The Death of Addor 3 (complete)

    Ever since we boarded the ship, I’ve pretty much kept to myself. I’ve not wanted to really talk to anyone or join in on any of the festivities the crew throws. The trip to Grattertock isn’t a long one, a few days at the most. Once we’re there, we’ll enact our plan as quickly as possible. And with any luck, I’ll be with Addor again within a week or two. I just hope I’m not too late.

    “Off on your own again, Dragon mage?” Heinrik asks when he finds me on my own.

    I set down my staff and sigh. “Is that a crime or something?”

    “Not exactly,” he leans against the wall. “Just strange is all. Especially since your friends on board with you.”

    “My friends?” I grump.

    Heinrik shrugs. “Well, I thought we were friends.”

    I’m still not sure about Heinrik. I did agree to befriend him, but there is something about this man that makes me uncomfortable. There’s something about his voice that sets my teeth on edge and makes me want to stay alert. Then there is what Blink has been saying. Blink keeps trying to remember how he knows Heinrik. Anytime the two are in a room together Heinrik makes a point to stand as far away from Blink as possible. I’m not sure if I’m over thinking or if there really is something there, but I’m having a hard time sorting out my feelings for Heinrik.

    “Sorry,” I finally tell him. “I just don’t feel like socializing with anybody. I want to focus on what's to come.”

    “Oh right, the dragon,” Heinrik chuckles. “He raised you, right?”

    I nod. “He’s my father,” I say. “And I want to be with him as he dies.”

    Heinrik comes closer. “I’ve heard tales that dragons sometimes mate with humans,” he says. “And there are legends saying the only hospitable place for certain dragons eggs is the womb of a mortal woman.”

    I glare over at him.

    “And yet dragons and mortals are such fierce enemies,” he sighs. “This Addor though, he fought in the Rakshasa War, correct?”

    “He did,” I mumble. “With Chiyo.”

    Heinrik comes to sit down beside me, and my reaction is to jerk away instantly. “Now, how did Chiyo come to do that?” He asks. “I know she’s a hero, but how does a girl come to align herself with a powerful dragon?”

    I had heard the story many times, both from Chiyo and from Addor. During the War of Crown Jewels, Addor had been captured by the Gnolls and forced under control by Othet’s uncle. It was a power that ran in Othet’s bloodline, the power to impose your will onto other creatures. Luckily, Othet’s uncle had been a horrible outlier in a line of kind and gentle men. Chi and Maitri could very well have this power too, but Othet had refused to test it. 

    “Dragons are very much like women,” Heinrik replies. “You can’t tell them what do you, or you’ll get burned.”

    I take my staff and stand up. “Remember that,” I tell him as I walk off.

    I go down below to go to my cabin. As I do, I come across Chi in the hallway. I hadn’t spoken to him since the meeting back at Rakshasa Court. We had barely been in the same room since. I suppose I’m avoiding him more than anyone else.

    I keep my head down and try to walk by him, but he stops me. “Maeve,” he says with a low voice.

    I huff and look up at him. “Chi,” I mutter.

    He grumbles in his chest. “Can we...talk?”

    “What is there is talk about?” I ask him. “What could we possibly discuss?” I set my staff on the ground. 

    Chi ‘s expression is serious and cold. It’s not something I’m used to with him. He’s usually so bright and welcoming. “I know you’re grieving,” he says. “I don’t know what exactly is going through your head. But you have to talk to me.”

    “I don’t have to do anything,” I snap at him.

    Chi shakes his head. “I know but-”

    “But nothing!” I glare at him, wanting to burn holes in his coat. “You’ve never lost anyone! You’ve never felt this pain like I am! You don’t know-”

    “But I want to!” Chi roars at me.

    I have to take a few steps back.

    He snarls and grips at the back of his head like he wants to rip his fur out. “I want to help you! Why do you think I am ever here, Maeve?”

    As I blink tears start to roll down my cheeks. “I don’t want you here.” I push him aside and storm down the hallway. As I go into my cabin, I press my back against the door and start to sob.

    That evening, my cabin opens, and Chiyo comes inside. “We’re close to land now,” she says with a cold voice. “I figured you would want to see.”

    I rise up from the cot and sigh. “Yeah. I’ll be there.”

    Chiyo walks into the room and sits down beside me. “When my mother died,” she says, “it was the hardest thing I thought I would ever have to go through. But I had Othet with me and the first Chi.” She places her hand on my back. “Your pain is our pain, Maeve. Chi and I love you, that’s why we came.”

    I sniffle and look down at my hands. “I don’t want to lose you either.”

    Chiyo swallows and pulls me to her chest, wrapping her arms around me. “And we don’t want to lose you.” She then puts her hands on my shoulders and looks me in the eyes. “Addor was a piece of my soul as well,” she says as she starts to cry. “We shared everything. The fact he never shared his pain with me…” she stops and shakes her head. 

    “I knew he was suffering,” she whispers. “But I never realized how deep the wounds Bithus left were.”

    “It’s not your fault,” I whimper.

    “Even if it was,” Chiyo sighs as she tries to stop crying, “Addor would never blame me.” She then smiles at me. She cups my cheek. “But both of us can’t carry our guilt like this. If we can’t find Addor, we need to let go together.”

    “That’s not an option,” I whisper. “We have to find him.”

