by Corin, G.
“What’s that for?” he asked curiosity making him bold.
Stripe looked up and blinked in surprise.
“It’s a sword.”
Ramaeka looked at him blankly.
“Er, it’s a weapon to fight off enemies with,” Stripe explained. “Here I’ll show you.” He jumped up eagerly, Shady rolled his eyes.
“Here we go” he muttered to himself.
Ramaeka watched in fascination as the blond boy swung the big blade around expertly. He spun it so fast he could barely see the gleaming blade, neatly switching hands half way through. Then with a cry he gave it a twist and flick and the blade landed with a thud in the trunk of the tree next to Ramaeka who flinched.
“Wow,” he said in amazement, ignoring his wound he knelt and tugged on the handle. It was deeply embedded in the tree and he had to pull several times before the blade slid out.
“That was amazing.”
He carefully handed the blade back to the grinning boy.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
“I taught myself,” Stripe said with open pride. “I spent months spying on the army training in my old city.”
“Yeah, but then you got caught,” said Shady dryly.
“I didn’t get caught,” Stripe protested. “I almost got caught.”
He turned to Ramaeka grinning. “They grabbed me by my pants as I was going over the fence.”
“So what did you do?” Ramaeka asked in fascination. Stripe was possibly the most interesting person he had ever met before. To his surprise Stripe blushed.
“Well, my pants were a few sizes too big for me so I wiggled out of them and over the fence.”
“He had to run the whole way through the city completely naked,” Shady sniggered.
Stripe flushed as Ramaeka laughed as well.
“You’re just jealous,” he told Shady. “Everybody got see what an amazing body I have, they were all over me for weeks after that.”
Shady rolled his eyes. “You were only eight at the time, they thought it was cute.”
Ramaeka watched and listened in fascination as the two humans argued. He had never met anybody like these two. Alekra had been much older and calmer, plus they had never really had the chance to talk properly to each other. His family were cold and distant with each other, each looking for a way to get ahead of the rest. Even Bakara, though kind, had been distant to him through age. These two were completely different, especially Stripe who almost glowed with energy. He hoped that they would allow him to stay with them for a while at least, just until he figured out what to do. Ramaeka pushed away his concerns laughing as Stripe dropped a worm down Shady’s shirt.
Though Shady pointedly ignored him, he spent a happy evening listening to Stripe’s tales of fights and adventures that they had come across in their journey. Stripe had run away from home at the age of six, Shady, two years older, had taken him under his wing and taught him the rules of the street. Four years later, after a run in with the sadistic leader of their gang, they had left their home city and had been exploring the world ever since.
Ramaeka shook his head in amazement at the two.
“You’ve had so many adventures, more than anyone else I’ve ever met.”
Stripe grinned as he settled back into his blanket.
“Yep, it’s not always easy on the road, but it’s worth it as long as you’ve got someone to go with.”
Ramaeka leant back and looked at the sky, thinking longingly of travelling the road with the two and leaving his family behind. They would probably believe him dead anyway and Alekra would be safe with Isahn, so why not go travelling. He closed his eyes and fell asleep thinking about a new life.
Ramaeka woke early the next morning and after relieving himself washed quickly in the ice cold river. As he returned to the campsite he saw Shady kick Stripe lightly in the side, the other boy merely grunted and pulled the blanket over his side. Frowning Shady ripped off the blanket and dumped a cup of water over Stripe’s face. Ramaeka laughed as Stripe leapt up squealing.
“S’not funny,” grumbled Stripe sleepily taking a plate of food from him. Ramaeka grinned cheekily and sat down to eat his own portion.
After the meal a now wide awake Stripe checked Ramaeka’s wound.
“Wow,” he said. “This has almost healed up. You’re going to have some massive scars though my friend.”
“So he’s well enough to hit the road then,” interrupted Shady before Ramaeka could say anything.
“Well yes, he’s definitely okay to travel.”
“Good, then he can get going.”
Ramaeka’s heart sank at that. They were going to leave him here. Stripe frowned at Shady.
“We can’t just leave him.”
