Kethril (39 page)

He found the evil dragons even more
fascinating though. The black looked fast and sleek even though it
was just sitting there watching Liselle work. Its scales were
shadowy and rejected light.

The purple was the smallest of the four and
in many ways unremarkable. Tathan recognized it as the most
dangerous though. Its aura was stronger than the others, but it
also showed vast intelligence in its eyes. Other than those things,
he couldn’t place exactly how it was more dangerous, but knew to be
extra careful of it.

Tathan realized that he was foolishly sizing
up four creatures that could kill him at any time if they wanted
to. The companions had just slain a dragon, but it had been
unhealthy and insane. Even then, if a few things had gone
differently, they could have lost.

The white one noticed their appearance and
crooked a long talon for them to approach. Tathan signaled his
mount to go forward, but it was having none of it. Apparently,
there was a limit to how much dragon a horse would tolerate. He
sighed and dismounted, being careful not to let his knees buckle
again.

He took a few steps before his arms were
seized. In alarm, he looked to see that the ladies had each grabbed
an arm and clung to it desperately. Fear had chased all rationality
from their eyes. Tathan sighed again and continued forward with
them trying to hide behind his back.

What worried Tathan the most was that
Liselle was still kneeling over Sir Danth, flooding the knight with
her healing. It was questionable if she would be able to do
anything else when done . . . like stand or stay conscious.

The body of Vevin’s father stayed dead, much
to Tathan’s relief. There had been a few instances in his past
where something he killed had come back to life, or undeath . . .
or something else entirely. It was a bad habit dead things
occasionally had, one Tathan didn’t like at all.

Vevin was sitting protectively next to
Liselle. Even though his head was down and he wasn’t making eye
contact with them, he was still defensive of his lover. Tathan
admired that fact, especially since he would make a chew toy for
any one of the new dragons.

It appeared that Liselle was succeeding at
healing Sir Danth. The knight’s armor was no longer crushed and
most of the gashes were fixed. Every rune on it glistened like a
tiny far away star, imbued with Liselle’s energy. The four dragons
were fascinated by the sight and made no move to interrupt.

He was too tired to stand, so he sat on the
ground and crossed his legs a short distance to the left and behind
Liselle. Anilyia and Emmaoen both plastered themselves against his
back, taking whatever meek protection it might give them.

Another trickle of blood fell over his lips
from his nose. He casually wiped it off with his glove and then
wiped that on some grass. The white dragon was the only one that
noticed and it gave Tathan a little frown before concentrating on
Liselle again.

Tathan felt tired. Every part of his body
ached. He wanted very much to lie down and sleep a long time.
Shivers ran up his arms and he began sweating. Concern for his
companions was the only thing keeping him going. He wiped more
blood from his nose.

The healing stopped. Liselle stood and
swayed, only to be steadied by Vevin. He had moved quickly,
startling the four larger dragons. Tathan thought it might be a
terribly bad idea to startle dragons even if you were one.

Liselle’s knees buckled, but Vevin lifted
her up ever so gently in both his claws and set her in a sitting
position against his chest while he protectively curled his tail
around her waist. She looked exhausted, but managed to remain
conscious. Tathan had considered getting up to help, but his body
told him not to even try and he didn’t have the energy to
argue.

Sir Danth didn’t move even though his armor
was whole again. Tathan wondered whether or not Liselle had
succeeded after all.

“That was an impressive display of magic,
Child of the Flowers,” The purple dragon told Liselle in a
powerful, yet feminine voice. Like Vevin, she used magic to form
the words instead of her mouth. Tathan noticed that dragons still
gestured and made facial expressions when speaking, though it was
not technically necessary.

“Wasted though. Why would anyone want to
heal a knight?” Orange asked in a deep, raspy voice. He reminded
Tathan of a grizzled general. “They have tin for brains, and in the
case of that one,” he pointed at Sir Danth, “it’s more true than
usual considering there’s no skull left to house any brains.”

“You’re one to speak of not having brains,”
Black declared in a sophisticated voice that danced through the air
rather than filling it. It reminded Tathan of a minstrel he had met
once. The man had been dashing, brilliant with the ladies, and a
whip with clever insults.

