Invasion and Dragons

by Jekka Jones

  “Like Nathan said,” said Liam, “your best chance is Emryst Hollow, unless you want to sneak past two armies. And let me tell you, we’ve seen a few battles between the . . .” he checked the drawings in the dirt, “Lythrans and Maisans. They make a bull moose fight look like a kitten row.”

  “You definitely don’t want to be spotted by them,” Nathan said grimly. “They are not kind to their prisoners.” He shuddered. An icy chill trickled down Landon’s spine at those words.

  Temmings and Rickins stared at the sketch, deep in thought. Landon knew Diego’s thoughts churned, and his breath caught as his eyes found a pouch tied to Diego’s belt. He swallowed and glanced at the forest. Somewhere beyond the trees were six armies that would love to get their hands on that pouch and the man carrying it.

  “Nathan, Liam, has anyone seen Morgan and Liliana, the Dagnorian girl?” Myra piped up.

  The men turned towards Landon and his friends. Landon felt his face heat as more than one set of eyebrows went up. Every single face was asking how long they had been listening.

  “I haven’t,” said Nathan. “We haven’t seen her dragon for several days now. Is something wrong?”

  “I don’t know. Is there, Landon?” Myra asked, turning to Landon. He felt his face burn worse.

  “How should I know?” he said, exasperated. “I know as much as you.” Skies, that was hard to get out.

  Myra was about to argue further, but Temmings raised a hand. “I am sure Miss Me’Yasu is fine, especially with Tim’s boy looking after her. I know we can trust her dragon to keep them both safe. As for us . . .” He and Rickins exchanged a look and he turned to Johnston. “We need to try for Joran’s Pass.”

  Nathan gulped. “No disrespect, Judge, but I do not recommend it.” To emphasize his point, he pointed to the scribbled drawing in the earth.

  “I second him on that, Michael.” Johnston narrowed his eyes at the judges. “I think it would be in our best interest to head to the safest passage. We know where the armies are, and it won’t be too difficult to avoid their patrols.”

  Both judges were shaking their heads before the constable was finished. “Our people are putting themselves on rations,” said Temmings, “and we are each having third helpings. No, I will not allow our fighters to go hungry with six armies at our doorstep.”

  “Micheal . . .” Johnston growled.

  “I’m sorry, Carlton, but I want to get to our people as soon as possible. A safer route sounds tempting, but not at the expense of starvation and disease. I worry that the longer we’re on our own, the greater the chance something will go wrong. We’ve been lucky so far, and I don’t want to push our luck longer than is needed.”

  The constable looked as though he was going to argue, but he decided against it. Johnston bit his lip and nodded. “Fine. Oi, you lot!” he called, getting to his feet. “We’ve got some news.”

  The soft murmur of the Nircanians died as heads turned towards the constable. Johnston then explained the situation to them, with Temmings and Rickins standing to explain their decision.

  “And that’s why we want to make a break for it now. Are there any concerns?” Johnston finished.

  There was a moment of stunned silence, then Edwin asked, “Can we hunt as we go?”

  “Only if the game is close and won’t require you to leave the group,” Johnston answered.

  “And forage?” piped one of the female peacekeepers. “I know of several raspberry and masonberry bushes close by.”

  “Don’t forget medicinal herbs!”

  “Doc, don’t you need more wolfmoss?”

  More voices clamored, all asking for permission to forage and hunt as they travelled. Landon’s heart swelled with pride. They were about to take a route that would pass by two dangerous armies, and what was the Nircanians’ main concern? If they could gather enough food and medicinal herbs for those holding the mountain valleys and caverns.

  After a while, Johnston got fed up with answering the same question voiced in different words. “All right! All right! If you can obtain whatever you want without leaving the group then yes, get it! If we get into any trouble, we dump the horse packs and run for it. Do you understand?”

  “But the food,” someone said with concern.

  “We dump it, Nick. We can always find food but not our lives. Diego,” the constable turned to Landon’s father, “I want you, your wife, Eli, Alyssa, and Landon to stick together. You too, William. If we are attacked, make sure you get yourselves to the caves. We leave in ten minutes.”

