Haven's Addiction

The man next to the dragon screamed furiously. “Who are they, and what are they doing here?”

“They are friends of my brother, here to pay a visit,” the dragon said in a booming voice that filled the gargantuan room. “Pay them no mind.” There was intelligence and dignity behind the words. This wasn’t some feral dragon that attacked on sight like the trolls he experiments on.

“They better not interfere with our bargain,” the man said. “Or I will see to it that you regret it.”

“Our deal still stands,” the dragon boomed.

The man glared at the dragon, which I didn’t think was possible. The dragons paw was as big as him. Placidious could have squished him like a bug without even thinking about it, and the guy didn’t hesitate in berating him. He must have had balls of solid, whatever the troll cages were made of. I liked him already.

“Go home,” the dragon said to the man, ignoring his insolent tone. “I will contact you when they are ready.” He obviously wasn’t pleased with this, but didn’t have a choice either.

“See that you do, Placidious,” the man scolded. “Or I will bring my wrath upon you with all of my force.”

“Of that I have no doubt,” his tone remained dry and unimpressed. “Now I must attend to my guests.”

With that Placidious bowed his head to the man and turned towards us. It was an odd gesture to see a dragon bow. With the long neck and large head it looked more like he was about to eat the man, and indeed he could have gobbled him up in a single bite. He would have had to chew for a while to get it all down, but the fact that Placidious revered him to some degree showed how dangerous this man truly was. Most surprisingly of all, the man bowed in return before departing through a door at the far end of the cavern without giving us a second glance.

I didn’t really get to see him leave. I was too captivated by the giant dragon walking towards us. Although I say walking loosely. Seeing a dragon walk is more like a lion stalking its prey than a human sauntering over to say hello.

“Please forgive the lack of formalities,” he addressed us, he voice deep and gravelly but polite. “You are intruders in my home, after all. You already know who I am, and I certainly know who you are.” Edic let out a growl of rage at that. Vincent quickly held him back.

Gerald took a step to stand in front of us. “Then you know why we are here. Why don’t you just let us have it and we will be on our way without any further unpleasantries.” He sounded surprisingly polite as well. I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t want to piss this thing off.

“You know that I can’t do that,” Placidious responded in kind.

“It doesn’t hurt to inquire,” Gerald bowed his head.

I remembered reading that dragons were sticklers for formality, almost obsessively so. This is possibly because they live for so long. They aren’t in a rush to do anything. Our lifespans were like that of an ant compared to these guys. Their traditions ran thick because they had to, it’s all they had to cling to when the whole world passed by around them.

“Do not concern yourselves. I will not lift a claw or fang against you unless provoked to do so.”

“What about taking us prisoner, torturing us, and trying to kill us?” I tried to defend Edic.

“You are trespassing on my land with the intention of stealing from me,” he said very articulately, and he had a valid point. “As for trying to kill you, neither me nor my attendants have attacked you except to capture you. You, on the other hand, have slain six of my attendants. Loyally trained employees who will be difficult to replace.”

“Not attacked us?” I knew he had a point, but I wasn’t about to concede. “What about your werewolves?” I demanded, getting hot headed.

“Alas, the creatures that dwell outside our borders are feral and dangerous. We have needed to resort to planting burstshrooms to keep them at bay.” There was no doubt, he had us there. The only source we had that the wolves were under his employ was John who was possibly lying through his teeth to gain our trust. None of this really mattered. He was right. We walked into his house. He could do whatever he wanted with us.

“Ah, you must be Bailey Groves. I have heard much about you. Let’s sit down and have a chat, you and I. I have no doubt that we will have much to talk about that you will take interest in.”

“That’s enough,” Gerald interrupted boldly.

“What is the matter Magus Gerard Octagnia?” The dragon sneered, his teeth bared, taunting. It was at this point that I knew for certain Placidious had malicious intent.

“You have already dismissed with the formalities, so there is no need to drag this out further. Leave the child be and get on to business.”

Child? Did he just call me a child? What an ass. I was about to protest, but Placidious didn’t allow enough time. His response was so quick that it was like he expected Gerald’s protest, which caught my attention.

“What is the problem Magus? Do you wish me to not speak with the lad? Are you afraid that I will say something to offend the boy, possibly turn him against you?”

They were saying something to offend me all right. I was no kid, by any means. But something about what Placidious said struck a cord. The fact that Gerald clammed up after that said something even more important.

“Enough of your games. We don’t need you telling him lies,” Gerald outraged.

“Oh, I have no intention of lying or hiding anything from him. I,” which he put particular emphasis on, “have nothing to hide from him.”

I looked at Gerald, and then at Placidious. They were playing a little cat and mouse word game, and I was the triple word score. Suddenly I felt that I could trust the giant bloodthirsty dragon to be honest with me a heck of a lot more than I could anything Gerald had to say.

