The Bones of the Earth (The Dark Age) (30 page)

They rode for hours, stopping occasionally to rest the horses, drink water and adjust their armour. All Javor could think about was
Danisa, Danisa, please don’t be dead. I’m coming for you.
That, and not falling off the horse. He had no idea horses were so slippery.

On one break, Photius took Javor away from the others.

“
You realize that is not the same dragon that has been pursuing us, Javor.”

“
You mean we’ve got to kill
two
dragons!”

“
Probably not at the same time. I have never heard of two dragons working in concert before. But didn’t you notice that the dragon that attacked the fortress was different from the one you’ve faced three times already? Didn’t you notice that both its front claws were intact? That this one was twice as big as the other? That they’re different
colours
?”

Javor had to admit his lack of attention. “The dragon has been in this area for years. It has come out of hiding because it wants something,” said Photius.

“
What does it want?”

“
What is new in this region? You, of course.”

“
Me
?”

“
Something attracted the dragon to the fort, and something drew it here. I don’t know if these people disturbed it in its lair at some point, but that doesn’t really matter. The supernatural beings have all been drawn by the power that surrounds you, which may come from your grandfather’s treasures. The amulet shields you from direct detection, but they sense a power.

“
When you attacked the dragon with that spear, it clearly did not see you until you brought out the dagger. And that was only because, I believe, at that proximity the power of the dagger outweighed the amulet’s ability to hide you.

“
Our route to this village takes us not far from the path we followed to get here in the first place. I think that the power of your dagger and amulet stirred the dragon from its sleep when we passed. Zdravko’s village was just unlucky enough to be in the way. It did not follow them to the fort: it followed the scent of power from you.”

“
Is that why it took Danisa?”

“
Doubtlessly, it took Danisa as an irresistible lure for you. It knows that you would have to come to rescue her. I think that’s why it took the barbarian girl, Veca, as well—it probably cannot distinguish between them. So it took both, to be sure.”

“
I thought you said dragons are wise.”

“
The dragons of old are. I do not think this is a very old dragon—at least, not like the ancient original dragons. But do not underestimate it, Javor. It is a very smart beast more than capable of killing us all in an instant.”

A centurion bellowed, and they all remounted. As they rode up hills, Valgus paused, letting the men go past until he was riding beside Photius and Javor. “What does your knowledge of dragons tell you about this region, wise Photius?”

“
Nothing specific, I’m afraid. Dragons seem to favour mountainous areas, perhaps because of their affinity for caves. They are children of the earth and seem to crave returning to the womb, as it were. And this region, north of the Danuvius, has long had a haunted reputation. Some say that is why the Empire could not hold it.”

“
The Empire could not hold it because Commodus was a weak, pagan fool!” Valgus snarled. No one said anything after that for a long while.

As the light was failing, when Javor was beginning to wonder about finding a camp, they came to Zdravko’s village. They smelled it first: death. Atop a low hill were the remains of a wooden palisade, smashed into twigs. Within its perimeter, horror: bodies of men, women, children, chicken, cattle, pigs; worse, dismembered limbs and heads and shapeless masses of flesh scattered among broken timbers and thatch. Rats and worse creatures scuttled under the carnage, stealing carrion. Vultures strutted and picked at dead flesh, scattering when the legionnaires came close.

Javor leaned as far as he could to the side to vomit hard. He could hear several legionnaires doing the same. He did not dare think whether Danisa’s remains were mixed into the carnage.

“
Enough!” cried Valgus, and led them away from the village. They found a clearing in the forest away from the smell of the village and made a camp.

Night fell quickly. Photius surprised Javor by telling him the equinox was near.
That doesn’t explain why it’s so chilly,
he thought. Meridius told the men to take special measures to stay warm through the night.

The legionnaires had little tents, and a number of men set up a big leather tent for Valgus. He ordered them to set a two-man tent for Photius and Javor, and another for Zdravko and Volos. Then he ordered the four to join him in his big tent, where a folding table had been set up with benches for all of them. A soldier served them warm wine and tough cakes.

Valgus had spread out a parchment on the table. It was the first map that Javor had ever seen. Valgus asked Volos, through Zdravko, to describe where the dragon’s supposed lair was, but the man couldn’t point to it on Valgus’ map. He just made vague references to a high, steep, forbidding mountain and a land devoid of life. Valgus scowled. Then he described his strategy. Javor could not concentrate on the Legate’s voice. He thought of the dragon, its huge mouth, its multiple rows of sharp teeth, its red eye, its deep, dark, shadowed and fascinating eye …and he thought of Danisa, running across the courtyard with his dagger.
Was she trying to bring it to me? Why do I have so many doubts about her?

“
And the main thing, is Janus, here, has to be in position to deliver the killing blow,” brought him out of his reverie. “Janus, what do you need?”

“
Huh?” he blinked. “Oh, just keep its attention until I get close enough,” he babbled.
What am I doing? I can’t kill a dragon!

