by T R Kerby
Brannon leaned away. "We can't, can we?"
Tegedir wanted nothing more than to take his son and leave. "Not yet."
"Why not?"
"Murdoc wants me to find something for her." He carried Brannon to a mat and sat with him.
"What?"
"A dragon's egg."
Brannon frowned. "Dragon's aren't real."
"They used to be. A very long time ago."
"When?"
"When your mother was your age."
Brannon reclined against Tegedir's chest. "How will you find one?"
"I don't know." He held Brannon's chin with his fingers. "Listen to me, son. If I don't come back —”
Brannon slapped his palms to his ears. "Don't say that!"
Tegedir gently pulled his son's hands down. "Listen. I'll be back as soon as I can, but if I don't come back in time, Murdoc might get upset. If you get to your sister, use the power you share and blow this cave into rubble. Don't hesitate. Understand?"
"What about Deru?"
Tegedir raised his gaze to the ginger haired boy encircled by his family. "Keep him close."
Brannon nodded. "I'll protect them, Da."
"I love you. You're my heart." Tegedir kissed the top of his son's head. This burden was too much to put on a child. Too much to ask of a boy who should be playing with beetles and chasing butterflies, not serving as a pawn in an impossible quest.
As the night wore on, Brannon slept, sometimes twitching in his dreams. Feathery lashes lay dark upon his cheeks. Tegedir watched him sleep. The night guard changed, their coming and going nearly silent. As dawn broke, the scrape and clang and scent of breakfast roused the others.
Tegedir kissed his son one last time without waking him and left. The rest of his party followed him outside.
Murdoc joined them, eating a stubby loaf of bread. She bit off a chunk and appraised them as she chewed. "Sleep well? No?" She waved her breakfast and a boy came forward. About seventeen with worn clothing fluttering around his skinny frame. Greasy brown hair shrouded one eye and his narrow nose pointed slightly to the right.
"This is Caeth," Murdoc said. "He will travel with you to ensure the careful management of my assets."
He scurried behind them like a wary dog.
She grinned. "He is no threat to you. Enjoy your trip. See you soon."
Lalaith laid her hand on Murdoc's arm.
Murdoc flinched away.
"I know there is love in your heart. I know you can feel compassion. You don't have to do this. Mother to mother, I'm asking you to let our children leave with us. Don't put them through this. We'll still help you. I swear it."
Murdoc rubbed her arm where Lalaith touched her. "Tick tock, healer. Time's wasting."
Tegedir took Lalaith's elbow and guided her away.
"I'm sorry for you," Lalaith said over her shoulder as they walked into the woods.
"Oh, Dragonlord," Murdoc called. "Know this, if my daughter dies before you return, I'm claiming yours as replacement."
Chapter 5
Tegedir lunged for Murdoc. Swords whisked free of scabbards and a phalanx of blades blocked him. Murdoc's own lay cold across his throat.
"Your eyes betray your Dragon blood, but I've met things far more frightening than you. Killing you would inconvenience me, Dragonlord," she said. "I don't like being inconvenienced."
"When this is over, I'm coming for you."
"When this is over, we'll go home and grow old with our children. Well, I'll grow old, you'll do whatever Zinotti do." She lowered her blade. "Now go get my egg."
Tegedir backed away. One day, he would take her smug head right off her shoulders. Lalaith took his elbow and they walked into the woods.
Once beyond sight of Murdoc's band, he grabbed Caeth by the throat and hoisted him off his feet. Caeth's knuckles whitened around Tegedir's wrist and his muddy eyes bulged.
Randir stripped the boy's weapons.
Tegedir's nostrils filled with the scent of fear and he squeezed harder. Caeth wheezed and clawed at his wrist. But this wasn't Murdoc. This throat wasn't the one he wanted to crush. This young man was her minion, a tool. Tegedir dropped him.
Caeth cowered against a tree trunk and rubbed his bruised throat. "Kill me or leave me behind and she'll know. Her spies are everywhere."
