impenetrable. I was happy to abandon the attempt when the servant came to fetch us for supper/ It was still light, but it turned out to be another easy trip. The side entrance of the dormitories, half a floor down from ground level, opened back out into the courtyard. We braved the devil-towels and collected our supper from buffet tables in the upper dining hall. To my surprise the contents were much the same as lunch ¨C small bite-size and largely unidentifiable concoctions on a variety of breads and crackers. I could not imagine just how much work needed to be done in the kitchen to plate these, and it didn¡¯t seem likely it was anything that magic could have assisted with. I made some discrete inquiries, and my assumptions were confirmed. The academy had a staff of servants that outnumbered the even the students. A large working class was not often a sign of good social mobility. This time we had assigned seating. They¡¯d distributed the heroes, each to our own table of six. The other adults were placed at longer tables, with the existing students entirely absent. I was seated with Shanelly Oakswell, her parents, Academy Leader Silver, and Assistant Oxenden. Shanelly¡¯s parents, House Holder and Hearth Keeper Oakswell, were calm and confidant conversationalists. Combined with Academy Leader Silver¡¯s enthusiasm, they were more than willing to carry the burden of the conversation, with only some mild commentary from me. We were all on our best behaviour, except I could not help but sneak glances at Lilianna¡¯s table. I wasn¡¯t the only one. What was being said wasn¡¯t distinct, but there was an unmistakable argument rising between Minister Greenfield and the parents of the shorter girl. At some point, we stopped pretending and just started outright spectating. ¡°I have to say that the seating was not particularly well thought through,¡± said Hearth Keeper Oakswell. ¡°Who on earth thought it would be a good idea to seat the Fairbanks at the same table as Minister Greenfield?¡± Academy Leader Silver looked uncomfortable in the way that strongly suggested he was the person to blame. ¡°No one expected the Fairbanks to be here, did they?¡± he said. ¡°It wasn¡¯t like Bethany Fairbanks was on anyone¡¯s list of likely candidates. We had no idea until she arrived with her card.¡± ¡°Perhaps,¡± joined in her husband, either oblivious or indifferent to Academy Leader Silver¡¯s discomfort. ¡°But it isn¡¯t like she landed twenty seconds ago. They had more than enough time to make adjustments.¡± Academy Leader Silver huffed. ¡°I invite you to tell an organiser that they need to alter seating arrangements on a formal dinner and see how well that goes for you.¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. I appreciated his point, but I didn¡¯t agree. Any organiser worth their salt would very much want to be told. As early as possible of course, but any time was better than never. It was like saying you shouldn¡¯t bother a firefighter. That might be true if your emergency was losing your keys, but it very much wasn¡¯t if your emergency was a fire. Someone stood up from the table and moved to physically stand between the two. He talked earnestly into Minister Greenfield¡¯s ear. I assumed he fulfilled the function of Minister Greenfield¡¯s assistant, given his seat assignment, even if he looked no more than a teenager himself. The lady who must have been Hearth Keeper Fairbanks put her arm on her husband¡¯s and leaned over herself. That was less than successful. House Holder Fairbanks shook her off before getting up and leaving the hall entirely. ¡°Poor Bethany,¡± said Hearth Keeper Oakswell, and I judged she was being sincere. The girl in question was staring fixedly at her plate like she could set fire to it without the aid of a dragon. ¡°Pity the entertainment¡¯s over, though,¡± said House Holder Oakswell cheerfully. His eyes caught mine, and he caught me in a grin of my own. ¡°Shall we graze the second table?¡± I turned my head to realise that the buffet table had been replaced with an entirely different set of bites. Branneth¡¯s table had already moved over to them, so I supposed there must have been some sort of unspoken order to it. The plates on offer were much smaller than the previous course, so I picked a random selection of four. By the time I turned back, my table and Branneth¡¯s had been removed by the staff. Alright then. Back to standing. I took a few further steps with Academy Leader Silver, who looked unusually awkward to be speaking to me alone. ¡°How, ah, does your religion treat you?¡± he asked. If he had had to pick any subject for small talk, I don¡¯t think he could have picked a worse one. I scrambled to come up with something. But that was when I was struck by the most important realisation of my afterlife. I served the Court of Discovery. That meant I ¡®worshipped¡¯ some god that had the aspect of finding things out. I had an unobjectionable reason to ask whatever questions I wanted. ¡°It does lead me down some odd paths,¡± I said. ¡°I have interests that make me seem odd to other people.¡± Academy Leader Silver obediently took the bait. ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°Oh, like questions about how the recordkeeping handled in the academy,¡± I said, entirely innocently, I swear. ¡°What recordkeeping?¡± interrupted Academy Leader Darkwater. ¡°If the new section has recordkeeping, then that¡¯s news to me.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think this is the appropriate time for this, Academy Leader.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t think it¡¯s ever the time. The new section randomly runs out of things, and then just comes and takes it from the old section, like we¡¯re just their personal storehouse. Without even the courtesy of telling us.¡± ¡°Are you still on about the dragon lure?¡± asked Academy Leader Silver, exasperation heavy in his voice. ¡°I told you that I didn¡¯t order that. Besides, you know how much chaos there was when we were moving the mature dragons. We were going through it like water. It¡¯s hardly surprising we were a little short.¡± ¡°And failed to notice for months?¡± ¡°What does it matter, anyway?¡± asked Academy Leader Silver. ¡°It¡¯s not like the old section needs any anymore, is it?¡± That was clearly the wrong thing to say, and Academy Leader Darkwater hissed like an offended cat. I backed away to leave them to it.
One of the strongest talents of His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, must be his ability to start an argument and walk away.
I stepped a few paces back, and into the crowd that had filled their own plates. It was the same group of staff that had ¡®rescued¡¯ me at lunch, and they were more than happy to absorb me. I took a bite of the first, expecting it to be sweet, and almost spat it out when it wasn¡¯t. Even more confusing to my expectations, the next selection was sweet. I took a moment to tentatively categorise which foods had been ¡®first course¡¯ and which ¡®second course¡¯. First course was hot, and second course was cold? Was the distinction as simple as that? Or had they simply cooled down by the time it could be served? ¡°Is someone going to stop them?¡± I asked of the two feuding academy leaders. ¡°Who could?¡± asked one rhetorically. ¡°No, we see nothing, and we hear nothing. It¡¯s safer all around. They¡¯ll get tired of it soon enough.¡± It was an excellent prediction, and the two leaders did shortly separate, each heading in a different direction. Next time, I would have to pay more attention to the audience before digging for information. And I would have to make a stop at the table of devil-towels again before I created a visible smudge on my bright unforgivingly white clothes.
Memo to Self
Stuff to avoid:
¡¤ Becoming a dragon rider
Information gathering:
¡¤ Find out about alternative occupations and opportunities ¡¤ - Speak to Minister Greenfield in private ¡¤ - - Find out when he is due to leave
¡¤ Investigate other countries and cultures to see if they¡¯re a better fit
¡¤ Track down itinerary
Opportunities
¡¤ Sneak out when harvesting night flowers [7 days]
Preparations
¡¤ Beg, borrow or steal clothes of a different colour
7. New Ceremony Grounds It had steadily been growing darker as we had eaten, and lanterns had been lit around the room and placed on the tables. Academy Leader Silver picked one up and raised his voice. ¡°If all the candidates and the guests would join us to make our way to the Ceremony Grounds.¡± The staff members instantly started muttering. ¡°Weren¡¯t we supposed to be heading to the Chapel?¡± ¡°No, they changed things back again. They¡¯re keeping the introduction of the dragonets in the original time slot and having the purification ceremony after the end.¡± ¡°Even later than that. There¡¯s a bunch of preparations that still need to be made, apparently. The ceremony itself isn¡¯t until the second hour.¡±
Not as late as it sounds. On this world, it would have meant the second hour after sunset, not the second hour after middle of the night.
