"And why is it you think you can't trust Adele," Rolf shouted, his temper escalating to match mine.
"She offered to send me and Noah home because this isn't my fight. I don't know why it is that she wants me out of her way, but I can tell you she doesn't care about anyone in this fortress except herself!" I was shouting, too. "And you're a damn fool if you trust her just because she reminds you of her dead mother, who you happened to be in love with!"
Rolf recoiled as if I'd physically struck him, and part of me felt bad about being so insensitive. The bigger parts of me were too busy being incensed by Rolf's blind loyalty to Adele.
"That may be true," Rolf hissed, "But at least I'm a damn fool who keeps his word!"
"Stop being so stubbornly stupid," I bellowed. "You promised the people of this fortress protection, and then you let a wolf in to lie among the sheep because of a promise to a long-dead former love? That kind of stupidity is going to get us all killed!"
Something inside Rolf broke as I stared him down across the table, and tears started leaking down his cheeks, accompanied by soft sobs. "You're probably right," came his ragged admission. "I've been a damn fool for most of my miserable, unnaturally long life, but I cannot break my promise to Cashlin until I'm absolutely certain there's no other way to save everyone else in this fortress."
I shook my head and sighed. "So be it, but I hope you realize it's not just your head on the chopping block if things go wrong because of your unwillingness to break your promise."
"I do realize it," Rolf replied in broken tones. "Believe me, I do."
Still shaking my head, I looked over at Tamara and Sam, who looked as if the argument they'd just witnessed had made them both intensely uncomfortable and frightened. "Let's go handle our end of trying to protect these people," I barked, casting a dark look over my shoulder at Rolf as I opened his door and strode out into the hall.
Sam and Tamara followed in stunned silence, and none of us spoke until we reached the armory, where someone had laid out two suits of traditional armor and a set of Linothorax plate mail. I recognized the set of armor with the tree on the breastplate and started putting it on. Sam began donning the gaudy gold-inlaid-steel next to it, and Tamara went for the Linothorax.
Sam cleared his throat. "In all the years I've known Rolf, I've never seen anyone push him the way you just did."
I shot Sam a surprised look. "Are you chastising me for forcing him to see how precarious our situation is because of his insistence on protecting Adele?"
"Not at all," Sam shook his head. "I'm just surprised that you held your ground and forced a partial admission out of him. He's never even told Kieran...I mean Noah, that much about why he protects Adele the way he does."
I shrugged, feeling a little callous, but not enough to back down from my stance. "I don't care why he does it, I just care that it's putting the people who've trusted him with their well-being in unnecessary danger."
It was Tamara's turn to clear her throat. "Did Adele really offer to send you and Noah back to your world?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Why?"
Tamara gave me a confused stare. "I don't understand. Why didn't you jump at that chance? You could have had everything you've wanted for the past eleven years, and you wouldn't be in danger of losing it all if things don't go right."
I sighed, shaking my head. "Part of me wanted very much to say yes, but that would have been selfish and wrong. I'd love to be able to take Noah home to the family that's been missing him for the last eleven years, but it wouldn't be right to leave everyone here in the lurch like that. When I said I'd do everything I could to help the people sheltering in Tiernan, I really meant it."
Tamara pulled me into a fierce hug, and I hugged her back around the awkwardness of the armor. "I thought you'd abandon us given any opportunity," Tamara explained with an embarrassed blush. "Thanks for proving me wrong."
I gave a quick nod and cleared my throat. "It's the right thing to do. I have to believe that Noah and I will find our own way back home if I just do what I feel is right, and do my best to help you. That's why the Messengers sent me here."
Sam smiled at the two of us, shaking his head. "Do we really have time for these emotional revelations right now?"
Tamara and I laughed together, both shaking our heads. "Probably not. Let's get to the top of the battlements and show Sigrid we're not just going to sit here and wait for her to take us down without a fight."
We walked the short distance from the armory to the thick, beehive-like battlements and climbed the occasionally vibrating stairs in silence, each steeping in our own separate thoughts. The dull thumps of the projectiles bouncing off the dense outer wall caused the stone beneath our feet to shake just a little, but it was more than enough to be unnerving. By the time we reached the top of the battlement, the thuds were louder and more resonant.
"I'll get straight to work applying the amplification spell while you decide what songs you're going to call up." Sam pulled my phone out of the leather pouch at his side and set it on the battlement so he could work his spell. "I suggest that you get good and angry before I hand you the phone. Once I'm finished, all we have to do is wait for Gabriel to let us know the archers are ready to fire."
I nodded, choosing to think about Adele because it was a surefire way for me to get pissed off. "Hopefully Gabe won't be long," I muttered.
"I think I see him," Tamara chimed in. "See that pale blur streaking in our direction along the battlement?"
