Dragon's Eye

Home > Other > Dragon's Eye > Page 20
Dragon's Eye Page 20

by Robin Wirth


  of that blood was dried on gave rise to an even

  worse thought, however.

  He had no idea how long he’d been lying

  there, and this thought frightened him more than

  any other. The longer he’d been here, the more

  time that dragon had to damage his captive.

  Would Felicity be all right? Was she still

  in one piece? If so, he could imagine how

  frightened she must be.

  How was he going to find her within the

  labyrinthine caves of this mountain? And even

  if he did discover her whereabouts, would he

  like what he found?

  Felicity could be dead right this very

  moment, he thought as horror seeped into his

  very soul. She could be that horrid little red

  dragon’s lunch by now.

  Yet he knew the beast could not possibly

  have been the dragoness they sought. He

  312

  Robin Joy Wirth

  expected a great dragon-mage would be

  somewhat larger than the smallish serpent he’d

  seen. Perhaps it had been a mere messenger,

  then, sent to retrieve them?

  Or perhaps to remove them, he added

  with a scowl. After all, had the little red dragon

  not taken the weaker of the two intruders?

  Yet, at the same time, he knew that if he

  were Amaranth, he would take the weaker of a

  team captive to question them, expecting to get

  more answers that way.

  It was much easier to interrogate

  someone who could be subdued with minimal

  effort, than one who would refuse to divulge the

  required information. He chuckled as he

  considered the idea that they’d chosen the wrong

  person, if that was their aim. Felicity was not

  likely to tell them anything.

  But Lancelot knew he would find no

  answers of his own by just sitting here in the

  cave, lost in contemplation. He needed to find

  313

  Dragon’s Eye

  the center of the maze, as it were. To reclaim that

  which the dragon had taken, or claim the dragon

  itself instead if it had harmed one hair on

  Felicity’s head.

  When Lance managed to get to his feet,

  he was overcome by a wave of nauseating

  dizziness and fell to the floor of the cave again.

  He would not have known he was unconscious

  again, but for the dream.

  “Jones?” came Laenos’ voice. “Lancelot

  Jones, you can’t just lay there like this. You’ve

  got to get up now, and see to the matter at hand.

  Your entire destiny lies ahead.”

  “My head will not let me do so, elf,”

  Lancelot muttered grumpily, barely able to

  move as he opened his eyes. A bright light

  moved toward him as quickly as a shooting star,

  and then he saw Laenos standing at his feet.

  “Is this real, or is it a dream?” he asked

  with great uncertainty. After all, the elf never

  glowed like this in the light of day.

  314

  Robin Joy Wirth

  “It is both, in a way,” he explained with

  an enigmatic smile. “Lie still now, and I will try

  to heal you, Jones. At least enough to get you up

  and moving again. You cannot stay as you are.”

  “Why do you keep helping me anyway,

  Laenos? It’s not as though you and I are friends,

  is it?” Lancelot wanted to know.

  His eyes were crossed, so that Laenos

  appeared to be two elves instead of one. The

  persistent elf leaned down and ran his glowing

  hands over Lancelot’s aching head. As he

  worked diligently at his task, he tried to explain.

  “Long have I suffered at the thought that

  you think I played a part in your loss, even

  though your wife’s choice to leave had little to

  do with me,” he admitted. “I always knew that

  you would need my help someday. It is the way

  of things, at least in the world of the elves. All

  things are intertwined, and I owe you a debt for

  what I gained.”

  315

  Dragon’s Eye

  “A life for a wife, perhaps?” Lancelot

  scoffed, smirking at his choice of words.

  “At least you are finally able to laugh

  again, now that your little hellcat has come into

  your life,” he said as he wiped blood from

  Lancelot’s brow. “In a way, perhaps it is a wife

  for a wife?”

  “Hellcat, is it?” Lance chuckled. “I

  wonder at your choice of words.”

  Laenos chuckled, too. “That is no great

  secret. You know that women can be such fiery

  creatures when their convictions are strong. And

  your Felicity seems like she has strong

  convictions about a great many things. Be well,

  my friend, for I do not believe I will see you

  again.”

  “Thank you, Laenos,” Lancelot replied.

  “I really mean that. If not for you, I could never

  be as happy as this.”

  “Then go rescue your love, Jones,” he

  said, and turned to walk away.

  316

  Robin Joy Wirth

  When the elf disappeared from view,

  Lancelot sat up and rubbed at his head. Even the

  blood was gone now, and he was able to get to

  his feet with remarkable ease.

