Dragons of Summer Tide (The Dragons of Hwandor)

by Robert Barton

  “I am Cyerant D… Just Cyerant is all,” the young man answered awkwardly.

  “I am Veer. Eat this.” Veer held a piece of dried venison out to the young man who took it with a nod of thanks.

  “Why am I so weak?” Cyerant asked.

  “Because you almost died,” Shira answered. “I am Shira.”

  “Gofreys is dead too?” They young man asked nobody in particular as he looked exhausted and dejected.

  “Before he died he said something to me about destroying a noble house. What did he mean?” Asked Veer.

  “Nothing; he meant nothing,” said Cyerant.

  “He had to have meant something,” said Shira. “You’re not from the hills so you’re a flatlander. From your clothes you’re not a poor flatlander either. You were running from soldiers so the flatlander king must want you for something.”

  “They weren’t soldiers, well not soldiers of the king, they are guards for a noble who killed my family. I escaped – or really Gofreys escaped and led me away from danger. And now he is dead too. The king thinks by now that everyone in my family died in a fire during a storm.”

  “So why were those soldiers hunting you?” Asked Veer.

  “To make sure that I died in that fire too,” Answered Cyerant.

  “I have to go south,” said Cyerant as he slowly tried to rise. “It isn’t safe for you to travel with me because there are going to be more of those guards following.” As he finished he collapsed back to the ground. He noticed that the little dragon was moving toward him and he tried to scramble away but only managed to move a little distance toward his blankets where his sword had been left when he was put to bed last night. “Keep it away from me,” he said weakly.

  “It won’t hurt you, and if it wanted to there isn’t much that you could do about it anyway. I’ve seen them kill wolves,” Veer said. “Besides no mater what you do he isn’t going to stay away from you. There is one that won’t leave me alone and there is one that follows Shira around too.”

  It was then that the newcomer to their little party of orphans finally noticed the other dragons hanging around the edge of camp. Cyerant sat there on the ground looking around in amazement and fear.

  “You look exhausted, that wound is still very nasty and you had a really high fever,” said Shira. “Roll back up in your blankets and eat that meat and drink some water. We have to talk about what to do.”

  “Those soldiers who got away are going to be bringing more to search for him and the foreigner will go back to that camp and they will send lots of men to find these dragons. We’ll just all head south together,” said Veer

  “We should wait until he is stronger,” said Shira nodding her head toward Cyerant.

  “No, we can’t lose the time. He’ll have to ride the way he did yesterday.”

  “Within the hour the three of them were mounted but this time Cyerant was sitting in front of Veer who was holding the other young man stable on the saddle. The day passed quickly and they stopped a few times to rest the horses and themselves. During these stops they gathered a few edible plants and refilled water skins. After each stop they would trade who rode with Cyerant and they would also alternate packs and people between the four horses so that no horse ever had to carry two people for very long and in this way they were able to keep a good pace. At the end of the day they made another cold camp and ate gathered herbs and dried meat while the dragons hunted small animals for themselves. They slept very well and got up the next morning and repeated everything.

  They quickly fell into a rhythm and after two days journey southward Cyerant was able to ride on his own. Despite the constant moving the young man was healing very rapidly and was gaining strength. On the fifth day Cyerant said, “I wish that we could take a road it would be faster?

  “Soldiers will be looking for you on the roads and are going to find you. Foreigners are searching the trails looking for us so if we take the trails they will find us and if we get away they will just find us again. But if we stay in the Wall and go cross country they might not find us and if they do we have a better chance of getting away,” Shira explained.

  “Why do you call it the Wall?” Asked Cyerant.

  “It’s always been called the Wall,” answered Veer. “It is between the true hills and the flatlands. And most flatlanders won’t cross it so we call it the Wall. That old man Gofreys. Was he family to you?” Continued Veer.

  “He was like family to me. He worked for my father and was our house master of defence so he taught us all how to fight and ride and everything that a noble or a soldier needs to know.”

  “So you are a flatlander noble are you? Veer asked

  “I guess that I used to be,” said Cyerant. But my family is dead and the house is gone and another house will claim our lands and people.”

  “So why go south?” Shira asked

  “Maybe if I can tell the king everything he will do something about it. That fire wasn’t caused by a storm. It was set by a guest under bonds of hospitality. Most of the doors were barred from the outside and our guards had been killed in the night by someone who was supposed to pose no threat. I only got out because Gofreys and I were awake training in night fencing. He knew a secret way out and as it was when we got out we had to cut our way through a lot of their guards to get free.”

  I don’t see that old man cutting his way through many,” Observed Veer “He must have been very old.”

  Cyerant seemed to bristle. “Gofreys Berond was known as the deadliest swordsman in the kingdom. He cut our way though dozens of men. And yes he was old but he was still the greatest master of the blade who has ever lived.”

  “Can you use that sword very well?” Veer asked pointing to the blade hanging at the side of the young nobleman.

  “Yes, I can. Gofreys said that I was the best student he ever had next to my father. He trained me since I was seven so that makes eleven years of sword training with a sword master. He even had me teaching my younger brothers to use a blade. As the young noble said this he thought of his family and tears filled his eyes and the others could see his struggle to maintain control. Shira and Veer rode a little ahead so the young noble would not be embarrassed.

