by LeRoy Clary
“Now,” Tyler said, tossing the loop over Bender’s body in the plan they had discussed in detail so many times. “Or, never.”
Bender took the time for one brief look at the empty sky before throwing a leg over the cliff and holding onto the rope around his waist as Tyler let it slide through his hands. A rag helped keep the rope from tearing the flesh off his palms. He muttered, “We’re gonna do this.”
Bender didn’t lower himself down the face of the cliff gently. He scrambled and half-fell from one handhold to a foothold, swinging wildly from side to side as the rope in Tyler’s hands lowered him. He fell, more than climbed while he repeatedly tugged on the rope to move faster. If any one of the dragons returned, his life would end while suspended on the rope.
Tyler and Bender had planned the raid repeatedly, assigning each job, and reciting every step with military precision. Bender had studied the face of the cliff until he knew every rock, ledge, crack, and protrusion that would let him climb faster. He’d studied it for four full days, every waking hour, and Tyler had laid at his side pointing out what he saw that might help.
With the rope to speed his descent and climb back up, they might manage it. Bender would go down fast, grab an egg and stuff it into his shirt above the belt already tight around his waist, the shirt becoming a sack to carry it, and Tyler would pull on the rope, raising him with steady pressure to help him climb faster. Speed. Success was all about speed. And luck. And planning, but speed overcame luck and planning.
Tyler stood at the lip of the cliff, legs braced, totally exposed and in as much danger as Bender. He adjusted the rag used as a glove protecting his hands, as Bender’s feet touched the nest and he bent to gather the precious egg in his hands. He’s going to get it.
But a glimpse of movement in the distance caught from the corner of his eye drew Tyler’s attention. A Black flew lazily up the valley, returning, with her head turned away from them while searching the ground below as she soared over the trees.
“Bender, hurry, one’s coming back,” he called as he tightened the strain on the rope and started to pull.
But his childhood friend refused to budge. Instead of climbing to safety, he took several seconds to scoop the second egg from the clutch of three, and in a single quick motion slipped it into the other side of his shirt, then he looked up at Tyler and said as he climbed, “Get me outta here.”
The shirt and belt holding the eggs in place freed Bender’s two hands, although they made Bender appear wide and awkward when viewed from above. The rope, already taut, felt heavier to Tyler, but that may have been his imagination. As Bender’s fingers gripped a handhold and he pulled himself up, Tyler kept a steady pressure on the rope, helping his agile friend by taking weight off him as he climbed. When Bender slowed, Tyler used his back and shoulders to pull him to the next handhold or foothold. Bender, resting for a second where he stood on a foothold and gripped the granite with a hand, turned and looked over his shoulder. He spotted the approaching dragon at the same time it spotted him.
He was more than halfway to the top when the first warning roar of the dragon sounded, and as Tyler faced the valley to pull Bender up faster, another Black flew suddenly into view. Then the third.
“Come on,” Tyler shouted, pulling with all his might, the idea of letting go and running for safety never entered his mind.
Bender scrambled and climbed, leaped and jumped, never pausing, and never slowing. He looked over his shoulder once more, and a look of pure terror filled his face. He reached the last few feet, but one Black changed direction and flew directly to the nests instead of attacking, providing more time. The second dragon ignored the nests and flew at Bender, screaming in fury.
Bender had nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. His hand was reaching for Tyler’s leg to pull himself up the final few feet when the dragon arrived, but at the last instant, the dragon shifted its attention to Tyler, as if just realizing he was also an enemy, too. She extended her head to the extent the serpentine neck would reach, and she snapped a wicked mouthful of teeth at him.
But Tyler dived to one side, still clutching the rope and yanking Bender over the lip. The mouth of sharp teeth narrowly missed Tyler’s flailing legs. The talons of the forelimbs slashed the air, but Tyler fell flat on the rock surface, behind the small ridge they’d hid behind for days. The slight depression in the rock saved him. The talons swiped and missed again, and the dragon’s speed on landing carried her smashing into the rock wall behind him. She struck so hard the ground trembled, and she staggered, dazed and perhaps hurt.
