Kings, Queens, Heroes, & Fools

by M. R. Mathias

  “Look,” Mikahl pointed down the way toward the dock as it came into view. Only one ship was tied to the moorings. It was a large two-masted vessel with a double row of oar portals along its side. It was a slave-powered galley, and Lord Gregory’s heart sank when he noticed the banner flapping lazily from its mast: the trident of Dakahn.

  Just then the door of the tavern beside them burst open, and a young, shabbily dressed woman hurried away with tears in her eyes. A drunken man stumbled out after her. Gregory put a restraining hand on Mikahl when he started to intervene. The man was wearing fairly new studded leather armor, and the fancy hilted sword strapped to his belt spoke of either authority or experience. He paused when he noticed them looking down at him from their horses. He half growled, half laughed then stepped back into the doorway.

  “Captain Konrath, we’ve got company,” he said with a heavy Dakaneese accent.

  Maxrell Tyne eased his horse up between Mikahl and Lord Gregory. “Pirates,” he said under his breath. “Follow my lead.”

  ***

  Under normal circumstances Captain Konrath would have ignored the men outside. They posed no threat to him. He had eight men on the ship watching over his supplies and the slave rowers, and six more men were not too far away enjoying the hospitality of the Midway tavern girls. These waters had been picked clean, had been for a time. He was of a mind to hire out to Ra’Gren, and a few more men behind him would increase his leverage. Looking through the tavern door, he could tell that the men outside were armed. A half dozen ways to either hire them, or cheat them of their belongings, passed through his head.

  He gave a nod, and a pair of his unoccupied men followed him out. Like the Captain, they were well armored and carried quality steel. The Captain though, standing well over six feet, with legs as big as tree trunks, and a leather mask plate that covered one of his eyes, was by far the most imposing of the three. When he stepped out of the doorway and the morning sun caught his grisled visage, even the horses backed away. There was a hole in the mask to accommodate the covered eye. The white of that orb seemed far larger than normal, like there was no skin around the socket. It was unnerving to look upon.

  “Seeking work maybe?” he asked in a gravelly voice.

  “What sort of work?” Maxrell returned. His Dakaneese accent was as pronounced as the pirate’s.

  “Ra’Gren’s hiring all the swords he can gather,” the pirate captain said, putting as much promise as he could into his voice. “Could be steady through the summer they say. It seems that King Jarrek and that so-called High King have been causing the old bastard some trouble along the Valleyan border. Killed a handfull of overlords and cut loose their slaves.”

  “Guarding land borders then?” Tyne asked with distaste showing plainly on his face.

  “Some of it,” the Captain took a pull from the bottle in his hand. “But from what I hear, he’s gonna try and take all of Wildermont while it sits near to empty.” The man leaned in and lowered his voice, his one brow narrowing conspiratorially. “My man said there be plenty of valuables to pick through. Slave whores aplenty too. That fool Glendar left behind as much as he stole. And those that stay around and fight for Ra’Gren are ’sposed to get a bit of Wildermont land as payment for the service.”

  “I’ll fight for gold,” Tyne responded with a smirk. “I got no need for land or trinkets. Besides, we have business on Salazar. Might be we could find you when we’re through.” He paused for effect, and gave Mikahl and Lord Gregory a knowing glance. “If we still need any coin then.”

  At the sound of the word ’coin’ Captain Konrath pricked his ears up, wondering what sort of business these men had in Salazar that might afford them the luxury of turning down months of good paying work. Salazar wasn’t even out of his way. Maybe a day, but he could provision his ship there instead of in Southport and save a handful of coin by avoiding the Dragon Bitch’s tariffs. Even if these men didn’t sign on with him, he could fatten his purse and save some expense by taking them to Salazar on his way back to Dakahn.

  “Salazar is where you’re headed then?” the pirate gave a gap-toothed grin that combined with his menacing face plate to make him look utterly insane. “If you’ve a few coins for passage, the Shark Tooth’s your ship, and I’m your captain.”

  “If you can pull anchor right now, I’ll fill your fist with coin,” Tyne jingled his belt pouch and glanced at the two zard-men sitting just inside the tavern’s doorway.

