by LeRoy Clary
“So, they will flee to the upper part of the city, overwhelming the guards and barriers. You will go with them.”
“A priest is trusted. Once there, especially if there are enough people fighting and general confusion, I may locate the king and if possible, rescue him.”
“Or, you can die trying. That is, you can die with all the rest of the people who will die with your plan.”
He closed his eyes and drew a long breath before speaking. “May I point out two items? First, unless something changes in Trager, all here will be dead before winter passes. There is no food, people are already starving, and disease is taking a toll daily. They kill each other for a moldy wrapper. Second, with the rumors active, the people know they are living a lie. They are prepared to escape more fires by fleeing to the upper parts of the city. The casualties will be slight. They just need a push.”
“You want Kendra to use the dragon to attack the city? You could start a series of fires easier to achieve the same thing.”
“No, the dragon puts the fear of all the gods at hand. It raises the level of terror in each to a point where they must react and gain access to the safety of the upper city.”
If Kendra could control the dragon, could she force it to attack the city? Would she, even if she could? Besides, there was a timing issue. “We are planning to escape from the ship. Tonight.”
Avery turned slowly to face me. “Then it is perfect.”
“I can’t see Kendra doing it, even if she is able.”
He stood with a sly smile. “Ask her. You might be surprised at her answer.”
His response had that same old slyness that he used to anger me since I’d known him. A superior attitude as if he always knew something I didn’t. However, this time it was different. I returned the same sly smile he used and said, “I have a message for you.”
“A message?” He asked.
“Proceed.”
His face paled. Without responding, he stood and shuffled slowly in the direction of the gangplank, without saying goodbye or anything else. The single word in the message had stunned him as much as if I’d punched him between his eyes.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
A very used his crooked cane to thump his way across the wooden deck of the ship as if we’d agreed on a plan to destroy the city, and he was intent on proceeding, whatever that meant. What we had actually agreed upon was that I’d talk to Kendra. If she could control the dragon enough to convince it to attack the city was an unknown and would completely surprise me. That she would do so, would astound me.
Long after Avery departed, I sat in the same location, lost in thought, alone in the darkness.
Kendra, Anna, and Emma arrived at my side. Each carried a small bundle. My bow and sword were carried by my sister. She jutted her chin at the stern where there were deep shadows and where it was farthest from the piers and the prying eyes.
She said, “The crewman appointed by the purser to stand watch on the gangplank will have deaf ears, and his eyes will remain averted. I paid handsomely for that service. We must go stand near the coiled ladder and lower it in preparation. When there is nobody else on deck, we will climb down.”
“You’ve been busy.”
“So, have you. A visitor, I hear.”
It was a surprise she knew of Avery’s visit, then I remembered spotting Will as he spied on us. He reported to Elizabeth, Kendra’s best friend. It was natural he told Elizabeth of our meeting, and she told Kendra. “Avery. I passed on the message.”
“You say his name like a curse.”
“I didn’t mean to. Despite our differences, my respect for him has grown since we departed Crestfallen.”
“But . . .?”
Within my mind, I debated how to best tell her, finally just blurting it out. “He wants you to direct the dragon to attack lower Trager and knock down some buildings. Tonight. He wants the city to burn.”
She hesitated. “Did he say why? It must be important.”
Her answer nearly made me gasp. Not that she would question why he felt to ask if it was important, but where was her indignity and denial that she could do such a thing? That caught me off guard. She should have accused him of being silly or uninformed.
I’d been talking to her as we’d always talked, but my attention changed to focus on her face, the slightest twitch around her eyes, the set of her jaw. Anything to indicate what strangeness was inside her head.
My second round of thoughts concerned her as a person, and my sister. Without flinching, my sister was willing to discuss ordering the burning of a city to the ground, and her only question was to comment that it must be important to do so. Avery had been right. I was surprised at her answer—so far.
“Kendra, I just said that Avery wants you to control your dragon and use it to destroy the city. Do either of those things upset you?”
“Of course. I was just wondering why he needs it done, but do you think I’m a monster who does not care?”
She still didn’t understand my concern. “Let’s take this one step at a time. Are you able to order the dragon to come here and knock down houses and buildings?”
“I’ve never tried, but I think so. If she is willing. Gods above and below, did I just say that?” Her hands rose in shock to cover her mouth. Her eyes went wide as she turned to me in fear.
I went on, “Would you consider doing such a thing? If the dragon cooperates?”
Her face turned stern. She nodded, just the smallest of movements.
“Really?”
“Tell me the circumstances. I know you and Avery do not agree on many things, but he would not ask me unless it is vitally important.”
With as few words as possible, I repeated his story. She questioned me on a few points, especially about making comparisons about another king too ill to rule properly while an “appointed” council ruled in his stead. It sounded so much like what was happening at home, only there hadn’t been time for the heirs in Dire to perish in “accidents” or “mysterious illnesses.”
She said, “You and I met him, you know. The king of Trager. Think back seven or eight years. A young man who was with Avery ate dinner with the three of us. Actually, we ate pheasant that they brought to us after hunting.”
