WREN Book Three Prince of Dragons

A cold night

The night was cold around us. The rain pelted the rocks before me as I sank huddled in the soft green cloak. Sipping the over strong coffee, I watched the night. Listening to the soft sounds of the others while they slept, I smirked. I could almost tell who was who just by the way their body shifted, their snoring, or the sound of their breathing. It had only been two weeks since we left the school.

The first day we flew. We wanted to get as far away as we could, as fast as we could. Since then we had walked. Dyami had been a great help in this. He knew how to keep spirits up, how to make the long hours go by faster, how to keep us from being set upon by bandits. We had found several small towns, villages or other homesteads to get a night's rest in along the way. More often than not we slept under the open sky. Until the rain came. It had been ongoing for two days now.

I saw a flash. My eye immediately went toward it. The lightning lit up a pale face. My hand slipped along the staff at my side. The darkness took the face away, but I didn't have just my own eyes to watch from. The earth dragon lifted his head from the meal he had been enjoying. He spun around, lending me his eyes so we could both see what was going on.

As his head swiveled around, I caught more than just the one face. I ordered him back to me. Reaching out to the others who hunted in the nearby woods, I called them back as well. They would come in behind the bandits. Briefly I thought of waking more of the humans with me. If it came to a fight...

"How many?" the soft voice was next to my ear before I could even move. He was still the rare person who could sneak up on me.

"Wics saw at least two dozen. I think more hid behind the slopes or rocks." I answered him.

Dyami tapped his head. He wanted me to relay the information to him directly. I smirked. It really was helpful to have royal blood. I showed him what his Nuare and I had seen.

He was indeed a great warrior. Already he had a plan of attack. I wanted to laugh at how simple some of his ideas were, yet they had all worked almost exactly as he had planned. I pulled myself up from the rock I was using to sit upon.

Dyami vanished in the darkness around me. Softly I heard the sounds of the dragons landing. I felt the little animal shifters scurry into place. We had decided that a small fraction would stay awake in shifts throughout the night. Each shift would have one royal who could communicate to each being in our party.

I set the staff down, the tip striking the rock gave off a tiny spark. Hmm, that was interesting. Ash hadn't told me there was flint in these mountains. I lifted my eyes to the wet world beyond my portal. My large frame, the only defense between the bandits and my sleeping alleys, or so they thought.

Moving a few steps out, slightly off to the side, I pretended to relieve myself. I heard the shuffling of bodies. I had to keep my eyes narrowed. Using the dragon sight helped greatly at night, but I was told it also made my eyes glow brighter in the darkness. Thus, I had to be careful not to let those who opposed us see anything odd. I set my staff down, the only weapon they could see.

I heard the cry. It was of a bird that didn't live in these parts. Having someone like Dyami around really helped with that as well. This was their signal. As I heard it, so had a few of those sleeping inside. I spared them half a thought, enough to order them to remain where they were, at least for now.

I heard the rocks scattered around. The leaves crinkle under the weight of soft leather boots. All of this would sound like normal night noises to those who weren't trained to pick up on the subtle differences. I heard the breathing of the man who was coming for me. As the wind accompanied his weapons swing toward my body, I ducked.

My arm shot out, catching the sword under the leather padded garment I wore. I felt the blow graze my ribs, but my body was already turning. I opened my eyes. The bearded ragged face of the person was etched in shock for half a second. It was clear he thought he had surprised me. It only took a short time before my fist connected with his chin. He staggered back.