He? Who was he? What was she talking about?
The Witch stepped forward, placing herself so close to the fire some of the flickering flames licked her clothes. The white garment, however, remained un-scorched, a blue halo pulsing from it as if she were made of Glowstone.
“I asked you a question!” she demanded.
Aric was stunned, unable to speak. Her appearance, however… He hadn’t expected to find the corpse he had seen in his dreams, but an evil Witch wasn’t supposed to look this… beautiful.
“We… I know what you are doing,” Aric finally managed to say. “We’re here to stop you.” He aimed his sword at her, hoping it remained steady in his hand.
“Stop me?” she laughed. “Sohtyr sends a bunch of kids to stop me? Is this another one of his jokes?”
“Who?”
The Witch seemed to grow.
“Don’t play games with me!” she warned, her voice climbing and the flames climbing with it. “I will take control of that Dragon, I will kill your master, and I will kill all of you if I have to.” Jolts of blue lightning snapped from her fingers. “Tell me where he is and I will spare you.”
“What are you talking about!?” Aric was at a complete loss. “We’re Dragon Hunters of Lamash, no one sent us.”
The Witch seemed to have a moment of pause, even the furious look on her face appeared to ease slightly.
“Dragon Hunters?” she asked. “What are Dragon Hunters doing here? Why aren’t you out there fighting that thing?”
“I…” Aric’s entire body was begging him to flee. Instead, he tightened the grip on his sword. “I saw you in the desert. Controlling a Dragon. It was you.”
“You did?” She sounded perplexed. “I see… So you think I am controlling this one as well…” The besieging flames she had conjured dimmed slowly, but not completely.
“I know you are,” Aric said.
The Witch shook her head. “I know the stories they tell about me… And yes, I can control Dragons. But I am trying to save this city, not destroy it.” She paused and her eyes wandered for a bit, then she continued. “It’s no matter. I need to concentrate, and you are wasting my time.”
She turned her back on them and stepped towards one of the windows, spreading her arms.
“You don’t fool me,” Aric said, taking a step forward. But the wall of flames grew once again, blocking his way.
“I don’t care if you believe me or not. I need to focus if I’m going to break Sohtyr’s tether to that Dragon. So be quiet!”
Eliran’s palms faced up and Aric saw something… invisible, yet not really. It pulsed outward from her body like hot air escaping a fire.
None of this made any sense. Why had she caged them in that circle of fire instead of fighting them? And who was this Sohtyr?
“Aric,” Clea whispered. “We should make a move now.” With her chin, she indicated the Witch, who now had her back turned to them. She seemed to be in some sort of deep trance.
Is this how she controls Dragons? Aric didn’t remember any of this from when he had first seen her in the desert.
“We should just run through the flames,” Trissa suggested. “It’ll be like jumping over a camp fire.”
Clea and Dothea agreed with a nod. Aric, however, wasn’t so sure.
“Who is this Sohtyr?” Aric asked out loud.
Glaring, Clea punched him in the shoulder.
The Witch’s arms lowered slowly, then after an overlong pause she said, “I need to concentrate!” There was ice in her voice.
“Whoever he is, you can’t find him, can you?” Aric said. He received another punch in the shoulder, this time from Trissa.
“What are you talking about?” Clea asked, still in a whisper. “She’s obviously controlling the Dragon. She’s just trying to trick you.”
“No, I don’t think so,” Aric told her, then turned to Eliran. “I’m not sure if you’re commanding this Dragon or not, but I would bet my cuirass this Sohtyr is the reason you came to Nish. Who is he?”
Clenching a hand, Eliran turned sideways to face Aric. “Not just to Nish. He’s the reason I was sent to this Goddess forsaken desert. I’ve been hunting him for months, and finally, I have him close enough that I can fight him.” She took a couple of steps toward Aric. “Which I cannot do unless you’re quiet!”
“In that case,” Aric said. “What I have to know is whose side I’m on. Yours or his?”
