Dragons of Summer Tide (The Dragons of Hwandor) (25 page)

“Cyerant is well outside of the gates and walking north in the night.” Shira said. Cyool doesn’t see anyone else around him or following him.”

Veer said. “Good, then I want to get out and start searching for Jolss.” He strode immediately to the door and pulled it open. As the door opened the sound of bells started in the distance. “What are those bells?”

“Fire alarm,” Partonius said. “There is a fire and when there is a fire it is all hands to the buckets. Those fire bells are down near the docks and warehouses. Perhaps the boy or the dragon has become a problem for somebody. We must hurry since that whole part of the city is built of wood and could be destroyed.”

Veer and Shira both ran out into the street and joined the crowds of people mostly carrying buckets and running toward the docks. Running along with them was a big mean looking guard dog. The old mage hastened through the tower door and closed it behind him and then he also joined the flow of people toward the docks moving as quickly as he could considering his age. As Shira and Veer neared the docks they could se the glow of the fire starting to brighten the night and they could smell the smoke and hear the shouts of people with a background noise which was becoming a steady roar. Upon arriving at the docks they could see that as people arrived they formed more and more lines passing buckets hand to hand. The water was the only weapon this army of people had against the living elemental force that the fire was becoming. Some lines of people emptied their buckets onto the burning building while other lines formed to wet down the buildings on either side so that they might not catch flame. Veer and Shira started darting through the lines of people searching for one child among the crowds.

As the old mage arrived at the docks he could see that one of the grain warehouses was fully engulfed in flames and that the warehouses next to it were starting to smoulder. This was serious and could turn into a disaster for the city for these warehouses held the first shipments of the early harvest to be delivered this year and so this fire could destroy much of the food supply for the coming winter. And somewhere in all of this was the boy Jolss. Partonius hoped that the young apprentice was not inside that burning warehouse. The mage searched his memory for a spell that could help in this. He remembered that once, long ago, tower apprentices served on the fire brigades and there had been spells to help fight fires. The warehouses were situated so that they backed up to the docks in order to allow ships to unload their cargo into storage. One side of the buildings faced the docks while the opposite side faced a city street. From where the old mage stood he could see beyond the buildings to the docks and river.

As he remembered one of the old spells he began to chant the incantation as he pointed at the water of the river and a wind began to howl. The howling wind became loud enough to rival the roar of the fire and as it did so it began to swirl above the river and form a funnel like a small water spout. The funnel started to suck the water of the river into the air and began to rain water down onto the inferno. As the winds grew the howling began to become louder than the sound of the fire. The people stood, frozen in amazement as they watched the water begin to pour down onto the burning warehouse and the nearby buildings. So much water was falling from the air that the fire began to die and after a few short minutes the warehouse fire was extinguished and the warehouses were saved. As the winds died down the people began to cheer and look around to find the source of this wonder.

As the old mage released the spell and the waters returned to the river he could hear the people begin to cheer. This sound of their cheering was what he heard last as he slipped into a deep darkness. A powerful exhaustion overtook the mage and he collapsed to the street. The people realized that it had been the old mage and that he was now a heap on the muddy ground. The crowd surrounded the old man and there was a growing silence as they feared that he had died from his efforts. A man shouting that he was a physician pushed his way through the crowd to the old man. “He lives,” yelled the physician. And he directed some men from the once again cheering crowd to lift the nearly dead old man and carry him back to his tower.

*****

Jolss remained hidden there in the shadows of the alleyway as the warehouse from which he had fled went up in flames. He listened to the first shouts of fire and continued to listen as those shouts grew to the noise of a crowd fighting the blaze punctuated by the ringing of alarm bells. Jolss decided that he would stay hidden until the crowds started to disperse and then he would try to sneak away from the area among the people who would be filtering back to other parts of the city. Jolss sat in the shadows and felt an overwhelming weakness as if something were draining him of his energy. He was exhausted from his escape which had used what little energy he had. To make matters worse he did not have Prin with him. He could feel her through the bond but she felt like she was far away and as if she were sick or injured. Jolss sat and tried to remember as much as he could about the streets of the city in the hope that once he was able to sneak away from this area he could find his way back to the tower.

Jolss heard a growing howl which started like the cry of a wolf but it did not end – it just continued on and became louder than any wolf could ever hope to be. The sound of the howl began to rival the roar of the fire and then there came a rising hissing sound as if some angry monstrous snake were warning of a strike. Jolss realized that the hiss was water falling on the fire and then he could hear a sound as if a heavy rain were falling out in the street. The glow of the fire started to die down and soon there was no glow left shining on the street out in front of the alley and no sound of a roaring blaze could be heard. The howling ceased and the boy could hear the sound of cheering. Then the shouts and cheers started to call out for the old mage. Had the old wizard called up some kind of rain storm to put out the fire? Was the mage out there in the street? Jolss tried to stand to make his way out to find the old mage in the crowd.

“There you are,” said a rough voice behind the boy. Jolss turned just in time to see one of the men from earlier in the warehouse standing over him and reaching down to grab him. As the man seized the boy Jolss tried to struggle but he was too weak to escape the grip which held him fast.

“No,” the boy cried out in anger and frustration. “No!” Then he was silenced by a hand over his mouth.

*****

Veer heard the howling start and listened as it grew until it was more deafening than the sound of the blazing building. He started to watch as the water from the river began to rain down onto the fire in a small but intense deluge. His need to find the missing boy drove him to start searching again as the people in the crowd seemed to be frozen in place by the incredible scene unfolding before them. Veer was able to weave in and out among the people as he looked through the crowd. The heat and brightness from the fire was rapidly lessening as steam began to fill the air. Soon the fire was extinguished and the crowd around him began to cheer. Then he heard in the sound of the crowd some words about the mage having fallen. Immediately Veer looked to find where people were pointing and he started to push his way toward the centre of the people surrounding the spot where the old man must be lying. Veer noticed that Shira was standing on a wagon that had been left near the side of the street so he changed his course and pushed his way over to the wagon. When Veer got to the wagon he climbed up to stand beside Shira and he leaned over to speak into her ear. “Did you see the mage fall?”

