Chronicles of Den'dra: A land on Fire

by Spencer Johnson

  Aleest shed a few tears when they had reached a point where it was no longer safe for Kosovo to accompany them. The great white bear had sat on his haunches and watched the party progress down the hill. Every now and then he had called out in low rumbling entreaties, but the last time they had seen him, he was climbing back up to the snow.

  It took them only three days to get to the city. Once there, Fenar welcomed them and most of the party bathed and fell into comfortable beds. Urake called a meeting that involved Fenar and Brounn once he had a chance to bathe and shave the beard off his face on waking. Taking the tunnel, he settled in at the table in Brounn’s back room. It had almost cost him one of his favorite knives foiling the lock that Tusul had built into the door. Fenar and Brounn arrived a few minutes later and only glanced at the secret door and Urake. He smiled knowing that Tusul would probably be redesigning the locking mechanism soon.

  “I see that you made some new friends.” Fenar took a seat between Urake’s and Brounn’s customary chair. Brounn dropped into his chair and Urake raised an eyebrow when it didn’t give the usual complaining squeak.

  “I know. It’s Tusul’s fault. He thinks he has to fix everything.” Brounn complained with a suffering expression.

  “Have you learned anything more about your son?” Fenar ignored Brounn’s complaint.

  “You could say that. He walked out of the Garoche Heights into the Princess’ camp the day before I was planning on leaving. He is the blond blue eyed one that came with me. Oh, before I forget, there is a tunnel through the pass.” Urake got up and retrieved a map from a compartment in the wall. Taking a quill, he marked down the exact entrance and exit of the passage.

  “That is interesting. It does make it more feasible to pass through the Heights. About how long did it take?” Brounn examined the map carefully.

  “On foot you can get from here to the Outlands in roughly thirteen to fourteen days. It is still faster to ride a horse around the northern Garoche.” Urake settled back in the chair.

  “That isn’t much of an option anymore seeing as the blockade was reinforced a couple weeks back. There is a report that is to the effect that the initial garrison was attacked and virtually destroyed. They believe it was done by a small group of about fifty people in the middle of the night.” Fenar elaborated while Brounn glowered.

  “I got that message about the blockade the night before we left. Balinor was a little worried, but if they retreat to Keom and eke out enough time to rebuild the Sea Fort, then they should be able to hold out.”

  “Keom is a charming town, or so I have heard. Would be a shame if they destroy it.” Fenar picked at a speck of dust marring her dress.

  “Charming is one way to put it. Defendable is another way of saying it.” Brounn was practical in his assessment.

  “They will be holed up in that Sea Fort for some time unless circumstances change. They only have enough soldiers to hold a defense. About six hundred men.” Urake explained.

  “House Inarack was called a couple weeks ago. They seem to be strong supporters of the Princess. Perhaps they will switch sides at the last moment. Our friend Ildroth was required to go with his father to the front so anything is possible.” Brounn described the details he hadn’t been able to convey to Emeck.

  “Perhaps, I wouldn’t count on it. If the three northern houses were called, then they should have more than two thousand troops on the move. The good thing is that few of them are regulars with proper training.” Urake thought aloud as he processed the information.

  “Just to be clear, how involved are we in this war?” Brounn inquired pointedly.

  “Brounn has known for years; but Fenar, for your information, my sister was Em’risi’s mother. The Princess is the last blood family member that I have left. Beyond that, I support her because I don’t like Reigns and because she would make a good Queen. She is also Gifted. I plan on acting in her interests and would direct those interested in doing so also. Anything that will hinder Reigns or help Em’risi without endangering my network or themselves would be appreciated.” Fenar merely raised an eyebrow and nodded as Urake spoke.

  “Speaking of Em’risi, She had a speech and led the funeral procession a few days ago in Shienhin. Since you rescued her and delivered her to the Outlands, then we must conclude that Reigns has an imposter.” Fenar explained casually.

