Draggah

by Toby Neighbors

  He raced his horse, who was sweating from exertion, back to where Rafe stood in front of the beast. The creature was getting close, but looked leery of the fire. Tiberius felt another thrill at the thought that his plan might work. He hoped the fear of the fire would turn the creature away.

  Tiberius saw Rafe heft his spear, checking the balance and weight of the weapon. Then he sprinted forward, throwing the spear with all his strength. The spear disappeared into the darkness between the ground and the faintly illuminated creature. Tiberius involuntarily held his breath, waiting to see what would happen. The creature saw the spear flying toward its face at the last second and turned faster than Tiberius would have guessed was possible. The spear was aimed at one of the creature’s large round eyes, but instead it sank into the soft fold of loose skin on its sagging jowls.

  “Great cast!” Tiberius yelled once he could be heard over the creature’s roar of rage.

  Shadow, Tiberius’ horse, was obviously spent. Tiberius saw foam at the corners of its mouth and the even though the horse was shifting nervously, unwilling to stand still so close to the huge monster, its head drooped. Tiberius slid off the saddle and slapped the horse’s rump so that it ran off into the darkness.

  Tiberius had a spear and his whip. He also had a Wangorian dagger, but he didn’t think any of the weapons would do him much good against the beast. Rafe had recovered his other spear and Tiberius moved close beside him.

  The beast was bending low, eyeing the small creatures that had somehow stung it. Then it raised one massive foreleg, the limb bending more like a man’s arm than an animal’s leg. It rose high in the air and then came slamming down. The bottom of the creature’s foot was one massive callus. Rafe and Tiberius sprinted out of the way, but the impact knocked them both off their feet. They scrambled back up as the creature raised its other leg.

  Tiberius drove his spear into the ground, point first.

  “What are you doing?” Rafe shouted.

  “I’ve got an idea.”

  He jerked the spear free again and then slammed the butt of the spear into the hole he’d just made in the turf. The creature’s leg was dropping again and they didn’t have time to do more. They ran for safety, moving closer to the large fire of burning dung. It wasn’t quite a raging bonfire like Tiberius had hoped for. The dung burned hot, but it didn’t send flames high into the air the way wood did. They turned just in time to see the leg come down. The spear snapped and the metal spearhead jammed into the creature’s foot, but it didn’t seem to notice.

  “Damn,” Tiberius said. “I thought that might hurt it.”

  “It was a good idea,” Rafe said, taking the last spear from Tiberius. “No sense hanging on to this one.”

  He hurled the last spear almost straight up. They were nearly under the creature’s head now, and the spear sank into the leathery flesh of the beast’s throat. It roared and reared back. The creature’s hind legs folded and it rested on its backside, the massive forelegs pawing the air. One foot swiped at the spear lodged in the creature’s throat. It wasn’t a deadly wound, but blood was leaking around the spear. The clumsy foot didn’t dislodge the weapon, which had punched into the softer flesh of the exposed throat past the metal spearhead. The beast roared and sputtered at the pain.

  Then the Rogu, sensing a moment of weakness, attacked. They came rushing in from both sides almost simultaneously, darting in with their knives ready. They hacked and slashed at the bony back legs, then just as quickly rushed away again.

  “Get out of there!” screamed Lexi.

  She was now holding the reins of all four horses and was just barely visible in the light from the big fire. She had gone and collected Tiberius’ tired horse and still led Olyva’s mount. She looked frantic and Tiberius sensed that she was right.

  “Let’s move!” he shouted.

  They raced around the fire and toward the horses.

  “Are the Rogu doing any good?” Rafe shouted.

  “I don’t know,” Tiberius said.

  They were both looking back over their shoulders to see what would happen next. The beast was wailing in anger and pain, but it didn’t seem to be seriously hurt. It turned and lumbered after one group of the fleeing warriors.

  “We have to help them,” Rafe shouted.

  “Let’s go,” Tiberius agreed.

  “What are you doing?” Lexi cried as they jumped up into their saddles.

  “Stay here!” Tiberius said.

