"Yes," the girl said bending down to take a closer look at his face. "Is it true? You're the great dragon-slayer?"
Pet turned his head, ashamed that these girls were staring at his damaged face. He felt like a monster. "I'm not a great anything anymore," he whispered.
"We should free him," the woman said, kneeling and grabbing his chains.
"Are you crazy?" the other one hissed. "This isn't the mission."
"Missions change," the woman answered as she started working her lockpicks within the manacle that bound Pet. With a snick, the band loosened. He rubbed his free arm. It felt cold as ice.
"Were you here to save the other girl?" said Pet.
"We heard that Deanna was captured," the girl said as she worked on the lock binding his ankle. "Blasphet wanted us to make certain she was finally able to complete her suicide mission."
"Shandrazel completed it for you," Pet said. "He killed her trying to make her reveal Blasphet's location."
"Did she?"
"No."
The girl holding the light-vial grumbled. "We were going to kill one of our own, but we're rescuing some stranger now? This is going to be difficult to explain."
The first girl finished working on the manacle. She stood up as it clattered to the floor. "My name is Shanna," she said. "My companion is Lin. She wasn't at the Free City or she wouldn't question why I'm doing this."
Pet tried to stand, but his feet were numb, and he wound up flat on his back. He sighed, and said, "I was there, and I'm not sure why you're doing this."
"All survivors of the Free City will forever be connected by our shared hatred," said Shanna. "If you go from this dungeon and kill even one more dragon, you will be fulfilling your life's most sacred purpose."
Pet started to point out that Sisters of the Serpent worshipped the very dragon who'd designed the Free City, but decided that this was a bad time and place to launch an argument.
Pet again tried to stand. By bracing himself against the slimy wall, he was able to once more find his footing. His head felt heavier than it should be, swollen and throbbing. He was a foot taller than either woman. Shanna looked up at him with a curious emotion in her eyes. Admiration? Pet was used to seeing attraction in the eyes of young women, but admiration was something new. Lin didn't seem so impressed. She scowled at him with an expression that told him he would need to watch his back.
"If Deanna is dead, we're finished here," said Shanna. "We'll take you back to the leader. He can no doubt find a good use for the hero of the Free City."
Pet found the idea of being to put to good use by Blasphet a rather ominous one.
Lin, the scowling girl, said, "He can't be Bitterwood. He's too young."
"Anyone can be Bitterwood," said Shanna. "He's not so much a man as a spirit. Anyone can open their hearts to him and become the Death of All Dragons, the Ghost Who Kills."
"Are you Bitterwood?" Lin asked Pet.
Pet tried to smile, to make some charming quip, but couldn't. His torn lips reminded him of what he'd lost. His whole life, he'd been little more than a doll, a living plaything valued for his pretty face. And now, he was broken. He wanted to lie, and tell these women what they wanted to hear, but couldn't summon up his old talents.
So, in the dim, chill dungeon, with the stench of death still tainting the damp air, the truth spilled out of him: "My name is Petar Gondwell," he said. "I'm the man everyone rallied around at the Free City, though I've never killed a dragon. But, as you say, I'm young… and I'm eager to learn."
Chapter Eighteen:
Big Problem
Jandra and Hex waited on the shore of the island while Bitterwood and Adam rode Trisky down the steep, rocky path from the high ledge to the lake. As Jandra looked around the cavern, she easily picked out what was real and what was illusion now that she knew to look for it. The restored sky was fake, but the sands they stood upon were real enough, despite their exotic appearance. The sands were made of fine black gravel mixed with sparkling flecks of gold. Jandra surmised the gold was iron sulfide. The waters of the lake should have been highly acidic given the volume of sulfur leaching into them, but the sulfur had been bound with iron to create enough fool's gold to build an island out of, apparently. The effect of the gold as it glittered under the water line was quite stirring. A person less knowledgeable in chemistry would no doubt think the goddess lived in unimaginable wealth.
The waters of the saline lake were full of strange fishes. Albino, eyeless minnows no longer than her pinky swam in the shallow waters near the shore, but further out dark gray-green creatures as long as sharks knifed through the water. Yet they weren't sharks, despite their prominent fins. The creatures surfaced from time to time to breathe through a long mouth full of teeth. They were covered with scales that seemed more reptilian than fishlike. Some sort of water-dragon? Jandra had never heard of such a thing, but she'd never heard of the long-wyrms either, and by now Trisky was striding confidently across the surface of the water toward her. She could see the water beneath the long-wyrm solidifying into a thick sheet of ice as the beast loped forward. It was the same sort of phase transition she was able to invoke in water. Was the long-wyrm responsible, or was the goddess doing it remotely?
As Adam guided Trisky to the shore, Jandra noticed the look on Bitterwood's face-it was a mix somewhere between awe and terror. She imagined the effect that this strange place must have on a mind less trained than hers. It angered her to think that this so-called goddess was only a human like herself, taking advantage of the ignorance of others to make her seem more powerful than she truly was. Not that the goddess wasn't powerful, of course. Jandra knew she was up against someone with more experience in using the technology. Also, the goddess definitely had more imagination than she or Vendevorex had ever applied to their abilities. Turning invisible, starting fires, changing water to ice or steam-these seemed like parlor tricks compared to building an island paradise deep in the bowels of the earth.
"I would speak with you in my temple," an ethereal voice said, coming from all directions at once. The bright golden flakes in the sands shifted and congealed, forming a path of gleaming bricks that led into the interior of the isle, vanishing amid the broad-leaved vegetation. Jandra took the lead in stepping onto the path with Hex following close behind. Jandra didn't feel afraid. Ever since donning the helmet, she'd noticed that her actions were more confidant and decisive. Was the helmet suppressing her fears? Or had her adventures in the previous months simply toughened her so that nothing bothered her now? She only used to feel this confident whenever she'd been around Vendevorex. It had made her feel safe to know that he was watching out for her. Perhaps her growing friendship with Hex was providing a similar boost to her confidence. It wasn't so hard to walk down strange paths in unfamiliar jungles knowing there was a sun-dragon watching your back.
The air was humid and warm as they moved past the thick foliage walls along the pathway. Butter-yellow birds flitted among the leaves, eating a collection of exotic beetles with carapaces gleaming like jewels. Snakes green as algae draped over branches like vines. Flowers in countless hues perfumed the air.
They soon arrived at the temple, a thicket of tall trees surrounding a platform of aged marble. Jandra walked up the steps to a gap in the trees. In the large chamber beyond a tall mahogany statue stood. It was a carving of the same woman they'd seen before. The figure was disturbingly immodest by Jandra's standards, with no attempts at concealing the nipples or genitalia. The face of the figure had full lips and a seductive stare. She'd heard rumors that followers of the goddess celebrated the solstices with ritualistic orgies. The statue looked as if it would approve of such unbridled passion. Jandra was surprised Pet had never tried to become a high priest in such a religion.