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

them, then he burned down their homes before moving on. He would abandon the brigands that he traveled with after several weeks, taking the spoils with him, and leaving them to pay for the crimes, after alerting the guard to their location. It was the warrior that chased him, that made him return to Kath before his mission was complete, but he did not report it to Arnoran when he arrived. As he made his way back to the island fortress from that far away land, his men began to make their way west across the empire.
       The camp was growing quickly, but some of the men had been there for several months, and they were getting very restless. It was obvious that they had too much time on their hands, and that they needed something to keep them busy, but that would all change very soon. Chidren rode through the camp on his way to the hill, and the tent that was the headquarters, but when he walked inside, Avren was nowhere to be found. Chidren sat in the chair and looked through the records on the table, as well as the maps that were beside them. Things were not going as planned, and he already knew of the failure at the crossroads from the seers at Kath, but he had not returned to solve their problem. The three men that had appeared from the south when the ambush had been sprung, was most unfortunate, but it mattered very little to him. They were not Chidren's problem, but moving the men west and into the Wilderlands was. He was to worry about moving the men west, while Avren would take care of the warrior in the dragon armor, and the mage king was clear on that matter. When the last man had reached the Wilder River, he would have almost five thousand men in the camps. They were to build all of the siege towers and battering rams, as well as the ladders and weapons of war, from the wilderness. He only expected to lose a few men to the crossing of the Western Empire, but the Wilderlands would be a far bigger challenge, and he expected much bigger losses when they crossed it. It was inevitable with the nature of the kind of men he used, but they were the only ones that could be trusted to follow their orders without question.
       When Avren returned and found Chidren in the tent, he was furious. He had given strict orders to alert him when their leader had arrived, so he could prepare the camp. Someone would pay for this outrage, and he would enjoy killing that person, slowly.
       "Where is Gaston, and where is Rylee?" Chidren asked. "Rylee should have reported to you soon after the ambush at the crossroads failed."
       "I sent him to finish the job, along with four of our best fighters." Avren said, with a smug look on his face.
       "You fool. Send someone to get him, as well as the men that are with him, and bring them all back immediately." Chidren demanded, and looked at Avren with cruel and deadly eyes "And Gaston, where is he. Did you send him off as well?"
       "Yes, when Rylee showed up and reported this dragon man was not dead, I sent him to the crossroads to find out what had happened to the men we sent." Avren replied, hoping to ease some of Chidren's anger. "One of his men just showed up to report. That is where I was when you arrived."
       "Then go and get him, and bring him to me. We will discuss this further when you return." Chidren said, and he dismissed Avren with a wave of his hand.
       When Gaston's man entered the headquarters, Chidren was standing beside the table waiting for him.
       "Go and bring back Gaston, I need him for a special assignment, and find Rylee and bring him back as well. I will be here waiting, but tell them not to make me wait too long."
       "Yes sir, right away sir." The man replied, and he turned and walked from the tent to carry out his orders, and bring the men back to the camp.
       When he was gone, Chidren laid out their plans for the campaign. Avren would stay at the camp until most of the men had passed, and aid the bands of highwaymen that they had