¡°Seriously? Some our guests have been travelling since dawn.¡± ¡°Their attendance isn¡¯t required. No-one¡¯s attendance is required. Except, I guess, Minister Greenfield. If they want to go to bed early, there is nothing stopping them.¡± I was delaying, but I wasn¡¯t the only one. Lilianna had approached me rather than head towards Academy Leader Silver. ¡°It seems very late to be tackling those steps in the dark,¡± I said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± said the staff member ¨C I really had to find out his name, it was getting embarrassing not knowing ¨C ¡°They¡¯ll take you through the inside route.¡± There was an inside route. Of course there was. These people risked death by great heights for fun. Why wouldn¡¯t they scamper along cliff edges even when they had a more reasonable alternative? Lilianna looked relieved at the news, and I agreed with her. We were given lanterns of our own and hustled into following along. The trip was through the courtyard and then all the way through the ground floor of the dormitories. ¡°Ah, Minister Greenfield?¡± asked Assistant Oxenden tentatively when it became clear he wasn¡¯t just heading to his own rooms. ¡°This is just a viewing for the candidates.¡± ¡°I want to see what all the money has been wasted on,¡± said Minister Greenfield. ¡°Or do you have something to hide?¡± Minister Greenfield didn¡¯t give Assistant Oxenden a chance to answer before moving past him with his assistant. Academy Leader Silver glared at Minister Greenfield briefly before deciding to pretend he didn¡¯t exist. We walked through a newly constructed door that unexpectedly led into the roof of the new section. We were standing on a raised deck with another spiral staircase. Below us was an arena of sand, lit by some torches hammered into the sands. In the flickering light, I could just make out baby dragons happily digging around. The deck we were on was lit only by our own lanterns, throwing odd and uncomfortable shadows through the columns and trusses. ¡°This is the viewing platform,¡± announced Academy Leader Silver. ¡°The guests will stand here while you are bond to your chosen dragon below.¡± ¡°Very impressive,¡± I said, when it became clear that he had been waiting for some sort of reaction. ¡°What a clever design to allow people to watch without interfering with the process.¡± I did not tell him it looked more like a set piece in some horror movie. Perhaps Phantom of the Opera. But perhaps it would look less oppressive in the daylight. ¡°Isn¡¯t it?¡± agreed Academy Leader Silver. ¡°But onto the important things. Tonight is your chance to meet the dragonets and get a feeling for their personalities, prior to the formal selection process. The candidates and the candidates alone may proceed down the stairs.¡± Academy Leader Silver and Assistant Oxenden remained at the back, coming very close to blocking the stairs from Minister Greenfield. The teenagers had also deferred to let us go first, which left us in the uncomfortable position of heading towards dragons without any meat shields. ¡°Did anyone tell us how we¡¯re supposed to approach a dragonet?¡± I asked Lilianna. ¡°Without getting our fingers bitten off, hopefully?¡± ¡°Slowly,¡± replied Shanelly with a laugh from just behind us. ¡°Dragonets are usually happy to be touched anywhere around their head, or down either side of their spines, but avoid their bellies until after you¡¯re bonded. But don¡¯t worry about your fingers. While some might bite, they really can¡¯t do much damage at their age. It¡¯s their tails you have to watch out for.¡± ¡°Thanks, er¡­ Student Oakswell?¡± I asked. ¡°Candidate Shanelly,¡± she corrected with a smile. ¡°I¡¯m not a student quite yet, and I won¡¯t be referred to by surname alone until I marry and use my husband¡¯s.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Thank you again, then, Candidate Shanelly,¡± I said. ¡°Your information is invaluable.¡± ¡°Suck-up,¡± said Candidate Bethany under her voice. ¡°Oh, give it a rest, Bethany,¡± said Candidate Shanelly. ¡°Yeah,¡± chimed in one of the boys. ¡°No one asked you, Brain-dead-any.¡± ¡°Candidates!¡± reprimanded Assistant Oxenden. Assistant Oxenden slipped past us to lead again when we reached the bottom of the stairs, but he disregarded the argument and the insults. Either he hadn¡¯t heard the exact words they¡¯d used, or it was not something he thought appropriate to pursue. Under the circumstances, I had no choice but to follow suit. The teenagers themselves, even Candidate Bethany, were easy enough to distract with the dragonets. Assistant Oxenden coaxed each dragonet forward and show us how to handle them. After the teenagers had a chance to meet each dragonet, they were sent back up the stairs to their parents, and perhaps to bed. I was deeply jealous. Instead, we filled the time until the ceremony playing with the dragonets. Which I had to admit wasn¡¯t an unpleasant way to spend time. The animals struck me as oversized huskies. Perfectly excited to do what you wanted, as long as that was exactly the same thing they wanted to do. Utterly impossible to convince to do something else. Even the song of their people was surprisingly similar ¨C a deep trill that all the dragonets joined in enthusiastically. They were oddly adorable, and unexpectedly scent free. I settled opposite Lilianna, scratching alongside the spine of a unicorn dragonet, named for the very restrained horn just above his nostrils. The line of spikes turned out to be much softer than I had expected, so the pleased wriggling didn¡¯t risk my fingers. ¡°It¡¯s a pity they won¡¯t stay this size,¡± said Lilianna. We sat with the obvious concern between us. I couldn¡¯t tell you what terrible luck ¨C or perhaps it was a divine punishment ¨C had resulted in two heroes out of three being so very unsuitable for the task of being dragon riders. ¡°Perhaps it will be like a plane,¡± she said at last. ¡°You know, like how once you get high enough, it stops being real, so skydiving isn¡¯t terrifying.¡±
Plane doesn¡¯t refer to a region of reality, but to a type of mechanical spirit boat that can only travel by air. The use of the word may indicate that that Hero Lilianna also comes from a technological world, but it could also be an artifact of the translation magic.
¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± I agreed. I didn¡¯t believe anything of the sort, and I knew she didn¡¯t either. Even if she learnt to tolerate being in the air, there was take off and landing to consider. And it was one thing when we had still thought the rider would be securely strapped above the dragon, but dangling below, with nothing but air underneath? That was a few steps up the difficulty curve. After a period that I couldn¡¯t judge, but Assistant Oxenden must have been able to track, we left the dragonets behind as well. The viewing deck was completely dark when we came back up. I wondered how long Minister Greenfield and his assistant had waited before giving up. If Minister Greenfield had been hoping for a private conversation with one or more of the heroes, that was a positive sign. Assistant Oxenden must have noticed me looking around. ¡°Minister Greenfield has volunteered to do the Purification Ceremony himself. We¡¯ll see him at the chapel shortly.¡± ¡°How long is Minister Greenfield staying here at the academy?¡± I asked casually. ¡°Only another four days,¡± said Assistant Oxenden, and then under his breath, ¡°Thank all the gods.¡± The trip the chapel was an easy one, at least in comparison to every other journey, but it was a long day. Only knowledge that it was the very last thing I needed to do that day that kept me going. The ceremony was more interesting than I had been expecting, however. Knowing it was an all-faith church, I had predicted either bland truisms about ¡®the gods¡¯ in general, or a long list so that no god would be left out. Instead, the service was broken up into three distinct sections, each calling on a particular aspect of a particular god or goddess. The purifier of all things received the most time. Next was a god I recognised as the ruler of the sky, was now invoked specifically in his role as the protector of dragons. It ended with an appeal to the god of children and students. And the requests weren¡¯t generic ¡®look kindly on us¡¯ wishes. They were precise, and detailed, and included dates and times. Each step of each one included drawing a symbol on the chalk circle. It had looked haphazard, but as they final appeal completed, it came together in a unified whole. It felt more like casting a set of magic spells than anything I associated with religion. Afterwards, Minister Greenfield moved to the middle of the courtyard, greeting people as they streamed out. I hesitated. Was it perhaps worth it to hang back a little, and see if we could have that conversation? I made eye contact, trying to determine his intentions. ¡°Shall we proceed to our final meeting?¡± asked Minister Greenfield, clearly including all the heroes, and half the rest of the crowd in that ¡®we¡¯. Our final meeting? The last event was supposed to be the last event! Any other day I would have pushed back, despite my need to maintain my reputation. Enough was enough, surely. But it was the very first day. You couldn¡¯t complain on the first day. But I would not be waiting afterwards in the hopes of chatting to Minister Greenfield. Four days would be enough time. I would make sure of it.
Memo to Self
Stuff to avoid:
¡¤ Becoming a dragon rider
Information gathering:
¡¤ Find out about alternative occupations and opportunities ¡¤ - Speak to Minister Greenfield in private ¡¤ - - Find out when he is due to leave before he leaves in four days
¡¤ Investigate other countries and cultures to see if they¡¯re a better fit
¡¤ Track down itinerary [no point]
Opportunities
¡¤ Sneak out when harvesting night flowers [7 days]
Preparations
¡¤ Beg, borrow or steal clothes of a different colour
8. The War Effort The destination was also on the top floor of the dormitories ¨C an open room with circular seating. It had a metal duct against the wall, ones I had also noticed in our rooms. As I passed it, I was relieved to find that it was emitting heat. The temperature was still dropping, and I had been afraid the academy would have characterised it as ¡®pleasantly mild¡¯ and done nothing about it. Down the far side were some impressive set of windows, and I walked over to look at the view. The world must have had at least one moon, because it was surprisingly bright. We were at much the same level as the old section, and the dragons were flying. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say they were base diving. The dragons fell from the top cliff into the canyon before flying out underneath the landing platform. In greyscale, the difference between the different breeds was more marked than they had been during the day. It would have been a magnificent sight if it hadn¡¯t been for the circumstances. Minister Greenfield entered last, immediately ordering the curtains to be shut before taking refuge in the corner, his assistant actively moving a chair to make that possible. He was there to supervise, not to participate. I was forced away from my viewing spot and found a chair of my own. They were heavy pieces of furniture, and a surprise to find above the tree line. They couldn¡¯t all have been imported by dragon, that would have been just too prohibitive. There must be another path up the mountain, one that could support larger cargos. Academy Leader Silver looked around the room before shutting and locking the door. ¡°We wanted to have a word with you all about why we have summoned you all.¡±
This meeting is also described in The Rise and Fall of the Dragon Empire, not that it would be obvious based purely on the descriptions.
