Order Of The Dragon (Omnibus 1-4)

by Jason Halstead

  "Damn right it is," she murmured into his chest.

  Karthor chuckled. "Aye, and I've got a church to build."

  Alto frowned and then laughed. He'd forgotten about the talk they'd had. He'd promised Karthor the mightiest church devoted to Leander they could find a way to construct when he had a land of his own. When he returned to Kelgryn lands, he would resume building Rockport, the Kelgryn town that served as border to the northlands and to Mordrim's people that mined the eastern mountains of the Northern Divide. "Yes, we have that yet to do, too, don't we?"

  Karthor chuckled. "We'll worry about that when we get there. For now, get some rest. I heard Namitus offer to take first watch."

  The rogue popped his head up and glanced around. "I did what? Funny, I don't remember that."

  "Works for me," Garrick said before he reached for the blanket he'd taken off his horse. He grimaced as he pulled it over his sun burnt shoulders and then settled onto the ground.

  Namitus scowled and then rose to his feet. He looked at all of them and let his eyes fall on Patrina last. She had a twinkle in her eye at his misfortune. "Enjoy it while it lasts, Princess," he said. "You made the mistake of telling us that armor helps you see at night. I expect you'll do just fine taking the next watch."

  Patrina shrugged. "If you can pry Alto's arms off of me, you're welcome to try."

  Alto chuckled and Namitus scowled. He turned away and went to find a suitable place to keep an eye on the open desert around them.

  Chapter 4

  Snake-Killer was happy again. Jethallin could tell because he wasn't killing her as fast as he usually did. She was on the move, headed west, and this time she was better prepared for the desert. She had several skins filled with water she'd taken from Dugal, as well as her daggers and his battered short sword. She'd gotten her boots back and found a pouch filled with dried meat. She wasn't sure what it was but suspected the meat came from lizards, sand claws, wild dogs, and whatever else he could trap and kill.

  She'd left him loosely tied with his rope and even gave him a skin of water for when he woke up. It was more than he deserved, but he hadn't forced himself on her yet so she thought he deserved a chance.

  Snake-Killer had disapproved. To him, a defeated enemy was already dead. It was the warrior's duty to finish the job. Jethallin hadn't pointed out that he'd been defeated and that's why his soul was trapped in the ring she wore. He beat her silly and sent her out of the dream with a broken neck anyhow.

  Jennaca let out a sob and broke her out of her thoughts. She smiled at the baby and received a scowl in return. It was followed by a belch and then a smile. Jethallin laughed and shook her head. Her daughter reminded her that sometimes the simplest things in life were enough to get by on. Beside her, the rat padded on silently, comforting her with its presence even as it confused her.

  "We have food and water, baby girl," Jethallin said to her. "And I've got my boots back and my cloak to keep us from burning. We're near the sea—I can smell it and these grasses are greener—but we have to go west."

  Jennaca cooed as though it made sense to her. Jethallin reached into the sling the baby rode in against her belly and let the infant wrap her hand around her finger. "We'll find Snake-Killer's village soon enough and once he's freed, we can go north, after Alto. We helped him and I just know he'll help us. He's a man of his word. The kind of man people follow. The kind of man I will follow."

  Jennaca gasped and tugged on Jethallin's finger until she moved it to her lips and let her suck on it. Her baby gummed her finger and made Jethallin raise an eyebrow in surprise. "Teeth already? Oh my, time to start giving you some real food to eat. That or you'll be chewing on me when you eat and I don't want that!"

  They walked through the morning until the sun was high enough that Jethallin was having trouble seeing straight. She wiped the sweat off her brow and turned north, to where the grasses grew thicker. The sand was harder packed but the thick grass made moving more difficult. It promised a better chance at shelter, though, even if she had to dig in the sand and hide in it.

  She found a cleft in the sand that curved to the north and west. It dropped down into a natural ravine as the sand gave way to a coarse stone that dug at her palm when she touched it. She walked along the cliff and found the sand falling away under it to reveal a bowl that was shielded from the sun by the sandstone that jutted out overhead. At the bottom of the shallow cave was a dark spot in the sand that hinted at water.

