The Dragons of Bone and Dust (Tales from the New Earth Book 7) (27 page)

The electric street lights, blue arcs of power
encased in globes, were set on high poles along their route. The glow
was revealing but the blue color made everything seem cold, flat and
sterile. Simon much preferred the torchlight that was prevalent in
other parts of the city. At least it felt warmer and less foreboding.

He listened to the hum of the arc light as they
passed by one. The dwarves' technology was impressive but lacked a
certain something. But who was he to judge? He was raised with a
different sort of tech and it was all gone now. At least the dwarves
had based their technology on magic, for all that they claimed to
hate it.

Simon unconsciously shook his head at his
thoughts. What a funny people. On one hand, they denigrated
magic-users and mistrusted elementals and yet the entire structure of
their society was built around the very same power they despised.

He remembered being told that when the magic was
sucked out of the world by the old gods, the dwarves had gone back to
using torches and candles for light, growing their fungoid crops
differently, heating their homes with coal instead of electricity.
They did what they had to, to survive. And now that the power was
gradually returning, they couldn't change back to their old ways fast
enough.

He tapped a metal lamp post as they passed another
one.

Old ways based on magic. Go figure.

“
You are lost in thought,
sir wizard,” Captain Stoneblade observed as he glanced over at
Simon.

“
I suppose so. Nothing
important though. So how close are we to the palace?”

The huge building had loomed over them for almost
a half hour, but they couldn't seem to get any closer to it.

The warrior nodded at the street ahead.

“
At the end of this lane,
we turn right. We will finally be able to see the gates once we do
that. With any luck, another ten minutes will see you safely within
its walls.”

Simon grinned at him.

“
Luck has been in short
supply lately for me, captain,” he told the dwarf.

The warrior looked at him sharply.

“
You are still alive, sir
wizard. I'd call that a bit of luck. Wouldn't you?”

Without waiting for a response, Captain Stoneblade
increased his pace and moved forward ahead of the others.

Touchy, touchy, Simon thought to himself as he
watched the leader. I keep forgetting that not a lot of dwarves have
much of a sense of humor. Well, not many in the warrior class,
anyway.

They reached the end of the street, turned right
and stopped again. The captain had been right; the towering gates of
the palace could be seen in the distance. They were made of a bright
steel that gleamed from a dozen lights that stood around the
entrance.

Simon thought that he could probably run there in
less than five minutes; it was that close.

Unfortunately he wouldn't get the chance. The
gates were closed tight and at least a dozen figures stood between
that sanctuary and Simon and his guards.

The captain cursed under his breath as he saw the
waiting dwarves.

“
Friends of yours?”
Simon asked lightly.

The dwarf gave a him a steely look and then smiled
stiffly.

“
I admire your nerve, sir
wizard. No, I would say rather that those are members of the same
traitorous group that snatched you away two days again. Apparently we
were unsuccessful in routing all of the rats from their nests.”

“
Sir,” said one of
the escort, a muscular female with pale eyes. “Where are the
palace guards? The gates are sealed and there is no one on watch.”

“
Aye, I've noticed. At a
guess, I would say those vermin ahead created a diversion to keep the
rest of the guards away from here long enough to dispose of us and
our guest.”

He adjusted the strap on his helmet and loosened
his sword.

“
They should have brought
more friends,” he added with a growl of contempt.

Simon saw the other warriors take heart from their
leader's attitude. Looks of nervousness were replaced by grim
expressions of determination.

“
Stay in the middle of
the troop, sir wizard,” Captain Stoneblade ordered. “No
heroics and no staff swinging unless you absolutely have to,
understood?”

The captain gave Simon a subtle wink as he spoke
and the wizard grinned appreciatively in return.

“
Yes sir,” he
replied.

“
Good. The rest of you
know what to do. We are charged with bringing this man safely to the
king, and we will do so; or die trying.”

The captain looked at each of his people in turn.

“
But let's make sure that
the only ones dying tonight are those traitors, right?”

“
Yes captain!” all
five of them answered together.

“
Now, forward. Steady and
straight on. Move when I move, stop when I stop and we'll get through
this.”

Simon couldn't remember ever being so
tense. The street leading to the palace gates was brightly lit but so
quiet that every footfall sounded like a drum beat.

The troop approached the waiting
group steadily, Captain Stoneblade walking with his right hand
resting casually on his belt next to his sword hilt. He was staring
grim-faced at the silent, menacing figures as he walked and showed no
sign of slowing down as the escort approached them.

“
Hold!”
one of the group ahead called out when the troop had gotten to within
twenty feet of them.

The captain raised a hand and all of
his warriors, Simon included, stopped in unison.

The wizard tried to see what these
enemies of his looked like, but it was impossible. All of them were
wearing cloaks and hoods that concealed their faces and bodies. He
couldn't even tell if they were male or female or wearing armor. He
guessed that they were all armed though.

There was a strained silence that
stretched out between the two groups. Captain Stoneblade simply
stared coldly at the traitors, showing no sign of impatience or
anger. Simon thought that the dwarf could probably stand like that
forever.

Apparently the opposition came to the
same conclusion and one of them finally stepped out of the group to
speak.

“
Hand that
human over to us and you may proceed unharmed. Otherwise we will take
him by force.”

The captain looked the shrouded
figure up and down and then glanced at the others behind him.

