The Dragon Gem (Korin's Journal)

by Brian Beam

  “Then just speak the Terms that I have to meet you in five nights and we’ll seal it with blood,” I told her before Sal’ could say anything against Bhaliel’s words. “You can add that I am not allowed to break the bond or have anyone with me break it if you want. Trust me, I don’t want to be a slave to a dragon. I will fulfill the Contract Terms if you speak them.”

  Bhaliel squinted down at the Contract. If she realized that the Contract being marked by two spots of fading blood already meant that I was obligated to someone else’s Terms first, she didn’t reveal it. Bhaliel then lifted her eyes contemplatively to the egg in Max’s paws. She was probably trying to decide if he really could destroy it or not and if he could do so before she killed us all. I wasn’t even sure Max could destroy it. Not that I wanted him to; I just wanted Bhaliel to believe that he could.

  Finally, she dropped her head in resignation. She huffed out another puff of smoke from her nostrils. “So be it,” she rasped. She held out a scaled palm for me to place the Contract into. I obliged. “You will meet me a league west of the crossroads you spoke of in five nights. You will not allow your companions to break my bond with the egg. You will not break my bond with the egg. You will not harm my egg or allow anyone else to harm my egg in any way. If you have the egg when we meet at the crossroads, you will relinquish it to me. You will tell me where the egg is if you do not have it at that time.” She threw in that last part for insurance on her own part if the bond was somehow broken. I was okay with that. Well, I was if my plan worked.

  Bhaliel thrust out a forked tongue from between her teeth and poked a claw into it. When she brought the claw away, bright red blood covered its tip She closed her finger into her palm to mark the Contract with the claw. I was just happy she didn’t just drive that huge claw through my face.

  I took the Contract back from her massive hand. I could have squeezed a drop of my blood from my robe quite easily, but to make sure she trusted me, I held my hand up to Max. He obliged—perhaps too eagerly—and bit my finger. I squeezed my own drop of blood onto the Contract. The blood soaked into the cloth, forming an imperfect circle. The Contract was Activated.

  Bhaliel reared back on her hind legs and lifted her head to the sky to let out a ground-shaking roar. Her neck twisted back around to me as she lowered her head again. “Remember, if you do not have the egg when we meet, you will have no threats to use against me to keep me from killing you. Five nights,” she hissed before kicking off of the round with her back legs and taking to the sky.

  The force of the wind from her wings was too much for my current state and I fell back to the ground, taking Sal’ down with me. Part of me wished that I had asked her why she had attacked Prexwin. I assumed that Menar was to thank for that and let the thought go.

  Looking up, I could see Til’ staring open-mouthed into the sky with wonder. I had to assume Bhaliel knew how to get to Byweather, though I wasn’t sure Byweather had even existed a thousand years ago.

  Before I could try to push myself back up, Sal’ sat up and pushed me violently to the ground. “What do you think you’re doing?” she screamed. “You know you have to give the egg back to Galius. When you don’t have it on that fifth night, Bhaliel is going to kill you.” Her eyes started to grow misty. “We can’t kill Bhaliel and there’s no way we can get the resources to do so in five days.” Her teary eyes narrowed. “You are so stupid!” She accentuated each one of the syllables of her last sentence with a painful punch to my shoulder.

  “I have to agree,” Max added, sitting up on his haunches by my face where he had fallen to the ground. He was still holding the egg in his paws. “What are you doing?”

  “Yeah, Korin,” Til’ chimed in. I looked back to see him staring down at the Contract with contempt. The fact that he remained silent after those words was a strong indicator of his now somber mood.

  Til’s disappointment in me hurt. Maybe it made me hurt because he had made me realize the wrongs I had done because of the stupid Contract when we spoke back in Nansunic’s ruins. I told myself that as soon as this mess was over I’d destroy the Venos—the goddess of self-perception—blooded cloth.

  I slowly propped myself onto my elbows and swept my eyes past Max, Til’ and Sal’. “I have a plan. I just can’t tell you what it is. You’re just going to have to trust me, guys,” I told them bluntly. I fixed my gaze on Til’. “Til’, are the McAlwains okay?”

