Order Of The Dragon (Omnibus 1-4)

by Jason Halstead

  The apes roared in a matter of seconds. Alto wasn't sure how many there were, but it only took a minute for him to find Bucky smashing trees aside as he rushed through the jungle towards him. He stood his ground and waited as the monstrous ape charged towards him on all fours. Too late, he wondered if he should have leaned his shield against a tree and attacked from the side.

  Alto raised his shield to keep the light in the ape's eyes and then dove to the side as Bucky tried to pound him into the ground. The impact of the ape's fist sent tremors through the earth and left a small crater in the ground. Alto slashed at Bucky's wrist with his sword but barely grazed the ape's hand.

  Bucky roared at him again and tried to swipe at him with his other hand. Alto took the strike on his shield but it was ripped out of his hand and he was knocked to the ground. He fell back, scrambling to gain some distance.

  The other ape that had come with Bucky shrieked as Namitus cut into her calf with his scimitar. She spun and swung at him with a hand but he ducked away. The chase was on as she went after the now fleeing rogue.

  Patrina ran at Bucky as he towered over Alto and bared his teeth. She swung her axe in both hands like a woodsman and sank the blade into his hip. He roared and rose up, spinning and sending her stumbling as he did so. She jumped back but still felt the wind from his hand that passed in front of her face.

  Alto used his distraction to roll forward onto his feet. He drew his sword back and was about to thrust it into Bucky's side when the ape continued to turn and knocked him back into a tree with his hind leg. Alto fell to his knee but stopped himself with a hand to the ground. He rose up and watched Bucky turn and slam his hand into the ground on the far side of the tree that Patrina had run around.

  Patrina cried out but Alto couldn't see what happened with the massive ape between them. He ran forward and jammed his sword into Bucky's leg just above his knee. Bucky jerked his leg up, pulling it away before Alto's sword could dig too deep, and then the ape kicked back and sent Alto rolling through the dense vegetation. It wound around him and softened the blow of the tree that stopped him, but left him tangled and confined.

  Namitus cursed under his breath when he plunged through the ferns and weeds and saw the cliff loom up out of the darkness. He spun around and saw the female bearing down on him. A quick glance to either side yielded only vegetation so thick he couldn't hope to slip through it in time. Namitus crouched low and drew his scimitar back while he held his dagger out in front of him.

  The ape slowed for a moment and then flared her lips to show Namitus her teeth. She rose up on both legs and raised her arms high, brandishing them and letting him know she intended to crush him into the ground.

  * * * *

  "That's going to hurt," Mordrim winced after they hacked through enough of the underbrush to see the female ape rise up above someone.

  "You would know," Garrick muttered.

  "Get in there and help!" Kar snapped at the two warriors. "I'll keep her busy."

  The wizard released a spell he'd been holding ready and sent three glowing white globes floating through the air. They circled the female just above her head, distracting her. She swiped at one and made contact with it, only to shriek in pain and pull her hand back a moment later. She held her hand and stared at it, and then looked up at the other two white lights and swatted at the next one. The result, predictably, was the same.

  Namitus launched himself forward, diving through her legs and hacking at the leg he'd already wounded with his scimitar. He kept running, heading down the trail she'd already trampled through the vegetation. The forest burst out at him on his left, startling him and forcing his swords up to intercept the attack that never came.

  Mordrim picked himself up off the ground and adjusted his dirty helm, and then turned and let loose a dwarvish roar to rival those of the apes. Garrick followed behind him, shirtless and brandishing his great sword.

  The ape had turned and sat on her haunches to look at her hands. She sniffed them and then looked up to see the dwarf and barbarian running through the weeds. She snarled and fell forward on all fours, and then used her left hand to swing at Mordrim.

  Mordrim met her swinging fist with his hammer, cracking dwarven steel against flesh and bone. She roared in rage even though the dwarf was sent flying into the vegetation. She retreated to her hind legs, standing and pulling her freshly broken fingers up to stare at them.