I blinked. Okay, I could see why this was something that needed to be discussed on the very first day. I could not see why it had not been the very first meeting after we arrived. I think it had been fair for me to assume that it¡¯s absence so far meant they hadn¡¯t intended to discuss it at all. To misquote a classic quite horribly, I was no longer surprised I had not seen an itinerary. I was surprised there was anyone who had. Academy Leader Silver unrolled a map from one of the containers on the wall. It was an expensive looking thing, hand drawn and colour coded in shades of yellows and purples. He pointed at the deepest purple area, either an island or a continent depending on the scale, marked Heartlands. ¡°I am going to be more bluntly honest tonight than anyone would be outside these four walls. We live in dread of the Empire of the People.¡± That had to be an excess of translation. No way did I believe anyone was letting being labelled ¡®non-people¡¯ pass in their own language. Also, complete bullshit on his blunt honesty, too. Well, perhaps that was a step too far. Academy Leader Silver might genuinely believe the propaganda he was about to unveil. He hadn¡¯t done anything to impress me with his intelligence. ¡°Where are we on the map?¡± asked Lilianna. Academy Leader Silver seemed a bit taken aback at having his dramatic silence interrupted, but after some stuttering, he pointed out some features. The chairs screeched against the floor as we leaned around to look. The neighbouring smaller island was bisected by mountains. The Enduring Lands was the gold section facing away from the empire, about two-thirds of the area. The academy was in the mountains that made up the border. The Cammions were the rest of the island, in muted violet. It seemed that the sea was a good barrier, but the mountains were a great one. Academy Leader Silver restarted, ¡°Thirty years ago, the Empire invaded. They reached all the way to our borders ¨C these very mountains! ¨C before internal difficulties called them back. I remember as a child, huddling in our beds, waiting to hear if we would still be alive the next day, or if we would be overrun by the empire¡¯s armies and horses and hellhounds. We cheered when they departed, but it was with heavy hearts. We all knew that at any moment they could return to slaughter our men and take our women and children into slavery.¡± I had to give it to Academy Leader Silver. It was an excellent speech. Very dramatic. Possibly even true. ¡°That can¡¯t be allowed!¡± announced Branneth. ¡°Do not fear, we will do everything in our power to stop them.¡± Speak for yourself. ¡°What kind of armies are we talking about? How densely populated are the Heartlands?¡± I asked. ¡°More or less than the Enduring Lands?¡± ¡°About the same,¡± said Academy Leader Silver, once again thrown off his stride. ¡°But with more land under their control, so they can support much larger armies.¡± Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. As I suspected, the Heartlands were not themselves a nomadic people. It wasn¡¯t impossible for a nomadic society to gain enough of a technological and military advantage over an agricultural to sustain long term control ¨C Genghis Khan for an excellent example ¨C but it required extraordinary circumstances. Armies win battles, but economies win wars. The Cammions were not the same cultural group as the rest of the empire. They had almost certainly lived exactly in the same place before the invasion as now and had somehow miraculously they had not been slaughtered to the last person. Oh, no doubt some had, but the others had submitted and lived. I doubt I could find out whether that had been a good trade for them or not.
Historical sources are, as always, split on this matter. The Cammions were allowed to continue their way of life largely undisturbed after the invasion and were awarded some protection from external forces. The small drain of providing tribute was also not particularly significant. Instead, it was the tendency for promising youngsters to immigrate into the Heartlands that probably doomed them as a society.
¡°The size of the army doesn¡¯t matter against the pureness of our hearts,¡± said Branneth. ¡°Well said,¡± replied Academy Leader Silver, but with an expression that suggested that was a little much, even for him. ¡°Does the empire have a settled outpost on this side of the sea?¡± I probed further. ¡°To support some sort of viceroy?¡± ¡°They do,¡± said Academy Leader Silver, finding a port on the map. It wasn¡¯t very large, and a single representative wasn¡¯t very much. It didn¡¯t seem like the empire had found anything that would tempt any of their own to put down colonies. That didn¡¯t tell me anything about why they¡¯d kept it. National pride? Honouring their invasion promises to the Cammions? In case of future population expansions? To maintain a fortified beachhead for a second attempt? Those all had different implications for my personal safety. ¡°How much of the regular army is settled permanently with the Cammions?¡± I asked. Academy Leader Silver tried to look unconcerned, but mostly just looked irritated. ¡°That depends on many different factors, you understand, and the Empire keeps such matters secret.¡± An unexpectedly useful answer for me. I couldn¡¯t have judged whether a thousand men or a hundred thousand would qualify as ¡®a lot¡¯. I could judge that ¡®we¡¯d rather not say¡¯ meant it was nothing like they were trying to imply. The only question was more, or less? Branneth glared at me, and I realised that I¡¯d better tone it down. But once again, Lilianna came to my rescue. ¡°How exactly are you hoping we can help you?¡± she asked. ¡°There¡¯s not much we can do against an entire army.¡± ¡°With the grace of the gods, it won¡¯t come to that,¡± said Academy Leader Silver, attempting to sound reassuring. ¡°Even those evil monsters in the Empire are not so far gone as to deny the sanctity of a hero. If a hero ¨C and their bodyguard ¨C goes to stop an atrocity, not even they could use it as an excuse to invade us.¡± There was a temptation in that moment. To assume that meant I could just be a figurehead and have nothing to do with anything. But it was a trap. Figurehead was also a polite term for powerless. ¡°Are they looking for an excuse to invade?¡± Lilianna followed up. ¡°Certain parts of their government are. Others can be swayed. It¡¯d be expensive for them, everyone agrees, especially with our dragons. But no one on their side thinks they¡¯d fail.¡± ¡°Then in the meantime you¡¯re asking us to ¡­ protect the academy from thunderstorm owls?¡± she asked. ¡°If only that were all,¡± said Academy Leader Silver with a pained sigh. ¡°We would have suffered under our own resources. It is not. They¡¯ve been destroying our spires and harassing the mountain villages.¡± I flicked a glance to Minister Greenfield, who was listening in stone-faced silence. If he thought everything could be solved by simply going away, then I wondered how recently those spires and villages had come. No part of the academy dated back as far as the invasion. I¡¯d be interested to see a map from the Cammions, and just where they thought the border was. How close had we come to being summoned by them instead, to defend them from the evil invading dragons? But if we genuinely could not be used as a casus belli, did that also imply that we had some degree of diplomatic immunity as well? Even from our summoning country? Academy Leader Silver regained control of the conversation and moved on to training. It seemed the consensus that the Cammions would not make any significant attacks until after the next spring thaw. Autumn was harvest period, even for the Cammions, and after that the snow would make travel difficult. They had time to teach us dragon riding and magical basics. It was a wash, I decided. I appreciated that meant I had the equivalent amount of time to consider my options. I did not appreciate that I might also be trapped by those snows.
Memo to Self
Stuff to avoid
¡¤ Becoming a dragon rider
Information gathering
¡¤ Find out about alternative occupations and opportunities ¡¤ - Speak to Minister Greenfield in private ¡¤ - - Find out when he is due to leave before he leaves in four days
¡¤ Investigate other countries and cultures to see if they¡¯re a better fit ¡¤ - Determine just how far heroic independence goes
¡¤ Track down itinerary [no point]
Opportunities
¡¤ Sneak out when harvesting night flowers [7 days]
Preparations
¡¤ Beg, borrow or steal clothes of a different colour
9. The Body I was exhausted enough not to care about the comfort of the mattress, and the concerns of my situation did not keep me up. The morning bell was a rude interruption to my sleep, which was, I imagined, the entire point. I got up, bending each leg experimentally, then stretched and tried out a few other movements. My muscles were complaining about all the stairs and the hiking, but in a very muted tone. Nothing approaching real pain. I couldn¡¯t quite remember. Had it genuinely been this easy when I had been in my original young body? If so, then youth was indeed wasted on the young. Breakfast, at least for us, was delivered to the sitting room in Branneth¡¯s and my suite. I opened the covers to discover porridge, being kept warm by some mechanism that wasn¡¯t obvious. Just plain porridge, in bowls, with spoons. The table was set with a range of jams with their own tiny spoons, but no toast. Lilianna promptly added some of the blue jam to the porridge and stirred it in, so I tried a little myself. It was a taste something like cheesecake, and something like rice pudding. I might get used to it. It was perhaps the first chance Lilianna, Branneth, and I had a chance to talk privately, and even the small talk wasn¡¯t that small. Every question about the past was a potential minefield. But it wouldn¡¯t be healthy to pretend we weren¡¯t mourning the loved ones we¡¯d left behind. I don¡¯t think it had fully set in for any of us, but this was going to be the most extreme form of culture shock we¡¯d ever encountered. Everything was different, and we would never be able to go back. No food from home we could order from somewhere. No media we could follow along with. Not a single shared piece of nostalgia with any other person. Branneth was taking comfort in the extensive training he had received to deal with this very matter, and Lilianna was kindly asking him questions about it. She included me in the conversation from time to time as well, skilfully keeping the discussion going when it threatened to veer into the dark. ¡°How can you be so relaxed?¡± Branneth suddenly demanded of me. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be?¡± I asked, genuinely not understanding what he was objecting to. ¡°You are completely unprepared to be a hero, and you don¡¯t seem to care,¡± Branneth said. ¡°No, it¡¯s even worse than that. Don¡¯t think I haven¡¯t noticed the kind of questions you¡¯ve been asking. You don¡¯t sound like a defender of anything. You sound like a traitor and a coward.¡± That was a surprise. Branneth was clearly a good deal smarter than I had given him credit for. I felt ashamed of myself. I had disregarded him based on the persona he portrayed, when knowing full well that personas could be any level of fake.
