The Sword and The Mountain (Kathardra book 1)
Tactical Retreat

A sound pricked at Zar’s ears. No, it couldn’t be. It started with a single horn, it could be anything. But after only moments the horn was picked up and multiplied in harmony. The blood drained from Zar’s face.

Lessa.

Maybe…

No. It was always Lessa.

Zar was halfway through the tavern before he finished the thought.

Just on the street, Zar paused, looking left and right. Where.

On a hunch he went left, it was the same direction they had been going for a walk each night.

“Zar, stop!” Cinder barked behind him. Zar paid him no heed.

“Zar!” This time it was Worran’s voice. Sliding to a stop, anger ignited in Zar, he was supposed to be protecting her! Just behind him, Worran limped out of a side street, his picnic-stricken face was bruising.

Zar roughly grabbed Worran’s tunic and slammed him against a wall, right in his face he growled out the words, “Where is Lessa?”

Worran groaned before he responded and Zar pinned him even harder.

“I told her to run! There were too many. The bastard took her necklace. Hopefully, she is halfway out of the city by now.”

With strength greater than Zar thought possible Cinder yanked him away from Worran. “Now is not the time to be fighting! You need to make a plan.”

Zar shoved Cinder away, his hand slid through his hair.

“They saw her?” This was worse than he thought.

Worran slumped, whatever had happened, he had received a severe beating. “He grabbed it before we could even do anything.”

“Where?”

“The gate guardhouse.”

Before Zar made it far Cinder grabbed his shoulder and swiveled him back around. “Storming off with steel bared will get you nowhere. Lessa was running, Lessa is fast, Lessa will not be at the guardhouse. What we need right now is a plan to get out and find her.”

Zar slid both hands through his hair. “We need to get our gear.”

Motion helped soothe Zar’s mind. They went back to the tavern, careful to walk through the main room, but they ran the stairs, skipping every other. They were back out in the street after scarcely a minute had passed.

“They will not let us through the gate now that the horns have sounded,” Cinder said, hefting his pack and saddle bags.

How can we know if Lessa got out… How can we track Lessa… Storm was the obvious answer. The dragon could find Lessa in moments if she was in hearing range.

But retrieving Storm would take hours, time they might not have. But, where was the first place Lessa would go if she got out of the city? Right back to Storm.

“We need to get to the stable. Lessa will go there. Three men at the gate will not be stopped.”

He was unable to vocalize the logical conclusion of that thought. Obviously, Lessa would be stopped. But they would know if she had been taken into custody. Likely the entire city would.

Zar marched down the streets, daring every battalion he passed to stop him. He wanted a fight, he wanted blood.

He needed Lessa.

It was likely most of these men didn’t even know why the horns had blown this night. But word would spread fast.

Now every time he passed a battalion Zar opened his ears and tried to listen to what they were talking about. Most of them said nothing. But halfway through the city, something caught his attention.

“The sword cannot be touched…”

Mid step he froze and took a breath.

“Good sir, can you tell me why the horns were blown this night?”

The group Zar had stopped eyed each other, and the lead man, not even an officer, shrugged. “They got her. The dragon girl the whole kingdom has been up in arms about, right here in the city!”

The world stopped. Time stopped. Zar could not respond. He was lying. He had to be. Mistaken at the least.

With Worran’s bloody face a giveaway he remained lurking slightly behind them, face turned aside, Cinder stepped forward. “That is quite the tale,” he said, making his voice older with a slight shake. “How can you be so sure it’s the right girl, no dragon was seen I hope?”

To really sell the lie Cinder cowered down a little and eyed the sky.

The soldier laughed out loud. “It couldn’t have been anyone else. Fourteen trained soldiers lying in the street! And apparently, there is a black sword in the ground over there. I looked and couldn’t see it though. It’s the oddest thing, must be spelled.”

The battalion marched forward, leaving Zar standing in shock.

Never had he thought it would end like this.

Worran grabbed Zar’s arm and Zar shook him off. “Zar. We can still save her.”

Zar did not respond.

Worran hauled Zar off the street, into the alcove of a door. “If Lessa was dead, Storm would be here burning down the city.”

Storm. Worran was right.

“We need Storm. Worran, you are faster than any of us. Go to the stables, get your horse, ride to Storm. She can find Lessa, no matter where she is.”

A scoff came from Worran’s throat. “And what happens when I get there? I have no hope of controlling Storm. I don’t see that ending well.”

Zar’s eyes turned on Cinder.

“Don’t look at me, I can’t ride that fast, that far, and still have enough energy to restrain a dragon. No, you will have to do this.”

“I’m not leaving the city without Lessa.”

A sigh hefted from Cinder’s chest. “When it comes to you and this girl, I have never before seen such an astounding blind spot.” The old mage pinched the bridge of his nose. “Go, get the dragon, and be sure you don’t come back until dark or you’ll be attacked by every soldier in the city. We don’t need some knight with a complex trying to earn any medals.”

“That’s twenty-four hours!” Zar yelled at him, Worran braced Zar’s chest to keep him back.

“It is,” Cinder said grimly. “But right now, that’s the best we can do.”

“Find out where she is being kept. Do anything you can to clear the street at first dark tomorrow. We’ll find you.”

Zar tossed Lessa's saddle bags over Worran's shoulder. Then he ran.

Using his desperate need as the foundation of his wielding Zar pulled magic up around himself. He had no idea what he would look like to those around him if they could even see him at all. But it didn’t matter right now. He sprinted in the general direction the soldier had indicated. Following the gathering crowd wasn’t difficult. Armored guards stood in a small outward-facing circle, keeping civilians away.

