Chaos Reigning: The Five Kingdoms Book 10

by Toby Neighbors

  Taverns and inns were fine places for entertainment, but they were also useful for gathering information. All Mansel had to do was listen and he was soon caught up on all the current events of the city. Ferno’s roar as the big green dragon left Zollin on the high tower of the castle was heard even in the tavern where Mansel slowly drank his ale and listened to the local gossip. Bets were being taken on how long the new king would live. King Hausey was not as popular outside of the city, where many of the residents of Orrock lived and plied their trades. The refuse from the city was heaped on the urban sprawl that surrounded the city walls and the residents who lived in hopes of shelter within those walls should danger arise were forced to deal with garbage from those wealthy enough to have homes in the city proper.

  People immediately began talking about the dragon. Most of the patrons even went outside to see if they could spot the huge creature. Mansel was curious, but he knew there wouldn’t be much to see in the night. The dragon’s roar meant that either Zollin or Brianna had returned to the city, and while Mansel would have loved to see them, he knew they would most likely go to the castle where he wouldn’t be welcome. In fact, just being seen with him could taint their reputation, so he stayed where he was. It didn’t take long to learn that the dragon, as much as any of the people in the tavern could make out, was a massive creature. It had landed on the castle tower and then taken off again. Mansel knew the big dragon was Zollin’s, which was about as far as his knowledge of the magnificent creatures went. He smiled as he thought of the young wizard’s healing powers. Those who had money on the king’s demise were going to be disappointed, Mansel thought.

  When he returned to the cottage he was surprised to find Jossah awake. The old man was sitting in his rocking chair stroking a fat cat which feasted on the mice and rats that were everywhere in the sprawl around the city walls. The cat glanced up at Mansel, then returned to its nap on Jossah’s lap.

  “You’re awake,” Mansel said.

  “Yes,” Jossah replied. “I wanted to see my patient one last time.”

  “Is that your way of letting me know I’ve outstayed my welcome?” Mansel asked with a smile.

  “No, of course not. Anyone in need can find refuge here. I’d be happy for you to stay, but that isn’t going to happen is it?”

  “I’m gathering the things to help Danella and Vyctor.”

  “That too will have to wait,” Jossah said.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You heard the dragon’s roar. It’s an omen. Change is coming. Since the war we’ve been in a lull, but the tension in the city continues to build. I don’t have to be a prophet to know that things are about to reach a tipping point. And whether you like it or not, you have a part to play in the coming days.”

  “All I want to do is help Danella,” Mansel lied.

  The fact was he wanted to help Quinn, but he couldn’t do that alone. He would have given his life for Zollin or Brianna, but he didn’t think he would even have an opportunity to see them.

  “Be that as it may, when the floods come, many are swept up in the dangerous waters. I want to make sure you are prepared.”

  The old man changed the bandage on Mansel’s leg, even though the bleeding had stopped and the last bandage still seemed clean enough to Mansel. The healer gave every bump and bruise a quick visual inspection, then he yawned and returned to his chair. Mansel was tired, but he had trouble sleeping. He lay on the narrow bed, feeling guilty for having the ability to stretch out while Jossah sat snoring in the rocking chair.

  He managed to sleep for a few hours, but the healer’s words echoed in his mind. If trouble was coming to the city, Mansel wanted to get Danella out before things got bad. At dawn he was up and out, determined to get the last of their supplies and send word to the castle that he was ready to leave, but before he could make his way to the livery, runners from the city came shouting the news of King Hausey’s death. At first Mansel couldn’t believe it. Zollin was in the castle. He wouldn’t have let the king die. He knew something was wrong and fear for his friend drove him away from the livery and back toward the city.

  He bought a cloak with a hood and joined the throng of people going into the city through the wide gates. There were guards everywhere, soldiers mostly, standing watch at the city gates, but Mansel kept his face down and did his best just to blend in. No one tried to stop him and so Mansel made his way toward the castle. He moved slowly, careful not to take a direct course to the castle. In the city market he overheard people talking about the wizard. Rumors were flying about the king’s death, but in most of them Zollin took the blame. Mansel felt a lump of fear forming in his stomach. If Zollin was being blamed for the king’s death, he might need help. And if Quinn was involved at all, Zollin would certainly need to be warned about his father.

