“I’ll bathe in the swamp whenever I go home. I’ll tell him I have a rash.”
The dragon was unconvinced. She would need time to think about it and, of course, she remained angry at her sister. She thought she should be punished for what she had done but still. “I promise nothing. I have to think.”
“Can I go home later without you telling?” Ella watched her face for telltale signs.
A long silence before Sunfire spoke; she looked at Zedock, who raised his eyebrows at her with a slight wave. “I guess so, but you better get rid of that stink.” Sunfire flew off.
Although Ella was usually good at hiding her feelings she was now depressed; she turned away from Zedock and started to cry. Her life now turned upside down, and she had no one to blame but herself. That wasn’t exactly right, she also had Zedock to blame, but that didn’t help much. Zedock didn’t know how to console her, especially since he knew it was his fault. The impetuousness of being young along with the inexperience of it wasn’t a good combination. Seeing her sob like that broke his heart.
“Ella, is there anything I can do?”
“No, go away.”
“Okay.” Zedock turned and was prepared to fly off.
“I didn’t mean it,” she said through her sobs. “Don’t leave me.”
“I won’t.”
“I feel so alone.”
“You’re not alone.” And then Zedock also started to cry. “I’m sorry.”
They curled up with one another and wept; they hugged and cried, with large puddles of tears soaking the ground. Both felt their immaturity and were embarrassed by it. Some dragons could be quite emotional when they were young. Life was harsh. Total happiness was like chasing the wind; one could feel it but would never be able to capture it.
Zedock and Ella spent half the day curled up together.
Ella stood up in a slightly better mood. At least, she could now imagine the light rather than just shadows of darkness. But was the light at the end of the tunnel a fire that would consume both of them? Only time would reveal their fate. “Enough of that.” She looked down at Zedock, who had cried himself to sleep.
Had he taken advantage of her? No, they had an equal share in what happened. Unfortunately, she had fallen for him as well. Since she couldn’t undo what was done, she was stuck, and now she had an urge to put a beating on that tree. Ella turned and showed him her angry face. “You!”
Zedock had awoken when she stood up but still had sleepy eyes. “What about me?”
“You took advantage of me!”
“I did no such thing.” Discussed how many times he wondered. Zedock was playing things over in his mind and wondered if he did in fact take advantage but he didn’t think so. Love had grabbed and shook the both of them simultaneously.
“Yes, you did.”
His eyes narrowed as he thought hard about it. “You wanted to mate. I didn’t throw you down you threw yourself down.” Zedock could see that her anger was waning as his scent was again getting to her. “I’m confused Ella. Are we going to be together or not?”
Even though she wanted to, she declined the offer. “We’ve bonded.” Ella sat and sulked for almost an hour, and every time she glanced at Zedock he looked away feeling guilty. She felt it would have been better had she never entered this are. She resigned herself to her fate. She would have never believed that life could turn so fast.
“I will be happy to be with you forever Ella. Or until you kill me.”
“How poetic. Come on we have work to do.”
Zedock circled Ella taking in her magnificent scent with his huge nostrils. He could see that she was coming around, and her mood was lifting. She was both annoyed by and attracted to his circling. She wanted to both kiss and kick him.
“What work do we have to do?”
“Now that we are a couple we have to find a den.”
That made Zedock happy because he knew the location of several unoccupied dens. “Ella, I can show you the perfect den.”
“Oh really?”
“Yes, I used to play in it as a child. It’s just on the edge of our territory, but on the opposite side of the cliff away from all the others. Dragons don’t live on that side because when the heavy rains come it blows in that direction, but there’s plenty of space to dig in where the rain can’t reach. Can I show it to you?”
“Will they consider that a red dragon is encroaching on their territory?”
“Nope, but you’ll have to go the long way around to be safe but what’s so hard about that?” Zedock pictured the den with him and Ella and about seven baby dragons running around.
Ella sighed. “All right you can show it to me.”
“And if you like it can we mate?”
She considered that the dragon had a one-track mind. “I guess so.”
