“Get in that cave,” he ordered the gnomes.
“But—”
“Now!”
Shum pulled himself up on the ledge using the vines that hung over the rim. His steely eyes never left the terror that lurked above. “Danger comes in many shapes and sizes, but even a needle can be the gravest threat,” he said.
“I’m going up,” Nath said, grabbing a vine. “You stay with them.”
“Nath,” Shum said, “I don’t think that is wise. We don’t even know what may be concealed beyond the rim of the cliff.”
“Well,” Nath said, hoisting himself up. “It couldn’t be any worse than it is.”
Shum grabbed his ankle, and with a fierce tug, he pulled him back down.
“We came to help,” the Wilder Elf said. “Not to turn you loose. Help is coming, Nath. We just need to hold out.”
Nath eyed him.
“What kind of help?”
“That, I do not know.”
“TIME IS SHORT,” Selene said from her perch. “BRING FORTH THE GNOMES.”
“Do you see any other way out of this?” Nath said. “We can’t run. We can’t hide. Any sudden moves will destroy us, Shum.” His jaw muscles clenched. “That’s Inferno up there. A killer. There won’t be any mercy from him or his murderous brothers. Sultans of Sulfur! Are the good dragons ever coming?”
Shum’s expression remained frozen when he said, “The dragons have capricious timelines. Of course, you know that.”
Nath needed to hit something. Lash out. If another dragon war was about to start, then where in the ten lakes were the good dragons? Had Barnabus overtaken them all? Killed them? Could the jaxite stones win them back? He needed answers.
But first, he needed to secure the safety of his friends.
“I can at least go up there, meet our enemy face to face, and buy time.” He grabbed the vines. “You have to figure something out.”
Snarggell popped his head out of the cave and said, “Just turn us over. It’s our lives, and we can do what we will. And no one else has to die.”
“Countless have died already thanks to the jaxite stones, you fickle gnome.” He pointed at him. “Don’t try to go anywhere, because I’ll be coming back for you.” He grabbed some vines and surged up, leaving the others behind.
***
Ben watched Nath climb up the cliffs with Fang strapped to his back. He glanced back at the dragons that sat poised to strike less than fifty feet from him. His heart pounded in his chest. The heat from the dragon’s breath stung his eyes. He wiped them and resumed his focus on Nath.
“What is he doing?” he said.
“Is he going to fight that dragon without me?” Brenwar added.
Bayzog shook his head, saying, “I hope he’s not doing what I think he’s doing.”
“What’s that?” said Ben, dressing Bayzog’s wounds.
“Buying time.”
“That’s not such a bad idea, is it?”
“He’ll have to bargain,” Bayzog said, wincing.
The last of Nath’s red hair and black scales disappeared over the rim.
“Bayzog, didn’t you teach me that you can’t bargain with evil?”
Brenwar tossed his hammer down.
The elf just nodded his head yes.
***
Clearing the ledge, Nath unslung Fang and rested him on his broad shoulder.
Only a fool approaches man-sized dragon fangs without a Fang of his own. Or an orc.
Nath took a breath and made a beeline through the tall grasses where Selene and Inferno waited, overlooking the valley. His dragon heart pumped hard and fast, heightening his senses. He had never feared anything but failure and harm to others, until now. He was facing her. A woman with scales the same as his.
Bayzog’s words echoed in his thoughts: The black dragons shall return again, and the final war shall be waged.
Above, the grey scalers circled.
A stiff breeze from the distant woodland cooled his hot neck. Nath stopped short of Inferno’s tail, which coiled like a snake in the grass. The great dragon’s head remained at a steady perch, but its eye glared back at him.
That’s when Selene turned and Nath caught his breath.
She was glorious. She was a dragoness.
She parted her crimson lips and said, “Where are my gnomes? Are they hidden in the sheath of your pretty sword?”
Nath’s tongue clove to the roof of his mouth. Her speech was ancient, hypnotic, mysterious.
