Across the sky ablaze, the dragon wheeled high above the battlefield, wings carving thunder out of the clouds. Its scales caught the light of the setting sun in molten flashes as it banked, a shadow encroaching on the earth below. Then its chest swelled, an ominous, rising glow like a forge stoked too hot. With a roar that split the sky, the beast unleashed its wrath.
A torrent of flame cascaded downward, a blistering column that struck the ground in a sweeping arc, charring everything in a radius that felt long enough to reach the horizon. Soldiers scattered like kicked-up dust, their shields upturned and useless before the storm. Embers spiraled in the wake of the dragon's passage, drifting like the burned petals of some abyssal blossom.
"Valkeries, retreat!" shouted Lumiere, the prince in command.
I ignored him.
Firing the grapple hooks at the rocks in a sheer precipice nearby, I activated the gas propeller of the mobility gear I invented and reeled myself skyward.
The harness against my uniform chafed and singed, rubbing my patience raw.
With a roar of rage swallowed by the battlefield, I fired myself at the dragon along with the ultra steels, plated with scaleblight, a low-weight dynamite that would blow upon hitting the target.
I had one shot.
Everyone I had loved, everyone I grew up with, everyone I knew who knew me, died because of the beast, and if to slay the dragon would take my own life, I wouldn't mind.
Even with my eyes closed, I felt the brightness of the explosion when my blades pulverized into the furnace-hot air, my ears ringing. For a long time, there was only nothingness, nothingness in white, too bright to see, and so loud it fell quiet.
Deadly quiet.
Was it how the afterlife felt like?
When the pain from the fall out of the sky didn't come, and the world slowly darkened, I peeled open my eyes.
Ashes settled around me while the land burned afield. A faint groan turned my head. A man with silver hair was lying under me, cushioning my fall, his arms corded with muscle around me like a harness, his face chiseled to otherworldly perfection. His veins bulged, the gaping hole of flesh and blood in his neck pulsing with threads of crimson mist. Filament-thin, the mist unfurled a lattice across the gash, bridging the rupture.
"Over there!" shouted a cadet from the nearby rubble below us. "I saw the beast fall in that direction! He killed a valkyrie while at it!"
"I saw it, too!" echoed another. "It's weak now! Perfect for the slay!"
"Still a dragon, mind you! We could get ourselves killed!" the third one demurred.
"Think of the gold we'll make for skinning the dragon, eh? While the King's cook bastes the dragon meat, we'll bathe in such glory as we've never seen!" the second man barked, greed frothing to the brim of his voice, more sinister than the dragon's snarl.
Peering through the pile of gravel fifty meters below, I saw them setting up the canons.
I tried to push myself up. As I splayed my hands on the sooty ground, pain coursed through me. I crumpled onto the man. "Wait!" I rasped through my tears, my voice hollow and rusty. "This isn't the dragon, just a man…"
My voice trailed off.
Glancing up, I met his siren gaze, a sneer hanging lopsided on a corner of his lips.
"Are you a fool?" he mocked, his voice low-pitched like an echo from deep space.
But I couldn't care less.
Insult paled before injury. "Valkyries have sworn to protect the innocent. But are you, though?" I growled, straddling the brink of consciousness before I passed out from the pain. I let my breath catch. "If you are, you're mine to protect. But you aren't, and the dragon is mine to kill! Mine alone!"
Devouring my words were the canon bolts firing in our direction.
Thunderous wump cleft the air as the wings beat and took me aloft, each stroke shaking the sky like drumming on the battlefield.
Cold wind swept and whistled until it was silenced. Warmth encapsulated me like a cocoon.
I slept through what felt like eternity. Dream after dream, the stars wheeled into sunlight before it was all swallowed in red, tongues of flame licking up every building and into the sky.
The day Tartarus burned, I slipped out to the steppe with the neighbor's twin, Kieran. We were testing the new fling bolt I made.
Kieran grabbed my hand and ran while I screamed for Mom and Dad.
"They'll be fine, Luke told me," Kieran said, his face stern. "But if we go back now, we'll be caught by the guards who locked down the city after the plague, and they'll kill us."
"You lied!" I shoved him. My hefty shove left little impact.
"Remember Luke and I are twins?" Kieran threw me on his back as if I were a sack. "I can read his mind as he can mine."
Dangling from his shoulder, I watched Tartarus burn from afar until the distance reduced it into a touch of blood red.
Tears dried from my eyes.
Kieran and I joined the refugees who sought sanctuary in the capital.
Each year, the Monarch of the Ivory City adopted some of the refugee children.
