Dragon Sacrifice (The First Realm Book 3)

by Klay Testamark

  “Yes!” Sandy said.

  Claws reached out and opened her from cheek to hip.

  “Sandy!” Conrad said. “Not you too!”

  He raised his sword, but before he could strike the monster’s right head closed on it. The other head bit into his legs. Together they lifted him off the ground.

  The heads pulled away.

  Heronimo

  The blades flashed down.

  Ardel pulled me out of there. The steel passed over my head and struck the floor.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “I’ve been better,” I said. “Behind you!”

  The prince deflected the blade. “How about we make this a fair fight?”

  I got to my feet. “Sounds like a good idea.”

  We lunged at the shield-wielding assassins. I took the one on the right and he took the one on the left. My assassin thrust at my chest and I parried, slashed low. He lowered his shield to block, exposing his head. Ardel cut it off for him. The other assassin charged with his shield, trying to knock the prince off his feet. But he faced two Northlanders now. It was simple work to grab his sword while Ardel reached around the shield and cut off his arm.

  There was still some fight in him. I reversed my sword and sent one of the quillons into his skull.

  He toppled over the rail.

  “You saved me,” I told Ardel.

  “I thought it was a good time to step in,” he said.

  I had gotten in front of him and was easing him back into cover. “Must you do that?” he asked.

  “Begging your pardon, Ardel, but you’re way too important to risk.”

  “I thought Brandish was your home now.”

  “You’re my friend. Always will be.”

  There was as sigh. “When Father hears about this, I don’t know if he’ll ever let me out of the palace again.”

  Chapter 22: Angrod

  The good news was that Conrad and his people had bought us enough time to get all the civilians into the fort. The monster had lunged for the rearguard, but was halted by an invisible wall.

  “When did they get a force field...” I said. “Right. The cutting from Deepwood Forest.”

  So we were safe, and so was everyone in the fort. The creature could claw at it all it wanted, it wasn’t getting past a Deepwood tree’s defences. Nobody could get out, but there were worse places to be trapped than a royal palace.

  The monster snarled at me for some minutes. Then it turned back toward the city.

  “It’s headed for the slums!” Heronimo said. “All those people!”

  The door opened. Ardel stepped out in full armour.

  “Brother!” Orvar said. “You shouldn’t be out here.”

  “Those are my people being threatened,” the prince said. “Angrod, I heard about Conrad’s plan.”

  Ardel carried a longsword. Just the sort of thing to act as an impromptu lightning rod.

  “Let’s do this,” he said.

  The monster ran across the plain and toward the city. It howled its frustration up at the storm. Its brother did the same. They hadn’t gotten all of its mother’s killers, but there were still plenty of people where it was headed.

  The sea was on its left. Something glided over the surface.

  Moments later the monster was blind. It couldn’t see through the sparks, the multicoloured flames. A hundred tiny explosions burst against its ears, a hundred tiny torches burned under its nostrils. It didn’t hurt, exactly, but it made the creature pause.

  I broke another ampoule of water into my hand. Serrato’s voice came back.

  “... managed to stop it in its tracks,” he said. “That the was the last of my rockets and they won’t hold it for long.”

  “Long enough, maybe,” I said. “Thanks, Serrato.”

  “I’ll send you a bill,” he said, and then I let the water run out of my palm. I turned to where

  Heronimo and Ardel were arguing.

  “Prince Ardel, you’re too important to risk. I shall put the sword in the beast.”

  “You’re not wearing armour. I have a better chance of getting close.”

  Hafgan walked up. He had his estoc, a slender longsword. “I am the best swordsman in my country. I should take the risk.”

  “Gentlemen, enough,” I said. “We might as well send all three of you. The others will distract it.”

  I looked around. The capran party had suffered no casualties. Magnus was too stubborn to quit, but I insisted he hang back. Meerwen assured me she had at least one more fight in her. Which was good, because my own team was still missing Cruix, its heaviest hitter. Orvar was with us, and so was Elsa’s crew, but they weren’t all a team.

  There were gaps in the crowd. Last I checked Conrad was still alive, but barely.

  “Ladies. Gentlemen,” I said. “This stopped being a game a while ago. Since the first man fell.

