by D. H. Dunn
Far ahead of him, the two red doors stood open, locked in place. “Lhamu, how many Dragons do you sense? Can you tell?”
“Four,” came a faint answer. “I think.”
He thought of Artie as he ran the long remaining distance to the doors. Their last conversation before the Machias sunk had been silly, something about baseball. What was my last talk with Upala about? With Nima? Now there was no more time.
The cold air of Ish Rav Partha waited for him as he exited out into the snow, taking care to keep himself hidden behind one of the large red doors.
Peeking around the massive metal structure, his eyes struggled with the brightness of the light. The sun was still high enough in the sky to be over the peaks to his west. He peered north, wishing he had the Speaker’s eyesight. There were only white wisps sailing across a crisp blue sky. A beautiful day.
Then he saw them, just dots under the clouds in the distance. Three dots. The Thread, the Voice, and the Weight. Maybe Lhamu was wrong, he thought. It would be good to have something go right.
He stood in the snow, heart pounding so hard he thought it might burst from his chest. The dots grew bigger, the lead showing a slight hint of blue sparkling on top of it. Tanira, already wearing the Hero’s armor.
Confident they had not seen him, he ducked back into the long hallway and did his best to blend in with the shadows on the left side. He gave Upala a quick thumbs up, her form nearly invisible in the darkness of the hallway. She returned him a grim smile, but the light in her eyes still danced.
A good reminder of what he was fighting for here. A future for them, and for all the people they cared about. If they could prevent Terminus from reawakening, anything might be possible.
All that opposed them was one Rakhum who had defeated them each time they had faced her, and three Dragons.
He waited, knowing his wait would not be long.
Nima knelt and peered from the shadows of the back room of the Vault. It was a small space, only slightly wider than the short hallway that separated where she and Lhamu hid from the main chamber, where Kater’s pacing form could occasionally be seen around the huge Dragon torso.
“Nima,” Lhamu whispered. “I’m scared. Is that alright? Is it alright to be scared?” Lhamu was using her other hand to block the light from her head crystal, which Nima thought was a good idea.
She reached into the near darkness and took Lhamu’s free hand.
“Yeah, of course,” Nima said. “I’m scared too. I’m sure they are all scared out there.” She was certain Tanira was frightened, as well. Maybe Kater wasn’t actually afraid, but everyone else would understand the danger of what was about to happen.
“I know there is a plan, but shouldn’t we be out there?” Lhamu’s voice was quiet. It was like all the nighttime conversations she and Pasang used to have, after Ama and Awa had gone to sleep. “Isn’t that what good people do? They help?”
Nima gritted her teeth.
“We are helping,” she said, “by staying out of the way. There is nothing we can do here, we don’t fight. We don’t have magic powers. But by being in here, the others don’t have to worry about keeping us safe.”
“I see,” Lhamu said. “That makes sense.”
Nima heard the Caenolan girl sigh, which she hoped was a sigh of relief. Nima knew she herself would have no relief until this was over. It was hard to hide, she felt the same call that Lhamu expressed. All her life, it had never been her way to do nothing, it was always better to do something.
“Nima,” Lhamu whispered. “Nima, I thought they said this room was empty.”
“You’re the one who checked it, I just got here, remember? Why?”
“We only looked in it quick, but if it’s supposed to be empty what is that in the corner?”
Nima looked in the shadows of the corner where Lhamu pointed and saw nothing. Then, after a moment, a hint of a dull, blue glow. It was there for a second, and then it was gone. She waited another second, checking to see if she had imagined it, only to see it again.
The blue glow was similar to the magical chains that held up the pieces of the Dragon in the other room, just smaller. As they flickered faintly, they showed the clear outline of a box, Nima guessed it would be about the size of her head.
She crawled over to the corner. Lhamu moved with her, the fingers covering her crystal parting slightly and allowing a bit more light to leak free.
Enough illumination to see that the box was covered in small, blue, magic chains like the others outside, and that the box’s sides were clear and allowed Nima a view of its contents.
