Stand Short and Proud

by Billy Wong

  To her surprise, the tall woman shook her head. "I was expecting to come with you. But I'm sorry to say I can't."

  "What's going on?" Meg glanced at Baxter beside her. "You can leave the fort in the lieutenant's care like before, no?"

  "It's not that. I just found out this morning an old enemy has challenged my father to a duel. I have to go and represent my family on his behalf. If not, the way he is, he'll probably try to fight despite not even being able to walk and..."

  "I see. In that case, your kin do take priority, though I question if the military will see it that way."

  "They can see it however they want, won't change my mind. Besides, like you said I have Baxter to watch over things here. If you don't feel like going after Don without me, you're welcome to wait until I come back. I shouldn't take too long, unless I don't make it."

  She turned to Patrick and Gavin and they exchanged some whispers among themselves. Then she faced Taryn again. "We don't need to wait. If it's okay with you, we can go ourselves."

  Taryn gazed questioningly at them. "Are you sure?"

  "Sure that we'll succeed? Admittedly not, but there's no guarantee we would even with your company. Sure that we can give it a shot? Absolutely. It wouldn't say much for the expanded Plasbian army if it always had to rely on its officers to do anything."

  "You aren't even from Plasbias though," Baxter said, "to be invested in our military's reputation."

  "Maybe not, but as long as we work for it, it's a matter of professional pride for us to enhance its image. Besides, if we don't pursue Don now when we have a good idea of where he might be, who knows that he won't go elsewhere and make it tough for us to find him again? You may not take that long to come back, but even a day's delay could make the difference. Me and Gavin were holding our own against him before you stepped in. So with us in better shape now and Patrick there too, we shouldn't be at an overwhelming disadvantage. We'll take him down and make him part ways with the sword... hopefully."

  "I'll go too," Christopher said, having stepped up behind them. "I don't know how much I can do, but since I was at least in part responsible for this happening, I should provide what aid I can."

  Joel added, "And I as well. It would feel wrong for me to not help my friends, help my other friend."

  Baxter looked them over and smiled. "It seems the lunch table takes initiative admirably. Reminds me of when I was an enthusiastic young soldier in my youth."

  "There's someone missing, though," Gavin said, meaningfully eyeing Rich who stood off to the side.

  Rich raised his hands in exasperation under their expectant looks. "All right, I'll come! I don't like being near that sword, but I'm not such a coward as to refuse my friends help over it."

  "How will we separate Don from it?" Joel asked. "We've been talking about well, talking him out of it, but what if he can't just choose to give it up? I would be a lot more confident if we had a mage like Julianna with us who might be able to do something with magic."

  "Contacting Julianna and waiting on her response seems ill advised for the same reason waiting for Taryn to get back is," Meg said. "And it would be even more embarrassing for Plasbias to be unable to deal with this themselves, and have to go running to the Saint General so quickly."

  "I suppose you have a point."

  "We could ask Agatha about this," Patrick suggested. "Being a scholar of magical phenomena, maybe she'll have an idea of what to do if Don can't free himself from the sword's influence?"

  They visited the researcher in her guest room and told her of their dilemma. She cupped her chin in thought, then after a while said, "Maybe you could break the sword's physical form? I'm not sure that would totally destroy it, given its exotic abilities to change size, transfer its energy and such, but it might at least loosen its hold over him."

  "How would we break it, though?" Christopher asked. "It's probably pretty tough."

  Meg smiled. "The explosives a certain band of monster hunters left for us might do the trick."

  "There is still the question of how we'll locate the sword and Don with it amid all those tunnels," Gavin said. "If the system under the mountains is as extensive as I hear, we could be down there for weeks and still not stumble onto them."

  Agatha raised her hand. "I can help with that. In the course of my experimenting, I attuned a magical magnet to the blade, which will now act as a compass towards it. It only works within fairly close range though, which is why I didn't mention it until now. You'll likely still have to do some blind wandering around under the mountains before the magnet reacts. But once it does, it should be quite useful in pinpointing it."

  "So you bookworms are useful for something!" Rich said. "Thanks!"

  She gave him a cold look. "Not exactly the most inspiring compliment."

  Meg tried to wave it off awkwardly. "He isn't that used to interacting with, um, educated folks, you know how it is."

  Christopher began, "B-but..."

  "You don't count," Joel said. "Your voice is drowned out in our group by all the... masculine roughness."

  "I hope you don't mean who I think you do," Meg mumbled. Sure he probably meant most of the boys too, but she suspected she was also included. "Anyway, you want to come with us Agatha? You might have more insights that could be useful for us, and I'm wondering if you'd want to see this to its conclusion too."

  "This won't be the conclusion for me if you manage to retrieve the sword. Still, I'll come to increase your chances for success."

  Rich frowned. "I hope you can keep up with us. It could make things difficult if we have to piggyback you around after you get exhausted from walking around too much."

  She rolled her eyes. "I had not realized how—never mind, I wouldn't come off very tactful either if I said it." Rich just blinked in confusion while Meg held back laughter. "I will be just fine, thank you very much. Though maybe I could have you carry my gear, since Freddy would be too much of a hindrance..."