As is typical, it did appear that His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, considered the possibility that Hero Branneth was simply jealous of the closeness to Hero Lilianna.
¡°Branneth!¡± reprimanded Lilianna. ¡°How can you say that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s true,¡± said Branneth. ¡°This man is no kind of champion for the gods. Strolling around like he¡¯s above us all when it¡¯s perfectly clear that he¡¯s just useless.¡± ¡°Do you think the gods made a mistake in sending me?¡± I asked. He squirmed and then said ¡®no¡¯ in a small voice. Pity. It would have been interesting to have an honest critical discussion about the whole system. I wondered whether it was worth pursing, but someone knocked on the door. It opened to reveal Assistant Oxenden. ¡°Good morning, Assistant Oxenden,¡± greeted Lilianna. ¡°Time for our expedition to one of the Spires?¡± ¡°No,¡± he said, looking notably shifty. ¡°I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s going to be a bit of a delay.¡± ¡°Has something gone wrong with the itinerary?¡± I asked, with less sarcasm than that question deserved. Assistant Oxenden hesitated, and then just blurted out, ¡°There¡¯s been a death. The body was found this morning in the ceremonial grounds, so we might have to postpone the whole thing.¡± Oh, good. How terrible. ¡°Heavens above,¡± exclaimed Branneth. Lilianna looked pale. ¡°Do you mean the place we met the dragons? Who was it? How did it happen?¡± ¡°We¡¯re still looking into it,¡± said Assistant Oxenden. ¡°Hero Percy, could we have a private word?¡± ¡°Yes, of course,¡± I said, gesturing him through to the study. He closed the door behind him, and then came to stand over a chair without sitting down. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± I prompted. I couldn¡¯t possibly be some sort of suspect in this, could I? That would be working fast, even for me. Assistant Oxenden said, ¡°I¡¯ve been charged with overseeing the investigation, on account of my worship of His Infinite Wisdom, Felos.¡± I almost asked who that was, before I remembered at the last minute that was the name they used for the god of curiosity. It seemed a bizarre reason to push the investigation on Assistant Oxenden. He was a follower of the religion, not some religious clergy, as far as I knew. And even if he had been clergy, would that even have made him an investigator? Assistant Oxenden continued, ¡°But I¡¯ve never done anything like this before. I was hoping¡­¡± He trailed off with as much hope in his voice as in his words. It was entirely misplaced. I hadn¡¯t done anything like that before, either. I don¡¯t think I ever even knew anyone who¡¯d died outside a hospital. Was this supposed to have been part of my duties as a hero? Would admitting my incompetence open me up to questions I wasn¡¯t prepared to answer?
While summoners can request heroes with particular skillsets, that significantly increases the faith requirements. There is no indication they did so here, as rookies are assumed to have no skills whatsoever. Naturally, there is also no chance that a hero would have been sent mistakenly, despite what His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, likes to imply.
¡°I¡¯ll help in any way I can, of course,¡± I said. ¡°But I have no familiarity with any magical methods that exist to investigate with.¡± ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be a problem,¡± he said, relieved. ¡°There are servants with those skills. I just am concerned I lack the ability to direct them. Any thoughts would be greatly welcome.¡± That was less bizarre. Assistant Oxenden was not truly being asked to handle the matter. He was being asked to take the flack from anyone who wanted to complain about the matter. I wondered if someone had even suggested he ask me. If a hero was unable to trigger a war, then presumably they were also unable to trigger an internal political crisis. I resented the possible manipulation, but if Assistant Oxenden was honest that all he wanted was thoughts, then I could do that. I always had plenty of thoughts. ¡°What do we already know?¡± I asked, resigned to my fate. ¡°I take it we don¡¯t think it was an illness. Do we know what time it happened?¡± ¡°No. It was Candidate Bethany Fairbanks, and she was perfectly healthy. We think she must have thrown herself off the viewing platform early last night. The destiny-weaver will determine the exact time of death, but the body had been there a while.¡± ¡°Are we sure it was a suicide attempt rather than just an accidental fall?¡± I asked. ¡°Why do you ask?¡± he said, with strange caution. ¡°With all the places to jump, why there?¡± I asked. ¡°There are hundred-meter cliffs all around us. Ones that would have guaranteed death. The viewing platform isn¡¯t all that high, after all. She would surely have had some concern that she might survive if she was trying to take her life. It strikes me as far more likely that she simply tripped.¡± He looked depressed. ¡°We found a note on her body. It¡¯s a little smudged, but most of the words can be made out. We had hoped to keep that private. It blames her parents, and we did not think it was kind to reveal that.¡± They would definitely have to reveal that. Her parents would never believe them if they didn¡¯t. I frowned. I didn¡¯t like the picture. It didn¡¯t fit. I reminded myself that could be more a result of cultural differences than real problems. ¡°Would have been important for her that her body be found?¡± I asked. ¡°Or to be found largely intact? For religious or filial reasons, say?¡± ¡°Not if she¡¯s committed suicide,¡± said Assistant Oxenden. ¡°She won¡¯t get a proper funeral regardless of the state of her body.¡± That was harsh. Punishing the person even after they were dead ¨C in a society that knew for sure that the afterlife existed. This was not a culture that allowed for noble or honourable suicides, then. ¡°You said the note blamed her parents. In what way?¡± I asked. ¡°That they had put too much pressure on her,¡± said Assistant Oxenden. ¡°That she couldn¡¯t face becoming a dragon rider. That it was all too much.¡± I thought back to the evening before. Bethany had been upset by her father¡¯s argument, and then there had been the incident when she had been called names. But she had thrown that all off when she had seen the dragonets, I was sure of it. That had been genuine joy. ¡°Have you told her parents yet?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± said Assistant Oxenden. ¡°They¡¯ve been called to the grand meeting room.¡± ¡°Then we should go there immediately,¡± I said. I wanted to see what they had to think about this suicide. And, with any luck, see what could be done about changing the ¡®might have to postpone¡¯ to a ¡®definitely have to postpone¡¯.
Memo to Self
Stuff to avoid
¡¤ Becoming a dragon rider
Information gathering
¡¤ Find out about alternative occupations and opportunities ¡¤ - Speak to Minister Greenfield in private ¡¤ - - Find out when he is due to leave before he leaves in four days
¡¤ Investigate other countries and cultures to see if they¡¯re a better fit ¡¤ - Determine just how far heroic independence goes
¡¤ Track down itinerary [no point]
Opportunities
¡¤ Sneak out when harvesting night flowers [7 days]
Preparations
¡¤ Beg, borrow or steal clothes of a different colour
¡¤ Delay the bonding ceremony as much as possible
10. The Crime [1] We walked down the corridor to the same room we had used the previous night. Present was also much the same group who had been at the information council the previous night ¨C the two academy leaders, Minister Greenfield, and a staff member who had never been introduced to me. They were in subtly different clothing, but did not look well rested. I wondered just how early they had been woken up to deal with the matter. They fell silent when we walked in, and Assistant Oxenden explained my presence. The lack of surprise from any of them was telling. ¡°Hero Percy,¡± greeted Academy Leader Silver. ¡°It is good to have you here. There is unfortunately even more to be considered than the death of the poor girl. Because of where she died, this also has implications for the bonding ceremony itself.¡± Just what I wanted to hear. ¡°Is there difficulty in using the area after a death?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes,¡± he agreed. ¡°Not purely removing the actual blood on the sands, but in clearing the area from the psychic damage of the victim. It is one thing if the death was instant and painless, but quite another if she suffered. We can¡¯t afford to get that wrong. We will be relying on you to pursue those matters with the butchering staff and others so that we can determine our next actions.¡± The butchering staff? That had to be some sort of failure of translation. I had sudden black humour about some of that mystery meat I¡¯d been eating. It was fortunate for my paranoia that none of it had, in fact, tasted like pork.
I can likewise reassure readers than no cannibalism is practiced on this world whatsoever. Even in extreme survival situations it is considered too serious a sin to justify.
