The Battle of Iron Gulch

by R. G. Thomas

  “Help!”

  The cry came from Thaddeus’s left, and he hurried over, his father close behind. Aisha was crouched with her back against a wall, holding close a woman’s still form. A goblin skulked nearby, and Nathan killed it with a swift slash of his knife.

  “Take care of her,” his father said. “I’m going to help the others.”

  “Be careful!” Thaddeus called after him, then turned to kneel beside Aisha. “Are you all right?”

  Aisha’s eyes were wide, and her lip trembled as she shook her head. “No, what the hell kind of question is that? What’s going on? What are these things?”

  “We’re here to help,” Thaddeus said and touched her shoulder, feeling just how much she trembled. “You’re safe now.”

  Aisha shook her head. “I don’t think I’ll ever be safe again. Why did some of the people bring us here? To feed us to these monsters? Why would they do that?”

  “They’re not people,” Thaddeus said. “They’re monsters too, and they disguised themselves to gain your trust and slowly feed off the town.”

  Aisha stared at him. “That’s crazy.”

  “I know, but look around—don’t you believe me?” Thaddeus asked.

  She hesitated a moment but then nodded. “I do. I don’t want to, but I do.” She tipped her head to the left to see around Thaddeus, and then her eyes widened even more and she screamed.

  Thaddeus turned and got to his feet, knife in hand. But no ghoul or goblin was sneaking up on him. Instead, he saw the Bearagon had bounded out of a dark passage he had not noticed before and torn into a group of ghouls. The skins worn by the ghouls shredded under the Bearagon’s attack, and as strips of flesh fluttered in the cool air of the mine, Thaddeus could see the true greenish gray skin that lay underneath.

  The Bearagon was just as frightening as he remembered. As big as a bear and covered with thick fur, it had the snout and jaws of a wolf. Its legs were long and muscular, like a wolf’s, but ended in sharp, curved claws like a bear. Golden eyes and a long tail covered with spikes every few inches were the dragon elements. Thaddeus hadn’t seen the Bearagon breathe fire, but it wouldn’t surprise him if it did.

  He forced himself to look away from the Bearagon. “Aisha, you have to run.”

  “What is that thing?” Aisha asked.

  “Dangerous. Come on, you have to go.”

  “I’m not leaving my momma,” Aisha replied.

  Teofil ran up. “Aisha, you have to leave!”

  “Not without my momma!”

  “Here!” Vivienne shouted.

  Thaddeus looked around and saw her standing by a mine cart on the other side of the cavern, far away from where the Bearagon was massacring ghouls. The others fought ghouls and the few goblins that remained. Astrid used her slingshot to throw a rock at the Bearagon and the beast roared when it was struck between the eyes. Dulindir tried to get to it, but the ghouls were keeping him, Miriam, Rudyard, and Nathan occupied.

  The mine cart looked to still have its wheels on the tracks but was without power, and Thaddeus didn’t know what good it would do them.

  “Bring them over and I’ll make it move,” Vivienne called. “Come on!”

  The Bearagon bit and clawed at ghouls, tossing the bodies toward the rest of Thaddeus’s group to keep them at bay. Thaddeus tried to conjure up flames in his palms, but nothing happened. He was too tired from the previous thunderclap to do another one so soon. He helped Teofil carry Aisha’s mother around the edge of the cavern, away from the Bearagon, and Aisha followed, one hand gripping the back of Thaddeus’s shirt. They loaded Aisha’s mother as gently as possible into the cart with a few other survivors who had been hiding behind rocks. Thaddeus helped Aisha in herself, and then stepped back as Vivienne cast her spell. The cart rolled smoothly along the tracks and out of the chamber, Aisha peering at them from over the back as it disappeared from view.

  “I hope they’ll be okay,” Thaddeus said.

  “Better up there than they would be down here,” Teofil said, squeezing his hand.

  The Bearagon pounced on the last standing ghoul and killed it with a great swipe of its paw. The creature looked right at Thaddeus for a long moment, golden eyes blazing in the dim light from the suspended orb. Thaddeus wondered if it was considering whether or not to attack him next.

