The Dragonspire Chronicles Omnibus 1

by James E. Wisher

  “No. We were betrayed from within and the dragons drugged. The only reason I’m free is because Brigid and I were out of the valley at the time.”

  “That’s horrible. I take it then we shouldn’t expect any more dragon scales from you?”

  “I’m afraid not,” Yaz said. “Though there is something you can do for me.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You see, thirty of our people were purchased by your group. If you’d be kind enough to set them free and turn them over to me, that would be wonderful.”

  McAdams’s expression clouded. “We purchased them legally and at considerable expense. While I feel for your situation, simply handing over such valuable property would be too big a loss for us. You understand?”

  “I do understand.” Yaz grasped the hilt of his dagger and slowly drew it. “In fact, that’s exactly what I expected you to say. Our friends and family are property now, not people. You wouldn’t hand over thirty draft horses, so why would you hand over thirty slaves? Not reasonable at all.”

  Yaz took a step forward and McAdams took a step back. This continued for ten feet, until his back struck his desk and he could retreat no further.

  “The problem is, I’m not in a reasonable mood. My parents are among those taken. Imagine it was a member of your family.” Yaz tested the edge of his dagger. “What would you do to get them back?”

  McAdams’s throat worked as he tried to swallow. “Anything.”

  “Exactly. I’m pleased you see my position so clearly.”

  “I can’t just hand them over. They aren’t even here. Our operation only uses slaves in one place.”

  Yaz nodded. “Do tell.”

  “Our biggest source of revenue comes from processing dragon bone. The company was created when our founder located a dragons’ graveyard. Our slaves work to extract the calcified bone. It’s hard, nasty work and they don’t tend to last long.”

  “Where can I find this graveyard?” Yaz asked.

  “That’s the company’s biggest and most valuable secret. I can’t—”

  Yaz grabbed McAdams’s wrist, forced it flat on the desk, and slammed his dagger between his middle and index fingers. He ripped the blade free along with a chunk of wood.

  “I won’t miss a second time. Understand, I don’t give a shit about your business. Feel free to dig up all the old bones you want. But I need to free our people. Don’t make me ask again.”

  They locked gazes for half a minute before McAdams finally looked away. “There’s a wagon path northeast of this compound. Illusion magic hides it from anyone that doesn’t already know the path is there. The pit is twenty miles away.”

  Yaz nodded and let him go. “You did the right thing. Thank you.”

  “I didn’t have much choice. I truly am sorry about your people.”

  Yaz sheathed his dagger. “I believe you. If by some miracle we can rebuild the village, I’ll be in touch about resuming sales.”

  McAdams bowed a fraction. Yaz and the others left, walking out past the secretary who didn’t even look up.

  When they were outside Silas said, “A dragons’ graveyard. I’d heard rumors about them, but never dreamed they were real.”

  “Do you think the villagers are okay?” Brigid asked.

  “They should be,” Yaz said. “They haven’t been working for that long.”

  Yaz really hoped he was right. The more people they rescued, the better the chances that someone knew where his parents had been taken.

  Chapter 22

  When Yaz and his friends reached the end of the hidden trail only an hour of daylight remained. That suited him fine since he wanted to have a good look around before deciding the best way to attack the mine. Yaz reined in at the edge of the forest and dismounted. Beyond the woods was an oval of burned and blackened earth probably five miles across. Sneaking in on foot would be a much safer way to go though they’d still be obvious to anyone keeping watch. The only hope Yaz had was that the mine overseers were too focused on their workers to worry about uninvited guests.

  As he tied his horse to a handy tree, Brigid asked, “Do you think they’ll send anyone after us?”

  “Unless they were hiding soldiers somewhere,” Yaz said, “it didn’t look like they had anyone to send. Beside, McAdams isn’t going to want to advertise this place exists by sending any old mercenaries. The company will have to bring in their own soldiers, people they can trust. We’ve got at least a day or two I figure, but we won’t want to fool around.”