¡°Ideally,¡± continued Academy Leader Silver, ¡°we¡¯d like to keep the same time slot. Otherwise, we¡¯ll also have to do a new Purification Ceremony with the new details.¡± ¡°I think that ones probably a lost cause,¡± said Minister Greenfield, tracing something from a notebook. ¡°Things have already changed. The numbers of candidates, at the very minimum.¡± Blunt, but true. The central lantern, hanging in the centre of the room, sputtered. Academy Leader Silver gave it a sharp shake, and I was tempted to suggest he try switching it off and switching it on again. When the second shake was no more effective than the first, he looked up and finally seemed to realise it was after sunrise. I couldn¡¯t fault him too much ¨C there wasn¡¯t a great deal of light outside either. ¡°Can someone open the curtains?¡± snapped Academy Leader Silver. ¡°Leave them closed,¡± said Minister Greenfield. ¡°We don¡¯t need to be distracted by those dragon antics.¡± ¡°I¡¯m much more concerned with being able to see,¡± said Academy Leader Silver. The staff member silently opened the curtains. Minister Greenfield had no cause for complaint. The mist outside prevented us from seeing much of anything. ¡°I still think we need to confine the ceremony to just the heroes,¡± said Academy Leader Darkwater. Academy Leader Silver waved a hand. ¡°You¡¯re worrying too much.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not worrying enough! You have three dragonets that approached the body. The tracks are perfectly clear.¡± ¡°But no evidence they did anything but look at it,¡± said Academy Leader Silver. ¡°The body looked undisturbed.¡± ¡°And no evidence that they didn¡¯t consume some of the blood that wasn¡¯t on the body. It might have pooled for any length of time before it drained into the sands.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not killing three dragonets based on that!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not suggesting you do,¡± said Academy Leader Darkwater. ¡°I¡¯m saying that you need to keep them isolated for a few months to see if we spot any behaviour changes. Bonding them when they already have a taste for blood would be catastrophic. Sending the candidates home to wait for the next bonding ceremony would merely be mildly embarrassing.¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Embarrassing for me,¡± said Academy Leader Silver. ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯d be so quick to suggest it if the shoe was on the other foot.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have to. Because we protected our ceremony grounds from negative influences.¡± If the suggestion had been to wait on bonding us heroes, I might have become involved. As it wasn¡¯t, I left them to their argument. The rest of the room also seemed to lack any interest in either stopping them or following what they were saying. Minister Greenfield was paging back and forwards in his notebook, and Assistant Oxenden had found a notebook of his own, and appeared to be in the process of writing a list. I drifted over. I had gathered enough to know that my purposes would be more easily fulfilled if this was taken as a crime rather than an accident. It was worth trying to make that happen. ¡°Do you have the note available?¡± I asked Assistant Oxenden quietly, while the academy leaders continued to argue. Assistant Oxenden retrieved it from a wooden box, indifferent to fingerprints. I took it carefully, even though I knew it was probably a wasted effort. It was, as described, a handwritten note expressing Bethany¡¯s crisis. It was heavily smudged, but even that was no match for the translation magic, and I had no problem reading it.
Fingerprints are unique identifying marks that can be left behind by touching things on many technological worlds. Even the most basic protection wards prevent this from happening.
¡°Who has seen this?¡± I asked. ¡°Seen it personally, I mean, not just heard about the contents?¡± Assistant Oxenden thought a moment. ¡°The staff member who found her body, me and now you, I think. Unless someone removed it while I was out the room.¡± ¡°And this is how it was when it was removed from the body?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes, as far as I can see,¡± said Assistant Oxenden. I returned the note to him, and he placed it back in the box. Minister Greenfield looked over. ¡°We might as well destroy that. It can¡¯t do anything but bring pain.¡± ¡°Do we want to pretend this was an accidental death?¡± I asked, without any judgement in my tone, pro or contrary. ¡°Let Candidate Bethany Fairbanks have an honourable burial?¡± Someone would come up with the idea sooner or later, if they hadn¡¯t already. I needed to get out ahead of that for my plan to work. After a long beat when I thought I might have to push matters, Minister Greenfield said, ¡°No. As tempting as it is, I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t support that. It is one thing to give the deceased the benefit of the doubt, but I could not allow a burial to go ahead when I knew it to be false. It would be a violation of my oaths.¡± ¡°Then we need to tell the parents about the note,¡± I said. ¡°The death does not look like a suicide without it.¡± There was a knock, and the door immediately opened to let Hearth Keeper and House Holder Fairbanks enter. The two academy leaders finally stopped arguing, and we all turned to look at them awkwardly. It seemed that Minister Greenfield was the one who had drawn the short straw. He stepped forward and broke the news that their daughter had committed suicide. He expressed his condolences with every sign of sincerity and every evidence of a great deal of practice. He went through the details of the case simply, mentioning the existence of the suicide note but implying the contents were limited to a statement of intent. It seemed a validation of my suspicions as to why Assistant Oxenden had been put in charge, when Minister Greenfield seemed like a far superior candidate. Then I caught sight of Academy Leader Silver¡¯s expression and realised why he wouldn¡¯t have been placed in charge no matter what the circumstances. Hearth Keeper Fairbanks collapsed into chair, staring blankly at the far wall. House Holder Fairbanks had the opposite reaction, pulling himself to his full height and walking closer to Minister Greenfield. ¡°You did this!¡± said House Holder Fairbanks. ¡°You¡¯ve always hated us and now you¡¯ve murdered my girl.¡± ¡°I realise this has been a great shock to you,¡± said Minister Greenfield diplomatically. ¡°Perhaps you would like to return to your rooms to process the matter.¡± That just made House Holder Fairbanks angrier. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare try to drive me away. I¡¯m not leaving until we find out the truth. What did you do? Did you push her off, or just threaten her into doing it herself?¡± ¡°House Holder Fairbanks,¡± said Minister Greenfield ¡°Control yourself. I am here purely as a representative of the All-Faith. I didn¡¯t have any contact with Candidate Bethany Fairbanks.¡± ¡°You would say that, wouldn¡¯t you?¡± asked House Holder Fairbanks rhetorically. That was enough to get Minister Greenfield to lose his temper as well. ¡°I say that because it¡¯s true. I was leading a ceremony in front of half the academy yesterday evening, and I was in this very room, with witnesses, both before and after. And besides, what possible reason is there for me to kill a young girl? She was no threat to me, I can assure you. What are you going to accuse me of next? Being the secret lovechild of the Heartland¡¯s emperor?¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t put it past you, you¡ª¡± ¡°House Holder Fairbanks!¡± interrupted Academy Leader Silver sharply. ¡°Please refrain from making slanderous statements within the Academy. This is not how we do things.¡± Stop being on my side, you¡¯re making us look bad, I translated. Hearth Keeper made a muffled sound, and for the first time House Holder Fairbanks seemed to remember she was with him. He sat next to her and patted her hand. ¡°Academy Leader Silver,¡± appealed House Holder Fairbanks, ¡°Surely you must see there is something wrong with this. Please promise me you will have this properly investigated.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± said Academy Leader Silver. ¡°We luckily have an expert in Hero Percy with us. I¡¯m sure you can agree that he can be trusted to be impartial.¡± If anything was going to be my cue, that was it. ¡°I promise that I will take this very seriously. Not least because House Holder Fairbanks is right about one thing. Candidate Bethany Fairbanks did not commit suicide.¡± 11. The Crime [2] ¡°Candidate Bethany Fairbanks did not commit suicide.¡± The dramatic reveal was everything I could have hoped for. Everyone stared at me with wide eyes. The next few minutes would establish my reputation, either positively or very negatively. I could take advantage of either. Since the clues hadn¡¯t been revealed organically, I would have to step in. It was time to take a more active role, anyway. ¡°Forgive me for bringing to light what is probably an uncomfortable matter,¡± I said before they could start asking questions, ¡°but I promise it is necessary. Hearth Keeper Fairbanks, would it be fair to say that Bethany had some sort of condition that made it difficult for her to write by hand?¡± House Holder Fairbanks looked about to explode, but Hearth Keeper Fairbank shushed him. ¡°Yes. She required magical assistance. Why?¡± ¡°Assistant Oxenden,¡± I said. ¡°Please hand over the suicide note to Hearth Keeper Fairbanks.