by James Patton
Midnight laughed again, and she realized he was enjoying his teaching moment. He continued to point out things as they walked towards the large building.
“Not sewers, trenches. Just duck into one if dragons invade, and all of them lead to that central building up there. Dwarves built most of this, and the city underground about… ten years ago. Minot was finally able to raise enough resources to hire them. Valoh has bunkers, but they do not have the funds to hire the dwarves, which is why most of their buildings are above ground.”
The cobbled stone road shimmered like a type of quartz, but it did not look like stone. Quarried stone had distinct markings, like those made from a metal tool. These were more like molded bricks.
“The dwarves call it nacre.” Midnight told her. “It is highly resistant to Elemental Magic, and an invasion of any kind will have a hard time taking this place.”
“What is nacre made of?”
“Only the dwarves know. All I know is they use seashells and magic, the rest of the ingredients are unknown.”
Oddly, it all made sense. Nations would have an airforce as their primary military unit. Dragons were too abundant not to do so. The world adjusted its way of life to accommodate threat. The nearby river would provide fresh water, and then there were farms and the sea which provided plenty of food. Building underground had advantages, but she wondered if they could maintain a siege or not.
“And I’m assuming the city is protected from sappers? Or demolition?”
“The city is built into solid rock. I’m sure someone could collapse the ceilings with some effort, but that would not take out the homes. And each section of the city is in a separate cavern. You will understand soon enough.”
“What about that area out there?” She asked, pointing towards where Midnight landed. It looked like the bedding grounds in Valoh. “If the city is underground, why is that there?”
“Dragons do not like to be underground, and we prefer to sleep under the open sky. That big building is the Lodge, and it’s a common enough term in most cities. It is also the main entrance to the city below, and if you stay long enough, you’ll probably find the other entrances. The Lodge serves as a launching platform too, and a contingent of dragons will usually rest up top during the night. Despite what you’ve seen, it is not easy for a dragon to take off from the ground.”
North of the town, she saw a bluff, maybe a hundred feet high. It was part of a hill amongst a sea of hills. She saw the moss-covered stone and the rough terrain and wondered if it was even passable in the winter.
Midnight made it to the intersection ahead and turned left towards the Lodge. Something niggled at the back of her mind, a sense of wrongness. It took a full minute before she realized what was bothering her.
“Where is everyone?” Boh asked Midnight.
“They-” Midnight turned his head, peering around. “Hop off. Stay alongside me, away from the bluff.”
The place looked intact, and she saw no bodies or blood. Up close, all but one of the buildings looked like warehouses. The exception had a lot of windows and looked more like a hotel. The only thing out of place was the lack of anything living.
“Young one, reach into my pouch and grab a weapon. They aren’t magical like the rifle you used, but— they are special to me. Treat them well.” Midnight told her.
Moving closer, she used his extended leg to climb up and reach into the saddlebag. Inside she found a Luger, which she slipped into one of the holsters on her hip. Then grabbed several clips and slid them into the belt slots built just for them. Grabbing extra rounds, she pushed them into the slots on her belt too. Next, she found a knife with a brass knuckle grip. It looked brutal.
The knife was in a sheath that attached to her leg, so she buckled it on quickly and then drew both weapons to inspect them.
Toil
- Brand: Luger
- Type: Handgun [1H]
- Speed: Semi-Automatic [Toggle-lock]
- Damage: 5% to opponents max health.
- Sight: Iron
- Clip: [Upgraded] Modified to use 15 round clips
- Set: Toil & Trouble - Bonus: Quick Draw - you draw weapons 10% faster.
- Requirements: 1 Str, 2 Agi
Trouble
- Brand: AUS-6 (Trench Knife)
- Type: Double-edged Blade
- Grip: Heavy-duty knuckle guard with skull crusher (a spike on the bottom of the hilt)
- Length: 11 inches (Blade is 6.5 inches)
- Speed: Very Fast
- Damage: 5% to opponents max health
- Set: Toil & Trouble - Bonus: Quick Draw - you draw weapons 10% faster.
- Requirements: 3 Agility
She looked over the Luger removing the clip. Her father had tried to teach her to shoot using a Ruger, which had the same look and feel. They were not the same, and she had misgivings about trying to use a gun again.
The island had shown her that MS still had mental control over some actions. She knew it was all in her head because her MS was more like a phantom pain at this point. Her lack of ability to fire these weapons was all in her head. Just holding the gun had her hands shaking.
The .45 rounds were probably the smallest round that would penetrate a dragon’s hide, and the smooth wooden grip felt warm in her hand. The matte finished meant it did not shine or sparkle in the light and gave it a rough, durable texture.
Out of habit, she sniffed the gun. She smelled oil and gunpowder residue and remembered her father liked to do the same thing. The only thing missing was the smell of fresh cut wood as the man used his spare time in his wood shop.
“Those weapons belonged to my rider. They are yours if you want them. I find I am more sentimental as I age than I probably should be.” Midnight said as he watched her. “He used to smell his guns too. You two-legs have some strange habits.”
