by D. R. Rosier
Besides, the only woman that had truly ever caught his eye… was beyond his reach, and most likely hated him anyway after the way he’d ignored her… among other things. He’d quite made an ass out of himself as well at the time. He was good at that.
He sighed and finished packing his things, and then headed out, not even sparing a glance for the women he thought of as friends, simply because he was probably being watched. His father could be a real pain in the…
He saddled up his horse, and went east without thinking about it. He was a knight of the kingdom after all, he wasn’t confined merely to Clearwyn, or even the Duchy of Delwood. He grimaced, not quite sure why he’d go east though, and into Creekshire and the Duchy of Erilain.
Then again, he didn’t think he’d run into Lance by chance, Sir Spears had a barony to run from his keep after all. Besides, he knew exactly why he came this way, but there was very little chance of running into her either. He was on the road for a few hours, but he kept a sharp eye on his surroundings. The kingdom of Aeralon was generally safe, except perhaps from dragons, but it always paid to be alert for trouble.
He was getting close to the town that was by the border, and the furthest from Lance’s keep which was good by him. He planned to ask about dragon sightings in the tavern, and if there weren’t any he’d relax, drink, and most likely find another willing barmaid to share his bed, and then do the same the next day at the next town.
That’s when he heard the loud roar from up ahead, and knew he wouldn’t have to ask about a dragon sighting. He kicked his horse into a canter, and pulled his crossbow over his shoulder. He muttered a few words and the extremely heavy crossbow string was pulled back and locked in place. He pulled one of the bolts out of his quiver, he had spelled it himself.
When the town came into view, he caught sight of a blue dragon eating a horse, and the large beast brought its head up and roared, and ice breath shot out and froze a wagon. The follow up roar seemed to vibrate it and it broke into a million little pieces.
If anything cold breath was as bad, or worse than fire.
He stopped his horse, and lifted his crossbow. He preferred to stalk his prey, and take the dragon’s life unawares. He had no protection from that breath, his ability lied in him taking the beasts before they knew he was there. But that wasn’t possible right now, if he did it that way the dragon could destroy the whole damn town.
He lifted the crossbow and took aim right between its eyes, as it continued feasting on the horse. He muttered a few words to increase his accuracy, and another few words so the dragon wouldn’t hear his horse, or the twang of the crossbow. He squeezed the trigger and the bolt reached out for the dragon.
“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath.
Someone must have drawn its attention, because the large blue dragon turned its head at the last moment, and breathed ice into what looked like the general store. The bolt hit it, unfortunately all it did was graze its neck, and the blue dragon turned his head back, saw me with the crossbow, and roared in rage.
Well… Shit.
He muttered a few more words and the string drew back as the dragon lunged at him, it snapped its wings out and he could swear the dragon’s belly and rear claws were just inches from the ground as it sped toward him, it’s mouth wide open. He didn’t think he was going to make it, but he grabbed for the bolt anyway, then there was a tremendously loud crack sound, a strong wind, and the blue dragon was gone.
He gasped in a breath, his heart was in his throat, and he tried to take another deep breath while his brain caught up to the fact he was still alive.
He looked around, and saw what the cracking sound was, the blue dragon was on its back, laying on top of two trees that were snapped in half by the impact. What really freaked him out, was the very large and angry roar of the dark red scaled dragon above it. Then there was fire, he actually felt the heat from it and he had to be fifty yards away. When the fire disappeared, the trees were completely gone, ash, but the blue dragon only looked badly burned, but was still alive.
It snapped at the reds face with its jaws. While the red beast dodged that attack, it missed the blue’s flashing claws that ripped into the red’s wing. The red roared and reared back, which gave the blue time to flip as fast as a cat and launch into the air.
Belatedly, he realized he’d just been staring for about ten seconds now, and he knocked the bolt in the crossbow. The red roared and jumped into the air, following the blue. He kicked his horse into a canter, leaving the road and following as best he could, but his mind was spinning.
