We were on a rocky slope that led down from the tunnel mouth. It led down into a sparse greenland far below, with few trees or bushes to block lines of sight. Across that grassland were the foothills of mountains. The mountains, I realized. They had to be. It was a massive range, with mountains of all heights, making for an arrangement of summits swathed in green poking up amidst their white-capped brothers.
That’s when I knew Greystone had been right. You will know it when you see it, he had told us. And I did.
Wyrmspire.
It was massive, a grandfather among its clan. Its twin peaks jutted up until they brushed the underbellies of the clouds. They were wrapped firmly in white, and the way they curled toward each other, they looked like the gaping jaws of some massive creature of old, the rest of its body buried beneath the crust of the earth. And once my mind made that comparison, I couldn’t help but see the rest of the mountain range as the dragon’s spine, with spikes in haphazard arrangement running along the curve of the world.
I’m not exactly big on nature and the beauty of the world and all that crud. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t completely blown away by the sight. It was, quite simply, the most impressive thing I’d ever seen.
“Whoah,” said Miles.
“Whoah is right,” said Calvin. “That’s gotta be the mountain, right?”
“Greystone did say we’d recognize it,” said Sarah. “And it’s close. We’re almost there. A day or two at most. Come on.”
I tore my eyes away from Wyrmspire to look at the land before us. There was a road leading away from the tunnel, but it was in disrepair from neglect. Sharp stones and smooth boulders jutted up from the middle of it, and more lined the mountain on either side of it.
It wasn’t until I saw one of the boulders moving that I knew something was wrong.
The thing uncurled, long, groping arms unfurling to stretch out the way you do when waking up. The creature straightened, raising a stupid-looking, mottled green face. Its massive yellow eyes blinked twice, seeming to take an eternity. Then the tiny, round head started to swivel. Swivel at us.
“Um, guys,” I said. “There’s more.”
Calvin finally dropped his gaze from the mountain. “More what?” He spotted the troll. “Oh. More trolls.”
Yellow eyes fixed on us. They narrowed. Another eternal blink. Then a low growl issued from an inhuman throat.
As one, a dozen more boulders began to unfold, their limbs reaching for the sky. Then more. Like a ripple, what looked like every rock on the mountain began to unfurl itself into a twelve-foot troll. Some had smoother, rounded heads, their skin looking like soft pebbles on the beach. Others had jagged, stony protrusions that looked sharp enough to cut skin. They were a hundred shades of dark, slimy green, but their eyes were uniform. And those eyes were focusing on us, one by one.
The creatures’ heads began to tilt back and forth as they studied us. It was like they couldn’t figure out what to make of us.
“They probably haven’t seen humans in centuries, if ever,” whispered Miles.
“That’s great,” I said. “Except that it’ll only take them a minute to get curious about how we taste.”
“Lady Sarah,” said Cara. “We can get their attention. If we draw enough of them to us, the six of you can ride around them and make for the mountain.”
“Not going to happen,” said Sarah.
“We will disengage as soon as you are clear,” said Cara. “You have my word.”
One of the trolls made a short, barking sound. It was halfway between a growl and a roar. It took a wary step toward us, and its huge nostrils expanded as it sniffed the air.
“I mean it won’t work,” said Sarah. “There’s too many further down the mountain. And more rocks on the grasslands—those are probably trolls, too.”
Half a dozen other trolls started to follow the first one, taking a couple of cautious steps toward us and sniffing. They began to growl in a chorus, the sound like cinderblocks being dragged across asphalt.
“Well, then let’s fight,” I said. “If that’s the only chance we’ve got.”
“We can’t take them all,” said Miles. “Calvin, Tess? Can you fly us out of here?”
“All twelve of us? That’s more than two thousand pounds, dude,” said Calvin. “And forget about the horses.”
“We have to get the runestones to the mountain,” said Raven. “That’s all that matters. Calvin and Tess should go ahead. They can fly above the trolls, and the rest of us can fight them off. If we make it, we’ll follow. If we don’t, they can still carry out the mission.”