  That evening Cyerant asked Veer. “Can you use that sword hanging at your side?”

  “Not yet,” Veer answered.

  “Then tomorrow we will make camp an hour early and I’ll start teaching you,” Cyerant said.

  “Why should you teach me and why should I listen to you?” Asked Veer, a bit brusquely.

  “Because you need to learn to use a sword and I know how to use a sword. Besides my life and her life might depend on your knowing how to use it, so you have a duty to know how,” Cyerant answered.

  “Is that a flatlander noble duty?” Asked Veer.

  “As a matter of fact it is a noble duty. A noble may be called on to defend his people at any time so he must be ready and able. Training in the arts of battle is a duty of every noble male or female,” Answered Cyerant.

  “Well, we don’t have nobles in the hills and I don’t have a noble duty,” responded Veer.

  “But it would be a really good idea for you to know how into use swords since you do now have one Veer.” Interjected Shira with a hope to put an end to whatever disagreement was brewing.

  “Then tomorrow you can show me what you know,” stated Veer as he rose in order to head into the forest to relieve himself.

  The next day as they travelled Cyerant selected two saplings which he cut during a rest break and as he rode he smoothed them into fencing practice sticks. That night Veer had his first lesson at sword – learning grip, basic footwork and the most rudimentary blocks and cuts.

  For several days the small group moved south through the hills in a steady pace with cold camps and a daily fencing practice. As they rode along and as they sat in the dark of the camps they talked and shared their backgrounds and got to know one another. They all became accustomed to the presence of the dragons.
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br />   One evening while sitting in camp after practicing, Cyerant asked. “Have you noticed that the three dragons with human looking eyes are changing? The one that follows you around Veer is starting to get strong looking and see the armour plate that his scales are growing into. What about the horns that he is growing?”

  Veer responded. “Yes and he is as big as a wolf now. The one which follows you around is getting taller though and his wings are getting bigger he is almost as big as a pony. But yours Shira isn’t getting any bigger. She grew knee high and seems to have stopped. No armour either.”

  “I’m going to call her Cyool, I think,” said Shira. “And Veer already named his Drace. So what are you going to name yours Cyerant?”

  “I’ll call him Corth,” answered Cyerant. “Corth was the horse upon which I learned to ride when I was younger.

  That evening Shira and Veer told Cyerant what they had learned from Slance. And Shira shared her suspicions about the idea of bonding and that they had been bonded by the dragons. This left Cyerant deep in thought for the rest of the evening.

  Eight

  It was nine days that the three had been travelling together when they noticed a sign of pursuit. The three had awakened and as usual quickly prepared to travel. Their camp had been in a hollow between hills and when they reached the top of the first hill as their day of travel began Shira glanced behind them and noticed a glint of morning sunlight on metal. “I think that there is someone behind us.” Both young men turned to look and they all watched as there were occasional flickers of light coming from a party of riders topping a hill in the distance and clearly moving quickly.

  “I think the foreigners are onto our trail,” said Veer

  Cyerant had been trained since childhood to lead and to read a field of battle and knew this was not the case. “Not unless your bandits are wearing armour and helmets. Those flashes are from metal and that means guards.”

  Veer watched as Cyerant pulled out a short flat piece of bent wood only a little longer than his arm. Cyerant put the loop end of a string around one end of the stick and placed it against his saddle and pulled the double bends in the wood hard as he attached the another loop end of the string to the other end of the stick. “That is the strangest looking bow I’ve ever seen. Too short to get any power.” Veer said.

  Cyerant gave the other young man a quick scowl and said. “Horse bow for using mounted and it has a layer of horn inside of it which means that it will send an arrow a greater distance than that long barge pole you carry.”

  “Ride!” Shira yelled at the two young men as she coaxed her horse into a run. “They saw us and they are riding hard for us.”

  Both other riders started after Shira and the young dragons easily kept pace some running and some flying. “There is no way you could see that they are riding hard they are too far away,” shouted Veer.

  “I don’t know how but I saw it,” Shira shouted back to him.

  As the fleeing party of dragons and riders topped the next hill they came to an abrupt halt as it opened onto a fire meadow. There at the bottom of the hollow between the hills was a search party of foreigners. There were, at least, two dozen men who were there at the bottom of the meadow, obviously just getting mounted after having broken camp. The troop of foreigners had heard the sound of the fleeing party approaching and had prepared themselves. The foreigners charged immediately at the young people and dragons. Strangely only a few of the foreigners had weapons drawn while most of the men were carrying ropes.

  Veer heard a twang of string beside him and saw the arrow darting out toward the approaching men. The man for whom it had been meant saw it coming toward him and he leaned as he swerved his horse and the arrow found the chest of the rider behind him. The familiar sound had wakened Veer from his stunned state and he jumped to the ground winding his foot around his longbow as he landed. A moment later he had his bow strung and had sent an arrow into the approaching men. Shira joined him on the ground with her bow. A man in the front of the approaching troop raised a hand and the foreigners split with one group spreading out along the front of the small party while two groups of riders stretched their horse legs to quickly ride out and then around the three young people.

