by Sam Ferguson
Just as the cat hunkered down to launch itself again, a mighty white flame erupted underneath it, searing its paw and scorching the fur on its underbelly. The cat yowled horribly and vaulted straight up into the air. Erik ran forward, scooped the sword up, and brought it to bear just as the cat descended back down. The flaming blade bit easily through the beast’s neck and lopped off the head. The body fell over to the side, twitching and writhing. Then Erik ran for Jaleal.
He found the gnome standing triumphant atop the first beast, struggling to retrieve his spear from the animal’s skull. Despite the danger they had both just gone through, Erik laughed at the sight. The little gnome standing on the cat’s head, one foot on either side of the spear which was half-way buried in the animal’s head. Jaleal pulled and tugged against the shaft, but it didn’t even budge.
“Don’t just stand there laughing, come and help,” Jaleal groused.
Erik moved in and wiggled the shaft back and forth, shaking the entire head. “Can’t you just call it back to you? I thought this was a magic spear.”
“It is,” Jaleal gruffed. “But this cursed gorlung beast managed to get it stuck in its thick skull!”
“I bet he had some help putting it there,” Erik jested.
Jaleal stopped and shot Erik a sour look. Then, he straightened his beard and a grin appeared on his thin face. “I suppose I did help him along with it a little,” the gnome said with a twinkle in his eye. “His fault though.”
Erik nodded. “I have an idea.” He motioned for Jaleal to step back and then he brought his flaming sword up high over his head. With all his might he chopped down with the blade, striking just to the side of Jaleal’s spear. A resounding crack echoed throughout the area and the skull shifted under Erik’s blow. The spear fell over to the side and Jaleal was finally able to pull it free.
“Well, that’s one way to do it,” Jaleal said. “Are you hungry?”
Erik looked to the gnome and then back at the cat. “Are you suggesting we eat that?”
Jaleal shrugged. “A gorlung beast is good eating. Besides, it would be a shame to let it go to waste.”
“I don’t know,” Erik said. “Doesn’t exactly look like food. Besides that, how are we going to cook it? We have no fire and there isn’t any wood around here.”
Jaleal grinned. “Leave that to me.” He pulled his knife out and went to work cutting through the animal’s hide so he could start cleaning it. The metallic smell of the blood was a little overwhelming to Erik at first, but it wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be, and the inner organs didn’t smell foul at all. The gnome soon cut a few thick strips of flesh from the animal’s haunches and skewered them onto his spear.
“What are you going to do?” Erik asked.
“Erik, my friend, you are about to eat a wonderful treat. Ever heard of shish-kabob?”
Erik sat there and watched Jaleal cautiously walk out to the river of lava. He held the spear out over the hot molten rock. The meat cooked quickly, the dangling bits getting a good char on the edges as the lava reached up with little orange tongues of flame. Jaleal dutifully turned the spear over in his hands so that the meat cooked evenly. When it was ready, he brought it back.
“It is a bit hot, so don’t wolf it down all at once, but it is ready now,” Jaleal said proudly.
Erik waited until the gnome plucked off a strip of the cooked meat and handed it to him. “What does it taste like?” he asked.
“Like gorlung beast,” Jaleal replied matter-of-factly. Then he ripped a large bite off of a piece for himself and chewed happily with a satisfied groan. He rolled his eyes and took another bite. “Oh, dis is goot!” Jaleal exclaimed through his full mouth.
Erik took a small bite. The savory, tender meat almost fell apart in his mouth before he could chew. It wasn’t like anything he had ever tasted before. If he had to describe it, he would have said it was like a mix of duck and venison, although that wasn’t quite right either. In any case, he was soon taking large bites himself and going back for more.
Jaleal cooked two more servings before they had their fill. Then, he cooked another serving to take with them for later.
As the two of them followed the lava flow to the south, looking for a way to get around it, they exchanged stories about their family. Jaleal’s stories were much more interesting, and there were a lot more of them, but the gnome seemed more than happy to listen about Erik’s life as an orphan, and his time spent with the Lokton family.