  Garrick gave her no quarter. He thrust up and into her belly with his great sword and then ripped it out, creating a gap that blood burst from. She shrieked again in pain and fear and kicked at him as he side-stepped. Her foot glanced off the barbarian, forcing him into a wall of vines and flowers. He was tripped up by the brambles and fell just in time to avoid her hand that swept away the greenery he'd bounced off of.

  Another spell struck the ape, this one channeling magic into small balls of fire that burst when they hit her, confusing and scorching her. Mordrim crawled out of the bushes, weeds sticking out of the plates in his armor, and swung his hammer into her ankle. The resounding crack echoed through the woods.

  The female fell and slammed her back and head into the cliff wall. Mordrim ran after her and grabbed a handful of fur on her leg so he could climb onto her thigh. She shook her head and grunted, and then stared down at the dwarf as he stood on her lap and drove his hammer into her jaw.

  The ape's head snapped back into the cliff, stunning her again. She dropped her head forward, right back into another swing from the dwarf, this one smashing into her face between her eyes. The female jerked, knocking Mordrim off balance and into the weeds beside her, and then lay slumped and lifeless against the cliff.

  Bucky charged in and towered over her. He stood up and looked around, sniffing and turning until he saw Garrick picking himself up. The ape howled and grabbed the man up as he tried to rise. He clenched Garrick tightly and raised him towards his open mouth. Garrick's arms and sword were above the ape's grip but the pressure made him grimace in pain and struggle to loosen Bucky's fingers.

  A ray of light speared through the darkness from the holy symbol Karthor held in his hand. It struck Bucky in the face and made the ape rise up and shield his eyes with his other hand. Garrick used the distraction to reverse his sword and plunge it into the meat of Bucky's hand next to the ape's thumb. Bucky shook his hand and sent the barbarian tumbling off a tree and into a mess of vines that stretched from the tree to the ground.

  Bucky turned away from Karthor's blinding light long enough to grab up a rock nearly as tall as Mordrim. He hurled it at the priest and sent the man leaping away, ruining his concentration and his spell. Kar struck the ape with more of his magic, weaving a spell that spun the same sticky strands he'd once used to save a falling child from a window as a trap to stop the ape from moving.

  Bucky snorted and burst the magical net apart. He started towards Karthor, who was centering himself and making ready to call upon Leander's aid again. Alto burst out of the greenery, blood staining the side of his face and his left arm clutched against his side. He snarled at the ape and approached it, stepping in front of the priest without even a glance at him.

  Patrina ran down the path Bucky had made through the forest, her axe held in both hands, and slipped past Karthor to slow and walk at Alto's side. The two warriors parted, Alto going left as much as the jungle vegetation would allow and Patrina to the right. Bucky flared his lips and snorted, and then pounded the ground hard enough to make it tremble. He rose up and slammed his hands into his chest and roared out a challenge to them. Patrina and Alto rushed in and hewed at his legs while he taunted them.

  Bucky fell forward but his hands caught him. He started to spin to deal with Alto but then Patrina's axe cleaved into his shin. He tumbled to his knee and blindly swiped at her. Patrina went to a knee to duck his hand but he still clipped her shoulder and sent her rolling into a wall of bushes that concealed a large rock they'd overgrown. She lay stunned and unable to catch her breath from the impact.

/>   Alto swung his sword up and dug the tip of his magical weapon into Bucky's side. The ape twisted back around and threw his body at Alto, trying to crush him by rolling over him. The warrior was thrown back by the impact and pulled his arms in to protect himself as the ape succeeded in laying on his legs and hips. Only Alto's armor and the soft jungle floor saved him from being crushed.

  A bloodcurdling scream preceded a dark shape swinging through the air on a vine. Bucky stared up as Carson landed on his chest hard enough to make the ape grunt. The woodsman rolled and jumped to his feet, and then drew one of his blades and held the tip of it at Bucky's throat. He started to drive it home and then stopped when his eyes locked with the ape's.

  Chapter 27

  "Kill the beast!" Kar urged.

