by Resa Nelson
Pingzi’s mind raced, trying to find a solution but seeing none. Once she returned to the surface, Tower Island would be easy to reach. But if she asked the fisherman to take her there, what would happen? How could she remove the children from the island when faced with the Scaldings determined to keep them? “You’re asking me to let those children die at the hands of the Scaldings.”
“That won’t happen,” Taddeo said. “Not in the near future. Those on Tower Island consider the children to be their own kind, even if they don’t share the same blood.”
“Do you promise?” Weighing all the gods and the problems faced by mortals because of them, Pingzi felt hope for the first time. “Do you guarantee the children will be safe until we can sort things out?”
“I know for a fact that the children will be safe for years to come.” Taddeo stared at Pingzi. “Do you agree to seek the counsel of the water dragons?”
Years to come.
Did that mean it would take years to gain the help of the water dragons?
Pingzi saw this as her best chance to guarantee the safety of Skallagrim’s children for the long term. She believed she could trust Taddeo. Even if it took years to convince the water dragons to confront the Scaldings, Pingzi believed the children would survive.
If Pingzi rejected Taddeo’s offer and went to Tower Island right now, she could be putting far more than the lives of two children at risk.
If she offended the dragon gods, she could be risking the safety of the people of the Far East. If she didn’t navigate her way with care, Pingzi risked offending the Northlander gods, which could inspire them to act on their frustration with all of the people in this world. She could be risking the lives of all mortals.
Pingzi forced a smile and willed herself to remain calm. “I agree.”
CHAPTER 13
It wasn’t until the middle of dragon season that Seph had any reason to worry about his wife Bruni. The last time he heard from her, Seph had received word from Gott that Bruni had left that city and headed to Tower Island. The message said Bruni meant to inform Sven and Snip that one of their sons had killed the other and then died himself of causes that no one understood.
Seph knew Bruni would make a brief stop on Tower Island and then return to the Northlands to resume her dragonslayer route. Seph didn’t expect to see Bruni until late fall, after the dragons migrated and she came back to their home in the Southlands.
Although disappointed in his fellow dragonslayers’ refusal to search for Mandulane, Seph realized he shouldn’t have been surprised. The best dragonslayers went to the Northlands every year to protect its people from dragons. Only the least skilled dragonslayers stayed behind in the Midlands to be on hand in case any dragons lagging behind threatened its people or villages or crops.
Until now, staying in the Midlands while his wife went off to slay dragons never bothered Seph. He had spent a few years patrolling his own Northern route before the birth of their son.
Seph had a clear eye for the truth, and he knew Bruni’s skills made her one of the best dragonslayers. He considered his skills average. Once she recovered from giving birth, Bruni was like a horse chomping at the bit, anxious to get back to her route in the Northlands when the season began.
It had come as a surprise to Seph that her desire meshed with his longing to stay behind and care for their son. For that reason, their past several years had been harmonious and happy. Seph took great joy in raising their son, while Bruni’s spirits were lifted by protecting a nation from harm.
When his fellow dragonslayers assigned to the Midlands refused to help search for Mandulane, Seph decided to conduct his own search. He knew Bruni would be busy in the Northlands. In case something unexpected caused her to come home early, Seph left word of his plans with the keeper of the Red Bird tavern where all dragonslayers met.
Despite having spent time in the Midlands, Seph had seen little of the country until now. He knew more about the Northlands from having covered more ground there. He looked forward to exploring the Midlands with his young son in tow.
Although the other dragonslayers working the Midlands searched the port city that served as their home base, they did so half-heartedly and gave up after one day that turned up no results.
Seph spent the next several days scouring the city. After days of talking to the best sources of information—the tavern keepers and merchants—Seph found one tavern keeper who had let a room to Mandulane and his mother for a few days. The keeper remembered when they left but didn’t know where they planned to go next.
