Chapter 15

"So where are we going, my hero?" Gisella said, speaking up so she could be heard over the wind noise and the clattering of their horses' hooves.

"We're on our way to Mount Paladin," he said.

"Mount Paladin? What for?" she asked, bewildered. "There hasn't been anything there for centuries."

"Oh, we've got a brochure that says how to become a Paladin," he said airily.

She almost fell off the horse, and only managed to stay on by grabbing madly at Roderick's arms. "What?" she cried. "But... but there haven't been any Paladins since Sir Jello!"

"Well, there's going to be another," Roderick said in satisfaction.

"Another one or two," Stan clarified.

"Ooh," Gisella said. "But going up there must be dangerous."

Roderick looked at Stan. "You know, she's right. Maybe we shouldn't be taking her into this."

"Oh, no, it'll be okay," she said. "I'm an expert at jousting, fencing, tae kwan do, and choreographed broadsword fighting. I've even taken classes in how to most effectively pull off witty banter during a swordfight."

"Oh?" said Stan. "You seem a little young to be an expert in all of those things."

She shrugged. "My father never lets me out of the castle, but he hires plenty of tutors. Expensive tutors. Ever hear of Earl von Gray?"

Stan's and Roderick's eyes widened, but it was Barbara who spoke. "Wasn't he the one who never lost a fencing match in his entire life?" she said reverently. "The one who trained Sir Gibson, and Marrigan the Betrayer?"

"That's the one," she said. "Daddy hired him full-time, so I can take a fencing lesson any time I want, day or night."

"Wow," said Stan. "I may have to fight a practice duel with you later. I'd like to see you in action."

"Sure," she said. "Oh, and I'm an expert huntress and tracker, too."

"Oh, really?" said Johnson. "I'd like to see you outdo me."

She laughed. "When we stop, we'll look for something to test us." She turned back to Roderick. "So how about it, hero? Can I come with you all the way?" She tightened her grip around his waist, and snuggled a little closer to his back.

"Uh, um, sure, I guess, yeah," he stammered. "As long as --"

Suddenly he stopped. "What was that?" he said.

Everyone listened, but nobody heard anything more.

"Uh, never mind, I guess," he said hesitantly. "It's just -- wait! There it was again!"

Gisella stiffened. "Hounds," she said softly. "They're on our trail."

"Who is?" said Johnson.

Gisella gave a brief, humorless laugh. "My father, who else? I think I recognize that hound's baying -- and if I'm right, then that's one of my own award-winning hunting dogs my father is chasing me with." She snorted. "Figures he would do something like that."

"Well, then how do we keep away from them?" asked Johnson. "If those dogs are already catching up with us at the speed we're going, then we're in trouble. We can put our horses into a gallop, but we wouldn't be able to outdistance them that way -- we would stay the same distance away, at best, and in the long run they'd probably catch up anyway. Dogs don't win awards unless they have endurance."

"I don't know," Gisella said uneasily. "They're good, I know that. And if they've got the whole pack after us, then we're in trouble."

"Hey," said Roderick, "I think I know that guy up there."


Five riders on four horses swept past Darwin at a full gallop. He glanced at them, then did a doubletake when he recognized Roderick glancing back at him.

He did another doubletake when he recognized the girl sitting behind Roderick.

Immediately, he spurred his horse to a gallop, but he had been riding all day and his horse was tired. It protested feebly, and when it began galloping, it was a slow gallop that quickly left him behind.

Then he heard the baying of hounds from behind him, and swore softly under his breath. "Well, so much for that plan," he muttered. Then his eyes lit up. "But maybe I can take out two birds with one stone." Grinning now, he wheeled his horse around and plunged back down the road as fast as the horse would go. The barking and baying got quickly louder as he approached.

Finally, he recognized the landmark he had noted earlier, a tree with an oddly-shaped branch, and spun his horse into the forest.


It was a full ten minutes before the riders came into view behind them. Stan glanced back over his shoulder. "Oh, my," he murmured. "I don't think we can fight off that many."

Gisella glanced back. "Looks like about two dozen. My father likes round numbers." She shook her head. "And Daddy can afford some pretty expensive racehorses. We won't outrun them, and I can probably only take on two or three of them if it comes to a fight. Some of them train under Earl von Gray, too."

