by Zora Marie
A couple minutes later, Nikolas trotted alongside them, his pack in his teeth now full of his clothes. Skylar grabbed it, slinging it over his shoulder with his own pack. Freed of the burden of his human clothes, Nikolas howled and ran ahead.
Dain’s howl sounded again and Zelia wished she could run ahead with Nikolas, but the constant burning in her lungs reminded her she shouldn’t.
“Does he know Dain?” Zelia asked Skylar.
“Yeah, he’s run with him a few times. Nikolas is an outsider, but Dain won’t turn down help with how things have been as of late.”
Zelia nodded and continued climbing the rolling hills that led up to the mountain. It was some time before they came across Dain and Nikolas sitting at the base of a tree near the bottom of a hill.
“Zelia?” Kafthry’s voice carried from the tree.
“Thought you might want these two,” Dain said, “after I saw you on the river, I knew I had to stop them before they did something stupid.”
“Thank you.” She scratched Dain behind the ear and stared up at Kafthry and Saria.
“Well don’t just sit up there, we still have a long way to go,” Connan said and continued up the hill.
“It took you long enough,” Saria said as she jumped down, small clumps of snow falling with her.
Alrindel handed her the discarded bow. A knowing smile spread across his face.
“Not a word, Alrindel,” she warned.
Dain made a weird noise as if to laugh, and Zelia couldn’t help but think of the old wolf, Lobo, on Hyperia. I wonder how he and his pups are. She sighed, staring at the stark white snow. Those pups wouldn’t be pups anymore. Part of her missed Hyperia, the friends she had made, and the simplicity of the life she had there.
“Zelia?” Nikolas asked.
“Fine,” she replied and began moving after the others.
17
The main gates into the mountain shimmered in the midday sun. The Dwarves had carved it out of the mountain and they were as much a part of it as the stone itself. Kafthry was quiet. No one even bothered to mention his foolishness, and it left a palpable tension between all of them.
Kafthry didn’t hesitate as he walked right through the enormous stone gates, left ajar as if inviting them in. There was a thick layer of soot in strange blotches on the walls, and the familiar reek of a Darkan hovel hung stagnant in the air.
“It doesn’t look like he’s home,” Kafthry said, his voice echoing off the stone.
“No, he’s in the mountain, he’s just not here,” Zelia said.
A deep roar and hissing came from another cavern deep within the mountain.
“Sending someone else to slay her, as if I don’t know what you’re planning.”
Zelia flinched as Kniteoff’s booming voice filled with anger pounded through her mind. That emotion, it flowed through the connection differently from the words and almost roared in the background.
“What plan?”
“Stay out of this,” Kniteoff growled.
“Let me help.”
She was already following the hissing and occasional clash of metal against stone.
“Zelia? Hey! What’s going on?”
“He’s already here.”
“Who?” Kafthry asked.
Zelia didn’t bother to stop to answer. Besides, she didn’t have an answer other than someone she had seen in her dreams.
“Back, foul beast!” the words echoed through the cave.
Zelia ran towards the commotion, just in time to see the creature that loomed over the man. Several heads bobbed back and forth, hissing through yellowed fanged teeth that gleamed as they passed through a shaft of light.
“Stop!” she yelled as he slashed at a damaged column and a chunk of the cavern ceiling crashed down on the creature, the cracks of bones shattering echoed with the thuds of falling stones. Her knees shook as she realized she was too late. She hadn’t saved the hydra, and she feared Kniteoff wouldn’t listen to her now.
“NO!” Kniteoff’s voice boomed through her mind as a snarl echoed through the cave. A giant black and red dragon barreled through the cavern and the man fled into a narrow passageway, fire following him.
“You caused this. They have been waiting for you.” Kniteoff turned towards Zelia, steam rolling from his nostrils as they flared. “She’s dead because of you. If you hadn’t escaped…”
The dragon broke off as Zelia’s head exploded in pain. Jumbled images of two monsters battling flashed through her mind, but there was something odd. She struggled to process the jumbled and incomplete images. Then it dawned on her. The monsters were Kniteoff and the hydra of her dream. They weren’t fighting, they were lovers.
“Wait! You have… a child? Why did the wizards want your child?” She knew her thoughts were jumbled and incomplete, but she was struggling to process what was going on.
The man tried to run out from his hiding spot, but Kniteoff spun around, snapping him up in a single bite.
“Watch out!” Kafthry yelled as he pulled her clear of the path of Kniteoff’s tail. The column of flesh, wide as an oak barrel, missed her as Kafthry dragged her through a doorway.
“But he... did he?”
“I thought Vainoff said he liked to use fire,” Alrindel said, taken aback as Skylar and Connan slammed a thick metal door closed.
“He does, but he’s protecting his young,” Zelia reasoned as she untangled her thoughts. She cursed the roaring in her head. It made it harder to hear and think.
“Wait, you mean there’s more of those nasty things in my mountain?” Connan seethed.
