by K V Deal
There was a yelp behind me, probably because of the light show. I didn't have time to guess who’d made the sound, though, because my attention was fully focused on the now-illuminated room…and the two salamanders who had been lurking in the dark.
I knew I saw something.
Why hadn't those two attacked when the other one did? In fact, even now they weren't doing much more than just hissing at me. There was something behind them.
“Jake, you do realize that things would go a lot smoother if you waited for us rather than just barging ahead?” Carah had come up to stand next to me and while the black-haired beauty was smiling, there was something in her tone that sent shivers up my spine.
“Ah, right, sorry,” I muttered, drawing my sword.
“Please remember that next time and maybe think of your teammates.” Her saber flicked back and forth between the two creatures. “Why aren't they charging?”
“I think...that's a nest,” I said, pointing at what looked like a mound of broken red-marble pieces just behind the two creatures. There was a small, dusty-red, rounded top poking just over the top of the mound.
“A nest!?” Both Axle and Charlie were suddenly beside us peering into the room.
“He’s right! That might just be a nest!” Axle said gleefully.
“Now, that just doesn't make sense.” Charlie was frowning. “These dungeon monsters just keep popping up no matter how many of them anybody's killed. Nobody's seen ‘em breeding, and they’re always full grown! Why are we the first to find a nest?”
“Why do you keep calling this place a dungeon? It doesn't make any sense.” Rachel suddenly snapped at us from behind.
As stupid as it was to do, I'm pretty sure all of us turned away from the salamanders to look at Rachel in surprise.
Well, except for Charlie. She was still enthralled by the idea of a nest, I guess.
“Ah. That…” Axle said, turning back to face the salamanders and looking a bit embarrassed. “It’s a gaming term.”
I looked back at the salamanders as well. Thankfully, the monsters still hadn't moved. They were still just hissing at us angrily.
“A gaming term! That's not an answer?”
“Is this really the time to be asking about this?” Carah asked.
“I need something else to think about?”
That kinda made sense. “A dungeon’s a place in a game where a player can go to fight a contained group of monsters and get rewards for doing so,” I explained. “Usually the monsters just keep randomly responding, too. It's the same in this place. So...dungeon,” I shrugged.
“Right,” Rachel said flatly. It was obvious she didn't believe me.
Luckily, though, I didn't have to try again.
“This is important. Y’all need to clear those guys and gals out.” Charlie was already pulling out her notebook and quill. “And ya better not damage that nest.”
Well, this should be fun.
I sighed. “Fine. I’ll see what I can do.”
“How can you be so nonchalant about this?” Rachel asked from behind me. “Those things are going to try and kill you.”
I paused.
That…did seem strange.
When did I get so used to all of this?
“Dragon, ya can get all introspective later! Right now, I need ya to move those beasties,” Charlie snapped at me. Then, in a softer voice to Rachel, she continued. “Ya can’t go distracting him right before a fight. That’s dangerous. Ya wanna ask something, best to wait till the fighting’s done.”
She was right. While I did want to figure out when mortal combat became routine, this really wasn’t the time.
I leveled my sword--plenty of room to use it in here--and began to edge forward. If that was a nest, then these two were most likely going to fight like crazy to protect it. That wasn't a situation that I wanted to just waltz into. This will take some…
The larger of the two suddenly slammed one of its front feet against the ground, clawing at the marble and making a horrid grinding sound.
I flinched. That was the wrong thing to do.
The salamander launched itself forward, its jaws open as it went for a bite.
Damn!
I tried to counter, swinging my blade. No such luck. I just wasn't fast enough and the Salamander's jaws came for my neck.
A crossbow bolt slammed into its shoulder turning the beast slightly in the air! It was just enough to make its bite miss. Instead, it body-slammed me. My sword went flying as we fell backward.
Double damn!
An animalistic cry of rage echoed around the room as we hit the ground. The other salamander was on the move as well.
I couldn't let it get to the others! Ramming my claws into the sides of the beast on top of me, I gripped and then heaved, managing to toss the giant lizard off and into the path of its mate. The two collided with a thud and began to snap at each other as they fought to get up.
An arrow flew over me to sink into the already injured beast's leg. Its mouth opened wide to let out a cry of pain.
I was on my feet, glancing around for my sword.
Ooh...that’s not good.
It was sticking out of the nest. I was pretty sure I was going to get a tongue lashing for that later. Right now, though, we were in a fight.
I ran forward, pulling out my favorite dagger. The runes along its edge began to glow as it emitted a huge wave of heat. Not that heat meant much down here or against these things.
I rammed my knife into the back of the nearest lizard. It was a mistake I had made before and really should have known better than to make again. My dagger cut a groove in the scales as the force of the stab sent the blade sliding across its back.
Damn!
And my luck being what it was, this happened to be the fully healthy one. It spun around fast and hard bringing up its tail in a massive swing that knocked me to the ground.
Another crossbow bolt snapped past, this time fully bringing down the wounded beast. Its mate, seeing this, let out a screech and spun to face the archers.
