by E. A. Copen
“No, it’s fine.” Ash turned away and cleared his throat, folding his hands behind his back. “You have something to report?”
Zia’s eyes flicked over to me standing behind him before continuing. “Some of the men are showing symptoms. I told you we should’ve camped on the other end of the valley.”
“We’re less visible prey for the dragon and other beasts here,” Ash said.
I stepped up. “Wait a minute. Symptoms? Of what?”
“We’re inside the rift’s red zone,” Zia explained. “Have been since the moment we came up over that rise.”
“That means everyone’s been exposed to magicite.” I looked from Ash’s face to Zia’s and back again. “Ash, that can be fatal!”
“Only in high doses.”
Zia shrugged. “Well, there must be enough of it in the air in vapor form to affect people. The stomach upset is spreading through the camp. We’re already down two people to violent headaches. We’ll have lesions and hemorrhagic fever by morning at this rate, Ash. We have to move camp.”
“No,” Ash said flatly.
Zia knitted her brows together and tilted her head. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. I said no.”
She looked at me as if I should change his mind, but Ash would not listen to me any better than he had her. “Ash, if we don’t move camp, people will die.”
Ash gestured vaguely to the camp beyond. “Why do you think we brought so many? Or did you really think it would take twenty good men to kill a dragon?”
“You can’t be serious.” I felt sick, and I was sure it showed on my face.
“People die on hunts all the time,” Ash continued. “I had to account for that. Understand that I did not intend for it to be like this, but I understood it was possible and make decisions based on every scenario. There’s no good way forward now. If we move camp back to the hilltop, we’re practically inviting a dragon attack. We would lose more people moving camp than we will to the sickness.”
“I understand,” Zia said. “But if there’s no help, then we could open the supplies up, ease their suffering.”
Ash grunted. “They’re dragon food or they’re dead weight. It would be a kindness to slit their throats and be done with it.”
“There is help,” I said, and moved between Zia and Ash. “That dragon’s heart could save everyone.”
Ash shook his head. “Impossible.”
“Is it?” I pressed in. “You saw how big that thing is. Surely, you don’t need the whole thing to cure yourself. You could share it with everyone you tricked into coming out here, me included. Nobody else has to die.”
“You still think I want the dragon’s heart to cure myself?”
I stared at him. “But you said…”
He laughed. “I said it could be used in a tonic. I never said I wanted it to cure me. I only presented that possibility.”
“If you don’t want it to make a treatment, then what do you want it for?”
“The elves did not just write about how they used dragon’s hearts for curative tonics. The heart is the center of the beast’s strength. Our dragon has been feeding on a steady diet of magicite-infused rock for years, meaning its blood is ripe with raw power. And the heart is the center of that power. The possibilities are limitless. It’s too valuable a thing to grind into a paste and distribute among idiot hunters. I won’t give it up, not for them.”
“Of course not,” I grumbled. I didn’t know what I was expecting. He hadn’t even offered it to me when I showed him my scar. As much as I didn’t want to believe it, there wasn’t an ounce of empathy left in him.
The tent doors opened, and a haggard looking Ike stepped in. He didn’t look near as bad as Dex, who had paled two shades and had dark circles under his eyes. He looked as if he could barely stand.
Ash didn’t even seem to notice. “Ah, there you are. Thank you for coming.”
“Dex, are you okay?” I asked, drawing a warning look from Ash.
Dex forced a grin and a wink. “Never better.”
“We’ll all be better once this over,” Ike said. “We came to talk strategy, so let’s talk. How are we going at that thing?”
“We can’t until we’ve done a few other things first, the least of which is scouting a path upward.” Ash pointed to the map. “Our best chance to kill it is to strike while it sleeps. The dragon’s lair is here. However, it’s likely only one entrance of many. There could be a whole cave system up there, or old mines. We need both a map of the path up to the cave, and a rough map of the cave’s layout.”
