The Chronicles of Dragon Collection (Series 1 Omnibus, Books 1-10)

by Craig Halloran

  The leader, Renny, nodded as he folded his arms across his chest and smiled.

  “Care to tell me what this is all about, Jackal?” I asked.

  The Jackal wasn’t a bad-looking man, but there was darkness behind his beady eyes. There was something primitive about him. The way he moved was dangerous. He withdrew my sword and cut it through the air a few times.

  “This,” the Jackal said, fingering the blade, “is amazing! Tell me where you got it. Who made it?”

  Good. He wants something from me. I can use that.

  “The Mountain of Doom,” I said.

  Fingering the dragon-head pommels on the hilt, he said, “You jest! Am I to believe you stole it from there? No one goes into the mountain and lives.”

  “That’s where it’s from, and that’s all I know.”

  “So you were told,” he shot back.

  I shrugged. Let him think what he wants.

  He stuffed Fang back inside the scabbard and said to his men, “You two would be dead if he had drawn this sword.” Then he turned his attention back to be. “Why didn’t you draw and cut them down? I would have.”

  “I didn’t need it.”

  “It seems you did.”

  “The big fellow was fortunate, is all. Next time, I won’t go so easy.”

  Brock and Renny laughed.

  “I wish I could have been there, but perhaps I can set up another encounter.”

  “Why don’t you set it up now?” I demanded.

  Brock smacked his fist into his hand. It sounded like a clap of thunder.

  “Fine by me,” Brock growled.

  The Jackal’s eyes lit up. He liked the idea.

  Good. All I have to do is get out of this cage.

  “No, there will be plenty of time for that later. I need him still breathing tonight.”

  I don't like how he said that.

  “What's the matter?” I said. “Are you afraid of Brock getting hurt?”

  Brock’s fist slammed into the cage.

  “I’ll break your neck!”

  “Hah! You couldn’t break a chicken leg, you oaf!”

  “I’ll show you!” he roared, reaching through the bars for my leg.

  “BROCK, STOP IT!” Renny yelled, trying to pull the big man away.

  I jammed the nail of my dragon thumb into his forearm.

  Brock’s howl shook the roof.

  I laughed at him as Renny pulled him back.

  “You’re going to pay for that!” he said, shaking his fist at me.

  The Jackal applauded, saying, “Perfect. Just perfect… eh, sorry, I didn’t get your name?”

  “I didn’t give it.”

  He waved me off, saying, “No matter. We’ll think of something by tonight. Come on, men.”

  “What’s tonight?” I said, pulling on the bars to my cage.

  Renny and Brock both flashed sinister grins as they slid the barn door shut behind them.

  I stomped my feet and punched the roof of the cage.

  “DRAT! DRAT! DOUBLE DRAT!”

  Again I was alone. To make matters worse, it seemed they had a short-term plan for me: death.

  I yawned. Whatever poison they’d stuck me with wasn’t wearing off. I spit a gummy, salty substance from my mouth, leaned back, and sat down. Now was not the time to panic. It was time to think.

  “Excellent, Dragon. Look what you’ve gotten yourself into,” I said, tossing my hair over my shoulder. At least the rain had stopped. But now I was thirsty.

  An hour passed.

  My stomach growled. My head swam. And I was seeing black spots from time to time.

  Another hour passed.

  Nausea set in and cold sweat as well, and I began to shake with chills.

  What did they stick me with?

  I wrapped my arms around my knees and huddled in the cage. And there I lay, spinning and spinning and spinning.

  CHAPTER 11

  Bad people do bad things.

  A ray of sunlight warmed my face, but it didn’t stop the shivers. Time was lost to me, the minutes agony, but from the fading light coming through the cracks in the barn door, it seemed the sun was setting. I remembered the Jackal saying something about the night. Something bad was going to happen. As if it hadn’t happened already.

  I heard wood rubbing against metal, a horrible sound in my distorted ears. Light flooded the barn as the door was slid open. Enforcers. I couldn’t see how many. The squeak of older wagon wheels felt like jamming nails in my ears.

