In the good old days before the Eye Queue vine had fallen on him. Smash would not have wasted tedious thought on such a thing; he would merely have bashed on through, to kill and/or be killed, hardly caring which. Now he was cursed with the notion of meaning. To what point was this violence if neither participant survived?
It was discomfiting and un-ogrish, but Smash found he had to change his tactic. This one had little promise of success, since it would not free him from the serpent's coils. He was in a dire strait, and bulling ahead would only worsen it.
He drew the dragon's head forward, toward his own face. The dragon thought this meant Smash was weakening, and went forward eagerly. In a moment, the dragon believed, it could chomp the ogre's face off. Its breath steamed out, its woodsmoke fragrance toasting Smash's skin. He tried to sneeze, but was unable to inhale because of the constriction in which he was held.
Sure of victory now, the dragon cranked its jaws marginally closer together and lunged. Smash deflected the thrust as much as he could and jerked his head to the side. The dragon's head plunged down as Smash's hands let go--and the huge wedge-teeth chomped savagely on the uppermost coil. This was a device Smash had used on the tangle tree with good effect.
It took the Gap Dragon a moment to catch on. Meanwhile, it chewed. It surely felt the bite, but did not yet realize that this was its own doing, or that its teeth had not contacted ogre flesh. It took a while for the difference in taste to register. The dragon wrenched its supposed prey upward, driving the teeth in deeper. The coil loosened, giving
Smash
half a gasp of breath.
Then at last the dragon realized what it was doing. Its jaws began to open, to free itself from its own bite and to emit a honk of sheer pain and frustration--but Smash's two gauntleted hamhands came down on either side of it, clasping the snout, pressing it firmly closed on the meat. The jaw muscles were weaker this way; the dragon could not release its bite. Still, the ogre could not use his hands for further attack, for the moment he let go, the jaws would open. It was another position of stalemate.
Blood welled out around the dragon's lower fangs and dripped off its chin, coating Smash's gauntlet. The fluid was a deep purple hue, thick and gooey, smelling of ashes and carrion. It probably had caustic properties, but the gauntlet protected Smash's flesh, as it had when he held the basilisk. The centaur gifts were serving him well.
Now it was the dragon's turn to scheme. Dragons were not the brightest creatures of Xanth; but, as with ogres, their brains were largely in their muscles, and they were cunning fighters. The dragon knew it could get nowhere unless it freed itself from its own bite, and knew that its own coils anchored the ogre in place so that he could put his clamp on that bite. By and by, it realized that if it released the ogre, the ogre would lack anchorage and could then be thrown off. So the dragon began laboriously uncoiling.
Smash held on, gasping more deeply as the constriction abated. His strategy was getting him free--but it would free the dragon, too. This fight was a long way from over!
At last the coils were gone. The dragon wrenched its forward section away--and Smash's lower hand slipped on the blood coating it, and he lost his hold.
Now they faced each other again, the dragon with bloodied jaw and little jets of purple
goo spurting
from the deep fang-holes in its body, the ogre panting heavily from sore ribs. On the surface Smash had had the better of this round, but inside he doubted it. His rib cage was made of ogre's bones; nevertheless, it was hurting. Something had been bent if not broken. He was no longer in top fighting condition.
The dragon evidently had found the ogre to be stiffer competition than anticipated. It made a feint at Smash, and Smash raised a fist. Then the dragon dived abruptly back, as if fleeing. Suspicious, Smash paused--then saw that the dragon was going after Fireoak the Hamadryad, who was still lying helplessly on the ground.
This was very bad form. It suggested that Smash was no longer worth noticing as an opponent. His temper heated and bent toward the snapping point.
Chem Centaur leaped to Fireoak's defense, intercepting the dragon before
Smash
reoriented. She reared, her forehooves flashing in the air, striking at the dragon's snout. But she could not hope to balk such a monster for long. The Siren and John were running up to help, but Smash knew they could only get themselves in trouble.
