“We have to do something.” Timmy lifted his shovel. “I don’t know how much longer she can keep that up.”
Avraniel trembled and fell to one knee, but she continued her attack, narrowing it down, condensing it into a hammer of fire that she smashed into the same point in the dragon’s skull over and over. Yet as the attack faded, the dragon found his feet again. Black Scales gathered his fire once more, and Timmy knew somehow that Avraniel wouldn’t have the strength to seize control of the dragon’s fire a second time. He poured his magic into his shovel. Perhaps he could distract it and –
CRUNCH.
A gigantic stone tower crashed down onto the dragon’s head, pointy end first. It was easily more than a hundred feet long, and Timmy didn’t even want to guess how much it weighed. He could only gape. What was going on? Where had that come from? The answer to his questions came in the form of a massive tear in the space above the dragon, one that shone a million different colours at the same time. On the next hill over, Gerald wheezed and then fainted. He rolled down the slope.
“No way…” Katie tilted her head to one side. The tower had hit the exact spot that Avraniel had been attacking, and its weight had driven it right through the dragon’s skull. Black Scales twitched for a moment, molten blood pouring from the wound as his limbs and wings thrashed, and then he lay still. Was… was he dead?
“Yes… yes, way.” Timmy shook his head in disbelief. “Come on, we need to make sure that Gerald is still alive, and Avraniel isn’t looking too good either.”
“We should hurry.” Katie winced. “Gerald’s lying facedown in the mud.”
“Actually, you wait here. I’ll go check on Gerald and Avraniel. If that dragon so much as twitches, scream or something.”
* * *
It was well after sunset when Gerald finally regained consciousness. They’d made camp under one of the few trees to survive the dragon’s wrath. Avraniel was tired but happy. Apparently killing a dragon had given her a new lease on life. The thought of all the money she’d be getting probably didn’t hurt either. She’d also revised her opinion of them from completely useless to moderately helpful.
“I still can’t believe the bureaucrat killed him.” The elf cackled. “Why didn’t I think of that? All I had to do was drop a tower on his head.”
“We got very lucky.” Timmy glanced at Katie. The girl was stirring their dinner under the watchful eyes of Rembrandt and Monet. How she managed to understand their squeaks, he had no idea. It must have been a magical thing. After all, they could turn invisible. “If you and I hadn’t hit the same spot over and over with our magic, that tower might not have gone through the dragon’s skull. And if Black Scales had lived through that, well, we wouldn’t have lived much longer.”
“You’re right, we did get lucky.” Avraniel’s gaze drifted over to the massive corpse of the dragon. A vile black steam rose from the body. “He could have burned us all to death from long range, but he chose to come down and fight. He underestimated us, and I was able to take control of his fire and sucker punch him with it. That must be why he didn’t notice Gerald’s magic until that tower dropped on his head. You probably did some damage with your shovel too. As dragons move past their prime, their bones grow more and more brittle. In his prime, Black Scales would have murdered the lot of us and laughed off that tower.” She rubbed her hands together and smirked. “He has a lair in the mountains. I could get there in two days. I bet there are all kinds of things there.”
“You do realise that we’re going to have to give back the treasure he stole. Our reward comes from selling his remains to the highest bidder.”
“Well, there’s no guarantee that all the owners of that treasure are still alive. I’m sure they won’t mind if it goes to the people who avenged them.” Avraniel smiled toothily. “Besides, I’m not going to take all of it – someone would notice. I’m only going to take a little bit.”
“Fine.” Timmy sighed. “But if you’re going to steal some, steal some for us too. I don’t know what they’re paying Gerald, but the man deserves something for everything he’s done.”
Gerald groaned, and they crowded around him as he began to stir. His eyes were glazed, and he lurched forward, hands flying to his mouth. He was going to throw up, and Katie was kind enough to use her shadows to carry him behind a bush while he emptied his stomach. It was a common symptom of magical exhaustion.
“Please tell me it worked,” Gerald said.
Timmy threw one arm around Gerald’s shoulders and offered him a potion made of herbs that Avraniel had gathered. “It did work. We’re alive, and the dragon is dead. Now, drink this. It should help.”
“Thank the gods.” Gerald took a sip of the potion and gagged. “What is this?”
Avraniel listed the ingredients, and Timmy stifled the urge to hit her with his shovel. “You put the wrong herbs in this.” Timmy got up and rummaged through their packs. Their horses had come back once the dragon was dead. “Give me a second. I can fix this.”
