Redheart (Leland Dragon Series) (22 page)

“I will need permission for the human male to speak.”

Blackclaw paused. His dark eyes slid slowly to Kallon’s, and Kallon met his gaze with something he hoped would pass as confidence. “This man is here as a prisoner,” said the leader. “What could he possibly have to say that pertains to these proceedings?”

“He could tell us how he came to be at Mount Gore, and why,” Kallon said, turning to the council members.

“He came to be here because the woman gained your trust and led him here!” Blackclaw countered.

“He is a hunter,” said Kallon. “For hire.” He swept his arm toward Riza. “The woman is no one to us. Only a hunter benefits from the death of a dragon.”

“Are they talking about me?” Kallon heard Riza whisper to Orman. Orman patted her shoulder and nodded, his eyes transfixed on Kallon.

“Are you saying this human was hired to kill Bluecrest?” asked Yellowfang. The murmurs of the dragon crowd grew louder.

“But who here would hire this human?” Orangepaw strode forward, eyes sweeping over the gathering. “Who here would murder his own Kind?”

“Only someone who has supplanted the goals of the community with personal gain,” said Kallon. He stared at Blackclaw and felt a sweeping wave of dragon eyes follow. Heads turned. Orman spun to look at him. Jastin watched Blackclaw with a flat smile. Even Riza followed the tide and blinked at the black dragon.

Blackclaw pressed his paw to his chest and looked back at everyone in surprise. Then he smiled. “Shera, I like your suggestion that we dismiss the meeting to allow the attendees a rest. The morning has dragged long and weary. We will eat, and reconvene this evening.”

“You cannot dismiss them now!” Kallon took a step toward Blackclaw.

“I am leader of the council. I can.”

“I am not finished!”

Blackclaw lowered his snout, his black eyes sizzling. “But I am. In fact, I am here at the finish line, waiting for you to catch up and realize I have already won.”

Kallon’s stomach churned. He turned to the council members. “He manipulates his power to avoid the truth! He is a deceiver and a murderer!”

The council stared back in a moment of collective hesitation. Yellowfang spoke. “That is a serious charge, Kallon Redheart.”

“Blackclaw is still our leader and he can dismiss the meeting at will,” said Brownwing. “Until you have proven otherwise, we are directed by his management.”

“How can he prove otherwise, if the carnsarned leader he’s trying to do away with won’t let him speak?” Orman rattled a bony finger at Blackclaw. “He’s vicious, I tell you!”

Blackclaw grunted a short laugh. “The spy speaks.” He turned to the crowd. “May I remind you all that this wizard is an escaped prisoner, broken free from our cell just last night, aided by the same dragon who now wishes to depose me?” Voices erupted into quiet chatter. “I have allowed the Red his babble, I have given him his day to speak out against me. Out of respect for our laws, and the ritual of challenge, I will abide the insult.” He pressed his palm to his chest. “I have given you no cause to distrust me. I have led you, and the council, with dignity. We stand before you, wise and unblemished. Let his preposterous accusations come.

“But I submit to you all, where is his gall, that he should arise from silence into our community? Has he worked alongside us while we have struggled to make a life from our pitiful resources? Has he suffered our humiliation at being denied our rightful land to expand and prosper?” Chattering voices grew louder. “Who is he, that he should disrupt our harmonious cry for justice with sour words of ancient beliefs? Beliefs to which he holds us, when he, himself, has abandoned them?”

Blackclaw raised his forelegs and the mumbles surged into a unified shout. “Who is he to us, that he should challenge us? I say, let him prove himself!”

“Prove himself!” echoed a sharp voice.

“Quest!” chirped another.

Kallon blasted a look at Orman, who gave him wide eyes and a limp shrug. “Do what?” Orman mouthed.

“What’s happening?” He heard Riza’s small voice.

“Your dragon friend is regretting he opened his oversized mouth,” said Armitage.

The council members were either enraptured by Blackclaw’s speech, or simply ignoring Kallon. Some of them were quietly clapping. “Quest!” shouted Orangepaw.

Inside, Kallon shrank into a tiny lump of despair.

Blackclaw waved his paws to dim the crowd’s shouts. He waited for complete silence, and then he extended an ebony claw toward Kallon and smiled. “Bring me the Circlet of Aspira.”

Orman yelled. “That’s impossible!” He shook his fist.

Brownwing emerged. “Fordon, no one is even certain the circlet still exists.”

“The Red can withdraw his challenge if he doubts his ability. Until then, my task stands.” Blackclaw waved toward Whitetail. “Send for Grayfoot.” He faced the onlookers again. “In my benevolence, I will allow the Red time to consider while we feast and proceed with our schedule. He has returned the escaped prisoner to us. For that, I commend him.”

The hulking Gray appeared from nowhere and squinted a bruised eye at Kallon. He snapped cuffs around Orman’s skinny wrists before there was time to react.