  Captain Konrath’s grin vanished. He elbowed the man beside him and mumbled an order. A moment later the call for “All hands!” was ringing through the tavern. In less than a turn of the glass, Lord Gregory, High King Mikahl, Maxrell Tyne, and their two men were on the Shark’s Tooth under sail for Salazar.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Morning came all too soon for Hyden and the expedition. He and one of the seamen had taken middle watch, and though nothing had tripped Oarly’s alarm, a large shadowy form had paced the undergrowth at the far edge of the camp. When Hyden looked at it with Talon he could see its aura and knew that it was a predatory feline creature, possibly the mate to the lyna beast that had been their supper. It didn’t linger, but sleep was a long time coming for Hyden. Between Oarly’s snoring, the alien sound of the island jungle, and the whispering of the last watch he didn’t sleep at all.

  While Oarly and Phen rolled up the twine and stowed the little bells, Hyden investigated the jungle floor where their nocturnal visitor had been. Prints as big as his open hand, and similar to the paws of the creature they had killed, were plain to see. Hyden wondered if the huge hornets had been feasting on a similar creature. Then he wondered if the porcupine-like quills that coated the animals were some sort of natural defense against the flying insects.

  The things that had shaken the lower tree limbs and shrieked at them the whole of the day before were apparently busy elsewhere. Morning passed in relative peace as they worked their way through the jungle. A smaller cloud of flies found them, though. The steady buzz droned on and on, not succeeding in drowning out the clanking, grumbling sounds of their passage.

  Near midday they came upon the mound that Hyden had seen. It humped up nearly twenty feet, was easily as wide, and probably sixty feet long, by his best guess. A little hump tapered away from the main mass in a nearly straight line toward the cavern. It corresponded with the aura Hyden had seen when Talon flew over. Up close it looked far less like an overgrown ship’s hull than Hyden thought it would. Oarly paced down its length and then climbed over it. He kicked at the ground with a look of deep concentration on his face.

  After a while, during which time the others drank water and munched on dried beef, the dwarf eased up to Hyden. “We found your dragon,” he said. “Maybe the ship’s not far away.”

  “The dragon?” Hyden asked.

  “It is,” said Oarly. “That’s the bulk of its body there.” He pointed to the mound. “And this long tapering roll is its tail.” He trailed his finger down the long hump that pointed toward the cavern. “And that, I suppose, was its lair.” He grinned and shrugged. “It must have crawled out to die. At least it looks that way. It was a big mother in its day. Must’ve been near three hundred feet from tip to tail.” He turned and pointed out into the jungle. “I’d bet that old boot you made vanish, that not too far out there you’ll find its skull.” Oarly glanced back at the cavern and seemed eager to be into the earth. “Can’t wait to see what’s down there. Might be the big blue bastard dragged the ship down to its hoard.”

  “Might be something else has taken up residence in there, Master Dwarf,” said Deck Master Biggs as he stepped up amongst them. He corked his flask after a quick sip and handed it to Oarly. “Might be all kinds of things living in a hole that big.”

  Oarly swallowed. “Aye,” he nodded. “But we got a couple of half-arsed wizards, a few swordsmen and some arrows. And I got me axe. All we need now is some torches and we are off.”

  “We’re not going to go traipsing in there yet,
” Hyden said, thinking of the giant serpent that had slithered in on them back on Kahna. “It’ll be dark soon.” The thing that had stalked the shadows last night crossed his mind as well. “Let’s make a camp here first, and then a few of us will take a look and see how far back it goes.”

  “Bah!” Oarly growled, but he still stomped away and went to work. “Anything to keep a dwarf from getting under the ground.”

  Hyden chose to build the camp near the dragon mound. Something about the area felt safe to him. Maybe because it was relatively free of trees, or maybe because of the magical aura he’d seen radiating from the earth that covered the wyrm’s carcass, he wasn’t sure which. While the area was being cleared and the fire pit dug, Phen ranged off and found the mound that presumably held the dragon’s skull. When he told them of the discovery, Hyden could see the raw excitement in the boy’s eyes. He hoped he hadn’t brought Phen into too dangerous a situation. He had been planning on leaving Phen at the camp with Master Biggs and the seamen while he, Brady, and Oarly ventured into the cavern to look around. After careful consideration, he decided that Phen’s spells might come in handy in a pinch. That, and he couldn’t bring himself to disappoint his eager young friend. He could remember being Phen’s age, and he had been allowed to hunt the formidable Giant Mountains and scale thousand foot-high cliffs for hawkling eggs.

