Twin Soul Series Omnibus 2: Books 6-10

by McCaffrey-Winner

  “So… eight?” Ellen guessed.

  “Perhaps as many as ten,” Rabel said with a shrug. “Not more.”

  “Why not?”

  “I think if they’d had more, they would have left a party behind with Granno and Imay to guard them and come without torches to overwhelm us,” Rabel said. He cocked his head down to Ellen. “Do you think you could pretend to be Queen Diam?”

  “Me?” Ellen squeaked.

  “That’s who they’re hoping to catch,” Rabel said. “Or bargain with.”

  “I don’t look like a zwerg,” Ellen said.

  “They will see what they’re expecting to see,” Rabel told her. “And it’s dark out.”

  “And you?”

  “What will I be doing?” Rabel asked pedantically.

  Ellen hated it when he made her think like that. She gave him a sour look which was barely visible in the dark. “You’ll be going to the rear and killing the men from behind.”

  “Incapacitating them,” Rabel corrected. “We might need them later.”

  “The dead can’t fight back,” Ellen said.

  “And they can’t lift rocks, either,” Rabel replied. Ellen shrugged in acceptance of his point.

  “If you get hurt…”

  “I am old, I got that way by being careful,” Rabel reminded her.

  “You’re not so old now!” Ellen protested.

  “But I still have my memories,” Rabel said. “Now, are we ready?”

  Ellen took a deep breath and nodded shakily. She pushed him away. “Go!”

  #

  “Hello!” Ellen called out as she got close enough to make out the men holding the torches. “Who goes there? And where is my daughter, Princess Imay?”

  “Who are you?” A gruff man’s voice called back. Ellen could see that he was in the front with a torch, peering into the night.

  “I am Diam, queen of the Zwerg,” Ellen said, drawing herself up regally. “If you have harmed my daughter or my man —”

  “They’re safe,” the man replied. Another added from a darker spot, “For now.”

  “Release them,” Ellen said, “and no harm will come to you.”

  “Give us gold and we’ll give them to you,” the leader replied. He was getting close to her, soon she would be in his torch light.

  “Hold!” Ellen called. “Come no closer!”

  “You sound awfully young for a queen,” the leader said, taking another step forward. Ellen took a step back to keep herself in shadow.

  “She’s a zwerg, Hevor, they all sound like children,” the second man called.

  “Murderous children,” another man muttered. “Killed half the ship’s crew.”

  “They’re dead, we’re not,” Hevor said to the nameless man. He took another step forward, then stepped back. “All’s we want is gold and we’ll be on our way.”

  “And my daughter and my man?” Ellen said. “Are they unharmed?”

  “A bit roughed up but no worse for the wear,” one of the men holding a torch in the rear replied. He kicked at something and Ellen heard Granno grunt in pain.

  “Release them and send to me, so that I know they’re safe,” Ellen said.

  “Hah!” Hevor snorted. “Give us the gold first.”

  Ellen saw one of the torches furthest back from her wobble and then it steadied. Then another. She thought she saw a spark when the third torch wobbled.

  “I’ll not trade for nothing,” Ellen said. She wondered if the men were so foolish to think that the queen of the Zwergs travelled with chests of gold strapped to her body. When would they consider that she’d have to contact her own people to get the gold? And wouldn’t they think that, once alerted, the zwergs would just trade chests rather than fight? “Release my daughter as a sign of good faith.”

  Silence.

  “Release her now!”

  The men muttered among themselves. The leader moved back to a different patch of darkness and grabbed someone, hustling her forward roughly by one arm. Ellen saw another torch wobble in the distance. That was four. It still left at least six. Five, excluding Hevor, the leader.

  Hevor dragged Imay up beside him, walking right up to Ellen. When his torch finally lit her face her gasped. “You’re not a Zwerg! You’re a girl!”

  Imay crashed into him but he only slid away.

  Ellen raised her hands and a ball of fire rushed from them, taking Hevor in the face. The blazing light wrapped around his face and engulfed it. He had no time to cry. His headless body fell, lifeless to the ground.

