Draconis' Bane (36 page)

“The Master Slayer
sends word, m’lady.” He stammered.

She pulled back her
hood, revealing her hair pulled back to keep it from her eyes. Her
startling pale purple eyes seemed to probe his very soul.

“And?” She urged.

“She’s landed and
hiding in Metao mistress.” He blurted.

The acolyte turned
fled the hall as quickly as possible.

“Well, well.” She
said out loud to no one. “Seems dear Amanda seeks to advance her
station.”

Danica Rhodes shook
her head in amusement and returned to her reading.

~

The slow beat of
wings and almost musical wind gusting over the spines and scales of
Lesariu was soothing. He was alone with his thoughts again as the
wind was conspiring to make it impossible to hold a conversation.
Tristan found his mind wandering freely among the events of his
life. Almost a year had passed since he’d last been in Metao.

It seemed like a
lifetime ago, as it often did to the young. The gentle rise and
fall of the gold dragons’ flight calmed him in a way he’d never
before experienced. This is what it must be like to be truly free
he mused. Off to his right the vast forests of the Anton Wood
spread out across the eastern horizon, he could see loggers hauling
their carts out of the dense forest and onto the packed gravel
roadway. Ahead of him Metao spread across the northern horizon. The
sun was slowly rising to the east and bathed the towers in light
while creating a dense morning fog along the docks.

Slowly they began
their descent toward the city, still in the pre-dawn gloom. It
masked their arrival for the most part as Socolis and Lesariu
landed in the forest just south of town. After dismounting, Tristan
looked around the familiar landscape, taking a deep breath and
clearing his mind. A flash lit the trees around him and he turned
to see that the woman in the golden dress and the old white robed
man were back among them.

“Come, my young
friend. Let’s see what the town has to offer to pilgrims such as
us.” Otis joked.

“Everyone will know
its Euri and I.” Tristan replied laughing.

“I think not my
abrupt young Prince.” Otis replied sarcastically. He motioned to
Tristan and Eurydice who looked at one another in shock.

Tristan’s armor had
changed, his black dragon scale trimmed in red was now simple brown
leather trimmed in green, he bore a matching green cloak and even
his sword had straightened out into a traditional short sword. His
shield likewise had changed color, and his family ring was a simple
silver band. He pulled his sword, checking his reflection in the
polished metal. His hair was now blonde and his eyes were blue, the
beard he’d been growing for the last few weeks was gone, leaving
his chin bare and barely recognizable.

He looked over at
Euri instead of the black hair and startling green eyes, just like
their mothers, she now had short light brown hair and her eyes were
a pale grey like the gathering rain clouds above their heads. Her
dress had been replaced with a simple tunic and trousers and she
had a long cloak. William looked from one to the other, clearly
amused at their appearance.

“You so much as
chuckle and I’ll turn you into their hunch-backed servant.” Otis
warned with a laugh as he shook his old finger accusingly at his
grandson.

Tristan smirked and
Euri giggled as the old man motioned for them to begin walking into
Metao.

The five of them made
their way to the forest edge where they met up with the Northern
Road and began walking towards the town walls. Tristan had never
approached Metao this way; he began to appreciate the countryside
more than he had at first when he and Kevin had made the trip
south.

By now the keep in
Irudin would be waking and they would know that Tristan and Euri
had somehow slipped away in the night. Tristan felt guilty for
leaving everyone behind, even though he didn’t want anyone else
sacrificing themselves for him. So he put aside those feelings to
be dealt with when all of this non-sense was finished.

Assuming he was alive
to do so of course. He didn’t want to be responsible for his
companions’ deaths either and he still wasn’t convinced that anyone
would survive what he had planned to accomplish.

If the
Bane
could get their forces into so many different places, scattered
around the entire continent, how was he going to find them? The
leaders could be anywhere. The only lead he had at this point was
that their master Dragon Slayer was in Metao, waiting to kill his
mother and a suspect mental image Euri had coaxed out of the mind
of a dying man.

