Fate of the Forsworn
Chapter 15
Bait
Charl walked from the council chamber at a brisk pace, wanting to get back into the open air of Vroengard, even though her new mission would take her to, of all places, the Marna mountains. Recently, a seditious group had been terrorising the locals, using suspiciously advanced weaponry and a well trained cadre of magicians. Privately, she thought that sending only one Dragon Rider to such a group was taking them too lightly. Nerene was a formidable foe, but even dragons could be overcome. As she reached the open air, she caught sight of Nerene at their quarters, munching on a brace of snalgli. Already, the pearlescent dragon was saddled and Charl's bags were packed. Tucked into the back of the saddle was her long handled sword. She smiled as Nerene finished off her meal, silently thanking her dragon for sparing her the sight of eating meat. Although she had during the battle with the nightmare beasts, then it had been a matter of necessity. Now it was no longer compulsory to indulge in an animal's flesh, she had happily reverted to her usual diet of plants and other foods. Nerene turned to look at her Rider as Charl approached, and flexed her wings in preparation for flight. Charl climbed up to sit in the saddle and had barely finished buckling her legs into the straps when Nerene leapt into the air, her massive wings beating deeply. Charl swayed slightly but kept a tight hold as her dragon finished gaining altitude and began to fly to the east. Behind them, the noise of Vroengard diminished as they passed over the easternmost point of the island and began to journey over the open sea. Charl reached into one of Nerene's saddlebags and pulled out a scroll detailing everything the group had been seen with. Most of the weapons were fairly basic, but mounted wheeled ballistae were something new entirely. She thought for a long time as to the best method to defeat such weapons when Nerene's mind touched her own.
With any luck at all, these raiders will panic and disperse once they see us. How many men will not lose heart at the sight of a dragon? This mission will be simple, Charl.
Charl gave a half-hearted smile as she replaced the scroll in her saddlebags.
"I daresay the Rider Council thought eliminating those monsters was a simple task too. Look what that almost cost us. There has to be more to this than we can see."
Nerene was silent as they travelled over the open water. As the afternoon wore on, the western shoreline of Alagaesia came into view. Broken forest was the primary terrain, dotted with small ponds here and there. Birds flew up from the trees in panic as Nerene approached. The pearlescent dragon snorted and flew higher, going into a shallow dive to save energy. For hours, neither dragon nor rider spoke as the day wore on. As the sun began to set, their temporary destination came into sight. Laid out on the plains below was the village of Yazuac. Charl gently touched Nerene's mind, and the pearlescent dragon landed near the outskirts. Yawning, Nerene kneaded the dirt beneath her to make herself comfortable.
Go find your lodgings, my Rider. But if any human so much as...
Charl smiled and placed her right hand on Nerene's side.
"I'm certain I'll be fine. Besides, we're a long way from trouble."
I believe you said something similar before Master Vrael sent us to slay those monstrosities Niev discovered.
"Yes, but here there are no such beasts. I'm certain I'll be fine."
Nerene snorted and began to doze. Shaking her head, Charl walked into the village, heading for the tavern. As she approached the doors, a group of four men looked up at her from where they stood. By their very posture Charl could tell they meant trouble, and she hastily unsheathed her soot-stained dagger, her eyes narrowing.
"I have no wish to start a fight. Move."
The men laughed. One spoke up in a surprisingly high voice for a man of his years and stature.
"Hear that, the little woman wants to be left alone! Well this is our village, and in this village, warriors do as they please. And we are warriors."
An assortment of weapons appeared in the mens' hands. Sighing, Charl mentally woke Nerene to ask for her intervention. Mere moments later, a jet of white fire illuminated the twilight, followed by a loud roar. Two of the men dropped their weapons and fled, whilst the other two flanked Charl. Unable to keep both in her line of sight more than peripherally, Charl flung her blackened knife at one of the men and wrested the short sword from the other before he quite knew what had happened. She glowered at them both and pointed to the way out of town.
"Get out of my sight."
