Jolss stumbled again for the third time and cried out from the pain in his shoulder as he fell. Cyerant lifted the boy into the saddle of his own horse and said. “Stay low and hold on to his neck so the low tree limbs won’t hit you.”
Just where Shira said it would be, Cyerant broke from the trees onto the crossing trail and right there ahead of him was the small dog sized dragon. “Now we ride,” he said as he put his foot in the stirrup and lifted himself into the saddle while also moving Jolss forward to sit right in front of him. Cyerant held the reigns with his arms also supporting the boy in front of him. As Shira and Veer broke from the trees onto the trail they also mounted and soon the small band was riding on the trail heading west toward the Furway.
“I think that they will have found our trail by now,” said Shira. “So they will be behind us soon.”
Cyerant pulled to a stop and asked. “Shira how many in the party behind us?”
Shira looked at him for a moment and then said. “I don’t know let me think. Fifteen, there are fifteen. Why?”
Cyerant looked around and then said., “into the forest. We will take the horses off the trail and then set up an ambush.”
“Three of us against fifteen soldiers?” Veer asked.
“There is no choice,” said Cyerant. “I’ve seen both of you with bows and I know that you can get at least four arrows in flight while they are still on the trail and before the first one hits and I can get two in the air maybe three. Then we will just have to fight. We can’t outrun them and if they take us from behind when we are exhausted we’ll have no chance.”
Cyerant quickly led the others off of the trail and back into the woods where the horses would be safe. They tied off the horses and left Jolss with the animals to keep him away from the fighting. Returning to a spot near the trail which would give them a clear view of the way they had come the three companions strung their bows and readied themselves. Cyerant and Shira each stuck two arrows into the ground in front of themselves while Veer placed four in front of himself and each had one arrow nocked and ready for the first flight. They then stood quietly watching the trail along which they had themselves so recently come and along which their pursuers would follow. Cyool suddenly took to the air and started to scout. Drace stood just behind Veer while Corth took position just behind Cyerant.
In the last week the armouring on Drace had thickened and become much stronger and the horn like projections around his head had become more formidable. Drace had grown larger than a dog now and his shoulder was nearly the height of a normal mans waist. His neck was not as long and serpentine as the other dragons but it was thicker and very powerfully built. As the young dragon stood and waited with his bonded he moved around a bit nervously. When he moved it was not with the quick birdlike grace of Green Eyes or the hound like smoothness of Cyool. Drace moved with a muscle rippling grace like a great cat. Standing patiently nearby and showing no signs of nervousness Corth displayed the type of calm that a seasoned warhorse would show before battle.
Jolss was terrified and so he decided to try and read to calm himself. He took out the three books from the packs and sat with his back to a tree laying two books beside him on the ground he opened the magic book and turned to the lesson. This time he found that the lesson had instructions on how to calm the mind in battle. Something told him to turn the page and as he did he could see the blank next page. He stared at the page while he relaxed his mind and picked a single idea on which to focus, in this case he picked the blank page itself. As his mind calmed he saw the word flame begin to form on the page. As he realized what was happening he was startled and let his mind slip and the word faded. Keeping his eyes on the page he shifted his focus to the idea of flame and saw words taking shape on the page. He managed to become very mentally detached and was able to read the words while holding focus on the idea of flame. It was a formula for producing a small fire for lighting camp fires and candles and the small flame produced could be hurled a short distance. It was an apprentice level formula which worked on a simple pattern of thought guided through a chant and mentally forming a spark to ignite something invisible in the air. The chant was easy and after a few readings Jolss had it memorized and could run through the formula mentally in under a second. There were instructions on how to direct the will into the formula.
Joss hadn’t even felt Prin settle gently on his shoulder like a bird. She sat there looking at the magic book that had caught her bonded’s attention. As Prin felt her bonded focus his mind, she too began to concentrate. Jolss felt the force of his dragon’s concentration and this startled him again into losing focus but he was able to bring it back quickly.
As Jolss repeated the chanted formula in his head his eyes wandered across the two books which lay next to him on the ground with the foreign book on top. Prin also looked at the book and as they both looked Jolss realized that he could read the cover. As he saw the words shift and take shape he again lost concentration but the title of the book was clear it had said Dragon Mage. Jolss was able to reach for that calm state of mind again and somehow found it quickly. Once again the title of the book became clear and Jolss opened the book. The first page was clear to him and he learned then that even the smallest cantrip used by a dragon mage could become as powerful as the most advanced spell used by a regular mage. The key to dragon magic was the bond between dragon and mage and the ability of the two to focus their minds together. When they were focused together that mage could command the very elemental forces of magic which could be accessed through the mind of the dragon. The dragon had the access to the forces and energies while the mage had the mind to command and direct them. There was more about the dangers of unleashing that amount of power. Then came the sounds of dragons in battle.
The three companions had stood quietly waiting for the foreign soldiers to come into view. As the group of men came into three bows came up and ready. Without a word Shira and Veer knew to follow Cyerant’s lead. When the men on the trail were close enough Cyerant pushed his bow into a full draw and released his first flight and his two companions moving with him released their own arrows. Cyerant was able to get another arrow into flight while his first was in the air. Shira managed three arrows in that time her being a Hillfolk girl bred to use the bow. Moving with an inhuman speed Veer placed five arrows into flight before the first arrow had made the fifty yards to the group of men.
