He pulled his sword out and wiped it on the man’s shirt. Then he checked the man again for valuables and found two silver marks, but nothing else he wanted. Finally he hobbled over to the first outlaw he had killed. The man was large, with a round belly that was covered with blackened blood. Mansel didn’t bother touching the body, he saw a coin purse and pulled that off the man. Inside were several silver marks and a handful of coppers. Mansel put them all in his own coin pouch and hobbled up to his wounded horse. He was sweating now, the temperature in the sunshine was rising fast.
“Let’s see if we can’t catch up to your friend,” he said in a reassuring tone. It took far longer than Mansel would have thought. He had to stop often to wipe sweat away from his eyes and to let his head clear. He kept getting dizzy and his hand was throbbing with pain.
When he finally reached the other horse, he was exhausted. He stood holding the horse’s saddle for several minutes, trying to get up the strength to climb into the saddle. It was difficult because he couldn’t use his wounded leg, not to step up in the stirrup or to support his weight while he lifted his other leg. He tried jumping up onto his belly and then pulling himself into a sitting position on the horse, but he couldn’t use his broken hand to even hold on to anything.
Finally, he managed to clamber on by standing on a large stone. Once he was on the horse, he had to go back and get the reins of the other horse and loop them around his saddle horn. Then he pointed the horse in the right direction and got it moving at a slow walk that the wounded horse could keep up with. Then he leaned forward to rest on the horse’s neck. Before he knew what had happened, Mansel had passed out.
Chapter 24
Zollin woke up lying on a soft bed of grass. There were soldiers moving all around him. He looked to his right and saw a man with a bandaged leg. He turned to his left and saw Brianna. She was asleep beside him. There were cuts and bruises on her face, arms, and hands. He sat up and almost fell over from dizziness. He felt like he hadn’t eaten in a week.
He looked around and saw the closest soldier and waved the man over.
“I need food and drink,” he said.
The man nodded and moved away. Zollin crawled over to Brianna and stroked her face. Her eyes fluttered open.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Zollin!” she said. “You’re awake. Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine. Just weak. What happened to you?”
“The dragon whipped its tail into the shrine while it was crawling up toward you,” she explained. “The reinforced room held, but the tail knocked a lot of debris into the room. It’s nothing, really, just cuts and bruises. I had my helmet on.”
“Thank goodness you’re okay,” Zollin said.
“No, it’s you that I can’t believe isn’t hurt. I saw the dragon flying right for you, and when I went up to check on you, there was no one on the roof. Then I saw the dragon flying back toward the compound and I thought I had lost you. I ran down into the room, but I had to leave the door open to see what was going to happen. I saw it all, Zollin, you were amazing.”
“I got lucky,” he said. “If the dragon had hit the far wall with his tail, a lot of people would have been killed.”
The soldier returned, followed closely by Commander Hausey. The soldier handed Zollin a small loaf of hard bread and a mug of water. He drank the water down quickly and then tore the bread in two.
“Well, you survived,” Hausey said. “I wasn’t sure that you would. You took a pretty good fall when the dragon hit you with its tail.”
“It didn’t hit me,” Zollin said. “It hit the defensive wall I had up to protect the soldiers.”
“Well, I saw you go flying and then the beast left. We didn’t do much damage, though, I’m afraid it will be back.”
“So what’s your next move?” Zollin said.
“I’m not sure, really, I was waiting to see if you survived.”
“I have an idea,” Zollin said. “But I’m not sure how smart it is.”
“I didn’t think this plan had a chance of success, but you surprised me. Let’s hear what you have in mind.”
“Well, first we need something stronger than our arrows to wound the dragon.”
“Like what?” Brianna asked.
“I was thinking of seeing if I could trade with Jute for dwarvish steel. He said it’s stronger than our steel.”
“Okay,” Hausey said skeptically.
“And then I say we hunt the beast down.”
“There’s simply no way a full century can move as fast as a flying dragon.”
“Not soldiers, just Brianna and I.”
* * *
It had taken some time, but Zollin had convinced Hausey to stay at the ruins of Ornak. He didn’t like Zollin going off alone, but the soldiers had plenty of work to do to rebuild the compound and it was still a perfect place to ambush the dragon. It would be drawn to the golden statue, which Zollin suggested they fuse to something buried deep into the ground so that if the dragon returned, it would have trouble tearing the statue out of the earth, giving the troops enough time to launch an attack.
Brianna hadn’t objected to pursuing the dragon, although he could tell that she was afraid. He wanted to comfort her, but he needed to eat and prepare their supplies if they were going to chase down the beast. Zollin had a feeling that the dragon had flown back north, to its lair high in the mountains. He wanted to go after it rather than give it time to recover. It could still fly, even with the holes they had made in the beast’s wings, but Zollin doubted that it could maneuver as well, and he also guessed that the dragon would be exhausted from flying on the ruined wings.
Zollin commandeered a wagon and loaded their meager supplies onto it.