Unable to learn more from anyone else, Seph studied a map of the Midlands and plotted his course. He thought it best to investigate all the port cities first, because the tavern keeper said Mandulane’s mother had previous experience as a milkmaid and needed work. All port cities needed a constant supply of milk and were surrounded on all sides by farms that could provide it, along with meat and produce.
It made sense to travel to the large port cities and the farms nearby. Seph’s map, like all others he had ever seen, showed only the largest areas of population. He’d heard stories from the merchants that tiny villages permeated the Midlands, although often so small that they were easy to miss unless one knew exactly where to look for them.
After scouring the current port city and nearby farms, Seph packed up a few belongings, hired a horse large enough to carry himself and his son, and kept his dragonslayer sword strapped in plain sight across his back. He knew from experience that being a dragonslayer would open many doors.
Everyone loved a dragonslayer.
In his travels, Seph stopped at every small village he encountered between the port cities that dotted the coasts surrounding the Midlands on the west, north, and east. He believed in turning over every stone he encountered.
Upon his arrival in a village outside a large port city on the eastern coast, Seph grinned in delight at the sight of a familiar face. After dismounting, Seph tied his horse to a post and lifted his son from where he’d ridden in front of Seph. Taking his son’s hand, Seph waved at a man who displayed rolls of beautiful cloth on the back of his cart. “TeaTree!”
The cloth merchant looked up and gave a peculiar sad smile. “Seph. What are you doing so far east?” TeaTree tipped an imaginary cap at Seph’s son. “Good to see you again, young man.”
The boy stood straight but clung to his father’s hand. “And you, sir!”
TeaTree’s eyes watered, and he threw his arms wide to embrace them both at once. “I don’t know what to say.”
Seph gave a nervous laugh and patted the merchant’s shoulder to signal an end to the embrace. “Since when are you at a loss for words?”
TeaTree took an awkward step back and looked at him with wide eyes.
Seph felt his son’s grip on his hand tighten. Still holding his son’s hand, Seph placed his free hand on the boy’s shoulder to steady him. “What’s wrong, TeaTree?”
TeaTree glanced at the boy and then gave his head a slight shake as if warning Seph to speak no more.
A chill ran through Seph’s bones. He knelt and picked his son up in his arms, aware the day would soon come when the weight would be too much to bear. “You’re scaring me, TeaTree. Speak the truth and speak it fast. If something has gone wrong, it will be the kindest thing to do.”
“Madam Po had a portent,” TeaTree said in a quiet voice. “Months ago, when dragon season began. She saw Bruni on Tower Island.”
Seph relaxed. “There is nothing wrong with that. Bruni went there to tell Sven and Snip about the deaths of their sons.”
The color drained from TeaTree’s face. “You don’t understand. Madam Po saw her ghost.”
“Ghost?” the boy said. “Whose ghost?”
Seph balanced his son’s heavy weight on his hip. “That’s impossible. Bruni only went there to tell them what happened. She went directly to the Northlands after that.”
TeaTree averted his gaze and stuttered when he spoke. “Madam Po saw her. Ma
dam Po saw the ghosts of Sven and Snip, as well.”
This time, Seph laughed. “You must have misunderstood. How could it be that any of them—much less all of them—died? There were no storms at the time. The weather was perfect for sailing. Bruni wouldn’t have had any problems going to Tower Island or leaving it. And Sven and Snip? What could possibly happen to them?”
TeaTree’s paled skin and fallen expression made Seph nervous.
“It’s impossible,” Seph said. His son’s weight made his back hurt, and Seph slid the boy back to the ground. “Madam Po is wrong.”
TeaTree stared at the ground and whispered. “When have you ever known Madam Po to be wrong?”
Never.
Despite the cool breeze across his face, Seph felt sweat bead on his forehead. “Or maybe Madam Po misinterpreted what she saw in her portent. Surely that’s happened before.”
TeaTree didn’t respond.
Seph felt his son’s desperate grip as he clung to his father’s side. “Someone would have sent word.”
