“MAAAAOOOOOO! MAAAAAOOOOOO!”
The grand dragons circled once, and upward they went, vanishing into the clouds.
Standing beside Nath, Liam said, “That was awesome.”
“Where did they come from?” Brenwar said to Nath. “Did you summon them?”
“I wish I had, but no.” He shook his head and shrugged. “I guess today just happens to be my day. Selene!”
“What about her?” Brenwar said. “Did you not find her?”
“No, I did.” Nath’s eyes searched out Sansla. He saw him on a tower and motioned for him to come down. The great ape glided down and landed by Nath’s feet. “Sansla, I need you to take Selene somewhere safe. Can you take her to Dragon Home for me?”
“I will,” Sansla agreed.
Nath went into the barn. Selene and the halflings were gone.
CHAPTER 27
“Selene! Aw, what am I yelling for? She wouldn’t hear me anyway.” Nath kicked up some hay. “She sleeps like the dead.” He raced from stall to stall and searched high and low. He looked in every spot he could find.
Oddly, the wrathhorns were silent within their stalls. Not a single one of them nickered. Nath spun around. There wasn’t anywhere for Selene or the halflings to go, and the halflings certainly couldn’t have carried her off.
“Everyone search,” Nath said to Liam.
Brenwar marched in and said, “What are we looking for?”
Aggravated, Nath said, “Selene!”
“Oh,” Brenwar muttered.
“They couldn’t have gotten far.” Nath stormed out of the stables. Eyeing the towers, he said, “Search them too!”
A pair of roamers sprinted up to each tower. It was absurd to think the halflings could have taken Selene into the towers. Even in human form, she was twice as heavy as them. They wouldn’t have been able to carry her away. And the battle hadn’t lasted that long, so they couldn’t have gotten that far anyway.
What if they weren’t halflings? What if they were something else?
“Sansla!” Nath yelled to the great white ape who was perched on the catwalks looking over the walls. “Will you check from the sky?”
In a single bound, Sansla leapt into the air with his wings beating and took off into the sky. Nath sighed.
Brenwar stepped into view. “You need to settle yourself down. You’re going about this all wrong.”
“Am I?”
Fists on his hips, Brenwar gave a matter-of-fact, “Yes.”
“And what would you do differently?”
Rubbing his bearded chin, the dwarf replied, “First, I’d go and secure my hammer, but I guess we can try to find your long-tailed woman.”
“Brenwar, don’t start—”
“You’re a tracker, aren’t you?”
“The best.”
“Then track! You’ve got me and the roamers, all of the best trackers in the world, and all you are doing is running around and screaming.”
Nath’s boiling blood started to cool. Taking a breath he said, “You know, you’re right.”
“Of course I am. I’m a dwarf.”
“That’s clear.” Nath headed back into the stables where he left Selene. He took a long draw through his nose. Among the straw and manure and other things, Selene’s scent still lingered. There was an impression in the ground where he had left her. There were signs of her body being dragged over the dirt and straw.
“The trail seems pretty clear to me,” Brenwar said. “I’m not sure how you missed it.”
“You missed it too.”
“I did not. I wasn’t looking.”
The trail came to a stop in front of one of the wrathhorns’ stables. The huge beast eyed Nath from the other side with intent eyes. Nath had to get up on his toes to gaze within. The wrathhorn shuffled into his path, blocking his view.
“Will you get out of the way?” Nath argued.
The beast-like horse snorted all over him.
“Hah!” Brenwar laughed, slapping his knee.
Wiping the monster snot off him, Nath glared at Brenwar.
“Well, that was funny. ‘Humor is good in sour times.’ The great dwarven philosopher Puukiin said that.”
Nath grabbed the stall’s latch handle and pulled it back.
“What are you doing?” Brenwar said, dropping back with his elven battle-axe. “Pardon me for not wanting to get stomped on again.”
“Are you telling me you can’t take it?”
“I’m telling you I’ve been trampled enough for one day and I’m not keen on it ever happening again.”
Metal scraped against metal, and the latch was pulled back. Slowly, Nath pulled the door open.
