The Captive

by Paul Lauritsen

  “And I’m a defender,” L’tel rumbled. “I am used to protecting my friends and family from the unknown. The plains held many dangers that only came out at night.”

  “Then I guess the rest of us will turn in,” Khollo decided. “Thanks Sven, L’tel.”

  The two young men nodded in reply, then began discussing their plan in an undertone. Khollo went to Kanin, removed the saddle from the prone dragon, and spread his bedroll by the fire. The other dragons shuffled closer and lay down in a perimeter of scaly bodies, protecting their wounded comrade and the humans they were bonded with. Sven drew the first watch and climbed outside the ring, finding a hidden place to watch for approaching trouble. In moments, the camp was silent save for the crackling fire, and Khollo’s tired mind and body quickly succumbed to sleep.

  The next morning they all rose early, Halena, Sven, and L’tel eager to get underway. The young Keepers gathered their supplies and weapons, adjusted their saddles, and generally checked and triple-checked anything and everything that might be critical if they were discovered and attacked during the scouting mission.

  Khollo left them to these tasks, instead focusing on inspecting Kanin’s many wounds and assessing the dragon’s condition. His hide had been pierced by no less than forty-seven arrows, and his wings had at least two dozen punctures. The fact the dragon was even alive after taking so much damage was staggering, but Khollo was thankful. Throughout his examination, Kanin remained asleep, stirring slightly every now and then, tail twitching in agitation.

  “Ayrmi says he will live,” Aralye reported, kneeling beside Khollo as he checked the weights holding Kanin’s wings still. “She is amazed by his resilience.”

  Khollo smiled grimly. “Kanin’s used to this sort of thing, unfortunately. When he was young he was a captive of the vertaga, and they beat him regularly. Then, when we attacked their stronghold at Dun Carryl, he was nearly crushed in the avalanche we created, the one that buried their mountain city in rubble. It took months for him to recover from his injuries, since we didn’t have access to any of the plants or medicines we used yesterday.”

  “Hopefully his recovery this time will be faster,” Aralye mused. “We need him back in action.”

  “To get away from Relam?”

  “To deal with this silver dragon.”

  “That too,” Relam agreed. “I keep wondering where it could have come from.”

  “You said you had your suspicions.”

  “I do.”

  “Can you tell us?”

  Khollo hesitated, then shook his head. “Better if I don’t, I think. I don’t want the others locked in on any one answer to our problems, or expecting to find something on their scouting mission and overlooking other things because of it. No, it is better I keep my suspicions to myself for the time being.”

  “Should we warn them about your suspicions?” Aralye pressed. “Is there anything about your ideas that could put them in harm’s way if they are oblivious?”

  Khollo frowned thoughtfully. “Perhaps, but not so long as they follow my instructions, avoid being seen, and hunt only at night. If they do that, they will be fine.”

  “If you say so.”

  Khollo nodded. “I do,” he replied with a grin. Aralye offered a slight smile in reply, then reached over and touched Kanin’s wing lightly, noting a patch of new growth. “The poultice is working!”

  “Yes,” Khollo agreed, “It is. Wing membrane is slow to grow without help, but we did a good job yesterday.” He turned and looked at Aralye directly. “You did a good job yesterday. Not just with helping to bandage Kanin’s wounds, but before. None of the others could have rallied the four of you into a rescue mission, or pulled it off successfully. Only you, with your confidence, intelligence, and stubborn perseverance could have done that. Thank you.”

  Aralye flushed slightly and shrugged. “It was nothing, really. You kept telling me I needed to believe in myself, and Ayrmi. When we first realized you might be in trouble, I was scared. I thought if you had been trapped and attacked, there was no way we could survive.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and tilted her head thoughtfully. “But you believed in us previously, before we even believed in ourselves. So, I thought, maybe it was time I do the same. That I trust what you had taught us and believe we could pull this off. As a team.”

  “And you did.”

  “And we did,” the huntress agreed. “With our limited skill and experience and a healthy dose of luck.”