Zia folded her hands behind her back. “My vampires will provide this map. However, because of the rift, my range of control is significantly less here. I will need to remain close to them during this process. I will need an armed contingent of men to escort me. While I’m controlling the vampires, I’ll be unable to do anything else. You will watch my body and keep any threats at bay while I work.”
“I don’t see why Ash can’t do that,” Ike suggested. “Hasn’t he always been your guard?”
“I will be busy closing the rift,” Ash said. “But I won’t be going alone. I will also need someone to accompany me.”
“Then I volunteer,” Ike said. “Foggy and I will be your forward guard.”
Ash’s smile reminded me of a snake’s. “Actually, I was thinking Dex would be the better fit. How about it, Dex? Up for a little mountain climbing?”
“Just you and me, eh, Ash?” Dex leaned heavily on the table. He was clearly not in any condition to be going anywhere, but Ash didn’t care.
“Just you and me,” Ash repeated. “I don’t expect trouble. We’ll be well above the dragon’s nest. Unless something drops out of the rift right onto our head, we’ll have it closed before Zia finishes her scouting.”
Dex shifted his hat and stood. “Why not? Maybe a little good, clean rift air is exactly what I need.”
Ash nodded. “Ember, you and Foggy will accompany Zia. The two of you should be more than enough to deal with anything up there.”
“If Foggy goes, I’m going.” Ike crossed his arms.
“No,” said Ash. “I need someone here at camp in case there’s an attack here. Besides, sending too many people will just invite trouble by attracting attention. We want to do as little of that as possible for now.”
Ike frowned. “So I’m just supposed to sit here and do nothing?”
“I can’t leave the camp unguarded, can I? Someone with command experience must remain to respond in an emergency.” Ash sighed. “If it’ll make you happy, I’ll put you in the vanguard push when we go to deal with the dragon. Will that suffice?”
Ike studied the faces around the table before he uncrossed his arms. “I suppose I can’t argue with that logic.”
“Good,” said Ash, pushing away from the table. “I’ll give everyone a half hour to get their things together, and then we’ll set off.”
Ike, Dex, and Zia nodded before moving slowly toward the door.
I stepped up to Ash. “Am I free to go, or am I still your prisoner here?”
“Thirty minutes,” Ash said. “And my people will be watching you.”
“Nice to know you trust me.” I rushed out of the tent to catch up with Dex. It wasn’t too difficult considering how slowly he was moving. “Dex!”
He paused, turning to me with a big smile. “Well, hey. Fancy seeing you here.”
I glanced around, searching for whatever guards Ash had sent to follow me, and found them coming my way. “You know this is a trap, right?” I lowered my voice so the approaching guards wouldn’t hear me. “Ash seems to think you’re his rival. He’s going to kill you, Dex.”
Dex removed his hat and fanned his face. “Well, he’s gonna have to try pretty hard. I’ve survived worse men than him.”
“Yes, but you haven’t survived a rift. He has.”
He stopped walking. “What do you mean?”
I looked back. The guards were almost on me. “I don’t h
ave time to explain, but be on your guard. Don’t trust him, no matter what. Understand?” I tucked my head and kept walking before the guards could catch up with me.
Chapter Twenty-One
I downed the last of my antigen with nothing to cut the taste and grimaced. Then I went to mount Scorch. Zia waited on her horse, a blood bay mare. Her two vampires were with her, enchanted leads buckled around their torsos. Those leads attached to her saddle. The vampires squinted in the dim light, blinking as if it were too bright. White streaks of sunblock that hadn’t quite been rubbed in all the way marked their naked backs.
Zia looked me over once, frowning, and then turned around in her saddle.
“Where’s Foggy?” I asked.
“Right behind you, lass.” The dwarf walked up and planted the pommel of his hammer in the dirt. “Ready when you are.”
Zia nodded to Foggy. “Where’s your horse?”
Foggy raised a bushy eyebrow. “Have you ever seen a dwarf on a horse? I’ve lost a lot over the years, but I’ve still got my self-respect. I’ll walk.”
