Brimstone

Chapter Twenty-eight

The dragon roared again, and Rodney’s salute turned into a wild lunge to the side. His reaction time wasn’t great, but the horse, somehow, sensed the danger, and moved. Rodney clutched at the reins and leaned forward, trying to stay seated. The dragon’s breath was hot.

“Don’t tell me,” Rodney groaned.

Flames shot from the creature’s mouth. It wasn’t like in the old movies. The flame was bluish in tint, not bright, and focused. It was closer to the fire of a gas torch than a bonfire. Some chemical reaction in the beast’s organs created fumes that were lethal and flammable.

Rodney didn’t have time to think about it. The horse spun, and almost of its own accord the lance rose level with the dragon’s chest. The horse dove forward. Rodney cried out, half in surprise and fear, half in exhilaration. The lance bit flesh and the creature reared up and back, screaming its own pain and rage.

There was no time to think, only to act. He pulled the lance free and his mount, which now reacted almost like an extra limb, darted to the far end of the arena. He lifted the lance straight up and pivoted. The dragon had dropped low to the ground. Blood oozed from a large cut in its upper thigh, but its body was serpentine. It flowed along the floor, rolled and compensated for the injured limb.

Rodney tilted his head, and the visor of the helmet he wore dropped over his eyes. He tried to fumble it back up, but before he could, something amazing happened. The inside of the visor lit up like a control panel. He saw the dragon clearly, but more — he knew things about it. He saw its weaknesses and felt its power as if he were part of the creature itself. Somehow the helmet had integrated his mind, the horse, and the lance. He’d become a single entity, a weapon with one purpose, and that purpose slid across the floor toward him; blue shimmering flame licked at its chin and it stared at him through eyes as large as basketballs.

Rodney felt a strange sense of calm settle over him. He sat easily in the saddle, the tip of his lance at a slight angle toward the floor. He tugged the reins to the left, just slightly, and the horse began an odd, mincing side-step. There were three places to wound the creature that could stop it. He needed to hit at least two of them to bring it down. The wound to its leg, while painful, would barely slow it, and now that it was injured, it would feel cornered. That would render it more dangerous and less predictable.

“Come to poppa,” Rodney whispered.

He felt stronger than he’d ever felt before. He knew he should be terrified, but the longer he stayed connected with the armor, horse, and lance, the more self-awareness and courage he gained. Sure, the thing he was faced off against was huge, breathed fire, and could snap him in half with a single bite, but he still felt as if he had the advantage. The weapons he’d been given were specifically geared toward defeating this very creature. He even knew, though he wasn’t sure exactly how, that this was far from the first such dragon to enter the arena. He also knew that most of them had been slain in their first battle, and how those deaths had occurred. It was programmed into the helmet’s interface. He knew that the dragon he faced was the big daddy of them all, but he had a roadmap of how it’s brethren had been killed.

The dragon charged. Rodney directed his mount to the side, turned, and then lunged. The lance pierced the dragon behind the neck, just above the shoulder. He pressed it deep, and he knew he’d struck his target cleanly. The dragon reeled up and back, lashing out with its tail. The horse backpedaled and spun, but the tail still struck hard. Rodney and the horse slid across the arena toward the far wall.

This is it he told himself. This is what it all comes to. Then he felt a churning motion, and he realized that, impossibly, the mechanical horse was gaining traction against the skid. They stopped just short of the wall, and he was in motion again. There was nothing he could do but concentrate on the battle and ride it out. Even if he’d wanted to lift the visor, or to turn the horse and run, that wasn’t part of the weapons’ programming. The fight was on, and no matter what Rodney thought, or what he might want, it was going to reach its conclusion. Unable to stop himself, he cried out. Surprisingly, it sounded like a battle cry.

The horse plunged ahead, the dragon reared, and the crowd came to their feet with a roar of approval.

Sheppard and Mara burst into the main chamber, glancing in both directions, but no one was in sight. It didn’t seem that Saul intended to concern himself further with them, but it would be a mistake to underestimate him.

