| |
The ongoing war against the Necromancer King had decimated the ranks of the once vaunted serpent cavalry, a force enemies of Keesee rightly feared. In the past a half dozen dragons might be in the air above the King’s City, both warding it from danger and providing a watchful escort to important messengers and dignitaries. Serpent cavalry numbers were always a close-held secret, but I’d have been surprised if more than two dozen of the fire-breathing red dragons and half that many acid-spewing blacks remained alive and capable of combat duty.
Major Jadd once explained to me that dragons are long lived, but also slow to reproduce. They come into season once every eight winters, resulting in clutches of three or possibly four eggs. For their eventual size, dragons grow quickly, but even nine or ten summers to reach maturity is a long time when engaged in a war of attrition. That motivated King Tobias to trade his own serpent mount to a ruler far to the east. The royal serpent steed’s departure brought eighty wyverns, along with skilled handlers to train messengers and scouts how to ride them, including Grand Wizard Seelain and myself.
I pondered that as we approached the King’s City from over the Tyrrhenian Sea, having swung out several miles for the long final leg of our trip. Flares of orange and red, far larger than any torch or bonfire, came into view. They were partially obscured by a smoky haze. The sun was at our back and minutes from peeking over the horizon when Grand Wizard Seelain urged her weary mount to greater speed. No dragon intercepted our approach, nor did we spot any above the city.
An inferno raged in a section of the lower city. Flames rose from warehouses near the waterfront and flames engulfed a merchant ship docked in the harbor. Nearby vessels had taken to sail and oar to reach a safe distance. Within the upper city housed on the plateau above the Tyrrhenian’s reach, over a dozen plumes of heavy smoke rose.
We approached to within a half mile without challenge. “This bodes ill,” shouted Wizard Seelain. She apparently didn’t expect an answer as she pulled Moon Ash into an arc to avoid flying over the main harbor. “There appears to be no effort by man or wizard to battle the flames, yet there are organized units of men moving about.”
I nodded in agreement. “And no enemy forces are outside the city walls laying siege.”
“We shall make for the palace,” said Wizard Seelain. “Remain vigilant, Flank Hawk.”
“I will,” I assured her. In giving an unnecessary order, I figured she must be deeply concerned. I knew I was.
We flew above the capital city’s upper level toward the palace near its center. There were few people on the narrow streets. Only organized units moved about—soldiers bearing the broad sashes of purple and gold, the Kingdom of Keesee’s colors. Even the marketplaces appeared abandoned when they should have been bustling with merchants preparing for a new day of trade.
The palace courtyard where dragons might land came into view. I’d been privileged to land there several times, the most memorable as Road Toad’s aft-guard before he regained his formal re-commission as a serpent cavalryman and his former rank and name, Major Jadd.
From a distance I spotted a black dragon on the courtyard green. That wasn’t a concern in and of itself. Dragons didn’t bother wyverns unless given reason, similar to how a wolf feeding on a kill would ignore a gore crow unless it got too close and tried to steal a ribbon of flesh. Major Jadd said during my initial wyvern training that dragons won’t eat a fresh or even a rotting carcass of the vulture-like beasts. They just taste awful, especially to dragons, which really says something. Dragons can, and in desperate times will, eat just about anything, including rotted logs. I wondered what that said about griffins.
All that didn’t mean my mount was happy to be in the presence of a dragon. “Steady, Wick,” I urged.
“We cannot land,” said Wizard Seelain. “The serpent is wounded and down.”
I looked more closely. The black dragon lay on its side with a rope anchored by a dozen men holding its free wing swept forward. A large spear, probably from a ballista, was stuck deep in its ribcage. Several handlers worked to extract the weapon while the serpent cavalryman and his aft-guard lay across the dragon’s neck just below the head. As I expected, nobody wearing red and white, the colors of Fendra Jolain, was in sight.
“We cannot land here,” said Wizard Seelain, pulling Ash Moon into a circling climb. “We shall land at the stables and make our way to the palace from there.”
“Something has happened!” I shouted. “And may not be over yet.” I pulled Wick alongside Wizard Seelain’s mount. “Even if the stables are secure, the streets may not be safe.”
The horse stables that had been converted to house roosting wyverns weren’t far from the palace grounds. Wizard Seelain begin descending toward one of them. “That is why I am accompanied by a personal guard.”
“Then you will remain aloft while I land,” I said, shooting past the grand wizard.
