Oh no, the potions are wearing off!
CHAPTER 10
Sensing the coming change of the tide of battle, Nath met up with Laylana beside the strongbox. He rummaged through the vials. “Aw, I’m never sure which potion does what.”
“Let me give it a look,” a newcomer said. It was Ben. He was puffing for breath. His sword rested on his sagging shoulders. He had nasty wounds all over. “I could really use one of those yellow ones.”
Nath flicked a vial over to Ben. “You really are a glutton for punishment, aren’t you Ben?”
He drank down the vial and said, “What can I say? No one can take a better beating than me. Nath, what are we going to do? There are still too many.”
“I have a feeling that even if we drank all of these potions, it still wouldn’t be enough.”
Stepping forward, Ben said, “I volunteer.”
“Volunteer for what?”
“To drink all of the potions.”
“Don’t be silly. That would kill you.”
“Look!” Laylana said. She pointed at the sky.
The wurmer forces that still dove and attacked broke off the aerial assault. Their long necks twisted toward the black clouds. Their loud, intimidating ree-rah sound fell silent when the clouds lit up with fire.
Nath lifted up on his toes. “Can it be?”
A dragon dropped out of the clouds. He glided with a host of other dragons behind him, but none were bigger than him. His scales were armor of many metallic colors, his wings were huge and black. He was larger than the flying fortress sky raiders but smaller than the tremendous landlocked Hull dragons.
“Guzan!” Nath Screamed. “Yes! It’s Guzan!”
The wurmers, led by the biggest of their buzzing brood, spearheaded an attack on Guzan. Even the ones that battled on the ground broke free of the melee and launched themselves into the air with angry shrieks.
But Guzan wasn’t alone. Behind him were dragons of all sorts: cinnamon-colored crimson dynamos, steel dragons with scales like plated mail armor, golden flames... There weren’t just dozens of them like the last time Nath encountered Guzan. This time there were hundreds.
In a gust of fiery breath, Guzan set dozens of the much smaller wurmers on fire. They dropped from the sky like flaming raindrops.
The elves and dwarves let out a rousing cheer. The slaughter of the wurmers in the sky became jubilation.
“Oh, if I could only be up there!” Nath said. Rerry and Samaz had returned to normal and gathered by his side. Also with him were Ben and Laylana. “I want to fly! I need to be a dragon again!”
The golden flame dragons wove a path of destruction through the wurmers with the agility of cats. Their long golden claws fileted the evil spawn. Their breath weapon—a cone of radiant energy—knocked the scales from the wurmers’ backs.
The steel dragons—every bit the size of bull dragons but a bit leaner—ripped up the wurmers with devastating effect.
The sky became fireworks of death and devastation. The colors were so bright and the sounds so thunderous and powerful that the people around Nath shielded their eyes and covered their ears. A burning wurmer crashed through the stands. Another one fell on top of it. It wasn’t all wurmers, though. Many dragons met their doom. Dozens of them spiraled from the sky, covered in the vicious wurmers, driving them to the grave. When they hit, they hit hard. The elves and dwarves went to work, finishing off any wurmer that might have survived the fall.
Nath and his comrades did what they could.
When the frightening battle ended, all of the wurmers were dead, but hosts of the dragons still remained.
Guzan glided down from the sky. He made a soft landing in the middle of the fort. His body crushed all of the dead beneath him. Guzan’s magnificent form was very much like Balzurth’s.
“I can’t thank you enough, Guzan. If you hadn’t come to our aid, we would have been slaughtered.”
Guzan shook his head up and down. With a quick flick, he slung a gored wurmer from his horns. With his thoughts, he spoke to Nath. My name parts from your lips many times. I came by to tell you to curb your use of it.
“Guzan, I apologize, I never meant any offense by it.”
The grand dragon’s throat rumbled with laughter. I tease with you, young king. The honor is mine. Nath, I am sorry for the loss of your father. He was always a dear brother of mine. The truth is, I was more than eager to lock my horns in this battle. I was more than eager to come to your aid. I’m glad you called. With his head, he gestured toward the other dragons. Some had landed. Others roamed the skies. We all are. The death of Balzurth left a foul taste in all of our mouths.
