King's Dragon: Chronicles of the Dragon-Bound: Book 2

by William Culbertson

  The queen sighed and sat down. “I will do it then,” she muttered.

  “Do what, Your Majesty?” Dax hoped despair had not overwhelmed the city’s one link with its ruling house.

  The queen nodded as if affirming a decision. “The Queen’s Legion.” She looked at him defiantly. “There are many women in the city who are willing and capable of bearing arms of some sort. The Tharans are coming, and they mean to kill and rape their way through my city.” Her gaze was firm. “They will have fewer to rape if they are forced to kill us first.” Her angry eyes challenged him. “Would you rather see the flowers of Frohliem’s womanhood cowering in closets when the Tharans plunder the city?”

  “On the contrary, Your Majesty,” Dax replied, “I was going to suggest you work to train them for stick fighting. The basics can be learned more quickly than a sword, and sticks are a lot easier to make. A stick doesn’t kill like a sword or spear, but a company of women working together would cause great problems for small groups of soldiers.”

  Queen Layna smiled with satisfaction. “I was getting tired of sitting around looking over your shoulder. Now get out. You have a dragon to fight, and I have work to do.”

  Dax bowed in acquiescence, but before he could turn to leave, the queen spoke again. “Wait. We will need to talk over the next few days. Have supper with me at the hour of sunset tomorrow and the next day.”

  This time he did leave. Doke and Narsus fell in at his side. He told them of the queen’s plan to arm a group of women and force the Tharans to fight their way through the city. Doke snorted. “There are some double-mean wenches in this city,” he observed. “The Tharans should be worried.”

  Narsus barked a laugh. “You’re thinking of Bad Bette and her sister over at the Pig’s Whistle.”

  “Yeah, and their friends at the Dog’s Leg. What about your Maddy you were always goin’ on about last year?”

  “She’s one to put the squeeze on you all right.” Narsus guffawed. “Like to make my eyes pop a couple of times there.”

  Dax smiled and shook his head. The resilience of soldiers from a good command always reassured him. A Tharan army with a dragon was about to fall on their heads, but these men seemed to take it all in stride. And the queen? She was more than resilient. She was indomitable.

  #

  Kahshect had been upset when Dax had left. Truth be told, Dax himself was still shaken by the news. He had to rethink everything now that he knew more about the threat. The Ugori would be most effective fighting and raiding from ambush as the Tharans advanced through East Landly. That meant a raggedy patchwork of constables, public safety wardens, and palace security guards would have to defend Frohliem City against Tharan forces accompanied by a dragon.

  He had sent the dragu Skat off with a message for Renshau and the other dragon-bound earlier, but it would be probably be at least a week and a half before enough of the dragon-bound could arrive to make a difference. The Tharans were closer than that. Still, there was a chance either Treyhorn or Renshau could get here in time. Dax wanted help making decisions about the coming conflict that would pit humans and dragons against each other. His actions could decide not only the fate of East Landly, but also the fate of the treaty between humankind and dragonkind. Even without a decision by the conclave, their advice would help.

  That evening he decided he needed to spend the night with his bondmate. Doke and Narsus still bantered on about women they thought should join the Queen’s Legion as they followed Dax out to the field where Kahshect rested. Dax took his sleeping roll and bedded down within the circle of the dragon’s tail. The other men chose to sleep some distance away. Dax heard Doke make a quiet comment to Narsus. “Wouldn’t want that thing to roll over on us in its sleep, now would we?”

  “You need a good night’s sleep,” the dragon told Dax.

  “Easier said than done these days,” Dax thought to the dragon as he leaned against him and tried to relax. The night had gotten cool, but next to Kahshect’s warm body, he was comfortable.

  “Will the people flee the city?”

  “Some already have,” he answered. “The ones who have access to travel by water. The army won’t catch them at sea.”

  “You’re assuming the Tharans have left the sea lanes unguarded.”

  Abashed, Dax realized he had.

  “You can’t think of everything,” Kahshect said reassuringly. “How many minds would you have changed if you had warned them?”

