Hunt For The Hero (Book 5) (7 page)

CHAPTER 15

We scoured the countryside over the next few days, taking our time on the journey. No one was saying much of anything and we hadn’t sat down for council. They had offered, but I’d refused. For the most part they were all just tagging along and that was fine by me. Eventually we’d be close enough to Quintuklen and they’d head home. That was my plan anyway.

“So, Dragon,” Ben said. “How do we go about tracking down someone when the world
’s so big?”

It was
a good question. I waded into a nearby river and acted like I didn’t hear him. I was getting hungry and I had an appetite for fish. The cold water rushed past my knees as I searched for signs of life. The sun was bright and the water was clear, and I could see my reflection shimmering in it. My mane of auburn hair looked fine. Of course, it always did. 

A fish darted through my feet, followed b
y another. Moments later one of them settled.

I readied my claws and licked my lips.
I could taste the meat already. I slipped my hands into the water.

Ben sloshed up behind me.

The fish squirted between my fingers.

“Ben!” I cried. “Quit scaring the fish. I’ve taught you better than that.” I frowned and shook my head at him.

“Then you stop ignoring me,” he said. “You’ve been ignoring everyone, and I’m getting tired of it.”

“They you should go home,” I said.

“To what?” he said. “I don’t have anyone anymore. Just you, Dragon.”

“I’m sure Quinley could use you in the cornfields,” I said. “And you’re a better bowman than you were. You’d be the best shot for miles around.” I sloshed away
, eyeing the water.

“What’s wrong with you, Dragon?” he said. “You didn’t use
d to be like this. You used to be nice. Now you’re just—”

I turned and faced him with my hands on my hips.

“I’m just what, Ben? Mean?”

“I wasn’t going to say that,” he said.

His eyes drifted to the left.

“You were going to say that,” I said. “And guess what, Ben
? I don’t care. I’m being mean because I don’t want you here, and I’ve told you that. I’ve told all of you that, but none of you listen.”

“You need us,” he said.

I laughed.

“For what, Ben
? You don’t even have a sword or bow. What are you going to fight with, your hands?”

I took a jab at another fish and missed.

“Blast it!”

My stomach was growling.
I was growling. Why wouldn’t they leave me alone?

“
UGH!” Ben said. He threw up his arms and sloshed away in the waters.

“Good
bye, Ben,” I said.

He stopped and turned. His pleasant face was turning red and his fists were balled up at his sides.

“You know, Dragon, there’s a saying in Quinley.
You can tell a lot about a Man by the friends he keeps.
”

I shrugged and said, “So
, I’ve heard that one before and you didn’t say it quite right.”

“I’m don’t care if it sounds right or not because I’ve got a better saying.
You can tell a lot more about a Man who doesn’t have any friends
.” He pointed at me. “That’s for you, Dragon!” He stormed through the waters, fell, and completely soaked himself.

I started laughing
and holding my belly.

Soaked, Ben shook his fist at me and stormed away.
As he was leaving, Brenwar, Bayzog and Sasha were coming up along the sandy riverbank. I rolled my eyes.

“What’s the matter, Ben?” I heard Sasha say.

“Nothing!”

They all stood there gawping at me, except Brenwar. He was glaring. I didn’t care though. I just wanted to eat some fish and be left alone. I made my way down
river a ways and when I looked back they were gone. Good.

I readied my hands, spread my feet in the
river bed and waited for the next fish to pass. A fat bellied bass swam by. My hands splashed into the waters and dug into its scales. I got him! A big one. He wriggled in my hands, tail flopping back and forth with his wide mouth gawping.

“You look like some people I know,” I said.

My belly groaned again. I was hungry. I made my way out of the water, sat down and gutted the fish and scaled it with my claws. I could feel my fire in my belly.

“Hmmm,” I said to myself, “I have an idea.”

