Offspring (The Sword of the Dragon) (10 page)

With a snap of its massive jaws that sounded like a small clap of thunder, the monstrous serpent looked back at Ilfedo as if waiting to see how he would react to the unexpected assault.

Racing to Evela, Ilfedo touched his sword’s blade to her face. Its flames baked the venom into a crust. He dug his fingers into it, breaking it from her mouth. She held onto his arm, coughing. Prying off what remained of the venom, he gently pulled her hands from his arm, noting that her lips bled where he’d torn away the dried venom.

Turning, he strode back to the enormous serpent. “You will return to the sea,”—he let flames shoot higher from his blade—“and there you will remain … or I
will
hunt your species to extinction.”

“Hard words, thou brave warrior.” The serpent ended with a hiss.

Ilfedo gazed into the malevolent white eyes.
It can talk?
He lowered his blade a few inches and took a step backward.

“Before thy kind roamed this land, warrior,
I
dwelt in this sea. Before thy ancestors laid claim to this soil,
I
ruled it.” The serpent’s tail lifted into the air and then smashed the ground. Ilfedo set his feet wide to maintain his balance. “Now I have returned and all that herein is,
I
claim to be mine. Even as all in the sea is mine, so is this land.

“Knowest thou not that
I
am King of the Sea Serpents?” Its fangs touched the ground as it lowered its head to gaze into his eyes. “
I
have battled the ancient dreads of Subterran, yes, even the Glorigathans and the Dudans … the Water Skeels, also.

“Thou presumest to stand before
me
, little warrior, to do battle with me. But
I
can crush thee as an insect. Go thy way, leave now, and
I
will let thee go. I admire thy initiative, little warrior, but to stand against
me
thou hast neither the strength nor the means.”

“But I
am
standing in your way.” Ilfedo poised his sword to aim its point at the monster’s head. “And for the crimes your minions have committed against my people,
you
will pay with your blood and they with their lives.”

“Thou art brave, little warrior, to speak thus against me and mine.” The creature hissed, pulling back its head and opening wide its jaws. A blade-like fin unfolded from its head, rising from the tip of its snout and arching back to the base of its skull. It lowered its voice. “I do not leave brave enemies standing. I prefer thy death so that I may never confront thee again.”

Ilfedo remained steady as the creature postured for attack. His life was on the line here and the odds seemed … towering. But when he considered the possibility of his own death, all he could see was the familiar face of she whom he loved. Death could only bring him back to her. It could only end his heart’s ache and bring him to meet the Creator.

No, he had nothing to fear from death. He had nothing to fear from anything. And to die defending those who could not defend themselves was a far better way to leave this mortal existence than to die of old age.

He faced the King of the Sea Serpents and held forth the weapon given to him by the albino dragon. His eye blinked involuntarily as a sunbeam reflected off of the silver band on his finger. The Eternal Band, its flame extinguished. He’d kept it nevertheless. It displayed to the entire world that his heart belonged to someone special. In his eyes it also stated that he would never give his heart to another.

A swath of flames ignited from the blade as the enormous serpent’s head rushed upon him. The serpent’s white underbelly blackened as the flames struck, but the creature remained unfazed.

Its head burrowed into the ground under his feet, ripping it out from under him, throwing him yards away as the head came up through the soil. The forked, purplish tongue lashed at him, roping his legs together as he fell.

Before he could react, the serpent tossed him like a toy. It whipped him around, smashed him into the ground. He tensed his arms, swung the sword at the monster’s tongue. But the purplish thing unwrapped itself from his legs and he sprawled on the ground.

The serpent’s tongue returned into its mouth. Sucking in its cheeks, the serpent parted its lips just enough to spit a dark wad at his face.

Ilfedo held his blade in the venom’s path. The black liquid fizzled harmlessly against the blade.

The enormous tail snaked toward him from behind. He dropped flat on the ground. The hard tip of the serpent’s tail stabbed the air where he had been.

Thrusting his blade upward, he stabbed into the serpent’s tail. Blue blood spurted from the wound. Ilfedo immediately sent flames shooting from the sword, burning into the flesh exposed beneath the scales.

A scream escaped the Serpent King. The creature recoiled from Ilfedo, its white eyes wide open. Its blade-fin altered from black to dark red.

“Thy skill
surprises
me, little warrior.” The serpent hissed. “Thy manner is reminiscent of the ancient human kings, and the weapon thou bearest is no ordinary sword.”

The serpent’s tongue slipped from its mouth, wetting its lips. “Perhaps thou wilt prove a worthy challenge for me. Perhaps”—its eyes glinted with anticipation—“
I
will bury thee in a bed of coral beneath the sea instead of feasting upon thee along with the rest of thy people.”

“
That
is—not—going—to—happen.” Ilfedo dodged the serpent’s swinging tail, jumped onto its back and drove his blade up to its hilt in the monster’s body.

As blood flowed from the new wound, he grinned. Life was in the blood. His mind merged with the sword’s powers, latching on to the life force of the Serpent King, drawing it into the sword. The weapon radiated white energy, burning deeper into the creature’s body.

The serpent king screamed rage and fear. It slithered toward the sea as fast as it could move. Holding on to the sword with all his strength, Ilfedo concentrated on stealing the creature’s life blood.

