Skyrider of Renegade Point

by Erik Christensen

  “We don’t,” said William, finally turning to Jack, confidence welling from within. “We just need to slow them down and let Bentsen’s men catch up.”

  “But there’s only five of us,” Jack complained.

  “No there isn’t,” said William, his voice firm. “Or there won’t be soon. Who’s with me?” he asked, looking back and forth at his friends.

  “What on Esper are you thinking, Will?” asked Jack, whose voice took on an anxious edge. “How many times have you done this? Run off into danger and try to do something heroic, leaving it to us to rescue you?”

  “Well, I’m not doing that now, am I?” insisted William. “I’m asking you if you want to join me. Forget how for a moment. If we can slow their ships enough, Bentsen’s contingent can follow on foot and do the rough work. Who’s with me?” he asked again.

  Jack shook his head. “If you think we’re crazy enough to let you—”

  “I’m in,” said Rachel.

  Jack whirled to face her. “Are you insane? Why are you encouraging him?”

  Rachel glared back at him. “I can decide for myself, thank you very much. I have my own reasons. You know I’m a bow for hire. Among other things, I need to earn a living, and that reward would mean not having to work for a year or two.”

  “I’ve told you before, you don’t need to work—”

  “Stop trying to live my life for me, Jack. I won’t be dependent on anyone, not you, not my father, not yours. I’m going with Will, even if you aren’t.”

  The hall was empty now, and Rachel’s words echoed through the room. An angry silence followed, and William wavered between thanking Rachel and appeasing Jack.

  He didn’t have to do either, as Maya leaned forward and touched his arm. “I’m sorry Will, but we can’t join you. I wish we could, but we’ve both been away from work for too long. We were glad to be at your wedding, but we need to go home now.”

  “No, Maya,” said Charlie. Every face turned to him, eyes wide with surprise. He waited a moment before continuing, gathering the confidence to overcome his bashfulness. “I need to help Will. Everything I have now, I owe to him—my work, my reputation, even you. If he hadn’t accepted me for his mission…if he hadn’t trusted me…I have to do this. I hope you understand.”

  Maya gazed at him, her eyes filled with love. She reached up and caressed his cheek. “Charlie, darling, I shouldn’t have spoken for you. You’ve let me do that for so long I’ve gotten used to it. Of course we’ll go.”

  “We?” asked Charlie, taken aback. “Are you sure? You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. It’s my debt, my risk.”

  “I have to protect my investment, silly,” she answered.

  “Okay, are you two lovebirds done?” asked Rachel with a smirk. “That leaves one holdout. What do you say, Jackass?”

  Jack shrunk into his seat with a sullen look on his face. “Fine,” he said as he crossed his arms and looked away. “Let’s all traipse off into the night again and find danger. Let’s all risk our lives for a little money. You may as well count me in, but I still don’t see how we’ll accomplish anything. The rebels have a head start, and they’ll be in Faywater Bay in four or five days. Tell me your genius plan, Will, so I can tell you why it can’t work.”

  “Thanks for that huge vote of confidence,” said William as he stood to face the others. “As I said before, we don’t have to stop them ourselves. All we need to do is find them, and possibly delay them. I worked with a lot of maps at the Library, and I remembered something interesting about Faywater Bay. Bentsen was right that it’s eighty miles across, but what he didn’t mention is that ships have only two places where they can pass into the open sea. The entire bay is protected by a chain of islands and sandbars that only the smallest boats can get through. If we can get to Faywater Bay before the rebels do, we can alert the authorities to block those two exits.”

  “A blockade!” said Maya. “That’s brilliant, Will! I’d forgotten about the choke points. We can talk to the harbormaster and see if she’ll help.”

  “If she doesn’t, I’m sure Duke Vincent will force her hand,” said William.

  Jack cleared his throat. “This is all very clever, but the only way to get a message to her in time is by pigeon, and that option has flown the coop. We can’t ride our horses three hundred miles without rest. Even if we stop every night, they couldn’t keep up a pace fast enough to beat the boats. I hate to be the one to spoil your plan Will, but it won’t work.”

