Quest SMASH

by Joseph Lallo

  Lukas beamed.

  “Who else has an idea. Tristofer? What say you?”

  “How long would it take our fastest diggers to tunnel through it?”

  Breslin thought a moment. “It’s hard to say without knowing what type of stone it is. It looks sedimentary. If I were to venture a guess I would say two weeks. And that’s creating a standard five foot diameter tunnel. What if what we’re looking for lies beneath a different part of the stone? They’d have to keep digging until they found it.”

  Rhamalli’s deep voice drew everyone’s attention. “What if the stone were broken in twain?”

  “How?”

  “Repeated strikes. Dragon fire is very destructive.”

  “You’re telling us that you could break it?”

  “Not without help,” Rhamalli admitted. “I would seek assistance.”

  “From other dragons?”

  “Aye.”

  “How long would it take?”

  “Unknown. I have never tried to split a stone before.”

  Breslin bowed. “If you’re offering, my friend, I’m asking. If you can, break that thing in two.”

  “Very well. I have just asked for help. Kemxandra and Cantreya are en route. They will be here soon.”

  Fifteen minutes later the large black female dragon was back, along with the white male dragon that had helped pin the Zweigelan. Both were staring at Rhamalli as though he had just suggested all dragons should swear off flying.

  “Would you please repeat that?” Kemxandra asked incredulously. “You want us to do what?”

  Rhamalli extended his neck out over the cliff and looked down. The other two dragons followed suit.

  “Do you see the slab of stone that has broken off the cliff and lies just above the water?”

  The two dragons looked out over the cliff edge and eyed the slab far below. They nodded.

  “It is believed the stone slab conceals what the dwarves are seeking. The stone shelf must be broken. We are to render aid in accomplishing this task.”

  “How do you propose we do that?” Cantreya’s gravelly voice asked.

  “Repeated blasts by the three of us should accomplish the task.”

  Kem shook her black head. “I cannot believe Rinbok Intherer would want us to –”

  “I’ve already informed him. He has no objections.”

  Kem’s large black eyes narrowed as she stared at the slab hundreds of feet below.

  “Think of it as a chance to practice your aim,” Rhamalli suggested.

  Kem’s head swung around until she was facing Rhamalli. “Would you be insinuating your aim is better than mine?”

  Cantreya chuckled; the deep rumblings were felt by dwarf and dragon alike.

  Rhamalli gave the best approximation of a shrug that any of the dwarves had ever seen. “Your aim could benefit from repeated practice, Kem.”

  The black dragon sniffed disdainfully. “Perhaps my aim is not as accurate as yours. At least my shots do damage.”

  Cantreya’s laughter grew louder. This time Rhamalli growled. “Do not even think of suggesting your shots are more powerful than mine.”

  “I destroyed three of the metal creatures last year. How did you fare?”

  Rhamalli said nothing.

  “What creatures?” Tristofer timidly asked.

  Kemxandra glanced down at the spectacled dwarf. “Last year during the battle with the human sorceress Celestia we faced a mechanical foe that was extremely difficult to vanquish. I managed to dispatch three.”

  “Once you were told how,” Rhamalli pointed out.

  “Regardless,” Kem continued, “I destroyed them. Refresh my memory. How many did you destroy?”

  Rhamalli went silent again.

  Nodding her head, Kemxandra smiled. “That’s what I thought.”

  “Neither of you can match the power behind my blasts,” Cantreya rumbled as he stirred. He unfolded his massive wings and stretched.

  “I’d say we have the makings of a wonderful competition!” Breslin chortled while he rubbed his hands together. “The dragon that makes the final blast which splits the stone will forever after be known to be the strongest amongst the three of you. Agreed?”

  As if sensing that something drastic as about to happen, the surrounding countryside fell silent. Insects scurried back to their lairs. Kytes anxiously retreated to their nests to verify their young were unharmed. For several seconds the dragons looked at one another as is mentally daring each other to make the first move.

