“There are six dragons approaching, Love,” Geneva reported. “Marlo says that two are bonded and four are not. She also says that she knows the un-bonded dragons and believes that they are not hostile. She is puzzled though, because they travel with a large group of people who are on foot. That is all she can get from so far away.”
“Ask her to keep watch. It is possible that we are getting reinforcements that have come unlooked for, but I don’t want to let our guard down this deep into Warrick’s home territory.”
“Now then, why don’t we start again, Kurt,” Delno said more softly. “We need to end this useless fighting. Warrick has no compunction against letting us kill every Rider who is under his command if it serves his purposes. He made you, and he can make more. As long as he is free, he will feel that he has a chance to succeed and will not give up his plans to conquer all of the kingdoms of men. Forgive me for sounding melodramatic, but Warrick seeks nothing less than total world domination and won’t give up so long as he is free to pursue that goal. What I would like to know is where exactly he is hiding now, so that I can take the fight directly to him and end the needless bloodshed on both sides.”
“If you are so powerful,” Kurt replied sarcastically, “you should have no problem finding him yourself.”
“Let me try and get some useful information out of him, sir,” Captain Jameson, the commander of the Bournese troops under Delno’s command, said. “I’ll deal with that haughty attitude of his.”
There was a warning growl from the direction of the dragons, followed by over a dozen other dragons responding with growls of their own. Jameson blanched.
“No, Captain,” Delno replied. “Even if I condoned such methods, his dragon would try to come to his rescue, and we would then end up killing them both. This boy is just young and a bit impressionable. He is enamored with being one of Warrick’s lieutenants in the world that Warrick has described will come about when his forces have taken control. The boy is just foolish enough to believe that that madman will ever share power with anyone. Keep him under control and away from his dragon, and we will gather other intelligence. Warrick can’t hide forever.”
“As you say, sir,” the captain responded. “We have some safety chain for the wagons that our smith can fashion into shackles: that should keep this young man from getting into mischief without doing him any harm. I’ll see to it.”
“Good, Captain; now, if you will excuse me, we are going to have company, and I have to see to any arrangements that must be made.” At the man’s puzzled look he added, “I’ll explain later when I have more information; for now, all I can tell you is that it looks as if more dragons will be joining us.”
As he said the last bit, Delno glanced at Kurt, and saw the young man pale visibly at the thought of more dragons joining with those already opposing Warrick.
“The young Rider is desperately trying to reestablish contact with his Bond-mate, Love. What did you say to him?”
“Not to him, but I let him overhear me telling our good captain that we have more dragons joining us. He seems upset by the information.”
“We will continue to prevent him from contacting his Partner, then.”
“That sounds like a good idea. Later, when we have more information about the new dragons approaching, we will let his Partner know just what we want her to know and then let them resume contact. For now, let his own imagination work on him for a while.”
Delno stepped out of the command tent that had been erected in camp and was nearly blinded by the mid-afternoon sun. So much had happened so quickly he had just about forgotten that it all took place that morning and not some time ago. He knew it was an illusion caused by being raised to battle awareness then left to come down from that without a break, but it seemed like the events that were taking place were altering time as well as the political make-up of the world.
“Interesting news, Love,” Geneva broke into his thoughts. “One of the bonded dragons coming toward us is Mariah. She is close enough to speak to her, and she has relayed a message from Paul that he has thought over what you said and wishes to join us. I have told them to halt and wait for further instructions. Should we let them proceed or keep them at a distance until we can be sure of their intentions?”
“What do we know of the other dragons with them? Also, who are the people they travel with?” he replied.
Geneva took a few minutes to get answers to his questions before responding. While he was waiting, Brock and Jhren joined him.
“Hold your answers until I get to you, Love. Brock and Jhren are with me, and they may as well hear this too.”
He motioned for the others to follow, and they walked quickly to where Geneva was waiting, far enough away from Indigo, the midnight blue dragon who was bonded to Kurt, that they wouldn’t be overheard.
