The Dragon's Prize (23 page)

“No!”  Daro’s whole body arched with spasms as the blade punched through his sternum and out his back into the gold underneath.

He flopped around, trying to get a grip on the hilt, but Sandra pressed on it until the cross guard was touching his chest.  He growled and she let go of the sword, backing up a step.  His lower half wasn’t moving, which was promising, but his hands gripped the blade and started the slow process of pulling it back out.

Right!

He survived that last time.

Sandra scrambled across the coins to find her other sword.  She could hear him laughing.

“It’ll take more than that to kill me!”  His words were muffled around the blood coming out of his mouth, and his breath hitched as he spoke, probably from cold steel piercing his lung.

Sandra ignored him.  She found her sword and ran back to where he was.

He almost had the greatsword out.  He had pulled it out so far that his elbows were locked trying to hold onto the hilt, and he was sawing it back and forth to completely remove it from his chest.

If that happened…

Sandra didn’t let it happen.  In the moment as he got the sword free and gave a shout of triumph, Sandra chopped at his neck with the magical sword.

His shout turned to a gasping choke.  The blade cut part of the way through the thick, chorded muscle of his neck.  But not all the way.  Sandra ignored the gout of blood which covered her and brought the sword up and down again.  Again.  She chopped at his neck through his screams, then his gurgles, then an outright torrent of blood as his body returned to its original size.  She didn’t flinch, just kept chopping at the reptilian neck until the sword went all the way through and hit coins.

Success!

She didn’t even look for the head which came free.  She dropped the sword and ran to where she’d last seen Mira.

“Mira!”  She tore across the coins, ignoring the way they cut into her bare feet, looking for her friend.

“Sa… cough!...  Sandra?”

There!

Sandra charged over a pile of coins and fell to a knee slide to cover the rest of the distance.  Mira was lying on her side on the ground, coughing and struggling to breathe.

“Mira!  No!”  Sandra gathered Mira into her arms and hugged her close.  She could hear a lethal rattle in Mira’s breath… “I won’t let this happen!”

What could she do?

The potions!

Sandra dug in her pocket until she found the potions, then dropped them unceremoniously into a pile on the ground.

“Drink this.”  Sandra grabbed the first potion, uncorked it, and poured it onto Mira’s face.  Mira spluttered against the sudden liquid, but obediently opened her mouth and drank.

“Tastes like… cough!... sunshine.”  Mira gave a wan smile.

“I know hon, I know it’s strange.”  Sandra discarded the empty potion, then grabbed the next one.  “Just drink.”

Sandra poured three more potions down Mira’s throat.  She could barely see what she was doing through desperate tears and shaking fingers, but she managed to get most of the healing potions in the right place.  Mira went from barely tolerating the fluid to drinking them eagerly.

When the last one was done, Sandra hugged Mira again, holding her close and squeezing her eyes shut.  Tears leaked out between her shuttered lids and her heart hammered in her chest.

Mira had to be okay!

She had to be…

Could a potion fix what happened to Mira?  The Heal fixed Sandra, but it was much more powerful magic.

“S… Sandra?”

“Yes?  Oh, Mira, yes?  What is it?”

“… you’re hurting me.”  Mira’s voice was steady and strong, though choked a bit by the force of Sandra’s hug.

“Oh!  I’m sorry!”  Sandra let go, pushing Mira an arm’s length away so she could examine her friend.  “Are you okay?”

“Yeah… yeah, I think I’m alright.”  The rattle in her voice was gone and her breathing was deep and even.  “Thanks.”

“No… no problem.”  Sandra’s voice was still broken by tears.  Tears of happiness now, but still tears.  The sobs were coming and they weren’t going to stop for a while.  “Oh Gods, I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Thanks.  You too.”  Mira was crying too.

They hugged again, holding each other close to remind them that the other was okay.  They sobbed into each other’s shoulders and rocked on the coins, glad to be alive and together.