Zedock jumped into the air and hovered, watching as Ella tore a huge branch off of the tree and flew off with it. He flew in front of her and told her to follow him. “What’s the branch for?”
“You know what it’s for.”
“You’re gonna build a nest?”
“That’s true genius.”
“Are you gonna lay some eggs?”
Ella poked him with the branch as she flew. “No, I’m gonna make you lay them. If our dragons have two heads, I’m burning your face off. Just because I feel the need to build a nest it doesn’t mean anything. It’s an instinctual thing because we foolishly mated. It can take quite a while to produce offspring. And if I’m already pregnant I’m gonna burn your face off.”
He knew that wouldn’t happen. “As long as I’m with you I don’t need a face.”
“It’s much too soon for you to be weird Zedock.”
“Oh, when we get to know one another a lot better I can be myself?”
“That’s usually the way it works.”
Zedock flew into the den as Ella was right behind him. She had a feeling she wouldn’t like the den, but she was wrong; Ella loved it, but she wasn’t about to tell him that. It even had a small hole in the roof that let it some extra light. Dragons tended to be too hot like a menopausal woman so it being a little windy was a plus. She could block the hole or not it would be up to her. The place was delightful and roomy; a couple of stalactites in the back, but it gave the place atmosphere. It was big enough for a dozen dragons or more, and she could tunnel an extra bedroom if she wanted one or get Zedock to do it. She placed the branch in the center of the cave and circled it as Zedock watched; she moved it several times finally deciding on the exact position where she would build the nest.
“Ella, do you like it?”
“It’s okay.”
“It’s only okay?”
“Zedock, it’s all right.” Ella scratched his face and watched as his eyes rolled.
“Can we mate now?”
Ella turned and backed him into a corner. “Listen you; I have to build a nest. That comes first.”
Zedock scratched his head like a dog scratching fleas. “Can I help you build the nest? That way it’ll go faster and then we can mate sooner. I like mating.”
“Yes, I gathered that.” Ella made her way to the den’s opening and looked out; she smiled as she loved that view, mountains, and valleys in the distance. The situation might not be so bad after all. “That’s not the way it works. Girl dragons take great joy in building their nests. Do you want to take joy from me? Do you?”
“No, no, no I want to give you joy not take it.” At first, he shook his head, and then he nodded.
“While I search for nesting material, you catch us some food because I’ll be hungry in a few hours. I’ll have to make many trips.”
Zedock was getting intoxicated on her scent; he licked her neck and sent shivers down her spine. He stuck his nose in one particular spot and sniffed and sniffed making her weak in the knees. She hit him with her tail and sent him flying.
“That was an accident?”
“You’re gonna have another accident if you don’t leave me alone
until I get this nest built.” She flew out of the den as Zedock stuck his nose on the ground sniffing her delicious odor. He went around and around and around sniffing. He then threw himself down and rolled in it. Ella flew up into the cave’s opening and had to shake her head at his goings-on; she threw in a bale of hay and hit him with it and then disappeared. He considered spreading the hay around for her but then decided against it. She wanted to do it herself, and he would only get a hit in the head if he did it.
“Oh Ella, you are as beautiful as the rising sun over the ocean.”
Zedock looked outside, and couldn’t see Ella, but he did observe a pterocrit in the far distance; a human wouldn’t have been able to see it but he sure could. He could see its body heat changing from red to yellow. They were the preferred food of dragons with such sweet blood; they lived on nothing but fruit and vegetables. He flew after it, and when he caught up with it, he was surprised to see that it was bigger than him. It had a giant head like a blue jay with not many feathers on its underbelly. They weren’t normally a match for a dragon, but this one was the biggest variety that was usually a lot further south. How wonderful it would be if something this big turned out to be his first kill for her. He grabbed it by the neck and choked it; it went limp, and he flew awkwardly with it towards the den, throwing it up on the ledge and then pushing it inside.
“Just wait ‘till she sees this.”