“Why do we need a wagon?” Brianna asked.
“Because I intend to fill it with ale to trade with the dwarves.”
They left the compound early the next day, once Zollin had arranged everything, eaten all he could, and slept a few more hours. They moved across the country, looking for a village or inn that might still be intact. Most of the settlements were either burned or abandoned. They did find two barrels of ale in one of the abandoned towns. It took two days to find a settlement that was still occupied. Paxtown was barely even a village. There was an inn, although it was really just a common room and a stable. Some of the farmers that lived near the inn would set up small booths to sell their produce or other wares that they either had plenty of at home or made in their spare time. The one favorable condition of the tiny village was that the inn keeper was also a brewer, and the inn was just his way of selling his wares.
“I need several barrels,” Zollin told the man.
“Barrels aren’t cheap, son,” said the inn keeper. “I’ve got plenty of ale, but have you got the coin?”
“Do you want gold or silver?” Zollin asked.
“Pay me in silver, there’s no dragons looking for silver tribute,” he said, half joking. Zollin could tell the rumors made the man nervous.
“Have you heard that the King’s army drove the dragon away?”
“No,” the man said. “I hadn’t heard that.”
“It’s true. They didn’t kill it, but they hurt it. I also hear they are sending a wizard in pursuit of the beast.”
“Well, now, you can’t go believing everything you hear. I’ve heard reports about a wizard, but a dragon is hard enough to believe. There’s stories coming out of the forest about trolls and dryads and all sorts of magical creatures. I’m not sure what the world is coming to, but I know better than to believe every rumor that comes along.”
Zollin paid the man 15 silver marks for every barrel of ale that could be loaded into the wagon. In the end, Zollin and Brianna left Paxtown with twelve barrels. The inn keeper had a sack full of silver, but no more ale to sell. He was busy preparing to brew more drink when Zollin left him.
“So, now that we have enough ale,” Brianna said. “Are we going to meet your dwarf?”
&nbs
p; “Yes,” Zollin said. “I only hope he’ll trade with us.”
“Do you really think that the dwarves make steel strong enough to hurt the dragon?”
“Jute seemed to think so. I know that Kelvich said that sometimes common objects can contain magic, like my staff. I could sense the magic in the metal I made your helmet out of.”
“Why didn’t we just make arrow heads from that?” She asked.
“I didn’t think of it,” he said honestly. “But I’m glad you had that helmet during the fight. You could have been seriously injured without it.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you worry too much?” she teased.
“Only you,” he said, snapping the reins to speed up the horses.
“So, you’re really thinking about following the dragon north?”
“Yes,” Zollin said.
“How do you know it went that way?”
“It’s just a hunch, really, but there are a few clues. For instance, it came out of the north, at least the Northern Range of the Highland Mountains. It went back to the north when I injured it the first time. It could have flown south to larger towns where there would have been more gold, but instead it has only raided the northern villages and it seems to be doing so in a somewhat systematic way. I think it wants to drive the people south so that it doesn’t get caught up with enemies between its lair and where it is raiding.”
“That’s a very well thought out answer,” she said approvingly.
“I’m glad you think so.”
“It makes a lot of sense,” she said. “What doesn’t make sense is why it wants gold in the first place.”
“That’s true, but maybe there is something about gold and dragons that we don’t understand. I mean, we really don’t know anything about dragons.”
“We know they are vicious and hard to kill,” she said.
“And that they want gold. We also know that they can communicate with humans. Bev said the dragon told her what to do. So they must be thinking, reasoning creatures, not like a typical wild animal.”
Brianna looked at Zollin appraisingly. Once again she realized how much he was changing and how fast. Most people would have been thrilled to discover they could work magic, but Zollin took the responsibility of his power seriously. Perhaps it was what Kelvich had taught him or the way Quinn had raised him, but she admired his mind as well as his power. He was smart, she thought, and she was surprised at how attractive that made him.
“Do you ever think about what we’ll do when this is over?” she asked.
“You mean once we deal with the dragon?”
“No, I mean once you aren’t being hunted and life is just normal again.”
“I don’t know that this isn’t a normal life for a wizard.”
“Kelvich says the wizards in the Torr live in a tall tower and surround themselves with books. Is that what you would do if you could?”
“No,” Zollin said. “I like being able to go to new places and see new things. I know a lot of people learn through books, but I prefer to learn things by doing them, or experiencing them.”
“Do you ever think of settling down and having a family?”
“Yes, I think about it a lot.”
“You do?” she asked, feeling that familiar sense of fear that arose whenever she got too close to Zollin. She fought the feeling down and tried to remain open to him.”
“I don’t think my feelings are a secret,” he said. “I want to be with you, Brianna.”
Zollin was feeling uncomfortable. He didn’t know if she was asking him because she really wanted to know what he thought about having a family, or if she was looking for a way to let him know that she was no longer interested in that with him. He didn’t look at her, his body was tense on the wagon bench. He had enjoyed spending his days with her so close, but now he was afraid. He thought he was probably more afraid of losing Brianna than of fighting the dragon or being captured by the wizards of the Torr or even dying.
