Free (Dragonkin) Dragon Rider by C.E. Swain Page A

Gaston was not sure how to proceed. In the end he decided to investigate, sending one of his men to report what they had found. He told his man to return after making his report, and find him somewhere along the great road east of the crossroads. After sending men down each road to look for tracks, Gaston searched the guard shack and the area around it, as well as the graves. Four horses came up from the south staying on the road the entire time, and one horse came from the west, but left the road and entered the trees before reaching the crossroads. The men of the ambush had waited in the trees across from the Guard shack, and one of them was farther south by fifty yards than the rest. The tracks were hard to read, but what Gaston saw surprised him. The lone horseman from the west had killed the four men who came from the trees, and possibly the other as well. All of the men and horses then traveled east together. There was no gold to be found, and Gaston believed the ones who dug the graves, had taken it.
       They would ride along the great road east, keeping out of sight until his man returned, and then they would turn north and return to the camp. This way he was still scouting the countryside south of the camp while he looked for the gold, and the men who had taken it.
       The land was empty until they reached the Grayling River, but the few towns they reached after crossing the bridge were easily skirted. The messenger that he had sent to report back to Avren, returned to Gaston just north and west of Argnon with the orders he had been given in the camp. He was to continue east without being detected by the guard, and locate his man Tarkrin. Rylee and his men were to be found as well, and all of them were to return to the camp in the northwest. Chidren had returned from Kath, and he wanted Gaston for a special assignment.

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    Chidren entered the camp from the west when he reached it, and avoided the guards as he did. He was short for his race, but he still stood five foot five, and was close to two hundred pounds. He had a rough demeanor, and was even crueler than Avren. He had the hawk like features of his people, and he kept his hair cut short, which gave him a cold and evil appearance. He was dressed in the best armor that Kath could provide, and a gray riding cloak with the crest of Arnoran on it. He carried his sword with him as he entered the camp, strapped to his saddle, and within easy reach, while a long dagger was on his belt.
       He knew the guards would be looking for him to arrive from the east, and would be concentrating in that direction. He had been delayed in Kath by several days, and was close to a week behind his timeline, but he did not want Avren to know he was here until he walked into the tent that served as the headquarters. A lot of men were on their way from the eastern lands that the mage king now controlled, and he needed to move the men that were here to another camp farther west. It should have been done a week ago, but the delays were unavoidable. His orders were to take his men into the Wilderlands, and continue on until they reached the edge of the White Kingdoms. They were too set up their camps along the Wilder River, which ran north to south from the Shimmering Mountains to the blue marshes at the base of the purple Mountains, and he and his men were to stay at the river, and wait for further instructions.
       The Wilder River was close to one hundred miles from the borders of Grayland and the White kingdoms. It was not a wide or deep river, but it would supply his men with fresh water while they waited for their orders. They were not to cross the river for any reason, without Chidren's permission, and anyone caught doing so was to be executed immediately. Chidren had spent many years in the White Kingdoms, traveling from one end to the other, killing and raping his way through the countryside. He terrorized the people that he robbed before he tortured and killed