Dragon Clan #2: Raymer's Story

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The five of them looked from one to the other.

Quint said, “It’ll work. I think. The dragon attack might pull some of the armies in from the field to fight for the castle, and when old King Ember’s troops show up, they’ll already be there, armed and in full fighting mode.”

“If I can make the dragon attack. But I still need help.” Raymer said.

“Help?” Quint repeated, the puzzlement clear on his face.

“I can’t just touch minds with the dragon and tell it to fly to Castle Warrington. Dragons are basically stupid creatures and can’t read maps, even if we had one. It will not know where to go or how to get there.”

“Landmarks,” Dancer said, looking to Quint for confirmation.

Quint blanched and then shrugged. “It seemed like a good idea, but I’ve never been this far south, so I don’t know any landmarks.”

The mood of the room descended as if all had learned their best friend recently died. Raymer lifted his mug with the intention of seeing the bottom of it and many others. Quint sat near him, his focus on the worn wooden planks of the floor.

Ander said, “The man who was rolling dice has been there. Remember he used the loaf of bread to represent Bear Mountain?”

Raymer slapped the top of the table with his palm, drawing surprised reactions from the others as he half-stood. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have eaten the bread, I guess.”

Ander stood, turned, and headed for the door. “I’ll go find him.”

“Will that work?” Quint asked. “Can you direct a flying dragon by describing landmarks you’ve never seen?”

“This is all new to me,” Raymer said. “I can’t even tell you for sure if I can make the dragon fly in that direction, let alone attack the castle.”

Fleet, who had said little since beginning the trip with them, leaned forward to catch their attention. “I have some concerns, too. The dragon attacking the castle is not going to help the reputation of the Dragon Clan. People, there will remember the attack, especially the families of those it kills.”

Dancer nodded in agreement. He faced Quint and waited before speaking. “This thing we are doing will carry implications that will last for years or generations for our people. Do you have any concept of the sacrifice we are making?”

Quint listened and inhaled a deep breath before answering. “No, I do not understand, but I’m beginning to. Right now I’m worried about my own family, but I will make you one promise. Should we survive King Ember’s treachery, I will make my parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, and every person living in Warrington Castle aware of your sacrifice.”

“You will make them understand?” Dancer asked.

Quint nodded.

Dancer said, “I appreciate your efforts and will hold you to your word, but there is more. With your explanation, there will be more fear of what our powers can do. How dangerous we can be. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Before he could answer, Raymer added, “Before you make any statements to them, I think you should consult with an elder about what to say. Perhaps Myron could visit you?”

“He would be welcomed as a hero!” Quint paused, then said, “However, I see what you’re telling me. You want no more rumors spread about you and Myron could tell me what to say and how much.”

Ander opened the front door of the inn and escorted a nervous looking old man inside. “This is Henry. He says he knows every hill and building between here and Castle Warrington.”

As they settled at the table, both realized they had interrupted a serious conversation. Henry reached for an empty mug and poured himself a generous amount of ale from the pitcher. Ander looked from one to another as he waited for an explanation.

Raymer took the lead. “We can settle all this later. Right now we’re wasting valuable time. For all we know, King Ember’s army may attack in the morning, although I think it will be the day after at the earliest. But the Northwood army needs time to prepare a defense.”

They all turned to Raymer, silently waiting for him to continue.

Ander said, “Attacking the castle is not a friendly move. Are you sure there isn’t a way to send a message?”

Raymer said, “Whatever we do, it has to be done now, or we fail. I don’t like attacking the castle, but it will draw all the attention of the whole kingdom. Understand one thing, first. This is new to all of us, and if I can ask a dragon to fly all the way there and attack, fine. But think of how silly that sounds.”

He paused and allowed each of them to consider his words. When they all seemed to understand, including the old man, Henry, he went on. “I propose that Quint and Dancer take some of the army horses and a few supplies and ride as fast as possible. Buy fresh mounts along the way if you can. We have the coin, and you two are the best to carry word of the attack.”

“In case, your dragon revolts or refuses to obey?” Quint asked.

“Yes. We can’t risk lives something I’ve never done.”

Dancer stood. “He makes sense. I’m ready. But I also have a suggestion. The officer and his troops are standing guard outside. At least one of them should escort us. If nothing else, it will prevent other units of the Northwood army from taking us prisoner, or detaining us.”

“Excellent idea,” Quint said, who appeared ready to leave that instant. His eyes flicked to each of them, and then to the door. He edged closer.

