Tarion helped Hrolf and Furge and the giants load the cart. Then as they saw to butchering the mastodon carcass—they couldn’t let it go to waste—he returned to the dragon. Aubrey was busy excavating the corpse using a pine branch as a broom. Tarion joined in the labor.
“I’d love to hear more of your dreams last night Tarion,” she said mischievously. “Did you find the chair comfortable?”
He didn’t dare tell her that his dreams were of Freya. Instead, he said, “The chair was comfortable enough for the purpose and entirely suitable for me.”
“I’ll wager my bed would have been more comfortable—warmer too,” she said, brushing so close that even her winter garb couldn’t hide the voluptuous feel of her body. “It sounds as though your dreams tended in that direction. How many kids did we have?”
Here was his opportunity to broach a more intimate subject. As he moved to speak, the image of Freya appeared in his mind. She was scowling. What, he demanded of the Goddess. Why should you care? You have the Wanderer, Freya. A mortal, even the Praetorian, is beneath your consideration; that is, unless you mean to doom me to unrequited adoration for eternity!
She smiled.
Tarion said honestly, “Aubrey, I don’t think you’d appreciate the repercussions of having me sleeping in your bed.”
“Why would you feel guilty, Tarion?” she asked with a look of surprise. “Did you have ungentlemanly designs on me last night; we were married before I had the children weren’t we?”
“Oh Aubrey!” he retorted automatically. “I simply meant I would feel guilty about kicking you out of your own bed.”
“What are you saying, Tarion, am I not comely enough for consideration?” she asked. She planted her little hands coquettishly on her round hips and pouted.
“A little too comely for my comfort!” he told her firmly. Then he sighed and said, “I mean, of course you are. You’re an amazingly lovely and spirited girl, Aubrey. Any man in his right mind would kill to have you. I don’t grudge Koth his admiration for you.” He paused, wondering why he, a man who’d made a thousand battlefield decisions, was suddenly doubtful. At length he told her, “Listen Aubrey, yesterday I was the Praetorian of the Imperial Legions and I was betrothed to the daughter of the emperor; today, I don’t know what I am. I’ve left that life behind me, but I don’t know yet whether it will allow me to move on. If I can’t live as just a man,” he hesitated and shook his head. “Well that’s no world for a girl as lovely as you. You deserve better.”
The laughing voice entered his head again. Well done Tarion; really, you are quite the cad!
“That’s very sweet Tarion; you’re such a nice and honorable man,” Aubrey smiled and she patted him on the cheek. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you yet.”
Tarion groaned. He brushed the snow off Gaurnothax’s head, hoping to change the subject. “Well now, there’s the business end of Gaurnothax. An impressive brute isn’t he?”
“Yes, that he is,” she said with a feral smile—meaning every word but not considering the dragon a bit.
Tarion swallowed hard. Thankfully, after an uncomfortable silence, Aubrey did inspect Gaurnothax. Even in death, the dragon was enough to command attention. Bared to his thirty-foot length, gleaming green-black, Gaurnothax seemed like he slept in life rather than in death.
“He’s so big,” Aubrey said. “I never imagined dragons grew to this size. I was thinking of something rather like a large horse.”
Hrolf laughed and stumped through the snow to the carcass. He opened dragon’s jaws and placed his head inside the maw. “Hey, lass, here’s the highway your father took for an age. A pretty handy way to Odin’s table, I must say!”
Father, you needn’t joke of it,” Aubrey scolded, seemingly sobered by the thought. “All my life I’ve heard stories of dragons and daring deeds; but that was all in the comfort of my own home and by the warmth of my own fire.” She shivered and huddled in her cloak. “The world is cold and real and deadly.”
“That it is,” Tarion nodded, unlatching his wrist-blade. He inserted it beneath a row of scales behind the dragon’s shoulder. He began to cut lengthwise across the back.
“Tarion, you’re not going to cut off its head, are you?” Aubrey asked with disgust.