"Randir," Tegedir said, "put a leash on this dog."
Randir tied Caeth's wrists and propelled him forward.
Narthan met them with a patrol as they came to the stream. "Who's this?" he asked.
"Our new pet," Randir said.
"Doesn't appear tame." Narthan passed Tegedir his sword. "So?"
Tegedir buckled the belt around his hips. "We're taking a long ride to an unknown place to recover something that doesn't exist."
Narthan blinked. "Business as usual then?"
Tegedir clapped Narthan on the shoulder. "Precisely." He snagged Caeth and towed him to the makeshift shelter serving as headquarters for the camp. Once through the door, he gave him a shove and sent him sprawling into the dirt.
Caeth flipped onto his back and scuttled against a wall.
Tegedir parked a stool across the man's legs and sat down. "Tell me everything you know about your Captain."
"Never asked her no questions."
"But you observe, don't you? That's why she chose you. You're a lurker. Always watching even if you don't say much."
"Don't know nothing."
"You and I are not going to get along." Tegedir slapped him.
Caeth covered his head.
Tegedir jerked the boy's arms away from his face. "What do you know?"
Blood oozed from his split lip. "Been with her two years. She picked me up in Rysha Cove. Traded a bottle of whiskey for me."
"She bought you?" Lalaith couldn't keep the sympathy from her voice.
"Yeah. No food on the farm. Hadn't rained in four months. My Da took to the bottle and the strap. Murdoc had pity for me."
More like Murdoc saw a cheap slave. "What do you do for her?" Tegedir asked.
"Anything she needs. Clean. Cook. Hunt."
"Spy?"
"Sometimes."
"Why are you here?" Tegedir pressed his weight harder into the stool.
Caeth squirmed. "You're hurting my legs."
"I'll break them if you don't answer me."
"To see where the eggs are and how you talk to the dragons."
"You believe in dragons?" Tegedir let some of the rage he'd been holding work up his spine. He knew his eyes changed when Caeth tried to push his way through the wall. "There are things scarier than dragons. Like angry fathers."
Caeth swiveled his head away and pinched his eyes shut.
Tegedir twisted the man's face toward him. "Look at me."
Caeth squinted through his lashes. "Don't eat me."
"You've told me about you. Tell me about Murdoc."
"She's first rate with a blade. Can gut a man before he even knows she's cut him."
"Better. Keep going."
"Has more money than the gods. Not sure where she got it, but it never seems to run out. Has a ship docked in Rysha Cove. The Advantage."
"Good." Tegedir exposed his teeth and Caeth rushed to speak.
"Never lies. If she says it, she means it."
"How many men with her?"
"Twenty, not counting me. A few stayed on the ship."
"Where are her spies?"
"Don't know."
Tegedir growled low in his throat.
"I swear it. I don't know. She keeps a lot to herself. Consults with no one."
Tegedir stood and set the stool aside. "Get this weasel out of my sight."
Randir yanked Caeth to his feet and passed him off to a sentry with orders to keep him under guard.
Tegedir took several deep breaths and let his muscles soften. In the last few years, calling on his Drakuri nature had become easier and he welcomed it. Its dormancy was over. Another unexpected gift, like Neva.
"What d
oes this Murdoc want?" Narthan asked.
"The impossible." Tegedir ran his hand across his face.
Lalaith opened the book Murdoc had given them. "After Neva fell asleep last night, I read this, studied the notes. They're very thorough."
"Sounds like admiration," Tegedir said.
"In a way I suppose. I can appreciate the quality of scholarship without liking the person."
"What's it say?" Narthan asked.
She opened the tome and laid it on the upended crate doubling as a table. "Her maps are detailed, but speculative as far as I can tell." She traced the hatch marks representing a mountain range. "These are the Thorkams, but this is the first map I've seen where they're shown continuing so far north." Her finger tapped a speck on the parchment. "This is Aernan."
Tegedir raised his head. "She mapped it?" Their centuries old hiding place was completely compromised. The implications staggered him. Increased security. Finding a new location. It couldn't be dealt with now.
