by Arthur Slade
“I was able to rescue these from the fortress,” Maestru Beatrix said. “I escaped on Bolt here while Maestru Arvid battled the Immortals.” This swan had a white grouping of feathers on his chest that looked like a lightning bolt. I remembered him from all the time I’d spent mucking out the swannery. “Maestru Arvid was supposed to leave with me. But … well, he died defending his swans.” She pointed at the second swan. “Naga followed me. I also saved two eggs that Arvid had packaged.”
“Where are those?” Thord asked.
She smiled, showing wrinkles. “In a very safe place.”
Thinking of Beatrix escaping on the back of Bolt reminded me of an unsolved puzzle.
“Thord said you brought only one book with you,” I said. “I really want to know which book out of your whole library was the most valuable.”
“Ohh …” Beatrix blushed. “The Mountains of NeverNone.”
“What?” I said. “An adventure story?”
“I wasn’t finished it. In fact, I was reading it when the Immortals charged into my library. So I had to bring it with me. The ending was worth it.” She gestured toward the swans. “Anyway, the important thing is that Bolt and Naga are here. Neither was imprinted as a youth and so they will welcome any rider.” I took a step closer and Bolt snapped at me. “Well, most riders. I guess there’s something about you that upsets them.” She looked me over. “It surprises me. They’ve been friendly. Well, as friendly as swans can get.”
“Perhaps it was something I had for breakfast,” I said. I guessed they could smell the dragon on me.
Maestru Beatrix gave a chunk of the loaf to Megan and another to Thord. Naga lowered her head so Megan could scratch it and feed her. I stayed out of beak range. Thord began feeding Bolt.
When the swans had finished their bread, Maestru Beatrix offered each of us a sausage pastry, and I swallowed mine in seconds. I could have eaten twenty.
“So you are offering these to us, to fly to Gudheim and then return them to you?” Megan said.
“These will belong to you from now on. A librarian has no use for a swan. I don’t know what Carmen will do if they don’t allow her to ride double.” She looked at me.
“Well,” I said. “I may have the answer to that.”
Chapter 14
The Surprise
We bid farewell to Maestru Beatrix, who hugged each of us in turn. I didn’t want to let her go. She had been one of the first people I could remember hugging me when I was a child. And our hug lasted longer than the others, though I finally released my arms.
“Safe journeys,” she said, patting my shoulder. “You know where I am now, which is dangerous for me, but I don’t believe I’m being hunted. The librarian is not as important as the trained assassins. Foolish that they think that way, isn’t it?” She tapped her forehead. “There is nothing more dangerous than knowledge. I trust you’ll not betray me even under torture.”
“Never,” I said, sounding much more convinced than I felt. We had taken classes on how to keep secrets under duress, but that was far different from actually being under duress.
“I am glad you found each other,” she said. “You are worth a lot dead, so be careful who you talk to.”
“We will,” Thord said. “Thank you for everything.”
“You are welcome, and do come visit me anytime you want. I’ll always have a book for you. And time.”
And then she was down the ladder and gone. We waited until nightfall to open the loft gates, and both Thord and Megan mounted their swans and flew out. I closed the gate behind them and made my way outside.
As I walked toward the hills, Thord and Megan followed me high in the air, their outlines visible against the stars. Even with my dragon eye they were hard to see. The swans were perhaps the most powerful tool an assassin had. It meant we could strike a target at any location. And, as long as the moon wasn’t full, we could hide in the sky.
I climbed one incline then another, getting sweatier and dirtier and a little more tired. The darkness had altered how the landscape looked so that I wasn’t certain which copse of trees Brax was hiding in. I searched until I saw a familiar smaller hill and signalled for my companions to come to me. The swans swooped down silently and landed without even snapping a twig. Thord and Megan dismounted and staked the reins to the ground. There wasn’t even a squawk from Bolt and Naga.
“Where is this secret you’ve hidden?” Megan asked. “Is it some sort of chariot?”
“Come along,” I said, staying ahead of them to avoid any more questions. Even with their night-vision training they would only spot half the things I could with my dragon eye. I ducked under several branches, crossed a gulley, and stopped before the pile of leaves that Brax had hidden under. “There!” I said with a flourish. I gestured like a magician at a travelling show.
“There what?” Thord asked.
“There!” I said again. And pointed at the pile, which refused to move. Was he asleep? What happened to those famous dragon senses?
“I didn’t tramp out here for nothing.” Megan had crossed her arms. “What kind of game are you playing?”
“But … but …” I kicked at a few of the leaves. “It’s not a game.”
“It’s a stupid game,” she corrected. “We are—”
“Have you brought me food?” His voice was deep and echoed in every direction. I stared at the leaves.
“No, Brax,” I said. “You’re not being funny.”
“I am hungry,” he said. “I want food. They smell rather scrumptious.”
“What is this!” Thord said. “Tell us? Who is your friend?” Both looked way more frightened and angry than I’d intended. It was supposed to be a grand revelation.
“I’ll eat the boy first,” Brax said.
“These are my friends, Brax!” I took a few steps toward the pile of leaves.
“I only promised to protect you. Everything else is food.”
