“Okay, okay, my friend,” I squeaked. “Don’t kill me, buddy. I suddenly have a reason to live again.”
Gnath released me but quickly pulled me back in for one more, quick embrace.
“Is the area clear?” I asked.
Rika stepped forward handing me my sword. “All clear, at least down here. We should get going. We can’t go back the way we came in, we’d have to fight our way through the castle. We have to go this way,” she said, pointing the other direction down the passage.
“So, there’s another way out?” I asked, “a back door?”
“I don’t know for sure, but…”
“But? But what?”
“Unfortunately, that’s where the dragon is.”
Without hesitation, Gnath headed down the passage, opposite the way we came in.
“Kill dragon.”
“Hold on there, buddy!” I said, running to catch up. “You can’t go off taking on the dragon by yourself.”
“Kill dragon!”
Gnath pushed away, drawing his sword that seemed to glow in the dim light of the dungeon passage. Nyssa shrugged and followed, then Rika. So, me being me, did likewise. A flickering glow was coming for the far end of the hall, that seemed to open into another large chamber. The air grew cold, and there was the scent, or taste, of salty air wafting down the passageway.
A great cavern opened into was seemed to be carved out of the rocky bluffs along the shores of the Gulf of Edenkeep opened before us. Light filtered in from the outside with the sea breeze from an opening far down the cavernous chamber to the left. But there was no sign of the dragon. A massive dragon-sized collar and chain were lying on the floor towards the center of the room, and bones of indeterminate origin scattered about.
“Well, I think we found its lair. The question is… where is it?” Nyssa asked.
“Maybe,” I said, “it’s a sign that we best quit while we are ahead? Let’s find a way out and save our own necks.”
Gnath shot me a look of disgust. When he gets it in his head to do something, he will stop at nothing to see it through.
“Relax, my large friend. There will be plenty of time to go after the dragon. But I feel like a sitting duck here. I would rather wait until we have the upper hand – the element of surprise.”
“For once I agree with the elf,” Nyssa said.
“Half-elf.”
”Let’s find a way out. We can always find our way back in again when the time is right.”
My comment went unnoticed, as Gnath put his sword away.
“Okay,” he said, sounding a little sad.
“That’s my big friend,” Rika said, taking his hand. Caught off guard, Gnath looked down at her, a surprised look on his face. “Come on, let’s find our way out.”
She led him by the hand towards the large opening to the outside air, and Nyssa and I followed, looking at each other in disbelief. The light of the outside world grew brighter, our eyes straining to adjust as we neared the end of the cave.
Then something dark, something darting back and forth in the sky ahead, split the light as it eclipsed the sun and made its way towards the cavern.
“Dragon,” Gnath said, drawing his sword.
“Quick!” I yelled. “Hide behind these boulders!”
We ducked behind several large builders that littered the edges of the opening, some larger than Gnath.
“Do you think he saw us?” Rika asked, now invisible again.
“We’ll know soon enough,” Nyssa answered.
With a great whoosh, Diatzieg flew past pushing a wall of air with it as its great mass and huge wings displacing the air in the cavern. The rush of air turned outward as it glided in for a landing near the inner cavern, far more graceful than a being its size should be able to master.
Quickly, our party moved around the boulders hoping to remain hidden from view. To our relief, the dragon didn’t seem to notice. We peeked over the crest of the boulder to see the dragon settling down to rest, the scars of the wizard’s spectral blades obvious on its otherwise smooth body and wings.
“It’s healing fast,” I whispered.
“Let’s see if there’s a way out of here,” Nyssa said, crouching as she made her way to the opening of the cavern.
“Kill dragon,” Gnath once again insisted.
“Another day, Gnath,” Nyssa said. “We need to regroup and plan this out, now that we know how to find it.”
“We need to find food,” I offered.
That suggestion seemed to get my big friend’s attention more than anything. I knew it would.
“Hungry.”
“There you go,” Nyssa said. “We’ll be back after we eat and rest.”