Ander tossed his purse to Quint, keeping only a few small coins to pay for food and lodging. Raymer handed his own purse to Dancer, saying, “Never keep all the coin in one place. Use it well.”

Quint hesitated. “This is strange. If I arrive home and find it in flames, I will know we have been successful, or that King Ember has. Raymer, it’s hard for me to wish you well when attacking my home is your objective.”

Dancer took Fleet aside and muttered a few words, then followed Quint outside.

Raymer looked at Ander. “I guess we should begin.”

“Not yet. You can’t do much out here in the eating room with no privacy,” Ander nodded to the stairs and doors at the top.

Raymer said, “Henry, you and Ander come with me. Fleet, you can let the innkeeper and others back in here, but tell them to keep the noise down. I want you stationed at the top of the stairs. Nobody goes up there unless you allow it.”

Fleet had looked disappointed at first, but quickly understood his duties were important. He grinned and stood.

Raymer said, “Tell the innkeeper I have rented all the rooms for tonight and will pay him later.”

He went up the stairs first, opening the door to the first room. It was tiny with a slanted roof, obviously too small for three people. The second room was filled with the leavings of the officer. The third had an enormously fat man sleeping in a very small bed, his snores like a pride of lions occupied the room.

After telling Fleet to wake the man and send him away, Raymer tried the next door and found a large space. A neatly made bed with a small sitting, or dressing area. Obviously the largest and most expensive room at the inn. He nodded in satisfaction.

Henry and Ander followed him inside. Raymer motioned to a chair and called for Fleet to bring another. He sat on the bed and looked at the old man. “We need to talk.”

“That we do,” Henry said.

“I assume you know the basics of what we’re going to try.”

“And I know why. How do you want to do this thing?”

Raymer closed his eyes and considered. It was a good question. How did he wish to proceed? “What I need you to do is to realize dragons are not very smart. I need landmarks he can see from above, like rivers to follow. Or fly directly at an oddly shaped mountain, but you have to tell me what the mountain looks like so he can know what I mean.”

Henry said, “Relax a bit, I see your intention and think I have the answer.”

“Tell me.”

Henry leaned back and examined the ceiling as he thought. “The main thing is to know where the dragon is, not to tell it where to go. We just have to know its location, and only for a while. Beyond this valley is another. At the far end of that are two great hills, almost mountains, and the only road passes between them.”

“Can you draw me a picture?”

“Get me pen and paper and I will.”

Ander said, “I’ll tell Fleet to get them.”

Henry continued speaking as if picturing everything in his mind. “Beyond that pass is the beginnings of a river, just a large stream at that point, but it’s the landmark I think you need. It winds and turns, and others join it, but my point is that it eventually becomes a large river that flows right pass Castle Warrington before it finds the sea.”

Raymer said, “That sounds perfect. If I can get it by the second valley and to the smaller river, it will be easy.”

“Just have to know when to stop at the castle, but even that is not hard. If it goes too far, it reaches the sea, and you turn it back.”

Fleet returned with ink, pen, and paper.

“While I try to communicate with the dragon, can you and Ander draw a picture of what the mountain pass will look like? Any large structures before it gets there? And then draw the outside of Castle Warrington?”

Ander reached for the pen.

Henry said, “I can draw for myself. Make letters, too.”

Raymer laid back on the bed and closed his eyes. He put everything around himself out of his mind until he ignored their murmurs and the human sounds creeping up from the dining room as people ate and talked. He heard the door close softly.

Then he reached out to the mind of the dragon. At first, he felt nothing and almost panicked, but it was there. He relaxed and allowed the balminess and security the dragon projected to wash over him like warm summer rain after a drought.

He’d expected the mind of a dragon to be evil and harsh. Maybe stupid and vengeful. Instead, he felt an organized, understanding, and completely relaxed mind, more of what he’d expect if he could touch minds with a milk cow or family dog.

Hello, my friend. The words didn’t seem to translate, but the dragon seemed pleased and understood the intent. It shivered in anticipation.

How am I going to convince it to fly? He knew nothing of how to continue or how to manage the dragon. He had a flash of the dragon raising up, flying to the inn and destroying it with flames. He quickly tried to put that image out of his thoughts before it came true.

He wished again that an elder, like his father or Myron, could advise him. Instead, he would make his own rules. I want you to fly. I want you to fly where I tell you.

Raymer waited. How would he know the beast did as he requested?

