by Brian Beam
I threw the box back to Til’—I had no use for it—and put what I now knew to be a dragon egg into the coin purse on my belt. I buckled it shut, planning on watching Til’s every move.
My stomach was churning with anxiety. I had thought that even though Galius had seemed to have no redeeming qualities in my dealings with him, I was at least righting a wrong in getting back his property. Now I realized that he truly was a scoundrel and that bringing him the dragon egg was antithetic to the morals I had held onto so closely given that it was literally a dragon’s child for Loranis’ sake. I was taking something that, at the very least, the dragon and the Kolari both had more right to in order to save my own ass.
In the end, the moral thing to do would be to find the dragon, give it the egg, and forfeit my life to Galius’. But, given I had killed a man, I guess my moral fiber was already a little tattered.
Working our way back to where I could stand again took a few minutes and Max’s ability to provide light was wavering. Given that I had stayed at a dead run for so long chasing Til’, I truly worried that we’d get stuck in the dark before we got out. Overall, I knew I could find my way back just following the walls. However, I couldn’t keep an eye, or hand, on Til’, leaving him able to attempt to take the dragon egg and escape.
Once I was standing, I grabbed Max and set to a light jog. Til’ struggled to stay in the light behind us. Apparently without being chased, he wasn’t quite the sprinter he had been earlier.
We eventually came to the hub where our tunnel had branched from. Sal’ was nowhere to be seen. Max’s light was flickering off for seconds at a time and he needed some pretty violent shaking to be kept awake. Our situation wasn’t looking good.
I had just started into a dead run down the main tunnel that would lead us to the bovine fountain when a flash of orange light bloomed in the right-branching tunnel behind us. The flash of light was followed by a loud rumble and a gust of hot wind as if someone had just opened a large oven. Make that a castle-sized oven. The air around us seemed to vacuum back into the tunnel and left me a little breathless.
The orange light was replaced by a softer silver one that revealed Sal’ speeding towards us. I shook Max as his light dimmed and said, “Please tell me that dragons don’t breathe fire.” I wondered if my voice was as shaky as it sounded in my ears.
“Dragons do not breathe fire,” he responded lazily as his eyes started shutting again.
“Say it and mean it,” I specified shakily.
“No can do,” he yawned, his fangs clicking together as his mouth shut. “You should probably run once Salmaea gets here with the light. Wake me when we’re outside.” With that he was out and his light went out with him, plunging us into darkness as we waited for Sal’s silver light to reach us. Leave it to a cat to fall asleep as the barn burns down around it.
I had a feeling I knew exactly what Sal’ had been doing while I had been chasing down Til’ and why Til’ had been running for his life out of the tunnel she was running out of.
Til’ stepped up beside me and I eyed him warily. “They really do breathe fire. That dragon tried to get me once I got away from it. Shot fire and everything! Did you know it could talk? Well, I think so at least. I only caught a few words such as ‘come back here before I kill you’, but it was in our language.” Til’s voice did not indicate fear at all. It seemed funny since I had seen him pass out at the site of a dragon just days prior. I guess there’s a difference between knowing what’s coming and turning around to see a dragon swooping after you out of nowhere.
Til’ continued to ramble as Sal’ neared, her expression frantic and her hair sticking up wildly from her sweaty run. She somehow still looked beautiful.
“Run,” she screamed as she passed right by us.
A roar that would make a lion jealous and an orange glow forming in the tunnel she had exited from were the only motivations I needed to catch up to the silver glowing light coming from the sphere floating above her head. Til’ reached her before I did. Apparently it only takes a little death scare to make a Kolarin run like a footrace champion.
Another roar sounded from behind us and I could suddenly hear the booming thunder of the dragon’s wings flapping and feel the strong gusts of wind they created. I’m pretty sure the gusts were actually pushing us forward, speeding up our escape. I braved a look behind us, but only saw the darkness. I felt that it was only a matter of time, however, before the dragon was close enough that I could feel its breath. Or get charred to cinders.
