Drachengott

by K J Taylor

  ‘All right.’ His suspicions quietened for the time being, Nils left her there and went below with the others, his heart pounding with sickening anticipation.

  Chapter Nineteen

  In the end they did not have to wait long for Rutger to come back. Only two days later he and Spurling arrived together, and Nils, Syn and Elynor were there to meet him. Rutger’s expression was already grim, and the first thing he said was: ‘We have to do something about Gallia.’

  Syn put her arm around his waist. ‘We do, but none of us are certain what. Elynor thinks we should rally the Ketzer and the Gottlosen together and prepare to defend ourselves, and forget the Drachengott for now.’

  ‘And the Jüngen,’ Nils added. ‘If the whole of Wendland was threatened, they might agree to help.’

  Rutger frowned. ‘And what do you think, Swanhild?’

  ‘We must still find the last of you,’ said Syn. ‘Karmain. If Espan goes to war, she could be in danger.’

  ‘And while we do that, what about Wendland?’ said Elynor. ‘What is the use in destroying the Drachengott if Wendland has been overrun by foreign armies? There would be nothing left to save.’

  ‘Father, what do you think?’ Nils appealed to him. ‘What should we do?’

  Rutger seemed puzzled. ‘Why me?’ he asked. ‘What makes my opinion that important?’

  ‘Because you are Rutger Dragonsbane, and the Gottlosen believe in you,’ said Syn. ‘And there are more Gottlosen in Wendland than anyone else. But, more importantly, you are a warrior, and you have led others in battle. Elynor is a politician, not a fighter, and Theodor . . .’

  ‘I’m not a warrior or a leader; I’m just a thief,’ said Nils, with some black humour.

  ‘And you, Swanhild?’ said Rutger. ‘You know more than I do — you were my teacher. I knew nothing until I met you.’

  ‘I am only a dreamer,’ said Syn, with a smile. ‘I showed you the path I had seen for you, but now it’s for you to walk along it. Now, tell us: what do you think we should do?’

  Rutger hesitated.

  ‘Remember,’ Syn added, ‘I can still go alone. I can find Karmain myself and bring her back here, while you do what you think best.’

  Finally, Rutger shook his head. ‘There’s more to this than the Drachengott,’ he said. ‘And there’s more to us. We four. I’ve been thinking about that — thinking about what we’ll do after the Drachengott is dead. Our weapons have other uses than just to kill him, don’t they?’

  ‘It’s true,’ Syn said slowly. ‘They do, though I can’t tell you what the final weapon does, only that it is called the Peace Bringer.’

  ‘Well then,’ said Rutger, ‘I think this is what we should do. We should travel to Espan, find Karmain and her weapon, and then the four of us can fight for Wendland. Think about it this way,’ he added: ‘if together we are strong enough to kill the Drachengott himself, then we would be strong enough for the armies of Swetzland and Gallia, wouldn’t we?’

  ‘He’s right!’ said Nils. ‘Of course! What do you think, Elynor?’

  Elynor twisted a strand of blonde hair between her fingers while she thought. ‘Yes, you could be right, Dragonsbane. I never thought of it that way.’

  ‘I agree,’ said Syn. ‘And, oh . . .’

  ‘What is it, my love?’ Rutger asked her.

  ‘It fits,’ said Syn in a low voice. ‘It all fits.’ She seemed to be talking half to herself now, and her gaze had gone distant again.

  ‘What does?’ asked Nils.

  ‘My dream,’ Syn said more loudly. ‘It makes sense now. The four of you, all standing together on a blasted plain —’ She suddenly began to sound excited. ‘Of course! All this time I wondered where that place was, and now I know: it must be somewhere in Swetzland! We were always meant to leave Wendland together, and maybe that day will come when we are on the journey back. Of course!’

  Rutger chuckled. ‘You sound like a little girl!’

  Syn laughed, too. ‘Sorry, but what I just realised was the answer to something that’s troubled me for years. And it tells me your plan is the best one for us to follow.’

  ‘It shouldn’t,’ Elynor said brusquely. ‘For all we know the future you want to lead us to will be one that ends in disaster.’

  ‘All paths can end that way,’ said Rutger. ‘I trust Swanhild’s dream, and I trust my own judgement. Elynor, if we forget the dream for the moment, do you still think my plan is the best one we have?’