We followed, crouched as well, to the outside of the cave entrance overlooking the angry waters below. There was a bit of an open area to either side of the entrance, allowing us to stand erect once again, clear of the dragon’s direct line of vision. A narrow ledge trailed off to the south across the cliffs of the gulf. We couldn’t see where it led, but we had few options. We all shrugged in unison, and began our journey down the ledge, staying as tight to the wall as we could. Gnath, having the widest girth, was not so sure about the safety of the route, and hesitated.
“Come on Gnath, you can make it.”
“Stay. Kill dragon.”
“You’ll get your chance, but… Food, remember?”
“Hungry,” Gnath said, matter-of-factly.
“I know you’re hungry. Let’s go. Let’s find some food. Come on. I’m here with you.”
Gnath put his foot on the ledge, and a few rocks crumbled under his weight.
“It’s okay. You got this.”
Gnath took a few more steps, and the footing seemed solid enough. Together, slowly, Gnath and I moved along the ledge a short distance behind the others.
Below, the waves crashed against the rocks, and mist would find its way up to me, a cool reminder on our faces that the water below was far too cold, and far too angry for my fragile body. Occasionally, Gnath would lose his footing and grab my arm for support, which was foolish because I would be no help to him if he should fall. Certainly, he certainly would pull me down with him to our mutual demise.
Overhead, sea birds soared without a care, and we could see the walls of Edenkeep rising overhead from atop the cliff. The feeling of doom lurked above and below, but we continued onward in hopes of finding a way off the jagged slope.
The winds were getting stronger as we passed below the edge of the Keep. We picked up our pace, and to our relief, the small ledge started to rise. We pressed onward, climbing closer and closer to the top of the ridge. It seemed like an eternity before we finally crested the ridge, and by the time we did, the Keep was a mile behind us to the north.
“I didn’t think we’d ever see flat land again,” I said, stopping to rest with my hands on my knees. Rika dropped down and rolled over on her back as if to melt into the embrace of the ground beneath her. Gnath just stood there and smiled, and Rika walked over to him and put as much of her arm around him as she could.
“You did great, my brave warrior,” she said, taking his hand in hers. I think - though I might have just imagined it - I think Gnath blushed.
I looked around and noticed much of the land not far from us was scorched, most likely a practice ground for the dragon. Some of the surrounding landscape was still smoldering, but the wind was blowing the smoke and smell away from us. Then I noticed some lumps that looked out of place on the nearby areas scorched by the dragon.
“I’ll be right back,” I said, straightening up and walking towards what I had seen. As I neared, I recognized what the lumps were. Charred from dragon fire, half a dozen head of cattle were lying on the ground smoking. I felt sick for their cruel demise, but a thought occurred to me. I went over to the nearest one and sliced into it with my sword. Once through the charred skin, I found beneath some rather nicely cooked beef.
“Yo!” I called back to the others. “Dinner is s
erved.”
Chapter 37
We carried our full bellies over to a small clump of unburned trees and settled back to get some rest. Gnath carried an extra handful of medium-rare steak with him, and he munched as he walked. The sun was beginning to droop in the sky, and we didn’t want to be in the open should a search party set out after us. We didn’t light a fire that evening, but the air was warm enough that we didn’t need the heat. It would have been nice to have had the light, but this close to Edenkeep we didn’t want to draw attention to our small camp.
“So, what’s our plan?” Rika asked as the darkness grew around us.
“Plan? I say we find the first boat to Mandervale Island and hope the sorcerer decides it’s too small a prize to take.”
“Why are you such a coward?” Nyssa asked, her words sticking into me like a dagger.
“Coward? Realist, more like. I know my limitations, and I know when to back away from a fight I cannot win.”
“Kill dragon.”
“Gnath, on the other hand, has a singular line of thinking, and will carry out his quest no matter what, suicidal as it may be.”
“Sounded cowardly to me,” Rika said.
