Dralin (37 page)

The warrior hit Hezzena in the shoulder with
the sword, causing runes in her vest to flare. It clanged off the
dragon woman’s magical shirt and hard skin without making a cut. A
rumbling growl emitted from Hezzena, shaking the room as she turned
to face him. The warrior dropped his weapon and took a step back,
fear conquering his eyes. Hezzena grabbed his throat with her left
hand and his head with the right. She squeezed and the warrior’s
head was crushed like an overripe melon. Then she ripped the head
from his body and threw it against the nearest wall where it
splattered violently. Pelya emptied the scarce remaining contents
of her stomach onto the floor.

The wizard tried to limp away but Hezzena’s
talons raked down his back. When he fell, she stood on his legs and
slashed furiously into his body over and over, digging into it like
a dog burying a bone. Pelya finally turned and covered her eyes,
sobbing in dread.

Hezzena was back suddenly. She took their
shoulders one by one with bloodied hands and pulled them close.
Putting her face next to theirs, the dragon woman whispered, “Shh.
I’m not supposed to kill humans, but you’re never going to tell
anyone, are you?” Her voice was sinister and her eyes spun with
insanity.

They both shook their heads vigorously.
Pelya felt urine running down her leg as she wet herself. She
couldn’t handle any more and wanted to go home to hide in bed for
the rest of her life. Hezzena let them go and turned back toward
the room. “Where is he?” she demanded.

Ebudae rushed forward to the other set of
doors and led Hezzena past the bodies into the corridor. Pelya
considered not following, but after looking into the dark ruins
behind, decided that sticking with them was the best choice. Plus,
she didn’t want to leave Ebudae alone. It was extremely
uncomfortable to walk with her pants wet, but she ignored it the
best she could. Between that, walking through sewers, having thrown
up and sweating so much from the exertion, she smelled
terrible.

Pelya caught up with them as Hezzena
positioned herself in front of the cage and began casting. Ebudae
was scrutinizing every detail while Rizzith cried out piteously to
his mother. Pelya waited by the rubble of the formerly secret door
and watched.

The incantations were vastly more powerful
than anything Ebudae had done. Hezzena gestured fluidly like a
dancing reptile while the wind of magic gusted back and forth
around only her. Layers of magical words slithered throughout the
room, echoing off the walls. The circular runes glowed brightly as
energy from the orbs switched direction, flowing back into the
young dragon who perked up instantly.

In just a few minutes, the orbs were dark.
They all shattered at the same time and fell to the ground in
shards. The stands they floated above crumbled as well. Then the
rune underneath the cage began circling. Hezzena’s gestures became
exaggerated turning motions as she spun the rune faster and faster
while wind gusted around her. Then it burst in slow motion with a
tinkling sound before disappearing into thousands of tiny sparks
that snapped into nothingness.

Hezzena jumped forward, grabbed two bars and
ripped them apart. The scream of protesting iron filled the room,
causing the girls to cover their ears. Then Rizzith had his
foreclaws on his mother’s shoulders while licking her face with
forked tongue. It looked extremely odd considering Hezzena was
still in human form. “You must transform into a human, my beautiful
son. I am too large to fit in my natural form,” she told him.

Rizzith concentrated for a moment then took
the form of a six-year-old boy. The transformation was
instantaneous and surprising. However, his teeth were overly large,
causing his mouth to stretch grotesquely. “Smaller teeth, dear,”
Hezzena told him. He made the adjustment and his appearance was
almost normal. He still had the same dragon-like features as his
mother, but at least it didn’t frighten the girls.

Pelya was tired and she could tell that
Ebudae was more so. Hezzena picked up her son and the packs the
girls had left in that room. “Show me the way through the sewers to
the southern plains,” she ordered, handing them the packs.

“But we’re tired,” Ebudae whined. “I just
want to go to sleep.”

“That’s what happens when you play with
magic, you silly little fool. Besides, you can’t go back that way.
I hear people coming from beyond the door. We must escape and I’m
not finished with the two of you,” Hezzena told them sternly. “Now
move your tailless behinds.” She pointed past the rubble toward the
passage to the ruins.

The girls stared at her in shock, but chose
to obey.

