Dragon Kiss (6 page)

Six

A
udun decided that Frostweaver must have done something special to the map; he could recall the way to the Arid Desert as if it were etched on the air in front of him even as he flew, and his memory wasn’t usually so precise. The sun had been shining when he left the island, but the sky darkened only a few miles out and rain began to fall. Fighting his way through a vicious squall that lashed the southernmost shoreline of the Icy Sea, he followed the curve of the land until he reached the range of mountains that defined the western edge of the Kingdom of Bullrush. He skirted the mountains and went inland, turning west again before reaching the mountains of Upper Montevista. It took him two days to get that far. Another day of flying carried him across the desert of East Aridia where it was so hot that he began to sweat with his tongue and from the bottoms of his feet.

It was night when he passed over the castle in the center of a huge city. The castle was wide, with tall spires and pennants flying everywhere. Row upon row of soldiers were lined up around the inside perimeter of an enormous courtyard in the middle of the castle grounds. Bright torches edging the courtyard showed that a mosaic depicting an older man with flowing, white hair covered the very center. A man with a shining bald head stood at the edge of the mosaic beside a man who looked remarkably like the one pictured. When the bald-headed man raised his arms, the crowd grew quiet. He paused, as if for effect, then performed an intricate gesture with his hands. Audun realized that the man must be a wizard when the mosaic seemed to come to life, blinking and opening its mouth to speak. The man in the mosaic talked about the bravery of his army and congratulated the officers who had led the soldiers into battle. He spoke of the conquest of another kingdom and of how much the subjects in East Aridia would benefit. Audun thought that the man who looked like the mosaic might be doing the actual talking, but he couldn’t tell for sure without going closer.

As Audun circled overhead, the face in the mosaic stopped talking and grew still and lifeless once again. The soldiers cheered, saluting the man with the flowing hair. They held their spears aloft and shook them; the glint of metal in the torchlight reminded Audun of the soldiers who had shot arrows at him in Upper Montevista, so he turned once more and headed back over the open desert.

On the fourth day he reached Aridia. A dry, hot wind was blowing, slowly moving dunes of golden sand across the land below him. Growing up in the Icy North, he had seen countless snowdrifts, but none so wide that they stretched as far as he could see. The heat radiating off the dunes parched his throat and made him wish for the rain that he’d battled only days before.

Audun closed his inner lids to protect his eyes from the biting, wind-carried sand, but even though he flew high above the ground, he could hear the sand hissing against his scales and feel it scouring away the grime he’d acquired while traveling. By dusk he still had not found any birds, let alone the desicca bird he’d seen in Frostweaver’s image.

Audun stayed aloft until long after the sun had set and the searing heat of the sand had cooled enough that he could land. Settling on the ground, he welcomed the night chill that enveloped the desert, and fell into a fitful sleep where images of Millie crying as her mother whisked her away made him growl and twitch his wings.

The heat returned with the morning and once again Audun took to the air. He hadn’t gone far before he saw an enormous bird flying far off in the distance. Even in the Icy North, dragons had heard of rocs, but it was the first time Audun had ever seen one. He wondered what other kinds of creatures might live in the desert and was surprised when a short time later he glanced down and saw the ground moving. Drawing closer, he spotted a horde of insects with daggerlike stingers arched over their backs scuttling across the sand. As he passed over wind-eroded ruins, he saw an enormous snake with an arrow- shaped head investigating the remains of a collapsed wall.

A little farther on, he watched as a huge cat nearly the color of the sand slunk along the ground, stalking its prey. He would have thought nothing more of it if he hadn’t seen what the cat was hunting. Three human children were shuffling across the sand, looking forlorn and bedraggled. The boys, who weren’t very big, were half-carrying, half-dragging a girl even smaller than themselves. Audun might have continued on if the little girl hadn’t glanced up just as he flew overhead. She looked terrified, but what made Audun want to stop and help them was the girl’s blond hair and the shape of her face: the little girl looked much the way Millie must have when she was very young.

Audun was too far away to hear what the girl said when she pointed up at him, but he could see the frightened looks on the boys’ faces. The older boy dropped the little girl’s hand and reached into his waistband for a forked stick. Audun didn’t know what he was going to do with it until the boy set a stone on a leather strap tied to the prongs of the stick. He was pulling back on the strap when the big cat wiggled its rump and charged. Not wanting to see what happened when the cat reached the children, Audun tucked his wings close to his body and aimed for the beast. The younger children began to scream just as Audun opened his mouth and roared. The boy let the leather sling go as the dragon flew over their heads and the stone bounced off Audun’s neck. The young dragon barely felt it as he flew past them and landed in the big cat’s path. With its fur bristling, the cat pulled up short. Faced with an angry dragon three times its size, the animal turned and ran.

To Audun’s surprise, the boy turned to him and bowed, saying, “Thank you most kindly, gracious dragon. I apologize for thinking you meant us harm when you were really defending us from that horrid lion. I never thought I’d see a dragon here. My name is Galen and these two are my brother Samuel and my sister, Shanna.”

All three children had straight hair bleached to a pale blond, but while Galen had blue eyes, the other children’s were a warm brown. With their straight noses and squared chins, Audun would have known they were siblings even if Galen hadn’t told him so.

“You are most welcome, young sir,” said Audun. “I am Audun of the Icy North. If I may ask, how is it that you can talk to dragons?”

