The people parted to allow Rune and Anders to walk through the crowd to the front of a brick house. The shattered window seemed to be the demon’s point of entry. The two walked up the steps to the open front door and Anders followed Rune inside. Mangled bodies on the floor provided a clear enough picture of what transpired when the demon attacked. Anders recognized one of the fallen as Mott, the silver-haired elder who had sided with Tony in the meeting of the Revolution’s leaders.
“What is that rat doing here?” Anders heard someone growl.
He looked up to see Tony pointing at him. While Anders knew earlier that Tony would look for any reason to blame him if something went wrong, he hadn’t anticipated trouble this soon. He could see that Mott’s death by the demon’s attack, while sad and disturbing, would also be trouble for him.
Rune stepped in front of Anders before Tony could reach him and said, “Tony, I know what you are going to say, and before you do, I can assure you that Anders had nothing to do with this.”
“And why should I believe you, eh?” Tony asked. “You two have been buddy-buddy since he arrived. How do I know you weren’t in on it, too, Rune? One less person to disagree with among the leaders?”
Anders stepped around Rune to say, “You have more motive than he does to do this. You’re the one who was slighted when Mott decided to have me stay.” He knew it would be counter-productive to their cause to accuse Tony, especially when he knew it wasn’t Tony who’d caused this brutal slaying, but something about the man made Anders’ skin crawl.
Tony flared his nostrils, then launched himself at Anders and Rune. Anders could have stopped him with magic but didn’t. He let Tony come at him full force. Anders twisted out of the way, dodging Tony’s grasp, pushing him as he sailed by. Tony’s momentum, combined with Anders’ push, sent him running out of control through the front door and out onto the street. Those closest among the crowd caught the older man as he spilled onto them.
Anders rushed out after him, with Rune on his heels. He stopped at the edge of the front steps. Seeing the crowd brought him to his senses. Instead of pursuing Tony further, Anders decided to address the crowd.
“An hour ago, Zahara and I saw a dragonrider flying along the edge of town. We chased them but lost them in the growing darkness. We returned to find that a demon had attacked this home and killed two men, one of them was among the Revolution’s leadership.”
A hush fell over the crowd until Tony spat, “You lie!” The crowd appeared too stunned to react, but Max had time to jump in between Anders and his foster father. Max’s presence gave Tony pause, but Anders saw the hatred boiling in his eyes.
“What Anders says is the truth,” Max barked to all who bore witness.
“Don’t believe a word of it!” Tony shouted. “They’re in league with the dark rider. They brought death into our town. These two are responsible for Mott’s death.”
“Shut up, Tony!” Rune barked, stepping up alongside Anders on the stoop. “Anders is clearly trying to help us. I was with him the moment he returned from seeing the rider. We came here because we heard a struggle and then saw the demon flee. We chased it into the forest and Anders and his dragon, Zahara, were able to kill it, though it was difficult. We’re just sorry we didn’t get here sooner.”
Tony gritted his teeth and looked as though he was considering taking on Rune when Max spoke up, “The problem Tony has with Anders lies with me. I’m the one he really wants to attack.” Max took off his sword belt and tossed it to the side. “If he wants to come at me, let him do it now.”
Max’s foster father balled his hands into fists and growled, “I’d be delighted to, boy.”
Rune rushed between them, grabbing hold of Tony, “Now is not the time for your rivalry.”
Anders pulled Max back, shaking his head as he whispered to his friend, “Not here, not now.”
“What chance do we have against the evil sorcerer without help from Anders?” a voice shouted from the middle of the crowd.
“Let go of me!” Tony shouted. Wrenching free from Rune’s grip, he grunted, “Get your hands off!” Stepping away from them and backing into the crowd, he pointed at Max and said, “I’ll deal with you later.”
Max flexed, trying to pull away from Anders’ grip. Anders held him tightly, “Let him go, Max. He's not in the right state of mind to think clearly. He’s just lost a colleague to a brutal murderer.”
Max pushed at Anders’ grip once more and was released. He brushed his coat flat and said, “I’ll be at the docks making ready the ships.”
Anders didn’t call to him. He could see that Max needed some time to cool off. As other members of the Revolution’s leadership arrived at the house, Anders felt the need to have them organize for an attack. He wasn’t convinced that what Tarron had said about the demon was true. There could still be an attack at any time.
Once Alistair, Bert, Helga and Hensal had gathered outside Mott’s home, Rune began to deliberate. “We’ll need to assign as many soldiers as we can to stand guard along the perimeter of town. Brookside is in danger.”
“With Merglan so close, why not send everyone off in the ships?” Alistair asked.
“You’d be killing them more slowly,” Helga said. All of the council members looked to her so she continued, “Without enough fresh water and food onboard and no Captain to set their course, you would be sending them to their deaths.”
“What’s stopping Merglan from attacking us now?” Bert asked, looking to the sky. “If you saw him hours ago now, why has he only sent one ‘thing’ into the city? Why not burn us down now?”
“I don’t know,” Anders said. “It doesn’t make sense that they aren’t attacking.”
“Unless they aren’t who you think they are,” Hensal suggested.
“Who then, who could it be? As of this morning, Maija and I were the only dragonriders other than Merglan who still are bonded with dragons. It can’t be anyone else.”
Helga shrugged, “Is it possible there were more in that elven city who he might have freed from prison?”
Anders shook his head in frustration. He wanted to explain to her how the bonding process worked, but they didn’t have time, so he said, “Say there was another dragonrider out there. What do you propose we do next?”
“Stick to the plan,” Rune said.
Helga and the rest of the Council bobbed their heads in agreement.
“The threat is still the same. We continue as planned, double the watch and continue to prepare for a fight at any time. If the end is coming, it’s coming, and we will not sacrifice our citizens’ lives by sending them adrift in the ocean to starve.”
“Agreed,” each of them said.
“What about me?” Anders asked. “I could fly out again and...” he started, but Rune cut him off.
“No. Anders, you told me what the creature said just before its death. You will serve us best by saving your energy and getting some rest. Keep your mind’s eye keen for any sign of danger, but don’t do anything unnecessary to provoke them. If they’re here to watch, then let them watch. We’ll need you by our side when the fighting does come. Rest up.”
“But,” Anders protested.
“Doctor’s orders,” Rune said before he could argue further.
Anders looked to the others only to see that they agreed with Rune. “I’m not going to rest easy knowing he might be out there.”