Where had the red dragon come from, and why had it saved his life? Or had it just been a coincidence. He remembered the spell again, the cave. He grimly ground his teeth and cleared his mind, now wasn’t the time. That blue dragon needed to die, and the red one… well honestly he didn’t know yet, which was crazy.
He kept his crossbow held low along the horse’s flank and ducked down, trying to avoid the branches as they, he and his horse, raced after the dragons. He could still make them out, they hadn’t outranged him because they were both moving and fighting, and the fighting was slowing them down. Fire, ice, claw, and bite, it was a vicious fight. He wondered not for the first time if he was crazy.
Why did he risk his life like this all the time if the King couldn’t even give him some land? When he hated his father, and his brothers were even worse. Especially Mal, the oldest. He was a real piece of work, and the inheritor of father’s title. No, he didn’t do it for them, he did it for the people like Jetta, and Lia. The guy back there who probably just died in his store, instantly turned into an ice cube so cold he would shatter at the slightest provocation.
Damn dragons.
He pulled out into a field, he couldn’t see them anymore, but they weren’t that far away, they must be behind the tree line, because they were keeping low in the sky. He heard several more roars, and the familiar sounds of a dragon’s breath weapon. Then, a great snap, the snapping of bone but a hundred times louder than any human break he’d heard. Then the red dragon rose into the sky, somehow still flying with a huge gash in its wing, and it flew off.
He slowed his horse, not quite believing he wasn’t chasing down the red. But… it had saved him, and destroyed the crazed dragon. He shook his head, was it possible what he’d been shown in that cave had been true?
He rode slowly and found a small clearing, with a large blue dragon in it. Its neck looked twisted and wrong, its eyes were open, and empty. There was no life left in it. He looked to the left and couldn’t see the red anymore, he really wished it had stuck around.
Why? So he could talk to it? That was… crazy. He laughed, well he was that.
He turned his horse around and headed back into town.
Chapter 4
The village wasn’t too bad as Derig took stock, but was still plenty bad enough. The general store was a total loss, as were a few wagons, horses, and four villagers. There was also some damage to the inn, and the blacksmith’s place, although they were both still standing and mostly whole.
There was were three wounded being treated right in the road with a younger woman tending them, usually when facing a dragon, the outcomes were either life and death, either the person dodged or not, injuries were rare. There were exceptions of course, like wood shards flying after a building being blown into pieces by dragon breath.
He dismounted and walked over and knelt by the first person. He could do some healing magic, more than most Knights, but would still be considered weak as far as a mage. But he could do something. The boy had a piece of wood sticking in his leg. He looked the boy in the face and took his measure. The young man was gritting his teeth but not making a sound.
He nodded in approval at his stoicism, “This might hurt a little.”
The boy’s eyes widened as he started to chant, and he pulled the wood out of the boy’s leg. It bled for a few moments, then staunched as soon as his words stopped. He launched into another chant that seemed to have no effect, but
he knew it had worked.
He looked up at the woman wrapping bandages around another man, “Bandage this, the wound will heal faster than normal, and won’t sicken. Are you the village healer?”
She shook her head, “Cara. Of a sort my lord, I know a few remedies, but I work at the tavern. The closest healer is outside the village.”
He couldn’t help but notice she had a very pleasing voice. She had dirty blonde hair, gray eyes, and pouty full lips. Her body type was more on the athletic size, but with her kneeling toward him he could see she was still quite generously endowed. He’d been through this town but had never seen her before, so she must be new to the area. This was hardly the time to pursue anything however.
He moved closer and chanted the two spells over the man she was working on. The first spell stopped the bleeding and would heal a cut or wound three times faster than a person normally heals. The second prevented blood sickness. There were more powerful healing spells, but they were quite beyond his ability. He moved toward the third person and felt a hand on his arm.