  “Hurry up and get them in there,” one enforcer said. “And double check those locks. We can’t have any escaping. Remember the last time. Jorkan’s dead. The Jackal saw to that. And I’ll not be losing my head over some busted locks!”

  “You check them, then!” one said.

  “What? Who said that? Osclar, did you say that?”

  “Yes!”

  “Why, you little toad eater! Get over there and check those locks, those bars, that door―or it’s going to be the stockade for you! Understand?”

  “Certainly, Harvey. Certainly!”

  I heard the one I believed to be Harvey grunt, and I started my wait. I closed my eyes and let the shivers take over.

  “What have we got here?” Harvey said. “Not feeling so spry now, are you, demon?”

  “He’s not a demon,” I heard one say.

  “What?”

  “He’s not a demon; that’s was the Jackal said. He’s cursed.”

  I heard Harvey chuckle.

  “Oh, he’s cursed all right. He probably just didn’t know it till now. That Uken poison Renny stuck him with'll have him feeling and seeing all kinds of crazy things.” Harvey checked the lock on the cage. “Tonight's going to really be something. You got those cages secured, Osclar?”

  “Nope!” Osclar said, giggling.

  Harvey grunted again.

  “Shaddap and let’s go; I’m hungry.”

  “Say, Harvey, how long do you think he’ll last?”

  “Shut your mouth, Osclar. The boss says no talking.”

  Oh, talk. Please talk.

  “I don’t see why not. It’s not like it matters if they know what’s coming or not.”

  “He likes the looks of surprise on their faces.”

  “Me too,” the third enforcer said.

  “Let’s go, chatter mouths.”

  My tongue clove to the roof of my mouth. Say something, Dragon! My quivering lips stayed sealed.

  “Huh,” Harvey said, “looks like this man is done already.”

  “He got some good licks on Big Brock, though. Never seen anyone hurt Brock before.”

  “Me neither.”

  “Shaddap, you two! LET’S GO!”

  Harvey’s loud voice sounded like an explosion in my ears. I couldn’t even open my eyes to see as I heard them walk out and slide the barn door closed.

  Idiot. All I had learned was that things were not only as bad as before but worse.

  I shivered and shivered. I needed the Uken poison to wear off. Fight it, Dragon! Fight! The darkness came, leaving me alone in the barn with two torches and two new cages. I managed to open my eyes to see. Two forms huddled, one in each cage. Perhaps they could tell me something. I opened my mouth, but no words came.

  “Father?”

  It was the voice of a young man speaking to the other.

  “Sssssh, be silent, Son. Else they’ll whip us.”

  Silence came. A little rustling around followed.

  “Are they going to kill us, Father?” the young man asked.

  “No, now be silent!” the father said, forcefully but quietly.

  I heard the fear in both their voices. Innocent men. I could tell.

  “Why did they pick us, Father?”

  The father sighed, shaking his head as he said, “I don’t know; they just did.”

  “But we were good farmers, Father. Good miners, too. I didn’t steal any of the Golden Ore; I swear,” the young man sobbed.

  His father�
�s silence told it all. The father had stolen; the boy had not.

  My heart swelled. These men needed my help. Things came together.

  Golden Ore!

  It explained all the secrets in the small town. Someone, a farmer most likely, had found a vein of it. The Jackal and his enforcers got word of it and took over the town. It wasn’t the first time such a thing had happened, and it wouldn't be the last, either. Golden Ore, however, wasn’t gold, and it wasn’t ore. It was a vein of mystic dirt that had a goldish hue to it.

  “I’m hungry, Father. Do you think we’ll eat again?”

  Pitiful. I could make out the young man’s face pressed against the bars. He was rawboned and lanky. Looked like he’d missed one too many meals already. It infuriated me, but the thought of action just made me sicker.

  “Sure, Son. Sure we will,” the father lied.

  Don’t think about it. Think of a way out. I allowed my thoughts to drift to the Golden Ore.