  “They must have at least one powerful wizard at their disposal,” Silas said. “That illusion spell was potent. I couldn’t manage it and I doubt my master could have either. Neither of us are illusionists I admit, but this was well beyond a basic spell.”

  “Great, something else to worry about.” Yaz swallowed a sigh. “Before we get too worked up, let’s have a look at the mine and see what we’re dealing with.”

  Yaz set out with Brigid and Silas behind him. Silas took Wicked out of his pouch and the little undead flew up to keep watch. A gravel path wide enough for a wagon led through the blackened earth away from the forest edge. In the distance the faint sound of steel on stone filled the air. That had to be the miners at work. If he could hear them already, the mine must be close.

  Crunching down the gravel path felt awfully exposed. Not that there was much choice. No cover existed for miles in every direction.

  They continued on, deeper and deeper into the wasteland. With every step the sound of mining grew louder. Near the center of the blackened earth a pit had been dug. Yaz crouched and moved right off the path. They inched up to the edge of the pit and looked down.

  Scores of people moved around at the bottom probably eighty feet down. Others hammered away on scaffolding that looked like it had been built in five minutes by ten-year-olds. No wonder they needed so many slaves. Their mine was a death trap.

  Probably half the people carried buckets filled with rock away from the scaffolding where it accumulated. They must have been heavy since it looked like they could barely shuffle around. The bucket carriers went up a ramp on the opposite side of the pit where they dumped the buckets into the back of a waiting wagon.

  Silas murmured something then pointed down into the mine. “Gods’ blood! Those aren’t people, they’re zombies, some of them at least. The ones hauling the buckets for sure. Looks like the ones hammering into the side of the pit are still alive anyway.”

  “If they have zombies, why do they need slaves?” Brigid asked.

  “Zombies aren’t good at fine work, only carrying and mindless digging. Or crushing your enemies to pulp. I count fifty-seven undead down there. If we hit the mine to free your people, we’ll have to fight our way through them and that won’t be easy, not for three people.”

  Yaz grimaced. He’d been counting on the freed slaves’ numbers giving them an advantage. “Can you use your magic to turn them against their masters?”

  “At my best I couldn’t control more than five zombies. I don’t know who’s running the show down there, but they’re a far stronger necromancer than me.”

  “I’ve seen enough,” Yaz said. “Let’s head back to the horses and find somewhere to make camp. We need a plan.”

  Yaz hurried away from the pit, eager to put some distance between them and the zombies. Of all the possibilities he’d considered, scores of undead hadn’t crossed his mind. How in the world were they going to free everyone with those things in the way? He had a good mind to go back and crack McAdams upside the head for not mentioning them. Of course, that would accomplish nothing beyond making him feel better.

  He looked up from the blackened earth as they neared the forest. Was that someone standing at the edge of the path?

  “Do you see that?” Yaz asked. “Someone’s waiting for us.”

  “How could someone be waiting for us if no one knows we’re here?” Brigid asked.

  That was a damn good question. Yaz tightened his grip on his staff. One ag
ainst three was way better odds than three against fifty-plus zombies. If whoever it was wanted trouble, they’d get it.

  They were ten yards out and whoever it was hadn’t made a move one way or another. The figure stepped out of the trees’ shade and into the last of the light.

  “I didn’t expect to run into you three again so soon, or ever for that matter.”

  It was Tonia, the bard they met on the barge. What could she be doing here? Yaz relaxed a fraction. Whatever she wanted, he doubted it was a fight.

  “We were about to make camp and have dinner,” Yaz said. “Would you like to join us?”

  “I would. There’s much we need to discuss.”

  Yaz didn’t like the sound of that. She probably had bad news. That seemed to be the only kind they got lately.

  Yaz, Brigid, and Silas sat on one side of the fire and Tonia sat alone opposite them. Her magic was directing the smoke away from anyone that might detect it and by extension them. Yaz assumed they were deep enough in the forest that the dense trees would block any light. A stew bubbled away, but they had a good hour before it would be ready. He intended to use that hour to get some answers.