  Now some of us have lost friends to this monster. We’ve all seen what it can do. We all know what’s waiting for the people in that city, should we fail to stop it. This is a creature unlike anything I have faced. It has more in common with the dragons of old than any of the lesser serpents I have hunted.

  “You all know the stories. The ancient dragons were nearly invincible. It took the greatest wizards of the age to put them down. Not one of us here is powerful enough to match them, dragon or wizard. But I am not discouraged. We have a chance, people. Three men have volunteered to put a lightning rod in the creature’s heart. With it, I can channel the sky’s fury and cook the beast from inside.

  “It is my hope that you will stand with me and do your best to hold the monster’s attention. Together, we will give our three brave volunteers the time that they need. Together, we will bring down the monster. Are you with me?”

  A chorus of “Yes!” and “Yeaaaah!”

  “Then let’s go!” I said. “Let’s kill the beast!”

  Arawn rushed at the monster, lance couched and ready. Laraib, Herkus, and Sham were right behind. They hit the beast like a string of firecrackers, bam-bam-bam. Then they turned and got out of the way.

  “Loose!” Orvar said. He let go an arrow. Magnus fired his rifle, then tossed it to an assistant for reloading. Another assistant handed him another rifle and Magnus took aim again. Mina pulled the trigger on her crossbow. The cavalry had gotten the creature to turn. Now the stream of fire caused it to charge.

  “Steady,” I said. I lobbed a fireball at it, but my attention was mainly on the clouds overhead.

  “Steady,” I said. The monster covered the distance faster than its size would have you think.

  “Steady...” I said. It was almost upon us.

  “Now!” I said.

  Meerwen dropped out of the sky and slammed the monster into the ground. Elsa and her two teammates leaped over us to engage it in melee. Unseen by the creature, Heronimo, Hafgan, and

  Ardel climbed out of a trench and ran for the monster’s wound.

  I lifted my hands and began to call forth the lightning.

  Elsa had gone full lion. She raked her claws along the monster’s back, raked and pounded it.

  Hertha was punching one leg and the wolf was biting at the tail. Meerwen had wrapped her arms around one neck and was keeping its head out of the fight.

  Heronimo had his sword out. So did the other two. They raced across the gap, each straining to be first.

  The monster roared and threw off its attackers. Elsa and the wolf went flying. Hertha tumbled low and skidded in the dirt. Meerwen fell and the creature stepped on her arm. There was a snap.

  Heronimo was almost there. He stabbed forward, aiming for the hole in its side.

  The tail swept around and smashed into all three of them.

  “No!” someone said. It might have been me. The monster kept running and crashed into us. I was knocked aside. One of Magnus’s assistants was ground into the dirt.

  “Urist!” Magnus said.

  I propped myself up and the monster roared in my face.
This is it, I thought. Then Ardel slammed his shoulder into it, which at least got its attention. I crab-walked out of there.

  Ardel lost his sword, so he stuck his arm into the wound. The prince drove his armoured limb as deep as it could go into the creature’s flesh. It screamed. Ardel held out his other arm to me.

  “Now, Angrod, do it now!” he said.

  “But—”

  “Now. I have the creature’s heart!”

  “No!” Orvar said. He was scrambling to his feet.

  “The lightning!” Ardel pleaded. “Before it’s too late!”

  Gods forgive me. I raised my hand and called down the lightning. The bolt struck Ardel’s arm and flashed into the creature. No man could survive that. So I hit him again to make sure the monster was dead. And again. The monster’s legs failed and it rumbled to the ground.

  “Is it dead?” Mina asked.

  I switched to my Sight and nodded. “Dead as a roast. But Ardel...!”

  The prince tried to pull his arm from out of the monster’s side. It was stuck, so he tugged harder.

  The arm separated from the shoulder with a dry crack.

  He looked at it. He’d lost his helmet, so his face was still perfect. Even his hair was unsinged.

  But smoke trickled from the seams in his armour. In my Sight, there were holes in his aura. He took a step toward us and Dianne screamed.

  “Ardel!” she said. She ran to him.

  “Thordis?” he said. “No, you’re Dianne.”

