Dragon Talker (26 page)

Agardia saw a worried look cross Hental’s face. “Don’t worry,” she comforted him, “you’re not in trouble this time. If we have one son talking to a dragon, I suppose the other can play with a dog when the opportunity arrives.”

Hental relaxed. “Can we talk about something else. I need some help thinking.”

“Of course, Henti. I wouldn’t mind thinking about something else myself.”

“I’m going to be a goat herder. Selma told me so.”

“I thought so, Hental. I’m proud of you. If Selma thinks you will be a good herder, you know you have proven yourself.”

“But…” Hental hesitated.

“What is it Hental?”

“I don’t want to move out…” Hental started to cry. “I…don’t….want…to be alone.”

Agardia moved over to Hental and gave him a big hug. “Oh Hental, you don’t have to move out until you want to. How are you going to eat if you’re not here?”

Hental wiped a few tears from his cheeks. “Yeah, I got to eat, don’t I?”

“And as long as you’re here for supper, you might as well sleep over, right?”

Hental was smiling. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Well, I think that will be okay. But maybe some times your tatush could go over and sleep with you. Keep an eye on the goats.”

Hental’s smile got bigger. “Do you think he would do that?”

“Are you kidding me? A father loves to see his son’s work. That’s down in their blood. He might even go out with you to help out once in a while.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. I might even come out, maybe bring a lunch to you. How does that sound?”

Hental realized he was acting more like a boy who didn’t want to leave than a young goat herder, but he didn’t care. He would grow up a little later. Still, he put on his serious face for his mother as he said, “I think that will work out good. I can teach you about herding. It’s kinda complicated.”

“I bet it is, Hental, and I can’t wait to learn from you.”

Hental stood up, feeling so much better than he did only minutes ago. “I better go check on my goats, and see how Selma is.”

“Okay, my little goat herder. You take care of your trip.”

Hental, knowing everything would be fine, ran to Selma’s hut. Agardia went over and picked up her sleeping baby, holding her close. She swayed gently back and forth, trying to process all the new information.

Agardia sat quietly, rocking her baby quietly and thinking of all her boys. She got angry just thinking about someone bringing trouble to her boys, her adopted village. “We’re going to make a plan,” she whispered to her baby, “and we will be ready for whatever comes.”

Chapter 39

Xeron didn’t need to block the pain because he was still in shock. Tail Biter had done an excellent job mangling his forearm. In the three years together, Xeron had imagined a lot of things, but being attacked by his own dog was not one of them. All mages put protections against that possibility. He had done his work with the binding. As he stared at the wound, he was both proud his magic was strong enough to do this and disappointed that Tail Biter had actually attacked him.

Melanie was watching him closely, “Don’t be mad at the dog, you’re the mage.”

“Yes, I am, and it won’t do to be walking around with my arm in this state.” Xeron shook his head and focused on the wound, repeating a healing mantra in his mind. As all three watched, the wound began to heal. Soon, there was only a thin scar line as the skin sealed over healed muscle.

Tail Biter came forward and sniffed his arm, giving it a lick.

Xeron pulled his arm away.

Tail Biter’s tail started to wag as he walked back over to Melanie’s side. Melanie put her hand on his head, “I get this dog thing. I could have used an ally like this against Perante.”

“No, you couldn’t. Or you wouldn’t have wanted one. He would have killed your dog before you could say a word. If I hadn’t…Let’s just say me being alive has just as much to do with timing as it does my skill.” He stretched out his arm. It felt stiff, but he knew that would go away. “Are you ready to go?”

“I just need to pick up a few things.”

“Are you sure? Leaving a place like this might be easiest if they don’t see it coming.” As he said that, he kicked himself for spending so much time with the cook. “Why don’t we go for a walk. I have enough gold and skills to buy or barter anything we need.”

Melanie thought about what little she had. “Fine, let’s go then.” She headed out into the hall. Tail Biter followed her.

An odd feeling ran through Xeron. It took a moment, but he realized he was jealous, angry, and hurt all at the same time. He followed, muttering, “I’ve spend too much time with that dog.”

