Leo and the Dragon Ch. 04

Author's Note:

A huge thanks to bikoukumori for a splendid editing job, and to fellow authors redskyes and Handley_Page for helpful additions and insight.

This is part four of four. If you've stumbled here via the tag search, I'd ask you to go back to part one for maximum enjoyment.

As always, there's only adults having fun here.

Part Four

When Leo ducked outside a few moments later, hammer in hand, folding armour encasing his sweating body, he saw wounded and dying dwarves everywhere. He still had to make out what exactly had attacked them but there was no denying something fierce had stumbled upon their camp. Tear, Arach and Calgore, along with one of Calgore's surviving dwarves, were standing back-to-back, slowly turning. Leo cast his intention-seeking magic and peered around. Suddenly, something crashed into him from behind, hissing viciously. He rolled forward, thankful for the new armour which allowed such a move, rose and turned, catching a bulbous ...something vanish before his eyes.

"Get ready!" Tear yelled. A heartbeat later, Leo spotted it. A huge, abnormally swollen spider-like monster, easily the size of a draft horse, appeared before his friends, slashing its forelegs at them. Tear blocked the attack and Arach stabbed at the monster's thorax. The blade was harmlessly deflected by hard chitin plates and the monster vanished, seemingly without a trace.

Again, something crashed into Leo, this time a pair of mandibles locked onto his shoulders, trying to pierce the metal covering him. The paladin twisted his neck around, looking into malicious, faceted eyes. This was not your usual giant spider, he realized. The octagon of eyes held a murderous, alien intelligence chilling him through and through. Suddenly, his opponent flinched and hissed in anger, the mandibles opening. Leo noticed a crossbow bolt sticking out of one of the beast's legs and noticed a dwarf, coughing up blood, winching up his crossbow for another shot. Leo turned around, his hammer ready to strike, but the spider-thing had already vanished. Or were there more than one? The dwarf screamed. Leo turned just in time to see two forelegs erupting from his chest. Effortlessly, the spider-monster hoisted the struggling dwarf up to it's mandibles. With a brutal crunch, the mandibles crushed his neck, cutting short the screams.

"Leo, behind you!" Arach shrieked. Leo whirled on his heels, swinging his hammer in a wide arc. The mandibles of yet another spider-thing clicked closed next to his ear then his hammer crashed into the legs, shattering chitin like brittle china. The monster screamed, a thin, ear-piercing whistling wail of pain, and tried to slink away.

"Oh no, you don't," Leo snarled, feeling his righteous anger rise. He grabbed his hammer in a two-handed grip and charged, slamming the heavy weapon into the spider-thing's armoured side for all he was worth. The hammer crunched through chitinous plates, pulverizing legs and the monster's exoskeleton, burying itself in a stinking pulp of flesh underneath.

The spider-thing wailed again, and two more hissing voices answered it. Leo growled in fury as he battered his opponent with more blows, each hit shattering more chitin, exposing vulnerable flesh and innards. The mandibles jabbed at his face but the beast was too busy trying to get its damaged side away from the fuming paladin to mount much in the way of resistance. With a final scream of rage, Leo brought his hammer down onto the spider's head, crushing its cranium, brains splattering everywhere. Huffing, he turned around and caught a roaring pillar of flame enveloping another of the beasts. Arach pumped her fist triumphantly as the monster curled up and burned to a crisp in the wake of her flame strike.

The last spider-monster appeared, legs flailing, nearly killing Calgore with a flurry of slashes. The silver-bearded dwarf cursed, cleaving his axe across the monster's legs. Then he pulled something from a pocket of his coat and tossed it into the beast's maw. Leo thought the spider-thing looked surprised for a moment.

"Now try to vanish on me, you fucking piece o' shit," he growled, raising his axe. The spider-thing scuttled backwards, shaking its head in a surprisingly comprehensible gesture of confusion.

"Can't, huh?" Calgore chuckled, advancing menacingly. With a ruthless slash, he severed one of the beast's legs. "No wonder, you just gulped down a disjunction stone. No more magic tricks from you. And now you pay for me boys," he snarled, chopping off the next leg. The spider-thing scuttled backwards, trying to put as much distance between itself and the furious dwarf. Another leg clattered to the floor. Suddenly, the beast's abdomen bumped into a wall.

"That's right, no more escape for you," Calgore snarled. The spider-monster hissed then started to assault Calgore with a barrage of bites and stabs with its remaining legs, trying to take down the dwarf in its death throes. Suddenly, a crossbow twanged, the bolt burying itself in the spider-thing's head. Calgore turned on his heels.