“I take it you found the dragon,” I commented, running awkwardly with Max in my arms and my scabbard slapping annoyingly against my leg with each step.
“Yeah, how’d you guess?” Sal’ rasped breathlessly. I think my sarcasm had been wearing off on her.
Before I could return with a sarcastic quip of my own, I had an epiphany. “Hey, you and Max have been using magic this whole time.” How come no one had noticed that yet?
“Oh,” she exclaimed with widening eyes as she turned her head towards me without slowing. “That shouldn’t be possible in a god’s temple.”
“I bet it’s the dragon egg,” Til’ threw in. “I had it in the box, you know. Maybe if you gave me the egg and I put it back in the box…”
I cast Til’ an annoyed look. What he said before trying to wheedle the egg from me kind of made sense. If Max was right about the box, then maybe the dragon egg’s magic had been amplified and affected the whole cave system, god’s temple or no. It could have been just like the Kolari’s crops in that the effects didn’t immediately disappear once the egg was out of the box. Maybe the magic of the egg wasn’t just limited to providing good fortune to those in possession of it. Maybe it was a little more complex than that. Magic typically is.
Maybe that could even explain why Galius’ thugs had been able to grace me with their fists. The Contract’s caveat to protect my good health and ability to perform Galius’ Terms may have been diminished just like the magic in the temple. Since I had been exposed to the egg, I mentally promised myself that I would test my theory with my fist to Galius’ smug face before I returned his precious ‘gem’.
Before I could verbally agree with Til’, Sal’ shrieked, “Dragon egg?” She almost tripped over her own robe as she ran.
Til’ broke into a mischievous grin as he ran. “Yeah, I just found out too. The cat knew. Hey, who are you anyway? Are you a wizard like the cat?” Til’s shrill, childish voice was grating my last hungover nerve. I could see how he had gotten along with Undula McAlwain so well.
“Shut up, Til’,” I interrupted. “So, Sal’ if you can do magic…” I let myself trail off for her to complete the thought.
Sal’ ran in silence for a moment before turning to me. “Korin, I don’t think I know any spell to take down a dragon.”
I gave her a disbelieving look, not wanting to spell it out for her.
“Oh yeah, the dispelling magic,” she exclaimed slapping a hand to her forehead.
I exhaled in relief. For a moment I thought she may have failed to apply the gooey magic blob onto the dragon. It’s one thing to put your life in danger like an idiot. It’s a whole different kind of stupid if you’re unsuccessful at the stupid act that puts you in danger in the first place. I mentally gave her some credit, though. It’s not easy to think when a flying scaly beast the size of your average house is nipping at your heels. Or in this case, shooting flames at them.
Sal’ stopped and turned in the opposite direction. I stopped behind her, turning the same way. Til’ stayed in front of Sal’, staring at her with his big silver eyes filled with awe. I grabbed Til’s cloak and jerked him over beside me. I didn’t know enough about magic to know if her spell would affect us somehow or if we would inadvertently affect it if we were in its line of fire.
As usual, Sal’s hand dropped down to her mouse-filled case. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. I could feel the wind from the dragon’s wings strengthen in front of us, threatening to knock me off of my f
eet. I tilted my head up as if underwater to see the faint outline of the dragon I had seen just the previous day, its red eyes similar to the egg in my coin purse except larger and burning with fury. Its movement was precise given that deviating even inches in any direction would send it careening off the rock walls of the tunnel. Its legs were drawn up to its golden-scaled stomach. Jaws wide enough to swallow a cow whole were gaping open with an orange glow starting in the back of its throat.
Not for the first time since accepting Galius’ Contract Terms, I braced myself for death. Only this time, I braced for a fiery, painful, burning death from a creature I had up until a day prior thought of as only a distant piece of history.
As the flame coalesced into a blazing sphere ready to turn us into a nice roasted snack, I turned back to Sal’ hoping that she was going save us from becoming crispy critters. Her eyes were closed in concentration.
