by Bruce Leslie
Though still on the ground, Meena’s strikes with her staff were swift enough to keep her attackers at bay. She chanced a quick glance at her companions as they approached. “Go help Snowy, not me!”
The three acolytes looming over Meena turned when she shouted. They scrambled to avoid the two men charging them while in turn being pursued by another five acolytes.
Flynn dropped his bow and flung himself at the attacker nearest Meena. He grabbed the masked man’s dagger with one hand as their bodies crashed together. He wrapped his other arm around the man’s neck and wrestled him to the ground. He slammed the acolyte’s hand against the rocky soil and the dagger fell free.
The Lump twisted around and placed himself between Meena and the seven remaining attackers. The air sang as he swung his sword in wide swooping arcs. He asked, “Which one of you mud-kissers wants me to pound you first?” Given the number of men he faced, he was glad Meena and a mountain guarded his rear.
Meena seized the opportunity to spring back to her feet. She jabbed with her staff to help keep the attackers out of arm’s reach.
Flynn twisted the arms of his adversary behind his back and pulled the green clad man to his feet. He spun around and placed the struggling man in front of him like a human shield.
The two acolytes tending the trapped bear at the far end of the trail laughed. One shouted, “This should be over soon!”
The Lump continued to swing his sword in swooping slashes to discourage the attackers from coming closer.
The seven acolytes formed a half-circle around the party and brandished their daggers.
Flynn shuffled forward and placed himself and his prisoner between Meena and the attackers. He was careful to avoid the flailing slashes of the Lump’s sword.
Meena gripped her staff in both hands and said, “I didn’t want to do this again!” She huffed loudly and closed her eyes.
Howls rose up on both sides of the pass. Long, angry howls at the newly risen moon in the still dusky sky. Howls came from points both near and far, howls so numerous they could not possibly come from a single pack.
The Lump let out a relieved sigh. “For Sol’s sake, Meena, it’s about time.” He smirked at the acolytes that surrounded him and pointed with his sword. “I hear these great-wolves around here are really something to see.” He placed a hand on his hip. “Unless you want to be wolf chow, I suggest you start running now.”
The howls grew nearer and louder.
The masked men exchanged nervous glances. One tucked his dagger into his belt and bounded down the path in the same direction the Lunari had fled.
The sight of their fleeing companion was all the other acolytes needed to convince them to flee as well. They ran as fast as their feet would carry them to the south. The two who had snared the bear were the last to flee.
Flynn kept a firm grip on the Green Acolyte he had captured.
The masked man squirmed as he struggled against Flynn. He said, “You have to let me go, I need to be with my brothers.”
The Lump stepped closer to Flynn and his captive. “You’re not going anywhere.” His swung his big fist and buried it in the masked man’s belly.
The captive let out a painful moan and his knees buckled.
22: Unmasked
“That was uncalled for!” Meena dropped her staff to the ground. She took the gold-handled dagger from her belt and marched toward the white bear still tangled in ropes.
“Uncalled for?” The Lump poked a big finger in the direction of the masked man restrained by Flynn. “He ambushed us twice, and tried to kill you!”
The mask man let out a whimper. “More than twice…”
The Lump snapped his head toward the man. “What was that?”
The masked man’s only answer was a fearful moan.
Meena used her blade to work at the ropes that bound the bear. “That doesn’t matter. He was restrained and posing no threat to you. You struck him when he couldn’t defend himself, that’s wrong!”
The Lump grunted and wrinkled his forehead. “It’s not that simple.” He scratched his beard. “I was trying to teach him a lesson.”
“And I am teaching you a lesson!” Meena turned at pointed her dagger toward the Lump. “No good comes from needless harm.” She turned back to the bear and stroked its fur before gathering up the cut pieces of rope.
The Lump looked down and shook his head. “Well, I hope you don’t mind if I take this mud-kisser’s mask off.” He looked over at Meena and raised his eyebrows. “We can at least have a look at his face.”
