by Lisa Daniels
There was a knock at the door as she slipped out the window. It wouldn’t not take long before the couple came to their senses and went to report the intruder. But they will have to finish dressing again first, a smirk crossed her face. Her luck appeared to be improving. With a little more difficulty than she expected, Annora made it up to the roof. Peering over the edges of each side, the dragon hunter found that the one between the inn and the establishment next to it was the best way down. Best of all, it was opposite the side with the soldiers. Being more careful not to reinjure herself, Annora took longer than she felt she would have if she had been in a better condition. Still, she did not hear any commotion inside. Raising her eyebrows, the young woman realized that the couple may not raise the alarm at all. Once they realized she was gone, there was no need for further investigation, and they clearly had higher priorities than trying to track her down.
Things were suddenly looking much better as she headed toward Killdeer’s tailor. He was one of the few people that she knew in the town, but he was the only person she needed. The thought of being back in more comfortable clothing caused her to move a little faster.
Chapter 7
The Freedom in Work
After a cheerful hello, Isaac had brought her inside and immediately started working – she didn’t need to say anything because he loved working on clothing for her. For a man in his mid-forties, he never seemed to keep a regular schedule and was up for much more than a standard work day. According to him, when it came to clothing, men were so boring and dresses were too cumbersome. He always said that making outfits for Annora was a challenge that would make any real tailor feel thrilled because she needed something sturdy like a man, but with the dips and curves that went into dresses. The man’s greyish eyes gleamed as he looked at her over his work. “I’ve got several other things I’ve been working on for you. You know, Saffron’s been helping me lately, and despite what she said over the years, she seems to be enjoying it.”
Annora gave him a big smile. His daughter was about 23 years old and had fought going into the business for a long time. The change of heart was unexpected but welcome. “Really?” She couldn’t hide the smile that spread over her face, “And where is she now?”
Isaac laughed and turned his eyes back to the work. “You know her, out doing stuff without telling me a thing.”
The dragon slayer shook her head. “Yes, that sounds about right. All you have to do is ask and I will find out what it is she is up to.”
“There’s no need for that. I remember being young, and if my parents had found out what I was up to, it probably would have killed them. Best to let her have her way. She’s coming around now, so it’s only a matter of time before she finishes growing up.”
They chatted a while longer as he finished up a couple of outfits. Once they were ready, he handed her a new bag to carry her clothing. “Now try to be careful this time. I don’t even want to know how you lost your last set of outfits.” There was a twinkle in his eyes as he looked at her.
He was the only man that could joke with her like that. Annora gave him a gentle slap on the arm. “If I tell you what happened, you will likely forbid me from going out again.”
The tailor’s salt and pepper hair waved in the night breeze. “You know, if you were any other woman I would know what you meant. But considering who you are, I think ignorance is bliss.” His smile was forced as his eyes shifted to her arm. “It looks like a fresh wound. Are you taking care of it properly?”
Annora smiled at him. “I’ve had a good bit of help.” His eyebrows shot up, and she laughed, “Against my will. You know I would never ask for assistance.”
Isaac gave her a playful punch on the shoulder. “As long as you are being treated well. Unfortunately, it isn’t the only fresh wound I can see.”
The dragon slayer’s hand went to her head. “How can you even see it?”
Isaac’s eyes followed her hand. “Well, that wasn’t what I was talking about.” He nodded toward her hands which still had small bandages from the vase. “If you are getting that reckless, perhaps it is time to retire.”
Annora’s smile faded. “I promise to do better. Just a few days of really terrible judgment.”
His frown was obvious and the disappointment in his eyes was like that of a father. “Yes, it sounds like you should be retiring.”
Annora ran her hand through her hair. “But then what will you do for a challenge? I can’t imagine you making dresses for me.”
“I am quite serious,” he countered.
“So am I,” she smiled again. “I will be more careful. The problem was that I let this one get personal.”
The tailor closed his eyes. When he opened them, there was pity. “Marked Tree?”
She nodded.
Shaking his head caused his hair to flutter around like a strange halo. “Just promise to be more careful. Whomever has been helping you out must be an angel.”
Annora grimaced, “He’s something anyway.”
Isaac’s eyebrow went up. “He?” There was a lot of meaning behind that one word.
“It’s nothing.” She adjusted the bag on her shoulder. “Thank you very much. You are the only angel I need.” Giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, Annora turned to get away before he had a chance to press for further answers.
As she left, Isaac had waved at her. “Don’t wait so long to stop by again. I promise to have something even better if you give me a bit more time.” He knew when to let a conversation drop. That was one of the things she loved about the man.
“I promise to be back sooner than later. Thank you so much.” She quickly gave him a hug and headed out into the night.
Just one more thing to do before getting back to work. The idea of being back at work was actually thrilling after so much time cooped up and feeling ill. Annora never lacked for work, although as often as not the jobs were minor creatures terrorizing people, so she had never fully appreciated how much she enjoyed it until she had been denied the ability to go out and work.
