Dragon Bonds (Return of the Darkening Series Book 3) (9 page)

* * *

T
he Wildmen fear
and hate the Darkening…Only the one Dragon Stone can defeat the Darkening. We need an army to get close enough to Lord Vincent to use the power of the one stone against him.

Lying on the hard ground, I turned over, my blanket doing nothing to keep the cold away. I turned again, thoughts going around and around like a dragon falling from the sky. I had my arm for a pillow and the wind tugged at the flaps of my tent. It was useless. Getting up, I headed to where Kalax lay and huddled against her, under a flap of her wing. She tucked her snout up close and with her warm breath on me, I felt safe and fell asleep.

I woke warm and rested. Her scales, while strong, were surprisingly supple and made a much better pillow.

Rising, I stretched and saw Thea heading toward us, picking her way through the trees. Pine needles crunched under her boots. I could tell from her purposeful stride and the way that her head was bent, her red-gold braid swinging as she walked, that she was thinking about something.

“Thea, come have breakfast with me,” I said. Behind me, Kalax settled back to sleep.

Looking up, Thea shook her head. “No time, Seb. Commander Hegarty has left for the South. Last night he marched into the king’s pavilion as if he had never been ill, demanded a horse and two riders to go with him and told the king that he would be the scout to the Southern Realm.” Thea sighed, as if it was a terrible idea. She hunched a shoulder and crossed her arms. She wasn’t wearing a cloak, just her leather jerkin over a tunic, and her leather breeches and boots—she was dressed for flying.

With a frown, I blew on my hands. The morning air was chill, and I was wishing for a warm drink. “Wasn’t that exactly what you said you wanted to happen?” A little touch of sorrow wove its way into me—I’d wanted a chance to see him off before he went.

Thea nodded, but then she pulled a sour face. “He went last night—no rest, no planning, nothing. He didn’t even wait for the king to agree with him, just demanded the provisions, strong armed the king into agreeing and left.” She scowled. “I mean, it is good that he stepped forward like that, but the way that he spoke to the king in front of the senior captains was as if Justin was a rider under Hegarty’s command.” Thea grimaced.

“It’s something that he had to do, whether or not anyone else liked it. And isn’t it good to have the commander back?”

She stared at me. “Back? He’s gone. I volunteered us to go with him, and he told me that we had other duties.” She turned and glared at the camp.

Ah, that’s it.

She hated when people told her what to do or acted as if she couldn’t do her job. She had to be thinking the commander turned her down because he didn’t have enough faith in her.

“Commander Hegarty—I saw him last night.” I blurted.

Thea turned to face me.

“He told me that years ago he’d had to deal with the Wildmen, and that they fear the Darkening. They call it the Ghoul, which sounds like a good name for Lord Vincent to me.”

Her face tightened, and her blue eyes seemed to darken. “So the Wildmen are just as scared as everyone else. What good does that do us as long as they are being controlled by the Memory Stone?”

“If we break the hold that Lord Vincent has on their minds, the Wildmen will probably flee on their own.” I waved my arms wide.

Head tipped to one side, Thea asked, “And how are we going to do that? With your affinity? Don’t you remember what it cost you to just help the dragons and some riders get free of the Memory Stone? Your head almost burst. Not to mention, it only worked with some dragons and some riders.”

“Why are you being like this? We need ideas. And what if we have the one Dragon Stone to make us stronger? What if—”

“Wait!” Thea interrupted, her voice sharp. “You said you saw Hegarty last night before he decided to leave? And you didn’t try to talk him out of going?”

Anger warmed my face. “The commander—he’s thinking clear now.”

“Is he? He took Mordecai with him, Seb,” Thea snapped. “That’s two of our most experienced leaders gone. The king has Ryan to help him and a few captains. No Commander like Reynalt for the few squadrons we do have. No other generals. We needed at least one commander here to lead the Dragon Riders against Lord Vincent. Who is going to do that now?”

Hunching a shoulder, I told her, “Hegarty knows what he’s doing—he…Kalax and I cleared the fog from his mind. And that wasn’t all he had to say—he told me that
we
had to find the one Dragon Stone that controls the others. That without it, we have no hope of defeating the Darkening!”

Thea stepped up and put her face close to mind. Behind me, Kalax woke and gave a hiss. She was clearly upset at our arguing.

Eyes narrowing, Thea said, “So we’re supposed to find more magic that Lord Vincent can take from us? It’s not enough that he took the Healing Stone from Commander Hegarty. Or that he stole the Armor Stone after we found it. Or that he got the Memory Stone from the old king, even though it was supposed to be secure in the palace. Don’t you see a pattern here? How we keep finding the stones for him. What if Commander Hegarty is really still acting under Lord Vincent’s control? What if this is all a trap?”

I shook my head. “I saw into the commander’s mind.”

