The Chronicles of Dragon Collection (Series 1 Omnibus, Books 1-10) (39 page)

Clutch of the Cleric

The Chronicles of Dragon: Book 4

By Craig Halloran

PRELUDE

A flutelike sound drifted into my ears.

My head started spinning. My fingers turned numb. Limp.

Brenwar’s eyelids fluttered. His meaty hands clamped over his ears. “No!” he growled.

I couldn’t say anything. My tongue felt like water. But I could see. Both of them. Shadows in the forest coming out of the darkness. One was male, the other female. Each pressed a set of small pipes to their lips. Tiny horns protruded from their heads. They stood on stout legs with the hooves of mountain goats.

Satyrs. Crafty and merciless.

The music tore at my mind.

I screamed, but I couldn’t hear myself. I had to move. Had to escape. Run. Flee. I knew the stories. I knew the tales. Whatever the satyrs captured they kept, never to be seen again.

CHAPTER 1

I felt like I’d gone days without water when I opened my eyes. A soft, soothing light shone into them, but I still felt weary.

“Uh… where am I? Ben?”

The smell of sweet ginger filled my nostrils, and someone placed a cold, damp cloth on my head.

“Sssssh. Rest, Dragon.”

The warm face of Sasha greeted me with a smile as she reached over and touched my face.

“Bayzog, he awakens again.”

Again? I didn’t remember waking the last time.

“It’s not time yet, Sasha,” Bayzog said. A faint image of him in his red wizard tunic caught my eye.

Her perfect lips started singing; the gentle, mystic words of an ancient lullaby churned in my ears.

“No, don’t do thaaaaaa—”

The soft lights turned dark again.

***

“Wake him up!”

Slowly, I opened my eyes, the thirst I remembered now gone. Then I saw Brenwar, as angry as I had ever seen him before.

“What are you yelling for?” I said, shielding my eyes, squinting.

He whirled on me, so angry I could see the red behind his beard.

“WHAT AM I YELLING FOR?”

A large figure stepped between us. It was one of those Roaming Rangers.

“Shum?”

“Get out of my way, elf,” Brenwar growled.

“Brenwar,” Bayzog intervened, “now is not the time.”

“Oh, it’s the time, all right!”

Brenwar shoved past Shum, stuck his stubby finger in my face, and said, “Why did you leave me, Nath Dragon?” His voice cracked. “Why did you do that?”

I didn’t know what to say. I was feeling great, but I had the feeling I shouldn’t be.

“Why is everyone looking at me like that? Where's Ben? Is he all right? And how did I get here?”

Brenwar stood frowning and tapping his foot, Shum unmoving, Bayzog muttering, and Sasha twitching her nose.

“What?” I said.

Bayzog took a seat beside me and said, “I’ll catch you up. Ben led you back here on the horses after you fainted.”

“Ah good, I knew Ben had it in him. I guess my wounds were much worse than I thought. So, where is he?”

“He’s with the Legionnaires, on a mission.”

“Huh, a mission. He couldn’t be on a mission already. Could he? Don’t they have to go through training?”

Brenwar stormed forward.

“Fool! He could have been on twenty missions already. He’s been gone for weeks. You’ve been asleep for weeks. I’ve been looking for you; my men have been looking for you, and we might never have found you if we hadn't come across that temple. And we might not have ever known you were there if we hadn't found this!” He held out a black dragon scale. “And this led us here.”

I grabbed the scale with my left hand and pinched it in my fingers. My black dragon fingers. I jumped off the couch.

“SULTANS OF SULFUR! I have two dragon arms!”

“You can say that again!” Brenwar shot back. “You foolish dragon!”

I touched my toes, my shins, my thighs, chest, and face.

“Am I—?”

“Just the arms, Dragon,” Sasha said. “You’ll be all right.”

“No, he won’t! He’d have been all right if he’d done as he was told. Dragon! What have you done?” Brenwar exclaimed.

“I saved dragons!” I yelled back. “And if I’d waited on you, they’d probably be dead!”

I gazed at my scales, my hands, my claws. A thrill went through me. I felt unstoppable! But there was something else. The white spot of scales was on both palms in the middle.

Brenwar poked me in the chest, saying, “I was at the temple. I saw what you did. And your new friend, Ben, confirmed it. You killed again! Now look at you!”