Leaving the chateau was not difficult, but Xeron wouldn’t feel better until he had a day’s travel from the place. There was only one main road to or from the chateau. Xeron didn’t like walking down it, but there was little choice in the matter. Only Melanie knew where they were. As they walked, he tried to get a sense of where he was and what had happened to her. The heavy trees kept him from seeing any landmarks that he could use, and the blur stayed on her. Even the connection to Tail Biter, which was definitely working, only showed up faintly when he attempted to see it.

The first hour, neither talked. During the second hour, Melanie started talking to herself, but Xeron couldn’t quite make out what she was saying. He also decided to give her space to work out whatever was going through her mind. She stopped when they came to a tree that had recently fallen across the path. The first thought that went through Xeron’s mind was to look for a trap. For Melanie, she saw a seat and sat down, saying, “I need a little break.”

Xeron looked around and sent out a spell that was good at finding hostile intent. If there were people out looking for trouble, he would feel a burning at the back of his neck. When nothing came back to him, he said, “Me too,” and sat down not quite next to her but close enough that said they were partners in this trip.

The trees around them were pine. Xeron took a moment and to just enjoy the smell of pine and the crisp air. It didn’t last long, though, before he refocused and said, “I know there is something you’re not telling me.”

Melanie looked at him, “I’m not telling you anything.”

“True,” he replied, “but I mean why you are here. Why you were able to leave. Perante isn’t the type to use weak or sloppy magic, and you are hard to read.”

When Melanie shrugged her shoulders, he said, “There’s something about you that messes with magic, isn’t there?”

Melanie wasn’t planning on answering that question, so she ignored it and asked, “What about water?”

“Huh?” Xeron didn’t know of water having any effect on magic.

“Water, you mages do drink, don’t you? You didn’t want us to stop for anything and we do not have any water. I’m thirsty.”

“Water, yes, well you are in charge of that.”

“I am?” She looked confused.

“You have Tail Biter, don’t you? He can sniff it out. Tell him you want water and he’ll find us a stream or lake.”

Melanie was doubtful, “and what if there isn’t anything nearby?”

“He’s bonded to you. If he gets too far away, he’ll start feeling off and come back.”

“No, how else can we get water?”

“What do you mean, no?” Xeron wasn’t used to people saying no to him, at least people who had no magical ability.

Melanie stood up, “I have Tail Biter to protect me from you. I’m not sending him off away from me. That would be stupid. I’m not stupid. You must have another way to get water. So, what is it?”

Xeron rubbed his eyes, “How can I say this? Please don’t take this the wrong…” He stopped himself, “What am I saying? You take nothing I say the right way. I don’t care about you. I just wanted a guide and some company out of that chateau.” Even as he said it, he knew he was lying. He was getting more and more curious about the “blur” as he started to call it. She had some sort of defense against magic and he wanted to know what it was.

“I may not be a mage, but I know when a man is lying to me.”

Xeron laughed, “Oh, I bet you do. And you’re half right. I really mean it when I say I was just looking for a guide, but this ‘blur’ around you has me fascinated.”

“I haven’t heard that one before, my blur.” She raised her voice at the end, making it a question.

“You are the full set, aren’t you? If you are a mage, seeing auras is part of the deal. The easiest way to show you would be a little magic and a little birch bark, but since I don’t have the birch, you’ll have to trust me on this.”

Melanie just stared at him.

“Or not.” He knew her trust wasn’t something she was going to give him easily. “Water, then. There are a lot of ways to get water, sending Tail Biter out is just the easiest and safest.”

Xeron looked around their immediate vicinity, looking for a suitable tree. He spotted it up the trail, a tall pine a buck must have rubbed its antlers across. He called, “Let’s go,” as he headed over. Melanie and Tail Biter followed, Melanie climbing over the fallen tree they had been sitting on and Tail Biter ducking under.

At the tree, Xeron explained, “You’ve seen people tap sap. Well, you can also tap water, with a little magical help.”

“It’s right here and you wanted to send Tail Biter out? I knew that was crap.”

