(Dragonkin) Dragon Rider (15 page)

   The two men and the dwarf sat at the table by the fire, and drank their ale while they talked. Brylen learned many things about the land he was now in, but he still had no idea where he was, or to where he was going. He would go to this Glansford with his new friend the dwarf, and learn about dragons, but he had no idea where to go from there. He missed his home and his family, but did not know if he would ever see any of them again.

   The man walked into the inn, and sat at a table across the room from Donderan and Brylen. The room was filling up with patrons for the evening, and the man went unnoticed as he sat and drank his ale. He watched the dwarf without looking at him, and he listened to what was being said by the three as they talked. When Brylen noticed the man, he did not pay much attention to him at first. He would not have given the man another thought, but he seemed out of place in the inn. He was dressed well, but not so well that anyone seemed to notice, and he wore a cloak with the hood pulled down. Brylen noticed how his face was always covered, even though it seemed almost accidental. He did not give it much thought until the man finished his ale, and walked from the inn.

   The next morning, the two rode from Venteno and left the walls of the city behind. From here they turned west, and following the road as it wound its way among the small farms, they soon came to the bridge that crossed the Imlador River. They were north of the place where the river split into two parts, and the river was its narrowest here, but it was still very wide.

   The bridge was very old, but well built, and it was wide enough for a road four times larger than the one they were on. It was the last bridge built by the Great Dragon Empire before the Great War, but the road was never constructed. The bridge separated the farmlands of the central region of the northern realm, from the wild and mostly uninhabited west. Donderan decided to take the shorter route to Glansford down the old path through the west, and it was not so overgrown the last time that he came this way, but he knew it well.

   The man stepped from the trees just as the two travelers reached the west side of the river, and Brylen recognized him as the man from the inn in Venteno. He relayed the information to Donderan as he drew his sword, and the man removed his hood and looked at them before turning and walking in their direction. Donderan stood and watched the man advance and said nothing until he stopped in front of them.

   "Put your sword away lad, do you not know an elf when you see one?" The dwarf said.

   "I have never seen an elf, so how could I know what they look like?" Brylen said to Donderan, as he replaced the sword in its scabbard.

   "Well now you have my boy, now you have." Donderan replied.

   "Hello Donderan, I heard you were here, but I had to see it for myself." The elf said.

   "Hello Eoavin, you are a long way from home my friend, what brings you to the lands of men?" The dwarf asked.

   "We were sent by Loren to spy on the mage king's forces." Eoavin told the dwarf, as he guided them to his camp. "They have crossed the lake, and gather in the west."

   "How can they cross the whole empire without being challenged?" Donderan asked the elf; surprised at the news he gave.

   "The empire is not what it once was." The elf replied. "They cross in small groups of no more than three or four men, and they dress like brigands. It will take a long time to gather enough men to build an army, but they have been at it for close to nine months."

   "Have you warned the regents of this threat from the mage king?" The dwarf asked.

   "We tried, but you know the regents." The elf replied. "Three of them would not see us, but sent a messenger to receive the news.

   "Which one did you talk to?" Donderan asked.

   "Falendor of the west." Eoavin said. "He listened to us, and asked us questions, but was unsure what to do."

   "Does the man have an army that is able defend him?" Donderan asked, but knew the answer already.

   "He recruits new men as fast as he can, but I fear it will fall far short of what will be needed. Litlorn is in Argnon and the man he was sent to find as well, but what can two men do?"

   Donderan jumped from where he sat, and became very excited. The look of concern vanished, and a huge smile dominated his face.

   "The dragon rider is in Argnon?" He asked.

   "Dragon rider!" Eoavin exclaimed. "I said nothing of a dragon rider."

   "Did you not say the man Litlorn was to meet was in Argnon?" Donderan asked, as he stood in front of the elf with his fists on his hips.

   "Yes, it is true." The elf said. "The man Litlorn was to meet was there when he arrived."

   "The man he was to meet, is the dragon rider, and his dragon passed over our heads just days ago." The dwarf said, as he danced around the campfire.

   Brylen watched the dwarf as he danced around the fire, and wondered if Donderan was injured. The dwarf made the worst noise that he had ever heard, and jumped and jerked as he went round and round.

   "There is one other thing." Eoavin told them. "We spotted a group of twenty solders and their commander, traveling south on the great road. A mage of great power travels with them, and they are to ambush the dragon warrior at Glansford. The regents have called a council, and will be summoned soon as well."

   "How did you find out this information lad?" Donderan asked, and stopped his dancing to listen.

   "The mage that travels with the outlaws told us of the ambush." Eoavin replied.

   "The mage told you?" Donderan said, with surprise in his voice.

   "Yes, and the mage protected one of my men by casting a spell to hide him when the solders spotted him."

   "It does not sound like this mage is a servant of the mage king, or it is a trap." Brylen asked.