Tyler pulled the slack from the rope. Bender had made it the rest of the way up, and they had no time to stand and regain a footing. The dragon would turn and attack them again in seconds.
Tyler whipped his head around and found he’d managed to get his friend to the top. Bender crawled along the edge and scrambled to his feet only a single step away from the dazed dragon.
“Come on,” Bender yelled, throwing off the rope, then darting away from the recovering dragon and into the thick stand of pines a dozen steps away, holding the eggs that caused his shirt to bulge with both hands, as he awkwardly ran, leaping over rocks and shrubs instead of going around.
Standing up so fast, he fell to his knees again. Tyler realized the rope was still wrapped around him from when he rolled and the other end was still secured to a tree. He managed to take one last look at the dragon before his fumbling fingers managed to loosen the loops. She spotted him again and turned her huge body on the small shelf of rock. With a twist, Tyler slipped free of the rope and dove for the nearest pine trees growing on the side of the mountain, the dragon at his heels, but she was too large to fit between the stout tree trunks. Tyler escaped with two steps to spare, but kept running as the dragon roared and advanced by uprooting and pushing over the smaller trees in her madness to reach him.
Bender raced into the forest somewhere ahead of him, crashing and stomping through the underbrush. Overhead circled two more Black Dragons, and one lunged at them in an open area too small to be called a clearing. The weight of the second animal hitting the pines bent and broke a few trees. She stood on the ground and while she searched wildly for them, roaring and screaming. The first one reached her, and they screamed at each other, then turned as one and followed. Bender stood twenty steps ahead, with his back against a tree large enough to hide him, and Tyler did the same thing behind another tree not much farther away.
But the nearest dragon smelled them. Her nose twitched. She threw her head back and roared in a fury, then used her chest to push over more pine trees, exposing the dirt encrusted tangle of roots as the trees fell, and moving relentlessly in their direction.
“Leave the eggs,” Tyler hissed.
“You think they’re going to let us leave just because we give back the eggs?” Bender said, his voice shaking with every syllable.
“It’s worth a shot.”
“Is not.”
The sound of more leathery wings descending drew their attention, and they were nearby. Bender looked at him and shrugged as if to say, “There’s no escape.”
Tyler heard the closest Black let out another scream, louder than any previous, and more intense. Many more screams filled the air in answer, but they were higher pitched and overlapped each other. Scuffling and grunting followed, and then up into the air rose one of the Blacks, flying low and fast to escape. Three Grays were snapping at its tail and hind legs, each trying to get a grip with their teeth while the other Grays attacked the larger animal.
“They’re fighting each other,” Bender said, sounding grateful and scared at the same time. “Only one more down here on the ground.”
“We’ve got to get out of here while we can,” Tyler said, emerging from behind the tree and taking the lead. He forced his way past heavy underbrush, ignoring the spider vines, brushing aside the nettles as if they didn’t exist, and leaping over entire stands of devil’s club. He didn’t follow a trail, but ran headlong down the side o
f the mountain at breakneck speed disregarding the dangers and stupidity of his actions.
Bender stayed up with him. The place where the nests were located was just below the snowline, but the chill of the air was welcome as the pair ran. When their breath wouldn’t come anymore, not even in the heavy gasps they’d fought for while escaping, they continued. They stumbled along, never stopping or watching where they placed each foot. A fall at that speed could take them down a thousand feet or more, and kill them. A broken leg assured the dragon would feast on one of them.
A shadow from above flitted past, and Tyler raised his eyes long enough to verify that two Grays had spotted him, both coated in blood, probably from the Black they had been chasing.
Bender shouted, “Over here.”
Tyler saw his friend squeezing into what appeared to be the solid rock face of the granite mountain. A narrow split in the rock rose above him twenty feet or more. At the bottom, the split was wide enough for a thin man to slip sideways inside.
