The She-Beast’s Lair
As Bron walked among the sleeping beasts, he thought of Malveric Baron’s freckled face, Breathan Florin’s crooked mouthed grin and Darious Clutterbow’s collection of sailors’ tales. So many brave soldiers had died at the hands of these vile creatures. Bron felt like a thief, sneaking around their sleeping bodies. If circumstances allowed, he’d much rather battle them here and now and gain vengeance. But a greater task waited with a foe that could not be left forgotten.
Cut off the head and the army is leaderless. King Artemus had advised his troops before battle and raced across the front line, clanging his sword against theirs. Purge the evil at the source or you will only ever treat the symptoms and not the disease.
Although these were beasts, they had a clear hierarchy, and the She-Beast ruled over all. Not only that, she was the only wyvern who could produce fry. Plus, her belly of sulfurous gases provided the ultimate weapon.
No, the minstrels were right to sing them in unharmed. Even though stealth and trickery wasn’t Bron’s way, he accepted their wisdom.
The volcano rose up before them with smoke-filled dark tunnels funneling toward the core.
Valorian broke through the front line. “I have enough minstrels to cover our escape, but if I divert too many inside the mountain, their absence will diminish the intensity of the song.”
“I’ll go without song, then.” Bron gestured toward the troops below. “It’s more important they have return passage home through the sleeping beasts. Keep this horde in deep slumber until the mountain erupts, and I’ll take care of the She-Beast.”
“I’ll go with you. My voice will provide some cover along the way.” Valorian gestured to his minstrels. Another man with a lute took his place as the leader of the song.
“I’m coming as well.” Danika’s voice wafted up to him from behind the front lines. She broke through, standing tall and proud, like the ruler she was born to be.
Bron’s chest tightened and he wished he could keep her safe forever. “We may not make it back, Princess.”
“I’m coming to see that you do.” Danika took three long strides to his side. “I won’t accept anything less.”
Bron sighed, recognizing his words coming from her mouth. “So be it.” He could no more stop her than wish this all away. Ebonvale was her kingdom, and she had a right to defend it, woman or not. Besides, she commanded him, not the other way around.
“So it is the three of us again, then.” Valorian smiled. “Though I do miss Nip.” He put a hand on Bron’s shoulder and one on Danika’s, uniting them. “What an excellent trio we will be.”
But not without some discord. Only one of them could have Danika, and it wasn’t him. Bron turned to his army. “Regiments one through three stay behind to guard our passage. The rest of you get ready to climb.”
Walking beside Bron, Danika muttered under her breath as she tied the scarf around her mouth. “You told me to stay with Valorian.”
Bron gave her his grimmest look. “Aye, but I did not mean for this.”
He lassoed a rope around a ridge and threw the length down to the army. “Do not climb without it.”
He tied the rope around his waist and scaled the lava rock to a plateau leading to the nearest entrance. Gray smoke bled from the tunnel.
Valorian threw Bron a fine satin scarf.
Bron took the fabric and blinked in question. This was not a time to look their best.
“It will filter the worst of the smoke.” Valorian brought a wad of them from his travel bag and threw them to the army.
Once again, Valorian appeared the better man. Chastised, Bron tied the fabric around his mouth, and the rest of his army followed. He felt like a belly dancer at the mid-summer festival, but he swallowed his smart whip retorts. Better to look ridiculous and breathe than to look brave and die.
He gazed at Danika. She was the only one of them who wore her scarf well, the satiny fabric framing her sparkling eyes, making them peer at him seductively. Or so he imagined.
Danika didn’t wear one of Valorian’s scarves. Bron recognized that fabric from her mother’s wardrobe. Despite her disdain for Sybil, Danika must have felt something to bring the scarf with her. He’d promised Sybil to keep her daughter safe and he meant to even if it meant his fiery end.
Bron gestured toward the cave and gave Danika a rise of his eyebrows. “Shall we?”
She unsheathed her sword with a clang. The resolution in her eyes cemented Bron’s determination. “Let’s end this.”
They lit torches, and Bron and Danika took the lead. The tips of their swords pointed into the darkness. Valorian echoed the song of power from below, projecting his voice ahead. The tunnel magnified his volume with an echo. As the minstrels’ voices from outside died away, Valorian’s voice held strong.
Beneath them, the mountain rumbled as if stirring in its sleep. The ground shook, and they stumbled, using the walls to steady themselves until the quake subsided. Doubt flashed in Danika’s eyes and the troops behind them whispered with uneasiness.
“’Tis a good omen.” Bron spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, but not so loud as to interrupt Valorian’s song. “All we need is the She-Beast’s unspent breath to push this volcano over the edge.”
The deeper they traveled, the more Bron roasted like a boar on a spit. He dreamed of summers where he and Hule jumped in the icy creek behind their farm, and winters where he chopped wood until his hands turned blue--anything to get his mind off the heat.