Nath took a moment to soak in the heat that radiated from Guzan’s body. It was like bathing in the warmth of the sun. “So, I can count on you then, to help in the fight against the titans and to take back Dragon Home? I’ll need your help convincing others to fight. Certainly there are more of us than them. We must rally.”
Nath, I will do what I can, but know this. The dragons, possibly the better part of them, will struggle to follow a dragon who is still a man.
Nath frowned.
Guzan tilted Nath’s chin up with his claw. Keep your head up, Nath. Even your father had trouble corralling the dragons when he needed them, and he was all dragon.
“If he couldn’t do it, I can’t imagine how I’m going to do it.” He shrugged and looked over his arms and legs. “Not like this, for certain.”
Nath, I’ve never seen Nalzambor in the midst of such peril. This outlandish horde threatens to destroy the entire world. Nothing will survive. Nath, whatever you have to do, you must do it. All of the good in Nalzambor depends on it. Guzan’s wings spread out and beat against the wind. His clawed feet lifted from the ground. Find a way, Nath Dragon. You must find a way!
As all the dragons departed through the smoky vapors of battle in the sky, Bayzog approached. He had Sasha’s limp body cradled in his arms.
Rerry and Samaz rushed over to their father. “What’s wrong with Mother?”
CHAPTER 11
“She lives, children.” Bayzog’s smooth skin was crinkled behind the eyebrows. Sasha, on the other hand, looked like she’d been struck by a bolt of lightning. Her robes were seared. Her hair was frizzy. “She took a very deadly shot from Lotuus.”
In a gentle grip, Nath took Sasha by the wrist. “Her heartbeat is very strong. No surprise, seeing how she is such a strong woman.”
“Indeed,” Bayzog replied. He lowered Sasha to the ground. Rerry and Samaz tended to her. The sons were on either side, patting her arms and holding her hands.
“Will she wake up, Father?” Rerry asked. “And where is Lotuus? Tell me you killed her.”
Leaning on his staff, Bayzog shook his head. “I’m afraid she escaped.” The wizard’s robes were tattered and had several burn holes in them.
Nath gave Bayzog a little nudge in the shoulder. “Don’t feel bad, Bayzog. We’ll get her. The important thing is that your wife lives.”
“I know, Nath, but I had her. So close.” Bayzog made a fist and shook it. “It’s too dangerous to leave one like that living.”
Sasha coughed and sputtered. Her eyes opened. With a lazy look, she said, “I feel like all of my bones are separated from the joints. Tell me it isn’t so, children.”
With his hair hanging in his eyes, Samaz said, “You’re fully intact, Mother.”
“I don’t feel like I am.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Oh, my head hurts. It hasn’t felt this bad since the first and last time I drank dwarven ale.”
Rerry chuckled. “You drank dwarven ale? You?”
Sasha shushed him with a feeble motion of her hand. “Please, don’t speak so loud.”
With his finger digging in his ear, Ben walked up and said, “I know what you mean, Sasha, my ears are ringing too. Boy, the things we go through for the ones we love. It’s painful sometimes, isn’t it?” He handed her a yellow potion.
She drank it down. “I couldn�
�t have said it better myself, Ben. Love hurts, but it’s worth it.” Sasha took her sons by the hands. “Help me up now.”
Gently, they brought her to her feet. “Thank you.” She hugged them both. Bayzog joined them.
“Ah, isn’t that touching,” Brenwar stated. He and Glenwar marched right toward them. The father and son were splattered from head to toe in wurmer guts. Patches of beard and the coarse hair on their arms were missing. “The fight isn’t over yet.”
“What do you mean, Brenwar?” Nath asked.
With a thumb over the shoulder, Brenwar said, “Look yonder. Many of my kin and the elves are possessed. What’s left of us are trying to corral them without killing them.” He grumbled. “There aren’t so many left of us, however.”
Across the field of corpses—dragons, dwarves, elves and wurmers—a nasty scuffle broke out among the two races. Black-eyed elves and dwarves struck out against their brethren.
Nath’s jaws clenched. “That’s a problem, all right.”
“I think I know what to do, Nath.” Bayzog held out the Elderwood Staff and something else: the Orb of Command. “I believe I can dispel them.”