But they only wanted boys.
I cried my eyes out when they took Kieran. Before the Imperial Guards threw me out, Prince Lumiere stopped them.
"She's freckled and ugly. Her eyes and mouth are too big for her face," he said, his voice frosted the air between us. Turning to his Queen Mother, he continued, "Any boy on the street can be more attractive than her, and she would never dare tempt me as a mistress, let alone a wife."
He turned to his Queen Mother, who raised an incredulous brow.
"You can never be sure…"
"Send her to train with Valkyrie," Lumiere cut the Queen short, his voice final. "The dragon incinerated her entire town with everyone she knew in it. She must be filled with rage and hatred, which makes her a perfect candidate. Father said we're short on Valkyries."
Spinning on his heel, he mounted his steed and left, his cloak billowing behind him.
From that day on, I trained as a Valkyrie for him, or because of him, or both.
"I, Valkyrie, NO. 027, swear that I will always protect the throne!"
The morning chant rang in my head.
"I will guard the Ivory Realm with my life! And I will marry only to my duties!"
But I was not strong. I was never meant to be a warrior. Each day I got beaten to a pulp, I had tried, though.
Tried to be better, stronger, faster.
I tried so the Monarch wouldn't despise me, and so I wouldn't be a burden to Lumiere.
Wounds and broken bones didn't hurt as much as the longing for validation I could never satiate.
So I buried it.
I buried it with books and sought clarity in the certainty of maths.
I invented the mobility gears that could fling me up to a height.
I homed in on my agility so when I finally took my aim at the dragon, I wouldn't miss.
So close was I to slaying the dragon, to feel the pride for once.
Unbearable pain crepitated through me as if I were struck by lightning.
I gasped when it all faded into a sheer blackness, an oblivion sucking every effort, every longing, and every scream for life.
And then, there was nothing, a blissful slumber.
Perhaps death wouldn't have to be so bad.
Reluctant to open my eyes again, I woke up with a whisper of iron on my tongue, a tang of fatality, my head groggy.
"Where am I?" I mused, propping on an arm, or so I tried.
Every inch of my muscle ached; my limbs felt like jelly.
I slumped into what felt like a bed only to be caught by a strong hand.
"Time to wake up now, little Valkyrie," said a distant voice, deep like an echo. "You've slept long enough."
I jolted around and saw the man with silver hair and a face too otherworldly to behold, a ruby glow emanating from his siren eyes.
"You…" I snapped my eyes away, my voice trailing off. Ineffable fear encroached upon me, tears rimming my eyes unbidden.
He smirked.
"Didn't you say that valkyries have sworn to protect? Look," he paused, his siren eyes over his shoulder, "All the treasures here need your protection, and you'd better get well soon."
He put his hand to my neck and forced open my mouth. Red mist rambled out through his teeth like tendrils.
My eyes flew wide. It says that the dragon's ichor has healing properties. That's why the only way to slay a dragon was to blow it up into pieces.
"Why?" Flopping around like a washcloth lost in a stream, I hawked up the word. "Why save me?"
I heard my rusty voice again while the metallic tang dribbled down my gullet.
He chuckled, the dragon doubling as a man, or perhaps the other way round.
"I just told you," he crooned, lowering his head next to mine, his breath brushing my ear. "How are you going to protect if I let you die?"
"Did you miss the part where I said I'd kill you?" I retorted, holding his gaze. "I protect the innocent, which you aren't!"
"Are you sure?" The man cocked a quizzical brow, running his tongue from the corner of his lips, his laugh mirthless. "Didn't you try to stop the firing squad because you're so kind you wouldn't kill a man without a trial?"
"I was no fool!" I snarled. "And let me be clear once again, I wanted to stop them because they don't deserve to fire the final shot! Because no one knows hate like how I hate you! Only I get to kill you!"
"Is that so?" he hissed, the tip of his nose grazing my cheek. "I call it bullshit, Miss Valkyrie."
Taken aback, I bit my bottom lip.
"I think you're just like the cadets who want my life for rewards, but unlike the simptoons, you're too uppity to admit you're just as self-seeking," the man continued. Flame licked the walls from the firebrands upon the sconces, bringing out the ruby glow in his siren eyes.
Glaring into those eyes, I saw my reflection, defeated and pitiful. "So what that I'm self-seeking?" I clapped back, refusing to concede. "Who isn't? While they seek riches, I want my vengeance on you!"
The dragon shook his head, his tongue clucking, a wry grin tugging at a corner of his lips. "What vengeance?" he japed, his voice genuinely amused. "What have I ever done to you?"
