Dragons' Onyx (36 page)

“What if we did it in reverse?” suggested Tanya. “What if I went up on the ridge and drew attention to myself? Do you think you could get in close enough to strike?”

“Not a good idea,” answered the dwarf prince. “All King Arik would be able to do is jab at the critter’s feet. That is hardly going to kill him.”

“Prince Darok is right,” agreed Pioti. “The ledge that King Arik is looking at is the perfect height for attacking Gorga. The question is, how do we get him there?”

“I will go up with him,” offered Prince Darok. “Instead of him climbing down to the ledge, I will lower him down. His feet will only have to touch rock once.”

“That might work,” nodded the king.

“And you are strong enough to pull him back up if things go wrong,” nodded Tanya. “This just might work. I will go with you also. I can guard Prince Darok while his hands are busy with the rope.”

“That puts three of us climbing along the ridge,” frowned King Arik as he looked at Sarac’s castle high above the small canyon. “It increases the odds of us being noticed by the castle.”

“She moves well enough,” Pioti smiled admiringly. “With a little practice, she can move like an elf. I think her idea is a fine one.”

Tanya beamed and smiled at the elf. “That only leaves you three elves to distract the dragon, though,” she said.

“One doesn’t use the word only when referring to the three of us,” grinned Eltar. “We will provide a distraction that is guaranteed to capture the dragon’s attention. You just have to be silent up there. There is nothing we can do to mask your sound.”

“It is a risky plan,” frowned Prince Garong, “but I am at a loss to present a better one. Already Gorga has dragged us halfway across this world. We dare not let him escape again.”

“What will you do once you are on the ledge?” questioned Tanya. “You will be at his back, which you already said was too hard to penetrate.”

“I will just have to get him to turn around for me,” explained King Arik. “When he turns, I will strike him with my sword. Hopefully, it will all be over quickly.”

“Hopefully,” frowned Tanya. “Why couldn’t you have to find some artifact like the other times? I do not get a good feeling about this whole thing.”

“We have to do what the Sword of Heavens demands of us,” shrugged King Arik. “We should be thankful that we have the chance to defeat Sarac at all. Whatever the sword demands, I will do it for the people. They deserve better than what the Dark One has in store for them.”

“Well, if we are going to do this,” interrupted Prince Darok as he grabbed a coil of rope from his horse, “we should be off about it. I don’t think you want to be climbing that ridge in the dark.”

“You are right, my dwarven friend,” nodded King Arik. “You three keep out of trouble while we are gone,” he smiled to the elves.

Prince Garong gave a concerned smile as the two humans and the dwarf turned and padded off silently into the forest. King Arik gave a last glance back at the elves and put his mind to the task at hand. The king kept to the concealment of the trees as he led the group away from the mouth of the small canyon. An hour later, he paused at the edge of the woods and studied the face of the cliff that he would have to climb.

Prince Darok’s large nose sniffed the air carefully. Finally, he nodded to the king, and Arik led the way to the face of the cliff. Prince Midge climbed out of Arik’s pocket and flew straight up to keep a watch for anyone coming.

“May Mya be with us,” King Arik mumbled under his breath.

“Mya?” echoed Tanya. “You pray to the goddess of luck? Surely you don’t believe in such things, do you?”

“What do you mean?” asked the king with a puzzled frown. “Don’t you believe in the gods?”

“I believe in a higher power,” answered Tanya, “but not these gods and goddesses that the priests push on us. I mean, a god of fire? Why would a god be interested in only fire? And what has he ever done for us?”

“The priests of Char speak of great miracles,” the king answered hesitantly. “Are you saying that they are wrong?”

“The stories of the priests are meant to sound like miracles,” Tanya declared. “The fact is, all of the stories that I have heard sound suspiciously like they referenced magic spells. I can’t believe in a god of fire.”

“Well I know little of what magic can do,” shrugged King Arik.

“You saw what Azmet did with Abuud,” pushed Tanya. “He got thousands of people to believe that you could spread peace and harmony by killing people. I think most of the priests are the same, except they do not have the evil intent that Azmet had. I will not pray to Mya for luck. I will trust in my skill to succeed.”

“Then who is this higher power that you believe in?” asked Prince Darok.