Tear lowered the weapon. "It's over," she said, dropping the crossbow altogether. Her armour had dissipated and Leo could see half a dozen swollen cuts and bruises.

"Oh hell, no. I wasn't half done here!" Calgore roared, advancing on the naked dark elf.

"It's over. Let's see how many of your people we can save. No time to play with the beasts," Tear sighed before dropping to her knees. Arach ran to her side, chanting a prayer to the Moon Maiden and pressing her hands onto Tear's body.

"Huh, can't even save yerself!" Calgore fumed. Leo knelt down next to a feebly coughing dwarf. He sported only a small cut on his shoulder, where the beast's mandibles had grazed him, but his forehead felt clammy and his pupils were dilated. A sure sign of poisoning. Leo pressed his hands onto the dwarf's body and called upon Lord Justice. The dwarf groaned and twisted under Leo's hands, a viscous fluid leaking from the cut in his shoulder.

"You should be okay soon," Leo mumbled. The dwarf looked up at him in confusion. Leo recognized him, it was the one who gave him his folding armour. "The poison has left your body. You should be okay soon," he repeated before rising, ignoring the cursing Calgore. There were others to be saved.

***

"You know, if we wait until tomorrow, we could bring some of them back," Tear offered, rubbing her shoulder through her robe.

"Yeah, I'm sure the Moon Maiden will grant us the magic to bring your people back to life," Arach added, brushing wet hair out of her face.

They were again sitting around the fire but this time the mood was completely different. Less than half a dozen dwarves remained, many of them weakened from the poison the spider-things, Tear called them "void spiders," employed.

"Don't bother," Calgore grumbled, taking another pull from a small steel flask. The pungent stench of stone water assaulted Leo's nostrils.

"If there's a chance to bring them back, wouldn't you want to take it?" Tear asked, gently caressing Calgore's forearm.

"No, I wouldn't want to spit their ancestors in the face by hauling their valiant souls back into their bodies. If a dwarf dies fighting, he earns a place at the Soul-Forger's anvil and who am I to deny 'em that?" Calgore snarled, brusquely brushing her hand off his arm.

"They deserve a proper burial, and that's what they'll get. And then my boys and I'll go home," Calgore grumbled.

"Wow, what happened to 'tomorrow we'll hunt us a dragon?'" Arach jibed.

"No dragon is worth what we've paid already," Calgore muttered. When he looked up, Leo clearly could see defeat written all over the dwarf's face.

"I respect your decision but I also would like you to know that I'd have liked you by our side," Leo said, sympathy in his voice.

"Huh. Open yer eyes, boyo! Half o' me boys are dead! The other half can hardly keep upright! We'll be lucky to make it to Storm Harbour like that, and I still have to leave nearly half of the trade goods behind. No, you and yer lassies go ahead, kill the dragon. Maybe, if ye end up in Storm Harbour again, ye can buy us a drink," Calgore choked. Then he rose and retreated into his bedroll, ending the discussion. Unable to sleep himself, Leo sat upright in their tent, now ragged from several void spider slashes, and even here he could hear the muffled sobs of a broken-hearted old dwarf.

***

"I still don't understand why he wouldn't let us bring his people back," Arach complained softly as they trudged through the tunnels.

"You of all people should know," Tear whispered past Leo. "Faith is a strange thing sometimes and can lead people on curious paths. You can't force him, to Calgore a resurrection spell is anathema, in much the same way as the Chaos Queen and their followers see us as evil beings. We may know better but it is so much more difficult to get the point into a believer's head."

"You are not only beautiful but wise to boot," Leo said, ducking beneath a grotesquely bent stalactite. With his new armour, the one he could summon or dismiss at will, progress was much faster and, according to Arach, even somewhat quieter as well. They were making good time and moved purposefully towards the last known position of the odd surface dwellers Calgore and his clansmen had met.

"Now you're really trying to flatter me," Tear chuckled, closing the distance to Leo in a few quick, silent steps. Then she slipped her hands under his cloak, caressing his flanks with extended fingernails. The paladin shuddered under her touch.

"He's trying to get into your pants, Tear darling," Arach teased, still a couple steps ahead of them.

"And I'm half in the mood to let him. Would you mind?" the older woman asked.

"Now? What happened to 'we should hurry before they get away?'" Arach asked in mild exasperation.

