Dragon Adventurer collection Read online

  Drake and I were the front-line fighters. While I just endured until I had an opening, Drake carried a mace much like Robert’s and used overwhelming strength to turn whatever he hit into mush. I tended to charge in first, getting the attention of the wargs, since they couldn't hurt me much, while Drake came close behind.

  We were followed by the twins. They were some of the few who had some training in weapons before the change. They had been two of the top fencers in the USA, both specialists in using the saber. Brittany told me after one fight that they still had issues though. Since fencing had become more of a sport than a way of waging war, there were things that they were still adjusting to, including actually trying to inflict harm.

  I guess my instincts helped me overcome that one...

  Brittany and Carah tended to wait till Drake and I had a beast’s attention, and then they would look for opportunities where their attacks would inflict damage. This led to a few kill steals. I had to restrain my temper a time or two when they 'stole' what my instincts thought of as my prey.

  As for Alex and Charlie, they kept to the back. Seems they used to be hunting buddies before the change and both kept going back to what seemed like an old argument about weather bows or crossbows were better. Axle was a faster shot as far as I could see. He could shoot two arrows for every one of Charlie’s. On the other hand, whatever Charlie hit knew it was hit! That crossbow of hers had some power and could stagger a warg mid charge. After each fight, I would store the bodies in my ring for later study and, as Charlie added, skinning and supplies.

  Supplies were important, Charlie explained. Estimates were that there was enough food in the city to last until the fields that the new farmers were planting sprouted, but that was only because, when everyone woke up, all the food had been replaced by something with a longer shelf life. Great to stave off starvation, but fresh food had become a bit of a rare commodity. The meat from these wolves would definitely help. Especially with how many we were collecting.

  That’s not to say it was all fun and games. Drake got a good bite on the arm when he really pissed off a warg, and Carah got slammed into a wall one time before Charlie was able to knock the beast off her with a well-placed shot.

  Things like that were the real reason Drake was on the team. Turns out he had a pretty impressive magic item of his own, a medallion that when pressed up against a wound accelerated healing. I watched the puncture wounds from that bite he got close and heal to just scar tissue in about a minute. He was quick to point out that it could only heal things the way a body naturally could. If we lost an arm or something, we would be in trouble.

  One thing that kinda stung was that I was obviously the worst fighter in the group. The others seemed at least practiced if not experts. The only way I was surviving was, as Charlie put it, “the fact that your body just doesn't seem to care that something is chewing on it.”

  I was gonna have to work on that.

  Things changed a bit when we got to the sixth room. As I opened the door, a wave of cold swept out of the room, and I flinched back. Inside the room, was a warg, half again bigger than the ones we had been fighting up till now. Its fur was white with a slight tint of blue.

  The cold of the room hit me hard. Just holding onto the door made my fingers tingle. But there, sitting on a pedestal across the room, was a dose of motivation. A chest--yes, I do mean a cheesy looking chest, like out of a game--was sitting there pretty as you please.

  I wanted that chest.

  This wasn't a dragon thing. This was a gamer thing--boss monster and treasure chest!

  “Is...that what I think it is?” Axle was looking over my shoulder, trying to see why I had stopped.

  I nodded in excitement.

  Carah peeked around me. “A blue wolf?” She looked at Axle. “That's not that exciting.”

  “No, that!” I pointed at the chest.

  “A box?” She looked at me incredulously. “That's even less exciting.” She actually sounded disappointed.

  “Wait! A box? There's a treasure chest?” Charlie cut in. At least she sounded excited. “What is this, a video game?” she said, now snarkier than excited.

  I shared a look with Axle. Some people just didn't understand.

  “It must have been tough,” I said, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

  “You have no idea...”

  “Excuse me. The monster?” The twin voices of Drake cut through our conversation.

  I turned my attention back to the warg. It was now standing, growling, and, if our battles with its lesser kin were to be used as reference, about to attack. We were in bad position what with us still crowded together in the doorway and all.

