The Reluctant Warrior (20 page)

“We are here,” the chief said, before calling two of his warriors over. “Take the men to the guest hut and place a guard on the door.” He looked over at Amora. “Bring the woman to my cabin.”

Jed stepped forward and blocked the men from carrying out the order. “She stays with me.”

The chief’s face darkened. “You are my prisoners and I shall decide your fates.” He turned back to his warriors and repeated the order.

“Amora stays with me,” Jed said, much more firmly this time.

“I have the power to end your life right now,” he warned. “You would do well to submit to me.”

“I submit to no man,” Jed said boldly. “And I do not fear death, so your threats mean nothing to me.” He returned the man’s cold gaze with equal intensity. “Bring us weapons and we will fight to the death, for you have insulted my honor.”

The chief was taken aback. “It would be an uneven contest.” He pointed to Jed’s leg; obviously he had picked up on the way he had been favoring it as they had walked along. “You are already nursing a wound.”

“Wound or not I will still fight you here and now,” Jed said bravely. “When I have defeated you I will take some of your warriors with me to find Chantros.”

The chief seemed dumbfounded by his prisoner’s outburst. “You cannot defeat me when you are wounded, you would just be throwing your life away. Why do that? Save your efforts for Montrose.”

“I can defeat any man here including you, it makes no difference that I am wounded. Bring the weapons.”

The light of admiration came on in the chief’s eyes again. “I will not fight a wounded man. Such a thing is beneath my dignity. So I will grant your request. The Noragin may stay with you for the time being.” His eyes travelled down to Jed’s leg. “When it is healed, if you still wish it so, then we will fight.”

“What were you playing at out there?” Rex growled, after they had been taken to their hut.

“I’m supposed to be this mighty warrior so I figured it was time I started acting like one.”

“What do you hope to gain out of that?”

“Respect … to gain his respect…if I’d just let him take my woman then all respect for me would have disappeared. Do you think he would have allowed any of us to get out of here alive then?”

“If you’d fought him he would have killed you. He would have picked weapons of his choosing too you know. Weapons he’s skilled with but you are not.” He shook his head at Jed. “He would have killed you for sure.”

“Maybe.”

“No maybe about it,” Rex spluttered. “It was foolish.”

“Where’s Amora now, Rex?” Jed asked calmly. “And where would she be if I hadn’t challenged him?”

Rex flung his hands up in a gesture of defeat. “All right, all right, you pulled it off this time. But next time you mightn’t be so lucky.”

“Luck had nothing to do with it,” Jed said, with more than a hint of irritation at the suggestion. “It was a calculated risk.”

“A calculated risk…” Rex stared at him in disbelief. “How’s a man meant to calculate a risk like that?”

“I picked up early on that he was a man who admired and respected courage. I figured he was a man who also operated from a certain sense of fair play, and wouldn’t fight a man with an obvious disability for fear of losing face in front of his warriors.”

Rex sat down, and resting his back against the wall stared up at the rafters of the hut. “You’re a man who plays his cards mighty close to his chest is all I can say. But I guess I shouldn’t doubt you, you’ve got us all safely through this war so far.”

Amora waited for Rex to finish saying his peace before breaking from the shadows of the hut to snuggle into Jed’s chest. “Thank you,” she murmured. “I would have had to kill myself if he’d tried to take me.”

“Try not to worry,” he said tenderly. “I won’t let him touch you.”

She seemed reassured at his words and as she burrowed in closer he felt his heart go sick with the knowledge that it was a promise he might not be able to keep. If the fellow was determined to have her then he would take her, and there was really nothing much Jed could do to stop him. He had staved off his first attempt but he wouldn’t be thwarted forever. Sooner or later he would be coming for her and Jed had better have a workable plan in place for stopping him.

As he settled down for the night with Amora under his arm he felt the hopelessness of their situation wash over him. They were prisoners to a tribe who should be their allies against Montrose, he had some task he had to either complete or die trying to, and he now faced the very real possibility he was going to lose Amora to another man. Yes, he had to admit it, but boring old humdrum New York life was beginning to look mighty good right about now.

“Come, there is something I want you to see.”

Jed heaved himself up from his mattress and crossed the floor to where the chief’s head was peeping in at the door. “What is it?” he asked gruffly.

“Come and see what your task is.”

Jonathon and Rex joined Jed outside. “What’s this all about?” Rex asked.

“He wants me to see what my task is,” Jed said, as they followed the chief to the edge of the village.

“Down there.” The chief pointed to a small gully where a half grown bull was tethered to a stake, and a flaming torch was inserted in the ground a few feet away.

“What am I supposed to do, beat the bull to death with the burning stick?” Jed asked, unwilling to hide his sarcasm.

“You will see what you must do when Nadrog arrives.”

“Who is Nadrog?”

“That you will also see,” the chief said cagily. “He will be here soon.”

“I’m sick of all this cloak and dagger nonsense,” Rex complained. “Just tell us who this Nadrog is.”

The chief turned his face towards the sky. “Nadrog comes now.”

Jonathon squinted into the distance. “It’s a Pterodactyl.”

“No it isn’t.” Jed had it well within his sights now. “It’s too big for a Pterodactyl.”

