Dragon Quest

by Heather Walker

  He rubbed her back and kissed her hair. She let his maleness infuse her cells with his intoxicating aura. Why did she never let herself feel this with a man before? Maybe the time just wasn’t right. Maybe she had to travel to this strange world to let her guard down, and he was just the right person to do it with.

  She relaxed into the moment and bliss and closed her eyes in sleep.

  Chapter 6

  Robbie walked along the same trail as yesterday. Nerius was just as gone when they woke up the next morning. They retraced their steps to the place where Nerius attacked Robbie. Then they continued on their way like nothing ever happened.

  Robbie walked in front. He carried a bundle of their extra food supplies on his shoulder. Elle followed a few steps behind. He looked back at her every few minutes to make sure she was still there, but neither of them said anything. They walked the whole morning in silence.

  What was she thinking about back there? Was she thinking she made a mistake almost kissing him by the fire? Was she wishing she’d gone ahead and done it, or was she waiting for a chance to ditch him at the first opportunity?

  He kept walking. He couldn’t make his plans around her and whatever she might be thinking. She was a nice woman and very beautiful and attractive, but she was just a woman, after all. He had a mission to fulfill and four brothers depending on him. He couldn’t leave them to fight the witch alone. If he could find a way back to them, he had to do it before he gave up.

  He faced front and fixed his eyes on the path in front of him. The trail wound out of the forest into more open country, but Robbie knew better than to let appearances fool him. He fought too many battles against wraiths in country just like this. He wouldn’t get caught unawares out here.

  Elle might have come in handy fighting Nerius, but she was unarmed. He knew that the first time he laid eyes on her. If anything attacked them out here, he was on his own.

  He scanned the fields for any threat, but he didn’t see a thing. Nothing moved out there. Yesterday he could believe there was nothing moving in this whole country. He couldn’t believe that now. Something lived and moved here, and it would attack him without provocation and try to kill him, just like those wraiths did. Nerius taught him that.

  The fields changed to rolling downs. They rose high overhead in grassy slopes to the heights of the sky. Robbie pointed to the peaks. “We’ll go up there and ha’e a good look around. We’ll see what this country holds—if it holds anything.”

  Elle didn’t answer. She climbed up after him until they reached the tops. Robbie strode along the undulating ridge and surveyed the land all around. He came to the end and gazed out into the wide expanse.

  “What are you looking for?” Elle asked.

  “Anything familiar,” he replied. “I kenned if I came up here, I might see summat I’d seen afore. I kenned maybe I micht catch sicht o’ the castle or summat near it. I suppose that was too much tae hope for.”

  “Where do you want to go now?”

  He scanned the whole countryside. Nothing made sense out here. He didn’t recognize any direction. With no sun in the plain white sky, he couldn’t even tell which direction was which. He didn’t want to admit that to Elle, though, although he had to admit she probably already thought the same thing.

  He strolled back the way he came to get another look off the other side. A patch of scrappy trees dotted the heights before the slope dropped away to the forest again. He passed through it to see if the downs continued farther on.

  A few feet into the trees, the slope leveled out one more time to a small flat shelf cut into the hillside. The trees spread to the sides to create a little bowl-shaped glen lined with bluebells.

  Robbie and Elle stopped to stare at the curious sight. Large toadstools, all bright red dotted with yellow spots, pocked the smooth grass. Winding flower paths twisted and turned between them and led to tiny doors in each mushroom stalk. Miniscule windows peeped out of the larger mushrooms’ scarlet caps.

  That wasn’t the strangest thing about the place, though. All over the grass, tiny people no taller than Robbie’s shins crowded the glen from one side to the other. They talked to each other, skipped and frolicked, and some played music while others danced and sang.

  Robbie blinked in wonder at the scene. All the little people wore the same russet brown clothing and queer colored hats. Their wrinkled faces twisted in strange expressions, though none of them looked outright dangerous—just incredibly strange. Their eyes glittered with innocent mischief.

