The Dragon's Test (Book 3) (25 page)

“What is that?” Eldrik asked.

“They seek immortality,” she said flatly. “While most shadowfiends are content with their existence, the members of the Black Fang Council seek to prolong their lives indefinitely, at the cost of any who stand in their way.”

“How do you know of them?” Eldrik asked.

“Because the man you know as Senator Bracken, the previous patriarch of our order, was familiar with them. He even spoke with a couple of them over the years.”

“If these s
hadowfiends are so unpredictable, why would he talk to them?”

Silvi shrugged. “I don’t know all of the details. I only know that he had a question for them. He sought them out for years before finally finding one. Hairen said once that he traded the souls of ten men for the answer he desired. Then, from that point on he would periodically deal with them, always taking more sacrifices to them in exchange for whatever wisdom they gave him.”

“What would be so important to Bracken?” Eldrik mused aloud. “What did they have that he wanted?”

“I suppose he also sought the secret of immortality,” Silvi said. “It is the only reason I have ever been able to come up with.”

“Well, if that is true, then they obviously didn’t give him the right answer,” Eldrik said.

“Perhaps,” Silvi agreed. “I guess there is no way to know now,” she said.

Eldrik nodded. “Yes there is,” he said. “We will go to them.”

Silvi’s eyes opened wide. “Eldrik, we can’t go to them, they will kill us.”

“They didn’t kill Bracken,” Eldrik replied.

“Bracken was a lot stronger than both you and I put together,” she pointed out. “And even he needed to bring them something in return.”

“You just said you know of one that we could turn to,” Eldrik pointed out.

Silvi nodded. “We could try, but it will be a long journey. Beyond the sea.”

Eldrik frowned. “I have nowhere else to go,” he said.

“We could start a new coven
here,” she reminded him.

Eldrik shook his
head. “No, let us go find this shadowfiend.”

“Alright Eldrik,” she relented.

“No, the battle is over and everyone here will assume that Eldrik has died,” he said. “From now on I wish to be called Aparen.”

“What of your mother?”

He shrugged. “Aparen has no mother,” he said callously.

Erik stepped around his horse, keeping a wary eye on the cavedog nearby. The lizard was enormous, like a wingless, fireless dragon. A long snout filled with razor sharp fangs situated on a stout, thick neck. The back was broad and muscular, affording ample space for each dwarf to affix a saddle to. The forelegs were strong and tipped with heavy, black claws. The back legs were similar, except almost double the size. The tail stretched out mightily behind the beast, about three feet in length. It looked up at him with angry yellow eyes and flicked its forked tongue out into the air.

“Don’t let it bother you,” Alferug said. “He won’t strike.”

Erik kept watching the lizard. “How do you know?” he asked. “And for that matter, why don’t they attack all of you? Each lizard is about seven feet long,” Erik said.

“Most are closer to eight or nine feet long, actually,” Alferug corrected. “They are a savage beast in war, but to the dwarf folk they are as kind and loyal as a sheepdog might be to its master. That’s why they are called ‘cavedogs’ in fact. They have many endearing traits.” Alferug bent down and stroked the back of the lizards shoulder and it lift
ed its head and closed its eyes, emitting a low, throaty sound that almost resembled a purr.

“I don’t know,” Erik said. “It seems like saying a snake could be a good friend.”

Alferug turned sharply and frowned. “The comparison is not apt at all,” he said. “A cavedog is a distant cousin of the dragon. As such, we are actually able to communicate with them the same way that I can communicate with you while you are in dragon form.”

Erik shrugged. “If you say so.”

“Come put your hand on its snout,” Alferug said.

Erik shook his head. “No, that’s alright.”

“I’m not asking,” Alferug said tersely. “Come over here and put your hand right here.” Alferug jabbed a finger down on the beast’s snout.

Erik sighed and slowly approached. He reached his hand out but stopped suddenly when the lizard opened its big yellow eye and looked right at him.

“Go on,” Alferug urged. “Put your hand on him.” Erik barely inched forward with his fingers. His eyes were locked on the cavedog’s eye. Alferug reached out and grabbed Erik by the wrist and yanked him the rest of the way until his hand was on the cavedog. “What do you feel?” Alferug asked.

“It’s rough,” Erik said noting the thick, bumpy scales.

Alferug shook his head. “No, not that,” he said. “What do you feel in here?” He jabbed a finger into Erik’s chest.

Erik shrugged. “Nothing,” he said.

“Bah,” Alferug gruffed. The dwarf stood up and scratched the back of his neck. “We’ll try again some other time then,” he said.

