The Road To Kalbakar, Wyrms of Pasandir #1

CHAPTER 16 - STAKING AN AMBUSH

Sleep! Only a few days ago, I'd stood on the Tipred's quarterdeck longing for my bed after a boring night's watch. Then the monsters came and I forgot all about being tired. Or bored, either. After that, I'd had a bout of unconsciousness, which hadn't helped a whit, and a few hours shut-eye in Amaj's hideout. Now I fell down like a dead man in the draughty hut Mazuun had freed for us, and slept. Had a horde of mad monks attacked us, they wouldn't have woken me.

In the end, the wyrmling roused me by biting my nose, not overly softly.

'Hunger,' she said pathetically.

She? I thought sleepily. Why would she be female?

The wyrmling made a whistling sound, almost like laughter. 'She's hungry.'

Almost sure I dreamed the latter thought, I sat up on my straw pallet and yawned. Beyond the open entrance a steady curtain of rain pelted the forest and I cursed softly. What terrible weather these mountains had; snow up high and rain below.

Around me, the others still slept. I'd no idea about the time. Grumbling, I rose and strapped the broom to my back. As I stepped outside, I nearly bumped into one of Mazuun's servant girls.

'Oh!' she said, frightened. 'You're awake already. Lord Mazuun sent me to ask you go 'n see him when you're ready, Wyrmcaller.'

'What time it is?' I said, suppressing another yawn.

'Hour before sunup,' she said.

I felt the wyrmling's impatience as she squirmed inside my tunic. I took her out and put her on my shoulder. 'There.' I turned to the woman, who goggled at the little wyrm. 'Would you have some scraps of meat for my friend?'

The girl nodded wordlessly and ran off, to return with a little old basket full of bloody bits and pieces.

'Perfect,' I said. 'Just as she likes it.' I fed the wyrmling a dripping morsel, which she gobbled up hungrily. 'More! Lothi-Mo hungry!'

'Is that your name?' I said, startled. I hadn't expected the little beast to be that self-aware.

'Me, me, Lothi-Mo! Hungry!' The wyrmling jumped from my shoulder, flapping her wings in an awkward attempt to fly and landed on my hand holding the basket. She curled her long tail around my wrist, buried her head in the meats and began to gorge in earnest.

I watched her silently, unsure whether I should stop her eating too much, but her brain signals were happy, so I let her. Finally, she burped audibly, sighed and fell asleep, hanging from my wrist and snoring. I looked at the servant girl, who had followed the whole thing open-mouthed and handed her the nearly empty basket.

'Thank you. I, eh, think I'll need more later on.'

She giggled. 'Looks like it,' she said, and fled.

Cradling the sleeping wyrmling in my arm, I went back inside. I hesitated and then touched Kellani's shoulder. As before, she woke immediately, a trick I dearly wished were mine.

'Morning,' I said. 'And rain. Mazuun wants to show us his choice for an ambush.'

She stretched and came to her feet in a supple motion that would've made a cat jealous. 'You haven't woken the others? Good, they can use a bit more sleep.' She shook out her coat and refastened it. 'Let's see what the lord has to offer.'

She saw me holding the wyrmling and grinned. 'How cute.'

'Cute? She just ate a whole pound of meat scraps one of the girls was good enough to bring me. She's a greedy little guzzler called Lothi-Mo.'