The Dragon Eaters

by Duke Kittle

  Chapter 18

  While the trip south to the Maw of Malidath would have normally taken a few hours on foot, Tina and Kravek had ridden on Methystra's back. The Maldavian had followed the coast for half an hour before the grey stone of the mine could be seen. It was a rock formation as tall as Methystra in her true form, though much larger in its entirety. Rising right on the edge of the water, the rock formation looked unnatural, though they could all see it had sustained some damage. On the northern face could be seen the remnants of the main entrance to the mine. What was left of a shattered wall of wooden pylons lay strewn about the area, and a great fissure was rent through the entire formation with rocks collapsed into it. Tina thought it looked like Belthazuul had done his work well in sealing the entrance of the mine.

  As Methystra drifted down from the sky and landed in front of the fissure, she rolled one shoulder down while perched on all fours so Kravek and Tina could dismount her back. The black bull looked thankful to have his hooves on solid ground again. Methystra's form was swiftly surrounded by a spiraling mist once more before her more humanoid shape emerged. A foot-and-a-half shorter than Kravek in that form, she looked up at Tina on Kravek's shoulder and spoke in the common trade tongue. “This is as far as I will go for the time being.”

  Tina adjusted her glasses. “Not going into the mine with us?”

  Methystra shook her head. “A dragon of clouds such as I does not belong beneath the earth and sea, and you will need to pass through the Maw of Malidath in order to enter the mine.” She pointed toward the western side of the rock formation where one side of the large hill of stone disappeared into the water. “True to the story of Malidath, his maw lies beneath the sea. I will grant you both enough breath to enter the maw.”

  Tina looked at the condition of the mine and tapped the side of her muzzle in thought. “Belthazuul really did make the entrance impassable. I hope he left the air shafts intact.”

  Methystra turned around to face the mine. Parting her jaws, she breathed out a thick fog which rapidly grew until a large cloud swirled in front of them. With a sweep of her hands, Methystra guided the cloud to drift around the mine. It formed a sheet which cascaded over the mine like a layer of silk. There were several dips in the layer of mist, but two spots in the sheet of cloud entirely disappeared. Methystra looked back at Tina. “There seem to be three shafts still in place, though my clouds seem repelled by them. The air is stale, but breathable.” She lowered her hands, and the clouds drifted into the air like pillars of steam and dispersed.

  Tina stood up on Kravek's shoulder and rested one hand on the side of his neck. “Whenever you're ready then, Methystra.”

  Methystra held her hand up for Tina to step onto it. Once the wizard was standing on her hand, the Maldavian turned toward the water and walked. She swept her long, twisting tail at Kravek in a gesture for him to follow. By the water side, Methystra knelt down and lifted Tina to the end of her muzzle. “Breathe. Once you have taken in my breath, do not let it out.”

  Tina nodded, already familiar with the nature of the magic Methystra was using. Removing her glasses, she held them up for Methystra. “Kravek will be my eyes down there. This is my last set of glasses, so please look after them for me. I don't want to risk losing them in the water.”

  Methystra moved her other hand up so Tina could set her glasses down onto it. She then lowered the hand and lifted Tina to the end of her muzzle. “Breathe.” The Maldavian then pressed her lips to Tina's. Once she felt Tina's mouth was open, she exhaled a faint mist into the mouse woman’s lungs.

  Tina felt the familiar tingling of a spell of multiplying breath as it flowed into her lungs. It was cool, and she felt as if she'd just inhaled thick air. It took her a moment to adjust to it as she felt the tingling spreading not only through her lungs but flowing into the rest of her body. She nodded to Methystra while keeping her mouth shut, and the Maldavian set Tina down into the water.

  One of Kravek's ears twitched. Tina realized it must have looked as though Methystra was kissing her, and she smiled, having to restrain a giggle lest she lose her breath.

  Methystra then rose and walked to Kravek. She put her hands on the sides of his muzzle and turned his head down. “Breathe.” The Maldavian then pressed her lips to Kravek's, and the black bull looked momentarily startled. But Tina could see his lungs swell as he drew in Methystra's breath. She then realized just how much it looked as though Methystra was kissing Kravek. She wiggled her whiskers and turned away, disappearing into the water.

  Extracting a small portion of her gift, Tina summoned a sphere of light between her hands under the water. Though the water was clear enough to see through, she knew it would get darker as they moved into the shadow the mine cast. She expanded the sphere until it was as large as she, and then she heard Kravek's legs splashing the water nearby.

  Tina turned around to see his legs leave the water as he dived in and sank to the bottom like a rock. Thankfully, there was a long shelf only ten feet down from the surface, so Kravek didn't sink too far. She kicked her legs and swam down until she was even with Kravek's head while he walked on the shelf. She moved the ball of light to where he could see it, but the black bull seemed to be distracted with his hands resting on his chest. He stood there and blinked while he got used to suppressing the urge to breathe.

  Tina had to swim up beside his head and knock on it a few times before she had his attention. She pointed to the ball of light and then to the end of the stone shelf where it terminated at a large formation of stone coming down from the mine.