Joy filled his mind. A sense like a dog might feel when anticipating chasing and returning a stick to its master. There were no words, but the dragon projected the same sort of response, a mental equivalent to a puppy; I can do it, I can do it.

For the first time, Raymer believed he could actually direct the dragon.

Fly to me and then continue flying in the same direction. Do not land. Raymer waited for some sort of confirmation from the dragon.

A flash of joy filled his mind, then dissipated, leaving him with the same sort of feeling when he watched one of his brothers wrestle one of the other boys and win. Joy followed by satisfaction.

It might take a while, but Raymer believed he may have the confirmation he desired. If the dragon emitted that sort of response each time it did as he asked, he’d know what was happening far away.

The ambient noise from the eating room changed. It grew louder . . . Then softened into silence. Raymer sat up on the bed.

Ander said, “Listen.”

At first, Raymer didn’t hear it, but soon the rustle of the dragon’s great wings approaching drew his attention. Those on the floor below had heard it long before he did. Not here, keep going. Fly. The wings beat faster and louder. It passed directly over the inn, exactly as he’d instructed. It kept flying.

Henry, the old man, said, as he held up a sketch. “Is this picture detailed enough?”

The drawing was crisp and without adornment. It displayed a valley. Ahead lay a row of smaller mountains. Directly in front of them stood two much larger mountains, separated by a gap. A road wound through the valley and into the gap.

Smiling, Raymer took the paper and closed his eyes again. When he felt the touch of the dragon’s mind, he opened his eyes long enough to see the map and then closed them again. He did that three times. If he understood the mind of the dragon well enough, it understood.

Not long after, the feeling of joy returned. With that, he felt confident the dragon had spotted the two peaks. “Quick, draw me what you think the river might look like from up high.”

Henry bent his head and went to work. Soon he held up another sheet. It looked more like a wriggling worm than a river. Raymer tried to imagine how to pass on to the dragon the idea of a river and settled on water instead. Could he project the feeling of water? No, he couldn’t. Well, perhaps he could project the color. No, he had never seen the river, and they ranged from dark brown to green and blue.

He reached out to the dragon again and thought about ducks. Then he changed to imagine what a river might look like from above. He’d seen them from hills and actually seen the one down the center of the deep valley during their escape.

“Does the river have fields and pastures alongside it?”

Henry said, “No. It is mostly forest on both sides, but the road travels beside it.”

Raymer pictured the tops of trees, with the river snaking through it, and a road alongside. He tried to hold that image in his mind. He wished he could see what the dragon did.

An image formed in his mind. Two mountains, the one of the right taller and the top flatter. “Are the two mountains the same size and shape?”

“Not really, although people usually talk like they are because they are like a gateway to the valley,” Henry said. “One is taller.”

“What about the shapes?”

“No, not the same. One is more pointed at the top.”

Raymer kept the information to himself. He was not sure if what he experienced was the dragon responding to him, or coincidence. He looked at the paper for the river and the road alongside. Mentally he added ducks and rowboats on the river to explain that it was water. On the road, he placed people walking and a wagon pulled by a mule.

Communicating with a dragon required more than words or mental pictures. He needed to include items the dragon could relate to. Basics like food or things it recognized from seeing daily. Simple concepts such as come here or go home. However, the communication was more like dealing with a dog than a person.

However, the dragon had responded, even if it was about as simple as a child might respond. As their relationship grew he would understand more, and so would the dragon.

Raymer glanced at the last drawing long enough to lock the image to his mind and ensuring it was something he could describe to the dragon. It was. The drawing was simple, straightforward, and distinct details leaped from the paper. Castle Warrington sat high up on a solid wall built over a steep cliff, and a river flowing below. The sea lay beyond. Five turrets, all with banners and flags flying.

He nodded to himself and then closed his eyes again, feeling he could concentrate better with the dragon when no other distractions were present. Removing sight helped. If he could close his ears, it would be even better, but as he fought to understand and learn the mind of the dragon he heard little in the room.

The feeling of satisfaction again filled him, relayed from the dragon. A vague flash of an image of a river with trees on both banks leading onto the distance also found a road beside it.

“Henry, I think it is beyond the two mountains and above the river. How much farther?”

The old man paused and did some calculation of his own. Finally, he said, “It takes most of a day of hard riding to reach the pass between those two mountains. Two more to reach Fairwinds Province and Castle Warrington.”

Fleet said, “How do you know where the dragon is?”

