Dragon Clan #5: Tanner's Story

CHAPTER ONE

Tanner watched one of the green dragons that had recently invaded the Southlands near Shrewsbury. It flew overhead with the grace of smaller, more agile creatures, yet its size exceeded that of a house. He glanced at Carrion and said, “Are we about done here? It’s been three cold, wet days.”

“You’re the boss,” drawled Carrion, who was one of the elders of the family, but didn’t sit on the council. If anything, most considered him something of a black sheep.

“What’s that mean? If it were up to me, we’d have left two days ago.”

Carrion shrugged, “I wasn’t ready.”

Tanner held his temper. The man beside him in the blind was twice his age and bonded with a red dragon, one of the largest of the dragon species. Only blacks were rumored to be bigger and more intelligent, although that idea may have come from those bonded with blacks.

Tanner finally said, “Well, if I’m the boss, why are we still here?”

“Because of those two people hiding from the green dragons over there on the side of that mountain we’re watching. But you knew that, already.” His smile didn’t take the sting from the words.

“I know you’ve said for me to always take the higher ground in battle. I also know I’m about to freeze my tail off. What I don’t know is why you say I’m the boss of this mission when you don’t do what I tell you.”

“Because the family council appointed you as the leader and I trust them.” Carrion managed a less offensive grin, but kept his attention on the single dragon on the slope of the volcano that belched fire and rumbled throughout the day and night, preventing them from sleeping soundly. Smoke and stinking fumes seeped from the slope, and the warmth of the ground reacted with the sea air to create a swirling fog shifting around the base. The slopes of the volcano were barren, not a hint of green. Nothing but the roosts where the dragons lay their eggs.

Tanner said, “Okay then, we leave here right after dark.”

“That sounds like a good idea to me because you’re the boss. Besides, at my age, all this laying on the cold ground isn’t good. It makes my joints hurt.”

“Yet we stayed three full days. Why? Just because of those two people down there?”

Carrion said, “Listen, I know you’re anxious to find out what we can learn about those invaders, but you’re too single-minded for the likes of me. We have the whole afternoon before we leave, so let’s play a game and review what you know, and compare it to what I think I know and then come up with a plan that serves both of us.”

“Anything to pass the time faster,” Tanner pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders. Laying down allowed the cold and damp to seep into his bones, too. Sitting didn’t really help, but he tried to convince himself that the cedar branches and pine limbs they’d piled to hide under, also kept them warm.

Carrion said, “Even since the messengers from the other families brought news of Raymer’s escape from King Ember’s Summer Palace, and the first inklings of the others, we’ve known war is coming from across the Endless Sea. We traveled here to investigate Shrewsbury because we’ve heard the same rumors, right?”

“I see what you’re trying to do. Why not just skip to the important stuff? We’re pretty sure the two people hiding down there are Dragon Clan, just like us. We’re satisfied they’re from another family and probably on the same mission. We’ll meet up with them on the road and join forces tomorrow.”

“See how this game works? Now we have a few things to disagree about,” Carrion said, his demeanor changing to one more serious. “If we join together and the others sniff us out, two families will lose members. I propose you and I follow those two allowing them to make any mistakes. If they fail their mission, we can still succeed.”

“Use them as bait?”

“If we had not spotted them on the road from Fleming, we would have all competed to accomplish the same mission. We might have even gotten in their way. With this idea of mine, we simply let them do their job, and we do ours if they fail.”

“They face the dangers while we sit back and watch. That seems a cruel thing to do to members of our own clan.”

Carrion shrugged. “If a time comes when it’s for the benefit of the families to do so, we’ll step in and support them. Besides, you and I have other tasks, ones, those two cannot fulfill.”

Tanner hesitated. What other tasks? “Since I’m the leader, I assumed we were all going to Shrewsbury to find out what we can of our enemies. What else is there?”

“For three whole days we’ve watched those green dragons roosting on that volcano, and you still do not see?” Carrion held his hands to his mouth and breathed warm air on his fingers before continuing. “Three greens roost there. Two fly away at dawn and return at dusk. What’s the relevance of that?”

“I have no idea,” Tanner spat, tiring of the conversation.

“The third sits on eggs.”

“Six gods dancing! Greens have already killed one of our dragons and attacked another. Hatching eggs give them, even more, power when they grow up.”

Carrion nodded before speaking. “I’m glad you finally see with your mind as well as your eyes. This afternoon those two Dragon Clan members will leave. They’re as wet and cold as us, and I’m surprised, but impressed that they stayed the third day. They’ll leave well before dusk, so they can get out of these mountains and away from the damp sea air before dark.”

“They’ll need fresh water and a fire tonight. Same as us.”

