Dragonvein

by Brian D. Anderson

  “What can we do for you, Kat?” he asked.

  “For me?” She touched her chest and smiled. “Not a thing. You already did it. But a princess always pays her debts. And I owe you my life.”

  Jonas burst into laughter. “A princess, you say? Princess of what? The street urchins?”

  Kat’s face turned red and her hands balled up into tiny fists. “Would you please tell your servant to shut his mouth?”

  “Come on, Jonas,” said Ethan. “That’s enough.”

  “Bah…” He waved his hand and sneered.

  “I’m sorry, Kat,” Ethan continued. “But there’s really nothing you can do for me. And we can’t be taking anyone along with us.”

  She waited a few seconds for Jonas to add a cutting remark before replying, but this time he remained silent. “I can do plenty. And I’ll start by getting that stink off of you. If you try going through the Miltino city gates smelling like that, you’ll never make it.” She shot an accusing glance at Jonas. “What happened? Did Miss Jillie con you into buying one of her healing salves?” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a round white disk that she tossed over to Ethan. “Wash with this. It’ll get the stink off you. Your clothes are ruined though. You’ll have to burn them.”

  “I appreciate your help,” said Ethan. “I really do. But you still can’t come with us.”

  She sat down beside the fire and crossed her arms. “How are you going to stop me?”

  Jonas strode toward her, one hand extended. “That’s quite enough of this foolishness! Get out of here!”

  Kat jumped up, easily keeping out of his reach and laughing at his clumsy attempts to catch her. Ethan couldn’t help but smile at the comical scene.

  “Stop it,” he said eventually. “You two look like the Keystone Cops.”

  They both stopped short to look at him with confused expressions.

  “What’s a keystone cop?” asked Kat.

  Ethan shook his head. “Never mind. Right now, I just want to get this smell off of me.”

  “There’s a stream about a quarter mile off the road,” Kat told him. “I’ll take you there.”

  Ethan smiled. “That would be good. Thank you.”

  With a furious look on his face, Jonas spun on his heels and plonked himself down beside the fire.

  After digging out a fresh set of clothes, Ethan followed Kat into the night. She was seemingly unaffected by the near pitch black as she walked briskly along. Ethan, on the other hand, nearly fell on his face three times before they reached the stream.

  “Wet the disc and then rub it all over you,” she instructed.

  Ethan began to strip off his clothing. And though he couldn’t see her face, her soft gasp told him that he had embarrassed her. She turned her back and shifted anxiously.

  Ethan did as she had told him. The soap smelled like old leather, but it was far better than the alternative, and he was grateful for the relief once he’d put on the new clothes.

  “You can turn around now,” he said.

  Kat looked him up and down. “Your servant should get you some clothes that fit better.” Reaching for her belt, she withdrew a small pouch. “Take this,” she said, pressing it into his palm. “Compliments of Durst.”

  It took him a moment to realize the significance of her words. “You mean you went back and stole this? After he almost cut off your hand? Are you nuts?”

  “I figured he had it coming,” she explained without a hint of regret. “There’s not much there, but it should buy you a pair of pants that fit. Just don’t tell the old man about it. He’ll only call me names again.”

  Ethan couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t worry. I won’t.”

  Kat smiled, then pulled him by the sleeve toward the camp. “And just so you know. I really am a princess. And like it or not, I am coming with you.”

  Ethan sighed wearily. “I suppose you can come with us as far as Miltino. But don’t you have a home to go to?”

  “Not anymore. I’m…in exile.”

  A runaway, he thought. “I see. But I bet if you went home your parents would sure be happy to see you.”

  “No they wouldn’t.” She looked directly at Ethan and stiffened her back. “And you should mind your own business.”

  Jonas let out a loud sigh when he saw them approaching. “So you’ve agreed to let her come along, I take it?”

  “Just until we reach the city,” he replied.

  Jonas shook his head and wrapped himself in his blanket. “Bloody fool.”

