Claws of the Dragon (9 page)

CHAPTER 21

The march to the Craggy Mountains wasn’t so bad, but the march up the Craggy Mountains was. Nath, one to pride himself on knowing the terrain of so many places in Nalzambor, didn’t find any familiarity with the cold mountains at all. Shackled at the ankles, he slipped and bumped into the rocks of the narrow pass that winded slowly up the mountain.

A bugbear whacked him in the back with the butt of its spear. “Keep moving, Scales.”

Scales. That was what they were calling him. An unpleasant little nickname full of spite and mockery. It didn’t take much for the big, cruel humanoid races to take their shots at him. They tripped him. Bumped him. Threw small stones at him. They pulled and clipped off strands of his hair. They did everything they could to provoke Nath to anger.

Jaw set and teeth grinding, Nath bore it all. One insult after another.

I’m glad Brenwar’s not here. He wouldn’t make it. How am
I
making it?

Getting back on his feet, he resumed his march. All in all, it wasn’t so bad for him. His limbs didn’t tire. His extremities didn’t freeze despite the frost and snow thickening on the banks. No, he could take it. He was Nath Dragon, the Dragon Prince. He could take anything.

Walking up the frozen road with the real world he knew a mile or more below, they ventured through a sheet of low clouds. He momentarily lost sight of the bugbears that pulled him by the collar clamped around his neck. But he could hear the rattle of their armor. Smell their unpleasant sweat.

I’ve a feeling where I’m going will hold a far worse fragrance than Orcen Hold.

He shook his downcast head.

I hope Brenwar is fine. And I hope he doesn’t come after me. He hates climbing these mountains. And if those giants get ahold of him, they’ll bounce him down the hillside like a ball.

“Come on, Scales!” cried an unseen bugbear. The moorite chain connected to Nath’s collar snapped taut and jerked him clean off his feet. “Get up!”

Nath’s eyes turned into burning golden flames. From his knees, he coiled his hands around the chain and tugged it back.

The bugbear appeared in the mist, stumbling.

Furious, Nath rushed the bigger humanoid and tackled it to the ground. In a split second he had the chain around the bugbear’s neck and was choking it.

The bugbear let out a croak.

Biceps bulging under his scales, red brows furrowed, Nath put his back into it. Why not kill his captor? Now was the perfect moment to make his escape into the cover of the mist. Sure, he was shackled, but if anyone could escape these moronic fools, he could.

Whack!

A spear shaft broke on the back of his skull. Out of nowhere, the ugly, greasy faces of the orcs, ogres, and gnolls crowded him. They smote him with clubs and big fists.

Nath held on to the chain. He’d had enough of his tormenters on this long, cold, miserable march. He was a dragon.

No one messes with a dragon!

The relentless assault of his captors hammered away at his face and body.

Whop! Crack! Smash! Whump! Whump! Whump!

Blood dripped into Nath’s eyes. A sharp blade pierced his skin. He lost his grip on his chain.

The bugbear he had been choking to death crawled away. It clutched at its throat, coughing and hacking.

Somehow, from beneath the pack of bodies, Nath managed to kick and break its nose. “You’ll think again before you jerk
me
around, stupid beast!”

Something hard smacked right into the side of Nath’s temple. Bright spots erupted in his blood-filled eyes. Sagging underneath the greater weight and getting hit time after time, Nath’s valiant strength gave out. They beat Nath without mercy and dragged what was left of him up the mountain.

Half-conscious, Nath was uncertain how much time passed before they stopped dragging him. Parched, he spat out the grit from his mouth and forced himself up to his hands and knees. Through his swollen eyes he could see that the mist had cleared, but it was night, a black, moonless sky with not a star in sight. Some of his captors carried flaming torches for light. Snowflakes fell from the sky, and he caught one on his tongue.

Pretty, but not filling.

Rising to his feet, he stumbled and winced. One of his captors had stabbed him in his calf. Taking another step, he was forced to limp.

