Fire Bound Dragon

by Elizabeth Rain

  My eyes swung towards Ab’et. He was cornered against the side of the riverbed with nowhere to go as the last female prepared for a final charge. He was armed with a long thin knife that looked a good deal like Nick’s, but it was useless against that tough outer hide. He was seconds away from death as that long forked tongue rolled through the air in a happy arc of anticipation and she moved in. I was too far away and with no decent shot. I couldn’t help. I pulled up to take a shot, anyway. Maybe I could distract her, pull her attention to me and away from Ab’et.

  I glanced towards Thomas, who was frantically trying to disengage his bolos from the dead Juggat’s snout. No help there.

  I pulled down and took aim. I had a long clear view down the length of the river-bed over the female’s back. My throat ceased as I sent it flying to glance off her bobbing head. Fifty yards beyond stood five more Juggat’s, noses in the air and coming to join. The noise of our exertions and the tangy smell of blood had snagged their attention.

  The Juggat attacking Ab’et did no more than swat at the offending arrow before returning her slathering focus back to her victim. She sent her tongue out to test the air, the forked ends coming within a foot of Ab’et who stood stoic and resigned, trapped.

  The other five charged. I knew beyond doubt; we were all about to die.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  The sweet melody that floated through the air brought everyone to a screeching halt. It drifted over us like clover honey, sweet and smooth. I looked behind us down the length of the river bend and what would have been upriver.

  Sirris moved into view, arms lifted, voice echoing off the dark walls and filling the enclosed space. Behind her came Fern and Elise and were those the two Demon wolves? I blinked; sure I was seeing things. I was definitely hearing them. I swung back. The Juggat’s were no more immune than the rest of us to that sweet lassitude. The charging Juggat’s, along with the two remaining stood still and confused, heads swinging in slow motion as they trembled in an odd trance.

  I realized that Fern wasn’t still as she came into view, her fingers danced light upon the air and her lips moved as she whispered some incantation. She ignored us all as her eyes focused on the Juggats and she weaved whatever spell she thought might be effective. I hoped it was a good one. I was bone-deep tired of fighting. Elise had found Jorta and was buried along his side. I thought she might be crying.

  Sirris voice faded and at a quick jerk of a nod from Fern, it cut off. The Juggats altogether gave a shudder as if shaking off a deep sleep, their eyes focusing and heading in our direction and checking us out. I waited for them to remember they were at a banquet. But those forked tongues came out and tested the air as their heads swiveled in the direction they’d come and nostrils flared. All together they shifted and moved out in the direction of the watering hole, their gates leisurely but decisive. They ignored us completely.

  I all but ran to Sirris and Fern, snatching them both up in a hug and squeezing until Fern shrieked. “Hey, you’re wrinkling the muslin!” She shouted with a slight grin, wriggling free.

  “I don’t care. I don’t know how, or why you’re here. I’m just glad to see you.

  Sirris smiled. “Fern and I thought maybe you could use a hand.”

  We shared the kind of look that best friends do.

  I turned to look at Fern. “I know what Sirris just did. What did you do to them?” Thomas and the vamps had gathered with us. I noticed the other wolves were hanging back. Maybe it was the deadly intent in Ab’et’s and Jorta’s eyes that made them a bit nervous.

  Fern shrugged with a sheepish grin. “Well, I just made them thirsty. I made them more desperate for water than they were for you. Juggat’s are ferocious, but not smart. Not that difficult.”

  I shook my head. Only Fern could make saving all our butts sound like a simple parlor trick.

  I turned to stare at the Demon Wolves, ignoring Elise for the moment. We’d just lost our bargaining chip and I wasn’t eager to see how that would affect our help. “Why bring them?”

  Sirris spoke up. “Because we need all the help we can get, that’s why.” She turned to look at the scowling Vampires. “You were victims of Will Bennett’s greed and need for power. But what you forget, is that so were the Demon wolves. He’s controlling their actions, too. They aren’t responsible for them. You lived in peace for what, several hundred years?”

  “... a thousand.” Ab’et interrupted.

