Kethril (37 page)

The beast was twice as large as Vevin’s
dragon form. It was also much thicker, even pudgy. Tathan moved
silently to the dragon’s left flank, trying to ignore the foul
stench that came off the creature. Sir Danth stood in front of it
with his sword raised high. Tathan could swear the knight was
grinning like a madman.

Tathan knew the ship wanted him to save the
baby boats, but he wasn’t willing to leave his companions alone
yet, especially not with Vevin frozen and the dragon’s attention
near Anilyia and Liselle. This was the dragon that had made the
gash along Vevin’s face and the one thing Vevin was more afraid of
than anything.

There were a number of things wrong with the
dragon that most people might miss, but Tathan noticed them right
away. The first was the fact that the dragon didn’t have a shadow.
He had heard of creatures or items having their shadows ripped
away. It was said to be painful and Tathan considered it one of the
worst crimes in the world even though he didn’t always get along
with shadows.

Another thing was the dragon’s eyes. They
were obviously tainted, but Tathan could see deeper into eyes than
most people. He could see what haunted a person or creature. The
dragon had been tortured, but there was more to it than that. There
was a twisted joy for pain in the creature’s soul. It had liked the
torture it had received and wanted others to suffer just for
fun.

Even if Tathan hadn’t agreed to rescue
Aermoirre’s children, even if the dragon weren’t a mutilator of
flowers, which Tathan had come to consider a crime since traveling
with his cousin, and even if the monster hadn’t abused Vevin,
Tathan would have killed it.

Tathan had met a few people and creatures of
pure malevolence. They hurt everything they touched and made the
world worse. The looks of suffering in the eyes of children and
their parents came from the wickedness of such creatures. Tathan
couldn’t bear the looks of suffering he saw in those eyes and would
do anything to stop those that caused it. This dragon would die and
it would do so by Tathan’s hand.

The dragon spoke again. “What are you doing
in that human form, Son? And . . . is it? . . . Yes, it is. You
brought me a princess as an apology . . . two in fact!” The dragon
glanced first at Anilyia, then at Emmaoen.

Vevin cowered behind Liselle when the dragon
began to speak. He was trying to be brave, but childhood memories
of horrible abuse bent his back and caused his muscles to shake.
Tathan had seen countless abused children and felt genuine sorrow
for his friend.

“You will never hurt my mate again,” Liselle
declared defiantly. Blue fire burst from her limbs and engulfed
her.

“Your mate?!” The dragon exclaimed in glee.
“Such a magical creature and so pretty! I shall enjoy torturing her
and listening to her screams.” The dragon licked its lips. Instead
of the forked tongue that most dragons had, the monster’s had been
shredded into a hundred thin strands.

Tathan advanced. There was no way he was
going to allow this abomination to harm his cousin. If he didn’t
know that dragons could see invisible creatures, he would have
activated his ring. Sir Danth whirled his sword in a flourish,
ready to drive it into the monster’s heart.

They were both too slow. The threat to
Liselle was enough to overcome every moment of fear that Vevin had
ever felt at his father’s claw. He came out from behind Liselle and
leapt at his father’s head with a primal scream. In an instant, he
was transformed and biting down on his sire’s snout. The son was
half the size of his father, but his rage made up for it.

The white dragon reared in pain and snapped
its head to the left in an attempt to shake his attacker off.
Tathan ducked as Vevin flew over his head and hit the ground hard
behind him. Tathan tumbled out of the way, as the white dragon’s
left foot landed right next to him. Then he stood and sliced
Lifedrinker into the ankle where the tendons would be. Dragon
scales were hard and magically enhanced, but Tathan’s dark weapon
cut deep and snapped the tendons. Droplets of blood flew out of the
wound, drawn to the sword that drank the supernatural liquid with
enthusiasm.

Things slowed down for Tathan. He recognized
Liselle’s touch in the magic that increased his speed. In addition
to that, strength flowed through his veins. It didn’t feel like
Liselle’s touch, so he figured the duchess had done that part. It
was good to know that they were keeping their heads about them, but
he also hoped that they had protected themselves first.