  Dax sighed. “Well, there will be others who try to flee the city overland. Those who have good horses will likely make it as long as there is not another party of Tharans prowling in the North. However, if the Tharans take the city, they will be able to capture most who flee on foot. I did raise that point.”

  “And?” The dragon could tell Dax’s thought was unfinished.

  “And I had several accuse me of not wanting them to leave so there would be more people in the city to fight the Tharans.” It was a good thing frustration did not usually trigger Dax’s dragon rage, otherwise he might have murdered many of the petty, self-centered individuals he had dealt with since he had gotten the news.

  “Maybe we should talk about other things.”

  Dax agreed. Talking about his work defending the city reminded him of how much more he had to do tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that? Instead they settled on talking about the treaty and the implications of the Tharans’ actions. At one point Kahshect asked, “I wonder if there is any connection to Mr. Finnel’s trading mission to the Dragon Lands? That would have been a treaty violation as well. Not as enormous as this one, but a violation.”

  He had not thought about their trip to intercept the Wave Dancer for some time. Dax followed Kahshect’s nudging idea. “You’re thinking about the Moni-Mani, the mystery ship the Wave Dancer was supposed meet at the Dragon Lands.”

  “We couldn’t find it, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t real.”

  “An illusionist draws your attention to his right hand while he makes the apple disappear with his left,” Dax noted grimly. “The Wave Dancer would have been a good distraction for someone wanting to capture a young dragon.”

  “An egg would have been easier.”

  The more Dax thought about Tharans stealing an egg, the more likely it seemed. Distract all the dragons in the area, surreptitiously land on the opposite side of the cape, and steal an egg. Hatch the egg. How had the Tharans figured that out? Crop the creature’s wings, and raise it as a dancing bear. If they had a full-grown drakon under their control, Thara must have been raiding the Dragon Lands for years.

  Kahshect interrupted his thoughts. “Could we call a conclave and get action against the Tharans? Four draig-human pairs should be able to handle a drakon, and with the conclave’s approval, we, the human-bound as well as unbound draigs, could take action against the Tharans.”

  “That would work,” Dax thought, “if we had the time, and if the conclave decided to do it.” He sighed. “However, we don’t have time to get a team together before the Tharans get here.” He pondered a while longer. “Without support from the conclave, I’m not comfortable with you taking action directly against the Tharan troops. Although the Tharans are certainly planning to use their dragon against the lancers, the conclave might feel a bound dragon taking independent action against any humans from Thara would violate the Great Treaty.”

  “That leaves me with the drakon. It’s not likely that I could do much to discourage a drakon.”

  “With your fighting instincts, I know you want to try.”

  The dragon sighed this time. It was an impressive rumble but not quite a roar. “You are right, and when I ended up gored and cooked, I would regret it.”

  “I would never want that to happen,” Dax said. “Never.”

  Kahshect brought his head around and looked at Dax lying against his side. “Nor would I want you to try anything that rash.”

  They talked longer about the treaty and the Tharans. It was late, but the
re were no answers. Dax knew Kahshect could feel his exhaustion, and when the dragon stopped responding to his thoughts, Dax fell asleep.

  #

  In the morning Dax awoke with an idea. He let it simmer in the back of his mind, careful not to think about it in a way Kahshect might overhear. He went back to the palace for breakfast and another round of planning meetings. During the morning, he found time to send a runner down to the docks. He would need help with his plan.

  At midday he went back to see Kahshect and eat his lunch. Doke and Narsus joined him. The men had been around the dragon enough times to lose their initial apprehension. Doke even took a seat with Dax on the dragon’s tail while Narsus sat cross-legged nearby. The men talked about nothing in particular while Kahshect kept up a running commentary for Dax’s appreciation alone. From time to time, Dax relayed the dragon’s wry thoughts, and soon the men were addressing the dragon as well as Dax.

  After Dax mentioned Kahshect’s observation that humans all looked the same from the air, Doke snorted. “So you dragons like to look down on people?” He took another bite of his apple.

  Dax stood up because he felt Kahshect’s intentions. The dragon twitched his tail out from under the seated man. Doke dropped directly to the ground, but he managed to save his apple from falling in the dirt. He scowled up at the dragon.

