Dragon Adventurer collection

by K V Deal

  That included the guy with the bow. An arrow was on its way toward me almost before I had even registered that he and his buddies were there. The arrow slammed hard into my shoulder, knocking me off balance. As I fell to the ground, I head a cry of rage as Rachel rushed toward Mary.

  Grunting in pain, I pushed myself hurriedly to my feet! “Careful!” I called. If she tried to take on that woman by herself…

  Mary dodged to the right and a bolt just missed her face.

  “Damn it, Rachel! Don’t be reckless!” Charlie shouted, working on reloading her crossbow.

  I got to my feet just in time to come face to face with a woman with a spear. And that spear was coming right at my eye. With a startled yelp, I leaned out of the way, dodging the blow.

  Upside? I didn’t get speared. Downside? In my haste, I’d put all my weight on my bad leg. I went down in a heap, trying not to scream. The spear woman stepped in quickly, readying her weapon to finish me off.

  Thank God for my tail! It lashed out cutting a gash right above the woman’s ankle that bought me the precious time to roll away and start getting to my feet. Plus, now we were even.

  She limped forward with a snarl that sounded distinctly canine. Guess she was half dog or something under that helmet. Well, let's see if she’s fireproof. Hauling back my head, I spat a fireball right in her face.

  For some reason, nobody ever seems to expect that.

  I stepped forward and brought the fang across in a quick slash, before turning to look for another target.

  Things...were not going well. Charlie was dragging Axle back to a door in the hall, trying not to jostle his arm too much what with the arrow that was sticking out of it. Seems they had done at least as well for themselves. Two Chosen lay on the ground. Arrows and bolts showed our two archers’ handiwork.

  Carah had crossed the room, my dagger in her hands flashing as it left a red-hot streak in the air. Her opponent, the archer, ducked and weaved around her, trying to gain enough room to let loose the arrow notched on his bow.

  A clash and a scream echoed through the hall. My eyes darted over.

  Rachel stood in front of Mary, her sword slipping from her fingers. Behind her was another Chosen, a strange saw-edged rapier rammed halfway to the hilt into Rachel's back.

  “No!” I roared and half-charged, half-hobbled toward the bastards.

  I'm pretty sure that Charlie yelled something, as did Carah, but I didn’t hear. All I was thinking about was Rachel, the man who had stabbed her, and Mary, who had a manic grin spreading across her face.

  “Payback, dragon!” She shoved Rachel to the side and stepped past to come at me. Rachel’s killer let out a yelp as he was dragged to the ground with his victim.

  Gripping the fang's handle with both hands, I limped toward Mary at full speed. As soon as we got in fighting range, I swung at Mary’s chest.

  She leapt back out of range, letting the blow pass by before stepping in quickly for a hammer-like blow with her stupid looking sword.

  I remembered that thing from the last time we’d fought. It hit like a truck with its strange weight-changing ability, and I had no intention of letting her wing me with it again.

  Letting go of the fang with one hand, I lashed out, smacking her wrist and managing to deflect the attack.

  Mary yelled her pain, as she clocked me hard with the mace. It sent a sharp pain through my shoulder as well as a pleasant wave of heat that would have left third-degree burns on a normal person. All in all, nothing compared to what her sword could do.

  I needed to get off the defensive. My tail zipped out, aiming to score a hit on her side. Mary leapt back, glancing down to make sure she got clear.

  Chance!

  I spat a ball of fire at her face, readying for a follow-up slash.

  Mary suddenly grinned, whipping the mace up into the path of the flame. It hit the ball of the weapon and wrapped itself around the metal before getting sucked inside.

  “The hell?” What the heck had she done to my—

  I should have been watching the other hand. There was a cracking sound and what felt like somebody swinging an elephant into my side. I gasped as pain radiated out from the point of impact, bending almost double as I gripped my side.

  “Did you really think I was going to fall for that twice?” Mary sneered, leaning in close as she raised the mace above her head. “For Edward.” The mace dropped, swinging down hard and fast in a direct line for my head.

