Dragon Master

by Alan Carr

“Yeah, well, she told me it was because she thought the curls in my hair were cute,” Boe put in, timidly. We all laughed at this.

  “She said you didn’t even say a word to her the whole time you were on Watch with her!” I couldn’t much control the words that were coming out of my mouth, and I definitely wasn’t thinking about what I was saying, “She said she was bored out of her mind and couldn’t wait for me to get in the room so she’d have some intelligent life to talk to.” Bayrd slapped the table in amusement at this line and ordered another drink.

  “She thinks it’s cute that a little boy like you is allowed to play at swords with the grownups,” Gable told Boe defensively, “but she’s really waiting for me to become a Dragon Master so she can leave her chump husband and come be my number one wife.”

  “Hey,” Bayrd cut in, abruptly, “that’s our commander you’re talking about!” We all got serious for a moment, but then he burst out laughing and all of us except Boe joined in.

  “You better watch who you dream about at night,” Boe said this to me, then turned to the others, “Caedan is in love with my twin sister!” There was a chorus of “oohs” and “aahs” at this, and one “ooh la la”. I blushed deeply.

  Gable started to say something and then sputtered in laughter before controlling himself. He pointed at me and said, “So basically what he’s saying is that you’ve always wanted to marry Boe, and it’s lucky for you that there’s a female clone of him out there!”

  I raised my hands defensively, careful not to spill my drink. “I’m saying that when the spirits were handing out their gifts and blessings, they worked double time on Daija to make up for the short, weakling failure of Boe!” Take that, Gable. I saw Bayrd wincing in mock pain and then realized how that must have sounded to Boe. But he understood, right? And anyway, he was the one who brought Daija into this.

  “Yeah, sure, just wait until I have to save all of you when we finally face down a real dragon.” Boe’s bravado didn’t sound too convincing.

  There was a brief lull in the music, and we all took a moment to take more sips from our tankards. I was trying to think of the right comeback, but nothing was coming to mind.

  “Well, I never told anyone this,” Bayrd said as the music started back up again in full, “but I hate horses.”

  “You hate horses because Master Walker hates horses,” Boe said, “That’s not a secret. You want to grow up to be just like Master Walker. You probably wish you were Kamelia so that you were married to him!” Even Bayrd joined in when we started laughing in response to that.

  “I have a secret,” Warley said, “a good one.” We all got on him to tell us more, but he just smiled and kept his lips shut tight. Gable went to the bartender and came back with a small mug full of something steaming, and gave it to Warley.

  “Tell us,” he goaded, “or else drink this.”

  “What is it?” Warley asked, mistrusting. The stuff smelled like dragon urine and I plugged my nose and scooted my chair back away from our table in mock disgust.

  “It’s the sailor’s ultimate remedy,” Gable said, “they call it Frank’s Stew.”

  “Is that because it’s made from drippings of Frank’s especially pungent sweat?” Boe asked. He was holding his nose, too.

  “You’ll never pry my secret from me,” Warley told Gable, and then downed the contents of the mug in one gulp. His eyes bulged in his head for a moment and his skin turned flame red. He began to cough and Bayrd grabbed another patron’s glass of murky water off the bar, thrusting it in front of Warley’s contorted face. Gable stared in frozen shock as Warley drank it down greedily and then began to breathe in hurried gasps. We all watched him, concerned. He started taking longer, heavier breaths and gestured for more water, which Bayrd quickly brought him. After he drank that down and was leaning on the table breathing deeply, he finally looked up and smiled. “Yeah, that hit the spot.”

  These guys were crazy.

  It seemed that the tavern never closed because we were still gathered around our table talking and taking shots at each other like this when the first hint of blue began to appear in the sky. I was very tired, and very woozy, but the sight of this incredible deep blue stretching forever over the ocean felt so soothing to me, I just wanted to dive in to the water and swim around in the blueness. I stood up uneasily and began to run toward the ocean, but I stumbled and Boe caught me before I could fall forward.

  “So pretty,” I said.

  “Yeah, I miss Kamelia.” Gable said.

  “The ocean, stupid,” I said.

