by T J Trapp
Careful, Alec thought to Erin. They crept forward, but Rhor’s boots crunched on a buried stick, and the figure stood up, sword in hand.
It was one of Erin’s riders of the group left behind just a few days ago.
“Oh!” exclaimed Erin, with a sigh of relief.
The rider turned around with a start.
“Princess!” he said, equally surprised. “I am so very pleased to see that you and your Consort are all right!” He looked behind her to see the four riders behind her. By his expression, Erin knew that he saw one rider was missing.
“We have survived, but sadly, Nikka did not,” Erin said gently. The rider bowed his head briefly and Thom stepped forward to clasp his arm.
“Let’s get down to the others,” Erin said, and they joined the camp where the riders greeted them with smiles and cheers.
“I am so grateful to see your return, My Queen!” said the lead rider, and greeted Thom with gusto. The riders all greeted one another noisily, glad that they would soon be leaving this place.
“What is your wish for our next steps?” Thom asked Erin, after the riders had settled down.
“We need to organize a defense against the elves,” Erin said, and gave her riders a quick update on the situation with the elves.
The riders reported on their situation. “We have a problem,” the lead rider said. “Amelia’s riders found us three days ago. So far, they seem to be staying in the distance.”
Erin let her senses roam. “You are right,” she said. “There is a group of riders and animals within a couple of els of us, and on our other side, there are elves following us.”
“How many?” asked Alec.
“I can’t determine exactly,” Erin answered. “Only a small group is following our trail. It almost seems like they are in no hurry to engage us.”
“Would they follow us here into Theland?” Alec asked.
“The elves do not recognize our borders,” Thom explained. “And we have never had a definite border along the elf Mountains. So they might well be following us yet.”
“Our first chore is to survive the night. Then tomorrow we will worry about tomorrow,” Erin said. She selected nine riders to watch the trail leading from the Elf lands, assigning them in three shifts of three riders. Alec gave one rider in each shift a ring with explicit instructions to call for help and awaken him if the other two fell asleep. Late in the night, one rider cried out.
Alec and Erin woke up and came to assist. They roused two riders from an elf-induced slumber. Erin sensed the surroundings. “A Mother is nearby but backed off when she couldn’t take out all of our guards.”
“Then I guess they did follow us into Theland,” Alec mused. He drifted in and out of sleep, dreaming of eggs and elves.
34 – Dragon
The sun had not yet broken over the top of the peaks, but the morning half-light filtered into camp when Erin woke and sensed their surroundings.
Four elves are lurking in the mountain, watching us, she thought to Alec, waking him. I don’t sense any other elves close. They still seem to be waiting for reinforcements instead of attacking.
She roused Thom. “We need to be away from here before any elf troops arrive,” she said. “There is a group of riders and trogus camped not far from us; I would estimate around one hundred riders. We are in Theland, so they should be our riders.”
Erin thought to Alec with a satisfied smirk, I am learning your wizard-speak. I can use wizard words like ‘estimate.’’
While the riders were still eating, Erin walked to the middle of the mess area and spoke forcefully. “There are riders not far from here. If the riders are my sister Amelia’s troops, we need to greet them without hostility. They are our Theland brethren. Remember this: you are the Escort of the Princess of Theland, and you are returning from a victorious campaign. You have shown the greatness of the traditions of the Theland riders. Let us greet our fellow riders proudly and peacefully – unless they act otherwise.”
A shout went up from the riders, and then in unison, a chant of “Hail to Queen Erin!”
Erin raised her hand and waited for the riders to quiet. “We return as victorious riders and hail our victory. I am the Princess of Theland. I have vowed to find the truth and avenge my mother's death. After that, I will determine my role based on what is best and right for my people. At this time, I am proud to be your Princess and to have you as both my escort and my comrades in arms.”
The riders saluted, and a chant went up, repeated over and over, “Hail the Great Warrior Princess, Victor of Theland!”