There was a screen on the wall, and it caught Sheppard’s eye. It hung over the bar where they’d first had drinks and it showed the arena clearly. Sheppard stepped up to the bar and stared.

On the screen, a dragon slid across the floor clumsily. It had been wounded, but it still looked dangerous. Across the arena, a warrior sat astride an odd looking horse. He wore a visor, and he carried a lance that flickered with energy. Something about the way the man sat the horse caught Sheppard’s attention, something familiar. Then the warrior gave out a battle cry and the horse lunged, and in that instant, Sheppard knew.

“Oh no.”

“What?” Mara stepped up beside him. “What is it?”

“”Not what,” Sheppard said, “who. It’s Rodney. That’s Rodney in there, fighting a dragon, and Saul took him because I told him Rodney could use the weapons.”

“He’s not dying,” Mara said. “Look. He’s wounded the beast twice. Maybe you have underestimated him.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Sheppard said.

He watched the screen a moment longer, and then dragged his gaze from it and grabbed her by the arm.

“You have to take me down to that cell. I have to get my people out of there.”

He saw the doubt and resistance in her expression and stepped closer, suddenly wrapping her in his arms. He held her there tightly and met her gaze.

“This whole city is about to plunge into a sun, and I’m not ready. I’m not ready to die, and I’m thinking that — if we had a little more time together — we’d find out we aren’t done with one another, either. There may not be any way off this planet, but if we can get my people out and get to the star drives, maybe we can change the city’s course. Maybe, if we can get past Saul, we can bring this place back to the days you remember — to something worth being part of. The truth is, there’s nothing to lose. What is he going to do if he catches us, or stops us? Kill us a few hours early? Send us to the arena? This is better than the entertainments that place provides, because the stakes are real.”

Mara watched him for a moment, sizing him up and testing his words for truth. Then, all at once, her expression softened.

“You’re right. Saul has been running my life quite long enough. We’ll get your people, and we’ll see what can be done. Then…who knows?”

Sheppard smiled and squeezed her arm, then let her go.

They turned and ran down the corridor toward the holding cells. There was no one in the passageway. Even the guards were watching the battle in the arena. No one wanted to miss the action, and there was no reason to watch prisoners who were locked up securely.

The two entered the large circular chamber, and it, too, was empty. They ran straight to the cell where Ronon, Teyla, and Cumby were still locked up. Mara worked the control panel quickly. At first, nothing happened.

“Come on,” Sheppard said. “What’s wrong?”

“My access code,” Mara said. “It’s been locked out.”

“Great,” Sheppard replied. “Just great.”

“Don’t worry,” she laughed. “I know other codes.”

She keyed in a sequence of symbols, and the door slid open. Sheppard slipped quickly inside. Ronon, and Cumby were hunched over the view screen. They glanced up in shock, but even the sudden opening of the door couldn’t drag their attention from Rodney and the dragon for long.

“Come on,” Sheppard barked. “We’re no good to Rodney or anyone else if we all end up locked in here. Let’s move.”

“He’s wounded it twice,” Ronon said. “Never would have guessed.”

Sheppard and Mara slipped up beside them. Just as they did, Rodney and his mount lunged yet again. The lance bit deep, and the dragon reared up. It screamed, but there was more than pain in the sound. It was shrill and final, and even as the creature toppled backward, it was obvious it would never rise again.

“I don’t believe it!” Sheppard breathed.

But even as it died, it whipped its monstrous tail in a vicious arc. The roar of the crowd dropped to stunned silence as Rodney turned and saw it move — too late. The tail caught him dead on. It lifted him and the horse from the arena floor and drove them into the wall. The force of the blow was so great that the wall crumbled. Rodney, the tail, and the horse disappeared through the rubble. Dust rose, and the dragon lay still.

“No!” Cumby choked.