“
Good. Then we’re set. All right, men, I suggest a good night’s sleep. We’ll need to be rested for the trials we face tomorrow. Pray God looks on our venture with favour.”

But Javor could not sleep.
I’m not going to survive tomorrow
.

Beside him, Photius snored peacefully.
Photius says they’re the most powerful beings on earth. What can I do, even with great-grandfather’s knife? It will be ready for me now. It’s seen me. It knows about the dagger.

Haven’t I done enough?

He was woken by cries of struggle and outrage from the Romans. He burst out of the tiny tent, fumbling for a sword. There were legionnaires running all around the camp, shouting and slashing with their short swords.
Something
rustled in the bushes, then was quiet. The Romans kept yelling, however, pointing into the dark.

“
What happened? Is anyone hurt?” Meridius bellowed. Two soldiers helped to a head-count; all were accounted for. “Then what happened?”

“
The food!” someone shouted, pointing to empty packs. The soldiers gathered around, babbling, aghast. “They’ve taken all the food!”

Valgus came striding up then, looking diminished without his uniform, dressed only in a nightshirt. “What happened?” he growled.

Meridius saluted. “The provisions, lord. Someone or something snuck into the camp and took all our provisions.”

Valgus looked disgusted. “Is anything left?”

“
No, lord.”

“
Did you not put anything in bear-barrels and hang them in trees?”

“
Yes, sir, and those are empty, too.”

Valgus shook his head. “Who was on watch?”

“
We had ten in a perimeter, lord.”

Valgus sucked in his breath and looked, if anything, even more disgusted. “Double the guard. Pack up as much as you can. At first light, send a team of five men, fully armed, to find some water. Another team to shoot some rabbits or something.” And he stomped back to his tent.

No one slept after that. Javor dressed, arranged his sword beside him and slumped against a tree. He dozed on and off, waking with a start every time an owl hooted or a guard walked past. Finally, the darkness began to turn to a dim grey day.

The soldiers decamped quickly; no one grumbled about having no breakfast. They watered their horses, drank water themselves, put on their armour and jumped into their saddles. Once again, Antonio helped Javor up and gave him his broken yet warm smile. “Thank you,” said Javor, mystified at the soldier’s attention. Antonio went to help Zdravko and Volos.

Valgus called the two refugees to the front of their column as they rode up the mountain. “Which way do we go?” Volos wasn’t sure, but he directed them uphill to the northeast. Javor felt that Volos was so afraid of the Legate that he just guessed.

They rode through the morning and Javor became aware of his empty stomach. But no one else complained. The
cataphracti
rode in near silence, occasionally warning one another about something on the path or a low-hanging branch. Meridius rode up and down the column, keeping the men and horses in line. Other than that, the only sounds were the soft clopping of hooves on the earth, creaking of leather and clink of metal.

Valgus hung back to ride beside Javor. “How do you feel, Janus?”

“
Lousy. Hungry. Scared. And my butt hurts from this damned horse.”

“
Is your sword-arm good? Any aches? Will you be ready when we find the dragon?”

“
I don’t know. Ready as I’ll ever be, I suppose. How do
you
feel?”

Valgus’ face took on a look as if he saw something far away, or as if he was remembering something long past. “I feel strong, yet hopeless.”

“
Hopeless? Why?”

“
I am sorry for you, young Janus. But I had no choice but to pull you on this suicide mission. Still, I do have some hope, some feeling that you may yet survive this adventure.”

Javor felt horrified, more than he had even at Zdravko’s murdered village. “If it’s a suicide mission, why are you going?”

“
As I said, I have no choice. We cannot let this monster go unpunished for attacking a fort of the Roman Empire. It seems to be my fate. The monster came for me once before, and I defied it, defied my fate. So now I go to meet it once and for all, and to determine whether I shall kill it, or it, me.”

“
Do you not have a wife or a family that you might leave behind?”

“
That is not the soldier’s luxury, to put his family’s fate before the Empire’s,” Valgus explained, looking gently at Javor. “But no, my family died in a pestilence that passed through Constantinople ten years ago. Even today, I ask myself, ‘why was I spared?’ I can only answer that it was all part of my fate.”

They were a little apart from the other riders, so Javor took a chance on a question that had been nagging him for some time. “Are you a Christian? Don’t worry about answering—I am not.”

“
I was, once,” Valgus sighed, looking at the overcast sky. “But when my wife and daughters died, even after I prayed … I began to doubt. And the monsters in this region—it seems the older religions make more sense here. But now, I wonder if there are any gods at all, or just men and beasts and chaos. I don’t see that there is any order in the universe now.”

Valgus seemed to be in a confessional mood. “When I came here, I exceeded my orders. We were supposed to investigate and repel bands of Avars from the region beyond the border of the Danuvius, the area north of Trajan’s Bridge. We were supposed to punish barbarians and re-establish order and set up a camp across the river.