"By the saints, Thork, what is this?" Kar asked as he gestured at the rats.
Thork grinned. "Dis is Thork's army!" He guffawed and started pointing them out one at a time. "Dat's Itchy, dat's Scratchy, dat's Nibbles, dat's Cheeser, dat's Stinktoof, dat's Notoof, dat's—"
"Enough!" Kar cried out. "I don't want to know their names!"
The troll's bottom lip puffed out. "Yous didn't let Thork get to Nanners or Crazyeyes!"
Kar sighed. "Would it matter? Why are you here, Thork? And why rats? You think an army of rodents will help you?"
"Those rats are monsters," Namitus muttered.
Kar frowned. "Not monsters, but they are most certainly rodents of unusual size. I still don't see how they can help."
Thork cackled in a deep and ominous voice. He rubbed his thick palms together before saying, "It will if dem is plague rats!"
"Saints!" Mordrim cried out. "You've killed us all, you damned fool!"
Thork scowled at the dwarven warrior. "Yous's stupid," he declared. "Dem's only gonna give people's da plague if dem attacks."
Kar studied the rats and nodded. Many of them looked mangy or sickly, in spite of their robust size. "Fear," he said. "You keep the guards afraid to fight you. But what if they do? Will you risk destroying an entire city to prove your point?"
Thork shrugged. "Dem's da stupids dat attacked."
Mordrim cursed and turned away.
Thork grinned at them all and his eyes fell on the cowering girl. "Ooh, who's dis? Yous guys gots a new one?"
The young thief cried out and took a step back.
Thork guffawed and stepped closer to her. "Yous tastes good!"
Jethallin whimpered and collapsed as her knees gave out. Namitus caught her as she fell and lowered her to the ground safely. Jennaca started crying from the rough treatment.
"Ooh, yous gots a little stupid!" He reached over the trembling girl and stuck his massive finger into the baby's belly and tried to tickle the infant. Her cries turned to giggles before she reached out and grabbed onto Thork's finger with both hands. "Green eyes. Dat's good, dat's da color of fear!"
Jethallin swallowed and tried to move back from him. Thork lifted his gaze to hers and shook his head, freezing her in place.
Kar moved his hand and gave her an excuse to look away from the troll. "He says you taste good because you're so terrified he can smell it. In fact," the wizard looked at the puddle that had not been there a moment ago beneath her, "we all can."
Jethallin's cheeks flushed red. Thork bellowed his laughter loud enough to shake the wooden walls of the warehouse. He straightened and backed away from her, and then looked at the three companions. "Where's da big stupid, Alto? Thork heard him."
"You heard him?" Namitus asked. "But we didn't even hear him!"
"Thork heard his fear calling. Him's lady friend too, dat princess? Uh, Patrick?"
"Patrina," Mordrim growled.
"Dats her!" Thork nodded. He chuckled. "Patrick's da wrong kind of princess. More like a queen!"
"Are they still alive?" Kar asked, ignoring the troll's crude joke. "We thought they might be captured. Alto went to rescue his sister in the dungeons."
Thork frowned and then he shrugged. "Thork doesn't know. Him can't feel dem no more."
"What's that mean?" Namitus asked. "You can feel them, normally?"
"Thork feels fear from all over da place," the shaman said. "Da stronger, the better. It helps if Thork knows da stupid dat's skeered. But some peoples, like Alto, stand out."
"Why?"
Thork shrugged. "Him's special. And not da hitting his self in da head wif rocks cause it feels good kind of special."
Kar blinked and shook his head, unable to process what Thork had said right away. "If you can't feel him, does that mean he's not afraid or that he's dead?"
Thork chewed on his cheek for a moment and then shook his head. "Him's not bashed. Lady Jarook would have said somefing."
"The saint of fear?" Jethallin whimpered.
Namitus glanced at her and nodded. "Thork is a shaman of Jarook."
"Among other things, I suspect," Kar added with a glance at the troll.
Thork grinned and brought the green flowing tip of his spear over to pick out a piece of questionable meat that was stuck between his large teeth.
