Dragon Through Darkness

by T R Kerby

  Lyov laughed. "Point taken, my new friend. I like a man who speaks plainly, even when he should not." No crown graced his brow this morning. His white hair was off his forehead in a warrior's braid. Tegedir was certain he'd earned the right to wear it. This was no figure-head king.

  "When this situation is resolved," Lyov continued, "I hope you'll visit to explore our library and appreciate the artifacts of your race. There is a treasure trove of history here. History you appear to be lacking."

  "I would enjoy that." Would the knowledge he gained be worth dancing among snakes? It very well might.

  "I eagerly anticipate our continued alliance, and the mutual benefits."

  Tegedir suspected the benefits would weigh in Lyov's favor. They topped a low rise and the water stretched to meet the horizon. Numerous boats, copies of the Advantage, rode at anchor beside sturdy docks.

  "They are flat bottomed and ride high on the water even when fully loaded. Perfectly suited to this shallow bay and travel along the coast," Lyov said. "Murdoc managed to hide my son's vessel by venturing far beyond the range of known trade lines. Caeth memorized her routes and the ports for further exploitation."

  "He's a clever young man." A random compliment couldn't hurt, especially if it were true.

  "That he is. He'll make a fine king."

  Not likely. Tegedir kept that one to himself.

  When they rode down the slope, more men met them dockside. They loaded the supplies onto four ships for the trip south. "The weather favors us this time of year," Lyov said as their horses were led away. "Your people will join me on my vessel."

  The ship's colors were richer and more elaborate than its plainer counterparts. Once unfurled, the sail gleamed a vibrant orange with a black dragon in the center. Seeing the symbol of his kin strewn across Ilok belongings grated on Tegedir. They'd usurped the image and contaminated it. The desire to retake it washed through him. Conquest never interested him, but retaking this land from the Ilok excited him. He'd never do it, though. Conquest was not his purpose, and it most certainly was not the purpose of the Order. To misuse it in such a selfish way would destroy the ideals they held most dear. Still, he could dream.

  Two weeks later, they sailed into Rysha Cove and unloaded one ship at a time at the smaller dock. A crowd gathered, possibly wondering what plunder they could steal. They gawked as a hundred horses thundered off the gangplank onto the dock and into the streets.

  Lyov's ship docked last. Tegedir settled Lalaith's cloak hood over her head. His fingers lingered on her pointed ears. "A measure of caution is in order. You are a sweet prize, my love." He kissed her and tucked her hand into his elbow. He loosened his sword in its sheath and led her off the ship. The others flowed into place around them.

  Tegedir's gaze roved across the gathered crowd, up the far banks near the bay, over the rooftops of buildings lining the street, and into the narrow lanes between them. They didn't speak to the street hawkers who shoved wares into their faces. They mounted their horses and Randir led them from Rysha Cove.

  No one spoke until they were beyond the borders of town. "What a lovely place," Lyov said.

  Caeth laughed. "It should be burned to the ground."

  Tegedir agreed.

  Lalaith rode next to him, her head bowed. Tears flowed over her cheeks. She'd been sheltered from the decay of the world for so long.

  "Think of Aernan," he said. "We'll be home soon. Away from this diseased place."

  "Is it all like this?"

  "No."

  "You are a good man, but a terrible liar." She gave him a smile and his heart sang with it. Each time she smiled, it had the same effect on him. Joy so pure it defied words. He left her with Erien and rode forward.

  Lyov removed his cloak and lay it across his lap. He wiped the sweat from his brow. "The weather is much more agreeable. Perhaps I should consider settling my people here. The farmland appears fertile, as do the women. The mountains would hold game for meat and fur. Maybe we shall become neighbors."

  The last thing Tegedir wanted was the Ilok as neighbors. He would not attack them in their northern lands, but he would not hesitate to drive them from his own. Aggressively and without quarter.

  "How many days to this pass?" Lyov asked.

  "Three. When we arrive, I will precede us to reassure our scouts. If I do not, they may act on incorrect assumptions about your presence. Neither of us wants that."

  "Your loyalty concerns me."

  "My loyalty is to my children and my people. It ensures the bonds of our agreement."

