Dragon Bones (The Dragonwalker Book 1)

by D. K. Holmberg

  Could it be her way of taking for herself all of the money Horus might pay?

  No. That didn’t seem quite right. For her to deceive him like that, she would have needed to be paid significantly more. She had been all too willing to go with him as he accompanied the priest, which meant that losing the priest had changed something.

  They guided him away from the road, marching him across the ground at a rapid clip. In the distance, a campsite became visible. Fes saw it as cook fires and a row of neatly arranged horses.

  Fes glanced at his captors every so often as they dragged him through the campsite. There had to be three dozen or more tents here, all of them arranged neatly, a coordinated series of rows. A military encampment.

  No one here wore the colors of the empire. Alarm bells went off in Fes’s head. If there wasn’t anyone here from the empire, that meant that these people served a different lord. After the talk about the rebellion, he hadn’t expected to see any sign of it, but could they have been caught by them?

  He glanced over at Alison. Unlike him, she walked free.

  “What is this about, Alison?”

  She glanced over. At first, Fes wasn’t sure that she would answer, and then she shook her head. “This is about making a choice, Fes, the same way as you made one.” She glanced over at him before turning away. “You weren’t the only one who wanted to get away from Horus. I made my own choice. You need to make one now.”

  What she asked of him became evident as they made their way through the camp. He understood what it was that Alison was asking him to choose and where they were bringing him, though not how Alison had gotten involved in it. The rebellion.

  That was why they had only wanted Alison and Fes. They hadn’t thought they would need more, not if the plan had always been to meet up with the rebellion.

  “How long have you been a part of it?”

  “Long enough to know that it’s the side you should be on.”

  “The rebellion is the side I should be on?” He looked around, and the two men marching along either side of him shot him a hard look. They had the numbers, but they didn’t appear any more intimidating than most of the people in the city. If he met them one on one, or if he came across them while traveling, he wouldn’t have hesitated to attack them.

  “If you understood what the rebellion was after, you would know.”

  Fes shook his head. “How is Talmund involved in the rebellion?”

  “It will all make sense soon.”

  Fes doubted that. Somehow, he had been drawn into this. The priest had wanted Fes—but why? “How long have you been working for them?”

  She stared at him blankly for a moment.

  “How long?”

  “Ever since you left.”

  Fes looked away. He tested the bindings at his wrists, but they were securely fastened. “All this time you accused me of betrayal for wanting something else, you’ve done the same.”

  “The same?” She started toward him, and one of the men—a younger man with a flat expression—touched her arm, and she shook her head before rejoining him. “I’ve been working for a much more important purpose than you with Azithan.”

  “I’m sure you have,” Fes said. “I’m sure that the rebellion”— he looked around at the procession, and shook his head in annoyance—“has a very important purpose. As far as I can tell, they’re no different than Carter.”

  Alison glared for a moment. “Do not equate them to Carter.”

  “And why not? Why do you think they are so different than Carter? All she wants is power. Isn’t that the exact same thing the rebellion wants?”

  The man walking next to him jerked on his bindings, and it forced Fes to take a few steps away from Alison. He hadn’t even realized that he was scooting toward her, and it seemed as if the man intended to protect her from Fes.

  He laughed bitterly. “I’m not going to hurt her. If you know anything about me, you’ll know that I would have no interest in hurting Alison.”

  The man glanced over at Alison, who nodded.

  Fes chuckled. “See? Even Alison admits that.”

  “The rebellion is about much more than simply power,” Alison said, looking over at Fes. “What they are doing is important. It’s about freedom.”

  Fes glanced over. “Don’t you mean what we are doing?”

  Alison glared at him for a moment. “Fine. What we are doing is important. I don’t care that you don’t believe in the work—you don’t have to—but that doesn’t change what we are doing, or the reason that we are doing it.”

  “Don’t you tell me why you’re doing it,” Fes said. “Tell me what you think is so important.”

  “Because people have been enslaved by the empire for generations. Your ancestors. Mine. We’ve been forced to serve, and for what? What has the empire ever given us? They use dragon relics to maintain power, holding us in our places. The rebellion would change all that.”

  Fes glanced at the others with Alison, but they stared straight ahead, unconcerned by him. And there was no reason that they needed to be concerned about him. Fes was completely trapped, and there was nothing he could do at this point. Then again, what did he want to do? He had no interest in hurting Alison. And he couldn’t fight his way free, not with as many people as were here. At least with these soldiers, they wouldn’t have to fear Carter and her men.

  “How long have you been planning to betray me?”

  “Betray you? I haven’t betrayed you at all.”

  “You led me into your plans. You forced me to be a part of this.”

  “No one has forced you to do anything,” an older man said, joining them. He was dressed in a dark jacket, and his silver hair was slicked back on his head. He glanced at Alison warmly. Fes could only shake his head. “You made a choice, Fezarn.”

  “I wish you people would stop calling me that.”

  “Is it not your name?” the man asked.

  “It might be my name, but I don’t care for you using it.”

  “Is there a reason you don’t care for the name that your parents gave to you?”

