Dragon Blade

by J. D. Hallowell

  “That is very interesting, Love. Now if you could tell me before I walk into this, is Carra a lineage holder?”

  “No, Dear One, she is not even close in the line of succession as far as I can tell. Despite losing so many of her siblings, she has four younger sisters between her and that title. I don’t wish to sound arrogant, especially since Carra seems like such a nice person, but if the need arises, she won’t be difficult for me to control.”

  “That is good,” he replied. “I hope that it doesn’t become necessary to control her forcefully, but Jhren can be extremely strong willed and may have to be reined in from time to time. We will do so as diplomatically as possible,” he stressed, “but I won’t have him going off on his own once we get to Horne.”

  “I know how to be diplomatic,” she said a bit indignantly.

  “Yes, I noticed that when you first met Brock and Leera, and later at the jailhouse when we rescued Jhren.” Delno couldn’t resist teasing her.

  “I did what I had to do on those occasions. Even you complimented me on how I handled the two situations,” she said defensively.

  “Peace, Dear Heart, I was only teasing you. You have become quite adept at handling delicate matters well. I have every confidence in you.”

  Geneva chuckled, “I still haven’t completely forgiven you for that comment about being attracted to movement. I think you owe me another good back scrub.”

  “As soon as we have the time, Love, I promise,” he responded, laughing softly to himself.

  “Delno Okonan,” Jhren said as they got close to a smallish red dragon. “This is my Bond-mate, Carra. Carra, this is Delno Okonan, the commander of this little excursion, whom I’ve already told you about.”

  “I am pleased to meet you, Delno Okonan. I am glad to be with your group. Jhren has told me that our bonding may cause some problems. I hope that is not so, because I am looking forward to helping you with this war that has killed three of my family.”

  “So long as you and Jhren both realize that we are here to fight a war as a cohesive unit, and that there is no room for individual vengeance, I cannot see where you and Jhren being bonded will be a problem.” Delno knew that his gruff speech might alienate the dragon, and thus the wizard, but he also knew that priorities had to be spelled out now to avoid real trouble later. “If that condition is agreeable, then the only problem we have will be finding Jhren a saddle to save wear and tear on both of you.”

  Carra considered his words for a moment and then said, “That is a rational condition, and I agree that it is necessary if we are to stop our enemies. I will agree to that if it is suitable to my Bond-mate.”

  Jhren laughed and said, “Dear, I didn’t come all this way to get myself killed playing at damn fool heroics. I have no problem with being part of the team so long as I’m not the one in charge.”

  “Then it’s settled,” Delno said. “I welcome both of you into our little army.”

  “I will say this,” Jhren spoke up, “I sure do hope that there are more of us hiding someplace. I’ve been doing some calculations, and, knowing that Hella lays large clutches of up to four as the norm, I figure we could be facing as many as two dozen other Riders just from her offspring. That would put us at a definite disadvantage if all we have are the ten of us that I see here.”

  “Oh, we aren’t alone in this,” Delno replied. “Brock sent nine more Riders south before he and his group veered north to meet us. Add them to the seven who were already there, and we total at least twenty-six. Then there are all of the un-bonded dragons who are traveling there with the ground troops I sent: there are over thirty of them.”

  Jhren whistled, “That, Delno, is a lot of fire power on our side.”

  “Yes, it is,” Delno replied. “However, there is a problem that I have yet to come up with a solution for.” Jhren raised one of his bushy eyebrows. “As you know, bonded pairs fight as a unit. They are a team with the dragon doing the flaming while the Rider shields her and watches for airborne threats. It doesn’t take that much, just maintain shields to protect her eyes and wing membranes from missiles while watching for enemy dragons. As long as the dragon isn’t fatigued, her scales will stop any arrows that actually hit her body.”

  “So,” Jhren replied, “the un-bonded dragons don’t have anyone to shield them from ground attack or watch for airborne threats while they are distracted with flaming the enemies.”

