Chapter 2

If it's so simple, why don't you do it? Of course I didn't say that aloud. It always amazes how people think that my part of my job is something that a trained monkey could do in his sleep. Meanwhile, their task is a matter of the utmost skill and timing ...

Jim spoke up for me. "Ken works well under pressure. And if he needs to improvise ... well, there's no one else I'd rather have in there." That makes one of us, I thought.

"Well be close behind." he said, to me. "The moment you light those sticks, we'll attack. Believe me: we'll get that dragon's full attention. After that, if you see an opportunity to do something useful from behind, or from the flank ... well, feel free."

Jim put a meaty paw on my shoulder. "This is the big one, Ken. If we pull this off, we'll be able to retire, and live in luxury." He gave me a smile and a wink.

***

That was how I found myself sneaking through an acid-blasted forest in the dark of night. I'd eaten sparingly that day, which would be beneficial if I happened to shit my pants.

I had to wonder why the dragon would leave such a clear pathway to its lair. Was it that stupid? Or just arrogant? Or was it so damned powerful that it wasn't afraid of humans at all?

The forest was utterly still, in one sense. There were no birds, no chipmunks or squirrels. No owls, no creature snuffling or crawling about. That was eerie.

Fortunately for me, it was a blustery night, in terms of weather. The winds were strong, and the rain began to fall. True, the forest blocked most of the wind, and the canopy kept me dry, for the most part. But I appreciated the noise, and the atmospheric disturbance. At that stage, I'd take any advantage I could get.

I wasn't entirely helpless. Forgive me if I've given you the impression that I was completely out of my element. It's true that I would have much preferred to be in the city, rather than this blasted wilderness.

I did have a few advantages.

Jim knew that I can move silently. That's because I cheat. I know three spells, you see. Well, four, if you count healing (long story, I'll explain later). So I can heal, or I can cast ... silence.

Beautiful spell. You could be three feet away, and you wouldn't hear a blessed thing. I still have to be careful, of course, because you could feel my breath, if I exhale too strongly. If I move too quickly, you might feel a breeze, or see the curtains waver.

But Silence lasts for about an hour - and as long as I don't go blundering around at top speed, I doubt you'll even know that I'm there. It's the next best thing to invisibility.

The dark doesn't bother me, either, because I have lowlight vision - probably three times better than a human's. That's right: I'm half-elven.

Yes, I know. In all the best sagas, valiant human warriors win the love of beautiful elven maids, and sire the most attractive children - the half-elven. Well, my dad was an elven adventurer who stopped in Black only long enough to have a couple of drinks and get my mother pregnant. I don't know if she was a prostitute, a courtesan, a barmaid ... but she did know the location of the orphanage, because she promptly delivered me there the moment I was born. The back steps, too; not even the front door.

My last advantages were tucked into half-holsters on my belt. They were a pair of superb dueling pistols, which I had loaded and primed with care. My little sisters, as I called them, had saved my life more than once. I hoped they wouldn't need to do it again tonight.

Low-light vision helps. But it was getting progressively darker as I ventured deeper into the forest, carrying those stupid sticks of Tega's. I do not have no-light vision.

However, my other senses were beginning to kick in. I could almost taste the powerful acrid smell. I'd been expecting something like sulfur, or brimstone, but this was much worse. It was sharper, and made my eyes and nose run. I had to resist the urge to sniffle.

The wind had risen, and while I couldn't feel its effects, down among the trees, I could certainly hear its passage overhead, in the rustling of leaves and branches. As it stood now, I couldn't really see or hear anything.

But I swear that I could feel that dragon. It was a physical sensation. My guts were churning, and my mouth was suddenly dry as a desert. I knew, even then, that it was terror. Naked fear. But there was more: an almost palpable sense of wrongness.

Yet I continued to feel my way forward with the tips of my toes. By all rights I should have been moving in the opposite direction. There are no limits, apparently, to the power of stupidity and peer pressure.

The wrongness was directly ahead of me. It was much too close. I veered off to my right, treading carefully. As I said before - my silence spell does not make me invisible.

Then I had a strange thought. If I got directly behind the dragon, and lit Tega's torches ... would the others be able to see the magical light? Wouldn't the dragon's vast bulk block their view?

But ... if I set them beside the monster, wouldn't my friends come charging in just that much off target? Off centre? All I needed was for the necromancer to run into a tree in the dark, and knock himself unconscious. Yes, you think of all sorts of weird shit when you're trying not to crap your pants.

I opted for slightly off to one side.

By this time, I was so close that I could hear something. It sounded like a log being dragged over a rough stone. My hands were trembling, so I paused and took a few deep breaths to steady myself.

These had better work, Tega, you fuck. That's what I thought as I pressed the rounded tips of his magic sticks together.

He had neglected to mention exactly how they worked. There was a flash, and a trail of sparks, along with spurts of bright white smoke.

A very large, very unfriendly dragon turned its massive head towards me.

Mother of all the Gods. Teeth. Who knew that dragons had so many teeth? They were bigger than me. Its head was triangular, a huge mass of bone and scale and ... teeth. There was a horn where the nose might have been.

But I was mesmerized by the enormous eye on the side of its head, facing towards me. This was no adolescent dragon. That single eye spoke of cruelty and evil that had taken a century or more - centuries, maybe - to hone and refine.

This was no mindless beast. It was the apex predator of our world, and I was an idiotic intruder into its lair, rubbing two sticks together.

Try counting to three - slowly. Like this: one, and two, and three. Then try doing it while the most malevolent evil monster in all of creation stares at you.

Tega hadn't lied. Suddenly, there was a shower of sparks, and his magical torches burst into blazing bright light. I was completely blinded. I have no idea what they did to the dragon. (Yes, I know that I wasn't supposed to look at the light; thanks for your help)

I half-heartedly jammed the first stick into the ground, and then dove to my right. I rolled, and kept rolling. I didn't need to be able to see to plunge the second stick into the dirt. Then I rolled again.

I have no idea what the dragon was doing, or why it didn't kill me. Maybe it was blinded, like I was. Or maybe it saw my friends approaching. When I was able to see again, it took me a moment to realize that I wasn't seeing double. Tega had a second pair of sticks. He and Jim were each carrying one.

The necromancer got off a spell. I have no idea what it was. But the dragon howled in pain, and reared up on its hind legs. Then there was a boom, like sharp thunder, as Carpon fired an enormous musketoon, or blunderbuss. It sounded like it had been triple-shotted.

The dragon shrieked. It was a horrific, ear-splitting sound.

Tega cast a spell. Again, I didn't recognize it, but a blue nimbus of smoke formed around the dragon's horn.

Then the dragon struck back. It thrust its head forward, and spewed a line of solid black acid, some ten feet wide, and ninety feet long, that struck Tega dead on. The top of the wizard's body simply disintegrated. All that was left was the stump of his abdomen and his legs, before those remains toppled over.

The dragon wasn't done. It clawed at Jim, who was rushing forward, flapped its wings, which created a mighty gust of wind which nearly bowled me over, and then swung its tail, which I only avoided by diving down and away.