  Til’ nodded soberly. “Undula’s asleep with James watching over her right now. Kipp’s cleaning up the kitchen because James thinks that the sight of it would upset her when she wakes.” His voice was lower than usual and he still looked at me with disappointment. At least he was speaking more.

  “Thank you, Til’,” I responded with a grin. Til’ gave a weak smile that didn’t touch his large eyes in return. I was sure that in the next hour or so, he’d break out of that mood and talk my ear off as usual. With a grunt of effort, I sat up on my own and pivoted to look at our group.

  “Okay, everyone, we’re going to check on the McAlwains, make sure Telis is still here, and then we’re going to make our way to Byweather. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to buy a horse from the McAlwains to make the trip easier. We should be able to stop in Geeron for a night. I made sure with our timeline with Bhaliel that we can all take our time and recover.” Sal’ stared at me with a smoldering gaze. Til’ looked as if he were on the verge of bombarding me with questions. Max just stared at me with curiosity.

  “We should trust him,” Max stated in his raspy voice. “Besides, whatever his plan is, if it fails, he is the one who is going to have to face an angry dragon.” With a smirk, Max tossed the gem towards me.

  My reaction time was delayed from weakness and the egg thudded off my chest and into my lap. I scooped it up and just stared at the smooth, gem-like egg. I had put little thought into its magic power recently, but couldn’t help but wonder if we were all still alive just because of the egg. Gently, I put the egg and the Contract back into my coin purse.

  Sal’ stood with a huff and started off on her own towards the McAlwain’s cottage. I couldn’t help but sigh. I wanted to tell them all about my plan, but only by keeping it to myself did it have a chance at success.

  Recognizing that I couldn’t get up on my own, Til’ rushed to my side and helped me rise shakily to my feet. Max ran up my sleeve to my shoulder.

  “I am putting my trust in you, lunkhead,” Max whispered. “Mostly because you are too hard-headed for me to talk you out of what you are planning, anyway. I sure hope you know what you are doing.” The way he spoke his last sentence held more than just concern for my safety. I was sure he was concerned about me fulfilling whatever the prophecy was as well.

  I stared after Sal’, my breath catching in my throat. “Me too, Max. Me too.”

  Chapter 19

  A Slight Change In Plans

  Amazingly, James didn’t blame me for almost getting him and his family killed. He was actually gracious that we took care of that “bastard wizard”, as James so delicately described him. Kipp had gone to check on the farm animals. Loranis bless the guy, he stabled Telis and made sure he had some hay and oats to eat.

  Undula was still sleeping. Sal’, even as weary as she was, fully healed Undula’s wounds that she had basically only closed off before. Undula would be free of physical scars, but not the mental ones from that horrific afternoon. There was nothing I could do about those, but I promised myself I would do whatever I could to make it up to their family once Raijom was taken care of. I hoped that Sal’s healing would not leave Undula in pain when she awoke.

  James insisted that we rest for a bit while he put some food together for our journey. Since Sal’ was ignoring me, I let Max share Kipp’s bed with her while Til’ and I rested in the chairs in the front room. I was bothered by Sal’s refusal to speak to me. I knew she thought that I was being reckless in becoming a Contract Holder for Bhaliel, but I really did have a plan. Why couldn’t she trust me on that?

&
nbsp; Til’ also seemed to be a little off, barely even talking to me. I did let him in on Menar’s fate and what Bhaliel had told us before he came outside. Both Menar’s death and the dragons’ plight really seemed to get to him. His eyes glistened as I told him everything.

  After I caught Til’ up on what had happened, I leaned back into the chair with the fire burning in the hearth keeping me warm. As we waited, I figured I’d rest my eyes for a moment.

  I awoke to Undula’s voice exclaiming her dislike of Prexwin very loudly. If she still hurt after Sal’s healing, she showed no sign of it. Til’ had jerked awake in the chair across from me and ran to give Undula a hug around her huge middle. Undula smiled and stroked his hair saying how good it was to see us all again. She informed me that she was glad I finally had a proper haircut. Apparently I had looked like some sort of ruffian before. I still felt like a bit of a ruffian in my bloodstained robe and unshaven state. If only I had Til’s Kolarin ability to remain free of facial hair or I could grow a decent beard—anything but having to deal with shaving.

