Invading Will Chapter 13
#23 of Invading Will
Invading Will Chapter 13 By: D. C. Henry ("Ahndeleck")
They camped on the side of the road that evening. Richard guessed they had gone just a little over half way to Fort Blister, they had made good time. The dragon and the guards decided to use small camp on the opposite side of the road. Richard sat next to Peter and Thomas, while Deanna sat across the fire gazing into it. With the trees growing right beside the road, when the sun set the forest grew dark before sunset.
Most of the group had talked on the way, but Richard had kept to himself. He watched all of them. Peter was definitely right about Deanna and Raogothcar. During their time on the trading ship, Richard had managed to discover that all three of the guards were unwavering in their devotion to Deanna. He still hoped that Thomas might see how dangerous Deanna was.
"Tomorrow we'll be in Fort Blister." Peter said as he stretched his arms, "They should know we're coming and have made arrangements for us all. Nice rooms, some good food, It'll be a nice change from the last several days of travel."
"I'm looking forward to it myself," Thomas said, "I've heard Fort Blister has some fine food in parts of it."
"Where'd you hear that, Thomas?"
"Well, you know, as a scout I list to all the trader's stories. There's supposed to be this small bakery near the southern gate that has the best sweet rolls on this side of the Dimikai mountains, or so I've heard."
"I've eaten there," Peter leaned closer, "and it is good. Mr. Wood is the best baker I've ever met."
"You both know we're not here to eat," Deanna never lost her gaze into the fire, "Tomorrow we'll begin work trying to hunt down some druids. Have any of you thought about how to find druids that don't want to be found?"
"Well, there's only two places that they could hide," Peter waved towards Richard, "Richard could take the woods with the guards, and then the rest of us can go into town and search there."
"If we all don't go into Fort Blister, might that cause the Mayor to see us acting suspiciously? I'd think, Peter, that it might be best if we all arrived together."
"Peter sent word that we'd be coming," Richard saw the opportunity Peter tried to make, "If soldiers find us, we can tell them we're part of the group to help against the druids. They'd be certain to welcome the help I'm sure."
"I did send word Deanna," Peter continued, "and the Mayor would have told all the commanders here to be watching for us. I don't see that it would be a problem. They're expecting you all, and it would help greatly. You said yourself, we need to start working tomorrow, what better way?"
Deanna nodded slightly without breaking her vision from the fire.
"Richard," Thomas threw a small stick into the fire, "I think it would be best to at least stay inside the city at night. You're good out in the woods, better than I am, but those guards aren't. We don't want anyone catching all of you by surprise. At least at first until we can figure out more of what's going on."
"That's a good a idea Thomas. I'll do that. I don't want any surprises honestly. I might be in my element, but these druids live out here after-all. I'm definitely going to be staying behind the walls at night."
"Good." Deanna finally looked at them all, "It's at least a start. After we learn what the mayor of Fort Blister has to say, we'll see if we need to do anything different. Get some rest."
******
Richard awoke long before the run would rise. He decided to lay there in the dark, he didn't feel any need to rest right then. The crickets and other night bugs whirred around him. The fire had gone to a pile of red smoldering embers, patterns and shapes moving in a black void. Through the two noises, all he heard were the breaths of the others beside him.
The last time he woke this early, was when someone had been trying to sneak into his camp years ago. He had been trying to avoid the soldiers of Torland after he made a mistake and told a slave of the baron part of his mission. The slave told the baron, and the baron sent his soldiers. Now though, there were no soldiers, no intruder, not even a rat seemed to be trying to sneak its way into the camp. Richard crossed his arms in frustration and watched the few stars he could see overhead.
He remembered a dream, through a haze of wakefulness. As he grasped for a solid memory of the dream, all that remained were dim images, some even familiar as if they were scenes from his past. He remembered that each scene flashed before him, and then a black cloud seemed to blow in slowly around everything and whisk everything away as if all were mist. He thought hard for a long time trying to bring back the images from his dream, he felt as if they were important, but nothing came to him.