  "If we've had enough small talk," Meg said, "let's go and prepare for the journey."

  After putting together the equipment they expected to need, including plenty of torches and the explosives, they headed south taking turns with the heavy cart. "Ironic that the explosives we stopped the hunters from using might end up being used by us for the same purpose after all," Meg mused. "I wonder if we were wrong to kill them, and would have been better off letting them destroy the sword like they planned."

  Gavin sighed. "We might've been better off. But we didn't know back then what would happen later, and don't have the benefit of hindsight until after the fact. They didn't exactly show reluctance to kill us, so you shouldn't feel remorse over them forcing our hand."

  "I suppose you're right. Hard to say I won't regret it if we wind up failing or losing more friends, though."

  "Then let's do our best not to," Patrick said.

  "What do you think Don is doing now? He said he was going to be a champion of the nation, but fleeing to the mountains doesn't seem very in line with that goal."

  "Maybe he's figuring out his next move." He frowned. "Or maybe the sword's influence is growing, and nudging him towards actions not intuitive to him." To what end was the big question, and the one that worried Meg the most.

  Because the mountain range was almost at the southern border of Plasbias and with their burden slowing them down, it took weeks before they neared it. Meg feared Don might already have abandoned it for some other hiding place, but prayed that wouldn't be the case causing them to have wasted all this time. They entered the town at the foot of the northmost peak and asked around for specifics on where the metal bird had been sighted. The villagers directed them to the house of someone who claimed to know where it nested.

  They knocked on its door to be greeted by an elderly man with a hunched back and shiny bald dome. "You are some heavily armed strangers," he said, posture bent enough to be almost eye to eye with Meg, "albeit also quite young. Would I guess accurately to think you must be here about the flyi
ng monster?"

  "Yes," she replied, "that's what we want to ask about. Do you know where it is?"

  "I do. While gathering herbs, I saw it land in a gorge between the mountains. Out of curiosity, I crept closer. I spotted an opening in the valley wall, but heard loud footsteps within and dared not approach any further. I don't know if it might have moved deeper or to a different spot by now, but I could lead you there for a price."

  Crafty old fellow, though it wasn't particularly surprising somebody might demand compensation in exchange for help. Good thing they'd brought all of their coin along in case of a scenario like this, not that they had much of it. "We'll pay you," Gavin said. "But only after we see you've made an honest effort, and aren't just leading us to a random cave for your own monetary benefit."

  He dipped his head as in acknowledgment of their savvy. "Very well. I wish you would trust me as the honest man my neighbors will vouch for me being, but if you insist I'll guide you there before accepting payment."

  They traversed rough ground and perilous slopes on their way deeper into the mountains, the old man not slowing them down much despite his age. Partly it must be his familiarity with such terrain, but another part was how they struggled to get the explosive-laden vehicle through some spots. Pulling it up inclines took a good bit out of them even with an extra person assisting by pushing from the back, and on narrower trails they sometimes had to take all the crates off, carry it sideways and then bring the crates across separately. After a few days, at long last they gazed upon the wide cave their guide mentioned.

  "Phew, we're finally here," Rich said, holding onto the back of the cart to keep it from rolling down too fast as they descended a natural ramp into the valley. "Let's hope there's merit to our friend here's claim, though?"

  The old man scoffed. "You still doubt me? Would I waste so much time coming here if I wasn't confident you'd find it warranted to reward me? Try looking inside, I wager you'll find claw marks indicative of your quarry's presence."

  "Is your magnet reacting?" Patrick asked Agatha.

  "No, it doesn't seem the sword is close enough. But that could just mean he's gone deeper underground."

  They went inside and examined the floor. It pleased Meg to find some parallel gouges in the rocky surface that appeared likely to be made by claws. "It seems Don was probably here, though he isn't now. Still, being able to track him from this starting point is a lot better than searching blindly. You've earned your fee, respected elder."

  They haggled a little, Gavin the most spiritedly though they would all split the cost. Agreeing on a relatively meager sum, they paid the man and sent him on his way. There was no need to take him farther with them, especially when having to watch over him might well hinder them in battle. They lit torches and entered the tunnel. "Do you think Don can see in the dark as a bird?" Joel asked. "He must if he's making his home here."

  "That or he can light his surroundings with his power," Christopher said. "If we come to an unusually bright chamber underground, it'll probably be a fairly good bet that we've found him."

  "Will we be able to find our way back out of here?" Rich asked anxiously. "It seems like we could very easily get lost..."

  Gavin chuckled. "Not a problem. We should just be able to follow Don's tracks back out. But if not because he flew part of the way or something, you're mapping our path as we go, right Pat?"

  "Of course." Patrick looked up from his piece of parchment and winked. "This isn't our first foray into unknown depths."

  "I hope he can do it accurately," Rich muttered.

  After several hours, they saw light coming from past a bend. "Look!" Joel said. "Don might be nearby."

  Agatha shook her head. "The magnet still isn't being drawn to anything. And I think that's just sunlight."

