by Resa Nelson
He gripped her free foot with his other hand.
Broken Nose sat down hard on her chest and clamped the iron collar in place around her neck. "You're a slippery little fish," he said.
"I heard about these people," Lumpy said. "They all think they as slippery as her. Thinking they shape changers."
Astrid struggled, but Lumpy held on tight to her feet as Broken Nose squashed the air from her lungs with his weight.
"Forget being slippery, little fish," Broken Nose said. He tugged on the iron collar around her neck, and its rough edge bit into her skin. "There's special magic been put on this collar to keep you from slipping out.” Satisfied, Broken Nose stood up and collected the sword.
Nonsense.
Astrid concentrated, willing her head to be narrow enough to slip out of the iron collar. When she thought she'd succeeded, she tried to push the collar over her head.
The iron jammed up against her ears. Astrid winced. Her head hadn't changed size at all.
Lumpy let go of her feet. He picked up the chain around her neck. "It be no joke, Mistress. You the task we been give, and we don't get paid until we deliver the goods, which is you."
"I understand," Astrid said. This time, she closed her eyes, focusing on changing the shape of her head. She tried pushing off the iron collar again, but it barely budged. If anything, she'd made her head and neck larger, not smaller.
She considered what Broken Nose had said about magic being used on the iron collar to keep its captive from shape shifting. Broken Nose seemed to believe in magic—maybe it was his belief keeping her captive, the same way Lenore used her belief to walk on feet that weren't really there.
A new thought crossed her mind: what if they'd already recaptured Mauri? "Do you know where my friend is?"
Lumpy held onto the chain as Astrid stood. "The blonde girl? Haven't seen her. You the one we care about—the one we get paid for."
"But there's that other option I was mentioning," Broken Nose said, spinning the hilt of Astrid's sword in his hand, cutting circles in the air. "I been thinking on that smiting camp where we bought them axes. Don't you think they'd like someone who makes such pretty swords? I didn't see nothing like this one anywhere in their camp."
"The smiting camp? But it be right on the way to—"
"Which doesn't have to be a problem since we'll turn and run the other way, all the richer for what we've done."
Lumpy tugged on the chain, using it to lead Astrid like a horse as he walked toward Broken Nose. "So you saying we never report back to him. We don't tell him we couldn't find her, in which case he lops off our heads. Instead, we never go back.” Lumpy shook his head. "I don't know. If we do that, he never hires us again. Ain't good trading practice, from where I stand."
Broken Nose laughed. "You and your trading practice! Think, man. With what we make from her, it won't matter."
Once again, Astrid wondered what had happened to Taddeo and DiStephan. Maybe they were watching right now, biding their time. They might be waiting for the right moment to catch the brigands off guard.
If so, Astrid could help by stalling for time.
"Wait," Astrid said as Lumpy pulled her chain, leading her out from the smithery, around her cottage. "We can't leave the dead out in the open. We should burn them."
That would keep the brigands occupied. It would give Taddeo and DiStephan the chance to attack.
Broken Nose laughed. "Why should we—"
A piercing scream from above interrupted.
They all looked up.
An enormous bird flew in from the sea.
It looked like a ball of lightning, its chest rust orange and the rest dark brown. Had it been standing between them, the bird would have stood as tall as Astrid's shoulders. When it screamed, its beak looked like a pair of smithing tongs whose open mouth had been hammered until hooked and sharp.
It flew past them and then swooped under the tree canopy past Astrid's home and into town.
Astrid's chain rattled as Lumpy jumped, startled by the screaming bird. The brigands stared while it disappeared among the trees.
"What was that?” Lumpy said softly.
"Carrion birds," Astrid said. "Marrow eaters."
"Birds?" Lumpy said. "I saw but the one."
"More birds are coming," Astrid said. "They'll be here soon."
Broken Nose looked into the trees through which the bird had flown, his eyes glazed over. "Strange wildlife in these parts."
"They're not from around here," Astrid said, suppressing a cold shiver. "They can smell a slaughter days away."