“Blast you, Blackclaw! You can’t get away with this!” Orman flailed his legs, jumping like a jigging grasshopper. “The truth will come out!” The Gray yanked Orman’s cuffs, gathered up the chains of Riza and Armitage, and dragged them all off the platform to the side exit.

“What are you doing, Blackclaw?” Kallon growled. “Your quarrel is with me, not my friends.”

“Do not be so arrogant. They will pay for their crimes, when this quarrel between you and me is settled. As will you.” Blackclaw spoke to the council members. “This Red has abetted an escaped prisoner. For now, I am willing to set aside his criminal proceedings until the challenge ritual has been satisfied, but his place is in a cell, with the others.”

“I do not believe the Red will avoid his responsibility,” said Brownwing, drawing near. “Imprisonment is not necessary.”

“I will go,” said Kallon. “Blackclaw is right about one thing only. My place is with my friends.”

Blackclaw nodded. “See to it, Whitetail.” He moved away to address his citizens.

“I am certain Council Member Brownwing is capable of seeing me away.” Kallon caught Brownwing’s gaze and urged him silently.

Brownwing briefly hesitated. Then he gestured toward the side exit, and turned to lead Kallon off the platform. “Your accusations of Blackclaw’s treachery are difficult to believe, Kallon Redheart. They ring with the sound of desperation.”

“I am not insulted that you do not believe me, Brownwing, but there is proof what I say is true. Blackclaw protects that evidence now by keeping me from it.” He glanced over his shoulder to find Whitetail approaching. “Find out what happened to the human’s clothing when he was captured. Keep Blackclaw from destroying it.”

“Council Member Brownwing is being summoned to the platform,” said Whitetail. “I will lead you myself, Red, and do not make me chain you.”

“That is not necessary.” Kallon looked at Brownwing. “If not for me, for my father,” Kallon quickly whispered.

Whitetail’s claws captured Kallon’s left forearm and yanked. “It has been some years since you have seen the manor.” The White’s tone was as pleasant as a tour guide, but his grip was iron.

“Actually, I was just there yesterday.” Kallon turned his head to look for Brownwing, who was just disappearing inside the arena. Then his eyes moved to Whitetail again. “You are hurting me, despite my willingness to go with you. You might keep in mind that you will soon be working for me.”

“That would be a good trick,” said Whitetail with a sniff. But he released his grip.

Chapter Forty-Two

I still don’t understand what’s happening,” said Riza, trailing behind Orman and trying to stay as far from Jastin as she could. “Why are we going back into the dark?”

“Your dragon’s attempted overthrow just got thrown back in his face,” said Jastin, looking over his shoulder at her. “I thought he had them for a minute. But of all the conniving dragons I’ve met in my time, Blackclaw is the most genius.”

“Is that admiration in your voice?” asked Orman.

“Some. I knew better than to trust him, but he still managed to keep me here by playing a hand I wasn’t expecting.” Jastin watched Riza a few steps more, then faced forward. “I betrayed a weakness, and he masterfully wove it into the whole scheme.”

At the door to the cell, Riza clutched at Orman’s hand. “I don’t want to go back in there. I’d almost rather they just kill me now than have to go in there.”

“That can be arranged,” rumbled the gray dragon, who turned the key in the lock, pulled the door open wide, and then actually smiled. Riza’s spine quivered.

“New door, I see,” Orman said, and passed the dragon. “Looks flimsier than the last. How’s that eye?”

The gray dragon squinted his blackened eye, and then pushed Orman into the cell so hard that he stumbled. Riza hung back, staring into the blackness. The dragon nudged. She resisted. “I don’t want to go in there.”

“Human, you will go in there by feet, or flight. You choose.”

“Having trouble controlling your ferocious prisoner, Grayfoot?” The grating voice of the white dragon echoed in the cool hallway. Riza didn’t understand what he said, but she recognized a chuckle when she heard one.

She turned to find Kallon beside him. “Kallon!” She ran to meet him, but her chains wouldn’t let her close. “They’re letting you visit?”

“We’re allowing him full lodging, my dear,” said the White, and gestured Kallon on.

“With dinner, I presume.” Kallon slowly made his way toward the cell. Too slowly. Riza bounced on her toes. She wanted to touch him, to make sure he was real.

The Gray gripped the back of her neck and spun her around to face the door. “Go.”

“But I—” Her feet lifted from the floor. She shrieked. Claws stabbed like knives around her throat, squeezing out her air.

“Put her down!” Kallon shouted.

“Let her go!” Jastin’s voice joined Kallon’s.

She heard, and felt, the grumble of the Gray’s reply just before she saw swirling dots in front of her eyes. There was a moment of weightlessness. Then she hit the floor with a jolt that snapped her jaw and blasted sparkles through her brain. She groaned. Someone touched her and rolled her aside.

