Shatterwing: Dragon Wine 1

by Donna Maree Hanson

  Nulf laughed at her terror. “Not well oiled, are you?” He grinned at her.

  He was hurting her now. Tears slid down her face onto the dirty pillow. Oh Thurdon … help me! Not like this … not like this.

  Voices called from outside the tent. Without warning the tent flap opened. “Nulf. Come quick. There’s trouble.”

  “Blast you! Can’t you see I’m busy?” He withdrew his bloodied fingers and growled to himself. “Coming!” He pulled his clothes back on and sparing Laidan a look of regret. Before he left, he leaned forward and kissed between her legs, making a fat, wet sucking sound, and then yanked down her cloak-dress perfunctorily. At the tent flap, Nulf displayed his rod proudly, stroking it like a pet. “Don’t go anywhere. This is for you.” With that parting comment, he tucked it away and strode out of the tent.

  Laidan had to get out. Had to. She struggled against her bonds until she collapsed back against the rank-smelling bed. The tent flap moved. She sucked in a breath, fearing Nulf’s return or one of his men, sneaking in to avail himself of her person while his leader was busy elsewhere. She caught movement on the edge of her vision, heard the footstep. She sucked in a breath, preparing to scream, and began to struggle against her bonds in earnest.

  “Quiet!” Garan said, putting his hand over her mouth. “’Tis me.” He drew his hand away and reached for the ropes tying her to the bed.

  The wine still had a strong hold of her, but the relief she felt washed over her like a wave. “How?” she said, and it felt like she was speaking underwater.

  His face hovered above hers. “I don’t have time to explain the details. We have to get out of here now. These bandits are being attacked by a large band of rebels.”

  Panic speared through her drunken mind, slurring her words. “What? Are you sure these ones are rebels?” When she was free of the bonds, she rubbed her wrists and lurched to her feet. The world tilted crazily. Garan steadied her and frowned. The place where Nulf had hurt her smarted, but it wasn’t serious. Running was possible, lots of running was necessary. Garan seemed preoccupied as he looked around the tent. His violet eyes were darkened pools. “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”

  “That depends on your definition of hurt.” She struggled to say the words coherently. His face fell and he bit his lip. “Let’s say that he was about to hurt me a lot more, and you arrived before he could come back and finish the job.”

  Garan nodded, though his mouth was tight with worry. “Let’s get out of here,” he said, and beckoned for her to follow him. He poked his head through the tent flap and drew back quickly. “Can’t go that way. They are mobilizing. We’ll have to try the back …” While Garan searched for a blade to rip the fabric at the rear of the tent, sweat started to pebble in the small of Laidan’s back as the wine continued its trek through her blood. She licked her dry lips and cast nervous glances at the tent flap. “Ah … Garan … can you hurry?”

  A few toneless grunts were followed by sounds of success, as Garan finally found a broken section of blade. It was a bit rusty, but it was sharp enough to pierce the tent fabric and allow him to cut through. Laidan’s heart rate quickened. The sounds outside were like those of the attack on Lenk’s manor house. There were explosions and the smell of burning in the air. Yells and orders were barely discernible among the grunts and the sound of many feet running through the ravine.

  “Laidan, come on. You first.” She bent down and put one foot through the cut. Before she had her other foot in place Garan gave her a shove. She was just righting herself when he surged out after her. “Quick, into the bushes.”

  The leaves stuck in her hair and twigs tangled in her clothes as they fled into the trees. At times it was only by crawling along the ground that could she make any progress. Her intoxication slowed her progress even further.

  They hadn’t been in the woods for very long when they realized that the trees were alive with rebels. She could hear their raspy breathing and accented curses as they hacked through the bushes around them. She dropped to hands and knees and kept low to the ground as she inched forward.

  Another five crawl steps and she stopped again. Here she could smell a bandit—the stale urine whiff reminded her of Nulf’s tent. The path ahead was occupied by two pairs of feet. One of the men had a lamp. She paused and listened, not daring to move in case they spied her crouching in the bush. Running feet neared. The two bandits on the path quietened for a moment and then fled. The owners of several pairs of feet jostled the branches as they sped by in pursuit of them. As the footsteps grew distant, Garan prodded her again. “Keep your eyes closed,” he whispered. “I’ll lead you.”

  Garan edged in front of her and led them to the ravine wall. The tip of Belle moon appeared above the lip of the ravine and sent a wash of light to illuminate the rock face, revealing tall, thin crevices. She watched while Garan examined one before he moved on to another. Branches rustled nearby and the sound of feet crunching on dropped twigs grew more distinct. Laidan tapped on Garan’s back urgently, keeping her eyes screwed shut.

  He side-stepped to another crevice. It was tall and dark and wide enough for them to squeeze into. With the cover of darkness, it would be enough to keep them from being visible.

  Garan squeezed himself against the wall and wedged Laidan in with him. It was a tight fit. They both listened for a while and, when they heard nothing further nearby, began to relax. The wine still affected her. Garan didn’t seem to mind when she rested her head against his chest. He didn’t have much choice really, considering how jammed in they were. In a distant part of her awareness, she felt him caress her waist.