  Teofil stepped in front of Thaddeus, knife held ready. Astrid threw another rock that the Bearagon dodged, and then Dulindir ran toward it, glowing hair flowing behind him, sword held out. Rudyard wielded his battle-ax and followed Dulindir, and Miriam joined in, gripping her knives. Astrid grabbed another stone and Leopold, Thaddeus’s father, and Vivienne all used magic to lift larger stones from the ground. The Bearagon roared, backed up several steps, and then turned to lope out of the open cavern and back into the dark, narrow passage from which it had come and out of sight.

  “Coward!” Rudyard shouted after it.

  “I think it wants us to follow it,” Thaddeus’s father said.

  Rudyard shook his head. “I don’t like it.”

  “You’re right not to, Mr. Rhododendron,” Thaddeus said.

  Rudyard turned to squint at him. “Mr. Rhododendron?” He looked at Miriam. “Have you ever heard such stuffiness from a youngster?”

  “I had to correct him several times before he started to call me Miriam,” she replied. “He’ll get the hang of it soon enough.”

  “Now that we’ve got that out of the way,” Leopold said, reaching up to adjust his ball cap, “I suggest we pursue the Bearagon and finish this once and for all.”

  “Ready?” Teofil asked, looking over his shoulder at Thaddeus.

  Thaddeus nodded. “I’m ready. Let’s go find my mother.”

  Chapter SEVENTEEN

  ONE GLOWING orb and Dulindir’s gleaming hair were enough to light their way along the passage. Thaddeus was in the middle of the group with Teofil, Miriam, Astrid, and Vivienne behind him. His father and Leopold had taken the lead, and Rudyard and Dulindir brought up the rear. The farther in they walked, the warmer the air became. Sweat beaded across Thaddeus’s forehead and slicked his back.

  “It’s hot as Lammas in here,” Astrid whispered.

  “What’s Lammas?” Thaddeus asked.

  “Hush,” Miriam said.

  “August first,” Teofil whispered in his ear. “Halfway point between the solstice and equinox.”

  Thaddeus nodded. There was so much he was ignorant of when it came to life as a magical creature. When they got back to Superstition—not if, but when—he was going to ask Leopold to teach him some of the history of the magical community.

  And maybe his mother and father would teach him too.

  A swell of emotion rushed through him at the thought, and Thaddeus forced it back down. He needed to focus on the moment, or else he or a member of this group that he had come to know and love like family might not live long enough to see the town of Superstition again.

  “I see light,” Vivienne said. “Flickering on the walls ahead. Firelight.”

  “There was always orange firelight in my visions,” Thaddeus whispered.

  His father gave him a quick look, and Thaddeus wondered if his own expression mirrored the one of determination he had glimpsed on his father’s face. They stepped out of the passage and into a circular chamber with a high ceiling and small alcoves dug into the walls all the way around. Directly across from the passage where they stood, Thaddeus saw the great, monstrous shape of a dragon huddled within one of the alcoves. Firelight reflected off its scales, giving them an orange glow. Chains bound the dragon’s legs, and one circled its neck several times, the places where it had rubbed looking raw and sore, even from this distance. Another chain wrapped around its middle, effectively lashing the wings to its sides.

  “No,” Thaddeus said and started forward.

  “Wait,” his father said as he caught his arm and held him back.

  “They’re hurting her.”

  “Yes, to get you to react. We must
be cautious.”

  “Where’s the Bearagon?” Astrid whispered.

  “I smell it,” Dulindir said. “It’s in there somewhere.”

  “Let’s split into two groups,” Nathan suggested. “Half go along the wall one way, half goes the other.”

  “We’re an odd number,” Dulindir said. “Should I wait back here?”

  Thaddeus heard his father sigh. “How about you cut right across the middle?”

  “Fair enough,” Dulindir replied.

  His father took Thaddeus’s arm and led him to the right, sticking close to the wall. Teofil and Miriam followed them, while Leopold, Vivienne, Rudyard, and Astrid headed in the opposite direction.

  As he slowly walked around the cavern, Thaddeus tried to see the dragon’s face, but it had turned its back to the room. He wanted to get a look at its eyes again, those startling blue eyes where he had expected to see something reptilian back in Leopold’s backyard.