  Everyone was ready in half that time. Landon took several rucksacks with Sam’s medical supplies and the pelts that had been tanned the previous night. The horses, including Oni, sensed the tension in the air and stepped gingerly through the forest, obeying any order given from their rider. Johnston took the lead, followed by Temmings, Rickins, then Sierra, Diego, and Landon. Myra, at her father’s insistence, rode behind Landon with the Durns and Juan behind her.

  Any small game that was shot was gutted and skinned on the go, then wrapped in the pelts to hide the smell before being piled onto Oni. Within a few minutes of the first couple kills, Landon was swatting flies and the smell crept into his nostrils. The scent triggered the memories of Angen and Menyre, and it took all his concentration to keep his thoughts off it.

  The atmosphere was tense. Birds twittered and insects buzzed around them, yet the party moved in silence. The terrain became steeper and the path rougher. The Nircanian horses had no problem, but Thirien struggled. The old stable-bred horse slipped often and caused Sierra and the packs to pitch to and fro. Diego, who was riding Morgan’s horse behind his wife, spoke encouraging words to Thirien. Sierra also egged the stallion on with cheery whispers, and Landon joined in, hoping to encourage the old horse to keep walking.

  “I’m sorry, Michael,” Diego said when Temmings came back to help. “It’s been a long time since he was in the mountains.”

  “It’s all right. No one’s spotted us, and we don’t have much farther to go.” Temmings smiled and gave the horse an encouraging pat. They were almost to the mouth of Joran’s Pass—only another mile of climbing up and down steep hills. “Let’s relieve him of some of that load. Landon, can you take something?”

  “Anything you don’t mind smelling like fresh meat,” Landon said, swatting three flies at once.

  They paused to lighten Thirien’s load, and Sierra dismounted to walk in front of him. Thirien was better able to keep up after that.

  They crested a grassy hill riddled with rocks and looked over the forest to the pass. They were high enough that Landon saw the prairie in the far distance. It stood like a pale emerald ocean barely visible through the darker green trees—but that wasn’t the immediate sight that caught his eye. Without a word or gesture, everyone stopped their horses to stare.

  Although he knew six armies had converged on the Rillis Mountains, Landon still wasn’t prepared for what he saw. The armies sprawled as far as the horizon to the north and west, two large and black smudges defacing Landon’s beautiful home. He saw the flag of Tsuregi—two katanas crossed over a cherry branch and bordered by red bars—flying among the center army closest to the foothills. The Dagnorian army had a large area half the size of Town cleared away, and dragons were landing and taking off from there. He saw several catapults and ballistae scattered throughout both forces. Most of the large weapons were facing the opposing army, but a few were turned towards the mountains. Almost all the forest had been chopped away, giving the Tsuregans and their allies a better view of the mountain valleys, and better targets.

  As the Nircanians stood, frozen in shock, one Caborcan catapult facing the mountains flung a large boulder into the sky. It sailed through the air and crashed against a cliff face, knocking several more boulders down. The sound of crashing rocks rolled through the air like thunder. This was followed by a roar, as the Dagnorian smudge surged forward, and the Caborcans raced forward to engage their enemy. Even at that distance, Landon sa
w swords and spearheads flash in the afternoon light. There was a hollow crunch when the two forces met, and it was followed by the Tsuregans and Menrians springing at each other, then the Lythrans and Maisans.

  The birds and insects fell silent, and their sounds were replaced by the cries of war. Men screamed, wood and metal contraptions screeched, and horses bellowed. Dragons swooped through the air like swallows, attacking men and war machines alike. Ballistae and catapults fired at the dragons, forcing them to a distance. One blue and gold dragon flew too low and was grazed in the side by a ballista spear. It roared its anger and opened its mouth to spew fire, but another ballista shot into the air and impaled the dragon’s stomach. The dragon’s scream drowned out everything else, echoing all along the mountain range. Landon flinched at the sound, his body shaking with dread.

  The dragon hung in the air, the shaft protruding from its gut. As Landon watched, the air around it shimmered, like heat waves in the summer. Its wings went limp, and it fell out of the sky. The dragon crashed into the Lythran forces, which immediately swarmed around it.

