The Sword and The Mountain (Kathardra book 1)

“Lessa. They are asleep.” Storm woke her.

“Are you sure?”

“Zar stayed awake longer than he usually does. I’m not sure if he was suspicious or if his conscience kept him awake. Worran has been asleep for hours.”

“You’ll have to walk for a while before you can fly. So your wings don’t wake them.”

“Let’s see if you can get out of here silently first.”

Storm’s wing slowly retracted, exposing Lessa to the night air. It was full dark, a sliver of moon hung in the sky, barely illuminating the night. The scant light it provided was hampered even further by heavy cloud cover.

That was no problem for Lessa. The world was nearly as clear to Lessa as it was under the noonday sun. Granted, the colors were saturated in muted grayscale.

Her heart was beating hard before she even moved. She took a deep calming breath. She couldn’t allow adrenaline to pollute her actions.

Silent and smooth Lessa rolled from Storm’s cradle-like embrace. Both feet pressed to the ground without a sound. Lessa carefully took steps forward, keeping an ear toward Zar’s breathing.

He was a light sleeper, one wrong step and he would be awake, sword in hand. More than once Lessa had been caught trying to sneak away from camp in the middle of the night when she had been awoken by her bladder. However, she had no delusions that he would believe she was sneaking away for natural reasons; not with her boots on her feet, sword on her hip, and cloak on her shoulders.

After Lessa had successfully gotten yards from camp Storm slowly rose to her feet. As nerve-racking as Lessa’s steps had been, Storm’s were a hundredfold. The dragon was so big and heavy that when she walked normally Lessa could feel her feet hitting the ground.

Lessa held her breath.

Storm placed her clawed hand down on the ground, her long fingerlike toes spread as her foreleg slowly took her weight.

Storm swiveled her slitted pupils on Zar and Worran, they hadn’t moved, hadn’t reacted in any way. Her eyes fell on Lessa again and a toothy grin spread across her face, revealing hand-long teeth, giving her a feral look.

Lessa swiveled and continued taking slow, methodical silent steps. With the ability to cover yards in a single step Storm soon drew even with Lessa, she lowered herself slightly and Lessa climbed the ropes to her saddle.

“We’re almost far enough, I think. Be careful,” Lessa told Storm.

Their pace was gratingly slow. But one bad step and this was all over.

“We could just go anyway,” Storm said in response to Lessa’s thoughts.

“I’d rather Zar not know at all.”

She did feel bad that they were sneaking behind Zar’s back. And Storm was likely right.

Would Zar actually be able to stop them if he woke up?

Could he really stop Storm?

Lessa very much doubted that. But it would be a fight she did not want to have. If she could sneak away and be back before they knew she was gone, he would never have reason to be mad at her.

“What do you think? Are we far enough?” Lessa asked.

“If I’m careful.”

Great membranous wings unfurled and Storm raised them skyward and then back down with a great woosh. There was no helping it, she had to make some noise. But the slow start was quieter than the fast one. She leaped with the next downbeat, and they were airborne.

A great downslope spread down before them, Storm glided along the ground to gain distance and when she finally started beating her wings with effort they were in the clear.

“What is the plan, Lessa?” Storm asked once they were among the clouds.

There was an extended pause before Lessa was able to answer. “Save that girl? I don’t know. I didn’t think we’d get this far. I’m making this up as I go along.”

“What if you have to kill that lieutenant?”

Lessa had no response.

The distance it had taken them all afternoon to cross on horseback Storm closed in minutes.

“What now?” the dragon asked as she circled high above the town.

“Land behind the house you saw them take her to.”

“What if she isn’t there anymore?”

“Just do it!... And stay close.” Lessa knew she had to act before she lost her nerve.

Without further argument, Storm pulled her wings into her body and dove to the ground. The cold air scratched at Lessa’s face and she had to bury her face in her arm to protect her from the chill. With a loud snap that made Lessa wince, Storm opened her wings and pulled out of her dive just above the ground. Just as fast, she closed them and dropped to the ground.

The dragon crouched low where she was, making herself as small as possible. A humorous and futile effort. But she might at least draw less attention if she remained immobile in the dark on the outskirts of town.

“That one?” Lessa asked as she nodded to a house just on the other side of a large yard.

“That one,” the dragon confirmed.

Gathering courage Lessa took a deep breath. And she started forward in a crouched jog.

“Be safe. But I can get to you in seconds.”

She was already too focused to respond.

A stone fence stood in her way, Lessa did not break stride as she neared it, jumped, and spun neatly over it.

