Hatch (The Dragons Of Laton) (49 page)

When her reluctant blessings finally came, he worked twice as hard to regain his skills. He no longer dangled acorns on string to practice. Instead, Stalwart tossed them with the expectation that he could block them with the sword before they touched his body. As his muscles loosened, he began to flow with a smooth grace. Stalwart handed a bag of acorns to Boris, and the two of them threw the nuts with increasing speed from opposite directions. Faster and faster the acorns flew, and Ammon began to sweat as pieces of split shells bounced across the room. When the last one had been thrown, Ammon stood panting. Only a dozen or so had actually managed to hit him and Fulgid was busily searching out the rest, crunching happily as he found them.

Stalwart tossed a towel to Ammon and nodded his approval to Boris. “The boy is a natural. How long did you say he has he been training? I have full-fledged knights that don’t handle a sword this well. If he can keep learning at this pace he’ll be one of the finest swordsmen I’ve ever seen!”

Boris agreed. “He definitely has the knack for it.” He frowned for a moment. “I have a question. With the Kala-Azar scattering the knights across the countryside, how did you train the new recruits?”

Stalwart picked an acorn off one of the chairs and tossed it to Fulgid before he sat down. “I couldn’t personally train each one. We scattered into small groups of two or three. The trainees rotated through each group and trained with each knight until they reached a level of competence that satisfied their teacher. It wasn’t easy, and occasionally we lost a group and their dragons when the slugs caught them unawares.

You can’t imagine how hard it was on us all. Most knights are too young to remember Laton when it was a shining city. I myself had just barely been recruited at the time. As the calentar mines began to run dry, King Halos assigned us to different areas of the country with orders to change to a new location every few days. The idea was to keep moving so the slugs couldn’t keep up. We all expected to return to Laton in a few weeks after more calentar was found, but it never happened. Fifty years later, here we are.”

Ammon mopped his face with the towel. “So calentar isn’t found anywhere else but here in Laton?”

Stalwart spread his hands. “There were small deposits scattered throughout DoTaria, but those were depleted centuries ago. That’s why Laton became so important when a large deposit was found. Once that was gone, few dared come back to attempt digging another mine. For some reason the slugs were thicker here than any other area and have a nasty habit of popping up out of nowhere. I always suspected they hibernated underground in old abandoned mines.”

Ammon threw a sharp look at Boris, but he put his hand up before Ammon could speak. “I know, I thought of it too. I have a couple knights bring their dragons to the mine every morning to blast the inside with fire in case a slug appears. The tunnels are searched end to end before workers are allowed in.”

Ammon sighed in relief. “Perhaps it would be wise to keep a dragon at the mine all the time, just in case.”

Chapter 15

A Lily In The Dark

From his balcony Ammon watched as workmen hauled load after load of black and gray dragon scales out of the Hold. High above him on the palace roof, dozens of men worked feverishly as they plastered a thick, black glue to the back of each dinner plate sized scale and carefully tapped it in place. Everyone knew the heavy snows of winter would come all too soon.

Already the temperatures had grown noticeably colder, and the leaves on the trees changed from deep green to bright orange and red, with a few drifting lazily to the ground. As the morning sunlight reached the mountains, it revealed a patchwork of color that spread over the hills like a giant quilt as far as he could see. His breath hung lazily in the crisp air, and the chill raised goosebumps on his arms. He sighed contently and stepped back inside to the warmth of his chambers and closed the glass doors behind him. Perhaps when El got back he would ask her to walk with him outside one more time before the weather turned poor.

Lately it had become increasingly difficult to find time alone with her. Each morning she left for several hours to meet with the female knight Tashira. When he asked where she went, she simply replied that if the king was first in battle, than the queen should be beside him. It wasn’t until later when he realized what she meant. It had started with a simple lesson of how to use the knife he’d given her for protection, but it soon expanded to several other areas of weaponry. His protests were met with a burning look, and he quickly decided to leave well enough alone. Still, the thought of her in a battle made him very uncomfortable.

By the time she returned, he was waiting in the sitting room with a wicker basket from the kitchen and a light cloak over his armor to keep out the chill. Still dressed in her hooded shirt and breeches, she accepted the invitation without hesitation and slipped her arm around his as they walked towards the door. With a grunt, Fulgid reluctantly left his spot beside the fire to follow them and soon they were headed out into the brisk air towards the mountains.

Despite the chilly air, the sun felt warm in the cloudless sky, and Fulgid romped ahead chasing squirrels through piles of fallen leaves. After weeks of hectic activity in the palace, the woods seemed so peaceful with just the sounds of singing birds in the trees and the crunch of stones beneath their feet. The road leading to the tunnel was well worn from the heavy traffic of the miners and loads of calentar, and it made for easy traveling. Soon they were within sight of the opening, and Ammon pointed past it at the wide field above. He knew the views of the city from the hilltop were impressive, and it was a perfect spot to have their meal.

Suddenly there were panicked shouts of alarm from the entrance of the tunnel, and they quickly exchanged glances as they broke into a run. Ammon recognized one of the Gaul Knights named Chanel trying unsuccessfully to calm several workmen who were gesturing frantically at the tunnel. They hurried closer just in time to hear one of them say “Kala-Azar!”