I chose being smart over being brave and turned to run. The next thing I knew, the entire cave gave a violent shake and time seemed to resume its normal pace. I was sent sprawling to the ground. Max went flying out of my arms and my hands scraped along the rough floor as I heard a metallic scraping echo through the tunnel. I assumed Sal’ and Til’ had fallen roughly as well from the grunts I heard behind me. Flakes of rock fell on me from above and the tunnel air around us became slightly opaque from kicked up rock dust.
Before considering anyone’s well being, I pushed myself up slightly on my hands, jerking my head up and around to see if I was about to learn what being a hog over a spit felt like. The dragon had apparently dropped to the cave floor, lying at an angle with one wing folded underneath its massive body. Its gleaming red eyes were closed and a large, forked tongue flopped out of its mouth onto the cave floor. Its fangs, visible from a half-open maw, were about as long as my legs. One outstretched scaly arm stopped no more than a foot away from Sal’ who was lying prostrate on the rock floor. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the rise and fall of Sal’s breathing as she opened her eyes. Slowly, painfully, I rose to my feet.
I stepped over to the dragon and put a hand to its scales which felt hard, cool, and metallic like steel. Sal’ hadn’t been lying when she said that it would take a small army to kill a dragon with basic weapons. I couldn’t think of anything that could pierce through those scales. I brought my attention back to my fallen acquaintances.
“Everyone alright?” I asked, coughing spontaneously as dust flew into my throat.
Max had sleepily opened his eyes and was on his haunches as if he hadn’t been flung several feet onto a rock floor and asked, “What gives?” He then proceeded to lick himself, cleaning the dust from his fur.
Til’ was up and on his way to check out the dragon with childlike curiosity on his face. Sal’ was silent, but had sat up to stare behind me, her arms pulling her knees to her chest. The ball of silver light still glowed softly above her. I held out a scraped, mildly-bloody hand and she took it absently, staring awestruck at the monstrous heap of dragon lying on the rock floor behind us as I helped her to her feet.
“I did it,” she whispered. Then more loudly, “I did it!” She burst into a gale of beautiful laughter as she let go of my hand and spun around in some kind of awkward victory dance, her robe flying up and flashing her tight breeches underneath. She finally stopped, breathing heavily with her hands on her slender hips. “I can finally go home.” She staggered for a moment as if barely able to remain standing. It was then I saw the weariness in her eyes that I saw so often in Max’s. She looked back at the downed dragon, her eyebrows dropping to a look of thoughtful concentration. “How do I prove I killed it?”
“It’s not dead,” Til’ called, sounding boastful that he had new information to provide. “See, it’s still breathing,” he said, pointing at its enormous torso. Sure enough, it appeared to be breathing, even if only shallowly. As I watched its chest move, I wondered how I hadn’t heard the sound of air exhaling through nostrils as big around as a tree trunk. It seemed pretty obvious once it had been pointed out.
“Damn,” Sal’ snapped, rolling up the sleeves of her robe, swaying in her attempt to remain standing. “I suppose I’m going to have to try something else.” Her voice was slurred with exhaustion.
Max had stepped up to my side. “Did she use magic?” I nodded. “Oh, I guess I have been too.” I nodded again. “Then why could I not float that mouse down that skylight?”
Sal’ turned to us with a reddened face. “Well, I kind of made it fall. I didn’t want to look stupid if you were successful.” Her eyes shifted away in embarrassment. It would have been the perfect time for my “I told you so,” but I was nice and kept it to myself. At least her magic had worked. Plus, Max still had said he couldn’t have floated me down so far. She technically kept me from getting myself hurt or killed by the drop.
Max just huffed and let it go. “Maybe you should quit while you are ahead,” Max cautioned in a flat tone, while struggling just as much as Sal’ to stay conscious.
Sal’ looked back at him with fury burning in her blue eyes. “This is what I came to do, and I’m going to do it.” She turned back to the creature before her.
I darted to Til’s side, grabbing him by his cloak again, and tugged him back behind Sal’. I didn’t know what she was planning on doing to the unconscious dragon, but I knew I didn’t want anyone between the two of them, especially with Sal’ casting the magic. Max must have felt the same way as he slinked back behind my legs. I considered asking him to help her, but I highly doubted he had the energy to do so.
