Dragon Slayer 4

by Michael-Scott Earle

  Letharia edged out onto the ice, and she clung to the stone walls like a drowning man clinging to a lifebuoy. It wasn’t until she’d reached the midpoint of the crossing that she started to move a bit more quickly, and I heaved a sigh of relief as she finally stepped onto the stone walkway on the other side.

  Irenya gave Arieste a once-over from head to toe, then stepped out onto the ice next. She crossed with far less hesitation, and made it to join Letharia in half the time it had taken the dark-haired woman. Arieste didn’t even cling to the wall, but strode across the ice bridge with the grace of a figure skater.

  I turned to Rizzala. “You’re up.”

  She unslung her pack as she stepped toward the ice, then whipped her arm back and forward to send the leather bag sliding across the bridge. It didn’t quite make it the full thirty yards, but it was close enough that Arieste could retrieve it with two quick steps.

  “You got this,” I told the fierce woman.

  “See you on the other side,” she said.

  She moved out on the ice with a calm, confident stride, and used the sharp end of her spear as a sort of walking stick to help with her balance. I winced every time I heard the scrape of metal on ice, but I knew I could always use my ice magic to fortify the bridge as I crossed. As long as Rizzala made it to the other side safely, we’d be able to keep moving without delay.

  My heart stopped as I heard a loud cracking sound echo through the tunnel. Rizzala froze in place, and I saw Arieste, Irenya, and Letharia go tense.

  For the space of two long heartbeats, nothing happened. The passage was perfectly silent and still, and not a one of us breathed.

  Then came the second crack, louder than the first, and right underneath Rizzala’s feet.

  Chapter Eight

  Time seemed to stand still as the ice splintered beneath Rizzala. I had a single moment to act before it shattered completely and she dropped into the quicksand.

  I tapped into my magic and summoned a dome to appear beneath her feet in an effort to stop the ice from cracking. But even as power surged through my tired body, the ice buckled and Rizzala fell. She struck out with the spear, as if trying to embed it in the ice to hold her up, but the strike only cracked it further. She landed in the quicksand with a muddy squelching and dropped all the way to her armpits.

  “Rizzala!” Arieste shouted from across the gap. I felt the surge of power coming from her and Irenya, but there was a helpless note to her cry. They couldn’t see well enough to make a solid shield for Rizzala to stand on, and they were too far away to help. Rizzala thrashed and tried to break free, which only dragged her down faster.

  I had to act before Rizzala drowned or Arieste and Irenya did something foolish that got them neck-deep in trouble as well.

  “Rizzala!” I shouted. “Don’t fight it, or you’ll just sink faster.”

  Fear filled her green eyes as she stared at me. “Don’t let me drown!” she called out.

  “I won’t!” I cried back. “Just hold on.”

  I released the ice magic I’d summoned and a thick shield of ice bridged the distance between me and Rizzala. I dropped my pack, took two running steps, and threw myself into a standing slide, which sent me flying in the direction of the sinking woman. My ice shield would hold up, but even as I hurtled toward Rizzala, I could see the mud was dragging her down too quickly. I’d reach her a second too late.

  “Take a deep breath!” I called, “and hold it as long as possible.”

  The mud cut off her response, and her head disappeared beneath the dark surface.

  “Rizzala!” Arieste screamed.

  I reached the hole where Rizzala disappeared a second later and jumped into the quicksand without hesitation. I straightened my legs to cut through the mud, so I’d sink as deep in beside Rizzala as possible. In the same instant, I tapped into the ice magic again. Though it sent waves of pain through my frayed nerves and tired body, I forced myself to keep a firm grip on the ice power. Instead of shaping it into a dome, I willed it to create a long, thin tube that ran from my mouth and fully three feet above my head. Even as the mud closed around my body, I drew in a deep breath through my improvised snorkel. The ice chilled the air, but at least I could breathe.

  In the same instant, I reached for the fire magic coursing within me. Every fiber in my body seemed to sizzle as I pulled it to my fingertips, but I gritted my teeth and ignored the pain. I had less than a minute to find Rizzala before the quicksand dragged her under and the currents beneath swept her up.