Zia looked like she wanted to argue, but she swallowed it. “Suit yourself. Just make sure you keep up. I don’t stop for stragglers.”
I glanced over at where Dex and Ash had mounted their horses. Dex dabbed at his forehead with a handkerchief before nodding to me and tugging his hat down. I wondered if that would be the last time I’d ever see him. I hoped not.
We set off, carefully making our way up a narrow rocky slope. It was only wide enough for the horses to move in single file. After a half hour of careful climbing, I wondered if Foggy wasn’t the smart one.
“Nothing but dead stone,” Zia muttered.
“She may look dead, but even Black Mountain sings,” Foggy replied. He shifted his grip on the hammer resting against his shoulder. “Look to the north and see where the crystals grow. And we’re headed to the lair of a dragon. Even in the most inhospitable of places, life manages.”
“Is it true your people eat rocks?” The way Zia said it, her question was clearly meant to be an insult, but Foggy took it in stride.
He gave a deep belly laugh. “I’ve eaten worse, that much is for sure.”
“I don’t know very much about dwarves,” I said. “Your people came through the rifts like the elves?”
“Aye, we did. Generations ago, but our path wasn’t quite the same. The elves call their migration something fancy. The flight of the elves or some nonsense, like they flew in on bloody eagles. They’ve got fancy names and words for everything.”
“There’s no common dwarven tongue?” I watched one of Zia’s vampires get distracted by a shining crystal. It tried to grab it before the horse pulled it out of reach.
“There was once,” Foggy said. “But that was long before my father’s father was a glint in his father’s eye. We remember some words, though. Mostly curses and insults. And the names of some excellent ales.”
“The Institute has scholars of the Dwarven diaspora,” Zia said. “They say that, genetically, time is making your people even less dwarven. Exposure to Earth metals and toxins has altered your evolutionary path. With the population in decline due to interbreeding with humans, in several thousand generations, dwarves may be functionally extinct.”
Foggy struck a fist twice against his chest. “Takes more than DNA to make a dwarf. And before you state the obvious, height’s not the determining factor either. A dwarf’s a dwarf because he is.”
Zia frowned. “That makes no sense. A people must have a common heritage or homeland. Otherwise, there’s nothing to unite them.”
Foggy snorted, then spat. “Whatever homeland we had is gone. If we sat around moaning about it, we’d be elves, not dwarves. That’s not to say we don’t have our fair share of culture and tradition. We dwarves are well known for our ballads.” He lowered his hammer and tapped the brass pommel against the rocks, using it like a walking stick while singing a jaunty tune.
“There once was a dwarf named Thrasimus Shale
Who lived in the tavern called the Rusty Nail.
He drank his ale
From a garbage pail,
And kissed the stonemason’s daughter.
When the mason heard the news,
The old man came and got her.
But he was no fighter,
So Thrass held her tighter
And they drank ‘til the sun came up!”
“Quiet,” Zia snapped. “Voices carry, and you’ll attract monsters.”
“Good.” Foggy hefted his hammer back onto his shoulder. “I didn’t bring this for nothing.”
The light of the rift flickered to the north, and I wondered if Dex and Ash had reached it yet. If they had, Ash hadn’t closed it. I tried not to think of what that flicker might mean for Dex.
The mountain suddenly rumbled. The horses balked, stamping and pulling back rather than pushing forward. To keep from getting thrown, both Zia and I dismounted. Tiny pebbles on the surface of the narrow path leapt and jumped into the air at our feet. A draconic scream shredded the air.
Foggy readied his hammer while we covered our ears. “It’s awake!”
A moment later, the dragon emerged from a cave entrance roughly a hundred meters above us. A sheer cliff wall was the only thing standing between us and the dragon. It came to the edge, extended its wings and neck before letting out another ear-splitting roar. Foggy and I threw ourselves flat against the rocks while Zia scrambled to grab the leashes for her vampires. It was the only thing that kept us from falling off the narrow ledge when the dragon swooped down from its perch. Backdraft from its massive wings pulled the rocks from the ledge along with Zia’s horse. The horse let out a terrified scream as it fell, but the sound was cut short as the dragon came back around and caught the horse in its talons.
