Chapter 20 #2
“I am neither fae nor demon nor Morkahlf.” The dragon said the last with what might have been a sneer. “I am not beholden to the laws of the small and the weak, nor do I feel compelled to grant the requests of lesser beings.”
I could feel myself sweating despite the chill, but I worked to keep my panic at bay. I’d never encountered a dragon, but I assumed that, like other predators, the beasts could sense fear.
Adriel didn’t reply, though he did lift the grubby canvas sack higher, as if to waft the stench of my jacket toward Eckoghari.
The dragon’s sightless eyes blinked in surprise, and two long slits along the tip of his snout flared.
“I smell gnome.” Eckoghari flicked his tail, smacking the surface of the pool hard enough to send torrents of water as tall as Kaden surging up and over the sides. “How wise of you to bring an offering to appease a much greater and more powerful being.”
The dragon bared his teeth, and my stomach clenched. If only I’d let Adriel carry the little wretch in his saddlebag to use as bait. Although I didn’t condone the sacrifice of innocent creatures, in that moment, I would’ve gladly handed over the smelly brute.
“Allow us to pass unscathed,” Adriel demanded. “And you shall have your treat.” He wafted the bag in the air again, coaxing a low growl of longing from the beast.
“Just the one?” Eckoghari rumbled, his slitted nostrils twitching. “One gnome for four lesser beings and their beasts of burden?”
“One was all we could procure on such short notice,” said Sorsha.
“Pity,” said the dragon. “A meager snack for such a mighty favor. It is not often fresh meat presents itself so readily in my caves. Though I delight in the pungent flavor of gnome, it would be foolish to allow a fae, a Morkahlf, a prince, and a huntress to simply walk away.”
My heart hammered against my ribs, and my fingers twitched toward my blades. Eckoghari had no plans to let us leave, yet the others still had not drawn their weapons.
“Perhaps a fair trade for safe passage through your caves,” the princess suggested. She had not drawn her weapons either, though she stood in a warrior’s stance with her feet spread apart, her left just in front of her right.
“A trade?” Eckoghari replied, his voice an eager growl. “I am partial to the taste of gnome, yes, but I am also a collector of secrets.”
“Secrets?” repeated Sorsha.
“Particularly secrets revealed between trusted friends. When you get to be as old as I am, nothing is quite as scintillating as watching kinship unravel.” Eckoghari’s sightless eyes seemed to glitter in anticipation. “I should like to hear a secret between you and the Morkahlf.”
Adriel stiffened.
“Very well,” she said, a muscle tensing in her jaw as she turned to look at Adriel. “Did you know?” she asked. “About the attacks on the Drathen villages? Before last night, I mean.”
Adriel was silent for a long moment, staring at the ground. Though his expression was impassive, I could sense him warring with himself. Deciding how much to reveal.
“Yes,” he said finally. “I’d heard of two others. One a fortnight ago. The other about a week before that.” His throat bobbed. “There was nothing we could do.”
Sorsha stared at him, her turquoise gaze growing frostier with every heartbeat. Eckoghari stood in silent fascination, his long tongue flicking out as though he could taste the tension in the air.
For several seconds, the only sound was the continuous drip of melting icicles, and the atmosphere in the cave seemed to crackle.
Adriel jerked his head toward the dragon, whose tail flicked lazily against the surface of the pool. “You have your secret. Now let us pass.”
“The one who makes the bargain should be more fastidious,” Eckoghari rumbled, his ferocious maw stretching in delight. “The faerie asked for safe passage through my caves. She did not specific for whom.”
My insides clanged with terror and fury. Eckoghari had no intention of letting us go. He was always going to devour us.
“The deal was for all of us,” Sorsha choked. “One secret and a gnome in exchange for allowing us to pass.”
“I shall permit two of your party to proceed without harm. Leave the huntress.”
The slow shink of blades sliding out of scabbards made my insides thrum with nervous energy. Adriel and Sorsha edged closer, weapons in hand, but Kaden hadn’t touched his swords.
His shadows fanned out across the cavern, billowing up the walls and dancing with the steam wafting from the pool. Smoky tendrils encircled Eckoghari’s hind legs and wrapped around his wings.
I shivered as his foreboding magic hummed over my skin, filling the cavern with an ominous energy.
“The huntress is not part of the bargain,” Kaden growled, glaring up at the dragon.
“Insolent fools,” Eckoghari growled, wings rippling against the shadows as he bared his fangs. “You dare trespass in my caves and turn your magic against me, demon?”
Bright-orange flames flared at the base of his throat, threatening fire. My heart stuttered.
We were no match for a dragon. I couldn’t imagine Drathen steel would penetrate his hard scales, even if one of us could get close enough to impale the beast.
But then Kaden bent down, picking up a rock and tossing it a few yards away. Eckoghari turned his head, and then I felt a rush of something sweep me off my feet. Kaden’s shadows.
I bit down on my lip to keep from making any noise as they lifted me around the side of the pool and set me gently on the ice.
“The huntress is not part of the bargain,” Kaden repeated, glaring into Eckoghari’s sightless eyes.
As he spoke, Adriel set the grubby sack with my jacket on the floor of the cavern, and a second later, Kaden’s shadows scooped up him and Sorsha and deposited them beside me.
“She is my condition,” Eckoghari growled. “I have no liking for Morkahlf. Faeries and princes are acceptable, but they do not entice me like the flesh of a huntress.”
Then, without warning, the dragon whipped his head around, capturing the grubby sack in his maw and devouring it with those impossibly long teeth.
I sucked in a breath, heart thumping in my throat, as the beast’s jaws tore through the fabric and my leather jacket.
Then there was silence, and Eckoghari’s nostrils flared in realization. It was difficult to discern the expression in those eerie white eyes, but the fresh orange flames that glowed in his throat told me all I needed to know.
When he spoke, his voice was a low rumble that raised the hairs along the back of my neck. “You have deceived me,” he growled, that ball of fire swelling as smoke wafted from his nostrils.
I sucked in a gasp, but there was no warning. Eckoghari reared back, thrust out his neck, and shot a gout of flames at Kaden.