“We’re good. Go for it.”
Proceeding forward, Pryllan and the Zweigelan stepped out into the cavern. They all heard loud crunching sounds as they moved. A quick look down confirmed that they were walking across crushed black rocks the size of small pebbles, the results of countless wyverian legs walking over the strange black rock formations over many years. A reddish glow was visible up ahead. Both dragons moved towards it.
“The River of Fire,” Pryllan breathed.
From his perch on her back, Steve nodded.
“Yeppers. You don’t want to take a dip in that.”
Pryllan hesitated as she peered intently at the glowing red river of molten stone.
“What is it?” Steve asked. Do you see something?”
“No,” Pryllan answered, shaking her head. “I get an odd sensation when I look deep within its depths.”
Steve looked over at the Zweigelan.
“Syrreth, Ferreth, can you sense anything out of the ordinary?”
The Zweigelan regarded the slowly moving lava. Both of its necks started to sway back and forth, as though it was getting dizzy. In fact, Syrreth and Ferreth would have toppled over into the molten river had Pryllan not hooked her tail around the Zweigelan’s left leg and given a violent tug backwards.
“What did you do that for?” Ferreth instantly snapped.
“You really want to go swimming in that?” Sarah asked, incredulously. “I know dragons are fireproof, but that’s stretching it a bit, don’t you think?”
“Swimming?” Syrreth retorted. “We don’t swim.”
“Then I may I suggest you refrain from getting too close,” Pryllan advised as she headed east and followed the lava flow.
“Were you going to jump in?” Syrreth whispered to his twin.
“No,” Ferreth answered with a growl. “We wanted… I wanted to see it a little closer.”
After she verified Syrreth and Ferreth were following her through the cavern, Pryllan inspected her surroundings as she headed towards the far wall. Everywhere she looked she saw nothing but jagged black rocks, bulky irregular formations, huge broken stalagmites, and the occasional stalactite hanging from the vaulted domed ceiling. As they approached the other side of the cavern she could see that the ceiling sloped down low enough to blend into the cavern wall. That, in turn, framed an opening that was thirty feet high by about fifty feet wide, more than enough room for the two dragons to pass through.
The river of lava angled north and disappeared through another opening in the wall, whether flowing through another cavern or two Pryllan didn’t know. What she did know was that she was thankful they had moved away from the extreme heat. She was grateful Steve was there to protect her offspring from the dangers of the dreaded River of Fire, but she was relieved when she felt her scales return to a normal temperature.
“Pravara, how do you fare?”
She felt the dragonlet stirring on her back.
“I am well, mother. May I get down?”
Pryllan scanned the new cavern they had just entered.
“Not yet, young one. Be patient.”
“Are you able to see where we are?” Steve asked his wife. “Because I can’t see a thing.”
“No amulet, no night vision,” Sarah reminded him.
“We can see everything there is to see,” Pryllan assured the two humans. “Which isn’t much. I see some light emanating from a tunnel straight ahead of us. Syrreth and Ferreth, do you see it?”
Using their own light-sensitive parietal eyes, the Zweigelan nodded.
“Would you like to lead?” Pryllan asked, trying to be cordial.
“We do not know where to go,” Syrreth informed her.
“Nor do I,” Pryllan admitted. “There’s light up ahead. Let’s head that way.”
Syrreth and Ferreth carefully picked their way through the dark cave, circumventing several large stalagmites that were thrusting up from the ground below. As they entered the third cavern it became bright enough for the dragons to switch back to their primary vision and for the two humans to see what lay before them.
Syrreth’s eyes bulged while Ferreth’s widened in disbelief. The entire cavern floor was covered with treasure. Every conceivable valuable was strewn across the floor. Golden coins, jewels, tiaras, crowns, gilded spears, jewel-encrusted shields, everything that could ever be construed as treasure was littering the floor. Not one square inch of the rocky ground could be seen. There was so much treasure that it was even mounded high against the far wall as though there hadn’t been enough room for it all and Rinbok had shoved it all into several piles.
“Wow.”