“Enough!” I flipped the largest branch out of the way.
He wasn’t there.
Both swans hissed in anger. I turned and saw what was bothering them. Brax was behind the three of us. He had somehow snuck up on us and was bending down, looking like he would pounce on my friends.
Thord and Megan, seeing my alarmed look, both spun around. Thord reeled back, reaching for his short sword and shouting, “Sweet mother of Hecab!”
Brax opened his mouth and plunged toward him. I rushed to get in between them but knew I’d be far too late.
Thord tripped over a root and fell just as Brax snapped his jaws only an inch from his face. Then Brax grinned.
“I was just toying with you,” he said. “With all of you. I’ve already had a deer.”
Thord was up on his feet and backing away. “Is— is that what I think it is?”
“It’s a Scythian dragon,” Megan said. She had not put her daggers away. “And it talks.”
“Oh, look, it’s an assassin girl-child and it talks,” Brax said. “Of course I talk.”
I stood between my friends and Brax. “That was not funny.”
“I laughed. That’s all that matters. My guess is you wanted to surprise your friends and show them your pet. So, being a good pet, I surprised them.”
“He— he is talking like he knows you,” Megan said.
“These are not the smartest assassins, are they?” Brax waved his wings, and the swans made another hiss of fear but they did not attempt to fly away, so strong was their training. “I guess they killed the smart ones first.”
“This is Brax,” I said. “And he’s right — I meant to surprise you.”
“Oh, it surprised me,” Megan said. She still was pale, and it wasn’t just the moonlight. “I think I aged ten years.”
“I may require new underclothing,” Thord added.
“You have a lot to explain,” Megan began, then she pointed at Brax. “He’s missing an eye.” She looked at me. “You’ve gained an eye.”
“Oh, this one is smarter tha
n she appears,” Brax said. He clapped his talons together.
“Yes. I have his eye,” I answered. I was about to launch into the story when Brax interrupted.
“Let me tell them. She found me in a cave where I was bound by a magical chain. She freed me with her daggers in exchange for my eye and the right to ride on my back until her brother is dead. Then she will be my servant for a year. So, if you are here to help her with killing her brother, I am your newest, closest, and dearest scaly friend. Does that about sum everything up?” He looked at me.
“Yes,” I said.
“How did you free him with a dagger?” Megan asked. And here all this time I’d thought her looks meant she wasn’t a quick thinker. Another stupid assumption on my part.
“The daggers were warded Uriken blades,” I explained. “They were the actual gift I received from Maestru Alesius.” I took a dagger out and cut through a six-inch-thick branch. It fell to the ground.
“If we are to work together there will be no secrets,” Megan said. “At least not ones like this.” She gestured toward Brax.
“Yes, I agree,” Thord said. “No secrets. No more hidden dragons or daggers. Anything you’ve forgotten to tell us? How about your eye, is it special?”
“I can see in the dark.”
“Is there anything else it can do?” Thord asked.
I drew back. I didn’t want to talk about the visions I’d seen. Or the sense that I sometimes saw other worlds. “No. Not that I know of.”
“You are not the same person I knew at school,” he said. There was a ring of wonder to his voice. “You have changed a great deal in a short while. I almost don’t know you.”
“I think,” I said, “we are all getting to know each other for the first time. And, if you are ready, I suggest we begin flying and then we can continue this discussion.”
Chapter 15
An Important Question
The swans would not fly near enough to Brax that the three of us could talk, so we took the lead. Thord and Megan fell in a long distance behind us, but only a few wing lengths from each other. I couldn’t hear their discussion, but whenever I glanced over my shoulder, they were talking.
“I found a book for us,” I said, deciding to start my own conversation.
“A book? You got a book?”
“Yes,” I said. “Don’t sound so surprised. I like reading too. It’s from the Avenus library.”
“You stole a book from the library?” Brax said. “All of Avenus will hunt you down and skin you alive for that evil crime.”
“No, they won’t,” I said. “The book was free.”
“A free book! The Avenians are wondrous people. For humans, that is. Show it to me at once.”
I pulled it from my cloak and leaned ahead, keeping one hand tight on his neck spike. I held it in front of his right eye. “Bartum’s Revenge? By Ptolemak! There is not a better adventure writer in all of Ellos. This is wonderful news.”
“I thought you’d like it,” I said, though I actually had no idea what his tastes in reading were. I slid the book into my knapsack.
“Well, life is worth living again,” he said. He cleared his throat, which made his body rumble below me. “When you were in Avenus did you see a witch with stringy white hair?”
“Yes,” I said. “How did you know?”
“Oh, it was a guess,” he answered. Apparently winging through the air at a good clip didn’t tire him out, as he could talk easily. “A good guess, that’s all. Plus you have a charm on your eye and the spell still hangs about you. I recognize that type of stink.”
“You can smell magic?”
“Of course. I can smell a number of things.”
I didn’t know if he was hinting about my smell, which I hoped wasn’t that bad. I’d said the word that removed the eye charm because there was no use in having it on while we were in the air. “But how did you know what the witch looked like?”