“I won’t do that,” said Tess. I was surprised not to hear fear in her voice. Instead it was just a calm finality. “I won’t leave.”
“What if we don’t make it?” hissed Raven. “Then everything’s lost, and Terrence wins.”
The trolls were getting closer. One of them gave a loud snuff and then sank his fist into the earth, pulling out a giant rock. He tore a chunk of it out with his teeth, munching on it like it was an apple.
“She’s right,” said Sarah in resignation. “We can’t risk all of the stones. Calvin—”
“No!” he shouted.
“Calvin!” said Sarah. “Take my stone and Raven’s. Tess, you take Miles’ and Blade’s. You get as far—”
“Wait, my lady!” said Cara. “There!”
She pointed over the troll’s head. I looked past them to see a hole opening up in the earth farther down the mountain. A cave. I glanced back and forth to see there were more. A dozen that I could see, probably more the farther down we went.
“If we can make it to a cave, we can hole up inside. Defend ourselves, and hopefully find another exit,” said Cara.
“It could be a dead end,” said Sarah. “We might as well fight in the tunnel.”
“It gives us a chance,” said Cara. “I cannot let you stay here and make a last stand while there may still be a chance.”
Sarah gave a final glance over her shoulder at the tunnel we’d left. The trolls were only a few yards away.
“Okay, go!” said Sarah. She waved, and a wedge of rock sprang up from the slope, flinging two trolls through the air. Then the wedge split down the middle, shoving the other trolls aside and giving us a path to follow. Sarah slumped in her saddle, but Cara gripped her arm to keep her from falling.
As one, the trolls let rip with their lion-like roars and attacked. But we spurred our horses and leapt between the rocky walls, flying like the wind. I prayed none of our mounts lost their footing.
Two more trolls stood at the end of the walls. Raven fired a lightning bolt straight into one of their heads. It fell back, screaming in pain as it tumbled down the slope. I saw it come to a stop, and immediately it raised its head. The flesh began knitting together before my eyes.
The other troll got a fireball in the gut. It punched straight through the thing’s torso, and it fell to the ground, clutching its middle and screaming. We rode past it as it writhed in the dirt, in too much pain to pay attention to us.
There were no more between us and the cave mouth. We came down its left side, and Sarah jerked her horse’s reins hard to guide it into the dark earth. The rest followed. Samuel and I came in last, just as Sarah’s horse gave a whinny of fright and reared. It nearly dashed its head against the stalactites hanging above. In front of it, a troll was rising from the rocky ground.
“Down!” I shouted. But they couldn’t move fast enough, and I didn’t have a clear line of sight. I grit my teeth and clenched my fist. The troll burst into spontaneous flames, and almost immediately I felt a wave of pain and exhaustion wash through me. It was always harder summoning flames at a distance than it was to do it with my hands, and putting Fire into flesh was hardest of all.
Calvin wrapped the troll with Air and flung it out of our way, and we spurred our horses on. But almost immediately we stopped short as Sarah’s mount nearly crashed into the back wall.
“It’s a dead end!” s
aid Cara. “Turn around!”
I wheeled, but then the light of the sun outside grew dim. The entrance was blocked by trolls. There were at least a dozen, and I could see more filing in behind them.
“Block the entrance, Sarah!” I said. “They’re coming in!”
She raised a hand, but it fell back to her side. “I can’t,” she gasped. “I’ve done too much.”
“Miles!” I said. “Hit the ceiling!”
He gave me a half-second’s confused look before he understood. Then he pulled moisture from the air, and I saw a solid sheet of water slam into the rocky ceiling. A second later it froze, and the expanding ice broke up the rock around it.
THOOM
The ceiling collapsed, burying the trolls under a mountain of rock. Calvin and Tess yelped as they tapped their magic, putting an invisible dome over all of us. Rocks ricocheted off the dome, surrounding us with stone. But soon the din stopped, the ceiling finding a new balance above us. They dropped their barrier, and some scattered rocks settled around us.