  By the time Mansel reached the castle there were shouts that the murderous wizard was already inside. Abandoning his disguise, Mansel rushed through the outer courtyard. The front entrance was jammed with people, but Mansel raced around to the side. He had to avoid a huge pile of freshly cut hay and a group of servants that were lingering outside. Running past them he raced inside and headed up the stairs. He had no way of knowing where to go exactly, but he knew the king’s quarters were on the upper floors.

  He was at the third floor landing when a strong hand grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the narrow stairwell that was generally only used by the castle servants. Mansel started to draw his sword, but he recognized the big, round eyes that stared at him. He waved for Mansel to follow him and then led Mansel to a small room with a bolt on the outside. Vyctor slid the bolt aside and opened the door. Danella’s face was puffy from crying, but she looked relieved to find Mansel at the doorway.

  “What’s happened?” Mansel asked.

  “King Hausey is dead,” Danella said, bursting into tears.

  “Where’s Zollin?”

  “Zollin? He murdered the king.”

  “No, he didn’t,” Mansel said. “He’s being framed by Branock.”

  “How do you know that?” Danella asked.

  “Think about it... Zollin crowned Hausey. It’s the only explanation that makes sense. Branock can blame Zollin, then take the crown.”

  “We have to leave!” Danella said. “I won’t marry Branock. I won’t!”

  “Calm down. Right now we have to help Zollin.”

  “Why?” she asked, her voice on the verge of hysteria.

  “Because he’s the only person who can fight Branock. If you’re going to have any hope of living without fear, we have to help Zollin.”

  “He’s on the roof, but the King’s Guard have him trapped there,” Danella said. “There’s no way he can leave the castle alive. Not with everyone blaming him for the king’s death.”

  “Don’t worry about Zollin,” Mansel said. “Just mourn the king. I’ll be back for you soon. Trust me.”

  “Be careful,” she said, grabbing his arm.

  Mansel nodded, then sprinted back to the servants’ stairwell. He was gasping for breath when he burst out onto the roof. His wounded leg burned like it was on fire, but with Death’s Eye in his hand his fatigue and pain seemed miles away. To his horror Mansel saw Quinn hammering at Zollin with a sword. There was blood on Zollin’s shirt and spreading beneath him on the stone roof. A roar sounded so loudly that Mansel instinctively cowered, but the huge green dragon wasn’t coming for him. A glance across the rooftop showed the entire regimen of the King’s Guard forming a shield wall in a vain effort to protect themselves from the huge, green beast. Fire shot from the dragon’s mouth and billowed down over the soldiers. Mansel saw Branock cowering with the King's Guard and part of him wanted to race across the rooftop and murder the evil wizard, but he couldn’t leave Zollin alone.

  Quinn was distracted for a moment by the dragon, but he turned in time to see Mansel racing toward him. Unlike their last encounter, Mansel had no intention of holding back or trying to keep from killing Quinn. Man
sel’s mentor may have been under Branock’s evil spell, but he was attacking Zollin and Mansel knew Quinn would rather die than hurt his son. Mansel jumped into the air and swung his sword hard in an overhead chop. It was an easy enough attack to block, but Mansel didn’t intend to try and kill Quinn with one blow, instead he used the attack to drive his mentor away from Zollin.

  Quinn raised his sword but the momentum of Mansel’s strike knocked him backwards several feet. Mansel quickly stepped over Zollin and held his ground.

  “Stop this madness, Quinn!” Mansel said.

  “I should have killed you when I had the chance,” Quinn snarled.

  “You never did,” Mansel shouted as he drove Quinn backward with a vicious thrust.

  Quinn’s fury took hold of him and he screamed a savage war cry that echoed across the castle rooftop. He slashed and stabbed at Mansel in a flurry of blows that were faster than Mansel had ever seen his mentor move. Luckily for Mansel, Quinn’s attack was as familiar as breathing and Mansel held his ground, parrying blow after blow.