  “Whatever, a long time. You want your castle home back. They want to return to living peacefully in their forest cabins and caves. If we stop placing the blame long enough, maybe we can work together and make that happen. Maybe we can all have what we want.”

  Jorta looked at the wolves in confusion. “What about them, aren’t they under his control now?”

  Fern gave a delicate snort. “They would be. But I gave them a little something to help with that.”

  The shorter wolf reached up to touch his ear. “Don’t take it out!” Fern told him sharply.

  Dae showed her his teeth in a parody of a smile. “I was only pushing it deeper, so it didn’t fall out, relax.”

  I shivered. Why were all the monsters I knew terrifying?

  Giat stepped forward. “We need to get out of here and regroup off the main highway. We’re right in the middle of the dinner line.” He nodded to Jorta and Ab’et who showed him a glimmer of teeth. “They should have known this was the worst place to hide.” He motioned to the top of the riverbed above their heads. Without another word, he grabbed a handful of vines in each hand and climbed.

  At the top he angled towards a small outcropping of scraggly trees that clung to the edge of the drop-off. It wasn’t much cover, but it would be difficult to see them from any distance.

  The sun was bright overhead as we ducked beneath the measly shade. I found the nearest trunk and after checking it for thorns; I collapsed back against the rough bark with a sigh. Nick joined me there, his shoulder brushing mine and his bloodied staff across his knees. Everyone else found similar perches. We were exhausted.

  Giat continued. “We need to be traveling along the rim at night, not down through its center in broad daylight. That’s our best chance of getting close to the castle without being seen; or eaten.”

  Jorta and Ab’et ground their teeth and I found the clacking of those incisors highly annoying. But they didn’t argue.

  “We know the best way in once we get there,” Elise added.

  “I hate to point this out but getting in will not be our biggest problem; it’s getting out. What are there, like fifty of them, not counting Will Bennett, class B sorcerer?”

  Nicholas glanced at Giat, who shrugged and added. “How are the eleven of us going to go up against that?”

  “Maybe we don’t have to.” Fern spoke with a slight smile, eyes crafty. We swerved in her direction. It was easy to forget she was there sometimes. Slight and insignificant, she worked hard to blend into the shadows. But I was fast coming to know Fern Mason was much more than the sum of those slight parts.

  “Well, I was thinking. What if I made them hungry?” she began.

  Thomas snorted in disbelief. “I believe they were plenty hungry when they tried to eat us.”

  Rather than irritated, Fern giggled. “I know, right? I mean, I should make them really hungry, starving in fact.” We all stared at her. She wasn’t making any sense.

  She sighed. “Look, we need a distraction. Everyone agrees a bunch of Juggat dragons with empty stomach’s would qualify? What if they were loose and running around inside the castle grounds? I bet that would keep Will Bennett’s wolf army busier than they could handle. It would give us the opportunity to slip past while they are occupied...”

  “That’s brilliant!” Thomas said, sitting up straighter. We looked at little Fern Mason and slowly smiled. Giat and Dae scowled darkly, but they said nothing. We were fresh out of choices.

  WE MOVED AT DUSK, MOVING fast between the scattered landscape of scraggly trees and t
hicker brush and open areas. Playing hopscotch with the terrain as we moved to within several hundred yards of the castle and into the thin skirting of forest that surrounded the outer walls.

  I stared at the foundation of the outer edge that surrounded the courtyard and castle proper along with all the outbuildings. It was well built and easily defensible to anyone on the inside. It would be nearly impossible to fjord without being seen and shot from any of the at least a dozen parapets gracing its top catwalk and running full circle around its length.

  In addition, the forest skirted the castle, but it ended in a circle back at least three hundred yards from the wall's edge. We had a huge open area to cross and I had no idea how we were going to manage it. But then, that was why we had the vampires.

  Until then the wolves, who knew the surrounding woods better than we did, had led us. But even as Giat went to turn right, looking for any weaknesses along the border, Jorta stepped forward with Elise.

  I looked around for Ab’et. He’d taken off moments before, mumbling something about needing a better incentive. He hadn’t returned yet and had me worried.

