Those tunnels seemed to stretch on forever, mocking our efforts, and soon my body was letting me know just how poorly designed it was for distance running. Somewhere behind us a dragon roared. Damn it, had we taken a wrong turn? Were we about to be pinned in some dark cul-de-sac down here in the guts of the mountain, to await out destruction at the fangs and claws of what bayed at our heels? The snarling behind us grew louder.
A cryptic group of letters and numbers stenciled onto the wall flashed past, and I breathed a sigh of relief at their familiarity. We twisted around a corner, then another. Then one long final stretch and the tunnel abruptly widened out into the loading dock area.
I found the controls for the blast door, and soon the huge slab of concrete and steel was ponderously rolling aside. The moment the opening was wide enough we squeezed through, and I used the external keypad to reverse the door on its tracks. It hesitated, then began to swing shut again. The instant it thudded shut I hurriedly duplicated the pattern I had drawn on the fire door, and soon the glowing pattern was spreading across the concrete, anchoring it to the surrounding rock.
"They will reach another exit and be upon us within a matter of minutes." Stefan studied the hillside a moment more, then turned to us. "My Lady, Hasai, I will attempt to delay them for you. If you take flight immediately, I might be able to give you enough time to affect your escape."
"They'll roll right over you, Stefan." I growled. "I will not see you get yourself killed for nothing."
"Then we are done."
"Not quite yet, my Lady." I glanced skyward. "Stefan, are all the exits operated electrically?"
"The ones on this side of the mountain that a dragon could use, yes."
"Good. Stand back." Sitting back upon my haunches I looked skyward, studying the low clouds. Then I Reached.
Winter above the 30th Parallel. So little energy to work with. For long moments there was nothing, nothing, nothing. My head began to pound from the strain. Finally, the clouds above me began to slowly churn. Thickening.
There was a click from the blast door, followed by a humming that quickly became labored as my pattern flared brighter.
A cold, damp wind began to blow through the clearing, making the surrounding trees sigh and sway as the clouds moved faster and faster. My mane prickled and began to lift, the blue-black glow of Saint Elmo's Fire enveloping the individual strands. Suddenly that wind grew warm as above us the sky rumbled.
Damn, but the servomotors driving that door were strong. In spite of my pattern's best efforts the door was beginning to move. A crack appeared and slowly grew wider.
Now. In one instant, the clearing went from near-blackness to brighter than day as a razor-thin bolt of purest power came smashing down from the sky, striking me full-on, wrapping my frame with crackling, sizzling energy. I allowed myself to revel in it for the tiniest moment, feeling my weariness wash away, my reserves restored. Then I raised my hand.
Power poured off of my talons, tracing a jagged path of eye-searing white to splash across the face of the blast door. The sound of the servos abruptly stopped as the door's controls exploded in a shower of sparks and vaporizing metal. Inside, I knew that the motors were bursting into flames as lights shattered and traceries of lightning twisted and twined across every conductive surface like some hellish vine. Circuit breakers would be tripping everywhere, plunging the interior of the mountain into a darkness like that of the grave.
A carnivore's grin curled the corner of my mouth as I thought of that last. "Just a little taste, Ahnkar," I hissed.
The last of the lightning flickered and disappeared, and the clearing grew dim once again, lit only by the smoldering remnants of the door's keypad. I stared at it regretfully for a moment, then turned and padded over to where Stefan and Dithra crowded close together at the far edge of the pavement. "I don't think they'll be getting out of there any time soon," I commented grimly. "Stefan, do we have anywhere safe we can take Dithra?"
Stefan, wide-eyed, gave me a deep, formal bow before answering. "Yes, my Lord. There are some old Stasi and KGB safe houses that I know of. Ahnkar will not find her, I swear it."
I frowned as I caught that capital-L, puzzled and annoyed by Stefan's sudden relapse in attitude. Then I noticed Dithra giving me that same wide-eyed look. I stared at them both, then realized just what I must have looked like out in the center of the clearing; pulling the lighting down out of the sky until it wrapped me like a vast robe of hellfire, then launching it at the mountain.
"You are indeed Shen-Lung." Dithra breathed.
It was evening of the following day by the time the small private jet taxied up to the terminal building at Martin State. I ran an appreciative eye over the Citation's clean lines, then turned to Dithra. "Yours? It's nice."
"Thank you." She smiled wearily. "One would prefer to fly oneself, but unfortunately when one's holdings become as extensive as mine, one cannot simply disappear from one place and reappear somewhere else. It would be noticed. So, a more . . . conventional method is needed."
I chuckled wryly, watching the plane as it rolled to a stop at the gate. I could see Stefan moving to meet it. "Remind me to stay poor. Do many dr--" I glanced about the tiny lobby. "--Do many of our people have their own private jets?"
"Oh, most of us, yes; by human standards most of us are quite wealthy."
I blinked, and Dithra smiled. "Building a fortune is not very difficult, young Hasai. One needs only to place a measure of money into several of the humans' banks, then simply leave it there for a century or two."