  Over Quinn’s shoulder Mansel could see the soldiers retreating from the dragon’s fiery attack. Branock had tried in vain to drive the dragon away, but his magic was no match for the dragon’s fury. The great green beast hovered just out of spear range and blasted the roof with a continuous stream of fire.

  Quinn was sweating as he tried desperately to strike Mansel down, but his fury was slowly being exhausted by the young warrior's impenetrable defense. Mansel swayed back and forth, wielding his sword with both hands, but never backing up. Zollin lay on the rooftop behind him and Mansel desperately wanted to help him, but the only thing the young warrior could do was protect his friend.

  “You’ll not beat me, not today,” Mansel said.

  Quinn screamed again and renewed his attack, but the effort was cut short as the huge green dragon swooped toward him. The King’s Guard had fled the roof along with Branock, and now the massive green dragon was hurtling toward Mansel. Fear felt like a million icy needles stabbing into Mansel’s back and brain. His legs felt weak and he couldn’t keep his eyes open, but he didn’t falter. He held his ground, even though Quinn dove to the ground, covering his head.

  Mansel could feel the heat of the huge beast as it landed on the rooftop. When he opened his eyes the dragon was right beside him, its gaze swinging between Mansel and Quinn.

  “Get Zollin to safety,” Mansel managed to say, his voice sounding strangely odd. “An hour’s flight from here. I’ll find you.”

  The dragon growled angrily, but Mansel turned and picked up Zollin. The young wizard’s chest and back were covered with blood, but he was breathing. Mansel felt tears stinging his eyes. They had started as rivals, both serving as apprentices to Quinn in Tranaugh Shire, but Zollin had embraced Mansel like a brother, better than Mansel’s own family had ever done. The young wizard had fought beside Mansel, had healed him, had rescued him time and again, but most of all Zollin had always accepted Mansel just the way he was. He lifted Zollin’s broken body and slung it across the dragon’s massive shoulders.

  “Be careful,” Mansel warned.

  The dragon growled menacingly and Mansel stepped back. Fire poured from the dragon’s mouth in a bright orange river that flowed across the rooftop. The dragon could have incinerated Quinn easily, but instead it blew its fiery breath away from Zollin’s father, then jumped into the sky.

  Quinn was on his feet in a flash, charging toward Mansel, but the young warrior had no desire to continue the fight. He knew that if he didn’t find a way to escape he would be forced to hurt Quinn, and he might end up surrounded by the King’s Guard. Still holding Death’s Eye he too turned and ran, straight for the parapet that surrounded the rooftop. He was relatively certain the large pile of hay was below, but he didn’t have time to stop and look. Trusting his instincts, Mansel jumped onto the thick stone railing and flung himself off the roof.

  Chapter 25

  The small group had made good time moving south. Toomis and the horses looked exhausted, despite the fact that Lorik let them rest through the nights. He knew that the outcasts could have continued their trek south at least every other night, but he didn’t mind if their journey took them a bit longer than it might otherwise. Lorik was desperate for Spector to return. He didn’t like waiting and he wanted to secure his southern flank quickly so that he could turn his attention to the kingdoms in the north.

  It was late afternoon when the ghostly figure of Spector came drifting across the barren plain toward them. They had skirted the ruins of the Grand City and were traveling southeast toward Merchant’s City. There were small settlements near any source of water, but very little green vegetation could be found. Most of the settlements had been abandoned, and some showed signs of having been attacked by the witch’s scorpion monsters, but not all. Most of the evil beasts had gone north and while Osla had been the wealthiest of all the kingdoms, it was also the least populated.

  They saw very few people, but a few outcasts watched from a distance as they moved past. Lorik never slowed. He wasn’t on a mission to gather more followers. He knew the outcasts would come to him on their own when they heard of his vision and his deeds. His focus was on finding the Queen of the South and dealing with her, but more importantly, he wanted to win the dragon over. He could face the armies of the north with his own outcast soldiers, but that would risk many of the lives he had sworn to protect. There was no way to avoid the fighting, the southern kingdoms were too valuable to be ignored by Baskla and Yelsia, but with a dragon he could make short work of any force that tried to attack them. All he needed was to find out how to lure the beast to his side.