“That’s an awful lot of power in your little old hands, Bayzog.” Nath studied the eerie swirl in the black sphere. “Ofttimes, things that powerful do more harm than good.”
“I know, but what choice to we have? I…we have to try something.”
With Fang still in hand, Nath said, “Do what you must, but I’m staying close. Glenwar, Laylana, have your forces corral the possessed. Quickly. I don’t want any of them escaping.”
It took less than an hour for the soldiers to corral their brethren who were possessed by the spirits. The soldiers had them encircled. Dwarves and elves hissed like snakes and hurled foul insults at their kindred. Facing the angry throng, Bayzog took to the stands and spread his arms wide. The Elderwood Staff was in one hand and the Orb of Command in the other. He began to speak in mystic Elven.
A chill wind picked up, standing up the hairs on Nath’s neck. A tingling sensation ran up his arms. I’m not sure I like this.
An arc of energy leapt from the orb to the staff, connecting them. The fiery jewel mounted in the top of the Elderwood Staff burned like brilliant starlight. The courtyard was washed over in light as bright as day. Bayzog’s eyes were fires of violet. In ancient Elven, he spoke with power. “Begone, evil spirits! Nalzambor take you! Begone!”
The possessed elves and dwarves howled, moaned, and screeched.
Laylana wrapped her arms around Nath. Eyes big as the moon, she trembled.
Apparitions floated out of the bedeviled bodies, swirling and twisting in the air. The shapeless ghosts howled in ear-piercing screams that could freeze the marrow in men’s bones. Bayzog’s light became stronger, the spirits’ wailings weaker. One by one, the spirits turned into puffs of smoke.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
Bayzog’s words of power ended. The crystal in the Elderwood Staff faded. The glow of the Orb of Command went out. Bayzog’s shoulders slumped. He wobbled and fell.
Samaz caught him just before his head hit the stands.
Brenwar grunted. “Humph, a little bump on the head might have done him some good.”
CHAPTER 12
Selene, Sansla, and Gorlee sloshed their way to the other side of the stream. The fog had finally lifted. Gorlee had returned to human form. The changeling clutched at his side and rubbed his ribs.
Selene gave him a hand out of the water. “How are you, Gorlee?”
He didn’t reply. Instead, he sat down on the bank a few yards away from the stream, gawping at the stone giants lying dead in the water that rushed over their protruding heads, elbows, and knees as if they were part of the rocks of the landscape.
“They’re stone giants. Now that they’re dead, they’ll petrify and become one with the lands.” Sansla flapped the water from his wings. “All of the fallen return to Nalzambor from where they came.”
Selene scanned the sky. “Do you think Tylabahn is gone?”
“It’s difficult to say, but if she survived, it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if she revealed herself in some monstrous form. Perhaps she’ll show up in a bear or something. Though I doubt such a creature could hold her for long.” Sansla kneeled down beside Gorlee and laid a hand on the changeling’s shoulder. “That was impressive, what you did.”
Jerking away, Gorlee said, “Get off of me!”
Hands up, Sansla said, “Easy now.” His eyes slid over to Selene’s.
She saw his uneasy look. “Perhaps he needs a drink. I imagine the battle was very stressful.”
“Sorry,” Gorlee said, shaking his head. His body quavered. “Sansla, I apologize. I just have the jitters. My skin… Oh, how should I put it? …is sensitive. I’ll be fine. Just give me a few moments.”
“Certainly.” Sansla backed away and shrugged his eyebrows at Selene.
She’d dealt with Gorlee before and had a good grasp of his powers. She’d even gone as far as taking control of him. Had used him to fool Nath Dragon by having Gorlee pretend to be Sasha. Before that, Gorlee had fallen into her hands when he posed as Nath Dragon. He hadn’t fooled her then, and if something was wrong with Gorlee, he wouldn’t fool her now. “Gorlee, when the titan fell, did you notice anything strange? Was there a shudder or a separation that you felt?”
“There was something.” Gorlee combed his fingers through his hair. “It was like what you say. The entire body shook when I took it down. Something angry passed right through me, turning my stomach inside out. Then it was gone.” He rubbed his mouth. “I don’t remember a few of those seconds after the battle. I just remember wading in the water.” He looked up at Selene. “I was following the two of you. I’ll tell you this though, I’m bushed.” He fell back in the reeds. “Just give me a few minutes to rest my eyes.”