“I don’t know,” conceded Tanya. “I believe that he exists as a force of good for the world. I think there is something inside each of us that brings us closer to him, like a magnet.”

“Well, the magnets of some people do not work very well,” argued the king. “This world sure does not have much in the way of good to prove your theory. The Dark One has seen to that.”

“Not true,” retorted Tanya. “Look at yourself. What drives you to risk your life for the people of the world? Are you ready to die for Mya? Or Char? Or Abuud? Or any of the others?”

“No,” scowled King Arik. “I do what I do because someone must do it. I seem to have been chosen for this task. I am only doing my best to complete it.”

“And who chose you?” countered Tanya. “Your place in this world was obviously divinely ordained, but not by any of the gods we know. Each of the known gods deals with only one facet of life. Your task transcends them all. So who chose you to fulfill the Ancient Prophecy? Certainly it was not Abuud.”

“I don’t know,” King Arik shook his head, “but now is not the time to discuss this. We have a dragon to slay, and time is wasting away.”

King Arik turned and began scaling the cliff. Prince Darok’s powerful arms and legs propelled him past the king, and he waited on top of the ridge with a throwing axe held menacingly in his hand. Arik and Tanya reached the top and paused to survey the route towards the dragon. The ridge was sparsely forested, and King Arik chose a route that would provide the best cover from the Castle of the Dark One, which stood ominously atop Mount Kalas high above them.

The group moved slowly to avoid making any sounds that would alert the dragon. Each step was carefully taken, and King Arik began to feel exposed on the ridge. He knew that goblins and ogres patrolled near Sarac’s castle, but his main fear was Sarac’s magicians. As much as he had witnessed the magic of his friends, King Arik had no real concept of what magic was capable of.  His mind began to wander as he thought about getting caught by Sarac or Gorga. He stopped dead in the trail and forced his mind to focus on what he was doing.

Nodding calmly to himself, King Arik started walking again. He ignored the questioning glances from Tanya and the dwarf prince. The sun passed its zenith and King Arik sighed audibly to release the tension. Prince Darok touched him gently on the arm and the king stopped.

“Let me lead for a while,” Prince Darok suggested softly. “I know the strain caused by silent approaches. I have felt the same when stalking goblins in Dorgun. It helps to change leaders every so often.”

King Arik nodded, and Prince Darok eased by the king and took the lead. The dwarf kept constantly looking back at his companions to make sure that he was pacing himself properly. The day wore on slowly as the three warriors crept slowly along the ridge in a wandering route that always kept the scraggly trees between the Castle of the Dark One and themselves.

The sun was still high when they reached the head of the canyon. Prince Darok held his hand out to freeze his companions as he stepped close to the edge and peered down into the canyon. He slowly backed up and nodded to King Arik to indicate that the dragon was still there.

King Arik raised his arms high as Prince Darok uncoiled the rope and fastened a sling around the king’s chest. While the dwarf worked on positioning the sling, Tanya got to her hands and knees and collected the pebbles and small rocks at the edge of cliff. She inspected the area where Prince Darok would have to stand to ensure that there was nothing that he could accidentally kick into the gorge. When she was done, she slowly crept away from the edge and placed the debris on the ground. Prince Darok nodded approvingly at her.

King Arik silently adjusted his weapons to ensure that the sling did not interfere with their use. When he was satisfied that he was ready, he nodded to the dwarf prince. Tanya took the free end of the rope and tied it around a scraggly tree. Prince Darok picked up a section of the rope and walked to the edge. King Arik followed the dwarf and looked down. He stared at the huge head of the dragon and felt a tremor of fear race up his spine.

As if sensing something, Gorga started to turn his head upward. Prince Darok swiftly picked King Arik off the ground and stepped backwards, using the edge of the cliff to block the dragon’s vision. King Arik stifled a sigh under his breath. The dwarf gently lowered King Arik to the ground. Tanya grabbed her bow and nocked an arrow. She moved forward to stand next to the king. Prince Darok cautiously moved back to the edge of the cliff and peered into the canyon. He signaled for King Arik to come forward.

