“What do we do, Father?” Rerry said, drawing his sword. “What do we do?”
“I’ll tell you what I’m going to do,” Brenwar said. “I’m going to follow that city!”
CHAPTER 12
When the squawking of vultures roused him, Gorlee’s eyes fluttered open. He coughed, spat, and wiped the grit from the melted eyelets of his helmet. He rolled onto his back, wondering what was happening. A foul stench lingered in the air. He coughed again, louder this time, scattering the vultures that had landed.
How long have I been out?
He remembered the dragons. The intense heat. The screams. He had channeled his powers, changed, and blacked out, moments from his own flesh being charred to the bone. He pulled off the helmet he wore and studied the warped metal. The leather straps of his armor cracked and fell away. He peeled the remnants of metal from his stony skin and surveyed the area.
Oh my!
The human camp was smoke and ash now. Piles of bones and armor. Crawling on hands and knees, he looked around. Every man was dead. No survivors. The human ranks of Barnabus were gone.
So were the dragons, to his relief.
“What happened?” he gasped. “Why did they do this?” He staggered to his feet and stumbled through the ash. “Why did they leave so suddenly? I couldn’t have been out that long, could I?”
Judging by the sun, it was nearing the end of the next day, or so he thought. But he wasn’t sure. He broke off more of the stony cocoon that had formed over his skin, saving him from a certain end. Feeling weak and drained, he glanced at his pinkish skin.
“I’ll need something thicker than that.” He held his stomach and took a knee. “That dragon fire really sapped me.” With the ghost of a new instinct born of playing Jason Haan for months, his hand fell to his waist and searched for his sword. He broke the brittle scabbard from the belt. The sword was gone. “Great. But when did I ever really need such a thing?”
Forcing himself up to his feet, he made his way through the camp. It seemed the army had taken a turn away from the path Selene and Nath had followed. He checked the sky.
No dragons. Good.
Heavy in thought and trying to figure out what was going on, he headed down the path Nath had taken.
I don’t know what’s happened, but I hope I’m not too late to aid Nath Dragon.
CHAPTER 13
Passing under the huge stone, Nath’s senses caught fire. The landscape, the great throne, the colors of everything changed. He swore the sun rose and set. The moon emerged, dimmed, and made way for the sun to come out again. Holding his head, he squeezed his eyes shut and fought for his balance.
“What trick is this?” he said, reaching out for Selene. “Where are you?”
“I’m here,” she said, clasping her arm in his. “Easy, Nath. The feeling will pass.”
He pulled away and straightened himself. The moving ground seemed to settle beneath him. He glanced back at the monstrous portal. This side of it was still there, but changed somehow.
“Tell me,” he said, “what is that?”
“A barrier in time. It can move you forward or move you back. In this case,” she said, tilting her head toward the sky. “It moved us forward.”
As Nath looked up, every fiber of his being became taut. “Impossible!”
The Floating City hovered above. The jaxite stones, bright and brilliant blue, pulsated with eerie power.
“Isn’t it magnificent?” Selene said, checking her nails. “It was one of my better ideas, actually. Using a few small stones only controlled a few dragons, but with the entire city of stone, well, I believe Gorn Grattack can control them all.”
Nath gaped. This wasn’t something he would have ever imagined. Control of the entire city’s worth of powerful jaxite just might bend the will of all dragons who came near. Nalzambor wouldn’t stand a chance.
“I thought we were in this together, Selene.”
“Don’t misunderstand me,” she whispered, looking around. “I came up with this beforehand. I didn’t expect it to bear fruit already, but seeing it now, well.” She sighed. “It’s exhilarating.”
“You cannot control all of that power.”
“No, Nath, you’re right, I cannot.”
Golden eyes as big as moons, Nath watched the dragons who rested on their perches atop the buildings in the city. They had great metal chains around their necks.
“Did they pull it here?” he said to Selene. His blood became hot, and smoke rolled from his nostrils. “Was that your idea, too?”
“No, Nath Dragon,” said a powerful, self-assured, bone-rattling voice. “It was mine.”
