Chapter 11

"Tracer."

"Yeah, sweetie."

"We're being pursued."

"What?" Tracer asks, as he whirls around in his saddle to look behind them. "I don't see anyone."

"They are still far behind us, but they are coming. There are two Dark Priests and I sense a large body of soldiers with them."

"How far behind? Days, hours or minutes."

"Days, I think."

"And since there are Dark Priests with them and you can sense them, that means they can sense you as well?"

"Yes."

"How long ago did you start to sense them?"

"Just now, when I told you."

"What are the chances that their powers and range is the same as yours?"

"All magic users differ. It depends on their greatness. Although, even if their range is further than mine, I can still sense it when they probe out to find me."

"So as long as you can't sense them they won't know exactly where we are?"

"Yes."

"Okay, let's start riding hard, and when you can't sense them any more we will change course. We will move when they move and stay one jump ahead of them. It'll be all right, sweetheart."

Tracer's confidence seems to relax her. He wishes it did him. One thing is obvious, though, he can't leave her anywhere or they'll find her in a matter of days, and after last night he is not sure if he ever wants to be away from her again.

"The hunt is on and we are the prey."

"I can't sense them any longer." they turn to a due south direction.

They had been traveling in a southwesterly direction. His rationalization is that if they are coming from Revarde, they will be traveling in a southeasterly direction. With any luck they'll stay far enough ahead of them, and they will ride right on by them going in another direction.

"Am I so gullible, or maybe it's that I'm so self-deluded, that I actually think it has a chance to work."

When Tracer stops second-guessing himself he starts noticing the woodlands around him. They are quite lovely, actually. They remind him a lot of the woodlands back in his Valley of the Sleepy Dragon.

That thought brings Goliath to mind. "If the dragons are good and magical, certainly they have to be powerful, then why aren't all of them joining this war to help defeat the evil? Goliath, who is supposed to be great among his own kind, has gotten involved, so where are the other good dragons and why aren't they getting involved? Maybe they are. Maybe there are legions of dragons riding around masquerading as horses just waiting for the right time to strike. Maybe Ram is a dragon. Wouldn't that be awesome?"

Another thought dawns on him. "If dragons are magical, then maybe they have a kinship with other magical beings."

Finally he speaks out loud. "Katie."

"Hmm." she looks over at Tracer.

"What do you know about dragons?"

"Dragons? The one I met was a beautiful creature." Her southern belle accent is really starting to get to Tracer.

"Was his name Goliath?"

"No, her name was Trinity." Tracer has heard that name somewhere before, too. "And when she stood tall she was at least three stories high, and when she was flying and had her wings spread out she blocked out the sun and put the whole village near our farm in shadow.

"The most amazing thing about her was that she and her kind are so powerful that they could easily take over the world if they wanted to, but I never met another creature who was kinder and had more honor than she did. That is, until I met you." she looks at Tracer adoringly.

His heart melts and his words catch in his throat, "Where, um, where do they live, and how come in my country they are nothing more than children's stories?"

"They are said to live on a continental island for away from all other beings. As for why they are more legend than reality, that is because that is the way they want it."

"Why do you think they haven't joined this war against the evil? As far as I know Goliath is the only dragon getting involved. Of course, I didn't even know he was a dragon until the desert people told me."

"Legend says that they used to watch over the other creatures of the world, but when man came to power he loved war so much that it became hard for the dragons to find a clear and honorable reason to fight. Man fought more for power and glory than good or evil. It is written that evil tried to take the world once before, and the dragons rallied and came to the aid of man and the other good creatures.

"But when the war ended, man sought to harness the power of the dragons for their own goals, so the dragons made a pact that they would let the world choose its own destiny. In secret, the dragons have stayed in contact with the other good magical creatures of this world. If it weren't for my family's long line of great wizards, witches, sorcerers and sorceresses, the dragons would be nothing more than children's tales to me as well."

"Wow! I wish I could have seen Goliath in his dragon form."

"Oh, Tracer, it is the most spectacular sight the world has to offer. It is a soul changing experience. Even the darkest and most demented creature sees beauty when he looks upon the splendor of a dragon."

And there it is the answer to his question of why nobody told him Goliath was a dragon. With that knowledge he would have wanted to see him in his glory, and in doing so it would have lightened his spirit. If looking upon a dragon would have brought him peace, than Tracer wouldn't have been able to walk into the heart of darkness unnoticed. What a cold and cruel world this is turning out to be for him.

