Claws of the Dragon

by Craig Halloran

  “Get out of my hair!”

  She untangled her arms and floated around him, poised in thought. “You know, I could shave it. Imprison you. Let it grow. Ah, yes. Shave it. Let it grow.” She rubbed his chin. “I bet you can grow the softest beard. I want you to grow that too. My, how rare it is. I mean …

  Dragon scales are valuable and rare,

  But how many dragons actually have hair?”

  She twirled around. “My blanket shall be marvelous!”

  Straining against the moorite chains, Nath yelled at her, “That’s not going to happen!” He huffed. And then curiosity got the better of him. “Now tell me, Lotuus, what are your motives?”

  She stared at him with her round black eyes. “It’s not my motives that you need to worry about, Nath Dragon. It’s the titans. You see, you might have thought Gorn Grattack was a threat to mankind, but he was still a dragon. He just wanted to convert them. I personally never liked dragon kind. So pure and arrogant. Even the ornery ones.” She huffed on her lavender fingernails and dusted them off with Nath’s hair. “Oh my, look at that shine. It’s too bad there’s only one of you.”

  Irritated, he asked, “As you were saying?”

  “Oh, yes. You see, I like the titans. They almost took this world over before, but the dragons defeated them. At that time, I thought maybe I had picked the wrong side, hence my imprisonment. But I always figured I’d get a second chance, and now we do. Thanks to you.”

  Nath frowned. It seemed that everyone spoke in riddles that he didn’t fully understand.

  His father had sent him after his mother.

  That had led him to freeing Lotuus.

  Which had led to him inadvertently freeing the titans.

  He still didn’t fully comprehend his father’s reasons, but there had to be good reasons for it. One thing was for sure, it seemed everyone knew more than he did. It frustrated him.

  “So, what makes you so certain that’ll you’ll be victorious this time when you were soundly defeated the last time?”

  Her brows perched. “Soundly defeated?”

  “Certainly. After all, my father has never been defeated, and never will be. Why do you think this time the outcome will be any different?”

  She touched his nose. “Because we have you, Nath Dragon, and not only that, we have the wurmers as well. And with leverage and greater numbers, I don’t see how anything can stop us.”

  “Let me ask you something, Lotuus. What is it that you wish to gain from all this?”

  “Control.”

  “Control. Is that what pleases you, control? In all of your years of life have you not figured out that you cannot take away free will? I’m far younger than you—and I might add, comelier too—and I’ve figured that out.”

  Lotuus frowned. “What we cannot control we will destroy.”

  “Then you will wind up with nothing. What will you control then when only misery and emptiness is your company? How will you control that growing pit in your stomach that devours you from the inside out?”

  With defiant eyes she sneered. “We will see.” She flew backward and stood on the left throne, which was so big, he barely even noticed her on it.

  The floor in the great hall started to shake under the thunder of footsteps. Behind the thrones a flaming ball of light appeared. It was a giant with a husky and roughhewn frame wearing breastplate armor like a man with his head afire with blue flames. His mighty frame filled the middle throne.

  He gazed down at Nath and said in a cavernous voice, “Son of my enemy, I am Eckubahn. Welcome to Urslay. It is Giantish for torment, and your time of torment has come.”

  CHAPTER 25

  Brenwar awoke only to find himself jailed in a stable. Hands and legs bound up, he rolled onto his belly, gathered his legs underneath him, and using the wall he pushed up to his feet.

  A cow in a nearby stable mooed.

  “Moo you,” Brenwar replied. Legs and wrists tied up, he hopped on two legs and bumped into the stable gate. He peered in between the planks. The barn was typical. A ladder led into a loft full of hay, and about two dozen stables were inside.

  Just outside of the barn’s main doors, two of the villagers stood guard. One had a pitchfork. The other had a hand axe. They were talking to each other and not paying any mind to Brenwar at all.

  He hopped backward, slipped in the straw, and tumbled down hard. He spat the straw from his mouth. “Great Morgdon.”

