by D K Drake
The wolf bared his teeth, inched closer and lowered his front paws. The pack of supplies strapped to Varjiek’s back was the only thing separating Javan from danger.
“He’s about to pounce, and I don’t know how to stop him!”
I do, but you need to duck.
Javan dropped to his stomach as the wolf leapt over the supplies. At the same time, Varjiek’s tail whipped through the air and collided with the wolf’s body, sending him sailing into the sand. Varjiek followed the beating up with a stream of fire that singed the wolf’s fur. It whimpered and disappeared into the darkness along with the rest of the retreating pack.
And that is why you don’t cut off a dragon’s tail, Varjiek said. He sounded jubilant. Victorious. Happy. Otherwise we can’t use it as a weapon to keep you humans safe.
“I am glad I’m a Collector and not a Hunter.” Javan laughed, re-sheathed his swords and reclaimed his seat at the base of Varjiek’s neck. Now he, too, felt giddy. The dragon’s attitude was contagious. “Let’s keep going. Maybe more animals will attack us as the journey continues.”
I like the way you think, young Collector. Varjiek stuck his head in the air and pranced the rest of the way up the hill. I like the way you think.
◊◊◊
The creaking sound of a door opening woke Micah from a deep sleep on Karl’s deceptively comfortable cot. The noise seemed to have come from inside the dark, windowless room, but the door leading to the living space remained closed. A piece of the floor along the wall beside the dresser, however, was now raised up.
Micah slowly reached under the pillow and latched on to the dagger he hid there before falling asleep. If anyone other than Karl came through the floor, he’d be ready to fight.
“You can put the knife away, Micah.” Karl lifted himself through the floor. The lantern he pulled up with him lit the dark room. “It’s just me.”
Micah left the dagger where it was and sat up. “How did you know I had a knife?”
“If you didn’t, I’d be ashamed to admit I once trained you.”
“You’re lucky I didn’t take your head off. What are you doing under your house in the middle of the night? The curfew law dictates you shouldn’t be out doing anything after dark.”
“Are you going to turn me in?”
“I should.”
“Enforcing laws that keep people small and restricted isn’t as noble as our dear father would have you believe.”
Micah wasn’t entirely sure what his brother meant by that, so he changed the subject. “Did you find Javan?”
“I reached out to everyone in my network and didn’t come up with anything until a few hours ago. One of my guys brought me this.”
Karl limped over to Micah and tossed a golden sliver on his lap. “An active noon stalker scale? This is incredibly valuable and could power the castle for centuries. Where did your guy find this?”
“It showed up in Posa--”
“Posa? What is he doing in Posa? That’s directly south of here and nowhere near any stalker territory.”
“A bottle of healing ointment disappeared in the same spot two fully active noon stalker scales appeared.”
“Javan would have needed ointment. I cut his chest open when we fought over Mertzer. But how did he get two scales off his dragon during its feeding time?”
“Anyone that can manage that is a serious threat to the throne. You might be better off hunting dragons rather than this Collector.”
“Nonsense.” Micah stood and shook off Karl’s warning. “He’s ruining my life. I have to take him out and make his dragon mine.”
“Then you should head south. If we leave now, I can get you out of the city while we still have the cover of darkness to protect us.”
“You can get me out of the city? How?”
“Underground tunnel.” Karl smiled and shrugged. “Don’t tell Dad.”
Chapter 12
Exchange of Favors
Micah listened to the rhythm of Karl’s wooden leg echoing against the brick walls as they walked along the stone floor of the tunnel. Its rounded ceiling left plenty of room for them to walk through without crouching, and its width gave them enough room to walk side by side. Karl made Micah walk behind him anyway in some sort of power play.
Micah didn’t like following. It made him feel weak. He wanted to lead, to be in charge. He also wanted to carry the lone light in the dark space, but Karl refused to give up the lantern. If Micah didn’t need Karl’s help, he would have snatched the lantern from him at the start. He hated playing nice.
