The Tomb of the Dark Paladin (24 page)

"Dragons are patient," whispered the witch, her dark wand held aloft. "He waits for us to make a mistake, he will not leave himself open to attack."

"We should move, Balzath. There is nothing to protect us here and we need to find shelter before night falls," Zach said, hesitant to take his eyes from the majestic and deadly beast. He thought that the woman must be considering something particularly foolish when she didn't answer right away. "Anyone within a mile can see the dragon circling. They will know where we are!"

"Of course," said the witch. "Lead on."

For once neither Urelis nor Ebonaar complained. Zach imagined that Urelis had his magic ready but he was surprised to see that the priest seemed to have regained some of his nerve. Even so, Ebonaar still remained close to Urelis.

"I swear by the Tides, Ebonaar, if you touch me with those pox-scarred hands I will flay the skin from your bones!" hissed the wizard. Ebonaar didn't seem to notice, his shifty eyes kept looking skyward at the graceful beast that neither attacked nor fled. "Why don't you do something useful and pray for a dragon plague?" sneered Urelis. But the priest was too afraid of the dragon to notice the taunt.

Zach shifted his gaze periodically to the sky to see what the dragon was doing. But the dragon did nothing of any interest at all and Zach worried what it might be planning. Balzath crept along beside the assassin and put her arm on his shoulder. This time Zach did not pull away, allowing the woman to believe that he was not displeased at her presence.

"It is trying to lull is into complacency. When we become used to its presence it will strike!" the woman whispered in his ear. Her perfume was powerful and, not for the first time, Zach wondered if the witch was wearing some strange magical potion. He turned his head and took a breath of fresh, cold, air to clear his head.  Zach knew she was as cold and ruthless as any man he had ever worked for. Despite his misgivings, he was attracted to the dangerous woman.

"You may be right," Zach said as he continued to pick his way among the ice-crusted crags and rocks. "So let's not make it easy for the dragon."

Zach saw that they were nearing the difficult cliff face that they would have to ascend to reach the plateau, but he wondered if there would be any semblance of safety to be found there. The dragon still circled high in the air above them, neither closer nor father away.

"I wish that beast would just do something!" hissed the priest, nervously. "I can't abide it constantly watching me!"

"Me too, Ebonaar," agreed Urelis. "I think it wants to eat you, I hope it does so very soon." The priest did not show any signs of being bothered by, or even having heard, the remark. Instead, he trailed along after the scowling wizard.

"I think we should all prepare to be attacked within the next few minutes," warned Zach. "Once we reach the cliff, we must either climb and be vulnerable to the dragon's attack or wait it out with no shelter."

The temperature was dropping rapidly and the air was very thin. Fighting anything at this altitude would be incredibly taxing, even for a few moments. If they were forced to wait out the dragon through the night they would surely freeze by morning.

"Urelis!" called the witch. "What will you do if it attacks?"

"I will blind it with shadow magic and blast it with
darkfire
."

"Ebonaar?"

"I could cause the flesh of its wings to decay and rot, if I could touch it."

"Wonderful," quipped the wizard. "Be sure to touch its wings before it eats you."

Zach shook his head as he situated himself at the base of the cliff face, wondering how different things might be had he stayed with Carym and the others.

"Foolishness!" hissed Zach's invisible voice companion.

"What did you say, worm?" asked the priest, his beady eyes alight.

"Nothing. It was the wind."

"Yes, wind that comes from your mouth and makes treacherous words."

"Bah," said Zach as he waved his hand in disgust at the priest. But he wondered how the man could have heard the voice and he noticed that Balzath and Urelis seemed to have heard the voice too, but they said nothing. "Balzath, I suggest that you and Ebonaar climb first. Urelis and I will guard your assent from here. When you reach the top, we will climb up behind you."

Balzath nodded her assent, but the dragon didn't seem to want to comply with Zach's plan and chose that moment to attack.

"Spread out!" shouted Urelis. "Spread out!"

Zach moved farther away from the treacherous path and settled near a pile of small boulders. He grasped
Morloth
in one hand and brandished his sword in the other while the power of the magical dagger wrapped him in shadows. As the dragon threatened, Zach decided it was time to get a little higher up. He hoped the beast did not possess some means of seeing through his shadowy cloak.

As the other three companions sought the virtually non-existent cover, Zach scrambled up the difficult cliff face using his dagger's indestructible tip to help him climb. When he reached the top, he threw a leg up and over the ledge and lay flat, looking at the scene below. It seemed that the flying beast had not seen through his dagger's protections. He glanced behind him and was stunned by what he saw. Before he could react to the sight, a deathly cold breeze generated by massive dragon wings reminded him something else was more pressing; the dragon made a pass.

The great beast swooped very near to the companions, but did not attack. It flew low, blotting out the sky with its immense wingspan and gave the gathered mortals a very close up view of its terrible body. Urelis launched a spout of
darkfire
at the beast as it flew and the witch fired a barrage of magical darts at the creature's wings; neither spell seemed to have any effect. The smell of rotting flesh followed along after the great beast passed by and climbed high into the sky, Zach assumed it was the carrion stink of the creature's breath.

Then the dragon pulled its wings closer to its body and plummeted toward the group again. At the very last moment, it spread its wings and veered away as lightning bolts danced from Balzath's wand and jets of Urelis'
darkfire
filled the air. But the wily beast turned nimbly through the air and avoided the assault, soaring back up into the air where it circled again.

