As we entered the outskirts of Andover, there was a perceptual change. People were on edge. The crowds were still there, bolstered by those who fled from Mercia, but now they furtively looked around with darting eyes. Soldiers who were not noticeably on the streets a day earlier were patrolling. A fistfight broke out on the street and Kendra walked her horse around it.
At the bazaar, we located the same vendor selling his pies. As I paid for six, my curiosity got the better of me. “What’s going on?”
“Plenty. Two mages were killed yesterday, and another has disappeared. This morning a dragon flew over. Not a wyvern, mind you, a true dragon. Did you see it?”
“We camped outside of town to the north, but yes.”
He snorted as he accepted the coins, “All this time, I thought they were myths.”
“Me too,” I mumbled truthfully, with a wave goodbye.
Kendra still sat on her horse and held my reins for me. Her lips were pressed tightly together, her eyes hard. My hand held out a pair of the pies, but nothing passed my lips. She turned and rode through the streets as if not seeing the people scramble to get out of her way. The cobblestones were slick, uneven, and hard for the horses to walk on. We rode, ignoring the glares and rude catcalls. The entire city seemed affected by the appearance of the dragon—and none seemed happy about it. The dead and missing mages didn’t help either.
Leaving the city, we rode into a stiff, bitter wind that suited my foul mood. We again rode knee to knee, moving into single file only when we passed a group of travelers or wagons.
“Did we do the right thing with that mage?” I asked.
“What else, besides killing him, could we have done? Besides, despite all he did, the man seemed ashamed and contrite.”
We rode in silence, with me afraid to ask my next question. It had been bothering me from the first and needed addressing, yet the possible answer scared me. “Will you talk about the Dragon Queen to me?”
She snapped to attention at the question, then visibly relaxed. “It’s just a name, a story told to scare children.”
“No, it’s more than that.”
A boy approaching us kicked a ball in front of him. He saw me watching and picked it up and made motions as if to throw it to me. I raised my hands and the ball arced. Barely touching it, I threw it back. We tossed it between us several times before he laughed and raced away to catch up with his parents.
Kendra said, “I have existed in your shadows of age, magnetic personality, and magic since my earliest memories. Suddenly, I’m being thrust into a strangeness of power so strong it suppresses those of true mages, it overpowered them and allowed a magical creature to escape. It is sort of like being a servant one day and a queen the next. Can you understand?”
There are times to talk—and others to remain quiet. This was the later.
She went on, speaking softly as if not considering her words, but speaking them as they came to mind, “It’s hard. A total shift in perception. In addition, there is the new part of my mind that has awakened. It senses things—and I’m beginning to think magic, or what we call magic, is really just the use of essence.”
She grew quiet, thinking.
The breeze in our face carried the tang of salt, and the stink of death that is the edge of the ocean. Ahead, the road wound along the river, which was joined at some point by the raging torrent that guarded Mercia and would eventually find the sea. There was not a tree in sight. The wind probably carried salt and deposited it to kill all but the hardiest of plants, none taller than my knee.
The road was not crowded with people, but there were dozens to hundreds in sight at any time, some traveling to Andover, others to the great seaport along with us. They carried their belongings. I assumed most had lived in Mercia and had lost everything, but they didn’t appear as lost and morose as they should.
I started watching them, their actions and faces. A few waved listlessly, but still, that action was uncharacteristic of people losing their homes. Then, realization struck. They had been as much captives as the dragon. They had been freed when the dragon was. Now they would find new lives and homes. The gates of the city and the river not only kept invaders out, they kept people inside the city.
Wagon after wagon piled high with goods rolled in both directions, so many the road accommodated them without either direction having to move aside to pass. They were carrying cargo either to the ships or from them to be distributed throughout the kingdom. The road had one side for them, the other for people walking or riding. There was no interaction between them.
Kendra said, “The dragon dominates my mind. It is not sound, but impressions—and sound is the easiest way to explain. A steady roar, not angry or unkind, is there. Along with the roar is the buzzing of wyverns, sometimes louder and sometimes easing. If they are closer, it is louder, but if they get excited, it raises in pitch. Then there are the blips of sound, or impression, or whatever the correct name is. They are the mages. The use of essence and the distance from me change their identification.”
“Can you tell where that mage we left this morning is?”
“He just entered the city.”
“What’s he doing?” I didn’t like the idea of a mage being behind me.
“Only his location is revealed.”
“This morning, you had the dragon fly along this road to look for enemies.”
“True. What you’re really asking is how did I do that? My answer is, I don’t know. I made pictures in my mind. Se was flying low, along what I imagined the road looked like, and she did it. We didn’t talk. But there is a bond. She likes me. I freed her, and she knows it. Now, she wants to be near me, protect me.”
“Where is she right now? Can you tell?”
Kendra pointed her chin. “Over there. Not too far away. She likes to stay close.”
“What is she doing?”
“Eating sheep. This is her third one, and she is still hungry. Of course, she was very weak and thin. She needs food to get healthy.”
“You can tell all that?”
“And more. She is lonely. There has been nobody to care for her and has only had mages and spirits stealing her health for centuries. No companions of her kind, and none like me.”
Kendra looked ready to cry, and my questions could wait, but there was a lot more her answers brought up than they resolved. Seagulls circled and cried for a handout. A man tipped his hat and complimented our fine horses. Later, a woman gave Kendra a startled look, then tried to conceal her interest.
I said with a warm smile, “Nice morning. Was there something you wanted to ask?”
“Her horse. It is like the one Princess Anna arrived on. Did you also come from Crestfallen?”
“We did.” I waited, hoping she would reveal more. Instead, she turned her head and walked away quickly. I resisted the impulse to turn and ride after her and ask more.
Kendra said, “That confirms she made it to either the port or Mercia, so we can assume Lord Kent did, too.”
My thoughts went to Avery, the servant to the Heir Apparent. However, she was right. In the excitement of all that had happened at the mountain pass with those who we fought from Kondor, the thieves who stole our things, the Blue Lady, and the mages we had killed. The other three from Crestfallen had almost slipped my mind.
“Kendra, I have a question or request. Whatever, let me say I’m scared of what is ahead waiting for us. You say there are three strong mages and four weaker ones, but that doesn’t help. Avery, Princess Anna, and Lord Kent are also there. And spirits with reason to hate you.”