She turned toward the birch trees lining the far boundary of the smithery yard. It was hard to see Dragon's Teeth Field behind the trees, harder yet to see the ocean and Dragon's Head beyond the field.
Nevertheless, she could hear them coming.
Moments later, the brigands ducked as a dozen more of the enormous birds buzzed them, flying six feet above ground between the birch tree trunks.
Closing in on the blood trail.
"Get me out of this collar," she said.
"Look!” Broken Nose shouted, pointing up.
A bird returned from Guell with a long bone clenched in its beak.
The brigands watched while the bird flew high above Dragon's Teeth Field. Suddenly, the bone plummeted to the ground. Even from a distance, Astrid heard the bone shatter on the jagged, rocky field. The bird took a nose dive.
"They drop the bones to break them," Astrid said. "Then they dig the marrow out with their beaks."
Broken Nose's voice shook. "Let's get out of here."
"You can't," Astrid said. "Not with me in chains."
Lumpy's laughter was equally nervous. "Why not?"
"If there's no other way, carrion birds dig the bones out of bodies," Astrid said. "More often, they come when flesh is being eaten."
Lumpy and Broken Nose looked at her blankly.
Astrid pointed toward Dragon's Teeth Field. "Didn't you notice? That bird had a bone in its beak. Bone, no flesh."
The brigands' expressions remained the same.
Astrid explained as plainly as she knew how. "Dragons."
"Here?” Lumpy's face paled. "Now?"
Astrid nodded. "The only way out is through the town. It's too dangerous for me to wear this.” She tugged at the iron collar and its attached chain. "I can't protect myself, much less you."
Broken Nose looked out toward the sea. "There's got to be some boats."
Astrid's chain rattled again as she pointed toward Dragon’s Head Point. "Every boat that's ever tried to come in has crashed. That's why dragons like to nest there—it makes for good eating."
Lumpy swallowed hard, sweat beading his forehead. "But we be going out, not coming in."
"Doesn't matter. There's a powerful undertow. And jagged rocks just below the water's surface. If you want to go by sea, that's your misfortune, assuming you can build your own boat. But leave me to the dragons. They're much easier to handle."
Astrid's heart raced. Could she convince the brigands to let her loose?
Broken Nose paced, scanning the landscape.
The town lay ahead, Dragon's Teeth Field and the ocean behind. Because Astrid's cottage and smithery stood on the outskirts of Guell, the rocky ocean coast wound around the sides of her property.
Broken Nose pointed at the coast. "We follow the shore line."
Astrid clanged when she walked to his side. She pointed to the right. "That way leads us to Dragon's Head. If we go anywhere near it, they'll have us for supper.” She pointed to the left. "That's a dead end. You end up facing sheer cliffs, rising straight up, impossible to climb. Any dragon that finds you there has got you trapped. Once again, you're supper."
Lumpy joined them, talking as much to Astrid as to his fellow brigand. "We could hole up right here in the cottage."
"Too many bodies," Astrid said. "Now that dragons have found them, they'll be swarming the place for the next few days. If they're still hungry, they'l
l sniff us out and swallow us whole."
Everything Astrid had told him was true. Right now, her only possible allies were two terrified brigands. Instinctively, Astrid knew if she let them lead, they'd panic, not knowing what to do. The first wrong move would get them all killed.
Astrid had learned many things about dragons from DiStephan. If she didn't do what she knew was right, she'd be dead within the hour. The sight of the carrion birds unnerved her, but she knew what she needed to save her skin.
Lumpy gazed around, chewing his fingernails. "Never seen any dragons before, much less fought one."
"I have," Astrid said. "And I won."
CHAPTER 14
Free of the iron collar, Astrid led the brigands through the town, sword in hand.
Less than a day ago, Astrid had followed Drageen through the town while the brigands killed her friends and colleagues. She never dreamed any walk could be more painful and grueling until just this morning, when she'd come looking for Beamon.
But this final walk through Guell was the worst.
Already, several young dragons fed off the bodies of people Astrid had known most of her life. Just as Astrid had anticipated, the dragons were so intent on feeding that they paid little attention to the living walking among the dead.
