The Chronicles of Dragon Collection (Series 1 Omnibus, Books 1-10) (137 page)

CHAPTER 16

A storm brewed inside Nath Dragon. The mere idea of shedding innocent blood infuriated him. After all, he was the one destined to protect the dragons from such horrific things. Now Gorn and Selene had tried in a more subtle way to get him to kill an innocent dragon, a female. It was madness. Why would he ever do such a thing?

He looked the dragon in the eye and petted her snout. She wasn’t young, but perhaps the same age as him. Bright scaled and beautiful. A beautiful vision most people only dreamed of seeing.

“I’ll save you,” he softly said under his breath. “Somehow.” He closed his eyes and thought of his friends. They were dying out there, all because of him. Gorn offered to save them if he killed this one dragon. And then what? His thoughts raced.

Think it through, Dragon. Think it through.

“Time is up, Nath Dragon,” Gorn said. “And I’m certain your dear friends’ lives hang by a thread. Seconds remain, maybe.”

Lies!

Evil always lies.

Perhaps
, Nath thought,
everything I’ve seen is a lie
.
Why should I do anything Gorn says? Or Selene, for that matter
? His mind turned it over in those moments. What of his friends, who he feared he’d never see again? They’d made it clear to him before that they were ready to die for him. He had never understood what that meant until right now.

He turned and faced Gorn Grattack. Stepping forward, he grabbed Gorn’s spear by the tip and held it to his chest.

Gorn leered down at him, brow lifted.

“You win, Gorn. But I offer you something better. My life for hers and the lives of my friends. I need your word on that.”

“What?” Selene said, coming forward, hands balled up into fists. “Don’t be a fool, Nath!”

“Back away, Selene!” Gorn said, sneering at her. “You disappoint me!” Gorn pulled the spear away from Nath and rested it on his shoulder. Glowering at Nath with blazing eyes, he said, “You disappoint me as well.”

“My father, Balzurth, didn’t raise me to kill dragons. He raised me to save them.” He swallowed. He could feel something swelling inside his chest. A wonderful epiphany of sorts. “I understand that now.”

“What sort of fool would die for those who don’t even care about him? All your life, have the dragons not rejected you?”

“I’m over it,” Nath said, stepping forward and taking a knee with a newfound inner strength. “If I have to die for them, then so be it.”

“Nath, don’t!” Selene said.

“Silence!” Gorn said, in more of a roar than a word. His rumbling voice shook the ground. “Nath Dragon, do you know what a pawn is?”

“Of course I do,” Nath said, looking up at Gorn’s terrifying face. “And I suppose you’re going to tell me I’ve been a pawn all along. A tool of my father’s. Even so, I stand by my word and his words. If it’s his will for me to be his pawn, then so be it. I believe in him.”

Gorn sneered and tossed back his head and let out a frightening roar.

Nath wasn’t sure if Gorn felt angry or triumphant.

Above, the Floating City continued to spin around and around, getting faster and faster.

“Your father has his pawn,” Gorn said. “And I have mine. The jaxite combined with my power will bring even more dragons under my control. Once I have them, I’ll take over your father’s precious Dragon Home and make it once again my Mountain of Doom.”

“Not without a fight.”

“He won’t put up much of a fight after you’re gone, let me assure you.” Gorn bounced the spear off his shoulder. “Huh,” he said, snorting smoke, “part of me wants to thank you, but I don’t thank anyone.” He started to lower the spear. “And I’ve waited long enough for this.”

Nath lifted his chin and closed his eyes. He heard his heartbeat in his ears and felt Gorn poised to strike. He didn’t flinch when the spear sliced through the air.

Glitch!

He heard the tip pierce through scales, separating bone and marrow. He didn’t feel a thing.

A soft, painful moan caught Nath’s ears.

His eyes snapped open, and he screamed.

“Selene!”

CHAPTER 17

After the slaughter, Gorlee had scraped up fragments of armor, strapped them on, and taken on the form of a lizard man. He’d pushed though the heavy brush of the hillside, avoiding the path Selene and Nath had taken. Wingless dragons patrolled the path along the harsh woodland, escorted by draykis. He’d already had enough close calls the past few days. He’d gotten close, only to be pushed back again. His thick lizard hide saved him aggravation when hiding in the thorns and thistles.

