Trusted: Dragons' Trust Book 1 (7 page)

A smile broke across Lainey's face. "I thought I was losing my mind."

"You already had," Thane jibed.

Lainey looked at him sideways. Renick could not tell if he was joking or not until the corner of Thane's mouth twitched. Lainey flicked her hand in Thane's direction as if to dismiss him.

"He can talk." Renick shook his head. A talking dragon. He remembered lying awake in bed at night listening to the grunts and groans of sleeping dragons and wondering what they meant. Renick could smell the straw of the brooder where he held hatchlings and stared into those intelligent eyes, wondering what was behind them. And now, sitting here in front of him, was a talking dragon. "He can talk."

Lainey closed her mouth and looked at him. Apparently she had been saying something to Thane. "Yes, Renick," she said gently.

"He can talk," Renick repeated.

"Renick, I think you've established that. Now can we please move on?" Thane popped his head up and looked over the log as he spoke.

Renick nodded, but added under his breath, "He can talk," one more time.

"I wonder what his name is." Lainey removed the dragon from the pack and peered into his eyes. "Huh, little guy?" The dragon just cocked his head at her.

A wave of curiosity hit Renick. It was familiar, yet foreign. Like when his brothers told his father's stories. The words were the same, but the voice was different. Renick studied the baby dragon.

Curious,
the baby dragon seemed to say in Renick's mind.

"It doesn't understand what you're saying," Thane said.

"Quiet," Renick said. "Do you …" He shrugged. "Do you feel that?"

Lainey nodded. "He's curious."

Thane shook his head. "Seriously, you two have lost it."

"No, she's right. Pay attention and you might be able to feel it too." Renick moved to sit next to Lainey. "Let's try to figure out his name again."

"What's your name?" she asked the dragon. He tilted his head the other way.

Confused.

Thane's brow furrowed.

"Hah! You do feel it!" Lainey pointed an accusing finger at Thane.

Thane closed his eyes. "All right, so I do. Big deal."

Lainey exchanged a look with Renick and rolled her eyes. She focused on the baby dragon again. "Maybe we should try showing him what we mean. I'm Lainey …"

Kind.

Lainey blinked a few times. "Thank you, I think. But I don't understand." She turned the dragon so he was looking at Thane. "And this is Thane. He's not as mean as he looks."

Brave.

"And this is Renick," Lainey said, swiveling the dragon again.

Trusted.

"That's odd," Renick said. "I wonder what he means by kind, brave, and trusted."

"Plyth," the baby dragon hissed.

Thane leaned closer. "Did he just say 'plyth'?" he asked.

"I think so," Lainey said. "Is your name Plyth?"

"Me, Plyth," the dragon repeated.

Renick could not breathe. His heart was pounding faster than it had when they were running. A dozen stories, legends, and bits of lore that his father used to tell him crowded in his mind. They all alluded to the dragons' ability to speak. Up until this moment, Renick had thought them only fables. He had not dared to hope that they might have some truth to them.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Plyth." Lainey smiled and hugged the dragon close to her. "Now I don't have to keep calling you 'little guy' anymore."

"Ask him if he knows who those men were back there," Thane said.

"Ask him yourself." Lainey plopped the dragon into Thane's arms. "You've a mouth, don't you?" She crossed her arms and leaned back against the log.

"Uh, do you know who those men were?" Thane said to Plyth's tail. With a chuckle, Lainey reached out and turned Plyth so he was facing Thane.

Happy.

"I think he still isn't understanding us. Maybe if you pictured one of the men, he'd know what you meant," Renick offered.

Thane gave Renick an annoyed look.

"Here, let me do it," Renick said as he took Plyth. Renick closed his eyes and pictured one of the men he had seen in the woods. The man had long, unkempt hair the color of mud. An odd tattoo ran down the man's neck and he had a scowl on his face.

Plyth squirmed in Renick's lap.
Danger.

"Shhh." Lainey rubbed Plyth behind the ears. "We're safe now. We just want to know who they were."

"Unthers," Plyth said.

"Unthers?" Thane spat. "That doesn't even make sense."

Lainey hit Thane's arm. "I think he means 'hunters.' He's still a baby, remember?"

