In case we chose to enter Kaon, the slaves were part of our disguise. That disagreed with me, but for now, I’d let it stand. Later, slavery would be challenged, and perhaps a few of the slaves in the darkness would forgive us.
The others seemed to have similar unspoken thoughts.
“Kendra and I only have each other,” I added to the Slave-Master’s statement, for some reason wanting to fit in with the shared group-misery.
*Is that how you really feel?*
I spun to face an angry little girl with flashing eyes sitting near Kendra. *No. You can’t accept what I say without considering the circumstances. It has always been just Kendra and me. Now it is the three of us. I should have said that sooner. You are one of us.*
*Thank you.*
*I’m sorry. We can talk about this later.*
Kendra was unaware of our private spat. While we hadn’t discussed Anna’s future but she had somehow become one of us. Kendra turned to the Slave-Master and said, “If you smuggle us into Kaon, I can command my dragon to follow us. It can stay out of sight, but close enough to fly to our rescue. If the Young Mage does not want the dragon in Kaon, then I suggest it is what we do. We can figure out why he is afraid of it and that might tell us all we need to defeat him.”
“Then what?” the Slave-Master asked. “Are you going to use your dragon to burn down a third city? My home?”
Kendra stood, and as she did, the two throwing knives appeared in her hands as if by magic. She must have been practicing when I hadn’t noticed. Her eyes blazed at the Slave-Master.
“Stop it!” I growled but didn’t dare move because it looked like any sudden movement might set her off, and the knives would fly. “Both of you need to calm down.”
The Slave-Master interlocked his fingers over his ample stomach, the touch of a smile at the corners of his mouth. In a soft, calm voice he said, “Have you ever heard of being too close to a problem? So close you do not understand what you see?”
He talked as if he was willing to share something and had our total attention.
The Slave-Master continued, “While I do not know much of what has transpired in your world, I know about mine, and what I have overheard from all of you. I know more about my world than you and have listened and learned since our first encounter. I also know how to solve problems. I consider what is most important and work from there to meet my objectives, and that skill has made me wealthy. The one you call the Young Mage is behind most, if not all, of what has happened in replacing kings with ruling councils. That is the central issue to think about.”
Elizabeth said, “Go on.”
“His magic skills are greater than any other mage. But magic is not free. He draws it from outside himself, as do all mages.”
We listened to the Slave-Master because he seemed to be leading us to a conclusion. However, his time was growing short, as far as I cared. I was about to tell him to make his point when he turned to me.
“Damon, you know your magic increases when you are closer to a Waystone. We proved it with the fire you created, and it grew as you moved closer. You all know there must be a source of magic, and that is Essence that comes from a true-dragon. Essence can only be used when a dragon is nearby.”
Elizabeth said, “That is not true. There is only one dragon, and Kaon is a long way from Dire, yet this Young Mage, and all mages wherever they live have been using their magic for centuries. Besides, Wyverns also produce Essence, from what little I know. Theirs is less effective, but still good enough if they are close, like with the ships at sea.”
The Slave-Master still wore the same slight smile, which was transforming into a self-satisfied smirk. “All true. Yet, you keep missing the obvious answer, which is the Waystones.”
“They allow mages to travel from place to place, we believe. How does that answer anything?” my sister asked, clearly growing as frustrated as I felt.
“Because,” he continued as if not interrupted, “you have already found the answer. Allow me to explain. You said your dragon was kept chained on a mountain in Mercia for hundreds of years, but you never asked, why. Now, I am asking you that question.”
We exchanged blank looks.
He shrugged. “Instead of all the other problems, distractions, emergencies, deaths, and cities burning that you’ve been dealing with, including endless storms at sea, illness in your families, and entire cities like Trager starving, you’ve missed the central issue. Not that I blame any of you.”
*Her eggs!*
I answered Anna with an exclamation in my mind, *There was one at the mountaintop in Mercia. An egg, I mean.*
*One that a mage stole from that open Waystone.*
Anna’s talk struck a chord with me. One phrase in particular. She said open Waystone. I nearly shouted, “The container on the mountaintop was a Waystone, but the top was open to accept newly laid eggs. It had the same symbols carved on the outside.”
“It was also warm to the touch,” Kendra added.
I said, “The one in Mercia was a “collector” of some sort. The eggs were either laid inside or moved into the Waystone and sent elsewhere via other Waystones. As Kendra suggested once, the dragon eggs power them, but not forever. When the Essence weakens, a new egg is needed to replace the old.”
The Slave-Master allowed his smile to develop fully. “Yes, it’s all about the eggs.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Princess Elizabeth
“It’s all about the eggs.”
We sat around the campfire while considering the words of the Slave-Master. He’d given us a direction to take, but there was more. There had to be. I no longer felt cold, or impatient. In order to survive in the nasty business of slaving, he had to provide food for his newly acquired slaves but feeding them too much kept them strong and able to revolt. If they were too weak, their value would drop.
He also had to pay his guards, provide food and shelter for all of them while in foreign lands, resolve differences in expectations, work with local bandits and legal representatives, and a hundred other daily things. In short, he was an accomplished manager who was required lead, much as any ruler, not the ignorant craven destroyer of lives I’d pictured at first. My respect for his intellect grew.
Not that he was any less moral for choosing such an occupation. But my mind had accepted him as smart. Smarter than me in many ways. I said, “It’s all about the eggs. Tell me how to use that statement to fight him.”
“Controlling the dragon eggs is power. All mages need Essence, or they have no magical powers,” he said as if addressing a ten-year-old.
“Kendra controls the last dragon,” I said. “Does that mean she can defeat the Young Mage?”
“You still don’t understand,” the Slave-Master said sharply as he stood and threw his arms wide in exasperation. “Does nobody here think? Out here in the desert, you learn things or die. You listen. Watch. Combine facts with conjecture. For instance, did you know there are snakes and lizards who live in the desert that do not need a male to reproduce? Finding a mate may be impossible when the nearest of its species lives days away, and it doesn’t know what direction to find the male. Several varieties reptiles have that ability. It is so common a fact that people of the Brownlands have known about it for centuries. Are snakes and lizards related to dragons?”