“I knew I was going to like you,” Jaleal said after Erik told him about breaking into Lady Dimwater’s study and the subsequent adventures. “I knew the moment I saw you that we were going to be good friends.”
Erik looked at the gnome skeptically. “Even though I was dying and in Lepkin’s body at the time you met me?”
Jaleal shrugged. “Well, yeah,” he said. “A gnome can tell these things. We are good judges of character.”
Erik chuckled a bit to himself. “Well, I am glad to have you around,” he said. Just then a cool early evening breeze blew in from the south and carried away the dense smoke. Behind the wind came a light rain shower. The ground popped and hissed as the droplets struck the hot surface. Ash and dust puffed up around them, but not so much that it was a problem. Soon the rain became heavy enough that it wet the whole land and kept all of the dust down.
“Interesting place, this Verishtahng,” Jaleal commented.
“At least the rain cools it down,” Erik said.
“Should we try to find shelter near one of the rock formations?” Jaleal asked.
Erik shook his head. “I just want to find Tu’luh. A little bit of rain isn’t going to hurt us.”
The gnome nodded and the two of them continued on silently for another two hours before the lava river finally ended. A great hill of pumice and flint rose up out of the surface, and the lava was pouring out from the top. Strings of magma gurgled and shot up in the air above the source and plumes of smoke rose high into the air, carrying ash and hot embers along.
They walked around the mound and then corrected course to move west again. They walked for a few hours, until the rain stopped, the sun had set, and the stars were out in full force, sparkling above almost as brilliantly as the diamonds and gems shone in the rocks below under the red light from the many lava flows and hot vents rising out of the land. The moon was on its descent through the sky by the time they decided to make camp for the night. There was nothing to make a shelter with, or to raise them off of the ground, but they were so tired by then they didn’t much care. They just tucked their satchels under their heads and slept. Neither one of them took watch, Jaleal said they didn’t need to. He raised another blade of grass out from the dirt and swore it would wake him if anything dangerous approached their location. Erik might have doubted the gnome’s assertion, had it not been for the grass earlier that day that had led them to the waterstack.
They woke just as the first light of the sun broke upon their faces. They ate the rest of the gorlung meat, drank from the water skin, and then moved on. They covered more ground the second day than the first. They passed by another herd of mammoths, a large pond filled with crocodiles, and another river of lava that emptied into a deep canyon to the north. For food, Jaleal stole a few eggs from a crocodile nest while the mother was away preying upon a baby mammoth. When one of the eggs hatched in his pocket and a baby croc bit his hip, he cursed wickedly and tossed the wretched creature to the ground. Then he speared it, roasted it on the nearest vent sticking out from the ground, and ate it out of spite. He almost forgot to share it with Erik, but Erik was laughing so hard he didn’t mind at all.
Four more days they walked across the desolate landscape of Verishtahng. They stopped and gathered water from waterstack plants, took eggs from crocs and once even took a small juvenile crocodile that had moved into a shallow pool. Erik realized that without Jaleal’s presence, he would have died long before making it this far, let alone finding Tu’luh. He vowed then that he wo
uld one day pay the gnome back, with whatever riches his family had left, if they ever made it back from Demaverung. Despite doing the majority of the hunting, and all of the cooking, Jaleal never complained. It was obvious to Erik that the gnome wasn’t seeking any reward. He was simply there to hunt Tu’luh, and that was enough to keep the little warrior happy along the way. Still, Erik knew that he owed Jaleal much more than the satisfaction of fighting a dragon. He owed him a lot more.
As the sun set upon the sixth day, Demaverung loomed before them. The ground trembled and quaked as the volcano shook. Smoke rose out from the top. The hot fires inside the mountain painted the underside of the smoke red and orange, casting a tremendous glow on all the area around, just as Erik had seen before from Ten Forts.
“Well,” Jaleal started. “What is the plan?”