But as soon as Seph spoke the words, he knew the fallacy in them.
If something had happened to Bruni, weeks would pass before anyone could send word of her absence to the Midlands.
Word of Bruni’s death must have come after I left the city.
Instead of traveling with her fellow dragonslayers to begin the new season in the Northlands, she’d gone to Tower Island. That meant Bruni would then sail from Tower Island to the Northlands on her own. No other dragonslayer would know if or when Bruni began her route, because she missed the customary gathering of all dragonslayers the night they arrived in the Northlands. All of her fellow dragonslayers would have started their routes the next morning.
Bruni would have arrived in the Northlands a day later, after all of her colleagues had already left the port city of Gott on their individual routes.
Considering that Bruni’s route went through no villages during the first week after leaving Gott, it would have taken time for anyone to notice her absence and send word back to Gott, much less to the Midlands.
Seph placed a gentle hand on his son’s head, hoping to bring comfort to them both. He’d known Madam Po since his youthful days of training at Bellesguard.
He’d never known Madam Po to be wrong in her portents.
“She’s gone,” Seph whispered. “Bruni is gone.”
“It’s true,” TeaTree said. “But there’s more you need to know.”
CHAPTER 14
Seph and his son followed TeaTree away from the curious villagers to sit on boulders by a brook that ran nearby. Seph kept an eye on the boy, who appeared too stunned by hearing that his mother had disappeared and probably died to do more than sit quietly and stare into space. Seph kept a hand on the boy’s shoulder while he listened to the story TeaTree had to tell.
“It happened only last week,” TeaTree said. “I heard about it from another merchant who’d just come up from the Southlands. It’s Bellesguard. It’s gone.”
“Gone?” Seph felt as if he’d fallen and had the wind knocked out of his chest. He stared at TeaTree in disbelief. “How can Bellesguard be gone?”
TeaTree shifted his weight on the large stone on which he sat. “Not gone, exactly. The town of Bellesguard is still there, and your home there is safe. Master Antoni and his manor are still there. But the place where you trained is gone for good.”
“But the training grounds are on Master Antoni’s property. What happened?”
TeaTree’s eyes welled with tears. “It appears that the teacher was murdered in his sleep, before he had time to wake and reach for his sword. Then they did the same to all the young dragonslayers in training.”
Seph’s mind reeled. He felt his hand tremble on his son’s shoulder and glanced at him. The boy appeared to have heard nothing, because he continued staring into space.
If the teacher and his students have been murdered, that means an entire generation of dragonslayers has been destroyed. It will take years to find someone to replace the teacher and even longer to find new boys and girls with the potential to become dragonslayers.
Looking back at TeaTree, Seph said, “Who killed them? And why?”
“Witnesses say they were men in brown robes. Some people heard those men shout things about religion. It looks like they killed the teacher and his students in order to attack Master Antoni’s manor. I think they wanted to rob him.”
Seph understood but struggled to come to terms with the poor logic of the attackers. “Master Antoni may have great wealth, but dragons are dangerous. They can kill the followers of a new religion just as easily as they can kill us. Who do these followers think will protect them from dragon attacks?”
TeaTree shook his head in dismay. “I’ve heard there are regions in the Southlands and the Midlands so far from the route the dragons travel every year that the people who live there have never seen a dragon. Some people think they don’t exist.”
Seph knew TeaTree spoke the truth. Seph heard similar stories from other dragonslayers who encountered such people. They viewed dragonslayers as charlatans attempting to swindle naïve villagers. “The teacher and his students are dead. But you said Master Antoni and the village of Bellesguard survived.”
