THE DRAGON'S RETURN

A Dance of Blades

The floor became a wall, and the wall became a slide to hell.

Chen Lan slammed hard against the steel railing of the corridor as the massive airship groaned, tilting at a terrifying angle. Steam hissed from the pipes above, filling the narrow space with a thick, choking fog that smelled of sulfur and hot oil. Beside him, Ruo Xi was sliding down the metal deck, her boots squeaking against the polished floorboards as she struggled to find her footing.

"Grab my hand!" Chen Lan roared, his voice cracking from the heat in his throat.

He reached out his right hand, his human hand, and caught her fingers just before she could slide into the dark gap of the stairwell. Her face was pale, and she clutched her satchel to her chest as if her life depended on it.

"Did you have to break the rudder?" Ruo Xi gasped, her feet dangling over the edge of the pit. "We are dropping like a stone!"

"It was either that or let Wei Lun turn us into pancakes," Chen Lan grunted, pulling her up with a hard yank. "Can you walk?"

"My knees are shaking, but yes," she said, leaning against the cold metal wall. "Where are the escape gliders?"

"At the back of the hangar," Chen Lan said, looking down at his left arm. The black dragon scales were smoking, the blue heat beneath them pulsing like a dying ember. "But we have company."

A group of five imperial soldiers scrambled around the corner, their silver armor clinking in the red emergency light. They were holding onto the pipes to keep from falling, but their swords were drawn, and their eyes were fixed on the two fugitives.

"There they are!" the lead soldier yelled, his voice echoing in his helmet. "Take the boy! The commander wants his head!"

"I am not a boy," Chen Lan muttered, his golden eye flaring to life beneath his monocle. He stepped in front of Ruo Xi. "And you do not want to touch me."

"Try us, abomination," the soldier spat, lunging forward with a heavy blade.

Chen Lan did not use his fire. He was too weak, his body already feeling the rapid aging of his bones from the last attack. Instead, he waited until the soldier got close, then swung his heavy, scaled arm like a club. The impact was loud, a dull metallic thud that shattered the soldier's helmet and sent him flying into his comrades.

"Nice hit!" Ruo Xi yelled, throwing a small smoke bomb at the remaining guards. "Now run!"

They scrambled down the tilting corridor, their boots sliding on the metal floor. The ship groaned again, a deep, metal-tearing sound that vibrated through Chen Lan's teeth. The forest below was getting closer. Through a broken porthole, Chen Lan could see the green canopy of the trees rushing up to meet them like a solid wall.

"We are running out of time!" Chen Lan shouted, his heart hammering against his ribs.

"The hangar is right behind this door!" Ruo Xi said, pointing to a heavy iron hatch. "Help me open it!"

They both grabbed the massive brass wheel on the door, turning it with all their might. The seal broke with a loud hiss of air, and the door swung open, revealing the cavernous hangar deck. Inside, three small wooden gliders were secured to the floor with thick leather straps, their wings folded like resting birds.

But standing in the middle of the room, completely still despite the violent tilting of the ship, was Inquisitor Wei Lun.

"You are persistent, Chen Lan," Wei Lun said, his voice calm and cold. "But your little trick with the steam pipes was only a temporary delay. The key belongs to the empire."

"You want this key so badly?" Ruo Xi said, pulling the glowing brass sphere from her bag. "Then come and get it."

"Do not play games with me, girl," Wei Lun said, raising his hand. "I can crush your heart inside your chest before you can take another breath."

"She is not the one you want, Inquisitor," Chen Lan said, stepping forward. He ripped the monocle from his face, letting his golden eye burn bright in the dim red light. "You want the dragon. But you have to go through me first."

"You are nothing but a broken vessel," Wei Lun said, a cold smile touching his lips. "Your dragon is dying, and you are already a corpse. Why do you still fight?"

"Because I am still breathing," Chen Lan said.

He opened his mouth and let out a deep, rumbling growl that sounded like grinding stones. The air in the hangar grew hot, the metal floor beneath his feet turning red as he channeled the last of his kinetic heat into his claws.

"Shoot him!" Wei Lun commanded, waving his hand toward the soldiers who had just entered the hangar behind them.

Two crossbow bolts hissed through the air, but Chen Lan did not dodge. He swung his scaled arm, creating a wave of hot air that melted the bolts in mid-flight. He did not stop there. He lunged forward, throwing his weight into a massive kinetic shockwave that shattered the gravity field Wei Lun was trying to build around them.

The impact was immense. The wooden gliders creaked, their leather straps snapping under the sudden pressure. The entire back wall of the hangar, a massive set of cargo doors, buckled outward under the force of the blast.

"Ruo Xi, now!" Chen Lan roared, his body collapsing onto the deck as the age hit him like a physical blow. His hair, once dark, was now streaked with white.

Ruo Xi did not hesitate. She cut the final strap on the nearest glider with her dagger and grabbed Chen Lan by his collar, dragging his heavy body onto the wooden seat of the small flying machine.

"You better know how to fly this thing!" Chen Lan gasped, his eyes closing as the darkness pressed in on him.

"I don't!" Ruo Xi yelled, pulling the launch lever. "But we are about to find out!"

The glider slid off the tilting deck, launching into the screaming wind of the canyon just as the massive airship struck the first trees below in a giant explosion of fire and metal.