  Jorta spoke up. “Stop. It’s our turn.” He turned to Fern, who’d been nibbling on her bottom lip as she tried to figure out a way to get the Juggat’s inside.

  “You can call the dragons, right? Can you control their actions once they are here, help direct them where you want them to go?”

  Fern shrugged. “I think so,” she admitted, not near as certain as she had been.

  As he spoke, he moved towards the trunk of a tree, much larger than anything we’d seen yet, the massive bottom log easily the circumference of a city bus.

  “What if I gave you a way inside the castle grounds?” As he spoke, he ran his hands lightly over the blistered trunk of the tree, covered in millions of sharp tipped thorny protrusions. I waited for him to pull his fingers away bloody, but instead, the thorny pad beneath his palm gave way. We stared in wonder as something clicked and part of the trunk swung outward to reveal a doorway leading down a set of stone steps to a passage beneath the ground.”

  “Well, that’s freakin’ cool.” I admitted, awestruck.

  Nick stepped forward. “Well then, let’s go,” he started.

  Jorta held up a hand. “Wait for it. We need the incentive.” He glanced behind us and we turned as Ab’et returned, dragging the carcass of an animal that resembled the deer that roamed Shephard’s mountain, inside and out. I didn’t look too close to see how he’d killed it, but the slight smear on his chin made my stomach roll.

  Jorta turned to Fern. “Can you amplify the scent of that carcass? If Ab’et drags it the length of that corridor? The obvious out on the other end is a walled door that breaks into the main courtyard. There’s another hidden door just before it that leads down to the keep and where the prisoners are kept.”

  Fern looked down into the yawning black hole and then back at Jorta. A small clever smile lit her eyes. “Oh yeah. I can do that.”

  “I think Nick, Elise and I should go below to release the prisoners.” I added.

  Thomas’ eyes flashed yellow. “The hell you will, that’s my brother down there, my family they’ve taken...”

  I waited for him to finish his outburst. “I know they are. But this is about all our best chances of getting out of this alive. There isn’t room for emotion here. Elise is the weakest vampire, but she knows the passages. We need the three of you up top.” I nodded at Thomas and the other vampires. “You’re the muscle and...” I glanced at Fern. “You’re the magic, Fern. Nick and I can handle getting past the guards below.”

  Thomas gave me a glare, but finally nodded and added. “After the Juggat’s pass, we’ll follow and try to make our way around the battlefield without becoming part of it if we can help it. You three go below then. Don’t mess this up, Cross, I’m counting on you. I think it’s time we made Will Bennett answer for his crimes. If we can take him down remember, his enchantment fails too.” He nodded to the wolves. “He’d no longer have control of you.” Nobody argued. It was a sound plan. There were only about a million things that could go wrong with it. I reminded myself I was the thrill seeking type.

  Fern looked at Ab’et and nodded. He stepped forward and, muscles bunching under the weight, held the carcass in the air and began shaking it back and forth. Fern’s fingers were busy weaving in the air and she was already whispering. We were clutching our noses and backing away within seconds. Several minutes passed and despite the stench I was wondering if it was going to work when I heard the far-off roar of a female Juggat.

  She was answered from two other locations on opposite ends of the woods. Within seconds the ground vibrated beneath their feet and the sounds of small trees and brush being laid flat from their heavy bodies was heard. They were coming fast. Ab’et lowered the carcass to the ground and ran down the steps and along the passage, dragging the mangled mess behind him. The rest of us moved out of the way. With an eye roll, Thomas snagged Fern, still weaving her pattern, about the waist and moved her to the side behind a massive tree but still within sight of the opening. She never paused, her silent incantation of gibberish none of us could understand growing louder.

  The first Juggat to break into sight was not the last. The great lizard never glanced our way as she followed her nose down the dark hole into the ground, her spiked tail smashing the door on the way by and sending splinters shooting into the sky from the ruined wood. She was followed by seven more as the ground shook and rolled beneath their feet. I hoped Ab’et could run fast. I glanced beyond towards Radmoor in the distance. Three hundred yards was a long way.

