Draka

“These things are really good,” I told Garal between sucking down my ninth and tenth fish. “Those kids deserve a bonus. Or at least a pat on the head.”

“I’ll pass that along,” he said. “Can you wait here for a minute?”

I took an exaggerated look around the small cellar, gave him a pointed look, and went back to finishing off the fish.

“Right,” he said, and disappeared up the stairs. I heard some muffled voices from the main floor or the warehouse-cum-mercenary headquarters, and Garal called back down, “When you’re done, would you come up here? The Commander wants to see you.”

“Be right up!”

It probably wasn’t polite to make them wait while I ate the last two fish in the crate, but in my defence I was really hungry, the fish were good, and they were going to start stinking up the place if nobody ate them.

The cellar stairs were behind a door, and the moment I looked out into the main space of the building, I sensed trouble. Or if not trouble, drama.

“What’s this,” I asked, looking at the small group of assembled humans as I stalked into the open. “An intervention?”

On one side of the room stood half the humans I knew in this world. Rallon stood flanked by Pot, Rib, and Arlal on one side, Lalia and Garal on the other with Herald and Mak looking awkward a few feet off. On the other side of the room was me, facing them all alone.

The atmosphere was softened somewhat by Rib and Pot looking at me with much less wariness and much more friendly interest than the last time we had been together, though I couldn’t help but note that everything that had been on the floor, which might have been between me and the door, had been moved.

“Madam Draka, thank you for joining us,” Rallon said. “I understand that this may appear unnecessarily confrontational, but I have been presented with some concerns about your recent behaviour.”

Wow. It really was a fucking intervention. They’d been careful, though. They got me fat and happy on fish, and they made sure that I could, very clearly, leave if I wanted to. No cornering the murder-lizard. Very smart of them. Unfortunately for them I felt cornered all the same.

“I don’t like being ambushed,” I told Rallon, pacing back and forth in front of them, my tail lashing with a mind of its own. “I had a bad experience with it recently.”

I looked at Mak, but she wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Rallon answered evenly. “And I understand that you have recently had some unfortunate grievances with Makanna, which I am sure has done nothing to improve your mood. Disputes between friends rarely do.”

“We’re working it out,” I said, staring at Mak until she lifted her eyes from the floor and looked back at me. “Mak. Come over here.”

She hesitated for only a moment, then crossed the floor to stand beside me where I’d stopped. Herald came with her a heartbeat later.

“There,” I said, sitting down. “See? We’re getting along just fine.”

“I’m glad,” Rallon said, his voice dry and devoid of humour. “Now, as I understand it, Makanna and her sister sought shelter here yesterday, bringing a prisoner with them. As young Herald tells it, they were held captive for some days by a criminal organisation, most likely the same one that we rescued several innocent citizens from several weeks ago. They only escaped when you, also having been taken, arrived and subsequently broke out. Does that sound correct?”

“Close enough, yeah.”

“This appears to have happened in retribution for an action which was ultimately my responsibility. A person I trusted, my interrogator, was also quite clearly involved in the escape of our previous prisoner, who was one of the men who took Makanna off the street, as her sister tells it. Therefore I clearly owe you all some help. However, let me be blunt. I cannot help you directly against these criminals unless they attack my people. Nor can I allow my people to help you, since there is no way for me to maintain deniability. Mercenaries are forbidden by law to act in a law enforcement capacity inside the city, citizens or no. However I can, and do, offer Makanna and Herald shelter here for as long as they need it. And yourself, of course."

The request that I not accept their hospitality for too long was clear from his tone.

“That is very kind of you,” I told him honestly. It wasn’t like Mak and Herald could stay at their inn any more, not until Tam and Val came back at least. “However, I was hoping Mak and Herald would come with me, if they feel up to it. I know a place where no one will be able to harm them.”

Herald and Mak looked at each other, then Herald looked at me and nodded. “As Draka says,” Herald told Rallon, “your offer is truly generous. We know that we have been disruptive to your company and that we may cause further problems. Thus, while we appreciate your kindness, we will go with Draka when it becomes possible.”

