Chasing the Dragon (6 page)

"There are many varieties," Kar took over. "Some shorter than dwarves, others taller than even our savage friend here. They share a love of heat and sun, a taste for meat, and a fondness for things shiny and pretty."

"Gold," Mordrim muttered.

Kar chuckled. "Yes, gold, but also bright colors. Their bodies are covered in soft scales, like a snake, but they wear clothing as a matter of fashion and station. And like Mordrim said, they are cold
-blooded so they prefer the warmth of the southern lands."

"Walking and talking lizards?" Alto mused. "Any relation to dragons?"

Kar raised an eyebrow. "That is an excellent question! It has long been theorized there might be some sort of relation between the two. Both have strong reptilian ties, although my own study of Sarya showed that her scales were not true scales but rather sections of thick hide. Her bones resembled a bird's, flexible and often hollow. Nonetheless, dragons and splisskin both bear eggs that must be protected before they hatch. I've—"

Alto held up his hand. "Enough. I've heard enough. It's not a lead like I'd hoped."

Kar tilted his head. "I was going to add that there are many tribes of splisskin that worship dragons, or at least in the past they have pledged their loyalty to them."

Alto's eyes narrowed. "How do they walk if they're snakes?"

"Arms and legs, of course!" Kar chuckled. "Snake is a poor term. Think of them more as a large lizard. Not as many fingers as we have, only four on each hand, but they do have a thumb so they can pick things up and wield weapons. They make decent wizards, too. I once knew one through a friend that could—"

Alto tuned the wizard out and looked at the others. "If Sulim is in the Order and these splisskin worship dragons, perhaps they might know something. Carson, this is not your concern or your fight. You don't need to come with us."

Carson chuckled. "As out of place as you lot are, you're the only friends I've got. I'd probably walk into a pit of snakes as soon as I found my way around this city."

"Come with us and it sounds like you're sure to end up in a pit of snakes!" Mordrim quipped.

Carson chuckled and took a drink of his ale. He made a sour face as he tasted it, and then looked at the liquid thoughtfully. He nodded and drank again, smiling the second time. He glanced around and shrugged. "It's been a while since I've drunk anything other than water or the juice from a coconut."

Kar ignored the ranger and said, "I should warn you that there usually aren't many splisskin in Mira, and those
who are here are emissaries from their clans. There are few better desert warriors and messengers than the splisskin. They can survive without water and function just fine for weeks at a time."

"Clothing first," Alto decided. "Take us to the merchant's district, then we'll decide what comes next."

"I think I'll keep this on," Patrina said while glancing down at her armor. "It's very comfortable, it's not all that unusual down here, and it's done a fine job of protecting me so far."

Alto's eye lingered on the swell of her breasts on display. He pulled his gaze up to her smiling eyes and felt his cheeks flush with heat. "It is the style," he conceded.

"And you like seeing me in it," she whispered.

Alto's cheeks confirmed her accusation. He cleared his throat and turned back to the poorly disguised mirth of his companions. "All right, drink up and let's be off. Remember, we're to blend in, not dress in the finest silks Shazamir has to offer."

Mordrim turned to Garrick. "Pity, you'd look good in pink silk."

Chapter 7

Alto waited until the hallway of the inn's third story emptied,
and then he turned back to Patrina and smiled. She returned his smile, and then reached for his new loose-fitting shirt and pulled him into her room by it.

"Trina, I—"

She silenced him with her lips. The warrior stopped struggling and returned her kiss. In moments, he grew bold enough to slide his hands up her sleeveless arms and around her back, holding her close. Patrina pushed against him aggressively, spreading his lips with hers and teasing him before she backed away and detached herself from him.

Alto's eyelids fluttered open and he stared at her, his mouth still open and his brain not functioning. Patrina's fingers were on his lips but she dropped her arm to her side and smiled at him. "Good night, my thane."

Alto let a groan slip through his lips.

Patrina laughed. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh. You're so adorable."

"Adorable?" Alto said, the word helping to shock him out of his passion-induced stupor. "I wasn't going for adorable when I got these clothes."

Patrina laughed again and gave him another kiss, albeit much quicker and less promising.
"You are everything I've ever dreamed of," she said to him. "Adorable isn't a bad thing when it's mixed with everything else."

"Everything else?"
he asked.

Patrina opened her mouth in shock and then shook her head. "That's enough, fisherman."

Alto frowned. He wasn't even very good at fishing when he'd tried it in streams near his father's farm. "Fisherman?"

"Yes, you're fishing for compliments," she informed him. "It should be enough that you've won my heart, or do you want more?"

He shook his head quickly. "That's a king's ransom in itself. If I could, I'd let your father give Rockwood to someone else and just keep you."

Patrina reached up and cupped his cheek in her palm. "I think I'd like that too, but a quiet life is not for us, my love."

Alto nodded. "I'll take what peace I can have once Caitlyn is safe from Sulim."

"Safe from him, but what about others? She's smart and pretty, Alto
. There will always be men after her."

"A normal man I don't mind. A decent man. Even Garrick showed interest in her
. He'd scare away just about anyone!"

"Garrick?" Patrina asked. She laughed and shook her head.

Alto grinned with her. "Yeah, maybe not Garrick."

Patrina stared into his eyes as their smiles faded. She slipped her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him closer. "We'll get her back," she tilted her head up and whispered. She kissed him again, communicating her need for him through her lips without words.

When Patrina stepped back, she took a deep breath and let it out. "Go, please," she said in a husky voice. "We must wait and I can't stop myself if you do that again."

