“You will die, Carthage, same as all the others.” Sansla wailed into the giant’s face with savage fury. He stung Carthage in the eyes while the roamers hacked into the unnatural mound of flesh. As a team, the roamers drove their elven steel into a weak point in the joints and sinew of the knees.
Carthage lost his footing. He tumbled with a crash. Unwilling to die, he rolled like a great worm, crushing bodies beneath him. Then the wurmers came, striking in the dark from all directions. Balls of fire hurled from their mouths. Roamers burned but fought on.
From the ground, the titan fought on too, laughing. “I cannot be killed. This body will die only to rise again. I can’t say the same for yours. Let’s find out.” He scooped up another roamer and crushed the elf in four of his eight mighty hands. He dropped the corpse. “This is too easy.”
CHAPTER 26
“This truly is madness, Brenwar,” Nath said, gaping at the columns. He continued to give them a closer look. There were dragons of all sorts carved in them. “Why would they go to all this trouble only to have it wiped out?”
“To sell it,” Selene interjected. “It’s quite brilliant actually. You know how meticulous dragons can be when it comes to doing things. It’s not as if we don’t have the time.”
“Brenwar, you mean to tell me you like this idea?”
“We dwarves always say, ‘There’s nothing we’ve ever built that we can’t build again—better.’” He patted one of the columns. “I like it!”
“You can’t rebuild a mountain!”
Brenwar shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”
Nath marveled. Based off what he’d read, it was the stone columns that held up the mountain. Unimaginable! Dragons had hollowed out the core underneath making up the mountains. It must have happened eons ago. It made him feel small and young. Very, very young.
“But why would they do this? Who would even imagine it? If we knock out these columns, the entire mountain will collapse on us.”
“On everyone inside,” Brenwar added. “You could crush an entire army down here.”
Nath puffed out a breath of air. “And the columns all fall like dominoes. The mountain drops and buries everything inside. And you both don’t see the problem with this. It will destroy Dragon Home.”
“It will destroy the titan army.” Selene held his gaze. “That is what we want. My assumption is that long ago, the dragons foresaw this day coming. They knew it would be used at some point. Perhaps now is the time.”
“There is no way we are going to lure that entire army down here. The giants aren’t the most intelligent, but they are led by titans that are not fools.”
“We don’t have any other viable options. This one is good. We can sell it,” Brenwar said.
“Selling it is an understatement. You’re giving Dragon Home away. All of the treasure, magic, secrets will be buried. It’s my kingdom, I cannot let it fall. Not like this!” His voice echoed and died away. Deep inside his chest, he realized how desperate they’d become. It angered him. At the same time, he didn’t see another way out. The giants might take Dragon Home, but they’d pay a price for it. “It will be a river of blood down here.”
“Bad blood. The more that soaks the rock, the better,” Brenwar remarked.
“So we have to sell it.” Nath moseyed deeper into the chamber. A plan started to form in his mind. “You’re right, Brenwar. The titans will be suspicious if we just abandon it. No, we’ll have to fight them with all we have and lead them down here. It won’t be easy to get them all down at once. They’ll straggle around in the halls.”
“As I understand it, every tunnel in the mountain will collapse. We just need to keep them from the top level the best we can.” Brenwar’s eyes twinkled. “I have a plan.”
“Brenwar, you can’t read Dragonese, at least not that I’ve known. Were you really able to discern all of this by yourself?”
The dwarf’s face shrank a little behind his beard. “Er, I might have had a sliver of help.”
“No, you literally had a Slivver for help,” said a newcomer. It was Slivver. “Sorry, but I’ve been eavesdropping. I couldn’t let the dwarf take all the credit, even though it was his knowledge that led to this discovery, among other things.”
Eyebrows up, Nath said, “What other things? Don’t tell me it becomes still worse.”
Brenwar waved his arm. “Let’s keep walking. There are more than just columns down here.”
“By all means. Lead the way.”
