“Believe me, my lady. Please, ask me anything and I will gladly tell you.”
“Oh, there will be time for that,” she cooed. “Who is your friend?”
Mansel was struggling. At first, all he could think about was getting close to the woman on the dais, but then images began racing through his brain. He saw a woman standing on a pier and gazing out to sea. The wind was blowing her dress, and her hair waved like grain. Then another image, the same face, looking down at him from above with a worried expression.
He pushed the images away, but they remained, just under the surface, like a fever. He felt worried and bothered, but all he wanted was to give himself to the woman on the throne.
“I am Mansel,” he said.
“Mansel,” Gwendolyn said. “I like that name. Are you a Prince, too?”
“I’m a warrior,” he said. “A swordsman.”
“I see that you wear a great sword. It is magic made, is it not?”
“Yes,” Mansel said, drawing the weapon. “My friend Zollin made it for me. He’s a wizard.”
“Is that right? A wizard in Yelsia?”
“Yes,” Quinn added. “He’s my son. Zollin is my son.”
“Oh, this is so delicious. I have plans for you, Quinn and Mansel. Yes, I do. Come closer.”
Chapter 38
Zollin walked into the dark cave. He paused to let his eyes adjust to the dim interior. Then he ignited a small flame that danced above his palm and shed light on the cave walls. They were plain rock, nothing unusual. Zollin had explored caves as a boy, outside of Tranaugh Shire with Todrek. None had been very deep or very big, and they all looked exactly like the cave he was in now. The floor of the cave was uneven, but he could tell the shaft he was in angled down. He felt a little claustrophobic in the tight space. He couldn’t keep his mind from imagining that the dragon’s mouth was wide open just beyond the ring of light. He surrounded himself with a strong shield, but he had to admit he was afraid. When he had faced Branock or the dragon before, it had all happened so quickly that he hadn’t really had time to contemplate the danger until it was over. Now, as he inched down the tunnel, fear made his bowels turn to water. He could feel the hair on the back of his neck standing up, and his knees felt weak.
Still, despite the terror, he pressed on. He couldn’t return to Yelsia and lie by saying he hadn’t found the dragon. His task would be unfinished, and he knew deep inside that the dragon would return. He tried to tell himself that he had the upper hand. He had faced the dragon twice and driven the beast away, but still, in the close, dark confines of the cave, everything felt different. Every instinct he had told him to run, to get away, as far away as possible. But he knew he couldn’t run, he had to face the dragon. He had to defeat it, to kill it, if possible.
There was a glow in front of him. At first he was terrified, thinking that the glow was the dragon’s fiery breath, but after a few moments he conquered his fear and moved forward again. Soon he realized the glow was a reflection of his own light. The tunnel opened up into a large cavern and the floor, walls, and ceiling of the cavern were covered in gold. Zollin knelt down and put his hand on the floor. The metal was smooth and cold. He let his magic flow into it and realized the gold covered the cave floor, he could feel the stone beneath the precious metal.
He stood back up and moved slowly into the cavern. He would have thought that a larger space would have made him feel better, but it only caused Zollin to fear every shadow. He couldn’t shake the feeling that the dragon was toying with him, dodging the light, hiding in the darkness. Zollin fed magic into the small flame and it flared bigger, casting more light around the large cavern. It was empty, but there was another cavern beyond the first.
Then he heard a sound, it was muffled, but distinct in the silence of the cave. It sounded like a snake slithering across the floor. Zollin tensed himself and waited for the attack that he knew was coming. The dragon’s tail lashed out almost too fast to see. It hit Zollin with enough force to shatter bones, but Zollin’s defenses protected him. Still, the force of the blow sent him staggering to the side, and he lost his flame so that the cavern was suddenly completely dark. He took cover, hunched against the wall. The tail of the dragon lashed back and forth through the chamber, occasionally hitting his defenses, but he was ready for the impact now and stood firm. Then came fire; it billowed out, hot and bright. He shut his eyes, but he could see the searing light through his eyelids. He had to grit his teeth not to cry out in fear and frustration. His defenses protected him from the flames, but he couldn’t help but want to run, to put distance between himself and the awful flames. His defenses kept him from being burned by the flames, but the air in the cavern soon became scorching. Zollin felt like he had fallen into an oven. The air in his lungs was so hot, he felt like he was drowning. Then the flames stopped and all was quiet again.
