Dragon Riders of Etrea—Chapter 18

Morning came far too early. 

The sun was just peeking above the horizon when Henrik’s eyes slowly opened. His aches and pains were all but gone, but he still felt a haze of tiredness after taking such serious wounds the day before. 

Lifting up his shirt, he checked his side. Although Rasud’s magic had healed his wounds, a faint scar traced its way along his ribs. Well, it was just one of many.

Tobias was up shortly after. Rasud had healed him as well, but Tobias had only taken bruises and scrapes, so he didn’t feel the exhaustion that Henrik did.

“Sleep well?” Tobias asked.

“Like the dead,” Henrik replied. He laid back against his saddle, tempted to shut his eyes for a few more minutes. “I don’t want to sound like Rasud, but I’m looking forward to my bed.”

Tobias chuckled. “Yeah, spending time in the field always makes one appreciate the comforts of city life.”

“How often are you away, working for Ardun?” Henrik asked.

“Not that often,” Tobias replied. “It happens, though. Usually shorter missions, when he needs someone he can trust. He’s a busy man with his fingers in everything. I’ve been all over Etrea on account of him.”

“But you’re not a scout, right?”

“Correct,” Tobias said. “Just a soldier. I may not be the strongest or fastest, but I’m reliable and consistent, and I’ve proven my loyalty time and time again over the years. Due to that, I get sent on most of his higher-profile errands.”

“Spit in my mouth,” Rasud said, muttering in his sleep. “I’ll pay extra.”

Henrik snickered.

Tobias stretched his arms over his head and yawned, then stared at the remains of the fire. “I suppose I should get up. It’s that time.”

“Yep,” Henrik agreed. He pushed himself to his feet, then stepped over to Rasud, who still tossed in his sleep.

“That’s right, on top,” Rasud muttered.

Henrik nudged him with his foot and Rasud’s eyes popped open. He stared up at Henrik for a moment.

“Fun dreams?” Henrik asked.

Rasud frowned. “A lot more fun than being woken by a giant.”

“Well, sorry to interrupt, but we need to get going. We have a lot of miles to cover today.”

Rasud sighed. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.” He grunted and sat up, then rubbed his eyes. “I swear, when we return and receive our payment, every brothel will have a room permanently reserved for me. I don’t think I’ve ever gone so long without sex.”

Tobias raised an eyebrow at him.

“I may be a halfbreed, but gold makes every man handsome,” Rasud said. He yawned, then pushed himself to his feet with his water skin in hand. After splashing some on his face, he went to his saddlebags.

“I want to try keeping the horses at a canter today for a while,” Henrik said. “If we alternate that and a fast walk, we can cover a lot of ground without wearing them out.”

“Are you so eager to see the dragon?” Rasud asked. “Or is the dragon rider that has drawn your attention?”

Henrik grinned. “I’m just eager to get this done and see my purse filled with gold. Who knows, if the payment is enough, I might even settle down for a while.”

Rasud laughed. “You? Settle down? Henrik, you’d lose your mind after a month.”

“You’re probably right,” Henrik said. He looked down at his side. “I suppose our battle yesterday just had me thinking of more peaceful times.”

“You weren’t built for peace, my old friend,” Rasud said. He kicked sand over the ashes of the fire.

“Duke Ardun pays well,” Tobias said. “He can always use men with your talents.”

“Yes, he implied as much,” Rasud replied. “I suppose our acceptance would depend on the nature of the work as well as the pay.”

Henrik frowned. “I don’t think I like the thought of working for someone else. I like having control over my own life and answering to no one but me.”

“Yes, that sounds like you,” Rasud said. “What will you spend your gold on?”

Henrik thought for a moment. “Armor, probably. I’ve never been a fan of it because it slows me down and makes it harder to sneak into places, but after yesterday I can see the benefits. I’ll just need something custom made. Lightweight, strong, and silent.”

“Duke Ardun’s armorer can do that,” Tobias said. “Petrus may not be a pleasant fellow, but he’s quite skilled when it comes to shaping metal and leather.”

Henrik laughed. “You really want me to work for your boss, don’t you? I just don’t see it happening. No, I’ll probably save most of my money.”

“Slowly building the fortune, eh?” Rasud said with a grin.

“Exactly,” Henrik replied. “A few more years of this and I’ll retire, a rich man with the most beautiful woman in the land sitting on my knee.”

“King of your own castle, I see.” Rasud chuckled. “Well, there are certainly worse ways to spend your years. I could go for a house upgrade myself.”

“What, you mean you’re tired of that shack you call a house?” Henrik asked with a laugh.

“It may be ugly, but it gets the job done,” Rasud said. “Plus it’s stronger than it looks. I made sure of that. I’ve never been robbed, remember. People have tried, but they can’t break into my place.” 

“Probably a good thing considering how much gold you have in your basement,” Henrik said. He lifted his saddle and set it on his horse’s back, then tightened the girth strap. The other men prepared their horses as well.

“They could have at least packed us some porridge,” Rasud muttered as he dug through his saddlebags. 

“Oats are for horses, not men,” Henrik said as he checked his saddle.

Tobias laughed. “At least you two keep all this travel from being overly boring.”

Once in the saddle, they set off towards the east. Henrik kept them at a walk for some time, to allow the horses a chance to warm up their legs. After half an hour or so, he booted his horse to a canter, and the other men followed.

“Think we’ll see anything else today?” Tobias asked.

“I hope not,” Rasud replied. “I’d rather not rely on my friend’s temper to keep us alive.”

Henrik laughed.

“It’s getting worse,” Rasud said. “Yesterday was the worst I’ve seen you, Henrik. Something has changed recently, though I can’t say what.”

