The Bond (Book 2) (21 page)

Eyes narrowed, she assessed the beast before her. It had no wings, but it did have legs. She cast a spell, locking them in place, rooting them to the ground. Removing her dagger, she approached the fearsome thing.

It must have broken Xochi’s spell then, because it suddenly hissed and looked at Renata.

Another cast of her own spell and the creature fell backward, to the ground, its arms rooted now as well. She had to hurry, before it broke her own spells. Renata ran to the beast.

It stank. Horribly. She had to hold her breath when she got within arm’s reach of it.

Hissing and frothing at the mouth, the beast struggled, twisting and writhing. Its legs were suddenly loose, and a sharp jolt felt like a punch in Renata’s gut.

Hurry!

Renata didn’t answer. Her arm shot out, and with a quick stroke, she slit the beast’s throat.

Hissing turned to gurgling, and its struggle exploded into a frenzy. Spittle shot from its mouth, some of it dark, as blood gushed from the wound at its throat. Its body bounced upon the ground, thrashing, legs kicking wildly. Muscles in its arms bunched and strained as it tried to free itself.

Within a few moments, however, its movements slowed, weakened, and then ceased. A last gurgling sigh escaped its monstrous mouth.

A massive twitch shook Renata’s entire body. “Gods! That was the most disturbing thing, ever!” She turned to Xochi.

The little dragon ran to her.
I am sorry!

Renata squatted and wrapped her arms around Xochi.
Whatever for?

I did not know what to do! I was so scared when it put that
spell on you. It wanted to kill you. It wanted to kill us!
Separating herself, the little dragon ran to the dead beast and stood over it. A strong pulse of hatred came through the link.
We will kill you all!

Renata stood just as a blast of flame shot forth from her bond-mate’s opened mouth.
Xochi!

Surprise came through the link, but her bond-mate quickly recovered and hunched lower, closer to the creature. The fire breath didn’t last for very long, ten, maybe fifteen seconds. It was enough, however, to disfigure the beast, burn off much of its fur.

Afterward, Xochi turned to her.
I can help next time.

Still twitchy and full of energy from the fight with the creature, this latest shock didn’t affect Renata as much as it may have another time.
Yes, sweetling, you certainly can.

She examined the smoky remains, but due to their charred nature, and the fact that the light was poor, she didn’t really learn much.

It was shaped similarly to a human. It’s legs were a little too long, as were its arms, and all of them ended in ugly, sharp claws. Its head was . . . wrong. A touch too long, the narrow skull made its unnaturally wide mouth, filled with large, sharp teeth, even more disturbing. The entire beast was a nightmare.

Blowing stink from her nose, Renata backed away from the burned carcass. It was dead. What more did she need to know? She tossed aside the stick she’d used to poke at the creature. Enough time had been wasted here.

Muffin didn’t seem like she’d been affected at all by the fight. She walked along as if she’d just witnessed them fill a bushel of apples. Renata was grateful. There had been so many surprises this night that having nice, trusty Muffin still act like nice, trusty Muffin was a relief. A pat on the mare’s neck was rewarded with a soft nicker.

Xochi padded along below. The little dragon also seemed unaffected by the fight. At first, she’d been quite upset with herself and with the creature. However, she wasn’t upset
by
the creature. It was a subtle distinction, but an important one.

Now, she was back to her old self. Xochi was excited by every little thing. A new bush, leaf, rock, or stick would grab her attention, and she’d run over, curiosity and wonder coming strongly through the link. The tiny terror was a joy to be with, and Renata couldn’t imagine life without her. Still, her fire-breathing ability had been shocking.

On the one hand, it worried Renata. Would Xochi be able to control when she used it? Would any upset end with  accidentally shooting out fire? On the other hand, Xochi could breathe fire! Assuming it would last longer as she grew, the ability could be invaluable in fighting those terrible things.

Renata’s eyes widened. Could it be that one of those creatures had been what attacked the man’s family back in the village? What she remembered of its description was a dead on match. Could these things be what Yrdra added to the world? They were certainly horrible enough to be something the Queen of Spite would make. Did the Order know this?

The Order certainly knew that Manisi would come across some kind of magic-users. Why else train their fighters to lift spells? Did the Order expect them to run into these things, or sorcery-wielding dragons, or both? And what else did the Order know? Perhaps she should have spent some time doing research in the archives before leaving.

Maybe one day she’d return and do just that.

Lord Eldin leaned back into the cushioned seat and glanced out the window. Clouds dotted the sky as plains, miles and miles of grass, passed by. The occasional herd of buffalo covered huge swaths of the green and auburn grass in dark brown.

The ride was beyond comfortable, and its
pure silence was broken only by the muted conversations of those nearby. Everything about riding in his trains was different from riding in a stage coach or even a carriage. He smiled.

They were going to make so much money.

The trip to Delcimaar to begin the cargo shipping demonstration was nearly complete. They’d arrive tonight, and have all day tomorrow to speak to dignitaries and reporters before the start of the two-day demonstration on Sulday morning.