  “Jake!” Carah screamed. I could see she had just finished her opponent, but there was no way that she had time to help.

  With my hip in no shape to dodge, I could only think of one thing to do. Still bent over, I pressed hard with my injured leg. I gritted my teeth and forced myself to ignore the pain in both hip and side, as I rammed my head, horn first, into the chest plate of her armor.

  I’m pretty sure I screamed as my hip, my side and now my head all seemed to be made of pain. I almost didn’t hear the ripping tear of metal.

  Due to the contact, I could feel Mary gasp. Wetness began to run from my horn down my face to drip to the stone below. She staggered, pulling me as she did, and sent fresh waves of pain through me. I dropped to my knees and my head pulled free with a wet pop. Mary gurgled. Tilting my head back, I saw her standing there, wobbling back and forth, her face pale, a gaping hole in her chest right below her heart.

  We locked eyes for a moment. I could almost see the life draining out of hers. A look of fury crossed her face, and her mouth opened as if to speak. Then the light left her eyes, and Mary toppled to the ground.

  It was strange. I could tell that she was falling, but she still seemed to be upright as the room moved around both of us.

  Or I could be falling too.

  I hit the ground hard. Laying on the cool stone floor, the whole world seemed to spin around me.

  Great.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

  Chapter 25

  By the time my head stopped spinning, Carah was by my side.

  “Jake! Jake are you okay?” She was almost panicking. Her hands were hovering over me but not quite actually touching me.

  I should probably try and reassure her. “’m okay,” I managed to slur. I brought a hand up to touch my head, wincing as the movement sent pain shooting through my side.

  “Like hell you are!” she snapped.

  Seriously, if she isn’t going to believe me when I answer her, why bother asking?

  “Dragon! Where’s your ring!” Charlie leaned into view, looking as bad as Carah.

  “Ring?”

  I have a few of those... Which one does she want?

  “Your ring! The second chances one!” She was almost shouting by this point. “Where is it?”

  Ah. That ring.

  “I dunno.” annoyance colored my tone.

  “Dragon, I don’t have time for games! He missed the important organs, but Rachel is dying! Give me the damn ring!” Anger burned in her eyes as she glared down at me.

  “Charlie!” Carah snapped, whirling to face the squid girl.

  “No. I don’t know where it is. Never got it back from Gloria.” That was another thing I needed to get back.

  Charlie seemed to deflate as despair flickered across her face. “Oh, you gotta be kidding me! I’m out of potions! I have to get that ring!”

  “When would he have had time! Other than in the basement for a few minutes, you were with us the whole time!” Carah yanked a potion out of her pouch and thrust it up at the other woman. “Use this! Hurry!”

  Charlie blinked and then grabbed the bottle and hurried out of sight.

  I tilted my head to try and see where she went, wincing as I did so. My head was already feeling a bit better, but my side was still hurting with every move.

  Rachel lay in a pool of her own blood. The rapier was gone, leaving a gaping hole in her back right along the spine.

  She wasn’t moving.

  I clenched my eyes shut.

  Please.

&n
bsp; Please don’t be dead.

  I mean, sure, I didn’t like her that much. But that didn't mean I wanted her to die!

  I looked up at Carah as we listened to Charlie muttering something to her cousin. Her shoulders were up about her ears, as she clenched her eyes shut. She didn't have any better hopes about this then I did...

  Ignoring the pain, I reached out and put a hand on Carah's knee. Her eyes opened, and she looked at me in surprise. Then she gave me a weak smile, putting a hand over mine.

  There was the sound of a cork being pulled. I saw Charlie lever Rachel up. Then they were both out of my line of sight. There was a moment of silence, then the screaming started. I fought to sit up as Carah spun around to see what was going on.

  “Rachel!” I could barely hear Charlie over whoever was screaming.

  So...good news was since the screaming was a girl, it probably meant Rachel was alive. Bad news, of course, was that she was probably screaming for a reason.

  “What's wrong?”

