Defiance: Dragonics & Runics Part I

by A. Wrighton

  “Sirs, we’ve got a lot of movement.”

  “Heading our way?”

  “No.”

  With Nylan’s approach, DeLorne paused and waited for Alaister’s dismissal of the Lythgorian Commander. It did not come. DeLorne looked from Nylan to Alaister and back again.

  Alaister hid his telling smirk with a cough. “Continue,” he said clearing his throat.

  “The Council Dragonics seem to be concentrating their efforts on looking for something around Knall.”

  “They’re looking for you two and Lanthar actually,” Nylan said. “And Kalyna, of course.”

  “Pardon?” DeLorne stuttered.

  “While your men have to keep their scouting patrols in flight, we have the benefit of discretion and mystery, so ours can touch the ground. According to what Shayne overheard in a tavern outside Knall Proper, they’re going after the Swamp Witch that they think aided your and Kalyna’s escape.”

  “The what?” Callon asked with a yawning stretch.

  “The Swamp Witch. That’s what I heard too,” DeLorne said. “I’ve heard of stories about that witch, sir. Lives in a cottage at the edge of the Swamps all by herself hidden in a mud hole camouflaged by roots and leaves. They say she turns lost wanderers into all sorts of creatures.”

  Alaister’s smile faded. “Vee.”

  “Gavasti!” Callon’s curse echoed about the entire cavern. He grinned and waved at the onlookers before returning to the huddle. “Kalyna is going to lose it…”

  “What else did Shayne hear?” Alaister asked.

  “Not much else, I’m afraid. They know that the witch is located somewhere in the Southern Swamps...”

  “Then they don’t know.”

  “Know what?” Nylan asked.

  “The Swamp Witch is Vee – Kal’s mentor. She’s the only other Soleran Runic in existence.”

  Nylan’s light mood crumbled. “Then, I suggest we react and quickly. Shayne mentioned that they mean to make an example of her. I do not know what that means to Solerans, but where I come from—”

  “We only have a few days until they find and kill her – horribly,” Callon said.

  “Less, sir,” DeLorne offered.

  “Less?”

  “They’ve already covered most of the habitable terrain. They won’t have to look much further.”

  “We’ll need Arwen,” Nylan said. “She can keep an eye on the situation for us. Let us know where they are.”

  “Let me tell Kalyna first,” Alaister said.

  Nylan nodded in accord.

  “Good luck with that, Al. She’s going to lose it,” Callon said.

  “She’ll be fine.”

  “Says you.”

  Alaister saluted the frazzled scout. “Thank you, Scout DeLorne. Well done. Get some food and rest. Dismissed.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  The men watched DeLorne depart, and once he was a mere shadow, they spoke concisely and urgently.

  “Callon, inform Lanthar of the situation – and Vylain.”

  “The Brydellan? Really?”

  Alaister met Callon’s indignant pout with a glare.

  “Fine, fine,” Callon said.

  “She’s the one you meant to retrieve, correct?” Nylan asked softly.

  Alaister nodded.

  “Things never do go as planned, do they?”

  “Never,” Alaister smiled.

  “There was another part to Shayne’s report. There’s a massive storm incoming. No one can fly… well, almost none should fly.”

  “Which will buy us enough time to prepare.”

  Nylan nodded. “Understood.”

  “Can you check with Shayne and see if he heard locations they were searching first. It might give us a better idea of the timeline we’re up against.”

  “Right away.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Of course,” Nylan paused with an empathetic look across his face. “Good luck, Alaister.”

  Alaister bit a smile and nodded. He scanned the cavern and found Kalyna in the distance, laughing and smiling with Gage and Vylain. Her face darkened with complex curiosity when Callon pulled Vylain aside. Her eyes followed them as they continued on to Lanthar with hushed voices and muted movements. In a flick of her flaxen waves, her copper eyes found his.

  Alaister beckoned her to his side.

  “I’ll… be right back, Gage,” she said accepting the call.

