Chapter 3

I could see underneath the dragon, between its legs, as Jim hewed with his sword, and sheered a claw off the monster's back foot.

The big fighter had suggested that I might be able to contribute, somehow. I didn't see how my rapier, or my dagger would make much of an impression. It would have to be my pistols. But there was no point trying to put a ball through the dragon's scales. I needed to find a soft spot. Underneath, perhaps?

Four skeletal apparitions surged from the ground, directly in front of Sazz. I don't know what Carpon what doing, but he couldn't possibly reload that massive musketoon in time.

The dragon retaliated. He clawed at Jim - which missed. Then he spewed acid at the necromancer - which didn't. There wouldn't be much of Sazz left, after this fight, to bury. That's assuming that we would be around to bury him.

Somehow, the dragon also found the time to swing his tail again. I wasn't able to dodge completely. It felt like having a building fall on me. I was knocked off my feet, and slammed into a tree trunk, knocking the breath out of me. Somehow, I kept a grip on my pistols.

The dragon shrieked again; either Jim or Carpon had made it pay. I twisted my head to see. Despite the necromancer's untimely end, his summoned skeletons were advancing against the dragon. Being undead, they had no fear.

I had enough of that for all of us. From a sitting position, I leveled my pistols. Aiming for the joint where the dragon's wing was connected to its body, I fired both sisters.

One bullet was deflected. I clearly heard the 'Ping!' sound. The other shot might have hit. The dragon seemed to flinch. Oh, wonderful. I stung it, and succeeded in reminding it that I was still here.

I rolled to the side, rose to my feet, and began frantically reloading.

The big musketoon boomed again - Carpon was still active. The dragon crushed a skeleton with its claw. Jim chopped, two-handed, at the monster's leg.

I ducked, more out of instinct than anything else; the dragon's tail whistled over my head, and snapped a tree in half. The great beast launched another stream of acid, but I couldn't see if it struck its target. Then it bellowed in pain as Jim carved a mighty gash in its underbelly.

I didn't see it happen, but the dragon must have bitten Jim. His armor showed several punctures, and it was literally smoking - probably from the acid on the great beast's teeth.

Unfortunately, I saw the dragon's next attack quite clearly, just as I finished reloading my second pistol. The monster's jaws closed on Jim's shoulder, and tore it - with his arm - from the rest of his body. A swipe of a claw finished him off.

The dragon paused for a moment, then began to shuffle sideways, laboriously turning its huge body. From the way it turned its back on the path into its lair, I concluded that Carpon no longer posed a threat.

Then it faced me, its massive head tilted so that it could glare at me with one eye. The sheer malevolence of that gaze nearly floored me.

I remembered, just then, a conversation from years ago, with two other child thieves, when we were picking pockets and stealing food in the market, just to survive. Strange how the mind works, isn't it?

The odds were strong that all three of us would end our lives on the gallows. We were discussing how we ought to behave in our final moments, if indeed we ended up on the scaffold. There would be an audience watching, of course.

- "Who gives a shit?" said Marnio. "Yer dead! What does it matter how ye die?"

- "It matters." said Nikan. "When dying's all you've got, it matters."

Nikan did end up hanging. Marnio was stabbed in an alley brawl. It was so odd that I should think of them now. But I suspected that Nikan was right, so I stood up straight, and pointed one pistol at the dragon's head.

Fuck you, you overgrown lizard, I thought. You're going to remember me.

I fired the first shot. A heartbeat later, I raised my second pistol, and fired again.

The first bullet missed. It glanced off one of those heavy scales, or perhaps it grazed the dragon's horn. But the second shot - half an ounce of solid lead - struck exactly where I'd hoped: right in the dragon's eye.

The monster shrieked, and its body convulsed in pain. I threw myself to the ground as a claw swept by my head. Its wings flapped, and the dragon's tail slapped into another tree.

And then ...

