Legend of the Iron Flower Box Set (Books 1-4)

by Billy Wong

  Derrick sat up painfully and saw that the slaver lay unmoving on her back with a huge smoking wound on her chest, her eyes closed and fingers limp around her swords. Her peaceful face, he thought, looked surprisingly innocuous in death.

  #

  The monster fell from the sky, smoking from all orifices with a heavy sword in its belly. For a moment Rose thought the man-dragon dead, but then it looked up at her and let loose its mightiest spell yet, an immense spread of lightning she could not dodge. Stunning bolts rained down all around her, and converging on her merged into one incredible pillar of light which drove her to the ground. Another, even stronger bolt crashed down onto her prone form, and all but fried her.

  Lying on the charred grass, she smelled her own flesh cooking and could barely breath. But the man-dragon had caused its wounded body great stress with the mighty spell, and struggled to regain its feet. Rose smiled painfully as she saw Finn finally rise to rejoin the battle, worry for her allowing him to fight off his fatigue.

  "Get up!" she heard him yell with heartwarming faith; and she obeyed, if with agonizing difficulty as skin burnt to a crisp cracked with her movement. The man-dragon took in its plight and hesitated. The lovers didn't, charging like bulls and sandwiching their enemy between their great steel shields.

  Even now the monster was strong, and shoved itself free. But Finn was right back on it, grappling it from behind and trying to hold its snout shut to prevent more spellcasting. With his other hand, he battered the thing with awkward punches, doing little damage but keeping it off balance. Gasping, Rose grabbed her embedded sword and pulled it out, then raised it to hack the thrashing beast apart. In that moment, the man-dragon freed its snout from Finn's hand and cast one more spell, making the ground erupt beneath them all with incredible force.

  It actually took the brunt of its own spell, being thrown straight into the air while Rose and Finn found themselves knocked away to the sides. But it somehow righted itself in midair and flew away, stalling and dipping erratically as its wounds threatened to overcome it.

  "Ha! We were just getting started!" Finn managed to yell after it before falling back.

  #

  The lovers leaned heavily on each other as they stumbled back towards the house. As Rose entered and tried to lower her exhausted lover to the floor, she lost her balance and they fell in a heap together. Terrible pain flared through her extensive burns, and she struggled to remain conscious. The thought of having to disrobe later made her shudder, for she could feel her skin fused in many places to the fabric of her undershirt. Disentangling herself from Finn, she looked up to see Derrick kneeling over them. Then she spotted the dead slaver.

  "You killed her?"

  "No, random lightning bolt did. Are you guys all right?"

  Rose looked exasperatedly into his eyes. "We look all right? Help us get to the hospital, will you? I'm glad I gave the healing magic to the one in this town, because I need it!"

  On the way, she explained what the man-dragon had said. "So all the magic I learned is useless?" Finn asked, barely able to speak. "My hard work was in vain?"

  Clearly exhausted himself and bent under the heavy warriors who leaned crushingly against him, Derrick tried to reassure him. "No, I think it'll be okay if we kill the man-dragon. I doubt the spells will still drain you to give it energy if it's dead."

  Finn gave a hopeful nod, but Rose frowned. "How do you propose doing that? It can fly, and damn fast at that. We barely held it off just now, and next time it'll be more prepared for us. Besides, how will we find it? All we know is that it flew to the east."

  With a thoughtful look, Derrick said, "It told you its magic that was in the book returned to it, right? So does that mean the magic compass will point to it?"

  It seemed unlikely to Rose, who doubted an archmage would make such a careless oversight. But when they looked at the ruby, its stain indeed no longer pointed to the book, but to the east. Finn mocked the man-dragon. "What stupid arrogance! It must have never considered that the humans who found its artifacts could be its match."

  They finally reached the hospital, and Rose hastily borrowed the healing amulet. The magic device worked slowly and only on the person who wore it, so Finn and Derrick would have to make do with mundane treatments. While all of them were battered, Rose's severe burns demanded more attention than the men's bruises and Finn's admittedly nasty facial gashes, which a nurse stitched as he held back screams.