A massive beating heart.
“This is a big problem,” Nima said, just as an explosion of sound erupted from the entryway of the Vault.
When Tanira passed Drew on her way into the entrance hallway, she was nearly a blur as she sped by on the same violet Dragon that had attacked Drew back in Rogek Shad. Two more blurs went by, a yellow one and a darker, brown one. Drew felt a huge pressure come down upon him as the third Dragon passed, as if waves of force were pushing against him.
Tanira gave no sign that she had seen him.
Deeper in the hallway, he saw Upala’s crimson shield flash into form, blocking the speeding Dragons from accessing the central chamber and the torso of Terminus.
Drew raced out of his hiding spot in the shadows, quickly running out of the passage and into the snow beyond the Vault’s opening.
Looking back into the long hallway, he felt one second’s worth of pride and relief as the trio of beasts slammed into Upala’s barrier, the red energy shuddering with the impact, but holding strong.
He threw up his shield, blocking the opening with a mystic field of crimson energy. Immediately he felt the drain as he poured himself into keeping his barrier strong.
The interior of the hallway was now bathed in red, giving the scene a surreal, nightmarish appearance.
As he expected, the Dragons whirled back toward the opening after their collision with Upala’s shield, only to find that Drew had blocked their exit. He watched their panicked gazes, bodies twisting as they began a fruitless search for another route. Tanira too seemed caught off guard, struggling to hang on to her mount as it whirled away from the barrier.
Through his fear, he smiled. The first part was working, and as the Dragons saw that Drew’s shield had blocked off their exit, they increased their speed, preparing to ram into his barrier.
Just as he had hoped.
As a unit they slammed into Drew’s shield. The force of the impact physically moved Drew back in the snow a few inches, though he was several feet away from the shield itself. He bit his tongue in surprise at the intensity of the attack, blood filling his mouth as a fresh pulse of exhaustion ran through him.
Fractures began forming in the structure of his barrier, but with concentration he filled them as quickly as they appeared. A familiar drumbeat began in his heart, a reminder of past failures.
He refused to listen to it. He had not come through all this to fail now, tired or not he would keep his shield up.
Through the red translucence he saw Tanira leap from the Thread’s back, drawing the Hero’s sword and preparing for a strike of her own.
The Weight was alongside her, and Drew could feel its crushing presence as the broad, flat Dragon focused its energies on him, the vibrations from the beast shaking his bones from within his skin. He balled his fists while his knees threatened to buckle, his mind struggling to keep his focus on the shield.
The other two Dragons vanished from his viewpoint, headed, he was sure, back to Upala.
The Speaker should show up now, he reminded himself as he dropped to his belly. Lying flat and prone to reduce the pressure from the Weight as much as he could, he could just see inside the hallway if he turned his head to the side. Each strike from Tanira’s weapon sent shockwaves through his body, rattling his teeth.
All that mattered was the shield. If the Speaker could get the Dragons to use their fire, he wou
ldn’t have to hold out much longer.
As if summoned, the large form of the Yeti appeared in the air over the Weight, the thick bulk of the beast crashing right down on the Dragon’s head. The pressure was immediately lifted from Drew as the stunned Dragon wobbled from the blow, the Speaker already vanishing again, only to reappear behind Tanira.
Shit, Drew thought as he got back to his knees. He’s not supposed to mess with Tanira! The Dragons, the whole plan depended on the fire coming out. Still, they hadn’t planned on Tanira dismounting.
The Speaker swung his huge arm at Tanira, a flaming crystal in his hand, only for the woman to twist her sword behind her. Catching the Yeti off guard, the blade cut into his side, his crystal weapon dropping uselessly to the hallway floor.
Drew saw the Speaker’s silent bellow as he ported away, just a second before the Voice’s golden head appeared in front of him, teeth flashing as it rammed against his shield.
It was too confined a space, the Dragons were too fast and coordinated. Even with the Weight struggling, the Speaker was not going to last against them long enough.