“Well, this is much better,” said Samuel. “Trapped underground again with no way out.”
“We could be troll food,” I grumbled.
CRACK!
I flinched as a rock whizzed by my face, striking the wall behind me. A mottled green fist had punched through the mound of rock in front of us, and now its fingers uncurled as it grasped the air.
“They’re coming in!” I yelled. I launched a bolt of fire at the hand. It sizzled and popped as the troll yanked it back, and I heard a cry of pain outside.
Another fist punched through the hole the first one had made, and this time the hole widened. I saw rotting teeth and yellow eyes, and then a second arm punched through the rock beside it.
“Get’em!” said Calvin. He blasted them with a jet of air that knocked one of the creatures away. I roasted the other at the same time Raven’s lightning bolt slammed into it, flinging it away through the air.
There was another crack and the sound of crumbling rock. Another troll had torn away a large chunk of rock, and then another shoved its whole upper body through the widening gap. All of us slammed it with magic, and the thing fell back in pain. But it was replaced by another in less than a second.
“Sarah, you’ve got to block them off!” I said. “They’re not going to stop coming!”
She raised a trembling hand. The rocks shifted slightly, but that was it.
“There’s not…I can’t do it,” she stammered. “I need to rest.”
“You think the trolls are going to let you take a nap?” I shouted.
“Tess, wall them off!” said Calvin.
“They’re too strong,” said Tess, flinching.
“I’ll help you,” said Calvin. “Come on.”
They moved their hands through the air like they were weaving, the way Greystone had taught them ages ago. Suddenly the troll’s noises were muted, and they slammed their fists into an invisible barrier in the air. Tess and Calvin flinched with every strike of their claws.
Taking advantage of the moment’s respite, I went to Sarah’s side. I snatched my water skin from my saddle. The horse’s eyes were wide, its nostrils flaring as it took deep, panicked breaths. I unstopped the skin and shoved it at Sarah.
“Come on,” I said. “Take a drink, give yourself a couple of breaths. But then we need you back in the game, otherwise we’re all toast.”
She looked at me, her face haggard. Her skin was deathly white. Her eyes had massive bags under them that I’d never seen there before.
“I’m done, Blade,” she said. “We’ve got to think of another way, or—”
The air detonated around us.
I flinched, both Sarah and I ducking as we took cover from the explosion. It took me a second to raise my head and realize there was no explosion. It had just been a noise.
I glanced through the gap. The trolls had turned away from us, their hunger momentarily forgotten. They stood stock still, immobile as the stones we’d mistaken them for.
GREEEAAARGH
My whole body jerked against my will as the noise returned. It was a terrible cry, a cataclysmic detonation, the end of the world.
The trolls, too, leapt at the noise, then fled for the cave’s entrance. They made as far as the sunlight. Then something swept in, faster than I could see, and dashed them all aside. They flew out of sight with panicked yelps, like beaten dogs.
THOOOM
Outside there was a crash like a falling mountain. Then the terrible noise roared forth once again. This time all of us fell to the ground, cowering in terror. I gripped my own knees in terror, curling into a fetal ball on the ground. Tess lay next to me, tears streaming from her eyes as she wailed. I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. I didn’t know what good I could do, but I couldn’t let her die alone.
Then the world settled into aching silence.
Slowly, I felt my heartbeat return to normal. Slowly, I mustered the courage to open my eyes. Slowly, I raised my head and peered through the gap where seconds ago, trolls had been trying to break through.
It was empty now, as was the cavern beyond. There was no sound, no sound in the world except a faint whine at the edge of hearing.
I recognized it: it was the noise I’d heard when the gates of Morrowdust were destroyed in an explosion. I was deafened. I poked at my ear. My finger came away clean. Good. No blood.
“Wharr warr dahr?”
