Chronicles of Den'dra: A land on Fire

by Spencer Johnson

  Encer had taken a battering, but he still was in a position of strength. One man had tumbled over the banister with a wicked cut over his eye and a ringing blow against the side of his head. The mace wielder had fallen to a slice to an undefended side followed by a thrust through his liver as he reeled from the first cutting blow. The final obstruction to Encer’s advancement had made the mistake of surging forward with his hammer held high over his head in readiness for the killing blow. The hammer had fallen from the man’s numb fingers as Encer had pulled his sword free and shoved him to the side in order to advance on the men still holding the splintering door closed.

  Torroth had finished dealing with the men above and appeared with a crossbow in hand on the opposite stairs a moment after Encer. At his close range, the bolt ended the life of soldier and the spent bow was discarded in favor of the sheathed sword that until now had only tasted blood in Encer’s hand. Three more men still held the door, but they only paused a moment in indecision before drawing weapons. Encer engaged the nearest and soon dispatched him by blocking a swing with his sword and plunging his dagger into the side of the soldier. As he fell the soldier took the dagger with him. Encer had to rely on his sword as the next came at him. This one had more skill than the rest, but this did him little good as Torroth finished his adversary and planted his sword in the officer’s back.

  Encer took a moment to retrieve his dagger before they levered the timber from the great door. Just as it crashed to the ground, another explosive cacophony of sound erupted at the other end of the hall forcing a dozen more men to retreat into the room. They soon realized that the collapsed roof impeded the enraged dragon. They also realized that armed strangers were at their backs and standing over the dead and dying bearing their own sigils upon their soiled harnesses. Encer and Torroth stepped to the sides of the door and made ready to engage the advancing troops when the door exploded into a cloud of splinters. When the dust settled, the soldiers of Firgrest found themselves facing a malevolent blue dragon instead of the two men they had anticipated. Cut off from any retreat, they rallied with a shout and surged towards the open maw of the dragon. Encer and Torroth shielded themselves as a massive gout of fire erupted in the room and engulfed the charging soldiers. The screams were soon smothered and when the fires were extinguished, nothing but smoldering tunics and the blackened dead remained.

  “It seems more fell to you than to myself. You are both indeed worthy to fight beside.” Setur glanced about the room at the dead strewn about. A moan from a mortally injured soldier caught his attention and he only paused when Encer jumped in his path.

  “Where are the prisoners held?!” Encer demanded after seeing the blood pooling beside the man.

  “Spare me.” The soldier’s palsied tremors betrayed his impending death.

  “We will if you tell us how to find the prisoners.” Encer knelt down and turned an ear to ensure he caught the words silencing with death’s approach.

  “That door… Down the staircase. Buried. Reigns is gone. So cold…” One last convulsion prevented the man from pointing to the door spoken of. Further attempts at extracting information were rendered futile as the spark of life was loosed from the bonds of the mortal shell.

  Torroth was making for the nearest door when a crash followed by a low rumble stopped him and drew his eyes to the vaulted ceiling. The first of the stones crashed into the courtyard outside the battered remnants of the great doors that still clung to their hinges. Soon dust and masonry fell from the ceiling as the tower began crumbling and raining stone back to the earth from whence it had been quarried. Encer dashed to the side of the stairs that led to the balcony with Torroth close at his heels. Huddling under the overhang of the banister, they hoped to avoid being crushed. Setur lunged over a moment later and shielded them as the ceiling groaned under the abuse from above. It gave way a few seconds after and collapsed down into the hall. Fortunately most of it fell in the center, but a great deal of stone, masonry, and timber pummeled the blue dragon. When the ruckus had ceased, Iradaemi plummeted into the hall and shoveled a heap of rubble from off of Setur with a sweep of a paw. Shaking himself, Setur limped away from the wall to reveal the shaken humans.

  “Are you harmed?” Iradaemi sniffed at the scuffed scales and at the blood oozing from a gash in his wings.

