by G Clatworthy
Its long snout scented the air and it twisted its head from side to side as if releasing a crick in its long neck. It turned, narrowing its massive eyes and let out a roar that made my ears ring. Huge, sharp teeth filled the beast’s enormous mouth. It flicked its tongue out into the room, tasting the air menacingly.
Two arms clawed out, thick talons digging into the stone as if it were as unyielding as butter. It heaved its slender powerful body into the room. Large, leathery wings extended upwards as it roared again.
The storeroom we were in was no way near big enough for a dragon. It cracked its head on the ceiling, knocking out several large stones. I tried to squirm against the magical bonds holding me, to no avail. Slabs of ceiling crashed down close to me. The creature growled and bared its teeth. Its pointed tail snaked out and whipped round in anger. It caught a cultist and squashed the robed figure against the cellar wall.
The cultists scattered, pressing back against the walls. Several of them shook their hoods down in the confusion. One stopped next to where I was pinned against the wall and whined “Mama,” as he fell to his knees. A thick stench of urine filled my nostrils and I tried not to gag.
The dragon’s roar reverberated around the room, deafening me. My instinct was to press my hands over my ears but I couldn’t move. Others cowered before it, kneeling and covering their own ears. The dragon noticed them for the first time. It stopped and narrowed its eyes further, emanating power. The torchlight gleamed off of its red flank as it considered the cultists. It snaked its enormous head left and right, the spikes that crested its head glinting ominously.
The bearded elf was the first of the cultists to recover. He stepped forward. He started to say something in Draconic and bowed low in front of the dragon. It bent its majestic head down towards him and opened its mouth. Its flanks swelled with each breath it took.
The others were gazing at it with awe.
The leader smiled up at the dragon. The dragon seemed to smile back, curling its lips up. Its nostrils flared. It made a guttural noise that sounded similar to the Draconic language the elf had uttered. Without blinking an eye, it opened its mouth wider and snapped the elf up. He was gone in two bone-crunching bites.
The red magic threads vanished with the leader. I fell to the floor, my eyes wide with shock. The cultists were screaming now, making for the doorway. The dragon was still hungry. It pulled its large serpent-like body all the way into the room, keeping low to the ground. It clacked its jaws together fiercely as it grabbed the figures with robes.
It was immense. I was awestruck by this creature, frozen as I stared up at it in horror. Larger than the room we were in, every time it turned, pieces of wall and ceiling caved in. We would be crushed. Lorandir kicked me sharply. I turned away from the carnage and saw him gesturing with his head towards the passageway whilst shuffling backwards. I mimicked his shuffle, levering myself backwards on my bottom and pushing with my bound feet. We had nearly made it into the tunnel, when the dragon turned, snaking its head after a cultist. As it manoeuvred in the tight space, its spiked tail whipped round and caught me.
I was flicked across the room, into the boxes. Unable to brace for impact with my hands and feet tied, I was helpless. I bounced off the cardboard and into the wall. I heard something crack and felt pain explode through my side.
I tried to move and the pain intensified. Gasping, I squinted into the room. I blinked to try to focus as two enormous dragons swam in front of my eyes.
Lorandir had made it to the tunnel and pressed himself against the wall. It was better than my predicament, stuck in a room with a hungry dragon. It looked my way, emerald eyes blazing. I stayed still as the creature flicked out its tongue, scenting the air again. I was toast. Possibly literally if it could breathe fire. I hadn’t wanted this adventure and now I was going to die.
A movement caught its eye and it snapped its head around. A sulphurous smell filled the room, pungent and sharp. The monster spat out hot white flames, torching three of the Awakeners. I stared in horror as it devoured their charred remains. Its tail whipped round again and connected hard with my head. The world turned black.
Chapter 17
I awoke to the aftermath of chaos. The tangy scent of sulphur hung in the air. Lorandir was leaning over me looking concerned and calling my name while shaking my shoulders. As I blinked away the yellow sparks, his concern turned to relief.
