Dragon Adventurer collection

by K V Deal

  Suddenly there was a twitch in the magic. I could only describe it as being similar to listening to the end of a piece of classical music. I could tell things were building to a climax. And the inquisitor had that damn thing pointed up, right at the Gray House above us. Realization struck me. All of this had been for one purpose--to gather us all at a single location!

  I threw myself into the room, pulling out my primary weapon from storage. For once, there was actually room for me to swing the great sword. Covering the ground between us, I hauled back and swung the sword like a baseball bat at the man’s head.

  Something must have given away my presence, most likely my lamp. The inquisitor threw himself forward at the last minute and rolled out of the way. He spun around to face me. I froze. I'm sure my shock showed on my face because the person across from me grinned from ear to ear.

  Literally.

  The man was bald, with a thin face and a smile that was far too wide. It stretched out until it nearly touched the base of his ears, revealing far too many teeth for a human mouth. His nose was nonexistent. There was only a smooth, blank space where a nose should have been set under his penetrating gray eyes.

  The man stood up and began to say something before realizing that he was being completely drowned out by the object he was holding. He shrugged and then, with a lightning-fast movement, he charged, smiling the whole while. A classic Inquisitor, poisoned rapier was in his free hand before I knew it, and he lashed out with a quick swing. Whether or not the weapon itself was dangerous, the poison on it was.

  I brought up my sword in a heavy arc forcing the inquisitor back. The man was fast! Without pausing, the mace was swinging through the air out of range for a strike by my sword. It was moving through my field of vision bright enough to leave streaks in my vision.

  Shit!

  This guy knew how to fight!

  I swung my sword wildly while stumbling backward, hoping to keep him back as my vision recovered. No dice. Around the dark spots in my vision, I could see that he had evaded the clumsy attack and was rushing in for a counter before I could recover.

  I threw myself to the side as something blew past my face--from behind. The inquisitor threw himself flat, looking past me. I could see there was a line of red releasing blood from his ear.

  I whipped my sword up and then down in a slamming attack, hoping to get a blow in before he recovered, but he was already rolling out of the way.

  Another blur shot past me, just missing the inquisitor, whose grin still hadn't faltered, even though he was starting to look a bit annoyed.

  The magic continued toward a climactic release as the inquisitor tried to get some space between us. He shifted in an effort to put me between him and the other attacker behind me.

  My eyes locked on the hand holding the mace; I tried not to look at the mace, itself. I had to get it away from him before he could activate it.

  I cut sideways trying to open a path for whoever was helping me.

  The inquisitor dodged as, this time, two somethings snapped past followed by...a ball of fire? The fire hit the inquisitor. It splashed off him as he opened his mouth in what I guessed was a laugh. His eyes on whoever had thrown it.

  A chance! I rushed forward, ignoring my sword. I simply threw my large body at the man. His eyes snapped back to me, and for the first time, his smile faltered. He threw himself into a roll to dodge.

  A lucky shot! I saw an arrow had smacked into his arm. He opened his mouth in a silent scream, as he dropped the mace to the ground. As it hit, there was a split-second gap in the noise it was generating before it returned with a vengeance, even louder and angrier than before. The mace began to vibrate as its heat leached out into the stone floor. It caused the floor to bubble as it transitioned to magma.

  The inquisitor glanced down at it; his eyes went wide. He quickly bolted back from the super-heating floor, then he looked up at us. His smile took on a cruel edge as he gave us a wave and then snapped his fingers and...he was gone.

  No trace.

  No visual cue.

  And no time to think about it.

  The magic had reached a fevered pitch.

  Praying that my heat resistance was up to the task, I dove forward, throwing my body over the thing. I curled around it, trying to leave an opening away from the hall and the celling for it to…

  There was an impact and a wave of heat. It was followed by a sound that tore at my ears as I was hurled back faster than I could ever remember moving. Something stopped my momentum with a crash, sending shards of stone flying. I fell to the ground, flames licking at my clothing, as I felt the superheated floor sag around me. It was melting.

