by Eric Vall
From up here, we could see the entire Mahigan city, and as I looked back at the rest of the village, I realized we’d walked through the least damaged part of the town. Most of it was completely demolished. Houses were nothing but piles of ash, and what looked like a market had been razed to the ground. Wolves used wheelbarrows and carts to move dead bodies from the middle of the road to a pyre at the end of the village.
It was disheartening to see the destruction. It looked nearly as bad as Hatra when I’d first arrived.
What the hell kind of dragon would do something like this?
I shook my head to clear my anger and focus on the task at hand. The army behind us spread out along the front of the hut and stood guard as we followed Tunkay inside. The first room we stepped into smelled like cinnamon and honey, and I realized with an inner grumble that we’d missed breakfast and likely weren’t going to be offered it here.
Tunkay led us through another doorway into a huge room where five Mahigans sat in a circle. They all had varying levels of gray fur, which I assumed meant they were much older than the soldiers we’d already encountered. They also didn’t seem the least bit surprised when we entered the room. In the center of the circle of old wolves sat a small bowl with tendrils of white smoke that curled toward a tiny gap in the grass ceiling. The bowl seemed to be the source of the sweet smell, though I had no idea what they were doing with it.
“Sir Alpha,” one of the gray-furred men rumbled. “You surprise us.”
Well, I guessed wrong on that one.
“Elders, I have spoken with the dragon lord of Hatra,” Tunkay said in a deliberate tone. “I have brought him here to discuss the matter at hand. It seems we may have made a mistake.”
“A mistake?” another Elder hissed as they all finally opened their eyes and turned to face us. “We do not make mistakes.”
“I’m afraid you may have in this case,” I interjected. “My name is Lord Evan of Hatra, and I am the dragon you sent Tunkay to fight.”
The Elder Mahigans gasped and whispered among themselves until Tunkay held up his clawed hand.
“While I respect your role in this village, I am still the Alpha,” he thundered. “And I have determined that we will allow the dragon lord to speak.”
“Thank you,” I replied awkwardly. “Anyway, I couldn’t have attacked your village because, well, one, I wouldn’t do that, but also, I wasn’t anywhere near here. I was with the king.”
“King Rodion?” one of the Elders asked as he rose to his feet and eyed me with curiosity. “You have such ties? You are such a young dragon.”
“Well, I’m married to his daughter,” I chuckled. “So, I’d say His Eminence and I are fairly close.”
“You are the future king, then?” another of the gray-furred wolves wondered.
“I am,” I confirmed, which was followed by another round of hushed murmurs. “Which is why I came here to help you solve your problem. I have some experience with hunting down monsters, and I intend to help with yours.”
“You would slay a fellow dragon for us?” the standing Elder asked with utter disbelief in his tone. “One of your own kind?”
“I’m not convinced it was a dragon,” I hedged. “Tell me what you saw.”
“Well, you’re the first dragon most of us have ever seen,” Tunkay said with a glance at the Elders. “Before today, only one has seen a real dragon. It was Elesh.”
The only Elder who had yet to speak rose to his feet. His fur was completely white, and for some reason, I felt like I was looking at the Mahigan version of Mr. Miyagi. He balanced his weight with a withered wooden cane, and he click-clacked his way closer to me as he took in my appearance.
“The dragon I saw was never in human form,” Elesh mused. “He said the human body was not worth taking because it was weak.”
“I believe each of my forms has its strengths,” I countered. “What do you know about the attack on your village?”
“I know the creature flew overhead,” he said in his raspy voice. “It circled the village, intent on destroying everything it could. Flames landed on nearly every surface and tore through the land with rage.”
“Did the creature spit out the flames?” I pressed. “Did you see that happen?”
“I could not see through the fire,” Elesh admitted. “It was thick and poured over our town as though a volcano had erupted.”
“What about its scales?” I wondered. “Did you see what color they were?”
