“Jessa,” Mother whispered.
“Jessa and many others,” Father said. “From here, we can’t see or hear anything useful. Morlin is out there,” he said, naming her brother, “trying to scout for us, but he’s been gone for several hours, so I’m worried he was captured. Perhaps a… dragon would be useful in scouting and finding out where the missing people are being held. If we could rescue them…” He met Mother’s eyes. “I’d risk myself to try if I knew more.”
“I may be able to locate them if I have some quiet time to… meditate,” Raff said, eyeing the onlookers warily.
Usually, people gave him uncertain glances when they were reminded that he had trained as a sorcerer, but in this case, everyone seemed too disturbed by Bhrava Saruth’s presence to realize what Raff was implying.
“Maybe if you sit outside,” Taylina said quietly. “I’m sure nobody will bother you.”
Father nodded at Raff. “We’ll be here if you need us. Don’t go far. There are search parties all over the hills.”
As Raff slipped outside, Bhrava Saruth flopped down at her feet and rolled over on his back, legs in the air, furry stomach bared.
She blinked at him. “What are you doing?”
Positioning myself appropriately for your adoration. Also your rubs.
We need to find the rest of our people, Taylina said silently, knowing she would get odd looks if she spoke out loud in a one-sided conversation. Can you sense where they’re being held?
All humans are the same to me unless I am familiar with their auras. I would not know the difference between your sister and a Cofah woman.
Well, there are no Cofah women in their army, so if you can tell the difference between males and females, you might be able to find them.
Many of their dragon riders are females.
But none of the soldiers, from what I’ve heard.
Hm, I shall peruse the harbor then. While you help me relax. His tongue lolled out, and he seemed to grin at her.
“Are you sure that’s a dragon?” Father murmured as she dropped to one knee to pet the furry belly. “It’s a… I mean, it doesn’t seem to be… like other dragons.”
He doesn’t seem to be like other dragons, Bhrava Saruth corrected, emphasizing his sex. And you’re right. Isn’t it wonderful? His tail twitched contentedly as Taylina petted him.
“Er.”
Taylina had never known her father to be at a loss for words. Oh, he was a quiet man by nature, especially when Mother was on a rant, but he always knew what to say when the time came to speak.
“Father,” she said, wanting to steer the conversation in a more productive direction, “you’re right, of course, in that we can’t openly fight the Cofah, but if we wait for them to finish pillaging our village and taking our belongings—they wanted our tool shop, did you know?—then there might be nothing left to fight for.”
“They burned the tool shop,” Father said quietly.
“I saw the smoke—did it totally burn?”
“Not the entire structure, but the roof and everything inside.”
Taylina closed her eyes. She’d known the Cofah might steal some of the tools, but to utterly destroy the shop… She had poured her heart into her work there for the last two years. And she had been so honored when her parents had permitted her to leave their business to run the tool shop with Raff. After working in the family furniture and carpentry trade for so long, always taking orders from her parents and her brother, always feeling like a dependent, someone they still saw as a child and not an autonomous adult… the freedom and the responsibility had been a blessing. It hadn’t been perfect, and her parents had still checked in on her almost daily, especially those first few months, but it had finally started to feel like she was a grownup this last year, like someone who could take care of herself. And now, all that was gone.
“I’d guess they wanted to deny the tools to the Iskandian army, especially if what you said is true.” Father frowned thoughtfully down at Bhrava Saruth.
Yes, and it seemed a logical thing for an enemy to want to do, but tears formed in Taylina’s eyes. She tried to take solace in the fact that she had removed some of the valuable items, but it would take so much effort to build new tools and a new workplace.
“I’m sorry. For all I know, the furniture shop may have been burned by now too. The walls are brick, but the insides…” He cast a morose look at Mother.
“I’m more worried about Jessa than our shop,” Mother said.
“I’m worried about her too.” Father’s jaw tightened. “I’m worried about everything.”
Taylina took a deep breath and tried to pull herself together. She could mourn the loss of the tool shop later. “If we could do something clever to the Cofah—” or cunning, as Bhrava Saruth would say, “—and trick them somehow, maybe they would leave without a battle.”
“Trick them? How?” Mother asked. “There must be more than a thousand soldiers here, not to mention the dragons and sorcerers. Tricking one person might be possible, but a whole legion?”
“A legion that must have a commander,” Taylina said. “Whoever is in charge, that is the person we need to convince to leave. If he gives the order, the ships will sail away. And the dragons and the sorcerers too. That is how the army works, is it not?”
“Yes,” Father said. He had served on the mainland in his youth and had told his children stories of army life. “But the person in charge here will have a commander back in Cofahre, and if he abandons his mission, there will be repercussions, dire ones. He won’t want to risk that without a good reason. Perhaps not for any reason.”
“If they came here to destroy the tool shop, they may have already completed their mission,” Taylina said bitterly. “What else is here for them? It’s not as if they wanted our olives. They destroyed those. I doubt they’re here for our fish either.”
“They’ve taken a lot of the young women,” Raff said, leaning in through the mouth of the cave, his face grim. “Jessa is in the biggest ship in the harbor, the flagship, I think. At least a hundred others are there with her. Mildri, Saa, Jan, Terrana. A lot of people we went to school with and those a few years younger than us. Some even younger than that.”