TeaTree offered a weak smile. “The men in brown robes didn’t know that Master Antoni keeps a few dragons on his property for the sake of the more advanced students. One of his servants was the first to wake when he heard a commotion outside. The servant raised an alarm to wake the household before he rushed out to the dragon’s pit to release it. The attackers saw the servant and ran after him, but the dragon surprised them. I heard it slaughtered several of them and the rest ran away. They tried seeking safety in the village, but the servant had already run to Bellesguard to wake everyone up and warn them. The dragon chased the attackers through the streets. There’s speculation that a few men might have escaped but not many. If the dragon didn’t kill them outright, it bit them.”
Seph understood. The bite of a dragon equaled a death sentence due to the many poisons contained in its spittle. When a bite broke mortal skin, the victim would die within hours or days. In the wild, a dragon often waited for its victim to die after the bite, pinning that person down if necessary. “Good for the dragon. What happened to it?”
TeaTree’s smiled brightened. “You know Master Antoni and his dragons. Most dragons can’t be trained, but that never stopped him from trying. This particular dragon is his most well behaved. Once all the attackers were killed or bitten or disappeared, the dragon lay down in the street with its head on its paws. The servant rounded it up and took it back home.”
“Good for the servant,” Seph said. “But these attackers. Can they be identified? Can they be challenged to trial by combat?”
“I doubt we’ll ever see any justice regarding them. The few who saw them got nothing but glimpses of the men by torchlight. They all dressed alike, and it happened so fast that I heard people say those men looked alike.”
Seph glanced at his boy once more, this time worried about his child’s safety. If these brown-robed men crossed Seph’s path, he wondered how he could protect his son from a large group. “Do you know if they’ve attacked anywhere else?”
“I heard nothing else about them.”
“Do you think they’ll attack again?”
TeaTree laughed. “Not at Bellesguard.” Turning serious, he said, “I don’t know. This is the first time anyone has encountered them. For all we know, they were a bunch of berserkers in strange disguise. Their numbers are gone. If any are left alive, few survived. If they have any sense, they’ll never attack anyone else again.”
Just as he’d been trained at Bellesguard, Seph considered the possible consequences for the present and future.
Bruni must be dead. That means her route is unguarded and the villages she protects are at risk. None of the dragonslayers left behind in the Midlands have the experience or skill to take on her route. It would make the most sense for one
of the dragonslayers in the Northlands to split his route with hers and alternate between them for the rest of this season.
Seph mulled over the possible consequences. Whatever dragonslayer who had taken over Bruni’s route would be wearing himself thin. Being tired from extra duty placed that dragonslayer at risk of being killed by a dragon. That would reduce the number of qualified dragonslayers even more.
Even worse, covering two routes meant each route received half its normal protection. That placed every village on each route in danger. Villagers could die. Crops could be destroyed. Livestock could be devoured.
“You know about Madam Po’s portent about Mandulane?” Seph said.
TeaTree nodded. “The great-nephew of Benzel of the Wolf. The nephew of Skallagrim.” TeaTree paused. “I’ve heard word that Mandulane has no Scalding blood. That his mother lay with another man before she married the Scalding Frandulane.”
Seph shrugged it off. “All for the better. Scalding blood does no one any good. But you know what Madam Po has said of him?”
TeaTree didn’t hesitate to answer. “She says Mandulane faces a future path that could result in his becoming a demon.”
“She’s asked us dragonslayers to find him so she can prevent it. I couldn’t convince any of the dragonslayers serving in the Midlands this year to help. They think it’s not a pressing issue. I’m the only one looking for him.”
“Do you need help convincing them?”
“I don’t think they can be convinced. And now there’s a difficult decision in front of me.”
TeaTree gazed at Seph for a long moment. “I don’t understand.”
Seph felt ashamed for what he prepared to say while at the same time believing it to be the best decision he could make. “If Bruni is dead, then the Northlands are short one dragonslayer. Because the young dragonslayers and their teacher have been murdered in Bellesguard, it will take years to bring the number of dragonslayers back up to where they can protect the Northlands, Midlands, and Southlands with confidence. I need to take Bruni’s route, but that means no one will be looking for Mandulane. It means risking his fall into becoming a demon.”