I watched as he picked up a beautiful gold necklace with a green leaf pendant. He turned it over in his hands and then seemed to set it back on the table, but in an act only I was paying attention to, he slipped the original necklace into his pocket.
I wasn’t sure how he did it, I presumed it was some sort of magic, but I wondered briefly if he could be involved in the trade. After some thought, though, I decided he was a thief, but probably not a dragon trader.
If I were involved in an activity like that, I most certainly wouldn’t draw extra attention to myself by stealing at the market where I was trying to secretly sell illegal goods. I didn’t presume most dragon traders to be as smart as I was, but I also didn’t think they were dumb enough to do what this arsehole was doing.
I thought about warning the vendors, but I also didn’t want to attract attention to myself. Instead, I pointed him out to Kas, and she discreetly cast an illusion spell on him so his dark gray tunic appeared as a hideous bright green. It would be more difficult for him to blend into the crowd when he was dressed to stand out.
After that was taken care of, we continued on our mission to find a trader, and I once again set out to find anyone who didn’t seem to fit in.
I saw a few more men who fit my description at first, but one just seemed to be a pervert who sat in the grass and stared at every woman who walked by. Another one who wore all black and kept his head down turned out to just be a young elf boy shopping with his parents, and according to a conversation I’d overheard between one of the vendors and his parents, the young man was simply “going through a phase.”
We’d been walking for a while already, but the market seemed to go on forever. Finally, I thought I saw what I was looking for.
Near a meat vendor stood an elf male leaned up against a tree. He had long dark-brown hair and light-blue eyes, and he wore a dark-blue tunic. He wasn’t doing anything, just stood and leaned against the tree as he watched the crowd, which was the suspicious part to me.
“Asta,” I whispered. “Do you see that man in the dark-blue tunic?”
“I see him,” Kas said.
“Yes,” the elf girl answered.
“Does he look like the men you’ve seen here before?” I inquired.
“I can’t say for sure if I’ve seen him before.” Asta looked at me with wide yellow eyes and bit her lip. “But he does appear suspicious.”
“I think we found our guy,” I said in hushed tones as we continued to walk slowly through the market and pretended to look at the booths.
“What should we do?” Kas asked.
I thought for a moment. We hadn’t exactly considered how we would handle it once we found the traders, but first off we had to be sure they were actually traders. I needed confirmation this man was an evil monster before I could feel justified about killing him.
That meant I needed him to confess or show me his dragons.
“We need to talk to him,” I said.
“What are you going to say?” Kas asked, and she turned to look at me with violet eyes the size of the moon.
“I don’t know yet,” I whispered. “Just follow my lead.”
Blar, Inger, and Uffe stayed close to us as we made our way through the crowd and over to the man leaning against the tree.
He stood upright when he saw us coming, and his eyes narrowed in on me. He knew I was the greatest threat to him. Apparently, he wasn’t as dumb as I had originally thought he might be.
“What can I do for you, ladies and gentleman?” the elf asked with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m hoping you have what I’m looking for,” I said.
“Depends on what you’re looking for,” the man countered.
“Something in the scaly variety,” I said in an even tone, but I locked eyes with him pointedly. “If you know what I mean.”
Having to act like a bad guy made my skin crawl, but if it meant I could save some dragons, then I would gladly pretend to be a hundred bad guys to do so. The dragons needed their freedom more than I needed my pride.
“I think I know what you mean,” he said, and he looked me up and down.
“Great.” I smiled slightly at the thought of his head separated from his body.
“Tell me,” the man said as he looked me over once more. “Where are you from?”
“We’re from Isdell,” I replied. I had no idea what the place was like, but I’d seen it on the map Kas and Asta made, so I knew it was a legitimate place in the realm.
“You came a good way, then,” he said. “You come all this way looking for the scaly variety of wares, as you put it?”
“Our last one had a bit of an accident,” I said, and I gestured down to Blar, Inger, and Uffe.
I hoped if I made him think I was being cruel to the dragons, then he wouldn’t seem so suspicious of us. I needed to come across as an arsehole, not the savior of dragons like I really was. It was clear the man vetted everyone before he took them back to see his wares. Asta said dragon trading was frowned upon, and this guy seemed to take that seriously, so I knew he wouldn’t show us the dragons unless he thought we were just as terrible as he was.
“You must have gotten a real tiny one,” the man chuckled. “Follow me, I’ll show you some good ones to pick from.”
My plan had worked. I didn’t like implying my little dragons were vicious, but that implication got the guy to relax, so it had been worth it.
My heart rate spiked as the man led us around the back of the vendor booths and into the trees of the surrounding forest. I made sure to keep my hand on the hilt of my blade just in case this was a trap of some kind, but I could see a small path worn on the ground as we walked, and I figured this guy must be here a lot.
Finally, we got to a large cart with a tarp over it.
I could hear small squawks and whimpers, and my heart sank.
The man turned around, smiled, and yanked the tarp off.
“I think you’ll find what you’re looking for here,” he said.