“It is the gunpowder. I grew up around the smell, and while some would find the smell unpleasant, it reminds me of better times. It calms me, like rubbing the tip of my ear.”
Midnight gave her one of those funny looks again, and she realized it was not a judgmental appraisal. The way his head tilted was almost deferential, as if he was showing respect to her comment.
“Listen. Stay close. Outwardly this place does not look formidable, but it is highly defensible, with sniper roosts and everything. The buildings are mostly for show or temporary use. Pretty sure that one contains grain, but only until its shifts below.” Midnight nodded towards one of the buildings. “Over there, on the bluff is a lookout, probably a sniper too. Keep me between you and them.”
Now that he pointed it out, she could see the fortified cave exits about three-quarters of the way up the bluff. The village did have a primitive feel to it, but the more Midnight talked, the more she realized how little she knew.
“From that range, they can hit anything from there to the sea. It may not seem heavily fortified, but there is a reason this place has not fallen to Brocard after all this time.”
“Should we check the buildings?”
“No need, all of them are empty. Nothing has been out here for days.” The dragon said while he sniffed the air. Without warning, he started walking forward towards the Lodge. She could hear his claws clicking against the cobbled road, and it sounded like metal on glass.
“Is there something that could make them disappear?” She asked, feeling more anxious about this place by the second.
“Short of physically capturing them all, I cannot think of anything. Maybe a town meeting? But no, they would not have left the town undefended, which is what concerns me. Now quiet, approaching the Lodge is going to be the most dangerous part. Remember to use me as a shield between you and the bluffs. Maybe pull up your shield just in case.”
“No problem.” She was not sure she could permanently die, but the bullet in her shoulder had been extremely painful. A reminder that death may not come quickly, and she did not want to get shot again.
Reaching the Lodge without incid
ent just left her nerves even more frayed. She had never felt so scared in the middle of the afternoon, which was a strange experience. Almost every movie or game that built tension had done so in darkness, but she was feeling the same levels of adrenaline.
The dragon turned its sinuous head to look at her and winked. His wings were folded tightly against his body as he raised up a claw. His finger-like appendages curled into a ball as he pounded against the door.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The massive doors were maybe thirty feet high and just as wide. Large enough that even the king could enter, but he might have to duck his head. The doors rocked the entire frame as the dragon knocked.
“I am Midnight, Emissary of the King. Open up!” The dragon’s voice boomed, echoing across the entire cove, and she was pretty sure everything within miles heard him.
They waited several moments. Midnight looked over at her and shrugged his massive shoulders as his wings slightly unfurled. They waited a bit longer, and when no one responded Midnight shuffled his feet. She was not sure what he was going to do next.
She was surprised by the beast’s realism and expected the war-ravaged dragon to beat down the door any moment. Instead, Midnight extended his talon’s middle finger as if it was flicking her off and slid the talon’s nail between the doors. In a quick, decisive movement, he slashed down. It took several of these before she heard the bar on the inside snap and the doors creaked open about a foot.
Midnight sniffed a few times, and she strained her ears, but both of them came up empty. No smells or sounds emanated from the Lodge, so they pushed their way inside to find a pristine entryway. Nothing even looked out of place.
“This cleanliness is freaking me out more than if I had seen corpses,” She muttered quietly, and Midnight did not reply.
Straight ahead a ramp led upward, circling the interior of the building until it came out up top directly above her. A flat area existed between that ramp and the broad ramp that went down into the depths.
Her hearing picked up the wind whistling up from down below. It was not loud, but the draft was strong enough that it created a low humming.
They both approached the ramp downward, and at the top of it, they received their first clue. The smell of old rotting meat wafted up to them.
She started gagging at the sickly sweet smell of it and wrapped her scarf around her mouth and nose preparing herself for the worst. If they wanted answers, they needed to go into the city below.
Midnight
Chapter 32
State of Decay
I never betrayed my dragon. It just did not have the heart for the war we waged. It grew weak and did not even fight back when they came for me. I became a Dragon Slayer that day, but not because I killed my dragon…
-from The First Dragonrider
The smell in the Lodge interfered with his ability to detect what had gone wrong here. Distantly he could sense other dragons, but there was a pervasive smell underlying the decay. A smell from his past that he could not quite pinpoint.
Boh added another problem, but she was capable enough on her own. Either way, he doubted she would stay behind if he asked her. He had to investigate, and he had little choice in bringing her along. It could be just as dangerous leaving her out here.
He could always find her another dragon, and then she would be someone else’s problem. Laughter tore him up inside, and he felt sorry for anyone that bonded her. She would make a great Dragonrider, but the girl was ornery and fierce in equal measure. He meant every word he had told her, but it did not matter because his opinion would not sway young dragons to bond her.
Something terrible happened in the Trials, and despite that, she was still here. The king was condemning her by ordering her to stay in Minot, and it was one order he debated on the way here and why he wanted to go slow. King be damned, he was not going to assist in having Boh killed.
Besides, he doubted she would stay put, and it did not matter now. Minot was gone, he was sure of it, and he could not leave Boh here. Wherever he went, he was taking the angry little elf.
