Offspring (The Sword of the Dragon) (48 page)

“You don’t care if you live or die. Do you?” Oganna burned her gaze into the silent guardian. “But I do.”

At last he dropped to one knee and looked down at her with a smile. “I have lived two lifetimes, child. I have seen the ancient fall and this generation rise. Long ago a great sin was committed against a pupil of mine, and today you live in a darkening world that is a direct result of that event.”

He waved his hand at the sleeping megatraths, the citadel, and the doors. “These creatures would not be here, and this land would not have fallen if I had long ago seen the coming evil. Everything is a direct result of what he did a day long, long before you, your father, or even his father were born. Auron knows this, and I must bring him to justice!” He clenched his fist and vanished.

“Specter?” She called his name softly over and over again, but he did not respond. And when she spread her other senses into the surrounding room she found nothing except megatraths and Neneila. With a resigned sigh, she lay down.

T
he heat from the fireplace felt good on Oganna’s back as she opened the tent flap and peered inside. The giant, wrapped in cloth bandages from head to toe, stirred and groaned. His eyes blinked open, and he raised himself on his elbows before calling out in a weak voice, “Hello? Is anyone here?”

She stepped into the tent, gave him a warm smile, and rested a hand on his shoulder. “Easy there, you are still very weak. You’ve been out for two days, and your wounds are still healing.”

He gazed around the tent. She had neatly stacked his crown, cape, and boots in one corner. His sword lay next to him. “Where am I?”

“You are in my tent.” She knelt beside him and dipped a cloth into a nearby bucket of water. “Lean forward please.”

The giant glanced at her face. Then he bent forward. She wiped the cold cloth over his forehead and felt his temperature with her hand. “You are healing better than I expected.”

The giant’s tense arms relaxed. He stretched his shoulders and looked at her with eyes as soft as a bed of Night Grass on a cool evening. Even sitting up, he was a little taller than Oganna. He had shoulder-length, brown hair, a handsome face, and muscles like wrought iron. “Well, young lady. It appears to me that you have saved my life. And I don’t even know your name.”

She felt her cheeks flush and smiled. “I am Oganna—
Princess
Oganna of the Hemmed Land.”

“Strange. I have never heard of such a place. But it is my pleasure to meet you, Princess. Now would you mind telling me
where
I am?”

Wondering if his injuries had affected his memory, Oganna returned his gaze. “You are in Netroth. Don’t you remember?”

“But I was entering—” He closed his eyes and bit his lip, holding his head in his hands. “The day before last I came into the city. I was entering the doors to Ar’lenon when—”

“Ar’lenon?” She hesitated. What was Ar’lenon? But of course he must have meant the fortress. “Is that what you call this citadel? Ar’lenon?”

“We are in the citadel?”

“Yes.”

A relieved smile curled his lips, and he clenched his fist. “Then Ar’lenon does still stand … despite everything, it still stands.” He sighed. “Forgive me, I have not answered your question. The answer is yes, I
am
referring to this citadel.”

“It is a remarkable structure. Did your people build it?”

He skirted her question. “What does it matter now? They are—gone.”

She wrung the cloth, returned it to the bucket, then stood. “I have told you my name. Will you tell me yours?”

“You may call me Gabel.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Gabel.” She curtsied. “I couldn’t help noticing that you wore a crown, and your cape is sewn from a rather rich material. Are you the lord of this land?”

“Yes, I am—I was. But now I am nothing. The land has been destroyed, and no one remains alive. I—” His lips quivered. “I don’t have anyone left.” She could tell that he was struggling with memories she could not share, that he wanted to appear strong. The man inside lost the battle, and he wept.

She reached out and embraced his neck. “It’s all right,” she whispered. “You are among friends now and thus you are safe. Do not be ashamed to cry.”

Gabel sobbed, then choked and cleared his throat, shaking his head. He lay back, growling. “Oh, Razes! I will make you pay for the evil you have done. You will beg for mercy at the end and regret the day that you slaughtered the innocent and brought ruin to my land.
I
will
make
you pay with your life for this evil.” Weakened, he lay back and fell into a fitful sleep.

Oganna left the tent, tiptoeing so as not to disturb him. “He is asleep,” she said before Vectra could ask.

“That I guessed.” The megatrath carved a circle in the stone floor with her claw.

Oganna reached down, and Neneila slithered around her arm. She held the viper in front of her face and lightly stroked its head. The viper closed its eyes. She looked past the viper into Vectra’s enormous face. “Did you hear him ranting about the massacre?”

“Yes. Whoever this
Razes
character is, he must be bad news to incur such bitterness.”

Oganna began to pace the floor. “If Gabel is right, Razes is responsible for butchering the inhabitants of this region. I suspect he is also the villain behind the attacks on the Hemmed Land. Gabel mentioned winged men fighting for Razes.” She stood still and nodded in the tent’s direction. “At least Gabel bears no hostility toward us; in fact he seems to feel indebted because we are caring for him. If Razes is enemy to us both, then we share a mutual problem. Perhaps when he is feeling stronger, Gabel will be able to tell us more.”

Vectra cocked her head and listened to the monotonous sound of rain pummeling Ar’lenon. Oganna kicked a pebble on the floor and watched it roll over the stones. “The rain is not letting up, is it?”

The megatrath sighed. “Two days of constant downpour. I’m beginning to wonder if Yimshi will ever come out again. Surely this will delay your father as well.”

Twisting her head around, Vectra barked an order to one of her guards and gazed up one of the stairways that led into the spire of Ar’lenon. “If I was certain that those steps could hold my weight, I would go to that observation platform you told me about and stand watch. If Razes pummeled this city before, he might come back to search for survivors … and he might bring friends.”

