DragonStar

CHAPTER ONE

Dagen crouched low behind the wooden barrels, his nose filled with the stench of rotting garbage. His heart was beating fast, but that was more from the run than from fear. Mostly, he was annoyed with himself for having turned down a blind end alley. He knew every inch of Durst inside out.  He never should have allowed himself to get trapped.

Peering around the edge of the barrel, Dagen could see the shopkeeper and two other men standing not ten feet away at the entrance to the alley. Beyond them lay the busy street and freedom, but Dagen doubted he could slip past all three of them. There had to be some other way out of this alley.

We know you’re here, boy. You got nowhere to run.

Dagen’s gaze slid up to the overhanging eave of the roof. Maybe, with a bit of a stretch ... He stood up from behind the barrel and gave the three men a bright smile. Hi, guys, looking for me?

Dirty, thieving, little scrunt. I got you this time. 

I wouldn’t be too sure of that, fat man.

The shopkeeper reddened, then he smiled nastily, revealing uneven, yellow teeth. What are you going to do, boy? Sprout wings and fly away? The three men got a good laugh out of this.

Not exactly. Dagen climbed up on the barrels and gave the men a jaunty grin. See you later. He then jumped up and caught hold of the eave, drawing in a sharp breath as the edge bit into his fingers.

The shopkeeper made a fairly impressive running lunge and grabbed at Dagen’s dangling feet. But he was already pulling himself up and all the man managed was to crash into the barrels and

send their uniquely fragranced contents spilling into the alley. The sound of the man’s curses followed Dagen as he ran laughing across the rooftop.

He ran full out, bare feet making slapping noises against the flat, wooden roof. There was a gap between this building and the next, but it was a narrow one and Dagen made the leap easily, only stumbling a little on the landing.

Now he was faced with nothing but open air, as there were no other buildings near this one, just a long drop down to the street. The question of what to do next was answered by the slow, lumbering progress of a wagon loaded down with loose hay. Dagen grinned. People had always told him he had unnatural good luck, but mostly he liked to think of it as pure skill. Still, in a moment such as this one, he had to concede that luck might play some part in it, however small.

He crouched, waiting until the wagon was directly beneath him, then jumped off the roof and into the soft pile of sweet-smelling hay. After burrowing down a safe distance, Dagen looked through the narrow cracks in the wagon’s side. There stood the shopkeeper and his two goons, in the middle of the street, staring up at the building with grim expressions on their faces. If they were waiting for him to come back down, they would be waiting a very long time indeed.

The wagon carried him along the road leading out of Durst, past the rows of brightly colored tents that had been set up for the Flag Fair, and into the open countryside. Dagen waited until he felt they were a comfortable distance, before hopping out of the back. He stood by the side of the road, grinning, and with a wave called out, Thanks for the ride.

The old farmer driving the wagon looked back at him in owlish surprise. Laughing, Dagen trotted down the slight slope leading away from the road, dusting hay from his clothes as he went.

He reached into his shirt and pulled out the money purse he’d lifted off the fat lady at the bakery, who had been too busy sampling the product to notice. If it hadn’t been for her greasy faced kid, he’d have gotten away clean, but no matter, he got away anyhow and he wasn’t going home empty handed.

Of course, when he told the story to the other boys, he might alter a detail or two here and there. After all, a guy had to protect his reputation. He broke into a light jog that carried him the rest of the way to the farm.

The farmhouse was a rundown old thing with a patched roof and whitewash that had long ago turned into a sickly yellowish gray. A wooden fence surrounded the front yard, where a few scrawny chickens pecked at the grass under the watchful eye of an equally scrawny rooster.

Behind the house was a sagging barn - an old mutt lay in the open doorway, his tongue lolled out on the ground - and beside that a small stable that was currently occupied by a single old mare. Any passerby would have thought this exactly what it looked to be, a hardscrabble farm. They might even expect to see the farmer’s wife come out to hang the wash, scolding the chickens as she did so. Nobody would have guessed it was actually the home of the most notorious band of thieves this side of the Silver River, maybe in all of Rasan.

