Hatch (The Dragons Of Laton) (19 page)

Theo placed his mug down and stretched. “It’s time to move while Kyle’s nephew is guarding the gate. The sooner we leave the city the better our chances will be. I’m supposed to meet Boris first thing in the morning at a clearing outside the city to give him an update.
I never expected we would have achieved so much this quickly though!”

Kyle patted the gold scale in his pocket. “I’m coming with you. It’s my duty now.”

Theo raised his eyebrows. “Kyle you can’t do that, it’s too dangerous! If we’re caught…”

The innkeeper’s face saddened. “I have no reason to stay anymore. Since Tirate took control of the city an honest man like me can’t make a living. Besides, I’ve already made arrangements for anyone still loyal to King Erik to meet elsewhere.”

Theo sighed. “Alright. Perhaps it’s best this way. You can introduce us to your nephew at the gates.”

Kyle’s face beamed as he followed them out the door and into the shadows on the street.

***

The gate was brightly lit with lanterns, and Ammon nervously tightened the sackcloth around his stomach that covered Fulgid. The little dragon’s shiny new scales would reflect the slightest bit of light like a mirror and that would be sure to attract unwanted attention.

As they neared the gate a loud voice shouted “Hold! Who comes?”

There were three guards at the gate, one of them the large man Ammon had bumped into the first time he sneaked out of the city.

Theo’s hand slipped cautiously to the knife at his belt, and Kyle hissed. “Wait! It’s okay, he’s my nephew!”

The big guard held his hand up to the others, his deep voice was gruff. “I’ll handle ‘em.” As he got closer, his red eyes seemed to glow in the dim light. He placed a large hand on each hip, leaned down, and smiled, showing two rows of uneven teeth through his thick silver beard. He spoke softly so only they could hear. “What are you doing here, Uncle Kyle?”

Kyle had to tilt his head all the way back to look up at the man. “Derek, we need to leave the city tonight. Right now!”

Derek shook his head. “Tirate ordered us locked down, nobody in or out. He even tripled the guard as you can see.” He jerked his thumb at the two men behind him. “I’m sorry uncle, you’ll have to wait until they find whoever they’re looking for.”

Kyle shook his head. “You don’t understand, Derek! We are the ones they’re looking for!”

A voice behind Derek made Ammon’s back stiffen. “What do they want, Derek? Send ‘em home, we got our orders! The gates are closed until Tirate says so!”

Both guards were standing directly behind Derek, trying to peer around his bulk into the shadows where Ammon and the rest stood.

One of the guards held a lantern up, illuminating Ammon’s face. “Say, you kinda look like the one they described! Blond hair, blue eyes, ‘cept you ain’t skinny enough.”

Now suspicious, the other guard held his lantern up to Shane. “Hey! Ain’t you the old man from the warehouse! We got a warrant for your arrest!”

Both men drew their swords and positioned themselves in front of Derek. One leveled his sword at Ammon’s belly and sneered. “Give it up boy or I’ll stick you with this! Tirate won’t care if you is dead or alive!”

Ammon stepped back and the guard followed, stabbing his sword into Ammon’s abdomen. The blade barely pierced the sackcloth before it suddenly stopped with the tip almost touching Ammon’s skin.

The man pulled back on the sword and frowned when it stuck. With a grunt, he grabbed the handle with both hands and yanked hard. The sword came free with a loud crunch, and he stumbled back, his eyes wide as he stared at the missing tip of the sword. Stunned, he looked down at Ammon’s belly as several shards of steel were suddenly spit out the hole in the cloth.

The color drained from his face as he stammered, “Demon…! Ghost!”

The guard turned and ran face first into Derek who very calmly thumped him over the head with a massive fist. The broken sword clattered to the ground as the man crumpled in a heap. With surprising speed, Derek lunged at the other guard and plucked the sword from his hand before rendering him unconscious too.

Kyle picked up one of the lanterns. “Derek, I’m sorry to get you involved in this but we have to leave the city before they find us! Can you get us out?”

Derek shrugged as he walked to the gate. “Sure.”

Effortlessly, he reached up, slid the large beam off of its braces and opened the gate wide enough for them to slip through. Derek came through last, carrying the beam on his shoulder. With one huge hand, he pushed the door closed and wedged it shut with the beam.

Kyle lowered the flame in the lantern until it barely emitted any light. None of them said a word until they were well into the woods.

Kyle spoke quietly. “Derek, you don’t need to come with us. If you do you’ll be a hunted man too!”

Derek’s laugh sounded like rolling thunder. “I don’t mind. Besides, I didn't like those men.”

Kyle chuckled. “Derek, you’re a gem! Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!”

Derek frowned at Ammon as they walked. His deep voice rumbled. “I saw you get stabbed, are you okay?”

