Dragon's Revenge

by Debi Ennis Binder

  Cherra tightened her grip on the blade she still held—

  And then Hagan was on his feet. Her heart leaped and pounded in her chest. She’d forgotten how quickly something so large could move. His head swept back and forth, taking in the scene. Cherra jumped forward and pushed the cell door open, just as Alder’s jaws snapped at her. She felt his breath on her neck as his sharp teeth snatched at her hair.

  Hagan couldn’t reach the blue dragon through the small door, but that didn’t stop that massive dragon from lunging at the smaller dragon; his teeth barely missed Alder and Hagan drew back for another try.

  * * *

  Alder’s feet and talons scrabbled for something to help him push back from the huge, lunging dragon. Something was wrong with Mayra—very wrong! Alder was bewildered. How was he going to explain this—

  Alder gave a startled half-roar, half-yelp as he suddenly felt his brother teeth sink into his tail. It hurt, but he didn’t protest as Perice yanked him back, far from Hagan’s reach.

  And then, Alder heard something scurrying behind him. He looked back, then down. Dragonlets—two adults, with two tiny nestlings on their backs—were staring up at him. Alder looked back at the cell; the human female had just jumped back out of the cell and whirled on the blue dragon. For a moment, Alder thought she was going to attack him!

  Perice’s foot shot forward and Alder smothered another startled squawk as his sibling’s talons closed around his foot and he pulled Alder to him. “That is not Mayra!” he whispered. “It is the blue female who can make herself look like Mayra! Berent and Leyna told me about her. He said she can perform magic, too!”

  Alder looked back at the human woman. Her face was almost not human, she was so angry! He swallowed and wished his sire were there. She looked like she wanted to kill the two young dragons!

  But no, the human—who definitely wasn’t Mayra—had her eyes fastened on the dragonlet family. Her lips moved, drew back over her teeth and she raised her hands—Alder gulped. They looked like claws! The blue dragon backed further away, out of her reach, when Hagan—

  Alder squawked. That monstrous dragon again exploded with rage, roaring and spitting furiously. The dragonlets scrambled up Perice’s leg and then up his back to hide behind his neck frill.

  Hagan continued to throw himself first against the bars that held the human-sized door and then into one side of the huge cell. That side, Alder knew, contained the magical door that Gaulte had opened to put Hagan into the cell.

  Alder thought suddenly that perhaps it was time for him and his brother to leave. But Perice had already made that decision; he was nudging the dragonlets further up his shoulder and whispering to Smok—hold on.

  As the two young dragons turned to run that action seemed to drive Hagan into more frenzied action. His roaring and teeth-gnashing seemed almost insane with his rage.

  “Stop them!” Hagan bellowed.

  The not-Mayra human stepped closer to them, smiling sweetly. She held out her hands in what Alder knew to be a reassuring posture, and the young dragon panicked. What did she want of them?

  “Alder, Perice, be still,” she said gently. “Hagan truly won’t hurt you, but the little dragonlets—”

  Hagan roared and the Mayra-look-alike female stopped short. Anger twisted her face; she whirled on Hagan and growled something at him in words Alder didn’t understand.

  When she turned back to the two young dragons, things had changed. Alder and Perice now stood close together, backs against the wall, teeth bared at the wicked not-Mayra female. The dragonlets were well-hidden beneath Perice’s frill.

  Alder now understood that it wasn’t the five-yearlings that the wicked woman wanted. He ground his back teeth. He was going to save the dragonlets!

  She—the bad female—took a step closer to them. This time when she raised her hands, Alder knew it wasn’t to submit or appear harmless—she was going to use magic, like the witchlings did! Oh, how he wished Wolfe or Mayra was here with him! The blue dragon hunkered down and growled. Her eyes narrowed and she—

  Alder jumped as he heard rocks pinging against each other. The human turned toward the noise. At the back of the cell, the small rocks falling against larger ones became a cascade. The sounds grew louder and suddenly, a stream of sunlight pierced the dark cell as large chunks of rock crumbled away.

  Hagan stopped his deafening roars. The abrupt silence echoed around the chamber. Hagan turned to look at the damaged wall, then whirled back to face the human and two young dragons.