Like hell I was going to let that happen! Not fully on my feet, I threw myself forward and slammed my claws into its back. Guess this was just another sign that my claws were sharper than my dagger since I managed to get a tight grip and haul the creature backward. Now I really had the tiger, um, lizard by the tail.
It spun, trying to snap at me. Without room to maneuver, I braced myself for the attack. Carah was suddenly beside it. Her saber cut lightly into the salamander’s exposed neck.
“Damn that hide is tough?” she yelled, skipping back as the beast’s head swung her way now. The lizard struggled in my grip to get at her.
My captive and I froze in shock, as there was a wild scream from the other side. Rachel swung her longsword as hard as she could, straight down. Her nerves must have shaken her aim. Instead of hitting the neck as Carah had, the blow came crashing down on the back of its skull. Her blade fractured as the salamander's head slammed into the ground. Unable to stop her swing, Rachel's momentum pulled her forward and sent her sprawling over the creature.
Well, that’s just fucking great!
I had to either kill this thing or pin it before it simply flipped her off and took a chomp. Yanking my hands-free one at a time, I clawed my way up the Salamander’s body. I didn't take time to stand. The lizard roared in pain! Its thrashing sent Rachel tumbling down right in front of its face.
There was no time to think. Ramming my claws into its head, I slammed my knee where skull met the spine and yanked. A sickening crack echoed around the room. The beast thrashed once more and was still. Panting, I continued to hold on, not daring to let go, until I was sure that the thing was really dead.
Charlie came into view. She dropped to her knees and muttered something to sooth Rachel. Then she helped her to roll over and sit up.
I almost jumped out of my skin when something suddenly touched my shoulder. I snapped my head around to see Carah standing there, her hand snatc
hed back.
“Jeez, Jake! Chill!” she said, shaking her head. “And let go of that thing! It’s dead.”
I pulled my claws free and let the head slide down to the floor. “Thank god!” I muttered before continuing in a louder voice. “How’s Rachel?”
She turned with shaky movements to look in my direction. Sadly, that brought her face to face with the dead Salamander. It was about then that she threw up.
“Eww!” Charlie said, backing up a step. She looked down at the mess her cousin was making and wrinkled her nose at the smell.
Oh yeah, I knew what Rachel was feeling. Just seeing this, brought back images I really didn't want to remember. It was my own first dungeon experience, actually. I was looking down that white Warg’s throat before doing exactly what Rachel was doing now.
Not the best of times.
As Charlie took care of her cousin, I stored the salamanders’ bodies in my ring. Then I made my way over to where my sword was still sticking out of the nest. And it really was a nest.
My sword had crushed two of the five cantaloupe-sized eggs. It had cracked a third and was dangerously close to the last two. I extracted my weapon carefully, trying not to damage anything else.
Finally freed, I took a good look at the blade and grimaced. It was covered in a thick white goop that the heat of the room was quickly scorching onto the metal. This wasn't something that a quick swipe with a cloth was going to clean off.
“Aw! Dragon, look what ya did,” Charlie moaned. She was standing next to me now, looking into the wreckage of the nest.
“Hey, I didn't do it on purpose.” I looked away.
“Can we move on?” Rachel stumbled over, wiping her mouth on a cloth. “I don't want to stick around that smell...”
There was still a whiff of her former breakfast about her, and I could understand why she wouldn't want to stay in this room. Just the little bit I could smell was making me queasy.
“Just a second Rachel,” Charlie mumbled. She was making notes about the eggs--poking and prodding at them. She even picked up and examined bits and pieces of the broken ones.
“Well, that's gross,” a voice called out from behind us. I spun around, flicking my sword up to face the intruder.
The orange woman from before stood behind us, a shield and a mace in her hands. She was gingerly stepping past the mess on the floor while grimacing. Ten other people filed into the room behind her. They fanned out in a way that made me nervous.
“Emma? What's going on?” Axle asked, eyeing the group with concern.
“Well, I would love to say this isn't personal...but it kinda is,” she said, giving us a flat stare.
That...doesn't sound good.
“What's not personal?” Axel was beginning to sound nervous.
Me? I was already way past nervous. This wasn't good. All eleven of her people looked grim as they leveled their weapons at us.
The conversation was over it seemed. It was time for a fight and I had no damn idea why.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Chapter 6
“Emma! Why?” Axle asked as he moved back behind me.
She didn't answer. Instead, she began to move forward with the others.
They spread out along the walls of the room. The dancing red light that was reflecting off the marble walls and ceiling almost seemed to act as mood lighting.
Behind me, the sounds of a crossbow being cocked told me Charlie was getting ready. That was nice to hear since the only other sounds came from the metal soles of our supposed friends’ boots padding on the stone floor as they advanced.
I grimaced as my eyes darted between our attackers. As much as I wanted to figure out why this was happening, I knew I really didn't have time for that. Like Charlie would say, this is no time for introspection.
So, I noticed there was good news and bad news. On the good side, no bows, crossbows or even slings. On the bad side? If they were in this hothouse of a dungeon, they were either fireproof or at least resistant. That took some of my best tricks off the table. That left...
Well, it is my usual tactic.
“If you put your weapons down, we'll…” Emma started.
