There must have been twenty wasps, at least. Only half a dozen had riders on their backs, but all had bits of wood held by their six legs. I dont know what they needed the wood forsothing to do with whatever they had planned to do in the Temple, I supposebut they dropped everything when they saw us.
Oh ho, said the lead Intui. Now that I was close enough to see clearly, I could tell this one was eth, the one we had encountered earlier. See, Im not racist, I just have poor eyesight. Co to rescue your friend, have you?
The wasps spread out before us ready to attack, but eths smug leer turned into shock, then rage, when he saw Dudley standing with us, rather than tied to the sacrificial altar.
How did His eyes went beyond us, probably concerned about what had happened in his absence. And rightly so.
It was oddly quiet. Id have expected all the falling rocks and screaming lizardn to have made a lot more noise, but for so reason the sound didnt carry out of the Temple.
Get out of our way, said Hitokag. When Cheng finds out about this
How will he find out if you are all dead? asked eth with excellent logic.
The buzz of wasps began to get more intense. But there was another sound, or at least a vibration, coming from below us. eth and his cohorts couldnt feel it because they were airborne, but the soles of my boots prickled under .
I looked at the others and it was obvious they could feel it too.
Seeing us exchange glances put eth on alert, but he didnt know what the threat was. Neither did we. It was just as likely to be a problem for us as it was for him.
Whats going on? he scread at us. What are you up to?
We didnt have any answers for him, but we didnt need them as the vibrations turned into a rumble and then the ground shook, knocking us all off our feet.
A jabberwock smashed through the rock and shot into the air. But this worm was a little different to the ones we had seen in the Temple. It was about the sa size, but its skin wasnt smooth and slimy, it was hard like a crust had ford over it. The texture and craggy pattern were very reminiscent of troll-skin.
Another feature of this particular jabberwock was that it had eyes. They werent very big, but they were familiar. The whole head, in fact, looked very much like Kungen.
More tremors shook the mountainside and jabberwockythe regular kindburst out. Six. Ten. Twelve. They just kept coming, rising around us like a forest.
eth and his wasps were surrounded. What is this? What is this? eth kept shrieking.
Kungen-worm opened its mouth, which peeled back like the worms we had encountered before, and sucked in the air. Wasps tried to fly away but were drawn in, riders and all. The other worms followed suit. They might not have been able to see or hear, but thrashing about like out-of-control vacuum cleaners was very effective in dealing with the wasps.
You might think that this was ga over. Wasps had the upper hand for a mont, then the cavalry arrived with the perfect counterasure, and its Goodnight Vienna. However, a mouthful of wasps is still a mouthful of wasps.
The jabberwocky started flailing about like theyd just found out their lucky numbers had co up on the lottery but the wife forgot to buy the ticket this week. They smashed and slapped their swollen mouths against the ground as the wasps stung for all they were worth.
We all dived out of the way to avoid the gigantic bodies flopping from side to side, threatening to crush anything caught in their path.
The only one not affected like this was the Kungen-worm. It watched, very much the worm in charge. If a wasp or Intui managed to sohow avoid the crossfire, he struck like a viper, snatching the escapee out of the air.
Within a few minutes the wasps were all gone, as were the Intui lizardn. Two jabberwocky lay still and lifeless, the others simply retracted into their holes.
The last to leave was Kungen-worm. I thought he might say sothing, but he didnt. Was he the sa Kungen in a different form, or a completely new entity? He had definitely controlled the other jabberwocky, and even forced them to co out in daylight, so he could rightly be called Worm King now, but what that ant was hard to tell.
Kungen? I said to the towering rock snake. There was no response, not even a flicker of recognition.
Keezy probably would have had a better chance to communicate, but there was no sign of him. I didnt think the falling rocks would have killed him, and he could dig his way out, but I was in no mood to form a search party.
Despite helping us free Dudley, he had still intended to bring us here knowing it would require a sacrifice. He might have a reasonable explanation, but the Temple was no longer a factor so I considered it best to call it quits and get out of here.
Kungen-worm sank back into the mountain like a train thundering into a tunnel. Dust flew out as he disappeared.
Everyone got back to their feet. We were still on top of a mountain and night was approaching. The zzik could probably carry us down the precipitous mountainside, but then we still had to get to wherever Cheng had his castle. What we really needed was another dragon.
Once everyone had confird they were alive and unhard, Flossie ran over to the dragon and wrapped her arms around its head. The head moved.
Ah think hes still alive, said Flossie, turning her watery eyes towards . She was quickly turning into my biggest pain, and thats saying sothing considering the fierce competition.
Still, in this particular case I wasnt averse to healing the dragon even if it cost a few months of my life to do it. Having a dragon in my debt could be very useful. Not that Id be as influential as Flossie, but not everyone gets to be Mother of Dragons. Id settle for uncle. You dont get your clothes burned off and have to walk around with your tits out all the ti, you just co around on the weekend for a barbecue. Much more manageable.