Sal’ reached to her wicker case and held out her other arm with her palm facing the dragon. What looked to be an opaque, white, sharp-pointed crystal shone brightly before her hand as it grew from the size of one of her mice to larger than the leg-sized dragon fangs.
“Wow,” Til’ gasped, impressed. “That’s incredible. Who is this vixen?”
“I don’t think you’re her type, shorty,” I snapped at him. That couldn’t have been jealousy in my voice, right?
“Wait, she’s not going to kill the dragon is she?” Til’ asked, sounding mortified at the idea.
Before I could answer, Sal’ had set her spell in motion. With a quick flick of her outstretched wrist, the jagged crystal sped towards the dragon’s head. Well, almost towards its head. Okay, I’m giving Sal’ way too much credit. It slammed into the right wall of the tunnel about five feet from the dragon’s head, embedding itself into the smooth gray stone until only about an inch stuck out from the wall. I guess after seeing that, I could imagine what could pierce those scales. Well, if the crystal had been aimed properly at least. As it was, it sat uselessly in the wall as rocky debris from its entry clattered to the floor.
Sal’, while in the motion of immaturely stamping her foot as if throwing a temper tantrum, lost her balance and went down to her knees. At the same moment, the burning red eyes of the dragon snapped open and rock dust flew back into the air from a blast of air from its nose. Without time to consider a plan of action, I hauled Sal’ to her feet, grabbed Max in one arm, and ran down the tunnel, pulling Sal’ behind me.
“Hey, where are you guys going?” Til’ called before I heard his running footsteps start to echo behind us. Til’ was either very brave, or very stupid. At least he hadn’t stood still too much longer, because from what I could hear behind me, the dragon was now chasing us on foot.
“Well, I guess that goo wasn’t as good as you expected,” I yelled over the crashing dragon steps behind us. Dust and rock chips rained down on us from above.
Sal’ angrily pulled her robe free from my grasp, almost falling to the side as she did, and started running of her own volition beside me. “It’s not like it had been fully tested,” she muttered, almost too softly for me to hear.
“What?” I almost stumbled. “You were betting your life on an untested magic blob?”
“Drop it, Korin, or I’ll give you another haircut,” she hissed. Was that an attempt at humor, or was she really thre
atening me?
So, here we were running for our lives from a dragon whose footfalls sounded like boulders crashing down in a rockslide as it bounded through the tunnel after us. At least the untested goo was seemingly keeping it from flying or breathing fire at us. For the moment.
“Stop, and you shall live,” a voice that I could really only compare to the sound of thunder if it were shaped into words roared behind us. It seemed that Til’ had been right—the beast could talk. The bass of its voice was almost too low to make out the words, but I wasn’t trying very hard to listen anyway. I had only one thought running through my head: run.
At some point, Til’ brushed by me and I found myself lagging behind him and Sal’. That’s when my head almost became a human anvil with a clawed dragon paw coming down towards me. Dragon claws soared mere inches from me and scraped jagged chunks of rock from the wall in my peripheral vision. That pushed me to catch up to the others.
Just when I thought of giving up and testing if the dragon was telling the truth about letting us live, I saw the narrowed tunnel ahead of us at the edge of Sal’s light. Just a short sprint more and the dragon could no longer get to us. The dragon couldn’t fit into that tunnel any more than a horse could fit into a wineglass. I kept my sights on the target as I pressed on, afraid to look back at what could be my impending death.
Sal’ was the first to race into the rectangular-stoned tunnel with Til’ on her heels and me on his. Sal’ almost stopped, but I continued pushing ahead, forcing Til’ and Sal’ forward.
“Don’t stop!” I screamed as loud as I could as fear burned through me. The dragon may not have been able to fit in behind us, but its arm sure could. I had seen what its claws could do to stone. I didn’t want to learn what they could do to muscle and bone.