  "We'll be safe here," Jethallin said as she walked into the shaded hollow. She knelt and pulled her sling off before sitting Jennaca on the ground. "Let me do some digging and see if I can find water." She turned to the rat and said, "You be good and keep an eye out for us, okay?"

  Jennaca giggled and dug her fingers into the cool sand. Jethallin turned away, trusting the rat even though she didn't know why. He had helped them and continued to journey with them. If he'd truly come from the mischief of rats that Thork had summoned, why was he still with them? Alto's friends said the troll was a shaman of Jarook, the saint of fear. Why would a servant of that saint want to help her?

  Jethallin pushed the thoughts aside and moved towards the lowest part of the hollow. She had to duck twice on her way as the ceiling of stone was uneven but at the lowest point she could stand tall without worry. She shrugged and drew one of the rusty knives she'd taken from Dugal and dropped to her knees to dig in the sand.

  Jennaca cried behind her, distracting her. "Not now, baby, please," she said over her shoulder. Her daughter's crying grew more urgent and she heard the rat squeal. Jethallin frowned. If she couldn't set her down for a few seconds, how would she get anything done? She turned and stood up in time to see a large serpentine shape lunging at her.

  She threw herself to the side and switched hands with her dagger as the massive snake missed her. She drew her short sword and jumped back, trying to put herself closer to Jennaca at the same time. She put herself between her daughter and the snake and looked closely at it for the first time as it drew itself back into a coil and rose up.

  "Saints protect me," she whispered in horror. It wasn't no simple asp or cobra she faced. This snake was thicker than her thigh and had a head with horns and a face that resembled an alligator she'd once seen hauled out of the docks of Mira. She'd never seen a creature like this before but she heard of them. It was a sand wyrm.

  They were said to be able to spit poison twenty feet and just having it on her skin would be enough to burn her flesh off. She backed up slowly, hoping to find time to grab Jennaca and be away before it could act. The wyrm's eyes tracked her and its head turned. There was a lethal cunning in its eyes that promised no easy escape.

  The rat leapt in and snapped at the sand wyrm's tail. It sank its teeth in and was sent sailing through the air with a muscular whip. The rat landed and rolled in the sand but Jethallin only noticed that out of the corner of her eye.

  "Never let your enemy use your distraction against you," she remembered Snake-Killer telling her right before he'd killed her. She lunged in and slashed with her sword at the wyrm's head, forcing it to dodge out of the way. She followed up with a stab with her dagger and felt it grate against the creature's scales and cut through the thick hide.

  She knew better than to retreat. Instead, she held her blades up in a guard and blocked the snapping maw of the dragon-headed snake with her blades. It reared back and shook its head even as blood welled up in a cut along the lip of its snout and fell to the sand.

  Jethallin remembered the low ceiling overhead and crouched down a few inches. It lowered her center of gravity and she used that to shift back and forth, swaying and keeping the sand wyrm uncertain of her intentions. It shifted back and forth, trying to counter her constant movement.

  Jethallin saw they were at a stalemate. Both she and the wyrm were afraid to strike each other for fear of the other gaining an advantage. Her legs were starting to tire. The sessions with Snake-Killer trained her mind, not her body.

  Snak
e-Killer. Jethallin lost her focus for a moment and only a quick reaction that pulled her sword in line with her body stopped the wyrm from lunging through her defenses and crushing her with its jagged teeth. She fell back into her rhythm and wondered at the irony of her fighting a snake when she'd been trained by a man named Snake-Killer.

  She wondered what Snake-Killer would do. He'd trained her and told her how to fight a man or a splisskin. Something man-like, at least. The sand wyrm was anything but. It could strike with the speed of lightning and she saw the yellow venom that dripped from its fangs. Maybe it couldn't spit but she didn't want to risk having the poison touch her.

  Jethallin stumbled and dropped to one knee and the hand that held her sword. The sand wyrm lunged at her, seeing her weakness. She threw herself to the side and thrust up with her dagger. The tip bit into the soft underside of the sand wyrm's jaw and forced the lunging head up so it missed her.

