by Sam Ferguson
Lepkin nodded. “I’m jealous of it,” he said.
“You’re jealous?”
Lepkin nodded again and turned fully to face her. “If I had vampire blood in me, then I would be even faster than I am with the sword. My senses would be sharper, and I would have magic.”
“But you are the best apprentice of the sword in all of Kuldiga Academy,” Kyra replied. “The first time I saw you, you were trouncing many other students with a wooden sword, and even their instructor.”
Lepkin nodded with a smile. “And I would have trounced them even better if I had even an ounce of your strength,” he said. He then turned back to the wall.
Kyra smiled at that. He always had a way of making her feel better about herself, no matter what others did or what was happening around her. She admired that skill. She turned back to the space and continued watching. She had missed something in the conversation. Now they were talking about Leatherback again.
“We will go in the morning and perform another examination,” Warty said.
“I will go with you,” the Keeper said. “If there is any taint, we will need to act quickly.”
“Might I suggest you inform Kyra?” Headmaster Herion asked. All of the others turned to look at him. “If you intend on making a surprise visit to the only true friend she has, she will want to know about it. To do otherwise is to invoke her wrath, and as we have just discussed, she has already put a shade into the ground.”
“Is that a threat?” Dumbly said as he stood up. He never talked much, but when he did, he was usually either grumpy or pessimistic. Kyra could scarcely tolerate looking at Dumbly.
“I am saying she has the right to know about it. She also has the right to go with you.”
“I hardly think that is appropriate!” Dumbly said.
Warty turned to say something, but it was the Keeper of Secrets who spoke first.
“I agree with you, Headmaster Herion,” he said. “If you would accompany me in the morning, then I would be happy to explain the situation myself. This would also give me a chance to observe her and see if she should be tested.”
Herion nodded as Warty and Dumbly sat down. “It should be noted that Kyra is a ward of this academy,” he said after a few moments. “The law would require her guardian’s permission before she is taken to undergo the Test of Arophim.”
The Keeper smiled. “As you know, my position affords me certain permissions beyond the scope of the law.”
Herion nodded and Kyra could feel a heavy air settle around the room. Neither of the men were moving, but somehow this conversation had turned into a very real struggle, one as potentially deadly as anything with a sword.
“There are those here in Kuldiga Academy who would not accept the idea of Kyra being taken without permission, regardless of your station.”
The room was heavy with tension as the two men stared at each other from across the table. No one moved or spoke a word. Kyra even found herself holding her breath for a while until the Keeper finally spoke.
“I am not in the habit of kidnapping children,” he said with a forced smile. “However, if she were to agree to the test, assuming I found her suitable in the first place, then I would hope her legal guardians would see the merit in allowing her to do so.”
Herion nodded. “That would be acceptable.” Herion seemed to open up then as he shifted forward in his seat and glanced at the priests. “The dragon slayers will be leaving in the morning as well. They will head north to the villages that have reported dragon attacks. Along with a shepherd who lost an entire flock, we have several farmers who have lost cows and horses in villages to the northwest by the sea. While you are conducting your investigation, the dragon slayers will be doing their own. I feel confident that you will see something else at work here.”
“I hope so,” the Keeper said with a nod. “I would not like to take the life of a dragon, as that would go against everything I am working for.”
“Please continue to keep a low profile while you are here,” Headmaster Herion said. “If the dragon slayers were to discover Leatherback, they will not hesitate to attack. Their order is very different from yours.”
The Keeper nodded. “We shall be discreet. For now, I assume that the stories of the shade are enough to keep the dragon slayers from combing the mountains looking for Dimwater’s dragon.”
“For now,” Herion replied.
As if some unseen signal had called an end to the meeting, all of the people present rose simultaneously. Herion left through the door, while the priests and the Keeper left through the hidden passageway.