Father’s fist clenched. “Are they being hurt?”
“Not yet, I don’t think—they mostly seemed scared. Terrified. They’re all locked up below decks.”
“Thamis,” Mother said, gripping Father’s arm. “We can’t wait here while those Cofah do the seven gods know what to those girls. What if they leave with them? Jessa can’t—she needs protection. She can’t be left to those murdering savages. None of those girls can.”
Father massaged his temples.
Bhrava Saruth? Taylina asked silently. Can you hear me?
Of course. We are dragon and rider now. I have attuned myself to your thoughts. I will be able to hear you when you speak my name from many miles away.
Oh, I didn’t know we’d made that official. Taylina, her thoughts half on her sister and the classmates Raff had named, couldn’t manage to feel any elation for Bhrava Saruth’s acceptance of her as a rider.
Yes, of course. And then later, after your people are free, you can become my high priestess!
What?
As you so wisely pointed out, a god must have worshippers. I cannot believe I did not realize this lack before. I must have worshippers! You can help me find them.
But I’m a woodworker, not a priestess of any kind. And I already follow Archleon, the sixth god. He might get jealous if I gave him up for you.
I am not a jealous god. You may worship others as well as me, so long as you are available when I need you.
“You’re right, of course,” Father said. “We have to get them, but sneaking out to that warship without being seen will be impossible. They have so many guards, so many weapons. We have…” He looked bleakly around the cave. “So little. And we have to consider that they might hunt down everyone on the island and punish them—or kill th
em—if some of us fight.”
I can sneak aboard a ship, Bhrava Saruth announced. So long as there are not other dragons on it, and I go in a form where I can easily disguise myself.
Such as a dog?
Or a human. Or a bird. Or a frog. We would have to swim out to the ship, though, because I could not carry you on my back in any of those forms. Well, perhaps as a human, but then I could not fly.
“Bhrava Saruth has agreed to help us rescue my sister and the others,” Taylina announced, standing up.
Father frowned. “I wouldn’t be comfortable attempting an infiltration with a strange… stranger along.”
“I’ll go with him. And so will Raff.” Taylina looked toward him, half-expecting him to protest being dragged off into danger again.
But he met her eyes and nodded. “We can’t leave our people to be victimized by those bastards.”
“Then it’s agreed,” Taylina said.
“No, it’s not,” Mother and Father said together.
They frowned at each other and then at Taylina.
“You’re not a warrior, Tay,” Father said, glancing down at her leg. “And as I was saying, there are other considerations.”
Taylina flushed with indignation, even though he was right. But hadn’t she been the one to go to the dragon’s lair and come back with a dragon?
“This isn’t the time for your whimsical ideas,” Mother said. “You’ll only get yourself killed or captured. You have no experience with battle, and you’re not suited for it.”
“The perfect reason for me to go,” Taylina said. “If I’m caught sneaking aboard, they’ll likely capture me instead of shooting me. They won’t see me as a threat.”
“What about Raff and your dog?”
“They’ll have to avoid being caught.” Taylina shifted into the cave mouth and picked up her staff. They would never agree to let her go; she would have to go anyway.
“Thamis,” Mother said, “you can’t let her go.”
“At the least, I can’t let her go alone.” He sighed and grabbed an old hunting bow propped against the cave wall. “I’ll go with you, Tay.”
Taylina glanced back, startled. She had fully expected him to grab her by the shoulders and force her to stay.
“Thamis.” Mother’s fists returned to her hips.
“Douse the lantern,” he told her. “Stay quiet in here, and don’t leave. That goes for everyone. Candorr should be back soon to watch over you.”
“Thamis,” Mother said again with frustration and exasperation and fear, yes, that was fear in her voice.
Taylina walked into the gully with Bhrava Saruth at her side and did not hear if her mother made further protests. She had to hurry away now, before she talked Father into changing his mind.
We will rescue your sister and the other young women, Bhrava Saruth informed her.
“Thank you,” Taylina said, needing the reassurance. “You’re a good dragon.”
Young women make lovely worshippers.
“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”
Do any of them know how to make pastries?
7
Taylina crouched with Raff, Father, and Bhrava Saruth, who was still in dog form, on the slope just above town. The smoldering remains of the olive grove and the tool shop were up the road behind them. This area had been abandoned, but soldiers patrolled the streets inside the town, searching buildings. Some citizens still in hiding were being found and pulled from their homes. Their anguished cries attested to the amount of brute force used, and Taylina clenched her staff tightly, wanting nothing more than to bash heads with it.
They are being taken to that two-story building near the docks, Bhrava Saruth informed them. Many of your people are being held inside. I assume they are your people. They’re being locked up. Men and women and children. Only certain women are being taken out to the warship.
“I’ll bet,” Father said darkly, apparently privy to Bhrava Saruth’s mental speech.
He had taken it in stride, at least from Taylina’s point of view.
He has seen dragons before and even spoken with them, Bhrava Saruth told her. When he was a soldier stationed in the capital of Iskandoth.