At the same time, the dragon lifted its foot
in pain. Its eyes swirled in surprise and outrage as it noticed
Tathan for the first time. Then it yowled in agony and immediately
whipped its head around. Tathan had to tumble as the white body
jerked in reaction to Sir Danth’s sword sliding into its
undercarriage from the other side. It was a fantastic blow to the
chest where the heart should be, yet the dragon lived.

Vevin hit it again, directly over Tathan who
was beginning to think that being on the ground during a dragon
battle was a bad idea. The side of Vevin’s tail bumped Tathan,
sending him rolling and confirming his beliefs. Sir Danth was
knocked to the ground by the enormous bodies rolling over him. A
normal man without magical armor would have been crushed.

Tathan began to think they would be able to
overcome the beast. He took a few steps toward the cave to rescue
the baby ships, but paused on a hunch. Vevin had drawn blood from
above the wing joint and was biting and clawing his father. Both
creatures snarled in anger. It was an awe inspiring, if terrifying
sight.

Then the father spun and knocked Vevin off.
With a lighting fast move, it bit Vevin hard in the neck, causing
blood to spurt to the sides. The young dragon wailed in shock and
pain. Tathan began running forward, but Sir Danth was there first.
He shifted onto the monster’s back and jammed his greatsword into
the shoulder. With an immense roar, the dragon released Vevin and
jumped into the air, knocking Sir Danth off. The knight shifted
back to the ground and landed on his feet in a crouch, ready to
jump again.

Two things happened simultaneously. First,
Liselle shot forth a blue ball of energy she had been holding in
front of her. Instead of hitting the white dragon, it slammed into
Vevin’s neck and knocked him down. Tathan saw the neck wounds
instantly heal, along with a couple of claw marks that had cut into
his scales. Tathan had heard of tough love, but that was a bit
much.

The other thing that happened was that an
orange net hit the white dragon, fowling up his wings. It was like
the one Emmaoen had cast against the ship. Sounds that Tathan had
never heard before came from the dragon’s mouth. He recognized it
as a spell and an instant later, the net dissipated. The dragon let
out an enormous roar, spreading dragon fear through the area.

Hair on the back of Tathan’s neck stood up,
but the image of a flower opening its petals appeared in his mind.
Instead of fear, Tathan felt resolve fill his veins. Liselle’s
magic was playing a greater part in the fight than anything else.
In all of his journeys, Tathan had never had such a strong ally. He
liked it.

Anilyia and Emmaoen rode down the gangplank
and headed toward the cave. “Help them, we’ll get the children,”
Anilyia yelled at him. Tathan didn’t like her risking her life, but
decided to follow the suggestion, especially since Lifedrinker was
urging him to get near more of the dragon’s blood.

Sir Danth shifted to the air next to the
dragon’s right eye and thrust his sword. When he and Tathan were
waiting for the others back on the ship, the knight had mentioned
that shifting into the air had never occurred to him while in the
cave in Aaltdiin. He was obviously a fast learner.

The white dragon was faster than any of them
imagined and whacked the knight out of the air with its good claw.
A bright light flashed as one of the talons gashed the previously
invincible armor. Sir Danth hit the ground hard, while the dragon
jerked back and screamed in pain from the magical backlash.

Vevin leapt at his father, but the older
dragon spun and swatted Vevin with his tail, recovering faster than
Tathan would have imagined. Vevin hit a giant, jagged rock hard and
screamed in pain. Tathan ran toward the white dragon, watching for
its next movement in order to evade it.

Before he reached it, the world shattered.
At least that was what it sounded like when the blue fire shot
through the air and exploded into the monster. Seeing her lover
hurt had sent Liselle into a rage and she was opening herself to
true power. The dragon was knocked a hundred yards away. It writhed
in pain from the sticky blue fire clinging to its body and its
right wing had been shorn from its shoulder, causing even more
agony.

The wing was on the ground a short distance
away, twitching and burning. Suddenly, the white dragon twisted to
its feet and smiled at them. It was the most frightening smile
Tathan had ever seen. The dragon actually liked the pain.

