Death Comes To All (Book 1) (60 page)

Drom
thought about that. There were few things he could think of that the
assassin would have trouble defeating, but one thing certainly came
to mind right away, something that he knew had already been chasing
them before. He heard a loud roar, not too far away but still out of
sight, that confirmed his suspicions.

If
they ran the journey would be hard, and dangerous. They would have to
push themselves for days or even weeks, and even then they would be
lucky to escape.

“
I
won’t allow Raine to have to go through that kind of hard
travel right now,” Drom said seriously, ignoring the surprised
and confused look on Raiste's face. “Besides, we don’t
have time to run anymore.”

A
second loud roar punctuated Drom's statement. Overhead, the massive
red dragon flew over them. It turned quickly, practically on a
wingtip, to land in the open area in front of the Hut, between them
and the door. It lowered its head to eye Raiste. It was certain of
its target, and it wasn’t going to allow him to escape again.

Trick
let out a startled whistle, and promptly flew away. The dragonling's
gigantic cousin absently sent a small trail of red flame shooting
after it, but didn’t seem to care when the small creature
escaped. The dragonling was not its target after all. The target was
already in front of it, and the dragon wasn’t going to allow
itself to be distracted. The dragonling had distracted it once
already. It wasn’t going to fall for that a second time.

“
What
are you doing?” Raiste exclaimed, as Drom stepped in front of
him, putting himself between the huge reptilian monster and its
intended target. Drom ignored the question.

“
If
you want to harm my friends, you’re going to have to come
through me!” Drom roared defiantly, staring down the massive
dragon. He saw the tell-tale shimmer in the creature's wings. This
beast was not a true dragon, but the shadow dragon that had been
searching for them before. Dangerous, certainly, but only a fraction
of the danger that a true dragon would pose.

During
his studies each night, Drom had learned something of the nature of
dragons. Dragons became more powerful as they aged. The older a
dragon was, the more dangerous it would be. This dragon had the
appearance of a younger member of the species, one that would only
have just begun learning its true potential. A shadow dragon took on
the aspect of the dragon it was created to mimic, though not as
powerful.

So
this beast in front of me only has a fraction of the power of a
young, weak dragon.

Still,
for all that, it was still a dragon. Raiste had already said that the
beast had been too much for him to handle, and Drom was well aware of
how dangerous the assassin was. He would have to be a fool to
underestimate an opponent that he couldn’t deal with.

During
the several months since the assassin had left Drom had learned to
control his magic. He could bring on his magic with nothing more than
a thought now, and could allow it to build slowly enough that his
power would not create the wind that had, at first, accompanied it.
Now, however, he did not want to build his magic slowly. He needed
all his power if he would fight this monster.

The
dragon snorted, a sound that Drom interpreted as a laugh, and looked
down at him as a cat would look at a mouse. Any moment now the dragon
would attack, Drom knew.

“
Raine,
get down!” Drom ordered without looking, his gaze locked on to
the dragon facing him. He heard Raiste say something behind him, but
couldn’t make it out. His concentration was on different words;
words being spoken in his mother’s voice, from deep within the
depths of his own mind.

Even
the greatest of kings must bow before the awesome weight of the
ocean. Mountains have toppled and entire civilizations lost with only
one wave of the ocean's mighty hand.

The
magic flowed into and through him in an instant, the current of power
bursting forth from his body. Much like the first time he had used
it, only far more powerful, the massive output of energy released
created an incredible wind, as powerful as the force of a hurricane,
with Drom at its eye.

Even
with its immense bulk, the creature before him could not stand
against such an unexpected blow. Instead of being blown over,
however, it spread its wings and allowed the force of the wind to
carry it back, away from the three friends, to land on the ground
against several yards further back from where it had been.

As
the area around him acclimated to the power being put out by his
magic the wind subsided somewhat, though Drom could see that it still
affected the trees around him, pushing them out and away from him.
Drom afforded himself a quick glance back at his companions.

Raine
had followed his order and had dropped to the ground at once,
covering her head with her arms and tucking her legs up in a fetal
position to protect her body and the unborn children growing inside
her. Raiste, however, had not been so lucky. He had known the power
that Drom's magic would bring before, but when he had left it had not
been nearly as strong as it was now. In his apparently weakened
condition, he could not stand against such power. He had been thrown
backwards by Drom's sudden burst of energy, and now lay sprawled on
the ground several feet away. As far as Drom could tell he at least
appeared uninjured, but the assassin was not moving either.

Unfortunately,
now was not the time to check on his friend. The dragon in front of
him was still on its feet, and now eyed him with a look of suspicion.
It seemed that it was not going to underestimate him either, Drom
thought.

I
just hope that I’m not biting off more than I can chew.

Taking
the initiative, Drom charged at his larger opponent. This beast had
no idea what he was capable of yet, and he hoped to end things before
it realized just how dangerous he really was. His attack was fast,
closing the distance between them in less than a second. As fast as
it was, however, it was not fast enough to catch this wary opponent
by surprise.

The
dragon sent out a narrow beam of flame, right at his rapidly
approaching enemy. Drom saw the flame at the last second and twisted
away, the heat from the stream of dragonfire close enough that he
could feel the heat singe his skin slightly near where it passed,
though it had missed him by several inches.

He
landed on a single foot and pivoted quickly, hoping to close the
distance before the creature realized that it had not hit him. He
thought he felt something coming toward him, and instead of moving
forward like he had planned he dived to the ground, the massive claw
of the dragon passing over him by mere inches.

It’s
so fast!
he thought quickly.
I never even saw it coming!

