Trusted: Dragons' Trust Book 1 (16 page)

"What do you need?" Thane asked.

"Lots of water. And bandages. And I need my healer's pouch. More light wouldn't hurt, either."

Renick nodded and tossed her healer's pouch down to her while Thane collected a second orb, which Boren dislodged for him. Renick turned to Boren. "We need water, and lots of it. And anything Lainey can use to bandage the dragons' wounds."

The dragon dipped his head. "Anything else?" he asked.

With a shrug, Renick looked over his shoulder at Thane.

"I don't suppose you have any tools for digging?" Thane asked.

Boren laughed. "Not that a human could use."

"Could your magic make them from the rock?"

The dragon tilted his head. "It might. What shape do you need?"

Renick and Thane set about drawing shapes in the dirt of the shovels and wheelbarrow they would need. Boren touched large chunks of stone with his nose and hummed. The stone shifted like sand and took on a new form. The dragon made the shovels first. Thane collected these and set them aside. Next Boren worked on the wheelbarrow, forming the bucket and handle and then the wheels and an axle. Together Thane and Renick assembled the pieces.

"Excellent," Renick proclaimed when they were done. Boren and Thane nodded in agreement.

"We'll still have to do some of it by hand," Thane warned when they were finished.

"All right, then." Renick rolled up his sleeves. "We should get to work."

Renick did not know how long they toiled. Time was swallowed up with the endless shifting of rock. Slow and steady like the water trickling down the walls, they made progress through the pile of rubble. More than once, Lainey's warning cries were all that saved them from another cave–in. Renick's eyes and mouth filled with dirt. He did not notice the cold or the sweat. His raw hands gripped the rough handles of his shovel and the sharp edges of the bits of stone. Vaguely he remembered receiving food and water from somewhere. At one point, he noticed that his hands had been wrapped with little strips of cloth and he wondered who had done it.

They did not rest.

On and on they dug. Boren formed an aquifer to direct water from somewhere above. The liquid was cold and refreshing when Renick lifted a handful to his mouth. He cleared his throat of dirt and poured some of the water over his head. The clean, renewed feeling did not last long. The oppressive repetition of the digging soon returned the layer of sweat and grime to his face.

Once they had made it through to the chamber where Lainey tended the two fallen guards, they set to work freeing the one that was trapped. Behind him, Renick heard bodies moving as Boren and Lainey assisted in removing the first guard from the collapsed passageway. Still, Renick and Thane moved rock and stone, stone and rock. This task proved more difficult. They could not let any of the rocks shift over the dragon for fear of causing further injury. Lainey helped direct their movements, her voice and hands always steady.

Renick felt something press against his back. He turned to see Boren. "Be done, young ones. This one will not likely survive, despite your efforts."

"No matter what the odds," Renick told him, "we'll try."

Boren withdrew, and Renick did not know how much more time passed. Renick's hands, sore and bleeding from all the work, scooped up a pile of rocks. He moved them aside and when he went to collect more, he saw the end of the dragon's tail. He looked up, surprised. Meeting Thane's gaze, he said, "done."

Boren led two dragons to retrieve the uncovered guard. They gently dragged him out of the mines.

Their task complete, Renick sank to the ground. Lainey's face, blurry and smudged, appeared in his view. She pressed something to his lips.

"Drink," she commanded, and he obeyed.

"So tired." Renick's head rolled forward as he succumbed to exhaustion.

Renick woke when cool, fresh air brushed against his cheek. He opened his eyes and found himself lying on his back outside under a sky filled with stars. He sat up. Around him was a conglomeration of sticks, goose down, and other soft materials. Another dragon's nest. This one was much larger than Wrytha's and stood out in the open near the top of one of the mountain peaks.

"You will spend the night here," Boren said. Renick looked up to see the large dragon standing just outside the nest. A sleeping Lainey was lying across Boren's neck. Standing, Renick moved to help Thane slide her off. In the process, she stirred and woke up.

Lainey looked around. She took a long, deep breath and a small sob of joy escaped her. "Air."

"Lainey–Kind, after your deeds tonight, I will not let them confine you like that again," Boren promised.