  “Not necessarily, but I prefer to have humans look up to me.”

  Both men joined in a chuckle when Dax repeated the dragon’s thought. Dax started to apologize for the dragon’s inclination to be a prankster, but Doke waved him off. “No, he got me good with that one, but he needs to be careful. One of my favorite tricks is to give my mates a hot foot.”

  Narsus nodded in agreement and rubbed his right foot in sympathetic agreement. Dax smiled. “Now how would you go about giving a dragon a hot foot?”

  Doke looked taken aback by the question, but then he smiled. “Well, I figure I’d have to get my own dragon, you see, and . . .”

  Dax stopped listening. With that comment, another piece of his plan fell into place. A draig alone could not take on a drakon, and a human would be foolish to try. But what about a draig and human working together through the bond? Bondmates with tactics carefully planned to exploit a drakon’s weaknesses.

  Turning to the dragon, Dax asked out loud. “So how does a drakon react to a draig? Does it hunker down and wait, or does it charge like a bull?”

  “As I’ve heard you say many times, ‘aggressive defense can disrupt the best offense.’ The dragon-bound train it out of the drakons they use, but a drakon will lower its head and charge at the first sight of a draig.”

  He repeated Kahshect’s statement for Doke and Narsus, then asked the dragon, “Could a spear pierce a charging drakon’s chest?”

  Kahshect snorted and started to turn away. “I told you they lower their heads when they charge. There’s no way to get at its chest.”

  “What about from underneath?” Dax persisted. “What if we could draw the drakon into a charge across a spot where someone could spear it from below?” Out of the corner of his eye Dax saw Doke and Narsus look at each other, then look back at him, but he kept his eyes on the dragon. This was the crucial point. Could he get Kahshect to accept the idea?

  Before Kahshect answered, Doke spoke up. “Commander, if’n you’ll excuse my bluntness, but you must have one large set of brass balls if you are thinking about tryin’ to poke a spear into a dragon like . . .” He waved his arm at Kahshect.

  “Actually, the dragon that the Tharans have is much bigger than Kahshect,” Dax smiled grimly. He turned back to his bondmate. “Would it be possible?”

  “Possible?” Kahshect settled back down to the ground. “Possibly.” He thought for a time. “Hard, though. The drakon’s big head would be down, and it covers the most vulnerable parts.”

  “It protects its vulnerability,” Dax repeated. “Not good news.” After a minute, he asked, “Is there any way to get the drakon’s head up out of the way while it charges?” After he spoke, he thought about it. With its head down, a charging drakon would carry its horns forward, keeping an attacking draig on the defense. What he needed was to get the drakon to charge into a fence rail. A low-hanging tree limb might do. He needed a spot where he could control the drakon’s path. A spot where he could conceal himself with a spear below the beast and at the same time get its head up. If he could lay one trap to spear the drakon, why not lay another to get its head up? Herne used to say, “One trap laid twice is a good idea. Two traps laid once is not.” But what if one trap would not be enough? Would an already desperate plan become too complicated if there were two elements?

  While he thought, Narsus spoke up. “Commander, if you want to get the beast’s head up, I’ve seen cattle wranglers do that.” Dax looked at him, and Narsus continued. “Pa worked some on a ranch, riding the herds, and I seen him rope a bull and pretty much get it to do what he wanted. Course you’d have the problem of gettin’ a horse and rider close enough.” After a moment, he added, “You’d best get a pretty big rope too.”

  Dax knew no horse and rider would be able to do the job, but what about a rope that could be pulled up to catch the drakon’s horns as it passed? Vague ideas in Dax’s head began to crystalize into a possible strategy, but he would have to find the right place, and the actions would have to mesh well together . . .

  “You have a plan.”

  Dax looked up at Kahshect. “I have a plan,” he repeated, and the other two men looked at him. Dax smiled. “An idea for a plan anyway. I need to ride out to look at the western approach to the city again.”

  “No. You can’t attack the drakon. I won’t let you.” The dragon’s thought was firm.