  “Hold your arrows,” said Cyerant to the others.” They are around us and at this range with them watching we will just waste arrows.”

  One rider raised his hand and started to slowly approach the three friends. When the rider came into shouting range he stopped and called with a strange accent. “We know that you have dragons. Give us the dragons and you will go free. If you do not we will take the dragons and you will die here today.” The rider then turned his horse and rode back to join his compatriots in the perimeter which they had established. As he did so another rider came barrelling around the perimeter and rode up to the man who had spoken. The rider seemed to be saying something frantically and waved his hands about a lot and then pointed in the direction from with the young people had come. The rider who had spoken stood in his stirrups and shaded his eyes looking toward the north but he was too low to see over the ridge so he settled back into his saddle, raised his hand and made a large odd gesture. At his signal, the circle of foreigners charged inward and closed toward the centre.

  “Get mounted.” Cyerant yelled at the others as he hooked his bow over his saddle pommel and drew his blade. As the other two got back on their horses he shouted again. “Follow me, if we stay here we fight ‘em all at once.” He then led off to the right avoiding the leader of the foreigners and instead charging toward the edge of the circle. There were not that many foreigners and they were spread out so the circle was easily passed through. As Cyerant passed though the circle he veered slightly toward an approaching swordsman and cut the man from the saddle. After breaking them out of the circle Cyerant angled sharply south across the meadow toward the hollow. This pulled the foreigners into a clump of horses and men chasing the young people. Cyerant wheeled his horse into a tight turn which would bring his left side around toward the now tight group of men chasing them. As he did so he put his sword away and grabbed his bow nocking an arrow, all in one fluid movement, and releasing it into the riders who were well within range. As he made the turn across in front of the approaching foreigners he was able to release two more arrows. On one pass he had managed to take three men from their saddles. He also noticed that only some of the foreigners were following and that many of them had actually continued toward the centre where some of the baby dragons had remained in confusion.

  As Veer tried to figure out what the young noble was doing by turning he saw three arrows quickly fly out at the pursuers. Then he noticed that the foreigners with ropes had surrounded some of the baby dragons. Only the three named dragons had actually followed the young people as they charged away. The rest had been stuck in the centre. Green Eyes was high above the rest keeping her distance and shrieking.

  Shira followed Cyerant into his turn and she saw that most of the foreigners were attacking some of the dragons. She could see the ropes being tossed at them. In anger she continued on the turn but used it to change direction and looped out to bypass the pursuers and charged the men with ropes. Both young men seeing what she was doing followed her and made a charge on the foreigners who had now surrounded some of the baby dragons and were on foot tossing ropes onto the dragonets. One of the men roped a dragon and then just picked it up like a doll and handed it to another man who was on horseback and who then rode hard for the tree line carrying the dragonet draped across his saddle in front of him. There were still two small dragons surrounded by the men with ropes. Each time a rope would touch one of the dragons it would stumble as if the poor animal had been hit with a club. The men rapidly got the other two dragonets secured with the ropes when they realized that they were being charged.

  Cyerant knew that as he charged at the men capturing the baby dragons there were pursuers right behind him but he couldn’t let them just take these little animals of which he had grown
so fond. He also knew that Shira and Veer were still with him but he and his horse had taken the lead in the charge. He also noticed an almost pony sized dragon running along keeping pace with him and he knew in his soul that the dragon would stay with him no matter what and fight beside him against anything. A moment later Cyerant, his horse and the dragon slammed into the men capturing the dragons, followed in another moment by Shira and a dragon the size of a medium sized dog and then Veer and a dragon the size of a wolf.

  Cyerant knew that in a few moments there would be armed riders joining the fray so he quickly set about him with his sword felling the rope handlers as fast as he could. Several of them died before they could get their own blades out and into play. Shira leaped from her horse and landed near two roped dragons that just lay there on the ground struggling against the ropes as if they were a great weight holding the dragons down and she began to cut the ropes loose.. Veer seeing what the girl was doing leaped from his horse to stand over her with his sword drawn. By this time some of the rope handlers had gotten their own blades out and were recovering from their initial shock of being charged. The foreigners began to step back as Veer realized that there was a loud roaring sound beside him: the sound of a young dragon roaring in anger. Drace was there with him and he knew that the young dragon would die before he would leave his side. Shira still was kneeling trying to free the dragonets, Cyool at her side hissing and snarling at the men.

  Some of the men slowly put their swords away and started to pick up discarded ropes and toss the loops toward the two angry young dragons. Veer cut one rope severing the loop as it flew toward the head of Drace. But the loose ends of the rope fell on the shoulders of the dragon which staggered as though hit by a charging warhorse. Veer felt as if a heavy club had struck him across the shoulders and was driven to his knees for a moment. Then he noticed that Cyool had been looped and was struggling on the ground and that Shira was on her hands and knees shaking as though she had been struck. Recovering from the weakness of the rope striking his bonded dragon Veer started using his sword with all of the skill that he had gained in these few lessons. His goal was to cut the flying ropes from the air before they could capture his dragon.