“Then let’s not keep him waiting.” Callie led the way across the courtyard.
The guards waved them through without so much as a second glance. While it was true that the outer wall guards should catch anyone not meant to be inside the palace, it wouldn’t hurt for them to be at least a little bit wary. Peace or not, assassins weren’t impossible.
She put them out of her mind. Those fools were someone else’s problem. She had enough to deal with as it was. Callie marched down a long hall to yet another set of double doors. These doors led to the throne room. Since they were closed, court must be in session. Instead of soldiers, this door was guarded by the castle seneschal, a far more intimidating fellow than the two men on duty out front, despite their swords. His name was Malik. If he had a family name, she’d never heard it. He sat on a tall stool behind an equally tall lectern.
Malik had served in his position since the current King Rend’s grandfather ruled the kingdom. He was a dour, looming figure in all black robes, not a hint of jewelry or color lightening his presence. It was like asking Death himself for permission to visit with the king.
Of course, that was all for show. Callie had known him for years and when he was off duty, he enjoyed singing bawdy tavern songs and drinking cheap mulled wine. But he was most definitely on duty now and she approached with the respect his position deserved.
She offered the formal greeting. “I’ve come to see the king.”
He gravely studied the book on the lectern in front of him. “You are expected. I believe His Majesty wished to speak with you in private. Please take a seat and I’ll let him know you’re here.”
She bowed and settled on one of the hard benches outside the door. The head sage sat beside her and asked, “How long do you think we’ll have to wait?”
“Depends how mad he is at me. If I were you, I’d get comfortable.”
His chuckle was pained, but she wasn’t kidding. King Rend had a minor streak of cruelty running through him. She’d noticed it on more than one occasion. While he didn’t torture people for fun, he wasn’t averse to forcing minor inconveniences on those that angered him.
The king must not have been as angry as Callie had feared. Forty-five minutes after Malik went to see him, the throne room doors opened and petitioners and nobles in fine silk and gold came streaming out. A few of them took one look at Callie and the sages and turned up their noses. Callie restrained a rude gesture with great difficulty.
When the last of them had gone Durnik said, “I knew there was a reason we had no use for nobles in Dragonspire Village.”
Callie grinned then immediately smoothed her expression when Malik appeared in the doorway. “He will see you now.”
The group rose and followed Malik into the now-empty throne room, Callie in the lead. King Rend sat on a gilded throne at the end of a long purple carpet. Aside from a little less hair on his head, he looked much as Callie remembered the last time she saw him. He was about fifty pounds overweight, clean-shaven, and dressed in fine purple-and-gold silks and furs.
Callie and the bards stopped at the end of the carpet and bowed. When she straightened Callie said, “It is good to see you again, Majesty.”
“Callie. I know the gist of your circumstances from my uncle’s letters. What I don’t know is why you kept the girl’s power a secret. When you realized what she could do, you should have brought her directly to the capital. We could have kept her safe and under control.”
Callie forced herself not to wince. “That is precisely why I didn’t tell you. Ariel’s power can’t be forced into obedience. She needs to be befriended and nudged in the direction you want her to go.”
“Bah! She’s a child. How difficult could it be to force a child to obey? If she refuses to do as she’s told withhold her dessert or something.”
“Indeed.” Callie forced herself to remain calm. This was a man used to instant obedience from everyone he encountered. He also spent very little time raising his own children. “And imagine in our hypothetical scenario Ariel decided she really wanted dessert and lost her temper. Imagine a sixty-foot-long dragon smashing through the side of the palace, breathing lightning and killing everyone around until she calmed down.”
The blood had drained from the king’s face. Good. He was beginning to understand what he was dealing with.
“Ariel might be a little girl, but she is a little girl who commands the power to level cities. I thought it best to keep her well away from the capital and the tens of thousands that live here.”
The king cleared his throat. “Yes, well, you still should have told me.”
“My apologies, Majesty.” Callie bowed again.
“Fine then. Who are these distinguished-looking gentlemen behind you?”
Callie relaxed a fraction. It seemed she had explained herself to his satisfaction. The hard part was over. For now, at least.
It took Moz long hours of poling through narrow, backwater passages, some so tight he could barely get his skiff through, to finally get home. He’d made a special point of not using his regular routes. He had no reason to believe anyone here was likely to know his habits, but he hadn’t lived as long as he had by taking stupid risks. After his battle with the mercenaries, he wanted to make extra sure no one followed him. So far, it looked like he’d succeeded.
His skiff bumped the walkway that surrounded his house. Moz jumped out and tied it up to a handy cleat. It didn’t look like anyone had found the nerve to move back in. That was good. He’d killed enough people for today. Hopefully, he’d left an indelible impression on anyone thinking of causing him trouble. The more scared they were of him, the easier it would be when he asked some questions later. But first he needed to talk to Cork.
After returning the dragon to her place in his saddlebag, Moz made the short walk to the young man’s house. He rapped on the door and Cork opened it seconds later.
“Moz! I was afraid you were going to get into trouble out there. Did you see the other soldiers?”
“I’d just as soon not discuss it outside,” Moz said. “Mind if I come in?”