  “We have one more option,” said William. “It’s not a sure thing, but I think it’ll work.”

  Jack looked unconvinced. “Does it involve sprouting wings and flying?”

  William grinned at him. “Sort of.”

  Rachel sat up, her eyes wide with excitement. “Does that mean what I think it means?”

  “If you’re thinking about dragons, then yes,” said William.

  “The dragon hive is almost as far away as Faywater Port, Will,” said Jack. He looked away, his brow furrowed in concentration. “Maybe further. I’m not against flying on a dragon—in fact, I’m still a bit sore that you’re still the only one who has—but how do you propose to get there, convince Padma to lend you five drones, and then fly over five hundred miles all in less than a week?”

  William’s grin didn’t diminish in the slightest. “Jack, you’re forgetting I have a dragon here.”

  All eyes turned to Clyde sleeping at William’s feet. Jack shook his head. “You’re asking a lot of a dragon who’s not even house-trained, Will. Didn’t you say the queen rejected him? Why would she listen to him?”

  “She won’t have to,” said William. Animated by his excitement, he ignored the stairs and pulled himself onto the dais, grabbing pen and paper from the table. He scribbled a note, pausing only a moment to choose the right wording, then jumped back down to the floor. He found a handkerchief in his pocket and tore it into strips, rolling the note with one, and hanging the roll around Clyde’s neck with the other. He bent down and looked the dragon in the eyes, holding his gaze. “Clyde. I need you to go home. You need to find Melissa and give her this note. Do you understand?”

  Clyde looked back, eyes large with seriousness. “Leave here? Go alone?”

  “Yes, Clyde. Find Melissa. Give her this. It’s extremely important, and you must be fast. Can you do this for me?”

  “I find Melissa,” said Clyde with certainty. “Go fast.”

  Heart pounding, knowing he was endangering the dragon he’d promised to care for, he opened the door and let Clyde outside. The dragon walked out, stopped, and looked back at William. “I find Melissa,” he said. With a flap of his wings and a powerful leap, Clyde lifted off and disappeared into the dark within seconds.

  Heart in his mouth, William returned to his friends. “Well, this will either work, or it won’t.”

  “What did you write?” asked Maya.

  Despite his earlier optimism, a twinge of doubt nagged at him, though he tried not to show it. “I asked Melissa to find the messenger dragon that hangs out at the manor. Padma always has one near me in case I need to send a message, and today I do. Melissa can speak to it, and it will convey the message to Padma, word for word. My hope is that Padma will feel she owes me for fostering Clyde.”

  Jack shook his head and laughed. “Padma’s not your main concern. If you thought I was anxious about this hare-brained mission, wait until Melissa has her say. You’ve been married for less than three days, and you’ve spent most of that away from her. If I were you, I’d expect a message back from her to get your tail back home and forget this hare-brained scheme.”

  William said nothing. He hadn’t considered the possibility. Of all the possible obstacles, it was the one he had no answer for.

  “One thing at a time,” said Rachel. “Melissa knows who she married. She’s seen those books. If she has any thoughts about changing him, she should think again.”

  William smiled to himself. Her comment was as much about J
ack as it was about Melissa…but it had the effect he wanted anyway. “We should hurry,” he said, filling the silence. “Bentsen will leave for Faywater Port soon, and he should know our plans. Jack and Rachel, could you see if he’s at the earl’s office? Charlie and Maya, if you could check the barracks, that would be a huge help. Whoever finds him, have him meet me at the Library.”

  “Where are you going?” asked Jack.

  “To find Lester and get the keys. See you all in fifteen minutes.”

  The sun was rising as William reached the Library. He let himself in and found a lantern and ran down to the map room. He found what he needed and raced upstairs in time to meet the others filing in. It felt odd returning to his old office, like inviting strangers into someone else’s house. He unrolled the map on the large table and pointed at the far left side. “Major Bentsen, these are the two points the rebels have to go through if they intend to escape to sea.”

  “What makes you think they won’t simply split up and take to land?”

