“Look,” the bartender said. “We don’t want any more trouble. The last batch of the thugs finally left. We’d just as soon not have any more take their place.”
“That’s good. We don’t want any trouble either. My friends and I are looking for the Scaled Society. Word is they’re operating in the area. They’ve taken something that doesn’t belong to them and we’ve come to get it back.”
The bartender snorted. “You’ll need more than the thirteen you brought. They’ve got over a hundred men out in the swamp. No way are you fighting past all of them.”
Yaz pondered the news. He’d been expecting a large opposing force, but not that large. Fifty, maybe they could deal with, but two hundred… not a chance. He was going to need a new plan.
“Why don’t you go on home, son?” the bartender said. “Whatever these people took, it isn’t worth dying for.”
“You’re mistaken,” Yaz said. “They took my father. I believe they have him wherever their leaders are holed up. I don’t suppose you know how to find them. The Vast Swamp isn’t called vast for nothing.”
“You won’t find a guide here. Those people are killers. The one man that might have taken you was captured himself a while ago. I’m sorry.”
Yaz nodded. The help would have been nice, but he still had a rough idea where to find the tower. It would be harder without local help, but he would find it.
“I can take you.” The young man got up from his lonely table. “On one condition.”
“What’s that?” Yaz asked
“When you rescue your father, you rescue Moz too.”
Yaz cocked his head. “Moz?”
“The man the cultists kidnapped. He’s my friend and mentor. Taught me everything I know about the swamp.”
“You have a deal. I wouldn’t leave anyone, not even a stranger, to their tender mercies. What’s your name?”
“Cork.”
“I’m Yaz.” When he finished introducing his friends he asked, “When can we leave?”
“There’s plenty of daylight,” Cork said. “We can leave now. Might even be better to get there in the evening, easier to sneak up on them. We’ll need a few extra skiffs. I can’t fit you all into mine. I’m sure Moz won’t mind if we take his, but we still need two more.”
Yaz dug a pair of gold scales out of his pocket and slammed them down on the counter loud enough to get everyone’s attention. “I need two skiffs for a week and I’ll pay you a gold scale for each. Who’s willing to rent out their boat?”
Every man in the place raised his hand. No surprise there. A gold scale would probably buy them a new skiff with change to spare. He glanced at Cork who pointed at two of the men.
With their transportation secured, Yaz led the way out of the tavern. He’d barely left the building when he stopped dead in his tracks and stared up into the sky. A ship flew slowly toward the center of the swamp, right where he guessed the tower waited.
The Dark Sages had arrived.
Leonidas peered down at the activity around the final spire. Scores of people were scrambling around on the ground as they approached. Given that the tower was in the middle of a swamp, the fact that anyone was down there surprised him. Who else even knew the tower was there? Rondo certainly hadn’t told anyone. His mercenaries were dead. That left the guide he hired, but why would a nobody living on the edge of a swamp even think to sell the information? He had no reason to consider it valuable.
Oh well, what was one more obstacle at this point? No reason the last spire should be easy given the trouble they had at all the others.
“Where’d all those people come from?”
Shade had snuck up on him again and only years of practice kept Leonidas from flinching.
“Excellent question, Shade. Shall we go down and see?”
“Whatever you say, Boss.”
“Fetch Domina and Ariel won’t you? I’d like to finish up here as quickly as possible.”
While Shade ran his errand, Leonidas considered his options. The Black Ring would protect them from any threat except the black dragon waking and they had Ariel ready to step in if that happened. Besides, the dragon would be as much of a threat to whoever was down there as it was to Leonidas and his cadre.
When Domina arrived, she scowled down at the forces gathering to greet them. “Let me drop some firebombs on them, clean the vermin out quickly.”
“A generous offer, dear Domina, but I fear if we should wake the dragon suddenly, it might damage the spire in its anger. Don’t worry, I have more than enough power to deal with whoever’s thinking of hindering us. I wanted you and Shade along to make sure no one takes me by surprise.”
Shade had the little girl by the hand and he led her over to join them. She hadn’t spoken a word since waking from hibernation. In fact, she did nothing unless Leonidas specifically told her to, including eating and visiting the facilities. Polymus assured him it was a side effect of the crown. He could always order her to tend to her needs as necessary, but until he fully grasped the crown’s limitations, he intended to keep tight control of her.
“The head reminded me he still needs a new body. Looks like we’ve got plenty to choose from.”
“Are you really going to give that thing a new body?” Domina asked. “I don’t trust him.”
“Neither do I, but I can’t simply have Rondo carry him around everywhere. Besides, since you gave him the tongue twister potion, he’s no threat to my control of Ariel.” The girl looked up at him when he spoke, waiting for a command. Her vacant stare made Leonidas shiver. “It would be foolish to waste his centuries of knowledge. If it comes to a fight, feel free to arrange a body for him.”
Shade nodded.
Now that everyone was gathered, Leonidas lifted them over the rail and began the descent to the spire. He wrapped the group in a magical bubble just to make sure no attacks broke through.
