The Academy Volume One

by Maxine Mansfield

  “Tell him. Tell him he’s healed! You watched me channel.”

  All three men stared at her but it was Briar’s father who spoke. “And it was a fine healing of the paladin’s shoulder you did, lass.”

  Uthiel couldn’t help but chuckle as Briar stomped her foot in typical Briar fashion.

  “No, the poultice healed his shoulder. I healed his soul by channeling my love―our love for each other―through him.”

  She stared at him with so much desperation in her gaze that Uthiel was tempted to look away.

  “Believe me, believe in me. Give me a chance to prove it. I beg you.”

  Though he wanted to rush to her, hold her, give her her heart’s desire, Uthiel argued, “I wish I could believe as easily as you do, Briar. I don’t have that luxury. And even if I might be healed, the dragon still must die. It took a life, don’t you understand? Once a dragon tastes the blood of a human, it never stops killing.”

  Spinning toward Midan, Uthiel implored, “Sir, I know you love your daughter every bit as much as I do. I ask only one thing of you. Don’t allow her to follow me. I know our Briar, and she’ll try. Keep her with you until this is done. Promise me.”

  Briar gasped, “No, don’t go after the dragon, Uthiel, please. Deep in my heart, I know if you kill it, you’ll only destroy yourself. As far as the healing of your soul, even after last night you refuse to admit you are healed?” She stomped her foot. “I don’t understand, I can’t, and I won’t. I mean, I know you didn’t actually…well, you know…but, you have to admit you would’ve if there had been more time. Don’t do this!”

  He shook his head. “Would I have? You don’t know that for a fact and neither do I. You say you think I’m healed, you’re almost positive I’m healed. But I say that after this day, I will be healed for sure.”

  The wedding gown dropped forgotten to the floor as Briar rushed to his side. “Please, Uthiel!”

  He twisted until only his back faced her. He had no choice. It was either walk away now, or give into her pleas. And giving into Briar was exactly what would happen if one more tear escaped and trickled down her cheeks in his presence. “Stay here with your father, Briar. I mean it.”

  He, Sarco, and Leeky walked away, and Briar’s angry words came out in a strangled sob, “If you think for the time it takes a single grain of sand to drop through an hourglass that I’m going to willingly sit here while you go and get yourself killed, you’d better think again, Uthiel Stoutheart. Like I’ve already told you, I didn’t come all this way to watch you die.”

  He stopped in his tracks, knowing in his heart he would tie her to a post if that’s what it took to keep her safe, and not give two figs if she hated him for it. At least, not until he got back and faced the wrath of Briar.

  Uthiel sighed. Oh yes, he would care then.

  Midan Tumbleweed saved him.

  “Now, child, be reasonable. This is for your own good. Leave men’s things to men and worry yourself with women’s concerns for, God Draka knows, you females have plenty of your own. Be a good lass. Make your old Da a hot cup of tea and keep me company.”

  The last sound Uthiel heard as he exited the tower room was a voice so sweet he could’ve believed it dripped sugar if he hadn’t known her better.

  “Yes, father, I do believe you’re right. Tea is exactly what’s needed in this situation.”

  VOT, how he wanted to shake her, though he didn’t have time to stop and deal with her right now.

  But, really, what was there to challenge her on? Her comment sounded innocent enough. That is, if you didn’t know Briar very well.

  Instead, Uthiel ignored her and kept walking. His head pounded and his gut rumbled. God Draka help them all. What was she up to now?

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Briar descended the tower steps two at a time. The combination of valerian and chamomile, with a pinch of kava thrown in for good measure, had done the trick. Even though it had taken almost a complete rotation of the hourglass for the tea to work its magic, Midan Tumbleweed now slumbered peacefully.

  Briar was free.

  Reaching the bailey, she stopped. The wind whipped her hair so ferociously it stung her face, and chilling rain pelted her skin through her thin tunic. The skies darkened and she could barely see the path below her feet. Roots tangled about her ankles.

  She stopped in the middle of the road and attempted to get her bearings. Everything in this place seemed eerily familiar, although she had only been here before in her dreams. The trees, the rocks, the bushes, even the smells brought back haunting memories.