"So he's not dead but if he was afraid before, why would that go away?" Namitus reasoned aloud.
"You said something about Patrina?" Mordrim asked.
Thork nodded. "Same fing. Thork can't feel her no more. Could be somefing else."
"Like what?" the angry dwarf asked.
"Maybe dem's near Shazamir."
"We're all in Shazamir!" Mordrim snapped. "It's the name of the damn kingdom!"
"Stupid, Thork isn't talking about da kingdom. Thork's talking about da dragon."
"Dragon?" Mordrim and Namitus repeated. Kar's brow furrowed in thought.
Thork nodded. "Da king, stupids."
"The king of Shazamir is a dragon?" Namitus breathed.
"How else yous fink he could keep dis place running more or less da same all dese years?" the troll asked.
Mordrim pulled his hammer from his belt and spun it in his hands. He nodded. "Gots me another dragon to kill."
The volume of Thork's laughter left them all wincing. When he quieted down, he stared at them and wiped the large tears from his eyes. "Shazamir's not like dem udder dragons you bashed. Him's been around since before dis place was started."
"Mira, or the kingdom?" Kar asked.
"Da kingdom," Thork confirmed. "Him makes Sarya look like a hatchling. Him takes on da lives of humans to stay alive."
"His sons," Kar muttered aloud.
Thork nodded. "Yep, dat's da trick!"
"What?" Namitus asked, staring back and forth between the wizard and the troll.
"Every generation, when the king's eldest son reaches the age of thirty, he inherits the title of king of Shazamir in a private ceremony. The old king retires and is never seen in public again. Must be Shazamir takes on the form of his son."
"Yous's not so stupid after all," Thork praised the wizard.
Kar snorted.
"Wait a minute, a dragon that looks like a human?"
"Magic," Kar said. "Powerful magic, for this is no mere illusion but a near permanent change."
"All well and good, but we killed dragons before—we can do it again," Mordrim said. He grimaced and added, "Remember Alto called us the Band of the Dying Dragon."
Both men winced. "He did," Kar admitted.
"It's a terrible name," Namitus added.
Thork shook his head. "Yous's not bashin Shazamir. Him would eat you for lunch an den come back for da girl and her baby for dessert."
"We can't just run away!" Namitus said.
Kar looked at him, his furry brow raised. "Even knowing the most you could do is provide a spot of indigestion?"
"Would you leave them to their fate?" Namitus challenged.
Kar shook his head. "Of coure not, my son's in there! You have no relation, though. No blood."
Namitus shrugged. "Alto is my brother by other means," he said. "He came for me and risked it all. I will do the same for him."
"Mord—hey, Mordrim, where are you going?"
The dwarf looked back at the wizard from where he was nearing the door. "I'm not sure why you two are carrying on like old women. We got friends in need."
Namitus and Kar looked at each other and shared an amused shrug. Namitus glanced at Jethallin. "Stay safe. You can't do any good. Take care of your child."
Jethallin nodded, her eyes going to the troll and the rats. "I will. Um, good luck?"
Namitus smiled. "We'll take what we can get."
"Oh, wait, there was something else," Jethallin said. She glanced at the ring on her finger and said, "The ring, it, uh, is magic. I think the blood I saw was the lady's."
"Caitlyn?" The rogue clenched the hilt of his scimitar as he asked the question.
"No
, the other one. Patrina."
Namitus's eyes widened. He turned and saw the other three staring back at him. He nodded. "Enough talk. Thork, are you coming?"
"Against Shazamir?" He scratched his chin and then shrugged. "What da fear, dis could be fun!"
Chapter 18
"Lady Aleena." Celos greeted the grinning paladin with a smile of his own. He returned the salute of his fist over his heart and then gestured with his hand at the men behind him. "Sir Amos has seen fit to send ten knights with me to help spread Leander's word to, uh, this new nation."