Nath twisted his hips around and found himself facing the monstrous form of a dragon man.
“Allow me to introduce you to my master, Nath.” Selene opened her palm out for display. “This … is Gorn Grattack.”
Nath felt his heart skip and then pound like thunder. This dragon man’s evil aura disrupted every scale and every fiber of his makeup. Gorn stood eight feet in height, with great horns combed back from his head. His penetrating eyes burned with ice-cold fire. His countenance had hard, terrifying features. His scales shifted between white, grey, and black. His hands were great paws with steel-rending claws. Chin high and shoulders broad, there was an omnipotent air about him.
“Time to talk, Nath Dragon,” Gorn said, turning his back on him. A great tail swept over the ground behind him as he headed toward the throne. “Come.”
Nath had fought creatures far bigger than Gorn—giants, ettins, dragons, and the lurker—but he had never felt as small as he did now. Unlocking his frozen knees, he moved forward as if with a will not his own. The commanding power of Gorn’s voice was overwhelming, much like that of his father, Balzurth.
Selene’s firm but gentle touch pushed him along.
His eyes met hers.
They spoke to him through his muddled thoughts. Don’t do anything until I do.
She had said that, but it might be too late to do anything by then. He’d have to trust her for now. He took a breath. Forced himself forward. He could handle being in the presence of his father, the most powerful dragon of all.
Certainly I can handle Gorn.
Blood rushed through him. His aversion to evil ignited over and over. His thoughts raced. What would become of Nalzambor under Gorn’s rule? It would be devastated.
I must stop this monster! he thought, but the conviction was not there. But how?
Gorn stopped at the stone throne—which was still far too big for him—and turned.
“Can you feel it, Nath Dragon?” Gorn said. His tongue licked out, tasting the air.
“Feel what?”
“Defeat,” Gorn said, hissing somewhat. “Inevitable defeat.”
Nath pulled his shoulders back a little, lifted his chin, and said, “I’m surprised, Gorn. I thought you’d be more confident than that. I’m more than happy to accept your surrender.” He looked at Selene, dusted his hands off, and added, “That was easy.”
Gorn laughed a booming laugh. “Ha!” Flames shot from his nose. “I must admit, I’ve not done that in centuries. I give you credit, foolish gnat.”
“It’s Nath!”
Gorn’s clawed hands clutched in and out. His black tongue licked over his snout. He then said, “I bet your father doesn’t appreciate your clever tongue, but I find merit in it. The same as I do in a jackal when it laughs. Ha-ha-ha. Nath Dragon, Balzurth’s lone spawn, born with a foul tongue. It’s no surprise he is so disappointed in you.”
“Everything can be disappointing. It just depends on your perspective of things. For example,” Nath said, moving closer. “I’m disappointed in you. I expected you to be bigger. Scarier. But you’re hardly a monster at all. I’ve seen worse.” He glanced at Selene. “I’ve faced more terrible. Are you sure this is the Dark Dragon Lord?”
“Mind yourself, fool!” Selene said, drawing her hand back. “Silence your tongue!”
Nath couldn’t. He te
nded to run his mouth when he was scared. It was a reflex of sorts. Something about his mouthing off soothed him within. Dropping his hands to his hips, he faced Gorn. “What do you want of me, Gorn? Do we fight? Talk? Bicker like old women at one another? Does my death give you victory in this war?”
“I don’t need your death to win,” Gorn said. “I won the moment you stepped through that portal. Ha-ha-ha.”
Nath felt his scales stand up on end. What had happened? What had he done? “I don’t see how.”
“Oh,” Gorn said, rubbing his chin, “you don’t see it? Well then, let me show you.” Gorn stretched his arms out toward the great stone portal and huffed in Dragonese. A brilliant mirage of dark colors twisted and turned within.
Slowly, images formed.
Nath turned and gaped.
Dragons covered the world in flame.
CHAPTER 14
There it was. Dragons. Devastation. Towns burned. People dead. Prisoners shackled. Nath had to catch his breath. Never had he imagined such horrors.
“How can this be?” he said in little more than a whisper.
