Dragon Clan #3: Fleet's Story

by LeRoy Clary

  Well before dark Tessa slowed and pointed. The ground dipped, and a spot of pale green grasses tried to survive. As they moved nearer, he saw the cave. It was a hollowed out area carved by the wind, water, or both. But it was situated facing east, while the wind came from the west. The wind would blow right over them.

  A glance beyond revealed the other side of the valley was shielded by the head-high lip of rock the cave was under. A fire could only be seen out in the drylands, not the other side of the valley. There had been small shrubs and bushes, even a few trees. Fleet would gather wood as soon as they came to rest.

  Tessa, a dozen steps ahead, tossed her shoulder pack aside and went to the edge of the cave. She knelt, and Fleet saw the water flowing in a stream larger than his finger down the rock. He set his things aside and managed not to push her out of his way so he could get over to the water. Of course, he also had the thought that if he tried, he might not succeed. Tessa might do her own pushing.

  However, as he moved to her side, she stood. “Fill yourself. I’ll drink more when you’re done.”

  The water was cooler than he expected and tasted of minerals, which reminded him of wetting a stone with his tongue. He filled his mouth time after time. When he paused, Tessa was placing sticks on the small ring of fire-blackened rocks.

  She looked up and shrugged. “I keep a supply of wood in the back of the cave. I got caught in a snowstorm once and couldn’t find any wood.”

  “Snow?”

  “Not often, but it happens.” She stuffed dry leaves and pine needles under the branches and pulled her flint.

  Fleet turned back to the water. When he heard the crackle of the fire, he turned back and reached for his pack. They had not stopped to eat. He pulled the dried fish, meat, and nuts from it, offering Tessa a share. He still had two small loaves of bread and handed her one, but it was too hard to get his teeth into.

  Tessa thought the stale bread was funny. She also had food, including fresh bread, a loaf of heavy dark grained, but soft enough to chew. She broke it in half and settled down to feed small sticks into the fire. “I know it’s not big enough to really warm us, and you can’t eat anything cooked on it because of the greasewood, but I like a fire.”

  The sun was low, and a chill would soon cool the desert heat as if the fire that warmed the desert had run out of fuel. Fleet unwrapped the cloth from his head and said, “Tell me about the people you call others. And we need a better name for them.”

  “I can’t tell you much. You know what we know.”

  “You’re more experienced at this than I am. What do we tell people about us when we get to Fleming?”

  “We say as little as possible. That’s the best solution to prevent most mistakes. But you’re right, we need a story of some sort. Suppose you tell me one.”

  He let his mind wander, and then spoke. “Fleming is a seaport. Castle Warrington in the Northwoods is also on the sea. We can say we’re considering taking a ship home to Castle Warrington. That gives us reason to be around the docks listening to what people say, especially about the ports where the ships that stop their travels. That might give us a clue where the others came from.”

  “That works until someone asks a question about Castle Warrington that anyone who’d ever been there should know, and we do not. As for your earlier question about the others, it’s hard to give them a name when we know nothing about them or where they’re from.”

  “I’ve been to Castle Warrington. That’s why I think it would work.”

  Tessa said, “What about me? I know nothing about it.”

  “We have tonight and tomorrow for me to teach you. I’ll tell you enough that you can get by, and I’ll be able to jump in when needed.”

  “How long did you live in Castle Warrington?”

  “Lived? I visited for a few days.”

  Tessa made a sour face. “Maybe we’re from a small village a day’s travel from the castle, and I’ve never seen it. What’s our business being so far from home?”

  “A boy named Brix lives with my family. His father and brothers spin string, twine, and rope. Suppose we pretend we are part of his family. We say that I came south to find new buyers for our spinning? You came with me because you’re better at bargaining. You are my father’s sister.”

  She held her hands closer to the fire to warm them. Then she gave a nod of her head. “I like it. Tell me more.”

  They discussed their imaginary background until well after dark. Both realized that anything a stranger says is scrutinized carefully. But the story was simple enough that filling in the gaps with half-truths was easy. They quizzed each other until the answers came smoothly.

  Fleet’s legs protested every time he moved. He fell asleep and when he woke the sun was not yet up, but Tessa was. He quickly gathered his things. They walked on hard, broken, black rock while the rising sun gave them enough light to see by.

  Fleet asked, “What’s Fleming like? You never said.”

  Tessa was in the lead again. She half turned her head to speak. “I’ve never been there. Not officially.”

  “Besides the king’s Summer Palace, isn’t it the closest city?”

  “It seems that your family does more traveling than mine. We’re isolated. The fear of discovery keeps us in the valley we call Oasis. There is little need to risk one of us being captured and tortured by the king’s men when we have all we need.”

  The sun rose behind them so the glare of the white sand was not in their eyes. It defined the rocks with long shadows that made it easier to see them. However, Fleet wondered at the idea that few of the drylands Dragon Clan ever ventured out. It almost seemed wrong. They were a proud people. The idea of spending a lifetime hiding, seemed so different from what his family believed.

