Bitterwood (27 page)

The dragon shook his head. “I no longer have a name, or power.”

“Then you have nothing to lose,” said Jandra. “At the moment, I’m short on allies. Can I count on your help?”

“I am at your service,” the masked dragon answered with a courtly bow.

Suddenly, the blast of battle horns could be heard from the castle gates.

“Sounds like they’re coming back in,” Jandra said. “We’d better move Vendevorex.”

“Why was he brought to the throne room to start with? With such serious wounds he should never have left his bed.”

“He received his wounds here.”

“When?How?”

“Zanzeroth almost killed him. This happened only hours ago.”

“Hours?” The dragon sounded as if he thought Jandra was crazy. “These wounds are days old.”

“Listen, Phantom, this isn’t the best time to explain. No one’s left to defend this place. Kanst’s soldiers will just sweep through here. We need to get moving.”

Vendevorex moaned. He turned his head toward Jandra’s voice. His eyes fluttered open as he whispered, “What’s the point?”

Jandra ran to his side. She dropped to her knees and placed a hand on his fevered brow. “You’re burning up, Ven. Phantom, go get him some more water!”

“Don’t bother,” Vendevorex said. His voice sounded utterly defeated. “I-I heard the battle horns. I’m too weak to move. It’s time to accept… I’m going to die. Save yourself, Jandra.”

“I’m not going to let you die,” Jandra said. “I won’t abandon you, Ven.”

“You m-must,” the wizard sighed. He closed his eyes. He arched his back in response to some internal agony. His belly was twisted and distorted with ugly tumors of scar tissue. His skin seemed to be crawling. “It’s all o-over. I’m too sick to move. You could make us invisible, but what’s the p-point? Zanzeroth will bring in ox-dogs. We’ve lost.”

“Don’t be so willing to surrender, my friend,” the phantom said, reaching for a large pack he had left on the floor. “Let Jandra make us invisible to their eyes and I will make us invisible to their noses. I can carry you both from here with ease.” The phantom pulled a crystalline atomizer from his pack.

“You’re going to save us with perfume?” Jandra asked

“Hold your breath until the mist settles to the floor,” the hooded dragon said. “This is filled with the essence of hot peppers. The dogs won’t even enter this room.”

The phantom sprayed the fine pink mist around the room. Jandra fought aside her own exhaustion to concentrate on her role in the escape. She needed to create a circle of invisibility large enough for all three of them to hide in; this was no small task, given the sun-dragon’s great size. The phantom looked back as he neared the door.

“Where?” he whispered, looking around.

“Here,” Jandra answered, certain now that the invisibility was working. “Follow my voice.”

The phantom hurried to her, stopping with a shock as he entered the circle and saw them again. “I’ve always wondered how this was done,” he said. He looked at the sparkles on his scales. “A reflective dust. Interesting.”

“Keep quiet,” Jandra whispered. “Someone’s coming!”

“In here, Pertalon,” came a voice from the outer chamber.
Oh no,
thought Jandra.
Zanzeroth.

Jandra held her breath as the hunter’s head appeared in the doorway. The phantom froze where he stood. Zanzeroth moved into the room slowly. He was a mass of fresh white gauze bandages. He walked with the assistance of another dragon, a sky-dragon who stood beneath Zanzeroth’s shoulder to support him.

“Damn,” Zanzeroth said. “We’re too late, Pertalon.”

“What’s wrong?” Pertalon asked.

Zanzeroth motioned toward Jandra. “This is where I left the body. It’s gone now.”

“I thought he was too wounded to move.”

“Jandra must have taken his corpse,” Zanzeroth said, sounding disappointed. “Damn Gadreel’s incompetence. She should have been an easy kill.”

Pertalon asked, “Who’s Jandra?”

“The wizard’s pet,” Zanzeroth said. His eyes were following her bloody footprints from her earlier trip from the throne room to the armory. Ven’s blood had been freshest then; it was the most obvious trail in the room. Zanzeroth twisted his neck around to follow the trail back into the hall. He continued his explanation of Jandra’s role in Vendevorex’s life as he studied the clues before him. “The wizard raised a human girl from infancy. The little bitch treated Vendevorex like a god. She never suspected the truth.”

“What truth?” Pertalon asked, supporting Zanzeroth as they stepped back into the hall.

“The girl was an orphan by Vendevorex’s hand,” said Zanzeroth. “The wizard killed her parents with as little thought as you or I would give to killing a fly.”

