Kill the Dragon (Lake of Dragons Book 1)

by E. Michael Mettille

Hagen looked toward the ceiling, shrugged, and said, “He’s a strong young man and seems to be perking up nicely. In a week or two, he should be sore but fully functional. By that point, he should be ready to handle anything you might throw his way.”

  “No, no, that won’t do. The lad be needing to get back to his journey,” Ymitoth shook his head as he spoke. “He already be spending too much time in Havenstahl. Them caves of Alharin ain’t waiting. Ye know the importance of this.”

  Hagen considered Ymitoth’s words for a moment as he nodded and stroked his chin beneath a frown, “Yes, he does need to be on his way, doesn’t he?” His eyebrows raised slightly as he shrugged and added, “Knowing you, I must assume he’s resourceful.”

  “Aye, I trained the lad myself,” Ymitoth quickly replied. “Ain’t seen the likes of him. That lad truly be special. The trail won’t be giving him no challenge.”

  Hagen scratched his head as his frown deepened once more, “He’ll have to change his bandages. What about fresh, clean water? Will he have access?”

  Ymitoth smirked, “Now ye be sounding like a mother. It be a great shame ye ain’t had no sons of your own to be raising. Ye be treating all your patients as if they be your own.” His expression settled into something more serious as he finished, “Tell Maelich what he be needing to do, and the lad will be getting it done.”

  The old healer didn’t like the idea one bit, but Ymitoth was correct. The great power awaiting Maelich in the caves at Alharin was many things, but patient wasn’t among them. The lad had already lost too many precious days on a lengthy trial and sweating out a fever. Hagen bowed slightly as he patted Ymitoth on the shoulder and started down the hallway.

  After a few steps, Hagen turned and said, “Get the crest on the lad’s chest, and send him on his way. For his sake and ours, I hope he’s as ready as you say.”

  ***

  When Ymitoth returned to Maelich’s room he found him speaking to Perrin about the dwarves and something about the sacred pine while he stroked Jom’s fur. The thought of interrupting the lad’s story with instructions and news died a quick death. Instead, he pulled up a chair and listened intently, losing himself in Maelich’s words. Pride swelled in his chest as his boy told a story of a dwarf snatched away from the jaws of death. His pride grew as Maelich told the lass about Ahm and the journey home. Maelich’s story reminded him of some of his old adventures. No, the trail wouldn’t be claiming Maelich’s life. Even with a healing gash in his shoulder, the boy was ready.

  “…and then the world went black. The next thing I remember is waking up in this room,” Maelich finished the story with a shrug.

  Perrin’s eyes were round and big, “Ye be so brave. That giant be sounding scary.”

  “What about you?” Maelich asked. “Tell me about your adventures since last we spoke.”

  Perrin beamed, “Me and Jom was stuck in that shack with them guards for so long. That be a boring place, and them guards ain’t no fun. They don’t be talking or laughing or nothing. They always just be looking out them windows and scrunching up their faces around frowns.”

  Maelich chuckled as Perrin mocked the angry faces guards make.

  Realizing she had Maelich amused, Perrin grew more animated as she continued, “Then, them same grumpy guards took me and Jom to this fancy room full of all these fancy ladies.” She hopped off the bed and strolled around it dramatically swaying her hips back and forth while pretending to fix her hair.

  Maelich’s chuckle grew into a proper laugh. It didn’t help the pain in his shoulder, but it was worth it. After all he’d been through, he needed a good laugh.

  Perrin grabbed a brush from the dresser and began brushing her hair while still swaying her hips back and forth, “Them fancy ladies be telling me I be a vision sent from Kallum himself, all while they be giving me baths with bubbles and fussing over me hair and telling me I be just like a doll. Them nice ladies even be putting Jom in the bubbles. He ain’t been liking it so much. He liked that they ain’t made him sleep outside, been by me side all the time. Ain’t ye thinking that’s odd?”

  “What’s odd, that they brushed your hair and called you a doll?” Maelich grinned.

  “No,” she rolled her eyes, “ain’t ye thinking it’s odd they ain’t had Jom outside? They’d been letting him sleep right in the bed with me. Even Mama never been doing that.”

  “I don’t think it’s odd at all,” he replied. “Then again, after the past few days, I imagine it will be quite a time before I find anything odd again.”

