“You’re going to kill me as punishment for helping your men get home safely?” he asked, calm and controlled, with no hint of anger in his voice. All around them, the villagers watched them with a combination of curiosity and fear. “And will you be using a rake or a broom to deliver the fatal blow?” Lynette’s jaw dropped open, the promise of a slow, painful death in her eyes. Unfortunately for her, Koradan had faced down far more terrifying things than an angry mother. “Ashd is over in the field,” he said to Paul. “Come this way and I’ll introduce you.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Half an hour after the heated discussion with Lynette, Koradan led Paul over to Ashd, ready to fly over to the mine. He had a sack of food and several canteens of water slung over his shoulder, along with some basic medical supplies, which he quickly loaded into the saddle bags. Ashd waited patiently, sitting with his legs splayed out and his belly pressing against the ground, as was the favoured resting position of the vreki.
Rigolard and Sigmore had already headed off up the road with their vreki, while Melowin had taken Bnaa and Mergh off into the forest to get something to eat, which left Rodgard lingering nearby, leaning against a tree and regarding Paul disdainfully.
“You’re not afraid of heights, are you?” Rodgard asked, as Paul stared up at Ashd. They’d had a brief introduction earlier, in which Koradan had checked with Ashd that he was okay taking a human as a rider, but between getting a few bites of breakfast in and securing supplies for the miners, there hadn’t been much time for anything else.
“No,” Paul replied. “I’ve lived next to the mountain for most of my life. I’ve climbed right up to that peak up there a couple of times,” he said, pointing to a jagged outcrop of rock high above them.
Rodgard grinned. “And you’re not worried about being eaten by a vreki?”
Paul levelled him a calculating stare. “Koradan says they’re mostly vegetarian. Why are you trying to intimidate me?”
Koradan couldn’t help but smile at the question. Rodgard had much the same views on humans as humans had on Chalandrians, and based on the carnage going on at the Gate of Chalandros, he could understand why. He was quickly realising that getting the humans to accept the salases was not the only challenge he was going to face. And it was for that reason that he was allowing Rodgard to prod Paul, rather than stepping in to stop him.
“Do you feel intimidated?” Rodgard asked.
“Yeah, I do, actually,” Paul said, and Koradan was impressed with his honesty. “But it’s mostly because you’re seven feet tall and you have a big sword, rather than because you’re a so-called demon.”
Rodgard raised his lip in a silent snarl. “So in five minutes of talking to us, you’ve somehow decided we’re not evil incarnate?”
Paul shrugged, feeling a little more confident now. “Last night, instead of holding the whole of Varismont hostage and threatening to kill us all if we didn’t give you what you wanted, you asked for it politely and offered to work for us in return.” Koradan didn’t remember seeing Paul in the crowd last night, but it would have been easy for him to hear the story from someone else in the village. “I’m sure there are plenty of things you could do to screw us over if you decide you’re tired of playing nice, but for the moment, I’m prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt.”
Rodgard pushed off the tree, stalking over to Paul. Paul watched him come, Rodgard’s thick muscles bunching as he moved, his horns gleaming in the morning sun, his armour glinting as he moved out of the shade of the tree. Koradan was just about ready to intervene. They were here to negotiate peace, after all, and for all his misgivings, his second in command needed to remember that.
But to his utter amazement, Paul actually held his ground. His gaze travelled up and up as Rodgard loomed over him, but he didn’t step backwards. “If you don’t want me to go with Koradan, just say so,” Paul said, when Rodgard came to a stop just inches in front of him. “But otherwise, I don’t see the point in all this posturing.”
Rodgard suddenly broke into a smile. He stepped back with an expression of wry satisfaction. “You have a great deal of courage,” he said to Paul. “You would make a fine warrior one day. What’s your father’s name? I’d like to meet him. He must be proud of you.”
Koradan winced at the faux pas. Lynette had told him of her husband’s death, but Rodgard hadn’t been around at the time. Trust his luck that even in an attempt to compliment the boy, Rodgard missed the mark.
“My father’s dead,” Paul replied, his shoulders tensing a little. “He died when I was five.”
“We need to get going,” Koradan said, finally interrupting the conversation. “Come on. I’ll help you into the saddle.”
Paul came over, and Koradan showed him the short leather ladder he needed to climb to get onto Ashd’s back. Vreki saddles were typically equipped to hold two people, one behind the other. Paul gripped the handles and hauled himself up, less gracefully than a salas would have, but given it was his first time on one of the mighty beasts, Koradan wouldn’t hold that against him. He lifted himself into the seat in front of Paul, then twisted around to do up the straps that would hold him in. “Hold onto this handle here,” he told Paul, showing him the sturdy leather grips. “When we take off, we’ll be going up quite steeply, then it should level out while we head towards the mine. But watch out for the landing. Ashd is going to land vertically, by grabbing onto the side of the cliff. You can’t fall off – that’s what the straps are for – but try to keep yourself more or less upright, or it’s going to be very uncomfortable.”
“So how do we get out of the saddle if we’re hanging off a cliff?” Paul asked, peering down at the ground.
“Ashd will climb down onto the road, then we’ll get off him once we’re level again. See those claws?” he said, pointing to Ashd’s wide front feet. “They’re designed for gripping onto rocks. He can climb up or down a cliff face as easily as you or I could walk across a paddock.”
“Okay,” Paul said, visibly bracing himself. “Cool. I’m ready.”
Koradan cleared his mind and tuned in to Ashd. The vreki was excited about their mission, eager to do something helpful for the humans. At Koradan’s signal, he began a sprint forward, rising up on his long back legs, wings out, while he gathered speed. Then he gave a great leap, his wings taking over, and with a few lurches, they were in the air. Behind him, Koradan heard Paul gasp, and Ashd reported that Paul was gripping the saddle with his legs as tightly as he could.
A nice gentle ride, Koradan cautioned Ashd. In his eagerness to show Paul the wonders of flying, Ashd should be careful not to overdo it and end up scaring the poor lad to death.
They rose up over the trees, then circled back over the village, locating the road that led up the mountain. Down below them, he saw people staring and pointing. An optimistic part of him hoped they might be impressed, seeing the vreki as something beautiful and graceful while they were in the air. It might have been an idle wish, but he felt it all the same. If he could give Paul a pleasant ride and get him to give the villagers a positive report, they might be one step closer to forging a real alliance with these people.
Ashd followed the road easily, winding along the side of the mountain. They were heading mostly north and a little to the west. Koradan spotted the landslide and grinned as he saw Bel gleefully kicking rocks over the ledge with her powerful hind legs. Meanwhile, Lign was carefully scraping the dirt from beside one of the boulders, nudging the huge rock with his head to see how heavy it was.
Further on, the road levelled out, still clinging to the side of the mountain. Then it curved inward, along the edge of a wide canyon that split the escarpment. Ashd followed the road, but up ahead, Koradan could see that the gorge narrowed significantly.
Over?Ashd asked.
Take a quick fly over,Koradan confirmed.But then we’ll come back and land on the cliff where the gorge narrows.
