King Of Souls (Book 2) (49 page)

Sir Alcott rubbed his chin and nodded. “Quite a few by my estimation. They’re helping with the refugees.”

Danielle gripped Ronan’s wrist. “They’ll be able to help us. I’ll see to getting the Ayralens inside Freehold.”

“Thank you Danielle,” Ronan said. “Jeremy, can you go with her? I need you to round up any able bodied archer you can find among the Ayralens and perch them on those city walls.”

“Yes Your Majesty, I’ll take care of it,” Jeremy said.

“Climb on Jeremy.” Danielle shifted into a red falcon and Jeremy leaped onto her bare back wrapping his arm around her chest. She shot straight up climbing skyward before pitching left toward Freehold’s entrance.

“We need men on those ballista.” Ronan pointed toward the palace’s half abandoned guard towers.

The heavy gray storm clouds had closed over Freehold and hung over the palace district like an unwanted guest.

Ronan pitched a nervous eye skyward. Those clouds offered Trace the perfect cover.

“There’s snow in those clouds Ronan.” Sir Alcott puffed his pipe releasing a fresh cloud of tobacco into the wintry air. “I don’t like it. Not one bit.”

From somewhere inside the low hanging clouds, a dragon’s throaty roar broke the silence. As the roar faded, the bone-chilling sound continued, echoing from the palace walls.

Ronan’s stomach sank, and he stiffened staring into the thick cloud cover. He shot a hard look toward Sir Alcott whose face had turned ashen. “Now Sir Alcott! Go!”

Sir Alcott nodded and hurried through the open door.

Ronan glared over his shoulder as if to prompt Thoth, but the dragon had already stood and unfurled his wings.

Rika slipped her hand into Ronan’s and squeezed. “I’m going with you.”

Ronan faced Rika and raised her hand to his lips. He couldn’t throw Rika’s life away on this fight. She couldn’t match the dragons’ size or speed, but if he told her no, she’d go just to spite him.

Lines of worry etched Rika’s brow, and she shook her head. “You’re not going to —”

“Rika,” Ronan said interrupting her. “Can you help Sir Alcott spread the word? He’ll cover twice as much ground with you to carry him across the city.”

“I can’t leave you.” Her voice trembled and filled with tears.

“If Thoth and I can find Trace, we can end this madness before it goes any further. He’ll never expect it.”

Rika opened her mouth to speak, but stopped. She reached up and cupped Ronan’s cheeks in her trembling hands before nodding. “Okay.” She said barely above a whisper.

A nervous flutter rolled through Ronan’s chest. She meant to tell him something, but what? He couldn’t press her. Not now. “Rika, I —”

Rika pressed her index finger to Ronan’s lips as tears rolled down her cheeks. “I know. Me too.” With her chin quivering, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed Ronan’s cheek. Without looking back, she turned and disappeared inside the palace.

“Take a longbow with you Ronan.” Sir Alcott yelled through the doorway and pointed toward a double door on the courtyard’s far side. “There’s a few mounted on the guardhouse wall through that door.”

“Come Silver Soul,” Thoth said with an almost joyous glee in his thoughts. “The herd draws near.”

Queen For A Day

Thoth beat his massive wings faster climbing high over Freehold’s Palace District. Rock-sized ice pellets and heavy snow whipped Ronan’s eyes.

Ronan tucked the longbow he’d taken from the guardhouse over his lap and moved his face behind Thoth’s neck. He used the dragon’s body to shield the gusting wind. He willed forth a trickle of power from his empty reserves. A spirit shield, weak by even a junior knight’s standard, sprang to life surrounding him and Thoth. “Remember, we’re going after Trace only. We can’t fight the whole herd.”

Thoth pitched right and climbed upward. He flew toward the ceiling of low-hanging storm clouds hanging above Freehold. “We don’t have to fight the whole herd. Trace enjoys leading attacks whenever and wherever he has the opportunity. This attack, above all others, he’d lead himself,” Thoth said as he pierced the lowest hanging cloud bank. “If we can remove the emperor and his dragon, Shedu, from the combat arena, the remaining herd will give up their fight.”

Thoth rose higher, and the snowfall intensified nearing whiteout conditions.

