Dragon Hero
Page 28
Bolam looked off in another direction, “That way caved in long ago. If it was stored up stairs, we are screwed.” I stared over there. It would take ages to dig up that mess and there was still a risk of more things falling on us.
Teltar tapped me, “There is an entrance to a cave through here.”
The cave appeared to have been used heavily during the days when this fort still stood. Teltar took the lead as we traveled through it. I was in the back, so all I could do is follow the other three in front of me. Some of the areas in the cave seemed rather huge and the air down there was rather cool. There were signs that they built a bit into the cave but some areas they just left as it was naturally.
Teltar warned us when we had to duck or step up as we traveled through several turns throughout the cavern. I felt totally disoriented as I mindlessly followed them. I had no idea which direction we were going or if we were moving up or down. There was the feeling of excitement knowing that we might be getting closer to finding the last pieces of the armor. The other guys all stopped as we entered a very large room. Teltar whispered, “There is a half-eaten corpse here…”
I looked over and almost felt my lunch being pushed back up. The large room held a decent-sized body of water with a narrow stone bridge crossing it. The water shone brightly, reflecting our lights. Right next to it was a mangled torso and an arm, making me wonder what dwelt down in the water. Teltar kneeled down by the corpse and whispered, “This… is recent.” Goosebumps covered my body.
Bolam whispered, “It looks like a Shaden.”
Teltar nodded and looked across the bridge. “It might be best if we cross one by one as quietly as we can,” Teltar whispered. I swallowed hard.
The first one to venture was Teltar. The three of us stared as he made the lone walk across the bridge. He held the lantern and carefully walked across without even a slight problem. At the other side of the stone bridge was a small entry way that led deeper into the cave. Bolam took a deep breath, knowing he was next. He practically held his breath as he crossed. Once Bolam made it to the other side, it was my turn. Jerak gave me a nod, and I slowly walked toward the stone bridge. Thebridge wasn’t that long, but it might as well have been a mile. Every little sound from the dark water made my heart skip a beat. I held my breath and just kept taking each careful step and soon found myself across. Bolam appeared more relieved than I did. Now it was Jerak’s turn. He just shrugged and casually walked across like it was nothing. As the four of us went through the entry way, Jerak grabbed a big rock and chucked it into the water.
“Idiot!” Bolam whispered loudly.
Jerak chuckled, “Hey we made it across! We are safe now, right? I just want to see what is down there!” I put the palm of my hand to my face. Apparently Teltar and Bolam did the same as well. There was a moment of silence until we heard the water moving. We darted deeper into the entryway, peeking over. A large white object rose out of the water. It almost looked like a huge, flat, white rock. As it emerged from the water, it became clear what it was. A giant white crab!
The giant crab darted out of the water, made a few turns and then spotted us. The creature was easily large enough to grab one of us with its massive pincers. The four of us took off running deeper into the cavern. I could hear one of the large pincers scraping the side of the rock, but it couldn’t reach deep enough to get us. Jerak laughed, “Wow! What a big, stupid crab!” and chucked a rock at it. The crab turned to face the entrance and started to make a fizzing sound. I grabbed Jerak and pulled him deeper just in time. The crab spewed something at us. A tiny bit hit my pack and almost instantly dissolved that tiny portion. Holy crap! This thing was spraying acid!
That was plenty of motivation for us to keep going. Three of us were freaked out, but Jerak was laughing like an idiot. “That was neat!”
Bolam argued, “Jerak, you’re an idiot!”
Jerak protested, “Hey we are safe. The stupid thing can’t reach us now!” We made a few more turns in the cavern and traveled through a few smaller chambers. In our haste we fell down a fairly deep drop.
“Ow…” I muttered as fell flat on my face.
Bolam slowly got up, “We got a little careless.”
Teltar lifted his head and saw that his lantern had gotten smashed, “It looks like we were too busy to look where we were going.” Jerak, who was the only one that didn’t fall, hopped down, “Are you guys alright?”
I mumbled, “How did you avoid that?”
Jerak helped me up, “You guys know there is a ladder right?” The three of us gave Jerak a dirty look.