  “Should we set up the pavilions?” Master Biggs asked once the fire was roaring in the pit.

  “Aye,” Hyden said. “I have a feeling we’ll be here a day or two. There is no sense in letting the bugs have a free meal while we’re here.”

  One of the seamen who had been off gathering wood with Oarly came hurrying back. “We found some flowing water,” he called out as if they had found a treasure trove. “The dwarf sent me back to gather up the empty skins.”

  “That’s one less thing we have to concern ourselves with,” Hyden said more to himself than to anyone else.

  Before long there was nothing left to do but explore the cavern mouth. Oarly was as eager as Phen to venture into the imposing looking hole. Brady had long since donned his chain mail shirt and strapped a packful of torches to his back. Oarly carefully stowed his battle axe and took out a heavy pick that looked no less deadly in his hands. He slung a coil of rope over his shoulder then dangled some smaller rock-chipping tools from his belt. When he took a torch from Brady and made to light it in the fire, Phen told him that he and Hyden could make all the light they needed with magic.

  Oarly lit the torch anyway then looked Phen in the eye. “If the ceiling caves in and separates us, or if a giant bat flies down and tries to eat you for dinner, lad, I’ll not be finding my way back in the dark.”

  After hearing that, Phen decided to keep his suggestions to himself.

  Hyden strung his bow and strapped a full quiver of arrows to his back. He gave Phen his long dagger to carry. Phen dutifully strapped its sheath to his belt and fixed his brown mage robe so that it wouldn’t interfere with the handle if he needed to draw it.

  From above, Talon shrieked out a call and circled them. In his mind, Hyden told the bird to hunt itself a meal, but to stay close to the entrance. He wanted a pair of eyes outside as well as in. After that, they started into the darkness.

  Oarly led, followed by Hyden and Phen. Brady, with his sword in one hand and a torch in the other, took up the rear. Oarly’s brand wavered and threw wild shadows back across the dirt floor, but the flames were not bright enough to light all of the cavern. They could have been standing in a field. Phen cast his orb light spell and remedied the problem. The cavern was about twenty paces across, and easily as high. It was relatively clear of debris and the stone was worn smooth from countless years of the great dragon sliding in and out.

  Within moments they came across some long exposed bones. A fairly neat pile lay to one side, the skeleton of one of the dragon’s meals, by the powdery yellow looks of them. The walls were patched with a furry gray mold, which hung down in beard-like dangles here and there.

  “Look,” Oarly said, pointing to a track that had been pressed into the dusty floor. It looked fresh. The huge paw print was sharp and defined, and a lot bigger than the one Hyden had studied outside the camp. Its shape was similar, though.

  “Won’t kill that bastard with an arrow,” Oarly said, before moving on.

  They could feel a breeze from overhead. The air was warm and salty, but once they passed the natural vent, the cavern took on a dank musty smell.

  Hyden glanced back. The opening of the cave looked like nothing more than a distant rabbit hole from where he stood. He decided there was still a bit of daylight left, but as they moved deeper into the lair he told himself that he wanted to be back in the camp by full dark. He leaned his bow against Brady and cast his orb of magical light into existence with a proud grin. Brady gave him a nod of approval as Hyden took back his weapon.

  “Pretty good, huh?” Hyden asked.

  “When you get the dwarf’s boot back from wherever you made it go, I’ll be impressed,” Brady joked.

  Phen moved past Hyden during the exchange and was now easing up behind the dwarf with a mischievous look about him. The radiance from Hyden’s magical orb made the shadows thrown by Phen’s light far less noticeable. Oarly was oblivious to the boy’s approach. Hyden saw what was about to happen and prodded Brady to get his attention. Phen had a handful of the moss he’d scraped from the wall. Hyden stifled a laugh as the boy threw it over Oarly’s head and shoulders and yelled, “Spiders! Gods they’re everywhere!”