¡± I was grateful, but somewhat surprised, when he did so without complaint or even confirming my order with Academy Leader Silver. Hearth Keeper Fairbanks took one look at the note and then started shaking her head. ¡°This isn¡¯t Bethany¡¯s.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± asked Minister Greenfield. ¡°Absolutely,¡± she said. ¡°Hero Percy was correct. Bethany can only write with artifacts, and they don¡¯t look like this. This looks like Shanelly¡¯s handwriting.¡± I had thought so myself, but that hadn¡¯t been my clue. For all I had known, that had been a handwriting style taught to all young girls in the entire country. ¡°Summon Candidate Shanelly Oakswell here,¡± Academy Leader Silver ordered the staff member. I almost said something, but then let it stand. We might as well question her earlier rather than later. While questioning people in private would give me more chances to slip in some more selfish queries, I wasn¡¯t likely to get much useful information from a teenage girl anyway. Shanelly arrived looking nervous but not scared. I did note that they didn¡¯t see fit to summon her parents. Perhaps they were just too used to parents being unavailable to think of it. House Holder Fairbanks grabbed the note from his wife and thrust it at her. ¡°Did you write this?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t recognise it,¡± she said, taking it. Then read further in growing agitation. ¡°What is this? Is Bethany okay?¡± Hearth Keeper Fairbanks was the one to tell her what happened, gently and with grace. Nice women, Hearth Keeper Fairbanks. ¡°Candidate Shanelly, I know that you¡¯re afraid, but for your own sake, you need to tell us the truth now,¡± said Minister Greenfield, playing good cop with unexpected skill. Did ministers in this world take confessions? Would this have been part of his official training? Or was he just a gifted amateur? ¡°I am telling the truth,¡± she insisted, wrapping her arms around herself. ¡°I had nothing to do with it. Why would I want to hurt Bethany?¡± ¡°We can all understand how these things can happen,¡± said Minister Greenfield. ¡°You have spent years dealing with Candidate Bethany already. When you came here, you thought you would finally be free of her. But unexpectedly, you find she is here too. After you meet the dragons, you have an argument. Perhaps you just wanted a word with her, perhaps she provoked you. But things got out of hand, and she ends up falling off the viewing platform. It wasn¡¯t your fault. It just happened.¡± That was a nice theory. Very clever. Very convenient. It moved Candidate Bethany¡¯s death back into accidental and quick territory. If we hadn¡¯t still been standing right below them, I might even have wondered if it was true myself. But while people can fail to notice the strangest of things, I doubted we¡¯d all have missed an entire body falling onto us. ¡°Then you panicked,¡± continued Minister Greenfield. ¡°You didn¡¯t know how to explain it to anyone. But there wasn¡¯t anything you could do. She was already dead. You wrote a suicide note and placed it on her body.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t!¡± said Shanelly, now sounding panicky and shrill. ¡°If I was that upset about Bethany being here, I wouldn¡¯t have needed to speak to her. I could have just reported her for cheating on the entrance exam. It¡¯s not like she tried to hide the evidence or anything.¡± ¡°How dare you accuse my Bethany of cheating?¡± demanded House Holder Fairbanks. Even through her fear, Candidate Shanelly rolled her eyes in that ¡®you¡¯ve got to be kidding me¡¯ expression that only a teenager could truly master. ¡°That isn¡¯t important now,¡± said Academy Leader Silver, quickly. I wondered why everyone was so quick to believe that Candidate Bethany had cheated. Did Academy Leader Silver have additional suspicions, or was it just prejudice from whatever form of dyslexia she suffered from? He had, I recalled, been convinced there was no hope of her succeeding after administrating the tests. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°If you had nothing to do with it,¡± said House Holder Fairbanks. ¡°Then how do you explain the handwriting?¡± Academy Leader Silver had to put a hand on his arm to stop him from crowding Candidate Shanelly. I figured it had probably gone on long enough. No one was genuinely asking Candidate Shanelly anything. They were just telling her what they wanted to hear. It wouldn¡¯t do anyone any good, least of all me, if they successfully pressured her into a false confession. ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious?¡± I asked rhetorically. ¡°Whoever faked the note copied the style from the Registration of Intent, and then smudged it to conceal any imperfections. They didn¡¯t realise that Shanelly Oakswell had filled in the form on Bethany Fairbank¡¯s behalf, and it was the wrong handwriting entirely.¡± That had been what had made me risk asking about Candidate Bethany¡¯s disability. At the bridge the previous day, Candidate Shanelly might have complained about Candidate Bethany¡¯s tone, but she had written Candidate Bethany¡¯s details in anyway. Combined with the obvious prejudice against Candidate Bethany, that had led to the abduction that she had a writing-based disability. I had been eighty percent confident. I certainly would have looked incredibly stupid if I¡¯d been wrong.
His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, doesn¡¯t been kidnapping. Abduction, in this sense, is the skill of choosing the most probable conclusion from multiple possibilities. Also, it is bizarre and disturbing to think that if that His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, had been wrong here, he might never have pursued the life¡¯s mission he is so famous for.
¡°Candidate Shanelly,¡± I said, taking over the questioning. ¡°Why don¡¯t you have a seat. Take a few deep breaths with me. Are you alright? Shall we get you some water?¡± I painfully dragged a chair around so that I could sit opposite to her, and incidentally, block the sight of House Holder Fairbanks. She wiped away some tears and calmed her breathing. ¡°I¡¯m alright.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good. You¡¯re doing very well. I was hoping you could help us answer a few questions. Do you think you can manage that?¡± She nodded. ¡°When was the last time you saw Candidate Bethany?¡± I asked. ¡°The ceremony grounds,¡± she answered quickly. ¡°You didn¡¯t walk with her back to the dormitories? Or to the chapel?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t attend the ceremony. I went straight to bed. I don¡¯t know about Bethany. I separated from her immediately. I was rushing.¡± Shanelly cast a guilty look over my shoulder, and dropped to a whisper, ¡°I didn¡¯t want to have to walk with her, you see.¡± I did, indeed, see. ¡°You don¡¯t know anything more after you reached the viewing platform?¡± I double-checked. ¡°You didn¡¯t see or hear her again?¡± ¡°No, nothing,¡± she said, then reconsidered. ¡°Well, I heard her close the door before she walked down the corridor. I remember wondering if there might be some sort of auto-lock, and whether we might have accidentally trapped you in the new section, but I figured someone would have warned us if that was a concern.¡± ¡°When you saw her last, did she seem worried about anything? Acting different in any way?¡± ¡°No,¡± said Candidate Shanelly. ¡°She seemed perfectly normal. Is she really¡ª¡± ¡°Dead?¡± I asked bluntly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid she is. But can I ask you to keep this information to yourself until it has been officially announced?¡± Now I was the one keeping her from getting assistance from her parents. What a great guy I was. ¡°Yes, yes of course,¡± she agreed. ¡°Does anyone else have any questions for Candidate Shanelly?¡± I asked, my tone final enough to suggest that everyone had better answer no. After a second of silence, I thanked Candidate Shanelly for being so helpful and sent her back to her room. I moved over to sit in front of Hearth Keeper Fairbanks. ¡°Did Candidate Bethany attend the purification ceremony?¡± I asked. ¡°Or did you meet up with her before then?¡± ¡°No,¡± replied her mother. ¡°We didn¡¯t expect to. Like with Shanelly, we suggested she go to bed, but we were busy getting ready for the purification ceremony. If I¡¯d just told her to come with¡ª¡± I interrupted. ¡°¡®If only¡¯s won¡¯t help. We don¡¯t know even how or why she died yet, but chances are if it wasn¡¯t then, it would have been another time. You can¡¯t blame yourself.¡± Unless you killed her. Then you absolutely can blame yourself. ¡°Did you notice anything different about her?¡± I asked. ¡°Did she mention any concerns?¡± ¡°Jus the normal ones about being a new student,¡± Hearth Keeper Fairbanks said. ¡°She was a little upset about the argument at supper¡ª but that wasn¡¯t anything serious.¡± ¡°Is there anything else you can think of?¡± I asked. ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°She was just a child. She¡¯s never done anything to anyone. Will you find out what happened? Will you find justice for my little girl?¡± ¡°With my god as my witness, I swear to unravel the crime,¡± I replied solemnly.
I think we all mourn the fact that His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, was not, in fact, wearing his cloak of office while vowing to solve the crime. Yes, your whole life has been a lie.
I had the golden ticket now to dig into anything I wanted and ask any questions I wanted. I wasn¡¯t going to let the chance go to waste.
