Something Wyverian This Way Comes

by Jeffrey M. Poole

  Maelnar and Breslin appeared and joined Kasnar. Each of the two dwarves selected a chair and jumped up onto it.

  “Good morning!” Sarah said, brightly. “Did you sleep well?”

  “We never went to sleep,” Maelnar told her. “We kept my father company.”

  “He just wanted to make certain I didn’t mistreat Master Kasnar,” Shardwyn informed them with a frown. “Which I didn’t.”

  “Because we were there to chaperone,” Maelnar fired back.

  Shardwyn muttered something else but then fell silent as the king shot him a dark look.

  Two hours later not one but two glittering spiraled rubies sat on the table before them. The Kla Chanus were still searching for theirs, but the other two had been located relatively easily once they knew where to look. Breslin set the power hammer down on the table and gently turned it on its side so that everyone could see the face of the hammer with the ruby embedded in it.

  “Anyone know how this thing comes apart?”

  Chapter 11 – A Crafty Curse

  “I don’t see why you just don’t give him one of those,” Steve suggested again, pointing at one of the other two ruby helixes. “You guys have been trying to get that hammer apart for close to an hour now.”

  Maelnar looked up from his position by Kri’Entu’s desk.

  “From what you have told me, lad, that dragon specifically requested this jewel. How do you think it will appear if you attempt to return the wrong gem?”

  “Do you really think Dirgath or Tirgath could tell the difference?” Steve argued. “Because I sure can’t.”

  “Do you want to take that chance, Sir Steve?” Breslin asked, without looking up.

  “Twist that there,” they heard Kasnar say, “and try pressing that right there.”

  “Nothing,” Maelnar reported.

  “What if all three of you touched the helix at the same time?” Shardwyn suggested.

  “It only took one of us to assemble the hammer in the first place,” Breslin pointed out. He gripped the square counterweight and tried pulling it away from the main hammer head. “It stands to reason that it would only require one of us to take the blasted thing apart.”

  Kasnar let out an exclamation of surprise and held the ruby helix up into the air.

  “Hah! Got it!”

  Bereft of the centralized power source to keep the components of the hammer together, the heavy counterweight slid off the tang and landed with a solid thud onto Kri’Entu’s desk. Breslin hurriedly pulled the weight up off the wooden surface, but not before everyone could hear the telltale scraping of heavy metal across delicate wood.

  Horrified, Kasnar and Maelnar leaned over to inspect the damage. There, marring the pristine surface of Kri’Entu’s rare shadow oak desk, was a nasty inch long gouge. As one they turned to look at Breslin, who swallowed nervously. The youngest dwarf looked up at the king.

  “I can fix that. Fear not.”

  “I will take you at your word, Master Breslin,” Kri’Entu answered, trying desperately to keep a neutral expression on his face.

  Kasnar handed his son the recently extracted ruby and reached for one of the others on the king’s desk. He handed the second ruby to Breslin, who hastily reassembled the hammer and then touched the point of the spiraled ruby to the tiny divot that had appeared on the hammer’s surface. The helix rotated on its own and embedded itself deep into the hammer.

  Breslin plucked the hammer up off the king’s desk and experimentally swung it through the air a few times. Grunting with satisfaction, and detecting no differences from the last time the hammer had been assembled, Breslin slid the ancient tool back into its place on his belt. Breslin ran a fingertip over the gash on the desk and cringed. While he and Kasnar inspected the damage, Maelnar approached Kri’Entu and bowed. He held out the spiraled ruby.

  “I believe this should be returned to its rightful owner.”

  The king reverently took the jewel and studied it. The ruby sparkled radiantly, as though a sunbeam was shining on it. Kri’Entu nodded. With its unique corkscrew shape and its many facets covering the jewel’s surface, he could see why the Zweigelan coveted it so much. He stretched out an arm and handed the gem to Steve, who took it and repeated the king’s inspection.

  “It’s magnificent,” Kri’Entu announced.

  Maelnar retrieved the last unused helix from the desktop and handed it to the king.

  “Here. You hang on to this.”