  Then he kicked his horse into action, following Rafe. Shadow was not a fast horse to begin with, but it almost seemed to lumber compared to Mars. Rafe was outdistancing Tiberius, who realized he wouldn’t be able to help his friend. He saw Rafe bend low on one side of the horse, almost hanging off the saddle. For a terrifying moment, Tiberius thought that perhaps Rafe was hurt and falling off the horse. Then Rafe snatched up one of the bone torches and righted himself in the saddle. Tiberius couldn’t keep up and he wouldn’t have been able to snatch up a torch the way Rafe did even if he could keep pace. He needed another way to help. He watched as Shadow slowed to a walk and Mars raced ahead, galloping dangerously close to the creature. Then Rafe flung the torch. It flew end over end, streaking through the air and leaving shinning sparks as it flew toward the creature’s face.

  Once again, the beast saw the danger coming, but Tiberius realized that was Rafe’s intent. The creature lowered its head and the torched bounced harmlessly off the bony skull. It roared, sending Mars into a terrified gallop away from the beast, but Rafe had given the Hoskali on the creature’s right flank enough time to escape. The warriors on the opposite side were rushing back in for another attack. Tiberius realized that this time there would be nothing to stop the beast from attacking the Rogu as they fled unless he did something fast.

  He considered conjuring fire, but he doubted he could do much with the flames other than prolong the inevitable. He needed something else, something more powerful, to sway the odds in their favor. Then it hit him. He didn’t need to attack the creature, just subdue it.

  He closed his eyes and rose to his feet in the stirrups of the saddle. The creature’s roars and growling were so loud that Tiberius couldn’t hear the words as he said them, but he could feel the magic swirling into action around him.

  “Somni Incantatio,” he said. “Somni Incantatio, Somni Incantatio.”

  The magic almost took on a physical weight. It reminded Tiberius of stirring a pot of thick oatmeal. The more he chanted the spell, the more power and mass it seemed to take on. He swirled and swirled the magic until he had a massive blob. Then he waved his arms as if he were physically throwing something at the creature. He felt the magic flying away from him. This time the creature didn’t see the attack, and Tiberius felt the magic slam into the beast’s head. The massive bone skull was practically impenetrable by any physical attack, but the magic soaked in.

  Tiberius watched and waited. The creature had been shifting back to attack the Rogu who had just darted in on the creature’s left side and suddenly, it hesitated. Tiberius held his breath and watched. The creature’s head drooped for a moment. The roaring shifted into a deep-throated rasp. The beastly mouth opened wide, teeth strangely extended. Tiberius thought that his spell had failed and the creature was about to attack again, but instead its tongue arched out of its mouth and Tiberius realized the monster was just yawning. Then the creature slowly leaned forward, shaking its head.

  “What’s it doing?” Lexi asked. She had led her horse and Olyva’s up behind Tiberius.

  “Trying to wake up,” he said. “I cast a sleeping spell on it.”

  “Is it going to work?”

  “I don’t know. I think maybe it’s too weak. I’m going to try again.”

  He closed his eyes, concentrating. He could feel a tenuous connection between himself and the creature now, almost like a spiderweb. He let his mind run up the connection and he felt the beast’s stupor. His spell had worked, making the creature unnaturally drowsy, but the monster�
��s adrenaline and sense of self-preservation made it reluctant to give in and fall asleep.

  “Somni Incantatio,” Tiberius whispered. He didn’t wait for the spell to build in power this time, but sent it racing up the tendril that tied him to the massive creature. “Somni Incantatio, Somni Incantatio.”

  The beast moaned and Tiberius felt a sense of regret pass through the magical tendril that connected him to the creature. Then it scrambled its legs, pawing at the ground and air, but not really trying to flee. It came down on its stomach in a rather graceful collapse.

  The creature was obviously still alive, its heavy growlish breathing was unmistakable. No one moved. The Rogu looked on in awe. Lexi took hold of Tiberius, who didn’t know if she was hiding behind him or making sure he didn’t rush off to do something foolhardy.

