Cold Hearted Son of a Witch: 2016 Modernized Format Edition (Dragoneers Saga)

by M. R. Mathias

  In a flash, Silva landed on the frozen sand. Rikky had his dragon ease up close to the ship. It was all rotted and caked in barnacles and moss. He decided that whatever was inside was probably as rotten as the rest of it. What amazed him was the height at which the mast was sticking up into the air. The old iron crow’s nest basket was still in place. It was at least thirty feet above the sand his dragon was standing on, though. It hadn’t been visible at all when they’d flown over that first day. Or maybe they just hadn’t been able to see it amid the rolling waves. The tides were a thing he didn’t comprehend, but a tide that rose thirty feet, he knew, wasn’t normal.

  Rikky noticed a tattered leather satchel hanging from the rail of the crow’s nest, but just then the sand shifted beneath Silva. Rikky was nearly tossed.

  The tide’s coming in fast, Rikky, Zahrellion called to him across the ether.

  Silva leapt into flight just as the first swell came washing over the softening sand. Suddenly the bay was two feet deep with water. Rikky’s dragon powered them clear of the next wave, and by the time they were circling overhead with Zahrellion, the bay was almost over the hull of the ship again. The sun was getting low and already the moon could be seen peeking its gray-green, pocked face above the distant horizon.

  Come on, Zahrellion urged. Let’s explore the shoreline. Maybe we can spot an area where... where... you know.

  An area where there’s moonlit serpent shit, Rikky laughed. That’s what we’re after.

  It’s awful, Zahrellion confessed. The idea of it disturbed her.

  It all washes off, save for the memory, Rikky said in a fairly good ‘mental voice’ imitation of Master Kember. Zahrellion had only known the man briefly, but she knew that was who Rikky was imitating. She didn’t comment. Seeing the ocean rush in on Rikky and Silva unsettled her. His flippancy only made it worse.

  I’ll go along the shore this way, Rikky pointed and Silva banked them away from Crystal. You take the other.

  I’d rather us not get too far apart, Rikky, she said, but it was too late. Rikky and the quick pewter-colored dragon were already speeding away.

  Zahrellion searched the area between the high tide line and the stunted vegetation that grew on the sloping face that rose up and away from the beach, but she found nothing resembling a refuse-laden area. She saw a few pocks on the sand that she thought might be mushrooms, but turned out to be mossy boulders, and in one instance a slow-crawling turtle. It started getting dark then, the sun sinking faster than the moon was rising. She urged Crystal up into the sky to circle over the island.

  After they had slain Gravelbone, Mysterian and the Crown gave each of the three Royal Dragoneers a gift. Zahrellion’s was a thin staff with a small witch’s crystal affixed as its head. She had considerable knowledge and ability working with druidic magic, but witch magic was another thing altogether. The staff worked by commands. With Mysterian’s help she’d mastered the ones that they agreed might come in handy on this quest. ‘Owl sight’ was what she was after at the moment, but the spoken word needed to apply the effect wouldn’t find her tongue. It was just as well. Rikky was coming in close and talking out loud, breathlessly fast. Soon the moon would be fully above the horizon.

  Talk in the ethereal, Zahrellion ordered Rikky. I haven’t heard a word you just said.

  I found it. I found the serpent’s dung field. Even Rikky’s mental voice sounded out of breath. There’s a whole stretch of beach covered with shit piles, and they’re all covered in rotting mushrooms.

  They heard a splash then—a large one. It sounded like a wagon-sized boulder being hurled into the bay.

  They decided to find a place to land on the ridge, where they could look down at the beach. Zahrellion explained earlier that they really wanted mushrooms from fresh dung piles, but any moonlit caps would be retrieved, even if they sprouted out of the old refuse.

  I saw something hanging in the lookout basket on the ship, Rikky told her after they landed. It looked like someone went to the top and tied it there, hoping the water wasn’t that deep.

  It will be there in the daylight tomorrow, when the tide is out, Zah started, but her train of thought was interrupted. She was drawn to the long, sinuous form of the serpent snaking across the surface of the moonlit bay. It was so big that its wake displaced the natural roll and flow of the ocean’s surface. She guessed it to be a hundred feet long.

