“I don’t see it anymore,” Syrreth reported as he twisted his neck as far as he could go. The dog had vanished from sight.
“It’s over here now,” Ferreth reported.
“It couldn’t have been,” Syrreth argued. “It was just over here.”
“Not anymore,” Ferreth told him.
“How can one so small move so fast?” Syrreth curiously asked. “Ah. It’s back again.”
Hesitating only briefly, Peanut looked up at Syrreth and yipped loudly before resuming her circling of her new packmate. The Zweigelan, on the other hand, had decided this noisy little being should be ignored, and since both Syrreth and Ferreth had heard Pryllan was preparing to depart, started across the cavern towards the tunnel leading up.
Peanut, not about to be ignored, continued running laps around the Zweigelan, barking furiously as though they were now a stray that had wandered away from the herd.
“Careful,” Syrreth cautioned as he spied the dog darting between his front legs. “We almost stepped on it.”
“Where is it now?” Ferreth inquired as he lowered his head in an attempt to locate Peanut.
“It was just in front of us on the right,” Syrreth told him.
“No it wasn’t.”
“Well, it was there.”
“I’m telling you it isn’t there now.”
“Where did it go?”
“That’s why I’m asking you,” Ferreth angrily responded. “I don’t want to step on it.”
“Neither do I.”
“Then we’d better find it.”
Enjoying the impromptu game of hide and seek, Peanut peeked out from behind the Zweigelan’s tail and as Syrreth was bending around to check their hind end, Peanut darted out and ran towards the front of the creature.
“There it is,” Ferreth exclaimed swinging around from the left.
“Where?” Syrreth asked, as he swung around to the right.
Peanut darted straight forward and ran between the Zweigelan’s front legs. Both intent on watching the dog, neither head saw the other coming.
WHAM!
“I can’t believe we just fell for that,” Syrreth complained as he gave his head a violent shake.
“Clumsy oaf!” Ferreth angrily exclaimed. “Watch what you’re doing!”
“You’re the one who hit me,” Syrreth accused.
“I most certainly did not. Hit us first, you did.”
“You two both hit each other at the same time,” Steve nonchalantly pointed out.
Ferreth gave an exasperated glance at his twin and then straightened.
“We are done playing this ‘game’. We should be off.”
Steve nodded. “You’re right. Let’s go. Mikal, can you get Peanut for me?”
Mikal, who had been standing at the mouth of the cavern, was silently doubled over with laughter.
Steve approached and leaned towards the teenager.
“Pull it together. How am I supposed to keep a straight face when you can’t? Get the dog, Mr. Chuckles.”
Wiping tears from his eyes, Mikal called for Peanut, who sprang from her hiding place and reared up on her hind legs once she was in front of Mikal.
“That’s a pretty girl. You showed those dragons who’s boss, isn’t that so?”
Peanut’s enthusiastic barks echoed noisily throughout the cavern.
“They’re waiting for you up top,” Steve reminded Pryllan.
“Very well. Syrreth, Ferreth, let us be off.”
The two dragons exited the cavern and headed to the surface. Steve and Sarah bid Mikal and Peanut farewell and clambered back up Pryllan’s back.
Several hours later Pryllan, flying northwest with Pravara and their Zweigelan in tow, was just approaching the far western shore of Lake Raehón. Rhamalli’s peak was just ahead. Pryllan turned her long neck to her right and once more verified Pravara was alright. Her offspring had flown just about the entire distance back on her own before tiring just south of their valley. Pravara had joined the two humans on her back and up until just recently, appeared to have been content there.
Now, sensing that the end of their journey was approaching, Pravara had leapt off her mother’s back and was now flying alongside Syrreth and Ferreth, no doubt asking them more questions. The interesting thing, Pryllan noted, was that neither Syrreth nor Ferreth appeared to be objecting too much to the barrage of questions being fired at them.
She turned her head even farther to check on Steve and Sarah. Both were sitting motionless with their eyes closed.
