by Vic Broquard
“Agreed. I hate it worse than you do, old friend. Agreed. We begin tonight. This time, nothing can possibly go wrong. Is it to be fifteen or sixteen this time?”
“Asami folk are not worth taking. Fifteen. We can alternate who gets the odd one each time. Spread them out over two weeks as usual,” Werner answered. The two departed to see to the execution of their new breeding plan.
Chapter 31 Discoveries
By the end of September, Zoran finished arranging suitable housing and temporary employment for another thirty families from the various planets who insisted on being there to help their wives or daughters. He simply could not refuse them and their emotional reunions spoke volumes. Additionally, he had the mages schedule trips home for all of the others to visit their families as well, staggering them during the fall. Every one of the women personally thanked him for making this happen for them.
As October came, Zoran began to relax, feeling things were finally settling down and under control. That feeling lasted one day, for the following day, word reached him of another missing young wife from one of the northern provinces. Her age fit the pattern as well as the circumstances of her disappearance. He sighed and set to work once more. This time, he went straight to Kachina to ask her if she could sense the abduction of the woman, perhaps giving him some clues as to where she was being held.
For Kachina, all this seemed frighteningly similar as she worked her divination magic. As before, she was able to isolate the terror of the young woman as the dragons kidnaped her from her bedroom and Shadow Walked her to the rendezvous location. Kachina counted fifteen women all told this time and as before they met at the boulder field on Isi. However, this time, all traces of the women completely vanished after that. “It’s as if their minds were wiped clean of all emotion and fright, as if they had never even been abducted,” she explained.
Zoran then Shadow Walked to Voss and checked the cavern complex where the ninety-six were held. Deserted. Dust was slowly settling on the stone floors, no foot prints were visible. His conclusion was simple: they had built yet another secret hideout. Frustrated, Zoran visited Aldrick to again ask his aide. Furious, Aldrick promised to investigate immediately. However, when he reported back, he said, “I grilled them, but both Dario and Werner swear that they do not have a single human female in their maternity caverns, only their own dragon mates. Considering how he answered, Zoran, I believe that he is being truthful. He does not have humans this time. I am truly sorry.”
At this point, Zoran knew that he really had a problem and continued to monitor the situation. Relaying the data to the other barons, he asked them to keep him informed on any missing women on their planets. He could find little else to go on and felt frustrated. He needed a break, but didn’t get one. As September turned into October and then November, more abductions were reported. Each one he tried to trace, but came up with the same results. Worse, there was no discernable pattern this time. Before, the abductions occurred every two weeks, precisely to the night. Now it seemed random, but at least three women were disappearing from Adapazan every four weeks or so. Worse, the rendezvous locations were never at the same place as they had been before. Each time Kachina worked her divination magic, she lost them all right after they merged into one flock. “I need a break!” he cursed and pounded his own desk.
Duska Adrianna Whitehall continued to make extremely good progress learning her Duska defensive fighting skills and really wanted to move on to taking the offensive with her twin short swords. “She has the knack for it, baron, but I would like your opinion if you think she’s ready,” Dana gave his weekly report on his student.
“Okay, I’ll test her tonight, Dana, though I am sure that your judgment is a sound one. When has it ever been otherwise?” he replied, more worried about the recent clandestine abductions.
Dana flushed. Dare he say why he distrusted his own observations? Zoran detected his slight flush and put his attention on Dana completely, causing the young man to squirm slightly. “Okay, okay, I want your opinion on Adrianna because mine may be biased, colored.”
“How so?” Zoran asked without thinking. Had he thought a bit more, he ought to have known. As it was, he embarrassed his Master Swordsman further.
“She and I — well, we’ve sort of fallen for each other. I didn’t intend for it to happen. It just did. I mean I never thought that I’d get over losing Wen, but I can’t help it. I can’t tell if I’m putting what I want to see in her there or if she really does have what it takes,” Dana blurted it out, realizing that he never could withhold anything of importance from Zoran. His baron had that all-knowing air about him.