  I found myself shocked that the McAlwains weren’t angry at us. It seemed they should at least be angry with me. I was even more shocked that they seemed so nonchalant about having had a dragon in their yard not long before.

  As I rose painfully to my feet, pushing aside a heavy blanket someone had laid across me, I noticed that morning light streamed through the windows. That gave me a start. We had all just slept through an entire night. I had to admit that I felt better, but we would be a little more pressed on our journey to Byweather. We would have to give up the extra night between Geeron and Byweather. That would still give me the entire fifth day to get things in order with Galius before meeting Bhaliel on the fifth night. That was if no more delays popped up.

  I started wishing I had given myself more time. I still had a week left on Galius’ Contract Terms, but the Terms with Bhaliel made that a moot point.

  We all took a quick turn in the washroom and changed into clothes that the McAlwains graciously provided us. I was even able to shave with a proper straight razor instead of having my face mauled by magic again. Given how Sal’ was acting towards me, if she had used her magic to help me shave again, the mauling would not be an accident again.

  Undula shot unpleasant glares at me each time I tried to talk to Sal’. I had a feeling the two of them had spoken and already bonded in that way women seem to do, turning me into the bad guy in the situation between Sal’ and I. Women. More dangerous than dragons if you ask me.

  James brought us several cloth-wrapped bundles of bread loaves, cheeses, fresh cooked bacon, boiled eggs, and a waterskin filled with apple cider. I definitely had a lot to make up to the McAlwains, though Undula made it clear that she would have prepared us much more if she had been awake given what we had done for them. As far as I could see it, we had done nothing but bring misery into their lives.

  Depsite protests from James and Undula that we should rest longer, we needed to get on our way. Undula seemed genuinely offended when I told them we would just eat our breakfast in the saddle. If we were all as weary as Sal’ looked with her sunken, bloodshot eyes, I could understand why they wanted us to stay. However, time was not on our side and we needed to go. Sal’ just ignored me when I asked if she wanted more time to rest anyway.

  I was still weak, but I could stand on my own and was fairly sure that I could hold myself up in the saddle as far as Geeron. Max seemed to be back to normal, his first words to me being, “You know the good thing about Sal’ being so mad at you is that now I can have someone to talk to about how much of a lunkhead you can be.” He said it with a smile that I returned. I would never wish him to be any different. Well, unless he could be a human instead of a squirrel.

  The McAlwains, in the craziness of the previous day, had never even noticed that Max was anything more than just a squirrel. They didn’t question why we had a squirrel with us or what had happened to my cat, so I didn’t say a word about it. I felt that the luck of the dragon egg had something to do with it.

  Early morning, the dew still on the grass, saw us on our way towards Geeron with a second saddled horse and changes of clothing. The McAlwains wouldn’t even take money for any of it. If I were more religious, I would say that I counted myself blessed by Loranis to have met such fine people. Yet, I wondered if James would have been as giving if he knew about the damage to Nansunic’s temple. I probably should have told the James about that. It was a little too late to do so as we left the farm.

  The fall morning was cool and crisp, making me selfishly wish that the McAlwains had given us a couple spare cloaks to go with our new outfits. The sky was mostly clear with just smattering wisps of white clouds. The sun was still in its ascent ahead of us, but did little to take the chill out of the air. If you haven’t realized it yet, I’m not a fan of the cold.

  Til’ rode behind me on Telis’ saddle. I now wore a plain white shirt with tan leather pants. Since they had been James’, they were a little baggy, but were still a huge improvement over Sal’s robe. My coin purse and sheathed shortsword hung from my belt. Til’ also wore a white shirt under a sleeveless brown tunic with black pants that had been Kipp’s when he was younger.

