Claws of the Dragon

by Craig Halloran

  The stony makeup of the towering buildings crumbled away. Massive men stepped out of the debris and dust that rolled away from their feet. Four towering men almost thirty feet tall had them surrounded.

  Marley ran screaming, but she was too slow.

  The giant behind them lifted up his great foot and brought it down.

  Nath screamed. “Nooooo!”

  The ground shook.

  Thoom!

  Marley was gone, like a bug under a man’s shoe.

  Nath’s heart sank. His jaw dropped. His hands were numb at his sides. So cruel and merciless it was, he didn’t even notice the entire town scrambling in panic.

  Evil. Such Evil.

  “Fill your hands, Nath Dragon!” Brenwar roared. “Else you’re going to be goo under their feet too.” He raised his hammer high and banged it on the ground.

  Krang!

  The ground busted up underneath one giant’s feet and knocked it to the ground.

  “Woohoo!” Brenwar screamed.

  Nath ripped Fang out of his scabbard and charged the stone giant who had smashed Marley.

  The mountain of marble-like muscle sneered at him and laughed.

  Summoning Fang’s power, Nath struck the giant’s ankle with all of his might. The blade bit deep.

  Ice raced up the giant’s leg and froze it fast to the ground.

  The monster’s eyes widened, and it screamed out in horror. Leg icing up, it lashed out. The monster’s fingers clipped Nath’s ducking head. The raw power of the massive man lifted Nath from his feet and sent him rolling through the dust.

  Seeing stars, Nath lifted up his head at the sound of heavy footsteps.

  The third giant charged right for him. Its huge fists came down together like a great anvil.

  Nath sprang away.

  The fists missed him by inches.

  Boom!

  Without hesitation, Nath whirled around and stabbed Fang through one of the giant’s hands.

  Its hand burst into flames. Slobbering from its jowls, the monster jerked its hand away, ripping Fang out of Nath’s iron grip. The monster screamed at its burning hand with Fang still in it.

  “Guzan! I need my sword back!”

  ***

  “Take that, giant!” Brenwar climbed on top of the giant he’d knocked down and hammered away at it with Mortuun. The grand war hammer came down again and again with the sound of clapping thunder.

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  The giant swatted at Brenwar with hands, forearms, and elbows.

  Somehow, Brenwar slipped in and out of its efforts only to hammer it again and again with devastating effort.

  Its ribs cracked. Its jaw and eye socket were broken.

  “You’ll regret the day you ever crossed me, giant!”

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  Brenwar put everything he had into it. Stone giants were serious business. As their name suggested, they were stone and bone, not flesh and bone like most giants. Killing them was never easy, and plenty of dwarves had met the grave trying. He unleashed as much of Mortuun’s power as he could.

  “Come on, Mortuun! Come on!” Black-beardedly wild as a berserker, he unleashed all that his ancient dwarven bones had in him. “We’ve still got three to go!”

  Boom! Boom! Boom!

  Finally, the giant lay stretched out between the broken silos, dead.

  Hammer in hand, chest heaving, and iron arms weary, Brenwar turned. “Whew, where’s the next one?” He froze.

  He was eye to eye with the next giant.

  Bending down and clapping its hands together, it smashed Brenwar like a fly.

  ***

  One giant fought the icy cords that tethered it to the ground. Another giant fought to put its flaming hand out.

  Lucky for Nath, his sticky fingers had managed to snake Dragon Claw out of Fang’s pommel. In a rush, Nath climbed up the distracted giant’s back with Dragon Claw in hand and smote it in the temple.

  The stone giant fell on its knees and collapsed face first in the muddy dirt.

  Splat!

  Nath surveyed the battleground.

  The third giant was dead and sprawled out on the ground, but the fourth caught Nath’s eyes.

  “Oh, no!”

  With Brenwar clasped inside the giant’s hands like a little woodland creature, it leered down at Nath with a cold-blooded killer’s gaze and said in long and loud words, “I’ll take his life if you don’t surrender, Nath Dragon.”

  Spitting through his beard with a great strain in his face, Brenwar said, “Don’t surrender, Nath. Don’t do it!”