“I saw you this far. Went through the netherworlds with for you, got tortured for you, got imprisoned again in Edenkeep for you…”
I stopped to think a minute, and then something struck me as odd.
“Rika, your goal was to get to Edenkeep. We were escorting you to Edenkeep. We are here, aren’t you anxious to be with your… family, was it?”
“I do have family here, but that’s not what is important now.”
“I would think family would be of utmost importance to you. It would be to me.”
“They are just fine. We have to do this, or we are all doomed.”
“Seems to me this is a convenient way to stiff us out of the d’nar you promised us.”
“You will get your money, both of you.”
Gnath reached over and put his hand on her shoulder in a silent signal that he believed her, and she smiled back at him. I shook my head. I decided to end the argument there, convinced only that I would believe it when I see it. She may have Gnath wrapped around her little finger, but not me.
“You all get some rest,” Nyssa said. “I will keep watch for the first half of the night.”
I didn’t argue, though I did wonder who would take the second watch. I leaned back onto the warm ground and closed my eyes. Without even realizing I slept, I noticed the sun was beginning to rise in the east. I looked up and saw Nyssa sleeping. A few feet away, Rika was sitting next to a tree, her dagger at the ready.
“I expected someone to wake me.”
“Why? Because of the mighty warrior that you are?”
“Because I am the one you hired to take care of you.”
“Seems I am pretty good at taking care of myself. It’s those around me that seem to have the trouble.”
“She’s got a point, elf-man,” Nyssa said, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. “Damn, this ground gets hard after a few hours.”
“Don’t trouble yourself, Wellington. I was already awake and told her to get some sleep. I don’t need a lot of sleep anyway.”
I looked around at our little camp and realized someone was blatantly missing.
“Hey, where’s Gnath?”
“Over there,” Nyssa said, pointing out towards the field of dead cows. I looked and there was Gnath, slicing into one of the now cool bovine corpses.
“Gnath’s biggest enemy; hunger. He’d go after a dragon without fear but tell him he can’t eat for a day or two and he becomes a sniveling baby.”
“He is like a big baby, isn’t he? Have you ever seen him cry?” Rika asked, rustling a bit from her spot under the tree. She yawned and wiped her eyes as she sat up. I watched her stretch her arms in the air, and then she looked me. “Have you? Seen him cry?”
“No. He whimpers when he’s in an uncomfortable situation, like when he’s hungry, in a dungeon with a chain around his neck, those sorts of things. But as for all-out crying? No. I don’t know if he has it in him.”
“He’s so sensitive. For someone that comes across as a scary creature, he’s very caring.”
“Just don’t break his heart, okay? He’s taken a liking to you and I don’t want to see him get to the point where he might actually cry.”
“I don’t have any intention of hurting him. I’ve taken a liking to him as well.”
My thoughts raced to what offspring of such a union might generate, and I couldn’t come up with an image in my mind. I laughed silently to myself at the thought of how that process might proceed when I remembered that Gnath himself was the product of the union between a full-blood human woman, and a full-blood ogre. That must have been a sight.
Gnath returned and offered a hand full of slightly rare beef to Rika who smiled and put her hand out to block it.
“No, thank you, Gnath. I don’t think my body could tolerate that this early in the morning.”
Gnath looked a little dejected, but smiled at Rika, took a seat under the same tree with his back to me, and began eating Rika’s portion himself. Rika looked at me and smiled. I smiled and winked back.
“I think you are very safe with Gnath around.”
“I think so, too.”
In a rocky plain just north of the Forest of the Damned, the mighty dragon, burnt umber in color, rose from the soil. The wizard marveled at his handiwork as the giant beast stood on its hind legs and spread its wings for the first time. The young dragon still an infant by dragon standards, would grow quickly and would serve its purpose soon enough. To defeat Diatsieg on an even playing field would take months. Quint, the Spellcrafter, didn’t have that much time. But a dragon, even a young one, would be better than nothing.