“Enough of this,” Gerald proclaimed. With that he reached into his mouth and pulled out one of his back molars. There was no blood as he pulled out the false tooth. It looked normal, but the root shone of green crystal. He promptly dropped it to the ground and crushed it under his boot heel. Gerald quickly stepped away and green mist encircled the spot where the tooth had been crushed. The mist swirled around, growing like a twister until it was about six feet tall. It coalesced, continuing to get thicker until I couldn’t see through it, glowing with its own internal green light. The sound coming from it was reminiscent of cheesy movie effects, like the warbling sound of a fax machine underwater and sparks of electricity thrown in for splashes of color. Then the mist dissipated, and in its place stood Drognaus with his hands clasped behind his back, holding a regal pose, his eyes closed.

He opened his eyes, tilted his head towards Placidious, and spoke. “Hello Brother.”

“I was wondering when you would show up,” Placidious mocked. “Using minions to do your delivery work again, I see.”

“You don’t have room to judge,” Drognaus remained stoic. Placidious cocked his massive head to one side as if to say ‘touche’. “What are your plans brother?”

“The same as they have always been,” he replied.

Drognaus sighed, “I don’t want to do this.”

“Yes you do, so don’t be self righteous about it,” Placidious smirked and then looked directly at me. “Oh,” he said, not taking his hypnotic reptilian eyes off me, “that. I suppose you don’t. But that is unavoidable now.” He turned to look back to Drognaus. “And you know it,” he said with vindication in his voice.

“Please hand it over,” Drognaus held out his right palm.

“You know that is not possible.”

Drognaus sighed and nodded his head. Placidious didn’t budge. “And I know what must be done.”

This time it was Placidious’s turn to nod in agreement. “Then it shall be.”

Grains of golden dust seemed to emanate from every pore of Drognaus’s body in an instant like an explosion that centered on every cell of his being. It blinded me for a moment, and as soon as my vision returned I was astounded. Standing before me, well more like in front of and all around me, was the real Drognaus. The giant golden dragon even larger than Placidious towered over us.

“Last chance, brother,” the dragon spoke in a voice that was definitely Drognaus, but much deeper and resolute in its dragon form.

Placidious responded by turning his head towards us, taking in a deep breath, and breathing out a gout of flame that shot towards us like a flamethrower. Drognaus responded so quickly that we didn’t have time to react. He flicked one claw in our direction, bringing up a shimmering shield that protected us from the flames.

Then the tour de force of violence broke out. Placidious lunged at Drognaus with his massive bulk. The fight that ensued was like nothing I had ever seen before, nor ever thought possible. The closest I could come to was footage on the Discovery Channel of two lions fighting to the death, but even that paled in comparison. They tore into each other with claws and fangs scratching and biting at each other, growling with an inhuman sound that was unlike any other. Perhaps if you overlayed the audio of a lion, a bear, sea lion and a wolverine in the heat of battle together at the same time, you may have come close. I should have been terrified by being so close to two massive creatures engaged in lethal combat, but I couldn’t look away. It was like driving by a car crash, you couldn’t help but watch.

The fight raged on forever. Both of them used spells left and right in between the clawing and biting. Tails swung around to be used as clubs, back claws were used to kick, yet it seemed to be a war of attrition because nobody took any visible damage. There didn’t seem to be any cuts or bleeding anywhere. Their scales made them virtually impervious to each others attacks.

At one point they each took a step back for a breather, staring each other down.

“Give it up brother,” Drognaus spoke, obviously winded. “You can not win.”

“You know I can’t,” Placidious said even more winded, and was staying off of one leg. I realized that they were still taking a hell of a beating, even if none of the blows were breaking the skin, like getting shot while wearing a bulletproof vest. The bullet didn’t break the skin, but it still hurt like hell. Getting hit by something with that much muscle and mass behind it, a bullet sounded favorable.

Drognaus turned his head slightly towards Gerald “Get it. I will finish dealing with him.” Then he went back into the fray. He was right. We didn’t need to defeat the red dragon to accomplish our goal, just get what we needed and slip away.

“Vincent and I will get the book,” Gerald said without even looking at us. “The rest of you get the orb.”

Gerald and Vincent sprinted towards the workstations where the weapons were being made. The area was now clear of “This way.” Boregard spoke with a tone of remorse.

“What else are we getting?” I asked, confused. “I thought we came here for a book.”

“There is a secondary objective,” Edic said.

“And why wasn’t I told about this?” I was offended. What the hell did it take to earn these guys trust? Gerald I could see because he was an all around prick, but the rest of them?

“Sorry,” Edic frowned, guilty. “We, um. We had orders.”

Ah, that made more sense. The jerk told them to keep their mouths shut, and probably made them all swear to it. “So what are we after?”

