Dragon Dawn

by Mark E. Cooper

  “I did not find it burdensome,” Analise said reprovingly, feeling that her men’s honour had somehow been questioned. She lightened her tone with a gentle laugh. “Captain Ballard and his men have been very considerate of my needs, and I always enjoyed riding, though I must say the weather hereabouts is most peculiar.”

  “Indeed it is,” Gelain said, glowering at Lord Jihan where he stood with his lady near the lavishly laid table. “It’s not right playing with the weather. Not right at all I say!”

  “You know there is nothing to be done, Gelain. Let be, at least for one night. Analise has only just arrived.”

  Playing with the weather, what did he mean? Were the sorcerers making it rain, why? From the way Gelain had glowered at Jihan, it was obvious he believed Jihan had some hand in it, not the Hasians. Julia then, must be. Analise shook her head gently. She couldn’t think how making it rain so much would benefit anyone. It must be making both sides equally miserable.

  Jihan escorted Ahnao to join them. He inclined his head in greeting to Analise, and to her surprise, Ballard as well. Surprised but pleased by the courtesy shown to her captain, Analise bobbed a curtsy in return, and hugged Ahnao giving her a kiss on the cheek as tradition demanded—Ahnao was, despite her low birth, the consort of a Lord Protector after all. Analise was surprised again when Ahnao responded in kind. Lady Direlle’s brows rose at the display, and Analise congratulated herself for doing something right at last. It seemed likely that Direlle had withheld the kiss from Ahnao when they first met. Ahnao was smiling as she stepped back to Jihan’s side, and Analise felt warmed by it. Perhaps everything would work out after all.

  They seated themselves and servants bustled around the table with wine and steaming dishes of food. Lord Gelain’s cook had done a wonderful job, and Analise dug into the food with gusto. After she had taken the edge off her appetite, she drank some wine and started taking an interest in her surroundings again. She noticed a large number of unoccupied places set at the table. It was a shame Julia had not attended. Analise wanted to meet her very badly. She needed to.

  “…tried to navigate the river to bypass our lines,” Jihan said between bites of food. “Mazel’s people put a stop to it.”

  “Humph,” Gelain shook his head. “No better than savages, the lot of them.”

  “Those savages, my lord, are the King’s allies,” Jihan said sharply. “You would do well to remember it.”

  Gelain’s face reddened. It took a whispered word from Direlle to calm him enough to speak. “Of course, as you say they are our allies now, but in my father’s day they were a plague along the border.”

  Jihan shrugged. “They love to fight. I spent some of my time this year riding with them. They test themselves by raiding us and each other. They mean us no permanent harm, unlike the sorcerers.”

  “Yes, well. Perhaps you could tell the farmers who lost everything they owned, or the dead men who tried to stop the clansmen taking their wives and daughters.”

  “History should stay in the past where it belongs,” Ahnao said before Jihan could answer. “This wine is splendid, Direlle. Does it come from your own winery?”

  Direlle smiled. “Yes. I’m so glad you like it. Gelain’s grandfather paid a huge sum of gold for cuttings that no one believed would grow in our valley. The vines from those cuttings produced the grapes for this wine, bottled nearly forty years ago now. It’s one of our best years.”

  “It’s very good,” Analise said. She would purchase a few cases for Chaidren when the war was over.

  “Good? It’s a masterpiece!”

  Analise smiled. “I’m sure it is. Tell me, have you met Lady Julia yet?”

  Direlle’s animation drained away. “Yes, I’m afraid I have.”

  “What is she like?”

  Conversations trailed to nothing and an uncomfortable silence spread around the table. Jihan frowned at something, but continued eating. Ahnao glanced at him a little sadly.

  Analise lowered her glass. “I’m sorry, have I said something wrong?”

  “Not wrong exactly,” Ahnao said. “Jihan and Julia argued over his battle plan. Julia has changed a lot since her abduction.”

  “Not surprising, surely?” Ballard asked between mouthfuls of the best food he had eaten for many a day. “It would have been an ordeal for anyone.”