On the screen, Saul’s face appeared. “The dragon is dead,” he said, his voice grave but his eyes dancing with excitement. “Unfortunately, the brave warrior who defeated it has also passed on. When we have finished removing the rubble, the next battle will begin. Colonel Sheppard, wherever you are in the city, you have my condolences. You have lost a brave man.”

With a curse, Ronon slammed his fist into the wall and Sheppard dropped his eyes to the floor, breathing hard. He couldn’t believe it, couldn’t process this twisted reality.

Teyla was gone. Rodney was gone. His team was shattered.

Eyes squeezed shut he dragged in a breath, then another, struggling for self-control. But he couldn’t grieve here, he didn’t have that luxury. Their lives were measured in hours now and he had to get them home. With effort, he looked up into the bleak faces of Ronon and Cumby. This had to end.

“Come on,” he said, and didn’t recognize the dead voice that spoke. “We’re getting outa here. Now.”

“No. We should go back,” Ronon said. “We can’t leave them here.”

Sheppard met his gaze and saw in Ronon’s hooded eyes the same rage he felt, constricting his chest like a steel band. It was hard to draw breath against it, hard to focus on anything beyond it. “We have to go,” he said, grinding out the words. “There’s nothing we can do for them now.”

“We can kill Saul,” Ronon growled.

“He’s going to die anyway. And so will we, if we don’t leave. Now.”

“Does it matter? Some things are more important than survival.”

Sheppard looked away, back at the screen. He could see the creature being dragged away and with a sickening jolt saw the gleam of Rodney’s armor laying twisted in the rubble. “Vengeance?” he said, tasting the word in the bile that rose at the back of his throat. He looked at Ronon. “Do you think that’s what Teyla would have wanted? Or Rodney?”

Ronon didn’t answer, but behind him Cumby scratched a hand across his dirt-streaked face. “Ronon’s right,” he said. “We can’t just leave them here. What if they’re not dead?”

And for a moment he was back in the Afghan desert, Holland bleeding out in the sand and not a damn thing he could do about it. He looked away. “Doesn’t matter,” he said. “We can’t go back for them, there’s no time.”

“But — ”

“There’s no time!” he snapped. “We’re leaving, now. And that’s an order, soldier.”

Cumby stared at him and then Ronon said, “Sheppard’s right. If we go back, we all die.”

“Let’s go,” Sheppard said, heading for the door.

“To the star drive?” Mara said, tentative amid their grief and anger.

“No. To the gate. We’re getting out of here.”

“But you can’t go back to your city,” she said, confused. “Why would you go to the gate? I thought — ”

He spun around. “Look, the only one of us who could have changed the course of this city was Rodney. And he’s dead. So, we have one chance to get out of here — Rodney gave us the coordinates to a world that’s not locked out of the system and with a bit of luck our people will be waiting there for us.” He paused, bitter from his loss but trying not to take it out on Mara. “Come with us.”

“But I thought we were going to try and save Admah first. My home, my friends, they’re all going to die and — ”

“And my friends are already dead!” he barked, and just saying it made it too true, too real. He took a breath, tamped down his rage. Later. There’d be time for that later. With effort, he kept his voice even. “Look, Teyla and Rodney were my friends,” he said. “They died because of this madness and there’s not a damn thing I can do about that. It’s too late for them, and it’s too late for the city. Rodney was Admah’s last hope, and now he’s gone.” He rubbed a hand across his face. “I’m sorry, we can’t help your people. But you? That’s another story. You can come with us. You can help us.”

Mara stared, eyes wide with fear but her face resolved. “I understand,” she said. “I’ll come with you. There’s nothing left for me here.”

“Then let’s go,” Ronon said. His voice was even, but just beneath the surface it trembled with barely controlled rage.

“Mara, show us how to get to the surface,” Sheppard said. “We’ll handle it from there.”

She nodded and together they slipped out into the passage, heading toward the main room and the halls beyond. On the screens all around, Saul began announcing the next battle. The crowd roared and the games continued unabated.