The Chronicles of Dragon Collection (Series 1 Omnibus, Books 1-10) (70 page)

CHAPTER 37

“Get everyone out of here!” Nath said.

The dragon rose from the lake and let out a terrifying sound.

Troghlin shook. The townsfolk fell. Covering their ears, they ran screaming.

Nath rallied his men and dwarves.

“What kind of dragon is that?’ Bayzog said.

It towered more than thirty feet tall. Its body was armored in sharp horns and scales. Its footsteps were storms surging out of the water. It was terror. It was power. It was evil.

“It’s a hull,” Nath said. His heart pounded inside his chest. “Part of the Titan race. I’ve never seen one before. They lurk in the belly of the sea, only surfacing every few centuries.” He shook his head. “This is not good!”

Nath loaded his first arrow onto Akron’s string.

“We need to lead it away,” he said. “Ben! Get those people to safety. The same for your dwarves, Brenwar! Get them all out of harm’s way! Hurry!”

The hull sloshed through the water. Walked through a pier and crushed it into pieces. Busted boats up like twigs. Picked them up and smashed them together. In three strides, the hull was on the beach. It drew a deep breath into its lungs.

“Move!” Nath yelled.

The enormous dragon’s horned head and tail ignited with brilliant blue energy.

Nath fired.

Twang!

His arrow rocketed through the air into the dragon’s face.

Ka-Boom!

Its blue breath shot out all over the sky. Bursts of blue lightning rained down, igniting everything they touched. The boardwalk was burning. The store roofs caught fire.

“Come on!” Nath yelled, waving his bow at the great beast. He fired again.

Boom!

The hull’s head snapped back. Its nostrils flared. Its eyes narrowed on Nath.

“That’s right. Here I am!” He backpedaled away. “Come and get me, you ugly beast!”

The hull let out another terrifying roar. Its great foot stomped the ground.

Nath’s feet flew out from underneath him.

“Sultans of Sulfur!”

He licked and nocked a moorite arrow and let it fly.

It sank into the hull dragon’s eyelid.

The hull reared up. The muscles in its neck bulged.

“KAAAAAAAAAAABOOOOWWWWW!”

Nath fell to the ground, covering his ears. His legs turned to noodles.

A shadow covered him. The dragon’s foot hung above him and started coming down.

Great Guzan!

Nath curled up into a ball and closed his eyes.

Stomp!

Nath didn’t feel a thing.

That wasn’t so painful.

He popped open his eyes.

The hull was twenty yards from him. He lay in the grasses on the bank.

“How’d I do that?”

You didn’t
, Bayzog’s voice said in his head.
Now get moving. He sees you
.

The hull craned its neck from side to side. It checked under its foot and grunted.

“Ha-Ha! You missed me!” Nath yelled.

It roared and started running.

Nath ran away from the town, legs pumping.

The hull wasn’t moving fast, but its long strides shook the ground and kept pace with him. Nath stretched his lead to a hundred yards.
He’ll never catch me.

A bright light caught the corner of his eye. He glanced over his shoulder. A blast of blue lightning was coming straight for him. He dove to the ground.

“Argh!” he screamed.

The fire danced over his arms and chest. It sizzled and danced on his scales. It was painful. Awful. He screamed again.

The hull stormed right toward him.

Nath scrambled up, grimacing, and ran.

Ahead, the great rocks promised shelter.

Faster, Nath! Faster!

He began to stretch his lead.

The hull was still coming.

The town became smaller. Safer with every stride.

Good!

He turned and started running backward while loading another exploding arrow. If he could shoot into its mouth the next time it took a breath, he just might be able to stop it. Otherwise, he had no idea what the hull’s weakness was.

The hull dragon slowed its pace and stopped. Its scales and horns lit up. Crackled with blue energy.

Nath stopped and drew the arrow along his cheek.

“Perfect!” he said. “Open wide!”

Its scales and tail twinkled and its blue eyes narrowed. It was there, evil and enormous.

SSSZZZRAT!

There was a blinding blue flash.

“What?!”

Nath covered his eyes. Colorful spots exploded all over. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. He felt dizzy. Finally, he reopened his eyes. The hull was gone entirely.

***

Bayzog kept his eyes fixed on Nath. The dragon man was moments from death, curled up in a ball on the beach. Bayzog summoned the power of the elderwood staff. He reached out with an invisible hand, grabbed Nath, and flung him from harm’s path.

“That was close.”

Smoke. Fire. Shouts and screams. The people of Troghlin formed a line on the beach and raced buckets up the shore. The fire was spreading fast. Brenwar had ordered his dwarves to assist, but their efforts so far were in vain. The dragon’s fire spread too fast. Troghlin would perish.

“What is that fool doing?” Brenwar said, watching Nath run.

“Drawing the menace away,” Bayzog said. “And it’s working.”

“He knows I can’t keep up with him,” Brenwar said, shaking his war hammer. “That’s cheating. He wants to kill it all by himself! Well, I ain’t going to let that happen!”

Bayzog would never get used to the dwarven spirit of fighting anything anywhere. The hull dragon’s roar was the most terrifying thing he’d ever heard. Not to mention what he’d seen. This was a monster in every sense of the word. Terrifying. He wanted to run. Hide. He had to act.

“What are you waiting on, wizard?” Brenwar pointed. “Get us up there.”

“What do you mean?” Bayzog said with a tremor in his voice.

“We’ve got to help Nath,” Brenwar said. “Pilpin! Get the chest and make it quick!”

