Web Of Bones: Book II of the Dragon Mage Series (8 page)

There were times past the North Gate that it was necessary for all for males to shift to dragon and deliver Melly, her cart and the frightful horses over some obstacle in their path.
Like a raging river, or the high mountains. So what should have taken weeks, through perilous snow buried trails and death-defying peaks, took a matter of days. It occurred to Melisande as they finally passed the last of the high mountains that there was more than one reason why humans were no match for dragons. The geography was against them utterly. Unless they could fly, no army was ever going to reach the North Gate, let alone breach the magic of Dracon.

Now
, after passing another river, she had to be carried across they were finally at the start of the Low Lands and of civilization. If you could call it that. The village they entered was rundown and sad-looking; the people scurried to safety at the first look at the daunting travelers, and few were brave enough to stay on the road they passed.

“
These are your people?” Lux asked quietly. Well, quietly for him. He could not seem to speak without booming across the whole of the land. “They seem a frightened lot.”

“
And angry,” Aarion offered in his warm baritone, with just the smallest trace of derision.

Melly could not blame for their remarks, or thoughts.
She had never been comfortable with full humans, always knowing she was different and that they would fear that difference. From a dragon’s point of view, these suspicious and fearful humans must indeed look pathetic. She spoke sadly, knowing more than she would like to about desperation.  “They have had many years of fear under the tyranny of the blood mages. That will wear a soul down until it is but shadow.”
And they are hungry,
Melly added in her thoughts, looking at the gaunt faces of the small community. The ones who were brave enough to watch did so with less awe and wonder than Melly would have expected. They seemed incapable of much reaction at all.

“General Solan.” She kept her voice low, for dragon ears alone. “Eben and Ladon can make food for the children and me out of air. Can you and your men do that?”

Solan looked from the watchers in their homespun clothes and bare feet.
“There is less magic here. The farther we get from Dracon, the less magic we will be able to work with,” he said thoughtfully. “I would not use the magic we have stored when we soon go into battle.” He looked again at the people , then turned back; his eyes warmed on her. “But a dragon can always hunt,” he said. “Lux. Fly back out and bring back meat. In sufficient quantities for the town. Make it fast. We will not linger here.”

Aarion laughed when Lux whooped.
“Now you have done it,” he chuckled again, watching the giant man and horse disappear into the surrounding forest so as not to terrify the populace with his change. “Lux has a different view on what sufficient meat is—you may get more than you bargained for.”

General Solan shrugged his massive shoulders, then turned back to the forty or so people that seemed to be all this outlying town held.
He raised his voice to be heard. “We seek information and would happily pay for it in meat. Who is in charge here?”

“
No one,” an old woman said when no one else would speak. “When the blood mages fell the barracks were deserted and the commander ran with the rest.” She snorted. “Good riddance,” she muttered. Then louder. “What kind of meat?”

“
Knowing Lux,” Aarion called back, “it will be stag, most likely.”

“
There are none left in these parts. Soldiers hunted the forest around here to bare bones.”

“
He will be hunting a bit farther afield than that,” Aarion said dryly. Just then, a sapphire blue comet shot out of the tree line far back in the forest and twirled to return north. Even from a distance, a dragon was a thing of beauty.

The old
woman turned to study them, then seemed to make a decision. She stepped away from the quick escape of her front doors. “The storytellers say that the dragons ended the Blood Mage Reign.”

General Solan just shrugged, but Melly spoke up, her voice tentative.
“They did.”

“
Why?” she asked bluntly, as more and more people walked closer. “Not that I’m complaining, but dragons don’t tend to concern themselves with human business.”

Melly looked from the old
woman to General Solan. He shrugged again. “I believe they acted once they realized how bad the situation truly was,” Melly answered.

“
You believe?” The woman looked at Melly, eyes narrowed. “You don’t know?”

“
I am not a dragon, nor did I attend the council as my sister did.”

“
You are human, and you travel in such company?”

“
I am a mage.” Melly said bluntly, her chin raised against the reaction she knew was going to come. “And yes, I travel with dragons.”

“
Mage?” The old woman looked horrified as she backed up, as did many of the villagers. One of the men went so far as to spit on the ground in her direction.

Melly felt the reaction of the dragons like a scorch of heat against her skin.
She heard General Solan growl, his eyes flashing dragon gold.

“
The Lady Melisande of House Fire and Water is under my care. To insult her is a grave insult to myself and my knights.”

The old
woman blinked at the change in General Solan. Dragons could be very scary just standing there, but when they wanted to be–they could be terrifying.

“
We just ...” The old woman started, then looked from Melly to the General and then the other dragon males.

“
It’s all right.” Melly said when the woman didn’t go on. She reached up and took hold of Solan’s arm. “I am not here to hurt you, and we are willing to trade you the meat for information.”