Erik took in a deep breath of the hot, sulfuric air and folded his arms. He could feel anger rising within his chest, giving new energy and strength to his muscles. The sword hummed at his side and Erik could feel its warmth through his clothes. “Now, we climb the mountain and kill the beast.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Erik crept up the side of Demaverung. The black, jagged rocks made it tricky to maneuver, but also provided him with plenty of cover to hide behind. He had expected more firedrakes, or gorlungs, or at least human guards around the mountain, but he saw nothing. Still, he and Jaleal proceeded slowly, always scanning the surrounding area with their eyes and ears. Erik’s goal was a ledge about half-way up the mountainside that jutted out from a wide cavern. He assumed that was the entrance to Tu’luh’s lair.
The moon disappeared in the sky behind the thick column of smoke rising up from Demaverung’s top. The light dimmed, and Erik found himself thankful for the nighttime training session that Tillamon had given him. He picked his way carefully up the mountain until he was able to peek his head just over the lip of the ledge. There were no guards. Just a vast hallway of smooth, shiny stone. Several smaller caverns and doorways dotted the inside of the main hall, but no one was moving around. Erik’s eyes followed the tunnel until it curved up and to the left, beyond his field of vision.
“He is in there, I can feel it,” Erik whispered.
Jaleal nodded beside him. “Apparently, there are others in there as well. See the doors?”
Erik nodded. “I don’t know any other way inside,” he said.
“Well,” Jaleal started. “You said you used to be good at sneaking out of the orphanage. Think you can steal your way inside here?”
“One way to find out,” Erik said. He hauled himself up over the ledge and ran silently to the left side of the wide cavern. He didn’t have to turn around to know that Jaleal was only a pace or two behind him. He stopped just at the opening, pulling his body off to the side as he peered in one more time.
A doorway on the right creaked open and a pair of men in hooded cloaks came out, talking to each other and gesturing with their hands.
“Leave this to me,” Jaleal said. The gnome sprinted in with blinding speed. His footsteps never made as much sound as a leaf hitting the ground. Within seconds he was upon the two men. A couple flashes of his spear and the two men dropped to the floor. Jaleal then ran to the open doorway and looked inside. A second later he motioned for Erik to join him.
Erik sprinted in and grabbed one of the men, dragging him back into the room. Then he and Jaleal made haste to get the second man before anyone else entered the hallway. After they pulled the second one in, they gently closed the door. Erik looked around and realized that they were in a small bedroom. There were two beds, one on either side of the room, a small table off to one side and a desk at the far end with some parchment scattered across the top.
“Quick, let’s put on the robes,” Jaleal said.
Erik hesitated. “You are too short,” he said. “I doubt there are any gnomes here.”
Jaleal nodded. “I could piggy-back on you, under the robes,” the gnome said.
Erik shrugged. “It’s better than nothing I suppose.” He and Jaleal quickly removed the robes from the man closest to Erik’s size. He took off his satchel and told Jaleal to do the same. Then he put the robe on over his clothes and Jaleal went in underneath to climb up Erik’s back. It was a little uncomfortable at first until Jaleal was able to wrap his legs around Erik’s waist and grab onto the boy’s shoulders to support himself up. Jaleal even managed to holster the spear through his own shirt in such a way that it didn’t protrude through the robe or poke Erik.
Erik then pulled the hood over his face as far as it would go and made for the door. He closed it behind them and walked briskly down the hall. Even with the disguise, he didn’t want to risk being caught by anyone and losing the element of surprise. Most of the other doors were closed. Those that weren’t led to empty rooms, which relieved Erik at first, but then he realized that meant that the room’s occupants could be farther down the hall. Luckily his worries turned out to be in vain. They rounded the corner and made their way up as the tunnel ascended higher into Demaverung.
The air inside the volcano was exceedingly hot, and almost burned Erik’s lungs when he breathed. Jaleal stifled a couple coughs. Erik could only guess how uncomfortable the gnome was under the robe, but there was little he could do about it now. Rubies and diamonds glittered in the wall like brilliant stars above the stark granite floor. Erik had never seen so many jewels and gems in all of his life, nor had he even dreamed a place like this could exist. He would bet that it would make Al and the rest of the dwarves green with envy if they knew what kind of riches sat in the walls here. Each stone almost seemed to hum as Erik walked by. It was simply breathtaking.