“Scales…” the Elder hummed as he tapped on the handle of his cane. “I don’t recall seeing scales, only darkness. The creature was as black as the night sky it flew in.”
“Do you mind if we talk to your people?” I asked. “Maybe we could get a better idea of what we’re hunting if we can get more information from them.”
Elesh watched me with the same pale-yellow eyes as Tunkay’s before he turned to his fellow Elders and dipped his head.
“Go ahead,” he conceded. “We will await your return.”
“Thank you, Elders,” Tunkay declared before he turned to me and lowered his voice. “Now, go find that dragon, or I will ensure I still have a dragon’s head to serve to the Elders.”
“Perhaps they’d rather have the head of an incompetent Alpha,” I sneered before I turned on my heels and strode out of the hut.
“He sure is pleasant,” Naomi muttered as we stepped into the morning light.
“I’d like to tear his tongue out for the way he speaks to us,” Aaliyah growled as her claws stretched from her fingertips.
“While I normally wouldn’t mind that, either, we have something to hunt,” I pointed out. “Let’s figure out what it is. Split into groups of two and ask the people what they saw the other night.”
Aaliyah and Rebecca immediately paired up and walked toward a group of female Mahigans who watched from the other end of the hut. Miraya and Naomi headed back toward town, while Nike and Laika began to talk to the soldiers who kept guard outside the Elders’ hut. I laced my fingers through Alyona’s, and we made our way toward the other end of the hut, where a group of younger Mahigans kicked around a ball.
“Hey, guys,” I started before one of them dropped to all fours and growled at me. “Whoa, buddy. I’m just trying to ask a few questions about the attack.”
“You mean your attack?” the young male hissed through bared teeth. “I can smell a dragon a mile away.”
“Is that what you smelled when the city was under attack?” I asked.
“I didn’t have to!” he insisted, though I noticed his hackles no longer stood up as he shuffled away from me. “We all knew it was a dragon!”
“Okay, listen,” Alyona sighed. “We all know very few dragons are left on Inati. Did the creature that attacked you smell like him?”
The young Mahigans looked to each other for a moment before a young female stepped forward.
“No, milady,” she answered in a soft voice before she pointed at me. “He smells like burning wood. The thing that burned our village smelled like singed flesh.”
“You don’t know anything,” one of the boys retorted as he pushed her back into the group. “Fire smells like fire.”
“No, it doesn’t,” I argued. “She’s right, and you don’t have to push her around like that.”
“I can do whatever I want to her,” he snorted. “She’s just going to be a den mother anyway.”
“Am not!” the girl shouted. “I can be a warrior, too!”
“I think you can be anything you set your mind to,” Alyona told the girl with a kind smile.
“As long as she sets it to being a den mother,” the first boy scoffed. “Her father already determined her fate.”
“Okay, what is a den mother?” I demanded.
My mind filled with images of Boy Scouts and the mother figures of the groups who always made sure we had cookies and tents for our camping trips.
“The one who births our pups,” the second boy laughed. “She won’t be a warrior, th
ough she might make a few.”
I swallowed the bile that had risen into my throat as I imagined the poor girl in front of me being treated like a puppy mill. I had to resist the urge to carry her far away from this village, and I sensed Alyona’s anger warm up the air next to me.
“We can only do so much,” I murmured to her before I turned back to the group of young wolves. “Thanks for your help, and, ah, don’t be afraid to speak out if you need something from us. Okay?”
I looked pointedly at the female Mahigan, who nodded her head ever so slightly as though she understood my point. I wouldn’t whisk her away because I wanted to, but I would do it if she asked.
We turned around and spoke with a few more Mahigans around the village before we met up with the rest of our group in front of the Elders’ hut.
“Not a dragon?” I asked the other duos.
“Not a dragon,” Nike agreed. “But I think I know how to track it.”
“You do?” I was intrigued.
“Yeah, the desert is just east of town,” he explained. “We’re going to find the real monster.”
