by Sam Ferguson
The dragon then backed away and looked down to Erik with a smile.
Erik smiled as he thought about it. “Can you show me?” Erik asked.
The dragon nodded and blew a gentle breath on Erik. As with the previous magic, the temple fell away and Erik found himself on the same green mountain overlooking the valley. The dragon came and stood next to him, causing the ground to tremble under his weight.
“Look to the forest now,” the dragon said.
A horde of men, women, and children marched out from the forest. They wore plain clothes and pulled carts behind them filled with various goods and food supplies. Then, from the temple issued a great throng of priests, but instead of holding weapons, they went out with open arms to the people and when the groups met they embraced and sang songs.
“Look,” the dragon said as it raised a claw to point to the temple.
Erik looked up and saw himself standing on the balcony of the temple, wearing a crown of gold and jewels and dressed in a robe of red and white. Marlin stood next to him, and the golden dragon circled above with a triumphant roar as it landed atop the temple.
“What are they doing?” Erik asked.
“The people of the Middle Kingdom have come to pay tribute, and to establish a new order wherein no one suffers. No one goes hungry. No sons kiss their mothers as they depart for war, and no more fathers will bury their sons. Order will be restored.” The dragon then leaned down close to Erik’s ear and whispered, “And there will never be another orphan, lost and forgotten by the world.”
“Paradise,” Erik said as he listened to the joyful singing below. Then he turned and looked to the dragon. “What of the four pillars of fire?” he asked.
The dragon shook his head. “They will never come,” he said.
Erik looked back to the scene and started to walk a few steps down the mountain. Then, just as he was about to agree, something nagged at the back of his soul, tugging at his gut. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it at first, and then he realized what it was. It was there before him as clearly as a pile of manure dropped by a careless dog on its master’s bedroom floor.
The boy turned back to the dragon. “But, to do this is not really any better than what Tu’luh would do,” he said. “Either way it robs people of their will to choose. The world would be a hollow paradise, void of virtue or real honor.”
The dragon hissed and nodded its great head. “You are a wise boy indeed,” it said solemnly.
The spell faded away and they were back in the temple as before.
“So that is the test, then?” Erik asked. “To see whether I would allow myself to fall prey to the temptation of the book?”
The dragon stood motionless, peering into his soul. “You would rather let the world burn?” he asked.
“Life without choice would be empty, and meaningless,” Erik replied. “Why trade Tu’luh’s tyranny for a different version of the same?” Erik then realized why the dragon was trying to persuade him. He called forth his power one more time and scanned the dragon.
The dragon scraped its claws along the stone, gouging the blue granite and causing Erik to shudder at the sound. “I had hoped to convince you otherwise,” he said. His golden scales melted away like dirt being washed from a porcelain statue and revealed fierce, red scales beneath. The horns and spikes along his spine lost their shine and instead glowed from within as though fire was inside. The two massive horns on his head curved down around his snout and the green eyes changed to the color of molten lava.
“You are a nightwing?” Erik gasped.
“No,” the dragon hissed. “I am Tu’luh the Red!” he bellowed. Then he reared up and stretched his mighty wings out beside him.
Erik stumbled over backwards and gasped. “No, how could you be here?” he shrieked.
Tu’luh stepped forward, crushing the pedestal underfoot and leaned down with his massive head. “There was a dragon left behind by the Ancients,” he said. “One that was to give the Exalted Test of Arophim. But he could not withstand the power of Nagar’s Secret. Not even here in this… temple.”
“Where did he go?” Erik asked.
Tu’luh stepped aside and revealed a ragged tunnel clawed through the granite in the back of the chamber. “He tore his way out,” he said. “There was a fountain there, for the dragon to sustain himself during his long sleep. But this chamber could not protect him. After the blight drove him mad he came to me. He was twisted, warped. He was no longer a dragon, but a nightwing, as you call them.” Tu’luh growled low. “You met him when the wizard Erthor came to the temple.”
“Lepkin killed him,” Erik said.
Tu’luh nodded.
“If you were here, why not attack me when I first arrived?” Erik asked.
