“Asta’s right,” Kas said. “It can’t take all of us on at once.”
I thought about my options and figured that was the best one. The girls were right, it would be easier to take this thing out if we all worked together.
Besides, there really wasn’t any way to have the girls escape since the beast had the entrance blocked. And I doubted they would leave me unless I commanded them to.
“Alright,” I agreed. “But be careful.”
“You, too,” Kas said as she placed her hand on my shoulder for just an instant.
Then I sensed the girls back away from me, but the snake didn’t seem concerned with them. The massive creature maintained eye contact with me, and I made sure to hold my chin high as I stared at it.
I glanced over to Blar on my shoulder, and the little dragon caught my eye for a second before he looked forward again and nodded. I couldn’t speak to him in my head like I had been able to with Nidhug, but he and I had an even greater bond, and he was able to understand what I wanted with just the smallest of glances.
I pulled my sword from its sheath and focused on the length of it, and the blade extended outward until it was nearly five feet long. I smiled to myself that I had been able to alter the length so quickly, but the snake didn’t seem impressed.
The massive beast opened its mouth, and two huge fangs extended downward. They were at least as long as my sword, possibly longer, and I swallowed nervously. I’d gone up against plenty of foes before, but if there was one thing I wasn’t fond of, it was snakes. I let the little gardener snakes stay around my house, but I killed any other snake I saw. The idea of them living near me made a shiver course down my spine, and just staring at this massive creature made me grimace. I’d been upset to kill the leopard, but I didn’t feel the same about this snake.
The monstrous serpent reared back, and I knew it was about to try and strike, so I quickly dove to the right, flipped over, and landed on one knee.
Blar had flown off my shoulder when I dove forward, and he circled around us and waited for my signal.
The massive beast struck forward, but it reared back when I moved out of the way. He didn’t seem particularly interested in the girls, and I remembered the leopard had been the same way. It was as if they knew I was the one who needed the water from the well.
I figured once the girls began to attack the creature wouldn’t be so inclined to leave them be, but until then, I was happy to have the beast’s focus be on me instead of them.
I could tell he would be a formidable foe. Not only was he massive, but he kept his eyes locked on me. There was mutual distrust in our gazes, and each of us watched the other and waited for someone to make the first move.
Usually, I liked to wait and let my opponent make the first move, but I wasn’t sure I dared to give this creature the option to do that. The massive beast had already tried to strike at me once, and I didn’t want to give him the option to do it again.
Instead, I looked up at Blar and nodded.
Then the little dragon flew behind the snake’s head and unleashed the largest blue flame I’d ever seen him create.
The snake immediately spun to the side, and when it moved, its giant body squirmed in agony.
I saw out of the corner of my eye the girls begin their attack on the creature’s tail.
Uffe pounced on the ground and sent a shockwave up that moved the earth below him and flipped the creature’s tail up into the air. Kas took the opportunity to slice at the appendage with her sword, but the snake flicked its tail just in time to catch her in the stomach when she had her arms raised.
The strawberry-blonde flew backward, and she slammed into the obsidian rock, then slumped to the ground.
My eyes widened, and my body tensed when the sorceress didn’t get up.
I was about to run over to her, but Asta caught my eye.
“I’ve got her!” she yelled. “Don’t worry about us!”
Ignoring what was happening over there was difficult, but I knew I needed to. I had to have faith the girls and the twins could handle themselves, so I looked up and saw the massive beast getting ready to strike at me again, and I leapt out of the way.
The creature dove at me, and its fangs scraped the ground as I rolled out of the way again. Blar spiraled down to try and scratch at its eye, but the snake saw him coming, and it turned its head to snap at him. The little dragon nearly got caught by the beast's teeth, and I felt my blood boil even more.
It was one thing to come after me, but to attack my dragon, that was another thing altogether. The creature had already hurt Kas, I wasn’t about to let him land another blow on one of my team.
I gritted my teeth and readied my sword, and before the beast could turn away from Blar, I ran forward and sliced at its massive body. My blade punched through the serpent’s scales and carved through its flesh, and the creature hissed loudly as blood poured from the slash in its scaly skin.
Instead of the bright red blood I was used to, the blood that leaked from the snake was a distinct dark blue, so dark it appeared almost black. The cool substance splattered on my arms, and I grimaced as I thought how much more I disliked this creature because of it. The beast’s nasty, nearly cold blood only made me feel that much better about slicing it up. This thing was barely alive, its blood was so cold, and I couldn’t wait to drain every last drop from it.
Still, the creature was smart, and it reared back and contorted its sinuous form to block the wound I’d torn through its hide. Then its tongue flickered out of its mouth with a hiss as it regarded me with cautious contempt.
I glanced over to see Kas was back on her feet, and the girls were coated in the beast’s blackish blood, too. They’d made a few good slices in the monster, but I saw some red mixed in there, and I knew the creature must have got them as well. It didn’t seem as concerned about them still, it was focused on me, but if it lost enough blood, it wouldn’t be able to focus on anything.