“That’s our town hall building,” Raff said. “Should we try to get those people out too?”
“We’ll only have one chance to do something,” Father said. “Once they know there’s a force out here…” He frowned at Taylina and Raff and the dog standing between them, perhaps uncertain that this constituted a force. “Once they know there’s opposition, they’ll be much more on guard.”
“We could split up,” Taylina said, “and strike at the same time.”
“We’re too small a group to split up,” Father said firmly.
Taylina suspected his problem was more that she was out here in the group, and he wanted to make sure to keep an eye on her.
“But if there was a jailbreak here in the town,” she mused, “perhaps the soldiers on the ship would be looking toward Town Hall—or maybe some would even be sent to land to help with it—and then it would be easier for us to move about the ship and free the women.”
“Us?” Father asked.
She means me, Bhrava Saruth said brightly. Me and my rider.
“Your what?” Father did not sound amused, nor did he seem impressed that his daughter had convinced a dragon to allow her as a rider.
Perhaps later, he would come around.
“My magic is not flashy or dangerous,” Raff said, “but I can use it to untie ropes and unlock doors from a distance. I could cause some havoc in Town Hall from a block or two away, and then when the guards are distracted by having so many prisoners loose at once, we could slip in and help everyone get away.” He nodded to Father and his bow.
“What happens if a dragon is in there guarding those people?” Father asked.
“Then… my tricks would work less well.”
The dragons are on the ships currently, Bhrava Saruth announced. The silver is on the one farthest out, and two golds are on the biggest warship.
“The one with my sister and the other prisoners?” Taylina winced. Why couldn’t they have bedded down elsewhere. “Will you be able to sneak aboard with them there?”
It will be difficult, but I will do my best to suppress my shiny aura. If we sneak aboard swiftly, and I do not change into my regular form, we may have a chance.
“Raff, can you handle Town Hall on your own?” Father asked.
“I… can try.” Judging by his tone, he would rather not.
“You won’t go with him, Father?” Taylina asked. She wouldn’t mind having him along to support her, especially since he had once been a soldier, but she hated the idea of sending Raff off to get in trouble by himself.
“I won’t not go with you,” Father told her. “Besides—” he lowered his voice, “—Jessa is more my responsibility to recover than she is yours.”
“All right,” Taylina said, then felt silly for saying it, as if she was running this operation rather than her father. Indeed, he arched an eyebrow in her direction.
You are the one with a dragon.
So that makes me the commander?
It makes you the person with the dragon. Bhrava Saruth looked up at her with a lupine smile.
How come you’re sometimes a dragon and sometimes a god?
I’m both! A dragon god. What else?
“I’ll go on my own,” Raff said. “If there aren’t any sorcerers wandering the streets, I think I can avoid notice.”
I shall bless you, Bhrava Saruth said. He lifted a paw and pressed it against Raff’s waist.
“That feels… strange.”
My blessings are magnificent!
“Er, yes. Strangely magnificent.” Raff looked puzzled as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I feel tingly.”
“That must be the magnificence,” Taylina said.
“What does a dragon blessing do?” Raff asked. “Should we all get them?”
Father had produced a spyglass from somewhere and was watching the docks. He did not mention a desire for a blessing.
Typically, Bhrava Saruth said, they grant improved health and fertility.
“Fertility?” Raff asked. “Will that be important tonight?”
The improved health may keep you alive if you take an arrow to the chest. Bhrava Saruth shifted to place a paw on Father.
“I hope to avoid that circumstance,” Raff murmured.
Father looked down at him, and Taylina thought he might reject the offering, but he nodded at his shaggy benefactor. Next, Bhrava Saruth came and placed a paw on Taylina. A warm flush of heat flooded her body, and, as Raff had said, her skin tingled all over. It felt as if she had gone to the baths and scrubbed herself vigorously.
“Give me about fifteen minutes to get down there and study the inside of the building before you make your move,” Raff said, then squeezed Taylina’s shoulder. “May the gods bless you both.”
It was an old saying, but Bhrava Saruth harrumphed, and said, A god did just bless you.
“The docks are well guarded,” Father said as Raff angled for the dirt road meandering down the hill. This back route wasn’t guarded the way the main streets and the harbor were, but Raff would have to be careful once he reached town proper. “And we’d be noticed if we took a boat out. How’s your leg, Taylina? Can you swim?” He pointed to the natural rock barrier that formed the east side of the harbor. There were no buildings out there, and it lay in darkness. “If we climb out to the end, we could swim to the warship.”
“My leg is…” Taylina started to say that it ached but she would do the swim anyway. Then she realized it didn’t ache. Odd. It had bothered her all evening. She shifted her weight experimentally, but there were no twinges. “It’s… fine,” she said, unable to keep the puzzlement out of her tone.
Of course it’s fine, Bhrava Saruth said. A dragon god blessed you.
Oh. Even though she had seen that boy’s cut disappear when Bhrava Saruth walked by and swished his tail, she hadn’t truly expected much from a “blessing.”
To heal your leg fully will take some time, but that can be done also.
Beginnings: Five Heroic Fantasy Adventure Novels Page 8