  Fire burst from my hands, and the mud around me grew dangerously hot. I could feel the ice snorkel beginning to melt as I poured the flames into the quicksand. The heat evaporated the water and hardened the sand and dirt in the mud to clay. I couldn’t turn the entire pit solid, but I only needed enough for me to gather my footing.

  My boots struck hard clay, and I scrambled for purchase. The moment I got a solid grip on the ground, I shoved off in the direction of where Rizzala had disappeared beneath the muddy surface. I groped blindly through the mud toward where I hoped I’d find her.

  My heart leapt as I felt solid flesh and muscle meet my questing hands. I grabbed tight to the arm I felt, and immediately began to pull Rizzala toward me. The mud shifted dangerously around us, and I could feel the suction tugging at her feet and trying to pull her down. I adjusted my grip on her arm, pulled her close, then wrapped one arm around her muscular waist.

  The moment I pulled her close, I tapped into the fire magic and summoned it to my hands. I poured the magic through her skin and into her body, and with my other hand directed a stream of burning fire downward toward the mud around my feet. Rizzala tensed as the quicksand around us grew boiling hot, but I could only hope the fire magic I was pouring into her would protect her as it did me.

  The mud hardened under my feet, and I shoved off the newly-made solid clay with every ounce of strength. I felt the clay crack beneath the force of my leap, but we shot upward liking a rising cork and broke the surface. Even as Rizzala dragged in one gasping breath and coughed up mud, I summoned a shield of ice to form beneath us. It gave me another solid surface to stand on as I shoved Rizzala out of the mud onto an undamaged section of ice bridge. A moment later, I clambered up onto the bridge beside her.

  We lay on the ice, covered in mud, gasping for breath, yet alive.

  “How?” she asked as she turned her wide eyes on me. “I should have died…”

  “A little bit of mud isn’t going to drag a warrior like you down!” I told her with a very muddy grin.

  “Ethan!” Arieste’s cry came from the far side of the bridge, where she stood with Irenya and Letharia.

  “We’re okay,” I told her, then spat a mouthful of mud onto the ice. “Think you can give us a hand strengthening the bridge?”

  I felt the surge of power within the platinum blonde woman, and a two-inch-thick ice shield winked into existence over the cracked section where Rizzala had broken through. I helped Rizzala stand, then together we hurried the remaining distance to the others.

  Rizzala leapt onto the stone with a sigh of relief, and I had to admit I’d never been so happy to be on solid ground.

  “Ethan, you foolish, foolish man!” Arieste’s eyes blazed, and her face twisted with anger. “You could have gotten yourself killed in there.”

  “I had to go after her, Arieste,” I told her as I wiped mud from my face. “I could just let her drown.”

  “Of course you couldn’t, you damn hero!” Arieste snapped. “It’s the thing I lo--I admire most about you, but that doesn’t make it any easier!”

  “What she means to say,” Irenya put in, “is that we were worried about you.” She was smiling, but I saw concern sparkling in her amber-colored eyes. “We’re glad you’re unhurt, the both of you. Isn’t that right, Arieste?”

  “Of course,” Arieste snapped again. “I’m glad you got Rizzala out, it’s just…” She bit off her words and shook her head as she turned to Rizzala. “It truly is good
to know you are safe.”

  “Thank you,” Rizzala said, and there was genuine emotion in her voice.

  I found Letharia staring at us wide-eyed, as if in shock.

  “What’s the matter?” I asked.

  “You…” She swallowed. “You leapt in after her, even knowing the risk.”

  Irenya shot the platinum blonde a little grin. “That’s Ethan for you,” she said. “He’s crazy, but that’s half his charm.”

  “He is a hero,” Arieste hissed, “but he is our hero.”

  “Thank you,” I said to both of my lovers, and then I turned to Letharia. “Listen, when I promised that I would do whatever I could to keep you out of harm’s way, I meant it. I only jumped in after Rizzala because that’s what friends do for each other. I would do the same for Arieste, for Irenya, and for you.”