  Perrin squinted and looked as if she might have something to add. When she didn’t, Ymitoth took advantage of the brief lull in the conversation, “Perrin.”

  She glanced over at him, her pale blue eyes as big as ever. Maelich glanced his way as well.

  “Do ye be remembering them two nice folks ye met over at that pub where we’d been eating them eggs the other morning?” Ymitoth continued.

  Perrin nearly jumped on Maelich as she grabbed his shirt and pulled him close. “Oh, Maelich,” she began, “I nearly been forgetting all about them nice people, what with being so happy to see ye.”

  “What people,” Maelich looked back toward Ymitoth.

  “Master Ken…” Ymitoth began but Perrin cut him off.

  She grabbed Maelich’s chin and turned his face back toward her as she said, “I be telling ye about it right now.”

  Maelich put his hands up as he gave her his full attention. “Okay, okay, tell me all about it.”

  Perrin relaxed her grip on Maelich’s chin and continued, “Master Kendal be owning this pub, or whatever ye be calling it, and he be knowing old man Kelsho! Can ye even be believing it? He be old man Kelsho’s brother.”

  Maelich looked over at Ymitoth who nodded, confirming Perrin’s statement.

  “And his misses be called Haleen,” Perrin pressed on. “She might be the sweetest lady I ever been meeting,” she paused a moment before finishing, “except for me mama.”

  “Wow,” Maelich exaggerated his enthusiasm for Perrin’s sake, “you met old man Kelsho’s brother? That is exciting!” Then he glanced over at Ymitoth and asked, “Why is this such big news?”

  “How would ye like to be staying with them two nice people while Maelich be off to his adventures?” Ymitoth asked Perrin.

  Perrin seemed less excited than Ymitoth had hoped she’d be as she nodded and asked, “Will they be letting Jom stay too?”

  Ymitoth gave her a wide, reassuring smile and said, “Aye, they be looking forward to having a sturdy scrod around to be helping them look after that pub.”

  “Aye,” Perrin brightened, “then I be liking that very much.” She turned her attention back to Maelich and said, “The misses was all tears when she be holding me. I wiped them off her cheeks and asked her what she be crying for. She said she ain’t never had no daughter and thought I’d be a nice one for some lucky lady, what with Mama being gone and all. She said I could be calling her that if I be wanting.”

  “And what did you decide,” Maelich asked.

  “Aye,” Perrin smiled, “I be calling her that.”

  “Master Kendal said ye can be calling him father, or papa, or Master Kendal, whatever ye be liking,” Ymitoth interjected into a conversation of which he started but didn’t feel a part.

  Perrin’s eyes remained on Maelich as she said, “Papa Kendal, that’s what I be calling him.”

  Before Ymitoth could tell her what a good idea he thought that was, Perrin had laid her head down on Maelich’s chest and fallen fast asleep. All the excitement of seeing Maelich and sharing stories must have been too much. Within moments she was snoring loudly enough to scare Jom right off the bed. The scrod walked a few circles, flopped down onto the floor, and chased right after her into dreamland.

  Ymitoth took a chair across the room from Maelich’s bed. His smile remained shallow as he thought of Maelich’s impending departure. At times, he forgot the lad had only seen twelve summers. He began his training so young, he
never really had a chance to be a boy. The road wouldn’t get any easier for him either.

  As Ymitoth’s mind wandered, Maelich managed to slip out from beneath Perrin and take the chair next to him. Ymitoth had become so wrapped up that he didn’t even notice Maelich sit down.

  “Finally,” Maelich began, “they have both found sleep. We can have a relaxing chat.”

  Ymitoth’s mind had wandered rather far, and he jumped a bit, “For the love of Kallum, lad, ye nearly scared the boots right off of me feet. I ain’t even heard ye walk over here.”

  Maelich held his wounded shoulder as a giggle shook through him. “Forgive me, father. I didn’t mean to startle you. Where were you off to just then?”

  Ymitoth’s eyes were still far away as he replied, “There just be many things what be weighing on me right now. The greatest of which being watching as ye be leaving the safety of me city. I be wishing to Kallum I could be at your side as ye make the next part of your journey.”

  “I would welcome the company,” Maelich replied, “but you needn’t worry about me. I am ready, father. You have given me everything I need to survive my journey.”

  “Aye, ye be ready,” Ymitoth conceded, before adding, “but that ain’t making it any easier to be watching ye go.”