Edic pointed towards the massive pile of treasure that Boregard was already sprinting towards. At the peak on a pedestal stood a glowing red ball.

“Sweet,” I grinned as I followed them to it. The fighting of the dragons waged on behind us. The initial fascination of the battle already faded as it became the same fighting over and over again. This, however, was something new and exciting. It was a giant hill of treasure for crying out loud. If I stayed in Haven long enough I would likely see more dragon fights, but would I ever again get to see something like this? The value of it was worth more than what I gained from Fenton. I didn’t need any more money, but it was just damn cool, and I got to climb up it. On top of it all, this was like the least dangerous assignment of anything I had been asked to do since arriving in Haven, at least it seemed that way at the time.

We got to treasure mountain in record time, despite how far it was. Let me tell you, climbing a giant pile of treasure is not easy. I don’t know how Scrooge McDuck did it. It’s not like climbing a dirt mound, snow mound, or even a big pile of gravel. Metal coins and such don’t stick to each other, they just slide around. It is incredibly difficult to get a foothold, and you can’t make a foothold that would stay in place. Then it is filled with sharp objects like enchanted daggers, bejeweled swords, and oddly shaped pieces of decorative metal that were ready to impale you as you slip and tumble to try and get your way to the top. Placidious didn’t need to plant any traps to protect it, the treasure came with its own hazards.

On the back side of the hill was a large indentation where it looked like Placidious curled up and slept in it, which would be pretty amazing to do. It would be like me rolling around in a bed of cash. I have to admit that I was a bit jealous. Heck, I had enough money in Haven that could, but coins may not be all that comfortable, and there is no cash here, which is just depressing to think about because it makes me homesick.

The large depression gave us enough of a gradual slope to begin climbing, but then the worst thing imaginable happened; the spiders came. Why did it have to be spiders? God I hate spiders. They are the most disgusting and creepy creatures in existence. Just the thought of one of them crawling on me makes me want to jump out of my skin. These spiders wouldn’t be crawling on us, though. They would be eating us whole.

They were as big as a medium sized dog, and as quick as any of their smaller counterparts. Worst of all they didn’t have any difficulty traversing the treasure mound. When the horrid creatures first appeared they literally formed right in front of us. Something, or someone, used summoning magic to create them, likely Placidious or a safeguard against intruders. I still had the shotgun in hand, and got a lucky shot off before I could even tell what it was. It may have been large, but the body was still as frail as any spider. The blast of the buckshot pellets ripped it apart. Edic called out my name, and I turned just as one of the spiders was in midair leaping at me from higher up the hill. On reflex I pointed the shotgun at it and squeezed. It went flying away from us in multiple directions, never to be seen again.

We continued to climb, ever present of spiders that were lurking about us. The progress was slow, but the clanking of treasure made it impossible for them to disguise their movements and creep up on us quietly. The shotgun wasn’t the ideal weapon for the situation, but it was all I had available. In order to fire it properly I needed both hands, which I also needed to climb the mound. I could have tried switching to a different weapon, but if I ended up getting shocked I would likely end up sliding down the hill, losing all of the progress I made.

As we continued the climb, a green fog appeared at the top of the hill near the orb that swelled and grew. Edic’s eyes widened in fear.

“Poison gas,” he screamed like a small child.

It scared me for a moment, but I let it pass. Edic freaked out and Boregard was busy fending off spiders, so I didn’t have time to be scared. The dragons could still be heard fighting in the distance. The orb wasn’t very far away, and if I could climb for just one more minute I would be there. After that, making it down should be a snap.

“Is the poison just harmful to breath, or is it caustic to the skin?” I asked him. He wasn’t responding and was in full panic mode, about to hyperventilate. “Edic,” I shouted, shaking him. “Snap out of it.”

He finally got it together and jerked his head at me, “It’s a strangling poison.”

“Good enough for me,” I patted him on the back and reached into my magic bag of tricks. “Keep the spiders away. I’ll be right back with the orb. Any special words I need to recite before I pick it up. Klatu Barata Nicto or anything like that?”

He shook his head blankly, still terrified. “All right,” I nodded. I took the gas mask out of the bag and slipped it on over my head. I had already made sure it fit in the Danger Room because I anticipated using it at some point in conjunction with the teargas. I tightened the straps, checked the seal, and off I went with shotgun in hand.

The gas was slowly descending down the hill with deathly green vapors. The faint scent of chlorine clung in my nose from the moment before I put the mask on. As long as the smell didn’t get any stronger I was safe, it wasn’t seeping in or overpowering the filter.