Meena nodded. “Go ahead, that may be of benefit to us.” She walked back around the boulder with the bundle of rope in her arms. “But don’t strike him again.”
Flynn tugged the hood of the man’s green cloak off his head.
The Lump grabbed the top of the cloth mask draped over the man’s head. “Now we get a look at you.” With a yank, he removed the mask from the man’s face. His eyes shot wide. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
Meena looked at the man and gasped.
It was Ivan, the quarryman who stirred the dragon from its slumber back in the Needles. The same Ivan who became a brigand in Aardland and twice ambushed the party the previous Autumn. He was the man the Lump held responsible for killing his mule.
Meena’s face twisted into a snarl and she marched toward Ivan with her dagger in hand.
The Lump arched an eyebrow. “Now who’s getting violent?”
Meena ignored the Lump’s question and began shouting at Ivan. “What is wrong with you?” She dropped the bundle of ropes at the man’s feet. “With every chance you have, it seems you make the worst possible decision!” She retrieved her staff and pointed it at the man. “It was your greed that led to this whole crisis!”
Flynn grabbed a length of rope from the ground, keeping one hand firmly on the prisoner. “How did you find your way to be mixed in with this dragon cult.”
“We are the Green Acolytes,” answered Ivan. The tone of his voice was somewhere between a whimper and a whine. “After I escaped you back in the Needles, I dared not go back to Bleuderry.” His eyes wandered over to the Lump. “I knew this big, ugly man would come looking for me.”
The Lump bared his teeth in a menacing snarl. “Who’re you calling ugly? In case you don’t know, you’re none too pretty yourself!”
Ivan turned his eyes away from the Lump and lowered his face. “I headed north, to Gallis, to try starting my life anew.”
Flynn pulled Ivan’s cloak from his shoulders with a rough jerk. “And your little rat-faced friend, did he come with you?”
Ivan answered, “Darak is his name. Yes, he came too.” He wore a drab brown tunic and breeches under his cloak.
The Lump crossed his arms. “And is he part of that cult now? Is he one of the dragon lovers too?”
Ivan gave his head a small nod. “Yes… well, he was.” He shrugged his shoulders. “He’s not with us anymore. He got caught stealing, I suppose he’s locked up in a dungeon somewhere. I’m not sure where.”
The Lump chuckled. “Sounds to me like that serves him right.”
Flynn bound the captive’s hands with a portion of rope retrieved from the bear. He looked up at the Lump. “Would you watch over him? I need to collect my bow and gather up the arrows.”
The Lump nodded. He stood with his big arms crossed and squinted one eye while he stared at the prisoner.
Flynn walked a few paces down the path and scooped up his bow. “Once you made your way to Gallis, how did you fall in with the dragon worshippers.”
Ivan continued to look down, not daring to meet the Lump’s gaze. “When I came north, I thought I’d left the dragon behind.” He shook his head. “But no sooner than I arrived in Gallis, so too did the dragon.” His voice cracked, he sounded on the verge of tears. “I had spent so much time in fear of the creature, fleeing it, letting it control me…” He paused for a moment and drew in a few breaths. “It seemed like it was following me, I felt curse
d.” His face raised, and he chanced a look at his captor. “Then, I decided to stop fearing, and learned to love the beast.”
The Lump tilted his head to one side. “And how, exactly, do you learn to love a dragon?”
Ivan dropped his face back toward the ground. “It sews chaos everywhere it goes. Chaos makes opportunities.” He drew a quick sniff of air in through his nose. “With enough chaos, even a lowly man like me could stand as tall as a king.” He sighed. “I only needed to serve the dragon. The dragon is going to destroy the world, we acolytes will rebuild it to suit us.”
The Lump furrowed his brow. “And what makes you think the dragon gives a half-bowl of swine slop about you?”