He grabbed the dragon's tail again, this time bracing himself firmly against the rocky ground so as not to be flipped over. The moving body took up the slack again with a heavy shock that transmitted straight to the ogre's braced feet. The feet plowed into the ground, throwing up wakes of dirt and stones,
then
driving down deeper. When the dragon finally halted, Smash was braced knee-deep at an angle in the ground. He was strong, but the dragon had mass that mere strength couldn't halt instantly.
The dragon's nose had stopped a short distance from the hamadryad. Infuriated at this balk, the creature turned again, lunging at the ogre.
Smash exploded out of the ground, kicking dirt in the dragon's snoot. He reached for the jaws, but this time the dragon was wise enough to keep its mouth shut; it wanted no more prying open! It drove at the ogre with sealed jaws, trying to knock him down before taking a bite.
Smash boxed at the head, denting the metal scales here and there and rebloodying the smashed ear-socket, but could do no real damage. The dragon weaved and bobbed, presenting a tricky target, while gathering
itself
for some devastating strike.
The ogre looked toward the assembled girls. "Get away from here!" he bellowed. He wanted no more distractions from the main event; one of them was sure to get incidentally gobbled by the dragon.
From the other side Tandy called, "I've found a ledge! It's out of reach of the dragon! We can use the rope to climb to it while Smash destroys the dragon!"
She had boundless confidence in his prowess! Smash knew he was in the toughest encounter of his life. But he could proceed with greater confidence the moment he knew the girls were safe. He looked where Tandy pointed and saw the ledge, about halfway up the steep slope. There was a pining tree on it, its mournful branches drooping greenly, the sad needles hanging down. They would be able to loop the rope about the trunk of this tree and haul themselves up to it.
Then the dragon, taking advantage of Smash's distraction, leaped at him. The ogre ducked, throwing up a fist in his standard defensive ploy, but the dragon's mass bore him down. The huge metal claws of the foremost set of feet raked at his belly, attempting to dismember him. Smash had to fall on his back to avoid them--and the weight of the dragon landed on him. Now the stubby legs reached out on either side, the claws clutching the earth, anchoring the long body. Smash was pinned.
He tried to get up, but lacked leverage. He reached out to grab a leg, but the dragon cunningly moved it out of reach. Meanwhile, the sinuous body was moving elsewhere along its line, bringing another set of legs to bear. These would soon attack the pinned ogre. It would be easy for these free claws to spear through his flesh repeatedly, and sooner or later they would puncture a vital organ.
But
Smash
had resources of his own. He reached up to embrace the serpentine segment. He was just able to complete the circuit, his fingers linking above it. Now he had his leverage. He squeezed.
Ogres were notorious for several things: the manner in which their teeth crunched bones into toothpicks, the way their fists pulverized
rocks,
and the power of their battle embrace. A rock-maple tree would have gasped under the pressure
Smash
now applied. So did the Gap Dragon. It let out a steam-whistle of anguish.
But its body was flexible and compressible. When it had been squeezed down to half its original diameter, Smash could force it no farther without taking a new grip--and the moment he released his present one, the body would spring out again. His compression was not enough. The dragon was in pain, but still able to function; now it was again bringing its other claws into play. That would be trouble, for the outsides of Smash's arms were exposed. They could be clawed to pieces.
He drew on another weapon--his teeth. They did not compare with those of the dragon, but they were formidable enough in their own fashion. He pretended the underbelly before him was a huge, tasty bone and started in.
The first chomp netted him only a mouthful of scales. He spit them out and bit again. This time he reached the underlayer of reptilian skin, still pretty tough, but no match for an ogre's teeth. He ripped out a section, exposing the muscular layer beneath. He sank his teeth into that.
Again the monster whistled with pain. It struggled to draw back--but Smash's embrace held it firm. The compression made it worse; the ogre's teeth could take in twice as much actual flesh with each bite.
The dragon's claws ripped out of the ground. It humped its midsection, lifting
Smash
into the air. The huge head swung around, blasting forth steam. Now the ogre had to let go, for the back of his neck could not withstand much steam-cooking. He dropped off, spitting out a muscle. It would have been nice to chew the thing up and swallow it, but he needed his teeth clear for business, not pleasure.
