The Dragon of Time: Gods and Dragons by Aaron Dennis Read Free Book Online Page B

filaments, which ran over pulleys in
place of the usual feline, viscera string. Scar raised the mace
onto his shoulder.
    “Now, now,” the archer warned in a mock
dramatic tone. “You won’t need that.”
    “Convince me.”
    The archer walked over to Lovenhaad’s corpse.
He made a face of disgust by cocking his lips and crinkling his
nose.
    “Do I really need to?” the archer asked. Scar
remained silent. “Fine,” the archer assented with a slight bow of
the head and shoulders. “My name is Labolas. Gilgamesh sent me to
find you.”
    Scar was skeptical and kept his eyes on the
man, who came a few steps closer. He was short, and though the bulk
of his clothes hid his stock, he looked wiry. Thick, long curls
were braided and held back with a leather strap. As more of the
morning light radiated through thinning clouds, it was evident by
the bronze tone of Labolas’s face that he was Kulshedran. His eyes
were green and peaceful.
    “Why?” Scar asked.
    “He knows who you are.”
    “Preposterous,” Scar said with a smirk.
“You’ve got about two seconds before I crush you.”
    Labolas chuckled and shook his head. Looking
up to the sky, he spoke. “You think me daft, or a liar, but I
assure you, as certain as I stand here a friend, Gilgamesh knows
who you are, Brandt.”
    The name was unfamiliar. Labolas gauged
Scar’s reaction; nothing, so he reached into a small satchel
hanging from his hip and produced a rolled up document. Labolas
tapped it against his hand.
    “I have the orders right here,” he said and
handed the document over. “You can read, right?”
    Scar raised a questioning but hairless
eyebrow; a sign of having being slightly insulted. After a second,
he snatched the paper.
    “You can put down the weapon, but you’d best
be quick. Our forces will soon arrive to investigate that fire back
there,” Labolas said with finger pointed at the flaming
outpost.
    Scar obliged the man, put down the mace, and
looked over the document. He read it out loud.
    “By the order of Gilgamesh, Sovereign of
Satrone, territory of Kulshedra, Labolas Sulas, Captain of the
Legion of Archers, is tasked with tracking down the white man
hereby known as Brandt. This is a mission of utmost importance.
What is this?”
    “Keep reading.”
    Scar winced, but continued to read. “Brandt,
the only living descendant of a once royal lineage, must be
presented to the Sovereign of Satrone, territory of Kulshedra, to
enact a prolonged process the result of which will bring to light
the illegitimate rulers of Tiamhaal. And there’s a cute, little
seal at the bottom. What is that, a serpent?”
    “It is the symbol of Tironis, our capital,”
Labolas said. “Now,” he added with a wiggling motion of the fingers
implying he needed the document returned. When Scar gave it, he
continued. “I’ve come a long way to find you and ask you to
return with me to Tironis.”
    “I don’t believe any of this.”
    “Well, no, of course you don’t. You’re no
fool, Brandt,” Labolas conceded. “Consider this; you suddenly find
yourself in Kulshedran territory. You don’t know how you got there,
where you came from, what you were doing, or who you are.
    “Unfortunately, you find yourself under poor
circumstance, and fend off an entire platoon of Dracos. Clearly,
you were in Satrone for some reason, and likely knowing full well
of your background; the prospective ruler of a forgotten kingdom.
Anyway, it did not bode well for us when you ran off and joined
Zoltek’s ranks. Unfortunate, but resolved. Now, I–”
    “Hold on,” Scar interrupted. He narrowed his
eyes in skepticism. “How do you know all this?”
    “Ah, look,” Labolas pointed towards the
outpost.
    The sun had fully risen and Kulshedran
soldiers were visible on the western horizon. Though still far
away, they were in fact moving towards the outpost.
    “We haven’t much time. They don’t know my
orders and may well seek retribution against you. I see Dracos in
their