Blazing Blunderbuss (Wyvern Chronicles Book 1) Read online

  Gideon leaned on the arm of the large crossbow-like thing and said, “True. You’d think the government would agree with you. Surely it would be easier to fight this war with the government on your side.”

  Nikolai snorted. “They are fools. They coddle up to the Empire in an attempt to convince them not to attack. It is a fool’s task. You can’t negotiate with a beast.”

  Gideon lifted his hand and motioned to the bands and asked, “Where did you get these?”

  Nikolai growled. He was obviously tired of the talking. He pulled out a gun and pointed it at Gideon. “Fix it or die, professor.”

  Gideon lifted his hands to show he was defenseless and said, “Easy, easy. I’m delicate, you know. I faint at the sight of blood. Especially my own.”

  Nikolai huffed but put down his gun, and Gideon placed the aiming ring where it was supposed to be. As he worked, Nikolai said, “The wrist guards are to make sure you don’t go nowhere.”

  Gideon knew that, but he was curious about what Nikolai and the Rosh Barkers thought. Still fiddling with the ring, he asked without looking at Nikolai, “How does that work?”

  He could see out the corner of his eye that Nikolai shrugged. “Magic, I suppose. A bit like the magic the dragon hunters have. I’m just not sure how it works for you. But the people said it was the only way to make you stay in one place. And as you can see, it has worked. I think you might have some dragon hunter blood in you and that is why it works.”

  He wasn’t wrong there, but it wasn’t quite right either. The dragon hunters were gypsies, moving from area to area hunting dragons. They had been almost completely wiped out by both humans and dragons since the treaty was signed. They were the only ones not safe under that contract.

  Gideon had known a few in his day, and the hunting of them had only made them irrational and more dangerous. Their magic was completely their own and had nothing to do with the dragons.

  They were still on the bridge of the Blazing Blunderbuss. Hara’s leg had gone to sleep some time before, so she was trying to get it past the pins and needles stage by stretching it out and banging her heel on the floor to encourage the blood to flow a little quicker.

  One the Rosh Barkers yelled, “Stop that!”

  Hara glared at the revolutionary and said, “What do you want me to do? Sitting on the ground isn’t the most comfortable thing. My leg and left butt cheek have gone to sleep.”

  Alice snorted. Hara glanced at her. She would have thought the girl would have been scared by the sudden violence, but the girl actually looked energized. This was one Pandora’s box Hara had not expected to open.

  Kale entered and the jovial mood disappeared. He dismissed the other guard and set himself to watch them.

  Alice said in a whisper, “I never liked that guy. Sorry, Henry, even if he did save your life. He tried to hit on me and wasn’t happy when I turned him down.”

  Hara shook her head. “It was my fault I hired the bastard. But I started this, you know, by taking Gideon from the Rosh Barkers in the first place.”

  “Yeah, it is your fault. And here I am tied up like a pig set to be slaughtered,” Murphy complained.

  Hara turned to look at the gunner and said, “That’s only because they took you so easily and they have your weapons.”

  “Yeah, they do, and that rubs me the wrong way,” Murphy grumbled softly.

  Talen laughed and said, “Oh, you poor thing.”

  Everyone snorted at the sarcastic tone. You just have to ignore him. I know the rest of us do.”

  “Don’t try to help, Talen. ,” Henry added.

  They laughed. Kale glared at them, but didn’t try to shut them up.

  Talen said out of the blue, “In three.”

  Finally. Hara had been wondering when he would be free so they could make a move. “One, two, three,” she stated.

  The two of them burst to their feet. Talen dived for a weapon while she went for Kale. He was shocked by the sudden movement. He tried to bring his gun up, but in his rush he got tangled in the holster.

  Hara slammed her palm into his face. He pulled back, reducing the effectiveness of the blow. She pushed forward and threw her elbow at his face hoping to hit him when he moved forward again.

  Kale tried to punch her but she moved her arm to block the blow. He was surprised enough by her move that she was able to hit him squarely in his jaw with her other hand. His eyes rolled up in his head and he crumpled.