“Mariah says that the people are a mixture of men and elves,” Geneva said. At the looks of astonishment on the men’s faces, she added, “Apparently, the elves have left their home to come and help find the compelling stone. There are about seventy of them, and they are traveling with about two hundred dark-skinned men from the extreme south.
“Those would be men from my homeland of Iondar,” Brock said. “It lies even further south than Trent, close to the Elven lands. When we were down there I sent word that we needed help, and these men must have come in answer to my call. I would have preferred to have more, but two hundred is still better than none. The seventy elves is quite a surprise, though my people have always gotten along with them. I know the elves have people who actively hunt the Roracks, but I didn’t expect them to send any to us.”
“The other dragons,” Geneva continued, “are four un-bonded females who have heard of our plight and want to help, and Deena and her Bond-mate Chad, who both know Brock.”
“Chad is one of my former students, and he has fought the Roracks with me in the past. I haven’t seen him in nearly three years, but he is a good man and a good Rider. We should let them come ahead. The only ones in question are Paul and Mariah.”
“Tell them to come to us,” Delno said. “I will speak with them here and make the final determination for myself.”
Chapter 42
“Well, Paul, it appears that you have come around to our way of thinking after all,” Delno observed as the two new Riders dismounted.
“It was Mariah who started the process. After we left you, she wouldn’t even talk to me for three days. Then all she would do was give me fits about forcing her to work with Roracks. She told me your theory about how Warrick had been using that compelling stone on our dragons and how angry she was that I hadn’t seen it. I finally began to see the truth of it myself. We decided to fly off and get ourselves sorted out before we made any further decisions. We weren’t specifically heading toward Elven lands but ended up down that way. We met Chad and Deena, and then the three of them ganged up and made me see that all of that nonsense I was spouting off about was just Warrick’s brainwashing.” He turned specifically to Nat and added, “I sure did make an ass of myself.”
“The dragons have all talked with Mariah, and she is of the mind that you have gotten your head put right, so I welcome your help,” Delno said. Then he turned to Chad and added, “Brock has spoken highly of you, Chad; I’m glad to have here you, too.
Then they all shook hands, and Delno told them that refreshments were available at the main tent.
“Tell me, sir,” Paul asked, “the Rider of that dragon, is he hurt?”
“No, he is fine physically, but he is being kept under lock and key as a prisoner.”
”May I speak with him? He is my half-brother.” Then he added, hastily, “I don’t expect to be left alone with him.”
Delno led Paul to the prisoner, but stood near to make sure that neither got crazy ideas.
“Well, Kurt, it’s at least good to see that you are still alive,” Paul said as he stepped up to his half-brother.
Kurt sat up, not fully believing his eyes. “Pa
ul? Warrick told us that you were dead. He said you’d been killed in an unprovoked attack by this man while on a diplomatic mission.”
“That’s certainly not the first lie that Warrick has told, Kurt. I was on a mission, though ‘diplomatic’ isn’t how I would describe it. I was sent to try and intimidate this man into joining Warrick. However, the real reason I was sent was to be captured so that I could spy on Delno and his people. Delno realized what was going on immediately and still refused to allow me to be killed, or even threatened. I traveled with him for a few days and then was allowed to go my own way once I came to realize that I was on the wrong side. I wasn’t ready to join up with these people yet and went farther south to do some soul searching. The more I traveled, the more I realized that Warrick is a maniac who must be stopped.”
Kurt looked at Paul like he had suddenly gone mad. “Paul, do hear yourself? You are talking about the man who saved us from certain death and then made Riders out of us. Warrick not only gave us our lives, he raised our station in life far beyond what we could have achieved for ourselves.”
“Yes, he saved our lives. He saved us from Roracks. Of course, now that I see the situation clearly, I realize that he is the one who sent the Roracks to murder our parents and take us prisoner.” Kurt shook his head in disagreement, but Paul went on. “You were only thirteen, brother. I was nineteen. The Roracks had been attacking in small uncoordinated groups before, but these attacked our village and killed everyone but you and me. They slaughtered our family and friends but took us prisoner. Why was that, brother? And why did it happen so soon after that Rider stopped in our village and talked to all of the younger men and women?”