Before Tear could answer, though, they heard the sounds of running footsteps, interspersed by something soft hitting unyielding stone, grunts of pain and annoyance. Arach melted into the cleft between two stalactites, crouching down to hide even better. Leo quickly looked around but he was the last one standing in the open. Shrugging, he dove into another hollow and held his breath. The frantic, irregular steps came closer, and farther off in the distance he could hear shouts and more running. A moment later, he saw a hooded, cloaked figure stumble into his field of vision. Almost in oblivious haste, he shuffled down the corridor, past Arach who silently rose from her hiding spot. Leo left his as well, holding out his arm at about chest level. The hooded figure slammed solidly into him and lost its balance, crumpling to the floor in an undignified heap. Sitting up, it scrabbled backwards, each movement accompanied by the jingle of coin-filled garments.

"Don't hurt me, I'll pay anything you want," the hooded figure wheezed, its voice cracking in hysteria, its hands flailing in front of its face. Thanks to his darkvision charm, Leo easily saw the sorry state the person was in. Its cloak was tattered and Leo could clearly see every cut, every gash where the runner had hit some obstacle, many places looked wet and raw. The figure scrabbled backwards until its bum made contact with Arach's boots, the young dark elf cocking her head in curiosity.

"You are running through the Depths without a light source?" she asked, bending down to help the sitting figure to its feet.

"Who the fuck are you?" the figure screamed, turning away from the voice and crawling towards Leo again.

"Arach, be so kind and keep watch. The others should be here any minute now," Tear whispered. Then she chanted some quick words and the corridor brightened. Not by much but to Leo it felt as if the moon was peeking out from some dark clouds, a silver radiance pooling on the floor. The figure looked up, its gaze taking in Leo's boots, trousers, vest and finally his face. Recognition was mutual, surprisingly, because Leo had seen this person before. On his cheek, three coins were tattoed.

"Heh, fancy meeting you here," Leo growled. With contemptuous ease, he yanked the man to his feet. To his surprise, the thief grabbed Leo's vest.

"Please, by all that is holy, save me. I don't wanna die!" the thief howled, trying to shake Leo and failed miserably.

"Fresh out of prison and now this," Leo chided, not unkindly. Quickly, he patted the man down. Everywhere his hand made contact, he could feel pockets, money belts or even seams practically bursting with coins and gems.

"I don't want to be dragon food!" the thief screamed.

"For Mercy's sake, stop screaming like that," Tear hissed, appearing next to the thief. The man gulped noisily as he stared into her icy cool eyes.

"I just don't wanna die," he whispered loudly.

"Then shut the hell up and maybe we can save your sorry ass," Tear snarled, slinking past Leo and the thief. A moment later the paladin could hear both dark elves whisper frantically. Then, Tear came back.

"Hide. And whatever you do, keep quiet," she ordered. Leo pulled the shivering and mumbling thief into a small cul-de-sac off the corridor. Tear nodded and left, dropping a globe of darkness over them.

"What. Are. They. Up. To," the thief breathed into Leo's ear.

The paladin crinkled his nose at the man's bad breath then he sighed back. "Something sneaky, I presume. Hush."

The seconds trickled past like drops of syrup. Then, from somewhere in the distance, Leo could hear singing, beautiful and most of all, loud. There were no words to the song but it stirred his heart. A moment later, a second voice joined the first, this time from a another direction, in a haunting harmony to the initial song. The frantic, running sounds, now almost upon them, stopped and Leo could hear, just barely, a whispered conversation.

"Now what? Do you hear that?"

"I'm not deaf, ya know."

"What about that cutpurse, could he be doing it?"

"Nah, you heard his voice. Squealed like a pig, he did."

"With all that noise around, how are we supposed to find him?"

"Search me. This singing gives me the willies. Let's turn back."

"And what do we tell the Master?"

"Hey, there's so many beasts down here, one o' them is bound to off him, with all the jink he's carryin'."

"You know what the Master said. If we don't bring back the money, we're next on his menu."

"You worry too much. He was just too fast for us, end o' story. Sooner or later he'll either end up in the belly of one o'those critters down here or he falls and snaps his neck. If he does, we can still go out again and reclaim the loot, if Master is still so keen on it. Come on, I'm sick o' them tunnels already."

It was hard to hear but Leo was certain the footsteps had receded into the distance, accompanied by some mumbling. Eventually, the song faded as well. There was only silence, interspersed by the occasional, panicked exhalations of the thief.

