by LeRoy Clary
The other two were already a few hundred paces ahead, moving as if their lives depended on it. I looked over my shoulder and found the torches appeared larger, or closer if you will. I touched my heels to Alexis, and she picked up the pace.
The torches gained on us. No matter how hard we pushed our horses, the torches grew closer until we could hear faint shouts and threats. There were probably twenty torches and four of us. Not all of them might carry torches so there might be more of them, far too many to fight.
Later I could hear the clomping of their hooves. How could all of their horses be faster than ours? Alexis was one of the fastest in the kingdom, and the horses Elisabeth and Kendra rode belonged to the king. They were the best stock in the land. I’d long ago conceded that Tater’s matched ours in all but looks. Yet we steadily lost ground.
Magic! It had to be. They were squandering the last of the essence on increasing the speed of their horses. I called, “Kendra, how do you know the dragon will come at dawn?”
“It hates flying at night.”
Well, that made sense, if I didn’t follow up with a hundred reasonable and logical questions, such as how did she know? Was it coming to help or hurt us? The other ninety-eight could wait.
I longed to use my magic to make a horse behind us trip, or a rider drop his torch and panic the horses behind. My mind tried and failed. And again, my bow was not in my hand. There hadn’t been time to grab it. Well, yes there had been, but I was not used to depending on one and hadn’t brought it.
When we returned to the palace, I was going to work on a leather sheath similar to the one for my sword, but it would hold an unstrung bow, extra strings in a pocket, and at least five arrows. It should be attached to the sheath for my sword because carrying a long weapon on both sides would not only look silly but get in the way.
Designing and refining the pattern, choosing the right bow, and wishing I’d made it weeks ago kept my mind off the catcalls and threats coming from behind. They were getting close enough to use their bows, and if a little magic was still available to them, we were in trouble.
The eastern sky tinged pink. How long before the dragon would wake, and how long before it came? Alexis and the other horses were winded and couldn’t maintain their pace.
Kendra called, “Just a little longer.”
Whatever that meant. Didn’t she hear how close they were? Of course, they were closer to me than her since I rode behind the others. All she had to do was remain ahead of me. Springer had been incessantly barking but quit because of being winded. I caught a glimpse of him speeding off into the rocky land to the side of the road and didn’t blame him.
Someone behind screamed amid the threats and taunts. It sounded out of place, not at all like a war cry, but I was bent over Alexis’ neck urging her to run faster. A second scream made me turn and look. A black shadow was descending over the thirty or forty men chasing us. The dragon. It swooped in from behind, before most of them were aware of it, and spread its wings wide. The body of the dragon flew knee-high as it swept at the men on horses with its rear talons.
Both horses and men fell from that first pass. Torches skittered along the road, although they were no longer needed in the dawning light. Then, the dragon flapped its wings harder, and it raised high enough in the air to fly well above the four of us. It continued flying higher until making a wide, lazy turn and aiming directly at our pursuers again, gaining speed as it lost altitude.
It approached from the front of them this time. Both the riders and horses saw what was about to happen, and men dived from their mounts, as horses broke away in panic. Riders were trampled. Horses ran into each other. Before the dragon roared, the mad scramble to get out of its way caused more confusion. After the roar, there was total panic in men and horses.
Tater fought to control the bucking of his horse, and Elizabeth short-reined hers to pull to a stop behind him, twisting the horses head until it faced the rear and she had control. Kendra had anticipated the problem and had crawled up the horse’s neck far enough to wrap her arms around its head and placed both palms over the horse’s eyes as she talked soothingly to it. Alexis trembled and bucked a few times but remained calm enough for me to remain seated.
An arrow whizzed past me.
“Ride,” I shouted, spurring my horse ahead. I took the lead, not because of wanting to, but the dragon had made another circle and now swooped down from our rear again. Alexis spotted it, and despite being tired, she sprinted. I heard at least two of the other horses behind me, and a quick look confirmed all were there.
Alexis made it to the top of the nearest rise, which was too far away to make out details of those chasing us. Her sides heaved, her coat was soaked, and foam dripped from her muzzle. I leaped off her, giving her less weight to carry while she recovered, and while I kept hold of her reins, my attention remained focused on those who had tried to catch us.
The other three of our party were also dismounting, and Tater held a bow because he was smarter than me. He also had a broken arm. He said while waving the bow in the air at the confusion behind us, “Wouldn’t want to do that again.”
I was about to ask if they were going to chase us again, when the dragon made a quick turn, spread its wings until fully extended, and slowed. It dropped to the ground beside the road as easily as a leaf in a breeze in fall. The dragon sat equidistant between our pursuers and us.
“That should slow them down,” Kendra said in a way that made me think she was responsible for the positioning of the beast.
“I thought the dragon didn’t fly in the dark,” I reminded her as I accepted the proffered bow from Tater.
“No, it doesn’t like to, but this was an emergency, so it did,” Kendra briefly explained, telling me little of what I really wanted to know.
“What happens now?” Elizabeth asked.
