The Dragon's Lair (19 page)

He crawled over the provisions and onto the wagon board where Tuck had sat, grabbing for the reins. Even though he had never driven a team of horses, he called out nervously in the same way Tuck had done.

"Het!"

The wagon lurched forward. Ven heard a thump in the back as the merrow fell to the floor.
Oh, this isn't going to be pretty
, he thought as he struggled to keep the team heading east.
I hope she doesn't spit at Tuck once we get away from the fire
.

He pulled back on the reins once they got out of the smoke. The horses slowed their pace and came to a halt. Ven sat up on the wagon board and looked around.

Behind them it seemed that the fire had begun to die down. Fewer streaks of orange rippled across the grass. The smoke continued to rise in rolling clouds that caught the wind and began to stretch out toward the northeast. Ven pulled his shirt up around his nose to shield it from bitter stench as it passed over him.

South of the village, the people who had been fleeing had stopped and were standing now, watching the fire die down. Ven's throat tightened as he saw mothers and fathers being reunited with their children. He thought back to his own parents, and the day they had heard the news that the ship he had been inspecting had been attacked by Fire Pirates. He tried to put the thought out of his head as he watched a soot-stained mother kneel and throw her arms around a little boy standing in the still-green grass.

A cough behind him drew his attention back to the wagon.

"Saeli, Amariel—are you all right?"

The little Gwadd girl emerged from behind the water barrel. Her normally rosy face was pale, her eyes glistening, but she nodded. She opened her handkerchief, and the tiny keekee fell out, wheezing and coughing in a tiny voice.

The merrow pushed herself up from the wagon floor and turned her gaze on Ven. He steeled himself for the glare, wincing in preparation for the spit. But Amariel merely nodded, coughing slightly, and waved the thinning smoke away from her face.

Beyond them he could see the shadows of Tuck, Clemency and Char emerging from the burned village. Behind them was a tall, thin man in soot-stained work clothes holding a shovel. When they got within a few feet of the wagon, the man turned to Tuck and extended his hand. Tuck shook it as Clem and Char climbed unsteadily back into the wagon, reeking of the caustic smell of burned grass.

"Thanks for your help," the man said to Tuck, who nodded.

Saeli passed her handkerchief over the back of her hair, then wrung it out. Ven saw the tail end of the keekee disappear into her braid.

"You all right?" Ven asked Clem and Char. His best friend nodded while the curate-in-training pulled the wet kerchief from her mouth and nose, coughing.

"Any idea how it started?" Tuck asked the farmer.

The man cast a glance into the wagon. His eyes fell on Ven.

"Dunno," he said, staring at him. "Been happening a lot around here of late. Word has it that the Nain settlements to the north of here have been suffering the wrath of a dragon. We've been keeping our distance, but occasionally a spark carries on the wind."

Tuck nodded. "Bad luck in summer, when the grass is dry anyway."

The farmer cleared his throat. "Bad luck to be living south of people without sense," he said, still staring at Ven. "You have to be a natural-born fool not to know it's suicide to anger a dragon—especially that one."

The king's forester glanced Ven's way as well. Ven thought he saw a look of sympathy in his eyes.

"Strange, if it's dragon's breath, why it smells like a normal summer wildfire," he said pleasantly.

The words tumbled out of Ven's mouth before he could stop them.

"Excuse me, sir—
that
one? Do you know this dragon's name, or anything about it?"

"He's not from around here," Tuck said quickly as the man's eyes narrowed.

The man looked at him for a long moment.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do," he said finally. "The only dragon I've heard tell of anywhere near these parts is Scarnag."

"Scarnag?" The word scratched Ven's eardrums like a nail. There was something intensely painful about it, almost evil.

The farmer nodded. "They say it means
scourge
, a cause of great suffering, like a plague, an earthquake, a war." He looked over his shoulder, then looked back pointedly. "Or a wildfire."

Ven's curiosity was rising along with the acid in his stomach. "Do you know why he's so angry at the Nain, sir?"

"Couldn't tell you," said the man. "Don't know much about dragons—never seen one. In fact, you're the first
Nain
I've seen. If someone asked me a few years ago, I'd say both dragons and Nain are nothing but made-up creatures in children's stories. But, unfortunately, just as it appears that Nain are real, it seems dragons must be as well."

