Trusted: Dragons' Trust Book 1 (13 page)

He sat. Breathed in. Breathed out. Slow. Calm.

"They friends, not hunters," Plyth told Uncle Derth. This time he was not afraid. He was truthful.

Uncle Derth looked at Grandmother. They said things to each other. Kept it hidden from Plyth. Uncle Derth looked back at him. "Plyth …" he started.

"I trust them!" Plyth said. He felt all the truth and trust and friendship he could.
Trust friends.

The other two were quiet. After a long time, Uncle Derth dipped his head and looked in Plyth's eyes. "Very well," he said. "Let us go and meet these friends of yours."

When Renick woke, he saw Lainey sitting up. Her arms were wrapped around her legs and she was rocking back and forth. Thane sat nearby, talking to her quietly. Renick cast a glance at the guard dragons. He could not feel them talking anymore and the pain in his head had receded.

Renick turned back to Lainey. "How are you?" he asked.

Lainey smiled at him. "I'm fine." The sound of her raw voice made Renick's throat hurt.

The corridor outside their cell filled with the sound of yelping. Plyth's head appeared between the legs of one of the guard dragons, who growled in annoyance. The baby dragon pushed his way into the cave and leapt into Lainey's arms.

"Friends!" Plyth exclaimed.

"It's good to see you too." Lainey giggled, some of the worry melting away from her face.

The two guard dragons made a lot of noise as they shuffled aside to admit Wrytha into the cell. Renick had to move back a little to give her room. "Greetings, Renick–Trusted, Lainey–Kind, and Thane–Brave."

"And why should we greet you? After what you did to us?" Thane snapped at her.

"Thane," Lainey admonished him. Thane stood his ground and Renick silently hoped he would not have to choose sides in an argument between the two of them. His thoughts and feelings were far too conflicted at the moment.

Wrytha lowered her head almost to the ground; her eyes were full of sorrow. "No, Lainey–Kind, Thane–Brave has a right to be angry with me. You expected to find safety with me. Instead, I played a role in your imprisonment. I apologize, but I am bound by the laws of my kind."

"The Code of the Dragon Kind?" The words escaped Renick's mouth before he realized it. Wrytha's words sparked something—a legend so old his uncle had only known bits and pieces of it. Renick had only heard the tale once or twice, and so a stray phrase here and there was all his weary mind could produce.

"You know of it, Renick–Trusted?" Wrytha asked.

Renick shrugged. "Not really—it's something I heard my uncle say once. I don't know anything more about it."

"I see." She turned and looked back into the hall outside their cell. "I have brought someone to meet you."

"Who is he? The executioner?" Thane's voice dripped with malice.

"No, Thane–Brave. He is someone I hope can help," Wrytha answered. She shifted her weight from side to side as if uncomfortable.

"I think we've had enough of your help already," Thane said.

Lainey jumped up, cradling Plyth in her arms. "Thane Shaytorrin!" Every inch of Lainey's posture spoke of her displeasure. The muscles in Thane's jaw and arms tensed.

Renick went and stood next to Thane, his back facing Wrytha. "We don't have to trust them. Just listen to them, Thane—it's our only option."

Thane's eyes darted over to look at him. Without a word, he spun and marched to the back of the cave. He took up a position leaning against a portion of the wall that was shrouded in darkness.

After watching him for a moment, Renick turned to Wrytha. "Sorry. This is all a little shocking to us." Renick rubbed the back of his neck with one hand.

"It is all right. I understand his suspicion, Renick–Trusted," the white dragon responded.

"Why do you call him that?" Lainey asked.

"Renick–Trusted? It is his dragon name," Wrytha said.

"Dragon what?" Lainey's brow scrunched together.

"Dragon name. It is a tradition from the old days. Our kind, especially our young, have the ability to see to the core of a person. Plyth has named you three thus—Thane–Brave, Lainey–Kind, and Renick–Trusted." Wrytha bowed her head to each of them in turn.

Lainey's cheeks colored. She looked down at the baby dragon. "I'm honored you think of me as kind."

Renick felt an immense weight settle over his chest. Trusted. What a name to live up to. And at the same time, he wondered if Wrytha saw the same in him. If he was trusted, why were they being held here?