Jandra raised her hands to her mouth to silence her surprise. Zanzeroth had to be lying. But why? Why would he lie if he didn’t know she could hear? Was this a trick? Perhaps he wanted her to cry out, revealing her location.

“Let’s see where her trail leads,” Zanzeroth said. “She can’t have taken him out of the castle. We’ll come back with the ox-dogs.”

Jandra turned to Vendevorex as the voices of Zanzeroth and Pertalon faded down the hallway. The wizard lay with his head facing away from her. The phantom studied her face, his eyes sad, as if he knew some awful truth.

“Ven?” she said.

“What t-terrific luck Zanzeroth didn’t come further into the room,” the wizard whispered, looking at the wall. “We have a chance after all.”

“Agreed,” the phantom said. “I will carry you. If we can remain invisible we can slip through the gates unnoticed.”

“Ven?” Jandra said, placing her hand on his shoulder. “Why won’t you look at me?”

Vendevorex twisted his neck around to face her in a swift motion. Pain etched lines onto his face as he hissed, “Because it’s t-true.”

“What?”

Vendevorex sighed. He closed his eyes. His whole body slackened and sagged. “Years ago, when I arrived in the k-king’s court, I was no one,” he said softly. “I had no allies to convince Albekizan to take me in. I had to p-prove my abilities, to convince him I was a worthy member of his court. Albekizan tested me by having me destroy a cottage near the castle.”

Jandra shook her head, not believing what she was hearing.

Vendevorex continued. “Setting the structure ablaze was simple. Killing the man and woman within was simpler still. To further prove my power I walked through the burning house, showing that the heat and smoke couldn’t harm me. I heard your cries above the roar of the flames. I hadn’t known they had a child.”

“You killed my parents?” she said. “As… as a demonstration?”

“Yes,” he said. “But I spared you. I… I saw you in your burning bed and you looked so… innocent. That night I knew I was committing murder solely for my own selfish needs. I never lied to myself. I made the cold, calculated decision to end your parents’ lives to improve my own. But when I saw the innocence in your eyes… that was the first moment in my life I ever felt shame.”

“I can’t believe this,” she said, choking back tears.

“I-I’ve tried to make amends,” Vendevorex said, sounding as if he, too, were on the verge of tears. “I have used my powers more wisely, I hope. I try to protect life when I have the opportunity. I use my powers to harm as little as possible. You’ve taught me that
all
life is precious, Jandra.” He closed his eyes and shook his head remorsefully. “I made a horrible mistake that night. I only hope the intervening years have proven that I’ve since learned compassion.”

Jandra kept her eyes fixed upon his face. It was true, his words, his feelings. Remorse for the deed filled him, but didn’t change the fact. He had killed her parents. He had raised her all these years to appease his own guilt. Her relationship to him now seemed so clear. He kept her by his side to convince himself he was something better than a cold-blooded murderer.

She stood up. The cloak of invisibility around them dissolved. She turned her back on her former mentor.

“Good-bye,” she said.

“Jandra,” Vendevorex said, reaching out a feeble wing to touch her back. “I truly am sorry.”

Jandra recoiled from his touch, stepping beyond his reach. “Sorry? You think that an apology now makes up for a lie you’ve told all my life? It’s not enough, Ven. Nothing you can say will ever be enough.”

“I understand you’re hurt,” he said. “And once this is over, I understand you may desire some time apart. But you can’t leave now. Our circumstances require us to stay together, at least a while longer.”

“I think leaving now is an excellent option,” Jandra said.

“Where would you go?” he asked.

“Where I belong,” she said, running for the door as tears burst from her.

ZEEKY COULDN’T STOP
shaking. She’d been singled out with the other children earlier, into a group the dragons would eventually execute. Now the other girls and boys were free, threading back through the crowds to their parents who desperately called out their names.

No one called for her. She wasn’t so far from her home village—twenty miles at most—but she knew no one here.

She had lost Merria in the confusion so she called for her now. To her relief, Merria called back. Then Merria’s voice was cut short. Still, Zeeky headed in that direction.

“Merria!” Zeeky cried out as she spotted the girl held in Hodan’s arms. The farmer had placed his hand over Merria’s mouth. He scowled at Zeeky.

“Go away, child,” he said.

“Hodan,” Alanda whispered, “couldn’t we…?”