They reached the ground without so much as an arrow arcing their way. The enemy soldiers had gathered in a shield wall in front of the spire entrance. Their weapons were drawn but they made no move to advance.
Perhaps Leonidas could talk his way to the tower. While he had no problem with violence, it was a messy, unpredictable way to accomplish his goals. Better for everyone if whoever ran this place turned out to be reasonable.
They had barely touched down when the familiar figure of Alvin Tor came marching up in his green-scaled robe, carrying his dragon-headed staff. If Alvin was here that explained who faced them. This gathering likely represented the whole of the Scaled Society’s forces. The question was, why were they here? As far as Leonidas knew, they were still allies.
“Alvin,” Leonidas said. “Good of you to seize control of the tower for me. If you’ll have your men move aside, I’ll activate it and be on my way.”
“You lied to me! Used me! We agreed to help you in order to set dragons free, not enslave every one of them in the world.”
So he’d learned the spire’s true purpose. That was unfortunate. The odds of talking his way through had just dropped to basically nothing. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to try, for old time’s sake.
“I’m remaking the empire,” Leonidas said. “The dragons will be free, except when I need to make use of them.”
“That’s not freedom. You’re treating the most magnificent creatures on the planet like servants.”
“You’re not going to be reasonable about this, are you?”
“Certainly I am. Take your lackeys and go. Do it now and I’ll allow you to leave peacefully.”
“Allow me? You’ll allow me to leave peacefully?”
Of all the gall! This arrogant, powerless speck of nothing dared think he could stop Leonidas from doing anything. Power seethed around his ring’s gem. He’d show Alvin exactly who held the power here.
Alvin had gone pale as the air grew heavy with magic. He seemed to realize his error, but too late.
Leonidas lashed out.
With surprising agility Alvin dove under the blast. His men we
re less fortunate.
Leonidas’s attack sent the gathered soldiers flying like leaves in a strong wind, many of them in several pieces. The survivors ran, for their lives or to regroup he cared not in the slightest.
With the way now clear, Leonidas directed his will at Ariel. “Wake the dragon and order it to move aside.”
Like a little zombie she shuffled forward and placed a hand on the dragon’s nose.
After many days of scouting and research, and of calling on the many and varied abilities of her bards, Callie was finally satisfied that Tolin Goldings was a Dark Sage agent. The final straw came when Tamsin used her gift to capture a pigeon he sent with a message warning that Callie was poking around in his affairs. That warning was also enough to convince her that she needed to make her move before he either spoke to King Rend and got him to order her to stand down, or he sent assassins to eliminate her permanently.
Now she and a strike team of five bards chosen for their abilities and experience stood across from the Goldings estate. It was a sprawling compound that covered only a few acres less than the royal palace. The mansion sat in the exact center. So arrogant and secure was Tolin that he didn’t even bother with guards to patrol the grounds. That arrogance would bite him in the ass tonight.
“Tonia, take to the air. I want to know if any trouble is headed our way.”
There was a gust of wind and she was gone. Of all her fellow bards’ powers, she envied only the wind master. Being able to fly whenever you wanted had to be a wonderful feeling.
Callie shook off the thought. This was not the time for introspection.
“Are we clear?” Callie asked.
Another bard, an earth master named Kano, hummed and placed his hand on the cobblestone street. After a moment he said, “There’s not a person within two hundred yards. We’re good to go.”
Callie nodded once and the group ran across the street. When they reached the iron fence surrounding the estate, Kano hummed again and this time the iron posts bent silently out of their way before snapping back into place as soon as the last bard was through. A few minutes of running brought them to the mansion’s wall.
No lights burned in the windows this late at night. Wind spirits and a very brave mouse had worked together to map the entire floor plan. Tolin slept on the second floor in a suite that could house a family of five with room to spare. Callie’s target was a hidden room on the third floor where he kept his pigeon cote and writing materials. Any useful information would be there and his daily routine would bring Tolin to them an hour after sunrise.
One by one, Tonia’s wind spirits lifted them to the roof. Going through the house would be too risky with all the servants around. A single noise could raise the entire household and worse, give Tolin time to burn any evidence.
Again with the spirit’s help they made their way across the slanted roof to the window of an empty bedroom three doors from the entrance to the hidden chamber. The window was locked with a metal latch that yielded quickly to Kano’s gift. Once they were inside Tonia soared through the window and joined them.
With no moon to light their way, the fire master she’d brought conjured a small flaming globe that revealed the bedroom. It was a typical setup only with nicer furniture. Callie had neither the time nor the inclination to waste precious seconds looking around. They crossed the room and eased the door open. The well-oiled hinges didn’t make a sound.
She snuck out and hurried to a seemingly blank section of wall. She touched a raised section of the wainscoting and the door slid silently inward. The faintly musty scent of the pigeons wafted out, confirming their intelligence that this was the right place. When everyone was inside, Callie secured the secret door.
A short passage led to a two-part room. In the front was a simple office and behind it was the pigeon cote. For now, what interested Callie was the office. She sat at the desk which was the first piece of plain furniture she’d seen in the entire house and pulled the top drawer open.
Jackpot!
