Legon Awakening l-1

by Nicholas Taylor

  Legon wasn’t nervous about the guards. They probably wouldn’t bother them.

  “Hey there, can I help you find something here?” said the guard.

  These men were paid by the town to keep order and deter robbers, but also to act as guides. They were nothing like the guards from children’s stories that always harassed people who came by and were always ready for a fight. If there was no threat there was no need. It didn’t make sense for the empire to place soldiers in every town; if you did that then your fighting force was too spread out, so each town paid people to do the job. These people would fight, but they also helped the town thrive. They knew every shop and resident, so if you needed something when you came to a town you weren’t familiar with, the guards could guide you. This was also a great way to protect a town; happy and cheery guards got people talking, and people that might be trouble often gave themselves away.

  “We need to get some supplies and I need to sell some horses,” Arkin said to the guard as they approached.

  “Then you’ll want to see Bear. Go to your left and you can’t miss him, and if it’s traveling supplies you’re in need of, there’s Peg’s shop next door that can help you out.”

  “Thank you. Bear?” Arkin asked.

  “That’s a nickname. The guy is fat and hairy and looks like, well, a bear.”

  “Does he like that name?”

  The man laughed heartily. “Nope, not at all, but he’ll tell you he loves it just to save face.”

  “Thank you for your assistance,” Arkin said graciously.

  They entered the town and started to Bear’s shop. As they went Legon noticed that unlike Salmont, Salkay was a planned city. That meant that if you wanted to build in the town you first needed to submit plans to the regent, and the building needed to meet certain guidelines. This was for several reasons. First of all, Salkay had a wall and a defensive plan, so if your building hurt that plan or affected it you might not get approved. Also, things like sanitation were taken into account.

  They made their way through narrow streets. Most of the shops along this way were travel-related and there weren’t a lot of dwellings. Soon they came to a one-story building with a large fenced in an area off to the right side with horses, donkeys, and mules walking around. Attached to the building were stables.

  They all dismounted and followed Arkin through a large door that horses could go through as well. The room was a hall that had stalls going up either side. At the end of the hall there was sunlight to the right, indicating the exit to the fenced-in area. A short round man with black hair and beard came out of a stall to their left, and sure enough he looked like a black bear. The image was made stronger by his soot-covered clothing that indicated he made his own horseshoes. Arkin diverted his eyes, trying not to chuckle at the accuracy of Bear’s nickname. Bear approached them with a large “I’m going to take your money” smile on his face.

  “Well hello there. What can I do for you today?” His voice was energetic and happy. The perfect salesman.

  “I am assuming you’re Bear,” Arkin said, extending his hand. The man flinched for just a moment.

  “Yes that’s me. They call me Bear because, well not to sound like I have a big head, but I’m strong like a bear.” He laughed in an exaggerated fashion. “Silly, really. I tell people not to call me that, but you know how people are.”

  “Yes I do. We are traveling and in need a few things. Can you help us?”

  “Well, I’m sure I can. By the looks of it you have more than enough horses. I take it you need tack and things of that nature?”

  “Yes, and we would like to sell seven of these horses as well.”

  A look of incredulity crossed Bear’s wide face. “You want to sell seven?”

  “Yes. Can you buy them, or would you like us to try someone else?”

  “No, no, I can take them. Let me have a look. I hope you’re not expecting a lot for them, I mean,” Bear said, walking up to Calvin and Phantom.

  “Not those ones. The ones that have stuff tied to them. You can have whichever seven you want, it doesn’t matter to me.” Bear inspected the horses that a few days ago had belonged the queen. Legon wondered if Bear would figure it out.

  “These are exceptional horses. You can tell just looking at them. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were military grade. Say, how did you get them?” There was a suspicious look on Bear’s face. He was going to figure it out. They must look guilty bringing in this many horses to sell.

  Arkin didn’t lose his cool and said in a calm voice, “We killed ten royal guard and these were their horses.”

  Legon looked at Arkin in disbelief. He wanted to say something but his voice wasn’t working. Bear looked a little uncomfortable; he looked them over, eyes lingering on Sasha and Keither, and then gave a loud bark of laugher.

  “Ok, ok, I get your point. I won’t go sticking my nose into your business. Killed ten royal guards, eh? I like you, buddy. Ok, so here’s what my thoughts are: there are five of you and you are going to have eight horses, so my guess is that three of them will be for pack. Now I don’t have the money to pay you for all seven, but,” he said raising a finger,

  “I will do this instead: I will take the seven and will trade out the riding saddles for the three you keep with pack saddles. Then I will shoe all your horses and make any repairs to your current equipment.” Bear smiled widely, like he was going out of his way. Arkin took a moment to answer.

  “We’ll take that deal, plus four hundred shells.” Legon did another double take. That was a good chunk of change, and they didn’t need the money. What was Arkin doing?

  Bear frowned. “Three hundred and I get help with the shoes.”

  Arkin looked at Kovos. “It’s your call-you’re the smith.”

  “Oh, you’re a smith?” Bear asked.

  “Yeah, ok, deal,” Kovos said. “But one question: Why don’t you go to the forge? Why do you need my help?”

