A Storm in the Desert: Dragonlinked Chronicles Voume 3 (10 page)

Aeron was again nodding to the guard near his door when shouts came from the east, from behind the stable. Three short whistle blasts revealed the reason: Fire. There hadn’t been a building fire in nearly a year. As the alarm repeated again, Guildmaster Millinith burst from the office.

She spied Aeron. “Let’s go!”

His brain finally reacted. He dropped his satchel and they ran around his dragon stable, the guards on their heels.

Across the street, the east loading stables were on fire. The blaze seemed to be concentrated on the stacked hay bales on the north side of the building but was starting to spread to the structure itself.

People were running over from everywhere. The stable hands, young girls and boys mostly, were leading horses from the stables to the road, and a bucket line was forming between the work sink at the other end of the long building and where the fire was.

As he watched the smoke and cinders rising high into the air, Aeron remembered hearing about fighting fire with sorcery. He didn’t know the spells, though, so he ran over to join Guildmaster Millinith in the bucket line. The guard, Ramsey, queued up behind him. Their other guard was in line two people behind him.

Buckets heavy with water came down the line, and Aeron grabbed them and passed them on. Within moments everyone was soaked from splashed water. He was soon freezing. His hands started to hurt after several hand-offs, as well. The wire metal handles were painful and clumsy for freezing hands. As the buckets reached the end of the line, three people there flung the water, two at the base of the fire, the other at the wooden parts of the building in an effort to keep the fire from spreading.

Master Doronal suddenly appeared. A woman Aeron didn’t know and a young man, Sorcerer Adept Louis, stood with him. They stared at the blaze a few seconds, then an enormous globe appeared centered on the fire. It was visible more by how it distorted the orange light and diverted the smoke than anything else. When the spell began, the fire had been silenced, though Aeron could see it continue to dance. Without the flame’s roar, the heavy breathing from those in the bucket line was now audible. Aeron stood with them, mutely watching.

The sphere began to shrink. The flames licked it’s inner surface but were contained within. As the nearly invisible orb continued to get smaller, the flames seemed to falter, flickering, sputtering, and growing feeble. By the time the sphere was half it’s original size, the flames had disappeared. Aeron watched as the three sorcerers maintained the sphere, ensuring the fire was well and truly dead.

He let out a sigh of relief and turned to smile at Ramsey.

Aeron!
Surprise and momentary fear came through the link.

Anaya?
A jab of pain shot through from her.
Anaya!

He is trying to kill me!
Surprise came through the link and then anger.

“Millinith! Master Doronal! Someone’s trying to kill Anaya!” He didn’t wait to see if he’d been heard. Grabbing the guard by the arm, he raced for the courtyard.
I’m coming!

As they ran along the side of his stable, he felt a pulse of magic get cut off. What was happening? Was someone from the Magic Craft Hall trying to hurt Anaya? It made no sense!

Rounding the corner, Aeron and the others stopped and stared. A man lay on the ground, unconscious. Anaya stood over him, growling.

“Where were you hurt? I felt pain.” Aeron ran to her and looked her over for any sign of injury or blood.

“The fire was a distraction.” Guildmaster Millinith’s eyes were narrowed.

My chin hit the ground. That is all. I am fine. I am angry, though, and confused. Why would someone want to hurt me?

“That’s a damn good question.” Aeron turned on the man. There was something familiar about him, but Aeron could figure out what it was. He was about to wake him with a kick when people came running up.

“Is that him?” Master Doronal and the two sorcerers stared at the man.

“Yes. I think I felt him using magic.” Aeron glanced at the man before looking back at Master Doronal.

“I don’t recognize him.” The master sorcerer turned to his assistants. “Do either of you?”

Louis shook his head. “No, sir.”

“Nether do I.” The woman tilted her head. “He does kind of look like those two dragonlinked girls from the South. Older, though.”

