Dragonmaster (6 page)

T
he first thing Norl became aware of was the smell. It was all he could do not to choke on it, but he managed to control the need. He kept his eyes closed. Partly because he was too frightened to want to see where he was, partly because the one small bit of his brain that wasn’t in complete shock was telling him to pretend he was still unconscious.

Give myself time to prepare,
he thought. But prepare for what? What was he to expect now? He was surprised that he was still alive.

He listened. Not a sound. Gradually, he realized that he was lying on stone. Hard and uncomfortable, but not cold. In fact, it was warm and the air around him was warm as well. Far warmer than he would have expected deep in a cave. Even with his eyes closed he had a sense that darkness surrounded him. He moved one finger experimentally. It was the burned finger and it flared into such pain that he gasped. That small movement sent up more
pain from the gashes in his body where Caulda’s talons had ripped into him. He felt a wet stickiness beneath him and realized that he was bleeding.

He forced himself to lie motionless for several long moments more before he finally dared to open his eyes. As he had suspected, he could see nothing. The darkness was complete.

No, not totally complete. He couldn’t see without moving his head, but he sensed that there might be light, however faint, above him. He closed his eyes again and thought back to the day when he, Catryn and Dahl had battled Caulda in her den. Her nest had been far down at the bottom of a pit, but there had been an opening high above. That might be the light that he was sensing.

There was no sound or indication of movement at all. Could Caulda have dropped him here and then left? A cold dread cramped at his belly. What if she had returned to destroy Sele the Plump and Hhana? But surely they would have hidden from her. Taken cover.

At that thought, he saw Hhana’s face again in his mind. The look on it…More fascination than fear.
She had been almost smiling!
He shivered in spite of the warmth. Dragon blood calling to dragon blood. Would she heed it? Was that call stronger than her bond to humans? If so, there would be no help from her.

And the Sele. It hadn’t even
tried
to save him! Never would Norl have thought that Sele the Plump would forsake him!

But it could not face the flames,
he told himself.
No Sele could.
Despair overcame him then, heavier by far than the air that pressed down around him. Why even think of help—Caulda had him, he was doomed. He had insisted that he must face her alone, alone he now was.

She has what she wants,
he thought.
Is it enough? Will she spare Taun now that she has me?
No thought now of vanquishing her. He lay trapped here at her mercy. To do with as she wished. Injured as he was, he knew he had no hope of flying, even if he could find his eagle form again.

Ssso, you are awake.

He stiffened as he felt the voice in his brain. Hissing and sibilant, almost as painful as his wounds.

You live, I know you do. Anssswer me!

Norl felt words rise to his lips unbidden. He tried to remain silent, but couldn’t. Without moving or opening his eyes again he let a single word escape.

“Yes.”

Then open your eyesss and face me, boy of Taun.

As if his body had no will of its own, Norl obeyed. He staggered to his feet and lifted his head. A faint light did come down from the opening to the sky above and by it he could barely make out a huge, glistening shape coiled up in the space in front of him, towering over him. Eyes that glowed with a fire deep within them, fixed upon him.

You are mine now.
Caulda’s words slithered into his mind.
You will obey me now.

Norl made no reply but a sudden rebellion flared within him.

I will not,
he vowed silently.
I kept my promise. I am here. But I will not do this creature’s bidding.

Oh, but you will!
The unspoken response seared into his mind like a brand of fire.

She can hear my thoughts! I can hear hers!

Of courssse you can. Do you not remember?

Norl remembered only too well.

I will await you, boy. When it is time,
she had said. But only in his mind. Only to him.

“I thought it was Catryn’s magic that allowed me to hear you then,” he said. “I possess no magic of my own.”

You do not know the half of what you posssess,
Caulda replied.
Why do you think I wanted you?

“I do not know,” Norl replied, throwing the words at her, so despairing that he was beyond caution. “Revenge? For your son that Dahl killed?”

That isss only a sssmall part of it. There isss more. Much more.

“What?” The word came out almost as a sob. He fell to his knees and buried his face in his hands.

You will find out. Tomorrow. For now I mussst sssleep. It isss tiring for me to fly now…
The words trailed off. The eyes that had held Norl transfixed closed. The faint light from above had dimmed as well—Norl realized that it must be getting dark in the world outside. His world. Never had
it seemed so far away. He let himself fall back to the floor, heedless of the pain, and curled into a tight ball.