Erin let them chant for a minute and then again raised her hand. “Finish your breakfast and your duties, and then let us ride. We will show that we are true riders.”
Soon they neared the group of people she had sensed. Erin’s flag bearer unfurled her banner as they rode towards the other camp; it caught the breeze and snapped taut. Erin had expected to encounter sentries long before, but they were almost upon the camp when the first sentry noticed them and raised an alarm to announce their presence. It was clear that the people in the camp were just starting to rise for the morning; some were still sleeping. She noticed with dismay that the trogus looked poorly-kept, hungry, and were tied in disorganized groups; an underfed trogus served as a threat to other nearby animals and to any person who wandered within reach.
After the sentry raised the alarm, the camp became a whirlwind of undisciplined activity. Erin thought to Alec, We could have made two passes through their camp and killed most of the riders before they were even out of bed! These are not the kind of riders that Mother would have been proud of.
Erin motioned, and her riders halted just beyond the edge of the camp. They waited while riders saddled their animals and milled around without any semblance of organization. Finally, four riders tentatively came forward. Erin’s flag bearer sounded the royal whistle; Erin could see by the look on their faces that the approaching riders recognized the pattern.
One rider, wearing an ornate sash, came close and said, “Who are you to be in my area and use a royal whistle?”
Erin’s flag bearer rode forward and with pride announced, “We escort Her Highness Erin, the Royal Princess of Theland, returning from her victories with our allies, and her Consort, Alec. Who are we addressing?”
Erin sensed surprise and puzzlement at the announcement from the speaker. “I am Commander Kirkdar, under direct orders from Her Royal Highness, Queen Amelia of Theland. I was not told to expect the Princess in my area. Welcome Princess Erin. And Consort.”
Erin rode forward. “Greetings, Commander. What are you doing with such a large force in this area?”
“Queen Amelia sent me out with these riders to look for a dragon in this area, and destroy it. Two days ago, we received a report of bandits camping nearby. I asked for reinforcements before I tried to round up the bandits. I am relieved that your riders may be the cause of the rumor of bandits, because I fear that no reinforcements will be coming.”
“A dragon. I have not heard of a dragon in this land!” Nor anywhere else in Theland for decades.
“Yes, a dragon has been seen in this area. A few days ago, it ravaged a village. Not much remained of the village after the dragon finished.”
“Commander, I will let you continue with your search. We are heading towards Freeland City.”
“I cannot do that” the Commander said, with a hint of uncertainty. “I cannot allow anyone else to be in my area with any weapons. The Queen has forbidden anyone to possess a weapon without a direct seal from her.”
“Commander Kirkdar, you would think to try to impede a Princess?” Erin kicked her trogus and it reared up; Erin looked down on the startled Commander and let the full weight of her displeasure seep through her ring.
The Commander blanched at the mental onslaught. For the first time, he looked at Erin’s battle-hardened riders. Then he thought of his riders who were still getting organized. “Princess, if you give up your weapons and let
my force escort you back to the City, that would be acceptable.”
Erin continued to glare. “No. We are riders. We do not give up our weapons except in death. You may escort us to the City if you would like, but we will have our weapons.”
“That would be acceptable,” said Commander Kirkdar, relieved that he had an excuse to return early. “Join me for breakfast; it will be a while before my force is ready to ride.”
Erin nodded, and they rode into camp. Commander Kirkdar dismounted and motioned for them to join him in his interrupted breakfast, his food now congealed on his plate. The cook threw the cold food on the ground and started to prepare a new meal. Erin, Alec, and Thom joined the Commander at his table.
“Tell us what has happened. As you know, we have been battling in the Grasslands on behalf of our Gott allies, and are just returning.”
The Commander started, “Queen Amelia is working very hard in her first months of rule to fix many of the problems caused by the last queen and undo her failed initiatives.”
Alec could feel Erin’s mental anger rise, but she held her tongue and listened to learn more.