“Steve? We approach Dirgath and Tirgath’s lair.”
Both humans’ eyes snapped open. Steve yawned and stretched his back.
“That was quick.”
Sarah turned around to face him.
“Were you asleep the entire time?”
“Hmmmph. Of course not.”
“Yeah, right.”
The dragons landed on the small ledge outside the second Zweigelan’s cave without preamble. Steve and Sarah climbed down and then faced the narrow cave opening.
“Dirgath! Tirgath! Want to come on out? We’ve got something you might be interested in!”
They could all hear movement from within the cave as something began moving around. A few moments later the second Zweigelan emerged. They stared at the group before them before they noticed the dragonlet standing by Pryllan’s side. Disinterested, Dirgath and Tirgath approached Steve. Both heads slowly lowered until they were less than ten feet away from him.
“Do you have our Heart?” Dirgath asked.
Tirgath, saying nothing, stared, unblinking, at Steve.
Steve reached into his right front trouser pocket and pulled out the glittering jewel.
“Oh, you mean this?”
Dirgath and Tirgath looked excitedly at each other.
“How do we know it is the right jewel?” Dirgath asked.
“It must be inspected,” Tirgath answered. “Studied, it should be.”
Steve walked brazenly right up to the second Zweigelan and held out the jewel.
“Here. You want to study it? Fine. There it is.”
Steve tossed the jewel towards the two heads, hoping they’d be able to catch it. Tirgath deftly plucked the ruby helix from the air as it neared his head. He looked down at his open claw and studied the spiraled ruby as it gently rolled back and forth against his scales.
“This is the one!” Tirgath said excitedly. “Brother, look! You can feel its beat!”
Dirgath held out his claw and waited for Tirgath to pass it over. Once he did, the claw closed. Dirgath closed his eyes and waited. A few seconds later he opened them and smiled maliciously down at the humans.
“We expected so much more from you humans. You have given us our Heart back. Why should we tell you about the curse now? What leverage have you?”
Sarah stepped forward and smiled. She opened her hand to reveal… a sparkling ruby helix. Dirgath was silent as he stared at the gem in her hand.
“You didn’t think we’d give you our only bargaining chip, did you? Not without a way to get it back. Now, let’s talk about that curse.”
Dirgath’s claw sprang open. He checked his palm. It was empty. No gem!
“How did you get it back?” Dirgath wanted to know.
“Devilishly sneaky, it was,” Tirgath agreed. “You are nothing more than swindlers!”
“No more than you!” Sarah hotly contested. “You speak of trust, yet you try to double-cross us the first chance you get! You want to know how I got it back? I’m a teleporter. You don’t stand a chance in getting this from me.”
Dirgath and Tirgath growled angrily and advanced on Sarah. Steve stepped forward, ignited his hands, and blasted two powerful jets of fire straight up into the air. It had the desired effect of stopping Dirgath and Tirgath in their tracks.
“By the way, my fire still works,” Steve reminded them. “Try to remember that.”
“As I was saying,” Sarah continued, “let’s talk about that cur
se. Since it’s clear you two aren’t to be trusted, let’s begin with what you know about this curse.”
“You return our Heart to us or we will tell you nothing!” Dirgath screeched.
Sarah turned to her husband. “We’re getting nowhere. Let’s go. We’ll give this back to the dwarves.”
“No, wait!” Tirgath frantically called. Dirgath growled with frustration.
“We will tell you what we know. We will trust you to honor the deal.”
“Why should we?” Sarah countered. “You obviously weren’t planning on it.”
“A foolish ploy,” Tirgath admitted. “We haven’t seen our Heart in many years. Desperate, we were.”
“You’ll get it back,” Sarah promised, “but only when you tell us what we have to do to break the curse. Are you ready to talk?”
Tirgath nodded while Dirgath said nothing.
“We’re going to need both of your cooperation,” Steve informed them. He flicked his burning hands out. “What’s it going to be, Dirgath?”