“I thought the medicine of the elves was legendary.” Katie and the rats giggled and made faces at the elf.
“Don’t provoke her.” Timmy handed the potion back to Gerald. “Try this. It should help with the headache.”
Gerald was slow to drink, so Avraniel decided to help him by grabbing his head and cramming the potion down his throat. “How did you do that thing with the tower, bureaucrat?”
“You’ve seen my magic, right? I can store things and take them out later.”
“That wasn’t a notebook or a folder, bureaucrat. That was a tower – a giant tower.”
Gerald shrugged and scratched the back of his head. “It took me a week to store it away, and I’ve used up all of my magic taking it out.”
“I see.” Timmy covered his face with his hands. “Why do you even have a tower stored away?”
“The Council wasn’t sure if they’d need it again, so I said I’d hold onto it.” Gerald blanched. “I don’t think they can use it anymore though, what with all the, uh, gore on it now.”
“I’m sure they’ll overlook it this time. The dragon is dead, we’re going to be rich, and Avraniel will probably find something great to steal from his lair.”
“We’re going to his lair?” Gerald looked like he was about to pass out again.
“No, you’re staying right here. I’m going to his lair.” Avraniel went over to watch their dinner being made. “I can cover the ground faster than any of you. And if you come, Gerald, there’s no telling how much I’ll make you store away with your magic. It’s better for everyone if I go alone.”
“That’s okay. I can use the time to get started on all the paperwork.”
“You have paperwork for killing a dragon?” Timmy asked.
“More than you could possibly imagine.”
Avraniel was gone for four days. When she came back, she was smiling from ear to ear, which was enough to put all of them on edge. Either she’d set a lot of things on fire, or she’d managed to steal something incredibly valuable. Perhaps she’d even found the time to do both.
“Oh, I found a few things.” Avraniel set her backpack on the ground with a thump. “All of which I will be sharing. But what are we going to do now? Does our team have a secret base or something? Those bastards at the Council better have a place for us to stay.”
Gerald gave Timmy a hopeful look. It took the necromancer a second to understand why.
“No.” Timmy shook his head. “Absolutely not.”
“We do need to recruit more people, and your castle is well-defended and in a very convenient location. Now that the zombie pig-lion is gone, I don’t have to worry about getting eaten when I leave my room.”
“And I do have some projects that I want to keep working on,” Katie added. The two rats squeaked their agreement. The castle’s kitchens were full of their favourite foods.
“Fine, we can stay at my castle.”
“Excellent.” Avraniel folded her arms over her chest.
“But listen, idiot, I expect my room to be up to my standards. I will not be the only elf to stay in some dank, dreary –”
“My castle is not dank or dreary. Well, some of it is, but not where you’ll be staying.” Timmy scowled back at her. “And you’d better not blow any of it up. I like it just the way it is.”
“Fine, fine, I won’t blow up your precious castle.” Avraniel knelt down and rummaged through her backpack. “By the way, do you have somewhere warm and safe in your castle?”
“Of course I do.”
“Good.”
Avraniel took something out of her backpack. It was a large, oval object about a foot tall. It was made out of what appeared to be black rock, but minute seams in the material shimmered with heat. Timmy gaped. That wasn’t a rock. It was far, far more troublesome than a rock.
Avraniel had come back with a dragon egg.
“Surprise!”
About the Author
I am a writer with an avid interest in psychology, physics, history, and economics. Writing has long been a passion of mine, and I hope to someday make a career of it. Apart from writing, I have worked in education as a lecturer in one of the aforementioned subjects.
I believe that writing is a wonderful thing and that good writing and the techniques required to develop it should be shared with as many people as possible. In that regard, I’m always open to hearing from anyone who was read my work. If you want to contact me (perhaps to praise or perhaps to put your proverbial stake and pitchfork to work), then by all means send me an email, or drop by my blog where I discuss issues related to books, writing, and my own work.
My email: [email protected]
My blog: http://lgestrella.wordpress.com
If you send an email or leave a comment, I’ll do my best to get back to you.
More From L. G. Estrella
If you’re interested in reading more of my stories, you can find them on Amazon.
There are also previews for each of my stories at my blog: lgestrella.wordpress.com
You can also read on to find out more about my stories.
The Last Huntress
The Last Huntress Series Part One
Scarlett is the last of her line – a huntress sworn to kill all monsters.
Rose is a girl searching for the power to take back her homeland.
