Dragon Dodgers (Wounds in the Sky Prequels Book 1) (6 page)

“
Should have guessed it.” Targon stood up with a
sigh.

“
No!” Enrig said. “I’m not
lying, I just don’t really remember where…”

“
Shush.” Anweh told him. “Not so loud, sweetie. We’re on the
surface.”

They don’t believe me…
He thought.

“
You have to trust me, there
is
a cave and
I
did
find it, but…”

“
It’s ok.” Anweh ruffled his hair kindly. “These woods are
pretty thick, we’ll be alright here.”

Enrig pushed her hand away and got
up.

“
I’m not lying.” He
yelled.

There were
several shushes from the crowd of Runners. Nasur’s hand was
covering Carn’s face once again.

“
It’s ok, sweetie. We
believe you, don’t we Captain?”

“
Sure we do.” He replied
with a dismissive hand wave.

Enrig clenched his teeth and both his
fists.

“
I said I was going to find it, and I
will
.” He
said, then stormed off and disappeared into the woods.

* * *

“
I’m blaming you for this.” Targon said, ducking under a low
branch.

“
Did you really have to call him a liar?” Anweh
replied.

“
You’re sure he took off
this way?”

“
I’m sure you’re an
idiot.”

Targon
exhaled loudly. The terrain was getting steeper and rockier, but
the foliage was still as dense as before, making the search almost
impossible. They called out for Enrig a couple of times, but didn’t
dare to do it loudly.

“
Should we split?” Targon
asked.

“
Yeah, that way I’ll have
two kids to find instead of just one.”

“
I thought you liked
chasing me.” Targon teased.

“
I stopped liking it
recently.”

Targon
had trouble
answering that.

“
Little blossom,
please…”

“
Don’t call me that.” She snapped. “Don’t you ever call me
that again.” She tried to regain her composure. “Let’s just find
the kid, alright?”

There was nothing Targon could
say, really. She was right to be angry with him, and
he was wrong about, well, everything.

“
I’m sorry.” Targon
said.

She stopped, her back facing
him.

“
What does that
mean?”

“
That I’m sorry I’m doing
this to you. You don’t deserve it.”

“
But you’re still not
going to take me with you.” She guessed.

“
I can’t.”

Targon heard
a deep sigh, then Anweh started walking again, abandoning their
argument. She stepped through the trees, her head swinging from one
side to the other, searching for the boy. Targon went after her,
pretending to do the same, yet too busy trying to figure something
to say.

They kept going for a while
, until the trees suddenly gave way to a clearing on the
other side of which stood a vertical stone wall.

“
Wow!” Anweh let
out.

“
I know… I guess the kid might have been right. There could
be a cave somewhere along this wall.”

“
So the question is, left
or right?” Anweh said.

“
Are you sure you don’t want to split up?” Targon asked
her.

She solemnly said no with a shake of
her head.

* * *

Enrig put his two hands down, making sure he didn’t slip on
the moss covered rocks. That was the exact same gray stone that he
remembered from the cave,
so
maybe he wasn’t far from the entrance. Although that was a big
maybe. He looked back at the trees and tried to visualize the path
he had just taken from the grove. After all, it wouldn’t be of any
use if he found the cave, but not the way back.

He
remembered that the entrance wasn’t completely level with the
ground, so he decided to climb a little further, when –

A quick shadow ran by and Enrig almost lost his balance. A
cold hand squeezed his stomach
. He couldn’t be sure it wasn’t a cloud, but clouds were
never that fast. He hurried along the stone wall, hoping to find
the cave at each corner he turned. If it really was a Dragon, his
only chance was getting inside.

Finally, he
saw it.
He remembered the small clearing in front of the cave vividly, and
that was it. With a quick glance towards the sky, he hasted towards
the massive hole in the rock. He realized he had climbed a bit too
far, which meant he would have to step down a few feet.

He was
already on top of the cave when a spine chilling roar echoed around
him. Enrig lost his feet and then, everything happened so fast he
only realized he was falling when he hit the ground, hands first
against the hard rock. A sharp pain shot through his wrist up to
his elbow and Enrig let out a hurtful cry. It was the worst thing
he could possibly do with a Dragon nearby, but the pain made
everything else disappear.

With tears rolling down his
face, he covered his own mouth with his good arm, biting
hard on his clothes.

“
What are you doing?! Be quiet!” Enrig heard someone
yell.

He rolled
onto his other side, towards the voice, and saw a man standing
before the cave. At first, he assumed it was one of the Runners,
but he had never seen that man before. He was holding a knife and
Enrig focused on its blade. It was long, thick and…
translucent?

* * *

They ran as fast as they possibly could, hoping against
hope they could get there before the roaring Dragon got to
Enrig.
At least his screams
gave them a good idea of where he was.

When they finally cleared the tree line, the cave seemed to
jump up towards them
– a
massive black hole on the face of the mountain – Enrig was by its
entrance, lying on his back, but instead of a Dragon, a stranger
was kneeling beside him, with a knife in his hand.

“
Step back!” Targon
said.

“
Easy.” The stranger
said, sheathing his weapon. “Your friend just startled me,
that’s all.”

“
Who the surface are you?” Targon looked around, his hand on
his knife. “Are you alone?”

“
I am Balcazar, and yes, I am alone.” He gestured towards
the cave. “We should get in, though, there’s an Eastern Short-Tail
around here.”

