To Light the Dragon's Fire

by Margaret Taylor

  The thing bent and his eyes gave her a once over. “Excellent. I see there is no damage to you.”

  She shuddered under the malevolent red color and scooted back until she bumped into a table. Gathering herself, she stood, getting a better look at the area. The room was more of a hut. She could just make out the thatching they’d used for the walls between the shelves and the bamboo poles that made up the roof. “Where am I?”

  “My village.” He stepped back a pace or two and bowed his head a bit. “I am Golix and I bid you welcome.”

  She didn’t like this at all. There was something in his eyes and his voice, an undercurrent of evil that shifted across the air whenever he spoke and slithered a path down her spine. Instinctively she wanted to run, needed to put as much distance between herself and this place as possible.

  “Where’s my sister?”

  Golix smiled ever so slightly, exposing pearly white teeth that were a sharp contrast to his dark coat. “She is safe. I apologize for waking you. I was hoping to have everything ready before hand, but it is so hard to find good help.” His head jerked back around to the creature working at a table in the corner.

  She stared, fascinated and just a bit horrified by the sight of it. At one point it had probably been a Satyr, the mythical being with the upper body of a man and the lower of a goat, but this one was well beyond that. It was short, would barely reach her waist, and his upper half was twisted and misshapen to the point of ugliness. It was covered in dark, oozing pustules that dripped yellow goop down its frame. Its lower body wasn’t in much better shape. One leg was missing below the knee, the other had been badly broken and just didn’t look like it had ever healed right.

  It said nothing, just continued stirring the contents of the bowl in front of it.

  “Now, please, make yourself comfortable. We will be done with this shortly,” Golix said, returning to the table. “As I was saying, pinch in two fingers of wart root…”

  She was half-tempted to make a run for it, but something kept her pinned to the spot.

  Golix’s head swung her direction, his red eyes brightening. “You cannot leave this room, dear,” he said, reading her thoughts. “I have made sure of it. You are far too valuable to me.”

  “Valuable?” she croaked. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Golix sighed, made a comment to his assistant she couldn’t hear and turned. The Satyr moved around him, hopping toward her on his good leg. “Now, do not move, I would hate for Chu to damage you…”

  She couldn’t have moved if she wanted too and she did. She wanted to run! Every fiber of her being screamed at her to flee! An ancient instinct she didn’t understand twitched across her nerves, bellowing in agony when her muscles failed to respond.

  Chu was inches away, his pudgy fingers wrapped around the hilt of a wickedly curved dagger. He reached for her arm seconds before an angry roar echoed across the air, rattling everything in the hut. Bottles danced on the shelves, some crashing and shattering in the dirt. Books thudded to their sides, a film of dust lifting into the air from their covers.

  Her entire body blazed with the same heat she’d felt on the roof.

  Draven was here!

  He’d come for her and the fire cooled to a pleasurable simmer with the realization her mate was nearby.

  Mate?

  Wait, what?

  “Son of a dingus fly!” Golix cursed, distracting her thoughts. “Keep her here!”

  Chu nodded jerkily. “Yes Master.”

  He grabbed her wrist as Golix disappeared through the flap of skin that covered the door.

  The moment he was gone, whatever spell he’d cast evaporated and she could move. Bunching the muscles in her arm, she pulled hard, jerking the creature off balance. She danced back as the blade came dangerously close to her mid-section and with a smile, nailed him in the chin with a haymaker, just the way her instructors had taught.

  Chu went down from the unexpected blow and lay still.

  Stepping over his body, she scooped up the blade and headed after Golix. Whatever purpose the unicorn had was not something she wanted to be part of…

  Chapter Five

  Draven swung the short-sword, cutting a Satyr in half with the powerful slice. The two pieces of his body parted and fell to the dusty ground, leaving a trail of guts and dark, sizzling blood in its wake. He stepped over it and headed for the next.

  “There are too many,” Arin panted beside him. Thonu sang against the resistance of the air and another minion was decapitated before it had a chance to scream. “We need help!”

  He laughed and swung at a pair of the half-man, half-goat’s, laughing harder as they danced back from his blade. He couldn’t blame them. Between them, they’d already dispatched a good dozen of the things.

  But Arin was right, there were more coming. His sensitive ears could hear their hooves trampling across the jungles undergrowth and estimated at least another two dozen heading their way. “Then go get it. I will, be, fine,” he added, splitting a third beastie from shoulder to navel with a downward swing.

  “I am not, leaving you!” Arin called back.

  “That was not a request,” he returned, felling yet another.

  They didn’t have much time. The village he’d seen from his earlier fly over was still a good distance away and the others would be on them before they could get there.

  But Terra was there! Whatever magics had stopped his hearts and drove him to save her from certain death, also called to him now, pinpointing her location in the circle of huts and buildings.

  He had no idea what it was, or why he felt it, but it was stronger than anything else he’d ever experienced. Some part of him recognized it was making him reckless, but the larger part of him didn’t care.

  She was in trouble and he had to save her, or die trying…

  “Just transform and fry these mongrels!” Arin bellowed.

  Now why in all the levels of the Nether Worlds hadn’t he thought of that!

