“Just so.” The captain nodded back at the prince, and Rikky was starkly reminded of Herald.
The sun was almost gone from the sky, but there would be dusky light for a while yet. They were winding down a fairly steep switchback grade, and the captain seemed as if he were trying to hurry and beat full dark. This put the experienced men slightly on edge, leaving the boys to speculate about what they might find in the caves and what sort of lake creatures might eat the baits they put out on Linux’s lines.
The boys were laughing shrilly at something Linux had just said, when the captain suddenly stopped his horse and hushed them.
“What is it?” Brawn called. Apparently the man wasn’t close enough to hear the urgency in Captain Will’s voice, for had he been, he might have held his tongue.
Rikky was reaching for Silva with his mind, but his eyes were on the two boys. They were right in front of him. Pascal’s normally brown skin was pale, and Prince Jericho was as white as snow. Both had seen the captain’s expression when he turned back, and now they were seeing what Rikky was seeing.
Brawn’s bow thrummed as he loosed an arrow that went right past Rikky’s ear. The shaft went over the first of the two silhouetted forms lumbering toward them. A howl that sounded more angry than hurt came out of the second troll as it struck.
They were trolls Rikky saw, and there were more than just the two. Worse, they were coming out of the cave in which the group was supposed to camp. The sunlight was gone, and Silva had gone scouting the lake. The silver dragon was so far away that this situation could become really messy before she could get there to help them.
Rikky started to cast a protective spell, but the fresh burst of dour into his being sent his mind reeling for a heartbeat or two, then a head-sized rock slammed into Pascal’s horse. The animal went bucking and kicking. As Pascal went falling from his saddle, the horse slipped and tumbled down the mountainside. Rikky couldn’t see Pascal and was so intent on grabbing the prince that he fumbled his spell.
Another rock came flying in, this one twice as large as the first. It hit Olly and his animal both. The young man screamed until the rock smashed him into the ground. An orb of magical light flared forth above them then, revealing that the situation was far worse than they could have imagined. Olly was a gruesome sight as two trolls dove for him and then dragged his body into the dark in separate directions. Another troll leapt in and sank its teeth into the flank of Olly’s twitching horse. There were more than a dozen of the healthy-looking bastards, and they were closing in from seemingly everywhere.
“I’m after him,” Brawn said, as he leapt from his horse, pushed his way past Rikky, and started down the slope into the dark, looking for Pascal.
The green forester in the rear screamed as he was grabbed by one of the trolls. Rikky and the prince both saw it happen, and even though Rikky had killed a hundred or more of the crazed vermin, the sight of something twice as big as a grown man, and as wild as a rabid wolf, never ceased to scare him witless. He had the reins of the prince’s horse in one hand and was going through his spell again in his head, when the next rock came in. It was the size of a man’s fist, and when it hit him, it felt like getting walloped by a club.
Rikky went flailing, only to feel another mind-jarring thump when his head hit the ground. Jericho grabbed a hold of him, and he heard Captain Willian scream out in agony, but everything after that was black.
“What do you mean he is gone?” Zahrellion answered the question Clover had just asked Jenka.
Clover wanted to hear what Jenka had to say, but even now he still hadn’t acknowledged that she was standing before him in the new Three Forks Palace.
Clover looked at him for a time and then shook her head and turned to Zah. Apparently, he was getting worse. Clover wondered if the fountain that had restored Crimzon and her to their finest form could restore his mind. “I heard a rumor that a king from the New World is to marry a Vikarian, so I went to Serpent’s Isle. Richard is not there. He has not been there for some time.”
“Where is this Vikaria?” Zahrellion asked.
Clover hadn’t told her the worst of it yet. She was waiting, hoping that Jenka might come around and hear her, too.
“It is one of the many kingdoms that make up the greater land of Kar.” Clover looked at Jenka again. “Is he like this often?”
“He will focus when he needs to,” Zahrellion sighed.
