All too soon the trail dropped down from the high mountains to the lower flanks, where the snow did not lie as deep and signs of civilization began to intrude. Small cottages could be seen here and there among the high pastures. A few goats grazed on a wind-scoured hill. The trail showed some evidence of use where someone had recently shoveled through a high drift.
Several dragons close to Sara's talon began to drift downward.
Sara's heart started to pound harder. Her hands turned clammy inside her gloves. She wanted to stop this, to warn the village ahead, but unless she was ready to sacrifice herself and probably Cobalt, Jacson, and Marika, too, she could do nothing but wait and watch.
Below, a high ridge thrust out from the side of a mountain, forcing the trail to rise several hundred feet before it leveled out along the crest, then dropped down into another valley. This second valley was broader and less rocky and scattered with wide, open areas that the summer were meadows of rich grass. At the base of the ridge, the trail continued a short distance toward a grove of large pines, where Sara noticed columns of smoke rising above the trees.
The first two talons landed their dragons on the ridge trail just behind the summit. The other groups continued on.
Sara told Cobalt to follow the southernmost group. Up and over the ridge they glided, as noiselessly as possible, in a wide arch that would bring them around behind the village on the eastern and southern side.
Sara saw the second path that forked off the Kortal trail. It went south through the heart the Khalkist range to Sanction, the port city on Sanction Bay. Another talon dropped down to guard that road. A moment later she spotted their objective, the eastern end of the Kortal trail, where it appeared again on the far side of the pine woods.
She pointed it out to Cobalt, and he led Squall, Tumult, and Howl in a quiet glide down to the ground. The last talon followed. The dragons landed heavily in a meadow out of sight of the village and immediately slid into the trees, where they could see the trail and the first few clusters of cottages. Sara and her squires took cover behind a deadfall covered with vines and brambles. Their four dragons hunkered down behind them in a thicker copse of pine.
The village had its origins in a single inn that had stood at the junction of the two trails for several generations. In time, people built a few houses, a livery stable, some storehouses, and a tavern that formed the nucleus of a thriving little village. More houses, shops, and a blacksmithy grew up around it. Beyond the limits of the huts and cottages were farms scattered along the valley, where farmers eked out a passable existence in terraced fields and small orchards. For most of the year, travelers passed through on their way to Neraka, Kortal, or Sanction, and shepherds from the lower regions around Kortal came in the summer, bringing their flocks to graze in the high meadows. It was a quiet, unassuming village that had the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Sara looked around almost frantically for guards. Someone should have seen the great blue dragons landing. They weren't exactly silent. But she heard no horns of warning, no shouts or cries of fear. The village sat peacefully in its sheltering trees, unaware of the horror about to descend on it. A few people were out among the buildings, but most seemed to be indoors, where the warmth of a fire and a hot meal were more pleasurable than the cold, drear day outside.
The knights in the talon with Sara's slid off their dragons and unsheathed their swords. They waited impatiently, intent on listening for the signal. When it came, a thundering boom echoed through the valley.
"That's it!" shouted the talon leader, and he charged up the trail toward the village with his knights close on his heels. Their three dragons roared their excitement. A stroke of lightning erupted from one of the beasts and exploded into the side of a cottage. The building collapsed, its wreckage already smoking. Flames licked at the dry wood and thatch, and in moments the ruin was overwhelmed with rushing, crackling fire.
That's when the screams began.
Several humans crawled dazedly out of the burning home.
The three dragons leapt forward through the trees. Their powerful legs toppled smaller trees and crushed the undergrowth. Their heavy bodies toppled the stone walls of several houses and demolished the wooden outbuildings.
Sara stared, appalled, as one dragon sank his claws into the struggling villagers and tore them to bloody shreds. The second smashed a stable and ripped a horse to pieces. It swallowed the animal, then grabbed a woman that came staggering out of the wreckage. Her terrified shriek died in a sudden burbling cough. The dragon shook her body fiercely and tossed her aside. Gleefully the three rushed on, their roars reverberating through the woods.
"Why did they do that?" Derrick shouted at her, his comely face rigid with shock.
Sara shook her head fiercely. "I don't know! They're supposed to capture the village, not raze it!"
Beside her, Treb licked her lips and watched everything with a wide-eyed stare. Her dragon, Tumult, squirmed impatiently.
From the buildings in the trees came more explosions and the sounds of terror. Cracks of lightning ripped through the chilly air, followed by thunderous crashes and the growing roar of fire. The columns of smoke Sara had noticed earlier changed to a dense, acrid pall. Tendrils drifted out through the tree trunks like ghostly tatters.
The squires could not see much of the village through the trees and the smoke, but it didn't take much imagination to understand what was happening. What they could see and hear was ghastly.
The knights were supposed to attack the village from three directions while their dragons stayed at the perimeter. Sadly, the knights and dragons alike, goaded by excitement and the lust for blood, rampaged into the village, destroying houses and slaughtering everyone the caught. House by house, the knights forced out the inhabitants and inexorably drove them toward the center of the village. Most of the people were too over-come with dragonfear to resist. Only a few courageous people tried to make a stand and fight off their attackers, and they were quickly cut down with sword or axe. Nearly every building was on fire, and most of the outlying homes were smoking ruins.
Where were the reported mercenaries? Sara thought furiously. Wasn't there anyone to defend this place?
Through a gap in the trees, she saw a small knot of six men and women slip through the flattened undergrowth where a dragon had already passed. They crept forward slowly, cowering with fear but determined to reach the trail and escape. They did not yet see Cobalt and the others.
Tumult started to edge after them.
"Hold him!" Sara snapped to Treb.
Treb rounded on her, her eyes strangely bright. "Why? Aren't we supposed to keep them from getting out?"
"We were only ordered to protect the flank from attack," Sara said fiercely. "Keep him under control."
Derrick's hands clenched into fists. "It doesn't matter now," he rasped.
Sara turned her head to see five knights charge after the villagers. Laughing with pleasure, they grabbed the unarmed men and hacked them down in front of the screaming women. Then their bloody swords slashed into the terrified faces of the women, and the screams were silenced.
Sara heard the sounds of someone being sick close by, but she couldn't turn to see who it was. Horrified and sickened, she watched the knights, their arms and faces splattered with blood, clean their blades on the dresses of the dead women and turn back to the burning village to find more victims.