Read Online The White Dragon by Salvador Mercer - Free Book Online Page A

tip of a pike, sir,” one soldier said, offering it to the magistrate.
    Galen took it and held it up for Eric to see. “Is this all the evidence we’ll see from you?”
    Eric walked over to the men and looked at the ground. It was obvious that it had been disturbed, but there were not tracks, no obvious sign that anything bigger than a bear had been there. “I don’t understand . . .” Eric said, his words trailing off.
    “I see no evidence that a dragon was here,” Galen stated.
    “Nor do I see evidence that a dragon was not here,” Diamedes said, walking up to join the men.
    “Please, Master Historian,” Galen started. “You can’t be serious, taking the side of this mercenary.”
    “I’m taking no sides, just noting the facts,” Diamedes replied.
    “Then note for the record that evidence was found that the accused was working with the Kesh.”
    “I’m standing right here. You can call me by my name,” Eric said.
    Diamedes looked around and then to Galen. “I will note that Eric worked with a Kesh, not the Kesh.”
    Galen snorted and then barked out orders for the soldiers to prepare to leave after giving the place one last search.
    “Doesn’t look good for me, does it?” Eric spoke softly to Diamedes. Galen had moved off to finish their work.
    “I don’t know about that,” the small historian answered, looking around at the cavern and roof. “It could be worse.”
    “How so?” Eric asked.
    “We could have found the dragon here.”
    “I thought that was our mission. It would have exonerated me.”
    “Yes.” Diamedes nodded. “The actual objective was to find evidence that a dragon existed here, not the dragon itself. I daresay you would be dead if you had found it.”
    “Then what in Agon’s name are you doing coming with us?” Eric could hardly contain himself. “If the dragon was here, then you’d be dead too, no?”
    “Actually, no,” Diamedes said, looking to see how close Galen was to them. The magistrate was busy gathering what little evidence they could find and preparing to leave. Diamedes continued. “You said something very curious at your trial, do you remember?”
    “How could I not?” Eric said. “What exactly are you referring to, since I seem to be missing the point?”
    Diamedes nodded and then lowered his voice anyway. “You said the dragon confronted you, ready to finish killing you when the Kesh intervened.”
    “Yes, so?”
    “The dragon feared the Kesh?”
    “It didn’t look afraid, though it didn’t attack either.”
    “No,” the small historian said. “It knew what it was up against, and it decided to . . . disengage, so to speak.”
    Eric nodded, though the confused look on his face remained. “And this is important in what way?”
    “It is relevant,” Diamedes said, using a more descriptive word, “because we are not alone. The Kesh are very close.”
    Eric turned quickly toward the entrance, looking intently. “Where?”
    “You won’t see them. They are concealing their presence, but they have tracked us since we camped the first night.”
    “How in Agon do you know if they are hiding themselves?” Eric turned to face Diamedes.
    The small historian pulled out what looked like a cheap piece of custom jewelry, a clear piece of glass shaped like a diamond. “I have a small gift from someone rather important, and it shows me things that normally can’t be seen.”
    Eric didn’t touch it, but Diamedes held it out for him to look through. It was pointed inward, and Eric bent down slightly to look through it, almost gasping out loud at what he saw. Streaks of bright white light were all around the cavern. “What are those?”
    “I can’t be sure, but if what you said is accurate, then those markings are not only the traces of magic by your friend Milo over there but also signs of the dragon.”
    “We must show this to the magistrate.” Eric raised his head and looked at his companion.
    “That would not help. He would simply call it