  And pure joy raced through young Alder, for he could hear shouts from the opening into the corridor. Help was coming!

  “Hurry, hurry!” Alder shouted. “Hagan is escaping!”

  Crash! Enraged roaring—

  Joy changed to terror, and it rushed through Alder as he clambered back against the wall and into Perice. Hagan swore and brought one of his huge feet down near the damaged wall. Dried grass flew up around him, then small rocks as he repeated the action and more rock fell.

  Hagan was enlarging the hole each time he brought down his huge, spiked foot. The deceptive female ran back into the cell and around Hagan’s feet.

  “Take me with you!” The Mayra imposter screamed those words so loudly that Alder flinched. She was acting like a wild dragon and Alder suddenly no longer believed that creature was just a story.

  Hagan gave the wall one final push, and then shoved past the woman, tossing her out of his path. The dragon did not stop. Without a backward glance, the bad human scrambled to her feet and followed Hagan, and both disappeared in the dust created by falling rocks.

  Chapter Forty

  The Ceshon Aerie

  Day fourteen of the First Moon of Wynter

  Wolfe, Qintas, and Anadi snuffed out the torches they had used to guide them to the dragon-cell as Mayra cast her magic over their heads, lighting up the entire cavern. The soft blue light reached every corner, revealing two cowering young dragons and a massive hole in the far side of the empty cell. Qintas and Anadi spread out to check the shadowy corners of the cavern, looking for Cherra.

  Mayra held out her hands, palms up, as she slowly approached Alder and Perice. The two young dragons looked terrified, and she couldn’t chance they might harm her, however unintended. Palms up meant she neither had a weapon, nor intended to use magic.

  “Alder, Perice,” she said softly, “you’re safe now. And your mother is very worried about the two of—oof!”

  The two young ones nearly overpowered her as they rushed into her, burying their faces in her shoulders and hair. When Anadi hurried forward to help, Qintas gave the female witch-warrior a startled glance.

  “You are safe now,” Anadi said gently, dropping to her knees and putting her arms around Perice’s muscular green neck. Mayra smiled at the other witch-warrior, for Perice nestled close to the tall woman at once, seeking wellbeing and protection from Anadi.

  Wolfe gently cleared his throat. Mayra glanced at him. His face wore a slight grin, but he raised one black eyebrow and she knew this wasn’t how Talft would want his young males to conduct themselves, especially since there were also two male warriors there.

  Alder straightened himself immediately and drew back from Mayra. Mayra hid a smile as Alder got his brother’s attention with a noise like Wolfe’s; Perice glanced at his brother, then backed away from Anadi.

  “Alder,” Mayra said, “Why don’t you go find your parents, so they know you are safe. Perice can tell us what happened.”

  “But Mayra, I have to tell you!” Alder protested. The young dragon spied the gnome that was standing between Wolfe and Qintas. He tilted his head for a moment, then gulped and presented the king with a perfectly executed bow, bending low over his front feet. “Welcome to our Aerie, Your Majesty.” Again, Perice copied his sibling.

  The wee king inclined his head. “Well met, young sons of Talft. You were both very brave not to run from that horrible dragon.”

  “You figured out that was Cherra, didn’t y
ou?” Mayra asked both younglings.

  “We knew something was strange,” Alden replied. “But it was Perice, not me, who figured her out first!”

  “That was clever, Perice!” Wolfe said. “How did you do it?”

  “The human female was using mind-speak, and she was not supposed to!” Perice explained eagerly. He turned to Mayra. “I knew you would not—that is, if she was you—” He paused, looking frustrated. “I mean, if you were really her—” He broke off and huffed.

  “She wasn’t you, Mayra,” Alder, trying not to sound exasperated at his brother’s stumbling words, finished the sentence for Perice, then added, “And she also called that terrible dragon, Lord Hagan.”

  “You are both as clever as Hesta said you are,” Mayra , and smiled as they puffed up under her praise. “And now, where is Hagan?”

  “He went out that hole,” Alder replied unhelpfully, gesturing with his front foot toward the area King Jenus was studying. “We were talking about how the female wasn’t you, Mayra. When Hagan broke out, she went through there, too. And she still looked like you.”