Aleena looked behind Celos at the gathered men accompanying him. She counted more than a score of riders, including the knights, their squires, and even a handful of priests and acolytes. She grinned. "It does my heart well to see you," she said. "Uh, I mean Leander's faithful."
Celos raised an eyebrow. "So you're not happy to see me?"
Aleena's cheeks grew hot in the cool morning air. "Of course I am," she rushed to say. "I missed you. I will always look up to you and seek your guidance."
"We are equals now, in the eyes of Saint Leander, the church, and those around us," he reminded her.
Aleena nodded. "Perhaps, but I can't forget where I came from and who helped me get where I am. Equal or not, I will forever be indebted to you."
Celos spurred his horse forward so his stallion rode up beside Moonshine. In a softer voice he said, "In truth, it does my heart good to see you as well, Lady Aleena."
Aleena's eyes widened. She turned Moonshine around, using the distraction to gather her wits before she faced the same direction as Celos. "Come, my friend, let me show you and your men to our quarters. Queen Rosalyn's people have made considerable progress since you've been away."
"Not my men, our men," Celos corrected her. "And yes, I'm impressed at how quickly things are coming together."
"The ogres are strong and taking well to learning construction," she said. "The other people of the mountains are hard workers, when given leadership and direction. They are learning there are other ways to live than savagery. It fills my heart to see such hope."
"Indeed," Celos said. He glanced around and nodded. "Indeed."
Aleena led him and the other faithful of Leander to a newly built hall. The knights lashed their horses to a rail outside while Moonshine stood among them and snorted. Aleena took Celos and the others in and showed them their barracks.
"It's simple, but it will suffice. Queen Rosalyn has me staying in the mountain until her palace is built, but now that you and the others have arrived, I'll move my things here."
Celos frowned. "There's no need for that," he assured her. "You are the emissary from the church of Leander. I will stay with the knights."
Aleena frowned. She looked at the open beds arranged in the hall and understood what it was that bothered Celos. "My friend, we are all the faithful of Leander," she assured him. "Just as when I was a recruit and a squire, I will not have you or anyone treating me any different."
Celos let out a deep breath. "I expected as much. Saint Leander always finds ways to test us."
Aleena let a laugh slip out. "Test you? By sleeping in the same hall with a woman?"
"And for putting up with your stubborn nature," Celos said with a smirk.
Aleena laughed again. "You haven't seen stubborn yet," she laughed and said. "Refresh yourselves. There's a bathhouse two buildings to the west. I'll fill you in on the latest happenings. We've run afoul of a new problem."
"A new problem?" Celos asked as he laid his saddlebags in the footlocker at the end of his bed.
Aleena looked to the bed the paladin chose and frowned. "Why not the bed at the end of the row, nearest the door?" she asked him.
"You said you were moving your things here," he said. His new squire, a man by the name of Talyn, moved to help him unbuckle and remove his armor and add it to the chest. "If you insist on sleeping among men, the least I can do is put myself between you and the others."
Aleena tilted her head as she looked at him. Was this his way of saying he respected her and wanted to offer her protection that she could handle herself, or was it his way of wanting to be closer to her? She chose her words carefully and said, "I think I need not fear my fellow knights."
"I should hope not," Celos said. "But you must allow me to come to terms with balancing my need for chivalry with my respect for you as my peer."
"Very well," she said and turned back towards the door. His answer gave her no insight into what his true intentions were. Or maybe they did; maybe he viewed her as nothing more than a fellow knight. She was just another sword and shield on the field of battle. "Come, Sir Celos, let's get the stink of the road washed off you."
Celos grunted and called to the other knights and priests. He let them know to see to their squires and attendants before following Aleena to the bathhouse. She walked in to the open door and nodded to the goblin banking the fire that kept a pile of rocks hot.
Celos looked around and frowned. "Small," he observed. "Are there separate bathhouses for women?"
Aleena shook her head. "Not yet," she said. She turned her back to him and drew a deep breath. "We're knights of the same cloth," she told him. "But I'll respect your confused sense of chivalry and keep my back to you while you wash yourself."