  “Yeah,” Gable replied, in a daze.

  “Pay the man,” I told Bayrd, flinging my arm toward the bartender, and then I pointed out to the ocean. “Let’s go there.”

  Sunrises over the ocean were something from my childhood memories, though those had all been on the southeast coast. The light here felt different somehow, more magical and more relaxing. Boe helped me to the wet sand beach and sat me down so that I could see the ocean in front of me, then he sat down beside me.

  “You can be a real jerk,” he said to me, yawning.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. I meant it.

  “You should be,” Boe replied, smiling warmly.

  “Yeah,” I said, laughing.

  The rest of our party came over with new drinks and variously collapsed and plopped down around us, and we all watched as the clouds changed colors and the sun rose over the ocean, its light stretching out over miles of water to reflect up at us. It was actually really, really bright. I was not feeling well from the very short journey from the tavern to the beach. I got up on my hands and knees, but the burns there flared in pain as I did so. I managed to rise to my feet and, waving off Boe’s offer of help, walked forward until I was standing waist deep in the ocean. The salt water was incredibly cold and made my wounds sting in pain, but I didn’t care. I was with the blueness now. I relieved myself of much of what I’d been drinking in the previous hours and I let out a loud “ahh” of satisfaction. I could hear everyone laughing loudly behind me, and then everyone else waded into the water, giving me a wide birth. For the next hour, we splashed around in the tides, our under armor sparkling from dripping water and the early morning light.

  ***

  We rented out a small house on the outskirts of Marstyn for two nights with much of our remaining funds. For the first day we simply took much needed baths and slept, letting our wounds begin to heal. On the second day we sat out on chairs on the roof of the house, to relax in the sun. Gable had bought what he called a “special” drink in the city, and poured some out for each of us except Boe who continued to refuse. The drink was strong, but sweet and welcome, and thankfully didn’t smell anything like Frank’s Stew. We relaxed through the morning and into the afternoon before Bayrd brought up the subject of what we would do next. That broke out into an argument that went on for well over an hour.

  “We’ll just tell anyone we see on the way home, including couriers who can spread the word,” Bayrd said, repeating what had been his line from the beginning of the discussion.

  “They’re going to want payment. It’s not exciting for them to spread news about there being no dragon,” Boe reminded him, “and they’re not going to bother to properly explain what did happen.”

  “Yeah,” Gable was not on Bayrd’s side for this argument, “couriers will get all the details wrong!”

  “Not just that,” Boe said, “but they won’t do anything to help ease worries about a Dragonbirth before the month of Flame.”

  “So what?” Warley asked. “When the Dragonbirths come in Flame, they’ll know that things are normal. We should report to Master Walker as quickly as possible. Word will spread eventually about the dragon impostors.”

  “But what form will that word take? How long will that take? What kind of panic will the Realm endure in the meantime?” Boe was doing a very good job arguing his case, I thought.

  A
s for me, I knew that I couldn’t be impartial here. Spending some more time away from the academy sounded just fine to me, but for all the wrong reasons. The biggest reason I wanted to spread the word about the truth of what happened was just to visit Chialaa Valley and check up on Boe’s family. Well, to see Daija. After Boe had outed my feelings for his sister to the rest of the group, I figured it wouldn’t matter what I said, so I’d just stay out of the whole thing. It wasn’t like Bayrd was going to let this go to majority vote. I was fairly surprised that he was allowing discussion at all since, as leader of our party, he had final say on all decisions like this. I guessed it was just more proof of how close we had all become, despite the arguments. But the arguments were getting out of hand, returning again to the same points.

  “Caedan?” Bayrd was asking for my opinion about something. I had been dozing off, not listening to which point they were currently debating.

  “Sorry, what?” I asked. Warley sighed dramatically.

  “Do you want to travel for two more weeks and tell people what happened or do you want to come with us back to Rægena?”

  “Does it matter?” I asked. I was trying to wake up now and get into the conversation, but sleep seemed so tempting. This time I heard Gable sigh.

  “Caedan,” Boe tried to explain slowly, “we’re going to split up into two groups. Which group are you going to join?”