Omri wouldn’t play nice if he knew this tunnel existed. He would send his dragons and level the entire city. Maybe that’s what Micah should do once he became king. That would get the attention of the people. They would wonder how he knew their secrets and fear him more than they feared Omri.
What if every city had tunnels like this, though? He couldn’t wipeout everyone and everything or he would have no one left to rule.
Why did the people feel the need to build the tunnels in the first place? Was it because Omri’s laws were too oppressive? If the people were allowed to travel when they needed to go somewhere—regardless of the time of day—they wouldn’t need a secret tunnel system.
Such thoughts made Micah’s head hurt. Everything used to be black and white. The law clearly dictated the difference between right and wrong. Obey the law or suffer the consequences.
But Micah wasn’t obeying the law at this very moment. According to the law, he should be tucked away in his home sound asleep. Not breaking curfew by being out after dark. And certainly not walking in an illegal tunnel to travel outside of the city without travel papers approved by the local travel administrator.
He also wouldn’t be seeking help from a fisherman whom Omri had banned from the capital city. He had been banned because of Micah. So why was Karl helping him now? Why had Karl helped him all those years ago? Perhaps now was his chance to find out.
Micah halted and crossed his arms. “Karl, stop.”
Karl ignored the order and kept walking. “We don’t have time to stop.”
“I need to know why you saved me from that bear, then told our father I killed it.”
Karl paused and turned. The lantern light now lit up both their faces. “You were in trouble. I was the only one around to save you, so I did.”
“But we were trained to protect ourselves, not each other. Plus you made me out to be the hero. Why?”
“If Omri knew how scared and shaken you were, he wouldn’t have hesitated to disown us both. Losing my leg sealed my fate; Omri would never keep a disfigured son in his presence.
“But you? You were young and strong and smart. Killing a six-legged bear at an age when most kids couldn’t hold a sword would set you up for life. And it did. You’re becoming a legend. If people knew your true age, they would be even more amazed at your accomplishments.”
“I still don’t understand.” Micah stepped closer to Karl, closing the gap between them. “You had nothing to gain by protecting me and enhancing my reputation.”
“I’m your brother, Micah. Family looks out for each other, even if one has to make sacrifices to raise the other one up. Our mother taught me that.”
“Our mother?” Micah had been too obsessed with training and working to please his father to spend much time around his mother. “She didn’t have a chance to teach me much of anything. I only see her once every few years.”
“When you get home,” Karl said, his eyes tearing up, “you find her, hug her, and tell her I love her.”
“I will.” Micah found it odd that Karl missed their mother more than their father. She was nice, but his father was the one with all the power. Shouldn’t Omri be the one Karl missed?
“Let’s carry on.” Karl cleared his throat and dried his eyes. “We’ve wasted too much time already.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence, which didn’t help Micah’s headache. The silence forced him to think, and thinking
made him question his relationship with his parents, the laws of the kingdom, and the validity of his quest to hunt dragons in order to keep his father in power.
Just when thought his head was going to explode from too much thinking, they reached the end of the tunnel.
“We’re here,” Karl said, pushing open a stone door. The smell of water whooshed through the opening. “Watch your step. The ledge is only a few feet wide, and one little misstep will have you swimming in the river below us.”
Karl crept out, followed by Micah. Sunrise was still hours away, so the lantern remained the sole source of light as they inched along the narrow path that led up the rocky cliff. Once they reached the top, Micah could make out the silhouette of Madai about a mile away.
“All right, brother. We’re out of the city. Go find the Collector and his dragon. When you are successful, I expect you to return for me.” Karl looked around, waving the lantern. “Where are you hiding your dragon?”
“Just north of here.” Micah glanced at the river behind him. Mertzer was terrified of water, and Micah would never be able to get the dragon to swim across. “I’m going to need one more favor before we part ways.”
“You want my boat, don’t you?”
Micah smiled. “You read my mind.”
