Dragon Blade

by J. D. Hallowell

  Delno could see that his words were getting through. The officers were beginning to shift their own enmity from the common soldiers to the leaders of Bourne.

  “But, that just doesn’t make any sense,” one of the junior officers said. “Even if they don’t care about their people, if they don’t feed them, they will have no army next year. You’d think the people would see what is going on and rise up against him.”

  “The people are beginning to see it. That is why they so readily surrender to us when they realize we are here to help. However, revolutions take time to gather momentum. We don’t have time if we are to stop this insanity and try and prevent mass starvation in Bourne this year,” Delno responded. “That is why we must make our soldiers see that we are not here to conquer these people. We are here to rescue them by removing the current government and putting our own replacements in power. Anything else, looting, arbitrary destruction of property, especially government buildings, will only hamper our mission. Likewise, the killing of bureaucrats will hamper the distribution of food and other vital supplies. Winter will be on us soon here in the mountains: we don’t have much time. It is much easier, and faster, to work with an existing system than it is to set up a new one.”

  “Well, we can now see your point, Rider,” Dreighton said. “What are we to do then? I have nearly a thousand troops to keep busy. I’d rather they had a definite purpose than just have them waiting around outside the city getting bored. Idle hands leave entirely too much time for armed men to come up with ways to amuse themselves.”

  “They won’t be idle, General,” Delno answered. “Bourne does not have a large population after losing so many men to this war already: remember, the men who weren’t killed during the siege of Larimar are in exile on our side of the border. Most of the people, primarily women and children now, are gathered in and around the three main cities, Karne, Alton, and Lowell. Alton and Lowell are both overseen by the nobility of those cities. You are to divide your force and send one third to each of those cities to make sure the nobility of each of them also abdicates in favor of a better government. You will take those soldiers of Bourne who haven’t been sent home to their farms and intermingle them with your troops. With Bournese troops and a contingent of dragons going to each city you should encounter little resistance. Brock and Adamus will lead one group and Nassari and Nadia will lead the other. Hopefully, we can get the nobility taken out of power before any of them get delusions of grandeur.”

  Just then Captain Saunders ran up and saluted Delno. “Two of my men have been shot near the palace. Apparently, they got too close, and a couple of those officers up there decided to use them for target practice.”

  “Damn it!” Delno swore. “I said no one was to go near the place until I was ready. Are both men dead?”

  “No, sir. Both are still alive, though one is hurt beyond the skills of our leeches, and will likely die soon.”

  “Not if I have anything to say about it. Quickly, take me to the men who were hurt.”

  Chapter 53

  “There, that should take care of that,” Delno said as he finished healing the second man. He had healed the worst injury first. The men of Bourne didn’t know whether to be awed by the fact that he had healed the men, or frightened of the use of magic. “I should recommend that you both pull extra duty for disobeying orders and getting so damn close to the Palace: but I think we can let the pain you suffered serve as punishment enough, this time.” He smiled and patted the man on the shoulder.

  Captain Saunders stared wide-eyed at Delno. “I never would have believed that such a thing was possible if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. To heal a man who is so close to death as to make no difference. . . .”

  “Oh, there is a big difference, Captain. If the man had been dead, the only help I would be capable of would be to assist with digging the grave. It’s magic, but it has its limits.” Delno paused and looked back at the palace. The structure was quite similar in size and layout to the palace in Larimar. “Now then, it’s time to finish this business before we risk any more of our men getting hurt, or worse.”

  All of the Bournese made remarks of agreement. Some of them nearly cheered. Delno realized that these men had now come to think of him as one of them rather than an outsider. Some of that was because of the magic that, as a Rider, naturally surrounded him. However, it was mostly because these men had been down trodden so long that they were glad to follow someone who cared about their welfare and the welfare of their average countrymen.

  “Captain, how many people are in that building? I know you may not have exact figures, but give me your best guess.”

  “Well, sir, we know that most of the servants fled when General Parsins came in the middle of the night and woke everyone. He was going on about dozens of dragons breathing fire and killing everything in their path, and how they were going to burn all of Bourne. There might be one, maybe two servants still in there, but most fled to go and try to protect their families. As for any others, the soldiers were under my command, and we were all sent to build and man the barricades. The only other people in there now are a few of the king’s advisors and the high ranking officers. If I had to put a figure to it, I’d guess less than a score.”

  “I wish I knew for sure about the servants,” Delno said. “I don’t want any innocent people hurt. If it were earlier in the year, I’d just starve them out, but we need to get the rest of the government back up and running if we are to make sure the people of Bourne are fed this winter, and it will be much easier to get the bureaucracies working again once there is no doubt that Torrance has been removed from power.”

  They stood watching the building for a few moments. Finally, Delno said, “Oh well, nothing to do but go and talk with them.”

  All of the men within earshot looked at him like he was insane. Hadn’t he just had to heal two men who had gotten close to the Palace?

