Feathered Dragon - Douglas Niles [111]
“He doesn’t even believe it exists,” said Cordell in disgust. “He assumes the tale is some sort of ruse I’m using to gain my freedom.”
“Your freedom…” Rodolfo cast another look at the three guards, who were still engaged in their vigorous game of knucklebones. None of the trio looked up from the scattered coins and bones on the ground. “There are those besides me who would like to see you gain that freedom. Don Vaez is feared, but not greatly admired, by these men.”
Cordell smiled grimly. “Your words give me great hope and encouragement. Now we need a plan.”
Katl groaned behind him, and the captain-general turned toward the wounded man. Then he looked back to Rodolfo. “I’ll still have to tell Don Vaez where the gold is hidden. That’s the only way he’ll send the cleric to help Katl. But per-
haps, with your help, we’ll find a way to keep it out of his hands in the end.”
Tabub came rushing back to Halloran, gesturing wildly at the sky and the jungle before them.
“Eagle!” panted the chief of the Little People. “Him and Now he Big Person! Come quick!”
Hal’s first thought was Poshtli, but by the time he had laid Erix’s litter down and followed the halfling warrior forward, he had dismissed the idea of seeing his old friend here as wishful thinking.
But the sight of Chical, standing beside Daggrande and Co-ton, was nevertheless a welcome one. As far as Hal had known, the warrior was somewhere deep in the House of Tezca helping his people erect the city of Tukan.
The Eagle Warrior dispensed with the greetings quickly and told them of the mission that had brought the eagles and the horsemen to Helmsport and the fate that had befallen Cordell there. “He has been taken prisoner by this one he calls ‘Don Vaez,’” continued Chical. “They have kept him inside one of the buildings, so I’m not even certain that he lives.
“This morning, one of my eagles flew a short way south
ward over the Payit forests and discovered you. He did not
know who you were, so I flew here to investigate.” Chical
looked around at the odd mixture of dwarves, halflings, and
human warriors.
“A short way?” Hal repeated. “How close to Ulatos are we now?”
“No more than two days’ walk. You could make it in a single long march.”
“Don Vaez.” Daggrande spoke the name, accompanying it with a curse. He spat in disgust. “That little weasel doesn’t have the guts to do anything on his own, but he’s always chased after the Golden Legion’s glory. I’m not a bit surprised that he tossed Cordell in irons.”
“We must free him if we can,” said Chical quietly. Halloran
looked at the warrior in surprise, sensing that a bond had formed between the Eagle Knight and the foreign soldier-a bond that was all the more surprising in light of the opposing roles the two men had played in the battle for Nexal. Chical had commanded the Maztican warriors surrounding the Golden Legion, while Cordell had desperately strived to gain escape for himself and his men.
“Why?” asked Gultec directly. “Why should it matter to us which of the bearded men commands their troops?”
Chical nodded, understanding the Jaguar Knight’s question. He told them of Zaltec and the monstrous army marching on Helmsport and Ulatos, and of Cordell’s orders to his own legionnaires and the Kultakans he had left in the desert. “He planned to send those ships for them on the shore of the Sea of Azul. If they had returned in time, they would have greatly increased our numbers!”
“Do we still have time?” asked Daggrande. “Those men must be hundreds of miles south of here.”
“I don’t know,” Chical admitted. “The beasts will be here within a week, a ten-day at the most. It depends on how fast the ships could sail-but they will only sail if Cordell gives the order.”
“Twin Visages!” said Halloran, suddenly understanding. “Zaltec doesn’t march against Ulatos. He goes to Twin Visages!”
The giant god would have to march past the Payit city, of course, but Hal suspected that his eventual goal would