"A lot of the people
I
know think humans are just legends," said Amariel under her breath. "Hmmph."

Clemency was picking up the fallen sacks of provisions and restoring the wagon bed to order. "Anything else you might be able to tell us, sir?"

The man's expression softened as he looked at her.

"Only that the beast rises from the ground, instead of swooping down from the sky, as dragons are said to do in stories. I'm told that the earth opens unexpectedly, like a terrible yawn. You hear the roar, but by then it's too late."

Ven felt Char shudder beside him.

The farmer turned back to Tuck, then nodded at Char and Clem.

"Thanks again for your help—you too, children. I've got to get back to my family."

"Good luck," said Tuck. "All right, everyone, settle in and we'll be on our way."

"Where are we going?" Ven asked as the forester climbed onto the wagon board beside him.

"I think we should keep heading northeast, away from the fire. The Gwaddlands lie beyond this place. Great open meadows, rolling hills and valleys, with trees here and there. Your friend wishes to visit her family, and I think it is a good idea to get out of sight among those who know how to hide well. We need to move quickly, however. The smoke will only cover us so long."

"Cover us?"

Tuck looked up into the sky. Ven followed his gaze.

Hovering above the thick, billowing clouds, flying in circles, were birds.

Hundreds of them.

Black as the smoke.

13
Eyes in the Sky

C
HAR LET OUT A MISERABLE SIGH
.

"Bloody sky-rats," he murmured. "Like sticky black pitch on the deck of a ship. No matter how much you rub it off, it still keeps comin' back."

"Shhhh." Tuck looked into the sky. His voice was quieter than the crackling of the remaining fire. "Hard to say whether they're looking for us or just scavenging—there's a lot of carrion after a fire, mice, moles that didn't make it out." He picked up his crossbow and loaded a bolt, then slowly raised it to his shoulder. "Ven, keep driving. Hold the reins loose, and let the horses walk at their own pace. If I fire, snap the reins."

Ven nodded and took the reins, slippery with sweat, back into his hands.

Behind him he could hear Clemency move closer to Saeli. The small girl was breathing rapidly, and he could almost hear her heart beating.

We can't possibly outrun this flock,
he thought.
And Saeli knows it
. The memory of the ravens pulling her hair made his mouth taste like metal.
If I'm this scared for her, I can't even imagine what she is feeling
.

"Steady," Tuck whispered.

The wagon rolled quietly through the high grass beneath a blanket of smoke that was growing thinner with each moment. Every bump or rock that they hit caused it to shudder, making the children shudder as well. Ven kept his eyes straight ahead, waiting for Tuck to move.

He sat as still as he could, until a drop of rain hit his nose.

Ven started.

Great,
he thought.
Now we get rain when the fire's already almost out. Just my luck
—
it's going to wash away the smoke, and the ravens will find us. I hope all Clem's prayers are answered, because I bet she's praying now
.

"Steady," Tuck repeated. It was almost as if he could hear Ven's thoughts.

The children held their breath, and the forester held his fire, for what seemed like forever. The veil of smoke grew hazier and hazier until at last they could see the sky beyond it.

It was much darker than it had been.

"There's a small thicket of trees and scrub to the north a little ways, Ven," Tuck said quietly. "Can you see it? Just nod, don't speak."

Ven could see the black outline of what looked like several evergreens ahead in the distance. He nodded.

"Steer the wagon in that direction," the forester instructed in a whisper. "Pull back gently on the left rein to turn, then when the horses are heading for the thicket, loose the reins."

"Are the birds still circling?" Ven whispered back.

"Shhhh. Yes."

Ven did as Tuck said. The wagon turned slowly to the north, the horses seeming to know where they were headed. Finally they rolled to a stop inside the thicket. The only sound was the breathing and occasional snorting of the horses.

They remained frozen as the light in the sky above the treetops faded into gray, then darkness. Finally, as the stars began to emerge behind the wisps of smoke carried on the breeze, the forester put down his crossbow.