Lepkin and Kyra scurried out and down to the chamber below with the table and chairs. Lepkin replaced the bookshelf and Kyra took a seat and conjured a flame to light the candle sitting upon the table.
“I have to go to him,” Kyra said.
“What?” Lepkin replied as he finished setting the book case in place. “You heard them, they’re just going to examine him.”
Kyra shook her head. “I’m not worried about the stupid priests,” she said. “I know Leatherback didn’t attack the animals. He hunts elk and moose. I know, because I go with him a lot. He wouldn’t do this.”
“Then why?” Lepkin asked. “Are you going to fight every monster that comes into the Middle Kingdom?”
Kyra stood up and nodded defiantly. “If I have to, then I will. Especially if the dragon slayers are still here. Maybe once they leave, then I can relax, but as long as reports come in of strange attacks that look like a dragon could be involved, then I have to do what I can to protect Leatherback. If that means going and fighting whatever attacked the sheep and cows in the villages, then so be it.”
“What if it’s another dragon?” Lepkin asked.
Kyra hadn’t thought of that, but her courage was not dampened by the thought. “Then that dragon will have to contend with another dragon and a sorceress.”
“I can go with you,” Lepkin offered.
“Can’t use swords on a dragon’s back,” Kyra replied.
“I’m good with a bow, too,” Lepkin said with that boyish smile of his. “I just got one from Al as a present when I returned the amulet he let us use.”
Just then a pebble skitted across the floor behind her. Kyra wheeled around, hands up and at the ready. Lepkin was rushing around her as well, pulling at the wooden sword he carried.
“Whoa! Stop, it’s me!” Linny shrieked as she cowered and put her hands up in the air.
“What are you doing here?” Kyra asked.
“I saw you sneak into the laundry room. I was just… I mean, I…”
“You shouldn’t have come down here,” Lepkin said.
“How much did you hear?” Kyra asked.
Linny rubbed her hands together and looked to the floor.
“She heard all of it,” Lepkin said.
Kyra rushed forward. She didn’t mean to frighten Linny, but the young girl shied away from her and closed her eyes. “You shouldn’t have come down here!” Kyra said. “Why were you following us?”
Linny slowly opened her eyes and looked back to Kyra. She glanced to Lepkin, and then back to Kyra. Her breathing slowed.
“I didn’t mean to pry,” Linny said.
“Meh, we’re snooping on others,” Lepkin said suddenly. “I suppose we can’t be too mad if she snoops on us.”
Kyra turned an angry glare to Lepkin. “No, it isn’t the same.”
“It’s pretty much the same,” Lepkin said with a shrug.
Kyra let out an exasperated sigh and locked eyes with Linny. “You had no right to come here.”
“I…I thought we were friends,” Linny said.
“We’re friends, but we’re not sisters or anything like that,” Kyra replied sternly. “If anything happens to Leatherback, I swear I will…”
“She didn’t mean any harm,” Lepkin put in. “Come on, don’t be so hard on her.”
Kyra heard the words, but she was furious. Sure, she had had fun with Linny staying
up late or working on homework projects together, but that didn’t mean she would trust her with this secret.
Linny cracked a faint smile and nodded. “I won’t tell anybody about him.”
“Come on, we should get out of here before all three of us are missed for dinner,” Lepkin said.
“You two go, I have to go to Leatherback,” Kyra replied.
“Sure you don’t want my help?” Lepkin offered.
Kyra shook her head again. “I’ll go alone this time. You just get her out of here.” Kyra then pointed a finger at Linny. “Not a word to anyone about Leatherback, do you understand?”
Linny nodded.
“And don’t come back down here snooping on me again.” Tears were welling up in Linny’s eyes, but Kyra was too mad to care. She opened a portal and then stepped through before another word was said by anyone.
Chapter 7
Kyra stepped into the grove and found Leatherback sleeping on his side in the late afternoon sun.
“There you are!” she shouted angrily.
