When Azkun jumped off the boat and landed for the first time on Kishalkuz he knelt and kissed the ground. As he rose there were tears in his eyes.
“Look, a cave,” said Althak.
“Not a cave,” said Shelim with a shudder in his voice. “A tunnel.”
Sure enough, at the base of the cliff, and hidden by a small outcrop of rock so that they had not seen it before, was a dark hole that looked like a cave. But a second glance showed that it was regularly shaped and faced with ancient blocks of stone.
“Of course,” said Azkun. “It is the way in.”
They picked their way across the rock shelf carefully, for it was slippery and covered with sea lichen. It was obviously sometimes covered by the high tide. When they reached the beach Shelim stopped them.
“Do you mean we're to go into the tunnel, M’Lord?”
“Of course.”
“I… I won’t go in there, that is, I can’t. I have to mind the boat. The tide might slip the moorings and-”
“You are afraid.”
“I can’t abide tunnels, M’Lord. The weight of the ground above me… It's not the dragons. But I can’t go in there.”
Azkun laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“The dragons will provide another way for you. That is not difficult for them. Meanwhile wait here for us. But do not worry about the boat. I doubt if we will wish to return to the lands of men. The dragons will not need to send us back, for they will defeat Gashan themselves.”
So they left Shelim behind as they crunched their way across the shelly beach to the mouth of the tunnel.
They entered not a little gingerly and made their way into the darkness with seashells still crunching under their feet and the mouth of the tunnel receding behind them. The sound of the waves on the beach became fainter and fainter.
“Azkun, we can't go further without light,” said Althak. “If this tunnel twists and turns we'll be lost.”
“But we have no lamps. This is the way the dragons have given us.” He stood silent for a moment. Surely the dragons would not leave them in darkness, not after having come so far. At that moment a dull flickering could be seen above them in the tunnel. They all looked up, Thalissa with a moan of wonder. A small, bright globe of light hovered and flickered near the roof directly over Azkun’s head, casting as much light as a lamp.
“Azkun,” gasped Thalissa, “did you do that?”
“No.” He smiled. “That is the power of the dragons. They watch over us.”
But she was not convinced. She had heard the tales of Azkun but she had never seen magic before with her own eyes. Her son had called a magic light out of the air.
They continued along the tunnel, the globe of light dancing lightly above Azkun’s head. They could see the stones were much less worn here, sheltered as they were from the sea and, before they had walked much further, the tunnel came to a halt. It ended in a stone wall and, carved on it in relief, was a large double-headed axe.
On their left was a shelf in the wall about waist height and wide steps led up to a dark opening.
“I know what this is!” shouted Althak, his voice echoing in the tunnel. “It's a wharf. This tunnel where we now stand was once filled with water up to the level of the shelf there. Boats were unloaded onto the shelf and traffic went up the steps. It must have been made to overcome the steepness of the cliffs.”
“But who would build such a thing on the dragon isle?” asked Thalissa.
“Perhaps the same folk who built the Gashan city,” said Althak, nodding towards the double axe symbol on the wall.
“That is of no account,” said Azkun, “we go up the steps.” He had expected to land on a heavenly isle where dragons pondered great thoughts all alone, yet the hand of man was clear here. Above him the globe of light danced and bobbed. It did not matter. The dragons were here, they were watching over him. Perhaps, long ago, they had had more traffic with men. Perhaps, before the corruption came.
They clambered onto the stone shelf and looked around. It was carved out of the solid rock and smoothed carefully. There was a pile of dust in one corner and a few scraps of metal scattered across the floor. That was all that remained of whatever had been left there. It had obviously not been used for a very long time.
Although the steps were wide enough to walk four abreast they went in single file, the women in the middle and Althak at the rear. Azkun had expected a short flight of steps and then a landing or passage, but the stairway climbed upwards into the darkness as far as he could see. Here and there the walls were decorated with strange designs of birds and beasts that seemed to writhe and intertwine they were so intricate. They too were reminders of the Gashan city. Azkun saw a bear-like creature staring at them from the stone and, once, he saw something that looked like the Duzral Eye carved on the wall, but it had many eyes staring from it instead of just one.