Growing uncomfortable, Richard turned to his side and stared at Thomas nearby. The realization struck him, that he couldn't remember his last name. When he started reaching for more about his old friend, his mind felt oddly blank. His knowledge of Deanna felt empty as well. Richard sat up, the strings in his stomach knotting in worry.
Richard knew there had been history between him and the others in the camp. Suddenly, that history felt buried underneath an impossible blanket of shadow. He couldn't remember who he knew, or why he knew the people he could remember. Nothing about his childhood remained in his mind. Everything that he knew had been silently sliding from his fingers.
"Richard," Thomas's voice suddenly sounded beside him, "Richard are you alright? You've been sitting there all morning."
Richard looked up, Thomas had appeared behind him, and the sun was already up. Time had slipped from his as well. He sighed, then nodded quickly to the stranger, Thomas.
"Yes, yes. I've been... I've been thinking about what I need to do today."
"You've been thinking for an hour now." Thomas knealed beside him, "I only mention it because Deanna just got up. Last thing you need to do is get her worried you can't do the job. You sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine I said. I just wanted to think."
"Alright, sorry I asked. Go ahead and think."
Thomas backed away form him, then returned to cleaning the camp. He appeared hurt by the words, but Richard wasn't about to let a stranger in on his thoughts. Although, he couldn't even recall what he had been thinking about. There was something important he would do today, but the details felt missing.
******
Raogothcar woke when he heard Thomas's whispers. He pried one eye open, but lay on the ground watching as Thomas and Richard exchanged words. He thought about getting up and talking to them both, but laying still seemed more comfortable. The last several days he spent more on the road than he did at his den. It was strange to know he had a den that he rarely used now.
Thomas pulled a small pan out of his pack and threw in some sort of meat for it to cook. He couldn't tell what the meat was, and tried to identify the powder that Thomas threw in. Soon after realizing he was just guessing, Raogothcar knew he would never be known as a cook. Then he wondered if any dragon ever had. Usually, he'd just eat whatever he caught, and rarely had anything cooked like the humans did so often.
One of the guards woke beside him, and soon Deanna was up as well. He watched them all through half closed eyes, silent and with a tiny sense of dread crawling in his stomach. He remembered feeling it often through the trip, and it seemed to start from the beginning of the trip toward the north. He couldn't find why, but he just knew that the trip was worse than the one to Palitos. Deanna felt the same he knew. She hadn't said it, but Raogothcar was starting to recognize different scents from people.
When Helen and Jacob both went to Thomas for some food, Raogothcar finally decided it was time to wake up. He stood slowly and stretched himself out. Despite the stretching, he stumbled over to the other camp and sat nearby and watched Thomas continue to finish his cooking.
"Morning Raogothcar." Thomas said, "Would you like some breakfast?"
"Well," Raogothcar decided whatever he was cooking didn't smell bad, "I guess. What is it Thomas?"
"I don't know. I just throw things together and get lucky sometimes."
"Don't try anything on an unlucky day," Helen said from the edge of the camp.
"Trying to scare him out of his breakfast?" Thomas laid a plate of the meat on the ground near Raogothcar, "Just keep your opinions to yourself or you'll find everything you eat is unlucky. You always have to keep the cook happy."
"That's why I brought my own."
"You city guards never did trust me." Thomas shook his head and smiled to himself.
Raogothcar licked up the meat. While he wasn't hungry yet, and wouldn't for a day or two, it was a nice snack. After he was done he gave the plate back to Thomas. Within a few moments later, the entire camp started putting things back in bags and were ready to go.
The morning was warm, but not hot enough to make the walking uncomfortable. The feeling that there was something wrong and that he had missed something bothered him more as he walked on. Raogothcar guessed that something about the trip was the problem. The idea was to help the city of Fort Blister, but nothing about that seemed very bad. He wasn't sure what the people would be like, and he hoped they wouldn't be like the mob he met in Ravenstone.
Most of the humans that he found seemed to be like the mob. Just a little more than a month had gone by since he arrived in Freeraven and there had been three different times he'd dealt with angry humans. All his life, he had never encountered so much anger. The surprise during the celebration after the parade, it had been a shock to be threatened. He barely knew what to do then. Of course the bridge had been the same, he nearly got everyone killed by not knowing what to do. Then people he considered his friends, the people of Ravenstone, turned on him.
