Free The Grieving Tree: The Dragon Below Book II by Don Bassingthwaite Page A

docks and since. The story left Dandra looking troubled. “Dah’mir and Vennet?” she asked. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
    “Vennet’s a toad,” said Singe, biting at his words. “You shouldhave seen him with Dah’mir after he helped capture us. He was on his knees faster than a Thrane before an altar. After the battle at the mound, maybe Dah’mir thought he needed a new ally.”
    “How could he have gotten to Zarash’ak before us?”
    “Powerful magic, probably,” Singe answered with a shrug. “We saw him vanish, didn’t we? He’s a dragon. He could have done almost anything.”
    “Do you think Vennet knows that?” asked Orshok.
    The question left all of them silent for a moment before Geth growled an answer. “Do you think he would care?”
    “Vennet’s greedy and power-mad, but I don’t think he’s stupid.” Singe sat down on the bench beside Natrac. “Why do you think they’d be going back up river?”
    “They’re going back to the Bonetree mound,” Ashi said grimly. “Dah’mir told Vennet two weeks—the journey to Bonetree territory takes two weeks.”
    “Dah’mir could fly there faster in his dragon form, couldn’t he?”
    Geth bared his teeth. “I think he’s still injured.” He traced the stain and mended tear that had marked Dah’mir’s robes on his own chest. “It would explain why he didn’t chase us himself—and why he’d be traveling with Vennet. Maybe Vennet is more than just a convenient ally.”
    Ashi’s eyes opened wide, flashing in the gloom, and she stretched her hands. “If Dah’mir’s weak, we should attack! We have the element of surprise!”
    Singe looked up sharply. “He’s still a dragon, Ashi! We’re guessing that he may not be able to fly, but that doesn’t make him helpless. He’s dominating Vennet’s entire crew and he still has magic.” The wizard’s lips pressed together into a thin line. “I’d want to know more about just how weak he was before I took him on.”
    Dandra paced back and forth across the courtyard, her fine-featured face troubled. After a moment, she said, “Dah’mir will have guessed that we’re all here together. I don’t think we can stay in Zarash’ak.”
    “You think he would delay his journey up river to hunt for us?” asked Orshok.
    “What’s waiting for him at the Bonetree mound? Nothing.”Dandra turned, stopping her pacing for a moment. “If he leaves Zarash’ak, he risks losing us.”
    Geth squeezed his fists together, but nodded. “I wouldn’t walk away from us,” he said. “So where do we go? Have you found out anything about the Spires of the Forge?”
    Dandra, Singe, and Natrac exchanged a glance, then Dandra shook her head. “House Tharashk told us nothing. We’ve tried a bounty hunter and two dragonshard prospectors. None of them have heard of the Spires of the Forge—the bounty hunter claimed they didn’t exist.”
    “They exist,” said Ashi firmly.
    “That doesn’t do us any good if we can’t find them,” said Singe. He tapped his fingertips together. “There’s still Natrac’s historian, but I don’t think going out to dinner is such a great idea. Natrac, if we can make it back to your house unseen, do you think your historian could come to us?”
    Natrac’s face tightened. “Going back to my house might not be a good idea. Vennet knows where I live. I invited him to dinner once.”
    Geth growled. “You
what?”
    “We were on good terms at the time,” the half-orc snapped. “I didn’t know he was going to end up cutting off my hand!”
    “He doesn’t know you’re still with us,” Ashi pointed out.
    “No, but if Dah’mir has told him that a half-orc with one hand fought with Geth and Singe at the Bonetree mound, he’ll probably put it together.”
    “Does Vennet know your historian?” Dandra asked.
    They all looked at her. She spread her hands. “If Vennet doesn’t know your historian, we’d be safe there.”
    Natrac looked doubtful. “I don’t