Zar ignored them all, shoving as he went. Unable to see who had shoved them aside they glowered at those standing next to them. The dark sword was at the center of the ring of bodies, a man kneeled above it, he had a cloth wrapped around his hand and he tried to grab the handle through the cloth. Instantly the material used as a glove burst into flames. The man staggered back, vigorously shaking his hand away from the fire.

Unbreaking stride Zar grasped the hilt of Lessa’s sword. A gasp rolled through the crowd as the blade vanished, consumed by Zar's magic. He parted the crowd on the other side of the circle and continued his dash through the city.

Traffic was just being allowed through the gate when Zar reached it. He did not slow, but again smashed his way through the pedestrians, regardless of who stood in his way.

The stable was dark as pitch when Zar reached it, but that was all the better. He found his saddle and walked looking from stall to stall until he found his own bay. He dropped the saddle on, there was no time to be gentle.

After only a few minutes they burst from the stable at full speed. Zar wrapped the magical cloak around his horse as well. It wouldn’t do to have anyone see a lone rider making a mad dash from Geldur the night Lessa was taken.

An idea occurred to him. Zar focused his vision so that magic became visible to him. The magic seeped from the ground in curling mist, and beckoned him. Zar reached for it and it reached back, eager for his embrace. He grasped it and funneled it toward his horse. Whatever he did worked, and his bay tossed his head and shot forward with extraordinary speed. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ꜰindNʘvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Riding across fields and hills he would easily be able to avoid the long road they had taken to Geldur. Cutting straight north would mean he would hit the mountains in roughly twelve hours. On a horse who needed rest and breaks. Like this, he might be able to cut that down.

Zar crossed into the first mountain valley after roughly six hours. The horse ran even faster after Zar laid down a smooth road of magic.

The valley was empty enough. He didn’t care if anybody was here to witness what was going to happen.

“STORM!” he yelled as loud as he could. “STORM!” he called out again. Hoping that wherever she was the dragon could hear him.

Zar heeled his horse once more, pushing further into the valley “STO-”

A roar replied to him, echoing down, bouncing between mountain faces.

Sawing his reins and sitting back hard, his horse slid to a stop, the poor animal’s side was soaked with sweat. Zar hoped that the magic would save the horse’s heart from giving out after this mad dash.

The glittering dragon appeared over a peak, her wings tucked close to her body and she dove toward the ground.

Zar’s horse reared madly as Storm came right for them. He was just able to get the horse under control when Storm landed, her nose came right at Zar. Her green eyes, heart-wrenchingly like Lessa’s, were wide and wild.

“They took her Storm, we need you to find her,” Zar explained breathlessly.

Storm’s wings snapped open.

“No!” roared Zar, he launched himself from the saddle, one arm wrapped as far as it could around Storm’s neck. “Not yet!”

Of course, grabbing a dragon’s neck and hoping to stop it was like trying to stop the wind. Storm’s wings beat down and they lifted from the ground.

“No!” Zar yelled at her again, he reached for the magic in the ground and heaved. His feet touched soil and his body strained against Storm’s. He pulled on the magic more, it strengthened him beyond reason and he wrestled Storm’s neck and head down, her wings beat furiously and her claws came toward his head.

“Storm, stop! If we go now they will kill her!”

The dragon stilled, but Zar could see in her eyes that she wasn’t fully done fighting, but this was an opening to make her see reason.

“If you fly in now they will see you, and not only will they kill Lessa, you will be fighting the entire city. If we can wait until dark then there is a chance we can make a clean escape.”

Storm’s eye rolled onto his own, her body hadn’t moved.

“Just until dark.”

The wide chest of the dragon heaved up and down for a long moment, and then her eyes closed in surrender.

“I’m going to let you up. Don’t fly away.”

Storm rolled her eyes. It was such a Lessa-like expression that Zar’s heart seized. He opened his arms and rocked to his knees, away from Storm.

The dragon stood, and shook herself, casting one more dirty look at Zar. Fire rocketed from her mouth and consumed the sky. Her tail lashed, sending saplings and bushes in different directions.

Zar backed away, trusting that if Storm hadn’t jumped into the sky by now she wouldn’t. His horse had fled the rampaging dragon, Zar had to jog a quarter mile toward the mouth of the valley before he found the bay. Its reins had caught on a branch, it stood heaving, with flattened ears and its irises circled by white.

“I’m sorry old friend. I hope I can find you once more,” he said, once he had dropped his saddle to the ground and released the horse to the wild. He would likely find his way to the city, or make some farmer between here and there very happy.

Zar headed back to Storm with his saddlebags over his shoulder. She had an entire tree in her jaws, its exposed roots were slinging dirt in all directions as she shook her head.

Like thunder, the tree cracked and split in Storm’s jaw. And then her eyes turned on him.

For the first time in a long while Storm stuck fear in his heart. He stiffened, as she ran over to him, her mouth was glowing red with a banked fire and murder was in her eyes.

Before anything, Storm was a predator. If he ran, she would chase. Despite every instinct begging him to, Zar did not run, he planted his feet on the ground and pulled up magic in front of him in case she struck.

Storm stopped less than an arm's length from him, a growl that could wake the dead tearing from her throat.

Zar looked her in the eye.

“I know. I was supposed to keep her safe.”

The volume of the growl raised.

“Kill me if you want, but wait until after we get her back.” Zar was unable to keep the words in any longer. And the coward Lessa turned him into was telling the wrong female. “I can’t live without her Storm, I will get her back, or die trying.” He dropped his forehead against Storm’s, overcome.

The rumble dropped away and Storm jolted. But she did not pull away. Instead, she lowered her body to the ground, and her chin very carefully moved to Zar’s back, and she pulled him against her scaly hot chest.

Zar had often witnessed this curious softness from Storm, but it was only ever directed toward Lessa. Zar rested his cheek against her scales, exhausted and scared, shame leaked from his eyes.

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