“I have no idea what could have taken out Minot, and I am not comfortable bringing you along.” He saw that look again, the one that brought on the biting comments. There was something odd about her, and at times her face and voice changed, and he feared the person surfacing.
“Tough shit, you aren’t leaving me out here.” She snapped at him, and he winced internally.
It would put him at ease if he could just straight ask her what happened in her Trial, but even the gods were against him on that. The only comment they ever made about the Trials is that if it happened, it was meant to happen.
“Wait, before you bite my head off even more. I cannot leave you here either. So listen up. This is no longer a partnership, not until we leave this place. You will obey everything I say, and question nothing. Understood?”
“Yes. Let’s go kill stuff,” she told him, and he found himself snorting and shaking his head at her. This girl was a little on the crazy side, but he admired her spunk.
“One last thing. If I tell you to get out, then go. I want no excuses. You take off for the forest and keep following the main road until you get to Crosspointe. On foot, for you, it might take a few weeks. Tell them everything you saw since we landed in Valoh.”
“Yes. I got it, follow your orders, run if you say run. How about I make you a burrito while I’m at it?”
“Whats a burrito?” He asked her, but she just laughed and waved him downward. Sighing, he started moving.
He was not sure what to say about her attitude, but as long as she did what he said it should be ok. Then he felt himself snorting with laughter and realized the girl would do nothing he just said. She was as wild as a weed, and just as persistent.
Moving down the slope, he reached the first landing without an issue. However, his unease was starting to set in, and he focused on his breathing to keep himself steady.
The second slope wrapped around on either side of where he came down and circled back around, so the next set of slopes were directly below the first. It wrapped around and on itself five times total, and he saw that Boh kept up.
She had her gun drawn with her finger alongside the barrel ready to slide down to the trigger as needed. He also saw Boh’s other hand out, and while he could not see magic, he knew enough about it that he could recognize a shield cast.
The stairs leveled off into a flat polished stone floor, and he walked over to the railing on the far side of the room.
“Boh. You should see this but move slowly. This entire hall is a death trap for invaders, and if anyone lives, we do not want them to react.” He told her, and she came up alongside him.
Over the railing, the city revealed itself in the massive underground cavern. He could see several wide avenues and many homes, many of which were made using nacre.
Into the sides of the cavern, the dwarves had carved homes out of the solid rock. From his vantage point, he could see into some of the homes that were closer to the top of the cavern. The interior walls were not stone, but framed with whatever two-legs use for interior walls.
Hanging throughout the cavern were globes that gave off enough light to shame the sun. He recognized them and knew they also shifted through a day and night cycle.
There were even some large factories in another cavern he could not see, which processed manufactured parts. Not even the dwarves knew how to reproduce these machines, so having working machinery like that would have cost a small fortune.
“Dwarves made all this?” She asked, and he saw her point to the lewd statues in the middle of fountains, as well as naked stone gargoyles on tops of some of the arch-like building.
“Not the factories, I am not sure where they come from, but they are the reason we have guns like the one you are wielding. And you know a dwarf built something by those.” He pointed at the lewd statues and the various perverted scenes throughout the city. “Dwarves are notoriously perverted, and
if you ever run into one— well you know. They are a fun loving group and mean no harm. They rarely go above ground, and stay out of the wars of the land dwellers.”
Boh’s eyebrow arched at his words, but she said nothing to him as she surveyed the town below. However, he did see her smiling. At least until her hand came up and she pointed towards a spot near the back of the city. His eyes were far better than his, and he felt anger take him.
“Drakes,” He growled low in his throat. “How did they get in here?”
The sound of the clicking talons on the polished stone tiles alerted him. Spinning around, he charged hoping to help break the ambush before they could set it properly.
“Cunning bastards,” he growled at them. His breath billowed out from his mouth, and in a contained environment like this, they were not going to avoid it.
Boh took a knee, and he thought that might be for the best. It did not help that he forgot to prewarn her about his attack.
The drakes stumbled about blindly, and while they were technically a type of dragon, their bodies had fur and scale. The drakes were roughly the size of an elephant but moved like wolves. They did not have a breath attack, but their fangs injected their special attack into their victims. They had wings, but they were not very large. It meant they could not fly after a certain age, but they could still glide from high up places.
The last feature that made them different than dragons was the lack of smoothness around their face and along their backs. There were hard bone-like ridges that lined their faces, as well as horns and spikes. Drakes looked like armored war beasts, and on the ground, they were usually tough to fight.
Drakes are intelligent, honorable, and always itching for a fight. All of which he could ignore, except that they excelled at tactics, and working as a pack. They ambushed him, and in close quarters like this, he should be easy to kill. Never underestimate a drake, and yet these were different, uncoordinated. Almost mindless and they telegraphed their moves.
“Stay back girl.” Midnight said and lashed out at the closest drake, its fur was thick and prevented most of the damage, but scales and blood went everywhere. The second strike was much more effective as the drake howled and stumbled away from the group. Midnight did not hesitate to strike the next and the next.