Dragon (s)layers

Chapter 5 -- On Wings of Granite

"Fifty five hundred marks white oak (shaved/treated).

One thousand and fifty marks tool steel.

One hundred marks cotton caulking.

Fifty marks streaked copper, tin and a-ston 176.

Fifty marks iron.

Twenty marks seam sealant.

Twelve and three quarters marks sunless steel.

One day.

Three lives.

Never the same."

-Unsigned

Note left in Kettar Tower under a plate.

~Sarah~

Awe and horror washed over her like a physical wave. Choking the air with the smell of cedar. Tight in her throat air ceased to flow. She couldn't swallow. She couldn't breathe. Sarah pushed against the back wall of the barn trying to shuffle herself back out the way she'd come. But it wasn't there. The door was gone. She was here.

This was a tomb. A shrine. She didn't

belong

here. No. No. No.

No.

No.

Please.

No.

Sarah clutched her chest. Her throat. Trying to breathe. It wouldn't come! Fuck! Where was the door! Why was she still

here

?! The wall creaked. Groaned at her back. Her boots scuffled in the sawdust but she couldn't turn away. Her body refused to respond. Harder and harder she pushed against the wall and still it held. No matter how hard she pushed.

The walls tight. The ship. Looming. Sarah whimpered as her heart slammed harder and faster. She clawed at the wall, started to turn. A presence appeared next to her, it's-- her voice was flat and disinterested. "What is the problem-- Oh." Haras, her cherub.

Sarah tried to push away but the cherub turned on her and grabbed her shoulders. She fixed Sarah with white, soulless eyes. "This is an opportunity."

N- No. No, no, no."

"Let me in. I can

help

you." The cherub said firmly. Demanding. She was trying to take advantage. Sarah whimpered again. "Let. Me. Help. You." She repeated firmly. "Give me access, I can help you get through--"

Sarah screamed.

Haras tried to grab her, icy fingers reaching into her skin. Sarah punched the creature, shoved her aside and bolted for the front door. She burst into the open air. Ran right past the carriage and dove behind it, bracing herself against the side. Panting and whimpering, the usually proud cleric held herself shaking. Alone but for the pounding of her heart.

Moments passed with her panting and whimpering, cowering against the heavy carriage trying to get her breath. Haras made another appearance in her finely tailored suit with her hands clasped behind her back and the eerily patient manner she reserved for when she wanted to be

particularly

self righteous.

"D- Did you know?" Sarah took off her glasses, drinking deep gulps of air. She scrubbed her face a few times before she found a thread of normality hiding her mask. She reached for it, digging deeper and deeper to find herself.

Meanwhile the cherub took a spot in front of her charge. Her shoes crunched the dirt like a gunshot between them. "Did I know? How could I

know

anything? You've blocked me since you took the pact-- I

should

take what belongs to The Great Engineer, I

should

have unrestricted access to your senses and be able to

help

you when you need it. You use His gifts without paying your dues, how would I be able to--"

"Spare me," Sarah took a deep breath to steady herself. She reached for that string that she knew was her and pulled on it. She dragged herself along that lifeline for everything she was worth, reaching ever more for what she wanted the world to see and away from who she really was. That person needed to go away, she couldn't show herself this way. She

needed

to be who the world thought she was right now. With a heaving sigh she hefted herself to her feet, dusted herself down and eyed her cherub.

The divine creature stared right back at her, impassive and stony as ever. "It's an opportunity."

"I--"

"You could find out what happened," Haras unbuttoned her jacket and, as though she was at a merchant's meeting, slid her hand into her pants pocket, thumb extended beyond the entry to show beyond any doubt that she was being deferential. It was the first sign of neutrality that Sarah had ever seen from her handler. Not that she believed it for a second, but the implication was fairly clear; 'We're on the same side'.

Sarah wiped at her eyes and took a steadying breath. "I know what happened. They crashed because--"

"The design," Haras cut her off. "Was flawless. You tested it for everything, the wood was solid. The reactor worked. The vectoring worked! You

did nothing wrong

!"

"I killed--"

"Stop that."

"But. . ." They stared at one another for nearly a full heartbeat. Sarah had no words. She wasn't allowed to speak the ones on her mind because of her pact but she could bloody well articulate it in other ways. Many ways. Usually involving sharp things and discrete parts upon her body.