  Without warning, the rain stopped, the wind stilled and the world about her took on a disturbing, silent calm. A sense of intense deja vu pervaded Briar as the hair on the back of her neck rose. She slowly turned, knowing even before she did exactly what she would see.

  Terror seized her heart. Towering over her was the dragon of her nightmare―the one who had held Uthiel’s lifeless body in its talons. Its scales gleamed blood red, and its eyes glowed with a deep green energy. Its huge head, nearly as big as Briar’s entire body, bent until they were nose to nose. Briar couldn’t have moved if she wanted to. Her feet were frozen in fear.

  The dragon’s long, pointed teeth were yellowed and razor sharp from many years of use, and they dripped with what could only be venom.

  The hot air of its breath heated Briar’s chilled skin. It sniffed and the suction tugged at her tunic.

  A familiar voice formed in Briar’s mind. “Why do you run, half-elf, half-human? Do you not recognize me?”

  “Carnelian, is that you?” Briar cried. “Oh my, it really is, isn’t it? I should’ve known you were the dragon. I should’ve at least guessed.”

  “Have you healed him? Tell me quickly, for there is little time.”

  “Yes, I’ve healed him, at least I think I have, but he doesn’t believe it.”

  The dragon hung her head even lower and sighed. “Then we have both failed him, and there is nothing left to do but put an end to this once and for all.”

  Briar gasped, “An end to it? What end? You can’t mean to hurt him, can you? He’s healed, I’m almost positive.”

  Carnelian closed her eyes and sighed. “But as you’ve pointed out, he doesn’t believe you. I’m left with no choice, Healer. The end of one will prevent the death of many.”

  “Don’t harm him, Carnelian. Don’t take his life. I beg you. Give me more time. I’ll convince him he’s healed. I promise I will.”

  The dragon’s eyes misted. “Why would you think it was the paladin’s life I was talking about? You, I, any of us can only be responsible for our own actions. Goodbye, half-elf, half-human. Thank you for trying.”

  Without warning, Carnelian spread her majestic wings and took flight.

  “Carnelian, no, wait,” Briar shouted. “Don’t do this, please!”

  There was no response.

  She took off running, following the direction the flying beast was headed the best she could.

  Briar still couldn’t believe it. The dragon Uthiel had hunted for so very long had been Carnelian.

  The stone nestled between her breasts pulsed with strength and radiated heat. With each step, the stone vibrated stronger and warmer as she followed not only the dragon but her own heart too. Carnelian was like a homing beacon, leading her ever closer to the man she loved.

  Carefully Briar picked her way along a narrow ledge leading out and into a wide span of water that swiftly flowed over a sharp edge and tumbled into a roaring waterfall. The thick foliage prevented Briar from establishing a steady foothold as she hurried to the tree lined bank.

  Even before she reached it, cold water rushed past her ankles, swirling angrily, its white foam spraying and soaking through the thin leather of her shoes. It splashed up her bare legs and under the hem of her tunic, leaving her chilled.

  The rocks beneath her feet were so slippery, she faltered more than once, but at the last moment, regained her balance.

  Shudd
ering at the memory of what had happened in her dream, Briar nonetheless stepped farther onto the slippery riverbank.

  That’s when she heard them.

  “Over here, men. I’ve found the bastard!”

  The screech of a dragon followed Uthiel’s shout.

  Briar raced toward his voice as fast as her wet shoes would allow. On down the narrow bank and around a secluded crook in the river, ever closer to the toppling perimeter of the start of the waterfall, now only a few feet away.

  She stopped abruptly.

  Uthiel Stoutheart stood on the opposite bank, just barely out of the raging river, his sword drawn, and his arm poised to thrust. Determination hardened his face.

  Briar held her breath.

  Carnelian sat on her haunches before him, her massive wings spread as if in invitation. She lifted her mighty head toward the heavens and let out a single mournful cry.

  Tears misted Briar’s eyes at the resignation and regret on the face of the magnificent dragon.

  Poised to strike, Uthiel tensed.

  Time and motion slowed until each heartbeat pounded in her chest, and every breath roared in her ears as man and dragon faced off.