  Robbie didn’t like the look of the place. He couldn’t put his finger on why exactly he didn’t like it. His instincts gave him a distinct No when he thought about going near that place. On the outside, the place looked like something out of a child’s storybook. He could squash one of these little people under his heel and walk away none the worse.

  Something under the surface told him a different story. Elle stiffened, too, and she narrowed her eyes at the little people. She didn’t want to go in there, either. She had good instincts. He could trust her to get the right impression of a place like this.

  What could he do, though? These were the closest thing to people he’d found in this empty country. He had to find out what they knew about the Phoenix Throne, the enchanted castle, and this mysterious Obus he was looking for.

  He never got a chance to make a decision. The little people caught sight of him and Elle. They capered toward the newcomers, surrounded them in mobs, and took hold of their hands. The little creatures pulled them into the glen and danced around them in wild ecstasy.

  Robbie exchanged glances with Elle. She looked back at him with wide-eyes, but they had no choice but to let themselves be celebrated over and made much of. The music, laughter, and talking reached a fevered pitch. The little people turned Robbie and Elle’s arrival into the greatest holiday they ever experienced. They formed a dancing procession between the mushrooms and everyone joined the parade.

  Robbie and Elle stood still in the middle of the pandemonium and waited for the noise to die down. After fifteen minutes of steady mayhem, the procession worked its way around the glen until its head stopped in front of Robbie. One of the little men addressed Robbie in a piping voice. “You are welcome to our village. I am Rufrout. You must come to my home for a meal. It’s only right we welcome you with all hospitality.”

  He pranced to the nearest mushroom and threw open the door. He waved over his shoulder. “Come inside!”

  He disappeared for an instant and reemerged. “Come on!”

  Robbie dropped on one knee and peered through the door at a cozy little cottage all laid out with a tiny table, a fire blazing on the hearth, and dear little beds made up with quilts. “I thank ye fer yer hospitality, but I cinnae fit intae yer house. Ye’ll just ha’e tae welcome me out ‘ere.”

  The joyous smile vanished off the little man’s face. “Oh. Well, that’s unlucky, isn’t it? However will we feed you?”

  Robbie looked around. “I dinnae ken aboot that, but we ha’e our own food, so ye neednae worry aboot us. If ye really wish to welcome us wi’ hospitality, ye can tell us summat that’ll help us out on our journey.”

  “What do you need to know?”

  “We’re in search o’ a wizard that lives ‘ereaboots. Perhaps ye and yer people ha’e heard o’ him. His name’s Obus.”

  The man smiled again even bigger than before. “Oh, it’s Obus you want, is it? Oh, yes, Obus is here. Finding him is never a problem. You just follow the down, and down the hill to the forest and you’re there. Now come on. We must share a meal. We wouldn’t be giving hospitality if we didn’t at least share a mug of ale with you.”

  Robbie brightened up at the mention of ale. He looked all around the village. “Very weel. Where shall I sit?”

  Rufrout waved his hand. “Oh, anywhere you can fit.” He burst out laughing, and the whole village joined in the joke.

  Robbie smiled. He started to relax. These people were harmless and friendly. They wanted t
o share their bounty with him and Elle, so why shouldn’t he settle in and enjoy a merry evening while he had the chance? How long had it been since he shared a quiet meal with friendly people? He and Elle could always go hunting Obus in the morning.

  Robbie pushed several tiny people out of the way to make room for himself on the grass. He sat down and crossed his legs while the little people got busy. They rolled out barrels and screwed in the taps. They drew tiny mugs full and passed them around to everyone present. They just seemed to forget to serve Robbie.

  The music started up again, and everyone prepared to make merry. They trundled long tables onto the grass and set them with roasted meat, tiny loaves of crunchy bread, and steamy stews.

  Robbie smiled on them. He couldn’t enjoy the ale or the food, but he could take pleasure in their merriment. They ate and drank, sang and danced, and people tapped their feet to the music while they feasted.

