A feast of dragons

CHAPTER TWELVE

“On your feet!”

Thor opened his eyes with a jolt and looked up, disoriented, trying to figure out where he was. Several Legion commanders stood over him and the other boys, all of whom lay scattered on the ground, deep in sleep. Hands on their hips, the commanders prodded the boys with their feet, and Thor felt a boot in his side, and looked over to see Kolk prodding him. Krohn snarled in Thor’s defense, and Kolk moved on to the next boy, screaming, taking his metal axe and slamming into his metal shield right above O’Connor’s head. There was a resounding boom, and O’Connor leapt to his feet, eyes open wide.

Thor stood, too, rubbing his head, trying to process it all. They were all in a cave, that much he knew. With him were about a dozen other Legion members, all in his age range. His head was splitting, and he could see from the mute light entering the cave that it was the crack of dawn. He tried to remember.

It was all a blur. He recalled the night before, climbing the cliff, finally reaching the island, laying there. Eventually, the other boys had made it up, too, and they had all been rounded up by the commanders of the Legion, who told them to rest for the night and prepare for morning. They had broken them up into small groups, based on their ages, and Thor had splintered off with Reese, O’Connor, Elden and the twins, along with four other boys Thor didn’t know. They had been directed towards small caves in the craggy mountainside of the desolate island. Night had fallen fast, and a thick fog settled in, so Thor couldn’t see more of what lay in store out there.

They had all barely made it to the cave, dripping wet, freezing, as dark settled in. Someone had built a fire, and Thor remembered laying down beside it, and falling fast asleep.

The next thing he knew, he had been awakened.

Thor’s stomach growled in the morning light, but he dared not say anything. He had slept in his clothes and boots, as did the others, and at least the fire had partially dried them out.

The commanders prodded one boy after another out the cave, and Thor felt himself being pushed from behind, and he stumbled out, into the strong light of the morning. The red mist still hung over the island, seemed to rise up from the island itself, but at least in the morning light Thor could see much more of this place. The island was even more eerie than he remembered-a desolate landscape of boulders and rocks, of small mountains and large craters. The horizon stretched forever and there were no trees anywhere in sight. Thor could hear the waves crashing, omnipresent, and knew that the ocean lay below, somewhere over the edge of the cliffs that demarcated the island in every direction. It was a fateful reminder that if one got too close to the edge, one would go hurling to one’s death.

Thor could hardly imagine how they would train here. This island was so empty, and there looked to be no training ground in sight-no targets, no weapons, no armor, no horses.

His brothers in arms filtered out of the cave and stood with him in the morning light, all of them huddling around, squinting, raising their hands to block the sun. Kolk marched before them, as angry and intense as ever.

“Don’t applaud yourselves just because you made it here,” Kolk said. “You must all really think you’re something special. Well, you’re not.”

Kolk paced.

“Being on this island is a privilege,” he continued. “Your staying here is not a right. It is not a gift. You will stay here if-and only if-you earn it. Every moment of every day. And that begins with your getting permission to be here in the first place. Before your training can begin, you must win permission from the locals.”

“The locals?” O’Connor asked.

“This island is inhabited by an ancient warrior tribe. The Kavos. They’ve lived and trained here a thousand years. Each and every warrior that comes here must ask and gain their permission. If you don’t, you’ll get shipped back to the Ring. You Legion members have been broken down into small groups, and you will each, separately, need to gain permission. You cannot count on the entire Legion now-only on the members in your group.”

Thor looked around at his group of eight and wondered.

“But where are they?” Elden asked, rubbing his eyes against the morning sun. “The Kavos?”

“Finding them will not be easy,” Kolk said. “They don’t want to be found. They don’t like you. And for many of you recruits, it will not go well. They are a belligerent people. They will challenge you. That is how your test of manhood begins.”

“But how do we find them?” Conven pressed.

Kolk frowned.

“This island is vast and unforgiving. You may not ever find them. You may starve trying to get there. You may get lost. You may not make it back.”

Kolk put his hands on his hips and smiled.

“Welcome to The Hundred.”

*

Thor turned and looked at his group: there were eight of them, standing there, in the middle of nowhere, looking at each other, dazed and confused. Exhausted. There was O’Connor, Reese, Elden, the twins-and two others. One he recognized-the coward, the boy who froze up on the ships, who Thor rescued. And there was one other, whom Thor did not recognize. He looked to be their age, and he stood apart from the rest, with dark hair and eyes, looking away from the others, and with a permanent scowl on his face. There was something about him that Thor did not like, something that seemed dark. Something … evil.