With another roar, the dragon flapped its wings and rose higher into the sky, disappearing into the mountains.
Foggy stuck a pinky finger in his ear. “Well, looks like we’re both walking now, m’lady necromancer.”
Zia let out a loud breath.
One of her vampires wandered to the edge of the cliff, looking down. It cocked its head sideways and made a small chirping sound before Zia pulled it back to safety.
She made sure the vampires’ headpieces were secure. “We should be close enough to scout, anyway.”
I patted down Scorch and did my best to calm her, but didn’t get back in the saddle. If the dragon came back around, I didn’t want to get grabbed along with the horse.
Slowly, Zia removed the vampires’ restraints. The vampires squatted in front of her as she pressed her back firmly against the rock wall. “The rest of this should be easy for you two. All you’ve got to do is make sure nothing happens to me while I scout out the cave. Think you can handle that?”
“Aye, we’ll make sure you don’t break a nail,” Foggy said.
She shot him a warning glare before settling in, eyes closed in concentration.
A silver sheen passed over the vampires’ eyes before their posture changed. In unison, they leapt onto the sheer cliff wall, finding invisible handholds, and they began to climb. In a matter of seconds, the vampires scaled the cliff and scampered into the opening the dragon had crawled out of, disappearing.
With my hand on my sword, I turned away from watching the cave opening and looked up at the rift still flickering in the sky.
“He’ll be all right, lass,” Foggy offered. “There’s more to Dex than a cocky smile. He’s got raw talent of his own.”
“I don’t doubt he’s capable when he’s at full strength, but… I saw him. He’s not well.”
He frowned and put his hammer down, leaning on the long handle. “I suspected, but I didn’t want to say anything. Not after what happened with Kenny. The magicite is in the air, isn’t it? We’ve been breathing it in since we came to this cursed place.”
I nodded.
“By my grandfather’s beard, I knew it.” He spat on the rocks. “We won’t all die; you know
that? Not at first. Some are more sensitive to it than others. People like Dex, they draw in the magic on instinct. That’s the problem with his type of mage. A good many others will go, too. And there’s not a bloody thing that can be done.”
I glanced over at Zia to make sure she was still in her trance. Could she hear us? Did I even care? I kept my voice low, just in case. “There is, but…” I gestured to Zia.
Foggy followed my meaning and nodded. “You just tell me what needs smashing. That’s what I’m here for. We can go over details later.”
“Provided Ash doesn’t just push Dex straight into the rift.” I sighed and sat down. “How did I even get into this mess?”
He grunted. “Now you sound like Ike.”
Zia made a sudden movement, her head jerking to the side. Sweat formed on her brow.
“Is that normal?” Foggy asked, gesturing to her.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve only seen her do this once, and I wasn’t really paying attention.”
Above, the rift suddenly crackled and swelled, doubling in size. Thunder boomed through the valley, and the wind rose, pushing Foggy and me back against the cliff wall. Then, with a resounding boom, it exploded. Green hail rained down, shattering against the rocks.
Zia cried out and grabbed at her arm, wincing as if she’d just been injured. Her fingers twitched. The sweat on her forehead glistened.
There was an unfamiliar noise, a deep barking, sounded three times followed by an eerie chirp. Claws scratched against the rock. A moment later, a slick reptilian form, roughly the size of a large dog, came snaking its way down the mountain. It had stunted bat wings and cat like claws. Bright yellow eyes searched the darkness while a blood red tongue flickered out, tasting the air.
Another followed behind it, headed straight for us.
Scorch reared into the air and pulled away, trotting down the path to disappear behind an outcropping of rock.
“Dragonlings,” Foggy spat and readied his hammer.
I drew my sword and tried to ignore the strange pricking sensation of something growing from the sword into my palm.
