The Seer (17 page)

‘We’re not
going in on horseback then.’  Cain said firmly.  ‘There’s no way my
girl is being used as bait.’ 

Mistral ran a
hand down Cirrus’ shoulder and nodded fervently in agreement, not trusting
herself to speak yet. 

‘There’s a
small settlement in the lower foothills of the Northern Range inhabited by a
tribe of mountain elves.  We can leave our horses there and continue from
there on foot.’

‘Er … do we
have to stop there?’  Xerxes suddenly looked uncharacteristically ill at
ease.

Phantasm
frowned, ‘It is the usual half-way point between the Council and the mountains. 
They’re prepared for our arrival and have provisions laid on for us and
stabling for the horses.  It would be impractical not to.  Is there
any reason for your reluctance Xerxes?’ 

Xerxes
shrugged and avoided Phantasm’s piercing look, ‘No reason –’

‘Brutus?’

Brutus sighed
and lifted his eyes to meet Phantasm’s enquiring look, ‘It might be a touch
awkward,’ he confessed.

‘Why?’

‘Well, that’s
where we were raised.’

‘And?’ 
Phantasm lifted his eyebrows.

‘And Xerxes
may have left under a slight cloud.’  Brutus muttered quietly, ignoring
his brother’s icy glare.

‘She must’ve
got over it by now!’

‘Hmm, not sure
about that one brother.  You were caught with her sister the morning you
were due to get married.’

‘Oh yes.’
 Xerxes had the gall to smile fondly.  ‘I remember her name … it was
Elspeth –’

‘Which
one?  The bride or the sister?’  Cain asked with an amused look.

‘Erm … the
bride … I think.’

Brutus sighed,
‘The bride was Elizabeth and the sister was called Elsa … Elspeth was the –’

‘Are you
certain?’  Xerxes interrupted with a heavy frown.  ‘Only I’m sure –’
their conversation was cut short by the sound of Mistral retching violently
over Cirrus’ shoulder.  They waited patiently until she had finished then
the twins moved closer. 

‘Better
now?’  Phantasm asked politely and handed her a skin of water.

‘Much, thank
you,’ she took a sip of water and grimaced.  ‘Did he notice?’

He glanced
quickly at Fabian, still talking intensely with Leo, ‘No … I think you’ve got
away with it.’

‘Good,’ she
sighed and took another sip of water.  ‘I can’t be doing with the
fussing.’

‘I can
though.’  Cain said, looking at her with a concerned frown.  ‘You’ve
defeated my diagnosis Mistral.  I’m sorry but I’m going to recommend a
trip to the Infirmary when we get back.’

‘Over my dead
body Cain!  And if you mention this to Fabian I will tell everyone in The
Cloak about your second pack of cards!’

Cain’s eyes
widened with indignation, ‘You wouldn’t!  That’s half my income you’re
talking about there!’

‘Watch
me!’  she threatened.

He held his
hands up in defeat, ‘Fine!  You soldier on with your mystery illness
then!  But don’t you dare complain when I have to tell your Mage why
you’re unable to hunt dragons because you’re completely dehydrated!’

Mistral glared
at him furiously, ‘Damn it Cain!’  She snarled.  ‘Don’t bully me!’

‘Would
I?’  Cain asked, giving her his impish grin.  ‘Just keep drinking
water and I’ll keep quiet.’

‘Fine!’ 
Mistral snapped then turned to the twins to request water in a more polite
voice. 

‘Well, now that
crisis has been managed, have we decided on a method for offing these lovely
ladies then?’  Xerxes asked while Mistral took another tentative swallow
of water.

‘Bait will be
the key here.  We need something that smells good to the dragons,
preferably alive and willing to put itself in danger –’ a brief silence fell
while everyone turned to look expectantly at Mistral.

‘What?’ 
She said, looking startled at the sudden attention. 

‘Fancy
reprising your role as living bait to a vicious wild creature again?’ 
Xerxes asked with a grin.

‘No problem.’
 Mistral replied with a casual wave of the water skin.  ‘Goes without
saying really.’

Xerxes smiled
happily and patted his top pocket, ‘Won that one –’

‘Absolutely
not.’

Mistral looked
up quickly to meet Fabian’s furious stare. 

‘Uh-oh.’
 Phantom muttered under his breath.

‘Oh come on
Fabian!  You know it makes sense!’  Mistral said quickly.  ‘I
can lead them straight to you all, it’ll save loads of time –’

‘No.’

‘But –’

‘And why
didn’t you tell me that you felt ill again?’