“You started it!” I said, pointing at Brenwar.

“You did this, not I, Dragon! You ran off on your own, like a fool, and now you have twice the problem!”

“Don’t call me a fool again, Brenwar,” I said, glowering down at him. I was ready to rip his beard off.

He rose up on his toes and said, “What are you going to do, breathe on me? Fool!”

I took a deep breath.

He laughed at me.

Sasha’s vibrant form stepped between us. “Please, everyone, stop yelling. You aren’t children; you’re men,” Sasha said, gentle hands pushing me into the sofa.

Calmness fell over me. “We have to work together on this,” she said, eyeing all of us. “It’s that important. Bayzog, tell him.”

I slumped into the sofa, feeling incredibly angry and guilty, but I let Sasha’s charm calm me.

“Yes, Bayzog, Ben mentioned there was something you wanted to tell me. What is it?” I said, noticing my beard.
“Ugh! Really?”

Bayzog gave me a funny look.

I shook my head, which was beginning to ache, saying, “Go on then.”

“Dragon, I can’t say that I, or anyone in the world, for that matter, can understand your unique constitution―well, excluding your father, of course.”

My headache intensified. What would my father think?”

“I don’t think things are as bad as they look, however. I would venture that it was inevitable that you would start turning into a dragon eventually, and your scales, well, they aren’t a true reflection of your nature. Nath, we all know that you are good, as good a man as we all know, but there is darkness in all of us. No one person is perfect or without blemish; most just hide it better on the outside. That’s why it is difficult to tell the good people from the evil sometimes.”

“This isn’t helping, Bayzog,” I said, holding my head in my hands, irritated.

“Our deeds are what define us. Our actions. Our words. Not our garments, not our looks. What is inside a man, in his heart―his dragon heart―is what counts. Keep doing what you are doing.”

“But I want to get rid of it.”
Sort of.

“And what if you can’t? Will you stop being good altogether, then? Will you join the Clerics of Barnabus?”

“NO!”

“So stop whining, then,” Bayzog said.

“I’m not whining.”

“You are whining,” Brenwar added, folding his arms across his chest. “Like a baby orc.”

“Fine, I’m whining, but I’m sure all of you would do the same if you had these.” I lifted my arms. “I’m not going to be wooing the ladies like I used to; that’s for sure. But I imagine I could be used in a carnival to frighten children.”

Brenwar harrumphed.

“I like them,” Sasha said, rubbing my scales, smiling. “I think they are marvelous.”

Her sweet words made me feel better; they really did. I guess I was just going to have to get used to it, but I really needed to fix it.

“Bayzog, my father says there are many things in this world that can heal. Perhaps you can help me find some of those things. Maybe I just need a different Thunderstone or something.”

Bayzog walked over to his large table, opened his tome, thumbed through the pages, and threw his hands out. When he twitched his fingers, an image of a mystic amulet formed and hung in the air, gold and silver with a bright-green gemstone in the middle.

“The Ocular of Orray. The legend says that it can bring health, peace, and prosperity. Its powers have been known to cure lycanthropes and liches and to restore the undead. Perhaps it can help.”

“So, where is it?”

Bayzog flicked his fingers. The amulet broke into several pieces.

“It was stolen from the elves in Elome a century after the last Dragon War, never to be seen again. According to the lore, the thieves broke it up into many pieces and spread them all over Nalzambor, for the Ocular cannot be destroyed.”

“So, who stole it? Who can go into Elome and steal anything?” I sighed. “It’s a fortress.”

“We’d have to ask the elves that,” he said, closing the book.

“So, I’m supposed to search the entire world for this Ocular? I’d rather just save the dragons.” I looked at Shum. “And what are you doing here?”

“I have an interest in the power of the Ocular as well. Remember my king? He needs the healing, too.”

“I see. And what about the dragons? I’m not going to abandon them for this quest.”

Brenwar shoved my sword and scabbard into my chest.

“We won’t!”

Bayzog and Sasha donned their traveling cloaks.

“Where are you going?”

“With you,” Sasha said, tying the neck with the magic of her fingers. “I’ve been needing to stretch my legs. Bayzog has kept me cooped up in here too long.”

It seemed everybody was ready for a trip but me as I shook my head and rose to my feet.

“So now I need supervision everywhere I go?”

“And then some,” Brenwar huffed. “Let’s go!”