  William looked over at Rachel, who answered with a nearly imperceptible shake of her head. “A hunch,” said William. “A strong one. As you probably know, I have a little experience dealing with rebels, and this feels like the same situation. Whoever stole the money is funding a rebellion, not trying to get rich.”

  Bentsen’s eyes widened. “Even if I grant that, how will you stop them? And how can I help?”

  Rather than dismissing him, Bentsen was treating him as an equal. Gratitude and pride swelled William’s chest, and he tried not to look too pleased with himself. “We’ll fly ahead on dragons, hopefully in time to warn the harbormaster. If she posts ships at the choke points, the rebels can’t escape by sea.”

  Bentsen looked doubtful. “Harbormaster Ungless takes pride in her independence. She won’t enjoy receiving orders from anyone but Duke Vincent.”

  “Which we’ll get if we have to,” said William. “Though time will be tight. I hope to convince her without involving the duke.”

  Bentsen sighed, still not convinced. “This is a decent plan, Lord William, but again, what role do I and my men play? I don’t like the idea of being away during tax season. You’ve already seen what can happen.”

  “I assumed you’d want to return to Faywater as soon as possible,” said William. “I suggest your men stop at these towns along the way.” He pointed at dots along the river. “See if you can commandeer ships, even if you have to split your force. We’ll do our best to slow the rebels. If you find even one ship, chances are you can catch up and apprehend them. Worst case, we can send search ships to look for them.”

  Bentsen grinned, nodding as he noted the towns William had pointed to. “I like it. You can count on us to do our part, but let’s hope you won’t have to search for them. Faywater Bay is a proverbial haystack that both needles and smugglers can vanish in at will.”

  William shook hands with him. “Thanks for working with us, Major. I look forward to seeing you downriver.”

  “I envy you folks,” said Bentsen, shaking his head in wonder as he departed. “Flying on a dragon…what a way to travel! I suppose we’ll see another one of your adventure books soon.”

  “He’s not wrong,” said William to his friends once Bentsen was gone. “About flying, I mean. I’m glad you all will finally have a chance to enjoy what I’ve taken for granted. But we should rest while we have the chance. If things go the way I plan, we’ll have a busy day tomorrow.”

  Jack snorted. “When was the last time things went the way we planned?”

  Chapter 21

  “What are you so nervous about?” asked Jack.

  William toyed with his pea soup, his restlessness robbing him of his usual appetite. He had woken refreshed after sleeping nearly the entire day and night, but anxiety beset him the moment he recalled the previous day’s events. “I’m worried I asked Padma for too much,” he said as the group met for a quick meal.

  Rachel gave him a consoling look from across the table. “You’re taking care of her kid. Or at least you were until you sent him away on a dangerous errand.”

  “You’re not exactly reassuring him,” said Maya with a slight frown at Rachel.

  “I wasn’t trying to,” answered Rachel with a smirk. “I was distracting him with humor, which is even more helpful. But if it helps any, we should know soon, assuming they don’t get lost along the way.”

  William shook his head. “The messenger dragons always find me, no matter where I am, even here in Marshland. Besides, they only need to follow the river. I just wish they’d get here soon though—or send a messenger to say they aren’t.”

  A clatter of footsteps shook the floor, and a young man—the Deacons’ son—burst through the doorway from the upper floor. “Lord William! The dragons! They’ve been spotted flying in from the east!”

  “Thank you, David,” said William as he dropped his spoon and reached for his napkin. After a cursory wipe of his mouth, he jumped from the table and bolted for the door. He stopped as he was about to exit and turned around. “Are you all coming?”

  Jack remained in his seat, his knuckles white from gripping the table. “I know I said yesterday that I was fine with flying, but the more I think about it, the more anxious I get.”

  “Oh, don’t be such a baby,” said Rachel as she swatted his shoulder. “It’ll be fun. We’ll be flying, for crying out loud. Aren’t you an ‘explorer type’, always looking for new experiences?”

  “Yes, but with my feet on the ground,” he answered with a sullen look. “Or at least in a tree where I can hang on. What happens if the dragon decides he doesn’t want me on his back anymore?”

