Claws of the Dragon Read online

  “By the giants, no. I have to round up a search party.”

  “A search party for what?”

  “To find you.” He saluted. “Got to go. Good luck, flame hair. I aim to not see you too soon. And if you make it, come back to where you came in to get out of here.” He vanished through the doorway.

  Where I came in? Strangest rescue ever.

  While Nath was rushing up the steep flight of stone steps, an unseen force jolted him.

  Bang!

  Nath doubled over. His senses were jangled. Blinking, he searched all around him. It was just him inside the lonely stairwell.

  What was that?

  Clutching his chest, he resumed his climb and raced up the steps.

  Bang!

  He fell to his knees. Searching all around, he didn’t see anything.

  But he heard something.

  It was the sound of metal hitting metal, but it wasn’t any kind of metal. There was a unique sound to it. Almost like a tuning fork being struck. And the sound was echoing down the staircase from above.

  For some reason Nath searched his feelings. Like a hard punch in the gut, he felt it again.

  Bang!

  His eyes widened. He realized what was happening.

  Fang!

  CHAPTER 36

  “Drink your potion,” Selene ordered Brenwar.

  “What? Why?”

  She pointed at the giants coming their way.

  Shirtless heavy-eyed brutes were eyeballing and harassing the line of people trying to enter the chamber where the banging was coming from.

  Reluctantly, Brenwar slipped into a storage alcove filled with cut stone. He took out the vial and drank the potion down. His stomach turned. His skin and bone stretched. The blocks of stone lowered in his sight. He slumped back against the wall and shook his head.

  “Are you well?” Selene asked.

  Brenwar steadied himself and looked at the slender hands that hung out of his once-too-long sleeves. “I’ve been better.”

  “You look much better, aside from the beard.”

  He looked down at her. “I wish I could say the same for you. Let’s go.” Brenwar made his way out of the alcove and merged with the crowd of people heading down the street toward the banging sounds that echoed throughout the city. Half a head taller than Selene, he led the way with a lengthy step and swagger to his gait. He kept his chin down as he approached the giants.

  One of them, a ten footer with a fuzzy red unibrow, shoved him in the shoulder. It eyed him and said with a sniff, “You smell bad.”

  Head down with his fist balled up at his side, Brenwar replied, “Er, not everyone can smell as good as you.”

  The giant’s head reared back, and a deep scowl formed on his ugly face. “You jest with me?”

  Selene wedged herself between them. “Forgive him, master. My brother is addle-minded and not in the city much. He meant it as a compliment. He admires the giants. Pure admiration.”

  “I can speak for myself,” Brenwar said.

  Selene elbowed him in the chest. “Be silent.”

  The giant’s hand went to a hammer at his side, started to remove it. “No, still don’t like him. I think I’ll crush him. It’s been days since I’ve crushed anybody. And he smells funny.”

  “I’ll crush—umph!” Brenwar’s mouth was sealed by Selene’s hand.

  She then said to the giant, “My, you have such marvelous shoulders. I am a seamstress, and I could fit you in a most handsome cloak. You know, a little gold-and-silver trim. I have some leftover material that I could share with you if you spare my ignorant brother.”

  The giant stuck his face in hers. “I’ll crush your brother, and you’ll make it for me anyway.”

  “Sure, sure,” she said, “go ahead and crush him, them. He’s nothing but trouble.” She winked at the giant. “I’ll just need to explain to Eckubahn what happened to my assistant.”

  The giant swallowed and said with a stammer, “Go, go along. I will drop this matter.”

  “No, please, it’s not a problem. Smash my brother. I’ll make you a cloak so fine that everyone will notice.”

  “Go away!” The giant moved on down the street with the other one in tow. Neither looked back.

  “My, you really want to get rid of me, don’t you?” Brenwar asked.

  “It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

  “Ha ha.”

  Following the throng, they finally entered through the archway that led into the massive chamber big enough for hundreds of giants.

  Brenwar got his first eyeful of a ten-foot-tall orc and a nine-foot-tall goblin. He nudged Selene. “By the Sultans, what in their fiery flames is going on here?”