“I thought you were dead,” he sounded emotional. I was still waking up and couldn’t process anything. He looked dishevelled. Dirt and soot streaked across his face and his long hair had been charred and burnt off. It now fell in jagged clumps, turning from blonde to black towards the ends.
“Don’t even worry about it,” I panted automatically as I pushed myself upright, sitting heavily against the wall. Pain shot through my side. My thinking was still fuzzy. My hands and feet had been untied. Loose strands of cable ties curled on the stones. The Fang Dagger was resting on the floor, the blade sparkled menacingly in the pale orange light. Light? I squinted. One of the torches had survived the dragon and sputtered weakly in the cellar.
The doorway had disappeared, along with half the steps that led upwards. In its place, a wide opening gaped out, letting in the cold night air. Large stones littered the room, wrested from centuries old walls. The faint glow of city street lights shone weakly through the destruction. Sirens sounded as city life continued outside. Strange dark stains spattered the grey stones.
“Wha..?”
Lorandir filled me in. The dragon had eaten most of the Awakeners, it was not a pretty eater. That explained the stains. I shuddered. A couple of cultists had tried to escape through the doorway. The dragon had chased them, ripping out the heavy door as it exited. Lorandir had crawled on his stomach through the debris to his sword and used it to saw through the bonds tying his hands and feet.
He tucked a filthy matted strand of hair behind my ear and left his hand there. He frowned and then I felt his other hand on my side where a burst of pain exploded along with purple stars in front of my eyes. Then his magic began to course through me.
The combination of honeyed mead and bittersweet chocolate was overwhelming. I moaned slightly.
“Am I hurting you?” his voice was gentle. I shook my head and placed my hand over his, keeping it pressed into my side, the warmth of his magic flooding me. I leaned towards him. It was strangely silent, as if the world had stopped and it was just us, cocooned in this destruction, safe in the midst of disaster. He bent his head over mine, and then we were kissing. It was a deep desperate lingering kiss.
A shout echoed down to us. He pulled away. Was he embarrassed? I frowned. I opened my mouth to ask him why, but then his hands and his magic was gone leaving me feeling empty and alone.
“Over here!” he shouted. I felt inexplicably awful, as if something special had been ruined. A policeman picked his way over to us and spoke into his radio. I stood and brushed off offers of help as we followed him upwards. On a whim, I picked up the Fang Dagger and tucked it next to Bane in my belt before climbing the destroyed steps and blinking in the bright spotlights set up over the entrance. He directed us to a woman in a suit who looked like she was having a bad day.
She introduced herself as Special Agent Jones, and rubbed her forehead. “Do you want to tell me what is the meaning of this?” she sounded pissed off. I thought it was unfair that we were the outlet for her anger, after all, we hadn’t done anything except try to stop this from happening.
“Well…A group of crazy cultists managed to raise a dragon and it looks like it escaped and destroyed part of Cardiff Castle.” I looked around. Part of the elegant stone wall supporting the main building had fallen, allowing enticing glimpses into the rich interior.
“I can see that,” she snapped. She started walking across the mangled lawn inside the castle walls, her heels sinking into the grass, and beckoned for us to follow as she crossed the drawbridge. There were only police cars around, lights flashing blue as they for
med road blocks along the main road. A few pedestrians were filming with smartphones while the police tried to push them back.
I heard my name and turned.
Aloora, Marco, Professor Maron and Gunther were all standing behind one of the roadblocks shouting and waving feverishly. I ran over and hugged all of them.
“Do not ever go off with no phone again. We were worried sick,” Marco chided.
“Don’t worry, I never want to get stuck in a tunnel or underground room with psychos again. Did you do this?” I gestured to the dozen police cars parked across the road lanes.
Aloora nodded proudly. “Yep. We called in a bomb scare here and at Castell Coch when I got your text,” Her expression turned serious, “We wanted to make sure there weren’t any innocent people around in case you couldn’t stop it.”
“Well we didn’t, did we? We failed,” I was gloomy.
The Professor put his hand on my shoulder in a conciliatory gesture and was about to speak when a clipped voice called out “Elrond!”
