Chasing the Dragon

by Jason Halstead

  The snakeman hissed for several seconds before he said, "He has been honored. It will be the greatest honor one of your kind could ever know."

  Alto realized it was laughter and it made him angry.

  "Surrender and you will have the same honor given to you," the snakeman said.

  The wizard's head jerked to the side from the force of Carson's arrow slamming into it. The splisskin crumpled to the ground. Garrick shouted in surprise, and then spun around in search of the hooded figures who had disappeared before his eyes.

  Alto spun and looked at Carson. The man frowned when he found no more arrows in his quiver. He looked back at Alto and shrugged. "I never liked snakes," Carson offered.

  "He could have told us where Namitus is at!" Alto protested.

  Patrina shook her head. "No, he wouldn't. He would have shown us but we would have been in chains."

  "I could have made him talk," Alto growled.

  "He was a believer," Karthor said as he walked back to join the main group. "Nothing would have made him talk."

  Alto shook his head. "So was Jakar."

  The priest frowned and then disagreed. "A believer, yes, but this creature was more than that. Every torture inflicted would only entrench him deeper in his beliefs. Death would be his release and salvation."

  Alto glared at the dead splisskin wizard. "Consider yourself saved," he muttered.

  "Where'd the other ones go?" Garrick demanded from the mouth of the alley.

  "Illusions," Karthor called out to him. "A ruse this creature used to sway us. Remember the bird my father summoned?"

  "Bird?" Garrick asked.

  "Blackwing?" Alto asked, equally confused.

  "No, when the wasps came after us," Karthor said. He snapped his fingers. "I forgot, Garrick hadn't joined us yet."

  The barbarian grunted.

  "Well, they weren't real, just illusions. Like reflections in a mirror."

  "Ghosts?" Garrick gasped.

  "Something like that, except ghosts are said to be able to harm the living. Illusions cannot."

  Garrick circled a final time and glared at the ground. Mordrim snickered and picked up his hammer. "Just as well," the dwarf consoled the large man. "Without me, you wouldn't have had a ghost of a chance."

  The barbarian's brows furrowed.

  "Come on," Alto said, ignoring the two warriors.

  "Where are we going now?" Patrina stopped him. "We don't have Namitus and we don't know where he is!"

  Alto nodded. "Kar," he said. "We have to hope he found something."

  Patrina frowned and asked, "But what if he didn’t?"

  Alto stared into her eyes and said, "Then I go back into those tunnels and start a fire that can't be put out."

  * * * *

  Without the fake Namitus guiding them, the companions wandered through the city of Mira with little in the way of incident. By the time Mordrim was able to get them back to the eastern parts of the city, the sun was cresting the ocean.

  "You look tired," Patrina said to Alto as they made their way through the fish markets set up near the docks. "When did you last sleep?"

  The leader of the company shrugged. "Not all of us can take naps at the drop of a hat."

  Patrina's jaw dropped. She narrowed her eyes and shook her finger at him. "That's not fair, I was poisoned!"

  "So was I," Alto reminded her.

  "Mine was a sleeping poison!"

  Alto let a brief grin slip through, letting her know he was kidding. Patrina's eyes narrowed even further. "I'm going to pay for that, aren't I? I thought the kelgryn people could take a joke?"

  "Oh, we can," Patrina said with a smile. "Almost as good as we can give them."

  Alto grimaced and pushed on, wondering what it was that Patrina might do to him. He realized after a moment that she'd taken his constant worry for his sister and Namitus away from him. Sure, she'd replaced it with a different worry, but it had lightened his mood. He turned and caught her gaze, and then offered her a smile. Patrina returned it and reached out to give his hand a squeeze.

  "Get your head out of the clouds," Mordrim barked at them. "The docks are crawling with guards."

  "Guards?" Alto jerked his head back to look beyond the tents and carts that were set up to see the docks beyond. His eyes landed on a group of guards wearing loose-fitting yellow brigandine. He searched and soon found another, thanks to their bright uniforms. Alto continued to scan the docks and counted several groups moving about or guarding key positions.

