Storm Holt (The Prophecies of Zanufey Book 3) (18 page)

Naksu swallowed audibly. Edarna wondered if the woman had ever seen dragons before. Maybe she’d never seen the dark hand of war. Perhaps she’s spent her life cosseted away on Myrn. Edarna tutted to herself. How can you learn about the world if you never see it? They sidled towards the clearing. Edarna tried her best to tiptoe over twigs.

When they emerged into the sunlight Naksu immediately turned to vomit. Edarna was struck dumb, a mix of horror and sheer excitement at what she saw. She moved towards it.

‘A dead Dread Dragon,’ she said, then gagged at the smell. She tightened her shawl about her face. The corpse was in a rapid state of decay, collapsing in on itself so it looked like a leathery bag of flesh filled with putrefying mush. Nothing had dared try to eat it. Edarna knew no living thing would touch the corpse of an immortal. She analysed the beast. Its scales were so strong and resilient that, whilst the gooey insides rotted away, the skin would take the longer.

‘Do you know how many years it took me to get just one dragon scale? Now look at this, there are thousands just lying right there in front of me,’ she said in wonder.

‘Don’t you dare touch it,’ Naksu shouted between vomits.

Edarna was captivated by the dragon. She walked around the bulk and found its horrific head complete with the terrible injury that killed it.
 

‘Its throat has been ripped out by something just as big. Probably another dragon,’ Edarna shouted her report. She stood there trembling. The hideous sunken eyes would surely open any minute, and this immortal dead thing would reanimate. Edarna breathed deep and slow.
 

‘Dragon fear, even when it’s dead. How can we humans ever kill even one of these monsters?’
 

The thing was so huge and so ugly she began to lose faith that Baelthrom and his horde would ever be defeated. But then here it was dead, and something
had
killed it
.
Something was missing. Where was its rider?
She whirled around, expecting to see a Dromoorai running at her swinging its claymore, but there was nothing, only the still forest and a warm late summer afternoon.

Edarna relaxed and turned back to the dragon. The beast’s eyes were sunken in, and already its skeleton was visible under its flesh. Its blood had long since gushed out over the ground and dried, so that it lay on a huge black patch of earth. The grass beneath it was very dead. Disgusting things, the Maphraxies. Their bodies, having died long ago, rotted quickly. Where they died nothing grew, they poisoned the earth. But what didn’t decay so quickly, Edarna now learned, were the dragon scales. Mr Dubbins tentatively sniffed a black patch of earth, and then turned away with a hiss.

‘Not so good eh, Mr Dubbins? Their scales must be tough though… Resilient to fire, hard as iron, and yet flexible enough for flight. Dragons really are quite something.’

She needed a good stock of dragon scales. The spells and potions she could create with them stretched beyond her imagination. Just five scales would be enough for a lifetime of complex spells, and here there were millions of them - ranging from the tiny scales at the neck to the massive scales on its flank. They glistened metallic greeny-black, like oil in a peat bog. She forgot all about the horrific sight of the decaying stinking Dread Dragon, and looked critically at the new project before her.
 

‘Two scales of each, from the smallest to the biggest, and only the best undamaged ones,’ she murmured to herself. ‘Some from the neck, torso, stomach, back and tail. Just ten scales is more than a lifetimes supply, Mr Dubbins.’ The cat looked at her once, and left. She picked up a stick.
 

‘Now then, hmm. What else can we use…’ She poked the head and jumped back. The head did not even budge. It was still dead, good.
Carefully she wedged her stick between its massive lips. She had to heave all her weight against the stick in order to shove the top lip up. Viscous black drool splattered out onto the ground and a gust of stench exploded from the beast’s mouth. Edarna heaved and turned green, almost losing her stick in the goo. Almost. Her intrigue was strong enough to drown out the smell of rotting stomach contents.