“Yeah, sure.” Cork moved aside and Moz stepped into his house. “I don’t get much company. You can sit at the table if you want. Thirsty?”
Moz shook his head and sat on a rickety bench in front of an equally rickety dinner table. Cork’s place wasn’t much more than a two-room shack. He didn’t know where the young man’s parents were. He’d shown up alone years ago, a mere teenager determined to make it as a gator hunter. Moz respected his determination. He’d chosen a tough road and was making good progress along it.
Cork sat across from him. “So?”
“I saw them all right. They’re bloody determined that no one’s going to get close to that patch of mud out there. I’m pretty sure it’s the same one you took Rondo to last spring.”
Cork’s eyes about bugged out of his head. “Are they crazy?”
“I’m reasonably sure they are, but why don’t you tell me why you think that. Things were a little bit mad when you got back from that guide job. We didn’t really get a chance to discuss what all you saw. How about walking me through it?”
“Yeah, sure, no problem. You’re right, that trip was nuts. Even leaving aside the murders. Anyway, that Rondo guy had a map and we followed it to this fair-sized island. Once we tied up, we walked inland, some of the nastiest going I ever come across. We finally thrash our way through and what should we find but a hole, the biggest damn hole I ever seen in my life. And at the bottom… gods above, the thing at the bottom.”
Cork started breathing fast and his eyes glazed over.
“Easy,” Moz said. “Just take it easy. You’re safe now. Tell me what you saw.”
“It was a big bloody dragon. A black one, wrapped around the tower, sound asleep. I figured any second that thing was going to wake up and kill us all. Bloody miracle it didn’t. We got out of there pretty quick after that and went after the girl. They must’ve wanted her to try and get that dr
agon to move out of their way. You know the rest.”
Moz didn’t know the rest. He didn’t know what the new arrivals wanted out there. It seemed like setting up camp where a big black dragon was taking a nap was a good way to get yourself dead. The fact that they’d been there for weeks with no trouble indicated that at least some of them had knowledge of dragons and how not to wake them.
He nearly laughed. Was there such a thing as knowledge about how not to wake up a dragon? He supposed there probably was. If you were willing to look hard enough, there seemed to be a book to tell you how to do just about anything. It was the why that most worried him.
“Thanks, Cork.” Moz got up. “You filled in some blanks for me. Now I have to find someone else to fill in the rest. Hopefully I can coax one of our unwelcome visitors into providing me with some more information.”
“Be careful, Moz,” Cork said.
Moz nodded once and left by the front door. He appreciated the kid’s concern but wasn’t overly frightened of the thugs wandering around the village. He suspected they were the dregs of the mercenaries that had invaded his swamp. The men he’d fought earlier knew what they were doing, unlike these fools.
No, there was eventually going to be trouble, but it wouldn’t be with this lot. He closed Cork’s door and looked up and down the street. It didn’t take long to spot one of the mercenaries on guard duty. The guy was alone across the street from the tavern. The two that had been watching outside the tavern yesterday must have either been reassigned or gone inside to get a drink. Either way, there was no one to see what he was about to do.
He turned down the boardwalk and strode straight towards the man keeping watch. He was sure to spot Moz before he got close enough to act, but Moz’s hope was that the man was stupid enough to think he could handle things on his own. This wasn’t one of the ones that saw what Moz could do when he took out their leader, but if word had spread, he might be on guard.
When Moz was ten yards off, the thug gave him a hard look. He probably thought he was intimidating, and he might’ve been if he’d been about ten years older, six inches taller, and forty pounds heavier. As it was, the guy didn’t even have a chance to shout before Moz had a hand around his neck and was dragging him into a nearby alley.
He slammed him against the wall, drew a sword, and placed it at his neck. “Who are you and what do you want here?”
“I’m Tab,” the man said in a trembling voice. “Our leader told me to keep watch on the street and let him know if anyone suspicious showed up.”
“Well that’s fascinating,” Moz said. “I was thinking on a grander level. What are all of you people doing in this area and why are you so interested in the tower?”
“What tower?” Tab asked. “Listen, I’ve only been working for this crew for three months. I do what they tell me and don’t ask questions. Asking questions tends to get you in trouble.”
“Surely you at least know who you’re working for.”
“Dragon worshipers of some kind, I don’t know. They’re like a cult. Look, we’re just here to provide muscle. No one tells us anything beyond who to beat up or kill.”
Clearly trying to get anything useful out of this idiot was a waste of time. He let Tab go and sent him running with a kick in the ass. Tab sprinted across the street and went into the tavern. Maybe whoever he reported to would have more useful information. He’d have to ask when whoever it was showed up.
But now it was time to go home and get a cup of hot tea.
Chapter 5
Rondo stood in his favorite spot at the front of the ship. Below them the thick canopy of massive evergreens blocked everything from view. It turned out the hummingbird dragons were native to an area of Rend known as the Deep Forest. It was one of the wildest and least explored areas of the kingdom. Rondo had never heard of it, but if Lord Black said that’s where the dragons came from, he wasn’t about to question the information. The area certainly seemed like a good place for a hidden workshop. Add to that the fact that it was only about fifty miles from the orphanage and you came up with an extremely likely target.
