Zahara's Gift

by A. J. Walker

  Bond

  of a

  Dragon

  Zahara's Gift

  A. J. Walker

  ~ A J Walker Publishing ~

  Chapter One

  |||||

  A Stranger and The Thief

  ANDERS GRIPPED THE OARS tightly, his muscles strained against the force generated by the storm. Freezing rain stung the side of his face as he rowed furiously through the rise and fall of angry ocean waves. The storm had come without warning, catching Anders and his younger cousin by surprise.

  “Thomas!” Anders yelled against the gale force wind. Thomas clung tightly to the ribbing on the floor of the small fishing boat, fearing for his life. “The boat is taking on too much water! Grab the bucket and bail!” Anders saw his cousin lift his head briefly and search for the bailing bucket. “Now, Thomas, do it now or we’ll sink!”

  Thomas gathered his courage and let go of the floor he had clung to so desperately. He grabbed the bucket and vigorously shoveled water over the side of the swaying boat.

  Squinting through the downpour, Anders could just see the rocky shoreline of Highborn Bay. The two were nearly back inside the safety of the bay’s calmer waters. He was well aware that they had reached almost the exact spot where Anders had been eighteen years ago, when his family’s ship had wrecked in a spring storm. The details of the tragedy were lost to Anders’ memory because he’d only been one-year-old at the time, but he’d heard his uncle tell the story countless times since then.

  He and his parents had sailed for nearly a week from Southland to Grandwood, a city nestled along the northern coast of Westland, where Anders’ uncle Theodor and his newly pregnant wife were waiting to greet them. Anders’ family was on track to dock in Grandwood’s port when a storm suddenly forced the ship off course, missing the port and wrecking into the rocky spit of land that formed half of Highborn Bay. Theodor found infant Anders washed ashore among the ship’s wreckage. The only survivor, he was left without parents, yet fortunately with his uncle and aunt to raise him.

  The wind was unrelenting as they struggled to reach the bay. Thomas continued to shovel the salty water out of the small boat as wave after wave piled over the bow. Anders heaved the final strokes on the oars, skimming into calmer waters. It wasn’t long before they were pulling the boat on shore. Thomas’ younger sister, Kirsten, had watched as the two rowed themselves into the bay. She ran down the hill from the stone farmhouse through the rain, eager to help them despite becoming drenched in the downpour.

  “Here,” Anders said, handing her one of several baskets overflowing with salmon. “Take this up to the house.”

  Kirsten’s blue eyes widened upon seeing the size of their days’ catch. Taking the basket she staggered for a moment, allowing herself to adjust her feet under the surprising weight of the basket.

  As she hauled the catch back up the hill, Anders called after her, “Kirsten, have Theodor come help us with the rest.” Anders and Thomas filled their arms with waterlogged fishing gear and the remaining baskets of fish, struggling to carry them up the hill to the house.

  When they reached the front porch, Anders dropped his load on the ground and heard Kirsten say from the open doorway, “Anders, I couldn’t find him. I think he went out to do chores.”

  Looking at Thomas with a furrowed brow, Anders said, “In this weather? He’ll probably need help. Thomas, finish bringing up the gear. I’ll go help with the chores.” Thomas nodded and headed back down to the boat.

  “Don’t be too long,” Kirsten told them, stepping onto the wooden covered porch and drying her sandy-blonde hair with a towel. “Dinner is nearly ready.”

  Anders stepped out from under the protection of the porch and headed in the opposite direction away from the bay and toward the farm. He looked in the barn, the corral, and around the rest of the small homestead. Theodor was nowhere to be seen. Anders noticed most of the chores had already been completed. He decided to look behind the house, along the edge of the woods. Sometimes when the animals got out, they often wandered away from the farm into the trees. Though hard to tell in the rain, Anders thought he saw a set of footprints leading into the woods. He followed them. In places where the ground had not yet washed them away, Anders could make out just enough to see the outline of his uncle’s boot tracks leading him farther away from the farm.

