The Savage

Part 3: Chapter Eight: Brenn

The smell of sulfur was heavy in the air and burnt their nostrils long before they reached the mouth. The pale smog seeped out of the narrow, vertical opening. It looked like a gash mountain face. From deep within it growled and grumbled making the ground beneath them quiver.

"Goddess protect us. The Dragon's breath." She heard Shae mutter behind her. The three stood frozen in place, gazing up at the mouth. Glancing to her left at Ronan, Brenn moved forward, her legs like lead. Meeting her eyes, his expression was hard. He was afraid too. The fear on his face made Brenn's breath catch in her throat. Struggling to control her own terror, she took another step closer. There was no dragon, she knew that, but what was it?

The warm wet air made her hair and clothes stick to her and the handle of her ax, slippery in her hand. The hot fog thickened as they moved closer, swallowing their legs from the knees down. Paused in silence, they leered at the entrance. The mouth was tall enough for someone to walk upright, but only just. From somewhere in the deep the dragon growled again.

Brenn's heart fluttered with fear as her mouth went dry.

"It's narrow. I'll go first." Ronan volunteered.

For once Brenn didn't argue. She was too afraid to go in first. "Shae, light the torch."

With shaking hands, Shae dug through his pack for pitch and flint. Tearing a strip from the hem of his pattern he dipped it in the pitch and wrapped it around the makeshift torch. Striking the flint against the steel of his ax he lit it and handed it to Ronan. Seeming to steel himself, Ronan stepped inside, torch held high with Brenn and Shae close behind.

The passage way wasn't much taller than Ronan and in more than one place he was forced to duck. Some places, warm water dripped from the cracks overhead making the jagged floor beneath their feet slick. It wound deeper and deeper into the mountain breaking off in different directions as it went. The stench worsening as it grew warmer.

Ronan paused. From up ahead in the darkness a rock clattered over the stone flooring. The three held their breath and waited.

From out of a tunnel from the right leapt a ragged person. Holding a make-shift club like weapon above his head the thin old man shouted, "Who are you!? What do you wa-." His voice cut short as recognition swept over his face. Dropping his stick to the ground he bowed clumsily, "daughter of Boudicca."

"And you are?" Brenn asked edgily stepping past Ronan.

"I am Callum. Guardian of the dragon." He said as if she should have known.

"So there is a dragon?" Shae barely whispered.

Callum sighed, "I knew one day Boudicca would send you."

Brenn shivered. "I will see the dragon."

"Come." He turned towards the tunnel he had jumped out form. It was shorter than the previous tunnel although the floor had been worn smooth. The old man was obviously familiar as he rushed along in the dark, the other's struggling to keep up.

The narrow corridor opened up into a large chamber. The smell of tallow wax mixed with the stench of sulfur in the damp air. Embedded into the far wall, that easily stood upwards of thirty feet high, was the skeleton of a dragon. Its bones one with the rock. It lay out at its full length across the wall, one wing stretched up toward the ceiling. Its massive head and sharp teeth still frightening even in death.

"This is all that's left of the dragon." Callum said with a wave of his hand.

The three stood staring up at it, mouth agape in awe.