  Elynor took Ambrose’s hand. ‘I do,’ she said. ‘But it’s a strange thing — I think I want to find this woman Karmain for another reason. I feel . . . I want to help her, even though I don’t know her.’

  ‘She’s like us,’ said Nils.

  ‘Yes, she is,’ said Rutger. ‘You’re right, Elynor. We three were all lost and troubled when Swanhild found us. Karmain might be the same. We have to help her, and in return she can help us.’

  ‘Then we’re agreed?’ said Syn.

  ‘Yes, I think we are,’ said Elynor.

  ‘We are,’ said Nils.

  Rutger put a hand on the hilt of the Magic Taker. ‘Then let’s get ready,’ he said.

  ***

  In the end only a small party left Ketzergard. They would travel faster that way. Rutger, Syn and Elynor rode on deerback, and there was a fourth deer for Nils, although he would mostly be flying above with Spurling. Lilith and Tancred had both been denied permission to go with them, and Ambrose, too, was staying.

  They said their farewells at Ketzergard’s rarely-used back gates, and Tancred cried. Lilith remained stoic — maybe anger was helping her there, though she didn’t argue any further.

  Elynor and Ambrose shared a last embrace. ‘Take care of them, and Ketzergard,’ Elynor told him.

  Ambrose chuckled. ‘I think Ketzergard will be the easier one!’

  ‘Yes, I’m sure it will be.’ Elynor hugged her children next. ‘Try and behave yourselves,’ she told them. ‘And keep practising with your magic.’

  ‘We will,’ said Lilith, while her brother sniffled.

  Once she had parted from her mother, Lilith surprised Nils with another hug for him. ‘Be careful,’ she told him. ‘I want you to come back here soon.’

  Nils hugged her back. ‘I’ll come back.’

  Lilith gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. ‘I trust you, Theodor.’

  Theodor.

  Blushing, Nils retreated. He climbed up onto his deer, which huffed nervously.

  ‘Good luck, Dragonsbane,’ said Ambrose. ‘And to you as well, Ishild — or whatever your name is.’

  ‘You can call me whatever you like,’ said Syn, with a smile.

  ‘Swanhild, then,’ said Ambrose.

  ‘I like that name,’ said Syn. ‘It’s pretty.’

  ‘I think you’ll always be Swanhild to me,’ Rutger told her. ‘Even once I know your real name.’

  ‘I wouldn’t mind,’ she said shyly.

  ‘Well then, good luck, Swanhild,’ said Ambrose. ‘Don’t lead any of them astray. I doubt Elynor would let you, anyway.’

  ‘I won’t,’ said Syn. ‘Good luck, Ambrose. We will come back one day — all of us.’

  ‘I won’t give up hope,’ said Lilith.

  Tancred dabbed at his eyes. ‘We’ll wait forever if we have to.’

  ‘But it won’t be forever,’ said Rutger.

  It will not, Spurling agreed. He nuzzled Birch on the side of her neck. We will return sooner than you think.

  Birch snorted a little cloud of steam. Come back to me, my Spurling.

  I will. Spurling nipped her affectionately, then flew off.

  At that, the others finally turned their deer around and rode off into the trees, although Nils kept twisting to look back. Lilith gave him a little wave.

  ‘I think she likes you,’ Syn teased.

  Nils said nothing; he didn’t need to. Even Elynor looked amused. But he found that he was sad, with a deep, gnawing kind of sadness that reminded him of when his foster-mot
her had died. Without realising it, he had come to see Ketzergard as his home. And the people with him, they had become his family.

  ‘Theodor,’ he muttered to himself.

  ‘What did you say, son?’ said Rutger.

  Nils looked up. ‘All this time I’ve been thinking of myself as Nils,’ he said. ‘Nils Schächer. Thief. That’s what the Drachengott called me. But that’s not really who I am, is it?’

  ‘If there is one thing I’ve learned in my life, it’s that the person you are isn’t something forced upon you, but something you choose,’ said Syn. ‘I’ve changed my name more times than I can count, and played many different roles — but underneath that I’ve always been the same person, and I know it. Names don’t change that. And what about you, Theodor?’ she asked unexpectedly. ‘Who are you at your core, underneath the name you were given?’

  ‘I’m not sure,’ said Nils. ‘I mean . . . I don’t know.’

  ‘Or do you?’ said Syn.