Why do I have the feeling I’ll not get within a mile of Nath Dragon?

He kept hoping a human patrol or squad of the army would come down the path, but it didn’t happen. It was just draykis and dragons, not to mention the fiery eyes that peered down at him. The valley he sought to invade was a well-fortified hole.

Through the trees, he eyed two armored draykis leading a pair of six-legged blue dragons the size of ponies. The dragons snorted at the path, sniffing the leaves on the trees and growling.

Gorlee hunkered down deep into the brush. His heart started pounding. He’d been evading the dragons for days, but he couldn’t keep it up much longer. They knew he was near. They’d figure him out.

Be still. Don’t take any chances.

“Come on,” a draykis said, tugging on the chain that held the dragon by a heavy collar on its neck. “All you’re doing is sniffing branches.” He jerked the chain.

The dragon blasted fire at his feet.

The draykis hopped over the flame toward the dragon and swatted its horned head.

Whop!

“Don’t do that again!”

The dragon’s throat rumbled, but its neck bent down. Slowly, it turned and headed back down the path. The other draykis and dragon followed.

Gorlee gave it a few minutes and let out a breath.

Whew!

Once again, he pushed through the thickets and came to a stop on a crag that overlooked a crescent moon–shaped valley. It was distant, but among the treetops he could make out great stones standing tall in the valley. At least a dozen dragons were perched on those rocks, and more were coming. They glided in and landed while others departed and disappeared. But that wasn’t what enamored Gorlee at the moment.

I never would have believed it if I wasn’t seeing it for myself.

The Floating City hovered above, with the jaxite stones twinkling and throbbing with life. Nath Dragon had caught him up on a few things, and the Floating City this had to be. He also recalled the undead army that waited inside, and he started to count all the dragons perched on the building tops. There must have been at least a hundred that he could see, and others that weren’t tethered by chains were still flying in and out. A chill went through him.

What kind of army can stand against such a fortress?

Ignoring the trepidation within, he renewed his descent to the bottom of the mountain and the crescent-moon valley below.

I don’t know if Nath Dragon needs me, or if I need him.

Gorlee had made it another hundred yards or so when a loud commotion cut through the trees. It sounded like a fire and a skirmish of sorts. He swore his keen ears heard a woman cry out. He shook his head.

It’s a trap. It must be.

Nath had told him how some dragons played games when they baited their prey. He needed to be careful when he heard strange calls that cried out through the darkness. He glanced down the hill. He was getting closer to his goal, and he felt drawn to those great stones, but the sounds he heard were too tempting. Trusting his instincts, he rushed off toward the sound of danger.

Heroes do stupid things like this all the time.

He hopped a fallen tree, sped down into a clearing, and surged toward the other side.

Ssslap! Ssslap!

Dragon tails hanging like vines from the branches knocked him onto his backside. Two forest-green-scaled dragons plopped to the ground, heads low and hissing. In an instant, they had scrambled over the ground, and fierce jaws seized him by the leg and arm.

Gorlee screamed. The pain was blinding.

Change form! Change form!

The jaws of the black-tailed emerald dragons locked, and like angry bulldogs they tried to tug him apart.

“Nooooo!”

CHAPTER 18

Blank. Bayzog, who prided himself on being prepared for anything great or small, was dumbstruck.

“Father!” Samaz said again.

Eyes filled with destruction, the sky-raider dragon’s chest glowed with new light. Flames shot out of its nose.

Screaming, “Give me that!” Sasha snatched the Elderwood Staff from his grip and held it out before them.

The ancient piece of polished wood glowed with an intense, brilliant white light.

The dragon roared and recoiled.

“Be gone, monster!” Sasha yelled as the staff’s light became brighter and brighter.

Samaz rushed alongside his mother and yelled as well. “Go!”

The dragon turned its neck and shielded its eyes with its wing, letting out an awful-sounding roar that shook the mountain.

Bayzog shook his head, blinking.
What am I doing?

Suddenly, the radiant light winked out, and he heard Sasha say, “Oh no!” She didn’t have control over the staff, but she’d had just enough to distract the dragon.

