Nath rubbed the back of his head. “I think it does, but I don’t feel empty.”
“Oh, you will, give it a day or two of nothing happening. You’ll be lost. Just imagine now, a life of honest work and three hot meals a day. Would you be satisfied with that?”
“I never thought about it that way, but I suppose not.”
“It would be as boring as a conversation with a fence post. Life is fullest when it’s filled with adventure. The days are longer, different, and full of surprises.” He handed Nath the reins. “Do you mind?”
“No.”
“Take Hacksaw, as he’s a fine example. He’s a seasoned man, past his prime, but you can see in his eyes there is excitement. He’s spent a decade or more at home, doing the same chores, chopping wood, and probably eating the same bland food. But now, he tastes something different every day.”
Nath nodded.
Darkken continued, pointing his finger at Nath and wagging his wrist. “Hacksaw didn’t have to come with us. He didn’t have to come with you from Huskan to Riegelwood for that matter, but he saw the empty road and wanted adventured. It’s addictive.”
“He just wanted to help, I’m sure. I needed it,” Nath replied.
“Oh, no doubt. That’s what most men tell their wives before they set out to do something foolish. Eh, does he have family?”
“No. Just his mother.”
“Interesting. Anyway, he couldn’t be happier that you came along to lead him out of the wagon-wheel rut of life. He might not show it, but he’s as warm and pink as a piglet’s belly within. I know it.”
Nath huffed a laugh. “I think you are right.”
Rubbing his hands together and blowing into them, Darkken said, “The point is, when adventuring such as this gets in your blood, it stays with you. You won’t ever be a domesticated man, which, being what you are, I’m certain that’s not what you are meant for. This kind of life is… addictive.”
“I think I could have lived without the imprisonment and torture.”
“Aha, yes, I suppose that was an awful situation, but at least now you know that you are a survivor. Most people break and stay imprisoned forever, even when they are free.”
“Dragoni Sephner Phi.”
“What does that mean?” Darkken asked.
“Dragons are always free. We say that back in Dragon Home.”
“I see.” Darkken’s angular jawline tightened. “I suppose that has to do with flying.”
“Well, not all dragons have wings.”
“No, and apparently not all dragons look like dragons, either.” He slapped Nath on the back. “Do you believe in destiny?”
CHAPTER 15
Maefon thundered down the road for about a half mile before she broke right into the tall wildflowers and grasses. The Brothers of the Wind raced one another at full speed behind her. They were all men, not nearly as tall as Hacksaw, but had long-legged strides. Hacksaw followed after them at a trot, keeping them in his line of sight. His gut gurgled, and the jostling ride, though slow, only made his headache worse. “This was a bad idea.”
He was relieved to see that Maefon led her horse to a halt on a rolling hillside that overlooked a pond. The elves caught up with her, slowing as their long-braided hair fell to their shoulders. For some reason, Hacksaw was winded when he finally caught up to them. The Brothers of the Wind, wearing leather woodsman garb dyed green and black, didn’t look his way or say a word to one another. They slipped behind him in a half circle, sliding their short hunting bows from their shoulders.
Maefon’s eyes were on the pond, watching the geese skim across the surface. “A lovely place, isn’t it?” she said without turning to look at him.
Hacksaw put his hand on the shaft of his spear that was in a leather sleeve looped to his saddle. The elves hemmed him in, standing quiet as deer. His heart pounded in his ears. “A fine day for hunting. Do you hunt, Maefon?”
She spoke with her chin up, “We all do, though I’m not as great a woodsman as the brothers. As you can see, they are eager to hunt.” She pointed across the pond. Wild gazelle with twisted horns stood on the bank with their faces dipped to the waters. “They are a good sign. We should eat well tonight and probably tomorrow.” She turned in the saddle. Eyes looking through Hacksaw, she motioned with her thumb side to side. “Whisk, whisk,” she said.
Hacksaw’s heart jumped in his throat. He started to pull out his spear.