The chamber was actually fairly large with another body of water that covered only a corner of the chamber. We spotted another passage and made our way toward it. The water from the pool began to move wildly. I turned to see that our giant white crab had returned. “Run!” Bolam shouted. The crab got up much faster than I expected and grabbed Jerak.
I took out my axe and charged the crab. Jerak cringed and tried to break free but the thing was much too strong. I swung my axe with both hands and hacked into one of the legs. The crab made a gurgling sound and let go of Jerak. The other pincer came right toward me and smacked me dead on. I woke up with my head ringing again. Teltar was busy trying to fend off the giant crab’s two large pincers. After a few failed attacks, the crab started to make that fizzing sound again.
“Teltar! Get out of there!” I shouted. Teltar had already figured out what was going to happen and dove out of the way to avoid being hit by the acid. I got back up and saw that my axe was underneath the crab. I ran over to help Teltar but saw a pincer moving toward him. I gritted my teeth and charged straight for it. The large pincer smacked me instead which caused me to fall back onto the ground. It still hurt but this time I was prepared for it. Teltar countered and hit the pincer, cracking some of the outer shell.
“Hey ugly!” a voice called from on top of the giant crab. It was Jerak!
Jerak had spent this time climbing onto the back of the crab. I was much too busy being knocked around to notice. Jerak crawled right up to the front of the massive crab. It attempted to grab Jerak but was unable to reach him from that angle. Jerak lifted his mace with one hand and held on with the other. He smashed his mace down at the face of the crab. After a few painful sounding cracks and some gurgling sounds, Jerak managed bash the crab’s face in. There was a little twitching but after a few spastic movements, the crab fell lifeless.
“Blake, are you alright?” Bolam called. He kept out of the way of the fight.
Teltar reached over to help me up and gave me a respectful nod, “Thank you.”
I smiled and nodded back, “Anytime.”
Jerak took a few more strikes at the crab and hopped off of it. He jogged toward us while catching his breath, “I wonder how that thing tastes.”
Teltar shook his head, “I wouldn’t think something like that would be tasty.”
Jerak frowned, “Darn, I really like crab, too…”
After getting my axe and walking a bit, I felt a little better. After finding the last of the dragon armor, I would need to get myself a good helmet. We hiked through several more turns and a couple more chambers until Bolam stopped, “Hey I felt a breeze.”
Teltar walked over, “Yes, there is a breeze further in.”
We made another turn and Bolam stopped once more. He turned off the light on his staff and leaned forward, “Hey… there is a light.”
I smiled, “Looks like we might be almost there.” All four of us jogged toward the light and wound up in a massive opening. Right in the center laid the bones of a dragon that appeared to have died quite a long time ago. The area was littered with several old containers that had been broken and knocked over. At the ceiling stood a small opening where the light was pouring in. At the top stood several figures in black masks.
“Shadens!” Jerak whispered loudly. We took a few steps in. It appeared that they had looted what they could. A rope leading from the opening at top dangled but they quick
ly pulled it back up. They had taken notice of us and laughed at us. Soon one stepped in and the others moved aside. The figure had a fancy black cloak and a black mask that was of much better quality than the others. The masked man stared at us, and we heard a mocking chuckle. He lifted a pair of gauntlets and displayed them to us, “Looking for these?”
Anger rushed through me, “Give me those!”
The man laughed even harder, “Oh, why would I do a rash thing like that?” He handed the gauntlets over to one of the other Shadens who quickly ran out of view with them.
“Those have no real value to you!” Bolam shouted.
The Shaden chuckled a little, “I know very well about your foolish quest to retrieve all the Dragon Armor. I even helped you get the pieces in Celvanis.” We glared at each other.
The man laughed, “It was so easy to trick the arrogant elves into thinking that the dwarves would actually attack their precious forest.” The man casually took out a small black pouch, “It was almost as easy as fooling the feeble-minded dwarves into thinking the elves attacked their lumber camps.” Teltar snorted but felt no reason to take any action. “I was most surprised that you, Blake, were able to wield that cursed armor. I am even more surprised that you have already collected the rest of the pieces for me,” the man spoke in an arrogant tone.
