Tail of the Dragon (13 page)

CHAPTER 35

The titan was the biggest man Nath had ever seen. His head had two faces: one in front and one in back. The massive man was chest and shoulders on both sides, his body bronze and brawny. One face sneered. The other was shouting, “I am free!”

Nath’s mother shouted an order. “Dragons, attack! Force Isobahn back behind the wall!”

Hundreds of dragons converged, coating the titan.

The huge man—so big he held a bull dragon in the crook of his arm like a pup—slung them off one by one.

The dragons released fire. Lightning. Everything shook. They flung themselves into the titan, driving him back inside the wall.

Nath watched the battle in awe. The dragons, with all their skill and grandeur, were no match for the titan’s relentless power. His massive fist swatted the dragons down like flies. His feet stomped them between his toes. Isobahn was no man. He was pure monster.

“We have to help!” Nath said.

“Aye!” Brenwar said, spitting in his hands and rubbing them together. “Step aside. That giant is mine!” After a few seconds of winding Mortuun in a huge windmill circle, he released the hammer with all his might. The hammer flew and struck the titan between the eyes. A clap of thunder rang out.

Kapow!

Isobahn the titan teetered backward.

The dragons rallied with triumphant roars.

“Push him through, brothers and sisters. Push him through!” Nath’s mother said.

Moved by his mother’s words, Nath, little bigger than the titan’s finger, charged. He hurled himself along with the throng of dragons and scaled up the titan. Clawed hands digging into its coarse flesh, he raced up its belly, up the shoulder, and launched both fists into one of its eyes.

The titan groaned and fell like a collapsed tower.

“Get out of there, Nath!” he heard his mother scream.

Fire and lightning blasted into Isobahn. The titan rocked and reeled. Dragons by the hundreds, all shapes and sizes, piled onto him.

Catching friendly fire, Nath dove away.

Guzan! Where am I?

The other side of the cavern glowed with a burning red light. Streams of lava flowed from the deep. Steam and sulfur tainted the air.

Nath’s eyes watered and burned. Blinking, he watched the dragons reforming the wall.

“Run, Nath! Quickly!”

Nath sprinted for the wall. The dragons were reforming it with incredible speed. He took a quick glance over his shoulder. The titan was back on its feet. Its massive hand reached down and scooped Nath up from the ground.

Nath cried out. “Ahhh!” Pain exploded through his body. His breath fled. His face purpled.

The titan opened up its mouth and started to shove him in.

Sultans of Sulfur! I’m being crushed and consumed. Nooooo!

A gold dragon appeared. It slipped into the jaws of the titan’s mouth and unleashed a firestorm down the titan’s throat.

Nath slipped free of the titan’s loosened grasp. He hit the ground with a thud. Reeling, he forced himself up to his feet, cried out, and fell. His leg was broken. He spat blood and clutched his sides. His ribs were busted.

How many bones did that monster break?!

Setting his jaw and ignoring the pain, Nath hopped on one foot toward the wall.

Behind him, the gold dragon, the most magnificent winged serpentine he’d ever seen, continued to let the titan have it. The monster’s head was nothing but flames.

Still, it fought on, swatting oversized fists at the dragon. None of the heavy blows hit the mark. Roaring, it lowered its shoulder and charged for the wall.

Hobbled, Nath hopped as fast as he could.

The titan’s foot overshadowed him and came down.

I’m going to be goo!

A golden streak whizzed in and scooped him up just as the giant foot came down.

Whoom!

Nath found himself being sped toward the small hole that was left in the wall and whisked through. The golden dragon gently set him on the ground and turned to face the wall. The dragons filled it in with their armored bodies. The final link was set. Their colorful skins and hides began to harden just as the titan on the other side rocked against it.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“We are safe now,” the golden dragon said. “The wall is secure.”

Finding Selene and Brenwar back by his side, Nath used them to get back on his feet. Then, gazing up at the dragon, he said, “Who are you?”

“I am Grahleyna, Nath. Your mother.”

Three horses tall, she towered over him. She was wondrous. Her pearl-white horns curled over her head, and long black lashes flicked over her golden eyes. Scales twinkled at the subtle movements of her muscles underneath. Nath reached over to touch her. Limping over, he wrapped his arms around her massive leg.

Grahleyna chuckled. “Oh, Nath, let me make this easier for us.” With an utterance of mystic words, she began to diminish in size. Standing gold eye to gold eye with him, she said, “This is better. Is it not?”