A dog barked in the distance but it was too far to be directed at her. Sidling up to a window Lessa tested the blurred glass, it was built into the frame. Breaking the glass would be too loud.

She slunk toward the side of the building to look for a different way in.

“Yes,” she had to intentionally bury her anxiety with a dose of success.

She tried the door. All of the muscles in Lessa’s hand were tense as she grasped the lever handle. It wasn’t even locked.

She put her shoulder on the door and carefully pushed against it, not knowing if this door would creak, scrape or in any other manner alert all of the inhabitants that she was coming.

Lessa was eternally grateful that Storm had the foresight to watch the house all day.

With the airborne reconnaissance, Lessa knew the girl had been dragged into this house, the lieutenant had come back here later that night, and at least two soldiers had retired here as well.

But there was likely at least one more. The man had to have been watching the girl while the others were not there.

Lessa slid into the house, she closed the door behind her.

She found herself in a kitchen. There was a cast iron stove to the left, counters, and a table. Thankfully there were no men here.

As quietly as she could Lessa snuck through the kitchen, she rounded a corner into what must’ve been a sitting room. Several lush chairs stood around a fireplace.

And a couch. The couch had a man on it.

She froze.

He was asleep with his arm over his eyes.

Further into the room, there were stairs.

She had to go upstairs.

She had to pass the man on the couch and go up the stairs.

Using all of her will Lessa lifted a foot and took a step.

Nothing happened.

She took another step.

He remained asleep.

Lessa dropped into a prowling walk and stole her way to the stairs.

Stairs always creak especially worn wooden ones like these.

Very deliberately Lessa put her foot on the edge of the stairs, right where they met the wall.

She took every step slowly, carefully rocking her weight across her foot from heel to ball. The fifth stair creaked despite her efforts.

Her gut dropped to her toes. Surely that would wake someone.

For an extended moment, Lessa stood frozen halfway up the stairs, awkwardly perched on the edge of them.

Still, no part of the house responded to her presence.

She reached the top. The victory was so sweet, so terrifying she swallowed hard, ordering herself to not throw up.

There was a door directly across from her. She crept to it and pressed her ear against it. She could hear the faintest snoring on the other side. A girl that young wouldn’t snore like that.

She chewed her lip and moved to the next door.

Again, Lessa pushed her ear against the smooth wood. This door muffled sniffling.

Her stomach twisted up into a knot of anticipation. She eased the door handle down and again pressed her shoulder into the door, bracing against the pressure of her hand to open it as quietly as she could.

She opened it no more than a foot and slid into the room. There was a small bed, it looked like it must’ve belonged to a child. The girl was upon it, her back to the room, she was smashed against the wall. She sniffled quietly.

Lessa crossed the room to her in a few quick steps. She put her hand on the girl’s shoulder and the girl whipped around.

As fast as a snake, Lessa’s hand found the girl’s mouth and covered it. Her other hand held a finger to her own lips.

The girl’s blue watery eyes were so wide they were threatening to pop from her head.

Carefully, Lessa moved her hand from her lips, she held it out in a question. The girl nodded her head.

Lessa pulled her hand slowly away from the girl's mouth.

“Who are-”

Lessa shoved her hand over the girl’s lips once again. More insistently she thrust her finger against her lips, eyes wide in warning.

The girl nodded her head again. Lessa let go of her face, even slower, but she stayed silent this time.

With her hand up and finger’s curling Lessa gave the girl a come here gesture.

She got off the bed. She was still barefoot, it would probably help her walk quietly.

“Good. Now just be quiet.”

Going back the way she had come, Lessa led the girl out of the bedroom door.

At the top of the stairs, Lessa paused and looked sternly at the girl. For the first time, Lessa realized this girl was likely older than Lessa herself.

Two fingers up to her eyes, Lessa then pointed to her feet.

The girl’s eyes followed Lessa’s finger down and Lessa showed the girl to place her feet on the edges of the stairs, not the middle.

She nodded once and Lessa continued down the stairs, wincing every time the girl’s skirts swished around her ankles.

When they got to the stair that had squeaked on Lessa’s way in, she took time to make sure the girl watched her skip the step.

She obediently skipped the step as well.

They made it to the bottom of the stairs.

The last major obstacle.

The man was still fast asleep on the couch.

Lessa grabbed the girl’s arm and slunk forward. In a moment that sent panic shooting through Lessa’s heart, the girl bumped the couch the man was sleeping in.

They both froze. The man shifted noisily to his side, he grumbled but remained asleep.

“Lessa, she cannot see in the dark like you.”

