Within the Dragon's Jaw (The Dragon Thief Book 2)

by D. K. Holmberg

  “Thanks, I guess.”

  “But I don’t know that I can trust her at all.”

  “You can trust her to do what’s best for herself,” Eastley said.

  “I suppose I can,” Ty said.

  “Which would make her predictable.” Eastley shrugged. “Not that I’m saying that we should bring her with us, I’m just saying that sometimes predictability is helpful. Especially when we don’t know what we might be dealing with.”

  It surprised him that Eastley would actually make sense.

  “It might be easier to travel quietly. Besides, a pretty face isn’t going to be useful there.”

  “You don’t know that. You don’t know what kind of things that she might be able to do.”

  “I suppose I don’t. Still…”

  He looked up to Ishantil, seeing it glowing steadily. There was no further rumbling, but he worried about it returning. He reached into his pocket, running his finger along the note that his brother left him. Ty wished that he had more answers.

  He and Eastley stayed together as they gathered supplies. Ty found himself appreciative of Eastley’s presence, surprisingly thankful that he had stayed with him. After they gathered food, a few water skins, and traveling cloaks, none of the stores having a shortage of supplies, something that surprised him, they started toward the edge of the city.

  “What are you going to do with all this is over?” Eastley asked him.

  It was growing late, and he didn’t really want to leave at this point, but he also didn’t want to linger. He didn’t know where Roson James was, or if he would be able to track them easily. Ty wouldn’t put it past him, though. He had some way of doing so, he suspected.

  “I suppose return here. Why?”

  “Well, it’s just that we’ve started to get a little bit of attention,” Eastley said, shrugging. “I figured that maybe you wouldn’t want to. Your brother was the Dragon Thief, and maybe you would want to take after him.”

  Ty snorted. “I’m not sure that is the best thing for me to do. The Dragon Thief draws attention.”

  “The Dragon Thief pulled jobs that no one else was willing to do.”

  “Or could.”

  Eastley shrugged. “Or that. You don’t want to see if you can take after your brother?”

  Ty smiled again. “I think it might be safest if I stay out of that kind of business. It doesn’t need to be a family job.”

  “Will you be able to help him?”

  Ty shook his head slowly. “I hope so, but I don’t know.”

  They reached the edge of the city. The air had a faint haze to it, almost as if the humidity in the air was thicker.

  It was late afternoon, the sun starting to set, and though he was tempted to wait another day to get started, the journey was long enough, and he wondered if Bingham would simply want to depart.

  “I wish I had been able to help my brother,” Eastley said. “I think about that from time to time. what it might have been like had I found some way to get to him. Some way to save him. And I think about whether he would even have let me.”

  “Why wouldn’t he have let you?”

  “My brother was stubborn. And I was the younger.” He flashed a smile at Ty. “Sort of like you, I suppose. But I was bigger than him.”

  “That’s not like me.”

  “I saw your brother. You are… well, maybe he was bigger than you.” Eastley shrugged, and he smiled to himself. “He always thought that he had to watch out for me. And I let him. I thought that he didn’t need my help. It took me a long time to realize that I should have stepped in.”

  “I didn’t think that my brother needed any help, either,” Ty said.

  “No, but you are offering it to him. You could’ve left him. It was his choice to be the Dragon Thief. You could have let him rot. But instead…”

  Ty glanced over to Eastley. It wasn’t just about Albion with him, he knew. Eastley was trying to thank him in the way that he knew, though Ty found himself laughing. He clapped Eastley on the shoulder. “You don’t have to keep going on like that,” he said.

  “You don’t know what it was like,” Eastley said.

  “You aren’t going to end up there again.”

  Eastley looked over. “I’m not afraid of that.”

  “You’re not?”

  “Well, it’s not like I’m chasing that, but I’m not afraid of getting captured again. It’s just…”

  Eastley didn’t have a chance to tell him what it just was.

  Bingham came toward them along the street, guiding three horses. One was a chestnut mare, another a gray stallion, and the last was dappled.

  “Are we ready?” Bingham asked. “The damn things cost me more than I intended.” He shook his head. “Had to send Olivia to grab…” Bingham shook his head. “I suppose it doesn’t matter. Anyway, she wasn’t too pleased that we’re leaving without her.”

  “You told her that we were returning, didn’t you?” Eastley asked.

  “Of course I told her that we were returning. I don’t need that girl chasing us out of the city. She has a mind of her own.”

  “A business mind,” Ty muttered.

  Bingham shot him a look. “Well, I know we only have a few hours of sunlight left, but we can either wait and start in the morning, or we can get going. What’s your preference?”

  Ty glanced behind. He could just make out the faint glowing of Ishantil, but it was more than just that. It was the memory of what they had experienced and what he had felt when they had been up on the volcano. He remembered the fear of Roson James chasing them. The other Dragon Touched.

  “I think we need to get going. The longer we wait, the longer it’s going to take to get to Albion, and I’m not exactly sure what we need to do once we get there.”

  “I might have some resources that we can take advantage of,” Bingham said. “You just have to develop contacts.”