  The beggar turned warrior twisted and pulled the surprised sand wyrm with her. Her dagger had leverage against its jawbone and she used it to keep the head tilted and away from her while she leapt on top of it and wrapped her legs around the thick neck. She bore it down to the sand and waited for the time when she could raise her sword and kill it.

  The sand wyrm had other ideas. Its tail snapped around and coiled around her leg, squeezing her and making her breath hiss through her teeth. The wyrm was strong, much stronger than she'd imagined. The looping coils spread upwards and it snaked around her hips while it squeezed them together.

  Jethallin cried out in pain. Jennaca screamed her loudest yet as her mother's hips were being twisted and her bones felt like they were about to shatter. She lost her leverage with her dagger and the blade slipped out of the sand wyrm's lower jaw.

  The creature pulled her around and twisted itself in her grasp so that it faced her. Its jaw stretched open, venom and blood mixing to drip onto the sand while its forked tongue stabbed out in the air to taste her.

  Jethallin swung her short sword with all the strength she had left. She hacked into the side of the sand wyrm's head and caused it to jerk back and clamp its mouth shut. Blood flowed from where the blade had struck it and, for a moment, the constriction lessened.

  Jethallin thrust her dagger again, driving it into the neck and opening a gash along the front and side of it. Blood burst out of the tear and coated her hand and arm. The sand wyrm squeezed tighter for a moment, driving the breath from her body even though it only crushed her hips and legs. It let her go a heartbeat later and slithered away from her, across the sand to head towards her crying daughter.

  Jethallin grunted and drove her bloody hand into the sand. She picked herself up but her legs were too weak and wouldn't support her. She fell forward onto her belly and did the only thing she could think of: she threw her sword.

  The aging weapon sailed through the air and glanced off the back of the sand wyrm. It twisted about and hissed at her, blood spraying on the sand from its wounds. "Leave. Her. Alone!"

  The sand wyrm saw her empty hand and turned back around. Jethallin's eyes narrowed as it slithered towards Jennaca. She had to act; her baby was in danger. She forced her knees under her and scrambled forward. She floundered at first and then managed to get her feet under her. She replaced her lost sword with one of her daggers and ran past the slithering body of the snake until she reached its head.

  Jennaca was less than four feet away as she leapt on the snake again. This time she landed with both daggers driving into the sand wyrm's skull. She forced the head into the ground and felt the bone give way to the steel points of her weapons. The sand wyrm writhed and twisted beneath her, its body beginning to coil around her again before the tail slapped at her and left stinging marks on her arm and side.

  When the snake finally relaxed and lay still, Jethallin barely had the strength to pull herself away from it. She rolled once and lay on her back, staring at the sandstone ceiling above her. Jennaca's crying pierced her fog of exhaustion but she struggled to do more than gulp for air.

  Her daughter sounded louder, confusing her enough to get her to crane her neck and try to look for her. She saw the dark brown fur of the rat as he pulled Jennaca over by her sling. Her baby was there and reaching for her a moment later. Jethallin reached across and saw that she'd used her bloody hand. She ignored the agony in her body and lungs and forced herself onto her side so she could pull Jennaca close and hold her tightly.

  The sobbing infant calmed slowly. Jethallin held her and rolled back onto her back, leaving Jennaca lying on top of her. She smiled and then glanced over at the dead sand wyrm. She smiled again and whispered, "We'll eat well tonight, sweetheart."

  Chapter 5

  "The queen suggested leaving in the morning," Celos said as they strode down the path from the mountain towards the city of Dragonfall.

  "The queen has many important matters on her mind," Aleena said. "She values our service and worth and seeks to make our lives better, but she forgets about the people we're ultimately beholden to."

  Celos raised an eyebrow in response to Aleena.

  "Her people," she explained. "And the innocents who are being harmed."

  "I see," Celos said.

  "Do you?"

  He nodded. "I do. You push yourself but your heart is pure. In fact, you're making me feel guilty, for I hadn't considered it myself."