“Assisted by her advisor, Lady Pequa, she has made huge strides in making Theland great again. They are removing the unscrupulous people who used their influence over the queen to line their own pockets, and are no longer coddling them. Our Queen Amelia is beheading any bad people who do not pledge their allegiance, or will not consent to leave. She is making it safe within our land, so no one will need to have a weapon. She has forbidden the ownership of weapons, except by her riders of course, and certain members of her court, and a few others. She says that only villains need a weapon, so anyone who wields a weapon without the Queen’s permission is a villain and subject to her punishment. Our former queen allowed too many people to have weapons.”
Again, Alec could feel Erin working to control her rage.
“Commander Kirkdar, I thought I knew all of the senior leaders amongst the Theland riders, but you are not familiar to me. What is your background?”
“Yes, the former queen required that all the riders had to demonstrate their ability before they could join the ranks, and other tests of skill before they could rise to leadership. Queen Amelia feels that system was unfair and unfortunately discriminated against the people. Now anyone who is willing to serve our Queen can be a rider, once they pay the entry fee.” He smiled. “Of course, the fee is much higher for my position.” He stroked his sash.
So that’s what Amelia is doing, thought Alec to Erin. Pay for service. Nice.
“How is Brun, our esteemed Council Head? That sounds like the kind of ‘improvement’ he would have come up with,” Alec said.
“You are correct, Consort Alec,” the Commander said. “That was one of the improvements he instituted. However, he had a disagreement with his daughter, our fair Queen Amelia; we were not told what. Obviously, he was not serving her with the loyalty she deserved. But Lady Pequa advised Queen Amelia to dissolve the Council because it was no longer needed, so she did. I understand that Brun left the City after the Council was dissolved; I do not know where he went. But our Queen Amelia is ruling splendidly without a Council, ably assisted only by the Honorable Pequa.”
The cook brought out the steaming food and served it. They were quiet as they ate, Erin and Alec ruminating over what the Commander had told them. Then some of the camp riders started shouting and running. Commander Kirkdar looked annoyed that something might interrupt his breakfast a second time, but the shouting became louder and more intense.
Then Erin sprang to her feet and gasped, “I can sense it! A dragon!” She didn’t hesitate but ran from the Commander’s tent towards her riders. “To arms! To arms! A dragon approaches!” She looked up and high in the sky could see a large silhouette against the clouds.
Alec also looked up, gaped-mouth in disbelief.
✽✽✽
The dragon circled above the camp casting her long shadow across the tents in the early morning sun. Erin sensed fear from her riders and panic from the Commander’s riders. Even high in the sky, the creature appeared huge; her leathery wings moving minimally as she floated in the sky.
Erin extended her senses to the dragon. She felt a complex interweaving of thoughts, each line of thought competing with the others. Erin could sense three distinctly different interweaving thought patterns, all stitched together in a rigid pattern held together by a complex web of twisted lines of force.
Erin watched as the dragon circled twice more before landing gracefully in a grassy meadow several hundred els from the rider camp. The dragon slid effortlessly through the grass. Only the marks left by her enormous weight indicated where she had been – the tall meadow grass crushed and torn in her wake. Erin was enthralled with the beast and felt a deep connection with her – for she immediately sensed the dragon was a ‘her.’
Riders were scurrying about Erin in frenzied activity as she watched the dragon. She could sense Alec concentrating and analyzing the beast. The dragon’s long, sinuous body continued to move effortlessly across the field, her tail flicking back and forth.
The dragon raised her head and looked around; her eyes were higher than the bushes on the edge of the meadow. She opened her mouth and emitted a puff of flame, searing the ground around her. A few bushes blazed briefly and then died out in the morning dew. She opened her mouth and let out a bellow. Her sharp, knife-sized teeth glowed in the morning sun, and her tongue flicked in her mouth. Erin sensed no hate in the dragon, just resignation, and hunger.