The old
woman looked at her warily , her eyes going from Melly to the dragon she touched. “What do you want to know exactly?”

“
Any news that you might have heard regarding mages. Mostly. And if any rumors of a still-living blood mage are floating about.”

“
All the mages died by fire,” one of the men shouted. “As it should be.”

“
As they all will,” someone else yelled from the crowd.

There was a great deal of muttering and then grumbling about the evil ways of
mage folk. Melly ignored it. Solan tensed even further under her hand, and she felt the power around him spike and then circle her, until she was cocooned in his heat.

After a lot of ineffectual grumbling and muttering
, the people returned their attention to the travelers.

“
Why do you ask these things?” The old woman bravely walked forward until she was right next to the cart. “Why do you come here and admit to all what you are?”

“
For too many years I hid in fear of what others would do if they found out what I was. I will not live that way again.” She looked at General Solan. “I am here to help the dragons ensure that there are no more blood mages.”

“
How?”

“
I am a wind talker. Do you know what that is?”

The
woman shook her head. As more people moved forward to hear, Melly closed her eyes and let the wind loose around her. She had expected it to be weak so far from the magic that was Dracon, but it came as a crisp flirt, ruffling skirts and blowing hair around, while the people gasped and backed away again.

“
A true mage, who has not been corrupted by blood, is a part of the elements of the Earth. I can call the wind, and hear its whispers.” She tilted her head. “For instance, I can tell you that your daughter is even now giving birth to your second grandchild, and that it will be a healthy boy.”

The
woman grabbed her throat, her eyes tearing. “How can you know that?”

“
I know what the wind chooses to whisper. And right now it is whispering the return of a blue dragon and three stags for your supper tables.” Everyone turned to look and sure enough a few moments later the great blue beast came flying. He whooshed down and landed in the town square with furred beasts in his talons.

Everyone gasped over the sapphire dragon and the three stags.
A little boy stepped forward to touch the glinting scales and was yanked back by his mother.

General Solan
’s voice boomed over the awestruck people. “Take the meat in payment for your services.”

“
And what is that?” the woman asked. “What could you possibly require from us?”

“
You have already paid,” he said, starting to direct the horses and wagon back into motion.

Melly looked at the old woman
’s confused face and smiled sadly. “We needed to know if the mage’s were still in danger among the humans. You have answered that question well.”

The old
woman finally stumbled back from the wagon just as it started forward. The townspeople watched them until they were out of sight —some with fear and hostility carefully reserved, and some like the old woman, with confusion and hope.

Melly smiled when the whispers started.

“What is it?” Solan asked darkly.

“
They are discussing how best to prepare the meat, and wondering hopefully if the dragons will return again.” She sighed, some of the light leaving her eyes. “And they are hoping if they do that they will not be accompanied by a wicked mage.”

He snorted.
“You, a wicked mage? And us, great brutes welcome? A strange backward people. Lacking in sense.”

“
They have seen the worst that mage kind can do. Never the good.” She shook her head and smiled teasingly. “A dragon now, they can end a hundred year reign of evil in an evening ... and get you a fine meal when you’re hungry. What is there in that to dislike?”

Solan grunted his
annoyance, while the others agreed silently. They were all more than happy to leave the strange humans behind while they continued their journey.

In the
meantime, Melly listened to the wind and wondered what the next town would bring. And when the blood mage would make his move. Since the mark had been unblocked, she could feel the connection like a dark shadow in her soul, leading her unerringly in his direction, but from the other side there was only silence. Was it because they were still too far away? Or something else?

After leaving the village behind, the dragons spent a great deal of time watching Melisande, as if she was suddenly going to break down and bawl like a baby. It was tempting. After the fall of the blood mages, there was the smallest hope that the humans would learn to value what a mage could bring to them, finally considering that they might be an asset to communities with their ability to make plants grow, connect with the earth, reshape mountains, make it rain, or share information—the list went on. Instead, they were still treated like a blight on humanity. And because of that, they would always be enemies. Fear would perpetuate itself , and the mages would always have to hide among the humans. Unless of course, they went the way of the dragon.

When Solan
—who was still riding beside the cart on his massive fire horse—looked at her once again, Melly huffed out a breath. “You need not look at me like I will burst into tears at any moment, General. I may not be as strong willed as the rest of my family, but I am not so easily broken.”

He raised a brow at that.
“You think you are not strong willed?”

Melly blinked at the incredulous tone in his voice.
“Well, no. Not in comparison.”

He snorted in amusement.
It was such an odd sound coming from the General that she ended up the one staring.

“What does that sound mean?”

“
It means, Lady Melisande of House Fire and Water, that I find it odd that you would be on such a journey and not consider yourself strong willed.”

“
One has nothing to do with the other.”