  Rufrout and his fellows rolled barrels of ale to Robbie’s side and pried off the lids for him. He took hold of one and drained it in one gulp. It was by far the best ale he’d tasted in years.

  Robbie glanced up at Elle. She stood in the same spot and didn’t move. “Come and sit ye down, lass,” he told her. “Ha’e summat tae eat and summat tae drink. Ye need it as much as I do.”

  She didn’t move. She towered over the celebration going on around her feet. No one paid her any attention, but Robbie couldn’t ignore her. “I said sit ye down, lass. Ye’re making a spectacle o’ yerself.”

  “You shouldn’t eat their food,” she told him. “They could be unfriendly. They could be putting on an act to get us to lower our guard. You shouldn’t drink that ale. They could be trying to drug you.”

  “Drug me!” he snorted. “These are the nicest people I’ve seen in a long while, and I’ll no throw their hospitality in their faces licht ye are. Sit down and stop talkin’ nonsense. Ye’re bein’ rude tae our hosts.”

  “How can you be so blind to the danger?” she asked. “You don’t know anything about these people.”

  “I ken they’re friendly,” he returned. “Look at ‘em. They’re welcoming us wi’ feastin’ and dancin’. That’s more’n I’ve seen anywhere else since I left home. I’ll no look a gift horse in the mouth or a barrel o’ ale, neither.” He upended another barrel. “Besides, they’re helpin’ us tae find Obus, and that’s what we came here fer, an’t it?”

  “They could be getting ready to turn us over to him,” she argued. “They could be trying to weaken us so we can’t fight back when they tell him we’re here.”

  He lost his patience with her. “If that’s the way ye feel aboot it, then turn ye ‘round and walk out o’ ‘ere the way ye cam’ in, ‘cuz I’ll no ha’e naught tae do wi’ ye. Ye’re the rudest woman I e’er ha’e the misfortune tae meet up wi’. Ye’ll sit ye down and share this meal wi’ our generous hosts, or ye’ll walk away and ne’er see me face again. I can tell ye that richt now.”

  She stared down at him in shock. He turned away and set to work drinking whatever the little people put in front of him. They didn’t try to give him food. He could have demolished the whole feast in a few mouthfuls, so he ate his own meat. He helped himself to the ale, though. He couldn’t get enough of it.

  Elle stood where she was a moment longer. Then she sat down on the grass next to him. She hugged her knees to her chest and murmured in his ear so no one else could hear. “I’ll sit down, but I won’t touch a drop of their food or their ale. This is a really bad idea. I just want to say that right now.”

  Chapter 7

  Elle lay on her back on the grass. The cold ground seeped into her bones and chilled her through her suit. She shivered and hugged her arms around her shoulders to keep warm, but she didn’t move.

  The little people’s feast carried on deep into the night. They lit tiny bonfires around the glen, and their energy and enthusiasm for their own party never waned until the wee hours of them morning.

  Robbie ate and drank with them. He didn’t spare the ale. Shortly after their argument when she refused to share these people’s hospitality, she noticed the ale affecting his mind. His speech slurred, and his eyes bleared. He didn’t argue with her again, and he even smiled at her.

  She didn’t smile back. She wanted nothing to do with these little people. They reminded her of something like elves, or maybe gnomes. She couldn’t figure out what they were, but their faces gave her no peace. They might be friendly on the outside, but that wicked mischief twinkling in their eyes told her a different story.

  She sat by Robbie’s side while he regaled the company with stories about his travels. They laughed and exclaimed over his adventures, but Elle’s blood ran cold. He became too free with information than she considered advisable, but that was his business. She already tried to warn him, and he didn’t listen.

  The best she could do now was to watch, wait, and be ready for anything. The farther the night progressed, the more convinced she became that these little imps were up to something. Yes, that was the perfect name for them. They were imps, and very impish in their behavior. They were kind and generous and merry on the outside. Inside, they were rotten to the core. Elle understood that now.