  “Damned elf,” he grumbled as he looked

  around. “Right when the blighter would have

  been useful as a lamp, he says he’ll not see me

  again. Well, at least if he’s talking about Felicity

  in such a way, she can’t have been eaten yet in

  any case.”

  When Lancelot turned to seek a path, he

  found that now a faint trail of light weaved in a

  meandering path in the direction he needed to

  go. Chuckling because he knew Laenos must

  have heard him, he began to follow it without

  another word.

  It felt as though many hours passed

  before he approached a cavern with dimly lit

  torches to either side of the entrance. Bones had

  littered the cave all along the way, but here a

  317

  Dragon’s Eye

  veritable pile of them lay just to the side of the

  path.

  Wondering at this, Lance took a deep

  breath and put his wand away. Torches now lit

  the pathway, spaced evenly along the wall of the

  cave. To the other side of the narrow path was a

  wide chasm, and far across the great divide, the

  other wall appeared to have torches as well.

  Wherever it might lead, Lancelot set his

  feet upon the path and began to walk.

  Somewhere in the background he could hear the

  sounds of many guttural voices as they clicked

  and growled, their sounds not unlike those he’d

  once heard in a nest full of baby snakes.

  Glancing again at the bones that lined the

  sides of the cave, he took a heavy, shuddering

  breath. Whatever he was about to find, there was

  definitely more than one of them to face. Lips in

  a grim line, Lance’s steps became more cautious

  and he moved
onward into the light.

  318

  Robin Joy Wirth

  THIRTY

  Wherever torches lined the wall over the

  next half hour or so, Lance followed them in that

  direction rather than taking any of the unlit side

  paths. He no longer believed with complete

  certainty that Felicity would remain unharmed

  after such a long time, but his heart refused to let

  go of the hope Laenos had given him.

  All he could think about was Felicity’s

  beautiful doe eyes, and how her smile usually

  tended to quirk off to one side. He thought of her

  sweet laugh, and the throaty way she’d moaned

  as he’d dined upon her nipples. Gods, how he

  longed to do that again, and more!

  The further he walked, the more

  convinced he became that a larger number of

  dragons had to be present. The bones of far too

  many animals lined the walls of the caves, and

  319

  Dragon’s Eye

  the sounds of hisses and guttural noises echoed

  far too frequently off the walls.

  He was close to tears when he finally

  spotted a tall mound of rocks up ahead. The

  serpent-like sounds that had been getting

  steadily louder seemed to be coming from

  within, but it was too far above his head to

  simply look inside.

  Lancelot had to think about what he

  should do next. He knew that the fastest way to

  reach the top would be to simply use his wand,

  but would it not be foolhardy to suddenly appear

  above a nest full of dragons who may very well

  want you for their dinner?

  Thinking better of that idea, he charmed

  a rope to go to the top, and used it to climb up

  instead, carefully peeking over the ledge. The

  sight that met his eyes was in no way

  comforting, for at least a dozen dragons slept

  there.

  320

  Robin Joy Wirth

  Then, peeping from beneath the wings of

  one of them, he saw Felicity’s legs. He grabbed

  a small stone off the edge of the nest’s wall and

  expertly threw, and it nicked her in the foot.

  Felicity startled awake and sat up

  abruptly, wondering what had hit her foot. She

  spotted wand-light briefly as Lance flashed it to

  get her attention. He held a finger to his lips as

  he beckoned her over.

  Silently, Felicity crept around the sea of

  dragons that barred the way, and finally reached

  the wall, looking up at Lance with joy bubbling

  throughout her entire being. His own face

  mirrored the sentiment.

  Lancelot tossed down a rope, and

  Felicity used it to climb to the top. As soon as

  they were out of the dragons’ possible view, he

  used his wand to set them on the ground again,

  then shrank the ropes back down and returned

  them to his pack.

  321

  Dragon’s Eye

  “You’re alive!” she whispered then,

  clinging to him so tightly he almost couldn’t

  draw in a breath. Smiling at this, Lance kissed

  the top of her head.

  Lance buried his face into her hair as he

  whispered, “I was so afraid they might have

  eaten you by now, love, but we have no time for

  this. We must get well away from here first.

  Come on—quietly.”

  Felicity nodded her agreement, but she

  clung to his hand all the more as they started to

  walk. Lancelot gave her hand a squeeze to let her

  know how glad he was that it was there.