Memo to Self
Stuff to avoid
¡¤ Becoming a dragon rider
Information gathering
¡¤ Find out about alternative occupations and opportunities ¡¤ - Speak to Minister Greenfield in private ¡¤ - - Find out when he is due to leave before he leaves in four days
¡¤ Investigate other countries and cultures to see if they¡¯re a better fit ¡¤ - Determine just how far heroic independence goes
¡¤ Track down itinerary [no point]
Opportunities
¡¤ Sneak out when harvesting night flowers [7 days]
Preparations
¡¤ Beg, borrow or steal clothes of a different colour
¡¤ Delay the bonding ceremony as much as possible ¡¤ - Extend investigation ¡¤ - Imply maximum psychic pollution
12. Initial Investigation I explained the basics to Lilianna and Branneth. Both showed a very reasonable disbelief in leaving the investigation to me. Assistant Oxenden¡¯s enthusiastic praise for my demonstrated genius had perhaps the opposite result with them than he had intended. Eventually, when he was out of earshot, I explained the political situation and how other people would be doing the real work. That reassured them. Then I started pretending to investigate the crime. It turned out it was not appropriate for me to view the body for reasons I did not entirely understand, and didn¡¯t care enough to pursue. The examination of the body was done by a combination of the very lowest ranked member of the medical team, and a member of the butchering team. It wasn¡¯t any sort of euphemism. The actual team who handled processing animal carcasses were honestly considered the foremost authority on deaths. It took a little pressuring, but eventually they agreed I could at least speak to them myself. They were directed to the sitting room, while Lilianna and Branneth waited in the next room. They reluctantly took a seat, sitting on the very edge of the chairs, like they were afraid of getting covered by pet hair. ¡°Do we know what killed her?¡± I asked. ¡°She had a broken neck,¡± said the butcher. ¡°Other injuries that might have also resulted in death, but that was sufficient.¡± ¡°Do you have a list of those injuries?¡± I asked. I was leaning very heavily on information gained from police procedurals. I hoped it wasn¡¯t as immediately obvious that I was faking it as it felt. The medical assistant was the one to present a list, and I waited out the disorientation until I could understand it. As the butcher had said, broken neck. Skull fracture. Another spinal fracture, damage to internal organs, a broken arm. Relatively light damage to her legs, however. ¡°Could these be a result of her falling headfirst into the sand?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes,¡± said the butcher, very definitely. ¡°Where she fell, the sand is very well compressed. Since she was falling headfirst, she had no chance. If she¡¯d fallen feet first, then she would have lived. Her legs would have saved her.¡± At least I¡¯d been right about that. And I had more ammunition against it being suicide. I didn¡¯t think it likely for a suicide victim to dive headfirst off a height. ¡°Do you know when she died?¡± I asked next. ¡°No idea,¡± replied the butcher, with a tone like I¡¯d just asked about the victim¡¯s favourite colour. ¡°The destiny-weaver will be ready with a report shortly,¡± said Assistant Oxenden. The destiny-weaver. They¡¯d been mentioned before. Naturally that was an entirely different person than the people who¡¯d examined the body.
A destiny-weaver appears to be a type of divination expert. Technological worlds instead determine the time of death from a variety of process within dead bodies themselves.
I was a little hesitant at how much they would know, but I also felt I had to make at least some effort. ¡°Could you tell if she was otherwise healthy?¡± ¡°She seemed to be,¡± said the medical assistant. ¡°If there was anything seriously wrong, she wouldn¡¯t have been nominated as a candidate.¡± ¡°Is there anything else you think might be relevant?¡± I asked, as a very final attempt. There wasn¡¯t, and they were excused. Assistant Oxenden must have taken my question about the time of death as some sort of reprimand, because he left to follow that up. That one resulted in a purely written report. Candidate Bethany died about a third of the way into the purification ceremony. No further information. I didn¡¯t know enough to know whether there was anymore information that could be had, and Assistant Oxenden didn¡¯t know either. ¡°We can at least exclude anyone who was at the ceremony,¡± said Assistant Oxenden. ¡°Do we have a list of people who were there?¡± I asked. I hadn¡¯t noticed anyone obviously taking attendance, but Oxenden was back with one within ten minutes. Something that had been prepared long before we needed it. The staff had been confident it was a voluntary ceremony, but it seemed that didn¡¯t mean missing it came without any sort of judgement. With how unfamiliar I was with the people at the academy, the list was considerably less useful to me than I had implied. I looked for the names I recognised. Minister Greenfield and his assistant had been there, naturally. So had the two academy leaders and Assistant Oxenden. Assistant Altengart had not. Now wasn¡¯t that interesting ¨C Hearth Keeper Fairbanks had been there, but not House Holder Fairbanks. They¡¯d certainly implied they were both going. I almost hesitated to take the next step. If things worked cleanly, then comparing this against the list of people who had seen Candidate Bethany¡¯s intake form but didn¡¯t know about her disability would give me very few suspects, and very little scope to dig around. But that was such an obvious step that I could hardly avoid it. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Who had access to the Registration of Intent?¡± I asked, already resigned. Assistant Oxenden grimaced. ¡°That¡¯s a difficult question to answer.¡± ¡°Are there no records about that?¡± I asked. ¡°Are the forms public record?¡± ¡°They¡¯re supposed to be restricted,¡± said Assistant Oxenden. ¡°The only people who have official access are the two academy leaders and assistants.¡± ¡°But something went wrong,¡± I said. ¡°No one knows quite how it happened. But the Registration of Intent forms were found abandoned at one of the buffet table last night. Academy Leader Silver swears he put them into his desk in the locked offices, and everyone else swears they never saw them again after that.¡± ¡°Who found them?¡± I asked. ¡°Minister Greenfield¡¯s assistant,¡± said Assistant Oxenden. ¡°He¡¯s not suspected as having anything to do with it. We know he wasn¡¯t anywhere near either the landing platform or the offices.¡± So much for that time saver. Excellent. Anything else obvious? I asked, ¡°Is there any possible way to determine more about who or how the note itself was written?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± replied Assistant Oxenden. ¡°I can ask the destiny-weaver?¡± Sure, why not. ¡°Please do.¡± I figured I had put enough work into the actual investigation to conceal a little investigation into the limits of a hero¡¯s power. ¡°I am a little concerned about what happens at the end of this investigation,¡± I said to Assistant Oxenden. ¡°What if the murderer simply doesn¡¯t respect my authority to make a decision?¡± ¡°They wouldn¡¯t do that,¡± he said, blinking. ¡°You¡¯re a hero.¡± ¡°They couldn¡¯t protest it?¡± I asked. ¡°Not even to whomever would usually handle such investigations? Not even if I accused some-one powerful?¡± ¡°They wouldn¡¯t,¡± he said again. ¡°I guess if it was a noble then they technically could appeal to the king. But that would be a bad idea for them. Even if the king did come to agree with them, they would not come out of the experience better off.¡± If I had been pursuing the case honestly, that might have been enough to throw me into terror. My word, without any checks and balances, could destroy someone¡¯s entire life. Was that the game? Did they wanted to ultimately paralyse me with doubts so that I didn¡¯t accuse anyone? ¡°Surely something has happened in the past,¡± I said. ¡°It can¡¯t be an absolute pristine record of summoners in power with pure intentions and flawless Heroes.¡± Assistant Oxenden shrugged with an awkward grin. ¡°I guess there¡¯s the stories. You hear of countries that have been denied the right to summon Heroes ever again because of previous mistreatment.¡±
As we all know, sacred indemnity is one of the prime requirements for allowing a group to summon heroes in the first place, and His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, would have been informed about this before volunteering. However, as many veterans can attest, the degree to which this theoretical requirement matches reality can vary.
There it was. I could work with that. With a little effort, I managed to move the conversation into the more general discussion of historical precedents and hypothetical situations. ¡°What about a Hero who started killing people?¡± I asked. ¡°Not the enemy, I mean. The people on the summoner¡¯s side.¡± That seemed to actively pain him. ¡°The default assumption would still be that they had a good reason. In the most extreme case, it is possible to exile the hero. But there would still be such a large backlash on the person who triggered such a thing that they might prefer death.¡± ¡°And what about a Hero that was just lazy?¡± I asked. ¡°A Hero who wants nothing but to lie around and eat berries?¡± Assistant Oxenden laughed. At least I had worked him past the point where he would reply that the gods would not send such a person to such a summoner. In the face of such devout faith, I felt a little bad for not living up it. ¡°That¡¯s an interesting case,¡± said Assistant Oxenden. ¡°I think¡­ I think if it came to that, the summoners could stop providing the berries. It would take some time, of course. Summoners do have a duty to support heroes in their quests. But I don¡¯t think they don¡¯t have any obligation to support a hero who refuses to do a quest. Perhaps the relevant church might step in.¡± Oh well. So much for that half-formed plan. It was a mixture of good and bad news. Good news, they could not force me to put myself in danger. Bad news, they could leave me to starve instead. Neutral news: exile was an option. A messenger came to let us know that the expedition to one of the other spires would, in fact, proceed ¡®as planned¡¯. That put any other ideas I had on hold. I looked out the window. The mist had burnt up, and it looked like it would be a warm day. Break over and back to the real problem.