  Talen came to her side as she stepped around Kale and said, “I’m going for Gideon.”

  She could trust Talen to take care of the others now that he was armed. She didn’t slow down. Besides, Angel had freed the others as well and they were quickly moving to take the ship back.

  Once Hara was past Kale she ran down the hall to her room. She grabbed her glider and headed for the side of the ship away from the ladder. She hoped she could get to the ground without the Rosh Barkers knowing. She strapped on her glider. She stopped for a moment as Angel hopped up on the railing.

  Hara asked, “You want to come along?” Angel trilled. She had certainly been a help before. Hara offered an arm and Angel slithered up. Together they jumped off the side of the Blazing Blunderbuss.

  Hara snapped open her wings at the last second in the hope of going unseen. The landing was rough, but she was down. She looked over her shoulder to see if anyone had seen her. Angel clicked her teeth together but didn’t make any more noise. The guards were playing cards and laughing over something, oblivious to their escape, so they wouldn’t have heard her anyway. Angel tightened her claws on Hara’s shoulder, but kept silent.

  The Rosh Barkers probably thought they were safe because they were in the heart of their own territory, in a hamlet filled with Rosh Barkers.

  Hara snapped her glider back into its case and ducked behind some buildings. Angel clicked her metal tongue at the whole thing. Hara had no idea where they had taken Gideon, but if they had a weapon which could take down a dragon it would have to be massive. This small hamlet really didn’t have many buildings that could accommodate a large weapon.

  She headed towards the large barn set to the side of the hamlet. She had had a clear view of half the hamlet when she had come over the edge of the Blazing Blunderbuss. The barn had been the largest building she had seen. If Gideon and the weapon were in the other direction it would make things difficult, as she doubted she could stay undetected for that long.

  There were plenty of Rosh Barkers wandering around so Hara moved slowly from cover to cover. She hoped they wouldn’t discover the others were all free until much later. There was an explosion behind her, making her duck to avoid any shrapnel. That was one of the Blazing Blunderbuss’s guns. Angel trilled in concern and Hara reached up to stroke her damaged wing and reassure her. Gideon had to be all right.

  The hope that they could stay undiscovered until she released Gideon had now gone out the window. The explosion did have the added bonus of distracting the Rosh Barkers. As they now were all rushing towards the airship. She would skin Talen if he let them destroy her ship. She couldn’t worry about that now: she had a troublesome dragon to find.

  Hara waited for the revolutionaries to run past before she approached the barn. She should have picked up a gun, she realized, as the only weapons she had were her wits and Angel.

  She didn’t go for the front, but rather one of the side doors. It was definitely not a farming building: the door had a large ramp up to it made from slates of metal, which would be completely impractical for animals. The gear once used to move hay around was merely a hole in the roof. The Rosh Barkers had been here long enough to settle in, it seemed.

  Hara pressed her ear to the door. She could hear Gideon talking to someone, so he wasn’t alone. She was quiet as she picked the lock. It was sophisticated enough that it took a while, and was probably the reason why they had no guard on this door. They probably put it in for convenience and then had forgotten about it after they had finished using it.

 
Hara winced when the door made a loud click as it opened. She waited a moment, but when Gideon continued to natter on she knew they hadn’t heard the click. She opened the door slowly with Angel leaning forward so she could see into the barn first.

  Inside there was a large crossbow-like thing. The arms of the bow structure stood on the mobile base, and they were massive, taking up most of the barn with their large span. Gideon was on top of the structure on what seemed like a compact steam engine, which she assumed wound the whole contraption up to shoot.

  Gideon was talking to Nikolai, who was watching him work. The leader of the Rosh Barkers was alone. Thank goodness for small mercies. He also didn’t seem at all fazed by the yelling and explosions from outside. Nikolai was completely focused on Gideon.

  Hara picked up a wrench left by a lazy worker and snuck up nearer to Nikolai. Angel jumped off her shoulder and landed on the ground clumsily. Hara would have to fix her wing before she could glide properly. She scuttled off, but Hara wasn’t concerned. Angel had already proven that she could look after herself.

