The Last Dragon: Book Four

CHAPTER TEN

We departed the green valley and our new friends a short while later, our horses laden with food, our water jugs filled to brimming, and our minds overflowing with new information to mull over. We had spent only one precious day with them. That short time left me feeling empty. There was so much to learn—and that they could teach us. Even Little Salim knew far more about magic than us. His initial fear of our appearance had eventually turned to friendliness.

Our destination was to ride north again, to quickly reach the lakes and attempt to help our friends trapped on the waters of a smaller lake. How we would help them was still an unknown, but with an army pacing them on each shore, they couldn’t leave the boat. Sooner or later they would have to row ashore and surrender. There was no trail or path to follow left by Big Salim and Elinore on the few trips where they had departed their secure valley because paths and trails are two-way. They could take them from their home but could also lead others to it, so they left no trace of their passing.

Kendra said, “Any ideas of what we can do? Does Anna have any information?”

“No. But I think before we do anything at all, I need to communicate with Anna again and let her know we’re coming, as well as ask for their ideas. Will might have something.”

“Really?” she asked, her voice jabbing at me for stating the obvious. I might as well have told her the sun was in the sky.

I should have said something clever and biting in response, but the jostling gait of the horse was making my behind tender again and my mind slow. It hurt my full stomach, jarred my teeth, and blurred my vision as I peered into the distance. While the animal under my behind was bred to be adapted to the desert, it seemed to me that the breeders could have considered the comfort of the riders too. I longed for the smooth, easy stride of the horses at Crestfallen.

They rode so easy after being trained by the Stablemaster that I’d slept in the saddle more than once. Ahead of us spread a vast openness and more brown sand. Here and there a withered plant clung to life. The horizon was obscured by waves of heat rising.

Kendra called over her shoulder, “Big Salim never asked me how we crossed the Brownlands. Did he ask you?”

“No. He must have made some assumptions. That means he either did the same when he crossed it, or he has another method. I wish we could have spent the time for me to learn from him.”

Kendra pulled up, so we could ride side by side, our knees bumping now and then despite the emptiness of the Brownlands. It was as if the horses wanted to walk closer to each other because they were the only animals alive. “He helped us understand more in a day than we’ve ever known. I agree. There is so much for him to teach you and me if he is willing. We will return to their valley and spend time with them.”

I glanced at her and in all seriousness said, “It’s dangerous when you think of all we don’t know. For instance, we could have died out there in the Brownlands if you hadn’t forced me to make it rain.”

She laughed. When I didn’t, she said, “Think about it. We needed a drink, a jar full of water, so you made an entire storm and soaked us all, small as it was. It was a thousand times what we needed. Don’t you think that’s funny?”

I glared at her. “No. Maybe it was a hundred times too big, no more than that.”

Her laughter rang louder in the empty desert air. Whatever animals that might have heard it probably dived deep into their burrows or raced away at full speed. I just looked directly ahead and tried to think of how I’d gotten myself to be the butt of another joke. No doubt, she would tell Princess Elizabeth and together they would giggle half the night.

I needed to change my thoughts so reached out and asked, *Anna, are you there?*

*I’m here if that’s what you mean.*

Yes, I heard the humor in her tone, too. Of course, she was there, wherever there was. Where else could she be? *Have things improved so much you feel like joking?*

There came a pause. *Things are the same. Boring. We are playing a game like a mouse teasing a cat. We row closer to shore and spot them about the same time they see us. They race their horses along the shore nearest where we are, and we turn and row deeper into the middle of the lake and try to disappear. There are soldiers on both shores.*

*What is Will’s plan?*

*There is only one more lake before reaching Dagger. We can’t sail there, and even if we could, they will have lookouts, guards, and more soldiers at the neck between lakes. We must get to the south side of this one, and then head into the desert on foot.*

*But you have to avoid the army on the shore, first.*

*Yes.*

I cut off the communication as I pictured the situation in my mind. I imagined the lake, the shore, the boat, and where we were, as well as our objective, which was the fishing village called Ander on the edge of the sea and find Thom. We had intended to go there on our own and meet the others along the way or at Ander. Now things had changed.

I explained the mental conversation to Kendra, and she listened without interrupting once, which demonstrated how important the information was. I guess it was possible she was not feeling well, or perhaps she was too tired to critique me, but I preferred to think of the danger rather than tease me again.

She gave it some thought before saying, “My dragon?”

After denying it was her dragon for so long, it was nice to hear her slip of the tongue again. She was beginning to face facts. I said, “Yes, but the army would scatter and then reform right after the boat lands and chase us all the way to Ander and beyond. Our friends will not have horses. The army will.”

She sighed and said, “You’re right. Our best course would be to slip them ashore in the middle of the night and quietly depart.”

“They will still come after us on horseback first thing in the morning.”

“Not if my dragon is between them and us.”

Kendra had hit on a perfect scenario. If we could get our friends out of the boat and travel for any distance at all into the Brownlands, we could pull it off. My first idea was to have them land on the north side of the lake. They could reach the place where the lake narrowed into the river and swim across and avoid the army to confuse them.

There were too many problems with the idea. First, was another army on the north shore. There had been at least three armies chasing them before they escaped, and it seemed reasonable that boats with messengers were rowed across and information passed from one army unit to another. The second problem was that there would be sentries posted where the lake narrowed again, downriver from a dam. At least, if I were the military commander, that is what I’d do. My assumption was that to become the captain, or general or whatever, he was far smarter than me in military matters.