Bolam yelled, “Why are you trying to cause a war between the elves and the dwarves?!” The man chuckled and then took off his mask. It took me a second, but Bolam recognized him right off, “Deshra Thornweave?!”
Deshra grinned, “I am flattered you remember who I am.”
Bolam scratched his head, “Why are you trying to wage war against the dwarves?!” Deshra ran his fingers through his blonde hair, “Oh, I don’t care which side wins.” The four of us looked at each other. Deshra sighed, “I guess you are all too simple-minded to figure it out… I am not really an elf.” He shook his head, “I guess my disguise as an elf is too convincing for you four to realize that I am really a dark elf.” Deshra sighed and took out a small black stone from the small pouch, “I founded the rogue group called the Shadens many years ago. I even convinced the elves that I was one of them to the point to where I ended up as a representative.” He toyed around with the black stone, “At first, I only planned cause damage to the elves. Then I found an ally, and our plans evolved.”
“So you are trying to get rid of the elves?” Jerak asked loudly.
Deshra stared at him and laughed, “Oh, that would be too simple! Sure, I love the idea of getting rid of the elves, but I’ve found a greater calling.”
I sighed, “And that is…?”
Deshra smiled, “Power! Power to control others to do my bidding-power to get rid of my enemies and whoever I find worthless.”
Jerak already appeared bored and started to pick at his ear, “Yeah, yeah! You can lie and trick people, big deal!”
Deshra glares at him, “You are leagues beneath my logic!”
Deshra took a deep breath and calmed himself down, “After meeting you, Blake, I found a way to gain the favor of a powerful ally…” He stared at the black stone, “Xum’gol!”
My jaw dropped, “What?!”
Deshra stared at the stone, “The power that lies in the armor would bring great interest to him. I don’t care about the details of how he will use it, but he has promised me great things!”
Jerak laughed, “Idiot! You only have one piece!”
Deshra lifted a brow, “Oh I’ll retrieve the rest after my gift takes care of you.” He tossed the black stone down toward the dragon bones, “Let’s just say it is a gift from Xum’gol!” He walked away laughing and soon a glowing mass spewed out of the black stone and covered the bones. A blackish purple substance grew inside the chest of the bone dragon and soon it began to move.
The bone dragon slowly stood up and produced an unnatural roar. The wings began to form a thin layer to fill the gaps between the bones and looked like real wings. “It looks like we have no choice!” Jerak said.
I took out my axe and heard a voice inside my head, “To defile my children! How dare they?!” It was the Dragon Spirit. He sounded really angry. I took a deep breath and charged the bone dragon. Teltar and Jerak spread out and moved in to flank the undead dragon. The bone dragon opened its mouth and shot out a fireball at me.
I moved out of the way. The armor protected me but the force of impact could really cause me some problems. “Aim for the core of power in the chest” the Dragon Spirit spoke to me. I gave a quick nod and kept moving toward it. Teltar tried to move in but the tail was swinging away at him. I couldn’t tell what Jerak was up to but saw a fireball coming from behind me toward the bone dragon. Bolam’s fireball nailed the face of the bone dragon but only seemed to distract it.
While the bone dragon had a face full of a fireball, I moved in around the side of the creature. The only thing that blocked me from reaching the glowing source inside of the chest was the rib cage. I took a deep breath and hit the ribs as hard as I could. The axe chipped away but barely caused a crack. I lifted my axe again to get ready for another strike until the bone dragon took notice and turned toward me. I dove away to avoid its boney jaws but lost my angle. I shouted, “Aim for the center of the chest!”
I rolled away just as soon as I saw the claws coming down at me. The boney claws crashed into the ground next to me. Teltar charged in toward the side and jammed his sword right in between the ribs. The bone dragon roared and stood up. It flapped its wings and soon was airborne. The chamber was barely high enough to keep it out of our reach but it stared at us with glowing eyes. It bone dragon took a deep breath which wasn’t a good sign.