From somewhere inside the tunnel, a slow, rhythmic sigh echoed off the walls. It was followed by the sound of a rumbling snore. Tu’luh was close, and he was asleep. Erik quickened his pace, focusing on keeping his steps as silent as possible so as not to alert the great beast. As the tunnel wound around and around the inside of the volcano, there came a large chamber off to the left. Erik could hear voices coming from within. He stopped just before the opening and peeked inside. Several rows of tables and benches covered the area. Seven or eight robed men sat inside eating and drinking loudly, swapping stories and cursing at each other.
“What is it?” Jaleal whispered.
“A dining hall, looks like,” Erik responded.
“Can you sneak by?” the gnome asked.
Erik watched the men for a few moments, studying their mannerisms and trying to time his move. One of the men jumped up suddenly and threw a handful of bread at one of the others. The second man responded by clocking the first with his half-full bowl of soup. The whole group then rose to their feet and laughed as the two men broke into a fist fight and tumbled around on the floor. Erik watched, stunned for an instant, and then made haste farther up the tunnel and away from the hall.
At last, Erik came to the end of the tunnel. It opened into a large chamber. A great hole was situated almost dead center, with hot steam and smoke rising up out of it. To the far side on the right was a pile of gold coins and gems that made the hallways seem like costume jewelry by comparison. Erik’s mouth fell open slightly. He had never imagined Tu’luh as a being who cared for wealth. A mighty, rumbling snore snapped Erik’s attention to the left. There, almost blending in with the red stone walls of the inner chamber, laid the beast that had haunted Erik for so long. His eyes were closed, the left one still oozing blood from their previous encounter, and his breaths came smoothly as he slept atop a pile of coins and gems. His forelegs were buried in the treasure up to the elbow joint, and the tail curled around protectively holding the gold in place.
“He is alone,” Erik whispered. He nudged Jaleal with his elbow. The gnome squeezed Erik’s right shoulder to signal that he understood, and then he climbed down and out from under the robe. Erik silently pulled the robe up over his head and laid it on the ground beside him. His hand went down to draw his sword, but Jaleal snatched his wrist. Erik looked do
wn to see the gnome shaking his head and holding a finger to his mouth. Erik understood. Drawing the sword might be loud enough to wake the beast. So he tip-toed in, his hand hovering over the hilt at the ready.
Jaleal went in wide to the left, holding his spear out and ready to throw should Tu’luh awaken. The pair only moved in a couple of paces before the snoring stopped and they froze in fear. The dragon shifted in his sleep and snorted.
“Mmmmm,” Tu’luh said in a low, throaty moan. “I smell a gnome.”
Jaleal turned and motioned for Erik to get back. Erik shook his head. There was no way he was leaving now.
Tu’luh opened his eyes. The left one was scarred and cloudy, but the right was bright and full of anger and hate. He drew his neck up and peered down at them. “So, you have come to finish our fight?” the dragon asked. In a flash Tu’luh spewed fire at Jaleal, forcing the gnome to sprint away to avoid being roasted. Erik rushed in, drawing his sword. Tu’luh flicked his left leg up, throwing a thousand coins and gems into the air. Then he roared mightily, sending the gold and gems darting toward Erik with such force that they bruised and cut his skin. The dragon then leapt into the air, beating the smoke down with his wings and disappearing from Erik’s view.
“You could still join me, Erik,” Tu’luh growled.
Erik said nothing. He just ran to the right of the chamber and scoured the smoke with his eyes. He strained his ears, trying to discern Tu’luh’s location by the sound of beating wings. Out of the corner of his eye, Erik saw a silvery flash pierce the cloud of smoke. Tu’luh snarled angrily and then dropped out of the smoke, nearly crushing Jaleal with his right foreleg. The gnome snaked between Tu’luh’s legs and under his belly, stabbing up with his spear after it reappeared in his hands. The blessed weapon managed to poke through the scales just enough to draw blood, but it couldn’t do any real damage. With every poke, Tu’luh roared and snapped his massive fangs down at Jaleal, jerking and spinning around like a savage dog chasing a rat.