Leaning forward, Erik raised his voice. “Miss? Miss? Can you hear me? How came you to this ruinous city?”
The bundle of rags moved slightly, and a voice creaked irritably. “You’ve invaded a dead city! It belongs to the dead, nothing here to take! Go home!”
Erik looked up and exchanged glances with the others. “Invade? Not hardly, my dear woman. Unfortunate circumstances have led us here to seek shelter for the coming winter!”
The silver hair atop the rags bounced with cackling laughter. “Aye, and you’re just out here on a picnic with a few hundred armed men?”
Theo’s face began turning red, and his voice was hot as he snapped. “Mind your manners! You speak to a king!”
Erik held his hand up. “Peace, Theo. This woman has every right to be suspicious. If anything, we are her guests. Uninvited as we may be.”
A thin, bony hand gripping a twisted walking stick jutted out from the rags and thumped the stick soundly on the floor several times. “King? Pah! Guests? You come unannounced from beyond the impassable mountains, move into the city, and call yourself guests? Ha! Invaders I say!”
Erik sat back, tapping his fingers.
Sensing the growing frustration, Ammon stepped forward. “If I may ask, ma’am…what city is this? To what country have we come? We are not here to take…your…city. Only to take shelter for the winter so we can return home in the spring. We thought the city was abandoned and found no sign of anyone here until now.”
Without looking up, the heap of rags shuddered soundlessly. Her low voice sounded weary. “Abandoned? No, not abandoned lad.” Picking up her head she pointed a knurled finger at Erik. “Leave this place king. It is not a place of happiness or a place to rest. All of you!” Slowly she shook her finger at each one of them. “Leave this place to crumble in peace. This city should not be…” Her eyes suddenly widened as they fell on Fulgid, who lay motionless on Ammon’s shoulder.
Rising from her chair, she stood shakily and hobbled towards Ammon. Peering up, her old eyes focused in disbelief on Fulgid. “What is THAT?” Her voice half whispered, half screeched.
Ammon protectively turned his shoulder away. “That’s my dragon!”
The woman followed him, reaching out her wrinkled hand towards Fulgid’s head. “Is it real? Is it really that color?”
Ammon instinctively, but gently grabbed her wrist. Her attention turned from Fulgid to Ammon’s face and she let out a ragged gasp and staggered back. Theo and Cen rushed forward and carefully guided her back down to her chair. Her eyes never left Ammon and Fulgid.
“How can this be? I gave up so long ago! So very, very long ago…”
Erik stood up, his patience at an end. “Theo, Cen, please return this woman safely to her…home. She has obviously has nothing worth telling us, and I’m tired of waiting.”
Theo and Cen gently lifted the woman to her feet, but her shrill voice rang out to Erik as he walked away. “Oh my dear king, I do indeed have something to say!” She looked once more at Fulgid and her wrinkled face began to smile. “More than I ever thought I’d live to say! But this old woman needs a drink to wet her throat, it’s been many years since I’ve told this story.”
Within minutes several pages arrived with clay mugs and a pitcher of water on a small table. Picking up the mug with shaking hands, she took a long drink. Fulgid jumped to the floor and sniffed at the woman’s feet while Ammon eyed her suspiciously. When she had drained the mug, she wiped her mouth on her tattered sleeve and cleared her throat.
“I am Sasha Celest. My grandchild and I have lived alone here for many years. How many? That I do not know exactly. Five decades at least. How and why does one measure time when there is only yesterday, today, and maybe tomorrow? You are in the great City of Laton, the crown jewel of the DoTarian Empire. What you see is all that is left of a once great nation!” She snorted softly. “At least we thought of ourselves as great.” She mumbled something unintelligible beneath her breath.
Erik sat teetering on the edge of the makeshift throne. “Tell me, Sasha, what happened to all the people of Laton?”
The old woman cackled as Fulgid climbed back up onto Ammon’s shoulder. Suddenly she closed her eyes and whispered:
“A dragon gold,
Our fate does hold.
A lost son shall return.
The common man
Will rule again,
To yield his life for all.
A sliver heart,
The strength to start.
The courage to endure.
Two lands unite,
The curse to fight,
And lead us all from ruin.”
Confused, Ammon looked at the others, then at the old woman who was now casually drinking from the water pitcher. After several large gulps, she set it back on the table and looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.
“What’s your name young man?”
“Ammon.”
Erik cleared his throat expectantly.
Ammon winced. Erik insisted he use his entire formal name now. “I am Ammon of the House of Les.”
There was a long silence and then, with some effort, she stood and faced Ammon, her head barely as high as his shoulder.
“Well, your Majesty, if you will excuse me, I’m a tired old woman and I need rest.”
Ammon’s jaw dropped to his chest. “I’m not…! Excuse me ma’am, but you have me confused with…”
The old woman waved him off as she shuffled out the door, but as she left she cackled.