  Carson ignored the wizard and continued to stare at the ape's face. "You've been beaten, old friend," he said. "You spared my life many years ago and I'll do the same for you, but you must leave people alone."

  Alto pulled himself out from beneath Bucky and rose to his feet slowly. He stared up at the confrontation and started when Mordrim burst through the weeds next to him. The dwarf's armor was covered in mud and weeds, as was his beard. Mordrim stopped and stared up at the ape, surprised to see a man standing atop him.

  "Friend of yours?" Mordrim asked.

  "Seems that way," Alto said.

  The dwarf grunted and stood ready, hammer in hand.

  "I don't know what you understand," Carson said slowly. "But I'll make this plain for you. You're never to attack another human, nor make a pet of them, unless they attack you. Agree to that by stomping a foot or a hand."

  A long and very tense moment passed until Bucky raised his good foot and slammed it back into the ground.

  Carson grinned and straightened. "You have my word that I'll fight at your side if someone should come for you, old friend."

  "Friend?" Mordrim repeated.

  Alto nodded. "He doesn't get out much."

  "One of your females is still in the castle," Carson told the ape. "I don't know about the others."

  "We killed one here," Alto said.

  "We killed one earlier in a clearing," Mordrim said.

  "That what you called it?" Garrick said as he walked towards them.

  "Aye, what would you call it?"

  "I had to dig you out of the ground, seemed you were wallowing like a pig," the barbarian said.

  Mordrim scowled at him and turned to Alto. "The ape had pounded me into soft ground. My armor took the blow but I was stuck fast."

  Alto smiled but looked around. He raised his voice and called out, "Namitus? Patrina? Are you here?"

  Patrina walked around Bucky's feet, limping a little but offering him a smile. She hurried to him and threw her arms around him, delivering a wince to his face that she eased away with a kiss.

  "My lady." Mordrim knelt before her and then looked up and saw how much of her leg was exposed to his eyes. "My lady! Where's the rest of your armor?"

  Patrina glanced down and shrugged. "I lost it in the jungle earlier," she said. "Otherwise I'd have drowned in the ocean. This fits me better; it's a gift."

  "Some gift," Mordrim muttered. "It can't protect you near as well as dwarven plate."

  Patrina looked at Alto and winked. "It serves two purposes—it blocks a hand and it distracts the eye."

  Garrick whistled and said, "That it does!"

  "Hey!" Alto growled.

  Garrick chuckled and held up his hands. "Don't blame a man for looking at what he's been given to see."

  Alto frowned but Patrina kissed him again. "There's still enough that no man but you will ever see," she said to him.

  Garrick burst out laughing at the redness in Alto's cheeks. Kar and Karthor walked up to them while Carson slid off Bucky's chest to stand at their side. Bucky picked himself up slowly and stared down at them, and then with flared nostrils and a scowl, he turned to the dead female.

  The great ape went to her and sniffed her before reaching out to run a hand across her face. He turned away and limped through the jungle. Bucky disappeared into the jungle, leaving them behind.

  Namitus walked out of the woods and waved. "About time somebody showed up to help me talk sense into these two. They had to go explore this haunted island they'd heard about. Dragged me along, I tell you!"

  Alto and Patrina looked at him and then each other. They burst out laughing but the laugh was short-lived. Patrina and Alto both grimaced from the pain. Karthor shook his head and walked up. "Seems I've arrived at the right time."

  "I'll take your healing over Thork's any time!" Patrina said.

  "Thork was here?" Karthor asked.

  "Yes, he was. Patrina saw him. The rest of us were indisposed."

  "That explains the axe and the armor," Karthor said.

  Kar chuckled as he took in the dirty but still beautiful kelgryn princess. Of course the troll was here. Alto had a way about him that attracted all manner of trouble.

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mean you had a visitor while you were playing the savage hero," Kar said. "A certain former barmaid who once was rather fond of you."

  Alto's eyes widened and he heard Patrina's sharp intake of breath. "What did Aleena want? She's with the church now."

  "She's much more than that," Karthor said.

  "What? How can she be more?"

