The Dragon Well by Dan Willis

Author:Dan Willis [Willis, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-7869-3354-9
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 2004-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Two people stepped out from behind a tree. Davyn recognized both of them. One was Maul, one of the Highland Rangers. The other was Nearra. Davyn stole a quick glance behind him and swore.

Maul must have grabbed Nearra during the initial confusion. Now he was using her as a shield, holding a long-bladed hunting knife at her throat.

“Throw down your weapons,” Maul smirked, pressing the blade against the girl’s thin skin. Nearra whimpered.

Everyone hesitated, waiting for Davyn to move. Maul was holding Nearra in front of him to keep anyone from shooting him. But at this range, Davyn wasn’t likely to miss. Davyn slowly drew his bowstring to his ear.

“I said, drop your weapons,” Maul said, a slight tremble to his voice. “You’re surrounded.”

“Even if one of your friends kills me, I’ll still get you,” Davyn growled, trying to make his voice as threatening as possible. “The great thing about arrows is that all I have to do is let go.”

Maul was definitely worried now. He turned his body sideways behind Nearra to present less of a target for Davyn. At the same time, he pressed the knife deeper into the flesh of Nearra’s throat.

“Are you willing to risk her life, boy?” Maul taunted. The tone of power was gone from his voice, however. “If you shoot me, I’m liable to flinch. You wouldn’t want my knife to slip and cut this girl’s throat to the neck-bone, now would you? It’s a very sharp knife.”

Davyn watched as a tiny drop of blood seeped out between the knife blade and Nearra’s neck and ran down her shoulder. Davyn’s confidence wavered and the tip of his arrow dipped.

“Shoot him,” Catriona hissed in his ear. “They’re going to kill us all anyway.”

“Now that’s not true. We just want you, boy.” Maul nodded at Davyn. “You owe us for Dee. The rest of your friends can go, once they’ve given us our cloaks back, that is.”

There was a rustling sound, and Maul’s six companions stepped out from the trees. They were a shoddy lot with piecemeal armor and rusty weapons. Davyn had wondered why no one had taken a shot at him. The answer was clear: none of them had a bow. In the pale light of the rising moon, Maul and his men looked bigger and meaner than Davyn remembered them.

As close as Maul’s friends were, it was unlikely Davyn would get off a second shot before they would rush him. That meant that, after Davyn shot Maul, their only defense would be Cat and Sindri, unless Elidor managed to hit one of them. Davyn didn’t like those odds one bit. It was clear that Maul was doing the same calculations in his head. An evil smile spread over his rough face, and his grip on the knife tightened.

“All right,” Davyn said at last, lowering his bow. “Don’t hurt her.”

Beside him Elidor lowered his bow as well, and Maul’s men rushed in to disarm the rest.

“Tie them up,” Maul said, finally pulling the knife away from Nearra’s throat.

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