Soon enough, Charl was walking to the tavern again, having destroyed the weapons and reassured Nerene that she was alright. Entering the tavern, the sounds of merriment and singing assailed her ears. Mentally making a note to cover her ears to avoid drawing unwanted attention, Charl approached the bar and spoke to the bartender, who was fortunately available.
"Do you have any rooms for the night?"
The man nodded and spoke in a thick accent.
"Shure do. That'll be firty gold coins, ma'am."
Charl reached into her coin pouch and paid the man, and was soon shown to her room. She did her best to keep her expression neutral as sounds of carnal gratification came from one of the rooms near hers. The room was tiny, with enough room for a bed, a table and a small window. She entered her room and promptly opened the window to let out the smells of the tavern and let in the night air. Taking several deep breaths, Charl disrobed and climbed into bed. Within moments of touching the mattress she was sound asleep.
Just prior to dawn, Charl woke with a start. A stench of smoke wafted to her, and in seconds she was awake and pulling on her red dress and black boots. She coughed as she scooped up her few belongings, and kicked at the door. It opened readily enough, showing the extent of the damage. An inferno blazed behind the bar, and so far nobody seemed aware of it. Muttering a spell to keep the smoke away from her, she inhaled and yelled at the top of her voice.
"EVERYONE, WAKE UP! THERE'S A FIRE!"
The tavern owners rushed down from the second floor and out the front door before Charl could do more than blink. Taking hold of her knife, she picked the locks and then voiced a spell to make the nails for the door hinges fall out, letting the doors open. Unfortunately, in all of the rooms, the occupants were already dead. Belatedly, Charl remembered that in fires, most people died long before the flames ever reached them. Deciding to make sure everyone was indeed dead, Charl searched the rooms, when the sound of coughing reached her. Her pulse racing, Charl hastily searched for the lone survivor even as the flames tore upstairs. In moments, she saw him; a small boy no older than seven with straw-coloured hair. He looked at her in fear, reaching out to her with a small, grubby hand. Pushing her way into the room, Charl took his hand and pulled him upright, muttering another spell that would enable the child to breathe clean air as well. She scooped the boy onto her back, kicked open the window, and leapt into the street below, the child giving a yell of fright. Already a crowd had gathered to look at the mess, among them the four men who had threatened Charl the night before. Letting go of the boy, she turned her attention to the burning building, and began to chant. Drawing on all the moisture in the soil for fifty metres around was a colossal task, but within seconds, much of the blaze had subsided. Suddenly Charl found herself in the dirt, the back of her head throbbing with pain. One of the men who had threatened her stood over her with a short club. As he made to strike her again, the boy Charl had rescued ran at him and punched him in the groin. Wincing, the man turned his wrath on the child. A solid blow knocked the boy to the ground, despite protesting cries from the villagers. As the man raised his club to strike the boy again, Nerene appeared, snarling ferociously enough to terrify anyone. She roared as Charl began to stir.
ENOUGH! My Rider has saved your building, and risked her own life to preserve this hatchling, and you condemn her? The arrogance!
Charl sat up, groaning slightly. The boy looked from Nerene to the man who had struck him, and scuttled over to Charl, cowering behind her.
If it were not for the fact there are children amongst you, I would slay these murderous scum myself and spare you the trouble of tolerating them. However, I shall punish them here and now.
Nerene's eyes seemed to shine, and the men who had threatened Charl collapsed to their knees, screaming. After perhaps half a minute, Nerene let up her mental torture and loped over to her bruised Rider.
Get on my back, these peasants are thinking of revenge.
Charl nodded and stood up. Before she could mount Nerene, she felt a tug on her dress. Looking down, she saw it was the boy she had saved.
"Can I come with you? There's no-one here for me now."
Even as he spoke, the child burst into tears. Charl picked up the boy and mounted Nerene, thinking back to how Niev had found Caryn in a smiliar fashion. The boy looked at Nerene in utter terror, and grabbed Charl around the waist with surprising strength. Charl sighed and turned to the orphan.
"Listen, I'll take you with me, but you have to let me breathe. Let go a little. Nerene has never dropped anyone yet."