  Kat retrieved a pack she had hidden nearby and settled down beside the fire. Ethan wanted to question her further about her parents, but the girl was fast asleep before he had the chance to say more than a few words.

  Jonas was still awake and brooding, tossing small pebbles into the flames.

  “I think she’s a runaway,” said Ethan.

  “An orphan most likely,” he replied. “And I would bet that she’s trouble for us.”

  “She’s a child, for God’s sake. And she’s alone.”

  Jonas sniffed. “And you think having her with us will keep her safe? If you want to protect her you should send her away…tonight. Our path is no place for children to follow. Even one as mature as she pretends to be.” He turned his back and laid down. “Princess…bah…”

  Ethan glanced over at the sleeping girl. Her waif-like limbs were curled up into a ball as if holding a stuffed toy or favorite pillow. How could she be looked upon as anything other than a child? What did it matter that living on her own had forced her to grow up faster than she should have to? He knew his share of kids back in New York who acted tough on the streets, yet all they really wanted was parents to protect and love them.

  But the reality of the situation had to be faced. It was most unlikely that he would be able to do anything to help her. And as much as he hated to admit it, Jonas was right. If people were coming after them, she would be in danger. The guilt he felt about imperiling the farmer and his family was still a raw wound that did not need compounding. All the same, he knew that persuading Kat to leave them would be difficult - perhaps even impossible. She was certainly committed to tagging along, and he doubted very much that she would quietly accept being abandoned once they arrived in Miltino. In that case, he’d have to wait for the right opportunity to give her the slip.

  He tried to sleep for a time, but his dreams were filled with images of battle. Not the familiar nightmare of D-Day - that would have been almost pleasant by comparison. What he saw now was ten times more brutal and cruel. Thousands of men were scattered upon a battlefield, moaning and begging for death. Yet death did not come to anyone. They bled and bled from exposed bowels and severed limbs, and still death was elusive. There was only the unbearable pain. Ethan found himself walking among the wounded men and tripping over their mangled forms. Each soldier he passed pleaded for help, but there was nothing he could do.

  Then, in the near distance, the figure of a man appeared. The shadows hid his features, but Ethan could feel that his eyes were fixed upon him. The figure spread his arms and black flames spewed skyward, swirling like a vile maelstrom. Ethan wanted to run, but his legs were suddenly too heavy.

  The fire soon covered the heavens in black death, spinning faster and faster. He could no longer see the figure, yet he somehow knew that he was still there. Next came a thunderous roar, and red flames split the black sky in two. The two powers battled for control, but the darkness was too strong and threatened to consume the light.

  “Help me!” It was a strong feminine voice crying out. But from where, he couldn’t tell. “I need you! He’ll kill me if you don’t help. He’ll kill us all.”

  “Where are you?” Ethan shouted in response. “I can’t see you.”

  But there was no reply. Then another tremendous roar shook the ground. A colossal dragon, this one with blood red scales and black spines all down its back, descended from the red flames and landed twenty yards in front of him. The impact nearly threw Ethan from hi
s feet. Its piercing eyes fixed on him. Coward. The word was unspoken, yet he felt it clearly in his mind.

  The dragon turned to where the figure had previously been standing and with tremendous strides ran headlong toward it. The creature opened its maw to spew forth a great spear of fire. But the flames had only traveled a short distance when black fire shot out of nowhere to meet it. The blackness quickly overcame the dragon’s attack, and an instant later it enveloped the creature in dark flaming hell. Another roar split Ethan’s ears; waves of pain racked his body. It was as if he could feel the agony the dragon was experiencing. Screaming, he dropped to his knees and covered his face with his hands.

  Coward.

  The word echoed in his head again and again.

  Ethan sat up, heart thumping crazily and drenched in sweat. It took him a moment to realize that he was now awake. But even when he did, the feeling of dread persisted. The sun had yet to break the horizon and Kat was still sleeping soundly. Jonas, however, was awake with his arms wrapped around his knees, staring at him.

