The Dragon Hunter and the Mage (31 page)

The closer they got to the first cave, the more Aric was sure one of the other teams would show up. Something could have happened to the Tracker Glowstone shard Leth had planted on Trissa’s and Ashur’s clothes. It could have fallen off, or worse – been discovered.

Despite all of Leth’s protests, Aric insisted on sneaking up the small hill where the cave was located, and even though there was no one in sight for miles, Aric still told Clea to stand watch outside the cave while he and Leth got the crate. He even insisted Leth be as quiet and careful as the previous morning when they had infiltrated the bat filled cave within the bowels of Lamash. But once again, there was no one inside. No ambush, nothing. The Dragon blood filled crate was just sitting there, waiting to be taken.

“I can’t believe this,” Aric whispered. “We might actually win this time.”

“Come on, let’s get this out,” Leth said.

At the count of three, they lifted the crate using the metal handles protruding from the top and quickly went red.

“Dear Goddess!” Leth complained. “This thing weighs more than a cow.” Sweat broke out over his forehead immediately. “A pregnant one.” They moved as quickly as they could towards the exit. “With twins.”

They almost made it to the exit, but at the last couple of feet the handle bars slipped through Aric’s sweaty fingers and the crate crashed to the ground, knocking them both down.

“Ouch!” Leth yelped.

“Are you okay?” Aric asked. He had landed on his back and his bottom was hurting like crazy.

“I’m fine,” Leth replied. “Just hit my knee on this damned thing. You?”

“Yeah, I’m alright. One inch to the left, though, and I would have lost a foot.”

Then he froze. Right there, next to his foot, saved by some miracle from being squashed, was a tiny, orange daisy. It was beautiful.

How had something like that grown out here in the desert?

Aric smiled. It reminded him of the roses he wanted to gift to Clea, except this one was far more special. A flower in the middle of the desert... He plucked the daisy and tucked it away in one of his pockets.

“Are you ready?” Leth asked.

“Yes, let’s do this.”

Looking as if they were about to blow steam out of their heads, they loaded the crate onto the cart and secured it with rope. And just like that, as quickly as they had arrived, they were on their way back.

Aric spent the whole journey to Lamash checking and rechecking the Seeker necklaces. If the Glowstone devices could be trusted, both Ashur and Trissa were still miles behind them. Aric, however, refused to believe they were safe until they crossed the mountain fortress’s main gate. Their horse’s hooves thundered against the stone floor and echoed across the Main Hall.

“Congratulations, Team Aric.” Saruk greeted them with a smile. “You’ve won the challenge.”

Aric couldn’t believe it.

Leth shot both hands in the air and shouted as if he had just crushed all of his enemies while Clea jumped to hug Aric.

“We did it!” she screamed.

Aric’s face blushed like the desert sky at sunset. “We… we did it,” he managed to say, a huge smile growing on his red face.

At that moment, he decided he really was going to give her the flower.

Just not now. Later.

Yes, that’s what he would do. He would give her the flower later that night.

Aric was so famished he could barely stand. He wanted to join Leth and Clea in the dining hall, but Saruk insisted on briefing him about the next challenge immediately. By the time they were finished, Leth and Clea were nowhere to be found, so Aric ate alone. Still, it felt like his first decent meal in weeks.

He wondered what sort of mood he would find in the dorm later that night. Unsurprisingly, Trissa had lost. Would she be alright with Aric being her new team leader? What about Dothea and Irenya?

Aric got his answer much sooner, though when the three girls dragged their feet into the dining hall.

“Congratulations,” Trissa told him. “I’m glad it’s you.”

“I guess we’re at your orders now,” Dothea said. “Should we call you Captain or something?”

“No, of course not.” Aric smiled. “I hope Ashur wasn’t too hard on you guys.”

Trissa shrugged. “We got to the crate before him. For a moment, I really thought we had it in the bag, but he was waiting for us down the hill behind a dune.”

“We just surrendered,” Irenya said, shaking her head.

“To that jerk…” Dothea added.

Trissa stared at the floor. “I didn’t know what Ashur was capable of and… I decided it was better not to find out.”

“It was the right decision,” Aric told her. “But we’ll get him on the next challenge, you’ll see.”

“I was so sure Ashur would go for the first cave, though,” Trissa said, her eyes lost.

For a moment, Aric didn’t know what to say. “Yeah,” he ended up muttering. “I suppose this was an unfair challenge.” He paused a bit. “The three of you should get some rest, though. It’s been a long day.”

At that moment, Ashur arrived in the dining hall followed by his crew. He didn’t even look at Aric, he just stormed along towards one of the long tables.

At the back of the file following Ashur, little Lyra hopped towards Aric with a big smile between her bushy, brown hair. “Hi Aric,” she said. “Congratulations on your victory.”

Ashur didn’t enjoy hearing that. “Hey!” He turned around with murderous eyes. “Did your team win today?!” he asked Lyra.