  "We don't know they're after us," Patrina reasoned. The challenging looks she received from the others made her sigh. "Well, where's Kar then? Has he made it past them or is he still doing whatever it is that wizards do?"

  "Not all of them are wearing armor," Carson noticed. He nodded towards a man with a similar yellow uniform without the metal rivets and plates sewn into it.

  Alto studied the man and turned to pick several other men out who were dressed the same. "Corporals or sergeants?" the warrior wondered. "I'd think they'd be in armor, though."

  "Wizards or priests then," Karthor said. "Probably wizards. They don't seem to be a very religious lot down here."

  Garrick scowled and turned to Carson. "Kill them first."

  Carson winced. "I'm out of arrows."

  "Let's get close to the Kraken before we approach them," Alto said. "It's farther north."

  They followed Alto through the markets, winding back and forth between the booths until they began to recognize the stalls set up by the merchants. Alto brought them near the edge and paused. A large group of guards, more than twenty of them, had gathered at the edge of the docks.

  "That's a lot of guards," Carson observed.

  "We been over this before," Mordrim reminded him.

  "Yes, but they have archers and wizards. We have neither."

  "I wouldn't be so sure about that," a one-legged beggar who had been kneeling next to a chipped wooden bowl said. He stood up, shocking those around him as he stood without leaning even though his left leg ended just above the knee.

  Karthor sighed. "How long have you been sitting here?"

  The beggar glanced down at his bowl and frowned. "Only a few stray bits of copper. Not long enough, it seems."

  "Kar?" Alto gasped, putting it all together at last.

  The wizard nodded and smiled, revealing a mouth void of several teeth. His dirty and crippled appearance rippled and changed, much as the splisskin wizard's had earlier. The Kar they knew appeared before them just as quickly.

  "What have you seen?" Alto asked.

  "Guards. Lots of them," Kar said. "Their wizards aren't much. Apprentices, at best. They can't even think to see through a simple glamour, let alone have the power to do so."

  "Are they looking for us?" Patrina asked.

  "They haven't found anybody else yet," Kar said. "I heard something about a fire in the city last night. Was that you?"

  Alto sighed. "There was no fire. Well, there was, but we put it out before it could spread."

  Kar chuckled. "No merchant daughters needed saving?"

  "No, but funny you should mention that," Karthor said. "We found a splisskin wizard pretending to be Namitus. Used an illusion, just like you'd just done."

  Kar and Alto both frowned.

  Alto leaned forward and stared at Kar. "Are you really you?"

  "Depends," Kar replied. "Are you really the foolish farm boy who turned down a beautiful paladin for a fiery kelgryn wench?"

  Patrina gasped but it was Alto that narrowed his eyes. He nodded. "I believe you," he said. "But don't ever speak of Patrina like that again."

  Kar chuckled. "I had to make sure you knew it was me."

  Alto pushed the matter aside and said, "Let's get to the boat. Can you make the guards disappear?"

  "About the ship," Kar said. "That's going to be a problem. The Kraken set sail at first light this morning."

  "It did what?" Patrina's voice raised and caused several people to glance at them.
/>
  "Hush, fiery princess," Kar said with a wink. "It hasn't left completely. I've been keeping an eye on it."

  "How are you doing that?"

  "Blackwing," Kar said.

  Karthor interrupted and asked, "When did you summon him?"

  "When we left the island of Britanley," the wizard answered. "I figured he might come in handy, especially if we were forced into the desert."

  Alto nodded. "Good thinking. So Blackwing is watching the Kraken. But why did they set sail?"

  "That I can't tell you," Kar said.

  "So how do we get it back?" Mordrim asked.

  "Easy," Carson offered. "We take another boat!"

  Patrina held up a hand to stop everyone. "Wait, do we even need a ship? We have Kar back and we still haven't found Namitus."

  "Good question," Alto admitted. He turned to Kar. "Well, wizard, what of it?"

  Kar shrugged. "I don't know where anyone is. I can tell you that Havara is the mountains to the east where the headwaters of the Khalalid River rest. I can also tell you it's a holy place. Holy to the people of Shazamir—or at least the ruling caste—and holy to splisskin tribes. Allegedly it's for different reasons."

