Dragons of Summer Tide (The Dragons of Hwandor) (23 page)

“Oh, you do? Well, that is interesting.” The mage smiled at the magistrate. “And you demand this because magic isn’t real. And you want to see magic to prove that true mages live in the tower. Well, we are not circus conjurers here to do tricks to entertain you. The tower houses mages with serious studies and research to do. If you have not seen enough, then come to the tower and I’m sure that we can demonstrate magic to your satisfaction. Will anything else be required of us?” 

The magistrate looked a bit dazed for a moment and then recomposed himself and looked at his sleeping guards and the ashes of the paper and then responded with. “No that will be all, thank you for coming in to settle this matter. The forfeiture is rescinded.”

“Very good,” said Partonius. “I’m so pleased that we could clear up all of this confusion.” As the wizard spoke, the chair in which he was sitting gently settled to the floor and he rose to stand. He turned to walk away and after a coupe of steps he stopped and spoke without turning to look back. “Magistrate, my time is of great value; I have my research and will be teaching some new apprentices. In the future if you wish to speak with me you will come to the tower yourself; no constables bringing notes. Yourself, and you will make an appointment and I will see you in my own time. Good day.” With that said, the mage walked from the building and back into the street accompanied by a boy with a bird on his shoulder.

After walking a few paces out of earshot of the crowd still standing dumbfounded in and around the building the mage quietly spoke to the boy. “That was fun, I have studied these spells all of my life and now I can use them. I have always wondered what that would feel like.”

“I think that the magistrate is angry now,” said Jolss.

“Yes, very angry,” Partonius responded. “He is angry, very confused and afraid. His idea of the world was just changed. This will serve our purposes. He will not try to interfere with the tower any time soon.”

“So do we walk around the city like we did this morning?” The boy asked.

“Nope, we walk directly to the tower like we have business there,” answered the mage. “It is all about image and appearance.” After a pause the old mage continued. “Actually I have one stop to make, I want to hire a crier to walk the town tomorrow announcing that we will be testing potential new apprentices starting in a sevenday. You go on ahead and return to the tower. Take a left onto the next cross street and walk down a few blocks and you will see the tower. I will be along shortly.”

As the mage angled his path toward one of the nearby shops the boy continued along the route described to him. As he turned the corner he did not notice that there was a stranger walking along looking at him.

Dinmael had returned quickly with a search party. He had actually found them not far from the city. He now had nine men out searching for the youths with the dragons. He had returned in a single day and yet the two men who had been left to keep an eye on the dragons had both been killed so Dinmael had no idea where the dragons were but he was certain that they were somewhere in this barbarian city. He just needed to keep sipping this sickening tea and walking about until he saw them or one of the search team reported a sighting. Soon enough he would be a hero of the empire and certainly made a noble and promoted to a high rank in the army. He would be the man who captured a dragon for the Emperor.

As Dinmael walked along watching the people around him he suddenly saw a boy step right into the street in front of him, and turn toward him coming from a cross street. There on the boy’s shoulder sat a little tiny baby dragon about the size of a bird. The boy was walking right at him Dinmael struggled to maintain his composure and let the boy pass by him. Dinmael turned to look at the pots in a market stall as if he were interested in buying something and he watched from the corner of his eye as the boy walked quickly away. The foreigner then turned to start back up the street following his quarry. He glanced across the street to see that his new partner had not noticed that Dinmael had turned around and started back the way they had come. The partner had been walking the other side of the street as they searched in a pair. Dinmael had no intention of sharing any credit with a partner and potential competitor so he quietly kept moving away from the partner. Luckily the afternoon was reaching the mid point and the traffic on the streets was getting thinner.  Dinmael would get close to the boy and the dragon. Then when they passed an alleyway he would push the boy in and throw a little net over the dragon and make quick work of the boy with a dagger and sneak out of this city and head for home.

*****

Jolss saw the tower ahead but just to be safe he would walk in the shadows across the street just long enough to make sure that it was safe to cross to the tower. Soon he would be back with his friends and tell them all about the day. Just slow down a bit in the shadows of the inn across the way from the tower and watch for a little while.

