Minstrel's Serenade (28 page)

He wasn’t planning on coming back.

* * * *

They made their way to the mountain, picking through a crevice in the lava rock. They followed the path with the most cover, the path Bron had chosen from his solo journey that morning. Fear for Bron grew with each step as Danika followed the line. Perhaps he thought himself disposable now that Valorian had claimed her as his, but Danika needed Bron as much as Ebonvale did.

The closer they got, the more she wanted to break her word and leave Valorian to watch over Bron and make sure he didn’t do anything too brave.

Incense, like a hundred candles of different smells melted together, mingled with a thick fishy tang, tickling her nose. When she listened carefully, she heard the wyverns’ breathing above them in great puffs of heated, sulfuric air.

The atmosphere grew so dry her eyes hurt, and sweat rolled down the sides of her forehead. The soles of her feet burned, and anywhere she touched, lava rock smoldered. Danika didn’t think she’d ever be cold again, even when the mid-winter snow came down in blankets on her balcony. She couldn’t remember what it felt like to catch a snowflake on her tongue or hold an icicle as a lance until her hands turned blue.

The army stopped before her and Danika almost bumped into Valorian, too entangled in her musings. She caught herself on a rock, while her other hand gently touched the minstrel’s back. He turned to her and smiled as if she’d planned it.

“Time for my army to do what it’s come to do.” Finality weighed in Valorian’s voice. He leaned toward her and placed a kiss on her cheek.

Suddenly, after wishing him away for so many nights, Danika couldn’t let him go. She reached out and took his arm as he turned to walk up the line to the front. “What do you mean to do?”

“Keep us safe.” Valorian placed a hand on her shoulder plate. “Do not worry. I intend to come back. I mean for us to be together in a kingdom safe and free.”

He bent down again and his lips met hers more fiercely than the kiss at Ebonvale’s gates. He tasted of salt and sweat and a sweet balm he’d spread upon his lips. Too shaken, Danika could only stand and accept the kiss as he moistened her dry, cracked lips with his.

Valorian pulled away and walked to the front of the line, leaving her emotions swirling. Behind him, the other minstrels followed as if they’d planned this move all along and need not speak for direction.

Danika touched her lips. What did Valorian have planned? Her heart pounded. She couldn’t stand around and wait. She had to see his plan for herself.

Making sure no one saw her, Danika snuck to an alcove behind the army and climbed to the ledge. She took off her helmet to hide the glare of the metal and peeked over the ridge. A blanket of wyverns basked in the sun, stretched from one’s jaw to another’s tail. No patch of lava rock went uncovered. Their scales glistened oily green, red and blue in the sun.

If she squinted, she could imagine a treasure trove of thousands of jewels. Too bad the scales lost their luster once they fell off the heated body, or Ebonvale could be the richest kingdom in the world.

If they succeeded. Danika was dreaming again. The heat had sizzled her mind like a scrambled duck egg, dulling her senses.

A soft and low hum vibrated from the front lines. Danika held her breath. Either the song would work its magic, or the wyverns would know they were here and begin their onslaught. She should have scrambled back to the crevice and unsheathed her sword, but she lay mesmerized by the fatality of the moment. Would a sword do any good against so many?

Nothing changed as the song swelled, chords building upon chords as the minstrels spun their magic spell. The song inspired awe, humbling Danika by making her feel how small she was in such a large, turbulent world.

The wyverns’ breathing slowed. Their bodies grew limp and their glassy eyes glazed over as a thin membrane of leathery skin fluttered over the pupils.

Danika clutched the rock, her chest swelling. It was working!

Below her, the army began to move forward. She scrambled down the ridge and took her place in line. They marched up an incline into the bright sunlight. Wyverns rose around them in hills of flesh, their sleeping forms rising and falling with deep, sulfuric breaths. Danika had never been this close to a live one and her fingers itched to reach out and touch the oily scales. Each claw ran as big as her arm and some toothy jaws extended the length of two men.

How big was this She-Beast?

Each minstrel took his place, staying behind in a corridor of song for the army’s protection as they passed. Were there enough minstrels to carve a path all the way to the mountain, or would the distance stretch their voices too thin?

Danika couldn’t help but feel as if they walked a one-way path.