“I can’t see anything through this snow,” Ronan said. “How can we find Trace in this storm?”

A booming roar sounded from the cloud bank a half-mile ahead.

“Shedu.” Thoth rolled to his right and turned beating his wings in short hard bursts picking up speed. “I still hold the magic you gifted me during our journey young Silver Soul. I can see past the falling snow and into the clouds. I’ll find Shedu.”

“That’s great, but without proper shielding we’ll not last ten seconds against Trace and Shedu.”

Thoth pinned back his ears and flew like an airborne hammer toward Shedu and Trace. “Draw on my strength for your shield, but you’ll not deny me this chance for glory.”

Ronan closed his eyes and crossed the mental bridge. He found Thoth’s conscious mind focused like an arrow on the looming cloud bank ahead. His breath caught when he felt Thoth’s raw rage flare without a shred of fear. Fear helped keep a warrior sharp and focused. That Thoth felt none, worried Ronan.

Ronan channeled Thoth’s strange alien energy. Though crude, he increased the power of the shields surrounding him and Thoth. He resisted draining the dragon’s precious strength. “Be careful Thoth.” Ronan recalled Patron Tyrell’s words. “Don’t let the anger consume you. Sharpen it, and use it like a weapon.”

In the cloud bank above, a dragon’s silhouette appeared far bigger than Thoth.

Like a silent assassin, Thoth lowered his head and flashed his teeth while gaining more speed.

Above Thoth, the navy-blue dragon crystallized cutting a path through the cloud bank. He seemed oblivious to the danger lurking beneath him.

Ronan leaned forward and clutched the saddle’s jeweled pommel bracing for impact.

Thoth slammed into Shedu’s exposed belly like a battering ram splitting apart a rickety gate.

Shedu’s golden eyes widened, and he let go a panicked screech. He ricocheted off Thoth’s flared snout before disappearing inside the black clouds above.

Thoth craned his neck skyward and roared with savage delight.

Distant roars bellowed returning his crooning call with sounds of greeting rather than threat.

Despite the danger, a crooked smile twisted on Ronan’s face. His legs vibrated from a low-pitched hum coming from Thoth’s chest.

Thoth turned in a slow arc, his gaze locked on Shedu’s path. The bitter stench of burning pitch hung heavy, and trails of black smoke curled from Thoth’s flared nostrils.

“Don’t let the emperor turn your fire against us,” Ronan said.

Thoth remained silent ignoring Ronan’s plea gliding like a jungle cat stalking easy prey.

A foreign presence pressed on the mental bridge connecting Ronan and Thoth.

Before Ronan could stop him, Thoth opened his mind to the foreign presence and spoke with a raw mixture of rage and satisfaction. “You’re a traitor to your kind Shedu, and now you’ll pay for your crimes.”

Thoth’s eyes narrowed into slits as a fourth presence entered the conversation. “You’re a fool to play with your life in such a cavalier manner,” Trace said. “I’ve allowed you to live only because of Shedu’s pleas for mercy.”

“He’s bating you Thoth. Don’t listen to him,” Ronan said.

Lurking in the cloud bank above, Shedu appeared.

Thoth twisted into a tight spiral curling beneath Shedu’s belly extending his razor sharp talons.

The bracelet on Trace’s wrist glowed deep purple as he extended his arm toward Thoth.

A satisfied grin slid over Thoth’s face revealing rows of jagged white teeth. “I’m free of your trap, fool.”

Color drained from Trace’s face. He stared slack-jawed at the plugged hole in Thoth’s neck brimming with bright blue spirit energy.

As he sped past, Thoth raised his rear claws and swiped at Shedu’s light blue belly flesh.

Shedu’s golden eyes locked on Ronan, and he froze in wide-eyed terror.

Thoth stretched out his claws, but Shedu’s head moved with the motion snapping him from his trance.

Shedu rolled right just missing Thoth’s attack.

Thoth bellowed in frustration as he zoomed past the emperor’s dragon.

Ronan pulled free a steel-tipped arrow from the quiver strapped to his shoulder and armed his longbow. He hadn’t held a bow in months, but its weight felt good in his hands.

