War In The Winds (Book 9)

by Craig Halloran

  “Nath,” she said, taking his arm. “Come and sit. It hasn’t been so long. Just a few months.”

  Relieved that the Truce hadn’t passed by while he slept, and stirred anew by the feel of her hand on his arm, Nath fought to stay alert, to remember why he was angry.

  He pulled his arm from her hand and said, “Are you certain?”

  “As certain as the scales on my tail,” she said, swiping it along his side, “and I am relieved. I feared you’d sleep through the Truce.” She pulled a chair out for him. “And that would have been a disaster, after all the work you’ve done.”

  With a furrowed brow, Nath took a seat. Waking from this sleep didn’t feel the same as waking from the other long ones. He felt groggy, not bright-eyed and energetic as before. He held back a yawn.

  “It’s alright, Nath,” she said. “You’ve been through much. Even dragons get tired. I know I am.”

  “You never seem tired to me,” he said.

  “I’m a woman, so to speak. We hide it well. Now eat.”

  He grabbed some cherries in his clawed fingers and ate them one by one. He noticed Selene eyeing his scales.

  “What is it?”

  “You have even more white scales now,” she said. “I envy them.”

  He glanced at his hands and said, “I don’t notice any difference.”

  “I do, and I think it’s a good thing.”

  “Why is that?”

  “I think it’s the Truce you have sworn, Nath. It’s making an impact. Not just on you, but on all the people. You are growing.”

  “I don’t see how sleeping is doing a good thing.”

  “Sometimes, the best action is no action. Sometimes, the best words are none at all. Silence is often an excellent answer.” She poured him a glass of wine. “Enjoy the peace we live in, Nath. Your patience is changing you. Your wisdom makes you stronger.”

  “And that’s why I have white scales?”

  “Nath, many dragons have scales of different colors. You see how they change as they grow. You are growing, and with growing comes change. That’s all.”

  “You’re growing,” he said. “How come all your scales are black?”

  “I like black. It suits me. Besides, there is no change in me. I am what I am.”

  “You are what you want to be, Selene. Anyone can change, even a dragon.” He took a sip of wine. “You just have to want it.”

  Selene’s eyes became distant, and she turned her gaze away. He’d never seen that look before. She was strong. Confident. Striking. But not at this moment. He eyed his scaled arms and fingers. “Huh?”

  “What?” she asked, turning back toward him.

  “Maybe that’s what’s happening to me. I’m finally learning.”

  “You’re young, but you’re not a fool.”

  He dug into his food. Maybe he had been too hard on himself. That was his problem. He needed to trust his instincts and be patient.

  I need to end this war among the dragons. If I can change, they all can change. They just need a good leader.

  “So, what has happened while I’ve been out?” he said.

  “Well,” Selene said, resting her hand on his arm, “the citizens miss seeing their champion, and they’ve been restless. You have such an effect on them.”

  “I’m not worried about them, so much. I’m worried about the warring dragons. What has happened with them?”

  “Nath, you need to not worry about so much. You just woke up. Ease your way into things.”

  “I’m not going to sit here and do nothing, Selene.”

  “We can do some things. Perhaps a walk through the city—”

  He rapped his fist on the table.

  Bam!

  “Don’t be childish!”

  Nath got up from the table and said, “Then don’t play games!” He made a bead for the door.

  “Alright, Nath,” she said. “Alright!”

  He stopped but didn’t turn.

  “The skirmishes are becoming more frequent, more large-scale in some places.” She sighed a long breath. “But you can’t go chasing the winds. You aren’t ready yet.”

  He turned and said, “I want you to take me to the nearest battlefield. Will you do it?”

  “I’m not going to resist you, Nath. I’ve held you back enough already, and I support your cause. Our cause. I’ll gather a legion, and we’ll leave at first light.”

  “Good,” he said, turning and walking back through the doors.

  ***

  Selene smiled as he walked out.

  Perfect.

  CHAPTER 25

  The entire tavern erupted in brilliant flashes of light that sent the draykis commander careening into the door frame.