Ivan raised his face meekly. “With its eyes taken, it needs servants like me.” He was quick to bring his eyes back down. “I met a man who explained it all to me. He witnessed a dragon attack, and he didn’t feel fear. He was locked in a wagon, on his way to face a debtor’s punishment. The dragon attacked the wagon and freed him. This man saw the dragon for what it is, a living god here to remake the land for the lowest of us.” A faint smile crept onto the frightened man’s face. “He was the first of the Green Acolytes. He whispered to the rest of us, vagabonds, outlaws, wanderers, and the brotherhood formed.”
Meena’s staff pounded against the ground as she stomped over to the man. “The dragon hurts good people, it destroys farms.” She narrowed her eyes. “We’ve seen the chaos it sews!”
Flynn dropped the gathered arrows into his quiver and adjusted the bow across his body. “If you are so devoted to the beast, you should at least know that it’s a wyrm.”
“It’s much too magnificent to be called a wyrm,” whimpered Ivan.
The Lump grimaced with a snort. “It’s a monster, that’s what it is!”
Meena shook her head. “It’s not a monster, but it is dangerous.” She leaned against her staff. “And we have to deal with it.”
The Lump poked a big thumb into his chest. “And I have to stop a war!” He let his hand drop and flared his nostrils. “Now, you have to come along with me.”
Ivan looked up at the Lump. “Why do I have to come along?” His lips quivered.
The Lump pointed a meaty finger down at the man. “Because I Don’t trust you.” He growled and shook his head. “I’m not going to let you go so you can ambush me… how many times is it, now?” He raised his fingers one at a time and counted. “A fifth time! I’m not going to let you ambush me for a fifth time.”
Meena stepped closer and leaned her staff toward Ivan. “I have a more pressing concern.” She leaned her head to one side. “How did you know about us? How did you know we were coming?”
Ivan’s demeanor changed, he stopped whimpering and his face twisted into a sneer. “There is a traitor in the King’s court. Someone wants you to fail, someone informed us of your movements.”
The Lump leaned down and grabbed the front of Ivan’s tunic with one hand. “Tell us who it is!”
Ivan’s eyes opened wide and he once again looked afraid. “I don’t know. The only one who knows is the first acolyte.”
The Lump released the tunic and stood up straight. “I bet it was that sour-breathed Lunari.” He put his hands on his hips. “Was it?”
Ivan shook his head. “I told you, I don’t know.” He sniffled as fluid ran from his nose.
Flynn walked over to the Lump and stood beside him. “You cannot deny that you know where the dragon hides.”
Ivan squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. “I’ll never tell you, no matter what you do to me!”
The Lump squeezed the knuckles of one hand with the other, they cracked. “I’m willing to see just how much you really mean that!”
Meena extended her staff across the lumps chest. “A friend told us the dragon dwells on Itchy-Leg Hill.”
Flynn narrowed his eyes and looked across the Lump to Meena. “So, you call Six-Toe a friend now?”
Meena narrowed her own eyes and nodded. “Yes, he is a friend.”
The Lump chuckled under his breath. “Whatever you say, chief.”
Meena scowled at the Lump, then turned to Ivan and smiled. “Is this information true?”
Ivan opened his eyes and looked up. “As I said before, I won’t help you find the dragon.”
Flynn smirked. “It’s a wyrm.”
Ivan wrinkled up his face. “I won’t call it that!”
The Lump arched an eyebrow and looked at Meena. “Now is it time for violence?”
Meena frowned and drew in a slow, deep breath. She looked up the path at Snowy, with the burned patch of fur and rope marks around the bear’s neck. “Yes. Though it is distasteful, violence may be appropriate.”
The Lump flashed a toothy grin and drew back his big fist.
“Yes!” Ivan had panic in his voice when he shouted. “The dragon dwells on Itchy-Leg Hill!” Tears ran down the man’s cheeks. “Please, don’t hurt me!”
The Lump let his hand fall to his side and let out a loud laugh. “How about that? The lady just saw through your bluff.”
Ivan twisted his face in confusion. “You mean… you weren’t really going to hit me?”
“Oh, I was going to pound you, alright.” The Lump nodded toward Meena. “She just figured you’d crack first.”