Astrid focused on the path, veering to avoid bodies in her way. She breathed through her mouth, avoiding the stench of decay and stale blood. Birds screamed with every new opportunity to grab a freshly-stripped bone. The constant beating of their enormous wings whipped the air.
As they made their way through the marketplace, Astrid stopped when a young dragon raised its head and gazed at her and the brigands, its mouth stained with blood, a strip of flesh caught between its teeth. Like the other dragons surrounding it, threads of saliva hung from its jaw like icicles.
Astrid flared her nostrils, taking a whiff of the dragon.
Even through the heady, heavy stench of mass death, Astrid smelled something that gave her pause. Something she wasn't expecting.
Astrid tightened her hand on the grip of her sword.
The dragon gazing at her seemed to lose interest. It turned back to feeding.
While Astrid led the brigands through the marketplace, she considered turning against them. If she swung around now, aiming her sword carefully, she could probably nick each man enough to draw blood, which could start a feeding frenzy. It might be easy for her to slip away when the dragons attacked each newly-injured man.
Astrid thought about it, but she didn't have the heart. Just as she hadn't had the heart to kill the dragon that had attacked the smithery when she'd been talking to Taddeo.
It gave her the same feeling that had turned her stomach when DiStephan had killed the hatchling dragon.
Astrid swallowed the sudden lump in her throat. That was the last time she'd seen DiStephan. With any luck, she'd see him again soon, once she freed herself of these brigands.
Astrid and the men jumped when two dragons fought over a dead body. The dragons rose on their hind legs, chest to chest, twisting and biting until the stronger dragon shoved the other down to the ground, where it backed away.
After they made their way out of Guell, Astrid stopped, looking back.
For the first time, she realized it wasn't just Beamon's body she'd never found.
There'd been no trace of Lenore either.
That meant the only survivors of the raid on Guell were Astrid, Mauri, and the dragonslayers.
* * *
Long after the brigands had put Astrid back in the iron collar, long after they'd traveled far enough away from Guell to set up camp safely for the night, Taddeo tended his own fire in the dragonslayer's camp.
Its glow illuminated DiStephan's weary face as he sat in front of it. "Why won't you help her?"
"Aiy yah!” Taddeo picked up another roasted root, blowing away the steam from its surface, waiting for it to cool enough to eat. "Why do you ask questions when you already know the answers?"
DiStephan fidgeted, digging up pebbles from the ground. He flung them one by one into the heart of the fire. "I know this is your last resort. I understand Astrid is your only hope. But there has to be some other way than using her. And Guell!"
"What happened to Guell was not my doing."
"You could have done something."
Taddeo laughed. He bit into the root. "Why should I sacrifice my kind for hers?"
DiStephan buried his face in his hands for several moments. When he finally looked up, DiStephan met Taddeo's steady gaze. "I have no good answer for that," DiStephan said.
CHAPTER 15
After walking five days and wearing the iron collar, Astrid felt sorry for every horse and donkey ever hitched to any piece of iron shaped by her hands. The collar constantly rubbed against her neck, leaving raw, red rings on her skin. She was ready to collapse under its weight.
Broken Nose walked far ahead of her, leading the way. Lumpy kept a good distance behind her.
The early morning air remained cool from the night, and soft light dappled through the tree branches of the forest, high above. They'd been on the road for less than an hour.
"Are we there yet?” Lumpy shouted.
Ahead, Broken Nose turned, pointing Astrid's sword at her.
Astrid knew the routine. She stopped. Broken Nose had made the rules clear: she was to keep at least two arms length away from each man at all times.
Astrid thought about how terrified the brigands must have been as they'd walked among the feeding dragons in Guell. The moment they were safely out of town, Broken Nose had snatched her sword out of her hands, while Lumpy had knocked her to the ground when she'd tried to run away.
Ever since, Broken Nose had acted the same around Astrid as she'd seen him act toward the dragons: keeping his distance and wits about him.
Lumpy wasn't quite as vigilant.
He caught up with her, sinking to sit on a boulder just an arm's length from Astrid. "Nothing looks right. I say we be lost," he said.