  “It stands to reason. Reigns wouldn’t want to admit that he lost the Princess. This will make Em’risi’s case more difficult. Find out more if you can.”

  “Of course.” Fenar nodded in agreement.

  “Since your son is found…” Brounn let the unasked question hang in the air.

  “There is no longer a need to look for him, but do keep an eye out to see if anyone is still searching. I don’t want any surprises.”

  “Naturally. I will have the network begin keeping an eye on the military and look for opportunities to sabotage wherever reasonably possible. I think Tusul has some rather peculiar concoctions that ought to have interesting effects if mixed with food provision.” Brounn had a diabolical smile that sometimes made even Urake want to squirm.

  “There is a couple other things. The Shadow Order knows that Em’risi is a descendant of house Safrym. The two that I dealt with mentioned the name of someone called Crein as being in charge and responsible for the attack on my family.” Urake noted that Fenar’s expressionless face twitched slightly at the mention of the Shadow Order.

  “Interesting. They are a pretty secretive bunch, but I will keep an ear to the ground.” Brounn nodded thoughtfully.

  “The last thing is that there is talk going around of new Dragon Lords and Soul Forged weapons. See if you can find anything out along that line.”

  “What sparks this interest in ancient legends?” Brounn inquired curiously.

  “My sword, Ice Heart. Both my son, and a girl that I recruited, started speaking in the ancient tongue when they touch the blade. The girl claims to be one of two Dragon Lords.” Again Urake discerned a slight twitch in Fenar’s face.

  “Intriguing. From what I have heard of these legends, I think that Ice Heart is one of these Soul Forged blades. I don’t know if you have noticed anything, but they a supposedly able to grant their wielder special powers. Probably just a fairy tale.” Brounn shrugged as Urake absently rubbed the palm of his sword hand.

  “Find out what you can. My first order of business is going to be checking out Reigns’ fleet north of Shienhin. If I can, I want to destroy it before he gets a chance to try attacking Em’risi from the flank.” Urake shifted in his seat and pointed at the location marked as a port along the coast of the Silent Sea.

  “Good luck with that. Tusul has some mixture that might be useful in that pursuit. He calls it a fire bomb. Freaky stuff, I tell you. He gives it to you in a bottle with three liquids inside. There is one on the bottom, oil in the middle, and another liquid that floats on the top of the oil. The top and bottom ignite when mixed and exposed to air. He says that the oil helps keep them separated until the bottle gets sealed. It also helps spread the fire once the bottle gets broken. I bet you could rig a bottle up on an arrow. Nasty stuff, I tell you.” Brounn animatedly explained the properties if this miracle substance.

  “Why Brounn! I believe that you might have found a hobby.” Fenar teased.

  “What? No. This fire bomb is just one of the few things that cobbler comes up with that has a practical application.” Brounn turned surly at a moment’s notice, but Urake detected a twinkle in his eye.

  “I will definitely ask him about it.” Urake laughed and prepared to get up. Fenar took the cue to excuse herself. As Urake followed her through the tunnel, he was about to ask what else she knew about the Shadow Order, Dragon Lords, and the Soul Forged weapons that she wasn’t telling when he decided to wait. He trusted that she would tell him what he needed to know so he resisted the urge. She did request that he tell her about his son and asked about Emeck’s wellbeing.

  “No, no, this can’t be ha
ppening!” Urake stopped outside his door when he hear Cero inside muttering. He couldn’t understand the rest because it was muttered beneath the breath. Fenar had assured him that the room had privacy, but Urake discovered that the door was unlatched allowing someone in the hallway to hear what was going on inside the room. When he knocked on the door, there was a scuffling sound. Urake smiled to himself and waited for the sounds to stop before opening the door. The only person inside was Cero with a guilty expression on his face and both hands behind his back. On the floor, a fragmented piece of glassy black rock could be seen.

  “What is going on?” Urake closed the door and crossed his arms as he leaned against it.

  “I… well you see… uh… Am I in trouble?”