  “Two pieces of silver says the white one breaks it first,” Athos whispered.

  “Make it a gold piece,” Breslin whispered back. “And I say Rhamalli will do it.”

  The ground lurched as the three dragons all leapt off the cliff in a mad flapping of leathery wings. Cantreya immediately dove straight towards the slab and fired two quick blasts at the stone, expecting it to be reduced to rubble.

  It wasn’t.

  Kemxandra and Rhamalli both flew east over the sea before circling back and targeting the stone slab. Rhamalli fired off five shots, all of which bounced harmlessly off the stone’s surface. Kemxandra elected to fire just one shot, but gave her shot as much power as she could muster. Inhaling sharply, she spat out an enormous fireball and watched it speed towards the slab. It impacted the slab with the force of a trebuchet. The large stone creaked ominously but remained intact.

  Three hundred feet away, from the safety of their camp, the dwarves listened to the relentless pounding the rock slab was taking. For close to an hour the dragons blasted jets of fire at the stone shelf, hoping it would break under the ruthless assaults. At least the slab began to show signs of damage; jagged cracks had formed on the surface.

  “What goes on here?” an authoritative voice suddenly demanded, startling the dwarves.

  Jumping to their feet, the dwarves turned to see a dozen human soldiers approaching on horseback. At the front of the procession was a human Breslin was quite familiar with. He bowed to the human who was now holding up a hand, signaling his battalion to stop.

  “Commander Rhenyon. It’s an honor to see you again, lad.”

  Rhenyon dismounted and approached the dwarf. He clasped Breslin’s forearm and gave it a mighty shake.

  “Master Breslin! What the blazes are you doing out here? I’ve always heard its damn near impossible to get a dwarf out of a mountain, let alone five!”

  Breslin grinned. He motioned for the others to approach.

  “I believe you have already met Masters Venk and Athos last year. Over there is Tristofer. He’s a scholar from the Kla Rehn.”

  Rhenyon nodded. He locked forearms with each of the brothers and then the bespectacled scholar.

  “I remember you two,” Rhenyon said as he turned back to the brothers. “You aided the Nohrin last year during the battle with Celestia, am I right?”

  Both brothers nodded. Venk pulled Lukas to his side.

  “This is my son, Lukas. Son, this is Commander Rhenyon. He is friend to the Nohrin and holder of another of the Mythra weapons.”

  Lukas’ eyes went wide as they immediately settled on Rhenyon’s sword.

  “That’s Mythron! He has the blue-bladed sword!”

  Rhenyon briefly unsheathed his striking dark blue weapon and presented it to the underling.

  Smiling, Lukas turned to his father to show him the fabled sword. “Father, can you make me one of these?”

  Venk rolled his eyes. “Do you know how difficult it is to make a blue sword blade? Especially a dark blue one? I don’t know what trick Master Kharus used when he made it but I sure would like to learn it.”

  Rhenyon indicated the cliff’s edge and began moving towards it. “So tell me, my friends, what’s going on here? What are the dragons battling?”

  Breslin smiled as he walked back to the edge of the cliff and looked down. Kemxandra and Rhamalli were still circling about as they blasted their fireballs at t
he stationary stone. Cantreya had located several outcroppings and was clinging to the rock face. He was blasting the stone relentlessly from his stationary position, not that it did any good. More cracks had appeared in the stone shelf but it was still, unfortunately, in one piece.

  Rhenyon looked down at the cliff face and watched the wyverian activity.

  “Is this some type of dragon target practice?”

  “We need to see what’s beneath that stone slab,” Breslin explained. “The dragons are kindly helping us save some time by breaking that slab for us.”

  “That stone has been there as long as I can remember,” Rhenyon remarked as he watched Rhamalli fly out to sea to circle about. “What do you think is under it?”

  “I’m not really sure,” Breslin admitted with a shrug. “It’s something that will hopefully point us in the right direction for the next task.”

  “You’re on some type of mission?”