The dwarves marched from Morgdon. The elves from Elome. The orcs of Thraag and their horded army descended from the north. The image in the great portal gave Nath glimpses of the entire world. He’d watch long enough, enthralled, only to see the image change into another. His blood raced.
“What of the Truce?” he yelled a Selene. “You knew of all this!”
“As I said,” Gorn began, “the Truce, or rather, the Lie, has ended. It ended before it even started.”
Nath turned back to the portal. Dragons soared the skies, scraping the building tops with roaring flames gushing from their mouths. Towns he’d seen before were now cinders, the people dead, enslaved, or lost.
“What is the meaning of all this?” he said, turning and not holding back his anger. He clenched his fists, chest heaving. “Tell me why you do such wretched things!”
“I do this because dragons were meant to rule this world. Not men. Not elves. Not dwarves. Dragons!” Gorn said, stepping closer. He poked Nath in the shoulder, knocking him a step backward. “All will submit to me. Those who don’t will perish. Especially your friends, Nath Dragon.” He pointed at the grand mural. “Take a look. See.”
He saw Brenwar wielding his war hammer and barking orders. Ben unleashed exploding arrows from Akron. Bayzog stood behind them, face in distress, arms shaking, shielding them and the others behind them. Dragons had them pinned down in the mountains, raining down blasts of fire upon them. They wouldn’t last. They needed his help. Now. The image faded from one form to another. In Quintuklen, the city of humans, tall towers burned. The Legionnaires fought dragons and giants on the hillsides. Wave after wave of gnolls and goblins assaulted them.
Stretching his hand toward the portal, Nath said, “Wait!” He needed to see what happened to Brenwar, Ben, and Bayzog.
“I’ve waited long enough,” Gorn said with a sneer. “The end is what it is.”
Nath’s knees weakened. It wasn’t supposed to be this way, was it? How had everything happened so fast? The portal must indeed have moved him through time. He needed to move it back. The image changed from one scene to another. He saw a blast of dragon fire shatter Bayzog’s shield and drive Brenwar to his knees.
“Nooooo!” Nath yelled. He gathered his legs and sprang through the portal. The image faded, and he fell face first on the ground. Spitting the dirt out of his mouth, he glared back at Gorn and Selene.
Gorn was laughing. “Fool!” the dragon warlord said, crossing his arms over his chest. “A fool indeed. Perhaps this fool would like to make a bargain.”
Nath came to his feet. “I don’t bargain with evil.”
“Is that so?” Gorn lifted a scaly brow. “Even if it could save your friends? Save most of the world, perhaps?”
“No.”
“I think you should at least look and see what I have to offer, Nath.” Gorn turned and started to walk away, and Selene followed. “Come.”
Eyeing the dragons perched on the stones above, Nath followed after them with a heavy heart. His friends were in danger. Possibly dying. And all he was doing was nothing.
This can’t be happening. It can’t be!
Above, he heard a rattle of chains. He stopped to look. The dragons tethered to the Floating City took flight. With great effort in their wings and angry growls coming from their throats, they began pulling at the chains tethered to the city. Slowly, inch by inch, foot by foot, the city began to spin clockwise.
Sultans of Sulfur! What are they doing?
He followed Gorn and Selene behind the great stone throne. Ahead, Gorn had stopped. His broad, muscular, scale-ridged back blocked the view of something that captured his attention. Selene stood at the monster’s side, tail sliding side to side in unison with Gorn’s. She seemed insignificant beside him. It reminded him of how Nath felt ofttimes when he stood beside his father.
Could he be her father? That would explain a lot.
If that were the case, his cause might be lost already. Nath proceeded, coming to a stop beside Selene, where a large altar of stone sat on the brown and dusty ground. A dragon was chained down on the bloodstained slab. A gold one.
“You dare!” Nath said. He jumped up on top of the dais and tugged at the moorite chains, straining.
The dragon’s eyes fluttered open. She had long lashes and beautiful pink- and gold-flecked eyes. She moaned, soft and miserable.
“Release her!”