When he was just a young hatchling, there hadn't been a single time he could remember of violence in the den. He would hunt with his parents, but it hadn't been particularly violent, clean quick and mostly painless for the prey. The first attack against Prince Alan had been a slow and painful thing. Even the fight inside the tower, people died for no reason he could think of.
Humans seemed to bend towards violence and killing and for reasons that didn't even seem to be very good. Raogothcar shuffled behind the rest of the group, looking at his feet and ignoring their conversations. It didn't seem right anymore to want to be friends with humans. They weren't like he was.
Raogothcar kept a glimmer of hope that one of them would notice his drooping spines, or down cast face as they traveled. He hoped one would see him and come back and talk with him, but none of them did. They traveled on until mid day, finally leaving the forest and coming into fenced fields of some kind of bean he couldn't recognize. He recognized the farms surrounding what would be the city a few hills beyond.
In the distance Raogothcar saw a much larger house. In the fields that belonged to the house, Raogothcar could see a large group of humans and a dragoness. The black markings on her spines told him she was very old, and her dull dusty blue hide held the same story. He noticed the humans pulling a large cart up behind her, and then yoking her to it.
Never had he read or heard of what those animals were doing to that dragoness. Strapping a heavy load like a cart to the back of a dragon was a crime against everything he'd ever been told by his parents. He stepped forward and tore into the ground with his talons, and felt the spines on his face and on his back rising. Those animals were holding her down, strapping her from the sky.
"Raogothcar!"
The dim voice from Thomas barely pushed passed the rush of blood in his ears. Raogothcar turned his head back to the road. Thomas had turned his horse to trot back to him. The others had kept moving on. Raogothcar bared his teeth and flexed his wings as he turned back to the field.
"What are those doing?"
"Raogothcar," Thomas stopped the horse a length away from him, "settle down. You've not seen that before I take it. That's slavery, something that's common here in Torland."
"A horse cart is tied to her wings. How is that common? We'd better tear the throats of those little-"
"No, no." Thomas slid off his horse and walked up to his chest and laid a hand against him, "Not here and not now Raogothcar. This is how these people are. We're here to hopefully end this yes. But going up there and tearing anyone's throat is only going to make more people angry. If you do that, we'll all be in trouble, and I don't know what these people would do about it Raogothcar."
"It doesn't matter Thomas," Raogothcar looked down at the man snapping his jaw, "That's not right. No dragon bows like that unwillingly to the whims of any other creature. That's not right!"
"And I agree, but by ourselves there isn't anything we can do about it Raogothcar. If you free her, then turn and free the next and the next, you'll start a war. We're up here in Torland to try and keep a war from happening. I, Deanna, Prince Alan, King Roland, most of Freeraven, thinks that with peace and enough time, the south can get make Torland give up slavery for good."
"So what am I supposed to do?" Raogothcar glared down at the man, "Just leave her there? Just let them tie her up?"
"Yes. Look at the humans up there on that hill. Do you think I like seeing them having to work as slaves any more than you do? No, I hate it just as much. But I'm not going to charge that house up there and kill everyone I can see because of it. There are better ways."
"What are they?"
"I don't know Raogothcar, but I believe that this is part of their freedom. What we're doing right now. If we can work with Torland, we can influence them to stop. You have to trust us on this Raogothcar."
Thomas asked him to trust leaving a dragon stripped of the air. It felt wrong, but he would leave her tied to the cart. Thomas hadn't shown any reason not to trust him ever. When he put trust in the people of Freeraven they had turned on him, and he wasn't going to let that happen anymore.
Raogothcar nodded and felt the tension on his face and back release as his spines fell back slowly. Thomas patted his chest again and walked back to his horse. Raogothcar looked at the ground, and felt shame at leaving the dragoness on the hill. He looked up at the old one and found she had been watching the entire time. She lowered her head slightly and bared his teeth at him.
There wasn't anything to do but leave, Raogothcar decided. He turned from the scene and slowly walked beside Thomas in silence. They had fallen far behind the rest of the group, but neither of them tried to catch up.