Harash apparently sensed her shift in tone and, in another first, her expression softened. She spoke in a low, consoling tone that

almost

sounded genuine. "You continue to deny the gifts given you by your

patron,

Maybe just this one you could consider embracing them, let me

help

you and then I'll withdraw once more. . . .we can explore the problem together."

"You must think me quite foolish." Sarah straightened herself out, fluffed out her blouse and resettled her glasses. Once more in control, mask firmly back in place, she squared her shoulders. "My life is not a technical problem to be solved any more than theirs was. I'll not hear of it."

"All right," The cherub relented. A convoluted mercy if ever there was one. "But consider this, if nothing else, how long do you plan to be able to run from the dragon's agents? Your companions, one of them a dragon's kin himself, are going to ask questions and eventually they will fail you."

Sarah glanced away as she rubbed at her arms.

"They always do, Sarah. There will be a time when running isn't going to be an option, and you will look around you and there will be no one." Once more she buttoned her jacket, straightened out the pressed collar and stood firmly. They'd both subconsciously slid back into their roles as enemies of convenience, eying one another dubiously. "You will need tools and equipment to get away. . . .what better way than a ship?"

"I'll have you know, I am

fully

capable--"

"Look around you, Sarah." The cherub swept her arm out to encompass the farm. "Does

this

look like you're acting at your capacity? Are you fulfilling your potential here? You've not done so for two decades, and now? You're going to run away from the one

chance

you have at closing this chapter on your life. If not for Him, don't you think you

owe

it to yourself?"

Once again Sarah looked away.

"You can't honestly believe that this happened by mistake, can you? An

airship

doesn't spring into the mind of a farmer, aren't you curious? Don't you

care?!

"

The older half-elf tensed. "I think it best you leave."

"Not until you admit you're curious."

There was more than one way to skin this particular cat. Sarah turned away, peeking in the carriage to find it empty. It figured; cherubs never appeared in the physical unless there was little to no chance they'd be seen. In lieu of finding someone to drive her off, Sarah climbed aboard.

"Very mature, Sarah." Haras was sitting in the cabin across from her.

"It was worth a try."

"I can't believe you punched me. . ." The divine woman clucked her tongue. "You need to remember your place in this arrangement."

Sarah blew it off and climbed out through the opposite door, slamming it hard. "I'm quite through listening to voices in my head, thank you!"

"If only it were that easy, but here we are." Haras was once more beside her even as she walked towards left side of the house looking for her companions. "The question is whether or not I let you waste

another

chance to redeem yourself,

Engineer

."

"Not listening!"

"You should be." The cherub's voice went cold like steel. "You

designed

it. You

built

it. Then you destroyed the plans and your research so no one could follow it." She stalked after her charge, prowling until she was almost touching Sarah. She cant her head slightly. "This is how you redeem yourself before your god. . . .you

finish

it."

Sarah backpedaled. "I'm sure the person who made this can more than make up for anything they haven't figured out yet! Let's not be hasty."

"Sarah!" A voice called out from the opposite side of the building. She opened her mouth to reply but Haras clamped it tight with an icy grip. They locked eyes and the cherub wagged her finger a definite, undeniable 'no'.

"Mph!"

"No. Listen; listen well. This will be good for you and the world as a whole, I won't let you throw this opportunity away. Do what you do best, allow me to

help

you and I will respect your decision to stay removed from the Collective. . ."

"Mph, nhghhmhmph." Sarah tried to bat the hand away but it was like smacking iron. Briefly she considered using her gift of atrophy to free herself but she relented. Looking every part a sullen teenager with her arms crossed, she stared back at the immortal creature.

The cherub's pupil-less eyes roamed Sarah, a muscle clenched in her jaw. "I am your case worker, not your enemy. You don't

have

to use your gifts, you built it once without them. . . .do it again. That's all I ask." With that she let go.

There were a million things racing through Sarah's mind as she opened her mouth to tell her handler about all the reasons it was

wrong

to even try, how it was insane to think it would've worked. How it was

sick

to demand it of her, but none of it came to her lips. Since they'd been 'reduced' to verbal communication by her divesting herself from her divine chain, there was no easy way to explain her thoughts, some of them she was forbidden of speaking of by the very nature of her pact.