“So where now?” O’Connor asked.

The others grumbled and looked away.

“Where are the Kavos?” Elden asked.

Reese shrugged.

“I have no idea.”

“Well, to the South is the ocean, so we can’t go there,” Reese said. “We can head North, East, or West. That wasteland he spokes of looks like it’s to the north,” he said, squinting into the horizon.

“This entire island looks like a wasteland,” Elden said.

“I say we head north, and see what happens,” Reese said.

The others all seemed to be in agreement, and they set off, beginning their long march. Krohn, whining, marched beside Thor.

“I’m William,” said a boy, and Thor turned to see the boy he had saved in the waters, the one who had been afraid of the shield exercise. He walked beside Thor and looked at him gratefully. “I never had a chance to thank you for saving my life back there, in the sea.”

“I’m Thor,” he answered, “and you have nothing to thank me for.”

Thor liked him; he was a frail, thin boy with large hazel eyes and longish hair that fell over his eyes. There was something to his demeanor that worried Thor-he seemed fragile. He didn’t seem as strong as the others, and he seemed very on edge. Thor sensed that he wasn’t cut out to be here.

Thor hiked silently with the seven other boys across the wasteland for hours, the only sound that of their boots crunching on rocks and dirt, each lost in his own world of anticipation. It was unusually cold for a summer morning, even as the first sun began to rise, and the mist still lingered, up to their ankles. A persistent cold breeze swept through this place that never seemed to go away. The eight of them walked in silence, side-by-side, marching with nothing but more wasteland on the horizon. Thor swallowed, thirsty, nervous, wondering if they would find wherever it was they needed to go-and not sure he wanted to. It had been much more reassuring having dozens of his Legion members around-and with just the eight of them, he felt more prone to attack.

Thor heard the distant screech of an animal, and it was unlike any animal noise he’d ever heard. It sounded like an eagle crossed with a bear. The others turned and looked, too, and Thor saw real fear in William’s eyes. Thor looked around, trying to pinpoint where it was coming from, but it was impossible. There was nothing but wasteland, fading into the mist.

The others looked on edge-except for the final boy, the dark-haired one whose name, Thor remembered, was Malic. He still scowled, and he seemed preoccupied, lost in his own world. As Thor observed him, he began to dimly remember who he was. He remembered hearing rumors about him, the one boy who had joined the Legion by killing a man. If the rumors were true, they had come to his town for Selection and had skipped him over, and he rushed forward and killed a man twice his size in front of them. Impressed, they had decided to change their minds and accept him into the Legion. Apparently in every crop of the Legion, so Reese told him, they liked to take in one person who set everyone else on edge, who was a trained, ruthless killer. In this crop, that was Malic.

Thor looked away, and focused again on the landscape, on his surroundings, trying to stay vigilant. He looked up and realized there was a different hue to the sky, an orange green; there was a strange, thick feel to the mist, a different smell to the air, cool and crisp. This place was different than any place he’d ever been. Everything about it felt foreign. Whatever power he held within him was telling him something about this place, that it was different, primordial. He could feel the presence of the dragon, the force of its breath.

In fact, as they walked, he couldn’t help but feel as if they were inside a dragon’s lair, walking on the mist created by its breath. The place felt magical. It was like the feeling he’d had when crossing the Canyon-but it was different here. Here, it had a more ominous quality. Thor felt certain that other creatures lived here, too-and none that were welcoming.

“And what if when we find these Kavos they say no?” O’Connor called out to the group, wondering aloud the same thing that was on everyone’s mind.

“What if they don’t give us permission?” O’Connor continued. “Then what?”

“Then we make them give us permission,” Elden answered. “If it is not given to us, then we fight for it. Do you think our enemies in battle will grant us permission to invade their towns? That’s why we’re here, isn’t it? Isn’t that what this is all about?”

Reese shrugged.

“I don’t know what this is all about,” he said. “All I know is that I remember the stories I heard from my older brother, Kendrick. He told me of the first time he came here. His close friends both died.”

Thor felt a chill at his words. He turned and looked at Reese, and he could tell from his face that he was serious. The others looked more anxious than before.

“How?” O’Connor asked.

Reese shrugged.

“He wouldn’t tell me.”

“But do you really think they would let Legion members die here?” Conval asked.

“What purpose would that serve? To kill off their own recruits?” Conven added.

Reese shrugged, and fell silent as they all continued marching.

“You said it yourself. Recruits,” Malic suddenly said.

Everyone turned to him, surprised. His voice was dark and guttural, surprising Thor, as he had never heard it before. He did not look back at them, but stared straight ahead, his hand always on the hilt of his dagger, playing with it as if it were his best friend. Its black-and-silver handle gleamed in the light.