  “Indeed, it is strange.”

  Brenwar knew all about the giants. There were cyclopes and ettins. Earth giants, stone giants. Those were the rare ones. Normally bigger than the rest. Then there were the others. They lived in clans. Brutish men, crude and hairy. The dwarves considered them pure bloods. The others were abominations of flesh and magic.

  Now it seemed there were giant races too. Orcs, goblins, gnolls, bugbears, the biggest he’d ever seen. It didn’t make sense. What could be causing this? He hated the idea of a world filled with giants. He relished the idea of killing them.

  Bang!

  The sound of metal on metal jolted Brenwar. He picked his way through the crowd toward the front.

  Several giants stood inside a grand ring. Its flooring was a dark-red tile. In the middle was a huge anvil, bigger than a mule. Fang lay on top of it, like starlight in a night of grime. Hovering over the sword was a balding brute of a giant missing one eye. The twelve-foot pure blood held a blacksmith’s hammer in two hands. Sweat dripped down his face. Packed with thick muscle, the barrel-chested monster brought the hammer down on Fang.

  Bang!

  The crowd cheered.

  Bang!

  Sparks flew. Face filling with red rage, the giant hammered away.

  Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

  Sweaty lips puffing and broad chest heaving, the giant dropped the huge hammer on the ground. Another giant, a little bigger, walked up with his arm swinging. He was chuckling under his grubby beard. With a sneer, the first giant drew back his fist and punched the second one in the face, knocking it down to the ground.

  The people erupted with feverish excitement.

  “I like it,” Brenwar said in Selene’s ear. “Let them kill each other.”

  As the pair of giants slugged and wrestled, a third giant took center stage. With one hand, he picked up Fang and eyeballed him.

  Fang was a big sword, with a two handed pommel. He fit in the giant’s huge hand like a glove.

  Suddenly, the giant’s pupils turned into huge pearls. His hand smoked. His skin sizzled and fried. He dropped the sword on the anvil with a clatter and let out a howling cry. He ran around holding his smoking hand, knees pumping and screaming.

  The audience laughed.

  Brenwar found himself caught up in it as well. There was nothing quite like watching a giant making of fool of itself. As stupid as they were, they could still be entertaining. He guffawed and guffawed and guffawed.

  Over the next hour, the giants tussled back and forth in odd contests. They punched. Tugged. Head butted each other and the anvil. For the most part they beat themselves senseless and dizzy, all to the thrill of the crowd. But not a one of them could make a mark on the sword.

  With a straight face, Selene said, “So glad you are amused. Need I remind you why we are here?”

  “Of course not.” Brenwar swiped his thumbs over his eyes. “We just need a distraction.”

  Someone jostled him.

  Brenwar turned.

  A pure bred giant stood behind him. It wasn’t as stout as the one bragging and brawling front and center.

  Not thinking, Brenwar blurted out, “Watch yerself, giant!”

  The monster man looked down on him with an astonished look in his eye. Its nostrils flared. Muscle
s in its jaws clenched.

  Astonished himself, Brenwar watched the angry giant get bigger and bigger. He looked up at Selene.

  Her violet eyes filled with surprise. “Oh, no.”

  The giant screamed, “Dwarf!”

  CHAPTER 37

  Nath sat at the top of the steps, clutching himself. Every hammer to Fang’s steel was a blow to the gut. “Sultans of Sulfur,” he muttered.

  He had no idea why he had such an attachment to Fang. They’d been together for a long time, but they hadn’t ever bonded like this before. It was very weird. So far as he knew, Fang still didn’t obey him most of the time. The battering of metal came to an end, and he forced himself back to his feet.

  A chained door made of barred metal stopped Nath on the top step.

  Peering between the bars, he could see a room filled with oversized people with their backs to him. They were shouting and cheering. There were grunts and oomphs and the hard smack of fists on faces.

  Sounds like the Chamber of Contest to me. How did that halfling expect me to get in there without a key?