Cara shook her head, “Sorry my lord, that one didn’t last long after we pulled him out.”
He grunted, “Very well Cara. The dragon that did this is dead, I’ll go tell the village.”
He tied up his horse in front of the inn and went inside where most of the villagers had gathered. They all looked his way and a silence fell over the inn. He looked around for a moment, and saw a lot of scared faces.
He cleared his throat and announced, “The blue beast is dead. He won’t be back to harm your village.”
There was silence for a moment, and then cheers. He could see the guilty looks exchanged when the initial excitement that they were safe wore off, cheering when five of them had just died. But it was human nature. He walked up to the bar and the barman poured him a beer and handed it over. He took a long sip, and wondered about that red. What had happened out there? He’d never seen two dragons fight like that. He also couldn’t shake the impression the red had deliberately saved his life, although he knew that to be insane.
He drank some more, this time a longer pull.
“I’m Darren my lord, this tavern is mine, and you’ll eat, drink, and if you wish stay here tonight, it’s all on the house.”
He looked up and almost said he hadn’t killed the dragon. But how the hell would he explain what happened? He’d seen it and hardly believed it himself. He almost laughed at the thought of the red dragon staying in the inn for free. No, telling them about it would only confuse and scare people.
He simply nodded his thanks and took another sip of beer. He wasn’t thrilled about taking credit, but then he wouldn’t claim a bounty either, so he could live with it, or possibly just leave a large tip. He drank more than his usual amount that day as the villagers all thanked him one by one. If they thought it odd he didn’t regal them with tales of his chase as was customary, none mentioned it.
He took the barmaid Cara to bed with him that evening, he’d hadn’t even really needed to ask, she’d been very appreciative of his help outside, and they had an obvious chemistry between them as the day waned into night. He wasn’t naïve, he could tell the difference between a barmaid doing her duty to the nobility and one who was truly eager, and Cara was the latter. She was very talented… and enthusiastic about it as well, and as for himself, he wasn’t so drunk he was sloppy. He saw to her bliss many times before he took his own pleasure inside the warm moist embrace of her sex, and filled her. He continued to hold her close as they fell asleep.
In the morning she rode him once more, before they shared a quick bath and went down to breakfast. He left a few silver on the table, more than enough to cover his food, drinks, and the stay, as he gathered up his equipment, and he threw the crossbow over his back and left. A few minutes after, he had his horse saddled and he was heading further east.
He was deep in thought, although still alert enough of his surroundings. His training had gone from learning, to habit, and now it was just instinct and required very little conscious effort on his part. It would take until at least the early afternoon to make the next village. It was also the one closest to Lance’s keep. He shook his head, it didn’t really matter, his feud with Lance was nothing more than a fun distraction to him really.
He’d considered leaving his family more than once. He could become a landless and homeless noble. At least for a short time, he would need to petition another Baron or Duke to accept his fealty as a knight, and settle on their land. Either that, or risk having his title removed, or even placed under a new liege lord by the whims of the King.
Many third and fourth sons had taken that step in a noble family. It wasn’t the coin that kept him there either, he had more than enough of his own to last a lifetime. He hadn’t killed as many dragons as that idiot, charge in with his sword, Lance, but he had taken down a respectable amount of bounties in his twenty-six years.
No, the reason he put up with his father, and the demands to woo a female unmarried noble over and over again, was to keep an eye on his sister Kari, something his older brothers wouldn’t or couldn’t be bothered with. Of course he had fought back, he was really bad at wooing a woman he didn’t really want, and quite on purpose. Still, the idea was in his mind because soon Kari would be married and he would have the opportunity to do so.
There was a problem though. Ironically, due to his self-sabotage efforts when his father sent him to win over one of his female peers, time after time, no doubt for his father’s political advancement in some way, most of the other nobles in the kingdom didn’t have a great opinion of him. So they may not accept his fealty when the time came.
Didn’t have a great opinion?
