by D K Drake
◊◊◊
Micah had had enough of Keckrick. The hot, humid afternoon air caused him to sweat so much that his clothes stuck to his skin and his hair dripped a steady stream of sweat droplets down his back. Bugs buzzed around him, providing a constant source of annoyance.
When one of the bugs landed on his cheek, he slapped it and flicked its squished body to the ground. He wanted to scream in frustration, but he couldn’t without giving away his position. Maintaining a sense of stealth on the back of a dragon in the thick undergrowth of a thriving rain forest while following the three most boring women in the entire Great Rift was tough enough. He didn’t need to bring any unwelcome attention to himself.
He had arrived back at the village last night in time to see the healer arrive by canoe with her two escorts, the same women who volunteered to get her and were now taking her home. They had tried to engage the healer in conversation for the first hour or so of their canoe ride, but she would only respond with a word or grunt or nothing at all. The last few hours had been spent in silence, so all Micah had to listen to were the bugs.
Micah did notice that the healer carried herself differently than the village women. She seemed aloof and withdrawn, yet certain of herself and her purpose. Considering her young age and the fact she was shorter than everyone around her, that sense of confidence seemed out of place.
He guessed she was in her twenties, and people in their twenties were supposed to be learning how to follow rules and obey their leaders. They were not supposed to be independent thinkers who were sought after for their healing abilities.
Apparently she was quite good at her job, because the men she came to heal were recovered enough for her to leave the village by noon. It made Micah wonder what kind of medicine was in that bag of hers, or if she had some kind of special healing power.
He was also starting to wonder if following her was the right move to make. How could someone so young and so quiet know anything about a Dragon Stalker?
“Stop!” The healer’s stern order made Micah freeze, even though she wasn’t talking to him. “Anita, pull over to the bank and let me out. Right now.”
“Taliya, I can’t let you out here.” The woman who had volunteered to retrieve the healer yesterday spoke. “Your house is still several miles away.”
“I am capable of walking. Now pull over or I will swim to the shore.”
“Fine.”
Micah watched from a distance as the village women rowed to the shore while Taliya studied the sky. Fortunately they landed on the same side of the stream that Micah was on. He could thus follow Taliya without forcing Mertzer across the water.
When they were a few feet away from landing, Taliya threw her bag onto the ground ahead of her and jumped out of the canoe. “Get back to the village as fast as possible.”
“Why?” Anita asked. “What’s going on?”
“It’s none of your concern. Just get back home to safety.”
“We are in your debt for healing Cheel and Thia. Your safety is our concern. We can be back here in a matter of hours with our whole village ready to fight.”
“This isn’t the kind of fight you’re ready for.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means the best thing you can do for me is to stay away from me. Promise you will not return.”
“But if you’re in trouble--”
“I can handle it, but only if you promise to leave me alone.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. We’re at war, and you saw what our enemies did to Cheel and Thia. Even brave warriors like you need help.”
“I have all the help I need,” Taliya said, fingering a sheer white trinket she wore around her neck.
“You live by yourself. You have no one to help you!”
“Enough arguing. Leave. And if I spot even a hint of you or someone from your village approaching my house, I will not hesitate to shoot. Understood?”
“You would shoot your friends?”
“If you go against my wishes, you are not my friends. Now please go.”
“You know where to find us if you change your mind.”
“Of course.”
“Good bye, Taliya,” Anita said, turning the canoe around. “And good luck.”
Taliya nodded and watched them row away. After a few minutes of watching the retreating canoe, she left her bag on the ground, blew the trinket around her neck and began running through the trees while calling for a person named Kisa.
“Finally,” Micah mumbled to himself, “something interesting to do.” He drew his sword and trotted after Taliya on the back of his dragon.
◊◊◊
Javan could see his stalker swords and stun ball belt from where he sat tied to the tree. They hung on the wall by a window glistening in the afternoon sun, well out of his reach. He hated knowing that one touch of those blades would easily cut through his bindings, but that he was unable to do anything about it.
That was the least of his problems, though. He needed food to stop his stomach from rumbling, water to soothe his store throat from all the yelling he had done, and healing ointment for his wrists since he had rubbed them raw trying to escape. Most of all, he needed a bathroom. If his captor didn’t return soon, he was going to have to deal with the embarrassment of explaining to a beautiful woman why his pants were wet.
“Varjiek!” Javan’s hoarse voice was losing its power, but he had to keep trying to get his dragon’s attention. “Varjiek, where are you? I need you!”
When he didn’t get any response or catch a glimpse of the dragon flying through the trees, Javan dropped his chin to his chest. His situation seemed hopeless and he felt helpless, but he refused to give up. Surrender wasn’t an option when he knew God would hear his prayers.
“Please, God,” he prayed, “please help Varjiek find me. Please get me out of here.”
He waited a few minutes, then once again looked up and yelled, “V! Varjiek! Stop playing around and come blow the roof off this hut.”
Hut? You’re in a hut? What hut? What are you doing in a hut?
“Haha! Varjiek! You found me!”
Not quite. I hear you, but I don’t see you. Or a hut. Step outside into a clearing or climb a tree so I can see you.