Zollin edged along the wall, closer to the second cavern. He didn’t use light, but rather used his magic to feel his way to the edge of the opening. Then he let his magic flow into the second room. The second cavern was where the dragon waited. It was covered in gold like the first cavern and the dragon was hunched against the back wall, its tail coiled like a snake, its powerful legs pressed against the wall.
Zollin had a plan, one he had formulated on the journey. He knew the dragon’s scales were almost impenetrable, but what if he could strike while the dragon’s mouth was open. He still had the arrowheads from Brianna’s arrows, the ones he had replaced with dwarvish steel. He had the old arrowheads in a small pouch on his belt. He took the arrowheads out and dropped them on the floor. The metal bounced and clanged on the gold floor. Zollin felt the dragon twitch, and he realized for the first time that the dragon was afraid of him. The realization was like a shot of confidence and he knew his plan was going to work. He leaned his head forward, as if he were peering into the second cavern. The dragon responded just as Zollin anticipated. It opened its mouth and spewed bright orange flames through the opening, but Zollin had already ducked back around the wall. He levitated the arrowheads and sent them racing toward the dragon’s open mouth. They found their mark, and the dragon jerked its head back so hard it split the ceiling of the second cavern. The beast roared and thrashed, its cheeks and tongue pierced by the arrowheads. Then it blew out white hot fire that began to melt the gold, but it also melted the steel arrowheads.
Zollin raced back to the tunnel, his heart thundering in his chest. He was hopeful that he had won, but the dragon roared again. He stopped where the tunnel turned back to stone and waited. The dragon was still again. He sent his magic into the caverns, but the dragon sat still, pressed against the back wall. His tactic had hurt the beast, but hadn’t disabled it or killed it. He needed to get the dragon out of the cave so that Brianna could kill it.
* * *
Time seemed to stand still for Brianna. She watched Zollin go into the cave and then sat waiting. The cold air found every gap in her clothing. She flexed her hands to keep them from growing stiff. The air where she sat near the mountain peak was thin, and she often took deep breaths, filling her lungs to capacity just to get enough oxygen. She had to force herself not to go into the cave after Zollin. Not that she wanted to go into the cave—in fact, she was terrified by the very thought of it. But she hated being separated from Zollin.
It seemed like hours passed as she waited. Nothing moved but the icy wind, and Brianna alternated between expecting to see Zollin come walking out, disappointed that he hadn’t found anything, and the possibility that he was hurt in the dark cave and unable to get out by himself. Both ideas were outlandish. If Zollin was hurt, he of all people had the ability to get out of a dire circumstance. He could heal his own wounds, levitate himself, warm the air around him, and use his magic to sense the tiniest living creatures. On the other hand, they had been racing through the mountains for days. Brianna was shocked that anything could live among the rugged mountain peaks, much less a dragon. If a dragon did have a liar in the mountains, surely the cave Zollin
had gone into was it.
Then steam billowed from the cave as the hot air from the dragon’s breath turned the moisture on the tunnel walls to steam and sent it shooting from the mountain. Black smoke followed. A moment or two passed, and Brianna was so tense her back felt like it might snap in two. Zollin was fighting the dragon, she realized. Down in the darkness, he was fighting the dragon, and it terrified her. Then the mountain shook, as if something had hit the mountain so hard that it sent a shock wave through the solid rock. Snow fell from the mountain below her, causing an avalanche that was louder than thunder. Snow, ice, and rock fell, crashing down the mountain, and the sound waves caused other avalanches. Brianna held her breath, expecting to be swept down the mountainside, but she was near the peak and the snow above her and around her didn’t move.