  “Thank you,” Maelich said quietly.

  Ymitoth’s eyes lost their faraway look, “What in the name of Kallum be ye thanking me for?”

  Maelich smiled, “Just for letting me know you care. Sentimental is something you’ve never been, but you’re the only family I have. I mean, Perrin has depended on me, but you’re the only one who’s been with me my entire life. It is nice to know I won’t be forgotten when I leave.”

  Ymitoth stopped just short of getting misty as he replied, “Aye, ye have been the only son I ever had. Ye’ll be missed, lad.” After composing himself, he added, “So, how be that nasty gash in your shoulder feeling?”

  “What gash?” Maelich countered with just a hint of a chuckle. “It stills stings a bit when I move wrong, but Hagen’s elixir has me feeling quite strong.”

  “Son, all what ye said to me that morning after the shrine. Ye be right, and I be proud of what ye’ve become. No longer will I be feeling that I should be shamed in your presence. Kallum his self be setting us on our paths, so he must have been choosing mine when I got picked to rear ye as me own. Ye won’t be hearing me deny ye anymore,” an earnest expression spread across Ymitoth’s face as he spoke.

  Maelich simply replied, “Thank you, father.”

  The two men looked at each other for a moment and then both burst into laughter for no good reason at all. They laughed heartily for a good bit until they remembered the sleeping lass that they shouldn’t be disturbing in her slumber. Their laughter slowly turned to chuckling and then finally ceased as a troubled look crept onto Maelich’s face.

  “Father,” he began, “I may not be feeling as confident in my abilities as I’d like you to believe. I was almost killed by the likes of that serpent, Yfregeof. That weakling of a worm bested me. I still don’t recall how I managed to escape with my life. I know my journey is just yet beginning, and the rest of it shall be on my own. If I could be bested by the likes of Yfregeof, how will I conquer whatever other challenges I might encounter?”

  Ymitoth grinned, “Ah, humility. Aye ye’re a mighty powerful warrior, yet ye lack experience. Not every foe ye meet will be wanting a fair fight with ye. Ahm, in all his conceit, could never be fathoming the idea a wee lad such as yourself might be besting him. Amatilazo be too stupid to fear ye, and Kallum’s messengers…well, Kallum’s messengers be fearing no man. Ye nearly scared Yfregeof right out of his crown when ye stormed into his throne room with Ahm’s head. He’d been knowing that in a fair fight ye’d have his head without any effort at all. Ye’d never be getting a fair fight out of the likes of him. Ye learned a lesson, Maelich, be keeping it with ye.”

  “Are you saying I shouldn’t be confident in my abilities?” Maelich was perplexed.

  “No, no, son,” Ymitoth shook his head. “Ye must be confident in yourself but that ain’t no cause for being careless. Ye are like a god, aye, but ye are also of flesh and blood. Never be forgetting that death can be finding ye. The serpent be wanting ye to believe ye can’t be killed, for when your guard be down be when he strikes.”

  Maelich looked at the ceiling, “You always offer wise counsel, father.” He grimaced slightly as he grabbed his injured shoulder and added, “It is a painful lesson I won’t soon forget.”

  Ymitoth smiled, “Aye, lad. Of that, I be certain.”

  Both the new king and the wounded warrior stared out the window across the room. The sky grew dark as the sun made way for a full moon. Each had a fresh set of challenges to contemplate. They remained like that until the sky outside the window had completely darkened.

  Ymitoth finally broke the silence, “That vile snake found his way over the side of the mountain after a thick rope choked all the life out of him.”

  “A fitting end,” Maelich replied.

  “History will be remembering an execution as me first act as king,” Ymitoth said, soberly. Then he added, “I ain’t even really been the king yet, but that’s what they’ll be saying.”

  “I suppose they will,” Maelich nodded.

  Ymitoth turned toward Maelich, “While I been watching ye on the brink of death, all tossing and turning and shouting out from the fever, I be wishing I could be killing that snake over and over again. One death just ain’t be seeming enough for that treacherous bastard.”

  Maelich shrugged, “One death is all any of us get, one last journey to the Lake.”

  “Aye,” Ymitoth agreed as both men turned their gazes back toward the darkness.