Before Selene could get another word out, Gorlee started softly snoring. “Well, that was easier than putting a baby down to sleep.” The sky cleared in several places, and the distant stars twinkled from beyond. Scattered rainclouds moved quickly through the night, with a rumble of thunder here and there. “Any thoughts on the next step, Sansla?”
“Perhaps we should continue toward Narnum. If Tylabahn survived, she’ll certainly head that way. There should be some signs of her if she makes it very far, which I imagine a spirit as powerful as her could. At least fortune is on our side, putting us in such a remote area.”
“I agree. No doubt she’ll try to take over any varmint she can, but I don’t think they can control much of those mindless things. We just better hope that she doesn’t find anything formidable from here to there. As a matter of fact, we must see to it.” She cracked her neck from side to side. Looking at Gorlee, she said, “I hate to admit it, but I could use some rest myself. What about you?”
“I don’t sleep,” said Sansla. “Please, take your rest. I’ll keep watch over the both of you.”
“How is your shoulder?” Selene said, taking a seat in the tall grasses.
Rolling his shoulder, Sansla’s lips curled a little. “It’s been better. It should be healed by morning.”
“Good. Sansla, I don’t normally require rest myself.”
“I thought all dragons were known for their long slumbers.”
“Some, yes, like Nath, but not all. If I haven’t awoken before dawn, don’t hesitate to shake me. And if Gorlee wakes, wake me as well. I just need for my mind and eyes to relax a few moments. It shouldn’t take too much time.”
Sansla gave her a firm nod and politely said, “I understand, Selene.”
She lay back with her sword resting over her chest, staring up at the sky. Sansla’s hulking form moved away and vanished from the corner of her eye. She’d begun to trust Sansla. He was stalwart, honest, and brave. Despite the curse of his scary appearance, he still chose good over evil. It was clear that he could have gone another way. Certainly, he must have been tempted to.
His own kind rejected him, yet he still
cares for them. I can’t say I would do the same.
She curled up in the grass and used her tail for a pillow.
I want to trust people, I really do, but I must redeem myself before they trust me. Even then, there won’t be any guarantees.
CHAPTER 13
The wreckage at the Corridor was mortifying. Elves and dwarves by the thousands had died. Their broken bodies were carried away, with great care, into the surrounding plains. The dwarves were taken beyond the boundary of Morgdon. The elves hauled their dead off through the gates of Elome. The preparation had gone on for days.
Nath and Ben stood inside open graves, shoveling out the dirt.
“How are you feeling, Ben?” Nath asked as he scooped out a shovelful of dirt and flung it aside.
Wiping the sweat from his brow with his forearm, Ben stopped what he was doing. “I hate to complain, Nath, but my back feels like it’s on fire. I’m tempted to stop digging, but the aching is another reminder that I’m alive.” He looked around. “Heh, I didn’t want Brenwar to hear me saying that. He might think I was taking a shine to him.”
“Dwarves don’t shine,” Nath said, making a grim smile. “Don’t worry, I don’t think you’ll see him on the side of the elven graves. He’ll have his hands full on his side of the boundary.” Nath noted the hollow look in Ben’s eyes. The old soldier’s gaze followed the endless rows of graves. “You’ve dug many graves, haven’t you.”
“Huh? Oh, yes, too many. When you were gone all those years, I did plenty of soldiering. I buried more dead than most could count. I can only name the ones I knew, but I never forget any of their faces. I had troubled sleep for years because of it. Nath, is it a good thing to harden your heart so that you are not disturbed by those things? So many are dead, but I haven’t shed a tear. It doesn’t seem right.”
“It’s not right or wrong, Ben. We all deal with grief differently so that we can cope with it.” Nath felt a flutter in his heart. His throat tightened. “It hurts me knowing that so many died and I couldn’t stop it. All I know is that the elves and dwarves had faith. They lived life based off what they believed, and they were ready to die for it. I find comfort knowing they’re in a better place now.” He looked up into the clouds. “I’m sure they’re watching, so do them honor and make nice graves for their bodies.”
Judgment of the Dragon (Book 7 of 10): Dragon Fantasy Series (Tail of the Dragon) Page 4