  The primary difference was in long-term planning, he realized. At his home on Bear Mountain, there were, at least, four ways for the family to escape the deep valley they lived in. The huts they built for homes were temporary. They accepted that one day the king’s men would discover them, and they would have to flee. There were two other places selected for them to join up, and known to all, where they would make a new home.

  The drylands people had no escape routes. Their long term plan was that nobody would ever find them, and they would improve their valley. In Fleet’s mind, they were making an error that could end their family. They could not stay hidden forever. Fleet’s family history told of at least two times they had been discovered and managed to move on because they had plans in place.

  He said, “When will we reach Fleming?”

  “Between midday and dark, we’ll find the main road. For some, it takes three days, but we’re traveling faster.”

  “We might reach Fleming tonight?”

  She kept on walking, but slowed enough to allow for easier conversation. “We could, but I think not. We’d have to push ourselves, and then we’d be tired and worn out for a day. Better to get close and enter the town in the morning with the morning crowds.”

  He followed, thinking ahead. Fleet had always been called a planner by the other boys. They were right. He liked to know what was to come, and it made him a good watcher. He choked off a hundred questions, knowing they could wait because most would be answered when they arrived in Fleming.

  “How are your legs?” Tessa asked.

  “Not so stiff. We have nothing like this to walk on in my mountains.”

  “You’re doing better than most.”

  He was about to ask about who else had ventured this way when he felt the first gentle touch of a dragon. Just the slightest tingle on his back. It could have been an insect or the sand scratching, but lately, he had felt it too many times to mistake it.

  The dragon touch continued. Why had the dragon followed him all this way? He was sure it had a reason. The few glimpses revealed an older black female. The same one that allowed his approach on the side of the mountain. The same one that snapped up the treats of small animals he trapped or an occasional haunch
of deer, he brought to her.

  He had watched the night another black dragon fell from the sky and stood beside Raymer as they bonded. He had observed Raymer as he learned what they could accomplish together as Raymer directed the dragon while seeing through the dragon’s eyes. He knew there were other powers that hadn’t been revealed. But after the short-lived war, Raymer had gone back to the Raging Mountains and his family. At least for a while. The dragon flew over him as he traveled.

  Nobody in his family, not even the old ones, knew first-hand information about bonding. Most had thought it a myth until Raymer proved otherwise. Nobody in the drylands family knew, either. The obvious solution was to seek out Raymer. He would discuss it as soon as he returned home with the information on the others.

  Tessa paused as she approached the top of a hill. Fleet appreciated the fact that she stopped before she sky-lined herself to anyone out there who might be watching. While they couldn’t see another person, that didn’t mean the vast empty desert was without watchers.

  She made a complete turn, looking behind and to either side, then slowly crossed over the hill to the other side and paused with Fleet at her side to peer ahead again. Ahead lay new land. The harsh flatness was behind. Ahead lay rolling hills and shallow valleys, one after another.

  As far as he could see, the land rose and fell. Ten thousand watchers could be out there, and he’d never know.

  Tessa pointed. “Between those hills, you can see a little of the road. This is as far as I’ve gone this way. Sawyer said there is a stream of good water for drinking near here. I think I can find it.”

  Excitement grew inside Fleet. The port city of Fleming must be less than a half day’s walk away. The road would lead him. He still felt the tingle of the dragon on his back. Tessa had never mentioned it, so he assumed he was more sensitive than her, at least for the one dragon.

  “Let’s do it,” he said, sounding far more confident than he felt.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Fleet filled his canteen and water jugs after lying on his stomach and filling his belly with all he could handle. Tessa found the stream exactly where Sawyer had told her, and they made a camp surrounded by cattails and tall grasses. The ground closer to the stream held moisture from water seeping below ground, but just a few steps away it was dry and firm.

  There was daylight left, but the stream angled away from the road, and they decided to spend the last of the day where they were. The morning would take them to Fleming.

  Fleet grew introspective, reviewing what he knew and the implications of his sensitivity to the dragon that he could still feel but hadn’t seen in days. Was it following? Was it staying out of his sight on purpose? He didn’t know, but felt confident that if he were in trouble, the dragon would swoop down and defend him. In case it had feelings, he closed his eyes and pictured them together when she was roosting.

  He let the memory flood over him, the warmth from the ground of the volcano that emitted steam and rumbles, and the bite of the thin air. The dragon could see the entire flank of the mountain. It felt safe.

  “What are you doing?” Tessa asked, sitting near him, but with no fire tonight. They had mutually agreed they were too close to the road and didn’t want to attract the attention of thieves, muggers, and worse.

  “Thinking. I was back home, on the slope of our mountain where the dragons roost.”

  “You looked peaceful. A smile on your face but your eyes were closed.”

  “I like it there. I was trying to send a peaceful message, I guess. So I imagined a peaceful scene.” The words were out of his mouth as if by their own accord.

  Her expression hardened. “Who were you sending this message to?”

  She was Dragon Clan. If anyone could be trusted, it was family. Telling a lie would be as bad as . . . Well, telling a lie. Their relationship would never be the same. “I was seeking a black dragon that has followed me this whole trip.”

