Regent

by Brian Rathbone

  * * *

  Farsy and Bryn by his side, Kenward watched with grim determination as their deaths became increasingly likely. An insurmountable army of demons and dragons was slowly swallowing a mountain, the same mountain where he believed Catrin to be. There had been a battle; that he knew. He'd seen Catrin fight from afar before, and he recognized the light and the sound of it. The sensations were burned into his memory from one of the most dangerous times in his life. A sick feeling clung to him, and when he looked to Bryn and Farsy, he almost wished he hadn't brought them with him, so dour were their faces.

  Only the presence of the regent dragons gave them any measure of safety, and Kenward wondered about that. Already the numbers had thinned as two dragons would leave, and only one would return. Of the last pair that had gone on patrol, based on Kenward's assumptions, neither had returned, and he knew they needed to face a future without the dragons' protection. But Catrin had put them in an impossible situation. She had been his friend for a very long time; she'd saved his life multiple times and put it in great danger just as many. He knew she did not leave him in this way out of malice, and he knew the world was at war and nowhere was safe, but none of that prevented him from being angry with Catrin. Seeing one's death rapidly approaching, it can be difficult to think it is all one's own fault. Far better to place blame on someone else, he thought, than to go to your grave feeling guilty.

  "What are we gonna do?" Bryn asked. "How do we even survive this? They're gonna come up here in larger numbers sooner or later, and then what do we do?"

  Farsy turned back to where he saw Pelivor pacing. "Maybe the boy can get us out of here on the Eel."

  "No wind in that valley," Kenward said.

  "I know but--" Farsy continued. Kenward cut him off with a look. Still, Farsy had sailed with Kenward most of his life, and he knew when not to keep his mouth shut. "We got dragons, sir. Surely one o' them could get us in the air."

  "The dragons don't seem to care what I say," Kenward said. "They only seem to listen to Catrin, and I'm not sure they actually listen to her. Seems to me they're the ones doing the talking. The more I think about this whole situation, the less I like it. We can't get to Catrin, and it doesn't look like she's going to get back to us. For now, we need to proceed as if we're on our own."

  Bryn nodded sadly and a tear streaked his face. "Blessings to my friend, Catrin," he said softly, not meant for anyone else's ears, but by some trick of the wind, Kenward heard him nonetheless. "Keep her safe."

  Kenward bowed his head and echoed the prayer. Farsy sniffed and wiped his eye. Then they headed back toward the peaceful vale, to a place that seemed trapped in time, unaffected by the war that raged so very nearby. Six dragons watched over them.