  "Your lovely mate will wait with us."

  "Naturally."

  On midmorning of day three, Tegedir rode alone from camp. Canyon walls rose into the sky. Twisted trees clung in crevices and ravens circled in a ribbon of blue sky. He sensed the keen presence of his scouts and whistled a short songbird call. Several more answered it. His horse snorted and spooked when Celevon, Erien's mate, stepped onto the trail. He saluted, but didn't speak.

  "One hundred men follow me," Tegedir said in low and rapid Zinotti. "We are not prisoners, but it is delicate. Tell Narthan to disperse our Companies into the woods to reduce appearance of numbers, but keep them close enough to respond if necessary. Pull your scouts on this border back to a position near camp, and send a runner to tell the other border scouts to do the same. Double our forces at the cavern."

  Celevon saluted and turned to go.

  "And, Celevon, it's good to see you," Tegedir added.

  "And you, Commander. Welcome home."

  Was this the right move? He trusted Narthan to read between the lines and fill in any gaps. Tegedir returned to Lyov. "Ahead a mile or two is a good place to camp. The remainder of the route is too narrow and rocky. Only this trail in and out. You can leave whatever men you wish to secure it. When we reach our camp, someone will escort your other soldiers to the opposite side and you can secure it also. We'll remove our people from those funnels. Murdoc will be yours."

  "You are certain there is no other escape from the pass?"

  "There is none." Sometimes he was a good liar. The other exit led through Aernan and he'd die a horrible death before he revealed it.

  "His city is a one entrance fortification," Caeth said. "Not unlike our own. Although I haven't seen it, the traitor explained it to me after she snatched his offspring. He's telling the truth."

  And Murdoc lied to Caeth. Why? Did she distrust him? Despite the situation, he silently thanked her for her discretion.

  A deep rumble reverberated through the canyon, rattled stones from the walls, and sent birds screeching into the sky.

  "What was that?" Lyov asked as his men fidgeted around him.

  "Rockslide. Happens all the time here." Tegedir resisted the urge to glance at Lalaith. He aimed his mount up the road to hide his face. "We should get moving."

  These mountains hadn't shifted in hundreds of years.

  His twins had come together.

  Chapter 32

  Tegedir led Lyov and his men toward base camp. Thirty had been left behind to close the western entrance of the pass. Another thirty would be positioned at the eastern gap. That left Lyov with forty men to hover in Narthan's base. Around thirty-nine more than Tegedir hoped for.

  "Murdoc must not see you or anyone from your company," Tegedir said to Lyov. "If she does, things will go bad."

  "Arrange an escort to take my men to the other side of the pass. I will remain with the rest out of sight but nearby. Close enough to hear your negotiations."

  "She will not come that close. The exchange will happen in an open meadow a short distance away. You'll be able to see but not hear."

  "Exchange?"

  "A crafted dragon egg for my children. It should give us a moment to act before she realizes the egg isn't real."

  Lyov laughed and clapped Tegedir on the back. "I like you more each day. In that case, Caeth will act as my ears. She will not object to his presence."

  The prince had disappeared behind his fall
of hair and his old tunic and worn boots replaced his fine clothes. He was the shy and harmless waif once more.

  "Of course. She would expect him there."

  Narthan greeted them as they rode into camp. His sharp gaze appraised the king at Tegedir's side and the column of men behind. He saluted, his body stiff with formality. "Welcome home, Commander."

  "Thank you." Tegedir passed his horse off to another. "This is King Lyov. He and his men are our guests. They will take Murdoc into their custody after the exchange. They need concealed accommodations, somewhere behind our main camp. King Lyov and his grandson, Prince Caeth, will have my tent."

  Tegedir admired Narthan's control. Nary a twitch crossed his face. He gave a half-bow and called Bronwyn forward. He told her what needed done, she saluted him and saw to it.

  As Lyov's men were escorted away, the king inhaled deeply, his barrel chest expanding. He gazed around the valley touched with the first blush of fall. Peaks rose on every side. "I like it here. Maybe I'll stay a while."

  "In a month, it will resemble your home more than you'd like. Easily twelve feet of snow through the winter," Tegedir said.

  "Perhaps we'll join you at your hearth through the winter."