He glanced behind him. Several people ran to the sisters’ aid, raising swords. Among them were Ombre, Honer, and Ganning. He only wished that someone could have come to
his
aid.

Quickly the others receded into the distance. The gargantuan Sea Serpent splashed into the sea, pulling him with it under the cold waves.

Ombre raised his eyebrows as he stood still and watched his friend ride the scaly serpent monster into the Sea of Serpents. The creature’s seemingly unending length cut into the waves, immersing Ilfedo. He’d always thought Ilfedo was a bit on the reckless side—but
that
seemed a little carried away.

“What is he doing?” Honer’s question came out as an angry yell, and his brow furrowed. “He must be mad!” The sword in his hand dripped blue blood from its blade.

Beside him, Ganning limped toward the sisters battling the remaining Sea Serpents. He didn’t say a word, only ran.

Ombre shook his head as he took a final look at the sea into which Ilfedo had disappeared, then started running toward the nearby battle. Ilfedo was beyond his help but these women were not. He overtook Ganning and passed him, making for one of the dozen remaining serpents sneaking around to attack Caritha from behind.

The serpents swung their tails at the sisters. They opened their mouths wide to expose their fangs and attempted to stab each of the young women. The sisters evaded the attacks, and the creatures’ fangs sank into the ground instead.

Ombre vaulted the bodies of several lifeless serpents before reaching his intended target. The Sea Serpent must have heard his approach. It snapped its head around to face him, forked tongue tasting the air between its fangs.

Taking it head-on, he whaled on it with his blade. The metal first bruised the serpent’s snout and then broke through its scales, splitting its head apart. As it fell, he leapt another fallen serpent’s body, taking position next to Caritha.

The sister looked at him, acknowledged him with a sober nod. Compared with her sisters, she had thinner eyebrows and longer lashes. Blue blood ran in rivulets down her purple dress. But her dark eyes shifted back to her blood-soaked blade as she brought it around, stepping forward to thrust it into a serpent’s wedge-shaped head.

With a gesture, she summoned her sisters to her other side. Rose’el growled as she slit another serpent’s throat, came to stand with the others. In unison they lowered their blades, closing their eyes.

Energy shot from the handles, up the blades, joining at the tips. A bolt of blue light streamed from the blades. Ripping through the air with a crack, the light struck three more serpents, burned through their bodies, leaving smoking holes. The serpents closed their white eyes and slumped to the earth.

Ombre looked at them, raising his eyebrows again. First Ilfedo rode a monster into the sea. Now the sisters threw deadly energy from their blades—what he and anyone else in the Hemmed Land would term magic. There was more to these beautiful women than met the eye.

As Ganning and Honer rushed a serpent to his right, the woods seemed to blossom with lines of men. First the rest of their hunting party joined in, then swarms of townsmen armed with whatever tool or weapon they’d been able to find. The people yelled, running forward with eager faces.

The few Sea Serpents that still lived now turned tail, too late.

The people cut them apart with knives and swords, stabbed them with spears and shovels, and pierced them with pitchforks. The battle was soon over.

Everyone gathered around the five sisters, their dark hair flaming red in the afternoon light and their swords glowing rusty-orange.

The weary farmers and townsfolk cheered, screaming out, begging to know who the sisters were. But the sisters ignored the questions and ran toward the sea. The townspeople hushed into stillness, standing and watching.

“Wait!” Ombre ran after them alone. He caught up with them as they reached the white sand, their feet leaving clear imprints. Grabbing Caritha by the arm, he jerked her to a halt.

“Sir, let go of me.” Her eyes burned back at his.

The other sisters stopped, staring back at her.

“Okay, first of all,” he stated matter of factly. “Don’t call me ‘sir.’ My name is Ombre. Second of all, what in Subterran has gotten into your head?

“If you’re thinking of doing what I think you are—”

“I am.” She tugged at his arm, pulling from his grasp. “Now let me go.”

He held her tighter. “Yeah right!” He forced a laugh. “And what do you think Ilfedo would say if he found I let you go?

“There’s nothing you can do underwater. And if Ilfedo regains his senses, he will come back before he drowns. But I am
not
going to let you throw your lives away.” He nodded his head at the other sisters, still looking into Caritha’s eyes. “They follow you. That is admirable. But
this
—what you plan to do—is foolishness.”

She looked at his arm. “Please, my Lord Ombre, let go of me.”

Tightening his grip on her arm, he waited for her to return his gaze. When finally her dark eyes met his, she bit her lip. “I will gladly do so, my Lady,” he said, “if and
only
if
you give me your word that you will stay on dry ground.”

She hesitated, glanced at the rolling sea. “We cannot let anything happen to him. We promised to protect him.”

“And I am here to protect you.” He sighed. “If there was anything that could be done, then I would be the first to go, believe me.” He looked at the Sea of Serpents, the water that had swallowed his friend. “Ilfedo is on his own for now. All we can do is pray for his safe return.”

Her dark eyes scanned his face, “Then I give you my word—we will stay.”

“Thank you,” he said in a voice too low for anyone else to hear.

She averted her eyes from his gaze and shifted her feet. “Please, let go of me.”