Sullen, tired and angry, Sarah did the only thing she could do in such a predicament; she defied her best interests for the sake of satisfying her own petty feelings. "Why, had I thought of it in such magnanimous terms I certainly would've jumped at the chance earlier! Forsooth, I have been blinded by the light of a conscience much too dim to separate technical ability from

human cost

." She spat the last part out. "Surely, I should have prostrated myself earlier and--" She inched closer. "uttered the words that first should have crossed my lips when we met! How did it go? Oh yes, fu--"

"Sarah?" Caldion said. From behind.

She wheeled. The three of her companions were standing there looking at her as surely as though she had a second head.

"Who're you talking to? We heard a scream. . ." Tess looked around, wary and alert.

"I-- Yes!" Sarah faltered her words and fought to calm her voice once more. "Yes, quite fine in fact! I. . . .must have stepped on a rat or something." She cleared her throat and flashed a quick smile at the dubious glances. "Be so kind as to bring the carriage around back so we don't attract attention from the road, yes?"

Caldion glanced up the path to the road, "Yeah. I thought about it but we don't know who owns the place--"

"And we'll never find out if we're arrested now, will we?"

"She has a point," Keiter pitched in. "I would not want to scare the owner, but if we don't move, we might not have the chance later."

Tess fidgeted with her new dress. "Y- Yes, maybe that's for the best. But something's not right here, there's magic but it's

off

some how." She looked at Sarah oddly. "You feel it too, don't you?"

"Not as such, no." It had to be her cherub. The little bitch was going to make things difficult for Sarah even if she wasn't visible! Because why should life be easy. . . .Sarah clapped her hands once. "Let's move the wagon, then we can narrow down the cause of any malformed magic remnants! I dare say I should like to find such a thing if it's a threat, but once and only

after

our transportation has been seen to.

Caldion started to object and, surprisingly, shook his head and strode over to the carriage, mounted it and began maneuvering the horses around the side of the barn. "Get someone to close the door there

queen Sarah

, we wouldn't want to attract attention." He flicked his head towards the front of the barn.

Sarah ignored his prodding and set Tess to the job while she took a few seconds to get herself righted and centered. Keiter silently watched her the entire time, all the while holding a quiet vigil over his claimed spot. He sniffed the air, drew in deep and let it out as a sigh.

"What?" Sarah hugged her arms over her chest.

"You're never going to change. . . .what was it about this time?"

"I surely have no idea what you're talking about."

Keiter turned his muzzle up to her and, in the most brotherly voice she'd ever heard from the dragon-kin, he said softly: "Isira told me about many things in our time together. About how--" he paused. "Ah, cherubs. She called them cherubs. You have one, don't you?"

Sarah tried to agree but her voice died in her throat, stopped by her pact. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Let's say for the sake of it that there are many things that even the gods seem to find amusing, and that may well be one of them."

"She doesn't. She hurts for you--"

"Keiter. Please. Stop. I'm in no mood--"

"You never are."

"Nor will I ever be!" Sarah fidgeted as a wash of shame swept over her. She owed her friend more respect than that. "There's a boat in there, Keiter." She exhaled deeply. "A boat. . . .my boat. I designed it. It's not complete, I doubt it's anywhere near it, but someone

made

it from my design!"

"That should be flattering, shouldn't it? You like having people impersonate you--"

"Inspire. I like to

inspire

people. This is different. . . .very different."

Caldion and Tess emerged from the barn a few moments later looking as confused and vaguely curious as she herself should have been. As they approached Caldion looked over the group and seemed to form his own conclusion about things, he started to throw his thoughts into the mix. "I think--"

Sarah was having none of it, "Now that that's out of the way. Perhaps we should wait out back for the owner to return or night to fall so we might move on, hm?"

To her surprise, though, Caldion nodded. "I was going to suggest the same thing. Maybe we can forage something to eat from the woods in the back, I think I saw some fox tracks so there's bound to be game back here."

Anything that allowed her to keep distance between herself and the ship in the barn she was more than willing to play along. Sarah beamed a smile she didn't have any faith in and, as though they had been friends all along, she threw her arm around the young man's back and started towards the back yard.

He brushed her off before he took even the first step.

That was fine with her.

Except it wasn't. . . She wanted to feel contact. She wanted someone to hug her and tell her it was going to be okay.

The only people, the only

family

that could have done such a thing and have it mean anything though were gone. And Sarah stood not one hundred paces from their memorial. It killed her inside, but it also sparked something; a question, a wonder. A hope?

What if she

could

get the boat to fly?