The dragon was doubly bloodied now, yet still full of fight. It snorted a voluminous and slightly blood-flecked cloud of steam, charged
Smash
--and sheered off at the last moment, leaving the ogre smiting air with his fists. The serpentine torso whizzed by faster and faster, until the tail struck with a hard crack against Smash's chest.
It was quite a smack. Smash was rocked back. But his orange centaur jacket was made to protect him from physical attack and it withstood the lash of the sharp tail. Otherwise Smash could have been badly gashed, or even cut in half.
The tail, at its extremity.
Was long and thin, like a whip, with edges like a feathered blade.
Smash wanted no more of that.
He spied a boulder half buried in the ground. He ripped it from its mooring and hurled it at the dragon. The dragon dodged, but Smash threw
another,
and a third. Eventually he was bound to score, and the dragon knew it.
The dragon ducked behind a small ridge of rock and disappeared. Smash lobbed a boulder at it without effect. Cautiously he moved up and peered behind the ridge--and found nothing. The dragon was gone.
He bent to study the ground. Ah--there was a hole slanting down--a tunnel the diameter of the dragon. The monster had fled underground!
He dislodged a larger boulder and rolled it to cover the hole. That would seal in the dragon, at least until Tandy and the others could vacate the Gap Chasm. It was too bad he hadn't been able to finish the fight, but it had been an excellent one, and such ironies did occur in the wilds of Xanth.
Then two sets of claws came down from behind him. The dragon had emerged from another hole and ambushed him from the rear! That was what came of getting careless in the enemy's home territory.
Smash tried to turn, but the claws landed on his shoulder and hauled him backward to the opening jaws. This time he could not attack those jaws with his hands; he could not reach them. He was abruptly doomed.
Tandy appeared beside the boulder. "Look out, Smash!" she cried unnecessarily.
"Get away from here!" Smash shouted as he felt the dragon's steam on the back of his neck.
But Tandy's face was all twisted up in terror or horror or anger; her eyes were squeezed almost shut, and her body was stiff. She paid no attention to him. Then her arm moved as she threw something invisible. Smash, realizing her intent almost too late, dropped to his knees, though the talons dug cruelly into his shoulder.
The tantrum brushed over his head, making his fur stand on end. The dragon caught the full brunt of it in the snoot and froze in place, half a jet of steam stuck in one nostril.
Smash turned and stood. The Gap Dragon's eyes were glazed. The monster had been stunned by the tantrum. "Quick, run!" Tandy cried. "It won't hold that dragon long!"
Run? That was hardly the way of an ogre! "You run; I shall bind the dragon."
"
no
"
"You lunkhead!" she protested. "Nothing will hold it long!"
Smash picked up the dragon's whiplike tail. He threaded the tip of it into the smash-ruined ear, through the head, and out the other ear, drawing a length of it through. Then he used a finger to poke a hole in the boulder, and a second hole angling in to meet the first inside the stone. He passed the tail tip in one hole and out the other, exactly as if this were another dragon-head. Then he fashioned an ogre hangknot and tied the tail to
itself
. "Now I'll go," he said, satisfied.
They walked to the cliff face. Behind them the Gap Dragon revived. It shook its head to clear itself of confusion--and discovered it was tied. It tried to draw back--and the tail pulled taut against the boulder.
"A little puzzle for the dragon," Smash explained. Privately, he was nettled because he had had to have
help
to nullify the monster; that was not an ogre's way. But the infernal common sense foisted on him by the Eye Queue reminded him that without an ogre the girls would have very little chance to survive and the hamadryad's tree would be cut down. So he beat down his stupid pride and proceeded to the next challenge.
Chem, John, Fireoak, and the Siren rested on the ledge. The rope dangled down carelessly.
"All right, girls, it's over," Tandy called.
"Ready for us to come up?"
No one answered. It was as if they were asleep.
"Hey, wake up!" Tandy cried, irritated. "We have to be on our way, and there's a long climb ahead!"
The Siren stirred. "What does it matter?" she asked dolefully.
Smash and Tandy exchanged glances, one cute girl
glance
for one brute ogre glance. What was this?