  “Bad dreams?” he asked.

  Ethan nodded. “You could say that.”

  “Care to tell me about it?”

  “Not really.” Ethan couldn’t help but feel that sharing such intimate details with a man he didn’t trust was a bad idea. “Just dreams about the war in my world.”

  Jonas curled his lip. “Are there dragons in your world?”

  “Dragons? No.”

  “Then it’s odd that you would talk about them in your sleep.” He kept his eyes fixed. “There were rumors that your mother could see the future in her dreams, though personally I never believed it.”

  “I told you,” Ethan snapped. “I was dreaming about the war back home.”

  “If you say so.” Jonas stood up and stretched. “We should get moving soon.”

  A few minutes later Kat began to stir. Jonas distributed a breakfast of bread and some dried apricots. Kat ate greedily and even nodded a thank you to Jonas – a gesture that he did not return. By dawn they were well on their way.

  Kat sat in the back of the wagon and crouched down low whenever they came across a fellow traveler.

  “Afraid you’ll run across someone you know?” asked Jonas.

  “I’m afraid to be seen with you,” she replied disdainfully.

  “Then perhaps you should go your own way,” he shot back. “Then you wouldn’t have to worry over it.”

  She curled her knees into her chest. “I told you. A princess always pays her debts.”

  Jonas shook his head and chuckled. “Ah, yes. I almost forgot.”

  “How long have you been on your own?” asked Ethan.

  “I’ll tell you about me if you tell me more about you,” she replied.

  Jonas shot Ethan a quick glance of warning.

  Kat laughed. “You’re too nice to be an outlaw. And your servant is too soft and doughy. So I’d say…hmmm…you’re on the run from the Empire.” She scrutinized Ethan. “And from what I heard last night, I’d say it’s because you found out that you can use magic.”

  Jonas stiffened. “That’s enough from you. You should learn to mind your own business.”

  Kat shrugged. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell. Not as long as you keep me around, anyway. Of course, if you leave me behind, who knows what I might say? Or to whom?”

  “No one would believe a whelp like you,” snapped Jonas. “Say whatever you want, to whomever you want.”

  Kat grinned playfully. “You’re probably right. Who would believe me? But I’m not the one trying to hide, am I?”

  “Who says we’re hiding?” Ethan jumped in quickly before Jonas could speak.

  “I do,” she replied. “And if you don’t want to get caught, you have to promise not to leave me in Miltino.”

  “Why would I do that?” Ethan asked, feigning ignorance.

  “Because you think I’m just a child,” she answered flatly.

  “You are a child,” said Jonas. “And if not for Ethan, you’d be a dead one. So show a bit of appreciation.”

  Kat ignored him and kept her attention on Ethan. “You’ll never get in the city without my help.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “I know all the secret ways into Miltino. You don’t.”

  “And why would we need to sneak in?”

  She laughed and laid her head sideways on her knees. “Because you don’t want to be found. And you have to register with the magistrate if you enter the city.”

  Ethan and Jonas exchanged worried glances.

  “Oh my,” said Kat. “You don’t have the proper papers…do you?”

  “Of course we do,” Jonas lied. “But as you rightly guessed, I would rather we go unnoticed.”

  “Then it seems you need me after all.”

  Ethan cocked his head and smiled. “She’s right, Jonas.”

  Jonas huffed but made no reply, instead focusing his attention rigidly on the road ahead.

  For the rest of the journey, the time passed pleasantly enough. Ethan noticed that the longer Kat was with them, the more she began to act her age. He figured that she was unaccustomed to being treated kindly by strangers. Even on Earth, life for a street kid could be cruel. Here, where people were permitted to lop off someone’s hand without so much as a hearing, it must be downright brutal.

  As the city walls came into view, Kat said that they should pull off the road and wait for night to fall. “I’ll go ahead and check that the way is clear,” she told them.

