Rake's Story

by LeRoy Clary

  “Allow me to introduce Sadie,” Rake said with a smile and a nod in Sadie’s direction.

  “Hello,” Cinder said without looking at Sadie. Then she added with her eyes locked on Rake’s, “We don’t have time for you to chase all the women you see.”

  Rake fought to maintain a passive face while seeing Sadie begin to smile from the corner of his eye. Despite what Sadie had said about not pretending to be in a relationship, he said, “Actually, she is chasing me, or she was. We were just discussing our first kiss when you came down the stairs.”

  Cinder snapped, “Please try to stay up with me, Rake. We have an important reason for being here, and that does not include you taking up with every skirt you encounter. I think we need to isolate that man and find out what we can. Now if you don’t mind, when he leaves, you approach him from the rear while I distract him.”

  “It was not him,” Rake said. When she looked at him in a puzzled manner, he shifted his eyes to Sadie, who burst out laughing, again drawing the ire of the stalwart couple.

  Cinder looked confused for a moment, then abruptly sat. “You?”

  “From a mountain village called Stoneshield. We saw a Breslau Green and I was chosen to search for danger.”

  Rake said, “I haven’t verified her family a formal introduction but have little doubt she is one of us. She admits to trying to sneak into our room last night long enough to catch a glimpse of our backs or find something else that might reveal if we are clan.”

  Cinder said to Sadie, “I owe you an apology. And Rake owes me one.”

  “Not at all,” Sadie said. “I was just suggesting that maybe we can all work together. And we were discussing why I would not give him any kiss, first or last.”

  Cinder was as reluctant to have her accompany us as me but more direct in her response. “Three people traveling together is uncommon and would wag tongues. We do so as brother and sister.”

  “I’m sorry, but I have no idea of what to do,” Sadie said, her tone turning angry. “I mean, what does my family expect? Just start asking everyone I see if they know if Breslau is going to raid the Dragon Clan?”

  “Keep your voice down,” Cinder ordered as she turned to see if the other diners had reacted.

  Rake said, “I have an idea. What if you tag along after us? Wait about a half day and we’ll try and leave directions for you to follow. If anything happens to us, you carry that information back to your family and to ours. We’ll be at the forefront and you’ll have our backs.”

  The idea was met with immediate acceptance by both women. It also added a new family to the known Dragon Clan members in the area, and Sadie’s family may know of others that lived near her. The word of an invasion needed to spread wide and the net that relayed the information had to grow to encompass all Dragon Clan in Oakhaven.

  Rake said, “Listen, today we’re going to travel west on the same road unless something changes our mind along the way. You spend another night here at the inn and follow tomorrow morning. That’ll put you a half day behind.”

  “How will I know if you change your route?” She asked.

  Cinder said, “Watch for a fresh chip of bark on apple tree trunks along the road. If you see one, search around the base of the trunk for a clue we’ll leave. Can you read?”

  “Of course.”

  The plan was simple and needed little change. The innkeeper removed the bar from the front door to let them know to depart when they were ready. From her expression, the sooner the better. Instead, they went back to their room, Sadie in tow.

  Sadie said, “I’ll spend tonight outside.”

  “Why?” Cinder asked.

  “Inns cost money.”

  Cinder didn’t hesitate. She pulled her purse and spilled coins into her palm and held them out to Sadie. “Here. Don’t argue. You’ll need supplies along the way too.”

  “I can’t take your money.”

  “Why not? My family took it from King Ember’s men and from Breslau spies.”

  Sadie smiled. “In that case.”

  On the way out, Cinder talked to the innkeeper and paid for the broken water jar in their room as well as a tip for service. Outside, she hefted her rucksack on her back in a motion becoming familiar and said, “Rake, I think I like sleeping outside better than inside.”

  “The food was good.”

  “That, it was. And it was a good place to listen to friendly conversation, but other than finding someone on the same mission as us, it was a waste of time.”

