“You mean, they don’t think anyone is stupid enough to do so,” Devarius said.
Zaviana shrugged.
“The few times I’ve been here, I was able to fly right it without any resistance from patrols,” Derkas said.
“Well, you have a full-sized dragon. No one would see you as suspicious,” Devarius said.
“They should,” Derkas said. “I’m the only one with a blue dragon.”
Devarius frowned. “That’s true. So the empire really only has red dragons?”
“As far as I’ve seen,” Zaviana said. “The rest apparently fled this land when they saw what the emperor was doing to the dragons with the dragon stone.”
“All right, so, how are we going to sneak inside?” Devarius asked.
“The empire patrols this forest once a week. We’ll need to find out when the next patrol is, then try to blend in with them on their return to Melonia.”
“Blend in?” Devarius scoffed.
“Or, take their place,” Derkas said.
Devarius’ bottom lip stretched out as he nodded. “That may work. We can take the place of an army patrol.”
Zaviana shook her head. “No, that will not work.”
“Why not?” Devarius demanded.
“There are no brown-skinned men or women in their army.”
Devarius frowned. “What? Is the empire just a bunch of pale no-sun warriors?”
Zaviana nodded. “Yes. Remember, the pales outnumber us in Kaldroga probably four to one.”
“So?” Devarius asked. “What about us is so unworthy to be in the army?”
“Nothing, but there is some predigest inside the empire. Have you not ran into a city or village where they looked at you differently?” Zaviana asked.
Devarius frowned. “A few.”
“That’s why we can’t pose as part of the army.”
“So how are we going to get in? You acted like this was going to be easy. Come to Dragonia, grab the dragon stone, run away. So far, this is looking to be far from simple.”
Zaviana smiled. “There is a way …” She took a deep breath. “We’ll need to pose as slaves.”
“Slaves?” Devarius cursed. “There hasn’t been slavery in Kaeldroga in over a two-hundred years.”
“No, there hasn’t, but there is serfdom,” Derkas pointed out.
“Serfs are not slaves,” Devarius said.
“What freedom do serfs have?” Zaviana asked.
Devarius wanted to respond, but he didn’t have a good answer.
“There hasn’t been slavery in Kaeldroga in a long time, but when the emperor founded Dragonia … he needed help to build it. There’s been slavery here for almost a hundred years.”
“And what are you saying? He only has brown-skinned men and women as slaves?” Devarius asked.
“For the most part, yes. This isn’t the same as serfs. Serfs of Kaeldroga are every color, but for some reason, here on Dragonia, the brown slaves outnumber the white ones four to one.”
“So, you want us to pose as slaves?” Devarius asked.
“Yes … Derkas will be our master,” Zaviana said.
Devarius glared at Zaviana. “Master Derkas?” He shook his head. “No … no I don’t think so.”
“Devarius—”
“No,” Devarius growled. “That’s your master plan? That’s how you planned to get past all the guards and into the heart of Melonia to steal the most important thing to the empire? By posing as a mercenary’s slave? Zavi … you’ve got to be out of your mind.”
Derkas bit his lip. “It could work.”
Devarius clenched his fist and jumped toward Derkas. Zaviana stepped between the two of them, placing both of her hands on Devarius’ raised fist.
“My sister is no slave of yours,” Devarius said through clenched teeth.
“I am a free woman, Devarius. This is just a role we must play for now. At least, for the way in. Once we have the stone, we’ll need to leave quickly.”
“And during all of this, Ayla and Chalce are to stay in the forest?” Devarius asked.
“They’ll have to. It will be hard without their aid, but if they’re seen … we’ll be compromised.”
“I don’t like it,” Devarius growled.
“Unless you have a better idea, it’s all we got,” Derkas said.
Devarius shook his head. “For now, let’s just let Ayla and Chalce some rest. They’ve had a long journey, and I don’t want to leave them before they’re rested and alert.”
The three of them glanced over to the dragon and wyvern, who were near each other, but also strategically away from each other. Both had eyes closed, and light snores coming from their nostrils.
