Kaleb looked at the tall buildings on either side of them, their windows veiled with discolored fabrics and their signage weather-beaten. Here and there, people shuffled through the streets, coming and going from low, crumbling arches set between the buildings. But it was not what he saw that made him slow down and grow tense. Something on the wind aside from the chatter of passersby struck him and he had no choice but to stop and investigate.
There was something in the air.
The strange dragon scent had returned. And this time, it seemed, it had come with more strength than ever before. It struck him like a perfume, shook his senses violently. His surroundings momentarily faded from notice as he studied the scent.
Minx noticed his sudden halt and tugged on Vevne's cloak to stop her. “What's wrong, Kaleb?”
He was annoyed. He'd encountered this scent a few times now, had been baffled by it in every instance, but he still couldn't figure out why it left him so perplexed. It's a dragon's scent, all right... But it's unlike any dragon's scent I've picked up before. What's different about it? “It's that scent again,” he replied stiffly, looking skyward as if expecting the smell's maker to fly overhead.
“The weird dragon scent?” asked Minx. “Can you tell where it's coming from?”
He studied the air awhile longer, eyes closed. “No,” he finally admitted, shaking his head. “But it's got to be coming from somewhere nearby. It's strong.” He shot Minx a firm glance. “We need to be on guard. I don't know what it means, but there's every chance that if we meet the owner of that scent we could be in for some sort of trouble.”
She nodded. “OK, Vevne, let's keep going.”
The tusked woman gave a little bow and then continued quietly through the street.
I first picked up this scent back in the glade, where I met Minx—and where Mau had only recently gone missing. And then I picked it up again around the time we entered Karn. Now, as we close in on Mau, I'm smelling it again. That can't be a coincidence, can it? Kaleb was momentarily lost in his thoughts as he fell back into step behind the other two. No... this scent, whatever it is... it's tied up with Mau's disappearance somehow. I'd bet on it.
Their progress through town led them to a wide plaza whose entrance was almost completely blocked by wagons. The owners of said wagons were busy packing their goods inside, preparing to ship off to other sites, and just beyond them were the skeletons of large and elaborate stands where only hours ago these same salesman had been hawking their wares. “They're getting ready for another auction,” explained Vevne. “The merchants on this side of town sometimes take their goods to the auction house for special late-night sales. People wander in from all around to shop in the wee small hours, sometimes coming away with rare items or even illegal goods.”
The trio slipped past the wall of stopped wagons and proceeded into the web of unattended stalls and tables. Kaleb scanned the area, peering past a large, weathered statue at the center of the square which boasted the form of some long-forgotten hero of mankind, but he could see no cages or other containers that might hold living stock. “Are we too late?” he asked their guide. “It looks like these merchants have almost all cleared out.”
That was when he smelled it again. The scent reached out and took him by the nostrils with such force that he startled. No... the source of that scent... it's still here. Whoever or whatever it is... it's close by...
“Let's hurry,” urged the tusked woman, head low. She pushed past the grunting workmen loading chests of valuable goods onto trolleys and hoisting clay vessels of trinkets. The plaza, like seemingly every spot in this city, had no shortage of nooks and crannies. This corner and that of the vast square branched off in separate paths, leading to sub-plazas or groups of tall buildings. One could walk the alleys of Karn for days and never see everything that the city had to offer.
Kaleb was thankful to have a local leading the way; had he been forced to navigate the city on his own, he'd have gotten hopelessly lost. In fact, had he been tasked with finding his way back to the city gate they'd entered through the day prior, he wouldn't have been able to find it without shifting into his dragon form and seeking it out overhead. Minx, too, appeared disoriented by the sprawl of this massive, disjointed city, with its meandering segments. She turned about in her ill-fitting cloak, doubtless reaching out to her Faelyr companion telepathically—and getting no response, by the looks of it.
Vevne took them down one of the side streets lined in ancient stone arches, and made a strange motion with her large, green hand. “It's down here,” she whispered. “This, I believe, is where the special Faelyr was being kept.” She shook her head, adding, “I don't know if she's still there. It is possible that she's been taken elsewhere—loaded onto one of the wagons.” The tusked woman came to a halt at the entrance to this arched path, and did not seem inclined to go further.