“Yes, he was standing there performing this rain spell and when it was over he just dropped.”

“It looks like they are going to take him back to the tower so the crowd should thin out soon and we can search the burnt out warehouse.

The two friends remained standing in the back of the wagon where they could see into the crowd and anyone looking at the wagon would see the two people standing in it and a big tough looking guard dog stalking around on the ground in front of them They watched as a group of people lifted the old man and carried him away toward the tower. There was quite a large crowd of people following along after the old wizard. Veer and Shira watched as the people drifted away and back toward their homes and beds. Still there were many who stayed behind, and though the street had now returned to darkness, there were small knots of people left standing and talking so the street was not deserted. From the back of the wagon Veer and Shira had a good view of the street.

Veer looked down at Drace and decided to try and send the dragon to sniff about and search the still smouldering building. As he thought this to himself, the dragon looked up and bounded for the building across the street. Suddenly Veer got the clear sensation that he had heard someone cry out though he knew that he had not – the cry had been a familiar voice. Veer felt a sense of concern sweep over him as he saw that Drace had turned from his path and was running back toward this side of the street but angled toward an alleyway just a building away from Veer. Veer lightly hit Shira on her arm to get her attention as he jumped down and started to run toward the alley behind the dragon with Shira following on his heels. Veer saw the dragon run into the alley in front of him and he felt rage filling him. But this time he was ready for it and he knew that it was coming from the dragon. Veer fought to control the feeling as it swept over him.

As Veer and Shira ran to the alley into which the dragon had disappeared they heard a rumbling growl and a single short cry from a man. A moment later Shira and Veer turned the corner into the alley and there they saw Jolss sitting on the ground with his back to the street and he was looking as Drace ripped a man apart right in front of him. Veer fought to calm his dragon while Shira ran to Jolss and pulled him to his feet and half dragged him toward the street. As Shira pulled the boy to pass where Veer stood watching his dragon she said to Veer. “Get Drace and come on, we have to get out of here before someone sees a dragon killing a man.”

Shira got Jolss out to the street and the two of them were walking quickly to leave the area. As soon as she was out on the street with the boy she reached out mentally to touch Cyool and she saw the image of Cyerant on a trail heading into the forest. She could also see that just ahead of him another person waited beside the trail and she assumed that this was the woman preparing to take Cyerant prisoner. Shira sent a mental instruction to Cyool for the dragon to warn Cyerant and to help him escape.

Veer stood and tried to calm Drace and he could feel that it was working and the dragon was calming down. After a few moments Drace stopped and stood over the man who had been hurting the boy. Then the dragon turned and looked at Veer. Veer turned and walked out into the street and headed after Shira and Jolss. He sent a mental image to the dragon and Drace trotted out of the alley and went passed the burnt out building and dove into the river to wash off the blood. Soon Veer, Shira and Jolss were quickly walking along heading toward the tower. Anyone looking at them would see simply a young man, a diminutive young woman and a child walking along with a big dog.

*****

In less than ten minutes Cyerant found himself stepping out through the city gates and onto the north road which was the southern end of the Edgeway coming down beside the hills all the way from the far north. It being just after twilight there was not much traffic on the road, only a few travellers arriving into the city at the end of a long day of travel. Cyerant set a brisk pace and was covering ground quickly and he walked north for a few minutes and then he spun on his heel without warning to see if anyone appeared to be following him. There was nobody behind him going in the same direction and he could see clearly back to the gates. As he looked at the gates he noticed that there was a glow in the sky and he watched for a moment and realized that there must be something large that was on fire near the southern end of the city. But that was not his concern and so he turned and continued his walk to the north.

In about an hour Cyerant could see a trail leading off to his left and disappearing westward into the forest that bordered the low hills. He knew that somewhere above him in the air glided a dragon – a dragon that was watching him. Cyerant took comfort in knowing that his friends could see what was happening to him and he could even feel the watchful gaze of the Cyool somewhere in the darkness above. He took the trail to his left and soon he vanished into the tree line of the forest. After a few minutes of walking into the forest on the trail he could feel another gaze on him – a gaze with far more malice emanating through it. Cyerant stopped and called, “I’m here as you instructed, release the boy.”

A female voice broke the darkness of the forest. “My men have you surrounded, so you can’t go anywhere. Kneel down and I will come and tie your hands and then send one of my men back to the town to order the brat be let go free.”

Cyerant knew that the woman was lying about not being alone and that this meant that she didn’t have the boy with her. As Cyerant prepared to duck into the trees and try to escape he heard the sound of flapping wings like a very large bird above him. He knew that the only way the dragon would come down to him is if he were in danger or if Shira sent the dragon to let him know that his brother was safe. The young noble sprinted back the way he had come; his intention was to then disappear into the trees to the south side of the trail. He knew that in the dark he would be difficult to follow through the forest. He heard hooves on the trail behind him and then he ducked off quickly into the trees knowing that if she had not seen him she would ride by and if she had seen him she would have to leave her horse behind to follow. It was then that he was startled by a shrieking roar behind him – the peculiar roar that only dragons can make and which is both a rumble and a scream. The sudden roar and surprise made his heart start to beat hard in his chest and even faster than it already had been racing. Accompanying the roar of the dragon Cyerant could also hear the scream of more than one terrified horse and a shriek of horror from a woman.