A Fistful of Dragons

Part 18: Back from the Dead

Eighteen: Back from the dead.

Ryder stared at a dead man who was claiming to be his uncle and wondered if he was, in fact dead himself. If Heather had walked round the corner next, he wouldn't even have raised an eyebrow.

"Aren't you s'posed to be dead?" was all he could manage, his brain still numb with shock. The man-Leo-backed up a pace and nodded.

"That I am," he replied warily. "I nearly was. Fortunately Gothi found me before I could succumb to blood loss or infection. But it took me months to get back into any sort of shape...and by then, it was obvious the town was lost. Had I appeared, Alvin's men would have killed me on sight...if they recognised what was left after the Whispering Deaths finished with me..." Astrid frowned and stared at him.

"I think she doesn't know the story," Ryder said, wincing as Gothi prodded his bruised chin. She poked his shoulder firmly and he cast Astrid a questioning look. She shook her head. Wincing as he limped, Leo slowly moved to a rock and sat down.

"I think she can see a resemblance," he commented. "You look like I did, twenty years ago. Before my sister was murdered by Alvin's men as they tried to kidnap her and her young son, Hiccup." Astrid's eyes flicked to Ryder and widened. He shrugged.

"I'm not sure I look like anything now," he said roughly, wincing as Gothi poked his ribs. "Oww! How-how is this supposed to be helping?"

"I'd trust her," Leo advised calmly, stretching his right leg with a grimace. "When my sister-Valka Haddock, the Sheriff's wife-was killed, I was determined to find those responsible. I got a couple but three still worked with their master-Alvin-and one had escaped, a man named Espen Randall. The child vanished, presumed slain. My brother in law was a mess..."

"Still is," Ryder grumbled and Leo sighed.

"Losing your wife and son will do that," he said quietly.

"Done one, not the other," Ryder admitted and Leo's eye filled with sympathy.

"Then you know the pain-and that everyone deals in his own way," he said gruffly. "I was obsessed. I took Gobber with me to arrest the men...unwisely as it turned out. Alvin wasn't handing them over and because I was pretty slick on the draw, the first thing they did was break my hand and make sure I could never fire a pistol at them again." Ryder's eyes were drawn to the man's left hand, partly wrapped in scruffy bindings and cradled protectively in his right. "And then...well, they decided they wanted to make an example of me..."

But Ryder recalled Gobber's words, spoken with such a schooled lack of emotion that he knew the whole experience had been horrific beyond words.

"Leo was captured by Alvin's men...I was wi' him. He wouldnae stand down-stubborn as a mule, that lad-so they tortured him horribly, broke his legs and left him in a mine tae die. I heard the Whispering Deaths...and a scream..."

"It's okay," Ryder said quietly. "Just tell what you want." Astrid cast him an irritated look because she wanted to hear the tale but Leo lifted his grey-streaked auburn head and nodded.

"Once they had finished torturing me, they hauled me to the mines-this mine-and Alvin called his Whispering Deaths-which live here," he said reluctantly. "I...was a mess. Both legs were broken, lots of other things too but I was alive...and I stood the smallest chance...because I had done Dragon Master training before I concentrated on metallurgy with Gobber. So when they came for me, I tried to train them..." He winced and Ryder found Astrid's hand as she inched closer to him for comfort. He pulled her closer against him, suddenly feeling the need for human comfort because he didn't want to hear the the horrible outcome... The green gaze flicked up and a slight, self-deprecating smile crossed his scarred face, the expression hauntingly reminiscent of the younger man still being prodded by Gothi.