by Billy Wong
The dragon slammed into the monster at the end of a meteoric dive, knocking it down with force sufficient to leave a small crater where it fell. Finn immediately began to savage the thing with his claws while at the same time spitting his icy breath, removing many ribbons of snakelike flesh some of which continued to bite at the air as they died. But then the monster opened up the skin on its face, firing a lance of white-hot energy into the sky through the dragon's arm. Finn fell thrashing in pain as Rose's heart nearly stopped. With vast strength belying its manlike frame, the monster grabbed the dragon by his limbs and lifted Finn over its head. It threw him into the top of the fort wall, breaking off huge chunks of masonry and leaving the dragon limp atop the crumbling stone.
Tears streaming from terrified eyes, Rose drove her sword fully through the monster's calf, her guilt for not helping Finn only eclipsed by fear for him. She disregarded the snakelike tendrils attempting to reach into the holes in her armor as she stabbed again, and her opponent fell to one knee. But it opened the skin on one palm to drop a roaring fireball on her, which exploded with the force of a falling catapult stone and drove her from her feet in spite of her blocking shield. Opening its other palm, it nailed her to the ground with a continuous lightning bolt, and she struggled to stay conscious while her muscles spasmed. Impossibly, she forced herself to rise. Still maintaining its lightning stream, the thing hit her with another fireball which she stood against with a determined scream. But the skin of its face began to open, and Rose doubted if she could withstand this attack.
With godlike effort, she raised her huge broadsword to throw. Propelled by her immense strength, Thorn streaked like a javelin at the inhuman visage. Its beam fired before the sword struck, but Rose dove out of its way in spite of the electricity coursing through her so that it only grazed her calf and opened a minor, instantly cauterized cut. Looking up, she saw the monster had taken the sword through the flame-spewing hand with which it'd blocked, rather than the face, and still stood.
She got up, but it rained its lightning upon her again, and she thought she'd soon die from the terrible punishment. Rose picked a pike off the ground and drove it into the monster's groin from below, but even this did not stop the electricity coursing into her body. Momentarily overwhelmed, she stumbled to her hands and knees, clutching her head as the thing continued to blast her. Again she made herself rise, trying not to notice the smell of flesh cooking. Then, something happened which made her grin with relief. As if whatever source it came from had run dry, the current stopped.
But Rose's relief was short-lived as the lightning came down even stronger than before, and she realized her opponent's juice wouldn't be running out any time soon. While she struggled against the pain the creature's face started to open again, but Rose dove between its legs as it fired, drew her trusty axe and hamstrung it. Falling to its knees, its weight drove the embedded pike in its groin far up its torso. Rose raised her axe to finish the fight only to see the beast's skin begin to fall off, raining down around it in wormlike pieces as if its lifeforce was no longer strong enough to hold it together. The mass of spongy black flesh left behind fell still to the dirt. Now Rose let herself give in to the incredible pain and dizziness and collapsed beside her adversary.
"At least I didn't get a hole clean through my torso this time around," Rose mused inaudibly as Ashleigh knelt at her side, the soldier's mail hanging in tatters about her frame. She drank repeatedly from her waterskin, the fire and lightning she'd been showered with having made her unbelievably thirsty. "Is Fi—I mean, the dragon okay?"
"It's alive, I think. I saw its chest heaving, though it hasn't moved besides that. You've got an awful lot of holes in you, yourself."
She worried over Finn's condition, with nobody around knowing anything about treating injured dragons, but nodded at Ashleigh and said weakly, "These holes? They hurt more than arrows for sure, but I'll live. I don't know what exactly caused them though, but I guess it shot something at me... Is the battle still going on?"
"It's all but over. Rest. We'll handle the cleanup."
Though she'd taken far more than enough damage to kill most people, she smiled bloodily. "I'm not even hurt that bad this time. I don't have a sword or ballista bolt through my chest, and I've taken good hits from lightning and fire before. Just some stupid invisible projectile attack, no problem. Was that the last big one, though?"