The tunnel curved inward, boring straight to the volcano’s core. A deep intake, then exhale, resounded from the darkness as if the primeval world breathed through the molten lava. A heartbeat, weighted and steady as a giant leather drum thundered in Bron’s gut. The air grew thick with sulfur and the reek of seaweed. Bron slowed his pace and held his hands for those behind him to pause. He dared not speak. They were close.
Up ahead, a glowing reddish light illuminated an opening where the tunnel widened. Bron placed his torch on the lava rock to light their way back. Even if he didn’t make it out, Danika would. He snuck forward with both hands on his hilt.
A pool of lava illuminated a high-ceilinged cavern. At the far end, a skeleton of a large whale, with the flesh picked to the bone, cast striped shadows on the back wall. Beyond the skeleton lay a wide, smoking crevice leading down into the volcano’s core.
Speckled eggs lay in clusters around the lava pool, as if they needed the heat to hatch. A few broken cases were strewn on the cavern floor. Bron stepped on one and brought his boot up. A slimy, greenish white substance stuck the eggshell to the bottom of his boot.
He whispered, “Be aware. Hatchlings lurk in the shadows.”
Although the hatchlings were no bigger than dogs, they could still rip an ox open with one swipe of their claw. Bron gestured for Danika and Valorian to come forward. Behind them, the army slowly filed in. Valorian’s voice echoed in a haunting melody throughout the cave. He’d been singing ever since they found the wyverns. Bron wondered how the minstrel could sustain his voice without a draught of water. Every time Valorian took a breath, the shadows flickered and the rhythmic heartbeat of the She-Beast grew louder.
“There!” Danika hissed as she pointed across the lava pool. Finned backs rose and fell in slumber. Snouts, tails, claws and scales wound together in a heap.
“There are more over here.” Bron gestured toward the back wall. He turned back to his army. “Leave them be.”
A hulking shadow stirred deep within the back of the cave. Bron raised his hand to halt the troops. He gestured for a torch. One of the soldiers ran back into the tunnel. He emerged with one of the torches they’d left behind. The last embers simmered, casting a dim light. The soldier handed Bron the torch, then filed back into line a little too eagerly.
Bron stepped forward, holding the torch in front of him. A massive, scaly mound of flesh rose to the ceiling thirty feet above their heads. A tail, wider than Bron was tall, coiled around the body. Tucked above the tail’s end lay a snout as large as the princess’ royal carriage with teeth like swords jutting haphazardly in crooked directions.
“What are you waiting for? I’ll cut the beast’s throat.” Danika raised her sword.
Bron grabbed her arm, holding her still. “She’s no use to us dead. We must draw her into the crevice and throw her body into the lava core.”
“We’re so close. We can end it now.” Her face glowed in the reddish light, her flushed cheeks slick with sweat.
“No. If we leave this place as is, another She-Beast will rise. ’Tis only a matter of time before they breed enough fry to overtake our land. We would only delay the inevitable.” He leaned down and whispered so only she could hear. “Your father once told me to purge the evil at the source or else you treat the symptom and not the disease.” Bron placed a hand on her shoulder. “The wyverns’ reign must end now with the destruction of the vile mountain, and I mean to end their reign myself.”
Danika stilled with the mention of her father. She glanced hungrily at the She-Beast then pulled her gaze away and nodded. “My father’s wisdom speaks even now. How will we draw her to the crevice? We could no more move the mountain itself.”
Bron turned to Valorian. “Can you convince the She-Beast to move with song?”
Valorian finished his phrase, letting the note taper beautifully into the echoes. “I can. But my song will awaken both the She-Beast and the hatchlings. Controlling only her actions may be beyond my abilities.” Movement stirred from the sleeping fry, and he picked up the song where he’d left off.
“’Tis why I’m here.” Bron signaled to the army, proud to finally be of service amongst all this minstrel glory. They spread in a semicircle around Danika and Valorian and raised their swords. “Protect the minstrel and the princess. Hold your ground.”
He raised his sword to the She-Beast and nodded to Valorian. “Make it so.”
Valorian’s song changed from a lulling drone to a twisting melody, each note pricking his consciousness as if the notes didn’t quite belong. Bron’s legs twitched. He shifted on his feet but every position was uncomfortable.
The blasted music. It affected him, too.
He shook his head to rid the melody from his thoughts and stood his ground.
Movement stirred around them as the fry awoke. They opened their eyes and stretched lazily by the lava pool. One by one, they eyed the soldiers. Some of the soldiers took a step back. Bron heard one whisper, “They think good ol’ ma has brought them more meat.”
Bron steeled his voice. “You’re soldiers of Ebonvale. Hold your ground.”
One of the hatchlings hissed and lunged at the front line, extending its claws. A soldier blocked the hatchling’s attack with his shield, while another stuck his sword in its back. The hatchling squealed, and everyone except for Bron covered their ears.