“Well,” she added, walking down Inferno’s neck and standing between his wings. “Where are they? Or did you come to surrender?”
Her words jolted his mind from its slumber and revived his sharp tongue.
“No, Selene,” he nodded and looked side to side. “And you are correct. There are no gnomes with me.” He lifted his chin and smiled. “But it’s good to know that we have something in common.”
“Oh,” she said, perching a brow, “and what might that be, our scales?”
“Ha! No,” he chuckled, “not at all. But I would like to talk about that sometime.” He chuckled again.
“So you find your hopeless situation amusing?”
“I just find it funny that you assumed that I came up here to offer my surrender, but,” he paused, holding his chuckling stomach, “in all truth, I came up here to accept your surrender.”
The polished features on her gentle face formed a dark scowl. Inferno’s neck raised up, and his throat rumbled.
“You are every bit the fool they say you are!”
“Fool?” Nath said. “Who says I’m a fool?”
“The dragons,” Selene said through clenched teeth. “You are the fallen Dragon Prince. The heir of folly.” She walked farther down Inferno’s back along his curled tail and stopped, staring at his arms, legs, and claws. “Oh, and look. You have white scales. I bet you don’t even know what those mean. Do you, Nath Dragon, son of Balzurth…”
Nath’s father’s name rolled from her tongue, smooth and easy, but less than a minute into it she stopped. Her point was made. She knew much more about dragons than he did. And perhaps more about himself as well. Nath was torn. He wanted to kill her, but he also wanted to learn more about himself.
“Well,” she continued, “do you know what your white scales mean? Do you understand why your father banished you? Why they call you the demon in the towns? The cursed serpent in the cities?” She let loose a haughty laugh. “I can see you still know nothing.”
Nath eased back a half step. His fingers fumbled on the hilt of his blade. This felt like a scolding from his father, and his emotions were split between anger and shame. His thoughts drifted. Became unfocused.
Then he blurted out, “I’m sorry, does this mean you are surrendering or not? I’m uncertain.”
Her eyes flashed like torch-lit fires, and a dark energy formed about her entirety, like a second skin. A dragon-like shroud.
“You think you can toy with me, Nath Dragon?” She traipsed to a spot between Inferno’s wings and grabbed the saddle rope around his neck. “I’ll dull that sharp tongue of yours. And if I can’t have the gnomes, nobody will.” She barked a command to Inferno in Dragonese.
The great dragon expanded its wings, leapt from the ledge, and glided down over the rim. His armored belly skimmed the treetops, and up, up, up he went, over the forest, turning and racing right back at the cliff.
Nath ran to the rim.
What is she doing!
Inferno’s wings beat the air. His chest glowed with fire. The dragon pulled up short of the cliff and hovered in the air.
Nath locked eyes with Selene.
He saw her lips say, “I warned you.”
A tunnel of dragon fire erupted from Inferno’s huge mouth and struck the rock-face full force. The roaring flames scorched every vine and tree. They filled every cave with flame. Ash, smoke, and fire covered the steep mountainside.
Inferno kept going.
Flames gushed into every hole. Ever
y crevice. All life was incinerated.
Nath cried out, “Nooo! Stop it!” He could not see the gnomes, nor Shum. Just scorching hot fire and black-grey smoke.
He fell to his knees.
“I’ve killed them. I’ve killed them.”
CHAPTER 22
“Have you anything else to say?” Selene said from atop Inferno’s back. They had returned to the spot they had left.
Nath kneeled in the thick grass. An empty vessel, trembling. Smoke filled his eyes, and his face was coated in soot and sweat. Through the hazy heat, he could make out his friends at the bottom, still surrounded by the sky raiders. A single command from Selene, and they’d all be burning corpses.
What have I done? What have I said that unleashed such evil?
Shum, Snarggell, and all the gnomes were wiped out.
Shaking, he rose up with Fang gripped in two hands.
“Why did you kill them, if you needed them?”