The brothers split, slinking through the tall grass and making their way around the pond, arrows notched on their bowstrings.
Hacksaw let out a breath and sank into his saddle. Thank goodness they went another way.
“Did you want to join them, Hacksaw?” she asked. “I see you have your spear ready. Do you really think that you could take down a gazelle with that heavy shaft?”
“I could if those gazelles were goblins.” Or elves, for that matter.
CHAPTER 16
“I know what destiny is,” Nath said to Darkken as the wagon rumbled over the roadway. In the far distance, his keen dragon sight could make out Hacksaw and Maefon, standing on a gentle slope, talking to one another. “Why?”
“I hope my question didn’t come across as offensive,” Darkken said. “That wasn’t my intent. Obviously you know about destiny, seeing as how you are destined to be a king one day.”
Nath’s eyes narrowed. It was true that one day he would take his father’s place on the throne, but that seemed like an impossibility now. After all, his departure from Dragon Home had led him to an exile that would last one hundred years. Taking the throne was the furthest thing from his mind. “I’ve never thought about my role as destiny. Rather, it seemed more like the natural order of things. I’m his son, therefore I take the throne when he’s gone. Though, I don’t see that happening for, well, at least another thousand years.”
“Do you have any other brothers and sisters?” Darkken asked. He twisted one of the heavy copper rings on his finger.
“Many, actually, some of which I haven’t even met. They are all dragons, however, and for the most part, they shun me.”
“So, some of them are older, then?”
“Most of them, actually. Why?”
“I don’t mean to pry, but doesn’t the oldest usually assume the throne of the king?” Darkken reached into the back of the wagon and grabbed a canteen. “Drink?”
“No,” Nath replied. “In Dragon Home, the heir to the throne is a dragon that was born a man. That’s how I’ve been taught.”
“So, at one time, your father was a man too, like you?”
Nath tilted his head, eyes fastening on the clouds. “I’ve never really thought about it, and he’s never told me about that. I guess that would be true. Huh.”
“It’s pretty deep, isn’t it?”
Nath nodded. “I suppose it is.”
Darkken took a long drink of water from the canteen. “My point about destiny is that it seems that many things in life happen for a reason. The sages say that much of life is preordained. That we are living in pages that have already been written in some universal book.” He tossed the canteen back into the wagon. “What I’m doing a horrible job at trying to explain is that I think that the crossing of our paths is destiny, Nath.”
“You really think that?”
“Well, I gave it some thought last night, and well, Maefon and I have become affectionately close in our relationship. We’ve been going after the Caligin for some time, but in truth, our hopes of finding Chazzan and his brood have been dwindling. Then you came along, and well, it just seems that the tables have turned back in our favor. I don’t know how to thank you, but I’m grateful.”
Nath pondered the man’s words. Destiny made for a fine antidote to Hacksaw’s concerns. “Darkken, I agree with you, I think. So, you think that fate has tipped over in our favor.”
“I just think about all that you have been through. Two years you spent suffering in a misaligned slaver hole. The scales were heavily weighted
against you, but since you persevered, I think life is… eh, balancing out. It can’t always be bad when you are doing the right thing. I feel strongly that nature’s alignments will correct themselves. Now, you are back on track. We are back on track. Does that make sense, or am I just being silly?”
“Your words seem as wise as my father’s. I never thought I’d miss them, but I like hearing someone that speaks with sense again.”
“Ha! You flatter me.” He shoved Nath in the shoulder. “I feel that I’ve found a kindred spirit in you. You are passionate about doing the right thing. When you objected at that wedding, well, it stoked the fires in me. I’m ashamed to admit, at that moment, I hesitated, uncertain what to do. I chose to play it safe, and that could have been fatal.”
“It was fatal for many,” Nath said, frowning.
“Don’t feel guilty about the lost Brothers of the Wind. They would die for the Caligin. Or to take down the Caligin. We all would. I have to say, I really feel that with you and Maefon, we can turn this chase around.”