"This is madness!" complained Ebonaar. "We cannot fight this way!

"It's trying to wear us down," said Urelis. "Very smart beast."

"Where is the 
Shadowblade
?
" snarled Ebonaar. "Has he fled from us already?" Balzath cast the priest a scathing glance but said nothing.

"Quiet, you filthy mongrel!" cursed the wizard. "The beast returns."

Zach thought he could predict the creature's next attack and formed a plan in his mind. He backed up from the ledge, far enough to get a full running start, and hoped he timed his run perfectly; the beast was preparing to dive again.

The dragon did dive again and Zach saw his chance. He ran as fast as he could, his body so numb from the cold that he did not feel pain anymore. He reached the ledge at full speed and soared through the air,
Morloth
held before him like a human spear.

This time the dragon came so close that the witch and the wizard could not miss and their bolts of
darkfire
and lightning pummeled the enormous monster's hide. The magical assault seemed to have little effect on the beast, but its hide did bear a few scorch marks. Balzath was just thinking that she had a very effective, and very diabolical, plan when the beast suddenly lurched in the air and let out an ear-piercing shriek.

"What's wrong with it?" cried the priest, who was trying to look as though he were contributing to the fight.

"It looks hurt," mused Urelis. "Though I'm sure we didn't hit it hard enough to injure it." The dragon beat its wings furiously, trying to gain altitude, it was clear that it was injured. As the fearsome flying reptile tried to swat an unseen annoyance with its massive tail, its injury became apparent.

"Its wing!" hissed the priest. "Its wing is injured!"

Try as it might, the great beast could not gain any altitude, the tear in its bat-like wing opened further as the dark companions looked on. Then the great beast tilted sharply, tucking its wing underneath its body, and plummeted to the ground. The great wyrm crashed into the slope of the mountain with such force that the companions were knocked from their feet, but it seemed to the trio that the fall was intentional. Then Zach suddenly appeared on the slope, running away from the angry beast, toward his companions.

Balzath laughed shrilly, covering her mouth to stifle the sound. Her face seemed to alternate between mirth and consternation, eliciting strange looks from the other two. The dragon rolled very quickly to its feet and shook out its wings angrily. Another piercing shriek split the air. 

Balzath withdrew a necklace from her bosom as Zach neared, and the man saw that it was a pentacle charm like the one he had taken from the Tartarus Monk that accosted him in Powyss. She yanked the necklace from her neck and threw it on the ground. Zach had to swerve to avoid the giant disk of darkness that expanded from the place where the magical device fell. He quickly moved around behind the witch and was welcomed with a deadly glare from the scabrous priest and a nod of respect from the whiney wizard. The dragon lurched up the slope, its eyes alight with fury and menace as it prepared to take its revenge against the puny humans that dared to defy it. The dragon's tail slammed from side to side, its impact so strong it shattered boulders.

Balzath stepped precariously into the dark circle, the sloping ground made the process dangerous but there were no other choices. Then Balzath removed another necklace from her ample bosom and repeated the process, creating a second circle of darkness. Meanwhile, Urelis closed his eyes and Zach assumed the wizard was preparing to cast a spell.

At that moment, a head protruded from the second dark circle. It was a hideous scaly head with horns and eyes of flame. As the rest of the creature emerged, Zach saw a row of spines that ran from the base of its head down its back. Large scale-like plates covered the front of the creature like a suit of armor and it wielded two wicked weapons: a long spear and a wicked hook.

At the same time, a shimmering portal of darkness appeared in the air above the dragon and something very much like a second dragon appeared.

"Fly, fool!" hissed his voice companion. "We can't defeat two of them!" Zach looked at his companions, but Balzath and Urelis were not paying attention to him. Ebonaar cast him a sly and condescending smile.

"We don't have to," he grumbled back to his invisible voice friend. The thing that emerged from the shimmering portal was, in fact, another dragon, but this one seemed to be completely comprised of shadowy energy with dark red pinpoints of light where its eyes should be. Zach knew that this dragon was a conjuring of Urelis' and his respect for the apprentice rose. The shadow-dragon swooped down upon the unsuspecting mountain drake as it approached the companions, and slammed into its back. At the same time, the creature summoned by Balzath leaped from its magical hole and charged the dragon.

The great beast, flightless now with a torn wing, was unused to fighting on the ground but it could do nothing else. It did not notice the demon lurching up in front of it until it had stuck its long spear into the dragon's great mouth. The shadowy construct raked its diabolical magic claws down the injured dragon's back. The wounded dragon immediately reared up on its legs and tried to ram its nebulous foe with its head as the demon impaled the creature's front right leg with its spear. The dragon howled and thrashed, whipping its tail around and smashing it like a club. The demon lost hold of its spear but dove in and slammed the point of its great hook into the dragon's neck. The dragon smashed itself to the ground, trying to injure the demon, and began to roll itself down the slope. The shadow-dragon dove down, slamming into the body of the mortal dragon with incredible force.

The injured dragon rolled down the slope of the mountain as the demon slashed with its great hook and the shadow-dragon struck with its nebulous, but deadly, talons and teeth.

"Up to the top!" shouted Zach. "Now!"

Ebonaar knew wisdom when he heard it and scrambled up the cliff face, faster and with more certainty than Zach ever thought possible.