“Thank you for your help,” said Kaleb, stepping past her. “Are you leaving us now?”
“Yes,” replied the green-skinned guide. “I hope that I have been helpful to you, and I am pleased that I could share my recent visions with you both. It is no coincidence that we have met this day—surely the two of you were the intended recipients of these visions. It is my hope that you will succeed against the army of darkness. But at this time, I should leave. If the two of you encounter trouble while attempting to free the Faelyr...” That she was much averse to violence, despite her imposing size and apparent physical strength, was clear. “Take care.”
“Say no more,” replied Kaleb. “We appreciate your assistance. Minx?”
The Fae huntress joined Kaleb at the mouth of the street-side passage. “Many thanks, Vevne. Get home safely.”
With that, the tusked woman departed as silently as a specter, passing through the square and disappearing into the crowd of laboring merchants.
“Do you think this is a trap?” asked Minx, taking a few tentative steps down the path, toying with the limbs of her bow. “You think someone put her up to this—told her to lead us here? Into an ambush, maybe?”
Kaleb considered the question. “No, I don't think so.” Vevne, in their brief acquaintance with her, had been gentle and forthcoming. He thought himself a good judge of character, and had sensed nothing untoward in the strange-looking woman. What's more, as he began into the shade of the successive arches, he found the air laced with still more of that odd dragon-like scent, and felt confident that they were on the trail of the one they were searching for. “That smell, it's coming in stronger. I think we're going to meet the source very soon now.”
Quickly, the two of them marched down the path, soon arriving within a crumbling public square where a few buildings had apparently once stood. The constructions had been razed some time ago, but evidence of their former presence remained in the half-collapsed walls scattered around the space. This spot, clearly shunned by most of the merchants for its remoteness, was empty—except in one corner, where Kaleb spotted a large steel cage against one of the tottering walls and a wan, long-haired woman standing close by it.
The scent came in as strong as ever, and from across the square, he locked eyes with the young woman standing beside the cage. She wore a loose-fitting garment of rough design, and her long, light hair fell in waves across her slight shoulders. She looked back at him with clear, striking eyes. They were orbs the color of fog, and had an odd gleam in the midday sun. But the feature that most arrested Kaleb's gaze were her hands—somewhat elongated and coated in dark green scales. Dragon-like. Kaleb came to a halt, tugging on Minx's cloak and bringing her to a stop as well. “The scent,” he uttered. “It's coming from her.”
Minx pulled away from him, focused entirely on the cage in the corner. “Mau!” She broke into a sprint, yanking back her hood and rushing headlong toward the cage. “Mau, is it really you?”
From within the steel enclosure, a large Faelyr with silvery fur rose to all fours and loosed an enthusiastic purr. This, then, was Mau—the one they'd spent days searching f
or. Kaleb rushed ahead, lowering his hood and keeping his eyes on the woman still lingering near the cage.
He quickened his pace further when he saw the silent woman reach behind her and pluck a thin sword from beside the enclosure. “Minx!” shouted Kaleb, charging down the square.
In the next instant, Minx's cloak had been cast off and slashed in two by the razor-sharp edge of that glistening blade. It fell between Minx and the fog-eyed guard, and already Minx had nocked an arrow in her bow. From close proximity she let the shot fly, but was stunned when the shaft was parried by another thrust of the thin sword.
This woman with the long hair, haunting eyes and reptilian hands was committed to guarding Mau's cage with the utmost seriousness. Whether she'd been hired by someone else to keep watch over the Faelyr, or was herself the one who had taken Mau to begin with, remained to be seen. “I will give you this opportunity, and this opportunity only, to turn back from here,” she said, both of her scaled hands wrapped tightly around the hilt of her sword. Her stance was sure and her handle on the sword exuded confidence. This woman was no novice.
