Black Dragon of Amber Book Two: The Road to Amber

by Barbara Bretana

  Tentatively, I put the limb to the ground and felt my weight on the thigh bone and toe without stressing the cannon bone itself. Hobbled forward on all fours like a lurching caterpillar but at least I could walk. Not like we had a choice. Juniper watched from the back gate, a pack on his back and hers at his knee.

  “Ready?” She asked and handed me an apple. I bit into it, the taste and the center oddly bitter. “Sorry. It’s a slow acting painkiller. I thought it would be better than a shot. This way lasts longer. I’m sorry, I need to lead you so it doesn’t look so suspicious.”

  I snorted and pushed her with my head. Slowly we left the yard behind emerging through the back gate onto a small path between two alleys that skirted a green were several sheep grazed up to the tree line. Her little animal clinic was on the very outskirts of town and the anonymity of the forest was not far away. But, she didn’t take us that way. Instead, she turned left on a dirt track that animals had made following the ridge above the road.

  There was no moon so no shadows and not enough light to pick our way should the going get rough. Mallei told me to walk as slowly as I needed and they paced themselves to me. She warned me of uneven ground. “We’re on the towpath,” she whispered. “It was the fastest and easiest way for you. Also, the most dangerous in the daylight as the Watch could see us leaving.” She went on to explain that no one was being allowed to leave the city by ship or horseback, wagon or cart. Only those on foot and anything deemed to be of use to the war effort was confiscated.

  “We have to be quiet,” she whispered. “If they find you, they might take you away even with your leg.”

  My gait was an uneven hitch but we were moving, almost as fast as she could walk. At first, I just kept going until after one hour, I was reduced to counting a hundred steps and then resting before I could do a hundred more. I wasn’t in pain, just weak. Wasn’t sure if we had even managed more than 3 miles.

  “It’s not much further, Raitt,” she encouraged and gave me another apple. I tasted the same nasty bitter center and spit it out. “It’ll help,” she said. “It’s a stimulant too.” Grimly, I kept putting one foot in front of the other until I smelled the river ahead. I could hear the lap of water against the shore and the sleepy chirruping of frogs.

  “The fort is just another quarter-mile,” she said and lit a small candle that barely illuminated her face. She looked tired and frightened. I swore I heard Junie’s knees knocking. Pushed them both with my head towards the water.

  The barge was beached on the narrow shelf of a gravel bar, tied up to a huge stump with a rope as thick as a man’s forearm. A small lantern hung from a swinging arm over a rude cabin. We could hear a grinding noise as someone inside turned a wheel, sharpening some kind of steel object. It ceased when Mallei whistled like a nighthawk. In the doorway, a tall man’s shadow blocked the light. In his hands he carried a sword and a crossbow, both readied for instant action.

  “Gordy?”

  “Mallei?”

  “Yes. May we come aboard?” She waited in the darkness pinching out the candle.

  “Just a sec. I’ll have to drop the gangway.”

  “Are you alone?”

  “Near as. Just me, two old folk and some kids from the city. Everyone else has already split.”

  We heard the sound of a heavy bit of wood hit the water and splashes nearly reached us. He swiveled a lantern to fall on the gangway and us. His eyes widened. “Blimey! You got a horse!”

  “Not a horse, Gordy. A mule with a broken leg I’m treating. Can you help us?”

  The barge owner/pilot came down the ramp to stand next to her. “Jiminy! He’s tall. Will he load or do we need to push him in?”

  “He’ll walk on like a gentleman,” she smiled. “He just needs a little help.”

  He held up my rear end on one side while she steadied my head and shoulders. The ramp was wet but not slick, it had ridges designed to catch livestock’s hooves and give a secure grip. The barge itself was set deep in the belly with a guard rail at chest height for animals. It had a very short draft for river work.

  “Will the tide come in before daylight?” She asked nervously as he pulled up the ramp securing it.

  “Another hour or so,” he grunted as he maneuvered me into a standing stall in the center of the barge. I sat down, front feet first like a cow and he watched puzzled. “He sure don’t act like any mule I’ve ever seen,” he stated.