Metallic screams that sounded like armor
being shredded drew Tathan’s attention. He saw that Sir Danth was
on the ground, thrashing in distress. A great gash was taken out of
the left side of his armor where his abdomen would be. Red and gold
energy crackled and ran over the armor. Tathan dashed over to him
and held out a hand.

He felt lame standing there, only offering a
hand to someone who obviously needed more help than anyone might be
able to give, but it was all he could think of. The knight grabbed
the hand though and stood with Tathan’s help. Pain was etched into
Sir Danth’s features, but he ran toward the dragon once more, sword
at the ready.

Vevin shrieked in anger and lifted into the
air, ready to attack his father yet again. Tathan was beginning to
feel like an audience member at a show. He wasn’t doing much and
that irritated him more than the homicidal dragon who was trying
very hard to kill them all.

The dragon breathed out shards of glass. It
was something Tathan had never considered. Vevin rose higher in the
air, avoiding them, Sir Danth shifted twice to the side to get out
of the path, while Tathan fell to the ground behind a tree trunk
and heard the thunking sound of the shards hitting it.

A quick glance over his shoulder showed that
Liselle had created a wall of blue fire that melted the shards.
Tathan realized that rushing a dragon from the front was a bad
idea. His next thought was that rushing a dragon from any direction
was a bad idea. The hardest part of fighting dragons seemed to be
the part where a person had to get anywhere near one.

Daring to peek up, he saw Vevin respond with
lightning. The purple bolts electrified the white dragon causing it
to spasm and shriek happily in pain. It was unnerving.

Sir Danth shifted a couple more times and
dug his sword into the chest just as the lightning stopped. Tathan
thought for sure that it was a killing blow, but the white dragon
jerked back before it could pierce the heart. Blood spewed from the
wound, spraying the knight. Tathan’s sword vibrated in hunger, so
he dashed forward once more.

Vevin flew at his father, but stopped at the
last second, making the white dragon’s next spin move miss. It was
a brilliant move that Tathan had time to admire because he was
still running. Vevin latched onto his father’s neck again while Sir
Danth slashed at the leg Tathan had injured.

For some reason, the knight seemed to
irritate the dragon more than his son being attached to his neck.
He started stomping in a frenzy, trying to squish Sir Danth who
kept shifting out of the way. Then the monster landed a glancing
blow, knocking the knight down. The next claw came down squarely on
Sir Danth’s midsection. The sound of shrieking metal filled the air
and the dragon’s foot caught fire.

Tathan pulled up as he saw his friend lying
there with magical armor crushed in the middle. Vevin yanked the
white dragon back with a heave of his wings. The purple dragon
threw the heavier, white one to the ground, let go of the neck and
breathed lightning into its face.

Sir Danth was still alive . . . or whatever
he called his existence. Tathan wondered if it was possible for him
to die permanently. The knight screamed in agony, proving that he
could feel pain. Suddenly, the white dragon twisted and dodged
Vevin, shaking off the lightning burns. The two dragons faced each
other, ready to re-engage.

Tathan had had enough. He pulled out a
dangerous runeball he kept for an emergency. Tathan had never used
it before because it would likely be fatal, but fighting this enemy
that loved pain could be fatal for all of them and Tathan
considered his life expendable to save his friends. He spoke the
trigger word to activate the runes. Black ooze ran up his arm from
it and covered his entire body in an instant. Then it sank into his
pores.

The world stopped moving. Everyone froze in
place and sound stopped. Tathan ran to the white dragon that had
its back turned while facing Vevin. He slashed the hind leg as he
ran up the calf. It moved minutely, reacting to the cut. Everything
else began to move just a tiny bit and Tathan knew he didn’t have
much time.

With a somersault, he was on the dragon’s
back. He ran low, slashing back and forth to each side, spraying
blood that his blade drank eagerly. The reactions became more
pronounced and everything started moving again, though not at full
speed.

Tathan’s heart started to hurt. The ooze
didn’t stop time, it sped up Tathan so he could move a thousand
feet in the blink of an eye. It wore off quickly, a little more as
each second passed for him. The problem was that it also sped up
his blood and heart, which was beating three times faster than it
should. Tathan was strong and healthy, but he could feel his heart
trying to punch itself out of his chest. His veins felt like they
were boiling from the blood racing through.