The light from the moon made the tears that filled Lainey's eyes sparkle. "Thank you."

"You all are welcome in my home for as long as you are with us." Boren dipped his head and then moved a little ways off.

Thane extended his arm. From his hand hung Renick's pack. When Renick took it from him, Thane found a spot a safe distance from the nest and started a small fire. With their beds laid out, Lainey fished in their rucksacks for some food.

"Anyone hungry?" she asked.

Renick shook his head.

"I'm too tired to eat." Thane stretched his arms and yawned.

"Just as well—we're running out of food." Lainey closed her pack.

"I will see to that," Boren said. He was spread out near a cave opening that probably led to the dragon city, as if protecting them from its occupants.

Lainey tried vainly to brush the dirt and tangles from her hair with her fingers. "Ugh," she exclaimed, "I need a bath!"

"There is a stream just around that bend. It will be cold, but will do the job," Boren told her.

Lainey jumped up and headed in the direction the dragon had indicated. Just before she disappeared behind the bend, she looked back over her shoulder. "Don't let them come peek," she told Boren, who chuckled in response.

A little while later, Lainey returned. Her hair was wet and she was humming.

Thane stood and bowed to her. "Now that milady has finished, she won't mind if we loathsome men tarnish her bath, will she?"

Lainey just rolled her eyes at him and settled on the ground next to Renick. Thane was back in almost no time at all. His hair was wet too and he had his shirt slung over his shoulder, his sword, belt, and scabbard clutched in one hand. Lainey eyed him as he sat down.

"Milord should dress himself properly before entering the presence of a lady." She smirked at him.

The corner of Thane's mouth twitched as he pulled his shirt over his head.

"Keep an eye on these two, will you?" Renick asked Boren. "They could eat each other alive at any second."

Boren tossed his head and released a small puff of smoke in amusement as Renick turned away.

It did not take long for Renick to reach the mountain stream. He dipped his fingers in the running water. It was ice cold. Taking off his shirt, he did his best to wash out his hair. He splashed the water on his chest and arms. The cool water relieved the burning ache in his muscles. It did not seem like a good idea to get his shirt wet, since he lacked a spare. So he just did his best to shake the dirt out and pulled it back over his head. Feeling refreshed, but still dirty, he headed back.

When Renick returned to their little camp, a red dragon sat waiting. Renick thought he recognized the dragon as the one that called for their execution in the dragon court. His steps slowed and he cast his eyes around to find Lainey and Thane sitting by the fire. Renick sat with them.

Renick looked to Thane, his eyebrows scrunched together in a question. Thane frowned and shook his head slightly. One corner of Lainey's mouth twitched and she scrunched up her nose. Apparently Renick had not missed much.

"Renick–Trusted, Thane–Brave, and Lainey–Kind," the red dragon said, "I am Grane Redthorne of the Second Circle, and tonight you saved my son, Flyn Thorntail."

The three of them exchanged looks. "We're glad we could help," Renick offered.

"For three of your kind to show such valor when you could have fled with the other prisoners and obtained your freedom—it astonishes me." Grane shook his head.

"We had to help," Lainey said.

"That is just it, Lainey–Kind. You did not have to help. Nothing but that which is inside you compelled you to assist my son and the other dragon trapped in the cave–in. You showed qualities that I believed to be gone from your race entirely." A rumble started deep in the dragon's throat. "In fact, I have seen them fade from my kind as well." He looked at each of them. "I am forever in your debt." He turned to leave. "I will speak for you."

Grane left, descending back into the mountain through the cave entrance where Boren sat.

"That was … interesting," Thane said.

"Apparently he appreciated what we did," Lainey commented.

Renick shrugged. "To be honest, it never occurred to me that we could've just left."

"Even if it had," Lainey said, shaking her head, "you could never have left those dragons down there."

"You two helped," Renick said. His cheeks started to feel hot.

"What you three have done," Boren said, "has shown many of us that you are not like any other humans we have ever known."

"You must not know very good people," Lainey said.

Boren made a noise between a hum and a chuckle. "We mostly know the hunters."

Lainey grimaced. "I wouldn't like humans either if they were the only ones I knew."

