dragons breath 01 - stalked by flames

by Susan Illene

  “This is a basic stance. You must always keep your body positioned so that you can’t easily lose your balance or be knocked over. Unless you’re thrusting forward, try to keep your steps small.” He showed me examples of basic footwork.

  I copied him, moving as best I could in the same way. It didn’t come easily. For a few minutes I practiced with him guiding me. Once he thought I had it he stepped back. It came as a complete surprise when he leaped forward and pushed me. I hit the ground with a thud.

  “What the hell did you do that for?” I asked, glaring at him.

  “At any given time, expect me to test your balance. You need to be prepared so that I can’t easily push you over. Take every step as if I may try knocking you over as you do it.”

  I got up and dusted myself off. “Isn’t that technically harming me?”

  “No.” He gave me a hard look. “It’s training. Everything I teach you will keep you alive that much longer—if you listen and learn.”

  “Fine.” I began the footwork again.

  He pushed me a few more times, but I only fell once. It was tricky trying to move without placing my feet in one wrong spot. The terrain was uneven and it was even harder when I crossed the gravel road. Aidan stalked me, forcing me into different directions.

  “Good. You’re getting better,” he said after his latest shove failed. “I want you to practice everything you’ve learned over the next few days.”

  I stopped. “When should I come back again?”

  “Return on the fourth day. That should be enough time for you to improve your strength and technique.”

  “Okay.” I looked up at the sky and saw there were still a few hours until sunset. “At least I’ve got time to do a little scavenging.”

  “You will look for food now?”

  “I have to have some excuse for why I’ve been gone so long,” I explained.

  He cocked his head. “How many others are in your group?”

  “It varies each day,” I answered vaguely. There was only so much I was willing to share with him.

  “But your supplies are low?” he pressed.

  “They’re always low. Everyone in the city is competing for what’s left of the resources.”

  He handed me his canteen of water. “This is spelled so that it will replenish with water once an hour. You may have it, but keep it to yourself.”

  I stared at it amazed. If I were careful, I could save enough each day for a small bath.

  “Thanks,” I said, taking it. “Is that some other kind of magic your kind can do?”

  Aidan shook his head. “No. Dragons cannot do such things.”

  “Then who?”

  “Others,” he answered. “Now go and take care on the way back. I expect you to return here on the fourth day.”

  Chapter 19

  Bailey

  A breeze swept through the parking garage, cooling my skin. After more than an hour of sword exercises and climbing temperatures, I’d worked up a sweat. My arms ached to the point I didn’t know how much longer I could keep it up, but I could feel myself getting stronger. Training on my own for the last two days had also provided a distraction from worrying about my parents.

  The sound of scraping footsteps came from below, growing steadily louder as they moved toward the ramp. I’d chosen to train on the second floor to prevent anyone from sneaking up on me, but there weren’t a lot of places to hide with the early morning light filtering inside. I moved to a corner where Justin let his SUV collect dust and crouched behind it, waiting to see who came. It could be someone from the library checking on me—or not.

  A man with a heavy gray beard emerged at the top of the ramp. “Bailey, I know you’re in here. One of your friends told me.”

  I’d recognize that gruff voice anywhere.

  “Hey, Earl.” I stood up and came out from behind the car. “I almost didn’t recognize you without a gun in my face.”

  He glanced down at the rifle he held in his right hand. “Thought I’d be polite this time.”

  “Which one of my friends told you I was here?” I asked, stopping in front of him.

  The only people who knew about Earl were Conrad and Trish. I’d told them if he ever came looking for me it was okay to talk to him. Trish didn’t know about my practice sessions in the garage, though.

  “I believe his name was Conrad.” His eyes narrowed on my sword. “Where’d you get that?”

  I shrugged. “Found it while I was out scouting around for supplies.”

  He took out a pack of smokes from his front pocket. “What are you doin’ with it now?”

  “Practicing.”

  “For what? I thought I gave you a gun.” Earl lit a cigarette and blew a puff of smoke above our heads.

  “Yeah, but bullet supplies won’t last forever and they don’t work against dragons, anyway. I might as well start learning how to use a sword now.” I spoke the truth, if not the whole truth.

  “You do realize you’re gonna have to get close to a dragon for the sword to do any good.” He gave the weapon a critical look. “Even then, you’d have to avoid gettin’ burned.”

  “I know.”

  “But that ain’t gonna stop you.” He shook his head.

  I leaned against the wall. “Why are you here?”

  “Well, I felt bad about not havin’ any news on your family yet. Finally got hold of ‘em today and they’re doin’ alright. I guess after you got cut off from ‘em the military showed up and drew the dragon’s attention away. They ain’t seen any more of ‘em since.”

  A weight lifted from my chest. I’d checked in with Earl a couple of times in case he had any word from my parents. It had been killing me not to know, considering how my last call with them ended. I’d feared the worst and hardly slept at night.

  “Thanks, Earl.” I gave him a relieved smile. “I needed to hear that.”

  He took another puff of his cigarette. “You’re welcome. I’m off. Gotta tend the garden before it gets even hotter out.”