  “I will heal. Inspect the humans. They fought gloriously.” Iradaemi left Setur in order to verify that neither Encer nor Torroth were injured. She paused when she saw the crossbow bolt protruding from Torroth’s side.

  “You are injured Torroth. One Anissa not will be pleased.”

  “I will live. It is just a scratch. My armor took most of the force out of it.” To illustrate his point Torroth pulled the bolt out of his armor. The tip and one of the three blades were reddened, but it was clear that it hadn’t gone deep enough to be of more than passing concern.

  “It is well then. We must now find the hatchings.”

  “One of the soldiers said that the prisoners are down below somewhere. There should be a door a somewhere under this rubble. What were you guys thinking smashing into the tower like that? Could have killed us!” Torroth glared up at Iradaemi.

  “It was unfortunate to have caused the tower’s collapse. The small area made maneuvering difficult. Especial for Onwier.”

  “We are alive and Setur is going to survive his injuries. Before the sky fell, I saw a door over there.” Torroth chose to ignore the fact that Onwier was climbing over the crumbling remnants of a wall. He was now getting to understand why Setur and Iradaemi didn’t like the golden dragon. His reckless behavior had nearly killed them.

  “Only the ceiling of this dwelling fell. Not the sky.”

  “Fine distinction to make when a pile of rock is landing on your head. Can you do your thing and move the rock away from that door?” Encer pointed toward the region he had seen the door.

  “I am not an ox to command.” Iradaemi indignantly glowered at Encer.

  “Do you want to wait while Torroth and I dig the door out? It could take a while, during which time we don’t know if Inadar is dying.” Encer glared back at Iradaemi for a few moments until the gray dragon relented and began digging. The door was unearthed a couple minutes later, but to the disappointment of all present, it turned out to be nothing more than a storage closet. Iradaemi didn’t need much coaxing to start excavating her way around the side of the hall. Setur helped when he could, but it was clear that he was bruised heavily. He couldn’t do more than shift a couple of the smaller beams and left the larger stones for Iradaemi and Onwier.

  It took a couple hours before they found a door that opened to more than a storage room or a side hall buried in debris from the collapse. At last they uncovered a door that opened to a circular staircase that dropped through the foundation a few levels. Unfortunately their celebration was short lived when they discovered that the staircase was collapsed and filled with boulders. Initially they thought that it had been from the tower collapse, except the debris had come from chambers on the side of the stairwell. Further investigation revealed that the collapse had been staged and triggered by a rope that disappeared through the floor of the side chamber.

  “The dying soldier mentioned something about being buried. Was this what he meant?” Encer crossed his arms.

  “I would think so. The dragons can’t fit in here. It could take us years to dig this out. Let’s go find out what the dragons think.” Torroth ascended the stairs then tried to shift position with Encer on nearing the top. Encer detected the underlying motive and hung back enough that Torroth didn’t have a chance to change positions without being obvious.

  “You are the one that suggested we talk to the dragons. So go do it.” Encer grimly smiled at Torroth who turned to exit the stairwell grumbling about wanting to have children in the future.

  “Have you found them?” Setur looked hopeful.

  “It isn’t going to be that easy. They buried the dungeon entrance.” Iradaemi’s fangs flashed omino
usly.

  “Isss there another way in?”

  “Not that we can find.”

  “How long will it take you to gain access?” Setur inquired in a manner verging on anger.

  “For one, I have no idea how far down we would have to go. The other thing is that some of the boulders we can see on the top are as big as we are. You wouldn’t have any trouble if you could get in there, but we aren’t dragons.” Encer joined Torroth in facing the dragons.

  “Reigns is gone. That is what the soldier said. He said that Reigns is gone. What if he was in the castle when we attacked?” Torroth ran his fingers through the air like he was counting something.

  “No elf was among the dead. Perhaps he escaped another way.” Iradaemi seemed intrigued by the idea.