Memo to Self
Stuff to avoid
¡¤ Becoming a dragon rider
Information gathering
¡¤ Find out about alternative occupations and opportunities ¡¤ - Speak to Minister Greenfield in private ¡¤ - - Find out when he is due to leave before he leaves in four days
¡¤ Investigate other countries and cultures to see if they¡¯re a better fit ¡¤ - Determine just how far heroic independence goes ¡¤ - - Legally, very far: complete diplomatic immunity ¡¤ - - Practically: assistance can be withdrawn
¡¤ Track down itinerary [no point]
Opportunities
¡¤ Sneak out when harvesting night flowers [7 6 days]
Preparations
¡¤ Beg, borrow or steal clothes of a different colour
¡¤ Delay the bonding ceremony as much as possible ¡¤ - Extend investigation ¡¤ - Imply maximum psychic pollution
13. First Flight We were given a different set of clothes to put on for our inaugural dragon flight. The undertunic had strengthened pieces of cloth that would function something like a harness. The outer robes had extra openings for the harness connection points, and extra ties that fastened the robe to the ankle and wrists. And absolutely best of all, they weren¡¯t in ¡®target me now¡¯ white. The staff member actually apologized for that ¨C apparently, they were waiting on our exact sizes to make our custom outfits. After hustling us through changing and getting down to the landing platform, we came to a sudden halt. Assistant Oxenden slipped away to discover what was happening. Good instincts. I approved. After some muted conversations, he returned with the information. Assistant Oxenden said, ¡°Minister Greenfield wants to send his assistant back to the capital. He says he has some important letters and matters to attend to.¡± ¡°So what is the argument?¡± I asked. ¡°Academy Leader Silver asked everyone to remain here until the investigation is complete. Minister Greenfield didn¡¯t say anything at the time. It¡¯s quite a snub to Academy Leader Silver to just go ahead like this.¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t the dragon riders just say no, then?¡± I asked. ¡°No one is very clear,¡± replied Assistant Oxenden. ¡°Minister Greenfield¡¯s position ordinarily allows him to request this kind of service from dragon riders, even if he wasn¡¯t at the Academy. The church has an agreement and pays very well for it. The riders can defer a request if they are participating in matters vital to the safety of the state, but it¡¯s hard to argue that this qualifies. I think the consensus is coming down on the side that Minister Greenfield does have the legal right to demand it. And it¡¯s hardly like the assistant is any kind of suspect.¡± Might this be an excuse to consider Minister Greenfield¡¯s behaviour suspicious, and demand a meeting? No, I decided after a moment¡¯s consideration. That would hardly set the right tone for what I hoped to accomplish. ¡°Are there no other long-distance methods of communication?¡± I asked. ¡°Sending letters by dragon seems excessive.¡± ¡°There¡¯s the normal post,¡± replied Assistant Oxenden, ¡°but that takes longer. There¡¯s also craft-messaging, but that¡¯s expensive. The longer the communication, the more it costs. People might afford to send a few words, but not pages.¡± Assistant Oxenden prediction came true. A dragon took off abruptly with the assistant, although I noticed that he was given what looked like a board to lie on, rather than wear any specialty robes. Minister Greenfield returned triumphantly back into the dormitory building without speaking to us. ¡°Does that mean we¡¯re one dragon short for our expedition?¡± I asked, with an eye to Lilianna. I was very impressed with her. In her place I might well have caught a sudden illness. But she was there, determined, if a little pale. Branneth, naturally, was so excited he was practically vibrating in place. ¡°Oh no,¡± said Assistant Oxenden. ¡°That team was unaffected. This is too important.¡± ¡°Why, exactly?¡± I asked. ¡°There¡¯s a belief that having ridden with another dragon improves the chances of a successful bonding,¡± said Assistant Oxenden. ¡°The other candidates have all had at least one dragon ride, so it would be unfair if you haven¡¯t.¡± I should have asked earlier. Lilianna and I could have caught the plague together. With no other choice, we joined the riders who would be escorting us. The dragon once again took me surprise by just how muscular it was. This one was a rainbow dragon, named for the variety of colours across the species, not an individual. The one I would be flying with was a brilliant cyan. The rider showed how he was going to attach my harness. I asked questions and then asked questions about all the other fittings. After getting permission, I crawled under the dragon to check them all. I knew enough to know that everyone needed to check their own ropes.
His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, was right to be suspicious. Failure of equipment was the leading cause of death for dragon riders in this period.
After that, we were strapped in. A stomach dropping fall, and then we were in the air. The beating of the wings felt like heartbeats throughout my body. And then a thing I had not been expecting. I adored it. It was everything I had imagined flying would be when I was a child. Just me floating above the ground. I instantly craved more control. I wanted to be the one directing the dragon and doing battle with the winds and the thermals and the lifts. I wanted the pure freedom of the air, going wherever I wanted, turning and twisting as I pleased. I finally understood the clich¨¦ of just me, the dragon and the sky. The bulk of the dragon was like a furnace, keeping the immediate air warm. I speculated there was other magic as well. The wind against my face was on the pleasant side of brisk, and I had no symptoms of high-altitude sickness. On top of that, the view was magnificent. The sharp peaks rose out of the mist, and spires flowed down. Some were even larger whirlpools of golden flakes, dancing and spinning. This was what magic was meant to be. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. But by the time we arrived at the next spire over, some quarter of an hour later, the thrill had begun to wear off. My neck and back ached, and the harness was digging into me in uncomfortable ways. Lilianna collapsed down on the ground, clutching the plants on either side with both hands. The riders made a few good-natured comments, but didn¡¯t find her reaction to be too unusual. Was air-sickness a thing? It probably was. The spire itself was similar to the one at the academy. I could see where the original overflow had scoured paths into the cliff sides. The larger one now had a small trickle travelling down it, glinting and shimmering less and less intensely until it disappeared under the plant growth. The smaller one was browning with dead plants. It didn¡¯t take much orientation to figure out which one led to the Cammion¡¯s side, and which to their own. The air was full of the sounds of foraging creatures and the heavy smell of ripe fruit. Insects darted back and forth on the edges of the downflow, themselves iridescent darting lights, and birds dove through the swarm in turn. Braving the chaos, we swapped out glowing stones with dull ones. With the rest of us working, it didn¡¯t take us long. Then we were back in the air again, another mixture of awe and discomfort. When we were almost back, I ask my ¡®pilot¡¯ if we can circle the grounds. It involved more hand gestures than shouted words, but he cheerfully agreed. The situation didn¡¯t exactly allow for an in-depth analysis of my motives anyway. My first hope was a failure. If there was a road or a cart-track, I couldn¡¯t see it. I dropped to my second choice and looked for the new wall of the old section. Or more accurately ¨C the ¡®dry riverbed¡¯. That was better. I couldn¡¯t be entirely sure, but it was looking good. It headed smoothly in the direction of the Cammions. We were about to swing around to the platform again when I saw movement a little distance down from the Academy. Something that looked almost like fire. After a few moments, I realised it was an orange and yellow patterned dragon, seeming to be struggling to move. A hero of any reputation could hardly just leave an animal to suffer that way, so I had no choice but to alert the pilot and land close by.
Considering that, by the very account of His Devotion, Saint Percival the Investigator, himself, the pilot hadn¡¯t even noticed the trapped dragon, I find the stated motivations less than convincing.
The pilot had to stay with his own dragon, so I went on alone. The victim was about half the size of an adult dragon, so it should still me manageable alone. Once I was close enough, the problem was easy to spot. Some twine or rope had become entangled around a leg, and the dragon¡¯s movements was pulling it tighter rather than releasing it. After a few pats did nothing to calm the dragon, so I tried speed instead. I reached down to detangle the rope. A second later I mentally apologised to Candidate Shanelly for forgetting her valuable advice about watching for the tails instead of bites. The tail-whip slammed into my arm and across my back. It rocked me sidewise a few steps. I breathed deeply to stop myself from swearing. With considerably more caution, I went back for a second attempt. That was more successful. The instant it was free, the dragon took off into the undergrowth. Ungrateful little monster. I worked my hand and tried rotating my arm. It hurt, but nothing seemed to be broken or dislocated. I untied the rope and brought it back to ¡®my¡¯ pilot. ¡°Is this a common hazard?¡± I asked. ¡°We used to have groundsmen,¡± he said apologetically. ¡°But the Academy expanded and our funds didn¡¯t. I don¡¯t know how Minister Greenfield has the audacity to come here like his group hasn¡¯t been fighting to cut off all funds from us.¡± Minister Greenfield had an entire group. An entire group that was pretty successful, by the sounds of it. The dragon riders were not a powerful enough alliance to stand up to it. ¡°Will the dragon be alright, unsupervised?¡± I asked. ¡°That¡¯s not one of ours,¡± said the pilot. ¡°Too small.¡± ¡°A wild dragon?¡± I asked, faking casualness. Were there wild dragons? Why didn¡¯t anyone warn me about wild dragons! I thought it was a juvenile, not an adult of an entirely different species. I wouldn¡¯t have risked interfering if I¡¯d known. Wait, did I just risk major injury? Had I gotten lucky to only get that tail-whip? ¡°Probably a half-breed, with that colouring,¡± said the pilot, not seeming to notice my growing panic. Good to know. I let him take us back to the academy while I contemplated my near-death experience. The outing had been a revelation in more ways than one.
Memo to Self
Stuff to avoid
¡¤ Becoming a dragon rider Joining the official dragon rider forces
Information gathering
¡¤ Find out about alternative occupations and opportunities ¡¤ - Speak to Minister Greenfield in private ¡¤ - - Find out when he is due to leave before he leaves in four days
¡¤ Investigate other countries and cultures to see if they¡¯re a better fit ¡¤ - Determine just how far heroic independence goes ¡¤ - - Legally, very far: complete diplomatic immunity ¡¤ - - Practically: assistance can be withdrawn
¡¤ Track down itinerary [no point]
Opportunities
¡¤ Sneak out when harvesting night flowers [7 6 days] ¡¤ - Walk out down dry river bed towards Cammions
Preparations
¡¤ Beg, borrow or steal clothes of a different colour
¡¤ Delay the bonding ceremony as much as possible ¡¤ - Extend investigation ¡¤ - Imply maximum psychic pollution