Murray was covered in sweat, along with all the other horses. Sasha felt like she needed to sleep, but there was something that seemed off to her. There was something missing in her mind… Arkin! She got off Murray and rushed over the carpenter, who was lying across Phaedra’s neck, passed out in his saddle.
“Arkin, Arkin, are you awake?” she said, shaking him but trying to not to be loud.
“Yes, Sasha, I’m fine. It’s passed now. We will sleep here tonight.”
She looked around. This was not a great place to camp for the night. They were off the road, which was good, but they were in thick trees. Still, the brush could be good in case anything else flew over head. Kovos still had his head cocked up to the sky, looking, waiting for the dragon to come swooping down on them. Legon looked fine, though; he wasn’t breathing hard and he looked calm, his eyes closed and body still. She poked him with her mind. His voice came reverberating back into hers.
“I’m fine. I’m trying to see if the coast is clear.”
As he said this to her she became aware of the minds of other animals. There was a deer that was about fifty yards away sniffing the air and looking for whatever had caused the trees to move. Further was an eagle that was surveying the forest with shrewd eyes. This was new to her; she had never thought of using the animals in an area to do reconnaissance, but it was smart. Legon was taking advantage of all of their senses and using his mind to gently nudge them to look and go where he wanted. He wasn’t doing much; he was letting the animals’ survival instincts do most of the work. Also smart. He opened his eyes.
“Are you all ok?” he said. Sasha sensed that he knew exactly how much energy he had taken from all of them, but this was the polite thing to do.
“Legon, I’ve seen that one before,” Sara said, sounding terrified. “He’s from Salez. We need to get to the border soon.”
Arkin spoke. “He was looking for us. There’s no denying that, but we have about two weeks until we reach the border towns and safety. Now we need to rest.”
“Arkin, are you going to be alright?” Sara asked.
“I’m fine, just very tired, as are all of you and the horses. That was a lot of energy we needed to use.” He looked up at Legon with a look of new-found respect.
“Using the fat in our bodies along with hormones and endorphins was very wise of you. I am impressed.”
“Thank you,” Legon said
Legon was thinking hard; Sasha could feel it. She felt him tapping into the logical part of her mind. He was using the information from the animals to figure out the best place to rest for a day or so, and the best ways into the hiding spots and out of them.
“There is a good place about one hundred yards over there,” he said, pointing into some dense brush.
“But that’s thick wood,” Kovos said, looking cynical.
“Only for a little way, then it opens. The forest canopy is high there,” Sasha said.
“And how do you know this?” Keither asked.
“The minds of the animals in this area. They have been hiding from threats for years. Now let’s move,” she said with a bit more force than she was planning. Arkin looked at Legon again and smiled.
They worked their way through the thick underbrush, and sure enough it cleared to a perfectly secluded place. The ground was bare except for some twigs and leaves. It was round with more than enough room for all of them and the horses. Twenty feet above them the trees became so dense that there was barely light to see. Not even the dragon could see them from overhead now. Legon instructed everyone to place their bedrolls on the ground; there wasn’t room for a tent or a fire. Everyone agreed. They might need to leave in a hurry. The tents would slow things down and a fire could attract attention.
It was mid-day when they made camp, but within a few hours the clearing was already dark. They lay on their bedrolls in a circle with their heads to the center, trying to rest.
“How are we going to see?” Keither asked. He always forgot about magic.
“Lumanaighty,” Legon said. And with that, a violet orb of light bloomed in his palm. It floated about four feet off the ground to the center of the circle, hovering. The light was sufficient for their immediate area but ended within ten feet, the way only magical light could. The light was taking almost no energy from Legon, so Sasha wasn’t concerned. Everyone looked odd in the violet glow, their faces washed of color. It made the colored parts of their eyes look like dark gray stone. Sara and Arkin’s fair hair glowed in the light, making them both look otherworldly. There was blackness where the light ended. The thick woods did not allow any sound or light to penetrate them. They were a dot of light in a sea of nothingness.
Arkin stirred. “I have protections still in place, but what are you doing Legon?”
“I have a weak connection with animals in the area; I used the information from an eagle to find a nice place for deer to lie down for the night nearby. Also, there is an owl in the area. If they see anything out of the ordinary, or if they get frightened, I will feel it and broaden my connection with them.”
Arkin smiled widely at him and looked much better. “Passive surveillance. Very good, Legon. With the waking sleep you will never lose contact with them, but with a weak connection other magic users won’t be able to stumble on to it.”
“They can do that?” Kovos said, worried.
“To an extent. They will be feeling the emotions of the creatures around them, and if something seems off they will investigate. But with a weak connection Legon will not be influencing anything, so they won’t look.”
After that, no one looked like they wanted to ask anymore, but contented themselves with resting. Legon and Sasha began the waking sleep.
Chapter Fifteen
Fate
“Our enemies always beat us in the way we least expect it, and therein lies the problem. We toil our days away trying to find that weak spot in our armor when we shouldn’t have been fighting to begin with.”