“Kallon?” She thought she opened her eyes, but she still couldn’t see anything. She recognized the rasp of Jastin’s grunt, and his hands left her.

“Riza,” came Kallon’s voice.

She strained to sit up. “My shoulder,” she whispered. “It hurts.”

“I can’t believe he just threw you in here like rubbish.”

“Let me see,” said Orman. Hands pressed to her arm and gently squeezed their way to her shoulder. Hot pain sliced her arm. She yelped. “Blast it all. I think it’s dislocated.”

“I can fix that,” said Jastin. “But not with her arms behind her like that. We’ve got to get those chains off.”

“I haven’t any way.” Orman settled beside her, his bony hip pressed to her belly. “I haven’t any crystals, any powders, any herbs. Without them, I’m no wizard. I’m just an old man.” He stroked her hair away from her face.

Kallon’s voice was soft, and very close. “You’ve told me time and again, Orman, that magic isn’t something you carry in a pouch. Tools are carried on the outside, but belief is carried inside.”

“You were listening, after all.” Orman sighed. “But you missed the lesson, as usual. You dragons have your own magic, like the fabric holding this world together. I’m just a bumbling, fumbling human. I need my tools.”

Kallon settled his immense weight beside Riza. She couldn’t roll to face him, but she turned her head and nuzzled her cheek to his paw. She wasn’t so frightened now.

Jastin’s chains clanked as he moved away. “Dragons created from magic fabric,” he said with a huff. “Dragons are lizards, except bigger, and more dangerous, because they can think.”

An orange glow emanated from Kallon’s muzzle, illuminating his scowling face. “You have no sword now, and no one in here would grieve if I burned you alive.”

“If it weren’t for you, Jastin, none of us would be here right now!” said Riza.

“Don’t give me so much credit,” Jastin said. “I’m just the speck of dust in the master plan.” He grunted, settling to the floor in the dark.

“What master plan?” asked Orman.

“The plan between him and Blackclaw to murder Bluecrest,” Kallon said.

Riza’s pain must have been dulling her senses. “I thought I just heard you say Blackclaw and Jastin murdered Bluecrest together.”

Kallon’s face swung toward Jastin’s voice. “That was what I saw in the trees outside the arena, wasn’t it? You said you took less than your usual fee to have Riza, too.”

“You saw Blackclaw and this man together?” Orman asked.

“Yes. I didn’t realize it at the time, but it makes sense now.”

“Treachery abounds,” said Orman. “I never have trusted Blackclaw. When he was appointed leader, I protested. I tried to tell the council he had a viciousness inside him that would be their ruin someday.”

“You have no idea,” said Jastin.

Riza was having trouble following the conversation. Voices competed with her buzzing headache. Every move she made twisted her shoulder. She couldn’t decide if she was hungry or nauseated. Her throat felt swollen. “I can’t remember feeling normal,” she said. “I can’t remember anything but darkness and pain, and I don’t even know why I’m a part of all this.” What bravery she’d managed so far began to leak out in thick, warm tears. She couldn’t even wipe them away.

Orman patted her hip. “You’ve been quite courageous. You’ve been through more than any of us.”

“The council mentioned they were impressed by your respectfulness,” said Kallon.

“They did?” she asked, and sniffled.

“Yes,” said Orman. “You were very dignified.” He leaned down to whisper, “Kallon said you were beautiful.”

“He did?” Her eyes moved to where she thought Kallon’s face must be, but she couldn’t find him in the dark. She could hear him breathing, though, and could feel the warmth of it drying her cheeks. “I wish I could see you,” she whispered.

“I’m here,” he said.

She tried to smile. “Your dragon language sounds like poetry.”

“Does it?”

“Yes. I might have actually enjoyed it, if I hadn’t been so afraid.”

“Then I’ll teach it to you, after all this is over.”

“I’d like that.”

She peered into the thick blackness, trying to make out the shape of him. Suddenly there was an orange speck of light before her eyes. As Kallon released a long breath, the speck swelled from his throat to illuminate his open mouth, his snout and his eyes. He smiled. She forgot her pain.

“When this is all over, will you take me flying?” she asked.

“When this is all over,” Kallon whispered, “I’ll teach you to fly.”

The room echoed with Jastin’s harsh laugh. Orman shushed him.

Riza had forgotten about the others. Jastin’s laugh brought a swell of embarrassment, and she shrank into her cocoon of pain.

The flame from Kallon’s mouth snuffed. “You’ve been warned, human, of your words.”

“Yes, yes.” Jastin’s chains rattled against the stone floor. “I was merely appreciating the entertainment. Do go on.”

Kallon rose up. The paw Riza was balanced against shifted, causing her to roll aside to her shoulder. She stifled her cry behind clenched lips, but Orman’s hands reached to steady her anyway.