  Finally, after several minutes of intense scrutiny, Rafe came forward on his horse. He circled around the beast, alert for any signs of treachery. Once he was satisfied that the creature wasn’t playing some sort of trick, he rode over to Tiberius.

  “This your handiwork?” he asked.

  “I cast a sleeping spell,” Tiberius replied.

  “How long will it last?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Should we call the tribe back? Have them move the camp?”

  “It could wake up at any minute,” Tiberius said.

  “Then there’s only one option,” Rafe said. “We have to kill it.”

  Chapter 14

  Rafe

  The look on Tiberius’ face was surprising. It was almost as if he felt sorry for the creature that had just tried to kill them. Rafe’s belief that he was up for any challenge had never wavered. But looking at the sheer size of the monster snoring before them, he was amazed that they had survived, let alone defeated the creature without a single man getting hurt or killed. Still, just because the beast wasn’t a threat at that exact moment didn’t mean it wouldn’t wreak havoc on the tribe if it came to. It simply wasn’t a risk they could afford to take.

  “Are you sure?” Tiberius said.

  “Are you sure you could stop it again if it wakes up?”

  Tiberius hesitated. “No,” he finally admitted.

  “So what, you feel sorry for this thing now?” Rafe asked.

  “I don’t feel sorry for it,” Tiberius tried to explain. “But I do have empathy.”

  “He’s connected to it because of the spell he cast,” Lexi said. “Am I right?”

  “Yes,” Tiberius replied, “in a way. This creature responded to magic differently than anything else I’ve ever encountered.”

  “How so?” Rafe asked.

  “When I cast the sleeping spell on it, we were connected. Still are really. It’s hard to explain.”

  “Why would that happen?” Rafe asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “You didn’t feel that way with the trees you burned up?”

  “No,” Tiberius said.

  “What about when you fought Moswanee?” Lexi asked. “Or when you were with Princess Ariel?”

  “No, this is completely different. When I work magic, I can feel it. It’s sort of like a strong wind or a swift river flowing around me. When I chant the incantation, it stirs the magic up, makes it stronger. Then I direct it with my mind. In this case, I threw the spell at the creature, but when it struck, we were connected. Maybe it’s just this spell. I’ve never cast it before.”

  “It doesn’t sound good to me,” Rafe said. “We need to keep you safe. You’ve saved my bacon more than once with your spells, but I can’t say I like you working magic.”

  “I’ll stay with him,” Lexi said. “You do what needs to be done for the tribe.”

  Rafe nodded and slipped off his horse, handing Lexi the reins. He couldn’t help but worry about Tiberius. His friend had saved his life more than once using magic, but there was a reason it was banned in Valana. The wizards of old had caused the cataclysm and since then, magic in any form was strictly forbidden. It didn’t bode well for Tiberius that he felt a strong connection to the huge monster they’d just defeated.

  Rafe turned his attention to killing the beast. It wouldn’t be easy. He had no idea how strong the sleeping spell was. Perhaps he could do whatever he wanted to the creature and it wouldn’t notice. On the other hand, the moment he hurt the beast it might wake up and attack him. He needed to find a way to kill it quickly with one swift blow.

  The creature was too large to lop off its head. The neck was as big as a house, and the brain was protected under the thick dome of bone. He could stab through the creature’s big eyes, but he had no idea how deep he would have to cut to reach the brain. He could slash the throat, but even if he severed a major artery, it still might take several minutes for the beast to bleed to death.

  He walked around the creature’s head. The one intact spear was lodged in the beast’s jowls and covered with slobber. The Rogu were cautiously moving closer and Rafe knew he was running out of time. He made a decision and drew his sword, then he changed his mind and re-sheathed it. He wasn’t excited about getting covered in the creature’s sludge-like saliva, but he would be sprayed with gore when he delivered the killing blow anyway. And the spear gave him a greater chance of reaching the beast’s brain.