"This is Derth Wisescales. He is a member of the Second Circle," Wrytha said.

Her words drew Renick back to the task at hand. Another dragon entered the small cave. He was half again as tall as Wrytha, with scales a shade of blue so dark it was almost black. A cluster of black spikes erupted on the crown of the dragon's head and traced the outline of his large ears. His black wings and claws blended into the shadows.

"He is here to ask you some questions," Wrytha finished.

Thane stood and stepped just into the light. "We won't answer any questions until you tell us why we're being held."

Derth bared his teeth and hissed. "You are not in a position to make demands, human." He took a few deep breaths and then added in a calmer tone. "Answer my questions satisfactorily and I will answer yours in turn."

Thane did not back down.

"Thane," Lainey said softly, "it's a fair exchange."

After a moment, Thane nodded curtly, but he did not relax his posture.

"How did you come to be in the forest?" Derth asked.

Renick knew it was up to him to answer. "We were all traveling to Trevinni in a flyer when—"

"A flyer?" Wrytha interjected.

"It's …" Renick was not sure how to describe it. When he pictured it in his mind, Wrytha and Derth huffed.

"One of your enslavement devices," Derth said.

"Enslavement devices?" Renick asked. One of the stories his father told had a dragon slavemaster. For the first time, Renick realized what that meant.

"Do you always do that?" Thane cut in. "Read our thoughts without asking?"

"We do not invade your thoughts; we simply overhear what you direct at us," Derth explained.

Renick shook his head. "Amazing."

"What is amazing, Renick–Trusted?" Wrytha asked.

"You can talk," Renick said. "And hear our thoughts. And we can hear your thoughts."

"You were unaware that our kind could talk?" Derth said. Renick felt an odd sense of confusion and curiosity from the old dragon.

Renick shrugged. "Plyth was the first dragon to talk to me."

"What about the old histories? Do they not speak of talking dragons?" Wrytha said.

"Other than the stories Renick has told us, no," Lainey offered. She had seated herself once again and was gently scratching Plyth under his chin.

"It would appear," Derth said with a low growl, "that the knowledge of our kind has passed from human history."

"Not entirely. Remember Renick–Trusted's stories." Wrytha swung her head until it was very near Renick's head.

"Where did you learn these stories, Renick–Trusted?" Derth asked.

"From my father." Renick swallowed before continuing. "But until I met you, I thought they weren't true."

"Interesting," Derth mused.

A small part of the river of questions Renick had been holding in suddenly came out in a rush. "They're true though, aren't they? Have dragons always been able to talk? Do all dragons talk?"

"Silence. I will answer your questions the best I can when I am finished." Derth turned his attention to Thane. "You are angry with us. Why?"

Thane remained frozen in place for a moment. "We've done nothing to earn our imprisonment. I want to know why we're here."

"Fair enough," Derth said. "I will answer this one question for you. And then no more until I am satisfied. Agreed?"

Renick watched Thane, anxious for his response. He was just as eager for answers as Thane, but Renick also wanted to learn more about these dragons that seemed to walk right out of legend.

"Agreed," Thane announced as he sat and leaned against the wall of the cave. The older boy almost seemed relaxed, but Renick noticed Thane's hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

"You are prisoners of war," Derth told them.

"What!" Thane sat up, his hand gripping his sword, ready to draw it out.

"War?" Lainey sounded confused.

Renick remembered something else his uncle had said in a conversation with his father long ago. Something about the great dragon war never really being over, even though there were none left to fight it.

"Enough." Derth snapped his jaws, making Renick jump. "I will tell you more if I find I can trust you. Back to my first question—how did you come to be in the forest?"

"Something hit the dragon and tore the sails of the flyer. We crashed. We're lost and trying to find our way to Trevinni," Renick replied.

"Were there others traveling with you?" Wrytha asked.

"Yes," Renick said.

"Where are they?" Derth seemed suspicious.

"We don't know," Lainey said sadly. She looked down at the floor of their cell. Her hands started to shake again.

Wrytha and Derth lowered their heads in what Renick thought might be sympathy.