“No. I am saying there may be a young dragon around here somewhere, not a nasty creature. If that’s how you view this, then you’re a danger to us all. I need his trust, not his death.”
“He just swallowed a man whole. I don’t think he wants to hear what you have to say.”
“Kniteoff said something about the wizards wanting his child for something. I can’t kill him without knowing why and where his child is.”
“I say we just kill them both.”
“What if that’s what the wizards want us to do? My entire life they’ve been two and three steps ahead of us. What if this is all just part of their plan?”
She spun around, searching for someone who agreed, but doubtful faces surrounded her.
“Fine, I’ll kill him if I have to, but I will talk to him first. And I’m not killing his child. Not if I can avoid it.”
The others shared a strange glance as Zelia chewed the inside of her lip.
“Close the door behind me.”
“Zelia…” James’ hand rested on her shoulder. “You know fire won’t hurt him, right?”
“I know.”
She grabbed the staff from the holster on her back. If she had to kill Kniteoff she would need the control it offered. Doubt filled her mind. If the wizards wanted his child, then wouldn’t one of them come? She paused, feeling out her emotions, testing if they were her own. She didn’t feel off. Even Rogath’s distant hatred was the same as it had been for some time. If one of the wizards was there, maybe Vainoff’s spell was holding up.
Zelia nodded to Connan, and he swung the door open. She was only part way through the door when the scorching heat engulfed her. She inhaled it, the dragon fire burning as it swirled in her lungs. Ice crept from her feet, sealing the gap in the door.
“You’re stronger than the wizards give you credit for.”
Zelia took another step. Then she noticed a furry lump under Kniteoff’s back foot.
“One more step and the wolfblood dies.”
“Kniteoff, please don’t make me do this. Prove to them you’re not the monster they believe you to be.”
“But you see…” he belched and a splatter of molten metal that used to be the man’s armor landed at her feet, “I
am the monster they believe me to be.”
“No, you’re not, or you already would have eaten me.”
Though she believed her words, she froze a barrier over Nikolas, offering him what protection she could.
“I’m no fool. I know of that staff.”
“Then kill me already.”
“No, I know you cannot die by normal means. Besides, I need you.”
“Why do you need me?”
“Find our egg and protect my daughter.”
There was a flash and the chanting she heard on Hyperia started again. It was the same chant of ice the wizards had used in an attempt to use her powers to kill Yargo and Zivu, only this time she didn’t just hear it in her mind. A voice echoed from the other side of the cavern, and the voices of the others seemed to channel through the shadowy figure as he raised his staff. Vainoff had blocked them from controlling her from a distance, so one of them had come in person to see this through. She had little chance to realize what was happening before Kniteoff’s final words drifted through her mind.
“Her name is Orvi.”
Then the powers within her surged, and she struggled against them, trying to force them down and to release the staff. But she couldn’t let it go. With the staff in her hand, a wave of frosty air rolled out from her and Kniteoff barely had time to whirl around before he shattered as the chanting stopped.
“No!” Zelia screamed as she realized what Kniteoff had done.
Blood stained the ground, pieces of flesh scattered about, and a wooden staff lay broken. Kniteoff had sacrificed himself to kill one of the elders and give his daughter a better chance of living. Even so, it was her powers that killed him.
She shuddered as she dropped the staff. Damn the thing that gave her so much power, which shattered any chance of getting the answers Kniteoff might have had.
There was some chipping and cracking of ice coming from the door behind her.
“Zelia?!” Alrindel’s muffled voice came through.
“Come let us out!” Connan’s voice came through as a small hole formed in the ice.
“I’ll be right there,” she responded, feeling as though weighed down by lead boulders.
She tapped the ice holding the door ajar, barely keeping her eyes open as she did.
“Where is Kniteoff?” Connan asked.
“Dead and so is the wizard…” Zelia’s knees gave as the door swung free. “Where is Nikolas?” she asked as Skylar kept her from cracking her head on the stone floor.
“I don’t know, but we need to get you away from here before the other wizards show up.”
“But he was out there, and I need to find Orvi.”
“Who?”
“Kniteoff’s daughter, she hasn’t hatched yet. He told me right before he killed the wizard and I…”
“You didn’t kill him, the wizard did, whichever one it was.”
“It was still my powers that did it.”
She stood on shaky legs and stumbled into the hallway before half falling against the wall.
“Careful,” Nikolas grunted as he caught her from sliding the rest of the way down. Frozen chunks of what used to be Kniteoff stuck in his fur. “That was quite the freeze wave you sent out there. Thanks for not catching me with it.”
“I’m glad you’re okay,” she said.
“You and me both.”
She hugged him, his wolf form making it easier for her to show her affection.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” His discomfort with the affection showed in his tone, and she loosened her grip.
“I think it’s time you carry your own crap.” Skylar tossed Nikolas his pack.
Nikolas gave a playful snarl as he moved away from Zelia and trotted off with his belongings.
18
Zelia stirred in a room she had never seen before. The high stone ceiling was vaulted, and carvings of Dwarves dotted the walls. Alrindel sat in a gem-encrusted chair, watching over her.
