Kethril (38 page)

None of that stopped him though. Tathan was
going to kill the dragon and free the world from its maliciousness.
He stabbed down where he thought the heart would be.

The dragon definitely reacted, turning its
head. Tathan’s time was about up. He had to kill the dragon, but
its heart wasn’t there. It had moved near the hindquarters. Tathan
knew this because the sword could sense it. He jerked the sword out
and ran the other way down the dragon’s back.

Time was definitely going back to normal for
him. The dragon’s head was coming around faster and faster. Plus,
the muscles in the back were bunching with the turn, making it more
difficult for Tathan to keep his feet. The sword alerted him that
the heart was beginning to move forward again and it was time to
strike.

Tathan thrust his sword downward, thinking
how neat it would be to have a heart that could move around in the
body during battle. It would certainly increase the chances for
survival. No heart could escape Lifedrinker though, and the blow
was true as the blade sank to the crossbars.

The white dragon’s legs collapsed under the
deathblow. Vevin latched onto the neck with his teeth again. The
monster gurgled and jerked a few last times before it died. The
inky eyes started to drain black goo, leaving only empty eye
sockets.

Sound returned to normal along with the rest
of the world and Tathan could hear that Sir Danth was still
screaming. He looked and saw the knight banging the ground in agony
with the one arm that was still working. The armor was a mangled
disaster and it was obvious the soul inside was suffering terribly.
He didn’t seem able to die or even lose consciousness.

Tathan was having enough problems of his own
though. The adverse effects of the spell were hitting him hard. He
clasped the sword hilt with all his might as the pain in his chest
increased. Through clenched teeth, he sucked in air. It felt as
though his chest were twice the size it should be.

“Tathan? Tathan!” Liselle yelled from
nearby. The ship had come close and Liselle was looking back and
forth between him and the knight. Something about his appearance
must have alarmed her because she leapt from the ship’s railing to
the dragon. It was quite the jump and he realized that she had done
something to enhance her own strength.

“The veins in your face look like they’re
about to burst!” she said in alarm. Tathan felt burning liquid
start to run down his cheeks and forehead, indicating that they
were doing exactly that. He heard Anilyia scream from somewhere.
The pain in his chest was sharp and he couldn’t breathe. “Tathan!”
Liselle called out again.

Energy flowed from her hands, which were
suddenly on his face. Just before his heart burst, the pressure
lessened. She flowed in more energy and his blood cooled down. Then
she stopped. He gulped breath in raspy heaves. The pain hadn’t
stopped completely, but it was manageable. He knew that Liselle
hadn’t healed him all the way though and wondered why.

After the spots in his vision had faded
enough, he saw that she was kneeling next to the fallen knight.
Blue glow was coming from her hands, but Sir Danth was still
screaming in anguish. Liselle had saved as much energy as possible
to try to heal the knight. Tathan knew that she had worked with Sir
Danth in the past, so perhaps she would be able to save him, though
he couldn’t think of how. A suit of armor was very different from a
body.

He was still holding onto the hilt of his
sword. It had a limit to how much it could drink and it was full.
He didn’t like the fact that the blade thirsted for light and
blood, but it had kept him alive countless times and he had need of
it. Tathan also didn’t know if the blade would let him go, a
thought he removed from his mind quickly lest it be paying
attention. He used it for leverage to stand up, then pulled it out
and wiped it on the dragon’s body to clean the blood off before
sheathing it. It was another habit the sword insisted on, and
Tathan had to admit that it was an effective tool for
intimidation.

“Tathan,” Anilyia hissed at him. He looked
and saw her on her horse by the ship. “Are you alright?” she asked
in another hiss, her face etched with concern. She was trying to
yell and whisper at the same time so as not to disturb Liselle.

He nodded and waved weakly, noticing that
Emmaoen was missing. Looking for her, he also noticed that the baby
ships hadn’t been rescued. Vevin was still in dragon form, standing
at his father’s lifeless head and huffing from the exertion. It was
as though he didn’t believe his father was dead. Tathan wondered
just how bad the abuse had been. What he had seen in the monster’s
eyes made him feel sorry for his purple friend.