  A sudden movement from the bushes to her right tore Briar’s attention from the scene unfolding before her.

  A panic-filled, ear-splitting cry pierced the air and a much smaller, midnight-black dragon, barely one quarter the size of Carnelian, darted into the water on a path straight toward Uthiel.

  There was no time to think, only to react. Briar launched herself at the black dragon, her only goal to protect both the man she loved and Carnelian.

  The smaller dragon startled, jumped, and screeched as Briar’s hands grasped one of its wings. The combination of motions propelled Briar off the ground and onto the black dragon’s back.

  “NO!” Carnelian’s scream ripped through Briar’s mind, but there was no time to contemplate why the huge dragon was distressed.

  In a panic, the smaller dragon rushed across the river, but the current pulled the dragon and Briar downriver, toward the waterfall. The dragon’s talons slipped and slid on the wet rocks, and it was all Briar could do to hang on, let alone glimpse a safe spot where she might be able to let go and get to safety.

  She glanced forward, in the direction the dragon was moving.

  Briar’s stomach lurched into her throat as the realization of what was about to happen hit her.

  Hanging onto the back of the dragon for dear life, a scream upon her lips, Briar squeezed her eyes shut.

  She was going to die.

  With her arms clinging to the dragon’s neck and her legs flailing in the air, Briar and the black dragon plummeted over the edge.

  Her stomach and throat fought a losing battle to occupy the same space, and her lungs forgot how to breathe. Over the roar of the tumbling water, her heart pounded so hard she could hear it, and she was overwhelmed by the sorrow her loss would cause those who cared for her.

  Still, they plunged downward, and even though her mind begged her not to, Briar opened first one eye, then the other.

  Wonder filled her. The dragon’s black wings flapped back and forth frantically. They were flying―not very well, and in a steadily downward spiral―but at least they were flying…kind of.

  A glimpse of a ledge sticking out from the waterfall brought hope to Briar’s heart.

  Lord Draka help us. It was the ledge she’d seen in her dream.

  With a harsh jolt, they landed on the rocky outcropping, jarring every bone in her body and knocking the air from her lungs, but at least they were both still alive.

  Cold water sluiced in sheets over their heads. Gasping, Briar let go of the dragon’s neck and slid down his back.

  Balancing herself on the very edge of the rocky outcropping, and using the underside of the dragon to block the rushing water, she forced much-needed air deep into her burning lungs.

  The dragon suddenly moved, and before she knew what was happening, it moved the two of them forward through the curtain of water.

  Darkness surrounded her. The air was filled with moisture droplets, but the chill of the wind was blocked.

  After her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she took in her surroundings. They were in an empty, small…cave?

  Whatever it is―we’re safe!

  Now, the question was, how were they going to get out?

  ****

  Uthiel stood paralyzed on the riverbank, not believing what he had just witnessed.

  When he had heard the screech of yet another dragon, he looked away from the huge red monster he was about to kill, and toward the direction of the sound.

  In the middle of the dangerous river, he saw the woman of his heart. The woman who was supposed to be safely tucked away in the tower. Instead, she straddled a small, black dragon and held onto its neck with a death grip.

  Horror and fear chilled him to the bone. Briar and the black dragon headed straight toward the waterfall, and he was too far away to stop them.

  “Briar, no!”

  Uthiel’s bellow ripped through the air the same moment both woman and beast had toppled head over hindquarters and disappeared from sight.

  “Don’t be a fool, man! She’s gone.” Sarco grabbed Uthiel’s right arm and shoulder in an effort to restrain the paladin.

  But Uthiel fought the arms holding him back, and he dragged both of them toward the river’s edge, needing to see for himself the fate of the woman he so desperately loved. Needing to follow her, even if it meant his own death.

  “Let go of me! I have to get to Briar. I know her. She would’ve had her protective field up, she can’t be…be…”

  Sarco tightened his grip.

  Leeky Shortz stood on a clump of grass on the opposite riverbank. He jumped up and down, frantically motioning them over.

  It took only a moment for the two men to reach him, and the perch gave Uthiel an unimpeded view of the plummeting water below.