  Dropping the blade, he opened to the magics again. This close to Terra, the transformation was almost instant. With a whoosh, a loud snapping of bones, muscles and sinew he was his true self in the space of one heartbeat. Chuckling, he pulled in the hot, humid air and belched…

  ***

  Terra stopped just outside the hut, amazed and yet somewhat horrified at the multitude of creatures scurrying here and there. Like Chu, they were all misshapen and deformed and some moved better than others. They shuffled about, grabbing bows and arrows, knives and swords and tore off into the surrounding jungle.

  Even in the darkness, the heat was stifling and it settled against her skin, causing sweat to pop out along her arms and legs. She wiped a trickle out of her eyes and ducked between two huts before Golix or any of the others spotted her.

  She needed to find Lanni first and foremost and reached out along the tendril of connection only twins shared. She wasn’t nearby, which worried her. In fact, she could just barely feel her sister in the distance. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong, there was no tingle of distress along her thoughts, but still the fact they were separated by a vast space, scared her.

  Pushing back on the fear, she crouched between groups of crates and took a breath to decide on a plan of action.

  Did she slip into the thick jungle to get away?

  Or did she sit and wait for Draven?

  Never one to wait, she rose, kept to the shadows and headed off into the surrounding foliage…

  ***

  Terra was on the move. He felt it all the way to his clawed toes. “She’s coming to us.”

  His brother stabbed one of the burning, screaming minions through the chest, silencing him. “Oh, well that is good. Will save us some time.”

  He morphed back into his humanoid form and picked up the sword again. “Indeed.” He nodded off toward the west, the direction his senses were leading. “Shall we?”

  Arin sighed and wiped the blood from Thonu’s blade on nearby l
eaves. “Yes, let’s.”

  He could hear more coming and a distinct voice giving commands to the troops, but his swath of fire would buy them some much needed time. If they didn’t want to suffer the fate of their brethren, the heathens would have to go around it.

  What he didn’t expect was the power of the one in command. Unicorns used the darkside of the energies inherent in their world. But when one second the jungle was ablaze with light from his breath and the next it had fallen back into shadow, the flames extinguished by very strong magic, he knew they were in real danger.

  This was not good.

  He wasn’t all powerful. In fact, he was relatively young compared to some he knew. And his magics were equally as young. He still had much to learn. But there were very few that could put out a Dragon’s Fire by command. It was inherent to their kind and shouldn’t have been that easy to extinguish!

  He shoved Arin’s shoulder. “Move!”

  His brother-in-arms needed no further prompting and disappeared into the shadows cast by the massive trees. He followed, keeping an ear open for approaching beasties and letting his instincts guide him toward the woman. His night eyes kept track of Arin and allowed them both to navigate the thick undergrowth without incident.

  Leaping a fallen trunk, he stopped dead as Terra barreled around the base of a tree ahead, nearly slamming into them. He caught her by the upper arms, steadying her against his chest. “There you are.”

  She laughed softly and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. “Thank you. I’ve been wondering where I was all day,” she quipped breathlessly.

  The fact that she could sound so flippant amazed him. They were in real danger but she didn’t seem to understand that. He gave her a shake, his voice harder than he intended. “Are you hurt?”

  She made a weird, strangled noise and put a hand to his chest, pushing him back a step. “Just some bruised knuckles.”

  He grabbed her wrist, turning them back in the direction they’d come. “We need to go.”

  She jerked back on his grip, planting her feet. “Not without Lanni.”

  He stopped dead, surprised she would resist him. “What?”

  She braced herself, shoulders stiff and glared. “Not without Lanni.”

  He acquiesced even though it grated on his nerves. “Fine. Where is she?”

  A guilty look flitted across her features for a moment but passed quickly. “I don’t know.” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder in the opposite direction. “That way, somewhere.”

  Arin sheathed Thonu across his back. “I will find her. Go.”

  Terra’s eyes widened as his best friend crouched down onto all fours and began to shift. He’d seen the man do this a thousand times but seeing her reaction to it, gave it a whole new light. At first, Arin’s body was surrounded by a soft glow. It grew brighter with each passing moment until it concealed him completely.

  Unlike him there was no cracking of bone, no popping of muscle and sinew, no bellow of pain and for the first time in two hundred Suns he was actually jealous of his friend.

  One heartbeat the man was humanoid and the next he was the Chimera, with a massive pair of lion heads, long leathery wings and the muscled flank of a horse. His long, prehensile tail swished at the air, rattling the spiked tip on its end.

  “We will find her,” the head on the left said quietly. “Yes, we will,” the other added. “Now go.” And with that, he leapt into the air and disappeared into the canopy.

  ***

  Terra had seen so much in the last hours that the shifting man shouldn’t have been a surprise. But it was. With each new revelation, this place continued to amaze and terrify her. She jerked her chin towards Arin’s retreating form. “Will, will Lanni be safe, with that?”

  Draven snorted in the darkness, as if she’d insulted him. “Of course. Why would she not be?”

  She shrugged, trying to sound casual, but there was no keeping the tingle of fear out of her voice. “Oh, I don’t know. Two lion heads, that talk mind you and a spiked tail?”