“Be quiet, woman,” Hodan said.

“What’s wrong?” Zeeky asked. “You said you’d look after me.”

“The evil that has fallen on our village arrived with you. The man who left you is mad, claiming to be Bitterwood. I don’t understand what has happened, but these things taint you. Kamon warned against the evils outsiders can bring.”

Zeeky couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“But—,”

“Go,” Hodan said, his eyes narrowed to hard slits.

Zeeky shut up. She saw that Hodan was serious. Alanda looked uncertain but Hodan would never let Zeeky stay with them. She wished Poocher were here now. He needed her so. She felt stronger when she cared for him. Now she had no one.

Unless Hey You was here. She thought she had heard his voice earlier but she couldn’t see a thing from where she had stood. If she could find him, he would be nice to her.

She didn’t have to look for long before she found him. His arms and legs were bound with rope and he lay on the dirt. The people of the village looked away from him, ignoring him, making a circle several steps around him for him to lie in, alone.

No one moved to stop Zeeky as she walked to him. But when she got there, his eyes were blank, staring straight ahead as if he didn’t see her.

“Hey You,” she said, crouching next to him. “It’s me. Zeeky.”

The old man didn’t answer.

Zeeky said, “I don’t know anyone. You were nice to me. Can I sit here with you?”

Still he didn’t answer.

Zeeky’s eyes blurred with tears. She said, “Please talk to me. I’m scared.”

“Hello,” a woman said from behind her as she placed her hand on Zeeky’s shoulder. “Don’t be afraid.”

Zeeky turned. The woman was beautiful with long brown hair held back by a silver tiara. She was dressed  in white cotton though her clothes were covered with dark stains. Zeeky couldn’t even say hello, however, as tears choked her voice.

“Hey,” the woman said, crouching before her, wiping her cheeks. “What’s wrong? Have you lost your mom and dad?”

“And my pig.” Zeeky swallowed, then sobbed. “I’m all alone.”

“Me too,” the woman said. “So why don’t we stay together. You can help me, okay?”

“O-okay.”

“So what’s your name?” the woman asked.

“Z-Zeeky. What’s yours?”

“Jandra,” the woman answered as she swept her up in her arms. Jandra looked at Hey You and said, “I’m surprised they don’t have you under guard.”

The old man shifted his eyes toward her. His lips barely moved. “I’m not the man I thought I was.”

“What do you mean?” Jandra asked.

“I am no longer Bitterwood,” Hey You said, continuing to lie as still as death. “Another now answers to that name.”

“I don’t understand.”

At last, Hey You lifted his head from the ground. He frowned as he said, “Your boyfriend stole my name. I may let him keep it.”

“My boyfriend?” Jandra asked, sounding confused. Then she raised her eyebrows. “Pet?”

The man Zeeky called Hey You lowered his cheek to the dirt once more and said nothing.

A commotion came from the edges of the crowd. The shouts of dragons could be heard, barking orders for the people to line up.

“Stick close to me, honey,” Jandra said to Zeeky as she lowered her back to the ground. Then she moved to Hey You and said, “Let me help you up.”

“Why bother?” the old man complained. “Let the dragons carry me or kill me.”

“Don’t be like this,” Jandra said, placing her hands on the ropes that bound him. Her hands glowed in the morning light and the ropes fell free. “I’m going to save these people. You’re going to help me.”

“I tried to save them,” the old man said. “I failed. I’m too tired to go on.”

Jandra took him by the shirt and with a grunt lifted him to a sitting position. She stared into his eyes and said in a low voice, “No matter what the dragons or these people believe, I know who you are. You do too. You aren’t going to simply give up.”

“You don’t know me,” he said. “I’ve fought for so long. Now another has agreed to die for my sins. You could never understand what that means.”

“Then you can try to explain it as we go,” Jandra said, struggling to pull him to his feet.

The old man sighed, then stood, shoulders hunched..

“I need to borrow your cloak for a second,” Jandra said, picking it up from where the dragons had thrown it to the ground. She looked around; no one even looked in their direction. “Zeeky, I need you to keep secret what you’re about to see.”

“Okay,” Zeeky said.

Jandra took Bitterwood’s cloak and placed it over her, hiding her face in the hood. By now the guards had reached them and forced them into the column of people that formed across the field. Zeeky noticed that other green dragons had herded the animals from the village at the back of the column, and she wondered if Poocher was with them.