  Over his dead body. "Perhaps. For now, please enjoy our hospitality. Bronwyn will escort you and Caeth to your quarters. You'll not be barred in, but you'll understand if I don't allow your men to wander freely in my camp."

  "We will not abuse your hospitality. They will stay where you put them."

  "If you'll collect those you wish to send to the eastern gap, I'll have them guided there."

  "A single guide. Not a group."

  "No sense in wasting limited manpower."

  "Caeth, see it done."

  Caeth bobbed his head and trotted away.

  Bronwyn bowed to the king. "This way, my lord."

  Tegedir suppressed the grin. She'd bow to no man unless she could stick a dagger in his ribs later. As soon as Lyov was gone, Tegedir caught Narthan by the elbow and directed him to Narthan's shelter. Lalaith tied the door.

  Narthan faced him. "What in the bloody —"

  "Are our people in position?" Tegedir asked.

  "Absolutely, but what's going on?"

  "This leech wants Murdoc. She killed his son. Justifiably by my judgment."

  "How did you run across him?"

  "I was skillfully maneuvered by that vermin Caeth."

  "He's a prince?" Narthan's brow creased. "Never saw that coming."

  "Nor I. We might have to kill these people. I will not allow them access to Aernan."

  "The Companies have been prepared for unexpected events. The Captains are on alert."

  "Do you have the egg?"

  Narthan flipped his pallet against the wall and scraped away the dirt concealing a box. He slipped the pin from the hasp and opened the lid. A flawless dragon egg lay in the thick padding.

  Lalaith gasped when she saw it. "It's perfect."

  Tegedir lifted it from its nest and held it to the lamp. Gold and blue reflected from thick, black scales, each upturned at the end. Fine red veins and hints of ocher underlaid them. "If I didn't know better..."

  "Looks exactly like the drawings," Narthan said. "We can't be sure about the weight and the precise size, but Murdoc can't either."

  "The smith did a fine job." He laid the crafted egg in the box.

  "There's another. Hidden in a different place, just in case." Narthan put one hand on Tegedir's shoulder, the other on Lalaith's. "There's been a cave in at the cavern."

  Lalaith covered her mouth. "My babies?"

  "I don't know how bad it is. Murdoc's men are mulling around the entrance so we can't get close. The damage isn't visible from our scouts’ vantage points. We doubled the men there as you asked."

  Tegedir put an arm around Lalaith. "Bran and Neva caused it. If they caused it, they protected themselves."

  "But Thera?"

  He couldn't answer that fear since he owned it himself.

  "Deru escaped two weeks ago," Narthan said. "Ran right into the Celevon."

  "Bring him to me," Tegedir said.

  Narthan stuck his head outside and whispered a few orders. Within minutes, Bronwyn ducked inside with Deru.

  "Tegedir!" Deru sprang into his embrace and squeezed his neck. "I missed you."

  "I missed you, too." Tegedir sat on the trunk with Deru on his knee. "Tell me, you sneaky bugger, how did you escape?"

  A frown squinched his face. "Bran tricked me."

  "How did he do that?"

  "We planned a game. Spent days working on the details. He'd distract the guard and I'd hide. It'd be fun. He told me which way to run and where to hide, said it would be the best spot, but it wasn't. I ran right into Celevon and he brought me here. Ruined the game."

  "Are Bran, Neva, and Thera okay?"

  "Yes, but Bran is grumpy. Murdoc plays lots of games with us, but Bran won't play with her. He's mad."

  "Did Murdoc hurt you?"

  Deru squinted at him like he'd grown a second head. "She wouldn't hurt us. She's our friend."

  Tegedir met Lalaith's gaze. "Friend?"

  "Yeah," Deru said. "I like her."

  Tegedir ruffled Deru's red hair. "How would you like to go home?"

  "To Aernan?"

  "Yep."

  "Without Bran and Neva?"

  "For a few days. Then we'll all be there."

  "Okay."

  Tegedir set the boy on the floor. "Bronwyn, take him and go home."

  "I'll find someone to take him. I'm not leaving without my daughter."

  He inclined his head to her. "As you wish."

  She left with Deru in tow.