Lalaith pointed again to the top of the paper. "This is our destination."
"So far," Narthan said. "For what?"
Tegedir and Randir exchanged a glance. "A dragon egg."
Narthan laughed. "Had me going there, a dragon egg. Good one." His laughter died away. "Oh no."
"Oh yes," Bronwyn said.
Narthan frowned at the map. "That whole land is rumored to be ice. Frozen in perpetual winter. Dragons are big lizards. Where's it live, let alone lay an egg?"
Lalaith turned the pages with exquisite care and stopped on another picture.
Narthan squinted at it. "That's suicide."
Tegedir drew the book to him. "Under a volcano?"
She nodded.
"Let me get this straight," Narthan said. "We're traveling months to the north, into a frozen land filled with unknown terrors, delving under an active volcano, and stealing an imaginary egg from a giant reptile that doesn't exist?"
"And we have to be back before snow falls here and closes this pass," Tegedir added.
"Of course we do. Might as well toss in some fairies and another Koboloi for fun."
Lalaith paled.
"Sorry. The Koboloi comment went too far. Still. We don't know what's there."
"But we know what's here," Tegedir said. "Brannon, Neva, and Deru. If a dragon egg is their ransom, I'll get one."
Narthan took one last look at the sketch of a dragon curled cozily under the volcano. "What are your orders?"
"Randir, organize our people. I want to talk to them."
Randir returned several minutes later. "They're ready."
Tegedir followed him and hopped onto a large boulder to see every face gathered before him. "By now, you know what has transpired. The Order was formed to fight the Stain of evil. To protect the villages and deliver justice when it was due. The abduction of the children is not an Order issue. It's personal and I won't command anyone to participate in its resolution."
Murmurs traveled through the crowd. Captain Valta stepped forward, the members of Badger Company arrayed at her flanks. "With due respect Commander, this is very much an Order issue. We defend ourselves when attacked. We've been attacked. It's not just about you and yours. Those children are the Order. They are our future. And we fight the Stain wherever it appears, even among our own ranks. We stand by that now." The crowd saluted as one and a shout went up.
Tegedir returned the salute. "I thank you. My mate thanks you. The force which travels with me must, by necessity, be small. And strictly volunteer." He addressed Randir. "Organize no more than twenty. Speed will be our priority. Be ready to ride by sun up."
Randir saluted and left.
Tegedir directed his attention to Trinn and Bronwyn. "Recruit help and load any supplies this camp can spare, including extra horses."
"I'll help you." Lalaith followed Trinn.
Tegedir gestured for Narthan to return to the shelter. They sat across from one another, the journal between them. Their gaze locked over the open tome. The people believed in Narthan, followed him. No one could hold them together more than he could. When Tegedir lay near death, it was Narthan who rallied and reassured them. As much as he moaned about this mission, Tegedir knew he wanted to go.
Narthan sat back. "I'm not making this trip, am I?"
"As much as I want you to, I need you here. Our people will be in your care. My twins and Deru will be under your watch. There is no one I trust more to do this."
Narthan turned the book's pages to the map. His gaze roved up the spine of peaks and stopped on the smoke spewing mountain at the top.
Tegedir waited for his friend to process the request. A massive responsibility had been laid on his shoulders and no one understood that better than Tegedir. Sometimes he swore he grew shorter each year from the crushing weight.
Narthan closed the book. "What do you want me to do?"
Tegedir's sleepless night with Brannon had been spent asking the same question. What to do? He hated every answer that presented itself. Hated himself for letting them slither into his mind. Dawn brought no more clarity and left him with remedies born of darkness and desperation. "Seal the pass at both ends. Don't give Murdoc a chance to slip out. Keep scouts thick as birds, but don't get too close. If she tries to leave with the children, kill her."
"The little ones could be killed."
"There's no other way. She cannot leave this valley with them. Better dead by our own hand then face their fates with her."
"You can't mean that? You're under pressure. Your thinking is foggy."
