Resting his calloused hands on his knees and sitting up straight, Ben added, “It was elves that came, and they didn’t want to make anything public about it. It’s been very quiet, but they asked for me. I told them what I knew and everything about the last time I saw Dragon, er, Nath. They caught me completely off guard, but when they departed, they seemed convinced of everything I knew. And why shouldn’t they be? After all, I told them the truth.”
“Of course you did,” Bayzog said, pouring Ben another glass of wizard water.
Ben drank again and set the glass down with a throaty “Ah!” He shook his head. “This seems inappropriate. That brew makes me feel better for telling the horrible news I had. I shouldn’t feel good, but I do. Is that bad?”
“Ben, don’t worry about it.” Bayzog reached over and patted him on the back. “You carried this guilt too long and needed to get it off your chest.”
“That’s a true statement if I ever heard one.” Ben let out another heavy sigh. “So as soon as the elves left, I rushed back home and opened the chest where I’d stored Akron. It and the quiver were gone. I swear I felt my heart sink straight into the very heart of Nalzambor. I was sick. Mortally sick. I wanted to tell you, Bayzog, I did, but I was so ashamed.” He sank his face into his hands and sobbed. “I’ve been a wreck ever since.”
“I hate to ask, but was the chest locked?”
Ben nodded. “And it was still locked when I opened it. I don’t understand how this could happen. My wife and children…none of them saw anything. And the lock is dwarven, and I always keep the key on me. There are but a very few who can pick such a lock.” He sat back up and leaned into the sofa. “It’s my fault. All my fault, and now they’re hunting for Dragon. Can you believe that?”
Rubbing his finger under his chin, the half-elf wizard said, “There isn’t much I don’t believe can happen these days. I don’t suppose you’ve heard from Nath, have you?”
“Nothing. I wanted to search him out myself, but I won’t leave my family—and if anyone can take care of himself, it’s Dragon. But deep in my bones, I feel like something is greatly wrong. Do you ever get that feeling?” Ben asked.
“All too often.” Bayzog rose to his feet and started over toward his large, round study table. “You are aware that plenty of eyes have seen you use that bow. It’s far from a secret, and you are one of Quintuklen’s heroes. Have you noted anything suspicious? Perhaps someone is avoiding you who didn’t before?”
“No. Everyone’s too worried about the giants, and I haven’t been fool enough to speak about it. Even my wife doesn’t know.” Ben punched a pillow. “I’m a fool!”
“Easy now.” Bayzog wanted to say whatever he could to bring Ben relief, but these troubles were even worse than he’d suspected. The elves would avenge Laedorn. Certainly they would try to capture Nath and bring him to justice—and they would have it one way or another. That was one problem, but the other was finding out who had taken Akron. There were two possibilities. In one, Nath was possessed, and he took it. Or in the second possibility, an imposter was setting Nath up—which was more likely. But there were very few who could pull off such a feat, and the only one they knew personally capable of such a crime was Gorlee.
So little is known about the changelings. Perhaps they have sided with the titans. After all, they’re a neutral breed.
Ben got up and started pacing around the sofa while tapping the glass in his hand with his finger. He made a few rounds before stopping at Bayzog’s table, looking right at him, and saying, “Bayzog, you have the power. You need to go after them.”
“Go after who?” he said with mild astonishment.
“After your sons and Dragon. Can’t you see it has to be you? You can get word out and warn him. Find your sons and bring them back before things get even worse.”
“I can’t leave Sasha.”
“We can take care of her, me and my family. It would be our honor.” Ben took Bayzog by the shoulders and squeezed them. “You know it has to be you.”
“No,” said another voice that had entered the room. It was Sasha. “It has to be us.”
CHAPTER 7
Balzurth walked with his elbows swinging and a grand smile on his face. His strides were long through the tall grass, making it tough for Brenwar to keep up. The grim dwarf was like a child around Balzurth, having to rush forward to keep up from time to time, only to fall to the rear again. “It’s good to walk. My feet on the earth have meaning,” said the Dragon King. And then he turned around to yell, “How are you doing back there, Brenwar?”
