Darius stood immobile with the sword at the ready, standing in the same position for almost a minute as he concentrated. He put himself into a trance and found himself on the battlefield, and there he went through the motions of battle; he had always been an exceptional fighter and age hadn’t diminished his talent. Thrust, parry, slice and block. His swings were powerful and decisive with the sound of his sword cutting through the air. He had always wanted to test his skill against Stone but of course, Stone had refused.
Darius was as worried as he had ever been. His scouts had spotted over ten thousand soldiers and a wizard on a red dragon heading in their general direction. Several miles in front of the marching army was a fork in the road. If they turned right then they would be heading for the kingdom of Tozzi, and he imagined that would be the end of them, but if they turned left they would be on a collision course with Leeander. Darius thought it likely that they would attack Tozzi first, because for all they knew Leeander still had a powerful wizard to defend them. The King guessed that would give them a month at the most before the inevitable. He would love to have a wizard so powerful that he could lift the entire kingdom and place it somewhere else, and to see their faces when they arrived at where Leeander use to be.
And if things weren’t bad enough his son was missing and nowhere to be found.
Darius seriously considered sending his soldiers to try and defend Tozzi, but he knew it was a hopeless cause, never mind the fact he wasn’t certain which way that army was going to turn. Adorok had a reputation of being a powerful wizard and years ago he had defeated an entire army by himself, releasing an onslaught of more than a million arrows that fell magically from the sky. But if the Yurrosy took Tozzi would there be someone there that knew of Adorok’s failing health. Adorok was so sick that he couldn’t even defend himself from a child with a big stick never mind an army. If they discovered the news of Adorok’s ill health, there would be no hesitation in attacking Leeander.
As the king sheathed his sword, a guard marched into the throne room. Darius sat with a troubled expression as the fellow approached. Nothing could cheer up Darius with everything that was ready to roll downhill with his kingdom waiting to take the brunt force of it all. Of course, everyone and everything had weaknesses, but those of the Yurrosy may not be sufficient to enable Leeander to take advantage.
Noe bowed to the king. “No sign of the boy your majesty. Kai says that his daughter Ryxa is also missing. Wherever the boy is so is the dragon. Their fate is intertwined I suspect.”
“Leave it to Marcus to befriend a dragon. Very well, Noe, that is all.”
“Any word from Alexa and Stone?”
“Not a peep. It is as if they’ve fallen off the earth.”
The guard turned concealing his worried emotions and marched out as the knight Kristan walked in to face the king. “Your Majesty, I’m afraid Adorok will be of no aid in locating Marcus. Apparently he’s gotten himself a pet rock that he is now debating strategy with and is so feeble that he can barely walk. He doesn’t look good at all.”
The king nodded and wondered what they had done to deserve such a fate. “Kristan, I must say that things have never been so bleak. Our shield has been down for days now and shows no sign of returning.”
“All is not lost your majesty; Stone and Alexa may yet return with a wizard.” He thought that if anyone could get a wizard, it would be Stone.
There was a long pause before the king spoke. “If they don’t return with some form of magic then all is lost. And then all we can do is to go down fighting. I’ll die with my sword in my hand. I do try hard to remain positive, but the reality is a son-of-a-bitch.”
Kristan was forced to imagine it the demise of Leeander. The situation was giving most of the kingdom nightmares. “Too bad the boy couldn’t get that dragon to summon others to our aid.”
“Yes, I’ve thought of that, but dragons are usually interested only in their own kind and their own business. How Marcus ever managed to befriend one is beyond me. I hope he’s okay.”
“Perhaps the boy will turn out to be a dragon master.” The king’s sudden laughter was puzzling to the knight. He knew Darius wasn’t getting much sleep; he’d seen him wandering in the courtyard when he should have been sleeping.
“By that time, we’ll all be dragon shit.”
The king’s cook entered and placed a large plate of food on the table, mostly fruit. Kristan turned and departed, his confident walk noticed by the cook, a portly fellow with a bald head. He admired knights and wished he had the skill and physique to be one; unfortunately, that was not his lot in life.
“Your majesty you must eat.”
“I ate yesterday Gordon. I’m not hungry.”
In the kitchen, he had been thinking about what he could say to make the king want to eat. “Your majesty, food not only makes a strong body but a healthy mind as well.”
The king considered the cooks words and knew them to be factual, and so he took a bite of his cheese and a handful of grapes. “Some have already fled in anticipation of the battle to come. Why have you not done so?”
“How many can say that they serve the king? Besides, most will not flee. I have a sword and will fight when the time comes. If I can kill one, I will be happy. The one advantage that I have when it comes to fighting is that I shall be underestimated as a fighter. Well, I’m not much of a fighter, so I guess that underestimated wouldn’t be the right word. They won’t see me as a threat, so when they turn their backs, I shall stick my sword in them. I’m a cook that’s what I do.” And he shrugged.