On the other side, the wrathhorn’s spiked hooves clawed at the dirt. It nickered and shook its great head.
“Stay here and secure the door behind me,” Nath said, glancing back at Brenwar.
“Somebody must have hit you in the head today, but I’ll do it.”
When he stood face to face with the wrathhorn, the gate clanked shut behind Nath.
“Are you still breathing in there?” Brenwar said.
“Yes.”
Nath reached out and softly placed his hand on the bridge above the horse creature’s nose. He traced around the curves of its horn. The wrathhorn stood a full head taller than a normal horse. It was built stronger too. Though it lacked the grace and refinement of its smaller, less formidable counterpart, there was still something remarkable and beautiful about it. Staring into its eyes, Nath saw a deep horse-like intelligence lurking within. He petted the shag under its chin and wondered if it had indeed been just a regular horse once or if it had always been something else entirely.
“Excuse me,” said a soft little voice. It was the female halfling whom Nath had rescued. She stood right underneath the belly of the dangerous monster stallion. “Are you looking for your friend?”
Squatting down, Nath said to the pie-faced, toe-headed little halfling, “You shouldn’t be under there. It’s dangerous. This beast will trample you. Turn your bones to meat.”
The halfling giggled. “No, it won’t.” She had a coarse horse brush in her hand and started stroking its belly. “We take care of the beasts. We feed them. Brush them. Train them. They won’t hurt us because they know we wouldn’t hurt them. Boy, you sure had them stirred up earlier. It’s a good thing we arrived in time to calm them down. They can smell those gates. One charge. One kick. I’ve seen it happen before.” She grinned. “It killed two orcs. That was funny. Orcs are stupid.”
“Can you tell me where my friend Selene is?”
Out of nowhere, another voice chimed in. “She’s in the back.” The male halfling was sitting backward on the wrathhorn’s neck. His eyes were brown, but bright. There was more life in them than there had been before. “Safe, thanks to us. Are all the orcs dead?”
Squeezing by the beast and toward the back, Nath said, “Yes.”
“All of them?” asked the female.
“We’re double-checking.” Nath ventured to the very back of the stall. In the back was a trough, and on the other side lay Selene, fast asleep. He rushed to her side.
“Why is she sleeping?” asked the female halfling, standing on the lip of the trough to look over Nath’s shoulder.
“Yes, how can anyone sleep in the middle of all this excitement?” asked the male halfling on the other side of Nath.
Picking Selene up in his arms, Nath said, “I wish I had an answer to that.”
“She has a tail,” said the female. “Do you have an answer to that?”
Rubbing Nath’s arms, the man said, “And why are your arms so scaly? Are you a demon?”
“No!”
The halflings scuttled underneath the wrathhorn, clinging together and eyeing Nath. “Don’t smite us, demon.”
“I’m not a demon. No one is going to smite anybody, not anybody non-orcen at least.”
“Oh.” Resuming their friendly and curious demeanor, both halflings asked, “So
why does she have a tail?”
“Nath!” Brenwar yelled from the other side of the gate.
“What?”
“Get out here! We’ve got a problem!”
CHAPTER 28
With Selene in his arms once more, Nath followed Brenwar into the courtyard, where Sansla and Liam were talking. “What’s going on? As you can see, I found her.”
“More company is coming,” Sansla said. Liam nodded beside him and added, “Yes, come see for yourself.” He led them up the catwalks to where they could gaze over the western wall.
“Oof,” Brenwar remarked.
Well over a mile out on the open plains that led to Thraag, an Orcen army marched. It wasn’t a small army. Orcs by the thousands. From the long distance, Nath’s keen eyes watched the orc banners wave. There were heavily armored foot soldiers along with riders in the dozens.
“Excellent,” Liam said. “I like a challenge.”
“I don’t imagine they know we’re here, but they will know, soon enough,” Nath said. “We need to move on.”
“But this is a victory,” Liam said. “This fortress is our prize. I see no reason to give it up.”
“We didn’t come here to take the fortress. We came to get Selene. Now that we have her, we must go.”
