“Dragon’s teeth! I’ve never seen so much gold.” He reached for a coin.
“Stop!” we all shouted as he grabbed it.
“Now you’ve done it,” Drekken said.
“What?” he asked.
“Dwarves and their filthy coins. What if it’s cursed? Did you think about that?” Drekken asked.
“Nonsense.” The dwarf stuffed his pockets with coins.
“You’re really going to steal from a dragon’s hoard?” I asked.
“I see nothing wrong with it. I don’t know why you’re all being so judgmental. This gold is going to waste just sitting here. I don’t see any reason not to take it.”
“Because you’ll attract the dragon’s attention, and it will eat us alive in a horrific and gruesome fashion. Is that a good reason not to take it?” Drekken asked.
“I’ve seen no dragon here. I don’t think there is one.”
I rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache forming. He was more frustrating than Rapunzel.
“But on the off chance there did happen to be a dragon, wouldn’t it be a good idea not to take its gold, so it won’t have a reason to kill us?” I asked.
“Nay, you’re all worrying too much.” He looped a golden necklace around his neck. The ground rumbled beneath our feet.
The sound of grinding stone came from behind us. We rounded to find the wall splitting apart.
“What’s happening?” I called.
“I don’t know!” Raj called back.
The rumbling ground shook harder, nearly throwing me off my feet. The fissure in the wall grew wider. Sunlight blinded our eyes, and I had to shield my face. Icy wind blew inside from the opening. Whooshing wings accompanied the clatter of moving stones. The silhouette of a flying dragon appeared on the horizon. As it drew closer, its long, outstretched wings blocked out the sunlight.
“Ready your weapons!” Raj called.
A fireball erupted through the cavern.
17
We ducked as the fire engulfed the room. Heat singed my skin as I rolled behind a pillar. The dragon’s enraged roar pierced the air. I glanced around the pillar to find the dragon had landed on a platform just outside the cavern. Sleek white scales covered its head and neck, though white feathers covered its large, lithe body.
Another burst of fire streamed from the dragon’s mouth. The dwarf cried out, then changed his form to a wolf, loping away as a trail of fire followed. I gripped my dagger, but what good could my blade be against a dragon of that size? Raj crouched near me, his sword held at the ready in one hand, his father’s dagger gripped in the other.
“Can you distract it while I attack?” he yelled over the noise.
“Yes, I think so.” I slung my bag off my shoulder and rifled through the contents, frantically searching for anything that would distract a dragon. I grabbed a vial of crushed Chimera scales and held it at the ready.
“Go when I tell you,” I said.
Raj nodded. The barrage of flames let up for a moment.
“Now,” I yelled.
He jumped from behind the pillar and raced toward the dragon. I did the same, unstopping the cork and flinging the powder in the dragon’s face. The dragon reared back, and Raj rushed at it with his sword, but the dragon whipped around and knocked him back with its tail.
Raj fell back, and I hurried to his side. Blood seeped from a gash in his head. Behind us, the dragon roared. Raj got to his feet, and we rushed behind another pillar as the fire trailed behind us.
Drekken also crouched behind the pillar, cradling his lute, his face pale.
“Drekken,” I yelled. “What are you doing? Play!”
“I-I can’t…”
“Play! Play now!”
“I can hardly move my fingers…”
“Buck up, man!” Raj yelled. “If you don’t play then we all die. Play!”
Drekken nodded, his fingers shaking as he strummed an ill-tuned chord. He played another, then softly picked a tune on the strings. The dragon roared again, though its voice grew more subdued as Drekken’s song continued.
I peeked around the pillar. The dragon shook its head as the music grew louder. Raj crept up on the creature, ready to impale its chest when bright light surrounded it. He fell back as the light blinded him.
I stood beside Raj as the dragon transformed from a beast to the form of a beautiful woman who collapsed to the ground. Breathing heavily, her gown of shimmering white fabric and feathers rose and fell with her inhalations.
Taking a guarded step forward, I tried to make sense of what I saw. The dragon was a shape changer?
Her light blonde hair looked silvery in the faint light as it fanned out around her shoulders and cascaded down her back.
“Ouch,” she said, rubbing her head.
Drekken still played his lute as he walked behind me and Raj. The wolf appeared from behind the pile of coins, his tail singed, but otherwise healthy.
“Who are you?” Raj demanded as he approached, his sword still held at the ready.
She sat up, and I was struck by her flawless skin and almond-shaped eyes. She looked ethereal—a true creature of magic. She narrowed her eyes at us, anger burning in her expression.
“Who am I? Who are you? Intruders? With that horrible music…” She rubbed her head again.
“Horrible?” Drekken said.
“Worse than horrible. Dreadful. Awful.”
Drekken continued playing. “I’ll have you know I’ve outplayed all the minstrels in every tavern of the western lands.”
“Ha! Is that something to brag about? In taverns. Were the others drunk?”
Raj took another step forward. “Who are you?” he repeated.
“No one of your concern,” she snapped back, then glanced at Drekken’s lute. “Though I might be persuaded to speak if he stops with that noise.”
“Will you try to kill us again if he stops?” I asked.
“I promise nothing.” After a pause, she added, “But I couldn’t transform into a dragon again anyway. I’m cursed to stay in this form until morning, so you might as well stop.”
“If you try to kill us again, he will play.”
“I won’t try to kill you again.” She crossed her arms. “I’m useless at slaughtering anyone in this form anyway.”
I looked