He opened his eyes and a smile, or at least what passed for a smile upon a dragon’s face, appeared. “Where else would I be?” Leatherback asked as he rolled over and looked at her.
“You tell me!” she demanded. “I have come here for days and haven’t seen you.”
Leatherback’s smile disappeared. “I thought you were busy training.”
“Uh-uh, don’t try to tell me that. Where have you been?”
“Hunting,” Leatherback said.
“How many cows have you eaten?”
Leatherback snorted. “Why are you angry with me?”
Kyra strode up to him and poked the end of his snout. “I saw the cow bones here the last time I came. You have been eating cows. Now there is a village somewhere to the north that is complaining about a dragon eating their livestock. Was it you?”
Leatherback shook his head. “No.” His tone was final.
Kyra took in a couple of breaths and then clenched a fist as she looked down to her feet. She hadn’t really believed he had been responsible, she was just so angry that every time something bad happened it was blamed on a dragon. Worse than that, was that every time a dragon was blamed, Herion had to convene a special meeting to discuss it.
“Sorry,” Kyra said. “I worry about you.”
“I don’t steal,” Leatherback said. “The cows are wild cows. I have been hunting out west, but I don’t go near any settlements.”
Kyra nodded and reached out to pat his snout to make up for poking him. She knew she hadn’t hurt him physically, but she still didn’t like the idea of being so rough with him. Especially since she hadn’t seen him hardly at all since their battle with the shade, it made her feel terrible that she would open a visit by yelling at him.
“How are you feeling?” Kyra asked.
“Tired,” Leatherback replied. “Listening,” he added as he closed his eyes again and rolled back onto his side.
Kyra heard a strange metallic noise and cocked her head to the side. She walked around to see a small pile of gold and gems tucked under the dragon’s back. From her studies of the books her mother had given her about the dragons of Kendualdern, Kyra knew that gold and gems sang to dragons, and had healing properties.
For just a moment, she worried that perhaps Leatherback had raided villages, but then she shook the thought from her head. Villages would not have so much gold to steal, and even if they did, no one had complained about stolen riches, only dead animals.
However, the pile of wealth presented a different problem.
“Where did you get this?” Kyra asked as she moved in and put a hand on the large dragon’s wing.
Leatherback rolled back to his stomach and craned his neck around so he could look at her over the pile of treasure. His eye lid cracked open and a throaty rumble came out along with a wisp of smoke as Leatherback spoke. “I found it in the ground. I dug it up.”
“No, no no!” Kyra said as she put her hands on her head. “You have to be more careful. First you leave piles of bones in the clearing, which I have been cleaning for you by the way, and now you bring a mound of gold and jewels and plop it on the ground, this is careless.”
“No one will look for it,” Leatherback said. “I didn’t steal it.”
Kyra shook her head and moved to the pile. She put a hand out onto the top of the pile and then put the hand to her waist to emphasize how large the pile was. “You don’t understand. If the dragon slayers come by here and see a large pile of bones, or a heaping mound of gold and jewels, they are going to know this grove belongs to a dragon. Worse than that, if they pass by the hole where you dug all this up, they will know you are nearby.”
Leatherback snorted. “They won’t find my treasure mine.”
Kyra looked to the sky and cried out, “Ugh!”
“Leatherback rose to his feet. “Come, I will show you.”
“Near or far?” Kyra asked.
“In the sea to the west,” Leatherback said with a sly smile.
Kyra narrowed her eyes on him and then nodded her head. She moved to the hiding spot and pulled back the branches. This time she found the saddle and the staff. She secured the saddle to Leatherback’s neck and then climbed on.
“All right, but let’s make this quick. I really need to get some sleep tonight.”
Leatherback leapt into the air and went straight into the clouds. He turned and flew due west, flying faster than he had ever gone before. Kyra noted how much stronger he seemed and wondered if that was in part due to the gold and jewels he was now finding and using to heal and strengthen himself.
