The Dragon's Rogue

Chapter 28

My strength fled me as I climbed until I had to rely on the bodily force of Strale to rise any further. He pulled me up without any apparent effort, not eyeing my naked form as I expected from such a man, but the satchel that I carried. Wisely he said nothing about the excess weight, simply turned to aid Cillumn in the same manner.

I found my feet and looked around warily. A ghastly field of corpses surrounded us. Bodies, already well within the realm of decay littered the ground. But they were all still, and other than their mutilation, appeared uninjured. Maybe my smoke bundles worked after all, the effectiveness just took a lot longer than I had anticipated.

"They were stumbling around each other, waving their limbs erratically like some wild dance when we arrived," Cillumn joined me where I stood.

"Yes, and then, once you had joined the incursion below ground they began falling about the field like flies. The ones that didn't pass out and stiffen took off into that pass there," Strale pointed.

My jaw fell open. What had once been a row of cliffs and the foot of a mountain was now a dished crater filled with rubble.

Had I done that? It looked as though it might be part of a massive cave in.

"You are a dangerous Shifter," Cillumn murmured, but he did not sound put out by the fact. Then, to Strale, "where are the others?"

"Dynarys leads them against Grim, he blew out from the side of the mountain and flees southward. His Lords, the cowards, had been hiding in the valley adjacent and they followed him, so our men should have plenty of fun to occupy them."

I wasn't sure if it was the weakness creeping up on me, or the disbelief that, for the moment, we were safe, but I sensed that Strale was a bit put out that he was missing out on the battle. I worked my way around fallen limbs and skulls toward where Scet cradled my sister. The Shifter watched me now, something unreadable on his face. Adda was still limp, and looked too slender and weak. But her breathing was strong, and there were no obvious injuries, or bites for me to worry about.

"Adda," I whispered, placing my head upon hers, a tear escaped and landed on her cheek. What had she suffered before I could find her? I shuddered to even think about it. Would she even be the same Adda I had known when she awoke? "You are safe now," I stroked her tangled hair and brushed my fingers against her eyelids willing her to wake.

Back against the mountains an increasingly familiar shriek echoed against the canyon walls. It came from the area around the cave in, possibly the possessed Shifters, looking for their buried brethren. Too close for comfort nonetheless.

"We best get you back to the aerie," Strale announced.

"We will never make it so far, most of us are injured and will need time to heal. And one for certain will need to be carried," Cillumn gestured to Adda.

"I am pretty amazing, even for a Dragon Lord, but even I can only carry one in flight, and I will not be walking, not through that Gods forsaken swampland we passed on the way here," Strale sniffed disdainfully.

Scet eyed me, his expression changing. He still looked uncomfortable standing there with a naked woman in his arms, like he didn't quite know what to do with himself. "You have healing tinctures? You can tend to her?"

I nodded. I wasn't sure what was wrong with her, why she wouldn't wake, but I would be damned to all Six levels of the underworld if anyone else was getting anywhere near her for a long time.

Scet met my gaze.

"I owe you my life. In return I would help you see you sister safe. Take her to my cabin, it is closer. Illaise and I will work our way there on foot."