Dragon Dodgers
By
V. R. Cardoso
To my beautiful Sílvia, with love.
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You can find a map of Arkhemia here. Just click the image to enlarge.
Contents
Chapter 1: The Watcher And The Runner
Chapter 2: The Contract
Chapter 3: The Disagreement
Chapter 4: The Agreement
Chapter 5: The Departure
Chapter 6: The Secret Weapon
Chapter 7: The Shamissai Mountains
Chapter 8: The Hunt
Chapter 9: The Hero
Chapter 1: The Watcher And The Runner
Enrig chased Merriqh up the corridor, dodging weave baskets, pitchers, and even passing workers. His arms rasped against the naked rock walls and he felt the smell of wet stone with every gasp.
“Merriqh!” He called. “Merriqh, wait.”
He was forced to slow down when he reached the exit chamber. Luckily for him, so was Merriqh. The room was packed full of workers. A mob of half-fed beggars, desperate enough to risk their lives on the surface for a dozen gold Spades.
“You have to take me.” Enrig said.
“No, I don’t.” Merriqh replied.
The king’s overseer was a balding man with three scars and a limp that he had earned in the days when he himself had been a Watcher. Enrig swallowed a curse. He was trying his best not to be annoying, but even he could tell it wasn’t working.
“Yes, you do. You need me.”
“Why?” Merriqh inspected a pile of empty containers, then gave a group of workers permission to carry them. “You’re still a kid, you’re too slow to be a Watcher.”
“No, I’m not!” Enrig said. “Ugas is larger than a bull, are you saying he’s faster than me?”
“Hey!” Ugas cried from across the room. “I can hear you, you piece of snot.”
Enrig ignored him.
“And I have better sight than most of them, too.”
“Bullshit!” Yelled someone behind Ugas.
With few exceptions, the group of Watchers Merriqh employed was a bunch of overpaid slackers. Even the overseer could see that. They were gathered at the corner closest to the exit, as they would be the first to leave the safety of the underground.
“Oh yeah?” Enrig asked. “Last Fall, who spotted that Dragon on the third day of the harvest?”
For a moment, no one answered him.
“You did.” Merriqh conceded.
“Exactly. And almost too late, because it was his quadrant.” Said Enrig pointing at a Watcher called Teric.
“Fuck you, kid!” Teric growled. “The sky was darker than my asshole.”
Enrig dismissed him with a hand wave.
“You want excuses,” He told Merriqh. “fine. Stick with them. But if you want Watchers that can actually spot Dragons, give me a job.”
Merriqh scanned his grumbling team of Watchers and then looked up a ventilation shaft. They were so close to the surface, he could see the sun, shining from it, like a bratty child sneaking a peek.
“I promised your mom I wouldn’t.” He said with a low voice.
Enrig’s eyes went wide.
“Are you serious?!” He said.
“She’s your mother!” Merriqh yelled. “She worries about you.”
“She didn’t even recognize me this morning!”
Merriqh was taken aback.
“Breath of Fyr… That bad, huh?”
Enrig was barely fourteen, but he looked older, drier, as if childhood had been sucked out of him.
“It gets better when she’s passed out.” He replied. “Are you gonna give me that job or not?”
“Alright.” Merriqh said. “I guess I can use a second pair of eyes in the Northwest Watch.”
There was a collective groan among the Watchers, but one of them stepped forward and took Enrig by the shoulders in a friendly embrace.
“Come on little cousin, you can watch my sky while I nap.”
His name was Cavill and he was as tall and blonde as Enrig wasn’t. He ruffled Enrig’s hair, making him pull away while pushing back a smile.
“Alright, you lazy bums,” Merriqh yelled. “this crop won’t harvest itself. Let’s go!”
* * *
Targon’s gray cloak flowed like a cape around him. Thick mud covered his boots as they splashed across the forest floor. The sun was already above the tree tops, and he could feel the temperature rising as sweat began to drip from his forehead. He lowered the scarf covering his mouth and pulled his hood back. He stopped, then whistled and raised a closed fist.
“Everybody change.” He ordered.
Around him, twenty shrouded figures undressed their cloaks. The darkness of the group was replaced with a colorful mix of leather clothes, scantily covering their brown, tattoo covered skins.
One of the men stepped up to Targon.
“Captain.” He called. His name was Nasur, a towering man with shoulders wider than most doors. His red plaited beard reached down to his massive chest. “The men are exhausted, we should rest.”
“Nonsense.” Targon replied as he took off his own cloak. “We should be on top of the city within the hour. The men can run for a little longer.”
“We’ve never been here, how can you be so sure?”
Targon pulled out a piece of painted parchment.
“The map is accurate. It brought us this far without mistake, why would it fail on the last couple of miles? Besides, what idiot could misplace the largest city in the East?”
“If the city is that big, it certainly won’t go anywhere. Let’s rest for a bit.”
“No way.” Targon put the map safely back in his pocket. “We’re almost there, Nasur. We’re so close I can already see that gold.”
“I’m glad you can, because no one else in the company has seen a single coin in weeks.”
Targon knelt down and secured his neatly folded cloak on his backpack.