  CHAPTER 19

  Nath retrieved Fang and stood before the stone giant. “Killing him will only bring you a swift death, giant. If you want to live, then put him down.”

  The giant shook his head and said in his long drawn-out voice, “And pass up killing this dwarf? No. I think not.” He squeezed Brenwar harder.

  Brenwar’s eyes bulged. “Urk! Don’t worry about me, Nath. Just kill him!”

  With two giants down and only two remaining, Nath liked his chances.

  Behind him, the one giant struggled and freed its frozen leg. Somehow, it managed to hobble forward toward Nath.

  I can handle this. I have Fang, and Brenwar’s plenty tough.

  Brandishing the great sword, Nath said, “Just put him down, giant. Leave this village. It is under my protection.”

  “Oh ho ho,” the giant said with a chill in its voice, “Nath Dragon, this trap was not sprung to fail. Be wise as a serpent and surrender, or the blood of every villager will be on your hands.”

  It was a trap, all right, but who had set it? And how had they known that Nath would be coming to this village?

  I can’t think of anything at all that led me here.

  Uncertainty filled him. Someone somewhere was watching him. His thoughts raced back.

  Ipsy!

  Why had the druid set him up? He’d never met the druid before. He must have been working with somebody else, but who?

  “I think you’re bluffing,” Nath said, creeping forward with his sword. “Now put the dwarf down so no one else gets hurt.”

  “You are a cocky little flea.” The stone giant let out a strange hoot. “Howeet!”

  Large stacks of hay that were scattered all over the villages came to life. Giant humanoids—ogres and bugbears—emerged from the hay and snatched up any screaming villager they could find. They wrapped them up in powerful arms and started to crush the life out of them.

  The distraught people screamed and begged for mercy.

  “Eeeeeeeee!”

  “Oooowwwww!”

  “Still feeling cocky, little dragon?” the stone giant said.

  Aghast, Nath squeezed Fang’s hilt so hard that his hand trembled.

  How did I miss this trap?

  It wasn’t like him to overlook what should have been obvious details. But somehow his transgressors had deceived him. He’d missed the giants and dozens of burly humanoids. And the villagers of Harvand were so terrified, they’d played along as well. He should have listened to the half-elves.

  Great Guzan! Those half-elves were trying to warn me.

  “What is it you want, giant?”

  “Just surrender, and all of them will live.” He held Brenwar out in his long outstretched arms. “Including this bearded chipmunk.”

  “Am I to be your prisoner?”

  “No, you are to be someone else’s prisoner.”

  “Who might that someone be?”

  “Surrender, and you will see.”

  That was a problem with the giants. They were liars. Their guaranteed word was no better than an angry orc’s. For all Nath knew, he’d turn himself over, and they’d kill all of the villagers anyway. Which begged the question, how do you get a giant to keep his word? And this one wasn’t even calling the shots.

  “I need proof that no harm will come to anyone else, including the dwarf.”

  “Hmmm.” The giant scratched its chin with B
renwar’s head then showed a toothy smile. “You’ll just have to trust me. You don’t have any choice, little dragon.”

  Panicked cries of alarm and horror filled Nath’s ears. The rough hands of the beasts that held the villagers were far from gentle. The message was clear. Nath could feel it. They wouldn’t hesitate to kill anybody.

  “Nath!” Brenwar said. “You are too important. Don’t do it.”

  “If I think I’m more important than anybody else, then I’m truly not important at all.” Nath stuck Fang in the ground and placed his scaly hands on his head. “So be it, giant. I surrender.”

  “Secure him,” the stone giant ordered. A pair of bugbears marched forward. They were huge ugly men, somewhat bear faced, with huge muscles in their shoulders. They carried chains and shackles made from moorite. With rough hands they shackled Nath’s wrists and ankles and put a collar on his neck. “That’s good.”

  “I’ve submitted. Now put the dwarf down and leave these people alone.”