“Careful,” Tyler said as he turned sideways to follow his thinner friend deeper into the opening. “He called, “You don’t know what’s made a home in this cave, and it smells like it was here recently.”
“Whatever it was had to be too small to worry about right now,” the answer came as Bender grunted, trying to move deeper inside so Tyler could follow. “And less dangerous than a Gray.”
Tyler imagined a mountain lion inside waiting for its meal to come to it. The split narrowed as they moved deeper, and even more as they slowly squeezed inside. Both men were pinned sideways, standing, and could not move farther into the narrow cave. Tyler said, “At least we’re safe.”
“And uncomfortable,” Bender said, between heavy breaths.
“Stop complaining. A Black can’t reach us in here.”
Bender paused and caught his breath, then said, “Probably not, but if you get pulled out by one, I’m going to make myself smaller to fit farther inside. Besides, those were Grays attacking, not a Black, and they might get in here.”
The comment was just like his friend, but Tyler knew he had to reply, or Bender would never quit. “I think one of the Blacks landed first and reached the split right after us. Do you really think a Gray can work its way in here?”
“Thanks for asking that question and giving me a daymare. Yes, a small Gray can get here.”
“Sorry to mention it,” Tyler said.
“After dark, we can make our break.”
“I heard bears hunt these mountains after dark,” Tyler said, trying to get the last word in and knowing that it wouldn’t work before the words left his lips. It never did.
“Nope, not true. Everyone knows bears sleep at night. Mountain lions are what you have to worry about in the dark.”
Tyler managed to turn his head and look back at the stream of sunlight inside the entrance while trying to estimate how long until dark. The sunlight suddenly cut off as an enraged Black attacked the opening, filling it, so no light passed, snarling and salivating as she squeezed inside. Tyler felt Bender slip deeper into the cave even though he’d complained earlier that he’d already reached the limit. Tyler also inched a few more baby steps inside.
The scream of the dragon amplified in the confined space, followed by a raking claw that just missed his cheek, then the snapping head of the Black dragon faced him. Tyler smelled the rank, rotting flesh of the last few meals the dragon had devoured. A puff of rancid, warm air filled the space. She couldn’t get inside any farther. Another scream sounded, even louder and more frustrated. The dragon could see and smell Tyler, but couldn’t reach him.
He wanted to cover his ears, stop breathing and hold his nose from the foul smells emanating from the dragon’s mouth. Only his eyes and legs needed to work because if the dragon managed to get any closer, Tyler was going to slip past Bender and go deeper into the skinny depths of the cave.
CHAPTER TWO
The Black dragon tried to squirm further into the split in the granite wall, intent on reaching Tyler, screeching and hissing until her actions and screams must have drawn the attention of the smaller Grays. She had managed to squeeze inside, closer to Tyler, and her long neck stretched until the snout almost touched his shoulder. It paused there, red eyes watching, as it sniffed and peered at Tyler from close enough that he could reach out and touch her. But instead, he pushed against Bender, trying to force his friend further into the narrowing crack of rock that was scraping the flesh from their backs and chests as they tried to gain another inch.
Tyler wondered if they survived, could they manage to squeeze their way out because they were jammed in so far. He reached to his side and felt one of the cantaloupe-sized eggs safely inside Bender’s shirt, resting on his hip. It felt undamaged.
The Black snarled and twisted in frustration and anger at not being able to reach Tyler, and then suddenly she yelped in a different tone, a totally alien sound. She shook herself violently and twisted away from Tyler, pulling herself back out of the crack while trying to turn and reach behind in the confined space.
The Grays are attacking her. Tyler wanted to cheer them on. She quickly abandoned her pursuit of the two men as she tried to defend herself, but couldn’t turn and reach behind herself any more than Tyler could, if he wanted to.
Bender yelled in his ear, “What the crap’s happening out there? Can you see?”