  “What the braided armpit hairs of a female ogre in the buff would ya make of that? They both landed on that there rock sticking out and disappeared through the waterfall. There’s a cave back there, not a big one, but a cave just the same. Why, I once took Lady Kattra there for an afternoon of…well,” he shrugged, “doesn’t matter what we were doing. Hard ta get to, though, that’s for sure. Takes lots of rope and climbing skill, but I can get down there easy-peasy.”

  Relief nearly buckled Uthiel’s knees, and he tore his gaze from the falling water and the ledge to stare at the gnome. “I’m going down.”

  Leeky argued, “Now, lad, let’s be reasonable about this. I can get there easier than ya can. I’m smaller and lighter, and as ya’ve already been told, I’m immortal. I can’t die.”

  “This isn’t up for discussion, Leeky.”

  Uthiel rolled his eyes as the gnome brushed him off and kept on talking.

  “Ya were listening when I told my story, wasn’t ya? About how the wizard Arizon said ‘Ya four commanders, who led those ta their graves but cheated death of its sting, will know no rest, until the day every trace of blood has been washed clean from the soil, and every scar is gone from the landscape.’ Ya did hear that, didn’t ya?”

  Uthiel shook his head, “Yeah, sure, but I don’t care, Leeky. I need―”

  “Of course ya care,” Leeky roared, fisting his hands on his hips. “Ya, remember the part about ‘until the last tear has been shed for a life lost ta soon, and every stone upturned has been put back in place, I’ll walk this world and find no place to rest my soul,’ right? Ya remember that, Paladin?”

  Uthiel glanced at Sarco. “Rope. I need rope, lots of rope.”

  Leeky stomped his foot. “I should go, because I really am immortal, ya stubborn paladin! Well, at least until all I told ya has come ta pass, anyway. Then I’ll be mortal again and, when death does take me, the sting of it will be as painful as a thousand deaths.”

  The gnome wiped a tear from his eye. “Only he who holds the Stone of Anthion in his heart
will escape death’s wrath and be welcomed gently inta the afterlife.”

  Enough is enough! These dramatics were wasting precious time, in Uthiel’s opinion. Precious time he needed to reach Briar.

  Oh Lord Draka, what if she’s hurt?

  He scowled at Leeky, “I’m going to kill you myself if you don’t shut up and help with the rope. She’s mine, so I’ll be the one going after her.”

  There was no further discussion.

  Sarco and Leeky looped the ropes through a makeshift pinion pulley system and secured one end to their waists, then anchored themselves behind a large boulder at the river’s edge. They tossed the other end to Uthiel, who grabbed a section before allowing the remainder to drop over the waterfall.

  With his sword firmly attached at his side, Uthiel gripped the rope and readied himself for the descent.

  Leaning out over the edge, he grimaced. Below him and just above the ledge, the huge red dragon circled. Its massive head probed in and out of the sheet of water, over and over. Its sound was deafening. Not an angry screech, or a bloodthirsty growl, but a desperate, mournful wail.

  For the time it took six grains of sand to drop through the hourglass, Uthiel debated about who had the greater need―he or Briar. This was an excellent and easy opportunity to finish off the dragon. The monster didn’t even appear dangerous at the moment. Extremely anxious, for some reason. And what if the dragon got in his way as he repelled down the cliff and into the cave to save Briar? All the more reason to kill it now.

  But saving Briar was his top priority. The dragon could wait. Hopefully.

  Sarco’s advice eased his concerns somewhat.

  “If that overgrown red iguana down there gives you any grief, signal me and I’ll cast a fireball on it. Not that fire can hurt a dragon, but it might distract it.”

  The three men nodded to each other, and Uthiel slowly backed toward the edge. He smiled as Sarco and Leeky braced themselves. With a thumbs-up and one last quick glance toward his friends, Uthiel lowered himself into the waterfall.

  The water was cold―not just cold but frigid, scrotum-shrinking, breathtaking, mind-numbing cold. In contrast, the rope burned his hands as he slid down it as quickly as he could. The red dragon waited below, but Uthiel focused on the overwhelming, urgent need to reach Briar.