  Delno nodded. “That is something I was hoping you could help with. I don’t want you to completely distract yourself shielding them, but if you could help the un-bounded dragons as much as possible, it would reduce casualties on our side.”

  “Not an easy task you have set for me, Commander, but I will do my best. The problem is not just shielding them, but doing so without interfering with them. As you know, dragon flame is hotter than most other forms of fire. Those paintings in the south of dragons diving down and flaming everything in their path might look good on canvas, but they’re a crock. If a dragon flamed directly in front of herself she’d fly right into it, once the air slowed it down, and burn herself to death. The flame weapon is actually fairly easy to block magically, so I will have to make sure that any shielding I do doesn’t inadvertently protect our enemies, or worse, blow it back in the dragon’s face.”

  “Remember, you only have to shield her eyes and wing membranes. The rest is heavily armored. Also, and I hate to say this, but, if it comes down to it, the un-bonded dragons have all said that they are joining us willingly and they know the risks. You are not to risk yourself fighting the Roracks. I will need all of the magical help I can get once we have drawn Warrick out. I don’t intend for this to be some one-on-one battle of honor if I can avoid it. He killed my grandfather and loosed war and pestilence on my homeland; however, this is war, and I will hit him with everything I have to throw if I get the chance, and settle this once and for all, for the greater good, not personal vengeance.”

  “Good,” Jhren said. “I was hoping you’d feel that way, but I was worried that you might be here for a bit of payback yourself. I knew Corolan better than just about any other person on this planet, even Brock. I bet you didn’t know that I traveled with him for about twenty years when I was younger, did you?” As Delno’s stunned look answered the question, he continued, “Besides saving my life more times than I can remember, he was a good friend. I want revenge for his death just as much as you do, but I don’t want it at the cost of the lives of anyone on our side if that can be avoided, and neither would he if he was still around.”

  “I’m glad we see eye to eye on those points,” Delno said.

  The old wizard switched the subject, “I met Warrick when I was traveling with your granddad. Warrick learned some of his skills from me, but he was always impatient. He was already two thousand years old, and thought that a mere magic user was a bit beneath him, so he didn’t pay attention to his lessons, and his magic work was always sloppy. Hopefully that, and his over confidence, will give us the edge when we finally confront him directly.”

  Delno told Jhren about Craig and everything the older Rider had told him about the theft of the elven property. Their conversation took much longer than Delno had expected, and it was nearly noon when they finally got around to the subject of where the attack on Carra and her sister had taken place.

  “I have always felt the loneliness more than any of my sisters, and they tolerated me being near them so long as I didn’t hunt in their territory. I had gone far south to be with one of my sisters, and she was coming close to her time to mate. I offered to watch her territory if she didn’t want me to travel with her, but she was willing to have company until she found a ready male. We were flying toward the northeast and were attacked near the border between the lands you call Horne and Tyler.”

  “Tyler is just north west of Orlean and just southwest of Corice. It’s a small kingdom like Trent, its southern neighbor. Tyler and Trent together act, by chance, not design, as a buffer between Corice and Horne. I wonder
if Tyler is Warrick’s next target as he pushes forward. If he could conquer Horne, then Tyler, he could move directly into Corice and then join up with the Bournese, with whom he has already allied himself. Then he would be in a perfect position to again turn his attention southward.”

  “Well, fortunately,” Jhren interjected, “he hasn’t conquered Horne yet. I believe he may have originally planned to squeeze Orlean between Tyler and Palamore, but your defeat of Simcha thwarted that plan. So now he will try and go at it from the other direction.”

  “I’m sorry, Carra,” Delno said to the dragon, “we didn’t mean to cut you off. I would still like to hear the rest of your tale, but Jhren and I are also distracted with trying to plan for our enemy’s ultimate strategy. If you would, continue, please.”

