Read Online The Forging of the Dragon (Wizard and Dragon Book 1) by Robert Don Hughes - Free Book Online

snapped back. While co-conspirators, the two men were far from friends. Neither felt any need to pretend they were.
    “Absent — to your good fortune!” Jarnel snarled. “Had he been present there’s no way the two of us could have spared you! My king does get his reports.”
    “Oh, yes.” Chaom smiled grimly. “Your young Merritt.”
    “Correct.” Jarnel nodded. “My ruler is too fearful of Sheth to criticize the shaper to his face. I, on the other hand, am constantly reminded that I can be replaced. And what happens then?”
    “I assume Paumer would simply induct your successor into our circle.” Chaom shrugged, his voice tinged with bitterness.
    Jarnel stiffened. “Paumer is only a member of this council, Chaom. He is not its lord.”
    “Ah, but does he know that?” Chaom wondered, raising a meaningful eyebrow. “Look at your costume, Jarnel — and at mine.”
    “Subterfuge, that’s all. An effective guise.”
    Chaom nodded. “So I’d thought, too, until Paumer managed to make his boy one of our number at the last meeting. The man is adept at making himself sole proprietor of other people’s enterprises! You don’t doubt he intends to rule our respective lands as well?”
    Weary from his all-night ride, Jarnel had no patience for such talk. “For all I know, Paumer may already own half of Arl. But he’s never dared to set his foot within our borders. And this is the most powerful man in the world? I think not.”
    Chaom shrugged and yawned broadly. He, too, had ridden all night. Jarnel nodded and yawned back, and they moved together into the sitting room, each taking an empty couch.
    “When is the merchant due to arrive?” Jarnel asked as he stretched himself out.
    “These servants know nothing,” Chaom grumbled, turning onto his side in quest of a comfortable position.
    Jarnel was already drowsing off, but remembered a warning he’d intended to pass along, and forced himself to sit up. “By the way — next time guard the fords. Merritt wanted to cross the river behind you and cut off your retreat. I wouldn’t let him.”
    Still shifting, Chaom turned his back to Jarnel and snuggled his hips into the cushions. “You should have. We’d laid snares in all those fords, and you would have been rid of your troublesome Merritt.”
    “Snares?” Jarnel frowned. “How?” But Chaom’s only answer was a snore.
    “I don’t wish to be rid of Merritt — nor of any of my people,” Jarnel growled to himself. “What I really wish is to spare them any more ...” Before he finished, sleep had claimed him.
    *
    The bear cracked a human skull between his teeth, enjoying the crisp crunch it made. He liked the taste, too. Marwandians had a delicate flavor — probably from all the wild forest herbs in their diet. He chewed slowly. There was no rush. He could watch from here upon the bluff, and there appeared to be no one stirring inside the single tent left standing in the ruined stockade.
    Did the boy know of his presence? Probably. That mattered very little. Dark was a nuisance, but hardly a threat. He could only relate the future, and that future he told contained the results of all Dark’s own best efforts to change it. Besides, he was a boy and subject still to all boyish insecurities. And fears ...
    This Seagryn, however, with his tugolith shape and lofty religious ideals, might prove to be a problem if not quickly mastered. The bear tore off another chunk of flesh and gnawed it thoughtfully. He could take Dark aside and force the boy to be precise about his predictions. But Sheth didn’t like knowing the future. It seemed to tie the hands of the present.
    No, he would simply wait. Perhaps circumstances would permit an early confrontation with this would-be wizard. Having finished the last of the Marwandians that this Seagryn had chased into his paws, he felt no need to linger. He had business to finish before the Conspiracy met. These two would be there. Dark had promised.
    The