Offspring (The Sword of the Dragon) (32 page)

She laid flat on the ground, waved her hand in an arc, feeding the already hot air with her energy. Heat waves bounced in front of her, creating a curtain of illusion between herself and the Warrioresses. If all went as she hoped, the sisters would see a few mirages and then dismiss their doubts.

Within moments they began climbing again. Oganna remained on the ground, shielded from any prying eyes with more heat waves. The sisters filtered into the cave and disappeared within its dark recesses. She rose, shook the sand from her loose, golden hair, and raced to the wall.

She had never climbed a cliff before, but there seemed no better time to learn than the present. Reaching over her head, she grasped a crag and pulled herself up. The pack on her back offset her balance, making her task more difficult. She made steady progress until she was a few feet from the cave. She grabbed a loose stone and almost lost her balance when it broke free in her hand. But she regained a secure handhold and continued until she stood within the safety of the cave.

She licked her parched lips, pulled out her water canteen, and drank two long draughts. The straps of her pack bit into her shoulders. She hefted it down and leaned it against the wall. Her shoulders ached. She stretched her arms and twisted around to loosen her back. Ah, that felt better! Drawing her sword, she allowed it to transform her apparel. The crimson blade provided more than adequate lighting. She looked down the tunnel in the rear wall and glanced back at her pack. If she encountered the creature that inhabited this place, she would want to face it unencumbered. Thus decided, she left the pack and climbed down the tunnel. In the darkness her silver garb emitted a faint glow, making her look like a ghost.

When she reached the tunnel’s end and stood in the creatures’ underground home, she looked around. The ground shook, and she flattened herself against the tunnel wall. A stampede of terrible creatures passed by, racing into a tunnel at the cavern’s opposite end. She made a quick evaluation, noting the crocodile-like heads and the thick hides. The creatures stood over ten feet tall. She had found a nest of the species that had destroyed Bordelin, but where were the sisters?

As soon as all the creatures had passed by, she followed them. Sounds of battle came from ahead and blinding sunlight drew her to a tunnel that led back to the desert floor on the opposite side of the natural wall. At last she came to the tunnel’s end and peered outside. Enormous stones ringed a parcel of flat land. The creatures were, for the most part, lying on the stones. Their dark eyes gazed at the arena floor. Four of their species were blowing concentrated clouds of yellow vapor upon an unidentifiable target.

A wind blew, dispersing the vapors and revealing the target of the creatures’ assault—the Warrioresses. Oganna’s heart filled with rage. She spun her crimson blade in her hand as the last sister collapsed to the desert floor. She kept a firm grip on its handle. “Desist!” she screamed.

One of the creatures turned toward her and snarled.

“You scum of Subterran. You wicked creatures! Have you no honor? Are you afraid of these women? Come! Let us see if you dare to face my wrath.” Sober and fearless, she strode forward, holding the crystalline sword before her with both hands. Its blade rose like a hovering spire of blood.

“Loos,” one of the creatures called from the stadium, “your quarrel is not with the young human.”

The creature disregarded the other and ambled toward Oganna, his head skimming the sand. “Come near, human, and I will show you how a megatrath deals with threats. I will crush you as we have crushed our other enemies—”

In the midst of his sentence, Oganna reached for her boomerang, spun around, and sent it sailing through the air. Her aim was perfect. The sharp crystal passed through his open mouth and severed his tongue. As the tongue fell to the sand, the arena went silent.

Loos’s companions glanced at the tongue and took a couple of steps back. Oganna nodded and caught the returning boomerang in her left hand, holding it up for all to see. “Do any more of you have a word to share with me?” When the attackers didn’t respond, she continued. “The next time I hear a tongue utter ill, it too will fall.”

The megatraths shoved aside the unconscious sisters and charged toward her. Oganna firmed her hold on the sword. She closed her eyes, letting the rage within her burn and pouring it into the sword. When she was ready, she opened her eyes. “Give me fire, my sword,” she whispered. “Give me a flame to scald the wicked.” Flames sprouted from her blade, covered it, and shot out from its point.

The creature nearest her hunkered as it ran, while another opened its mouth to expose rows of teeth. She faced them, a new confidence arising within her and driving out all uncertainty. With a piercing yell, she sprang onto the head of the nearest creature and drove the burning blade into its eye. It screamed in pain as she pulled the white-hot metal from its socket. Red blood spurted from the wound as she dropped to the ground. An inferno of flames rolled from the other three creatures’ mouths. They closed in around her. But her sword fed off their fire, enveloping her in a bubble of energy.

Tongue-less Loos poured vapors from his nostrils. She choked a bit, but recovered long enough to jump again and stab out his eye. He flung her from his head, smashing her into the ground. He reached for her and with his large hands began squeezing.

As her breath left her, she flipped her sword and stabbed it with all her strength into his wrist. Loos pulled away from her blade and reared into the air, making a horrible sound that probably would have been a scream if he had still possessed a tongue.

Oganna gasped for air. Her knees felt weak. She knelt on the ground. Yellow clouds covered her, cutting her off from the world of the living. Her shoulders drooped, the sword fell from her grasp, and she felt her eyes rolling to the back of her head.