During a hunting trip with his father last autumn, Ronan practiced without using magic. He’d missed more shots than he’d made despite his years of practice. He couldn’t afford to miss now, and just like the hunting trip, he couldn’t use magic. If he tried channeling, he might pass out in his saddle and fall to his death.

Blue energy flared across Trace’s fingertips. The air surrounding him sizzled with flickering tendrils of lightning. Electricity crackled and swirled flowing in circular currents surrounding Trace’s head and body. It grew thicker and more ominous by the second.

Thoth pitched upward opening his jaw in time to drag his teeth across Shedu’s exposed shoulder. He snapped closed his jaw, but the larger dragon moved clear further enraging Thoth.

Ronan held his breath and drew a bead on the soft skin beneath Shedu’s armored neck. He pulled taut the bowstring until the longbow’s hickory shaft groaned in his ear. He released the shot and spoke a small prayer. Ronan raised his head and watched the arrow slice the air three-thousand feet above Freehold.

Ronan’s arrow flew high clattering off Shedu’s heavy plate scales before bouncing away.

Trace’s mocking laughter rang out across the mind bridge. “An arrow? Is that the best you can do? Honestly, I expected to find a decent opponent in Meranthia, but you’re as bad as the tree folk.”

Ronan bit his lip and held his thoughts in check. He wouldn’t allow Trace to bait him. He’d seen the fear in the emperor’s eye and knew the truth despite his taunting.

Four cords of thick lightning leaped from the electricity swirling around Trace’s body.

It struck both Ronan and Thoth’s spirit shields. Streaks of energy rippled across the shields. Four gaping holes opened trailing smoke and globules of melted spirit energy.

Bitter cold and heavy snow swept through the openings and slammed into Ronan’s face like a fighter’s punch.

Ronan gasped and reached for the magic he so desperately needed, but found nothing. He closed his eyes and dipped into Thoth’s emotional energy. He found unbridled rage swirling like an active volcano. “Thoth, I can’t fight him without magic. Our surprise attack failed. We need to pull back.”

“Listen to the boy, Thoth,” Trace said. “Besides, you’re too old for this fight. I’m surprised you haven’t passed out from overexertion at your advanced age.”

Rage burned white-hot across the mental bridge.

Ronan tried to channel Thoth’s energy, but he couldn’t contain the slippery flows.

Thoth pitched upward in a wide arc trailing steam and smoke from the holes in his and Ronan’s spirit shields. He roared and spit a fifty foot arc of blue, red, and yellow fire toward Shedu and Trace.

“No!” Ronan reached outward as if to stop the dragon’s attack, but he’d as soon grow wings and fly.

A contemptuous smile stretched across Trace’s face as the amulet around his neck glowed bright red. As he stretched his fingertips outward, Shedu loosed a heavy breath of freezing air.

The snowflakes near Shedu’s mouth grew bigger forming ice pellets that shot like marbles across the sky.

Trace murmured low inaudible words. A reflective plane popped into existence hanging at a perfect angle to intercept Thoth’s attack.

The flames met the silvery surface and bounced upward disappearing into a dark cloud.

Trace’s haunting laughter filled the mind bridge. Shedu’s cold breath roared over Ronan and Thoth’s battered spirit shields.

Arctic air unlike anything Ronan had experienced froze their spirit shields solid. Cold air tore through the holes and Ronan shouted as his skin froze leaving his face numb.

The world blurred behind a blanket of frozen ice as Thoth careened forward aiming for Shedu and Trace.

Ronan’s shield shook and cracked as Thoth’s forward momentum stopped as if he’d slammed into a mountain. His shield’s spirit energy splintered. Ronan’s shield fell away leaving him and Thoth exposed to Trace’s whim.

Shedu circled upward trailing pieces of shattered spirit shield from his talons.

“Why would you tie your fortune to the slowest dragon in my herd?” Trace said.

“Close the link Thoth,” Ronan said. “Don’t let him mock you any longer.”

Thoth roared and circled upward chasing Shedu through the dark black clouds.

The snow’s intensity increased and destroyed any hope of chasing Shedu through the storm cell.

“He’s a murderer. You know that right?” Trace said ignoring Ronan’s plea. “He’s killed before.”