"Great," Roderick said. "So what do we do?"

He felt her shrug. "I could just give up, I suppose, but I'm sure Daddy would have left instructions for them to capture all of you. And there are enough of them that it wouldn't even help for us to scatter."

"I admit," said Barbara, "that I'm a little surprised that you care about us. Aren't you the daughter of an Evil Overlord?"

"What? What are you talking about?" said Roderick.

"Haven't you ever heard of Sir Hugo the Mad?" Barbara said incredulously. "He's famous. He's infamous."

"Uh, no, sorry," Roderick said.

Barbara sighed. "Whatever. My question stands. Gisella?"

She shrugged again. "Well, you guys were nice enough to take me off on an adventure here. I can't just turn around and be nasty to you. You might not rescue me again." She nuzzled closer to Roderick again. "Besides, I think Roderick is kinda cute."

Roderick was so busy turning red that he didn't notice Barbara's face flushing slightly as well. Barbara pulled her horse out ahead slightly and didn't respond.

"We'd better decide on something pretty soon," said Johnson. "They're catching up fast."

Suddenly they heard a reverberating screech from the distance. Several of the hounds yelped at the sound, and darted into the forest.

"What's that about?" said Roderick, puzzled.

"I don't know," said Gisella, "but I don't think I liked that noise."

"I've heard something a lot like it before," said Johnson. "It sounds like a --"

Then a new sound rose, something like a horse snorting at regular intervals, only much, much larger and louder. It started in the dstance, barely audible, but rapidly grew.

More of the hounds broke and ran; only half of them were still following the trail. The soldiers continued onward, still gaining ground.

"Okay, everyone," said Johnson, in a grim voice that was so unlike his usual mood that Roderick looked around to see who was speaking. "We're in deep trouble if we don't get off the road and out of sight really soon. Wait for my signal, then everyone get out into the trees immediately. Ready?"

Roderick looked at Stan and at Barbara, bewildered. They just looked back, equally puzzled, but worried by the tone of Johnson's voice.

The rushing sound was coming closer, and was now accompanied by a rattling of tree limbs with each thrust of air. The rest of the hounds, yelping madly, scattered into the trees. Roderick's horse began to prance from side to side as it ran, visibly agitated. A loud wind began to rise.

"Now!" cried Johnson, and the four steeds turned and dashed into the woods and skidded to a stop on the damp leaves.

"Now wh--" began Roderick, but Johnson held up a hand for silence.

Then an immense dragon burst into view over the road.

Roderick's horse reared up in silent fear, and Roderick nearly lost his balance. Gisella clung tightly to his waist. Cries came from the riders in the road, followed by a hurried clacking of wood and the swish of arrows in flight. The dragon let out another hoarse screech, ear-splitting from this close.

Barbara was fighting with her mount to keep it from rearing. Johnson waved his arm for them to follow, and plunged farther into the trees. Stan followed, and Barbara and Roderick struggled to calm their horses enough to be able to do the same.


The dragon landed in the road, making the ground shudder for a quarter-mile radius. The men's horses were rearing madly and trying to plunge into the forest, all save Billy's roan mare, Thaddeus.

Thaddeus was an old horse, and, Billy was sure, was nearly deaf and almost entirely devoid of scent glands. But he was still one of the fastest in Sir Hugo's entire herd, so he stayed in use in the employ of Sir Hugo's scout corps. And at this moment, the lack of hearing and smell were a valuable asset, since Thaddeus barely even noticed that there was a dragon in front of them.

The dragon lunged its head down and caught one of the other soldiers by the arm, then flung the hapless soldier into the air. The man's brief scream was cut off as the dragon bit through the man's torso, armor and all, and swallowed loudly as it delicately pulled the rest of the man's body into its mouth.

The dead soldier's horse pelted madly toward the forest, but Billy grabbed its reins as it ran past, and, after an uncertain moment where it seemed that Thaddeus, excited by the other's agitation, was going to dart for the forest too, he got both of them under control enough that he could grab the lance from the riderless horse.

Then the dragon roared again, and the horse took off running, nearly taking Billy's fingers with it as he clung to the lance. But his grip held.