She heard Celos's breath catch and then a moment later the rustling of clothing. She saw the goblin's eyes widen slightly but he turned away to fetch tongs and grab one of the rocks resting on a grate above the fire. He placed it in one of the wooden tubs that was filled with water and waited for the steam and bubbles to subside from the rock.
"Wait," the goblin grunted.
Aleena started to turn and then stopped. She wanted to see what the paladin had done. The goblin grabbed another heated rock and placed it beside the first. Once the hissing and steaming ended, she heard the goblin give his approval of the water. Moments later, she heard water splashing as Celos climbed into the tub.
"You can turn around now," Celos said.
Aleena waited a moment for the heat to fade from her cheeks. She'd chided her former mentor for being silly and outdated in his views towards her. Why then was she behaving no better? She turned and saw him sitting in the tub and using a rag to scrub the dust from the road from his skin.
"So tell me of these new troubles," Celos reminded her.
Aleena jerked and realized she'd lost her train of thought as she stared at the muscular knight. "Oh, yes. The elves in the west. In the forest to the west, that is," she stammered. "They've attacked Queen Rosalyn's people twice now. The first was a group of miners they ambushed and butchered. The second was a peace delegation Graak and I led to their borders."
"Graak, the ogre general?"
"Yes," Aleena said. "They ambushed us and killed more of our number, but we fought them off."
"The elves just attacked?"
Aleena nodded. She realized she kept staring at the water in hopes of seeing beneath the surface. To stop herself, she moved to a bench and sat down. "I was surprised," she recovered and said. "I mean, I expected them to be retaliating for something but it doesn't seem to be the case. At least not when they attacked us."
Celos frowned. "I don't know much about elves, save what our teachings have on them. They're supposed to be civilized and decent people, though. Some even worship Saint Leander."
"Queen Rosalyn has a surprising number of books," Aleena said. "She's given me access to her library, and by and large I agree with you, but it seems these elves are a wilder lot. I've seen them called savage elves and wood elves. Their skill with a bow and the curved swords they have is among the best in the world, but they have little interest in outsiders."
Celos frowned. "Did the miners enter their forest?"
"No, they were well within the mountains when they were attacked. Graak and I were in the forest, but I personally cried for peace many times during the attack."
"But none was given?"
Aleena shook her head. "I disabled one of t
heir number and killed two others. The ogres slew the rest. I sent a message back with the survivor to their leader."
"And?"
Aleena shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't heard back, but that was just the other day. I planned to return soon, perhaps by myself, to see if I could negotiate with them without Graak and his ogres frightening them."
"Now you have the knights of Leander at your sword," Celos declared.
Aleena frowned.
"Is there a problem?" Celos asked.
"I don't know. Maybe," she admitted. "I don't think Graak will like the idea of being left behind."
Celos opened and then closed his mouth. He smirked. "I've spent too much time around you, I think. I was tempted to discard his opinions on the matter, but I find I'm putting myself in his shoes. If I were leading this nation's warriors, I would insist on being there too."
Aleena chuckled. "There's hope for you after all!"
"Or we're all doomed," he said with a wink.
Aleena gasped at his joke and started to respond when the paladin laid the rag on the edge of the tub and grabbed the sides. He pushed himself up, turning as he did so and then pausing once his legs were nearly straight. His head twisted to stare at Aleena, his eyes wide. "Oh! I just, um, I'm sorry, I didn't think—"
Aleena ripped her eyes away from Celos's nude bottom and turned her head away. Her cheeks burned. She wanted to look again. The sight of the knight stole her breath and left her stomach twisting in a way that scared her and excited her. She rose from the bench and cleared her throat, but no words came to her. She turned and rushed outside, and then stood and tilted her face up to the sun to let the warmth wash away her confusion.
A moment later, Aleena felt something cold and wet on her cheek, startling her. She gasped and turned. She saw Moonshine standing there and staring at her. The unicorn whickered and shook her head.
Aleena sighed. "Celos was right," she said while reaching out to rub the neck of her companion. "Saint Leander does test us in many ways."
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