  It happened quickly and was over in a moment. Roots snapped up out of the dirt floor and wrapped around their arms and legs. More sprung out of the rock walls behind them and bound their torsos, pulling them all back tight against the stone. Only Dulindir remained free where he stood in the center of the cave. He pivoted back and forth, looking between both groups, sword held up.

  And then laughter echoed quietly around the cavern. It was Isadora, of course, and from the shadows gathered around the apex of the ceiling, she lowered down on a long, slim root, looking to Thaddeus like a poisonous spider. He wondered briefly how she was able to control the roots—she wasn’t a gnome or elf, after all—but then Isadora reached the ground and he pushed that thought aside.

  Dulindir stood with his sword held up and ready. “I shall not let you harm them.”

  “Oh, my old friend,” Isadora said with a sigh. “Dramatic as usual.”

  Thaddeus didn’t even have time to wonder how Dulindir knew her before Isadora flicked her fingers. The root on which she had descended lunged forward, wrapping around Dulindir’s wrists and forcing him to drop his sword. He was lifted, kicking and struggling, up into the shadows near the roof of the cavern.

  Isadora chuckled as she watched Dulindir rise out of sight, then walked slowly toward Thaddeus with her gaze locked on his.

  “I’ve been waiting a long time for this moment, Thaddeus,” she said, then looked to his father. “A very long time, indeed.”

  “You won’t succeed, Isadora,” Nathan said. “You couldn’t finish it all those years ago, and you won’t be able to now.”

  “Ah, but you see, it’s so much different now,” Isadora said, moving to stand directly in front of him. “Now, I have a dragon on my side.”

  “She’s not on your side!” Thaddeus shouted, his words echoing around the cavern.

  Isadora gave him an overexaggerated look of surprise. “Oh, look who jumps to her defense. The dutiful son, who’s traveled so far and anguished over so many decisions along the way.” She shook her head. “Don’t forget, I was with you much of the way through the Lost Forest, so I know just how much you whine.”

  “Leave him be,” Teofil said, his voice a low growl. He was pulling against the roots, struggling to get free.

  “Oh, my ex-brother, so valiant and heroic,” Isadora said with a pout. “So powerful in the ways of gnome magic. And yet here you are, powerless to bend these roots to your will. Why is that? Why could that be happening?” She turned away and put a finger to her chin as she looked up in mock concentration.

  “The nacht macabre,” Astrid said from across the cavern.

  Isadora smiled broadly and pointed to her. “My ex-sister wins the prize! And Mother and Father always said you would never amount to anything.”

  “You layer lie upon lie,” Miriam said, her voice cold and hard.

  Isadora stepped in front of Miriam and leaned in close. Thaddeus was impressed with Miriam’s ability to stare right back at Isadora without turning away.

  “You were a terrible mother,” Isadora said.

  “You were a poor excuse for a son,” Miriam shot back.

  Isadora pulled her arm back, hand curled into a fist.

  “Stop!” Thaddeus shouted. “It’s me you want to deal with, so do it. Leave them out of this.”

  Isadora slowly pulled her furious gaze from Miriam and looked at him. “You? Just you?” She looked to Nathan and one side of her mouth slowly curled up into a small, wicked smile. “Oh, my my my. You still haven’t told him, have you Nathan?”

  Thaddeus looked between Isadora and his father. “What does that mean? Told me what?”

  “Leave it be, Isadora,” his father said as he glared at her.

  “Oh, but you were so proud of how good and just you both were back in the day.” She stood before Nathan and gripped his chin tight as she looked into his eyes. “And now here we are, with you powerless before me. Just like old times, isn’t it”—she looked over at Thaddeus with a smile as she said the last words—“brother dear?”

  A shock of cold went through Thaddeus. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a high-pitched buzzing sound started. He felt dizzy and numb, but was surprised when he found the ability to keep his voice calm and steady as he said, “You’re lying.”

  “Oh, am I?” Isadora looked between Thaddeus and his father. “Nathan, dear, am I lying?”

