Dragon Apocalypse (The Berserker and the Pedant Book 2) (4 page)

“Oh!” Arthur smiled.
 
His eyes opened with excitement and his tentacled tongue slithered against the inside of his teeth.
 
“It is the orb.
 
I’m rather curious how she acquired it so quickly.
 
The temple couldn’t have been that easy to penetrate.”

“As to that, sire, I haven’t any idea.
 
If I knew how to break into the temple and acquire the orb, well then, I should have volunteered myself for the duty.”

“No matter,” Arthur said.
 
“Did you also give her the cursed sword?”

“Of course, sire.”

“And you instructed her to give it to our enemies?”

“Yes, sire.”

“Very well.
 
Then it is time to prepare for our minion on the elven ship to open the way back to this world.
 
She brings with her the ability to extend the range of the Orb of Skzd so that it can open a portal across the boundaries of this dimension and summon forth The Unnamed One.”

“Isn’t ‘The Unnamed One’ a name?”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I’m just saying that while ‘The Unnamed One’ may have not had a name once, when people started calling it ‘The Unnamed One’ it acquired that as a name.”

“No, that’s not its name.
 
That’s just what people call it.”

“Seems like a name to me.
 
Maybe we should call it The Named One, though that doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.”

“Are you done?”

“Yes, sire.”

“Call upon the mysterious man in the silken cloak.
 
We shall ready the portal.”

C
HAPTER
F
OUR

The Berserker and the Maiden

“WE’VE RUN OUT of maidens,” the mayor told the crowd in the morning, shaking his head sadly.
 
The mayor stood beside a wooden pole with chains and manacles attached to it.
 
The manacles were empty.
 
“I’m afraid that last night, the last maiden in the city, shall we say… disqualified herself.
 

“Trollop!” said a voice in the crowd.

“In about five minutes, the dragon will be here and we’ll all be scorched and eaten alive.
 
Please, don’t panic.
 
There’s nothing to be done.”

The people in the crowd looked around at one another.

“Can’t we still pretend she’s a maiden?” said a voice in the crowd.

“A good idea, for sure,” said the mayor.
 
“But the dragon can tell these things, he’s got a unicorn with him.
 
I’m afraid we’re doomed.
 
Nothing to be done about it.”

“You can’t fool a unicorn,” someone in the crowd shouted.

“How about a male maiden? I’m sure we’ve plenty of those.
 
Roger here, for example.”

“Hey!
 
I’m not a maiden!”

“Sure, sure, we all believe that.”

“It’s no good anyway.
 
The dragon quite prefers that the maiden in question be a woman,” said the mayor.

“The dragon’s really quite particular,” another voice criticized.

“What about a young maiden?
 
I mean, technically, if we can just find someone young enough…” said someone in the crowd.
 
He turned and looked at Pellonia, as did the rest of the crowd.

“Right then,” said the woman Pellonia had met the day before.
 
“She’s a maiden, roight an’ propa.
 
Said me so ‘erself, yesterday.”

“No good,” said Pellonia, shaking her head.
 
“I have it on good authority from a former half-unicorn that one must be of a sufficient age for being a maiden to mean something.”

“Sure’s ya do!” said the woman.
 
“Why don’ ya come ova here like a good lil’ miss an’ let us hook ya up fur the dragon?”

The crowd turned towards Pellonia and began to creep towards her.
 
Pellonia started to back away when Maximina whistled and her dogs leapt to their feet and ran beside her, baring their teeth and growling at the crowd.
 
Gurken sneered and raised his axe, stealing a glance at Eihwaz, the dwarfen rune of strength, reliability, setting your sites on a reasonable target in order to achieve ones goals.
 
The rune did not glow.

The crowd stopped advancing as it considered the growling dogs. Then the ground shook. The buildings creaked and groaned in complaint at the tremor.
 
The dogs looked around, whining, as everyone struggled to remain on their feet.

A roar reverberated through their bones, rattling their teeth.
 
The dragon had arrived.

The crowd took to their heels and ran in utter panic and sheer terror.
 
An intense heat seared into the backs of Pellonia, Maximina, and Gurken.
 
The dogs ran off after the crowd.
 
Everyone turned and saw dragon’s fire tinting the sky a deep orange hue.

The beast was larger than a house, golden scales reflected the light of its fiery breath.
 
It sat behind them with its neck outstretched to the heavens, spewing fire into the sky.
 
A pale unicorn stood alongside the dragon, its white coat aglow.
 
The unicorn watched Pellonia as the dragon’s flames peaked and died down, the roar of flames giving way to the quiet of the morning.
 
The square was empty except for the dragon, the unicorn, Pellonia, Gurken, and Maximina.

“Well met,” said the unicorn.
 
Pellonia and Gurken looked at each other.

“Well met,” said Pellonia.

“Come along then, maiden,” the unicorn said.
 
“We haven’t got all day.”