“I’m sorry. I haven’t been paying enough attention to things up close to me of late. All these women being abducted has unnerved me. I understand, Dana. She is quite attractive and has more potential than most — spunky woman who doesn’t give up. Reminds me of Zdenka. Sure, I’ll test her thoroughly and give you an honest appraisal tonight.” Dana relaxed, he felt quite relieved that at least Zoran knew of his feelings for Adrianna.
That evening, Dana explained to Adrianna that Zoran would be giving her a defensive fighter test to make sure that he had not overlooked any holes in her defensive reactions and responses. “Oh my! The baron himself? What if I get all nervous and goof up, Dana?” Worry lines creased her forehead and chin.
“Hey, relax, dear. Think of him as just another one of your pub’s slightly drunken men. Trust your training patterns and you’ll do fine. Honestly, hardly anyone has ever beaten him, so don’t worry about that,” he attempted to calm her down. He began helping her into all of the thick protective gear needed when practicing combat with real enchanted short swords. One miscalculated move could result in a very serious injury or death. The padded armor protected them from the worst of it, though a blade could still cut through it if one was not careful.
Zoran showed up in good spirits. For him, this was a pleasureful diversion from his many problems. Dana quickly helped him into another padded outfit and he strapped on his twin short swords. “Adrianna, this is simply a test to see if you have your defensive actions down. We Duska never know when an assassin may strike us. When I was eighteen, I managed to survive three assassination attempts on my life and they came when I least expected them. That’s why we place such an emphasis on fast reactions to dangerous threats. Our goal here is to train you to be able to survive whatever may get thrown at you. Shall we?”
“Yes, sir,” she said, still quite nervous about the surprise testing. Any nervousness she had vanished almost at once. Spinning, twirling short swords coming at you tends to force you to focus immediately. Thrusts, lunges, fakes, Zoran threw the book at her, though on a gradient, beginning with only one of his swords making the attack at one time. She countered, dodged, and feinted herself. He noticed that unlike most fighters, she did not favor her strong side, usually the right. That is excellent, he noted. At last, he upped the ante and began using both short swords in his attack.
Adrianna sweated, concentrated, and watched her opponent’s moves. God, he’s good, she thought, bringing her left sword up to parry and deflecting his right sword’s thrust. Expecting a left side follow through, she brought hers up to block his and steel clashed. She’d anticipated it properly and met his. Both pairs of blades slipped off of each other and each stepped back a step, as Zoran began to make his next move. Short swords are really a battle of speed and dexterity, quite unlike the attack modes of the much heavier weapons. This was a style that Zoran loved. For once, he was getting a good work out, one that only Dana could give him in the past. Well, that was not entirely true; Zdenka’s father could too, before age took its toll on him. She’s good, he thought and picked up his tempo even more.
My god, how can he go this fast! Adrianna thought, barely able to deflect his whirling blades. She found herself having to constantly back up, unable to parry or deflect his flashing swords at this speed. As she neared the back wall, she thought, darn it anyway! Trip! She cast o
ne of her useful spells on Zoran. His feet tripped and for the first time in the test, Zoran felt challenged. He had not expected this twist but he was not going to allow her to win this easily. Although falling forward, he added to it, tucking and rolling as he hit the mat, bringing his left short sword in a sweeping arc around to his backside, while he thrust his right one straight behind him. It was a calculated move, one designed to protect his rear while he regained his posture.
Adrianna saw him duck and roll and was hesitant to simply take the bait and rush up behind him. As a result she saw his left arm swinging around and met his sword with her left one. At the same time she saw the stabbing right one and knew that she had been right. If she had rushed him, she’d have taken it in her stomach. Instead, she dodged and put her right sword at his neck.
Zoran felt cold steel at his neck and promptly stopped and dropped both swords. As he felt her back off, he turned and removed his protective head gear. “Incredibly well done, Adrianna! You are only the third person ever to best me in a sword match! That was a really good, unexpected move you made. Honestly, I can’t believe I fell for a Trip spell. Well done!”