  Kri’Entu’s eyes widened. “This is a priceless artifact from a dwarven civilization that has been gone for many centuries. It belongs to the dwarves.”

  “Your constable found it,” Maelnar reminded him. “It was within an hour of your village. I’d say that makes it yours. Take it as a sign of goodwill between our two people.”

  “Well played, dwarf,” the king murmured, unable to hide his smile.

  “Thought you might like that,” Maelnar whispered back. He handed the gem to the human king. “The only way we’d ask for this back is if we found enough components to assemble another power hammer. Seeing how I don’t think that will happen, you shouldn’t worry about it.”

  “What if the Council doesn’t approve of this gift?” Kri’Entu asked as he was well aware of dwarven laws.

  Maelnar hesitated and then stroked his beard.

  “You may be on to something. You’re right. That kind of gift can only be authorized if sanctioned by another member of the Council. Let’s hear it. All in favor?”

  Both Kasnar and Breslin, still inspecting the damage to the king’s desk, raised their right arms and spoke at the same time.

  “Aye.”

  Satisfied, Maelnar turned back to the king.

  “There you have it. Now let us worry about repairing your desk.”

  The sounds of distant barking echoed through the halls, followed shortly thereafter by the rapid clicking of doggie toenails on marbled floors. Mikal, crown prince of Lentari, only son of the king and queen, and former charge of Steve and Sarah, bolted inside the Antechamber with a victorious whoop. Peanut, the Welsh Corgi Pembroke he had acquired when he had stayed at Steve and Sarah’s house for a number of years, barreled inside and slid to a halt as the feisty canine detected a myriad of new scents.

  Mikal threw on the brakes and slid the remaining few feet over to his father’s desk as soon as he saw that they weren’t alone. He worriedly looked at his father and was instantly embarrassed.

  “Father. I apologize. I did not know you had company.”

  Kri’Entu leveled a serious gaze at his son before his complexion softened. He turned towards the dwarves and held out an arm in his son’s direction.

  “Kasnar, this is my son, Kre’Mikal. Maelnar, Breslin, I believe the two of you have already met?”

  Maelnar nodded and smiled at Mikal. Breslin approached the tall youth and they each grasped forearms.

  “Master Mikal! A pleasure to see you again, lad! You are growing faster than a patch of albino lichen.”

  “Growing faster than what?” Steve wanted to know.

  “It’s a lichen from our caves. Can double its size in just about a day’s time.”

  “Oh.”

  Mikal turned to Steve. “What are you two doing here? I didn’t know you were coming for a visit. You should have told me!”

  “It was a spur-of-the-moment decision,” Sarah told him after he gave her a hug.

  Mikal then noticed the far corner of the room where several chairs had been pushed aside and something large and green was curled up, sleeping.

  “What’s that?”

  “Peanut is about to find out,” Steve said with a smile as he watched the curious corgi inch closer to the sleeping form of the dragonlet.

  Pravara’s tail suddenly twitched, causing Peanut to let out several soft warning ‘woofs’. The corgi was clearly still undecided about the strange form.

  A golden eye cracked open. It spotted the inquisitive dog and opened wider. Pravara uncurled her body and stretche
d, keeping her front torso down and elongating her rear legs as high as she could go. With her muscles loosened, and her curiosity awakening, Pravara looked down at Peanut, who stared up at the young dragon with equal fascination. Peanut yipped a greeting and adopted the same pose: head low and rear high in the air.

  She may have been a dragon and Peanut may have been a dog, but Pravara knew when another creature wanted to play. Being a young dragon herself, she would never turn down the opportunity to make a new friend. She mimicked the small animal and wiggled her hind end as a signal she was a willing playmate.

  That was all Peanut needed.

  With a joyful bark, Peanut darted to the far side of the Antechamber and found a suitable place to hide in the narrow space between the wall and the pedestal a suit of armor was standing on.

  Mikal snapped his fingers in an attempt to get the dog’s attention.

  “Peanut! Get out from behind there! You’re going to get me into trouble!”

