The Last Dragon: Book Four

CHAPTER FOUR

We arrived at the bank of the river without incident. While it was technically a river, a dozen dams spread the water into a chain of lakes which were often called “pearls” by the locals. A string of pearls, the old legends said. Water is more valuable than pearls in the Brownlands.

Maybe it was not technically a river anymore, but a lake stood before us, wide and without a current. The far side was lost to sight, but several boats traveled up, down, or from side to side under sail or oars.

I said, “If nothing else, we need to find a boat to cross.”

Will agreed. He turned to look behind and down the river before saying, “If we can get across, our chances of avoiding them improve from slim to barely possible. Our pursuers will naturally be on this side, thinking they have us trapped between the lakes and the Brownlands north of here.”

Being more direct and grounded, my sister pointed to a shack near the water’s edge with a poor excuse of a dock leaning to one side. Tied to the dock were three boats. One was large, wide, and without a sail. A cargo vessel. It probably carried farm goods to market in Dagger. Since there was little current, its means of propulsion was questionable, but easily answered by asking.

She said, “Maybe we can at least get a suggestion from whoever lives there.”

We turned and rode in the direction of the hut, the only structure in sight. A gruff old man wearing a wide straw hat emerged from the shack before we could dismount. He snorted, “Got myself three strong sons, inside, each with a bow and arrows fitted. All aimed at you. Get out of here while you can. We don’t want no trouble.”

Both Will and I urged our horses to move back a few steps. Kendra and Anna turned theirs to the side to pull respectfully away. However, Princess Elizabeth drew herself up taller and said in that tone I hadn’t heard from her often, “Sir, nobody in the five kingdoms speaks to a royal princess in that manner. You will apologize our I’ll have your head removed from your shoulders. You will immediately kneel before me, or I will lose my temper and you will lose your head.”

“W-what?” He turned to look behind him as if to have someone explain what was happening. He had just threatened us, and the woman was ignoring it.

Her voice grew stronger, if not louder, “I am Princess Elizabeth of Dire on a diplomatic mission to meet with your king.” She dismounted in a smooth motion and approached him in a few long strides. “And you are not yet on your knees.”

“Princess,” Will raised his voice as he leaped from his horse and chased behind her as if to stop her, but I saw he was really just establishing her power. “Please spare that poor man’s life. He does not know who you are, and he means no insult.”

Before all the words were out of his mouth, the man had dropped to his knees; his head bowed in respect. She stood before him for the space of a few breaths, then said, “Arise. I need information and perhaps service. And if you do have three strong sons inside with drawn bows, you had better order them to stand down before I send my men inside to take the bows away and spank them.”

Will moved to his left as I moved right to flank her on the other side. Neither of us had a bow, but we had drawn our swords. Kendra moved ahead to shield Anna.

*He’s being honest with you,* Anna said. *And he’s scared.*

She could tell that? I would investigate if she could tell what others thought later. *How many are inside?*

*Three. Not that I can tell that by myself, but I can see he tells the truth.*

The old man called in the direction of the shack with a surprisingly strong voice, “Come on out. Leave your weapons inside.”

Two men came out first, and a third reluctantly. The last one held a knife at his side, which he tried to hide.

Will caught the attention of the third one and took a couple of steps closer to him. In a curious tone, he asked, “Is this it, son?”

“Is it what?” the young man snarled with a curl of his lip.

“The day you die,” Will spoke softly, calmly, and without emotion.

All three of the sons matched their father in that they were dirty, smelled of old fish, were oversized, rude, and quick to fight. It only took a glance to see all four were related. The color of their hair and beards, the slump of their shoulders, and a hundred other similarities stood out.

They were poor and lived at the edge of nowhere, probably because they were either outcasts or outlaws. But they were not highwaymen or thieves. Fishermen, from the smell, combined with sweat. Not as unpleasant as it might sound.

Will said evenly to the youngest again, “Well, is it?”

The knife fell to the dirt from limp fingers. Will said to him, “Retrieve your knife, so someone doesn’t step on it and cut their foot. Treat it as well as it treats you.”

“You talk funny,” the last man to emerge said as he scooped up the knife and wiped the blade on his leg.

Will nodded. “When I served my king, I trained many young insolent men like you to fight in our wars. All of you think you are tough because you can whip the boy who lives down the road. The problem comes when you have to fight the man in another army, one stronger and better trained.”

