The others split up his gear, leaving him to carry shot, powder, a quadnel, and the fragment of the DragonCrown. The fragment wasn’t that heavy, so he was able to move along with everyone as they trekked south. The storehouse had yielded snowshoes, which did let them move more quickly, but any sort of hike through the cold was still pretty rough.
Their first day of travel had been through a snowstorm, which they actually welcomed as it hid their tracks. It did little to hide the signs of the Aurolani hordes and their passing, however. The carcasses of half-eaten animals, wagons that had been taken and then discarded when overworked draft beasts died, and even the frozen bodies of gibberers who had been slain by compatriots or the cold, marked the trail well. The presence of dead gibberers did not surprise Erlestoke, as winter marching was always taxing. It was actually the paucity of bodies that he found difficult to believe.
Ryswin shrugged when he mentioned this. “They come from the north. This weather is something they are used to. It might even seem mild to them.”
“Which puts them at an advantage in a winter war.” Erlestoke sighed. “How long do you think it will take Sebcia to fall?”
The elf’s eyes narrowed for a moment, then he shook his head. “A lot of troops moved south. It’s probably already gone. Muroso might be gone, too. Dragonels and dragons make Chytrine very powerful, especially against fortresses built to withstand conventional sieges.”
Like the ones in Oriosa. Erlestoke had long resisted identifying himself with the nation of his birth. His father had embarked on a course that Erlestoke despised. The murder of his grandmother made him hate Chytrine, and made him determined to destroy her. It just terrified his father, and he did whatever he could to appease her. For that reason Erlestoke had traveled north to Fortress Draconis and begged his uncle, the Draconis Baron, to accept his service.
Despite that determination, however, the ties to his homeland still bound him. Just because he had no love for his father did not mean that he did not love Oriosa. He did not want to see Oriosans killed and their homes destroyed. Not only had his aunt been evacuated with his cousins there, but his own mistress and their child had gone south. It occurred to him that they must all suppose him dead, which only heightened his desire to return home.
If I can.
Their situation was precarious, and that was only if one was generous in assessing the dangers. The first day’s snow likely kept Aurolani troops in Fortress Draconis, so there would be at least a day’s gap between them and the troops moving farther south. That gap could be easily closed, but it provided them a narrow window of passage. Ideally they would move south, then cross the Tynik River and slip into Sarengul. There the urZrethi would provide them sanctuary or at least a route into Alosa.
Erlestoke wasn’t certain where the fragment would be best hidden. If they could get as far south as Croquellyn, they could turn it over to the elves. Princess Alexia had done that with the Jeranese fragment when she’d stolen it from the Wruonin pirates. The elves of Loquellyn had set it away for safekeeping, but the prince wondered if that might not doom them in the long run.
Erlestoke’s fears about a clear day meant they would leave a trail anyone could follow, but that eased as night fell. They ranged a bit to the east and in some hill country they found the shell of a crofter’s home. Raiders had tried to burn it, but the fire had failed to consume the whole thing. Part of the roof remained, and all four log walls stood, though they were charred on the inside.
The nice thing about the cabin was that the walls did offer some protection against the Aurolani troops in the area, or so Nygal had said. Verum countered that they’d not mean anything if a dragon decided to finish the job. That sobered everyone up for a bit, then Erlestoke told them they could build a fire in the hearth if Verum said the structure was still sound.
The idea of being able to have heat brightened the prospects for the night. Verum assigned different jobs to everyone but the elves and Jullagh-tse since they’d have to take the night watches. Their ability to see in the darkness would make them perfect lookouts, and none of the men or meckanshü complained about the division of labor.
Erlestoke summoned three of the nonhumans over. “We are agreed that we strike south for Sarengul. Jullagh-tse, you’re certain they’ll take us in?”
She nodded, her grey eyes a stark contrast to both her rich red flesh and the dark of the heavy black wool cloak swathing her. “The urZrethi do not turn away visitors. I’ve been to Sarengul before—it is not that far from Bok-agul, after all—and I even have distant cousins there. They may not welcome our having a DragonCrown fragment, but they won’t search us or demand to know what we are carrying.”
Jilandessa toyed with her long black braid. “Is deception a good idea?”
The urZrethi shrugged. “You would rather burden them with information they might not want? Yes, our entry will bring the war down on them, but they have no desire for Chytrine to reconstruct the Crown. Remember, urZrethi raise mountains and the dragons chase us from them. Our homes are unassailable otherwise. Let her bring her gibberers against us. Without dragons, they cannot hope to open our mountains.”
Ryswin snorted. “Let us hope neither Turic or Runyk deigns to make a lesson of such confidence.”
Jullagh-tse shook her head. “The will of the gods be what it may, destroying the urZrethi in their home is very difficult.”
Erlestoke raised a mittened hand. “If we assume all that is true, the next question is where do we go from there? Princess Alexia left a fragment in Loquellyn.”
Ryswin wrinkled his nose. “She would not have been allowed to leave Rellaence with it in her possession. It was deemed unwise for her to bring it to Fortress Draconis. That would have put too much at jeopardy, and granted too much to Chytrine if she succeeded.“
“That would have given her five fragments. She has the one from Svarskya, and one of the three from Fortress Draconis. We have one, the Jeranese fragment is in Loquellyn, and one more is gods-alone know where.” The prince frowned. “How many fragments are there?”
Ryswin smiled. “You were the Draconis Baron’s aide. Did he not tell you?”
Jilandessa snapped something at the Loquelf in Elvish. The warrior’s eyes widened, then he blushed and nodded. When the color in his face returned to normal, he looked Erlestoke squarely in the eye. “You will please forgive me. Jilandessa has reminded me that you do have a right to information that has long been hidden from you. To the best of anyone’s knowledge, there are seven fragments.”
“Seven?” Erlestoke frowned. “I know of the five that men were given, and I have heard there was a fragment on Vorquellyn.”
The Harquelf healer nodded. “That fragment was evacuated from the island, but vanished. Some say the Loquelves took it from the refugees.”
“We did not.” Ryswin lifted his chin. “I fought against Kree’chuc. I did not see the fragment, but had you been in Loquellyn at the time, you know our possession of it would have been lauded as a victory.”
“That accounts for six.” Erlestoke looked at his three companions. “What of the seventh?”
Ryswin opened his hands. “Though it was well before my time, the tale has it that a small group of adventurers were the ones who actually slew Kirun. When they found the Crown it formed an open arc, not unlike some coronets. They’d not seen it before, and it was not until much later that stories arose that told of a seventh piece—the centerpiece. While each fragment is very powerful, as we have all seen, with the seventh, vast armies of dragons can be controlled. Its use is supposed to be exhausting, but when one can wipe out an enemy, the chance to rest comes easily.”
The prince frowned. “So you are telling me that there were seven pieces, but only six were found and they were split up without anyone knowing that the central piece was missing?”