The Shelter
Water oozed down the back wall of the little shelter.A slab of rock jutted up from the landscape, a steep enough angle to cover them. It wouldn’t have kept them hidden from the hunters, but the rain did that well enough.If Remin hadn’t shaken the brains out of his head with all the bowing and scraping he did, then he might have mind enough to as Treylen had told him—keep them moving toward town. At any rate they weren’t likely to find him while a mother dragon poured fire down on them through the storm.Volgnash lay at the back and leaned on the rock, where Treylen had ordered him to go, the rivulets of water running over him and mixing with the blood that seeped from the wound on his chest. His rider sat against him. She had fussed over his wound until it became clear she couldn’t do anything. He wasn’t bleeding quickly at least. The rider had suffered a gash to
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Land of Dragon 22
The Dinner“I’m sorry for the death you had to witness,” Jargus said as theyreached the stairs to house Duremo. “It is the price we pay to serve our queen. She’ll mark our hunt a great success even if we did lose a man.”“Thank you, but I understand.” Treylen followed the others through the hall and out to the courtyard overlooking the city. “I’ve not been long in Iverna, but already I know the importance of your queen’s favor.”“It’s everything,” said Remin. “You’ll see, in time. Just take care not to run afoul of it.”“Heed that,” said Jargus, “Now, this is where we leave you. Oakwren and Roland here will take you to gather your things then see you safely back to Duremo Lodge where we can put a closer watch on you. I hope you understand it’s for your protection. There’s a killer on the loose, after all.”“I’m grateful for it,” Treylen lied, bowing again. “As long as it won’t interfere with me resuming my duties.”“It must,” said Jargus. “There’ll be no touring the mines until after
Land of Dragon 23
The Bath “They're waiting on me,” he said. “I must be going.”“As you will, my lord. Take care out there. There's a killer about.” “Thank you.” He shut the door as he stepped out and raced down thealley, leaping onto the rooftops.They’re at the door, bondmate.Treylen launched himself from roof to roof, not bothering to hide his footfalls now. He raced down the line, leaping over the stairs. An unsuspecting guard holding a torch walked their rounds beneath. They peered up, but he was already gone. He jumped to grab the railing and rolled inside, hearing the sound of a key in the door and more knocking. Treylen crawled to the tub and rolled into it, clothing and all, the water splashed and sloshed, as he sank down so just his face was showing as the door burst open.“I was afraid you’d drowned,” said a woman's voice, not the innkeeper. “I’m sorry, Lord Cren’pin,” the innkeeper sa
Land of Dragon 24
The Letter Marziel was gone.Countess Tsoro had ridden to Coal Abbey in person to retrieve him, only to be told that he’d been lost in the mines the same day that he’d seen her messenger. Three days later, he was still missing. To her credit, the Countess had taken it well. She’d even gone so far as to console Cren’pin. The mines of Coal Abbey were extensive. He would not be the first to have been lost this way, nor the first to be found again, should he return. Her own soldiers were looking for him along with the assassins who trained there.When they found him, the queen’s servants would ensure his swift return to Wetherdin for questioning.Treylen wasn’t concerned. There was a small chance that Marziel had truly gotten lost in the mines, but he doubted it. Spymasters were revered by the monks, they would tell whatever lies he asked them to, and they certainly wouldn’t
Land of Dragon 25
The Village “What is it?”Treylen cracked the door and put an eye to the opening.His cousin Laureth pressed near to the door, a dark shawl covering her hair, her face unpainted.“Lord Cren’pin, can we talk?” “I don’t know, can we?”Treylen pulled the door open and scanned the hall. The guard assigned to his room stood to the left, feigning disinterest. To the right was Oakwren— the hunter who’d accompanied him into the Dragon Lands with Jargus and Remin. She seemed to be accompanying Laureth.“I had thought we might walk. You had expressed an interest in touring the old tower, had you not?”Had he? Treylen nodded anyhow.“Just a moment.” He shut the door in her face and raced to the bed.Rime, I’m leaving you here. He pulled the daggers from their hiding place and strapped them on beneath his shirt. As dangerous as it was to
Land of Dragon 26
The Reunion Treylen peered into the shadows as the steady click of metal onstone drew closer. From a tunnel opposite where they’d entered came a monstrous lowsater. His cloven hooves were shod like an oxen and his frame towered over the doorways of the empty village. Uberetus was tall enough to make the Lowsater he had seen in the mine look small. Treylen had to wonder how a man his size could even manage in the tight tunnels and lifts of the mines.Though his star-speckled coat was more patchy than it had been, and his vest and skirt more threadbare, he still carried himself with the patronly bearing of an elder regent. Perhaps he was once a great leader of his people.“You can come out, Lomish man. I see you perfectly well there in the dark.” His voice was loud but welcoming, deep but silken, and drawled with the cadence of one whose patience knew no end.Uberetus stopped jus
Land of Dragon 27
The HandbagOAKWREN WAS A WOMAN OF FEW WORDS. IT MADE THE WALK BACK EASIER,as Treylen only had one set of incessant questions to answer. Laureth wanted to know everything about his time in Lome and the night he had rescued the Lowsater. From training with Marziel, he’d learned enough to answer most of them without giving any real information. It was bad enough that they knew his purpose here.Instead, he shifted the focus to what Marziel had told him of the lowsater, how they were not the founders of the Stone Kingdom but inherited it from the dwarves long ago. A kind people, they had welcomed humans into their mountain home and together, they had carved grand cities on the slopes.When the Jaul conquered the Stone Kingdom, it was the humans who’d caused their downfall, and the Lowsater—a peaceful people—had fled rather than allow themselves to be drafted into the armies of the Jaul. Some fled overland, others undergroun
Land of Dragon 28
"You look well,” Treylen’s father said, rolling his eyes. "What are you doing here?” Treylen asked.“Your mother thought that you would be glad to see us. Aren't you?” “I’m sure that I would be, but I'm working. How did you even get aninvitation?”“Your aunt has a friend in Count Warren. Oh, my son, you are so important now.” It was dripping with sarcasm, but there was a grain of envy in the words. “What is it you're up to anyway?”“Just admiring the design work here. I’m a bit surprised you built it. This lodge is not your style.”“It's how they wanted it,” his father sighed. “I told them it didn't match the tower. Anyway, Owen Priscus did the drafting and the oversight. He has a protégé of his own now. Less work for me. You could have done the same, but then I suppose that's not quite as grand as being a lord.”“I’m not a lord,” Treylen whispered, looking around. “I serve a higher power. Besides, I wouldn't have built it like
Land of Dragon 29
The Gathering It had taken half the night to coerce Rime into staying in Treylen’sroom and not his mother’s. Not only had she fed and lavished attention on him, but Rime was angry at Treylen on his mother's behalf.Treylen had reminded Rime that they were serving a higher power than his mother. He was playing as Cren’pin: a murder suspect who had no business mingling with dinner guests he didn't know.At last Rime had slipped in through his balcony door and scowled at him from the top of the wardrobe. A visit with Treylen's mother always left the dragon like that, but he couldn't fault him. Sometimes he felt the same way toward himself.He couldn't sleep.He lay awake and stared at the ceiling, thinking of what the caverns below might hold and wondering just how foolish it was to disappear now when the pieces were just starting to fall into