  “I’ll stop by to see you again soon,” I said, giving him a wave as he headed back down the ramp.

  “You do that!” he called back.

  As soon as he was gone I went over to my truck and locked the sword inside. It was about time to get to the library for our next group meeting. Justin had made a big deal about everyone being there for it.

  The day was clear and sunny as I headed across campus, steering around the rubble from the tornado damage. Without anyone mowing the lawns, the grass was growing high. I stayed on the sidewalk, trying not to think about the fact the campus might never again look like it did before. What would things be like a year from now? Ten years from now?

  Conrad opened the door for me when I reached him. We’d voted to reduce it to one guard on each entrance from dawn until noon since not much seemed to happen during that time. Plus, people were up and around then anyway. There were still two guards on each end of the library the rest of the time. All other entrances were locked and barricaded with bookcases and anything else we could find.

  “Have fun practicing?” he asked.

  “A little sore,” I replied. “By the way, thanks for sending Earl my way.”

  “No problem. He said it was important.” Curiosity lit in his eyes.

  “It was.”

  I gave him a wave and continued toward the stairs. He didn’t know I’d been in contact with my family and I wasn’t going to tell him. If people found out I knew someone with a working satellite phone, I’d be bombarded with requests.

  Earl had said no one else was welcome over there. It was better to keep my calls to myself, especially since it wouldn’t help most people anyway. They’d need to know someone with a sat phone or else it would most likely be a waste of time and battery charge.

  “What took you so long?” Trish asked when I walked into the learning center, which we’d recently renamed the “common room.”

  “I was enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. It’s gotten cro
wded and rank in here.” I wrinkled my nose to emphasize the smell. We’d pilfered tons of deodorant for people to use, but either people weren’t using it, or it didn’t seem to help much when you didn’t bathe regularly.

  “You shouldn’t go out by yourself,” she scolded. “It’s too dangerous.”

  “You’re beginning to sound like your boyfriend.”

  “Whatever.” She rolled her eyes.

  We settled in seats near the door. Justin was already standing by the circular desk at the center of the room with a notebook in his hands. Miles stood next to him surveying the crowd like he expected an enemy to jump out any second. I liked to spend my spare time imagining the pranks I’d play on him to get him to loosen up. Compared to him, I looked like the more sociable one.

  “Do you think the shaving cream and feather trick would work on him?” I asked Trish.

  She followed the direction of my gaze. “Nah. He probably sleeps too light for that. I’ve got some spare Tabasco sauce bottles downstairs, though. We might be able to sneak some into his canteen when he’s not looking.”

  “Oooh, good idea.”

  It might have seemed a little immature for us, but after all the trauma we’d had lately it helped to find things to lighten the mood. You could only stay tense and serious for so long before the stress would overcome you if you didn’t do something to relieve it. And I’d grown up with three brothers where pranks were a regular occurrence in our household.

  “Listen up, everyone,” Justin said, raising his voice to be heard over the chatter.

  The room grew quiet.

  “I know there is some concern over continuing to stay here after the last attack,” he continued. “If you’ve got anything you want to voice on the matter, now is the time to do it. The floor is open.”

  A guy in his early forties stood up. His brown hair was a little greasy and he had the beginnings of a beard. I’d seen him around with his wife and two kids, but like me, they mostly kept to themselves. He shifted on his feet and glanced down at his family. His wife gave him an encouraging nod.

  He cleared his throat. “I think we should stay here. The library is still in good shape and we’ve got a nice setup. It’s going to be hard to find anything better that hasn’t already been taken over by some other group.”

  An older woman with graying hair got to her feet. “And moving will be dangerous. We’ve only got a few hours in the morning to transport people and supplies while the dragons are sleeping—assuming that’s why they’re not out during that time—but that’s when the gangs are out on the streets roving around. I vote for staying here.”

  “We’re sitting ducks in this place,” a young guy spoke up. “Between the other night and run-ins with them during patrols, I think it’s only going to get worse as resources spread thin.”

  “I say we should move to somewhere at the edge of town where there're fewer people,” a young woman offered.

  She had a point. During my drive to meet Aidan I’d been thinking it was quieter in the countryside and we could plant a garden for food—assuming the high heat didn’t last for long. Maybe get some chickens like they had in Earl’s neighborhood. We might even find a place with a well to get fresh water.

  Justin nodded. “Those are all good points.”

  “How are we going to move everything?” someone asked. “Only a few of us have vehicles.”

  “We won’t do anything without a solid plan in place first,” Justin reassured him.

  A chorus of voices went up.

  “I think we should move as soon as possible.”

  “No way, I say we stay here.”

  “What about the restrooms? All the toilets are clogged now.”

  “Let’s find a place near the river. Then we’d at least have a steady source of water.”

  Justin put his hands up. “I appreciate all your feedback. I propose we send out a team to scout potential locations. After that, we’ll look at the pros and cons for each one, including any hazards that may come while moving to them. Everyone will get a vote on what we decide to do. The most important thing is to weigh our options.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Miles said, crossing his arms.

