Dragons envoy, p.1
Dragon's Envoy, page 1
Dragon’s Envoy
By James A. Haddock III
and
Gus James
Copyright © 2022 all rights reserved.
Website:
Jameshaddock.us
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
It would make a great bard’s song: The orphan son of a mage, a battlefield scavenger saves a knight’s life, is elevated to be his squire, and becomes a dragon’s envoy. But this is no bard’s song. All of this was because of the dragon stone necklace I scavenged from that dead mage. I knew it was magic when I saw it. Well, it was and it wasn’t. Dragon stone they call it, but what it actually is, is a dragon’s egg. When I touched it, I felt the need to put it around my neck for safekeeping. When I did, the necklace embedded itself inside my skin, making me the new dragon’s envoy. It has since been my duty to protect the egg until she’s ready to hatch. How do I know the egg is a she? Easy, she talks to me and is helping me to bring out my natural magic talents. Sometimes I’d rather it was a bard’s song, as it can be tiring. Although I must admit, having a dragon inside you comes in handy when people are trying to kill you.
Chapter 1
The armies had been gathering since long before dawn, getting into their order of battle, and forming their lines. I had foolishly gotten too close to the battle and was now fighting for my miserable life. Miserable it may be, but it was the only life I had, and I wanted to keep it for as long as I could. I especially did not want to die in battle.
Running from tree to tree I pulled another stone from my pouch and placed it in my sling. I stopped at the next tree turned and stung the stone, striking the pursuing soldier in his forehead. I heard the crack of the stone on bone and knew a fifth soldier was no longer chasing me.
Running again, I loaded another stone in my sling. When I turned to sling the stone, no one was chasing me. I stood by the tree watching and listening drawing deep breaths. The loudest noise, other than my breathing, was the approaching storm and the army’s battle taking place a hundred yards from me.
The tree I was standing next to was rather large, with lots of low limbs, and higher up it was thick with leaves. I dropped my stone back into my pouch, looped my sling through my belt, and began to climb. I reached a place high enough that no one on the ground could see me through the leaves.
I sat on a thick limb, holding tightly onto the tree's trunk. My legs were shaking from the long run, and my hasty climb. From this vantage I had a prefect view of the low hill where the majority of the fighting was taking place. I seemed close enough to reach out and touch them.
I was stunned by what I saw, it was total chaos. Both armies were mixed together, circling the hill like water draining from a tub. Being a camp follower's orphan, I had seen many battles in my 12 years, but nothing like this. There would be plenty of spoils for me to scavenge on the field this night, and at least there was that.
Low hanging dark clouds made the afternoon sky look like late evening. Lightning began to strike all around the hilltop. I squinted my eyes against the harsh light. I watched as a mage conjured wide bands of lightning that tore running gouges along the ground. Men were dying by the hundreds, all over the battlefield. I could tell which man was the mage because there was a strong halo of magic surrounding him. I had never heard of anyone else who could see magic auras as I could. Of course, I never told anyone I could see them either and so that likely contributed to it.
Being able to see magic auras was a gift from my mage father. Well, mother said he was a mage anyway. She never told me his actual name, if she ever knew it. The sleeping sickness had taken her four years ago and left me to fend for myself.
A lightning strike hit close enough to my tree to make my hands and legs tingle, bringing me back to the present. My tree began to sway more as great sheets of rain began to fall turning the battlefield into a quagmire. At least the June rain was warm, though it also made it muggier than it already was.
In the flashes of light, I watched as a horse-mounted knight charged the mage. Lightning struck the horse causing it to flip, launching the knight at the mage. The knight with his sword held aloft, stuck down on the mage. A massive band of lightning hit the knight and the mage. There was a terrible thunderclap, and the lightning suddenly stopped. The valley became darker as the rain became heavier.
The sounds of battle silenced to almost nothing. Now was the time when both armies would withdraw back to their camps and recover their wounded. Recovering their dead would come later, giving me time to act. I carefully climbed down from my perch. With as wet and as tired as I was, one slip might be the end of me.
Once I was safely on the ground, I headed for the hill top where the mage's battle had been fought. I figured he would have been surrounded by knights and officers from both armies, so that's where the best spoil would be.
I sludged through the mud and the blood, over the dead and dying. Scavenging battlefields all my life had hardened me to my surroundings. Though admittedly, it was a further walk than it had appeared from my tree perch, and other scavengers were also starting to make their way out onto the field. I needed to hurry, a 12-year-old scavenger such as myself had little chance against a full grown one.
I climbed to the hilltop, where mounds of dead were surrounded a crater, and at the bottom of the crater lay the knight and the mage. Both had charred burn marks on their bodies. The knight's armor was melted in several places. The mage's clothes, though muddy, looked as good as new. The knight had buried his sword in the mage's neck, severing his head from his body.
I descended into the crater. I could see magic auras around several items, including the knight's sword, and the mage's staff which had a large stone at its tip. I noticed the mage wore a leather forager's bag under his cloak. It was larger than my worn-out bag, so I took it. I put my new bag around my neck and began to put my spoils in it.