Between the higher pitched screeches from the smaller Grays, and the Black’s howls of pain, Tyler shouted back, “No, but I think they’re attacking her. The Grays.”
“That’s good, right? Good for us?”
Tyler considered as he tried to get a better vantage to watch. “The problem is that the Grays have her pinned inside right behind us, where she can’t turn around and fight back.”
“But, that’s good?”
“Not if they kill her and her body blocks our escape. Or if the Grays kill and feed on her in here and we can’t get out. Or. . .”
Bender snarled, “You could have just agreed with me. It’s good.”
However, the Black managed to back a few more steps and twisted her head around. She temporarily freed herself enough to counter-attack the Grays. She squirmed out into the open meadow at the mouth of the cave and spun to face the attacking Grays, slashing with her foreclaws while snapping her teeth. She caught one of the Grays by the neck with her mouth, and shook violently, like a dog with a cat. The Black tossed the limp body of the Gray all the way to the edge of the clearing where it rolled to strike the base of a tree.
Tyler watched outside the split, past the Black to the three other Grays that were still circling her and darting in to attack, but with less enthusiasm as they leaped close enough to rip and tear mouthfuls of flesh from the Black before moving back out of her range. The Black lashed out with a rear foot and launched herself into the air, struggling to gain altitude. The Grays eagerly followed, nipping and harassing her as she trailed a warm stream of blood that steamed when it hit the cold ground.
Tyler and Bender warily emerged from the cave after checking in all directions first. Their eyes focused on the sky and the Grays still attacking the Black during the ongoing fight. When Tyler glanced down, his eyes fell to a black lump near his leg in the meadow.
“That’s a dragon’s foot,” Bender said, confirming what Tyler thought.
“A hind one from that Black, I think. The Grays must have chewed it off during their battle.”
“Just look at the size of the claws,” Bender said, as he reached into his shirt and handed Tyler an egg before kneeling. He pulled his knife and begun the gruesome work of cutting claws free from the lump of flesh.
The leathery feel and overall weight of the egg surprised Tyler, as he examined it for damage for a few scant seconds before turning his attention back to his friend, then to the sky and the surrounding forest. Bender had drawn his long knife and had set about carving free the two largest claws from the bloody stump with a few deft slices, removing the claws, each longer than his foot.<
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“We’ve got to get out of here fast,” Tyler said, already heading for the cover of the trees. But he heard no grunt of agreement and no footsteps following him. He glanced over his shoulder. “Come on!”
Bender stood, triumphantly holding a bloody mass high. He shoved it into his shirt where the second egg had been and raced to catch up. He ran awkwardly with the egg bouncing on one side of his waist, the claws on the other, and his left hand cradled the egg as best as he could, his right holding onto the claws.
Tyler said, “Really? You had to take the time to do that?”
Bender gave him the same lopsided grin as when they had stolen cookies when children. Tyler relented and equaled the grin. A dragon claw can be sold for two months’ pay or more. Maybe the short delay was worth the time. He said, “Let’s move.”
They continued down the side of the mountain, running where walking carefully was dangerous, and leaping over obstacles that sane men would have gone around. A turned ankle or broken leg might cost their lives, but so might going slow. Their two escapes from the dragons had been pure luck, and Tyler knew it. A third escape was too much to request of even the friendliest gods.
At the bottom of a steep ravine, a river thundered and seethed with white foam. It filled the air with a roar so loud they could barely hear each other shout. A single tree had fallen and created a bridge, but the needles on the naked pine trunk had long ago fallen off, and the soft wood of dead pines is notorious for rotting and snapping in windstorms. Below, perhaps twenty feet under them, the water churned white and deep. Tyler assessed the tree again and didn’t like it.
The tree looked too small to support his weight. It also looked at least a season old, the age where they rot. Walking across it would require more balance than he possessed, even if it managed to hold his weight. Heights had always bothered him, but the log changed bother to terror.