The memory flashed in my mind, more because eating with Avery was not something I’d normally do, but Elizabeth had insisted. It had been an unpleasant meal. “That was him?”
“He concealed his identity as the future king, of course, but Elizabeth told me. I’d forgotten until now that he came from Trager.”
Her voice had trailed off to a whisper and made me think she had feelings for him. “Back to the present, and Avery’s request,” I said.
She sighed. “Put yourself in my place. When Avery speaks in an official capacity, he is speaking for the Heir Apparent, who may be the King of Dire at this very moment, for all we know, but certainly, he will be one day in the future. He has the right to make such a demand. The question is, do I have the right to refuse? Besides, the people are warned, and most will be dead by spring if they do nothing. This might save a few lives.”
We sat in silence while thinking. Finally, I said, “If we take this to Elizabeth, what will she say?”
“I must obey.”
“Okay, then there is only one more thing to determine. Call your dragon and have her stand nearby and ready. When we board the small boat, she can be our diversion.”
Kendra closed her eyes. She was not sleeping, but I had a hand ready to grasp her if she fell from her sitting position. Her posture remained fixed. Her eyes opened as if a firebrand had touched her skin. “She’s coming.”
Those two words scared me more than if I’d been locked in a room with a thousand spiders. I don’t like spiders, I hate them, but the implications of her response were so far beyond what I comprehended that I simply nodded. Spiders would have been preferred.
No, they wouldn’t.
Kendra as much as said that she had reached out with her
mind and told the dragon to come to Trager. How can that happen? How can her answer get any stranger? Well, it did. According to her, the dragon “heard” the request. And if that was not enough, it had somehow responded. My sister, the Dragon Tamer, had a dragon ready to obey her and destroy a city.
A small shiver ran down from the back of my head to my neck, and down my back. Worse than facing a slashing sword in combat, fear took hold.
In my mind, I recounted the possible conversations the two of them may have had. “Hey, dragon. I’m going to need you to come over here to Trager if you’re not too busy.” Kendra is always polite. The dragon said in her mind, “Oh, sure. I’m not too busy slaying sheep and deer to eat for dinner so I’ll fly on over as soon as I’m finished.”
The words may have been different, but the result the same. I found myself in a decaying city with a king that required “our” help, so my sister talked to “her” dragon with her mind and ordered it to fly here. Later, she would tell it to destroy part of the city, not the first time it had done that. Maybe afterward we could all have a tea party.
“What’s wrong?” Kendra asked.
While formulating an answer, Will strode to us with heavy feet down the deck, no doubt letting us know of his approach with the pounding of his heels. He leaned on the railing nearby and said, “A small boat approaches.”
As the last word was uttered, he turned and walked to the young man on duty at the gangplank and stood talking with him. No doubt, Will was making sure no warning was sounded. If the young sailor attempted to go back on his agreement, he would die this night. Kendra moved quickly, and after a little fussing by Emma, they stood and carried extra blankets in their arms.
We went to the far side of the ship, the side of the hull facing away from any prying eyes of the city and pier. The coiled ladder was secured to the rail, and I lowered it as a large rowboat approached, using the shadows and the ship to remain unseen to any on shore. The moon was a crescent, but between it, the bright stars in the cloudless sky, and the brilliance of the warm desert air, it seemed to me the rowboat was as obvious as a pink cow in a herd of white ones.
Anna went first. Her expression said it was another adventure. Emma was more hesitant, and then Kendra, who was visibly scared. When my foot touched the top rung, it twisted and almost caused me to lose my balance. The ladder rungs moved with each step, not always predictable in where they would be.
Hands grabbed my ankles and directed them down the last few rungs. A space had been cleared for us to sit. Flier sat across from me in the bow, beside him sat Kendra and the girls. Four rowers, two on each side were behind, and a huddled man at the stern with a tiller tucked under his armpit whispered orders.
The boat moved easily and almost silently away from the Gallant. The direction was away from the opening to the sea. Nobody spoke. On the shore near the pier, movement drew my attention. At least five or six people were standing together. As we slowly moved away, a glint of gold braid on a shoulder or military button reflected in torchlight, but no alarm was raised.
There was no current, but the incoming tide moved us along faster than the oars by themselves would have. Within a short time, we were rowing past a part of the city I’d never seen. We remained quiet because voices carry over water, especially at night.
The piers in this part of the city were crumbling, and much of the dock area had fallen into the bay. The buildings were dark, made of wood, and most lacking paint. There were only a few lamps or candles in windows. Nobody walked the dark streets. Dogs, if there were any that hadn’t been eaten, remained silent. A dank smell of rot permeated the air.
We rowed on. A misty cloud temporarily obscured the moon, and the city drew indistinct. I felt safer. We eventually reached the end of the buildings and rowed on, but moved closer to shore where I assumed it would be harder to spot us from the shore, even though we were closer. The overhanging trees drooped willowy branches we brushed aside, the speed of the rowing increased, but not a single word was whispered.