  “That’s because he broke a leg and I’ve been babying him since. Animals get smarter in close proximity to humans, Gordy.” She patted my neck and slipped me another apple. “Rest, Raitt. We’ll be moving out to sea and down the coastline as soon as the tide comes in. If they do come after us, they’ll look down river not up.”

  She threw my lead over the tie bolt but didn’t latch it, made sure I had food and water before she found another empty stall near me where she curled up under her cloak. It wasn’t long before I heard her soft snores and Juniper crept in to lean against my own solid bulk as I pushed over to make room. I sniffed him all over, he smelled of sweat and fear, apples with just the faintest hint of cinnamon and vanilla.

  I wanted to sleep, too but was nervously awake, twitching and starting at every odd noise. I knew that her friend Gordy was on duty but somehow, that didn’t make me any less paranoid.

  Chapter 30

  The tide coming in woke me. I hadn’t thought I’d be tired or secure enough to fall asleep but that’s exactly what I did, waking only as the barge lifted to begin a gentle rocking. Of course, it triggered my seasickness. Even as a mule, I was prone to mal-de-mer. Trouble was, I vaguely remembered from equine morphology that they could not throw up and stomach upsets caused colic, a fatal condition in quadrupeds.

  I struggled up and brayed anxiously careful not to step on Junie who was sound asleep between my legs. He woke, sat up and smacked his head into my breast bone with a cry of pain. “Ow!”

  Mallei came running over, her hair down and in her shift with her cloak thrown over that. She looked younger and softer. Pretty. “Raitt, Juniper, are you both all right?”

  The boy climbed to his feet using my legs and leaned against the wooden partition that separated the stalls. “Fine. I just whacked my head into his belly.”

  “You’re lucky he didn’t kick you, although, I’m not sure if he can. He’d have to use the bad leg or stand on it.”

  Gordy stuck his head down in the hold. “You can come up if you want, Mallei, we’re out of sight and sound of town and any guards.”

  I backed up to follow them and Mallei told me to stay put as the deck would be slippery when wet. I grumbled but saw the sense in it even though I didn’t want to stay below in the dark where the motion was worse and made me even queasier. I heard other voices atop greeting them as both joined the pair. It sounded like children and a small herd of them bolted down the ramp to goggle at me. Street urchins by the looks and Mallei went after them, warning them not to approach me as I was hurt and grumpy.

  “Where’s ‘e hurt?” The ringleader asked, a chubby cheeked lad of eight summers with greeny gold eyes and dark hair. He was missing two fingers from his right-hand and I recognized him as one of the crowd that had hung around Cooper’s Alley.

  “He’s got a broken leg,” Mallei said softly. “Poor old mule. He’d be stew meat or taken by the Army if he wasn’t lame.”

  “Why you messin’ with him? He the same one I saw in the park? Cor, he was fast. Smart, too. He outfoxed every trap we done him.”

  “How did you get here, Leos? And the other kids?”

  “Some old gent and his wife told us to get out of town just ahead of the Red Witch’s Army. If you go on deck, you can just see the City starting to burn.”

  Mallei and I both bolted for the deck and even three legged, I beat her there. Staring back down river, I could both see the lighted glow of something huge burning and smelled the scent of death and destruction. Two old people joined us, the kids and the pilot as we watched Alameth burn. “So
much for the Knights of the Broken Sea,” she muttered. The old woman turned to her and stared at me, her mouth hanging open.

  “Raitt?” She asked, unbelieving as she took in my impressive height and bulk. She threw her arms around me and hugged my neck, her fingers reaching for the collar hidden under my mane.

  “You know this mule?” Mallei gaped.

  “Yes! We lost him in Cooper’s Alley, put reward posters up but when the Council confiscated all the equines, we feared he was lost forever!”

  “I’m sorry to tell you but he broke his right rear. I’m pretty sure it’ll never be right and he’ll be permanently lame.”

  She paled and almost fainted. Mallei grabbed her, leading her over to a bollard and seated her. “He could have been put down!” the older woman cried. The man who was her age or older squatted near my leg to run his fingers down the cast.

  “How long ago? And how bad was it?” His voice was sharp and stronger than he would seem.

