Dragon Clan #5: Tanner's Story

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Despite the warmth provided by the capes, the night was cold, and the wind blew. Their extra blankets couldn’t keep them warm, either. By morning, they were shivering and thinking only about a campfire that was impossible. There was no firewood in the area. Only barren rock and dry grasses.

The sun peeked over the mountains, and they warmed quickly, standing to absorb the rays. By the time the sun was up higher, they had already begun to remove the blankets.

Carrion said, “Okay, the road has nobody on it, not even this close to the ‘city’ which I’m beginning to think is a sham. No candles in windows last night, nobody walking on the only road out of town, and I have seen nothing of movement in the city. Not even the castle had the number of lights I expected.”

“We need to get a look at the port,” Tanner said. “What do you think is happening?”

“Like I said, this is all beginning to look like a sham. A city built for sailors to see from a distance, but never up close. The Captain said the crews were prevented from going into the city when ships were allowed here. Of course, that was twenty years ago.”

“I don’t understand. Why would they do that? I mean, why would they build an empty city?”

“For the sailors to see and talk about. Ships arrived here and unloaded cargo Breslau wanted. Breslau shipped what they wished, but all of it was conducted at the port of Breslau City. No seamen ever saw the inside of the city, and if they did, they didn’t return to their ships to talk about it.”

Tanner fought to catch up with Carrion’s thinking. “Then the people here simply loaded the cargo already on the docks onto other ships and sent it down to the river where the ‘real’ cities are located.”

“I’ll bet that castle on the hill is almost empty of people, too. I did see a few lights up there last night, but not nearly enough.”

“That castle on the bluff reminds me of a watchtower for the Dragon Clan at home. People could sit up there and watch the sea. They could warn the army of any ships arriving. A whole fleet of ships could be hiding near here, or an army could attack any ship not supposed to be there. The whole city is a trap.”

“Also a decoy,” Carrion said. “If King Ember intends to attack Breslau, where will he send his ships and army? Here, of course.”

Tanner said, “Want to bet me that the people living here are almost all Crabs? All but the soldiers, of course.”

“No bet. They don’t even have a way to leave. Ocean on one side, mountains the other, and deserts without water north and south. They’re prisoners.”

“This whole city was not built to keep a few Crabs prisoners. It’s to protect the five cities on that river. At the first sign of trouble here they probably have a way to get the information down there quickly,” Tanner said, thinking as he spoke. “Like a bonded dragon carrying a message strapped to a leg.”

Carrion said, “Which makes me ask. Do we even need to go into the city?”

“Yes, we do. So far we’re just guessing. Besides, there is additional information we need, especially about the Royals being Dragon Masters.”

“I suppose that since you’re the appointed leader of this expedition, I’ll have to obey you, but there’s one thing you and I do need to see before we leave. We need to get our hands on a Royal long enough to look at his or her back.”

Tanner nodded, “We need to see the mark of the dragon. See what’s different about theirs. Why can’t we sense their dragons, and can they sense ours? If possible, we should take a Royal back to Princeton and take him to our family for questioning.”

Carrion seemed to come to a conclusion. He nodded, “Then it’s decided. We’ll go into the city and explore, as well as to the castle on the bluff. If we get the opportunity, we’ll abduct a Royal, but even if we have to peek into every window of every Royal home until we see a bare back, we will.”

“I think it will be better if we just find a Royal and drag him or her into an alley long enough to see their backs,” Tanner laughed, “but whatever it takes is fine with me.”

Carrion said, “I know the road is there, and it’s easier travel, but I suggest we sneak into the city from another way. If I were going to guard the port, I’d also watch the only road.”

Tanner agreed. “We could circle around and come in from the mountain side of the city, but I want to see the port. Everything seems structured around it.”

“Moving along the sea might be a good idea. If they’re watching the road and the sea, who would expect us to slip in right between them?”

They moved closer to the road, using the limited cover to shield them from prying eyes. When they agreed the time was right, both darted across the road and down into a tangle of dried vines and low sand hills. Reaching the edge of the water only provided a glimpse of the port, which lay around a point of land.

They felt reasonably safe from being spotted. The small hills of sand shielded them from the city, all but their chests and heads. The soft sand was difficult to walk in, but they stayed away from the easy road and the hard-packed wet sand at the edge of the water.

Rounding the point gave them their first look at the port area. There were, at least, five large piers extending out into the deeper water where larger cargo ships could safely tie up. Running down the center of the piers were stacks of cargo. The wood on some had aged to a pale gray color, indicating they had been sitting there for a long time, perhaps years.

One pier held a small amount of cargo waiting to be loaded, and a ship was tied up beside it. Men unloaded cargo from the ship, using a boom attached to the mast. It lifted each crate, barrel, and box into the air and swung it to the pier. There seemed to be no more than five or six men working on the pier, and twice that many on the ship.

“The Lady Marion,” Carrion muttered.

“What?”

“The name of that ship. Lady Marion. When we return home, that is a ship to watch because we know it does business here.”

“It might only go down to the river and back here.”

Carrion turned to Tanner and said, “The ocean has worms that will eat right through the hull in a couple of ten-days. Besides, when a ship is in the sea all sorts of seaweed and shellfish attach to the hull and slow it down.”

“I see the green on the waterline and below,” Tanner said, listening to the explanation that came in the same tone as his teacher in school had used. He had explained much the same to Devlin only a dozen days ago, but allowed Carrion to continue as if it was new information to him. It wouldn’t hurt to allow Carrion to feel better as he shared his knowledge. Besides, he might share something Tanner didn’t know.