The army pressed on in single file with careful steps, picking their way through the bodies. Danika followed the line, afraid to breathe too loudly or misstep. A tail lay across their path up ahead. Each solider had to jump or step over it, depending on the reach of their legs. The tail rose to Danika’s waist as she approached it, moving slowly back and forth as the wyvern dreamed. Small, tattered fins decorated the ridge, reminding her of a mermaid’s tail.

How would she ever step across?

“My lady.” The soldier who had just leapt over the tail offered his hand, wiggling his fingers. “You can make it.”

She’d better, or they’d leave her behind with the singing minstrel to wait for their return. Only Helena knew what Bron and Valorian would do without her.

Over her dead body.

Danika steeled her nerves and backed up to gain a running head start. The soldiers behind her waited, and she could feel their eyes watching her back. She could not fail. Thank the gods Garish had designed the armor light.

Danika took a deep breath and dug her heels into the lava rock. The width reminded her of the ravine between the orchard and the courtyard. Whenever she was late, she ran and jumped over the ravine to take the shortcut back. This was no different. Except a steaming heap of wyverns slumbered an arm’s width away.

She sprinted then jumped, spreading her legs to clear the tail. She soared in the air, praying to the gods as her legs brushed the fins, but left the scaly skin untouched. Danika landed and flailed her arms for balance. The soldier on the other side caught her and steadied her before she tipped too far to the right.

He grinned, not looking a year older than a stable hand. “Now that’s the first time I’ve seen a lady leap like a man.”

“You need to open your eyes then, lad.” She released her hold of him and winked. “There are many strong women in Ebonvale.”

Before the soldier could respond, she took her place in line with confident steps. Pride beamed inside her for the first time since they’d set out from the ships.

The She-Beast’s Lair

As Bron walked among the sleeping beasts, he thought of Malveric Baron’s freckled face, Breathan Florin’s crooked mouthed grin and Darious Clutterbow’s collection of sailors’ tales. So many brave soldiers had died at the hands of these vile creatures. Bron felt like a thief, sneaking around their sleeping bodies. If circumstances allowed, he’d much rather battle them here and now and gain vengeance. But a greater task waited with a foe that could not be left forgotten.

Cut off the head and the army is leaderless.
King Artemus had advised his troops before battle and raced across the front line, clanging his sword against theirs.
Purge the evil at the source or you will only ever treat the symptoms and not the disease.

Although these were beasts, they had a clear hierarchy, and the She-Beast ruled over all. Not only that, she was the only wyvern who could produce fry. Plus, her belly of sulfurous gases provided the ultimate weapon.

No, the minstrels were right to sing them in unharmed. Even though stealth and trickery wasn’t Bron’s way, he accepted their wisdom.

The volcano rose up before them with smoke-filled dark tunnels funneling toward the core.

Valorian broke through the front line. “I have enough minstrels to cover our escape, but if I divert too many inside the mountain, their absence will diminish the intensity of the song.”

“I’ll go without song, then.” Bron gestured toward the troops below. “It’s more important they have return passage home through the sleeping beasts. Keep this horde in deep slumber until the mountain erupts, and I’ll take care of the She-Beast.”

“I’ll go with you. My voice will provide some cover along the way.” Valorian gestured to his minstrels. Another man with a lute took his place as the leader of the song.

“I’m coming as well.” Danika’s voice wafted up to him from behind the front lines. She broke through, standing tall and proud, like the ruler she was born to be.

Bron’s chest tightened and he wished he could keep her safe forever. “We may not make it back, Princess.”

“I’m coming to see that you do.” Danika took three long strides to his side. “I won’t accept anything less.”

Bron sighed, recognizing his words coming from her mouth. “So be it.” He could no more stop her than wish this all away. Ebonvale was her kingdom, and she had a right to defend it, woman or not. Besides, she commanded him, not the other way around.

“So it is the three of us again, then.” Valorian smiled. “Though I do miss Nip.” He put a hand on Bron’s shoulder and one on Danika’s, uniting them. “What an excellent trio we will be.”

But not without some discord. Only one of them could have Danika, and it wasn’t him. Bron turned to his army. “Regiments one through three stay behind to guard our passage. The rest of you get ready to climb.”