  As the pair of them continued on past the

  nest, they noticed many others clustered

  together throughout the huge cavern. Lance

  counted himself quite lucky that Felicity had

  been taken to the first, rather than the fiftieth.

  “There must be at least a thousand

  dragons here,” Felicity pointed out. “I’m

  worried, Lance. I don’t think these creatures are

  322

  Robin Joy Wirth

  true offspring. There was something in my lore

  book I’ve got to check on to see if I’m right.”

  “Felicity Lake, I could not possibly have

  heard you correctly. You want to read your book

  right now?” he asked incredulously.

  “It’s important, Lance,” she insisted as

  she took the book he’d pulled out of his pack

  from his hands and rifled through it as he held

  his wand up for her to see. She found the page

  that she needed, and read it out loud.

  “The legend says that if the person who

  tried to break the curse was not worthy, he

  himself would be turned to a dragon and made

  to serve Amaranth for all time,” she said. “All of

  these dragons here must have been humans who

  tried and failed, Lance. And if we don’t figure

  out what we’re supposed to do, we may very

  well be turned to dragons next.”

  “This place just keeps getting better and

  better,” Lance commented. “Come on,

  sweetheart, we’ve got to find a way out of this

  323

  Dragon’s Eye

  massive nesting ground before we can rest. The

  risk of being discovered is far too great.”

  Felicity and Lance clung to each other’s

  arms as they continued to walk. When a slight

  breeze kicked up, the two glanced at each other

  and wordlessly turned to follow the direction

  from whence it came.

  Soon they broke free of the cavern full of

  nests and found themselves on a ledge

  overlooking a deep abyss. It seemed to stretch

  on for an infinite distance ahead of them, and

  many torches lined the walls to light the gloom

  all along the way.

  “I’m beginning to think this place is

  bewitched somehow,” Lance mentioned after

  they had been walking for some time. “Perhaps

  it’s not nearly as far as it would seem. Perhaps

  we are just meant to think it is.”

  “Do you think it’s some kind of an

  illusion?” Felicity inquired. “Perhaps the whole

  324

  Robin Joy Wirth

  thing is some sort of a test. Like a maze or a

  puzzle of sorts.”

  “I had thought the same thing concerning

  your recent abduction, my dear,” he mentioned

  as he draped an arm about her waist. Felicity

  blushed for a moment, and then slipped an arm

  around him as well.

  “What do you mean?” she inquired as

  she rubbed his arm with the side of her face, and

  inhaled softly to catch his scent.

  “Well, if your theory about all these

  dragons rings true, then Amaranth has had

  plenty of time to devise a plan on how to deal

  with the contenders,” he pointed out. “That

  being said, it would make perfect sense for her

  to send out a dragon to snatch you. She could

  then determine how brave you are, or my

  heroism, for that matter, as I was trying to come

  after you.”

  325

  Dragon�
��s Eye

  “Yes, but what has that to do with this

  current fix?” Felicity wanted to know. “There

  are no dragons chasing us now.”

  “This may be some test of our

  intelligence,” he pointed out. “Maybe there is

  some sort of hidden passage, or perhaps the way

  in is simply to go back to the beginning. Who

  knows?”

  “But why would the way in be back at

  the beginning?” Felicity asked. “That would be

  somewhat pointless when there’s an entire

  mountain to traverse, and more than one level

  could easily come into play. Perhaps it’s much

  more likely that the way in is either up or down.

  We’re dealing with a race of flying creatures,

  remember?”

  “Ah, yes, you’re right. So then perhaps

  we must stop thinking with a non-flying

  mentality,” Lance agreed, giving her a bit of a

  squeeze. “An excellent point, my girl.”

  326

  Robin Joy Wirth

  “Maybe we should use our wands to fly

  up or down and examine the walls,” Felicity

  said. “You could go up while I go down, or the

  other way around.”

  “No more splitting up, love,” said Lance

  firmly. “That’s how we got into this fix to begin

  with. We will begin by going up, and if that

  doesn’t work, we’ll go down. We can zigzag our

  way along till we come across something.”

  “Sounds like a lot of work, but it makes

  the most sense,” Felicity agreed. Soon the two

  put the plan into action, meticulously persisting

  until they found what they sought.

  “A secret door,” Felicity said, not at all

  surprised. “And at the bottom, as I had

  expected.”

  “Yes,” Lancelot agreed. “But what does

  it mean?”

  “It means that we should take a rest and

  have something to eat,” she said.

  327

  Dragon’s Eye

  “I think we ought to get some rest, too,”

 

‹ Prev