  She stared up at the featureless black sky over her head. She listened to Robbie breathing next to her. He wasn’t just drunk. She’d heard too many drunk men breathing in her time. She became more and more convinced he was drugged. How long would she have to wait before these people made their move?

  She opened and closed her frozen fingers to get some warmth moving through them. Should she get up and walk around? Maybe they wouldn’t make a move. Maybe Robbie was right about them all along and they were harmless and friendly.

  She almost gave up waiting when the sky started to lighten. Thank heaven! Another day. She gathered her resolve to sit up when she heard the first sound of movement in one of the mushrooms nearby. The clatter of frying pans banging against each other touched her ear, and a door opened. Chattering voices bubbled inside the mushroom right next to Elle’s head.

  She started to sit up and work the stiffness out of her limbs when she froze in horror. Doors opened all around her, and crowds and crowds of the little creatures flooded onto the paths. They all headed for her and Robbie.

  She couldn’t remember seeing this many last night, but maybe she was mistaken. More of the things than she ever thought could exist in one village poured out of their mushroom houses. They surrounded Robbie in masses and picked him up off the ground.

  He sighed and settled deeper into sleep. He didn’t sense a thing that was happening. The little people started to carry him out of the village, toward the down. Elle got to her feet to follow them. “What are you doing with him?”

  Rufrout marched next to Robbie’s body. He swung his little walking stick and called up to her in a cheery voice. “We’re taking him to Obus.”

  “Obus!” Elle exclaimed. “What are you doing that for?”

  “Everyone who enters this territory has to be delivered to Obus,” Rufrout told her. “That’s the rules.”

  “Hey, wait!” she cried. “You can’t do this. You can’t just drug him and drag him off to Obus without his knowledge.”

  Rufrout didn’t answer. No one paid any attention to her protests. They hauled Robbie onto the down and through the trees. Elle couldn’t watch this. She couldn’t stand by and let them take Robbie somewhere. She launched herself forward and planted herself in their path. “Stop! You’re not taking him anywhere.”

  The singing stopped, but the marching didn’t. Rufrout glared up at her with flashing eyes. He waved his little walking stick at his comrades. “Down the hill!”

  Elle flew into action. She didn’t know what came over her. Her heart threatened to explode out of her ribs. She only knew she had to stop them. She couldn’t exactly fight a bunch of people a fraction of her size.

  She didn’t know how she would stop them. Her instincts took over, and before she knew what she was doing, she waded int
o their midst. She kicked every head she saw and skidded them out of the way right and left.

  Robbie hit the ground and groaned. He rolled over on his side, and his eyes craned open. He stared in blank astonishment at Elle standing over him. She didn’t hesitate. She waded through the crowd and cleared the ground of every imp in sight.

  They howled and shrieked in horror. They tried to scuttle out of the way, but she caught them and booted them into the trees. The sight would have been comic if she hadn’t been so desperate to get them away from Robbie.

  He heaved himself to a sitting position. He held out a hand to Elle, but he toppled over on his face in the dirt. She never stopped raging through the hordes of little imps scooting all over the place. She took enormous steps through their midst and kicked them as far away as she could. She marauded through their numbers until none remained to bother her and Robbie.

  Elle whirled around. She cast her flashing eye over the battlefield. She spotted a few imps peeking at her from behind the trees, but none dared come near her. All at once, she caught sight of Rufrout crouched in a corner. She headed straight for him. He tried to bolt, but he couldn’t get far on his toothpick legs. She caught him and lifted him up to her face level.

  “What were you trying to do?” she asked. “Why were you trying to take Rob to Obus? What does Obus want from us?”

  “Oh, please, please, please, Your Highness!” he sobbed. “Please don’t eat me! I never meant any harm. Please don’t feed me to the monster.”

  “You can stop calling me Your Highness,” she snapped, “and I’m not going to eat you. Whoever heard of such a thing! I only want to know why you were turning us over to that wizard. How does he know about us?”