Back on his feet, he needed to improvise. Drew dove toward his shield, not even sure if what he planned to do would work. Waiting until his face was about to collide with the energy barrier, he willed the shield to part just wide enough for him to run inside, slamming it back shut behind him.
Tanira turned toward him, the shock clear on her face. He was, after all, supposed to be dead. He only felt dead, his exhaustion from maintaining the barrier leaving him sluggish.
She launched a quick swing at him with her sword, Drew just able to jump back in time, his back bumping into his shield.
Keeping the crimson energy up required concentration, but his panic for the safety of his friends was fueling that nicely. Diving to his left to avoid a second thrust from Tanira, it was time to see if he could multitask the way he hoped he could.
Fire poured from his hands, bringing a grim smile to Drew’s face. His shield was still up, as was Upala’s. He pushed a wave of flame at Tanira, forcing the woman backward.
Out of the corner of his eye, there was a flash of lavender as the Speaker materialized over the Voice. With a roar, the Yeti jammed two flaming crystals into the Dragon, the long, golden beast flailing wildly. The Speaker then disappeared, the Voice’s swiping claws finding only air.
Drew poured on his flame, driving back the Thread who had charged in to protect Tanira. He could feel the air getting thin, his lungs beginning to strain with the dropping oxygen level. The plan was working.
The effects on the Dragons were even faster than Drew had hoped. The Thread looked close to collapsing, its wings drooping over its back. The Weight lay off to the side, Drew could not be sure if that was due to the Speaker’s blow or the thinning air. Only the Voice moved, but the fire it spouted wildly against Upala’s shield was helping matters.
Tanira charged at him, the exhaustion on her face clear. He threw up another gout of fire in her direction, but he found his own abilities weakening and she pushed through it, allowing the flames to lick off the hero’s armor.
His back slammed into the stone wall of the hallway, the impact sending fresh waves of pain throughout his injuries. Tanira’s sword arm raised, Drew’s eyes growing wide with panic.
A wall of white fur appeared behind her, the Speaker’s huge hand grabbing Tanira’s arm, holding the sword back. The Yeti then delivered a blow to her upper back, and Tanira cried out in pain as the blue energy of her armor flickered and dissipated.
Drew saw the blue crystal the shield collapsed into, a small attachment on Tanira’s left shoulder. He lunged for it, the wounds in his side continuing to sing with pain. His groping hand found the mechanism and yanked it from her leather shoulder pad, tossing it aside and out of her reach.
Tanira roared and brought her elbow into Drew’s face.
As a trio, they went down, the room feeling nearly airless as Drew kept all of his attention on keeping his crimson shield blocking the doorway. The cold stone of the hallway’s floor was cool and refreshing as his face landed upon it. He knew only seconds more would be needed before Tanira and the Dragons would be unconscious.
He filled his mind with a mantra of shield, shield, shield, his exhausted faculties struggling to process anything else as the battle raged around him.
The floor underneath them then exploded.
With a cry, Drew was launched into the air. He felt his grasp on the shield fall, the combination of shock and pain overwhelming his concentration. His ears popped as the crimson barrier collapsed and the chilled air from outside the mountain rushed to fill the hallway.
Drew crashed back onto the stone, slamming down onto the unforgiving stone.
His side was on fire now, and his vision blurred. A new Dragon was in the center of the hallway, pinkish-white with glistening flesh, a smell like rotting vegetation filling his nostrils.
Drew could see no eyes or wings, and something that looked like a long pulsing tube where its head should be, a tube that was lined with sharp teeth that dripped a caustic liquid, bubbling as it hit the stone floor.
The Worm.
Beneath it, a large crater had formed from where the Dragon had tunneled through the rock.
Tanira struggled to her feet, both hands upon Kater’s helm, the light from its crystals blazing. She shook her head for a moment as Drew tried and failed to will his body to move.
Regaining herself, she ran by him down the hallway, Hero’s sword in hand as she headed for the main chamber.
