The Last Dragon: Book One

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

We agreed that one of us would remain awake to tend to Tater’s injuries all night and keep an eye on the wounded. Elizabeth insisted she would take the first watch and wake me when she needed to sleep. I had the gut-feeling she wouldn’t wake me at all, but who am I to argue with the orders of a royal princess? Kendra began to search the dead, a disgusting task I wanted no part of.

She didn’t know what valuables or weapons they concealed beneath their clothing, so she cut the clothing off their bodies by the light of the campfire and after examining each bit of cloth. She threw most of what she discovered into the fire to burn. She placed a blanket over each, which was more than they had done for us. When she came to the last one, she paused and said, “You do this one.”

“Why?” I asked, not liking the snide tone she used.

“Because he’s wearing your clothes.”

For some strange reason, that upset me more than the corpses at her feet. Not that she had asked me to help, but because that was the bastard who took my clothes while I’d been unconscious and helpless. I suddenly relished the idea of searching him and returning the disfavor.

I reached him, and in the firelight, his dead eyes were watching me. He was heavily bearded, his hair dark and stringy, and his nose long and thin. I turned to peer at the others. It seemed each of them had long, thin noses and were dark-skinned. Their dead eyes were dark brown, their hair as dark as mine. People of Dire were generally lighter brown haired and were fairer skinned, as was almost everyone we knew. Our noses were also wider.

In my mind, I had said our noses, but that was not true. It was true for nearly all people in Dire, but not for us. Kendra and I had long thin noses and darker skin, with brown eyes and thick brown hair. Just like the men we’d killed.

The two of us were orphans with unknown pasts. A lump formed in my throat that I couldn’t swallow away. His head lay where it faced the flames of the fire. The texture of his hair was the same as mine. My heart pounded. I turned to Kendra, but Elizabeth, who was still tending to Tater, glanced up as if she knew my thoughts—or was listening. For once, I decided to keep my ideas to myself.

When I pulled the blanket away from him, it got stuck on the shaft of the arrow that had penetrated his chest. It finally came free with a tug. The freed blanket went around his head, tying it in a knot firmly so he couldn’t watch me with those damning eyes that were so much like mine.

Yes, he was dead, and probably by my arrow, but things were far easier with his head concealed so the blanket could shut off his silent accusations and my wild thoughts. I pulled my clothing from his lifeless body and tossed it aside. It had been fouled by him, and I didn’t wish to put it on until it was washed, and perhaps not even then. “Where are the packhorses?”

Kendra said, “Other end of the clearing, over there” She pointed. “But they put the contents of the packs under that tree if that’s what you want.” She pointed again, to the shade of a nearby tree.

I went to the tree and carried back the bag that contained my things. All had been rummaged through, the neatly folded shirts twisted and stuffed carelessly back inside, but they were there along with trousers. Why only one change of my clothing was taken puzzled me, until thinking that they probably divided up what we had. The lucky one with the blanket around his head got my bag.

I changed clothing despite the cold and immediately felt better. My sword was missing, as was the case for the crossbows, my good knife, and anything else of meager value. There were no coins.

When I returned to Kendra’s side, she was finished searching the last of them. A small pile of worthless items lay at her side. Her expression was drawn, so I asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Seven men here, all dressed in similar clothing, all ragged and falling apart from filth. But do you know what I didn’t find on any of the seven?”

“No,” my tone telling her of my sudden interest in the conversation.

“No gold, silver . . . or copper. Not a single coin among them. No rings on fingers, no necklaces, trinkets, or anything else that could be sold or traded for a biscuit. Not even an empty coin purse to hold a coin.”

That also struck me as strange. One of the wounded we’d tied up chose that moment to moan and call out for help. My sister got a reassuring pat on her shoulder before she went to the other side of the fire to check on the three survivors and the one that cried for help. After a quick examination, I decided the one moaning wouldn’t last until morning. He’d already bled too much from the arrow in his chest, his skin was too pale, and his breathing shallow and uneven. The arrow that had penetrated his chest was still there. Removing it would probably kill him instantly as the blood would flow freely from the wound.

The other two men were in slightly better shape. One had broken the shaft of an arrow that had struck high on his thigh, and only the stub remained, the iron point still deep inside. Again, I was struck by the similarities in our appearances. Even in the half-light, once discerned, they were too obvious to ignore. I needed to give the two-finger signal to Kendra and find a place to speak with her.