“
And how do you figure that?”

“
I have to do this.” It seemed simple enough to understand. If you don’t have a choice, it hardly shows backbone to do something.

“
You have to, yet you could have stayed home in relative comfort and allowed others to take this journey and kill the blood mage. I assure you he would be just as dead.”

She blinked up at him and then was nearly unseated when the wagon went over a rut.
She gasped and grabbed the reins more securely. “If someone was hurt fighting my battles, it would have been worse than coming myself.”

“
I see.” His tone suggested he was laughing at her but she was willing to let that slide.

Before she could say anything
else, she felt a breeze shifting and halted the wagon with a harsh pull of the reins. The dragons all halted in response and Solan looked around his eyes flashing to raptor gold. “What is it?”

“
We have to go that way.” She pointed to the West. Her head tilted she listened, and then started the wagon up again. “There is a turn-off coming; we must take it, but there are also men waiting for us in the same direction.”

“
Men?”

“
Armed men. They have questions we must answer,” she said vaguely. Then she looked around at the wary dragons. “Don’t kill them when they attack,” she said. “They do not intend harm.”

“
That is reassuring,” Aarion mumbled, kicking his horse back into the lead.

Beside him Lux chuckled, following.
“Take heart, Aarion. Eventually, we have to be able to fight
something.
Even if it is tiny little humans with tiny little swords.”

The banter made Melly roll her eyes and smile, despite the serious circumstances.

“They are used to a bit more action on campaign,” he mumbled, watching her as usual from his constant place shadowing her beside the wagon.

“
So I gather.” She laughed lightly. “Why do I feel that I should apologize for not letting them kill anyone?”

He just shrugged his massive shoulders.
“It’s not as if you are depriving them just to be mean.”

Melly blinked up at him
, wondering if he was serious, then had to shake her head when she caught an unfamiliar glint of humor in his eyes. She chuckled just as they came to the turn. The wind whipped through the trees in a frenzy, blowing through them so strongly that the horse’s flames went out briefly, then flared back. Swords were unsheathed and Lux hefted his massive war axe.

Aarion lifted his head and sniffed the air.
“About thirty men, armed. Looks like an ambush.” He turned back to look at the wagon. “Are you sure we can’t kill them?”

A movement beside her had her tensing.
The ever-silent Furee had moved up beside the wagon on her left side. She tore her eyes away from the sight of him on that fire horse, which looked like something spat out of nightmares. She shivered but relaxed, turning back to answer, trying to be as quiet as possible. “Don’t kill anyone. They don’t want to harm us.”

The knights all looked at General Solan, so Melly did as well.
His eyes on Melly had turned that intense molten silver again. “Don’t kill anyone unless they attack.”

“
They aren’t going to attack,” she muttered.

He shrugged again.
“Then they live.”

Melly had to admit that was fair.
She just hoped the dragons did not perceive an attack when none was meant. This could go very bad, and she
knew
this meeting was important.

When the ambush finally
occurred, it was almost anticlimactic. The wind skittered and then came skipping through the dragons to blow Melisande’s hair and skirts about playfully. She halted the wagon even before the armed soldiers stepped out of the woods to surround them.

Solan looked around at the gathering of men.
They were not soldiers, but woodsman in tunics and trouser that blended into the forest through which they rode. They were all armed with swords, and most with bows and knives as well. Their horses did not jingle or clomp when they walked, and no one talked— just stood there surrounding them with swords and crossbows at the ready.

For their part
, the dragons had closed ranks so that the Lady Melisande was protected, should they be foolish enough to attack, but otherwise Solan held his silence, wrapped his protective power around his mage, and waited.

Finally,
someone pushed his horse forward out of the line of men. His hair was dark, cut short and close, his skin a healthy golden tan. What one might expect from a huntsman, or a soldier. His eye color was an exotic topaz—a usual color for a human, as was the fluid way he moved from the back of the horse to the ground. He was about six feet tall, with broad shoulders and slim hips. His boots were well-scuffed and lacking artifice, though they were a better quality than those most of the men sported, and reached to just above his knees.

He walked boldly around Aarion and Lux, ignoring their warning growls while his eyes sought and found the Lady Melisande in the wagon.
He halted abruptly rather than be impaled when Furee’s sword flashed down to brush across his neck and bar his way. One of the humans released an arrow, probably thinking it was an attack, but Melisande raised her hand and sent it thwacking harmlessly into a tree before things could escalate.  Everybody froze.

The
man’s topaz eyes narrowed on his mage, and Solan heard her gasp, a look of wonder on her face while she stared at the human. Solan didn’t think—he just reacted, leaning down and lifting his mage. He plunked her down in front of him on the horse. Ignoring the questions on her shocked little face that was tipped back to look at him, he turned back to the man, his sword now protecting her front while her back rested against his chest. His power was a thick blanket cocooning her.