Pryllan looked back at the two humans on her back.
“It’s just treasure. Every dragon has some. Some more than others it would seem.”
Steve stared at her. “Do you?”
“What? Have treasure? Of course. I’m a dragon.”
Pryllan’s long neck snaked about as she inspected the scattered gold coins, which were the most prolific pieces of treasure she could see.
“Kahvel’s description of Rinbok’s horde was inaccurate. He said that his treasure was organized neatly by category. It was his one prized collection. The extent of disarray in here surprises me.”
A wave of gold coins began cascading down one of the mounds of golden treasure. Clinking and rattling the coins tumbled down the steep slope, picking up speed as the shape of the mound shifted. A green, heavily muscled foreleg appeared. The leg was covered with jagged black stripes.
The mound shifted again and more of the treasure slid haphazardly to the ground. Most of Rinbok’s right side became visible, including his right wing. It lay tattered and limp next to his body. The talons on his front claws lay chipped and flaking from neglect.
“My Lord,” Pryllan began. “Please pardon our interruption. We carry news. Important news you need to hear. Will you grant us an audience?”
Two geysers of gold coins erupted from the end of the mound that was still covered by treasure. Rinbok Intherer exhaled a second blast through his nostrils before he rose to his feet. The leader of the dragons, easily twice the size of Pryllan, looked right at their group before shuffling uncertainly off towards another pile of his extensive treasure.
“My Lord, please,” Pryllan tried again. “You must hear this.”
Rinbok Intherer selected another mound of treasure and began pushing his way into it. Pryllan looked helplessly at Steve.
“Don’t worry, Pryllan,” Steve assured her. “I’ve got this.”
“What are you going to do?” Sarah asked, alarmed.
Steve grinned. “Trust me.”
Sarah crossed her arms over her chest. “Every time you say that the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.”
Steve slid down Pryllan’s flank and stumbled once his feet hit solid ground. The treasure in the cavern was, at its shallowest, several feet deep. When the ground consisted of that many small moving objects, the simple act of walking upright was practically impossible. As he finally regained his balance he looked up to see that he was face to face with Sarah.
“You could have just let me teleport you down here. It’d have been easier.”
“Mm-hmm. Hey Rinbok! It’s me, Steve! Do you remember me?”
Rinbok kept burrowing his way into the large golden mound.
“I know you remember me. You granted me permission to ride Pryllan. I’m the only human you’ve done this for. Ring any bells?”
Rinbok ignored him as he nosed even further into the huge mound of gold.
“It’s working like a charm, Ace,” Sarah commented from behind him.
“Guess how many dragons I rode since I’ve been back in Lentari?” Steve challenged.
“Just the one, human,” the Dragon Lord finally responded, not even bothering to look over at him.
“You don’t know that for certain!”
“Your provocations are without merit, human.”
“Damn,” Steve swore softly. He me
ntally changed gears and tried again. “Alright, point taken. Tell you what. I’ll just come right to the point and tell you why we’re here.”
Rinbok refused to acknowledge him. Whether or not he was listening Steve couldn’t tell.
“I know you’ve lost the ability to spit fire and fly.”
“Don’t forget the second stage,” Sarah reminded him, using a loud enough voice so that the irritable Dragon Lord knew she was there.
“Right. The Collective. It must suck to be kicked off of it. In fact, if I was a wyverian, and all these things had happened to me, I’d want to know who caused it. Wouldn’t you?”
Rinbok hesitated in his burrowing. Was he listening or trying to find a better avenue to conceal himself in his treasure? After a few seconds of silence his tunneling resumed.
“You might be interested to know that you’re not suffering from any type of malady or sickness. You’re suffering from a curse, dude.”
Rinbok hesitated again. When he didn’t resume his noisy progress through his huge pile of treasure Steve pressed on.
“You guys had a little run-in last year, didn’t you? With a two-headed dragon called a Zweigelan? Is that right?”
There was no answer from the partially concealed dragon. Then again, he wasn’t moving, either. Steve took it as a favorable sign.