We all looked to Kendra.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
K endra returned our blank looks and watched the dragon. We followed suit. It was obvious Elizabeth, and Tater were as frightened of it as me, but Kendra wore a wisp of a smile. She had the same expression young mothers have when they watch their children play with a ball on a warm summer morning.
She said, “Isn’t it beautiful?”
That was the second time she had said something similar. It was the second time I disagreed with her. The creature was larger than most farmer’s barns, it smelled a rank odor of rotting meat that drifted all the way to us, and one swipe of its tail could kill all of us and our horses.
It squatted or all four legs, each toe with claws as large as my forearm. It growled a rumble deep in its chest, and when it shifted positions, it revealed blood that had run down its chin. Man, or horse, I didn’t know, nor did I wish to. A horse bucked and ran in wild panic directly for the dragon. With a snap, of the mouth too fast for my eye to follow, the horse was eaten, saddle and all.
“Beautiful?” Elizabeth asked.
“It just saved your life, and probably days of torture,” Kendra said, a little too rudely.
Tater stepped in front of us and pointed. Following his finger, I saw a man had stood from a concealed place in the scrub where he had been sneaking up on us. I pulled an arrow. He ran away. I lowered the bow and said. “The horses need a longer rest and water.”
“So, we walk,” Elizabeth said, her eyes still watching Kendra with an expression that said their entire relationship had changed.
To me, both of them were being rude. Only Tater and I were acting polite and genteel, which would surprise everyone in the palace because they normally conducted themselves the opposite. Sniping didn’t suit either of them. Elizabeth was a princess and used to having all the attention directed her way. She was in command. Kendra was normally subservient. Their roles were changed, and neither seemed able to adjust without tension and anger and perhaps jealousy.
There were at least two injured men laying on the road and three horses. I glanced at Tater in silent agreement to walk our horses
and caught another flash of movement. Turning back, there was now only one man on the road, and the dragon was chewing.
As Tater and I began walking, Elizabeth did too. Kendra remained behind, sitting and watching. She held the reins for her horse and observed the dragon carefully before finally standing and walking over the crest of the hill to join us. As we disappeared from sight, the dragon let out a piercing screech as if saying good-bye.
We picked up the pace. Tater said if we walked faster we would reach a stream and a few trees before long. When we reached it well before dark, the horses and us were about at the end of our reserves.
However, Tater pointed upstream. “The bottom is gravel and sand. Walk only in the stream, so the current washes away our tracks.”
We followed him fifty steps upstream trying to keep the horses from stopping to drink until we were out of sight to anyone on the road. We found a small clearing that was sheltered from the road and let the horses drink. We did the same, then we followed a small game trail beside the stream until the sun nearly set, and it was full dark. We had gone over a small mound of a hill, high enough to hide us from the road when he called a stop.
“No fire tonight. Too much chance of a few of them still chasing us,” Tater said, taking full charge as if appointed. It made no difference. We were exhausted. All I wanted was sleep. We’d used most of the night to escape, walked all afternoon, and our reserves were gone. Tater had a rope. All other supplies were abandoned at the farm. We tied it off to a tree, and to another, then tied the reins to it. There were little patches of grass and weeds near the edge of the water, and the horses could reach the stream to drink.
We had three blankets for four of us. The night was warm but would turn chilly. I glanced at Tater and knew his filthy shirt was not going on my body. Kendra had spent most of the night doing whatever she did with the dragon and mages, so I turned to Elizabeth. “Take off your shirt, and you keep a blanket.”
“Men have made me better offers,” she teased in a tired way.
I was not in a mood for it. “Want me to give you my shirt, and I’ll take the blanket?”
Quicker than it takes to tell, her shirt came flying my way. She snatched up the blanket and wrapped herself in it as she sat cross-legged and barked. “There are still things I do not understand.”
Kendra said, “There is some I can tell you, and much I don’t know.”
Elizabeth peered at her in the dark and relented. “You’re too tired now. Sleep, and we’ll talk in the morning.”
Before they were finished with that exchange, I had Elizabeth’s shirt on backward, so it helped warm my front and arms, and I was asleep.
We slept late. The sun was high when Springer started barking. It was his yapping of warning. He must have caught up with us during the night. We stood, and I reached for my sword. Springer was barking and looking up at the sky.
The dragon flew past, low and fast. It joined Springer in making noise as it screeched a higher pitched sound instead of the roar of anger. Tater leaped to the horses and cinched the saddles still on them as the women helped. I went to the stream where there was a good view of the road. It was empty.
However, the dragon turned and came back. It dipped to treetop level, and an arrow flew up at it. There was at least one man sneaking up on us, and probably more. I ran back to camp and told them in whispers. We decided to ride quietly through the trees parallel to the road.
“How did that dragon know to come here?” I asked Kendra.
“Why ask me?”
Elizabeth said, “It’s watching over you.”
“Nonsense,” Kendra said with too much emotion. “That’s just silly.”
Tater passed me a look that said he agreed with Elizabeth but wisely said nothing. He and Springer took the lead.