"There's something we haven't told you, haven't told anyone." Tegedir lowered his voice still more. "The twins have power. Terrifying and immense power. But only together. Somehow, Murdoc knows. If her daughter dies, Murdoc will try to leave with them. I'll not have them used as weapons of conquest. They must be regained or..." When it came to it, the strength to speak the words failed him.
Narthan's mouth came open, then snapped shut. "You cannot ask this of me."
"I have no one else to ask."
"Kill children? Your children? The ones I love like my own?"
Tegedir's throat closed. Tears blurred Narthan's face.
"Alimarae have mercy, you do mean it."
"If there is no other option. All other avenues exhausted."
"Let us try to regain them now," Narthan said. "Storm the cave, overpower her forces."
"They will certainly die if we do. At least the other way, there is a chance."
"What chance?"
"A slim one. We play along. Lull her into a false sense of security. Maybe an opportunity will present itself. If it does, you must take it."
"You stay here and I'll go after the egg," Narthan said. "I do not want this duty."
"When was the last time you talked to a dragon?"
Narthan crossed his arms on his chest. "When was the last time you did?"
"Good point, but at least I'm supposed to be able to."
"You think you can sniff one out like a hound dog? They don't exist. Even you can't conjure legends."
Tegedir ran his fingers across the worn leather book. Narthan was right. Maybe he couldn't summon a myth, but he could create one.
Chapter 6
They gathered in the muted morning sunlight. Randir checked the supplies and supervised the packing. A veil of mist rose from the creek, silver in the dawn light. His gaze followed it toward the east, where his sister endured who knew what at the hands of an insane woman and her crew.
Narthan squeezed his shoulder. "Safe journey... Captain."
Randir snorted. The fresh promotion didn't feel like it belonged to him yet. "Right now, I'd revert to being your Second at the first offer."
"Will never happen. Stagnation benefits no one."
"Watch yourself here. Murdoc said she followed loose lips to our door."
"The possibility of traitors has always existed. Amazing it took so long for it to actually happen."
The rising sun drew Randir's attention agai
n. Those traitors had come in the form of his father and brother. A stinging wound that would never heal.
"I'm going to go kiss Bronwyn." Narthan walked toward the milling crowd, his cloak billowing around him.
Randir's heart warmed to see his closest friend and his mother together. They deserved to be happy. Narthan missed one chance, but made up for it in spectacular fashion this time around.
Randir untied his horse and moved to the front of the crowd. A short, sharp whistle and all eyes turned to him. "Mount up."
Around him, the riders he'd chosen from the huge pool of volunteers formed into columns. Tegedir joined him and whispered, "Aric? That's a surprise."
"Despite my personal feelings, he's the best scout we have since..." The words snagged in his throat. He swallowed and tightened the girth of his saddle. "He's the best scout we have since Rusc died."
"Excellent choice, Captain. Would have been mine also."
Bronwyn jogged up. "I've decided to stay behind. With your permission of course, Commander."
"As you wish," Tegedir said.
She hugged Randir and kissed his cheek. "Thera and Deru need me here."
"Narthan, too. Watch out for him," Randir said.
"Be safe, son. I love you." Then she was gone into the crowd.
Randir and Tegedir mounted and led their volunteer force from camp. Randir surveyed the group behind him. Caeth was tied to his saddle, his horse between Aric and Trinn. Gods help him if he tried something, those two would squabble over who got to kill him.
They took the mid-day meal in the saddle and let the horses drink from streams crossing their trail. Randir worked his way down the line of riders. His gaze met Aric's and the scout peeled off and followed him away from the others.
"Captain?" Aric's voice brimmed with venom.
Randir outranked him now and it was clear the promotion irritated him. Aric understood what Randir wanted, but wouldn't do it unless ordered. A petty nuisance which chapped Randir. If he wanted to play the rank game, Randir would accommodate him. "Check our back trail, Lieutenant."
Aric slammed his fist into his own chest in a dramatic salute and directed his horse into the trees.
Randir returned to Tegedir.