They ventured two miles deeper into the strange cavern. In the center, glinting under the torches, were pieces of a broken statue. The metal segments were arms, legs, head, body, and wings of a dragon. It must have been a few dozen feet tall. Moorite horns adorned the solid gold head and neck. The chest was made of black iron. Silver arms, bronze legs, and a brass tail made up the rest of it. The claws and teeth were moorite, and bloodred gemstones made up the eyes. The wings consisted of steel covered with a dark fabric that Nath had never seen before. Scuffed up in many places, the body had dents, dings, and scratches all over. If it had fought one battle, it had fought a thousand.
Nath ran his fingers over the golden neck. “It’s so wondrous. Why is it down here in the dust? It should be on display. Put together again.” He hopped up on the stand with a smile on his face. “Slivver, do you know anything about this?”
“Only what we’ve learned over the past several months.” Slivver’s eyes had a curious sparkle in them. “It is more than what it appears to be, not just idle things of beauty.”
“The detail is amazing.” Nath ran his fingers over the bronze legs, feeling the detail in the scales. “So, it’s not some broken-up statue that looks to have been discarded.” He kneeled down. “Hmmm, this looks like a joint that hooks into the body. We can rebuild him.”
“Aye,” Brenwar said.
“I’m surprised you haven’t done that yet, Brenwar. This is your kind of thing. Of course, it would take a lot of muscle to move it. Each section must weigh more than a tonne, especially the body. Slivver, you say it isn’t just an idle thing of beauty. What do you mean?”
“It is called,” he started in Dragonese but thought the better of it. “No, that will take too long. In short, this is Drolem the Guardian of the Mountain.”
“It’s a dreadnought. An automaton. A destroyer,” Brenwar chimed in. “Metal brought to life to serve its master. The dwarves used to fashion such warriors in their own likeness, way back when. It’s an old practice. A dangerous one.”
“So we could turn the drolem loose if we only put him together and awaken him?”
“Perhaps, but the problem with destroyers like this is they are often hard to control,” Slivver said. “The columns say, ‘Beware of the metal that has no spirit.’ Hence, our hesitation.”
“Do you hear that?” he said to Selene.
She placed her hand on the drolem’s chest. “I do. I feel a heartbeat.”
Nath joined her. “So do I. He’s alive. The drolem is alive.” There was a flicker in the drolem’s ruby-red eyes when Nath touched him. “I say we put him back together.”
CHAPTER 27
The roamers took a beating, as the titan Carthage showed no signs of slowing. The durable roamer elves were quick to strike, whittling off fingers and toes with their sharp elven blades. Carthage shrugged it off, perhaps with glee as he roared, “Nothing can stop me!”
The fight had begun with ten elves. They were down to six now, plus Sansla. He’d never seen so many of his roamers fall at once before. It was a rare thing when the roamers died. A defeating sight. They were being swarmed now by wurmers, full-sized and small. The hatchlings had now spilled out of the belly of the cave and started to attack. In seconds, the rangers would be covered in a sea of insects. The little monsters would devour them to the bone. “Hoven! Liam! Retreat!”
“No,” Liam shouted back. He had wurmers crawling over his legs and shoulders. He stabbed Carthage’s knees. “We will defeat him!”
&nbs
p; Carthage would fall, only to rise again, laughing. “You fleas! You insects! It would be easier to stop the waves in the sea than me!” He brought a fist down, crushing a roamer’s leg beneath it. The elf didn’t scream, not even fallen and unable to move while the wurmers swarmed him. Their sharp teeth tore at his arm, rending sinew and snapping bone.
Sansla’s voice rose, filling the entire cavern. “Retreat, brethren! Retreat now!” He took to the air and faced off Carthage. “Your end is near!”
“You are a fool, Sansla Libor! Your roamers fall like sheep. Your moments are numbered. The only escape for you is death. I’ll find joy taking you there. All of you!”
Sansla hit the giant in the face with a series of punches. The thunderous blows cracked the giant’s nose on each face. Carthage swatted at him with many arms. Sansla flew high and out of the way. The roamers scrambled out of the mouth of the cave with wurmers snapping at their heels. Sansla caught a glimpse of Hoven’s gray eyes a moment before the elf pitched out toward the waters.
The wurmers spilled out of the cave mouth in pursuit by the hundreds.