Getting caught would cost all of us our lives, I had no doubt. Everyone on the rowboat understood, even the girls who huddled against Kendra for protection seemed to sense the danger and urgency. Emma watching my hand hover near the hilt of my sword as if she knew that would be her first warning of immediate danger.
Without notice, the rowboat turned to shore, where a stream fed into the waters of the bay. The bottom of the hull ground on rocks and gravel. Flier leaped out as nimbly as a boy, his bad leg history. I went next, my feet in cold water up to my ankles. Kendra passed the girls to me one at a time, and I stood them ashore, then she came last.
Oars braced on the bottom of the stream and shoved the boat away before I could thank the men in the boat. Without our dead weight, the boat floated higher and eased into the darkness before it quickly disappeared.
Flier pushed his way through weeds taller than our heads and located a narrow trail that followed the edge of the stream, one with solid footing, even if seldom used. He took the lead, me the rear. We moved quickly until arriving at a small lean-to hut made of sticks. Inside were crude backpacks sewn with large stitches. They had originally been canvas sacks, probably used by ships to carry cargo.
Straps had been poorly made of the same folded material and fastened to the sacks with strong stitches. A drawstring at the top closed them, a poor solution if it should rain because everything inside would get wet, but we were in a desert, and I realized I shouldn’t judge by the needs here and not at home, nor as a fugitive in a foreign land. We should be happy to have whatever was inside them.
“Don’t bother with an inventory until we’re away from here,” Flier said. “We’re not safe, yet.”
“Are they searching for us?” Kendra asked, not bothering to hide the fear in her voice.
Flier said, “No. It’s worse than that. I’m told they have patrols outside the city searching for anyone sneaking in or out of Trager. There are patrols outside to prevent people from fleeing over the Vin Pass.”
“Do they capture them?” she asked. “Put them in prison?”
He shook his head after a glance at the two girls. “They never return with captives. The ones the patrols capture, I mean.”
That was clearly a warning. No unnecessary talking, no fire to cook or warm ourselves, and the route would be on the trails and paths rarely watched if we continued traveling with Flier. He slipped an arm into a backpack and slipped it to his shoulder. “This way.”
“If they do find us?” I asked softly while lifting another of the four packs.
“Fight for your life. All of you.”
Flier walked slower than expected, pausing to listen here and there. We climbed a long slope, the ground had turned dry and rocky, and the vegetation thinned to nothing, so we were exposed. Looking behind, the river in the distance was easy to make out, so was the bay, and the yellow lights of candles told us where the city was. My eyes lifted above the rooftops to the lights on the hillside, where there were many more all crowded together.
Kendra slumped and sat on a boulder. She gave me a piercing look before speaking to Flier. “I must rest for a few moments.”
Understanding at least part of what she tried to tell me, I added, “Why don’t we all sit here quietly and let her rest for a moment?”
What she really needed time to concentrate, to call her dragon—if that was possible, and draw it near. Then she would instruct it to attack the buildings in the distance, conveniently located where we could see them.
She sat with her elbows on her knees, her palms cradling her face, covering her eyes. The rest of us also sat, and I marveled at the quiet behaviors of the girls. Other children would whine and complain about being sleepy. I wanted to do it, myself. However, they sat and watched the three of us with big eyes that searched for understanding, but also with the trust that only comes from children.
Flier grudgingly sat, too. After a short while, he started to fidget. He wanted to get away from Trager before
dawn, and as we moved away from the city, the number of patrols would probably diminish. Remaining in close proximity increased our chances of being spotted during the day.
A soft sound of rustling air in the distance warned me. It grew louder, and I watched both Kendra and Flier for their reactions. Kendra remained fixed. Flier turned his face up to the sky, as did both girls. I looked, too.
The sounds of leathery wings pumping regularly told us where to look. Across the background of white pinpricks of starlight, a massive object blotted them out as the dragon flew. It was too dark to make out the shape of the dragon, but not that a large area went dark, and behind that blot of darkness, the stars reappeared, and the beat of wings increased.
Flier said, “Wyverns frequently fly over Trager now. For most of the last month, anyway, there are a few every day.”
It was no Wyvern, but there was no need to tell him what I knew or how I knew. Flier adjusted his backpack and stood. “Ready?”
As if hearing him, the dragon let out a scream that had the girls hugging my legs for protection, and I wanted to hug something to protect me. The scream was close, loud, but the volume was not what made it so fearful. It was the timbre, the anger it portrayed, and the menace. It was the sound of terror.
The dragon couldn’t be seen by us because of darkness and distance, and it flew lower, so the hillside behind the city prevented the stars from outlining it any more. However, a thunderous crash told of the smashing of wood and timber. Another scream came from the dragon, and the sounds of more wood splintering drifted on the still night air, along with the grunting of the dragon, screams of people, the shouts of orders.
Kendra finally raised her head, her eyes vacant and unseeing—or she couldn’t see what we did. To distract Flier, I said, “What’s happening?”