I just had to do my part and let the girls do theirs.
I readied my sword as the beast reared back to strike, but just as it sprung forward, Blar jumped in front of me and sprayed a blue flame right into the creature’s eyes.
The massive beast hissed in pain and threw its head back and forth as it tried to stop the flame from hitting it in the eyes. It seemed the creature couldn’t close its eyes, though. It could only try and turn away from the flame, which was incredibly creepy, but also a good thing for us.
“Keep going!” I shouted at Blar, and he started to dart around and breathe fire at the beast’s eyes, even as the massive snake tried to avoid him.
I took that opportunity to look around and see what I could use to my advantage.
The rock walls around us were uneven, and it looked like I might be able to climb up one of them and get to the snake’s height.
If I could get up near the creature’s face, then I’d be able to take it out far more easily. The head was the best place to attack pretty much anything, but especially snakes. They had no arms or legs to speak of, so if their head was injured, they were pretty much down for the count.
Blar continued to fly around and go after the snake’s eyes, and the massive creature whipped its head back and forth and tried to avoid the dragon while it snapped at him blindly.
While Blar kept the beast busy, I ran over to the rocks and started to climb up. There was a ledge up about twenty feet up, so I climbed as quickly as possible to get to it.
I was nearly halfway there when the beast flailed its body and slammed into the rock next to me. Blar continued to attack its eyes, and I had to think it was nearly blind by now, but I knew that wouldn’t stop this creature. The beast was determined to keep us out of its sacred well, and I couldn’t blame it.
The impact of the creature next to me nearly knocked me off the wall, but I caught myself with one hand and hung there until it pulled away. There was a large crack in the stone where the beast had hit, and I shook my head and focused on my grip.
After that, I climbed at lightning speed until I got to the ledge above me. It was only a few feet wide, and about the same extended outward so there wasn’t much to stand on, but I’d have to make it work.
Once I was up there, I yanked my sword from its sheath again, took a fighting stance, and looked down at the chaos around me.
Blar has his talons in one of the beast’s eyes, and the creature vehemently tried to fling him off, but his nails were dug in deep, and the little dragon wasn’t letting go.
Meanwhile, Uffe slammed into the ground and brought down several large chunks of rocks from the wall so the creature’s tail was pinned to the ground, and Inger clung to Asta’s shoulder, ready to assist however she could.
Kas was steady on her feet as she used her great sword to chop at the creature’s tail. Blackish-blue blood splattered all over her, and she slashed again and nearly cut its tail in half.
Asta used her ax to help Kas take out the beast’s tail, but the boulders wouldn’t hold forever, and I saw the creature try to wriggle out from under them. I needed to kill this thing before it caused any more damage. The creature flailed its body as it tried to avoid the attacks, but it was so massive that it could do some serious damage without intending to.
I carefully watched its movements, and then I focused on my sword and made it extend to nearly eight feet.
Once it was long enough, I raised the blade up behind my head and waited for the perfect moment.
The snake flung its body toward me, and its giant neck was exposed.
This was my chance.
I let out a war cry as I leaped from the ledge and plummeted down toward the snake, and the beast stayed still just long enough for my blade to come down on its back.
The razor-sharp edge of my sword tore through the creature’s flesh, and I caught it at the right angle to take off its entire head in one fell swoop.
I tumbled and landed on the ground, and then I turned back to see black blood spray out from the wound where the beast’s head used to be.
The creature’s head flew across the courtyard and bounced up against the wall, and the jaw continued to snap blindly even though it was dead.
I stood up and took a deep breath as the beast's body fell to the ground and writhed around for a few seconds before going still.
That was just one more reason I hated snakes. Even after they were dead, they still continued to move. A snake's jaw could bite down for quite a while after it was killed, which was why I always made sure to bury them at my house.
I didn’t think I’d be burying this one, though.
I looked over at where the massive head laid on the ground and continued to snap at nothing. Blar had done a number on its eyes. The yellow slits were now charred flesh, and dark drips of its blood ran down and looked almost like tears. Its scaly eyebrows were torn to bits as well, and the green skin around its eyes was now black from Blar’s flame.
I quickly glanced around to find the rest of my team. Blar was up in the air, but he landed on my shoulder, and I reached up to push his small face against my own.
“Good job, buddy.” I scratched under his chin and then grabbed him to hold him out in front of me. “Are you hurt at all?”
The little dragon shook his head, and a quick look over him revealed he was correct. I didn’t find any cuts or puncture wounds, only some dirt and a little bit of snake blood.
Once I had established Blar was okay, I turned around to find everyone else.
Kas, Asta, and the twins walked toward me, and I met them in the middle of the courtyard near the large white well.
“Is everyone okay?” I asked quickly as I looked them up and down.
“We’re fine,” Kas assured me.
“I saw you get thrown against the wall.” I placed my hands on the side of her head as I looked her over.
“I’m fine,” the sorceress said with a small smile. “It’s just a few bruises, I think.”
“How’s that?” I asked as I reached down, placed my hands on her ribcage, and pushed lightly.