He laughed. A dragon laugh is so throaty, and his long neck echoed with the sound. “They all look like crones. Probably they have charms that make them appear ancient and decrepit. A comely young woman could only sell spells and knick-knacks to men. An old witch can sell them to everyone.”
“That makes sense,” I said. I was pretty certain she was as ancient as she’d seemed. One thing assassin school taught was that eyes could be easily fooled. But my dragon eye? I didn’t think so.
“Do you trust these other two?” He motioned with his head toward Thord and Megan. I looked back, wondering if his question would be carried along the wind to them.
“Yes,” I said. I wouldn’t have had the same answer a few weeks ago at school. Not that Thord was someone I couldn’t trust, but I’d been suspicious of his motive for being kind. But now that I’d had time to reflect, I saw that it was just kindness. That was all. Did I feel more trusting now I had two eyes? And Megan had been a viper toward me, toward everyone sometimes. But she didn’t seem to be the type to betray me.
Again, I wondered if it was just having the dragon eye that made me confident enough to trust them. Or was it having been deceived so horribly by my brother that I knew what true betrayal was?
“You are thinking deep thoughts,” Brax said. “You’re not good at that.”
“I’m beginning to see why you were banished from your country. I have a feeling it was your snarkiness.”
He laughed again, though it sounded hollow.
“And I do trust them,” I said. “Both of them came to warn me the night our school was attacked. They could have fled without doing that, but they risked their lives to see if I was safe.”
“That’s something then,” Brax said.
“I do have one more question,” I said, realizing I was using my left hand to hold on to his spike. “My hand healed incredibly quickly. But only hours ago acid had burned right through the flesh. Do you know why this would be? You heal quickly too.”
“I don’t know exactly why that would happen. And my only answer is that you are very, very lucky to have my eye in your head. Now, let me concentrate on which direction is the shortest to Gudheim.”
As the sun rose the world below became more visible. We found a landing spot in a copse of trees that had been cleared in the centre. Once we were settled, Brax lay down, pulled a wing over this head to shade his face, and was asleep within moments.
“He’s quite the creature,” Megan said when I joined her and Thord. The way she was looking at Brax made me think of the mercenaries who had viewed him as something to chop up, skin, and sell.
“He’s more than just a creature,” I said.
“I see that. Don’t get too sensitive about it.”
“He’s changed you,” Thord said. “It’s very curious how much more confident you are.”
“I was always confident.” I felt like standing up and shouting that. Thord and Megan exchanged a glance as if I was going mad.
“He’s also an incredible asset,” Thord added. “We’re lucky to have him on our side.”
“I’m an asset too,” Megan said. She sounded upset that Brax was getting Thord’s attention. Or was I reading that wrong?
“You do breathe fire, that is true,” Thord said.
She flicked fallen leaves at him. They had clearly bonded in the last few weeks.
“This incredible asset has to sleep.” Megan stretched out on the mossy ground, using her knapsack as a pillow.
“I’ll unsaddle the swans and feed them the last of the bread,” Thord said. “And keep first watch.”
I stretched out beside Megan, who was already snoring. She snored! At least she had that tiny imperfection.
It was not long before I joined her in sleep.
Chapter 16
The Cold of Woden
The land of Woden was the furthest country to the north, and it took five nights of hard flying to get there. The air grew colder and the land rockier. After a few hours of shivering and staring down at mountaintops, I began to dream about diving into an
y hot springs I spotted. The country matched Thord. He was as strong as this land.
Thord gave a shout to tell us he would take the lead, and we followed him for the next few hours, passing over torch-lit villages and darkened farmlands. It looked like a stoic land with stoic people. I wrapped my cloak tighter around me. They would have to be stoic to put up with this cold.
Thord pointed down several times, then went into a steep dive. At first I thought he saw something and was aiming toward it, but after a few loops and further dives, I realized he was showing off.
“He is a man of little brain,” Brax said.
“Don’t say that!” I said.
“You’re right. I shouldn’t say man. I should say boy.”
We landed on a large hill topped with a grey stone barn-like building. A stone fence surrounded it and outlined several pens. On the other side of that fence was a flock of sheep — all of them ran as far away as possible from Brax until they reached the end of their enclosure.
“Oh, food,” Brax said. He rubbed his talons together.
“Eat none of them.” Thord walked up to Brax and came close to pointing right up his nostril. “Those belong to my father.”
“This is your family’s land?” Megan asked.
“Yes, I grew up here with my eight brothers. Last born means last to inherit.” He stared into Brax’s eyes. “If you are going to eat sheep, fly over to Oin’s farm.” He jabbed a thumb over his shoulder.
“You dare to tell me what to do?” Brax drew himself up so that he dwarfed Thord.
“I’m not telling,” Thord answered in a voice that very much sounded like he was telling. “I’m asking politely as your friend.”
“We aren’t friends.” Brax snorted out a small flame as he said this.
“As your companion, then. As someone who has the same goals as you. Please don’t eat my father’s sheep. Oin deserves to lose his flock. I hear his great-great-grandfather killed a dragon.”
Brax held his face stern, then smiled. “I’ll eat his sheep first, but don’t leave me here too long. I have a big stomach.”