  My vision swam. I tried to heft myself up on weak limbs only to have my fingers slip in the mess the floor had become. I coughed up a mouthful of blood that sizzled as it hit the floor, bubbling away to nothing in a second.

  I needed to do something. This had to be destroying the Gray Houses' foundation, but I couldn't even get my body to stand.

  “Jake!”

  Someone grabbed my arm, trying to yank me to my feet. I managed to swivel my head to see Carah standing next to me as she struggled to get me up.

  “Fuck! This is why we need a healer!” She grunted, and she pulled. I fought to help her and managed to get myself up to my knees.

  “Come on! We have to get out of here!” she said, trying to encourage me. I got my feet under me and stood, wobbling a little.

  The roof groaned. Carah looked up in alarm.

  “Go,” I croaked at her. “I’ll be behind you.”

  “Bullshit! I'm not leaving you!”

  “Can’t leave yet.” I forced my legs to move and headed towards the center of the room.

  “Jake! That’s the wrong way!” Carah tried desperately to yank me towards the door only letting go when the lava that was the floor began to deepen.

  “Gotta grab that item he used!”

  “Item? You have to be kidding me! This’s no time to get greedy!” She was screaming at me by this point. I made it to where the mace had been when it exploded. “There’s no way you’re going to find it in time! We have to get out of here!”

  Moving through the lava felt like wading through warm, thick mud. I could still feel the magic of the mace. It was more subdued now but still present enough for me to follow it to its source. The magma came up to my knees when my foot hit some kind of bar. Leaning over, I pulled the still-glowing mace out and stored it away before turning and fighting my way back to Carah.

  As soon as I got within her reach, she grabbed my arm again and hauled me along as we rushed out of the remains of the cave.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Chapter 10

  We watched the Gray House collapse in on itself. Everyone did. Gloria and her staff, the Search and Rescue teams, the Exploration teams and even the civilian protesters. The heat of the explosion had melted its way through the ground floor in about twenty minutes, removing any chance of saving the building.

  The only blessing was that, because of Axle’s and Charlie's warning, there had been enough time to evacuate everyone to a safe distance.

  The magma was beginning to cool, but not fast enough it seemed. A tongue of flame licked out of the hole as the building’s wood caught fire.

  “Alright!” I looked over in surprise to see Gloria watching the flames, her hands clenched, a bright red glow coming from her visor. Even with all the feelings that had to be bouncing around in her, she still managed to keep a chipper tone in her voice. “That was a close one, but we can’t let this stop us!”

  And with that, she began to issue orders.

  Within three hours, she had everyone relocated to what had once been the city’s community college. Now it was a three-story, castle-like thing with a two-level basement, free of inquisitors.

  Trust me, we checked for over an hour.

  It was set in the middle of a large green space. Great for visibility, but not so great on the defensive side.

>   Before she’d even settled in, Gloria was in talks with a construction company about building a wall around the green--added protection incase somebody tried this again.

  I heard about that second hand because, as soon as I’d finished helping to check the school, I’d been whisked off by a group of medics from the Search and Rescue team. They were already setting up shop in one of the lecture halls using scrounged furniture as exam tables.

  The count of the wounded included three people who were injured trying to get essential files out of the Gray House before it collapsed, and Axle, Charlie, Carah and me.

  They’d been the ones supporting me against the inquisitor.

  Thankfully, other than being a bit shook up and having some cuts and bruises, they all seemed fine. When the explosion had been about to go off, Charlie had slammed the door to the room, and she’d and Axel had sprinted off with the alarm. That door had shielded them from most of the blast. One hell of a door. Charlie said later that the cavern had been a bomb shelter before the change, so I guess it had been made tough.

  I was the one in worst shape--cracked ribs, a possible concussion. These were the biggest things the medics brought up, but there were a mess of smaller ones.