  Tegedir laced Lalaith's cool fingers with his. "I wish you'd go with him."

  "Without my own children?"

  "You can trust me to bring them home if it's in my power."

  She kissed his forehead. "I trust you with our lives, but I have to be here when they leave the cave."

  "Even if Lyov gets Murdoc, he will force my hand before the end. I don't expect this to resolve without blood."

  "When we have the children, Aric and Erien can escort us to Aernan. Her leg needs attention and rest. Will that satisfy you?"

  He kissed her palm. "It will."

  "I will see our guests are settled," she said and left.

  Tegedir met Narthan's gaze and sighed. "My personal problems have come home to roost on the Order's doorstep."

  "The problems of one are the problems of all. It's who we are. The Order is a family. You, of all people, should grasp that. Or are you getting thick in your old age?"

  "Turning Murdoc over to Lyov doesn't sit well with me."

  "She took your children."

  "She did and justice must be met, but what Lyov wants isn't justice. It's torture and revenge for a killing made in self-defense."

  "I don't know what you're talking about but a more just man never walked, so I defer to your judgment."

  "If we don't turn her over, Lyov will take her by force. Or try."

  "I can't feel sympathy for her at this point."

  Tegedir told him what he'd learned about Murdoc from her forced marriage to the beatings and killing of Lyov's son. He included Lyov's plan for her punishment. "They've hunted her for two years. Caeth orchestrated this whole thing by poisoning his sister and convincing Murdoc a dragon egg could save her. She wouldn't have done what she did without his manipulation."

  "You sound like you're getting soft on her," Narthan said.

  "Not soft, but I have a different point of view now. Maybe a better understanding of how she became what she is."

  "But she is what she is. You can't change that."

  "Maybe not."

  "When the time comes, you'll know what to do and we'll stand behind you. Get some sleep. You look like a mortal." Narthan's chuckles receded as he left the shelter.

  Tegedir stretched out on Narthan's pallet. If only he had as much faith in his decisions as Narthan. The
lives of everyone he loved rested on this line he and Lyov had drawn in the sand.

  Chapter 33

  When the patter of falling stones stuttered to a halt, Thera raised her head and opened her eyes. Complete darkness surrounded her. "Hello?" Panic crawled up her spine and raised the pitch of her voice. "Anyone there?"

  She stretched forward and felt around her. Sharp rocks and debris were piled high. "Bran? Neva?" There was only silence and settling. "Murdoc?"

  Someone moaned and stirred. Thera crawled toward the sound. Rocks stabbed into her palms and knees. She coughed in the choking, dust-filled air.

  "Thera?" Brannon's voice echoed in the closed space.

  "Bran! Where are you?"

  "We're here."

  She scrambled toward his voice and bumped into them in the blackness. She searched their bodies for broken limbs and blood. "Are you hurt?"

  "No."

  "Neva? Are you okay?"

  The girl whimpered. "I don't like the dark."

  Which way was the entrance? Every direction was equally black, no indication of where escape might lie. With each blink, the flash repeated itself in her vision.

  "Sorry I couldn't reach you with the shield." Brannon's voice trembled.

  "What happened? What was that? How did you do it?"

  "Hard to explain. We think it and it happens."

  "I don't understand." She felt him shrug in the darkness.

  "We're still learning. We got scared and it got out of control. I'm sorry."

  "Oh, honey." Thera hugged him. "It's okay. It'll be fine."

  "Not if we don't dig out," Murdoc said behind her. "This cave will be our tomb. Help me find a torch."

  As Thera's eyes adapted, a faint glow bloomed at one end of the chamber. "Is it my imagination, or is there a light?"

  "The candle on my trunk. It stayed lit. The wall must have protected it." Rolling rocks and an occasional muttered oath marked Murdoc's precarious path to the other room. Light flared and she returned with a lit torch. An ashy layer of dust coated her face and hair. A rivulet of blood trickled from her scalp along the side of her nose. She wiped at it and left a bloody smear across her cheek.

  She lifted the torch and surveyed the damage. A mangled leg protruded from beneath the rock pile. The second man was nowhere to be seen. Broken stone filled the majority of the once open space. Their small section of the main cavern remained relatively unscathed.