“I hope you’re taking this seriously,” she said. “The dragon could show up at any time, and it might just remember what you did to it at Brighton’s Gate. It might want revenge.”
“I’ll be ready,” Zollin said confidently. “I don’t plan to give it the chance to have any sort of revenge on me or the people I care about.”
She smiled at him and he was about to say more, but then she turned and went back into the shrine.
“I need to get my bow ready,” she said. “You should move the shrine and then rest.”
“Okay,” he said, his confidence suddenly faltering. He still felt ready to face the dragon, but he was beginning to lose hope that he and Brianna would ever be anything more than friends.
* * *
Sir Hausey sent a message to the commander of the reserve squadron, who in turn sent three men on horseback to capture the girl. She had walked almost a mile from the compound when they caught up to her.
“Hold there,” said one of the troopers.
“I am the servant of Bartoom, Lord of the Highlands and beyond,” she said, looking at the men with dull, expressionless eyes.
“You’ll need to come with us,” said the soldier.
“No,” she said.
“I command you, by order of the King.”
“I do not serve your King,” she said, turning and continuing her slow walk.
The troopers looked at one another and then two of them slid off their mounts and tossed their reins to the third man. They hurried up behind the woman and took hold of each of her arms. The woman screamed and struggled. The men were surprised and more than a little frightened, but they held on. They dragged her back toward the horses, but it was obvious that she wasn’t going to make it easy on them.
“Listen,” shouted one of the men. “Listen to me, woman. We don’t want to hurt you, but we will if we have to. Calm down!”
She refused, keeping up the bloodcurdling scream while she struggled, kicking at the men and their horses until they were forced to fling her onto the ground. One of the troopers laid across her back while the other quickly got rope to secure her arms and legs.
“Hurry, it’s like trying to hold onto a wild boar,” said the trooper who was struggling to hold the woman down.
They tied her arms behind her back. Her sleeves had torn free long ago, so the rope chafed her sun darkened skin as they tightened the ropes. Then they worked on the woman’s legs. They had to tie a rope around her thighs and around her ankles, but even though the rope was obviously rubbing her skin raw, she fought the restraints.
The soldiers then lifted the woman up and laid her across the horse’s haunches, but she struggled so hard she fell off the horse, which pranced nervously away.
“Now what?” said the soldier whose horse she had fallen from.
“We could drag the crazy wench,” said one of the other soldiers in frustration.
“The centurion won’t be happy if she’s hurt,” said the third man.
“Here, I’ll take responsibility for her,” said the first soldier again. He looked at the woman, who was shaking her head and wailing. “This is your last chance to cooperate,” he shouted. She ignored him and kept screaming. Then he swung a tight right hook that hit her flush on the jaw and she fell back, her body stiff and her eyes rolling back so that only the whites showed.
“That’s one way to deal with her,” said the other soldier who had been struggling to hold the woman.
“You hit her!” said the trooper holding the horses.
“Yes, I did, it was the only way to get her to comply. She’ll live through it.”
“What if you broke her jaw?” the soldier said, obviously afraid that he would be held accountable for the woman’s condition.
“Look, I said I would take responsibility, didn’t I?” said the trooper who had punched the woman. “Now let’s get her on my horse and back to camp. The sooner this is over, the better.”
“But what if she can’t talk because her jaw is broken? You know the commander wants to question her.”
“If he hears her screaming, he’ll thank me.”
The other trooper laughed and they remounted their horses. The woman woke up before they arrived back at camp, but the trauma of the punch, combined with the blood pooling in her head from being slung over the horse’s hindquarters, left her senseless. When they got back to their camp, the woman was taken into a tent. The ropes were removed and she was propped up with blankets and secured with strips of fabric that were used as bandages by the medics who traveled with the soldiers.
“Give her some wine,” Hausey commanded.
“What about the trooper who hit her?” asked the squad leader as he poured some wine into a small cup.
“I doubt he did it to hurt her. We’ll let it go this time.”
The truth was, everyone in the compound had heard the woman wailing and screaming when the troopers had attempted to detain her. Hausey was hopeful that the blow had knocked some sense into the woman.
The wine did its work and the woman seemed to come back to her senses as they watched. She looked around the tent and fixed her eyes on Hausey.
“Let me go,” she said softly. “I serve Bartoom, Lord of the Highlands and beyond.”
“Yes, I know that. I’m Sir Hausey, fourth son of Lord Valeron, and Commander of the King’s Legion.”
“You have no right to hold me here,” she said.
