Chapter 21
Thoughts swam wildly through Kuja's head.
'Lord of the dragons? What on Gaia did he mean, Lord? I've never heard of such a thing for dragonbonds. How is it possible?' But the deep conviction with which Zaruyon had said it left no doubt in Kuja's mind that it was true. He wasn't sure why, and he wasn't sure how it had escaped his notice, but he was sure that Zaruyon had been telling him the truth.
The ashes of Zaruyon's body were scattering in the wind as Kuja turned and strode back to the body of the snow drake. When Kuja approached him however, he noticed that the creature wasn't as dead as he had assumed. The chest still rose and fell with breath, and the creature's open eyes told Kuja that he was conscious, though apparently unable to stand. Kuja felt a black rage surge up in his heart, but he focused it; his mission was not yet complete.
He came to a stop next to the beast's body and stared down at him. The drake was making pitiful low groaning noises. Probably the force of Zaruyon's tail had broken some of his bones, maybe ribs. Kuja hoped darkly that it hurt. A lot.
He reached out with one booted foot and stepped on the drake's windpipe, stopping his breath. The drake's mouth opened and his tongue lolled out. Pitiful smothered squealing noises came from his throat as his air was cut off.
"Tell me where your clan is," Kuja said coldly.
Traitor! the drake spat.
"Tell me!" Kuja roared, putting more of his weight onto the drake's neck. "A dragon just died because of your foolish attack! Your kind are scum! Worms! Attacking from the shadows in an ambush like cowards! You are not fit to call yourselves dragon kin!"
The drake quailed at his anger. Please don't kill me, he said.
"I won't," Kuja agreed, "so long as you tell me where your clan's cave is."
The drake whimpered some more. A little further up the mountain, he said. Slightly more to the east side. Behind a huge stone arch. Please let me go!
Kuja shook his head and removed his foot from the drake's throat. "Filth," he said. "I hope that your clan does not come down for you. You are not worthy of their loyalty." He turned away and began to climb to where the drake had instructed.
It turned out to be quite close by, and Kuja felt a twinge of sadness at how close they had come without knowing it. If he and Zaruyon had just pressed on a little further before making camp for the night... But there was no changing the past now.
Kuja stood and stared at the stone arch the drake had described. It was indeed enormous, probably a remnant of some long-dead people that had lived here, but who had moved on, away from the bitter cold of the mountain. A huge cave spread out into the rock behind the arch, shielded from the worst of the winds. Kuja gathered himself and strode in.
There was not much more to the cave system than one large room. Several smaller tunnels branched off from it, but from what Kuja could see they did not go very far, and did not lead to very large caverns. The main cavern was the focus of the cave system, and it was expansive, an almost perfect hemisphere with a radius of at least twenty feet.
Nearly a hundred drakes, far too many for him to fight, if it came to that, huddled in the center of the room, and they all turned to look at him as he entered. A hiss started up, first soft, and then growing as more and more drakes joined in. At the far end of the cavern, on a raised stone, a single drake, larger than all the others, struggled to her feet. It was on her that Kuja focused. The Queen Drake.
She was sizably larger than any of the others, another two feet longer at least and a full head taller. Two fin-like ridges fanned out from the sides of her head almost like ears. Her scales glistened a bright white in the dim light of several dozen globes of pale yellow mage-light.
Silence, came the calm thought from the Queen. Instantly the hissing stopped. You. Dragonbond. Why have you come here?
"You poisoned one of my friends," said Kuja. "I have come for the antidote."
You presume much, traitor, said the Queen. You, who led thousands of white dragons to their death. You, who led them all in a cause which you then abandoned as soon as you had lost your battle. Feckless. Disloyal. What right have you to call on the help of the dragon kin?
For a moment, Kuja felt the old guilt threaten to overwhelm him. How could he answer to this? How could he answer her accusations when he knew them to be true?
But then suddenly, Zaruyon's words returned to his mind. Dragon Lord, Zaruyon had called him. Leader of all dragon kind. Didn't that mean that he had some kind of duty? As the white dragon had not abandoned him, he had no right to turn his back on the dragons.
"I am a dragonbond. And as such, I am your Lord. You must heed my request. And heed this as well: I may have changed the cause I supported. But it is not because I am disloyal. I have discovered now what is right. I discovered a true cause. What I did that led the white dragons to their death was a mistake. That I understand. But I have learned from it. And I will not make it again."
There was silence in the cavern for a while. Then finally, the Queen spoke once more. Noble words indeed, Kuja the dragonbond. But do you speak the truth?
"I would swear it on my life," said Kuja, holding himself up proudly.
The Queen seemed pleased with this. Then so shall you wager it. We will find whether you are still loyal. Guards! Take him to Caranteth!
Kuja had only a few seconds to wonder who Caranteth was before a group of drakes detached themselves from the crowd and walked towards him, swishing their tales menacingly. They arranged themselves in a circle around him, and the two in front turned and began to lead the way through the crowd towards a tunnel near the back of the cavern. Kuja followed curiously, though, he admitted to himself, it wasn't as if he had much of a choice.