   "I do not think it is a trap for us he sets, but one for the solders he travels with." The elf replied.

   "Then we must help him spring it on them, my friend." Donderan exclaimed. "It is an opportunity we cannot pass up."

   "We cannot help you at this time. We have other duties to perform, and only stay here long enough to pass this information on to you." The elf replied. "My kinsmen who follows the assassins will keep you informed of their progress. You will see me again before long, so, until then I must bid you farewell."

   Eoavin turned and disappeared into the trees, along with the elves that accompanied him. Brylen was still trying to make sense of all he had heard from the elves, when Donderan put out the fire, and made ready to leave the camp.

   "We have a new adventure to go on lad, are you not excited?" The dwarf asked him.

   "Every day is an adventure with you my friend." Brylen said. "And I have no place else to go, so lead on, and I will follow."

   The dwarf laughed loudly as they made their way back to the path, and the horses that were tied to a bush there. They were still going to Glansford as far as Brylen knew, but now they would do more than learn about dragons. Glansford was still weeks away from the bridge that they had just crossed, and the country was rough and wild between them and their destination. Brigands roamed the wild lands west of the Imlador, but they were not servants of Arnoran. Donderan did not worry about them as they traveled, for rarely would they attack armed warriors.

   It was just before midday when Brylen stopped in front of the barely visible path, which led off the main road that they were on. Something was drawing him down that path, and he could not turn away.

   "What is it boy?" Donderan asked.

   "I do not know." Brylen told his friend. "I feel there is something down this path that is drawing me to it. I don't know why, but I have to go this way."

   "Then we must find out what it is, lad, that we must." The dwarf said, as he led the way down the faint path.

   It was late in the day, and the two men were about to turn and return to the cart path that was the main road through the wild lands of the northern realm. Donderan could hear the river, and decided to make camp here, and then return to the road in the morning.

   The golden trees caught Brylen's eye, and he rode to them. The garden was in the center of a ring of the golden trees, and a statue stood in the center of the garden. It was much smaller than the garden on the island in the cove, but was identical to it in all other ways. Brylen looked for, and found, the tablet the garden contained. He opened his journal, and in it he copied the words from the tablet, under the ones from the island.

   "This is the second one of these that I have found." He said to Donderan. "I cannot read it, but it seems very important."

   "This is a Elvin garden, and it is older than even the Great Elvin Kingdoms of the north." The dwarf informed him. "This was made before the first elf dynasty was founded, and, before men rode on the backs of dragons.

   "How many of these gardens are there?" Brylen asked.

   "I have seen hundreds in my life, but this is the first one that I have seen with the statue of a dragon in the center. The stone tablet and the dragon statue were here before the garden was built, but I have no idea who made them."

   "They have something to do with that dragon we saw." Brylen said. "I don't know why they do; I just know it is true."

   "Then we will ask him when we see him." Donderan said, and went to make their camp.

   The next morning, they rode back to the main trail, and in the direction of Glansford once again. Two days later the elf scout stepped from the trees as they passed, and informed them of the progress of the assassins. He disappeared as fast as he had appeared, and once again, the two men were alone on the road. The mage was slowing down the group with magic, and forcing them to make bad choices in their route.

   It looked like a battle may be fought at the crossroads, instead of an ambush at Glansford Donderan thought. The quest to reunite the Great Dragon Empire was beginning, and Donderan was right in the middle of it.

Chapter Twelve

   Beloran sat in his office and read the summons to the council of regents. He had turned down the request from Falendor, but still the royal steward had sent the summons to him. This was an outrage, and he would set it straight when he arrived in Corlindum. Falendor and his outlaw problem was not his concern, but the warrior who wore the dragon armor was something different altogether. He would enjoy seeing the upstart warrior taken away in chains, to be thrown into his prison and punished for his crime. He could not allow anyone to wear that armor in the empire, and threaten his claim to the throne.

   Valiny walked through the castle slowly, as he made his way to Beloran's office. He did not agree with his father on how he ran the realm, but there was little he could do about it. He knew what his father wanted to see him about, but the trip to the council would give the people the time they needed to sell their harvests. His father was hard on his people, and taxed them mercilessly to build his coffers. Beloran was a harsh ruler, and the people hated him, but Valiny helped them as much as he could, and often paid a hard price for it. For as much as they hated Beloran for his cruelty, the people of the eastern realm loved Valiny even more for his kindness and generosity.

   Valiny was the complete opposite of his father in almost every way. He was taller than most of the men in the realm, and his dark brown eyes showed kindness and compassion. Beloran however, was well shorter than average, and had the colorless and cruel eyes of the tyrant he was. Valiny was slim and athletic, and his hair was cut in the military manner required of all the officers in the army. Beloran was a fat and lazy man, with a balding head, and a salt and pepper beard. He often wore the same soiled cloths for several days before changing, and seldom bathed. Valiny dressed the same as all of the officers in the guard, and was clean-shaven, but he also wore the emblem of the regent that showed him to be a member of the regent's family.

