The Last Dragon: Book Four

CHAPTER TWO

“He’s right, you know,” Avery said as he stood and paced. “The Young Mage is doing all he can to draw us into Kaon, right down to kidnapping me and taking Flier’s family hostage so we will seek revenge. He knew you’d discover Emma was an apparition at some time, and he probably influenced the Slave-Master to search the mountain pass where you crossed for new slave captives, even though nobody had crossed those mountains in a year. He wanted you captured and transported to Kaon in chains as his first option.”

The Slave-Master had the grace to nod once and agree that most of us had been fools in one manner or another. The Young Mage had manipulated us from the beginning—and was still doing so.

I watched Princess Elizabeth and Kendra as they started to believe that Kaon was the last place we should go to. The stern set of Kendra’s jaw told the whole story. Flier was already convinced. The others were coming around. But at least nobody was still acting ready to charge ahead to Kaon without more discussion.

I said, “Right now, the Young Mage has all the control, made the rules, set up the coming confrontation in a way guaranteeing he wins, and that’s what it’s all about. With a little luck on his side, the king of Dire would have died in what looked to be a natural occurrence, and the crown prince would have had a fatal accident soon after. Circumstances would have placed a King’s Regent on the throne of Dire until the next prince was prepared to rule, but of course, something would have happened to the prince to take his life. So, the Regent would have appointed a ‘temporary’ committee to help him rule. A council, like the Council of Nine that rules Kondor after their king died, would rule Dire.”

The Slave-Master said, “That plan of his was all but completed. The various pieces of the game were played, and all he had to do was settle back and wait but he miscalculated with the power of one piece. He didn’t count on Kendra freeing the dragon.”

I said, “He used the same design for taking over Vin and Trager. Dagger was the same too—when you think about it. Only the details are different. He already ruled Kaon from behind the scenes, so Dire was the last piece to fit his puzzle in ruling all the kingdoms in the north.”

Elizabeth said, “In my mind, I can see it all on a map. The entire northern part of the Great Sea would be under his control if he took Dire, including the sea itself. Every ship, every port.”

“What about the Brownlands to the south?” Kendra asked.

“No need for him to bother with them,” I contributed. “There are so few people living in them it doesn’t matter. The Brownlands to the east of the sea are so dry and hot, even plants don’t grow. Just bare rock and sand. Few, if any, ever cross them. West of Kondor is much the same. They present a natural barrier to protect the north from the kingdoms to the south.”

The Slave-Master noisily gulped down another mug of red wine and said, “Nobody has ever ruled an area that large. And if you think his ambitions to rule ended with the northlands, you are mistaken. South of Kaon and the Brownlands, and across the sea, is the Kingdom of Fairbanks, aptly named because of the banks on the many rivers. It is an overgrown farming community without much formal rule. South of there is the kingdom of Landor, another small kingdom the size of Dire with a small standing army. An army comprised of a few soldiers from Kaon, Kondor, and Dire could sweep those two under his rug in days.”

“That would be five kingdoms,” Elizabeth said in a hushed voice. “Maybe more if you count the Brownlands and control of the sea. So, we know what he wants to do in the near future. How do we stop him?”

The Slave-Master said, “For starters, we run away from Kaon as fast as we can, and as far away as needed.”

Kendra was the first to react. She stood, gathered her blanket and started to roll it, “He’s right. We can’t even spend tonight here, or he may attack us before dawn. He might use Wyverns or slaves. If not, there will be another disaster of his choosing; perhaps we’ll be overrun by fleeing rats or jumping spiders.”

The panic in her voice made her words brittle. Her actions were fluid and quick. She never once looked up to see if we packed, but we were right behind. She mounted and wheeled her horse to point a finger out into the endless desert, away from Kaon.

Before she spurred her horse, a great owl swooped overhead and landed on the ground directly in her path. It was nearly as tall as her waist. The unexpected appearance suggested the actions of the Young Mage. Nobody moved or spoke.

Kendra dismounted and approached it, as if unafraid. The owl spread its wings and started to chuckle in a human voice. That sound elevated to a screeching laugh that filled the still night air. Then it quieted and said in a clear voice no owl could duplicate, “I thought it would be you who had the nerve to face me. I’m waiting for you. Come visit me.”

Kendra twisted her hips and lashed out with her heel at the owl. It only met air. However, as her foot penetrated the image, it dissolved in a brilliant flash of orange light. She turned and climbed on her horse. Without another word, she rode directly over the location where the owl had been.

I heard Flier mutter “damn” to himself. I thought the same.

