Return of the Dragon (The Dragon's Champion Book 6) (12 page)

Rjord nodded. “I can do better than that,” he
promised. “Look for me after the snow falls.”

Lepkin woke early in order to make breakfast for
Dimwater. He pushed his way into the bedroom with his hips as he balanced a
tray of eggs, fruit, juice, and bread in his hands. After he twirled into the
room and nudged the door closed with his left heel he smiled when he saw
Dimwater still sleeping on the bed. The large, round bulge from her stomach
moved up and down with each breath. Marlin had said the child would be born
sometime in the middle of the winter, another couple of months away.

He glanced to the frosted window and noted a few early
flakes of snow drifting in to chase autumn away. He could only hope the
premature frost would drive the orcs away as well. He moved in and set the tray
on a small, round table. Then he picked up the table and carefully set it next
to the bed.

“Smells good,” Dimwater said with a
groggy
smile as she opened her eyes. She didn’t bother looking at the food. Rather,
she looked up to Lepkin. “It is good to be back with you,” she said.

Lepkin sighed and smiled wide. “I am happy that you
are no longer ill.”

Dimwater pushed up awkwardly to a sitting position.
Lepkin moved quickly to offer one arm for support and gently push her back with
the other. “You had me frightened beyond what I can describe.”

Dimwater smiled. “It was a curse,” she said.
“Something my father gave me some time ago.”

Lepkin knelt beside her. “I am so sorry, for all of
it,” he said.

Dimwater shook her head and put a finger on his lips.
“No, you shouldn’t say that. We are together now. It may have taken us longer
than we would have liked, and there have been some rough points, but I wouldn’t
trade it for anything.”

Lepkin reached up and gently slid his fingers around
her hand and pulled it away just enough so that he could kiss it. Then he
leaned over and kissed her growing stomach. “Marlin said it is a boy,” Lepkin
said.

Dimwater smiled. “He will be big and strong, like his
father.” She leaned over and kissed Lepkin on the cheek. “Now, what do we have?
I am starving.”

Lepkin laughed. He had already brought her two
additional meals during the night. He knew better than to mention it though, so
instead he uncovered the food and positioned the tray closer to her. She tore
into the food, abandoning all etiquette as she ripped hunks of bread off with her
teeth while she simultaneously poured juice into her mouth. She moaned
something and closed her eyes and nodded. Somehow she gulped the massive bite
down and then let out a burp.

“This is perfect, thank you.”

Lepkin nodded and smiled.

“Any word from Erik?”
Dimwater asked through a mouthful of eggs.

Lepkin’s smile faded. “Not yet,” he said.

Dimwater choked the bite down and took another gulp of
juice. “He’ll turn up,” she assured him. “He always does.”

Lepkin nodded and moved to the window.

“Tell me more of the orcs,” Dimwater said.

Lepkin knew she was turning his mind away from Erik so
as not to let him dwell on his worry about the boy. He had already recounted
the battles with the orcs last night. He told her everything from Mercer’s
sacrifice, to burning the forest for weeks on end to slow the orcs, and even
the most recent battle. Still, he obliged her. “There is nothing to report. The
scouts have not alerted me to any new developments.”

“Would Commander Nials inform you?” Dimwater asked. “I
never liked him much. He always struck me as an arrogant sort with an eye only
for his own glory and advancement.”

Lepkin folded his arms. “I would have said the same
before he arrived, but Al assured me that he disobeyed orders from King Mathias
to reinforce our position here. So, I have decided to give him the benefit of
the doubt.”

Dimwater dove right into her eggs, shoveling bites in
as quickly as she could while still maintaining some semblance of propriety.

“I suspect the orcs will be looking for a way to flank
us, rather than charge us head on again. Al was thinking we could reposition
the catapults, but Commander Nials doesn’t want to divide them up. So we wait.”

“What about Lady Arkyn?” Dimwater asked after she
swallowed a mouthful of bread and eggs.

“Haven’t seen her since you arrived last night.”
Lepkin shook his head and turned to lean against the window sill as he watched
his wife finish the last few bits of food on her plate. “Shall I get more from
the kitchen?”

Dimwater shook her head. “No, that was enough.” She
grabbed the last morsel of bread, used it to wipe up the yolk from the plate
and then plopped it into her mouth. She chewed twice and then washed it all
down with the last of her juice. “That was perfect.” She swung her left leg out
and then used both arms to help push
herself
up.
“Still getting used to it,” she said as she patted her protruding stomach.

“You should rest,” Lepkin said. “Marlin is out helping
the army. You should relax.”

“I have had enough of that,” Dimwater said. “I want to
go for a walk outside. Let’s see if we can’t prepare a few surprises for those
orcs.”

Lepkin smiled. He loved her tenacity. It was good to
have her back.

“You know what I could use more of though?” She looked
down to the empty plate.
“How about just another apple, oh,
and maybe another roll.”

“Sure,” Lepkin said with a chuckle.

“And maybe one more glass of juice and a couple
hard-boiled eggs for the road?”

“
You baking
a human in that
belly, or a dragon?” Lepkin asked.

Dimwater shrugged. “Knowing us I suppose it could be
either.” She flashed a wry smile and then tapped her plate. “But seriously, we
do have more food right?”

*****

Gulgarin stood near the fire. He frowned at the
crystalline snowflake drifting down in front of his face. The others saw it
too. Gulgarin didn’t miss the nervous glances the officers shot each other. One
of them even had the audacity to rub his shoulders.
Cowards.
Gulgarin grimaced and turned away from them to look at the simple canvas tents
set up in the ashen valley that had weeks ago been a lush forest.

“We do not have enough food, Chief Gulgarin,” one of
the orcs said from behind.