Somewhere in the distance, branches rubbed up against each other. Renick held his breath, listening for signs of pursuit. The moment passed.

"I'm going to check the perimeter," Thane whispered. "You two wait here."

The air seemed thick and heavy as they waited for Thane to return. The peaceful quiet of the clearing turned menacing and every small sound amplified. Renick jumped a little when Thane reappeared.

"Sow," Thane said. "With some piglets. But they moved off the other way."

Renick let out his breath.

"What kind of hunters?" The words exploded out of Lainey like she had been holding them in.

"Dragon hunters," Renick and Thane said together.

"Dragons? You sure?"

"When I was younger, a dragon got very sick and went mad. It escaped its pen and started killing live stock. My father and some of the other men from our village had to hunt it down." Renick felt a sickening feeling in his stomach at the memory of seeing the dead dragon being dragged back to the ranch to be destroyed. "The hunters back there had similar equipment to what my father used."

"What kind of equipment?" Lainey asked.

"Nets, ropes, and at least one giant crossbow," Renick said.

"Did you see the shafts?" Thane asked.

Renick nodded. "They looked like the one that got the flyer."

Lainey gasped. "You don't think …"

"And the gray," Thane added in a harsh tone. At Renick's raised eyebrows, he said, "I took a closer look while you two were patching Plyth up."

"Why would anyone want to hunt dragons?" Lainey said, horrified. She scooped Plyth out of Renick's lap and started rocking him back and forth.

"Their hides are valuable," Renick answered. "They grow to be bigger than our dragons. And their scales are brighter in color, and stronger. My father says they also take their hearts. The stories say there is magic in a dragon's heart."

"That's gross." Lainey gagged. She looked down at Plyth. "We can't let them get him." Her words echoed Renick's thoughts.

"Well, we can't go back to the river. The hunters are blocking the way." Thane jabbed his thumb back in the direction they had come.

"Where to, then?" Lainey asked.

Renick felt a sudden chill, like a breeze coming off snow. "Mountains," Plyth said.

Thane nodded and rubbed his chin. "We could follow the mountains west. It's a little farther out of the way, and the terrain will be rougher. But at least we'd have a landmark to follow again."

"All right, then." Renick rubbed his hands together. "The mountains."

Just a few hours' hike from the clearing, Renick noticed a brown bunch of thorny bushes. The tangled mass stood higher than a man's head and stretched out for several paces before curving out of his view.

"That's odd," Lainey remarked. She started to walk around, inspecting the wall of bushes. "Hey, there's a gap here." Renick watched Lainey disappear through the thick under–brush. She gasped. "Come on, you have to see this!"

Renick looked to Thane, who crossed his arms and shook his head. With a shrug at Thane, Renick moved through the gap. He looked around, his mouth falling open. An area large enough for a dragon flyer to land in had been cleared of undergrowth. There were a few tables and chairs, as well as the toppled remains of a few sleeping tents. At the far end there was also a small building that appeared to be a storage shed. The entire area was surrounded by thick, thorny bushes and vines—a barrier against the dangers of the forest.

"What is it?" Renick asked.

"It looks like an abandoned way station," Thane commented. "They used them before, when the passenger baskets were more cramped." He kicked at the fallen tents and sent a flurry of bugs scampering away.

Lainey wrinkled her nose. "Eww."

Renick handed Plyth to Lainey and went to investigate the storage shed. The door was hanging crooked on its hinges and when Renick pulled it open, it fell off completely. Renick scrunched his face and shoulders in anticipation of the sound. When the door crashed to the ground, he turned to Thane and Lainey with an apology on his face. They all stood quiet for a moment, waiting. Renick strained his ears for any movement through the woods around them. After several tense moments, he exhaled. "That was close," he said.

"Just be more careful," Thane said. "We don't want anything out there," he pointed to the woods, "to know that we're in here."

Lainey looked at Renick and rolled her eyes before turning away.

Renick entered the dark shed. A sliver of light from a crack in the ceiling allowed him to make out the shapes of sacks and barrels. Starting at one end and working his way around the shed, Renick inspected every sack, basket, and barrel. He found spoiled bread, wheat, and fruit. Mice had gotten to some of it. He even came across an old bird's nest. He found a few useful things: a small pot for cooking that fit in his rucksack, some dried meat to add to their stores, a long hunting knife, and a coil of rope.