“I would be happy to show Garal or,” I sighed, “Lalia where I’m taking them. I trust them not to do anything to endanger Herald or Mak.”

“In that case I expect you will wish to take the prisoner with you as well. For the same reason that I cannot help you in the city, I cannot keep him here, or even turn him over to the guard. However, Garal has told me that you wish to give Makanna and Herald custody over him. I have no objection to handing him over though, since he seems amenable now, I would like my people to question him before his release.”

“That’s fine. I’ve told him to cooperate and Mak can make sure that he remains helpful. Can’t you, Mak? You know what to do if he doesn’t behave?”

Mak went a little pale, looked at me and licked her lips nervously. “Sure, Draka. I know.”

“Great!” I flexed my wings and stretched to my full height where I sat. “Then I think that we’re done here, aren’t we? Commander Rallon, I want to be completely clear about just how much I appreciate your help, and that of your people, in keeping Herald and Mak safe since yesterday. I have no doubt that the Night Blossom will be furious about our escape, not to mention the half-dozen of her people I killed on the way out. I’m sure that I don’t need to tell you that your people will need to be on their guard until I can deal with her. Considering she did something as monumentally stupid as attacking me, I wouldn’t be surprised if she tries to come after your people.”

“That would be foolish of her indeed, as that would allow me to act against her even inside the city. And I do not take violence against my people lightly.”

“Neither do I.” I looked fondly at the two women at my side. Let the others interpret that as they wished. It’s not like there was any point in pretending that the relationship between myself and the two sisters was in any way equal. Then I turned back to Rallon.

“I owe you a favour, and I don’t say that lightly. Call on me for anything, and I’ll do what I can. But I’m afraid I need to ask for just a little more. Herald and Mak will need to get their things from their inn, and they will need preserved food and other supplies for a long stay in the wild. Can I count on your people to help them prepare? Mak can take care of any costs.”

Rallon gave me a rare smile. “A favour from a dragon, hmm? A precious thing, I would think. Lalia, take Rib and go with the young ladies to their inn. Garal, prepare whatever you think they may need for several weeks from our stores, and send out for anything we may lack. Including the prisoner, I suppose,” he added after a moment.

His meaning was clear. ‘I will be glad to have you out of my hair at your earliest convenience, and I will dangle this favour over your head if I think it will get me anything.’ I couldn’t blame him. They were clearly worried about me, in the sense that having me lurking around was scaring the piss out of them. I’d already bent Herald and Mak to my will, clearly, with Ardek the prisoner being number three. How long until I started picking off Wolves, or challenged Rallon and took over the company?

Not that I had any intention to. No, I was going to be a good ally, and get out of their hair. I was going to put some distance between us, let them cool down a little, and make good on my promised favour if they asked me to. After all, I knew nothing about running a mercenary company, and I knew nothing about city politics. I was much better off with everything as it was, as long as the Wolves didn’t turn on me, which I really didn’t see happening.

Of course, I never saw Mak turning on me, either, which was one of my reasons for getting some distance between myself and the Wolves. I needed some room to breathe until I figured out what to do, and I wouldn’t have that if I was constantly worrying about my humans in the city. No, much better to have them safe and secure in the mountain, where I could keep an eye on them.

Rallon didn’t have anything else for me after that. The relief in the room was palpable, and my guess was that he was happy that everything had ended amicably and didn’t want to upset what must have looked like a pretty fragile balance. God only knows what Lalia had told him before we met, but he’d clearly been worried.

After a few words, Herald and Mak went with the others. They had things to fetch, after all, supplies to prepare and prisoners to interrogate. And the faster they were done, the faster night fell, the better. I was going to be glad to be out of there. The confrontation, careful as it was, had made me conscious of the constant cloud of unease that had hung over me ever since the prison. When I returned to the cellar I was very much aware that there was only one way out. On the bright side – or ‘the dark side’ might be more appropriate in my case – there was only one way in, and the small room was nice and dark, with plenty of nooks and crannies to hide in if necessary.