A loud howl pierced through the forest.

“What was that?” Erik asked.

“Not sure,” Alferug admitted. “But it is still a ways off yet. Come, let’s see if we can stay ahead of it.” He
turned quickly and shouted out, “Faengoril, time to move!”

“Already ahead of you,”
Faengoril shouted back from across the camp. Erik looked over and saw the dwarf was already atop his cavedog as were several others. “They’ll be on us by nightfall,” he added.

Alferug nodded. “If not sooner.”

“We can make Buktah by then,” Erik put in.

Alferug turned back with a wicked grin on his face. “Oh yes, you mean the town where you severed the captain of the guard in half?” he chided. He quickly shook his head. “We will find no rest there. Besides, the beast that tracks us is not one we should take to a city.”

“So where do we go?” Erik asked.

“We stick to the forest south of Buktah, like we planned originally.” Alferug threw his leath
er saddle onto his cavedog and tightened the strap before hopping on.

Erik went back to his horse and jumped into his own saddle.
Faengoril led the pack with a sharp shout and the cavedogs tore off through the forest, darting through the trees and bushes with blinding speed. Erik spurred his horse into a gallop, but had to stick to wider paths as he followed the cavedogs. His horse nickered and snorted any time one of the great lizards ran close to it. Erik patted his horse as he leaned forward.

“They make me nervous too,” he confided.

The group charged through the forest, trampling over sticks and leaves, churning up dust and breaking ferns and bushes back as they rolled through. Occasionally a howl would sound from somewhere behind them. Each time, Erik would look back, but he never saw their stalker. Still, the hairs on the back of his neck started to prickle and raise as the howls seemed to grow closer to them.

Erik was careful to keep his head low to avoid branches as they departed from the main road and went deeper into the forest itself. The trees in this part grew close enough together that Erik could not keep up with the cavedogs. The dwarves pulled ahead of him
as their animals were much nimbler and easily able to navigate the tight turns. Erik almost shouted out to the group but a loud, piercing howl made him turn back. His horse snorted and increased its speed, carelessly bolting through the trees and through a patch of brambles and briars that ripped and pulled at Erik’s legs.

He grit his teeth and tried to pull the horse off to the side but it was no use. The animal was spooked and running any way it thought it could go to escape from the howling. A deafening growl ripped through the trees and a great beast broke through the forest canopy snapping large branches like dry twigs. The horse whinnied and turned off to head due south.

The beast landed hard on the forest floor, just a few inches short of the horse’s rump as it got a mouthful of hair from the animal’s tail. The horse jumped forward tearing off for all it was worth. Erik looked back. The great beast folded its wings close to its massive body and sped forward after them, nipping at the horse’s heels. Erik had no idea what to do. He tried to reach for his sword but had to lay flat against the horse’s back in order to avoid a thick, low hanging branch.

A great shout sounded from his left and a cavedog burst through a holly bush. It snatched the beast by the left foreleg and dragged it to the ground as the dwarf warrior jumped up from the cavedog’s back and bore down with his axe on the beast’s spine. The beast howled and twitched, but it was no match for the surprise attack.

“This way!” Alferug shouted.

Erik nodded and tried to pull the reins, but the horse was not soothed by the sight of the great lizards. It turned slightly toward the east, jumping over a small brook and out from the trees into a rocky clearing of black sand and pink, porous rocks.

“No, not that way!” Alferug shouted. “Come back!”

Erik tried, but his horse would not obey. Above circled several more of the horrid winged beasts. They howled and swooped down, snapping their great maws at him. Erik pulled his sword and was able to slice
one of the beasts across the chest. It fell to the ground behind him, but it was not dead.

A great hole loomed before him and the horse tried to jump across. It didn’t make it. Its forelegs fell short of the opposite rim and the horse flipped over, flinging Erik to the ground beyond while the horse slid into the large, funnel-shaped pit.

Erik rolled and slammed into a large rock, spitting the black sand from his mouth. He rose quickly and kept his eye on the beasts above. Arrows zinged up from the edge of the forest and Erik saw dwarves furiously working short recurve bows from the back of their mounts.

“Don’t move!” Alferug shouted.

“What?” Erik yelled back.

His horse started to get up and Erik went to move to help the beast, but something moved in the bottom of t
he funnel that caught his eye. He stopped and watched as what appeared to be a black, furry snake stretched out.

“What is that?” Erik asked.

The horse saw the thing too and started to run up the side of the funnel. As it did so it churned the black sand, tearing down the loose side of the pit and gaining no traction. A flash of black erupted from the bottom of the pit and a great spider seized the horse. Massive fangs bore down and Erik heard a resounding
crack
as the animal’s spine snapped in two and blood showered the black sand of the pit.

