Kethril (40 page)

Purple turned her attention to Vevin. “What
are you calling yourself, pup?” she asked.

“Vevin.” His voice was timid and there was
no dance in his step. Tathan thought he looked frightened and
perhaps a little sad.

“What an odd name,” White mentioned. “I’ve
always thought you purples were a bit touched in the head.” Purple
stuck her tongue out at him. It seemed they all participated in the
playful banter.

“He’s half white you know,” Black pointed
out. “I’m certain that is the part where the oddity comes from.”
None of them found that amusing. Grave looks were on their faces as
they glanced from Vevin to his dead father. Tathan noticed that
Vevin’s purple was much lighter than the speaker’s scales, which
were reddish-purple and had a rainbow luster to them.

“I think, perhaps, it is best that he is
dead,” White said, indicating the dragon carcass with a claw. “I do
not wish to punish these humans for the deed.” He took a deep
breath and then a smile lit his face. “I would, however, still like
to nom one of the princesses.”

“Very good point,” Purple agreed. “It’s best
that the tortured one is dead. Let’s celebrate by nomming both
princesses. They aren’t covered by the treaty after all.”

Tathan didn’t know if the dragons would make
good on the threat. If they did, he might be able to complain to
King Cranwer, but he wanted to spare the princesses the fate. An
idea came to him. He whispered over his shoulder to Anilyia. “Call
Yebisu as loudly as you can.”

“What? Why?” she whispered back.

Tathan answered with a question. “Do you
want them to nom you?”

“YEBISU!” Anilyia yelled at the top of her
lungs.

“What did she say?” Black asked. “She didn’t
say what I think she said, did she?”

“I believe she called for Yebisu,” White
verified with a pained look on his face.

“Not the Yellow Bonehead of Stupidity.”
Orange flopped to the ground and rested a cheek on a claw. “Of all
the archangels, why did she call
that
one?”

Light flooded the clearing from above,
drowning out the dawn sky. Everyone shielded their eyes from the
brightness, even the dragons. Yebisu streaked down on a ray and
perched upon Vevin’s head. She faced the princess. “Your Highness!
Why are you not back in Mayncal?!” She turned to Tathan. “Why
haven’t you taken her home, you thief of light? And where is the
Flower Child?”

“I can’t stand the sound of her voice,”
Black said to Purple, who nodded vigorously.

“Liselle is underneath your perch.” Tathan
pointed. Yebisu hopped forward onto Vevin’s snout and looked down
at the exhausted flower child. Vevin was glaring at the humiliation
of having an archangel on his nose.

“Well, there you are. Why haven’t you
delivered the princess? It’s been far too long and the world might
go poof at any moment!” She made a yellow ball of light go poof,
eliciting giggles from Vevin and Liselle as well as a chuckle from
Tathan.

Vevin couldn’t resist. A string of purple
light bubbles flew from his claw, each going ‘poof’. Yebisu turned
and glared. The sight of the sunshine bird looking intensely at the
dragon from atop its snout was one of the funniest things Tathan
had ever seen. Apparently, the council felt the same way, because
they were chortling behind claws, trying hard not to lose their
seriousness.

“It doesn’t look like we’ll be able to bring
her highness home. These dragons want to eat the princesses,”
Liselle informed her, gesturing to the four large beasts that
suddenly looked guilty.

“WHAT?!” Yebisu exclaimed in outrage. She
flared brightly for a moment causing everyone to shield their eyes
again. “You may not eat the princess, you terrible creatures! If
you try, I will . . . I will . . .”

Black sneered. “What will you do? Set your
beak on fire?”

“I will . . . tell the Goddesses on you,”
Yebisu finished with her beak in the air.

The dragons sat there for a moment without
responding. Everything went silent. Tathan honestly had no idea if
it was a real threat or not.

“Just the goddesses?” Purple asked in
curiosity.

“Yes. I don’t like the Gods. They’re jerks,”
Yebisu answered, conceitedly turning her head to the side.

More silence. Then White turned to the
others, “Do we even care what the Goddesses think, or any of the
Gods for that matter?”

Orange shrugged. Purple answered, “I
honestly don’t know. I’m not sure that they could or would do
anything.”