“Can’t. I’m tied up.”
Why did you let yourself get tied up?
“Surprise attack.”
How many men did it take? Ten? Twelve?
“Close. One. A woman.”
You let a woman capture you? I thought among you humans, men were supposed to be stronger than women. Varjiek’s eye appeared in the window. I’m never going to be able to leave you alone again if you can’t defend yourself against one tiny woman.
“She shot me with a poison dart! Now please get me out of here.” Javan beat his legs on the floor. “I really need to go to the bathroom.”
I still do not understand why you insist on finding a private spot to relieve yourself. I go when I need to go no matter where I am.
“I know. It’s a strange quirk of mine. Just tear the roof off and cut me free with your claws.”
Varjiek’s eye lit up. I can burn it off. That would be more fun.
“No! No fire.” Javan looked around at all Taliya’s belongings, most of which consisted of books. She wasn’t his favorite person, but he didn’t see any reason to devastate her by destroying her property. Or turn all of Keckrick against them by starting a raging forest fire. “You should be able to get me free by tearing a hole in the roof.”
Fine. Varjiek huffed a puff of smoke. No fire.
Varjiek ripped the roof off with his mouth, then daintily reached into the hole and used his sharp nails to free Javan from his bindings.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Javan scrambled to his feet and dashed across the room. He wasn’t about to waste time trying to find a proper bathroom. Instead, he climbed on a pile of books, opened a window and began to empty his bladder into the trees below.
Before he fi
nished, Varjiek interrupted. Uh, Javan? You might want to hurry up. I found the Dawn Stalker.
“So did I. Right before I was poisoned.” Javan finished his business, retrieved his stalker swords and looked around for his book bag. He needed his bag. He had food in his bag. “We just need to find this amazing U-shaped canyon, collect the Dawn Stalker and make our way back to Zandador. Now where did she put…ah. There it is.”
He picked up his bag from the bed just as an invisible Varjiek picked him up. “Hey! What are you doing?”
I’m going to drop you on the back of the Dawn Stalker so you can ride her and add her to your collection.
“Let’s get to the canyon first. Put me down so I can climb on your back like usual.”
That will be unnecessary. What I meant to say a moment ago was that the Dawn Stalker found us. Look down and to your right.
Javan followed Varjiek’s instructions. They were about thirty feet high, even with the top of the two-story tree house. The hut was in the middle of a clearing about the size of a baseball field, and Javan spotted a white dragon with black eyes hiding among the green trees on the edge of the clearing to the right of the hut.
“I see her,” Javan whispered. “She can’t see us, though, right? You’re in invisible mode?”
Correct.
“How do we coax her out into the open so I can jump on her back?”
I do not know. You are the Collector.
“But you’re a dragon. You should--”
Quiet.
“Excuse me?”
Quiet. I hear something. It is a strange, high-pitched noise that is hurting my ears.
“Where is it coming from?”
I do not know. It stopped. Now I hear yelling. Someone is yelling for…Kisa.
“That’s the name of the Dawn Stalker. Taliya must be nearby. Fly a little higher so we can see more of the surrounding area.”
Varjiek complied.
When they crested the top of the trees, Javan could see a wide patch of farmland to the left of the hut and in front of a winding river. Although he couldn’t hear anything, he could see Taliya running through the middle of the crops and headed straight to the hut. She was not going to be happy when he found him gone and the roof of her hut torn apart.
“We should get out of here.”
What about the dragon?
“We’ll go back to the canyon and wait for her there.”
Where is the canyon?
“Umm…not sure. I was kinda unconscious on the trip from there to here. I do remember that it’s near the coast. It should be easy to spot from the air.”
Okay. We’ll fly to the coast and work our way inland. You should probably get on my back so I don’t accidently drop you in the trees.
“Good idea.”
As Varjiek eased Javan back into the hut, an animal at the edge of the field behind Taliya caught his attention. He had seen that same animal with a telltale blue streak of scales from the air before when he was riding an okty over Dusk Stalker territory with his mentor Astor. “Mertzer.”
Javan watched from the window as Taliya tore through the field toward the hut with Mertzer creeping slowly behind her. Only Mertzer wasn’t alone. He had a rider. That rider could only be Micah.
What was Micah doing in Keckrick? Javan’s stomach did somersaults and made him feel sick. Had he been followed this whole time? How could he not have sensed that he was being watched?
Javan, we must go. My leg is right by the tree.
“No.” He turned around and spoke to the air since he couldn’t see his dragon. “We must stay and fight. Micah and Mertzer are here. I can’t let them hurt Taliya, and I certainly cannot let Micah capture Kisa.”
Didn’t this Taliya person hurt you? Maybe she is leading Micah to you and does not deserve your protection.
“Maybe.” Javan didn’t want to believe Taliya could be on Micah’s side, but until he could be sure, he would have to treat her like an enemy.
He did know Kisa was on Taliya’s side, so that meant he and Varjiek had to somehow defeat one trained soldier, one amazon warrior, and two dragons. The odds were not in their favor.
“God,” he prayed as he watched his approaching enemies, “I thought I needed Your help when I was tied up, but I really need it now.”