“Indeed. You’ll need to kill a lot more than one if we are to survive this.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Skye and Elden were high on a cliff watching the approach of the Yurrosy, scouts for Leeander. They had two fire pits that they were prepared to light; one would generate yellow smoke that would indicate that they were heading for Tozzi, with the other producing red smoke that would reveal their path was to Leeander. They also had two ravens that would deliver a message directly to the king.
Skye took a bite of his dried rabbit meat as he watched the army get closer and closer to the fork in the road. He thought that if he were a wizard, he would blast them all with lightning from here. “Think that dragon will come up here and blast us when we light the fire?”
“I imagine that it’ll do whatever it’s told to do.”
“Elden, that has to be one of the worst ways to go, to be burned alive.”
“We’ll run into the cave and jump down into the hole and pray. We’ll be all right or we won’t.” Skye finished his rabbit and then belched. “That rabbit tasted a little funny.”
Elden shook his head. “Never eat anything that tastes off you’ll get sick.”
They watched as the army reached the fork and stopped to drink with a heated discussion of sorts. A lot of gesturing and posturing ensued with one soldier pushing another. That was unusual as they would have to follow the orders of the king, suddenly one of them was pointing up to where they were crouched.
“Shit,” said Skye. “I think they spotted us. Hurry!”
Cynric flew up on the back of the dragon and had it hover as he looked into the cave. He thought he saw movement although he couldn’t be sure. He made the red dragon blast the cavern with a huge ball of orange and red fire. Skye and Elden had grabbed the two bird cages and just managed to run into the cave just in time, narrowly avoiding death by dragon fire. They landed in the hole with Skye’s back on fire and Elden extinguished it as quick as he could; they could hear the beating of the dragon’s wings as it hovered looking for signs of life. Cynric couldn’t see anything in the dark cave but had the dragon blast it once more just in case. Finally satisfied he returned to the ground.
Elden and Skye had survived the fiery encounter, but the ravens hadn’t. After some time had passed when they couldn’t hear the dragon’s wings pumping, Skye climbed out of the hole and crawled on his stomach to peek down and observe the
goings-on. And what he saw saddened him. They were now heading straight for Leeander, with another ten thousand men or more coming up far behind them. Skye defiantly lit the red signal fire and watched as the smoke rose.
King Darius stood high up on the castle parapet, walking back and forth past the crenels and merlons, talking to his archers and keeping an eye on the skyline. He had become more restless than he’d ever been. Both his daughter and son were beyond his protection and lost for all he knew. The king was hoping for at least a temporary reprieve from the upcoming battle that was to destroy them all. Time might see them with another wizard that the king deemed their only hope.
“So Henry, how accurate are you with that crossbow? Or that bow for that matter?”
“One of the best your majesty.”
The king nodded and smiled. “Are you one of the best archers that the world has ever seen?”
“I wouldn’t go that far your Majesty.”
Do you see that helmet way down there? How many arrows do you think it would take you to strike it?”
Henry pulled his bow off his shoulder and judged the distance; he believed it to be just inside the range of the bow, so much so that he considered that it probably wouldn’t penetrate but perhaps deflect off of it. “That is pretty far. I would guess two or three arrows.”
The king smiled. “Shall we see who can hit it first?”
“Yes, your majesty.”
But just then they could see red smoke rising. The Yurrosy was on their way. King Darius ordered his men not to show one iota of fear when the Yurrosy showed their ugly faces.
CHAPTER THIRTY
WHEN ZEDOCK RETURNED TO CONSCIOUSNESS Ella was in her nest on the eggs and in a much better state of mind and condition; the pain had subsided, and she was proud to be sitting on her eggs. Sunfire was walking around the black dragon and tidying up by kicking dust off the floor and out into the wind, accidentally stepping on an apple and squashing it. The black dragon walked around to face Ella, who smiled back at him.
A gust of wind brought in the scent of roses and to Ella, it was like a gift.
“Ella, thank goodness you’re okay. You are okay?” He didn’t know what he would do if something happened to her; she did look a lot better now. She looked like she had fully recovered except that she seemed a little tired.
Ella looked at Zedock and blinked twice. “No I’m dying, and you are going to have to take care of our babies all by yourself.”
Zedock glanced at Sunfire, who shook her head no. “Did you lay the eggs? You did didn’t you. I can see it in those beautiful eyes. Can I see them?”
“I did lay the eggs. What do you think Sunfire? Should I show him the eggs?” She was tired but happy that it was over. She yawned and then raised her eyebrows at her black dragon. The expression on his face was priceless.
Zedock rubbed his face against her, and she returned the affection. “Thank goodness you’re okay. How many eggs do we have?”
Ella got up and walked around and stretched; her muscles felt a little tight. She looked out at the sky and took in a deep breath of fresh air. Ella could see another black dragon out there that was miles away. She knew that Zedock would be staring down at the eggs right about now. Would he be disappointed because there were only three? Three would be a lot easier to take care of than ten.