“Fine,” I said, buckling my sword around my waist as Sasha draped my quiver over my shoulder and handed me Akron. I was ready for anything. But before I closed my eyes, I said one last thing. “But I’m going to save whoever and whatever I want to. Agreed?”

Everyone shook their heads except Brenwar, who laughed.

“Well, let it never be said I didn’t consort with highly unreasonable people.”

As soon as I closed my eyes, the adventure began.

CHAPTER 2

High Priestess Selene sat on her throne. Dark. Cold. Cunning. She was beautiful, dark eyed and raven headed. Her hair was pulled back behind her shoulders as she shifted in her chair, eyes intent and focused on the great doors on the other side of the room.

Nath Dragon. She looked forward to the day he was dragged to her on hands and knees, bound and broken.
I shall have him. I shall have him and all the world of Nalzambor.

Something fluttered above. A dark birdlike creature landed on her shoulder. It had a mix of dark-green and red feathers, but it was not a bird. It had the face and mouth of a dragon. Its tongue licked her ear and its feathers shuddered when it roared with little sound.

She patted its head. “Ah, my little drulture. Such a caring and endearing pet,” she said. “Are you worried about me?”

It stretched its neck, feathers ruffling on its wings, and let out another tiny roar.

Her black lips pecked its cat-sized head. The drulture was her companion when no one else was about. So she sat alone in her thoughts in the grand room. She liked the open space. The quiet. She needed time to plan. Nath Dragon had escaped her clutches again.

“Are you hungry?” she said.

The drulture bobbed its head.

“I see,” she said. “Just give me another moment.” She snapped her fingers.
Pop!

The great doors across from her opened and a pair of lizard men stepped inside and kneeled.

“It’s feeding time,” she said.

The pair departed and returned less than a minute later carrying a barred cage between them. A spotted bobcat, every bit of thirty pounds, was inside, its eyes and ears alert.

“Leave us,” Selene said, “and seal the door behind you.”

The lizard men departed, leaving her, the drulture, and the bobcat all alone.

“He’s a big one,” she said, “bigger than the last. I hope you won’t have any trouble.”

The drulture let out a tiny roar and hopped to the ground. The dragon-bird was less than half the size of the bobcat. It strutted around on two legs, making a chirping sound. The bobcat licked its lips. Its cat eyes narrowed.

Selene tapped her fingers together. She liked games like this. Who is the hunter and who is the hunted? She’d tried to trap Nath Dragon in a similar way before, letting him think he was freeing a dragon when in all reality the dragon bait was trapping him. It had almost worked a couple of times, but Nath had come out on top again. It had been costly, too. She’d lost many of her draykis, and one of her temples had been wrecked. She clenched her fists.

“I’m going to break him,” she said. “Soon.” With a wave of her hand, the metal cage opened.

The bobcat jumped out and gave chase after the drulture. The bobcat pounced. The drulture flapped and soared into the air and began circling the bobcat. Once. Twice. Three times. Then it dove.

Swish!

It snatched the bobcat by the back and lifted it high in the air. The bobcat hung by the scruff of its neck, clawing, scratching, and growling. Higher they went, toward the domed ceiling. The drulture dropped the bobcat. The big cat plummeted fifty feet toward the ground.

The drulture dove, snatching it inches from the ground. Then swooped up to the rafters once more.

Drop. Dive. Catch. Drop. Dive. Catch.

Three times it happened. The bobcat fought and clawed until its strength was out. The fourth time, it hung limp in the talons of the dragon-bird and fought no more. Circling thirty feet high in the air, the drulture swung the bobcat up into the air and opened its jaws wide. They became wider and wider.

Gulp!

It swallowed the bobcat whole and landed softly on the floor. Its belly bulged. It waddled around like an overstuffed chicken for about a minute, burped an awful sound, and returned to normal.

“Now there’s an idea,” Selene said. She patted the drulture when it returned to her shoulder. It purred. She snapped her fingers. The grand doors opened and the lizard men came forward and bowed.

“I need the High Cleric,” she said, “and take the cage and fill it with something bigger. A halfling or gnome perhaps.”

The dragon-bird purred and batted its eyelashes.

Selene smiled. “You’ve given me an idea. If it works, my master will be pleased. If I can’t beat Nath Dragon as he is, then perhaps I should wear him down first.”