Clover noticed that Zahrellion’s once frail-looking body had both thickened and rounded slightly. She was beautiful, there was no doubt. She didn’t dislike Zah, but she didn’t really like her, either. Crimzon was the supreme fire drake and hers was a frost dragon. A bit of natural revulsion seemed to taint all their past conversations. Though the feeling wasn’t as potent now, it was still there.
“What would you have us do, Lady Clover?” Zahrellion asked, reminding Clover that the girl was smart, probably far smarter than she. “I’m certain Rikky would love the task of hunting him down and extinguishing him.”
“He…saved…us…thrice…Zah.” This came from Jenka and was spoken slowly, in clear, emotionless words. Jenka then shook his head and sat forward. His coral-green eyes sputtered and flickered in a fluttering pattern that was confusing to the senses, and his gaze, when it turned on them, was more than a little hypnotic. “My brother might have done bad things, but none of us would be here without him. None of us.” His eyes bored into Clover then, filling her mind with a bit of masculine force that caused her to quiver but made her understand. Clover wouldn’t be here if Richard hadn’t saved Jenka.
It didn’t change the part of all this she hadn’t told them yet.
“Jenka, a flotilla is sailing here as we speak.” Clover made sure that her tone didn’t convey too much worry, for she wasn’t that concerned yet. She and Crimzon could probably destroy the whole lot of ships on their own with minimal effort, but only before they landed. “They do not represent the Greater Kingdom of Kar, but the Karian royalty is aware of them.”
“What do they want?” Zahrellion asked. “To make war? Who do they represent, then?”
“They say in the Ports of Kar that the ships sailed to negotiate trade, but I fear they may have something else in mind. I fear an order of nasty sorcerers, who are most likely in disguise among them, are involved, but may be here on the mainland or the islands already.”
“What does Richard have to do with any of it?” Jenka asked.
Clover drew in a deep breath and looked at Zahrellion, who had a better understanding about Richard’s state of mind, or lack thereof. “I’m not sure, but King Chad has been an avid supporter of these so-called trade negotiations.” Clover braved Jenka’s eyes again and found whatever spell had held her before had been broken by the dour magic of her own huge dragon tear. “He is dangerous, Jenka. There is no telling what sort of information he could give them.”
“There are ways to question him that he could not resist, love.” Zahrellion nodded. “He knows far too much to leave loose. She is right.”
“And what if he bears children? Won’t they have a claim to your throne?” Clover asked.
“Well, then, what would the two of you have me do?” Jenka asked, the glow of his eyes flashing a deeper shade of emerald for a beat or two, the edges of his lips curling into the slightest of smiles.
Clover decided he had been listening all along.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The second Silva dashed Rikky with a refreshing blast of her dragon magic, he came to. She stood guard over him, Prince Jericho, and Captain Willian, while the emerald-green dragon, Jade, picked the trolls apart.
“Where is Linux?” Rikky asked the prince, who was still clinging to him.
Jericho shook his head and sobbed. “Where is Pascal?”
“Brawn has Pascal over there.” Captain Will pointed with his sword. One of the trolls fighting Jade spun around toward them, and just before Silva blasted it with molten pewter spew, the captain stepped forward and jabbed his blade thr
ough its lower abdomen. After he pulled his steel free of it, the creature took a step back, but fell forward toward them. It’s huge, smelly gourd smacked the ground just a foot away from Rikky and Jericho. Its wild eyes were rolled up into its head, but straightened for a heartbeat, which was just long enough for them to focus on the prince and blink. Then the light of life faded from them.
Brawn yelled out in frustration from not so far away and below them.
Captain Willian charged over the corpse toward the next of the trolls that came near. In a matter of moments, the creatures that hadn’t yet been dispatched were fleeing. Jade’s roar was loud and seemed to bring comfort to the prince. Rikky was only slightly perturbed that the king’s dragon had been following and watching over them.
Rikky saw Jericho’s eyes and that Pascal, with Brawn’s help, was half-limping, half-crawling back up the grade toward them. Linux was alive, his hissing orb of light all the proof Rikky needed, but he was nowhere in sight. Pascal was once again so rattled that his skin was as pale as a sheet. His huge eyes looked past Rikky, though, and Brawn raised an arm to point at something up on the mountain behind and above them all.