Ammon grabbed the nearest frightened man by the shoulders and demanded. “Where?”

Stuttering, the miner finally spit out. “The Gaul side tunnel!”

Chanel loosened the longsword on his back and eyed the entrance suspiciously. “My dragon is nearby, we’ll head down and investigate immediately.”

Ammon shook his head. “No. That end of the tunnel is collapsed and your dragon is too big to maneuver around. If he got into trouble there wouldn’t be any way to help him. It would be faster if Fulgid and I went down. He’s small enough to move around down there easily, and he has more fire than any other dragon.”

After a long pause Chanel reluctantly agreed. He turned to El and bowed. “Your highness, I’ve already sent a messenger on horseback to the palace to alert them. Would you please let them know when they arrive…that…uh”

El stood with her hands on her hips and one eyebrow raised as she glared at him. Chanel’s face began to turn red and he cleared his throat. “I’m sorry…uh…you’re going down too aren’t you? Of course you are! I will accompany you then!”

Ammon chuckled softly to himself. It seemed he wasn’t the only one unsure of El’s role as queen.

Their footsteps echoed as they walked, and Chanel’s voice was little more than a whisper. “The miner said he heard slugs moving down here, although I can’t imagine how they got in. Two dragons came and checked the entire tunnel this morning. We haven’t seen a slug since we started having regular frosts at night.”

Ammon threw back his cloak and drew his sword. His golden armor reflected the lantern light, sending tiny dots of light into the shadows. “According to Stalwart, slugs have a way of showing up in places you don’t expect. So be prepared, they could be anywhere!”

They moved slowly through the tunnel, letting Fulgid inspect every inch until they reached the end where the roof was collapsed. Ammon held his lantern up high and studied the rubble. Piles of boulders reached to the ceiling, and Fulgid leapt from one to the next, sniffing between each of them.

Ammon shook his head. “If there were slugs down here, Fulgid would know. His reaction is pretty obvious.”

Chanel kicked at a small clod of dirt. “Then I’m glad I didn’t bring my dragon down. He wouldn’t have appreciated having to back out all the way up the tunnel for nothing.”

Ammon agreed. “I’m sure. I don’t know what the miners heard, but at least we know it wasn’t…”

Several fist-sized rocks suddenly rolled down between them and Ammon raised the lantern again. Fulgid had climbed to the very top of the pile and was forcing his nose behind a pumpkin-sized boulder. With a quick shove, he sent it tumbling, and they all jumped to avoid being hit.

Ammon watched as the little dragon clawed at the stones. “Fulgid, what are you doing?”

Fulgid pulled his head out of the hole he made, and the light from the lantern fell onto the dirty face of a small child, frozen in terror.

Ammon nearly dropped the lantern as the three of them scrambled to pull stones away. When she was free he reached in and gently lifted her out and carried her down the pile and set the trembling girl on her feet.

Wide-eyed, she stared at Ammon and Fulgid with her lip quivering, until finally she whimpered. “Are you going to let your dragon eat me?”

El put her face down close to the girl and gently pushed her hair out of her eyes. “No! No, sweetheart, why would you think that?”

Fat tears began to stream down the girl’s cheeks. “The men…the guards said we have to move rocks so they can kill dragons before they ate us up! Please! I don’t want to get ate!”

The three adults looked at each other in stunned shock. El sat on a boulder and lifted the girl onto her lap. “What’s your name?”

Trying not to sob, the child sniffed and rubbed her nose with a dirty hand. “L…Lily! M…my name is L…Lily.”

El took a small handkerchief from her pocket and wiped Lily’s nose. “Well Lily, dragons don’t eat people. See that one right there? His name is Fulgid, and unless you’re a squirrel or an acorn, you’re very safe. He would never hurt you, ever.”

Fulgid lay quietly, his head flat on the ground between his front feet and gazed up at the little girl with amber eyes.

Lily tilted her head and half buried her face against El’s shirt. “I…I’m not an acorn, b…but he scares me! The guards said a gold demon dragon and a gold knight are killing everyone!”

El pointed up at the hole where the little girl had been. “Lily, Fulgid doesn’t want to kill anyone. He even helped pull you out! Fulgid is a nice dragon and only kills slugs and protects us from anyone who tries to hurt us.”

Lily made a face. “I don’t like slugs, they’re…slimy!” She looked down at Fulgid who still hadn’t moved. Pushing herself up against El, she whispered, “Is he really made of gold?”

Ammon smiled as he reached down and scratched Fulgid behind his ears. “No, he’s not made of gold, but it looks like it, doesn’t it? You can pet him if you like, I promise he won’t hurt you!” Lily shook her head fiercely. Ammon knelt down beside the little girl. “It’s okay, you don’t have to! Lily, can you tell me how you got stuck in that hole?”

Shyly the little girl nodded. “The guard man pushed me in and said crawl around and tell me what you see, but a big rock fell behind me and I couldn’t get out!”

El pointed at Fulgid. “Well you’re safe now. We didn’t know you were in there, but he did. He found you all by himself!”

The little girl sniffled and looked up at El’s face. “He did?”

El nodded her head. “He sure did!”