“I want to stay. We have the wall, the towers. We’ll pick them apart,” Liam said. He wasn’t being argumentative, just passionate.
“And what will you do when you run out of arrows?” Brenwar said, poking Liam’s quiver. “Will you play the lute for them until they go away?”
“There are plenty of crossbow bolts in that armory. As I said,” Liam replied, “we can hold them off for days.”
“Liam, our mission here is accomplished,” Sansla said. “It’s time to depart.”
“I need a favor, Sansla,” said Nath.
“What do you wish, Dragon Prince?”
He handed the winged ape Selene. “Take her somewhere safe. Dragon Home would be best. I cannot continue to carry her with the journey ahead.”
“In case I cannot make it to Dragon Home, I know another place of safety to secure her.” Sansla eyed the roamers. “We shall guard her with our lives. Roamers, it’s time to depart.”
Liam took a knee. “My King, perhaps I could render aid to Nath Dragon on his journey.”
“That is up to him.” With Selene cradled in his arms, Sansla took off into the sky with a powerful leap.
“Liam,” said Nath, “I need you to lead the orcs off our trail. Surely they will be in pursuit, and Brenwar and I need to make haste to find our weapons.”
“The roamers will handle that chore just fine without me,” Liam said.
“I don’t think your father would be pleased if you left your men. Especially with your uncle Hoven in such peril.” Nath put his hand on Liam’s shoulder. “I appreciate the offer, but what’s the right thing to do?”
“Stay behind and kill the orcs?”
“No.”
“Fine.” Liam made a hand signal and let out a sharp whistle. The roamers lowered the front gate, and their horses came in. Liam’s horse stopped just below the catwalk. Liam patted Brenwar on the shoulder. “You’re not a bad fighter, for a dwarf.” He jumped onto the horse’s back. “Soon again, Nath dragon. Soon again.” He galloped off after the roamers.
“Stupid elf,” Brenwar grumbled. “He’s got spirit, though.”
Eyeing the oncoming army, Nath noted a cloud of dust that had come up. The orc riders were galloping their way. “Guzan!”
“What?” Brenwar asked.
“If I were to guess, I’d say the orcs were waiting for a signal and hadn’t received one. We’d better get moving.”
“I’ll never outrun those horses on these short little legs.” Brenwar leaned his axe against the parapet wall, spat in his hands, rubbed them together, picked the battle-axe back up, and said, “No. I guess we’ll have to stay and fight. I’ll go close the gate.”
“Don’t be silly. We can ease out of here and be on our way just fine.”
“You know those orcs can smell me from a mile away.”
“Excuse me!” the halfling man called up to Nath from below the catwalk. He was riding on the back of a wrathhorn. Two more wrathhorns were being towed behind him. “If you want to outdistance the orcs, you should ride on one of these.”
“I’m not getting on one of those things!” Brenwar yelled.
“I don’t think you have a choice.”
“I do.”
“No, you don’t,” Nath said. “I’m getting on. You’re getting on.” He hopped off the catwalk, eased up to the middle beast, put his foot in the oversized stirrup, and climbed on. He looked up at Brenwar on the catwalk. “Come on. Those orcs are closing in fast. Can’t you hear them?”
“I hear them, I hear them, already!” Eyeing the beast with wary eyes, Brenwar jumped down into the saddle and grabbed the reins. He stared at the female halfling, who was smiling at him. “What are you looking at?”
“Why is your hand so bony?”
Brenwar glowered at her. “Why is your pie hole so big?”
“What’s a pie hole?” she asked.
“Let’s go,” Nath dug his heels into the beast’s ribs. It took off at a thunderous trot toward the gate that led out of the fortress. A soft clicking sound caught his ears. In the saddle he turned. The orc cyclops Gaak stood underneath the bottom of the catwalk where they had fought. He was taking aim with a heavy crossbow in his arms. “Nooooo!”
Clatch-Zip!
The bolt rocketed through the air and plunged into Brenwar’s back.
The dwarf pitched forward in the saddle. “Aargh!”
“Hang on, Brenwar!” Nath turned his mount and rode back for his friend.
Gaak was running right for him with a sword in his hand. “I will kill you, Nath Dragon. I will have your head!”