  “That would make sense. There was a rope that went down below. If he was in the dungeons when we attacked, then he might have had a way out. He could be in the area right now.” Encer looked back at the door that led to the dungeons and missed Onwier’s preparations for takeoff. He looked back just in time to get a face full of dust and to hear Iradaemi and Setur’s snarls.

  “You have a point. I will also go in search of this Reigns.” This time Encer had a little warning and was able to deflect the debris stirred up by Iradaemi’s launch.

  “So what are we supposed to do?” Torroth scowled.

  “Wait… It irks me as much as it does you to be forced to wait while others work.” Setur favored one of his rear legs as he curled up on a pile of rubble. Following his advice Torroth settled down until his stomach began making noise.

  “I think that door over there led to a mess hall.” Encer shrugged and dropped down to the floor to lean against the wall. Torroth followed the suggestion and left the room. A few minutes later he arrived with a couple loaves of bread only a little dusted with crumbled mortar. He gave one to Encer then sat down to eat his. No one said anything for a while. Eventually they began wandering the remains of the castle. The dragons had done a thorough job of destroying everything. The outbuildings were clawed to pieces. The courtyard was covered in gouges. The tower that the castle was built around lay in ruins where it had fallen. The back of the castle had once housed a smithy and stables, but now a hole had been smashed through the buildings reminiscent of a deranged hound seeking a rat. Occasionally they saw glimpses of gray or gold ranging through the regal firs.

  “There is no sign of the elf. However, I have discovered something of interest.” Iradaemi settled down at the edge of the ruins.

  “And…? What did you find?” Encer inquired impatiently as Iradaemi folded her wings.

  “This castle is constructed upon a small stone mountain.”

  “We saw this when you flew in with us. What about it?” Torroth was now the impatient one.

  “There is stone working on one of the cliffs.”

  “How does this help us…? No, no, this does help. I heard that Reigns had the dungeons enlarged. What if, in the process, they broke through the cliff and had to wall it over? You are a genius, Iradaemi.” Torroth would have given Iradaemi a hug if she hadn’t been a dragon.

  “By human standards I am what you would call such. As a dragon I am only a little above average.”

  “And modest. Who would have suspected.” Encer rolled his eyes.

  “I fail to understand how my words are what you call modest.” Iradaemi haughtily looked down at Encer.

  “He was being facetious. Where is this stone work?” Torroth inquired jubilantly.

  “On a western facing cliff face. You will need ropes to lower yourselves to it.”

  “Can you break the masonry down?” Encer’s question elicited as snort.

  “Do you doubt me?”

  “No. We are going to find some ropes if you can get started on breaking it open.” Torroth recalled having seen some cords lying in the rubble that had once been the stables. Taking off in that general direction, he left Encer and Iradaemi to argue over the finer points of ordering a dragon to do anything. When he discovered a couple coils of rope, he returned just as Iradaemi agreed to start working on the masonry. She took off and circled over the location until they arrived and climbed down a nearby slope. It was as Iradaemi said. In the middle of a cliff that had obviously been quarried smooth, they saw a section of stone that had been mortared into place.

  “It seems that they did mine their way out accidently and cut the mountain side flat before bricking up the breach.” Encer looked the cliff over before giving Iradaemi a pointed glance. She snorted before stalking up to the cliff. Rearing up she presented an impressive height, but still was unable to reach the stone work. She stretched to the extent of her ability yet was still a little short.

  “Setur could reach it, but he is injured.” Iradaemi exhaled a cloud of smoke that forced Encer and Torroth back a few steps. There was a deep laugh that drew their attention to a stand of trees and Onwier.

  “I am larger than Setur.” When no one barred his way, he approached the cliff. Rearing up, he was more than tall enough to reach the patch of masonry. The first swipe with his claws gashed the cliff and showered those below with fragments of rock. After a few more slashes crisscrossed the rock he scowled down at those below.

  “It is too hard to claw through.”

  “What are we doing now?” Torroth scowled in frustration.