I tried to summon my fire. Just a little bit. Only enough to roast the fish whole. Who needs a fire when the fire’s in you already? Gently, I exhaled. Nothing came forth. I put a little more wind and belly behind my next breath. A whoosh of flame rushed out.

The fish charred and crumbled in my hands.

“Sultans of Sulfur!”

I stormed back into the waters.
A minute later I found my next fish. It was bigger than the last, green scaled and speckled. I licked my lips. The Speckled Bass were the best. I wasn’t going to waste this one.

I plunged my hands in and snatched him up.

“Woohoo—
ulp
!”

Something wrapped around my neck and jerked me under the waters. I couldn’t breathe. I clutched at the creature that coiled itself around my neck. I didn’t know what it was. I ripped at it with my claws. It
dragged me to the middle of the river and down towards a dark hole.

“
Brenwar! Ben! Help!” I said in my frog voice.

No one could hear me
.

N
o one would even know.

CHAPTER 16

I was pulled deeper into the waters and the surface
receded, way above my head. Below waited a darkness surrounded by wriggling things. Tentacles!  They stretched out and grabbed me by the ankles and bound my hands. I jerked at my bonds but I was helpless. It pulled me down towards a mouth big enough to eat a horse. The tentacles, like tongues and snakes, were pulling me inside. I wanted to scream! I wanted to breathe! That mouth full of teeth chomped at my feet.

All I could think of was how bad I’d been to my friends.

Those last few moments … I’d like to have them back again.

I stretched out my arms with all my strength. I could see the sun wavering in the waters above me.
I fought against my bonds, but nothing helped.

A
splash of water erupted above me. Ben swam at me with a glowing dagger between his teeth. Dragon Claw. He cut the first tentacles and freed my arms. The creature jerked and made an eerie underwater whine. Ben sawed at another tentacle that was wrapped around my neck. The River Monster reeled again. The tentacles released me. I swam for the surface and busted out of the waters gasping.

“Ah!” I gulped in mouthfuls of air. I wanted to kiss
the river bank. Wait.

“Ben?”

He’d disappeared.

I ducked back under the waters.

The River Monster had Ben wrapped up in tentacles. He was snared by the wrists and being pulled down into the mouth.

I swam after him.

More tentacles burst out.

I saw Dragon Claw fall from Ben’s fingers and sink towards the ma
w. I snatched it with my fingertips and started cutting. There were too many of them. Dozens of the sticky things.
Enough of this! I’m a Dragon!

I swam straight into the monster
’s mouth and started stabbing. I looked up and saw Ben free and heading for the surface. Then, the massive jaws closed upon me.

***

Ben treaded water in the river, yelling, “Dragon! Dragon!”

He coughed, fought for his breath and ducked his head into the water. He didn’t see Dragon or the monster. Even the tendrils were gone. He swam deeper, eyes searching, but everything was blurry.

What happened to you
, Dragon?

He dove deeper and found nothing. Chest burning
, he swam back to the top and gasped for air.

“What is going on
?” a voice said from the river bank. It was Brenwar. Bayzog and Sasha were right beside the Dwarf and their faces were filled with worry.

Ben fought to
tread water. His arms and legs were exhausted from fighting the current. His face dipped up and down in the water.

“It’s
…” He gasped. “It’s Dragon. He’s
-gasp-
gone under. A monster got him!”

Brenwar and Bayzog waded into the waters and reached out for him.

“Swim back here, will you?” Brenwar said, gesturing with his arms.

Bayzog slid out of his robes and swam towards him. The wizard hooked his arms beneath Ben’s chest and swam him back to the bank. Huffing for breath, they both sat waist deep in the bristling water.

“He went down over there,” Ben said, pointing. “It had tendrils like snakes and was stronger than iron. I cut them and freed Dragon, then they got me. Dragon saved me and when I swam up I looked down and he was gone.”

Bayzog patted Ben’s back with his slender arm and Brenwar studied him with a cocked eyebrow. The black bearded
Dwarf pointed at him.

“You say he’s in there?” Brenwar pointed in the water. “That way?”