  That was Axle! Good to know he was okay, but damn it, I couldn't see what was going on!

  With one last painful twist, I turned to look.

  Rachel was limp in Charlie's arms, her head lolling back. The shapeshifter was wide-eyed and screaming at the top of her lungs.

  The hell is going on?

  I couldn't see her wound what with how her shirt hung from her back. The fact that it wasn’t slicked to her skin by the blood anymore made me think that the potion must have done something at least. Hell, if it hadn’t been able to fix the wound, I would be shocked. I had never heard of one failing before.

  “Rachel, for god’s sake! Talk to me!” A panicked look was creeping into Charlie’s eyes. Her arms were starting to curl, snakelike, around Rachel. This wasn’t looking good.

  Carah stood up and took a few quick steps over to Charlie’s side. She pulled a small container out of one of the leather pouches on her belt and wiggled the cork free. She quickly turned her head away from the now-open bottle and wrinkled her nose before thrusting it at Charlie and Rachel.

  Surprisingly, the first to react wasn’t either of them. Axle jerked back, his face scrunching up. “What the hell’s that?!” Judging by the level of disgust in his voice, I could tell I never, ever, wanted to smell what was in that thing.

  Charlie flinched and then coughed. “Ugg!”

  Rachel’s scream cut off as she let out a gagging sound.

  Thank goodness!

  As soon as she heard that, Carah jammed the cork back in. Everyone looked at her except for Rachel who was still coughing from whatever it was that had been in that bottle.

  “The hell is that?” Charlie managed to choke out. Her arms, still holding Rachel, were going back to a more normal form, so whatever was in that bottle was doing its job at least.

  “Smelling salts. Or at least the closest thing I could find.” She stowed the bottle away.

  “Rachel, what’s wrong?” Axle reached out to touch the woman’s shoulder.

  “Pain,” Rachel said through gritted teeth and tears. “My back!”

  “Ya got stabbed,” Charlie said in a soothing tone, even if the words themselves weren’t all that soothing. “We got a potion in ya. It should be doing its job.”

  Rachel whimpered, biting her lip. “Why?”

  Charlie blinked. “Why? Well, we don’t really know how potions—”

  “No! Why did you have to make me do all this? I never wanted to be a fighter!” Rachel sobbed. “I just wanted to be an actress! Then all this...happened....”

  Something was wrong. Her voice trailed off as a panicked look began to overtake her pain.

  “I...I can’t move...” It came out as a whisper.

  Charlie went pale.

  Axle, who had been leaning in, forgotten, quickly bent further over to inspect her back.

  “I can’t move!” Rachel wailed, throwing her head back again.

  Damn...

  “It was right on the spine,” Axle said, looking worried. “We’ve never tried a potion on a wound like that before.”

  Charlie rose to her feet. “We need to get her to a doc! Now!”

  “Charlie!” Carah cut in, grabbing one of the other woman’s shoulders. “Don’t move her! Put her back on the ground! Carefully!”

  Charlie glared at her. “The hell are ya talking about?”

  “I read that you don’t move people with spinal or head injuries!” Carah turned to face Axle. “You sent that message to Gloria, right? That said we found these assholes?”

  He nodded.

  “Good! They should have a team here soon, then? You and I will go find them and bring them here! Maybe they have a field medic and if not, then at least we can hope they have a sparrow.”

  “Wait, just the two of ya?” Now Charlie was looking worried again, as she slowly lowered her whimpering cousin back down to the ground.

  “Has to be.” Carah's eyes flicked worriedly from Rachel to me. “Somebody has to stay and guard these two, and you’re the best for that.”

  I pulled a potion out of my ring. “She’s right. Between me and you we should be able to keep Rachel safe.”

  “Don’t drink that!” Carah snatched the bottle out of my hands.

  I looked up at her in surprise.

  “If you have to, fine. But if nothing happens, wait for me and Axle to get back.” She glared at me. “Promise me.”

  “Really?”

  She’s going to make a big deal of this now?