Chapter
23

When they entered the ruins, Hezzena led
them away a short distance and set down Rizzith. Then she turned
and began casting another spell. Magical wind whipped her hair back
as she molded orange energy in front of her. Pelya thought she was
going to cast it forward, but instead, Hezzena inhaled deeply and
breathed into it. It acted like a spark for the dragon’s breath and
orange flames ripped forth against the entrance. The fire created a
raging inferno over the stone and doors, melting them into liquid.
The girls covered their faces from the blazing heat. There was no
way anyone would be able to follow them.

When Hezzena was done, she led them back to
the tunnel, their way lit by the supernatural orange fire behind
them. First, she picked up Rizzith and tossed him casually to the
top, alarming the girls. He landed easily on his feet and waited
for the rest of them with a big grin on his face. Then Hezzena
picked up the girls and jumped. She carried them to the hole and
jumped back down into the sewer. After setting them down, she held
out her arms for Rizzith who jumped into them happily. Hezzena used
magic to close the access door and re-activate the runes on it. At
Ebudae’s questioning look, she explained. “That will make it much
harder for anyone to track us should they be inclined to do
so.”

They walked back down the tunnel a ways
until coming to different tunnel that turned south. “Is this the
tunnel that leads to the plains?” she asked Pelya.

“No. It’s past where we go back to the
academy. It will be twice as wide as this one. You’ll know it when
you see it,” Pelya told her.

“Then you lead.” Hezzena gestured for her to
go.

“Wait, aren’t you going to take us back to
the academy?” Ebudae asked in alarm.

“No. You are guiding us to the plains. I
will not take a chance of being stuck under this forsaken city,”
she hissed at them.

Ebudae began to cry. Exhaustion, excitement
and fear had taken their toll on both girls. Pelya wrapped an arm
around the wizardess’s shoulder and led her forward. Secretly she
was afraid that Hezzena might kill or eat them once free.

Pelya noticed when they passed the exit to
the academy, but didn’t disturb her glassy-eyed friend with the
information. A short while later, they reached the larger tunnel
leading out of the city. She pointed. “This is it. It travels for
twenty miles or so before exiting. The further you get the wider
and deeper it becomes in order to handle all the sewage. There’s
supposed to be a gate at the end to keep larger creatures from
getting in, but I’m certain you can get through it.”

“I’m not so confident,” Hezzena disagreed.
“Lead on.”

Pelya stared at the dragon woman. “Ebudae is
tired. We can’t go on.” Tears were welling in her eyes again. She
was weary of crying even though it was acceptable for little girls
to do so in such terrible situations.

Hezzena gestured and spoke more magical
incantations. Suddenly Pelya felt a burst of energy and Ebudae
perked up. “There, that will last for a few hours. I was able to
grab a snack before you opened the door. The creatures in the dark
aren’t very tasty, but it will tide me over. We all feel wonderful
now. Let’s go.”

“You’re going to get free and then eat us or
kill us,” Pelya accused, planting her feet stubbornly.

A low rumble emitted from the dragon woman.
“I am not going to eat or kill you. It’s forbidden to kill humans
and I was only able to get away with it back there in order to save
my child. Moreover, I would not kill someone who did me such a
favor as the two of you have done. I am good by nature.”

She could have fooled Pelya. “Then how are
we going to get home?” Pelya asked. “We can’t come back through
these sewers and to the academy. It’s too dangerous.” She folded
her arms. “Going into the city above ground is even more dangerous
for us!” Ebudae was hiding behind Pelya’s shoulder, not willing to
enter the disagreement.

“You will be fine!” Hezzena snapped. “I will
see to it, you impudent little girl. If all human children are as
disobedient and obstinate as you, then humans should eat their
young. Now march!” she commanded, pointing a finger at the tunnel.
Pelya considered herself to be fairly brave, but standing up to
Hezzena was too much at that point. She turned around and marched
while holding Ebudae’s hand.

The smell grew steadily worse as they
traveled. Even with the boosting spell, the girls quickly lost
energy and began trudging. Hezzena finally grew frustrated. She put
Rizzith on her back and had him wrap his arms around her shoulders.
Then she put the girls on her waist and had them hold on tight.
When everyone was settled, Hezzena ran.