  That woke me up. Two groups. Bayrd really was getting all soft on us. “Stay,” I said, then realizing that wasn’t one of the options, I corrected myself, “Er, travel. Spread the word. Stop the rumors, all that stuff.”

  “Okay,” Bayrd said, sounding almost disappointed. I wondered if he thought I’d been keeping quiet just because I secretly disagreed with Boe’s plan. “At dawn we’ll pick up the horses from the stables and Warley and I will return to Rægena and report back. You’ll have two weeks,” he looked at Gable, “Make sure you travel as far as you can, but don’t be late reporting back.”

  “Got it, yeah,” Gable said, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes.

  I closed my eyes too, and let the drowsiness take over.

  ***

  I was awakened abruptly by the sounds of yelling.

  Bayrd was absolutely furious about something. I opened one eye to take a peek and saw a flash of metal which woke me up completely. Bayrd had his sword drawn. I reached down and found my sword at my feet and drew it too, then looked around for the threat. Gable was just waking up as well, and when he saw Bayrd and I, he, too, drew his sword. Boe was holding his hands out toward Bayrd, warding him off or something. And Warley looked like he was about to burst into tears.

  “I thought I could trust you guys,” Warley was saying. “Look, forget about it, I was just kidding anyway. Take a joke.” He was visibly trembling, but he threw his hands up in the air and turned his back on everyone to go back down the ladder from the rooftop.

  In an instant, Bayrd darted forward and looked like he was about to take a slice at Warley. And he wasn’t wielding any wooden practice blade. I felt like I was slow to react, but my body was moving before my brain could tell it to and so I was able to intercept Bayrd and deflect his blade. At the sound of metal clashing, Warley froze and then turned back around to face us. Bayrd’s face was drawn in pure rage, his nostrils were flaring, and his skin was turning to flame. But he didn’t raise his sword again. Boe ran to Warley and helped him to sit down on the floor.

  “What in the Realm is going on here?” Gable shouted. He waved his sword in the air, gesturing at us. Realizing what he was doing, he sheathed his weapon.

  Bayrd sheathed his sword without taking his eyes off Warley, then he pointed at him and snarled the word, “Impostor!”

  “Stop it!” Boe cried out. “He said it was a joke, it’s all just a bad joke.”

  Warley was openly shedding tears now, though he blinked through them and looked right back at Bayrd. He reminded me of the wounded bear cub who had wandered into the training grounds one day a couple years ago. Commander Hawk had quickly and decisively put that creature out of its misery.

  Gable looked between Bayrd and Warley and then asked his question again, this time to Boe, “Would you please explain?”

  “Warley asked us if we wanted to know his secret,” Boe said softly, “and then he told us that he wasn’t really a Stone Soul. That he’d traded places with his older sister.” Boe’s voice was soft and wavering. But it got louder and more confident. “And, you heard him, he said it was just a joke.” He looked at Warley, “It wasn’t a good joke, Warley.”

  Warley looked up at Boe and I could see guilt in his eyes. “Yeah, it was a bad joke. Look, I didn’t mean it, I just wanted to know how much I could trust you guys.” He stood up and took a step toward the ladder.

  “Stop.” Bayrd wasn’t having it. He’d seen the look of guilt too.

  I wasn’t able to process my emotions. My head was spinning. I’d just woke up and then … this was happening. Warley was an impostor? Not a true Stone Soul? “You put us all in danger.” I said. It was the only thing I could think to say.

  “I’m sorry!” Warley screamed at me, “You have no idea! You don’t know what it’s like!” He was breathing unevenly and clearly fighting back more tears. “My family made me! I did the best I could! I didn’t mean to endanger you!”

  Gable was clearly getting agitated. He moved to stand between Warley and the ladder, and he held his hand on the hilt of his sword on his back, but did not say anything.

  “When Master Walker put me in a group with you guys,” he looked between Bayrd and me, “I felt relieved. I’m sure one or even maybe both of you are Masters. You guys can do it,” he said, “you can kill the dragons. I have no doubt.”

  I wondered how he could be so sure. About Bayrd, sure, I felt the same way. But he was probably only including me as a ploy. Or maybe because I’d beaten him in the skirmish to pick teams.