“Must go home and have a talk. Yes, a talk! We have much to do for these changes to take place.”
Exasperated, Erik flopped back in his chair. “Apparently women are just as difficult to comprehend in this country as our own!” He lifted a mug of water and stared into it. “Well, men, do you make of this?”
***
Frustrated, Ammon kicked at a small stone as he picked his way through the rubble strewn across the street from a collapsed building while Fulgid chased squirrels across the sunlit cobblestones. Erik decided that since the old woman had shown an interest in Ammon, he was probably their best chance to learn what happened to the City of Laton. On this cloudless day, he could have thought of any number of things he’d rather do than spend time listening to the rants of an insane old woman.
The truth was that he really wanted to look for Boris. The river couldn’t be far from the city, Ellis’ huge body would be easy to spot from the air and Boris would be somewhere nearby. A lump formed in his throat again as it did every time he thought about that day. Boris and Ellis deserved a ceremony at least, but Erik said it would have to wait until the palace was settled. He kicked another stone angrily. Instead he was being sent to see a crazy old woman instead of doing something meaningful!
The dilapidated house near the north gate was pretty easy to find from the directions that Theo had given him. There was no front door. In fact, there wasn’t much left of the front of the building. A good portion of the wall facing the street had buckled and collapsed, and the rest of the building listed precariously to the left. Dark shadows loomed behind the windowless holes framed with broken and missing shutters. It wasn’t clear what held the whole façade from collapsing in on itself, but he felt sure a strong wind might end its existence.
He hesitantly stepped over the rotted remains of a wooden beam that lay across the threshold and stood inside looking up at the sky through the roof. He had lived in worse conditions out of necessity, but he was puzzled why the woman chose this house. There were certainly other buildings in the city in better condition, although none as close to the gate as this one.
Fulgid scampered past to an inner doorway that was still somewhat intact. It hung at an odd angle, and the latch had long since fallen away and been replaced with a knotted rope. He took a deep breath and knocked carefully, half expecting it to fall from its hinges. There was a scuffle inside and a moment later the old woman peered through a gap in the door suspiciously before her eyes lit up wit
h delight. Heaving the door open, the old woman nearly pulled it off its rotted frame as it scraped along the warped floorboards.
She stood aside and motioned quickly for him to enter. “Come in! Come in! Oh and you brought your little dragon! How delightful! Sit down right there and I’ll bring you some tea!”
She motioned towards a lopsided stool beside an equally unsteady table. Like the exterior of the house, everything within the room seemed on the verge of collapse. He eased himself onto the stool and it creaked dangerously under his weight, and waited impatiently. Sasha pushed a cracked mug filled with steaming tea in front of him and sat down with her own mug, slurping it noisily. Fulgid busied himself by climbing in and around the sparse furniture, sniffing among the numerous shelves that lined the walls from floor to ceiling. Hundreds of bottles and jars were crammed into the room from one end to the other, filling the shelves and every nook and cranny.
Ammon eyed the tea doubtfully and cleared his throat. “Ma’am, King Erik asked me to come here. We have some questions to ask you about this city…”
Fulgid jumped up onto one of the lower shelves, rattling jars and knocking a few to the floor. Ammon started to scold him, but the old lady held up a withered hand and motioned for him to be silent. Turning on her stool she watched him with keen interest, occasionally cackling gleefully.
“It has been many years since a young dragon has graced my home! See how he sniffs? He smells it! He knows it’s here somewhere! You watch! He’ll find it soon enough I wager! Hee hee!”
Ammon sighed. Fulgid might bring down the whole wall as well as everything on the shelves, but the old woman certainly didn’t seem concerned about it. Fortunately, the shelf was low enough that the jars fell harmlessly to the floor without breaking. What she expected Fulgid to find in that mess was beyond him! He lifted the mug and cautiously took a sip. He was fairly certain there was no useful information to get out of Sasha; the woman was obviously afflicted with dementia. Living alone for decades in these ruins probably caused it.
A burst of honey enveloped his tongue as the tea passed his lips and his eyebrows rose in surprise. It was a welcome change from the black brew Kyle served him each morning, and he wondered if he could obtain some from the old woman. At least then his trip here wouldn’t be a complete waste of his time. For now he contented himself to sip it quietly and let the old woman delight in Fulgid’s activities.
Jar after jar rolled to the floor before Fulgid found a particularly large one sealed tightly with wax. With one quick swipe of his claw the dragon broke open the seal and the old woman clapped her hands.
“Oh how clever! He has the Gift of Finding doesn’t he!”
After unsuccessfully trying to get his head into the narrow neck of the jar, Fulgid pushed it off the shelf and it rolled into the middle of the floor.
The old woman leaned close to Ammon and whispered. “Now that he’s found it, lets see if he knows what to do with it!”
Ammon put down his cup and watched Fulgid leap down from the shelf. “Do with what? What is it he’s found?”
The woman put a bony finger to her lips and hushed at him. “Just watch!”