‘Teeth, yes. Dragon fangs. Invaluable. But how to get them loose. Hmm. A little explosion goes a long way. My oh my, I could take a week on it. Where on earth do I begin? We could be rich, Mr Dubbins. I could sell those scales for pure gold. I could… I could…’ she stopped, suddenly stumped. What the hell could she spend gold on? She couldn’t even think of anything. She let the lips slop back and put her hands on her hips, analysing the huge bulk. ‘It doesn’t matter, Mr Dubbins, we’ll be rich and that’s it.’ She had an idea, a thought that cut through her dreams of wealth. It made her stop and think.
 

‘I found it,’ a strained voice came from over the other side of the Dread Dragon. Edarna tried to ignore it so she could focus on the idea. Fire resistant clothing, oven gloves, shields, even armour. It would be the first of its kind ever to be seen. Edarna chuckled and clapped her hands

‘It’s here, come and look,’ Naksu called. The idea wavered then was gone. Edarna sighed. She’d better go see if the seer was all right.
She’s probably never seen a dead thing, not even a rat.

Naksu was bent cautiously over something black and part-hidden by long grasses. Edarna stepped on a twig, making the seer jump backwards in fright.

‘A Dromoorai eh? I wondered where he’d be.’ Edarna nodded knowingly as she looked at the huge body on the ground. Everything that had been inside the armour was gone, and the ground beneath it was black.

‘We’ve seen these, in our sacred pools,’ Naksu shuddered. ‘I hope I never see one alive.’

‘Well, if you really want to save the planet, as you seers say you are trying to do, then you undoubtedly will meet one. Best get used to what they look like now.’ Edarna offered her words of wisdom.

Naksu ignored the witch and continued examining the remains. ‘Now the question is, where is its amulet?’

‘What amulet?’ Edarna said, peering closer, hoping she hadn’t missed a trick.

‘They all wear Shadow Stones. You know, those blood stones mined from the bowels of the Maphrax Mountains.’

‘Oh
those
amulets,’ Edarna chuckled. ‘Well, it probably disintegrated like the rest of it when it was killed. And besides, an amulet’s not that important.’

‘It can’t have disintegrated, not when every other piece of metal still remains. And something which connects all who wear them to the mind of Baelthrom is not to be taken lightly,’ Naksu frowned.

‘No, I suppose not,’ Edarna conceded. She didn’t know the amulet connected the thing directly to
him
. ‘Does it really connect right back?’ she asked shrilly.

‘Yes. Whenever Baelthrom wishes he can see through any amulet, maybe all amulets at once. This is how he is able to move his Maphraxies so quickly, so precisely, and with devastating results,’ Naksu said.

‘Hmm, so you do know or thing or two then, back on Myrn,’ Edarna said, nodding her head in a random direction meant to indicate Myrn. Naksu ignored her again.
 

‘Somebody has taken the amulet, but who and why?’ She stood up and looked into the distance.

‘Well, whatever killed it most probably,’ Edarna shrugged. ‘And whatever killed it was pretty powerful, it ripped its throat clean out.’

Naksu grimaced. ‘Without the body I cannot tell how this one was killed, but look at the fresh scrapes of metal on its helmet and armour.’ She pointed out the long gashes on the metal that only another metal object could create. ‘Suggests it was killed by a sword or similar.’ Naksu stood deep in thought, while Edarna poked around the Dromoorai.

‘Nope, nothing of use here really. And I’m not lugging a dirty black claymore around,’ Edarna said.

‘When you spend weeks travelling in a forest, it all looks the same,’ Naksu said. ‘But I was hoping to come across the path I walked recently. There should be a karalanth settlement near here, I’m sure of it. I had not recognised the place because of the destruction, but it could be where I helped to heal a young man. Oh of course,’ Naksu breathed in sharply, a look of wonder on her face. ‘Come on, it’s around here somewhere.’ The seer grabbed the reins of her mule and ran off.

‘What’s ‘round ‘ere?’ Edarna said. ‘Wait, I need to get some scales.’
 

But Naksu didn’t wait and she disappeared into the trees, leading her mule behind her with Mr Dubbins in quick pursuit.

‘Great,’ Edarna huffed, and ran after the woman. ‘I’m coming back you know. No witch in her right mind would miss a dragon scale collecting opportunity.’

Edarna found Naksu in a second clearing before another big patch of charred earth, but this time there was lots of ash and charred wood.