He was bound with his hands behind his back and wide awake. I said gently, “How are you doing?”

He frowned as if he didn’t understand what I’d said. He acted like my talking offended him and he scowled. I moved on to tend to the last man, one with two arrows in him, but neither fatal wounds if tended to properly. The arrow in his shoulder wept a thin ooze of blood, and the one in his arm was hardly more than a scratch. It was high on his arm, nearly to his shoulder. I gently removed it and used a rag to put pressure on the wound until it stopped bleeding. The near-miss must have been one of Kendra’s arrows because none of mine ever missed by that margin. At least that was the story I’d tell Kendra later and smiled at the thought because she was probably thinking the same.

The wounded man smiled back at me, a surprise. I said kindly, “Do you need anything?”

“Kondor,” he said. The word meant nothing to me. “What is Kondor?”

He nodded vigorously. I didn’t understand what he meant or why his eager response when I repeated the word. He gave the impression that the word was important. Perhaps it was his name. I pointed at him. “Kondor?”

He shook his head, his eyes downcast at his failure to communicate. Elizabeth had come quietly to my side. She said, “Kondor is not his name. It’s a place, a kingdom, I think.”

That made more sense. I pointed into the darkness to a distance beyond Mercia, at least that was my intent. “Kondor?”

He nodded again. The smile had returned.

Elizabeth said, “Why are there troops from Kondor here? Especially hiding in the mountains on a lonely trail hardly nobody travels?”

Kendra nodded her agreement. “Troops? Maybe. And why are they dressed like that in the cold of a mountain pass? They are better dressed for the brown-lands if you ask me. And why are they almost starving? They are so skinny they must be weak from hunger. No wonder we were able to defeat them.”

Elizabeth had added more information that had gone unnoticed. “All the nearby firewood is gone, the dead branches that are easy to gather. There is no food, and all of ours was eaten already. They’ve been here a long time, maybe months. Their clothing is a disgrace, and there isn’t a single coin between them.”

Kendra continued, “I noticed that too. Not a ring on a finger or ear, and have you looked at their feet and hands?”

I looked. The bottoms of their feet were filthy and as hard as old leather from going barefoot. Their hands were the same. These were men who worked for a living and didn’t normally wear shoes. They didn’t bear the whip-marks common to slaves, yet they seemed to lead the same sort of lives. Even the lowest wear shoes except in warm climates. My thoughts went to the brown-lands.

My feelings towards them had subtly altered as we spoke. I have always believed there are people born evil, others good. There is also those who are born good, who are turned evil by circumstances such as wars or famines. External forces beyond control such as near starvation tend to lower morals and perceptions. Food that would have been discarded in better times will be eaten eagerly in hard. Behavior that would have normally been immoral becomes acceptable. I saw the men at my feet, those from Kondor in that light without sufficient reason to make that determination. Therefore, it was more of wishful thinking until proven.

In contrast, they were also men who had intended to kill us. However, all that was normal when outlaws, highwaymen, and thieves made their existence by doing such things. What I saw, in addition, were the thin noses, dark eyes, and skin. Any of them could be mistaken for my brother.

I glanced at Elizabeth and half-expected her to be comparing us to them. My eyes drifted to Kendra and at the man she searched. She looked up. “Where are our crossbows and other things?”

“I don’t know.”

“That worries me.”

She was right. Our other belongings had been strewn around the campsite, some clothing was worn by one man, but things were missing, like my crossbows and sword. Using simple logic, if they were not here, they were elsewhere. If they were elsewhere, somebody took them there.

I glanced at the fire and how we were all illuminated and all around us was darkness. How our night-sight had been ruined by the flames of the fire. And a chill formed when I realized anyone in the depths of the surrounding darkness could be holding one of my missing crossbows pointed at me.

Despite our agreed upon reluctance for me to use magic without permission, I reached out and felt all around the meadow, using my magic to increase sounds like breathing and heartbeats, touching all the dark places and finding nobody. I remembered an oil lamp was with our things. I located it and went in search of the meadow where we were first attacked.