Ben nodded.

Brenwar, in full armor, marched into the river, one step at a time until his head disappeared.

“What’s he doing?” Ben said, looking at Bayzog.

The wizard
shrugged.

“Come on Ben, let’s get back out of this. The water might still be dangerous. And I need to think of a spell that I can cast.” His face was filled with anguish. “I hate to admit it
, but I’m not very prepared for dealing with water. I’m surprised I could still swim.”

Ben, exhausted, remained in place.

“I’ve got to go after him,” he said. “I’ll just make one more dive.”

Bayzog held his arm tight
. “I’ve thought of a spell that might help. But I need to be on shore to cast it. Come, we must hurry.”

Ben slowly backed towards the bank, frowning.

“Sasha!” Bayzog yelled. “Get my pack. I need my components. And fetch Brenwar’s chest. That might help as well.”

Ben stood ankle deep in the waters
, watching. Every second felt like a minute. It was torture. Bayzog and Sasha worked behind him, trying to get something ready that would help. He had a feeling that whatever it was they came up with would be too late.

“Is it ready
?” he said, turning his head, but not taking his eyes from the water. “I need to get back in there!”

“A moment, Ben. A moment!” Bayzog said.

Life begins and ends in moments.
His father had told him so.
The important thing is to make the moments you have count.

Ben waded back into the waters.

“Ben, hold on!” Sasha said. “Don’t be foolish.”

“I’ll be fine,” Ben said, waving his hand. “And if I don’t make it back—”

Splash!

Nath
’s head burst out of the water.

“Dragon!”

A clawed hand waved at him.

Ben swam for him
. He grabbed Dragon and guided him onto the bank.

Dragon was covered in river muck and tendrils
, gasping for air. Dragon Claw glowed in his hand. He had cuts and scrapes all over him.

“You made it!” Ben said.

Dragon nodded.

“What about Brenwar?” Ben asked.

CHAPTER 17

Dragon looked at Ben, then back in the waters. There was no sign of Brenwar.

“He’s coming
, I think.” Dragon started to wade back in. “He was right behind me.”

At last
Brenwar’s head popped out of the water, and foot by foot he walked up the bank. He looked at Dragon and kept going.

“Did he save you
?” Ben said.

“I was fine,” Dragon said, coughing. He slung some purple tendril
s off his shoulders. “He showed up right after I didn’t need him.”

“What happened? What was that thing?” Ben said.

“I’ve no idea what it was,” Dragon said, “but it was nasty. It swallowed me whole. I couldn’t see a thing.” He dangled Dragon Claw in front of his face. “I jammed Dragon Claw into anything it could bite and finally the mouth opened up again. I swam out as fast as I could.”

“Is it dead?” Ben said.

Dragon’s golden eyes drifted over the waters.

“I think so.”

Growl.

“W
as that you, Dragon?”

Dragon stood up
, slinging his hair from his eyes and rubbing his belly.

“It’s my stomach. I
’m famished.” He marched towards Bayzog and Sasha. “Say Wizards, do you have any of that water? I need something to hold me over. I’m so hungry I could eat goat horns.”

“Certainly,” Sasha said. “We have other things we can procure as well, but it will take some time.”

“It’s got to be better than hunting,” Dragon said, stretching out his great scaled arms and yawning. “I think I’ve done enough of that today. Tried to catch a fish and almost caught my death.” He climbed up the bank, took a seat on the grass, and motioned for Ben to come over.

Ben took a seat beside him.

Dragon patted him on the back.

“How did you know, Ben?”

“Know what?”

“That I needed help?” Dragon’s face was puzzled.

“Well, I don’t know,” he said. “I just knew. And Brenwar, well, he knew too, because he came over right at the same time I did.”

Dragon shook his head and huffed a little laugh.

“You know, Ben, you’re right. I need my friends. Without them, I would have died.”

Ben patted Dragon’s knee. “We need you too.”