“Right!” He yelled standing back up. “Enough slacking around. We’re almost there so let’s double time it.”
* * *
The Northwest Watch was nothing more than a brown hill overlooking dark green rice fields. Enrig was sitting on a large crevice where the edges of rock carved into his skin, but it provided decent cover. Below, dozens of workers hunched down, collecting rice in a frenzy. Even from that distance, Enrig could see them constantly looking over their shoulders.
So much sky makes them nervous. Enrig thought. He loved the outdoors, the surface. It seemed so… infinite. Still, even Enrig had to admit it was unsettling not to have a roof over his head. The way the landscape just kept going on forever into nothingness seemed unnatural. As if the goddess Fyr had made it on purpose, as a warning for humans - you don’t belong here!
“You should be more careful, you know?” Cavill said.
“About what?”
“The way you talk. Some of the things you said back there… You’re not gonna make any friends that way, that’s for sure.”
Enrig shrugged.
“I don’t plan on being a Watcher forever.”
“You don’t?!” Cavill asked. “Why are you always begging for a spot, then?”
“Because it’s good practice for Surface Running.”
“What?!” Cavill was amused. “You wanna be a Runner?”
“Why? You don’t think I can?”
Cavill shrugged.
“It’s not as easy as sitting on your ass looking up, you know?”
Enrig looked into t
he distance. It was a sunny day, but clouds blotched the sky like smudges of sauce on an empty plate.
“See that dark mountain on the horizon?” Enrig said.
“Prophet's Peak. What about it?”
“I’ve been there. I mean, I didn’t climb it… I’ve been at the base.”
“No way…” Cavill got up and studied the distance. “You would never get there and back in a day.”
“That’s why I slept there. Found a nice little cave.”
“You’re so full of it.” Cavill shook his head. “You’re telling me you spent a night on the surface?”
“And made a two day Surface Run.”
“Well, if you’re not lying, then you’re just plain crazy. I mean, why the surface would you do that? Why would you even want to be a Runner?” Cavill looked puzzled. “Why would you want a life like that? No home, no family, having to sleep in the woods, eat shitty food, and being chased by Dragons all the time…” He exhaled as if he was exhausted. “Who in their right mind chooses that?” He paused suddenly, looking really uncomfortable. “Huh, I’m sorry… I mean… Does it have to do with your dad?”
“No!” Enrig spun to face Cavill. “It doesn’t have to do with him! Or my mother. It has to do with me. I’m tired of living underground in some smelly, wet hole. There is a huge world out there. I wanna…” He stopped talking and Cavill saw him frown.
“You want to what?”
“Birds. Taking off.” Enrig said absently.
“Birds? What? What are you talking about?” Cavill looked around, half confused, half trying to find the birds Enrig was talking about. “I think you should turn around and watch your quadrant.”
“I saw something.”
“What?”
Enrig didn’t answer him. Instead, he scanned the distance with an obsessive look.
“That’s not your quadrant.” Cavill told him again. “There are Watchers on those hills, now turn around.”
“There! In Southwest Watch, a shadow.”
Cavill jumped up and combed the patch of sky above him.
“Are you sure?” Cavill asked. “The clouds are moving pretty fast today, it could be…”
“It wasn’t a cloud!” Enrig said. “And stop looking above you.” He pointed southwest “I saw it over there, so...”
Enrig’s finger arched towards the sun.
“South by southeast.” Cavill said. “It had to be a cloud, I don’t hear any horn.”
“Of course you don’t. Those idiots couldn’t spot a Dragon if it was blowing fire up their asses!”
Cavill sighed.
“Don’t say that. Those guys have spotted more Dragons than… Hey!” Enrig had tried to run past him, but Cavill grabbed his arm. “Where the surface are you going?!”
“It was a Dragon, I’m sure of it!” Enrig replied, trying to release himself. “If we sound the alarm here, people will run in the wrong direction.”
“We need to worry about our quadrant, not…”
“We need to worry about a Dragon diving from the sky and killing everyone!”
That managed to silence Cavill. Enrig could see his cousin’s eyes darting left and right, unable to make a decision.
“You have to believe me.” Enrig begged. “I saw it.”
Maybe it was a moment of hesitation, or maybe Cavill just got distracted, but suddenly, Enrig felt his cousin’s grip become looser and slipped away. He dashed downhill with his heart pounding, and felt some reassurance when he saw Cavill following him.
They entered a field of barley and as they crossed it, Enrig yelled at the workers like a mad man.
“Run away! Dragon! You have to run away!”
The harvesters simply stared at him with a puzzled look.
They reached the foothill of South by Southeast Watch, panting heavily. Enrig paused to catch his breath and looked back. Dozens of workers were still going about their business.
“Idiots, run!” Enrig said.
“They didn’t hear a horn.” Cavill told him. “They think you’re just crazy.”
Enrig cursed again, but decided it didn’t matter. He was sure that too much time had passed, so either he was wrong or it was already too late. He reached for his horn and as he pressed it against his lips, a long, hurtful wail echoed through the whole plain. Someone else’s horn. It sent shivers down his back.
It was too late.