The little dragon circled the container once before putting both front feet into the opening. Within one quick jerk he sent the jar spinning into the wall, shattering it into pieces. Ammon could see clearly now what was inside as the light reflected off the half dozen or so tiny crystals that lay on the floor in a heap.
“Fulgid! NO!”
The dragon had already crushed one in his jaws and was swallowing the shards. Ammon tried to get up from the stool, but dozens of the jars had rolled under his feet and he stumbled. As he regained his footing, the old woman reached across the table and grabbed his sleeve with an iron grip.
“Stop being foolish, he knows what he’s doing!”
Bewildered, Ammon’s eyebrows rose in disbelief. “Knows what he’s doing? He’s just a baby! Those shards will cut his insides to ribbons!”
The woman’s grip held fast. “You don’t know much about dragons do you? Their insides are just as tough as the outside! Besides, those crystals are important to a dragons diet, I only wish I had more!”
Ammon eased himself back onto the stool. “Important? How?”
The old woman rolled her eyes as she released her grip. “Don’t they teach young knights anything about dragons where you come from? How do you expect him to protect himself from Kala-Azar if you don’t let him have calentar?”
Ammon looked at Fulgid happily chewing the last crystal. Deep in his mind the bubble glowed like a ray of sun as the golden voice in his mind chimed. “Trust Fulgid!”
Ammon gritted his teeth. “I do trust you, it’s her I’m not sure about!” He jerked his thumb at Sasha who sat with her cup half to her lips.
She looked quizzically at Ammon, then at Fulgid. Slowly, she put her cup back down. “You don’t know about calentar crystals?”
Ammon shook his head. “I’ve only been linked for about a month and only by accident. I’m just learning about dragons and this is the first time I’ve ever heard of that Kala-whatever, but I’ve seen those crystals before in the mountains. There was a huge cavern filled with them.”
The loud snort from the frail old woman made him look up from watching Fulgid. The shock on her face was evident, even beneath the years of wrinkles. “You’ve never…heard…of Kala-Azar and you have an entire cavern of calentar?”
Sighing, Ammon shook his head. “No, I’ve never heard of it. I’m only here because King Erik wants to know what happened to this city. You’re the only one here we can ask! What happened?”
The old woman stared silently at Fulgid as he sniffed out the last bits of the crystal shards. “How many dragons came with you?”
Ammon shrugged. “About two hundred I think.”
Sasha’s hand slapped the table so hard that it made Ammon jump. “Bring me to your king, I must speak with him at once! The danger is great to us all!”
Ammon led the way back to the palace. Surprisingly, the old woman kept pace with him, pushing him to walk faster. It still took them nearly an hour to reach the Erik’s chambers, and when the page that announced them let them pass, both Erik and Theo stood waiting.
Erik seemed annoyed at being disturbed as he shoved papers aside at the desk and sat down. “Well, Ammon, have you learned much from our friend here?”
Sasha pointed a finger at Erik, her old voice creaked in a high pitch as she spoke. “Tell me what you know about the Kala-Azar and calentar!”
Erik and Theo exchanged glances and Erik shrugged. “Are the Kala-Azar the people who drove out the residents of Laton?”
Sasha slowly sank into a chair, placing her head into her hands. Softly she whispered. “No, not again, please not again!”
Erik looked up at Ammon. “Would you please explain to me what this is about?”
Embarrassed, Ammon stammered an apology and took the old woman by the arm and tried to pull her from the chair. Maybe he could get her back to her shack and that would be the end of it. With any luck Erik wouldn’t think he was too much of an idiot!
Sasha slapped his hands away and looked up fiercely. “You have no idea what I’m talking about do you? None of you do!”
Silence filled the room before Erik sighed and pulled the papers on the table back in front of him. “Ammon, would you be so kind as to escort our…lady…back to her home? We have much work to do.”
Sasha stepped closer to Erik, her voice on the verge of screeching. “You must know! How could you not know about the slugs?”
Ammon gently but firmly pulled on her arm and half dragged her to the door, her voice continued to get louder and louder in a fevered pitch.
“You’ll all die before winter! Listen to me, please! You must listen!”
The page closed the door behind them as Ammon led her down the hallway. Outside the palace Sasha wrested her arm away from Ammon and grumbled under her breath. Turning sharply she faced Ammon with a bony
finger pointed inches from his nose.
“You! You must learn and teach the others! It’s the only way they’ll listen! In the library of the palace you must find the history, but you must work quickly! Yes, very quickly! Who knows how long before they wake!”
Ammon walked next to the old woman, listening politely as Fulgid bounded from building to building chasing squirrels. He had no intentions of doing any of the insanity the woman was ranting about. Erik asked him to escort her home and that’s all he intended to do. As they rounded a corner past the rubble of a collapsed wall, Fulgid ran past into the shell of an empty building across the street.
Hatch (The Dragons Of Laton) Page 21