  Yup, attacking.

  As it lunged, I threw myself into the room to try and intercept it. The cold started to bite into my feet as I ran across the frozen floor, arm raised in defense. As the giant warg and I collided, I saw three dark shapes bolt past me.

  Fuck! It isn't alone.

  I heard Drake shout something, but I was distracted. For the first time since the change, I was really hurting.

  The impact with the white warg threw me to the ground. It bit down on my proffered arm. The impact drove its teeth through my skin, bringing blood to the surface. Its breath caused frost to form on my arm.

  I let out a scream and spat fire at its face. It released me and leapt out of the way. The fireball hit my arm instead of its head. A splash of fire only singed its fur.

  Warmth returned to my arm, but the blood continued to flow from puncture wounds.

  I heard the sounds of fighting behind me as the group fought the other creatures. The white warg glanced over at them, too, eyeing up the fight.

  Shit!

  I forced myself to my feet, trying to ignore the pain in my arm. I drew my dagger, something I was kicking myself for not doing earlier as the creature turned its attention back to me. A wave of heat was freed when the dagger cleared its sheath, seeming almost eager to do battle with the cold. The heat even extended far enough to bring some warmth back to my feet. I couldn't tell if my tail was rattling or shivering, though.

  As if sensing my distraction, the warg began another charge, letting out a snarl as it moved. I tried to get my arm back into its way but the thought of more pain made me flinch. The warg leapt, aiming for my neck, but I managed to throw myself out of the way at the last second. My tail lashed out as I dived. I heard a yelp, so it must have scored a hit.

  Landing, the warg and I spun to face each other.

  “Jake! Get that damn dagger in front of you!” Brittany yelled.

  Oops.

  I swung the dagger up, aiming its pointy end at the warg. It flinched back from the heat, then bent low and growled as it looked for an opening.

  Seeing this act of weakness, my hindbrain screamed a command. My legs were moving before I even registered that I was the one charging this time. The warg leapt to the side, avoiding the dagger as I made a useless swing, before bounding forward. I swung again, only to have my attack ducked as the warg slammed low into my waist. The breath was knocked from my lungs but I managed to keep myself on my feet. Thank goodness a few of the other wargs had tried that tactic before.

  It seemed surprised that its trick hadn't worked. It slowed down as I again swung my blade. The warg was still fast enough to get away, but I managed to slice off an ear. It howled in pain as it retreated. Froth started to form on its lips. The intelligence I had seen before was gone, replaced by pure fury.

  It threw itself at me again, not even dodging this time. I cut into its shoulder. It slammed me to the ground, jaws clamping down on the sides of my head. I screamed as I felt the pressure. My hands flew up to try and pry it off. Its tongue slathered my face, frost forming in its wake. I scrambled in pain and panic.

  And then I heard Axle shout, “Jake! Fireball!”

  Without a second thought, I took a deep breath, almost choking on the warg’s spit, before blowing a fireball right down it's throat. And then again. And
again, panic driving my assault.

  The next thing I knew, I was on my hands and knees vomiting on the floor as blood ran down the sides of my face. Somebody was kneeling next to me, gripping the back of my shirt just enough so if my arms gave out, I wouldn't fall into my own bile.

  “You okay?” Drake asked when I finally stopped heaving.

  “Fantastic.” I looked up to find myself starring into the smoldering head of the white warg.

  Its eye sockets were still smoking. A scorched skull showed patches where the fire had burnt through. I could see its blackened tongue hanging out of its mouth.

  Best part? It was only a foot from my face.

  I went back to throwing up.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Chapter 9

  When I finally pulled myself together enough to stand, I looked around the room deliberately ignoring the corpse in front of me. The temperature in the room had gotten considerably warmer since the white warg had died. Probably wouldn't be a bad guess to think that it had been the source of the cold.