"Raogothcar, I'm sorry. I had hoped you wouldn't have to see that while we were here. I suppose it's something we couldn't avoid though. It's just how Torland is."
"How long has this been going on Thomas?"
"As long as Torland has been a nation, a little more than six hundred years as I've heard."
"Six hundred years? Dragon's have been slaves for six hundred years?"
"Humans too, Raogothcar."
"How can humans do that?"
"I don't know for sure. Power, greed, just because that's the way they've done it all their lives, it could be anything Raogothcar. I don't know why. You should know though, that humans aren't the only ones that have slaves. Baron Tarnosac is a dragon. He lives far up north and as I understand it has one of the largest group of hunting dragons in Torland."
"A dragon owning dragons?"
"Yes, that's what I said. I've not seen it myself, but other scouts have and I trust them. This isn't something that will end easy Raogothcar, it may not end even in my life time. It might in your time though."
"Something so wrong should be stopped sooner than that. Humans and dragons should live together, like I do at Freeraven. Nobody should fight each other like those druids that have attacked us so much. There's just so much wrong Thomas, it shouldn't be that way."
"It is though," Thomas turned and let a small smile escape, "but together maybe we can make it a little better. Come on, we'd better catch up with the rest of them before they get into trouble."
Thomas trotted forward, but Raogothcar kept his own pace for a time. His parents had never told him everything about slavery in Torland. They had explained it, but they had never mentioned that dragons were slaves in Torland as well. There were dragons all over the country that couldn't do what they wanted, and forced to do what someone else told them to do. He wondered if the dragons could keep their journals, and guessed they couldn't have them.
The others had stopped in the road and after a time Raogothcar caught up with the rest of them.
"Yes Deanna," Richard nodded and turned, "Come on you three, we've got some land to cover before the day is through."
"Remember Richard," Peter said, "be sure to tell any guards or soldiers you come across that you're with Ambassador Kyle. They'll let you through and help you get where you want to go."
"I won't forget. I just want to get the feel for the land and see if there are any good places to start looking tomorrow. I'll be back in Fort Blister before the sun is down today."
"Good." Deanna said, and then rode her horse down the road.
"Richard," Thomas nodded towards the fields around them, "be careful out there. We don't want any surprises."
"There won't be."
Richard and the others turned off the road and trekked down a small beaten path. Raogothcar scanned the fields that they were headed into and wasn't sure what they hoped to find. Everything appeared the same until the fields met the tree line in the distance. With a shrug of his wings, he trotted to catch up with the rest of his own group. Raogothcar hadn't even thought of what he would be looking for once he got into Fort Blister, and hoped Deanna would tell him.
After Jacob and Helen left with Richard, the rest of the conversation in the group seemed to die. Raogothcar didn't feel like talking to any of them right then. As the sun began to dip lower on the horizon, they began climbing the shallow slope of the hill that Fort Blister stood. Near the crest of the hill, Raogothcar saw another dragon pulling a cart with a team of humans working in the field around him.
This time, he deiced not to say anything. But he thought about how he would fly across the fences and smash the cart to splinters. Then he tried to find the best way to kill the humans that did that to the dragon. He gnashed his teeth, no creature should ever own another. If he had known about this he would have gone north when he left his parent's den, not west. His parents should have told him so he could have done something about it.
He prowled the road, lost in his own thoughts. When he noticed the others had stopped, he looked up from the dirt path and saw the city just a few minutes away. He felt a trickle of dread run down his throat as he looked at the city. They were strangers, and he knew that even nice strangers could be a terrible mob, murderous assassins, or even slave owners. This city didn't shine with the fresh adventures that Freeraven had.
******
Jacob followed in the back of the small line he and the others made. It seemed the four of them were headed on a small dirt footpath that lead to a tiny cluster of huts in the middle of the fields. The mood of the others dimmed suddenly as they turned down the path. Their plan didn't seem great to him, and he guessed Helen and Travis would agree with him as well.
"What are we looking for out here Richard?" Jacob leaned to one side in the saddle, "You haven't told us a thing about what we're doing."
"Be quiet."
