Amberdrake spent most of a week playing and swimming in the ocean until his stomach reminded him that he needed to eat. A few experimental tries taught him the best way to fish dragon fashion. As he swam past a school of fish he would suddenly swing his head sideways with his mouth open and catch a few at a time. This was far more work than he thought it was worth, so he started looking for larger prey. Sharks were his next meal, and he found them to be quite tasty. The lack of bones was something new to him, but the lack of crunching did not diminish his enjoyment of the meal.
When the novelty of the sea and fishing grew stale, Amberdrake again took to the air, flying wherever his fancy led. Mountains grew in the distance, and he began to look forward to the heights as a distraction. Normal dragons have incredibly long attention spans, but Amberdrake had far too much of the young human in him to be content with anything for long.
He began to see more people as he grew closer to the mountains. Scattered farms gave way to scattered villages, and finally towns and cities. Amberdrake was tempted to land, but some inborn caution kept him airborne. A lone farm, where he had been of service to the farmer, was different from a city full of people, and possibly soldiers. While he was fairly confident that no arrow could pierce his scales, he was not positive. Tales of dragon slayers had been among his favorites as a child. They all ended with the dragon dead and the dragon slayer getting the beautiful princess. Good for the dragon slayer, but bad for the dragon. Now that he was the dragon, those tales had lost their appeal.
He saw the chance for some fairly safe human contact when he noticed a wagon that had slipped partially off of a mountain road. The mule had run off, leaving a woman and small child stranded. He circled slowly and then landed on the road near the wagon.
The woman and her child had seen him starting to land, and hid under the wagon. Amberdrake laid his head on its side, peeking under the wagon at the frightened woman and child, which turned out to be a girl.
“Hello,” he said simply, unsure of whether he would be understood.
The sound of his voice set the woman screaming, which in turn set off the little girl. Amberdrake pulled his head back quickly. “Please stop that. It hurts my ears.”
“Go away! What do you want? Please, don’t eat us! Please!” the woman was screaming from under the wagon.
Amberdrake carefully lifted the wagon back up to the road, causing the woman to grab her daughter and run screaming into the woods. “You’re welcome!” he shouted after her, then lifted off. He made a pass at the mule, frightening it back toward the wagon, then flew on. He was disappointed and a little hurt by the woman’s reaction, though he supposed he could understand it. After all, there were few tales of helpful dragons.
* * *
“It is gone, Mama. And it put the cart back on the road,” Sanfen said as she peeked out from under a log where she and her mother had hidden.
“Are you sure?” Fendra was more frightened than her daughter. She was tempted to stay under the log until nightfall, but if the dragon was truly gone, she needed to see to her wagon.
“I’m sure, Mama. I saw it fly up toward the mountains.” Sanfen wriggled out of their hiding place before her mother could stop her. She looked up into the sky and could see the rapidly fading dot that was the dragon.
Fendra wormed her way out as well, finding the opening to be smaller on the way out than it had been on the way in. “It did put the wagon back, didn’t it? And here comes Sarthan. He looks frightened. You don’t suppose that it just wanted to help, do you?”
The mule, Sarthan, ran to his humans for comfort. They had raised him, and he considered them to be his herd. Sanfen caught his halter and soothed his nose. “I think so, Mama. It didn’t attack us when we ran, and Sarthan acts like it scared him back to us.”
Fendra was looking at something lying in the road. It was a dragon scale, golden and shining in the sun. Two more were by the wagon. “Help me get Sarthan hooked back up. Your father isn’t going to want to believe us, but with these as proof,” she held up a scale and pointed to the others, “he’ll have to.”
* * *
Amberdrake continued flying south. The rejection by the woman and her daughter hurt, and he was tempted to stay away from humans all together. I didn’t mean them any harm. I just wanted someone to talk to.