  “It depends. Is there a girl hidden under that bed or did you break something? I'm sure Fenar will forgive you if you broke something considering I paid for everything in here.”

  “So I would be in more trouble if there were a girl under the bed?” Cero stalled.

  “Now that I know that there is no girl hidden in here, what is that on the floor?” Urake had trouble maintaining his stern expression.

  “I thought that I got them all.” Cero exposed one hand and a dozen more of the thin black fragments.

  “What are they from?”

  “Well you see… You remember that magic glowing rock I had?”

  “Of course I remember. You didn’t break…” Urake had taken a step forward before he stopped in surprise as Cero flinched and a small green reptilian head appeared over his shoulder. “What in the name of the…”

  “Well you see, I was experimenting with the rock and wanted to see how brightly I could make it shine. Then it started cracking and the weirdest thing happened. I felt like I could see inside it as it cracked apart. The weirdest thing was when I saw myself.” Cero continued his explanation as if he hadn’t noticed Urake’s shocked expression.

  “It’s a dragon!”

  “So then I could see from my eyes again and I saw that this rock was in reality an egg and that it had hatched. I think his name is Enthbani, but he wants to be called Bani.”

  “It’s a dragon.”

  “You said that already.”

  “I did? Oh. Why do you have a dragon?”

  “Because, I accidently hatched it?”

  “How do you accidently hatch a dragon?”

  “I told you. I think it was dormant for some reason and I woke it when I was making the egg glow.”

  “So let me get this straight. You accidently hatched a dragon by making it glow. You can see through his eyes. His name is Enthbani but he told you that he wants to be called Bani.” Urake stomped to a chair and sat down.

  “Yes?”

  “Yes what?”

  “Can I keep him?”

  “I don’t see how.” Urake was about to give a reason when the little green dragon that had been peeking inquisitively over Cero’s shoulder suddenly screeched and leaped at Urake. He was long and slender with thin, nearly transparent wings. Bani managed to glide almost all the way to Urake’s feet before crashing. He recovered quickly and began climbing the nearest leg.

  “Bani noverum!” Cero spoke firmly and the little green dragon stopped instantly. “Jumeh.” Urake watched as the little creature let go of his leg and fell to the floor. Again, he righted himself quickly and trotted over to Cero who leaned down and picked him up.

  “It can understand us?” Urake slouched into a chair and began rubbing his temples like a migraine had suddenly attacked him.

  “Bani didn’t mean to startle you. He was just a little worked up.” Before Cero had a chance to make any further explanation the door burst open.

  “A dragon!? How did you get a dragon!?” Inadar strode into the room purposefully.

  “I hatched him.” Cero stood his ground until Inadar was only a few inches away from his face.

  “You can’t possibly know how to take care of it. Hand it over before you hurt it.” Cero glared back at Inadar without even looking at her extended hand.

  “No!”

  “What?” Inadar was surprised by the emphatic refusal.

  “I said no… I can take care of him just as well as you can.”

  “No you can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I'm a Dragon Lord and you are not.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “I can sense dragons and speak to them so I would be better able to care for him. Wait, you are doing it again!”

  “Doing what?”

  “Making me tell the truth. Stop it.”

  “How do you know that I'm not a Dragon Lord?”

  “I don’t. Stop it now!” Cero flinched as Bani shifted to a position at his back.

  “How could you possibly be a Dragon Lord? Can you do anything special?” Cero demanded with another twitch. Inadar had broken free when Cero had flinched and was trying to carry on the argument without looking in his direction. Urake was watching the proceeding with a bemused expression.

  “Dov sera spawn Eld'or. Dov sera yarin.” Urake started as Inadar broke into the ancient tongue. Perhaps it had nothing to do with Ice Heart; however, his back was feeling tingly where the sheath lay.

  “I don’t care what the dragons called you or who you father is. Saying so doesn’t make you a Dragon Lord any more than if I were to say that I'm a Dragon Lord myself.” Inadar was about to make a response when she felt Urake’s hand on her shoulder.