“Tathan!” the princess hissed again. “We
need your help with the lock.”

A lock. Tathan’s interest was aroused. Locks
were always interesting and he looked at each one as a challenge.
Perhaps there would be other locks too. He was about to jump down
from the dragon’s back but realized his body was still suffering.
In fact, it felt as though he was running a fever. That was one of
the side effects of that particular runeball, another being
death.

He made his way down the side of the dragon,
jumping the last little bit. Instead of landing gracefully, Tathan
fell to his knees with a cry of pain. Every bone and joint hurt and
his muscles felt as if they had been rubbed with sandpaper. A
moment later, he felt cool hands on his face. Looking up, he saw
Anilyia’s eyes staring into his. They were beautiful.

“Tathan, you’re burning up.” She put the
back of her hand on his forehead. It was one of his favorite things
about women, the way they put a cool hand to his forehead when he
didn’t feel well. Sometimes he slowed down a little, or coughed
just so that they would. Regrettably, he
was
feverish this
time. “What happened to you?” she asked fretfully.

“I’ll be alright. Take me to the lock,” he
told her, getting to his feet with her help. She led him to the
ship. Aermoirre had lowered and extended the gangplank again.
Anilyia had him wait at the bottom while she grabbed his horse and
led it down. She helped him mount and then led him to her horse and
mounted as well.

From there they rode to the cave. Looking
back over his shoulder, Tathan saw that Vevin still stood over his
father’s head, making sure he wouldn’t come back to life. Blue
light was radiating from Liselle over Sir Danth’s body and the
knight had stopped screaming.

The ship was following Tathan and Anilyia to
the cave. Even though Liselle was the only one that could
understand what it said, it was clear that Aermoirre wanted her
babies more than anything else.

It stopped at the entrance while Anilyia and
Tathan rode in. “There’s a large cave with hot springs in it. It’s
dirty and smells like death. It’s also humid.” Anilyia pointed down
the tunnel.

Moisture clung to the ceiling and walls of
the rough rock. The floor of the tunnel was slimy with green and
rust colored trickles of water running in crevices, so they walked
their horses carefully down the gradual slope. Anilyia was correct
about the smell. Vevin had told him once that dragons liked their
homes to be clean, but this one was as filthy as its owner. Rotting
carcasses and half-gnawed bones were strewn about the floor. The
hot springs added a faint odor of sulfur, causing the princess to
cover her nose with a sleeve. The overwhelming scents made it
difficult for Tathan to breathe, which heightened the pain in his
chest. He would probably be alright in the long run, but wasn’t
doing so well at that moment.

Anilyia led him into a tunnel in the back of
the cave where the smell was just as bad. Emmaoen was standing in
front of an iron gate with her hands on her hips, glaring at the
lock. “I have a spell that opens locks, but this one has wards on
it and when I cast the spell, it hit me with fire. Luckily, I still
had defenses up against fire and just about anything else,” she
told them as they rode up to her.

Tathan dismounted and his knees gave out,
causing him to fall to the floor with another cry. His mind flooded
with pain sent to him from every nerve in his body. “Tathan!”
Anilyia exclaimed in worry. Emmaoen dashed over and the two of them
helped him to his feet.

“What happened? Is the dragon . . .”

Tathan gulped in air. “It’s dead. It took a
lot of work though. Let me see this lock, and thank you for setting
off the trap. That’s one less thing I’ll have to deal with.”
Emmaoen softly cuffed him in the shoulder and smiled for the first
time in a long while. She frowned when Tathan groaned. The cuff had
hurt ten times more than it should have.

The baby ships inside the smaller cave
creaked in fear, drawing Tathan’s attention. They had numerous
ropes holding them down. “I’ll get you out in just a minute and
we’ll take you to your mother,” he reassured them. It felt a little
silly comforting baby boats, but he had done things much more odd
in his lifetime.

Tathan studied the lock for a moment as he
took out his pouch of lockpicks. He pulled a tiny runeball out of a
pocket in the pouch. He was hesitant to use another of the valuable
and difficult to replace devices, but it would take hours to figure
out and deactivate any other wards that might be on the gate and
his mind was hazy.