The drafts and currents around the mountains provided him with a distraction, and he spent several weeks riding the tricky winds, reveling in the unexpected. He slept high in the crags, eating mountain sheep and deer when he was hungry, drinking from rushing streams when he was thirsty. Days passed unheeded as he lost himself in the wonder of the mountains. The winds were such that no two days were the same, and his flying improved as the winter progressed.
It was spring before he left the mountains again. He flew northwest this time, having had enough of the seacoast and its people. He wanted something familiar. The highlands, such as those that surrounded Chanders, drew him.
He flew through the mountains, venturing out into the plains to either side as the fancy took him. He was finding that the life of a dragon was wearing thin, and was reminded of Corandrake’s words. Dandarshandrake had been twelve thousand years old when he had decided to die. Amberdrake had been a dragon for less than a year, and already life was beginning to pall. What would the centuries ahead be like? What could he do to keep himself occupied? What is there to live for when you live forever?
An inviting meadow presented itself below him, and he glided in to a soft landing. His mind roamed, searching for the name of the God who had done this to him, seeking a way to undo what he had so foolishly asked for. No name came to his mind, no clear picture of the God formed, only nebulous forms and meaningless sounds filled his head. Finally, he gave up. Should he, as Sahrendrake said her father had done, give up and just die? Was he so tired of seeing the same old world that oblivion was better than life?
The appearance of a deer running into the clearing caused him to automatically snatch it and begin eating. Harrumph! Maybe I still want to live. But I need a purpose. Something to make it worthwhile to see the sunrise. He considered several paths to contentment, but rejected all. Finally, he reverted back to the most basic instincts of human kind. He wanted a family.
Dragons do not, as Sahrendrake had pointed out, mate for life. If Amberdrake was going to have a family, he was going to have to be human again. And since the God was not available, he was going to have to do it himself.
With a little preparation, he began focusing his mind and magic on himself. Slowly, and painfully, his body began to reshape itself, becoming once again Drake Standralson. But not the Drake Standralson who had wished to become a Mage. He was a man now, and his form reflected that.
The transformation left Drake weak and panting from the exertion. His belly rumbled, and he felt the uncomfortable bite of the wind whipping past his bare skin. A thought, more of a wish than an intention, provided him with clothes. He was startled at first, then realized that, even in human form, he was still Amberdrake, and still a Mage. He was foolishly glad that he could still feel the dragon within himself, and tried to transform back to dragon form. Again, pain assaulted him, but from a different quarter this time.
He was being strangled by something, and clawed at his own throat, finally breaking free. As he panted for breath he realized that it had been the clothes he had been wearing that had choked him. Something to remember the next time I decide to take human form.
Now that he had an idea of what he wanted to do, he was going to need to be near someplace to do it. And it wouldn’t hurt to have a few coins to his name either. His mighty wings propelled him high into the sky, and he began searching the world below for a band of outlaws. The gratitude of a town would make him far more acceptable than a stranger would be.
Adventure 3
“Tis Better to Have Loved And Lost—” Says Who?
AMBERDRAKE’S CHANCE TO TRY BEING OF service came on his fourth day of searching. He spotted a band of
men hiding in a high mountain cave. His keen vision let him watch them for a time before he approached, and what he saw sickened him. There were at least twenty men in the band, and they had several women with them. Women in torn gowns who were all too obviously captives. He watched in horror as one young girl was thrown to the ground and brutally raped by a large, hairy man. This was more than Drake could bear to watch, and Amberdrake roared with rage.
He dropped from the sky like a comet, roaring and blowing fire, and landed in the clearing with a tremendous impact. A quick swipe with his tail sent the rapist flying into the rock face, where he impacted with an audible thud, then fell motionless to the ground. The other bandits were far too busy trying to stay alive to care. Amberdrake drove them away from the women, then flamed them all. Screams of pain and horror mixed and then died away as the last of the bandits were reduced to ash. The screams of terrified horses, mixed with the screams of even more terrified women, came from the cave. Once the men had been dealt with, he turned his attention to the women.