  “Wow, it’s a huge bastard,” Rikky said aloud. They were still mounted, and their dragons were sitting on their haunches very near each other. Zahrellion had no trouble hearing him. Whether it was the rush of excited energy that was suddenly filling her veins, or the fact that he had spoken aloud to her, Zahrellion answered in her physical voice.

  “It is.”

  “She speaks,” Rikky teased. “I was beginning to wonder if you remembered how to use your cords.”

  “Not funny,” she smirked. “The moon is getting up.”

  “The serpent is moving toward the beach,” Rikky redirected her attention.

  “It is,” she answered again, and laughed at herself. She was a little afraid. She found she wished Jenka was there. He wouldn’t hesitate to go down there and get the mushrooms. She glanced at Rikky. His eager expression showed he wouldn’t hesitate either. She steeled herself then. She couldn’t let him do it, and not because she didn’t think him capable. She had to do it because it was her duty.

  “After it goes, and gets back in the water, Crystal will take me down to the tree line.” Zah pointed at where she meant. “I want you to be in the sky, well above the bay, watching the water around the dung field.”

  “I have your back, Zahrellion,” Rikky said firmly enough that she drew confidence from him. “If the serpent comes, I’ll distract it so you can get what we have to get. I don’t want to stay here until the next full moon.”

  “Me neither,” Zahrellion smiled confidently then. “It won’t be long now.”

  “That’s what the cat said,” Rikky deadpanned.

  “What cat?” Zah was lost.

  “The cat that got its tail sheared off by the outhouse door.”

  “What are you talking—? Oh, ha,” she chuckled genuinely. “Either your jokes are getting better, or I’m delirious, because, that was actually funny.”

  Chapter Six

  The serpent took its time worming and snaking around the beach. It slithered and hunched and rolled for a good portion of the night. Finally, as the moon was getting low in the sky, it relieved itself on the sand and slid back into the water. Zahrellion remembered the command to activate the staff’s magic and zoomed her owl sight in on the dung piles. To her amazement, she watched several little stalks push forth while their umbrella-like heads spread out over them. They weren’t bathed in moonlight, they were basking in it. After the serpent had been gone for some time, she decided to get down there.

  “I’m going, Rikky,” she whispered. “Keep an eye out.”

  “Don’t forget the nut sack,” he said. Mysterian had given them a special bag made from a goat scrotum in which to carry the caps home. “It’ll be hard for me to see you, though.” Rikky studied the sky. “The clouds are rolling in.”

  I won’t be long. Zah urged Crystal into flight. I can see them well enough.

  I’m watching, and Crystal will be right there with you, Rikky reassured as he followed her into the air and began circling slowly.

  Zahrellion was tense as Crystal came down, but she kept her heartbeat steady while she slid to the sand. She was surprised at how well it was going until she was close enough to smell the serpent dung. She retched and heaved, and finally vomited when she had to step into a huge pile of the warm fetid stuff to reach one of the mushrooms. She plucked seven full caps from the dung; over twice as much as Mysterian said she needed.

  Did you get them? Rikky asked excitedly. Hurry up, Zah. The serpent is moving in the shallows near you.

  I have enough, but I’m getting extra to be certain. She wasn’t afraid anymore. She was far eno
ugh from the water line that she was sure she could get to her dragon before the sea creature could get to her. It ended up that she could have taken till dawn. The serpent had no other business out of the water and soon Zahrellion and Rikky were back in the wallowers’ cave. Both were full of excitement and the rush of danger, but feeling let down over the lack of either.

  “I say we fly to Fisherman’s Isle now,” Zahrellion said boldly. “The dragons are rested, and the sooner we return, the sooner Mysterian can save the prince.”

  “We can wait until the sun is up,” Rikky said flatly. “I want to get that satchel before we go.”

  “Agreed.” Zahrellion gave him a nod and a grin. “I bet there are explorers’ journals in there.”