They'd followed the main road from Guell for a day. It led them to a narrow trail, winding along ridges and across small streams but going nowhere that Astrid recognized.
"We're not lost," Broken Nose said, sounding insulted. "We're late. Which we wouldn't be if someone hadn't insisted on his bright idea of leaving the horses tied up outside the town."
"How was I to know they to get eaten by dragons?” Lumpy bristled. Moments later, he slumped, face sagging. "Poor Blossom. I loved her so."
Broken Nose kept Astrid's sword pointed at her, exhibiting no sympathy. To Lumpy, he said, "That's impossible. You got her only last week in that raid we made on Bally Harbor."
Lumpy took a handkerchief from his pouch and dabbed his forehead, even though it was too early and too cool to have worked up a sweat. "I know.” Lumpy's voice quivered with sentiment. "But Blossom was the prettiest, sweetest horse I ever stole. And she was learning to love me, too. I know she was."
The dragons scared him, too. He's never seen the kind of damage a dragon can leave in its wake.
Astrid had seen that kind of damage ever since she'd moved to Guell. She'd seen ravaged crops, savaged remains of animals, sometimes even people. It had been shocking when she was a child. As an adult, she'd grown used to it.
Astrid forgot Lumpy had been part of the destruction of her town, her home, and everyone except Mauri. For a moment, Astrid felt sorry for him.
She patted his shoulder, offering comfort.
Broken Nose pushed her away with his sword.
Regaining her senses, Astrid withdrew her hand, wishing she'd never offered it.
Lumpy frowned at his fellow brigand. "She weren't doing nothing wrong."
"That's right.” Broken Nose kept Astrid's sword and his gaze trained on her. "Because I won't allow it."
Lumpy sniffed, wadding up his handkerchief and stuffing it back in his pouch. He gave a grateful glance to Astrid before glowering at Broken Nose. "Not every living thing's got a heart of stone
like you," Lumpy said to Broken Nose in a low voice.
Astrid looked up at a faint ringing sound. She brightened. "That's iron. Someone's hammering iron."
Broken Nose straightened his stance. "Just like I was saying, we're almost there.” He pointed Astrid's sword at Lumpy for a moment. "And there's to be no more talk of Blossom between here and there. This one will fetch us enough to get ourselves new rides and still have plenty to get far enough away."
"What about me?" Astrid said, not knowing whether to feel hopeful or afraid of the new twist her future was about to take.
"Don't you worry none," Lumpy said happily. "We be taking you to your own kind."
* * *
The blacksmithing camp looked unlike anything Astrid had ever seen. Situated by a lake, dozens of white-washed stone cottages ringed a gigantic smithery. Women and children worked on the outskirts, tending cooking fires, chopping wood, and carrying baskets of fish.
When Astrid and the brigands emerged from the forest, she gazed in wonder at the smithery, a large work space protected by a single wall and a flat stone roof, supported by stone columns.
The air, thick with heat and smoke, rang loudly with hammers striking anvils.
And the blacksmiths. So many of them, all working under the same flat stone roof among their many fires, many anvils, and bench after bench lined with tools. The blacksmiths were all sizes of men, wearing leather aprons, their muscles bulging and shiny with sweat, their skin streaked with soot.
It was the most beautiful place Astrid had ever seen.
When they walked close to the smithery, one of the blacksmiths looked up from his work as if he'd heard them coming.
Lumpy waved enthusiastically. "Randim! Open for trading today?"
The blacksmith spoke a few words to the boy at his side, most likely his apprentice, Astrid thought. The blacksmith put down his hammer, took off his leather gloves, and walked through the maze of the giant smithery toward them.
Randim looked like an average man at first. Average size, average stride, average strength. But with each approaching step, Astrid sensed he was anything but average. He kept his long, dark hair combed back, revealing a square and serious face. His thick eyebrows arched above large and deep-set blue eyes, looking smoky and easily angered thanks to the soot smudged around them. Even now, while he walked, Randim closed his eyes and rubbed them with his sooty fingertips, darkening the skin around his eyes even more.