Her head tilted in the draconic expression of wry humor as I rolled my eyes. "Did you think perhaps that we slept atop golden hordes, young one? Such hordes make lumpy beds, and are far better off being invested somewhere." The laughter slowly faded from her eyes, and she took my hand and squeezed it gently. "I thank you, Hasai, for attempting to lighten my mood."
She gazed out of the window, where the sky was shading towards twilight. "Hasai, I don't know if you can ever forgive me," she sighed. "I do not understand. The traditions of millennia. The traditions of the Ancestors, and they cast them aside as if they were nothing. Why, Hasai? How could they do such things?"
I studied the scuffed tile at my feet, then back up into the ancient dragon's bewildered face. "Fear makes monsters of us all, my Lady."
"A dragon fears nothing but dishonor."
I looked away for a moment; away from Dithra's sudden flare of anger. So proud, these people; so proud. . . . "In a perfect world I do not doubt that would be true, my Lady. In a perfect world. But what of a world in which an entire race teeters on the brink of oblivion? Everything that is you; all your triumphs, all your tears, all your history, the memory of your Ancestors, all about to fade away, leaving not even dust behind to mark your existence."
I gazed up into the sky, my mind dredging for a fragment read long ago. ". . . .and there are no tears; for there is no one left to weep." I turned to Dithra. "When something like this stares one in the face, my Lady, dishonor seems almost trivial. It may gnaw at their souls forever, but anything, anything at all can be lived with if it means saving everything they know and love from extinction."
She stared at me for long moments, her eyes like stone. Then, slowly, her gaze dropped and she turned away.
"My Lady, I'm sorry--"
"Do not be. I do not agree with it, but I can see how some of our people could feel that they must make such a horrible choice." She faced me again, her eyes sad but warm. "You have given me insight, young Hasai, and for that I thank you. I will not fail you again."
I gave her a small smile, then sighed. "I wonder where they are."
"I'm sorry, Hasai; they could be anywhere. But do not worry for their well-being. Children are the most precious thing of all to us, and even Ahnkar will do no less than see to their every need." Dithra's smile grew wry. "We tend to spoil them terribly."
The door to the flightline opened, and Stefan walked in. "My Lady, your aircraft will be prepared in just a few minutes. Are you ready to board?"
"Yes. Thank you, Stefan." She looked to me. "Shall we go?"
We walked out to the plane, and I handed her up the narrow stairs as Stefan kept a close watch on our surroundings. At the top she turned back to me. "Sanity will prevail, dear Hasai. We will save our people, and return to you your children. You must believe that."
I smiled. "I do, Dithra," for in any other direction lay madness.
"The Ancestors watch over you and guide you, dear one." She gave my hand one final squeeze. "Until we meet again."
Quickly then she turned and went into the aircraft, but not before I saw a trace of wetness in her eyes. I stared after her, once again wishing, forever wishing, that I could have thought of something, said something, done something to have made all this turn out differently.
I felt a presence move up to stand beside me. "That's a hell of a lady you have in there, Stefan."
"She is the Eldest, my Lord."
As if that explained everything. Well, maybe it does. I smiled wryly. "You're just never going to stop calling me that, are you, Stefan?"
Stefan looked uncomfortable. "Forgive me, my L-- Hasai, but addressing you in any other manner does not seem . . . right."
After watching me toss lightning bolts around I suppose it wouldn't; not to a devout dragon like Stefan. My own damned fault. I stifled a pang of loneliness. "My people and I will be out of here in a few days and headed back south. Think Ksstha and Company will try any more funny stuff before then?"
Stefan shook his head. "Doubtful; the casualties that resulted from their previous attempts to seize you will make it difficult for them to persuade others to try." He smiled grimly. "And if Ahnkar and Ksstha do not fear you by now, my Lord, then they must be utterly mad. There will be no more attacks."
I nodded, then grimaced. "Not until they come up with a new angle, at least. Well," I turned to the former Stasi agent and offered him my hand. "It's been good working with you, Stefan. A guy could get used to you watching his back."
Stefan hesitated, looking at my hand, then at last took it. "Thank you, Hasai." He smiled tentatively. "Perhaps we could do this again, sometime."
"We will, don't you worry." I smiled grimly. "It's another shadow-war, Stefan; but this time, instead of you versus me, it's us versus the council. For the survival of our race. Can't afford to lose this one." I sobered. "You take care of our Lady Dithra, Stefan."
Stefan took a step back, then bowed formally. "Upon my honor, my Lord."
"Goodbye, Stefan."
He nodded to me, and without another word climbed up into the aircraft, pulling the door shut behind him. A minute later the pilot spooled up the engines and the little jet slowly trundled away towards the runway. In one of the windows I glimpsed Dithra, her eyes searching for me in the gathering gloom.
"Blessed are the peacemakers," I whispered, and waved.
She didn't see me.
Soon the gleaming craft was racing down the runway, its navlights sparkling, then hurling itself into the air.
I watched the aircraft's lights dwindle into the sky until they vanished, thinking of all that had transpired, and all that doubtlessly was to come. Then I turned and walked away; off into the gathering darkness of what I knew would be the most important war of my career.