Note: Violence in this chapter as well. It's a big ol' fight scene, everyone.
Scaling the mountain is unpleasant work. We aren't climbing for most of it, but there are a few short sections where we're forced to scramble up bare rock. As we get higher and higher up, I try to avoid looking down as much as possible.
Based on his occasional frightened wheeze, like someone just punched him in the stomach, Yendai has not yet learned the same lesson.
We finally reach a plateau and take a moment to drink some of the water we brought with us. Yendai's is mostly frozen, but my slightly higher body temperature seems to have kept mine in its liquid state. I offer him some, and he takes a few sips.
Then he freezes in place and points above us, voice dropping to a whisper. "Anra. Look."
Just a short climb above is a gaping darkness in the rock, wide enough for six men shoulder to shoulder to march through.
Or big enough for a dragon, I would think.
"I'll go up first and scope it out," he tells me, already getting to his feet and eying up the cliff for handholds.
"Be very cautious," I warn him, even as he slowly sneaks up the snow-covered stones.
Yendai creeps back down the cliff, having poked his head up enough to squint inside. "Bay is definitely lying down. I think that it must be asleep, but... do you think it's smart enough to fake us out?"
"I'm not sure." When I last saw it, Bay had been far from the intelligent, kind spirit I once knew him to be. More like an animal than anything else, it had attacked with no trace of its former self in its eyes. "We should approach it prepared for either eventuality."
He nods, not willing to risk another sound. Ascending the last patch of rocks as quietly as possible, the sound of both of our heavy breaths pains my ears even as they're overwhelmed by the pounding of my heart.
Looking inside the cave myself, I see that Bay has its head resting on the ground. Scattering about the cavern is the grim confirmation of what happened to the soldiers previously sent up here. Human bones litter the ground, broken or marked by imprints of great teeth. Behind me, Yendai shudders, causing his cloak to make a brief rustling sound.
Alarmed by the noise, we both stare wide-eyed at each other. But when we look back at the beast, it doesn't seem to so much as twitch.
I take my first steps into the cave, careful to avoid any human remains that might snap beneath my feet. Pendant in hand, I try to get into position at the thickest part of Bay's scales near the top of its front legs. From here, I should be able to grab hold of some of the scales jutting out from its shoulder, and boost myself onto the dragon's back.
Across from me, Yendai has drawn his spear, readying it in front of him.
I hold up my hand and count down on my fingers. Three... two... one...
With a quick motion of my arm I clasp the best handhold I see on the dragon's body and pull myself up, hands scrabbling from purchase as I swing myself onto its back like an oversized horse.
As I feel powerful muscles stirring to life beneath me, I let my power flare out in a great burst of unnatural sunlight. It's not as strong as it would be under the sun itself, but with the glimpse of light I get through the mouth of the cave, it has to be enough. Bay raises its head as I plant my hand onto its neck, my necklace shining so brilliantly it burns even through my armor.
As the first wave of my magic washes over it, I grit my teeth to stay on its back as it writhes beneath me. Its roar echoes through the cavern, Yendai flinching as its great mouth opens.
YOU ARE READING
Waning of the Sun Gods
FantasíaEmpress Anra is one of the last people who remembers what her land was like before the war that claimed the lives of family, leaving her as the last member of the royal line. But as the child of the sun god, she knows that immortals like her and her...