Of course his mother
was still safe and sound back in Irudin. With Tristan and Eurydice
gone now, they would be heading back soon. That gave them two days
to find the slayer, draw them out and capture them, hopefully
gleaning the location of their base of operations. Plan after plan
turned over in Tristan’s’ mind. He would formulate a new one, cast
it aside when the smallest wrinkle would appear and then try
again.

It took the group
three hours to get to the gate where two soldiers stood guard
admitting people into the city on their daily errands. The five of
them approached the gates as one of the guards stepped forward.

“Your business in
Metao?” He asked, looking each of them in the eyes.

“Just an old man
shopping for groceries laddie.” Otis replied smiling widely.

“And you need four
bodyguards?” The guard answered, narrowing his eyes.

The old man made a
show of turning around in shock. “Goodness no!” He chuckled. “The
girls come with me everywhere.” He lowered his voice as though it
was a conspiracy. “Can’t leave them home alone, the boys’ll have
their way with them.” He whispered.

The guard looked over
the old man’s shoulder as the girls made a show of covering
themselves with their cloaks. “So three of you with two guards?”
The guard asked, satisfied he’d investigated the situation
properly.

“Aye laddie.” Otis
replied brightly.

The guard stepped
back smiling and motioned for the five of them to enter the town.
They walked through the gate and into the press of citizens on
about their morning routine.

“If it’s that easy to
get into the city it’s no small wonder the
Bane
are all over
the place.” Eurydice blurted as soon as they were out of earshot of
the guards.

Everyone laughed in
reply. Town guards weren’t paid to get too intrusive when admitting
people into cities to spend money. They rarely held anyone at the
gates into the city, unless under direct command to do so. Guards
were more likely to detain you inside the city than stop your
entrance.

“Where to now?”
Tristan asked.

“Well, truth be known
I’ve missed eating dead food.” Otis joked.

Tristan and William
chuckled, exchanging bemused looks as Otis and Lesa used their
human noses to guide them to one of the better eating
establishments near the largest market square. Tristan walked past
the weapon vendors’ cart where Kevin had taken him on his first
tour of the city. He elbowed his cousin as they passed it, pointing
out the exotic weapons cart. They both stopped and began ogling the
shining wicked selection of blades. Lesa and Otis entered the
taproom as Euri turned to see that the boys had stopped to gawk.
She sighed theatrically, walked back and grabbed a hold of their
cloaks. She dragged them away with a smile on her face to join the
disguised dragons.

Tristan entered into
a rather spacious, if a little dark, taproom. As they walked by the
tables to join Otis and Lesa in the back corner of the room,
Tristan’s eyes adjusted to the darkness and he began to notice
things. The sun was just rising and already there were three
dockworkers drinking ales at the bar. As they wound their way among
the tables, Tristan noticed that the barman didn’t take his eyes
off of them.

The waitress came
over and took their orders and Tristan noticed a cloaked figure
sitting in the corner smoking on a short stemmed pipe. When a
woman’s hand reached up to tap out the used contents and fill it
back up with fresh tobacco, Tristan tried not to stare. Pipe
smoking was largely an old man’s pastime and hardly something one
saw women partaking in, least of all first thing in the
morning.

“…raw steak please.”
Otis asked the waitress.

Tristan’s head shot
around and he stared open mouthed at the old man.

Humans don’t eat
raw meat.
Tristan sent urgently.

“Did you say; raw?”
The waitress asked uncertainly.

“Sorry, early in the
morning yet dearie.” He chuckled, patting his stomach dramatically.
“Rare is what I meant to say.”

The waitress took the
remaining orders and moved back into the kitchen, looking backwards
at their table as she went. Tristan smiled as he shook his head.
William leaned forward and whispered.

“That woman in the
corner.” He said with a nod of his head.