I could hear people move around and talk upstairs, and the mood was heavy. Everybody clearly knew that something was up, but since nobody bothered me I didn’t care much. Someone must have been on guard at the cellar door, because no one even tried to come down except Garal, who was putting together supplies for my people. Food, mostly. Dried meat and fish, some cheese, plenty of flour and hard tack, stuff like that, but also some lamp oil, hard soap, and other useful things. The man was thorough. We made some small talk, but that was it. Other than that I half-napped, with one eye on the stairs. I didn’t think that anyone there was a real threat to me, and my sleep had been all messed up lately, anyway, but it couldn’t hurt to be careful.

“Draka?”

It felt strange to be woken by someone else. It had happened once or twice when I was out with the others, but usually I would wake up on my own whenever someone approached me, or when the sun rose, or some other event would alert me. The other one, my dragon, was always watching, somehow, but this was twice in a row now that hadn’t happened.

Happily, it was Herald who woke me, and carefully at that. She squatted on her heels a couple of feet away, wearing her own clothes – they must have been since they fit – and a set of leather armour that I hadn’t seen before.

“Good evening, great sleepy one.” She smiled and waited for me to stretch and sit up. “We are packed and ready, and the sun has been down for some time. Whenever you wish, we can go.”

“Thank you, Herald. No time like the present. Is the way clear upstairs?”

“Not at the moment, but I will ask Lalia and Garal to take care of it. They will be coming with us.”

“Lalia. Fantastic.”

“She insisted. I think she is worried about Garal.” Herald smiled, reaching out to scratch the snarled patch of scales where my left horn should be. “She will come around. She just does not know you.”

Dear, sweet Herald. It was like her anger from that morning had never happened. She loved me, and in her mind, I think, so would anyone else if they just got to know me. I wondered how much of our friendship was real and how much was some kind of dragon magic getting into her head. I desperately hoped that the answer was 'more than none.’

Herald disappeared upstairs and soon shouted down that the coast was clear. When I came up the stairs my travelling companions – the sisters, Ardek, Garal, and Lalia – were waiting for me, along with Pot and Rib who were there to see them off, or something.

“I hope that you’ve got a plan,” Lalia said. “We need to get through quite a bit of the city before you’re in the clear. Are you sneaky enough to get through the streets and out the gate?”

“With you looking after Herald, Mak, and the boy?” I spread my wings demonstratively, then flapped them hard enough to lift myself off the floor for a second, nearly bumping into the ceiling. “Yeah. As long as I have a hidden place to take off I’ll be fine.”

Most of the humans flinched. The rush of air, the loud SNAP, the terrifying vision of teeth and claws suddenly moving… that was natural. Ardek was the only one to actually jump back. It gratified me to see that the others all accepted what I was, wary though they’d been. Ardek, though… it would be interesting to see him come to terms with just who he’d promised to serve. And it was just plain funny to see him squirm.

Ardek was completely out of place in the group. He had no weapons, and no armour. The pack in front of him was obviously smaller and lighter, as well. At least he wasn’t in the clothes I’d found him in. Someone had outfitted him simply, and even given him a pair of decent boots, but I noticed him favouring his injured leg.

“How’s your knee, kid?” I asked him. “You’ve got a good eight or ten hours of walking ahead of you.”

“I’ll be fine. It’s healing well, thank you. And, uh… Makanna massaged it a little, which made it feel much better.” I gave them both a look. “I said she didn’t need to, but she insisted!” He said, throwing her under the bus already. Lovely.

“You should be grateful. She was probably worried that I’d eat you if you couldn’t keep up.”

I turned to the others without expanding on that. Seeing him trying to figure out if I was serious really was amusing. “Shall we? Like I told Ardek, there’s a lot of walking ahead of us.”

“We’ll get Melon and Windfall from the stables,” Garal said, “along with the mule–”

“Stalwart,” Herald supplied.

“–right, Stalwart. We’ll get them from the stables. That side of the building is clear, so you can come out with us as long as you get into cover immediately. Just, please don’t scare the horses.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I said. “Let’s go.”