“Huh huh huh!” one of the bugbears laughed.

But it wasn’t the one Nath had nearly killed. No, that one looked at him and glanced away.

Good.
At least one of these stupid beasts got the message.

One of his captors shoved him.

Nath hobbled forward, acting a little worse off than he was.

If you fool these morons once, you can fool them again. Smelly morons.

The pass was wide enough for a dozen men to squeeze through side by side, and the cliffs were steep and jagged on either side. It was a one way in, one way out kind of thing.

Nath saw movement in those rocks. A glint of metal from armor and weapons. Black faces were hidden in those roosted shadows, but he could make out their breathing. Dozens of soldiers manned the rocks. But why? Why would anyone want to live in such a harsh, cold, and unforgiving place?

Hmmm, probably the perfect place for harsh, cold, and unforgiving people. Yes, the giants and their smaller, fouler little cousins deserve a place such as this.

Twisting around another bend in the road, Nath finally saw the stone giants he’d lost sight of long ago. The towering monster men weren’t so towering now. They stood side by side in front of a pair of great iron doors twice as tall as them. The ironwork was something like you would see in a dwarven city, only bigger, cruder, and unwelcoming.

Lifting his chin up at the ever-so-high doors, Nath gawked.

Sultans of Sulfur!
Those are just as big as the ones inside Dragon Home. What in Nalzambor lives in there, a city of giants? Or worse.

CHAPTER 22

Balzurth the Dragon King let out a roar that shook the Mountain of Doom. The great red dragon with gold glinting between his scales paced through the piles of gold and other treasure. His huge paws stomped the tiny coins and flung them aside. He shook the great horns on his head, and fire burst from his nose.

His voice was a rumble of thunder. “THEY WILL PAY!”

“Mind your temper,” said Grahleyna the Dragon Queen. Her dragon body was covered in scales of old gold with traces of white. She was smooth and supine beside her bigger husband. She was a thing of beauty that outshone every bauble and trinket of treasure in the room. She brushed up against Balzurth. “You need to be statelier. You’re setting a bad example for the rest.”

Balzurth bumped up against her and said in his strong voice, “It’s not going to be the end of the world because the king gets upset. Aw, that poor green lily. When I saw her, a she, with her wings shorn off…” His throat growled. “I don’t know how I’ve been able to contain myself this long. Now is the time for action, Grahleyna. I need to strike now!”

She clocked her horns with his. “You need to stay here, Balzurth. This is where you belong. It’s clear they are trying to draw you out so that they can kill you.”

He stomped his clawed foot and rattled the coins. “Let them try! I welcome the challenge.”

“Let me tell you something: I’m not letting you out of my sight, so don’t try anything. Oh, and don’t think I’m not still privy to your tricks. I know how you like to slide out of here, and just so you know, I have my eyes and ears everywhere. For now, we need to wait. Be patient.”

“Grahleyna! You heard the lily’s story. Those vile giants are decorating their chambers with dragon skulls! I can’t sit back and allow that kind of mutilation. You know that!”

She curled her tail around his. “Yes, yes I do. And my heart aches as much as yours, but you have to have faith now. The word is out about the giants and the titans. I have seen to that. The dragons will be more cautious and careful from now on.”

“Not all of them.”

“No,” she agreed. “But you can’t be responsible for all of them.”

He tightened his tail around hers and looked into her incredible eyes. “I’m glad you’re back. Life’s not the same without you by my side.”

“You’re sweet, Balzurth. And about that,” she said, nuzzling him, “I find it very curious that our son, Nath, happened upon me. You wouldn’t have had anything to do with that, would you?”

The grand dragon stammered. “The boy kept asking about his mother, so to keep him busy, I sent him on a quest. I only gave him one little hint.”

“Balzurth!”

“I didn’t think he would find you, though I hoped he would. Grahleyna, I missed you. A few hundred years without you was enough.”

“A few hundred years is nothing to us, and don’t try to play the romantic.” She rustled her wings and shook her head. “You hate the Great Dragon Wall.”