“You bought your brethren time, but it will run out shortly.” Carthage had been battling from one knee, but now he rose again. “Are you now going to flee as well, dear Sansla? What is your plan? To fight me one on one?”
With his eight arms stretched out like he was a giant spider, Carthage blocked the cave exit. There wouldn’t be a way out for Sansla. He’d done just enough to allow the roamers to escape. “No, I’m more than comfortable being right here with you. I like to keep my enemies close.”
“You will be close. You will be so close that you’ll see the inside of my belly.” Carthage stretched his jaws wide. They were a cave opening all of their own. He rambled forward. “Come, Sansla, feed me. I hunger for elven flesh.”
Sansla darted at the monster, backtracked, and fled the other way through the air. He flew down where the ledges dipped into the lair of the wurmer eggs.
The thunderous footsteps of Carthage resounded through the walls of the cave. The stalactites shook. Many fell and crashed on some of the eggs.
Sansla landed. On his feet and hands, he searched the lair covered in small wurmers. The insect-like dragons covered him from his chin to his toes. Biting and snapping, they bored into his flesh. His hide protected him in part, but he still felt pain.
“Sansla! Where are you going? You cannot hide. There is no escape unless I give it to you!”
Plowing through the eggs and wurmers, he searched for the well that should have the life gem within. He went deeper into the cave. Where is it? He flung wurmers aside. Squirming necks were crushed in his hands and cast aside. Finally, with the loud footsteps of Carthage upon him, he spied a natural well, glowing from within, cradled in a corner of stalagmites. That must be it! He sprinted right for it.
The misty floor came to life. He lost footing. The fall took him into a nest of striking wurmers. Shrugging them off, he rose again. Rising in front of his eyes was a wurmer bigger than them all, the queen, over fifteen feet high. The queen wurmer hissed an angry rattle. Its neck coiled back to strike. Eyes glowing with raging purple fires, it opened its mouth gaping wide. An unavoidable spread of mystic fire came out, covering Sansla in flames.
His fur caught fire and burned. He screamed.
“Ah, that sound is so delightful,” Carthage moaned. “How wonderful. I like my elves toasted.”
With the strange fires searing his flesh, Sansla rolled on the ground. He wanted to take flight to the sea, but he was too close. The life gem was near. He fought the pain. Gripping the orb of destruction, burning from head to toe, he ran for the well.
A lash of the queen wurmer’s tail took him from his feet. The tail came down again, harder and faster. The monster pounded his flaming body like it was trying to put him out.
Carthage’s towering figure ducked into that segment of the cave. Both of the shrewd faces were smiling. “Perfect, scaly colleague. I shall devour him one appendage at a time. But beat him further. I like my meat tender.”
The tail smacked on Sansla—whap, whap, whap—until the flames went out.
Sansla couldn’t move.
Carthage picked him up in his arms. “I think I’ll start with the head.”
CHAPTER 28
Still in the Chamber of Columns, Nath and Brenwar had put the drolem together, with the help of several dragons who had remained. The dragon’s metallic body groaned a little as it stretched its neck out, seeming to yawn.
“It’s a beautiful creature,” Grahleyna said. She was big for a dragon, but the drolem was still twice as big as her. “I can feel a heartbeat. I sense raw power. A dangerous power. Nath, you must be certain that you can control it.”
“Him, Mother.” Nath crawled onto the drolem’s neck, where he found a spot behind the horns that made do for a saddle and sat down. “We need to treat him like family, the same as everyone else. Drolem, lie down.”
The dragon hit the floor with metal scraping against stone.
“He’s not going to sneak up on anyone, that much is certain,” Brenwar said. “I could do better with pots and pans tied to my ankles and wrists.” He looked around as if expecting to hear a comment from someone who wasn’t there. Perhaps Bayzog. He grunted.
“Let’s walk, Drolem,” Nath ordered.
The huge metal beast made his way up and down the chamber with surprising grace. Nath felt the raw power under his seat. The drolem was more than a guardian. He was a juggernaut.