She slowed her descent and circled as I brought Wick down. I selected the largest of three landing circles surrounded by a twenty-foot stone wall. Wick’s wings stirred up a small cloud of debris before his feet hit the hard-packed dirt. Both he and I looked about. The sliding door leading into the barn-like roosting shelter remained closed.
Wick’s color shifted from black to brown. I patted my mount on the neck and ordered, “Speak, Wick.”
Wick’s caw sounded more like a bear’s growl.
“You, inside the roost,” I shouted. “Open the door.” I waited several seconds. “In the name of Prince Reveron, I charge you to do as ordered!”
The door began sliding open. With my left hand, I signaled Wizard Seelain to remain aloft. With my right, I began untying the leather strap that held my spear in its sheath. A boy’s face peeked out. He looked along the top of the wall and then slid the door the rest of the way open. He couldn’t have been more than twelve summers and had to put his shoulder into the effort.
“Hurry, sir! Inside.”
Wick’s color began shifting to a mottled pattern of brown and black.
“There’s another rider waiting to land,” I said. “Take the reins.”
The boy looked up at me with dirt smudged across his freckled face. Sweat matted his short blond hair. I doubted he’d ever been trusted to such a duty before.
“Wick is spooked,” I said, patting the wyvern’s neck. “Just hold the reins when I toss them down to you. Stand firm until I dismount.” If necessary, I could dismount holding the reins, but the flames and smoke, and the blood of the wounded dragon had gotten to Wick. My wounded leg was better, but still stiff and tender. I couldn’t afford to reinjure it, and Wick might damage a wing or worse if he tried to take to flight—especially when Grand Wizard Seelain sent an air elemental to keep him on the ground. That, I was confident she would do.
“You’ve seen it done before,” I told the boy. “Yes, it’s a man’s job. I trust you to it.” I pointed where he should stand. “Hurry now.”
I released the reins and he took hold of them. He spread his feet in case Wick took a notion to back away from the roost or attempt to take flight.
I dismounted and pulled my spear from its sheath. It was sturdy like a boar spear but lacked the crossbar just beyond the broad-bladed tip. A mercenary named Razor Heart who we’d shared a camp with on our return trip gave it to me after Wizard Seelain told how I’d lost mine. He preferred a sword anyway and had been using the spear as a walking stick until he could throw it at an enemy, or trade it.
“What’s your name?” I asked the boy.
“Rin,” he said.
I took the reins from Rin and signaled to Wizard Seelain. She was already spiraling downward. I tugged on the reins. “Come on, Wick.” The boy fell in stride next to me, ahead of Wick and his awkward gait.
I wanted to know what was happening in the city, but figured Rin wouldn’t know. And getting under cover was more important. “Is there anybody else inside?”
“Only Bodie, the night watchman, and Marquan. He’s an apprentice handler. Nobody else showed up, and Slatter—he’s the other watchman. He went t’get the stablemaster, but he didn’t come back. There’s six—”
I cut him off. “I’ll stable Wick inside. You take the reins of the grand wizard’s mount when she lands.” I didn’t want to lose sight of my ward, but there wasn’t room for two wyverns in the landing area.
I’d never been in this roosting stable. It was smaller than Wick and Moon Ash’s stable a half mile northwest of this one, right near one of the smoke plumes. My eyes adjusted quickly and I led Wick to the first wyvern stall on the right. It was like any other. A large half door, like in a horse stable, opened outward, hinged on the side opposite the nearest door which led to a landing circle. A stout wooden wall about five feet high formed the base of the thirty by thirty foot roost. Rope netting lined with five-inch wide strips of cotton fabric made up the rest of the walls and ceiling of the stall.
Wick hopped in and began gulping down the remains of a goat carcass set in a far corner. Being in a stable reminded me of my father who worked in the king’s royal horse stable. Whatever was happening in the city, was my family in danger? I shut and set the door’s two bolt locks before hurrying back toward the landing circle.
Wizard Seelain was already leading Moon Ash into the roost with Rin standing ready to slide the door shut. With Wizard Seelain inside, I quickly took in our surroundings. Narrow unshuttered windows set high above let in some of the morning sun, providing shadowy light to a cavernous building. All of the side windows remained shuttered and barred. The foul odor of wyvern droppings hung heavy in the air. The familiar buzzing of barn flies along with the grousing squawks of several wyverns on the other side of the roosting barn only emphasized how quiet it was in the nearby streets.