  “I…am your friend?” Letharia asked.

  “We only met yesterday,” I said with a shrug, “but you’ve done more to help us achieve our mission than any of us expected. You saved our asses back there, and we all owe you our lives. That makes you a friend in my book.”

  “Agreed,” Arieste said.

  “I can always use more friends!” Irenya added, and there was a cheery sparkle in her amber-colored eyes. “I like having friends.”

  “You’re one of us now,” I told Letharia with a grin. “We’ve got your back.”

  “Speaking of backs,” Irenya said with a mischievous grin, “maybe you’d like to get out of those wet, muddy clothes?” Her eyes roamed down my chest, toward my belt, and her smile broadened. “I know we’d all feel better once you’re clean.”

  Arieste rolled her eyes. “Do you really believe now is the time for that, Irenya?”

  “Now is always the time for that,” Irenya replied, and her grin made her desires plain. “And by that, I mean getting clean, of course. All that mud’s going to get really uncomfortable really quickly.”

  “She’s right,” I said. “I can already feel it hardening in places where I’d rather not have hard mud. Problem is, my clothes are back there.” I jerked a thumb toward where I dropped the pack. “And, if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not run around these tunnels in the nude.”

  “Are you sure?” Irenya persisted. “I know the rest of us won’t mind.”

  “Enough, Irenya,” Arieste said with a shake of her head. “Why don’t you go get Ethan’s pack and bring it back here?”

  “Only if he promises not to strip until I get back,” Irenya sang out. Her eyes went to Rizzala’s athletic figure. “And Rizzala, too.”

  “If we promise, will you go?” Rizzala asked.

  “Of course!” Irenya’s face brightened.

  “Then you have our word,” I said.

  As Irenya scrambled along the icy bridge to retrieve my pack, I turned to Arieste. “Do me a favor and summon a small bowl of ice, and make it as thick as you can manage.”

  “A bowl?” Arieste asked.

  I nodded. “Yeah, just trust me on this.”

  Arieste cupped her hands together, and I felt the ice power surging through her as she carried out my request. A upside-down dome of ice the size and shape of a soup bowl formed in her hands, and she focused on adding more magic until it was nearly two inches thick.

  “Will this work?” she asked.

  “Perfect!” I took the bowl from her, then summoned a trickle of fire magic to my hands. Instead of releasing it into a pillar of flame, however, I used the power to heat my right hand. I placed my hand inside the bowl and let the heat running through my fingers and palm melt the ice. After about twenty seconds of high heat, I had melted at least a couple of cups of water, more than enough to wash the mud from my face and Rizzala’s.

  “I’m baaack!” Irenya sang out as she traipsed across the ice bridge toward us. She pulled a torch from my pack and lit it with a snap of her fingers. “Now you can strip down and get clean.”

  Arieste rolled her eyes as she summoned another ice bowl and handed it to Irenya. “Make yourself useful,” she said, then explained my trick of using fire to heat my hands and melt the ice without turning the water to steam with direct heat.

  “Ooh, Ethan’s taking a shower? Yippee!” Irenya clapped her hands.

  Rizzala and I stripped down to our muddy underclothing so we could try my improvised magical showers. Arieste held my ice bowl as I used my fire magic to melt the water, and Irenya melted the bowl that Rizzala held. It took a lot of time and effort using this method, but finally we had washed off enough of the mud that I was willing to pull on my clean clothing.

  “Aww, the fun’s over,” Irenya said with a mock pout. “And Ethan hadn’t even washed his fun parts for us yet.”

  “Another time,” I promised.

  Irenya hadn’t been the only one to take notice of our showering. Letharia hadn’t taken her eyes off me throughout, and at one point Arieste had actually bitten her lip as she helped me to wash mud from my chest. Even Rizzala hadn’t been sparing with her glances. I felt a bit strange under all the attention, but I’d been so concentrated on controlling the fire magic that it hadn’t really bothered me. I’d also enjoyed the sight of the water dripping over Rizzala’s muscular body. If we’d have spent much more time in our half-naked state, there might have been some embarrassing stirrings in my trousers.