“
Will you
now?” he asked contemptuously. “And how do you plan on
doing that? Honorable dwarves would not hide their faces from their
foes and threaten them. But then again, an honorable dwarf would not
stoop to kidnapping and murder, now would he?”

The shrouded leader moved slightly
backwards at the captain's words and Simon thought that he heard a
creak as the dwarf tightened his hand on a weapon.

“
Your
insults are meaningless. We do what we do to keep our race pure.
These humans are a cancer, a corruption in the middle of our city.
And like a disease, it must be cut out before it spreads. Already
others are dealing with this wizard's friends who have dared to try
to live among us. But like a snake, the head must be removed before
the body will die.”

Simon gasped in shock. Dealing with
his friends? My God, had they attacked the other humans? Why?

“
You slimy,
hateful bastard!” he growled.

He might have done something stupid
then if the nearest warrior hadn't taken hold of his arm firmly.

“
Easy, sir
wizard,” she whispered. “They are goading us. Be patient
and trust in the captain.”

He took a deep breath and nodded once
in acknowledgment.

Damn it, Simon, he thought, you know
better than to let some idiot get to you like that. You're going to
get everyone killed. Smarten up.

The guard released her grip on his
arm and stepped back.

Captain Stoneblade hadn't taken his
eyes off of the leader of the traitors. He had obviously heard Simon
but had trusted that no one would do anything precipitous.

“
Odd that
you would think that this one human is so important to the others,”
the captain said coldly. “He isn't their leader. Odder still
that you would think that members of the royal guard would just hand
over someone they'd been ordered to protect. That isn't going to
happen. So, now what?”

“
Didn't you
hear me?” the cloaked figure said loudly. “If you do not
give him up to us, right now, you will all die. For a human! How can
you risk your lives for such a contemptible species?”

“
Bah. The
only contemptible people I see at the moment are standing right in
front of me and blocking my path. Now, this conversation has gone on
long enough. Either make way for us or attempt to take the wizard by
force. But whatever you do, you'd best hurry. I'm guessing that you
won't be able to keep the rest of the royal guard distracted for much
longer.”

Simon heard a high-pitched whistle
and looked around in confusion. At the same time, one of the dozen
cloaked figures collapsed in a heap at the back of the group.

“
Oh dear,”
the captain said with mock concern. “I do believe that your
time is up.”

“
What?”

The enemy leader spun around just in
time to see his people stagger and fall in rapid succession, the
whistle of unseen arrows blending together into one continuous wail
of death.

“
But how?”
the hooded dwarf asked in dismay. “We led them away. We kept
them off-guard. What...”

Captain Stoneblade didn't hesitate.
While his opponent was distracted, he drew his blade, walked forward
quickly and rested it between the dwarf's shoulder blades.

“
Yield or
die,” he rumbled ominously. “It means the same to me
either way.”

The figure quickly raised his arms
and two of Simon's escort rushed forward to restrain him. They spun
him around to face the captain and tore off his hood.

A wild-eyed dwarf wearing a chain
coif stared in fear and rage at all of them. Simon wondered which
emotion was causing him to shake so uncontrollably.

While the three remaining escorts
stayed close to the wizard, Captain Stoneblade walked around the
fallen traitors and poked them with his armored boot.

“
Good
shooting,” he said with a nod. “Each one dropped with a
single shot, each shot fatal. Well done.”

“
Well, I do
keep only the best on staff, do I not?” an amused voice said
from the shadows.

The captain turned toward the speaker
and stiffened to attention. He brought his fist to his chest in
salute and all of the other warriors copied him.

Another dwarf, taller and broader
than the armored guards at his heels, came forward. Simon guessed
that he and his guards had been waiting inside one of the buildings
overlooking the street.

“
Shandon!”
he exclaimed as he finally saw the familiar face. “You're
here!”

“
Of course
I'm here,” the king replied with obvious delight. “Where
else would I be? I wanted to see this entire sad affair to its
inevitable conclusion. Sorry to use you as bait, my friend, but I
needed to draw out the rest of the traitors and this seemed the best
way to do it.”

Shandon Ironhand walked past the
prisoner without even a glance and took Simon's hand.

“
Well met,
my friend. Well met indeed. How are you feeling? I cannot tell you
what a blow it was to me that a guest of the city, and a friend at
that, was subjected to such mistreatment.”

He turned to glare at the restrained
traitor and the dwarf's face went deathly pale.

“
Honor used
to be the driving force of my people,” he continued. “How
sad that it is now in such short supply.”

“
You
dishonor all of us by allowing the infection that is humankind to
sully our city!” the prisoner blurted out boldly.

Captain Stoneblade turned and grabbed
the dwarf by the throat.

“
You can
wait for the gallows or end your miserable existence here in the
gutter with the rest of your traitorous scum,” he growled.

The prisoner squealed and thrashed
around, trying to breathe.

“
It's all
the same to me,” the captain added and let him go.

All of them waited for the dwarf to
regain his breath but he said nothing more. Apparently he wanted to
live for a while longer.

“
I'm fine,
thanks to Opheilla,” Simon told the king. “She's starting
to make saving my life into a habit.”

Shandon chuckled.

“
She's done
the same for me, luckily. But it shouldn't have been necessary in the
first place. These 'pure-bloods',” he nodded at the prisoner
that was being taken away toward the palace by two of the royal
guard, “as they've begun to call themselves, are our shame and
needed weeding out. Fortunately, this last sad episode has brought
their plotting days to an end.”