Nath scooped Brenwar out of the other saddle onto his. He shouted at the halflings, “Ride! Ride! Ride!”
CHAPTER 29
In tremendous strides, the wrathhorns thundered down the road faster than any horse could run. “Where are we going?” the halfling yelled back at Nath.
Snapping the reins, Nath rode up alongside him. “West, toward the forest.”
At least, that was the impression he’d been given by Lotuus. She could have been lying, but he had sensed she was defeated. “Brenwar! Can you hear me?”
The dwarf didn’t reply. The bolt still protruded from his back, and it was buried deep, right near the spine.
“Brenwar!”
Even with a bad wound it wasn’t often that a dwarf stopped fighting. Perhaps there was something worse in that bolt. Poison maybe. Nath wouldn’t put anything past the orcs. Especially one that had been turned into a nuurg.
Suddenly, the female halfling started screaming from behind them. “He’s coming. Gaak’s coming!”
The cyclops rode hard and right after them. He was on the back of a wrathhorn with a hungry look in his eye.
I should have finished him.
Brenwar shifted. His head popped up. “What’s going on? Ow! What did you stick in my back?”
“It’s a bolt. A cyclops shot you,” Nath replied.
“What cyclops?”
On the back of the galloping wrathhorn, Nath spoke above the rushing wind, “The big one with one eye. The nuurg called Gaak!”
“A slimy orcen one-eyed coward shot me in the back?” Brenwar puffed through his beard. “I’ll kill him!”
“Just hang on. I told you to wear armor that covered your back.”
“Why would I do that? Dwarves advance, they don’t retreat. Back armor is for cowards!”
“And so is shooting people in the back,” Nath reminded him.
Brenwar squirmed in the saddle.
“Be still!” Nath said.
The dwarf twisted away, fell off the saddle, and bounced off the ground.
Nath wheeled the monster horse around. “Are you mad?”
Brenwar p
opped up on his feet and with the bolt still sticking out of his back was off and running toward the oncoming nuurg.
Seeing his dwarven prey, the nuurg bore down on Brenwar. The wrathhorn’s thundering hooves kicked up the dirt. “Hahahaha!” the cyclops bellowed from his saddle. “The dwarf and the dragon both will die!”
Still barreling forward, eyes up and lowering his shoulders, Brenwar shouted, “For Morgdon!” He tackled the wrathhorn in the legs.
The beast pitched forward with a frightening whine and crashed to the ground.
The cyclops Gaak tumbled head over heels over the beast’s head, popped up on a knee with a mouthful of grass, and wiped the mud from his eye.
Brenwar plowed into him. His powerful arms, like balls of muscle, punched away.
Whop! Whop! Whop!
The cyclops recoiled. His arms were flailing. “Get off of me!”
Brenwar didn’t let up. There was blood in his eyes. A deep, angry hatred. Every punch he threw was as fanatical as the next. He climbed up on the dazed giant’s back and locked his arms around his neck. The small grizzly of a dwarf squeezed.
“Urk!” The cyclops clawed at the air. His eyes popped open wide.
“This is what you get for shooting me in my back!” Brenwar yelled. He squeezed the life out of the cyclops Gaak.
The orc breathed no more. His giant body lay limp on the earthen floor.
The dwarf shoved the body to the side and rose back up on his feet. “For Morgdon.”
Not hiding his amazement and excitement, Nath said, “Aye, for Morgdon. I’ve never seen anyone tackle a horse before. A giant horned one at that.”
“And you probably never will again.” Brenwar marched forward and teetered. “I feel odd.” His eyes fluttered in his head, and he fell face first in the grass.
“Brenwar!”
CHAPTER 30
Nath, the halflings, and the wrathhorns rode about a league to the general area where he thought Lotuus meant. They had dismounted and were resting in the deep woods. Nath sat on a fallen tree, and Brenwar lay at his feet on his belly. The bolt was still in his back. The halflings were on either side of him.
Battle of the Dragon (The Chronicles of Dragon, Series 2, Book 3) (Tail of the Dragon) Page 10