I looked around, blinking hard as I tried to focus on the noise. Calvin was looking at me. He opened his mouth and spoke again. But it was an indistinct, muffled mess. I couldn’t make out the words.
“What?” I asked. But I could barely make out my own words. They only resonated in my head.
A hand clapped down on my shoulder. I turned to see Samuel. He placed a finger across his lips. Quiet.
Sarah and Cara stood at the hole, looking outside. Cara took two careful steps forward, climbing up over the mound of rocks that lay between us and the cave entrance. Slowly she made her way over it, legs shaking on the uneven footing. Barius followed right behind her, followed by Samuel.
Well, I’d be damned if I was going to let them go out their on their own. They didn’t even have magic. So I took a couple of careful steps forward. I swayed on my feet, my balance off. Something to do with the inner ear, some part of my mind realized. I wondered how badly my ears had been hurt.
Once I cleared the rock mound, walking became easier. The ground was even now. So I followed the three Runegard to the cave’s entrance and stood beside them.
It was something from a dream. The trolls from the cave were down, along with a dozen more. Some of their heads had been torn off, others had their limbs removed. They jerked and twisted on the ground. Though their wounds were horrific, even now I could see them slowly healing themselves. Their flesh knitted back together, their skin meeting over it to stitch itself up.
But every time one of them tried to get back up, it was struck again.
The creatures doing the striking? I’d never seen one in person before, but I recognized them immediately. As long as a skyscraper from muzzle to tail tip. Scales as big as my head, each one an inches-thick plate of iron. They were a brilliant, verdant green, all of them, except for the wings, which were like wide, pale leather. The wings were tucked against their long bodies, while their claws—each considerably longer than I was tall—tore apart the trolls, ripping off chunks of the bodies and shoving them into the wide, gaping mouths. The mouths filled with teeth like longswords, longer than my arm, twice as sharp as any blade and twice as cruel. Tongues snaked out to lick blood from their gums and lips. Above the mouths, sharp, intelligent eyes of a brilliant golden amber were fixed on their momentary meal.
Dragons.
Three of them.
One of them was much, much bigger than the others. The scales on the head ran in an intricate pattern of green and black, forming a sort of mask. A massive scar ran the length of the snout and made it look twice as
deadly.
Then that snout turned toward us. Great, golden eyes, wider than my arm span, fixed on my own.
Faster than such a creature should have been able to move, the head rose, twisting around on its serpentine neck. The dragon’s claws cast aside the twitching troll in its grasp. Then that claw raised, only to come down again in the rocky soil. The dragon pushed itself to its feet, its wings unfurling slightly—ready for flight, but not yet. With two massive footsteps, it propelled itself up the mountainside until it loomed over the mouth of our tiny cave.
I was rooted to the spot. I couldn’t have moved one of my limbs to save my life. Beside me stood the Runegard, each of them as immobilized by terror as I was. Some dim part of my mind realized that Calvin had come to stand beside me, too. His mouth was hanging open.
The dragon took a breath, and I heard a sound like a cold wind blowing through the halls of the Runehold back in Morrowdust.
“What in the spire do we have here?” it said, in a voice like the doom of the world.
TO BE CONTINUED IN…
DRAGONS
TESS
MY NAME IS TESS HERNANDEZ, and I’m living a double life.
There’s a lot of things I didn’t always believe in. Things like magic. Monsters. Things that go bump in the night. Dragons definitely would have been on that list, probably in the top ten.
Yet here I was, looking up at the terrifying spectacle of a dragon. Two more crouched lower on the mountainside, hunched over the mangled bodies of the trolls they’d slaughtered.
It felt like an hour since anyone had moved, but it had probably been less than a minute. The Runegard still blocked us with their shields. The others stood transfixed. I peered from behind Blade’s shoulder, unable to tear my eyes away from the creature’s massive body. Its limbs were muscled and thick as an oak tree, and the massive claws and teeth told me we did not want to turn this into a fight.
Wyrmspire (Realm Keepers Book 2) Page 49