Baring its claws, it turned on them again with a nasty angry growl.

They were still cornered.

Gathering his wits, he bounded over and grabbed the staff.

“I’m sorry, Bayzog,” Sasha said, “I tried.”

“You did well! Now get behind me and hold on to me and the staff. Both of you!”

As the dragon started to let loose its breath, Bayzog felt power surge through him like never before. The wills of Sasha and Samaz forged a desperate bond with his and let loose a cannon of power.

Sssrazz-Booom!

A blast of blue-white energy punched a hole clean through the dragon and sent it spinning in the air. It flopped in midair and tumbled crashing through the trees, toppling timbers and pines in its death throes. Its ear-splitting howl was knee bending.

Bayzog took a deep breath and let both his own power and that of the staff fill him. He’d been holding back for years, decades even, but he couldn’t hold back now. This was it.

“Stay close,” he said to his family, “And thank you. Your bravery saved us.”

“We are here to help,” Sasha said, catching her breath, “I’m more than a lovely face, you know.”

“Father,” Samaz yelled, pointing toward the sky. “Another dragon comes!”

***

“Kill that dragon!” Brenwar yelled, winding up his hammer. “I’ve had my fill of them!”

Just as he finished saying it, a bolt of power ripped through the back of the sky raider that landed, sending it hurtling through the trees.

The second dragon sailed downward in its place, its claws and fangs bared.

Twang!

An exploding arrow rocketed through the air and hit the dragon underneath its wings, which sent it spinning out of control.

“Good shot,” Rerry said, “but we need to finish it.”

Ben and Rerry darted ahead and sprinted for the ravine. Legs churning, Brenwar huffed along behind them, dragging Pilpin along with him. He glanced above and noted that the skies were clear. Only the Floating City remained behind them, and it had dragons whizzing out of it and draped all over it. He clambered up the hill as fast as his stout legs would take him, following the busted trees in the forest.

“Where’d you go?”

Crack!

Out of nowhere, a tail whipped out and sent both Brenwar and Pilpin spinning head over heels. He pushed his face out of the dirt and shook his beard. Head low, a grey scaler crept in with its tongue slithering out of its mouth.

Brenwar swung and missed.

Whoosh!

Pilpin was going in when a bolt of lightning shot from the dragon’s mouth and hit Brenwar square in his chest plate.

Zap!

Every hair stood up on end, and he staggered back into the trees with a painful tingling from head to toe. He shook his head like an angry bull and said, “Now you’ve made me mad!”

The dragon darted in at full speed, knocking Pilpin clean away with its tail.

“Aaaaahhhhhhhhh!” Pilpin cried as he sailed over the trees.

Timing it, Brenwar brought War Hammer around with all his power. A thunder clap followed.

Ka-Pow!

A dragon horn shattered, and the beast sagged to the ground.

Still tingling, Brenwar forged ahead.

The sky raider, ten tons of scales and towering twenty feet high, fought everything coming. Shum and Hoven darted in and out with their Dragon Needles. Ben volleyed arrow after arrow, and Rerry taunted the beast.

Mad and confused, the dragon struck. Its claws tore up the ground as it pounced after Rerry.

“Eep!” Rerry said, springing away from the snapping jaws of the dragon at the last second.

Shum knifed inside and jammed a Dragon Needle in its eye.

The dragon reared up with a roar, and a blast of yellow flames shot out of its mouth. In a flash, its great tail swept over the ground.

Ben and Rerry moved, but not fast enough. The tail swept them aside and flung them across the ground. Both man and part elf lay still and broken.

“No!” Brenwar yelled, charging straight for the dragon’s belly. Speeding underneath its swinging tail, he smashed it in the belly. Ancient metal powered by magic bracers met ancient scale.

Krang-Boom!

Scales shattered. Bones splintered. The dragon staggered backward on its haunches and fell.

Hoven, like a shadow, moved in and struck.

Glitch!

He pierced the dragon’s chest, straight into its heart.

The beast huffed one last breath of fire, and its glowing eyes went out as it died.

“Ben! Rerry!” Brenwar rushed over to them. They were breathing. “Wake up!”

“Perhaps a gentler approach,” Shum said, strolling over.