  Jonas looked displeased but was in no position to argue.

  “I don’t like this,” he remarked, once she’d gone. “Trusting our fate to a child thief is stupidity.”

  “I really don’t get it,” Ethan said. “Why don’t you like her?”

  “She’s a thief. I don’t like thieves. They can’t be trusted.”

  Ethan smirked. “Well, according to her, she’s a princess.”

  Jonas sniffed. “We’ll be lucky if she doesn’t turn us in to the guards.”

  “She won’t,” he assured. “She thinks she owes me.”

  “She does owe you. And that’s the problem. You’re going to have a very hard time getting rid of her.”

  Ethan was already painfully aware of this and did not need reminding of the problem. He gave a flick of the hand. “We’ll worry about that later.”

  It was about an hour before Kat returned. Her little face was twisted into a frown.

  “I hope you have gold,” she said, a hint of anger in her voice.

  Jonas gave a spiteful laugh. “I thought it might come to that.”

  “It’s not my fault,” she said. “They’ve put a sentry near the smugglers’ entrance. There’s never been one there before.”

  Jonas narrowed his eyes and scratched his chin. “And you think you can bribe him?”

  “No,” she replied. “But I can pay someone to create a distraction that will lure him away. The only thing is, you’ll have to leave your wagon and horses behind.”

  Jonas scowled. “Naturally.”

  “We can get another one,” said Ethan.

  The walls of Miltino were not exactly impressive. They were old and in serious need of repair. Though roughly fifteen feet high, pits and gouges all over the crumbling facade provided plenty of hand and footholds for a climber.

  “Why don’t we just go over?” suggested Jonas.

  “We could,” replied Kat. “But the streets are patrolled at night. Especially near the wall. It’s better to get caught sneaking in the back way than over the wall…I promise you.” Her final words were accompanied by shudder. “Trust me. This way is much better.”

  The thin forest beyond the walls was spider webbed by trails and narrow roads. After crossing each one, Kat took great care to be sure no one was approaching before moving on.

  As they rounded the northwest corner, Ethan spotted several torches ahead. On drawing closer he could make out a few wagons and a half dozen men lounging beside them. They were
passing around a bottle.

  “Damn it!” hissed Kat.

  “What is it?” asked Ethan.

  “Nothing,” she replied. “I’ll just need a little more gold than I thought.”

  Jonas dug into his purse and handed her two gold coins. She looked at them for a moment, frowning.

  “What is this?” she asked. “These aren’t imperial koronas.”

  “Gold is gold,” he said. “Give it back if you don’t want them.”

  She examined the coins carefully. “It had better be gold or we’ll be in a lot of trouble.”

  “It’s gold, girl,” said Jonas. “Now go and do whatever it is you need to do.”

  Kat shoved the coins in her pocket. “When you see me waving, run as fast as you can toward the wagons. And if you see the sentry, make sure he doesn’t see you.”

  Having issued these instructions, she dashed away along the tree line for a distance before crossing over to where the men were gathered. She spoke to them briefly, then disappeared from sight.

  “Bloody fool is what I am,” muttered Jonas. “Trusting our fate to a child thief.”

  “You need to ease off her,” said Ethan. “She’s trying to help us.”

  “It’s not her intent that concerns me.”

  Ethan could hear the stress in his voice. “She’ll be fine. Kat knows what she’s doing.”

  “Does she?” He shook his head. “Do you think she’d be so willing to help if she knew who you really are? Or that the Emperor himself wants your head on a platter?”

  “Actually, I do.”

  “Then you’re as much a fool as she is.”

  “Okay. Then how would you have gotten us in?” he asked.

  Jonas gave no reply.

  After a few minutes they saw a man in worn leather armor carrying a torch approaching the wagons. He had a long sword on his belt and a studded helm covered his features.

  “That must be the sentry,” remarked Ethan.