The Dragon' Son (18 page)

Keegan narrowed his eyes and laughed. “HA! We’ll see about that,” he chuckled and gently punched Arden on the shoulder. “Where’s your sister?”

Arden laughed, rubbing his shoulder. “Which one?” he asked.

Keegan rolled his eyes and stated, “You know which one I’m talking about. Susun.”

“She and I just finished milking,” Arden said as jerked his thumb back toward the house. “And she is now gathering the laundry and soap.”

Keegan nodded and moved toward the house. “Well, let’s see if we can help her with anything, shall we?” he said, clapping Arden on the other shoulder as he walked by.

The two of them walked up to the house and paused at the open door. Susun bustled around in the small house, grabbing blankets, clothes, and other items, tossing them into woven reed baskets that sat on the floor.

She paused and looked at Keegan and Arden with a smile. “Oh! I am nearly ready. Did the boys have you set their hooks for them, Keegan?” she asked then winked playfully with a giggle.

Keegan rolled his eyes and shook his head with a groan. “I can already see that I am not going to live that one down,” he mumbled.

Susun looked around the house with a thoughtful expression as she picked up an empty basket. “This will be for gathering plants and herbs. I have the soap, the clothes, the rags, the blankets,” she said, going down a mental checklist. She looked around then turned to Keegan. “I believe I have all I need.” She pointed at two baskets that were filled with laundry. “If you two will carry those, I shall carry this and keep the children in line as we make our way to the river,” she said, smiling brightly.

Keegan chuckled and picked up one basket, handing it to Arden who gladly took it. “Keep the children in line? Is that possible?” he wondered aloud.

Susun laughed and walked out the door. Keegan grabbed the other basket, and then he and Arden marched out the door after Susun. The two sets of twins all hurried along with chatter and laughter. Melek and Marlek led Ardor to Keegan, each holding one of the reins that were attached to the golden horse, while the two girls took their places on either side of Susun and chatted with her.

Keegan and Arden loaded the baskets on Ardor, then Keegan looked at Arden and nodded his head. “Lead the way, Arden,” he said, holding the reins out to the lad.

Arden straightened his shoulders with a smile and nodded his head, taking the reins and leading Ardor forward while Keegan took the two little boys in hand. Susun and the twins followed. After some time of walking, the trees began to grow thick again, and the roar of the river began to hum in everyone’s ears.

“Now, children, keep in mind that it is spring in the mountains! The river is running high and fast, and the water is freezing,” Susun said loud enough for everyone to hear. “Please, don’t make Keegan have to fish any of you out!” She shot a firm glance at the twin boys, who were riding on Ardor.

“Here, here!” Keegan agreed and patted Ardor on the rump, making the horse jump and flick his tail in Keegan’s direction.

Telek and Marlek giggled when Ardor jumped. “Do it again!” Telek said with a giggle.

Keegan chuckled, “Certainly, only if you feel like him pitching you to the ground.”

The two little rascals looked at Keegan with wide eyes. Marlek shook his sandy colored head. “No. That’s okay. We’re fine. Don’t listen to Telek,” he said, poking his twin in the ribs.

Keegan chuckled again. “I thought you’d feel that way about it,” he said in a quiet tone.

Suddenly, a strange, dark feeling began to crawl up Keegan’s spine, giving him pause. He looked around, searching for any threat, but then the feeling slowly disappeared.

At the same time that Keegan felt uncomfortable, Arden slapped the back of his head and scratched his neck. “There is that blasted nagging itch again,” he mumbled.

Keegan looked at him with a cock of his head. “Are you alright?” he asked.

Arden shrugged. “Eh, sometimes I just get this itchy feeling in my head that makes my spine burn. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does happen, it is very annoying,” he explained. Keegan continued to stare at Arden, wondering about it for a moment, but then he shrugged it off as coincidence, though he continued to stay wary.

Once they had found a suitable place for fishing, the boys all halted and pulled out their lines from the game bags, preparing to throw them out into the water. The girls, however, walked further downstream to a flat stone at the river’s brink where they were to wash the laundry on.