“But you just said that you don’t want to settle down,” she replied.
“Who says we have to settle down to be a family? I think as long as two people love each other and want to be together, then that’s all that matters.”
Brianna was silent, thinking about what he said. She liked hearing him talk about loving her, but she was also afraid of it. She was afraid of giving her heart to someone with so much power. He could discard her so easily, and with his magic, he could make anyone love him. His ideas of being together, traveling and seeing the world, both excited her and frightened her. She liked the thought of going to the great cities of the Five Kingdoms, but it was so different than her idea of what a family did that it was hard to accept. Her whole life she had expected to be given in marriage to a man who would build a home for her. They would have children and she would raise them. She had never thought of having a family and living any other way.
Zollin couldn’t help but worry as Brianna sat quietly. He didn’t know what she was thinking and was afraid to ask, but a part of him wanted her to be honest with him. So he decided that if she was no longer interested in being with him, that he would make it easy for her.
“So, do you ever think about settling down and having a family?” he asked.
“Yes, of course I do.”
“And...”
“There’s just so much to think about,” she said. “It feels silly to think about things like love and family when we’re out hunting a dragon. I’ve never done anything like this, ever! My mother wouldn’t even let my father take us hunting. Not that he did that very often, I’m just saying. None of this was in my mind when I thought about getting married and having a family.”
“Would you like me to take you back to Tranaugh Shire?” he asked.
He held his breath, waiting for the answer, but she didn’t make him wait long.
“No,” she said seriously, her forehead wrinkled in thought. “I know that I don’t want to go back. I’m just not sure about what lies ahead. Everything is so uncertain,” she said. “When I married Todreck, I didn’t love him, but then I never really expected to love the man I married. I hoped that I would fall in love with him, but before the day you gave me this ring, I didn’t really think I cared for any of the boys in our village—not really. Do you know what I mean?”
“Sure,” Zollin said, his heart in his throat. He was driving the wagon, his eyes on the road before them, but he was hanging on every word she said.
“When you gave me this ring,” she was looking at her hand, with the simple silver band and small White Alzerstone, “it was like something I didn’t know was in my heart clicked into place. I didn’t even know what it meant, just that something had changed.”
“Do you still feel that way...about me, I mean?”
“Yes, Zollin,” she said, looking at him.
He looked at her and their eyes met. For just a moment the old fire was back, but then she looked away again.
“But I don’t know if you are a safe place for me to trust my heart,” she said.
The pain of her honesty was like a dull knife hacking his heart right out of his chest. He felt tears stinging his eyes, but he determined not to let them fall.
“You could be killed, or captured and taken far away. Not to mention the power you have, Zollin. I’m not even sure if what I feel for you is real.”
Zollin could hardly breathe. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing her say.
“You think I’m controlling your emotions?” Zollin managed to say. “I can’t work magic on you while you’re wearing that ring. And I tried so hard not to love you,” he was throwing caution to the wind. “I felt like I was somehow betraying Todrek by liking you at all. He was so happy to be marrying you and then he was killed trying to protect me. I can’t believe you of all people would suspect that I would manipulate your emotions.”
“I’m not saying that you are doing it, I’m just saying you could be. I just don’t know anything anymore,” she said in fru
stration.
“I guess I don’t either,” he said.
They rode on in silence after that. When they stopped to make camp that night, there was more distance between them than ever. Zollin felt like a hole had opened up beneath him and he was so far down in darkness and despair that hope felt foolish.
For her part, Brianna wished she hadn’t said anything at all. She had been afraid that if she was honest, this would happen. She knew she loved Zollin, but she didn’t know if she could let herself be vulnerable with him. She had been afraid if she was honest, it would just push him away, and now he could hardly look at her. She could plainly see that he was hurt, but she didn’t know how to help him without giving herself to him and she just couldn’t do that, not yet.
It took two long days to reach Telford’s Pass, which ran straight up through Peddinggar Forest into the Northern Highlands. It was the only pass through the southern range of mountains that led to the Great Valley that ran between the northern and southern ranges of mountains. It took almost a full day to reach the small clearing where Zollin and Mansel had met the dwarf named Jute. Zollin moved their wagon of ale and supplies off the road and made camp in the same place he and Mansel had camped after meeting the little man.
That night he talked to Brianna about the last time he was there and how he had fashioned her helmet from the cups that Jute had left with them. The little dwarf had been very interested in ale, and Zollin hoped that he would be able to find the dwarf when the sun came up.
Brianna listened to his story with fascination. His magic and the adventures he had were wonderful to her. She had always loved magical stories and now, if their luck held, she was going to meet a dwarf, one of the miners of the mountains. She had heard many tales of the small folk, but she had never believed in them, but lately all the stories seemed to be coming true.
Five Kingdoms: Books 01, 02 & 03 Page 101