“Why would Warrick do such a thing?”
“Why? You have to ask that? Do you remember how that Rider was treated? The villagers wanted nothing to do with him, and our parents certainly weren’t about to let him take both of their sons off to be candidates. Hella had a clutch ready to hatch and Warrick needed candidates for the hatchlings. So he had his own Roracks attack the village and kill everyone but us, because that Rider and his dragon had identified us as potentials. Then he staged that rescue so that we would feel grateful to him. He had us standing at the hatching less than two days later.”
“But there were nearly two hundred people in our village . . .” Kurt whispered.
“Yes, Kurt,” Paul said softly. “Two hundred people, including our parents, who had become inconvenient to him. So he had them killed to get what he wanted. Then he brainwashed us into working with the beast-men, perhaps even the same beast-men who killed our parents. I know I can’t tell one of them from another, can you?” As Kurt shook his head, Paul continued. “The last insult is that he has used that same damn compelling stone to help us control our dragons and make them work with their instinctive enemies.”
“I don’t know what to say, Paul. I had volunteered to be part of that ambush out there to avenge your death. Then, when we were beaten so badly, I surrendered in the hopes that I would get the chance to kill this man,” he indicated Delno, “to get that vengeance. Now I find you alive, and you make a very logical argument about Warrick being behind the deaths of our parents.” Kurt started to cry and looked at his older brother. “Paul, I don’t know what I should do anymore.”
Paul moved closer to Kurt and said gently, “I know what you should do, Kurt. You should stop fighting these people, to start with. Then, if you still can’t bring yourself to join us, you should go off away from here and keep yourself, and especially Indigo, as far away from that compelling stone as you can until both your heads clear.”
Chapter 43
“The men of Iondar and the elves who travel with them have arrived, Love. They are waiting a half a mile out to avoid being mistaken for enemies in the darkness. The elves were able to get the message to Deena and she relayed it to me. They wish to come forward and meet with us.”
“Very good,” Delno replied to Geneva, “but the bulk of their forces may as well make camp for the night. Even though the ground fighting was light today, many of our troops have worked hard and are getting what sleep they can. No sense disrupting both camps this late. We will fly there and meet with them. Have Jhren, Nassari, Nat, Brock, and, of course, Chad get ready to come with me.” He started to move to get his gear and then added, “Oh, and Love, ask Brock if he will transport Captain Jameson. I was going to do it, but then I remembered that our saddle isn’t built with passengers in mind. The man should be there if his troops will be working with the newcomers.”
“I’m sure one of the others can carry him, Love.” Then she chuckled and said, “It’s not our group I’m worried about; it’s whether or not you can get the man to actually consent to ride on a dragon. He is still terrified of us ever since our performance on the plain outside Larimar, and that showing this morning, even though we were on his side, doesn’t seem to have allayed his fears much.”
Delno remembered the horrified look on the man’s face when Indigo had growled because Jameson had tried to scare Kurt. Even with all of the other dragons to prevent trouble, the man had gone white as bleached linen. He chuckled and said, “Yes, we have made quite an impression on the Bournese, haven’t we? Still, tell everyone I wish to leave as soon as we can get the saddles in place.”
“Already done, Dear One; I await you near our gear.”
They were right about Jameson not wanting to get too close to the dragons, but the man was a soldier first, and he put his fears aside and climbed up behind Brock. Once airborne, the trip only took a few minutes since the newcomers were camped so close. They landed, and two men walked up to meet them.
“Delno Okonan,” Chad said, “this is Captain Rand Ard of Iondar, and Walker Longleaf of the Elven Kingdom.”
Delno shook hands with both men. “Ard? Are you any relation to Brock here?”
