“Yes. I think we should remain with these people until we learn more of them. Kendra and her dragon will follow.”
Flier said, “Do you really believe that you can ‘speak’ with Anna at any time and either her or your sister can send the dragon to attack? I’m just asking because things can go wrong if we remain.”
I gave him my most positive nod and a hint of a sly grin of confidence as I heard the clanking of chains. Two guards arrived along with a line of nine or ten men and boys in leg irons connected to each other. Their hands were chained in pairs. They were dressed in rags, and most were filthy and emaciated.
They came to a halt in front of us. A man wearing a heavy tool belt wore more chains carried over his shoulder. He tossed them to the ground in front of us with a loud clatter. The nearest guard drew his sword and placed the tip against my chest as the other placed a pair of cuffs around my left ankle and drove home a copper pin to lock them.
He said, “Nice and loose, but give us any trouble, and I’ll clamp them down tighter.”
The other leg and my wrists came next, then Flier’s. We were the last two in the line of captured slaves, connected by chains, one short one from foot to foot that prevented running, and another connected to the next man in line, one ahead and one behind.
The situation had suddenly worsened. I glanced up and considered asking the dragon to attack, but even if it did, I couldn’t run with ten or eleven men chained to me.
“What now?” Flier asked me as we stood when ordered and shuffled along with the others.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
W e had no choice but follow the others. The chains clanked, and the metal cut into my ankles. A single guard carried a whip and didn’t hesitate to use it when I tripped from the unfamiliar chains restricting my stride. My small magic diverted the power of the whip an instant before it struck me, but nobody noticed anything unusual. I wailed because they expected it.
Flier was behind me. He asked, “Are you hurt?”
I shook my head.
The pins locking our restraints could be forced out with my magic, I believed—but didn’t know for sure and wouldn’t try until needed because I didn’t know if I could replace them. It would be at the extreme end of what I could do in either case. However, I did manage to clear my mind and formulate a message to Anna describing the chains and that we needed a plan for after we got free.
Since I couldn’t seem to understand her, I asked that she place the feeling of an attacking mosquito on my body somewhere. The sensation came right away. I swatted the back of my left hand and sent that image to her, so she would know and share with Kendra that we had some form of two-way communication.
Then we slaves were halted and ordered to the ground to sleep. After the day of climbing the other side of the Vin Pass, that was an easy order to comply with. We were provided no blankets and the night turned cold. I heard the rattle of chains as others shivered.
However, the dragon was close, my magic stronger than ever, and I drew warm air from the pair of guards that huddled nearby under blankets and spread it as a light film over Flier and myself. When the guards complained of how cold it was, my mind eased.
Instead of sleeping, I allowed my thinking to roam free as I watched the brilliant points of light in the sky. For the moment, Flier and I were in no immediate danger, Kendra and the girls were nearby protected by the dragon, and Princess Elizabeth was making her way to Dagger, one way or another. Avery had attempted, and hopefully succeeded, to rescue his friend, the king of Trager. Our king was now healthy and again ruled Dire for the benefit of the people.
While we didn’t know the goals of those disrupting the royal rule with their magic, we were learning to fight against them and had some early successes. The future of Dire was brighter than two weeks ago.
Emma and Anna had brought new questions and magical powers, and we knew nothing of their abilities or futures, let alone their potential, but it seemed clear the world was in a state of transition. They were bringing a new dish to the table.
Our captors were another new dish brought to the table. They were inside Kondor capturing slaves, and they hated even the language of Kondor. There was an old tale about two enemies hating the same person. It placed the two in a position of working together to defeat a common enemy. While I didn’t even know the kingdom or origin of our captors, there seemed an opportunity might exist with them. Dire was a small kingdom but joined with another it might defeat the common enemy.
As much as those problems needed solving, there was another one that drew me. A dragon provided the source of my magic, but there were ancient Waystones I wanted to know about. Where and how did mages use them? Did Wyverns exist everywhere and provide a limited amount of essence? How did they do it, and why?
With all that to consider, every question, every guess, and every conjecture revolved around one thing. The last dragon. If we solved the mysteries of her, we’d know the answers to all the rest. She still circled high above. I could hear her wings beating, and she must be growing tired.
*Anna, tell Kendra to recall her dragon and let it get some rest. Also, tell her that Flier and I are going to remain captives for a while and try to gather some information about these enemies of Kondor. Stay close, but not too close.*
Having sent the message, I watched the dragon veer off a short while later and disappear. Then I opened my mind again and said, *Anna, I’m going to sleep now. There is a lot to do tomorrow and the day after. Tell that to my sister. This adventure is far from finished.*
The End
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Acknowledgments
Good books are written by several exceptional people, all of whom have my thanks.
My beta readers, Lucy Jones-Nelson, Dave Nelson, Laurie Barcome, Paul Eslinger, and Sherri Oliver, all found lots of things for me to correct, and much to improve. Thank you all. I want to publish the best books I can, and they are certainly better with your help. Any mistakes in the book are mine, and mine alone.
My wife puts up with the time it takes to write a book and deserves extra credit for her help with the covers and her ideas—and she gives me the time to write.
And my dog, Molly. She sits at my feet and watches me write every day.