Norl remained curled up until the ache in his joints surpassed the pain of his wounds. He did not want to uncurl himself. He did not want to face again that luminescent, evil mass that loomed over him in the darkness. He did not want to think. He wished that Caulda had killed him immediately. All he wanted was oblivion, but even sleep was impossible.

He had no sense of the passing of time, but gradually became aware of the lightening of the darkness around him. His body was wracked with pain. He realized then that he must have lain there on the floor of Caulda’s den for the entire night. Without thinking. Without making any kind of plan. Without even considering the Sele or Hhana. Or Catryn.

Catryn! If he called to her would she hear? She had warned him about Caulda’s menace when he had flown. But even the thought of trying to contact her took more energy than he could summon up. She it was who had reached him—he had no way of reaching her. Even if she did hear him, what would be the use? Deep in his mind was another, stronger reason why he would not try to reach Catryn. How could he admit to yet another failure?

He finally gathered the will to look up. The sky was visible as a pale grey hole in the cliff, far above him. He could reach that if he flew. He looked at his hands and arms. Solid flesh. His body felt heavy and unwieldy. Blood had dried in clots on the gashes in his arms and shoulders. Every move he made sent shafts of pain coursing through him. He tried to imagine himself as light and feathered. Couldn’t. Couldn’t even remember the sensation of flying—what it had felt like. Perhaps he had imagined it? Perhaps he had slept during that interminable night after all, and had just dreamed that he had flown. He let his head sink down upon his knees and closed his eyes again.

He did not know how long it was until he summoned the will to raise his head and look around him again. He looked up first, and could see blue sky now. A white cloud scudded past and a sunbeam struck downward but did not reach where he huddled. It seemed impossible that outside this cave the world was continuing on just as usual. As if nothing had happened.

He did not want to look in Caulda’s direction, but finally forced his eyes away from that impossible crack in his world. In the gathering daylight, Caulda looked even more immense. Her great body was covered in scales that shimmered gold, then green.

Like Hhana’s hair,
Norl thought, then blocked the picture from his mind. He did not want to think of Hhana. There were too many questions there.

The great creature’s eyes were closed. He could see no
sign of breathing, other than a whiff of smoke that issued forth regularly from cavernous nostrils. A thick, viscous stream of saliva dripped from one side of her maw and the tips of two gleaming fangs were just visible. She lay immobile.

Norl watched her, holding himself just as motionless. He feared that any movement on his part would wake her. Then he became aware of an insistent need. He had to piss. The thought of soiling himself where he lay was repulsive. He would have to get up and search for some other place. Carefully, he put his hands on the earth beneath him and pushed himself up.

Pain from his burned finger and yet more pain from his wounds almost caused him to cry out, but he bit his lip and forced himself to remain silent. He paused for a moment and took deep breath, then, slowly, carefully, stood. He cast a furtive look at Caulda, but she had not stirred. He took one step, then another. He stumbled over a rock and froze. Caulda slept still. One step at a time, he crept away from the massive body and into the farthest reaches of the cave. He stumbled again! Another rock? No, in the increasing light he could see that what he had tripped over this time was the skeleton of a small animal. His gorge rose as he realized that he had stumbled into a cache of bones, skulls and skeletons. Mostly small, a few large enough to be wolves. Not all the bones were clean, shreds and chunks of rotting meat clung to many of them. Their stink rose around him to such a degree as to make the normal smell
of Caulda’s cave pale in comparison. Norl fought down his nausea. Quickly, he relieved himself, then, as quietly as he could, made his way back to the place where he had slept.

In the daylight, he could take stock of his surroundings. The bottom of the cave was not large but, as Norl looked at the walls of the cliff surrounding him, he could see that there were several deep-shadowed fissures. Could they possibly lead to tunnels within the mountain? If so, might one of them possibly lead up to the surface? Caulda certainly did not use them, she was far too big. She would circle up and fly out of the hole above—indeed, he remembered that was how she had left them before. Dahl and Catryn had found her nest through an entrance in the mountainside. That entrance was high above him—he could almost make out the darkness of the opening above a ridge about halfway up from the pit where he stood. Much too high for him to reach. He ran a hand over the rock face beside him. It was rough, but not rough enough to offer hand or footholds for climbing. That would not be the way out.