  “And the captain’s log from the ship.” Rikky began eating what cooked meat remained, while cooking more in the blue fire. Zahrellion conferred with the dragons about their readiness to take on another two to three day flight. Both wyrms agreed that they could manage the task, but they wanted to spend the rest of the night feeding and the morning lazing off the meal. This left the Dragoneers with little to do.

  Rikky ate and then napped. Zahrellion carefully packed away the mushrooms, putting some in Mysterian’s special sack, and after the dragons returned from feeding, she put the rest in the oiled leather buckle pouch on Silva’s rig.

  The dragons didn’t rest long. They were eager to feed on antelope and elk in the mainland foothills. They were also eager to join the other Dragoneers. Like a deep, thrumming siren song, they could feel the Confliction calling them. They knew that there was much to be done beyond saving Prince Richard.

  Will Prince Richard remain a Dragoneer? Zahrellion asked.

  That is a question worth pondering, responded Rikky’s dragon.

  Yesss, it is, Crystal added.

  “He has no dragon,” Rikky observed as he climbed clumsily onto a chunk of fallen rock, and then onto Silva’s back. After his nap he’d rigged his extra peg-leg into a hook gaff that he hoped he could use to get the satchel away from the crow’s nest.

  Ten will meet the Confliction; they will stand or fall, Crystal told them the line of the song her mam used to sing to her decades ago.

  Five, dragons, with five riders, must defend the fate of all, Silva finished.

  “Let’s get the satchel, go home, and save Prince Richard, then worry about all of that.” Rikky hated talk about the Confliction. He felt a visceral offense at its mention. He urged Silva out of the cave and into flight. Without looking back, he headed his dragon over the ridge toward the bay. Zahrellion was a good way behind him when Silva circled down sharply over the area where the sunken ship was. He found the crow’s nest easily enough and Silva went into an awkward hover just over it. It was only ten feet above the wave tops. The last thing on Rikky’s mind was the serpent as he leaned over and hooked the satchel’s strap with his gaff. To his frustration, it was tied in a tight knot to the iron that ringed the basket.

  Can you just rip the whole basket from the ship? Rikky asked his dragon. She responded before he finished the thought by latching her hind claws onto the iron ring. She flapped down hard and managed to make the wood crack apart, but she had to twist and turn to and fro while hovering to get it to break free. When it came loose, a length of mast came with it. The weight of the waterlogged timber threatened to pull Silva out of the sky, but she steadied herself and slowly began to rise.

  We got it Zah, Rikky spoke into the ethereal.

  Oh, Rikky, no, he heard her reply just before the surface of the sea exploded beneath him and his struggling wyrm.

  Zahrellion thought the light was playing tricks on her when she saw Silva skimming across the waves with the whole ship’s mast in her claws. Just beneath the surface a long, dark, sinuous form was suddenly snaking toward them. She opened her mouth to warn Rikky, but he spoke over her. Then it was there, erupting violently out of the sea.

  It nearly speared Silva’s underbelly, but her sharp, reflexive turn cleared her of harm's way. The maneuver slung Rikky from her back into a whirling tumble, though.

  Zahrellion’s heart froze in her chest as she watched him. Crystal was diving now, fully intending to latch her jaws onto the coral serpent’s head, but Zahrellion didn’t want to lose sight of Rikky. Craning her neck as they sped past, she was surprised when Rikky stretched out and managed to grab hold of one of the iron bars on the crow’s nest Silva was still clutching. Even more amazing was how strong Rikky’s arms were. He pulled himself up with one and hooked his good leg securely. With his other arm he undid the satchel’s strap and shouldered it.

  Zah focused her attention back in front of her just in time to stop her dragon from diving on the serpent.

  No, Crystal! she yelled with her mind. I’ll be pummeled by the water.

  Yesss, the huge white dragon hissed as she restrained herself by leveling off just over the wave tops. From somewhere behind them, Rikky let out a long, slow scream.

  The dark form of the serpent changed directions sharply then, and when Zahrellion looked back to see what Rikky was screaming about, she saw why.

  He was falling now; the whole iron basket frame had broken away from the rest of the mast. Zahrellion half wished she had let Crystal dive on the serpent because now it was leaping from the sea like some striking viper, trying to spear Rikky from the air with its long, venomous horn. There was no way Crystal could turn fast enough. She was just too big.