  There was just enough room for Geneva and Fahwn to land in the large central hub of the city, outside the palace. As they landed, three men appeared at the windows facing them. All three fired arrows at the dragons. Delno and Rita quickly stopped the arrows with magical shields, and Geneva roared and breathed a cone of fire that spanned the fifty feet between them and the building. The men who had fired the arrows screamed as they dived for cover. One of the three was standing in the middle of the large window in a hallway, and was unable to get safely aside. Fortunately for him, he died quickly.

  Once the fervor had died down, Delno called out loudly, “Torrance, come out and surrender yourself. If you do, you won’t be harmed.”

  “You have no right to make demands here!” The reply came from inside the palace, but the speaker didn’t step into the open.

  “You’re wrong; I have every right,” Delno responded. “Why don’t you show yourself?”

  “So that you can have that beast kill me the way it did Colonel Rollins? I think not.”

  “Well, if you don’t come out, we will come and get you. Would you prefer to surrender honorably or be dragged from your hidey hole like trapped animal?”

  “You will find that the walls and doors of this palace are strong. All I need do is keep you at bay until my kinsman arrives with his own dragons to reinforce my position. Then you will see who the trapped animal is.”

  “Are you referring to Warrick?” Delno said in a conversational tone. “I’m afraid he won’t be joining us. Being killed in Horne has put a damper on his plans to travel north and take control of this land.”

  “You lie,” the voice screamed. “My kinsman is much too powerful to be defeated. He will come, and then I will finally grind Corice under my boot heel.”

  “I am not lying, Torrance.” Delno reached up and got a long bundle that he had tied to his saddle. He unwrapped the contents and said, “Do you recognize this saber? This is the Dragon Blade that Warrick carried. He touted it as the symbol of his power. I took it from Warrick just before I killed him and his dragon Hella. Their bodies
lie in the courtyard of the old fort he used as his headquarters. That fort is now in the hands of Riders who are loyal to me and pledged to protect people from men like you, Torrance.”

  “That can’t be Warrick’s blade; again, you lie!”

  “You are partially right; this is not now, nor was it ever, Warrick’s blade. It belonged to my grandfather, Corolan. Warrick had Corolan ambushed and murdered by Roracks and claimed the Blade for himself. It is now in the hands of Corolan’s heirs, where it belongs.”

  “I don’t believe you! You are trying to trick me into surrendering.”

  “I am growing tired of this, Torrance. However, I will indulge you for just a few moments longer. Look out here at this Blade. Even from this distance, you can clearly see that it is not only a Dragon Blade, but a saber. Of the scant handful of Dragon Blades in existence, only two of them are sabers. Corolan had one, and I have the other.” He pulled his own saber and held both blades out as proof. “As you can see, I now hold both blades, and we both know that Warrick wouldn’t have freely relinquished my grandfather’s blade.” Delno held the swords out for another moment and then lowered them and said, “Now, Torrance, my patience has run out. Come out, or we are coming in.”

  The only reply from the palace was a long, drawn-out wail of despair that receded as the person apparently withdrew deeper into the palace.

  Delno waited only long enough for all of the Riders who were present in Karne to join him before moving to the entrance portal. The double doors were very thick, iron-bound hardwood. Geneva simply thrust her claws into them and yanked them completely out of their frames as she had done with the doors of the jail in Llorn. Even Brock was impressed with Geneva’s strength.

  “That’s a neat trick,” Brock commented. “Leera couldn’t have done it so easily. Even Fahwn would have had to work a bit to accomplish the task.”

  “Yes,” Delno replied. “It saves us a great deal of time over waiting for a locksmith.”

  There were just over a dozen Riders and five military leaders. They entered the palace cautiously with their weapons drawn. When they reached the main hall, the doors weren’t barred as they had expected. The Riders filed into the hall in pairs. They found eleven military men, all above the rank of Colonel, including General Parsins. All of the men of Bourne had stacked their weapons and were standing near the throne with their hands in plain sight. Next to the officers were four of Torrance’s advisors. Every one of them stared at the floor rather than look the Riders in the eye.

  Delno walked forward, flanked by Rita and Brock. Nassari was right behind him with Nadia, Will, and Paul. Adamus, along with several of the new Riders Delno had previously kept in reserve, stood rear guard.

  As Delno approached the throne, the first thing he noticed was that there was a large amount of blood on the floor. Torrance was sitting back in the seat leaning to his left. His eyes were open but glazed and would never see anything again. There was a long-bladed knife still held loosely in his right hand. The blood had come from the slash he had made in the inside of his own left arm. Unable to face being dethroned and taken away to answer for his actions, he had severed his own brachial artery and bled to death rather than allow himself to be captured.

  Epilogue

  “Good night,” Rita said. She kissed Marcus on the forehead as she and Delno tucked the boy into bed.

  The girls were already asleep when they had carried them to the nursery. Marcus had managed to stay awake long enough for Rita to sing him a lullaby and pull the covers up to his chin. He was slumbering peacefully before she and Delno got all the way to the door.

  “They’ve had a big day,” she said as they entered their own room. “We caused such a ruckus on our return that they woke early from their naps, and then we spent the whole afternoon playing with them. They are exhausted.”