  Once Kravek nodded in understanding, Tina cast the ball toward the rock formation and started swimming. Kravek simply walked along the shelf behind her.

  The ball of light came to a stop next to the rock formation. It illuminated the rocks more clearly, and both Tina and Kravek suddenly stopped at what they saw. A Maldavian's head with its jaws spread was turned downward. It looked as if the Maldavian was both in pain and gripped by insane anger. Even though Tina knew they were headed for the jaws of a dragon trapped within stone, she had almost let her breath out when she saw Malidath's ferocious expression.

  Tina felt Kravek's hand against her back ushering her forward as he moved toward the edge of the shelf. The dragon's head faced downward and was massive enough that the black bull would have to climb down the side of it just to reach the mouth.

  Tina swam ahead of Kravek while he climbed under the water and found grips on the dragon's scales. She waited for him and guided the ball of light along the rocks so he could clearly see good handholds. Once he reached the edge of the dragon's mouth, Kravek gripped it and pulled himself around so he could climb inside.

  Having dropped down twenty feet just to reach the edge of Malidath's mouth, Kravek and Tina would have to ascend another thirty feet before they reached the surface. The tunnel they were respectively climbing and swimming through was massive and much larger than the Maw of Kaelus by almost three times, and it wasn't getting any narrower.

  As they moved up through the tunnel, Tina felt a strange, crawling sensation in her skin. It was a sensation she'd felt before, and she came to an immediate stop. Turning back around, she tried to wave her hands at Kravek, but he was focused on pulling himself up the near vertical rocks of the submerged tunnel.

  Pointing to the ball of light, Tina swept her hand down to cast it in front of Kravek’s face. He stopped as the ball floated right in front of him and moved his hand to cover his eyes. When the ball moved away, he looked up at Tina.

  She held one hand toward him in a gesture for him to stop climbing. Once it was clear to her that he understood, Tina turned back around to look up at the surface of the water. It might take some of Methystra's breath, but she needed to find out if the sensation she'd felt had been what her instincts were telling her. Tina sank back down as she exhaled a small breath. Using her gift, she trapped the escaped air in a bubble and let it drift up
ward.

  Ten feet before it reached the surface, Kravek and Tina were both knocked back by a shock wave as the bubble suddenly expanded a thousand times. The whole chamber rumbled with the explosion as a few rocks tumbled down from the walls. Tina was momentarily dazed by the shockwave and barely managed to keep her mouth shut so the rest of Methystra's breath wouldn't escape. She struggled to keep the air in her lungs, which made it all the more painful after the impact of the blast.

  The overwhelming sound of grating stone beneath the water drew Tina's attention toward the mouth of the cave. She didn't need her glasses to see it was slowly closing. Unaware if they could make it to the mouth in time to escape, Tina jerked her head up to look at the surface of the water again. If they could exhale Methystra's breath and make it to the top quickly enough, they might be able to escape.

  But what Tina saw at the surface dashed all hopes of that.

  A layer of ice had suddenly formed on the surface of the water. She'd led them right into another trap! Tina looked down at Kravek in hopes of signaling him to move to the mouth of the cave, but Kravek wasn't looking up at her anymore. His hands were pressed over his muzzle as he fell down through the water. He landed on his knees and squeezed his eyes shut just as the mouth of the cave closed behind them.

  Tina quickly swam down through the water to try to reach Kravek before he let Methystra's breath out, but when she came close enough, she could see his chest wasn't expanded. His lungs weren't full anymore. Kravek wasn't trying to keep air from escaping. He was trying to keep himself from sucking in a lung full of water.

  Tina landed on top of Kravek's head and drew on her gift. A sphere, formed of waves which looked like heat rising on a hot day, surrounded Kravek and Tina. Building a sphere of force within her hands, Tina let it expand around her own body, then around Kravek's as it forced the water through the initial, semi-permeable barrier. Kravek tried to draw in breath as the water was forced out, but nothing would come.

  Tina let her own breath out, and as she did, Methystra's breath expanded to fill the small space within her barrier. Kravek was finally able to draw a breath, but immediately went into a fit of coughing. Tina knew her own portion of Methystra's breath wouldn't last for long. But it would last long enough.

  Tina turned her attention to the layer of ice covering the surface of the water and, with a violent expulsion of her gift, sent a focused beam of force toward it. But to her surprise, the layer of ice seemed unaffected. A second wave of force had the same unyielding result. Without her glasses, Tina couldn't see what was causing the layer to be unaffected by her magic.

  She looked down at Kravek and tugged on his mane. “Kravek, I need you to climb!”

  Kravek was breathing heavily, his voice raspy with the strain of being without air and coughing. “I-Is this... another trap?”

  “Yes, and I can't get us out of it. I need your muscles!” Tina tugged on his hair. “We don't have long before Methystra's breath runs out in this sphere.”