  Dax turned to the two men still staring at him. “If you gentlemen will excuse me for a time, I need to talk with Kahshect alone.” He wanted no distractions, so he stepped around to the other side of the dragon. Kahshect curled up to face him.

  “You can’t be serious about trying to kill a drakon by yourself,” Kahshect said as soon as Dax had seated himself on his tail.

  “No, I could never do this by myself,” Dax thought. He waited while the dragon worked out the obvious implication. He could tell when Kahshect realized they would both be involved with Dax’s plan, but the dragon stayed silent. Finally Kahshect thought, “One human and one draig?”

  “No, a bonded draig-human pair,” Dax replied. “If you’ll consider my plan, it might be a way to avoid a major conflict between humans and dragons. Humans will have a hard time forgiving a dragon destroying a city and killing thousands of humans, even if the dragon was being used by the Tharans.” Dax knew what would happen. “It would be the Tharans’ fault, but humans are good haters. They will hate both Tharans and dragons. If a draig will fight on their side, they may feel less inclined to hate all dragons.”

  Kahshect did not say anything for a time. Dax knew he was considering the larger aspects of the situation. Finally, Kahshect said, “We need more bond pairs to do this right.”

  “We don’t have the time.” Dax lifted his hands in a helpless gesture. “I agree with everything you are thinking, but we have to find a way to make this work before irreparable damage is done to human-dragon relations.” Dax was silent, but then another thought occurred to him. “Wouldn’t it be merciful to kill the drakon? Can it possibly be happy living as it does?”

  Kahshect let out a deep, rumbling sigh, and Dax felt a small sense of resignation. The dragon was at least willing to listen. “What is your plan?”

  Dax described the kaluga harpoons he had seen at the docks. “You would draw the drakon into the trap with a challenge. When it charges you, we have a trap set to get its horns up. That will give me a chance to put a long, sturdy harpoon into its chest.” Dax shrugged and admitted ruefully, “Once it’s speared, things will get interesting.”

  “It’s madness.”

  Now Dax was the one to sigh. “Yes, at the moment, it is. However, it is possible enough that I need to exp
lore the feasibility.” Dax reached over and patted the dragon’s side. “Don’t worry. I have no interest in sacrificing myself.” A wave of regret swept through him at the thought that sacrificing themselves might be what Kankasi and the lancers were doing even as they spoke. If he were to keep the Tharans from taking the city, he had to pursue this idea. “I need to scout the terrain where the Tharans will come and think some more.” He stood up. “Meanwhile, I would appreciate any thoughts you have about how to kill a drakon.”

  Kahshect stood up as well and leaned down to nuzzle his head against Dax’s chest. Dax responded by hugging his head and rubbing him behind his ears. “I will think on this,” the dragon finally said. He lifted up his head and looked off in the direction of Drundevil Pass. “Even if I can’t attack the Tharans, what if I delay them by distracting the drakon?”

  Dax had thought about that idea. “I don’t think so. Right now I like the idea the Tharans won’t know until the last minute they have a draig-human team against them.”

  “Surprise them.” The dragon was quiet for a time. “Still, in the heat of battle . . .” He paused for a time. “Can you depend on them to do the right thing?”

  “We will be the ones in control of what is the right thing. This will work best if we take the dragon away from the Tharans. It has been raised by humans. It will have instincts, but I’m sure it has never encountered a draig.”

  Dax stopped. He was getting too far ahead of himself, and he recited aloud, “Webs of wishes ensnare the overoptimistic.” He patted Kahshect on the head and moved away. “Ignore that last,” he said. “I need to think, scout, then think some more.” He nodded to the dragon. “I’d like you to think about it too. Can we do this?”

  Kahshect looked at him for a time, then said, “Perhaps your ideas are not outrageous . . . Maybe they are merely doubtful.” After another pause he said, “I will consider it.”

  Encouraged that Kahshect had accepted enough of his scheme to continue planning, Dax walked back to where Doke and Narsus waited. “Gentlemen,” he said as they got to their feet. “Let’s take a ride out the West Road. I need to look at our options.” He had responsibilities back in the palace to organize the defense of the city, but this plan might be able to save the city.