I looked where she was pointing and my heart swelled with pride and affection for the dog. Sam looked up from where he was hard at work finishing binding the amplification spell to the wall. "You're supposed to be getting angry, not looking like you're made of utter joy and powder puffs."
"I can't help it," I shrugged. "I've always been an animal person, not a people person."
Sam rolled his eyes, but Tamara nodded her agreement with me over his shoulder. "Send the dog to Mack before I hand you the phone, okay?" Sam snapped, his patience wearing thinner by the second.
"Deal," I agreed. "I'll feel better if he's safe, anyway." I knelt down and welcomed Gabriel into a fierce hug, ruffling his long ears affectionately. "Are they ready, buddy?"
The spaniel wagged his tail at me, and I pulled the missive from Burns out of the leather collar, reading the captain's hastily scribbled scrawl. Ready when you are. I hugged Gabe again and petted him for a long moment before clearing my throat. "I need you to go stay with Mack in the caverns while we try to assert ourselves here, you understand?"
Gabriel whined at me, as if to tell me he'd rather not leave my side, and I kissed him on the top of the head. "Go on, buddy. I'll see you soon."
Gabriel licked my cheek and trotted off, following my command even though he didn't necessarily agree with it. I stood and turned my thoughts back to Adele. I thought about the way she manipulated both Rolf and Noah, and it didn't take me long to get utterly pissed off. I opened my music app and stared at it in awe as it magically scrolled through songs I often listened to when I was angry. I thought harder about all the things about Adele that pissed me off, and the app magically settled on "Under and Over It" by Five Finger Death Punch.
I grinned over at Sam and Tamara. "Y'all get ready. It's about to get loud and crazy."
I peeked over the edge of the battlement, gasped, got dizzy, and sat down hard on the solid stone. "I was going to watch how Sigrid's forces react to the music, but I don't think I can. We're up too high."
Sam patted me on the shoulder. "I'll let you know how it goes. Just press play."
I nodded, pressed play, and Sam's eyes got wide. He and Tamara both jammed their hands over their ears as the outer wall of the fortress acted like a massive speaker, spewing the song loud enough to shake the ground on the outer side of the wall as sound waves rolled toward Sigrid's forces in a relentless stream.
"How's it going?" I shouted up at Sam, who was grinning. Tamara was grinning, too, and her head was unconsciously bobbing
in time with the guitar riffs. I didn't have a hard time picturing her full-on head-banging and jumping around in a mosh pit as I waited for Sam to answer me.
"Better than I expected," Sam shouted back. "The forces closest to the wall have scattered, and most of them are on the run just trying to get away from the noise. Some of the higher-ranking officers were trying to shout orders, but no one's listening. The music is so loud that no one could listen, even if they wanted to!"
I worked up the nerve to peer over the wall and let out a squeal of delight as about half of Sigrid's forces scattered in utter chaos. Those that wouldn't budge were hunkered down with their hands clapped over their ears, and I shot Sam a victorious grin. "If we keep inundating them with angry songs like this, they might back off and regroup," I yelled.
Sam's facial expression turned serious and focused. He was staring at a fixed point far to the back of Sigrid's encampment. He frowned and pointed at the spot, and I shaded my eyes with my hand so I could see what he was pointing at. Something was shimmering like a mirage, but I couldn't make out what it was.
"What is it?" I yelled so he could hear me over the music.
"Magic," Sam shouted back. "Looks like they're working on a very big spell of some kind."
"Just like Rolf thought they would!" My insides squirmed with worry and discomfort. "Well, at least we'll find out what we're really up against."
Tamara shifted with discomfort and yelled over the music. "Why do I feel like we don't actually want to know what we're really up against?"
"I don't know, but I have that exact feeling, too!" I paced on the spot as the three of us watched the shimmering mass grow exponentially before our eyes. "I have a really bad feeling about this, guys!"
"You're not the only one," Sam yelled back. "That's one hell of a spell! Whatever they're calling or creating is going to be big enough to do a whole lot of damage, by the looks of it!"
I peered over the battlement and watched as the shape solidified. "A dragon?" I howled incredulously. "Are you kidding me right now? They called a freaking dragon! NOBODY TOLD ME DRAGONS WERE AN OPTION!"
"We need to get back to the inner fortress NOW," Sam screamed, pointing Tamara and me toward the stairs. "Go!"
I tossed him my iPhone and signaled for him to put it back in the leather pouch at his side, and I headed for the stairs, all the while praying the archers could slow the dragon down at least a little. I was running down the stairs as hard as I could with the weight of the armor.
"Please, God, don't let me fall down these stairs and kill myself trying to get away from that dragon," I pleaded.
"For that matter," Sam panted from behind me, "It would be wonderful if the dragon didn't kill us, either!"
"Amen to that," I agreed.
The three of us hit the bottom of the stairs just as a massive, ominous shadow passed over us. We looked up to see the dragon circling overhead.