“Yes we can” retorted Shady. “It’s actually very easy, we just walk away.”
As Stripe continued to frown at him, Shady sighed. He walked over to Ramaeka and pulled a small golden disc from his pocket.
“Here kid, this will keep you going for a while until you figure out what you’re doing.”
He tossed Ramaeka the disc and walked back over to Stripe.
“There see? He’ll be fine.”
“Come on Shady, can’t we please keep him?” Stripe pleaded.
Ramaeka looked at the disc; it was made of the metal gold, a rather weak metal. He wondered what it signified. Sighing he stood up, he didn’t want to upset anybody and he was sure he would be fine by himself as much as he would enjoy the company. He could always hunt for animals in his greater form if he needed to, though he would have to be careful not to be spotted.
Crossing to where Stripe and Shady were still arguing, he tugged on Stripe’s sleeve.
“It’s okay Stripe, I don’t want to cause any trouble,” he said once he had the boy’s attention. He saw Shady smirk in satisfaction.
“But, um, maybe you could point me towards the nearest city and tell me what to do with this token?” He held up the disc unsurely.
Stripe glared at Shady.
“That’s it he’s coming with us. He doesn’t even know what a coin is!”
Shady was staring at Ramaeka in shock.
“You honestly don’t know what it is?”
Ramaeka frowned, he wasn’t stupid after all.
“I know its gold, but gold is a weak metal I don’t know what I would use it for.”
Shady stared at him for another moment then looked over at Stripe who was glaring at him arms folded. Ramaeka watched in fascination as they seemed to have an argument in complete silence. He sighed.
“Fine, you can come with us. For now.”
He stalked away and began gathering things together. Stripe grinned and ruffled Ramaeka’s hair affectionately.
“Don’t worry, he’ll come around, he has a heart as soft as gold.”
Ramaeka beamed at him and went to help Shady pack up the camp.
They spent the next two weeks on the road. Luckily the weather stayed fairly fine and shelter was easy to find. Everything quickly fell into a routine. They each took turns on watch at night, Strip and Shady rotated the cooking while Ramaeka, after one spectacular failure at creating something edible, washed up. Stripe often claimed that he could still smell the well cooked aroma of the muck that Ramaeka had claimed to be fish stew. Ramaeka often tripped him up after hearing such a complaint.
Shady ignored Ramaeka for the most part, often engaging Stripe in conversation about people or events that Ramaeka knew nothing about. It didn’t worry him though, Ramaeka was used to being ignored and he stored away all the conversations in his memory in case they ever met one of those people. Stripe never left him out for long anyway. Occasionally though Shady was persuaded to teach Ramaeka about high finance. Apparently the gold disc was a token of sorts used to trade for goods. He also demonstrated several techniques in the art of pick pocketing, which, he informed Ramaeka, was essential to any self sufficient child of the streets. At the end of two weeks Ramaeka had become an expe
rt in at least two of these techniques.
Stripe’s questions about Ramaeka’s early life sometimes made the young dragon nervous, however he was easily diverted and they quickly became close friends. Shady hated hunting and fishing, preferring to scout out the land ahead, this left Ramaeka and Stripe to take care of the food supplies. Stripe taught him how to knot and cast a fishing line, and how to hunt using both spear and traps.
The wounds that his father had given him had faded to scars already. There were three scratches running parallel to each other. They started under his right shoulder blade down and around ending half way over his ribs. Stripe told him that they made him look interesting, like he had been wrestling a big cat or a dragon.
“But I did wrestle a dragon,” he’d said confused.
“Exactly,” said Stripe with a barking laugh.
At the end of two weeks of travel, Ramaeka looked up from setting up camp to see Stripe jogging towards him a wide grin on his face.
“Ramaeka,” he called. “Come up and see the city.”
Curious he jumped to his feet and ran up to meet him. Stripe led him back the way he had come to the crest of a hill. As he pointed down, Ramaeka immediately spotted the city. It was shaped like a pentagon, immense stone walls surrounding the houses and shops while farm land bordered the outside.