  He spun her, gripping her upper arms again and drawing her gaze to the shadowed pits of his eyes. “I have known Arin since I was hatched. He will not harm your sister.”

  Hatched? Was he serious? He couldn’t be. But she couldn’t see his face to know for sure. All she could do was trust the instincts that had gotten her this far and they said he was right. Lanni would be safe, if she was found by the thing that had just left. She drew in a breath and let it go, for now. What else could she do?

  Nodding finally, she pulled her hand back enough to intertwine their fingers. “If, you say so.”

  His squeezed against hers and his head bobbed once. “I do. We must leave. Before…”

  He’d no sooner said it than the area around them began to brighten. At first she thought it might be the sun rising, but it was too localized and coming at them, not from above.

  “Well, finally. King Draven.”

  Golix’s voice came from everywhere and nowhere all in the same breath. The Unicorn stepped out from around a tree, his horn glowing brightly and leading a pack of Satyr’s that quickly surrounded them, weapons up and ready.

  Draven pushed her behind him, drawing the sword from his waist. “What do you want?”

  Golix made a tisking sound and snapped a hoof against the ground, rustling the leaves and twigs. “The same thing I have wanted for generations.” He pranced a bit, his next words sounding almost gleeful. “Your undying loyalty.”

  Draven’s fingers tightened on the hilt and she heard his knuckles crack. “That will never happen.”

  Golix’s eyes glowed and he nodded toward one of the minions. The creature lifted a stoppered bottle and tossed it before either of them could move. It shattered and thick purple-black smoke coiled at their feet.

  It swirled up their legs and she panicked when she couldn’t lift her foot. “Draven!” she hissed. “I, I…”

  His fingers tightened around hers. “I know. Do not let go of me.”

  She leaned into his back, nodded against his shoulder and tightened her hand on the dagger.

  “Take them!”

  She’d never killed anything before, not even a spider in the park near her home, but this was different. These were things that meant to do them harm, she knew it as sure as she drew her next breath and her long years of training kicked in.

  She wasn’t about to go quietly! Straightening, she clutched the daggers hilt, waiting for Golix to make the first move.

  The smoke clawed its way higher up their legs and she shuddered in its cold, dark grip. Someone grabbed her shoulders from behind and she stabbed the dagger back over her shoulder, satisfied when a scream pierced the air and the hands let go.

  Draven decapitated the first to come close enough and a second with a sweep of his sword.

  Arms dropped over her head, squeezed around her chest and she brought the blade up, stabbing it deep into the bulging forearm. Blood pulsed over the hilt and she lost her grin. The Satyr screamed and his arms jerked away, taking the dagger with them. “Fly us out of here!” she hissed.

  His body shifted against hers and a tremble of fear pushed against her consciousness.

  “I cannot,” he hissed back. The muscles of his leg bunched, yanking at the smoke as it curled another inch higher. “Whatever this is…”

  She picked up on the implication and bent, trying to brush the stuff away. It was a mistake. The stuff expanded, pinning her fingers to his thigh instead. In a moment of panic, she screeched.

  Golix made another of those tisking sounds. “Do not fight it. It will be so much easier if you do not fight.”

  Draven bellowed and killed any of the minions that got close enough for him to reach.

  The smoke continued to expand though, covering them from head to toe in the span of moments. Her last sight of him was his fearful eyes before they were blanketed from view by a thick coating of purple and black…

  ***

  “Ter
ra? Terra? Wake up!”

  His voice called to her in the darkness. She was really getting tired of being knocked out. She really was! Clawing her way toward the pinprick of light in her mind, she cursed the pounding in her head.

  “Son of a bitch!”

  Lifting a hand, she found it brought up short by a rattle of chain and the steel of a cuff around her wrist wormed its way into her consciousness. Sitting up further, she took stock.

  This was not good!

  Draven was seated across from her, his back held flush to a curved wall of smooth stone. His hands were hanging above him, stretched taut by a pair of cuffs and chain similar to her own. Around his waist was another, thick belt, keeping him just where he’d been put and his feet had been pulled across the floor, held fast by yet more cuffs.

  “Are you hurt?” he asked the moment her eyes landed on his.

  “No. But my head feels like I had one too many margaritas last night.”

  “I am unsure what that is, but if it means your brain is about to explode from your ears, I feel much the same.”

  She licked her lips and drew in a steadying breath. Unlike him, her hands were cuffed to the floor between her legs and she was otherwise free. Shaking off the hangover feeling, she squirmed around and leaned close to her wrists for a better look.

  “What are you doing?”

  She twisted her hand this way and that, seeking the locking mechanism. “Hopefully getting us out of this.” Finding the one pin latch, she smiled over at him. “Yep, definitely getting us out of this.”

  Lying on her side, she pulled at the chain, creating enough slack to reach her hair. Her fingers roamed through the tresses until she found a clip. After the day and a half of her adventure, she feared she’d have none left and relief tickled along her nerves when her fingers brushed it.

  She cut a look toward him, smile widening. “I was worried there for just a minute.”

  Using her mouth, she bent the piece of metal into the proper shape and set to work, thankful for the rather risqué nature of her younger years…