  Nikolai was standing too far away from anything for her to sneak up without him noticing her. And she still had her glider on her back, which didn’t make sneaking easy.

  Angel had somehow managed to get up on the machine, and trilled at Gideon.

  Nikolai looked towards the machine, giving Hara the distraction she needed. She swung the wrench as she ran. Nikolai must have seen the movement, as he turned towards her at the last second. The momentum of her swing forced past his raised arm and she managed to knock him back. She swung again. This time there was a crack and Nikolai grunted in pain.

  He reached out with his other hand and grabbed her arm. She had expected this, and instead of fighting she stepped in closer and jabbed him in his throat with her other hand. He let her go, and this time she brought the wrench down on his head and he stumbled the rest of the way to the ground. Unconscious, most likely, but she had panicked and she might have hit him too hard.

  Hara turned to Gideon, who was working feverishly. She frowned, but didn’t question it. She climbed up the contraption and said, “We need to get out of here.” She offered her arm to Angel who quickly scrambled up and wrapped herself around Hara’s neck.

  Gideon finished what he was doing and said, “I’d say. This place is going to blow. In about 26 seconds.”

  That was when Hara realized he had set the boiler on the machine to overheat and blow. The needle on the pressure gauge was building up too fast. She swore.

  Gideon put his hands out and she undid the bands without having to be asked. He threw them away. She hadn’t taken into account that he would be increasing his mass when he became a dragon.

  Hara scrambled off the machine as light filled the barn. A large claw caught her as she stumbled off the edge when, blinded by the light, she had gone too far. Angel twittered angrily at the sudden movement. Hara opened her eyes and saw through the white spots floating in her eyes that Gideon had changed completely into his gold dragon self.

  He had her curled up against his chest as he pushed away from the ground and through the roof of the barn. Wood splintered around them and was soon followed by a massive explosion which took out the rest of the barn. They were already gaining altitude.

  Hara managed to tug down her goggles so she could see without her eyeballs being blasted. She looked around for the Blazing Blunderbuss and swore when she saw it wasn’t where she had left it. The ship was limping away from the hamlet.

  Gideon changed his course and headed for the airship. He grabbed onto the ship and it tipped with his weight. He placed her on the deck. Light filled her vision and she turned her head away as he changed. She turned back when the light disappeared.

  Gideon pulled himself up over the railing and onto the ship. She caught his arm and helped him up and over. He stood up, but didn’t let her pull away.

  He tugged her closer and she let him. “You came for me,” he said. Angel twittered harshly. Obviously she hated being left out. Gideon reached up and brushed a finger over her head and said, “And you too.”

  Hara frowned and said, “Of course. I wasn’t about to leave you fixing a weapon for a bunch of Rosh Barkers. Besides, we’re still short-crewed, and we’ll need you if we want to escape.”

  Gideon grinned with the corner of his mouth and said, “You came to me because you like me.”

  Hara rolled her eyes and tugged herself free of him and said, “In your dreams, Gideon.”

  He cheekily said to her back as she stormed off to see how the crew were doing, “Every night. You know that.”

  Hara found Gideon in her room working on something. She said, “You know you have a perfectly good room of your own.”

  Gideon didn’t look up from his equations as he said, “I like yours better.”

  She closed the door behind her as she entered the room. She sat on the bed, as he was on the only chair in the room. She crossed her legs and watched him for a while and said, “The Rosh Barkers won’t bother us anymore.”

  Angel hopped into her lap. Her wing was already fixed and better than ever. The little creature had gotten very affectionate after the repair, and Hara let her cuddle in her lap.

  Gideon wasn’t fooled by her prevarication and said, “I’m not going back.”

  Hara sighed and asked, “Why not? You don’t have to worry about being kidnapped anymore.” There went that hope, though she knew her heart wasn’t really into getting rid of him.

  “Because you’re in my collection.” His answer annoyed her.

  She shook her head. “Not yet.”