  Ahnao nodded. “That’s true, Captain, but her abduction is not all to blame for the change. She loved Lord Keverin very much. She would have given anything to save him, even her own life. When he died, she made a vow to kill General Navarien and has been trying ever since.”

  “If any woman can do it, she can.”

  “You’re right but… it’s hard to explain, Captain.”

  Jihan pushed his plate away and sipped some of his wine. “She is so fixated on Navarien’s death that she fails to see the damage she does to those around her. She won’t listen to me…” Ahnao squeezed his hand. “Well, I don’t want to bore you with our argument. Time will prove me right, or it will prove me wrong.”

  “I’m not at all bored, Jihan,” Analise said. “Meeting Julia is one of the reasons I came. Where is she now? I had hoped she would be here for dinner.”

  “She has an open invitation,” Direlle said, “but she doesn’t often dine with us. She prefers her… friends among the clans.”

  “She will come. Lucius promised to make her for me,” Ahnao said. “I want things set right between her and Jihan. When Keverin was alive, we were all such good friends. I want that time back again.”

  “We all do,” Jihan said sombrely.

  Lord Keverin’s death had hit people hard. Many had not even known him personally. It had been a hard blow to the throne. The King’s power rested upon the strength of his nobles, and pre-eminent among them were the four Lord Protectors. A leaderless Athione weakened the kingdom and the throne. Gylaren could not allow that state of affairs to continue for long, which lord would he elevate in Keverin’s place? Whomever he chose must be loyal beyond question, but he must also be capable of ruling such an important demesne. He dare not choose someone based purely on friendship, and neither could he give it to Gydrid. That would cause uproar big enough to rival the war! Julia and Keverin were popular figures, especially with the commoners. The shock of his death had been long to fade. Then there were his closest friends, who were obviously still grieving and had felt his death most keenly.

  After dinner, they retired to a pleasant little sitting room. It was a more intimate space, lending itself to quiet conversations and games to while away dark evenings. Due to the castle’s alignment with the river, the windows faced northeast, and Analise found the view irresistible. Jihan must have also, for he joined Analise at the windows a short time after the others chose places to sit. Ahnao and Direlle continued with the needlework they had left in the room from previous evenings like this. There were books here, though not as many as Analise enjoyed at home, but she did not feel like reading, or—when Ahnao offered—did she feel like doing needlework. Ballard surprised her by offering to play a game of Sorcerers and Dragons with Lord Gelain. It was hard to say who was more surprised when Gelain accepted with such delight. It soon became apparent that Gelain was a master of the game and enjoyed proving it.

  “Why did you evacuate Malcor?” Analise asked, watching the shadows slowly overtaking the land outside.

  Jihan sipped his wine silently, and watched as his soldiers lit their campfires. Dozens and then hundreds of little lights began dotting the camps.

  “I knew it would be destroyed if we stayed.”

  “But it’s the strongest fortress in the world!” Analise blurted.

  Gelain snorted, but did not look up from his game.

  “Malcor is not even the strongest fortress in Waipara, Analise,” Jihan said gently. “That dubious honour falls to Tanjung Karang. If I had to face a siege, I would prefer Athione. It has a single wall to defend and it’s a shorter span than Karang. Malcor is the biggest fortress in Deva, but that means littl
e when facing magic.”

  “And having no walls at all is better?”

  Jihan nodded. “Keeping our manoeuvrability is far better. In any case, walls have never guaranteed victory. Relying upon them against a sorcerer’s magic?” Jihan shook his head. “I was at Athione, remember. I know what sorcerers can do. No, we keep our manoeuvrability intact, a line of retreat open, and whittle them down.”

  “You think it will come to that, retreat?”

  “This will not be a quick war, Analise. Any that tell you different are deluding themselves.”

  “We, Deva I mean, have never fought this way before. How can you be so sure your way is the right way?”

  Jihan shrugged. “I could pray for a harsh winter to help us as the histories say happened once or twice, I could pray for more men, more mages, more supplies, more anything, but I have what I have. Basing my strategy on a prayer would be foolish. This,” he waved a hand at the scene through the window, “is what I have. It’s the best I can do.”