  “My sister and I were flying along and not paying much attention to our surroundings. We had expected no trouble, since my sister was the only un-bonded dragon living that far south. We had heard of the trouble in Horne, but thought it didn’t concern us, since we would be staying out of Rorack territory. Suddenly, my sister spotted three dragons and their Riders on the ground. We were seen before we could get out of the area. We weren’t immediately concerned, since Dragon Riders aren’t usually a threat. The three quickly mounted, and then a bolt of magic hit my sister, and she was knocked from the sky. I realized that the Riders had done this, and I turned to attack rather than try to fly off. It was a foolhardy thing to do, but it saved my life. They expected me to try and fly off rather than turn on them. They tried to use magic on me, but the magic missed me by inches, or I would have fallen too. I folded my wings and dropped much faster than they expected. I was within range of them before two of them could get airborne. I flamed at them and killed one pair while wounding another. The pair who were already in the air flamed me, and I was burned, but not badly enough to bring me down. I used my flame to make them stay back and flew away. I am smaller than most dragons, but very fast and maneuverable. I would have continued my attack, but the pain was bad, and I needed to find healing: dragons can perform such magic, but don’t usually need to do so on themselves since we heal faster than other creatures, so my skill at such things is not good. I flew this way and felt the presence of the younger dragon. As I got closer, I contacted her, and she told me to come and land. The half-elf healed my wounds, and then I bonded with Jhren while he and I were talking.”

  “I am sorry for your loss, Carra,” Delno said. “I know that your sister was also your friend, and I mourn her with you.”

  “I will miss her, Delno Okonan, but her death has shown me that I cannot remain neutral in this fight. If I don’t do something, the trouble will only follow me wherever I go. However, it is the Riders who attacked us. Their dragons’ reluctance to attack me for no reason is, I believe, why I was so successful in my attack and my retreat.”

  “I am not happy with the loss of any dragon. I believe that our enemies have no problems with using their bond with the dragons in their camp to achieve their goals regardless of whether or not it is good for the dragons or the rest of the world. They have forced their dragons to go against their natural instincts and actually work with Roracks. The deaths of the dragons who are with our enemies is one of the most unfortunate aspects of this war. I believe that many of them are being coerced with magic to act against their will, and I regret that some of those, perhaps many of them, will die as a result. They are innocent pawns, and I would like to save them if possible, but I won’t do so at the risk of our own.”

  “Jhren has told me that you are a good man and wise beyond your years, Delno Okonan. I wanted to believe him because he is my Bond-mate, but I needed to meet you to be sure. I see now that he is right about you. I was glad to have found this group at first, because I needed the healing skills of the half-elf. Then I was happy beyond measure to have found a human to bond with. Now I am glad to join you, because not only am I fighting in a just cause, I am also following a good-hearted person who is wise enough to make the decisions that will need to be made in this war. Thank you for allowing me to a part of this.”

  “I am glad to have you, Carra. I hope I can live up to all of the good things you have said about me.”

  Chapter 37

  “I don’t like dividing our forces,” Brock said flatly. “As has been pointed out by nearly everyone here, Warrick has had six years to assemble a formidable fighting force of fully mature and trained dragons. If we split up, we could be leaving ourselves vulnerable to attack by superior numbers.”

  “Since it is highly probable that our enemies are watching the borders, it will be difficult to sneak by them with ten dragons and Riders,” Delno responded. “Even with Marlo’s abilities, we will be hard pressed to slip by them with half that number. The time is coming when we will no longer need to hide our strength from Warrick, but that time is not here yet.”

  “I would prefer to stay with you and your group so that the chain of command isn’t broken.”

  “I would prefer to have you along with me also, but, while Nassari has proven himself quite reliable, he hasn’t your experience as a Rider, or your first-hand knowledge of the terrain. You will have to go with him and Will. Nadia and Raymond will fly with you as back up. After Will scouts the area where Carra and her sister were attacked, the five of you will then make a straight line flight to join up with us and the men I sent from Corice.”

  “Why do we need to join up with ground troops?” Rita asked. “Won’t that slow us down?”