"You burned down Tartarus, incinerating everyone after my folks welcomed you to our home! They welcomed you when you had nowhere to turn!" Unbidden tears spilled out despite myself.
"You were so young, and yet you remembered," he breathed, his voice a luring whisper. For a moment, I felt his strength falter, his eyes down, wisps of silver hair shadowing his brow while he thumbed the tears dampening my cheeks.
"How could I not?" I spat, my voice riddled with shivers.
"Did you see me do it? Or is there any proof?" Seeing me at a loss, the dragon raised his chin again, disdain seeping through his half smile. "So high and mighty you claimed you wouldn't take a man's life without a trial. What about a dragon? Don't I deserve a trial before you rule me guilty?
"You never allowed me a chance to prove my innocence. And you want me dead because it's the right thing to want. No, Miss Valkyrie, you don't seek gold or vengeance but love. You want the people of the Ivory Realm to love you as their hero, so your life will continue through their memory after your death. That was your desire.
"But do you know it's always better to be feared than loved? Love is preserved by the link of obligation, which, given the baseness of men, is broken at every opportunity for advantage. But fear, fear is preserved by the dread of punishment, which never fails."
Letters trembled on my lips but wouldn't form into words.
His larynx bobbed, a chuckle escaping from his throat, "Look me in the eye, sweetie. Look me in the eye and see for yourself what your heart desires."
I did as bid, taking a long look into the abyss that gazed back into me.
The dragon was right.
I was only nine when Tartarus crumpled into ashes. I didn't know how it all happened. And much of what happened, I learned from the history class after the Monarch adopted me. Rather than slaying the dragon, I longed for the validation that came with the heroic act. My unwarranted hate hinged on the desire buried under layers of consciousness that I wanted… to be loved.
"Die here and now, or say what you want, and I'll grant your wish in exchange for your loyalty till then, your loyalty and obedience," the man coaxed, his smile blithe and beguiling.
"I…" Trembling between a rock and a hard place, I let my voice catch. "I want to be remembered!"
A cold sting stabbed as he sank his teeth into my neck.
"Deal."
He chuckled.
"Now, get dressed. We have a banquet to attend."
"Fuck you!" I spat. The wound he had just left spread around my neck, tightening like a thorned vine.
The man held me in his arms as he watched me choke. "That's not a wise thing to say, Miss Little Valkyrie. Although I wouldn't mind if you put your money where your mouth is, you and I have just made a deal." He grabbed my neck, the web of his palm against my larynx.
I gulped back the tears welling up in my eyes and glanced at my broken legs under the duvet, "How can I obey your orders when I can hardly sit up?"
"So lie down."
"Do you hear yourself?" I sneered. "What's next? Put wheels on the bed?"
He let his lips skim my earlobe, "You're very funny."
"Am I, or are you sick?" I clapped back despite the color rising to my cheeks — I could feel it.
"You flushed, Miss Valkyrie," he teased. "Does your heart tremble when you hear my praise? Will you fall to your knees if I tell you that you're the most stunning creature I've ever met?
"The moment you are disturbed by insult or pleased by praise, you are still a slave, and that shall be your first lesson here, Miss Valkyrie."
"Which of your eyes saw me pleased?"
"Both."
I hawked up a cackle bereft of mirth. "Not sure about the lesson, but I sure can relax here. Even if the sky falls, I know your glib tongue will tank the hit like it tanked all mine."
Leaning on his side, he propped his cheek against his thumb, his forefinger grazing his pale red lips. "And I shall count on you for the same should such a fate betide."
"You…"
Amused, he snapped his fingers. Wings flapped through the mouth of the dragon's liar.
Gliding toward us, a raven alighted on his shoulder.
"Oh, look," he said, "Your costume is here."
"My what?"
"Your costume," the dragon deadpanned, glancing sidelong at the bird, a blithe smile dangling on his lips.
Turning my head without taking my eyes off him, I mocked, "With all the treasures at your disposal, even the world's most expensive dress would be a breeze to you, and yet you want me to dress up like a crow? Are all dragons stingy like you?"
"It's good knowing how to talk," he hissed with a sigh, his siren eyes narrowing. "Better, knowing when to keep quiet."
With another snap of his fingers, I saw my soul fling out of my body. He caught me again, or the empty shell of me, as I fell and tucked me in.
No, he didn't want me to dress up like a crow.
He wanted me to go as the crow!
Not only did I become the fiend's henchman, I got to accompany him to my first banquet as a damn bird!
"Son of a bitch!"
My words came out in a caw that grated on the ears.