Devarius held his hand out, gesturing toward the creatures. “They’re in no condition to be alert and hiding.”
They all chuckled.
Chapter 12
Paedyn rubbed his chin. For the longest time, he couldn’t grow a beard. All of his life, he’d wanted a beard. Everyone else he knew had a beard. However, now, he had stubble. It was short, and not long like Devarius’, or even his aunt’s, but it was hair, and he was proud of it.
“What are you thinking?” Captain Tynaer asked as he stepped next to Paedyn.
“I’m wondering why Devarius put me in charge instead of you. I mean … you’ve been with the resistance longer. Heck, you trained me and Devarius. Does it not make you upset that he was moved above you in the first place?”
Tynear grinned. “Absolutely not. I like being a captain. There is one thing I know, Paedyn. Battle. I know how to fight, and I know how to lead men. But I like it small scale. I believe that’s why Ellisar chose Devarius to follow in his footsteps. He saw something in the boy … something similar to himself. He has a natural leading talent. Look at all he did for you and the other villagers. I wouldn’t have been able to do that. I could have led them to fight battles, but that’s it.”
“What about me being put in charge while he’s gone instead of you? Doesn’t that make you mad?” Paedyn asked.
Tynaer chuckled. “Why? Do you want me to be mad?”
“I want you to be so mad that you punch me in the face and take over the leadership role,” Paedyn said.
“Why’s that?”
“Because I don’t like responsibilities.”
“It has to be more than that …” Tynaer said.
Paedyn nodded. “It is because of what needs to be done.”
“What needs to be done?” Tynaer asked.
“We need to ban the wyvern oil from the dragomen. It’s become too addictive, and they need it taken from them.”
Tynaer bit his lip. “That will be difficult.”
“Tell me about it.”
“How are you going to go about it?”
“I’m doing the softer approach. I’ve already restricted it. They will no longer get any more oil delivered to their training grounds. I don’t know how much they still have over there … but I imagine they’ll be asking where their next delivery of wyvern oil is soon.”
“That seems like a good first step,” Tynaer said.
“I’ve also halted the extraction of wyvern oil at the hatchery,” Paedyn said.
Tynaer’s eyes bulged. “We’re going to need that oil, Paedyn. Even if we choose not to use it for dragomen anymore … it’s still a viable weapon.”
“Yes, I know.” Paedyn sighed. He rubbed his hand through his hair. “It’s just temporary. That’s the first place they will look to get oil when they realize they’re not allowed anymore.”
“I understand.”
“And I’ve hidden the rest of the oil we do have in a few different locations.”
“It’s no longer in the blacksmith?”
Paedyn shook his head. “They knew where it was being held. I’m afraid they would search there next.”
“You’re going to lead them straight to you by doing this.”
Paedyn patted the hilt of his rapier at his side. “I know.”
&n
bsp; “I’ll start ordering more patrols across the city.”
“I think that’s a good idea.”
Tynear patted Paedyn’s back before leaving him alone.
Paedyn looked back to the sunset for another minute before taking a deep breath and heading back into the city.
The streets grew quiet as Paedyn strolled along toward his home. The suns had set, and night filled the sky. Stars shone bright, as they often did on the island. Still, it was nothing compared to the full red winter. Torchlight filled the streets, and instead of coyotes filling the night sky like they had near the hills and mountains on Kaeldroga, wyverns’ roars filled the night sky. Paedyn half smiled as he touched the door knob to his home.
A chill ran down his back. He turned, glancing back along the street. Something didn’t feel right. It was quiet. A little too quiet for the standard night. Normally by now a few people would be stumbling out of the Wayward Wyvern pub.
The streets were empty, but Paedyn heard footsteps in the distance. He raised an eyebrow as he searched for the guards. None were to be seen. He ran from alley to alley, but they were all empty. Paedyn turned around from the last alley to face ten dragomen. Each man held a sword in their hand. Eight were men, and two were women.