  "She's earned her spurs. She's a Knight of Leander. And what's more, Leander's given her his blessing."

  "What's that mean?" Alto asked.

  "She and Celos both can wield his power."

  Patrina's eyes rounded. "They're priests?"

  "Not priests, paladins. They are knights with a touch of the powers his priests are allowed."

  "That's—" Alto hesitated. He nodded at length and said, "I'm happy for her. Proud of her, even."

  Patrina stared at him, moisture reflecting in her eyes from Kar's solitary light that circled overhead.

  Alto glanced at her and offered her a smile before saying, "She deserves it. She always wanted nothing more than to bring happiness to others."

  "I have a hunch she'd like to bring that knight friend of hers some happiness," Kar gossiped.

  "Father!" the priest snapped. Kar cackled and waved his son off.

  Alto chuckled. "Well, they deserve each other then, too."

  "And you?" Patrina whispered.

  "I deserve nothing," Alto said. He squeezed her, drawing a gasp as her bruises and aches were stressed. "But I'll take you until you realize the mistake you've made."

  "Hardly," Patrina snapped at him. "When the kelgryn choose a mate, they do it for life."

  "But we haven't—"

  Patrina pushed her lips against his and silenced him amid a round of laughter.

  ###

  A teaser from Sands of Betrayal

  By Jason Halstead

  A distant roar echoed across the jungle from the east. The companions gathered around the campfire looked between the ruined buildings to the castle on the mountain top that the setting sun turned golden. Atop a tower they could see the enormous ape, Bucky, standing.

  Patrina, the kelgryn princess who never let her axe far from her side, turned to look at a man wearing hides pieced together from animals. She snuggled into the embrace of the armored man beside her and asked, "You're sure you want to leave all this behind?"

  Carson smiled. "I've been trapped here for eight years with only that ape and the animals that hunted as much as I hunted them. I think I'd like a chance to sleep easy for once."

  The dwarf, Mordrim, snorted and said, "The animals in the rest of the world that will hunt you are two legged. Now hurry up and turn that boar."

  Carson chuckled and gave the spit over the fire a twist. "I once wanted to see the world. I had no great love for sailing but that seemed the best way. I still have that urge."

  "Well you're welcome to come with us," Alto, the warrior that held the blond haired princess said. "But we're bound for the north, not the free citi
es you came from."

  Carson waved his hand in dismissal. "It's a new part of the world, isn't it?"

  "The mountains?" Garrick, the heavily muscled man from the lands north of the mountains asked.

  Alto nodded. "The time I spent alone in the mountains I never saw a company as large as the one you saw. Even with them serving the dragon they travelled in bands of less than twenty."

  "I fear it bodes ill for our friends in Highpeak," the young priest, Karthor, said. "I've heard Tristam has his hands full with miners being chased out of the mountains. Aleena and Celos were sent to investigate it."

  Alto's brow raised.

  Karthor smirked and answered his unasked question, "The quest they've both been given to prove themselves worthy of being called paladins is to discover the source of the troubles."

  Garrick snorted. "Two of them? I fought a host of ogres that killed a family of my brethren."

  "We will go," Alto assured his barbaric friend. "Although I'm not sure we need to if you can face down such a force by yourself."

  Garrick scowled at him. "You killed that many or more."

  Alto shrugged, jostling the sleepy woman at his side. "Not at one time."

  Patrina slapped him, "Be still," she hissed.

  Alto chuckled and gave her a one armed hug. She smiled and closed her eyes.

  "Aleena doesn't concern your now?" he asked her.

  She sighed and drew herself up. "It was some lingering fears from the troll's potion," she explained. She reached down the axe resting at her side and said, "You're mine now and no woman, paladin or otherwise, stands a chance at you."

  The others laughed, even Alto. Aleena had set her sights on him when she first met him and it had taken him over a year to convince her that he wasn't right for her. She'd joined the church of Leander to prove him wrong only to find herself in the process. Alto grinned at his betrothed. "Good, I hate all the attention, you can scare the women away."