  Great Guzan!

  Gorlee gravitated toward the fireplace at the back of the room and wrapped his hands around an iron fire poker.

  The small party of humans, heroes by his reckoning, had exploded into action. One draykis stood in astonishment with the leader’s sword in his chest. The bearded man, hard-faced and well-built, swung a flanged mace into the other draykis’s face. The tall and lovely woman’s slender arms were entwined in snakes of mystic power, while the last woman, smaller in stature, held arcane symbols over her head and shouted words of power. Everyone else in the room scrambled. They crashed through doors and windows and scurried through the streets.

  The draykis struck back. The commander ripped a sword from his side and charged.

  “You won’t hang! You’ll die here and now.”

  “Try it!” the lead human said.

  The draykis’s steel clashed into the man’s magic weapon, and bright sparks flew. The two swung and parried back and forth, rambling through tables and knocking over chairs.

  The bearded man pressed his swift attack. He bashed the draykis over its hard skull—once, twice, three times—knocking it to its knees. The taller woman blasted brilliant yellow fire into its chest. The draykis squealed as its scales erupted into smoke and ash.

  Two draykis were down, and their commander battled for its undead life.

  Who are these people?

  The group converged on the lone draykis commander, hemming it in.

  “Your life comes to an end, abomination!” the leading man said. “Balzurth’s forces are at hand.” He lunged.

  The draykis, quicker than a snake, side stepped and cut the warrior in the chest. His heavy fist rocked the man in the jaw, dropping him to his knees. His glinting sword clattered off the planks, and its brilliant light went out. In a flash, the draykis slid behind the man and pressed a dagger to his throat.

  “Overconfident fools,” it said. “Step back.”

  The small party eyed one another and backed off.

  The draykis let out a high-pitched whistle. Barnabus soldiers flooded into the room, carrying heavy swords and wearing heavy armor. With them, a wingless dragon scaled in deep purple prowled in. Its back was waist-high with tall, scaly ridges. Horns swooped back along its neck, and a pair of tongues flickered from its razor-sharp mouth.

  Guzan!

  Gorlee channeled his power. His skin turned as hard as the iron poker he held.

  The leader jammed his elbow into the draykis’s belly and yelled, “Get out of here, everyone! Escape!” He went for his sword, but the bigger, quicker draykis jumped on his back, pinning the man to the ground. His fingers stretched for the hilt of his sword, juttered, and went still.

  One woman gasped, while the taller woman blasted a swarm of golden hornets into the fray. The soldiers of Barnabus swatted and clutched at their arms and faces.

  The bearded warrior hammered into them with his mace. He dropped three frantic soldiers to their knees and turned just in time to face the deep maw of the purple dragon.

  Chomp!

  Its jaws clamped on his legs, and the bearded warrior yelled and struck out his mace with ferocity.

  “If I’m going down, you’re going down with me, you wicked scaled beast!”

  Two handed
, he wailed on the dragon’s head, one heavy blow after another. The dragon held him fast while two soldiers slipped behind the man and drove swords into his back.

  “Urk!”

  His mace fell from his fingers. The smaller woman let out an ear-splitting scream. Windows and glassware shattered. Gorlee’s knees buckled. Soldiers fell to their knees. The draykis headed right for her, unhindered.

  Gorlee’s mind reeled, and something within took over. He snatched up the fallen warrior’s sword, and its blade became hot with fire. He charged the draykis, lunged, and chopped through its wings.

  “Who dares?” the draykis said, whipping around, sword ready.

  Gorlee, never a practiced swordsman, hacked at him.

  The draykis, skilled as they come, parried and countered. A deadly arc of steel bit into Gorlee’s shoulder and skipped off it.

  “What manner of race are you?” the draykis said. “Your skin’s thick as metal.”

  Gorlee swung again. Sword met sword.

  Clang!

  “You have to be tough when you’re this ugly,” he said. “You should know that by now!”

  Clang! Clang! Clang!

  Striking harder and faster, he banged the draykis’s sword down.