  Though the shuddering Rose felt slightly less pain with the amulet on, her injuries did not fade, and she wondered if it had worked faster for Wilner because he'd become more attuned to it over time. Or maybe burns were just harder to heal. Derrick sat there and looked with pity at his tortured friends, hardly seeming to give a second thought to his broken nose.

  Despite his sympathy for their hurts, Derrick would be the one to bring up the question they all dreaded. "So, when do we go after him?"

  Finn groaned. "Look at us. Do we look ready to fight again?"

  Rose gingerly put her hand on his shoulder. Her red, unsteady hand. "It's not like we didn't give as good as we got. Who knows how quickly it heals? If we don't kill it before it recovers, how will we fight it when we're still ailing?"

  The concern in Finn's eyes soothed her. "For all we know, it's already fully healed. What if it knows curative spells? If we go after it, we might just be going to our deaths. Besides, if it comes here while you're hurt, I'll protect you."

  Not a very realistic promise, but Rose smiled and hugged him from the side, relaxing as she leaned against his massive body. But her mind was working, and she whispered, "Tomorrow."

  Derrick looked at Finn, and he nodded. They'd go tomorrow, then. Not much time for them to regain their strength, and not much for the man-dragon. Rose knew it couldn't have gone far with its wounds, unless it did possess some healing ability. As they prepared for what would hopefully not be their last night of sleep, Derrick touched Finn's shoulder.

  "Sorry about the rant. I was frustrated, because in my mind I foolishly thought magic could come back to prominence just like that. But now I see there are many obstacles such a return faces. You're more than competent, to have learned so well in spite of the handicap set by that archmage."

  Finn smiled as Rose tenderly kissed his chest. "Apology accepted. It's not as if I've never lost my temper with anyone before. It's too bad, though, that I might not be the one to bring spellcasting back to the world after all. But that damn monster won't get away with using me as a pawn—we'll pay it back in pain and death."

  #

  The next day, the friends forced themselves out of bed, though Rose's burns seemed little better, and armed themselves for combat at range as well as in close. Derrick might not be able to do too much harm to the man-dragon, but insisted on standing with his wounded friends. Rose only hoped he could distract their opponent enough to make a difference. After preparing, the trio followed the lead of the magic compass to a narrow cave mouth on a hillside a few miles from Hullel.

  "This is it?" Finn asked. "Doesn't seem like much of a dragon lair."

  "That's good," Derrick said. "It means it was too hurt to get much farther."

  Rose smiled hopefully, but then said, "Be careful. It could still be a trap. Clearly our mobility is going to be limited by these walls." The companions walked deeper into the cavern, Derrick with lantern in hand. Without warning, strange words filled their ears, and a strong gust of wind put out the lamp and threw them into darkness.

  "It can see in the dark?!" Derrick asked as surprisingly light footsteps closed in. But they had discussed this possibility before they'd left, and he threw a bottle of flaming oil in the direction of the sound. The ploy worked better than they'd expected, as the man-dragon stepped through the miniature inferno and its foot caught fire.

  The flames didn't seem to hurt the thing, but distracted it as it stopped and looked down. Rose caught it in the chest with one of her huge arrows, then Finn stepped in and whacked it in the head
with his mace, throwing it against the cave wall. It roared angrily and chanted a quick spell, throwing a lightning bolt into his face which knocked him to the ground.

  Rose rushed to save her man, dropping her bow while she dashed forward to engage the man-dragon in melee. Her sword flashed through the air and knocked it from its feet, but the creature landed on the patch of flaming oil, smothering it. She couldn't see, but imagined it smiling wickedly at her misfortune. Turning, she ran for the outside, a blast of cold numbing her back, and heard her arrogant opponent give chase. Just as the thing caught up to her and leapt, she threw herself down, and the man-dragon went sailing over her head.

  Now it was her turn as she sprang up and tackled the creature. Lifting it into the air, she bore it out of the cave and into the light. It hit the rocky ground hard, driven down by all of Rose's considerable strength and mass. They both got up quickly, and she was disheartened to confirm that, as they'd all feared, the man-dragon's gut wound had healed. It caught her looking at the site of the injury and grinned its hideous grin.