“This Zweigelan was forced to swear allegiance to you. In doing so, he had to join the Collective, and as soon as he did, the locations to the other Zweigelans became common knowledge. With me so far?”
A shower of gold coins cascaded down Rinbok’s back as he remained standing, motionless except for the heaving of his chest as he breathed. Steve could only hope the recalcitrant dragon was paying attention.
“A second Zweigelan was located but the third managed to escape. Still haven’t found him, have you?”
More golden coins fell from Rinbok’s head as he turned to look in Steve’s direction.
“The Zweigelans found a way to curse the dragons, Rinbok.”
More of the treasure flowed off of Rinbok’s massive body as he maneuvered himself out of the pile of gold he had been trying to burrow into.
“How do we know this, you might ask?” Steve turned to point at the nearby Zweigelan. “Because he told us.”
The final bits of treasure fell off Rinbok’s head as his eyes noticed for the first time that a third dragon was present.
“Before you get ready to do something completely drastic…” Steve started, but was shocked to discover how fast the huge striped dragon could actually move.
Rinbok Intherer launched himself from where he had been standing and rushed at Syrreth and Ferreth. Both of the Zweigelan’s heads froze with shock as they saw the form of the Dragon Lord hurtle at them. There was no time to react and certainly no time to beat a hasty retreat.
Thankfully Steve was prepared for such a reaction from the stricken Dragon Lord. He stepped directly in Rinbok’s path and blasted jets of fire straight up into the air, throwing as much of his jhorun into the blasts as he could. He needed to get the angry dragon’s attention and quickly at that. Unfortunately for him, he got it.
Rinbok skidded to a halt, throwing up a colossal wave of golden treasure in the process. He lowered his head and peered angrily at the human.
“Step aside! How dare you protect that renegade! If they are responsible for this malison then they will answer for their actions!”
“They’re responsible for what?”
Rinbok stared, unblinking, at Steve.
“Malison.”
“What’s a malison?”
“Did you not just say the Zweigelans are responsible for the curse?”
Steve nodded. “That’s right.”
“Malison is another word for curse,” Sarah whispered in his ear.
Steve extinguished both hands and lowered his arms.
“Oh. Okay. Well, you’re right. They will. But they can only do that if they stay alive. They have agreed to help resolve this. I’d take them up on that offer.”
Rinbok’s angry gaze fell upon the much smaller form of the Zweigelan and pinned it in place.
“If you do not terminate this curse now I will personally rake my –”
“Oh, cool your jets you big sourpuss,” Steve snapped. He made a sweeping gesture in the air. “This is not helping the situation. What we need is compassion. The Zweigelans were angry. Were they right to do this? Absolutely not. But should they have been assimilated in the way it was done? No.”
“Wyverians are under my rule, human,” Rinbok angrily told him. “Not yours. How I administer my subjects are of no concern to you.”
“But no one told them how to use the Collective!” Sarah protested, drawing the Dragon Lord’s attention.
Rinbok’s eyes widened as he stared at her. He faced Steve and growled.
“What is she doing here? There is only one way she could have traveled here, and that was on Pryllan’s back! You disobeyed –”
“What’s more important?” Steve snapped as he shoved Sarah behind him. “Following your directive that I will be the only dragon rider or coming straight here to tell you about what we’ve learned? Just for the record, it was my idea to come here. Remember that before you get all snotty with us.”
Rinbok looked over at Pryllan, who nodded.
“It’s true, my Lord. It is at Steve’s insistence that we are here. He felt you should know the nature of your ailment.”
Rinbok nodded and looked back at Sarah. “Very well. Your transgression is forgiven. Explain yourself. What is the nature of your objection to the outcast’s inclusion into the Collective?”
“Are you aware no one told them how to use it?” Sarah challenged, growing angry. “No one told them they could turn it off. No one told them how to contact someone. No one told them how to access any information should they need it. Explain that!”
Taken aback, Rinbok looked over at Syrreth and Ferreth.
“Is this true?”
Syrreth and Ferreth both nodded.
“It is,” they echoed.