“When the Lady Marion leaves here she will sail directly to the river and then up it to fresh water. The fresh water will kill the worms and marine growth in a few days. Then she’ll be ready to sail across the Endless Sea again.”

Tanner started to speak but held his tongue. Carrion was right. Shrewsbury had been at the mouth of a river the only time he had been there. It looked like it was a long skinny inlet, but was actually a river. Racine sat at the mouth of one too, with a stone wall blocking the seawater from entering the bay, or, at least, most of it. He didn’t know if the water was drinkable, but suspected it was.

“I thought no ships sailed from ports in Princeton to this place.”

“We were wrong, which brings up our next question. Why is that one ship allowed to sail across the sea and dock here?”

“Because it belongs to the Royals of Breslau,” Tanner filled in.

They moved closer to the city while keeping an eye on the men on the pier and the city. When they reached the first buildings, they slowed. Doorways and windows were boarded up. The streets held an accumulation of leaves, sticks, and sand. The bottom edges of most buildings had sand deeper than a finger is long.

It was quiet. No barking dogs, clucking chickens, laughing children, or screaming mothers. Their footsteps echoed off the hard surfaces. Each of the buildings was coated with a layer of mud and painted one of a hundred shades of brown. Everything from off-white to brown so dark it looked black colored the walls. None had been painted in years.

Carrion held out an arm to bar Tanner from crossing another street. They stood at an intersection where the street that crossed theirs had a wide strip of brick without sand. “Back,” he whispered.

They backed into the first doorway where Carrion put his knife to the boards across the doorway. The iron nails had rusted in the original holes, and the boards dried. The board came off easily, and so did the next three. They unlatched the door and entered.

It was dark. Two stories, almost windowless, and the few windows had boards across them. Inside was no furniture or belongs. No signs that anyone had ever lived there. The building was decoration. The stairway to the second floor looked solid, and they climbed up. Another stairway greeted them. Without hesitation, they climbed to a hatch that opened onto an almost flat roof surrounded by a short wall. It sloped from one side to the other, more than enough to force rainwater out the lower side.

The roof provided cover enough to keep them hidden. They found a place where they could watch the street below. In no time, a woman walked by, pulling a small cart containing fresh vegetables. She wore a cape the same color and style as Tanner. He hoped he hadn’t chosen one that women normally wore.

Later, a man carried a small barrel on his shoulder. He wore the same color and type. He headed in the direction of the pier, but while he disappeared from their sight behind buildings, he did not walk out onto the pier, and nobody carrying a small barrel did either. Therefore, he had a different destination.

They watched and learned. Most of the city were deserted. The people living there, were in small pockets. Groups lived together like tribes in the wilderness. They traded and intermixed, but lived apart. All wore cloaks, and during the heat of the afternoon, all wore hoods.

The heat on the roof became unbearable. Carrion said, “There’s a road to the castle, but that’ll be watched. I’ve been looking at the bluff it’s on. On the back side are hills. I think there may be another way inside.”

“Want to circle around tonight?”

“Why not now? Nobody is out in this heat. We can just walk the streets and see where it takes us. If I’m not mistaken, most of the people live closer to the shore.”

“I’ve noticed. Why?” Tanner asked.

“I see nothing growing, no farm animals, so they must get their food from either the ships or sea. Fish, clams, and whatever else?”

Tanner scowled as he looked over the rooftops to the sea. “Providing just enough food to live on is an effective way to control the people. If they cause problems, the Royals can stop feeding them. There’s no other food.”

They went back to the streets and moved in the direction of the mountains, pausing at each intersection to make sure they didn’t encounter others. Twice they saw people and avoided them. After crossing, at least, ten intersections of streets lined with empty buildings, they came to an abrupt end of the city.

Carrion had been right. The rear of the city was at the same level as the bluff the castle was built on. But it was bare rock the color of faded black coated with a sprinkle of tan. The edges were sharp. But the most daunting of all was that the castle was close, yet not one single place to take cover presented itself.

The rear of the castle was a flat plain, devoid of everything larger than a pebble. High on the rampart surrounding the castle were places of movement. Each corner looked to have a tent shading a watchtower. In them were men who occasionally moved. The movement drew the attention of the two attempting to sneak up.

Tanner said, “Better wait until tonight.”

Carrion’s eyes were on the ground. A trail led from the castle to the last of the buildings, the exact place where they stood. He pointed. “Dogs.”

The trail wound from side to side of the empty plain behind the castle. It was a path that crisscrossed several times, providing the dogs with ample times for locating scent. From the leavings of the dogs, they were large. Probably trained to sniff out people trying to gain access to the castle and attack them.

Both realized the castle was too protected. They went back into the maze of streets and worked their way to the waterfront as the first candles of the evening were lit. Instead of skulking around, they now walked confidently in the center of the streets, trying to appear like the locals. In the dim light, they could risk it.

Music drifted in the air. They followed it to a tavern where an old man sat outside and sang while two others tapped out the beat on small drums. The song was soft. The drums muted. However, the next was a rousing rendition of a familiar song, the tune instantly recognized, but the words changed. A woman danced in the flickering light of a lantern.

While watching her and listening to the beat of the drums and the singing, neither of them heard the soldiers sneaking up behind them. Tanner’s first warning was a muted thump as Carrion fell. As he spun around something struck the back of his head and darkness closed in.