“No,” Gorn said, slowly shaking the great horns on his head. “I cannot do that. But you can, Nath Dragon. You can release her from this life that offers only a horrible end.” Gorn reached over and grabbed a great spear that was stuck in the ground. It was eight feet in length and had a large, barbed head and a razor-sharp tip. “Her life for your friends’ lives.”
Still tugging at the unbreakable links, Nath groaned, “Aaarererer!” and his brow beaded with sweat. “I don’t do your evil deeds!” he said through clenched teeth. “Not now! Not ever!”
Gorn eyed the spear tip. “Please. Settle yourself. You’re in no condition to break those chains.” He thumbed the edge. “Sharp. Now Nath, do you know the best way to kill a dragon? After all, we have scales, harder than steel. Armor all over. We are fast, but we can still be defeated. What is it that kills us so well?”
Nath didn’t answer. Instead, he eased his efforts and rubbed the dragon’s head. She snorted a little. Selene had already tried to fool him into killing one dragon, a rose blossom, before. Why would they tempt him now and try to make him kill a magnificent golden-tailed lady, the sweetest and gentlest of all the dragon breeds, if not the rarest as well?
“The heart,” Gorn continued. “One swift, hard strike will do it. But not with just anything. It takes magic steel, or an enchanted dragon part, such as a horn. That is what this fine tip is crafted from, the horn of a steel dragon. I think you knew this one once.”
Nath sneered. All he could think of was the one he had met guarding the tombs in the Shale Hills. That dragon was a powerful one. More powerful than inferno, maybe.
“Take it,” Gorn said. “Better her life be lost to a friend than to my kind.” Somehow, the dragon warlord smiled. “Consider it mercy, far better treatment than what I have in store for your friends.”
A lump formed in Nath’s throat. He glanced at Selene.
There was a glimmer of sympathy in her dark eyes.
“I’m not feeling very patient, Nath Dragon.” He held the spear out toward Nath. “Her life for your friends’ lives. You must decide now.”
CHAPTER 15
“Hold on! Hold on!” Sasha yelled. She’d locked her hands around Bayzog’s waist and now began feeding him power. “I’m with you!”
They’d followed the Floating City for three days, trying to keep up as it moved swiftly beneath the clouds. The dragons that hauled it along had paid them so little mind that for a long time, Bayzog had no reason to believe they even saw
them. Then they had struck.
Huddled inside a small ravine in the hills, Bayzog secured them with his shield. It had begun to crack under the blistering heat. Dragons dove from the air, blasting fire one right after the other.
“We have to find a way out of here,” Brenwar yelled. “Pilpin, find us a hole!” The grizzled dwarf wound up his war hammer. Beside him, Ben reloaded his bow. “Let them have it!” He released the hammer. Ben shot his bow.
The war hammer shattered the teeth of a diving grey scaler.
Crack!
An exploding arrow busted the wing of another.
Boom!
Both dragons spun out of control and slammed into the rocky slopes of the mountain.
“For Morgdon, lizards!”
Another series of flames danced and sizzled on Bayzog’s shield. Gripping the Elderwood Staff with all his might, he summoned more power. The cracks in the shield strengthened. Above, in the nooks in the rock, Shum and Hoven went to work with their Dragon Needles, jabbing at anything that came close enough to attack, keeping some of the smaller crawling dragons at bay.
“Father,” Rerry said, brandishing his sword, “let me fight!”
“No, Son! Stay back.”
“But—”
“I said no.”
“Brenwar,” Ben said, firing another shot, “what about your hammer?”
“Guzan!” Brenwar yelled. He dashed away and disappeared over the edge of the ravine.
“Get back here!” Ben yelled. ”You’ll get slaughtered out there!” He looked back at Bayzog. “I have to go after him.”
“Don’t,” Bayzog said, starting his argument, but Ben was already dashing out of the ravine. Rerry followed, lithe as a gazelle. “Rerry, come back!”
“Rerry!” Sasha screamed after her son. “No!” She released Bayzog, stumbled over the loose stones in the ravine, and fell. Pain erupted in her face.
The Chronicles of Dragon Collection (Series 1 Omnibus, Books 1-10) Page 121