  Breslin nodded. “In a matter of speaking, aye. My father was presented a puzzle and he wants to solve it. I think he believes it could be beneficial to our people.”

  “Do you require assistance?”

  Breslin looked at his human friend. The desire to tell the truth was strong, and he didn’t like concealing anything from anyone. However, if there was still a chance that Nar could be waiting for them, he’d never hear the end of it if he let it slip now.

  “I do not believe so, my friend.”

  Satisfied, Rhenyon nodded. The commander turned to study the circling dragons for another minute or two. Breslin watched the human from the corner of his eye. Did he suspect something?

  “So tell me, why are you here?”

  Rhenyon smiled. “Do you have any idea how far sound travels?”

  Breslin let out a short bark of laughter.

  “Heard them, didn’t you?”

  “The king thought we were under attack. When we couldn’t find the source of the explosions I was sent to investigate.”

  “Sorry. It’s just us.”

  “How do the two of you know each other?” Tristofer asked, sinking back down to sit cross legged on the ground.

  “We met when we fought with Sir Steve and Lady Sarah during the battle of the guur.”

  Athos’ eyes widened in disbelief. He turned incredulously to Breslin.

  “You fought the guur during the battle in which those infernal bugs were eradicated?”

  Breslin nodded. “Aye. It was one of the few times I was damn glad we were fighting side by side with humans, and one of them was a fire thrower.”

  Venk sank down onto the grass next to his son.

  “Was fighting the guur as bad as the stories lead us to believe?”

  “Worse,” Breslin and Rhenyon both said together.

  “They’re just bugs,” Tristofer exclaimed as he polished his glasses. “How bad could they be?”

  “Just bugs, Master Tristofer?” Breslin squatted down next to the scholar and thought how best to describe the terror that used to haunt his clan. “Imagine a ten legged bug the size of Lukas. Imagine it is fully armored so that it’s immune to arrows. Imagine it can move so fast that swords and axes are virtually useless. With me so far?”

  Tristofer wordlessly nodded.

  “Good. Now take that horror and multiply it by a thousand. That’s what we faced when we fought them.”

  “How in the world did you vanquish them?”

  “We killed their female. No female, no young. We did dispatch many of them, but with the female gone the colony couldn’t replenish its numbers.”

  Tristofer was amazed, and his expression showed it. He sat there quietly in the grass as he tried to envision what type of weapons would possibly be effective against that type of adversary.

  “As I said,” Breslin reminded him, “one of the humans with us was Sir Steve. The Nohrin. He was, and still is, a fire thrower, and the most powerful one that has ever been recorded. He did most of the work.”

  “Impressive,” Tristofer admitted. “Where is this fire thrower now?”

  “Back on his world,” Rhenyon told him. “He and Lady Sarah visit frequently. I just saw them last month when they came for the prince’s fifteenth birthday.”

  An ear-splitting crack rent the air. Everyone present jumped. Several of the horses reared up into the air in fright. Breslin rushed to the cliff’s edge, followed closely by the others.

  “What was that?” Tristofer asked as he swallowed his fear of heights and joined them at the edge.

  The three dragons soared by them and circled high in the sky. Cantreya and Kemxandra flew off moments later. Rhamalli circled around a few more times before coming down for a graceful landing.

  “It is done,” Rhamalli told the dwarves. The red dragon then spied Rhenyon and his men. He lowered his head for a cursory sniff. “I do not believe we have met before, human.”

  “We haven’t. I am Rhenyon, Commander of the Royal Guards in R’Tal.”

  “Rhamalli.”

  Rhenyon waited to see if any other titles were forthcoming. There wasn’t.

  “Pleased to make your acquaintance. Breslin, you appear to have everything under control. We’ll be off. Good journey to you.”

  Breslin and the other dwarves bowed. After receiving a quick cuff on the back of his neck from his father, Lukas followed suit.

  “And you. Give my regards to Kri’Entu.”

  Rhenyon nodded. He mounted his horse and galloped back the way he had come.