Walking beside Bron, Danika muttered under her breath as she tied the scarf around her mouth. “You told me to stay with Valorian.”

Bron gave her his grimmest look. “Aye, but I did not mean for this.”

He lassoed a rope around a ridge and threw the length down to the army. “Do not climb without it.”

He tied the rope around his waist and scaled the lava rock to a plateau leading to the nearest entrance. Gray smoke bled from the tunnel.

Valorian threw Bron a fine satin scarf.

Bron took the fabric and blinked in question. This was not a time to look their best.

“It will filter the worst of the smoke.” Valorian brought a wad of them from his travel bag and threw them to the army.

Once again, Valorian appeared the better man. Chastised, Bron tied the fabric around his mouth, and the rest of his army followed. He felt like a belly dancer at the mid-summer festival, but he swallowed his smart whip retorts. Better to look ridiculous and breathe than to look brave and die.

He gazed at Danika. She was the only one of them who wore her scarf well, the satiny fabric framing her sparkling eyes, making them peer at him seductively. Or so he imagined.

Danika didn’t wear one of Valorian’s scarves. Bron recognized that fabric from her mother’s wardrobe. Despite her disdain for Sybil, Danika must have felt something to bring the scarf with her. He’d promised Sybil to keep her daughter safe and he meant to even if it meant his fiery end.

Bron gestured toward the cave and gave Danika a rise of his eyebrows. “Shall we?”

She unsheathed her sword with a clang. The resolution in her eyes cemented Bron’s determination. “Let’s end this.”

They lit torches, and Bron and Danika took the lead. The tips of their swords pointed into the darkness. Valorian echoed the song of power from below, projecting his voice ahead. The tunnel magnified his volume with an echo. As the minstrels’ voices from outside died away, Valorian’s voice held strong.

Beneath them, the mountain rumbled as if stirring in its sleep. The ground shook, and they stumbled, using the walls to steady themselves until the quake subsided. Doubt flashed in Danika’s eyes and the troops behind them whispered with uneasiness.

“’Tis a good omen.” Bron spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, but not so loud as to interrupt Valorian’s song. “All we need is the She-Beast’s unspent breath to push this volcano over the edge.”

The deeper they traveled, the more Bron roasted like a boar on a spit. He dreamed of summers where he and Hule jumped in the icy creek behind their farm, and winters where he chopped wood until his hands turned blue--anything to get his mind off the heat.

The tunnel curved inward, boring straight to the volcano’s core. A deep intake, then exhale, resounded from the darkness as if the primeval world breathed through the molten lava. A heartbeat, weighted and steady as a giant leather drum thundered in Bron’s gut. The air grew thick with sulfur and the reek of seaweed. Bron slowed his pace and held his hands for those behind him to pause. He dared not speak. They were close.

Up ahead, a glowing reddish light illuminated an opening where the tunnel widened. Bron placed his torch on the lava rock to light their way back. Even if he didn’t make it out, Danika would. He snuck forward with both hands on his hilt.

A pool of lava illuminated a high-ceilinged cavern. At the far end, a skeleton of a large whale, with the flesh picked to the bone, cast striped shadows on the back wall. Beyond the skeleton lay a wide, smoking crevice leading down into the volcano’s core.

Speckled eggs lay in clusters around the lava pool, as if they needed the heat to hatch. A few broken cases were strewn on the cavern floor. Bron stepped on one and brought his boot up. A slimy, greenish white substance stuck the eggshell to the bottom of his boot.

He whispered, “Be aware. Hatchlings lurk in the shadows.”

Although the hatchlings were no bigger than dogs, they could still rip an ox open with one swipe of their claw. Bron gestured for Danika and Valorian to come forward. Behind them, the army slowly filed in. Valorian’s voice echoed in a haunting melody throughout the cave. He’d been singing ever since they found the wyverns. Bron wondered how the minstrel could sustain his voice without a draught of water. Every time Valorian took a breath, the shadows flickered and the rhythmic heartbeat of the She-Beast grew louder.

“There!” Danika hissed as she pointed across the lava pool. Finned backs rose and fell in slumber. Snouts, tails, claws and scales wound together in a heap.