"The last. The biggest, too. Glory hog."
Rose stayed on the ground and laughed. She was such a freak, she thought, but for once she was happy to be. Whatever the source of her vast fortitude, it had given her the strength to protect the people she cared about. "Okay fine, I'll rest. I wonder if the thing put anything inside me with that odd attack. We'll have to check later, I guess." Just then she saw Finn's head appear over her, and smiled brightly with relief. "You're okay, F—Green!" Jokingly, she teased, "What a loser you are!"
Hey, I killed more enemies than you, the embarrassed dragon argued. Besides, I softened it up for you.
Rose stroked his snout as he bent to lick her, disregarding Ashleigh's incredulous stare. The woman ran off to help mop up the last fagres, and Rose said, "Maybe you did. I was impressed by you, actually. You got more big ones than me, too. Am I going soft?"
You are.
She grinned. "Yeah right, Green! I deem your breath a cheat. I mean, how many people can you cover with that thing? It's no warrior's weapon!"
That didn't go too bad. No holes right through your torso.
"Just what I told Ashleigh," she said, amused. "Hey, once an adventure is enough for me. My cloak's ruined again, though. Happens every time I fight a big monster it seems." She paused, fighting off a surge of pain all over her body. Even after it subsided somewhat, her eyes wouldn't focus. "You know, this still isn't over. If what I feared is true, we'll have to find the rest of the portals and destroy them."
If that's the case, I'm your dragon. I can track these creatures by smell.
"You want to go now, since Ashleigh says they can handle things here? I don't want to give any more things the chance to come through, especially if this trend of them getting worse continues."
But you're hurt badly. Your eyes...
Rose knew it was true, but pointed out, "Heh, at least I'm not bleeding out! All that fire and lightning cauterized me up good, so I'm better than I should be. Come on, I'd still be up and fighting if I had to, and the area we saw them come from is only a few minutes away for you. Let's just do it before anything else happens."
Slowly he nodded, and after forcing herself up and retrieving Thorn she mounted him with some difficulty. Her head spun. The wounded dragon flew clumsily after the fagre scent in search of other caves, and eventually found one. When they landed, Rose fell as she dismounted and landed awkwardly on her butt.
Are you okay?!
For a moment she couldn't answer or even see, it being all she could do to stay awake. "I feel messed up," she admitted when the weakness passed. "Those little wounds add up. But I'll live. Let's-" She stopped. "Wait, aren't you too big to go in there?"
Yes, it seems so. It barely looks large enough for those other things. They must have had to crawl out. I'm surprised none got stuck.
"Oh well. The biggest one was still only about four-fifths your size, if strong. However they did it, let's seal it up so they can't do it again."
From out here? How do we know they won't be able to dig their way through?
Rose frowned. "Oh, fine, I guess I'll to take another shock or a few." At his fearful look, she added, "Don't worry, I won't die. If it's too much to bear I'll get someone else to help."
I wish we knew for sure that the portal was two-way. Then you could take a peek inside and see where those things come from.
She suppressed laughter as she gasped, "Me?! Why me? Aren't you big brave men, uh, dragons, supposed to be the ones to take initiative?"
Not when the woman beats a monster the dragon failed to. Besides, I can't even get in there, remembe
r.
"I'm obviously not going into that thing, considering we don't know anything about the other side. Anyway, see you in a bit."
Rose went inside and destroyed the portal, barely able to stand after. She reemerged outside and began to walk toward Finn when he suddenly said, I'll wait for you here. I'm exhausted.
"You exhausted?! I'm full of holes! How could you actually leave me to walk back myself?" He looked at her apologetically, but then showed her his arm, and she had to admit it was pretty bad. A huge hole went right through it, and she hoped he didn't lose the limb. Just flying around must have been terribly taxing. "All right Finn, I'll go back myself. You rest. I'll bring Derrick and Julie to go home with us soon, and then we can finally get back to trying to make you human again."