“The battle of Hamath nearly killed me,” Tu’luh explained. “I needed to recover my strength. So when the other vacated the temple, I came here. It was the perfect place for me to convalesce while simultaneously keeping an eye on the temple.”
“You were the one who told the other prelate to force me to take the test,” Erik guessed.
Tu’luh nodded. “If I could have gotten to you then, I think you would have seen things differently.” The dragon slammed his tail into one of the massive columns, breaking it apart and causing the chamber to quake. “Last chance, boy,” the beast hissed. “Join with me and we can still make the world a paradise.”
“And if I refuse?” Erik asked with trembling voice.
“Then the future you saw in the Chronicle of the Spurned will come to pass. Either way, I will rule.”
“You’re a monster!” Erik shouted.
Tu’luh slammed his great foreleg down, a claw landing on either side of Erik and pinning him to the floor. “I am a savior!” Tu’luh roared. “I want to save this world from its end. I thought you would understand that!” The beast coiled its neck back and angled its snout down toward Erik. “However, I am willing to rule over a kingdom of demons and monsters if that accomplishes the same end. The world of men may end, but the dragons will be able to live on.” A great rumble sounded deep within the beast’s body and an orange glow shone through the scales of its underbelly. Tu’luh then opened his mouth and a great light shined forth.
Erik squirmed and wiggled, but he was pinned. The light in the back of Tu’luh’s throat grew more intense and Erik could hear the roaring fire welling up the beast’s neck. He kicked furiously, but he couldn’t free himself.
Just before the fire spewed out of Tu’luh’s mouth, a flash of silver flew through the air and slammed into the dragon’s snout. The dragon snarled and recoiled away, misdirecting its fire to a wall. Next came a flourish of flame near the back of the beast’s foreleg and the dragon launched itself forward between the pillars and crashed almost one hundred yards away, sliding into a column and shattering the stone. A hand reached down and Erik’s eyes went wide when he saw Lepkin pull him up by his shirt collar.
“Behind me!” Lepkin shouted.
“Fool!” Tu’luh growled. “Not even you can defeat me!” The dragon spewed roiling, red flames at them.
Erik and Lepkin took shelter behind the remains of a column as the fire wrapped around them. Lepkin held Erik in close to the stone until the flames subsided and the dragon snarled again.
“Where are you?” the beast roared.
Erik drew his brow together, but Lepkin held a finger to his mouth. Then the same flash of silver spun back through the air. Erik looked around Lepkin to see Jaleal, the gnome, holding the gleaming spear in hand.
“I am here, foul beast,” Jaleal shouted in a voice that should have come from a much larger creature. “Come and feel the sting of Aeolbani’s wrath!”
Tu’luh hissed. “I know the gnome who forged that spear” he growled. “I thought I destroyed his line long ago.”
Jaleal stood in the center of the chamber, in full view of the dragon.
“We should help him,” Erik said.
Lepkin nodded and motioned for
Erik to remain quiet. “When the time is right.” He then reached behind him and retrieved a second sword. He handed the blade to Erik. “This won’t do much more than anger the beast, so wait until I give the signal.”
Erik nodded. Then a chill went up his spine as he heard the rumbling sound of the fire building in the dragon’s throat again. Tu’luh rushed forward, shaking the chamber with each step. Then a rush of fire washed over them again. Lepkin pressed harder into Erik this time, and Erik could feel the heat of the flames much more intensely. He was sure the gnome was caught this time, but an angry snarl and hiss from Tu’luh was quickly followed by Jaleal’s cackling laugh.
“Never were good at catching gnomes, were you wyrm?” Jaleal taunted the beast from somewhere down deeper in the chamber. A sudden crack, like the sound of bursting thunder rumbled through the chamber and shards of rock flew overhead.
“Now,” Lepkin said. “Stay with me.” Erik got up and tried to keep pace with Lepkin, but with his leg still knotting up in the middle, he found it difficult to do. Lepkin stopped behind another column and motioned for Erik to take cover.