  Analise nodded. “Will it be enough?”

  “Who can say? The clans have hurt Navarien with their raids. If nothing else, they have proven my theory can work.”

  Analise stared out the window, thinking how trivial her problems seemed when faced with such a war as Jihan planned to fight. They might find themselves fighting a retreat all the way back to Devarr itself. The devastation that would cause would be incalculable. Villages and farms burned, towns sacked, famine… even Chaidren Ridge might fall to such chaos!

  Thunder boomed loud enough to rattle the glass in the window, and Analise jumped. She stared through the window as a ball of light floated into the air, its glow lighting the distant woods and ground like a torch, and throwing shadows. It drifted upward in an arc toward the castle, seeming to crawl through the air very slowly, but Analise could tell that was illusion. It grew too quickly in size, and covered the ground faster than a horse could gallop. It started its descent, and hammered into the ground well short of the town and the castle. This time the explosion rattled more than the windows. The floor seemed to jump beneath her feet. Dirt erupted into the air, pattering down all over and leaving a smoking crater in the earth.

  “It’s started,” Jihan said grimly. “I have to go.”

  Analise watched him hurry to Ahnao. They hugged, and then Jihan left with Ballard and Gelain close behind. Ballard glanced back briefly at Analise before closing the door behind him. No words were necessary. He would do his duty, as would she.

  Thunder boomed repeatedly, over and over and over again without lightning to account for it. Through the window, dozens of fireballs drifted lazily into the air and began to fall.

  * * *

  18 ~ Mad Sorceress

  General Navarien ignored the rain beating upon his helmet and watched thoughtfully as Corbin’s Seventh Battalion crossed the bridge. Although odd in design, it was Turner’s work, and well constructed. The legions often needed to bridge rivers and streams when on campaign, but to his knowledge, no one had ever used one like this. Turner had been born in Tindebrai and his idea of what was proper quite often differed from the accepted ways of doing things; not that there was anything wrong with that. Turner’s innovations were often more efficient. The bridge was an example. He claimed that his people often used bridges of this kind. They were cheap to build and easily replaced when flooding destroyed one. Navarien didn’t care about the cost of replacement. What he liked about the design was its speed of construction.

  Sixteen log rafts had been built and strung together to span the river. More logs, split lengthways and secured atop them, provided the horses and wagons with a flat surface. The river crossing was mostly complete now. The bulk of Corbin’s men had already used the bridge, leaving a small rearguard to shepherd the wagons to join them on the other side. Seventh Battalion travelled light this night. Only three wagons awaited their turn to cross, filled with oats for the horses. The men could hunt on the way to supplement their diet of cured bison meat, but even that was luxury not necessity. Everything had been foreseen; from the exact amount of food each man needed to carry, to the distance between water sources, and the time it would take to reach them. The wagons would be empty and abandoned before Corbin reached his destination, but not dangerously before. He had enough fodder to see him through the days ahead and no more. Speed was the order of the day, and besides, he could re-provision when he got there.

  Navarien watched the last wagon roll across the bridge followed by the rearguard, and turned away. Behind him, Turner’s men jumped into action, hurrying to tear the bridge down as the last horse crossed. The rafts were needed again for the next step in the plan, and no one wanted the Devans wondering what a bridge leading nowhere was doing here. Wards against scrying might stop shamen seeing the bridge in their mirrors, but that wouldn’t stop them sending scouts.

  Navarien took off his helmet and turned his face up to the night sky, letting the rain wash the tiredness from his eyes. The wind had dropped to nothing earlier in the day, leaving heavy clouds overhead—shamen work that resisted all Wotan’s attempts to disperse.

  “Are your people ready?” Navarien asked, settling his helmet back on his head.

  Wotan nodded. “They await your word.”

  “Good. As soon as Turner has one of the rafts ready to go, send them on their way.” Navarien frowned. “They do know how dangerous this will be? If they get found out, I can’t afford to send a rescue—”

  Wotan raised a hand. “They know that, General, and accept it. They volunteered for this mission.”