Inspecting her nails, Selene said, “I had to make sure they could not be used against me. And besides, I have enough stones already. And there are plenty of crystal gnomes, we just have to dig more out of their holes.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Nath said, torn and advancing.
Inferno lowered his horned head between the two of them. A blast of hot air came from his nose. Selene walked up to his crown of horns and sat down between them.
“Do you want to end this war before it blossoms further?”
“I’m not the one that started this fight,” Nath replied.
“True, but you are the cause of it.”
“That’s a lie,” he said.
“Is it now?” Her eyes grazed over his scales. “But you and I are black dragons, Nath. We’re destined to fight for dominion over the world. But together we can stop that. Together, we can end it all today.”
Usually, Nath had little trouble telling truth from a lie, but he was having trouble today. Selene was seasoned. Intelligent. Clever. He wanted to believe her. And he was drawn to her power. Evil twists the truth into a well-spun lie. It will catch you before you see it.
“What do you propose?” Nath said, looking down over the rim before fixing his eyes back on hers.
“A truce,” she said, “with conditions.”
“Such as?”
The feline fury drifted out of the sky and landed alongside Inferno. Its eyes were bright. Nath remembered tangling with it before, in the caves where he battled Kryzak. It had grown and sprouted wings, making for a unique beast, both feline and serpentine.
“You come with me,” she said, “for five years. The war ends, and none of your companions below will die. And I assure you, Nath Dragon: else, all of them will die.”
“Five years? As your prisoner? I’d rather die first.”
“Oh, don’t think of it like that. You will have limited freedom, assuming you don’t interfere.” She stood, walked down Inferno’s nose, and put one arm around the fury. Its purring rumbled in its throat. “And thousands, tens of thousands, won’t have to die, assuming you stay true to your word.” Her eyes bore into his. “There is much I can teach you, Nath. There is much you need to know.” She breathed a ball of fire into her hand and tossed it over the rim. “Take some time and let me show you. Unlock your great powers.”
“And who taught you, Gorn Grattack?”
Surprised, she said, “Ah, so he’s visited you.”
“He said he’d destroy me.”
“And he will, and all of your friends, unless you come with me.”
This wasn’t how Nath had envisioned the final battle. He had pictured himself leading one great dragon army into battle against another. Now it was just himself versus all of them. He felt the sword warming his hands. Any ideas, Fang?
Another presence entered his mind.
Nath.
The voice of Bayzog was in his thoughts.
You cannot surrender. They are deceivers. Defilers.
I cannot let all of you die either, Nath replied with thought.
We fight for you, Nath. For Nalzambor. Dying is part of that. Our sacrifice. Our call. Don’t let all we’ve fought so much for be lost.
Nath thought back, There will be another time and place to fight again. I promise.
Nath, don’t do this. Don’t do this. They can destroy us, but don’t let them destroy you. This is all a trap, using us against you. Help will come, Nath. You must be patient.
Maybe so, but I won’t watch my friends die today, Nath thought.
Then all our efforts are in vain.
I’m making a truce so no harm will come to any of you.
Don’t.
Forgive me, but I must, Nath thought before breaking his connection with Bayzog.
“Selene.”
“Yes.”
“Send away the dragons as a sign of good faith.”
“So be it,” she said, then uttered a word.
The grey scalers disappeared into the sky. The sky raiders lifted from the earth and flew beyond the forest. The feline fury glided over the hills until it was gone, leaving Nath, Selene, and Inferno all alone on the plain at the top of the cliff.
I might not have an answer to this today, but I will have one soon enough.
“Are you satisfied?” Selene said, climbing onto Inferno’s back.
Nath nodded and said, “Five years of peace.”
“Assuming there’s no provocation,” she said. “Do you agree to this truce, Nath Dragon?”
“I do,” he said.
“Then come,” she said, “but there is one more thing. Your sword. You won’t be needing it anymore.”
Nath swallowed, eyed the mystic blade, and stuck it in the ground. He rubbed the dragon pommels before he walked away, saying, “Goodbye, old friend.”