The air grew stale and musty as they climbed away from the entrance. It was dusty and still, the rush and gurgle of the surf grew fainter and fainter until it was merely an echo in their minds. The dust grew thicker and thicker on the stairs and cobwebs began to appear on the walls.
The climb went on and on and the dust and cobwebs and stale air grew thicker. At several points they found their way barred by spider webs stretched right across their path. Althak sliced them away with his sword, sending cascades of dust falling to the steps and clouds of it billowing into the air. Eyes streaming and noses running they hurried past.
Thalissa was worst affected. She coughed and spluttered as she climbed on and eventually asked if they could rest.
Azkun was not yet tired, but he could see that the end was nowhere in sight. They stopped, but the way upward held his gaze as they sat on the steps. Althak pulled a flask of water from his pack and passed it to Thalissa who drank gratefully.
“Forgive me but I'm old. My legs are no longer suited to such work.”
Althak laughed.
“I'm weary too. You've saved me some embarrassment by asking for a rest before my own legs dropped beneath me.”
In spite of concern for Thalissa, Azkun wanted to press on ahead. He was uncomfortable in this dusty passage and longed to meet his masters. The way went on as before. There were still cobwebs and strange designs on the walls. Still the globe of light hovered above them and still the endless stairs went on. They stopped again when next Thalissa grew tired and she and Althak ate some of their food. There they rested longer, for they were all growing weary of the climb. They spoke little. The echoes in the passage were unnerving and no one wished to stir them up. On the walls the strange designs and pictures were still visible and on some could be seen traces of paint that had long ago peeled away or faded.
When they had rested they climbed on. Gradually they noticed a subtle change in the air. It was still stuffy and dusty but just a little fresher than before. Another faint smell came, just on the edge of sense at first, but it grew stronger as they climbed. It was like green plants waving in a breeze far away.
Presently they came to a crack in the passage. It was as if one section of their tunnel had shifted sideways and down from the other, leaving a gaping hole to cross. It was only two paces wide but it disappeared into black gloom and, from far below, they thought they could hear the sound of the sea.
The difficulty in crossing such a gap is always in proportion to its depth, or its perceived depth. Althak tackled it. Pushing past Azkun, he crouched on one side of the hole and tested the other side with one leg stretched across. Then he jumped across the space. Finally he stood astride the hole and helped Thalissa to cross. Azkun sprang across followed by Tenari, who refused Althak’s offer of help by characteristically ignoring him.
As the smell of greenery became stronger the air became still fresher. Slowly they realised that there was a source of light ahead. The passage was more difficult here, the steps were cracked and uneven. Piles of rubble had fallen from the roof and walls. One or two holes in the floor had to be skirted, althou
gh none barred their way like the first.
A light breeze could actually be felt now as they approached what was clearly the end of the steps. The daylight was growing and, without warning, the globe above them disappeared. Azkun looked up and smiled.
“We are almost there. Our guide is no longer needed.”
They stepped through a narrow archway into a huge hall, big enough to hold a dozen dragons. It was twice the size of the Sword Hall of Atonir. High overhead great arches curved magnificently to points stamped with the double axe. At one end of the room a large arch, much bigger than the one they had just passed through, led to another great hall. Daylight streamed in through tall windows along another wall.
Part of this wall had fallen away, opening an extensive gap and strewing debris across the floor. However, it let in even more light, which they were glad of after the long, gloomy stairs.
Azkun crossed the hall to one of the windows. They were, as he had realised they must be, high up the cliffs that surrounded the island. The windows overlooked a precipice that plunged to the blue waters far below. From the boat they had not seen any buildings, and this hall, like the stairs, had been hewn from the solid rock of the island. It was a fitting residence for the dragons, an eyrie of stone.
