Five Portraits (18 page)

“Only the unprincipled males, with respect to the pretty females. You are at extreme risk in that respect.”

“So I have gathered,” Astrid said dryly.

The bitch hesitated. “Can I hug you safely if I hold my breath?”

“Yes, but keep it brief. My ambiance—”

“I understand.” Wulfha opened her arms and took Astrid in, hugging her tightly, then withdrawing. “It has been an education and a pleasure to know you.”

“Ditto,” Astrid said sincerely.

Then they made their small formation and advanced into Dragon Country.

Chapter 9:
Dragons

They had hardly gotten out of sight of the wolf pack when the first dragon struck. It had been lurking behind an innocent-looking acorn tree beside the path. One moment they were walking in a line; the next, Myst was gone from the end of the line. There was the dragon, swallowing the morsel whole.

“Oh!” Astrid cried, appalled. “There was no warning!”

“That's 'cause there's no danger,” Firenze said.

“But Myst is gone!”

“Not exactly,” Santo said. “Watch.”

Astrid had been about to Stare the dragon into oblivion, but paused, watching. What did the children mean?

The dragon's satisfied smirk faded. Its body quivered and expanded. Its snoot wrinkled as if there were a bad smell. It turned greenish around the edges. What was happening? Then it stretched out its neck, gaped its mouth wide open, and let out a resounding belch. Colored mist poured out. That was odd, because it wasn't a steamer. The mist settled slowly to the ground and formed into the figure of a little girl. Myst was back. She had given the dragon one awful pain in the gas.

“That was fun,” she said, laughing.

Weak with relief, Astrid picked her, up, kissed her, and set her down. She had for a moment forgotten the child's nature.

“Are there any more cute little surprises coming?” Astrid inquired, trying to keep the edge out of her voice.

“Some,” Squid said.

“But nothing really dangerous?”

“Nothing we can't handle,” Win said.

“Yet,” Myst concluded.

Astrid sighed. “That's nice.”

They walked on. Another dragon appeared. This one was a fire breather. It inhaled hugely, ready to incinerate them with a single blast.

Win stepped forward, revving up her wind. As the dragon let go, the wind jumped to hurricane force. It blew the fire right back at the dragon's snoot, singeing it painfully. The dragon retreated, defeated by its own heat.

Farther along a third dragon attacked. This one was a steamer, and they were well within its range. But the children were not concerned.

This time Squid stepped forward. In plain sight of the dragon she shifted into a small basilisk, aiming her Stare directly at it. The dragon fell over itself in the haste of its retreat; it knew better than to bite a basilisk, or even look at it.

Before long there came a fourth dragon. This one was a huge smoker; their entire party would barely make a meal for it. It would suffocate them with smoke, then chomp them at its leisure.

Santo faced it. “Go away, smudge face,” he said. “Or I'll hurt you.”

The dragon almost fell over laughing. Then it inflated.

Santo focused on its tail. A hole appeared in it.

The dragon whipped about as its smoke dissipated into the sky, thinking it had been speared. But there was only the hole, now bleeding. It whipped back, inhaling again, ready to blast out its hot smoke.

Santo holed it again, this time in a foot. “I warned you,” he said as the dragon lost a second lungful of smoke.

The dragon still didn't make the connection. It inhaled a third time.

Santo holed it through the snoot, leaving it no good way to aim its smoke. At last it realized that it was overmatched, and retreated with its wounds.

“Now it gets more difficult,” Firenze said. “We'll have to stay close together.”

Astrid formed the children into a tight group following Firenze, while she brought up the rear. They moved on.

This time it was not one dragon, or two, or three. It was a battalion of them. They formed a virtual wall before the group, their wings overlapping like a phalanx. “I think I should tackle these,” she called to Firenze.

“Not yet,” he called back. “I can handle them.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” Santo said.

So the children had Communed, and knew. Astrid had to trust that, though she was not at all comfortable with it. Any mistake, and they would all be dragon snacks.

They marched up to the wall of dragons. Then Firenze's head heated. Sparks and fireworks radiated from it.

The dragons were not impressed. They had firebreathers of their own. They could handle heat.