"So far our change in direction seems to be keeping us at a safe distance from the Dark Priests and their forces." Certainly they have to dodge several patrols of Imperial Troops, but this is a conquered land and that is expected.

They ride for almost two days straight, just to make sure that they will be far away from the last known area the Dark Priests thought them to be. When they finally stop late into the night they are exhausted. It is all they can do to stand long enough to get the horses squared away.

Normally they fall into a routine of not unsaddling the horses just in case they have to make a hasty retreat, but after traveling so far and hard they deserve to be free of their tack and wiped down. The other night was their turn; this night is the horses.

They don't even bother to eat. They just lay their bedrolls out and go to sleep.

"Tracer. Tracer!" Katiely is calling out to him in a concerned voice.

Tracer has to fight through his nightmare to force himself to wake up. He wakes up with a jolt and subconsciously reaches for his sword as if they are under attack.

Tracer looks around in the darkness and finally says, "Yeah, Katiely, what's happening?"

"You were making horrible noises in your sleep and you were scaring me."

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm sorry. Sometimes I have really bad dreams, too."

"It was horrible. What was it about?"

"Ah, babygirl, we were surrounded and as I was lying there dying, and the dark priests came and took you away to be sacrificed. I saw you lying on the altar, and just when they were about to kill you, you woke me up. Thank the gods, because that is something I did not want to see." Tracer is breathing heavy and has to calm himself.

"I didn't like that at all!" says Katiely, then she lies across Tracer's chest with her arm around him and finally they fall back to sleep.

When they wake early the next morning, Tracer decides they will stay there a while longer, and that way they can start traveling half of the time in the day and the other half at night. Providing the Dark Priests and their forces are heading in the same direction, as before, their own momentum will take them further away from them eventually.

Katiely and Tracer talk now and again about whatever comes to their minds, but Tracer notices Katiely has become unusually quiet and thoughtful.

After an hour of silence he asks, "What's wrong, girl?"

She looks at him as if she is startled he noticed the difference, and says, "I think tomorrow is my twenty-fifth birthday. Of course it's hard to know for sure, because it was dark in the dungeon they held me in for all of those months before they finally figured out who I was. But the stars have been looking right. Do you know the date?"

"I'm sorry, Katiely, I truly don't."

"Oh, that's okay. I suppose it really doesn't matter."

"Of course it does!"

"It does?"

"Of course it does, babygirl, because that is the day you blessed the world with your aura, and that has led to us meeting. So you see, precious one, it does matter."

"Thank you." Katiely says, resting her head on Tracer's shoulder.

Tracer kisses her hair and says, "I'm going to have a quick look around."

"Okay," says Katiely, smiling up at the now standing Tracer.

Even though Tracer has not found a person who can understand him or read what's going on inside of him by the expressions on his face, Tracer has always been very good at it and is always a good listener. In truth, Katiely here has come closer to being that person that any member of his own family or any of his friends. Life has a sick sense of humor. Why now would he find it in one so young, and on the road to his death?

"If not my death, then at least my damnation."

"What was that?" Katiely asks.

Tracer thinks about it for a second and then says, "As soon as we find a big enough city, we will go into it and celebrate your birthday in style. I still wear the uniform of a sergeant in the Imperial Army, and I managed to save a little money, plus the money we took from the soldiers I killed. Not to mention we're going to need supplies soon. It'll have to be a pretty big city, because in the smaller towns and villages we will be too easily noticed."

"Oh, Tracer! Really?" she says, throwing her arms around him and gives him a big kiss. "Do you think it'll be safe?"

"Of course." he chokes.

As luck would have it, which is surprising because Tracer's usually doesn't, they come across a city of at least two thousand people the very next night. They stand on the edge of the woodlands watching to see if it is safe enough. Certainly there are soldiers, but this is mainly a civilian city.

"Do you sense any Dark Priests in there?"

"No," she says, looking up at him and shaking her pretty head for emphasis.

"Okay then. We'll tie your horse out here in the woods and ride in on mine."

"How come we have to leave my horse out here?"

"Because it's army issue, sweetheart, with army tack and gear. It might be a little suspicious if a pretty girl comes riding in on an Imperial Army warhorse. If you're riding with me they'll think I took you from some poor family and let it go at that."