  Foolish woman, we mages of old had ways to heal the flesh as well as destroy it. Of course, I didn't leave you with any such gifts. You have no chance!

  This brought worry for Finn back to Rose's mind, and she darted at it slashing with her sword. It dodged nimbly as expected, but her shield rim slammed into its belly. As it bent forward she leapt into the air and chopped down hard, gashing its tough back and driving it facefirst to the ground.

  It reached for her ankle to trip her, but she jumped over huge claws and stomped on its head with her steel boots. The monster shook her off and split the ground beneath her with a spell. As she lost her balance and fell, the massive man-dragon leapt and slammed both its granite fists into her chest hard enough to make her cough blood.

  #

  After checking on Finn, Derrick followed the battling duo outside to find his friend and the huge monster going toe to toe, exchanging fierce blows with neither backing down one bit. He was amazed more than ever by Rose's tenacity and endurance, as she gave a close fight to the supernatural beast which showed her no mercy.

  And she asked no quarter; though blood streamed from gashes torn by great claws and heavy blows knocked her to the ground again and again, still she fought on. Too, she gave the man-dragon few opportunities to bring its great magical prowess to bear, ever harrying it in close quarters.

  Derrick figured Rose wished in her heart for this to be her own battle, for she could not bear risking her friends against such a force. But he wasn't about to let the selfless woman get herself killed. Seeing the man-dragon rock her with a crushing punch, then gouge her chest with claws stronger than steel before knocking her down with a gout of roaring flame into her newly gushing wounds, Derrick forced himself to act.

  He lunged, and threw all his weight behind a pick blow (for that was the weapon with which Rose and Finn thought he could hurt it best) at the creature's back. The pick penetrated the tough hide, but did not wound deeply. Sneering, the creature easily knocked him down with a flap of its wings and turned to finish him off. But Rose's punch to the back of its head threw it down on its belly, and as it stood, it began to rise into the air.

  "Derrick, be careful!" Rose wasn't pleased to see her opponent taking flight, and hastily pulled a specially weighted javelin off her back. "And where's Finn?"

  Incredulous at the speed of her recovery from the monster's brutal assault, Derrick watched her take aim. "He got blinded by that last lightning bolt. Don't worry, I don't think it'll be permanent—and anyway, we have the healing amulet."

  "What?! So it all falls to me, then?" But Derrick didn't think she minded that much. The powerful woman let fly her cast, and the spear pierced deeply into the man-dragon's already wounded flesh. It continued trying to fly away, but Rose gripped the strong rope she'd tied to the spear and jerked hard on it, bringing the monster crashing down.

  Rose ran to the fallen beast, which was starting to chant some desperate spell, and brought her mammoth broadsword down again and again. Its hide tore under the overwhelming blows as black blood and gore spattered her all over, and the creature flailed helplessly as it took wounds enough to kill a man many times over.

  Suddenly Rose stopped her onslaught and looked down at her opponent. "What's in the Brushknoll, that could change a nation?" Derrick didn't expect the man-dragon to answer, even if it could. Surely, it'd spite them in death. To his surprise, he heard the dying thunder in his head, and knew Rose did as well.

  A death I'd wish for you to find awaits you there.

  A cryptic answer, but neither of them sensed a lie, and they looked curiously at one another. Then, Derrick held Rose's hand as she steeled herself for the clash with the thing's spirit, which they expected to leap from the destroyed body to try and take hers. But as the creature breathed its last and fell totally still, no such thing happened. Having used up all its mental energy to try and preserve its treasured body, it had no strength to keep its soul from flying wherever souls go after death. Exhaling with relief, its killer collapsed to lie at its side.

  "Rose! Are you hurt badly?!" Derrick cried in alarm.

  "Not too bad... but I fought the whole fight already a crispy girl, remember? I'm just really tired right now!"