  “The one that flew over the drylands and warned us about you?”

  “Warned? No, it announced me. But, yes.”

  She fixed him with a stern eye. “Is it near us?”

  “I can feel it. Can’t you?” The question was intended to throw her off, make her believe that he thought she could feel it too. It was also intended to feel her out for how sensitive she was to the dragon touch.

  “No. I have not felt the touch of a dragon since we left Oasis.”

  In an instant, he decided to reveal part of what he believed to be true. “At home, I attended and fed the dragons. One allowed me to stroke her. I think this is the one. I can feel her presence when other clan members cannot. This is all new to me, so I’m still trying to figure it out.”

  “You’re bonded?”

  “Not like Raymer, but I’ve heard of different levels of bonding, too. Camilla told me that she heard that sometimes bonding takes place over time, if at all. I have nobody to talk with about this. Someone who knows the truth.”

  “You are doing fine on your own.”

  “You can help. Tell me when you feel a dragon and that will give me something to measure by.”

  “I can do that. I’d be interested to know, too.”

  “This is a hard land.”

  “Perhaps. But there is a stark beauty that I see. I’m afraid I’d always be scared if I visited your forests,” she said.

  “Scared?”

  “I wouldn’t be able to see fifty steps away. Who knows what might be hiding only a few steps away. I would always be looking for bears, lions, or the king’s men. Out here, I feel they cannot get close to me.”

  Fleet pulled his blanket around his shoulders and let his mind wander. There was a peacefulness in the desert, he enjoyed. There was also the feeling of calm as he watched a far off storm approaching at home. The sky would grow dark, the air still. And then a whisper of breeze changing to wind. And the storm would strike.

  Glancing around, he understood the comparison his mind was making. Since reaching Oasis there had been the calm, and when he and Tessa left it was like the breeze picking up. This evening was when the sky turned black and tomorrow morning the wind would blow. Reaching Fleming was the storm.

  “Still trying to reach out to the dragon?” Tessa asked. “You’re so quiet.”

  “Tomorrow is an important day. We might not find the others, but we’ll be in the right place, and the hunt will be on. I’m excited.”

  “Excited or scared?” she asked in a voice that betrayed her own fear.

  Fleet realized that she had never been to a city either. She was more scared than him. Although twenty years older, her culture at Oasis had kept her from traveling. Forests and cities scared her. He had been thinking only about himself.

  “I have been to several villages to the north, the castle at Warrington, and villages to the south like Nettleton and the Summer Palace. Camilla says I’m slow and awkward in social situations, and maybe I am, but ask me anything.”

  Tessa shrugged. “My experience is so limited that I don’t have the background to even know what to ask. My biggest fear is that I’m going to do something so stupid I give our identities away.”

  Chuckling, Fleet said, “Camilla made me act like I was slow, bordering on stupid. I did a lot of keeping quiet and mumbling words that nobody understood.”

  “Perhaps I should pose as your servant. You could conduct your business, and I would say little and observe.”

  Fleet waited before laughing softly.

  “What’s so funny?” she asked. “I’m serious. I couldn’t slip or make a mistake. I’m terrified of not knowing how to act, or how to do the most common tasks. People will notice and talk.”

  “No, you misunderstand. I think it’s maybe a good plan. We’ll think about it, but I like it. My laughter was about the idea of meeting with Camilla and trying to explain that you acted like the slow one . . . while I was the one who did all the talking.”

  He fell asleep with a smile on his face. Well before the sun came up, he awok
e and waited for Tessa to do the same. Her idea had taken root in his thoughts and the more he considered it, the more he liked it. Plus, he was grateful that she had come up with the idea because if he had, he didn’t think he could have presented it to her.

  She stirred, and he stood, letting her know he had arisen in case she was lying awake waiting for him. They ate little, and again she took the lead, but Fleet would have to reverse that, soon. He said, “When we reach the road you will walk a step behind me. Always. Never look me directly in my eyes, and do not look directly at others. I will not introduce you to any people we talk to, other than to dismiss you as my loyal servant. You will never correct me when another is around.”

  “Six gods dancing on a rainy day! What monster have I unleashed?”

  “This idea works well on many levels. You may hear talk from other slaves or servants that would not be repeated for my ears. Plus, if you are in the wrong place, or where you shouldn’t be, you can just say your master sent you. That will usually be the end of the subject.”

  She walked a while before turning and saying, “The ‘others’ are part of the Dragon Clan, one way or another. We don’t know how, but they will never expect one of us to surrender to being a servant. It will almost make us invisible to them. That is if they are in Fleming and seeking us.”

  The road was just ahead as the sun peeked over the hills. In the distance, two wagons hauled hay, one behind the other. A man walked with a woman they took for his wife, also leaving Fleming as the wagons were doing.

  They stepped onto the hard-packed dirt of the road. It was wide enough for a single wagon, and the twin ruts identified that many wagons had rolled over it. A strip of grass grew down the center. As they walked, they came to the first of many pull-outs where one wagon could stop and wait for another going in the opposite direction to pass.