"There's no one out here but us," Helen motioned to the blue sky and green workerless fields, "Unless there are some mysterious druids hiding over the top of that hill, and even then they couldn't hear us from there I'm sure. If we're going to be of any help to you, maybe you should-"
"I said quiet! I'll tell you what we'll do when we get inside those huts."
They rode in silence for the next several minutes. Richard hadn't snapped like that the several days they had all been together. It seemed unlike him in some way. The whole trip he'd stood off and was quiet, but he never acted angry.
The huts were smaller than he expected. Jacob expected them to be a place for a slave family to live, but it was even less than that. They were merely places for people to sleep, a sort of barracks. He felt terrible for the people who had used these huts in the past. Now they appeared run down, the wood graying with age. The one furthest from them even had the roof caved in.
Richard climbed off his horse and motioned for them to follow him as he took his bow and arrows from the horse. Jacob and the others followed to the center of the buildings and drew their own weapons. Richard turned and waited for them to line up ahead of him. They stared at Richard, and Richard stared back at them.
"Now, do you plan on fighting back," Richard lowered his head to a ferocious glare, "or letting me do what I am here to do?"
"What do you mean Richard?" Travis said.
"I am going to kill each of you. You can't stop me, and you can't escape. I just want to know if you'll let me finish this easily so I can-"
"Kill us?" Travis chuckled and shook his head, "I know Jacob can be annoying, and I've wanted to kill him a couple times myself. Now doesn't seem like the best time for jokes Richard."
Richard put his hands on his hips and sighed as he looked into the sky. As Jacob watched the man, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Richard's hand nocked an arrow as he rose the bow to Travis's chest. Before Jacob could open his mouth or move to stop him, Richard loosed the arrow. Out of the corner of his eye, Jacob saw the arrow strike Travis, and then exploded from his back.
Travis fell backward, his sword came loose from his hand, and his face became blank as he struck the ground. Jacob stared down at what had been his friend. Shock and disbelief dulled his mind. Then the sight of a hole in the man's chest large enough for a rock to pass threw brought him back.
"Yathma damn you Richard!" Jacob drew his sword and turned to the traitor.
His sword twisted as he held it up to begin his charge. A force stronger than any blow he had ever felt wrenched the sword from his hand as a loud ping rang around the huts. Jacob saw then that Richard had fired a second arrow.
Fear gripped him. He had never heard of anyone disarming a trained soldier of their sword, by striking the sword with a single arrow. He heard his sword land behind him with a metallic thud. No arrow could pierce a man in the way that Richard had just done. Richard must have flash magic, which neither he nor Helen could stop.
Richard casually took the next arrow from the quiver from his side and placed the arrow on the bow string. He shifted his weight and stretched his neck. Jacob knew there wasn't anything either of them could do, but he tried to remember if there was any cover between them and the horses nearby.
"Alright," Richard said with a voice colder than human, "you'll be next Jacob. Would you like to pick up your sword and try again before I kill you?"
"Will you even let me get that far, murderer?"
"I'm in a good mood now that I've killed someone, so yes. Go ahead, and then we'll see how much better you do than Travis."
Jacob glanced at Helen. She looked as scared as he was sure he looked, but he nodded to her and she nodded back. Slowly he stepped backwards, keeping Richard in his sight while moving back for his sword. He knew he couldn't charge the man, it would be suicide. He hoped that Richard thought he would charge though.
He knelt slowly, then reached down for the sword. The moment his fingers gripped the blade he leaped inside the nearby hut just as an arrow buried itself where the sword had been. Dirt exploded from where the arrow struck, filling the air.
Through the rumbling, Jacob heard Helen roar in a charge. As Jacob struggled to stand, he heard a second explosion. When he turned, he saw Helen staggering and gasping. Her sword fell from her hand as she staggered, blood pouring down to the ground from a gaping wound in her side.
"No," Richard shouted, "You can't surprise me. Not anymore. Not when I can see everything. I have power, I have power from a god to stop everything you could hope to do to stop me."
Jacob knew that he was next. He had to find a way to escape and warn the others that Richard was a traitor. There was no saving Helen, she had already fallen to the ground and her eyes glassy and distant. Travis was gone as well. All that was left was save the others in the city.