  Anders thought about getting the others to help him search, but decided he would go a little farther before alarming them. His mind racing with possibilities as to why Theodor would be wandering into the woods, he continued following the tracks. Before long, the lone footprints angled sharply to the right. Anders saw they went up and over a small ridge.

  If I can’t see him from the top of this ridgeline, I’ll go back for Kirsten and Thomas, he thought to himself.

  Night was approaching fast and from the top Anders had a hard time seeing clearly down the backside of the ridge. He squinted into the darkness, hoping to glimpse any sign of his uncle. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw something move. He watched as a figure walked out into a small clearing on the backside of the ridge below him. It was Theodor, Anders was sure because of his uncle’s recognizable silver hair. He cupped his hands around his mouth to shout down to him, but held his breath when he saw someone join Theodor in the clearing. Anders couldn’t make out who it was, this tall figure sporting dark clothes.

  I have to get a closer look, he thought.

  He looked around for a way to get closer without being seen. He knew his uncle would be furious with him if he learned Anders was spying on him, but something in his gut told him he needed to investigate what Theodor was doing out here.

  To his left a cluster of short trees extended about half way down toward the clearing where Theodor and the strange figure stood talking. The dim evening light, combined with the trees’ foliage, would be enough to provide cover.

  He quickly ran to the thicket of trees. Water that had pooled on the leaves drenched him as he parted the branches. The sound of the rain falling covered the noise of his footsteps as he grew closer. Anders stayed low, crouching to keep from being seen.

  He paused for a moment to see if he could hear what they were saying. Their voices were still too muffled to hear clearly, so he carefully crept forward to the edge of the small trees. Here, he was able to make out snippets of their conversation. Through a space between the branches, he could see they were arguing.

  Dressed entirely in black, the tall man with Theodor wore a broad sword strapped to his belt. The stranger’s face was weathered, creased and tanned from his travels. He displayed an air of ruggedness that Anders had only seen a handful of times on the faces of soldiers and mercenaries passing through Grandwood. Anders strained to hear what they might be arguing about.

  “He’s not ready,” Theodor said sternly.

  “You have to tell him,” the stranger urged. “The time has come and he needs to know the truth.”

  “Are you sure there isn’t more time?” Theodor asked the man in black. “How can you be sure he’s the one they’re searching for?”

  “He may be your kin, but that doesn’t change anything. He will have to face it, whether he’s ready or not,” the stranger replied in a commanding tone. “You have known as well as I that this day would come. Powerful forces are stirring in the east. The elves talk of orcs and kurr assembling by the masses. An evil that was once a great threat to the five nations of Kartania is clawing its way back into the world.”

  “So the rumors are true,” Theodor noted soberly. “I thought those days of peril left when he did.”

  “You must have known he wouldn’t stay in the shadows forever. He is coming back out from whatever rock he’s been hiding under,” the stranger said coldly. />
  Unconsciously leaning forward to hear more clearly, Anders put his weight against a small dead limb. Suddenly it snapped. He began to slide out from his hiding place, nearly exposing himself. Luckily, he grabbed hold of a low-hanging branch just in time; this one did not break.

  Upon hearing the branch break, the man in black abruptly stopped talking and turned toward the hillside. He looked directly where Anders knelt in hiding. Anders didn’t move, hoping the dim lighting and vegetation would conceal him.

  “Did you hear that?” the man asked Theodor as he stared at the clump of trees.

  Turning around to see what the man was staring at, Theodor answered, “I didn’t hear anything.”

  “We are being watched,” the man in black said shortly.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. No one knows we’re here,” Theodor said turning to face the man once again. The man, however, had disappeared leaving Theodor standing alone in the rain. He turned back and stared for a while at the slope, scanning for whatever it was the stranger had heard.