Soon the bone dragon shot several fireballs straight at us. Teltar abandoned his sword and did his best to avoid the fire balls. One just missed me but still knocked me aside. Bolam fired one of his own at the bone dragon but didn’t even faze it. The bone dragon started to charge up again. How were we going to fight it? Soon I saw Jerak on the back of the bone dragon. Jerak looked at me and nearly lost his grip. He gave me a grin and slowly tried to climb up its spine.
Jerak raised his mace, “Big monsters are easier to take down this way!” The dragon flapped its wings hard which unbalanced Jerak a little. “Oh, man!” Jerak shouted as he lost grip of his mace, which fell below.
“Jerak! Try to hit the center!” I shouted. The bone dragon fired a fireball toward Bolam which cause him to retreat deeper into the cavern. Jerak held tightly onto the spine, “I can’t! I don’t have my mace!”
Teltar reached for his sword, “Use your buckler!” Jerak banged his buckler at the bone dragon. At Jerak’s angle he wasn’t really able to reach the magical core. Jerak banged away as hard as he could at the spine of the shoulder. Soon, the bone dragon dropped to the ground.
It landed without showing much injury but Jerak fell off of it. I held my axe and Teltar and I charged again. I slashed at the rib cage and caused several large cracks in a few ribs. Teltar jammed his sword right into the core. Some dark magic splashed out like water but that wasn’t enough. The bone dragon roared and turned its body toward us. I dove down under it to avoid a claw from backhanding me. Teltar moved to avoid it as well. Jerak was on the ground in somewhat of a daze but was otherwise fine. I found myself facing up at the center of the rib cage.
It was hard to crawl on my back with armor on, but the clearance was very limited. The bone dragon occasionally moved side to side. I feared it would notice me and crush me with its massive bones. I carefully crawled beneath the rib cage and had an idea. The body was moving around still from the fighting, but once it stood still I crouched and climbed inside. The bone dragon did not like that at all. It roared and stood up. I wrapped my arm around one of the ribs to hang on and held on for dear life as it took off flying again.
I could see my three friends look up at me as I struggled to not fall to my doom. I closed my eyes and cringed-I really hated heights! The dragon moved around in the limited air space, trying to break free of me bu
t I held on like my life depended on it… which it did! I bit my lower lip hard and stared up into the glowing mass. My axe was still in my right hand and I jammed it into the magical core. The dragon nearly collapsed but somehow still remained in flight. It felt like I was attacking a watery orb. I took a deep breath and franticly moved the axe around inside, causing more of the magical aura to splash away from the core. Eventually, the bone dragon fell to the ground.
My stomach felt like it was going to pop out of my mouth! The impact caused my left shoulder to make a painful popping sound. My arm still held on but I felt my lower body hit the ground below. The bone dragon kept turning around in an attempt to knock me away. I made a few small wild swings into the core. After making four more swings the bone dragon stood up suddenly. This time I lost my grip and fell onto the ground. At least it wasn’t that high up. I lifted my body back up to see it go back onto all fours and gave one last roar.
“Blake!” Bolam shouted. The bone dragon backed up and lowered its head. Then it charged straight toward Bolam and the others. The three took off running deeper into the caverns until they were out of the room. The bone dragon crashed violently into the side of the cave. It collapsed and stopped glowing. I sighed, relieved that it was over but the cavern around me started to rumble.
Chapter 13
I could feel a heavy weight on me. My head was in a daze and every part of my body felt bruised or broken. “I think that is the last piece. Just toss him aside and hurry up!” a voice spoke from a short distance away. Someone shoved my body aside carelessly. I could hear the figures walking away. It sounded like they were moving upward. “Hey come on! Torkuhl will get mad if we keep him waiting!” the voice said to the other. I laid there face down on top of several rocks in a great deal of pain.
Another voice called out, “Wait a minute…”The figure hopped down and jogged right by me. My heart was racing and I held my breath. “Hey, I found this strange axe!” the voice said near me.
The other voice replied, “Come on! Torkuhl is in a bad enough mood as it is!”