“I figured you would need a way across the river. Some of my men are set to meet us at Schrader’s Pier about three miles south of here. But there’s only one way I’m going to let that dragon on my boat.”
“What’s that?”
“Just get your dragon to the meeting spot. I’ll tell you there.” Karl winked and began a lopsided jog south along the bank of the river.
◊◊◊
Guided by the light of the moon and stars, Micah sprinted through open meadows, patches of woods, and farmland to reach Mertzer’s hiding spot.
The run revived him. Being woken in the middle of the night and spending hours winding through a confined space had his nerves on edge. But the open air and intense exercise cleared his mind and made him forget about his lost sleep.
The sight of Mertzer curled into a ball and sleeping underneath two giant oak trees also relaxed him. Fortunately the dragon was right where Micah ordered him to stay. The sun would be up soon, and he didn’t have time to hunt Mertzer down or beat him for not complying with his orders.
Mertzer opened his eyes as Micah approached him.
“Good,” Micah said, “you’re awake. Time to get up and travel south.” He loaded his gear on the groggy dragon, hopped on, and led Mertzer back over the path he had just taken.
Mertzer covered the miles in the blink of an eye, but Micah pulled him to a stop just before they reached the water’s edge. If the dragon caught a glimpse of the water, he would freeze the way he did when Javan tried to collect him.
That ridiculous fear of water had given Micah the window of opportunity he needed to steal Mertzer from Javan, but that fear could work against him now. So he needed a way to work around it.
“All right, Mertzer. You’re not going to like this, but tough. Do what I say anyway.” Micah took a blanket out of his bag, dismounted, and walked around to face the dragon. “Lower your head, close your eyes, and remain still.”
Mertzer cocked his head and squinted before finally complying. When he dropped his head low enough, Micah wrapped the blanket around his eyes and tied it behind his ears. Mertzer flinched and snorted but didn’t attempt to remove the blindfold.
“Good boy.” Micah stroked the dragon’s snout to keep him calm. “I’m going to hold your reigns and walk in front of you. All you have to do is listen to me and follow my lead. I’ll take the blindfold off soon enough.”
Mertzer huffed and shook his head, loosening the blanket.
“Whoa!” Micah yanked on the reigns. “Stop that. Try it again, and I’ll have to get my whip out.” Mertzer settled down, and Micah retightened the blindfold. “Let’s go.”
They walked steadily along the river until they reached the pier. Karl stood on the sandy shore in front of the pier, and his boat floated in the water at the end of the pier.
“Glad you made it,” Karl said. “We weren’t going to be able to wait much longer.”
“Let’s just load up and get across this river as fast as possible.” Micah started leading Mertzer toward the pier, but Karl stopped him.
“Wait. Remember that favor I mentioned?”
“Yeah. What is it?”
“I want to ride your dragon onto the boat.”
Micah hesitated. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. He’s unsure of his footing with that blindfold on, and he’s never had anyone but me ride him.”
“Take the blindfold off.”
“I can’t. If he sees the water, we won’t be able to get him to walk anywhere.”
Karl crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders. “If I can’t ride your dragon, you can’t ride on my boat.”
“Fine.” Micah sighed. He wanted to tell Karl no, take over control of the boat, and be on his way. He also didn’t want to share his dragon, but the man was missing a leg because of him. The least he could do was let him ride Mertzer for two seconds. “Mertzer, bend down, and let my brother ride you.”
Micah tugged on the reigns to convince Mertzer to crouch low enough for Karl to climb on. Karl approached from the left side, grabbed on to Mertzer’s neck, and pulled himself up onto the dragon. Once he got situated, he motioned for the reigns. “Hand me the reigns. I’m ready to ride.”
“No. I’ll lead him from down here.”
“Nonsense. I’m not a child. Hand me the reigns.”
Karl put his hands out and stared at Micah. Not wanting to waste any more time, Micah grit his teeth and complied.
“Thank you. You go ahead and get on the boat. We’ll be right behind you.”