  Behind us, Sal’ and Max followed on Windmane, a sturdy dun gelding named for his ridiculously shaggy brown mane. Sal’ had grudgingly shed her bloodstained blue robe for a baggy, gray wool shirt with the tight, dark breeches tied at the knees that she had already been wearing. She must not have had any other robes in her enchanted backpack that was tied to Windmane’s saddle. She had stuffed the stained robe down into that backpack, unwilling to discard it. I had seen Max clean out bloodstains from my own clothing with magic, but with all we had recently faced, neither he nor Sal’ seemed willing to use any magic frivolously just in case their energy was needed for something more important.

  Sal’ had to be feeling the cold with her calves bared, but her face was set in a stone-hard glare. Her wicker case, with a dozen new mice from a box-trap that James had in his barn, was still slung across her body with the strap between her breasts. Not that I was paying that close attention to them again…

  I had requested that Max stay with her. She had seemed to be in no mood for a constantly chattering Kolarin. Even if she was going to be childish enough to not talk to me, I was going to do her a favor and spare her that. Max had obliged, but from the silence behind me, it seemed Til’ wasn’t in the mood for his typical rambling banter anyway.

  My other reason for wanting to ride with Til’ was a little more selfish. I had thought he would have already been back to his old self, but ever since we had left the McAlwains, he had remained silent. Even though I had typically been bothered by his unceasing questions and streams of consciousness before, his silence was much worse.

  I was too weak and tired to be tactful, so instead of beating around the bush, I just turned my head and said, “Tell me what’s wrong, Til’. You’re killing me here.”

  Til’ sighed behind me. “I don’t know. I mean, I thought that I had come to terms with you completing your Activated Contract with Galius even though I didn’t agree with it. Then I saw Bhaliel and the hurt in her eyes when you refused to give her the egg. It’s just not right, Korin.”

  Turning back to the fielded lands ahead of me, I nodded. Here I had thought he was just upset I used the Contract again. “I agree,” I told him without looking back. “That’s why I plan on having the egg with me when she meets me.”

  Another sigh sounded behind me. “I don’t like that idea either. The only way for you to have the egg to give to her is to give up your life to Galius. I don’t want to lose a friend either.”

  “There may be another way,” I assured him. “Just put a little faith in me. I intend on keeping my freedom a while longer. In fact, you’ve inspired me to destroy the Contract as soon as I’ve fulfilled the Terms for Galius and Bhaliel.”

  Apparently that was all that was needed to break Til’ out of his dismal state. “Real
ly? You’re going to destroy your Contract? How do you plan on keeping the egg? You know, maybe I can—”

  “Til’,” I interrupted. “It’s really best if we don’t talk about what I’m planning. Trust me.”

  “Oh.” In true Til’ fashion, he jumped quickly to another subject. “So do you think the dragons are going to cross over the Glacial Mountains? I bet they do. I mean, it’s not fair that they were banished in the first place. What do you think? They should be free to roam the world, right?” Yeah, he was definitely back to his old self.

  I hadn’t really thought about the concept of the reemergence of dragons much before Til’ had asked, but I knew that it would not be a peaceful transition if it happened. “I don’t know what they’ll do, Til’. I do believe they should be free of their banishment, but think of the reaction it would cause. I don’t know about you, but as a child I was only told stories about how evil dragons were. Crossing through the barrier could lead to a war with the dragons and possibly their extinction. Even if they lived through another war, think of all the lives that would be lost on both sides.”

  Til’ was silent for a moment. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he admitted after his pause. “I wouldn’t want anyone to die or for dragons to become extinct. Bhaliel doesn’t seem so bad aside from the whole abducting me thing. I did have her egg, though. And once I came to, flying was fun. You should try it sometime. Why do you think her bond with the egg was broken?” He actually paused for me to answer after his last question.

  As I turned my head to answer, I noticed Sal’ had Windmane at a trot, closing the gap between us. She slowed Windmane to match Telis’ pace once she was beside me. “I have been thinking about that too,” Sal’ announced in a brooding tone to no one in particular. She must have heard Til’s question. It was good to hear her voice, as sullen as it was, even if she did not meet my eyes when I looked over at her.