Dagen pushed open the gate, wincing as it gave out a protesting squeal, and kept one eye on the old rooster, who was a cross old cuss known to attack without provocation, as he made his way across the yard to the porch.

Rather than knocking on the door, Dagen stuck his head in the open window, where he caught a whiff of stale beer and cinnamon. The living room, which held nothing more than one lumpy old couch and a threadbare rug, was currently unoccupied. Hey, old man, your favorite little thief is home.

From somewhere further back in the house, the kitchen judging by the smell, there came a clatter and hoarse shout. You know the way.

Dagen entered the house, passed through the living room, and stepped into the kitchen, where the scent of cinnamon was far stronger. Majul Fossard stood at the blackened cook stove, his stained apron stretching across his considerable girth as he stirred something in a large pot. You always scream like a banshee before coming into a man’s home? As he spoke, the cigar in his mouth bobbed up and down, sprinkling ash into whatever was bubbling in the pot.

Only for you, old man.

Majul grunted. You got something for me?

I’ve never come home empty handed yet, have I? Dagen held out the money purse.

Majul gave the contents of the pot another stir, then set the spoon aside, took the purse, and shook its contents out onto the wooden counter top. He pushed the silver coins about with one finger, muttering under his breath.

Twenty-five pendels. Majul shook his head as he scooped all but one of the coins back into the purse. You’re losing your touch.

The purse had felt a little heavier than twenty-five pendels to Dagen, but then he had never learned to count past ten, so he simply had to take Majul’s word for it. I thought I’d go easy, seeing as how tomorrow is the first day of the Flag Fair and all. You just wait, this year I’ll bring in a haul like you won’t believe.

Majul snorted. I heard that before.

I thought I did a pretty good haul last year. Dagen tried to sound nonchalant so that Majul would not notice that the remark had stung.

Last year you promised me something that would knock my eyes out, and you did good, but not so much better than most of the other boys. Year before that, same thing, and the year before that too. Face it, boy, you ain’t nothing special and you ain’t never going to be nothing special. You ain’t nothing but a scruffy little street rat, just like the rest of the boys, and you ain’t never going to make nothing but a scrambly pickpocket, a runny boozer, or a rocking corpse with his neck stretched. He turned toward the door on the far side of the room, the one that led down into the cellar. Dagen had never been down there, but the other boys had said that was where Majul kept what they brought him, at least for a time.

Twice a year, an enclosed wagon would show up at the farm, and much of what was in the cellar would be put into the wagon and carried off. A month or so later, a lone rider would show up, carry his saddlebags into the farmhouse, stay for five or ten minutes, then come back out and ride away.

There was some speculation among the boys as to what this was all about, but no agreement could be come to. Halbert was of the opinion that the objects in question were carted off to The Market, said to be a secret location where thieves could easily sell their stolen goods without fear of getting pinched.

Dagen had scoffed at the idea, as he believed in The Market no more than he believed in magic or gods, it was just another legend. Majul might be selling his goods somewhere, in fact he almost certainly was, but not at The Market.

Dagen stared at his back. You didn’t.

Majul guffawed. You don’t make half of me, boy. Now get out to the barn and bed down. I expect tomorrow will be a busy day.

CHAPTER TWO

The dozen boys who called the drafty old barn home were up with the dawn. It was the first day of the Flag Fair and there was a hint of excitement in the air. Folks came from all over to trade at the week long fair and there was no finer time of the year to be a quick thief or a picker. Of course, it was more dangerous too what with all the town guard on patrol, but that only added to the excitement.

So what do you think? Halbert asked, balancing on one foot as he pulled on his boot. Is this gonna be the year when you make that big haul you’re always talking about? You know, the one that will impress Majul so much he’ll just have to make you his partner?

Dagen, who was sitting on the lower half of the bunk they shared, kicked him in the ankle. Never you mind what I’m going to do.

Halbert landed on the hard packed dirt with a grunt. He looked up at Dagen with a mock air of injured dignity. Well excuse me all the way to town and back. But you’re the one who’s been bragging for practically ever that he’s just around the corner from making the greatest haul anybody has ever seen.