  “Nearly 6 weeks. Broke clean in half. You know this mule?” Mallei asked.

  “I should say yes,” he grinned. “Don’t I, Raitt?” Before my eyes, the old fart changed to Commander Tegan which would make–Lyndseye. I brayed at the top of my lungs and tried to reach her as tears streamed down her suddenly young face.

  “Raitt! My Prince! You’re alive!” She threw her arms around my neck again and in my joy, I reared taking her with me to fall on the slippery deck just missing her. Only Tegan’s quick grab for my halter and Mallei’s shove kept me from hitting the boards.

  “You idiot!” She yelled. “Break that leg again and not even the gods can heal you!”

  “Oh, I think the gods are finally on our side,” Linz smiled and whispered a power word in my ear. Suddenly, I was back in my mini Dragon form and the leg brace clattered to the deck with a thud. My questions befuddled the air, I didn’t think I stopped for breath until I nearly passed out. Wisely, all five of them let me sputter to a standstill. Of course, three of them were in sudden shock at my transformation.

  “You hid in the park? How is your leg now, Raitt? Does it still hurt?” Since she was holding me and my wings were beating in a hover, I had no inkling how bad it was indeed or if still broken.

  “What the bloody hell!” Gordy yelped as I landed on all fours. My hind leg was sore as if it had been broken twice but had healed. I could walk on it.

  “Where have you all been these last six weeks?” I asked peeved as Tegan scooped me up to carry me into the cabin away from prying eyes.

  “The Red Witch thinks you’re dead, Sir Raitt, let’s keep it that way.”

  The inside of the cabin was just a box with benches, a small spirit stove on which a kettle was boiling and a pot of stew. There were windows on all three closed sides so that the pilot had a fairly broad view 360º around. The wheel and rudder were close by and I was surprised. I thought barges just went with the current but this one obviously had both power and steering.

  Lyndseye dug through her pouch and pulled out some kind of jerky that she held out towards me. I didn’t think I’d chewed one bite but swallowed it whole, looking expectantly for more.

  “Tegan?” She said and he poured me a mug of wine. I nearly dived in headfirst draining it with slurping noises. They laughed.

  “I’m starving. Grass is great if you’re an ass but it didn’t much satisfy me,” I complained.

  “No wonder he liked the mashes I made,” Juniper muttered. I let them talk, explaining to each other what happened while Linz fed and examined me at the same time. She found scars on the scales were Jasra had skewered me, hard knots on the bones where the breaks had occurred. She checked the iris of my eye and my gums particularly close and made me stick out my tongue. Forked, of course.

  “I think the Atarax poison is all gone,” she announced. “The star potion has neutralized it. You should be safe from the compulsion to obey her.”

  I noticed Gordy had curtains on the pilothouse windows. Blue gingham. It gave the rude cabin a bit of unreal charm. He still hadn’t closed his mouth.

  “Thanks for the lift,” I told him.

  “It talks! A bloody Dragon and it talks!”

  “Good thing you didn’t turn me into the regular sized version,” I said and burped. I wasn’t at all sleepy like I usually was at night. I had a craving to go exploring in the night sky and hunt. I did hear the sounds of rats in the walls but wasn’t quite desperate enough to dig for them. Nor was there enough room in here for me to extend my wings. “What about the collar?” I asked. “Shouldn’t it come off?”

  “Jasra’s magic is binding it to you. I can’t remove it, maybe another wizard could.”

  “I wish Murphy was here, he could probably do it,” I sighed. I was so stupid, again. Taking off without the gargoyle had been a dumb move and I regretted it. Yet, if he had known what I attempted, he would not have let us leave. “I have to find Marcus and Roelle,” I said suddenly. “I must return to Topaz and Khafra.”

  “It’s half a world away!” They protested.

  “That’s not a problem for a Dragon,” I said and smiled a Dragon smile which was a scary show of rows of sharp fangs.

  “You can’t fly us on your back,” the Princess protested. “And someone would see you!”

  “Trust me,” I said. “First, you have to make a harness for me, something that could expand when I do and strong enough to pull the barge.”