Paedyn placed his hand on the hilt of his rapier. “What do you want?”
“We’re missing our last delivery of wyvern oil,” one of the dragomen said.
“Oh, are you? Are you running low already?” Paedyn asked.
“When we approached the hatchery, we were told you put a halt to our shipments.”
“Well, yes. We’re doing a case study on the side effects of human consumption to see if it’s safe to ingest wyvern oil with minimal side effects. You shall be informed as soon as we conclude our scientific study.” Paedyn grinned.
“What?” one of the men asked.
“You will give us another crate of wyvern oil … now,” the first dragoman said.
The man wasn’t in dragoman form, and Paedyn wondered if they were out of the oil. The man looked human, except for his bloodshot, red eyes. Red veins crept on his skin around his eyes. A few of the others had blue or green veins instead of red ones, but each person didn’t quite look fully human. The wyvern oil had changed them.
“I’m sorry. I can’t do that,” Paedyn said.
“You can, and you will.”
Paedyn unsheathed his sword. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave this city and go back to your camp.”
“You’ll have to make us,” the man snarled.
Three of the men charged Paedyn.
Paedyn stood in his defensive form, his left foot in front, and his rapier in his left hand. He side stepped his first attacker, using his foot to trip them to the ground. Paedyn dropped to his knee, stabbing his rapier upward through the stomach of his next opponent. He collapsed to the ground.
Paedyn rolled back to his feet where he began to block strikes from his third opponent. The rest of the dragomen rushed him. Paedyn began to wonder where the guards were, or anyone for that matter.
Several swords slashed at him. Paedyn was swift with his rapier, blocking most of the strikes, but several others sliced into his leather armor. Pain surged through his arms in the few places his flesh had been cut. The dragomen were good swordsmen … not as good as he, but good nonetheless. And there were ten of them, and only one of him. Well, eight remaining anyway. The one he dodged got back to his feet and joined the fight. Nine. Oh well. Paedyn wished Devarius fought alongside him. He knew together, they would be able to defeat the dragomen. Well, at least these dragomen. They weren’t in their dragomen form, though, he was impressed by their strength. Each slash with a weapon seemed a lot more powerful than a normal man, and he began to wonder if the wyvern oil had a lasting effect on a person’s strength. More than that though, he wondered why these men remained in human form. Were they completely out of wyvern oil?
Horns blew in the distance behind him. They were the Saefron defense horns. Paedyn jumped backward, out of the way of a sword strike. He turned around to see Tynaer and two guards. Tynaer had the horn in his hand, which he promptly attached to his belt before unsheathing his sword.
Cold metal slashed through Paedyn’s right bicep. He spun around and continued to back away, his left foot still pointed toward his opponents. His right arm throbbed and began to warm from his blood. Another sword swung toward his face. He circle parried the blade, throwing his opponent off balance. Paedyn stepped closer, slashing the tip of his rapier against his opponent’s hand. The woman dropped the blade.
Paedyn hated hurting a woman. He supposed he was old fashioned. Or, it could have been because she was pretty, and he very much doubted she’d let him take her for a moonlight stroll after slicing her hand open.
Before he could ponder too long on harming the dragoman, or rather, dragowoman, another two swords slashed toward his face: one from the left, and one from the right. He flicked his weapon toward the ground, and then backed up in time to catch the two blades as they crossed each other. The momentum was too strong, and he wasn’t able to hold them for long. His arm shook, then his rapier fell to the ground.
Metal echoed through the city as the hilt of his rapier bounced off the ground.
It was too far out of his reach. He ducked as a third blade slashed where his head had just been. Paedyn rolled backward a few times before slipping. He lay on his back as the other dragowoman stabbed her sabre toward his chest. Paedyn closed his eyes, ready to meet his maker.
Metal clanged.
He was still alive.
Paedyn opened his eyes.
Tynaer’s sword was above him, blocking the woman’s strike.