  Breslin looked up at Rhamalli, clapped his hands together, and vigorously rubbed. “So! I had wagered on you. Athos and Venk bet on Cantreya. Who finally broke the stone?”

  Rhamalli shook his head in disgust. “Kemxandra. Lucky shot.”

  “Indeed? Blast. I just lost three pieces of silver to Lukas. Was there anything below it?”

  “Nothing significant that I could see. The stone was broken into three pieces. At the point of impact there does appear to be what could be a cavity of some sort directly below. I could not tell if it was natural or if it was artificial.”

  “Can you take Venk and Athos down to investigate?” Breslin asked the dragon.

  Rhamalli nodded. “Of course.”

  Tristofer raised a hand. “Wouldn’t young Lukas have to accompany them as well? So we can determine if we’re in the right place?”

  Venk frowned. He didn’t relish the idea of putting his son in harm’s way.

  “Just until we can determine if something is down there. Once we do, if we do, then he goes back. Is that agreed, son?”

  Lukas nodded emphatically, thrilled to be included in the activities.

  Minutes later the three of them were staring at the broken slab. Lukas hadn’t taken three steps before announcing his back had started tingling. Venk nodded and signaled for his son to be returned to the others. As soon as Lukas departed, Venk pivoted in place. He wordlessly eyed the numerous scorch marks blackening the area. The giant slab of stone lay in three pieces. The section they were on, roughly half the size of the original, had jagged cracks running all across the surface. The smaller two pieces were about the same size and were now tilting haphazardly down, their far corners resting in the water.

  “Has this stone always sloped down to the water?” Athos asked as he stared down at his feet.

  “Looks like it slid towards the sea when it broke loose,” Venk observed.

  Athos approached the recently broken edge of their slab and squatted down. He motioned for his brother to join him. He pointed at a gap of about four feet which separated the three pieces. With the largest section of the broken slab now sloping down, and the two smaller slabs sloping in the opposite direction, a narrow space was visible underneath the thick stone. The opening was just large enough for a dwarf to slip through.

  “Give me some rope,” Athos told his brother. “I’m going down.”

  Once Athos had been lowered into the hollow he untied the rope and looked around th
e tiny cavity. This part of the stone, namely the undersides of the broken slab, had once been exposed to the elements. If something had been attached to the rock face, this was the correct side of the stone to be looking at.

  Athos smiled. There was just enough light to look for irregularities. Catching sight of a discolored section of rock down near the narrowest part of the hollow, Athos dropped to his belly and inched forward for a better look. It was a slightly yellow color, standing out amongst a backdrop of solid gray stone.

  Wanting to see if the discoloration existed anywhere else, Athos painstakingly checked the rest of the undersides of the slab he could reach. The discoloration only existed in the one place. That had to be it!

  “Did you get stuck down there?’

  Athos looked back up through the narrow crack at his brother’s concerned face.

  “I’m fine. I found something. Hand me my tools.”

  “What did you find?”

  Athos took his hammer and chisel and dropped back down to his stomach.

  “I think there’s something embedded in the stone. I’m going to find out.”

  A loud grating sound split the air and the slab lurched forward.

  “Athos, get out of there! Hurry!”

  Athos began chipping away at the slab’s undersides.

  “Not until I get whatever this thing is.”

  Not bothering to keep his work neat, Athos sunk his chisel as deep into the rock as he could, gouging out huge chunks of yellow stone in the process. After twelve inches in he still hadn’t found anything. The yellow stone had reverted to its natural gray color. What had happened? Was the colored stone just a natural occurrence?

  “Think, Athos, think.”

  Athos recalled the long geological lectures he had attended back when he was an apprentice. Hadn’t one of his masters said that pyroclastic deposits could permeate, over large periods of time, the surrounding rock and therefore change its nature? While he doubted they were looking for anything volcanic in nature, it was possible that whatever they were looking for might have leeched, or tainted, the surrounding rock. If that were the case, the object they were looking for might not necessarily be directly beneath the discoloration. It could be off to the side.