Our Dagen, one of the older boys said with a snicker. A legend in the making.

In his own mind maybe, another boy said. And even Halbert laughed

Go on and laugh, Dagen said standing. I’m better than the whole lot of you put together. He strode out of the barn with the sound of laughter at his back.

Hey, Dagen, wait up, Halbert said, hurrying to catch up with him. I thought we were going into town together today.

I don’t know, you think you’re so funny maybe you should hang out with the rest of the laughing birds.

Aw, come on, we were just kidding around.

Dagen shrugged. Like I care. Normally, he wouldn’t have, but he was still stinging from Majul’s remarks of the day before and the laughter of the other boys had kind of gotten to him. The two of them started toward the slope of land that led up to the road. Dagen always took the main road in and out of town, even though Halbert had once commented that he must be stone fox crazy to do it. The other boys preferred to be a little more skulky, but Dagen liked the danger of moving about in the open. Besides, he hadn’t been caught yet.

Wait for me, a voice called out from behind them.

Halbert groaned. Please say you didn’t tell that kid he could tag along.

I could say it, but that wouldn’t make it true, Dagen said, coming to a stop to wait for Jes. You can always go back to the barn.

You mean you would pick that kid over me? Halbert pressed his hand to his chest. You break my heart.

I’ll break your jaw if you don’t shut it.

Jes caught up to them, breathing hard from running. He’d only joined the crew four months ago and, being the new guy, he had taken a little gruff when he first arrived. Normal stuff, mostly, until a couple of the older boys had gotten a little too enthusiastic and Dagen had taken it on himself to step into the middle of it.

It might not have been the smartest thing he ever did, but Jes was only nine and a little on the scrawny side, and the situation hadn’t set right with Dagen, who knew what it was like to be small and helpless and to find yourself at the mercy of those who are bigger and tougher than you are.

Dagen had earned himself a black eye and few bruised ribs for his efforts, but the older boys had not come out of the fight unscathed and after that things eased up. The other boys didn’t find Jes such a fun target once they realized they’d have to deal with Dagen too. Since then, Jes had taken to following him around so much that the boys had dubbed him Dagen’s shadow, something that Dagen did not much appreciate. But he couldn’t bring himself to hurt the kid’s feelings and besides, it was kind of nice to have somebody looking up at him with hero worship in his eyes.

The Flag Fair was already well under way when the boys reached the outskirts of Durst. The wise would do their shopping this morning or this evening, avoiding the heat of midday when the streets would be more thickly packed. Still, there was a large crowd and there would be plenty of plump pockets waiting to be picked.

The fair consisted of four rows of brightly colored tents, with spaces of grass, which would be crushed down by milling feet by noon, separating them. The smell of close bodies mingled with the various aromas of food being cooked in the open air stalls. The tents, with their pennants snapping smartly in the wind, sold everything from cookware to exotic silks to livestock, the latter of which added their own pungent scent to the medley of odors that were as much a part of the fair as the hawkers calling out the superior quality of their goods and the hagglers arguing over prices.

The boys wove their way through the crowd, Halbert lifting a purse here and there as they went. But Dagen wasn’t interested in picking, not today. Majul’s words still rang in his ears, backed by the laughter of the other boys, and he was determined that this year he would show them all what he was really made of.

To do that, he would have to find something worth stealing, and not just anything, something big, something that would shut the other boys up for good and force Majul to sit up and take notice. But after a few hours, Dagen began to despair of finding anything he felt was big enough and they were running out of tents.

Jes wasn’t up to picking yet, but he did manage to pilfer a few apples from a fruit stall and the boys munched on these as they stepped into the cool shade of yet another tent. Tall shelves lined with glass bottles and faded books stood to their left, while on the right a row of wooden masks hung on a rack. Beneath these stood tall walking sticks adorned with shells and feathers beside the carven images of animals standing one atop the other, three high, each making a face more grotesque than the last.

Weird. Halbert stood facing a rabbit with a horrible grin and protruding eyes. What do you suppose they are?