  "That's disappointing."

  Then there was a thud sound, as of something large moving in the area ahead. "Did you hear that?" Rich asked fearfully. Of course, everybody had. "Maybe he's here after all."

  "But that doesn't make sense," Agatha said. "The magnet... unless he's discarded the sword..."

  Another thud, and Meg drew her blade. "I wouldn't put it past him, or it to have a way to avoid magical tracking. Anyway get ready, here they come!"

  The heavy footfalls drew closer as they gripped their weapons tight, sweat beading foreheads already. Even Meg had her doubts. She and Gavin had survived against Don for a short time before, but could they really subdue him when it came down to it even with the others' help? Without Taryn's inexplicable striking power, they'd need to use their wits and strategy to level the playing field.

  A massive foot came into view—looking rather more golden and reptilian than Don's had. Though its scales possessed a metallic sheen, the hide overall seemed much less rigid and more organic. Meg gazed up to the head which had turned the corner with it, to find it not beaked or avian at all, but resembling that of a crocodile with a short snout attached to a thick serpentine neck. The reptile larger than a house fixed amber eyes on them and roared, blowing their hair back from their heads.

  "We've been had by the old man!" Meg said. "That's no bird, that's a dragon!"

  Chapter 11

  "Get ready!" Gavin said, the party raising their weapons but most of them with trembling hands. The dragon seemed even bulkier and more massive than Bird-Don, more physically imposing than anything the Free Fangs had faced before. Its head towered thirty feet above the ground, yet it seemed much longer than it was tall. A great blast of steam clouded the air with its exhalation. Did they stand a chance? Even if Taryn was here, Meg still wouldn't be confident of that.

  "What are you doing in my lair?" a booming rumble of a voice asked. After a moment, she recognized it to be the dragon's.

  "It can talk?" Christopher said. "And without a translator, too."

  It lowered its tremendous head towards them, intimidating them even more as they took in that it could easily swallow them whole. "You bear many arms. Did you come for my head? I think you'll find it a mite hard to take."

  "No, you have it wrong!" Patrick said. "We were tricked by someone, we have no quarrel with you."

  "Why should I believe you? Are you not just surprised at how frightful I am, and will you not be back with reinforcements should I allow you to leave? Prepare to die."

  Meg raised her hands. "Wait! If you kill us and we don't return, then people will know there's something hostile to them here and more will come for you. But if you let us go, we won't say anything about you and you can go on living in peace."

  "Won't say anything about it?" Joel whispered into her ear. "How do we know it won't harm others?"

  "If it does prove a danger, the world will deal with it then." In all honesty, she did plan to warn the town at least to be wary of the dragon, but she wouldn't say that in front of it when it might lessen their chances of getting out alive. "What say you, wyrm? I gather you haven't engaged in conflict with the locals yet given you aren't more notorious, so do you really wish to make war with humans now?"

  The dragon snorted, gouts of steam blowing out its nostrils. "No. But I have little reason to trust you. Why are you here so well armed, if not to seek my death?"

  "We were actually looking for another, who we do expect to battle with if hopefully not kill—one of our friends, who was changed into a giant metal bird."

  "A metal bird? I had not been inclined to believe you, yet it now seems you might tell the truth. I think I've seen this bird."

  She started. "You have? Where?"

  "In my lair, there is a window in the ceiling through the sky can be glimpsed. About a week ago, I witnessed an unusual large avian fly over it with sun glinting off its body, towards the west."

  "Towards the west?" Patrick asked. "What's over there?"

  "I think we'd better wait until later to ponder that. But it sounds like Don might've been hiding near here for a while after all, and left after he was recovered most likely?"

  "Taryn did do some damage," Gavin
said. "May we be on our way then, venerable dragon?"

  "We don't even know how old it is," Meg pointed out quietly.

  However, it didn't seem offended. "Go then, if this shining bird is what you seek. But I would suggest being more careful where you tread in the depths of the earth, for there are those who dwell here less forgiving than me."

  It retreated back into the chamber beyond, and Meg took that as their cue to leave as well. They made their way towards the surface, Patrick commenting, "Well, we probably won't be exploring underground again anytime soon unless Don has traded one cave system for another. So do we have any clue where he might've gone?"

  Christopher took on a thoughtful look, biting his lip. "West... there is certainly a lot of ground that way and many places he could have gone. But one thing does come to mind first. King Rudolph has a vacation home that way where he's been staying after his manor fell off the continent, doesn't he?"

  Joel nodded. "I believe so. What does that have to do with Don, though?"

  "I think I get it," Meg said. "Don wants to be champion of the country. So what easier way to claim that title than to ask the king directly?"

  "He would have reached the manor flying by now, right? Do you think he would've been rejected and left already... or worse?"

  "I'd hope your king would be well defended enough not to get killed by a bird Taryn alone ran off."

  Rich frowned. "Well, not always... King Rudolph is quite the whimsical ruler. For a long time he sent his entire house staff away and lived alone in his old manor, and probably would have died there if not for Julianna visiting."