  Alto scowled. "They said Namitus was going to be given an honor few humans receive. Offered us the same thing if we threw down our swords."

  Mordrim grumbled deep in his chest and then said, "I follow your thinking, but that's no easy place to get in to. Tall mountains with few trails, not like up north. There are fortresses in them, too—outposts manned by the Shazamir to make sure the dwarves don't go tunneling into them. There's splisskin in them too, deeper in."

  "Wouldn't dwarves tunnel under the fortresses?" Alto asked.

  Mordrim shrugged. "I never said the Shazamir was smart."

  "How do we get there?"

  Kar held up his hand. "Every so often a patrol works through the market looking for us," he warned.

  "How long until the next one?" Alto asked.

  "Maybe thirty seconds."

  Alto spun and saw the yellow-clad guards pushing through the fish market and searching everywhere for them. He turned back to Mordrim. "Can we sail there?"

  "A river barge, but there's none of them here," the dwarf said. "These deep-water boats won't make it fifty feet up the river."

  "Ships," Patrina muttered.

  "What?" the dwarf and human both asked her.

  "These are ships!" she emphasized. "The ones on the river are boats."

  "Okay," Alto said, shaking his head at the waste of time.

  "South of the Khalalid, there's another port city. Not an official Shazamir port either. There are roads to the Havara Mountains from there."

  Alto watched the soldiers as they grew closer. He was about to open his mouth when the man he was watching locked gazes with him. His eyes widened with recognition. The guard cried out and gestured for the others, but never took his eye off Alto.

  "To the ship," Alto decided. "Now!"

  "Which ship?"

  He turned and searched the harbor for the closest one. "That one." He pointed at a galleon with three masts.

  Patrina opened her mouth to say something but Alto grabbed her by the arm and yanked her along with him. They ran ahead of the guards in the marketplace but the guards at the docks heard the shouting and were reacting. They drew weapons and hurried to take their positions while Alto and his company made their way closer to the ship.

  Chapter 21

  "The bird!" Alto cried out as they left the market behind and moved through the crates and wooden docks.

  "Blackwing?" Kar asked.

  "No, the bird you used to drive the wasps away. Magic it up!"

  "Magic it up?" Kar repeated. "It's not that simple! It takes—"

  "Except not a bird this time," Alto interrupted. "Make it a dragon!"

  "I can't conjure something that complicated while running and dodging soldiers!" Kar sputtered.

  Alto drew his sword as the distance to the guards halved and then halved again. "Figure out how. I'll tell you when," he said before he smashed a scimitar aside and punched the guard wielding it in the face.

  With Alto at the head of the van, he lost sight of Patrina on his right and Carson on his left for a moment. He heard Patrina's more feminine grunts as she lashed out and was struck in return. He risked a glance and saw her faring well in spite of his worst fears. Wielding an axe was an offensive tactic that left little opportunity for her to defend herself. With her armor offering so many targets, he was amazed how time and again the strikes landed on the parts protected by metal.

  Carson surged into his view a moment later, carving his way through the guards with both of his blades. Unlike Patrina, he bled from a few minor wounds, but nothing seemed capable of stopping the dual wielding warrior. Garrick and Mordrim were the final fighters on each wing of the vee that speared into the Shazamir guards, both men striking blows that the city would remember for years to come.

  Kar channeled his quickest and simplest magical spells to the Shazamir wizards who thought to create a wondrous magical effect certain to stop their enemies and earn them fame and position. He set one wizard's yellow shirt on fire while he was trying to craft an elaborate spell. The other he startled with a clap of thunder in his face that made him stumble back and fall off the edge of the dock into the water below.

  Karthor alone seemed to have time to breathe and think. He guarded the open rear of the companion's angled line, keeping his father safe to work his magic and discouraging any who thought to try to flank them.

  In moments, they were through the demolished Shazamir line of defenders. Alto veered to the right and ran down the walkway until he led them to a dock. He turned down it without waiting and ran ahead.