  Having been invited to play with the small creature, Pravara followed the dog to her hiding place. The suit of armor tipped over as Pravara tried to squeeze herself into the same tiny space Peanut had chosen to hide in. With a mighty crash, the armor hit the ground and fell apart, sending gauntlets and greaves in opposite directions.

  Steve was horrified. What was Pryllan going to say?

  “Pravara! Come on out of there. Now!”

  Her hiding place discovered, Peanut headed for the next nearest hiding place, which was one of the plush armchairs, or more specifically, under it. Thanks to her short stubby legs she was able to wiggle under the chair and disappear from sight. Moments later, Peanut dared her playmate to follow her.

  Pravara dove headfirst under the chair. Naturally, she didn’t fit. The chair was flung over as though it weighed no more than a feather. Unfortunately, the chair’s occupant was catapulted through the air and flew almost as far as the chair did. Through the tears of laughter that were streaming down her face Sarah was able to catch Shardwyn with her jhorun before he could hit the ground.

  “Your timing is impeccable, milady,” Shardwyn gratefully told her once solid ground was under his feet. “That could have ended badly.”

  Smiling, Steve turned to Pravara.

  “Okay, before someone gets hurt, we should…”

  Peanut bolted again, this time heading straight for the door. Even though a corgi’s legs were some of the shortest in comparison to other species of dogs, she could really move when she wanted to. Peanut was out the door and running down the corridor before Steve could even open his mouth.

  In a flash, Pravara was in pursuit. However, the dragonlet had forgotten that it had taken Sarah and her jhorun to get her into the Antechamber; otherwise, she would never have been able to fit through the door. That was why a second loud crunch emanated from the Antechamber as the door frames, wooden they may be, refused to grant passage to the much larger dragon.

  Intent on chasing down the small animal, Pravara tried to back out of the mangled door frames but only proceeded to wedge herself in even tighter.

  “Stop wiggling,” Sarah told the dragon. “I’ll get you out. Just a second.”

  Pravara vanished from the open door and appeared moments later on the other side. She was free! Once more she was off like a shot, tearing across the hall in a mad dash to catch up with Peanut. The corgi glanced behind her, saw the rapidly approaching dragon, and yipped with excitement. She loved to be chased.

  The ruckus of their chase echoed noisily through the hallways as those people unlucky enough to be in their way were bowled over. Servants, more suits of armor, a few tapestries, and even a squadron of palace guards were knocked out of the way as corgi and dragon came barreling out of nowhere and vanished just as quickly.

  Back in the Antechamber, Steve’s horrified face slowly swiveled to look at the king’s.

  “I am so sorry, your majesty.”

  Mikal grinned. “Suddenly I do not feel so bad.”

  The king eyed his son before turning to Steve. He waved him off. “No apologies. It’s not often we can say we entertained a dragon inside the castle. Not that we would want to do it that often, but if you could direct them outside it would be much appreciated.”

  Sarah grabbed her husband’s arm. “We’ll head them off at the pass. Thanks again for all of your help, your majesty.”

  Kri’Entu nodded. “Think nothing of it. Say nothing of it, either.”

  Sarah teleported the two of them to the Great Hall. All was quiet. No signs of destruction were anywhere, so either they had got there first or else the two playmates had deviated course and were causing chaos somewhere else.

  “Do you see them?” Sarah asked as she looked around the vast chamber.

  Steve shook his head.

  “No. I don’t hear anything, either, which is odd. We should be able to…”

  Steve paused as he heard the familiar clicking of a dog’s toe nails scrambling madly over a hard surface. Then he heard Peanut let out a few more playful barks. They still couldn’t see her. The various people in the Great Hall had ceased their activities and were beginning to stare around the room in search of whatever was making the noise.

  Peanut zipped out from between Steve’s legs and ran for the huge double doors leading out into the castle’s keep.

  “That little booger!” Steve exclaimed. “Where was she hiding? Where’s Pravara?”

  Sarah looked across the Hall at Peanut, who was almost to the doors.

  “If she’s there, then Pravara should be… Look out!”