“Rand is my grand-nephew, but don’t ask us to figure out exactly how close or distant the relationship is, or how many generations removed, because we don’t keep track of such things in Iondar. Where we come from, family is family no matter how many generations have passed,” Brock said as he moved forward and embraced his kinsman.
“Well, Keem, don’t you have a greeting for your family member?” Nat asked the elf.
Walker’s eyes went wide as he recognized the half-elf. “Nathaniel!” he shouted as he nearly threw himself at Nat. “It’s been so long, and I never expected to see you in a camp of war.”
“I’ll wager that you never expected to see me bonded to a dragon, either.” Nat replied and laughed.
Walker looked at him in complete shock and said, “That will take some explaining, Cousin.” Then he looked at the rest of the people there and said, “But we are being poor hosts. Come let us get you all some refreshments, and we can discuss everything.” Then his smile broadened, and he added, “Who knows, we may actually get around to talking about this war and what we are going to do about it.”
“Your new name may take a bit of explaining also, Walker,” Nat replied. “Congratulations, even if it is a bit late.”
Nat and Walker moved quickly ahead of the others, and Brock and Rand held back with Delno and Nassari. As they walked, Brock spoke in a low voice. “Which of you is in charge here, Rand?”
“Well, Uncle, that is complicated. I am the commander of the Iondarian troops. However, Walker’s real elven name is Keem Longleaf. Walker is his Hunter’s name.”
Brock seemed to grasp the importance of what Rand had said but it was lost on Delno and Nassari, and it showed on their faces.
“The Longleafs are the main ruling family of the elves.” Brock explained. “Walker, that is the name given to him by his hunting clan for his prowess, is the son of the head of the most powerful family in the Elven Kingdom. Him being here is akin to your uncle sending his own son if he had one. Think of him as a prince rather than a common soldier.”
“I see,” Delno replied softly. “That is all well and good, and I am glad to have any help I can get, but
I won’t coddle him because of his political status. The fact that he is a skilled hunter doesn’t make him a soldier.”
“Ah, I see that we have confused you,” Rand said defensively. “The Elven Hunting Clans are not there to provide meat for the table; they are soldiers. The term ‘clan’ refers to their specific unit, not their family. In fact, they are the most elite of the Elven soldiers, and what they hunt is Roracks. An elf doesn’t earn his name among his clan until he has killed one hundred enemies, and every kill must be witnessed or it doesn’t count. Most hunting clansmen don’t earn the honor. Walker has earned his name by spending a good many years hunting Roracks in their own territory. He is not only the leader of the Shadow Clan, but a superb fighter and highly skilled tracker. The only ones who possibly know the Roracks’ lands better than he are the beast-men themselves, and it’s likely that even they don’t.”
“My apologies,” Delno replied. “I am from Corice and only recently became involved with dragons. In the north we are so far removed from all of this that many people don’t even believe that elves still exist in the world. I meant no offense; I only wish to do what is best for the troops and dragons under my command. Since Walker is so skilled and his knowledge so valuable, I will treat him accordingly.”
“Good save, Del.” Nassari quipped in low whisper. “Of course, if you had waited longer to speak up, you might not have put your foot in it in the first place.”
“Politics is your forte’, Nassari,” Delno responded. “Perhaps if you had nudged me I wouldn’t have spoken out of turn.”
“Perhaps if you would stop holding Wanda and me back in battle and let her take charge of some of those un-bonded females like a lineage holder should do, I wouldn’t be so put out that I let you get into such predicaments.” Nassari smiled at him and then stepped out more quickly to catch up with Nat and Walker.
Brock chuckled softly as Delno stared blankly at Nassari’s back. He held Delno back and let Rand get ahead of them, so he could speak privately with him for a moment. “Nassari is a good man, Delno, and he has a right to be a bit miffed at you. You should have used him more in a leadership role earlier. I was going to talk to you about it, but never got the chance with everything else happening. You have to start delegating more authority. That’s why you have me and Nassari along as lieutenants. I’ve watched the man in the air, and I believe he is competent; give him a chance to prove it.”
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