  “And to think, things could have gotten so interesting with all five of you,“ Nyvea purred. “If you all manage to make it out, they definitely will.“

  “Now that that’s over,” I said as I pulled on my clean tunic, “what say we get back to the business of kicking Curym’s ass, eh?”

  “I’m all for it,” Rizzala replied with a nod. She hadn’t seemed embarrassed by Irenya’s lingering gazes or the way my eyes roamed over her body. But even back in Whitespire, she had been confident enough in her body to walk around the palace in little more than her gauzy gown.

  “Not before we rest,” Arieste said, her voice firm. “We’re all tired from a long day, but you’re the one who really needs to sleep. If you don’t, you’re going to burn out.”

  I didn’t need much convincing on that account. Just the little bit of magic I’d used to melt the ice had drained what little energy I had left, and I was running on fumes. I’d be able to use the power once, maybe twice more before things got really bad. I didn’t want to find out how terrible magical burnout could be.

  “You’re right,” I said. “As soon as we find somewhere safe, we’ll rest.”

  “Why not rest here?” Arieste asked. “With the quicksand at our backs, we won’t have to worry about enemies coming at us from behind.”

  “That is why we can’t rest here,” Letharia said, and her finger indicated the mud. “The water is rising.”

  Sure enough, I found the level of the mud had crept up the side of the sloping path by at least an inch or two.

  “You think it’s because of the high tide?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Letharia said. “This quicksand could only be formed by currents beneath the surface of the mud, which means water is moving beneath the mud.”

  “Water that will rise when the ocean’s tide comes in,” I said, as my mind put the pieces together. “So maybe this quicksand is really low normally, but at high tide, it rises to the level of the path.”

  “And, depending on how far in the tide is,” Letharia continued, “the mud could continue rising.” She pointed to the walls, and for the first time I noticed dark brown lines along the stone. The highest line came all the way up to the level of my knees.

  “Good eye,” I told Letharia with a nod of appreciation, then turned to the others. “We can’t stay here, else risk getting caught by the rising mud level. We’ll go until we find someplace where the mud can’t reach us.”

  “And where there are no traps!” Irenya insisted.

  “If such a place exists down here,” Rizzala said with a snort.

  “Hopefully not too far away,” Arieste added. “We all need rest, but you most of all, Ethan.
”

  “As soon as we can, I promise I will,” I told her.

  Her expression remained skeptical, but she nodded. “I will hold you to that.”

  We set off again, this time with Rizzala and me in the lead and Arieste guarding our rear. I welcomed Rizzala’s strength, because I could feel my own begin to flag. My pack was getting damned heavy, and my muddy boots seemed to weigh about a metric ton each. I really hoped we could find somewhere quiet, safe, and above the water line to take a nap soon.

  The tunnel rose for a few feet before leveling out, and when Rizzala held the torch to the wall, I could still see the mud line, this time at ankle height. If we could find another short incline, we’d get above the water level and could stop for the night.

  I had no idea what time it was, but I guessed it was about seven or eight PM. I had to remind myself that Curym and her minions didn’t have the same night and day cycle that we humans did. They’d proven that when they’d attacked Whitespire and kept up the assault all night long. We’d only survived the invasion because of our city wall, and because Curym wanted us so focused on the frontal assault that we missed the sneak attack from the rear.

  Curym had proven that she was smart and strategic. She’d only committed the nagia to the battle once she was certain the dragons were gone, and when she knew we had no way to counterattack. If her nagia hadn’t given us the ammunition for our ballistas, we never would have been able to hit her nagias. When she’d sensed Zaddrith’s defeat, she had pulled back her forces without a desperate last attempt.

  So what would she have waiting for us when we attacked her lair? No way she’d fall for any of our attempts to lure her out from the safety of her watery depths. She would be confident in her ability to defeat any dragon underwater, even two or three of them. But that could actually work in our favor.

  “I’ve been thinking about our impending battle with Curym,” I told the four dragon women. “Specifically, what she’s going to have waiting for us when we attack, and how we’re going to fight her.”