  Sarah teleported the two of them to the far corner of the room just as Pravara appeared. The little dragonlet was galloping across the floor just as fast as she could and seeing that her large golden eyes were open wide with delight, was clearly loving every minute of it. From across the Great Hall, Peanut slid to a stop and sniffed the air. She looked back at Pravara and faced the doors again. She shook her collar a few times before she finally lowered her rump into a sitting position.

  Pravara slid to a halt right beside her. Mimicking her new friend, Pravara also sniffed the air.

  What is going on in there?

  Pravara paled. “Mother! I can explain!”

  Steve and Sarah appeared beside them. Steve nodded. He had heard Pryllan’s question as well.

  Do you remember me telling you that we would try to arrange an introduction with Pravara and Peanut?

  The little creature from your world. I do remember.

  Consider them acquainted.

  Is everything alright? I detect elevated levels of emotion from Pravara.

  Let’s just say she’s enjoying her new playmate.

  Understood. Do you have what we need?

  Yep, I have it right here.

  Excellent. We should go.

  Would you like to say hello to Peanut?

  I would. Can you bring it with you?

  Her. I’ll bring her with us.

  Gathering up the squirming dog in his arms, Steve guided the strange group outside and to the northern orchards. Mikal, having finally caught up to the frolicking canine and wyverian, decided to tag along as he was intent on watching the reunion between Pryllan and Peanut. Pryllan had indicated she was coming Topside so they all waited at the mouth of the tunnel.

  “Is mother upset with me?” Pravara whispered to Steve. “I know I should not have acted the way I did. I couldn’t help myself. There aren’t many creatures that would play with a dragon.”

  “She’s not angry with you,” Steve assured the little dragon. “She felt your excitement and wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  Figuring he should give each arm a chance to go numb from over-exertion, Steve switched Peanut from his right arm to his left. She was less than thirty pounds, but when constantly carried, she felt like a hundred and thirty. He gently set the dog down on the ground to give his tiring arms a break, but before he could hook a couple of fingers through her collar, Peanut bolted.

  Cursing silently t
o himself, Steve sprinted down the steep tunnel and emerged into the cavern just as Peanut slid to a stop in front of Pryllan. The corgi inched closer and waited for Pryllan to lean down and touch noses with her. Satisfied that an absentee member had rejoined her pack, Peanut yipped and proceeded to roll over on the ground.

  “I do remember you, little one,” Pryllan remarked, as she lowered her neck to the ground and sniffed the playful creature.

  Pryllan kept her head at ground level and let the little creature sniff around her body as Peanut familiarized herself with the peculiar scent of dragon once more. It was during this longer inspection of her former packmate when Peanut detected a second strange scent in the air.

  The corgi’s ears perked up. Her nose lifted. She slowly turned to her right and saw another large creature watching her. Curious, Peanut ambled over for a cursory sniff but stopped a dozen or so feet away as a second head lifted from the ground. Peanut blinked her eyes a few time as she studied the creature with two heads. What was it? Was it friend or foe? Two heads could only mean two potential packmates!

  Barking excitedly, Peanut bounded towards the strange being and adopted her trademark playful dog pose. Her short stump of a tail wiggled back and forth as she waited for a response from the two-headed creature.

  “She wants to play,” Steve told Syrreth and Ferreth. “That’s her way of inviting you to play a game.”

  “Play?” Ferreth repeated, as if unfamiliar with the word. “We haven’t played for many centuries.”

  “There’s a shocker,” Steve muttered quietly to himself. “Well, here’s your chance to have a little fun again. Go ahead, give it a try!”

  Syrreth took a hesitant step toward the corgi. The sudden movement set the playful canine off. Peanut bolted. The mischievous canine darted forward a few feet, gave a few encouraging barks, and then turned tail and ran all the way back to Pryllan. Noticing that she hadn’t been followed, Peanut repeated the invitation.

  The Zweigelan took a few more steps. Ten seconds later Syrreth was doing his best to keep an eye on the small dog as Peanut was now running laps around the Zweigelan’s long, sinewy body.