In the icy forests of the north, on the trail of the only werewolf to escape her, Scarlett will teach Rose what it means to be a huntress. There can be no room for softness in a huntress’s heart, no room for weakness. And a huntress must be willing to kill anything – and anyone – that poses a threat to the innocent.
The Lord of Dark Waters
The Last Huntress Series Part Two
Scarlett is the last of her line – a huntress sworn to kill all monsters.
Rose is a girl searching for the power to take back her homeland.
In the frozen wastes of the north, Scarlett confronted the dark truth of her origins. Now, she journeys south with Rose, desperate to leave the horror of the north behind. But the shadows of the past are never far away, especially when they are drawn to the Swamp of Darkwater to hunt down a rogue vampire.
There, amidst the cursed, whispering waters filled with muck and memories, Scarlett and Rose will have no choice but to face an evil far greater than they expected. For the swamp is an old place, filled with old evils. It is a place where the churning waters hide the ruins of a cruel legacy centuries in the making.
The Lord of Dark Waters has awakened, and they are the only one who can stop him. If they fail then all of the south may fall, drowned beneath the dark, hungry tide of an ancient evil.
The Fire Upon the Mountain
The Last Huntress Series Part Three
Scarlett is the last of her line – a huntress sworn to kill all monsters.
Rose is a girl searching for the power to take back her homeland.
There are whispers of fire in the east, tales of titan wings and crimson scales. A dragon has come, a beast the likes of which the mountains have not seen since the days of Scarlett’s grandmother.
Drawn to the east by rumours of dragon fire, Scarlett and Rose witness the fury of the dragon firsthand. One city already lies in ashes, and another may not be far behind. They have two weeks to prepare. But how do you kill a dragon? How do you kill a living inferno? Scarlett and Rose must find a way. If they cannot, another city will fall – and they will fall with it.
The Gunslinger and the Necromancer
The Lizzy Stanton Series Part One
When the Church needs someone to send the denizens of Hell back to where they belong, they go looking for Lizzy Stanton.
As gunslingers go, Lizzy’s right up there with the best of them. No matter what kind of evil she’s up against, she knows exactly how to handle things – put a holy bullet right between the eyes. But when she takes a job to go after a necromancer over in Pine Creek, she might just have bitten off more than she can chew.
With zombies, demons, and one tricky necromancer to worry about, Lizzy’s going to have to be real quick on the trigger. In the gunfight between good and evil, she’s the gunslinger who always delivers.
The Burning Mountains
The Burning Mountains have belonged to dragons since the Old Days when gods still walked the earth. They are a place of fire and ruin where no man dares walk and no elf dares linger long. Only the strong can survive there and only the ruthless can prosper.
Amidst the smoke, the ash, and the flame, an exiled elven princess will meet an outcast dragon. Alone, they have little hope of survival. But together, they might do more than survive – they might conquer. For the dragon has a realm to claim and the princess has a kingdom to take back.
There are some lessons that only fire can teach and some wisdom that only a dragon can impart.
Durendal
Twelve-year-old Billy Winchester’s got a feeling that the war made Duren a monster, but maybe he and his sister can make him a man again.
Billy’s always dreamed of leaving Sahara VII, a backwater mining planet, for some adventure. But with the galaxy still reeling from decades of war, and an older sister desperate to hang onto the only family she’s got left, he’s not having much luck.
Then he meets Duren, and suddenly adventure’s right on his doorstep.
The rugged stranger from another planet is everything Billy wishes he could be. When his sister hires Duren to help at their diner, Billy does his best to make him a part of their family. Trouble is, Duren’s got a past, and it’s the worst sort of bloody. To Billy though, he’s just a man, and a good one at that.
But danger’s never far on a planet like Sahara VII.
A cruel mining magnate, Stratton sets his eyes on Billy’s sister, and he won’t take no for an answer. When Stratton kidnaps her, Billy’s going to need the man Duren used to be, the man he hoped Billy would never have to see.
But Stratton isn’t stupid, and he isn’t alone. He knows Duren is coming for him, and there are people who’ve been waiting a long time for Duren to show himself. Duren won’t have to beat just Stratton and his men – he’ll have to stand toe-to-toe with the vengeful ghosts of his past while keeping Billy clear of the crossfire. Billy’s finally got his adventure, but it might cost him the only family he’s ever known.
Copyright and Disclaimer
Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Elf
Copyright © July 2014 L. G. Estrella
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review (contact [email protected]).
Cover image from deedl/Bigstock.com. Alterations by L. G. Estrella.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and settings are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, names, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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L. G. Estrella, Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Elf
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