  “We didn’t cause that much ruckus,” Delno responded as he began lighting candles in the bathing room. “They are all sensitive to the dragons, and the twins are so much so that they woke up when Geneva and Fahwn got near.”

  “Really?” she said. “Fahwn hadn’t mentioned that to me.”

  “Geneva told me that, providing they don’t suppress it as they grow older, they will probably be good candidates someday.”

  He began pumping water as she gathered the things they would need for their bath. Once she had put the soap and sponges on the edge of the tub, she began undressing. He watched her while he continued pumping the water.

  Once she was in the tub soaking, she asked, “Why did you put your mother on the throne of Bourne, Handsome? Her only heirs are both Riders, and you don’t want Riders to rule any country.”

  “Well, she’s not Queen, Darling. Bourne has been reduced in status to a duchy, and she is Duchess. Bourne is a small territory with a harsh climate and a small population; it really should have been downgraded from a kingdom long ago.”

  “But, still. Your mother?” she asked.

  “Well, it’s true that my mother has no heirs who can take over the Duchy, but that could change. We have adopted our three. If they don’t become Riders, they will be eligible heirs. There again, it is always possible that Will could father a child who will take the position. Also, I don’t know if you noticed, but Dorian took a fancy to a woman who is still of child-bearing age while we were in Horne. He may yet produce heirs of his own. Only one of them could sit on the throne of Corice, so if he has several children, one of his offspring could be placed as duke or duchess to succeed my mother.”

  She was about to speak when there was a knock at the door. The caller was Brock, so they decided to get out of the tub. Once they were dried and had donned robes, Delno opened the door and let Brock in while Rita poured wine for all of them.

  “So, have you settled affairs here in the north to your liking?” Brock asked Delno.

  “As far as I can tell, yes,” Delno responded. He ticked off each point on his fingers as he spoke. “I have eliminated the threat of Bournese invasion. I have helped to ensure that none of the citizens of either country will starve this winter, and I have secured enough funds from my uncle that Nassari will be able to outfit the headquarters of the Legion of Riders for the next year or so. All in all, I believe I’ve accomplished what I set out to do up here.”

  “So, why your mother?” Brock asked. “She’s a good-hearted person, but what does she know about running a country?”

  “I was just asking him the same thing when you came in,” Rita said.

  “Great minds think alike,” Brock said with a smile.

  “All right, I’ll answer you,” Delno said. “When we first went into Bourne and began to see the situation, we found that the people were basically looking for salvation. They might have revolted on their own eventually, but that was unlikely: the people of the north are bred to look to a king. That is why the parliament, although it has the power to do so, has never removed my family from the throne of Corice even when the king or queen wasn’t a good ruler. The Bournese weren’t looking to remove their king and set up their own government. They would, more likely, have waited until Torrance died of old age and hoped for a better man the next time around. When they were presented with someone who would remove their king and govern them justly, they were willing to follow. They know me as a Rider, but they also know and respect me from the last war. They were willing to accept Delno Okonan when they might have defended Torrance against a stranger.”

  He stopped to sip his wine. Brock waited patiently, but Rita pressed him. “Your reason for putting your mother in charge of Bourne,” she prompted.

  “Well,” he responded, “my mother is a superb manager and has plenty of common sense. Also, it’s not like she has to attend to every little detail: the bureaucracy is still mostly intact, and Dorian has said he will help as well. The main reason I chose my mother, though, is that she is Laura Okonan: since I am now the savior of Bourne, the name will carry much weight even if I am not here. By putting my mother in the position of author
ity, I have, hopefully, headed off any trouble that might otherwise crop up.”

  “So, why not your father?” Brock asked.

  Delno gave him a surprised look and said, “You’ve talked with my father. He’s a good and generous man, and I love him, but he is so honest that he can’t imagine anyone else being otherwise. The politicians would play him like an instrument. My mother has always had to look out for his business interests so he doesn’t get cheated any more often than he does.”

  “Delno!” Rita exclaimed. “Your father is a good man, and he’s wonderful with the children. How can you say such things about him?”

  “It’s no more than he’d say about himself,” Delno responded. “He is a great man. I couldn’t have asked for a better father.” Brock was chuckling, and Rita still looked scandalized. “You weren’t there when my father first found out about my mother being an heir to the royal family. He spoke then about being a simple man and not suited to palace life. One of his greatest strengths is his awareness of his own limitations. That makes him very secure in his abilities.”

  Rita looked like she still wanted to defend John Okonan, but she let it drop as Brock spoke up. “What will you do now? Do you plan on going back to Horne with Nassari?”

  “Rita and I have talked about that,” Delno replied. “We believe we should return to Horne for a short time, but Nassari is a very good organizer; he can handle the fort. We will, of course, begin working on the attitudes of the people and planting the idea of exploring the unsettled lands. However, for a time, I believe we have earned a short rest. Therefore, when we go, we will take the children with us. Then, once Nassari is doing what needs to be done, we will continue south and take Walker up on his invitation to visit the Elven lands.”

  “What about you, Brock Ard?” Rita asked. “What are your plans for the immediate future?”