They held on tighter as the surroundings
whipped by. The speed with which the dragon moved was faster than
fifty horses combined. To Pelya, it felt like they were flying and
she grinned in pleasure. She saw that Ebudae’s eyes were wide and
there was a grin just as large on her face. The wizardess saw her
looking and they smiled in excitement.

Hezzena was amazingly sure-footed even at
blurred speeds. It shocked the girls when she went to running along
the wall in order to pass obstacles such as broken walkways or
large pieces of debris that had the sewer water clogged up over the
path. Something about her abilities made it so they felt like
gravity was always pulling them toward Hezzena’s feet even when she
was sideways. After an hour, they had traveled the entire twenty
miles to the gated end. When she finally set them all down, Hezzena
was breathing heavily. The dragon woman took a few steps forward to
the gate.

“I don’t think it has any wards on it. The
books didn’t say anything about it,” Pelya told her. “I know the
outlets are a few hundred feet wide and hundreds of feet deep. They
become rivers that drain into marshlands and the water eventually
flows to the ocean beyond. She moved ahead of the dragon woman and
pointed beyond the thick iron bars where the murky river glistened
with oily residue. It spread out and became a wide, slowly moving
morass of acrid gunk. The only reason they could handle the smell
was because they had become somewhat used to it after being in the
sewers for so long. It was still overwhelming and they all wanted
to get out.

Pelya turned and saw the purple tendrils in
Hezzena’s eyes. The dragon woman frowned. “There are no wards on
this, although runes have been inscribed into the metal bars to
keep them strong. This door is locked.” She motioned toward an iron
woven door in the larger gate. It allowed workers to access the
walkway that continued for a ways along the river of sewage
outside.

“I can get that,” Pelya said, pulling out
her picks. She was excited to be able to use them again so soon.
After examining the lock carefully, she chose the picks she thought
best. When they didn’t work right away, she was disappointed. The
others seemed content to wait patiently in spite of the smell that
was becoming as tiresome as it was putrid. Pelya had to try four
different combinations of tools before it finally opened with a
satisfying click.

“Well done, child. It took you a while, but
you kept your patience. Persistence is a valuable quality to have
and one most humans lack.” Hezzena squeezed her shoulder and smiled
toothily. They walked out of the sewer and Pelya re-locked the door
from the other side. Any good member of the Guard would do so, but
more important, her father would.

“Let us find some place away from this
wretched morass.” Hezzena led them along the stone walkway and it
didn’t take long to reach stairs leading up to a ridge two hundred
feet above the river. When they reached the last step, they could
see the city in the distance to the north.

A lightly used dirt road came from the city
and continued southward. There were no buildings for a long way in
any direction, which made sense considering the stench. Trees
dotted the grassy lands here and there. “We’ll go to that grove of
trees,” Hezzena told them, pointing at a small wooded area far
enough away to get them some fresh air.

The afternoon sun was high in the sky,
beating down with heat that caused the overworked girls to wilt
even worse than before. Hezzena didn’t pick them up, so they
trudged more and more slowly until reaching a tree at the edge and
collapsing in its shade after barely managing to take off their
packs. Hezzena stood a few feet away and stared at them, Rizzith at
her side. Pelya ignored the dragon woman while trying to catch her
breath. By that point, she just wanted to lie down and sleep. It
wasn’t even important if they made it home first.

One moment, Hezzena was in the form of a
human woman, the next she was in her true form, as was Rizzith. The
girls stared slack-jawed at the enormous dragon looming over them.
Comparing her size to Lady Pallon’s manor would be a disservice.
Hezzena’s eyes alone were as round as the girls were tall, still
made of the swirling liquid-silver.

The dragon was beautiful with brilliant
orange scales layered over massive muscles along the length of her
body. There were five thin spikes along her spine and two on the
tail. Her teeth were sharp in perfect rows throughout her long
snout. Hezzena stretched her leathery wings far to each side in a
manner that reminded Pelya of how she stretched as tall as she
could every morning. The long tail curled around to the left,
wrapping around Rizzith in a maternally protective gesture.