“No Aubrey, something quite different,” he said curtly. “For an adventurer, opportunity is as important as gold. There’s more to Gaurnothax than his conquest and his hoard. I suppose I could leave him to rot and be forgotten, but that would do me no good and Gaurnothax no justice. I honor him, in a morbid sort of way, by using his power for my own ends.”
Aubrey sighed. “Very well, I’m justly rebuked. I ask you again, what are you doing? From here it looks like nothing more than trophy hunting and that is quite simply disgusting.”
“I’m not trophy hunting, I’m requisitioning. I no longer have my legions behind me. I can’t go around in my Praetorian armor. Therefore, I’m cutting myself a dragon-scale tunic. A good smith can make these scales into armor wonderfully light and strong. It will rival dwarven chain, but be far more effective against fire and cold.”
“Where did you learn so much of dragons and armor?” Aubrey asked, somewhat placated by Tarion’s intentions.
“I was the Praetorian! It was my vocation to know these things,” he laughed. Noting her serious expression, he explained, “It’s a wide world Aubrey. I’ve ridden the depth and breadth of the Imperium, even to the wastes of the west. There are many wondrous things in the world. Some things, like this, are mixture of wonderment and practicality. I have a long and dangerous journey before me. It requires stealth but it will result in strife. I need to take advantage of every opportunity. Besides, Gaurnothax will be able to brag about this in the ethers if his armor saves my life—believe me it’s true.” In another moment, he had a swath of Gaurnothax about six feet wide and almost ten feet long. “Ah there we are! You see, the secret is to take the flesh along with the scale. A dragon’s flesh is a tightly beaded mesh of tiny scales—a wonder of the Creator’s art! They bind the larger plates into a flexible sheet of armor. The larger scales are extremely tough and difficult to pierce. A smith will wear out many an iron awl piercing the large scales to link them together with wire, that’s why it’s much easier to shape the hide with the flesh, though that takes time as well.”
“Fascinating,” she grimaced.
Furge came over and after poking and prodding the dragon, he asked, somewhat sheepishly for a giant, “Tarion, would you mind if we help ourselves to some steaks? It’s your kill, but if you don’t mind sharing, I’d be obliged. Dragon-steak is a rare delicacy and I’d hate to miss out on such a chance.”
“Be my guest, Furge, help yourself to as much as you like.”
“Thanks!” Furge said, truly appreciative of the man’s generosity.
“Furge, can you save a few for the inn?” Hrolf asked. “It would be nice to have old Gaurnothax on the menu for your people and even some humans I know. I’ll give you both a cut of each order.”
“There’s more than enough here, so long as Tarion’s willing,” Furge said.
“Save me the head, the organs, claws, horns and venom sacs; the rest is yours.”
Furge and his friends set to work.
That was too much for Aubrey. She had no desire to watch the giant’s grisly task and told them so. Climbing the bank, she wandered through the trees to the little knoll overlooking the road; she stood, without knowing it, on the very spot where Gaurnothax laid in wait for her father. From there the woods opened to the north, giving Aubrey a view of the heavily wooded ridges beneath the white clad peaks. The sun shone through the breaking clouds and sent shafts of sunlight into the deep woods. Tarion joined her.
Aubrey smiled sincerely at his arrival, but the coquettish light in her eyes faded. She seemed at peace for the moment and her voice was serious but untroubled. “The woods here are so quiet and beautiful,” she said. “I love these mountains despite what I may think of their inhabitants sometim
es. In the past, we called this place Gotthab, the Seat of the Gods. Up there on the ridge, the Druids had a temple. I went there once with Father; it was in the winter, of course, while Gaurnothax was asleep. Among the trees is a glade open to the north and there you can look out over Trondheim onto the sea and even to the mountains of Jotunheim far away. Our people abandoned it long ago, for it is, or rather was, the center of Gaurnothax’s realm. I was so taken by the sight that I told Father that one day I would join the order of the Druids and re-establish that temple.”
Tarion was surprised, not by Aubrey’s desires, but by how well they fit with the wishes of his parents. Perhaps, just perhaps, there was hope for him after all. He smiled and said, “It seems to me such a calling would be appropriate for your spirit, Aubrey. You’ve too much intellect and ambition to be happy as a barmaid. What stopped you?”
