“We’ll put the lantern out in a few minutes. We just needed to see enough to prepare,” Perceval responded.
“I’ll take care of the dragon’s vision,” Jezebel said, pulling four small orbs from her pack and proceeding to set them in all four corners of the tower chamber.
“What are those?” Cornelia asked, looking wary.
“A little present from my superior. I used them in my tent the last two nights, but I think they will cover the entire chamber since it is already roofed,” Jezebel answered.
“What does ‘roofing’ have to do with those orbs?” asked Perceval.
“Their magic is tightly localized to only a few people or the size of a tent out in the open. It will make anyone and anything within their combined sphere invisible to all four types of sight. The overlap, however, can be small in the open, but in a building or structure the natural elements enhance the orbs. Now, if you don’t mind, I don’t have all night to educate the ignorant on the science of the arcane,” Jezebel said.
Perceval just shrugged, but Cornelia appeared confused. “Four types of sight?”
“Who knows with these Kesh,” Perceval whispered back. Jezebel didn’t seem to notice, but her porter, Kris, appeared to look in their direction, before resuming his duties of setting up Jezebel’s sleeping roll by placing tent poles and other items to elevate her bedding, so she wouldn’t sleep on the ground at night. Perceval quickly ordered the lantern extinguished, and the chamber was plunged into darkness. Only the faintest of starlight shone in from the open stairwell, and everyone soon settled in for the night.
Soon the twin sisters rose, offering better illumination, and shortly thereafter Felix returned with Pascal. Both men were dripping wet, and their hair was ruffled as it clung to their faces.
“So? What in Agon happened to you two?” Perceval asked.
Felix nodded to Pascal to speak.
“Nothing moving anywhere near here, but not long ago we heard something strange, like a large creature moving through the water. We fear the beast does not have to fly overhead to transit its lair. It could be close to us even now.”
“It’s a good thing you made it back when you did,” Perceval said almost in a whisper. “The Kesh lady set some sort of magic in the chamber to confuse the beast’s vision, but this doesn’t explain why you’re both so wet.”
“That was wise,” Felix said. “I have the idea that the dragon sees better in the dark than in the light. We will not venture forth again until sunrise and wait to see what happens during the night. I had a bad feeling upon me as if we were being watched, though I could not see anything, so I returned here by an alternate route.”
“What do you mean? Is there some other way into this tower?” Perceval asked.
“No,” Pascal chimed in. “But the ranger found a subterranean network of corridors just under the surface, linking what appeared to be tower to tower in a chain, as if it were an old city wall. The corridor underneath us is completely flooded, so we swam from one tower to the next and then approached here along the outer wall. I think it was once an old moat.”
“A little melodramatic, I suppose, but if you felt you were being watched, then I guess prudence dictated a better course of action for you. Come get dried off, and stay within the chamber for now.”
So the third night ended, and the watches were uneventful, until just before the dawn. Suddenly, as if the skies had spit forth an immense thunderbolt, there was a roar as deep as thunder and close to them.
There was a thrashing of the water, and several large thuds could be heard, as well as the falling of large stones or rocks into the swampy waters. The group all awoke, at least those who were not on watch, and they all sat silently in fear as the deafening roar came one last time. Then the distinct sound of something entering the water was heard before everything went silent.
“What was that?” the guard Waleren asked in the dark.
Felix quickly responded, “That, my dear fellow, was a dragon.”
Chapter 19
Dragon
Qui Amatha returned to her lair, swimming through the large but shallow depression that was the entrance to the low-hanging cavern in which she made her domicile.
She had swum out not long after sunset, and was just about ready to leap into the sky for her hunt, when she had spied the small figure crawling along the swampy ruins. She almost killed the man then and there, but he was alone and she knew there were more of the humans nearby. Her cunning mind started to devise a plan.