With an exhausted swipe, Drew reached out for her, only to be knocked from his feet again by the Worm’s tail. He was flung backward into the hard stone of the wall, and slumped to the ground. Spots flickered in front of his eyes, his breath catching in his throat as he saw the collapsed form of Upala slumped over a boulder near the Worm’s crater.
Nearby, an unmoving arm of white fur poked out from beneath a collection of rubble.
The strange corpse-flesh appearance of the Worm took a blocking position in front of Drew, guarding against him as if Drew’s body had any energy left to stand with, let alone fight.
He watched the forms of the Thread and Voice uncoil themselves and fly after Tanira, their wings brushing against the hallway’s ceiling.
The three of them passed out of the field of Drew’s vision, a wave of pain and despair washing over him. He yelled out a cry of warning to Kater and Nima, a weak sound that he was sure they could not hear.
His arms shook as he tried again to push himself upright, the air rushing from his chest as he collapsed back onto the floor, a feeling of utter failure pushing down upon him.
Only Kater stood between Tanira and Terminus now, and hope seemed an eternity away.
Tanira charged down the hallway, the sword of the Hero in her hand. The Thread and Voice streaked by overhead, she pulled them back a bit to keep them directly above her. She knew her goal was in the large, circular chamber directly ahead, but she did not want to be caught off guard by whatever waited for her.
She was flush with fear and anger. Anger that she had nearly failed again, only her decision to modify the plan of the Line and free the Worm had saved her. If not, the new Manad Vhan man, Upala, and the Yeti would have defeated her.
The pain in her back where the white beast had slammed against her wound pulsed, rippling agony that came like a heartbeat. She used the pain to push herself forward.
All that was left were the chains. Once she shattered the crystal that powered Terminus’s bonds, she would be done. No more fighting, only control. She may have lost the armor, but she had the Helm. She only needed to stay alive.
Ahead, Tanira could see the body of the great Dragon, even more majestic and terrifying than she had imagined. She called the Thread low, preparing to jump on its back and ride it to the ceiling. One swing of the Hero’s sword and the crystal would be shattered.
Kater stepped into her vision, her heart lurching at the sight of the fearsom
e, aged Manad Vhan. Unlike the two scared combatants they had fought at the entry, Kater radiated confidence, his steel gaze burning into her.
He smiled the grin of a man who had waited all his life for this battle, and knew he could win.
With a wave of his hand, he threw a small version of his shield forward at her like a projectile. She twisted the Thread in front of her, allowing the Manad Vhan’s attack to strike the lavender Dragon’s scales. The Thread was buffeted by the impact, Tanira falling from the Dragon and landing clumsily onto the stone floor.
Grunting as she pulled herself upright, she sent the Voice at Kater, allowing the manic Dragon a little more freedom as it twisted and whirled towards its target, screeching with joy.
The fear crept in as she tried to manage the Voice’s actions while leaping back onto the Thread’s back.
Kater was powerful and well versed. While her other opponent had used his flame haphazardly, Kater used his like an arsenal. A thin jet of flame pieced the Thread’s wing like a spear, when she directed the Dragon to avoid a second projectile, she steered him into a wall of flame.
Kater used his abilities strategically against the Dragons, and far more effectively than Upala or the other Manad Vhan had. He shifted from shield to fire almost interchangeably, shrugging off attacks while laughing, as if this moment of combat was made for him alone.
His eyes were upon hers whenever she glanced at him, looking at Kater through the Helm of his own creation, she could feel his confidence. It radiated from him like a second flame, burning through her resolve.
He frightened her, like nothing else she had ever seen.
Up in the darkness of the dome she saw the glint of her target, a small, blue crystal.
Swallowing the terror she felt, Tanira twisted to avoid a blast of fire from Kater, sending the Voice into him again. She decided to further release the frantic, angry gold Dragon from her control so she could focus on the Thread and Worm. She heard the Dragon’s terrifying screech as she allowed it more freedom, hoping it would attack the right foe.