“Never better,” the dwarf yelled back. “I like stretching my stumpy legs.”
In step with Balzurth, Nath beamed with admiration. There was nothing like being in the presence of his father, especially when he was showing his lighter side. The Dragon King wore a tunic crafted from leather that was a dull shade of emerald. He’d created the dye from the bark of trees combined with the local grasses. There were boots on Balzurth’s feet formed from the skins of lizards and snakes and the hide of a boar. Though he was human in shape and form, there was an uncanny quality about him. An air. It lifted the spirits of them all.
“It’s good to be with you, Father.” Nath stretched out his clawed hands and compared them to the bare arms of his father. “No scales?”
“There should be,” Balzurth said, glancing at the black scales on Nath’s arms. “But you picked an interesting color. Why is that?”
“I like it, but I can change it,” Nath replied.
“No, that won’t be necessary. I know your heart is as red as mine, and that’s what counts. Besides, the black looks good on you.” Balzurth clamped his hand over Nath’s wrist. “But be reminded, Son, that there is more to your scales than meets the eye. They do more than protect you like armor from piercing weapons, and they aren’t for show or decoration.”
Nath felt his father’s strength coursing up his arm. It was as if the strength of an entire dragon was in the palm of a man’s mighty grip. It was the power he’d once had and ever longed for. “What else do the scales do?” he asked, trying to distract himself from his oppressive feeling of loss.
“They’re stronger than flesh in more ways than one. They protect you from many of the temptations men suffer. Have you not noticed that?”
Nath had never thought about that before. Thinking back, he realized the ways of men weren’t as appealing as they had been before. He had better control over his emotions and urges. “I suppose I have been different since I got my scales.”
“Yes, you are, and that’s why dragons don’t get caught up in the affairs of men. They have no desire for all the drama.” Balzurth reached down and scooped up some wildflowers from the ground and handed them back to Laylana. “For you.”
She sniffed the flowers with a thrill in her light-green eyes. “Thank you, Balzurth.”
“The pleasure is mine, elven lady.” He turned his attention back to Nath. “You were about to say something, Son?”
“Aren’t you at risk without your scales?”
“I’d be lying if I denied I was tingling all over. It makes me think of the times when I was free like you, adventuring from town to town and freeing one damsel in distress after the other.” Balzurth smacked his lips with a gleam in his eyes. “Those were adventurous times. One does silly things when he thinks his life is only mortal. But the greater treasures are rewarded through patience and discipline. You’re doing good things, Son, and I’m proud of you. You wear those scales quite well.”
“Not as well as you, apparently.”
“In time it will come, so long as you do the right thing.” Balzurth reached his hand into the air, and a blue bird landed on his finger and began singing. He hummed along.
“You know, Father, I’ve been trying to do the right thing, but the world is still a mess.”
“Yes, and we journey to remedy that. For now. I’m not saying it will be easy. It never is, and it never lasts. But we must do it. Besides, we want to.
”
The four of them marched for hours toward the setting sun like an invincible army. On their journey, Balzurth revealed many things about his youth that were similar to Nath’s. It seemed his father had had his own pitfalls. Nath felt a closeness between them begin to build, and the stories Balzurth told weren’t as long and boring as they used to seem.
These stories are fantastic. Was I really so impatient?
They were still days away from Quintuklen when the skies began to darken. Night fell, and as they walked on, the sound of war drums caught Nath’s ear.
Balzurth stopped and said, “That sounds interesting.” He tilted his head. “Sounds like orcs are in our midst and having a party without me.” He slapped Nath on the shoulder and looked back at Brenwar with a broad grin. “Let’s go give them a greeting they’ll never forget.”
“Aye!” Brenwar replied.
With his long red locks waving in the wind, Balzurth made a beeline for the thumping sounds that stirred the menace of the night. The drums were a warning that orcs would often beat. It was their deranged custom to instill fear in their enemies and to let the weaker people in the world know they were coming. Nath always thought it was stupid to make so much noise where stealth should be applied, but they were orcs. Everything they did was offensive and brash.