Keegan started Arden and the twins to fishing, helping the two smaller boys to throw their lines out into the water and making sure they were comfortable drawing the line back in and throwing it out again. When he was satisfied, he left them with Ardor to do their fishing, to allow him to search for herbs and other plants in the trees nearby. He mentally had made a list of wild medicinal herbs that he hoped would help Marthein to get well again, though he was certain he would only find a few of the plants growing this early in the year. Still, it was better to find some than none at all. He lost track of time as he searched through the trees and brush, finding several fine plants, which he pulled up from the ground, root and all, and stuffed into his game bag.

“Keeegaaan!” Arden’s distant call snapped Keegan out of his searching and made him realize that he had been gone too long.

“I am coming!” Keegan boomed back.

As he walked back toward the river, that strange, dark feeling came over him again, only this time it was stronger. Worried, he picked up his paced and started jogging.

Just as Arden, the twins, and Ardor came into sight, a horrible scream from Susun pierced the air. Keegan heard the twin girls also scream, and he instantly broke into a run, adrenaline rushing through his body as he heard Ardor let out a warning shriek.

He saw Arden grab Telek and Marlek by the shirts and start to drag them away from the river with a look of horror on his face. “KEEGAN!” he screamed. “KEEGAN!”

Keegan broke through the tree line and halted briefly, glancing down the river toward the washing stone. The twin girls ran toward Keegan and the boys, fleeing from a large, dark monster. The monster resembled a very tall man but had black and brown mottled skin and matted black hair draping down its back. It held Susun’s throat in its large hands, struggling with the fighting girl, trying to drag her away from the shore of the river.

Keegan bolted to Ardor. “Arden, take the children back to the house as fast as you can!” The words rapidly fell from Keegan’s mouth as he tossed his game bag to the boy and jumped onto Ardor’s back in one swift movement. Instantly, the golden horse charged for Susun and the monster, quickly passing by the twin girls.

Susun, struggling violently against the monster, grabbed a rock and bashed it against the creature’s hand, breaking its black skin. Blood fell. The beast roared in anger then spotted Keegan galloping toward them. With a fang-filled snarl, it picked Susun up and threw her into the raging river. It roared at Keegan then turned on and bolted with unnatural speed into the trees, disappearing from sight before Keegan and Ardor had even reached the washing stone.

Keegan watched the creature disappear, then he turned his attention to the river. Susun’s head bobbed above the foaming water for a brief moment before the swell of the river pulled her back under, quickly washing her further downstream. Keegan hissed, and Ardor put all his weight on his back legs, leaping into a full speed gallop.

Susun’s head surfaced again, and Keegan could hear her gasp for air over the roar of the river. “Keegan! Help!” she screamed. She reached out and grabbed at a rock that was jutting up out of the water but failed and continued to be swept away with the current.

“I’m coming! Hang on!” Keegan yelled, willing Ardor to go faster. Ardor’s hooves pounded against the ground fiercely. His powerful muscles propelled them over the ground. He swerved to the side and charged up a huge rock that hung over the raging waters. Keegan realized what the horse was doing a split second before they went flying off the edge of the rock and plunging into the frigid cold water of the river.

For a moment, Keegan thought his ears would explode and that he would never reach the surface to breathe again, but Ardor kicked his feet rapidly, and the two of them soon broke the surface. Keegan yelled and shook his head, then started searching for Susun while kicking his feet to help Ardor swim.

“Help me!” Susun’s cry made Keegan snap his head in her direction, just a little ahead of them.

Ardor snorted and kicked his feet harder, thrusting his head forward, closing the distance between them and the drowning girl. Susun, with a terribly pale face, reached out for them. Her head dropped under water again just before Keegan pushed against Ardor, lunging out and grabbing her by the wrist. Her hands latched onto him with an iron grip, and he pulled her above the water.

She gasped, her whole body trembling, while Keegan struggled to pull her closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck when she was close enough, and Keegan wrapped his arm around Ardor’s neck.

“To shore, Ardor! To shore!” he spoke loudly, kicking his feet, scraping his legs against rocks below him.