“I can whip both of my brothers.” He swung his arm to indicate the other two who were only marginally friendlier. Tension filled the air. The youngest boy wanted to fight, to prove himself. He took a small step in Will’s direction. I expected Will to dart ahead a step and slice the boy with his sword. It was clear the young man had never faced a sword and didn’t understand how far a lunge, an extended arm, and the length of a sword could reach. From where Will stood, he could run the boy through before he could move another step.

Instead, Will held up his other hand, palm facing the young man as a silent order to stop advancing. “Are you looking for a fight? Can we do it without weapons?”

The young man was taller than Will and far heavier. He nodded quickly, a grin spreading as he insolently let the point of the knife fall into the dirt again.

Will tossed his sword to Elizabeth, who caught it by the hilt. He placed his hands on his hips and said, “You’re going to lose and it’s going to hurt.”

“I can beat you,” the young man replied, dropping into a wrestler’s pose. “You’re half my size.”

Will snorted a genuine laugh. He said, “It isn’t often an untrained buffoon like yourself can win against an opponent who has trained daily. But, I’m not in a mood to fight today. Kendra, would you mind stepping up here and embarrassing this boy?”

She was moving as he spoke. I suspected she had anticipated what Will was going to do. She walked directly up to the young man and pulled up to a stop toe-to-toe, to his total surprise. His size and reach were reduced because she stood so close, but he didn’t realize he’d already allowed her to strip him of his advantages.

She said sweetly, “Are you ready to fight me?”

I’d fallen for that trick too many times. He began to nod when he should have attacked instead. Before his chin reached his chest to agree he was ready, she struck. Her left knee shot up. Not to his groin because most men reflexively protect that area, but to just above the kneecap of his right leg. She did it fast. Hard. As her body delivered that knee, the natural motion of the strike turned her from her waist, and as she turned, her left fist, not the one he was watching, struck him squarely on his breastbone.

The fight was over. He simply didn’t know it yet. Her right fist struck the same place again as he gasped for breath from the first blow. The second punch drove all the air out. Her left knee drove into his right thigh again. The leg collapsed, and he fell and rolled, gasping for breath and holding his right leg with both arms. Kendra gently placed the heel of her boot on his nose.

“Give up?” When he didn’t answer fast enough, she applied a little of her weight.

“Okay! You win. But you cheated.”

She stepped back, reached her hand down and helped him to his feet. He stood on his left leg and balanced awkwardly because the feeling wouldn’t return to the other leg for a while. I know because she’d put me down that way a few times and I still resented the instructors the King’s Weapon-Master had been assigned to teach her that. Not many could stand against Kendra and none who were untrained.

Will said, “Now then. We’ve all enjoyed the entertainment, but we have a spot of business to discuss.”

The father perked up at the mention of business.

Will said, “That flat-bottomed boat, over there. Is it for transporting things? I don’t see any sails or oars.”

The father said, “It’s a barge. We use a rowboat to pull it.”

“Will it carry a horse and rider?” Will asked.

“I suppose.” He looked at the horses and us. “Never done it. Maybe one at a time.”

Will said, “That’s good enough. Now I know we didn’t get off to the best start, but I have another question if you don’t mind answering. Why do you live way out here?”

The old man jutted his chin in the direction of Dagger. “They accused us of stealing and killing a man down river. We’re hiding. Shit like this wouldn’t happen when King Fry was still alive. A man could get a fair hearing back then.”

“So, you don’t like the Council of Nine?” Will continued.

The old man spat.

Will said, “This is your lucky day.”

“How so?”

“You have a chance to slap the face of each one of the Council of Nine by helping us—and we’ll pay you generously to do it.”

He glared at Will as if not believing him.

Will said, “Friends of our have started a revolt and taken control of Vin. The rightful heir is Prince Angle, and he is fighting to retake the throne. Now they march on Trager to raise an army while we are going to see what we can do about restoring Dagger’s royalty to the throne. We need a barge-ride across the river.”

The old man stuck his hand out to shake with Will. “I’m called Coffin. We can get you across if’n you aren’t in a hurry. One at a time. But no pay. We don’t need to take money for doin’ what’s right. Or to give a little back to those that took from us.”

The son who had been the victim of Kendra said, “Hey, I want to be paid.”

“Shut up, or I’ll have them sic that little girl standing all by herself on you next time. We’ll see if you can fight a child and win.”

All eyes turned to Anna.

“Pa, you got to be kidding. Look at her!”

“Look at the one half your size that put you down. We can talk about money or that little girl kicking your butt. Besides, I got a feeling the little one is twice the fighter of the one that took you down without breathing hard.”