“I have every right. You are here to answer for crimes committed against the crown. Now, do you actually serve the dragon or are you just taking advantage of the situation?”
“I serve Bartoom, Lord of the High—”
“Yes, yes, we’ve heard that. So you’re saying that you speak with the dragon.”
“No one speaks to Lord Bartoom.”
“So then how is it that you serve him?”
“I am his prophet, his faithful servant.”
“And how do you serve the dragon?”
“I warn those who are in danger. I speak for my lord.”
“And what does your lord say?” Hausey asked.
“Let me go, put out your gold, and leave this place. Perhaps he will let you live.”
Hausey smiled. “I’ve heard that before; what else does the dragon say?”
“What more is there to say?” she asked coyly.
“Enough,” Hausey said, raising his voice. “Tell me about the dragon.”
“No,” she said.
“Tell me what you know, woman,” he said.
She did not speak, but closed her eyes and lay rigid on the bed. She wanted to tell them that if they didn’t let her go, her dragon lord would cook them with fire and then eat them alive, but she knew that Bartoom cared nothing for her. Still, she refused to tell the soldiers anything.
Hausey left the tent, frustrated. Zollin and Brianna were waiting outside. The look on Hausey’s face told them everything they needed to know.
“Nothing, eh?” Brianna said. “I didn’t think she would talk.”
“There has to be a way,” Hausey said.
“Zollin can make her talk,” Brianna said.
Both men looked at her with shock.
“I’m not talking about torture,” Brianna said. “I mean, do your mind influence thing on her, Zollin.”
“I don’t really think...” He wasn’t sure what to say. Influencing Brianna had caused a riff in their relationship and he certainly didn’t want to reopen that wound.
“Come on,” she said. “It’s the only way she’ll talk. She acts like a woman that’s been abused but comes to the aid of her abuser. Even if we did torture her, she would just lie. But if Zollin convinces her that she can trust him, she might talk.”
“And he can do that?” Hausey said, looking at Zollin with a mixture of awe and disgust.
“Yes,” Zollin said. “At least I think I can. I’ll give it a try if you want.”
“It’s the only way,” Brianna said, looking at Zollin reassuringly.
“Alright, do it,” Hausey said. “We’ll be listening right outside.”
Zollin sighed, he didn’t really like using his power this way, but he saw no way around it. They needed information and the woman might be their last chance. She had come to warn them that the dragon was coming. Their time was running out.
Chapter 22
Zollin walked into the tent. It was a simple space, with only a stool and cot. The Priestess was tied to the cot, propped on blankets, so Zollin sat on the stool. He didn’t speak; instead he let his magic flow out to the woman. He could feel her fear, and he realized that she wasn’t afraid of him. She was afraid of something else, something big and fierce. He guessed it was the dragon, which answered his first question. She had obviously been in the beast’s presence, close enough to have an almost primal fear that directed every action she took.
He focused his mind on peace and pushed the emotion toward the woman. She relaxed almost instantly. Her arms fell back onto the cot from where she had been straining against her bonds. Her face relaxed, too, losing the air of seriousness she had when she confronted them at the shrine. Now she looked normal, at least as normal as she could look being malnourished and exhausted. Zollin could feel her fatigue. It was taking all of her strength to stay awake.
Next Zollin focused his mind on trust. It was a hard emotion to manipulate. It wasn’t a feeling exactly, but more of a mental resolution. He did his best and pushed the feelings toward the woman.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“Bev,” she said. “But I haven’t been called that in a while. I miss it,” she confided.
“Where are you from, Bev?”
“My husband and I have a farm. It’s farther north, close to the Peddinggar Forest.”
“Is that where your husband is?” Zollin asked.
“No,” she said sadly. “He’s dead. Bartoom ate him right in front of me.”
“Bartoom is the dragon?”
“Yes, he makes me walk everywhere telling people to give him gold.”
“What does he do with the gold?”
“I don’t know. He was gathering it at our farm, but I don’t really know why.”
“What did the dragon say to you?”
“Just that I have to go and tell everyone to give him their gold or he will destroy their villages. It’s terrible.”
“Have you seen what the dragon does to the villages?”
“No, but I’ve seen him breathing fire and burning the villages that don’t give him what he wants. He’s burned me, too. That first night, when he told me what I had to do, after he ate my husband. He ate all our animals and made me clean out the barn. He spit fire at me if I didn’t do things exactly the way he wanted me to.”
“Why do you obey him now? I mean, he can’t hurt you here. Or you could go south, to Felson or Orrock.”