  But now that his belly was full, Nath discovered that his strength had returned. The bars and chains weren’t as thick as the ones in his prison. They were aged and coated in green tarnish. He stuck his hands through the bars and grabbed the padlock on the other side. He gave it a hard tug.

  Pop!

  The lock and chain fell away.

  “Huh, that was easy.” Wary eyed, he pushed the door open and made his way into the chamber.

  A well–built man staggered out of the crowd into Nath’s path. His eyes filled with alarm.

  With a quick punch, Nath knocked him out, and then he dragged him out into the hall, stripped off his heavy cloak, and put it on. He covered his head and ventured deeper into the chamber.

  The giants inside the arena were brutes. Each was thick skinned and padded in heavy muscle. Nath shuddered at the thought of an army of them. On the humongous anvil lay Fang, like a twinkling gem.

  This should be child’s play. All I need is a distraction.

  He closed his eyes and summoned the fire in his belly. It came surprisingly easily. He spat a small puff of smoke out of his mouth.

  Ah, yes, a monumental plume of smoke should do.

  He caught a pair of gap-toothed women staring at his lips. He thumped his chest with his fist, winked at them, and said, “All of this excitement gives me bad gas.”

  The women turned their backs, threw up their arms, and cheered with wild spirit.

  Nath filled his lungs and focused on his goal.

  Smoke. Snatch Fang. Vanish. Easy.

  When he was ready to unleash his plan, a clamor arose from the crowd. A giant fell into the arena screaming and holding his leg. The startled crowd scrambled away and bustled one over the other to get out of the grand chamber.

  The wounded giant kept saying the same thing over and over. “Dwarf!”

  Two cloaked figures stood on the opposite side of the arena from Nath. One was Brenwar, the other Selene.

  It can’t be!

  Before Nath could act, the chamber’s main door dropped in place with the thunderous boom, crushing a handful of people and trapping others inside.

  Nath made a quick count.

  One, two, three … fourteen giants!

  “Dwarf! You got that right!” Brenwar yelled in a thunderous voice. He waved Mortuun over his head. “Come and kiss my hammer, giants!”

  The entire chamber exploded into battle. The snarling giants charged with rage-filled eyes.

  Selene slipped through the giants’ clutches time after time. Giants fell and toppled hard. Frustration cried from their lips.

  Brenwar’s hammer swung and connected with bone-busting blows. The skittish dwarven fighter popped between legs, hammered feet, and broke bone after bone. But only a few suffered the wrath of Mortuun forged in Morgdon by Brenwar the dwarf.

  The tide turned.

  The hulking throng was overwhelming.

  Within seconds, the giants—big, but still quick as men—had Brenwar and Selene in their clutches.

  On instinct, Nath rushed to snatch up his sword and then stand atop the anvil.

  Power surged up his arms and down his back.

  He struck Fang’s tip on the anvil.

  Ting!

  Nothing happened. Nath fully expected the sound to grow, fill the giants’ ears, and drop them to their knees. He struck Fang on the anvil again.

  Ting!

  Nothing happened. Well, not entirely. Now, he had the attention of every last one of them, including the ones with their hands filled with the struggling forms of Selene and Brenwar.

  “Is this the thanks I get for rescuing you?” Nath said to the sword. He looked at his friends. “What are you doing here?”

  “Saving you!” Brenwar growled.

  “Well, you’re doing a fine job of it.”

  Kicking her feet and gasping for breath, Selene yelled, “Will you shut up and do something?”

  A giant reached for Nath. He swung Fang and clipped off the tip of its finger.

  The giant’s bellow permeated his ears.

  Still feeling a surge of power, Nath burst into action just as the giant blacksmith hammer came down and smote the anvil where he’d been standing before he leapt. Metal smote metal.

  Clang!

  Nath didn’t hold anything back. The giants were cold-blooded killers. Any hesitation would leave him and his friends dead. He sprang at the giant who clutched Selene and chopped it through its wrists.

  Selene landed like a cat and skirted away.

  Ducking underneath the swing of a sword, Nath plunged Fang into the side of the giant who held Brenwar.