  “Yes, but any victory we achieve in the air must be consolidated by having ground troops to hold the ground we take. Otherwise, as soon as we leave the area, Warrick will simply send in Roracks to retake it,” Delno replied. “Also, I sent enough leather supplies with them to repair gear and even manufacture some equipment if needed. We can’t expect Jhren to be effective if he doesn’t have a workable saddle of some sort, and he will be needed, not only against Warrick, but he will also try to keep the un-bonded dragons shielded as much as possible. With his bond to Carra, his power has increased enough that he should be quite effective if he isn’t distracted by the fear of falling off her neck during skirmishes.”

  “Won’t it take a week or more to make a saddle?” Nat asked.

  “For a proper saddle, yes,” Brock answered, “but I have drawn up plans for a smaller version that has no provisions for passengers or gear to be carried. A moderately skilled craftsman can make it in a day. It won’t be as comfortable, but it will be serviceable.”

  “Won’t that be a hindrance for an inexperienced Rider?” Jhren asked. “I don’t mean to complain, but I am nearly a hundred years old and quite new to warfare on dragon back. I can live with any discomfort, but I don’t want to hinder the rest of you if I can’t do what needs to be done because I’m slipping all over the place.”

  “That is why I will be using the smaller saddle,” Delno replied. “I have seen the plans, and I have no problem with it. The saddle that I have is the first one that was made for Geneva before she attained her full growth. While it was made with growth in mind, none of us ever figured on her becoming one of the largest female dragons on the planet.”

  He paused while everyone looked over at Geneva to confirm his statement. Now that they were looking with a critical eye, they all realized that she was huge. She dwarfed Leera, Carra, and Saadia, and while Fahwn was certainly a well-grown dragon, even she was noticeably smaller than Geneva.

  “That saddle has served us well, but it was made at a time when Geneva was no larger than Leera, and it is at the limits of its adjustment. It now impinges on her flame bladder when she fills it. I should have had a new saddle made in Corice before we left, but I had so many other things on my mind that I simply forgot about it until we were gearing up to fly here this morning. When we all leave tomorrow, I will help Jhren put that saddle on Carra and rig a temporary pad with blankets and rope for myself until we can have the new saddle made.”

  “I don’t like the possibility of you bein
g caught in a fight with a temporary rig!” Rita exclaimed, and there were nods all around the camp fire.

  “I have flown quite a bit of aerobatics with nothing but a temporary rig,” he replied. “If it is done right, it is quite secure. I will be fine.” Then he added, “Besides, I have every intention of remaining hidden for the time being.”

  “I still don’t like splitting up,” Brock said stubbornly.

  “Brock, we have been through this several times already,” Delno responded tiredly. “We have to know about the Riders who attacked Carra. If they were simply border guards, then they can be ignored for the time being. I don’t like leaving any enemies behind us, but I don’t want to alert Warrick of our presence by preventing his guards from reporting in yet, either. If, on the other hand, they were on their way north to carry out some mischief, I would like them stopped before they get there. It would be nice to question them also, but only if we are forced to engage. At this point, I wish to remain unnoticed by our enemies until we have gathered in sufficient force to draw them out without putting us at a definite disadvantage. In any case, the information you get from this mission will tell us much.”

  “If Warrick is guarding the borders won’t that deplete his forces?” Rita asked. “It seems that guarding that much territory would take a lot of Riders.”

  “Yes,” Delno answered, “that would also tell us that Warrick believes he has the troops to spare. I would like to know if that is the case, because that will raise another vital question.” Everyone looked at him expectantly. “If Warrick’s Riders are ranging so far out, who is guarding his rear lines? If he, himself, is poorly guarded we might be able to take him with overwhelming force and get that damned rock away from him. Then taking care of his Riders will be much easier, partly because we will not have the Roracks distracting us, but also because their dragons will be less willing to fight. I still hope to do this with as little loss of life on either side as possible.”