The girl who had been raped was still on the ground, unconscious. The others were all huddled against the back wall of the cave, too afraid to even try and flee past him. He sniffed the girl and determined that she was still alive, then reached out a massive claw and grabbed one of the bandits’ horses from the paddock near the mouth of the cave. It quickly disappeared down his throat, and was followed by a second, and then a third. Looking at the women, he noticed one who seemed to be acting as a protector for some of the others. He cast his translation spell, then addressed his remarks to her.
“Are you all right?” his massive voice echoed in the cave, making the women scream again.
The woman who had drawn his notice stepped forward and stood defiantly in front of him. “Don’t toy with us,” she shouted in a heavily accented voice. “Get it over with.” She was shaking violently, though whether from fear or rage, he couldn’t tell.
He tilted his head to the side and regarded her. “Get what over with?” he asked, puzzled. “What do you think I am going to do?”
The woman stepped back, blinking rapidly in surprise. “Why, eat us, of course.”
Amberdrake’s neck arched back in surprise and shock. “Eww! My good woman, I assure you that I would rather starve to death than eat a human. The smell of you people is bad enough. I can’t imagine the taste. Besides, cannibalism is not considered a mark of civilized men.” With that he transformed back into Drake. The horses he had devoured were metabolized to provide the energy, and this time he felt almost human when he was done. With a wave of his hands he provided himself with clothing. He intentionally made the clothes in colors to match his scales, and they had the desired effect on the women. Or at least on the one woman.
She stepped forward carefully and touched him with a tentative finger. “Are you real, or is the dragon?”
“Both. I am Amberdrake, but I am also Drake. Who are you?” He kept his voice soft and even, doing his best not to frighten her.
She smiled, then laughed softly. “Amber.” A sound from the girl on the ground caught her attention before Drake could question her further. She rushed to the girl’s side and knelt.
“Lissett, don’t be frightened. They are gone. Come here, honey. Let it out.” Amber was holding the girl to her shoulder as she cried. Other women came forward now, and Drake found himself being crowded back away from the girl. Seeing her clearly, he was again enraged at the treatment she had received. She couldn’t be more than fourteen, the same age Maris had been when he’d left Chanders. He turned away and began surveying the camp.
The horses he hadn’t eaten had broken loose as soon as there was no dragon blocking the way and were running down the mountain as fast as they could. That meant a long walk. He studied his feet for a moment, and they were soon encased in sturdy boots. Then he began sifting through the accumulated goods that were piled up in the cave. Food and beer were plentiful, and he helped himself as he looked around. The rest seemed to be mostly trade goods: cloth and other finished goods such as his mother had bought at the Chanders Market.
“Your pardon, Lord Drake,” a voice said from behind him. Amber had walked up so quietly that the first indication that he had of her presence was her voice. After so long alone, the sound of a voice just inches from his ear caused him to jump.
“Don’t do that!” Drake shouted as he stood with one hand over his wildly beating heart. “Gods Below, woman, what are you trying to do, frighten me to death?” he asked in a breathy voice as he panted.
Amber was looking contrite as she continued. “My apologies, Lord Drake. What are you planning to do with us now?”
Drake shook his fright off quickly, then considered her question. “I don’t know what to do with you, Amber. I don’t know who you are, beyond being captives of these bandits.” He indicated the burned corpses, and Amber blanched. Seeing her reaction, he was puzzled by his own. Have I changed so much that the sight of twenty charred bodies doesn’t affect me anymore? With a second wave of his hand and a spoken word, the bodies were gone.
“Thank you, Lord Drake. The smell of those was making us all ill. But my question remains: What now?” Amber was a very self-assured young woman, and obviously used to dealing with men of power.
“Who are you, Amber? And who are these other women? Before I can make plans, I need to know who I am planning for.” Drake was covering his lack of any real sophistication by trying to get her to take the lead.