Minx did not answer, except to pull two arrows from her new quiver and nock them together. She jumped upward, landing in a crouch on the corner of the steel cage, and loosed the double volley, the pair of arrows diverging a bit as they sailed toward the woman's center of mass.
The guard, skilled with her blade, succeeded in chopping through one of the incoming arrows with incredible speed, and had accounted for the trajectory of the other in her movements so that it merely grazed her pale shoulder before crashing into the ground. Pivoting into an offensive stance, she lurched forward and swung her blade in a wide arc, shearing off the tip of Minx's next arrow before she could even fully nock it.
Minx jumped from the cage, scaling the edge of the crumbling wall, and fired another shot from above. Her target, silvery hair flowing in the breeze as she dodged, leapt forward, planted her pale, bare feet against the wall and dashed up the side of it, delivering a savage slash that would have cleaved Minx in two if not for her evasive footwork along the narrow edge of weathered stone.
This odd woman was Fae—or something like Fae. But she smelled like a dragon. Kaleb had never seen anything like her. He didn't have the least interest in jumping into battle against her; rather, he wanted to ask her questions. Minx engaged the mysterious sword-wielder with a murderous glare in her eyes, however—every shot that flew from her bow was intended to kill. “Hold on!” he called out, tossing away his cloak. “Let's calm down for a minute and talk!”
Neither Minx nor her opponent heard him, however.
Kaleb's experience with the Fae prior to meeting Minx had been practically non-existent, but he'd heard much from his elders about their culture and practices. The Fae were a proud race, a race that valued competency in battle above most everything else. They were given to hot-blooded duels to settle longstanding feuds, and these struggles, often in public, never failed to attract many onlookers. Despite their size, the Fae possessed surprising strength and great dexterity, making them capable hunters with the right training. Kaleb had faced Minx one-on-one and had personally witnessed her consummate skill with the bow numerous times.
By the looks of it, this lone woman guarding Mau's cage was no slouch, either.
Just as the duels in Fae territory would often continue until one of the fighters was killed, so too would this fight keep going until one of them was dead.
That is, unless he intervened.
Minx dodged a thrust of the sword and descended from the top of the wall with a dusty thud. Her attacker was upon her in the next moment, sailing down from above and sweeping the ground with her blade. The Fae huntress saved her ankles from being slashed with a well-timed hop and sent an arrow barreling past the sword-wielder's head—which nearly struck Kaleb.
“Enough!” Kaleb trudged toward the pair, coming to stand between them—but no sooner had he interfered was he the target of a powerful swing of the blade. The mysterious Fae slashed at him, connecting with the rings of black plate armor around his forearm. The blade did not penetrate, but as she drew away and prepared another attack, Kaleb noticed the glittering red finish had been gouged by the strike.
Minx treated the dragon shifter as another obstacle, stepping past him and loosing a whistling arrow that ate through the edge of the woman's rough outfit. The sword-wielding Fae returned this volley in kind, delivering a powerful jab that would have skewered Minx if not for Kaleb's steady hand.
Watching the movements of the sword very closely, he'd managed to reach out and grab the Fae's thin arm before she could connect with her weapon, and applying his forceful grip, the dragon shifter put pressure on her forearm till she cried out in pain and the sword fell from her grasp. She fell to her knees, tugging and panting but ultimately unable to pull away from him.
He heard the smooth nocking of an arrow, the drawing of a bow. “No!”
Minx had wasted no time. With her opponent disarmed by the dragon shifter, she'd loaded a fresh shot and prepared to deliver a point-blank coup de grace. The arrow had begun to fly, only to meet its terminus in Kaleb's waiting hand. The sharpened tip of the arrow sheared the skin of his palm neatly, but he was able to stop the thing before it reached its intended target, and he cast it away with a wince.
“What are you doing?” demanded Minx, pulling another arrow from her quiver.
At this, he reached out and took Minx by the arm, pulling her close with such unexpected force she dropped her bow. A wide-eyed rag doll in his furious gaze, she found herself nearly nose-to-nose with him, his hot breath streaking across her reddening cheek. “No more. You can't kill her, Minx,” he ordered. “The fight is over. Understand?”