  The giant tossed Brenwar through the roof of a nearby home and wiped his hands on the muddy street. “Filthy little thing.” He reached over and picked up Fang with the tips of his fingers. His stony skin started to sizzle. Grimacing, he ordered Nath, “Put it in a sheath.”

  Nath complied.

  The stone giant picked up the sheathed sword and stuck it in his belt, which held up a roughhewn pair of trousers. “Let’s go.”

  Escorted by the bugbears and the ogres, Nath followed the giant. Glancing behind him, he saw the village was left unmolested, but some of the people followed. Perhaps many of the people had already sworn a new allegiance to the giants or whomever the giants answered to.

  A bugbear shoved him forward, almost knocking him down. “March,” it growled.

  Nath turned around and marched backward with the chains rattling around his ankles. “You mean like this?” he said.

  It was a distraction. His eyes searched for Brenwar. Even though he didn’t think the fall into the building would kill the dwarf, he could be seriously hurt.

  He’s fine, right? He always is, isn’t he?

  CHAPTER 20

  Selene stood on the northern shores of Nalzambor, less than a mile away from a small sea town called Dusky. The early-evening tide splashed over the rocks, creating pockets of sea-foam as the fishermen hauled in their nets and dragged them up the sandy banks. As the water chopped and smacked into the rocks, she finished braiding her long locks into a style more customary.

  Perhaps I should go sailing.

  For her entire life, she couldn’t remember doing anything that she wanted to do. She’d been trained to fight, to conquer and deceive. But she was never taught to enjoy life.

  Maybe there is peace for me somewhere out there.

  “Peace. Hah. A child’s tale.”

  Her tail snaked up under her robes, and she pulled down her sleeves. With sure footing, she traversed the rocks and headed down to the shore where the seafarers talked and joked. She envied them. Somehow, someway, they enjoyed the work they did, hauling in oily amounts of stinking fish.

  “Ho there, Miss!” a man said, waving his cap at her. “What are you doing up there? You need to get down.”

  Stopping to survey her surroundings, she realized she stood on the jagged black rocks with strong waves smashing into the deep alcoves. Water was splashing up and soaking the hem of her robes. Clearly, for a mortal person this would be a dangerous position, standing on slick rocks where the slightest stumble would send a body into the cold water and dash it against the rocks.

  Hand to her chest, she resumed her trek and navigated the dangerous path until she found herself in front of the wide-eyed sailor.

  “Hello,” Selene said.

  The man wasn’t old or young, and he wore standard attire of the seaworthy people: a white cotton shirt with long sleeves soaked to the elbow, brown trousers where the hem touched his bare feet. He had a mop of light-brown hair, thick side burns, and sea-green eyes. His features weren’t handsome but fair.

  He said, “Are you real, or do my eyes deceive me?”

  She took his calloused hand in hers. “What do you think?”

  “Real … real beautiful,” he explained.

  She almost smiled. “Tell me, what is your name?”

  “Gavlin.”

  “Gavlin, may I ask you a question?”

  He shook his head yes. “You can ask me anything.”

  “Do you ever see dragons over the sea?”

  “Oh, sure, we see them inside the waters as much as above. Do you want me to take you out in the morning? You never know when you might see them, but I know a place where many roost.”

  He said it as if the dragons weren’t any more extraordinary than big birds. He didn’t have any worries about dragons at all.

  It surprised her. “I just might take you up on that sometime, but I’m looking for a different kind of dragon. Dark and rough scaled, not smooth and polished like mine.” Still holding his hand, she lifted it up in front of his eyes. “See what I mean?”

  He gasped and tried to pull away.

  She held him fast. “Gavlin, you have nothing to fear from me. Why do you try to flee?”

  “You’re a demon!” His face was full of strain. “Please, let me go!”

  “But you said you would tell me anything.” She looked deep into his eyes and used a hypnotizing effect. “I want you to tell me, Gavlin. Have you seen these dragons I speak of?”

  The rapid beating of his heart started to slow. “Yes, they fly in thirteens. Heh, I’ve never seen purple eyes before. I’ve never seen scales on a woman before.”

  “Gavlin,” she said calmly, “where do those dragons go?”