“On Sohtyr’s side!?” Eliran burst out laughing, her head swinging backwards so fast Aric thought her neck would snap. “Oh, that’s priceless.” She forced herself to stop laughing, gasping from the effort. “No one’s on Sohtyr’s side, Dragon Hunter. Not even his own damn people. You want to know who he is? Well, he is no one. He doesn’t exist. He and his wretched kind are a myth, a secret, and a lie, all wrapped into one fiendish ball of darkness. He’s the kind of creature who lets a Dragon loose on a city so he can…” She threw her arms up in desperation. “Goddess knows what! And instead of stopping him, here I am entertaining the curiosity of some stupid, useless Dragon Hunter who should be out there fighting the…”
She trailed off, her eyes lost in some faraway place.
“That’s it!” She looked Aric in the eyes. “You can help. You all can.” She waved a hand and the fire cage vanished. “Your Glowstone weapons. You’re carrying them, yes?”
“Hum, yeah…?” Aric replied, confused.
Not everyone was stunned by the Witch’s sudden change of mood, though. Like lightning, Ashur dashed past everyone in front of him, his sword aimed at Eliran’s throat. The attack, however, was fruitless.
With a hand wave similar to the one that had put the fire out, Eliran casually swiped Ashur away, sending him flying across the room and slamming against the wall so hard the wooden planks cracked.
“Anyone else want to try something stupid?” Eliran asked, blue sparks crackling in her hands.
If she was trying to pacify them, it worked terribly. Aric had to hold Prion and Jullion down. Even Nahir was gritting his teeth like a wild beast.
“Everyone calm down,” Aric ordered. “No one moves unless I say so. We will not hurt her. Lyra, check Ashur.”
Prion spat. “She’s a Witch,” he said as Lyra rushed to check on Ashur. “She should have hung long ago. Let’s gut her and get this over with.”
Eliran sent Prion a cold, murderous look, but refrained from speaking.
“No one’s gutting anyone,” Aric said.
“My mistake,” Eliran said, her eyes on Prion’s. “Shouldn’t have dropped that firewall.” She turned to Aric and her voice softened. “But I do need your help to send that Dragon away.”
“How?” Aric asked. “What would you need us to do?”
“Aric!” Clea protested.
“Yeah,” Leth agreed. “You seem to be forgetting your own plan. Isn’t she supposed to be dangerous?”
“I’m not forgetting anything,” Aric said calmly. “But I think she’s telling the truth. She’s not commanding this Dragon.”
“How can you know that?” Clea asked. “She’s a Witch, she has… tricks.”
“Indeed,” Leth said. “She might be manipulating your mind right now, just like the old keeper said.”
Aric shook his head. “I don’t think so. If she was we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. We would already be on our way to do whatever the heck she’s talking about.”
That rendered both Leth and Clea speechless.
Eliran smiled. “Smart kid,” she said.
“Lyra,” Aric called. “How’s Ashur?”
“He’s bleeding a bit, but otherwise just as rude as always.”
“Let me go,” Ashur grumbled, pushing Lyra away and standing back up.
“How would we help?” Aric asked.
“It’s simple,” Eliran replied. “Mind control spells work both ways. That means everything the target feels, the spell caster feels as well. So, if you lot were to attack that Dragon with those Glowst
one weapons of yours, Sohtyr would feel every single inch of your blades as if they were penetrating his own flesh. It won’t physically harm him, but it will make him lose his focus. His defenses will drop, and I will be able to cut his mind tether to the Dragon and replace it with one of my own, which will allow me to send the wretched creature away. It should also allow me to find Sohtyr so I can deal with him once and for all.”
Aric nodded in agreement. “So we wouldn’t have to kill the Dragon, just hurt it.”
“Exactly,” Eliran said.
Behind Aric, several worried looks were exchanged.
“Are you sure about this?” Leth asked him. “For all we know this Sohtyr doesn’t even exist.”
“And we’ve already wasted so much time that half of the city doesn’t exist anymore either,” Aric replied. He turned to face the Company. “I asked you to come here with me voluntarily, and you did. You wanted me to prove that I had seen the desert Witch, and I did. You wanted to know if I could be trusted, or if I was just insane. Well, I gave you a chance to find out, and you got your answer. So asking is over. This is an order. We are attacking that Dragon right now.”