“Well, perhaps I’ll just have to pull yours
out through your nose and use that,” Orange retorted with a
sneer.

“Would you two stop behaving like children,”
Purple said in exasperation.

“He started it, Mommy,” Black replied with a
smirk.

“I’ll finish it too,” Orange threatened
eagerly.

“Enough! And don’t call me ‘mommy’,” Purple
told Black, pointing a talon in his face.

“Yes, Mother.”

In spite of the dangerous situation they
were in, Tathan chuckled. He liked these dragons. They were his
type of people. He wiped more blood from his nose. It was coming
faster now and he could feel it flowing down his chin. He was so
tired and sleep would be wonderful.

Tathan felt a sharp claw gently lifting his
head by the chin. A silver eye appeared in front of him, bigger
than his head. “Here now, we have questions for you. If you let all
your blood flow out of your nose, you’ll die and won’t be able to
answer them.” The bass voice was clear and rumbled through Tathan’s
bones.

Power flowed from the claw into Tathan’s
body. The tiredness eased a little and blood flowed back into his
nose. It was an uncomfortable way to recover it, but it felt better
in his veins than it did having it leak onto the ground. His vision
cleared and breathing became easier again. Emmaoen and Anilyia were
whimpering and pushing against his back even harder by that point
because of how close the dragon was.

The white dragon backed into position and
nodded his head at the others. “He’ll live . . . unless we decide
otherwise.” That made Tathan a little nervous, and a little angry.
He was still too weak to protest though.

“Now, do I have everyone’s attention?”
Purple asked. “Good. You are hereby accused of having killed a
dragon, which violates the dragon/human treaty. Please plead guilty
and sacrifice one of your princesses as punishment, or both in a
gesture of friendship and peace.” The dragon grinned toothily while
both ladies pushed even harder and began crying.

“Not guilty,” Tathan replied loudly. “I
thought you were here to give us some of your extra treasure
because you have too much and need help spending it. Now I’m
disappointed.” He pouted to prove how disappointed he was.

Black chuckled, which sounded like thunder
rolling down hills. The others did not look amused and Tathan got
the distinct impression that dragons took their treasure
seriously.

“I was afraid you were going to be difficult
about this,” Purple said with an impressive sigh. “It was my hope
you’d be reasonable and we could skip the trial.”

“We should just eat the princesses,” Orange
said. “Trials are so boring.” Tathan felt more pressure against his
back. Anilyia and Emmaoen were truly terrified.

“I thought orange dragons were supposed to
be good,” Liselle said wearily from her resting spot against
Vevin’s chest. She was paying close attention to the events in
spite of her condition.

“Orange dragons are not only good, they are
excellent in every way,” Orange declared.

Liselle asked Purple, “Who exactly are you
that you would sit in judgment of us and why are
you
leading
instead of the white?”

“Well that’s a bit racist,” Purple accused
indignantly. “Why does everyone think a white male should lead the
council? You can kiss my scaly purple tail, Flower Child.”

“And we’re not going to tell you who we are.
It’s a secret,” Black said. “Nobody’s allowed to know about the
High Council of Dragons and how we reside over all matters of
dragon law.”

“Well you just gave away the secret and
since no one’s allowed to know that, we’ll have to eat them all,”
Orange said decisively. “Except for the scrawny runt, that would be
cannibalism and he doesn’t have enough meat on his bones
anyway.”

“Oh dear,” Black said with a claw to its
snout and a mischievous glint in its eyes. “Did I just say all
that?”

“You’re not eating anyone.” Liselle was
standing in front of Vevin. Fire engulfed her body again and her
voice had become otherworldly.

“You’re no match for us, Flower Child,”
Orange told her in irritation.

Liselle’s flames dissipated and she swayed.
Vevin steadied her with a claw. “Perhaps I am no match for you, but
if you kill me, the flowers will hate you and all dragons. And if
you try to harm any of us, I will fight you to the death.”