“No, I hate what is behind it. And WE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO SACRIFICE OUR LIVES CONTAINING AN EVIL THAT MUST BE DESTROYED! That wall cannot last forever, Love. You know that.”

She uncoiled her tail from his. “Oh, so it wasn’t really about me?”

Using his tail, he tried to grab hers again. “No, I didn’t say that. You know how deeply I feel for you.” His tail swiped through the treasure after hers, but she was quick, and he kept missing. “Grahleyna, don’t be like this. I don’t want to go decades without talking!”

“And you think I want to talk to someone who yells all the time?”

The massive chamber shook.

“I’M NOT YELLING!”

“Oh, really?”

Taken aback, Balzurth softened his tone. “Well, maybe a little. Grahleyna, please—”

She coiled her tail up with his again. “I forgive you. Honestly, Balzurth, you should know me better. I was only teasing you.”

“I understand many things, but I have the hardest time with you.”

“I know. But I like it that way. I find it … entertaining.”

The closer she got, the more Balzurth’s temper eased. He had plenty on his mind. Titans. Giants. Wurmers. His family was under attack again, and here he sat on his throne, feeling guilty. He wanted to take the fight to his foes. Vanquish the enemy once and for all. He glanced back at the Great Mural, where the images of the dragons moved at an impossibly slow pace. Time was so different on the other side.

“What are you thinking, Balzurth?” Grahleyna said, nuzzling him.

“Our son. It’s so much to leave on his shoulders. It seems unfair.”

“I know. I worry about Nath too. But I have faith he can do it.”

“Yes, yes, I do too, but still … I just want to help him. He’s so young, and the world is so full of ancient evil.”

CHAPTER 23

The humongous doors swung open with an ugly groan coming from the hinges. Marching into the mountain, Nath noted a smaller set of doors, man-sized, were built into the ones that had opened.

Interesting.

The two stone giants led him right through the mountain with their great arms swinging at their sides. The road within was wide enough for a dozen carriages, and it stretched as far as even Nath’s eyes could see.

It looks like they’ve carved a canyon out of this mountain.

On either side of him, crude structures jutted toward the sky. They were carved from rock and stone and merged with metal. Strange houses, open faced, were tiered up several levels. There were wooden ladders and stone staircases that all led higher and deeper into the strange new land.

Shuffling forward on his sore leg, Nath kept pace with his detainers. They had some swagger to them now, a strut in their step. People from all of the races were waving and greeting them, throwing dead branches and prickly rose stems on the road at their feet and cheering them on.

This is the oddest welcome I’ve ever seen. Men, orcs, halflings—ack! Is that a gnome? Oh my, a human boy is riding on a gnoll’s shoulders. It can’t be!

But it was. An eerie harmony pervaded these people. They were cheerful almost, one and all. Many chiseled at rocks. Others hammered metal inside the smithies Nath passed. The odd city seemed to have everything that a city would need. People. Livestock. Store fronts and shanty-like homes. There were coal-burning fire pits everywhere. And that wasn’t all.

There were giants.

More than Nath had ever seen.

Brenwar’s head would explode if he were here.

The giants, though outnumbered by the people, were monstrous men among them. Nath counted over two dozen of them. Hard bodied and bare chested, most of them stood between ten and twelve feet tall. They were the more common kind, unlike the stone and earth giants that towered around thirty feet high.

Nath stopped in his tracks.

Oh Guzan, I must be dreaming. No, it’s a nightmare.

Four giant orcs strode down the street. Dark skinned and pig-nosed, with some canine teeth sticking out from their bottom lips.

Nath couldn’t believe his eyes. He sniffed, and his eyes watered.

Oh, they are bigger and smell even fouler.

They walked right by Nath, flapping their jaws with chins held high, as if he weren’t even there.

It was strange. Nath for a change was one of the smallest people there. He didn’t like it.

What kind of an orc ignores me?

Nath stuck his foot out and tripped the one in the rear.

