by Bill Albert
Gallif scooped a large rock off the ground as she ran and hurled it at the Cerberus. The throw was short, and the rock rolled on the ground before stopping several feet short of the animal.
Luvin swung at the beast with his hammer. He managed to make two hits on the left side shoulder holding it back for a few seconds. He stepped away and could feel the hot air against his back.
Pate got to his feet and started stumbling in Luvin’s direction.
Gallif and Jakobus were halfway there. Again, she retrieved a loose rock and hurled it against the monster. The rock cleared the beast and fell into the pit.
Luvin tried an attack on one of the heads but missed. His arc was broken by the mass of snakes on the mane.
Pate was very close; the Cerberus had not seen his approach.
Gallif pushed herself to pick up speed. She was behind Pate and outpacing Jakobus, but knew she only had a few seconds left to save Luvin from falling.
Luvin was a step away from the edge. The Cerberus had sensed his fear and reared up on its hind legs to swipe him with razor sharp claws.
Pate was incredibly close and reared back with his long sword to strike the Cerberus in half. One of the heads caught his movement and quickly turned towards him with its jaws snapping. It bit down hard penetrating his left arm and gaining a savage hold on him. The other heads and the fore claws snapped at Luvin.
Gallif held her flame sword over her head and screamed in anger as she approached.
Luvin felt his heels slip over the edge.
The Cerberus’s grasp on Pate was tight and the head tried to shake him to disorient him and prevent him from attacking. In the jerking movements he dropped his flame sword as he was lifted off the ground. He landed on his feet and saw the beast’s movement was in his favor. He saw the other jaws snapping and Luvin fight to keep his balance.
For a second Pate’s feet were on solid ground, but the momentum he had gained in the throw stayed with him and he pulled the hound away from Luvin. Pate and the animal went over the edge together.
Luvin regained his footing just enough to turn and see Pate drop. Gallif was suddenly next to him and pulled him to safety but landed near the edge of the pit. Unable to look away she watched as Pate and the Cerberus continued to fight on their way down. Before Jakobus could join them both the man and the daimon hound had been incinerated by the bubbling lava.
Breathing heavily Gallif could not tear her eyes away from the glowing hell beneath them. Luvin grabbed his chest as if a hole had been torn in it and fought back tears. Jakobus was too shocked to say a prayer for the dead.
Gallif finally managed to pull herself away from the edge but could not think clearly. She felt something at her feet and looked down to see the rock that she had thrown to try and save her friends. She wrapped her hand around it and clapped it against the floor several times.
“What do we do now?” Luvin asked after trying to control his emotions. He was looking at the still open door that Zaslow had created for them to leave but had not moved towards it. It was still very dark outside, but there was an early hint of sunlight coming from the east.
“We keep going,” Gallif said and stood with the rock in her hand. “We find Zaslow and destroy him at all costs using anything we have,” she said and removed her backpack. She pulled out the long red banner they had been given on the ice fields and looked down at the rocks.
Jakobus walked away from them and kneeled down to say some final prayers for Pate. He stood and was returning to them when he heard the distinct hiss of a snake directly behind him. He swung and pulled his shadow blade from his side, but he wasn’t fast enough. The Cerberus that Gallif had downed was nearby. The dog body was dead and the snakes that had been part of the mane remained as sticks. Though it was attached to the main body the snake that had been the tail still lived. It reared up and struck Jakobus hard in the side of his neck pumping deadly poison into his body. He cried in frustration and as all strength left him and he collapsed like a doll. He barely registered their movements as Gallif and Luvin demolished the serpent.
Out of rage Luvin threw the remains of the killer over the edge of the pit and into the furnace below. Gallif cradled Jakobus in her arms and gently nudged him until his eyes open.
“I’m sorry,” she cried. “This is my fault.”
“No, dear Gallif,” he protested in a whisper. “It is mine.”
“I should have made sure it was dead,” she shook her head and let the red hair fall over her face.
“You left it to save Luvin and myself. A noble decision that any dwarf would do,” he said and smiled weakly at her.
“I don’t know how long we’ve got,” she said desperately.
“There is some time,” he assured her. “Several hours, in fact. It takes longer for poison to move through our bodies. One way we are stronger than humans.”
“I don’t know how to save you,” she said. “There are no healing potions left.”
“You know how to save me,” he said looking directly at her. “And you know you must go on.”
“I don’t know if I can save this mountain,” she said sadly.
“You fail to see your goal. The mountain of Starpoint isn’t as important as the people of Starpoint.”
As his voice trailed off she could only nod and watch him loose consciousness. She felt for his pulse and found that his heart was beating quite rapidly. She said thanks to any god that would listen.
“Luvin, come here,” she said in a steady voice. “We have to get him through that door,” she said to Luvin as he joined her.
“But you can’t get back in,” Luvin reminded her.
“We don’t have to,” she said. “We just have to get him out.”