Firenze's head became red hot. Then white hot. The air around him flickered as it heated. Wind came in from the sides as the air around his head expanded explosively and rose into the air. Soon a circulation developed, forming a fiery tornado. Coruscating heat whirled into the sky, picking up dust, rising into a turbulent cloud.

The dragons backed off. They were getting some respect. Firenze walked straight ahead, and the children and Astrid followed him as closely as the heat permitted. The dragons tried to come closer, but Firenze turned his head this way and that, and balls of fire formed where he looked, making even fire dragons pause. They were not accustomed to receiving fire, only sending it. He was forging a trail through the center of the dragon mass.

They came to a massive stone wall. That seemed to be the end of Dragon Country. Beyond it could be their escape. The path the children were following indicated that they did have to get by it, at any rate.

But now they were literally up against a wall, with the dragons closing off any possible retreat. The moment they tired or slept, the dragons would charge and swamp them.

“We have to get through this wall,” Squid said. “Our way is beyond it.”

“But it's hard,” Win said.

“And dangerous,” Myst said.

It was time for Astrid to organize things. “This wall can't be infinitely thick. We need to find a thin spot. Then Santo can make a hole through it.”

“There's something complicated about this wall,” Firenze said. “Something we don't understand. But we do need to get past it.”

“It will take a lot of energy to make a hole big enough for us to go through,” Santo said. “I can't make it both big and long.”

“Can you make small test holes?” Astrid asked him.

“Yes, but—”

Astrid was impatient because of the encroaching dragons; they needed to get away from here soon. “When a test hole shows the way, then make a big hole.”

“Okay,” he agreed, seeing her strategy.

“Myst, you can mist through the holes to tell which one gets through,” Astrid said. “Win, you can send air through them. You should be able to spot the right one the moment it appears. So you two help Santo.”

“Yes,” the two chorused happily.

“Meanwhile I will hold off the dragons,” she said. “Firenze and Squid, you can stand on either side of me and warn me of any dragons trying to sneak by my Stare.”

The two nodded, and took their places beside her, while the other three children faced the wall.

The dragons, as if catching on that the prey was up to something, became bolder, trying to get into burning, steaming, smoking, or snatching range.

“Stay back, dragons!” Astrid called. “I am a basilisk. I will Stare you if you get too close.”

But the dragons continued to nudge closer. “They think you're bluffing,” Firenze said.

“Because I bluffed them,” Squid said.

“Well, I gave them fair warning,” Astrid said, removing her glasses.

A huge dragon charged, breathing fire. Astrid caught its eye, and it plowed into the ground, dead.

“I regret doing that,” she called. “But I did warn you. Get away from here.”

But another dragon, a steamer, perhaps a stupid one, charged. Astrid caught its eye, and it too dropped to the ground.

“That should be clear enough,” Astrid called. “I can do this all day if I have to. But I'd rather not. Go away and stop harassing us, and you'll be safe.”

Still they did not stop. A smoker charged. Astrid oriented on its snoot and couldn't find its eyes. Either they were closed, or smoke obscured them. “We're in trouble,” she murmured tersely. “I can't kill it from a distance.”

“I'll do it,” Firenze said. His head heated, quickly turning red. He stepped forward, intercepting the dragon. The dragon's mouth, guided by smell, came down on him. Firenze's head became a ball of fire, and the dragon's mouth was filled with flames. It quickly flinched back, too late; its teeth were charred and its tongue was a mass of sodden ashes. It was painfully out of commission.

Now at last the dragons heeded the warning. No more charged, but neither did they withdraw. They were still watching for an opening.

“Got it!” Santo exclaimed behind them. “Myst found a hole through.”

Astrid turned. There was a series of middle-size holes in the wall. Santo was working on one of them, enlarging it to a hole a person could crawl through. It wasn't instant; it was happening slowly. She realized that he was tiring, having done a lot of work. But there was no other way, so she let him continue.

Finally it was complete. Light showed at the end of a short tunnel. “Get on through, children,” she said. “I'll guard the rear.”

They scrambled through, until only Astrid was left. She faced the dragons, knowing the moment she turned around they would charge. She had been able to do it before because Santo was there, but now she was alone.