It didn’t seem like much of a threat,
telling dragons that the flowers would hate them, but the four
reacted with alarm. Their eyes swirled faster and they looked
worried.

Tathan decided it was time for him to start
talking. “We plead not guilty.” He stood up with effort and swayed
as much as his cousin. He didn’t have a purple dragon to steady
him, but the ladies stood with him and clamped his arms again. It
was enough for him to stay upright.

The dragons’ attention was on him. He took a
deep breath and began talking his way out of trouble. “The dragon
was in violation of the treaty by using his agent to steal sheep
from humans.”

“Then he should have been reported to the
council so we could punish him. By what authority did you decide to
execute him?” Purple challenged.

“Mine,” Emmaoen said faintly, but bravely,
from around Tathan’s shoulder.

Purple drummed her claws on a rock. “We
recognize Tathan of the Shadows, Liselle of the Flowers and the
Princess Anilyia of Mayncal, but we do not recognize you other than
the fact that you are a princess. Announce yourself.”

“I . . . I am Emmaoen Silverheart, D . . .
Duchess of Kethril,” she stammered. It was taking all her courage
to confront the council.

Tathan interrupted. “You recognize me? I
didn’t know dragons paid attention to humans.”

“You are not a normal human,” Black replied.
“You are, however, very fascinating. I love listening to tales of
your adventures.”

“I don’t think he’s all that fascinating,”
Orange disagreed. “Tathan of the Shadows is a menace.”

“Yes.” Black nodded. “I like that about him.
It’s a fine quality to have.”

“That’s neither here nor there,” Purple
interjected. “I’m interested in what the girl said. She called
herself a duchess, but she smells like a princess.”

“I do like princesses,” White said with a
longing sigh and a lick of the lips. The others nodded in
agreement. Emmaoen ducked behind Tathan’s back some more. It seemed
she was done speaking.

Tathan spoke for her. “She was born a
princess, but is now a duchess. Her uncle, King Cranwer, sent her
to investigate the ship that was stealing the sheep and attacking
villages.”

“Then, through his representative, the King
of Kethril has issued an attack on dragons . . . wait, you said a
ship was attacking villages? Why would you attack the dragon then?”
Purple asked.

“Perhaps the ship was the agent he spoke
of,” Orange suggested. “Have you been stuffing bunnies in your ears
again or are you just stupid?”

Purple smacked Orange in the side of the
head with a loud crack. The movement was lightning fast and caught
Tathan by surprise. Orange responded by sticking his tongue out at
her while the other two chuckled. Purple turned back to Tathan. “It
seems you are not going to give up the princesses without a trial.
So be it. Explain your position.”

The four dragons listened while Tathan
explained about the ship’s attacks on the villages and King
Cranwer’s request that the companions go with Emmaoen to
investigate. He told them Aermoirre’s story of how her children
were being held captive by the ‘monster’. The dragons questioned
the ship to verify the story. They were able to understand the
ship’s communication by using a spell. In the process, they learned
that Vevin’s father had used a similar spell to communicate with
the ship and make the threats.

Tathan told the Council how the ship had
brought them to the valley during conversation and how Vevin’s
father had come out of the cave. At that point, the companions felt
there was no choice but to fight for their lives.

When Tathan was done, Purple asked, “Who
delivered the killing blow?”

“I did,” Tathan admitted.

“How did you kill the monster as you call
him?”

“I stabbed it in the heart.”

“Just like that?” White asked, frowning.

“Not really. It was difficult since the
heart . . .”

“Do not finish that sentence.” Orange put a
talon in front of Tathan’s nose.

“How did you know where it was?” Black asked
in curiosity.

“My sword found it,” Tathan answered
cryptically.

Black smiled at the sword on Tathan’s waist.
“So that is Lifedrinker. I would like very much to have it.”

“No!” the other three said in unison. Black
held up his claws innocently.

Liselle frowned at Tathan, who did his best
to ignore the look. Her dislike for the sword was growing stronger
the more she learned about it. It didn’t surprise him that a dragon
would covet it for treasure, nor did it surprise him that the
others would not want Black to have it.