That was what Id once believed. Until I met her.
Ive read your report, St. Anthony, Fischer continued. It says you and Sebastian made contact with the suspect and began your investigation.
Yes, sir, Tristan agreed. We made contact with Ember Hill, and Garret began establishing a relationship, per orders, to determine if she was the sleeper.
Ember. Her name sent a little pulse through my stomach. Before the events of Crescent Beach, Id known who I wasa soldier of St. George. My mission was to make contact with the target, determine if it was a dragon and kill it. Clear-cut. Black-and-white. Simple.
Onlyit wasnt so simple. The target wed been sent to destroy turned out to be a girl. A cheerful, daring, funny, beautiful girl. A girl who loved to surf, who taught me how to surf, who challenged me, made me laugh and surprised me every time I was with her. Id been expecting a ruthless, duplicitous creature that could only imitate human emotion. But Ember was none of those things.
Fischer continued to address Tristan. And what did you determine? he asked, speaking more for the benefit of the court, I suspected. Was this girl the sleeper?
Tristan stared straight ahead, his expression grave. Yes, sir, he replied, and a shiver ran through me. Ember Hill was the dragon we were sent to eliminate.
I see. Fischer nodded. The entire room was silent; you could hear a fly buzzing around the window. Please inform the court, Fischer said quietly, what happened the night of the raid. When you and Sebastian tracked the sleeper to the beach after the failed strike on the hideout.
I swallowed, bracing to hear my betrayal lined out for everyone, play-by-play. The night that had brought me here, the decision that had changed everything.
Wed found the targets hideout, Tristan began, his voice coolly professional. A nest of at least two dragons, possibly more. It was a standard raidgo in, kill the targets, get out. But they mustve had surveillance set up around the house. They were in the process of fleeing when we went in. We wounded one, but they still managed to escape.
My stomach churned. I had led that strike. The targets had escaped because Id seen Ember in that house, and Id hesitated. My orders had been to shoot on sightanything that moved, human or dragon, I was supposed to gun down, no questions asked.
But I hadnt. Id stared at the girl, unable to make myself pull the trigger. And that moment of indecision had cost us the raid, as Ember had Shifted to her true form and turned the room into a blazing inferno. During the fiery confusion, she and the other dragons had fled out the back and off a cliff, and the mansion had burned to the ground.
No one suspected what had happened in the room, that Id seen Ember over the muzzle of my gun and had frozen. No one knew that the Perfect Soldier had faltered for the very first time. That in that moment, my world and everything Id ever known had cracked.
But that was nothing compared to what had happened next.
So the strike was a failure, Fischer said, and I winced inside at the word. What happened after that?
For the briefest of moments, Tristans gaze flicked to me. Almost too fast to be seen, but it still made my heart pound. He knew. Maybe not the whole affair, but he knew something had happened to me after the failed strike. For a short time after the raid, while headquarters was deciding what to do about the escaped dragons, Id disappeared. Tristan had found me a while later, and wed gone after the targets together, but by that time, the damage was done.
What had happened after the raid, Id never told anyone. Later that night, Id called Ember, asked her to meet me on an isolated bluff, alone. Id been wearing my helmet and mask during the raid; she hadnt known I was part of St. George. From the hurried tone of her voice, I had guessed she was planning to leave town, possibly with her brother, now that she knew St. George was in the area. But shed agreed to meet with me one last time. Probably to say goodbye.
Id been planning to kill her. It was my fault the mission had failed; it was my responsibility to fix it. She was a dragon, and I was St. George. Nothing else mattered. But, once again, staring at the green-eyed girl down the barrel of my gun, the girl whod taught me to surf and dance and sometimes smiled just for me I couldnt do it. It was more than a moments hesitation. More than a heartbeat of surprise. Id stood face-to-face with the target I had been sent to Crescent Beach to destroythe girl I knew was my enemyand I could not make myself pull the trigger.
And that was when shed attacked. One moment I was drawing down a wide-eyed human girl, the next I was on my back, pinned by a snarling red dragon, its fangs inches from my throat. In that moment, Id known I was going to die, torn apart by claws or incinerated with dragonfire. I had dropped my guard, left myself open, and the dragon had responded as any of its kind would when faced with St. George. Strangely enough, Id felt no regret.