“Recruits,” he added. “We’re all recruits. None of us are members. No one is truly a Legion member until they graduate. Age twenty. Six years to go. They’re trying to weed us all out. They want a force of the most elite knights in the world. If we can’t make it, they want us dead. They don’t care. Why should they? There are a thousand more just like us in every village in the Ring.”

Thor thought about that as they fell back in silence and continued to march, their boots crunching. They headed deeper and deeper into the wilderness of this place, and Thor wondered about the other Legion members, all the other groups, where on the island they were, what obstacles they had to face. He was glad to be in the company of these boys.

As hours more passed, as the sun reached its peak in the sky, as Thor was fading out, beginning to lose focus, suddenly, there came a loud hissing and bubbling noise right near him. He jumped out of the way just in time, and beside him, the earth suddenly bubbled up. He watched the soil turn orange, then bright red, then hiss and explode. Lava shot up, high into the air, sparking and smoking, sending small flames in every direction. A small burst of flame landed on Thor’s sleeve, and he swatted it as it began to burn him; luckily, he managed to put it out, although it lasted long enough to sting. Krohn snarled at it, ready to attack the lava.

Thor and the other boys ran away from the bursting lava spring, keeping their distance as it seemed to bubble ever higher. It was a good thing they did, because the ground around it began to melt.

“What is this place?” William asked, fear in his voice.

“Let’s keep moving,” Reese said.

They all turned and continued heading north, hurrying away from the lava burst. But just as they were gaining their distance, suddenly, another lava spring burst up from the ground, with no warning, just a few feet away on their other side.

William screamed and jumped, the flames just missing him.

They all hurried to gain distance from that one, too-but then, suddenly, all around them and as far as they could see, lava springs burst out. There came hissing and popping noises everywhere, as the land burst up like a minefield. Even while terrified, Thor could not help but notice that it created a beautiful display of light.

They all stood rooted in place, afraid to take a step forward. Lava springs were spaced out every twenty feet or so and it would be tricky to navigate between them.

“How are we supposed to continue through that?” William asked.

“At least they’ve already exploded,” Elden said. “Now all we have to do is walk between them.”

“But what if others explode?” William asked.

Clearly, they had no choice.

They all continued forward, into the lava field, Thor careful, with the others, to weave in between the lava springs. Luckily, no others burst as they went, but Thor was on guard the entire time.

Just as the lava field seemed to reach its end, suddenly, one last lava spring burst up, catching them all off guard. It burst right near O’Connor, too close for him to get out of the way in time. His screams filled the air, as did the stench of burning flesh. O’Connor’s left bicep was singed badly by a glob of lava and O’Connor screamed, smoke and flames rising from his tunic. Standing right beside him was Malic, who could easily have helped him put it out. But he did not.

Thor and Reese jumped onto O’Connor, knocking him down, putting it out. O’Connor screamed, and Thor saw the burn was bad, and it looked incredibly painful.

He and Reese pulled O’Connor to his feet, and Thor tore a fresh piece of cloth from his own tunic, and wrapped it around O’Connor’s arm.

“Why didn’t you help him?” Reese yelled at Malic. “You were standing right beside him. You could have put it out.”

Thor had been wondering the same thing.

Malic shrugged, nonchalant, then actually smiled over at them.

“Why should I?” he asked. “Why should I care if he gets burned?”

Thor stared back, disbelieving.

“Are you saying you don’t care about protecting your brothers?” Elden asked.

Malic smiled back, and Thor could sense the evil in his eyes.

“Of course I don’t. In fact, I would kill each one of you if I thought it benefited me.”

His smile never disappeared, and Thor could see how serious he was. Just looking at him, seeing the depth of his evil, gave him a chill.

The others stared back at him, flabbergasted.

“We should all kill you right now,” Elden answered.

“Then do it,” Malic said. “Give me a reason to kill you.”

Elden took a step towards him, scowling, drawing his sword-but suddenly, the twins stepped between them.

“Don’t waste your time,” Conven said to Elden. “He’s not worth it.”

Elden stopped, scowling, then finally turned away.

Krohn, beside Thor, clearly did not like Malic either. He growled quietly in his direction, the hairs standing up on his back whenever he looked at him.

“Let’s get out of this place,” Reese said. “Can you walk?” he asked O’Connor, who stood between them, breathing hard and clutching his arm.

O’Connor nodded back.

“It hurts like hell. But I’ll be okay.”