  “Hold,” Lorik said in a loud voice. The outcast soldiers behind him slowed, then stopped, spreading out in a defensive formation the way he had taught them. “Keep watch and get some water. We’ll be pushing on soon.”

  Toomis took the opportunity to see to his horses, while the outcasts drank from canteens and chewed dried fruits from their packs.

  “What have you discovered?” Lorik asked.

  “The queen and her army move this way. You’ll meet her tomorrow,” Spector said.

  “What of the dragon?”

  “The rumors are true. A great black dragon serves the queen.

  “How is that possible?”

  “She has power over the beast. It cannot help but obey her commands.”

  “Did you find out how she controls the dragon?”

  “Yes,” Spector said with a hideous smile that reminded Lorik of a skull. “She has a golden crown with the beast’s name inscribed on the inside.”

  “How does that give her power over the dragon?” Lorik asked.

  “I don’t know, but it does.”

  “How many men does she have with her?”

  “At least three hundred.”

  Lorik shook his head. He knew he had to get the crown from the queen, but he also knew he couldn’t simply send Spector to kill her. Once the spell was broken that held the dragon to the queen, the beast might fly away forever and Lorik had no way of knowing if he could ever get the dragon back.

  “Will they fight for her?” he asked.

  “They fear the dragon. They will fight for her as long as she controls the beast. She is a cruel woman. She makes her men fight one another to the death for her entertainment and then feeds their bodies to her dragon.”

  “It has a taste for human flesh, then.”

  “It does.”

  “We can use that. Okay, I have a plan. Let’s move.”

  They traveled well into the night, looking for any type of terrain that would give Lorik an advantage if he had to fight. There wasn’t much to choose from, but a small stream would allow his own men a slight edge if the queen’s army attacked them. Toomis was sent to find a shield for Lorik in one of the villages. He donned his armor and made sure his swords were ready if he was forced to fight.

  The night passed quickly and the next morning they were forced to wait. Toomi
s returned an hour after dawn. He had a large round shield made of thin, dented metal. Lorik couldn’t tell exactly what type, but he guessed it would work. Preparing to fight a dragon was a new experience. In his old life as a teamster in Hassell Point, he’d fought mud dragons. They were swamp animals with long snouts filled with dozens of pointed teeth. They were covered in a tough hide that was difficult to cut even with a sharp blade, and they had thick, muscular tails that could propel them swiftly through the water or break a man’s leg. He always respected the mud dragons—they were ferocious, but they were still normal animals in comparison with a real dragon.

  It was almost noon when the queen’s forces came into view. Lorik’s enhanced vision saw the group marching across the barren plain long before anyone else. He counted nearly three hundred troops and, from the clouds of dust rising up behind them, he could tell there were wagons in their supply train.

  “It is time,” Lorik told Spector. “You must stay close to the queen, she is the key. When I call, strike her down and bring the crown to me, but we have to wait until the dragon is close. The last thing we want is for the beast to escape.”

  “What if it won’t obey you?”

  “That’s a chance I have to take. I don’t see any other way.”

  “We could just kill her. We could kill them all.”

  “That solves nothing. These people had nothing to do with Vera’s murder.”

  “They threaten you,” Spector argued.

  “Only in word, not in deed. You said yourself they only serve their queen out of fear of the dragon. I have a feeling they will gladly join us.”

  “And if they don’t, you may all be slaughtered.”

  “We shall see. Now go and stay out of sight.”

  Spector hissed as he glided away, but the wraith gave no indication that he wouldn’t obey. With each passing moment the queen’s army drew closer. When they were a few hundred yards away, Lorik crossed the stream and approached. The queen’s army came to a halt. The soldiers spread out into a long line. They had a variety of weapons: swords, spears, clubs, and a few battle axes. Some had shields, others wore stiff leather armor, but they were a formidable enemy as they spread out into two equal lines on either side of their queen.