Dagen shrugged. They were too big and heavy for him to haul off and probably weren’t worth much even if he could, so he had little interest in them.

They look like haunts, Jes whispered. Animal haunts.

Give you walking nightmares, kid? Halbert laughed, but the sound was a bit shaky.

You got it wrong, there. They be keeping the haunts away they do.

Dagen jumped at the sound of the voice, and turned around so quick he nearly tripped over his own feet. Behind him stood a dark skinned man with black braids. A single gray feather dangled from one of his pointed ears.

The man smiled, showing a row of white, even teeth. So sorry, didn’t mean to be throwing a scare into you.

Halbert gave a scoffing laugh, though he was about two shades paler than was usual. You just startled us was all. What are these things anyway?

They be called totems and a good thing they are to have about, I say. He turned his attention to Jes, who was staring up at him open mouthed. What be your matter, boy, lost your wits?

Dagen didn’t like the fact that the man was paying so much attention to them. It was never good for boys in their line of work to be remembered. You’ll have to excuse him, he said. I don’t think he’s ever seen an elf before. Come on, let’s go. He grabbed Jes’ arm and pulled him away from the man.

Wouldn’t you be wanting to look at the rest of my fine wares before you go?

No thanks, Dagen said, backing toward the tent entrance. We should be getting home. He turned and had dragged Jes almost all the way to the entrance before the elf spoke again, this time in an entirely different voice from the one he had been using.

I have some rare jewels that would be a goodly gift for a lady fair.

Dagen stopped cold. He didn’t know why, but he felt as if he had heard those words somewhere before. Did you hear that? he asked, looking at Halbert.

Halbert gave him a puzzled look. Hear what?

Turning, Dagen looked back at the man, who was still smiling amiably. What did you say?

There be some nice trinkets in the case. He waved to a long wooden case with a glass top. May be that you’d find something to your liking. A pretty bauble for a lady friend, eh? 

Halbert nudged him with his elbow. Jewelry. Before Dagen could reply, Halbert was sauntering over to the case. We might have a minute or two to spare.

Dagen reluctantly followed, still holding fast to Jes’ arm. When he saw what was beneath the glass, he completely forgot about the odd thing that had just happened. Halbert let out a low whistle. Not bad.

Not bad didn’t begin to cover it. Within the case, laying on a black backdrop, was the most dazzling array of jewels Dagen had ever seen. This was it. This was the haul he’d been waiting for. His chance to prove to everyone, including himself, that he really was as good as he kept telling everyone he was. If he could bring these back to Majul the old man would have to make him a partner. 

What is it? Jes asked, standing on tiptoe to try and get a look inside the case.

Never you mind, Halbert said, pushing him back. This isn’t for the likes of you.

Jes looked to Dagen, but he was too busy staring into the case to pay any mind to the little boy. It wouldn’t be easy, a haul like this was bound to be carefully guarded, the man might even pack it all up and carry it back to his inn with him when he closed shop for the night. If that was the case, the whole thing was over before it had begun. Dagen had done a lot things in his short life, but he’d never jumped anybody and he wasn’t much interested in starting now.

But the wheels in Dagen’s mind were already turning, figuring the best way to get into the tent and out with jewels without getting caught. His biggest problem was Halbert. If he brought his friend in on the heist, he’d have to share half the credit and thus half the reward. If he didn’t, Halbert was like to raise a fuss when Dagen delivered the jewels all by himself. That was something that would bear thinking over.

See anything special? the man asked, coming around behind the case. Something you might be wanting a closer look at? His gaze was fixed on Dagen, who was still staring blithely down at the jewels. 

They looked real, but it couldn’t hurt to get a better look, just to be sure. That one. Dagen pointed to a silver dragon which hung from a silver chain. The dragon’s wings were spread wide and its tail was curled around a single, exquisite, blood-red ruby.

It’s a good eye you have. The man opened the back of the case and lifted the necklace out. This be one of my finest pieces. He held it out to Dagen.

It was a fine piece, the dragon perfect in the smallest detail, the ruby flawless. If the other jewelry within the case was even half so good, it would still be twice as fine as any he had ever laid eyes on. There was a fortune in jewels lying beneath that glass, a fortune that could give him the better life he’d always envisioned for himself.