“Rise, my daughter!” Albino’s pink eyes were filled with love. His gaze was soft, and he reached out with a strong hand to steady her.

Caritha looked around, confused. She was in his throne room. “Father?” Her lungs burned, and she coughed. A vaporous ring of yellow came out of her mouth.

“Breath deeply, my daughter. Drink in the fresh air. Let it fill you with life anew.” He heaved in, expanded his chest, then let it all out in a plume of fire. A smile curled his mouth.

She shook her head. “How … what … how did I get here?”

“I brought you back.” He slapped his tail against the marble floor. “And it’s a good thing I did, too. You would have been lost.”

Warm, pure air cleansed her body. Caritha stood straighter and looked out of a large stained glass window to her right. “Why am I here?”

He lowered his head, drew her toward him, and looked into her eyes. “Oganna is making the ultimate sacrifice,” he said. “She followed your path and now her life is on the line.”

“Then you must send me back!” She trembled at the thought of her young charge facing all four of the terrible creatures alone. “She is not ready to fight on her own—you must let me return.”

“Caritha, my dear child, I would like nothing better. But if I restored you and your sisters to the arena, you would follow a very bitter path.” He shook his head. “I have seen the future, Caritha, and it is littered with pain. If you go back, you will reap sorrow as if you are drinking the rivers of the world—”

“But isn’t there joy along with the pain?” she asked. “Surely there is hope for the future.”

“There is hope.” His eyes emptied of emotion, and his wings flexed. “Even now one of my faithful warriors stands, though all of you have fallen. She is ready at this moment to give Oganna the moments she needs to survive. You’ve lost one sister. What if returning you to the arena would destroy those that remain to you? You do not know if you can defeat the creatures. What if you could avoid the pain ahead? Would you stay with me, or would you still wish to return?” He sighed. “I have seen things far more evil than a mere megatrath. I have battled the forces of darkness since long before you were hatched.”

She caressed his scaly chin. “Father, do you fear the future?”

“No. Dread it? Yes.”

She held her chin high. “If my life must be given in exchange for Oganna’s, then so be it. I see in her the makings of a woman who can change the world. Her heart follows righteousness, and her will is governed by selflessness. My own pain is inconsequential.”

He cocked his head to the side. “You have grown over the years, my daughter. Once you were only concerned for the welfare of yourself and your sisters. Living with your sister’s husband has matured and changed you—for the better.”

She reached both hands around his long neck as he embraced her.

“Now.” He released her. “If you are convinced of your decision, then I will return you to the battle. Your sisters have been given the same choice as you.” He grinned from horn to horn. “They all gave similar answers and will return with you.”

The white and gold walls of the palace around her, along with the dragon’s image, began to fade. “I love you, Father!” She smiled as her sisters congealed around her and the desert sand reappeared under her feet. She and her sisters were truly one—one in purpose, one in motivation, and one in love. She ran her finger along her sword’s rusted blade and laughed as it cut her finger. It was time to deal with these megatraths.

The sisters charged across the expanse, closing the distance between them and Loos and his companions. They leapt on the creatures’ backs, striking futilely at their hides. The megatraths rolled over on their backs, rose, spun, and thwacked at the sisters with their tails. Laura, Evela, Levena, and Rose’el were sent flying, but Caritha dodged the blows and remained on the offensive. “Is that all you’ve got?”

Loos threw fire at her, and she noticed that Oganna had taken out his eye. Clever girl, she had aimed for the vulnerable spots instead of trying to take the creatures down all at once. She raced forward, holding back her sword until the last second. Loos’s mouth opened to snap at her. She thrust with all her might, scraping her blade along the roof of his mouth. He stumbled, blood pouring onto the ground.

As the battle raged around her, Oganna heaved in breaths of clean air until the poison in her system lost its potency. Still, her strength would not return, and she knew that she was not yet healed. What should she do? Her aunts were beginning to falter and the megatraths, though wounded, were still fierce.

She picked up her sword, pointed it toward the sky, and called out, “I cannot rise. Will no one come to my side in this time? Will not a savior show himself?”

“Oganna, hold still,” a soft voice said from behind her. “Let me draw the poison.”

Turning, Oganna looked into the fiercely beautiful face before her. Starfire held out her hand, palm up. Strains of yellow curled from Oganna’s chest, creating a transparent sphere floating above the fire lady’s hand.

“There,” Starfire said. “Rise now and fight!” Flames enveloped her and she vanished.

Oganna arose a new person, her spirits high and her confidence growing. She divided the air with her blade. “My sword, from this day forth you will be called the Avenger. Prove now your worth.” She lifted it above her head and threw it straight as an arrow into Loos’s remaining eye.

Now completely blinded, Loos opened his jaws wide in a roar of pain. Oganna sent her boomerang sailing into his mouth. He clamped his jaws together, and the weapon’s sharp edge sliced upward into his brain. He fell like a stone to the desert floor. The arena grew quiet. The Warrioresses and the remaining three megatraths stood still, staring at the grisly sight.