A bolt of lightning hit the dragon. It didn't come from the sky, though; the trajectory of the bolt was more horizontal. A moment later, a great ball of fire struck the beast. I tried to roll behind the shattered stump of a tree, but it wasn't enough cover - my lower legs were badly singed. I screamed, but no one could have heard me.

The dragon turned towards this new threat. I saw two figures in armor surging forward. One was quite tall, while the other had long, brilliant red hair. The face, between the cheek pieces of the helmet, belonged to a woman.

The monster roared its defiance. But it didn't spit a line of acid. Perhaps it needed to re-charge, or reload. Then the dragon's head snapped back, as it uttered another piercing shriek. To my utter amazement, I saw a thick arrow jutting from its second eye.

I tried to sit up, and reload my pistol, but my fingers fumbled, and I dropped the ball. In my defense, I was battered and burnt, and there was quite a bit going on around me.

The dragon continued to shriek, as it thrashed about, clawing divots in the earth, and slapping trees with its swinging tail. I had to roll again, to get a little further away.

More spells struck the dragon; one of them gave off purple sparks. The two armored fighters closed in, and began hacking and slashing at the monster's legs.

The tall one was struck by the dragon's tail, and sent spinning off to one side. But the second fighter - the redhead - must have severed a tendon, because the big lizard suddenly lurched, and fell heavily.

Blinded, hamstrung - and surely severely injured by this point - the dragon was incapable of offering much more serious resistance. It was just butchery from then on. I can't say that I was unhappy about that; it couldn't have happened to a nicer dragon.

- "Everyone alright?" shouted the red-headed warrior, as gore dripped from her sword. "Taliesine? Syrava?"

- "Fine."

- "Here. I'm alright."

- "Where's Aressine?" called the redhead.

- "Over here. A bit stunned. She'll live." said another female voice. "I'm fine, too."

- "Where's Pamna? And did any of the first party survive?"

- "There's one here." said a new voice. My head jerked around, involuntarily, because she was right behind me.

I saw dark hair, brown eyes, and a hooked nose. Earrings bigger than wind chimes.

"Hello." she said.

Then a second figure appeared behind her. This one had long, jet black hair, ornate armor, and exotic features. She stared at me for a moment, and then waved her arm.

- "Nomariki kuntali." she said.

That's all I remember.

***

I was stiff and sore when I awoke. The pain in my legs wasn't so bad, though. I catalogued all these impressions without opening my eyes. My last memory was of a rival party - mostly women - casting some sort of knockout spell on me. Best not to let them know that I was no longer asleep, just yet.

There was no need to move around. I could feel that my pistols had been taken away. Sword and dagger, too. They hadn't found the little knife in my boot, but that wasn't going to get me very far. My hands hadn't been tied, or restrained.

Even through closed eyes, I could feel daylight filtering through the trees.

- "What are we going to do with him?" said a voice.

- "Kill him." said someone else. "The fewer witnesses, the better."

- "Oh, no. There's no need for that. You don't want to tempt fate like that, Syrava." I recognized the third voice: it was Darkhair Hooknose with the earrings.

- "You shouldn't have wasted a healing spell on him." snapped the second speaker. "Especially not while Aressine is still hurting."

That seemed like a good opening to me. "I can heal her." I said, opening my eyes.

- "What?" The redheaded fighter was there, still in armor. There were three gashes on her face, all recently healed, by magic. She was a striking woman. Scars wouldn't change that.

Darkhair with the earrings smiled at me. (I had to admit, upon closer inspection, that her nose wasn't hooked all that much) "How are you feeling?"

- "Much better. Thanks to you, I think." I could feel her magical touch, still. I'd experienced it before, but usually from the other perspective. When you cast a healing spell on someone, it creates a bond - a link, if you prefer. You can sense that person's presence, from quite a distance. The effect can last for up to a full day.

- "I did." she said, with another smile. "You're very welcome." I was beginning to like her, so I smiled back.

- "Let me repay the favor, then." I said, levering myself into a sitting position.