“Dragons have little night vision, you know. I intend to call on my red to attack just before dusk and escape before it’s too dark for him to see. With luck, he can fly far enough away and get lost in the darkness, but I’ll be seeing through his eyes to help him, so you’ll have to watch out for both of us. The other two greens are going to be pissed when they return to the roost and find the female dead and her eggs broken.”

“You’re going to risk your red and fight a green?”

“I know what you’re thinking. In the two encounters so far, the greens won. This time, things will be different.”

“There’s three of them!”

“No, two are away hunting all day, always to the north. They only return as it’s getting dark. My red will attack before that and then fly south to where the old monastery ruins are located. He’ll find cover in the cliffs near there, in fact, he’s checking them out for a good place to rest as we speak.”

“You’ve been planning this for how long?”

Carrion, sitting at his side, grumbled, “I’m getting too old for this sort of blasted work. I should be at home with my feet propped up beside my warm hearth. You should have brought Nance or Bellow instead of me.”

“You knew what you’re going to do from the first day is my guess.”

“Effective planning takes time.”

“You should have told me,” Tanner said, not arguing against the plan, but the manner it came about. He also had more questions. “How can you be sure your red will win?”

“That volcano is located on the tip of the peninsula. My red will fly far out to sea and approach from there instead of inland where they watch. He’ll come in low and fast, right between the volcano and that short mountain over there,” he pointed.

“What if the green senses it?”

Carrion nodded, “Good question. I call off the attack my red flees, but we will then know that the greens can detect reds, and we can assume blacks, tans, and our greens, too. We learn critical information to share with the other families.”

“Okay, your red swoops in low and fast. Then what?”

“He takes the head off the sitting green on the first pass if we’re very lucky. Dragons on the ground are slow and cumbersome. If it’s a surprise, he may win with the initial attack. Then he destroys the eggs and escapes.”

Tanner glanced at his long bow.

Carrion shook his head. “I thought of that, too. An arrow into each egg would be good, but I think attempting it would cost our lives.”

“We’d be too close if your red loses.”

“Or if he wins. The two greens will return and search for you and me. They’ll fly over and examine everything. This blind will be torn apart by first light. Before long we need to pull back as far as we can, to a place where you can barely see the green hen roosting. After the attack, we’ll run like hell before dawn.”

“All night?”

“Well, you’re in charge and can stop whenever you feel safe. Then you can try to catch up with me tomorrow, but I’ll be far down the road.”

Tanner threw him a scalding look intended to bring the older man to his knees, but as if anticipating it, Carrion turned his head back to watch the green dragon. Later he said, “Those two people are finally leaving, I think. Sneaking out like one of the King’s triads searching for Dragon Clan. Slow and careful so their prey doesn’t see them and take them down.”

“You’re going to let them put some distance between the green before calling in your red, right? If those two people were not here, you’d have already attacked. You wanted to attack this morning, but waited.”

“That’s why the family council put you in charge, Tanner. You see a set of circumstances and put all the pieces together in the right way and come to a logical decision.”

“Make fun of me,” Tanner said, “but we both know you should be the leader.”

“I’m not the reliable sort, and you know it. Half the time I’m not even living with the family. I’m out wandering the world and chasing skinny women with long black hair. I drink too much and gamble any coins in my purse. They only sent me because I’m expendable.”

“You’re also the only person bonded to a dragon that I know of.”

“Well, yes, there is that too.”

“Are you scared of attacking the green?”

Carrion pursed his lips and hesitated. “Have you ever heard of another bonded Dragon Clan member ordering an attack on another dragon?”

“No. It seems wrong. It is wrong.”

“That’s what I thought. A man of the clan with high morals wouldn’t direct such an attack. It’s not the green’s fault they cannot feel our mental-touch. Horses and pigs can’t either, but we don’t kill them for it. The difference is that these greens are somehow vile. Corrupted. I can’t put it into words.”

Tanner said, “It’s not the greens. It’s the others, the people with them that make them that way, but the fact remains, they’re like rabid dogs and they kill our dragons. We can’t show mercy.”

“Okay, the two from the clan have gone far enough. It’s time for us to move back too, and prepare an escape route, and a hole to dive into, just in case.”

“There’s no hole out here that will save us if we don’t put enough distance between that green sitting on the eggs and us. I was looking behind us a while ago, and there’s a place on that third mountain where we can still see this valley. We won’t see details, but I think we’ll see your dragon. He might be small, but we’ll see what we can through the smoke and fog.”

“And through the eyes of my red. I’ll relay what I can, but you know I can’t remove my concentration or the red will want to remain after the fight to feast, assuming he wins. It’ll take all my willpower to make him leave after a victory.”

“Then we’ll follow the two people from the Dragon Clan into Shrewsbury.”

Carrion said, “And try to help them without their knowledge, if possible.”

“After that, we’re going to the Marlstone Islands?”

“And beyond.”