Rikky turned and felt, more than saw, the presence of something sinuous and stealthy. Whatever it was, when Silva brought her head around and started drawing air, it faded into the shadows.
“Come on!” The captain was urging them down to the cavern entrance.
Jade had just cleared the shelter and appeared to be chasing the last few of the trolls. Rikky and the prince were the only two mounted, though Brawn’s horse was still there. It most certainly would have bolted back the way they had come, had Silva not been blocking its course. The animals were terrified and edgy, to say the least, and all of them, including Rikky, were upset by the fresh coppery stench of the gore through which they were forced to trot.
No sooner were they huddled inside the cave than a blue druid’s fire flared to life in the pit.
It had a pit because, over the last few years, foresters and new rangers had been training in the lake valley in the summer months. Rikky was starting to think that a manned outpost might be in order. Had they not had two dragons to protect them, this group would have been destroyed.
Knowing the truth of it made Rikky swallow hard. Already, Zahrellion would probably skin him for putting her son at risk. Aikira would certainly try to put knots on his head. For a moment, he entertained thoughts of taking the boys to Three Forks by dragonback, but something old Herald once said—actually, the first thing Herald ever said to him and Master Kember’s group when they met him—sprang to mind: “It’s just the possibility that we might not ever make it back home that makes it thrilling.”
These two boys needed, more than anything, to stay and deal with what had just happened. Running home to protect them was exactly what they didn’t need.
Or maybe Rikky needed to stay, for the thought of running home had been his, hadn’t it?
“It is Linux!” a form shouted as it eased from the trail below the cavern into it. “Don’t shaft me, man.” He was speaking to Brawn, who was watching the opening with his bow in hand.
Seeing he was recognized, Linux visibly relaxed. “There’s no need for that.” He indicated the bow. “There are two dragons circling above.” He looked at Rikky then. “I went after the forester, but…” He shrugged and shook his head grimly. His eyes shot to Pascal then, and he let loose a sigh of what might have been relief.
“I’d hate to be you, Rikky Camille,” the druid said. “Aikira and Zahrellion are going to beat your arse.”
The kingdom of Vikaria was modest in size, but apparently wealthy. The port in which Richard and his liberators arrived was crowded, and Baru pointed out that it was shared with the neighboring kingdoms of Kartania and Dal’Kar. The climate was not unlike the island he’d just left, only it wasn’t misty or steamy here. The sun was bright, and the breeze was warm out of the south. Baru also pointed out a balcony, high up the side of a castle that overlooked the bay. On the balcony were five or six female figures, all of them dark-haired and bouncing excitedly around a man and woman who were dressed so gaudily that they had to be the king and queen.
Richard took three charging strides up to the foredeck of the boat; from there he waved at the royal family and gave a flourishing bow. Baru said he didn’t think it was all that appropriate, but Richard was certain that those girls up there were eyeing him like hawks pacing a mouse in a field.
The people of Vikaria, especially the staff of the castle where he was taken, were very welcoming. His quarters were more than adequate, and a whole wardrobe of what Baru called ‘modern wear’ was in the room. Richard asked for a bath, first thing.
Baru said that Richard could come and go as he pleased, and that he would be protected from afar as he did so. That meant his every move would be reported, so he decided to ease into the situation and take his time feeling his way around. Already, twice he had had to fight away the voice of Gravelbone in his head telling him to attack and maim people. One of those he almost murdered was again Baru.
After a few days, Richard started getting the hang of the full Karian language and its many dialects. In fact, he almost fully grasped it now. He’d achieved this through sorcery, of course, for one of the first things he did upon arrival in Vikaria was to quietly seek out practitioners of the dark arts. He’d found a pair of would-be wizards, skilled apprentices, really. They studied with Master Taqu, King Chad’s castle mage, in the mornings, but they spent the rest of their time mixing potions and learning any spells they could find. Dinaqu was the taller of them, Kovin the shorter and wider.