“I am Amber Stephanston. We were escorts for Lady Lissett, youngest daughter of Duke Jander Fromest of Highsterad. She was on her way to meet her betrothed, Duke Manrel Cordan of Genleaf. The bandits attacked us in the pass, and sent for ransom.” She stopped and looked closely at Drake’s face. “Is something wrong, Lord Drake?”
Drake was having a problem understanding what she was saying, and not just because of the language difference. “Highsterad? Genleaf? Where is that?”
Now it was Amber’s turn to look confused. “You don’t know? This is Highsterad, and the other side of the mountains is Genleaf. Don’t you know where you are?” Her awe was slipping away to be replaced by puzzlement.
Drake shrugged. “No, not really. I flew most of last year, not going anywhere in particular, just going. Where are we in relation to Chanders?” When Amber showed no sign of recognition, he continued. “The Darendian Empire?” Still no light of understanding. “Where is this place?”
“The Darendian Empire is on the other side of the world,” a new voice said, and Drake found himself facing Lady Lissett. “It is a year’s journey or more to get there.”
Drake bowed formally to the lady. “Are you well?” he asked, immediately regretting it.
The girl’s lips tightened into thin lines that all but disappeared. “No.” She turned and walked away.
“She is ruined, Lord Drake,” Amber pointed out. “Duke Manrel will never accept her now.” Amber had a hard look in her eyes that, just for a moment, reminded Drake of Sahrendrake. This one is dangerous.
“We need to get her home, back to her family. They’ll help her.” Drake was watching Lady Lissett, so he missed the hard look that Amber gave him.
“She has no home now, Lord Drake. Her father gave her to Duke Manrel. He won’t accept her back. Duke Manrel won’t accept her as she is, and she knows it. She is lost, disinherited.” Drake turned to look at Amber, questions plain on his face. “It may not be like this where you come from, Lord Drake, but once a girl is given, she belongs to her new family. If they reject her, it brings shame on all her kin, and they will not accept her back under any circumstances. The only life for such a girl is as a servant, or whore.”
Drake looked from Amber to the other women then back. “So what should I do? I can’t just fly away again, not now.” He was confused, and desperately searching for a way out of this predicament.
“We all belong to you now, Lord Drake. You can do anything you want with us.” Amber’s voice was flat and all but emotionless, but Drake c
ould hear an underlying sadness nonetheless.
“What of the rest of you? Lady Lissett can’t go back, but what about you? Can’t you go home?” he asked, looking at all of the women for an answer.
“We are all bound to Lady Lissett. When she was lost, we were lost with her.” Amber looked Drake straight in the eye, and he could not look away. “As I said, we belong to you now.”
“Can I release you?” he asked. “What would happen if I just went away?” Drake was suddenly reminded that, underneath it all, he was still just a teenage boy.
Amber’s mouth pulled into a deeper frown and a hint of fear shown in her eyes. “Then we would be truly lost,” she whispered. “An unclaimed woman is fair game for all. Even whores have masters to protect them.” Tears were beginning to form in Amber’s eyes.
Drake turned and walked over to the cliff. What did I do to deserve this? He had no idea what to do, and Amber was not making sense. How can a man own a woman?
Sounds behind him made Drake return to the women. Lady Lissett sat with a slightly glassy-eyed expression on her face as Amber explained their situation. When she described Drake’s lack of understanding concerning their plight, three of the younger women began weeping.
“Don’t cry.” Drake stretched out a hand and several of the women flinched back. “I don’t understand any of this, but I won’t abandon you. I just don’t know what to do with you.”
They spent the rest of that day and night sorting through the piled goods in the cave. Amber explained that as a reward for killing the bandits everything he recovered was his to keep. This was not too different from the laws of the empire, except the women were counted as trade goods as well. He still had a hard time accepting that, but Amber and the others assured him that it was so. Morning found them all sitting around a fire, sipping cava and discussing their options.
The Chronicles of Amberdrake Page 24