  “Angels . . .” Landon breathed. He knew the dragon and its rider were dead. If the fall hadn’t killed them, then the Lythrans would. Already they were shouting, chanting some horrific mantra. This riled the other dragons, and they screamed curses and oaths to the heavens before unleashing their fire on the Lythrans. The roars and spurts of flames caused the Nircanian horses to dance in place, neighing and rolling their eyes in fear. Oni more than once tried to bolt for the forest.

  “We need to keep moving people!” snapped Johnston, breaking their revolted trance. He had a slight green tinge to his skin, and his knuckles were white from gripping his horse’s mane.

  Landon urged Oni forward without needing to. Sierra scrambled onto Thirien’s back just before he bolted with the other horses. Despite all the supplies they had, the horses ran for the safety of the forest below them. He glanced around at the others, noting many horrified faces. Myra’s eyes were focused on a point above Landon’s head, and her lips moved with a silent prayer. Juan looked as though he was going to be sick. Their eyes met and Juan mouthed, “I’m sorry.”

  Landon shook his head and mouthed back, “Not your fault.” Yet Juan didn’t look comforted.

  The sounds of battle became muffled when they entered the forest. They kept the quick pace for a half hour before Johnston called for them to slow their horses. It was harder than it should have been. The horses wanted as much distance between themselves and the dragons as possible, and they did not want to slow down. Oni was so terrified that Landon had to fight the horse to keep him from bucking.

  Six armies—six armies all trained for warfare and death fighting to see who would get the pleasure of crushing Nircana. Nircana’s peacekeeper force was, at best, half the size of one of those armies. They were good with weapons and well-trained, but fighting off a small band of samurai was not the same as an army of thousands. If Nircana even fought one army, it would be a miracle for them to come out victor.

  He also couldn’t shake the image of that dragon falling from the sky. Its scream and the screams of its comrades rang in his ears.

  The ground leveled out as they entered Joran’s Pass, and Johnston forced them to pause in a copse of trees. Liam and Nathan ran ahead to ensure the path was clear. For several minutes, the group sat in tense silence before a fox howled, followed by a blackbird’s call and another howl. It was the signal for the all-clear.

  Everyone allowed their horses to break into a trot and steered them deeper into the canyon. It took them less than an hour to reach the entrance, a slab of rock jutting from the canyon wall. It looked like an ordinary stone with no openings or holes, but a thicket of brambles and crooked pines growing against the southern side hid the entrance. It wasn’t going to be fun trying to get through those brambles, but that was the least of their worries.

  “We’re almost safe,” said Johnston as everyone gathered around, sliding off their horses. “We’ll stop first at Swallow Falls, which is a few hours’ journey in the caves, and then go from there. Doc Perkins has several rags we can use for blindfolding the horses. I want them tied together in groups of five or six. Let’s hop to it!”

  “Where’s the tunnel entrance?” asked Diego, squinting at the mountain wall.

  “Behind that,” Eli answered, pointing to the tangle of branches and trunks. “While a few of us take the horses in, the rest will hold the branches and whatnot out of the way. Then we’ll have to bushwhack our way through.” He made a sour face. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the judges have you three go first. I know they want you in the mountain as fast as possible.”

  “I assume the tunnels are wide and tall enough for the horses?”

  “Not all of them, but the ones we’ll be using are.”

  Diego sighed, and it was then Landon noticed his parents were eyeing the mountain with apprehension. Sierra was licking her lips, and she patted Thirien as though reassuring the horse that everything was okay.

  “It’s not Menyre,” Landon said, knowing their thoughts. “Being in there,” he nodded at the rocks, “won’t be like one of Menrye’s dungeons. The tunnels are to move from valley to valley, not to be lived in.”

  His parents gave him a grateful smile, but they didn’t appear convinced. He couldn’t blame them. They had been imprisoned in Menrye for eighteen years. If Landon still had flashbacks to the weeks he had been in Marleth’s Pits, it was nothing compared to how his parents were feeling.