The dragon looked slowly through the twenty-three armed cavalry, plus one unarmed huntsmaster, arrayed before it. It saw one horse and rider galloping away down the road, in the direction from which the riders had come, but it simply stuck out its impossibly long neck and snatched that rider too, swallowing him in a single gulp this time.

"Hey!" cried Billy, leaping off Thaddeus and waving his arms. "Hey, you big lug! Luncheon is served! Come get me, right here!"

"Billy!" cried the huntsmaster. "What are you doing?"

"Trust me," called Billy. "I think I can take this thing." Then, noticing the sudden silence, he yelled, "What are you guys doing? Keep firing those bows!"

The bowfire resumed almost immediately, although most of the arrows pinged harmlessly off the dragon's heavy scales. The dragon raised one huge foot to scratch lazily at its belly, where two arrows had lodged themselves. The shafts broke off instantly as the massive foot swept past. The dragon blinked its eyes lazily as the broken shafts buried themselves more deeply, and scratched a little harder.

"Hey, you!" Billy cried again. He picked up a large rock from the roadside and flung it at the dragon's head.

The rock bounced off of the dragon's cheek, and suddenly all of its attention was on Billy, who was still dancing from side to side, yelling, "Hey, dragon! Yeah, you, lazybones! Come on down here and get me! Luncheon is served!"

Recognizing a dragon taunting when they heard one, the other riders scattered for cover, leaving Billy alone in the middle of the road.

The dragon watched him for a long moment, then suddenly struck without warning, its head darting down with blinding speed. Billy caught the movement and leapt backwards, and the dragon's jaws clamped down on empty air.

Billy was ready with another rock, and hurled it at the dragon's eye while its head was still down at ground level. The dragon blinked, and the rock bounced harmlessly off its eyelid, but it let out a screech of pain and annoyance as it raised its head into the air again.

"What, are you blind as well as stupid?" taunted Billy as he raised the jousting lance, aiming it directly at the dragon's head so it would be harder to see straight-on. "Come on, you can do better than that!"

With a deafening screech, the dragon lunged its head again. Billy leapt back and braced the lance against the ground with all his strength.

A final dragon-scream split the air. It was followed by a rock-jarring thud as the dragon's body fell, lifeless, to the ground, with a jousting lance pierced all the way through its head.


Darwin's horse came into viewing distance just as Billy was beginning his dragon-taunting. He stopped and watched the remainder of the battle from the cover of the forest.

"Rats," he said as he watched the battle draw on, and finlly end with the dragon as the decisive loser. "What kind of dragon was that? I thought dragons were supposed to breathe fire and all that. And where on earth are Roderick and his crew?"

The ogre, just catching up on its huge draft horse, grunted something to Darwin.

"What is it? Oh -- hang on just a second," he said, pulling a small pamphlet entitled Care and Feeding of your Rental Ogre from his pack and glancing through the first two pages. "Ogres are solid fighters... very tough skin... good trackers..." He looked up. "Good trackers, really? Hmm. Would you be able to track the four riders who were being chased by that group up there, and find them before that group does?"

The ogre let out a long, nasal grunt, hopped off of its horse, and began walking down the road, carefully watching the dirt on either side for prints. Its gait was slow and shuffling.

"Oh, come on, speed it up!" Darwin complained, but the ogre just kept shuffling slowly along. He sighed, flipped once more through the brochure, and then pulled out another one: Care and Feeding of your Rental Dragon.

The first section, "Choosing the Dragon that's Right for You", started out: "Dragons come in a large variety of shapes and sizes, of smarts and speed, and all manner of other abilities. Some dragons can breathe fire, while others cannot; some are quick, while some are slow; some are clever, and excel at any job that requires broad authority, while others can only follow orders and cannot be trusted to make effective decisions.

"Before you rent, you must consider which features are most important to you in a dragon. In general, smaller dragons tend to be slightly faster, considerably more maneuverable in the air, and somewhat more intelligent. In addition, with only rare exceptions, it is only the smaller dragons that are able to breathe fire."

Darwin dropped the brochure onto the road. "Well, why didn't they tell me that before?" he grumbled. Then he looked in the direction where his ogre had disappeared into the forest, and allowed himself a small smile. "Ah well," he said. "My ogre ought to be able to find them. And by then, I may well have another dragon..."


< Chapter 14 Chapter 16 >