The stranger was right, if the Dragon
hadn’t noticed them yet, he would soon, unless they got
inside.

“
Do you know how to get
back to the Company?” Targon asked Anweh. She nodded yes. “Bring
them here, I’ll stay with the kid.”

She
disappeared into the forest and Targon kneeled beside
Enrig.

“
Your friend broke his arm.” Balcazar told him.

“
How can you tell?” Enrig said
, his voice muffled by the pain. “Are you a physician or
something?”

“
Actually, I used to be an
apprentice to a physician.”

“
Used to?” Targon asked, lifting Enrig from the
ground.

“
Died from a fever.” Balcazar said. “That’s actually pretty
ironic, isn’t it?” he paused and smiled. “I had never thought about
it that way.” He shook his head in amusement.

Targon
helped Enrig
walk, very slowly, into the cave. The boy was biting his own lips
in an effort to keep quiet. The tunnel curved slightly to the left,
revealing an inner lake. Light and droplets poured from somewhere
above it.

Targon laid Enrig against a polished
stalagmite.

“
Do you think you can fix
my arm?” Enrig asked.

Balcazar shook his head.

“
I’m afraid I never
finished my training. Wouldn’t know where to start.”

He was almost a head taller than
Targon, but his soft skin and childish features somehow made him
seem smaller.

“
It’s ok.” Targon told
Enrig. “Thamet can patch you up.”

“
But I can help you with something else.” Balcazar removed a
small pouch from his belt. “I’m an Alchemy apprentice. I can give
you something for the pain.” He smiled.

“
Alchemy?!” Targon said. “
That’s interesting. You wouldn’t happen to know an
alchemist called Kanuur?”

Balcazar’s eyebrows jumped
up.

“
Know him?” He asked.
“He’s my Master.”

Anweh returned to the cave followed by the rest of the
Company and, of course, Carn. The king’s agent brushed past
everyone else and stormed up to Targon.
The Captain was standing in front of a fire he had
just lit to keep Enrig warm.

“
So now we have picked up another useless person.”
Carn said, staring down on Balcazar.
“I thought bringing an inexperienced apprentice was enough,
Captain.” His hand waved across Enrig’s body. “As his present
condition clearly illustrates.”

“
Bringing useless people
is a tradition of this Company.” Targon told him. “That began with
you, Mr. Carn.”

“
It’s Counselor Carn to you, Captain.” He replied. “What
about the newcomer?” He turned to Balcazar. “Who might you
be?”

An alarm
sounded in Targon’s mind, but he didn’t react fast enough. Balcazar
gave Carn a bow and pleasantly said:

“
My name is
Balcazar…”

Targon
watched as the disaster unfolded, feeling as helpless as in a dream
where his legs refused to move.

“
Actually, you might be pleased to learn that…” Balcazar
continued. “…I am the apprentice of the Alchemist you seek - Master
Kanuur.”

Oh,
no!

“
Oh” Carn
said, his
eyebrows shooting up. He quickly glanced at Targon, almost
apologetically. "That is a remarkable coincidence!”

“
Well… Actually…” Targon babbled. “Maybe we should…” He had
no idea what to do or say to avoid the imminent
disaster.

“
I do scour this region
frequently.” Balcazar said. “You know, for supplies. And this is
the safest place in miles.”

“
Of course.” Carn said. “You must tell us all about this
famous poison, then.”

“
What poison?”

Oh crap
…

“
The Dragon poison, of
course!” Carn said. “Did the Captain not tell you? That is the
reason we seek your Master.”

“
Dragon poison? What
Dragon poison?” Balcazar looked confused.

Carn spun around, his eyes bolting at
Targon.

“
You lied!”

“
Wait a moment…” Targon looked around. Everyone in the
Company was approaching, circling the three of them.

“
You lying bastard, I knew it.” Carn said.

“
He is not Master
Kanuur, he might not know about it…” Targon
suggested.

“
No…” Balcazar said thoughtfully. “I think I would know
about something like that. I mean, that would be a pretty big
deal.”

“
You tried to scam the king…” Carn said. He looked a bit too
happy with himself. “Do you have any idea what is the penalty for
something like that?”

“
Calm down, I wasn’t
scamming anyone.”

The royal
counselor didn’t seem to care. He flung around, addressing the
whole Company.

“
I’m still in possession of the ten thousand Spades.” He
announced. “Arrest this man for me, escort us back to Saggad and
they are yours.”

There was a commotion among the
Runners as they mumbled impatiently.

“
There is no poison, Captain?” Shayllah asked.

“
Yeah, what the surface, Cap?!” Samir complained.

“
E
verybody just calm
down.” Targon ordered.

Serak broke
through the crowd, entering the circle, his skinning knife
unsheathed and firmly grasped in his hand.

“
Serak…” The Captain said.

“
Don’t worry, Captain…” There was ice in his voice. “I won’t
hurt you.” He made a quick spin, locked Carn in a tight grip, and
put his knife against the Counsellor’s throat. “But I am going to
collect those ten thousand coins.”

“
No!” Targon screamed.
“Don’t do it.”

Carn
screamed and squirmed, begging for help. The Captain stepped slowly
towards him.

“
Easy, Serak. Don’t
do
anything stupid.” Targon’s advance, however, was stopped by another
knife. Thamet’s knife.

“
Thamet, have you lost your mind?!” Nasur sounded like he
was about to slap him, and he was going to step forward, but
another knife appeared, this time, on his own neck. “What
the…”