We followed suit as we all rode over where the owl had vanished as if the action would somehow damage or irritate the Young Mage. I didn’t feel as if we were running away. We were, but it was because the game was all in favor of the Young Mage. He held all the power. He’d set up his defenses and rigged the outcome.

Playing by his rules guaranteed our loss. I didn’t know what we were going to do, or when, but my determination increased with each plodding step of my horse. The darkness of the night closed in, but my nerves tingled with anticipation. The young mage had already done so much to us, including sending Emma and Anna to us in the storm he had created near the Port of Mercia, to the endless storm on the sea that we couldn’t sail past, and he’d killed several royal families as he took over their kingdoms and countless residents. What would come next couldn’t be more devastating.

Or could it?

We rode steadily away from Kaon for the rest of the night. I caught a few snatches of sleep, nearly falling from my saddle once, but we didn’t slow or stop. The Slave-Master had ordered his slaves escorted by Kaon warriors to the edge of Kaon City and released. Each of them was given a small purse of copper coins, enough to clothe and feed them for months if they were frugal. Upon their release, the warriors would race to rejoin us.

Other Kaon Warriors, four of them, fanned out in front of us. Their orders were to clear the way for us, and I felt sorry for any who stood in our way. We rode in a single file line, allowing the horses to follow those in front.

The night air in the desert was cold enough that we wore blankets over our heads like hoods and my fingers turned stiff. We welcomed the first rays of the morning sun that peeked up from our right and brought hints of the blistering day to come.

The Slave-Master directed us to a mound of boulders twice as tall as a horse and larger around than a large barn. At the base, on the sunward side, he dismounted and stretched. A single Kaon Warrior climbed to the top as our lookout. Two others used a pair of oars which were just under the surface of the sand as levers on a stone until it shifted and rolled free. Behind was a shallow cavern filled with water jars, weapons, clothing, and food.

“Oars?” I asked. “In the middle of the desert?”

He waved an arm. “No trees, no branches. But the lakes of Kondor have hundreds of boats, most equipped with quality oars, which make good pry bars.”

“Meaning you stole the oars instead of trying to make something to use as a pry bar when there are no trees in sight,” I said as I walked stiffly to watch the warriors remove supplies. The planning skills of the Slave-Master were like none I’d ever seen. We removed dozens of pieces of firewood and left more inside the cave for the next visitor. The firewood was for cooking because the day was already stifling.

The Slave-Master gathered everyone around him and said, “We sleep here today. There will be shade on the other side of the rocks this afternoon, but for now, we need food and water, and some of you need clothing suitable for the desert. There are a few swords, knives, and bows here. Take what you need. Eat. Sleep. We’ll talk later.”

Kendra hissed at me, “Who put him in charge?”

“Can you think of anyone better? At least for now?” I asked.

She turned away in a huff, and as she did, I saw the dragon flying low over the desert in our direction. For the briefest instant, I regretted the tone I’d used because it looked like she was calling the beast to attack me for my rudeness.

I was not far wrong. The dragon continued in our direction, and she shouted to the warrior on watch on top of the rock, “Hey, come on down. You can get some sleep along with the rest of us. My dragon will keep watch over everyone.”

He glanced at the Slave-Master for confirmation.

“Do it,” the Slave-Master growled, then turned to Kendra and lifted a clay mug filled with red wine. “Thank you for that consideration. He’s as sleepy as the rest of us.”

She had called the dragon hers again. She had also given an order to a Kaon Warrior even though he had looked to the Slave-Master before obeying. Nothing seemed to scare my sister. That had not been true a month ago when her greatest concern was which dress the princess would wear to a ball, or who had started a nasty rumor in Crestfallen.

While Kendra had become more forceful in her actions, Elizabeth had matured from a young royal woman to a . . . well, to a fierce, demanding, intelligent, leader. She listened to input from any of us, then made her decision, often not what we’d wanted. Her eyes spoke when her voice didn’t. Orders were obeyed.

Orders. That was the difference, and I’d finally managed to figure it out. In the past she rarely, if ever, gave a direct order. She asked for things to be done. Now, it had changed. Her confidence had grown, but also her ability to tell us what to do. In other words, she had become a leader.

With that revelation, coupled with my exhaustion, I spread out my blanket, climbed on to it, and used the other half to cover myself. Eating could wait.

I slept until late afternoon when soft voices roused me. The first thing I noticed was everyone else was awake. A small fire burned without smoke in a small recess of the rocks next to us. Food was cooking, and there were small groups of people whispering. Kendra’s dragon circled above keeping watch.

