Death's Mistress

CHAPTER 70

As the dragon turned its newly bright-eyed gaze toward them and let out a blast of flames, Bannon dove for shelter behind the tall pumice boulder, dragging a startled Nathan along with him. The roar of heat slammed against the pocked volcanic surface, blackening it.

While a rejuvenated Brom attacked her companions, Nicci summoned lightning again, a blast three times as strong as her first barrage, but now the dragon’s pewter scales were like thick armor, and the lightning skittered harmlessly off his back. Full of energy, the guardian dragon coiled his leg muscles, and sprang into the air, creating a great gust with his restored wings.

“This is a sacred place to dragons! You are thieves.”

He vomited a wave of fire toward Nicci, and she cast out her hands, releasing magic in a shield of air and mist that deflected the flames. But she staggered under the incinerating onslaught, reinforcing her barrier, straining as the avalanche of flames pounded and pounded. That one defense nearly drained her, and when the fire subsided, she staggered back.

“Grave robbers!” Brom roared from the sky. “You must die.”

“No!” Thistle’s voice rang out in the odd silence that filled the gap between the dragon’s bellow and the blast of his flames. “Brom, listen! That’s not why we’re here.”

Nicci whirled to see that the scrawny girl had climbed on top of the giant dragon skull and now stood waving her hands to draw Brom’s attention. “We came because we have to!” Thistle looked tiny and vulnerable out in the open.

The gray dragon swooped above the girl and curled his serpentine neck in preparation for another fire blast.

Nicci screamed, “Thistle! Take cover!”

The girl looked so waifish, so brave, so impossible, that even Brom hesitated. Thistle stood on top of the curve of the monstrous blackened skull, defiant and angry. “We’re trying to save the world! My friends and I made a long journey to come here. It’s important!”

The dragon’s eyes were bright, reflecting a sharp mind now, his full faculties reawakened with the supercharged fire that Nicci had pumped into his heart. “You are a strange creature, tiny one,” Brom rumbled. “Very brave and very foolish.”

Thistle put her hands on her narrow hips and her raggedy skirt. “I am determined. And I was told that gray dragons are wise.” She shot a quick glance over to Nathan, then back to Brom. “You should listen to reason. Don’t you want to know why we came here? Aren’t you curious?” She huffed, then answered without waiting to hear a response. “An evil woman has unleashed a terrible magic that could swallow up the whole land. It will destroy Kuloth Vale before long … and there’s only one way to stop it. We need a bone—a dragon’s rib.” She glared at the gray-scaled beast. “That’s why we came here. We’ll kill you if we have to. We don’t want to, but we mean to take what we need. We are trying to save the world.”

Intrigued, Brom backflapped his wings and settled his great bulk among the graveyard rubble, close to Thistle. Bannon and Nathan emerged from where they had taken shelter. Their hair was streaked with sweat, their faces smeared with soot and dust.

Nicci held the magic within her, barely restraining herself from releasing another barrage of lightning, though she was not sure it would do any good. She was still weary from her previous defense and doubted she could kill or even stun the reenergized dragon. She realized that attacking now would only put Thistle in greater danger. If gray dragons were the most intelligent of the species, maybe Brom would listen before he lashed out again.

The dragon settled back, extending his wedge-shaped head forward. Smoke curled out of his nostrils as he regarded the spunky girl. Thistle faced him without flinching, even though Brom’s hot breath blew back her tangled curls of hair. “Explain yourself, tiny one.”

Still standing as tall as she could on top of the scorched dragon skull, Thistle said, “I just want to save my land. First, the Lifedrinker killed my parents, my aunt and uncle, my village, and everything in my valley—and we destroyed him. But now there’s an even worse threat, a sorceress who unleashed an explosion of life, and now that is taking over the valley. It will destroy everything!” Her voice became a desperate shout. “I just want a normal world. I want the beautiful valley back, the one everyone talks about.”