  A few minutes later, Temmings and Rickins came to Landon and his parents to inform them that they, as Eli had predicted, were to lead the horses into the mountains. Eli and Alyssa would as well, along with Myra, but the Dayns were to go in first.

  Landon was put in charge of fashioning ropes into simple harnesses for keeping the horses in a line. The preparations were going well, until it came time for Oni. Landon left this to the last moment, giving himself time to think of a way to blindfold and tie his horse with the others.

  Fifteen minutes later, and he had no solution except to lasso his horse and drag him into the mountain. Diego, Sierra, and Alyssa were already inside with their group of horses, and Myra was just leading her train of five horses through the brambles. Eli and Sam were waiting with the last group, leaving Landon, Juan, and Mr. Higgins to deal with Oni. The other Nircanians stood in two lines, holding branches and saplings out of the way to form a narrow pathway.

  “Get over here you stupid piece of fur!” Landon cried. He swung the lasso at Oni, the loop fanning out as it fell. Like the ten times before, Oni veered to the side at the last moment and the rope fell to the ground. Mr. Higgin’s attempted to grab his mane, and Oni reared. Bundles of meat slipped loose from their ties and tumbled from his back.

  The Nircanians standing in the thicket shouted in alarm, their curses mixing with Landon’s. The red stallion was momentarily forgotten as everyone picked up the fallen meat. Landon’s face burned every time he looked at his horse.

  “Put them on my horses,” said Eli. “It’d be easier and might help get that insane beast to behave.” He scowled as the red stallion frisked around the area. Oni’s behavior was causing the last group of horses to shift nervously. “I swear, pup, that horse was a right angel when I was looking ‘im over last year.”

  “He can be a brown-noser when he wants to be,” Landon grumbled. He hefted several rabbits and pheasants onto one of the horses. The horse turned its head to glare at Landon. “Easy, girl. You’re not going to have to carry it for long, just until I get this insane, poor excuse of a horse into the caves. Oni! Come here you stupid sordid sack of entrails!”

  “Can’t we just leave him behind?” asked Juan, glaring at Oni. “We’re wasting time.”

  “Darrin and most of the samurai trainees know he’s mine,” said Landon. “If any of them see Oni wandering around then they’ll know I’m here and they’ll redouble their efforts to flush me out. Trust me, it’s better if he comes with us. You hear that, st
upid face? I’m trying to save your hide!”

  Oni whinnied and kicked his hind legs in answer.

  “Deb, why don’t you take my horses in,” said Eli, giving his rope to Rickins. “I’m going to help my son with his devil.”

  Rickins took the line, scowling with displeasure at Oni, and led the last train of horses into the thickets.

  “Deb,” Landon heard Temmings say, “this might take a while, so tell the others to go ahead. We’ll meet you at the falls. Landon,” called Temmings, “why don’t you come our way, and maybe Oni will follow you this time.”

  “We tried that already.”

  “Try again,” said Juan, desperately. “All the horses are in the caves now, so he won’t . . . he won’t think you’re taking care of them or whatever he thought you were doing the first time.”

  Landon was about to retort that it wouldn’t help, but held his tongue. Why not? Nothing else had worked, and it was worth another shot. He spun on his heel and headed towards the entrance. Johnston had excused almost all the other Nircanians, leaving five to help push aside branches if Oni decided to follow.

  Landon was almost to the thicket, listening to Oni dancing about behind him, when a surge of savage joy and triumph flooded his body. It was as if he had been struck by a lightning bolt brimming with every positive emotion known to man. It was so intense that, for a moment, Landon forgot where he was. He stood in place, his muscles quivering and flexing out of control.

  “What are you waiting for, pup?” called Eli.

  Landon didn’t have a chance to respond. A powerful gust of wind ripped through the canyon, kicking up dirt and causing every pine, bush, and grass blade to bow. Oni let out a piercing, terrified whinny and appeared at Landon’s side, trying to shove him deeper into the canyon.

  “It can’t—agh!” Landon cried. The ground shook, almost knocking him to the ground. It was followed by the sound of trees snapping and being uprooted.