Erik blanched and took a few steps backward until he felt nothing below his left foot. He turned around and narrowly avoided falling into a similar pit. His mouth dropped open and he surveyed the area about him. He was in the middle of a field full of su
ch pits. He looked back to his dead horse and the spider dragged the limp corpse under the sand.

Then Erik saw the bloody chest of the winged beast he had wounded on the opposite side of the pit.
The winged monster growled, pulling its lips back to reveal blood red gums over gleaming, sharp fangs. It launched toward him, extending its wings to glide across. Erik dove to the side, slamming into the ground and letting the beast sail into the pit behind him. By the time the monster realized its mistake it was too late. It beat its wings furiously, but its heavy tail dragged along the side of the pit and awoke the spider inside. A great, brown spider lunged out with scary accuracy, wrapping its fore legs around the beast’s wings and biting into the back of its neck. The beast howled and snarled, slinging a string of foamy slobber, but it was no match for the giant spider.

“Come on, try to stay atop the rocks,” Alferug shouted. Erik pushed himself up and sprinted as quickly as he could while still picking his steps carefully. When he was able he jumped from rock to rock. The remaining winged wolves circled above, kept at bay by the dwarves’ arrows.

One of the wolves howled and fell from the sky to land in a pit, arrows protruding from its chest. No sooner did it touch the sand than a great spider leapt out and pounced on it. Erik couldn’t help but watch the hairy spider, but he should have been watching where he was running. He tripped on a large stone and tumbled forward, barely stopping before falling into a pit himself. His heart pounded in his chest as he gingerly lifted his foot and pulled it back from the rim of the funnel. A couple of pebbles jiggled and skitted down a few inches and he held his breath, too afraid to move, staring at the bottom of the funnel.

Nothing moved.

He exhaled and slowly rose to his feet.

“Behind you!” Alferug bellowed.

Erik wheeled around and barely caught sight of a mass of fur and teeth before a monster plowed into him. The two of them went down into the funnel, tumbling and lashing out at each other. Erik fumbled for his sword and barely pulled it out in time to catch the massive wolf in the jaw and prevent the beast from tearing out his throat. The wolf snarled and growled, ripping at him with its front paws and snapping down with its great maw. Erik furiously worked the sword, but he couldn’t get the right angle for a killing thrust.

The sand below his back shifted and heaved under him. Then a great flurry of sand and pebbles exploded out around him and a pair of hairy, thick legs planted themselves in the sand on either side. The wolf above him howled horridly and lurched down, nearly crushin
g Erik. A sharp pain stabbed Erik in the stomach and then the wolf was yanked back, away from him. The beast twitched and gnashed its fangs until it disappeared below the sand with the spider. Erik slowly, delicately pointed the tip of his sword at the bottom of the funnel.

With his left hand he picked up a sizable rock and threw it at the opposite side of the funnel. It splashed into the sand and then tumbled down the side, creating a small slide of sand and pebbles. Nothing happened. Erik picked up another rock and threw it. This time the rock only rolled half way down the funnel when the spider emerged.

However, it didn’t pounce like it had before, it came up slowly, letting the sand fall from its hairy, black body as it pushed up from below. Erik’s heart jumped into his throat and his breathing became fast and shallow. His hands trembled and he had to struggle to keep the sword steady.

The beast turned on him and looked down with eight, beady black eyes.
A pair of pedipalps spread apart slowly, revealing bloody fangs dripping with green venom. Erik held his breath, hoping beyond hope that the beast would be satisfied with its previously caught meal. The spider pulled its legs free of the sand and stretched to its full height, towering over him. It leaned to the left and then broke to the right before pouncing. Erik called forth the sword’s magic and the blade encased itself in white-hot flames and sunk deep into the spider’s body through its mouth.

The pair of bloody fangs stopped just inches from Erik’s hands and the spider twitched and quaked wretchedly until its strength expired and its legs collapsed. Erik barely managed to roll the spider off to the side and retrieve his sword before being crushed. As he pulled the blade back, the flames were gone, replaced by a hissing, steaming sheath of green ooze that dripped slowly to the ground.

Erik backed away and scrambled up the edge of the funnel with more than a little difficulty. Sand and rocks fell away from under him as he clawed his way up. When he finally made it to the top he pulled himself onto a flat rock big enough for him to lay his upper body on and he hugged the stone.

“Come on,” Alferug said gently as he bent down and grabbed Erik’s arm. “You did well, but we aren’t safe yet.”