Adrianna removed her head gear, sweat pouring down the sides of her cheeks. She was breathless. “I did it. Wow! Say, who else bested you? I can’t believe I did it. I am sorry. I got a little pissed there at the end. I know I am not supposed to go on the offensive, but I was not about to get backed into the wall.”
“Sometimes, the best defense if a good offense, Adrianna. That was one of them. Dana here often bests me and Zdenka’s father used too when he was my Master Swordsman many years ago. You really do have a knack for this. Dana, the only flaw that I could find is the inherent flaw with all beginners. She backs off when the action of two attacking swords becomes too great. Just more practice and experience is all she needs for that. I agree with your judgment. Adrianna, you are ready to tackle the offensive side, if you desire to learn more.” He offered her his hand, surprising her even further.
“Yes, I want to learn more. It is quite a workout, but I think that being able to handle swords is a great compliment to using magic spells. To defeat dragons, I think I need both worlds,” she declared her own opinion.
“I won’t debate that one,” Zoran chuckled, extricating himself from the padded armor. “I’ll leave you to it. Got some pressing problems to handle.” After both thanked him, he left the two alone.
“See, I told you that you were good, dear,” Dana said, helping her out of her gear.
“I can’t believe I bested him. You are a great teacher.” She planted a passionate kiss on his lips. The two embraced and then continued with her first theory lessons on offensive fighting.
Of course, the buzz around the fortress and magic towers was the Adrianna had bested Zoran in a dual short swords contest. Over lunch, Jarka whispered to Zoran, “Did she really best you? It’s going around, you know.”
Zoran laughed, “Yes, she did.” He saw many eyes glancing their way. He rose and called out loudly, “Yes, she did. Adrianna bested me last night in a practice session. And yes, she’s only the third person to ever do that to me.” Giggles and chuckles echoed around the room, along with many whispered voices.
Jarka later added, “That was a good morale booster.”
“I know and it quieted the silly rumors,” he teased her back.
Zdenka continued to give him weekly reports on how the Seventeen were progressing. That was now the name officially given by all of the other students to those original women, who were blazing the trail for all of the rest of the women.
“They are progressing just as one would expect of normal students, only more quickly. Each is discovering there are some spells that they simply cannot manage. Yes, they are taking it rather hard — griping that they must be stupid or something. In many ways, they are reacting much like Karel did. I am helping them overcome their frustrations. Also I am greatly relieved. I was worried that these women would actually be able to learn every darn spell in existence. Now I am seeing that they are just like the rest of us. We all have spells that we are keenly interested in, our specialties, so to speak. I can’t tell you how relieved I am over this.”
“Right love. I too would be spooked and unnerved if the Seventeen learned every spell in the book! Think they will make Archmage?” Zoran asked her.
“Honestly, my love, I just don’t know. It is too early to tell for sure. You never can know precisely who is and who is not going to make it. If pressed, I would say that the Seventeen are all good prospects, though.”
“Great. Keep me posted as always. I could use seventeen more Archmages,” he grinned. Who couldn’t?
“Dear, there is one other thing that is bothering me. It’s Danika. She claims that she can sense when a dragon is around. She and her husband Rafael spend Sundays together, often out in Brn. That’s where she claims she is sensing them, though neither she nor Rafael has actually seen the flying beasts. Could you look into this for me?”
Sunday afternoon, Rafael knocked on the tower door. As always, he was intimidated by the sternness of the Door Warden. “My wife and daughter please?” he said.
“Well, it’s about time. They’ve been waiting a couple of minutes,” she replied just as sternly, as if he’d just committed a huge offense against the two. Danika and Neda came bouncing out to meet him.
She threw her arms around him and they hugged and embraced, while Neda found herself between them, being hugged by both. Danika was, of course, morphed so that she had arms and hands. Rafael explained, “Sorry I am late, but Baron Zoran wanted a word with me. He is going to meet us at the Stodgy Inn today. Something about dragons, but I surely don’t know what. Come on, my lovely ladies. It’s our day once more!”