  The draykis twisted inside and jammed a dagger at his belly. It snapped off at the hilt.

  “Impossible!”

  Gorlee slid the shimmering sword through the draykis’s ribs.

  Its eyes popped open and simmered to dust inside its head. It collapsed to the floor, unmoving.

  Guzan, what a sword! Maybe I should learn to use these things!

  He turned and squared up on the dragon. The hulking beast stood on top of the smaller woman. Her body was broken. Its tail lashed out, striking the last woman. Her body crashed into the fireplace hearth.

  “No!” Gorlee said. He raised the blade and charged.

  The dragon lowered its horns and rushed straight for him.

  Gorlee smote it with the blade. Unhindered, the dragon trampled over him, pinning him to the floor. Its hot breath snorted in his face, and its jaws clamped down on his shoulder. The pressure blinded him with pain, but his iron skin held.

  “What’s the matter, dragon, not chewy enough for you?”

  The dragon released its bite and filled its lungs with air.

  Sultans, what does this creature breathe?

  Gorlee grabbed the creature by the neck and tried to push it away. Green fire erupted from its mouth in streams that dripped all over him.

  “Ow!” Gorlee cried out. “That burns!”

  Chairs and tables caught fire. The tavern filled with smoke.

  Gorlee wriggled beneath the beast, but its paws kept him pinned down. Clothes and iron skin burning, Gorlee cried out, “Enough of this!”

  Power inside him ignited, and his half-orcen body of iron expanded. In seconds, he towered the height of ten feet and locked his arms around the dragon’s neck and squeezed.

  “No more toying with you, lizard!”

  The dragon thrashed and flailed. Its claws scraped at his chest, but Gorlee held the dragon fast. Its tail slithered around his neck and squeezed.

  “No you don’t!” Gorlee grunted. He cranked up the pressure.

  Flames spread across the tavern. Soldiers scrambled for the doors, coughing.

  The dragon’s neck was filled with muscle harder than stone. Even with his great strength, Gorlee’s efforts seemed futile. The beast was a knot of muscle. His giant fingers fumbled for the sword. Eyes bulging from his head, gasping for air, Gorlee clutched the hilt with his oversized fingers. He raised the blade and drove it through the dragon’s back into its heart.

  The knot of scales went slack.

  “Whew!”

  Coughing, he peered through the mess. He couldn’t make out anyone through the smoke and the roar of the flames. Making his way toward the rear of the building, he stumbled over the man who had fallen to the draykis. He scooped him up and busted through the back wall that led into the alley. It was just him and a woman, the tall hooded one, coughing.

  “Are you alright?” he said to her.

  She leered at him. He changed his form, shrinking down into a human to look more pleasant, and set the dead man’s body down.

  “Sorry about your friend,” he said. He lay the sword across the man’s body. “I’d take him somewhere, if I had a place to go.”

  She limped over and knelt beside the fallen man’s body.

  “Thanks for the help,” she said, “but we’ll be alright. It’s you who should go.” She unhitched the man’s sword belt, slid the blade into the scabbard, and offered it to Gorlee. “Take this.”

  “I don’t have need of it,” he said. “I’m not so good with them.”

  She shoved it in his chest and said, “Keep it safe then. I can’t take it with me.” She reached in a pouch, sprinkled dust over the man, and began chanting. She sprinkled dust on herself next.

  “Again, thank you. May Balzurth be with you.”

  She and the man shimmered, faded to dust in the wind, and vanished.

  How interesting. Seems I’m not alone in this fight after all.

  Gorlee strapped on the sword belt and assumed the form of a battered Barnabus soldier moments before dozens swarmed into the alley.

  “Did you see anything?” the commander said.

  Gorlee coughed and pointed at the flaming hole in the wall and said, “Something ran over me and went that way. Big as a troll. Cough-cough. Fast, too.” Scratching his head, he added, “No idea what it was, but it was ugly.”

  “Get yourself to the infirmary, eh…” The sergeant paused. “I don’t know you. What’s your name?”

  “Jason.”

  “So be it. Now get those wounds looked at.”

