The Reluctant Lord (Dragon Lords) (19 page)

“And the way the rock face cuts back toward the bottom of the falls makes it impossible to climb back up with the supplies,” Sven said. “It’s a one-way trip.”

Tomos walked in from the passageways carrying lizards. He looked down at Nolan. Lines of worry fanned out from his eyes.

“Nolan needs help. Clara has done what she can, but he won’t last much longer on just water, and we can’t get him to eat. I can reach the old rope ladder,” Sven said to his father. “It should hold.”

Tomos didn’t speak. Matus nodded at his brother to go. Vlad knew Sven was the strongest climber, had been since they were children. Vlad looked at his hands, hating that he felt helpless to do more. He couldn’t even touch his own wife.

Clara walked to the edge of the water and watched Sven. She stood perfectly still. All around the cave was silence, save for the rushing of water between them and the outside world. Tomos moved into the lake to help his sons. Vlad pressed his forehead to Clara’s shoulder as he passed and went to join the others. The cold lake water reached his upper thighs as he waded forward. It provided temporary relief to his burned hands. Droplets wet this face and chest when he neared the waterfall. Closer to the opening, the lake became shallow once more. The hard beat of water against stone drowned out any sound and made communicating with words hard. With a series of gestures and nods, Sven pressed to the stone and climbed his way along the edge. One slip and the water would take him down the cliff, pummeling his body against the rock cliff along the way.

Vlad’s stomach tightened. Tomos pressed his body to the stone, reaching as far out as he could to help hold his son’s weight. Matus kneeled in the lake, bracing Sven’s leg to give support. Suddenly, Sven’s foot slipped, pushing Matus too close to the edge. Vlad dove forward, thrusting his hand between Matus and the stone. A sharp, deep pain shot up his arm. He ignored it. His body pressed into Matus as he found his footing and together they supported Sven’s leg.

“He’s through,” Tomos yelled, the words barely audible.

When Matus relaxed, Vlad pulled his hand to his chest and cradled it. Watery blood dripped from his arm, and he was glad for the overspray hitting his face to mingle and hide the tears of pain. Matus grabbed him by the back of his arm and ushered him toward the shore, to Clara.

“He made it,” Matus said. “Barely, but he made it out. Now he just has to climb down.”

“He’ll make it,” Vlad said, cradling his arm.

“You’re bleeding,” Clara stated. She looked around helplessly. “I need…” She leaned over and pulled at her skirt, ripping the edge. Then she took the strip of material and wrapped the wound with the cleanest part. “We can’t keep doing this. We need to find a medical device.”

“When Tomos sleeps, Matus and I are going to go to the hollow to dig our way out. Hopefully we’ll reach the rescue party on the other side. If I know Ari, she’s digging her way to us right now.” Vlad lifted his bandaged arm. Already blood dotted the material.

“Why not send Tomos?” Clara asked. “He comes back smelling like the hollow and if his bruised hands are any indication, he’s been digging as well. You are in no condition to lift rocks.”

She was right. In a perfect world, he’d let his body heal. Instead, he answered, “This is merely a test of the gods. I swore I would always protect you, Clara, and that is what I will do.” He didn’t wait for her to answer as he stood. Loudly, he stated, “Tomos, Matus, it’s time we dug ourselves out of here.”

* * *

“Perhaps we should have been digging together from the start,” Tomos said. “I should have known you boys would disobey my orders to stay out of the hollow.”

Vlad clenched his teeth as pain shot down his wounded arm. Lifting rocks with raw flesh while breathing toxic air was one of the hardest challenges the gods had ever given him. Thoughts of Clara kept him moving.

“Every rock helps,” Matus said, as if pushing himself on. “Every one we move gets us closer to freedom.”

Tomos coughed, covering his mouth.

“Go find fresh air,” Vlad said, making the words an order, not a request. “See if Clara needs help with Nolan.”

Tomos nodded, coughing violently as he stumbled toward the crack.

When they were alone, Vlad said, “We are forced to go so slow that I’m not sure what we do here will make much difference. Yet what else can we do? Sit and wait?”

“Perhaps Sven should have stayed.” Matus frowned. It had been two days since Sven had gone down the waterfall and they had no way of knowing if he’d survived or not. “We could have used his muscle.”