‘Er –’

‘Let’s ride on
brothers.’  Phantasm said quickly.

Mistral and
Fabian were quickly left riding alone while her brothers cantered ahead to join
Leo.  Even Grendel upped his pace to run alongside their austere Training
Captain, giving her a sympathetic grimace when he stomped past her. 

‘Mistral, this
is an incredibly dangerous Contract that you are obviously not well enough to
go on.’

‘I am!’ 
Mistral replied quickly.  ‘I felt slightly ill, I admit, but I’m fine now,
honestly!  I think it’s passing, whatever it was.’

Fabian
regarded her silently, holding the ever restless Spirit back to match Cirrus’
pace, ‘Please don’t lie to me Mistral, I can see how pale you are.’

Mistral sighed
and dropped her gaze in defeat, ‘Yes, I felt a bit rough again, but honestly
Fabian, I feel better than I did yesterday!  I think I’m getting over it
and it really is nothing to worry about, just some stomach upset.  And as
for being bait, well, if you don’t want me to, then I won’t –’

‘No, I don’t
want you to.’  Fabian stated shortly.  ‘And I never want to hear your
so-called brothers making the suggestion again.’

Mistral
sighed.  She could hear the cold anger in his thoughts and knew she wasn’t
going to get her own way this time.  'Fine,’ she sighed.  ‘So what
did you use as bait before then?’

Fabian didn’t
reply immediately but stared fixedly ahead at her brothers, his face set and
hard.

‘Fabian?’

He turned to
look at her, his face utterly devoid of any emotion.  The detached
coldness of his thoughts was like stepping under an icy shower.  She
flinched.  It was the mind of an assassin.  Instinctively she reached
out to touch him.  ‘Don’t be so hard on them Fabian, they’re just –’

‘Completely
lacking in respect for your life,’ he interrupted angrily.

‘I was going
to say young and a bit over-enthusiastic actually.’  Mistral finished
quietly.  ‘A bit like the two warriors who took on a gargillian nest on
their own.’

Fabian frowned
at her attempt to humour him but when her eyes met his she was relieved to see
they had lost some of their coldness. 

‘Bestra.’

‘Sorry?’ 
she said, blinking in confusion.

‘We used a
bestra as bait in both of the last two hunts.  They have a very
distinctive odour that the dragons will be able to pick up from quite a long
way off.  It will save us having to travel too far into the Northern Range
and risk being trapped when the snows come.’

‘Of course!’
 Mistral grinned in delight.  ‘Bestra can handle mountain travel
easily.  I’ve hunted one with the twins before.  It was right up in
the Western Range.  We had to use climbing ropes to get up to it, but it
had no trouble at all with the steepness.’

Fabian nodded
in agreement, ‘They are very agile for such large creatures.  There will
be a herd at the elven settlement.  I am sure they will be happy to sell
us what we need.’

Mistral smiled
happily and risked a glance at him again and was encouraged to see that his
expression had lost some of its coldness and his thoughts were much
calmer.  ‘How do we prevent all of the females coming in for the bestra
though?  There’ll be what?  Six now?  And we only need to cull
two of them.’

‘We buy two,’
Phantasm joined in their conversation, ‘and tether them at separate points to
divide the females.’

Mistral looked
up to see that her brothers had pulled their horses back to join them again.

‘Er, is it
safe to ride with you again?  Only there’s a limit to how much of his
Leoship’s bubbly wit and chattiness I can take.’

Fabian stared
coldly at Xerxes, ‘Safe?  That depends on whether you plan to use my wife
as live bait again.’

Xerxes had the
grace to look shamed, ‘Apologies for that slight misunderstanding Mage De
Winter.  It was really just a bit of an on-going joke about a hunt we once
all went on –’

‘I know about
the manticore hunt!’  Fabian snapped icily.  ‘And I fail to see the
humour.’

Mistral caught
Cain rolling his eyes and glared at him. 

Xerxes looked
thoughtful, ‘Well, it was quite funny actually –’

‘Let’s not go
there shall we?’  Mistral said hurriedly and turned to Phantasm.  ‘I
think two bestra would be an excellent idea.’

‘Mage de
Winter?’ 

Fabian met
Phantasm’s politely enquiring look with icy indifference. 

‘We would all
appreciate any insights you can offer on this Contract.’

Fabian continued
to regard Phantasm coldly, ‘I was Contracted with a hunting party of five to
cull the adult male on both occasions.  I have no experience of hunting
the females.’