“Where are we?” Zelia asked.
“Safe. I found you asleep searching the Eastern Hall.”
“Searching? I don’t remember falling asleep or searching.”
“That’s not surprising. You used a lot of energy the other day.”
“The other day? How long have I been asleep?”
“Two days.”
“Have we found Orvi yet?”
“No, and we need to before the Dwarves do.”
“Why?”
“I don’t think they are on board with letting her live.”
“She’s just a baby. Besides, Kniteoff saved me when he could have killed me and lived.”
“Maybe he knew something we don’t.”
“He did.” There was no questioning in her tone, and she stood from the bed. “Now, let’s go find Orvi. I will protect her.”
“Zelia, I just want you to be ready in case we can’t. If I must choose between you and her, I will choose you every time. You can’t keep pushing yourself like this.”
“Not if she’s as powerful as Kniteoff implied, then you’ll have to choose her or risk everything.”
“What did Kniteoff say to you?”
“He said they were waiting for me, but he also said that they came looking for his daughter because I escaped. The way he said it implied that she can do something for the wizards that I can’t. I need to speak with Vainoff and Erolith, but not until we find Orvi.”
Alrindel nodded, but she could tell by the angle he held his head that he didn’t agree with her willingness to put Orvi first.
She sighed, not knowing what else she could do to convince him, and left, knowing he would be right behind. She walked to the chamber which seemed to be Kniteoff’s lair and sat in the center of the stone floor. The mountain seemed so empty without all the Dwarves, but they would soon return to their home. For now, Alrindel was her only company, and he watched from a distance. Where would they have kept her? Someplace safe where she could hatch. Hatch her… Zelia realized they had been looking for the egg all wrong, she knew it was a female and it took greater heat to incubate a female dragon egg and maybe even more so for a hybrid. That was why Kniteoff took out the Darkans.
Then she heard a ruckus coming from the end of yet another huge hall, and she ran towards it.
“Help! Father!” the voice of a young dragon pierced her thoughts.
“That area is off limits!” James tried to stop her, but she had already run past him.
There was a screech, and something bobbed in and out of the flames in the huge forge. Connan stood in front of the gaping door, jabbing a spear into the flames.
“Stop! How could you?”
She shoved him away, placing herself between him and the flames. Connan barked in pain as he slammed into the side of the furnace. When he regained his footing, he leveled the spear at her.
“Get out of the way Zelia. This must be done.”
“She’s just a baby. I know dragons, they are not all bad.”
“Tell that to the families Kniteoff killed.”
Connan pulled a lever on the forge, the door and flutes closing.
“You’d suffocate her?” Zelia asked, appalled that he would do that to a baby.
She flung columns of ice up to hold the forge door aloft. Connan bashed his spear into one of the columns, cracking it.
“Enough,” Zelia snarled as she encased his hands and feet in ice. She yanked the spear away from him and threw the spear down, the black iron shattering on the stone, and turned to the forge.
“Orvi?”
“Who are you? You’re not my father.”
“You were already speaking with him?”
“Yes, where is my father? He promised he would be here, that I would soon join him.”
“Orvi, I’m sorry, but your parents are dead.”
/> Zelia could feel her own tears well up, but the heat from the forge burned them away.
“No! He did this.”
A dark figure ran past her from out of the flames and Zelia lunged at it, rolling across the stone floor as she caught the small wolf sized creature. She wrestled the creature as Connan stood helpless, trapped by her own ice.
“Orvi, please just listen to me. Kniteoff asked me to care for you right before he sacrificed himself to protect you and me. Connan did not kill him, but he will kill you if you do not let me protect you. Please. Yes, Connan is wrong for what he is trying to do to you, but he does it out of fear and for the love of his people.”
“But I never even got to see him,” Orvi cried, a screeching noise coming from her throat. “Now I’m all alone.”
Zelia cradled Orvi’s slender head and long neck as she sat up. Orvi’s tiny scales were slick yet not quite smooth. Zelia’s fingers felt the interlocking bumps as she stroked the young dragon.
“You’re not alone and I have no intention of leaving you.”
Orvi settled half on Zelia’s lap, making a sound that resembled the purring of a cat.
“Zelia!” Alrindel yelled as he came into the room with Skylar and the others.
James’ guilt was etched in his features. Zelia wondered what had happened to Connan. He no longer seemed to be the nice prince who had found her in the cave and refused to leave without her.
“We’ll leave now, Connan can have his mountain,” Zelia struggled to keep the disdain from her tone as she stood and headed towards the door.
“Zelia?” James reached to touch her but cut short as she stopped partway through the doorway. “He didn’t mean to hurt you.”
She shook her head and continued down the hall.
The others caught up with her as she led Orvi down narrower halls, avoiding where Kniteoff had fallen and his remains still lay scattered.
“You know they can’t hold this mountain alone,” Skylar said.
“Stay with them then. I’m sure Dain will help us get back.” She knew her tone was harsh, and she stiffened as she tried to calm her own rage.