  Gorlee trudged along the wall, averting his eyes from the soldiers. Sadness swelled in his gut. He’d watched good people die for a great cause and realized something.

  I have to keep close to Nath Dragon more now than ever. As Bayzog says, without him, everything is lost.

  CHAPTER 26

  Nath, Selene, and a battalion of soldiers departed Narnum and headed south again. A parade of cheers followed them all the way out of the city. Nath said little that next couple of days. Selene remained silent as well. They’d spoken enough already. Talked about many things. The War. The Truce. His scales. He eyed his hands wrapped around the reins of his horse.

  I’m doing good. I know I am.

  Several times, Selene had traced the outline of his white scales. There was a flicker of jealousy behind her eyes when she commented on them. It made him wonder if her scales could turn white as well.

  Maybe I can help her.

  He snapped the reins and trotted toward the front of the army. The battalion consisted of nearly a thousand heavily armored soldiers with swords and shields, pole axes, bows, and spears. They marched in steady ranks whose armored footsteps had the rhythmic sound of a dangerous army. Others accompanied them, too—robed men and women in the dozens, all with tattooed foreheads. They chanted, murmured, and carried burning canisters of incense.

  There had been a time when Nath’s skin recoiled at the sight of them. Now, it didn’t seem so bad. Wasn’t peace what everyone wanted?

  He glanced toward the sky. Dragons with dark wings and tails flew in tight formations. His fist tightened on the reins.

  I should be up there.

  He’d given up even trying to change into a dragon for now. Selene said it would just have to happen one day. More than likely when he least expected it.

  The army remained on foot, with the commanders on horseback, cruising up and down the ranks and barking commands. They were a fit army, as fit as he’d ever seen. Banners and edged weapons gleamed in the sun’s dim light. Selene said the sight of Nath with an army at his back would make quite an impression on the commoners. It would encourage them and raise their hopes. So far, his presence had been well received by those they passed as word of his great deeds spread, but there
was also fear of the dragons that battled in the skies and tore into their flocks. It was happening more often all the time.

  He rode alongside one of the commanders in the front of the ranks. The man was tall in the saddle and protected by full plate armor. His helmet was dark and menacing, and a well-crafted sword hung from his saddle. He was one of the biggest men Nath had ever seen.

  “Have you seen Selene?” he asked.

  “She rides with the scouts,” the man said in a deep voice. “Departed at first light with them.”

  Nath stiffened. He’d figured Selene was giving him space. She said he needed it. But this didn’t sit well with him. He’d been staying toward the front, figuring she remained in the rear with her acolytes and priests. But not seeing her after a half day had him circling the ranks, finding no sign of her.

  “First light, you say?”

  “Yes, Dragon Prince.”

  Nath glanced at the hard eyes inside the man’s helmet.

  “A simple yes or no will do,” he said.

  “Yes, Dragon Prince.”

  Nath spurred his mount ahead with a grunt. Selene had the entirety of her army calling him Dragon Prince, and it was beginning to have a nice ring to it. That and Peace Bringer, Truce Forger, and The Champion. He grinned, thinking about that, and then squinted his eyes. The roughshod road ran for miles up and down rocky plains and tall grasses.

  Why would she leave without me? He eyed the sky. I bet she’s flying.

  He stretched the distance between himself and the army. A squad of horsemen galloped after him, one being the commander, who pulled up short of him.

  “What are you doing, Dragon Prince?”

  “I should ask you the same.”

  “We are not to leave you from our sight,” the commander said, shifting in his saddle. “It’s the order of the High Priestess.”

  “Alright,” Nath said. “Fine then. Just make sure you can keep up.” He whipped the reins. “Ee-Yah!”

  In seconds, the wind whistled through his ears and his hair billowed like a flag over his back in a streak of red.

  It’s not my army. It’s Selene’s. She can watch after it herself!

  He continued at a full gallop until his keen eyes picked up deep impressions going off the road in the tall grasses. He slowed down. Not waiting for the soldiers to catch up, he trotted down the newly formed trail.