Ardor groaned and kicked with all his might. His feet gripped the gravel and sand beneath them, fighting against the river, trying to get to land, but the water was too strong, and the threesome continued downstream. Suddenly, Susun went limp, and her arms fell from around Keegan’s neck.

“NO!” Keegan yelled, wrapping his free arm tightly around her, trying to keep her above water. Ardor snorted and whinnied, raising his nose high above the water, still struggling against the waves.

“Hey! Hey!” a voice hollered from shore. “Here! Look here!”

Keegan looked back and saw a tall man on a bay horse, galloping along shore to keep up with them. He waved a rope above his head, looking at Keegan.

“Grab the rock!” the man shouted and pointed.

Keegan turned his head just in time to see that they were approaching a large rock. He looked at Ardor painfully, then, with a gasp, he let go of the horse and flung his hand out for the huge rock. His head went under water for a brief moment, but his fingers gripped the edge of the rock tightly. The water slammed into his and Susun’s bodies, the weight yanking against his arm mercilessly.

He cried out as he tried to hang on, the sharp edge of the stone cutting into his fingers, and his arm threatening to pop out of socket. Susun’s hands slowly slid around his neck and also grabbed the rock. Keegan looked at her, seeing that she was about to pass out again. “Hang on, Susun! Hang on!” he pleaded.

The man on shore tied the rope to his horse’s saddle then flung the end of it out into the water. “Catch it!” he cried.

Keegan watched the rope as it floated toward him, forcing his body to hang on just a little longer. Finally, just as the rope passed them by, he let the rock go. The water propelled them directly into the rope. He grasped it tightly, wrapping it around his arm. He felt it tighten as the man moved his horse into a trot and towed them ashore. As soon as Keegan felt land under his feet, he tried to stand and carry Susun but was unable. He collapsed in the wet mud, holding Susun tightly. The other man came up then and hooked his strong arms around them both, pulling them up onto dry land.

Keegan coughed and sat up, grabbing Susun by the shoulders, looking into her open, delirious eyes. “Susun? Speak to me. Can you hear me?” he asked.

Susun’s glazed eyes glanced around, wide and unblinking. “Keegan…a hideous...monster…the children? Keegan?” she gasped.

The tall, dark haired man knelt down on the other side of the girl and grabbed one of her shaking hands, looking at her pale face. “She’s in a bad way,” he said before he pulled his own cloak and shirt off and wrapped them around Susun. “She needs to get warm in a hurry. Where does she live?” he asked, looking at Keegan with large, dark blue eyes.

Keegan stared at the man for a moment, seeing a tattoo on his shoulder that chilled Keegan to the bones “You’re…you’re a Wovlen,” he said, staring at the tattoo on the man’s muscular shoulder.

The man’s voice grew firm “Keegan. Where does the girl live?” he asked.

Keegan snapped himself out of his shock, averting his eyes from the tattoo on the man’s arm and looking at Susun. “She lives down the river, across the road to Elinralis, on a little farm,” he answered, grabbing the man’s cloak and wrapping it tighter around the shaking girl.

The man scooped Susun up into his arms and stood. “I’ll take her there. What about you? Can you make it?” he asked as he set Susun on his horse.

Keegan stood shakily to his feet and shook his head. “Don’t worry about me,” he assured the man.

A whinny behind him made both men look back to see a soaked and exhausted Ardor trotting up. The golden horse halted next to Keegan and bumped him gently with his nose. Keegan smiled and patted the horse then looked up at the tall man as he mounted his own bay mare. “I’ll lead you to her home,” he said.

The man nodded and steadied his horse, wrapping his free arm around Susun, letting her drenched head rest against his bare left shoulder. Keegan struggled up to Ardor’s back, then he urged the horse onward. Ardor moved into a gallop without complaint, and the two horses followed the river upstream, back toward the little farm.

Agonizing minutes went by as they hurried toward the farm. Keegan glanced back occasionally to see the tall, dark haired man holding Susun tightly and talking to her, trying to coax her to stay awake. The farm finally came into sight, and Keegan was glad to see that Arden and the two sets of twins were nearly home, though he was surprised to see an old woman accompanying them.