Dragonquest - Donita K. Paul [64]
Kale straightened from her fight-ready stance and glowered. Reaching with her mind, she didn’t connect with anything. Taking a cautious step forward, she kept her sword pointed at the curious heap.
A growl warned her an instant before a massive body slammed into her from the side, knocking her down. She managed to keep a grip on the sword as the attacker pinned her arm to the ground. Struggling under his weight, she felt herself pushed deeper into the old leaves. A huge hand pressed against her skull, and she thought she would suffocate in the damp mulch.
She became aware of the distress of the minor dragons trapped in her cape. Metta sang an outraged battle song she had never heard before. Gymn sent wave after wave of strength to Kale, but it was not enough to topple the man off her back. Dibl giggled as images of squashed berries flitted through his mind and therefore hers.
The bisonbeck grunted, jerked, grunted again, and rose off Kale. She forced her arms underneath her and pushed to pry her body out of the muck. She turned on her side to see Bardon deliver a fisted blow to the disarmed assailant. The man sank to his knees and fell over.
Bardon stood with his sword ready, scanning the area around them for other attackers. “Are you all right, Kale?”
She nodded, mumbling, “Yes.”
The dwindling sounds of fighting told her the skirmish was almost over.
Dibl flew from her cape and landed on their rescuer. Bardon stroked his orange belly. A twinkle lurked in the lehman’s blue eyes. He offered a hand to help Kale rise.
“Next time,” he said with a grin, “try attacking your opponent from the top instead of the bottom. It gives you an advantage.”
She jerked her hand out of his. “That wasn’t funny.” She brushed at the leaves and dirt covering her.
“Dibl thought it was.”
Her eyes came up to meet his. “You heard Dibl mindspeak?”
Bardon’s brow furrowed more, and he shook his head. “No, it was only an impression.”
“An impression is all you usually get from a minor dragon,” Kale explained. “Images. Thoughts that are almost words, but not quite.”
“I don’t mindspeak.”
She ignored his objection and continued to puzzle over how Bardon had “heard” Dibl.
“Dibl is bonded to me. I can mindspeak with him. He would converse easily with someone else adept at mindspeaking. In a desperate situation, one of my minor dragons could probably get a message through to someone rather inept at the art.” Kale studied Bardon, someone she had always considered dense in the ways of wizardry. She shook her head. “But you heard Dibl.”
“I didn’t.”
“Did you think of that quip about me fighting from on top instead of the bottom?”
Bardon nodded with a smug smile tightening his lips.
“What was Dibl’s reaction?”
“He laughed.”
Kale raised a finger and shook it at the staid lehman. “He didn’t laugh out loud.”
Bardon’s scowl returned, but he didn’t speak.
“How many of Paladin’s servants at The Hall mindspeak?”
“Some instructors. Grand Ebeck. Maybe a half dozen in all.”
“So maybe you never had a chance to develop the talent.”
“Maybe you’re full of foolishness.”
They glared at each other, each with their hands on their hips in a no-nonsense, straight-legged posture.
Dibl flew to Kale’s shoulder.
She blinked and relaxed. “Thank you.”
“What for?”
She leaned over to wipe her blade in the leaves, cleaning off the blood. “For saving my life.”
“Oh, that.”
She looked up and giggled. “Yes, that.”
Bardon smiled.
She ducked her head, concentrating on polishing her weapon.
He smiled, and Dibl isn’t even sitting on his shoulder.
27
STRANDED TRAVELERS
“An illusion?” Librettowit considered the matter of the disappearing bisonbeck and maiden. Bardon, Toopka, and Kale had joined Librettowit, Dar, and Regidor inside the carriage as soon as the skirmish with the bandits ended. Dar had ordered Bruit to turn off the main road to take a shortcut avoiding the small city of Tourk. The coach rocked and bounced over rough roads,