  As for the rest of the group, they were all scattered around the room. The twins were keeping an eye on the far door, making sure that we weren't ambushed by anything while we recovered. Drake was hauling the bodies of the other three wargs over for me to store. He was probably going to ask me to store the white warg’s body too. I shuddered, and then forced my thoughts to move on.

  Axle and Charlie were hovering over the chest. They still hadn't opened it yet and seemed to be arguing over something. Hopefully it was interesting enough to keep my mind off of… Nope, not thinking about it.

  Closing my eyes, I quickly stored all the bodies and then headed over to see what those two were up to.

  “Ya think it's safe to even touch this?”

  “It's a loot chest! After a boss! It's going to be fine!”

  They stood a few feet from the chest

  “Look, I'll even prove it.”

  Axle quickly drew his bow aiming right above the lock. Before Charlie could say a word, he had an arrow in the air. Thunk! The chest rocked back on its pedestal from the force of the impact.

  “See? Noth…” Axle began to proclaim.

  With a whoosh, blue flames raced up the pedestal. The dry wood of the chest was a feast for the flames, and it quickly ignited. Then, with an almost hypnotic movement, the fire began to dance towards the ceiling, spreading outward as it did so.

  “Shoot! We have to put it out!” Axle began to rush forward only to have Charlie stop him.

  “Don't you feel how hot that is? If any of us touch…”

  I ran past the two of them to the front of the chest. I grabbed the sides of the chest, hefted it up and dumped its contents on the floor. I tossed the burning remains of the chest into a corner. The flames continued to lick up the pedestal, but without anything to burn, it just flickered at the top. I let out a sigh of relief as I saw that the items from within the chest hadn't caught fire.

  “That was dangerous!” Drake called out from the far door.

  “Actually, not really,” Charlie said with a sigh. “Pretty sure this guy’s a dragon. Fire and heat resistant if not proof.”

  “Jake!” Axle shouted. “Bring them this way! Let me see too!” Axle was fidgeting, staying back from the pillar. It seemed the heat was just too intense to get closer.

  I started to nod but then paused. “Charlie?” I called out cautiously.

  “What?”

  I turned around and carefully slid a slid a short sword over to place that was still a little way away from her, being careful to keep the blade’s edge away from her feet.

  “Ya have got to be kidding me. She almost whispered as she looked down at the two-foot, needle-like blade. It’s green poison glittering in the flames light. “That’s one of the damn swords the Inquisitors use!”

  Drake's ears flicked back on both his heads. “Could this be where their getting their kit?”

  “That...actually makes sense,” Axle said. His face was serious for the first time since I had seen him. “If this place acts like a dungeon, then the loot drops stored here might be standardized. It would explain the almost mass production quality of their magic items. We need to let the mayor know about this.”

  Charlie nodded.

  As they talked, I brought the loot over to a cooler part of the room. I had just set it down when Charlie threw a bag at me. “Hey, Dragon! Load it all in there and store it. We'll get it checked out when we get back.”

  I really didn't want to give all of this away, but it would be nice to head back. I really wanted to check in on my room. Well, my stuff, actually. Maybe that thing Charlie said about a hoard was kinda true?

  Loaded up and with a few disappointed glances at the door leading farther into the dungeon, we headed back the way we had come.

  As we climbed out of the dungeon, I saw Charlie whispering to the twins. Nodding, they walked up to stand on either side of me.

  “Ummm, hi?” I didn't understand what was going on.

  “Hi!” Carah cheerfully responded from my right.

  “Not running off this time,” Brittany muttered.

  Oh.

  “Onward!” Axle said, pointing out into the swamp. Drake reached up and gently moved Axle’s arm to point in a direction that was at almost a right angle to the one Axle first chose.

  As we walked, I could hear Charlie chatting to Axle and Drake up ahead. Back where I was with the twins? Not so much conversation. Brittany was keeping an eye on me, while Carah was just humming happily to herself. Me? I was trying to think of something I could say.

  “I’ve been wondering, where's your sword?” Carah said, breaking into my thoughts.