***
Brenwar watched with exasperation. His friend, his charge, Nath Dragon, climbed onto the back of the great dragon with High Priestess Selene. Inferno’s wings spread, flapped, and lifted him into the air.
“No you don’t! No you don’t!” Brenwar roared. He snatched a stone from the pile and hurled it with all his might. Nath’s flame-red hair ducked it. The dragon lifted up, up, up, and out of sight. Brenwar’s heavy shoulders sagged. “How can he do this? How can he do this?”
“He did it so we could live,” Bayzog said, sighing.
“It’s bad, isn’t it, Bayzog?” Ben said. Clatch. Snap. Clatch. He locked Akron away. “But at least those dragons are gone. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see my life getting short.” He rubbed his grizzled chin and eyed the sky. “I would have died for him though.”
“Now what?” Brenwar said. “Do we go after him? We must, shouldn’t we?”
“It’s up to him now,” Bayzog said, leaning on his staff and grimacing.
***
“Are you there? Are you there?” Hoven yelled inside the scorched cave.
Cough. Cough. Cough.
Hack. Hack.
“Yes,” a voice cried from behind a strange wall of stone. Hoven could also hear sobbing on the other side. “We’re here.” It was Shum’s voice. He was certain.
Hoven could barely make out the muffled voices, but one spoke fast, sobbing with distress.
“They’ve died. They’ve died. All of them.”
It was a gnome.
“We have to dig them out of there,” Hoven said to the other Roaming Rangers. He ran his fingers along the strange glob of stone that sealed off the small cave. The rock was charred and singed, and it had an odd aroma to it. How did he get behind this? Running his hands over the strange formation, it hit him. On my! The rocks were small bodies knotted together. The gnomes! In the dim light, his eyes adjusted and could make out their small bearded faces, frozen in pain and anguish.
A Roaming Ranger arrived with a pick and started to swing. Hoven barred his path and said, “We must wait.”
***
Eight small graves covered in wildflowers rested in the falling light. Snarggell spoke for mo
re than an hour, with tears streaming from his eyes. Ben barely understood a word of it, but he did understand one thing the bald gnome said.
I live because they died. I wish it was the other way around. And all these years I didn’t think they much liked me. I will remember. I will do right by them.
***
It was evening. Bayzog, Ben, Brenwar, Snarggell, Shum, Hoven, and the rest of the Roaming Rangers had led the horses up the roads to the meadow at the top of the cliff. Nath’s sword, Fang, had been recovered, but the warm glow of a campfire did little to lift the gloom.
“You have no Nath Dragon to assist now, Shum,” Bayzog said. “Now what will you do?”
Shum stood with his back to the fire, staring beyond the dark.
“It is all unfortunate and unforeseen. I cannot answer that,” the Wilder Elf said. “But the battle is still going on. And there are plenty more that need saving. We’ll focus on that.” He turned and faced Bayzog from the other side of the fire. “And what will you do?”
He looked at Brenwar and Ben. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been home. I’ll probably start there.”
CHAPTER 23
“She’s persistent. I’ll say that,” Pilpin said to Devliik. The dwarves of Morgdon had kept their distance from Faylan the satyr and the Barnabus soldiers for the past several days. Pilpin wanted the falling of Faylan’s brother and the draykis to soak in. To let the little horned murderer feel their pain. “But I’m not sure there will be justice for this one, aside from that which comes from death.”
“Agreed,” Devliik said, sharpening his axe with a stone. “But the time has come to end this.” He dropped the stone, stood up, and sauntered into the trees.
The rest of the dwarves were spread out in the camp, sharpening weapons, feeding themselves, and stitching up each other’s wounds. Devliik had marched them nonstop for two days, winding through mountains and valleys, looking for something that he did not name.
Pilpin stretched his limbs and clawed at his beard. He wondered how the others were doing. Brenwar. Nath. And most of all, Gorlee. Wherever he went is where we should be headed. But that could be anywhere.
The dwarf called Wood Helm signaled to him.
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