  Farming was a big deal in Nalzambor. The land was rich, full, lustrous in many places. But working the land was still hard. It took time and a lot of work. And, in the case of hard work, many peoples and races were lacking. That’s where the Golden Ore came in. Or, more simply called, Magic Dirt. A few pounds of it would turn a square mile of desert into a garden of vegetables. It was a pricey commodity, and it seemed the enforcers had happened upon it.

  But what did they want with me and these two men?

  My voice was dry and raspy, but I managed to say, “I can get you out of here.”

  Both men stiffened and huddled down.

  “I said, I can get you out of here.”

  The young man started to speak.

  “Don’t talk to him, Son. He might be that demon the innkeeper spoke of.”

  “I’m not a demon; I’m a man, same as the two of you,” I said. Sort of… “Now, do you want help or not? Ugh!” I slunk onto the cage floor. My stomach was killing me. I needed healing.

  “What happened?” the young man asked, pressing his face against the bars.

  “Son, be quiet!”

  “No.” The young man was adamant. “I won’t be. Sorry, Father. That man over there is offering help, and we need it!”

  “But, I just—”

  “I’m a man as well as you, Father. I’ll live with the consequences of my actions.”

  I made it back to my knees and said, “Good for you. Now, tell me, how many of these enforcers are there?”

  “I’m not sure, but there’s a lot of them.”

  “Thirty-seven,” the father said.

  He’d turned to face me now. Unlike his son, he was a barrel-chested man. The torchlight reflected dimly from the top of his head.

  “How many of you in the village?”

  “Almost a thousand,” the father said.

  Accounting for women and children, that didn’t leave enough men to fight off a group of well-armed men. Fear doesn’t wait long to rule.

  “How long have they been here?”

  “A few months. They showed up two days after we found the vein of Golden Ore. All the celebrating would have woke the dragons up. It’s no wonder they showed up so fast with all the blabbermouths in this village.”

  I’d seen it happen before. If you didn’t hire a well-armed force, the goons would quickly take over. Greed and treachery grew like weeds in Nalzambor. Better act quickly, before the roots got deep.

  “And the Jackal? Where does he stay?”

  I needed to find out where my gear was. It was the only way.

  “He lords it over everyone in the day and diminishes in the night. He’s wicked.”

  “He’s crafty,” the father added. “Dangerous. Something very strange about that fellow.”

  I’d sensed it, too. Something behind the man’s eyes was raw, primeval.

  The men jerked in their cages as the barn door slid open. Renny and Brock stepped inside, along with some of the other enforcers.

  “Cover them cages,” Renny said.

  “What if they scream?” Harvey said.

  “Oh yes, we can’t have that, can we? All right, gag these two, but the demon over there, he’ll need more of the poison. Shoot him up, Brock!”

  I could barely move already when Brock came, a sharp stick in one hand, a vial of Uken poison in the other. He dipped the stick in the ointment, laughing.

  “Be still, freak! Else I’ll poke it in your eye.”

  I remained still. He stabbed through the bars. I tried to dodge but caught the full force in my dragon arm.

  “Did you stick him good?” Renny said.

  “Real good.”

  I didn’t hear anything else after that as my prison world faded away.

  CHAPTER 12

  The wagon lurched to a stop, and I awoke. It was still dark, but I knew I was outside because the breeze rustled the cover over my cage. Depressed and sick, I had a good idea how my brethren dragons felt. I had to escape, but I needed help.

  “Almost time.”

  It was Renny, the leader of the enforcers. Footsteps were all around, and I could also hear footsteps going up and down.

  “Take the covers off. The Jackal will be here any moment, with company. Look sharp! Especially you, Osclar!”

  Where was I? I felt the bump on my arm where Brock had jabbed me. It wasn’t as bad as the one on my neck. I think the dragon scales had something to do with that. It had been more of a reflex than anything else when I made him hit my dragon arm. I hadn’t meant for that to happen, but maybe my arm had. And my head was a little more clear than before.

  “Get over here, Harvey! Let’s take this cover off and get started. Heh-heh! Won’t be long now before the fun starts.”

  Fun for him, maybe. Fun for me? I didn't think so.