  Khollo laughed. “Luck or not, I’m proud of what the four of you did. But I’m proudest of you, Aralye. You’ve grown in these past few months.”

  “Thank you, Khollo.” She sighed, gazing out across the sea. “I never expected to live like this,” she murmured, “Flying to new adventures. Being an outlaw on the run, visiting ancient ruins on deserted islands and talking to dragons.” She glanced at where Ayrmi lay, not far away, a tender smile spreading across her face. “Watching a dragon hatchling enter the world, and helping it grow and learn.” She looked back at Khollo finally. “It’s a far cry from hunting in a swamp,” she said simply. “And yet, at the same time, it’s familiar.”

  “It feels right,” Khollo said. “When I first explored Ethgalin, it felt strangely like coming home.”

  “Yes,” she agreed, “Even though I had never seen the island before, and only heard of the Keepers. The moment I set foot on the shore, I was overcome by a feeling of rightness.”

  “That could have just been from the end of the seasickness,” Khollo offered, grinning.

  The huntress gave him a light shove. “Maybe a little,” she agreed. “But, Ethgalin is home now. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. And I wouldn’t trade what the five of us have built for anything either. We’re a team now, and a good one.”

  “That was the goal,” Khollo agreed, “To bring together four young people with incredible potential, and to see if they could grow into something greater.”

  “We’re not done yet,” Aralye murmured. “Not by a long shot. We have much to learn.”

  “But you are on the right path,” Khollo finished.

  “Yes,” she agreed.

  “Khollo!” Sven called. “We’re ready to be off. Any last words of advice?”

  Khollo got to his feet and trudged to where the others were waiting, already settled on the backs of their dragons. “Don’t get caught,” he warned. “Remember what I said: hunt at night, and from high in the sky. Trust your dragons. And check in every five days.”

  “Great,” Sven said, “Where do we start?”

  “The Fells,” Khollo replied immediately. “Those mountains have a habit of hiding many dangerous secrets.”

  “Then we’ll ferret them out,” L’tel growled. “I don’t like the idea of someone using a rogue dragon to turn the entire Sthan Kingdom against us so easily.”

  “Neither do I,” Halena agreed.

  “We’ll regain their trust,” Khollo promised. “I know Relam, and I saw conflict in him yesterday when he ordered the attack. He only did what he did because it was the clear way to protect his people.”

  “Clear if you’re an imbecile and a bungler,” Sven muttered darkly. “We never did anything to them, and they up and attack you and nearly kill Kanin. Brilliant.”

  “Kanin will live,” Khollo reminded them. “So let go of any anger or resentment you have based on that score. If I were in Relam’s place, I might have done the same thing. He is a good king, Sven. His responsibilities and loyalties are just different from ours.”

  “He doesn’t value justice?”

  He values the lives of the people he is responsible for,” Halena replied. “Above all else.”

  “Yes,” Khollo agreed. “Which is why part of me thinks he will wait to see what I do before he sends any more soldiers after us. But just in case, we all need to be on our guard. The whole world knows there are five dragons now. We no longer have the element of surprise.”

  “Great,” Sven muttered. “That was
one of our biggest advantages against the silver dragon, if he didn’t see us coming.”

  “We’re not fighting it yet,” Khollo said sternly. “This is a scouting mission, not an invasion of the Fells. Right?”

  “Right,” Halena agreed. “Anything else? Daylight is wasting.”

  “Go,” Khollo replied, signaling for the dragons to rise. “Go, search the South, and report back. I’ll be waiting for you. But be careful, and stay out of trouble.”

  “He was looking at you when he said that, Sven!” L’tel shouted over the dragons’ beating wings.

  “No he wasn’t!”

  “How would you know? You weren’t even looking!”

  Khollo shook his head at the good-natured banter, then shaded his eyes and watched the dragons and their riders take to the sky and veer to the south. He watched until they were distant, rapidly-vanishing specks in the sky, then returned to his place by the roaring fire they had maintained throughout the night and into the morning.