  Anders’ heart nearly beat out of his chest. It seemed so loud; he was surprised Theodor couldn’t hear it. Theodor kept his gaze on the vegetation where Anders hid and even took a step toward him. A rabbit darted out from its hiding place just below where Anders crouched. It scurried across the open slope, through the rainfall, and down into its hole.

  Theodor stopped his advancement and said to himself, “stupid rabbit.” He left the clearing and headed back toward the house. Anders waited to make sure he was well out of sight before leaving his hiding place. Then he ran back through the woods as fast as he could.

  While hurrying back toward the house, he thought to himself, what did they mean an evil was crawling back into the land? Who was it Theodor needed to tell something to and why had he decided not to do it? Was the man talking about his cousin, Thomas? And who was it they were talking about hiding in the shadows? The thoughts swirled in his head as ran.

  Anders knew he had to beat Theodor back to the house. If he didn’t get back before his uncle, Thomas and Kirsten would ask him questions. If they asked him the right questions, they were sure to uncover that he had not been helping Theodor with the chores. Anders didn’t want to risk his uncle or cousins discovering his spying. The secret his uncle was keeping from them might damage their family’s relationship, even more than the death of Thomas and Kirsten’s mother had just three years ago; that was the last thing he wanted.

  When Anders opened the door he saw Thomas tending the fire and Kirsten setting the dinner table, both unaware of Anders’ newly discovered secret. Shaking off water like a wet dog, Anders closed the door behind him.

  “Where’s father?” Thomas asked noticing Theodor wasn’t with him.

  “He was just behind me. I’m sure he’ll be in shortly,” Anders answered, relieved to know he’d made it back before his uncle. He rushed to his room to dry off and change into dry clothes. In his room, Anders looked at his reflection in the small mirror on the wall next to his closet. He quickly practiced a straight-faced expression as he imagined how talking to his uncle would go. Throwing on a dry shirt and rubbing the water out of his thick brown hair, Anders practiced his unsurprised face one more time before returning to the dining room. Joining his cousins at the table, he smiled lightly at them, trying to avoid any suspicious looks from their piercing blue eyes.

  Soon, Theodor was wiping his muddy boots on the floor mat and shedding his saturated outer layers. Hanging his coat to dry, placing his boots by the crackling fire, and taking a seat at the dinner table, he acted as if nothing was different from any other day.

  Once they were all gathered at the table, he asked, “Tell me about your day. What happened?”

  Thomas recounted the day’s events as Kirsten and Anders began to hungrily inhale their sausage and potato dinner. He told his father how he and Anders had caught the most salmon they’d ever brought in while fishing. He also bragged that because of his heroism and ability to remain calm, he had saved them from almost sinking in the storm.

  “Is that so?” Theodor said astonished, his thick eyebrows rising to expose the bright blue hue of his eyes.

  “Nope,” Anders said through a mouthful of sausage. “He was shaking like a baby. I nearly had to bail the water out myself and row us back to shore at the same time.” He smiled at his cousin, who turned red in the face.

  Thomas scowled at Anders’ brotherly banter and stuck the tip of his tongue out though his pursed lips in his direction.

  “I just tell it how it happened,” Anders said, still smiling at his younger cousin. “We did catch quite a lot of fish out there today,” he added to Thomas’ credit. “Should be able to make some good money at the festival tomorrow.”

  Theodor congratulated them on their success and told Thomas he was sure his version of the story wasn’t far from the truth.

  After dinner, when the four of them turned in for the night, Anders lay in bed thinking about what Theodor was hiding from them. The conversation he’d overheard with the strange man kept replaying in his head. Anders lay awake late into the night thinking through all of the possible explanations for what he’d heard. He wondered if he should tell Kirsten or Thomas about it. He fell asleep not knowing what he would do with the sensitive information.