He snorted and was honest with himself. Most saw him as a rake and an asshole. Even the one woman he thought he could have cared for greatly that was a lady, the lowest rank in the nobility, thought he was a dick. There’d been something about her… and he regretted not pursuing it when he had the chance. But the guards that had accompanied him from Clearwyn, and followed him around, had clearly been spies reporting his every word and action back to his father.
At the time, he hadn’t wanted to chance the young woman being pulled into or harmed by his father’s ambition, but now he regretted it.
It was ironic that it was the commoner women that understood and knew him best, of course he’d never get away with marrying one of those, they were stolen moments at best. Still, he was careful not to let the fact he cared about them at all to reach his father’s ear, he shuddered to think what he would do to them if he found out. Luckily, the women that knew him found it amusing when he treated them badly in public, maybe the spy game part of it excited them, but whatever it was he was glad of it.
He was still fifteen miles from the town when he felt it. A tickle of magic, a presence of a mage off in the woods to the right. There was something… familiar to it. Curious, he dismounted and lead his horse into the woods a little way before tying the reigns to a tree. The trees and brush were thick after that, and he had to cut a path in a few places.
He suddenly entered a small clearing, maybe ten by fifteen feet. He could hardly believe his eyes, lying on the ground was what looked like a naked woman, she was very short, just five foot one. Definitely an adult though, she had long red hair, a small but curvy waist, and a heart shaped and quite pert ass. He could feel the magic better now, and realized who it was immediately. Stephanie, the lady’s maid to the Princess in Wendell.
He knew she’d come here, followed the princess back to Creekshire when Lance had married her. He never did find out why she’d come though, typically a noble lady’s maid wasn’t needed once their charge was married, their main purpose being to guard virtue.
Her head was turned, and he could make out her face. She was more beautiful than he recollected. He’d seen an unusual strength in her eyes, but she was so small and harmless looking, stunningly attractive as well with her short and lithe body, ivory skin, long curly bright red h
air, and he remembered her graceful movements and the sway of her hips while she walked. She had brought out a fierce protectiveness and attraction in him, as well as a curious interest, which he’d ignored back then for… duty.
Except, right now she also had a large wound on her back, a deep gouge by her right shoulder blade, and was lying alone in a field. It was barely seeping blood, and he could tell she’d been here alone for a long time. He was still frozen in that initial moment, because what he was seeing made no sense at all.
What the fuck was she doing here alone in the woods bleeding to death? He knew it wasn’t rational, but he felt the urge to ride to Lance’s castle and run him through for not protecting her.
Stephanie was the woman that had been on his mind for the last two seasons, the one he’d refused to even acknowledge because of the situation when they’d met. He was close to losing it, but what he really needed to do was get a grip, move his ass, and check on her, before she died. How long had she been out here, alone, passed out, and bleeding?
All that had gone through his mind in a short few seconds since he entered the clearing. He broke his paralysis, moved forward quickly, and bent over her. Her body was cool and clammy to his light gentle touch, as she’d lost too much blood. He muttered the two spells he knew quickly, and the wound stopped seeping. He jumped up and raced back to his horse, and grabbed his saddle bags and threw them over his shoulder.
On the way back he picked up pieces of deadfall, and when he got back to the clearing, he set up a fire pit, piled the kindling, and lit it with a quick spell. He checked Stephanie again, her heart beat was a little labored, and he needed to get her warm. He pulled out his field blanket and carefully placed her in the middle of it, and wrapped her body. He moved her a little closer to the fire and carefully held her in his lap.
He was too worried to even speculate right now about how she’d ended up here, alone. She was completely listless and unresponsive to his touch and voice. He wasn’t sure if it would help, but he kept repeating the spell that encouraged healing, maybe it would help her regenerate enough blood before her body fully shut down. His spell would promote healing, and heal her about three times faster than normal, but her body still needed to have the resources to heal for it to work right.