"Run to the armory," Sam bellowed, shoving Tamara and me away from him. "I'll try to distract it!"
"Be careful, Sam," Tamara screamed over her shoulder as we bolted toward the armory.
"Go," Sam screamed, waving his arms and making a scene, trying to catch the dragon's eye. "Get to safety, both of you," he bellowed.
We turned and ran toward the armory together, as quickly as we could. Tamara was faster than I was, because she was wearing Linothorax, and I was wearing real plate mail armor. She shoved the door to the armory open and came back for me, trying to push me toward the door as quickly as possible.
Suddenly, Tamara and I found ourselves battered by violent gusts off the dragon's wings. I looked at the distance still left between us and the armory, and I knew we weren't going to make it. I could hear Sam screaming, as if from a million miles away, howling in protest that his plan to distract the dragon hadn't worked. I turned and screamed at Tamara. "Run! You can make it to the armory, so go!"
She shook her head, her expression grim. I didn't know what she was thinking, but I knew it wasn't going to be good. She gave me a sharp kick to the back of the knee, and I went down hard. For a second, I thought she was downing me to give herself a head start against the dragon. Then, she flung herself on top of me just as flames bloomed from the dragon's mouth and spurted in our direction.
"Oh my God, no!" I screamed, but it was too late. Tamara and her Linothorax were both burning as the dragon screeched and climbed high in the air to try to escape our archers' arrows. I rolled us over and started beating out the flames as quickly as I could, all the while screaming. "Help! Sam, Tamara's burning! HELP! We have to get her to Wynne NOW!"
My vision blurred as tears stung at my eyes. I blinked hard to clear my vision so I could try to assess the damage. I could see where the Linothorax had melted to Tamara's clothes and body in several places, and her skin was already beginning to bubble and blister. The smell of charred human flesh filled my nose, and I fought to suppress the urge to retch.
Sam ran up next to us, skidding to a halt as the dragon flew back over the wall toward Sigrid's encampment. He choked on an anguished sob, knelt beside us, and muttered something in a language I couldn't understand while passing his hands repeatedly just above her body, his hands glowing and shimmering in the same mirage-like way as the dragon had when the mages summoned it.
"What kind of spell are you working?" I murmured, hoping it was healing or something in that vein.
"It's something to help her manage the pain while we take her to Wynne and see what can be done." Sam's response was terse and intensely focused. His whole universe revolved around taking away Tamara's pain, and I'd never seen anything that beautiful before in my life. When he finished, he scooped her up in his arms and leveled a stern gaze at me. "I'm taking her to Wynne for healing. Go find Rolf and start working on a plan to get rid of that damned dragon."
I nodded and scrambled into a standing position in spite of the awkwardness I felt in the armor. I strode to the armory door first, shutting it out of habit more than anything else. My brain was in shutdown mode after seeing Tamara in such a dire state. I turned and marched back to the great oak doors of the fortress, solely focused on getting to Rolf and finding a way to get rid of the dragon.
20
To Kill a Dragon
I burst into Rolf's office without knocking and leveled a wild-eyed look at him. "A dragon," I snapped. "Sigrid certainly did show us what we're really up against, and it's a GODFORSAKEN DRAGON, Rolf!" I was pacing, gesturing wildly in spite of the armor's heaviness. "Nobody warned me that she and her mages could summon dragons, and now Tamara's gravely injured because she protected me from the damn thing! What, exactly, do you suggest we do about this freaking dragon, huh?"
I attempted to cross my arms as I glared at him, but the armor impeded the movement, and I put my hands on my hips instead. He stared back at me, his face pale and grim. "How severe are Tamara's injuries?"
"They're terrible!" I shouted, feeling like I was speeding toward the brink of hysteria, and I couldn't stop. "She's got to have third degree burns, at the least! The flames from the dragon melted the Linothorax to her body in places! Honestly, I don't know whether or not she's going to make it, and that's not okay!"
Tears streamed down my face and my whole body shook with the effort it took not to come completely unhinged. Rolf's expression gentled, and he shook his head. "None of us had any way of knowing Sigrid would have her mages summon a dragon, Lauren. I'm sorry that Tamara's hurt, but things like this happen every day in wars everywhere. People get hurt. People die. The only thing you can do is pull together whatever is left in the aftermath and keep moving forward."
I dragged broken, ragged gasps of air into my lungs around the sobs that were wracking me as I thought of Tamara. When I spoke, my voice broke around involuntary gasps and hiccups from the overwhelming emotions that were swamping me. "We h-have to fi-figure out how the hell we can get rid of that d-dragon, Rolf. We don't stand a chance of standing up against Sigrid as long as she's got that dragon at her disposa
l."
Frost: An Otherworld Tale (The Otherworld Tales Book 1) Page 27