King Arik moved up and looked down at the dragon. The huge creature was gazing towards the mouth of the canyon, and the king drew his sword as he nodded to the dwarf. Prince Darok grabbed the rope just above the sling and lifted King Arik off the ground. He took a step forward and then began lowering the king into the canyon. Tanya stood poised with her bow and arrow to strike the dragon if need be.

King Arik started to spin slightly as the dwarf lowered him towards the ledge behind the dragon. He fought the temptation to stick his hand and steady himself against the face of the cliff. The moments seemed to drag on forever as King Arik was lowered closer to the dragon. Soon the top of the dragon’s head was visible, and Arik felt his pulse racing. He stared at the back of the dragon’s head and the long neck as he proceeded downward. He started to wonder if this was the best approach to getting the Dragons’ Onyx. He began to realize that when he finally reached the ledge, there would be nowhere to run if things went poorly. The thought brought a shiver to his body.

King Arik stared as the back of the long neck became closer to him. While the neck was still some distance away, the scales of the dragon’s body began to appear. He involuntarily marveled as the armor-like scales on the dragon’s back. The scales were large and thick, and Arik knew he had been right about his sword failing to penetrate. There was no way that Arik would be able to successfully attack the dragon from behind.

As he continued downward the dragon’s body bulged towards him, and the distance between the rock wall and the dragon narrowed quickly. Finally, Arik felt rock under his feet. He bent his knees as he landed on the rock ledge and then straightened up. King Arik braced himself to attack the dragon when he turned. He held his sword out before him with both hands wrapped firmly around the hilt. He mentally rehearsed his stroke as he contemplated how he would draw the dragon’s attention to himself. He felt his body shaking and fought to control his fear.

Suddenly, Gorga turned his head and saw King Arik. Before the king even had a chance to see Gorga’s breast, huge claws streaked towards him. King Arik struck out with his sword and tried to slice at the claws. Gorga snarled with smoke curling out of his nostrils, as talons closed on the blade of the sword. The sharp snap of metal echoed through the canyon, and King Arik felt the pressure on his sword diminish. The king stared wide-eyed at the short stub of blade protruding from the hilt. The rest of the blade fell noisily to the canyon floor as Gorga spread his talons wide and reached for King Arik.

The twang of bowstrings broke the eerie silence of the canyon as the elves stepped out from behind boulders and fired upon the dragon. Gorga roared as the arrows struck him, but it proved to be a temporary distraction. Gorga looked towards the mouth of the canyon and immediately snapped his head back to gaze upon King Arik.

The king was aware of movement on the canyon floor below. While he dared not take his eyes off the dragon, he detected a figure running towards him. Two more arrows flew through the air as Prince Garong shouted for Pioti to find cover. The commotion was too much for Gorga to ignore. The dragon’s head swiveled swiftly towards the elves. Pioti was charging the dragon with an arrow nocked, while Eltar and Prince Garong were reaching into their quivers.

Gorga roared and belched fire towards the elves. Pioti’s arrow flew into Gorga’s wide-open mouth as the dragon’s flames hit the elf. Pioti’s screams rent the air of the canyon as his body became engulfed in fire. Kink Arik stared at the burning elf, tears forming in his eyes. The king’s body was frozen in horror, and Prince Darok started hauling the rope upwards. Tanya fired downward at the dragon, but it was more of a distraction than anything else. She had to aim wide to avoid hitting the king as the dwarf raised him from the ledge.

Gorga’s jaws moved from side to side and he spit out the arrow that Pioti had shot. He looked up at King Arik, smoke pouring out of his nostrils in a rage. Flames shot out of Gorga’s mouth towards King Arik. The king felt himself falling as Prince Darok let go of the rope. Gorga’s flames just missed King Arik, but managed to set the rope on fire. The king found himself falling towards the ledge. Knowing that he would die on the ledge, King Arik kicked out against the wall of the cliff, just as Eltar charged the dragon, screaming at the top of his lungs.

Gorga spun his head around towards the charging elf, while King Arik impacted on the dragon’s back. The king grabbed furiously for a handhold to stop his slide towards the dragon’s tail. Gorga shot flames at Eltar, but the elf dove behind a boulder. Gorga snapped his head back to look for King Arik. His eyes glared venomously as they searched the ledge for the human. As his eyes rose, he saw Prince Darok and Tanya on the ridge. He bellowed as his body swiveled and rose.