The black dragon admired his kill; Ella would be impressed with a pterocrit this big. He had accomplished a great kill and put food on the table. Zedock licked its belly, and it tasted nice and fresh, but then it began to stir, it wasn’t dead only unconscious, and a fight ensued. Its razor sharp beak cut into his scales, and he was forced to pin it on the ground. He could hit it with fire and kill it but most dragons preferred them raw. The bird was furious; they seemed evenly matched as he struggled with it. Just then Ella returned with another branch and had to laugh at the battle as the pterocrit was giving Zedock as good as it got. Suddenly it had him pinned to the ground and was just missing his face with vicious pecks, knocking a piece of rock out of the floor.
Ella laughed. “Zedock, soon you’ll be too tired to mate.”
“No, I won’t!” With a burst of energy, he again grabbed it by the neck and waited sufficient time to make sure it was dead. Then he collapsed on the floor exhausted. Ella might be right about being too tired.
Ella flew out and in with different articles of human clothing and stared at Zedock, who was now asleep on the floor. She would line the nest with pants and coats and socks. She smiled as Zedock commenced to snore.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
HALF OF THE MORNING SUN was still below the horizon as birds were singing a celebratory song in appreciation of a new day. There were wispy pink clouds in the distance and a cool tinge to the air. The area was on the edge of the desert, with a few sand dunes scattered here and there. A foot-long lizard ran across the ground stopping suddenly to catch and eat a spider; the reptile subsequently grabbed by a hawk that flew off with it for breakfast. Another bird screeched in protest because it had wanted the lizard but hadn’t spotted it in time.
Stone had spotted an outpost of the Yurrosy in the middle of nowhere, a signal tower where one wouldn’t expect to find a one, and they were forced to spend the night behind a hill that concealed them. In the dark they couldn’t tell how many manned the outpost. Now in the early morning air, they could smell boiling coffee on the wind; they could detect the aroma bread as well. The Yurrosy had built an oven near the base of the tower for baking and cooking. In the event of trouble, they had branches on the top of the tower, and they could manage a signal fire. When lit the smoke noticed by other towers.
During the night, they had gotten a little too close to the tower, surprised to discover that they were a little more than a hundred yards from it. If they hadn’t been relatively quiet at that time, they would have been seen. It had been so dark that the sound of laughter was what alerted them to the presence of the enemy. The full moon, hidden by thick clouds with no fire visible to give away their position. Now they were in a bind as they were close and the enemy sure to see them as soon as they moved, and because of that, it was necessary to take the tower out. Not good to have one’s back to the enemy.
“We could have walked right into the stupid thing.” Merrill spoke quietly lest the wind change and blew their voices toward them. He was itching to let some arrows fly.
Brent nodded. “The situation could have been bloody awful, with emphasis on the bloody.”
The sun was behind them as princess Alexa peeked over the hill, and luckily it was in the eyes of the guard on the top of the tower otherwise he would have seen her for certain. When he turned his back and looked the other way she was able to count them, one up in the tower with a crossbow and three others on the ground having breakfast, also with crossbows slung over their shoulders. The man in the tower would have to go first; he would be the one that would light the warning fire. Even though it might be a week or more before the Yurrosy showed up they didn’t want the area they were travelling in with more of the enemy than necessary; besides four less Yurrosy was better than four more. One tower signaled to another until word made it back that something was amiss, and then soldiers would be sent out to track its origin.
Three soldiers were at the base of the tower drinking strong coffee and eating bacon and dipping bread into an unfertilized dragon egg, which was large enough to feed all of them. The smell of the bacon was making Stone hungry. One had a chain armour vest, but the others wore leather. They also had double edged battleaxes nearby. All had braided beards and smelled as though they hadn’t had a bath in months. They also had similar features with square jaws. The one with the vest coughed and spat up some blood from a lung infection.
Stone gestured for Obed to approach him and when he did so he whispered. “Don’t shoot until you can be sure to kill the one up in the tower.” He gestured for Merrill and Alonzo as well. “I want three arrows loosed at him at the same that, that way he won’t be able to light the damn thing. Then we take the others.”