Kallon’s claws clicked against stone as he moved toward Jastin’s voice. “I am struggling for a reason not to kill you.”

“With the girl as witness? Unable to defend myself?” Jastin clicked his tongue. “Why, that would only prove what I have been saying all along.”

“What have you been saying all along?” asked Orman.

“Do not let him goad you into talk,” Kallon said.

“This dragon is spineless. He expects everyone else to do their duty but him.”

Orman released Riza and shifted. “I hate to say he has a point, Kallon.”

“I warned you against being goaded into talk!”

“He’s no better than Blackclaw,” Jastin said. “He’d rather kill me than listen to me.”

“The way I’d swat a fly that pesters my ear,” Kallon snorted.

“Now who’s being goaded?”

“And you wonder why I despise your kind?” Jastin’s voice grew louder. “Your first instinct is to kill whatever annoys you with no more thought than squashing a bug!”

Orange light began to churn from Kallon’s words. “How many dragons have you murdered with that same ease?”

“That’s business! I don’t kill for the mere pleasure of it.”

Kallon snarled. “So murder for money is a nobler cause than murder for pleasure?”

“Killing a dragon is a noble cause! Why not make a living at the same time?”

Flames licked out from Kallon’s throat, engulfing Jastin’s bearded face with yellow heat. If the man sensed his near death, he failed to show it. He stood before Kallon’s gaping mouth, chained arms flexed, feet planted, and glared.

“You killed Bluecrest!” Kallon showered Jastin with sparks.

Jastin didn’t even flinch as the sizzling pinpricks turned to ash against his bare chest. “It was business!”

“You murdered my father!” Kallon belched fire, his eyes gone wild. This time, Jastin had to duck to avoid it. The cell was filled with the stench of sulfur and singed hair.

“Stop it!” Riza screamed. She clamored to get to her feet, tumbled, and tried again. “Kallon, stop it!” Through her haze of pain and nausea, she knocked aside Orman and rushed toward the heat. “Don’t do it!”

“He killed my father!” Kallon roared.

“Not here! Not like this!” Riza ran blindly. She collided into what felt like a solid wall, and only registered the scratch of rough scales a split-second before an explosion of pain in her shoulder came so quickly she couldn’t even gasp. She fell back and twitched helplessly. Little specks of light floated around her eyes.

“Riza!” Orman’s voice came from somewhere very far away.

She felt hands cradling her. She thought she heard the click of Kallon’s claws, but the sound bounced around her ears in echoes. Again came Orman’s voice from some dark, resonant hallway. “So it was you.”

Jastin’s reply faded like a ghost down that same hallway. “It was business.”

* * *

Fingers roused her, stroking her cheek. She stirred and opened her mouth, but a hand pressed over it.

“Sssh. It’s Jastin,” he whispered. “Be still.”

She mumbled against his hand. He removed it, but his breath remained close to her ear. “What happened?” she asked. “Where am I?”

“You’re still here, where you fell. The wizard tended you for a while, but he sleeps now.” He chuckled softly. “You managed to fix your own shoulder when you ran into that lummox. Must have hurt like a bugger.”

“Where’s Kallon? What did you do to him?”

His hand clamped to her mouth again. “Ssh. You think I’m able to do something to him in the dark, and with no weapons? I don’t even have free arms.”

She tried to turn her head, and to pull her mouth out from beneath his grasp, but his fingers only tightened. His chains scratched her chin as his other hand cupped her cheek.

Now his voice came from above her. “Listen to me. Your stubbornness is going to get you killed. You can’t leave your fate to the dragon.”

She yelled into his hand. He clenched her face so hard she struggled to breathe. “No, listen,” he hissed. “The dragon can’t save you. He can’t prove Blackclaw’s involvement, and he can’t retrieve the circlet. When the Red fails, Blackclaw will kill us both.”

Circlet? What circlet? She didn’t understand what he was talking about, but she wouldn’t believe him, anyway, if she did understand. She tried to tell him that, but his hand choked her words. She arched her neck and tried to bite him.

“Missed me,” he whispered. “I’m not trying to hurt you. Stop fighting me.”

She wished she could see him, so she could at least glare at him.

“I’m going to say this one more time. The dragon will fail. When he does, you will die.”

She stilled. She tried to ask a question, but only garbled against his hand again. He loosened his grip. “How can you know he’ll fail?” she asked.

“Blackclaw has challenged your Red to retrieve the Circlet of Aspira. But I delivered that circlet to him years ago. He already has it.”

“Oh. That circlet.” Now she remembered Orman’s story. “Why don’t you tell them? If the others see that Kallon was tricked, won’t that show how Blackclaw really is?”

Jastin touched her hair. “Blackclaw isn’t stupid. While we’re here, out of his way, he’s taking care of all that.”