“It’s enormous.” Rex had his binoculars trained on the creature. “That thing is huge.”

They watched as Nadrog swooped down into the gully and came to a hovering stop twenty feet above the bull. Opening his mouth wide he released a torrent of white hot flame that engulfed the hapless bull within seconds, and uttering one pain filled bellow the poor beast dropped scorched and lifeless to the ground.

“It’s a dragon,” Jonathon said in astonishment. “Nadrog is a dragon.”

Rex’s face fell. “I thought dragons were just fairy tales.”

Jed watched as the dragon dropped, and picking up its prey turned gracefully in the air before flapping its enormous wings and flying off the way it had come. “Obviously not,” he said quietly.

“That is your task,” the chief said somberly. “Kill Nadrog and I will take you and your friends to Chantros. Fail and you will never see the domed city.”

“Why don’t you fight the Dragon?” Rex snapped angrily.

The chief unbuttoned his tunic to reveal the flesh of a burns victim. “I lasted no more than a few seconds before he did this to me. If I hadn’t held my shield over my head for protection he would have killed me.”

Jed was still watching the dragon’s rapid departure towards the distant mountains. “What makes you think I’ll do any better against him?”

“You are a Sky-God. You think like a Sky-God while Nadrog thinks like one of us. He is used to our weapons and our methods of fighting only. Maybe you have a chance against him.” He turned his head to watch Nadrog who was not much more than a distant blob in the sky now. “He is very clever that one, more intelligent than any of the other creatures of our world.”

“I suppose he speaks too,” Rex said flippantly.

The chief turned to look at Rex. “I have never asked him,” he said, taking the remark seriously. “But it would not surprise me if he did.”

“Surely you are not seriously considering tackling that demon?” Rex said when they were back in the hut.

“What choice do I have? You heard him. If I don’t kill that dragon none of us will make it to Chantros. The Noragin are counting on us to bring back that weapon, or have you forgotten that?”

“No, I haven’t forgotten, Jed,” Rex said, calming down considerably. “But what can you do against a fire breathing dragon?”

“I don’t know. But I’ve got until tomorrow to come up with something.”

It was later that afternoon that Rex came back to him with an idea. “Look,” he said tentatively, “I’ve been thinking. It doesn’t seem possible that a creature can actually breathe out fire.”

“Well this one did, Rex,” Jed said irritably, “I saw him do it with my own eyes.”

“Just hear me out,” Rex insisted. “You saw that torch they had left in the ground next to the bull?”

“Yeah, the chief says they light that as the signal for Nadrog that his meal is ready. Apparently his eyesight is so good he can spot it from his lair in the mountains.”

“Well I’m thinking that torch is the key to making the contest between the two of you just a little more even.”

“I don’t follow you.” Jed could feel the irritation begin to creep back.

“I think the dragon is breathing out methane.”

“Okay,” said Jed, struggling to catch up with his friend’s line of reasoning, “so apart from giving Nadrog very foul breath, what is your point.”

Rex sighed, a little disappointed that Jed wasn’t taking him as seriously as he had hoped. “The flame from the torch is igniting the methane.”

Jed just stared at him for a moment before answering. “I think you just might have something there partner,” he said eventually. “I think you’ve just hit on a way of disarming that brute.”

Rex grinned contentedly. “I think I’ve told you before that I’m not just a pretty face.”

Jed was already thinking it over. “We need that torch to signal Nadrog to his meal though, or he might not come.”

“I’ve thought about that too. We’ll douse the torch with a bucket of water before the dragon gets within puffing range.”

“We…?”

“Of course, you didn’t think Jonathon and I would let you take on Nadrog alone did you?”

“You and Jonathon can’t come with me, Rex.”

“What’s to stop us?”

“The chief, he’s told me I must do this on my own.”

“That’s crazy,” Rex roared. “How does he expect you to kill that dragon on your own?”

“I don’t think he really does expect I’ll be able to do it. But he has made it clear that I must do it on my own or nobody goes free.”

Rex plonked himself down in an air of defeat. “Even without his firepower Nadrog would be a formidable opponent for a small army. But for one man?”

“It must have been a dragon we saw the other day out on the Plain of the Giant Lizards.” Jed was remembering how they had watched something big and black fire a bolt of flame before diving suddenly groundwards. “What would have ignited the methane though?”

Rex considered the question for a moment. “Maybe a campfire,” he suggested.

Jed didn’t remember seeing any puffs of smoke, but then they had been a long way off. It was possible that someone had been cooking over a campfire. That must be it, and the fire had attracted the dragon to its meal.

“He’s got wicked teeth and claws this Nadrog,” Rex recalled. “And I’m willing to bet he could use that massive tail as a weapon too if he had a mind to.”

“Mmm, he’s going to be no pushover that’s for sure. But he must have a weakness somewhere.”

“Will the chief let you use a rifle?”

“Yes, but I need to find a vulnerable spot on him for a bullet to be effective. I was thinking maybe the throat?”

“It should be the softest spot on him. It’s going to take precision timing though and I doubt he’ll give you much time to take careful aim. One shot is all he’ll give you.”