Micah grumbled the whole way down the pier and walked up the plank that led to the deck of the boat that was going to be just big enough to hold Mertzer. Three gruff, bearded men standing beside the cabin at the bow of the boat didn’t even notice when he walked aboard. They were too focused on the dragon headed towards them.
Mertzer did make an impressive sight. His white scales practically glowed in the dark, and the thunderous sound of him trampling along the wooden boards shook the boat.
Micah smiled at the wide grin on Karl’s face as the pair approached the plank and decided letting him have this moment of glory wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
As they began walking up the wobbly plank, though, Mertzer’s legs began to shake, his tail began to twitch, and his body began to tremble. “Hurry and get him on board,” Micah said. “I think he knows he’s near water.”
“Up we go, boy,” Karl said. He urged the skittish Mertzer forward, but as soon as he stepped on the deck of the boat, the boat swayed back and forth. The swaying seemed to upset the dragon. He spun around, balked his head and started spewing poison in every direction.
The crew ran to the front of the boat, Karl yelled at Mertzer to calm down, and Micah grabbed a jolt blaster hanging on the side of the cabin. He shot Mertzer in the side, sending bolts of electricity through the dragon’s body.
“Quick,” Micah screamed at the retreating crew, “get us out of here and to the other side before he recovers from the shock!”
Chapter 13
Southward Bound
Javan didn’t want to move. After traveling all night in the cold going up and down one sandy hill after the other, then spending the first few hours of the morning in the blazing sun with nothing but a hat to protect him from the heat as they walked across a barren, cracked earth, he liked the cool tree Varjiek had found to camp under at the edge of a dry riverbed.
The trunk of the tree was hollowed out in the shape of a teepee and had an opening just large enough for Javan to crawl inside. The long, thick branches were covered with leaves and thus provided Varjiek with the shade he needed to escape the heat of the sun.
They had been quietly resting for hours when Javan heard te
rror in Varjiek’s words. Javan! I’m being attacked! Help!
Javan grabbed his swords and scrambled out of the tree. “What is it? What’s wrong?” He looked around to see if the wolves had found them again but saw nothing.
It’s this bug. Right here. On my dinner. Kill it!
A spattering of Varjiek’s scales had turned to their typical golden color, and he had the half-eaten blanket of uxe leaves spread out before him. Javan had to strain to see the tiny ladybug crawling around on one of the leaves. “Really, Varjiek? You can fight wolves without a second thought, but you’re scared of a cute little ladybug?”
These things are lethal!
“Lethal? That bug is lethal?”
I ate one once and almost died. My throat swelled up and I couldn’t breathe.
“Oh. You must be allergic to them. For a second there I thought my dragon was a big baby.” Javan walked over and flicked it off the leaf. “There. I saved your life. Now we’re even. You can finish your meal, and I can finish my nap.”
Javan made it halfway through the door when Varjiek called for him again. Javan, there’s another one.
Without a word, Javan walked over and flicked it away. But three more appeared in its place. He swatted them off the leaf only to find five more show up. “Where are they coming from?” All he had to do was look up to answer his own question. “Uh oh.”
Thousands of the red-bodied, black-spotted insects swarmed in the branches above them. “We should probably get out of here, Varjiek.”
What? Why? The dragon’s eyes followed Javan’s. As if on cue, the bugs dropped all at once, covering Varjiek, Javan, and their precious food source. Leave the leaves! Save yourself!
With that, Varjiek sprinted away.
“Wait for me!” Javan swiped as many of the bugs off as he could, snatched his hat, backpack, and sword belt, and ran into the hot desert sun after his petrified dragon.
◊◊◊
Shooting Mertzer with the jolt blaster got Micah’s trip south off to a bad start. Although it calmed Mertzer and kept him from destroying the boat or inadvertently jumping overboard in his traumatized state, the short trip across the river didn’t give the dragon enough time to recover from the shock. As Micah, Karl, and the crew of three discovered, dragging a dazed dragon off a boat was not an easy task.
