Ossendar: Book Two of the Resoration Series (69 page)

Flare closed his eyes as another wave of dizziness and nausea swept over him. He was in no condition to fight a battle, but what choice did he have? No where to run, and there wasn't any really defensible spot to make his stand. He scanned the ledge again, and then he spotted a possible miracle. This whole ledge had small niches along the overhanging cavern wall, and the guardians had been drawn to the coffin as soon as they arrived. In fact, they really hadn't paid too much attention to the rest of the ledge, especially the niches on past the coffin. But now, kneeling down as he was, he was in perfect position to see directly into the last several niches. The very last niche concealed a small block lined opening. An opening that appeared to be a tunnel entrance, at the very least it had to be a defensible location.

He pushed himself back to his feet, and nearly fell over. He had never felt exhaustion like this before, he could barely stand and it was fogging his thoughts as well.

Flare pulled the sword that he had brought with him from its sheath, and threw it to the ground. He then sheathed Ossendar, and knelt down beside Atock. His left arm was too sore to lift the big man, so he was going to have to do this with just his right arm. He spent several minutes trying to determine the easiest and best way to lift Atock, and the whole time he kept casting glances back at Zalustus' soldiers. They were still milling around, and had not yet tried to cross over. Turning his attention back to Atock, he sighed and reached down and pulled Atock into a sitting position. Then, grasping Atock's belt, Flare pulled him up and over his right shoulder.

The pain was excruciating, but Flare did not lower Atock back down. If he did that, then he was afraid that he might not ever get him back up. As it was, his legs shook from the exertion.

“Flare,” Zalustus called out faintly, “Where are you going to go? Look around you. There's no where left to run. And besides, after the sorcery that you performed, you must be about to pass out.”

Momentarily, Flare wondered exactly what Zalustus knew about sorcery, but he pushed those thoughts aside. There would be time for that later.

As it turned out, the hardest step was the very first one; they seemed to get easier after that. Or perhaps it was just that his momentum was moving forward and it was just easier to keep moving. Flare suppressed a panicky chuckle as he envisioned himself collapsing and Atock landing on top of him.

“It doesn't matter where you go on that ledge, there's no where you can hide. We will find you.” Zalustus' voice called out from behind him.

Flare ignored the other man; he really didn't have the energy to argue. After several moments of stumbling, they reached the last niche, the one that contained the opening. No wonder it had been so easy to miss. It was lower than the others, and several steps led down into it. The steps were blocked from view by three large stones that were piled up in front.

He walked around the stones and slowly descended the steps. He would like to have gone faster, but he simply didn't trust himself. At the bottom of the steps, was a small landing with the oval shaped tunnel opening.

Flare paused at the entrance to the tunnel, or whatever is was, and peered in. Even with the light from the lava behind him, he couldn't see more than a few feet in. Picturing the light he desperately needed, Flare spoke the incantation, “Il-lum.” Once again, a small light popped into existence and hovered at shoulder height. He was greatly relieved. He had been afraid that his exhaustion would have kept the spell from working.

Swallowing hard, Flare stepped into murky tunnel.

Flare followed the tunnel for what seemed like forever, but he knew it was maybe half an hour. The tunnel was a narrow low ceiling passage that had been cut from the rough stone. The tunnel started out heading downwards, and quickly turned upwards. The upward climb was murder on his aching legs, and Atock's dead weight didn't help any.

Atock's head still lolled back and forth, but he had started groaning. Flare took this as a good sign.

The first part of the tunnel was dry as a bone, probably from the heat of the lava. It was narrow, and Atock kept scraping on the tunnel sides. On the upward slope, the temperature gradually cooled off and moisture starting collecting on the walls, but Flare barely noticed. He just kept struggling onwards and upwards, walking almost in a daze.

The tunnel gradually widened, and the slope steepened. Huffing and grasping for breath, he stumbled onwards. The tunnel evened out and he glanced up and froze, nearly slipping and falling on the slick floor. Another ten yards along the tunnel, what looked like a curtain of ropes hung down to the floor.

He moved forward slowly, hoping that this curtain was safe. As he drew nearer, the curtain slowly came into view. Confused, he stared at the curtain of vines. What were vines doing underground?

Flare moved forward, examining the vines as he went. The vines hung down in a haphazard loose way, not too tight to squeeze through, but close enough together that he couldn't see what was on the other side. Swallowing hard, he forced his way into the vines. The vines were strong, and he twisted and turned to get through. A couple of times, the vines nearly pulled Atock off of his shoulders, but he forced their way through.

Twisting and turning his way through the vines, he wound up backing out of the opening. He turned quickly to see where he was, and Atock nearly fell of his shoulders. Gritting his teeth, Flare was forced to use his sore left arm to help stabilize the heavy man's weight. Getting Atock's weight balanced, he looked again to see where he was. A gentle breeze blew across his cheek, and once again he nearly dropped Atock, but this time it was from shock. The wind and the open feeling of the air was something he hadn't felt in over a week. He looked up and saw stars overhead. He was out of the mountain.

Flare had come out onto a plateau lower down on the side of the mountain. The plateau was oval shaped, and one of the longer sides was up against the mountain. The vine covered tunnel was right in the middle of the long edge of the plateau. Fallen boulders were scattered around the plateau, undoubtedly from rock slides.

Knowing he didn't have a whole lot of time, he moved as quick as he could across the plateau, crossing the thirty to forty yards to the edge. He felt like his legs would give out at any moment, but he couldn't let that happen. He had to keep moving, his life and Atock's both depended on it.

Reaching the far side of the plateau, Flare looked over the edge and felt his heart sink. The mountain was extremely steep at this point. Under normal circumstances, he could have made it down without too much difficulty, but there was absolutely no way he could climb down this steep slope with Atock on his back. He scanned to the left and right of the mountain side, trying to find any way down, but there was none.