Xeron sighed, “No, it wasn’t. What I’m about to do is going to turn this non-descript tree into the equivalent of a Maple tree in fall. By doing that, any mage looking will see this tree as if it were on fire. That makes one good reason not to. I have no particular animosity for trees. Destroying one for a drink of water seems overkill to me.”

Melanie put her hands up in supplication, “Okay, you have your reasons. Let’s just drink and move on.”

As Melanie watched, Xeron went to the fresh scars on the tree, bending the loose bark to form a sort of primitive v-shaped funnel. With both hands on the tree, he started to say the spell that would bring water from the roots up and out of the gash in the tree, creating a nice, drinkable flow of water. The water started to trickle out and down the bark funnel, but Xeron couldn’t remove his hands from the tree. He felt himself, or his energy, pulled into the tree and down through its roots. Fear gripped his heart as he wondered if he was going to lose himself, leaving a husk of a body standing next to a tree.

Melanie saw his body go tense, “What’s wrong?” Seeing the water start to trickle out of the tree, she added, “It’s working.”

Xeron could barely hear her, as if he was hearing her voice from underground. He willed himself to fight the pull, even as he felt himself become the roots of the tree. The roots seemed to grow with his energy, digging down deeper into the soil, searching out more water until he could barely remember what it felt like to be human. The roots hit the water table. It was as if he had dived into a cool river. And then he was returning, bringing the underground lake with him.

At first, Melanie was impressed. The water increased in volume, as if it was being pumped out of a well, but Xeron suddenly looked like he was becoming the tree. His hands turned the color of bark and she would have sworn they were taking on the texture of bark, too. Tail Biter started growling, but she couldn’t tell if he was growling at Xeron or the tree. The water was now rushing out of the tree in such force pieces of bark started snapping off the tree. Both she and Tail Biter backed away from Xeron and the tree.

The ground trembled slightly under her feet, causing her to lose her balance as she was turning to run from the tree. She was barely keeping her balance, one hand on the ground, as she kept moving away from the tree when she heard loud snapping followed by sound of the large tree cracking opening, exploding in a deluge of water, bark, branches, and large chunks of the trunk. Tail Biter appeared, running into her side, knocking her down as large pieces of the tree flew through the air where she had been.

She ended up lying on her back with Tail Biter on top of her chest. Water geysered out of what was left of the trunk of the tree, raining water down in a circle around the trunk. Melanie asked Tail Biter, “What are you doing?” and pushing him off saying, “You’re crushing me. How much do you weigh?”

Sitting up, she saw Xeron, still standing in front of the stump. He was completely soaked, but appeared unharmed. “Magic,” she muttered, as she looked around in the rain. The tree had exploded. Pieces of the trunk, big and small, were scattered all around the tree out to one hundred yards. The majority of the tree fell in the opposite direction of Xeron, and was caught at an angle, shattered trunk on the ground and the rest of the tree held up at a forty-five degree angle by the branches of the trees next to it. The weight of the tree, though, was slowly pulling it down through the branches. She could hear those branches snapping and groaning as it happened.

She watched, amazed, as the rain closed in on itself in an ever shrinking circle, until there was only a light mist in the air. The edge of the rain receded as the force of water dropped from a geyser to a steady flow out of the trunk, as if an underground stream decided to exit through the trunk. The rest of the world started to return to Melanie’s attention. She felt that her clothes were soaked, making her suddenly feel cold in the chill fall air. She smelled Tail Biter, the unmistakable smell of wet dog. Little rainbows appeared in the mist wherever sunlight penetrated the canopy of pine. She heard the snap of wood and as the fallen tree settled against the branches that continued to hold it up at a slowly decreasing angle from the ground.

She shook her legs, moved her arms, and smoothed the hair away from the front of her eyes. “Wet, but alive.” She patted Tail Biter, who was no longer on top of her but hadn’t moved from her side. “You stink.”

Tail Biter, soaked, shook his body, sending water all over Melanie. She wanted to scream but didn’t want to open her mouth. Instead, she raised her hands to protect her face. When he stopped, she growled, “I’m going to kill you.” Tail Biter rolled over in submission. After the anger receded, she laughed at herself, sitting there completely soaked and getting angry over a little more water. “You’re all right.” Tail Biter rolled himself upright.