At the inn, Neda, now nearly twelve, ran off to chat with her boyfriend. Zoran motioned the two over to his table. He wore a disguise and Danika didn’t recognize him at first. “Greetings, Mage Danika. Zoran here. Have a seat please.” After ordering the pair mugs of the most expensive ale, Zoran explained.
“Zdenka has said that you can tell when a dragon is near. I want to fully explore that today, if we can. I will follow you both around today, staying in the background. Message me when you sense the presence of a dragon. Okay?”
“Then, you think this is real? That I am somehow able to sense them?” Danika whispered back. “I thought that maybe I was just imagining it or something.”
“That’s why I am here. Let’s see if we can prove it or disprove it, shall we?”
“Sure, but I am sensing that a dragon is in this inn right now, Zoran. It is somewhere in this pub area.”
“Okay, act normally. Let me meander around, please.” Zoran rose and casually moved around the spacious pub area, where the Yuletide dances were always held. Some fifty men and women were here, sipping ale or dining out on a late fall Sunday early afternoon. Smoke from pipes drifted towards the sooty ceiling. Conversations buzzed — all the normal chatter one would expect from one of the nicer inns and pubs in Brn. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary to Zoran. Still, anyone of these people could be a dragon in human form.
Although it took him a while, in his nonchalant wanderings, he managed to get a good look at most everyone present, except one man sitting alone near the rear. He wore a cowl over his head and Zoran couldn’t get a good look at the man. He slowly made his way closer to him, pretending to have had a wee bit too much ale. As he approached, he dropped a coin and bent over to pick it up. As he rose, he looked up and finally got a clear view of the man’s face under the cowl. He nodded and hiccupped, then moved on, eventually returning to the table where an anxious Danika and Rafael were sitting whispering about this whole business.
“Here, have a seat, old man, ale’s on us,” Rafael said loudly to Zoran, who had just sent him a Message telling him what to say. After sitting down, Zoran whispered his findings.
“Danika, you are not dreaming. That solitary man in the back corner is not a man, but a brown dragon. I got a
good look at his eyes, coal black. His skin has a brownish hue to it. Somehow you are able to detect the presence of dragons! This is an incredibly useful skill that you have. Well done.”
“Well, it’s not just me, Zoran. All of us Seventeen have been having these strange feelings too. Eliska, Dusana, all of us,” she replied. “What does it mean?”
“It means that somehow you are natively attuned to the presence of these creatures. Now why don’t you get on with your Sunday afternoon? Let me know if you detect other dragons and where they are located. Thank you, Mage Danika. Oh, on your way out, let me know how far away you get before you can no longer sense this one, please.” She smiled and Zoran wandered out of the inn, opening a Mystical Door straight into his study.
He summoned all his staff at once. “Sorry to bother you all on your day off. I will be quick. The Seventeen are able to detect the presence of dragons nearby when they are in human form. We’ve long suspected that the dragons have sent in spies to Brn. Danika spotted one and I’ve verified a brown is in the Stodgy Inn observing quietly.”
“Incredible! This is a breakthrough,” Karel exclaimed. “Want us to go get him?”
“No, it is far more valuable to us if the dragons don’t know that we have a way to detect them when they are in human form. We need to test the women and see how accurate they are and how close they must be to detect them. This really is a breakthrough for us.”
Jarka commented, “Now we can feed them disinformation!” Everyone chuckled. She was so right, many thought.
He advised, “Caution, this skill is limited. Danika can sense the dragon’s presence out to about a hundred yards away from it, but can only give you its rough direction. Still, this is a major breakthrough. We will need to test the other women later on.”
The next day, Zdenka surveyed her Seventeen and all had at one time or other thought a dragon might be lurking around Brn when they were out on Sundays. After relaying this to Zoran, she got them back into their magic studies.