Chapter 5
“So, we all know it’s not a dragon,” Laika murmured as we walked toward the east end of the village. “But do we know what it is?”
“We know it smells more like burning skin than a campfire,” I scoffed. “At least one of the wolf kids was smart enough to notice that.”
“One of the women said it also didn’t have scales,” Aaliyah said. “It was more like oily black skin.”
“And its wings were thinner than yours,” Miraya added. “One of the shopkeepers in town said he could almost see through them.”
“How did they think this was a dragon?” I muttered. “We aren’t the only ones with fire and wings.”
“They were scared,” Alyona reminded me with a gentle hand on my arm. “If only Elesh had seen one before, the others must have assumed he would be certain.”
“I suppose,” I grumbled. “At least we’re on the right track now. And what track is that, by the way?”
I looked to my fellow noble whose head seemed to be on a swivel as he assessed the worsening damages the further east we walked.
“I’m not sure,” Nike mused and ran his hand through his black hair. “But the other guards noticed ashes fell everywhere it flew.”
“Not from the fire?” I wondered.
“No, they fell from the beast itself,” he explained. “Almost like it was shedding them.”
“How odd,” Rebecca said and twisted a lock of auburn hair around her clawed finger. “You know what else is strange? No one seemed to know how the beast was spewing the fire.”
“It didn’t come from its mouth?” My eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“Nope,” Naomi piped up. “The people we spoke with noticed that as well. The creature would scream and roar, but the fire didn’t come out like that.”
“So, what the fuck are we dealing with?” I grunted before I chuckled to myself. “A shitfire?”
“Is that an Earth beast?” Laika asked as her gray eyes widened in disbelief.
“Ah, no,” I laughed. “But I guess we’re going to just have to be ready for anything. Have you picked up on the trail?”
“I think so,” Nike confirmed as we reached the edge of town and stared out into the desert. “Look.”
I did a quick double-take as we all peered out across the shimmering silvery-blue sand, but it was hard to tell where the desert sand ended and the ocean beyond it began. Then I noticed what Nike had pointed at, and I looked down to see flakes of black and gray ash that looked dull against the pale-blue backdrop.
“Ashes,” Alyona gasped.
“A perfect trail of them,” Nike agreed.
“Let’s go,” I decided as I pulled the Sword of Hatra from my belt and glanced at Miraya. “Since we don’t know what we’re up against, I think the sword needs all the power it can get.”
“Of course, my lord.” The spirit nodded before she disappeared with a flash and reappeared in my spiritual sea.
I watched in my mind’s eye as Miraya made herself comfortable on the sand of my sea and stared out across the open water. Before I’d found the Sword of Healing, Miraya had rarely taken her corporeal form. Now, it was almost odd to have her back in my head when I was so used to her standing next to me.
We walked out into the desert and tracked the flakes of ash across the sand for nearly an hour before Nike held out his hand in silence. Then he pointed to a dune about ten yards ahead. In the middle of the sandy hill, a perfectly round hole had been carved out to create an entrance to some sort of cave.
I motioned for everyone to stay quiet as Nike and I led them toward the cave. Just before the entrance, we could see where the creature had landed, and a set of four footprints left clear indentions in the sand.
“They’re smaller than mine,” I whispered as I pointed them out to the others. “And each foot only has two toes in the front and one in the back.”
“Much different than dragon anatomy,” Alyona agreed under her breath. “I still don’t know what it is, though.”
“Whatever it is, we have to find it and keep it away from the Mahigans,” I determined. “Let’s go.”
Nike and I slipped through the entrance first, and the cave was surprisingly hot. Even though the desert air had been warm, most underground desert spots were cool, but the beast’s hideout was stifling. The air was thick and humid, and I had to tamp down the urge to cough.