“Setting a watch up there wouldn’t do much good.” Oganna set Neneila around her shoulders. “The climb is too long, and it would take a long time for you to come back down and warn us if you spotted trouble. Besides, if Razes came here, he would have to come by way of the ramp and knock on the doors to find us.”

“Then I will post guards outside the citadel doors on the ramp. At least then we will have warning of trouble.”

Oganna thought for a moment. “That would be a risk. Anyone standing out there will present an inviting target.”

“Nevertheless I am willing to take the risk. Besides, if anyone did attack, they would have to do so first from a distance, and our scaled hides are too thick for a mere arrow to pierce.” Having thus decided, Vectra posted two megatraths on the ramp and set up a rotating schedule to change the guard frequently. “Do not worry, Princess.” She curled up on the floor. “My guards are more than capable of this task. They will not be caught by surprise.

Deep down Oganna hoped the megatrath was right. It would be a shame to lose two megatraths before a fight even began. Then again, maybe Razes would not return to Netroth. Even if he did, one hundred megatraths garrisoned within Ar’lenon posed a formidable force. She should stop worrying and just pray her father arrived before Razes.

The next morning Gabel’s face displayed more color. Oganna brought him oatmeal for breakfast, and he dug into the bowl with a vengeance. “Thank you so much for everything you have done for me.” He grinned at her, and she laughed.

“It feels good to see you doing so well.”

Vectra’s enormous head poked through the tent flap. “How is he this morning?” Her question had been directed to Oganna. Then the creature’s dark eyes focused on the giant. “Oh, I see you are awake and feeling better now. Good!” She backed out of sight, and the flap fell back in place.

Gabel’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. “What was that?”

Oganna could not help it—she laughed at his reaction. “That was a megatrath. Her name is Vectra, and she came with me to find out what is causing the viper raids along my land’s northern border.”

He chuckled. “You keep interesting company, Princess.”

“I prefer to think of it as making interesting friends. My father and I are very grateful to have the megatraths as allies. They are fierce fighters. I fought them once, and I hope I will never have to do so again.”

The man looked thoughtful as he stared at the tent flap. “How many of those creatures have you brought with you?”

“It would be more accurate to say that they brought me. But why do you ask?”

“Because if my enemy returns, he will try to kill you, too.”

“Gabel, who is this enemy of yours? Tell me all you know so that I can make a fair judgment on what happened here.”

“There is a lot to tell,” he began wearily. He clenched his fist and looked into her eyes. “Where is my sword?”

In answer, she pointed to where it lay by his side. The weapon was longer than she was tall. “It is a wonderful piece,” she said.

He clutched it to his chest, then relaxed his grip and lay it across his knees.

“This sword has belonged to every king of Burloi since my great, great-grandfather built this city and established the monarchy. From generation to generation it has passed from father to son as a symbol of our strength to deter those who would destroy us.” He paused and lovingly eyed the blood-stained blade “But that was before Razes’s rebellion—”

“You mentioned him the other day, though only in passing. Who is this Razes?” She pulled away one of his bandages, saw that the wound was healing well, and smothered it with fresh salve.

Gabel eyed his injury as well. “You have the hands of a healer, little lady. I wish there was some way I could reward you.”

“You can.” She sat back. “You can tell me what happened here.”

“Oganna. That
is
your name?” After she nodded he continued. “Razes is another giant, though younger than myself. When he was a youth I incorporated him into the Ar’lenon guard. But he was very ambitious and, desiring power, he led an uprising to dethrone me. It failed and I, in an attempt to show mercy, sent him into exile instead of to the guillotine as he deserved.”

He gritted his teeth, then spat on the stones. “He and his followers fled Burloi and disappeared into the east, we thought for good. That was a little more than two years ago. Then, just a year and a half after his disappearance, Razes returned from the east. He was not the same youth that had left us. He had acquired a terrible weapon that gave him seemingly unlimited power. With a word he was able to demolish a building and with another he could control the weather.

“My people have long known that there are evil beings that practice magic, but we had never been face to face with such blatant proof of their abilities. Razes declared that he had become an agent of wizardry in our land and that this entitled him to whatever he desired. ‘Those who resist will die,’ he declared.

“The population split over loyalty to me and fear of the sorcery. Almost half of them sided with Razes because they believed that it would be useless to resist him. Burloi erupted in civil war. I fought tooth and nail for every part of my land, but he repeatedly defeated me.” Gabel spread his arms and gazed up as if seeing through the tent fabric to the stone ceiling. “Here in Ar’lenon, I and my counselors made our last stand.

“In his wrath, Razes destroyed Netroth. Then he and his wizard apprentice, a human, ascended the great ramp. I fought them. However, Razes’s companion also wielded magic. I was outmatched and defeated. They threw me off the ramp and the last thing I remember is seeing my remaining counselors struggling against them. If they survived, I would know it, for they would never have abandoned me even if they thought that I was a lifeless corpse.” Striking the ground with his fist, he said, “Those who use magic should be cast into fire!”

Oganna folded her hands in her lap. “There are powers for good and powers for evil. For example, some would call the things I can do magic.” She held up her hand, and it pulsated white and blue light. “But all good things come from God. That is what my father taught me.”

“You—you are a sorceress.”

“I am not. I am the blood descendant of a dragon, and as such I have their seemingly magical abilities. It is my inheritance, and it is a blessing.”

“Inheritance?”

“Yes, a parting gift from my mother. She died shortly after giving birth to me. In order for me to live she had to give up the life energy in her blood. But she followed the Creator’s will.” She stood to her feet and parted a fold of her garment to reveal the crystalline blade of Avenger. “I made this using the power in my blood.” Gabel looked skeptical, so she proceeded to draw the weapon and array herself in silver.