  He’d been standing next to Justin the whole time, but had remained quiet until now. As soon as he spoke everyone else’s voices faded away and the room turned silent. He had an impressive way of intimidating people without saying much.

  “Any other issues someone wants to bring up?” Justin ran his gaze across the room.

  “We really need to deal with the toilet situation,” Danae said. I wasn’t surprised she was the one to ignore the glower Miles had cast around the room. “Maybe we can dig a trench outside and put some tarps up for privacy.”

  “Put a team together and let me know where you’d like to put it,” he instructed her.

  She nodded. “On it.”

  The library had enough bathrooms and toilets that even with so many people around we’d been able to last a while before things got bad, especially after the guys started pissing outside. Except the ones designated for bathing only, the rest were nearly impossible to enter without choking on the noxious fumes. Some of us had started sneaking off to nearby campus buildings to do our business.

  “One last item to discuss,” Justin said, his fingers tapping against his notebook. “I know we’ve been keeping pets out of the basement until now, but a new arrival came today with her late husband’s police dog. He died on the day the dragons attacked and she doesn’t want to be apart from the animal. She’s agreed to work night shifts with it and take it out on supply runs. In exchange, the dog will be allowed to stay down here.”

  Murmurs went up across the room. Anyone who’d come with a pet before had to either leave it outside or confined on one of the upper floors. Justin and Miles felt there were enough hygiene problems without adding animals into the mix. Those who had pets also had to provide the meals for them separate from our rations, though a lot of us grabbed cat and dog food if we saw it while we were out.

  “Let’s vote on it. Those in favor of the dog being allowed to stay in the basement raise your hands,” he said.

  Trish raised hers. I put mine up, too, thinking a retired police dog might be a good thing. A lot of other people must have thought the same. I counted at least twenty hands raised out of the thirty people present.

  “That’s a majority,” Justin announced. “The dog stays.”

  He nodded at Miles, who hurried off to let the owner know. A few minutes later a curvy woman with short brown hair who looked to be in her late thirties came down the corridor. She had a black and tan German shepherd by her side on a leash. He wagged his tail and looked happy to see everyone.

  “What’s his name?” someone asked.

  Justin nodded at the woman. “This is Jennifer and her dog’s name is Bomber. Please don’t rush up to them right now. Give them some time to get settled in and then you all can meet Bomber one at a time later. Remember, this is a trained dog. He should be treated with caution and respect.”

  Trish looked over at me with a big grin. “I love dogs. Justin has been driving me crazy by not letting them down here.”

  I missed having animals around, too, though Trish had been more vocal about it.

  “Maybe we can convince him to let a cat in later to balance out the animal population,” I suggested. “We can argue they keep the mice away.”

  She sighed. “I already tried that, but he says until he sees a mouse problem he’s not going for it.”

  “Figures.”

  Justin addressed the crowd, most of whom were still eyeing the dog. “If there’s nothing else, you’re all free to leave. Let Danae know if you’re willing to help with the trench project. Those who do will get extra rations.”

  People started filtering out of the room.

  “So what do you think about leaving here?” Trish asked. “Should we stay or move?”

  I shrugged. “This is still a good location, but if we find som
eplace better, I’d be fine with that, too.”

  “I want to stay.” She sighed.

  “Then you better go help with that trench.” I bumped her in the shoulder.

  “Me, digging? I don’t think so.”

  Chapter 20

  Aidan

  Aidan made his way through the great hall. It was a massive room filled with chairs and tables carved from stone on one side and a large open space at the other. At night, they lit torches, placing them at regular intervals along the walls. For the moment, it was late afternoon and the high windows provided all the light they needed.

  Most of the time dozens of clan members gathered there to socialize or hold meetings. On Judgments Day, it filled to capacity. The pendragon held it once a month to rule on criminal and civil matters. More often than not, it ended with a body or two taken away and spilled blood on the floor. It was a miracle the stone wasn’t stained red.

  Aidan stepped outside to a crowded courtyard filled with dragons in human form. It took a moment to adjust his eyes to the brightness of the sunlight. A few children ran by almost knocking him down in their race to find treasures that had been hidden around the fortress that morning. Humans carried jugs filled with alefire—a favored drink among his clan. They replenished the mugs of anyone who thrust theirs out.

  The largest open space in the keep was directly in front of the castle where he stood. To prevent any attacking dragons from landing there, stone obelisks with spikes protruding from them were spaced out from one end of the castle to the other. It made it easy enough to move around them on foot while discouraging flight. Between the obelisks, humans tended fire pits where they roasted cows, pigs, deer, and other animals the clan’s hunters had captured over the last few days.

  The meat would have to feed nearly seven hundred clan members who’d come and go well into the night. There wasn’t enough room for them to visit all at once. Between dragon folk and humans, there must have already been two hundred people crowded in the courtyard. Aidan would have to fight his way to the fire pits.

  “I was beginning to think you’d skipped the celebration,” Phoebe said, walking up to him. “You’re late.”