Once he nestled into his spot at the base of Varjiek’s neck, he drew his swords and turned his pleading eyes to the sky. “Who should we attack first?”
Chapter 19
Clash of the Bloodlines
“S
tay calm, boy,” Micah said, pulling back on Mertzer’s reigns to keep his speed in check. They needed to stay hidden a safe distance away from Taliya as they tracked her run through the trees, and that wasn’t easy considering the agitated dragon didn’t seem to like the noise Taliya made whenever she blew into that trinket around her neck.
When she wasn’t blowing her trinket or yelling for Kisa, she moved through the trees and leaves and bush with an ease Micah admired. Nothing slowed her down, not even the snake hanging from a branch in her path. She flung the poor thing to the ground and just kept running as though she encountered that kind of danger every day. Then again, perhaps she did.
Before too long, he followed her out of the trees and into a field of waist-high crops. She picked up her pace now that she had no trees, leaves, or snakes blocking her path and ran straight toward a two-story hut built around a huge tree in the middle of a clearing.
He waited at the edge to verify that the hut was indeed her destination. If it was, he could be there in a matter of seconds to question her about the Dawn Stalker. First he wanted to watch and discover why she was in such a hurry to get home.
Only she never reached the hut.
She couldn’t have taken more than two steps out of the field when she disappeared. Vanished. Evaporated into thin air.
“Unbelievable,” Micah said, urging Mertzer forward. They trampled a diagonal path through the crops and halted at the clearing. Micah shook his head. “Where did she go? It’s like she teleported right out of here.”
“Or became invisible when she was picked up by a flying dragon.” Javan dropped out of the sky above him, kicked Micah in the chest with both his legs, and knocked both of them to the ground. They both rolled twice and stood facing each other, swords drawn and ready to fight.
“Javan. How nice of you to come straight to me. Now I can kill you, claim your dragon as my own, and continue my quest to win the Battle of the Throne.”
“That’s your plan, huh? You can’t handle a little competition and had to come after me and my dragon rather than hunt your own Noon Stalker?”
“Why make things more difficult than they need to be? Getting rid of you is the smart play and easy option.”
“Easy? You think I’m going to be easy to kill?”
“Absolutely.” Micah lifted his sword and lunged toward Javan, certain this would be a short, quick fight.
◊◊◊
Javan anticipated Micah’s attack, crossed his stalker swords in front of his chest and blocked Micah’s blow. Because Micah was taller, stronger, and fought with a sword wider, longer and heavier than Javan’s two arm-length swords, that one blow shook Javan’s entire body and almost sent him to his knees.
But Javan managed to keep his balance and was back up in time to block the next blow. And the next. And the next. His swords were made of a superior steel and allowed him to move with a kind of speed that kept him one step ahead of his opponent. He wasn’t getting in any offensive attacks of his own, but he was doing some impeccable defensive work.
He doesn’t know I’m here, Varjiek said from somewhere above the fighting men. I could scorch him for you and end this fight.
Do not let him hurt Micah, Mertzer said, still standing at the edge of the clearing. Then I would be obligated to hurt you.
Do not threaten my Collector, you wingless dragon! Javan, hold your ground. I’ll take this Dusk Stalker out, then eliminate the Hunter.
“No, V! No scorching anyone.” Javan grunted as Micah backed him into the base of the tree that housed Taliya’s hut. Micah went for Javan’s throat, but Javan caught Micah’s sword between his own and looked straight into Micah’s dark eyes. “This fight is between me and him.”
“You’re right,” Micah said. “This fight is between us. You ruined my life, and for that you must pay. I’ll take your life, your dragon, and then the dragon you came here to collect.”
“That last part I have a problem with.” Taliya jumped down from her hut where he had Varjiek leave her moments ago. Although she stood a good foot shorter than Micah, she looked lethal with that poisoned dart aimed at Micah’s neck with her slingshot. “I am Kisa’s Protector. Nobody is getting near my dragon.”
“She’s a pretty good shot with that slingshot, Micah,” Javan said. “You might want to hop on Mertzer and head on back to Zandador.”
Taliya kept her dart aimed at Micah but looked at Javan. “And you might want to leave me alone and let me fight my own battles. If your dragon ever picks me up without my permission again, I will shoot you with another dart and destroy the antidote.”
“Looks like this fight isn’t just between us anymore, and I don’t fight when the odds are against me.” Micah pulled his sword away from Javan and stepped back. “Mertzer, it’s about time for your evening meal anyway. Kill them both.”
Sorry, Javan, Mertzer said. I should have let you ride me that first time you got on my back. But now I have to obey orders from this man.
He crouched and sprinted across the field toward his prey.
◊◊◊
Micah tried not to let the relief show on his face when Taliya interrupted the fight and kept him from killing Javan. Considering how much he hated Javan and how much he wanted him dead so he could take control of Varjiek, and how much he wanted to be ruthless like his father, he thought killing Javan would be easy.
But he had never actually taken another man’s life, and the idea of being the one to put an end to Javan’s existence made him uneasy. He could delegate the task, though. That he knew how to do. That’s what dragons were for.