“Well, you deserve better than me,” Nath said. “And I promise to do better. Honestly Ben, I just don’t want to put anyone in danger.” Nath’s voice was solemn and humble. “Shum died because of me. Almost everyone did. That’s not easy to live with. I just want those evil doers dead.” He jammed Dragon Claw in the ground.

“Me too,” Ben said
, nodding. “Me too.”

They didn’t speak after that. Ben watched Bayzog and Sasha do
their thing, and Dragon kept his eyes on the river. Ben glanced back at him from time to time, but Dragon didn’t seem to notice. He sat there like a statue. A large muscular Man with black scales that stretched across his arms to his shoulders. His features were chiseled and his face was like polished stone. The wind whipping through his red hair was the only thing that seemed real about him.

Dragon sniffed the air. “Mmmm, something smells good.” He patted his stomach and headed towards Bayzog and Sasha.

Ben fell in step right behind him.

A sand bar l
ay along the river bank and Brenwar had stacked up some wood and begun a fire.

Bayzog and Sasha bowed when they arrived.

“I hope you like!” Sasha grabbed both of them by the arms and led them down the riverbank.

Ben’s
jaw dropped open. Dragon’s eyes were golden plates.

“How did you
…?” Ben started to say, but he had to swallow the water in his mouth. “And where did the …?”

Sasha giggled and Bayzog laughed.

A table and eight chairs sat in the sand, loaded with every dish he could imagine. A roasted hog stuffed with an apple, a turkey as big as a pig, steaming potatoes, vegetables, pies, and jugs of water and wine. Silverware sparkled in the setting sun with cloth napkins laid along the sides. It was a feast.

“I
’ve, well, we’ve,” Bayzog said, “never cast this spell before and we didn’t know what to expect. I assume it was meant for a larger gathering.”

“Is it real?” Ben asked.

Brenwar ripped off a leg of turkey and tore a hunk off with his teeth.

“
Mmmm,” he grumbled, “It’s as real as my beard.”

***

Ben stuffed a handful of meat into his mouth, chewed it up and washed it down with some sort of delicious wine. Sasha gently carved small bits of food on her plate and Bayzog did the same. Brenwar bit into chunks of ham that were poised on his knife. He grunted and his brows lifted up and down with a Dwarven sort of praise. He did have one complaint.

“No ale?” he said, eyeing the bottom of a jug he had drained.

“Sorry,” Bayzog said, “but I didn’t know what to expect.”

Nath
stuffed the feast in his mouth with his claws and a heaping spoon. He smiled a lot and talked little and ate as fast as Brenwar. He was putting food down like he’d never eaten it before. The pair kept eating long after the others finished and most of the food was gone.

Ben stood up at the end of the table and cleared his throat.

“Ahem.”

Sasha and Bayzog
stopped, but Nath and Brenwar were still chewing.

“I just wanted to say something,” Ben said, picking up his goblet.

“What is it, Ben?” Sasha said, “Please speak.”

“Well, where I’m from, we always thank the preparers. To the both of you, Sasha and Bayzog, I want to express my thanks. This has been wonderful. And to all of you,” He raised his goblet, “I’m honored to be among you. I’m honored to be your friend. Thank you all.”

“Well said.” Nath halted in tipping his goblet to his lips. “Well said.”

“Agreed,” said Brenwar, “now pass that cheese.”

“Brenwar!” Sasha said.

“Oh, sorry,” Brenwar said. He straightened himself up in his chair. “Please pass the cheese.”

“Hahahaha! That’s not what I meant,” Sasha said, holding her belly.

“What? I just want the cheese
. What’s the humor in it?”

Everyone started laughing. Everyone but Dragon.

“Dragon,” Ben said, “Lighten up, will you? You’re as stone faced as Brenwar.”

Dragon didn’t move. He sat stiff as a board with his eyes closed.

“Nath,” Sasha said, worried. She rose from her seat and gasped.

Nath
fell face first into his plate of food.