Aeron sucked in his breath. Of course! “A manis?” He stared at the man. His hair was of the same style. His skin coloration was the same as the girls, too. “Gods be good, Polandra was right.”

“Can Anaya tell you exactly what happened?” The Guildmaster stared at the tawny dragon.

I was half asleep when I felt someone near.
Anaya spoke in group, Aeron supposed, so they all could hear.
I opened my eyes and looked at the man. His emotions were tangled. Surprised to see me watching him, he took a step back. I stood and started walking to him. Then he cast a binding spell on me, locking my front legs to the ground. My forward motion made me fall, and my chin hit the ground. I felt pain. And anger. He was thinking about killing me. He had been the whole time, but he was conflicted. Seeing me bound, he approached. When he got close enough, I countered the binding spell. His surprise at that gave me a few seconds to attack. I swung my tail around for his head. He was casting another spell when my tail hit him, knocking him to the ground. Then you came.

“Thank you.” Guildmaster Millinith patted Anaya on the neck. She turned to the man. “As he is a sorcerer, we’ll need three binds on him.” She glanced at the crowd of people who’d gathered nearby. “Ramsey, you two keep the people back.”

The guards walked over to the milling crowd and started moving them behind the fences.

Millinith turned back to the man. “Master Doronal, could you, Louis, and Gwen do the honors?”

Master Doronal glanced at the two sorcerers and then at the unconscious man. “Of course. I’d like to get some answers from this manis myself.”

An angry roar came from above, drawing all eyes upward. Balam nearly flew into the ground in his haste, leaving deep claw marks where he landed.
Where is he? I will
eat
him!

You will not!
Anaya stepped between the furious dragon and the man on the ground
Calm yourself, Balam. I am fine. I
told
you that I am unhurt.

“She’s okay,” Aeron said. “She’s really okay.”

Balam, breathing heavily, almost panting in distress, looked from Aeron to Anaya. He gave out a scared chirp.

Anaya leaned toward him, touched his nose with hers, and chirped back.

With an exhalation of breath near to a whine, Balam lay his head on Anaya’s shoulder and wrapped her in his wings.

“Gwen, Louis, everyone, let’s get this man inside, quickly.” Master Doronal leaned down and grabbed one of the unconscious man’s arms.

“Not in my stable,” Aeron said. He glanced at the two dragons. “Renata’s rooms, for now.”

“Hmm. Good point.” Master Doronal nodded.

They had the man tied in a chair in Renata’s study in less than five minutes.

“You both have binds on him?” Master Doronal looked from Louis to Gwen. They nodded. “Good. Now, if he counters yours, just reapply. Standard sorcerer binding stuff. Though we’ve never had to use it here in the Caer.” He looked at Aeron. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Aeron clenched his jaws. In his left hand he gripped a wooden mallet used in leatherworking. The head was stiff leather, but was not soft at all. In his other hand was a large glass of water. He threw the cold water into the man’s face and set the glass down.

The man twitched and shook his head. He let out a moan.

“Hey.” Aeron slapped him. “Wake up.”

The man looked around the room, at the people, and back to Aeron. His eyes narrowed.

Aeron transferred the mallet to his right hand.

The man glanced at it, then back at Aeron.

“If you even think about using magic,” Aeron said, “we’ll know.” He smacked the head of mallet into his left hand. “If you try to remove the binding spells on you, we’ll know.” He smacked the mallet again. “If you lie to us, we’ll know.” Aeron studied the mallet. “Do any of those things and I will use this, sending you back to sleep for a while.”

Aeron leaned toward the man, close to his face. “I’m cold, wet, and angry. You tried to kill my dragon. My Anaya!” He had to take a moment, breathing heavily, to regain control of his voice. “I will not swing this lightly. Do you understand?”

The man nodded, never taking his eyes from Aeron.

“Now, the Guildmaster of the Dragon Craft Guild has a few questions for you. So, too, does our Master Sorcerer. And when they’re done, I may have a few myself. Do you understand?”