She lay in wait just under the water, with her head halfway out, much like a crocodile would do in river water. After an hour the small figure met with another human and the two started to work their way to the east side of the ancient ruins. She moved silently and deadly through the water, keeping well back since she knew the humans liked to travel in large packs. She didn’t want to allow her prey to escape or raise an alarm.
But then they did disappear. First they were there, shining brightly in the infrared as they tried to walk silently through the dark murky waters. Then they disappeared into the low sitting remains of a structure at the eastern edge of the ruins and never appeared again. Qui Amatha waited patiently, despite the rising of the twin dragons and their illuminating shine. Patiently she waited till the eastern sky started to turn purple with the foretelling of the coming dawn.
Anger took over at that point, and she could wait no longer. She quickly swam over and smashed the already ruined structure, bellowing a roar of challenge to the puny humans. The structure gave way, and the many individual blocks that made up its walls crumbled and fell into the waters under her attack, but she could not find any sign of her prey. She looked all around and saw nothing.
The ancient city had always been a source for her minions, and she thought of calling them forth now but hesitated. She would be vulnerable in a trance-like state while she made the summoning, and she had no drone or other servant to stand watch for her. Besides, even with the minions, they needed a target, and now the great black drake Qui Amatha had none.
So with great regret she returned to her lair, plotting her vengeance for the humans who had dared to kill her drone and enter her domain.
The events of the prior night were not lost on the group. Several of the soldiers asked out loud how they were supposed to prevail over such a beast. The killing of a dragon always sounded so logical and within the realm of possibility when one was safely tucked away within the walls of a city or a castle with one’s fellows all about him, but out here things were different.
Felix and Pascal left again at first light, and the group ate a meager cold breakfast of jerked beef, pickled eggs, and some bread that was quickly becoming moldy in the humid swamp. Everyone was armored, with weapons at the ready, when the two scouts returned.
“We found the beast’s lair and a way in!” Pascal exclaimed with excitement, which was not shared by the rest of the group.
“Oh, joy,” Jezebel said mockingly.
“It’s now or never then,” Perceval said, looking around at everyone.
“You just had to use that cliché, didn’t you, Perceval?” Jezebel asked, a slight frown crossing her face.
“Have you forgotten how to smile, or are the Kesh not capable of that facial expression?” Cornelia asked as she stepped towards Jezebel.
Kris, Jezebel’s porter, stepped forward as well to intercept the tall holy warrior, and Olivia noted that the actual bodyguard—Azor, she thought his name was—stood behind the other two Kesh. He held his walking stick tightly, still wrapped in its burlap cloth, and that struck her as odd, but before she could notice anything more, Perceval stepped in as usual and diffused the situation.
“Enough! Jezebel is a Balarian, not Kesh, but that is irrelevant. Gear up and let’s move, ladies,” Perceval said.
Cornelia and Jezebel stared at each other for a moment longer, and then they broke eye contact and stepped outside to follow Pascal. Felix brought up the rear, and Olivia hung back to spe
ak with him, leaving most of their gear inside the chamber.
“Did you see that?” she asked Felix.
“What?” he said.
“Well . . . never mind. It really doesn’t matter, but what do you think? Will we encounter the dragon soon?”
“Aye, and I think you are thinking what I am thinking—time to partake of the good historian’s gift?”
Olivia nodded and reached into her belt pouch to pull out the vial. She thought she should have drank it that very morning, but she had wanted to discuss it with the ranger first. “Are you sure you found the dragon’s lair? I’d hate to waste this. We will have only one day till sunrise tomorrow if we take it now.”
Felix continued to walk, following the four men-at-arms who were bringing up the rear, and he slowed his pace enough so that the last soldier would have a hard time hearing him. “I am positive, and that is why we departed the way we did, with Pascal leading and me following, as I wanted to make sure you took your potion.”
“I’ll take mine only if you take yours,” she whispered back.
Felix nodded, and then pulled his vial out, unstoppered it, and with a quick look ahead downed it all in one swallow. “Now your turn,” he said.
