The Dragon' Son (5 page)

When they reached the man, Barden dropped down to one knee and grasped him by the shoulders, turning the man face up. The man was one of the villagers--Saul’s father. His clothes were torn, and blood oozed from his head and below his rib cage. His face was deathly pale, and he struggled to breath.

“Jardon, my friend, what has happened?” Keegan’s father asked as he glanced briefly at the wounds.

Jardon opened his eyes slightly as he gasped. “Flee, flee for y-your lives,” he choked out. “Men, swords, h-horses. Fl-lee. They c-come to s-slay us all.” Jardon then let out his breath and gripped Barden’s shirt as if trying to hold on for dear life, then it was all over.

Keegan felt his stomach lurch as a man died before his very eyes. His body seemed to go numb, and he felt like he was covered in cold sweat. His eyes began to water slightly, and his stomach threatened to throw out his afternoon meal. He wondered as he stared into the dead man's eyes if that was what it was like to die: fighting, gasping, pleading with life to stay, only to go in pain.

He also wondered what had happened to Jardon? Was the same terrible death coming to visit everyone else? Keegan was afraid to admit that he felt a “yes” deep inside of him answer his question.

Braidden put a hand on Keegan’s shoulder, diverting Keegan's gaze from the dead man to his brother. He looked Braidden in the eyes to see the same fear and uncertainty that he was experiencing, but he also saw a strong light of hope that comforted him greatly. Braidden firmly wrapped his arm around Keegan's shoulders and drew him close in brotherly comfort.

Their father laid Jardon on the ground reverently and ran his fingers over the man’s open, lifeless eyes, closing them and leaving the man with a peaceful expression on his still face.

“Barden, does this mean that we are under attack?” one of the men in the group asked.

“And if we are, how many are attacking us? A group of thugs or an army?” another man queried.

Just then, a distant horse whinny was heard, followed by another and then another. Keegan’s father stood and looked toward the west. Keegan followed his father's gaze and squinted as he strained his eyes to see into the setting sun. Dust began to rise as he watched. The thunder of horses’ hooves filled the air.

“Oh, dear Dayspring, help us,” Barden said with desperation in his voice. “Quick! To the village! We are under attack!” he yelled, and every one of the men and boys turned and bolted for the village.

Keegan glanced back at the dead man’s body as he ran--a man that he had always known, now dead and left in the field without a proper burial. He felt Braidden grab the back of his shirt and shove him onward. “Faster, Keegan!” Braidden said, breathing heavily as he ran.

His father, who was at the head of the fleeing group, began to wave his arms and shout toward the village, “We are under attack! Gather the women and children and start for the mountains!” He shouted it again and again until the village bell began to toll out the warning, its dull clang echoing over the late afternoon landscape.

Keegan looked at the snow-capped mountains that loomed in the north. That is where other Wovlens lived. If the people could make it to the mountains, they could find protection there, but would the women and children be able to get out of the village before this unknown foe swept down on them? And what about the men? Would they have to stay to die like Jardon did? What about Keegan's family? His father and uncle had sworn to protect the people unto death. Would they die fighting? No. Keegan could not think about this now. He had to run, and he had to help in any way he could.

As he ran, his ring and chain came out from inside his shirt and began bouncing on his chest, the ruby flashing brilliant colors on the ground. He grasped his ring and shoved it back inside his shirt. Of the many things that he did not want to lose, his ring was one of them.

When the men finally got inside the village, it seemed as if complete chaos had erupted. Men, women, and children were screaming and running everywhere, calling out names, grabbing weapons and supplies, and crying. Keegan's father and Braidden both ran toward the hut for their swords while Keegan stopped and observed the madness around him. It all seemed to make his head swirl, and he wondered briefly what he was doing or what he was supposed to do.

He turned and watched as his mother and Torry’s mother organized a group of women and children and sent them toward the mountains with a few meager supplies. It was a good size group, but there were still many who were running rampant around the village.

Keegan's mind was diverted from watching his mother when his father and Braidden came from behind the hut atop their horses with swords in hand. Braidden had his leather tabard on that Mother had made for him as a form of protection while hunting, but their father wore nothing to protect himself, save for his metal arm bracers, which had been loosely tied onto his arms in his haste.

As Keegan observed this, another rider on the opposite side of the village, dressed in fine armor, came galloping toward them. The bright armor caught Keegan's attention, making him look away from his father and Braidden, only to stand dumbly and watch the rider approach him. He knew that he should move, but he somehow could not make himself do it. His mind felt numb and confused, like the chaos that was happening around him.

“Move, Keegan!” Braidden yelled. At Braidden's command, Keegan jumped out of the way of the oncoming horse and rider, just a second before they would have collided with him. The man halted his horse and looked back at Keegan to make sure that he was alright, and then he began to speak with Barden.

Keegan recognized the man as his Uncle Boyden clad in battle armor. The sight of the battle armor disturbed Keegan. Was the upcoming battle going to be fierce enough to need armor? If that was the case, what was going to become of the village and the people in it? Were they all going to be slaughtered?

As Keegan's head rang with these questions, he saw Boyden nod his head at Barden, concluding their hasty conversation, and then he began to yell and hit his armor with his drawn sword. “To me! All with swords come to me!” he cried over the clatter. Many people—men and women—began to swarm to him with swords, sticks, pitchforks, and spears. Even Keegan’s mother was in the group.