  Rake shook his head. “You’re wrong. Do you feel that?”

  A moment passed, then she said, “Where is it? I feel a nearby dragon but don’t see it. And it feels different.”

  “Somewhere ahead, I think. It may be just off the road where it can watch for us but not be seen.”

  Cinder stumbled to a stop, pulling Rake’s arm to draw his attention. “Really? You can tell all that and still say you didn’t bond with that dragon?”

  “Only a few people a generation bond with a dragon. You know that.”

  She turned to the forest. “It feels like bees buzzing on my back instead of one tickle. If it is in the forest up there, why can’t we see its head above the tops of the trees?”

  “Maybe it's laying down? Sleeping? Or, hiding from us? But you’re right, the tingling on my back is running all up and down my birthmark. It is more painful, too.”

  “A different dragon than the one you bonded with?”

  “We didn’t bond.”

  She peered up at him. “Then how can you make statements like that? You know where a dragon is just by touch, and that it feels different from others? You are either an expert deceiver or a liar. Did you bond with it? Is there some reason don’t want to tell me?”

  “I’m using logical deductions. I feel it nearby. The sensations on my back aren’t getting weaker or stronger, so it isn’t flying. I can’t see it, so it’s probably hiding in the forest. Why is it doing that? Because it is watching us, I guess.” Rake pulled his arm free of her clinging fingers. “And another thing, you warned me against touching you last night while you slept, then you did everything but get me in a headlock—and on top of that, you are a blanket thief with sharp elbows.”

  She grinned with genuine amusement. “That’s different. And my little sister tells the same lies about my nights because we share a sleeping mat, but since I was asleep, my actions were innocent, and you have to forgive them. That’s a rule.”

  Rake said, “I worried all night that you’d wake up and slit my throat if I accidentally touched you because of my sleeping habits.”

  “Tonight, I may. Watch yourself.” She grinned wider.

  He didn’t understand. Cinder was either warning him or not. He couldn’t tell which but decided to stay away from her at night, just in case. They walked quietly, the sensations on their backs increasing slowly. Both kept a watch for the dragon that had to be near.

  Rake said, “Ever hear anyone say they can tell the direction of a dragon by the tingles?”

  “Actually, I think there is a story about that but right now can’t remember which one.”

  He turned his head and looked into the forest to his right. “If so, it’s right over there.”

  “Agreed.”

  Rake kept walking and looking. Despite Cinder’s repeated accusations about him bonding and having special powers to sense the dragon, she seemed to have equal abilities. “How do we know it’s the same one?”

  “How many dragons did you say you’ve seen in your entire lifetime? Two? Three? One of them a Green from Breslau that you can’t feel—and this Red. So, take a guess which one is probably out there? The same one or another?”

  “It’s the same one, but why is it following us?”

  “Who says it is?” she asked, “And if it is, the thing is following you.”

  “Logic says it is the same one. The dragon we sensed could have flown all the way to Princeton since we saw it last, but here it is so close we can almost smel
l it.”

  Cinder paused and Rake stopped beside her. She said, “It smelled rank when it landed. Even from the distance where I was. There was just a whiff of the same smell a moment ago. Should we be scared?”

  “I think the better question is to ask why it’s here. Coincidence?”

  “You don’t believe that any more than me. Come on, keep walking. If it’s where we think, the tingling will change to show it’s behind us—or it will reveal itself if it is really trying to stay up with you.”

  “Us,” Rake corrected but felt a twinge of guilt. He suspected she was right, but it didn’t feel right to have a dragon all to himself. If so, it went to the original question of why. He’d heard of bonding with dragons his entire life. It was presented as the highest calling a member of the Dragon Clan could attain. And he knew it had not happened to him—at least, not like in the stories he’d heard.