  ***

  The rising sun beamed golden rays across Highborn Bay as it warmed thin patches of snow left behind from the heavy winter. The storm had passed during the night. Songbirds sang and spread their wings, flying through the clear blue skies. Anders awoke to floorboards squeaking under Kirsten and Thomas’ feet. They shuffled over to the kitchen and began preparing the morning meal of eggs, sausage, bread and Anders’ favorite tea loaded with caffeine called mate. Theodor always pronounced it wrong and Anders grew tired of correcting him, “It’s mah-teh, not matee,” he would say irritated.

  He was still half asleep when he joined his cousins around the table. Unlike his uncle, who’d already been up for a half hour, Anders was not much of a morning person until he had his mate. Theodor walked in through the front door in his usual chipper mood. He had just finished the morning chores.

  “Good morning,” he said, rubbing the top of Kirsten’s head, messing up her shoulder-length hair.

  “Stop that!” she whined and ducked her head to the side, attempting to avoid her father’s playful hand.

  “How are we feeling this morning? Ready to go to the biannual Grandwood Festival?” Theodor asked, still chuckling at Kirsten’s reaction.

  “I’ll let you know once I’ve finished my mah-teh,” Anders replied emphasizing the syllables for his uncle. He held the mug tightly, his hands wrapped around its warmth.

  “You’ll want to be at the festival’s market early if you are wanting to sell all of your salmon,” Theodor said while pouring himself a hot cup of tea. He gently blew on it and said, “tasty stuff this matee.” He glanced at Anders who shook his head and smiled. Kirsten, Thomas and Anders agreed with him about getting an early start but remained seated waiting for the caffeine to take effect.

  Thomas was the first to leave the table. Anders watched him bring the horse and carriage around to the front door and load up their baskets of salmon. He wondered if he should talk with Theodor about the argument with the stranger he overheard the night before. But when he turned to look at his uncle, who was laughing at something Kirsten had said, he decided it was not the right time.

  Anders took one last swig of his tea and said with a hint of sarcasm, “Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s go to town; we need to be at the festival early if we are to sell all of our hard-earned salmon.” Theodor smiled exposing his tea-stained teeth in acknowledgement of Anders’ remark.

  Anders jumped into the back of the wagon alongside Kirsten. Theodor and Thomas rode up front on the wagon’s bench seat.

  “And… we’re off,” Theodor said with reins in hand.

  The crisp morning air washed over their fair-skinned faces as
they trotted down the road to the City of Grandwood. The dirt road followed the edge of the forest as it wound through rolling foothills. The city was nestled neatly between the Pelagic Ocean and the Grandwood Mountains. After nearly a half-hour of riding, they crested a hill, able to see the sunlight glinting off the city’s many rooftops and buildings.

  It was the first time any of them had seen Grandwood since the arrival of the thousands of visitors for the biannual festival and Grandwood Games. At the far end of the city, Anders could see the masses of vendors’ and visitors’ tents that had sprung up over the last several days. The temporary gathering extended down the beach, nearly doubling the size of the coastal city.

  “Anders, do you think you’re ready for the competition?” Theodor asked. “It begins tomorrow.”

  “I’m nervous,” he began. “I’m also confident I will finish this year. My goal is to complete the event, not to win. Although winning would be nice,” he added smiling.

  “The Grandwood Games is the most fierce and challenging competition of any in the five nations,” Theodor spoke as if he was an announcer for the event. “This is the fiftieth year it’s been held and nearly half the contestants don’t complete it. Of course you know that because you were one of them last time,” he chuckled lightly looking back at Anders. “You were lucky I knew the judges and they made an exception for you. After how it ended for you though, I would never advise anyone to compete while still under age. Just try to relax and enjoy the festivities while you can. There will be plenty of time to be nervous tomorrow,” he said trying to buoy his nephew’s confidence.

  “I’ll be betting on you, so you’d better do well this year,” Kirsten chimed in. “And if you decide not to compete at the last minute, I will take your place. I may need to disguise myself so the judges think it’s you, but I could pull it off,” she said with great self-confidence.

  “Kirsten, you think you’re so funny, don’t you! Too bad you must be eighteen to participate,” Thomas said mocking her.