The dragon arched its back and looked upward. It coughed as a dragon might cough, and then a great red flame shot from its throat, reaching high in the morning sky.
“That’s it! You have awoken, my daughter,” The Spellcrafter said. “What shall we name you? What shall be the name of the red dragon that will defeat Diatsieg?” The dragon bent forward, its head lowering down to the level of the wizard. It sniffed, and as it exhaled a small waft of smoke spewed from its nostrils. The wizard reached out his hand, and in an intimate exchange of tenderness, touched the nose of his creation. The dragon closed its eyes at the touch from her master. “Magnificent. I will name you Naamagal. Naamagal the Magnificent.”
The red dragon snorted her approval.
“Today, I want you to learn to fly and learn to attack. Do not kill any beast that is not a threat. Leave people alone, leave their cattle and homes alone. Fly to the north to the rocky shores of the Gulf of Edenkeep and practice your fire breathing. Tomorrow we must find Diatsieg. It is time to put his reign of terror to rest.”
The dragon looked at the wizard, a suggestion of a nod of her head as she lifted it, stretching upward. With a great movement of air, she began working her wings. Harder and harder she flapped, until, defying everything the wizard knew about the laws of nature, Naamagal rose into the air, slowly at first, but then took off in an arch where leveled off. She circled the field once before heading north. She wanted to learn the skills she would need. She had never met Diatsieg – she didn’t know that she was created from his talon, but she did know that her father needed to be stopped.
Chapter 38
“Kill dragon,” Gnath said for the third time.
“Gnath, you are not capable of killing the dragon. None of us are, even if we all worked together. We would all be fried like the cattle in the field.”
“Your little friend is right, Gnath,” Nyssa said. “We need a better plan than rushing in to battle a dragon, even if you do have an enchanted sword.”
“Enchanted sword?” I asked.
“Didn’t you see it glow in the passage below?”
“Yes, now that you mention it…”
“Gnath,” Rika said, reaching out and grabbin
g his hand. “We have no plan. No back-up plan, no idea how to do what you want to do. You can’t just walk in and start a fight with the dragon you can’t win.”
It was then that the sky overhead burst into flames, the change in air pressure as massive wings pushing walls of air made our ears pop. The giant beast had come out of nowhere, streaking overhead like an archer’s arrow and gracefully climbing to unimaginable heights. It headed southwest of us, over the rocky bluffs of the Gulf shore.
“Dragon!” I yelled as we all ducked behind the trees around us, though I didn’t really need to tell anyone what had just passed over us. I peered around the tree at the dragon doing circles in the sky and making mock attack runs at nothing in particular on the bluffs. Something about it didn’t make sense to me.
“That’s not the same dragon,” Nyssa said, putting into words what I was trying to sort out in my head. “This one is more of a red, or brown in color. The other one was black.”
“I saw it as blue. A very dark blue.”
“Whatever the case, this one is brown.”
“Reddish brown.”
“Whatever.”
“It didn’t come from the lair under the Keep. This one came from the south.”
And in a moment the brown dragon disappeared over the low hills to the southeast, the smell of burnt air and vegetation still lingering in our nostrils.
“Kill dragon now!” Gnath said, picking up his things and taking off towards the direction of the dragon.
“Gnath,” I called after him. “You can’t go rushing off after that dragon. Gnath! Think about what you’re doing!”
But he was not listening. We watched as his massive stride made quick distance between us.
“Come on. We might as well go watch him fry to death,” I said, grabbing my things and running off to catch my friend. The others, reluctantly, did the same.
“What do you mean, another dragon?” Zaleus barked. The unfortunate captain that was picked to deliver the news stood at attention in front of the sorcerer, waiting to be struck down for delivering the unpleasant news. Captain Dandridge was no young pup. He had been around for a long time. But everyone knew the sorcerer was not one to be toyed with, or disappointed. He knew that people had died, or been morphed into hideous creatures, just for choosing the wrong words to address the mage.
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