57 Fragment 57

The bullet bounced off.

After a moment of silent incredulity shared by all parties, he sighed and closed his eyes. It was perhaps fortunate that his form was currently held compressed at the very edge of his limits, even if he could have simply reinforced his own pattern in order to repair an injury.

A moment later dozens of small metallic projectiles followed the first, creating a dangerous spray of ricochet around him, and one of the brash youths who had stepped forward to wield heavy sticks against his head was pierced by a round. The weapons fell silent as the uniformed guards realized that they were only hurting their own. A single round bounced directly off of his small human-seeming eye as the dragon opened his eyes again to glare at the men blocking his way.

Amaru released his tight grip on the world enough to allow his human shaped feet to compress the pavement beneath him enough to make a sharp crack resound, and then announced into the silence, "I am going to the palace."

One of the men hesitantly raised an open hand. His companions' eyes moved to him questioningly, so the dragon also examined him curiously. "Which palace?" the man asked nervously.

"The Emperor's," Amaru replied simply.

The humans still looked confused as they exchanged worried glances. Rather than attempting to explain further, the dragon released his compression somewhat, and assumed the compressed version of himself that he often used to visit the child and his companions inside their crowded dwelling. He was barely larger than one of their small cars in this form, but they all stumbled backward as though he had grown enormously.

Amaru stepped forward, even allowing his claws to sink into the paving in an intimidating manner, but to his irritation the group immediately rallied, and moved back into position to block his way again.

He debated whether to command them to move or to simply fly the rest of the way, but to his surprise, they all bowed low as their leader requested politely, "Please let us guide you great dragon." He snuck a glance at the dragon's face and added quickly, "It will be simpler if you can travel in your human guise."

Despite their compressed form, Amaru's ears had no difficulty hearing the worried whisper of the man who asked, "But the last emperor is long gone?"

"Idiot!" his companions hissed.

Amaru gazed at the broad but faded strings that still lead straight to the elaborate heart he'd carved for his blind child millennia ago. "You may follow me if you don't know the way," he announced as he stepped forward again. As he moved he pulled the compression of himself tighter and reached out to the heart of the world again for balance as he shifted his shape back into the smaller form of an average looking man of this tribe.

This time they did not try to block his way, but fell into an awkward formation around him.

--

Amaru was not oblivious to the flurry of much more silent communication going on around him as he strolled calmly through the city and, unknowingly, out the other side and across the kilometers that separated the cities in this region on paper.

He did not suggest that they take one of the cars that humans were so fond of, because one of the wheeled conveyances would not have been able to follow the string he was using as his guide. The men did not suggest calling for a van either, despite the sudden forced march of more kilometers than any of them had traveled since their early training. The delay allowed them to communicate with the people whose orders they had abandoned to follow the intruder that they couldn't stop, arrange reinforcements, and receive new orders.

Hearts that had been under a great deal of strain ever since the new virus had been unleashed upon their world, as those they had sworn to protect became carriers of the invisible enemy, and the stubborn and ignorant went from being common nuisances to active threats, trembled and were shaken. Orders came, calmly, without the questions that they had expected and feared. Their leaders knew.

Their leaders knew about the return of dragons, the return of the ancient emperor, and they were marching toward their own history. Toward their legends. Beside a tall man who looked like someone's neighbor, who spoke a bit archaically at times, but with no trace of accent. Beside the human guise of the dragon who had not floated as a cloud, but had cracked the pavement with his earthly solidity.

They marched across small walled fields, streets, through alleyways, and over rails. They marched on the city. Ancient stones felt their footsteps as they marched through streets that were eerily empty of the tourists who had occupied these spaces in recent decades. Other men dressed in costumes from historical dramas stood guard here, but their body language and their weapons did not match their garments.

They were not stopped, they were not questioned as the dragon silently led them up, and stones gave way to ancient timbers beneath their dirty feet. They were expected. They did not even stop in front of the empty throne.

Amaru walked straight into the garden that held the vast heart and gazed at its depleted pool in dismay. He lifted his eyes and the younger dragon flinched.

--

Tanwen glared at Chris. "Impudent brat!"

Chris rubbed his forehead and drew a deep breath. He was the one being treated as a child, but he felt like he was dealing with a child. "Amaru, the elder, said that the nearest heart will probably need years to refill. He went to the coast and ate fish when he first came down the mountain," he explained patiently. "I can guide you to the more distant heart he led me to, but we'll have to drive, and you don't have a…"

"I have an international license!" Tanwen interrupted with a very human toss of her coppery hair.

Chris gaped at her for a moment. "Seriously?" he asked. "From how long ago?" he added suspiciously. Licenses had once been issued by the manufacturer of the vehicle upon purchase.

"I've already had it for two weeks!" she announced triumphantly.

"Didn't you say that you came from England though?" Anne asked worriedly.

Tanwen smiled at Anne and answered much more kindly than she spoke to Chris. "Yes, and the countries are friendly now, so it is valid here, I checked."

He didn't know if it was because Anne was female or because she wasn't a dragon, but the older dragon was actually quite gentle with his human companion.

"But we drive on the other side of the road," Anne pointed out uncertainly.

"What?" Tanwen asked blankly, and then she looked at Chris expectantly.

Chris gritted his teeth for a moment, and then released the tension in his jaw and replied as politely as possible, "Yes, Britain and most of the formerly British countries drive on the left, but in this one and a many others, one drives on the right. There are other differences, but that is probably the most important."

"We should just fly there," Tanwen insisted again.

"It is 250 miles away," Chris protested again. "Over 400 kilometers," he added for clarity.

"I am familiar with the term miles," Tanwen huffed. After a moment she added, "That is actually quite far, is it truely the next closest?"

"As far as I know," Chris affirmed.

"But you flew like 5000 miles to get here didn't you?" Anne asked.

"Yes," Tanwen agreed. "But in most of the world there are several hearts carved within such a distance." She looked Anne over and added with disappointment, "I have not even seen anyone wearing feathers since landing here."

Chris and Anne both gazed at her with silent confusion.