Worse, if she had, from where? From the dragon? If so, the dragon must have a method of communication, and to pass on that detailed information, it must be intelligent. Nothing I’d heard or read suggested that might be true.
The easy answer to all that might be to ask her. I spoke in a non-confrontational manner, trying to suggest a sudden idea that had entered my mind. “Say, how do you know it’s a female?”
She laughed softly before saying, “Come on Damon, you can be more subtle than that. No, we are not talking together. However, she is telling me things, in some way. Not words, but thoughts. Impressions. It's hard to explain but imagine hearing a mother coo to a baby. You just know it is a mother and not a man with a similar voice. It’s special and distinct.”
“I see how you can tell it is female. What about the rest?”
“Sort of the same thing. I feel hatred and fear of mages. She tells me they are mages by what they do and how they act.”
“Do you believe there have been mages in Mercia all that time? The same ones?”
Kendra paused again, considering how to answer. She faced me. “That may be the reason Mercia was built. Look around at the barren place this is. All food must be brought here. There is no reason for a city to exist here. Unless it is to house and care for mages to keep the dragon restrained.”
“Why didn’t they just kill it?”
“That is an answer I don’t know, but it has to do with essence. I think they steal her soul and use it.”
Her voice had taken on a sharp edge. A change of subject seemed in order. “Listen, Elizabeth and Tater are probably worried. We’d better return to them.”
We turned our backs as the dragon destroyed the rest of Mercia, building by building.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
We found Elizabeth kneeling at Tater’s side, tending to his broken arm. Springer announced our return long before we arrived, and Alexis grazed on small tufts of grass near the other horses. I gave a weak wave, my mind and body too wound up and preoccupied to do much else. Even from that distance, the roars and screams from the dragon were audible, as were the last buildings of the city of Mercia being methodically destroyed.
“She’s going to be very upset at you,” Kendra said from the side of her mouth as we approached Elizabeth.
“Me? Why me? I didn’t do anything.”
“For allowing your sister to make such a mess of an entire city that is ruled by her father. Prepare yourself for a tongue lashing—and who is going to pay for all the destruction you caused?”
I threw my head back and laughed like a man gone mad, and perhaps it was true. Even Alexia turned to look at me. We talked no more until reaching our friends. Elizabeth stood and waited for us. I went to her and wrapped my arms around her and cried.
It was an emotional release. I could see a dragon stomping on buildings in the distance, mages and worse were threatening our lives, and despite it all, we were alive. I cried, sobbed, and realized that the three of them would view me differently.
My mood shifted to one of anger. We hadn’t asked for any of the happenings. They were forced upon us.
Tater said, “No matter when they left, all the people from up there didn’t use this road.”
“What are you saying?” Elizabeth asked.
“It’s on the other side of that river. Once, a long time ago, someone wanted to go to the port from Mercia. If memory serves, there is another road across the river. Since there are only a few farms and villages this way, they went to the port where there is transportation. That’s been bothering me. People can’t just up and disappear.”
Kendra said, “Then the port must be overflowing with people.”
“Not necessarily so,” Tater said. “Ships probably sailed away with some, but Mercia never was like other cities. No trade, nothing they made there, no reason for most to go there. The streets were always pretty empty, only a few noblemen and servants moved about.”
“Meaning?” Elizabeth said.
“There were maybe six or eight big houses, but only a few important people in each of them. The surrounding houses contained servants, but not that many,” Tater said.
Elizabeth seemed to understand. “If there were fifty servants for each house, that is still only four or five hundred in the city. Another couple of hundred tradesmen and all food and goods were bright in, so there were never many living there.”
They had gone on to other things to talk about, and none spoke of me. I dried my eyes and sucked in deep breaths to calm myself.
A glance showed the dragon stood on hind legs and bellowed louder as if proud it had finished. It turned away from the mountain and spread its wings. As if it had all day with nothing to do, which it did, it slowly rose into the air, crossed the river, and gained altitude as it followed the road right at us. Both Tater and Elizabeth moved to the side of the road and the ditch that might offer a measure of safety. However, the dragon looked only at Kendra, as it flew higher and faster.
As I turned to watch it fly over us, Kendra was smiling faintly.
“Where’s it going?” I whispered.
“Anywhere it wants,” she answered softly.
“Can you still hear those sounds?”
She shook her head and then shrugged. “Not the deep thrum of the dragon. It’s gone. The bee-buzzing of the wyverns is still there.” She stopped talking as if confused. “We have made enemies this day.”
That drew me up short. It was not a deduction. She had reason to believe what she said. Elizabeth and Tater came to join us but saw the concern on my face. They waited for her to speak again.
She closed her eyes and said, “There are minds hunting for me. Not my body, but for me. The Blue Lady is one of them, and she is telling them what to look for and where we are.”
“Strike back,” Elizabeth ordered. “Do not stand aside and allow them to mass and attack as one.”
She had always been the better planner and more cutthroat. A cold streak held Elizabeth in the face of enemies and her first reaction was to fight, to strike first and hardest. Her secondary reaction was to plan another strike, one that would not fail. If she was directing a military battle, she would order a smaller group to attack her enemy and watch for weaknesses to exploit before sending in the larger force.
Kendra sat on the road and pulled her knees to her chin as she wrapped her arms around her legs. She rested her chin on a knee, eyes closed, and brows furrowed. Her lips were pursed, her jaw tight, and her arms tightened so much the tendons stood out.
She said nothing, and neither did we. Elizabeth knelt at her side. I watched as Tater gathered the horses and made unnecessary adjustments to their saddles. A blue haze shimmered beside Kendra. It expanded and grew in height until the vague outline of a woman formed.
It exploded in a flash of orange, leaving the hair on my arms tingling. But all traces of blue were gone. A noise behind drew attention. The dragon was returning.
It flew with long powerful strokes that propelled it forward at a speed hard to believe. Its head was thrust forward, and the thing never even looked at us. The dragon was concentrating on Mercia again.
It landed without slowing, striking the hillside behind the remains of the city so hard with its chest, rocks, and boulders tumbling. It used its foreclaws to dig. Rocks, stone, and debris flew. It managed to fit one paw inside an opening and rip it aside, tearing part of the hillside away.