Cursing her own stupidity Lessa grabbed the girl’s arm and led her through the room, the kitchen, and toward the back door.

Once again, Lessa eased it open and they were out.

She grabbed the girl's arm and headed to Storm.

“No!” the dragon snapped, “Do you want her screaming?”

“Well, I’ve got to get her away from here somehow!”

“Anything else!”

“Where can you go that is safe?” Lessa whispered to the girl.

“I- They will look for me at my mother's house,” her voice was high, sweet, and afraid.

“Obviously somewhere else,” Lessa hissed back.

“No, but- I mean, what happens to my mother when they realize I’m gone?”

“Dragon flames….” Lessa growled in frustration. “Ok. Do the soldiers have horses?”

The girl nodded fervently, “There is a stable where they are kept, it’s only just outside the mayor’s home.”

“Take us there. But keep out of sight.”

The girl swiveled on the ball of her barefoot and set off at once. She stayed in backyards, away from main streets, keeping to back alleys.

“This is it.”

The girl really needed to learn how to whisper.

They had reached a small stable, it probably only held six horses, at max.

“Let’s go in, saddle their horses, then you can get your mom and get out of here.”

“You’re going to make me a horse thief?”

Lessa rounded on her “Better a horse thief than what he was going to turn you into!”

The girl only needed a second to process Lessa’s words before she nodded wide-eyed.

There were two empty stalls, with four horses in the barn, two of them were clearly massive workhorses, better suited for pulling a plow than carrying a lieutenant or his men.

The other two were sleek sturdy destriers, well cared for, and would be missed greatly.

“Can you ride?” Lessa lost no time in grabbing a saddle and dropping it on the first horse she got to.

“I’ve only ever ridden old Smokey over there. He’s the mayor, he loans him out in the spring for everyone to plow their fields. And that’s only bareback.”

“That’s great. Can your mom ride?”

“Ma? Yes, she’s ridden. Her pa had horses when she was young.”

“At least there’s that.” Lessa rolled her eyes pulling the cinch tight one last time.

She saddled the next horse in record time.

“Got on,” she ordered the girl.

She stared at Lessa wide-eyed but did not move.

“It is not a suggestion, get on!” Lessa grabbed the girl's shoulder and shoved her into the horse, practically lifting her up into the saddle. “Pull this side to go this way and the other side to go the other way. Kick to go, pull to stop. Get to your ma’s house and get out of town. Go anywhere else.”

“But I can’t-”

“Oi!” an unexpected voice came from one of the big open barn doors. Both Lessa and the girl snapped their eyes up.

A soldier stood there, lantern in hand.

“You have to!” Lessa smacked the destrier’s rump. The girl had the reins of the other horse in her hand and had enough good sense to keep them as the horses cantered easily out the opposite door.

“Oi! Horse thieves!” the man yelled into the night.

“Storm! Now! Flames flames flames.”

Lessa drew her sword.

The soldier’s eyes bulged and he staggered back a step. He drew his own sword, clumsily.

At once Lessa lunged at him. She swung her sword and his own barely came up to block hers.

“Help!” he hollered behind him into the darkness of night.

“No!” she hissed at him. Lessa twisted her sword around his in a motion Zar was fond of, the soldier’s sword broke from his grip and Lessa shoved the flat of her blade against him with both hands.

He fell back into the road.

Storm landed on him. She grasped him in her claws.

Lessa scaled Storm’s side in less than a second and they were airborne.

“Put me down!” the man screamed, the ammonia smell of urine tainted the air.

“You listen to me!” Lessa shouted at him leaning dangerously low over Storm’s side.

“If you, or any other man follow that girl I cannot stop this dragon from killing you. And if you tell anyone you saw me here, you’re dead. Got it?”

“Put me down!” Tears were streaming down his face.

Storm dropped him.

His freefall only lasted a moment before Storm caught him again.

“Do you understand?” Lessa demanded.

“Yes!” he screamed into the air.

“Drop him a couple miles from here. Let’s get back to camp before the boys wake up.” Storm took her time descending to the ground, and once she was low enough she dropped the man without slowing.

He tumbled to a stop and Storm cut back into the sky.

A long breath escaped Lessa.

“We did it.”

Her hands were shaking on the saddle.

The flight back to camp was even shorter than the flight back to town had been.

Lessa’s victorious elation shrank away at once when Storm said “They’re awake.”

“Ah dragonflames,” Lessa said aloud as Storm descended toward camp.

Zar was storming toward her before she was even able to dismount Storm. “What have you done?”