I opened the stall door across from Wick for Wizard Seelain. “What’s happening in the city?” I asked Rin.
The stableboy shook his head. “Nobody knows for sure.” He pointed toward the glow of two distant lanterns and then started walking toward them. “Ma’am, sir, please come help. There’s no Lain Healers and Bodie’s trying t’keep Lieutenant Ohler’s mount alive.”
Wizard Seelain signaled with her staff for me to follow. “What has happened?” she asked.
I looked back to make sure the sliding door was barred before hurrying to keep up with the now fast-talking stableboy.
“They’ve all gone or were arrested,” he said, swinging his arms tightly up and down as he walked. “And a bunch of Long-Tooths were rounded up by the king’s men, too. Pop says there ain’t any Long-Tooths.”
Grand Wizard Seelain grabbed the boy’s shoulder and spun him around. “The Brotherhood of the Long-Toothed Tiger does exist,” she said sharply. “They are traitors to the crown and the entire kingdom.”
The wide-eyed stableboy stared at her. His mouth hung open, surprised and not knowing what to say.
“The grand wizard speaks the truth.” I avoided using her name. It was her choice to reveal her identity or not.
The stableboy regained some of his composure. His gaze shifted to me and then back to Wizard Seelain. “Right,” he said, and stepped back from Grand Wizard Seelain as the prickling energy of elemental magic began emanating from her.
“Who you got there, Rin?” shouted a lanky man holding a glowing lantern above his head. He stood leaning out of a stall near one of the two distant sliding doors.
“Th-That’s Bodie” said Rin. “He’s with Marquan, trying t’stop Lieutenant Ohler’s wyvern from bleeding t’death. They sewed him up but—”
“Flank Hawk,” Wizard Seelain said and strode quickly toward the lantern-bearing guardsman.
“Come on,” I whispered to Rin and tugged his arm as I passed to keep pace with Wizard Seelain.
Bodie stepped out of the stall and hung the lantern on a hook. “Rin?” he said, pulling his short sword from its scabbard.
“They’re ’vern scouts,” said Rin, then repeated it louder. “They’re ’vern scouts! Just landed. She’s a wizard. Maybe she can help Marquan.”
Bodie was tall and thin. The wrinkles on his face said he was a good number of winters past his prime. He slid his sword back into its scabbard and shook his head.
A young man with curly red hair and covered in blood, sweat and bits of straw stepped out of the same stall the guardsman had. The haggard man appeared to be a little older than me, probably a few summers past twenty. He turned his face, dripping with tears and speckled with blood, away from us while he blew his nose into a rag. “It’s too late,” he said in a wavering voice.
“Who are you?” Bodie asked, eyeing us with suspicion. “You’re not wearing the king’s colors.” His leather jerkin had rings sewn into it, and the wrapping on his sword’s grip showed use, but he didn’t carry himself like a mercenary or a soldier in the king’s service. Maybe he was an auxiliary guard, supplementing regulars the stablemaster had drawn from some of the king’s men. Rin said others had not reported for night duty.
Although I was confident Grand Wizard Seelain was in no danger from this guardsman or the others, I remained at her side, a step back, alert and ready to act.
“What has happened in the King’s City,” Wizard Seelain demanded.
“You’re an air wizard. That I can see.”
“I am a grand wizard, guardsman.” Prickling energy again emanated from Grand Wizard Seelain. “Answer my question.”
The man shuffled a half step back and averted his eyes to the floor. “Well, I’m not rightly sure, Grand Wizard.”
“Inform me of what you do know.”
“The Lain healers have quit and the king arrested them. The king’s patrols are arresting anyone on the streets. He’s trying to root out them that follows the Pride’s Grand Prime. Least I think that’s what he’s called, but he ain’t in the city. Just calls the shots for his guerilla group.” Guardsman Bodie rubbed his nose. “I think the king and his generals thought they’d rounded up all the Long-Tooths. He supports the Sun-Foxes, and they’re sworn enemies of the Long-Tooths, ya know.”
Wizard Seelain nodded.
“My pop says,” Rin started, then his voice faded when Wizard Seelain turned her gaze to him.
She slid her staff to the crook of her arm. “Continue, Stablehand.”
“Ahh, my p-poppa says all the Long-Tooths were long dead, but that the Necromancer King brought them back. But those causing trouble ain’t zombies so they’re not really Long-Tooths.”