She glared around, then spun about and dived into the hole, changing to basilisk form as she did; that was better for this sort of running. She scrambled for all she was worth, knowing that a dragon would send fire or steam after her. She tumbled out the other end just as a tongue of fire forged though. That had been too close a call!

“Quick, close it up!” she gasped as she changed back to human and recovered her footing.

“I can't,” Santo said. “A hole through water I can let expire; it collapses naturally. But stone doesn't.”

“Fetch a rock, then. We don't want a slender dragon following us through.”

But there were no rocks. They were not out in the open; they were in what appeared to be a stone passage behind the wall. They moved away from the hole, having to leave it open behind them. That made Astrid nervous, but what choice did they have?

Then she realized what it was. “We're in a castle!” she said, amazed. “We just punched through its outer wall!”

“But it's huge,” Firenze said. “What's it doing here in Dragon Country?”

“We'd better find out, if we can,” Santo said. “We knew there was something about the wall.”

“Something wrong,” Squid said. “But we were in a hurry.”

The children linked hands and Communed. Then separated, their faces mutually grim.

“What is it?” Astrid asked, alarmed.

“We think it's the Dragon King's Castle,” Win said.

“Awful,” Myst agreed.

“I have not heard of this,” Astrid said.

“We know of it historically,” Firenze said.

“From when it emerged from Storage and became the capitol of the dragons in all Xanth,” Santo said.

“Maybe ten years from now,” Squid said. “It's a tourist attraction we visited.”

“After the Human/Dragon war,” Win said.

“Awful,” Myst repeated.

Astrid had almost forgotten that the children were from the future. There would be a war between the humans and the dragons? That did not look promising.

“This way, please, honored guests.”

They turned, startled. There was a goblin woman, pert and pretty as they all were. “Who are you?” Astrid asked.

“I am Goldie Goblin, lowliest servant of the Dragon King. I must make you comfortable in your suite.”

“Suite?” Astrid asked blankly.

“As his future Queen, you must have the very best. Please follow me.”

Astrid's mouth worked, but nothing came out. Future Queen?

“We're in trouble,” Firenze murmured.

“But we'd better play along for now,” Santo said.

They followed Goldie down the passage, which soon expanded into a hall. It led to a palatial suite, with a living room, family room, dining room, rumpus room, bathroom and several bedrooms. “If there is anything you want, simply snap your fingers,” Goldie said. “A servant will appear to do your bidding.”

This was so different and unexpected that Astrid clamped tightly down on her reactions. She needed time to think and to consult with the children before even expressing wonder. “Thank you. We will manage.”

The goblin curtsied and disappeared down a side hall. They were alone for the moment.

“If we are guests here, we shall have to make ourselves presentable,” Astrid told the children. “We are filthy. We'll clean up and change clothing. But first, a little ceremony of appreciation for the courtesy of this residence.”

She extended her hands. The children took them, Firenze on her right, Myst on her left, the others in the order of their ages, forming a circle of six. They could touch her hands briefly without suffering much damage from her corrosive skin. And for the first time Astrid participated in their Communion. It was amazing. Suddenly all their minds were linked. It was as if they shared one Communal thought.

We are captives of the Dragon King. There is great danger. We must escape within a day, or all is lost. But we must not give any indication that we have any plan to escape. We are being watched. We must pretend to accede to the Dragon King's demands.

Astrid released the hands. “Very good, children,” she said. “We do appreciate this residence in the spirit it is offered.” Which was not what it seemed. “Now the two boys will use the bathroom first. I see there are basins, washcloths, and towels there, and changes of clothing. Use them.” She formed a token frown. “And wash behind your ears. Then give the girls our turn.”

The boys dutifully obeyed, closing the door behind them. In two moments they were done, garbed in the fresh blue outfits provided. Then Astrid took the girls in, and in four moments (there were more of them) they were clean and in the assorted nice pink dresses provided. Obviously someone had seen them coming, and set things up for them.

Astrid snapped her fingers. A lovely human woman appeared, garbed as a servant. “Wesla at your service.”