  Zah did what her instincts told her to do. She began writing in the sky with her fingertip. As her words called forth the power of Dou, a pinkish trace of energy trailed after her digit. With a word, she focused on the serpent’s middle and sent a huge swath of static yellow energy rippling out ahead of her. Her head filled with her own dragon’s scream then. She saw that the serpent was affected too and had missed its target.

  She saw first Rikky, then Silva splash into the bay. After that, Crystal landed badly on the beach and the next thing Zah knew, she was tumbling violently through the sand.

  Part III

  Marcherion

  Chapter Seven

  Marcherion had been riding the big red-scaled fire wyrm called Blaze for what seemed like forever. He’d long since sorted out his feelings over leaving his family and his best friend, Brendly Tuck, behind the way he had. It wasn’t like he’d had much of a choice. He wasn’t going to worry himself ill over it. What he’d done had saved his friend from death. That was all that mattered. He was a Dragoneer now. He had other things to worry about these days, like crashing into the sea, or getting blown away in a tempest.

  At the moment, they were flying over open ocean and had been for nine straight days. There was an island up ahead, just an upthrust of rock with some jungle-like vegetation on it, but it was a place the dragon could rest. Blaze was winging toward it laboriously. There was little chance of coming down unnoticed, though. There were two triple-masted ships on the lee side of the formation. A small encampment was built on the shore as well. March was worried about the possible confrontation. His exhausted dragon had every intention of landing there. How those men reacted would determine what happened next.

  “Just avoid them and rest your wings,” March offered hopefully. “I’m sure they’ll be too frightened to cross the island and bother us.”

  “Ha,” Blaze huffed. Twin chugs of gray smoke roiled out of his nostrils and streamed into March’s face. March nearly gagged on the brimstone stench. Humans are too curiousss to leave well enough alone, the dragon’s weary voice sounded in March’s head. You need water. You should let me land among the men and...

  “I have water,” March said flatly. He hadn’t gotten the hang of speaking in the ethereal. “I funneled two skinfuls from that rainstorm the day before yesterday. I wouldn’t mind some fresh meat, but I don’t think you should land near them.”

  I can sssense your reluctance, Dragoneer. I will not go against your will, butss they will come, and they will bring troublesss with them.

  “And if they do
n’t come?”

  Then I will rest my wings without having to roast them.

  March was certain that Blaze meant what he said. The dragon was willful, and determined to get them to the Confliction. If it meant taking the lives of a few dozen men to get them there, those men would die. March had no idea what the Confliction was, but he knew it wasn’t good, and he knew that there would be other dragon riders there, other Dragoneers. The elf who rode the white stag told him there would be five riders in all.

  March wasn’t sure if the Confliction was a place, or a happening. Blaze knew little about it, other than it was drawing them nearer. They had to get there at all costs. They’d been traveling in the same general direction for over half a year. Blaze had carried them over towering snow-capped mountains and wide open plains full of wild herds and swaying grass. They’d flown over a great city built on the edge of high ocean cliffs. They’d even crossed barren white tundra so large that it could have been a frozen sea. All March knew for sure was that they had more long days of flying ahead of them, and Blaze desperately needed to rest his wings.

  The fact that there were ships anchored at this little atoll was a good sign. It meant that there was a larger landmass somewhere amid all these waves. A ship couldn’t have crossed the oceans that Blaze had just flown them over. The waves would have swallowed it whole.

  March was tempted to have the dragon let him down among the people of the encampment, but he doubted they would speak the same language. The last men they had come across had strange yellow-tinted skin and spoke gibberish. They were unnaturally tall, the whole tribe of them. March wasn’t sure if they were human at all. They hadn’t been that afraid of Blaze, not like most men were, and their eyes were alien, like the eyes of the elf that had gotten him into all of this.

  Blaze would need to rest and feed, and then rest some more. It would be days before the dragon was ready to leave on another extended flight. March sighed at Blaze’s wisdom. As usual the dragon was right. The people of the encampment most likely wouldn’t be able to let well enough alone.