He stormed towards the door, his Hunters parting to make way for him.
“Single file, I’m in the lead.” As he reached the door, Aric looked behind and saw the whole group staring back at him as if they couldn’t believe a single word from his mouth. “I said NOW!”
To Aric’s relief, the group snapped from its trance, scurrying to their positions as if Saruk himself was screaming at their heels.
The Company sped across smoke filled streets, jumping over crumbled walls and shattered merchant stalls. The dark shape of the Dragon loomed above, letting out spine chilling growls that echoed between flaming houses. Frightened screams and pained howls surrounded them at every turn. Aric did his best to avoid the lifeless stares of the occasional corpses laying here and there.
“Clea, Orisius, Dothea,” Aric called. “Get on the rooftops. Shower that thing with arrows.” He drew his Glowstone sword. “We need to get that Dragon on the ground if we want to really do some damage.”
He stopped and looked up, watching the Dragon twirl in the air. They were so close they could feel the heat from its fiery breath.
“Everyone look alive! We have ourselves a Dragon to fight.”
With steely nods, Aric’s orders were obeyed, and he watched his archers climb the nearest house.
“What are we doing here? This is insane!”
The voice belonged to Prion, but the question was aimed at Ashur, not Aric.
After a pause where he received no answer, Prion insisted, “Ashur, let’s get the heck out of here!”
It was Jullion who answered. “Are you stupid!?” he asked. “You want to be sent on the Pilgrimage?”
Prion spat. “Fire take the Pilgrimage. And the Guild. We can just run away. Right now.” Prion waved towards Aric. “He won’t stop us.”
Aric was going to say something, but Ashur’s cold silence intrigued him.
Prion reached for his friend’s arm, but never caught it. “Ashur…” he mumbled.
Pulling away, Ashur walked towards Aric. “I’m not a Conscript like you, Pri. I’m not gonna run away.”
Aric would sooner have expected the Dragon to apologize.
“Ashur,” Aric said. “I’m making you a squad leader.” He indicated both Jullion and Prion. “Those two are your squad. Make sure they don’t step out of line. That’s an order.”
With his back to a fuming Prion, Ashur nodded an agreement.
Good, Aric thought.
Leth whispered a “Well played” into Aric’s ear, but he ignored it. There was no time to waste.
His three archers had climbed the rooftops and taken positions behind portions of chimneys left standing, their bows aimed at the Dragon and ready to fire. Aric needed to get the rest of the Company into position in the square the Dragon had been punishing for the last few minutes.
“Hey, look who’s here,” Trissa said. “How does he always find us?”
Aric turned and saw Geric climb down from the wreckage of a fruit stall. The desert lynx did not stay for long, however, and quickly disappeared, sneaking down some dark alley.
“Don’t let him fool you,” Aric said. “He just likes to pretend that he’s helpful. Now come on. Follow me.”
With their backs curved, the group sprinted towards the square and squatted behind a pile of darkened bricks that had once been a wall.
“Clea!” Aric screamed. “Open fire.”
He saw the curved shape of three bows appear over the ridgeline of the roofs to his south. The arrows released almost simultaneously, but only one of them hit its target. However, it was more than enough to infuriate the Dragon. The Glowstone pierced the beast’s neck and it reeled in pain, releasing a shriek so powerful it made the stones the Company was hiding behind tremble.
What Aric did not expect, however, was what he saw next. The Dragon circled around, slashing through the air. Then, it spat a jet of fire aimed precisely at the archers hiding place.
Aric’s heart sank and a scream froze in his throat. Then, to his huge relief, three bows appeared slightly to the southeast and released another volley.
Oh, thank the Goddess…
They had been smart enough to move after firing, but Aric chided himself for not having thought of it before and telling them to.
This was insane, he thought. They were clearly in way over their heads.
Hunter, a voice rang inside Aric’s head. A mix between a hiss and an echo repeated tenfold.
“Wha…” Aric mumbled, baffled.
