The Dragon Circle by Irene Radford Read Free Book Online

of a name or hospitality.” She stood firm, not wavering under his fierce gaze.
    â€œForgive my lack of manners, Tracker.” The headman bowed his head slightly. But he never took his gaze from her eyes. “We have learned caution. Many seek the Stargods and their chosen people, the Coros. Some do not wish our saviors well.”
    â€œI have heard that the three brothers descended from the stars to save your people from a deadly plague. They also ended slavery among you.” She scanned the array of houses behind the headman. The town was nestled between the bay and the river, a half hour’s walk above the flood line of either. Nearly one hundred sturdily built homes and a temple. No mistaking the huge building with the silver bloodwood columns topped by carvings of dragons. These people had worshiped the bloodthirsty Simurgh before the coming of the Stargods.
    â€œMy father still resents the loss of his slaves.” A younger man with a hooked nose to match the headman’s and a similar cast to the brown eyes, sauntered over from the largest of the homes, at the opposite end of the town from the temple. “I am Yaakke. My ill-mannered father is called Yaaccob the Usurper. You will not find the Stargods here.”
    â€œBut they have been here. Recently.”
    â€œYour tracking senses are correct,” Yaakke replied. “They came to bless the pregnancy of my wife. My sister is mate to the youngest of the Stargod brothers.”
    â€œAh,” Dalleena said. She turned in a slow circle, right arm extended, palm raised. West of this riverside town. Not far. Too far after a long journey afoot before sunset.
    â€œI go to visit my sister,” Yaakke said. “Would you care to join me in the boat journey? Company relieves the tedium of the travel.”
    â€œBoat? Yes, I will join you,” Dalleena said with a sigh of relief. She could rest her aching feet. Gratefully, she followed the man to the riverbank.
    After weeks on the road, he had offered the first evidence of actually having seen the Stargods. But everyone who lived south of the big river and north of the fiery mountains had heard of the three brothers who descended from the stars on a cloud of silver fire. Their great deeds done liberating the tribe of the Coros had become the subject of song and ritual.
    Dalleena settled into the hollowed-out log of a boat. “How did you smooth the inside so evenly?” She ran a hand along the inner sides, amazed that no splinters pierced her skin. Even the outside remained free of bark or ragged patches.
    â€œA miracle of the Stargods.” Yaakke grinned hugely. “There are advantages to allowing Stargod Kim to marry my sister.” Then he handed Dalleena a paddle.
    She looked at it skeptically. Tracking sometimes required her to travel long distances over a variety of terrain. The people who required a Tracker to find lost livestock, errant children, or missing lovers usually did all the work.
    This time the quest was her own. Therefore she must work for herself. She dug the paddle into the water with strength equal to Yaakke’s stroke.
    Before long, her back and shoulders began to ache. Her palms blistered. The sight of the setting sun sparkling red upon the waters of the river numbed her mind and her talent. She knew nothing, felt nothing but the pressure upon her body each time she pushed the boat a little farther upstream.
    â€œNearly there,” Yaakke told her. He pointed to a muddy embankment. Many feet and more than a few boats had slid up and down it. Two rafts and another log boat were tied to large stakes driven into the dirt on either side of the slippery access.
    To Dalleena’s surprise, Yaakke continued paddling beyond the point. Her shoulders ached even more. They had passed their objective and her guide expected more work from her. This was more tiring than if she’d walked!
    â€œEase up on the paddle,” Yaakke called.
    Finally.