Roland Ironheart's Arc

Chapter 5 of 5

Roland gathered his three guards in the courtyard at dawn. The woman in mail stood with her sword drawn. The bearded man leaned on the wall. Timothy sat on a crate, watching the sky. None of them had ever fought side by side. If a raid hit the walls, each would run their own way. Roland needed them to move as one, and he had no idea how to make it happen. "Give me a drill," he told the woman. "Something that forces you all to work together." She frowned at Timothy. "He can't hold a line. He'll break the first time steel comes near him." Roland did not argue. He pointed past the gate, toward the hills. "Then let's test it in the open. Not with words. With a real problem." He led them out through the snow. Near a low ridge they found what Roland had spotted the day before. A baby bear cub had wandered from its den, mewling, stuck in a frozen gully. Above the hills the pink dragon circled low, wings flashing, hunting anything that moved alone. "The cub is bait," Roland said. "The dragon wants it. We get the cub out before the dragon strikes. All three of you, one plan." The woman took command. "Timothy, watch the sky. Call the moment it dives." She sent the bearded man to the far side of the gully with a length of rope. Timothy's eyes never left the dragon. "It's turning," he said. "It sees us. Ten breaths." The woman ran for the cub. The bearded man threw the rope. Roland braced it. Then Timothy shouted, "Now! It's coming down!" The dragon dropped fast, wings tucked. The woman heard the warning and rolled clear. The bearded man hauled the rope. The cub scrambped up the slope into Roland's arms. Wind from the dragon's wings knocked snow across their faces. It missed. It banked hard and climbed back toward its nest, empty-clawed. They stood breathing hard in the snow. The cub trembled against Roland's chest. The woman looked at Timothy. "You called it three seconds before I saw a thing," she said. "I'd have been caught in the open." Timothy shrugged. "I only watch. You do the rest." The woman sheathed her sword. "Then you watch. We move on your call." She gave the bearded man a nod. For the first time, the three of them had trusted one order and one voice. Roland carried the cub back through the gate. His guards walked together now, not scattered. The wall had a plan. But the dragon had marked them all. It knew their scent, their number, and the ground they held. Roland set the cub by the fire and looked up at the hills. The next time those wings came, they would not be hunting a lone cub. They would be coming for the castle.