“If she tells the Goddesses, then it’s a
problem. They might not do anything right away, but females
do
tend to hold grudges and remember things forever,” Black
pointed out.

“Very true.” White nodded as did Orange.

Purple glared at Black. “I’ll remember
that.”

“My point precisely,” Black replied,
pointing a talon. Tathan liked the dragons in spite of the fact
that they were trying to nom his lover. The banter was completely
unexpected.

“I
really
want to nom the
princesses,” Orange pointed out.

“No.” Tathan, Yebisu and Liselle said in
unison. They didn’t yell, but their voices were firm.

Tathan took a step forward, dragging the
reluctant ladies with him. “Sheep were being stolen from Kethril.
That dragon,” Tathan pointed at the dead body of Vevin’s father. It
was difficult due to the fact that Anilyia was still holding onto
the arm, “kidnapped that ship’s children.” He pointed to Aermoirre,
which was difficult because Emmaoen was holding that arm. “And then
he forced it to steal sheep from citizens of Kethril. King Cranwer
charged us with stopping the thefts. He sent his niece to ensure it
was done.” Tathan pointed at Emmaoen.

Summarizing things was a strength of
Tathan’s and he was on a roll. “We captured the ship and it brought
us here.” He spread his arms out, indicating the clearing. The
ladies moved with them. “Vevin’s father came out of the cave and
threatened to hurt us.” He gestured with the arm Anilyia held
again. “We fought and killed him, then rescued Aermoirre’s
children.” He gestured with the one Emmaoen held. The ladies were
determined to restrain him, but even with as tired as he was,
Tathan was subtly strong.

He wrapped things up. “Vevin will get back
the treasure that his father stole from him and the rest of us . .
.”

“Excuse me?” Purple interrupted, craning her
neck forward. “What do you mean the treasure his father stole from
him?” The four huge dragons appeared angry all of the sudden. It
was an intimidating sight. “Is this true?” Purple asked Vevin.

The smaller and paler dragon’s only response
was to nod slowly. Yebisu readjusted her footing after the
movement.

“Why did you not report it?” Orange asked.
“It is a high crime punishable by death for a dragon to steal
another’s treasure, and to steal from your own child . . .” He
couldn’t finish. The others shook their heads in disgust.

“Where is your mother?” Black asked with
concern.

“She’s . . .” Vevin couldn’t say anymore. He
sat there in sorrow. The Council waited for him to finish.

Liselle spoke for him. “Vevin’s father beat
her to death.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. This is not good at all,”
Purple declared.

“No. It’s not,” Orange agreed. “Dragons must
not murder or steal each other’s treasure. We will
not
act
like humans.” He let out a great sigh. “I suppose that settles it
then. I move that they did a deed in the favor of dragonkind by
killing the murdering and thieving monster.”

“Are we certain they’re telling the truth?”
Black asked.

“Yes,” Orange said. “I see the truth in
their words. Everything is as they say.” The others nodded in
acceptance. Tathan wondered if Orange could actually judge truth by
supernatural means, or if it was just a gut instinct.

“I concur with Orange,” Black said
formally.

“As do I,” agreed White.

“So be it,” Purple declared. “These
individuals are not guilty of the murder of a dragon. It is
declared that they are in favor of dragonkind for killing the
murdering and thieving monster. As reward, we won’t eat the
scrumptious princesses that are so cutely hiding behind a shadow.”
All four looked disappointed by the decision.

Tathan didn’t like how she called him a
shadow. He also didn’t like the way his cousin looked at him after
the phrase was spoken. “I would also like the mark of the dragon as
a reward,” Tathan said. It was a long shot, but worth a try.

“And what do you know about the mark of the
dragon, you ill-behaved little human?” White asked, stretching his
neck forward dangerously.

“Not a great deal, but we’ve rid you of a
blemish on dragonkind and it’s only fair.”

“No, it is most definitely
not
fair,”
Purple disagreed. “You have brought two princesses into our
presence and we are using extraordinary restraint to overcome our
hunger for them. That is as great a reward as has ever been
given.”

“I am concerned that he even knows of the
mark,” White said. “I’m concerned that he knows many things about
dragons that he shouldn’t.”