“What happened last night?” Wizard Seelain asked.
“Likely what happened almost a week back when them Lain Healers that wasn’t arrested by the king’s troops, those that were in the city, tried to escape. Heard from a fella who’s a sergeant that the Long-Tooths recruited a bunch of criminals and malcontents. Killed some important folks, rich merchants and started fires. Then, when water wizards showed up to help douse the flames, they shot’em with arrows and such. Ambushed them, and with no healers...”
“Air wizards too,” added the red-headed apprentice handler.
“Continue,” urged Wizard Seelain.
“Captain Ringan is an air wizard. I heard him telling another ’vern scout something about it. When they went to suck air from the fires burning in the Blue District.”
That was one of the better parts of the city, I thought. Nothing like the Brown District, where it wasn’t wise to be wandering alone at night—and sometimes during the day. And the war against the Necromancer King had already whittled the number of spellcasters, including wizards, down quite a bit.
“Care for our mounts,” ordered Wizard Seelain. “Flank Hawk, with me. I must get to the palace without delay.”
“Wait,” I said.
Wizard Seelain stopped and turned. A look of anger spread across her face. Some of it might have been directed toward me, but that didn’t matter. “Guardsman Bodie,” I said, “are the streets safe for travel?”
“Flank Hawk?” the guardsman replied. “You’re the—”
I cut him off. “Answer my question.”
“Yes,” said Wizard Seelain. “He is that mercenary. Honored by King Tobias for striking a critical blow against the Necromancer King.” She shifted her staff from her left hand to her right. “And I am Grand Wizard Seelain, fiancé to Prince Reveron, so answer his question.”
All three men immediately bowed to Wizard Seelain. It wasn’t really required as she wasn’t royalty yet. Beyond that, King Tobias didn’t really think that highly of me.
“My apologies, Grand Wizard,” the guardsman said. “Curfew starts one hour before sunset to one hour after sunrise. The streets may appear clear, Grand Wizard, but I believe they are not safe. Even if the streets were full, it would be better for one of your importance to fly your mounts directly to the palace.”
“We cannot,” I said. “A wounded dragon occupies where we might land. How often do patrols pass this roosting stable?” My plan was to attach to one of those for escort to the palace.
“Land on a roof,” the apprentice handler suggested. “Or the palace must have gardens.”
“No,” Wizard Seelain said. “Not in this time of strife.”
“The patrols, Guardsman?” I asked.
“They’re not regular. Once an hour, sometimes two.”
“I shan’t wait that long,” Wizard Seelain said.
I moved to stand closer to Wizard Seelain. “I can make my way to the palace,” I said. “If I encounter a patrol—”
“Enough. We go now!”
I shook my head. “One personal guard on dangerous streets isn’t enough.”
“Do you forget? I am a Grand Wizard.”
“Guardsman,” I said.
“His duty is here, Flank Hawk.” The wyvern stable cannot be left unguarded.” She started walking.
“I can go with you,” Rin offered.
“No.” I didn’t want to insult the boy’s bravery but he’d be little help and would likely die if trouble did arise. “Your place is here,” I said before hurrying to catch up with Wizard Seelain.
Bodie matched my stride while signaling the stablehand. “Mercenary Flank Hawk, I’ll go out the side door and check for danger. Are you familiar with the way back to the palace?”
“Hagelbin the Armorer’s shop. This stable is within sight of it. From there I know two routes.”
Guardsman Bodie addressed me instead of Wizard Seelain. Like most of his station, he was intimidated by her stature, in addition to her building anger—certainly from frustration, knowing the city and kingdom she loved was being attacked from within. “Mercenary Flank Hawk, I believe the main streets are best patrolled and safest. Rin, lock the side door behind me, and open the street-side door when I signal.”
Wizard Seelain stood by the street-side door, staring hard at us. But the guardsman’s reasonable precaution couldn’t be ignored.
Within two minutes Guardsman Bodie tapped on the street-side door. “All clear.”
Rin lifted the bar and pulled the heavy wooden door open. Bodie looked about, checking the roof of the two-story tailor’s shop across the cobblestone street. “Armorer’s down the street to your right.”
“I know the way,” Wizard Seelain said, striding into the street. “Thank you, Guardsman.”
“Left side,” I said to Wizard Seelain. “In the shadows of the morning sun. I’ll lead.”
“Very well,” she said. “Swift pace.”