Meena raised her eyebrows. “You were really going to hit him?”
Flynn said, “You didn’t think he would?” He shrugged. “I felt quite certain he would do it.”
Meena groaned and looked down at Ivan. “I knew you would speak. Everything you have ever done was motivated by greed and cowardice.”
Ivan lowered his face and sulked.
Meena walked up the path to the white bear and rubbed its fur. “I’m going to send her away.”
“Why?” asked the Lump. “That bear’s the toughest fighter we got.”
“She’s also the biggest target,” answered Meena. “She’s been burned and snared. This is not her fight, I won’t have her hurt anymore.”
The bear dropped its head. Its black eyes swelled with sadness.
The Lump took off his leather cap and ran a hand through his mop of dark hair. “I kind of think the big gal may want to stick around and help you.”
Meena shook her head. “She may want to, but I can’t allow it. Just because I share this… connection with animals doesn’t mean I should make them my slaves.”
The Lump slapped his cap back on his head. “But you were going to call down great-wolves on the dragon cult fellows.”
Means shook her head again. “No, I wasn’t.”
Ivan stared up the path with a puzzled expression on his face. “You weren’t? But they were howling like mad!”
Meena opened her eyes wide and nodded. “I simply asked them to sing for me, and they did.”
Ivan snarled, “That was a dirty trick! We had you beat, dead to rights!”
The Lump let out another bellowing laugh. “That makes twice she bluffed you!” He grinned down at Ivan. “You’d best not play leaves and stones against her.”
Meena stepped back from the bear. “Go back, go home now, Snowy.” She asked, “You can find your way home, can’t you?”
The bear growled a long, low, and sad growl, then lumbered back down the pass.
“What do we do now?” asked Flynn.
Meena gripped her staff with both hands and leaned against it. “We need to gather the bane.”
The Lump wrinkled his nose and grunted. “Now that the Lunari has run off, we don’t know where we’re going.”
Flynn looked down at Ivan. “Do you know how to get to Grey-Top Heights?”
Ivan shrugged. “How should I know? I’ve never been this far north before. I’m from the Needles, remember?”
Meena walked down the path and joined the others. “We will just have to search for it.”
The Lump looked down at the bound man. “That means you’ll have to search for it with us, quarryman.” He pointed a meaty finger. “I’m not taking my eyes off
of you until we get back to Galliston, where I can turn you over to the King.” His eyes brightened, and he smiled. “Perhaps, the King will get to do his first inquisition after all.”
23: Grey-Top Heights
The party made camp in the Saddle Pass rather than press on through the night. What little sleep the Lump got was restless at best. His turn on watch was tense, he worried about the possibility of another attack by the dragon cult. He also worried about the prisoner, Ivan, committing some act of treachery during the night. No longer having the benefit of a helpful bear made the easy nature of previous watches disappear like fog before the rising sun.
The night air was cold. Scattered howls off in the hills made for a chilling serenade in the darkness. However, with Meena in camp, the Lump felt the howls were no cause for concern.
The party didn’t build a fire, and ate only pine nuts to break their fast the following morning. The Lump found a shallow stream with slow running, brown water to fill his water-skin. He tucked the newly filled skin in his belt and splashed cold stream water onto his injured arm. Two splashes were sufficient to wash the crusted blood from the sleeve of his tunic. He admired the cut in his sleeve and noted that now his tunic matched his breeches, with each bearing a hole. He ran a big hand across his forehead and walked back to camp and the rest of his party.
Flynn smiled at the Lump as the big man approached. “I think we are ready to be off.”
Meena gave him a quick nod of agreement. She looped a spare length of rope around Ivan’s chest and under his arms then tied it behind the man’s back. She handed the trailing end of the rope to the Lump. “I thought you might prefer to have a leash on him.”
The Lump smiled and gave her a nod. “I sure do!” He grabbed the end of the rope in his big left hand.
Ivan’s hands were bound tight and hanging in front of him. “This is a miserable way to travel, you could at least give me back my cloak. It’s cold out here.”