Enrig looked up, at the top of South by Southeast Watch, and saw flames bursting out from it. He instinctively stepped back and heard Cavill mumbling something. Then, the shape of a colossal black Dragon covered the sky.
“Mighty Fyr!” Cavill said. “Run!”
Screams erupted everywhere. The mob of workers started running in a panic, fleeing in every direction. Enrig and his cousin turned around, hurrying back through the field.
With barley stalks whipping his arms and legs, Enrig looked over his shoulder and saw the Dragon dive while spitting jets of red fire. It glided a mere few feet from the ground, interrupting its fiery breath to bite down on escaping farmers, and then tossing them aside like useless weeds.
The beast’s head turned upward and the rest of his body followed as it regained altitude.
Enrig stopped, admiring the impossibly large creature rising back to the sky.
“What the surface are you doing?!” Cavill yelled. “We need to go. Now!”
Enrig couldn’t even listen to him. He saw the Dragon’s tail shift and twirl, causing its massive body to rotate on itself.
“Not this way.” He said, and then grabbed Cavill’s arm. “Come on.”
He turned right, pulling his cousin behind him, and ran as fast as he could. Behind them, the Dragon dived again and flew across the path they had been running through moments before, claiming everyone in its track.
“How did you do that?” Cavill asked.
“I opened my eyes.” Enrig replied.
He looked back again, but this time failed to see the Dragon. As large as it was, the beast was so fast it could disappear in a flash. With his head circling around, Enrig crashed into someone and fell. In a panic, he tried to untie himself from the body holding him down.
When he finally got on his feet, he saw the Dragon again, flying straight at him. Its mouth was open, baring fangs as large as swords. Its wings, spread out like blades, grew larger and larger as it lunged closer. Enrig screamed and fell on his back. He tried crawling backwards; the whole world disappeared; when all of a sudden – a shape jumped in front of him, placing itself between Enrig and the Dragon.
With his mouth dropped, Enrig saw whoever it was swirl an object the size of a pumpkin at the end of a rope. The stranger threw it up in the air and to his right and the Dragon reacted immediately, gliding to catch it and then flying away from them, back up to the sky.
“Come on!” The stranger screamed, holding out his hand.
Enrig grabbed it and the man’s powerful muscles lifted him up like he was made of feathers.
“Let’s go. Ten steps and switch.” The man said.
Enrig had no idea what he meant, but quickly realized he wasn’t talking to him. Scattered around them, there was a group of strangers, about two dozen of them, all with funny haircuts, skin covered in tattoos, and colorful clothes.
“You… You’re Runners…” Enrig muttered.
“Move, kid!” Was the only answer he received. “Where’s the closest tunnel?”
Enrig pointed at it and the man dragged him towards it. The rest of the group followed.
They were as precise as they were methodical. Half of the group watched the Dragon while the other half ran. The two halves switched roles at regular intervals without so much as a signal, coordinating in silence like a flock of birds.
When the turn came for the man to stop and watch the sky, Enrig crouched beside him. Cavill had apparently been rescued by one of the strangers, too. A large man with tattoos instead of hair forced Cavill down on his knees and screamed:
“INCOMING!”
Enrig felt a cold hand squeezing his stomach and fought the urge to get up and run. He saw the Runner besides his cousin shoving Cavill back down when he tried to flee, and then swirl some sort of slingshot above his head. He would not have looked calmer if a white dove was headed for him instead of that giant monster. Enrig didn’t even see the projectile being shot, only the cloud of white dust that exploded in the Dragon’s nose.
With an earth-shattering shriek, the monster flew back up, trying to find relief from whatever the dust had done to him. Set against the clouds, the Dragon looked even darker, like a wound in the sky that bled fire.
“How far to the tunnel?” The man asked.
“About…” He searched for the familiar rock that stood at its entrance. “Fifty feet.”
It was an old emergency burrow. Not even connected to the city’s network of tunnels, but right there and now, it was their best shot.
With the Dragon squirming in the air, the Company of Surface Runners resumed their flight, but the effect of the bomb didn’t last very long. The monster spun back around, growling as if the humans fighting back had made it even angrier.
“Break formation!” Screamed the man besides Enrig. “Run!”
The group obeyed and the half that was standing watch got up and fled. Then, the Dragon opened its mouth wide and fire gushed out, leaving a trail of flames across the ground. Enrig spun his head around, tracing the inferno, and saw it nearing Cavill much faster than he could possibly run.
“Cav, turn! TURN!” He screamed.
But it was too late. The Runner that was aiding him tried to push him from the incoming flames, but managed only to set his right arm on fire while Cavill fell to the ground wrapped in a blaze.
Enrig felt like everything went silent, as if all his senses went numb at the same time. He felt an embrace, followed by a feeling of weightlessness as the stranger grabbed him by the waist and lifted him from the ground. He began screaming and crying out for his cousin. The Runner ignored his kicks and screams, and carried him over his shoulder the last few paces, keeping a hand on Enrig’s chest after reaching the burrow, fearing that he might leave its safety and try to reach Cavill. He did no such thing. He just stood there, watching through watery eyes as the Dragon killed off any remaining survivors.
Dragon Dodgers (Wounds in the Sky Prequels Book 1) Page 1