  “So,” Yaz said. “You said you had some things to tell us.”

  “I suppose I should just begin after I left you at the warehouse.”

  “Actually,” Yaz said, “I think you should start with what your missing bard is doing here.”

  She sighed. “Fair enough. I told you one of our bards ran away. One of Rend’s agents tracked her to this secret mine. You saw the zombies?”

  They all nodded.

  “Well, that’s Mel’s gift. Her power allows her to raise the dead. She can control twelve with her song directly and set up to a hundred to perform a simple task without her constantly keeping watch over them.”

  “There isn’t a necromancer down there after all,” Silas said. “That’s a relief.”

  “Don’t be too relieved,” Tonia said. “I’ve been observing the mine for over a week, trying to figure a way to grab Mel or failing that eliminate her. Getting past her zombies would be simple with my wind magic, that’s why I was selected for this mission, but there’s a problem. The mine does have a wizard overseer, just not a necromancer. I believe he’s an alchemist as well as an artificer. He’s got a number of magical items he carries at all times and I don’t know what they do. I just know confronting them on my own was too risky.”

  “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised Rend has spies in Carttoom,” Yaz said. “I’m sure Carttoom has spies in your kingdom as well. I couldn’t care less. It seems working together is in our common interest. Assuming you defeat your former comrade, will the zombies collapse?”

  “If I kill her, they will, but if she’s only knocked out then no, they’ll keep doing whatever she last commanded them to do.”

  “Are you willing to kill her?” Yaz asked.

  “Yaz!” Brigid said.

  He knew Brigid wasn’t going to like it, but he’d come to the conclusion that refusing to face the hard choices only led to more problems down the road. To do what they had to, people were going to die. Yaz finally made peace with that in Port Steel. Brigid clearly still hadn’t. And that was okay. Her innocence was part of what he loved about her.

  “It’s a fair question,” Tonia said. “I would prefer to convince her to come back of her own will, but I’ve seen her with the alchemist. Whether he’s controlling her or she’s with him because she wants to be, it’s clear they’re in love. Mel didn’t have friends back home, so I doubt I’ll talk her into leaving him. I will do what I must to complete my mission.”

  “Fair enough.” Yaz turned to Silas. “Do you think you can hold off or better yet defeat the alchemist?”

  Silas ran a hand down his face. “That’s tough. Alchemists are the most versatile wizards. Depending on what he has prepared and what the magic items do, I might defeat him easily or I might be killed in five seconds. There’s no way to know before the battle starts.”

  That wasn’t terribly encouraging

  “What will we do?” Brigid asked.

  “We,” Yaz said, “will have to contend with the zombies. As long as they focus on us, the slaves should be okay, but if they attack indiscriminately, we’ll need to protect everyone.”

  They discussed options long after the stew was eaten and when they finally settled on a plan everyone tried to sleep. For Yaz, it was a long time coming.

  The group decided that the best time to attack the mine would be at dawn with the sun at their backs. Yaz and Brigid were in position directly above the scaffolding where the slaves already toiled away, chipping stone away from bone and separating the good from the garbage. Silas and Tonia were going to attack from a different direction in hopes of drawing the enemy’s focus away from Yaz, Brigid, and the slaves.

  Yaz flicked a glance at Brigid. She grasped her staff so tight her knuckles were white. He reached out and stroked the back of her hand until it relaxed. She turned her head and smiled. With the sun shining in her hair she looked like an angel, a tired, nervous angel.

  He wanted to say something to reassure her but feared to draw attention before they were ready. Instead he tried to send all his goodwill through his hand on hers. It wasn’t much, but for now it was all he could do.

  A hard gust of wind forced him to shield his eyes. When Yaz looked again, Tonia and Silas were soaring down out of the sky.

  Silas hurled a lightning bolt.