“Azkun,” Thalissa touched his shoulder. “This is a ruin. I don't like this place.”
In spite of the gap in the wall the fresh air was still tainted by that odd smell. Azkun had smelt it before somewhere. When it was faint it smelled like green plants as it had done on the stairs, but now that it was stronger it was almost sickly.
Azkun patted his mother’s hand.
“Put away your fears, Mother. You have no need of them here.”
Tenari clung to his arm as blankly as ever and Althak prowled among the rubble. A small animal, it looked like a rat, squeaked and scuttled from the shelter of a stone to a crack in the floor.
“No dragons here, Azkun,” said Althak. “This is just a ruin. They must be higher up.”
“Of course. Through that arch.” He looked at them for a moment. “There will be a way. Like the light, it will be provided.”
So they walked across the great hall. There was a lot of rubble on the floor. Some of it lay in piles that looked as though it had been roughly scraped together, possibly with the intention of restoring the wreckage. They clambered across these piles and over loose boulders and rubble.
On the other side of the room the smell was much stronger. It was like a wet, green stickiness that clung in their throats. Azkun led them through the archway to the next hall and there they saw what they had all looked for.
A dragon lay sprawled on a nest of greenery in the centre of the room. A long, silver tail coiled around its legs like a cat’s. Its wings were folded flat against a spiny, mottled back. In its fore claws it held the carcass of a cow or a deer, it was difficult to tell which for its great teeth were in the process of rending the victim. Blood dribbled from its mouth onto the greenery. As it moved they could make out the dull, white shapes of eggs half hidden by the tail.
Azkun gagged at the stench of hot blood, dragon urine and crushed fennel, for that was what the greenery was. He stared at the dragon, frozen in shock. But it had not noticed them. Althak reacted quickly. He grabbed Azkun to pull him back through the archway. There was danger here.
But Azkun shook him off.
“Leave me,” he snapped as he came out of his surprise. “This is a dragon, can you not see?” Althak looked pained and pointed to the feeding dragon. “It is not for us to question their deeds,” Azkun said indignantly.
“Azkun-”
“This is what I came for. Have you forgotten the Gashans already?” He walked towards the dragon. His knees felt weak and trembling but he tried to steady them.
“Hail, Great One,” he cried. “I am Azkun of Kelerish. I come to serve you.” He bowed low before the dragon. It stopped rending the beast and turned towards him, watching intently. Azkun waited with bated breath, his pulse pounding.
Suddenly the dragon threw back its head and gave a piercing whistle that was so loud it shook the hall. Then it lowered its bloody jaws to the carcass again.
“Please,” called Azkun more timidly. “You flamed me at Kelerish. You led me here to ask you for help. The Gashans, they are evil… I saw them myself.” A shudder went through him as the dragon swallowed a heap of entrails. This was wrong. This was not what he had promised, this was not what he had travelled so far to see.
“I saw them,” he continued, not knowing how to stop himself. “They live for murder and death.” He could hear his voice rising to an hysterical pitch. The dragon tore off a leg of the carcass and chewed it with a jerking motion while it held the leg in its jaws. “Can you not hear me? They were killing themselves and each other, they even made me kill one of them. You hate killing, you hate death! Why are you eating that thing?” As he spoke the dragon discarded the remains of the cow and reached behind itself to grasp another carcass. Azkun was silent as sick horror welled up his chest. It was the body of a small dragon. The big dragon began tearing it open with claws and teeth.
“No! You cannot, not that!” Azkun screamed. “Stop it, stop it!” He grabbed a piece of rock from the rubble on the floor, but before he could hurl it at the dragon Althak caught his arm.
“Stop,” he said quietly. “Let's go now.”
“But…” Azkun was trembling violently and there were flecks of foam about his lips. “I made promises. Dragons to fight the Gashans, dragon power and strength. I promised them… My gods are just beasts!” He clutched Althak and sobbed on his shoulder.