It’s very nice. Dagen handed the necklace back to the man. It left his hand feeling strangely cold. It’s all very nice, but a bit beyond our means, I’m afraid.

The man shrugged, continuing to smile. Well, you go on and have yourselves a fine day, and if you be thinking of anyone who might be interested, send them my way.

We’ll do that, Halbert said.

As they stepped back out into the bright sunshine, Dagen absently wiped the palm of his hand on his pants. Let’s go, I think we’ve seen enough.

You’re ready to go back? Halbert asked. You haven’t picked so much as a single purse. You mean to say you want to go back to the farm empty handed on the first day of the Flag Fair?

Dagen glanced over his shoulder at the tent. Empty handed for the moment, maybe, but things can change.

Halbert’s eyes widened. Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?

Dagen nodded. Stepping out of the tent he had made up his mind to include Halbert in the heist. They were best friends, after all. Besides, a heist like this would be easier to pull off with a little help.

CHAPTER THREE 

You’re crazy, Halbert said, shaking his head. It’ll never work.

Why not? Dagen asked, pacing back and forth across the hayloft. They had returned to the farm to work out what they were going to do, as the other boys were not apt to return until nightfall.

Have you ever heard of anybody successfully robbing a Flag Fair tent? I mean, stealing a little something here and there is one thing, but what you’re talking about ... It can’t be done.

Nothing is impossible, Dagen said. Just because we never heard of it doesn’t mean it’s never been done.

Look, I grew up in Durst and I’m telling you that I only ever heard of it even being tried once. Seven guys, seven, tried to rip off one of the tents five or six years ago and they got caught. And they were adults. What makes you think a couple of kids could pull something like this off when adults couldn’t do it?

It occurred to Dagen that he had never heard Halbert refer to himself as a kid before and suspected that it was fear talking. Maybe the fact that there were seven of them was the problem. He dropped down in a pile of loose hay. You get too many people involved in a thing and it’s bound to fail.

Who told you that?

Dagen shrugged. I don’t remember, exactly. But it sounds right to me.

Yeah? Well what sounds right to me is to stick to the small stuff. It’s safer. You start letting your eyes get too big and you’ll wind up at the end of a rope.

You wanna be nothing but a pickpocket all your life? End up a boozer dead in some alley with the rats chewing on you? ‘Cause I don’t. I’m going places.

Halbert laughed. The only place you’re going is jail if you don’t get your head out of the clouds.

Majul was just like us once, Dagen said, leaning forward. Nothing but a scrunt picking pockets and just trying to stay alive. Now look at him.

No, you look at him. A fat old man sitting on what little he’s got like a dragon protecting its hoard, using kids to steal for him ‘cause he can’t do it himself anymore. If you think he’s any better off than a boozer in some back alley you need to open your eyes. If that’s the good life, I  think I’ll pass.

So what lofty goals are you aspiring to? Dagen asked, a bit miffed at having his life’s dream scoffed at.

Halbert plucked up a strand of hay and twirled it between his thumb and forefinger. I’ve been squirreling a little away here and there, I figure by the time I turn eighteen I’ll have enough to take me to Braack. I could get work there on a ship, see the world. I don’t plan to spend my whole life within a mile of where I was born.

You’ve been stealing from Majul? Dagen could not believe he was hearing this. 

I’m not stealing from him, I’m just keeping a few coins here and there before I hand over my pick, that’s all.

It’s the same thing. I can’t believe you would cheat him after all he’s done for us.

What, exactly, has he done for us? We take all the risks and he gets all the reward. So he feeds us some and keeps a leaky roof over our heads and tosses us a pendel every now and then, so what? Do you think he’d lift a finger if one of us got nicked? Do you think he’d shed a tear to see one of us hanging from a rope? We don’t owe him anything. 

Three years he’d known Halbert and he had never seen this side of him, never even guessed at it. You just don’t know how bad it can be. Maybe you don’t owe Majul, but I do. I’d be dead if he hadn’t picked me up off the street and brought me here.