She reached the building at the edge of the town and immediately stopped. Elian was standing with a group of soldiers, giving instructions. Moving in closer, the young woman wanted to determine just what it was they were doing. The war had been over for a few years, but somehow the threat of the next one was always on the horizon. Perhaps she could learn about places to avoid. There was nothing as terrible for her business as war because people often mistook her for a mercenary. Killing humans was no real challenge, so it was only something she did when circumstances forced it.
Slipping into the shadows, Annora moved in close so that she could hear what they were discussing.
“Sir, what should we do if we find her?” Leonides’ voice was clear and to the point. Annora recognized it immediately, but she had no idea what they were talking about. They were out hunting someone. Leaning a little closer, she wanted to make sure she heard Elian’s response.
“I still think there is a chance to save her, so get back to me. I will take responsibility for whatever happens, but I cannot possibly authorize killing her without knowing that she is beyond redemption.”
Annora placed her hand on her chest. Had they already discovered she was gone? Where they talking about killing her?
Leonides pressed, “Sir, I understand your point, but she has already caused-”
Elian’s voice was cold and dangerous. “I know what she has done. But I will not kill her without knowing there is no other choice. If she can be persuaded to return, if she can be brought back to some kind of sense of who she was, I will risk anything.”
Annora pushed herself against the building and was considering fleeing when Leonides spoke again.
“Sir, we are running out of time – please let me finish,” he cut across his commander’s interruption. There was an audible sigh. “I ran into Dux Calixto – yes, I know we are not supposed to fraternize with his clan, but he felt compelled to mention in passing that King Salmon hired a d
ragon slayer.”
There was silence as everyone froze. Annora desperately wanted to look at the faces of the men, but she was too stunned by what she heard to see what their reaction was. The gasps were enough. One thing was clear – they had not been talking about her up until now.
Elian’s voice was controlled and emotionless as he said, “Anyone can call themselves that, it means nothing.”
“Sir,” Leonides’ voice was calm and measured, “they didn’t hire just anyone. They hired The Fiend. Dux Calixto didn’t have any details, but apparently this man has killed more than a dozen dragons. We’ve already lost a week, which means that you may not get the chance to try to bring her back if we don’t move now.” There was pity in his voice.
There was silence as the men waited for Elian’s directions.
“Sir,” Leonides pressed him. “I can look after the woman until she heals. Lilou needs you now.”
This seemed to shake the man out of his thoughts. “Yes, you are right. Thank you Leonides. I leave her in your care.” He then began giving orders to the others before he and Leonides headed back to the inn.
There wasn’t much time now. They were about to find out that she had escaped, and even if they had some pressing matters, Annora doubted that they were simply going to let her go. For whatever reason, Elian seemed to feel responsible for her and some woman named Lilou. Their conversation had been strange. What did the woman have to do with King Salmon? Dragon slayers didn’t track women, even if they were mages. Particularly if they were mages. Magical creatures and horrific beasts were far less cruel than humans who wielded magic.
There was one thing that was unmistakable – they were very concerned about her tracking the dragon. Her heart sank as she realized they were on opposing sides after all. The only real benefit was that they did not realize that their competition was a woman. If she could take care of it quickly enough, maybe they would never need to know.
Perhaps there is a mage controlling the dragon. However unlikely, it was not impossible, in which case she was about to face something far more dangerous than a small dragon. It did make sense, though. Small dragons would be easier to control because they didn’t have the strength or magic markings that protected the larger species of lizard. That created a whole new dilemma. If the dragon had not destroyed King Salmon and Marked Tree by choice, then it seemed wrong to simply slaughter it because of a human. Dragons rarely interacted with humans, which was why they were largely left alone. The few people crazy enough to go dragon hunting for sport rarely survived as fighting more than one dragon at a time was pretty much impossible, no matter how many men you brought. And when you attacked a dragon in its home without provocation, any dragons in the area would answer the call to help. Despite their cruel reputation, dragon society was no less civilized than humans. It was one of the first things Annora had learned in her training. Real dragon slayers refused to kill for sport, and that made them wildly unpopular among people who did not understand the difference between trophies and threat elimination.
With this in mind, Annora waited until she heard the men heading away from the building. Two were left to guard the door. Her heart went out to the one standing closest to her. Oswald, his name went through her mind. There was no way she could injure these men, not after everything these people had done to help her recover. Yes, it had been against her will, but it had allowed the dragon slayer to get better. Even if they were in some capacity competing against her, she wasn’t going to show her gratitude for the assistance by knocking two of them unconscious. Oswald deserved better.
Though it was certainly more difficult, Annora looked for an alternate entrance. Her ankle was still a bit swollen and sore, but with the current wrapping on it, she could jump as long as she landed more heavily on the other leg. After a couple of tries, she was able to grab a small window on the wall opposite to the men. Pulling herself up carefully, Annora slipped into the makeshift armory.