  “Well, I don’t follow them. That’s trouble. No, no, no. Here in Dusky we avoid trouble.”

  She rolled her eyes, breaking the connection. “You’re an observant man. Just tell me where they fly.”

  “Where all the wretched go these days. Down into the Craggies.” Wincing, he looked at their interlocked hands. “Are you going to kill me, demon?”

  “I am not a demon, so no, I’m not going to kill you. I’m trying to befriend you.” She released him. “I thought you said I was beautiful.”

  He backed away. “Just because you’re beautiful doesn’t mean you’re not evil. My wife’s told me about women like you. Stay away. Stay away from here, and stay away from Dusky.” He turned and ran away, shouting to his fellow sailors. “Beware! A she-demon is in our midst.”

  Angered, Selene started after the man. Nath didn’t have this problem. Even with his scales, people accepted him. What was so different about her? Anger turned to sadness. Maybe she hadn’t changed. Maybe she was still evil.

  Approaching the men with her arms spread wide, she said to them, “I am a friend.”

  The fishermen picked up their fish and started throwing them at her. “Go away, Demon!” they yelled. “Go, go back to the Craggy Mountains!”

  “And what if I don’t, you stupid fish-throwing people?”

  They kept throwing the fish with deadly accuracy.

  She swatted them away.

  But one of the men said, “Then we’ll summon Nath Dragon to kill you!”

  “Agghhh!” she yelled. She snatched a fish out of the air and threw it back so hard, it hit one man in the face and knocked him over.

  All of the fishermen dropped their fish and ran away, screaming toward their town, “Demon! Demon! Demon!”

  Disgusted, Selene lifted up the hem of her robes and let her tail out. “No wonder I never liked people. They’re stupid.”

  She climbed up the rocks onto the tall grass and marched back south, watching the skies for any wurmers going toward the Craggy Mountains.

  Of course they don’t like me. Why would they?

  CHAPTER 21

  The march to the Craggy Mountains wasn’t so bad, but the march up the Craggy Mountains was. Nath, one to pride himself on knowing the terrain of so many places in Nalzambor, didn’t fin
d any familiarity with the cold mountains at all. Shackled at the ankles, he slipped and bumped into the rocks of the narrow pass that winded slowly up the mountain.

  A bugbear whacked him in the back with the butt of its spear. “Keep moving, Scales.”

  Scales. That was what they were calling him. An unpleasant little nickname full of spite and mockery. It didn’t take much for the big, cruel humanoid races to take their shots at him. They tripped him. Bumped him. Threw small stones at him. They pulled and clipped off strands of his hair. They did everything they could to provoke Nath to anger.

  Jaw set and teeth grinding, Nath bore it all. One insult after another.

  I’m glad Brenwar’s not here. He wouldn’t make it. How am I making it?

  Getting back on his feet, he resumed his march. All in all, it wasn’t so bad for him. His limbs didn’t tire. His extremities didn’t freeze despite the frost and snow thickening on the banks. No, he could take it. He was Nath Dragon, the Dragon Prince. He could take anything.

  Walking up the frozen road with the real world he knew a mile or more below, they ventured through a sheet of low clouds. He momentarily lost sight of the bugbears that pulled him by the collar clamped around his neck. But he could hear the rattle of their armor. Smell their unpleasant sweat.

  I’ve a feeling where I’m going will hold a far worse fragrance than Orcen Hold.

  He shook his downcast head.

  I hope Brenwar is fine. And I hope he doesn’t come after me. He hates climbing these mountains. And if those giants get ahold of him, they’ll bounce him down the hillside like a ball.

  “Come on, Scales!” cried an unseen bugbear. The moorite chain connected to Nath’s collar snapped taut and jerked him clean off his feet. “Get up!”

  Nath’s eyes turned into burning golden flames. From his knees, he coiled his hands around the chain and tugged it back.

  The bugbear appeared in the mist, stumbling.

  Furious, Nath rushed the bigger humanoid and tackled it to the ground. In a split second he had the chain around the bugbear’s neck and was choking it.

  The bugbear let out a croak.