Keegan looked at Braidden, who sat on his horse beside their father, and the two of them locked eyes for a moment. Though it was only for a moment, Keegan could read the fear in his brother’s eyes. He wondered briefly if they were going to survive this.

He pulled out his dagger that Braidden had given him and studied it carefully until he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He looked up to find his mother looking down at him with love and fear in her eyes but with determination on her face. “Keegan, I can not find Alia. I need you to find her and run for the mountains, do you understand?” His mother gripped his shoulder firmly but gently.

Keegan nodded his head in understanding, and then his mother drew him close in a loving embrace and held him for a moment. “I love Alia, you, and Braidden very much.” She kissed his head then turned him loose and went back to the group of people clustered around Uncle Boyden. Keegan stared after his mother for a moment, and then, feeling a new sense of purpose, he sheathed his dagger and turned to find Alia.

As he hurried down the street, a strange man dressed in black and riding a bay horse came out from between two huts and into Keegan’s path. He spotted Keegan and, with a glare, swung his sword right for Keegan’s head. Keegan gasped, ducked under the singing blade, and ran underneath the horse, causing it to jump. He then bolted for a nearby hut. He heard the horse hooves pounding close behind him as he forced every muscle in his body to run, even though he knew that he would not make it in time. Suddenly, he heard the man scream and his horse stop. Keegan halted and spun around to see his father pull his sword out of the man’s sinking body.

“Run, my son!” he said, and then he wheeled his steed around and charged the next black rider.

Flaming straw began to fall from the roof that Keegan was near, and smoke began to fill his nostrils, putting him on high alert. He dashed from the house to a barrel on the other side of the street and ducked behind it. The whole village was now swarming with men in black, and several rooftops were on fire.

Keegan was looking for a clear path to escape when his heart skipped a beat. Brainna came out of a hut that was on fire across the street, carrying her baby brother in her arms, coughing and crying. Keegan knew that she could not make it out of the village without help. He dashed from his hiding place and crossed the street to where Brainna was.

“Keegan!” she cried out in between gasps.

“Follow me!” he shouted, and then he grasped her hand and practically began to drag her out of the village. Once outside of the village, everything became very different. It seemed that all of the attackers were inside the village, leaving it wide open and clear in all directions except the west. They had not surrounded the village at all.

“Go quickly; I do not know how long it will stay clear,” Keegan said as he began to turn back toward the village.

“Keegan, will you not come also?” Brainna asked.

“I must go seek my sister and bring her out of that pit,” Keegan answered. “Now, go. ” With that, he shot off toward the village again.

Brainna watched him until he was gone out of site, then she hoisted her baby brother up higher in her arms and turned toward the mountains. She had only gone two steps when she looked back and saw Saul run out of the west end of the village with a sword in one hand and Alia in the other. He looked at the Dragon's Forest and the mountains. Then he and Alia began running toward the mountains and Brainna.

“Saul, Alia, you made it out!” she exclaimed as soon as they were within speaking distance.

“Just barely,” Saul answered. “Keep moving! I saw footmen making their way to the village. If we stay, we are doomed.” He proceeded to go on, but Brainna stopped him. “Saul, we can’t go on! Keegan brought me and my brother out, then he went back to find Alia! She is with us. He won’t find her! He’ll be slain!” Brainna and Alia both began to sob.

“Please, Saul, he is my brother,” Alia cried. “We can't just leave him to die!”

Saul stood to his full height and looked toward the village. He sighed heavily while tears began to well up in his eyes. “Keegan’s fate is not in our hands. It never has been and never will be,” he said with a regretful tone but also with the sound of a grown man. Both girls wept bitterly, but they understood. There was no way that they could save Keegan. He was in a Greater Power’s hands.

Saul took Brainna’s brother into his strong arms and began to lead them toward the safety of the mountains as quickly as he could.

Keegan ducked under a horse, avoiding the kicking hooves, and sprinted for the barrel that he had been behind earlier, almost plowing right into Torry in his rush.

“Torry! Have you seen Alia?” Keegan asked. He then grasped his friend by the shirt and threw him out of the way of an oncoming horse. He ducked in between two houses with Torry and looked his friend in the face.

“No, Keegan, I have not seen Alia! Have you seen my mother?” Torry asked with sweat and dirt covering his face and fear swirling in his eyes.

“Yes. But that was before the men in black were in the village!” Keegan replied.

Torry looked away from Keegan, then he pointed across the street with a gasp. “Keegan, I just saw Saul leading Alia out of the village,” he said. “We could catch up with them!”

At that moment, a black rider came in between the two huts with a torch in his hand. He halted with a glower on his face when he saw the two boys.

“Run, Torry, run!” Keegan yelled. Both boys shot out of their hiding place into the street. Now there were not just black riders but footmen also. Every which way the boys turned, there was an enemy cutting down someone they knew.

Keegan spotted a clearing through the slaughter from which his friend and he could escape. He grasped Torry by the shirt and lunged for it. Suddenly, a horse came between Torry and Keegan and tore them apart, throwing Keegan to the ground. Another horse galloped up, its hooves ready to pound onto Keegan's frame, but he rolled to the side out of harm’s way and jumped up. He spun in a quick circle and was horrified to find that Torry was nowhere in sight. He spotted Braidden, however, and was alarmed to see that Braidden was not on his horse but on the ground trying to lead Eloria out of the village. A black horseman came in between Braidden and Eloria's way of escape and sneered as he raised his sword to strike them, enjoying the looks of terror on his victims’ faces.