The boy trembled.
"But she'll eat me."
Charl smiled and ruffled his singed hair affectionately. The pearlescent dragon looked back at her extra passenger, a twinkle in her eye.
I am not so hungry I will eat little humans. Hold still, child.
The boy held on tight as Nerene took off, his eyes widening at the realisation he was flying. Charl smiled reassuringly at the boy, silently wondering what to do now. Although the boy's weight would not slow Nerene down, she could hardly take a seven year old child with her to root out the raiders. Thinking hard, she barely noticed the day go by. Mostly, the child was quiet, humming tunes to himself and once or twice risking a glance at the ground below. Around mid afternoon, he turned to look at Charl.
"Can we land please? I have to pee."
Charl smiled.
"Very eloquently put. Ok, hold on a minute."
Charl relayed his request to Nerene, and soon they were on the ground. The boy hurried behind a tree to relieve himself, leaving Charl to stretch. Nerene gave herself a shake and yawned widely. Charl looked over at her dragon.
"You're not tired are you? I realise we've been flying since before sunrise."
Nerene turned to look at her with one white eye.
Do not worry, I am not fatigued. But this child puts us in a tricky spot. Maybe we should see if Niev can look after him. We're fairly close to Gil'ead, and it's hardly out of our way.
Charl nodded silently.
"I just hope he doesn't take it the wrong way, us dropping him off with some stranger. And after those monsters almost killed you, there are now two Dragon Riders at Gil'ead. Even if he takes to Niev, there's no..."
A scream of agony cut Charl off. Seizing her long handled sword, she ran to where the boy had gone. As she approached she heard a loud hissing. As she rounded the tree she quickly took stock of the situation. Sprawled on the dirt was the boy, and not two feet away from him was a large snake. Blood showed on his leg where he'd been bitten. Charl lunged with her sword, missing the snake by a mere inch, and then flicked it a good dozen metres away. The boy was breathing fast, a look of terror on his face. As Charl made to pick him up, mentally summoning Nerene, he began to talk.
"I was just peeing and then the s-s-snake b-b-bit me."
He began to tremble violently. Charl cursed as the child's convulsions got worse. She ran through her vocabulary of the Ancient Language, and took a deep breath.
"Hold on for me. Take my hand."
The boy wrapped his hand around hers with surprising strength for one so young. Nerene began to channel energy into her Rider as Charl spoke the spell to draw out the poison. Merely healing the puncture wounds would not save the child.
"Adurna doku."
At first, the only thing that happened was Charl began to tire. Then, ever so slowly, two thin strands of venom rose from the wounds to fall in the ground. The boy panted and gasped as the poison was drawn from his blood. After perhaps a minute, no more poison came forth. Charl ended the spell and murmured, "Waise heil," to repair the wounds. The boy looked at his leg in wonder, and then smiled brightly up at Charl. Charl smiled back and carried him to Nerene, who lay down to allow them to mount quicker. Minutes later they were flying over Lake Isenstar, which prompted a cry of delight from the boy. For nearly half an hour, the three traveled in silence. Without warning, a loud roar shook them from their reverie. A titanic splash sounded, prompting an irate snort from Nerene. Suddenly, a large red dragon erupted from beneath the water, several fish grasped in his talons. Charl gave a smile as she recognised the dragon.
"Kyvoster, of course."
The boy looked at her.
"Who's Kyvoster?"
Charl explained about her fellow Rider and dragon as Kyvoster noticed them. Turning towards Gil'ead, he flew off slowly, allowing Nerene to catch up. Soon, they were all around a bonfire. Niev was roasting several fish for Kyvoster, who dropped his fresh catch and crouched near the flames, his tail twitching with youthful excitement, despite the fact he was almost a century old. Approaching from the city itself was another dragon, blue in colour. As Nerene watched the other dragon, she gave a roar of excitement. Charl looked up as she dismounted and waved at the newcomer.
"Arareal, Jess, I had no idea you two were stationed out here!"