The second Zweigelan’s left head came as close to pouting as any of them had ever seen before.
“Very well,” Dirgath reluctantly agreed.
“Before you begin,” Pryllan interrupted, “there is something I need to tell the both of you.”
Dirgath and Tirgath looked over at the huge green dragon.
“Syrreth, Ferreth, this goes for you, too.”
Surprised, Syrreth and Ferreth glanced at each other before also looking over at Pryllan.
“You will not be forced to join the Collective.”
“That was already part of our accord,” Dirgath sneered.
“And it will be upheld,” Pryllan assured them. “Being invited to join the Collective is an honor. It should never be forced upon anyone. With that being said, you have our deepest apologies for being forced to accept our culture, our way of life, as your own. Every dragon should be free to live as they see fit.”
Dirgath eyed Tirgath, who in turned eyed Pryllan.
“Why do you say this?” Dirgath asked suspiciously. “Think you speak for Rinbok Intherer? You don’t. You cannot say such things.”
“This is what Rinbok Intherer told Syrreth and Ferreth to make peace. The benefits of the Collective far outweigh the disadvantages, but it should be the dragon’s choice whether or not to accept the honor. As such, our offer is withdrawn.”
“What’s she doing?” Sarah whispered to Steve. “Rinbok never said any of those things.”
“Maybe she’s talking to Kahvel,” Steve whispered back. “He could be telling her what to say.”
“Since when does he speak for the Dragon Lord?” Sarah asked.
“He hangs out with Rinbok more than anyone. If anyone would know what Rinbok Intherer would say, or how he’d behave in certain situations, it’d be him.”
Just as Pryllan had expected, Tirgath began to complain. Bitterly.
“You have no right to withdraw the offer.”
“You said it yourself,” Pryllan reminded him. “You don’t want anything to do with the Collective or with any other dragons. You’ll be allowed to live your life. In peace. Completely alone.”
“We choose to remain,” Syrreth announced. Ferreth nodded in agreement.
“Good for you two,” Steve said as he gave a thumbs-up to the dragon, which stared uncomprehendingly back at him.
“Why would you choose to remain?” Tirgath asked as both heads twisted to look over at Syrreth and Ferreth. “Once the curse is broken and the Collective restored you’d be free to return to the life you had before.”
“We don’t want the life we had before,” Ferreth said, in a voice so soft it almost went unheard.
Dirgath stared at Ferreth as though he was a mutinous traitor.
“Why? Why would you stay?”
“Tired of being alone, we are.”
“Have friends now, we do,” Syrreth added.
“Friends? Pah! Zweigelans don’t have friends. We don’t need friends.”
“They are my friends,” Pravara announced.
The little dragon had been crouching low to the ground next to Steve for the entire time they had been talking with the second Zweigelan.
“And mine,” Pryllan added.
“Ours, too,” Steve said. Sarah took his hand and nodded.
Dirgath and Tirgath fell silent as they contemplated this sudden turn of events.
Sarah waved her arms to get Tirgath’s attention.
“Look, we’re all friends now, okay? Let’s move on. We have a curse to break. Here, Tirgath, open your claw.”
Tirgath shifted his weight off of his front foreleg and then opened his claw. The ruby materialized on his open palm a few moments later.
“There, you have it back,” Sarah told him. “Help us break this curse. What do we have to do?”
The smaller Zweigelan fell silent. After a few minutes of awkward silence Dirgath finally spoke.
“We will tell you what we can.”
Steve raised a hand. Sarah noticed and shook her head while mentally rolling her eyes.
“Steve? What is it?”
“I have a question.” Steve looked up at Dirgath. “If we hadn’t found this ruby or been able to return it to you, would you have really not helped us? Even if it meant you’d never fly or spit fire again?”
“We would have helped,” Tirgath admitted.
Steve looked over at the other head. “What? Really?”
Dirgath and Tirgath both nodded their heads.
“We would have, aye.”
“So why did you make us go through all that trouble to find that damn ruby?”