  They strapped their supplies to the horses, then climbed into their saddles. Bingham guided them out of the city. As they started away, Ty had a strange feeling that washed over him.

  He had stayed in Zarinth for his entire life. He had fought leaving, even though there were others like Maggie who had wanted him to leave. She had offered him safety, but he hadn’t taken it, even though he probably should have. Then when Ishantil threatened to erupt, the sensible answer would have been for them to evacuate like everyone else within the city, but he had stayed even then.

  And now…

  It took his brother, some item that he had been after, to prod Ty into leaving.

  What does that say about me?

  Better yet, what did that say about Ty’s brother?

  He looked over to Eastley. His jaw was set, almost in a determined expression, and Bingham wore a look of resignation.

  Nobody spoke as they traveled beyond Zarinth.

  It was at least three days by horse. Maybe longer, depending upon traffic on the road. Even at this point in the day, when the road leading into Zarinth would normally be quiet, there was a steady flow of caravans heading into the city. People returning. Soldiers. Merchants. Zarinth coming back to life after Ishantil had finally settled.

  And here they were finally leaving.

  The road ran through the valley, jungle stretching on either side, and eventually it would lead them all the way to Carn.

  Ty couldn’t help but wonder if this was where his parents had gone. His mother first, his father after, chasing her to try to find answers. With her interest in dragon relics, it seemed that would be the most sensible place to go, but then again he knew his mother didn’t always go to the most sensible places when looking for relics. She had searched for them in strange places at times.

  He reached into his pocket, running his finger along the note.

  Albion had been looking for them, as well. For the longest time, he thought that his brother hadn’t cared, and that he had not bothered to search for their parents, but that had been wrong. He had wanted to find them as
well.

  With his connections within the priesthood, and serving as the Dragon Thief, the fact that he hadn’t managed to find them might mean they couldn’t be found.

  He had to resolve himself of that fact.

  He took a deep breath. The strange gnawing in the pit of his stomach had persisted, and he tried to ignore it, but it was increasingly difficult to do. It was slightly painful but not terribly so. He focused on the road ahead of him, on the journey to the capital, on trying to understand what Albion had sent him after.

  Once he knew that, then he could… do what?

  Eastley’s question came back to him.

  Once this was done, what did he intend to do?

  Ty didn’t know.

  It was one step at a time. Find his brother. Get him free if he could. Figure out what Albion had been after. And then keep the Dragon Touched and the rogue priests from attacking him.

  Beyond that, Ty didn’t know what he would do. He didn’t know if there was anything for him to do.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Ty had been riding for the better part of three days—long enough that his backside hurt—and he hated it. The horse was pleasant enough and had been cooperating with him while leading him this way, but it did nothing to improve the pain in his backside.

  Bingham, who rode along next to him, was mostly silent.

  “You can say something, you know,” Ty said.

  Bingham shrugged. “What is it you want me to say?”

  “I don’t know. We’ve been riding for three days, and I feel like we’re getting no closer.”

  He didn’t like leaving the jungle, if he were honest with himself. It was strange that his brother had so little difficulty with it, and at first he wasn’t sure what had troubled him when they had set out from Zarinth. The longer they traveled, the more it became apparent that his issue was complicated—and tied to the fact that he had grown up near the jungle. It was all that he had known for so long, and now that he was leaving it behind, however temporarily, he didn’t know how to feel about it.

  Ty had prepared himself to depart the city when Ishantil threatened to erupt but then had stayed afterward. He had thought that he could find some way of supporting himself to get information about his brother, but it was proving harder than he had thought it would.

  “We are almost there, Ty. You just have to be patient.”

  “Patient?” He looked behind him. The road was busier than it normally was. Ty suspected that this road had been far more heavily trafficked since Ishantil had calmed than it had been in ages. They had passed lines of soldiers, wagons, and other travelers all making their way along the road. Ty kept looking for signs of Maggie or other familiar faces of people who might be returning to Zarinth, but he’d seen no one that he knew. They were the only ones heading out of Zarinth and toward Carn, which he thought was surprising, though Zarinth had a vastly different feel now that the volcano had settled. With as many soldiers as there were within the city, Zarinth had a different feel to it, but that was also because there were so many fewer people. For thieves like Ty, there were opportunities, if only he could take advantage of them.

  “It’s not much farther,” Bingham said. “Trust someone who has made this journey many times before.”

  “That’s the reason I brought you with me.”

  “What about me?” Eastley asked, glancing from Ty to Bingham.

  Ty had been hesitant to have Eastley come with them, mostly because he had seen the darkness in Eastley’s gaze, and he was concerned about what he might do. If they encountered one of the Dragon Touched…

  No. Ty knew better than that. It wasn’t just encountering one of the Dragon Touched. If they encountered Roson James, he would have to be more concerned about what Eastley might do. Otherwise, he didn’t think that the large man would do much else.

  “You’re the muscle,” Ty said.

  Bingham shook his head. He was still salty that Ty had wanted to bring Eastley along. The alternative was not having any control over him, and Eastley sneaking behind them, attempting to get to Roson James himself.

