Clay awoke with a sudden jolt. He felt like he was burning up. Then he realized he was lying nude on a low couch, a heavy, fluffy blanket covering him, one radiating heat as if it were plugged in to a strong power source. Aron lay beside him. Seemed like a Shag—or both—had returned and covered them during the night, but he had no recollection of it. At least his head and face weren’t covered. Had they been, he would have freaked out—his old claustrophobia would have kicked as soon as he awoke.
He turned his head enough to see Aron, who looked at him and winked. ::Good morning. Did you sleep well?::
::I guess. I don’t remember much after I joined you. Still, I’m wide-awake now and ready for anything. Well, almost anything.::
As if it had been waiting outside the door and gave them just enough time to get up, dress, and make themselves presentable, another larger and darker Shag soon entered.
::Come, Great Ones. It is time to meet again with the council and learn how you are to aid us. The dragons stir, soon to demand further tribute.::
* * * *
Back in the big hall where they’d first met the Shag leaders, Clay and Aron were led to seats at the table. A very large Shag, perhaps the president, prime minister or whatever they called their executive officer, bowed its head to them in a regal nod. This time, it spoke aloud, which strangely Clay found he could now understand. Perhaps the food and drink we consumed rewired the ear-to-brain connection to make this possible.
He knew he could not consider any of this situation from the point of logic. It was far too strange and confusing. All he could do was hang on and go for the ride, wherever it led. Odd, though, he felt little anxiety. What happened would happen and somehow he trusted it would work out for the best. He glanced at Aron and caught his partner’s slight nod. ::Aye, it will be all right.::
His attention turned to the deep, mellow voice of the Shag leader. “We trust our limited hospitality has pleased you, Great Ones. We could offer you no more, despite the great task you have come to perform for us. As we said, the dragons stir again. We must mollify them or suffer a dreadful catastrophe when they heat our world, melting the polar ice to flood many areas, making the temperature unbearable and perhaps ending our very existence.
“There is also another problem. Besides guarding their treasures beneath the ice-bound polar cap, they also guard a strange portal; a gateway to other times and places. Without that guardianship, history tells us horrible entities will invade, wreaking as much or more harm than can the dragons. We know we must do away with the rapacious reptiles, but afterward, we know not what we may face.”
Clay and Aron exchanged a quick look. ::Gates—we know about those.::
Aron turned back to face the Shag spokesperson. “We came through such a portal, but it seemed to operate in just one direction, letting us in, but not out. We’ll need to find a portal by which to leave once our task is done. We may be able to bar this dragon-guarded gateway. First, tell us more of these dragons so we’ll know how best to destroy them. Gates we can deal with; it’s our task back from whence we came.”
Within about an hour, they were armed with as much knowledge about the dragons as they could gain from the Shags. Dismissed, they started from the council chamber to meet the contingent of Shag warriors who were to accompany them. They exchanged a few brief words before setting off, led by one leaner, fast-moving Shag, who seemed to be the officer in charge of the group.
Clay had anticipated a long trek across the gray hills they had first seen, but he soon learned they had another method. From the central compound, tunnels led off in many directions. These passages seemed to move around them or perhaps held currents that moved the travelers along. He felt strong sensations of motion, but he could not determine which scenario actually took place. Even Aron could not say for sure.
However, it did not take them long to emerge into a hollow surrounded by peaks and turrets of ice. Before them, a narrow opening led into the frigid mountain and presumably also to the domain of the dragons. The Shag leader indicated they should go in the lead now. For the first time, Clay felt a stir of misgiving. Had they been conned into thinking they were to defeat some fierce guardians when, in reality, they were to serve as the latest round of tribute?
He did not need to voice this concern for Aron to catch it. ::I think not. I’ve sensed no duplicity or evil intent from our hosts. They believe all they’ve said to us. I think our laser beams, set to maximum intensity, will take care of these lizards. If not, we’ll improvise. If we can eradicate Trogues, a couple of ice-dinosaurs should not prove too difficult.::
Clay had to chuckle. Aron’s droll ways of stating dire facts was one of the things he especially enjoyed about his partner. The elf had a skill for putting matters into perspective and doing so in a manner both amusing and reassuring.
The tunnel into the ice ran in a twisting spiral, turning like a labyrinth, but without fork or divide, leading always deeper into the mound. Dim light filtered through the frozen heap, for the ice seemed to be translucent. A faint blue tint might reflect the distant sky, although when they had arrived the day before, all had been gray, both earth and sky.
