the empty socket. When he was very troubled, he would mb the patch absently. He was rubbing it now with his thumbnail.
“I’ll do as my chief commands,” he said at last. “To me there seems little difference between serving an elf or serving a dragon, but if Karada says ‘dragon,’ then I obey.”
“Thank you, Hatu.” Everyone shifted uncomfortably. It was not a phrase Karada used often. Her saying it was a grim measure of their plight.
They estimated they were four days from the Place of the Dragon. None of them, not even Hatu, knew exactly where the settlement lay. Common repute said the village was on a lake at the foot of a high waterfall. Hatu remembered such a lake from his youth. Once back in the mountains, he felt sure he could find his way there again.
The nomads rested a full day on the savanna. Their meager food dwindled, and they resumed the march under a cloudless blue sky, the last hot days of the season. The scouts returned and reported no signs of pursuit by Balif and no other sources of trouble in sight.
Unknown riders began appearing in the valleys south and east of the lake. Foragers from Yala-tene were alarmed when they encountered the first humans they’d ever seen on horseback. They’d heard tales of plainsmen who had adopted this elf habit, but it was strange to see men and women astride long-legged beasts. And what strange humans they were — tough, sinewy people, cured by wind and sun until they resembled the leather gear they wore. They moved in groups of eight or ten at a time and were armed with spears or long-handled clubs. They were polite enough when bartering for food and water, but there were scores of them roaming the high passes, and their very numbers made the villagers nervous.
The first riders arrived at the lake five days after the tunnel disaster. They were first seen on the cliffs overlooking the village and were mistaken for elf warriors. A panic ensued until Pa’alu identified the horsemen as members of Karada’s band, his comrades.
Amero heard the commotion and descended from the cave to see what the matter was. He found a congregation of village elders in the square before the dragon’s cairn. Pa’alu was with them.
“What’s the alarm?” asked Amero wearily. He was hollow-eyed and pale, having slept little the past few nights.
“Riders have been seen atop the cliffs,” Pa’alu said. “Some of my people have arrived.”
Amero glanced back at the cave where Duranix was sleeping off his recent meal of ox meat. In his current state, the dragon would be hard to rouse, but if there was trouble…
Pa’alu read Amero’s thoughts on his face. “Why all the worry?” the plainsman asked. “Wanderers come to the village all the time, don’t they? Why are you all so scared?”
“Plainsmen on horses,” said Konza, “like warrior elves.”
“They mean no harm,” Pa’alu vowed. He looked away to the cliff wistfully. “My brother Pakito may be with them.” And Karada.
Now it was Amero’s turn to read Pa’alu’s thoughts. “Your people are welcome,” he said, as much for the elders’ benefit as Pa’alu’s. “Go and meet them, Pa’alu, so there’s no mistake about our good will. If you find your chief, bring her here and we will do her all honor.”
A smile flickered across Pa’alu’s face. He saluted Amero with his javelin, saying, “I go gladly. Please tell the villagers not to challenge Karada’s band. They’re seasoned fighters who’ve lately lost a battle. They’ll likely be in a foul mood.” He departed at a jog. Once he was out of earshot, the elders peppered Amero with their fears about the newcomers. Amero let them rant for a while then waved for silence.
“Why do you worry so much?” he asked. “They are plainsmen like us. If we treat them kindly, we’re more likely to make them strong friends than enemies.” He let that sink in for a moment, then added, “And you forget who we are. We’re not exactly sheep.”
“Maybe not, but we do have a powerful shepherd,” Valka said wryly. The dragon was an asset not easily trumped. Amero decided not to tell the worried elders that Duranix probably would be out of action for several days at least.
“Go back to work,” he advised them. “Act as if this were any day, and receive the strangers with kindness.”
Despite his words, Amero himself was anything but calm. As he returned to the cave to study his copper melting experiments and await events, he felt a shiver of fear. Pa’alu had described Karada’s band as being five hundred strong. Yala-tene had had trouble in the past with lone outcasts or small bands of thieves, kidnappers, and killers. In most cases they hadn’t needed Duranix’s assistance, but they’d never faced so large a force of strangers before. Amero was no warrior, and neither were the people of Yala-tene. Could Duranix defend them against so many?
His fears were magnified as he ascended to the cave in his basket. As he rose, Amero could see more and more of the plateau behind the cliff. It was dotted with moving figures, all approaching Cedarsplit Gap, a steep ravine that led from the heights down to the valley of the lake. By late afternoon, for good or ill, Karada’s band would be here.
Then his anxiety doubled when he saw Duranix was not in the main chamber. Amero ran up the steps to the dragon’s sleeping platform and saw him there — in human form. Duranix’s slow, regular breathing filled the cavern. Still asleep? Had he changed to human form in his sleep?
The thought must have been a strong one, because it disturbed the sleeping dragon. Duranix turned over in one of those sinuous motions impossible for a true man to make and opened his eyes. Without saying a word, he held a hand up in front of his face.
“Bizarre,” he said, and sat up abruptly. “How long have you been gone?”
Amero was still at the edge of the platform. “Not long. It’s not yet midday.”
The dragon held out his human hands. “I must have transformed in my sleep. That’s very strange.”
Duranix stood up, spread his feet apart and held his arms out. Usually this signaled the beginning of his change back to dragon form. This time nothing happened. The dragon looked disturbed.
“What is this?” he said wonderingly.
Amero had no idea and said so.
Duranix whirled, pointing both hands at the pile of old bones at the rear of the platform. Lightning arced from his spread fingers. Bones shattered into dull white shards that flew in high arcs, falling to the sandstone floor. He followed this demonstration by hurling a web of incandescent lightning against the wall. The crash and flash were stunning. When Amero lifted his head, Duranix was standing, staring at the smoking holes in the wall.
“I’m not totally powerless,” said the dragon slowly, and Amero detected relief in his voice. It crackled to anger when he added, “But this is intolerable! Why can’t I revert to my natural shape?”
“Are you ill?” asked Amero.
“I feel buried in this feeble body,” Duranix snapped.
“Could it be your enemy?”
“Sthenn? No. I would sense him long before he could get near enough to place such a spell on me.”
Amero racked his brain for a helpful thought. “Maybe it was something you ate?”
Duranix blinked, then burst into bitter laughter. “Don’t be stupid, boy. This isn’t a bellyache!”
Amero recoiled. Though he had lived with a dragon for ten years, he knew next to nothing about the creature’s inner thoughts or workings. His sudden anger, coupled with the imminent arrival of Karada’s band, brought home to him the tenuousness of his life, and of Yala-tene itself.
“Calm down. I’m not going to eat you,” said Duranix, interrupting Amero’s anxious reverie. “Your thoughts are muddled. Who is coming?”
“Pa’alu’s people — Karada’s band — at least, some of them. Riders have been spotted on the plateau and in the outlying valleys. They seem to be converging on Yala-tene.”
“I see.” Duranix sat down on the edge of the platform and let his bare feet dangle. “You’re worried the warriors will attack your people?” Amero admitted as much, and Duranix nodded. “You’re wise to think so. Karada is hard and harsh, and her band takes her as their model. Does Pa’alu know they’re coming?”
“He’s gone to meet them.”
Duranix thumped his heel against the cool stone. “That’s good. He’s in love with Karada. That may give him some influence over her.”