The drumbeats were joined by howls and cries after they’d walked a mile to the drumbeats. Soon, they were overlooking a band of orcs that had formed a camp nestled in the woodland. Hidden among the trees, they watched the orcs beat their armored chests and guzzle wine from flasks. A huge campfire blazed, and beyond its flames were two husky orcs pounding on their drums as the celebration and clamor rose among them.
“Hmmm,” Balzurth said. “They seem happy. Happy orcs mean trouble. I’d better see what’s going on. All of you stay here and watch.”
“No, Father, wait,” Nath said.
But Balzurth slipped free of his grasp and cut for the camp with the ease of a leopard.
Brenwar, war hammer in hand, rushed to Nath’s side. “What’s he doing?”
Laylana pressed into Nath from his other side and added, “He’s going to fight them all, isn’t he.”
“I have no idea what he’s doing. I never have any idea what he’s doing.” Nath crept forward from one tree to another, with Brenwar and Laylana on his hips but with his eyes never leaving his father. Balzurth was moments away from wading into the middle of the orc camp. Nath knew in his head it wasn’t anything he needed to be worried about. After all, they were orcs, and they were about to face Balzurth. Still, his scales tingled.
“Nath,” Brenwar said, nudging him in the back. He pointed in another direction. “Look.”
Beyond the fire and back against the clearing tree line were cages. Long necks lifted up with serpentine heads, and bright eyes locked on Balzurth, who had just waded into the middle of the orc camp.
The pounding on the drums stopped. The orcs, at least ten that Nath could see, stopped in the middle of their celebration. Discovering Balzurth standing among them, they dropped their drinks and drew their knives and swords and advanced.
Balzurth froze them in their tracks when he said in a dangerous voice, “How dare you cage my dragons? You’ll pay for that!”
CHAPTER 8
“Sasha, please, you need rest,” Bayzog said, taking her hands in his and trying to sit her down. “Let me get you something to drink.”
“No!” She jerked away from him. “I heard everything, Bayzog. I know I have the dementia now, or at least I’ve put it together when I’m in my right mind. But I know what I saw. Our sons are dead if not in horrible danger. I can feel it in the marrow of my bones!” She walked over to an open closet and grabbed a backpack and threw it at Bayzog. “Let’s go!”
“As you wish.” Bayzog glanced at Ben, turned, and headed to a wooden chest that sat on the floor and opened up the lid. He began placing items inside the pack that she’d given him, one by one.
“Hello, Sasha,” Ben said, approaching with open arms. “It’s good to see you again.”
Sasha burst into tears and rushed into Ben’s arms. She clutched him, and with heavy sobs, she said, “Oh Ben, you must help Bayzog and me find my sons. I can’t bear to not see them again while I rot away.” Her body shuddered. “I know I need help. Bayzog needs help. The evil in me is destroying me.”
“I will help,” Ben promised. “I will help.” He gave Bayzog a feeble glance. “You know you can count on me and Bayzog. And I know Rerry and Samaz can take care of themselves until we find them.” He separated himself from her a little. “It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if they were on their way back with a cure right now. Sasha?”
The woman stood staring back at him as if he weren’t there. Her vibrancy was gone, and the tears began to dry on her face.
“She’s gone,” Bayzog said with a sigh. He wiped his eyes on his sleeve. “Every time that happens, I fear it will be the last I ever see of her again. I swear my heart is imploding in my chest.”
Dumbfounded, all Ben could say was, “I can’t imagine.”
Bayzog carefully emptied the contents of the rucksack back into the chest and closed the lid. He hung the pack back up in the closet. “Did you believe her when she said our sons were dead?”
“I know a mother’s instinct is far greater than a father’s. So yes, I’m convinced they are in great peril.” Ben put his arm around Sasha’s slender waist and led her to the sofa. “Do you have any way of finding them?”
“I can attempt to find them with my resources, but I’ve tried that and haven’t had any success as of yet.” Bayzog grabbed the books that floated over his desk, closed them up, and stacked them on the edge. He made his way back over to the closet and grabbed the Elderwood Staff, which leaned back in the corner. “Ben, I’m going to have to take you up on your offer. Is it still available?”