“With the affinity,” she said, her voice cold. “The same affinity that Lord Vincent used to summon the Darkening. The same affinity he uses now to control the wild dragons and the Wildmen. Don’t you see, Seb, magic is our enemy, too.”

My face went from hot to cold. So she thought the affinity was dangerous—I was dangerous. Staring at her, I could see now how she was afraid of the stones. And I couldn’t blame her.

She’d been healed by one of the stones, and it had left her able to sense them. It had left her a little different, and she was worried about that. I could see that in her eyes, in the white lines around her mouth, in the tension that held her still right now.

The Darkening was real. It was some sort of elemental power like a huge storm that Lord Vincent had harnessed and channeled. And she was right to fear that if Lord Vincent ever got the one stone that controlled all the powers, he could spread the Darkening over all three kingdoms.

But we could stop that.

Hand spread wide, I lowered my voice.
“Thea, we have no other choice. All the old stories say that there was one stone that brought all the powers together. How else are we really going to defeat Lord Vincent?”

She shook her head and turned away. “Half of the old stories have been wrong, Seb. And where has chasing after these powers got us? We’ve lost Torvald, I’ve lost my family, and now we’re about to lose the kingdom. All because we found the stones and Lord Vincent took them from us.” She glanced over her shoulder at me, her voice low now. “I need you, Seb. I need you at my side.” For a moment, I got a glimpse of the desperation she was feeling. It was in her eyes and in her voice as she pleaded with me.

I stepped around so I could face her. “Thea, you’ve said we need an army. The commander said it, too. Even if we had the one stone, we still will have to fight a battle to get to Lord Vincent. Well, the Wildmen have just as much to lose as us. And you saw how Lord Vincent doesn’t care if his wild dragons live or die. They could help us.”

Thea searched my face, her eyes wide and her face pale enough that I could see a couple of freckles on her cheeks. “You want help from the wild dragons and Wildmen who attacked Torvald?”

“Lord Vincent and the Darkening can’t be controlling every single wild dragon or Wildman. We’ve seen how even the Memory Stone has limits. He’s got to be stretching his powers too thin. I can use the Dragon Affinity to promise them freedom…to get us some help.”

Thea started to shake her head. “Seb—that’s madness. The wild dragons…you saw what they were like in the city. They’re dangerous, unpredictable and—”

“And you don’t think I can do it?” I stepped back from her. “You don’t want to look for the one Dragon Stone. You don’t want to come with me to get help.”

Above us, Kalax lifted her head and gave a rumble deep in her throat. Her worry was rattling through my head, but I wouldn’t look at her. I kept my stare on Thea. My heart was beating hard and fast in my throat and my stomach was churning. “I’m flying to the north. I’m going to search for the one Dragon Stone in every monastery or ruin I can find, and I’m going to bring back an army of wild dragons and Wildmen. You can say here and try to fight Lord Vincent—and you can watch as riders and others keep dying.”

Thea’s eyes blazed hot. “Varla’s right. The affinity is a curse and it’s changing you. It’s giving you crazy ideas and you’re going to end up taken by the Darkening. You go. I won’t stop you, Seb.” She turned and stalked back to the camp, her strides long.

My stomach was still churning. I’d clenched my hands into fists. I wanted to hit something, but there was nothing to strike at. Letting out a breath, I turned away and scrubbed a hand though my hair.

What have I done?

I was so awash with feelings I wasn’t sure if that thought was mine or Kalax’s. But a sense of rightness had settled into my chest. This was the right thing to do. We had to find the Dragon Stone that could help us, and everything that Varla, Merik and Syl had uncovered said to go north in the search.

“If I have to do it alone, I will go,” I said. But I was hollow inside at that thought.

Go together. Much better,
said Kalax in the back of my mind. I could sense her worry and hurt—and how she did not approve.
You, Kalax and Thea are one. Thea is safe with other dragons. Feradima and Gaxtal look after her. I protect you even if you act a sheep with all this bleating at each other.

With a huff, Kalax closed her mind to me, leaving me feeling horribly alone.

T
hrowing
myself into training to forget about the argument with Seb wasn’t hard to do. We had foot soldiers to train to work with dragons and civilians to train to fight, and riders who needed to brush up their skills and who were still shaking off the effects of the Memory Stone. I also had to attend the king, and we had tents to take down, routes to map, and plans to make for where we might strike at Lord Vincent. I found myself busy from first light to midday, not once stopping for so much as a mug of water.

But I felt as if I had lost some essential part of myself. In the middle of a bout, I would turn, certain someone was there who wasn’t. I got smacked with a quarterstaff twice for that. Or I’d be walking through camp and have a feeling I needed to be someplace else. By midday I was annoyed with myself and snapping at almost everyone.

It wasn’t until I saw Beris with Syl that I realized they were one of the few pairs of complete Dragon Riders left with the king. Merik and Varla had followed Seb, while the other Dragon Riders were out scouting for a new camp for us.