He glanced back at Caulda. She still lay immobile. Norl crept over to the nearest dark cleft in the rock side. He peered in, then took a tentative step, arms outstretched in front of him. His hands struck solid rock. He swept them around, but there was no opening there. He backed out. There was another fissure farther on, but it was within reach of Caulda’s maw. Did he dare try it?

He stood, gathering the remnants of his courage to him, then took a step toward the opening. And another.

Still, Caulda did not move. Norl stopped to look at her more closely, then he remembered something.

It is tiring for me to fly now,
she had said.

What did she mean by that? Was she ill? Or old? How long did dragons live? He had no idea. A small hope began to flutter in his chest.

D
ahl looked up as Coraun entered the room. It was early in the morning, not time yet to descend to the throne room to hear the petitions and worries of his people. Dahl had made good his promise to be a wise and loving king, but sometimes he tired of the petty grievances that were daily set before him. He welcomed the chance to visit with Coraun before he must tend to his duties.

“Have you come to break your fast with me…?” he began, but the words died on his lips as he saw the look on Coraun’s face.

“Something has happened, Dahl,” Coraun said. “Something dreadful!”

Dahl was on his feet and reaching for his cloak before Coraun had finished speaking.

“What?” He bit the word out.

“Come with me,” Coraun answered. “You must see this for yourself.” Without another word he led the way out of the palace

and down to the river that ran behind it—the river that was the lifeblood of Daunus and its sole source of water.

Dahl strode beside him, then stopped in shock. Usually clear and pure, the river now ran black. A heavy pall rose from it in hazy eddies that swirled darkly above its surface. The townsfolk of Daunus had poured out to line the banks and stare at it in confusion. As Dahl watched, one young boy, more foolhardy than wise, dashed into it. He made it as far as his knees, then his face suddenly contorted and he shrieked in agony. Before anyone could make a move, he was sucked down below the surface.

There was a moment of unbelieving silence and then a woman screamed. A man started to run after the boy, but Dahl dashed forward to intercept him.

“No!” Dahl shouted. “No one is to go near the water!”

“But he is my son!” the man cried, and wrenched himself free of Dahl’s grasp. He got no farther into the river than had the boy before he, too, screamed with pain and disappeared into the blackness. A babel of voices cried out in terrified disbelief. Several of the people started to back away, and in an instant the whole crowd panicked and ran.

Dahl stood rooted to the spot, staring at the place where the man and boy had disappeared. The water lay still, ominously quiet, the surface unbroken by even the smallest of ripples. There was not the slightest sign of what had just transpired.

“Post guards,” he ordered Coraun, his voice rough and shaking. “Make certain that no one else comes near the river.”

Norl reached the opening in the wall. He took one quick look at Caulda, then slipped into the aperture—and into a sudden chill that shocked him. Instinctively, he hugged his arms around himself. As he did so, the gathering light in the main cave threw shadows in front of him and around him. They seemed to move as he moved, as if they were keeping pace with him.

One step.

Another glance back at the sleeping dragon.

Yet another step.

His foot kicked something that clattered on the stone floor. The sound was so sudden and sharp that he jumped and his heart took a painful leap. He looked down. More bones. Animal bones? No, they couldn’t be. They were too big, the leg bones too long, the ribs too wide…

Human! They were human bones and he was standing in the middle of them!

A surge of disgust rose within him and he retched even as he leaped back in panic.

Bruhn,
the dragon’s voice whispered in his mind.
And Launan. Do you remember?

He whirled around to see Caulda watching him. Had she just been pretending to sleep? Playing with him? He began to shake.

Remember—how could he ever forget! Bruhn had been Dahl’s friend, but he had betrayed Dahl to Launan, the instrument of the evil that sought to consume Taun. Bruhn had redeemed himself, but only by sacrificing his own life. He had plunged to his death while grappling with Launan in this very cave. Norl had watched them fall and the sight of their bodies lying on the ground where he now stood was etched into his brain.

They fed me well,
Caulda’s voice echoed in his mind, her eyes hooded.
Their bodiesss…and their sssoulsss.

“That is why you wanted me?” Norl asked, his voice a horrified whisper. “For…food?” He could barely get the word out.

Oh, no, Norl. Not for food.

Caulda shuddered. Her massive body rocked with a gurgling, rasping cough. For a moment it seemed as if she could not speak, then she shook her massive head and the sound of her scales rattling echoed and re-echoed in the chamber.

Norl felt his soul shrivelling within him. The small aperture in which he cowered offered no protection from Caulda’s fire.