  #

  Derrick helped Finn out of the cave and led him to where Rose lay. He ran his hands blindly over her body, and frowned at the touch of blood and gore. "Rose, are you..?"

  "It's not m-mine, mostly. I'll be okay." She said it quietly and with difficulty, and Finn's fear only grew. "Don't worry, I just took some really hard hits while already wounded. But I'll heal."

  Derrick patted his back. "You should have seen her, Finn. She was unbelievable."

  "I don't need to have seen it to imagine it, knowing the results. You truly are the greatest of warriors, Rose. I'm so proud of you."

  She squeezed his hand. "There's one more thing. Finn, cast a spell."

  "What?" He didn't understand what she wanted.

  "We want to see if you still get as tired from casting as before," Derrick explained, "and if your spell mends the archmage's body—in other words, if the draining effect is still present on the spells."

  He chanted a few words to summon a little raincloud over Rose to soothe her wounds, and she giggled at the loving gesture. He barely felt a tiring sensation from the spell, and Derrick confirmed the man-dragon's corpse remained mangled as before. "It's gone," Finn concluded, and reached down to help his love to her feet.

  But she didn't come, and whispered something. When he bent to hear, she playfully suggested, "How about this time, you carry me home."

  Finn laughed joyously despite his own wounds and picked Rose up with ease. The mighty woman was as a child cradled against his enormous chest, and Derrick took hold of his sleeve to guide him. They chatted cheerfully all the way back despite their assorted injuries, and halfway there Finn regained his sight. He thought his little Rose looked heart-wrenchingly cute in his arms, and unwilling to put her down continued to walk as slowly as when he'd been blind. Finally they got home, and rested for many happy days.

  Chapter 13

  "What's this you say? You have a message from Sumafu?" Finn asked as he looked at Derrick, who was reading the mail. The outlook for a magical revival seemed bleak; though the man-dragon was dead, the enchantment which restricted the use of its spells to the book's original reader still held, and no progress could be made against it.

  Derrick nodded. "Yeah, he wonders if we're still alive. In case we are, he wants to come visit."

  "Really? I don't know if he'd enjoy staying here too much, what with being used to that huge palace."

  "We do have a decent library and collection of artifacts," Rose said, "which he'd like. And I think I can cook a good meal, right? We'll be fine, as long as he doesn't bring a whole entourage with him."

  "Isn't Loreen supposed to visit sometime soon, too?" Finn reminded her. "And Derrick here's already hogging one of our guest r
ooms, when we just have two."

  "I'll sleep on the couch, if it comes to that," Derrick reluctantly offered.

  Rose smiled. "That'll be a full house, won't it? But it's not so bad. Think of all the times we've slept in crowded tents, battered and exhausted, far from home. It's nice that we only have such everyday things to worry about, right now."

  "What about the 'death' awaiting us in the Brushknoll, and sharing our rediscovery of magic with the world? When will we ever get to that?"

  "We should go back to the Brushknoll soon, though I think we're going to keep our magical secrets for the time being. I've been curious about what's happened there since the war."

  Derrick did not argue her second point, as if he'd grown more understanding of the lovers' reluctance to share arcane knowledge. Or maybe he just realized it was useless to show it off when Finn couldn't actually teach anyone the spells he knew. "We could always tell Sumafu we're busy and postpone his visit. And we can go see Loreen instead of the other way around, right? She lives right near the Brushknoll, so we can see her right after our adventure, or before, if you want."

  "But how long is it going to take to find something," Finn asked, "when we have no idea what it is and a whole province in which to look? And doesn't the fact the man-dragon called it a 'death I'd like you to find' make you wary of finding it?"

  "You bring up a good point," Rose said. "I'm not afraid to face whatever this thing might be, and I've certainly got no problem with going to visit Loreen... but come on, a whole province?! At least when we went looking for the Key, we had the magic compass. How can we search blindly for something when we don't even know what it is or what it looks like? It's just not a reasonable thing to do."

  Derrick fell silent, and Finn thought he'd realized that he and Rose were right. But then the scholar said, "I'm sure the Sevrians who are looking for it have some ideas."