I perceived those things instantly and then a secondary rush of information flooded into me. I was hungry. Not just hungry, but almost starving. The conversations were hushed but intense. The kind that occurs when all parties are worried. It was late in the day, the time most travelers looked for places to spend the night.

A third series of sensations told me there was a sense of anticipation in the air. If an attacker leaped from the shadows and charged, he would be dead before reaching the first of us. The posture of everyone, the quick movements, the darting eyes that roamed the desert searching for trouble, all warned me.

I said to nobody in particular, “Anything happening?”

A few shook their heads. I took a jar of water and a proffered slice of cooked meat, probably rabbit, at least, I preferred to think of it as rabbit, and moved to sit beside Kendra. She had her knees pulled to her chin, her eyes nearly vacant. Princess Elizabeth came and sat before us. She was our queen, and we were her subjects. That image was not far from the truth.

She said quietly, “We need a plan.”

Kendra said, “Then invite the Slave-Master to join us. He’s good at them.”

Elizabeth said, “He is engaged in a detestable occupation, he’s rude, and he smells.”

My sister didn’t back down, and her posture didn’t change. Only her voice held a brittle edge as she said, “He’s also the reason why all of us are alive.”

“You have feelings for that man?” Elizabeth asked the question I didn’t have the nerve to even think about.

“Perhaps. Not romantic, but there is definitely a connection. I respect him. He is smart, both in conceptual and practical matters. Despite his occupation, I find myself drawn to him, trusting him.”

Elizabeth snapped, “Probably the same thoughts others had just before he took them prisoner and made slaves of them.”

Kendra leaned closer to the princess and said softly, “No, not that at all. With those people, he crushed them mercilessly. Took them without concern for their pain or suffering, caring only that they were not physically damaged, so that they would bring a better price at auction. The actions of a businessman.”

The air sizzled between them. I said, “All that aside, we need a plan. If not, the Young Mage will come after us in one manner or another. There may only be one opportunity and we should make it count.”

A silence followed that I wasn’t man enough to break. Eyes shifted to others, either asking silently for support or to avoid making their feelings known. Finally, after several deep breaths, Elizabeth turned to me and said, “Okay, call him over.”

At Kendra’s invitation, he waddled our way. He sat beside us, not talking or anticipating our conversation. He was at ease.

Elizabeth motioned for Avery to also join us. He sat opposite the Slave-Master, so we formed a small circle in the soft sand. She drew a breath and said, “I believe we escaped the Young Mage for now, and after thinking about it, he did want us to rush headlong into Kaon and attack where he undoubtedly had massive defenses waiting. I must thank the Slave-Master for helping us see the danger. The real question is, what do we do now?”

All eyes turned to the Slave-Master, which upset Elizabeth. Others may not have noticed. He said, “Think like a general in an army. There are three locations where wars are currently being fought. Four, if you count Kaon. The first is easy, which is Dire. The Young Mage now has little or no control over it. Vin and Trager are considered as tiny kingdoms for our purposes, and Prince Angle has revolted in Vin and is marching on Trager with revenge in his eye. So, we can consider them as temporarily free of his control. Lastly, there is Dagger, the capital of Kondor.”

Avery said, “So, in effect, the Young Mage controls two kingdoms, and we control two.”

The Slave-Master smiled. “And he hides in Kaon, afraid or reluctant to leave, while we have no boundaries if you take my meaning.”

Princess Elizabeth equaled his smile. “From a strategy point of view, he wants us to fight him on his own ground in Kaon, to do battle where he is prepared to win, but you’re saying we should go to Dagger instead and take all of Kondor from his control, leaving him bottled up in his Kaon stronghold.”

“Where can he go from Kaon to escape if we do that?” Kendra asked. “He cannot go east to Dire because of the impassable mountains that separate the two kingdoms. What lies to the north and to the west of Kaon?”

The Slave-Master waited, but when nobody answered, he cleared his throat. “North is the empty Whitelands. Endless ice and snow. Nothing but death by freezing to any who try to cross them. To the west of Kaon are Brownlands, a vast stretch of rock and sand I’ve never heard of anyone traversing.”

Kendra said, “Then, why not put my dragon at the south of Kaon and prevent anyone from leaving? Keep him there? He’ll be trapped.”

“You and I are going to play a game of blocks for high stakes one day,” the Slave-Master chuckled. “Your impulsiveness shows me how easy it will be to defeat you.”

