DragonKnight - Donita K. Paul [158]
There must be hundreds of them. All races. All ages. The servants!
“Ahnek! Sittiponder! Where are you?”
She heard grunts but no words. She drew her weapon and held the invisible sword so that the blade pointed the way. Rushing down the ramp, she kept her eyes open and trusted Gymn and Ardeo to help her watch for danger.
When she reached the cavern floor, she heard muffled groans and sounds of struggling. She turned to see the boys being held by a tall dark figure, their hands bound behind them. Gags stopped their mouths, and ropes wound around their ankles.
Wings flashed out from behind their captor. He stepped closer, into the light, and Kale let out a startled exclamation.
“You’re a meech!”
“Of sorts.”
He smiled, and Kale shivered, grasping her sword’s handle more tightly. She wondered if he could see it. Instantly, she regretted not protecting her thoughts from intrusion and said the words Granny Noon had taught her so long ago. My thoughts belong to me and Wulder. In Wulder’s service, I search for truth. I stand under Wulder’s authority.
She watched the meech’s expression to see if she could pick up some indication that he listened to her thoughts. His face maintained the wicked grin.
He wasn’t much like Regidor at all. While Regidor liked fancy clothes, this meech wore only a cloth around his waist. The muscles on his body stood out like on a sculpture, but his wings looked less developed than Regidor’s. She wondered if he could fly.
The boys continued to struggle, but the meech held them away from him as if they were no weight at all.
“So,” he said and tossed his head back, jutting his chin in a belligerent fashion. “The mighty Dragon Keeper has come to me. No doubt you’ve met your father. He didn’t give you much of a welcome, I suppose.”
“You have the advantage over me.” Kale kept her voice even.
“Oh, quite! Profoundly so, I would say.”
She ignored the interruption. “I don’t know who you are.”
“Well, in a way, I am Wizard Strot. And I am also a young meech dragon whose body I found particularly appealing for its youth and stamina. And I am two other wizards, so obscure I’m sure you’ve never heard of them.”
“And do all of you have one name?”
“I toyed with several, but in the end, I decided to keep my own. I am Lord Ire. And now you know why Crim Cropper and Burner Stox have not come to claim this property as their own, as heirs to Risto’s estate. Those puppies are amassing an army of creatures they hope to send to overcome me.” He laughed, an unpleasant sound in Kale’s ears.
“Well, I’ve just come for the boys. Sorry they intruded upon your living quarters. I’ll take them off your hands.”
He laughed again. The first one had been unpleasant. This one ripped across Kale’s nerves.
“Actually, dear Dragon Keeper, I intend to absorb them. It helps to keep me young.”
“How old are you?”
“Not as old as Wulder. But I know of no other than He who is older than I am.”
“Pretender?”
“How clever you are.”
Kale felt lightheaded, and darkness pressed in on her. My thoughts belong to me and Wulder. In Wulder’s service, I search for truth. I stand under Wulder’s authority. I stand under Wulder’s authority. I am pledged to Wulder. Wulder is mine, and I am Wulder’s. His banner is over me. His girding is under me. His fortress surrounds me.
Kale didn’t know where the words were coming from, but she let them flow until Pretender interrupted her.
“I may not be able to touch you,” he roared. “But neither can you leave. Try to move, Dragon Keeper. Try!”
Kale looked at his enraged expression. His eyes glowed. He had tossed the boys to the side, and they lay in unconscious heaps.
She tensed her right leg and tried to lift her foot. It stuck to the floor. She tried the left. It, too, remained fastened to the stone beneath her.
“You know,” said the evil before her, “I don’t like what Wulder has made.” He waved his hand, indicating the many people who