  Her mind floated a little and filled with idle thoughts. Looking up at him, seeing his face in the muted moonlight, she whispered, “Why did you kiss me in the cave last year?”

  He pressed his mouth lightly to the top of her head, then whispered in her ear, “Because I wanted to at the time.”

  “And now?” She lifted her face invitingly.

  He was looking down at her, his eyes dark. “I … I …” There was a question behind his eyes and in his puzzled frown.

  Reaching up, she drew his head down and brushed her lips against his. He drew back and watched her face as if waiting for her to recoil, to slap him. She smiled again and touched his face, the tips of her fingers sliding along his nose. Again she rested her head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. She welcomed the feel of him around her. His timely rescue had saved her from Nulf’s pawings. She wondered if that’s what a man did, just mangle a girl as if she existed only for his pleasure. She heard Garan sigh softly and tighten his hold on her. No, she thought, Garan was not like that. He’d never treat her that way.

  Easing herself up on her tiptoes, she tried to kiss him again. She needed to know how he felt—not just that he felt protective of her because he’d been sent to save her—but to feel his passion, his love, if it existed. Garan’s eyes were a bit wild. She stroked his chin, touching the bristles that hadn’t been so obvious before. On some level she became aware of the sound of fighting in the ravine outside as echoed yells pierced the air.

  “Laidan,” he began to chide her, placing his hand over hers to stop her caress. “You taste of dragon wine … You’re not yourself.”

  “I feel fine.” She kept her face raised. “Kiss me, Garan,” she whispered, and she stood on the tips of her toes and opened her mouth to his. She reveled in the power she felt, power over him.

  When his lips didn’t meet hers straight away, she thought time had stood still. She breathed softly and waited. She felt his tension surround her: in his chest, in his arms, in his thighs. He kissed her, tentatively at first, and then he pulled back. His hands strayed to her face and he nudged her chin up slightly and kissed her again, deeper this time, and all she wanted was more. The next kiss sent a shiver down her spine and she felt something else in it—his trembling and a response from somewhere deep inside her, beyond the fear. Then he eased her head down to rest on his chest, and tend
erly stroked her hair. His heart was racing, and she knew it was his reaction to her. A smile curved her lips and she closed her eyes.

  He moved slightly, easing a press of rock against his back. The smell from the cage wafted up, stirring her to wakefulness. “Garan, you smell awful!”

  “So do you.”

  Outside the moonlight had dimmed and the noise of the fighting had died down. Garan made no move to escape. “Better to wait until they are all gone from here,” he whispered to her.

  Nodding in agreement, she closed her eyes again, liking the feel of him near. Thurdon stirred slightly in her mind, and his presence nudged her. It was strange, she thought, that he should do that then, when he had been quiet all through Nulf’s assault. Her fear had probably driven him out. Yet there was no outrage from Thurdon while she was with Garan, only the general chaos in her head caused by his presence.

  *

  The jerking of Garan’s head startled her out of a daze. The sunlight was tinged red, possibly from a fire nearby. Laidan was pressed up against Garan and tried to pull away. The memories of her advances toward him came in a rush. It had to be the wine, she thought. I couldn’t have done those things otherwise. Garan put his arms on her waist and edged her to one side so that he could slither out to take a peek.

  Laidan stayed where she was, waiting, listening. It was too quiet now—eerie even. Her eyes were fixed on Garan’s back. He turned once and beckoned to her to follow. She caught his hand and together they eased out of the crevice. No one was around. They walked down the length of the ravine wall and turned. Within five steps, they came full up against a band of men who had emerged from the surrounding bushes. Roughly, Garan pushed her behind him. She clutched the back of his shirt while she looked left and right for an escape route. More men closed in. They looked less slovenly and better fed than the bandits they had escaped from. Rebels, she thought. Garan paled, his gaze shifting from one to another.

  The rebels pushed and shoved them down the path to a mob waiting in the clearing. Into the middle of the throng strode a lithe man with dark hair and pale soulless eyes. The men backed away as he stood in front of them, tapping a riding crop against his thigh.

  “Well, what have we here? You can be none other than Lenk’s runaway power maiden and her Skywatcher companion. Nulf revealed your presence to me before I cut out his tongue. Let me introduce myself. I am Gercomo and you are now my possessions. Do as I bid and you will be rewarded. If you do not …” He shrugged.

  Something about his emotionless voice chilled Laidan. Garan looked even paler than before, his throat working even though he did not speak. She suspected that he was thinking the same thing she was: this Gercomo was a new and even deadlier kind of being than any they had yet encountered. Not having uttered a single word, they were seized roughly and dragged through the smoke-filled woods out of the ravine.

  COMING SOON...

  Look out for Skywatcher, the next book in the Dragon Wine series.

  There is more to fear from the sky than dragons.

  Violence and devastation spreads through Magra as the Inspector’s influence grows throughout the once peaceful lands. But Salinda, one of the Inspector’s most important weapons, has escaped. After being rescued by Nils, the last of his race, she is brought to the wondrous subterranean city of Barrahiem. With Nils’ vast store of knowledge and access to pre-Shatterwing technology, Salinda sees a way to defeat the Inspector, but only if she can convince him that humankind is worth saving.