Mistral
sighed.  Nobody did awkward quite like Fabian.  She looked at him
imploringly.  ‘Perhaps it would be useful to hear about your experiences,’
she prompted softly.

Fabian held
her look for a long moment and then drew in a deep breath, ‘Phantasm is
correct, we will need to purchase two bestra as bait in order split the
females.  I suggest that we divide into two hunting parties and be
positioned by each bestra, allowing each party the chance to cull one dragon
apiece.’

‘Good plan.’
 Brutus murmured appreciatively.

‘What weapons
did you use?’  Cain enquired casually.

‘Swords.’

Cain looked at
him with fresh respect. 

‘However, we
returned less two of our members on both occasions so I would hesitate to
recommend that particular method, despite my current wish to the contrary.’

‘Did you mix
up that poison with the gorgon blood?’  Mistral asked Cain to cover the
stilted silence that followed Fabian’s barely concealed threat.

‘Mixed and
ready.’  Cain confirmed.  ‘It’s a rather nasty shade of green
though.  I hope it hasn’t gone off, I’ve no idea how long Malachi has had
the stuff for.’

‘Only one way
to find out.’  Brutus said cheerfully.

In the end
they agreed to Fabian’s plan of dividing into two hunting parties and using two
bestra as bait. 

‘So.’
 Phantasm summarised.  ‘We’ll position ourselves on higher ground and
watch for the dragons, then take out one of the females with poisoned arrows.’

‘What about
the other females though?’  Phantom asked with a worried frown. 
‘Won’t they go for us when they realise what we’re up to?’

‘Shoot them
with a powerful sedative.’  Fabian suggested then paused, adding in a
voice quietly.  ‘I understand Cain mixes a fairly potent one.’

Mistral
glanced at him quickly and felt her heart lift at the glimmer of amusement she
saw in his eyes. 

‘I’ve been
known to whip up a bit of a good sleep aid in my time.’  Cain responded
modestly. 

‘Our old
Training Lieutenants can verify that!’  Brutus laughed.

The tense
atmosphere eased with the resulting burst of laughter.  Mistral heard
Fabian’s thoughts lighten and smiled happily to herself.  Glancing up at
her laughing brothers and her silent Mage, Mistral felt again a strong sense of
completeness that even the glacial presence of Leo couldn’t spoil. 

The
temperature steadily dropped the further north they travelled, with a fall of
snow settling on them when they camped overnight on the exposed High Moors; but
the days were bright and clear, allowing them to make good time.  By the
morning of the third day they were once again cresting the rise that had
afforded Mistral her first glimpse of the Council the year before.  This
time none of them even paused to glance down at the sprawling city below
them.  It had already become an all too familiar sight to the twins and
the rest of her brothers were not given to being impressed by the achievements
of Mages.  Ignoring the city, Mistral gazed instead at the impressive
sight of the Northern Range forming a wide arc of snow-capped peaks around the
Council valley. 

She turned to
Fabian, her face glowing with excitement, ‘Which part of the mountains are the
herd in?’ 

He nodded to
their right, ‘East, far enough away from the Council to avoid any of the
Councillors inadvertently becoming dragon food.’

Mistral
laughed at the mental image of the over-fed and under-exercised Councillors
fleeing from a hunting dragon, ‘But, the dragons can fly can’t they?  So
what’s stopping them from hunting over the city anyway?  Or have they had
their wings clipped?’

Fabian shook
his head, ‘No, the dragon herd are perfectly capable of flight but they are
essentially lazy creatures.  If they have easy feeding opportunities close
to home they won’t bother to make the effort to hunt farther afield.’

‘Ah, which is
where Maldita Pickering’s herd of bonacon come in,’ sighed Phantasm.

Fabian nodded,
‘The bonacon herd are grazed on the lower slopes.  They provide a constant
and unchallenging food supply which, thankfully, the dragons never seem to tire
of.’

Mistral felt
disappointed.  Her image of dragons being a challenging prey was starting to
become slightly tarnished by Fabian’s description of them being easily appeased
by having something to hunt that provided roughly the same challenge as
stalking a cow.

‘If they breed
each year why is there only a cull once every ten?’  Cain asked, breaking
into her thoughts. 

‘Dragons are
usually solitary creatures.  Their naturally vicious natures do not lend
themselves easily to living together in a herd.  As a result, they often
fight and kill each other.  It’s only by careful management of the number
of females and males in the herd that this one has survived for so long. 
And of course, there is a thriving market for dragon eggs which also helps to
keep the numbers down.’