A smile curved Lord Eldin’s lips again. Any other shipping method would take two weeks or more. He glanced around the car. Several newspaper reporters and even two from magazines sat about, chatting amiably. More would embark in Delcimaar. All of them knew of his claims that the trip would take just two days, but none believed. They would be proven wrong. And when their reports, stories, and articles came out, interest would double, maybe even triple. He knew it, felt it.

All he’d had were very complimentary and kind words about the journey so far. One of their innovations, using two rails per track, eliminated the slight rocking motion often seen in single-rail implementations, thus removing the last smudge on a perfect riding experience.

Levitation magic kept the cars floating above the metal rails. Nothing touched the ground. No clacking of metal-shod hooves or wheels. No lurching bumps from a sunken or raised cobble in a road. A dream-like ride on a cushion of sorcery. Good for shipping cargo, and incredible for passenger travel. Ideas for passenger ads were spinning through his mind already, though that demonstration wouldn’t happen for some time.

Take a vacation! Get away to—and back from—distant lands or cities quickly, easily, and safely!

People who were traveling far would need a dining car, maybe even an entertainment car for music or games, cards and the like, along with a bar for cocktails.

His brows raised. Maybe trips on his trains would be vacations in and of themselves.

Ride in comfort across the continent on a sight-seeing vacation!

Yes, it could work. Also, if he added cars with luxury accommodations, he could charge higher fares for those. They could—

The three-tone chime indicating trouble at the engine rang out softly.

What was this?

The train’s sorcerer adept quickly, though unobtrusively, made her way through the car on the way to the front of the train. No one seemed to take note of her, which was good. No need to stir up the passengers. A minute later, Lord Eldin rose and made his way forward.

The train was slowing. The car linkages creaked and clanked as they compressed, as the cars squeezed together against the locomotive. Why was the train stopping?

Entering the cab, he saw the engineer looking out the window to the front. The sorcerer was looking ahead as well, through field-glasses.

“Status?”

The engineer turned to him. “Lord Eldin. Obstruction on the tracks ahead. Adept Kalin says it shouldn’t be a problem to clear it.”

“It looks like two or three trees have been placed across the tracks.” The sorcerer handed the field-glasses to Lord Eldin. “Ten minutes, at most, to clear them.”

Looking through the binocle revealed that the trees had been chopped down. Clean axe-cuts were proof of that. Besides, trees had been cleared along all tracks. None were closer than fifty feet on either side. Farther if the tree was tall enough. The train came to a full stop some twenty feet from the felled trees.

Adept Kalin magically lifted them one at a time, moving them several feet to the side. Once they were cleared, she set the piled trees ablaze. “Someone unfamiliar with how we operate attempted sabotage.”

Lord Eldin nodded. It seemed that some were still opposed to locomotives. Or, perhaps it was a competitor? Whatever the case, someone had hired saboteurs. Lord Eldin surveyed the area with the field-glasses. He saw no one. But they were somewhere nearby, he was certain, watching, most likely through field-glasses of their own.

As word got around, sabotage attempts would become more effective. Which meant scouts would have to be employed to secure track lines, to find things like this and deal with them. His partners would not be pleased with the added overhead.

Later, sitting in the cushioned bench again, Lord Eldin wondered if perhaps they could work out an agreement with landowners. They might agree to patrol tracks running through their property for fare price concessions or the occasional free trip.

Whatever the solution, something had to be done. Small-minded individuals or cut-throat competitors could not be allowed to halt his company’s progress.

+ + + + +

Training had been horrible. Again. Aeron couldn’t seem to find the right time to apologize. And now at dinner, with no lecture going on as a distraction, the tension was worse.

“These lessons will be so much easier to understand,” Liara said, “once I get a dragon.” She turned a hard stare on Aeron. “Which I will.”

He sighed and pushed food around the plate with his fork. She was not going to bait him into a fight. She seemed to always want to do that, to argue with him.

“I don’t know.” Fillion turned to Liara. “Most of what we’re learning is common sense, or things I already knew from other animals, like horses.”

They aren’t animals! Aeron stabbed a bit of food with his fork. It was one of his pet annoyances, when someone said dragons were animals.

He glanced at Sharrah. She said that technically, they were animals. Which was true. But people—
humans—
needed to understand that dragons were people, too. He’d love to have a discussion about that.

“Common sense to you, perhaps.” Liara never took her eyes from Aeron. “But I’ll understand more when I get a dragon.”

Aeron clenched his teeth. Gods! If only things were back to normal, then they could talk about important things. There was someone out there trying to stop them, after all. They should be thinking of ways to find more dragons, or ways to get the company formed, or hells, anything else. Instead, they had these stupid arguments. He slammed his fork down on the table and pushed the plate away.

Fillion stared at him. He looked expectant and at the same time, fearful. Breathing heavy, Aeron couldn’t think of anything to do, anything to say. He was just angry. Angry at himself, mostly.

He stood and backed from the bench. Turning to leave, he saw disappointment in Fillion’s eyes.

Do dragons have arguments?
Aeron kicked a small rock as he walked back to the dragon stable. It bounced along the road, hit a slightly raised cobble, and shot off at an angle.

I remember many.

How did your mothers handle them? How did they resolve them?

Many times, through ritual combat.

