Dragons of the Valley - Donita K. Paul [62]
“My name is Tipper Schope.”
“And where do you come from?”
“Upriver.”
He laughed at that. The hard, loud noise did nothing to calm Tipper’s trepidation.
He stood, and Tipper realized he must be over seven feet tall. He didn’t have the bulk of a bisonbeck. He wasn’t flabby, as grawligs tended to be.
“Trying to figure out my heritage, aren’t you?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be impolite.”
He laughed again, rattling her this time as much as he had the first. How could a sound produced by humor be so unsettling?
The Grawl narrowed his eyes. “Few people bother to concern themselves with manners around The Grawl.”
“That isn’t as it should be.”
“But it is so, and I find no reason to dwell on it.”
He reached his hand toward her. “May I steady you as you come ashore?”
“No, I was told to stay on the raft. Someone is coming for me.”
He withdrew his hand. “Then I shall keep you company. I am curious to meet your companions.”
Tipper sat down on the pile of blankets, cradling the unconscious Rayn. She preferred to not have company but didn’t think it safe to say so.
24
Bridge
With her stomach full of grasshopper pie, Hollee skimmed over the ground at the speed she loved. Taeda Bel and Maxon easily kept up with her. Some people believed that kimens actually flew. The kimens, by agreement, neither confirmed nor denied the assumption. Hollee delighted in withholding the secret from the other races. While zipping ahead, the kimens visited, catching up on all that had happened during the time they’d been apart.
The tumanhofers and the wizard trudged up the trail at a sedate pace. With the others far behind, the kimens talked with expressive and rapid gestures. After covering the less heady subjects of conversation, they slowed their speech if not their gait. A more serious topic deserved attention.
“What did you learn about Odidoddex?” asked Taeda Bel.
Reluctant to delve into the problem, Hollee sighed. “Not many countryfolk like him. He has a larger following among city dwellers.”
“Why?”
“He deliberately curried the favor of the city population to strengthen his power.”
“How?”
“He forced the farmers to overproduce and drained the land of what is needed to keep the soil rich. Now their farms grow lots of weeds, and they only get a puny harvest.”
Maxon shook his head. “Now that would make wise farmers mad. Very mad indeed.”
“It makes all the farmers angry. And Odidoddex sent his army to confiscate all the best animals. That left the people with no breeding stock. Now the cities are demanding he keep up the largesse, and he has decided to plunder Chiril. It is uncertain whether he plans to overthrow our king or take the goods and run.”
Taeda Bel tugged on Hollee’s arm. “What about The Grawl?”
She shuddered. “I’ve seen him up close. He’s horrible.”
“But what is he?”
Hollee hesitated. She’d heard rumors, but she didn’t like to repeat things she didn’t know for sure. “I don’t think anyone really knows. Some say he was birthed by a woman of the urohm race, but the father was a grawlig from a marauding band. The woman was captured and ill-used. She died giving birth, and the raiders abandoned him in a village in Baardack.”
“They raised him?” asked Taeda Bel.
“Not exactly.” Sadness for a small, ugly child filled Hollee’s heart. “The legend says that the men of the village used him like a hunting dog. It was there that he became known as The Grawl.
“He was slow to talk, and they thought he was little more than an animal. When he grew older, his intellect blossomed, and he outshone them all. They turned on The Grawl and threw him out.”
“That’s distressing.” Maxon slowed their pace. “I wonder if they would have treated a hunting dog as badly. Fear often overwhelms compassion.”
Taeda Bel brushed a tear from her cheek. “Where did he go from there?”
“That’s the point where folktales take over.” Hollee spread her hands out in front of her in a questioning gesture. “There’s no telling which ones are true and which aren’t. The common theme is that he hunts people down for