Everyone’s eyes in the room were fixed on the metal dragon. Sasha, Rerry, Samaz, and Slivver were there, with a host of dragons numbering in the hundreds. Each dragon was grouped together with their own kind. Slivver stood with a score of silver shade dragons. Three dozen gray scalers hung around. Waark, Nath’s personal dragon, made a baker’s dozen of the bull dragons. All of the dragons varied from man size to bigger than horses, with some twice the size of elephants. Blue streaks, copper dragons, crimson dynamos, cinnamon spits, ivory sliders, green lilies, and bronzes were among the remnant army that should have numbered in the thousands. All of them were more than ready to fight through their last breath for Dragon Home, but that wasn’t the plan. Not yet.
“Subjects, brethren, friends, the enemy is at the door. We will let them in, but it won’t be easy.” Using thought, Nath commanded the drolem to sit. He crawled up to a high spot between the horns. “The enemy does not know the size of the force that we have within, but we want them to believe it is formidable. I will lead the fight outside. When the time comes, we shall retreat within, battling them throughout the mountain. Luring them here, into this chamber, is a last resort.” He brushed his hair back. “Though it seems inevitable, that doesn’t mean we can’t take as many of them down as possible while we fight. In the end, we’ll have them all!”
A cheer went up among the men and women. The dragons let out encouraging roars. The cavern trembled.
Nath’s heart thundered in his chest. The unity among the dragons overwhelmed him with joy. They accepted him as king. Nath raised Fang overhead, and the roars became even louder.
With his hands cupped to his mouth, Ben shouted out, “Dragon! Dragon!”
As much as he delighted in the glory, he knew that many would not survive the battle. It was a hard thing, making the decision to fight in a war such as this. The dragons mattered, all of them. So did his friends. Having found affection among his kin made it even more dreadful. Perhaps that was why Balzurth had always kept him at a distance. If the Dragon King became too attached, maybe he wouldn’t be able to lead when the time came.
“Brethren, the time has come to avenge Balzurth. To vanquish our wicked enemies. Now, we will wipe the titans from one end of Nalzambor to the other! For Balzurth! For the mountains!”
Riding on the drolem with thunderous cheers at his back, Nath led them up to the top of the mountain. He got off the back of the drolem so he could slip inside the Chamber of Murals. Accompanied by his friends, he studied the
titan and wurmer army that awaited them outside. Using his fingers, he zoomed in and out of the images. He focused on Isobahn, now standing on the other side of the stone bridge at the base of the mountain. The giant soldiers moved huge hunks of dirt and rock out of the way.
“I’m going right after him,” Nath said, pointing at the burly titan. “The battle may slow them if anything. There are so many.”
“I’m going out. Those giants are meant for me!” Brenwar adjusted the bracers of power on his wrists, spat in his hands, and picked up Mortuun, grumbling, “I’ll even ride a dragon if I have to.”
“Really?” Nath said, arching a brow.
“Extreme moments call for extreme decisions. Just find me one that won’t throw me.”
“We’re going too,” Rerry said, with Samaz stepping up by his side. Rerry was all lathered up with eyes filled with excitement.
“No, you’ll remain as we discussed. But you won’t be without some help.” Nath made a little whistle. “The main objective is that everyone who needs to escape through the murals can do so. The two of you will help see to that when the battle within starts to rage.”
White cat-sized wingless dragons with very long tails scurried along Nath’s feet. They purred in their throats while their bodies pulsated. “These are ivory sliders. Very special. They’ll enhance your skills and powers.”
The ivory sliders crawled up the legs of Sasha, Rerry, Samaz, and Ben.
“That tickles,” Rerry said with an impish smile. The dragon on his shoulder wrapped its long tail around the meat of his arm. “Whoa! What is it doing?”
“As I said, these little dragons pack a punch. You may need all the help you can get.” Nath pointed to Brenwar’s strongbox. “Don’t forget about the vials. Everyone, it’s critical, and if you want to take a mural out, then you can. There is no shame in it. Personally, I would prefer that you did, but I won’t command it.”
Wrath of the Dragon: (The Chronicles of Dragon, Series 2, Book 8) (Tail of the Dragon) Page 9