  Oarly yelled and spun, swatting at himself furiously. For a moment he looked like a dog chasing his own tail. He nearly set his hair on fire with the torch he held. His barks of terror turned quickly to curses as Hyden and Brady roared with laughter. Phen jumped around laughing and pointing at the dwarf. “Just try to scare me again with tales of giant bats, you old grouch,” Phen threatened with mock severity.

  “Ah, lad,” Oarly grumbled, fighting a grin. “You got me good, lad,” he chuckled. “But you don’t have any sort of inkling what you just started between us.”

  “You’d better be wary of Hyden Hawk,” Phen giggled. “He owes you a good one.”

  “If the scalding that cinder-pepper put on his arse didn’t warn him away,” Oarly gave Hyden a hard look, “then only the gods can save him.”

  Hyden could feel the heat on his backside when Oarly spoke the words. He would never admit it, but after the incident he had long considered letting bygones be bygones. But now getting Oarly back was a matter of pride, especially since Phen was in the game too. As they started moving deeper into the cavern, Hyden decided that he might be wise to worry about Phen as well as Oarly. The boy was clever, and wouldn’t be able to resist getting him if he had the chance.

  A few dozen paces later the cavern turned to the left and the air became ripe and fetid. Oarly pointed to a half-eaten carcass lying to one side of the floor, then to a respectable size of scat piled across the way. The hum of insects buzzing about the decaying meat filled their ears. Oarly turned, and was about to speak when a deep rumbling growl came out of the gloom behind the reach of their light.

  “No sense in running, lads,” Oarly started as he hurled his torch out into the blackness. “Might as well kill it now.”

  They could see the thing in the twirling light of the torch. It was another of the quill covered felines, but this one was twice as big as a horse. Hyden instinctively loosed an arrow at where he thought he’d seen its eye glinting in the darkness, but the creature was already charging. Brady ran up to meet it, with his sword held out ahead of him. Hyden stepped in front of Phen and loosed another arrow. This one struck the creature in the chest, but it didn’t even seem to notice.

  “For Doon!” Oarly yelled and darted with surprising quickness out of the way of a swiping claw. He swung the pickaxe at the thing’s side and it struck deeply. The weapon was yanked out of the dwarf’s hand and remained stuck in its flank. As Oarly growled his anger at the loss, a spiky
tail whipped around, and with a deep thump caught him square in the back.

  Hyden loosed again but knew that, unless he could hit the creature in the eye or the neck, his efforts were futile. With Phen behind him he backed them toward the cavern wall. Brady slashed and ducked the snapping set of slobbery teeth, then thrust his blade into the creature’s chest. It left a wicked gash, but the angry beast didn’t falter. A wild arcing claw caught Brady along his side and sent him tumbling toward the far wall. Had he not been wearing the chain mail shirt, he would have probably lost his guts. Instead, one of the creature’s claws was torn from its paw when it got caught in the links. Brady’s head was gashed wide and he didn’t seem able to get up when the creature started at him again.

  Oarly, with two spikes sticking out of his back, and blood flowing freely from the wounds, managed to shrug out of the rope coil. As the creature closed in on Brady, the dwarf ran up behind it and chopped at the root of its tail with a shovel that had been dangling from his belt. He struck true and the tip began curling and uncurling uselessly as it trailed along the floor.

  The beast roared, turning to face the dwarf in an acrobatic spin. The animal’s attack was so sudden that Oarly was left defenseless. The creature swiftly bit down on his shoulder and forced him to the ground.

  Hyden wasted another arrow, hoping to draw it off of the dwarf, but Phen shoved him out of the way and charged toward the mêlée.

  Hyden wanted to stop him, but recognized that Phen was casting a spell. He hoped it was one that would get the thing off of the dwarf because Oarly appeared savagely wounded. He decided that he couldn’t help save Oarly and protect Phen at the same time, so he sprinted toward the battle. He was moving around toward the thing’s head to try and find a shot when Phen’s spell took form.