“I don’t know for sure. But twice I’ve had mental images similar to the drawings Henry made.” He then made a mental note of how long it had taken for the dragon to fly to the pass. He doubled that time for an indication of when it might be approaching the castle.

“Maybe your imagination?” Fleet asked, without and sense of criticism in his tone.

“I thought so too, but that was the reason for asking about those two mountains. The sketch shows them looking the same, but when I asked because the mental picture the dragon sent to me showed one larger and the tip flat, Henry confirmed it.” Raymer peeked through slits and found Fleet standing, a wide grin on his face.

Fleet said, “The dragon is really doing what you tell it?”

“We’ll find out, I guess.”

“Do you think that someday I can bond with a dragon?” Fleet asked.

“Your father said it’s rare. In fact, I still find it hard to believe.” Raymer explained, closing his eyes again and trying to learn how to best contact the mind of the dragon.

Ander, who had been quiet for some time said, “I think I understand why people hate and fear the Dragon Clan. It’s not always because they think you’re going to send dragons to kill them.”

Fleet said, his voice sharp and demanding. “Tell me. That’s one thing I have never understood. We do no harm to people. We just want to live in peace.”

“Slow down, son,” Ander said. “I was talking to Raymer, but I guess it also includes you, but this is simply an observation. While the two of you discuss bonding and communicating with dragons that are far off, I can only watch and wish.”

A quiet filled the room. Raymer tried thinking with the front of his mind, the part right above his eyes. It didn’t seem to work. He tried speaking words under his breath. That seemed to have an effect. He received another image of the river, not the same he had seen earlier.

Fleet said to Ander, “If you could fly and I could not, I suppose I would be upset and maybe jealous.”

Ander chuckled. “That’s about the best explanation I have ever heard. Imagine that my people can fly. You can never fly and never experience it, and you have no idea of how we do it. We hide in the forests and mountains and keep to ourselves, but others tell tales about where we fly to and what we do. You think we have other powers we don’t talk about.”

“I’m beginning to believe you are a very smart man,” Fleet said.

“This was all your idea.” Ander reminded him.

Fleet shrugged off the compliment. “But I believe people fear us because they don’t know us or what we can do. That generates fear. Perhaps my people should educate others. Then the problems will be solved.”

Ander said, “Then we’ll never agree. I think people are scared of the unknown, and you are the unknown. You can talk all you want, but the average person is still going to distrust and hate you.”

“Hate?” Fleet asked.

“Because you are somehow superior, and yes, hate is the word I’d use.” Ander sat and turned his head as if to end the conversation.”

Raymer mumbled to the dragon in what he hoped sounded like a reassuring tone. He wanted to know if it had veered off course. An image appeared in his mind, fuzzy and indistinct as if looking across a fog-shrouded lake and trying to determine the details on the far side. However, what he could discern was a river and trees on both banks.

He relaxed. Fleet went for a mug of cold water, some cheese, and bread. Raymer didn’t dare move from the bed or allow his attention to wander. He ate and quenched his thirst without speaking, and the other three in the room remained silent.

A glance to his side reassured him the last drawing was waiting. He only had to wait and make sure that when the dragon drew close, it knew to attack. That was the critical part of the plan.

Arriving at the castle under the direction of Raymer was only the beginning. It seemed the easy part. How was he going to make the dragon attack and make the Fairwinds Provence army mass to protect the castle?

Even more to the point, Raymer didn’t want to kill or injure the wrong people, or any people for that matter. He checked the ground below the dragon one more time. It still followed.

Raymer felt Ander place his hand on his shoulder and say, “You can do this.”

“If the dragon was attacking King Ember’s Summer Palace would you feel the same?”

“If I knew what I do, the answer is yes.”

Fleet asked, “Can you see in your mind what the dragon does?”

“No. Sometimes I get ‘impressions’ or just feelings.”

“If you get feelings, will you have to get angry at the castle so the dragon attacks?” Fleet asked.

Raymer opened his left eye long enough to wink at Fleet. Yes, that was how to make the dragon attack. Raymer had to convince the dragon he was either scared, in danger, or angry.

The suggestion from the boy arrived just in time because as he touched minds again, the dragon screamed and flew faster. The west wall of Castle Warrington lined a gray cliff. Bright Flags and streaming banners waved in the breeze. The image in Raymer’s mind was no longer dull, indistinct, or unclear.

It had turned as clear as his own vision. He was looking through the eyes of the dragon.