The camp was in bedlam. Erin quit sensing the dragon and called for her riders to prepare. Her riders mounted their trogus and formed up around her. She whistled, and the riders organized into a defensive formation to wait for the dragon. Commander Kirkdar’s riders were still in frenzied activity caroming in every direction, some on their mounts, some on foot, some merely stumbling about in confusion. A few had panicked and were hiding in the trees; no one was providing direction.
Commander Kirkdar mounted his trogus at the first opportunity and collected ten riders with him. He shouted, “I am going to take the message to the Queen that we have found the dragon. The rest of you stay and fight.” The Commander and his followers took off at a rapid pace.
The dragon looked at the fleeing riders. With a hop and a jump, she was in the air. Alec felt an immense pulse of dark energy propel the beast. The dragon’s long flowing body seemed to float and accelerate on a cushion of dark energy. She used her wings to steer. The dragon swooped down into the midst of the fleeing riders; her sharp front claws knocked several riders off their trogus and her flicking tail eliminating several others. All but two of the riders fell – Commander Kirkdar and one other continued to flee the scene. The dragon soared past the remaining two riders and wheeled high in the sky.
Then the two remaining riders watched in horror as the dragon started down towards them; they spurred and whipped their trogus and fled in different directions to escape. The dragon soared towards one of the riders, opened her mouth, and plucked the man from the trogus. With rider in mouth, the dragon wheeled high in the sky and turned towards the last fleeing rider, Commander Kirkdar. She opened her mouth, dropping the other rider like a limp doll as she closed the distance to the Commander. He looked over his shoulder at the approaching dragon, screaming in terror, and furiously whipped his mount. The dragon continued to glide as she plucked him from his trogus.
The dragon landed with far more grace than would be expected of a beast her size. She crunched the body in her mouth and tore it apart. The clothes and armor caught on her teeth making it difficult to feed, but she shook her head, spitting out the chunks of metal and leather, and swallowed half of the Commander. His ornate sash, now separated from his body, caught the breeze and billowed briefly high into the air before disappearing into the trees. Erin sensed that one person was not enough to satisfy the dragon’s hunger; the dragon slithered to a second body and continued to eat.
✽✽✽
> Erin held her riders in place while the dragon attacked the fleeing men. Most of the Commander’s riders had finally armed themselves and found their mounts, but there was no leadership among their ranks. Erin heard the mumbled conversations.
“Commander Kirkdar got what he deserved.”
“If we all make a run for it together, some of us will escape.”
That was the last thing Erin could take. “Riders to me,” she shouted, and gave a signal on her whistle, her sound amplified by a little dark energy from Alec. The Commander’s riders at first continued to look confused but after another whistle from Erin started to gather before her with a semblance of organization.
“Where are your team leads?” she asked the first group of riders.
One voice finally spoke up, “Most of them fled into the woods. The others tried to escape with Commander Kirkdar. I think that the more they paid to have a job, the less courage they seemed to have.”
“I know you, don’t I?”
“Yes, Princess. I served your Mother, Queen Therin. My name is Hank; I used to be a Lead Rider. I have been around you since you were a little pup trying to swing a big sword. If I hadn’t been on the Elf Mountain patrol when Queen Therin’s riders went to Gott, I would have been riding with you. Now, under Queen Amelia, the new leaders don’t like me telling them what they are doing wrong, so they have demoted me, but I would be proud to be a rider for you.”
“Okay, I give you a battlefield commission, Hank. You are now the lead rider for this group. Pick the other leads you need and get organized. We have a dragon to fight.”
Erin addressed the assembled riders. “You are riders of Theland. You have a proud heritage to uphold. Together we are going to fight a dragon. Together we will prevail.”
Erin’s riders started a chant, “A dragon to fight! A dragon to fight! We go to fight a dragon!” It was infectious, and soon Hank and the Commander’s riders joined in, all chanting in unison.