The man nodded.

“Good. Guildmaster?”

Millinith was seated to the man’s left. She studied his face. “What is your name?”

“Manis Stoltz.”

“You were sent to kill Anaya?”

Stoltz lowered his gaze. “The dragon, yes. But I also had another mission. A mission to—” He let out a breath.

“To . . . ?” Guildmaster Millinith’s eyes narrowed.

He looked at her. “To ask for your help.”

Aeron stood. “You expect us to believe that? Kill my dragon and ask us for help? Are you mad?”

“I–I know, it sounds . . .” He shook his head and lowered it. It seemed only the bindings kept his entire body from slumping in the chair. “How was I supposed to accomplish both tasks? Capu Cirtis gave me a mission, and then Nesch Takatin gave me another. Either mission alone could be successful, but I was doomed to fail one of them if I tried both.”

Master Doronal sat forward. “What were you supposed to ask us for help with?”

Stoltz looked up. “I was to ask, beg if I had to, for the dragon guild’s help in convincing more of the Order that dragons are not what Yrdra created. Many have come to believe that her evil creations are actually the foul creatures that have been killing people near the villages. I believe this, too, actually.”

Guildmaster Millinith frowned. “Then why kill Anaya? Why not ignore that mission and complete the other?”

Stoltz looked from her to the floor. “He spoke so quietly when he gave me the mission, but there was steel in his words. He told me that if I did not kill the dragon, then unimaginable things would be done to my little brother.”

“What?” Aeron stared at him.

“It’s a privilege to be selected for the Order. So, a month ago when my brother was chosen to join, everyone in my family was happy. Two of us had been selected. It was an incredible honor.” Stoltz looked at Aeron, face distorted with fear and worry. “He’s only eight!”

The manis closed his eyes. “The entire trip here I agonized over what to do. They’re both leaders in the Order. I couldn’t ignore one of the missions, could I? Even as I watched your dragon laying there, so peaceful, I debated.” He turned again to Aeron. “But he’s my baby brother.”

Aeron wanted to hurt him, beat him with the mallet, break his arms, his legs, his face.

His face. The misery reflected in his face was real.

Never having had a brother or a sibling of any kind, Aeron didn’t know exactly what the man was going through, but he did know how he felt about the threat to Anaya. What wouldn’t Aeron do to protect her? Could he really blame this man for trying to save his brother?

“You could have asked us to help you.” Aeron flung the mallet to the floor. It bounced and struck a wall. “I can forgive the rest, but you didn’t try hard enough.”

With defeat in his voice, Stoltz said, “You can’t help me.”

Master Doronal turned to Guildmaster Millinith. “We can spread a rumor that he died, was killed in his attack on Anaya.”

She nodded slowly. “Yes. People saw a slumped body being dragged into this building. That could work. We’ll have a stretcher brought and have him taken away under a shroud.”

Stoltz looked from one to the other. “I don’t understand.”

That was actually a great idea. “When the Order hears you’ve been killed,” Aeron said, “there will no longer be any reason to harm your brother.”

“You . . . you would do that for me?”

Master Doronal turned to the manis. “Make no mistake, you’ll be kept in gaol until we can verify your story. You tried to attack one of our people, after all.”

“But, I only attacked the dragon.”

“Exactly. Anaya is one of our people.”

“She’s just an ani—” His eyes grew large, and he searched the faces around him. “Who said that?”

Aeron knew who it had to have been.
What did you tell him?

I told him that I forgave him.

Aeron was astonished. In time, he might be able to. Maybe. But not yet, not right now. He turned to the manis. “Anaya is not ‘just an animal,’ Stoltz. No dragon is just an animal. Only
people
can forgive.”

The man drew a sharp breath. “It was s–she who said that?”

Master Doronal looked from Aeron to the manis. “Did Nesch Takatin explain how we were to meet him?”