  AB’ET RAN, HIS FEET scuffing up the black dirt and stones as he sprinted forward, his preternatural eyes glinting silver as he struggled to pull in enough light to see where he placed his feet. Behind him the tunnel shook and dirt cascaded from the ceilings the full length as the Juggat’s entered and thundered along the passage following their noses and him. Ab’et ran faster. He’d traveled this path many times as a boy and he knew he was still a hundred yards away. The Juggats were gaining too fast.

  He rounded the last curve and chanced a glance behind him. Though not dragons in the genuine sense of the word, Juggats could create enough heat to generate a sputtering of sparks and smoke when agitated. Through the darkness he could make out the faint glow of their open maws of teeth as they thundered in his direction. They were less than seventy-five yards away. Looking forward, he could just make out the end. Ab’et put on a last burst of speed, skidding to a halt mere yards from the fake wall and glancing behind as the Juggat’s made the last turn, bellowing in rage.

  The sound of their feet beat off the walls and he cried out as it slammed into his ears and echoed. He pulled the carcass up and into the air, his arms straining under the weight as he drew back and flung it forward with a wet slap. It hit the wall and slid down. With no more time to waste, Ab’et turned and palmed the hidden mechanism of the door behind him, invisible to anyone without knowledge of its existence. He closed it behind him just as they thundered past and the back of the door shuddered beneath his hands.

  THE EXPLOSION OF THE Juggat’s hitting the false wall could be heard the length of the tunnel. The sound of pandemonium breaking out inside the castle was nearly instant. We could only hope that Ab’et had made it to the other end before they were on him. Jorta, a grimace on his face, was the first down the steps as the rest of us followed. Fern was nearly done and struggling to catch her wind. Magic came at a cost. At Thomas’ insistence, she’d hopped aboard his broad back and clung to him like a monkey as we ran into the darkened passage. The closer we drew, the more we could see as the light from the courtyard shone down and lent a sliver of light for us to follow. At the entrance, Nick and I hung back with Elise. This was where we parted company. My eyes met Thomas’ as he glanced my way, standing on the steps leading up in front of the wolves, Sirris and the two vampires.

  “Be careful, Cross!” He growled.

  I shook a cro
oked pinkie in his direction. “Locked and loaded, Tuttle!” I shot back. And then they were gone.

  I STARED AT THE SPACE where they’d been just seconds before, listening to the pandemonium erupting in the courtyard above me as the Juggat’s attacked the shocked Demon wolves. It seemed I was always sending my friends into the fray ahead of me.

  “Sadie, we have to go.” Elise murmured, hand on my arm. I jerked free and nodded.

  “Let’s do it then. Let’s get this done.” They set torches into the sconces on the stone steps that led down into the darkness, but they weren’t lit. Without even thinking about it, I drew my magic and snapped my fingers, lighting mine and using it to light the others. Who needed matches?

  Elise led, and Nicholas and I followed. Behind me, Nicholas bent close. “I could use my cloaking enchantment, see if I could conceal us?” I thought about it.

  “Maybe. Elise knows about that, I mentioned it to her. But we have a way to go yet. Let’s wait until we need it.”

  “Okay,” he breathed and I felt that warm breath on my cheek. I held the odd comfort it offered close.

  At the bottom, multiple corridors angled in different directions. Some would be dead-ends for the unwary to stumble down, others led to traps we didn’t want to trigger. A few led to the chambers that held the prisoners. What I noticed was the smell. Each tunnel was different. The two on my left smelled musty and unused, like they’d been sitting a while. The tunnel dead center and straight ahead smelled like rotting meat. Something long dead and in the last stages of putrefaction lay that way. A trap. From the two tunnels on my right wafted the overpowering smell of human waste and despair. I realized that my eyes were not what would lead me down here.

  Elise took the second path on the right. I tried to keep track of the turns and switchbacks, the two doors that I would have missed, but Elise took without hesitation. By the fifth turn I had to admit if not for the stench leading us on along with her vampire knowledge, I would have been hopelessly lost. We walked fast for a good fifteen minutes before Elise held up a hand. Beyond the reach of our torches we could make out a distant sliver of light around the next bend in the corridor ahead.