Dragon's Eye

by Robin Joy Wirth

  “You know I will,” she answered with an evil smile, brandishing her wand like a weapon. Seeing this, Lancelot couldn’t help but smile.

  The pair of them stepped cautiously through the doorway and on into the small cave beyond. The lack of opposition as they entered seemed almost anti-climactic.

  They looked around, and found another opening beyond, and the sound of a waterfall echoed off the walls of the new cavern as they stepped inside.

  “Well, at least we know there’s water around here somewhere,” said Felicity with a smirk. “If we find the waterfall, it’ll probably be untouched. That amount of water has to be fed from an external source.”

  “Yes, unless of course it’s been contaminated from somewhere above,” said Lance as he took her hand in his. “This cave seems like it is pretty deep under the mountain. In any case, I may know a spell to decontaminate the water once it’s been obtained. Let’s follow the sound to its source, shall we?”

  Felicity nodded her agreement to this plan. “They didn’t teach us that spell in school,” she said. “I’d like to learn it sometime, if you’d be willing to show me.”

  “I’d be willing to show you a lot of things,” Lance smirked against her hair as he leaned in to kiss the top of her head.

  “I’ll bet you would,” she answered with a grin.

  Their footsteps echoed softly as they trudged along, and after a while Felicity stopped and looked around curiously.

  She doused her wand, and motioned for Lance to do the same. At first he gave her a puzzled frown, but when he looked around yet again, the light had not diminished.

  “What is going on here

  “I read about this in a book once,” she explained. “It’s some sort of lichen that grows deep within the earth. It gives off a glow of sorts. We must be nearing the water for so much of it to be growing here.”

  “At least it gives our arms a rest,” he said as he slid his wand into his belt, and watched as Felicity slid her own back into the side of her boot. “Hopefully, it’s not too much farther to the water now. The rest of my body could use a break as well.”

  THIRTY-TWO

  Felicity’s feet were aching by the time they found the waterfall, and by the way Lancelot had slowed and begun to limp, she was certain his were aching as well. With a smile, she kicked off her boots and headed for the water.

  “Hey, don’t you want to make sure that water is safe, first?” Lance asked tiredly as he grasped at a stitch in his side.

  “I’ll test it with my toes,” she told him with a grimace.

  “Stay right there,” Lance admonished her, and waved his wand at the cascading liquid. “It’s drinkable, but plenty cold. I’ll bet it comes from some mountain spring very far above here, but apparently it has not been unduly contaminated by any sort of unwanted dragonly ingredients along the way.”

  “That’s good,” said Felicity with obvious disinterest as she sat on the ledge.

  Her feet plunged into the water that lapped at the rocky outcropping with a slapping sound, and she wondered if the little lake was fed from below as well as above. The cold felt lovely.

  “Maybe you should join me, Lance,” she suggested with a smile over her shoulder. “You look like you could use it.”

  “Not quite yet, love,” he told her with a slight blush. “I need to find a place of my own to pollute first.”

  She hadn’t really considered his meaning until he disappeared behind one of the rocks. Soon, she had figured it out whether she wanted to or not.

  “Ew, Lance, this is an enclosed area,” Felicity complained as she held her nose.

  “Well, I’m sorry, but if you can point me in the direction of the nearest men’s room, I’m quite willing to go there instead,” he called back from behind the stalagmite.

  “Yes, I can see your point,” she agreed, though she was still not very happy about it. “I’m rather surprised I haven’t felt the need to do that myself.”

  “Much better,” said Lance as he came out to join her. He bent down and dipped his hands into the water to wash them. “Whoa, that’s cold.”

  Felicity chuckled. “I think it feels wonderful on my sore toes.”

  “Hm, let’s have a look,” said Lance with a grin. He took one of her feet out of the water and started sucking a toe, making Felicity squeal and try to get away.

  “Stop that!”