  Thaddeus held his breath and wished for it with all he had inside him. He wanted to hear his father say, “Yes, you’re lying,” so very badly, because that would mean that his father hadn’t been lying to him all this time. That he hadn’t kept from Thaddeus a very important piece of the bizarre puzzle that made up his past.

  Nathan pressed his lips together as he glared at Isadora. But finally, he dropped his chin to his chest, slumped his shoulders in defeat, and whispered, “No, you’re not lying.”

  “No,” Thaddeus said in a quiet voice.

  Isadora stretched her arms out to either side. “So you see, Thaddeus, my dear nephew, we’re related!” Isadora took a bow. “But, I have to wager, if you didn’t know that teensy tiny little tidbit of information, then you most assuredly don’t know the rest of it.”

  Thaddeus fought back the sense of betrayal trying to overtake him and fixed Isadora with a cold gaze. He twisted his arms within the roots, feeling them dig into his skin. The pain helped keep him in the moment as he stared at her.

  “I know enough,” Thaddeus said. “I know my father loved me so much he did whatever he thought he needed to do to keep me safe all these years. He gave up everything to make sure I lived. That’s all I need to know.”

  With a thoughtful expression, Isadora nodded. “That’s all very well and noble and good, it really is. But what about this little revelation?”

  “For the love of Flora,” Leopold shouted from the other side of the cavern. “Just stop!”

  She ignored him and pointed between his father and the great, scaly back of the dragon. “These two were never married.”

  Thaddeus kept his expression stony as he shrugged. “So? Lots of people have children out of wedlock.”

  Isadora leaned in and said in a mock whisper. “But Claire was married to another man.” She nodded, her face glowing with excitement at finally being able to reveal the secrets. “She was married to my brother.”

  Thaddeus frowned. “But that makes no sense. You just said my father and mother weren’t married—” Then he understood, and he dropped his gaze. “You have two brothers.”

  “Such a quick study you are,” Isadora said. “You would have done so well in wizard school.” She looked over her shoulder to Leopold and called, “Don’t you think he would have excelled in wizard school, Leo?”

  “Leave me out of your wicked manipulations, Isadora,” Leopold shouted back.

  She turned her attention back to Thaddeus and smiled. “He doesn’t like to overcompliment his students—trust me, I remember—but he agrees.”

  “I have an uncle too?” Thaddeus asked, hating himself for it even as he said the words. />
  “You do. He’s Lucian, and he and Claire were married for years, and wanted so badly to have a baby.”

  “He was cruel to her,” his father said, sounding beaten down. “Just as he was cruel to me when I was growing up.”

  “Aw, poor Nathan,” Isadora said with another pout. “The youngest always ends up with the short end of the stick. But you were able to get the lovely—and apparently loose—Claire pregnant, weren’t you? Oh, how excited Lucian was when he learned he was to be a father. So excited he didn’t add up dates and months until the handsome star of our show, Thaddeus, was born, and then he realized he’d been had. A cuckold, if you will. And all thanks to his little brother.”

  “He was even more wicked than you,” his father said. “You conspired with him and together you attacked not only Claire and me, but the village as well.”

  “Oh, the village, yes, the village.” Isadora turned her back and paced the diameter of the cavern as she talked. “The village that for all intents and purposes knew about Claire’s infidelity to our brother, and knew that she was being unfaithful with her brother-in-law. Is that the village you’re using as your defense?”

  “You killed innocent people.”

  She looked at him over her shoulder. “There are no innocent people in this.”

  “And even fewer sane ones,” Miriam mumbled.

  The roots around Thaddeus’s wrists shifted slightly, loosening just a bit. He kept his gaze on Isadora as he slowly twisted his hands more freely.

  “Did you feel that?” Thaddeus whispered to Teofil.

  He nodded slowly, his eyes fixed forward on Isadora. Very, very quietly, Teofil began to hum, trying, Thaddeus knew, to get the roots to follow his commands instead of Isadora’s. Thaddeus kept a nervous eye on Isadora, hoping she wouldn’t hear.

  “Just let us go,” Leopold said. “We can discuss this like rational people. No one has to get hurt.”

  “Where’s the fun in that?” Isadora laughed, then walked toward the rounded hump of the dragon’s back.