  “Enough. He hatched the dragon and you didn’t. It already seems to be attached to him. I don’t see how you could take care of it better than he.”

  “He shouldn’t have been able to hatch it. Only a Dragon Lord should have been able to. I don’t understand.” Inadar was disappointed. Her efforts at speaking with the hatchling like she had with the dragons had not succeed. It was like a wall of iron protected the little dragon’s mind. Whirling, she stomped out of the room. Torroth had the unpleasant surprise of having the door to his room burst open a minute later.

  “Hey! I was changing.” Torroth hurriedly threw a shirt over his head and finished buckling his belt. “I thought that we were leaving this evening after the rest of them went to bed.”

  “We aren’t leaving.”

  “But now would be the best time to escape. If we don’t, you can’t continue your search.” Torroth finished getting dressed and tried to figure out what had changed Inadar’s mind.

  “Well, we can’t leave now.” Inadar paced the room in frustration.

  “What is going on? What made you change your mind?” Torroth crossed his arms and watched.

  “I think that Cero is the other Dragon Lord. That, and Urake has a Soul Forged sword.” It all came out in a rush.

  “Wait, wait, how do you know all this?” Torroth ran his fingers through his hair as he tried to tell if Inadar was joking. Careful scrutiny caused him to widen his eyes. She was nearly mad enough to begin breathing fire like the dragons at home.

  “He showed me the sword.”

  “No, no, not that, I mean yes that, but how do you know about Cero?”

  “He hatched as dragon and now is able to control it. I can sense it, but I can’t speak with it like the ones at home. He is blocking me.” Inadar virtually snarled.

  “So…” Torroth furrowed his brow and tried to think through what he was hearing.

  “So, he is enslaving it while it is weak! We have to free it.” Inadar turned on Torroth.

  “We can’t just steal their dragon. These people are ruthless and won’t hesitate to kill us. If we stay around here, then we run the risk of someone finding out about you. It is too risky.” Torroth tried to overcome Inadar’s argument with logic.

  “A little late to be worried about that, seeing as I already told them.”

  “What! How did that happen?”

  “Emeck is a telepath and Cero is able to rip the truth out of you with just his eyes. You tell me.” Torroth backed up with his hands held out defensively
as Inadar wheeled on him.

  “They are probably planning on turning us over to the army now. Can you imagine what kind of reward they could get?”

  “A few gold coin? I can’t leave that dragon in slavery! It is a noble creature that shouldn’t be shackled. Their realm is the sky.” Inadar plopped down on the bed.

  ***

  “Some tea?” Fenar was outside Urake’s door with a tray of tea things. She smiled at Cero when Urake invited her inside.

  “To what do we owe this pleasure?” Urake accepted a steaming cup and breathed in the aroma.

  “I have always wanted to see a dragon.” Fenar poured another cup and gave it to Cero who was watching her suspiciously while squirming strangely every few moments.

  “I should have known. I suppose there is no harm Cero.”

  “She works for you too?” Cero undid the top button on his shirt, allowing a little green head to poke out inquisitively. The dragon’s forked tongue flicked out and tested the air before Bani crawled out of Cero’ shirt. He paused for a moment before spreading its wings and gliding to the floor a few yard or so away from Fenar’s feet.

  “It’s beautiful. It looks like his scales are made from pure emeralds.” Fenar pulled a piece of meat out from under a linen napkin and dangled it in front of the dragon that was slowly inching its way forward. When he saw the meat, Bani advanced a little faster until he was a couple feet away. It then struck at the meat and tore it from Fenar’s fingers. Bani ran up Cero’s leg and sat on his shoulder to devour the morsel.

  “Hear anything else of interest?” Urake asked after taking a sip of the tea.

  “Just the usual gossip. I did overhear a couple of your people. Inadar and Torroth, I believe. They were planning on leaving tonight.” Fenar poured herself a cup and sat at the table.