The little boy shrugged. “We had a tutor who had some magic. He taught us many things.”

“Where is your tutor now? Why are you here without an adult to protect you?”

Shanna pulled a piece of cloth from her sleeve and clutched it to her chest. Audun noticed that it had a wooden head and was roughly shaped like a human. “We ran away,” she said, and popped her thumb into her mouth.

“We had to,” said Galen. “We lived in Desidaria, the city that surrounds the royal castle of King Cadmus, although the castle no longer belongs to him. He was killed in the war.”

“There’s been a war?” Audun remembered the throngs of armed people he’d seen in the courtyard in East Aridia.

Galen nodded. “It ended just a few days ago. King Beltran of East Aridia sent his soldiers to attack Desidaria. They defeated our soldiers and ransacked the city. A lot of people were killed, including our king. His brother, Dolon, swore fealty to King Beltran. Dolon sits on the throne of Aridia now.”

Shanna pulled her thumb out of her mouth to tug at her brother’s sleeve. “What about Owen? Can the dragon help us get Owen back?”

“We have to go,” said Samuel. “Owen could be hurt.”

“Who is Owen?” asked Audun.

Galen rubbed the side of his head and frowned. “He’s our older brother. After King Beltran left, there were a lot of orphans and nobody knew what to do with them. Dolon said that they could all come live in the palace. He put us with them until Owen was able to sneak away from where he’d been in training and come for us.”

“Owen rescued us!” said Shanna. “He was very brave!”

“Owen helped us get out of the city,” said Samuel. “He was taking us to our aunt’s home on the other side of the desert when the roc came.”

“It came down,
whoosh
!” Shanna said, demonstrating with her hand. “And took Owen away.”

“We were going after him when you found us,” said Galen. “It’s what he would have done if one of us had been carried off.”

“Do you think he’s all right?” Shanna asked, her brown eyes big and round.

“I’m sure he is,” Galen said, but he didn’t sound very convincing.

“We have a problem, though,” said Samuel.

Audun raised a brow ridge. “Only one?”

“He means we’re lost,” said Shanna.

“Owen was the one who knew the way,” explained Galen. “I thought I knew which way the roc took him, but I’ve been getting all turned around . . .”

Shanna rubbed her eyes with a grubby hand, wiping away a tear. “I want to go home, Galen!”

“I know, Shanna,” said her older brother, as he put his arm around her. “That’s what we all want. But we can’t go back to Desidaria now.”

“I can take you to your aunt’s home,” said the dragon, “as long as you can tell me where it is.”

Samuel shook his head. “We have to get Owen first. We can’t go anywhere without him!”

“Could you help us find him?” asked Galen. “We could find him faster if you were looking for him, too.”

“You have wings!” Shanna said through her tears.

“We’d go with you,” said Samuel. “If we were all looking—”

“I can’t take you with me. You’d be in the way. And I can’t leave you here. It isn’t safe. I’ll take you to your aunt and come back and look for Owen.”

“No!” cried Samuel. “He’s
our
brother.
We
have to go rescue him!”

“Take my help the way I offer it, or don’t get it at all. It’s up to you. I have my own task ahead of me, so if you don’t want my help . . .”

“But we do!” Galen said. “You and I could take Shanna and Samuel to our aunt’s home, then I could go with you.”

“Galen!” shouted his brother and sister in unison.

“That wasn’t what I offered,” said Audun.

“Then we accept your offer as it was given,” said Galen through stiff lips. Audun thought he looked as if he wanted to cry.

Audun crouched down and bent his neck so the children could climb on more easily. “We’d better hurry,” he said. “I have a lot of flying to do.”

With the map that Frostweaver had shown him set in his mind, Audun was able to use the children’s scanty memories of the way to their aunt’s home to head in the right direction. It took him longer to find the town than it had to cross the desert, but when he did he landed on the outskirts and refused to go into the town itself. Although the children assured him that their aunt would want to thank him, Audun couldn’t help but remember the reception he’d gotten from other humans.

“Do you know the way to your aunt’s home from here?” Audun asked as the children clambered down.

Galen nodded. “I came to visit her last year. I know right where she lives.”

“You’re going back for Owen, aren’t you?” Samuel asked, his brow creased with worry.

“I’m going to start looking for him now,” said Audun. Dipping his head to the children, he spread his wings, pausing only long enough to say, “I’ll bring him back if it’s at all possible.”

“Are you sure I can’t go with you?” asked Galen. “Two pairs of eyes can see more than one.”

“That’s true,” said Audun. “But dragon eyes can see farther than human eyes. And trying to take something away from a roc won’t be easy or safe. If you go with me, I’ll have to worry about you as well as your brother. You don’t want me to be distracted when I’m trying to rescue him, do you?”

The little boy looked at the ground and muttered, “I guess not.”

“Besides, your brother and sister need you to take them to your aunt. Someone bigger and stronger than them has to show them the way. Samuel and Shanna are depending on you.”

“That’s true,” Galen said, glancing at the smaller children. Shanna was rubbing her eyes again and it was obvious that she was having a hard time keeping them open. Aside from two bright red spots on his cheeks, Samuel looked pale and shaky.

“Take care of each other,” Audun said, backing away so he could flap his wings without knocking the children over.