“Only me,” she said with a sad smile. “I was but eight then and I didn’t really understand the realities of the world. Father took me to the academy and had me tested. They said I would make a tolerably good witch, but that I was much better suited for the druidic order. The Academy sent word to Lady Syf and she accepted me as an acolyte in Bilskirnir. Yet the inn was not so well off then and I saw how my parents labored. I told myself that I couldn’t leave them. Now I know it wasn’t their needs that held me back, but my own doubts.”
“We all live with the demon of self doubt, Aubrey, but it’s a lesser demon than regret.”
“Do you have any doubts, Tarion?”
“I’ve enough for the entire Imperium, Aubrey!” He looked around, feeling at peace for the moment. Maybe it could work. He almost broached the subject, but Freya held him back. It was the very doubt he spoke of, what Freya reminded him of—his immutable sense of responsibility. “We can’t let doubt control our lives; we have to live life—neither the God’s nor even fate can do that for us.”
“So we really do have a choice?”
“Of course, the only question is what will you do with it?” Was he asking Aubrey or himself?
The girl thought about it and said, “I feel compelled to follow my heart, but this is my home. One day I’d like to return and start a family. I’ll build a house, or even a temple in Gotthab. It’s free now, thanks to you.” She smiled and took his arm in hers. “Yes, that’s what I’ll do. And what of you, Tarion, you can have almost anything you desire?”
“You would think so, but as the Praetorian of the Imperium I don’t really have control of my destiny,” he told her truthfully. “I am on a quest. That binds me to the will of others, but if I were free I think I could stay in this country—it’s my mother’s country.” He stepped down to the road, holding out a helping hand to Aubrey. She climbed down the bank. He held onto her hand a moment longer than needed, then he abruptly let her go and turned away. Retrieving the scales, he loaded them on his horse. “There, that’s a nice parting gift from Gaurnothax!”
“You have your armor, Tarion. Can we go now?” Aubrey asked. The sun disappeared behind the clouds and the cold froze the adventure out of her.
Tarion led Aubrey to the cart. “I have business to attend to out here. You go back to the inn and think about what you said to me. We’re all unique, Aubrey; all of us have some potential or other. Finding that gift is the most difficult part of life. Accepting what we find is the greatest gift we can give ourselves. It must be so, for only we can accept it.”
“You sound as if you’re trying to talk me out of falling for you, Tarion. It isn’t working,” she said and the feline gleam returned to her eye. She laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.
He squeezed her hand, but said, “Think about it, Aubrey. You have a future of your own making; something I do not. I think there’s promise here for you. My mother was a druid after all.”
Aubrey leaned forward to kiss him. Tarion responded. Furge interrupted with a discovery.
“Ho! What have we here? This is a stroke of luck!”
“What is it?” asked Hrolf.
“Look!”
Furge’s work exposed the dragon’s stomach. Something was inside and it was moving.
“What the devil is that, parasites?” Tarion asked.
“No, something many times better!” Furge exclaimed. He cut a long slash in the stomach with his knife and stepped back. In short order, one, then two and then three little dragon heads popped out. They looked about and chirped excitedly.
“What on earth are they doing in his stomach?” Tarion asked.
“It’s a clutch of eggs not his own,” Furge explained. “He rooted them out and ate them. Gaurnothax is smart. He didn’t break the shells; so, no matter how long he keeps them they’ll lie in his belly and incubate. That’s what the females do in order to protect them.”
“Why would Gaurnothax carry another male’s eggs?”
“He wanted to devour them, of course! They’re sensitive to hot and cold, dragon eggs are. That’s why they can give birth in the spring no matter when they conceive. The females allow the eggs to incubate until she’s ready. Then she brings them up. The eggs sense the change and hatch. Gaurnothax was doing the same and this spring he was going to wake up and allow them to hatch. It would be a nice little meal for him to start off the year!”
“Disgusting!” the girl said.
“Gaurnothax must have cooled over the night enough for the eggs to hatch. Now we can enjoy what he intended! Come to me, my pretties!” Furge said with excitement and he reached for them with one huge mitt.