Garisa noticed the orphan walking in the shadows all alone and right toward her. With a silly bird on his shoulder. Years of hard living had taught Garissa that sometimes opportunity just has to be grabbed and taken as soon as you see it. Keeping back in the shadows with her face turned slightly away she watched the boy from the corner of her eye as he neared the opening of the narrow alleyway beside the inn. The child was so intent on watching the tower across the street that he did not notice the woman watching him. The boy stepped into the deeper shadows of the alley and stopped for a moment looking at the tower building across the street. In a single motion she drew her dagger and stepped off of the porch nearly on top of the boy striking him with the pommel of her dagger as she swept his now limp body into the alley ahead of her. The warrior woman quickly returned her dagger to her belt and lifted the boy up over her shoulder. The little bird that had been riding on the shoulder of the boy came right at her face screeching and clawing at her. With her now free hand she swatted at the odd little bird and felt her hand connect. The bird tumbled from the air onto the ground near the street at the front of the alley where it lay without moving. Garisa quickly carried the orphan toward the back of the alley. She could easily enough move through the alleyways of the city to get to the docks where she knew an old warehouse and a few unseemly characters.  

*****

Dinmael walked along keeping himself just a short distance behind the boy and dragon. Far enough that the boy would not notice that he was being followed but close enough that the man could strike when a good opportunity presented itself. The man smiled as he noticed that the boy was heading to one side of the street and starting to slow down and walk in the shadows and would soon be right in front of a narrow alleyway.  Dinmael quickened his own pace so that he could get close to the boy. As the boy passed in front of the alleyway and came to a stop looking at something across the street the man knew that this was his chance and he prepared to strike. Suddenly a person stepped down off of the porch in front of the inn and struck the boy while pushing him into the alley.  Dinmael quickened his own pace and drew his dagger. He had searched hard for this dragon and nobody was going to take it from him, especially one of these local barbarians. The man saw something bounce and roll on the ground at the opening of the alley, but in the shadows he could not be sure what it was. Besides that he had someone to kill. As Dinmael turned the corner to look into the alley he saw that the boy was being carried over the shoulder of and oddly familiar looking person. They were headed deeper into the alley and moving away quickly. The man glanced down to see what had landed on the ground at the front of the alley and there he saw the baby dragon. He looked back down the alley as the person carrying the boy turned a corner and was gone. Dinmael chuckled to himself when he realized that the person had wanted the boy and had not had any idea that the pet bird was actually a baby dragon.

Quietly, the man looked around making sure that nobody had noticed anything. As he looked around he also produced a small net from his pocket, he opened the net and gently dropped over the baby dragon. Casually the man bent and picked up the net and the dragon and slipped the bundle under his cloak which he then pulled a little forward over his left shoulder. He stood for a moment checking to see if the dragonet was still alive and when he could feel it breathing under his arm he smiled. Dinmael heard a hissing sound above him and he looked up to see the shape of another small dragon high above him sitting on the edge of the roof of the inn; a small dragon with green eyes aglow with anger. Now, he needed to get to a dry gods store to buy a nice strong cloth grain sack and then to get to the stables where the horses are being kept and to get out of this city without being noticed by any of the others. If what he had been told when he was sent to hunt for these dragons is true; a simple string of this special plant which the ropes and nets were made from was all that was needed to make a dragon weak and manageable. The string just had to be tied around the neck or leg of the beast.

By late afternoon Dinmael was out of the city and on the road heading west with two good riding horses and a sturdy pack mule. The dry goods store had provided a strong cloth sack and plenty of supplies for the journey back to the Empire. The baby dragon was safely secured in the sack with a twine from the special fibre tied around its neck and another piece of the twine tied around its leg just to be sure. The journey should take well over two months to get through the mountains in good weather but with winter coming on it could take several months with the snow that was coming. Dinmael knew that he would have to occasionally avoid other soldiers of the
empire and that meant moving along the lesser used trails and through the wilds. As long as he continued west he would eventually find the lands of the Empire. He had made sure to get plenty of hunting arrows and blankets and his pack horse was loaded with supplies. But becoming a hero of the empire will make all of the hardship well worth it. The soldier did not notice that high above him in the air flew a tiny speck keeping pace with him and watching.

*****

Garrisa easily passed through the city with no person really giving noticing that anything was amiss. When she needed to move across a street or any place where eyes would notice her she simply carried the boy in her arms and appeared to be a woman carrying her sleeping child. A child that was, perhaps, too big to be carried in that fashion but people simply thought that maybe the child was ill or afflicted in some way. The woman was armed and looked tough but even warrior women can have children so there was nothing to cause any concern to anyone as she passed with her child. As a sometime thief the woman had become an expert at moving around without being noticed; it was easy enough if you just appeared to be going about your business and to know what your business was. Within an hour she had deposited the still deeply sleeping boy in a storage warehouse among sacks of grain and she had paid a small amount of coin to a man who would keep the boy there for three days. She had told them man to then deal with the child however he wanted, keep him, sell him or throw him in the river.