She was a fair-skinned, golden-haired woman with a pearl crown on her head. Trembling, Nath reached over and hugged her with tears swelling in his eyes. Her embrace was warm as a campfire. “I was never sure if you were real until just now.”

She stroked his hair. Tears ran down her soft cheeks. She sniffed. “I’m sorry, Nath. I never meant to leave. And I never intended to be gone so long, but I had to do what needed to be done. It was my turn, and the timing was bad. Besides, I didn’t have any way of knowing that you were the one.”

He eased back. “What do you mean?”

“There were many eggs. Some hatch in days, others decades. You certainly know that you have brothers and sisters.” She squatted down and put her hands on his broken leg. “They just hatched dragons, and you a man.”

Nath’s leg tingled with tiny charges of fire. The pain eased. He shifted his weight on it and said, “It’s better, but wait a moment. You said hatched.”

“Yes, why?”

“So, I was born in an egg?”

She combed her fingers through his hair and said, “Certainly. How else would you be?”

“Hah! I knew you were hatched!” Brenwar said. “I knew it!”

Nath didn’t want to think about it. Even though he was a dragon, he didn’t care for the idea of being hatched. He never had, for some reason. Moving on, he asked his mother, “So, can you come with us? Or do you have to stay and help form the wall?”

Boom!

“Oh,” she said, glancing over her shoulder, “Isobahn is secure. He’s not the one we need to worry about. It’s the others.”

CHAPTER 36

“I didn’t see anything else,” Nath said to his mother. Brenwar and Selene looked around with wide eyes, too. “Azorath? What has become of him?”

There was a shuffle of movement underneath one of the dragons who had fallen to the wrath of the titan. It was a gray scaler, little bigger than Nath. A hand stretched up and around its belly. Brenwar jogged over and rolled the dragon over. He jerked Azorath’s haggard form up to his feet. “Here is the wretched deceiver.”

Clutching his chest, Azorath said, “I need to get used to this mortality. I think parts of me are broken. Weee! Ow! I hurt.” His spacey black eyes drifted over to Grahleyna. “I see you found your mother. I told you so, Nath. Giving me life was worth it, now. Wasn’t it.”

“You took what wasn’t yours, Azorath.”

“Oh, you’ll be fine,” he said in his mysterious way. “Besides, with the titans free, you probably shouldn’t plan a life of longevity. But I’m certain yours will be fuller than a hundred lives, for a spell.”

Nath stepped toward Azorath and took ahold of his neck. “What do you mean?”

Grahleyna took his arm and pulled him back. Resting her hands gently on his shoulders, she said, “Finding me came at a price, Nath. You see, Isobahn was a bodyguard of the true threat. Now, the others escape. Crafty spirits they are. They couldn’t penetrate the dragon wall, but little more than ethereal in form, they easily escaped when the wall was breached.”

“So we can’t see them?”

“They are harmless until they take host in other bodies, and that could be anybody,” his mother said. “They prey on the weak. Divide and conquer. The threat they pose is not easily seen. That’s why Borgash fell. The men and women were so divided that even after we vanquished the titans, they still fought among themselves. Once you plant the bad seed in men, it doesn’t take long for their lives to unravel.”

“How did you trap them before?” Nath said.

“In this last case, we trapped them, body and spirit, behind this barrier. Several brave dragons fought them on the other side, hoping to wipe them out of existence, but their valiant efforts failed.” She rubbed his shoulder. “It’s difficult to destroy evil. A remnant always remains.”

Nath’s throat tightened. Did Gorn Grattack still exist? Had Nath not wiped that monster out entirely? “Mother, there has to be a better way than this.” He stretched out his hands toward the wall.

“Don’t,” she said, “else you’ll have Isobahn trying to bite off our heads again. It’s best such darkness lies in the deepness from where it came. Nalzambor’s bowels can hold them without help. And the dragons understand their sacrifice, but a time may come when it has to be made permanent. That is a fate they must choose on their own.” Grahleyna put her arm around Nath’s waist and led him away. “It was destined that they should be let loose for a season anyway.”

“Let loose? Why?” he said, incredulous.

“It’s just the times we live in.”

Long faced, Nath felt his blood seep into his toes. Finding his mother should have been a time of celebration. Instead, he’d loosed more menaces into the world. It didn’t help that he wasn’t in the full grandeur of a dragon, either. He was much weaker.

Selene found her way to his side. “Don’t be hard on yourself, Nath. You couldn’t have known.”