Zedock went over to the black eggs staring down at them with a wondrous look; they were about the length of a full grown human. There were three in all, where normally there would be between five and ten but they were big. It was no wonder that she had been in such pain. He had never seen eggs quite so large. Zedock gently placed his ear on each egg and listened; he could hear movement in there. What must it be like to be a dragon at that stage, squashed in such a confined space? He attempted to imagine it but couldn’t. “I can hear them moving around. Wow, these are big eggs, even for a black dragon. That must have hurt.”
“I should make you swallow a large boulder and pass it so you can see what it felt like.” Ella smiled and nodded at him. She also noticed the happy expression on her sister’s face and knew because her mate was a black dragon that it must be difficult for her. Things didn’t always turn out the way they were supposed to; life had always been and would always be full of surprises.
Zedock smelled the eggs. He spent time sniffing each egg taking in their particular odors. Then he went back to the first one and started all over again. “Well, you won’t have any more until they go off on their own, and that’ll take years. This one is a boy.” He was certain it was a boy, but there was also another scent in there with him; the scent of fresh lemons? He sniffed the other two carefully. “And the other two are girls.” The boy’s scent puzzled him, but he wasn’t about to say anything. Hopefully, it didn’t mean something untoward. The black dragon was preparing to sit on the eggs to keep them warm when Ella pushed him away.
“Don’t you dare sit on my eggs!”
Zedock was surprised by that statement. “What do you mean? Black dragons always help to keep the eggs nice and toasty.” He was starting to dislike some of the cultural differences between black dragons and red dragons. Hin not able to sit on his own eggs was going a bit too far.
Ella went back to the eggs with a bit of attitude. “Yes well with red dragons it is only the mother that gets to sit on the eggs.” She got comfortable, and it was an incredible feeling with the warmth of her eggs beneath her, no better feeling in the world. It was as if her babies were already giving her a hug. She was able to feel slight vibrations coming from them.
Zedock didn’t like what he heard one bit. He already desperately wanted to sit on them. His mother had said that it was a way for males to commence the bonding process with their offspring. He also knew that females could be cranky for days after laying eggs, and he supposed that he could always sit on them when she wasn’t around. Yes, that could work. It wouldn’t take too long for them to hatch but maybe she would take to the sky this afternoon to stretch her wings. Dragons were made for the sky, and she would crave it soon enough. Dragons in the air were like fish in the sea.
“And don’t you be sitting on them when I’m not around.”
Zedock snorted.
“And don’t you snort at me.”
He stared at Ella showing her a blank face. Was she reading his mind? He noticed the wry smile on Sunfire. Was she enjoying Ella bossing him around? “But they’ll get cold if you’re not sitting on them. Don’t you want to go and stretch your wings? Look how beautiful it is out there.”
Ella gave him a stern look. “Zedock, I don’t want to catch you sitting on the eggs, you’re clumsy, and you’ll break them. I’ll stretch your neck if I catch you on these eggs.”
He felt that there was no arguing with her, but he couldn’t help it. “I will not break them. My mother taught me how to sit properly on eggs years ago. How dumb do you think I am? Don’t answer that. I’ve never heard of such a thing, a father not being allowed to sit on his eggs.”
“Yes well, you could fill the ocean with the things that you don’t know.”
Sunfire was sitting and listening and quite enjoying the bickering, but she knew that there was usually tension until the eggs hatched. There was always a period of worrying and wondering. She knew it wasn’t possible, but she also wished that she could sit on them, just to see how it would feel. Sunfire couldn’t wait until the baby dragons were running around. It would be fun to babysit. What a shame that her father and mother didn’t know about this. Why oh why had her sister picked a black dragon?
Zedock again smelt at the eggs under Ella. He had the urge to hug them even though he knew he couldn’t. He was anxious to see his children. Apparently he had been a living terror when he was a baby, but he couldn’t remember it. He wondered if he was now going to be terrorized by his own. Life had a way of coming full circle like that, at least, that’s what his mother had told him.
Ella was glad that he was happy that the eggs were out; some males became cranky at the pros
pect of raising a family, and a few even flew away. “Zedock, we should name them right now. I’ll let you name the boy, and I’ll name the girls, but you can’t name him Zedock.”
That lifted the black dragon’s spirits. It would be a gift that he would give his son that he would carry with him for the rest of his life. His huge smile slowly diminished as he realized the importance of it and that the responsibility of it was on his shoulders. Now he was a little stressed about it. What should he call him? He could name his son whatever he so desired? What would be a good name for a mighty dragon? And what if he became an important dragon? Flame was a pretty good name, but there were too many of them around. Might Ash be good? Glow? That might be a good name for a girl? It might be harder than he thought. There must be a million names but what would be the right one? What if he screwed up? What if he picked a name that his son would come to hate? What if he chose a stupid name? He had no experience at picking names.
“Naming a baby dragon is hard.”
Zedock walked around in a bit of a daze with a myriad of names floating around in his head. He stuck his head out into the air and took in a huge breath. And as he turned and made his way into the corner he noticed Ella smiling at his consternation. A dragon’s name was one of the most important things. Should he be trusted with something like that? “Ella what if I want you to pick the name?”
Knights of the Dragon (of Knights and Wizards Book 1) Page 14
