Cowboys & Dragons

Part 10

He awoke seconds later, gulping in air as greedily as a drowning man. It hurt like hell. He felt as if his lungs had been run through with a white-hot butcher knife.

His suit was smoking, small flames dancing on his trousers. He put them out with a curse that was almost lost in the popping and cracking of the rapidly cooling gallery behind him.

Then he heard a sound coming from behind, where the gallery was. He froze. He turned his gaze.

The gargantuan head of the Dragongod suddenly filled Eddy's world. From up here, it was even more gigantic and terrifying. The grisly wounds of his eyes were large enough for Eddy to stand inside. The beast shifted his head, his nostrils, sniffing like a dog, coming into view.

If Eddy had not been totally dehydrated, he surely would have soiled himself. But as it was, there was nothing to give, nothing to do anymore. All of a sudden, he became very calm. He waited for his final judgment. A final sniff later, the beast roared. Eddy fell down, holding his ears, stifling his own scream . . .

That's it, he thought.

The Dragongod gave a snorting sound, then turned his head and was gone.

Eddy couldn't believe it. Expecting a trap, he held his breath for one more minute, and then when nothing happened, he gulped in a breath of air, noticing that he smelled like roasted ham. He started crawling away, sending a prayer to any gods that would listen and thanking them. After he found his strength again, he started walking, and shortly after, he was running toward the exit.

Even braving the spider caves once more now seemed hollow in comparison to braving the dangers of this place.