“Alright,” Olivia said, and she did the same. The black fluid felt like it was slightly less runny than bees’ honey, and it had a slightly acidic flavor to it, much like her mother’s vinegar that was used to pickle cucumbers from the family’s garden. She felt it disrespectful to just throw the vial away, so she restoppered it and then secured it back in her belt’s inner pocket.
After several minutes, Felix turned to her. “Do you feel any different?”
“Not at all. I wouldn’t be surprised if the old, but noble, man got snookered on this deal.”
Felix smiled and then motioned ahead. “I’ll take the lead.”
Felix moved his way forward, passing the guards, who were using their pikes as if they were large walking sticks as they navigated the murky waters. Olivia brought up the rear, and they marched this way till they reached what she thought was the center of the ruins. There, sticking up through the water, was a small hill that covered the area.
Felix spoke to the group as they huddled behind a small, half-torn wall near the hill. “There, under the hill, is the dome of some kind of roof. Dirt and mud have compacted over the dome and created a grassy area so that it looks like part of a naturally occurring terrain feature, but underneath is a large chamber area. I think there was once a ruling hall for whatever king or noble commanded these lands and this city. That is where the beast lies.”
“So where is this ‘way in’?” Perceval asked.
“Let me show you,” Felix said, guiding the group into a square building that was similar to the tower ruin that they had just slept in.
“Here.” Pascal pointed inside.
There, along the inner edge, was a stairwell, but it went down instead of up the way their chamber had done.
“What is this?” Perceval asked.
“I believe this whole area was once above ground and it sat higher than it does now. This passageway runs to that hill, or the domed structure. I went down there this morning just far enough to ensure we could use it, but not far enough to see if the other end is clear. I thought I heard noises from the far end, so I returned. I suggest we try this first and not swim to it through the northern end. That way, I think, is how the dragon enters and exits the dome.”
“I can see the wisdom in not walking—well, I guess I should say not swimming—through its front door,” Perceval said. “Fine, let’s do this then. I will lead, but I need support. Who will follow?”
Jezebel leaned forward. “My men and I will lead. It is much too dangerous for any one of you, and besides, we will need your pike men at the right time, Sir Perceval. You’ll need to lead them and bring up the rear.”
“That doesn’t sound like the appropriate place for the duke’s representative,” Perceval said.
“You will still lead, but from the middle, allowing me to use the arcane devices that was given to me. Otherwise, why bring a Kesh representative on such a mission? Besides, I’m sure the tall holy woman will walk by my side to represent your Crown in this matter, no?” Jezebel said nicely as she smiled at Cornelia.
Perceval shrugged and looked at Cornelia as well. “You will lead with the Kesh representative, then, Fist of Astor?”
Olivia noted the sudden formality and understood that it was the only way the man would allow himself to be usurped and sent to the middle of the group.
Cornelia looked at Jezebel and then back to Perceval. “I will stand by the Kesh and fight,” she said.
“It’s settled then,” Jezebel said, pulling a few items from her pack and readying them, though Olivia could not see what they were. She suspected they were small fire sticks or some other arcane vision-enhancing items.
“I’ll lead them in,” Pascal said, looking fatefully at Felix.
“Fine, I’ll bring up the rear,” Felix said.
Cornelia leaned over and whispered into Olivia’s ear, “Stay close to me. I don’t trust her.”
Olivia just nodded as the group headed down the slippery stairwell and into the dark corridor beneath. Pascal led, holding a small lit fire stick, as did a couple of soldiers. Jezebel and Cornelia went next, followed by Jezebel’s bodyguard, then Olivia, and right behind her was the porter, Kris, and Perceval, with his men-at-arms. Finally Felix brought up the rear. Once into the flooded stone hallway, Olivia drew her sword and felt her pendant beneath her tunic and chain mail.