  Tegan got the idea immediately and prodded Gordy and Junie into helping. Using the lines that tied the barge up to the docks, they made a harness long enough for a twenty foot draw and nearly big enough for my forty foot size. The trick was converting without sinking his barge. He insisted the ship was sturdy enough to take the weight of that larger creature. I slipped into the center of the harness which dwarfed me, warned everyone to stay out of the way or they’d be in for a big surprise. Nodded to Lyndseye and she uttered the release words just as I leapt into the air.

  Instantly, my bones lengthened and I was forty feet long, hovering just above the decks. I flew forward into the harness jerking the barge through the water so hard that everyone fell on their butts. Tegan shouted up at me, he sounded gleeful. “Look at the wake we’re making! We must be going at least 25 knots!”

  All of them crowded the bow rail watching as I skimmed across the surface of the ocean, starlight making the bioluminescence of the waves look like fireflies. I craned my neck around to watch them and wished I could do some loops and spirals in the joy of being so big and powerful once again.

  “Yee-hah!” I shouted and really pushed barely feeling the drag of the barge. When I looked back, it was up out of the water except for the stern, almost like a hovercraft. Dolphins followed us but even they had a hard time keeping up with me.

  Time flew by for the first few hours and after that, it became a monotonous chore. It wasn’t painful just boring to look at the same stretch of water even though the coastline changed. I maneuvered close enough to see the land but far enough out to sea so that no one could spot me. Occasionally, Tegan or Mallei shouted questions on my condition and endurance but I told them I was fine.

  Normally, I would have preferred to soar at higher altitudes on thermals but my wings and muscles didn’t seem to find the constant flapping a hardship. I slowed and let the barge settle in the water until it was nearly stationary, turned in the lines and hovered over the deck looking for Lyndseye. It was nearly midday and all of them were in the cabin sleeping out of the heavy sun.

  “Linz?” I called and she appeared rubbing her eyes with her bow close to hand.

  “Raitt?”

  “I’m tired, Linz. Can you make me small so I can rest on the boat? I don’t think dragons float and I really don’t want to try swimming.”

  “Okay.” She did the spell and the world became smaller to my eyes. I let myself land on the salt stained deck, crawled over to a bollard and went to sleep. Not even the excited babbles of the kids woke me.

  Chapter 31

  “Ca
n we pet him?” The littlest girl lisped and I rolled my eyes as both Linz and Mallei good-naturedly let the kids check me out. I was more fun than a battery-operated helicopter.

  “Okay, kids,” Mallei ordered. “That’s enough. Raitt is really tired, he needs to sleep and eat.”

  I fluttered my wings, yawned and looked around. It was late in the evening of the second day at sea. So far, we hadn’t passed any other ships; what I could see of shoreline and described to Gordy had put us close to the port city of Gates Cove, an incredible distance for a full masted schooner under tight sail and even more for a barge. Of course, the Walloping Wompas was only a barge and the feat was doubly amazing for a vehicle of her type.

  We’d already gone through the meager food on board, Mallei hadn’t planned on all the extra kids but Lyndseye had told me she wasn’t leaving them to be butchered by Jasra’s Thrids.

  “If I could,” I said low under my breath, “I would burn every fucking one of them off the face of the Shadow Realms.”

  They were discussing food; how much we needed and for how long. Water was no problem, the ballast for the Wompas were oaken kegs of water in the hold. We had nearly 10,000 gallons to draw on. Some of the kids fished and I found that during the times I rested, it was no effort for me to dive below the boat and catch whole schools flipping the catch up on the deck.

  In my smaller size, I was quite agile and handy in the water nor did it bother my wings or flight ability. It did, however cool my Dragon furnace down so that after my dip, I needed a vigorous warming or I’d become lethargic. I felt a pulling towards the east, towards where Lindy said Topaz and the kingdom of Khafra lay. The further we retreated from Minsk and Jasra, the safer I felt.

  We needed meat and fresh vegetables. I knew from association with Roelle what kind of edible stuff grew wild. I had Gordy drop anchor close to a small cove on a desolate stretch of beach and went inland to scout. I did it as the smaller sized Dragon because at greater height, I could be mistaken for a bird or a large bat. This allowed me to fly low enough so that I could search the ground for foodstuffs.