All of which took us back to our original problem. We needed to get our friends ashore and heading south before anyone knew what they’d done. The idea of a diversion came to me. A diversion instead of trying to sneak ashore with disastrous results if discovered was a better alternative. Once that idea overtook my thinking, all I had to do was find a way to create one that would work.

Kendra still rode alongside and said in a thoughtful tone, “What we need is a diversion.”

I kept my eyes focused ahead. While I knew she could not read my mind, and that given the same information, we’d eventually come to the same conclusion, it still felt eerie.

She continued, “If we could get them ashore and all of us could escape into the Brownlands, the army could only follow a short distance because they wouldn’t have water. With your new talents, we would, and we could easily get away. So, all we need is enough time for them to land their boat, walk into the desert, and disappear. Maybe the dragon will help.”

“What kind of diversion were you thinking of?” I asked as if it was a new subject for me.

“Oh, I don’t know. There are a few that come to mind and are probably not very good.”

“Go on.”

She grinned. “What if we showed ourselves and let the army chase us into the Brownlands? You and me? We have horses like them.”

I didn’t like it. “What if one of our horses stumbles and they catch us? Or if one of us falls off, or if their horses are faster than ours and they catch us? Or only a few chases us and the rest stay guarding the shore? Too many things can go wrong.”

She snorted, “What if my dragon swoops down and protects us if any of those things happen?”

That was a valid point. Hers was a better plan than any I’d come up with. Saying so out loud went against the brother-sister relationship. What I’d have to do would be to think of something better. “Why don’t we get to where we can see the army and lake at the same time and maybe we’ll think of a better plan. If not, yours might work.”

That seemed to please her. As the heat of the day decreased near sundown, we looked for a place to stay the night. It would be a cold camp because we didn’t know how far the army and lake was. Our guess was a half-day, but even at that distance, under the right circumstances, a campfire can be seen in the Brownlands.

If we were closer, the chances of it being seen increased by a sentry, nomad, or thief. With just the two of us, the risk outweighed warmth. I mentally prepared for a cold night. I could always pull a little heat from the ground and spread it around. I saw no place better than any other for staying the night. I said, “We can stop here for the night.”

“Or continue on. Since I’m cold and we’ve only traveled a short way, why not continue and tomorrow we’ll have less distance to go?”

It was a suggestion I was about to make, that is, I’d have made it as soon as I’d have thought of it. It was not that she was reading my mind, although it seemed like it. The simple truth was that we thought alike. Yes, she was smarter, but I was quicker. In the end, we often said what the other was thinking. Hopefully, when I matured, probably around the age of forty or fifty, I’d accept and appreciate it.

We rode in the moonlight, allowing the horses to pick their way through the few shrubs, cactus, and larger rocks. They seemed to see slightly better than us in the darkness. I tried to catch a few quick naps and failed. The awkward gait of the horse wouldn’t allow it.

We came to a series of small hills, none higher than ten or twenty feet, but between them were little valleys that helped protect from the chill in the breeze.

“See that?” Kendra asked. “A light ahead.”

We pulled to a stop at the crest of the next hill. In the distance were three or four small orange winks of light. Campfires. All in the same area. They were off to our right, which was east of us, but I believed we’d found the army pacing the Princess’s boat.

“Sleep here?” I asked.

She nodded in the moonlight and moved her horse into the shallow valley between the hills. After dismounting and hobbling the horsed next to us for their protection, we wrapped ourselves in blankets and slept. Eating could be done in the morning.

My mind kept reverting to snippets of conversation during the day. Small things, mostly. However, they added up to a story we hadn’t known. Our roots were more understandable, and even if we didn’t know all the answers, we could make up stories in our heads to help satisfy us. Every foundling has the same thoughts. Their parents wanted a better life for them, and they were royalty. All we needed to do to fulfill all our dreams was to discover the truth.

The other truth was that Kendra and I had magic abilities. While hers hadn’t manifested until encountering the last dragon, mine had appeared within the norm for child-mages, which is at a very young age. If the sorceress’s responsibilities include searching for children like us, and our abilities were inherited from our father, mother, or both, it seemed reasonable that they might wish to prevent their children from being taken from them.

It also explained how Kendra knew where mages were, even from a distance. Spotting mages was one of their duties, and she was better at it than others.

Carrying that line of thought a little further, it meant our parents knew of the abductions and training, which hinted that one or both of them had been trained in Kaon. My guess is that when they discovered my abilities, they had chosen to run to a kingdom far away and take their children with them.

Something happened along the way. Maybe they were found out and killed by the society from Kaon. The two of us were left on our own after escaping death in some manner, perhaps by being hidden by our family. My mind created a story that held a lot of positives and excluded another story I didn’t like. It said the mages, or those they hire to track down defectors, had killed our parents but were too compassionate to kill two children outright. We were left to die but had managed to survive. The orders had come from Kaon, in any story that fit the circumstances.

“Why are you still awake?” Kendra asked.

“Thinking.”

“Me too. I’m angry at what I’m thinking.”

I said, “That fits with my thoughts. The only item that stands out is the Young Mage.”

A time passed where she said nothing, then spoke softer, in an imploring tone, “Quit trying to figure out everything. Right now, we just need to get out friends ashore safely and into the Brownlands.”

I reached out to Anna. She was asleep.