Together they picked Jakobus’s limp body up and gently carried laid him down on one of the kites that they had used to fly. They carried him to the door and positioned him so that they could slide him out onto the flat grass. To make sure that anyone at the school would find him she lit one of his torches. With careful aim Luvin tossed it through the door and they watched it land on a clear area twenty feet away. There was nothing there that could catch fire and the intense light could be seen for at least a mile. Gallif remembered that Rosario had been at the destroyed school when they left and hoped that she had remained. Her medical talents could save Jakobus’s life.
Gallif bent down for another look at Jakobus. She gently brushed his face clean, put a hand on his heart to feel its steady beat, and then they slid the stretcher and body through the door.
With no explanation Gallif asked Luvin to help gather together everything that was scattered around the area. He found Pate’s discarded flame sword and set it aside to pick up later. Once that was done, she spent a few minutes looking for any clues or signs of where to go next. Finding none she finally let out a scream that echoed through the empty dark heart of the Starpoint Mountain.
“Enough,” she yelled looking at the black. She spoke so quickly the words seemed to be bubbling out of her mouth. “I know you’ve been watching and guiding me all along and it ends now!” She grabbed the last torch she had and slapped it against the ground to ignite it. Then she threw it as hard as she could into the air and as it arched she could see the empty heart of the mountain.
Luvin looked at her wide eyed and feared that she had lost her mind but was too afraid to say anything.
“You were very secretive, and it took me a while to figure it out, but when I was pushed through rooms in the cell it wasn’t a false wall that I went through. It was a jump cast to my weapons and armor and that, like some other happenings, was not a coincidence.” She raised her hands and shouted as loud as she could. “Face me now!”
Before the echo stopped they had been moved to a different location. Before them, chained to the ground, was an ancient and colorless dragon.
“Okay,” the dragon said without looking at her. The voice was slow and deep, but she could clearly hear it. “Yes, I guided you along, helped you out
along the way, but I had to be careful. After all, I have been waiting for you for a thousand years.”
Gallif’s mind was out of control and she was breathing heavily. She kept telling herself to disbelieve what she was seeing, that it was a trick by Zaslow, but the dragon remained in place. Finally, she forced herself to take control and started to get a clear look at her surroundings.
Luvin was by her side, as he had been before, staring at the dragon and breathing heavily. At their feet lay all of the equipment that had with them when they were in the empty heart of the mountain, including Pate’s long sword. The room they were in was large, but they could see the ceiling with the light of seven torches. There was a cave leading off to one side and high in the opposite wall was a hole. She couldn’t even guess at how high up the mountain they were, but the stars seemed incredibly close and there was just a hint of sunrise in the sky.
The dragon was lying on the ground in a circular area with six red stones placed evenly around it. Though these stones were as large as a dwarf they matched the shades and textures of the pendant stones that had been used to spy on them. Chains that manacled its neck, hind legs, and tail were embedded in the solid rock and could not be pulled out. The fore arms were free but unable to reach anything or even each other. One had a glowing bracelet strapped tightly around the elbow. The dragon was nearly forty feet long. Its tail was spiked and each of its wings appeared to be able to stretch out a dozen feet. The skin was colorless and appeared to be brittle like old paper. Along its side were scars from uneven and deliberate cuts too numerous to count. Its head was rested on the floor. Though it spoke to them its head and neck were curled facing away.
“A thousand years?” Luvin suddenly asked.
“Yes, a thousand years,” the dragon said. “A thousand years for someone strong enough and wise enough. Once you were inside the mountain, I could help you indirectly. A tremor at the right time, a jump cast through that wall, just plain enough that Zaslow wouldn’t notice. Now I hope you will do as I wished. That you will deliver to me the death I want.”
“Your death?” Gallif asked.
“You see the bracelet? That has kept me alive for this long. My second greatest mistake.”
“Second greatest?”
“I wanted to live forever, so I began experimenting. Castings that would extend life. After decades I finally succeeded, yes, I succeeded, and cast upon my bracelet. I wore the bracelet proudly before I realized what curse I had created.”
“But you lived,” Gallif said.
“Yes, I lived. The casting kept me living but it failed to stop me from growing old,” the dragon said with regret. “It didn’t heal me or keep me young. It just didn’t let me die,” the dragon’s voice trailed off.
“Why didn’t you take it off?” Luvin asked and was relieved when Gallif took his hand in hers.
“I can’t. This was my punishment.”
“The dragons that won, evil dragons, took their revenge on you,” Gallif said in disgust.
“No,” the dragon chuckled. “We were considered the evil ones. They imprisoned me here until they could decide what to do when the war was over. Then they died. I was alone,” the dragon said sadly. Slowly it turned to face them. Its ancient face was wrinkled and pale. While the massive jaw still held razor sharp teeth the eye lids were nearly closed. The eyes were dull, and she was surprised to see that, unlike other races, the black centers of its eyes were shaped like stars instead of circles. “Come closer,” it said politely. “I can see so little.”
Gallif and Luvin felt no fear or threat so they walked within a few feet of the ancient face. It looked at them approvingly and smiled.
“You waited,” Gallif said. “But we weren’t the first ones.”
“No,” the dragon answered slowly. “There were others, but they failed to make it far enough for me to be able to bring them here. Not until Zaslow came along.”
“You work for Zaslow,” Luvin said and instinctively took his hand from Gallif’s and grabbed his hammer.