Jess walked up to Charl, her eyes on the young boy.
"We were dispatched out here to reinforce Gil'ead in case more of those strange monsters are still around. Who's the boy?"
Charl turned to where the boy was looking in open awe at Arareal. She smiled as she called him over.
"I pulled this little guy out of a fire in Yazuac. We stopped here in the hope Niev would look after him, or maybe someone else in Gil'ead."
Jess turned her gaze on the boy. Slowly he looked away from the blue dragoness and met the eyes of her Rider. He gave a timid smile, edging closer to Charl as he did so.
"I'm Peter from Yazuac. Your dragon is very beautiful."
Jess continued to stare at the boy. Peter's smile faded as the Rider looked at him, and then finally smiled slightly in return.
"Thank you. Charl, we have enough room in the keep for this youngster. What exactly does he have?"
"You're looking at it. Peter left Yazuac with literally just the clothes on his back. Everything else he had was burned in a fire at the tavern there."
Jess looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding once.
"Rest assured, we'll take good care of him. Come, Peter."
Behind them, Nerene was doing her utmost to take a portion of Kyvoster's fish. The hybrid dragon was having none of it, however, and jealously defended his small pile of cleaned and seasoned fish steaks. Nerene gave a surprisingly high-pitched whine, prompting Charl and Jess to look at her and Kyvoster. Niev was sat near the fire, his eyes focused on a shallow bowl of water. Jess coughed loudly enough to pull him out of his reverie.
"Niev, tell Kyvoster to share some of his food. Nerene's flown a long way."
Niev's eyes flicked from Arareal to Jess quickly before the older Rider sighed in defeat.
"Kyvoster, share please."
Snarling, the red dragon shoved a small number of fish steaks to one side, his tail flicking slowly. Before anyone could voice an objection, he gulped down the few he had pushed aside and stalked off, his blue eyes glittering. Charl looked at Kyvoster's retreating form in surprise.
"What's wrong with him? I know he likes to gorge himself, but he's never objected to sharing before."
Before Jess could talk, Niev spoke up.
"Master Vrael sent the..." He looked at Peter guardedly, then carried on, "Of Ty'roc here. It seems my father's dragon doesn't approve of some of Kyvoster's choices."
Charl looked between both Riders in confusion.
"What's Kyvoster done that's so wrong?"
Jess looked about to speak, but said nothing in the end. Niev made no move to talk, but eventually he acquiesed.
"A wild dragon challenged Kyvoster last week. They fought over some of his kills, and Kyvoster blinded the dragon in her left eye. Soon, we have to go and seek out this dragon. It's only because of Master Vrael this dragon hasn't descended on Gil'ead with her entire pack. Most of the Rider Council are furious with what Kyvoster did. He and Sarrarra getting close hasn't exactly helped matters."
Jess beckoned to Peter, who timidly approached the stoic Rider. After bidding Charl farewell, after demanding that she come to visit after her mission was over, Jess, Peter and Arareal left for Gil'ead. Nerene mentally summoned Charl, leaving Niev by himself. Kyvoster had taken to the air and was nowhere to be seen. Charl called goodbye to the older Rider, but Niev was so deep in his meditative state he didn't respond.
As night fell, a large circle of lights became visible on the near-horizon. Nerene began to fly lower to land when several things happened all at once. A piercing scream, like that of the Fanghur in the Beor Mountains, rent the air, almost dislodging Charl. She clapped a hand to her ears, thankful her eardrums had not shattered. Even as Nerene shook her head to clear the sound from her ears, a massive javelin shot seemingly out of nowhere, piercing the pearlescent dragon through her flank. Roaring in pain, Nerene soon spotted the offender and spat a jet of white fire. It was an attack only a dragon could do, and one that should have incinerated the wheeled ballista to ash in seconds. But two metres from the machine, the flames winked out of existence. Snarling, Nerene dived to crush the machine with physical force, when another barbed lance pierced her side, very close to where the nightmare beast had hurled a rock at her. Charl cried out in shared pain as Nerene fell from the sky and the world went black.