  Maya grinned at Jack’s discomfort. “I can give you something for your nerves if you want,” she said. “You might get drowsy and fall off, but at least you won’t be worried about it.”

  “Can we get going please?” asked William in an urgent tone. “Every minute we waste, the rebels get farther away.”

  “Fine,” said Jack as he slid out from the table. “But the next time you’re scared, don’t expect me to comfort you.”

  William led the way to the market square, hoping the dragons would find them in the open space and land there. Rachel spotted them first, pointing out a cluster of shapes flying toward them, dark spots against the lightening sky. As they grew closer, William became puzzled. “Does anyone else see more than five? Besides Clyde, I mean.”

  Charlie shaded his eyes and squinted. “Seven other dragons,” he said. “And two people.”

  “People?” asked Jack. “Did you ask Melissa for humans as well as dragons?”

  “No,” said William with a frown. “Just dragons.” His puzzlement turned into shock as the dragons landed.

  “Is that Melissa?” asked Maya.

  “Yep. Oz, too,” said Jack. “And there’s Clyde. Whoops…that wasn’t a very graceful landing.”

  William ran up to Melissa as she slid from her silver drone mount. She gushed with glee before he could speak. “That was amazing!” she said and she hugged William while hopping with excitement. “No wonder you love it. What a view! I can’t wait to do it again.”

  “What are you doing here?” asked William, his eyes wide with concern.

  Her joy quickly turned to irritation. “Well, hello to you too. I hoped you might be happy to see me, seeing as we’ve spent most of our married life apart.”

  “Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “Yes, I’m happy to see you, but you can’t blame me for being surprised, too.”

  “I think Oz is going to be sick,” said Rachel.

  Oz leaned over and retched, but nothing came out. He slid from the dragon’s back carefully and kneeled, clutching the ground.

  “Poor thing,” said Melissa. “He’s been doing that since we left. I feel sorry for the people we flew over. Maya, do you have something to make him feel better?”

  “I sure do,” said Maya as she reached into her bag. “Here, Oz. Swallow this. It’ll help.”

  “Thank
you,” he wheezed.

  “Anyone else need some?” asked Maya.

  “What is it?” asked Jack.

  “Mostly ginger, but a few other secret ingredients. I usually give it for upset stomachs, but it works well for people who get sick on stagecoaches. It ought to help with this, too.”

  “Does it help cowards conquer their fear of heights?” asked Rachel. She turned and looked at Jack pointedly, who simply glared back at her.

  Maya laughed. “No, only liquor does that. I don’t usually recommend it before flying on dragons, though.”

  “I’m not afraid of heights,” said Jack defensively. “But I prefer to hold onto something solid and unmoving. Besides, fear of heights is completely reasonable. Fearless people are the unhealthy ones.”

  “It’s okay, Jack,” said Charlie. “I’m scared, too. But that’s why I’m looking forward to it. Maya’s dad is teaching me to face my fears.”

  “None of this is helping,” said William. A crowd was forming near the market square now, and he worried about its effect on the dragons, who had probably never met any humans other than himself. “Melissa, my note specifically asked Padma for five dragons. It said nothing about you and Oz coming. I’m glad to see you, but you can’t come with us—it’s too dangerous.”

  Melissa fumed for several seconds before answering. “William Whitehall, don’t you dare presume to tell me what risks I can take. If it’s okay for you, why isn’t it okay for me? And don’t tell me I have no experience, because you had none either when you left for your first adventure. Furthermore—”

  William threw his hands up in surrender. “Okay, fine. You’ve made your point.”

  She wagged a finger in his face. “Don’t interrupt me, mister. I’ve barely started making my point. You have no problem letting your friends share the danger, but you expect me to stay home. I’m not some possession you can hang on a wall, Will. Besides, you need me.”

  William paused for a moment, noting the amused expressions on his friends’ faces, as well as on the faces in the crowd that was edging closer. “I know this will get me into even more trouble, but in what way will I need you?” He raised his hand to stop her. “And before you say anything, I mean in this particular instance.”