  “And now we wait,” he murmured, trying to quell the nervous anxiety building within him.

  Aralye nodded and sat down next to him. “And now we wait.”

  Chapter 40:

  Aftermath

  When Relam rose the morning after the attack and walked out to the front of the palace, the destruction was no better than it had been when he looked upon it the previous evening. Shattered and crumbled buildings had scattered debris across the entire plaza, burying it. Crumpled and twisted shapes of soldiers’ bodies were strewn among the wreckage, men who had died because of his orders, because he had thought he could ambush a dragon.

  The carnage was not quite so bad this morning, with the wounded having been moved indoors to recover. But with the dead still in the process of being removed, the tragedy of the attack was still fresh, a raw wound in Relam’s heart.

  Footsteps sounded behind him and the young king turned to see Eric and Galen. The guards wore matching scowls to go with their mismatched injuries, bandages covering Galen’s right arm and leg, while Eric’s left arm was in a sling and he had a bandage plastered over the right side of his face. Both had been struck by falling debris when the purple dragon had crashed into the audience hall, as had many of the other palace guards. Remarkably, none had died. Some, like Eckle, had not even suffered serious injury. And the regents had all survived with hardly a scratch or a scrape.

  “You should not be wandering alone, sir,” Galen reminded him sternly. “Especially after yesterday’s attack.”

  “We were the ones who attacked, Galen,” Relam murmured, kicking at a jagged lump of masonry on the ground. “The Keepers were merely protecting their own.”

  “Those four new ones – ”

  “Collapsed the buildings to create a distraction, and a path to safety,” Relam finished, cutting Eric off. “The blame for this disaster is ours, and ours alone.” He sighed, shaking his head.

  “You did what you had to. To protect our people,” Galen reminded him quietly.

  “And yet, many have fallen.”

  “In battle. But you may have saved many more from dying to dragon fire.”

  “We didn’t eliminate the dragons.”

  “But we hurt their leader, badly,” Eric pointed out. “We may have discouraged future attacks for the time being.”

  “Or invited future attacks with our audacity,” Relam grunted. “It’s impossible to know right now. Everything is so confused . . . I don’t know what to believe or who to trust right now. The whole world seems to be broken and out of sync.”

  Galen and Eric accepted that silently, so Relam continued inspecting the destruction from the steps of the palace. As he did, Johann and Wil arrived, rubbing sleep from their eyes.

  “Where are Sermas and Hern?” Galen grunted.

  Wil raised an eyebrow. “And a good morning to you, Galen. The young ‘uns are coming along soon enough. Hern got clobbered by that rock, remember? His shoulder was in pretty bad shape this morning so they were rebandaging it and putting it in a sling.”

  Galen grunted in acknowledgement, but said nothing more.

  “So,” Wil asked, looking around the group of grim faces. “What do we do now?”

  Relam shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “Well, I know what you would normally do in this situation,” Wil replied.

  “And that is?” Relam asked, turning to face the garrulous guard reluctantly.

  “Go to Oreius. The old bear has more cunning and wisdom than any hundred men in this kingdom put together. Even if he doesn’t know what to make of this, he’d be able to help you move your thinking forward and figure out a next step, wouldn’t he?”

  Relam nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe. But I can’t keep running to Oreius for answers.”

  “Well, then run to him for help finding peace and getting your mind right,” Wil suggested. “He’s good at that too.”

  Relam smiled wanly. “Very well. We’ll visit Oreius. As soon as Sermas and Hern have joined us.”

  “Speak of the devil,” Johann remarked as two smaller figures trudged out of the palace entrance. The one on the right, Hern, had his sword arm in a sling and a thick layer of bandages wrapped around his right shoulder.

  “Sorry we’re late,” Hern offered.

  “It’s fine,” Relam said, smiling at the two young warriors. “How’s the shoulder?”

  “I’ll live,” Hern replied, wincing. “But it sure doesn’t feel good in the meantime.”

  Relam nodded sympathetically. “I understand. Are you up for a walk to Oreius’? Or should you and Sermas stay here and recover?”