  Fes stared at the man for a moment, debating how he would answer. The man was baiting him, and he had long ago learned how to ignore men like that. He was older, with a deep crease that furrowed his brow, and there was something strange, almost a sense of energy that seemed to emanate from him.

  “I would imagine that your parents spent considerable time and energy choosing a name. A name makes a man, some would say.”

  Fes grunted. “The name makes a man? No. A man makes a man. The name is nothing more than that. A name.”

  “And what kind of man are you?”

  Fes looked away from the man, turning his attention from the intense stare. This man—this rebel—considered him with an unsettling sort of attention. There was activity in the camp all around them, and more and more people were coming in, joining the several dozen rebels. Even with these numbers, there wouldn’t be enough to pose much of a threat to the empire. The empire had thousands of soldiers—thousands upon thousands—and far more than the paltry numbers that he saw here.

  “I’m a kind of man who knows what I am meant to do.”

  “I would argue that you are the kind of man who does not know that. If you knew what you were meant to do, you wouldn’t resist working with us.”

  Fes turned his attention back to the man. “And that’s what this is? Some sort of recruitment?” He looked back around the camp. “From what I can tell, this is little more than a capture.”

  The rebel forced a flat smile. “Perhaps that is all it is. Regardless, you will work with us.”

  “And how, exactly, am I to work with you?”

  “You will help us find Talmund.”

  Fes grunted, laughing again. “All of this to force me to do what I was going to do anyway?”

  “This wouldn’t have been necessary had you managed to get him to us before.”

  Fes glanced over at Alison. “Was that always
the plan?” He thought so, but wanted to know.

  She stared at him a moment. “Not at first.” That surprised him. “After the Bayars were attacked, I sent word.”

  “You have me here, and I’ve already told you that I intend to help, so what now?”

  “That’s it?”

  “Should there be something more? I didn’t figure there was a need for anything more, but maybe I’m wrong.” The man glanced from Fes to Alison, seemingly uncertain what he should say. Fes only laughed to himself. “You don’t need these,” he said, motioning to the restraints. “If you intend to go after Talmund, then I’m with you. What choice do I have if I want to get paid?”

  A part of him wondered if he should head back and warn Azithan. If the fire mage knew that he’d been captured by the rebellion, it was possible that he’d send more help. Even if he did, it would be too late. Whatever they were after would be gone.

  For Fes to know how deep the deception had gone, he needed to stay and learn. Which meant working with the rebellion for now.

  The man nodded to one of the men on the other side of Fes, and he untied the ropes. When he was done, Fes turned to him and held out his hand. When the man arched his brow, Fes step toward him. “My daggers.”

  “What?” the man asked.

  “My daggers. I will have them back.”

  The man glanced from Fes to the leader of the rebellion. He frowned, flicking his gaze to Alison for a moment before turning his attention back to Fes. “Let him have it.”

  Fes waited, holding his hand out until he received one of the daggers. The other man didn’t attempt to give him the other, so Fes darted toward him and jabbed the dagger up toward his neck. “The other one, too.”

  Movement came around him, and Fes grinned, removing the dagger from the man’s neck. He took a step back, twisting his dagger in his hands until he could slam it into the sheath at his belt. The other man hesitated a moment before handing over Fes’s other dagger. When he had them both, he breathed out a sigh of relief.

  The rebellion leader watched him, studying him for a long moment before turning away and motioning for them to follow.

  Fes looked over at Alison before following her. As he went, he glared at her, and she made a point of not looking over at him. When they neared an enormous tent, she finally glanced back at him. “I don’t want to hear it, Fes.”

  “Don’t want to hear what?”

  “I don’t want to hear you making any judgments. You have your motivations, and I have mine.”

  “Mine haven’t been quite as secretive.”

  “Neither have mine. Not if you were paying attention.”

  “You wanted more than you could get in the city. The same as I did. That doesn’t mean the rebellion.” She started away from him, but he grabbed her arm. “You would have me believe that you weren’t trying to hide your involvement in the rebellion from me? That everything you’ve done with Horus has been about the rebellion?”

  She glanced over before ducking into the tent. “Like I said, I haven’t been hiding anything from you. Not if you were paying attention.”

  Fes stared at her back as she stepped into the tent.

  When he went to follow, one of the men beside him grabbed his arm. It was someone he hadn’t seen before, and Fes hadn’t heard him approach. That would bother him, but it wouldn’t be difficult for anyone to sneak up on him given how distracted he’d been.

  Fes spun, almost reaching for his daggers, but the man stepped back, raising his hands. “Whoa, no need for that.”

  “Then don’t touch me.”

  “I was just trying to keep you from having a sword through your belly.”

  “If they wanted to put a sword through my belly, they could have done so when they first found me.”

  The man shrugged. “Probably, but you’re not going to be allowed in that tent.”

  “And why not?”

  “Because that’s where they’re making plans.”

  “And let me guess: They don’t want me to be a part of them.”

  The man flashed a smile. He was slightly wider than Fes, though not nearly as tall. A long scar ran across his chin, leaving the skin slightly dimpled. There was an easy-going affability about him, and Fes suspected the man was good in a fight.