She went back to the inn and collected her belongings and slipped out without settling her account. She stopped a street urchin and handed the girl a small coin and a note to deliver to the tower. The little girl would deliver the note after the child had slowly counted to one hundred as instructed. Garisa quickly ducked around a corner and headed for a busy stable where she knew that she had a good chance of getting two horses for a decent price; perhaps if things go very well she might get the horses for free. Soon the woman had her two horses and she was headed out of the north gate of Dealt.

*****

Only a few minutes after the scene at the alleyway beside the inn Partonius turned the corner onto the street and could see the tower ahead of him and he smiled because the day had been perfect and in a moment he would be home and he could rest. As the old wizard walked up to the door he remembered the feeling of the watcher from the morning and realized that he could not feel anyone watching. Partonius thought to himself that whoever had been watching was gone, at least for a while and perhaps that meant that whoever he was he had gone away or maybe he was working alone and could not keep a constant watch. Time would tell as it usually does; patience and observation often reveal the truth. 

As Partonius entered the door of the tower he noticed that nobody was in the main hall though he could hear voices coming from a distance. Making his way to the back of the building he found Veer, Shira and Cyerant sitting in the large kitchen talking. As the old man approached he could hear that the conversation was about leaving Deelt and heading south to the capitol of the kingdom, Verat City.  Then the old man entered the kitchen and he had a big smile across his face as he spoke. “Hello my young friends, today has been a perfect day and everything has gone famously. Our city is afire with news that magic is restored and soon we will have apprentices at the tower once again. And that troublesome new magistrate as been put in his place and shan’t soon try to bully the mages of the tower again. But I’m sure that young Jolss has already told you about our day.”

“Where is Daralce?” Cyerant asked while peering around the old mage into the hallway behind the man.

“He should be here already. I sent him along ahead of me a short time ago as I needed to stop and take care of a small matter.” The mage began to look concerned. “Stupid, stupid, stupid….. How very stupid of me. I should never have let the child out of my sight.”

Veer shouted. “What – where – how long ago?” Without waiting for an answer to any of his questions the young man headed for the door. “I’m going to go find him.” As Veer made for the door there came the sound of an angry dragon from the back garden. And then a thud as something large hit the closed back door leading from the back garden to the kitchen of the tower. Drace could be heard sounding a rumbling growl deep in his chest as he pushed against the door.

“Veer, stop,” said Cyerant. “At least wait for me. We’ll go together.”

“Veer, you have to calm down.” Shira said stepping in front of the large young man putting her hand on his chest. The diminutive girl was so small and bird like compared to the broad shouldered young man – but there was firmness in her voice.

“Calm down – calm down!” Veer yelled as he turned away from the girl and slammed his fist down on the table which collapsed under the blow as if a large stone had fallen upon it. At this same moment there came a heavy strike against the garden door which gave way to a roaring and angry dragon the size of the largest of dogs. Drace sprang into the room looking around and roaring as though searching for the creature that had made him so angry.

Everyone in the room seemed stunned for a moment by the force of the angry dragon. Shira stepped up to Veer again and put her hand on his shoulder. The young man tuned his eyes to the girl who could see the anger burning there. Shira just held her gaze on the eyes of the angry young man and ignored the angry dragon growling behind her. After a moment she began to speak softly. “Veer, take a deep breath. You need to calm yourself or Drace is going to bring the whole city down on us. The poor dragon doesn’t even know what he is angry about. Jolss told you that the tales in the book say that the hardest part of being bonded with a war dragon is controlling anger. We have to calm down and we have to think, so that we can come up with a plan.”

“She is right my boy,” Partonius said. “We must think this thing through first. Besides you do not know the city and so searching it properly is impossible for you. By now whoever has taken the boy will not be found on the streets with him. He was taken for a reason and we must figure out that reason to know with whom we are dealing.” As the old man spoke both Corth and Cyool came in through the broken door and were followed by the non-bonded little dragons.

“Your meals sir,” sounded the voice of a child from the doorway. Everyone turned to see a very confused looking boy standing in the doorway holding a tray with a covered platter on it. The poor boy was obviously disturbed by the site of the broken table in the middle of the kitchen. The presence of a yearling colt and four dogs seemed a bit odd to him also.