Dirgath gave him a wicked smile.
“It is our favorite ruby, isn’t it?”
Tirgath nodded.
“It is. We wanted it back.”
Steve sighed and rubbed his temples. Dragons. None of the fantasy books he had ever read ever made one mention of how stubborn or finicky certain dragons could be.
“Just tell us what you know. The third Zweigelan. Did she come up with this curse on her own or did she ask this wizard fellow to come up with some type of dastardly deed?”
“Entirely of her doing, it is,” Dirgath admitted.
“Did she know the curse would affect the other Zweigelans?” Sarah asked.
Dirgath shook his head. “We do not believe she knew we would be stricken like the dragons.”
Steve coughed a few times and cleared his throat. “Do you think the Zweigelan’s inclusion with this curse is the wizard’s doing or is this just some type of unplanned side effect?
Sarah raised her hand. “I’d like to weigh in here.”
Steve smiled. “Yes! The fetching young lady there has an opinion. You have the floor, milady.”
Sarah curtsied. “Well thank you, kind sir. Dirgath, Tirgath, I have something I’d like to run by you.”
The second Zweigelan stared at her but didn’t say anything.
“I think this wizard is smart. I think he’s responsible for your involvement.”
“How could you possibly know that?” Steve asked.
“Think about it,” Sarah persisted. “No dragon has died.”
“That we know of,” Steve added.
Sarah looked over at the huge green dragon.
“Pryllan? Has any dragon died as a direct result from this curse?”
Pryllan shook her head no.
“Steve, you told me earlier that when the wizard tried to convince you to remain a dragon that you confronted him about having a conscience. Not a very ethical conscience, mind you, but a conscience nonetheless.”
“So you’re saying the third Zweigelan should be affected, too?”
Sarah nodded. “Right, otherwise she set up this curse that way on purpose.”
“So she can’t fly or spit fire,” Steve mused. “So finding her shouldn’t be too difficult.”
“She has remained concealed for centuries,” Tirgath informed them. “If she wishes to remain conc
ealed then you will never find her.”
Steve scratched his head. “Refresh my memory, would you? If you know all about this curse, and what we need to do to break it, why do we need to find the third Zweigelan?”
“Because she carries the wizard’s talisman,” Tirgath explained. He looked lovingly down at the ruby helix and then back at Steve. “All curses exist only because they are called into existence and linked to an inanimate object. Destroy the object and you destroy the curse.”
“So you know for certain she has this talisman? Did you see it? What does it look like?”
“We have not seen it,” Tirgath replied. “We cannot tell you what it looks like.”
“She said she had to keep it on her at all times,” Dirgath added. He opened his claw and looked at his twin. “It’s my turn to hold it.”
Tirgath reluctantly passed the jewel over.
“As long as the talisman exists the curse will be active.”
Steve turned to Sarah.
“That would suggest that if something happens to the female Zweigelan then the curse could keep going, couldn’t it?”
Sarah turned to look back at Pryllan, who shrugged. She approached Syrreth and Ferreth and slowly walked around them. The two Zweigelan heads tracked her the entire time.
“What are you doing?” Syrreth asked, curious.
“You don’t have any pockets,” Sarah observed. “There’s nowhere to hide this talisman thingamajig that I can see. So if you had something precious you needed to keep concealed, would you risk hiding it on the ground?”
Dirgath snorted derisively. “She’s too cunning and too intelligent to think that if she hid the talisman somewhere that it couldn’t be found.”
“Then she’d have to have it on her,” Steve surmised. “But where?”
“Where would you hide something, Syrreth?” Sarah asked.
Syrreth considered. Then he considered some more.
“It must be on her,” Ferreth finally answered once it became clear that Syrreth didn’t have any ideas.
Sarah held up her hands in frustration.
“Where? Somewhere on her person? What, maybe under a loose scale or something?”
Tirgath shook his head.
“Unlikely. She’d be afraid of it falling out.”
Something Wyverian This Way Comes Page 26