  Fortunately for him, his hands were bound in front of him, and it was a poor job at best. Clearly, the villagers didn’t take many prisoners. Using his bony fingertips on his skinless hand, Brenwar started picking at the threads.

  “Hmm, that’s quite a trick.”

  The sensation was on in his bony hand. He could feel with it, but there wasn’t any life to it. Still, he liked it and continued picking one tiny thread from another.

  “No one but Brenwar has a hand like this. Ho ho!”

  Though it was daytime, a few things escaped him. It wasn’t often that anything had ever knocked him out before. As a matter of fact he didn’t recall ever being knocked out before. He wondered how long he’d been out. Hopefully not more than a day. It couldn’t have been that long.

  “Certainly not.”

  Finally, the ropes on his wrists gave way. Using his dwarven strength, he snapped out of his bonds and undid the bindings on his legs. Wearing only his clothes from beneath his armor, he reached through the planks, unlatched the gate, and swung it open. He rolled his eyes as it groaned and the villager guards faced him with eyes filled with surprise.

  “Where’s my hammer?” He spat hay out of his mouth and started again, “Where’s my armor?”

  One of the villagers took off at a dead sprint.

  The other one rushed up to him with a pitchfork and got dangerously close. It was a farmer, slack-jawed and slow-eyed, with some meat on his shoulders. He said, “Get back in that stable and tie yourself up again. You’re going to stir up trouble.”

  Brenwar cocked an eyebrow at him. “Is that so, human? What are you going to do, poke me with that fork? Is that how you rump kissers feed those giants you’re in league with?”

  “We don’t have a choice.”

  “Sure you do, you corn-shucking coward. It’s called fighting, yellow belly.”

  “We can’t even hurt them,” the farmer said. He poked the pitchfork at Brenwar. “Now get back in there and be silent, before he gets here!”

  When the pitchfork jabbed at him, Brenwar snatched it away. He broke it in half with his bare hands.

  Snap!

  “Now tell me where my gear is.”

  The villager swallowed. “The giant has it.”

  “There’s just one giant?”

  The man nodded his head.

  Brenwar rubbed his beard. Sure, he could fight the giant, but they were tough to kill. He’d need the magic in his hammer or something bigger. He scanned the barn for a weapon of some sort. There was a horseshoeing station nearby with a large anvil in it. Brenwar marched over to the anvil.

  The farmer eased in behind him. “What are you thinking? I can’t help you pick that up.”

  “Did I ask fer your help?”

  “No.”

  “Then shaddup. All I need you to do is lure the giant in here. Got it?”

  The look on the farmer’s face didn’t give him any confidence. Shaking his head, Brenwar wrapped his arms around the anvil and lifted it off the pedestal. Then, in one quick cling and jerk motion he hefted it onto his shoulder.

  The farmer marveled.

  Brushing by the dumbfounded man, Brenwar made his way over to the ladder that led up into the loft. With his free hand he tugged on it and grunted. Rung by rung, he climbed the ladder like a bearded ape. Forehead bursting with sweat, he walked over the groaning planks.

  Once he was in position, Brenwar glanced down at the farmer. “Did you build this barn?”

  “No.”

  “No surprise there.”

&nbs
p; The barn tremored. Heavy footsteps approached from outside.

  The lazy farmer started to shake.

  “Just stand where you are and wait,” Brenwar ordered him.

  The man was frozen.

  Through the barn’s large doors appeared the figure of a giant. A full head taller than the opening, it stooped its head and stepped beneath the doorway. The giant was bald aside from a long ponytail that rested over its expansive back.

  Mortuun was tucked between its bearskin loincloth and waist.

  The giant eyed the villager with fearsome eyes.

  The man glanced up and started pointing at the loft, screaming, “He’s up there! The dwarf’s up there!”

  The giant’s head snapped up.

  “Hello, stupid!” Brenwar roared. Anvil hoisted over his head, he hurled the hunk of steel with wroth force. The huge missile smote the giant right between the eyes.

  It stumbled around a few paces and fell flat on its back.

  Boom!