“Your friend is right. Selene, is it?” Grahleyna said, fastening her eyes on Selene’s.

“Yes, your majesty,” Selene said, taking a knee.

“Oh, there is no need for that, my dear.” She helped Selene up to her feet. “You have a great understanding of this darkness, don’t you.”

Frowning, Selene said, “More than I care to admit.”

“Use that knowledge. You’ll need it.” Grahleyna turned back to Nath. “What led you here anyway?”

“Father gave us a hint: ‘What you seek is in the peaks.’”

Grahleyna laughed. “Oh, and that was it. So like him. He gives you just enough information so it will only take one thousand years to find me. But here you are.”

“So does father know that you have been here all along?” Nath said.

“Certainly.”

Angry, Nath said, “Why wouldn’t he tell me that? Why would he just leave you here like this? It’s a terrible thing!”

“And boring, but it’s mostly sleeping, so it’s not so bad.” She poked Nath’s chest. “And don’t you judge your father. It was my choice, not his. He didn’t like it one bit. He had a fit like a one-hundred-year-old about it. He started stomping around and shooting up big puffs of fire. I was embarrassed for him.”

“Father did that?” Nath said. He’d never seen anything like it from his father.

“Oh, don’t be disenchanted. He’s temperamental because he loves me.” She checked her nails and pushed her hair up a little. “And that’s probably why he endorsed your search.”

“Couldn’t he just come and see you?”

“By the Sultans, no! Balzurth would charge right through that wall and try to put an end to those titans. That’s exactly what they want. Take down the Dragon King. End his reign. They were so eager to get out, they missed a golden opportunity. They overlooked you.” Grahleyna turned her attention back to Azorath. “Now what do we do with you?”

“Me? I’m harmless. I just want to walk among men again.” His eyes darted from face to face. “Just a man. One that can live and have a natural death.”

“And a natural death you shall have.” Grahleyna opened her mouth. Bright golden flames washed over Azorath. He turned to a pile of ash before he could even scream. “Never trust a shade, Son.”

Nath convulsed. A river of life rushed through him. His blood coursed with a new spring of energy. “Thank you, Mother.”

She patted him on the shoulder. “Evil—don’t give it a chance. Now it’s time for your first order from Mother. Find those titans. Bring them back or destroy them.”

CHAPTER 37

Grahleyna flung her head back. “Ah! It’s so good to be in the sun’s light again. It warms me inside and out.” She spread her arms wide and spun slowly around. The bright light enhanced her incredible beauty and elegance. “Come, walk with me, Nath, and bring your friends along, while I still have the time.”

The Lost City of Borgash was still a barren place with strange and ugly vegetation. Nath carefully maneuvered through the thick vines. Brenwar’s eyes remained fixed on the ground, Mortuun swinging at his side. Selene managed to find her own place over a dozen paces ahead on a broken path that led east and out of the forgotten city.

Grahleyna whisked them out of the catacombs. It was a confusing and winding path, but Nath could make it back and out again if he had to. He was sure of it. Walking stride for stride with his mother, he kept his chin up and chest out. The joy of having her by his side was incredible, but a frown started to crease his lips.

“You care for her much, don’t you,” his mother said to him, eyeing Selene.

“I care for you much, and now you are leaving?”

“Well, I’m going to leave you with good advice, and that will be much better than the advice I left you with the last time.”

“Hah, well I suppose that is true.” He laughed. “I don’t want you to go, though. I want to stay with you. The titans can wait at least a decade, can’t they?”

“Oh, a decade with our sweet mother. How flattering is that? You certainly get that side of you from me and not your father. Of course, he does have a dashing side.”

“Father, dashing?”

She tousled his hair. “You are very handsome, like him, but more so.”

Nath flashed a smile, “No doubt it’s the part of you in me that shines.”

“Tell me more about you and Selene. I want to know everything.”

“Sh! Mother, she can hear everything.”

“That’s right,” Selene said, waving her arm up over her head. “And I can’t wait to hear what you have to say, Nath.”

“Perhaps our time could be better spent talking about how you met Father, Mother?”

Grahleyna chuckled. “I’m not going there, but I will tell you this: we were in mortal forms when we met.”

Nath’s brows lifted and he said, “Like me. Like us now?”

“The same.”

Nath’s eyes glided toward Selene. She was staring back at him with a playful glint in her eyes.

