Dragon Clan #3: Fleet's Story

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

When he woke, Tessa was sitting nearby. The quivers and bows were within easy reach. The water jugs were full. A small fire cooked a rabbit. He assumed the smell was what had awoken him. He was starving.

He said, “I sort of expected lamb.”

“That rabbit tempted me once too often. When it emerged the last time I was ready.”

“Never liked lamb all that much anyhow.” Fleet sat up and took inventory. The day looked to be well advanced, almost evening. A pile of firewood sat nearby. Tessa was not scared to make a fire, but why should she be? They were guarding a dragon. Any highwaymen would run like spooked deer at the sight.

“What are we going to do now?” she asked.

Several answers came to mind that would sidetrack her intent, but he knew what she meant and dodging the question was not fair to her. “For hundreds of years’ people have hated and feared us, and maybe some with reason. Now, we have the support of an Earl at Princeton and another at Northwoods, but this new threat arises.”

“We just want to live our lives in peace.”

Fleet didn’t want to argue, but she was wrong. “A dragon carried the old king into the air and dropped him. One of our people ordered that done.”

“It was for good reason,” she interrupted.

Fleet felt like his father might or another elder of the family. “Put yourself in an ordinary person’s place. Better yet, let’s suppose that all non-Dragon Clan people are suddenly granted the power to fly. Are you going to be intimidated, fearful, and jealous of them? Of course, you will. They can do something you cannot. How is that fair?”

“I wouldn’t kill them! Not like they try to do to us.”

“Okay, flying was not a good example. What if they can use lightning as a weapon. Just some of them. If they do not approve of you, they strike you dead by a bolt of lightning. Worse, not all of them are good people. Some are mean and kill for fun.”

“We are not like that.”

“Yet, one of us ordered that dragon to grab the king and fly away with him. Then drop him. Thousands of people saw that happen.”

Tessa’s face had turned red with anger. “Why are we having this conversation?”

“You asked what we’re going to do now. I guess the answer is that we try to survive. To do that, we hide, but now our hidden homes are exposed. The people we call the others are here. They’re like us, but not part of us. I suspect they are as afraid of us as we are of them.”

“So we make peace or go to war.”

Fleet shrugged, “I’m just a watcher. Part of a family of a clan that’s spread all over. It’s not for me to decide, but the information we have, you and me, must be distributed to every Dragon Clan family. People who are older and have more knowledge need to make decisions.”

“It has been hundreds of years since the entire Dragon Clan has worked together. I don’t think it can be done.” Tessa set her chin as if that ended the conversation.

“Then we will all die.”

The blunt statement snapped her head around, and she looked at him as if he’d poked her with a stick. Fleet maintained a neutral expression. Then he stood and walked to the dragon. It had watched their exchange as if it understood each word.

As he drew near, the dragon made a purring sound. At first, Fleet wondered what was wrong with it, but realized it was breathing through its nose, and making a soft sound that was reassuring and non-threatening. He held out his hand, as he would to a dog, let the thing sniff him, and then he gave it a few solid pats on the neck.

Climbing down the rock in front of the dragon, he stood in the cleft and examined the wound, or what he could see of it. The two blankets were coated with hardened and dried blood, as well as thousands of flies. The smell was of rotting flesh and sour milk, although he didn’t know where the milk smell came from.

He reached out and gently peeled the end of a blanket back a few inches and found the raw flesh covered with scabs, some larger than his palm. Washing the wound might help prevent infections, but would reopen wounds and bleeding would begin. Sometimes it is best to allow nature to do the work. He put the edge back in place and climbed out.

Tessa was still where he left her, her chin resting on her fist as she thought.

Fleet sat beside her, reaching for the still rolled blankets that contained the maps. “I have something here.”

He pulled all four out, different sizes, parchment, and ages. Unrolling one, he set it aside and unrolled the second. He placed a rock to hold the far end from curling back up. “Here’s what I wanted to see. I didn’t have a chance to look at it last night.”

Tessa looked, but her attention was elsewhere. Instead of trying to make her look, he knelt and studied it. The port of Fleming was clearly marked, as was Shrewsbury further down the coast located at the tip of a peninsula. He traced his finger across the faint blue that he assumed was water. A group of islands lay a third of the way, the largest labeled Marlstone.

Fleet continued following a landmass that ran from the top of the map to the bottom, and he assumed again that it continued in both directions. That made it appear larger than the entire kingdom of Princeton. Bold writing proclaimed it to be Breslau. Not a single town or province, but the entire landmass.

No towns or ports in the Breslau landmass were marked on the map. No features. It was as if the chart maker knew of one side of the ocean, but had never visited the other. He had obviously not used other maps to use as a reference, and Fleet doubted the coastline or the size of the drawing.

However, it was not all a loss. Even with some of the deficiencies, the map showed that such a land existed, and roughly where. If it was a five-day sail from Shrewsbury to the Marlstone Islands, then it should be three times that distance to Breslau.

He used a stick, broken to the right length, Shrewsbury to Marlstone Island. Then he measured to Breslau and found that if he went further north or south, the distance became too far. So the destination of the ship must lay in a narrow stretch of the far-off land. Fifteen days from the Marlstone Islands and twenty back to Fleming.

“What are you doing?” Tessa asked.

He stabbed a finger at the map. “This is where the others come from. Or maybe we should call them Breslau instead of the others.”

She knelt beside him and began a barrage of questions he couldn’t answer. He managed to interrupt to tell her what he knew, and suspected. He had never seen her so excited. Finally, she looked at him and said, her voice set and strong. “Now we have something to work with. That makes this whole trip a success.”