Deflated, Flare let Atock slide off his shoulders and set the man down gently. Atock rolled onto his back, groaning, and Flare sunk down on his knees next to the edge of the plateau. There was no where left to run and besides, he didn't have any energy left to run anyway.

He didn't have long to wait. He had been on the ground for less than five minutes, when he heard the first sounds of the soldiers coming up the tunnel.

Within moments, the soldiers pushed through the vines. They stopped and looked around uncertainly. More soldiers were still coming through the vines, when a man in front shouted and pointed straight at Flare.

Sighing, Flare pushed himself to his feet; his body didn't want to respond. Perhaps, the knowledge that he was about to die was sapping what was left of his strength.

Zalustus pushed his way through the vines and stopped, looking across the plateau in the direction the soldiers were pointing. The soldiers parted, and Zalustus moved into the forefront. Even from across the plateau, Flare could see the smile on the Zalustus' face.

“Well. Well. Here you are.” Zalustus' tone was mocking. “I was surprised when you got off of the ledge, but at least you didn't get too far.” His smile broadened, “So do you want to just give me the sword, or do you want me to force it from you?”

Standing, and even swaying a little, Flare drew Ossendar. “Take it, if you can.”

Zalustus laughed. The man actually laughed. “Normally, Flare, taking the sword from you might be difficult, but not now. You can barely stand, much less fight.”

Flare knew Zalustus was right, but there was nothing he could do. Steeling himself, he took a step toward Zalustus, knowing that he was walking to his death. The wind suddenly picked up and flying sand covered the plateau like a sandstorm. Flare stopped and shielded his eyes. A crunching sound came from behind him, and as soon as the wind died down, Flare turned to see what had caused the noise. A large black dragon had settled down partly on the plateau, and partly hanging over the edge. Flare tripped over Atock's prone form; he hadn't even realized that he was backing away from the dragon. It was the dragon from the
valley
of
Ail-Dasharra
.

The dragon opened its mouth, and sucked in an enormous amount of air. So much air in fact, that it rustled Flare's hair.

Afraid that he knew what was coming, Flare threw himself facedown, across Atock's back.

The dragon quit sucking in air, and instead propelled the air from its jaws. The dragon roared as the flames shot out of its mouth.

Flare had his head turned away, but the air all around him seemed to catch fire and became super heated. It felt like he was lying in an oven. His skin felt like it was on fire, and he swore that he could smell burning hair.

After a moment, Flare realized the dragon had stopped roaring. Slowly, cautiously, he raised his head and looked around. The dragon sat there looking over Flare's head. Still lying across Atock's body, Flare turned his head and stared in the direction of the soldiers, or what was left of them. Four or five burning corpses lay on the ground. He could see more of the soldiers hiding behind the boulders, but some of them were screaming too. Zalustus was no where in sight, and Flare desperately hoped he was one of the burning corpses. The ground between the guardians and the soldiers appeared to be burning from the dragon's breath.

“I thought you could use some help,” the dragon's deep booming voice said from behind him. “I felt it the moment you took the sword.”

Relief flooded through Flare, “So, then, our deal is on?” He asked cautiously, turning back to face the dragon.

The dragon blew a smoke ring. “I will fly you to Telur, and in return, I have the freedom to travel the entire southern side of the
Silver
Mountains
.”

Flare nodded his head, grinning. It was a good deal for him and Atock, as it would save their lives.

The dragon once again looked over their heads, and Flare turned to look as well. The soldiers were still hiding behind the boulders, but most of them looked to be in pretty bad shape.

“You know,” the dragon said after a moment, “Perhaps, I should renegotiate this deal.”

“What?” Flare asked. He hadn't expected the dragon to save them, but now he was sort of counting on it. “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is that I think I have the advantage. I mean to say that you need me more now.” The dragon watched Flare, apparently waiting for a response, but none came. Flare tried to speak, and his mouth moved, but no sounds came out. Finally, the dragon spoke again, “What I want is complete release from my imprisonment. Freedom to go wherever I want.”

Flare winced. He could not turn the dragon loose on the world. He simply couldn't. “No.” He said, quietly but forcefully.

“No?” The dragon repeated, surprised. “Would you rather I left you here to those men?”

Flare pushed himself to his feet and turned to face the dragon. “If you leave me to those men, then you are bound to return to that little valley of yours. I was under the impression that you were tired of being imprisoned there.”

The dragon was silent for a moment, staring at Flare. “If I have to return to my prison, then you will die.”

Flare winced again, “True.” He lowered his eyes to the ground, looking for inspiration. And then an idea occurred to him. It was such a wonderful idea that he even laughed out loud.

“What are you laughing at?” The dragon seemed put off, like Flare was laughing at him.

Flare grinned up at the dragon, “How about a compromise?”

The dragon cocked its head sideways, reminding Flare of a dog, not that he would have ever said that to the dragon. The dragon still seemed to be considering. “Speak,” He said finally.

“You want more than the freedom of the
Silver
Mountains
. How about the freedom of the entire country of Golteranth?”

“Golteranth?”

“Yes,” Flare answered. “South of the Silver mountains and as far east as the ocean, and south to the river Narium.”

The dragon was silent for a moment, considering. “Done,” he said at last.

Flare grinned to himself again. He could not have turned the dragon loose on the world, but no one should complain about the dragon having free reign in Golteranth.

“Come on then,” The dragon said, interrupting Flare's thoughts. “Some of the humans escaped my fire by fleeing back into the tunnel. Let's leave before they come back.” The dragon watched as Flare moved quickly to lift Atock. “You said there would be three of you. Where's the third?”