As the gate hit the ground with a thunderous thud, the dragon answered the noise with a call of its own—a roar so loud, Maria almost had to plug her ears.
The dust settled around the fallen gate, and Maria’s heart stopped for a moment as she thought it was the Arachnids. Then she saw it was dark humanoid-like beings who were knocking at the front door. These creatures were ugly; their backs bent, their limbs long and gangly. They wore streaky white war paint and held long, rusty swords.
“Orcs,” Gramps said over the roar of the creatures running right toward them.
Maria gulped. “Orcs?”
“Well, fuck,” Frieda groaned.
“Allies?” Maria asked hopefully.
“Not in the slightest. It would be safe to assume that these Orcs have been sent by the Orc King in alliance with the Widow,” Gramps continued.
Maria’s heart hammered in her chest. First the Rogue Dragon, and now the Widow? It never gets easier.
“Have no fear,” Gramps assured her. “We may be able to use the Orcs to our advantage.”
Maria arched an eyebrow at her grandfather.
Frieda smiled. “How?”
“They are our enemy, but they are certainly not the Dragon Tongue’s allies,” Gramps answered. The dragon now made its way toward the rushing army, its large, horned head cocked at a curious angle.
“You mean they might…” Maria began.
Gramps nodded. “Correct, Maria. They might kill each other before it’s all said and done.”
“So what do we do?” Maria was glad she could trust in her grandfather in such a troubling time. She may be powerful, but she was nowhere close to possessing the wisdom of Ignatius Mangood.
Gramps rose slowly, offering a hand to both women as he did so. “It’s simple, dear,” he said. “We run.”
Long ago, Lois had made a pact with Ignatius, Salem, and Agnes.
They were old friends who’d fallen out of touch and gone their separate ways as life forces took them down different paths. But Lois had not forgotten about that pact.
We will always help one another in times of need.
Salem and Agnes, the wonderful witch and wizard they were, hadn’t reminded Lois of that pact—though they should’ve. The only reason Lois hadn’t gone with them to Oriceran in the first place was because of her life on Earth. There was the PDF, Earl, Patsy… and perhaps deep down, she had thought she was getting too old for adventures.
Earl had given her his blessing; Patsy had begged to come along.
It’s too dangerous. If something happened to you, I’d always blame myself, Lois had told her partner. Besides, the PDF needs you here.
But as she came out of the portal and entered the lakeside town of Ashbourne, she quickly realized that adventure was just what she needed.
She arrived just as the Rogue Dragon’s massive body parted the lake and took flight into the night sky, its belly glowing with smoldering fire.
Chaos ran up and down the streets in the form of cloaked men, and then in the form of Orcs later on.
She stuck to the shadows, searching for any sign of her friends.
Then the dragon breathed fire up and down the road. Lois winced as a bit of flame caught her on the arm.
That’s gonna leave a scar, dammit.
Footsteps shuffled up behind her, and she turned to see the cloaked men with their fiery eyes.
“Fresh meat,” one of them said, sticking out a forked tongue.
“Give her to the Queen and we’ll be heroes!” the other said.
Lois sighed and pushed her fogged-over glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Making a big mistake, fellas,” she cautioned.
The men lunged, and Lois pulled her wand free as fast as a gunslinger from the Old West. Before the men could reach her, she had knocked them unconscious with a whopper of a spell.
“Assholes,” she muttered.
It was time to find Ignatius and the rest of her old friends.
Just gotta not get burned again. That hurt like hell!
A plan presented itself as she looked down at the bodies of the unconscious men.
One of their dark robes looked to be just her size…
Chapter Ten
“Holy shit!” Claire shouted.
“Keep your voice down,” Salem hissed.
They had made it to Ashbourne, but both Agnes and Salem knew if they didn’t hurry past the toppled gates, it would be Ashbourne no longer. Instead, it would become a graveyard.
“That’s a dragon, isn’t it?” Tabby asked.
“I’m afraid so, dear.” Agnes put a hand on her shoulder, only for Tabby to shrug it off. There was a look of determination on her face they had not seen before.
“I know what I signed up for,” Tabby said, matter-of-factly. “Let’s go kick some dragon ass.”
“And Orc ass,” Salem added. “We mustn’t forget about the Orcs.”
“And the Dragon Tongue,” Agnes said. “If we’re lucky, they will end up killing each other.”
With her eyes wide as she stared at the great white beast that had taken flight above the city, Claire said, “I don’t think anyone is beating that thing.”
Salem and Agnes continued on the trail, which led to the front gates. There, a larger version of what Claire thought was one of those battering rams S.W.A.T teams used, lay near the wreckage.
At least they knocked first, Claire cracked to herself.
Salem looked back, urging the girls onward. “If anyone can best the dragon, it is Maria. Come on! There’s hope yet!”
Maria heard soft whimpering somewhere in the shadows as she, Gramps, and Frieda fled from the beach.
“Sherlock?” she called.
Maria? Oh, my Dog Lord! It is you. The Bloodhound poked his head out from around the corner of an alleyway. Maria ran toward him, crunching broken glass from a nearby building underfoot.
“Where’s Gelbus?” she asked.
“Here, my lady,” a muffled voice answered.
The sounds of fighting were everywhere. Swords clashed against other swords, Orcs screamed—it was not a very pleasant sound to the wanderer’s ear. The dragon roared and breathed fire, chasing soldiers through the streets, igniting buildings, and ruining this quaint lakeside town.
Gelbus suddenly stuck his head out of a trash barrel. A fishbone hung off his shoulder, and he smelled terrible.
Yeah, I called dibs on