Paedyn rolled completely out of the way as Tynaer and his two guards fought the remaining dragomen. Paedyn was badly injured, but he still wanted to help. Once the dragomen realized how skilled Tynaer and his guards were, they began to back away. Paedyn took that opportunity to grab his fallen weapon and help them.
Once he approached, the dragomen abandoned their mission, and fled back into the alleys.
Four of them lied on the ground, too injured to escape. Tynaer and the two guards caught them. One was the woman Paedyn had injured.
“Milord, what should we do with them?” Tynaer asked.
“Put them in the prison with the other,” Paedyn said.
“We don’t have a whole lot of room. We never intended needing a real prison on this island,” Tynaer said.
“Well, we’d better figure out something because I have a feeling we’re going to need a lot more cells when this is through,” Paedyn said.
“I agree. I’ll talk to the smithy in the morning.”
“Where were you?” Paedyn asked.
“The dragomen distracted us, then once we were alleys, they knocked several of us out. Luckily, they hit me on the shoulders rather than the back of the head and I wasn’t out for too long. When I came to, I attempted to wake up the other guards. I was only able to arise two, and we rushed to find you.”
“Thank you,” Paedyn said. He cringed as he grabbed his bicep.
“Sir, you should have your wounds looked at.”
“I’ll stop by the doctor on my way to the pub,” Paedyn said.
Chapter 13
After twelve hours of rest, night fell, and they were ready to continue their quest. Ayla still looked tired, but they were ready to continue. Devarius suspected Ayla was putting on a determined attitude because of the dragon. She wanted to keep up with the larger creature, and Devarius couldn’t blame her. He hated feel incompetent himself.
They stalked through the forest as swift and quiet as possible. Devarius was worried about the dragon at first, but Chalce proved to be as silent as Ayla in her steps. He was impressed such a large creature could be so silent.
The forest wasn’t large, and they neared its outskirts in less than two hours. Before they neared its end, Ayla stopped in her tracks and grumbled.
Devarius held his hand out to
stop the others as he turned to her. “What is it, Ayla?”
Someone approaches.
“Just one?”
Ayla tilted her head. Five.
“What is it?” Zaviana asked.
“Ayla says there are five people approaching.”
Derkas tilted his head, raising a single eyebrow, as he stared at Devarius.
“We need to hide,” Devarius said.
They moved to the west behind a few bushes to watch the trail from the northern entrance.
After a few minutes, four men appeared, and one woman—all clad in thick bronze platemail. Weapons hung at their sides, and two hounds led them forward. Devarius rubbed his chin as he looked at the dogs. He doubted they’d be able to keep their scent from the animals. The dogs continued forward for a little bit longer before growling. Their attention altered to face Devarius’ hiding spot. He slipped back through the bushes to look at the others.
“We’ve been found.”
Derkas unsheathed his falchion as Devarius grabbed his three-quarter broadsword, one-quarter flamberge from his scabbard. Zaviana touched her sash where she had five vials of wyvern oil secured. She didn’t have any weapons, though, she didn’t need any. Her hands began to glow purple.
When Devarius turned around, the two hounds were upon them. One leapt up to clasp its jaw on his left arm. He flicked his arm to try and lose its grip, but the animal’s jaw was tight into his leather armor. Zaviana moved her hands toward Devarius as a blast of wind struck against his arm. The dog flew into the air away from him. He had to ground his feet to keep the magic from pushing him as well.
Derkas stepped forward and sliced his falchion on the head of the dog. Half of its neck disconnected from its body as it crumpled to the ground.
Devarius turned away from the sight as he prepared for the warriors who stepped through the bush. The dog tried again to jump toward him, but a blast of blue air streaked past him to crash into the dog. Its body encased in ice and Devarius ducked as the dog flew over him. When it struck the ground, it shattered into a thousand pieces. Devarius stood as one of the men’s swords swung at his head. His weapon blocked the blow in time. Ringing metal echoed all around him. Derkas stepped to his side as his own weapon blocked another incoming strike toward Devarius.
Dragonia: Dragon Stone (Dragonia Empire Book 3) Page 5
