At first light, Anders and the others followed Max as he led them toward his family’s place just east of Brookside. Before leaving town, they stopped at the market to gather the supplies they thought they’d need while crossing the plains. Anders carried with him the small sack of coins he’d found among the ship wreckage along the beach. Though the money from the pouch wasn’t a fortune, it was enough to purchase several items from the eclectic Brookside Market. The first of his purchases was a lightly worn saddlebag he picked out from a stand selling leather and leather-made products. After searching through many vendors, he came across a man selling hunting arrows and bought enough arrows to easily restock his quiver. Before walking away from the man’s booth, Anders noticed a sword roughly the length of his arm. Taking advantage of Anders’ curiosity, the man offered him a decent price on it, so Anders once again emptied more coins from his small pouch.
Walking among the many people wandering through market, Anders noticed how clean their clothes looked compared to his. It didn’t take a keen eye to see his clothes had become ragged and were beginning to smell of filth. With the remaining sum of his coin, he decided to buy several new clothes and pants for his travels.
Wool was best for spring traveling because if wool got wet, which often happened during spring rain showers, it stayed warm. He had his eye on some silk shirts, but the rich material was too costly, so he turned his attention elsewhere in the market. He purchased several clean shirts and a pair of wool pants. To his surprise, he’d negotiated quite well and had just enough money left over to buy some extra food. He placed his food and new cloths in his saddlebag and scanned the crowd for his companions.
Anders and the others waited impatiently while Max searched the market for a particular style of shirt. Taking notice of their aggravated scowls, Max gave up the effort and resumed leading them toward his family’s house at the opposite side of town.
The small ranch was centered in a large grassy field that bordered the edge of the Bareback Plains. Anders took in the endless expanse of gently rolling hills. The plains consisted of golden waist-high grass extending beyond the horizon. Upon their arrival at the sod-roofed log house, several members of Max’s family came out to greet them.
“Max!” a young girl exclaimed, running and jumping into his arms.
Two others, a young man and an older gentleman followed her at a short distance. Anders assumed Max’s entire family would be excited to see him. To his surprise, however, the older man Anders assumed to be Max’s father, didn’t show the same level of enthusiasm as the young girl.
Holding the young girl in his arms, Max let out a chuckle as she said in a squeaky voice, “Oh, I’ve missed you! Where’s Bo?” she asked, looking past the others, but not finding Max’s younger brother.
Max’s face turned pale at the question. Fumbling for a moment, he found the appropriate words, “He decided to stay a little while longer.”
“Max!” the older of the two men barked coldly as they approached, looking warily at the strangers. “Who are these men? And where’s Bo?”
Max put the little girl down and told her calmly, “Go inside and tell your mom I’m here.” He waited until she was out of earshot to say anything more.
“What have you done this time, Max?” the older man asked.
“Tony, it’s not my fault. The Grandwood Games were attacked by invaders,” he said.
The older man scoffed, cutting him off, “I knew I shouldn’t have let you go to that stupid race.”
“It wasn’t my fault,” Max protested.
“Sure, nothing bad ever happened to you or anyone you loved because it wasn’t your fault,” Tony said angrily. “Don’t even bother telling me your lies. I want you and your thieving friends off my land,” he said pointing his finger at Max and the others. He stormed back to the house.
The younger man stayed behind and asked, “What happened?” He looked over his shoulder making sure Tony wasn’t listening to them.
“Grandwood was attacked during the last event of the games; Bo and I got separated. I’m almost positive he was captured. These men saved my life. We’re trying track down those who attacked us so we can free those they took hostage,” Max said, quickly summing up the events that had transpired since the last time he’d seen his family. “We need six horses. Can you help us out?” he asked.
The young man looked back at the house to be sure Tony wasn’t watching and said, “Make it look like you’re leaving and I’ll meet you down at the swimming hole in a half hour. I’ll bring you the horses.”
Max nodded and the younger man waved as though he was saying goodbye to Max, then he walked back to the house.
“What the hell was that all about?” Red asked Max as he led them back the way they came.
“I’m not exactly on the best terms with them right now,” Max said.
“That was obvious,” Red said.
“Come on, follow me. We’ll get our horses and then we can be on our way,” Max said, walking faster to get away from Red’s pestering.
They walked to a small spring, bubbling fresh water from the ground, and waited for the young man to bring them the horses they’d need to cross the plains.
Anders sat down in the tall grass next to Max and asked, “So that was your family?”
“Kind of,” Max said. “They adopted me and Bo when we were young. The older man’s name is Tony. He was against taking us in and has never liked us very much. Evans, Tony’s son, is bringing us the horses. He’s much nicer than Tony.”
“I see,” Anders said.
They weren’t waiting long before Evans emerged through the grass leading six horses, saddled and ready to ride. Ivan handed him a sack of coins in payment for the horses and thanked him for his help. Before they left, Ivan had to give the Rollo Islanders a quick riding lesson. Anders laughed as he watched one of them mount a horse and try to ride it onward. The horse wandered over to a clump of lush grass along the edge of the spring and put its head down to graze. The warrior cursed in Rolloan and shook his hands in the air, frustrated that the animal wouldn’t obey him.
Ivan yelled after him, “Pull his head up with the reins as I showed you and press your heels into his sides!”
“This is going to be a long couple of days,” Ivan said to Anders and Max as he rode by them.
Ivan took the warriors ahead with him while Max said his goodbyes to Evans. Anders waited for Max and then they were off to catch up with Ivan and the others. Red and his two partners trailed behind Ivan, shouting ‘yeehaw’ and ‘yahoo’! Max and Anders shook their heads simultaneously. The two were glad to know nobody was around to see how embarrassing these big men were.
The three Rollo Islanders rode haphazardly, following Ivan, Max and Anders into the Bareback Plains.
Anders had something on his mind and finally mustered the courage to ask Ivan, “So where is your dragon?”
Ivan didn’t answer him. Maybe he didn’t hear me? Anders thought. Asking him again, this time louder, “Ivan, where is your dragon?”
Ivan looked at him with a lack of expression on his face. “Dead,” he said bluntly.
“I’m sorry,” Anders said.
“Don’t be. It wasn’t your fault,” Ivan replied.
“If you don’t mind me asking,” Anders continued. “How did your dragon die?”
Ivan paused for a while not saying anything. Anders waited patiently. Eventually Ivan responded, “It was after Theodor left the war. I was trying to find a way to eliminate Merglan once and for all. I rushed into a situation blindly, taking her with me. She warned me not to do it, but I could only see my desires. It was a trap. The spell was too strong for me to break. The only way to escape was by sacrificing a life. Before I knew what had happened, she gave her life in exchange for mine.” He brought his cuff up to his face and wiped away a single tear.