Orange contributed his opinion. “He is a
verified thief, and therefore not covered by treaty. As such, we
could eat him instead.”

“And take his sword,” black suggested
eagerly. Tathan was beginning to regret saying anything at all.

“No. He’s interesting, and I’m not willing
to let you have the sword,” Purple said with a shake of her head.
She turned to Tathan. “You don’t know much about the mark, else you
wouldn’t have asked for it. Yet you
do
know more than you
should.” Purple moved forward and pointed a sharp talon in Tathan’s
face. “I charge you, Tathan of the Shadows, with keeping secret all
you know about dragons.” Then she sat back and waited for his
response.

Normally, Tathan would just lie, but lying
to dragons didn’t seem like an especially good idea. Orange made
the decision a little easier. “Let me clarify. If we find out, or
even
think
you’ve told our secrets, I will personally put a
different mark on you. It will show that you are an enemy of
dragons and whatever dragon finds you will torture you and keep you
as a plaything.”

There was something about the way Orange
spoke that let Tathan know it wasn’t an idle threat. It was as
though the creature had made an oath. “I promise I will keep secret
all I know about dragons,” Tathan agreed with a sigh. It was a hard
choice to make, but he was very good at keeping a secret when
necessary. He just didn’t like being forced to do so. It also
occurred to him that they didn’t insist the same from his
companions.

“So be it. Is there anything else?” Purple
asked his companions.

“The pup should be given back his treasure
as well as that of his father and mother,” White said.

“I’ll take it if he’s busy,” Black offered
helpfully.

The others ignored him. Purple said, “The
tortured one may have stolen from others. I will assign a committee
to account for all items in his hoard. The audit is to be done
within ten years, at which point the pup may take possession.”

“Let’s make a seal over the lair and then
get out of here before I lose restraint and nom the princesses
after all,” Orange suggested impatiently.

“I concur,” Black said.

“So be it.” Purple flicked her wrist and a
glowing purple light flew from her claw to the cave entrance. It
expanded in size before appearing as a large circle of concentric
rings with runes scattered throughout. The rings circled in
alternate directions and varying speeds. It was easily the most
complicated ward Tathan had ever seen.

“Show off. You had that ready, didn’t you?”
White asked suspiciously. Purple merely smiled. Orange followed
with a circle of jagged lines. The entire thing spun in one
direction, but the runes moved within. Black’s followed. It was in
shadows and blurred. White’s was a web with interlaced strands that
the runes crawled along like spiders. Emmaoen buried her face into
Tathan’s back.

All four wards connected to each other and
then attached to the rocks around the mouth of the cave. They
became transparent and disappeared, although Tathan could sense the
power still radiating from them. In a thousand years, he would
never be able to bypass a seal that strong.

Purple waved her claw once more. Tathan
heard a sizzling sound behind them and turned to see the body of
Vevin’s father bubbling in black acid. In less than a minute, all
that remained was goo on the ground. The stench was terrible, but
white cast a spell and the goo began to glow a light blue and sink
into the soil. Orange created a gust of wind that blew by them and
removed the odor.

Without another word, all four launched into
the air and flew away to the south, splitting into different
directions.

Yebisu leaned over Vevin’s snout to glare at
Liselle. “Get the princess home NOW! And don’t let her get eaten by
any stupid dragons!” She also shot into the air, flared brightly
and beamed away towards Mayncal.

Tathan wanted to fall down and go to sleep,
but it wasn’t the time yet. He staggered toward his cousin, who
lurched toward him. Vevin gave the sky one last look to make sure
the others were gone and then transformed back to human. He looked
miserable.

Liselle and Tathan collapsed together in a
hug. Anilyia and Emmaoen joined in, neither willing to give up an
arm yet. Tathan gestured for Vevin to join and the five stayed like
that for a few minutes, holding on for emotional support.

When they separated, Tathan looked toward
the fallen knight. “Is he . . .”

“He’s alive,” Liselle reassured him.
Exhaustion was evident in her voice. They all walked to Sir Danth
as a group. Tathan knelt and put a hand on the chest plate. Liselle
put a hand on Tathan’s shoulder. “I’ve . . . calmed him. His soul
is swimming in fluffy white clouds. The armor is still broken and
the pain would drive him mad otherwise.”