  Wolfe moved closer to the two young dragons and leaned forward to give each a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Both of you should find your parents. I’m sure they are on their way here.”

  Alder drooped so low that Mayra feared he would fall over. She bit back a smile as she suspected that neither of the five-yearlings wanted to go back down that long corridor to face the probable wrath of their parents. But Alder started forward, and as Perice moved aside to follow his brother, Mayra and Anadi spied Perice’s passengers.

  “Smok!” Mayra cried. “And Jene! Oh, what darling little babies!”

  “Can we hold them?” Anadi asked, bending and putting a cautious hand near Jene. “Do you remember me, Jene?”

  Wolfe and Qintas exchanged a glance and the blond warrior rolled his eyes. Mayra extended her arm and let Smok, carefully carrying one nestling, crawl up to her shoulder.

  Mayra held Smok and his tiny offspring close to her, then tucked the baby into the top of her tunic. Anadi had already covered up the other nestling.

  “Where did they come from?” Anadi asked.

  Alder had barely told them how the dragonlets how found them, and how Hagan had gone mad when he saw them, when King Jenus turned to the witches. “Excuse me for interrupting. Does anyone know what’s on the other side of that wall? Other than rock?”

  The head-shakes of the humans and tiny nos of the two dragons caused King Jenus to make a fretful sound. “If I remember, there are mazes of corridors that lead here, part of the ones we used to arrive here.”

  “Why are you asking about the wall?” Wolfe asked. “That’s no doubt the way Hagan escaped.”

  “The creature that made a hole that size is far too big to move along the corridors to get through the mountain. And then, he would have to go through massive walls to get out of the mountain.”

  And as though the gnome’s words had summoned Hagan, they heard a savage growl that sounded as though it came from within a distant tunnel. The sound of Perice’s and Alder’s claws on stone broke the ensuing silence as the two young dragons dashed between the witches and disappeared down the corridor.

  A sudden howl echoed back from the direction the two had just taken. Before any of the witches could react, Larek and Fauler appeared. Fauler looked both dazed and irritated.

  “Why did two younglings almost run me over?” he demanded. He raised his hand and rubbed his chest. He opened his mouth to speak when he spied the hole in the wall. “That damned dragon escaped.”

  “Thank you,” Larek said with a snort. “I thought he was hiding.”

  A long roar burst from the hole in the wall. Jenus nodded to no one in particular. “And he has just discovered that he cannot escape through those small corridors. The only way to escape is to come back and use the corridors built for dragons.”

  “Fark,” Wolfe muttered.

  “He’s getting closer!” the gnome king shouted, then lowered his voice to say, “I will go back through the corridors, Princess. Gaulte wished for me to find Feshr and have words with him. I suggest that you all get out of here!”

  “Wait, please, Highness!” Mayra cried. When he hesitated, she said rapidly, “Feshr said he was trying to free enslaved gnomes from the mines that make the metal for the Phailites weapons. Is that true?”

  “The gnomes aren’t enslaved, Princess,” he said kindly. “They have trades there, they work to earn money or barter, and they can leave whenever they wish.” He paused a moment, then added. “The metal that made your Rings also came from those mines, though much deeper below the ground. I know of the theft by Hagan. There are many more guards, much stronger guards, now. You needn’t worry. I must go.”

  Mayra nodded. But she hadn’t found out how Hagan had gotten to the metal in the first place. Did it matter any longer? She feared it could. Someone had given an evil dragon means to capture and control other dragons. She had to make sure that didn’t happen again.

  * * *

  As Mayra ran, she could feel Smok’s small claws, trying to grasp onto her skin. She could tell the dragonlet was terrified, and could only hold both Smok and his tiny nestling tighter to her, hoping her firm grip would reassure them she was protecting them.

  Finally, they reached the end of the corridor. Wolfe and Qintas pushed the huge door shut and all four witches leaned against the stone wall, hearts pounding.

  Alder and Perice were once again in a dark corner; as Mayra sent them to find their parents, she heard a shriek. Diaya, with Talft running behind her, emerged into the torchlight. Diaya raced past the witches. Despite their protests, she pulled both young male dragons up to her.