“No.” Vlad coughed. He tried to lift another rock, but it was too difficult. He motioned Matus to follow him as he stumbled for air. “He was right to go. In the fresh air of the other side he will be able to dig much faster than if he was with us. His muscles will be of much better use there. Plus, he needed to warn the others. It’s too dangerous in here. And you know your mother. She’ll not act cautiously when she is worried about her family.”

Matus grabbed the artificial light and did as commanded. “I haven’t wanted to say it in front of my father, but she is foolish enough to charge in here to save us, pickaxe swinging. She’ll explode us all.”

Vlad crawled through the crack. His hands throbbed. Dirt clung to the worst part of his wounds. He weakly pushed to his feet, walking into the fresher part of the cave. The lingering scent of the fumes came with him, but the air was clearer. By small degrees, his head cleared.

“I cannot guess the damage that will be done to us from this adventure.” Matus tried to laugh and failed. The strain of too little food, not much sleep and worry took their toll on all of them.

“If help does not arrive soon, I need you to promise you will carry Clara down the waterfall with you. Nolan and I are in no condition.” Vlad looked at his hands. “If we wait too much longer you won’t have the energy to hold her.”

“Vlad, don’t—”

“Matus, please, she is my wife. Promise me, you’ll take her before you’re too weak to make the trip down. Every day the water lessens a bit more. Soon it will be safe enough to take her.” Vlad kept his voice low, not wanting his wife to discover his plan. She would not like it. But in this her thoughts would not matter. He would protect her, even if it meant sending her on without him. “I cannot do it, not with these hands. I can barely hold a stone.”

“I promise.” Matus nodded. “But it will not be today. Let us find our feast and then we dig.”

“Oh, I do hope its lizards and spiders,” Vlad drawled.

“Your favorite,” Matus answered, just as sarcastically. They both chuckled darkly, for what else could they do.

* * *

The first peek of light shone into the hollow like a ray from the heavens, only to be blotted out when someone stuck their finger into it. Vlad stared at the darkness, dropping the small rock he cradled to his waist on the ground. He stumbled forward. The light came back and again disappeared.

“We’re here!” Matus shouted in relief, which instantly brought sounds of excitement from the other side and a flurry of movements.

“Tomos?” Arianwen’s voice came frantically from the other side. “Are you injured? Where are my boys? Lady Clara?”

“Vents,” Tomos croaked.

“Tomos,” Arianwen cried, the emotion evident in her voice.

Within a minute, the stench of the hollow began to lessen as someone on the other side obeyed and turned on ventilation.

“My boys?” Arianwen shouted. “Where are my boys?”

“Alive, but we need the medic,” Tomos answered.

It became easier to breathe. The hole became bigger, just wide enough that Arianwen could reach through. Vlad and Matus stood behind Tomos, looking at her face and shoulder pressed against the opening. She grabbed Tomos’s arm. “It’s coming.”

“Sven?” Tomos peered through the opening at her.

“I’m here,” Sven answered.

“We almost burst through with the large drill,” Arianwen said. “No one thought to check the air for gas pockets.”

“She was driving it when I got here,” Sven said. “Crashed into a wall when she saw me.”

Arianwen’s face disappeared for a moment and she could be heard scolding Sven. “Of course I was. My family was trapped…”

“Here, the medic unit.” The words were muffled as a miner handed a unit through the hole.

Tomos grabbed it and then gestured to Vlad and Matus. “Go.”

Vlad’s body protested, but he didn’t care about the physical pain as he went across the hollow to push through the crack to the other side. Matus carried the unit behind him as they rushed toward the lake.

“Clara, the rescue party broke through and…” Vlad expected his wife to be next to Nolan at her post. She wasn’t.

Matus went to his brother to begin treatment.

“Clara?” Vlad called, looking around. A wisp of material on the ground caught his attention. He hurried forward, finding his wife on the ground face down at the water’s edge. Her arm floated next to her hair in the water. Weakly, he flipped her over. Her drawn, pale face was scraped from a fall. Two inches over and she would have drowned. He pulled her away from the lake. Behind him, Nolan coughed. It was the first real sign of life from the man since the explosion.

Clara breathed, her chest rising and falling against his arm. He held her tight, as if letting go would cause her to slip into the water completely.

Matus appeared, pressing the medic to his arm. “For the pain.” Then he attended to Clara, giving her medicine before rushing back to his brother.

Clara moaned and coughed. She stirred against him, feeling so delicate he didn’t want to let go.

“It’s over,” he whispered. The medicine worked, easing his physical suffering. He held her tighter. “Help is coming.”

Chapter Thirteen

“You saved my family.”