  “You know how it is.”

  Fes looked around, glancing at the man before shaking his head. “I very much don’t know how it is. I don’t know anything about what’s going on other than the fact that I have somehow joined up with the rebellion.”

  The man flashed a smile. “You’ve joined? Good. I think they were worried they were going to have to kill you.”

  Fes stared at him, trying to determine if the man was joking, but didn’t see any sign of that. “I didn’t join.”

  The man shrugged. “Well, then I hope you decide to join so that they don’t have to kill you.”

  “You can stop saying that,” Fes said.

  The man chuckled. “My name is Micah.” He stretched out a hand, waiting for Fes to take it. When he did, the man’s grip was firm—almost like getting squeezed by a vice. Yes, this man would be very good in a fight.

  “I’m Fes.”

  “Fes? That’s an interesting name. I’m sure you get that a lot.”

  “Actually, most the time people don’t say anything about my name.”

  “All right, if you say so. Why don’t you come with me while they’re in there, chatting?” Micah said.

  “Where would you have me go?”

  “Well, this is a campsite, so you might as well come to the campfire, have something to eat, and maybe something to drink.”

  Fes’s stomach rumbled. It was easy to overlook how hungry he was, and it was easy to forget how long it had been since he’d eaten, at least regularly. He had food, but not nearly as often as he would were he in the city.

  Fes allowed Micah.

  They wound their way through the camp and Micah waved at people as he went, obviously friendly with many people here. Every so often, he would pause and step aside, whispering something to someone, and then begin laughing before moving on. The camp had doubled in size since Fes had come and was now at the size where he knew he had to be careful. Even before, he had known he would have to proceed with care, but with nearly seventy soldiers, all rebels, he was a little concerned about how others might perceive him and what they might do.

  “You come from the capital? Anuhr?” Micah said as they neared a larger campfire at the center of the tents.

  Fes nodded. “I come from the capital. I took a job, and here I am.”

  “Some job.”

  Fes breathed out heavily. “That’s the truth.” Would he have done anything differently had he known that this would’ve happened? Would he have avoided taking the job, regardless of what it paid? With Carter’s involvement—and now the rebellion—he would rather have stayed in the city. It would have been safer, regardless of what he might get paid.

  “How did you get mixed up with her?” Micah asked, motioning toward the command tent.

  “I’ve known her for a while.”

  Micah arched a brow, a wide grin spreading across his face. “Have you? Not too many men get to cozy up with her.”

  “Probably for good reason. She gets under your skin and gets angry when you don’t do things the way that she wants, and even if you do exactly what you tell her that you’re going to do, she still…” Fes shook his head. It didn’t matter. He’d let his connection to Alison go long ago, and this wasn’t going to do anything to change that.

  Micah motioned for him to sit, so Fes found a barrel resting near the fire and took a seat on it. There were others around the fire. A woman who worked a spit eyed him suspiciously for a long moment before turning back to what she had been doing. Another man stood near a massive pot and stirred it occasionally.

  “You came with the priest, then?”

  “We were escorting him, and I was supposed to bring something back, when—“

&nb
sp; Micah’s eyes narrowed. “We heard about the attacks and the mercenaries. I can’t believe they would have attacked the Bayars like that.”

  “The woman who did it is a real bastard,” Fes said.

  “I hear she’s been attacking other merchants that make their way north,” Micah said.

  Fes’s heart caught. If anything happened to Theole and Indra, he might actually cut Carter down. There was no reason to do anything to those two, and all they had wanted was to make it north, get through the mountains, and return to their family. They didn’t deserve anything other than that safety.

  “What have you heard?”

  Micah waved his hand. “Stories, nothing more than that. Half of the time, stories are just that, especially when it deals with attacks on people heading this way. The empire has patrols that come this way, but there’s only so much that they can keep track of. You know how it is.”

  That was the problem. Fes didn’t know how it was. He felt out of his element and had felt that way ever since leaving the city. If this was all about a valuable dragon relic, would it even be possible for him to reach it first?

  “Are you hungry?”

  “I could eat,” Fes said.

  Micah smiled and nodded to the man who was working at the pot. He spooned a steaming bowl of something and walked it over to Micah. Micah brought it to his nose and inhaled deeply. “Probably not what you are used to in the city, but it’s pretty good, especially considering the alternative. We can’t stop anywhere for too long; otherwise, we draw the attention of the empire. Can’t have that, not with what we do. We’re just a part of it, you know? Not the whole thing. Too dangerous to keep all of us together.”

  Fes looked around the camp. How many actually were in the rebellion? A camp like this wouldn’t pose much of a challenge to the empire, but maybe that wasn’t the point. They were able to move this way quickly, and they could avoid detection doing that. “And what is it that you do?”

  “We are working to make a difference, trying to impact the way that the empire uses people. It’s not easy, and most of the time, there’s not a whole lot that we can do other than try to reach for small victories. We’ve had enough of those, especially lately, and if we can reach the dragon heart, it might finally start to turn things for us.”