Ramaeka rather thought it was beautiful, Stripe snorted when he told him that.
“Nah kid, Talok’s alright but it’s nothing compared to Porkae, that’s mine n Shady’s home city.”
“We’re a bit dry on supplies and such so we thought we’d stop here for a week or so.”
“That sounds good,” Ramaeka grinned. “I can practice what Shady has taught me about stealing.”
Stripe looked at him sternly. “You make sure you check with me or Shade first. We know who to target, can’t have you robbing a nobbler.”
“What’s a nobbler?” he asked confused.
“A nobbler’s someone who’s barely got enough to nobble together, you know someone that looks like they might have some money but ain’t really got that much at all.”
Ramaeka nodded.
“Right then let’s get back to camp and see what the plan is.”
As Stripe pulled him away, Ramaeka flicked one last look back at the city. This would definitely be an adventure for him.
Shady was waiting for them when they got back and had begun to cook evening meal.
“Yeah I know it’s your turn to cook,” he told Stripe impatiently as his friend protested. “But we’re going over the wall tonight so we need to get things rolling.”
“You’ve been in then?” Stripe asked eagerly.
“Yep, went over at the same place as last time, met up with some of the old crew. Old Ma Dresden’s gonna put us up.”
“Great,” Stripe grinned widely nudging Ramaeka. “Her food is the best; a man could thrive on edibles like hers.”
“What about boys like us?” Ramaeka asked innocently. Stripe sputtered as Shady smirked at him.
“We need to head out as soon as it gets dark though,” he informed them. “They’ve got serious guard on at the moment, apparently Gasha is moving up northwards.”
He and Stripe exchanged a significant look, before he continued.
“The best hole in their guard is swap over at evening.”
Ramaeka interrupted him.
“Who’s Gasha? Why are they guarding against him”?
Secretly he almost feared that it was another dragon, maybe one who would recognise him, though he’d never heard the name before. Stripe hesitated before replying.
“You remember the stories I told you about the Thief Lord who ran our gang in Porkae?”
Ramaeka nodded, wide eyed.
“The one who whipped your feet for making too much noise?”
“That’s the one. Well for about a year before we left he started to expand his interests. Killed off all the leaders of the opposing gangs, brought off or threatened a heap of Jinglers and Jabberers in the higher city.”
“Jinglers and Jabberers?”
“Rich lords and council men,” Shady explained coolly. “They tried to fight back at first but then he got hold of the Lord Governor’s wife.”
“What happened?” Ramaeka asked.
“Skinned her alive with a salted knife,” Stripe said shaking his head sadly. “She was a good un’ too. After that they folded and Gasha, the Thief Lord, pretty much ruled the city. Until the General hit back.”
“We were already gone by then,” Shady continued. “But we heard Gasha had gathered an army of bad men and he started attacking some of the other cities. So the King sent the General down with his army and they drove Gasha out.”
“Wait who are the King and the General?” Ramaeka demanded.
Shady raised an eyebrow at Stripe who frowned.
“The King is the ruler of Quandin, the biggest kingdom in Skyde. King Phaenin the third to be exact. General Graidy is the greatest soldier in the King’s armies. He’s amazing.”
“He’s okay for a soldier,” Shady rolled his eyes at Stripe’s enthusiasm. “Anyway the General caught him between cities and flattened his army. They drove the survivors including Gasha back into the Great Forest and he just disappeared.”
“This was three years ago, about a year after we left. Then a year ago rumours started drifting around that Gasha had returned. Whole villages were wiped out over night but nobody could trace the people who did it,” Stripe shook his head in disgust.
“Until about three months ago. Gasha came out of nowhere with a massive horde, not just made up of men but also creatures out of people’s nightmares. He wiped out a full third of the King’s army and has been working his way up the land since.”
“He’s unstoppable,” Shady scowled. “Which is why we’re staying as far away as possible.”
He glared meaningfully at Stripe who looked wistful.
“Mind you if I had a magical sword I’d be unstoppable too,” Stripe grumbled.
“A magical sword?’ Ramaeka breathed.