Aloora dropped her voice. “And the Professor called up a contact in the Magical Liaison Office, she was pretty pissed but she came along. She’s been really interested in what we’ve found out.”
“I think I’ve met her,” I turned to see Special Agent Jones striding towards us.
“Well?” she barked.
I shrugged. A guy in a bomber jacket approached the group and took some pictures, with a proper camera. I smoothed my hair down reflexively, then gave up after my hand got stuck on blue gunk, the lingering reminder of the goliath. Agent Jones glared at him and waved a badge, talking furiously as she drove him away. She rubbed her forehead, somehow avoiding messing up her neat bob haircut.
“Right. Go home, get some rest. We will talk about this later.” With that dismissal, she walked away.
Epilogue
I had never been so grateful for the tiny shower in my flat. I stayed in there for over an hour, scrubbing dirt, blood and blue goo off my body with all of my body scrubbers – loofahs, those weird net-like balls, exfoliator, you name it. I went through my entire supply of calming lavender body wash too and washed my hair five times to get out all of the gunk stuck in it. I left the silky conditioner in to try to calm the relentless frizz that my hair was stuck with, knowing that it wouldn’t have any significant impact in the morning. I pulled on my well-worn Iron Man pyjamas and sank into bed. Errol curled up on my feet and I slept.
I was woken by a loud rattling at the shop door and Errol growling in guard wyrm mode. Dazed and confused, I pulled on a hoodie and blearily walked downstairs. Agent Jones was there in a smart dark suit, rapping on the window angrily.
I had to go upstairs to find my key and was very tempted to leave her outside, but common sense prevailed and I dug the key out of my slime covered coat and let her in.
“About time.”
“Agent Jones, how lovely to see you, please do come in,” my voice was syrupy. She picked up on it and held her hands up in a pacifying gesture.
“Alright, sorry. I need to take your statement and then I’ll leave you be.”
A golden bracelet glinted against her tanned skin, a cat’s head was engraved into it with red jewels for eyes. She caught me staring and tweaked her suit sleeve to cover it again. I realised I hadn’t seen her ID last night, she could be anyone. I asked for it. She pulled it out of her fake patent crocodile skin handbag and handed it over with a roll of her eyes. I made a show of examining it even though I had no idea how to tell if it was real. I handed it back with a half grin.
“Ruth Jones?”
“Don’t even start with any Gavin and Stacey quips,” she warned. I guessed she’d heard them all. “Have you seen the news?”
I shook my head. “I’ve been asleep for… thirteen hours?” I did a double take at the clock hanging behind my counter. It was still working. I never slept for that long. Cultists and dragons really took it out of a girl.
“Was that a question?” Agent Jones raised her eyebrows, was she amused?
“No, no. I just didn’t realise. I need a drink. Tea?”
“Please. Black and one sugar,” I retreated to the forge to make the drinks, leaving her to look around my shop while I woke up properly. The routine of making hot drinks helping to bring me into the world of the living. I brought out the mugs. Without thinking I’d made her drink in the same Little Miss Sunshine cup I’d given Lorandir. Thinking of him brought a pang of guilt that I’d pushed him away when really I’d wanted to pull him closer.
“Are you OK?” Agent Jones studied me carefully. I blushed a fetching shade of beetroot and plonked the mugs onto the counter.
“Right, well let’s get started then shall we?” she took out a large notebook and a recording device from her handbag. I couldn’t work out how she fitted everything in there and was studying it curiously when she spouted her first question.
“Tell me what happened, from the beginning,” she spent the next two hours quizzing me about the events of the past week. She was very well informed and I guessed she’d spoken to the Professor and maybe the others already. I wondered if she had spoken to Lorandir. I’d been so exhausted yesterday, I hadn’t even checked where he was spending the night.
Eventually we finished. I’d choked a little when recounting the goliath attack and the dragon exploding out of the floor, but I thought I’d done alright. I was mentally exhausted now and wanted nothing more than to go back to bed.
“Well, your story ties in with what the others are telling me. You were very brave you know that?” Agent Jones’ voice had softened, almost with admiration. My puzzlement must have shown on my face because she added quickly, “Stupid but brave.”