“There's no time for grief,” murmured Althak. “Come on.” He pulled Azkun back towards the arch they had just passed through. Tenari had stayed close to Azkun but Thalissa had cowered in the archway, too frightened of the dragon to enter its lair.
She let out a shriek of pain and terror as a huge claw caught her from behind and whisked her out of sight. Azkun mouthed the word ‘no’ as Althak dashed forward. A second dragon perched in the gaping hole they had seen in the next room, its wings flapping open and shut, its eyes glowing and a hideous blue tongue like a snake’s flicking in and out of its jaws. Thalissa lay between its front claws among the rubble. She lay quietly, one leg twisted awkwardly under her body and a bleeding gash on her arm. But she was alive. Already they could see her attempting to squirm from her precarious position as the dragon was distracted by the others. Althak saw all this in an instant. As he drew his sword he reflected on her presence of mind. No struggling and screaming, she was moving as quietly as she could. The dragon was watching him now, unaware that the victim it already had was slowly escaping. The wry thought that he was about to risk his life for a woman he had hated for years flickered in his mind and was gone, he would not waste her chance.
“Azkun, pull her free while I distract it.”
With that he leapt across the rubble and aimed a slash of his sword at one of the dragon claws. It moved faster than he expected. His sword struck stone and the jaws snapped at him just as he whirled out of reach.
“Do it, Azkun! She's your mother!” he yelled when he realised Azkun was still frozen in the archway. “Do it before it kills me!”
Azkun shook his head, trying to clear the panic that rose like death in his mind. But he could see what was happening. He started forward. Tenari clung to his arm but did not stop him.
At that moment the dragon rumbled like distant thunder.
Althak guessed what was coming. “Back, back” he shouted as he threw himself behind a pile of stones. Azkun did not dodge. It was dragon fire. The great jaws opened and blue flame gushed forth. Tenari threw herself in front of Azkun as fire engulfed them both, knocking them to the ground. Azkun screamed as pain sizzled along one arm and hot air blasted across his face. One of his boots caught fire.
For a moment thick, black smoke engulfed them. Azkun realised that Tenari’s clothes were alight. He rolled her over to smother the fire, wincing wi
th the pain of his arm when he used it. His mind raced. He was burned! He was burned by dragon fire! He hauled Tenari through the thinning smoke, coughing and gagging at the acrid fumes, to where Althak had sheltered from the flames. He could see his arm. It was blackened and stinging. His boot was still smoking. Althak pulled them down behind the rubble. He was black with soot but unharmed. He coughed.
“Once more, my friend.” He climbed to his feet and tensed for another charge. Just then the smoke cleared enough for them to see. The dragon reached down with its jaws and, almost casually, nipped off Thalissa’s head. Her body collapsed in a gruesome death twitch and gushed blood.
Instantly Althak switched from charge to flight. He pulled the others to their feet and forced them across the great hall towards the small archway that led to the steps. Althak measured that journey in heartbeats. Any instant they could expect to feel the blast of flame or the slash of claws. There was no rubble on the floor here, nothing to hide behind. But the dragon was busy with Thalissa’s body. It was a high price to pay for their escape. They reached the arch safely, Althak was relieved to see that it was far too small for a dragon to pass through, and flung themselves down the steps until the gloom covered them. Then they collapsed in the exhaustion of fear and lay panting like frightened game. All they could hear were sounds of the dragon eating and their own breathing. Azkun sobbed quietly.
Presently Althak stood up and removed the water bottle from his belt.
Although he could not see well in the shadows he knew Tenari had received the full force of the dragon fire to protect Azkun. He shook his head as he examined her in the dim light from the top of the stairs. Her robe was in tatters, blackened and burnt away and her skin was covered with soot. He splashed water on the blackest parts of her back but it was difficult to see how badly she had been hurt. She seemed as oblivious to her pain as she was to everything else except Azkun. He pulled off his cloak and fastened it about her shoulders for she was no longer covered properly by her burned robe.
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