  I blinked. I had forgotten about that! I felt my tail begin its rattle.

  “I lost it.” It came out as a whisper. How could I have forgotten about it!

  “You lost it?” Brittany asked, annoyed. How do you lose something that big?”

  “I was chasing a wisp...” It didn't sound like much of an answer, even to me. An urge started to bubble up in the back of my head fighting for attention. I needed to go find MY sword!

  “A wisp of what? And why would that make you lose that big honking weapon?”

  “Wait. A wisp? You saw a will-o'-the-wisp?” Axle stopped walking and turned to look at us.

  “Yup,” Charlie said. “When I found him, the damn thing literally had him hypnotized and running through the swamp.”

  A spark of hope lit up in my heart. “Charlie? Did you see where I lost my sword?” The urge was getting stronger. If she had seen where I lost it, I needed to know!

  “Course! It got caught in a tree.” She paused, then ran a hand along her face. “You wanna go get it don't ya.”

  “I need it. It's mine.” I gave her an apologetic smile, already turning in the direction she had pointed.

  “Ya need it,” Charlie deadpanned.

  “It’s like a hook in my brain...”

  “Fucking dragon. Fucking hoard,” Charlie muttered, even as she pulled out her book to take more notes.

  “Well...time for a little detour then,” Axle said, smiling. “Instincts can be quite difficult to buck. Easier to just let them run their course as long as they don't get in the way.” He turned back to Charlie. “Did you know that we have a siren? Used to be a horrible singer before her change. Now? Practicing nonstop. Almost can’t help herself.”

  Luckily, my sword had snapped off close to the city. Unluckily, it was right over a sinkhole. It was my sword, and so it was up to me to wade in and get it back. I was a muddy mess by the time I managed to get it untangled.

  As we entered town, Charlie and Axle broke off to go and talk to somebody about what we had found and, well, tell people I was still alive, I guess. Drake followed along behind them nodding at the twins as he left.

  As I began to make a beeline for my room, Brittany stepped into my path. “No running off!”

  I stopped. I really wanted to go clean up and make sure my stuff was a
ll right, but I didn't want to anger Brittany any more then I already had in the past few days. “Why?”

  She pointed down at my finger. “The bodies? We need to drop them off. Who knows how long they will keep in there.”

  With a quick wave for me to follow, she began to head through the city at a quick pace. Carah shrugged at me with a smile and then followed after her sister.

  With a sigh, I followed after the two, stealing glances at the…what the hell did they call it? Apartment? Hotel? Whatever.

  We didn't go far. A few blocks away from the city edge, we stopped in front of what had obviously once been a shop. As the twins led me inside, I realized that this must have been a butcher shop before everything happened.

  As we entered the shop, a bell rang. “Give me a moment!” a man called out from the back.

  After a moment, a full human walked out from a door across the room, pushing through long leather straps that hung from the door’s top jam. He was pretty much what I had always thought a butcher was supposed to look like--leather pants, white apron, gold necklace with a cross on it, slightly overweight, and a bit balding.

  A Day One, huh? At least, he looked like it.

  He looked around the shop, saw the twins and broke into a grin.

  “Uncle Vinny!” Carah called out.

  “Carah! What brings you to the butchery?” In contrast with his image, his voice was a smooth deep thing. It reminded me of a radio announcer’s.

  “We come bearing meat!”

  The man looked around. Not seeing anything, he turned back to Carah. “What? Did you catch a squirrel or something?”

  “Ewww!” said Brittany, cringing.

  “Nope!” Carah took the squirrel comment in stride. “Show him.”

  “Now, wait a minute.” Vinny raised his hands. “It’s nice you two have a new friend, but I don't need to see…” He had look of trepidation on his face. I held out my hand.

  “Release a warg.”

  With a thud, the body of one of the giant wolf-things dropped on the ground in front of me.

  Vinny's eyes went wide. “Holy... How in god’s name did you do that!”