  “But I wanted an icicle,” he teased her. “Don’t soak in that stuff overlong, Felicity. It’s very cold, and we’ve no place to get warm when you’re finished.”

  “I suppose not,” she conceded as she pulled the other foot out as well. Using her wand, she warmed and dried her feet, and then the two of them stepped off the rock and found a place to sit down.

  “How long do you suppose we’ve been down here now?” Felicity asked Lance with a slight frown. “I’m worried we’re going to come back out of here and discover that twenty years went by or something.”

  “I hardly think so,” Lance scoffed.

  “But Amaranth is a Mage, you know, and she’s been down here for a very long time. How do you know she hasn’t altered the passage of time somehow?”

  “Has anyone ever told you that sometimes you over-think things way too much?” Lancelot asked as he laid his head on her lap and closed his eyes.

  “Oh, so now I’m the pillow?” she chuckled. “That hardly seems fair.”

  “It’s perfectly fair, my dear,” he told her. “You turned me into the pillow last time.”

  “I might have done,” Felicity admitted with a chuckle. “But that’s because you make such a good one.”

  “Good, so we’re in agreement,” Lance said with a satisfied smirk, his eyes still closed. “You get to be the pillow.” Then he scooted up a bit higher so that her pert breasts became the pillow in question, and cast her a devilish grin.

  “You know, you’ve got quite a habit of making agreements with yourself, haven’t you?” Felicity commented as she settled herself more comfortably and laced her fingers into his hair.

  “Of course I do,” he answered. “It’s what wizards do best.”

  The two of them drifted off to sleep. Hours could have passed, and neither of them would have cared. All that mattered just then was their comfortable nap in each other’s arms.

  Felicity cracked open her eyes sometime later and moaned softly as she became aware of what Lance was doing. He had her shirt pushed up out of the way and had proceeded to feast on her breasts with slow, deft movements that left her feeling quite aroused.

  “Felicity!” he whispered when he realized she’d awakened, and he crawled up her body to reach her lips.

  “What are you up to, Master Jones?” she whispered huskily.

  “That’s the trouble,” he told her between kisses. “I appear to be quite up for anything.”

  “Oh!” she gasped as he gently prodded her with the part of him he was talking about. Her first reaction was a heady desire to rip open his pants for a feast of her own. Of course, she did not do it, however much the thought appealed to her.

  “This is not what we should be doing right now,” he whimpered against her lips. “We’re in the middle of a bloody underground cave trying to figure out how to get a Grimoire, and sweet as you may be, I’ve got to get a handle on this thing.”

  “Maybe we could—” Felicity began, but blushed profusely rather than finishing her thought.

  “Could what?”

  “Maybe I could make it feel a little better?” she suggested as her fingers slid down his bicep and forearm, and then she took his hand in hers. “I mean, just because I’ve only ever read about it doesn’t mean I don’t—grasp the concept.”

  Lance groaned when she released his hand and slid her palm down his belly instead, her fingers slowly heading for his throbbing flesh. Before she touched him there, however, he caught her hand in his again.

  “As sweet as that thought might be, love, I believe we have lingered here longer than we should already,” he
said.

  “Just let me,” she whispered against his lips. “You don’t want to walk around in this condition all day, do you?”

  Her hand escaped his, and found what it was looking for. She stroked him through the fabric of his pants, and Lance shuddered. He writhed with need as he let her do as she pleased, groaning softly when she found a spot that felt particularly good.

  “Right there?” she whispered urgently, rubbing him even more.

  “Gods, yes,” he breathed.

  His hands came down to undo his fly, and her fingers crept inside, giving him the attention he craved. But Felicity was decidedly not satisfied with using her hand alone, and she began to slowly kiss her way down his body.

  Lance groaned and laced a shaky hand through her hair as she reached her destination. Her sweet lips and tongue began to work their magic upon his eager flesh.

  “Felicity!” he gasped. “Oh, my sweetest girl!”