Setting the knight's sword aside, I took the mage's rings, and necklaces. One necklace was on a braided leather thong, which had a small leather pouch attached. The leather was like none I had ever seen, it shimmered with silver and gold tints. The pouch felt warm, so I opened it. Looking inside I saw a glowing red stone about the size of a bird's egg. I felt this was important, and apparently so had the mage since he wore it around his neck. I put it over my head and tucked the pouch inside my shirt. I dropped everything else into my forager bag.
Everything the mage wore was high quality. I stripped him out of his cloak, which was still dry despite all the rain. I threw it around my shoulders, as I was beginning to get cold and would benefit from some additional coverage. I noticed he was also wearing a flat haversack or backpack, taking it, I laid it to the side. He wore fingerless gloves, which had runes on the backs. I took them, put them on, and my hands began to warm. I nodded my head and thought, Magic.
I unbuckled his belt, which had its own pouch, a sheathed knife, and a slim bladed short sword. I set the sword aside and buckled the belt around my waist. I drew the knife and it glowed with mage aura. Its blade was six-inches long and had runes and glyphs etched along its spine. Its handle was made of some animal's horn, though I was unsure as to which creature it could be.
"What you got there boy?" a deep voice said from above and behind. I had become too involved with my spoils and was caught unaware. That, and the rain had masked the sound of his approach. "I know, you were gathering my spoils for me. Well, you just give them to me now. If you do, you can leave. If I must come take them, you'll end up worm food like those other two down there.
I looked up from the mage’s knife to the dead mage and smiled. "Help me, Sir. I put the mage's cloak on, and now I can't move. Please help me. You can take everything, I just want to get far away from here," I whined, crying.
"Frozen huh? Well, let's see what we have here." I listened as he approached, covering the mage knife with my other arm. When he stepped up beside me, I struck. Surviving as a scavenger means you must be quick, and sometimes nasty. I stabbed the knife into his upper leg by his crotch. I rolled away, and up onto my feet; knife ready to strike again.
There was no need; he was busy trying to stop the bleeding. I knew I'd hit the artery. I worked in a healer’s tent as a scut boy, and paid attention to the healing mages. I'd learned a lot watching them. I had seen that particular wound many times, though mostly on the dead.
I watched him for a moment longer, he didn't even look at me as he lost consciousness and died. I wiped his blood off the blade and sheathed it. I glanced at the short sword, it's handle looked like a larger version of the knife. I picked it up and drew it out a hand's breath, its blade had runes and glyphs, same as the knife. It fit in my new haversack, but just barely. I picked up the mage staff, when I did it shortened to a cane startling me. I put it in the haversack, and it dropped out of sight. I shrugged, and went back to stripping the mage, but paid better attention to my surroundings.
I stripped him of his armor, which had a mage aura to it. It had dragon scales imprinted on it. It looked and flexed like leather, but at the same time, it was harder than leather. The chest piece extended longer than I'd seen before. It also co
I glanced at the mage's head––or rather his skull, that no longer had skin on it. I guess the lightning had cooked it off. Regardless, it wasn't a human head, it looked like a human sized dragon skull.
I shrugged, whatever it was, it was dead now. But something didn't look right. Looking closer I realized it was a dragon skull helmet surrounding the actual skull, with a dragon face image on the dragon glass shield. I opened the face shield and the mage's head fell out of the helmet. I shrugged and started to put the helmet in my haversack, but hesitated. My 'gut feeling' was telling me I needed to put the mage's armor on. I had gotten these feelings before of 'something bad is going to happen' and they were usually right.
I glanced up and standing a few feet from me was an apparition of the dead mage. He looked from me to the knight, then to where his body lay. He looked back at me, nodded, raised his hand to me, seeming to bid me farewell. He then turned and walked away disappearing into the rain.
I looked around, a shiver running up my spine. I didn't have time to put the armor on now, but I'd be more watchful of danger. The helmet joined the rest in the haversack.
I moved over to search my would-be killer. He had very little, a belt knife, some bobbles, and a small purse of gold. All of which I took. I moved over to the knight, and as soon as I touched him, I knew he was still alive. I knew others who would have just finished him off and stripped him for all he had. I hadn't become that hardened...at least not yet.
I suddenly realized that his eyes were open, and he was looking at me. "My sword," he wheezed, reaching. He must be one of those who believed you had to die with a weapon in your hand. I wasn't sure of the reason. I shrugged, getting his sword, I placed it’s hilt in his hand. When he closed his hand around the hilt, the sword and knight's body began to glow with a mage aura. "My name is Jace Greyson. Take me to the healers, and you will be rewarded. My father is Duke Greyson, and my family is rich and powerful," he said, and passed out.
"Hmm, my three favorite words, reward, rich, and powerful," I mused.
The knight was too heavy for me to carry to the healer, so I was going to need a horse. I stepped up on the crater's rim and looked around. I saw several horses close by and started toward the closest one. When I reached him, I saw he was wounded and lame. Just beyond him was a large war horse. A horse like that cost a fortune. I would be set for life with what someone had paid for him. I approached him slowly, because I knew that most war horses have a nasty temper.