They all laughed at this.

"Rest, children. I have a feeling tomorrow will be a big day for you."

Renick leaned back and watched the stars hanging in the black sky above. Every inch of his body was weary, but his mind kept churning thoughts, and he could not quiet them. He focused on Lainey's shallow breathing and Thane's slight snore hoping the sounds would distract him. Despite all his efforts, sleep still eluded him.

The soft sound of dirt moving under something made Renick sit up. He turned to see Derth had arrived and was sitting watching him.

"You are still awake. What troubles you?" Derth asked.

"I'm …" Renick tried to find the words to describe how he was feeling. When his search turned up nothing, he thought of his jumbled emotions. He felt homesick and lonely without his large family. At the same time, he was enjoying the relative solitude of being away from them. He worried about tomorrow—about the fate the new day would bring. He felt excited about the new friendships he was forming with Thane, Lainey, and Plyth. But mostly, he was curious about the dragons.

He wrapped all this up into one thought, one image, and tried to show it to Derth.

The old dragon cocked his head and made a sound that reminded him of his father when Renick or his siblings surprised him. "I think I understand," Derth said. "A lot has happened to you today."

Renick crossed his legs underneath him and shrugged. "It's all so different."

"You mean, intelligent dragons?"

"Yes," Renick said, nodding.

"And here I thought you were adjusting well." Derth chuckled. "You did, after all, rescue two of our kind."

Renick shook his head. "I …" He stopped. He thought what he had been about to say was prideful and might not entirely be true.

"My boy, it is not pride when you are honest with yourself." Derth moved closer and bent his neck down and around so his head was level with Renick's. Derth's deep eyes met his. "Even though I have known you a short time, I know what you feel is true. You would have done the same for any man or beast. So would Lainey–Kind and Thane–Brave. That is why Plyth trusts you—because you are worthy of such trust."

Renick felt uncomfortable. He squirmed and tried to find a better way to sit. Derth held his gaze, never turning away. "I don't even know how I earned it," Renick said.

Derth sat back, another laugh rumbling in his long throat. "That, my boy, is precisely the point. Do not worry so about tomorrow. I believe your worth will be acknowledged by the Inner Circle."

Renick smiled. He was a little relieved. His other thoughts and worries started to melt away and left him with just one. "What happened?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"What happened between the humans and the dragons?"

Derth sighed, and a trail of smoke floated up from between his teeth. "Much of that story is dangerous to tell." A growl thundered in the dragon's chest. "We fell prey to the greed of mankind. They desired our magic at a greater speed and capacity than we would provide. So they sought to enslave us. But the ancestors of the mute dragons saw to it that their endeavor failed."

"You mean, the mute dragons are like you? They can talk?" Renick said.

"No." Derth tilted his head. "As I told you before, they do not have the capacity to speak. It has been absent from their bloodlines for generations."

"And they don't have magic?"

Derth shook his head. "No, Renick–Trusted, they do not have magic."

"That's why the hunters seek your kind. Because you do." Renick thought back to the terrible hunger in Horrin's eyes.

"Yes."

"We're not all like that," Renick said. He placed his head in his hands. "It's such a shame."

"A shame?"

"We could learn so much from you. Do so much together. I regret that my ancestors took that away from me—from us." Renick swept his arm out to take in Thane and Lainey and anyone else in the world.

"Regret." Derth bobbed his head a few times. "That is a good name for it." The old dragon looked up at the stars. "Until I met you three, I did not feel this way. My whole life I have hated, even feared, your kind." Derth looked back to Renick. "But you have changed me."

Renick did not know how to respond. He felt an odd tingling sensation in his stomach. Eventually he settled on shrugging again.

"You three have opened my eyes. Your kind think of our mute brothers and sisters as cattle, but we have thought even less of you. You aided Plyth. You saved the two dragons in the mines. All at great cost to yourselves." Derth paused. He seemed unsure if he wanted to continue. Renick waited patiently. "These are things I am not sure many dragons would do. Renick–Trusted, you regret what your kind is lacking because of their greed. I regret what my kind turns its back on because of pride."