Everyone laughed—everyone, but Kendra’s opponent. The boy spoiled to prove himself and had only made himself the butt of jokes. However, Kendra moved to his side, a look of sympathy on her face. She turned and scowled at the older man for berating him, then turned back to his younger son and said, “Listen, you didn’t stand a chance. Professional soldiers trained me to fight, but I’ve never had to knee anyone in the leg twice. The rest all went to the ground with my first bout of blows. You had me worried for a moment because you stayed upright.”

“Hear that?” he snarled at his smiling brothers. “Any of you want to try taking her on?”

She turned to them and said, “He’s right. Either of the two of you wants to stand up to me as your brother did?”

Their eyes shifted away.

Kendra has always had the knack of empathy and drawing people to her side, especially victims. With a few words, she had smoothed over the incident and made the loser feel like he’d accomplished something unique. It reminded me of one of my instructors telling me words can take a man down almost as fast as they can build him up—and far faster than any blow.

Will attempted to take charge of the conversation again, “We’re fighting the same enemies. Can we cross the river with your barge, or should we look elsewhere?”

The old man snapped, “Jess, you and Tang, will row. Wiley, you help them get a horse and rider on the barge. Keep them horses calm on the passage, or it won’t work.” He turned and pointed to me. “You there, walk your horse on to the barge and keep it settled down, understand?”

I considered hobbling the horse, but it couldn’t swim if I did. If the horse bucked or panicked and went into the water, it could swim for a short distance, so no hobbles or it would drown. I looked at the animal with some affection. It was shorter than horses in Dire, with a longer, molted coat. The overall color was tan, but black and darker shades of brown were there, too.

The horse was drinking from the edge of the river with the others. As I approached, its ears twitched, and it turned to look at me with brown, soft eyes. I talked gently and gathered the reins but allowed it to continue drinking. I knelt beside it and scooped water into my mouth, then filled my jugs.

They pushed the barge beside us, and I walked the horse onto it without issue. It was nervous, but my soft talking and nearness reassured it. The others watched, horses and people. A rope was fastened to an iron ring and the other end on the rear of a large rowboat. The old man climbed into the bow of the rowboat and sat facing me where he could also watch the progress of the barge. The sons he’d named pulled on the double oar setup and the rope stretched tight.

The barge barely moved up and down, or from side to side, however, we felt each stroke of the oars with a sudden rush ahead. The far side was not as far away as I’d thought. A barren bank grew in height as we rowed nearer. There were small shrubs and grasses, but no trees. Maybe there were trees along the bank to the east or west.

My horse didn’t have a name, or at least, one that I knew. The Kaon Warrior who owned it might have a name he called it. As we neared the far shore, Coffin pointed out the place he wanted to land.

A shelf of barren natural rock extended into the lake forming a solid pier if a little slanted to one side. The surface of the rock was equal to the sides of the barge, and when the rowboat was pushed against it, there were iron pegs to tie up to. We were not the first to use it as a dock.

The old man said, “You get out first. Show the horse how to step up, and it will follow.”

I exaggerated my step under the watchful eyes of the horse. It snorted, which I took to be laughing at me. The horse exited the barge far more gracefully than I did.

I walked it to the shore where a few tufts of scraggly grass grew and tied it to snack as a reward for being calm on the trip. The old man silently followed. The rowboat had pushed off and was crossing much faster than when pulling us. I said, “What’s going on? Why are you staying here instead of going back with them?”

“To talk.”

“Is that an order or are you asking me to talk?”

“I wanted to be alone for this. There are too many jabbering at once back there, one of you, or one of my boys, is always interrupting things, so the answers are crap.”

He returned to the rock outcrop, pulled his boots off and sat, his feet dangling in the cool water. In the heat of the day, that looked inviting, so I joined him. The water was cooler than expected. He didn’t speak, and I decided to wait him out.

His eyes flicked to the rowboat that was now almost out of sight. A wavering wake told of its progress. The old man said, “Taught him to row better than that.”

“He’s making good speed,” I said, hoping to encourage him to get to the topic he wanted to discuss. “He’ll be back before long, along with someone else to interrupt us, so let’s talk. Why are you called Coffin? I mean, is that the name your mother gave you?”

“Curious, are you? Well, I had another name when young, but after a few fights, Coffin stuck. What I got to say to you won’t take long.”

I waited.

He splashed water with his left foot, then abruptly said, “Tell me your story. The short version.”

Seeing no reason not to, I gave him the highlights. He asked only a few terse questions, then said, “They knew I didn’t kill that man in Dagger, and my sons are not thieves. But we spoke up against that Council of Nine and asked if the King can’t rule, why isn’t his son taking his place?”