Henrik frowned at his surroundings and tried not to take the comment personally. Rasud was right. Yesterday had been a particularly bad episode. Sure, he had won the fight, but once it was done he had considered attacking his companions. He didn’t want to risk that again.

“Once we finish this I’ll try speaking with a healer,” Henrik said. “I’m not sure who would know anything about this, though.”

“A priest, maybe,” Tobias said.

After that, they continued across the land, with each man taking turns with the looking glass. They saw nothing in the way of orc raiding parties, which was fortunate, though Henrik couldn’t suppress a feeling that more were out there.

“I could almost wish we had taken the orc’s horses after the battle yesterday,” Tobias said. “We could switch off horses to lessen the load on ours.”

“Theirs have the endurance, but ours are stronger and faster,” Henrik said. He reached down and patted his horse’s neck. “I don’t think there’s a horse among the orcs that could match this fine beast for all-out speed.”

“Well, hopefully we don’t need it,” Tobias said as he raised his looking glass to his eye.

“I found my ancestors much more difficult to work with yesterday,” Rasud said quietly. “I can usually handle myself quite well, as you know. They’re stronger out here, but…. I’m not sure how to put it. They’re harder to work with. It takes longer to get them to do my bidding.”

“Is that going to be a problem?” Henrik asked.

“I don’t believe so,” Rasud replied. “Especially now that I know, I can anticipate this.”

“You pulled the water from that one orc’s blood, just like you once said you could,” Tobias said as he lowered his looking glass. “That was rather…disgusting.”

“Yes, my ancestors are quite efficient, if not always pleasant in their actions,” Rasud said. “They’ll keep us alive, though. Speaking of which, hand me your water skin, Henrik.”

Henrik passed it over and Rasud began his chanting. Soon, wispy spirits appeared and began gathering water from the air, with which they filled his water skin. 

Focusing on them, he saw it now. Back in the city the spirits were either completely invisible or just the faintest ripple in the air. Out here, they were like orc-shaped clouds of pale smoke.

When lunch time came, they dismounted and let the horses rest for a while, and gave them water. Henrik took that time to stretch his legs—sitting in a saddle all day sometimes made his ass go numb.

The rest of the day was uneventful. They continued across the orc wastes, alternating between a canter and a walk so as to not wear out their horses. Henrik’s assumption had been correct; they covered a lot of ground that way, and while the horses were tired at the end of the day, they weren’t so exhausted that they needed a day of rest.

The next day was much the same. They rose with the rising sun, although Rasud made sure to spend the first five minutes complaining. He simply was not a morning person.

On that day they finally saw the beginnings of the mountains. Earlier, Henrik had seen hints of mountains through the looking glass, but now they were visible with the naked eye.

“Tomorrow we should get close enough to the mountains that we can check our position on the map,” Henrik said. “Depending on how things go, I think we’ve shaved a day or two off our travel time.”

“Well, that certainly makes me happy,” Rasud said. “One or two fewer days spent out here is definitely a good thing.” He twisted in his saddle and looked all around. “I tell you, I can’t wait to get back to the city.”

“So eager for the crowds of unwashed people and the smell of the harbor?” Tobias asked with a laugh. 

“The only thing I’m eager for lies between a woman’s legs,” Rasud replied, then paused. “Okay, that’s not entirely true. I’m also eager for my bed, good food, and wine. And easier work that doesn’t involve orcs or dragons.” He looked around. “Or a desert.”

“Well, the sooner we finish this, the sooner you can go back to all of that,” Henrik said as he booted his horse to a canter. 

They continued on a northeasterly route and the mountains slowly grew in size. By the end of the day the mountains loomed ahead of them, the foothills only a day’s ride away.

“Have you ever seen anything so big?” Tobias asked as he stared at the mountains in wonder.

“There was this woman I saw once,” Rasud said, holding both hands in front of his chest. “I swear, those things were out to here.”

Tobias laughed. “Yes, but we’ll be spending time in those mountains.”

“Oh, some gold changed hands and I spent time in her mountains,” Rasud said. “One of the finest memories I have, to be honest. I should look her up when we get back to Selfoss.”

Henrik held the looking glass to his eye and scanned in every direction. “Nothing. I don’t think we’ll run across any more raiding parties.”

“Now there’s a reason to celebrate,” Tobias said. “Rasud, toss me the wine skin.”

“With pleasure,” he replied, throwing the skin to the soldier. 

Tobias uncorked it and took a heavy swig, then passed the skin to Henrik.

“Might as well,” he said, taking a sip. The wine only had a day or two left before it turned to vinegar, so they needed to finish it. He passed the skin to Rasud, who took a drink as well.

The sun hovered above the horizon behind them, but there was still light. Seeing the mountains ahead made Henrik want to push how far they could travel. He scanned in front of them again with the looking glass. A low ridge jutted out in front of them, the most southerly reach of the mountains. 

“Hand me the map,” he said, holding his hand out. Rasud produced the map and passed it over to Henrik. He unrolled it and studied it for a moment, then used the looking glass again. “That’s Torman’s Finger ahead of us. It’s a low ridge that extends south from the mountains. We’ll camp there tonight.”

“Much better than sleeping out in the open, especially after a run-in with orcs,” Tobias said.

They sped up, and after an hour found themselves at the tip of the ridge called Torman’s Finger. Henrik and Tobias spent a few minutes searching the area while Rasud untacked his horse and prepared the campsite.

Being in the foothills, Henrik was even able to find a bit of wood. Not much, but enough for a brief fire. He brought it back to their campsite and helped the others set things up. 

That night they finished off the wine skin while relaxing around a small fire. It was a nice way to end the day.