  “You were warned!” Ellen shouted at the other men, sending two beams of flame into the air from her upraised hands. “Release my man and flee or you’ll die like Hevor!”

  Sparks rose all around the men and a voice boomed out, “Drop your weapons! Down on your knees or face the wrath of the Zwergs!”

  The voice seemed to come from everywhere. The men turned in fright trying to locate it but without any luck. That was when they noticed their missing numbers.

  A sword clattered to the ground. Then another. And then the rest rained on the hard plain as the last of the men rushed to surrender.

  “Release Granno” Ellen ordered. “Send him up to me.”

  There was a rustling and movement. Granno limped forward to Ellen and Imay. Imay rushed to grab him and hugged him tightly.

  “Put out your flame,” Rabel’s voice whispered in Ellen’s ear. “I’m going to lift you on my back and when I say, you’re going to pretend to be a dragon.”

  “A dragon?”

  “To scare them away,” Rabel said.

  “I thought you wanted to keep them,” Ellen protested.

  “There are nine of them and only four of us,” Rabel said. “We wouldn’t last the night. Besides, they’ll tell everyone they see that there’s a dragon and that will keep us safe from any others.”

  Ellen nodded and extinguished her light, stepping to the side. She felt Rabel grab her and lift her to his shoulders. He stood up to his full height and Ellen, greatly daring, moved and squatted on his head to get up higher. Rabel grunted in encouragement and grabbed her ankles. Supported this way, Ellen took a gamble and stood to her full height on Rabel’s shoulders. Below her, she heard him gasp in surprise.

  “Now,” Rabel said tapping one of Ellen’s ankles firmly. He changed his voice — some magic, Ellen guessed — and roared. “I am the great dragon Jarin! You shall leave my land before I burn you to ash!”

  Ellen called forth a huge gout of flame and flared it up into the night, above the frightened men.

  The men didn’t need to be told twice. In scant seconds they were out of sight, running for their lives.

  With a chuckle, Rabel leaned forward, dislodged Ellen from his shoulders and caught her in his outstretched arms. Still laughing, he lowered her to the ground and hugged her tightly.

  “That was perfect!” He said. “They’ll never dare come back!”

  “Where’s my mother?” Imay asked worriedly, still holding tightly on to Granno.

  “She’s safe, your highness,” Rabel said. “The real Jarin took her and your sister to safety. And you?”

  “They caught us unawares,” Imay said ruefully.

  “My fault,” Granno said. “I should have scouted ahead.”

  “I don’t think it would have mattered either way,” Imay said.

  “Granno, how are you?” Rabel asked, popping a small bright light from the end of his fingertip and examining the zwerg bodyguard anxiously.

  “Bruised, battered, and no happier,” Granno replied. He unlinked his arms from around Imay and stood up to his full height. “I thought the dragon was too weak.”

  “Diam promised him a bed of gold,” Ellen said. “He perked right up.”

  “A dragon?” Imay said. “She promised a dragon a bed
of gold?” Imay turned to Granno, looking horrified. “We have to get back to her now!”

  “Princess Imay,” Rabel said, nodding to her, “there are only four of us.” He waved a hand in the direction of the fleeing men. “We have just been given a potent lesson in the dangers of travelling at night.” He gestured back toward the ruined fort. “I advise that we find shelter, hide, and wait for morning when we shall doubtless find reinforcements.”

  “He’s right, Imay,” Granno said solemnly.

  “At least we don’t have to worry about keeping warm,” Imay said, nodding toward Ellen.

  Just as she said that, the little girl collapsed, falling into Rabel’s quick grasp.

  “I was expecting that,” Rabel said, raising the little girl up so that he could cradle her with one arm.

  “You can’t be any less tired,” Granno said. “Perhaps we should make camp here.”

  Rabel shook his head, barely visible in the darkness. “I can make it back to the fort.” He turned and started trudging off.