You do not need to speak. Although distorted and metallic, it was clearly Eliran’s voice. I can hear your thoughts.
You… You can read my mind?
I can. The voice seemed to vibrate inside his skull. But I won’t dig inside. I’m just listening, don’t worry. You are doing a wonderful job. Sohtyr wasn’t expecting that. We almost got him from the surprise alone, but it wasn’t enough. I’ll need you to hit the Dragon even harder if I’m going to take that mind tether down.
Fire take this! Aric thought. What am I supposed to do!? The question was for himself, however. Had she heard that as well? It’s very uncomfortable to know you’re listening in, you know?
I’m sure you have worse things to worry about right now. Keep the pressure on and I’ll take Sohtyr’s spell down in no time. Give that Dragon heck, Hunter.
And with that, she was gone. Aric had no idea how he knew she had left. He just… did.
Another barrage of arrows rained down on the Dragon. This time, all of them hit their target. The archers were clearly learning the gist of the Dragon’s swift movements, but all it did was make the beast angrier. This time, instead of gushing fire at the source of the arrows, the Dragon spread it over a wider area, setting an entire neighborhood on fire.
Aric cursed. Clea and the others wouldn’t be able to take this much longer.
“Why won’t that thing land!?” Aric hissed.
The plan was clearly not working.
“I have an idea,” Aric said. “Ergon, give me your spear.”
Sheathing his own sword, Aric grabbed the weapon. Its pole was taller than Nahir, and its blade was as long as a broadsword’s.
“All of you stay here. I’m going to try to get it to present its hind legs to you. The moment he lands, give him Ava’s wrath.”
Without waiting for a reply, Aric jumped up, but Leth held him down.
“What the heck do you think you’re doing!?” Leth demanded.
“What do you think? I’m getting that thing down on the ground,” Aric replied.
“Are you mad!?” Leth asked.
Aric looked at the spear. The Glowstone glistened from the fires surrounding them.
“Remember the Frostbound tunnels?” he asked. “When we found those things attacking Ashur, Orisius, and the others? You and Clea told me to stand back because I didn’t know how to f
ight and you two did.”
“Yeah, so what?” Leth said.
“Well,” Aric smiled. “I’ve since learned how to fight.” He winked and darted away.
Aric crossed the cobble stone towards the center of the square, limbs of maimed statues littering the way. Once there, he climbed the pile of rubble that once had been a glorious monument to the Empire’s might and waved his spear, drawing defiant circles above his head.
“Hey!” he screamed from the top of his lungs. “Down here, you fat lizard!”
It took no time for the Dragon’s keen senses to notice the tiny human so willingly presenting itself for the kill.
This better work…
As the Dragon dove, roaring towards him, Aric turned around and fled. He ran faster than he had ever run. Faster than in the Frostbound. Faster than in their training runs across the desert. Faster than he had run inside the Gauntlet to get that red flag out.
The once neatly paved roads conspired to trip him with hundreds of scattered stones, forcing Aric to watch where he stepped very carefully while sending quick glances over his shoulder at the incoming Dragon.
Aric saw the beast’s mandibles spread open and jumped sideways, rolling on the ground just in time to avoid a jet of fire. Feeling a couple of sharp rocks carve into his skin, Aric picked himself up quickly, resuming his flight. He checked over his shoulder again, measuring the distance to the Dragon. It was getting terrifyingly closer, but it was also a mere few feet from the ground now.
“Got you, you big, ugly thing,” Aric muttered to himself. Then, he took a sharp turn and snuck into a narrow street to his right.
Seeing Aric disappear around a corner, the Dragon angled his wings forward, braking so it didn’t fly past its prey. The creature lost speed instantaneously, and the whole ground shook as it lost altitude and landed.
Aric turned around, waiting for the Dragon to burst around the corner. He didn’t have to wait long.
A colossal black head, riddled with horns of every shape and size, exploded between the buildings, roaring under a rain of stone bricks. The nauseating smell of sulfur stung Aric’s nostrils, and once again he jumped sideways, this time through a window and into the bowels of some building.
The Dragon Hunter and the Mage Page 32