They flew out over the sea for nearly two hours, and then Leatherback dropped below the clouds and circled a beautiful island. Kyra first scanned the area for any sign of human life, but then she let her eyes take in the breathtaking mountain on the island. Whatever anger she had felt melted away as she saw the large, dark brown pit dug out of the western slope.
“So this is your mine?” Kyra asked.
“This is my island,” Leatherback stated proudly. “You are my first guest.”
Kyra patted him on the neck. “I bet you say that to all the girls you bring here.” She laughed, but the joke was lost on the dragon.
He angled his wings and the two of them descended down directly into the pit. Kyra could see the many nuggets of yellow and the several gemstones poking through the sides. More than that, there was a pile of gold along the bottom that was twice as large as the one back in the aspen grove.
“Wow,” Kyra said. “With even a portion of this, we could go north and live a comfortable life.”
“Can you hear the music?” Leatherback asked with a smile.
Kyra shook her head and frowned. “No,” she said.
Leatherback laid down atop the gold and promptly closed his eyes. Kyra clambered down from the saddle and wandered around for a few minutes, using what was left of the late afternoon sunlight to study several different gems.
Then she turned back to Leatherback. “We still need to do something about the attacks.”
“Where is the village?” Leatherback asked.
Kyra shrugged. “Somewhere to the north, I think, but I don’t know for sure.”
“Then why go?” Leatherback asked.
“Because, they say a dragon is killing livestock. We have to make sure that there is nothing that would cause the dragon slayers to make a thorough hunt. They might find you eventually.”
“What if it is a dragon,” Leatherback asked.
Kyra shook her head. She knew from her studies, and from her visit with Njar’s Pools of Fate that dragons were a rare sight in the north of the Middle Kingdom. Any rare beasts that were left now were far to the south, which was why the dragon slayers were headquartered in Ten Forts, the southern border along the orc lands.
“It isn’t a dragon, but I don’t want the dragon slayers to ever find you.”
Leatherback stood up and then stretched his wings. “We hunt
the culprits so no one hunts me?” he asked.
Kyra nodded. “The dragon slayers will be leaving the academy tomorrow. If we can slay the animal responsible and then leave its body for them to find, then maybe they will leave us alone.”
“Or we could fly north,” Leatherback said.
Kyra shook her head. “You aren’t strong enough yet for that, Njar says it will be some time yet.”
“I am stronger than he knows,” Leatherback grumbled as he puffed a bit of orange flame through his nostrils.
She was about to argue with him, but stopped short. Why should she doubt him? She was often being told by Cyrus that she wasn’t ready, but look at what they had already accomplished. Not many masters could claim to have killed a shade, yet the two of them had with Lepkin’s help. They had also hunted down garunda beasts and wylkins. She nodded her head and decided not to argue about his strength.
“If we leave now, the vampire will come after me,” Kyra noted thoughtfully. “Cyrus has made that pretty clear. The pattern of attacks on my family and my house seem to confirm that.” She didn’t mention the nightmares she had been having, but those too seemed to agree with Cyrus’ assessment. The vampire was after not only the dagger, but her as well. The thought of an undead creature hunting her for the rest of her life was not one she wanted to think on for too long.
Leatherback growled and nodded his head. “Then let him look for us. If he ever finds us, we’ll be ready.”
Kyra smiled faintly and shook her head doubtful. She knew that Leatherback understood the danger Severin posed. A vampire would live until destroyed, meaning it would hunt them no matter where they went.
“Has Njar seen you today?” Kyra asked. She was eager to change the subject, but also it had just occurred to her that she had not seen the satyr since before the fight with the shade.
Leatherback shook his head. “He must be resting, his injuries were great.”
Kyra nodded. She had hoped Njar would be able to give her advice for finding Severin, but that would have to wait.
“What are we hunting?” Leatherback asked.
Kyra shrugged. “Not sure. It’s something that kills sheep, horses, and cows.”
