Jean Rabe - Dragons of a New Age

Again, Dhamon drove his knife into the creature, this time higher on its chest, just under its breastbone. The blade sank in, and he tugged it free and plunged it in once more.

“You’ve got to have a heart inside you someplace,” he cursed. Again his hand flashed as the stickiness of the creature’s blood ran down his fingers. The thing yowled, this time sounding almost pathetic, and Dhamon summoned all his strength as he drove the blade in deeper than seemed possible. This time it lodged in bone and Dhamon couldn’t yank it free.

The beast shuddered, then it seemed to disappear, and Dhamon’s fingers closed around air. A flash filled the sky, taking the creature’s place. A bright golden light filled Dhamon’s senses as a ball of lightning burst where the thing had been present a moment before. The air crackled and then the ground rushed up to meet him, and he struck the earth hard, the air exploding from his lungs. Dazed, he glanced up. He could see only the night sky and a few stars twinkling down at him.

“Die!” Shaon was shouting at her opponent. The sea barbarian lunged forward, shoving her sword into her foe’s belly. At the same time its maw opened and a bolt of crackling lightning raced to strike her chest. She was knocked back several feet.

The creature looked down at the sword buried in its body. Its claws fumbled with the pommel, found a grip, then tugged it free. The beast seemed oddly energized by its wound. It held the weapon up, and lightning from its claws raced up the hilt and along the blade, flashing and sparkling like a fireworks show. Grinning, it advanced on her, waving the crackling weapon.

Fury raced toward it. The red wolf darted inside of its reach and sank its teeth into the beast’s calf. The creature gave a shriek and brought the sparking blade down on the wolf. But Fury was quicker and raced around behind it. The blade cleaved only red hair.

Dhamon struggled to his knees, risking a glance behind him. Feril was using the mud to bury her draconian opponent, pin it to the ground. Blister stood over it, whacking at its chest with her chapak. The creature harmlessly spewed lightning. Overhead, the sky thundered in response.

Forcing himself to his feet, Dhamon grabbed his blade, then took a deep breath and rushed to stand with Shaon. The beast sidestepped the wolf and was closing.

“I can fight my own battles, Dhamon!” Shaon yelled. “I don’t need any help!”

“Maybe so, but you can’t fight very well without a sword!” he called back.

The sea barbarian stubbornly dodged around Dhamon and claimed the creature’s attention. It lunged toward her. Distracted by her movements, it forgot about the wolf. A fatal mistake. Fury leapt on its back, and the beast plunged face-forward into the mud.

Shaon slammed her heel down hard on the back of its scaly hand. It released the grip on her sword. As she bent to scoop it up, the creature twisted around and angled its claws at Shaon, sending an electrical charge her way.

Shaon screamed, dropping to her knees. She shut her eyes to try to keep out the bright burning light, but still the jagged flickers danced everywhere. Fumbling about on the ground, her fingers brushed across the hilt of her sword. She grabbed it and blindly swung it where she thought the creature’s head was.

“Watch out!” a nearby Dhamon snapped. “You almost skewered me!” He’d lunged toward the thing and now had joined the close-quarters fighting.

“Then get back! This thing’s mine!” Shaon had to crawl away, however, blinking to clear her vision.

From behind, Fury closed his jaws on the beast’s neck. The creature howled as it pushed itself to its knees. The wolf dug his teeth in deeper. Dhamon lashed out at the thing and his sword cut through the dense flesh of its arm. The creature fell forward again amid a bright flash—-a burst of lightning that sent Fury yelping.

Dhamon’s arm shot up just in time to cover his eyes, but the electricity rushed out to envelop him and Shaon. It burned and made their teeth chatter with shock. Then as quick as the sensation surrounded them, it seemed to dissipate.

“What’s happening?” the sea barbarian cried. “I can barely see anything!”

“Look! It exploded!” the kender squealed. “Dhamon killed it!”

Fury growled and stood up, shaking himself. His red hair was standing on end, making him appear fluffy and nearly half-again his size. The creature was gone, but there was a bowl-shaped depression in the mud where it had been. Shaon knelt just beyond it, still blinking wildy.

Looking over his shoulder, Dhamon could see Feril was in no real danger, so he helped the sea barbarian up. Her vision was slowly returning.

“It was mine to finish,” she complained. Shaon frowned and felt about her face and head. Her short hair was singed, and a scorch mark ran nearly the entire length of her left arm. “It’ll scar,” Shaon mumbled. “A little souvenir of tonight.” Dhamon pointed toward Feril and Blister.

“We really caught it!” Blister said breathlessly. The kender leveled her chapak over the thing’s face. “You open your mouth and breathe lightning, and I’ll cut your head in two!”

The beast struggled, but Feril had piled enough mud on top of it that it wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

“Why’d you attack us?” Dhamon demanded.

The blue thing locked its eyes onto his and hissed. “Master’s orders.”

“Your master ordered you to attack us?”

“Attack humans,” it sneered. “Capture humans.”

“I guess we taught you a lesson,” Blister taunted. “Hey, Dhamon, how’d you know this thing could talk? Wow, you’re hurt pretty bad.”

“All draconians talk,” Dhamon answered. “And this one had better talk a little more unless it wants to join its fellows in oblivion.”

“Spawn,” the creature hissed. “We are not draconians. We are better, stronger, more. We are spawn.”

“Who is this supposed master?” Dhamon stood above the creature now, his hand tightly gripping his sword’s pommel. Blister stood opposite him. Both of them stared down into the spawn’s face.

“The Portal Master,” it hissed. “Only he commands me.”

“Gibberish,” Dhamon cursed.

“The Storm made us,” the spawn continued. “Shaped us from flesh and tears, made us creatures of lightning. And the Storm shall slay you.”

“Why does your master command you to attack people?” Blister asked. She winced as she switched her chapak to her other hand and waved the kender weapon for effect.

“Doesn’t want kender. Only humans,” it hissed. “The Master only wants humans.”

“I see,” she said offended. “So you would have captured Dhamon and Shaon and left me and Feril alone.”

“You and the elf,” it sneered, as lightning flickered along its lips, “we would have killed you.”

“The village,” Dhamon said, drawing the thing’s attention. He pointed in the direction from which they’d come. “Did you take all the people from that village?”

What approximated a smile spread across the blue spawn’s scaly face. “That village, and others. For the glory of the Portal Master. Our master and sire.”

That answered the grim mystery. Dhamon looked at the thing in horror.

“What shall we do with it?” Feril asked Dhamon. “We can’t let it loose. It’ll only go after more people.”

“I say we kill it!” Shaon suggested eagerly. The sea barbarian stepped closer and shouldered her sword. Her dark eyes were rimmed by red. “I’m willing to do the job. Step back.”

“No!” Dhamon held a hand out to stop her.

“No?” Blister asked incredulously. “If we leave it here, it’ll dig itself out eventually.”

The creature grinned, showing its sharp, glowing teeth.