  “Ah, the forge. Well, that’s government-owned and you can buy ingots from it, but as far as production it only does government work.”

  “Like what?” asked Keither.

  Bear looked at the boy and smirked. “Looks like you had a riding accident. If you like I would be happy to give you some lessons while you’re here.”

  “Thank you, but I’m not interested,” Keither replied. “What does the forge make?”

  “Oh, the forge. Well, anything for the government really-armor, weapons, wheels, you name it.”

  “So nothing for the town?”

  “No, it doesn’t, that’s why we need a smith, and…”

  “We don’t want to take any more of your time. We need to get a few other things while we’re here. How long with this take you?” Arkin asked.

  “You can leave sometime tomorrow afternoon, provided your companion here knows what he’s doing.”

  “I’ll have the shoes done tonight. If you can get the tack and other stuff we can leave by morning. You guys go run your errands. I’ll hook up with you later,” Kovos said, starting to rummage through his bags. Bear gave them directions to a local inn and shops they needed to go to. By nightfall they were done with their shopping and were in Arkin’s room at the inn.

  “Why did you tell Bear that we killed those men?” Keither asked. Arkin looked at him with a wry smile.

  “Because no one would admit that, and it’s hard to believe. Sometimes the best way to hide something is to put it in the open. No doubt your next question will be about why I asked such a steep price for the horses when we have money. Well, that’s also easy-if we look like we’re rich then we draw attention, but if we look like we’re just bargaining then we won’t.”

  Kovos came in the room filthy. “Ok they’re all done. We can leave in the morning, and believe me, that will not be soon enough. Bear is driving me crazy!”

  Legon chuckled. “Why is that?”

  “He will not shut up, and he keeps trying to sell me stuff. He tried to get me to buy this old nag t
hat looked like it was ready to die. Told me it was a great ‘pre-owned horse.’ Honestly!” Kovos sat hard on the bed next to him and placed his hands on his knees.

  “Well he’s a used-horse salesman, what do you expect?” Sasha said.

  They continued to talk for a bit and then decided to head off to bed. Arkin had his own room and Legon and Sasha were sharing one. The place was nice, a lot like their home, but it felt odd not to have his own room. Not that Sasha was a bother, but the man at the front desk had asked about them being married and that had made his skin crawl a bit. At the same time he wasn’t keen to leave her side. He was in protection mode right now and he probably wouldn’t sleep unless he knew she was fine.

  It was nice sliding under the sheets and putting his head on a somewhat soft pillow, almost like this was just any other trip. Soon the ceiling he was looking at faded away as sleep took over.

  The ceiling was replaced by clouds. In his dream he rolled on the ground. “Great, another one of these,” he thought. He was on the field tonight, but to his left he saw dirt and gravel, so he was somewhere in between the two… two… whatever these were. To his left in the mist was the outline of the black dragon, to his right just mist. This was such an odd dream. He never saw the other dragon, just the one that he associated with evil and bad things. He wondered… if he only saw the black dragon, did that mean that he was a bad person? There was an overwhelming feeling of confirmation, which somehow he knew was coming from the black dragon. He was a bad person, but why was he moving toward the field where perhaps the white dragon was?

  The feeling came again, this time saying he couldn’t make it. But there was a new feeling now, one that came from somewhere else, one that felt good and hopeful. There was a grumble from the black dragon; he needed to be paying more attention to it. “No I don’t. Maybe I need to concentrate on the other feeling,” he thought, or did he say it? Could you think to yourself in a dream? What did all this mean anyway? Did it mean anything? He wasn’t sure.

  He thought about this for awhile and then looked down, noticing that he had gotten closer to the black dragon. Fear came. He didn’t want to be closer to that one. Still lying on the ground, he started to inch the other way but somehow he kept getting closer to the dragon. He rolled around on his belly, facing the field away from the dragon, crawling, straining to remember the feeling of hope that he had felt. The more he thought about it the more he moved away from the dragon. He wanted to turn back and look but something made him keep his eyes ahead of him.

  The mist was getting thick now and he couldn’t see the ground, even on his belly. There was a thunderous THUD… THUD. The second was softer and coming from behind him. The dragon was leaving. THUD. He pawed the ground, wanting to keep moving away but it was so hard to figure what way to go. THUD. His fingers closed around a vine that was on the ground. He pulled himself along, holding to the vine, hoping it led away from danger. THUD. Soft now. Deep breathing from high above him. There was the fear again. What if this was not the white dragon? What if this was just another Iumenta? He looked up into a violent flash of bright blue.

  Chapter Twelve

  Empathy

  “It has been said that love is the strongest power for good in this world, and that if more people loved there would be far less suffering. I would disagree with that theory; it is not love itself, but what and how we love, for surely the tyrant loves the suffering he causes just as much as the mother loves her child.”

  — Teachings of the Restored Queen

  Legon’s eyes blinked open. He felt cold sweat covering him and his breath was ragged. He stared up at the canvas ceiling of the tent; he couldn’t hear Sasha’s breathing. He sat up trying to wave off the grogginess.

  “Where is she?” he thought.