Under the tarp we’re at least a dozen cages, and each one held a small, terrified baby dragon. They squawked even louder when he pulled the tarp off, and the sound of their fear only fueled my rage.
My nostrils flared, and my grip on my sword tightened.
We’d found our dealer.
Now, all that was left to do was make him pay.
Chapter 20
I was overwhelmed with the sensation of the dragons’ fear, and it nearly knocked me to my knees. My heart tightened, and my gut wrenched as I experienced their complete and utter terror. These babies had been ripped away from their families and taken to be sold. It just wasn’t right.
They must have been so small when they were taken, too, because they were still incredibly tiny. The largest one was no bigger than Blar was at the moment, which meant they’d all been stolen either as eggs or just after they’d hatched.
Even though they were so young, I could feel how smart they were, and they knew this wasn’t where they were meant to be. No dragons were meant to be in cages.
This arsehole was about to get the sharp end of my sword though his face, but just as I was about to pull it from its sheath, I heard more voices.
Two other men came walking toward us from the market.
One was tall like the brown-haired elf who’d led us out here, except this elf had blond hair and deep-green eyes. The other was a shorter, thin elf with matching green eyes and strange dark-blue hair. After a second, it occurred to me these two new men were most likely brothers. Along with the matching emerald eyes, they each had the same square jaw and widows peak on their foreheads.
“Charline,” the taller brother said with a smile as he walked toward us and gestured in our direction. “I see you’ve found some buyers.”
The way the tall blond elf spoke made me think he was the leader, and when I looked more closely, I noticed he carried a four-foot silver sword on his hip where the other two men did not.
The first man we’d talked to di
dn’t appear to have anything on him, though I was sure he did. He probably just kept up the appearance he was unarmed so he came across as less threatening to potential buyers.
The shorter brother had a good-sized dagger on his right hip. It was about the length of my forearm, and it had a dark silver metal handle that matched the sheath it was in.
“This guy’s interested,” Charline said as he inclined his head in my direction.
“You should be more than interested,” the blond elf said with a grin as he walked over and forcefully patted one of the cages.
The little green dragon inside squealed in horror and tried to hide under its own tail. The sight of it made my stomach turn again, and I wanted to cut the arsehole’s hand off right then.
“These are rare,” the blond elf continued. “Yanked them straight from the nest when they were just hours old. They’re small enough to be trained to do whatever you want.”
“I see.” I pursed my lips.
“I’d ask you what you’re planning to do with it,” the brown-haired elf chuckled. “But I really don’t care. All I care about is getting the coin for my labor, so as long as you have money, you can take your pick.”
“They don’t cost different amounts?” Kas asked with pinched together eyebrows.
“A little more for one of the bigger ones.” The blond elf shrugged. “But they’re all about the same amount.”
“And what amount would that be?” I asked, and I had to clench my teeth to stop myself from growling the words out.
“Two hundred gold pieces,” the man said with a nonchalant smile, and then he looked me up and down. “Judging from that sword on your hip, I’d say that’s not too rich for your blood.”
The sword I wielded was indeed incredibly valuable. If I were to sell it, I could probably have made enough coin to buy a nice-sized piece of property. I would never do such a thing, but I could see how the elf leader figured he could get a decent amount out of me. I couldn’t be sure two hundred gold pieces was the going rate, but it was what he’d chosen to try and charge me.
I’d seen plenty of vendors hike up their prices when they saw someone who was clearly wealthy heading toward their booth. I had no doubt in my mind this guy would do the same thing if given the chance, and it looked like he thought he had been.
Sadly for him, I wasn’t there to buy his dragons, and if I was, there would be no way I could afford to. Even if I had two hundred gold pieces, I wouldn’t give them to this arsehole.
That amount of money was probably what I’d make in a year with the warband. It was an incredibly high price, but I supposed it was also incredibly dangerous to acquire dragons.
I may not be able to go to the King’s castle and free the dragons in his dungeon, but I most definitely wouldn’t leave these babies here. The King was out of my reach, for the time being, at least, but these thieves sure weren’t.
“Two hundred gold is a lot of money.” Kas frowned.
“These aren’t exactly easy to come by, sweetheart,” the blond man said as he cocked his head to the side and smiled. “Besides, I’m sure your man here can handle it.”
His condescending term of endearment made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, and I took a deep breath to steady myself. I needed a level head to take these dealers down.
“Unless he wants to work out some other deal,” the blond elf added, and he eyed Kas and Asta eagerly.
As he spoke, he walked around the cages on the cart, and I could feel the terror of the baby dragons he came near. They were scared out of their minds, and between the fear of the baby dragons, and the elf’s insinuation about Kas and Asta, I couldn’t hold myself together any longer.
I yanked my sword from its sheath and extended the blade to its full length as I sliced at the blond elf. The man was quick, though, and he countered my attack with his own blade.
Our swords collided with a loud clang and screech of metal, and our faces were inches away from one another as we each held our ground.
“I knew you couldn’t be trusted,” the elf sneered.
“And I knew you and your friends were pieces of shite the moment I saw you,” I growled, and I shoved my sword forward so hard the man went flying.