Then came fire, shooting out of the cave. It was yellow and white, with billowing black smoke that blocked her view of the cave for several minutes. Finally the wind blew the thick smoke away, and she waited to see what would happen. What she saw next was unlike anything she had ever imagined.
* * *
Zollin waited, racking his brain to think of how he might possibly get the dragon out of the cave. He sent his magic flowing into the caverns, hoping to get an idea, and then he found it. The dragon had melted the steel from the arrowheads and spit the molten metal away, but in doing that, it had also melted some of the gold. The precious metal felt like slushy snow to Zollin’s magical senses. It was cooling and hardening again just moments later.
Zollin focused his power on the closest bit of gold and, with a little effort, pulled some from the floor of the cave. Then he sent the gold flying out of the tunnel. Brianna saw gold shards, shining brightly in the sunlight, flying out of the cave. Zollin continued to rip and pull the gold. The metal groaned as he pulled it up and clinked together almost musically while in the air. His magic was heating up like a forge and he felt sweat running down the sides of his face. He continued to pull up the metal, and he could hear the dragon growling. It was working, he told himself. The beast wouldn’t lose much more gold before it came charging out of the back chamber. Then Zollin realized he was in harm’s way, he needed to move out of the narrow tunnel. He wanted the dragon to leave the cave, but he didn’t want to get stuck between the beast and the exit.
He stood up to find a better position to continue his assault, but he was lightheaded and dizzy. He had to hold onto the tunnel wall to keep from falling over. At that same moment, the dragon launched itself off the back cavern wall.
* * *
The dragon felt its precious gold being stolen away by the wizard. It growled deep in its throat, refusing to open its mouth again, for fear that the wizard would send the jagged metal hurdling into its open maw. The beast ruffled its wings and shook its body. Then it launched itself out of the cavern. It pushed hard against the back wall with its powerful legs and went sliding across the golden floor. As soon as it was in the main cavern, it flapped its wings, rising inches off the floor and allowing its feet to run and propel it forward. The wizard was hiding in the darkness, and almost half of the dragon’s precious hoard had been ripped free from the cavern floor.
The beast decided then to continue out of the cave, in hopes that the wizard would follow it out. That meant that the dragon would have no choice but to fight the wizard. Still, the beast couldn’t let the pathetic human steal its gold.
The dragon hit Zollin as it scrambled into the tunnel. Its head struck first, knocking Zollin onto his back as it ran past. The dragon realized that the wizard was in the tunnel, and it used its body to try and crush him. It slammed down on top of him, dragging its rough scales across him and pulverizing the rocky sides of the tunnel around him. Then it slammed one foot onto the wizard, pressing down hard on the human. The dragon pressed its back to the top of the tunnel and pushed against the wizard with all its strength. It felt the wizard, like a boulder beneath its talon. The wizard was shaking, and the beast sensed victory was near. It redoubled its effort, but suddenly the rock ceiling cracked under the strain. The mountain seemed to shutter, and the dragon raced out of the cave.
The last thing the dragon wanted was to lose its lair. If the mountain crumbled, the gold would be lost, perhaps forever. It flew out of the cave, circled through the air, and then landed on the ledge just outside the cave. Then it blew a billowing gout of flame down the tunnel, filling the cave with fire and smoke.
* * *
Brianna watched in awe as the gold came shooting out of the cave. It was like a beautiful golden river. The gold fell, flashing and winking in the late afternoon sunlight, to disappear in the dust and snow of the avalanche below. Then came a sound that Brianna had never heard before. It sounded like steel grinding against stone. Then the mountain shuttered again, and Brianna thought the entire mountain peak would tumble down into the ravine, taking her with it. Then all was quiet for a moment, and the dragon jumped out of the cave, snapping its wings into place as it dove toward the avalanche debris below. Then it looped up, turning in midflight, and landed softly on the ledge just outside the cave. Brianna’s heart jumped in her chest.