Aeron’s brows raised.
Combat?

In a cavern similar to the meeting room at House Yaot, the two dragons would meet and fight before other dragons. It was more, wrestling I think you name it, than actual fighting. The contest was more about being able to physically dominate than injure, but sometimes an unintentional clawing would occur.

Though the image of punching Liara in the face had flashed through his mind more than once the last couple of days, Aeron was pretty sure combat would not help his situation. And she didn’t deserve it, anyway.

Obviously sensing his thoughts, his intention, Anaya was waiting in the courtyard when he arrived.

Aeron almost smiled.
Lemme grab the brushes, love.

Grooming her relaxed him. The smooth, repetitive motion of moving his arm and hand across her was soothing. Even the soft sound of the brush on her hide added to the almost meditative feel of the process. By the time Willem joined him, he was once again calm.

“She really has it in for you, doesn’t she?” Willem grabbed two brushes from the grooming kit and moved to Anaya’s other side.

“
I honestly can’t blame her.” Reach, press, pull.

“
Be that as it may, she’s being a little ridiculous. Jessip and Fillion aren’t riding you like she is.”

Jessip was much more of a matter-of-fact kind of person now, Aeron knew. It seemed that as long as something didn’t affect him directly, he didn’t appear to let things bother him anymore. Fillion, on the other hand? Aeron wasn’t sure what to make of the look in that boy’s eyes lately. He just knew that it made him feel terrible.

Everyone arrived soon after for the measuring session.

Sharrah eyed him a moment. “Let’s have Fillion record the numbers tonight,” she said, “and Aeron, you and Jessip can measure.”

After grabbing the measuring tape, he and Jessip moved to Anaya, who was already in the first measure stance. Fillion recorded numbers as they called them out, filling the book with his careful, neat script.

“
She’s such a big, strong girl,” Liara said, smiling, “I can’t wait to be bonded.” She glanced only briefly in Aeron’s direction.

“
We can’t be sure who will be bonded next,” Gregor said, unaware that those words, that topic, could be incendiary. “From what we’ve learned from Anaya, dragons choose who they will from among candidates who are present.”

Liara, a smug smile on her lips, turned to Aeron. “That’s so very true, Gregor. Who knows which candidate the baby dragon from that egg will choose? Any one of us could be next.”

Anaya moved to the position they used to measure her wings. Aeron, calmly ignoring the dark-haired girl, called out numbers, and Fillion wrote them down.

“
Sharrah could be next, or Cheddar.” Liara indicated the persons mentioned with an upturned hand. “Or Fillion, or Jessip.”

With only an occasional glance at Liara, Aeron called out more measurements to Fillion. The boy, a slight frown on his face as he stared at Liara, looked back at the logbook and wrote them down.

“It could be Willem, too, or even me.” Liara placed her hand on her chest. “Whoever it is, at least it’ll be a nice person.”

Sharrah smiled.

“They won’t be sneaky.”

Gregor turned to Liara then, a confused look on his face.

“They won’t do things behind people’s backs.”

Sharrah’s smile faded and her brows furrowed.

“They won’t be greedy, selfish liars.”

Willem shouted, “That is enou—”

The dragon roar was not deafening, Aeron had heard much more powerful bellows from Anaya, but it stunned everyone to silence.

She goes too far.

Eyes wide and mouth open, Liara stared at the upset dragon. “A–Anaya, I didn’t mean to make you angry. I was just—” She shook her head. “Dammit,” she whispered and ran off.

Aeron watched her leave. He felt sorry for her, but knew going after her would serve no purpose right now. She’d only yell at him.

He glanced at the others. Most wore looks of surprise. Fillion, however, looked sad. He turned to Aeron. Not knowing what else to do, Aeron only stared back.

Looking even more upset, Fillion sighed and handed Sharrah the logbook. “I’m sorry, but I’m turning in for the night. Not feeling well.” He headed for the second dragon stable, opened the study door, and walked inside. The door closed behind him.

+ + + + +

Renata flicked the reins, got Muffin to a trot. She wanted to get back to camp as soon as possible. Xochi would wake soon, and they could start off to Caer Baronel once the little one caught something to eat.

The saddlebags bulged with purchases. According to the map she’d picked up from a trade caravan stopped just outside town, this was the last major community before Caer Baronel. There were a couple of villages and several farmsteads nearby, but beyond them, in the Northern Wilds, those were much fewer and far between.

She’d had to spend some money on clothing. The things she had were much too lightweight for these northern climes. They were especially inadequate during the cooler nights, which was when she and Xochi traveled, so thicker, more substantial clothing was warranted. The trip would be much more comfortable from here on out.

Sundries and vegetables filled the rest of the saddlebags. She knew nothing of these lands, knew not what could be foraged, so most of her money so far had gone to food. She only had a few coins left. It was a little worrisome. If this trip ended up having been for nothing, she wasn’t sure what—

Renata?
Xochi sounded half asleep.

Here, sweetling. I’m on the way back.

Did you find out anything about the boy?

I did! His name is Aeron. He and the dragon, Anaya is her name, live in a place called Caer Baronel. I picked up a map to guide us there. We’ll need to keep heading north, but more west.