“Then the fault was mine for overlooking that important detail. However,” Rinbok’s voice dropped so low that it came out as a throaty growl, “it does not justify your actions, Zweigelan.”
“We understand,” Syrreth meekly told him, bowing his head. A moment later Ferreth joined him.
“Are you directly responsible for creating this curse?” the Dragon Lord wanted to know.
Syrreth and Ferreth violently shook their heads no.
“Are you indirectly responsible?”
“We knew what was going to happen, aye,” Syrreth admitted.
“But we didn’t know how it would happen,” Ferreth hastily added.
Rinbok hadn’t stopped growling, not even to take a breath.
“Are one of your brothers responsible for this?”
“We do not have siblings,” Syrreth began, perhaps unwisely.
“Do NOT talk to me about semantics, Zweigelan!” Rinbok roared, becoming more and more animate with each passing minute. “The other Zweigelan that joined the Collective did not have the courage to pull off a stunt like this. If it wasn’t you or him then that only leaves the third.”
Trembling beneath the Dragon Lord’s dangerous gaze, with the top of his head barely reaching Rinbok’s chest, Syrreth looked up. He met Rinbok Intherer’s angry glare and bowed.
“We will tell you what we can,” Syrreth began.
Ferreth hissed with frustration but did not object.
“But first you must know…”
“What, Syrreth? Speak! What must I know?”
“You are the reason this curse was brought about. You are the reason all Zweigelans hate the dragons.”
Chapter 7 – A Grievous Grudge
Watching the proceedings from her vantage point behind the two humans, Pryllan nervously eyed the wyverian she had sworn her allegiance to. The Zweigelans were angry with Rinbok Intherer? What had he done to rile them up so much that
they’d go to these extremes to exact vengeance? Judging by the Dragon Lord’s reaction, he hadn’t liked what he had just heard.
Rinbok paced angrily back and forth across his treasure cave. Growling low and deep, the Dragon Lord kept both eyes fixated on Syrreth and Ferreth. A few moments later Rinbok came to a halt. Pryllan’s eyes widened. If she didn’t know better she would’ve said that he was ready to… he did. Rinbok had crouched low and had bunched his muscles in preparation of his attack on the Zweigelan but ended up blinking his eyes with surprise. Steve had blasted an additional jet of fire as a warning. Pryllan was impressed. She knew from the way Rinbok Intherer had been pacing about that he was more than likely going to attack the new member of the Collective, but the only thing she would have done, regardless whether or not she had her fire, was to step aside. It wasn’t the wyverian way to involve oneself with another’s affairs. Especially when that person was the Dragon Lord.
Rinbok eyed the human again, but before he could spew an angry retort Sarah surprised them all by pushing past her husband and placing herself directly in the Dragon Lord’s path. She started venting before Steve could stop her.
“What is it with you dragons, anyway? We’re trying to help you! Stop being an ungrateful git and listen to what Syrreth and Ferreth have to say. Ask them why they were loyal to your predecessor and not to you. Ask them why they hate the dragons so much. Go on. You’re supposed to be the dragon king.”
“Lord,” Steve quietly murmured.
Lord, Pryllan mentally corrected.
“Whatever,” Sarah said, crossly. She fixed Rinbok with a steely glare. “Start acting like it. They are your people. Your subjects. Protect them. Help them. This problem isn’t going to go away on its own. Stop hiding like a coward.”
Pryllan recoiled in shock. The last person to accuse Rinbok Intherer of being a coward had been silenced on the spot. Permanently.
“Perhaps not the best route you could have taken,” Steve whispered.
“I don’t care. I’m tired of all this sneaking around. Oooo, we don’t want to upset Rinbok,” Sarah mocked. She turned to look up at the leader of all dragons. “Well, I’m sick of it. Rinbok, we have a job to do. There’s a curse on the dragons. I plan on doing whatever I can to help break it. For Pryllan and her family. Now are you going to help us or would you prefer we left so you can go back to hiding in your gold? Your call.”
Something Wyverian This Way Comes Page 13