“Your arrogance shows me how to defeat you,” she quipped. “So, we’re even.”

“Enough,” Elizabeth barked. She turned to the Slave-Master and said, “Why won’t Kendra’s plan work?”

“Waystones,” he said with a flick of his hand to dismiss the idea.

For me, the concept of traveling from one place to another by entering a boulder called a Waystone didn’t sit well. Logic said it couldn’t be done. Nothing suggested the Young Mage had ever made use of Waystones, or that he had not. Other, far less powerful mages used them. It only made sense that if they could, he could. And perhaps he had. The Slave-Master had shown the flaw in Kendra’s plan.

The session had drifted into that area of magic most failed to see. The normal laws of nature didn’t apply—or if they did, the applications are unknown. When I used my small-magic, it somehow drew the energy we called essence which emanated from a dragon or Wyvern. Mages were in effect people that had the ability to draw on that essence and put it to use. The existence of Waystones extended that power to what we believed were the eggs of the dragon. Using them, mages could travel within Waystones from place to place, avoiding wagons, roads, or ships.

They could apparently do it instantly. In doing that, they also carried information with them. If there was a Waystone in Dagger, and there probably was since they seemed to be located in all populated areas, the Young Mage could send one of his mages ahead of us to reach Dagger first. There, he could notify the local authorities to assemble their army and wait for us to appear.

I glanced up to find the hooded eyes of the Slave-Master watching me. He was not looking at any of the others, just me as if he was watching my mind at work. Then he smiled again. He’d seen something.

It was not an evil smile, but one that told me I was on the right track with my thinking. The right track of heading directly to Dagger didn’t offer the final solutions. I watched his smile increase.

Perhaps the answer was within my grasp and he knew it. We couldn’t attack Kaon or Dagger. Or could we? Not Kaon, but Dagger was perhaps vulnerable in another way. It could defend against our small band, but there were other options. The first that came to mind was that we could enlist help.

I allowed a smile of my own to greet his. Kendra was talking softly with Avery, Elizabeth split her time between that and watching the Slave-Master, all but ignoring me. I called for attention, but Elizabeth continued ignoring me.

A dribble of water swirled in the bottom of my jar and I used a drop of magic from the nearby dragon to reform it into a small drop above Elizabeth’s head. With each additional swirl of the water, I pulled more from the cup and added it until the drop became a blob the size of my thumb that was unwieldy to maintain.

The Slave-Master had noticed my actions from the beginning and forced his eyes to look elsewhere so he didn’t give away my action by laughing or smiling, but always near enough that he could see it from the corner of his eyes. The blob wavered, dipped, and when I couldn’t hold it in place anymore. It fell.

“What?” Elizabeth leaped to her feet, wiping water from her forehead and hair.

I tried not to giggle and failed. She looked at me and scowled. I knew I was in trouble.

I confessed, “I did it. Just water.”

“You’ll pay for that,” she hissed as she dove at me, hands reaching for my throat to choke me into submission as she’d done a hundred times in our combat lessons at Crestfallen. I had expected her reaction and anticipated it, so I rolled to one side and attempted to climb to my feet as she hit the sand at my side where I’d been. She was too fast for me. She also rolled, throwing one leg ahead of herself in a sweep. I didn’t see it coming, and it took my feet from under me.

Before my butt hit the ground, she was on me, swinging, punching, and groping for a chokehold or headlock. I twisted and spun, blocking more of the blows, but not all. As I rolled in an attempted escape, I found every person in camp watching. Most were shocked, astounded, afraid, or so intimidated that none moved or interfered. Not only was the girl giving me a fight, but she was a princess.

She leaped at me from behind, straddling my leg by sitting on the back of my calf and pinning me down as she lifted my foot in a painful wrestling hold. She flicked off my boot and reached for my sensitive toes. As she bent them backward, her other hand tickled the bottom of my foot.

I let out a yell of protest and tried to free myself while screaming that she was cheating. I shouted for help—and got none. She tickled me again. Then she twisted a toe.

“Apologize,” she demanded.

“I’m sorry.”

She growled and pulled another toe, “I can’t hear you.”

I raised my voice, so it rang across the desert floor, “I’m sorry!”

She let me go with a satisfied toss of my foot away from her.

The Slave-Master was chuckling and said to her loud enough for all to hear, “You royalty in Dire certainly handle your subjects different than we do. I think I prefer your way. After you catch your breath, you’re invited to take me on.”

I managed to get to my feet, pulled my boot back on, and tried to recover a little dignity—not an easy task with every person in sight laughing at me.