The first three arrows had been carefully aimed and so they took three men from their saddles and the following arrows managed to take three more. Six men were on the ground wounded or dying in that short moment and the rest of the men jumped from their horses and sprang into the forest. The companions could hear the men coming through the trees and underbrush and they slipped quietly forward to meet the men. It was Veer and Drace who broke battle first and the roar of the enraged dragon rippled like thunder across the hills. Shira had two opponents facing her. There was a great shriek above as a diving dragon the size of a hound took one man to the ground and Shira’s knife took the other in the moment of his distraction. Men were falling before dragons and companions. A rope fell onto the neck of Cyool and her strength failed as she was captured. Shira felt the weakness and as she tried to cut the rope a man moved in but a blade in the hands of Cyerant stopped the foreigner. Shira managed to free Cyool and ordered the weakened dragon into flight. But the companions were still outnumbered and the dragons were becoming wary of the ropes that the men carried. The foreigners were working in pairs, each pair with one man having weapons drawn and one man holding a rope to toss. Jolss heard the roar of an enraged dragon and he got up and hurried toward the sounds wanting to help in some way. Prin took flight and stayed with him as he tried to dash through the forest. Jolss fell twice and decided to slow to a fast walk. The whole time he kept the words of the formula and chant running through his mind. It seemed to him to take forever but it only actually took a minuet until he came upon the scene of the fight. Cyool shrieked overhead and Green Eyes sat in a tree top and scold
ed. Corth and Drace were both on the ground struggling weakly against ropes. Shira was trying to cut the ropes off of one of the dragons while Cyerant and Veer stood to protect her with their swords. There were three men facing Cyerant and four men facing Veer.
Jolss went through the exercise to calm the mind in battle and felt himself reach a state of mental apathia on his third try. Jolss knew the moment that Prin fell into that same mental state by the ripple of energy tingling across his body. Jolss picked the man closest to Veer and began to chant through the formula for flame. If he could make a little fire maybe he could slow one opponent. On his fourth time through the chant Jolss felt a surge and saw brightness in front of him and then exhaustion overwhelmed him and he collapsed before he could even be sure of what he had accomplished.
The world in front of Veer exploded. There was a flash of light a little to his left and then he felt himself hurled backwards as he was blinded. Veer felt as if he had been plunged into boiling water and the entire front of his body felt singed. Then the world went silent.
Shira was kneeling and felt a shock from behind her and the world was brightened by a flash as something large flew over her. Cyerant felt first a shock behind him as he saw the flash and then the jolt of a body slamming into him from behind driving him forward and to the ground. Luckily the shock also drove his opponents backwards and the flash that came from behind him was right in their eyes.
As Jolss had fallen into unconsciousness the flame that he had thrown was actually a very large fireball which hurled past Veer and slammed into his four opponents carrying them back into the trees where it exploded. The force of the explosion knocked everyone in the area down and set the trees on fire. Cyool was knocked out of flight and even Green Eyes was thrown from her tree top perch.
Shira had already been kneeling and had her back turned to the flash so she was the least effected by the explosion and was the first one to get her wits about her. She scanned the scene and saw that the four men who had been facing Veer just were not there anymore and the forest behind where they had been standing was turning into an inferno. She could also see that Veer had been hurled over her and into Cyerant. Cyerant was dazed but starting to sit up. Veer was unconscious and looked like he had run through a bonfire. The men who had been facing Cyerant were starting to move around but were clearly flash blinded so they posed no more threat. Jolss was some distance away collapsed on the ground as though he were dead with Prin unconscious draped across the boy.
Shira pulled the lassos and nets off of the dragons still struggling on the ground in front of her. An enraged Drace leaped onto the men who had faced Cyerant and within moments they were no more. She helped Cyerant to his feet and then she went to retrieve the horses. Cyerant lifted Jolss onto his shoulders and carried the unconscious boy and small dragon out of the forest to the trail. As he returned to the scene of the battle Shira was arriving with the horses and Veer was starting to waken. Together Shira and Cyerant managed to get Veer and the horses out of the forest as the fire started to spread. Shira retrieved one of the horses that the foreigners had ridden.
The unconscious Jolss was placed on the horse in front of Shira. Veer, though sightless, could still sit up on a horse and hold on. Cyerant rode his own horse while leading the horse which carried Veer who in turn led the pack horse and the new spare horse. Shira rode her horse with Jolss sitting in front of her being held up between her arms and the tiny almost lifeless Prin draped across the horse in front if the boy. A shaken and singed Green Eyes still fluttered around the tree tops and scolded with her usual bad humour. The larger dragons trotted along side of the horses and the tiny ones which were still non-bonded actually were being carried on the back of Corth. They had to move quickly despite their weakness and injuries because the fireball had ignited a forest fire which, this late in the summer dryness, would grow and spread.