  “Sure thing, Kaly,” Gage said without believing her. Kalyna never had short conversations with Alaister and he normally would have prodded for answers, but the disbelief in her voice was not his deepest curiosity. Gage saw the faces of the Commanders. They were troubled. Something was brewing. Ominous. Gage watched the officers closely, waiting for one to a slip an explanation why loose.

  “Alaister, what is going on?” Kalyna’s eyes flitted over to the trio of officers. Her nose crinkled.

  “About Vee…”

  Her face snapped back. Her face paled at the grim expression on Alaister’s face. She touched his hands – they were colder. He was removed. “What happened?” she asked.

  “Kal… they’re hunting her.”

  “Then… then we have to go get her,” Kalyna stammered and spun about in a small circle struggling to decide which way to go first. “We have to save her!”

  “Yes. We will.”

  Her skin simmered with Runic heat. “Now, Alaister!”

  Alaister gripped her elbows to prevent her from hauling him to his saddle. “Kal, stop. Look, there’s a storm rolling in. There’s no way we can fly through it safely. We’ll have to wait it out. They’ll have to too. We can send Arwen to scout in the meantime—”

  “And if it’s too late?”

  Alaister stopped his developing explanation and pulled Kalyna into him. He felt her arms wrap around him and her face bury into his chest. The rich flaxen curls laced around his arms and Alaister could not resist the urge to nuzzle the gentle ringlets with his fingertips. He exhaled, relaxing at the close human touch. “We’ll get her Kal. I promise you that.”

  Kalyna searched his gray-blue eyes thoroughly. “Alive,” she commanded.

  “Alive.”

  Nylan watched the Rogue Commander embrace Kalyna again and exhaled.

  At his side, Shayne stood and nodded towards the two. “I dare say Commander, that the Soleran concept of a charge is a bit different from our own.”

  “I doubt that,” Nylan scoffed, his voice barely above a whisper.

  “Sir?”

  “Things are not always as they seem, Shayne. Though I can hardly blame his attachment.”

  Shayne shrugged. “I pulled feed for our Beasts, sir.”

  “I’ll be there in a moment.”

  Saluting, Shayne departed leaving Nylan lurking alone along the rock walls. He remained motionless, one with the darkness and shadows, until after Kalyna sprinted by as she called after Callon. Alaister strode past moments later, lost in thoughts. Nylan grasped onto Alaister’s elbow and pulled him to a stop. Alaister jerked away but did not retaliate. His mind maintained control over his instinctual urge to defend. Alaister met Nylan’s navy blue eyes in a deeply disturbed stare.

  “Careful, Brother,” Nylan whispered, “that you do not forget your Oath of Protection for the Runic.”

  The gray eyes panicked, but Alaister’s lips smiled. “Paines never go back on an oath.”

  “I didn’t think as much.” Nylan adjusted his belt and gestured to the huddle of the Rogue officers in the inner cavern. “After you, Commander Paine.”

  “When we go after Vee, our covers – both of their covers are blown. How do we hide that?”

  Lanthar exhaled sharply. “Unfortunately, I can only think of one way.”

  “Are you seriously suggesting Alerian, that we kill witnesses to protect them?” Vylain’s normally calm voice rose with each word uttered. “You know I never considered just how much like the Council Alerians you are, until now. It is not a quality becoming of you, Lant
har.”

  Lanthar sighed. He locked eyes with Vylain and frowned. “I can’t foresee a different course. If we leave any witness, they’ll know we have two Runics – and a Soul Runic at that.”

  “What if they don’t fight – Alaister won’t let her fight. You still want to go murdering good Dragonics then?”

  “They’re hardly good, Vylain. They have murdered thousands.”

  “You know what I mean,” Vylain said gravely. “They’re following orders.”

  “And our orders will be to extinguish any witnesses. It is the only way.”

  “Witnesses that see their powers,” Vylain added sharply.

  Callon exhaled and straightened his posture. He was never one to take a political stance on much, but he was the most battle savvy man the Rogues had. Callon adjusted his hilts and finally opened his mouth to speak. “What you have to understand—”

  “McKafrey – you agree?”

  “I don’t see another choice, Brother.”