  “You can’t know who the Dragon Masters are,” Gable’s voice was stone. “We need five of us just to help improve our chances. The weakest of us could be the only Master in the group,” he gestured here at Boe without any sign of hesitation, “or at least, that’s what I kept telling myself. But you,” he looked Warley up and down and I just wanted to wake up again, find out this was all just a bad dream, just my mind trying to deal with everything that had been happening. But Gable didn’t stop talking. “You’re weaker than any of us. You’re nobody. All you can do is lie to us. Lie to us all.” He took a step toward Warley, but Boe put himself between the two of them.

  “Back down,” I said. Gable and Bayrd both shot me a look, then looked right back at Warley, both with a growl on their lips.

  “We’ll take him to Rægena, we’ll tell Master Walker what happened.” I tried to ignore the pleading look Warley gave me. “He says it was just a bad joke,” I said, trying to forget that he’d admitted that it wasn’t really, “We’ll tell the academy and they’ll decide what happens.”

  Bayrd seemed to relax at this suggestion. Gable wasn’t appeased, but then Bayrd spoke, “Warley Elias, surrender your weapon and submit to my custody.” Warley didn’t have his weapon, but I walked over to pick it up off the floor and handed it to Bayrd as he continued, “You will be my prisoner until we reach Rægena where your fate and the fate of your family will be decided.”

  Boe’s eyes widened at the mention of Warley’s family, and mine probably had as well. I’d forgotten about the penalties for trying to falsely pass as a Stone Soul, that any family willfully participating in the deception would be subject to the same punishments as the impostor. I wondered briefly if it would have been better if the dragon had been real and it had slain Warley.

  Warley would have known the consequences. Why did he tell us his secret?

  Warley nodded to Bayrd, and held out his hands to be tied. Gable grabbed them roughly and pulled them behind his back and they spent a minute searching for something to use as
a rope. Bayrd used the drawstring from a pouch that had held our drinks and used that to secure Warley’s hands in place. Warley just stared at his feet the whole time, and I noticed that Boe and I were doing much the same. It was not right what Warley had done, what his family had done. They knew the risks for them, and they knew the risks they were imposing on us, but they’d made their choice. I didn’t feel good about what happened, in truth I felt like throwing up. But I didn’t see what else we could do.

  Boe helped Warley get down the ladder without the use of his hands.

  Bayrd told Boe and I to follow the plan, to take two weeks and spread the word. He didn’t have to tell Gable that he wouldn’t be joining us, that he would be helping to escort their prisoner back to Rægena. We collected our horses and paid the stable master, then rode off in separate directions without saying goodbye.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Chialaa Valley

  Boe and I considered taking an offer of passage from Marstyn to one of the Great River towns, but our funds were low and we weren’t sure how comfortable we would feel on a ship—neither of us had ever ridden on the ocean. So we mapped out the most direct way through the swamplands and trudged through them as quickly as possible. We didn’t bother to try to find and stop at any settlements in the swamplands since we already knew from experience that we wouldn’t speak the same language anyway, and the idea of trying to pantomime our message seemed comical at best. As we rode, we discussed what, exactly, our message would be: that the rumors of a dragon laying a path of destruction through the swamplands were false, fabricated by murderous arsonist thieves who had now been slain. It sounded outlandish to put it like that, but we’d seen it for ourselves. Or we’d seen enough of it. I actually wished Gable had been able to travel with us as originally planned since he’d battled the dragon impostors himself and could provide a firsthand account of what happened.

  It turned out I needn’t have worried about it much.

  We first stopped at a small township along the foothills of Mount Ramses and learned that they had heard rumors of the dragon but hadn’t paid them any heed. A dragon in Early Flame was unheard of, and they thought the rumors were probably nonsense started by children somewhere. Well, close enough. We heard similar stories as we traveled. Nobody, it seemed, had taken the dragon threat seriously. If Magnilda had been correct about the breeding dragons then, I realized, we could have really had a serious problem. It would have potentially been one of the most damaging Dragonbirths to hit the Realm in dozens or hundreds of years.