“I’ll only need a split second. My real concern is will one bullet be enough to drop him.”

Rex didn’t answer, and Jed knew he was thinking the same thing he was, that several bullets wouldn’t be enough to drop a creature the size of Nadrog.

“You should get some rest,” Rex suggested. “And get Amora to check your leg. These people may have something that will do it some good.”

Jed took his friends advice on the first suggestion but not on the second. There was no point going to the trouble of doctoring the leg when he was most likely going to be dead by this time tomorrow.

That night the chief sent them a jar of his own special brew. Jed figured it was the chiefs way of apologizing for making him fight a dragon he knew he had no chance in beating.

Rex was first to the jar and took a deep draft. “Whew.” He handed it to Jed before taking a few steps backwards. “I swear that stuff must be almost pure alcohol.”

Jed took a swig and had to agree, it certainly packed quite a punch.

Later that evening when the booze had lulled the others off to sleep he thought about the possibility that this could be his last night alive, and what it would mean for his companions. The chief would definitely take Amora for his woman, she wouldn’t get a say in the matter, and Jed couldn’t bear the thought of her being the woman of a man she didn’t love.

Rex and Jonathon’s fates were predictable enough. When he failed to slay Nadrog they would be sent one at a time into the gully to try their luck. Rex was plucky enough, and Jonathon had proved his worth the night they had attacked Montrose’s compound, but neither was going to be a match for the dragon. Jed was the only one who had any chance at all, and slim though that chance was he alone had the ability to think on the hop, to change tactics at a split seconds notice.

He must have drifted off eventually for he opened his eyes to discover Rex gently shaking him. “Wake up, Buddy,” he was saying sadly, “it’s time.”

Sitting up he took in the surroundings of the dingy hut. Jonathon was standing over by the window with his back to him, just silently staring out the window. Amora was hunched up in the corner with her head resting on her knees, and it sounded as if she was softly crying.

Rex helped him to his feet. “We’ll give you and Amora a few minutes alone together,” he said, then with Jonathon behind him slipped out the door.

“Amora…come here, honey.”

She was in his arms in seconds. “I don’t want you to go,” she whispered tearfully.

“I have to it’s my duty to your people to get to Chantros. If I defeat Nadrog then the chief will take us there.”

“Nadrog will kill you.”

He attempted a smile. “I’m a mighty warrior, Amora…remember?”

“No warrior is mighty enough to defeat Nadrog, not even you.” She looked at him through tear filled eyes. “I don’t want to live the next seven hundred years without you, Jed Rand. I could never love again you are the only man for me.”

“I must do this, Amora. So many lives are counting on me.”

She rested her head on his shoulder. “I know.”

“I’ll do everything I can to come back to you.” He did his best to sound confident for her even though he wasn’t confident at all. He would fight like a wildcat when the time came but there was only so much a man could do against a beast of that size and power. Kissing her gently he slipped out the door before she could say anything to him that might make him lose what little courage he had left.

The sacrificial beast was in place and the torch just lit as he made his descent to the bottom of the gully. The chief had given him a full length shield made of the lightest of steel which aided movement, and he also had Rex’s rifle slung over his shoulder.

Nadrog wasn’t long in coming, he must have been hungry. Jed tried his best to calm his hammering heart as he watched the black dot grow larger and more defined in the early morning sky. Positioning himself beside the burning torch he did a quick check to make sure the bucket of water was still in place and then planned how he would drop the shield to fire his rifle. It was going to be a problem, for he needed both his hands to aim and fire which meant shedding himself of the protection of the shield. That was going to open him up to Nadrog’s fiery attacks.

The dragon was not too far off now, and Jed could tell Nadrog had spotted him by the way he suddenly veered off to run a circuit of the gully, checking Jed out and assessing the danger the human posed to him. Finally, satisfied that he was more than a match for the lone man he began his descent.

Tossing the water onto the torch and picking up his shield a bolt of hot flame rocked him back on his feet, the heat scorching the hairs on his arm through the thin metal. “But the torch is out,” he said to himself in his bemused state. “So what’s igniting the methane?”

Another fiery blast broadsided the shield and sent him reeling backwards from the force of it. “So much for your theory, Rex Ferguson,” he muttered angrily.

When the dragon attacked again he knew it was the last time the shield would be of any use to him, it had become so hot he could barely hold on to it. He must retreat or die, and so he began a slow but measured withdrawal towards his escape route.

Nadrog was looking from Jed to the tethered bull and back to Jed again, he was obviously very hungry and was in a quandary as to whether he should deal to Jed or eat his breakfast. With Jed now moving away from him he must have decided the threat no longer existed, for he turned back towards the frightened bull.

“You have failed,” the chief said angrily, when Jed had climbed back up the gully to join the others.

“I have not failed,” Jed growled, with as much venom as he could muster. “I have discovered Nadrog’s weakness. Put a bull out again tomorrow and then I will slay him for you.”

The chief looked at him with intense suspicion. “Very well,” he agreed reluctantly. “But you must kill him tomorrow or you and your two friends must die.”

“So what was the weakness you spotted in him?” Rex asked excitedly, when they were back in the hut.