“I wonder who else it could be. And look here, I believe there are two sets of prints of the size a boy around twelve would make. One is the dragon boy, perhaps both. I have no idea about the other, except that the mystery man who dismounted here is chasing after them.”
The Sword Master turned with a cruel smile. “I really don’t give a rat’s ass who he is, or who’s chasing them. We’re here on a mission, and our quarry ran this way. There can’t be more than one boy, his size on this road today, and he went that way. Whoever belongs to that fancy boot better stay out of my way or I’ll take those boots off his corpse and wear them myself.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Robin took the lead. She watched the two youths whispering and decided to let them have their time together without warnings or objection. She silently watched them make some rudimentary fighting moves with their staffs. The actions pleased her, although they were stiff and slow with their thrusts and parries. Soon they’d be too worn out to talk. She pushed faster, climbing the steep terrain with the help of her staff as she used to do with her lover and friend all those years ago. They had been young, but the dangers of traveling with a member of the Dragon Clan never slowed her. Twice she had traveled with him, and this trip might be the last traveling she ever did.
The girl had forced her to give up her chosen way of life, but Camilla had no way of knowing or understanding the consequences of asking for Robin’s help. Just as the girl had no way of knowing that she was the only person in Nettleton who might be able to help to her. Yet, it could not be an accident, she came to Robin. While not understanding why or how, Robin knew Camilla came to her for a reason.
Both Camilla and Brix seemed to run out of energy on a steep incline that went on forever. Looking back over her shoulder, Robin saw they had climbed so far that if another mountain were not in the way, she could see all the way back to Nettleton. Later, a glance at the sky told her she had enough light left in the day to make a fast camp for the night. She judged they were far enough away from the road that nobody would follow if they found their trail. Only the most dedicated or desperate would attempt the climb behind them
The direction they followed wound around the hills while generally heading for Bear Mountain, always kept on the right, as her friend had stressed in their conversations. The small mountain pass she wanted would be found below the peak of Bear Mountain, high on the south side. When a small opening in the trees appeared, she said. “We’ll stay here. Spread your bedrolls and gather some dry wood.”
Camilla dropped her things and hung her weary head, arms hanging limply at her sides. She made no move to find wood.
Brix looked little better. He bent and picked up a few twigs. Robin gathered flat rocks from the base of a small ridge where they’d fallen and placed them in a crude ring. Camilla finally gathered herself and stumbled around, picking up any small branches she saw on the ground and carrying them to the fire pit a handful at a time. She let twigs fall from fingers onto the growing pile.
Robin chuckled at them and said, “Come on. We’ll burn that much wood getting the fire started.”
“Do we really need a fire?” Camilla asked, her voice soft and weary.
“No,” Robin said. “We do not need one, but I not only enjoy the warmth of the fire while outside, but believe they keep pesky animals like bears away. If not the fire itself, the lingering smoke scares them off.”
Camilla and Brix exchanged a disappointed glance.
Robin stood. “If one of you will start the fire I’ll gather enough to last us.” She rapidly gathered wood and tossed it on the growing pile beside the fire pit. There was a dead tree with several branches as large around as her arms, each and longer than she was tall. She grasped one in each hand and dragged them into the fire pit.
Brix said, “What are you doing? Have an ax hidden somewhere?”
“Push wood,” Robin said, smiling—and waiting for the inevitable question to follow.
“What’s that?” Brix asked.
“Well, we use that little fire you are burning, and we lay a branch across it. When it burns in half--we ‘push’ the two ends together. These two branches should give us fire the whole night.”
Camilla sighed, “Push wood. That would be funny if I weren't so tired.”
However, Brix had snorted a chuckle.
Robin sat and motioned for them to move closer. “Listen, I can see you two are tired, but it seems an old woman like me should be the one complaining. You will need to get some rest. We have a hard day tomorrow.”
Brix glanced at his bedroll and rolled his eyes. “Harder than today?”
Robin nodded.
“Where are we going?” Camilla asked. “You haven’t told us what’s happening, either.”
“And why?” Brix added. “I’m scared. At least, I think I should be.”
“I’ve known your family since before you were born, Brix. Logoff, your father, is respected, and I like him. As soon as possible we’ll send word that you are alive and well. For your safety, you need to come with us. At least for a while.” Robin said. She turned to Camilla. “Men are after you. Very bad men. I think you know that.”
“You said that down by the road. Who are they and why are they after me?”
Robin looked from the eyes of one to the other. How do I tell them? Robin stirred the coals and watched the small flames eating through the center of the first branch. With a snap, it fell apart, and she pushed the two ends together as if making up her mind. She looked at Brix. “I am going to tell Cam a story, and I want you to listen as well, and to remain quiet until I am done.”
Brix glanced at Camilla before nodding. His behavior said he understood he was about to hear something important, and he waited.
Satisfied, Robin turned to Camilla. “Do you remember the story about my boyfriend long ago? Yes? Well, let me tell you more about him. He had a birthmark on him. From the back of his neck to his upper leg was a black dragon so perfect it might have been drawn there by the best artist in the kingdom. The body of the dragon covered his whole back while the wings wrapped around his body until they almost touched at his breastbone.”
“You told me all that. You said he could feel when dragons are close, and he could call them down, whatever that means.”
“Yes. It means that when in danger, a black dragon would sometimes swoop down from the sky and fight at his side. He could tell the dragon who his enemies were, although I’m not exactly sure how he did that. It made him a very powerful man. A man to be feared by those without the power. Those without the power grew worried and gathered an army and killed all with the dragon mark.”
In a weak voice, Camilla asked, “My family?”
“Yes, them too. They were supposed to be the last of your kind. The King and his army had already located and killed all the Dragon Clan, except for your family, he believed. The army followed them for a year and finally found them near Nettleton in the forest. They rode in and killed them all, no matter how old or if they were men or women. Each body was laid out and counted like slabs of meat for a butcher. Before the entire job was finished several dragons attacked your camp. They covered everything, including the bodies, with dragon slime. Dragon slime, or spit, burns like lamp oil, only more so, when a flame touches it. It almost explodes, they say. Everything in that camp was destroyed by the dragons and their fire.”
Brix sat and listened as if in a trance.