Chasing the Dragon (8 page)

Kar shook his head and turned to look down on Patrina. "Do you have the dagger still?"

"I have it." Carson stepped forward and produced the dagger that Patrina had driven up into the assassin's brain.

Kar scowled. "You wiped it clean?"

"It was dirty." Carson shrugged. "Sorry."

"Worthless," he said before turning away.

"Stay together, everyone," Alto said. "We'll take Patrina to the boat for now, but then don't venture anywhere in the city by yourself."

"What about Namitus?" Carson asked.

"Namitus will be able to find us," Alto said. "He knows this city better than any of us."

Kar looked at Alto through lidded eyes. "You have a plan?"

"It's not a plan, it's a list," Alto said. "A list of men I'm going to kill until I get the answers I need."

Chapter 8

Aleena watched a mountain fox stop and sniff the trail that led to their camp. The silver and red fur blended into his dark surroundings in the pre-dawn hours. She wouldn't have noticed him at all if he hadn't moved and pawed at
a fallen tree, searching for something to eat.

The sky had lightened as it neared the horizon in the east. The mountains would keep her from seeing direct sunlight for hours yet but she knew Celos would want to be roused soon. She fantasized of a few different ways she could wake him, from cold water to a boot in the side. Another thought came to her, one that made her gasp in surprise. She could wake him with a kiss.

Aleena shook her head and turned away. The fox started and crouched low while his ears perked up. He looked around and sniffed the air, and then stared past Aleena along the trail they were on to the ridge ahead of him. A moment later, the fox turned and raced away, kicking up fallen pine needles with his haste.

Aleena watched the fox go and frowned. Had she made that much noise? She'd learned to remain as still as possible in her armor to keep the noise it made from travel
ing to a minimum.

"Well
, what's this?"

Aleena twisted, all thoughts of stealth gone. She lurched to her feet and reached for her sword, her training making her react even though her mind was fogged with boredom. She saw a man wearing dark leather
walking a brown horse that climbed over the ridge on the path. He stared at her as he walked but kept his hands clear of the sword at his side and the bow on his back.

"Who are you?" Aleena demanded, speaking loud enough to wake Celos.

"Who am I? Who are you?"

Aleena stiffened. "Dame Aleena, Paladin of Leander."

The man stopped. "I remember you," he said. "Thought you was a squire?"

"I don't remember you," Aleena said.

"Why would you? I was just a man at Highpeak, nobody special."

Celos climbed to his feet from where he'd been sleeping
and grabbed up his sword. He clipped his scabbard on his belt and walked over to see what was going on.

The mountain man looked at him and nodded a greeting. "Remember you
, too, but can't place your face with a name."

"Sir Celos," Aleena said.

"Yeah, that's it," the man grunted.

"And you are?" Celos prompted.

"Sorry, can't be too careful these days. Name's Ketten."

Aleena and Celos turned their heads to look at one another. "We were looking for you," Aleena said after she turned back to face him.

"Well, you found me," he said. "Pity, though. I've got a job these days. Don't have time to take any others."

"What are you doing in the mountains?" Celos asked him.

"You first," Ketten said.

"No
." Aleena shook her head. "Why are you here?"

"I live here now," Ketten said. "And you've got no right to be here."

"No right?" Celos repeated. "We have every right!"

Ketten shook his head. "'Fraid not."

Aleena saw that her mentor was close to losing his temper. He wasn't a morning person and Ketten's surly attitude wasn't helping. "Last anyone in Highpeak saw of you, you'd taken a woman into the mountains. Have you built a home up here? Was that your wife?"

Ketten laughed. "You could say I've found a home, but she was no wife."

"Who was she? Is she all right?" Aleena asked while Celos stewed silently beside her.

"Since you two got no right being up here and since you're so interested in meeting her, how about I take you to her?"

"What?" Celos asked. "She's still here?"

"She is," Ketten said. "And without me
, you stand no chance of ever reaching her."

Aleena frowned. "That's a bold claim
. Is she in peril?"

"No, I mean her guards wouldn't let you near her."

Aleena and Celos traded another glance. "Her guards?" Aleena asked. "Who is this woman?"

"She's the Queen of the North," Ketten said. "Queen Rosalyn."

"Queen?" Celos repeated. "There's no nation this far north, just scattered tribes of barbarians north of the mountains."

"You forget the Northern Divide," Ketten said. "It's a realm unto itself. Always has been, but before that dragon
, nobody gave it any respect. No, Rosalyn has pulled the creatures of this land together and organized them."

"Organized the creatures? What organization can there be among goblins?"

Ketten chuckled. "Lot more than goblins in these hills. I'll be the first one to tell you ogres get a bad rap. They're not as dumb as we think they are. Some are close to it, I admit, but others could give most men a run for their money."

"She consorts with ogres and goblins?"

Aleena glanced at Celos, trying to warn him to be quiet with her eyes. He ignored her.

"If by consort you mean rules over, then yes. If you're meaning anything else
, I'll be sure to not tell Her Highness that you said such a thing. She's a witch, you know, and a powerful one from what I seen."

"Is she evil?" Aleena demanded.

"Evil?" Ketten mused. He tilted his head and considered the question. "To the common man, isn't every ruler some sort of evil?"

Aleena's eyes narrowed but Celos answered before she could. "Only the self-obsessed and loathsome common man," he snapped. "A good and just ruler must at times do things his people do not like, but it is done with their best interests at heart."