  "Alto!" Patrina cried out, earning a glance over his shoulder at her.

  "What?" he said as he passed the halfway point of the dock.

  "The ship you want is too big!" Patrina panted. "We can't sail it."

  "We make her captain sail it then," Alto said.

  She shook her head. "I have a better idea."

  "We're out of dock, you'd better," he said as he was forced to slow or run off the end of the pier.

  A single man sat in the longboat moored to the dock. He'd been watching them as they approached and now stood with a cutlass drawn. "Move along," he spat at them. "Whatever trouble you've got I want no part of."

  Patrina launched herself at him, batting his sword aside with her arm and then crashing into him and driving him onto his back on the boat. Alto stood and watched her as she wrestled with the stunned sailor. In moments, she had him unconscious.

  Garrick moved up to Alto and asked, "She ever do that to you?"

  Alto glanced at the grinning barbarian and found himself smiling with him. "No, but maybe I should ask her to."

  Garrick let out a laugh and clapped Alto on the shoulder.

  "Come on." Patrina motioned for them while she struggled to heave the sailor up onto the dock. Alto reached down and grabbed the man by the back of the shirt. He heaved on him and pulled him up onto the dock. Alto was the last to board the boat just as Carson and Patrina cut the ropes. Garrick and Mordrim worked two sets of oars, pushing the boat out towards deeper water. Alto moved to the back of the boat and stood ready as guards rushed down the dock. One even leapt off but fell just short. He splashed the grinning Alto and sputtered as he thrashed about in the water.

  "Don't think he can swim," Carson observed.

  "Then he shouldn't have jumped in the water," Kar said.

  "Father!" Karthor reprimanded.

  "Don't blame me. A man fool enough not to use his own wits doesn't deserve to live."

  "We've got other things to worry about," Patrina said from the bow of the longboat. She pointed at docks to either side of them. "Looks like the guards are trying to commandeer some ships."

  "Don't they have their own navy?" Kar muttered.

  "Yes, but not close by. These are trading ships, transports, and fishing v
essels," she explained.

  "Now, those are longboats," Alto said. "They have to convince the captains of the ships when they get there still."

  "True," Patrina agreed. "But the alternative is death or not being allowed to dock at Shazamir anymore. We've got to get to the Kraken, then we can worry about the others."

  Alto looked at the boat and saw two more sets of oars. He moved to take the rearmost set and called out, "Carson, are you as good with two oars as you are with two swords?"

  "Carson Twinoar doesn't have the same ring to it," he said with a chuckle. He slipped into the seat between Mordrim and Alto and took the oars in hand. After a few strokes, he found a rhythm with the other men and helped propel the boat through the water fast enough to leave a wake.

  "Come starboard," Patrina navigated from the bow. It took a few attempts and a lot of yelling and swearing on her part until her landlubbing crew could figure out what she wanted and how to give it to her.

  "Kar, are you ready?"

  "Ready? For the dragon? I suppose so. Don't see what good it will do. They'll know it's a fake when it can't hurt anyone. These aren't insects; these are people."

  Alto shook his head. "No, burn us up."

  "Somebody check Alto for head wounds."

  "No, have the dragon breathe fire on us. We'll soak the boat with oil and make it look like we were burnt up."

  "Um, Alto, what about escaping? How do we do that without a ship?" Patrina voiced the hole in his plan.

  "We swim. Everyone can swim, last I knew."

  "Well yes, but, what if the Kraken isn't close enough?" she asked.

  "And I'm a poor swimmer at best. Not a swimmer at all in my armor," Mordrim said.

  Alto stripped his chain shirt over his head and tossed it onto the floor of the boat. "We can buy or make more armor," he said. "Not so easy to buy a new Mordrim."

  Garrick snorted. Between the deep breaths he took making the boat surge through the water with his powerful strokes he said, "Maybe we can get a new and improved one?"

  Mordrim's next oar stroke twisted in his hands, spraying water behind him and soaking Garrick and, to a lesser extent, Patrina. "Oars slipped," he cackled.