"If I do—what about the time in Holgasford when you were in my room?"

Patrina shook her head and turned away. "I was weak and you were strong. I'm asking you to be strong again, for me."

"And if I'm not?"

"You are," she said as she turned her head back to glance at him over her shoulder. "You're the strongest man alive."

Alto smirked. "Garrick's got me beat, I'm afraid."

"Not the kind of strength that matters," Patrina said.

Her arms moved but with her back to him he couldn't see what she was doing with her hands. A moment later the straps on her armor slipped off her shoulders. "Alto, please…"

Alto stared at her as her armor began to slip down her body with each clasp she undid. He nodded and choked as he tried to talk. He backed away, stumbling over his own feet, and then managed to slip through the door and pull it shut behind him as he backed out. Alto stood there a moment and then bent his head forward to press against her door. "Goodnight, Trina," he whispered.

Alto turned away and moved to the next door. He walked in and saw Carson sharpening his swords. The hunter looked up at him and smiled,
and then his smile fell away. "What's wrong?" Carson asked.

Alto shook his head. "Nothing's wrong," he lied. "I mean, other than my sister and all of us being down here."

Carson stared at him a moment longer. "It's Patrina, isn't it?"

Alto sighed, answering without words.

"She's a beautiful woman," Carson said wistfully.

Alto turned and looked at him, a frown on his face. Carson caught his gaze and shrugged. "She is
. I'll not deny it and you'd be a fool to expect me to."

Alto nodded. "Fair enough. Garrick once had designs for her too."

Carson chuckled. "Surprised he didn't just try to grab her and take her. Seems like the sort of thing his people would do."

"It is," Alto admitted. "He told us as much when we met him. But Patrina's different. Even he admits that. Plus she beat him in a fight when we first met."

Carson's jaw fell open.

Alto nodded. "It's true. My hands and feet were frozen and worthless. His clan had given up on me but she demanded their shaman try to help me. They wouldn't hear of it until she proved we were worth considering by challenging Garrick to a fight."

"And she won?" Carson asked.

"And she won," Alto repeated.

"And you got healed."

Alto nodded. "That's another story."

"I've got time," Carson offered.

Alto shook his head. "Another time, perhaps."

The woodsman shrugged. "Anytime. Like I said, you guys are the only friends I have who won't try to eat me."

The warrior chuckled and kicked off his boots before sitting on his bed. "Then don't spend too much time with Garrick and Mordrim
. There's no telling what they might do if they were trapped on an island like you were!"

Carson laughed with him and went back to maintaining his swords. He'd replaced his dirty hides with plain clothing from the market that was anything but
plain to him. Boots, loose-fitting pants, and a vest made him look like a normal man again. "Thanks again for the clothes," he said. "I'll repay you when I've had a chance to make some money."

"You kept us alive on the island
—you've earned it a hundred times over."

"I kept you alive?" Carson asked. He snorted. "You kept yourselves alive
. I nearly got you killed time and again. That woman of yours, she was the amazing one who made things happen."

"You were the one to stop Bucky at the end. We'd all been knocked aside and were no threat. He could have killed us all."

"Maybe," Carson allowed. He shrugged. "We'll call it a draw then?"

"A draw," Alto agreed. "Now get some sleep. I don't know what tomorrow brings but with our luck, I'm sure it will be exciting."

"I believe you," Carson said as he put his equipment on his bed and then wadded up a blanket and lay down on the floor. He stuffed the blanket under his head and shifted a few times until he was comfortable.

Alto watched the strange man as he bedded down
on the hard wooden floor. He unbuckled his belt with his sword and leaned it against the wall beside his bed. This time, Alto was ready for the slump he felt when he let go of his sword. He shook his head and stripped off his shirt before blowing out the lamp and lying down. His thoughts strayed to Patrina almost instantly and caused him to toss and turn. Carson was breathing heavily after a few minutes but Alto lay staring into the darkness.

She'd asked him to leave and he had, but it had been the hardest thing he'd ever done. Harder than jumping off the mountaintop and killing Sarya. Harder than fighting Beck after the evil knight had butchered his family. Harder than breaking it off with Aleena when she had been insistent that they were destined to be together. But Patrina had asked him and he had gone. She'd practically begged him to go. He thought back to the moment when she'd whispered, "Alto, please…"

Alto's eyes flew open. She said please; she hadn't said what the please was for. Was it please leave, or was it please touch me? Please take me? Please love me? Alto groaned and rolled over, shoving his face into the lumpy mattress.

Was it too late? Alto rolled back over and stared at the door beyond the foot of his bed. A long time had passed. He'd even dozed once or twice until he woke up with a fresh thought. They were thoughts he imagined, not things she'd said. But maybe if he went to her she'd understand. Maybe she still felt that way. Maybe she
was having as hard a time sleeping as he was?

Alto heard a muffled noise through the wall. He turned and looked at it. Then he heard something again. Was it a gentle knock? Was she knocking on the wall, summoning him? He sat up and took a deep breath to quiet his nerves.
He looked for his shirt in the dark but wasn't sure where it was. It didn't matter. If he was right and she really did want him, he wouldn't need it!

Alto stood up and took a step in the darkness. His toe jammed into Carson's side, waking him with a snort and causing Alto to stumble into the other bed. Carson rolled away and flailed about, trying to find his swords. He crashed into Alto and fell back down,
and then lay on the floor, breathing hard.

"What's going on?" Carson asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Alto hissed. He straightened and got his bearings. "I'm going to the jakes," he said.