  It wasn’t long before he cried out with his release, and Felicity discovered the taste she’d been so curious about. She let the liquid slide down her throat with a satisfied swallow.

  Lance dragged her into his arms again, kissing her fiercely. She thought he was never going to let her go.

  “Did I do it right?” she chuckled wryly.

  “Vixen,” he panted as he let her breathe again. “You know that you did. Come on, my girl, if we don’t start walking now I might end up wanting even more.”

  Laughing, Felicity got to her feet and pulled him up with her. She zipped his pants closed and patted his belly.

  “There, all covered up and ready to go,” she chuckled.

  “Woman, stop touching me now,” he told her. “You are too tempting by far, especially after that little revelation.”

  “Hm?” she asked with a raised brow. “What revelation do you mean?”

  “Never mind,” he smirked. “I’ll tell you another time.”

  “All right,” she agreed. “But I think I’m going to need to have a scroll of vellum as well.”

  Lancelot grinned and laughed as he shouldered his bag, and stopped by the waterfall to fill their canteen as the two of them began to walk again. He’d never felt so content in his entire life.

  THIRTY-THREE

  Not too many minutes later, they reached the other end of the waterfall cavern they’d been traversing. Another door similar to the first one they’d entered through loomed before them. Lancelot attempted to open it, but to no avail.

  “Don’t tell me we’re going to have to go all the way back,” he grumbled as he looked the thing over.

  “I think not,” Felicity protested, grimacing at the very thought. “Hand me that dragon book for a moment, will you?”

  “Felicity Lake, you can’t be serious. You are not going to read that silly book while we’re stuck in this cave,” he complained.

  “I have no intention of reading it, my dear,” she told him brightly. “Now please, just let me have it. I have a suspicion it might come in handy right about now.”

  With a bit of misgivings, Lancelot pulled free the dragon lore book and set it in Felicity’s outstretched hand. She did not open it, but merely held it in her hand as she leaned forward and examined the door.

  “What are you doing, my sweet?” asked Lancelot curiously.

  “Ha!” Felicity exclaimed. “I thought as much. The dragon’s eye symbol on the front of the book exactly matches the symbol that’s embedded right here.”

  Lancelot looked, but he couldn’t see anything but smooth rock, and the face of the book looked smooth as well.

  “I don’t see any symbols,” he told her. “Are you sure about this?”

  “Don’t be silly,” she grumbled as she set the book against the unyielding stone. “Both symbols are clearly there. I cannot fathom why you’d fail to notice either one of them.”

  They both heard a soft click, but only Felicity heard the words that followed.

  “Welcome, dragon-born,” said a gravelly sort of voice. To Lance, it sounded more like the hiss of a serpent, not unlike the ones they’d been hearing all along. Felicity somehow knew he had not understood.

  Curious, Felicity shook her head as if to clear it. She had no idea what the guardian meant, to have called her dragon-born, but she did not bother to question it in any way lest it changed its mind about letting them pass.

  “What on earth just happened?” Lancelot wanted to know.

  “I’m not quite sure,” she admitted, but then the door began to slide open in their direction. The two of them stepped back to avoid it, and then entered the opening it created with a small degree of caution.

  At first as they cleared the door, the place seemed pitch black. The pair of them had to stand still to let their eyes adjust while the door slid shut again. Then, they began to see shapes in the dark.

  They stood on a ledge that seemed to go on forever, but was not two meters wide. As they traced it with their eyes, the light began to brighten around them.

  They discovered that the entire cavern they’d entered was covered in the lichen that they’d first found near the waterfall. However, it seemed to grow in much greater quantities here, casting a greenish-blue glow over the entire expanse that stretched out before them.

  “How curious,” said Felicity as she looked at it for a moment. “It almost seems as though the lichen can tell we’re here, and knows to light the way accordingly.”