  After a brief silence, Ymitoth said, “Though ye been mostly asleep for the better part of the past few days, ye should be getting some rest. Ye’ve a big day tomorrow. The ceremony of the crest be something all the city be coming out for. Ye won’t be wanting to fall down them steps or some other fool thing what being in front of all them folks.”

  Maelich grinned, nodded, and said, “I’m actually pretty tired. This visit has taken more out of me than I would have thought.”

  Ymitoth placed a hand on Maelich’s good shoulder and smiled. Then he gathered Perrin up from the bed. She mumbled some gibberish but didn’t wake. Jom did, however, just long enough to hop back up onto Maelich’s bed and curl up right in the middle of it. Ymitoth chuckled. winked his goodnight to Maelich and carried Perrin out of the room.

  Chapter 11

  The Ceremony of the Crest

  Even in the dim light of the early dawn, the room seemed far too bright. Maelich stretched and blinked several times, finally clamping them tightly together and turning his head away from the open window when his eyes refused to adjust. He nearly jumped out of his bed when he opened them again. Ymitoth’s face was barely an inch from his own. He barely had time to notice the odd mix of pride and nervous excitement on his stern mentor’s face as he slid away and brought his fists up.

  “What in Kallum’s name are doing?” he shouted hoarsely, sounding more like an old man who had spent his life smoking too much fairy weed than a brawny, young lad.

  Ymitoth stood up straight and planted his fists at his hips. His eyebrows raised as he looked down on Maelich and said, “I be trying to get your lazy bum out of this bed. The rest of us all be ready. Ye be the guest of honor, and here ye lay sleeping.”

  Maelich sat and stretched. His eyes finally grew accustomed to the light and he began to get his wits. When he finally looked back at Ymitoth, what he saw surprised him. As far as he could remember, he had never seen the man without a good bit of dirt on his clothing. Ymitoth was a warrior, an adventurer, and far more comfortable on the trail than in a castle or even a hut. Today was different. He wore a heavy, velvet robe, deep red with a collar of white fur. His crown was shiny prang with jewels that snatched every bit of light, bent it, and splashed rainbows of colors all about the
walls. Similar, though smaller, jewels adorned his cuffs and lapels and played the same games with the light. Maelich could barely find his tongue.

  Once Maelich overcame his shock and could find his voice, he said, “You look like a king, father.”

  Ymitoth’s cheeks reddened around a sheepish grin, “Yeah, well I be feeling like a damn fool, all dolled up like a princess.”

  Maelich chuckled at the old soldier’s embarrassment. Then he said, “Well, you don’t look like a fool. You wear the king’s robe well.”

  “Thanks, lad, but I be sweating up a storm already,” Ymitoth replied as he tugged at his collar. “I ain’t certain these fancy clothes will be making it through the end of the day.”

  Maelich shook with laughter until he caught sight of Perrin standing quietly in the corner. She looked like a princess in her long, formal white gown. Lacy gloves reached all the way up to her elbows. Her hair was pulled back from her face save a few well-placed ringlets dangling next to her plump cheeks on either side. Those plump cheeks reddened at least as much as Ymitoth’s had when her bright eyes met Maelich’s. They quickly shot to the floor as she moved her hands behind her back and nervously rocked back and forth on jewel encrusted shoes with the slightest heel.

  “No craftsman in all of Ouloos could ever make a doll so beautiful,” Maelich remarked.

  Perrin shyly looked back up and replied, “Do ye think I be looking silly?”

  “Silly?” Maelich feigned shock, “You are a vision, like a perfect sunrise over a vast sea.”

  Perrin smiled and rubbed the back of one of her gloves against her cheek, “I be liking these gloves them nice ladies gave me. They be so pretty and they be tickling me cheeks. Have ye ever been feeling anything like this before?”

  Perrin went to Maelich and gently rubbed the back of her glove on his cheek. He exaggerated his giggle. The thing felt kind of rough, but he played it off as if nothing had ever tickled him so mightily in all his days. “Wow, that does tickle!” he lied.

  As Maelich and Perrin giggled over the glove, Jom finally joined the land of the living. He nearly kicked Maelich off the bed when he stretched his legs out and planted all four paws into Maelich’s back. Maelich moved his face close to the scrod and gave him a sour look that earned him a long lick, chin to temple up the side of his face, from Jom’s sloppy tongue. Then they both hopped off the bed almost in unison. Jom found a fresh bowl full of water in the corner while Maelich rubbed the sleep from his eyes.