By dusk they were past the first ridge, out of sight of the castle, lost in the forests, and soaked through. They stopped for the night in the first clearing they found, which had once been the dooryard of a small cottage. The cottage was now a burned-out, roofless ruin, and after a brief debate about making some use of its charred and crumbling walls, they chose instead to stay well clear and set up their two small tents in the yard in miserable silence.
When the tents were up, Arden and Elner immediately crawled into one. Tobas glared at them through the flap for a moment, then said, “Hey! What about dinner?”
“What about it?” Elner demanded.
“Someone’s got to gather firewood.”
“What for? We can’t light a fire in this rain! We’ll just eat dinner cold.”
Tobas drew his dagger and stuck his other thumb into his pouch for a little brimstone. “I,” he declared, “intend to have a hot dinner, even if it means roasting one of you.” He worked his spell, and a small shrub near Elner’s elbow burst into flame. “After slogging up these hills I think we deserve something warm, don’t you? I can light a fire, rain or no rain!”
Elner stared at the burning shrub, even as the rain doused the flames. Peren announced, “I’ll get the wood.”
Even as the albino vanished in the surrounding trees, Tobas regretted his actions. He had driven a wedge between himself and the others, he knew, by showing off his magic and ordering them around; that might be a serious error. He had no way of knowing how long he would be with these people.
He was not at all sure just what he and they would do. Elner seemed certain that they would quickly find and dispatch the marauding dragon; Tobas was just as sure they would not. Elner probably assumed that this cottage had been burned out by the dragon, Tobas thought, but more likely someone had simply been careless with a cookfire.
Of course, if he was right and the monster was not anywhere near them, what would become of them when the dragon failed to materialize was uncertain.
The hospitality of Dwomor Keep was intended for dragon hunters; if they returned there empty-handed, they would not be welcome. That left two choices, stay in the mountains looking for the dragon indefinitely or go somewhere else. Tobas was all in favor of going somewhere else, but had not yet broached the subject to the others. Elner, convinced that he was destined to kill the dragon, would surely refuse to consider the idea. Arden would go along with the majority.
And Tobas was not sure of Peren. The albino did not usually talk much and did not seem inclined to volunteer opinions or information. However, he was here, so he presumably intended to tackle the dragon.
Maybe a few days of sore feet and wet clothes would change their minds, Tobas thought as he waited for Peren to return.
CHAPTER 13
“Which way?” Arden asked, staring up at the cliff.
Tobas looked up at the sheer rock face that blocked their path through the trees. They would not be climbing up that, obviously. He glanced both ways, then made his decision. “Right,” he said, pointing. “It doesn’t look as far around in that direction.”
Arden nodded agreement. Tobas looked at Elner and Peren, but neither seemed inclined to argue; they had let Tobas make the decisions about route, campsite, and so forth since the first night. The entire party turned right and marched on, up the slope through the trees and brush.
Three days had passed since their departure from Dwomor Keep, three days they had spent climbing ever steeper slopes, both up and down, as they zigzagged back and forth and worked their way gradually northeastward into the mountains. The rain, fortunately, had stopped after the first night.
The eastward trend to their travels was Peren’s idea; he had pointed out that the mountains in this direction were more rugged, providing more places for a dragon to hide and probably discouraging dragon hunters. Tobas had had some misgivings about the idea of intentionally taking a harder route, but had secretly thought the increased difficulty might convince the others to abandon the quest all the sooner and look for some safer way to make their fortunes. He could, of course, have struck out on his own, but he had no confidence in his ability to survive alone in such unfamiliar and unfriendly terrain; he preferred to stay with the others.
He was particularly worried because every house, hut, or cottage they had come across so far had been a burned-out ruin, far too many for coincidence. The dragon had certainly been in this area at some time and did, indeed, breathe fire; no other explanation made sense. Tobas had no intention of taking a chance on meeting the monster single-handed, and for that reason alone he was determined to stay with the group.
Two days earlier they had caught sight of another party wandering about, five people on foot atop the next ridge over; that had, they all agreed, almost certainly been another group of dragon hunters. Tobas had hoped someone would suggest that the two groups join forces, but no one had; he had been on the verge of saying something himself, when he realized that the other party was moving almost directly away and was already out of sight, making it unlikely that any attempts to catch them would succeed.
That had been their only encounter with other people since losing sight of Dwomor Keep.
“I doubt we’re in Dwomor anymore,” Peren remarked as they clambered onward across the slope beneath the cliff, out of the sheltering pines onto an expanse of bare rock.
Elner demanded, “What are you talking about?” He stopped climbing, forcing Peren, behind him, to stop as well.
“I don’t think we’re in Dwomor anymore,” Peren repeated. “The Lord Chamberlain said that most of the higher peaks are across the border in Aigoa, and we’re pretty far up now. We haven’t seen any ruins since this morning.”
“But the dragon is in Dwomor!” Elner said.
“Who says it is?” Peren replied. “It’s been attacking people in Dwomor, but that doesn’t mean it lives there!”
Tobas, who had paused and turned back to listen, added, “Dragons aren’t much on boundaries, as I understand it.”
“What do you know about dragons?” Elner demanded. “I thought you only knew fire-magic! That’s what you keep saying!”
“That’s the only magic I know,” Tobas retorted. “But I do have a little common sense, which you obviously don’t! Just how would you know any more about dragons than I do?”
“I know enough. Listen, Wizard, if you know so much, why don’t you tell us some of it? Who are you really, anyway, and what are you doing here?”
“I told you who I am, Tobas Dabran’s son, of Telven. I’m here for the same reason we all are, to make my fortune.”
“I never heard of Telven,” Elner shouted. “I say you’re some old wizard in disguise here to trick us somehow. Maybe this dragon’s a pet of yours, and you’re going to feed us all to it!”
“I’m not in disguise,” Tobas said, startled out of his annoyance by the accusation.
“Well, I never saw any wizard who looked like you before, with those grubby peasant clothes and that stupid face!”
“And I never saw an idiot who looked like you, but it’s pretty plain you’re an idiot of the first order! Who do you think I am, then, if I’m not what I say I am?”
“I told you, you’re some famous, powerful wizard playing games with us.”
“If I were a famous, powerful wizard, why in the world would I be climbing over these damned rocks and cutting my hands up? I’d fly over them! A wizard needs his hands to work his spells, you know; if I had any choice, I’d take better care of mine!”