"Well, there you go," Ketten said. "The people of the mountains have been brought together. Some of them didn't much like it at first; they preferred being independent and fighting with their neighbors. There's less of that now, which some like and some don't."

"What about all the men
who have been hurt, killed, or just driven from the mountains?" Aleena asked. "And what about the kingdom mines that were overrun?"

"Kingdom mines?" Ketten said. "The kingdom's border ends at Highpeak. The mines
fall in Queen Rosalyn's realm."

"This is an act of war," Celos seethed.

Aleena held up her hand. "Please, Ketten, can you take us to her so that we might talk directly?"

Ketten nodded. "Of course
. I'd hate for you to end up being hurt or killed over a misunderstanding."

"Is that a threat?" Celos snarled.

"Sir Celos, I believe Ketten was only showing his concern for our well-being," Aleena said. She turned to her fellow knight and offered a quick smile before adding, "I'll gather up our things."

Celos's eyes narrowed but he gave her a terse nod. She moved past him and began to pack up their camp. While she worked at slipping her pack back on
, she heard Ketten whistle appreciatively and say, "Is that a unicorn? Like the one that lady from the kelgryn had?"

Aleena felt a warmth in her stomach
that was kicked a moment later at the reminder that Alto had given Patrina a unicorn. Before she could begin to address her feelings or Ketten himself, he continued.

"I seen one of them winged horses once, years ago. Was in the western mountains. Couldn't believe my eyes at first. I didn't think they existed really, but I guess I was wrong," he said.

"A winged horse?" Celos asked. "They've been gone for generations."

Ketten shook his head. "Seen it with my own eyes. Had a rider on it
, too, and they was flying around over the forest west of here."

"A pegasus with a rider?" Celos sounded doubtful.

"On my mother's grave," Ketten said.

Aleena walked up, leading Celos's stallion. Moonshine came of his own free will. He stopped and snorted as he neared Ketten.

"A man on a pegasus." Celos shook his head. "Those were once mounts used by favored paladins of Leander."

Aleena nodded. She knew the history
; she'd read it the same as he had. It was also a history that was over five hundred years old, even before the time of Sir Gareth. "We are ready," Aleena said.

Celos turned and inspected his horse. His eyes went to his own pack secured to his steed, complete with the mace jutting from it. He nodded. "Thank you," he offered.

Aleena smiled and turned back to Ketten. "Will we have any trouble with the trail?"

The guide shook his head. "Keep an eye to the ground and you should be fine," he said. "It's narrow at parts but not so bad
Her Highness and I couldn't make it through on our horses."

"
Lead the way," Celos bade him. "I'm anxious to speak with this queen of yours."

"As, I'm sure, she will be to speak with you."

Chapter 9

The trek through the city carrying Patrina didn't end until the sun began to crest the ocean in the east. Alto carried her the entire way, though his arms and back screamed at him long before they reached the kelgryn ship, the
Kraken
.

Taldar, the ship's captain, rushed through the sleeping bodies of the crew on the deck of the longship. "What's happened?" he asked, his face white with fear.

"Patrina's been poisoned," Alto said. He shook his head, spraying the sheen of sweat that dripped across his face. "We need to find a cure for it but she needs to be left someplace safe. This is the only place I trust."

"Every man on this boat will give his life before she's allowed to be touched," Taldar swore. "We failed you once, Thane
; it won't happen again."

Alto nodded and took Patrina into the small cabin that had been built on the deck for her. He placed her on her bed and sat down next to her,
and then ran his fingers across her cheeks and lips. Karthor's magic had healed the cut on her arm but the poison that raged in her system even Leander's blessing couldn't mend.

Alto leaned over and brushed his lips against hers, remembering the kisses they'd shared before the Stalkers attacked. "I'll find help," Alto whispered into her ear. "You saved me
; now it's my turn again."

He rose up, grimacing at the heat in the room and how cramped his muscles still felt. He stretched his neck and walked out, pausing only to stare at the room and then Captain Taldar. "You might want to leave the door open," Alto suggested.
"Or at least a window. It's stifling in there."

Taldar frowned and looked at Alto,
and then into the dark cabin. "It's been a cool night. The heat's only just beginning to come with the sun."

"You look flushed
. Are you feeling all right?" Carson asked the warrior.

"Just warm," Alto said. "Thirsty
, too. Where's my water?"

"Here," Taldar said as he stepped aside. "Here's a barrel."

Alto stepped over, his legs stiff from the cramping in them. He took the cup floating in it and drank deeply, and then returned it and drank twice more. "That's better," Alto said. "But I still feel parched."

"Karthor!" Kar snapped as he stepped up to Alto. "Come have a look at our fearless leader."

"What's wrong?" Karthor asked as he moved between bodies on the ship so he could approach Alto. The priest frowned and reached up to touch Alto's sweaty forehead. He shook his head. "You've a fever."

"Oh," the warrior said. "That explains it."

"Explains what?" the priest asked.

"Thirsty and my arms and legs are cramped up."

"Alto," Kar spoke sternly and forced the young man to look at him with his gaze alone, "did those Stalkers cut you at all?"

Alto shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I'd have felt it."

"I was there," Carson said. "He killed the one and the other tried to get at him but I ran him through before he could do anything."

Alto frowned and swayed on his feet. He shook his head, sending more droplets of sweat flying. "Wait, my pants!" He tried to twist around and look at his pants but a sharp pain from a cramping muscle in his back stopped him.