And then, as Id lain helpless beneath a dragon and braced myself for death, the unthinkable had happened.
Shed let me go.
Nothing had driven her off. No one from St. George had arrived in the nick of time to save me. Wed been alone, miles from anything. The bluff had been dark, deserted and isolated; even if Id screamed, thered been nothing, no one, to hear it.
Except the dragon. The ruthless, calculating monster that was supposed to despise mankind and possess no empathy, no humanity, whatsoever. The creature that hated St. George above all else and showed us no pity, gave no quarter or forgiveness. The target Id lied to, the girl Id pursued with the sole intent of destroying her, who could have ended my life right then with one quick slash or breath. The dragon who had a soldier of St. George beneath its claws, completely at its mercyhad deliberately backed off and let me go.
And I had realizedthe Order was wrong. St. George taught us that dragons were monsters. We killed them without question, because there was nothing to question. They were alien, Other. Not like us.
Onlythey were. Ember had already shaken every belief the Order had instilled in me about dragons; that shed spared my life was the final blow, the proof I couldnt ignore. Which meant that some of the dragons Id killed in the past, gunned down without thought because the Order had told me to, mightve been like her.
And if that was the case, I had a lot of innocent blood on my hands.
After the raid, Tristan said, continuing to address the table, Garret and I were ordered to follow Ember Hill in the hopes that she would lead us to the other targets. We tracked her to a beach on the edge of town, where she did indeed meet with two other dragons. A juvenile and an adult.
Another murmur ran through the courtroom. An adult, Fischer confirmed, while the rest of the table looked grim. Full-grown adult dragons were rarely seen; the oldest dragons were also the most secretive, keeping to the shadows, hiding deep within their organization. The Order knew
Talons leader was an extremely old, extremely powerful dragon called the Elder Wyrm, but no one had ever laid eyes on it.
Yes, sir, Tristan went on. We were to observe and report if the target revealed itself as a dragon, and all three were in their true forms when we got there. I informed Commander St. Francis at once and received the order to shoot on sight. He paused, and Fischers eyes narrowed.
After the raid, Tristan said, continuing to address the table, Garret and I were ordered to follow Ember Hill in the hopes that she would lead us to the other targets. We tracked her to a beach on the edge of town, where she did indeed meet with two other dragons. A juvenile and an adult.
Another murmur ran through the courtroom. An adult, Fischer confirmed, while the rest of the table looked grim. Full-grown adult dragons were rarely seen; the oldest dragons were also the most secretive, keeping to the shadows, hiding deep within their organization. The Order knew
Talons leader was an extremely old, extremely powerful dragon called the Elder Wyrm, but no one had ever laid eyes on it.
Yes, sir, Tristan went on. We were to observe and report if the target revealed itself as a dragon, and all three were in their true forms when we got there. I informed Commander St. Francis at once and received the order to shoot on sight. He paused, and Fischers eyes narrowed.
What happened then, soldier?
Garret stopped me, sir. He prevented me from taking the shot.
Did he give any reason for his actions?
Yes, sir. Tristan took a deep breath, as if the next words were difficult to say. He told methat the Order was wrong.
Silence fell. A stunned, brittle silence that raised the hair on the back of my neck. To imply that the Order was mistaken was to spit on the code that the first knights had implemented centuries ago. The code that denounced dragons as soulless wyrms of the devil and their human sympathizers as corrupted, beyond hope.
Is there anything else? Fischers expression was cold, mirroring the looks of everyone at the table. Tristan paused again, then nodded.
Yes, sir. He said that he wouldnt let me kill the targets, that some dragons werent evil and that we didnt have to slaughter them. When I tried to reason with him, he attacked me. We fought, briefly, and he knocked me out.
I winced. I hadnt meant to injure my partner. But I couldnt let him fire. Tristans sniping skills were unmatched. He wouldve killed at least one dragon before they realized what was happening. I couldnt stand there and watch Ember be murdered in front of me.
By the time I woke up, Tristan finished, the targets had escaped. Garret surrendered to our squad leader and was taken into custody, but we were unable to find the dragons again.
Is that all?
Yes, sir.