"Fine friends you have," Leo whispered into the ear of the thief.

"Friends? Hardly. They joined for the same reason I did," the thief complained, tapping his vest. The coins jingled softly.

Leo nodded to himself. Money. He still struggled with the concept why amassing money would make you more desirable or a better person or bring you happiness. Yes, you could buy all the things you wanted but the never-ending pursuit of gold brought out the worst in people. Leo was content with the few things he had, a small cell in the temple of Lord Justice, a hot meal every day and some silver to buy drinks for himself or Shilana. Every few months he had so much leftover money from his work in the City Guard that he saw no other alternative than to donate it to a temple in need.

"Joined?" Leo prodded.

"You know, the 'Magnificent Order of the Shining Scale,' man," the thief whispered back, sarcasm dropping off every syllable.

"Go on," Leo hissed, gripping the thief's elbow even tighter.

"Go on with what?" the thief asked.

"What did you do for the dragon?" Leo felt the man stiffen at his dangerously low snarl.

"Umm... ya know, jus' the usual..." the thief began, slipping into gutter slang.

"Tell me, all of it. And Lord Justice commands you, you will tell the truth," Leo ordered, even risking to speak aloud.

"Hey, keep the fuck quiet," the thief hissed, recoiling at Leo's harsh tone. But then the magic took hold of him and he began to speak, haltingly at first, but with more and more urgency, almost like a man at a confessional.

"You was right, I came jus' outta the cage. The guards gave me a couple coppers so I could grab some grub and a place to sleep for the night. Then there was this fella in the pub, all splendid robes an' such, telling about this organization, easy little things to do, lots of chances to hit it big. What was I to do? Just outta the cage, man. Who else would hire me, huh? So I took all the courage I had and asked 'im 'bout the job. Couldn't see much of his face, really, just a dark hood an' shit, but I felt his eyes, man, like fucking torches, almost lookin' me inside out. Anyways, he nods and waves another fella over who gives me five fucking gold, just like that, and tells me where to meet them, a few days later. I was thinking of taking the jink and bailing but every time I looked around, one of them fellas in the robes was watching me, standing all inconspicuous-like at a street corner or just next to the stall on the market where I was brunchin', so I thought better of it. Well, then I went where they told me to and ended up in the harbour proper, one big-ass storehouse, and I wasn't the only one. They had dozens more people in there, men, women, dwarves, elves, even a fucking mindo... minatar... you know, bull man! And then it got scary, 'cos this robed fella came around, looking all boss-like, asking everyone a single question. 'Are ye with us'. I will never forget that voice. You just had to say 'yes' 'cos saying 'no' would've been the last thing ya did."

The thief took a deep breath. Somewhere to the left, a soft giggle was heard. The thief nearly fainted.

"Swapping life stories already? Missed me?" It was Arach's voice, and a moment later, the drow girl appeared, all radiant smile. The magical darkness already had dissipated. Leo gestured at her, asking her to wait.

"Go on," he suggested. The thief nodded slowly.

"They gave each of us a job, tiny things, really. Like delivering a letter to a place, collecting bags from another, that kinda stuff."

"Nothing more than errant tasks?" Leo prodded.

"Well, in the beginning. But after a couple weeks, the robed fella came again and gave me a robe of my own, calling me 'prentice somethin'."

"Yes?"

"And then I had to go with these other fellas, underground-like. We was to haul boxes with stuff in, heavy lifting really. And I tell ya, there was bodies inside. And they moved."

"Go on."

"Well, I and the other fellas hauled them through passages in the sewers, down into some hidden cellars, and through a glowing doorway. And then I heard the screams."

"Screams?" Arach asked, an edge in her voice.

"Yea. Like someone was eaten alive. And then that robed fella came around and showed us. And then I decided I didn't wanna do this anymore," the thief almost sobbed.

"The dragon?" Arach asked, surprisingly gently. The thief nodded, emphatically.

"But he didn't look like no ordinary dragon. At first I thought he was just some red dude, having fun with this elf chick and all. 'Lucky bastard' I was thinkin', but then, pulling a massive cock out of that chick, he began to... change," the thief sobbed, slapping his hands over his face. "The screamin'. I didn't wanna look but I couldn't help myself. He picked up that elf chick and stuffed it into his mouth and then... and then..."

"He killed her," Leo said, flatly.

"No, he fucking shredded her to bits, man!" the thief howled, clawing at Leo in despair. "I don't wanna die like that!"