  Brenwar hopped down from the loft and landed on the dead giant’s chest. After he retrieved Mortuun, he walked down the giant’s chest and hopped off beside its head.

  The farmer gawked. “What do we tell them when they come back and see his body?”

  “Tell them Brenwar is coming—and Mortuun is coming with him.”

  CHAPTER 26

  “So I guess you won’t be unshackling me.” Nath rattled his chains. “Well, it’s not so bad. At least it’s moorite, so it doesn’t chafe my scales. Well, what exactly is this torment going to consist of? As you can see, I’ve had a pretty rough day already.”

  Eckubahn’s fingers dug into the wooden arms of his throne. He leaned forward. “I should devour you right now.”

  “No need to be hasty. I saw goats aplenty on my way in here.” Nath searched for the titan’s eyes.

  His face could still be seen behind the flame-like aura that guarded it. The mystic flames flickered between deep-purple and bright-orange colors. Perhaps they revealed the mood the titan was in.

  Still, Nath could make out enough to see that it was an earth giant by its big facial features. A flat, broad nose and long earlobes. It was just like the ones Nath had fought as a dragon months ago. The giant was still in there but was now possessed by the spirit of a titan. Nath didn’t have a very good understanding of them still.

  Aw, I wish Bayzog were here. Well, what he didn’t tell me I guess I’ll just have to find out for myself.

  “I notice one of those thrones is empty. Did your wife leave you? Oh wait, I bet she caught on fire when she tried to kiss you.”

  Eckubahn slapped his hand down on the arm of his chair. “Silence!”

  Nath held his tongue.

  Fine, I’ll let him do all the work, then. Keep talking, giant mouth.

  The titan continued. “Torment is tearing someone apart a small piece at a time. That is what I am going to do to you. That is what I am going to do to your father. Just imagine the shock that will fill his eyes when a piece of you is delivered each week. Or each month. Perhaps once a year. So far as I am concerned, it might take forever. I’ll start with something small at first. One of your precious scales. Maybe a fingernail. A lock of your hair.”

  “I think Lotuus has dibs on the great mane,” Nath said, winking at her.

  “Quiet, you fool!” Eckubahn said. His flames turned a deep red. “This is no place for your boasts or your jests. This is the place of your inevitable death.”

  Nath’s shoulders sank. It was clear that the titan meant business. He could feel the deep hatred from where he stood. The titan’s passion for destruction seeped into his bones. Eckubahn and his followers would execute their diabolical goals and would destroy anything that stood in their way. And Nath would be his pawn.

  He wants to use me to draw my father out.

  Tapping his fingertips together, Eckubahn said, “It is going to be a delicious time. Unlike the last time, this time we have the numbers, and Balzurth will come out and fight his final battle. But it won’t matter. He won’t stand a chance.” He waved his hand.

  The stone giant who had taken Nath into custody was coming down the hallway. It walked past Nath and took a knee in front of Eckubahn. Though little shorter than the titan, the stone giant seemed much smaller by comparison. It reached into its vest and handed over Fang.

  The titan took the blade by the scabbard, studied it, put his fingers on the tiny pommel, and pulled out the sword. His fingertips sizzled and smoked. He eyed the glimmering blade, slid it back into the scabbard, and handed it over to the stone giant. “Interesting work. Take it to the Chamber of Contest. Let’s see if I have a champion who can destroy it.”

  The stone giant slid the grand sword back into his belt and started to walk away.

  On impulse, Nath stretched his hands and rushed toward the giant’s feet. The chains snapped back his neck and held him fast. He squeezed his eyes shut and thought on instinct.

  Fang! Come to me! Come!

  The stone giant’s hand fell to the sword on his belt and stopped. Glowering at Nath, he kicked him in the gut. After knocking Nath flat to the ground, the giant strode off.

  Nath pushed himself up into a sitting position and clutched his gut. He started into a fit of coughing. Gathering his thoughts, he watched the giant’s great form diminish down the hall. Subtly, he stretched his tingling fingers out again. He could feel Fang’s presence.