Whatever. He’s not going to make you his partner no matter what you do. Then he might have to give you your fair share.

We’ll see about that. Dagen stood, his face flushed in anger, and went to the ladder leading down from the loft. But maybe anger wasn’t all of it, maybe some of it was fear. Fear that Halbert was right. He didn’t want to believe it, he wanted to believe that Majul had seen something in the scrawny, half starved kid that he’d found hiding in his wagon, but somewhere in the back of his mind, there had always been doubt.

Jes was still the only other person in the barn, sitting in the open doorway with one hand resting on the head of the mutt nobody had ever bothered to name. Dagen headed toward him, feeling a heavy sensation in his chest. Truth was, he really didn’t want to try and take the jewels all by himself, though he never would have admitted the fact out loud. It was a big haul, bigger than anything he’d ever tried before and he was more than a little scared that he couldn’t pull it off, that maybe he really was a nobody like people had been telling him his whole life.

Okay, I’ll do it, Halbert called down from the hayloft. But I still say that you’re crazy and your gonna get us both killed.

Dagen grinned.

CHAPTER FOUR

The stars were out in the velvet sky and the moon was a round orb casting its silver light down upon the tents so that all the world seemed rimmed in frost. Not exactly the best night to go sneaking up on the Flag Fair with thieving on your mind, but those jewels were calling out to Dagen with the promise of all he had ever wanted, and the dragon with the ruby called loudest of all.

Dagen and Halbert were crouched beside a dark building, watching the last of the merchants closing up their tents. There was no sign of the elf and Dagen hoped that meant he had already packed it in, just so long as he hadn’t taken the jewels with him. If Dagen had been one for praying, which he wasn’t, now surely would be a good time for it.

What if he has some kind of safeguards? Halbert whispered. He looked to me like the kind of man who could work up some hoodoo if he had a mind to.

Oh, come on, you don’t really believe in magic do you? Dagen whispered back, never taking his eyes from the tents. Next you’ll be telling me you believe in the gods too. When Halbert didn’t answer, Dagen looked over his shoulder at him. You’ve got to be kidding me.

Halbert shrugged, giving him a sheepish grin. You never know.

Dagen made a disgusted sound as he turned back toward the tents. Look, he grabbed Halbert’s sleeve, there goes the last one.

The last merchant was moving out into the main road with a box tucked up under his arm. Let’s nip him, Halbert said, nodding toward the man with the box. If he’s taking that with him it must have something valuable inside.

And miss the score of a lifetime? No thanks. But you can still back out, if you want.

Halbert sighed. I didn’t say I wanted to back out, I was just offering an alternative to maybe getting ourselves killed.

Come on, Dagen said, moving away from the building and between the two nearest tents. His every nerve was alert for the slightest sound. The sooner we get this over with the - Gah! He strangled on a barely suppressed scream as a small figure stood up beside him.

It’s only me, Jes said.

Dagen clutched his chest, where his heart was doing a rapid dance. What are you doing here?

I followed you. Jes looked nervously from Dagen to Halbert. I want to help.

Help? Halbert growled. You could have gotten us caught you stupid little scrunt, I’ll wring your scrawny neck. He took a grab at Jes, who jumped back with a yelp.

Enough, Dagen said, moving in between them. We don’t have time for this. Then he grabbed Jes by the front of his shirt and pulled him in close. You do exactly what I say, got it? Otherwise I’ll beat the breath out of you myself.

Jes pressed his lips firmly together and nodded. Dagen propelled him out into the open strip of grass between the tents. Keep a look out and if you see any city guard coming our way, distract them.

How? Jes asked, his brown eyes wide in the moonlight.

I don’t know, you’ll have to think of something, Dagen said, his impatience starting to show through. Standing here arguing with this kid was not getting him any closer to his goal.

What if I can’t?

Dagen reminded himself that Jes was only nine and new to this whole business of being a thief, and that helped him rein in his anger. I was dodging much worse than city guard when I was your age. You’ll do fine. Now go. He made a shooing gesture with his hands.

Jes nodded reluctantly, then turned and