It stumbled into the others and knocked them all down.

“Ha ha! Stupid orcs. The bigger you are, the harder you fall!”

One of the bugbears turned around and took a swipe at Nath with his spear.

Ducking under it, Nath mocked him. “Nice try!”

One would think he’d learn his lesson from the last beating he took only hours ago, but the sight of the huge indifferent orcs infuriated him. He hated orcs.

I hate orcs! Certainly orc giants can be killed!

The giant orcs climbed back to their feet. Their dark eyes were hot with rage. Brows crumpled over their protruding foreheads. One of them yelled at Nath’s guards. A bugbear started apologizing profusely over himself.

Huh, well if that isn’t a twist. They’re mad at my captors and not me. Maybe the bigger ones are smarter than the smaller ones.

A giant orc unhooked a metal hammer from its belt and launched a devastating swing. The blow crushed the pleading bugbear’s face in and killed it.

Nath grimaced.

Bigger and meaner.

Every one of Nath’s captors dropped to their knees, leaving him standing upright, front and center.

The orc giant faced him with its heaving hammer in its hands and glowered down at him with its nostrils flaring. It cocked the hammer back over its shoulder.

“Eh,” Nath said, but he held his tongue. He wanted to say ‘I didn’t trip you.’ He really did, but that would be a lie. And even though it was an orc, and his life was in peril, Nath just couldn’t lie, so he said something else. Something positive. “Nice hammer. Can I hold it?”

The orc tossed it to him. Nath caught the massive thing with both hands. “Oof!” It was as heavy as an anchor. Straining, he lifted it over his head, teetered backward, and fell.

The orcs erupted in thunderous guffaws. Paying Nath no more mind, the one orc picked up the hammer, rejoined his group, and walked away.

“Whew!” Nath said, smiling. The hammer was heavy, but not so much as he’d led them to believe. He’d need to be more careful though. These giants were about as cruel as anyone he’d ever seen. They even killed their own kind.

Nath extended his hand to one of the bugbears on the ground.

It slapped his hand away.

For some strange reason, Nath almost said he was sorry. After all, it had been his actions that got the other bugbear killed. But the murder had revealed an awful lot to him.

These giants don’t play around. They’re stone-cold killers.

With him surrounded, his captors continued through the great but daunting city.

Nath, who had seen many things in his life, marveled.

This place was like the darker side of Narnum with all of its cultures, races, and sizes. Twenty-foot-tall ettins strolled the streets. Each giant traveled with a pack of smaller people that were enthralled by it. Huge slabs of meat cooked on monstrous grills and spits. There was the stink of sweat too. Filth and grime on every face. But the hard men and women worked with purpose and zeal. It was as if they wanted to help the giants. They enjoyed it. Hundreds of them. Maybe thousands. And they sang awful, ear jostling, horrible praises.

Bizarre. Yes. Bizarre.

Venturing into a great hall lit by great flaming urns bigger than ogres were tall, Nath stood before three empty thrones carved from black marble. Each one was about the same size as his father’s. They chained Nath’s links to the metal eyelets on the floor, and all of his detainers scurried away.

Skin crawling, Nath felt odd in his new isolation. There was an evil chill in the air that prickled the edges of his scales. Scanning the great vastness, his eyes glanced over the huge archways and columns where he found décor that was quite disturbing. Dragon skulls were mounted on the sides of the walls. Dragon skins hung like banners from poles.

Anger mixed with Nath’s queasiness. The corded muscles in his arms strained against his chains. The moorite groaned, but it would not give. Sweat burst on his brow. It was futile, and he gasped. The sound echoed throughout the massive chamber. That’s when another sound caught his ear.

Something hard pecked and scraped at the floor and echoed everywhere.

I’ve a horrendous feeling about this.

An enclave of wurmers snaked out from behind the bone-covered marble thrones. Eyes glowing and mouths dripping acid that sizzled on the floor, they made a beeline for Nath.

Did I say horrendous? I meant extremely horrendous.