“How come you can talk?” asked Pellonia.

“Who me?” the unicorn asked.
 
“Why shouldn’t I be able to talk?
 
How come you can talk?”

“I- uh, never mind.”

“I should hope so.
 
Stupid question.”

“Sorry.
 
Also, I’m not a maiden.”

“Sure you are. Are you trying to tell me my business? I’m a unicorn, I know maidens. That’s pretty much what we do.”

“But I’m not old enough to be a maiden.”

The unicorn cocked its head to the side, studying her.
 
“You’re an elf, aren’t you?”

“Well, yeah.”

“So you only look thirteen.
 
How old are you, actually?”

“Umm…Twenty years or so.”

“There ya go… maiden.
 
Now, unless there is anything else, we should really get going.
 
Omumborombonga gets cranky when she’s late for her nap.”
 
The dragon lowered her immense head, her face dark, shadowed against the sun’s brilliance, and glared at Pellonia.

Pellonia gulped.
 
Addressing the dragon, she asked, “Are you going to eat me?”

The dragon jerked back her immense head and her eyes opened wide.
 
“Good heavens, no!”
 
Her voice boomed, rattling the doors of the houses; somewhere, a dog howled.
 
The dragon cringed and looked at the unicorn helplessly.

The unicorn sighed. “Now you’ve done it!
 
You’re making Omumborombonga very angry!”

“She doesn’t look angry,” Pellonia responded, crossing her arms.
 

“No, no.
 
You’re mistaken.
 
She’s furious.
 
Let’s get going before she incinerates the entire town!”

“I know anger, pony,” Gurken interjected, “and that dragon isn’t angry.”
 
Gurken glared at the unicorn.

The unicorn stomped its front hoof on the ground several times and blew air out its nose.
 
The unicorn said quietly, “Fine, she’s not angry.
 
She’s not going to eat anyone.
 
Can we talk about this somewhere else?
 
People are watching.”

The dragon’s cave was immense.
 
The entrance was an enormous hole in the ground, big enough for the dragon to fly in.
 
The dragon glided into the opening as Gurken, Pellonia, Maximina, and the unicorn walked into the cave.

“If the dragon doesn’t eat maidens, why do you keep taking them from the town?” Pellonia asked.

“Have to keep up appearances,” said the unicorn.
 
“People wouldn’t be afraid of the dragon if they thought she was soft and sweet, would they?
 
No, it would be “Let’s go get the dragon” and “Let’s kill the beast.”
 
Then we really would have to kill the villagers when they came to the cave and attacked.
 
As it is now, we only have to kill the occasional knight coming to rescue a maiden.”

As they descended into the cave, darkness engulfed them.
 
Maximina’s eyes began to glow, a soft green luminescence.

“Why do your eyes do that?” Pellonia asked.

“What, glow?” Maximina said, pointing at one eye.
 
Maximina smiled.
 
“It lets me see in the dark.
 
Quite the advantage, wouldn’t you say?”

“Dwarves can see in the dark.
 
Our eyes don’t glow,” Gurken said.

Maximina chuckled and shook her head.
 
“Dwarves can see in low light situations; Under Elves can see in the dark.
 
Our eyes provide all the light we need.
 
Vastly superior.”

Gurken shot her an impatient look.
 
He raised his axe and growled, “I’d be happy to settle this in a battle to your death.”
 
He furled his brow.
 
“I believe we have some unfinished business to discuss, and your puppies don’t seem to be about to protect you.”
 
He grinned and bent his knees slightly, assuming a fighting stance.

The greenish glow of Maximina’s eyes changed to orange.
 
She scowled at him and reached both of her hands over her shoulders, pulling something off her back and snapping her arms back down in front of her.
 
On each arm she bore a shield ringed with spikes around the edge and covering its face.

“Two spiked shields?” Gurken asked, confused.

“Oh, yeah.
 
Two spiked shields.
 
You will never get through my defense, and though they don’t do much damage, I’ll wear you down.”
 
She shuffled her feet and bobbed back and forth, moving the shields in a defensive pattern.
 
Gurken watched her, following her with his eyes without moving his head, looking for an opening.

“Gurken! Maximina!” Pellonia said.
 
“Stop it this instant.
 
We’ve got to work together.”

They ignored her and began to circle.

“While this has been amusing,” said the unicorn, “I’m going down into the cave.
 
Feel free to follow when you’ve sorted things out.”
 
With that, the unicorn turned and walked down the path.
 
Pellonia followed.

“Yield?” Maximina asked.

“I accept,” Gurken said, lowering his axe.

Maximina lowered her shields.
 
“That’s not what I mea-“
 
But Gurken had already walked down the path after Pellonia.
 
She hurried after them, shouting, “That’s not what I meant.
 
I wasn’t yielding! I was asking if you yielded.
 
Come back, let’s finish the fight!
 
Please!”