“Sort of,” the dragon said and gave out a shallow chuckle. “He discovered the larger red crystals that help focus casting energy and realized they had been embedded in the mountain. By putting them around me he is able to harness some of my casting abilities, though none of the actual casts”
“You are his power source,” Gallif said as the piece fit in to place. “That was how he managed to have such influence,” she explained to Luvin.
“Yes, with my mental power he is able to keep casting again and again. The more focus crystals he has the more powerful his influence and range. If I helped him find more, he claimed he would release me, but I could tell that he had no such plans. So, I guided him. I gave him enough hints to keep him digging,” the dragon said and, with one of its forearms, carved five lines in the dirt. “Even the caster working directly for him didn’t know that I was involved. He kept me a secret.”
Gallif looked at it carefully and remembered what they had seen.
“You are going to destroy the mountain,” she whispered.
“Yes,” the dragon nodded. “In the collapse the chains would surely be broken, and I could destroy the bracelet myself. I may even be able to survive long enough for one final flight,” the dragon added and flapped it’s still powerful wings. “I have had very little food and some of my senses are quite weak. I could still fly, however.”
“But we’re here,” Gallif protested. “We can stop Zaslow and release you. The mountain could stay.”
“No,” the dragon said plainly. “It is so weak I have to recast on the mountain for it to remain in place. The tremors have already started. Once I stop the castings, it will fall.”
“Wouldn’t that destroy Zaslow as well?” Luvin asked.
“He has a source crystal and can cast jumps any time he wants so he could escape and take it with him. He has dozens of smaller focus crystals with him. His range would be limited compared to now, but he could start over.”
“So, the legend of the dragon’s ability to cast the most complicated and powerful casts are true. No one has ever been able to match the castings the legends tell us of.”
“Yes, that is true. He also has others who study and learn casts for him. Being human they were quite limited compared to us and he removed the ones who failed him. You took care of one of the others,” the dragon said to Gallif and then added, “No offence about your casting abilities.”
“None taken,” Gallif and Luvin both said.
“He’s at the other end of the tunnel. He doesn’t know you are up here.”
Gallif and Luvin faced each other and looked deeply into each other’s eyes. Luvin nodded that he was ready for the confrontation. Gallif smiled and was sure that his confidence was complete. Before she could leave there was just one more question she had to ask.
“What was your biggest mistake?” she asked and turned to face the dragon. “You said the casting on the bracelet was your second biggest mistake. What was the first?”
After a very long time, the dragon finally said, “We were desperate, we were losing the war and had to build the mountain to try and protect us. We needed a work force.”
“So, you turned to the elves,” Luvin cut in and said what they were both thinking. “Two evil forces working together.”
“No,” the dragon said ashamedly. “The elves numbered in millions and could help us build, but they were peaceful and kind.” The dragon took a deep breath as Gallif and Luvin glanced at each other. “They wouldn’t touch us because we were evil. I took away their ability to choose.”
Gallif’s hand went to her chest at the thought of what the dragon had said.
“You took away their right to choose,” she finally said panting heavily. “You cursed them.”
“Yes, my greatest cast, and my worst. I made sure that pure elves would always be willing to help us. They became evil because of my work and I have paid for it thousands of times,” the dragon said indicating the cuts on its
side. “In the centuries I have lain here I realized it was a horrible thing to do,” the dragon admitted. “At the time it seemed justified. I suppose that was more than you wanted to know,” it chuckled. “It’s just that I haven’t had a good conversation with anyone for so long.”
Gallif was panting so hard she could no longer stand and fell to her knees. Her face was covered with rage and sweat, and she brushed her red hair back. The image of Anamita’s last moments came to her again and again. She had killed elves and she had enjoyed it. The elves had had no choice but to act from an evil heart. She did. Was she any different? This question rocked her to the core. For the first time she felt real grief over Anamita’s death.
“You made them evil,” Gallif screamed and climbed to her feet. “The thousand years you suffered here is nothing to the hell that awaits you,” she spat the words out quickly.
She screamed as loud and as long as she could and charged forward with the flame sword ready to strike. Three strikes, four strikes, nine strikes, she lost count and finally the cursed bracelet around the dragon’s elbow broke into pieces.
“One last thing I demand of you,” she yelled shaking. “One thing you do for me or these chains stay in place and you never get that final flight.”
“One last chance at redemption,” the dragon said. “Even with your hatred you will give that to me?”
“I don’t care if you get your redemption or not,” she said making her feelings clear. “If you get a final flight you go to Atrexia and all the villages around the mountain. You warn them that it will fall and urge them to safety. Tell them to head to the northeast, northwest and south.”
“Agreed,” the dragon said.
“Luvin will guide you to make sure you reach the proper places,” Gallif said.
“What!” Luvin protested. “I will not leave you now, Gallif.”
“You must,” she put a hand to his chest and pleaded with him. “It’s almost blinded by age. You must take it to Atrexia and get out the word that this mountain will fall. Thousands will die if you don’t.” She stared at him begging him to do as she said. “I will defeat Zaslow. I will destroy him. You must save others,” she said.