The poor girl took a step back. “What? No,
I‒
”

“Then why are you talking about victories?” Ashur was walking towards her, but Ergon, Lyra’s big brother, stepped in front of him, stopping Ashur dead in his tracks.

The two of them exchanged an awkwardly prolonged stare until Ashur smiled and turned back.

“Tharius!” Ashur called, sitting down at a table. “Fetch me some dinner.”

“Excuse me?” Tharius asked.

“He can’t be serious,” Aric heard Dothea say under her breath.

“Yes, dinner,” Ashur told Tharius. “Fetch me some.”

“What did you say, recruit?”

All their heads turned simultaneously. The voice belonged to a Hunter, sitting a few feet away from Ashur, that none of them seemed to have noticed until now. His leather vest displayed the Dragon Hunter’s mark on his right shoulder, above dozens of tiny triangles indicating how many Dragons he had killed. It was even more impressive then the dozens of claws and fangs that made up his necklace.

“You didn’t hear me?” the Hunter asked after Ashur didn’t reply.

“I… I said I wanted some food…” Ashur mumbled.

“Oh, you’re hungry?” The Hunter grabbed his own bowl of stew and sent it sliding down the table. It landed right beneath Ashur’s nose. “There you go. Eat.” He drew a gigantic knife from his leg and started slicing through a dark corn bread.

Ashur looked at the thick, brown stew, but otherwise did not move. “No, thanks,
I‒
”

The Hunter struck the table with the knife’s handle so hard the bowl jumped, spilling droplets of stew around.

“I said
eat
!” the Hunter told him.

Hesitantly, Ashur picked up a spoon and swallowed a mouthful.

Behind Aric, Dothea and Trissa were doing a horrible job at hiding their chuckles, while Irenya begged them to be quiet. Across the table, Tharius, Ergon, Lyra, and Orisius had wicked smiles spread across their faces.

“Does it taste good, recruit?” the Hunter asked. “Do you like it?”

“Sure,” Ashur replied without taking his eyes off the bowl. “It’s fine.”

The Hunter slammed the table once again. “No, it’s not! It tastes like Dragon droppings. In fact, why don’t you ask the cook if he seasoned it with Dragon droppings?”

Ashur didn’t move, of course. He just stood there, gritting his teeth.

“Are you deaf, recruit?” the Hunter asked calmly. Too calmly. “I said,” he held his knife up, “ask the cook if he seasoned the stew with Dragon droppings.”

Ashur threw the spoon across the room. His face was so red Aric feared he might explode. But he obeyed. With a jump, Ashur stormed towards the food counter.

A moment later, a cook’s fist fell between his eyes and Ashur collapsed.

“Oh! You should have seen it,” Aric said. He was laughing so hard tears rolled down his cheeks. “The cook didn’t even say anything.”

“Stop it!” Leth begged, holding on to his belly. “Please, stop it.” He was rolling on the ground from one side to the other.

It took a while for the laughter to subside. They were back at the small balcony near the Company’s quarters. A cold wind blew in from the moonlit desert. Aric had gone there looking for his teammates but had found only Leth.

“Where did you guys go?” Aric asked when he finally found his breath. “I went back to the dining hall but you guys were gone.”

Leth shrugged. “We finished eating and left. I didn’t know how long you’d be.”

“So… Where’s Clea?”

“I don’t know,” Leth replied. “Sleeping, maybe.”

“Already?” Aric asked.

That was too bad, Aric thought.
I guess I’ll give her the flower tomorrow.

“Hey, Leth…” Aric began hesitantly. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”

“What?”

Aric took a deep breath. “What do you think of Clea?”

Leth’s expression froze for a moment, then he said, “Oh, I was not expecting that…” He cleared his throat. “I think… I think she’s great.”

“Yeah,” Aric said, smiling. “I think so too.” He paused. “Do you, hmm… do you think I would have a chance with a girl like her?”

“With a girl like her…?” Leth echoed. “I… I don’t see why not.”

That made Aric smile. “Thanks,” he said. “I needed to hear that.”

“Yeah, sure. No problem.” There was a moment of silence. “So, what about the challenge? What are we up against this time?”

Aric rolled his eyes. “Oh, you’re gonna love it,” he said. “Saruk calls it, ‘Capture the Banner’. But it’s really just an outright battle.”

Leth leaned into Aric. “A battle?”

“Kind of. Apparently on the topmost of the lower levels, there’s this place they call the Gauntlet, which is some kind of… maze or something. And here is where it gets better. This Gauntlet is where recruits used to train before heading to the Frostbound.”

“You’re joking!”

Aric shook his head. “That’s what I said. Do you know how Saruk replied?” He put on his best impression of Saruk with a deep frown and a hoarse voice. “The Frostbound used to be a lot more dangerous, kid. There’s no need for that these days.”

“Unbelievable…”  

“So, apparently, they now use the Gauntlet to stage battles between recruits. Like the ancient fighting pits.”

“What do you mean,
battle
?”

“What do you think I mean? We’re gonna get the crap beaten out of us tomorrow, that’s what I mean.”