Make it be quick,
he thought,
please, by all the gods, make it be quick!

Caulda lowered her head until her eyes were on a level with Norl’s. Eyes that were wide open now. Immense. Bottomless. Norl could not look away, could not move. It was as if she held him hypnotized, drowning in their black depths.

I am not going to kill you. That isss not why I brought you here.

As Norl watched, trying to make sense of her words, Caulda writhed and twisted. She seemed to be struggling. Norl realized that the great beast was trying to get to her feet. The effort seemed almost too much for her. The faint hope that had flamed briefly in his mind rekindled. Caulda was obviously in pain. Perhaps even dying?

But the hope fled as Caulda finally managed to stand. She swayed toward him and her tail lashed out in an effort to regain her balance. As he shrank back, Norl saw what lay beneath her. An egg! Crimson and gleaming like fresh-spilled blood, it pulsed as if it were a living, breathing entity.

Yesss.
She took a stumbling step away from the egg.

My child,
she said, a note of triumph in her words.
And now that you have come, I can ressst. Finally. After all thessse hundredsss and hundredsss of yearsss.

“I don’t understand…” Norl began.

I will die before my child hatchesss,
Caulda said.
But when he doesss…
She heaved a sigh, but no flame issued forth from her gaping maw, only a feeble tendril of smoke.
You, Norl of Taun,
she whispered with an effort,
you will find food for him. You will be hisss guardian. Your magic will sussstain him.

“No!” Norl cried.

You will bring him food until he isss old enough to hunt for himssself.

“But I can’t! Even if I wanted to. I have no magic!”

You can fly. You can hunt for him.

“You don’t understand,” Norl cried again, almost begging. “I cannot fly! I have no idea how I did it. I cannot do it again. Would I not have escaped from here if I could have?”

When the need isss ssstrong enough, you will fly. And you
will
care for my ssson.

“I will not do it,” Norl shouted. “I am to be the one who will rid Taun of dragons. I will not save your son. I will die first!”

I think not,
Caulda said.
Thisss isss your dessstiny. Thisss isss why I brought you here.

“No!” Norl cried, but Caulda sank back down onto the cavern floor beside her egg. Her eyes closed once more. This time they did not reopen.

The dragonsss will rissse again.
The voice was now no more than a murmur in his mind.
My child will lead them…
Her great head fell to the ground and her body went limp.

Norl stood frozen with shock for a long moment, then his senses returned to him. He had to get out of there! He ran back to the fissure where the bones of Bruhn and Launan lay. Heedless of them now in his terror, heedless of the pain of his wounds, he kicked through the bones and ran into the darkness beyond, only to be brought up short by a wall. Desperately, he ran his hands along it as far as he could to one side, then to the other. There was no exit here either.

He ran back to the cavern and stared wildly around, but he could see no other opening. Caulda’s body blocked the other side. Perhaps there? Frantic, he pushed his way past her and squeezed into the space behind. Nothing but smooth, unscalable rock.

He pushed back out into the cavern and dove again into the two fissures he had already explored. Had he missed some small passage out? He must have! But there was none. He was trapped.

Then he heard a noise. He whirled around. The egg seemed to have grown bigger. As he stared at it, a jagged crack appeared. The egg shuddered. The crack grew wider. And wider…

A talon-tipped foot appeared, no bigger than Norl’s own hand. It grasped the edge of the crack from within and pulled. A leg emerged, slippery with green ooze, then the dragon child’s head, dripping with the same slime, but covered in shimmering scales. Its eyes were glued shut with the muck, its maw opened wide, gasping for its first breath of air.

Norl watched, unable to move, as the creature pulled itself free of its prison and cast the empty halves of the shell aside. It stood unsteadily on two hind legs, talons gripping the floor beneath it with such strength that Norl could see them raking deep scores into the stone. It shook its head and rose to its full height, only barely taller than Norl, but, even so soon, infinitely more powerful. It lashed its tail, then opened its eyes and found Norl. It seemed to gather itself together.

Tentatively, a small flame shot out of its mouth. For a moment the dragon child paused, as if astounded itself by what it had done. Norl took advantage of its hesitation to hurl himself behind Caulda’s bulk again. The dragon child moved its head from side to side, momentarily confused, then raised its muzzle to sniff the air. With unerring accuracy, it turned to Norl’s hiding place. Dropping to all fours, it took a tentative step toward him.