It might have been after sunset yesterday, though, Clay thought. Time seemed to move strangely here.
Rounding a final bend, they emerged into a vast chamber, which, like in some of the Shags’ dwellings and structures, seemed far too large to exist within the space seen when viewed from outside. A central pillar rose to the lofty ceiling, several meters overhead. Whatever light filtered in seemed to be captured by this faceted mass, only to be amplified and reflected in hundreds of glowing beams that, in turn, bounced back from the icy walls. The cavern was alive with light.
Around the base of the huge crystal, two lumpy gray shapes twined, apparently sleeping. Those had to be the dragons. Finally, one raised a head, a rough triangular shape at the end of a sinuous neck. The beast turned toward them. Two eyelids blinked open to reveal black wells of pupils centering irises of rainbow hues. For several breaths, the creature regarded them, unblinking.
Behind them, Clay could hear the Shags shuffling and murmuring, but he ignored them to focus on the huge monsters they confronted. Aron lifted his laser, an innocent-looking tube of silvery metal, and took aim at the dragon watching them. The other one also lifted its head, which had been buried beneath the crumpled wing of the first dragon. Its eyes were smoldering red, and Clay could now see its hide seemed rougher, darker, and coarser than that of the other. Everything about the second dragon seemed masculine, war-like, and hard.
Although Clay also raised his laser, he felt a sudden reluctance to use it. Did he really wish to burn away these two beings, dire and powerful though they appeared? Clearly they were here for a reason, perhaps as much victims of some greater power as the other denizens of this particular world who so greatly feared them.
Finally, one of them spoke, a deep rumble of sound almost beneath the lowest range of human hearing. The voice sounded like great boulders grating together, the speech of an earthquake or the initial threatening rumble of a volcano.
“Small ones, we sense your power. You hold the capacity to destroy us, but we do not fear. We could also destroy you, but we will not try to do so. We want only to be free, to be released from this bleak place, far from our own kind. You also have the power to do this for us. The question is, will you? If you do, then you must seal this portal after we depart so none can ever pass through it again.”
With a twist of its neck, the dark dragon gestured toward a bright spot near the base of the crystal pillar, a spot that now began to glow with flickering green flames. The smaller, paler dragon blinked once. Then Clay heard its voice in his mind, a higher, lighter tone.
::I carry the fertilized eggs of my only clutch and long have held them dormant, not wanting my hatchlings to emerge here where we are imprisoned. Will you not send me home to birth my young where they belong?::
Aron’s silent reply came through clearly to Clay. ::If you will guarantee to depart and trouble the natives of this world no more, we will release you. Tell me how I must do this thing.::
For a few seconds, the voices of the two dragons tangled in a cacophony of meaningless noise. Finally, the smaller one turned an incendiary glare upon the large, dark one. ::Hush, fool! Let me talk to the small ones.::
Clay only partially understood the flurry of instructions the female dragon spoke to Aron, but the elf apparently had no such problem. He nodded once. ::I know of such a spell, a rite of banishment which I can perform. You’re both sure this is your wish?::
Both dragons agreed. Behind Clay and Aron, the Shags muttered, but Clay ignored their protests. Somehow, he could not doubt the dragons were honest and truly did want to leave. If Aron could do such service for them, Clay sensed no harm would come to anyone. He edged closer and, without being asked, put his hand on Aron’s arm and opened to feed him energy. The elf seemed to gather himself and began to murmur words that grew in a quick crescendo to a near-shriek, a torrent of ancient syllables sparking and shimmering with power.
Clay could feel the energies flowing from his being into his partner to add fuel to the force of the incantation. His hand burned with it, as if he served as a conduit for a massive flow of electricity. He expected to see the sleeve of Aron’s gray tunic begin to smoke, but it did not.
Suddenly, there was an explosive burst of light and sound. The crystal pillar blew up before them. Clay blinked against the brilliant flare. When he opened his eyes, the dragons were gone. The remnants of the pillar scattered across the floor of the chamber like a snowfall of diamonds. Far above, a fracture in the ice roof revealed a jagged patch of blue sky.
The Shags surged forward, shouting and capering around. Clay could almost hear them singing, “Ding dong, the witch is dead.”
Aron turned to glower at the thick-furred leader. “We have done as you asked. The dragons are gone. Go back and spread the word. We will shut the gate now so nothing else can come into your world, but we must also pass through it to our next mission as we seal it. The ice may melt some, but not enough to create harm or havoc. Your world will be secure.”