A leather-bound journal sat dead center in the drawer between an inkwell and a well-used quill. “A little more light, please.”
The room brightened and Callie set to reading. The journal held a detailed description of every secret Tolin had shared with his masters. He’d told them everything from troop numbers and caravan schedules to who was cheating on their husband or wife with whom. Everything you’d need to blackmail someone. There were pages and pages of details. If she showed this to King Rend, there was no way he could overlook it.
“Callie, someone’s coming,” Tonia said.
“Everyone in the pigeon cote.” Callie took the ledger and everyone hurried out of the office.
A moment later came the sound of the secret door opening. Footsteps across the passage then the chair scraping across the floor as he pulled it out.
Any second now.
“No!”
Callie grinned.
Booms and scrapes filled the air as Tolin searched for his ledger. Callie let him hang for half a minute before pushing the door open.
Tall, fit, and aristocratic even in his silk pajamas, Tolin Goldings glared hate at Callie.
She looked back, totally impassive, the ledger clutched in her hands. “Tolin, I think we need to talk.”
Chapter 15
Ariel found herself in a place she’d never seen before. It was dark and warm but not scary. She felt welcome. Even better, she could think again.
She spun in a slow circle and when she returned to her starting place found herself face to face with the biggest dragon she’d ever seen. Its yellow eyes were as big as she was tall.
Still she wasn’t scared. Dragons never scared her. “Hi.”
“Hello, little empress.”
She flinched when the dragon spoke. Even though Ariel could make friends with dragons and sort of understand what they were thinking, none of them had ever spoken to her like this.
“The younger ones lack psychic abilities,” the dragon said. “We don’t develop them until we reach a thousand or so. What do you wish of me?”
“You need to move out of the way so that bad man can get inside the tower.”
“That’s what he wishes of me. What do you wish?”
“I have to say what he told me to say. Unless you can free me.”
“Alas, my power only allows us to speak freely. I would do anything for you, empress, as I would for any of your predecessors, but that is beyond my abilities.”
“It’s okay.” Ariel didn’t want the dragon to feel bad. It wasn’t her fault the bad man had captured Ariel.
“You are kind. Far kinder than some of the other emperors. If you were free, I would love to take you flying. I haven’t flown in so long. The skies call me.”
“You can fly if you want. The bad man didn’t tell me how far away to make you move.”
“Clever as well as kind. I wish I could do something more to help you. Should you get free, I will be happy to rend the monster that bound you to shreds.”
Ariel didn’t like violent things. She just wanted to see Moz again. She felt herself wavering.
“What’s going on?”
“The crown’s magic calls your mind back. When you return, I will be forced to carry out your command. I will take to the sky, but I won’t go far should you need me.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
Ariel blinked and her body felt dull and heavy once more. The stink of the swamp was everywhere as were screams and shouts and explosions of a battle. She didn’t like battles.
In front of her, the dragon’s giant eyes were open. Slowly the huge head rose and the dragon unwrapped herself from around the tower. A roar louder than anything she’d ever heard before shook the air. With a mighty beat of her wings, the black dragon leapt into the sky.
The moment Yaz spotted the flying ship, he knew they had to hurry. If the Dark Sages were here, it boded ill for anyone in the area. The men whose skiffs Yaz bought took the dragonriders to get them whil
e Cork led Yaz and his friends to his transport. The young man lived in a small house on the edge of the swamp. He kept his skiff, a narrow, shallow-drafted boat about twenty feet long, tied to the back deck.
Cork stepped carefully into the skiff. “We need to go to Moz’s place and collect his skiff too. It’s the last house in the row.”
“We’ll handle that,” Yaz said. “Meet you there.”
“I’ll help here,” Silas offered.
Yaz nodded and led Brigid to the house Cork indicated. It was a bigger building and appeared well taken care of. A skiff that matched Cork’s bobbed in the water just waiting for them.
As he made his way to the boat, Yaz noticed something white moving near the end of the deck. He kept going past the skiff and knelt beside the smallest dragon he had ever seen. She wasn’t much longer than his hand and had a severed wing in the process of growing back.
She hissed at Yaz when he reached for her.
“Easy now,” he said. “I don’t know where you’re going, but it’s going to take you a while to crawl there. Do you live with Moz? He’s in trouble and we’re going to help.”
“Do you think that thing understands you?” Brigid asked.
“I don’t know,” Yaz said, not looking up from the dragon. “But talking to the dragons in this tone always soothed them back home.”
He reached out again and this time the little dragon let him rub her head. “That’s right. We’re friends now. Do you want to come with us?”
Yaz held out his hand palm up and let her decide. After a moment, the dragon climbed into his hand and Yaz carried her over to the skiff where she gripped the front with her tiny claws and stared straight at the flying ship. She knew what was going on out there, he had no doubt.
With the dragon settled, Yaz helped Brigid in before grabbing a long pole and joining her in the skiff. Brigid untied the front of the boat and Yaz poled out to meet Cork. It was an unsteady effort to begin with, but he slowly got the hang of it. Balance was more important than strength. Which was good. Yaz had way more balance than he did strength.
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