  That was their signal. Yaz helped Brigid over the side of the pit and she dropped safely to the scaffolding. Yaz joined her a moment later.

  On either side of them slaves looked left and right. Explosions from below shook the rickety scaffolding and gusts of wind set it to swaying. They needed to get these people down before it collapsed.

  “Mrs. Carmichael?” Brigid said.

  Yaz turned to find her approaching a middle-aged woman dressed in a torn smock and wearing sandals below the manacles clasped around her ankles. He took a step closer.

  “Brigid?” the woman said. “How on earth did you get here? What’s going on?”

  “That’s a long story, Mrs. Carmichael,” Brigid said. “But the short version is we’re here to free everyone. Do you know who else ended up here?”

  Another explosion shook the scaffold.

  “I hate to break up your reunion,” Yaz said. “But we need to climb down before we fall down. Everyone line up and make for the ladder. Drop your tools and hurry.”

  “If we leave, we’ll get whipped!” someone shouted.

  “Or killed and raised as one of those monsters!” another added.

  Yaz grimaced. Of all the problems he expected, convincing them to flee hadn’t crossed his mind. “My friends are dealing with your captors as we speak. But if we all die, their efforts will be for nothing. Please, hurry.”

  “Who the hell are you anyway?” asked a rough man that looked like he’d been a slave for many years.

  Gods above, they didn’t have time for this. “My name is Yazgrim Yeager. Many of you probably knew my father, he was chief of Dragonspire Village. When Brigid and I returned home and found everyone missing we came looking. You are the first group we plan to free. I know where the others are and I’ll need your help freeing them. So please, I’m begging you, get off of this scaffold before it collapses and kills us all.”

  The murmurs that began when he told them his name grew louder. Finally, a woman said, “I’m with you, young lord.”

  “For our village!” another shouted.

  “And our people!” a third added.

  They made for the ladder, tugging reluctant slaves along with them. Yaz blew out a breath and fell in behind them with Brigid.

  “Nice speech,” she said.

  “Thanks, but if Silas and Tonia don’t deal with the magic users it won’t mean much.”

  Despite being a wizard, Silas had never flown. Standing beside Tonia in the center of a screaming tornado was an experience he’d never forget. An
d never hoped to repeat. They rushed in toward the mine about ten times as fast as a horse could gallop. The bard had a huge grin on her face, like this was the most fun she’d ever had. Silas focused on not throwing up. He also gathered power, so he’d be ready to strike as soon as he spotted his target.

  All he had to go on was Tonia’s description and the fact that he was the only living non-slave male in the mine. His fingers flexed and relaxed, little bolts of lightning jumping from his ring to his nails. If he could take the alchemist out with his first spell, that would be ideal. Not that Silas had much hope. His master always warned him to avoid duels with wizards when he didn’t know their abilities. Yet here he was about to break that rule.

  Yaz and Brigid were nice kids, sure, but why was he so determined to help them complete their mission? Silas was honest enough with himself to know it wasn’t out of a sense of justice. He wasn’t that naive. And it wasn’t because they saved his life in the Aqua Kingdom ruins, though he did appreciate it. No, what it came down to was he felt like, since he met them, he’d found something worthwhile to do with his life. Something more than surviving and dodging bounty hunters.

  Silas liked that feeling. He liked that they counted on him and trusted him. It had been far too long since he had friends that relied on him.

  “We’re almost there!” Tonia had to shout to make herself heard above the roaring of the wind.

  Silas shoved his thoughts aside and nodded. “I’m ready.” As I’ll ever be, he didn’t add.

  With a final scream the winds vanished. All around them zombies had been scattered like twigs by the gale.

  He leapt forward and Tonia took off again to find her former comrade.

  Silas scanned the area. He had to be here somewhere.

  There! Fifty feet from the scaffolding standing atop a perfectly square stone. A man in dark robes with a gold necklace and a rod clenched in his right hand. That had to be him.

  Silas pointed and released the lightning bolt he’d prepared.