The dragon was filling the cave with fire, but it was also standing still and giving her a perfect shot. Her hands shook as she raised her bow. It felt tiny and useless. She couldn’t imagine how an arrow could hurt the dragon. It was so big, the muscles in its hips and legs were enormous, and the horned head looked like a nightmare. The dragon’s scales glistened black in the sunlight, and fear coursed through her mind. What if the dwarvish steel didn’t penetrate the dragon’s scaly hide? She didn’t know what to do, but she finally had something she could do. Zollin had brought her along for this very purpose. He had bought her the Baskla recurve bow and traded with the dwarves to give her this one chance. He was risking his life, maybe even dying in the cave. She knew that this was the single most important moment of her life.
Her hands were shaking with fear, but she took a deep breath, let it partially out, and then held her breath, just as she had been taught. The calming technique worked and her hands became steady. She focused her aim on the spot just under the wing where she imagined the heart might be. Then she let her arrow fly. It shot across the distance, and Brianna stood as still as a statue, watching to see if the arrow would do anything to the dragon.
It punched through the dragon’s skin and sank into the beast’s flesh. The beast threw its head back and fell off the mountainside. Brianna wanted to shout for joy as she watched the dragon fall, but then the beast flapped its wings and rose back up. She quickly nocked another arrow and took aim. This time she shot on instinct, as she had when she was hunting the pheasants with Zollin. She was already pulling another arrow from her quiver when the last one hit its mark. She had misjudged the distance, but the arrow buried itself in the dragon’s leg. She was about to nock her third arrow when the dragon sent a blast of fire toward the mountainside where Brianna was hidden in the snow blind.
She dropped to the stone floor of the rocky indention in the mountainside. There was a wave of heat, and slushy snow covered her. She lay still, afraid to move. The snow blind was gone, she was sure of that. She still had her bow and arrows, but no cover. The dragon bellowed another gout of raging flame, this one aimed higher than her current position. Then the water from the melted snow hit her as it ran down the side of the mountain. It wasn’t a wall of water, but enough to send her sliding out of her hiding place and down the rocky surface of the mountain. She dropped her bow as she scrambled to catch hold of something to keep from falling down off the side of the mountain.
Her hand found a protrusion in the cliff face, and she grabbed on for dear life. The mountainside wasn’t vertical, but it was pitched steeply, like the roof of a house. She was wet and cold, her hands stinging from her desperate grab to stay on the mountain. Her heart was thundering in her chest, and behind her she could hear the whoosh, whoosh, whoosh of the dragon’s wings. She closed her eyes, expecting to be burned alive at any moment,
but nothing happened. The sounds of the beast’s wings were moving away from her.
* * *
Zollin could barely breathe. The cave was filled with smoke, and he coughed and sputtered as he crawled upward, toward the mouth of the tunnel. The dragon had nearly crushed him. His head ached so badly from the strain he could barely lift it off the stone floor of the tunnel. His nose was bleeding and his ears were ringing. His magic had retreated deep inside of him, and his arms and legs felt as if they were made of lead.
Still, he wanted to live and he knew staying in the cave meant death. So he crawled forward, blind, hurt, and afraid. He knew Brianna was outside. Would the dragon find her? If so, she might be dead already. He had to know. He couldn’t die in the cave, no matter how badly it hurt to move or how much he wanted to give up. He would fight for Brianna until his last breath.
He could see light ahead, so much light it hurt his eyes and sent lancing pains into his brain, but the air was a little bit clearer. He kept moving. He had to tell himself to just keep moving. He knew if he stopped, he would suffocate, or worse yet, he would live and Brianna would die. So he kept crawling. When he reached the opening to the cave, he coughed until he threw up. He was weak and cold, his body shaking uncontrollably. He squinted in the bright light, trying to see Brianna. He had to pull himself to his knees to see over the side of the mountain. He was looking up, toward the peak. Brianna’s blind had been about halfway up the steeply slanted slope of the mountain. The first thing he saw was the dragon, perched high upon the mountain ridge, trying to pull the arrow from its leg. Then his gaze went to the blind, but it was gone. Brianna had been washed out of it and was clinging to the side of the mountain not far away.
Five Kingdoms: Books 01, 02 & 03 Page 118