  “We’re your guards,” Sermas growled. “We go where you go, your majesty. Sir.”

  Wil scratched his head. “Is that more or less formal than just saying ‘your majesty’?”

  “Undecided,” Johann replied.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Eric countered. “Now, form up and let’s be off. It’s cold out here.”

  “Why are we going to Oreius’?” Hern asked.

  “And who is Oreius?” Sermas added.

  “He was my sword master,” Relam explained. “As to why we’re going to him now, I trust him and he is wise.” He frowned, then glanced back at his two young guards. “Why did you want to know?”

  “Well, Eckle will want to know,” Sermas replied.

  Galen stopped in front of Relam, so suddenly that the young king nearly ran into him. “What do you mean Eckle would want to know?” he demanded menacingly.

  Hern took a half step back. “Eckle asked us to keep him informed on where his majesty was going,” he replied. “Said it would help him protect the king better.”

  “That’s interesting,” Eric remarked. “Overstepping his bounds again?”

  “Maybe,” Galen agreed. “Your majesty, what do you make of this?”

  Relam shrugged. “I think we’re overreacting a little. We all know Eckle is a pompous and interfering dolt.”

  “Yeah, but we didn’t know he was actively spying on you,” Eric muttered darkly.

  “That explains why he was so ready to let me have Sermas and Hern though,” Relam observed. “He knew he could get the two of you to obey him easily.”

  “You mean he used us?” Sermas growled.

  “In a way,” Relam agreed. “He’s been asking you to keep track of my whereabouts?”

  “Yes,” Hern confirmed.

  “Well, there’s no harm in telling him where I’ve been. Try to avoid the why though if at all possible.”

  “We can do that,” Sermas agreed.

  “Good,” Relam said, turning to continue towards Oreius’ house. Galen did not budge, looking back towards the palace thoughtfully.

  “I wonder if we shouldn’t go and deal with Eckle now?” he mused. “He’s getting annoying.”

  “Let it go,” Galen,” Relam replied, rolling his eyes. “I’ll meet with him later and tell him to back off, all right?”

  “If you say so, sir,” Galen replied, a muscle twitching in
his cheek. “Eckle’s a special case though. He doesn’t tend to listen very well, no matter who’s talking.”

  They started off towards Oreius’ house again, picking their way through the rubble in the plaza, then moving onto the river road where the only obstacle was the occasional icy patch on the stones underfoot. Nobody was moving about the city this morning. Between the weather and the previous day’s battle, most of Etares’ people seemed inclined to stay indoors.

  They made it to Oreius’ house soon enough, automatically moving around to the back door, not even bothering to try the front. The garden was in the same frozen and winter-blasted state as before, a shell of its bright and bountiful self. Icicles hung from the thicker branches on the trees and the eaves of Oreius’ house, crystalline daggers as thick around as Relam’s wrist at the base.

  The young king knocked on the back door and waited patiently. Soon enough, he heard quiet footsteps inside, then the bolt slid back and the door swung wide open to admit them.

  “Thought you might be around today,” Oreius grunted as Relam entered.

  “Am I getting that predictable?”

  “Obviously.”

  The old warrior noticed Sermas and Hern and raised an eyebrow. “New additions,” Relam explained.

  “Hmm. Can they keep their mouths shut?”

  “Hey!” Sermas protested.

  “Apparently not,” Oreius observed.

  “They’ll do what I tell them,” Relam replied.

  “Yes, but who else will they obey?” Oreius wondered. “You young people tend to defer to authority too easily.”

  “Myself included?” Relam asked wryly. “Here I am on your doorstep seeking wisdom again, even though you’ve never had to deal with the problems I’ve dealt with in the last few days.”

  “Point taken,” Oreius agreed, “Very well, come on in,” he said, waving Sermas and Hern across the threshold.

  “But say nothing of what happens here to anyone,” Relam warned. “Not Eckle. Not anyone. Understood? If they have an issue, they can come to me.”