  #

  “Guards! Guards!” Diam shouted the moment Jarin touched the ground. She jumped off, clutching Lissy with her just before the dragon collapsed with a groan. “Jarin! You must become a man! We can’t help you in dragon form!” Diam told the black-red dragon nervously. The dragon groaned and whimpered. Diam moved forward to its head and whispered, “I can’t get you to gold unless you’re human.”

  The dragon’s eyelids fluttered and in an instant the dragon changed into a man. Diam knelt down and listened to his breathing. “Good lad!”

  “Your majesty!” Kavim, the officer of the guard, rushed forward from the guard post. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” Diam said irritably. “This man is exhausted and needs to go to the treasury.”

  “The treasury?”

  “And then I shall need a troop of men, we have to go to the ruins of the East Pass fort,” Diam said. “Imay and Granno are in danger.”

  “In danger?”

  “Is he okay, mother?” Lissy asked, looking at the sleeping form of Jarin.

  “He’s going to be just fine, little one,” Diam assured her. “He’s exhausted and needs to rest on a bed of gold.”

  “A bed of gold?” Kavim repeated, eyeing the tall human warily. “Is he a dragon?” When Diam nodded, he coughed and added, “Is that wise, your majesty?”

  “He saved my life, Kavim,” Diam replied in a voice that brooked no argument. “Have a cart brought here immediately. We have much to do once he’s settled and safe.”

  “At once, your majesty,” Kavim said, coming to attention and darting away, signalling for some of his soldiers to take guard around the queen and princess.

  #

  “Just wait, Jarin, just wait,” Diam said anxiously as the guards gently placed the sleeping man on the top of a pile of gold coins. “We’ve got to get you placed and move away and then, when I give the word —”

  Jarin’s head jerked in what might be a nod. Diam gestured for her guards to finish and move away. Then she and Lissy joined them at the edge of the chamber.

  “Jarin, you may rest on this gold until you are well,” Diam called loudly. And in that moment, the dragon took its full form. It stretched once contentedly, spilling piles of gold as it moved and then it rolled over, on its back, stretched out its neck… and snored.

  “He snores?” Lissy asked in surprise.

  “He’s very tired,” Diam said, gesturing for them to leave the treasury.

  “Shall I post a guard?” Kavim asked stiffly.

  “I imagine he’s going to sleep for many hours,” Diam said thoughtfully. “But it is probably best that he is not disturbed.” She stood at the door and withdrew a key, locking the door. “He’ll be safe there. A guard could let us know when he wakes.”

  “It is good to have him under lock and key,” Kavim said approvingly.

  Diam snorted. “If you think a lock and a key will keep a dragon from going where he will, you are much mistaken!” She shook her head ruefully. “Things are changing, Kavim. He is sworn, with the girl, to Geros. We have already seen the advantages of having a dragon as a friend.” She turned and started moving briskly down the corridor. “Now, do you have that troop ready?”

  Kavim gave her a look of surprise. “I do,” he said, “but I thought you would not want to leave until you’ve had some rest.”

  “And indeed I would,” Diam agreed. She pursed her lips tightly and shook her head. “But we don’t have the time. I will not leave my daughter and Granno in danger a moment longer. And, beyond that, there are people buried in the fort.”

  “Humans,” Kavim said sourly.

  “They fought as much for us as for themselves,” Diam told him. “How we treat our friends says much about who will value our friendship.”

  Kavim absorbed this with a thoughtful expression.

  Chapter Four

  “You’re saying that these Zwerg have piles of gold?” General Filbert said dubiously to the man who claimed to be the captain of His Majesty’s airship Vengeance. Filbert was not inclined to believe him as the man was clearly a Sorian but the mage beside him — dressed in the ruins of some quite fine garb — said that King Markel had appointed this captain Martel himself. It probably wouldn’t do to upset the King, Filbert thought to himself darkly. At least, not again.

  “Everyone knows that,” the injured captain replied. “They supply most of the gold and fine jewels to the kingdoms.”

  “Kingsland and Soria?” Filbert asked.