  “For you, I can be Thordis,” she said. She tried to hug him but his armour was too hot. In places it had been spot-welded onto his body.

  “Did I do it?” he asked. “Is it dead?”

  “You did it,” she said. Carefully she put her arms around him. There was a sizzle where her bare skin touched him.

  “I’m so proud of you,” she said.

  “M’glad,” he said. Raindrops started falling, turning to steam when they landed on his shoulders.

  I was counting his steps. He’d taken one step away from the monster, one toward Dianne. Three steps before he could lean on her. Then one step. And another. The bits of him that were alive were not enough. He couldn’t heal. He was dead.

  He took a step. He took another. Then he collapsed into the softening earth.

  “Ardel!” Dianne said.

  “Thordis?”

  “Yes, Ardel. It’s Thordis.” She was weeping.

  “It’s dead, right?” he said. “I did it?”

  “Yes, my prince. Yes. Please, save your strength. We’ll get through this.”

  He looked at her.

  “No,” he said. “No, I will not. Brother?”

  “Yes?” Orvar said.

  “Don’t blame yourself for this. Never blame yourself for this. I saw my duty and I saw it done.”

  Ardel smiled. “I would not have it any other way. Prince Angrod?”

  “I’m here,” I said.

  “In my apartments. On my writing desk. Something I would like you to sing at my funeral.”

  “Ha. Ha. Ha. Why so morbid? You look fine! Why—”

  “Angrod.”

  “—I’ll do it,” I said. I didn’t speak Norse, but I’d do my best.

  “Good. And Orvar, please tell me father...

  “... please tell him...

  “... tell him...”

  We never did find out.

  Heronimo

  Cruix and I stood on deck and watched Heorot pull away into the distance.

  “I wonder if the others did anything half as interesting,” I said. “We have so many stories.”

  “I bet they just sat around the house and played board games,” Cruix said.

  “Sounds good,” I said. “I’ve had a bit too much excitement lately.”

  He snorted. “A talent for understatement, that’s what you have.”

  I leaned on the rail. The city was beautiful from this far away but I wouldn’t want to live there. It had seemed huge and luxurious when I was young, but I now that I had seen Brandish, even the greatest city in the Northlands seemed small and dark.

  “You cannot ever go home again, can you?” I asked.

  Cruix nodded. “Like trying to crawl back into a skin you shed long ago.”

  “Well, everyone knows that.”

  The gulls took off from the rigging. We were losing sight of land.

  “Poor Ardel,” I said. “You think his father is ever going let him out of the fort?”

  “Not soon,” Cruix said. “Seems people want him dead.”

  “You sure?” I said. It seemed odd that these shadowy people would use Elendil Assassins when

  they probably had plenty of human warriors at their command. I said as much to Cruix.

  “Doesn’t the Elendil Order also operate in the Northlands?” he said. “Maybe they were trying to stir up anti-elf sentiment. Sour things between Garvel and Angrod.”

  “Maybe. Or maybe you were the target, not Ardel. The price on your head has grown, my friend.” I named the sum and he whistled.

  “What did they do, invest it?”

  “You have to be more careful,” I said. “You’re the only dragon in the world. That means something.”

  “I am not afraid he said,” lifting his chin. The way he did it...

  “Did you do something?” I asked. “You seem very pleased with yourself. More so than usual.”

  “Did I do something? You’ll have be more specific. Everybody does something. And is it wrong to feel smug?”

  There was none of the frustration that had always been there.

  “So that’s why you disappeared after the hunt,” I said. “You were with a woman!”

  “What?! No!”

  I grinned. “Don’t deny it. I know that swagger. You have been intimate with someone, and recently too.” I clapped him on the back. “Congratulations!”

  “Oof,” he said. “Well, I will not try to deny it. I’d appreciate if we just kept this between ourselves.”

  Some people were private about sex. That was fine with me.

  “It’ll be our secret,” I said.

  The female wyvern cooed. It was more like a growl. It curled under a bower of full-grown trees, the wreckage of a vigorous mating. The forest around it was torn up. Even the wyvern was nursing a few wounds from the act. The skin was healing already. It was growing back thicker than ever.