Mind you, that whole parable where Androcles takes the thorn out of the lions paw and then they later face off in the amphitheatre to find the winner of Roman Idol sounds a lot like bullshit to .
Would the lion really let Androcles off? Or would he see the other lions all looking at him and think, I know I owe you, but I cant let you show up in front of my mates?
It probably depends on the animal. Dogs, strong possibility. Snakes, not so much. I imagine it would make an excellent reality tv show. Save various animals from certain death, see if they return the favour. Chuck in a couple of celebs youve never heard ofratings gold. Who wouldnt want to watch a chicken ignore Piers Morgan as he drowned?
At the very least, the zzik would be grateful. They had been distraught when they thought the dragon was dead, and rushed to help when Flossie declared the beast still breathing. If youre the Draconic Guard I suppose its poor form to let a dragon die on your watch.
What are you doing? said Jenny. She had jumped in front of as I walked towards the dragon.
Im going to heal the dragon, I said.
No, said Jenny. You cant. Look how big it is. Youll have to use up too much energy.
Yeah, whatever. Dont think of it as getting older, think of it as maturing.
I tried to walk past her, but she shimmied across to stay in my way. No.
I knew at so point we would co to this situation, I just hadnt expected it so soon. Jenny would decide what was best for and then insist I do it her way. For the best of reasons, of course. But once you give into soone like that, even if theyre right, you set a precedent.
We could discuss it and co to a compromise, but fuck that.
Its not up to you, Jenny. Now get out of the way.
Her mouth tightened. Her eyes welled up. I couldnt tell which way she was going to go, anger or tears.
Im begging you, please dont do this, she said with great restraint, although whether that restraint was to stop herself from shouting or sobbing, I couldnt tell.
On so level Im sure her concern was for my wellbeing. If I kept using up whatever ti I had, eventually I would run out. But it was still a form of control. And I didnt want to be under anyones thumb.
Just because you say, Im begging, doesnt actually count as begging. I put my hand on her shoulders to shift her out of the way.
She dropped to her knees. Please. Ill do anything you say, just dont do this.
Smooth. On her knees, offering to do anything, what would that indicate to you? Classic pretty girl move. She doesnt actually make any specific proposition, but subliminally theres the notion that maybe if I do what she wants, Ill get a bit of the old quid pro quo.
My suspicions about her motives were sowhat undermined by the fact she had already let quo her right in the quid nurous tis already, but that didnt an she couldnt still dangle it like bait.
I bent down and kissed her on the nose. No. You dont have to do anything I say unless you really want to.
Tears fell from her eyes now, but these I recognised. Tears of frustration at not getting your way.
I felt quite pleased with myself as I kneeled down next to the dragon. One-Nil to the ho team.
You think you can heal sothing this big? said Hitokag, not sounding very convinced.
Ill give it a shot.
The warmth in my hand spread out across the vast body. The stings had left behind vicious red sores. They receded as I poured my energy into the creature.
My mind went blank. I dont know how long I sat there, growing weaker and weaker. At so point I must have blacked out
When I ca to, Jenny was over . My head was in her lap. She was crying.
How bad is it? Do I have a white beard?
Shut the fuck up. She was mad at . She kissed . It tasted salty.
I sat up and looked around. It was dark and a fire burned nearby. The dragon was up and being fussed over by the zzik.
Thank you, said Flossie. For everything.
I shrugged. Gratitude never really ant much to . Show how thankful you are when it costs you sothing to help , then Ill acknowledge it.
We should leave, said Hitokag. He spoke to in a slightly different tone now. I dont know if it was full respect, but it was sothing close to it. I smiled. Got him.
Jenny brushed the long strands of hair out of my face and kissed again. Then she put her arms around my neck and held tight.
Can I get up now? I asked her.
No.
Youll have to let go eventually.
Never.
I struggled to my feel with her still clinging on, which wasnt easy. Claire and Maurice said so pleasant things which I instantly forgot, and Dudley shook my hand and said nothing.
We climbed on board the dragon, which treated no different to anyone elsefucking cow with wingsand we took off.
Jenny remained very clingy, but I didnt mind it. The air was quite chilly up there and she was soft and warm. Had she learned her place, or did she consider my attempt at self-determination a challenge? I would probably find out next ti we had opposing views.
Can you love soone you dont trust at all? Im not sure. I certainly liked her very much. Even though she would probably attempt to crush my spirit and bring to heel, I kind of looked forward to it. I felt confident I could take her. Mind you, won know all sorts of dirty tricks. I didnt expect a fair fight.
Compared to Jenny, Cheng didnt seem that big a deal.
The stars sparkled over our heads as I flew through the night on the back of a dragon, headed for a castle on top of a mountain. Not often you get to say that.
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