"My great–nephew tells me you bound his broken wing. Why?" Derth asked, looking first at Lainey and then at Renick.

"He was hurt and alone," Lainey said. She looked up and met Derth's gaze. "That's reason enough for me."

"Same here," Renick said.

"And you saved him from the hunters?" Wrytha asked.

"Yes, you could have surrendered to them. They could have taken you home," Derth added.

"I hadn't thought of that," Renick admitted. "We knew they were hunting dragons. I was sure they killed Plyth's mother. I wouldn't let them get him, too."

Derth was silent for a long time while he studied Renick. The dragon's dark eyes stared at him as if daring him to give away a secret.

"Are you satisfied?" Wrytha asked Derth.

"I am … curious. I never thought in all my days …" Derth did not finish his thought; instead, he offered to answer their questions.

"What war?" Thane said before Renick could decide which of his own questions to ask first.

"The great war, the one we have been fighting since before your kind enslaved ours," Derth said. A rumble emanated from his throat and steam hissed out of his jaws, leaking from between his razor–sharp teeth. "Before the lesser dragons fell silent."

"You mean, our dragons—the domestic ones—could be like you?" Two emotions raged inside Renick as he waited for Derth to answer. On one hand, that would be amazing to be able to talk to all dragons. On the other hand, if they were like
these
dragons, then "enslavement" was a good term for how his kind treated them. It made Renick sick to his stomach to think of the dragons being enslaved.

Derth and Wrytha tilted their heads toward Renick. Their feelings of curiosity and amazement broke over him and the pain in his head flared back to life.

"No," Derth said slowly as if he were distracted. "To prevent the knowledge and magic of dragons from being misused by their taskmasters, the ancestors of the enslaved dragons did not pass on any knowledge to their offspring. Those dragons are forever mute and dumb."

Renick felt only a little relieved and more than a little disappointed. "Is that why our ancestors enslaved your race?" he asked. "To use your magic?"

"Yes," Derth and Wrytha answered together.

"Can't the mute dragons be taught to speak?" Renick wondered.

"No." Derth growled. The sound echoed off the walls of their cell. "Enough. No more questions." He turned and left, striding between the two guard dragons almost before they could move aside.

"Touchy subject?" Thane asked.

Wrytha shook her head. "You cannot imagine." She beckoned to Plyth and together they left.

"Wait," Thane called after them. "What's going to happen to us?"

"You will be tried tomorrow. The Inner Circle will decide your fate," Wrytha told them as she disappeared behind the two guard dragons.

Thane stepped close to Renick and said in a low voice, "I don't like this."

"There is not much we can do," Lainey said. "We're trapped." Her voice caught a little.

"We can escape," Thane said.

"How?" Renick asked. "Do you think your sword will do any good against them?" He waved his hands at the guards. "The best thing to do is wait until tomorrow."

Thane shook his head. "I still don't like it."

It had been a long and sleepless night for Renick. He rubbed at a knot in his neck as he followed behind Derth. Renick and the others were being taken to the dragon hall to appear before the Inner Circle for their trial. He had spent his wakeful night searching his memory for anything that could help them. He had found only one thing—a brief mention of a man who had committed a crime against a dragon. The man was punished according to the dragons' laws and imprisoned for life.

Renick had felt he should not share this story with Thane or Lainey.

The narrow tunnel they were walking through opened into a large chamber. The walls of the chamber were covered with intertwining grooves, like ripples on the water during a rainstorm. Inset in the circles were stones of every color that glowed from an inner light. The cave wall looked like a field of stars on a clear winter night. Renick craned his neck to see every inch of the elaborate design.

"There is a stone for each of the Dragon Kind, the wise dragons, you might call them. The circles represent where we stand in our society," Derth said. Renick turned to see the dark–blue dragon watching him.

"It's beautiful," Lainey said, breathlessly.

"There was a time when this entire cavern was bright as day for the number of dragon stones. Now it grows dim as our kind diminishes." Derth hung his head.

Renick turned back to the beauty of the dragon hall and tried to imagine it filled with glowing gems. His chest tightened with regret at the loss of such a wonderful sight and what it reflected about the Dragon Kind. "I'm sorry," Renick said in a low whisper.