Dragon! Book Two: "Revenge"

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Gareth held himself back from shouting for the others to wake. Instead, he quietly stood and went to the blanket. It was cold. The boy had been gone for a while. But he had left bare footprints in the soft sand of the sandbar. Even in the moonlight the prints were lined up telling the way he’d gone.

Gareth bent and examined them closer. They were damp inside while the layer of sand on top was dry. He had not left long ago. Perhaps his stealthy movements had been what woke Gareth.

Reaching out with his mind for Ramos was possible, but this might alert Belcher. Gareth chose to follow the footprints. From the spacing of the footprints, he decided Ramos was not running or even hurrying. He walked with small, careful steps as if half asleep. If he was running away, he should be running, fearful of being captured again.

The footprints took him to the edge of the forest. Instead of choosing a path a few steps away that went in the same direction, Ramos had walked directly into the tangled underbrush without regard to the scratches of sticks and briars. Gareth took the path, darting to the side now and then to find Ramos still walked in a direct line unless prevented by a tree or other obstacle.

Even in the dim light the path of the boy was easy to follow. Running down the path again, Gareth heard the snap of a dry branch ahead. He turned to the sound and found Ramos walking slowly, his head held pointed directly ahead, set in the direction he walked even though Gareth made far too much noise as he approached to be missed. Anyone awake would have heard the noise.

Instead of calling out or touching Ramos, he followed. The blood seeping from the many scratches and scrapes on his lower legs made them look black in the moonlight. Gareth moved almost even with the boy, being careful to stay out of peripheral vision. Still, he could see the set expression on Ramos’ face, the glazed eyes, and the uncaring way he walked. A low hanging branch scraped across his face adding another scratch, but he didn’t so much as attempt to avoid it.

The boy was under the control of another mind, one uncaring that allowed the continued scratches and scrapes. But he continued walking at his snail’s pace. The trees thinned and then stopped. Ahead spread a wide valley carved out of the mountain.

The side of the valley was steep, too steep to navigate in the dark, and in the quiet of the night, Gareth heard the roar of rushing water below. A small river raged at the bottom of the canyon wall. Yet Ramos walked directly ahead. A few more steps and he would probably fall to his death on the slope, and if he survived that he would drown in the river.

Gareth reached out and grabbed the boy by his shoulders. Ramos tries to shake him off. The easiest way to keep him safe was to remove the ability to walk. Gareth stepped in front of Ramos and bent over, shoving his shoulder into the stomach of the boy. Ramos leaned forward as Gareth took two quick steps ahead and stood, the boy balanced safely on his shoulder, Gareth’s arm holding him firm.

After only a few steps in the direction of the camp, Ramos erupted into a violent madman, kicking, hitting, pounding, flailing wildly and screaming so loudly the entire forest awakened. His flailing elbow struck above Gareth’s ear. A toe kicked his stomach, and the twisting and turning made it impossible to hold onto the boy.

Setting him down allowed him to break free and run at the canyon. Gareth chased him and managed to grab him at the edge and pull him back to safety. Gareth slipped out of his shirt and used the arms to tie the kicking feet together while sitting on the boy’s thighs and accepting the fists pummeling his bare back. Gareth stripped the shirt off Ramos and used it to tie his hands. Ramos still fought so hard he was in danger of hurting himself. Gareth sat on his chest and held the boy’s head in his hands.

*You’ve ruined him.*

The raging thought burst into Gareth’s head like fireworks. It invaded Gareth like a savage slap in his face. Instantly he locked down all but the smallest portion of his mind and steeled himself to lock that down, too if it became necessary. Carefully, he responded, “I have done nothing. He’s just a boy.”

*He’s mine! Now he’s no good to me, and I’ll kill you for that.*

Another threat to kill him. Gareth wanted to remind Belcher he could only kill him once, but before making him angrier and more determined, Gareth drew a mental breath, calmed himself, and said, “Ramos is one of yours. I have done nothing to hurt him.”

“Don’t lie to me. I’ve looked into his mind. He likes you.*

“So for that reason, you plan to kill him? Because he likes me?”

“You can’t stop me.”

Gareth cut the mental thread as it increased to the intensity of a tropical storm over Bitters Island. The conversation with Belcher was irrational. He was too furious to speak with. In the space of a few seconds, the mind of the other had gone from angry to crazy. There is no way to deal with a mind like that.

Gareth scooped Ramos into his arms and headed for the campsite. He rejected repeated attempts by Belcher to tear apart his defenses and invade Gareth’s mind. With each failure, the rage increased and the twisting and fighting of Ramos increased.

Ramos suddenly stopped his twisting and fighting. He lay so still in Gareth’s arms that Gareth paused and checked to make sure the boy was all right. The mental assault pounded against the locks on his mind again, like someone demanding to be allowed past a sturdy oak door. The image didn’t help Gareth as he recalled at childhood story of an oak door to a castle that had been burned instead of throw open.

There’s always a way to defeat an enemy.

Stumbling down the bank to the sandbar, he found Ann and Tad with their arms wrapped around each other. Tears streaked their faces.

Gareth said, “You can hear him?”

“Everyone can hear him,” Ann said. “Even those who are not sensitive.”

Gareth placed Ramos on his blanket. Ann was right. The way Belcher was broadcasting his thoughts all could hear him. Many would simply feel uncomfortable because their minds were not tuned to understand. They would believe they had a nightmare. Others had more abilities to hear, especially women. They would be pained. Sensitives, no matter how limited their abilities, heard every tortured wail and threat.

Ann said, “You cannot still be thinking of going up there.”

The idea of not going to the valley hadn’t really entered his mind, even after her warning earlier. Now, at her words, he found himself scared for the first time. One slip and he’d be dead. If the boy who wanted to be called the Master seized a single advantage, the battle and war were both lost. Just one mistake.

Yet, if he didn’t go there, who would? Who else could? Gareth said, “I was going to rush up there and take revenge on the person who killed my father. That has been my plan all along.”

“It’s a stupid plan, Gareth!”

“I can’t sit aside and do nothing.”

Ann brushed Tad’s hair off his forehead with the palm of her hand before speaking again, soft and controlled. “I have but one question for you to ask yourself. What does that insane mind waiting in the valley want you to do?”

Words were on Gareth’s lips before he fully understood her question. What did Belcher want him to do? Ever since he had appeared, he had wanted to face and kill Gareth. From the first instant, their minds touched. Every event had drawn him closer to the valley and Belcher. Worse, Gareth was doing exactly what Belcher wanted. At every turn, he had chosen to do what the other wanted.

Hanging his head, Gareth admitted, “You’re right.”

“About what?” Ann asked.

“He’s manipulated me from the beginning. Like a fool, I’ve allowed it.”

“You’re no fool.”

“I have been acting like one.” Gareth glanced at Ramos. “Do you think it was an accident we captured him so easily? No, he was bait. Bait intended to draw us, or me, to my end.”

“This boy they call Master is really that intelligent?”

“Yes. Until now he has called every emotion, decided the next move, and defeated my father without a single stumble. I’ve fallen into his every trap.”

“You have done nothing wrong, Gareth.”

“I’ve done everything wrong, don’t you see? I’m here. Rushing in to save the day like some hero in an old tale. Running right to him. After he kills me, there is nothing to stand in his way of doing whatever he wants. Nothing and nobody. Worse, I’m even bringing Tad right to him.”

“Was that his idea?”

“I don’t think he knows about Tad, yet. But what will he do when he learns of him? Will he want him as one of his followers?”

Ann held Tad closer as if to protect him. “What do we do?”

Gareth tried to sound positive and as if he knew. “We do what he does not expect.”