His mother continued, “Balzurth roamed Nalzambor the same as you did. A hero among mankind with countless triumphs. He was so cocky.” She sighed. “But I liked it. He picked the prettiest bouquets of flowers. And he could sing so soft the fairies would cry.”

“My father?”

“Oh, think back, Nath. I’m sure you’ve seen a softer side of him.”

There were plenty of lessons that Nath recalled, some harsh and others wise, but singing? He didn’t remember any of that.

Grahleyna started humming.

Words formed in Nath’s mind. He started singing.

“Ah praise the hills of daffodils, the kings, or run Tinny Lee. The dragons come, the fairies flee. Riding on the wings and scales came lightning from the clouds. Hondor the brave and ten thousand bannered warriors.

Run Tinny, run Tinny, run Tinny, run.

A thousand years, a thousand slumbers, comes the gentle crescent of night. Half for the light, half for the dark.

Run Tinny, run Tinny, run.

Home is there for the wayward son.”

Nath came to a stop. “He did sing that to me, didn’t he?”

“Yes, I’m sure of it. I never liked that song. It was sung by a drunken troubadour the day we met. The man’s voice was awful as an ogre’s, but your father made the song beautiful.”

“What does it mean? Who is Hondor?”

“No idea,” she said. “Just a silly song written by a sordid man who needed a button for his trousers. Not every song has to have a meaning. Sometimes it just needs to be fun to sing.” She lifted her chin toward the sky. A flock of dragons streaked through the clouds. “What in the name of Morgdon were those?”

Not hiding the concern from his voice, Nath replied, “Wurmers.”

Grahleyna’s golden eyes became as big as saucers. “Please tell me my eyes deceived me? Those blasted things are an abomination.” Fire sparked in her voice. “Oversized winged termites! Barnabus! They’ll be perfect hosts for the titans!”

Selene rushed down toward them and said, “Your majesty, it is my error. A failure of my past!”

“Then I’d say you and Nath are made for each other. You let one terror out of the sack and he let out another.” Grahleyna shook her head. “In the meantime, it looks like I’m going to have to deal with those wurmers myself. Stand back.”

Nath and Selene stepped way back.

Wings sprouted on Grahleyna’s back. Her body enlarged, and scales quickly covered her from head to toe. Within seconds, Nath gazed up at a most excellent gold dragon. “If I could only fly, I could go and destroy them with you.”

“Hah, hah, hah,” Grahleyna said, “if you could only fly. How silly you sound, Nath. I hope you figure that out soon, Dragon Prince.” She spread her beautiful black-and-gold wings out. “Now, I must go. And you two need to figure out how to clean up your mess.”

“But Mother, you can’t leave. We just met!”

Grahleyna bent down and kissed Nath on the head. “I promise to see you again much sooner than the last time.” Pushing off with her powerful legs, she launched herself into the air. Wings beating at a furious rhythm, she sliced through the air like a golden arrow and disappeared, pursuing the wurmers.

Shoulders slumped, Nath turned and faced his friends. “I can’t believe she’s gone already.”

“Get yer chin up,” Brenwar said, “I’m not of the impression that your mother would approve of you moping around.”

“Me either.” Holding her head, Selene said, “Gads, but now I feel even guiltier than before. We’re going to have to finish off those monsters before it’s too late.”

Eyeing the sky and rubbing the back of his neck, Nath said, “You know, just once it would be nice if my parents gave me a little more information.” He took a deep breath through his nose and pulled his shoulders back. “Well, I figured it out before, and together we’ll figure it out again. Let’s go.”

“As long as there’s a fight ahead, I’ll always be ready.” Brenwar swung Mortuun around with his wrist. “Where are we going?”

“It’s time to visit one of Nalzambor’s greatest historians.”

“Aw, great! We’re going to Morgdon,” Brenwar looked elated and started marching away.

“I’m pretty sure Nath’s not talking about Morgdon. I believe he’s referring to Quintuklen.”

Brenwar stopped and cocked an eyebrow. “Quintuklen? It’s a pile of rubble. And that will be a long, wasted march, too. Morgdon is far closer.” He eyed Nath and Selene up and down. “Not to mention the likelihood of danger. There isn’t even a weapon between you.”

“My wits are all that I need,” Selene said, standing with her arms crossed over her chest.

Nath held his clawed hands out before him. Having battled the wurmers before in the body of a full dragon, his clawed fingers seemed wholly inadequate. He tapped his noggin and walked off with a shrug, saying, “I guess my wits will have to do as well.”

But I’d feel much better if I still had Fang.