-The Great Defeat, Secunum Renovatie
Keither opened his eyes, blinking at the ever-present lavender glow. He wasn’t too sure just how long they’d been in their hiding spot. It appeared the dragon had found something. Maybe it was them, maybe not. But there were people in the area. Legon was having a harder time sensing their surroundings as the group of soldiers searching the area had scared off all the larger animals. He was now forced to tap into the minds of rodents and squirrels. The thing that was odd was that Arkin’s spells hadn’t been tested at all. Kovos suggested that they try and check the minds of the men, but the idea was snubbed when Sasha pointed out that they may have a Venefica with them. It would be unwise to take on a large group and a magic user. Keither laid his head back down. It would almost be worth getting caught just to see light and a color other than purple. Legon breathed out a long breath.
“What is it?” Sara asked. It was good to hear a voice again. They’d been quiet for several days.
“They are leaving. They weren’t looking for us.”
“They weren’t?” she said.
“No. I was in the head of a rat when a scout approached and said that they caught the deserter.”
“This was about a deserter?” Sasha asked incredulously.
“They are close to the border. He could have been a spy. We should have known when they didn’t use magic to find anything,” Arkin said with relief. He was looking better now; all of them felt better. Maybe the few days of downtime had been good for them.
“We will wait for them to leave the area. Legon, let us know.”
Legon nodded at Arkin and closed his eyes. After a few hours passed, Arkin brought the horses out of the deep sleep he had placed them in so they would not make noise. They packed their belongings and began to make their way out through the thick brush. The light from Legon’s magic was just bright enough to dim any light that could have made its way into their hideout, so Keither wasn’t sure what time of day it was. As they moved out of the thicker parts of th
e trees and back on the road, he was blinded by dazzling light. He held his arm up, blocking the sun from eyes that did not seem to want to adjust.
* * * * *
Legon leaned back in Phantom’s saddle feeling the warmth of the sun. He had seen the sun through the eyes of the animals but hadn’t opened the connection enough to feel it. The only feeling that he had allowed himself once was that of a bird flying in the trees, popping in and out of the canopy. The animal seemed to like his presence and enjoyed showing its abilities to the world. The feeling of freedom was amazing. The wind in his, well, feathers, and the exhilaration of a dive. Before, the thought of flying had been frightening; he was terrified of heights. But he thought he was over that now. It was all about perspective when it came down to it.
The road was growing narrower as they went and they were using a number of switchbacks. At one point in time the road became only a game trail, so it wasn’t straight but it was long. They would be continuing on the road for about one and half weeks, at which time they would need to go off the main road and across wild country to avoid towns and the army. There were just a few towns on this road, and that was a problem. They were unavoidable, but they didn’t have to stop at them. The hope was that the towns were still being guarded by their own appointed people and that the military would be expecting them to handle security.
Over the next few days he felt the group’s apprehension building. They kept mental connections nearly all the time and had forgone the usual nightly training to cover more ground. They didn’t see many people, thankfully, and those they did chose not to talk to them. His connection with birds of prey primarily helped them avoid road blocks and check points, but these detours took time and that normally meant not sleeping much at night. Kovos rode up next to him.
“How are you doing, buddy?” Legon asked.
“Been better. I won’t lie to you on that. How do you think I’m going to make it back up to Salmont without being discovered?”
“I honestly don’t know.” Legon paused. “You don’t have to go with us if you don’t want. You said that you would come with us to the southern towns and you have. I don’t want you and Keither to -”
“Don’t be dense. I’m not turning back.” Kovos said
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I am.”
* * * * *
Kovos looked at his friend; he didn’t need a mental network to figure it out. Legon thought that they were going to run into trouble, and he agreed. But that didn’t mean that he was turning back.
It seemed that even nature knew something bad was coming. The closer they got to the border there were less of the normal signs of life everywhere.
The trees parted suddenly up ahead, giving way to fields and stone walls. They were about three days from the next town, so this must be a co-op. They decided to stop at a farm and see if they could buy fresh food. They made their way down a thin path that led to a small cottage with a thatched roof. They dismounted and walked to the door. Nothing was there to greet them. No dogs, no kids… nothing.
“Maybe they’re in the fields,” Keither said.
“No, they’re not,” Legon said slowly.
“What do-”
“Shhh, Keither,” Arkin said drawing his sword. Kovos followed. Sasha attempted to string her bow. There was no magic to help her.
“Legon, can I get some help here?” she asked.
His eyes were closed. “There’s nothing in my range. Just rats, birds, and other small animals.”
“Can you tell what is going on? I don’t like the feeling here,” Sasha said
“No, I can’t.”
“Let’s move on to the next house,” Arkin suggested.
They mounted the horses and rode slowly to the next house. Empty again, and then another, and another. Finally, they reached what must have been the co-op’s center. There were signs of violence here. There were five buildings. Most looked like they were once storage, but not anymore. Their roofs were gone and blood was in the street and on the walls. A chill crept up Kovos’ spine. Where were the people?
“Do you think that the army…” he began.
A woman crawled out from under some rubble. She was covered in gore, from head to toe. Her clothes were ripped and there was a large cut down the right side of her face. She stood and walked to them slowly. Sasha swung off Murray and started to her, but was stopped by Arkin.