Clara came fully awake at the sound. She automatically reached for Vlad, but he wasn’t beside her. In those first seconds between sleep and wake, she was back in the mine. The softness around her confused her and she looked at the bed.

The trip back from the mines was a blur. She’d been so tired and so hungry that she vaguely remembered being carried by strangers back to the village. Somehow, she’d managed to bathe and eat a little bread and meat before falling into the dreamless black pit of deep sleep. She blinked heavily as Arianwen came into focus.

“It’s the medicine wearing off,” Arianwen said.

Clara began to answer but Arianwen’s sudden movement caused her to stiffen in alarm. The woman wrapped her arms around her shoulders and held her tight. Clara didn’t move.

“You saved my family from the alien invader. You took care of Nolan and Vlad. You went without food so the others could eat.” Arianwen held her tighter. “You are the daughter I have always prayed for.”

Clara wasn’t sure how to react. Her own mother had never touched her like this. Slowly, she lifted her arms, arched her hands back and patted Arianwen’s back with her wrists to hesitantly return the gesture. Arianwen had tears in her eyes when she finally let go.

“Until you are a mother you will never know the fear I felt when you all didn’t come back. I thought…” Arianwen sniffed and shook her head as if merely thinking the thought was a sin. “It doesn’t matter. My family is safe.”

“Vlad? Nolan?” Clara managed, her throat dry.

Arianwen stood and went to a pitcher sitting on the nearby table. She poured a glass of water and handed it to Clara. “Vlad is tending to his hands. The burns were severe. Nolan is awake. He fractured several bones, tore ligaments and knocked his skull pretty hard. He won’t be running in the forest anytime soon, but he will survive. He woke up fully this morning and is talking.” She touched Clara’s hair softly. “And you, daughter, what can I get for you? I will cook you anything you desire.”

“Bread?” Clara asked, unsure. She held the glass with her fingertips and lifted it to take a drink.

“Bread?” Arianwen laughed, smiling widely. “You can have anything in the universe and you want bread.” Nodding happily, she agreed, “Yes, you shall have the biggest loaf of bread.”

When she was alone, Clara lay back on the bed. She stared at the ceiling in amazement, not sure what to think about what just happened. Arianwen had hugged her and claimed her as a daughter.

* * *

Clara moaned softly as warm hands touched her face. She knew before she looked that Vlad was near. She smelled him, felt him. Blinking slowly, she opened her eyes. He lay next to her. His damp hair was pushed back from his features, attesting to a recent bath. She suppressed a yawn. “How long was I asleep?”

“Nearly a full day,” he answered. Warm breath fanned her neck, causing her to shiver.

“Arianwen hugged me,” Clara told him.

Vlad chuckled. “I’m sure she did. She also has been spreading the valor of your deeds to the entire village.”

Clara furrowed her brow. “Why would she spread news of the misfortune?”

“Misfortune? Sweet wife, you acted selflessly and honorably. You would make any man proud.” He kissed her cheek an inch away from her mouth. “You are the warrior woman who took out the alien thieves.”

She automatically turned her lips closer to his. “There was only one alien.”

“You’re a legend,” he insisted.

“I didn’t do anything, my lord. I simply am not compatible with that alien race.” Clara tried to logic the situation. “If I try to read them, their insides boil. It’s a genetic anomaly.”

“A gift from the gods to protect us,” he said.

“No, Vlad, seriously. I didn’t do anything. Not really.” Clara’s voice was soft. His lips were whispering close to hers when he spoke. Tiny shivers of pleasure worked their way through her.

“A truly modest heroine, downplaying your victory.” Vlad kissed her mouth, letting his tongue slide between her lips. She breathed in the scent of him. Relief filled her that it was over and he was alive. He moved his hands over her hip.

“Can you feel me?” she asked. “Your hands, are they…?”

“Hmm.” He pulled back thoughtfully. “That is a good question.” He tugged on the skirt of her nightdress to reveal a naked thigh. He touched the backs of his fingers along the inside of her leg and glided upward. “Yes, I think I’m beginning to feel…” He poked a finger up at her sex, slipping into the folds. A low groan sounded in the back of his throat. “Ah, yes, I’m definitely starting to detect something. He thrust the long digit deeper. He closed his eyes, inhaling. “Mmm, yes, I think the feeling is coming back now.” He flicked his tongue against her lips. “How about you, wife?” Vlad moved his finger out and thrust two back in. “Do you feel that?”