Three horses were missing. The pack horses and Tater’s farm-mount were near the fire. The three fine horses from the king’s stables were missing. Alexis and the two horses the women had ridden were not in sight. On impulse, I whistled the call for my horse.

Alexis charged from the darkness closer to the mountain pass. She trotted up to me and nuzzled me, searching for a hidden apple. I took her halter and led her down the trail, thinking that if any of them had left with our things, they wouldn’t go through the pass. If they had, Alexis would have run on ahead or the other way, so two of them went in the direction we were headed.

Searching the road with the lamplight revealed there were the hoofprints of a pair of horses. The edges of the prints were dried and crumbling. Those Alexis was making were of consistent texture and moisture. Tater is the tracker, but even I could tell the other horses had departed long ago. Making a full turn, I looked for Springer. Then called to him. Nothing.

There were also bodies in the meadow, the two who had been on watch and those who fell during the initial attack. If the men had remained hidden until we were in the meadow, and especially if they had waited until we had dismounted, the attack would have been successful without the loss of life to them. That is twice our enemies had failed to win when they should have. We couldn’t expect to have that sort of luck without encountering some bad.

Back at the fire, I said, “Two men left on our horses.”

Elizabeth said, “We’ve searched everything while you were gone. Every coin we had is missing, along with anything valuable a person could quickly sell, even the dragon armor Tater had.”

“They went to sell what they could, and to buy food, clothing, and blankets.”

She nodded and shrugged. “But they won’t be back until tomorrow. By the time they rode down to where they could use our money to buy things, it had to be dark. Stores would be closed. They won’t return until late morning at the earliest.”

“They won’t like it when they get here,” I said.

Kendra spoke for the first time, “Because we killed so many?”

“Because we will be waiting for them in ambush down the trail before they are warned.”

“We will be waiting,” Elizabeth said. “Kendra will tend to our wounded while we set our own trap. I intend to not only get our belongings back but to keep us safe.”

“I prefer to go with Damon,” Kendra said. “It is not right for you to go with him into battle.”

“But I am your princess and order you to remain here. Obey me.”

I hadn’t often heard that tone of voice from Elizabeth but knew to respect it. So, did Kendra. I was going to sleep unless they needed me, and when they didn’t object, I checked on Tater and made my bed near him.

As expected, Elizabeth never woke me for my guard duty. She and Kendra traded off the watches. I awoke and touched the tender lump on the side of my head. It was coated with dried blood, and that was probably the injury that had knocked me out. The fire was burning, and as I sat up, Tater stirred. He faced me and winked if squinting one eye more than the other constituted a wink.

“How do you feel?” I asked.

“Like I slept half of yesterday and all night. Where’s Springer?”

“We don’t know. Can’t find him.”

“Damn it all, now my brother is going to charge me full price for that ugly mutt.”

“We killed about a dozen men, four or five in the meadow, the others are here. Two probably still alive.”

“How’d you do it?”

Any mention of magic was out. “I managed to slip the ropes and untied Kendra. We took out the two guards and used their bows to fire at the rest when they were sleeping.”

Tater didn’t look as if he believed me. He had doubted we were strong enough to sleep outside in the valley near the inn. I said quickly, to cover up any questions he might ask, “They stole everything of value. We think the two who left to sell our stuff will return today. We’ll be waiting.”

He glanced down at his left arm as if just discovering it was broken. He said, “Just so’s you know, Springer tried to warn me before the attack. I didn’t listen because I was too excited to find a place to stay for the night.”

I rolled over and closed my eyes but didn’t go to sleep. My head throbbed, my leg still hurt, and so many issues kept invading my mind. The events of the day kept swirling around inside—and the interaction that my sister seemed to be having with dragons didn’t make sense to me. Why would they seek her out, yet the Blue Lady had as much as admitted that was true. And who was she? What was she? There seemed to be easier explanations until I considered the facts and those testy facts returned me to the beginning of my worries and I started all over with my story. There are times when it’s easier to deal with falsehoods that partial truths.

So, my mind moved from thinking about all that to what bothered me most, excluding the idea that I’d killed several last night, and they were the first to have the same physical characteristics we shared. There were also the inconvenient facts that those same men had tried to kill us, and that important people from our palace were flocking to Mercia like ravens to a corpse, and that I had no inkling of what to do tomorrow, except be prepared to kill two more men we didn’t know.