   His father was waiting on him when he arrived at his office, and looked at him with his harsh and colorless eyes.

   "Where are the taxes you were sent to collect?" He asked his son.

   "They were put into the coffers." Valiny replied.

   "Just a few coins more than half of what you were sent to collect, is what it shows here, where is the rest?" Beloran demanded.

   "It will be here before you return, father." Valiny said. "The regular tax collector is bringing it with him as we speak. I came with what we had when you sent for me; he was to return with the rest."

   Valiny knew that the money was not on its way, but it would be, before his father returned. The tax collector was ordered by Valiny to wait for one more month for the taxes, to give the farmers time to return from the market. It would take two and a half months to make the entire trip to Corlindum and back, and his father would never know.

   "We will see. You and your sister will be joining the rest of us when we leave in two days." Beloran told his son. "From now on the family must travel everywhere together, and be announced wherever we go."

   "But what about the daily business of the realm, who will run it if we are all gone to Corlindum?" He asked, curious as to whom, his father would choose to replace him for almost three months.

   "That is not for you to worry about, it has already been taken care of. Go and pack what you need for the trip, and the servants will pick up your bags tomorrow evening." Beloran told his son, and dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

   Valiny walked from his father's office, and down the hall to his suite of rooms, which was across the hallway from his sisters. He had heard the stories about the warrior also, and knew his father wanted him to see what happens to those who oppose him. He knew his father well enough to know that, but this time things might not go his father's way. Rumors had been circulating around the realm that the other regents were tired of the way his father treated them, and they would no longer agree to Beloran's demands.

   Dralessa closed the door of her suite behind the messenger as he walked from the room. She began packing many different dresses for the nights she would be entertaining guests with her father. She did not like to travel with him on his trips, but she was not allowed to travel without him either. She had not been allowed to go to Corlindum in the past, but now she was a woman, and looked like it. Her father was looking for a husband among the regent's sons for her, to gain more control over the empire. He could look all he wanted she thought, but she would choose her own husband in the end. There would be many different guests at the council of regents, and Dralessa looked forward to the chance to meet some of the other regent's families.

   She was a beautiful woman, with raven black hair, and a friendly but sad smile. Her figure was slim but elegant, and she walked like an angel through the castle of her father, and her father's father. Her dark-brown eyes were curious but shy, and showed intelligence beyond her years. Her hair was long and straight, and was woven with silver chains studded with diamonds to hold it back. She had been a virtual prisoner in the castle all her life, never being allowed to leave without her father. Dralessa was twenty-two, and had only been away from the walls of the castle, four times in her entire life.

   Beloran would travel with one hundred of his finest solders, and his house full of servants. The scribes and the interpreters would join them as well as his legal council, and the party would be over two hundred strong when it rode out of Grimmen. He would make an impression on the other regents, and strengthen his claim on the crown. One day the green and black colors of his realm would fly over the whole empire, he thought, and he would be the king.

   Fagerin walked into the regent's office when all of the others were gone, and Beloran was alone.

   "What news do you bring me?" Beloran asked him.

   "The outlaws have stepped up their efforts in the northern part of Falendor's realm. They expect to weaken his forces enough to threaten Argnon within a year." Fagerin told him. "The only problem is the warrior who wears the dragon armor. He has killed the brigands who guarded Darious's monastery, and found the box that was hidden there."

   "The key of Darious?" Beloran asked, surprised and angered, that someone other than him had found it after all this time.

   "Yes, and Falendor has it now." The man said.

   "We must see if we can get it from him somehow." Beloran replied, thinking over the news he had received, and forming a plan.

   "Go to Corlindum ahead of us, and see what you can find out about the box, and the key inside of it." He said to Fagerin, and dismissed him with a nod.

   Fagerin slipped from the castle, and rode from Grimmen before dark. It was a long way to the capital of the regents, and he needed to get there unseen. It would still be a month before the first regent would arrive, but the city was full of servants who prepared it ahead of them. He would pass the information on to the outlaws in the west if they agreed to pay handsomely for it, but for now he would see what else he could learn. The brigands paid him well for the information he provided them, however, so did Beloran. He knew it was a dangerous game that he was playing, but he was getting rich doing it and he would switch to whichever side came out on top when it was over.

   The supplies were loaded, and the solders were ready, when Beloran walked from the castle, and stepped into the special carriage built for his family. The procession began the journey with a column of guards before, and after the carriage, and the banners of the realm flying in front of them. It was a grand sight, but few of the people of Grimmen came to see them off.