“Get on your horse!” he barked.
“But Arkin….” She stopped, and even Kovos felt fear course from Arkin’s mind to hers. She leaped back on the horse, which also sensed that all was not well here.
“What happened here?” Arkin asked.
The woman responded. “I’ll tell you what happened here: they happened.”
“Who are ‘they’?” Arkin asked
“Dragons.” She looked around. There were no tears. Kovos figured she was in shock.
“Were there others?” Sasha asked
“Yes. If we tried to leave town then their archers got to practice on us. But mostly it was the dragons.”
“What did they do?” Sasha asked, terror in her voice.
Sara spoke coldly. “Iumenta dragons prefer fresh meat.”
“So they…” Kovos started.
The woman broke in, tripping on her words. “The army needed the livestock for their human and Iumenta soldiers, now didn’t they? But what of the dragons? They needed meat too. And that meat was….”At this she seemed to snap. “They ate them. They ate them! They’ll get you too!” she screamed. She ran away as Kovos heard in the far distance a soft but distinctive THUD. He was moving even before Arkin began yelling for them to run.
* * * * *
Keither clung on to Pixy for dear life. Up until this point, he thought that she had been doing rather well. Presently that belief was being challenged. Pixy was young and smaller than all the other horses, not to mention that she was carrying the greatest weight, but her will to live was apparently far greater than the others as she was pulling ahead of all of them. He wasn’t sure if he was still holding the reins or not, but even if he was it didn’t matter. He chanced a glance to his side. They were passing Sara, who was riding the mare they bought her in Salez. She was white, so Sara had named her Ghost, and she was fast—really fast. Sara yelled at him.
“Keither, are you ok? You looked like you were going to fall.”
“That’s because I am going to fall, Sara,” he thought. The question wasn’t if gravity was going to win, but rather when. If they made it to the forest and he fell, that might not be that bad. If he went before, there was no way the others would be able to stop their terrified animals before he got eaten.
He looked down desperately, trying not to get thrown off. They were coming up on the forest. Thank goodness the co-ops were small. He couldn’t hear the dragon over the sound of hooves and his own heart, but he knew it was there. He must have been holding the reins because they suddenly slipped out of his hands. Then he heard it—a roar from behind him. It was a sound like nothing he’d ever heard before, piercing him to his core. They were just about to enter the forest when he looked back, morbid fear getting the best of him. Was it on them? No, it was hovering over the former center of town, presumably angry that there wasn’t more than one lowly person to eat. It brought large gray bat-like wings down, raising itself further from the ground. He knew it was too far away but he swore he saw blood on its mouth. Had the woman from town met her end? The dragon reared its head back and opened a giant mouth to show black teeth. “Look away,” a voice in his head said. But he didn’t.
Fire erupted from its mouth like a wild river of flame and destruction. The fire covered the ground in an instant, swallowing two of the buildings. Then as the dragon drove its wings down the force of the wind carried the flames over the rest of the center, curling up to meet the sky. Never in all his life had Keither even dreamed of anything like this. The dragon busied itself burning the center with a continuous stream of fire th
at must have lasted thirty seconds. Then it looked in their direction, following the cloud of dust from their frantic retreat. Two grey eyes with yellow where the whites should have been met his. As the first tree of the forest passed by him, Keither knew a new kind of terror, one that he knew would haunt his dreams for the rest of his life. Of course the rest of his life was a relative term right now. Chances were there weren’t going to be any dreams now that he had locked eyes with an Iumenta dragon.
He looked forward, panicking. Now they were in the forest, but it was like a dream to him. Nothing was real. Just terror; that’s all that existed. Maybe he could use a script from the Jezeer. He thought, but he couldn’t remember them. Sound was gone, but then he heard that roar again and jerked in his saddle. Pixy was delirious with fear, not unlike her rider, but still running. She was trying to throw him off. It worked. The last thing he saw was the trunk of a tree.
* * * * *
Arkin reached out with his mind, trying to make contact with the resistance. The dragon didn’t pursue them, which had its pros and cons. The pro was that they were alive. The con was that it had surely sent people to come find them. He stretched again, hoping to feel someone, but nothing was there. They were holed up in yet another clearing that Legon found with animals, but this one wasn’t as ideal and they needed to move as soon as Keither woke up.
The boy had hit that tree hard and Arkin was sure that he was going to have a concussion. But that was better than death. For the first time in many years, Arkin felt a very real fear. So much work had gone into this whole thing and the people he was guarding were innocents. Any of them dying would forever stain his hands with blood. He repeated the fear script in his mind.
Fear is the blinder; I am the light and master of sight, I will master my fear and never again see night.
He repeated it again, controlling his breathing, changing his heart rate.
“Wh… what happened?” Keither asked as he started to wake up. Maybe he wouldn’t remember the dragon at all. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing?
“You fell and hit a tree,” Kovos said, hovering over him. He hadn’t gone more than a foot away ever since they had arrived at their hiding spot. Seeing his brother awake, a look of relief washed over his face.
Legon Awakening: Book One in the Legon Series Page 23