She packed up her notebook and the recorder into the small handbag and held out a well manicured hand as if she was expecting something. I stared at her palm stupidly.
“The Dagger?”
“Erm…” How did she know I took it?
“The Magical Liaison Office will be taking that artefact into custody Ms Haernson, would you like me to get a warrant?” Her voice had hardened.
I held up my hands, “No, no, I’ll find it,” I left her downstairs as I went to find the relic. I hadn’t been thinking too hard about the Dagger when I got in last night and after a couple of false starts found it on the floor underneath a pile of soiled clothes.
“I’m glad to see you’ve taken care of it with the respect it deserves,” Agent Jones quipped as I handed it over to her, not bothering to wipe the bloodstains from it. She found a linen handkerchief in her bag and wrapped it around the blade. Then she pushed the Fang Dagger into her handbag and drew out a card. She handed it to me, “I’ll be in touch if I need anything else and if you need me, here’s my number.”
I held the card, debating whether to ask my next question. My curiosity was too high and it wasn’t like I was going to see Agent Jones again. I might as well ask. “You don’t know what happened to the elf do you?”
Agent Jones considered me but decided not to press for information. I was surprised she had that tact. “He went off with your friends. I spoke to him this morning. He’s fine if you’re worried.”
“I’m not worried,” I replied quickly, too quickly. I started to blush again and I pretended to study the neat lettering printed onto the thick card before putting it on the countertop, silently vowing never to get involved with the Magical Liaison Office again.
Agent Jones must have sensed my silent vow as she repeated her offer as she left. “Seriously, call me if you need to.”
I locked the door behind her and ran upstairs to check my phone. Out of battery. Schiztz, I had forgotten to charge it last night. I plugged it in then changed my Iron Man pyjama bottoms for some jeans and took Errol for a walk.
It was a fresh day after the rainstorm yesterday. The puddles reflected the blue sky and sunshine brightly. The roadblocks had gone and the city was back to life this morning. I noted that the Cardiff Castle gates were shut with a sign outside. Cu
riosity got the better of me and I walked over.
It mentioned that Cardiff Castle was regrettably shut for the foreseeable future and was undergoing renovations. That was an understatement. I walked away, following the wall towards the park, glad I couldn’t see the destruction inside. I thought I could smell a faint lingering odour of sulphur and smoke though. I imagined the stone animals perched on the wall were laughing at me. I shuddered and sped up.
I felt reinvigorated after trekking around Bute Park. I briefly wondered if the tunnel had led us under the open space before putting it out of my mind. On the way back home, I stopped to buy a paper as I still hadn’t caught up on the news.
Blurry pictures of something large swooping upwards out of the castle greeted me. I opened the paper, turning to the main pages and was horrified to see a picture of me looking a mess and Lorandir standing behind me, managing to look handsome even with dirt smeared on his face. Life wasn’t fair. I tucked the paper under my arm and ran home. Errol grunted unhappily at the pace and I gave him a large scoop of coal as an apology before making myself another cup of tea and stomping upstairs.
The article was short on facts and long on speculation. They had dug out my name somehow though, and both the Professor and Aloora had given quotes to the press. That would drive her online subscribers up, I thought unkindly. After I’d reread the article, I checked my phone.
Texts from Aloora and Marco asking if I was OK. Missed calls from several unknown numbers, I wondered if that was Agent Jones, glad my phone had run out of battery. My heart flew into my mouth, a missed call from Mum and another from Dad. Schiztz.
I texted Aloora and Marco to let them know I was alive, and surfed the BBC news website for a bit. Articles on the dragon were everywhere along with video clips of something large flying away from the castle. One claimed that the dragon had started to make a nest in the Millennium Stadium. That was not going to be popular with the sports fans. The Wales rugby captain and the Cardiff Blues football team had both commented on that in the sports section I noted. So it had definitely happened and now I was living in a world with dragons. I didn’t know any Dwarfish swear words that covered that. I closed the browser.