  Kravek pushed up with great effort and grabbed the wall of the tunnel. Tina could tell he was still struggling as he pulled them up the wall, but there was no other choice. As the bull climbed, Tina felt her skin crawling again. Looking down at her hand, she realized she was growing. She had no idea why, but it wasn't important at that moment as she moved to the back of Kravek's head and climbed down his hair. Her body grew, and she grasped his load-bearing harness to keep from falling.

  The black bull didn't seem to notice the change as he climbed with all his effort. Just as they reached the layer of ice, the barrier around them entirely collapsed. Kravek growled under the water and found the highest grips he could. Crouching down against the wall, the black bull pushed up with his legs and pulled with his arms. All of his might slammed his horns into the layer of ice. It cracked under the first impact. Kravek lowered himself again, and with the second impact, his horns punched through.

  Kravek threw a hand through the hole and pushed up to drag himself and Tina out of the water. Tina let go of Kravek's shoulders and pulled herself onto the tunnel floor where it leveled out. Kravek and Tina both sprawled out on the ground and gasped for their breath. She still felt a wave of panic, but they had managed to escape the trap. They both sucked in their breath and panted heavily as their bodies were allowed to return to the natural process of breathing. Having been submerged in the water, the air within the tunnel felt significantly warmer in spite of the stale smell of stone.

  Kravek panted heavily as he lay on his stomach. “You don’t get... paid enough... Tina.”

  “Every step... of the way... another trap. Someone doesn't... want us following him.” She opened her eyes and lifted her hand in front of her face. Though their environment had only partly changed, she could still tell her size had been altered.

  Tina looked down at her clothing and wondered for a moment why it all hadn't been torn apart. Her hand came to rest on her head, and she closed her eyes. She hadn't taken one of her pills, and no spell had been directly cast upon her that she could detect. Whatever had altered her size had also affected her clothing. Putting that together with the fact her magic couldn't reach the layer of ice led Tina to only one conclusion. Something in the area was suppressing the effects of magic.

  Upon the realization they had entered some kind of magic suppression field, Tina wondered just how she could see the tunnel around them. Her only light source had been one of a magical nature, and Tina didn't see it anywhere. What she could see was a faint yellow light coming from glowing deposits in the walls. The deposits looked like mineral veins.

  Sitting up, Tina wrapped her arms around herself and tucked her legs. The water had not been terribly cold, but coming out of it through a layer of ice had quickly changed that. Though the chamber was warmer, she was freezing. “K-Kravek, are you all right?”

  Kravek rolled over and pushed himself up to a sitting position. He rubbed the top of his head. “That ice was rough.” The black bull lowered his hand from his head as he sat up and noted Tina's size. “Tina, you're big again.”

  Tina nodded as she shivered. “A-and freezing.”

  Kravek moved next to Tina and wrapped his arm around her waist. He pulled the mouse woman into his lap and put his thick arms around her. He rubbed her back as he kept her close to his chest. “You'll be all right.” The black bull glanced down at her as she shivered in his lap. “How'd your clothes survive the change?”

  Tina closed her eyes and rested her head against Kravek's chest. In spite of having gone through the same thing she had, he was incredibly warm. Her tail curled into her lap, and Tina laid her ears back against her hair. “I-I don't know yet, K-Kravek.”

  Kravek looked down at Tina. After a moment of consideration, he squeezed his arm around her a little more tightly while the other rubbed her back. He then chuckled. “Even big, you're small.”

  Tina rubbed her incisors against her bottom lip. “The Mateesh aren't a big people, Mister Seven-and-a-half-feet-tall.” In spite of the cold, the corners of her mouth curled upward.

  Kravek started to let his arms slip from around Tina, but when she reached up and grabbed one of his horns, he stopped.

  “Your arms are warm.”

  Kravek looked down at her again, and one of his eyebrows rose. He put his arms back around her. “What happened down there?”

  Tina pulled up Kravek's tail and starting wringing the water out of it. “Something is suppressing magic here.” Tina looked at the layer of ice still covering the surface of the water and the hole through which they had come.

  “Then,” Kravek inclined his head toward the ice, “how did that happen?”

  “You thought about that too, hm? If magic is being suppressed here, how could magic trap us in here, especially when one triggered spell occurred inside the field?”

  When Kravek nodded his head, Tina finally pushed herself out of his lap and rose to her feet. She walked ba
ck to the hole in the ice and knelt down, holding her hand closer to the frozen surface. The air was cold near the ice, but not as frigid as it would usually need to be for ice to form. Rising up, she looked deeper into the cave.

  “There is a limited number of possibilities, but I can't come to a conclusion unless we can find the source. But while magic in the area is suppressed, I won't be able to protect us from any more traps.” Tina then turned her gaze to Kravek. “You're going to have to protect us both while we're in here.”

  Kravek crouched on all fours and, with a shake, threw off what water was left on him. Rising up again, the black bull gripped one of his horns and turned his head from side to side to crack his neck. “I'll keep you safe, Tina.”

  Tina didn't know if Kravek would be able to protect them from more traps of magic. But as he offered his arm out to her, she put her arms around it and pulled herself close. If there were anyone in Likonia around whom she could feel safe, Tina believed it was Kravek.