  He took hold of the spear. The mucus smelled of rotting meat, and the creature’s breath blasted him with each exhale. He moved quickly, wrenching the spear free and pausing just long enough to make sure the sensation didn’t wake the creature. He carefully pulled the long weapon out from between the heavy flaps of skin. His heart was racing and he wanted to finish his grisly task as soon as possible. He backed up slowly, watching for any sign of movement from the creature.

  Asleep, the beast looked much less frightening. The teeth still stood out at odd angles from its mouth, some poking into the jowl flaps, others pointing almost straight out between the thin lips. But its large eyes were closed. The only sign of the beast’s fearsome nature was its sheer size.

  Rafe paused for a second, setting his feet and making sure he had a firm grip on the spear. Then he charged forward, howling a battle cry as he ran. The beast exhaled a powerful blast of hot air that blew against Rafe like a gale wind common on the tall watchtower of Avondale, but he didn’t slow down. At the last minute, he jumped forward, throwing all his weight and strength into driving the spear forward. His momentum carried the weapon forward and into one massive nostril. He felt no resistance until most of his body was inside the hairy nose. The grumbling breath was louder than before, and hot like the blast from a blacksmith’s forge. He had to climb further into the beast’s head, pushing on the rough flesh, and pulling on the thick hair that grew inside creature’s nose. Finally, the cavernous nostril turned, angling down toward the beast’s body. Rafe decided it was time for his attack. He slammed the spear upward, stabbing it into the soft tissue and heaving it deeper and deeper toward the creature’s brain. A gush of hot fluid sprayed over him, and he felt the creature suck in a powerful breath, but Rafe drove the spear forward, digging his boots into the soft flesh of the nostril.

  The spear cut through the soft flesh and scraped against bone, before finally plunging into the dense tissue of the creature’s brain. Its feet began to shake and the huge body jerked in powerful death throes, knocking Rafe down in the dark passage of its nostril. Only a sword length’s end of the spear was left inside the creature’s snout, and in one spasmatic jerk it was pulled out of Rafe’s hands. The wooden shaft twitched one way, and just as Rafe was reaching for it to finish the job, it twitched back, slamming into his side and knocking him off his feet. He cursed under his breath and felt a stich of pain. He guessed the spear had cracked a rib, but the pain only made him more determined to finish the task.

  He took hold of the spear and shoved it upward again, jamming it into creature’s head until only a few inches of the polished handle stuck out from the dripping flesh. Rafe was covered in foulness of every kind, but most especially blood. He crawled back o
ut of the beast’s snout and moved away from the creature. He watched it jerk and twitch in death. He was sure the beast was dead. It was no longer breathing, but they would all feel better once the creature stopped moving. He wiped his face and grimaced at the smell.

  "It's dead," Tiberius said.

  “Good. What about your magical bond to it?"

  "Broken," Tiberius said.

  "Even better. You know you saved a lot of lives tonight, but you have to be careful with magic. There's a reason it's outlawed you know.”

  “You just killed a giant creature by climbing up its nose. Are you really going to lecture me on being careful?”

  “I got the job done,” Rafe said stubbornly. “We make a good team. I just don’t want you bonding with the wrong types of creatures. Now, I need a bath, food, and sleep. In that order."

  "I'll see to the first two, but you may have to wait for your nap. We have to move the camp away from here. This carcass will draw all kinds of foul creatures to this area."

  "Not to mention the blood may poison the water supply."

  "I hope not," Tiberius said. “There doesn't seem to be a lot of water in this area."

  "You are truly a leader," Rafe said. "You care more for this tribe you just met than your brother ever cared about Avondale."

  "These are good people. It's lucky we found each other."

  "Does that mean you want to stay with them?" Rafe asked, feeling uneasy.

  He was fond of the Hoskali people, but his first priority had to be getting help for Olyva. He felt responsible for her plight, despite the fact that she didn't seem bothered by it at all. He needed to get Olyva to Sparlan Citadel, for both their sakes, and yet he couldn't imagine going without Tiberius. His friend had sacrificed more than Rafe could have ever hoped for. If not for Tiberius, Rafe and Olyva would have died their first night in the blighted lands. Rafe was a warrior, yet it had been Tiberius saving their lives at almost every turn.