I made my way up the remaining five feet until I could stand up straight. Five feet may not seem like a lot, but try walking up a muddy hill with a sixty degree incline. I think I did pretty good all things considered. The spiders didn’t follow me up, apparently the poison cloud was lethal to them too. As I neared the orb I could see it glowing in its claw shaped holder in a darker red hue than when I saw it in the distance. As I neared it, I couldn’t bring myself to get any closer. The feeling was identical to when I was stuck outside of the barrier at our encampment wanting to get back in. I knew where I wanted to go, but something pushed that desire to go forward from my mind. I stood only a few feet away from it. I could have reached out and touched it without having to take another step, but my limbs wouldn’t move in any direction that would get me to it. So I did the only rational thing I could think of. I shot it with the shotgun.

All right, maybe it wasn’t the smartest course of action, but this thing was obviously magical, and powerfully so. Something told me that the spiders and the mist were all protective countermeasures created by the object itself, or at the very least centered around it.

At least I wasn’t completely wrong in my logic. The orb didn’t shatter, or even crack. The pellets knocked it off the base, sending it skittering across the treasure, and then rolling down the hill.

There was a brief ‘oh crap’ moment as it went rolling out of sight, but the hold it had, preventing me from moving, was now gone. Fortunately the glowing red was an easy trail to follow. I grabbed an enchanted circular shield nearby, sticking out of the mound. I yanked it out, set it down concave side up, sat in it cross-legged with the shotgun on my lap, and sledded down the hill after it.

I would have yelled and whooped all the way down, but the gas mask made it a strain to breath already, especially since I was still winded from the difficult climb. The ride was bumpy enough that it would have been riddled with profanities along the way anyway. It wasn’t quite like sledding down a snowy hill, more like rough gravel with a few large rocks thrown in to make it just a twinge more treacherous. Despite getting jarred around and every bone in my body shaken, not to mention a bruise on my ass that lasted for two days, I made it to the bottom of the hill without wiping out. I ripped the gas mask off my face and let out a hearty “woo hoo, lets do that again,” which wouldn’t have been so anticlimactic if there had been anyone around to witness it. As soon as the imaginary applause ended, I took off running after the rolling orb. It eventually stopped when it ran into the cavern wall, illuminating it with an eery red glow.

I got close to it and was hit with the same gray mental barrier. This time I had the feeling that shooting it wasn’t going to be the answer. The answer did come, but from the other end of the cavern. The dragons were still fighting as loudly as ever when the sounds of their struggle came to a sudden stop. The effect was immediate, like the stereo at a party getting unplugged. I turned my attention to the scene. The dragons were so massive that I could still see them clearly from as far away as they were. Drognaus’s booming voice carried just as far as ever.

“Bow down brother. Admit defeat. You don’t have to die today.”

“Yes,” Placidious said, his voice straining. “Yes I do.”

His claws reached under the other arm, producing a bottle of potion hidden beneath a scale. The bottle was probably the size of a gallon jug, but he tossed it into the air and snatched it like a piece of candy, swallowing it down whole. All the while he stared directly at me, not averting his gaze. Then he proceeded to laugh maniacally.

Drognaus’s eyes widened. “Nooo,” he screamed as he rushed towards the other dragon, but it was too late. Placidious’ tryout for a movie villain voice over was cut short as his body went into convulsions. His body fell to the ground with a thunderous boom that I could feel through the ground all the way up my legs. He was dead before Drognaus could get to him. I knew this because I could feel the hold preventing me from going after the orb lifting.

The orb glowed brighter now, shimmering red. I stared at it and could have swore that I heard it exclaim in protest in unison with Drognaus, but disregarded it as an echo off the nearby cavern wall.

Then it happened. The orb grew brighter until it was blinding, I could feel the heat emanating from it. The ground shuddered and shook. The walls rained down dust and small bits of debris. I was afraid the ceiling or walls were going to collapse in on us, but it didn’t happen. Instead it was the other way around.

For some insanely unpredictable reason, which to this day I still can’t explain why, I reached down and took the orb up in my hand. I was surprised to find it cool to the touch. I could sense emotion from it. Even without the use of any psionic ability I could feel, without question, an intense anger unlike anything that has ever been experienced in the world. In that brief moment I looked back on every time I had been shocked by the discipline collar and was grateful for its being there. If I had at least a smidgen of my Sense available to me at that moment, the rage emanating from the orb would have undoubtedly driven me insane. Instead I stood staring at it in my hand. From the moment I touched it the glow began to dim. So drastic was the change that by the time I held it up in my palm, I could see the swirls of movement inside. Yet I couldn’t look away.

It wasn’t until I noticed how hot the cave felt that I looked away from the orb. The heat from the orb was gone, but the heat from the ground was still there, and getting hotter. I could smell the stone in the ground melting into slag and saw a small circle the size of a fist glowing as the rock liquified. The liquid grew, melting everything around it, a chain reaction that turned the cavern floor into lava.

I could hear Boregard and Edic running up to me from the treasure mound, calling out my name.

“Holy crap,” I muttered as I turned to face them. The fear on my face made them both stop cold. “I think I just set off a volcano.”