  “I will try one other thing.” Before anyone could ask what it was he planned, Onwier took a breath and exhaled in a tightly controlled, white hot flame. The flame played across the masonry, burning away any dust that had built up since the stone had been set in place. The masonry, when exposed to the sudden heat, began popping and exploding into fine splinters of red hot stone. A minute later, it simply began melting and pouring down the side of the cliff. Onwier was able to maintain the flame for a minute at a time between breaths. Even Iradaemi was impressed when he reached through the newly formed hole and with a surge of his scaly hide, ripped the stonework out of the cliff face.

  “There are humans within. I smell their stench.” Onwier pulled his nose from the new dungeon entrance and stepped back as if disgusted.

  “We could climb up to the top then lower ourselves down to the hole, but there is an overhang at the top that would make it difficult. Any ideas?” Torroth was not prepared for Onwier’s next action. The golden dragon seized him then tossed him into the hole beyond the blackened stone.

  “A little warning next time would be nice.” Torroth brushed himself off and glanced around. “Any chance we could get a torch up here? Oh, never mind. There is a pile of them here except I forgot my flint.”

  “I can light it if you hold it out of the cliff.” Torroth did as Onwier suggested, feeling the heat through the soles of his shoes, but nearly dropped the torch when Onwier engulfed it in a cloud of flames. He had only just started exploring the tunnel when Encer was gently dropped into the tunnel.

  “That was nice of Onwier. He sort of tossed me in here.” Torroth complained as he rubbed his elbow.

  “I yet hear you.” The light from the entrance was blocked as Onwier peered into the tunnel.

  “Ya, ya. We are going now to see if we can find Inadar.” Torroth stomped down the tunnel with Encer behind him.

  “Find the other one also.” Iradaemi’s voice was heard behind Onwier.

  “We will try. We can’t be sure that Inadar is actually here. Come on Encer.” Torroth led the way with the torch held over his head and a sword in his other hand. The reason for his caution came charging out of a side tunnel a few minutes into the search. The jailor was not skilled with the arm length rod he wielded and fell a moment after initiating the attack. He was probably more experience beating people who were manacled than people wielding defensive weapons.

  A minute later they reached the first cells. These were empty, but there were a few inmates in the cells further in towards the inner corridors. Encer had relieved the dead jailor of the keys to the cells and as they progressed, they opened the bars and unlocked the m
anacles of those within. Most of the inmates were merely corpses with a heartbeat, oblivious to anything beyond a pace, but there were a couple that responded enthusiastically on learning of their freedom. The maze of tunnels was enough to confuse anyone. The two of them worked out a method for keeping track of where they had been. At each corner, they would draw a shape on the ceiling with the torch smoke then take a left turn. Inevitably they would reach the end of the tunnel and make their way back to the same intersection where they would make another left turn. Eventually they covered the entire level without finding any sign of Inadar.

  The stairway that led into the dungeon level was filled with loose stone that verified their suspicion. Attempts to dig their way in would have been doomed to failure. That stairway was no longer a method for ascending or descending, but the jailers had been a lazy bunch and rather than traversing the entire dungeon to change levels, they had built another set of stairs into the other end. This defeated the purpose of the primary stairs being buried if one managed to get into the dungeon. The two levels above the level that they had broken into were no more help than the first. They found nothing except for more prisoners before going back down.

  Despairing, they entered the last level where they met a couple more jailers. These were swiftly dispatched and their keys were given to the next prisoners found along with some lit torches. These were tasked with freeing any they found. Incredibly, Encer opened a door a few cells later and was met by the green glare they knew intimately.

  “Inadar! You have no idea how much trouble we have gone through to find you. Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Encer removed the gag placed over Inadar’s mouth.

  “I don’t know how I got here. We were running, then I just woke to find myself trussed up in this jail. What are you doing here?” Inadar rubbed circulation into her wrists after Torroth unwound the cranks and lowered her to the floor before Encer removed the shackles.