  Above ground, Brill and rebel leader, Danton, march for the observatory of Trithorn Peak, the only city yet to fall to the Inspector's forces. With them are one of Trithorn’s Skywatchers, and a mysterious young woman whose eyes reflect a power not unlike Salinda’s. This misfit crew must work with Trithorn’s remaining Skywatchers to prepare for a desperate battle, not only for the observatory but for the future of Margra. For it is not only the Inspector that threatens their precious lands, and the Skywatchers are the only ones that can save them from the final moonfall.

  Skywatcher will be released in October 2014. Please visit momentumbooks.com.au/books/skywatcher/ for details.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Shatterwing: Dragon Wine Book 1 has been a long time in the making so there are a lot of people to thank for their support along the way. It was 2004 when I started to write this story. In 2005, I was very busy working on the Australian Speculative Fiction: A Genre Overview book. I’d run a science fiction convention in Canberra, edited The Grinding House by Kaaron Warren early in the year and I was heading to UK and Italy before launching the Overview book on my return. I’d started this manuscript and it was different to the others I’d dabbled in previously, but I was busy doing other stuff. Then the Varuna manuscript development awards were advertised. I entered my partial manuscript and it was long listed. Then followed some hasty writing in case it made the short list during December and early January 2006. It didn’t make the short list but I had more novel. The next year I entered the manuscript again and it was long listed again so more scurrying to write it. That’s how I can say that Dragon Wine wouldn’t have been written without the Varuna manuscript development awards. I was encouraged by the long listing. One year I did get a short listing. Sadly it wasn’t selected for the final five. I did win a Varuna Long Lines fellowship though. Thank you Peter Bishop, who was creative director there at the time.

  I would like to thank also, Stephanie Smith, Deonie Fiford and Marc Gascoigne, excellent editors who helped me on the way with feedback over the years. Jack Dann also deserves a mention as he gave me some tips on the first chapter and some great advice in one of his workshops in 2005 and I took it all on board. During its formative stages, Dragon Wine received comments from other writer friends, Gillian Polack, Maxine McArthur, Kaaron Warren, Kyle Seluka and Glenda Larke. Later, when I’d finished the first draft I had helpful comments from Trudi Canavan and some excellent continuity work by Phill Berrie. My wonderful writing buddy Nicole Murphy also put in some encouraging words. And lastly, my lovely partner Matthew Farrer who has been so supportive and encouraging these last five or so years. If I’ve left anyone out, I’m so sorry, but it has been ten years!

  The manuscript was cut back in 2011 by some 40,000 words, making it leaner and it was hard to let some of those words go. However, feedback from an agent, an editor and the word limits on available slush piles meant I had to take action. In the traditional publishing industry submission processes can take time. So Dragon Wine languished for years, supposedly on a submission pile but probably not really on it, more like pushed to the side. Then one day, the lovely Haylee Nash from Pan Macmillan pops into my life via an email. We get to talking and I get to send Dragon Wine to her. She did something remarkable, it seemed to me in any case. She read it and read it right away and loved it. So now the lovely people from Momentum are bringing Shatterwing and Skywatcher to you.

  From pick up to publication has been a whirlwind and it’s an amazing feeling. Something that has been part of my life for nearly ten years is finally making it out into the world. The story is dark and I owe that to the word out there. Humans are capable of doing bad things, but they are also capable of doing good. I also have a fascination for post-apocalyptic settings. I hope you enjoy Shatterwing and come back for more.

  Donna Maree Hanson

  July, 2014

  ABOUT DONNA MAREE HANSON

  Donna Maree Hanson is a Canberra-based writer of fantasy, science fiction and horror. She also writes paranormal romance under a pseudonym. She has had about twenty speculative fiction short stories published in various small press and ezines since 2001. In January 2013, her first longer work, Rayessa & the Space Pirates, a young-adult, science fiction adventure romance, was published with Harlequin’s digital imprint, Escape. In 2006, she won a Varuna Long Lines Fellowship for her novel in progress, Dragon Wine, which is now to be published by Pan Macmillan’s Momentum imprint as Shatterwing and Skywatcher. Donna is also active in the science fiction fan
community, having run two national science fiction conventions in Canberra.

  Fans can reach Donna at donnamareehanson.wordpress.com/, on Facebook, and @DonnaMHanson.

  First published by Momentum in 2014

  This edition published in 2014 by Momentum

  Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd

  1 Market Street, Sydney 2000

  Copyright © Donna Maree Hanson 2014

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

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  A CIP record for this book is available at the National Library of Australia

  Shatterwing: Dragon Wine 1

  EPUB format: 9781760081768

  Mobi format: 9781760081775

  Print on Demand format: 9781760081782

  Cover design by Matt O'Keefe

  Edited by Brianne Collins

  Proofread by Jason Nahrung

  Macmillan Digital Australia: www.macmillandigital.com.au

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