Kellan was in front. He saw what was coming, yelled a warning to the scale, and dove aside. Uduak was running with Hadith and Themba. The three men were focused on Odili. They did not see the twisting ropes of flame shooting toward them. Jabari, behind them and taller, did. He threw himself into the three men, knocking them down.
The rest of the scale were not so lucky. The youngling’s blast exploded outward, smashing into a dozen of Tau’s sword brothers, killing them instantly. He saw Mshindi explode in flames, and another man, half his body on fire, flailed around screaming. It took Tau a breath, but he realized the burning man was Jabari. He’d fallen on top of Uduak, Hadith, and Themba, and the edge of the dragon’s fire had caught him.
The youngling roared, preparing a second blast, this one to kill the men who had survived. Zuri shouted, drawing attention to herself. The youngling swung its head to her and she raised her arms, the sleeves of her black Gifted robes falling to her elbows. Zuri was back in Isihogo, drawing power, and the youngling stiffened, caught on a puppet master’s strings. The second blast of fire did not come.
“It’s too soon,” Tau whispered, and it was.
Zuri cried out in Uhmlaba as the demons in Isihogo ripped at her, tearing her focus away and breaking the invisible strings that held the youngling in thrall. The dragon was free, had found its tormentor, and did not hesitate. It shot fire at Zuri, and there wasn’t even time for her to flinch. One breath she was there, arms outstretched, robes billowing against the incoming inferno, her skin glowing with reflected light, her eyes sparkling, beautiful, a woman beyond measure. Then the youngling’s fire hit, incinerating her, blasting her from existence.
Tau’s legs gave out. Kana couldn’t hold him and he crumpled to the battlement floor, his whole body shaking. And without knowing he did it, he wailed, doing what little he could to release the suffering from a body and soul that had been handed too much too soon.
“Nyah, we must bind the youngling,” said a voice Tau should recognize, but couldn’t.
“My queen, you must not. Your shroud… We have no Hex.”
“The coterie in the courtyard. Bring them to us. We will hold the dragon until they are here. Nyah, we are for Isihogo.”
“Tsiora! No!”
And Tau wailed.
“My father, the warlord, he comes and the traitor flees with his men.”
“We have the dragon. It is in our control.”
“My queen, you will not be able to hold it.”
“We will, for long enough. Hurry, Nyah, the coterie.”
And Tau wailed.
“Warlord! Hear us. We, queen of the Chosen, must speak!”
And from a distance, shouting. “Demon whore! I will burn this city and all your cities. I will cut the hearts from every soul that shares your evil blood.”
“Hold your warriors outside our walls, Warlord. We still pray for peace and do not wish our dragon to end that prayer with fire. We wish to tell of our betrayal.”
“Father! The Omehi queen speaks truth. She was betrayed.”
And Tau wailed, his mouth covered by a heavy and filthy hand that tasted of dirt and ash. Hot breath, close to his ear, shushing him.
“Kana, my son, have they told you what they did? A fire-demon set on the Conclave? It killed a hundred thousand, Kana! Women, children, our people. They died, every one, burning to death in a pyre three times the size of this city.”
Tau saw Zuri vanish in flame again, burned away to nothing.
“The shul is dead,” that distant and shouting voice continued, “and I will be our people’s vengeance. I will scour Xidda clean!”
“Kellan Okar, we demand you take Kana into custody.”
There was a scuffle.
More words from a nearby voice, accented and difficult to understand. “Tsiora? More treachery? You think this stop my father?”
“Warlord, we have your son and we offer a trade. His life and release for a season of peace.”
“Witch! I’ll slit your throat myself.”
“Not before our soldier cuts your son’s. A moon cycle, then. Retreat from our valley. Give us a moon cycle for your son’s life. Enough blood has been spilled these few nights. We have a dragon in this keep and the rage are on their way. A moon cycle, Warlord of the Xiddeen.”
Tau sobbed, wracking cries, as the big man, hand still covering his mouth, shushed and held him close.
“Swear it, Warlord. One moon cycle of peace and Kana is yours.”
“Demon Queen! I’ll cut the tongue from your lying mouth.”
“Swear it. We cannot restrain our dragon much longer. Swear it or the first to burn will be Kana!”
“I swear it, witch! One cycle of the moon. I swear it. Give me my son! I swear it and swear I’ll be back. I will come with every warrior of the Xiddeen and we will erase the blight of your people from the world.”
Tau opened his eyes. He was crouched and his tears blurred the stone beneath his knees and hands, making the ground seem an artist’s impression. He tried to stem the cries, halt the tears. He failed at both.
“Before your warriors and ours, we have made a binding oath. Kellan Okar, inkokeli of Scale Osa, send the warlord’s son to him.”
Footsteps, then a voice, accented, retreating. “Tsiora! I will speak with my father. I will try to make the warlord see sense. Tsiora, do not give up on peace!”
“Warlord Achak, the Conclave was not our doing. The man responsible is a traitor who sought our death. He has run from us, but you will have his head. This we promise, by the Goddess.”
“A traitor’s head? Demon whore, in my own time I will take all the heads I need.”
Tau scrubbed his eyes clear of tears, and Uduak’s hand lifted away from his mouth.
“Tau?” Uduak whispered.
Tau saw the queen standing tall. She had her hands behind her back, her shoulders squared as she looked out and down at the warlord and his army beyond her keep. She appeared imperious and it was a grand illusion, for Tau could see the panicked tremors in her hands.
“They’re leaving,” breathed Nyah. “My queen, the Goddess is great, they’re leaving.”
But not without a final word.
“We know your witches are dying,” shouted the warlord, near the edge of hearing. “We know it as we know that, in the coming cycles, you will have too few to call the fire-demons. We know it and offered you peace. You saw that as weakness, paying it back with the blood of our innocent. Queen of demons, what you saw was kindness, not weakness. Queen of demons, what you will see is vengeance, righteous in cause and unholy in deliverance.”
If the warlord said more, Tau could not hear it.
“The coterie is coming up.” It was Hadith.
“We cannot hold the youngling,” Queen Tsiora said. “Quickly, she must be re-bound before it is too late.”
Tau let his broken swords fall from his fingers. They were as useless on the battlement floor as they had been in his hands. The people he loved died either way.
EPILOGUE
TSIORA OMEHIA
He’s broken, my queen,” Nyah said to her. “Demon-haunted, in the assessment of the Sah priests. He’s been in that room since we held the burning for those we lost.”