  “Sure thing, Boss. Sure thing.”

  The first thing I saw was the moon peeking through the clouds. Then I could smell the enforcers' rancid breath.

  “Huh, he’s awake,” Renny said, rubbing his chin. “Not sure the Jackal will like that. Harvey, let him know.”

  “All right,” Harvey said, strolling off.

  I was inside a wooden fort, but I had a feeling it was designed to keep people in rather than out. Catwalks ran twelve feet high from one corner to the other. Enforcers with spears and swords guarded every corner and the space in between.

  “Welcome to our arena, demon,” Renny said. “The final resting place for you and many others on Nalzambor.”

  I locked my eyes on Renny and said, “And possibly yours as well.”

  He stiffened, said, “We’ll see about that,” and walked away, casting one glance back.

  Entertainment! That’s what I was. I remembered the blazed ruffie battling the trolls. It turned my stomach, the cruelty of men.

  “Go ahead and take those other two out,” Renny ordered his men.

  The farmers were pulled from their cages and the cages pulled away.

  “All right, everyone. Get up on the wall. It’s time for the battle to begin.”

  The father and son shook at each other’s side.

  “Please! Mercy, enforcers! At least spare my son. I’m the guilty one!” the father begged.

  The son looked at his father, a sad look in his eyes as he said, “You stole, Father?”

  The father shook his head and replied, “Son, they stole from us. It’s our land and our Golden Ore. These vultures have no right to take what is ours.”

  The enforcers tossed down two shields and two clubs.

  “I don’t know how to fight, Father.”

  “Neither do I, Son.” He hugged his boy. “I guess we’ll have our first and last one together,” the father said, picking the weapons up.

  “Together then.”

  Renny shouted from above.

  “That’s the spirit!”

  “Here he comes, Renny,” Harvey said, looking over the backside of the wall.

  The Jackal emerged from behind a wall and stepped onto the catwalk. My sword Fang hung at his hip. My
breast-plate armor adorned his chest. My bow. My quiver and my pack. Infuriated, my heart thundered in my chest.

  But he was different. His face was no longer that of a man but of an animal. A jackal.

  “I see everything is in order,” the Jackal said, yellow eyes glowering at me. “I see our guest is bright eyed and bushy tailed. No matter.” He fingered his claws over my sword. “Nothing I can’t handle if need be.”

  A were-jackal. Another cursed man, like myself, but more like Corzan: corrupted by the evil. I felt a sliver of fear inside as I wondered if they’d both been good men once. I wondered what was in store for me. I rubbed the white spot of scales on my hand and vowed to do more good, given the chance.

  “Farmers!” the Jackal yelled, the moonlight shining brightly on his face, “the time has come that you paid for your deceit. I told you when I came: what’s yours is mine and mine alone, yet you stole. You sought to warn my enemies. And now you must pay.”

  The father and son trembled. Nalzambor was full of wonders, but I was certain they’d never seen a were-jackal before. Lycanthropes were evil. And there were plenty of stories and legends about them tearing people limb from limb. I could only imagine what was going through their minds at this moment.

  “It’s not much sport, is it?” I managed to say.

  All eyes were on me. Good.

  “But I guess this is how cowards play,” I added.

  The Jackal leaned on the rail and smiled, his sharp teeth dripping in the moonlight.

  “Oh, the do-gooder speaks. Interesting. And I can only assume you are going to talk and talk until it’s over. Well then, I’ll let the games begin. Enforcers, have at them.”

  Renny, Harvey, and Osclar climbed down the ladders while two more posted themselves at the top. The farmers readied themselves as more clubs and shields were tossed down from above.

  Renny picked up his club and twirled it in the air.

  “This won’t take long. Watch my back, fellas.”

  The farmers shuffled back.

  “Come on; take a swing,” Renny said, sticking his chin out. “I’ll give you a free shot.”

  The father’s swing sailed over Renny’s head.

  Renny walloped him in the stomach, doubling him over.

  The son caught Renny in the shoulder.

  “Ow! You two idiots! I said to watch my back!”