“Of course it is, Bayzog,” Ben said. “But I can’t let you go it alone. I must come with you. You’re no tracker. You’ll need me.”
“Who will take care of Sasha? I can only trust you.”
“My wife, Margo, can handle it.” Ben showed a confident smile. “Trust me, she and the girls can handle anything. They’ll thrive at this. They’re wonderful caregivers. The best. Just ask the Legionnaires. My family’s stitched up more men than dragons have scales. I promise, Sasha couldn’t be in better hands. Besides, I promised her.”
Bayzog got on his knees in front of Sasha. Her face was so thin, and her eyes were listless and weak. He couldn’t stay put and do nothing any longer. It was time he took matters into his own hands, and he’d have to trust some friends to do it. He kissed her hands and said, “I’ll find a cure for you, my love. And I will find our sons and bring them back. I promise.”
CHAPTER 9
An orc with a big body and a little head stepped into Balzurth’s path. The ugly humanoid was half covered in iron armor that rattled and squeaked. He had a horrible underbite, and two canine teeth popped up on both sides of his nose that gave him a menacing look. “Fool! What are you doing in my camp? Have you come to be slaughtered?”
The snickering orcs formed a tight circle around Balzurth.
Nath’s grip tightened on Fang’s hilt. His father had told him to wait and he was obeying, but it didn’t seem natural. It was uncomfortable, and it didn’t help that his blood was rising. He eased forward.
Brenwar caught him by the elbow and tugged him back. “I’m as ready as you are, but we have our orders.”
Balzurth stood face to face with the orc. “You have my dragons. I suggest you let them go, but if you’ll allow me, I’d be glad to do it myself.”
“No dragons will be freed, old man,” the orc said with a sneer. Spittle dripped down his chin. “If anything, you’ll be joining then in your own cage.” He gave Balzurth the once over and stared hard into his eyes. “Your eyes are like gold. Perhaps we should cut them out, orcs. What do you say? Seize him!”
Surrounded by weapons, Balzurth watch
ed with muted interest as the orcs bound his wrists up in heavy ropes.
“Put this fool in a cage,” said the leader of the orcs, and then he leaned into Balzurth and added, “Keep quiet, too, or we’ll have you for dinner.”
Nath watched the rough-handed orcs shove Balzurth into a steel cage barely big enough to fit him in, and they padlocked it.
Laylana pushed Nath in the small of his back. “We need to free him. Oh, I’d like to show those orcs a thing or two.”
“Great Guzan, what is my father doing? Is this what he wanted us to see, him getting captured?”
“He doesn’t seem to be in any danger,” Brenwar said. He had a stern look on his face. “Just give it a moment.”
Concealed in the forest, they held their position for several long minutes. The drums started to beat again, and the orcs renewed their celebration, drinking and singing horrible songs that would make the deaf cringe.
Taken up in the scene of orcen frivolity, Nath momentarily forgot his father, so that when he looked back, his father’s cage door was open.
Balzurth’s mighty man frame was twisting the padlocks off the dragon cages and letting a small orange blaze and a green lily dragon go free. Both of them nuzzled into Balzurth as he stroked their long necks and the tiny horns on their heads.
“Hold there!” an orc yelled at Balzurth. The drums came to a stop again. The orc snatched up a spear and hurled it at Balzurth. The drunken throw sailed high and vanished into the forest.
The small cat-sized dragons’ wings beat, and they took to the air and were out of sight through the tree branches that hung over the camp.
The orcen leader gaped and screamed. “Who let him out of there? I’ll have your head!”
In a voice that rose over all of the weapon-drawing scuffles, Balzurth said, “No one let me out, you fool. I let myself out.” He stepped back and opened up the door of his cage once again and said to the leader. “Now you get in there! Come on. I don’t want to be standing here all night. I have better things to do than teach orcs a lesson.”
Eyes of the Dragon (The Chronicles of Dragon, Series 2, Book 4) (Tail of the Dragon) Page 3