Erik ducked down just as Tu’luh’s head poked through an opening between two pillars. Erik’s mouth fell open when he noticed the pair of deep gashes in the dragon’s snout.
“He’s bleeding,” Erik whispered to himself.
The dragon turned and his big red eye looked down and saw Erik. “Champion!” he growled. The beast opened its mouth but Lepkin rushed forward with his flaming sword and sliced diagonally across the beast’s snout. Tu’luh recoiled and his head bent low enough for Lepkin to jump onto the back of his head. Lepkin raised his sword to strike down at Tu’luh’s eye, but the beast snapped its neck back and jerked its body to the side. Lepkin connected with the side of Tu’luh’s snout, but missed the dragon’s eye as he toppled off and crashed to the ground.
Tu’luh snarled again and disappeared from view. Erik scooted around the other side of the column and saw Jaleal quickly working his spear on the back of Tu’luh’s left hind leg. The scales were thicker there, but there was still one line of blood from where the gnome was able to slip his spear up under one of the scales.
The dragon snapped down at the gnome with its teeth, but Jaleal dodged out of the way and ducked behind a column as a fireball sailed by him. Tu’luh then shattered the column with his tail and lunged forward with his claws to get at the gnome.
A fog filled the room then, covering all but the bottom six feet of the chamber. Erik watched as Lepkin rushed out into the middle of the chamber and gave a mighty swing of his blade to Tu’luh’s foreleg again. The blade connected hard, showering sparks around Lepkin and a scale broke in half. The dragon roared and Erik saw a great light above the smoke as a wave of fire rolled across the ceiling. Lepkin then ran across the chamber and hid behind another pillar just as the flames turned down and descended on the spot he had been standing in.
Lightning struck out from the thick fog, stinging the great beast and causing him to spin around wildly, swinging his tail and snapping his maw at everything the way a dog might fight off a swarm of bees.
Then Erik heard a thunderous ruckus from behind. He turned to see the cavedogs pouring in from the cavern. Their riders whooping and hollering madly as they brandished their axes. Faengoril led the charge, winking at Erik as he sped past.
Shortly after, the chamber filled with the sound of steel ringing against the dragon’s scales. Erik took heart and stood out from behind the column, awestruck by the sight before him. Lightning continued to blast the dragon from above, while the cavedogs and their riders worked feverishly under the fog. The boy smiled to himself, amazed that the end of Tu’luh was at hand.
Then a great quake shook the chamber and shards of stone flew into the dwarves, knocking several of them from their mounts. The dragon dropped his sharp claws down, tearing many more dwarves apart. Then the dragon spun around and the column Erik was standing near burst asunder as if struck by the gods themselves. Erik ducked and somehow managed to avoid being crushed by flying stone, but he soon realized that none were safe. A crack appeared in the floor a few yards away from him and a great snap echoed from above as hunks of granite fell to crush any slow enough to be caught in its path.
“You shall all burn!” Tu’luh swore. His fire engulfed several dwarves and turned them to ash in the blink of an eye.
Erik felt his heart sink. They were so close! Now to have the dragon snatch victory from them was unthinkable. His mind recalled the images that Tu’luh had shown him. As he thought of the red dragon sitting upon the black mountain with an ocean of dead below him, he couldn’t stomach the thought anymore. His inner courage rose to the surface and he ran forward. He leapt over the widening crack in the floor, dodged a fiery hunk of stone from above, and sidestepped Tu’luh’s massive tail as it swatted down a pair of rider-less cavedogs. Then he jumped on the tail and ran up. It was hard to keep his footing, as the dragon was moving and in the throes of battle, but somehow he managed to move in between the spikes along the beast’s spine and make his way to the beast’s shoulder.
The boy let out a feral yell, and sent his spark of power with it, dispelling the thick smoke so he could see his target easily. Everything around him seemed to slow, as if each second was an entire minute. He saw the dragon spread its left wing and he lashed out with his sword, tearing a small gash in the leathery wing and forcing the beast to turn and look at him. Then Erik launched himself forward, sword high above his head as the dragon’s mouth came in for him, opening wide.