“
My lady warned us that we should talk with you when you came and not kill you.” He growled low, his eyes never leaving the man’s. “But my patience is not eternal.”

One dark brow went up over topaz eyes.
“I see.” He looked from the coldly furious dragon to the rosy-cheeked lady held so tightly in his arms. “Then I will be brief. Word reached us that dragons were escorting a wagon, of all things, with a mage prisoner across our lands.” He narrowed his eyes, his head tilted as he studied them. He nodded at the wagon. “I see the dragons and the wagon. So at least part of that is true, but she does not look like a prisoner, or at least she did not until you plucked her up and put your sword across her lap.” He turned those eyes to the Lady Melisande and smiled. “What about it, lady? Are you prisoner?”

Solan felt his power spike, and pulled her closer to his chest.
She tilted her head to give him an inquiring look, before rubbing her hand soothingly across his arm.

She looked to the other man, her eyes assessing, probably trying to figure out what about the man had Solan reacting as he was.
But Solan could hardly explain that he didn’t like the man’s pretty face, or smarmy smile.

“
I am not a prisoner. They are my friends, and do me the honor of helping me on my quest.”

“
A quest?” he asked, his voice rising. “Now what would a beautiful woman be doing on a quest with dragons?” He shook his head, his voice lowered almost to a whisper. “This is a foolish time to be a mage traveling openly, milady. Even with such company.”

“
You hear of a strange mage being held prisoner by four dragons and you come to rescue me? And I am the foolish one?” She smiled at the man, and Solan fought the change he could feel happening as his dragon sought to come out and rend the little man to pieces. He felt a soothing warmth blow across his senses as small mage hands rubbed the tension in his arms. He breathed out some of the aggression but he did not take his liquid silver eyes off the man. Any move on his part to take his mage would be dealt with harshly.

“
Well, as to that, I did have another motive for coming this way. Rescuing a beautiful woman from dragons was just a bonus that cropped up.”

This close
, Solan felt the power swirl around her even before the wind picked up and her eyes started to glow mage green.  Unlike at the campsite, this time the wind continued to grow until it felt like it would wrest her from his arms.  He held on tighter, his own magic wrapped to hold her safe, while he was vaguely aware of the shouting around them.  Then, as abruptly as it started, it was over and Melisande collapsed against his chest.  After a few seconds that felt like eternity, she opened her eyes, and looked around for the man.  He had been bounced back from them with the wind but he returned, nearly at Solan’s knee.  He uttered “wind talker,” in an awed voice.

She started to speak, her eyes still glowing with that mage light and latching onto the human.
“Fire will take or protect what you love. On dragon wings, you will triumph this day. But heed this warning. Send her to the dragons, let go, or someday you will be too late to take the flame meant for her.” Solan felt the power turn his way, watching her struggle to keep her eyes open. “Send Furee,” she whispered. Then it was as if her light was blown out as she collapsed into his arms, the wind finally quiet. He would have been concerned, but he felt her breathing and her face had eased into sleep.

He turned to the man, who had his hands fisted, and looked at his mage with both hope and despair.
“Your name, human?” His growl had the bite of his worry behind it, making the man flinch, then stand straighter and meet his eyes in challenge.

“
I am Braedon, of the Huntsman. And you, dragon?”

“
General Solan Fire-Eater, Commander of the Dragon Knights. Did you understand what she told you?”

“
There is danger ahead, and on dragon wings I will triumph.” From the clench of his jaw, Solan knew he understood what that meant and did not like it. Solan looked to Furee, who was just behind the man, watching for any threatening moves.

“
Furee, take this human where he needs to go, as fast as you can.” He looked down at his exhausted mage. “We will set up camp and hold till your return.”

The
Huntsman took one last look at the mage in the big dragon’s arms and then turned to his men. “Wait in the forest. Do nothing but wait. I will return.”

He looked at Furee his jaw clenched tight.
“Southeast. If time is that important we should smell the fire and hear the mob when we are close.”

Furee gave one narrow eyed look to the Huntsman, then with a final nod to Solan, he backed up until he had room to change.
One second there was a frightening but beautiful man, then there was a dragon that looked to be the heart of a flame. The glowing embers of his eyes found the huntsman, who heroically stood his ground while the other horses and men scattered.

Like the horses he had constructed, Furee
’s flame did not burn unless he wished it to. But the huntsman could not know that. Solan had to grudgingly admire his courage when he stood his ground and allowed the fire dragon to pick him up in sharp-edged talons and carry him away.

The men disappeared into the forest as quick as a thought, and Solan turned to Aarion and Lux.
“Find us a place to camp. Then both of you patrol the surrounding forest. I want no surprises while we wait.”