“It’s giving us valuable information.”

The dragon snorted in their direction. Fleet was about to go see what the problem was, but Tessa said, “It wants a couple of sheep. At this rate, we may have to go buy some more.”

“Where are they?”

“I made a little pen for them, out of sight of the dragon because that was upsetting them.”

“There are wolves,” Fleet began.

“And sheep bleat like crazy when they come around.”

Fleet shut up. She was accustomed to leading, and people followed her orders, not argued or questioned. She stood and headed over a low rise, only to return with a pair of sheep shortly after. She had a short piece of rope around each. The dragon watched her every step.

When she tied each sheep off to a sturdy shrub, she backed away. The dragon had waited, but now the head shot forward, and the first sheep fell to the ground, headless. A second strike, like a chicken picking up grain from the ground, and it too fell to the ground, headless.

Tessa turned to Fleet. “Amazing. It waits until I’m out of danger, then kills both in a heartbeat. The second one does not have to stand there knowing it’s going to die. The dragon does them both a favor by killing, and then eating.”

“Maybe you’re putting too much intelligence into the actions. It could just be instinct for her to kill both so that neither can escape.”

Tessa swelled up and almost sputtered, “I prefer my way. What other maps did you get?”

“Caldor was with me, and I didn’t want him seeing what I was interested in, so I glanced at them and made sure I had this one. Let’s look.”

He unrolled the next and found the coastline from above Castle Warrington to below Shrewsbury. The map was drawn in detail, but didn’t provide any useful information they didn’t already have. The third excited Tessa because it showed part of the drylands where Oasis was located as a large empty space. It showed the southern portion of the kingdom in poor detail, useful only to someone who knew nothing about the area.

The third was a detailed chart of Fleming Bay, including water depths and piers. The fourth was a chart of the River Paxton that flowed past Princeton, and King Ember’s castle. It showed fords and white water. Interesting, but of no value at the present.

Tessa shrugged, “The man had other charts and maps?”

“Yes, and from what I gather, he is not the only one selling them.”

“You are thinking of taking the fight to Breslau.”

Her statement was not in any manner a question. He hadn’t allowed himself to consider it, yet, but she was right. Somebody needed to gather information about the people who allowed their dragon to attack the black. “At least, one of them helped Raymer escape when the green dragon knocked down the dungeon wall.”

“A renegade?”

“That is the problem we face. We have an enemy, we think. We do not know what we have in reality. What we do not have is information. We need that before we make any plans.” He looked away.

“Oh, no you don’t. I can see right through you, Fleet. You’re thinking about a sea voyage, but get it out of your head right now. Family first. You know that. We need to travel to homes and provide our families with all we know and what we suspect. Then runners need to be sent to the other families with the same warnings.”

Fleet walked to where the dragon crouched and ignored Tessa. He used his mind to reach out and touch that of the dragon, exactly as he’d seen Raymer do last year. The dragon stirred, as if irritated, but there was only a thin link between them. He couldn’t be sure the dragon understood anything he said. He could not see through the eyes of the dragon.

Still, he felt a connection. The dragon seemed ‘fond’ of him, and had accompanied him from Bear Mountain all the way to Oasis. At the very least, she protected him from danger. “Tessa, can you feel the touch of this dragon?”

“A little. Only when it is close.”

“How can you tell if a dragon is old?”

She sat and looked at him as if he might break out into a crazy dance or song next. “I don’t know.”

“I’m beginning to think this one is old. Very old. It has probably touched minds with our kind for a hundred years, or more.”

“Is that’s why she knows better than to let you into her mind?”

“Very funny, but it may be true. Raymer said that to bond fully takes a willing person and a willing dragon. If she is not willing, there will never be a bonding.”

Tessa reached out and took his hand. “I’ve been told there are several layers of bonding. What Raymer did is witnessed once in a lifetime, they say. But this dragon definitely has a bond with you, let there be no doubt. It followed you. It protected you. And even now, don’t you realize that any other person in the world walking up to that beast would be eaten?”

“What about you?”

“I think your bond is protecting me. Without you here, I would never go near her.”

Fleet said, “You may be right. I feel like we communicate on some level, but mostly when I’m scared or something.”

“Why do you think she fought with the green?” Tessa asked, her eyes intent on Fleet.

“To see who is superior?”

“Maybe. Or could she have been protecting you?”

Tessa’s insights were more than he would ever have made. The shadows were long, and no more dragons had attacked. The wolves were gone, too. They had enough sheep for at least three more days. Fleet let the route he’d taken from Bear Mountain fill his mind. He could retrace it, cut a few corners and be home in less than ten days.

His home didn’t hold the attraction it once did. He’d reveal all he knew, letting them pick his mind as clean as the bones that a raven leaves a carcass. Then he would go. Where? Fleet smiled to himself. Did it matter?

Would the old dragon heal and continue to shadow him? He turned to Tessa.

She met his gaze. “If you need someone to travel with you, I am here.”

“How do you know what I’m thinking?”

“I guess dragons are not the only ones who can read minds or bond with others,” Tessa smirked and piled firewood in the small pit. She reached for her flint.

“I don’t even know if I’m going at all. I certainly don’t know where. But I’ll go alone, and you already know that.”

A few sparks flared the fire to life, and she said, “You’re going to leave soon. Going to Breslau. It’s not all that hard to figure out. Those people helped one of us, but attacked one of our dragons. You will not be able to let that contradiction go. It’ll eat at you until you sail across the Endless Sea and find out for yourself.”

“How can you know that?”

She raised her eyes to look at the small flames at him. “Because I am just like you. I am Dragon Clan.”