   Valiny and Dralessa were leaving their castle behind, as slaves to their fathers will. They were going to Corlindum for the first time in their lives, and went with him willingly. The stories they were told in their youth by the servants, made it a place of mystery and enchantment, and they had wanted to go there since they were children. Their father never allowed them too before, because they were too young to be of any use to him. They both believed the realm was being crushed by Beloran's greed and ambition, and did all they could for their people. When they made the return trip to Grimmen from Corlindum, things would be different. The empire was changing and those who stood in its way would be swept aside and forgotten.

*****

   Venteno was busy after the royal courier had gone back to Brinden, and the home of the royal steward. Borlund agreed to the request from Falendor, because of the outlaws who crossed his lands from the east. Some of his people had been robbed and killed, but his solders could find no sign of the outlaws. They were becoming a problem, and something had to be done about it, but it was mostly in the north where the fewest people lived. He did not know where they came from, or to where they went, but someone needed to find out he thought.

   Falendor had been complaining about outlaws for years, but Beloran had kept him and the other regents from helping in the past. That would all change when the council was held this time, he decided. The eastern regent would no longer tell them what they could, or could not do, and he would make his decisions based on what was best for the empire, and not what was best for Beloran. He had listened to the eastern regent long enough. Beloran had grown richer, while they struggled to keep their realms from declining, and he was tired of it. He had heard the stories about the man who wore the dragon armor, but did not care if he did. It was not even a law like Beloran would have everyone believe, but was an old custom, instead. If the man wanted to wear it, let him Borlund thought. After all, what harm could it do?

   The castle was located in the center of town, and was a castle within a castle. The center of the fortress was where the regent lived with his family, and was the oldest castle still standing in the empire. The outer walls were built by his ancestors, and were twenty feet high and ten feet thick. The garrison, stables, and barracks, were located there, as well as the blacksmiths and other artisans required by the army. The city of Venteno sprang up around it in the time of the lesser wars, and walls were built around the city to make it easier to protect. The city had changed over the years, and the wooden structures had been replaced with taller stone ones. The streets were laid out so there was no wasted space, and the buildings were as tall as they could make them, without compromising their security.

   There were four gates leading from the city, and they were guarded always. In times of peace they were always open, but in times of strife they were closed at sunset. They had not been closed in his lifetime, or that of his fathers, but they were still kept oiled and in good working order. All of the merchants that sold their wares in Venteno were located inside the city gates. They were located in the buildings designed for their trade, and in the marketplace, which could accommodate many people.

   Borlund walked from the great hall, where he oversaw the packing of the supplies he would need for the trip to Corlindum. The other regents did not consider him an intelligent man, because he did not make his decisions quickly, but he did not care what they thought of him, as long as they left him alone. He had been a regent longer than any of the other three by close to ten years, even though he was not the oldest, and the time had come for him to start acting like it.

   He gave the order that the fifty solders who would accompany him, were to dress in the blue and white colors of the realm. The banners were to be carried in front of the regent's party, and flown with pride. They would be off to the council of regents in the morning, and his two sons would accompany him as they always did.

   Kebren was the oldest at twenty-nine and he was assuming more of the daily duties required of the regent, with each New Year. He was being groomed to become the regent after his father, and he did his job well. Hobie on the other hand was two tears younger than his brother but was given none of the duties of the regent. He considered himself the lucky one, because he was allowed to be in the army, unlike his brother. He was a warrior at heart, and had been since he was a child, but he wanted more than just a commission in the guard. He dreamed of commanding an army of the empire and thought it was a mistake not to form one

   Delena decided to make the trip with her father, to shop in the marketplace, and the smaller shops around it. The market at Corlindum was the biggest in the empire, but it was only open when the regents held their council. Anything that the four realms had to offer was available to any one with the money to purchase it, and if it was not there, it was not in the empire. Delena was the youngest of Borlund's children, and three years younger than Hobie. She was the smartest of them all, but she was a woman, and not allowed to be involved it the politics of the realm. She was as beautiful as she was intelligent, and as charming as anyone in the empire. Many men had sought her hand in marriage, but she would have no part of any of them. One day she would find the right man and fall in love, but she was not in a hurry to become a wife.

   Hobie led the way, as the precession set out for Corlindum, and the council of regents. Unlike the other realms, Borlund did not have many servants that accompanied him along the way. Only the women who waited on Delena were with them, and there were only three of them. The men lived with the solders, and shared their hardships as well as their food when on these long trips. Delena would have also, had she been allowed, but she was a woman now, and had to act like one.

   Normally Borlund would have ridden his horse as his sons did, but he had taken ill during the night, and was feeling too weak to ride. He would be better in a day or two he thought. However, if he was not better by the time they reached Corlindum, Kebren knew what was to be done, and would take his place.

   The time had come to shake up the empire Borlund thought, but he had no idea how true that statement would be. By the time the council was over, and he had returned to his home in Venteno, the empire would be changed forever.