Within an hour the party had reached the Furway and had turned south on the large, well used southern end of the trail. The raging wildfire behind them would at least cut off pursuit from that direction and the warm south wind would push the flames northward away from the companions. Cyerant led them until nightfall and he decided to risk one of the camp clearings along the Furway after Cyool had scouted the trail north and south and found no people on the trail anywhere within a day’s ride. Since they knew that there was no danger of discovery Shira built a fire and prepared some food for everyone. Cyerant had taken a hard fall and was weakened by that and the ride. Veer, still unable to see was at the end of his strength and he fell into a deep sleep. Shira undressed him and salved his burns and put an eye salve on him hoping that he would get his sight back. She rolled Jolss into a blanket and laid Prin beside him. The exhausted dragons curled up around the area and fell into a deep sleep also. Shira knew that she would have to keep watch all night so she prepared herself to sit and guard the others and then she promptly fell into a deep sleep.
The birdsong hour before dawn passed and dawn came and the sun was starting to rise before anyone in the camp began to stir. Shira realized with a start that she had slept instead of watched. She built up the fire and got a couple of small pots going for some food. The dragons awoke and each headed into the forest to hunt. Cyerant sat up and looked around not even remembering coming into the camp the night before. Veer stirred and then gasped in pain.
“I can’t see anything,” Veer said.
“It was the flash from magic, maybe it will pass. I have your eyes covered right now. Don’t try to move around because your skin is pretty badly singed like a sunburn.”
Shira made sure that everyone ate and was taken care of and she carefully checked the returning dragons to make sure none of them had injuries. Jolss, she fretted over but he slept until mid afternoon and woke up long enough to eat something and then went back to sleep. Cyerant decided that they should keep moving in the afternoon but Shira overruled him and the companions would stay in the camp another night. Cyool was able to scout the trails to make sure that they were clear and she saw that the forest fire had burned itself out to the north but had left many acres smouldering still. After the sun went down Shira uncovered Veer’s eyes to see how they were; and he was able to make out some shapes and she knew that his sight would return.
On the second morning all of the companions were awake. Jolss was still weak and Veer still stung from his burns and needed his eyes covered against the sunlight but after eating and packing they were able to get back on the trail. Shira now led Veer’s horse for him while Cyerant stayed close to Jolss who sat on the new horse and was trying to learn to ride. Cyerant regularly steadied the boy and taught him how to manage the horse so that by the end of the day Jolss was able to decently sit on the animal and control it to some extent.
The next morning saw Veer able to keep his eyes uncovered though he had to shade his eyes against the sunlight still. It helped that clouds had moved in and shaded the world a bit. Veer was able to manage his own horse now that he could see again. Cyool was able to scout the trail and toward late afternoon she sighted a large band of the foreigners moving up from the south but still several hours away. Cyerant led them off of the trail as the clouds began to thicken and soon the sky opened and a steady rain began to fall. This was lucky because the rain would wash away their tracks and as the day wore into evening the companions used the forest to pass around the party of foreigners and then return to the trail. The cool rain felt good on Veer’s skin and the cloudy day was easy on his eyes but the others found the wetness to be miserable.
“I’m sorry.” Jolss finally blurted out. “I had no idea that it would do that. It was supposed to just be a flame that I thought might hurt one of them a little bit. I knew that having a dragon bond made it stronger but I didn’t think that it would make it that big. I didn’t mean to hurt any of us.”
Veer said. “There were a lot of them so what you did saved our lives. Just next time maybe not so close. I don’t know how much damage you did but I know it must have
been a lot.’
Jolss responded, “I don’t know either, I can’t remember anything other than feeling a tingling all over and then waking up in camp.”
Shira spoke. “Four of them. You just made four of them disappear; they were just consumed by fire. They never even screamed. And it blasted the trees behind them and started a forest fire. I’ve never even heard of a mage being able to do that.”
“They can’t,” said Cyerant. “The stories say that once they could but magic has been weakening for centuries. Now mages are really just researchers and they can’t actually do magic or at least not anything useful.”
“Maybe magic left when the dragons did,” answered Shira
Eleven
The next few days passed in relative quiet as the companions continued south. Jolss researched the dragon book when he was able to and found out more about magic dragons and dragon mages. He also told Shira more about tracking dragons. There was a story about battle dragons and the description fit Drace perfectly. When he told Cyerant what the book said about mount dragons which bond with nobles and form dragon knights the young baron seemed to become upset and turned away from the boy. Jolss had even figured out what kind of dragon Green Eyes was. She was a poison dragon which rarely bonds and when they do it is to someone very unpleasant. Even when poison dragons stay non-bonded they like to remain around people and they occasionally will bite people with their venom.
As they moved south Cyool was able to scout and keep them away from any parties. Most of their travels were on the trackway but they were able to use the forest to avoid the occasional party of foreigners or guardsmen. One morning Cyool spotted some men moving north up the trail a few hours ahead of the companions and she sent the glimpse to Shira. “There is another party coming up the trail ahead of us. But they look like trappers with their pack horses. Should we go into the forest again?”
Dragons of Summer Tide (The Dragons of Hwandor) Page 16