  “RR-Rah!” the monster screamed.

  “We need to get out of here!” Nath said, still chopping and hacking with intensity.

  Brenwar was at his side, clubbing away.

  Selene shot bright and tiny little missiles from her fingers. “There’s a stairwell. Follow me there!”

  “Lead the way!” Brenwar said.

  To the tune of metal ringing against metal, they battled their way to the tunnel from whence Nath came.

  “Great Guzan!”

  The tunnel was filled with more giants. And there was a familiar face as well. Pepper.

  The giant halfling was pointing at Nath. “There he is! There he is! I told you I’d find him. I told you so!”

  “You rat!” Nath yelled at him.

  Pepper shrugged at him. But the look in the halfling’s eyes told it all. It hadn’t been his choice to lead them to Nath. He was in over his head.

  “What do we do now?” Selene said.

  “Keep fighting!”

  “Aye!” Brenwar replied.

  They battled through the giants, downing one after the other, but it wasn’t enough. Brenwar’s iron endurance was puffing for breath. Selene’s own fires had fled her fingertips.

  Furious and relentless, the giants kept swinging. Their blows were taking a toll. All three friends were bruised and bleeding. Nath had no idea how he was going to get out of this. The doors were sealed. More giants filled the room from the tunnel.

  Circling around the anvil, Nath said to his friends, “This is a horrible rescue.”

  “I told you not to give yourself up!” Brenwar replied.

  “It’s no one’s fault,” Selene added. With a whisk of her tail, she tripped a giant. “Just shut up and fight!”

  They did. Nath cut one giant down only to face two others.

  Where are they coming from?

  Finally, after endless minutes of agonizing battle, the giants backed off.

  Panting for breath and sword steady in his grip, Nath said, “What’s happening?”

  All of the giants took a knee and faced the gated entrance.

  Eckubahn stood on the other side of the bars, his great head aflame with mystic green fire. Two ogres cranked the iron wheel that lifted the iron gate. Eckubahn stepped inside. Hundreds of wurmers
flew inside with him. They covered the floor and attached themselves to the archways and rafters above.

  Nath gazed up with wonder. “I hate those things.” Out of nowhere he noticed Pepper was standing alongside him.

  The giant halfling said, “You sure do fight a good fight.”

  Nath started to speak but didn’t bother. He was too tired. Pepper wouldn’t hear his last words anyway.

  Finally, Eckubahn spoke. “Nath Dragon, you are too much trouble to keep around.”

  “I thought you wanted to keep me around to torment my father.”

  “No. I’ve decided I’ll just send him your scales and draw out his vengeance. And what a delight it will be to have you watch me torment your friends before you go. I think we’ll start with that dwarf. I see he needs more flesh taken from his bones.”

  Brenwar yelled at Eckubahn. “Come take it yourself, then!”

  “No need for that. I’ll let the giants handle it.”

  “Roast him like a sow, we will!” one true-blooded giant said.

  Head downcast, Nath said to his friends, “I’m sorry.”

  “What?” Pepper replied.

  A tingling sensation raced from Fang’s grip up into Nath’s arms. He didn’t know why he did what he did and said what he said, but he tapped the tip of his blade on the anvil again and said, “Fang, get us out of here.”

  Ting!

  The blade unleashed a gush of hidden power.

  Zip!

  Nath found himself standing in the middle of a flowered field with more colors than he could imagine. In an instant he knew exactly where he was. The Elven Field of Dreams. He wasn’t alone either.

  Brenwar and Selene were there with jaws dropped.

  Filled with elation, Nath threw his sword up high in the air. “Ah-hah! Fang, you are wonderful!”

  All of them burst out in sheer joyous laughter. Brenwar and Selene briefly hugged each other. Finally, with his emotions settling down, Nath noticed someone else was laughing. It was Pepper.

  The giant halfling said, “Now that’s my kind of rescue.”

  Epilogue

  Sitting on his throne, Eckubahn’s head had a deep-crimson afterglow. His hands clutched the stone armrests and crumbled one of them to pieces.