Everyone seemed happy with their acquaintance, too, for in the afternoons, the two scholars, very visually, taught King Richard about the political history of the land and showed him maps and notable places, giving Baru a chance to coordinate the nightly gatherings put on by the Vikarian princesses. Richard was almost content in this time, for he was given every reasonable thing he requested, and though the king saw him at these feast-like gatherings on occasion, and had nodded his head once slightly, Richard had yet to be summoned before His Highness.
Richard didn’t mind this, for if he was asked about the daughters, he would be forced to lie. He had their names so confused now that he had sworn not to even bother with identifying which one was which until they sorted it out among themselves. Baru had been correct about them: it didn’t matter which of them it ended up being, they were all the same, only a little younger or older than the next one, and they were just like their mother. That thought made Richard smile, for making a gaggle of children with any of them was going to be a most pleasurable undertaking.
Part III
A COLOSSAL DEBACLE
CHAPTER NINE
After the group gathered themselves, Rikky talked to the two boys about the deaths they’d just witnessed. Both of the youngsters were visibly rattled, but neither of them was ready to go back home yet. Worse, there were no bodies to bury, so there would be no easy closure. Everyone was trying to stay distracted and busy, and so far it was working. Already, Linux was hauling in palm-sized sunfish, some of which Captain Willian and Brawn were cleaning and frying; others were going into a bucket for later use as bait for a bigger set of lines.
The valley was warm and green and alive. When they first came down from the camp, they spooked a herd of fleet gazeelin through the forest. The tiny, rabbit-sized deer looked like scrambling antlered mice as they fled.
Birds of all sorts called and whistled, and the big, long-necked storks near the lakeshore aggressively screamed out their protest at the human intrusion into their world.
Some of the creatures showed less fear. The squirrels and the little brown-and-white-striped dirt-runners went about their daily routine as if the horses and men were not even there. A few of them even braved the camp to get at some bread crumbs Linux tossed out before he found the rowboat.
“The only thing we are guaranteed in life is to die,” Rikky commented t
o the boys in what he hoped was a nonchalant manner. “All any man can hope for is to die well.”
“Preferably old, fat, and cozy by a hearth fire with all your kidlets at your feet,” Brawn called over.
Both Jericho and Pascal chuckled through the grim mood that had overtaken them all.
“By the gods!” Linux yelled from the small wooden craft he was rowing back across the lake. His voice carried over the water and reached Rikky just before the sloshing sound of a large wave splashed around his ankles.
It wouldn’t have been so alarming, but the lake was ice cold, and he’d been standing a good three feet from the shore.
“Pull me in!” Linux’s voice sounded more like that of a frightened woman than that of the husky guardsman’s body he’d stolen.
Captain Willian was pulling on the rope tied to Linux’s boat, and Brawn was racing over to help. Out in the lake, a bubble the size of a farmhouse gurgled up and popped, sending another three-foot-tall wave rolling out away from the epicenter.
Rikky started to go help the rangers, but Pascal was knocked off his feet by the water and swept a dozen yards away. Both Rikky and the prince ran after him. It was a good thing they did, too, for a roaring splash as loud as any he’d ever heard, and then the heavy smacking of something huge slapping the mud right where they’d been, came next.
Run to the woods straight ahead, Silva’s voice sounded across the ethereal. Run fast.
As soon as Rikky scooped Pascal up out of the mud and herded the prince into the trees, he turned to see what it could be. He was shocked that it was something so large that he had to crane his neck to take it all in. It looked like some sort of long-legged rhinosaur, or something he’d seen drawn in the archives on King’s Isle. When Silva swept by it, Rikky had a feeling he hadn’t felt in some time: true fear. The lake creature could have snapped his dragon in half with just one bite. Luckily, its neck was thick and short, and its limbs were all four on the ground or in the water, not reaching. It seemed as if his dragon was but a falcon or a hawk irritating a gill-necked, bull-headed mountain cat the size of a ship. The thing lowered its head and side-smashed Linux right out of the boat, then it buck-kicked a huge splash and smacked Silva with its deceptively long tail.
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