The group continued on, marching through the wasteland, all of them on edge, looking out for more lava springs. Finally, after an hour, Thor felt confident they’d passed them, and began to lower his guard.

As they walked and walked, as the sun grew longer in the sky, Thor began to wonder how long this would go on, and whether they would ever find the Kavos. How lost were they?

“How do we know we’re even going in the right direction?” William suddenly called out to the group, echoing what was on everybody’s minds.

He was met with only silence in return, and the whistling of the wind. That was answer enough-no one knew.

Hour followed hour as they marched through the wasteland, dirt and stones crunching beneath their feet. Thor was getting tired and hungry, and above all thirsty. The cool morning had morphed into a hot day, and the wind that whipped through only brought dust and more hot air. He licked his lips and realized he would do anything for a sack of water.

Thor looked up and blinked as he thought he spotted something scurrying in the distance. He’d thought it looked something like an ostrich, though it came and went so fast, he was unsure. Could it be? An animal in this place, in the middle of nowhere?

He squinted into the light, the morning mist now mostly burnt off, and thought he saw a small cloud of dust.

“Did you see that?” he asked Reese.

“What?” Reese said.

“I saw it,” Conven said. “It looked like some kind of animal.”

Now Thor wondered. As they all continued to march, suddenly, another animal sprinted right for them. They drew their swords, but the animal moved too quickly, and veered away at the last second.

“What the hell was that?” Conval asked.

Thor had definitely seen it this time-it had a bright yellow and black body, a round belly, long, skinny legs, at least ten feet high, with short, thick wings for arms, and a huge head. It looked like a bumblebee on stilts.

Suddenly, another one came darting out of nowhere, charging right for them. This one screeched as it went, flapping its wings with a buzzing noise, and seemed to charge right for Thor. Thor, his sword drawn, dodged out of the way at the last second, as the beast brushed by him. He swung his sword, but the beast was so fast, he wasn’t even close. He swung at air. Krohn snarled and snapped at it, but also missed. He didn’t know how something that big could move that fast. The brush with the beast left a bruise on his arm.

The others look baffled, but Reese nodded knowingly.

“Hemlocks,” Reese said, relaxing his guard. “They’re harmless, unless you provoke them.”

“Harmless?” O’Connor said. “That didn’t seem harmless.”

“Provoke them like how?” Elden said. “You mean by, like, going into their territory? Because that is exactly what we are doing.”

Thor studied the horizon and suddenly there came into view hundreds of hemlocks, scurrying every which way, their wings flapping and buzzing, gathering in the distance and making a great noise like a hornet’s nest. They zigzagged left and right, and all eight boys stopped in their tracks. They stood there, frozen, unsure what to do. It was clear that if they continued to move forward, they’d be attacked.

“Backup slowly,” Reese said. “Don’t take your eyes off them. They’ll take it as a sign of weakness.”

They each backed up slowly, one step at a time, and after several minutes, they gained enough distance to be safely out of range.

“We can’t continue in that direction,” Conval said.

“Let’s turn this way,” Conven said.

They made a sharp turn to the right, taking a narrow trail between two mountains. As soon as they were safely out of sight, they broke into a jog, trying to put as much distance between them and the creatures as they could.

“You think they’ll follow us?” O’Connor asked.

“I hope not,” William said.

They jogged for what felt like an hour, until finally they came out the other side of the mountains, and found themselves in a new wasteland.

They switched to a walk, all breathing hard, Thor covered in sweat. The sun grew long in the afternoon, and Thor would give anything for a drink. He looked around and saw the others were as exhausted as he.

“This is stupid,” William finally said. “How are we going to find them? We could be heading in the wrong direction.”

“We just have to keep moving,” Reese said.

“Moving where?” Elden asked, frustrated.

“Maybe this is all just an exercise,” O’Connor said. “To get us all killed. Maybe these Kavos don’t even exist. Maybe this whole thing was a test-to see how long and far we would go until we realized and turned back around. Maybe they’re all waiting for us back where we began.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Elden said. “We have our mission. We can’t quit.”

William stopped, and they all stopped and looked at him.

“I think we should turn around,” he said.

“If you don’t keep walking,” Malic began, “then I’m going to-”

Before he could finish his words, suddenly there came the sound of footsteps on the desert floor.

Thor spun in time to see a dozen of the fiercest warriors he had ever seen, charging right for them. They wore all black, their muscular arms and legs open to the air, and large, red helmets. They were tall and broad, muscles bulging, and they carried swords and shields and all manner of deadly weapons. They let out a fierce battle cry

“I think we’ve found them,” Malic said.