  ‘I think you know yourself better now than you did before,’ said Elynor. ‘When I first met you, you were raging and confused. But now you don’t seem confused to me anymore. I think you found yourself the day we fought the Drachengott.’

  ‘She’s right,’ said Rutger. ‘You’re definitely not the man I first met either.’

  Nils smiled shyly. ‘I know I don’t want to be Nils the Thief any more. I want to be who I am now. Theodor, son of Rutger Dragonsbane and . . . Swanhild.’

  ‘Then so be it,’ said Syn.

  ‘But,’ Theodor paused, and shook his head, ‘I won’t give up all of my old name. I don’t want to forget. You wanted to remember, didn’t you, Mother? I will, too. The Drachengott called me Schächer, so I’ll keep that name. Theodor Schächer. Because it’s true: I am a thief. I stole the Soul Thief, and I used it to steal people’s lives. I can’t let myself forget that.’

  ‘Maybe not,’ said Rutger. ‘After all, I’ve killed dragons. I was even proud of it at first. I regret it now, but I’ll still be Rutger Dragonsbane forever.’

  A look of quiet understanding passed between them, and Theodor fell silent. He kept thinking of it — his name — repeating itself in his head. It was true that people had been calling him Theodor for months now, but until today he hadn’t thought of himself as Theodor.

  Theodor. Theodor Half-Dragon. Theodor Schächer. Theodor the Thief.

  It sounded good.

  They rode on through the forest, talking on and off, while Spurling flew ahead to scout the way. Later, perhaps, Theodor would join him. But for now he wanted to stay on the ground, with his parents and Elynor. He wondered how long they would be together like this, and what would become of them. Would his father really kill Syn when he saw her true face? The thought frightened Theodor, and he quickly put it aside. No, that wouldn’t happen. It couldn’t. And if it did, then Theodor would stop it.

  He thought of the Drachengott instead. Waiting patiently on his mountain, quietly suffering through the endless centuries. Theodor remembered that day of confrontation, and that thought came back to him, the strange idea which he hadn’t shared with anyone, and yet could not let himself forget. It was so bizarre, and yet it made so much sense.

  ‘You look as though you’re thinking deep thoughts,’ Syn observed.

  Theodor turned in the saddle to look at her. ‘It’s nothing,’ he said. ‘Just a silly idea.’

  She put her head on one side, dragon-like. ‘What silly idea?’

  ‘Well . . .’ Theodor saw that Rutger and Elynor were looking at him, and shook his own head. ‘No, never mind.’

  ‘Go on, tell us,’ said Rutger. ‘I won’t laugh.’

  ‘You have to now,’ Elynor added with a small grin. ‘Otherwise we’ll pester you until you give in.’

  Theodor didn’t smile back. ‘The Drachengott,’ he said. ‘He could have killed us all, but he didn’t. He let us escape. And he told us we’d come too soon. He didn’t even kill Swanhild, and he had her there for days.’

  Rutger’s jaw clenched. ‘I know – It makes no sense.’

  ‘There’s one thing that could make it make sense,’ said Theodor. ‘Maybe.’

  ‘And what’s that?’ asked Syn.

  Theodor looked her in the eye, and finally said it. ‘I think the Drachengott wants to die. And only we can do that for him.’

  About the Author

  K.J. TAYLOR was born in Australia in 1986 and attended Radford College and the University of Canberra, where she returned to obtain a Master of Information Studies in 2012. She currently works as an archivist.

  She published her first work, The Land of Bad Fantasy, through Scholastic when she was just 18, and HarperVoyager went on to publish The Dark Griffin in Australia and New Zealand five years later. The Griffin’s Flight and The Griffin’s War followed in the same year, and were released in America and Canada in 2011. The Shadow’s Heir, The Shadowed Throne and The Shadow’s Heart have now joined them in both Australia and the US.

  Other books in the Drachengott series

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  Also by K.J. Taylor

  The Fallen Moon series

  The Dark Griffin

  The Griffin’s Flight

  The Griffin’s War

  The Risen Sun series

  The Shadow’s Heir

  The Shadowed Throne

  The Shadow’s Heart

  Copyright

  Impulse

  An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

  First published in Australia in 2015

  by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited

  ABN 36 009 913 517

  harpercollins.com.au

  Copyright © K.J. Taylor 2015

  The right of K.J. Taylor to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.

  This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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