‘Something big has been burnt,’ Edarna said. Naksu looked around.

‘There,’ she said triumphantly, and pointed to a well-worn path leading into the trees. Edarna followed the seer along it until they came to a wide open space. It looked deliberately made, either side of the path were big round patches of bare earth. There was a third patch of blackened ground, and she toed the ashes thoughtfully.
 

‘Burned until nothing remained. Looks like a cremation if you’d ask me,’ she sniffed.
 

‘This is it, this is where the karalanths lived, a group of them,’ Naksu said. ‘Clearly they were attacked and left. But why would they have been attacked? Can Bael…’ she stopped short, as if not wanting to speak the name aloud, ‘can he have known?’

‘Known what?’ Edarna said. ‘And stop running off like that, it’s no good on an old woman’s knees.’

Naksu looked at her and seemed like she wanted to say something. Edarna raised an eyebrow, hopefully it would be interesting.

‘There was a sick human male here with the karalanths. He had a terrible mortal wound made by Keteth. I helped to heal him and what I learned about him shocked me. He had an aura, very distinctive, an aura of a Dragon Lord.’

‘Oh, ‘im.’ Edarna sighed. Did seers only get old news? ‘Yeah of course its ‘im. The last Dragon Lord and all that,’ she wafted her hand in front of her face dismissively, then stopped and looked worried. ‘She would be with him. That’s why they came. They’re hunting her.’

‘She who?’ Naksu frowned, now confused.

‘She her,’ Edarna said. ‘Issa, the Raven Queen one. That Dragon Lord is her bit of stuff, I’m sure of it. Don’t see too many Dragon Lords kicking around these days. I scryed for her and saw her riding this huge golden dragon.’
 

Naksu’s pale eyes went wide. ‘Then he survived, praise Feygriene. I cannot be sure how long ago this happened, but the karalanths have obviously left. Less than a week ago for sure. If I can find some pure water, I can use the Presight to see when they left, maybe even where they went.’

‘Oh really?’ Edarna was intrigued. The Presight was the same as the Sight, but it was the ability to see specifically into the past. ‘I don’t suppose you can show me how to see into the past?’

Naksu shook her head. Edarna’s shoulders slumped. ‘Few seers have the gift, and it’s really hard to train. The past is the observer’s interpretation of the events everyone at that time is experiencing. It is very personal and subjective, and takes years to learn. I’ll do it now and do it quickly before this stench kills me.’

Edarna grinned. ‘Perfect. Gives me some time to collect a few things.’ She glanced back the way they had come to where the corpse of the Dread Dragon lay beyond the broken trees. She began to shuffle off in that direction.

‘Great, then you can help me collect foxbane and wild fennel,’ Naksu said. ‘And keep your eyes peeled for a clear running stream, a pool of water would be best.’ Edarna hesitated, licked her lips, and sighed.
 

‘Fine, but afterwards I’ll need to collect a few things for myself,’ she said, but Naksu showed no signs of having heard her.

‘MURLONIUS, Murlonius, Murlonius,’ Marakon spoke the boatman’s name aloud three times. His voice seeming loud in the stillness of dawn. He only needed to speak it once but he wanted to be sure, and three was very sure.

The knights clustered around him, each straining to see what would happen. Marakon was also captivated. The first time he’d met the boatman he’d done nothing other than find him. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
 

He began to wonder if it had all been a strange dream and that he wouldn’t come. They’d all be stood there expectantly on the beach and he would look like a right idiot. But if it had been a strange dream, then he had been dreaming his whole life
.
Perhaps he’d left it too late, and now he was stuck here. At least he’d be with Jarlain, but what about his knights? He owed them everything and, by the goddess, he would kill Karhlusus to set them all free.
 

The sea had stilled since he’d spoken the name, the water was flat as glass and mirrored the pink-tinged clouds above. Awed murmurs came from his knights as the waves ceased completely. Mist formed on the horizon and billowed towards the shore. In that mist the prow of a boat materialised. He could make out its ornately carved sea serpent head with the swinging lantern held in its clenched teeth.