“No place is safe,” she said with a crazy look in her eyes. “I have to keep moving or he’ll find me. He said he would. He said there’s no place I can go to escape him.”
She was struggling with her bonds again and Zollin used his magic to calm her down. It took longer this time, her fear was almost overwhelming.
“Did you know that I’m a wizard?” Zollin said. Bev shook her head. “I am. I fought the dragon once and drove him away.”
“That’s impossible,” she said.
“No, it isn’t. He tried to hit me with his tail and instead his tail crashed into a building. Then I used my magic to pull the building down onto his tail. The wood pierced his hide and the dragon flew away.”
“His tail?” she asked. “I saw wounds on the dragon’s tail. He wouldn’t let me near it.”
“Do you think his tail is his weak spot?”
“No,” she said. “The dragon doesn’t have any weakness. Its scales are hard as stone, probably harder than iron.”
“What color was the dragon when you saw it last?”
“It was a rusty color, almost black.”
“Can you think of any way I might be able to wound it or kill it?”
“No,” she said sadly. “You can’t even get close to the dragon without it burning you or eating you alive.”
“Did the dragon do anything to make you think it might have a weakness? Perhaps it didn’t want you to come near its head or stomach. Anything at all could help,” Zollin said.
“Nothing,” Bev said and there were tears in her eyes. “It’s coming and if I’m still here, it’s going to burn me again.”
“Okay,” Zollin said soothingly. “It will be alright.”
He calmed her again and this time he sat quietly until she fell asleep. Then he stood up and left the tent.
“That was strange,” Brianna said.
“Very,” Zollin agreed. “We know one thing: she’s been with the dragon. Her fear of it is overwhelming. She can hardly think straight.”
“Did you learn anything that might help us?” Hausey asked.
“Only that the dragon’s scales are getting harder. I’m not sure what we’re going to do to stop it.”
“Well, according to the girl we don’t have much time,” Hausey said. “I’ll make sure that my men are ready.”
“We better get ready, too,” Brianna said.
She and Zollin walked from the camp in the woods back to the compound they had helped to build. They were quiet until they reached the wide street where the ambush was going to take place. Then Brianna reached over and took Zollin by the hand.
“Are you scared?” she asked.
“Sure, aren’t you?”
“Yes, and I don’t like being scared.”
Zollin shrugged, not sure what to say.
“How come you never seem scared?” she asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t think about it too much. I’m more scared that something might happen to you than to me.”
“I’m afraid that something might happen to you, but I’m also afraid that I’ll be killed. What do you think it’s like to die?”
“I have no idea,” Zollin said.
“Do you believe in God or gods or something?”
“Sure, I can’t imagine that we’re all alone in the world. My magic is proof enough for me. I don’t know where it comes from, but I didn’t make it. I think maybe God did.”
“Do you think there’s life after death?”
Zollin looked over at Brianna to see if she was just teasing him. Her face was pinched in the familiar way she looked when she was thinking hard about something.
“It’s hard not to,” he said.
“My family wasn’t really religious,” she said.
“Mine either, although Quinn always talked about my mother as if she were alive still.”
“That’s right, I forgot that your mom died. What was it like losing her?”
“She died giving birth. I don’t remember anything about her.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, sliding her free hand up his arm and giving his bicep a little squeeze.
Zollin felt waves of tingles running up and down his body. He hadn’t been this close to Brianna in days. He wanted to put his arm around her and pull her close, but he was afraid she would pull away. He didn’t want to take the chance that she might reject him, even in a small way. His confidence had been growing and he didn’t want to do anything that might make him doubt himself, especially if he was going to be facing the dragon soon.
“You know, we didn’t have a temple or anything like that in Tranaugh Shire. Do you think we’ll be accepted by a god we’ve never acknowledged or worshiped?”
“I don’t know,” Zollin said. “But I can’t imagine anyone or anything rejecting you.”
She smiled at him and he felt as if he were gliding up in the air, like a dandelion caught on a summer breeze. Then he stopped walking, his own face scrunched in thought. Could it be possible, he wondered?
“What is it, Zollin?” Brianna asked.
“I need to check on something,” he said. “Do you mind?”
He looked down at her hands, which were still holding his. She let go and stepped back, a puzzled expression on her face.
Zollin thought back to when he had first discovered his powers. He had practiced levitating objects over and over, but it had never occurred to him that he might be able to levitate himself. He focused his mind on himself and thought, rise.
Five Kingdoms: Books 01, 02 & 03 Page 98