  “Really! Jake, your hip is already a mess thanks to this stuff. If you take this now, your side’s gonna be the same way!”

  I winced. She was probably right, and I really didn’t want to cripple myself.

  “Alright.” Axle hoisted his bow. “If we’re gonna do this, let's go now. The quicker the better.” He look over at Charlie. “You okay with this?”

  She nodded, reloading her crossbow. “I got this. Ya should just worry about yourselves.”

  He hesitated for just a second. It was pretty clear he wanted to say something else, but something stopped him. “You got it.”

  We watched them as they hurried off. Charlie fingered her crossbow.

  As soon as they turned the first corner and disappeared from sight, she let out a huff and turned to peer up the corridor.

  Me? I dragged myself over to sit next to Rachel.

  She turned her head away. Probably because she didn’t want me to see her crying. Or just didn’t want to see me.

  I glanced over at her and frowned as another thought jumped into my head.

  What happened to the guy who stabbed her?

  I heard my tail begin to rattle. It sent tiny waves of pain up my side. Most likely he ran away. Or something.

  The Inquisitors were making me paranoid with their whole invisibility thing. There was no way he was still hanging around, just waiting...

  Even as I tried to talk myself out of it, I began to feel around for magic. There was Rachel beside me with a few small dots of magic, the bodies of the Chosen we had fought, Charlie, and another blot that was slowly moving up behind her.

  Shit!

  “Charlie!” I barked. “Behind you!”

  She spun around, covering the hall with her crossbow. Her eyes danced across the apparently empty hallway. Then her face hardened. “Damn it, dragon! Give me a bit more!” She took a step back, raised her crossbow to her shoulder and began to sweep to across the hall.

  “There!” I called out as the point of her bolt passed the blot of magic I was feeling.

  We both heard the startled curses, and I felt the magic turn and run down the hallway…right towards Rachel!

  “What's happening? I can’t see!” I could hear the fear in Rachel’s voice.

  Anger bloomed inside of me. After what he had already done to her, this bastard was coming after her again?

  Ignoring the pain, I shoved myself up to my feet. I took a step over and put myself right between him and Rachel. Then I marked him for Charlie i
n a way she really couldn't miss. I bathed him in fire. My fireball burst over his chest, and the screaming started almost immediately. I could see the form beating at itself frantically.

  He must have some kind of protection, though. The fire was petering out way too quickly. With a snarl, I took a step forward. Injuries or no, if I needed to—

  Charlie let loose her bolt. It was a weird thing to see. It leapt through the air coming right at me. I flinched back, raising my arms to defend myself.

  The bolt slammed to a stop in midair, and I felt the figure jerk. That saw-toothed rapier suddenly appeared and hit the ground. It skidded to a stop right in front of me. I watched as the bolt seemed to tumble to the ground, and a pool of red began to grow across the floor.

  The color seemed to be painting itself into existence, until, at last, that Chosen soldier lay on the ground with a bolt going clean through his neck.

  I swallowed hard. “You were aiming for the neck? The thinnest part? That thing could have missed and hit me! Easy!”

  “Ya outlined him pretty clearly. And did I miss?”

  “Somebody, tell me what's going on!?” Rachel almost screamed.

  Charlie hurried over and knelt down next to her.

  I figured I should probably give them a minute. Since I was already on my feet, might as well tidy up.

  Charlie looked up at my grunt as I grabbed the first corpse. “Dragon, what the hell are ya doing?”

  “Just figured, if we’re gonna be here a sec, I didn’t want to be sitting right next to a dead guy. There’s a room a little way back I'll drag them to.”

  Charlie grunted and turned back to her cousin. “Fine. Just don’t go running off!”

  Well...that was easier than expected. I slowly dragged the body back along the hall. Thankfully we’d left the door open when we checked the room on our way past. If I had to try and manage the door on top of carrying this guy, I don't think I could have done it. As it was, when I dropped the corpse to the carpet, I had to take a moment to catch my breath. When I finally stopped wheezing and could let go of my side, I looked down at the body.