Kings of the North - Elizabeth Moon [222]
“Indeed, yes,” the man said. “But it will do you no good to know; it will only frighten you.”
“I am frightened now,” Arian said.
“No,” the man said. “Not truly. Not yet. Tell me what you know of this fire, what the Pargunese king told you.”
“He said it was a weapon, a gift of the Weaver—the Pargunese think of the demon we call Achrya as their benefactor, for she gave them lands the rockfolk had barred to them.”
“The rockfolk had reason,” the man said.
“And there was a hill of some kind … with black rock, I think he said. The rockfolk told them to stay away from it, but Achrya told them they should enter and take what they found.”
“And what did they find?”
“The king did not say, other than unquenchable fire.”
“I wonder if he knew.” The man stopped, turned to look toward the river. Along the fire’s track marched a group of soldiers, pike tips gleaming in the light that the fire still gave. “You should dismount,” he said to Arian. “Your horse will bolt; you might be injured. Take your horse over there—” He pointed some distance away.
Arian did as she was told, aware of a slight compulsion, but it also seemed sensible. If this were a magelord—she hoped not a renegade Verrakai—magic would certainly terrify her horse.
When she looked back, she saw no man but a large lump in the road, like a pile of rocks. Her first thought was daskdraudigs, but daskdraudigs did not have faceted sides … glittering …
Scales, she thought, an instant before the long snout lifted and the great eyes opened. Yellow as fire, bright as fire … the eye on her side of its head lowered a lid for an instant and then focused forward.
She could feel her horse trembling and laid her hand on its neck. “Be easy … it won’t hurt you.” She hoped. The horse quieted, lowering its nose to nudge her.
The soldiers marched nearer; she could hear the tramp of their feet, the jingle of their mail. The dragon shed light and heat, not as hot as the flame but steady; Arian could see back down the scathe-fire’s track to the soldiers.
“Well, now,” the dragon said to them. “I’m afraid you have done me an injury.” Its voice now had no human overtones.
They halted, congealed into a compact mass, pikes askew. The smell of hot metal grew stronger; it was like being in a forge.
“What you want?” their leader said, in the same accent Arian had heard from the Pargunese lords. His shiny breastplate gleamed in the dragon’s light, and a plume waved from his pointed helmet. Arian had to admire his courage, if not his sense.
“Recompense,” the dragon said. “For your discourtesy and your abuse of my hospitality.”
“What—”
“You stole my property. You used my property to call attention to me and my kindred, and our special places. Were you not warned away?”
“No,” the man said. “The Lady Weaver said we could—”
“Your Lady Weaver,” the dragon said, “is but a morsel to season my feast.” Its snout lowered almost to the ground. “Did not the rockfolk forbid your going beyond the great falls?”
“Yes, but what of it? They little folk weren’t using that land.”
“And did they not specifically forbid you to touch any hill with black stone, with a spine in the shape of mine?”
The man laughed. “The shape of yours? Do you think I don’t know you’re a bunch of men in a dragon puppet, like those at winter fairs that come to scare the children? There are no dragons, not in these days. They died out ages ago, before the magelords came north.” He turned to his men. “Come, now: this is no true dragon. Once we stick those pikes in it, you’ll see it’s naught but painted wood and canvas, lit from within by lamps—it will burn like their towns and trees—” He drew his sword and marched forward, followed by his troop.
The dragon did not move; the great eyes closed, its light flickered.
“And don’t think you can escape by running out the tail,” the officer yelled. The men moved more quickly, encouraged … ran up and rammed their pikes into its snout. And clanged on the scales without effect.
“You made a mistake,” the dragon said, opening its eyes again. “Not for the first time.” Tilting back its