Clearly, these were the Kavos. They had come out of nowhere-and they did not seem pleased.

Thor and the others turned and faced them, but with hardly enough time to react. None of them drew their swords, all of them unsure whether to provoke them or try to make peace.

“We have come to ask your permission!” Reese yelled out, as they charged, trying to mollify them.

“Never!” their leader screamed back.

Thor and the others went to draw their weapons-but by now, it was too late.

The Kavos pounced on them. They moved faster than Thor could imagine, and Thor saw his brethren raising their swords and shields. There was a great clang of metal, as they blocked the blows.

Thor raised his own sword, blocking a blow just before it reached his shoulder. The blow was so strong and fierce, it sent him stumbling several feet. As he looked up, the Kavos brought down his sword again, and Thor blocked that too. But then the Kavos, a huge man with a long, wild beard and bald head, leaned back and kicked Thor hard in the chest. The blow sent him flying back several feet, the wind knocked out of him.

Krohn snarled and pounced on the warrior, and was able to drive him back and keep him away from attacking Thor while he was down.

The twins were knocked down, too, along with William, Reese and O’Connor. Elden, with his sheer strength, was able to go blow for blow, but even he was getting beaten back. Thor could not understand how the Kavos were so strong-and why they were so hostile. He had thought they would grant permission. Now he understood they needed to fight for it.

Thor rolled out of the way as a sword came down at him; the blade stuck in the dirt, and Thor used the opportunity to swing around and use his shield to strike him in the ribs. There came a gasp, and the man collapsed to his knees. Thor jumped to his feet and kicked the man, sending him to his back.

But Thor was then tackled from the side by another one, driven down to the ground. He landed with a crash, winded again, his facing driven into the dirt. He tried to spin, but the Kavos pinned him down, a man three times his size. The man went to claw Thor’s face, and Thor reached up to hold him back. But the man was too strong. Thor rolled his head out of the way, and at the last second the man’s fingers flew by him and plunged into the dirt.

Thor tried to roll the man off him, but he was too strong. They rolled, several times, and the man stayed on top of him, pinning him down. The man reached up and Thor saw that he held a curved dagger and was brining it down for his face. There was nothing he could do about it. He braced himself for the impact.

Krohn appeared, snarling, and bit the man in the side of the head; he screamed and let go of Thor. Then Elden appeared, kicking the Kavos hard in his temple, the blow knocking him off. Thor jumped to his feet, beside Elden, more grateful to Krohn and to Elden than they would ever know.

“I owe you one,” he said.

More of them charged, and they both spun and raised their swords and blocked the blows. Thor parried, back and forth, swords clanging, driven back and barely able to hold his own. These men were just too strong, too fast. They couldn’t hold them back much longer.

Thor, desperate, was beginning to feel a power, an energy, welling within him. He felt a tremendous heat rise up, through his legs and arms and shoulders, into his palms. Suddenly his sword was knocked out of his hand, and he found himself defenseless. The Kavos reached back to swing, and as he did, Thor felt his palms positively burning. He had to trust his instincts. He planted his feet, held a palm out, and directed his energy at the man.

As he did, he watched in awe as a golden ball of energy came flying out of his hands and hit the Kavos square in the chest. He went flying back, a good twenty feet, with a scream, and landed on his back. He lay there, unconscious.

The others must have noticed, because they all turned and looked at Thor, stunned. Thor held out his palms, aiming them at one Kavos after the next. One after another, a golden energy ball came flying out, hitting each Kavos, knocking each one onto his back. He first hit the one attacking Reese, then Elden, then O’Connor, then the others. He saved each one, sparing each a nasty blow from his attacker.

There was one Kavos, larger than the others, with a different colored armor, who looked like their leader. He charged Thor, and Thor turned and fired an energy ball at him.

But Thor was shocked to see the man swipe it away before it reached him.

The man took three steps to Thor, grabbed him by the shirt, and hoisted him up high in the air, several feet, until he was eye level with him. He held them there, staring at him, scowling.

Thor felt a tremendous energy flowing through the man, and realized, whoever he was, he was helpless in his grasp. If this man wanted to kill him, Thor knew that he could.

As the man held Thor in the air, after several seconds, slowly his expression softened, and to Thor’s surprise, it morphed into a smile.

“I like you,” the man growled, in a deep, ancient voice. “I wish to have you here.”

He leaned back, and threw Thor and he went flying through the air, landing hard in the dirt, rolling several times, winded again. He lay there, breathing hard, and looked up at the warrior.

The man laughed, then turned his back, and began to walk away.

“Welcome to the Isle of Mist,” he said.