Page 220 of Dragon Strike (Age of Fire 4)

Perhaps there would be wounded we could let them finish, Natasatch thought to him.

“Let them take care of themselves while we are away. That is experience enough. Remember, hatchlings,” AuRon said, looking at their disappointed faces, “talk to the wolves as often as possible. They will teach you much about moving in cover and in the open, hunting, and above all, cooperation. The strength of the wolf is the pack, as they say.”

“I’ve often heard that quoted,” Natasatch agreed.

AuRon, with his mind made up—or made up for him—felt at ease. All doubt and regret had vanished. There was just need for action. “I’ve an idea where our first stop should be. We fly to Juutfod.”

AuRon had not been to the dragontower since his time as a courier for the Wizard of the Isle of Ice, though he had visited the wharves where Varl tied up his boat and some of the oceanside sights.

The men of Juutfod accepted dragons as part of their daily lives. Without the Wyrmmaster, they’d happily given up their raids on the south and used their dragons to protect fishing fleets and remote settlements.

The tower was much the same. More outbuildings had sprouted around it, like warts. And the town beneath had taken inspiration from the tower—there were round houses of stone, long buildings with thick walls and heavy-timbered roofs, and wooden homes and pens and workshops all around with smoke rising from the chimneys.

A dragon-rider rose to meet him.

He’d been told a few of the riders and their mounts had survived. The female dragons of the Isle of Ice had come to this place looking for males. Some dragons were content to be saddled and reined, it seemed, as long as they were well fed and rested in comfortable housing.

His old friend Varl had settled in this village. He smoked fish and made crab paste that the dragons had always found tasty on the Isle of Ice.

“Perhaps you’d better talk to them,” AuRon said to Natasatch. “I’ll keep watch above.”

Once he was sure of Natasatch’s reception—they let her land and she began to speak with the dragons and dragon-riders there—AuRon went seeking Varl among the mead-dens and group-houses near the docks. His boat wasn’t in, but Varl sometimes took months off between the seasonal fish runs.

He did, however, see a pair of familiar hominids outside of the dens. The warrior Ghastmath, looking thinner without his armor, and the elf with the raven walked down the street, tossing colorful rings back and forth between them using a small stick.

“I see you made it off my island again,” AuRon said.

One of the rings clattered to the paving stones.

“You,” said the warrior Ghastmath.

“Here I was looking for the mariner Varl to help me find you,” AuRon said.

“Can we talk somewhere out of the wind?” the elf asked.

“What is your name? I don’t believe I ever caught it.”

“I don’t believe I ever gave it,” she said. “Halfmoon, if you must know.”

“Halfmoon, what is an elf doing in this town? Ten years ago, these men would have weighted you with rocks and dumped you in the bay to attract crabs.”

Ghastmath planted his oversized feet. “They’d have to go through me.”

“They like the gold I bring into town,” she said.

“There are worse places to live,” Ghastmath added. “No king pushing you around. No edicts rewriting last year’s edict which rewrote the one that was beaten into you as a child.”

AuRon scratched himself behind his griff. “You’re thieves. Would you like a tip about the location of a flow of gold?”

“A dragon’s going to tell us where to find gold! Laughable,” Ghastmath said.

“I don’t bother with gold.”

“That’s right. He is a gray,” the elf put in.

“You’ll have to fight for it, or be very clever thieves. You might even get the help of those dragon-riders in the tower. The Ironriders are on the rampage south of here. I’ve some experiences with the princes of the Steppelands, and I can tell you they’re carrying off every item of value they can get their hands on and strap across their saddles. I suspect they’ll raid into your lands as well, and if the Varvar bands have anything to say about it they’ll ride back a good deal faster than they came in. The way they’re getting back is across the Ba-drink and through the pass of the Wheel of Fire. If you hunt around the paths and trails leading to that, I expect you’ll find more gold and valuables than you can carry being ridden out of the northern half of Hypatia.”

“Sounds as though you need some gallant fools to do your fighting for you,” Halfmoon said.

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