Emmaoen took a step back when he placed the
runeball at the lock. Then she took three more steps back. Anilyia
looked back and forth between her and Tathan then took a few steps
back as well. Tathan uttered the trigger word and pushed the ball
into the lock.

It activated with a snap. Yellow threads of
lightning wiggled up each of the bars on the gate with a sizzling
sound. One reached a ward and caused a flash of light accompanied
by a loud pop. Both ladies jumped and yelped in surprise. Four more
wards were disarmed by the yellow wiggles, each one dying in the
flash and pop.

Tathan then took a set of lockpicks and
began working on the lock itself. The first thing he did was to use
a bent pick to search for mechanical traps. He found it quickly. It
was similar to a few others he had faced before and he knew how to
deactivate it. A minute later, he figured out the lock too and with
a satisfying click, it was done. Tathan was exceptional with locks
even when his mind wasn’t clear. In addition, the picks he used had
magical enchantments on them to help steady his hands. He stood
with a flourish that turned into a stumble. Anilyia rushed forward
to steady him.

“Remind me not to invite you to dinner
anytime soon,” Emmaoen told him with crossed arms and lowered
eyebrows. Tathan’s only response was to grin innocently at her. The
expression on her face changed to worry. “You’re bleeding.”

Tathan felt that his nose was runny and
wiped it on the back of his glove. Blood blended into the black
leather. Anilyia moved in front of him and took his cheeks in her
hands. “What happened to you? You were bleeding earlier too until
Liselle fixed your face.” She took a handkerchief out of a pouch in
her belt and wiped his nose with it, making him feel like a child.
In a way, he didn’t mind. He liked being taken care of sometimes,
just as long as there were no men around to make fun of him.

“Thanks. Let’s open this door and get them
out.” Tathan gestured at the ships as he turned and opened the
large gate. He left the questions unanswered and ignored the
dizziness he was feeling.

When he stepped inside, Aermoirre’s children
began struggling against the bonds again. “We’re going to release
you. Patience now.” They settled and Tathan went to the ropes
holding the nearest. Anilyia joined him while Emmaoen went to the
other.

It took a few minutes, but they were able to
release the first one and help Emmaoen with the second. The knots
were clumsily done, but there were so many of them that it took
work. Tathan was exhausted by the end. He was thankful the fighting
was over so he would be able to rest. At the moment, he didn’t even
care about any other treasure that might be deeper in the
tunnels.

The ships were eager to get out, but were
also afraid to go into the main cave. “It’s alright, Emmaoen told
them. “The monster’s gone now. Follow us.” The gate was just big
enough for the ships to get through, but they had to tilt at an
angle to fit their masts. A minute later, Tathan and the ladies had
mounted their horses and were leading the ships up the tunnel.

They exited the cave to a cold, fresh autumn
morning. The baby ships rushed to their mother and glided on board
to cuddle up next to the mainmast. Aermoirre’s bell gleamed in
pleasure at having her children rescued.

Tathan, Anilyia and Emmaoen noticed none of
that because they were too busy staring at the four enormous
dragons that were sitting in the valley watching Liselle work on
the knight.

There was a dragon of each color: white,
orange, purple and black. Each was twice as large as the deranged
dragon the companions had just slain. It became clear to Tathan
just how skinny Vevin was.

Tathan had to admit to himself that he was
in awe of how stunning they were. They radiated great power and
their scales glistened in the glow of the sunrise. He could also
tell that they were ancient and wise. It showed in their swirling,
silver eyes and in the self-assured postures in which they held
themselves. It only took him a moment to figure out that it was
some sort of council. Tathan had stood before more councils in the
last few months than he cared for.

Each color of dragon was a bit different
from the others. The white one looked softer and held its head
high. Silver edged the white scales covering it, a feature Vevin’s
father didn’t have.

The orange was the largest, ten feet taller
than the others were, even sitting. Its muscles bulged underneath
the scales, reminding Tathan of a gladiator. There were five thin
spikes along its spine and six on its tail. Tathan got the
impression it would be a terrible foe, not that he intended to test
that theory.