“And Hacksaw.”
“Of course, the legionnaire’s stalwart presence goes without saying. I’m honored to have him on the trail with us, but he seems so rigid.”
Maefon and Hacksaw waited on the road that gently snaked through the grass about a half mile away. “I think it’s all happened very fast for him. I don’t think he’d be easily sold on the destiny story. He’s cautious,” Nath said.
“And wise to be so. That all works in our favor. We can’t take this journey lightly, which I can be guilty of on occasion.” Darkken tapped his ring on the bench. “Give us some time, and we should win him over. That’s what I like about a long journey. You can learn a lot about people on the trip. It can be very… revealing.”
CHAPTER 17
The next two days of travel took them past the Settlement, located north of Dragon Home. Without venturing into the town, they refilled their water supply in a natural spring that flowed down from the mountains and fed into the city. From a lofty perch in the rocks, Nath could see the town called the Settlement spread across a rich green valley surrounded by farms and meadows. There weren’t any buildings, such as wood shacks, barns, or stone cottages with clay tiles or straw thatched together to make a roof. Instead, the tens of thousands of people that thrived there lived in tents made from different colors of fabrics. They were scattered all over, with no organization at all. It was as if nomadic people wandered in, pitched a tent where they would, and lived. Many hammocks hung between the trees as well.
Hacksaw joined Nath on the top of the crag. “It reminds me of the days when I did a lot of soldiering campaigns. All of the legionnaires had tents, but we didn’t pitch them all about like the wind scattering fallen leaves. Nice, neat rows. A perfect order. We could make camp or pick up and go in minutes. All you needed would fit on your horse. It was freedom.” He pointed toward the middle of the odd establishment. “Those bigger tents can hold about six knights. We used ones like those, because I was a knight, you know?” he added unashamedly.
“You still are,” Nath replied.
“Yes, once a Lord of Thunder, always a Lord of Thunder. I tell you what though, we didn’t pitch any tents anything the size of those ones.” Hacksaw was eyeing the monstrous tents that stood several stories high and were dozens of yards wide and just as deep. “They say it’s like a small city inside those tents. The fabric is stretched out over a wooden framework. That’s where the sultans live. They rule the Settlement. Strange folk.”
“Perhaps our travels will lead us there,” Nath said. A squirrel ran out of the woodland and stopped right in front of his toes. It looked right up at him with big brown eyes. “Well, hello there, little fella.” He reached down and picked up the squirrel. It scrambled up the length of his arm and parked on Nath’s shoulder. “It seems I have a new companion. Squirrel, meet Hacksaw. Hacksaw, meet squirrel.”
“How do you… ack, what am I talking to a squirrel for?” Hacksaw said.
The squirrel jumped off Nath’s shoulder, hit the ground running, and disappeared over the edge of the rocky crag.
“You scared him,” Nath said.
“He’s a varmint. Them elves was probably about to eat him. They’ve butchered about every varmint we’ve laid eyes on since we left Riegelwood.”
“Oh, you’re exaggerating.”
“Don’t you find it odd that elves, who place a high value on natural life, are slaughtering hooved beasts like hungry ogres? They’ve filled up a wagon of meat. No one needs that much meat.”
“They are selling it. It’s good for relations.” Nath combed his fingers through his hair. “And all meat is good meat. Many don’t have enough of it, and they are sharing.”
“They are elves, and I’m saying it’s odd.”
“Have you not softened up on them yet? They haven’t done anything wrong.”
“No, but they don’t speak. The elves I’ve met are always more than happy to blather about their customs and their amazing accomplishments in Elome. I’m not saying I don’t like them, they are very polite about it, but it’s still bragging.”
“Then you should be glad they aren’t talking, right?”
Hacksaw grunted. “Let’s get moving.”