I tried to use my small magic a hundred times while riding, finding it interesting to lack magic. While it had been a crutch, I’d always thought the same things could be achieved without it. I wondered how the mages would react—and found there were none I liked or cared about. Twin, the newest in the palace had seemed better than the rest, but with age, he probably would have been just like the others, arrogant and elitist.
The number of people pursuing us was unknown, but even if it was just one, why fight when we could flee home to safety? We had mounted and rode away. The vegetation grew thicker as we traveled, the hills taller, and by mid-afternoon, we reached the first farms in a wide, green valley.
“Go on ahead. Take the road. I’m going to see if anyone is still following and catch up later.” Alexis turned at the pressure from my knee, and we stayed in the thick brush just off the road where we could see and remain unseen. We paused at the top of every hill and watched the road, often seeing farmers or tradesmen, a few wagons, but nothing that resembled troops or mages.
Twice, the dragon flew past, but no wyverns. The dragon never gave me a second look. It struck me odd that wyverns had been so abundant, and now few were in sight. I’d gotten the impression the two varieties of dragons didn’t like each other, and perhaps that was correct. Maybe Kendra knew something more about it. Alexia would carry me to them before dark. After days of tension, I relaxed and found myself whistling a soft merry tune.
Alexia wanted to trot, and once out on the road, I gave her free rein. We passed a pair of women returning home from hunting mushrooms, a wagon with a load of hay piled so high it looked humorous, and a handcart pushed by a boy in his middle teens held apples.
The boy at the handcart waved me to slow, and said, “Keep a sharp eye. Cutthroats from Mercia are sneaking around, they say.”
“We just came from down there, and it is trouble. The whole city is destroyed and who knows what types of people will be on the road? Tell your friends and neighbors to be careful.”
He tossed me an apple as he continued on his way, pushing the cart faster. The encounter gave me the time to understand that while the four of us had been solely considering our actions and how they would affect us, and we’d been wrong to do so. What had happened in Mercia would change the lives of all in Dire, and those living in the southwest corner most of all. We had also placed them in danger without giving them a warning.
Anger heated inside my chest. It bellowed and increased until the realization of what we’d done, even if inadvertently flared to near physical pain. My mind projected what would happen tomorrow to innocent people, then the day after. We knew the mages had escaped, probably to the port where they could travel anywhere.
Suddenly, it all seemed too convenient. Our mages joining with those keeping the dragon prisoner made a group of intertwined, powerful beings. There were others like the Blue Woman and Stata, and whatever their goals were, but logic said they were aligned with the mages. That included the “mage” or whatever being that had controlled a dead husk called Stata. All of them had been drawing the “essence of the world” which now seemed to be better named the “essence of the dragon.”
They were all working together and had been for at least four hundred years. Freeing the dragon from the cave hadn’t ended anything. That many people cooperating for that length of time spelled far more danger than was evident. They also had the time to make plans and contingencies, for there was always the possibility the last dragon might die or escape. They had even known of the Dragon Queen, or someone like her.
I leaned forward over Alexia’s neck and urged her to run faster. Looking ahead, past my horse’s bobbing head, a single horse approached me, also running down the center of the road. Readying myself for a fight, it drew nearer—and the rider became familiar, the way she sat the horse, and the horse itself. It was my sister who was supposed to be rushing home, not riding on the road alone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
K endra drew closer and slowed. Her face was tight, her horse lathered. I sat taller and gently tugged the reins. Alexis reacted as if reading my mind. She slowed and without instruction from me, pulled to a stop beside my sister. We both panted from t
he exertion required to ride at speed, especially over such distances. The emotional drain affected us no less.
“You are in a hurry,” she said, still trying to catch her breath. “Why?”
“To catch up with you. We’ve made a mistake.”
Despite her panting, she managed a slight smile before saying, “I know. That’s why I’m here. Tater is taking Elizabeth to Crestfallen where she is going to convene a council of the king’s advisors. She wants to form a temporary ruling body and appoint Prince James as Prince Regent until his father either dies or recovers.”
That information came as a total surprise. The king had been able to continue his rule if only because all was well in the Kingdom of Dire and little direct intervention by him was required. The revelation indicated Elizabeth now believed otherwise. “Then what?”
“The Prince Regent will be informed of everything we know.”
“Even us?” I asked.
“Everything.”
“I don’t understand what’s changed.”
“Ten mages are what. Three from our own palace. While they were supposed to be helping us, they were helping themselves.”
Kendra and I were regaining our normal breathing, although my mind hadn’t quite recovered, yet. There were so many variables, so much new information—aside from the fact that only the day before I’d watched an entire city destroyed by a creature most didn’t believe had ever existed. It was too much to take in at once.
Kendra leaned closer as if to keep anyone nearby from overhearing her, despite that there were no others in sight. “Answer this. What if the king’s sickness was caused by the mages?”
All the ideas I’d had while riding to warn them flooded back. I’d been right, but only just. Kendra’s question revealed so much more. When coupled with what my thinking had determined, we had not finished anything—we’d forced a volcano to erupt.
We climbed off our horses and walked towards Mercia as we talked. Kendra was taking the lead, and it somehow became my duty to follow and listen. It was not a reversal of roles, but never before had she acted in such a strong manner.