"They're gone," he said. "Let's make camp—Ida, Saeli, you sleep under the wagon, and anyone else who can fit as well. The birds don't appear to be following us, but if they are nighthunters, it's just as well that they see nothing warm-blooded if they fly overhead."

Silently they climbed out of the wagon, Clemency first, followed by Ida, then Char. Ven handed Saeli down to Clem and turned to see Amariel staring above at the stars.

"Amariel?" The merrow didn't seem to hear him, so he moved closer. "Amariel, come on—we need to make camp."

"Oh. All right." She got up slowly and walked to the back of the wagon, her steps unsteady.

"Are you all right?" Ven asked. Amariel nodded and let him help her out of the wagon. "What were you looking at?"

"Nothing. I was looking for the moon—it's set already."

"Oh." Ven scratched his head. "Any particular reason?"

Amariel shrugged. "I think it's waning, but I'm not sure. I like watching the moon. I told you a long time ago—it's kind of like the pilot fish for the earth—leading it through the darkness to wherever it should be going."

Well, at least it's nice to think someone or something knows where we should be going
, Ven thought. He smiled at the merrow, and she smiled back, her peg-like teeth glistening in the dark.

Ven tried not to stare. Amariel hadn't shown her teeth in a smile since the first time he met her.

Just then, above his head, a crossbow bolt whistled skyward.

Ven whipped around to see black streaks in the dark diving beneath the wagon. A harsh, horrible cawing that sounded like shattering glass scratched his ears. He covered his eyes with his arms and crouched down as the claws of a squad of ravens flapped in his face.

He could hear the screams and gasps of his friends as they thumped around in terror, banging into the wagon bed above them. He felt around for the merrow, and found her rolled into a ball near the front wagon wheel.

Above them, he could hear the sound of Tuck's crossbow firing.

Just then Saeli's small body was dragged past him and out from under the wagon.

"Saeli!" Ven screamed. He followed her out, scrambling to his feet, with Char right behind him. The black night birds were flapping around the Gwadd girl, who was lying on the ground, slapping helplessly at them. They pecked at her head and hair as Clem crawled out from under the wagon, a look of horror on her face.

The birds seized the little girl by her shoulders and her long, caramel-colored braid. Before anyone could move, they dragged her up all the way out from under the wagon and hovered heavily in the air as Saeli kicked and screamed in her harsh voice.

Ven lunged for the Gwadd girl, followed a second later by Char. They each grabbed one of her legs and held fast as four ravens separated from the flock and circled back, aiming directly for them.

"Steady," Tuck called from somewhere behind them. "Don't move."

"Hurry!" Ven shouted in return.

Tuck got his bearings and fired low, dropping one of the birds carrying Saeli, but the other rank flew to attack Ven, who was pulling as hard as he could to free her from the ravens' clutches. At the last second he let go and ducked, and the birds sailed past the horses. Tuck fired twice, and two more
thumps
rattled the reins.

Ven struggled to his feet and grabbed into the air, trying to regain his hold on Saeli.

"Hurry, mate!" Char yelled. "She's startin' to slip!"

Four more shots whistled past their heads. Four more bodies fell thudding to the ground.

Then, after another round of crossbow fire, the Gwadd tumbled back to earth amid a mess of feathers and bone.

Clemency was there in a heartbeat. She threw her arms around Saeli, who was shaking and sobbing. She pulled Ven's hand off the Gwadd girl and hurried her past him.

"Let go, Ven," she said shortly. "I'll take of her while you go see to Amariel."

Ven felt like he had been slapped. "Wait, Clem—let me see if she's all right—"

"I'll make sure she is. You look after your
friend
—that's all you've been doing since we set out on this miserable journey."

"Whoa, Clem, calm down," Char commanded. "That's not fair."

The curate-in-training paused, then sighed. "I'm sorry. You're right. I guess the sight of Saeli being dragged into the sky has scared everything but the nastiness out of me. I apologize. But once I get her calmed down, we need to decide what we're going to do."

Ven nodded. He waited until Clem and Saeli had disappeared under the wagon, then went over to where the merrow had been lying. He found her straightening up the food sacks that had fallen over during the attack.