“Yeah,” Stripe told him enthusiastically. “It’s incredibly powerful, what I wouldn’t give to have something like that.”
“If we could get back to business kids,” Shady interrupted impatiently. They turned back to him sheepishly.
“So is it dangerous then?” Stripe asked with a frown. “If he’s close maybe we should keep moving.”
“Na, we’re ok,” replied Shady. “They’re just taking precautions, the army’s actually heading up the coast so they’re weeks away if they actually bother coming over here.”
Stripe nodded looking relieved. With that settled the three of them quickly ate dinner. While Ramaeka washed up, Stripe and Shady cleared up the camp so that within the hour they were ready to go.
Ramaeka followed the two of them as they made their way down the hill at a light run. Shady skirted the open areas, staying in the tree line as they approached the city. It took two hours to finally make it around the side of the wall to the point that he had picked out.
“Right we climb up here using the rope and it’s an easy jump to the tree on the other side,” he whispered to them. “When you get over, get into some cover and wait for me. Stripe you first when I give the signal, the boy goes next, then I’ll bring the rope over with me.”
They nodded with agreement and settled back to wait. Shady watched the wall intently as the guards walked past, barely looking over the side as they went.
As soon as they had left he crept out and as Ramaeka watched in fascination, flicked a long black length of rope over the top of one of the turrets. He pulled it tight and gave it an experimental tug. Turning he signalled to Stripe who bound up the rope with ease and disappeared over the top. Shady pointed at Ramaeka. As he moved forward Ramaeka tried to suppress the wild excitement fluttering in his stomach. Before he got to the wall however a soft whistle rang out and Shady wrenched him back into cover, running up flicking the rope away from the wall.
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He coiled it rapidly then hid beside Ramaeka motioning him to be silent. Ramaeka waited, watching the wall as he nervously crouched beside the other boy. A man walked up to the edge of the wall and peered down frowning. He stayed a few moments before slowly moving on, though he constantly looked back over his shoulder. Shady swore.
“We can’t go over here anymore; I’m going to scout for another point this way. You go the other way,” he told Ramaeka pointing him to the right.
Before he could protest Shady was gone, loping away down the wall. Ramaeka hesitated, he didn’t overly trust the dark haired boy and his instincts were kicking him in the side of his gut right now. He had never got anywhere without following his intuition, so he figured he shouldn’t start ignoring it now. He ran silently to the left following the path that Shady had taken. As he reached a bend in the wall he heard a soft birdcall similar to the one he had heard before. Peering around, he watched in anger as Shady bound up his rope and over the wall. As he watched, the rope gave a flick and disappeared. He scowled, his gut had been right, Shady was leaving him behind. He waited unsure of what to do when he heard voices from up the wall. A blond head appeared over near the place where Shady had gone over. Ramaeka’s heart lifted as Stripe looked around anxiously. His sensitive ears picked up his voice as Stripe turned and spoke to Shady behind him.
“Where is he?” he hissed.
“I don’t know, he went off the other way to find his own way over, come on you’ll get us caught!”
Someone, presumably Shady yanked Stripe back. Ramaeka heard their soft footsteps fade away.
He scowled there was no way he was going to let Shady get the better of him. He listened intently; there were no sounds except that of night time insects. Slipping around the corner he looked the wall over, it was fairly rough. To a dragon who had been raised in a mountain fortress it was really no problem at all.
Using his strong fingers and toes he pulled himself up the wall, finding cracks and tiny jutting pieces of stone that would have defeated a human.
Within seconds he was over the wall. He dropped lightly to the earth, barely jarring his legs despite the ten length drop. He hurried into the cover of a dark alley way several lengths from the wall. He stopped for a moment listening for outraged voices or the sound of chasing footsteps, but there were none. He hadn’t been seen. He let out the breath he had been holding in relief. Then sniffed. He grinned, Stripe and Shady had hidden in this alley as well, and he could smell their familiar scent. He followed his nose down to the end of the alley bounding to the top of the wall at the end as he followed the scent onto the roof tops. He hurried after it jumping from roof to roof.