  The giant vanished from sight, and the sensation was lost.

  Rubbing his fingers together, Nath pondered what had just happened.

  Was that Fang I felt?

  “Do not hope, Nath Dragon,” Eckubahn stated. “There is no hope for you here.”

  Turning to face his captors, Nath said, “Yeah, I’ve had that feeling for some time now. So, what is next? What is to become of me now?” He patted his belly. “I’m a bit hungry.”

  “Interesting that you should mention it. The wurmers are hungry as well.”

  “I think you’ve made it clear you aren’t going to dispatch of me anytime soon. So what are the wurmers to me?”

  “Oh, I was not planning on letting them feast on you. Rather, I was planning on having you as my guest at their dinner. I think you will find it quite salivating.”

  Lotuus giggled.

  Nath felt his scales start to crawl. Whatever they were implying, he had a gut feeling that he didn’t want to see it.

  Eckubahn motioned again.

  Another figure emerged from the shadows behind the urns. It was the biggest lizard man he’d ever seen. It stood almost twice as tall as Nath.

  The bigger they are, the more I hate them. What is going on in this place? Why is everyone so humongous but me!

  The lizard man unhooked Nath from the rings on the floor and held the chain attached to his collar like a leash. With a powerful tug, he jerked Nath off his feet and onto the ground and started dragging Nath down the hall.

  Nath, ever deft, fought to get back on his feet until he was finally walking again. He glanced over his shoulder.

  Eckubahn still sat, but Lotuus was on the move. She floated after him with a ruthless smile on her lips.

  How can someone so beautiful be so ugly within?

  “I guess I’ll be having the displeasure of your company?”

  “You’ll be having displeasure for certain,” she said. “And this is only the beginning of your suffering.”

  “For the life of me I cannot grasp why people like you are so intent on harming people like me. And I’ve known plenty of fairies to be contrary. This spite that you share is a shame to your kind.”

  “You dragons are so arrogant. You think you are so much better than everyone. A little humility would suit you quite well.”

  “Do me a favor, Lotuus, please. Give me an example of a dragon wronging you.”

  Her pleasant features hardened with concentration.

  “Funny, I didn’t hear you say anything,” Nath said. “Could you speak a little louder?”

&nbs
p; I knew she didn’t have anything. They never do!

  Lotuus then blurted out, “You think you are so perfect!”

  “I don’t think I’m perfect. I mean, sure”—he flicked his mangled mane—“I look perfect on the outside, but I have flaws on the inside. I just keep them to myself. Unlike your kind, that lets all the ugly out.”

  “I embrace my passions. Why shouldn’t I?”

  “Because they are misdirected and harmful,” he replied.

  “Says your kind.” She sneered at him. “My kind says, ‘I’ll do whatever I want, whenever I want, to whomever I want. If it is my heart’s desire, so be it.’”

  “You’re a bitter little thing with a wicked little heart.”

  “Says you. Who cares?”

  Nath sealed his lips shut as the giant-sized lizard man led them back into the streets. It was clear that arguing with Lotuus wouldn’t get him anywhere. She was no doubt a petty and stiff-necked thing. It reminded him of how Selene used to be. He decided to change the subject. Watching the influx of over-sized people in his life, he asked, “Lotuus, honestly, where are all these giants coming from?”

  She showed a smiling sliver of teeth. “Oh, you are a wonder, aren’t you Nath Dragon? Noticed that all by yourself, did you? Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret that just might ruin your trousers. Not only do the wurmers populate fast, but the giants are populating fast as well.”

  “You’re joking.”

  “No, not at all.”

  Loud chanting came from inside a humongous archway where the lizard man stopped and tugged on Nath’s neck chain. It led him to an indoor arena. The seats went downward and were carved from hard stone.

  Nath’s head sagged. He could smell it. The greasy skin and sweat build-up and foul moisture in the room.

  Oh, surprise, another arena.

  CHAPTER 27

  Thousands of people filled the seats, with a minority of giants scattered all about. They all pounded on their chairs, chanted, and smacked their hands together.