  Aleena smiled and stopped on the path. She turned to face the paladin. "Celos, I owe so much of who I am right now to you. I wanted to impress Sir Amos and the Knights of Leander, as well as Saint Leander himself. Then when you took over my training, I wanted to show you I could meet your standards."

  "You're not a squire anymore," he told her.

  Aleena smiled. "It's happened so fast," she admitted. "Somewhere along the way, it became a part of me. I don't know when, exactly, but I stopped trying to impress everyone else and took it to heart."

  "That's good," Celos said. "That's why you're a paladin and not just a knight."

  Her cheeks colored but she kept her head up to meet his gaze. "It drives me, which is a good thing, but it also makes me sometimes forget that others don't have the same fire burning in them."

  Celos chuckled. "Indeed they do not, but that is why you are such a good example."

  "Too much, though?" she wondered. "I mean, do I risk driving people away?"

  Sir Celos sighed through his nose as he studied her. "Aleena, you inspire people to be better. They see you and see what is possible. We haven't always agreed with each other and we will probably continue to have words at times. The faithful of Leander look up to you—you saw that with your own eyes. Regular folk believe us to be greater than they are. Favored and blessed by the saints. Whether they are simple or not, as long as they have good in them, they will know that what you're doing is the right thing."

  Aleena pursed her lips and nodded. "You're saying they will look up to us, but from afar?"

  "Yes, I suppose I am. The common man doesn't have the heart to face the hardships we're willing to endure."

  "That's where you're wrong," Aleena said.

  Celos stiffened and then laughed. "I told you we'd disagree again. I didn't think it would be so soon!"

  Aleena offered him a quick smile. "Almost all of my friends were common enough. Simple farmers, laborers, and merchants. Look at them now. Alto is a noble and his sister a lady in Shazamir. Karthor is one of the most admired priests in our church. Namitus is, well, he's Namitus. A cad and a scoundrel, but his heart is pure and he has just as much fire in his chest as any of the others do."

  She shook her head to stall Celos's rebuttal. "No, I think any man or woman can be far from common, no matter how simple their birth. Queen Rosalyn claimed she was born the daughter of a farmer. Now she is a witch and she rules this kingdom. No, Celos, we are all capable of excellence; we need only realize we have it within us to do so."

  Celos frowned and shrugged. "Perhaps there is some truth to what you say, but I'll lay gold on the simple truth
that most men—or women—will turn their heads when asked to suffer for a cause rather than take up arms."

  "Only because they haven't realized that they can be the person who makes a difference," Aleena said. "And that's why I'm leading our men back into the field tonight, to show everyone that evil never rests and neither shall we."

  Celos nodded. "That much we can agree upon."

  She flashed him a smile and started walking back towards the town. "I knew you'd come to your senses."

  Celos frowned and then scowled at her as she walked away. With a snort, he started forward and had to walk fast to catch up. If they were leaving already, he had a barracks full of men to turn out, and probably a few who had already gone out to see what entertainment they could find.

  "The men will be hard to assemble," he warned her.

  Aleena frowned. "Why? I know they look up to you and they seem to want to follow me."

  "They do," he agreed.

  Aleena frowned and continued before he could explain himself. "If they believe in our cause, then why wouldn't they? The Knights—"

  "Because we just got back," Celos interrupted her at last. "They believed us here for the night, at least. Some will be at the barracks but most will have gone out for a meal or to relax."

  Aleena clamped her mouth shut. Her cheeks colored and she nodded. "We'll gather them up then," she mumbled.

  Celos chuckled and followed her into the town and to the barracks they were staying at. She led the way in and stopped in the entrance to study the knights, squires, and other faithful of Leander still gathered. Celos cleared his throat behind her, causing her to start and then step aside so he could enter.

  "Knights!" Celos shouted, gaining their attention. "Make ready! We ride back out tonight."

  Silence fell across the barracks. Aleena looked to Celos and saw him wink at her. She stiffened and turned back to their men. "Brothers," she addressed them. "I've just accepted the honor of replacing Graak as the general of Queen Rosalyn's armies. His actions are shameful at best, unholy at worst. I shall bring him to justice and I ask for your help in stabilizing this army."