  Callon’s camaraderie shocked his playful rival and his blatant disclosure stung Vylain deeply. Vylain shook his head dejected, heart laden. “There must be. There has to be.”

  “Then think of it and tell us how, but until then…”

  “Is this Alaister’s order?” Vylain asked with unease in his voice and shaking in his throat.

  “Yes,” Alaister said as he joined them. “Unfortunately, it is our only choice. Watcher save us all.”

  Vylain raised his arm in a weak salute and said nothing further as he walked away. Lanthar started after Vylain but was pulled back to the huddle by Alaister’s firm grip.

  “He has a right to be upset,” Alaister said. “Let him be.”

  “He has to understand—”

  “He will come to terms with it in his own way. We cannot spare precious time convincing one of what must and will be done. Do you two understand?”

  “Aye,” Callon nodded.

  “Empirically,” Lanthar answered.

  “Alaister,” Kalyna’s soft voice broke the unease between the officers. She crept up, a breath of fresh canyon air. Nylan smiled warmly at the added presence of the massive Sun Eagle, Arwen, on Kalyna’s forearm. “Sorry to intrude, Commanders. You asked for Arwen?”

  “We need her to check the Council’s location. Nylan will instruct you.”

  “As best I can,” Nylan said with a nod. “But we’ll need some bribes for her first.” Nylan gestured towards the food supplies and Kalyna hesitantly followed, glancing back at the odd looks painted on each of the officer’s faces. They were not the carefree smiles she had grown to adore. They were weary, wary, and creased with concern. They were ready for war.

  Arwen screeched, startling Kalyna before she walked into a large boulder.

  Now, the tide of that war was up to her.

  THE SWAMP WITCH COTTAGE

  HEART OF THE CREIPAN SWAMPS, CREITALL

  “You will answer me, Swamp Witch.”

  Vee smiled and shrugged. “I never said I wouldn’t answer you, Dragonic. Whether or not I give you the answer you wish, is a different question entirely.”

  Xander Druff, the Commander of the scouting patrol, backhanded Vee hard enough to draw blood from her lip. He pinched the warm gel between his fingers as she chuckled and spit out the overflow of blood. Though she could not see much of the Commander from her swollen face, Vee knew Druff was younger. He had grown up in a world of violence and hatred. He fed off it. Though Druff was close to Alaister Paine’s age, he was far from humanity. Far from knowing of kindness or generosity – far from knowing the kindness that flowered in the heart of Kalyna. Her mind fell to the young Runic and her face stilled.

  “I lived through the Great War, Child. If you think that will change my mind, you have read nothing of your history.”

  “Perhaps you forget, Witch,” Druff said as he circled her, “that history condemns your kind.”

  “An old woman living in a Swamp? There are no such laws.”

  “You’re a witch... you cling to the fading, toxic remnants of Runics like a starving dog.”

  “Me, a witch?” Vee laughed, blood staining her teeth crimson. “You know this as truth or is that just what you beat out of the people that led you here? I sell flowers. That is all.”

  “They said that only a young woman with crazy hair and eyes sold flowers.”

  “They are mistakenly daft if they think that this gray mass is anything but well-kempt and soft. Go ahead and feel, Child.”

  Druff’s hand found her face again. Her lips were saltily rewarmed.

  Vee licked her mouth and sighed. “What is it you really want? I have nothing and no one but mine here. You can see that.”

  “They said you hoarded the woman and the strange men that followed her.”

  “I haven’t seen anyone in months.”

  A Council Dragonic, even younger than his gangly Commander, held up the two sets of tableware from the kitchen table.

  “Then why do you need those?”

  “In case a guest should ever drop by… though I must say I didn’t think I’d be having a full patrol of the mighty Council’s Dragonics over. I always figured you were well fed enough to obey the Code not to invade homes—”

  “Silence!” Druff bashed his dragon-carved hilt with glinting topaz eyes against her thigh. The gemstones cut patterned imprints into her skin. “You know nothing of our Code, Witch.”

  Vee stifled a cry of pain and eyed the floor panels.

  “Let’s try this again, shall we old woman? Where are they?”