  The dreams were always a bit better when she was close, but she wasn’t in the tent. Then it came to him.

  “The Jezeer,” he said.

  Tonight Sasha was learning the Art of the Waking Sleep, a form of meditation that allowed you to stay up for hours with no sleep at all. You could put yourself in a state that was almost as beneficial as sleep, only it took a tenth of the time. Tonight was her night to learn. He had to admit she was doing well with the training, but it still seemed as if they were missing something.

  In the two weeks following their departure from Salkay, both of them had learned a lot but felt as though they hadn’t. It was aggravating in many ways. That wasn’t going to matter for long, though, since they were almost to Salez and then maybe Legon would get some answers. Or maybe not-it was hard to say. He wasn’t sure of who to talk to or what to do, and Arkin wasn’t talking about what he needed to do there.

  He lay back down, still exhausted. The dreams had been going full tilt now, yet it was odd that they changed every night. Some nights he was close to the black dragon and other nights to that blue light. No matter what he did, he couldn’t figure out what that light was supposed to be. Arkin had said that dreams symbolize what was going on in the mind, but there was no answer for these dreams. What was he supposed to be figuring out? The way he felt when he went to bed seemed to have an effect on what the dreams were like. If he was happy with himself and his day, usually he was closer to the blue light, but if he was unhappy he felt closer to the black dragon.

  Legon realized it was going to be morning soon. He needed to sleep. They had a big day tomorrow. They would be entering Salez, and he was going to need his wits about him. As soon as he closed his eyes, though, a noise outside made him start and shoot straight up. “What was that sound?” It sounded like a voice. It could be that he was just hearing things, but he better be sure. He stuck his head out of the tent and saw Sasha sitting next to the fire, eyes closed, trying to master the Waking Sleep. Arkin looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

  “Nothing,” said Legon. “Never mind, thought I heard something.” He flopped back down; he hadn’t heard anything. It was just in his head.

  Sasha was vaguely aware of Legon saying something as she was deep in concentration, trying to figure out the Waking Sleep. In theory, once in the right state she would have waking dreams but still hear her surroundings. It wasn’t going well. Her mind was reaching a different state for sure. However, that state was sleep. She kept drifting off and Arkin would catch her before she slumped into the fire. She thought she had come close once, but it turned out to be nothing.

  Then it happened. She heard everything around her just like Arkin had taught them. She was aware of what everything was, and she could feel her mind and body filling with energy. Strange dreams suddenly filled her mind’s eye. Dreams she wasn’t in control of but could still see, hear, and feel. Time seemed not to exist either, but somehow she knew how long she was out. She brought herself out of the waking sleep and looked at Arkin, who was smiling in the light of the sunrise. She slumped down.

  “Why was I out for so long? I thought I should sense time, right?”

  “You should. I was ready to tell you to go to bed and get some sleep the old fashioned way, but just then you achieved the Waking Sleep, but only for about five minutes. Then you fell asleep for five hours.” There was a placating look on his face.

  “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

  “You were fine where you were, and I figured if you woke up on your own you could have another try.”

  Arkin stood and walked off without another comment. She was a little put out. She had been sitting there all night long sleeping and he had just watched her? Or did he go to bed himself? If she had been doing what she was supposed to she would have known that, but still, what if she had taken a header into the fire? She stood, feeling stiff, and started on breakfast.

  “Morning, Sash,” Legon said, coming out of the tent.

  “Good morning. How did you sleep?”

  “Meh. Had another one. I don’t know why they affect me more when you’re not there.”

  “I have a soothing personality.” She turned and gave him a warm but fake smile.

&nbs
p; He laughed. “Yeah that’s it.”

  As the day wore on they drew closer to Salez. Soon they could see a dark haze over the next hill, indicating that the city would be just on the other side. Arkin’s training had filled the last few weeks, but some of the most important training was how to protect their minds. Magic users and Dragons could read thoughts, but if you knew what you were doing you could block them out.

  “Remember, there are going to be many people at the gate, so if they do have someone checking thoughts they’ll only be looking for obvious things like aggression. In light of that, keep your thoughts focused on the mundane, understand?” Arkin warned.

  “But what if one tries to go deeper?” Kovos asked with a little nervousness in his voice.

  “You won’t know if they do, but if it looks like someone is paying a little too much attention to you, clear your head. If that doesn’t work then try to hurt yourself.”

  “Do what?” Kovos asked.

  “Fall off your horse or something like that. Anything that will agitate the people around you and more important, your mind”

  “Don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll fall off my horse anyway, so I wouldn’t be too worried about it,” Keither said with a chuckle.

  They headed east and came over the top of the hill. When they crested the top, Legon felt his stomach drop. In front of them was the largest city he had ever seen. Salez was beyond huge. The smoke from thousands of chimneys formed a dark haze floating above the city. The harsh smoke made him want to sneeze. The city was built on two hills that were separated by the Kayloose running between them. Farms surrounded the city, which was encircled by a towering stone wall. From the hilltop vantage Legon could see that the wall even spanned the river, which passed though grates built in along the bottom. Towers were spaced evenly along the massive wall. Behind them was slate roof after slate roof.