  “And Issia, Vinik, South Vinik, Felland, Palam, Jasram, Keevar, Balu and probably many more that I’ve ever seen,” the man replied.

  “You sound like a sailor,” Captain Welless said.

  “I am a sailor,” the man replied. He pulled himself upright using Tirpin as a crutch. “I am Captain Jacques Martel of his majesty’s airship Vengeance.”

  “If so, where is your ship, captain?” General Filbert asked. “Or are you going to tell me, too, that it was destroyed?”

  “‘Too?’” Tirpin repeated, he glanced quickly around the room. “There are others?”

  “Two men came by some hours ago,” Captain Welless said miserably. “Shortly after, we noticed that some of the general’s horses were missing.”

  “And one of those claimed to be a captain, too!” Filbert growled.

  “If he claimed to be Captain Nevins, he was telling the truth,” Mage Tirpin said bitterly. “Where did they go?”

  “After stealing my horses?” Filbert said. “This miserable patrol was sent to find them and —” he waved the hands at the two of them, indicating the result.

  “He spoke of wanting to get back to Kingsford to consult with the King,” Welless offered. The general glowered at him but said nothing.

  “Doubtless he will try to blame his defeat on me,” Tirpin said bitterly. Beside him, Captain Martel drew breath to comment but decided against it at the last moment. “It is not my fault that the ships were too heavy.”

  “Or that the fort could fly in the sky,” Captain Martel said.

  “Float!” Tirpin said grumpily. “It could not fly, it merely floated.”

  “Like a cloud?” General Filbert said mockingly. “Tell me, mage, do you know of anyone who can do such magic? Will we be facing more of these ‘floating’ forts? Or should we concern ourselves with cities that rise out of our reach?”

  Tirpin’s face drained of color. Decisively, he said, “I have to return to Kingsford and warn the king.”

  “Good luck with that,” Filbert said drolly. “The railway is closed for the next day or more while the armies are being transported to the west.”

  “If they had time to float more forts, wouldn’t they have attacked in greater strength?” Captain Welless asked. General Filbert glared at him but Captain Martel grunted in surprise at th
e question.

  “We saw large strips of metal at the base of the fort,” Tirpin said.

  “And at the base below,” Captain Martel added.

  “What sort of metal, do you suppose?” Captain Welless asked idly.

  “Nothing like gold, I’m sure,” Tirpin replied.

  “Gold?” Filbert repeated, turning his gaze to Martel. “You say these Zwergs have mountains of gold?”

  “No, general, I did not,” Martel replied. “I’m sure they’ve got treasuries buried underground but they would be well-guarded.”

  “And our orders, sir,” Welless piped up feebly.

  “How much gold?” Filbert demanded.

  “I could not say,” Martel replied, spreading one hand while propping himself against Tirpin with the other. “At least one treasury. The zwerg like to work gold, it’s one of their favorite metals.”

  “Do they work steel, too?” Tirpin asked.

  Martel shook his head. “It is one of the metals they trade for,” he said. “They provide ore, of course.”

  “Not many people know how to make steel,” Welless said.

  “Who asked you?” Filbert barked. He turned to Tirpin. “And what’s this thing of yours with steel?”

  “Steel is stronger and lighter than iron,” Tirpin explained. “The first airship, Spite, has engines and boilers made of steel.” He glowered. “We had to make do with heavier iron. It made our ships slower and kept them lower in the sky.”

  “Warrior managed to rise above the fort,” Martel said thoughtfully. He looked up at Tirpin. “That was your magic, wasn’t it?”

  Tirpin scowled at him. “I think they threw their guns overboard to lighten their ship.”

  “But that was after…” Martel began but broke off as he saw Tirpin’s face.

  “How much gold?” General Filbert said. “Enough to pay for a duchy?”

  “Sir,” Welless said, “you’re not thinking of going after the zwerg!”

  “Captain, don’t you have duties to attend?” Filber said, gesturing toward the doorway of his tent. “Are you supposed to be guarding things?”

  “Sir, this — the rest of the division, sir — we should —”