I nodded, bringing my step to just under a trot. My wounded leg protested, but I ignored it. “I’ll watch ground level. You above.”
Fast footsteps on the cobblestones behind caused me to spin around.
Rin, sprinting with a pitchfork in hand, caught up with us. We were on the street, which wasn’t a place to stop and argue. My first loyalty was to Wizard Seelain. I met his gaze for a split second. I’d use his eyes. “I assign you to watch our back. Keep up.”
We made it past the armorer’s and turned right, onto a street lined with skilled-merchant shops, toward the palace in the distance when the thwunk of a crossbow firing intruded on the morning silence. With a sharp sweep of her hand, Wizard Seelain knocked the bolt off course, and a second that followed from the roof above a glassblower’s shop. Both bolts stuck the cobblestones, short of us—their mark.
“Ambush!” I said as a door to my left swung open. I didn’t wait to see who emerged and instead drove my spear’s tip into the chest of the man coming out. He dropped his sword and clutched my spear buried in his chest. Another man with a battleaxe shoved his dying comrade aside, dislodging my spear’s tip. I swung my spear, scoring a bloody gash across the axe man’s chin before striking the doorframe with my spear’s shaft.
“Run,” I shouted even as Rin warned, “Three behind us!” Staying to fight in the pocket of an ambush played to the enemy’s advantage, especially with crossbowmen reloading above.
Wizard Seelain took the lead as I broke away from candle maker’s shop before the axe-wielding man emerged, possibly with reinforcements. Rin was right next to me. “They got swords,” he said with a frightened look in his eyes.
A crossbow bolt, fired from behind, clattered off cobblestones to the right several feet ahead of me. Looking over my shoulder, the four men following were about twenty-five yards behind. They wore light leather armor. Three carried curved short swords and one, bleeding down his chin, led the way with his a battleaxe.
Three similarly armed men leapt off a porch and took up a position in the road ahead of us. Wizard Seelain brought up her staff and with quick-uttered spell words sent a wall of air against the ambushers facing her, knocking them to the ground. The effort only caused her to slow for a few strides, allowing Rin and me to gain on her.
Without slowing she struck one of the downed men across the face as he tried to rise. I thrust at the stomach with my spear of another, but struck high, catching the stunned ambusher in the shoulder as I passed. Rin drove his pitchfork into the thigh of the third downed ambusher. The man grabbed hold of Rin’s weapon. The stablehand tugged but the man held firm, so Rin let go of his fork and ran to catch up with Wizard Seelain and to keep ahead of the four chasing axe and swordsmen. They trailed by only fifteen yards.
My bad leg wasn’t going to allow me to keep up the pace. Grand Wizard Seelain must have realized this.
“Rin, Flank Hawk down!” she shouted as she spun about, pointing her staff.
I dove to the street. Rin ducked but didn’t drop flat. I latched onto his ankle as a gale-force wind gust shot over us, carrying Rin with it for ten feet and dragging me behind as it passed. The axe wielder and three swordsmen caught it full force and were knocked ten yards back, hard and to the ground. The three ambushers beyond them, those stabbed and struck by us, were blown down again.
Then Wizard Seelain summoned an elemental sprit in the form of a twenty-foot whirlwind. It picked up debris from the street as it formed and caught up the downed axe and swordsmen. After spinning about for quarter of a minute, the whirlwind dashed the screaming, helpless men against the brick wall of a three-story apartment dwelling. They fell to the ground, broken.
“Up and ward the Grand Wizard,” I told Rin. I scanned the streets and rooftops while Wizard Seelain focused on directing the air creature she had summoned.
Rin didn’t move, watching in awe as the elemental sprit pursued and caught up the wounded ambushers. It carried them a hundred feet into the air before dissipating, leaving the men to fall, screaming until they broke upon the street.
I continued to watch for further enemies, especially the crossbowmen. Rin got to his feet, wide-eyed and duly impressed by Grand Wizard Seelain’s spell power. It had sapped much strength from her, especially to summon such a powerful elemental spirit so quickly. But her stance showed she had something left in reserve.
Seconds later a patrol of the king’s men came into view.
After a quick exchange between the patrol’s captain and Grand Wizard Seelain, a third of them sought after the crossbowmen while several gathered the bodies of the dead ambushers. The remaining soldiers escorted us the rest of the way to the palace. Rin shadowed my stride, relieved and grinning the entire way.