Brom snorted smoke. “A sorceress created too much life?” He lifted a now-healed forelimb and used an enormous claw to scratch between his tusk-sized teeth. “I marvel at the concept. Too much life…”

He turned his blazing gaze to where Nicci, Bannon, and Nathan stood ready to fight. The dragon addressed them. “I came here to die, as all dragons do at Kuloth Vale … but it has been so long. I was the guardian, and I remember their lives. Now you have restored my life.” Smoke and cinders curled from his mouth as the gray dragon let out an odd, growling chuckle. “Although I do not believe you meant to.” He turned back to Thistle, leaning forward. The dragon’s head was so close that she could have reached out and touched his scaled snout. “Now, brave tiny one, what does this have to do with me?”

“Not with you,” Thistle said. “But with the bones … or just one bone. The only way we can kill the evil woman and stop that flood of life is with a bow made from a dragon’s rib. That’s why we came here. We mean to take one!”

Nicci carefully edged her way closer to Thistle. She wanted to be in a position to shield the girl with magic if Brom became enraged. Nicci spoke up, in a firm but reasonable tone. “Just one rib, noble dragon. That is all we ask—and it is also what we require.”

Bannon spoke up. “There are plenty of bones here, dragon. You won’t miss one.”

Brom lifted his huge head and flexed his wide leathery wings. “These are the remains of my kind. These are my ancestors.”

“The spell is very specific and powerful,” Nathan explained. “We would not have come to Kuloth Vale unless we had no choice. Gray dragons are wise, are they not? If we don’t stop Life’s Mistress, eventually her wave of rampant growth will cover the world, even these high mountains.”

Brom simmered for a long moment, pondering deeply. “I understand that it must seem a small thing to you, considering all these bones here, but I must revere the remains of the dragons and do what I have sworn to do. Dragons are honorable creatures.” He paused, regarding them one by one with his reptilian gaze. “I am an honorable creature.”

Now he faced Nicci, his eyes a molten gold. “However, I must acknowledge what you did for me, Sorceress. You gave me life. I was about to perish and become the last set of bones here, and then no dragon would have guarded Kuloth Vale. But with the fire that you placed in my heart, I am alive and powerful again. You have added centuries to my life and purpose.” He huffed and seemed to relax. “Perhaps a single rib bone is not an excessive price to ask.”

* * *

As dusk swallowed Kuloth Vale, the gray creature watched their every move while the companions searched through the graveyard of dragons. Nicci assessed each rib for its suitability. When she found exactly the right one, she ran her fingers along the smooth, ivory surface, bent it slightly, felt it spring back.

Nathan studied the head, the structure of the skull. “That skeleton belonged to a blue dragon. A medium-size one. The bones look undamaged.”

Brom loomed above them. A thick membrane flickered across his golden eyes, then slid back beneath the lids. His voice was somber. “Not just any blue dragon, that was Grimney. I remember him well. We were young together, hatched only a century apart. He was always a reckless adventurer, wanting to fly across the seas or soar off to the frozen wastes. He would play in the updrafts of the mountains, taking foolish risks.” He snorted a curl of smoke. “Once, Grimney crashed down in a thick forest and became so tangled in tree limbs that he bellowed there for days until other dragons arrived to extricate him. I helped burn the forest to ash so Grimney could pull himself free.”

Brom shook his heavy head from side to side. “Another time he flew high, high enough that he hoped to taste the fire of the sun. He came back long afterward, spiraling and flying unevenly. He was never right in the head after that.” The gray dragon flapped his wings, then folded them neatly against his back. “I believe it fitting that you use his rib for your quest. Take what you need. Grimney would approve.”

Nicci assessed the rib bone one last time to convince herself that it would make the perfect bow to kill Life’s Mistress. She used a line of magic to cut the rib free, and the long, curved arc came loose in her hands. “Thank you, Brom.”

“Now, leave this place,” said the gray dragon. “Much as I enjoy the conversation, it breaks my rules. Take Grimney’s rib and do what you must. Honor him—give him one last adventure.”

As darkness fell, they climbed up the rocky slopes to get past the wall that bounded the valley, so they could camp outside of Kuloth Vale. When they crossed the pass and began the rugged descent into the thickening darkness, Nicci stopped and turned back to look.

The gray dragon stood on the ridge, spreading his wings. Brom called after them in a loud thrumming voice. “I am the Guardian of the Vale. Do not think we are friends. I will kill you all if you ever intrude again.”

Nicci hoped they would never need to return.