Bones of the Dragon - Margaret Weis [199]
The three dragonships made landfall. The Vindrasi often used this cove as a first stop when setting out on voyages. The land was heavily wooded with streams that provided fresh drinking water. Skylan had stopped here on his last voyage. The charred wood from their fires lay in black lumps amid circles of stones.
Garn put on his chain mail, which had been a gift to him from Skylan. He took the shield that Norgaard had given him from the rack. He picked up his axe and his sea chest and walked over to where Skylan stood.
Skylan’s arms were folded across his chest. He looked at Garn as though at a stranger.
“I am sorry, Skylan,” Garn said. “We never meant to hurt you.”
The blazing blue eyes burned Garn’s words to ashes. Slowly and deliberately, Skylan turned his back and walked away.
Garn left the ship. All eyes were on him as he made his way to the dragonship belonging to the Martegnan. Out of the corner of his eye, Skylan watched his friend and brother leave the ship.
They were dead to him, these two he had loved and trusted. They were dead, and he would have to find a way to go on living without them.
CHAPTER
7
Skylan longed to be able to crawl into sleep and hide there, licking his wounds. He ordered all the men ashore while he remained on board. Treia and Aylaen also stayed on board, holed up in the cabin. He hoped they knew better than to make an appearance. Night fell. His men doused their cook fires and went to sleep. He lay down on the deck and closed his eyes.
But it was not sleep who came. It was the draugr.
Draya stood over him, her pallid flesh drawn tight over her skull. She gazed down at him with sunken eyes. She pointed to the game board, which Wulfe had thoughtfully brought out before Skylan had angrily ordered him off the ship.
“Leave me alone,” Skylan muttered with a courage born of not caring.
The draugr stood over him.
Skylan closed his eyes and tried to pretend the draugr was not there. The cold chill of death seeped around him, causing him to shiver, though the night was warm. He seemed to see her even through his closed eyelids.
The draugr sat down on a sea chest. She picked up the five bones and threw them on the board. It was his turn, but Skylan made no move to touch them. The draugr grabbed the bones and threw them again. Skylan sat there sullenly, not moving. The draugr again threw the bones.
Skylan realized that the draugr was prepared to do this all night. He grabbed the five bones and flung them onto the deck. The bones scattered everywhere. One landed on top of the hatch, leading down to the hold where Aylaen and Treia slept. One rolled across the deck to bump up beside Raegar’s helm. One bounded off the carved wooden neck of the Dragon Kahg. One splashed into the sea. One came to rest at the feet of the draugr.
The draugr seized his shuddering hand and pried open his palm. She dropped five more bones into his hand and squeezed his fingers over the pieces, squeezing hard. He gasped in pain, and she finally released his hand. He saw his flesh had turned whitish blue, as from frostbite.
“I don’t understand!” Skylan cried raggedly. “I don’t know what you want from me! Five bones! Five Dragons of Vektia. Is that it?”
The draugr gazed at him and did not answer. Thinking only to get this over with, he threw the five bones.
He and the draugr played the dragonbone game, and for the first time, Skylan won.
It took him a moment to realize this. He won. He had beaten the draugr. She gazed at him and gave a nod, then went away.
“Garn was right,” Skylan said. “Five bones. Five Dragons of Vektia.” He started to go tell his friend, and then he remembered.
He had no friend.
Skylan lay down on deck. He stared into the stars and saw Aylaen’s face and heard her voice. He saw her with Garn, the two of them making love, and his vitals curled with shame and burned with jealous rage. Only when the stars began to fade did he fall into a frayed-edged sleep to wake with a start from a dream of horror he could not remember.