  The dragon had merely seemed inquisitive. Perhaps Rake was the first of the Dragon Clan it had encountered although that seemed almost impossible. Nobody knew how many Dragon Clan had settled here in this land before the war with Breslau, but rumor said there had been at least five original villages, each with a hundred or more people. The dragon had flown over them, and there was also Sadie’s family, and Frog’s. And probably many more. So, again he wondered why the dragon seemed attracted to him.

  When King Ember betrayed his people and allowed Breslau to effectively rule the entire kingdom of Princeton overnight, the Breslau army had searched out the villages where Dragon Clan lived, finding them abandoned, and then offered rewards for information large enough to live comfortably for a generation. They had also captured and tortured suspected members of the Dragon Clan and verified it by requiring all men to go shirtless for an entire summer.

  They had located and executed a few. Not many. Well before they attacked a village, everyone in the Clan had cleared out and dispersed. Every village had at least two escape routes. Many, like those near the Endless Sea, had taken to boats and sailed away to predetermined locations, a few traveling on smaller boats, and almost entire villages on others. The boats had been purchased during the terror of King Ember’s grandfather, the king who had ordered all of the Dragon Clan killed.

  He’d also been the king snatched from the center of his army by a dragon, the legend said, and flown so high that when dropped his body had made an impression where it struck that filled with water in the outline of him for a dozen years. His army had fled from the dragon, not the only time an army had been defeated by a dragon.

  While they walked, the stinging sensation changed in intensity and direction slightly. It seemed to be coming from behind, still in the forest. Rake was about to make a statement to that effect when a rustling drew his attention. As he turned to look, a red dragon burst into the air from the forest.

  It was not red, of course. All dragons are actually black, but like birds, their breast and even heads are often tinged with other colors. Reds, blacks, and greens are the most common colors, but there are others, even blues.

  “I thought so,” she said.

  The dragon flew higher, turned its long neck so the red eyes could watch them as it flew in the direction they were walking as if escorting them. It was mid-morning and Cinder said, “It is following you. Let’s eat when we reach the next stream with clear water.”

  Rake agreed as he watched the Red fly ahead as if it were doing it to protect them by making sure no danger lay ahead. Rake chuckled silently at the thought. He was attributing the actions of the dragon to his personal wellbeing.

  The silence that grew between him and Cinder was like that of old friends, those who can spend an afternoon together without talking and feel good about it. He’d met her and spent all of two days and nights with her. Sleeping couldn’t count.

  So, they’d known each other only for a short time, but she was already as comfortable to be around as his sister or grandfather. Her sense of humor echoed his. She was lethal in a fight and didn’t back down. A portion of those feelings could be the Dragon Clan connection. More could be because he had so little experience around others who were not immediate family, especially women. Even more, because Cinder was intelligent, pretty, and a better tracker.

  In his mind, he neglected to list her other traits, the ones more negative. She was arrogant, overbearing, officious, and snide. They walked quietly and things were going well until a farmer riding in a small cart pulled by a plodding old horse rolled in their direction. Walking jauntily alongside it was a willowy girl, a little younger than Rake, with hair the color of summer straw. She smiled and said hello to both, but her eyes remained on him.

  His mistakes were two. He answered her. And after the wagon passed, he turned and looked back over his shoulder. She was also looking back, and her hips were swaying. He never saw the playful elbow Cinder threw that struck his ribs near where the thieves had kicked him.

  He folded and fell to his knees. Cinder realized what happened and quickly knelt at his side. His last look at the confused farmer’s daughter appeared to be one of complete confusion at his antics.

  On his feet again, Rake limped perhaps more than necessary, but Cinder felt guilty enough to take his arm and help him along. They had no objective except to move west and listen to stray rumors. To do that, they needed to interact with people—and there were few of them to do that with, so she shouldn’t have reacted like that when he was just trying to be friendly with a local.