He appeared satisfied with the thought, and Rose left him behind. The painful trek to the fort seemed incredibly long despite its short actual distance with the injuries she'd suffered, and she got slightly annoyed at her husband for forcing her to suffer so. Too, it felt like there were small objects lodged inside the wounds she'd suffered when the last monster opened its torso, which disturbed her considerably. Her skull filled with a great heaviness, and she grew weaker and weaker. She had to sit down at one point and felt a vague yearning to check on her wounds, but her head was so foggy she couldn't will herself to do it.
No, Rose told herself, I can't die, while she shivered from the trauma to her body and fear for her life. I'm stronger than this, aren't I? It would be such a poor end to her story, if she never managed to rise again and passed quietly here in the sight of no one after all she'd done. But she didn't die, her unparalleled constitution not failing her yet, and eventually recovered enough strength to stand. Walking on until she saw the fort in the distance she smiled, knowing despite the pain that happier days were back in sight.
She returned to Fort Resnick to see countless monstrous corpses strewn all around its front, and took strong pride in the humans' affirmation of their race's worth. She was proud too of her own contribution, as she knew she'd killed over five hundred beasts herself by the time her part ended. Rose felt sadness over the many humans who lay dead along with their foes, but pushed it from her mind, wanting to greet her friends with a happy face. Seeing few living people still out, she realized most must have gone inside. She staggered drunkenly to Count Brandon, who surveyed the carnage with a solemn look.
"Brandon, how many men did we lose?"
He gazed at her, eyes widening. "Great to see you're alright." His tone turned sad. "We lost one hundred—about half. And there are many more wounded, who may not survive. Still, better than most anyone would have expected. It was amazing how well we did. I wouldn't have thought it possible, but thanks to you and the dragon..."
"Not just us. Everyone fought bravely today. I was honored to fight with you!"
He nodded. "Thank you, Rose. You've done a great deed for Kayland, and us, today. The doctor's waiting to treat your wounds. We know now what happened with that last monster. It shot a huge spread of soft metal deposits too fast for the eye to see, which deform and expand upon entering the body, causing great internal damage. I was afraid that you'd died from your wounds, but I see you're still standing. Maybe your nickname should be Cockroach instead of Meatball... how tough are you?!"
"Not as tough as you think! I'm a wreck! I barely made it back here. Still, I think I'll recover. But I'm dreading the surgery. I mean, the wounds are bigger on the inside than out? That's just awful. No wonder the pain's something else! Are Derrick and Julie okay?"
"They're in their room," he replied in a flat voice. Something seemed off about the way he spoke, but she couldn't put her finger on it in her disoriented state.
"Okay, I'm going to go get myself taken care of. My armor stopped some of those projectiles, but not enough for sure." She pulled a twisted lump of metal over half an inch wide out of her shoulder plate and frowned. Damn, the things inside her were that big? No wonder she felt all broken inside. "By the way, in case you're wondering, we destroyed the other portal they came from while we were gone. It's not certain proof against the monsters coming again, but it's the best we could do for now."
"You're amazing," he said, and slapped her gently on the arm. She bent forward a little, wincing as she clutched her shoulder. Brandon looked at her face with concern. "You're hurt there, too?"
"I'm hurt everywhere. But I'll be fine."
He smiled. "I like your lip paint."
"W-what? I'm not wearing any-" Brandon wiped blood from her chin with a fingertip, then smeared it across her lips. "The hell? Just because I can survive these wounds, doesn't mean they're anything to make light of!" But she was laughing as she spoke. "Well, I'm going. Later!"
Though it would have been easier to let unconsciousness take her, Rose wanted to see her friends as soon as she'd been patched up, and forced herself to stay awake throughout the painful ordeal. The worse part was when they stitched her torn breast back together, for she worried deeply about whether it'd keep making milk. Then again, she had been wounded in the breasts before, and tried to reassure herself with the memory that they'd worked after. The doctor also informed her of a hole in her head she hadn't even noticed before, though it explained her dizziness, and she hoped there was nothing lodged inside her brain. What treatment he could give finished, she dragged herself off the cot and slowly made her way to her friends' room. Despite her hurts, she looked forward to sharing a good story.