  Gideon looked up at her, his eyes flashing with emotion. “I think I’m growing on you. So I believe I’ll stick around until you can’t think of me being anywhere else.”

  Hara wrinkled her nose. He might be right, and there was no way to make him stay in his own home in any case. He had wings and could follow her anywhere.

  She pulled her knees up to her chin and said, “My father is not someone you want to add to your collection, Gideon. He’s a con man and he uses people. Especially people he thinks are family.”

  Gideon turned around and rested his arm on his leg. “I’m aware of your father’s flaws. I still don’t think that’ll change my mind.”

  Hara’s thoughts were confused. She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to be so stubborn or not. He tilted his head and studied her for a while before he said, “Where I come from, we are hatched. My mother and father were not present at my birth. In fact, neither of them acknowledges me. I have plenty of siblings, but again, none of them care to know about me. I know what it’s like to have a family who wishes you weren’t part of them. While they still think they can use you. You met Harlen. Well, he’s my brother and all he wants from me is to make me a puppet. For him and his Emperor.”

  Hara snorted ungracefully and said, “Harlen is tame compared to my father. Trust me. When you meet him you’ll want to run in the opposite direction.”

  Gideon smirked. “Ah, a bet I can win.”

  She wasn’t sure what he meant by that, and she was too tired to try to get the answer out of him.

  Gideon sat on the bridge watching the scenery. Alice glanced around to make sure there was no one else, then approached him.

  She asked, “Hey, Gideon, is it true?”

  He glanced back at Hara’s Alice and asked, “What is true?”

  Alice twisted her hands in her gray smock. “That you’re a dragon.”

  He turned to look at her fully before he said, “And if I was a dragon, what would that mean?”

  Her hands were completely twisted up in her clothes now. “Nothing, it’s just I’ve never met a dragon before.”

  Gideon tilted his head to the side as he studied Alice.

  He asked curiously, “I’ve met many lately who have never met a dragon before. This is curious to me. When we first came to walk amongst you after the treaty, everyone seemed to recognize us. What has changed?”

  Alice sh
rugged and gave a guess. “Maybe it’s because you don’t eat us no more. I mean, people are always aware of things that are dangerous.”

  Gideon flashed his teeth and said, “If only it was that easy.”

  Alice turned slightly to go back to her post, but hesitated. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her skirt, then finally said, “Are you going to make Hara part of your collection? I’ve heard dragons like to collect women. And that’s why we used to put out women to appease the dragons in the days before the treaty.”

  Gideon shook his head. “That wasn’t why you guys did that. We used to eat the women. But one was rather charming and told us stories, so we kept her. We started keeping the women because they were interesting. Later we figured out we had a use for women other than entertainment. That is when we made the treaty.”

  Alice shrugged. She wasn’t blind to how men saw women, and it didn’t surprise her that women were the preferred sacrifice. She asked, “But what about Hara?”

  Gideon smiled. “Oh, we’re in negotiations.”

  Alice laughed. “I didn’t know dragons negotiated with their collections.”

  Gideon wiggled his eyebrows and said, “Only the good ones.”

  Hara couldn’t sit down, so she paced. This had all been a complete mess. They had escaped the Rosh Barkers, and Talen was the only one injured. He sat with his arm tucked up against his chest. Alice had patched him up but Hara felt more than just a little guilty.

  If she hadn’t stuck her nose into Gideon’s problems at the start of all this, they wouldn’t have had to face the Rosh Barkers.

  Hara stopped and said, “I can take you guys anywhere you want to go.”

  Alice frowned and said, “But I like it here. You have given me responsibilities and you’re teaching me things. In my old town my dad always made me do women’s stuff. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Hara looked at Liam. He flushed, as he had been caught looking at Alice. He cleared his throat and said, “I got nowhere to go. This place is as good as anywhere else.”

  What he didn’t say was that he had a crush on Alice and would stick around. Hara sighed. She also understood that at his age there was a danger for him out on his own. Trouble would be chasing his heels just as it had in his home town.