For the first time, I just watched them.

Beris and Syl moved and joked together as one. I wondered if that was what Seb and I looked like. And I was missing Kalax—a lot. Was this what Seb had been trying to tell me all along by insisting the affinity could be learned? Were Beris and Syl even developing some affinity?

I noticed how even when doing completely different tasks—like Beris would be checking on weapons and Syl would be helping ready tents for us to move camp— Syl would naturally end up his task or find a pause at about the same time Beris would call for help or finish up his work. It was like they were in synch without even knowing it. The strength of their bond became even more obvious during the noon meal when I noticed the way that they would finish each other’s sentences.

I saw now why Ryan was so protective and loyal to the king—over and above any loyalty to family. Ryan was the king’s navigator—they were paired in a way.

And it is why I feel like I have lost one of my legs or an arm.

The thought was a glum one. I didn’t want to be that tightly tied to anyone. It left me even grumpier because Seb wasn’t here so I could yell at him, and Kalax wasn’t here to put in some sly comment.

Some part of our minds had bonded, and I could see that just like Beris and Syl, Seb and I were also becoming more alike. Seb was becoming more courageous and—I hate to admit it—stubborn and I seemed to be developing a practical side.

I left my bowl of stew and headed out of camp to walk to the river, my head down and my cloak pulled tight around me even though the sun was up. It suddenly felt wrong to me that we would become more and more alike as we aged. What sort of life was that? I was Agathea Flamma of the House of Flamma, a noble of the Court of Torvald. I was no smith’s boy, and I was no dragon!

My mind spun around the idea over and over, and a hard knot settled in my chest. Why had no one else ever seen this connection? Or did they know of it and just not tell young riders? Why weren’t any of the instructors here to counsel me when I really needed them?

My cheeks heated as I thought about it. I felt silly for fretting about such things—we had far bigger worries just now.

Like finding more Dragon Riders.

With a sigh, I started back to camp. The last of our six wagons had been packed with the tents. The Dragon Riders we had were already in the sky, acting as guards and lookouts. They’d found us a new campsite, higher in the hills and a little to the south. The plan was to try and pick up some more riders if we could find them, or more soldiers, or anyone who could fight. And then to pick a few targets that we could hit to start harassing Lord Vincent’s forces. I almost wished that we were heading south and following the tracks of Commander Hegarty and Instructor Mordecai.

Or flying north.

I cut off that thought.

King Justin was adamant about his plan. The king wanted to strike back at Lord Vincent and show there was still some fight in Torvald. He seemed to be ignoring the fact that Seb and Kalax had left, and so had a couple of other Dragon Riders, including Merik, Varla and Feradima, but he hadn’t looked happy this morning. Neither had Ryan, for he had sent me a dark look and then kept close to the king’s side. I could just imagine that they were both wondering why I let Seb and Kalax leave—or maybe they knew Seb had gone after the one Dragon Stone. Maybe they were even harboring a little hope that Seb and the others would find more help for our upcoming battles.

The truth was if I thought Seb’s plan would turn out better, I would be out there with him and Kalax. But the other stones had proven to be more dangerous than they were helpful—I could see why they had been hidden away. The old Dragon Riders had been right to try and keep them from ever being used. And I would put my faith in the king’s plan.

So why didn’t I feel better about that?

The king and Ryan mounted the king’s green drake—Naxtal—and the order went out to start.

I had a pony to ride, but it wasn’t like being on Kalax’s back. The pace seemed impossibly slow, and I kept watching the skies, but I only saw our own dragons above.

We marched slowly southward, taking the least used byways, the herders’ and drovers’ paths wherever possible, and skirted any village. Several times a flag went up from the riders keeping watch and we had to halt, weapons drawn as we waited for the sign that all was clear again. The civilians had trouble keeping up, and that slowed us. But they helped to make it look like we were nothing more than refugees fleeing the city and the war.

By the time the king and Ryan landed Naxtal at our new camp site beside a dried up riverbed and higher in the mountains, I was starting to worry that we hadn’t seen any of Lord Vincent’s forces. No black dragons. No Wildmen. Not even a group of raiders from the Southern Realm. It seemed suspicious.

What if Lord Vincent knows exactly where we are and he is only waiting for his moment to attack?
Or maybe Lord Vincent figured we were running south with our tail between our legs?

I had to remind myself we were going to bring the battle back to Lord Vincent. We would harass his forces. Commander Hegarty and Mordecai would return with ferocious Southern dragons and more riders. The forces of the Middle Kingdom would strike back with new strength, power and purpose.

The thoughts didn’t warm me.

That night I dined on traveler’s biscuits and dried winter fruits. It was no great meal, and more than once I wished that I could be out there hunting fish with Kalax. Or just with Kalax and Seb.