  As I looked around, I saw one of the medics arguing with Charlie over something.

  Before I could make out what they were saying, though, the medics pulled a young woman over to stand in front of me. Her pointed ears poked through bright-pink hair. She didn't meet my eyes. Instead, she pretty much looked anywhere but at me. She looked really embarrassed as she pulled a small metal statue out of a padded bag. It was a figure standing in a heroic pose, much like something out of an anime, with twin pigtails flying behind it. I looked at it then back at her, raising an eyebrow.

  “J-just touch it.” She was turning beet red and still wouldn't meet my eyes.

  Well... They wouldn't have brought her over if it was dangerous.

  I reach out with a finger and carefully touched the top of its head.

  With a flash, a ribbon of light wound itself up from the statue’s outstretched hand. It wrapped me from head to toe in an instant. It squeezed for a split second and then vanished as quickly as it had come.

  I felt a little uncomfortable after that, actually. But to be fair, my ribs didn't hurt anymore.

  I looked up at the woman again. “Thanks. Ummm…”

  “I didn't choose it!” The woman hastily said leaning towards me with an earnest expression.

  “Hey, I don't judge either way. I was just going to ask what it did.”

  “Oh.” She blushed. “Th-the ribbon heals wounds. A-and it’s soothing.”

  “Soothing, that sounds nice today,” I grinned, trying to calm her down.

  Crap! My teeth.

  After that predator’s grin, she was about as stiff as a board. I covered my mouth with a hand.

  Before I could say anything to try and help things, I heard a cough just off to the side, one of those coughs that you know was just there to grab your attention. Cyrus was standing there, a hand curled politely in front of his mouth.

  “I'm sorry for the interruption, but the mayor would like to speak to you. Now, if you please.”

  “Ah... Okay.” I stood up. “Thanks…” I said, but the pink-haired woman was already gone. The medic who had led her over was already taking her to another patient.

  Ah well...

  I turned and followed Cyrus.

  The others were standing behind him at the room’s door. Axle looked nervous, Charlie, grumpy and Carah looked...annoyed? They waited for Cyrus to pass and then fell into step with me as he led us through the halls.

  “Dragon, I always thought ya went looking for trouble, but ya didn't need to prove me right.” Charlie shook her head.

  “Thank god he did. We would have been burnt to a cinder from the looks of things if he hadn’t,” Axle muttered.

  “I wasn't saying it was a bad thing!” Charlie held up her hands with a grimace. “Saved our lives, but ya gotta admit it happens.”

  “That may not be true,” Cyrus said from ahead of us. “The trouble he finds was always already there. I suspect he may not be the first to find it in most cases. Instead, he is the first to survive it.”

  Charlie shot him a glare. I looked at her, puzzled. She seemed a bit more touchy than usual.

  “So, what trouble are you going to throw him at now?” Carah asked. She had been sticking close to me as we walked, and I mean really close, as in she kept on bumping into me as we walked. Don't know what was up with her. She still looked grumpy, but whenever she caught me glancing at her, she gave me a big smile as if nothing was wrong.

  “That is not for me to say.” Cyrus slowly shook his head as he came to a stop in front of a large wooden door with the word 'Principal' painted on the front in big block letters. He leaned forward and wrapped on the door.

  “What!” Okay, that was the first time I had heard Gloria sound angry.

  Cyrus, on the other hand, stayed cool and collected. “I have brought Axle's team.”

  “Send them in.”

  Cyrus opened the door to usher us in and then walked around the room to stand next to a large desk.

  The room, itself, was nice--stone floor, a few chairs in front of a heavy wooden desk, a wall of bookcases off to the side, and a hunched suit of armor at the desk sorting through a mound of paperwork. It started on the floor and towered to a height taller than the back of her large leather chair. I winced.

  No wonder she’s in a bad mood.

  The way she eagerly put down the papers she was holding, sliding them as far away on the desk as she could?

  Oh, yeah. Not a paperwork person.