We crept further into the tunnel as it widened, and I realized it wasn’t as dark as I’d expected, either. In fact, it seemed to be getting brighter the further down we traveled as though we were walking closer to the sun, and I could hear the faint sound of what seemed to be popping bubbles.
Then the tunnel suddenly veered right, and I almost stumbled as I stopped abruptly and stared into the cavern with wide eyes.
“Oh, my gods,” Aaliyah whispered.
In the center of the cavern was a large pool of lava. It rolled and boiled, which explained the bubble sounds I’d heard on the way down here, and only the outer rim of the cavern and a single island in the center was made of solid ground. I scanned the cavern for any signs of the beast, and then I saw it.
The beast clung to the wall above the lava and stared into the molten liquid with the orange pool reflected in its beady black eyes. Its skin was a glossy black, and its outstretched wings reminded me of a bat with thin gray webbing between narrow black fingers. It was only about half the size of my dragon form, but something told me it was more powerful than it looked.
And it wasn’t impressed with our sneaky appearance.
The creature released a shrill cry that sounded like a bird and a cat having a fight in its throat, and then it shoved off the sandy wall and dove toward us.
As I held my blade out to stand my ground, the beast dipped lower than I’d expected and swooped into the lava.
The fuck?
My confusion was soon answered as it flew back out of the orange liquid and soared above us. Lava dripped from its wings onto the ground at my feet, and I cursed as I realized that’s how the beast had fooled the Mahigans. It didn’t bellow fire like I did, but it seemed to have the ability to consume the lava and drop it onto its unsuspecting victims.
There wasn’t enough room for me to take my dragon form and still be able to move, so I had to stay in my human form, but I wasn’t sure how to protect anyone else from the boiling lava in the center of the cavern.
I looked at Nike and nodded as he sighed.
I’d have to handle this alone and on foot.
The creature flew up the wall above the tunnel where we stood, and I rushed forward to scale the narrow rim around the lava pit. I formed a fiery shield to protect me from the beast’s lava as it looped around the cavern and flew toward me again, and as it swooped down to deliver another fiery rain, I held my shield tight and gripped my sword.
How the hell was I going to go after something flying ar
ound when I currently couldn’t fly?
The hellish beast dove down into the lava again, and I took the opportunity to jump across the pit and land on the island in the center just as the creature emerged from the lava in front of me.
I swung my blade in a wide arc that cut across its torso, and the surprised beast let out another shriek, though this one was clearly due to pain as a thin line of its orange blood trickled from the slice across its chest. It flapped its wings above my head, and I lifted my shield to avoid the lava droplets that sizzled on the ground around me.
As it hovered above me, I remembered my agreement with the Alpha. I was supposed to deliver the beast alive, so they could exact their own revenge.
Dammiiiiiit.
I opened my mouth and released a plume of my petrification magic that billowed out from under my shield toward the black creature. The yellow-green cloud floated above me, and I risked a glance around my shield to see the beast breathe it in.
I prepared myself to jump to the side before it crashed down, but nothing happened.
The beast cawed again and soared toward the wall, where it dug its three-toed feet into the hardened sand and stared at me with angry black eyes.
“Uhhh, why didn’t that work?” I called out.
“It must be impervious to petrification!” Alyona answered. “You’ll have to try something else!”
“I don’t have many non-lethal options,” I grumbled.
I decided to try my webs, and I launched a huge splay of the sticky strings toward the beast. The web splatted against the creature and stuck to the wall behind him. I’d hoped the sticky binding would hold it against the wall, but the beast released another wave of lava from its wings, and the webs burned and melted away.
Then I had another idea.
I would have to break my promise to Tunkay, but I had a feeling a dead whatever-this-was would be better than leaving it to attack them again.
I sheathed the Sword of Hatra and conjured a fiery bow and arrow. The beast flew off the wall again and soared overhead, and I wondered if the blow to its chest was the reason it stayed away from me, but it didn’t matter. I only needed one shot, thanks to the target precision skill I’d assimilated.