  They crested a small rise, and although the road continued to weave down, finally, in the distance, he caught sight of a small mountaintop and knew they were getting close.

  There were smaller mountains near the capital, and those nearest the capital were known as the Dragon’s Jaw, as they were a line that ringed the city. He sat upright in the saddle, looking down into the city. It was enormous. Ty had thought Zarinth was large, and while it was, it was nothing compared to this.

  “I’ve heard stories about it,” Eastley said. “It’s said that shadows swallow the entirety of the city in the early afternoon, as if some massive dragon wants to make its presence known.”

  Ty grunted. “Either that, or the ghost king.”

  “The ghost king doesn’t much care about the city, does he?” Eastley said. “Considering he hides in his palace, no one has seen him, and he sends his Dragon Touched out to do his bidding, he doesn’t need to.”

  “And his Tecal,” Ty said.

  Eastley nodded. “That’s right. Them too.”

  “It’s nothing like that,” Bingham said. “But the shadows do fill the city.”

  The towering rock that stretched out of the ground surrounding the city looked to be either a dark stone or perhaps even black obsidian. Massive, jagged peaks formed in a regular pattern all the way around the city. There was one opening in, and according to stories another on the opposite side that let out, giving the Dragon’s Jaw its name. The rest of the city was built out of wood and stone but paled in comparison to the massive mountains that surrounded it.

  “It’s equally imposing when you’re inside it,” he said. “I think the king likes it that way. It gives him an air of mystery.”

  Eastley snorted as he looked at Bingham. “And the ghost king needs an air of mystery? By the Flame, the blasted man has never been seen!”

  “You don’t think the Tecal has seen him?” Ty asked.

  “Not from all the stories I’ve heard,” Eastley said.

  Ty shook his head, laughing to himself. “Considering you have been out of Zarinth exactly the same number of times that I have, I’m not sure I trust your expertise on the matter.”

  “I know what I’ve heard.”

  Ty focused on the city. They had come thinking to find Albion, to learn what he had been after in Zarinth, and what Roson James still pursued, along with the rogue priests—if that’s what they were. Now that he was here, he couldn’t help but stare and feel as if he didn’t have any real answer. Nor did he have any hope of truly finding Albion.

  He took a deep breath as he stared. “How are we supposed to find Albion in all of that?”

  “We do the same as we do in Zarinth. We ask questions.”

  Ty wasn’t exactly sure if they were going to get anywhere asking questions. The only hope he had was that they might find Gayal Holt, and given her antagonistic relationship with Roson, Ty had to hope that maybe she would offer to help.

  He had to be prepared to offer something more, though. For him to have the answers he wanted, it might involve sharing that Albion had left the note.

  But if he could get his brother free, Ty was willing to do that.

  “We don’t necessarily have that much time,” Ty said.

  “We have as much time as we need.”

  “Until those priests or whatever they were come hunting for Ty again,” Eastley said. “That is, if they know that you left the city.”

  “They will probably learn that I’m not there,” Ty said.

  “So we have until they catch you. Or until the Dragon Touched come hunting for us.” There was a note in his voice that made it sound almost as if he relished that opportunity.

  If they could get Roson alone, then perhaps he could get the answers he wanted, but that was assuming they could do that.

  As they followed the road, the Dragon’s Jaw loomed closer, the fangs of rock pointing to
the sky ringing the outskirts of the city from this vantage point. There was another ridge of mountains on the opposite side of the city, trapping it inside the Jaw.

  The buildings continued to rise higher and higher, looking as if they were looming over him, and Ty stared at them, trying to make sense of what he saw, but all of it was beyond his comprehension.

  “Every single one of these buildings looks taller than the temple,” Eastley said.

  “Yes,” Bingham said.

  “Do they have any temples here?” Ty asked.

  “You’ve suddenly become religious?”

  “It’s not that I’m religious,” he said. “It’s more that I’m afraid that the Priests of the Flame might have been influenced here.”

  “I doubt there are any Priests of the Flame that will cause us difficulty. The king has too much authority here. When I’ve come to the city before, there has been no difficulty from the priests.”

  Eastley shot him a look. “And how often do you come here?”

  Bingham shrugged. “As often as I need to. How else do you think that I move some of the items that you both bring to me?”

  “Well, mostly that I bring to him,” Ty said, grinning at Eastley.

  “Is that your way of challenging me? Because if that’s what you want to do, I am more than happy to show you what I can do. Maybe the two of us could find a target in the city here, and we can see which of us has an easier time of getting to it.”

  “That’s not the job,” Bingham said.

  Eastley shrugged. “That’s not the job that he wants,” he said.

  “How often do you end up in the city?” Ty asked.

  He supposed that he had always known that Eastley would come to the city, but knowing a thing and learning the details about it were different. He had suspected that Bingham had his connections outside of Zarinth, but traveling to the capital was difficult. It surprised Ty that he would venture here very often.

  “It depends upon what I need to move.”

  “That’s not an answer.”

  Bingham glanced over. “Not as much these days as I once did.”

  “How often did you used to come?”