  Cyrus gave her a disapproving glance and picked up the pile. He stepped around her chair and begin working on the stack.

  “Alright!” Gloria clasped her hands on the desk and looked at us. “What happened? Start with how Jake suddenly took off running full tilt down the halls and let's end with... Oh…” she leaned back in her chair and rubbed the chin of her helmet, “…how about when my office sank into a flaming pit?”

  There was a moment of silence. Everyone turned to look at me.

  By the time the explanation was over, Gloria was leaning back in her chair, her fingers laced together in front of her and a narrow beam of light coming from her visor. I looked as if she was squinting at the ceiling.

  “Alright. We know you've followed...magic before. Not a surprise. The big things here are what the inquisitor was and what he was up to. Any ideas?”

  “The Inquisitors have always been a purist human group. The fact that a Changed is in their midst is strange to say the least,” Cyrus stated.

  Charlie was lost in thought as she brought out her book. “That description...” She flipped through the pages and then stopped suddenly wearing a triumphant expression. “Just need ya to answer a few questions. Ya talked about no nose and the large smile?”

  “Large doesn't quite cover it,” I muttered, thinking back to that smile.

  “Right. The eyes, though. Color?”

  “Deep gray? I think?”

  “Ya remember if he had hair?”

  “None. He was bald.”

  She grinned. “Thought so! So, I know someone just like that! Gloria ya remember that report I wrote ya a while back? ‘Bout the actress living near the river?”

  The mayor seemed to freeze for a moment. “Yes?”

  “Ah. The issue with the shapeshifter,” Cyrus cut in. “I believe I just saw that report.” He quickly shuffled through one of the piles and pulled out a bit of paper. He handed it to Gloria.

  Giving it a quick once over, she tried to snap her fingers, only producing a grinding sound of metal on metal. “Sorry,” she said, wincing. “Keep forgetting about that. Anyways! I remember now. The...doppel-gang-man?”

  The what now? My brain tried to work out what she was saying.

  Charlie winced. “Doppelganger.”

  “Doppel… Oh, fuck,
” I heard Axle mutter.

  I knew the name. I was sure I had heard it somewhere before, but for some reason it’s meaning was escaping me.

  “Right! That. How about you clue the others in?”

  Charlie turned to look at us. “It's a long story. The short of it is that she woke up on day five. Looks just like you described. Interesting thing was she can shape shift--just cosmetically, though. She can look like any other person, down to the last detail. Even sounds like ‘em. Can't do the racial stuff though, like Jake's fire breathing.” She shook her head. “Was a sad thing. Could look like anybody except the one person she wanted to. Her old self. Said she couldn't even remember what she used to look like anymore. Breaks your heart.”

  “Could that be our person?” Cyrus coldly cut in.

  “What? No! Rachel wouldn't hurt a fly!” Charlie glared at him.

  Gloria held up a hand. “Charlie, relax. You know he's just checking on all the options. You did say she could look like anyone. How about a male version of her normal self?”

  Charlie shut her book with a bang and shoved it away. “I didn't ask.”

  Pretty sure everyone was giving her an odd look by this point . I know I was.

  She must have noticed, because she took a deep breath and tried to pull herself together. “Maybe. I don't know. She's a sweet girl. I just can't see her trying to do mass murder.”

  “Noted,” Cyrus said and actually made a notation in his papers.

  “Still, it's a good place to start.” Gloria raised a finger at Charlie's glare. “Jake can double check to see if she really is the same type of Changed he saw under the Gray House, and if she is, you all can quiz her in greater detail on what she's capable of.”

  “That makes sense,” Axle said, putting a hand on Charlie's shoulder. “Any idea where she lives?”

  “She used to have a place next to the marina,” Charlie muttered.

  “Right! That’s the plan, then.” Gloria clapped her hands, a smile in her voice. “And if you’re going by the marina, you might want to take a look around! A lot has changed since you were last through. Perhaps I could even give you a guided…”