I noticed he wore the enemy army's colors. As I continued to walk I said, "I bet you've had a long, rough day." He ears flicked forward as he watched me. "Let's have a look at you, big boy." I ran my hand down his neck and then flanks. After a brief examination I said, "You look OK," and took his reins. I watched him walk to make sure he moved OK. Nodding I led him back toward the crater.
I stopped beside the knight's dead war horse and took off the alive one’s current colors and tack. I put the knight's colors and tack on him, and having that done, I lead the horse down into the crater.
"OK big boy, stand still while I get your new master up on you," I said. The war horse stood still, and I finally got the semi lucid knight up into the saddle. Him having a death grip on his sword didn't help any. I put the knight's boots in the stirrups, and he laid forward on the horse’s neck.
I led the horse out of the crater and headed toward the healer’s tents. "I hope you live until we get to the healer’s, Sir Knight," I said talking to myself.
"Me too," the knight mumbled.
I chuckled.
Before we had gone very far, I found a timid palfrey that looked well taken care of and unhurt. I stripped off his house colors and mounted. We made better time getting Sir Jace to the healers, now that I was able to pick up our pacing. The muddy road was lined with soldiers, wounded and not, making their way back to their camps. There were also wagon loads of wounded headed the same way as we were.
It was still dark, and all anyone could see of us were horses, so they assumed we were nobility. Well, one of us was, I just continued to act the part. I rode straight to the noble's healer’s tent.
"Master Corder?" I called out dismounting. The healers were used to me bringing in wounded.
Master Corder stepped out of the tent, "Who've you got, slinger?"
I thought I'd add some wood to the fire to speed up his steps, "The knight who killed the battle mage. He told me his name was Jace Greyson."
"Duke Greyson's son?!" he asked running toward us.
"So he told me," I answered.
"Quickly let's get him inside," Master Corder said. We pulled Sir Jace from his horse and moved him inside. Through the whole ordeal, he kept a death grip on his sword. The tent became an anthill of activity after that. I could do no more in here, so I went back outside to take care of the horses.
I led our horses around to the stable tents where the nobles kept their horses. The war horses were kept separated so they wouldn't fight. There were plenty of empty stalls this night. The torches outside did little to light the inside of the tent. Without conscious thought, I threw a small ball of light up over the stalls inside the tent. I stood there in the rain staring at what I had just done. I looked down at my fingerless gloves and shrugged. I led the horses inside, unsaddled them, rubbed them dry, then brushed them down. I watered them and gave them both grain, they'd worked hard today. After some time I realized that they’d need to find his horse, so I hung Lord Jace's colors outside allowing it to be found more easily.
Both horses were chestnut colored, and both had multiple cuts on them from the fighting. I had been watching the healers heal for months and saw how their magic worked. I had never tried to heal before, but now I felt like it was no hard task. I concentrated on the horses' wounds and ran my fingers over the cuts, taking away the pain. The fingerless gloves seemed be guiding my hands. I pushed the edges of the cuts together, and the wounds closed and sealed.
Checking my work, I was satisfied with the results. "That was easy enough. I'll try healing people next, but they'll have to pay," I thought. Once the horse's wounds were taken care of, I took care of their tack.
After I had cared for the horses, and their tack I started taking care of myself. I lay a ground sheet down, laid my dry mage cloak aside, stripped out of my wet clothes, and dried off. I spread my wet clothes out so they could dry and pulled the mage's clothes and boots out of my haversack. I knew the clothes wouldn't fit me, but at least they were dry.
I was surprised to find that not only were the mage's clothes not wet, they were also clean. I nodded and pulled my new breaches on. To my surprise, they fit me perfectly. Not only the breaches, but the belt, shirt, vest, stocking, and boots. It was odd, as the mage had likely been much older than me. I stood there looking down at myself, grinning like a fool. I had never had any new clothes. Remembering the cloak, I put it on, and as I'd hoped, it fit me perfectly as well. "Magic," I said giggling.
I reached into the foraging bag to see what might be inside, other than what I had already put in it. My hand closed around a small book, and I took it out. It had a plain brown leather cover, and as it was opened, it nearly doubled in size. It was now a large book with the same plain brown leather cover. I opened it to find pages of handwritten notes. It was very nicely done, not that it did me any good, as I couldn't read. I thumbed through it, then closed it down to its smaller size and put it back in my bag.
The events of the long day finally caught up with me, and I was sure it was after midnight. I rolled my damp clothes up and put them in my bag. I didn't have many possessions, so I always packed everything away in case I had to leave in a hurry.
I wrapped myself in my warm cloak and lay down in front of the horses to get some sleep. The sounds of the horses were comforting, and they'd warn me if anyone came near. Laying there, the mage’s light was still in my view as it hovered over the stalls. I waved my hand, beckoning it to me. When it grew near, I closed my hand around it, shutting out its light.