Ammon patted the sack covering Fulgid and nodded as Kyle burst out laughing.

***

The road dwindled to little more than a rough path, and the worsening terrain made traveling in the dark slow and tedious. Ammon's ankle was throbbing painfully by the time Theo led them to the edge of a small clearing. The stars were still faintly visible as the sky gradually lightened from black to lavender. Grateful for a chance to rest, Ammon leaned back against the trunk of a fallen tree while Kyle rummaged through the basket and passed out portions of food.

Ammon ate half and set the rest aside for when Fulgid awoke. The little dragon had slept most of the trip beneath the sackcloth with only an occasional snore that caused confused looks from Derek. The big man sat on the ground away from everyone and Ammon watched him uneasily. Despite Kyle's assurances and his assistance escaping from the city, Ammon still wasn't ready to trust him.

Fulgid stirred against his belly and a sensation of hunger suddenly oozed from the bubble in his mind. He looked down at the hole in the sackcloth and saw a single golden eye peering up expectantly. He dropped a bit of food into the hole and felt the dragon move as he wolfed it down. Smiling, he looked up to see Derek’s astonished eyes staring at him in amazement. Desperately trying to hide their amusement, the others watched as Derek’s thick fingers twisted into his beard in confusion.

Once the scraps were gone, Fulgid decided to crawl out of the sackcloth and investigate his surroundings. With a yawn, the little dragon slowly emerged and stretched. The first few rays of the rising sun reflected off his scales and bathed them all in shower of light.

Derek whistled softly, his face awash in wonder. “So that’s why you didn’t get hurt!”

The three men broke into hysterical laughter and even Ammon chuckled. Wiping a tear from his eye, Kyle patted the big man on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry nephew, I guess I should have told you, but it was much more fun to watch you tie your brain in a knot!”

Still awestruck, Derek shrugged and held out a bit of sausage. Without hesitation Fulgid leapt from Ammon’s lap and jumped into the palm of the massive hand before happily gobbling the morsel down.

Derek’s face broke into a childish grin as the dragon licked the grease from his fingers.

"He likes me!"

Amused, Ammon watched as Fulgid removed all traces of food from Derek's hand, then wandered off to explore. At the far edge of the clearing he was enthusiastically digging up a small bush when he suddenly became alert, swiveling his ears wildly. With speed almost too quick for the eye to follow,
he raced towards them. In the back of Ammon’s mind the tiny bubble sprang to life with its clear golden voice ringing like chimes.

“Ammon! Ammon! Ammon!”

With a graceful leap, he jumped into Ammon’s arms and stretched his neck towards the northern sky. Moments later the shadow of a black dragon appeared over them, followed by two more. They each circled once before landing roughly in the meadow, their talons ripping the ground in large gashes as they struggled to slow themselves.

Boris shouted from his saddle. “Hurry! Tirate’s men are coming just beyond the next rise! Ammon, you come with me!”

Ammon limped across the field with Fulgid clinging tightly to his shirt and climbed up behind Boris. He had no sooner settled himself into the saddle when Boris signaled Ellis to fly. Ammon gripped the edge of the saddle so tight his knuckles turned white, and one by one, they leaped into the sky. He looked over his shoulder and saw a group of men pulling a small wagon loaded with some sort of mechanism. One man was frantically turning a crank on the side, but they quickly faded from sight as Ellis gained altitude and headed north.

A few minutes later Boris turned in the saddle to look at Fulgid, then at Ammon.

“Welcome back! I thought we’d lost you for good! I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have left you behind, but I hadn’t expected them to be looking for us so soon.”

Ammon smiled. That was the second apology he'd gotten from Boris. “I guess I need more practice with that sword.”

Boris laughed so loud that Ellis twisted his head to look back at him. “Boy, it helps to have your sword in your hand, not in your tent if you expect to make use of it!” He looked back at Fulgid and raised an eyebrow. “How is he?”

Ammon scratched the little dragon behind the ear and Fulgid arched his neck. “He’s fine! He’s eating, moving around and even …shedding!” Reaching into the bag Theo had given him, he pulled out a handful of the golden scales.

Boris raised both eyebrows this time. “By my dragons teeth…!” Looking back at Ammon he frowned slightly, “and the link? Has it finally formed?”

With a broad smile Ammon pointed towards his head. “I can hear him in my head now!”

Boris tilted his head. “You can sense him now? Good! Then the link is complete!” He turned to face forward again. “Times are changing Ammon. We’ll need every dragon and every man if we are to survive.”

***

Ammon helped Boris strip the saddle off Ellis after they landed, and the big dragon joined his brethren sunning themselves at the edge of the makeshift landing field. Fulgid eyed them curiously, but seemed content to remain attached firmly to Ammon’s shirt.