Brenwar shoved him away and kneeled down to pinch Ben.

Ben’s eyes snapped open. “Ow!” The warrior started to his feet. “Ow!”

“I didn’t even touch you that time,” Brenwar said.

Ben winced. “I think my arm is broken.”

“Well, you should have been paying better attention,” Brenwar said. “Ducked, jumped, or something.”

“Not everyone is made out of stone like you dwarves.”

“Oh!” Rerry said, as Shum and Hoven jostled him up, “and I think my leg is broken.”

Brenwar shook his head. “Great, just great. Now I’m going to have to carry the both of you.”

“You aren’t carrying me,” said Ben, “My legs are just fine.”

A branch cracked from somewhere nearby. Everyone’s stance became battle ready. Shum and Hoven crept forward and spread out wide just as a figure emerged.

It was Pilpin. “Save any dragon for me?” he said, lifting his brow.

“Did you find us a cave yet?” Brenwar said.

“No, did you?”

“Pah!”

A moment later, Bayzog, Sasha, and Samaz emerged from the brush.

“Rerry!” Sasha said, rushing over to his side.

“I’ll be fine, Mother. I’m just glad you and Father are well.” He looked at his brother, who had the faintest smile on his grim face. “Even Samaz.”

***

Change form! Change form!

Gorlee could feel the emerald dragons biting down into his flesh, sinking their teeth in deeper and deeper. He screamed. “Ee-yah!”

One tugged on his arm and the other pulled on his leg, stretching his body taut as a bowstring.

Come on, change, Gorlee!

It was hard to concentrate and fight the blinding pain at the same time. All his life, he’d been clever enough to avoid such unpleasant circumstances. But today, this very minute, it had all caught up with him.

They’re going to eat me! Guzan, no!

He squeezed his eyes shut, blocked out the pain, and thought of the hardest thing that he knew. He saw the great stones in the valley, and his skin began turning to living stone. His pain faded, and his strength renewed. With his free arm, he punched one of the dragons in the head. Its jaws loosened, and it recoiled with a hiss. He grabbed the other one by the horns and twisted its neck until it released his arm. Its claws raked at his stony skin. Gorlee flung it away.

“Be gone, lizards!”

With leery eyes and tongues flickering from their mouths, the dragons flanked him. Their black tails slithered from side to side.

Gorlee kicked at them. “Go away if you know what’s good for you!”

Together, the dragons opened their mouths and spat out blasts of bright-green fire. The flames engulfed Gorlee from head to toe.

“Argh!”

His stony skin was tough, but nothing was completely resistant to dragon fire. The suffocating heat dropped him to his knees, and he curled up into a ball. His stone-hard skin sizzled.

Hang on, Gorlee! They can’t breathe out forever! Hang on!

The roar of fire filled his ears. Every second felt like ten. The heat was excruciating. Unbearable. He felt faint and dizzy. He tried to concentrate on something else, anything else, but he couldn’t focus.

I’m not going to make it.

Whoosh!

The flames stopped. The air felt ice cold on his smoking skin. He opened his eyes and started to rise.

“Stay still, lizard man,” a voice said. It was familiar, dwarven.

Two tall elven men with pot bellies stood over the emerald dragons with spears driven into them. The dragons were dead, and the dwarf who spoke was …

“Brenwar?”

“What kind of lizard man are you?” Brenwar said.

Another dwarf, much smaller than Brenwar, rushed in and chopped his axe into Gorlee’s leg. The blade skipped off.

“This lizard man is a living statue,” Pilpin said. He swung his axe into the back of Gorlee’s legs this time, sweeping him off his feet. “A fallen statue.”

Suddenly, Gorlee was hemmed in with spear tips and axe blades.

One of the elven men spoke, pointing a spear tip at his neck, saying, “This will penetrate anything.”

Brenwar jostled his axe over him, saying, “And this will do much worse than what this elf thinks he can do.”

Gorlee swallowed hard. His friends weren’t toying with him. And judging by the hard looks in their battle-scarred faces, he’d better be careful how he chose his next words. Slowly, he held up his palms, closed his eyes, turned his cheek and said, “I’m Gorlee. Please don’t kill me, friends?”