They remained in this way for several beats, the race of her pulse felt clearly against his wounded palm. From this distance—closer than he'd ever been to her before—he couldn't help taking in the faint quiver of her soft lips, the innocence of her wide, watery eyes. Sure, she was a Fae—but he couldn't deny her loveliness. She didn't pull away from him, didn't make an immediate effort to break free, and the quickening of her pulse almost gave him the impression she liked being in his grasp.
Get ahold of yourself, he thought, letting her go gently when he was sure she would no longer lash out. He shook his head, sporting an almost embarrassed grin. There are more important things to worry about. Are you really going to let yourself get carried away with this girl? She's a Fae, after all! What are you thinking?
Minx's face had taken on an uncharacteristic flush. She drew away from him, lowering her gaze and slowly picking up her weapon. Running a hand through her dark, tousled locks, she couldn't seem to find her voice and stood silently beside the cage where Mau watched in silence.
He had to force himself to look away from Minx, to distract himself and quiet the thumping of his own heart. A Dragon and a Fae? You're really losing it, aren't you? But then, maybe...
The new captive tried breaking free, pulling away from the dragon shifter with a grunt. “Let me go!” she pleaded.
“This is Mau, then?” asked Kaleb, pulling the mysterious Fae warrior to her feet. “Tell me, miss, how did you and the Faelyr become acquainted?”
The captured Fae refused to answer him, instead looking longingly to her sword.
“This girl is Fae,” said Minx, breaking her long silence. She adjusted her quiver and paced around to the front of the cage, inspecting the lock.
“Yes,” replied Kaleb. “And she smells like a dragon.”
“It was her all along, then?” asked Minx.
Kaleb grinned at the pale-eyed Fae in his grasp. “It's nice to finally put a face to the scent. But like it or not, you've got some explaining to do. Let's start with a name.”
The dragon-scented Fae did not wish to answer, but at the tensing of Kaleb's fist around her arm, she squeaked out, “Alla.”
“Why can't I communicate with Mau telepathically?” asked Minx, sending daggers at the other Fae. “What did
you do to her? I should be able to hear her thoughts.” She reached into the cage, running her fingers through the Faelyr's fur and eliciting a great purr.
“Is she hurt?” chanced Kaleb.
“N-No,” replied Minx, looking her caged companion over once more. “At least, not that I can tell. But I can't communicate with her in the usual way. This has never happened before...”
“Well, hopefully our friend Alla here can clear this up for us,” replied the dragon shifter.
Alla glared up at him, her pale eyes narrowed in fury. “You should let me go. The longer you stick around here, the lower the chances of your survival.”
“Oh? You've got friends here, huh?” Kaleb nodded. “Can you get that lock open?” he asked, turning to Minx.
The Fae huntress had already slipped one of her arrowheads into the locking mechanism, and was testing the pins with slight twists of the shaft. A few moments of tinkering overpowered the simple lock. It gave with a loud KA-THUNK and the door swung open. Mau slipped out of the cage and rubbed up against Minx's side. “All set.” Minx knelt down to embrace the creature, noticing as she did so a thin, black collar around the Faelyr's neck. “What's this?” she asked. Slipping her fingers around it, she carefully pulled it from around Mau's neck and took a moment to inspect it.
The Faelyr gave her companion a knowing glance. She seemed pleased to be rid of the collar.
“This... the stones in it... This is a tool of the Zuscha, isn't it? Dark ley-line magic. I've seen these before—they sometimes fasten them around the necks of their creations to keep them from speaking.” The slender black band, studded with small red stones, broke to pieces when Minx threw it to the ground. “So, that's how you did it, huh? You put that thing on her to keep her from communicating with me—to interfere with our connection?”
Alla turned away from her questioner, still struggling to break away from Kaleb. “It worked, didn't it? If I hadn't done it, you would have been able to communicate with her from a distance and she would have clued you in to our whereabouts.”
How to Kill a Dragon (Heir of Dragons Book 1) Page 8