The Lost War Karl Gallagher (red white and royal blue hardcover .txt) 📖

Newman threw himself flat.

The bull didn’t bother with pawing the ground or other posturing. It charged at the dragon. The winged lizard flapped its wings, rising up to let the rhino pass harmlessly under it.

Goldenrod looked down at Newman in concern.

“Get down!” he snarled. “Do you want that thing to see us? We'd be like popcorn for it. Get down!” The last was shouted for everyone on the bluff to hear.

Goldenrod laid down next to him. The other members of House Applesmile followed more slowly. Sweetbread was stiffest.

The bull rhino slowed and turned about. The dragon landed on the cow and bit at her neck, releasing a spray of blood. The bull bellowed, putting the other cows and calves into motion, and charged again.

“Sir?” called Strongarm.

“Wolves, hit the deck!” ordered Wolfhead Alpha. His warband went prone. Others on the bluff followed their example.

The dragon lifted into the air again. As the bull rhino passed under it, the monster let out a stream of fire. His fur turned black as it burned. The bull continued until clear of the dragon. He rolled twice across the ground then stood, some smoke still trailing from his fur.

The dragon landed on its kill. Teeth and claws pulled up a piece of hide. Once a corner was loose the dragon bit down hard and peeled the whole section away. It breathed flame onto the exposed meat and began to eat.

All the rhino cows and calves were on the downstream side of the dragon now with their bull. They’d gathered together while the bull kept the predator distracted. Now they trotted away, the bull at the end of the line.

“Put out the fires!” someone called. Several people dashed into the camp to obey.

After a few bites the dragon flamed its meal again.

More of the audience drifted away. Newman and Strongarm kept watching. In whispers they debated what the weaknesses of the dragon might be.

Another Wolfhead crawled up to Strongarm. The fighter introduced him as Borzhoi.

“We have Master Chisel’s permission to use his raft to go scavenge after the dragon leaves. Are you in?”

“Scavenge what?” asked Newman.

“It’s not eating the hide. There’s probably going to be some meat left. And we can use the bones. We just need to move fast before it spoils.” Borzhoi sounded cheerful at the prospect.

Newman wasn’t, but he agreed to join them.

The dragon spent less than an hour feeding before flying off. Wolfhead Alpha ordered his scavengers to wait another hour before letting them cross the river.

Newman’s archery fame earned him a spot on the first raft over. Borzhoi posted him as a guard while the rest applied their knives to the dead rhino.

There wasn’t much to guard against. Even the birds and river creatures seemed to have fled the dragon. Newman walked over to one of the pieces of hide. The dragon had tossed it forty feet from the rest of the carcass. A bush let him prop it upright. He nocked an arrow, drew back to full extension, and loosed it into the hide. The “thock” sound drew the attention of the scavengers.

“Problem?” called Borzhoi.

“No, just checking something,” Newman answered. Half the arrowhead was sticking out the other side. He drew his knife to try to work it out without breaking it. “This stuff would make good armor.”

***

With the second vineroot she found Goldenrod started saving the bits with roots and sprouts. Just foraging for food would pick this region clean. She wanted agriculture.

No one objected when she claimed a plot of land at the bottom of the bluff a bit upstream from camp. A vineroot had been found there, so the soil was the right type. Clearing it for planting was the hard part.

She used a digging stick Strongarm had carved from his memory of one he’d seen in a museum. A shallow serving spoon was now a trowel. Redinkle used that when she came to help.

The two women would trade off. One broke the ground with the digging stick while the other smashed lumps with the ladle and tossed unwanted plants onto the compost pile.

“How’s Pernach holding up?” asked Goldenrod.

“Oh, he loves it,” answered Redinkle. “He was always a fantasy novel junkie so someplace with a real dragon is paradise for him. I worry he’s going to run off to search for elves and halflings. How’s your boyfriend taking it?”

“He’s not exactly my boyfriend. I’ll say it, he’s not denying it, but he’s not saying it.”

“I thought you two were dating for a while. You were vague on Facebook.”

Goldenrod snapped a plant in half before adding it to the compost. “This is our . . . mmm . . fifth date. I figured if he didn’t break up with me after a weekend in the Kingdom we’d be official.”

“It’s been more than a weekend and he hasn’t dumped you.”

“I know. But he wouldn’t walk out in the middle of a date. Not that kind of guy. So we’re stuck in this eternal fifth date and I don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

Redinkle smirked as she leaned hard on the digging stick. “How was the third date?”

“You have a dirty mind.”

“That’s why I married so young. Well?”

“Well . . . neither of us hesitated arranging for the fourth date.”

“Aha!” This time the digging stick made a ‘klock’ sound as she thrust it into the dirt. “Damn, rock.”

Both of them worked to dig out the fist-sized stone. Goldenrod flung it toward the river.

“Whether he’s your boyfriend or not, how’s he handling this disaster?”

Goldenrod grinned. “Struggle for survival in a strange land he’s fine with. It’s all the customs of the Kingdom he has trouble learning.”

“You’re dating a survivalist?”

“No. Ex-Army. He was in the combat zone. Twice, I think.