Finding the door locked, she knocked. A bit flustered when there was no answer, she knocked again. Finally Derrick opened the door, his face white. Forgetting the cheerful greeting she had thought to give, she looked inside. Julie lay on her bed, terribly pale. Rose walked closer to touch her neck and breathed a sigh of relief that she was still alive, if barely. Not wanting to move her without knowing what was wrong, she asked fearfully, "What happened to her?"
Derrick had tears in his eyes as he explained. "She tried to join the battle when she saw us in trouble, but fainted after a few minutes and stopped breathing. They managed to bring her back this time, but... they say she's not going to make it."
"What?! But she was getting better..."
"Ashleigh's medicine made her feel better, but apparently there was some damage inside that wasn't healed, and moving around must have aggravated it... I tried to use healing magic, but I'm not skilled enough, I can't reach deep enough inside her to fix it."
Rose's heart sank, but she thought clearly and suggested, "Let's take her to the hospital in Hullel. The magic healing device there is certainly capable of healing mortal wounds, like it did twice for Prince Wilner."
"She's too weak to survive travel."
"Then we'll bring the thing here. They owe it to us, since we gave it to them in the first place, and we're only borrowing it. So let's go, and be quick about it."
The scholar nodded. "You're right, that's a great idea. I just didn't think of it in my panic. So how are you, Rose?"
The answer was obvious from her inability to stand up straight and the pain that clouded her eyes, but she smiled. "Me? I got hit with at least six or seven metal pellets faster than anything I've seen, four of which were in the torso and one it turns out in the damn head; electrocuted for a good half minute; had two huge exploding fireballs dropped on me; and had my left breast cut in half. And then there's the little cuts and bruises, like from getting stabbed with giant spears and smacked around by three-ton beasts. So how do you think I am? Dandy, of course! How about you?"
His own face was pained, no doubt due to his bandaged right bicep, but he sheepishly replied, "I'm fine, I guess. You can take care of Julie while I go?"
She blinked with surprise. "Shouldn't you be the one who stays to watch over her? You're her man, after all."
"You're hurt too bad to travel quickly."
Rose had to admit she was horribly wounded, but never too much so to save a friend. "I can still go. I'm tough."
"You don't need to push yourself any mo
re than you already have. I mean, I'm just going to Hullel. Finn will protect me, right? Just stay here and comfort her, and rest your battered body."
She wondered if he felt guilty for failing to protect Julie, and wanted to make up for it by personally delivering her salvation. Rose didn't have anything against that, since she'd probably feel similarly in his place. "Fine, you go. I'll stay and take care of her. Are you sure you don't want to stay by her side, though?"
Derrick nodded after a short pause. "Yes, I'm sure. It's best for everyone. Take care of yourself, Rose."
"You too. Hurry back, okay? She needs help bad."
"I know." He left and Rose looked back at her ailing student, mentally begging her to hold on.
Chapter 6
Derrick's heart beat hard as he left Fort Resnick. He worried for Julie, but realizing he couldn't handle the terror and helplessness he'd feel watching her slowly slip away if he stayed, he had left that to Rose. He knew she would do a better job of keeping Julie's spirits up than himself, considering how used to dealing with pain the sturdy woman was. Remembering how bad Julie's complexion looked, he shivered, but reminded himself of worse wounds Rose had survived and tried to convince himself she could hold on until he came back. Finn was an extremely fast flier.
Reaching his dragon friend, he said, "Finn! Wake up, we have to go!"
What? Finn asked sleepily.
"Julie got worse and collapsed. I don't think she can make it without the healing amulet we took from Wilner."
Finn looked at the ground. Oh, no. Why does that girl have such bad luck? What about your healing magic?