CHAPTER 18
The small party of men and elves made it past the city of Advent during the next day and kept moving. Slaver Town was more than a day away, but Nath couldn’t sleep when they stopped to camp that night. He’d stand watch while the others slept, keeping his thoughts to himself. There was a great concern that something bad could have happened to his friends enslaved in Slaver Town. Calypsa, the half dryad, had risked it all to save him. She’d even talked the very reluctant four-armed bugbear, Rond, into helping. There was Homer the musician too. The man was barely fit to survive in the harsh environment. Nath hoped he’d made it. There was also Radagan, once an overweight cook who turned into a burly guard, who aided him. All gave some on account of Nath.
With the late-evening winds stirring his hair, he felt a presence in the sky. He lifted his eyes skyward. Just below the clouds, a bird-like creature with two vulture-like heads glided in a broad circle above him. Its wings were long and feathered. The silhouette of its body was pitch-black in the darkness. Standing knee-deep in tall grasses, Nath watched it for a long time. It was the third time he’d seen it on their trip. It was always at night, and the flying beast was too far up for most people to see, except Nath’s eyes were anything but ordinary. He swore he could feel the creature staring right back at him. It seemed familiar. It beat its wings, lifting its body into the clouds, and disappeared.
“Another fine evening, isn’t it?” Darkken said. The sizable man stood just behind Nath’s shoulder, staring at the clouds.
Surprised, Nath said, “Where did you come from?” He had very keen senses, but with the stiff winds rushing by his ears and his attention on the weird bird in the sky, he’d become distracted.
“It’s easy to slip in on a man’s back side when he faces the wind. I let nature create cover for me—a little skill I picked up from working with the elves over the years. The real trick is to make the move when your prey is distracted.”
“So, I’m prey?”
“Of course not, but you made for good practice.” Darkken yawned and rubbed his eyes. “Oh, I’m tired, but I could not sleep. I hope you don’t mind me joining you?”
“No, never. It would be good to talk to someone other than myself.”
“You sound like a man with much on his mind.”
“Slaver Town is a place I had hoped to never see again. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that the closer we get, the more on edge I am.” Nath clutched and unclutched his hand covered in the Gauntlet of Goam. “I’ll be better equipped this time around, however, and all of those filthy orcs will feel me, but they won’t see me coming until it’s too late.”
“So, what is your strategy, Nath?”
He looked Darkken dead in the eye. “Simple. We’ll charge
through the main gate, slay all of the slavers, and liberate the oppressed.”
Darkken arched an eyebrow. “You’re serious?”
“Of course. Why, with our swords, hammer, and the elves, I’m certain we can overcome the impossible odds. I’ve seen you swing your steel like a hummingbird flapping its wings. Twenty orcs can’t handle you. We’ll make mincemeat out of them.”
Darkken scratched his head. “I like the brazen plan, I really do, but I’m not so sure that is the best course of—”
Nath started laughing. “I’m just jesting with you, Darkken. I’m eager, but I’m not that big a fool. I got you though, didn’t I?”
“You did.” Darkken tossed his head back. “Ha ha! I’m glad to see that you have lightened up a good bit. The time on the trail is good for that. But seriously, we need to plan, and I’m certain that you have something in mind.”
“I hate to admit it, but I don’t have the best plan in mind. I’ve been thinking about it every day. There are two sections to Slaver Town. The prisoners are kept on the northern side of the city. The Slave Lords and their families live on the southern side. Before I escaped, there was talk of a large washout that led out of the city from the south. I have a blind spot when it comes to that area.” Nath resumed his walk with Darkken by his side. “The first thing I would do would be to slip inside and find out where Calypsa, Rond, and Homer are being kept. I don’t think Rond and Homer will be difficult to locate. I’d say they are in the Barn.”
“The Barn?”
“Well, the Barn is the prison for the slaves. It’s a barn-like structure with prisoner cells inside. Slaver Town wasn’t always Slaver Town. It used to be something else.”
“I’m curious to see this place but not so eager at the same time.”
Deadly_The Odyssey of Nath Dragon Page 6