The dragons chirped in alarm and dashed like little snakes straight to Tarion. Their action caught him so much by surprise that he stood there, frozen. The little dragons wound up his legs as if he were a tree. In a twinkling, the three orphans were under his cloak and clinging to him with their tiny claws. The little heads poked out from various locations and chirped angrily at Furge.
“It looks like they’ve found their daddy!” Hrolf laughed.
“Isn’t that darling!” Aubrey smiled.
“Wonderful, just what I need,” Tarion moaned.
“I could take them off your hands,” Furge offered. He reached for one of the dragons, but one of the little monsters snapped at him. The giant yelped as the baby’s tiny teeth clamped down on his finger and blood spurted.
“Furge, don’t you dare!” Aubrey intervened. “You can’t eat them! They’re just babies!”
“They’re dragons, Miss Aubrey! You want that they should grow up to be like Gaurnothax?” he complained, cradling his wounded finger.
“He has a point, lass,” her father agreed. “We got rid of one ancient trouble—why invite a new one?”
“Dragons have their place too!” she objected. “They’re part of our world and we’d be poorer without them. I don’t want them slaughtered without even a chance at life. I won’t allow it! It’s not right!”
“Now, lass,” Hrolf started, but Tarion interrupted.
“Actually, my friends, Aubrey is quite correct,” he said firmly, knowing that his mother would agree with what Aubrey was saying. He walked up to her and took her shoulder. “There’s a balance to things and Aubrey is right to remind us of that. Dragons are a wonder of this world that we should not take for granted. That being said, I’m now faced with a dilemma of choice: what to do with them?”
He looked to Aubrey.
“Well, you can’t kill them, Tarion,” she told him firmly.
“Obviously,” he said. “But I can’t abandon them and I can’t carry them with me.”
“You’ll have to take them back to their mother,” she said with authority.
“Spoken like a true druid priestess,” Tarion sighed. “Very well, you’ve decided my course: somewhere out there is a mother pining for her lost children. By your direction Aubrey, I’m going to find her.”
“What, you can’t be serious, man?” Hrolf started.
“Really, Hrolf, what else am I to do?” Tarion asked. “Aubrey is right. If I kill them, or abandon them and the mother finds out, she�
�ll be at war with Trondheim. I can’t keep them. They would cause rather a stir following me about, especially when they grow up! Besides, you told me the duke wasn’t going to be happy after I ruined his agreement with Gaurnothax. I suppose I must mend that as well. So, as our future druid priestess says, I must take them back.”
Hrolf rolled his eyes and Furge scratched his head.
“Well, that’s settled then. Setris, you know the lands hereabouts. Do you have any clue where there might be a female forest dragon?”
The pixie came to a hover, thinking aloud, “There’s Davorix, out by the fjord, but she’s devoted to Gaurnothax so it couldn’t be her. Marris Narnyx is too far away and she’s too practical to choose another male within his realm. Well, there’s Hera Vora. She’s young, barely of age and rumor has it that she had a romance with a young strapping blue of the mountains. Gaurnothax must have discovered the affair and hunted the blue down. It could be her. She makes her cave about ten miles away as the pixie flies.”
“I suppose I better get moving then if I’m going to reach her lair before sundown,” Tarion said.
“Well, you know your own business, Tarion. I’ll have to trust you to it,” Hrolf sighed. He retrieved a flagon of ale and took a drink. Handing it to Tarion, he patted him on the shoulder. “This’ll keep you warm on the road. Have a care now man and return safe and whole.”
“Thanks, Hrolf,” Tarion smiled. The three dragons, sensing they were safe with their protector, whirled about his body playing at dragon-tag. He turned to Aubrey and squeezed her hand. “Before you go, though, I have something I want to say to Aubrey and you as her father should bear witness, for it will require your approval.”
Aubrey beamed at him.
Hrolf stared at him in surprise and horror.
What are you doing? The Lady’s stern voice seared his brain. The voice was not happy.
The Last Praetorian Page 22