Carrying his treasures, Renick ducked out of the shed and looked around for the others. Lainey was seated at the table, humming softly. Plyth sat on the table near her, his head tilting back and forth in time to her song. Thane was nearby, picking through the fallen tents and other debris.

"Look what I found," Renick pronounced, placing his finds on the table next to Plyth.

Lainey squealed and clapped her hands. "Oh, I can make us stew." She scooped up some of the dried meat and the pot and carried them to a nearby fire pit.

Thane came over to investigate. He picked up the hunting knife and examined it. "It's a good knife," he said, holding out the handle to Renick. "You should keep it."

Renick took the knife and tucked it in his belt. "Thanks. I—"

A sound much like a branch breaking in the forest made Renick stop and Thane place his hand on his sword. Plyth ducked his head and laid his ears back.

Danger.

Lainey had frozen with the small pot still in her hand, poised over the budding fire. Renick jerked his head toward Thane and Plyth, and Lainey moved stealthily to stand with them.

Thane motioned them to lean close. "I think the hunters are out there," he said, his voice barely audible.

"Hunters," Plyth hissed, mimicking Thane's tone and body language.

As if to confirm Thane's suspicions, a voice sounded from the woods. "Pick it up, men. I want to camp in the way station tonight."

Renick exchanged looks with Thane and Lainey.

"We need to get out of here," Thane whispered.

Lainey reached out and gripped Renick's arm. Her bottom lip quivered slightly. Renick extracted her fingers from his arm and gave them a reassuring squeeze. "The fire," he whispered. A light went on in Lainey's eyes, and she nodded and hurried over to the fire she had been starting.

Renick scooped up the rest of his finds and met the others at the gap in the thorny bushes. They paused while Thane poked his head out to make sure it was safe. Without looking back, Thane motioned for Renick and Lainey to follow. They moved through the forest, Thane leading them to a dense portion of trees.

They slipped behind the trees just as they heard a voice saying, "Ah, here we are."

Crouching down, Renick peered through a space between two tree trunks. The band of hunters, all eight of them, stood outside the tall, thorny bushes. Seven of them disappeared into the way station. The eighth stood watch at the gap.

Thane leaned down to Renick's ear and whispered, "He's too close. I don't think we can move away without him seeing or hearing us."

Renick nodded in agreement. "Do you think if we sleep here, we'll be safe?"

Thane's eyes narrowed for a moment. "Yes, but we should keep watch. I'll take the first shift."

Turning, Renick relayed their plan to Lainey.

For a long time, the hunters were busy around the camp, making lots of noise and yelling, often using very foul language. At one point, Thane tapped on Renick's shoulder. Thane pointed to Lainey and then placed his hands over his ears. When Renick did not respond, Thane repeated the motion. Finally understanding, Renick turned to Lainey to tell her not to listen. She was lying on her stomach, her elbows in the dirt and her hands already clamped tightly over her ears. Just then the swearing in the camp got louder. Lainey cringed and pressed her hands tighter against her head. She gave Renick a little half smile.

After the men had made camp, they shared a meal of what smelled like hot stew. The aroma made Renick's stomach churn with jealousy. He begrudgingly passed out a few of the strips of dried meat he had found. He chewed on his half–heartedly and tried to imagine he was eating a large bowl of meaty stew like his mother made back home.

His stomach still growling, Renick sat with his back to a tree and closed his eyes. He was half asleep when Lainey nudged him. He looked over at her; Lainey pointed to the way station.

"I tell ya, there was a hatchlin' with that cow," one deep voice said.

"Well, there wasn't one by 'er carcass, and it wouldn't've wandered away from its mum," another said.

"It might've run off with its tail between its legs," the first voice said. The hunters laughed at this.

"It'd be too young fer the Awakenin'. It'd be mute. No need to track it down," another man replied.

Something the hunters said sparked a memory, a line in a story his father told him a long time ago. It was not like the other old stories, the ones his father told over and over. Renick had only heard it once. But it spoke of a baby dragon awakening to a new day, its mind alert and open to the world around it. He wished he could remember the exact words.