  “Talft,” said Wolfe tersely, “take your younglings back to the others. They need—”

  “Wait, Wolfe,” Mayra said. “Alder, what did you mean about Hagan reacting to the dragonlets?”

  Alder looked puzzled; he tilted his head. “The dragonlets just came up to us near the cell and we took them to protect them.”

  “When Hagan saw them, he went mindless,” Perice added. A visible shudder went through the young dragon and he tried to move closer to his sire without anyone noticing.

  Mayra nodded at Talft. “Hagan has escaped,” she said softly. “We’ll keep the dragonlets, but you must tell Gaulte about Hagan. Also, tell him the gnome king went to talk to Feshr.”

  Diaya and Talft rushed their younglings away.

  “I see we aren’t the only ones driven mad by those dragonlets,” Qintas said drily.

  “But why would Hagan do that?” Mayra mused as Smok stuck his little red head out from beneath Mayra’s scarf and gave her his odd, questioning chirrup. “Poor babies! Smok, we will protect you and your family!”

  Before anyone else could speak, the great wooden door slammed open. Smok ducked away again, and Larek and Fauler flew through the open door. A gust of icy air followed them out of the tunnel before Fauler slammed the door shut.

  “Hagan is back in the cell!” the green dragon gasped as he ran past the four humans. “Smashed another hole in the farking wall getting back in!”

  “We bolstered up the cell.” Larek barely paused to deliver that information. “At least he must get through it before—”

  “Come, witchlings, hurry! Larek, go faster!” Fauler shouted as he passed the witches, then threw back over his shoulder, “The younglings! Must be protected above all else!”

  Fauler’s long tail vanished around the curve ahead and he left the humans standing there, gaping after him. Before anyone could say anything, a long, enraged roar echoed down the corridor. The next roar was still closer and set them in immediate motion.

  Anadi and Qintas followed the dragons. Mayra paused only to throw a glittering spell over the corridor door, sealing it shut. Her simple spell made the door’s old wood wither and melt into the stone wall. Perhaps that would slow Hagan down though she knew it would not stop the rampaging dragon for long.

&
nbsp; “Come on!” Wolfe grabbed her hand and they sped away, following the trail of the dragons and the other two witches. They joined Anadi and Qintas before they were halfway out of the dank corridor.

  The four ran until they were back in the main Aerie. As they slowed, and finally came to a stop, the empty corridors echoed around them. The silence was eerie. There were always noises in the Aerie, of young dragons and old, playing and talking. Fauler and Larek were gone.

  “Where have all the dragons gone?” Wolfe muttered. He looked up and down the empty corridor.

  “Larek said they had to protect the nestlings above all else,” Qintas said. “Why would they do that so suddenly?”

  “They are very protective of their young,” Mayra mused. “Have any of you ever heard mention of a central place where they would put them?” As the others shook their heads, no, she gazed up at Wolfe. An unhappy thought occurred to her. “Perhaps there’s a safe place they haven’t told us about, and that’s where they all are.”

  Wolfe put his massive arm around her shoulder and hugged her. “Mayra, Hagan has invaded their home. Gaulte thinks like a warrior”—the two witch-warriors nodded their agreement—“if he has hidden the younglings away, I am certain we will soon see adult dragons free from concern about the young ones and ready to fight.”

  But for now, there was only empty silence.

  * * *

  The four witches started toward their common room, Wolfe telling them as they walked that he and Mayra would go to Gaulte’s chambers to hunt for the black dragon. Or any dragons. He gave Qintas and Anadi instructions—the other witches and Phailites were to go out in teams and search the Aerie for either Cherra or Hagan. They weren’t to engage, but to use mind-speak to communicate, and then await backup.

  Mayra started to hand the dragonlets over to Anadi, but Wolfe stopped her. Although he wasn’t sure the dragonlets wanted to be with the larger dragons, Wolfe wanted them safely tucked away.

  “But these little ones need to feed.” Mayra said.

  “I want to know why Hagan reacted toward the dragonlets the way Alder and Perice said he did,” Wolfe said, reaching out a finger and stroking Jene’s small head. “Gaulte or Patar might want to—speak or look, or whatever he can do to communicate with them.”