As
he rolled to his knees, he slashed out with Ocean’s Hand at the
appendage as it retreated. Even as fast as he was, the dragon’s
claw was out of range before the blade had reached it. Drom moved to
stand once again, but once again sensed an unseen attack and rolled
to his left as the claw came down, the weight of the blow sinking the
clawed foot nearly a foot into the ground. Once again the dragon
pulled back the appendage before Drom had the chance to strike.

Now
Drom suddenly understood why Raiste had not been able to defeat this
creature. When Drom was infused with his magic he was lightning fast,
quicker even than Raiste, but somehow, for all its size, this monster
was faster still. It shouldn’t have been possible, but Drom
knew without doubt that it was true.

Sensing
movement again, faster than he could see it, he rolled back to his
right, then immediately pushed himself backwards and on to his feet
once again. A thick tail, covered in heavy spikes, slammed into the
ground he had just occupied. Drom leaped forward, swinging Ocean’s
Hand in a wide sweep. The very tip of Ocean’s Hand struck true,
neatly slicing off one of the thick spikes on the dragon’s tail
and raking a long, deep grove in the meat of the appendage before the
beast pulled it out of range.

The
monster roared in pain and surprise, glaring down at the small
sorvinian who had managed to harm it. According to all of the books
Drom had read on them, a dragon’s hide was one of the strongest
natural materials in the world. There had been several stories of men
attempting to combat dragons, and often those men discovered that
their weapons merely bounced off the dragon’s thick hide.

This
dragon must have thought that it would be nearly invincible to a
sword strike. It must have come as quite a surprise to the dragon to
learn that Ocean’s Hand would not be so ineffective. Still, a
minor score on its tail was not going to take down this beast, Drom
knew, and so far he had not been able to close the distance between
them.

The
dragon took a tentative step forward, seeing at its opponent in a
whole new light.

It’s
just been toying with me,
Drom realized.

Up
until now this beast had not even seen him as a possible threat, much
like Raiste had felt about the trog he had killed the first time they
had met. Now this dragon started to believe that perhaps he might
prove more dangerous than it had originally believed.

Drom
wasn’t sure if he should think of that as a good thing or not.
On one hand, it appeared that the dragon now believed him to be a
dangerous enough opponent to warrant caution, where it had not
before. Maybe the dragon was right, and he was dangerous enough that
he could kill this beast. On the other hand, it also meant that the
dragon would now be taking this fight more seriously than it had been
before. He had been taking this fight seriously from the beginning,
but if this creature had only been toying with him before, it meant
that it was likely to be far more dangerous than it had shown.

For
the first time since he had summoned his magic, he felt a small
trickle of fear. Not enough to paralyze him or turn him from his
task, his magic brought with it a strong sense of calm that pushed
away any such emotions, but it was there all the same. It was far too
late for them to run, he knew. If he failed here this beast would
kill him, it would kill Raiste, and, most frightening of all, it
would certainly kill Raine and his unborn children.

He
looked back at his friends, just a glance, to make certain that they
were all right so far. Raine had crawled over to Raiste's side, where
she had pulled the assassin to an upright position. She seemed to be
fine, so far, and while he couldn’t tell if Raiste was even
conscious, it appeared that he might be all right as well. As long as
he succeeded in defeating this dragon that is, which would be no
small feat.

He
thought back on everything that had happened to him over the past few
months. The first time he had met Raiste, who had introduced himself
as Garan then, he had been overawed by the speed and power that the
wiry assassin had shown. He would never have believed that such
amazing skill existed. Now, however, he found himself facing an
opponent that had proven itself too powerful for that man to defeat.

He
thought back on Raine, when he had first met her as well. She had
been huddled in a dark corner, cloaked both by the hood she had been
wearing and the darkness that concealed her nature. When he had first
learned that she was a feral he had been amazed. He had never dreamed
of meeting one of her race. Now, she would soon be giving birth to
his children.

Something
occurred to him in that moment that, up until then, he had not before
considered. They would soon be starting a family together, planned on
living as husband and wife, and yet in all that time, he had never
learned her true name. He had never thought to ask it. He loved her
for who she was, not what name people knew her by. If he failed now
he might never know the name of his future wife.

No!

His
mind screamed at him in protest. He could not allow himself to die
without knowing the name of the mother of his children! He could not
die without ever knowing the name of the children that were growing
in her womb! He would not allow them to die, never having a name of
their own!

“
No!”
he screamed, this time out loud, facing down the monstrosity before
him. The blue glow of his magic flashed brighter than ever before,
reflecting off of the dragon’s glistening red scales to cast a
bright purple glow on the ground between them.

Drom
charged in to the attack once more, but the dragon was not caught
unprepared. One claw flew out, blindingly fast, intercepting Drom's
attack. Drom sliced down with Ocean’s Hand, just missing the
top finger of the clawed hand before neatly slicing off the middle
two. Before the blade could complete the stroke the bottom claw
reached Drom, tripping him forward to fall between the remaining
fingers.

The
dragon roared in anger, but didn’t waste its advantage.
Spinning in place like a dog chasing its tail, the beast spun around,
whipping its heavy spiked tail Drom's way as he lay sprawled out on
the ground.

Sensing
more than seeing the lightning fast attack, Drom raised Ocean’s
Hand above him, hoping to slice through the appendage as it came,
using its own momentum against it. At the last second the dragon’s
tail flipped higher in the arc, passing above Drom's mighty weapon.
As the tail passed by Drom rolled himself to his feet, moving quickly
to get prepared before the dragon was able to get reoriented.