  Navarien nodded. “I think we will let Jihan have his way for a few more days. Yes, the rain will work with us for that.”

  “It will?”

  Navarien laughed. “No need to sound so surprised. I won’t chance a cavalry charge over boggy ground, but neither will he.”

  “Stalemate won’t win us this war, General.”

  “There’s no stalemate here, Wotan, though I hope Jihan thinks there is. If he does, he won’t be expecting me to stab him in the back… well, Julia’s back I suppose I should say.”

  Wotan laughed.

  * * *

  Julia stared coldly into the darkness as fireball after fireball rained down upon her. Contemptuously she flicked them aside letting them fall into open ground near the moat. There was no point in tiring herself to snuff them out when they were no danger to anyone.

  “Mazel was right,” Julia said to her companions. “It did get their attention.”

  “Humph,” Mathius grunted.

  Mathius stood to Julia’s right, and Lucius took her left. All three worked their magic to divert the fireballs, instinctively weaving their magic to avoid corrupting the other’s work. They had fought side by side so often, it had become second nature. Like a well-oiled machine, they unerringly chose their targets and deflected them safely away. The ground erupted with each explosion, and soil rained down upon them until one of the shamen standing behind them thought to take care of it with a ward.

  Behind Julia, her self-assigned bodyguard, Lynd, watched with open-mouthed admiration. The golden torque at his throat, announcing his status as a clan chief, glowed red with reflected light as the fireballs roared through the air. Standing with him were three more clansmen, though only Serin wore the leathers of a Dragon Clan warrior like his. The other two were shamen of the Night Wind, Julia’s own clan, and like her, they wore the distinctive many-beaded and patterned leathers all shaman donned to proclaim their calling. Three more men filled out the group. Two were Athione guardsmen, assigned as Julia’s bodyguards to honour their dead lord, and to match in numbers her clan bodyguards. The other was their captain. All, clansmen and Devans alike, had given themselves to Julia.

  “Jihan isn’t going to like this,” Lucius said, snuffing a fireball that had been so badly constructed it was in danger of falling apart and hurting someone. “When he finds out…”

  Julia shrugged. “He knew about the raid. I was with Mazel when he told
him.” Quiet laughter made her turn and glare at Kerrion, standing with her guards. “Well, I was!”

  “Julia! Watch what you’re doing!” Mathius cried, batting a huge fireball away that she had missed in her distraction.

  “I know you were, Julia,” Kerrion said soothingly. “But you didn’t tell him you were going along. You didn’t tell him why you were going, or what you planned to do when you got there.”

  “He would have tried to stop me,” she said, turning back to work.

  Everyone nodded; everyone except the silent man wearing the blue sash of a Senior Captain diagonally across his armoured chest. Marcus did not speak, but his silence was more than enough indication of his opinion, or so the others thought. They would have been more than surprised to hear that he approved of the raid just undertaken. The Hasian rafts had been a very real threat. Julia had discussed the mission with him before she left. What no one knew was her real reason for accompanying Mazel on his raid, not even Marcus. She suspected Kerrion had guessed, since it was very hard to keep secrets from the old man, but she had been careful not to confirm his suspicions.

  The sorcerers warded their camps and fortifications against scrying as hard as shamen warded their tents and Jihan’s men. Her mirror had been mostly useless since the day she led the clans over the border into Deva. So, not being able to strike without knowing precisely where her target was, she had added herself and her friends to Mazel’s raiding party to get the information she needed. Destroying the rafts and killing the men who built them, though important, had been just an excuse to learn what she needed. General-bloody-Navarien was a dead man. He just didn’t know it yet.

  Julia smiled.

  “Looks like they’ve had enough,” Mathius said as he deflected the last fireball away from them. “Still, it might be best if we wake Larn or someone to keep watch for more.”

  “Already done,” Kerrion said. “Larn says if they try anything like this with him, he’ll send their fire back to them with something extra for a thank you.”