Tristan nodded his
understanding. He’d noticed the long thin sword and tower shield
leaning up against the wall behind her. Over the last year Tristan
had begun to gain an appreciation for fine weapons and specific use
weapons. Her sword was made of fine steel and the small warps in
the surface betrayed the painstakingly folded metal that had
reinforced the blade. Her shield was quite large and although she
looked powerfully built, even from under the large cloak she wore,
it should weigh far too much to use effectively. Judging from her
sword though, Tristan judged it closer to the weight of his own
shield and just as well constructed as her sword.

“An impressive
woman.” Lesa commented from across the table, causing the cousins
to grin at one another.

“If that’s not a
dragon slayer, I don’t know what is.” Tristan commented.

“That sword certainly
gives me pause.” Otis muttered.

The waitress returned
with their orders and the talk at the table dwindled. Half-way
through their meal the warrior woman dropped some coins on her
table and effortlessly lifted the sword and shield up, slung them
over her shoulder and walked out of the taproom without so much as
a backwards glance. Tristan felt uneasy; he could have sworn she
had been watching them closely, though every time he looked over
she was reading something she had perched on her lap.

Education

“Just what the hell
do you think you’re doing?!” The guard shouted.

Euri had insisted
that they needed to retrieve a fine metal staff out of her room in
the King’s Palace. So, discussion had begun shortly after breakfast
yesterday as to how they were going to accomplish this without
drawing attention to their presence in Metao. Finally, after
several heated discussions and three rather large and noisy fights
in their rented room above the bar below, they agreed to sneak into
the palace and get the staff.

Her insistence was
the only reason Tristan was willing to risk being exposed. In
Tristan’s experience, Euri only forced the issue when she felt
absolutely sure of herself. The mere fact that she wouldn’t let up
led the young Prince to believe that there was something of
profound importance to do with this staff of hers. In the end Lesa
volunteered to go and get the staff.

So they stood in
their room and she changed herself into the spitting image of Euri.
She even amused them all by throwing a fit about the staff, which
the Princess even laughed at. They walked through town, slowly
making their way up to the palace and which point Lesa and Otis
walked over the drawbridge and disappeared into the palace grounds.
Tristan, William and Eurydice sat with their feet dangling over the
moat watching the palace anxiously. Tristan fully expected to see a
burst of flame and a large dragon burst through the wall at any
moment.

Despite his doubts,
the pair of them walked slowly out of the palace and back over the
drawbridge. Half-way across, things had turned sour.

“I said; ‘What do you
think you’re doing?!’” The guard shouted again.

Lesa, in Euri form,
turned around. Over the years Eurydice had taken exception to every
guard and minor palace functionary treating her like a child. In
the strictest sense, she was a child, though she rarely acted like
one and provoking her only brought out a sound verbal thrashing
from the young lady. Lesa did a fair impression of his little
sister as she began yelling and waving her arms about, staff in
hand. The guard began to back away, clearly sorry he had
over-stepped his bounds with the young lady. Tristan, William and
the real Eurydice continued to sit with their feet dangling over
the moat as they laughed openly at the display Lesa was making.

Clearly the bronze
dragon was enjoying her time out as she dramatically waived her
arms about verbally tearing down the poor guard who had simply made
an error in judgment. Tristan was torn between laughter and pity at
the guard and his mood was echoed in both his sister and
cousin.

An arrow whistled
through the air and pierced Lesa through the bicep, spinning the
dragon in human form and knocking her to the ground. Tristan was up
and running a heartbeat before his cousin as the metal staff fell
to the ground. Deep crimson blood began to seep through her golden
sleeve as her Euri illusion faltered. The arrow quivered where it
stuck into the drawbridge, stained red with the dragons’ blood.
Tristan and Williams’ heads shot around as they attempted to
discover where the shot had come from. The real Euri leapt to her
feet and rushed over to Lesa as William, Tristan and Otis
surrounded the women.

The guard who had
questioned the false Euri looked back at the golden hued woman in
shock and then his eyes drifted onto the real Princess. Tristan and
William used their shields to make a small wall. Not a moment later
another arrow cut through the air and struck Tristan’s shield,
pushing him back slightly from the force of the shot.