  “Careful, Felicity, that’s a very long drop,” Lancelot cautioned as she stepped closer to the edge of the platform on which they stood, hoping to get a better look at the chasm.

  “Just how long, I wonder,” she commented. She brought out her wand with the intention of using it to inspect things a bit more, but found that she could not produce a glow. “Lance, does your wand work in here?”

  “No, it doesn’t appear to,” he answered worriedly. “It looks like we’re going to have to follow this cliff face completely on foot. Tread carefully, love. I wouldn’t want to lose you down that chasm after all we’ve been through.”

  “That goes for you, too,” she reminded him with a sweet smile as she turned and came to kiss his cheek. “Come on, then. We must be at least halfway there by now.”

  “I hope you’re right,” he answered. “I’m bloody well tired of this mountain already.”

  Felicity chuckled as she led the way. Lancelot’s frown turned upside down despite himself.

  Hugging the wall as closely as possible, the two of them set off in the direction of the glowing light. At times, the ledge narrowed so much that Lance had to place a pike and tie the rope to it to get them across.

  “Hold fast, love,” he told Felicity on one such occasion when she appeared to be slipping. He made sure she was securely on the ledge first before he made any attempt to cross himself. The pike came loose just as Lancelot made it to the other side.

  “Lance!” Felicity gasped, lying flat to reach for him as he caught the edge of another ledge a few feet down. With her help, he managed to grasp the ledge she was on and pull himself up.

  “That was close,” he said with a healthy shudder. “Come on, sweetheart, let’s keep going. I don’t want to have any time to think that little adventure over.”

  “Is it just me, or does the light seem entirely too bright now?” said Felicity as they turned to go. “It’s almost blinding.”

  “Try not to look directly into it,” said Lance as he covered the top of his eyes and turned to face the wall. “If you let it, it will prevent your eyes from working well enough to see the ledge.”

  Felicity nodded her agreement, and the two proceeded with their eyes covered as much as possible until the cavern darkened slightly again. Felicity was the first to notice this.

  “I think we can open our eyes now,” she told Lance, and he uncovered his face.

  “We must be close now,” he told her. “I can hear dragon voices.”

  “Yes, so do I,” she agreed.

  Scooting around a bend, Lance stopped shor
t and turned his head back to her. “I think we’re here, Felicity,” he told her. “I can see a ledge across the chasm. It’s full of dragons.”

  “Can you see a way across?” she wanted to know.

  “We’re going to have to climb down to it, I’m afraid,” he told her. Then Felicity rounded the bend as well, and saw what he was talking about. Several meters below was a sort of bridge that would allow them to reach the other side. However, the downward slope to reach it looked rather treacherous.

  “Felicity, have I ever told you how beautiful you are?” he inquired breathlessly as he set a pike into the wall.

  “You might have done,” she chuckled. “But why bring that up right now?”

  “You know, in case it’s the last chance I get to say it again,” he answered as sweat broke out on his brow. “Wait here while I try to tie the line at the other end, love, and I’ll tug on it when it’s secure. I don’t want you to be in any danger of falling.”

  “All right,” she agreed, but as he was going to move forward onto the line, she drew him back in for a moment to give him a kiss. As he swung away, she felt the next words literally rip from her throat. “I love you.”

  Lance hung freely from the rope for a moment and smiled back at her. “Of course you do,” he told her. “What kind of an adventure would this be if you didn’t?”

  As he slid down, Felicity laughed and shook her head. She was not the least bit surprised by his response.

  She was relieved greatly when she saw the rope jiggle. She deftly moved forward and grabbed it, sliding quickly down to the other end. Lancelot helped her onto the ledge with him, then held her tightly to his side as they stepped forward.

  Dragons of every shape and color milled about, and they silently moved apart for the humans, clearing a path that led to the platform on which a wide, tall throne rose upwards from the floor. A thick mist that shrouded the area parted, allowing them to see the largest dragon of them all.

  Amaranth.

  THIRTY-FOUR