A flash of silver came up from below and slashed the beast across the snout. The dragon turned at the last minute, giving Erik the opening he needed. He brought his sword down, slicing through the dragon’s left eye as the steel shattered in a storm of sparks. The beast reeled back in agony, roaring and hissing fire all over the ceiling as it fumbled backward.
Erik let go of the broken sword and fell down. He looked up to the ceiling and the flames above him seemed to pass peacefully over the stone, as if they were nothing more than orange and red waves of water. The air beneath him felt cool as he descended and he closed his eyes, remembering the feeling of flight when he had been in dragon form. Then he slowed in what felt like thick air.
He opened his eyes and saw Lady Dimwater standing before him, holding her hand out. “Get up,” she scolded. “We aren’t done yet!”
Erik fell the last two feet to the ground and jumped up to his feet. He looked up and saw the mighty beast still convulsing and writhing in pain, slamming its head and tail into anything nearby, including the wall.
The entire chamber shook violently and then the dragon tore through the ceiling with its claws and ejected a column of fire up through the hole. Erik could hear gasps and screams from above and then the whole earth around them began to tremble.
Tu’luh then flipped from his back and beat his wings, launching himself toward the tunnel at the far end of the chamber. As he exited, he took down the last three remaining pillars with his tail for good measure and disappeared through the tunnel faster than a rabbit fleeing a pack of dogs.
“Come on!” Faengoril shouted from nearby. “This place is coming down, everyone out!” he bellowed.
Erik and Lepkin ran for the tunnel, following after the cavedogs and their riders. Lady Dimwater rode upon a cloud, using her magic to steady the ceiling as best she could until everyone was well into the tunnel. Then she flew out after them.
A great plume of smoke and dust erupted from the tunnel, carrying shards of stone and rock through the air. Erik shielded his face from the debris and then waited for it to clear so he could survey the scene.
As the dust settled, he barely saw Tu’luh flying toward the south. He was already so far away that he looked no bigger than a falcon in the sky.
“He won’t be coming back for a while,” Lepkin said assuredly. “You gave him quite the sting.”
Erik turned and saw Lepkin sitting near him, breathing heavily. Marlin was coughi
ng and shaking dust from his hair. Faengoril was counting his troops, and Alferug was tending to one of the wounded dwarves. Lady Dimwater was standing a few yards off, tending to a hole in her sleeve and mumbling something about exacting revenge on the dragon for tearing her favorite gown. Then the dark haired woman whirled around and pointed an accusing finger.
“And you!” she shouted angrily.
Erik’s heart jumped into his throat and he nearly squeaked like a mouse until he realized that she was marching up to Lepkin, and not him.
Lepkin jumped to his feet and started to open his mouth but no words came out. Dimwater jabbed him in the chest with her finger.
“Why have you been asleep this whoooole time?!” she shouted. Everyone shifted nervously away from her except for Lepkin. He was too dumbfounded to react. The woman then grabbed a fistful of Lepkin’s shirt and pulled him in for a long, hard kiss that made Erik blush and look away. When he looked back, he saw that Lepkin’s face was red as well.
“I—er—” Lepkin stammered as she pushed him away from her again.
She poked him again, hard enough to push him back a couple inches. “Don’t ever do that again!” she scolded.
“Awww,” Faengoril smirked. A couple of dwarves laughed, but they all quickly looked away when Dimwater turned a glaring eye at them.
“Alright,” Lepkin said sheepishly.
Dimwater then pulled him close again and buried her face in his neck as she squeezed him close to her. The two held each other for a few moments and then Lady Dimwater let go and moved to Lepkin’s side, holding his left hand with both of hers and leaning her head on his shoulder with a tear falling down her cheek.
Erik smiled and turned away, trying to give the two of them what little privacy he could. He looked up to the right and saw Jaleal, standing proudly on top of a boulder, spear in hand and shouting at Tu’luh in a foreign tongue.
“See,” Lepkin said as he nudged Erik in the back with his foot. “Heroes come in all sizes.”
Erik nodded and Jaleal turned around, spinning his spear and smiling as he bounded down to stand next to Erik.