I glanced to my left to find the other two men, but they were already locked in battle with Asta and Kas.
The short male had pulled his dagger, but Asta wielded two, and she sliced and diced at him while he fervently attempted to defend himself with his single blade. Inger rode on the elf girl’s shoulder, and I could tell the little red dragon was ready to pounce at a second’s notice.
The other man, Charline, had pulled a small sword from on him somewhere, and he and Kas were locked in battle. The man was no match for her greatsword, though, and I knew he wouldn’t last long.
Uffe was on the ground next to the strawberry-blonde, and he pounced on the earth and caused a ripple that made the elf have to steady himself.
It seemed the girls had the other two elves handled, which was fine by me, because their leader was the one I really wanted. This sonofabitch was my kill, and I’d make sure he didn’t have a quick death.
I turned back to my opponent and watched the blond elf skid on the ground, but he quickly regained his footing and eyed me carefully with his deep-green eyes. Blood ran from his nose, onto his chin, and then down to his tunic, and the crimson liquid quickly created a deep red patch on his clothes.
“You’ll pay for that,” he sneered again as he wiped the blood from his face with the back of his hand. His nose was obviously broken, though, because it wouldn’t stop bleeding, and I smiled at his blood-stained teeth and skin.
He was about to find out he wasn’t nearly as tough as he thought he was.
The man held his sword with both hands at his right side and ran toward me, but I’d seen the move before, and I knew exactly what he was planning to do. He was going to try and stab through my stomach so I’d have absolutely no hope of recovery. It was an amateur move, and honestly, I’d expected more from someone I presumed was a seasoned dragon catcher.
Then again, these men were clearly cowards. They didn’t dare try and capture a large dragon, they only went for the small, weak ones who couldn’t defend themselves.
That didn’t matter anymore, though. I’d defend every single last dragon until the day I died.
“Come on, you bastard,” I growled as I took a wide stance, held my sword out, and waited for the elf to get close enough.
He rushed me with purpose, but the blood on his face and chest only served to entertain me, and judging from his expression, he was fighting with pure emotion only, which was the easiest way to get killed.
Once he was only a couple feet from me, I skidded down onto my knees and thrust my sword upward. I nearly caught the elf’s stomach, but he was quicker than I expected, and he dodged it at the last second by flinging himself to the side.
I quickly lifted myself up and turned to face the male. Once again, he was on the ground, and when he stood up, I could see more dirt and leaves were stuck to him. His blood stain had grown larger as well, and I couldn’t help but smirk at the fact that he was covered in blood and dirt while I didn’t have a scratch on me.
Suddenly, Blar landed on my shoulder.
The little blue dragon glanced at me from the side, and I smiled and nodded. I knew Blar had stayed back so I could get some frustration out, but he deserved a little revenge as well.
Then Blar breathed a great blast of blue fire at the elf, and the blond male yelled out with surprise and anger as he dove toward the nearest tree to try and shield himself.
I took that opportunity to rush forward and swing at the trunk of the tree he’d hidden behind. Blar was on my left shoulder, so I swung on the right, and when the elf tried to dart left to save himself, Blar was waiting with another blast of fire for him.
“Fuck!” the elf screamed and dropped his weapon so he could cup his burned face.
Normally, I would have decapitated
my opponent right there and been done with it, but I didn’t want this arsehole to have a quick death. He deserved the pain I’d bring to him.
So, instead of killing him on the spot, I quickly took a whack at his shins.
The man screamed as I ripped through flesh and bone and tore off the bottom half of his left leg. Then I ripped a gnarly gash in his right one, and he immediately fell to the ground.
His hands moved from his burned face down to his ripped off leg, and I smirked and leaned down to him.
“If you couldn’t tell, I already have dragons of my own,” I said with a grin. “Only I didn’t steal mine away from their mothers like a lowlife piece of shite.”
“Fuck you,” he spat.
The man was covered in blood and dirt, and now sweat beaded on his raw, burned forehead from the shock of his leg being cut off. His face was growing even paler by the second, and I knew he wouldn’t last long.
“Who’s your boss?” I asked quickly when I realized this might be my only chance to interrogate him. I’d been so caught up with my anger I hadn’t thought about keeping him alive to question him.
“Who the fuck are you?” the man groaned. His face attempted to be angry, but he was in too much pain to come across as menacing in the slightest.
I stood up and put my boot on the man’s leg, just above where I’d cut it off.
“Ahhhh, fuck!” he screamed, and he threw his head back in pain.
“Who is your boss?” I asked again, but I was too late.
The elf’s eyes rolled back into his head, and his body went limp against the ground. Whether it was from blood loss or shock, I couldn’t be sure, but when I leaned down to check his pulse, there wasn’t one.
“Shite,” I cursed.
“Rath,” Kas’ voice sounded from behind me.
“Yeah.” I stood up and took a deep breath.
“Are you alright?” the strawberry-blonde asked, and her eyebrows were pinched together when I turned around to look at her.
“I’m okay.” I nodded. “I just wanted to get some answers from this guy. Are you two okay?”
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