Dragon Stones Read Free Page B

and smelled of winter.
    Redshen ran up to meet him, flushed and exhilarated, as if she were ready to cut her mount free and fly off into the night with it.  "Wasn't that marvelous?" she cried.  "I may buy one of those creatures from Lord Dunshandrin!  I saw you fall, are you all right?"
    "Yes."  Then, with a wink:  "Just a bit downtrodden."  She laughed, the sound like glass bells.  Adaran gave silent thanks to the clever soldier who had mocked him.  "You enjoyed the flying, then?"
    "Oh, yes!  Didn't you?"
    "I hated every moment of it."
    "Well, when I obtain one of those creatures, you can stay on the ground and watch me do tricks in the air," Redshen said.  She glanced past him, looking up the slope.  "Here comes Dosen."
    The two of them rejoined the others as the nominal leader of their expedition — a pudgy, blustery steward from Dunshandrin's castle — approached, his short legs pumping rapidly, his breath forming white clouds around his head.  He stopped in front of the pilot.  "You were successful?" he said.
    "We have the stones."
    Dosen's small, red-rimmed eyes scanned the horizon in the direction from which they had approached.  "You were not detected?"
    "If we had been, would we be here now?"  The pilot clapped Dosen on the shoulder.  "Don't worry, there will be no dragon coming out of the clouds.  It wouldn't eat you, anyway.  You're nothing but fat and gristle."
    Redshen pinched Adaran's arm and whispered, "Gristle."
    "Dragons will eat anything," Jenune said.  A warrior from Barbareth, he hadn't impressed Adaran at first; the man wore little armor and used a metal-shod wooden pole as a weapon.  Then Adaran had watched him defeat a dozen guards during a practice session at Dunshandrin's castle, and had revised his opinion upward.  "Filthy, voracious beasts."
    "There's no need to worry."  The magician, Orioke, spoke softly, but his voice carried the weight of utter confidence.  "The dragon is well south of here, and traveling away from our location.  She is unaware of our presence."
    "You are sure?"
    Orioke fixed his glittering gaze on Dosen.  "Of course," he said.  "I have no more desire to be eaten or incinerated than you do.  I spoke Words throughout our flight to conceal us from her senses, as well as to track her movements.  She went southeast.  We went west."  His eyes narrowed.  "I wonder, though, why we stopped here.  This is closer to her lair than I would like."
    "Yes, yes," Dosen said, running stubby ringed fingers through his thinning hair.  "Plans change.  All is well, all is well."  He signaled a group of henchmen over to relieve the eagles of their burdens.
    The five of them moved aside as the grooms worked, separating the eagles from each other, unloading supplies.  The wizard watched them, his face pinched and inscrutable.  Clearly something troubled him; Adaran wondered what thoughts moved through the man's head.
    "A shame that our flight was cut short," Redshen said.  "I could have stayed up there for hours!"
    "I'm quite happy to be back on the ground," Adaran said.
    "I second Adaran," Jenune said.  "A man's place is with his two feet on the earth."
    "That may be," Redshen said, "but a woman's place is in the sky, where she can look down upon you plodding earthbound men!"
    Adaran chuckled, then glanced to the right, where he had noticed furtive movement among the rocks.  For a moment he thought Dosen had arranged some sort of ambush, but it was only a group of three young soldiers.  They had evidently managed to corner a ground squirrel and were now throwing rocks at the frightened animal.  He wasn't sure if they were merely being malicious, or if they hoped to cook it for their supper; if the latter, they would likely go hungry, as their aim appeared quite poor.
    "I understood that we would proceed directly back to Dunshandrin's castle," Orioke said.  "Dosen, explain why we stopped here instead."
    "I told you already," Dosen said, sounding