  They stopped beside the next stream, which was a wide, shallow river that ran fast. A crossing had been made by placing rocks and boulders on the bottom, allowing the water to flow past while giving a raised, semi-solid surface across the soft muddy bottom for wagons and people to cross. They drank cold water and took a break while sitting on the bank before crossing and talked about where they thought the largest fish would lurk, and wished they had hooks and lines, as well as a free afternoon to spend there.

  A man came along the road from the other direction. As he approached the water, he bent and picked up a boulder nearly as large as his head with both hands. He carried it cradled in two hands belly-high. In the middle of the river crossing, he let it go. The splash came back at him and he dodged the water with a laugh.

  And so, one rock, one boulder at a time, over the span of years, the river crossing had been made and was now maintained. If someone crossing didn’t deposit a rock, nobody was going to bemoan it or object to them using the crossing. But for most people, especially the locals, the objective was to cross the river at will and lacking a bridge, the problem was solved with the simple routine.

  Cinder said, “You know, if you give people a chance, the majority are nicer than you might think.”

  “You mean, they don’t jab a man in his sore ribs because he looked at a pretty girl.” Rake laughed.

  She didn’t. She faced him and asked, “You thought her pretty?”

  While Rake didn’t have much experience with a variety of people since he lived high in the mountains and away from most, that didn’t mean he couldn’t see the trap she had baited to snare him. If an honest answer was given, Cinder would punish him for it. If he lied, she would know. She’d set her trap so there was no way to answer without recriminations.

  Rake looked up from the road and found the man was now on their side of the small river and called, “Hello.”

  “Hello, yourself,” he called back and angled his direction to where they sat.

  The innkeeper had given them more than enough food for traveling and Rake asked, “Hungry?”

  “Always,” he said.

  He was generally their age, maybe a little older. His clothing was not that of a farmer, nor one of wealth. His hair hung to his shoulders and was tied on either side, so stray strands didn’t blow in his face. He carried a small pack, but no weapons were visible. His smile was infectious.

  He ate ravenously and told them he was a wanderer looking for a place to call home. They explained there was little for him to explore ah
ead, and the road ended in a day if he walked fast. In exchange, he told them the road was used by more people downriver. There were villages and towns, and during the conversation, he warned them about seeing a dragon. He assured them it was real. He’d even seen one earlier today.

  “A Red,” Cinder said with conviction. “We saw it too.”

  “No . . . it was black with a Greenish tinge on its neck and belly. Actually, there were five of them, if I counted right.”

  Cinder and Rake exchanged astonished looks.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The wanderer seated beside the river assured us a few more times of the dragons he’d seen as if he’d been responsible for it. He never wavered in his story no matter how they asked their questions. He eventually became annoyed with their intensive questioning, thinking they were doubting his truthfulness. His answers became shorter and shorter. After he departed, they remained, stunned and out of food.

  They had asked him to keep watch for Sadie and to warn her there were black and green dragons ahead. Cinder had stressed for him to mention of the number and the color. He hadn’t seemed agreeable and would probably pass right by her instead of passing on the information.

  The request was a rare mistake by Cinder. The wanderer had cocked his head as he thought about it. Then he had asked, “Why isn’t she traveling with you?”

  It was a fair question that neither adequately explained. After he had gone, she turned to Rake. “What do you think?”

  “I believe him if that’s what you’re asking. He saw what he saw. I didn’t want to, at first. But five Blacks flying together? I’ve never heard of such a thing. And he didn’t believe us at all, and in his place, I wouldn’t have, either.”

  “No, you’re right. I believed him too. But what do you think we should do?”

  Rake drew in a long breath, knowing he should soften his next words and refusing to listen to himself. “Well, just because we’ve confirmed from a man who has no home and admits to knowing nothing about dragons, that five blacks were in the area, do we rush back to our homes and spread the news? Even if we believe him, he told us nothing we don’t already know, and there is the possibility the Blacks were ours. He said they had a greenish tint, which might mean something, and the number of them, too. So, we continue with the original plan.”