‘Monsters all around,’ he muttered, and cast his eyes about the group. One by one they took his meaning, and nodded. ‘We go together,’ he said.
Cautiously they left the trees and made their way up the hill. The cave mouth seemed like an eye before which they were totally exposed. Anything could be watching from the darkness.
‘Look,’ said Fazel, a bony finger pointing at the ground. There were footprints in the ash, large and clawed – a number of sets side by side heading into the cave.
‘Mireforms,’ growled Bel. ‘So, they beat us here, of course. But what fate did they meet?’
He considered the cave mouth with even greater uncertainty. If the Mireforms had been successful, that meant the Stone was no longer inside. But what if the dragon had found them and killed them? Or what if they hid in the dark? Could a conflict still be in progress between dragon and Mireform, deep inside the earth? Despite the adrenaline shooting through him, there was still no sense of any path to follow.
‘Stop,’ he commanded suddenly, halfway up the rise. ‘Spread out.’
‘What are you going to do?’ said Jaya.
‘Let us not enter tunnels that could fill with fire at any moment,’ said Bel. ‘Or dodge claws in the dark. We’re better off here, in the open. If something is inside, it can come to us.’
He turned to the cave and shocked everyone by shouting.
‘Dragon!’ he called. ‘Show yourself!’
‘Rash,’ Gellan murmured.
‘Spread out!’ he repeated. ‘We are less of a target when we stand apart!’
They obeyed him, fearfully, knuckles white on weapons or held ready to cast spells. He moved in front of them, hoping to make himself the dragon’s focus if it emerged.
‘Dragon! The blue-haired man awaits you!’
There was no answer from the cave, no sound at all except Bel’s words echoing off cliffs.
‘Some respect may not go astray,’ said Hiza.
‘You’re welcome to try,’ Bel replied.
Looking dubious, Hiza raised his voice. ‘Oh mighty dragon, we come seeking an audience …to beg a favour in the war against the shadow! Will you hear our plea?’
More moments of silence passed.
‘Dragons don’t care about the war,’ said Fazel. ‘And they never give up something from their hoard willingly.’
‘Perhaps they’re not home?’ said Jaya. ‘Someone should scout.’
Bel reached a decision. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘But not you. Fazel will go. He has dealt with dragons before and, as a bonus, does not mind if he gets incinerated.’
He glanced at Fazel, and the undead mage gave a nod.
‘If you see the Stone,’ said Bel, ‘and think you can get it without alerting the dragon, do so. Otherwise, report back to us.’
Swiftly the mage slipped up to the cave mouth, where he disappeared into the dark.
Minutes passed like hours. Bel felt uncomfortable, uncertain whether this was the right course. It did not seem very heroic to wait while another member of the party put himself in danger, yet commonsense told him to be patient. He glanced at the tree line to make sure no Mireforms were sneaking up on them.
‘You had better see this,’ came Fazel’s voice, startling him. He squinted at the cave and realised the mage stood in front of it, black on black and difficult to make out.
‘What have you found?’ he called back, but Fazel had disappeared again.
Cursing, Bel stalked up the hill, the others following him closely. Outside the cave he paused, until he was able to see a little way inside.
A wide tunnel sloped downwards.
‘Light our way,’ he instructed Gellan.
‘I dare not,’ said Gellan quickly. ‘Dragons can sense magic. If one lurks in there, it would be like a beacon.’
‘Less of a beacon than an undead mage?’ said Bel.
‘No. The casting of magic is a different thing from something that simply is magical.’
‘Yet Fazel calls us in,’ said Bel. ‘He wouldn’t do that if there was danger.’
‘Blade Bel,’ sighed Gellan. ‘Has it not occurred to you that since the Shadowdreamer has sent his Mireforms here, he probably knows of our purpose? Therefore he might also know that we travel with Fazel, and could turn him against us at any time?’
Bel frowned …such a thing had not occurred to him. Stupid!
‘It astounds me that you have waited till now to voice these concerns,’ he snapped at the mage. ‘You really should have, on the off-chance that the rest of us have failed to have parallel thoughts.’
‘I simply mean we should proceed with caution,’ said Gellan. ‘A little light filters in from outside, see? Our eyes will adjust. Let us not rely on magic just yet.’
Bel grunted and moved into the cave. An acrid tang met his nostrils, sulfurous and growing stronger as they worked downwards. M’Meska scraped a clawed foot along the ground, knocking pebbles loose to roll ahead of them into the dark.
‘Careful!’ said Bel. ‘Quiet.’
‘Not built for sneaking,’ complained the Saurian.
Bel glanced around for Jaya but could not see her. Was that a comfort or not? She was extremely stealthy when she needed to be, but was she moving with the group, or had she gone off ahead as she’d wanted? Certainly he wouldn’t put it past her.
He stayed on the left wall, one hand feeling his way and the other ready with his sword. As the light that leaked through the cave mouth behind grew dimmer, an eerie red glow appeared ahead. Soon it was bright enough that they could make out their footing, and Bel noticed Jaya alongside him on the opposite wall. So she had not ignored him after all. Unusual, when she had an idea in her head …maybe she was not feeling as cocky now that they were actually here.
As the tunnel opened out into a cavern, Fazel appeared at its entrance and beckoned to them.
‘Come,’ he said. ‘It is safe.’
With Gellan’s doubts lingering in his head, Bel edged to join the mage, keeping his sword in hand. If Fazel took note of this new distrust, there was no sign of it in his black sockets.
A waft of warm air came up over the lip of the tunnel, bringing with it a stink like burning oil, and Bel gagged.
‘What’s that?’ he choked.
‘Dragon’s blood,’ said Fazel, and gestured into the cavern.
Pits of glowing coals around the walls made the air shimmer with heat. In the centre, lit up like some macabre exhibit, was the mutilated carcass of Shebazaruka. Long rents in her sides oozed scarlet, and flaps of scaled hide hung over gaping holes where chunks of flesh had been torn away down to the bone. Her head lay at the end of a scored and twisted neck, her lower jaw dangling freely from an impossibly thin shred. The earthy floor was stained with blood, hardened in the heat. Glistening blobs of flesh were strewn across her central mound.
‘Mud monsters get here first,’ said M’Meska, seeming unaffected by the stench.
‘Aye,’ said Bel darkly, his hand over his mouth. All his keen anticipation of this moment disappeared, unfulfilled, and a great hollow yawned in its wake. Even his breath seemed to desert him. He felt beaten. What should have been glorious battle was instead bloody murder, for it looked as if the dragon had been caught unawares, asleep and dead before she knew it. There was no sense of a fight, and from the way her blood and flesh lay like a shockwave around her, he could tell she had not moved from the mound during the attack. ‘Cowards,’ muttered Bel.
The others glanced at him.
‘To slay such a creature in her sleep. The underhanded tactics of the shadow.’
Gellan nodded slowly. ‘It is unfortunate indeed that the dragon had to die.’
‘Unfortunate?’ spat Bel. ‘This from the man who gives me lectures on the nature of beauty? He is moved by trees but not by this?’ He swept a hand around the cavern.
‘We thank mud monsters should,’ said M’Meska. She bobbed towards the body, crunching across a layer of dried blood. ‘Big lizard hard to kill.’