“That’s not all you said?”

“Nope. I said we should kick that council all the way back to where they came from, which was Kaon.”

“You said that before being accused?”

“What do you think?” He spat into the water without bothering to look at me. “We heard from a friend they were coming after us, so we took to the river. Barely got away.”

“And you went about as far as you could and built that hut?”

“Nope. Found it just like it is. Things last out here in the desert. It might be a hundred years old, but that ain’t the point we should be talking about.”

“What is?”

“They burned my home and business in Dagger and tried to capture us and would probably have hung the four of us in the main square if they caught us. Teach others a lesson about talking down the Council of Nine. Fact is, my goal these days is to harm them, to hit them back.”

“They took your life away. You have a right to be angry.”

“Killed my wife.”

He hung his head and tried to hide a tear. For me, there seemed nothing to say. I didn’t know the right words, so said nothing.

He drew himself up and said in almost a whisper, “That’s why I wanted to talk to you. Alone. I got more family.”

It didn’t’ make sense that he would choose that time to tell me about his relations, but there was more to come. I waited again. The rowboat came back into view, pulling the barge and another horse.

The old man saw it too. He pulled himself together and said, “I heard you’re going south to Fairbanks and Landor.”

“We are hoping to find help there to join us in the fight.”

“Both kingdoms lay south past Dead Isle and across the sea. You need a boat to get there. The family I spoke of lives on a small bay south of Dagger. Fishermen. They have boats.”

My vague plan had been to try locating a ship or boat of some kind near Dagger without being caught. That appeared to be our major problem. The solution the old man offered was better. We could avoid Dagger completely, the place where the surveillance would be heaviest, and where our descriptions were on the lips of city watchers, soldiers, and bounty hunters, even if we managed to slip into the city.

“We can pay.”

He said, “I’ll send one of my boys with you. He knows where my folks live, and they don’t like the new government any more than us, but you can pay them if they’ll take it.”

“If you don’t mind me saying so,” I said as I met his steady gaze, “this seems like a complete turnaround from when we first met this morning.”

He watched the boat approach until it was nearly tied up before answering. “You heard most of my reasons.”

I didn’t like the response. Not that I distrusted him, but there was a part of his explanation he didn’t want to share—and that made me want to know more. I reached out to Anna, *Will you touch minds and tell me if there is anything I need to know about our friend Coffin?*

*I can only hear what is in your mind, not his. You will have to discuss with him what it is that you are concerned about, and I will try to sense any deception.*

That answered one question. She couldn’t read the minds of others but could sense deception. Not as good an option, but one that was useful I responded, *Thank you.*

To the old man, I said irritably, “Your offer is more than generous. If your son acts as our guide and introduces us to the fishermen with boats, we can pay them to sail us to Landor. It solves many problems.”

“If you can strike a blow against Dagger, I’d pay for your trip if I had the money.”

*He’s telling the truth, but holding back.*

I said to him with a frown to emphasize my feelings, “I get the feeling you’re holding back something.”

He glowered at me as he reached for the proffered ropes to pull the barge alongside the rock shelf. Kendra stepped out and urged her horse with a few soft words. You can always tell about the inner workings of a person by how they treat animals. While others might yank on the reins, or another slap the rump of the horse, she did it with soft words.

The old man seemed to separate himself from me by keeping my sister between us while the boat returned to the other shore for another passenger. He was finished talking. But I was not.

*Anna, did you get any inkling of what he’s hiding?*

*It’s not hiding. Not exactly. There is just a subject he does not want to discuss. I don’t believe it places us in danger.*

Everyone has secrets.

But I was not satisfied and felt his reluctance to be honest with me placed his offer in jeopardy. We could use our original plan without any danger from him withholding information. The other consideration was that we would be refusing valuable help. The conflicting viewpoints had me in a quandary.

Kendra allowed her horse to drink its fill, then moved it to stand beside mine. She returned to where neither the old man nor I made eye contact—and noticed the tension. Her voice was cutting, “What is it?”

When he didn’t speak, I did. “He’s offered to help us. I like his idea, but he’s not telling the whole truth.”

Kendra glanced at the stubborn faces of both of us and looked off into the distance. We remained at the little standoff until she said, “Does anybody ever tell the whole truth?”

Coffin shrugged. “Not in my experience.”

“Mine neither,” she said deliberately, then faced the old man. “Does it matter to us?”

“Nope.”

She flashed a smile. “Then why are we talking about it?”

Coffin’s sad eyes returned to the surface of the lake.

I was still uneasy.