“A little sore,” she admitted.
“And this?” I asked as I moved my hands lower and pressed on her abdomen.
Kas winced in pain, and I immediately started to pull her tunic up so I could look at her.
“It’s fine,” she insisted as she tried to grab my hands. “Just a bruise.”
“Let me see,” I commanded, and I yanked the tunic up to reveal her belly.
There was a large red mark across her, but what was more concerning was the slash from her belly button over to her side. It wasn’t deep, but it was long, and there was some purple bruising around it already.
“Kas.” I frowned.
“It’s okay,” she told me. “I have some healing salve.”
“Where is it?” I asked, and I reached for her bag.
“We can do it later,” she said. “You need to get the water.”
“The water be damned,” I muttered as I grabbed her satchel and reached inside. The magical purse was incredibly deep, and it took me three tries before I pulled the salve out, but once I had it, I immediately opened it and rubbed some onto her stomach.
It was the same salve she’d used on me before, and I knew it would take a few hours for the wound to be completely healed, but I was grateful to know it would take away her pain. She’d be fine, I knew that, but it was still hard to see her with such a large gash. The snake’s massive tail must have hit her with some serious force to cause such a large wound.
She was a warrior, though, and I was proud of her efforts. A few battle scars never hurt. I had a couple myself.
They were also incredibly sexy when healed, but I shoved the thought out of my mind for now.
“Is anyone else injured?” I asked.
“No,” Asta said, but I looked her up and down and saw a couple cuts on her legs.
I put salve on them even though she told me not to, and then I checked out the twins as well.
Inger and Uffe were unscathed, so I simply gave them pats on their heads and told them what a good job they’d done. I knew part of that was Kas and Asta. I had no doubt the two women had done whatever they could to protect the small dragons, and I was grateful to them for it. I knew they cared about the dragons as much as I did.
“Alright,” I said as I stood up and looked around. “Let’s get the water.”
Then I turned to face the well, but when I did, I heard Kas gasp.
“Rath!” she exclaimed.
“What is it?” I asked as I whirled back around, and my eyes darted to the snake’s corpse.
“You have a cut on your back!” the sorceress yelled.
I didn’t feel anything, but when I reached back and pulled my hand away, there was bright red blood there. The adrenaline must have stopped me from feeling any pain.
“You were worried about us,” Kas muttered as she pulled the salve out of her satchel again. “And here you are with a huge cut on your back.”
“I didn’t feel it.” I shrugged.
“I’m not surprised,” Asta said. “It is so much more difficult to feel things after battle. My whole body gets tingly.”
“That’s your adrenaline,” Kas replied.
“It feels good.” Asta grinned.
I chuckled at the elf girl’s expression. She was so delicate and beautiful, it was quite funny to see her get excited about battle.
“How bad is it?” I asked when Kas spun me around so she could put some salve on me.
“It’s quite large,” she said, and I could hear the frown in her voice.
I must have gotten the wound when I jumped from the ledge and decapitated the snake. Its spine must have cut me in the process. I could see the bone sticking out of its body still, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it had managed to snag me on my way down.
Either that, or the massive beast had caught me more than I thought when it slammed into the wall as I climbed up.
“There,” Kas announced after a moment.
“All done. You should be healed in a few hours.”
“So should you.” I smiled playfully.
“Yeah, yeah,” she chuckled. “You’re the one who has to save the dragons, though. We can’t let anything happen to you.”
“I couldn’t do it without you all,” I said sincerely, and I looked at each of my team members in turn.
“We are happy to be part of this.” Asta smiled.
“I’m happy you are, too,” I told her.
I meant what I’d said, there was no way I could complete the prophecy without my women and my dragons by my side. They’d done a good job fighting today, and that snake would have been far more difficult to take out on my own.
The massive creature had put up a good fight, which I thought was fitting considering it was the last guardian of the well water we needed. We now would have all three and be able to fulfill the prophecy.
It was the guardians’ job to mind the wells, and even though we’d assumed the well with the snow leopard was the most powerful one, I was beginning to think the one we were at was even more powerful.
I was sure there was a reason why the well was guarded, and that we were only able to defeat the creatures and get the water because it was meant to be. Some other people may have tried to take water from them before for bad purposes.
I wasn’t sure what the water would do once we had all three of them together, but the two we had already glowed when they were near each other. There had to be some sort of spell or magic involved, though I couldn’t say what it was.
The girls and I walked over to the well and peered inside. The water was black-looking, and I couldn’t see the bottom at all. It looked as if it went on forever and ever.
“Here,” Kas said as she handed me the last vial.
The container was short, round, and purple, and I stared at the thing for a second before I reached out and took it from the sorceress. She smiled softly at me as I pulled the cork out of the top of the container.
It felt strange to be at the last well. I felt accomplished that we’d been able to take out the massive snake who had been the guardian of the place, but it was also strange knowing my quest was almost over. I would soon be able to free all the dragons, and the thought made my heart rate speed up with excitement.
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