Bayzog’s mind was scrambled. Fighting humanoids was one thing. A three-story dragon was another thing. It might be impossible to wound. He rubbed his smoke-stung eyes. The town was about to perish. He wasn’t sure what to do. Save the town or his friend?

“I hope yer doing something, wizard!” Brenwar said. “Because standing here isn’t helping anything.”

Bayzog shook his head and pointed his staff at the lake. He started an Elvish chant, twirling the staff in tight circles. A funnel spouted out of the water.

“Get everyone clear,” Bayzog yelled.

The tornado of water raced up the beach, over the boardwalk, and into the town, washing every burning building in sight. The flames started to sizzle and extinguish. Smoke began to roll like a heavy fog.

“Let’s hope that does it,” Bayzog said, watching the tornado attack any flame in its path. “Let’s go after Nath.”

Bayzog and Brenwar raced after the hull. Nath was leading it away, toward the rocks, a good thing, but they were too far away to help. The beast was distant, and Bayzog was already laboring for breath. Brenwar didn’t move very fast on his short legs, either.

The hull had slowed to a stop. There was a bright-blue flash, and the great dragon disappeared.

“By my beard! Did you see that?” Brenwar said. “It’s gone. Nath better not have killed it!”

Bayzog could see Nath standing all alone in the field with his bow ready when another blinding flash hit. While Bayzog was blinking the stars from his eyes, the hull appeared again. It was right behind Nath.

Bayzog and Brenwar started waving their arms and yelling and pointing.

“Move! It’s behind you.”

***

Nath was staring at an empty field. Where a moment earlier a hull dragon the size of a large building had stood was nothing. A strange smell of something burning tickled his nose. Something flashed like lightning behind him. That’s when Bayzog and Brenwar appeared far away, waving frantically. He felt a giant shadow above him. He turned. The hull was right over the top of him, clutching at his head.

“No!”

He fired into the hull’s great belly. Point-blank range.

Kaboom!

The blast blew him off his feet. He sailed head over heels. His limbs were numb. A lizard’s foot the size of a horse rose and came down.

“Not again!”

Nath balled up like a rock.

Thoom!

Pain erupted all over. Things cracked and squished in his body. He couldn’t move. He’d only been awake a few days, and now the thought of any more days was over.

Death lingered over Nath in the form of the ugliest dragon he’d ever seen. It leaned down and roared at him once more. He thought his ears would burst. He tried to cover them. His arms wouldn’t move fast enough.

If I can move, I can fight.

He rolled up to one knee and reached for his bow. It lay in the grass a few feet away, but it might as well have been a mile. With every muscle in pain, he stretched out for it.

The hull sucked in another great breath and fixed its fiery blue eyes on him.

Shoot it, Nath! Shoot!

He was too late. Down came the fire. Down came the pain.

***

“Take hold of my staff, Brenwar!” Bayzog said.

“What fer?” the dwarf replied.

“Never mind then,” Bayzog said. He started summoning his power. He needed to get to Nath and get there quick.

Brenwar wrapped one paw around the staff and said, “Oh no you don’t. You won’t be fighting that dragon without me. Now hurry up will youuuuuuuuu—”

Bayzog fixed his eyes on Nath. Power surged in his veins. He envisioned himself moving instantly from where he was to where he needed to be. A portal opened. He stepped through time and space. A split second later he was under the hull’s gaping mouth.

“You trying to get us killed, wizard?” Brenwar yelled.

Bayzog jammed the elderwood staff into the ground and shouted.

“
Moooorentanglaheeen Loooores
!”

A geyser of blue fire erupted from the dragon’s snout. Blue jags of lightning scattered everywhere.

Bayzog took a breath. His protective dome had formed.

It covered them all: Brenwar, himself, and Nath.

Nath fought his way back to his feet, shaking. He clutched his head and sides. He looked more dead than alive.

“Thanks,” Nath managed to say.

The hull started pounding away at the mystic dome. It scratched, clawed, and kicked. Its blows were thunder, its eyes lightning.

“I can’t hold it much longer!” Bayzog said, arms shaking. “We have to be ready to run!”

“Run?” Brenwar said. “There be no running. Take down that shield. Me and my war hammer be ready.”

Bayzog’s arms trembled and his knees started to bend. The hull was seconds away from overtaking them. All of them.

“Just give me a little more time, Bayzog!” Nath said.

The hull rammed his horns into the dome. It started cracking.

“I can’t hold it any longer,” Bayzog said. “If you’re going to do something, do it now.”

***

Nath had hunting arrows, moorite arrows, and exploding arrows, but he didn’t think any of them could do the trick. Not alone. He laid his quiver down at his side and pulled his last three exploding arrows out and wet the tips. They glowed with red light. He nocked them all on Akron’s string.

Taking a knee, he took aim. Stretching the bowstring tight, his chest and shoulders burned like fire. Something inside him had broken, but he held his aim.

“Give me your best, Akron,” he said.

The hull drew back its great arm, punched, and shattered the dome.

Bayzog collapsed in a heap of robes, bleeding at the nose.

The enormous hull dragon reared up and exposed its great neck.

“Cover Bayzog, Brenwar!”

Nath let the arrows fly.

Twang!

KABOOM!

The hull stumbled backward and toppled like a stone.

Nath skipped across the burning grass.

Everything was hazing. Ringing. Quiet and smoking.

Somehow, Nath rolled to his knees.

Brenwar helped Bayzog to his feet, and they stood there gaping.

The hull was slowly struggling to rise. It shook its great neck. It was angry. Worse: it was still living.

Nath’s clawed hand fell on Fang’s hilt.

“I need you now more than ever, brother.”

The hilt was hot, but not burning.