“We must turn back to the fortress,” another put in.
“If we leave now, we can avoid needless casualties from the early frost. We can
dig in and build our strength. When the thaw comes, we will bring our swords to
the humans.”

Gulgarin took in a deep breath and turned around to
face the officers. “With the few weeks that the forest fire gave the humans,
what did they do?” Without waiting for an answer he picked up a gray stone and
chucked it into the fire. “They built catapults!” The vein in his forehead
stuck out like a grotesque snake writhing under his skin. “You now wish to
cower down for months on end while the humans grow stronger?”

Captain Krelik stood from his position and pointed to
the north. “The forest has been destroyed. There is no game here with which we
can feed our troops. To bypass the settlement is impossible. Our soldiers
cannot fight on empty stomachs.”

“Then we do not bypass the settlement,” Gulgarin
roared. “We attack the city head on, and destroy every last one of their
catapults.”

“But to do that is suicide,” Krelik said.

Gulgarin shook his head. “No. We will do what the
humans did back at Ten Forts. We will send small groups to destroy the
catapults. We can use our goargs and berserkers to flank the easternmost
catapult. We can send small units under the cover of night. If they can reach
the catapults, our losses will be diminished. Then, once the machines are
destroyed, we will slaughter the humans.”

“We will still have the winter to deal with.”

Gulgarin shook his head. “Our lands are always cold,”
he replied.

“But not always covered in snow. Additionally, the
deer and other animals have adapted to our environment. The animals here will
not be as easy to find for food.”

Gulgarin narrowed his eyes on the orc, giving the
obvious signal that his patience was wearing far too thin for a drawn out
argument. “We will occupy the city. We will live off of the food they have
stockpiled for themselves. We can also use the road to venture north and raid
smaller villages if need be. We will not let the humans rest through the
winter. We will assail them constantly and drive them out of the land before
us.
For the glory of Khullan.”

“For the glory of Khullan,” the others repeated.
Gulgarin saw the anger in Krelik’s face, but the orc did not dare challenge his
orders.

“Go, prepare the army,” Gulgarin said. He then turned
and walked a short distance toward his tent. Something caught his eye. A
shadow,
or perhaps movement. His fingers flexed, but he did
not move his hand to his weapon. If someone was waiting for him in the tent, he
didn’t want them to know he was ready for them.

He strode confidently for the flap and slipped his
left hand in and around the coarse canvas. He peeled it back. His eyes scoured
the entire interior of the tent in less than a second. Whatever it was he had
thought he saw, it was no longer there. The hairs on the back of his neck stood
on end as he entered the tent and let the flap close behind him. He moved in. A
red and yellow blanket covered the large wooden chair to his right, hiding the
entire frame. The cot was made perfectly, as he had left it when he woke. His
extra pair of boots stood at the foot of the cot. His war chest remained locked
near the side of the cot. Nothing was out of place.

He pulled his sword free and drove it through the
center of the cot. The blankets and fabric popped open as his blade slid down
to stab into the ground below. He started to reverse his arm and pull the sword
free but there was a movement from behind him. He released his sword and pulled
a pair of long knives from his belt as he whirled around. The red and yellow
blanket flew up and off from the chair, only the chair was gone.
In its place stood a comely she-elf with a bow.
The string
snapped into place.

Gulgarin took the arrow in the chest, letting the
strong mithril mail under his leather hauberk absorb the impact. He looked at
the bow and smiled. “That weapon does not belong to you,” he said. “Szelevo is
an orcish bow.”

The she-elf pulled another arrow and moved to set it
to the string. Gulgarin lunged in headlong, tackling the elf to the ground. Her
nimble, sharp elbows rocked his face and neck as he grappled with her. He tried
to angle his knives toward her flesh, but no matter which way he turned, she
seemed able to block his thrust. Gulgarin growled and struck down with his
head. The elf slid away and landed two elbow strikes to his temple.

Gulgarin barely managed to block the elf’s arm with
his left forearm in time to stop a wickedly curved dagger from entering his own
belly. Unfortunately, he did not stop the simultaneous knee to the groin.
Another elbow strike smashed his nose and then he felt a fiery pain rip along
the left side of his head. He roared out in pain and somersaulted away from the
she-elf. His eyes widened when he noticed the blood splatter on the ground.

His left hand went up to the side of his head. The
warm, viscous liquid met his palm in copious amounts.

“Looking for this?” the she-elf asked as she held up
Gulgarin’s left ear.

Gulgarin threw one of his knives, but the she-elf
jumped to the side. She flung her dagger at Gulgarin in answer for his attack.
Gulgarin tried to move out of the way, but the elf had guessed accurately which
way he would flee. The dagger caught his right thigh a few inches above the
knee. The elf ran for the bow that was now lying on the ground. Gulgarin
reached out for his sword, tore it free from the bed, and whirled it toward the
she-elf with all his might. The blade spun end over end. The she-elf managed to
grab the bow and hold it before her to catch the sword. The blade cut through
the bow, severing it in half and then biting into the she-elf’s shoulder before
bouncing out again to land on the ground. She groaned, but did not scream.

Gulgarin was not about to let up. He ran as best he
could on his injured leg and leapt to tackle the she-elf again. This time, the
assassin escaped. She fled out from the tent. Gulgarin called out for the
guards.

“Assassin!” he yelled. Shouts rose up through the
camp. Gulgarin tore his tent down around him in anger rather than take the time
to exit through the flap. Still, he was far too late to catch the she-elf. Several
orcs mounted goargs and went after her. “Bring me her head!” Gulgarin shouted.

*****

Lady Arkyn ran for all she was worth. Arrows streaked
near her. She could hear the goargs’ hooves thumping against the ground chasing
after her. The orcs shouted and grunted, but she didn’t bother to turn around.
She pushed on, her feet barely lighting upon the ground before propelling her
forward. She had prepared for this.