They moved on for what seemed like a couple hundred yards before there was a halt. They had reached the domed chamber, and Pascal had stopped the group. Perceval moved up to discuss how they were to proceed, as part of the corridor wall had caved in and they would have to move single file to enter the structure.
Finally, with great effort they left all chance of stealth behind them, lit several more fire sticks, and moved out of the hallway and into a large domed, dark chamber, sloshing water as they moved.
Olivia entered and saw immediately a huge mound of dirt or mud in the center of the chamber, with scattered bones, tree branches, various treasures, and accoutrements from the garbs of people long since deceased. There was, however, no sign of the dragon, and they approached the mound warily.
The bodyguard, Azor, had taken something from Kris, and it looked like the same tent pole that he had wrapped in old burlap. But now it had a metallic sheen to it as he had unwrapped it during their walk through the underground hallway.
There were various stones and other items sticking out from the water, and the group heard a hissing sound as if water were vaporizing. They turned to look back where Perceval and his men were and saw that a stone jutting from the water was smoldering as if on fire. Slowly the group looked up, and there, clinging to the dark domed ceiling, was a pair of large glowing red eyes, staring at them.
“Dragon!” Perceval shouted, but that was all he could say as the men raised their pikes overhead, and then they were covered by a reeking black ooze that was hurled from above. Their shrieks of pain were intense as the acid from the beast melted both skin and metal. Olivia shouted as she clutched her pendant and started to run back towards Felix, who had disappeared under the shallow water as he fell on his back, also covered in the beast’s black acid.
“No!” Cornelia cried to Olivia. “Come to me!” she motioned forward.
The great beast suddenly let go of its perch atop the inner domed ceiling and dropped to the ground. It turned from its head-down position and flared its huge wings to arrest its fall as it landed on the poor scout Pascal, its massive legs crushing the man into the mound, just in front of Jezebel and Cornelia.
Cornelia swung her sword in a huge arc that smote the beast’s scaly chest, knocking several scales loose and drawing a line of black blood from the wound.
Jezebel dove to the side as the great black dragon reared back and hurled a second glob of black
acid at those in the lead.
Cornelia took the brunt of the acid and started to scream as she dropped her sword and vainly attempted to claw the burning armor from her body. It was too late. To Olivia’s horror the Fist of Astor started to disintegrate under the black liquid, quickly becoming silent and falling on the edge of the dragon’s treasure mound.
Jezebel also disappeared under the water, and Olivia wondered what the outspoken woman was thinking to lead this party, when she had nothing to fight with other than her dagger.
Olivia had reversed course, running past the staff-wielding bodyguard to come to Cornelia’s aid, when suddenly she heard him say, “Ne begai sobaki.” Then from behind her an intense blue light shot out and lit up the entire chamber. Olivia was paralyzed completely in midstride and almost toppled over. She saw the dragon rearing on its hind legs, mouth opened wide to either bite or spew forth its vile acid again, and suddenly it too stopped moving and seemed frozen in its stance, appearing prepared to lunge.
Jezebel surfaced from the waters, and then stood upright. She suddenly stooped over, putting her hands, the right one still clutching her golden hilted dagger, on her knees, and she started to laugh. She laughed as she raised herself, eyes closed, and her mirth echoed across the chamber eerily.
Then, looking right at her bodyguard, she stopped laughing and said, “By Akun and his twin sisters that was perfect timing, Am-Azor. A few seconds more and I think it would have eaten me whole.”
Olivia could move her eyes, barely, and the bodyguard was behind her, not visible, though she could hear him walking up to her. She saw Kris walk up to Jezebel to see if she needed assistance, and he dropped a large pack on the edge of the mound, where it was relatively dry. Olivia now noted that each of them wore a ring that was also glowing with an intense blue light, and she understood that somehow the rings allowed them to move, despite the paralyzing blue light from the wizard’s staff.
The Black Dragon: A Claire-Agon Dragon Book (Dragon Series 1) Page 22