I threw my sword. It was probably crazy. Actually, there was no ‘probably’ about it, but it took Emma by surprise.
It was apparent that I'm not even a decent shot with a sword, but I did manage to clip her on the head with the hilt. Hard. If she had still been conscious after that, she probably would have been regretting not wearing a helmet.
One down. For now, at least.
I threw myself forward as I reached into my inventory for a weapon. I didn't have any time to be picky. I pulled out the first weapon I could find. It was a dagger -- the fourth of my set of six. It had a curved blade and almost looked like a small scimitar except that the hilt swung back up to support another blade that acted as a hand guard. As I recalled, it should be magic, though I’d never figured out what it did.
Hopefully, it will do the job.
Fortunately, my doing something crazy has become somewhat predictable to my team members. An arrow sped past me and struck the neck of a scaly man holding an axe. He let out a gurgle, dropped his weapon and clutched at the arrow. A crossbow bolt joined the arrow, burying itself in his chest. It punched through his breastplate with a crunching sound. He dropped like a stone.
Two. Nine more to go.
I thundered towards a smaller man with a hefty beard. Probably a dwarf. He swung the spear up and aimed it at my gut, probably hoping to keep me back.
The weapon didn’t feel magical, so I charged forward, simply ignoring the spear. It hit hard but didn’t pierce my scales. My momentum ripped the spear free from the man’s hands, much to his shock.
I swung the long dagger forward. It cut deep into the man’s shoulder and went through his armor like butter.
As soon as the blade bit down to bone, there was a crack. My hand continued down with the force of the blow until it reached my hip. Yanking the weapon up, I looked in surprise to see only a handle in my hand. My dagger’s main blade had broken cleanly away, leaving only the blade on the guard! The main blade was still lodged in the dwarf’s shoulder!
What the hell kind of crappy magic weapon is this!?
“Jake!” Carah screamed, bring me back to reality, and I flinched.
That was the only reason the sword missed my neck. Instead, it only slammed into my shoulder. The blow knocked me down as a wild-eyed man with ears like Axle's came screaming at me. He readied his sword for another blow.
Instinctively, I thrust my dagger up to block the blow. The impact of his sword was harsh, but my dagger stopped it! Its blade held its own against the guy’s sword.
Wait… ‘Its blade?’ What the…
Thankfully, even while my brain was confused by the magic dagger actually being magic, my tail lashed out at a gap in the elf’s armor. Its red metallic barb stabbed into the man’s leg. He toppled over clawing at the gaping wound in his knee, his weapon forgotten.
It was pretty obvious that these guys had never been in a life or death fight. And while they had some nice armor, their weapons were pretty bad.
Even with that, leaving an enemy behind me was just the kind of stupid that got people killed. I scrambled up to my knees and rammed my dagger into the man’s chest. There was a crack.
Again.
Yanking the handle back, I could see that the blade had once again been left behind.
This weapon is seriously weird.
I skipped back as the long-eared man fell to the ground.
Eight. No, make that five.
A quick glance showed another three on the ground. None of them us.
My tail lashed out at the small bearded guy who was trying to remove my blade from his shoulder.
Four. These guys really should be wearing helmets.
The rest of the fight was quick. We took care of those remaining four without any problems.
I looked around at the others who were c
hecking for wounds. Rachel had gotten a cut along her arm that was bleeding pretty good, but Carah was already working on cleaning it up.
“Yes,” Carah was saying, “a potion could clean this up. But you gotta remember, the scar tissue that a potion leaves behind is way worse. For a shallow cut like this, it’s better to let it heal naturally.”
That seemed to be in hand. I walked over to Axle who was standing over the orange-skinned woman who I had clocked with my sword at the beginning of this.
Oops…speaking of which, I should probably go grab that.
As I headed past Axle toward my weapon, he was kneeling down to check on her. “No such luck …” I heard him mutter.
My sword now back in hand, I looked down at the long, dagger number four. Its blade was back again. Okay, so it could block attacks just fine, but when it hit somebody the blade snapped off? And then regrew? I really didn’t know what to think about this thing. Still, it was better than the flame dagger in here.
Speaking of which, I took a second to store that blade away. The heat that it produced was nice, but these days it felt like I was becoming a one-trick pony. Worse, it was a trick that didn’t work anymore.
I couldn’t remember the last time my fire breath had been good for anything except a distraction.
At least this dagger adds to my options in a fight.
That taken care of, I walked back over to Axle, where he was now searching Emma.
Seeing my feet, Axle looked up at me … and then farther up. Rather than put a kink in his neck, I crouched next to him. This close, I could see he was pretty torn up about this. “Any idea what happened here?”
“Not a single fucking clue.” he said, turning back to his search. “Emma was new to the adventurers, but she seemed really steady.”
I glanced down at her. “Is she still alive?”
“No,” he said darkly, as he rolled her body over.
“Ah. Sorry.” I really hadn't figured my blow was that bad.
“I just wish I knew why she said it was personal.”
“…can you be so calm about this! We just killed people!” Rachel suddenly shouted from behind me.
I turned to look over at her.
“I'm not calm!” Charlie snapped back.