The mud bricks behind him shattered and exploded. He felt the small pieces shred into his back, tearing with terrible force. The blow nearly threw him to the ground outside of the hut. He couldn't let Richard see him, he would have to hide. Then he could tell the others.
"I know you are still alive Jacob. You should come out so I can end your pain."
He heard another explosion, and felt smaller debris hit him but without any force. He stumbled back to the corner of the hut, a second arrow had blown a small chunk of the wall away. With a last hope, Jacob dove underneath one of the small wooden benches hoping Richard wouldn't come searching for him.
"No Jacob. That won't save you. You're too weak for something like that to save you. Now close your eyes Jacob. This won't hurt when I'm through, don't worry."
He heard the bow string stretch. Richard was about to fire again, and somehow Jacob knew he was about to die. With a deep breath he closed his eyes. He wished he could have told the others that Richard had turned on him. He was sorry he couldn't do anything more for them now. The world exploded around his head, and exploded through his head.
********
Thomas looked up at the gates of the fort. The doors were sturdy solid wood, and on either side a large stone tower. The stone fort had been built during the Dominance War between Torland and the Southlands, and even though it was over one hundred and fifty years old, it still looked war ready.
"Who's below?" Said a voice nearly a stone's throw high.
"This is Peter, aide to ambassador Landol. I've brought the guests."
Gears and chains rumbled behind the stones, and then the doors opened slowly.
Inside, the streets were paved with level clean stones, and all the buildings appeared to be out of the same sturdy material. It appeared just like he expected, clean and perfect.
The Torland tradition of meeting important visitors at the gate was missing though. Thomas couldn't remember anyone ever saying that this tradition having been overlooked once in Torland history. There were exceptions of course, but those had always been for messengers, other invading barons, and when a trap lay in waiting.
Deanna's suspicions suddenly appeared to be true, Torland hadn't acted like an ally just now. Thomas looked again at the fort ahead of him. The streets were mostly empty, at what should be a busy time of day. There were few guards present, most appeared to be waiting for their arrival. For a nation so bent on control the lack of guards alone was alarming.
Deanna could still be wrong. This was the first time that one of the Southlands had ever been welcomed on Torland soil as an ally. Perhaps the traditions didn't stand for Freeraven yet. Then of course, if the druids were as much of a threat as Kyle and Peter had said, then traditions would be the least of Fort Blister's worries.
Peter nudged his horse and started forward into the city. Deanna followed without a single blink, but Thomas hoped she had caught on as well. He didn't have much hope that Raogothcar would even recognize the danger as he started forward. Thomas edged his horse forward slowly.
Once inside the gates, Thomas turned his horse down the first small street down the side of the wall. The guards would notice and send someone after him within a few moments, as soon as they could without alarming the other two. The building opposite the wall held the sign of a traveler's inn, one of the finer ones. Thomas hopped off his horse and tied the horse to a post and slipped inside the nearby stables.
A single horse occupied one of the few stalls inside. The smell of hay stood strong and kept the smell of animals at bay. Thomas scanned the rest of the small room, but found nobody. Nestled between two of the stalls hid a small door that lead further into the back of the tavern. Thomas tore off his shirt quickly and grabbed a vest and a wide brimmed hat on a peg near the first stall then slipped through the doorway.
The storeroom of the inn appeared likewise abandoned, but he could hear people working in the room towards the main street. Not wanting to ruin his good luck by waiting, Thomas jogged to a large set of double doors that looked like it lead to a back street. After slipping back out he strolled down he road towards the center of town.
The buildings huddled beside their neighbors. The dirty street appeared to follow the central street nearly to the center of town. Instead of the clean exteriors and perfect street, Thomas found dirty wooden buildings, and trash in the streets. The most comforting discovery were the people. People in plain home made shirts, vests, and dresses mingled in a nearby marketplace, with a few rag clad slaves scattered among them as well.
Thomas strolled slowly into the crowd as a trickle of relief cooled his mind. He was safe now that he hid among the people. The guards would never be able to catch him now. With his safety ensured, he turned his attention to trying to learn what sort of trap they had all fallen into.