The other hatchlings lunged in mass horde at the soldiers, but Bron kept his position. In the dim glow of the reddish light, the She-Beast opened her eyes.
She raised her head slowly as if taking in the scene. Her lips stretched back from her jaw, exposing the full set of her jagged teeth. She hissed, and the air gusted into Bron’s face, searing his cheeks.
Bron glanced at the crevice, noting the distance from him to the edge. He turned his gaze back on the beast and brandished his sword. “Come meet your doom.”
Fast as lightning, the beast extended its neck and snapped its jaws. Bron ducked, as the snout closed over his head, and then again as the beast pounced again to his right. The beast’s nostrils fumed as it opened its jaws wide. Its stomach pulsed as it fanned the fire inside its gut. Bron stepped backward toward the crevice and brought down his visor, preparing for the flames.
Air rushed around him as the flames engulfed his body, traveling over Garish’s armor. Bron held his breath, waiting for the surge to end. At some point the beast had to breathe again. The victor would be the one who could hold the longest breath. The She-Beast expelled her air to propel the fire, whereas Bron held air in his lungs and rationed it bit by bit. The flames died, and Bron took in a deep breath of dry, hot air. He raised his visor. “You’ll have to do better than that.”
The She-Beast hissed and uncoiled her tail. Bron jumped to his stomach as the tail knocked several soldiers to the ground. They fell on their backs and hatchlings swarmed over them. Danika rushed to their aid, slicing the fry with her sword.
The giant wyvern’s tail separated Bron from the rest of his men, which was exactly what he wanted. He had to keep her attention and lure her to the crevice without her attacking any more of his men. He sliced the air with his sword. “Come on, you foul beast, you hellbound fiend.”
The giant wyvern squirmed forward from her alcove. A clawed foot hit the lava rock, shaking the ground so hard Bron used his sword to keep his balance. She studied him, tilting her head back and forth as a boy might study an ant crossing his path. Penetrating wrath emanated from her dark eyes.
Danika’s voice echoed over Valorian’s song. “There are too many of them. We can’t hold out much longer.”
Bron needed to lure the mighty beast to the crevice. He sprinted forward and zigzagged as her jaws snapped. The reek of the beast sickened him as he drew close and sliced his sword. The blade cut a gash in the scales just above her clawed paw. Greenish liquid sprayed across his armor, sizzling like acid.
The wyvern pounced and Bron fell back. Each step she took rattled his helmet and his teeth. He scrambled onto his feet and raced toward the crevice. In the distance he heard Danika shout in horror. “Nooo!”
He knew what he had to do. Time suddenly stretched before him, each second like a lifetime. He thought of his pa working in the field and his ma baking pumpkin bread. He could almost taste the spice on his tongue. He saw Hule wearing the armor they’d made from old pots and the loving look on Artemus’ face before he died. So many people that mattered to him.
Lastly, as he raised his sword, he remembered back to the first day he spotted Danika, watching the trials from the stands, her golden hair glowing like a natural crown.
The wyvern leaped toward him and Bron stabbed his sword into its gut, slicing open the belly of combustible gases. The mass of the beast fell into the crevice, the forward momentum tugging him with the beast before he could let go of the hilt.
“Helena and Horred, take me home.”
Bron closed his eyes as he fell, hearing the shrieks of the She-Beast as she fell with him. He hit a hard surface, knocking the air from his lungs. He expected to be dead, melted by lava. He moved his limbs, hearing shouts from his army as they fought for their lives. Bron opened his eyes.
He lay on his back on a small plateau, ten feet from the edge of the crevice. Hope soared in his chest then fell once again as he realized he had no rope. The lava rock was slick with no handholds. He had no way to reach his men. Valorian’s voice broke into a croak above. The minstrel couldn’t hold on much longer.
A crack like thunder rattled Bron’s bones. He gazed into the lava pit hundreds of feet below. The lava boiled with the She-Beast’s spilled entrails. The mountain shuddered around them and the crevice cracked open wider. Stalactites fell from the cavern ceiling, splashing up lava as they landed below. A satisfying sense of resolution came over Bron. He’d achieved what he’d come to do. The mountain would blow.
“Bron! Thank the gods you’re still alive.” Danika’s head appeared over the rim. “Let me find you some rope.”
His heart melted. He hadn’t thought he’d ever see her again. “You don’t have time, Princess. Get Valorian and the soldiers out.” Behind them, Valorian’s voice cracked and died. A muffled sound came from his direction, as if something had knocked the air from his lungs. “Princess, help!”
Bron collapsed to his knees on the plateau. Below him, the lava rose inch by inch, fueled by the She-Beast’s combustion. “Princess, you must save Valorian. You must choose.”
Her head disappeared over the ridge.
Good. She’d made the right decision. He was proud of her, but that didn’t hide the emptiness in his heart. Bron breathed deeply and closed his eyes.
“Danika Rubystone, I will love you forever.”
Peace settled over him. His time had come.