That was the problem, the core of it. We didn’t know much about anything when it came to magic and dragons. There were no mages or sorceresses to ask. No books to read. No teachers. Anyone displaying their magical abilities was removed from their families at young ages and raised in secret locations where they were taught by unknowns—and nothing was known of what they learned there. Fully grown adults “appeared” after training and were welcomed by others with their powers.
I gave that some consideration because my first thoughts of actually questioning those with magic was to realize that all the rest of the people should have been jealous. We should have wanted to know how the mages and sorceresses are so superior and we should have questioned everything about them. I would want my child to have the best, to be the best. Yet, there were those who were so far advanced my family could never become part of them.
Instead, we sat back and accepted their benevolence, their rain for our crops, their “help” in battle (while the other side often also had a mage helping them). The sorceresses foretold possible futures, usually favorable in matters of love or wealth. They seldom revealed how they could manipulate feelings or choices a person made.
However, all those thoughts could be put aside for now. I’d allowed my mind to slip away from the single important item it needed to dwell upon during the night. We had a dragon, the last one in the known world, sitting at the edge of our campsite, its eyes focused on some unknown thing on the top of the mountain pass, and it acted as if danger would come from there.
No matter what it looked at, I saw no way it was going to be a good morning. I considered turning tail and running back to Trager. Things just don’t work out that way. While it was the first dragon I’d ever been around, interpreting its actions should be avoided because of lack of information, I couldn’t help myself. When it had landed on the road and first sniffed us after Kendra had freed it, and on the mountaintop above Mercia, it had moved with grace and power. Now it reminded me of a small bird in a nest as it watches hidden dangers as cats prowl the ground.
The dragon’s actions were quick, its eyes darting to the smallest movement, the muscles in its legs tight and rippling. I turned to Kendra. “What do you think?”
“Her claws are extended. She’s angry, or fearful, I can’t tell which.”
“About what?” I asked. “Can you tell anything?”
She considered the question before speaking. “There are no mages nearby, in fact, none I can sense. No sorceresses either. Just the ones far away. She is not scared of wyverns but does not like them. I think she hates them.”
Flier said, “Anybody mind if I sharpen my blade?”
That was the smartest thing I’d heard said all night. The other blade we’d taken from the ambushers also needed attention. A common stone near my foot would do, so I reached for it. The stone was fine-grained but would never touch my sword, not that it needed sharpening. Kendra sat beside me, while the girls huddled near the red coals of the fire.
Glowing coals? With an unknown danger possibly coming? None of us would have any night vision, and anybody or anything attacking would know precisely where we were. In my anger and excitement, I shot out a mental command so powerful that Anna winced, then shot to her feet and kicked dirt over the remaining coals.
*Sorry* I said in her mind and earned a small smile.
“What just happened?” Kendra asked.
Flier’s tilt of his head indicated he wanted to know, too. “With even coals remaining, we lose night vision, and the light from it will still lead whatever is coming right to us. I sent a mental ‘panic’ to Anna, and she put it out.”
Kendra didn’t seem especially surprised. “Can she answer you?”
“No. At least, not that I know of.”
“With your mind, you did that?” Flier said. “You spoke to her? I have heard of mages speaking across great distances, but I’ve also heard of swans that turn into bears that eat disruptive children.” He gave an attempt at laughing that failed.
“Had you ever heard of flying dragons?” Kendra asked. “Not Wyverns, but true-dragons?”
His laugh came to an abrupt halt. “There were stories of Wyverns told by responsible people, but I’d never seen one until this last few years. Nobody told serious tales of seeing a dragon.”
I said, “Then our story is almost the same. A month ago they were myths.”
He gave me a quizzical look that almost brought a smile to my lips. He finally said, “The little one, Emma, faced down this dragon. Is she a sorceress?”
Kendra and I exchanged glances. She shrugged. “We are trying to tell you the truth, but we don’t know what’s happening any more than you. Emma may be a sorceress—or something else. She has magic in her.”
“Twice Damon has asked you if there are any mages nearby,” he said, then waited for her answer.
“As I said before, I can sense them in my mind. Not talk to them or anything, but if they are within a certain distance, I know it. Same with the dragon.” She hadn’t even hesitated in explaining. “He asked because the appearance of a mage might indicate an attack on us.”
He wiped his stone along the edge of the sword a few more times, the sound of stone on steel ringing in the still night air. His thumb tested the sharpness. “We all have secrets, I guess.”
Anna pounced on his statement as she and Emma moved to sit at my side and peer at him in the starlight. “What are yours?”
He seemed confused, then sighed. “Yes, we all have them. Mine is that I am more than a simple messenger. My father was an advisor to the King of Vin, who was part of the royal family of Kondor. Not that we were royal, but my family was so wealthy we sometimes loaned the crown gold. That’s how my father could afford to buy me a commission in the army.”
Kendra said, “Vin is another small kingdom not ruled by a king today, right?”
“That’s what I hear, but it was when I carried his messages to the king of Trager. Nobody knows who is on the Council of Nine for Kondor, and I assume the same in Vin, but my father would never betray the king.” He sat quietly for a moment then continued, “I fear for my family.”
“What about all the gold your father has?” Anna asked brightly, her smile mischievous.
“I don’t know. They may have taken it. But not all. Only fools keep all their wealth in a single place. I know where there are several emergency caches of gold and silver. In the history of our family, this isn’t the first adversity we’ve faced.”
Considering our purses were emptier than I liked, and that we had a long way to go, the idea of a loan crossed my mind, but my lips remained closed. I tested the edge of the sword Kendra would use and found it acceptable—meaning it was as sharp as the metal would allow, but nothing like mine. The soft metal would dull quickly. It was tip-heavy and too wide to wield effectively, especially for someone smaller like my sister.
I handed her mine. The light, thin blade in her hands would become a fierce weapon, while the heavier one would be more productive with me. Flier stood off to one side, waving his sword in the air as if in a victory celebration. Obviously, he had no swordsmanship skills at all.
“Flier, let me show you a few more things,” I called with a laugh, intending to position his feet properly.
He looked in my direction, then past me, to the top of the mountain pass, his eyes flaring wide with fear. He shouted, “There!”
He needed to say no more as all eyes turned to look, and the roar of the Dragon would have drowned out any sound. Men seemed to appear from within the ground as they rose from hidden places, their backs covered with branches and leaves they’d attached to themselves to hide their dirty brown robes as they had crawled closer and closer. Each brandished a sword much like the one in my hand.