The place was dark inside, but not nearly as bad as some of the places she had been. Giving her eyes a few seconds to adjust, the young woman began to make her way around the building. It was not nearly as cluttered as she had expected. The weapons were located in a very concentrated area of the facility. They filled up maybe three rooms. In a fourth, she finally found her own weapons. Like a mother running to her children, Annora rushed over and lifted them off of a table. The way the metal vibrated in her hands made her feel like she was finally whole again. Stopping just shy of kissing them, a huge grin covered her face as she placed them back on the table. With the movements of an expert, the dragon slayer buckled the sheaths, noticing how much more balanced she felt. Quietly slipping the weapons into their sheaths, she gave a satisfied sigh. Unconsciously, she closed her eyes and felt the comfort she had been missing for what seemed like forever.
A sound outside brought her back to her senses. There was a window in the room just above a table. Quickly and quietly she jumped on it and pressed out of the window. The woods were less than 100 feet away. As she ran off into them she could hear a familiar voice barking orders from the direction of the inn.
Well, they know I’m gone now. The thought made her smile as she quickened her pace and moved further into the woods. The best thing she could do now was to keep to the shadows of the woods. It would be virtually impossible to see her among the trees and surrounding area if she kept her silhouette indistinguishable from them. She felt almost like a teenager slipping out after curfew, and the thought caused her to let out a short giggle. It had been a long time since she had felt this alive.
Chapter 8
Prey and Hunter
There was no way to tell in the forest how long she had been traveling, so Annora continued to press forward. Isaac had given her a few provisions, but she doubted she would be needing them. Knowing that speed was going to be required, the dragon hunter had made sure to rest well and eat plenty before she had slipped out of her room at the inn.
As she reached a clearing, she looked up to see if she could tell by the stars how late it was. Apparently her luck had turned as she saw an unmistakable shape soar across her vision. All thoughts of the pursuers were at once erased from her mind and she took off in the direction of the dragon’s flight. Its path was still leading towards the Unforgiving Ridges, but based on the number of times it had appeared recently, Annora knew that its home was not that far away. Several smaller ranges were much closer, and a dragon of that size would be able to find a suitable cave among those. The larger dragons would likely find the caverns too small, which was what drew them to the larger range in a colder land.
Stopping only for a quick breakfast, Annora ran through the night and well into the day. The sun was well past its peak when she reached the base of the first set of small mountains. Calling them a range was a stretch as it was easy to walk around them. Even a dragon as small as the one she was chasing was going to be too big to fit any caverns within them. At best there would be wolves, bears, or bandits. She didn’t even have to stop to consider what was lurking there as her path veered left.
The sun had reached the horizon as she rounded the far end of the first set of mountains. With the light fading in front of her, Annora felt disappointment wash over her. There was no way she would find the dragon tonight.
The dragon hunter shook her head. Considering where she had been just the day before, it was amazing she had made it so far. Disappointment was a waste; she should be pleased that she had been able to get back on track so quickly. The best thing she could do at this point was find a place to rest. Finding the dragon now would be dangerous after pushing herself so far that day. If the dragon saw her, they would fight, and her body would not be in the best shape after a full day of running. Annora turned and listened for the sound of water. Washing up quickly would give her a chance to cool down and redress her wounds. It did not take long to find a small stream that led to a pond. Removing her clothes, the young woman waded into the cool water. The initial shock did not l
ast long, and she relaxed as she found a warm place in the last bit of light.
As soon as she was done, the dragon slayer wrapped herself in a thin blanket and dried off. Tucking the edge of the blanket so that it would hold, she began dressing the wound on her arm. It had begun bleeding a little, but nothing too obvious. If she covered it well, it wouldn’t attract much attention in the woods. As soon as she was satisfied with it, the young woman felt her back to see how it was healing. The scab was large and felt tight as she dried, but that was a good sign. As carefully as she could, Annora wrapped a long bolt of cloth Isaac had given her around her waist, back, and stomach. Pulling it tight, she moved a little to make sure it would hold if she were to move suddenly. Next she got dressed in a new outfit. It was a bit tight, but she knew that sleeping in it would work out most of the tension that would cause discomfort. The fact that it was a little tighter around her waist was actually good as it would help keep the wrap in place. The last thing to take care of was her ankle. It was still tender, so the hunter did not want to risk reinjuring it (or worse). Carefully, she bandaged it before pulling back to inspect it. Taking several steps without her boots, she felt that it was sufficiently tight. Pulling her new boots on, the young woman jumped a few times to make sure it could handle a little extra pressure. There appeared to be no problems with it, so she packed up and looked for a place to rest for the night.
Now that she was on the other side of the mountains, she could see a couple of possibilities a little ways up. It didn’t take her long to reach the first few, and after a short exploration of the area, she selected one that was too small for most predators. Crawling into it for the last time, she immediately began to set it up as a temporary living place. Lighting a fire, she settled in and ate a light meal. When she felt the fire was set, Annora sat against the wall and allowed herself to drift off to sleep.