Fischer nodded. Thank you, St. Anthony. Garret Xavier Sebastian, he went on, turning to me as Tristan stepped away. His eyes and voice remained hard. Youve heard the charges brought against you. Do you have anything to say in your defense?
I took a quiet breath.
I do. I raised my head, facing the men at the table. Id been debating whether I wanted to say anything, to tell the Order to its face that they had been mistaken all this time. This would damn me even further, but I had to try. I owed it to Ember, and all the dragons I had killed.
This summer, I began, as the flat stares of the table shifted to me, I went to Crescent Beach expecting to find a dragon. I didnt. One of the men blinked; the rest simply continued to stare as I went on. What I found was a girl, someone just like me in a lot of ways. But she was also her own person. There was no imitation of humanity, no artificial emotions or gestures. Everything she did was genuine. Our mission took so long because I couldnt see any differences between Ember Hill and a civilian.
The silence in the courtroom now took on a lethal stillness. Gabriel Martins face was like stone, his stare icy. I didnt dare turn to look at Tristan, but I could feel his incredulous gaze on my back.
I swallowed the dryness in my throat. Im not asking for clemency, I went on. My actions that night were inexcusable. But I beg the court to consider my suggestion that not all dragons are the same. Ember Hill could be an anomaly among her kind, but from what I saw she wanted nothing to do with the war. If there are others like her
Thank you, Sebastian. Fischers voice was clipped. His chair scraped the floor as he pushed it back and stood, gazing over the room. Court is adjourned, he announced. We will reconvene in an hour. Dismissed.
* * *
Back in my cell, I sat on the hard mattress with my back against the wall and one knee drawn to my chest, waiting for the court to decide my fate. I wondered if they would consider my words. If the impassioned testimony of the former Perfect Soldier would be enough to give them pause.
Garret.
I looked up. Tristans lean, wiry form stood in front of the cell bars. His face was stony, but I looked closer and saw that his expression was conflicted, almost tormented. He glared at me, midnight-blue eyes searing a hole through my skull, before he sighed and made an angry, hopeless gesture, shaking his head.
What the hell were you thinking?
I looked away. It doesnt matter.
Bullshit. Tristan stepped forward, looking like he might punch me in the head if there werent iron bars between us. Three years weve been partners. Three years weve fought together, killed together, nearly gotten ourselves eaten a couple times. Ive saved your hide countless times, and yes, I know youve done the same for me. You owe me a damn explanation, partner. And dont you dare say something stupid, like I wouldnt understand. I know you better than that.
When I didnt answer, he clenched a fist around a bar, brow furrowed in confusion and anger. What happened in Crescent Beach, Garret? he demanded, though his voice was almost pleading. Youre the freaking Perfect Soldier. You know the code by heart. You can recite the tenets in your sleep, backward if you need to. Why would you betray everything?
I dont know
It was the girl, wasnt it? Tristans voice made my stomach drop. The dragon. She did something to you. Damn, I shouldve seen it. You hung out with her a lot. She couldve been manipulating you that whole time.
It wasnt like that. In the old days, it was suspected that dragons could cast spells on weak-minded humans, enslaving them through mind control and magic. Though that rumor had officially been discounted, there were still those in St. George who believed the old superstitions. Not that Tristan had been one of them; he was just as coolly pragmatic as me, one of the reasons we got along so well. But I suspected it was easier for him to accept that an evil dragon had turned his friend against his will, rather than that friend knowingly and deliberately betraying him and the Order. You cant blame Garret; the dragon made him do it.
But it wasnt anything Ember had done. It was just everything about her. Her passion, her fearlessness, her love for life. Even in the middle of the mission, Id forgotten that she was a potential target, that she could be a dragon, the very creature I was there to destroy. When I was around Ember, I didnt see her as an objective, or a target, or the enemy. I just saw her.
What, then? Tristan demanded, sounding angry again. What, exactly, was it like, Garret? Please explain it to me. Explain to me how my partner, the soldier who has killed more dragons then anyone his age in the history of St. George, suddenly decided that he couldnt kill this dragon. Explain how he could turn his back on his family, on the Order that raised him, taught him everything he knows and gave him a purpose, to side with the enemy. Explain how he could stab his own partner in the back, to save one dragon bitch who