He grunted. “Stories. That’s about all that there have been. And most of them are stories that are propagated by those who have the power to decide the narrative.”
“You don’t believe the mages?”
That came from Rowan, and she had leaned forward, talking over the steady rumbling of the wagon, the thundering of the horses as they pounded the hard-packed ground, and the swirling of the wind that had started to pick up.
“I’ve been to Korthal,” Xavier said. “I know the people. I might not have seen any of the fighting, but I’ve seen the effect of it.”
“And?”
“And it’s not the same as what you have heard. Then again, I suppose that’s the case for everything. The one who wins gets to tell the story the way that they want.”
“I didn’t realize the mages were winning,” Laric said. “I always assumed that Korthal was winning because they had dragons.”
“Dragons,” Xavier said, looking over. “How many dragons do you really think they have? I know that we’ve been aware of some, but you’ve also noticed something about the dragons, haven’t you?”
Laric wanted to say no, but what could he deny? He had seen something about the dragons. Had felt something, as well.
“You’re saying that mages have a way of defeating the dragons.”
Xavier shook his head. “Have. Had. But that’s not what this is about. Not anymore. It doesn’t even take as much power as you would think to do it. Just one well-timed blow, and a dragon will be disrupted. But then, the two of you know that too.”
There was a hint of an accusation in the tone. That was new. Laric hadn’t heard that from him before, but then maybe it was warranted, especially considering what he and Rowan had done when the dragons had attacked. They had believed the dragons were everything they had heard about from stories, and they had feared them. And perhaps for good reason. The dragon that had attacked the city had been fearsome, but it also hadn’t been truly acting on its own.
“The mages have been looking for understanding of glyphs to try to control the dragons,” Laric said. “Apparently, they have also learned a few tricks. At least, that’s what Malinar told us.”
He said it without thinking, and as soon as he did, he regretted it.
Xavier’s hand slipped on the reins, and the horses picked up speed. “You talked with him?”
“You know him. I’m sorry, Xavier.”
“What are you sorry about? Where is he?”
“He’s… he’s gone,” Laric said. “He burned himself out defeating Daelon.”
Xavier was quiet for a few moments, and once he spoke, the tone in his voice had changed. Gone was some of the confidence that he always spoke with. “He wouldn’t have done that.”
“You mean sacrifice himself?”
“Well, sacrifice is something that I would believe of him, but I wouldn’t have expected it to come from him. Why?”
“He was dying,” Laric said. “Something happened, something that the mages did to him, and he knew that he wasn’t going to recover.”
“That wouldn’t have been enough,” Xavier said.
As he said it, Laric thought that he understood why Xavier was making that connection.
“He worried about his dragon,” Laric said.
Having felt the connection to the dragon, Laric could understand, but what could have happened that would have put Malinar into a situation where he thought he didn’t have any choice but to make a sacrifice?
Xavier shifted so that he could hold Laric in his gaze, while also continuing to drive them forward. “You saw the dragon.”
Rowan snorted, and Laric shot her a hard look to silence her.
Xavier looked between them. “What? You saw the dragon, didn’t you? They didn’t manage to take it. That has been their goal, after all. You saw it when they attacked the city.”
“If you knew that then, why didn’t you tell us?”
“You’re a bunch of kids,” Xavier said after a few moments passed.
Buildings came into view, and Laric found the town—and the sense of normalcy from it—to be a little disconcerting considering everything they had been dealing with. Maybe it shouldn’t be, as the town had been destroyed, with a wake of devastation left behind. But still, he felt as if some part of it was strangely normal.
It was still under construction following the attack, and eventually, it was going to need much more work to rebuild, but they could rebuild. They had time to do it. At least, he thought they did. He hoped so.
Until the mages came, that was.
“A bunch of kids that you heard defended the town,” Rowan said.
“I heard it,” Xavier said, “and I wasn’t sure how much to believe, much like I wasn’t sure how much of the stories that were out there I should believe.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m concerned.”
“Because of what you’ve been smuggling?” Laric asked.
“Because I question who’s going to be able to stand up to the mages.” He held Laric’s gaze for a moment, then he turned away, driving the horses and the wagon into town.