Denton vigorously scratched his neck from an insect bite. “I’ll be glad when this is all over and done with. Not knowing the fate of Leeander is hard on the head.”
They were forced to become quiet as the one with the chainmail was heading directly for the hill. They didn’t know what he was up to, but if he continued his current path up the hill, he would see them for sure. Should the one in the tower be alerted before they could get an arrow into him, it could mean big trouble, with that flaming torch near him it would be easy to set the signal fire. At the base of the hill the big fellow urinated and then walked back to the others; the smell of his urine now in the air.
Obed nodded and whispered. “When I stand up, follow my lead.” Obed was ready. He peeked over the hill and then ducked back down. One never knew for certain the results of a battle, and that’s what made it so exciting. A soldier could be healthy one second and dead the next. Obed watched for the right moment and then as the warrior up in the tower turned to face east he stood up and put an arrow in his throat. The attack was on, but when Stone and Alexa and the others reached the base of the tower, they discovered that the Yurrosy was all dead, killed by Obed’s distinctive black arrows. He was as fast as he was accurate. The one wearing the chainmail had taken an arrow to his left eye, the others in the heart.
“Bloody hell,” said Lance. “He’s killed them all. I wanted to kill one.”
Obed smiled. “The idea was to kill them; it doesn’t matter who killed them. Look that one is still breathing, kill him.”
Lance shook his head. “He has an arrow through his heart. If he’s still breathing, then I’m a wizard.”
“Look over there,” said Stone. “What is that?” As everyone looked to the east, he stole a kiss from Alexa. “I guess it’s nothing.”
Merrill shook his head. “Un huh.”
Alexa bent over and pulled a scroll off of one
of the Yurrosy and opened it. As best she could tell the site of the tower was going to be the location of a massive fort with thousands of men. Launching attacks from this place would save them time and energy. “They’re planning on building a garrison here.”
Stone examined the scroll. “It won’t matter what they do if they manage to conquer Leeander because none of us will be around to see it.”
Lance went over to the brick oven and drank some coffee, ate some bread and bacon. He stared down at the remainder of the red yoke from the dragon egg and didn’t have the stomach for that. They all shared the bacon and then Alexa went to the base of the tower and kicked the door open, inside were the remains of a slaughtered red dragon, its head nailed to the wall.
Denton slurped down the yoke. “I’ve had worse, although not much worse. My stomach is already burning.”
Stone looked in at the two remaining dragon eggs. “They’re enchanting the red dragons and slaughtering them for food. Savages.”
Merrill turned away from the gruesome scene. “How long until we reach the wizard?”
Alexa drank a mouthful of black coffee. “Two days maybe three. Way too much sugar.” Stone nodded. “Then we best be on our way.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
GRANGER AND THE OTHERS WERE QUICKLY DISPATCHED as Ryxa took to the air in pursuit of the boy, and although Zak, Theon, Titus, and Urban tried hard to keep up with her, they weren’t able to manage it. After running for such a distance, they were exhausted and had no choice but to stop and rest, with the thought that if the black dragon never returned they would be stuck in there forever, or at least until they managed to get themselves killed. Only a dragon could get them in or out. They were starting to regret coming down here. After they had rested, they proceeded to move forward once again.
The thought that they had already lost the king’s son didn’t sit well with any of them. Why had they agreed to such an asinine mission? That’s right the gold. They could now hear a humming sound somewhere; they couldn’t be sure if it was behind them or ahead of them. They were out of their element down here, and what kind of magic they would run into was anyone’s guess. A knight was trained for battle not magic. Now and then a gust of warm wind and the sickening smell of sulphur hit them. As they rounded a turn, they almost walked into a rose garden, replete with more than a dozen bees and no ordinary bees at that. They were about the size of Zak’s forearm to the tip of his fingers, and their ovipositors were also huge; they certainly didn’t want to be stung with those, with a bee that large the venom could be fatal for all they knew. The red roses were beautiful but also massive. Would they be able to skirt the walls and pass just or would they be attacked simply because of proximity?
Knights of the Dragon (of Knights and Wizards Book 1) Page 11