  “Who?”

  “The strange people the Keeper saw.”

  “I know no Keeper, Commander. There words are lies. Perhaps the promises of Council charity tempted her deceptive tongue, but I can assure you – no strangers were anywhere near my home.”

  “And the lights in the window?”

  “That’s my sleeping quarters. I like to see where I am walking at night before I go to bed.”

  “But why three?”

  “I didn’t have four, Commander.”

  Druff landed a silencing blow to Vee’s ribs and preened to his men. All smiled save two – Commander Higath and his second, Grileah – who had been invited to “the show,” as Druff called it, to learn proper interrogation tactics. Higath hid his discomfort well though each hilt-guided blow shook his core. Higath did not look at anyone, unsure of his ability to hide his distaste for Druff and his methods. The information was critical, but the beating seemed extravagant, unnecessary, and overly drawn out for Druff’s own glory. The old woman was feisty but clearly too senile from solitary living to rattle something logical from her tongue.

  Something about the old woman was off, but Higath believed her words when she denied being a witch. She had a pride about her that would prevent her from feeding off the wasted, left over Runes the Runics left behind. Her denial had the only words he could believe; everything else about the woman and her lifestyle was surreal.

  Beneath the mass of flipped gray hair, Vee smiled. She smiled wide enough that had the Dragonics seen it full face, they would have been terrified.

  “You will die for your insolence,” Druff said.

  “One day.”

  “How about today, then?” Druff snapped and his men pulled Vee’s face up to see her sentencer. “By order of the Council and his Supreme Excellency Chancellor Diesden, any who are suspected to have aided and abetted the fugitive strangers are to be imprisoned and sentenced to death. You, Swamp Witch, are guilty of those crimes.”

  “All right then…”

  “So you confess?”

  Vee looked up. Her eyes, dangerously dark, locked onto Xander Druff. His scowl was unimposing even with his scruff of a nearly a ten-cycle-old beard flush with tiny red-brown hairs and framed by thick eyebrows. His eyes danced with conditioned hate and violence. Vee took her stare through him, as if he were made of nothing more than air and dust. She stared through his core and past his soul. Her gaze unnerved and despite all h
is posturing, Druff shrank in her presence.

  When Vee spoke, her words stunned all in the room, but none more than Druff. “I, the Swamp Witch as you call me, invoke the Right of the Kings.”

  Druff balked, speechless. He knew the woman was old and more than likely crazy, but resourceful was something he had not prepared for. Nor had he been ready for her to be unrelenting in her challenge.

  “I said, I invoke the Right of the Kings.”

  Druff blinked.

  “Druff, can she do that?” Higath asked, finally finding his voice. His curiosity burned. He knew enough of Soleran history to know of the Witch’s request – any sentenced to death could invoke the Right of the Kings to have their respective ruler hear their plea and give final say on their fate.

  Druff cut down Higath with a harsh glare before turning to address Vee directly. “You can invoke it all you want Witch, but King Alderon has not given me this order or commanded this hunt. The Chancellor doesn’t answer to the Right of Kings.”

  “You are right. The Chancellor is far from a King. There is a True King—”

  The topaz metal-framed eyes pocked her cheek again. “Insolence! Bind her for suspicion of aiding fugitives and high treason!”

  Two Council Dragonics obeyed, cuffing Vee’s hands and ankles.

  “Lock her up in her little hovel until the storm passes. Then, she shall pay for her sins and serve as a warning to all those who would aid fugitives and speak against the Crown.”

  “I speak for the Crown. The One will find him and together they will make you pay for your crimes.”

  “Enough! Silence her.” Druff barked orders as the men bound Vee to a support beam. “Lock her down. Securely. We wouldn’t want our little witch to escape.”

  “And how would I escape? Runics don’t exist here. Runes and their magic doesn’t exist anymore. What exactly are you afraid of?”

  A final, staggering blow of the metal hilt sent a shrill crack into the air. Vee winced and silently, the pain flowed from her unhinged jaw and through her stomach as they hoisted and secured her arms to the wood pillar.