It was also an extremely large target. The Deep Forest stretched for miles in every direction. Their ship was currently hovering directly above the center of the woods. Though not for any reason Rondo could see. Maybe Umbra had sensed something magical below or maybe he just thought this was as good a place as any to begin their search. Either way, Rondo expected to descend soon.
“If I’d known we were going to have to go thrashing through the woods again,” Shade said as he approached, “I would have recommended bringing some extra manpower. With just the three of us it’s going to be a bitch finding anything down there. Just getting through the canopy will be a pain.”
“Do you really think there’s someone else endeavoring to bring back the Dragon Empire the same as Lord Black?” Rondo asked.
Shade shrugged. “I don’t know. If they are, it’s not going to end well for them. The boss doesn’t take competition kindly.”
Umbra strode up to them. “I sense something magical below. It was weak and constantly moving, but it was the first sign of anything remotely interesting I detected in the hours we’ve been flying overhead. It seems like a good place to begin our search.”
“Works for me,” Shade said. “Any idea what we’re looking at?”
Umbra’s cowl rustled as he shook his head. “No. All I can say for sure is it wasn’t an especially strong source of magic.”
“Hopefully that means not too dangerous,” Rondo said.
Shade slapped him on the shoulder. “Now you’ve jinxed us. Come on, let’s get the show on the road.”
A moment later they were floating over the railing and drifting towards the pine boughs. As they got closer it became clear that there were no openings in the canopy. Rondo wondered what they were going to do then Umbra pointed and a six-foot-diameter circle exploded outward creating a gap for them. They slipped through it and continued down into the dark forest.
The moment they landed, Shade began searching for signs. Umbra closed his eyes and spun in a slow circle. Rondo wasn’t at all sure what he should do and settled on staying out of the way. He went to the nearest spruce tree and ran a finger down the deeply grooved bark. The trees were huge, though nowhere near as big as the ones they found near the tower to the northwest. What he couldn’t understand was why no one in the kingdom had come to harvest these giant trees. You could get enough lumber out of one of them to build a good-sized house.
After about fifteen minutes of searching, Umbra and Shade both said at the same moment, “This way.”
They were pointing in opposite directions.
Shade laughed and said, “I found tracks that don’t look like they came from any animal I’ve ever encountered and certainly no man made them. If there is a lab around here, it might be another escapee.”
“We’ll follow the tracks,” Umbra said. “I suspect the magic I’m sensing is from the creature that left them.”
They set out with Shade in the lead. When Rondo walked past the strange tracks, he paused to take a closer look. They vaguely resembled a big cat except the toes seemed too long and unless he was badly mistaken, there appeared to be webbing between them. No, they were definitely not the tracks of any creature native to this world. And judging from their length and width Rondo would have bet money that the thing was bigger than a grizzly bear. Definitely something they’d be better off avoiding.
The trio had been walking for half an hour through the dappled shadows when Umbra said, “There’s something—”
A loud roar cut him off in midsentence. A moment later a huge form burst through the trees. Rondo scrambled to put one of the massive trunks between him and the monster. He peeked out from around the tree.
Shade danced around a clawed foot that would’ve sliced him into five pieces had it connected. His dagger scored a shallow hit that didn’t seem to faze the giant beast at all.
And what a beast it was. Bigg
er than the biggest horse, it was covered in dark-green scales, had four legs tipped with five sharp claws, and a serpentine neck that ended in a reptilian head filled with needle fangs. It was something out of a nightmare.
Rondo frowned. He had seen something like this before. The monster looked like the dragon hybrids from the mad emperor’s lab. If whoever made Ariel also made this thing, it certainly argued for a connection to the Dragon Empire.
Umbra hit it with an inky black bolt of magic, staggering the monster a few steps to the left.
Shade took the opportunity to dart in and stab it in the stomach. Neither the magic nor his short blades seemed to be doing much damage.
“That thing is a dragon hybrid!” Rondo shouted.
The hybrid roared again and breathed fire at Shade. The assassin flipped away with barely a singe.
Umbra chanted a spell, and the monster froze. In a strained voice he said, “I’ve enchanted it for a moment, but I can’t hold the spell for long.”
“My daggers are too small to kill this thing,” Shade said. “I need a bigger sword.”
“No,” Rondo said. “We just need to hit it with something bigger. Like one of these trees.”
Umbra said, “If you can keep it busy for minute, Shade, I can fell one of those on its head.”
“No problem,” Shade said with far more confidence than he should have. “Let it go when you’re ready.”
Umbra snapped his fingers and the dragon hybrid whipped its head around to glare at him.
“Hey, stupid!” Shade shouted. “Over here!”
The monster ignored him and bared its fangs. Fire dripped from its mouth as it prepared to loose another blast.
“Don’t ignore me, damn you.” Shade threw his dagger and despite hitting point first, the blade still bounced off the beast’s heavy scales.
He did succeed in getting the monster’s attention. Its head snapped around and let out a fire stream towards Shade who easily dodged. The beast roared in frustration and stomped after him.
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