* * *

T
he next day
, the king was proven right, for our numbers rose. The Dragon Riders came back with a few more souls who had fled the ruins of Torvald. Some of them were even useful—three blacksmiths, but none knew Seb or his father, ten guards who had survived the palace attack, and a half dozen archers and arrow makers. But most were just ordinary people who would do better far behind any fighting.

A dozen old women arrived and three old men, two of whom were injured. A half dozen children came with them and one pregnant woman. I thought we were starting to look less a traveling army and more like a true group of refugees. I could see that Ryan was worried about this. He eyed the untrained people with a dark frown, but the king gave a speech to everyone and they cheered. I kept thinking this would slow us—and how were we to train any of these people?

That evening, outside the king’s pavilion, I raised these concerns with Ryan, who nodded and told me that he would take them to the king.

“Perhaps we could have two marches—one for civilians and another for the army?” I suggested, pulling my cloak tighter about me. The evening wind had picked up and this high in the mountains it would be cold tonight.

Ryan shook his head. The wind was tugging on his hair, and he hadn’t bothered with a cloak. His face looked dusty still from having been on his dragon all day. “We have to stay with the people. It is the least we can do for their protection. And…well, we may be able to train a few.”

I let out a breath.
We
meant me and Beris and Syl—training duties had fallen to us.

We sorted out a few new recruits, and Beris and Syl started working with them with quarterstaffs. Two showed promise. I toured the rest of the camp, making sure tents were pitched, but to tell the truth, I had little to do. The civilians and the soldiers might not know what to do with dragons, but they were getting very skilled at making camp. Small fires sprang up in rock circles, but there wasn’t much dry wood to burn. The smell of bacon frying or stews cooking soon warmed the air. And I listened to the gossip floating around the fires.

The news was mixed. Wildmen and wild dragons still roamed through Torvald and the nearby villages, terrorizing any they found. But the raiders from the Southern Realm had gone elsewhere. Those who had joined us spoke of how other citizens of Torvald had taken to the deep woods—and some had gone to join them. I wondered if that would be where my parents and Reynalt had gone. A few spoke of how the wild dragons seemed to be searching, always passing overhead.

That put a shiver down my back. Was Lord Vincent searching for King Justin? We had heard Beris and Syl state Lord Vincent’s claim to the throne, but if King Justin died, Lord Vincent would be the only one left who was strong enough to make himself king of both the Northern Realm and the Middle Kingdom.

Apart from Reynalt.

My mouth dried, and I moved on to the next campfire, avoiding meeting anyone’s stare.

I hadn’t spoken to Ryan about what the rest of our family was doing or about the other missing nobles. But I didn’t need to. Ryan looked as pale and worried as I felt—of course that could be just to a hard day.

But why hadn’t my family declared themselves against Lord Vincent yet? Were they even still alive?

With our numbers growing, even as slowly as they were, King Justin might soon have enough of an army to even present a sizable threat to Lord Vincent’s forces. At least we might take back Torvald.

Looking down the mountainside and toward the hills below us, I could see columns of smoke. Burning villages and towns, no doubt. The smallest hamlets might hope to escape the war unscathed—apart from having their flocks scattered since dragons had a taste for fat sheep. But how many other cities were now in ruins?

I also wondered how many bridges might have been burned down or torn apart, making the rivers nigh impassable. How many watchtowers were now just scattered stones? The thought of such waste left me angry, but I didn’t voice my fears to my brother, to the king, or even to Beris and Syl. However, I did wonder if Lord Vincent was playing a game with us. Were we being hunted,
driven
to our doom?

* * *

T
wo days later
, we moved to another camp, this one deeper in the woods and now on the south side of Torvald. I’d taken lead on a mountain pony, going ahead of the wagons. I still had the feeling we were being tracked, even though we had seen no black dragons in the sky.

We’d found one of the old roads, long ago abandoned. It was grown over, which made for good cover for us, and it wasn’t as hard to travel as the rough ground around us. We’d passed two villages that had been destroyed, and a few who had survived had joined us. More mouths to feed and still not as many fighters.

I was thinking about that as I saw two brightly colored caravans heading our way—north on this road. That was odd, I thought, and then I recognized the long, black hair and mustache of the man driving the nearer caravan.

Pulling my mount to a halt, I called out, “Arkady Bismollah Shaar, is that really you?”

The big man pulled his pair of horses to a halt and shaded his eyes with one hand, staring my way. I feared he wouldn’t recognize me—it had been a long time since Seb and I had last seen the Gypsies of Distant Shaar. But then his face split into a wide grin. “Thea?” His thick Southern accent made the word long and slow, but he threw one hand out and slapped the reins on his horses. He pulled the horses to a halt with his caravan close to me. “By all, it’s good to see the face of a friend. We’ve seen nothing but fires and trouble.”