    Chiyo furrows her brow at me. “You have to accept the fact that we may never find the path,” she says. “The dragons could sense us. We could have to turn and run. You cannot put all your hopes into this one journey.”

    There’s a knock, and Odd is standing at the door. “Little Dragon, we’re waiting on you.”

    I wipe my face and take a few deep breaths before I leave. I head back on deck were Blink, and odd were getting the boat ready for us to take ashore.

    “You sure you don’t want me doing this?” Odd asks Blink.

    “This is my crew, I should do it,” Blink huffs. “I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you. So just stay where you are.”

    Odd lays his palm over his chest. “Aw,” he pouts his lips. “My big brother is worried about me. That’s so heartwarming.”

    Blink cuts him a dirty look. “Just shut up already,” he snarls.

    Odd smiles and steps aside.

    “There you are,” Blink says to me. “Hurry up, so I don’t have to hear any more lip from any of the crew.”

    “I know you love me,” Odd shouts as he tosses Blink some rope.

    “Sorry,” I murmur.

    “You can apologize later,” Blink says as he helps me into the rowboat. “Once we’re on fire and eaten by dragons.” He jumps in with me, and together we lower the rowboat down until we splash into the water.

    Blink turns up to the ship as the crew watches over us. “If there is any sign of oncoming danger turn and leave,” he commands. “Odd will take over from there.”

    “That won’t be necessary, you’ll be back,” Odd grins from above.

    Blink huffs then turns to me. “Come on, let’s get there.”

    I take an oar and together Blink, and I start rowing. We inch slowly towards the shore. The beaches are black and smokes and smolders in some places. A dark cloud hangs over everything, smoke, and ash from the volcanoes within the Grattertock Mountain Range.

    We can hear the roar and screams of the dragons within, and I realize for the first time how frightening this really is.

    “Talk to me,” Blink says. “So that way I don’t focus on the hell in front of us.”

    “Yeah,” I murmur. “Uhm...why did you bring your brother?” I ask. “You two always seems to be arguing.”

    “That’s just us,” he says. “We’ve always been like that. But I don’t trust anyone else with my life as much as Odd.” He then shakes his head. “For a while, I didn’t have any of my family. I have two brothers and a sister. And for the longest time, none of us spoke to each other, let alone stand in the same room.”

    “What changed?” I ask.

    Blink huffs and shakes his head. “Sometimes you can love someone so much but in the next instance hate them. I suppose that was what happened. Things just get out of hand. Love, it’s a strange thing.” He then turns and looks at me. “Well, you know that. That’s why you’re here.”

    We reach the beach, and I get out to stand on shore. The sand is warm, and there is a vibration to the ground I’ve never felt before. The smell of smoke is thick in the air, and sometimes I feel like I might choke. 

    “I can’t believe it,” Blink whispers. “It’s actually working.”

    “Just this once,” I said. “We still have to get everybody here.” I get back into the row boat, and we head back to the ship. 

    We take a few more with us this time, reaching shore just as before. One more trip back and we take two rowboats this time, both full of people. We make it to shore.

    “It should be safe, right?” Heinrik asks as he rises up in the rowboat.

    “Is it supposed to smell like rotten eggs?” Odd asks.

    “Sulfur,” Darius tells him.

    I look around, hearing the rumble and roar of the creatures beyond the mountains. “We should make camp,” I reply. “Now that we’re here.”

    Chiyo places her palm flat on the ground and frowns. “I never knew earth could move,” He takes a fist full of the black sand and lets it sift through her fingers. “It’s as if it is still forming.”

    “They say that the mountains are still growing,” Darius says as she strains his neck back to look up at the rock formations that tower above us. “The shadows get closer and closer to us every year. I’ve heard stories that, once the shadows cover the mainland, it will be the end of the world.”

    “How could shadows end the world?” Heinrik scoffs.

    “If the mountains get that high, then the dragons won’t be able to escape,” Darius replies. “And if shadow covers the land, then that means no sun, no crops, no food. No us.”

    Heinrik turns to me and dips down. “Who the fuck invited him?”

    I chuckle. “Not all of us here are smart. Sometimes a group needs a brain.”

    “I don’t need some spoiled rich kid telling me what to do,” Heinrik grumbles under his breath as he walks away.

    Basecamp is set up, but everyone is on edge. At any moment dragons could swoop down and attack us, fire could explode from any crevice, a volcano could erupt. There were a lot of variables for us at this moment.

    Together, Darius, Chiyo, Odd, and I walked along the beach as we tried to map out where the path’s entrance could be.

    “We’re in the right spot,” Darius says, looking out towards the main ship off the coast and back to our spot. “Once the tide recedes we should be able to locate the path.”

    “What about Hydras?” Odd asks.

    “Excuse me?” Darius turns to him.

    Odd nods his head. “Hydras, dragons in the water,” he replies. “I’ve met one once. Very sweet guy, but still a dragon.” He motions to the water. “Like you said, there has to be a way for fresh water to get in and out of Grattertock, but did you even consider that there might be dragons that actually live in the water?”

    Darius’ face says it all. He looks mortified and dumbstruck by the concept.

    “I guess that’s my answer,” Odd shrugs. 

    “Perhaps we should go back and contact your Hydra friends,” Chiyo says.

    Od shakes his head. “I wouldn’t. He’s never even seen another dragon before. He’s much too timid to come to this hell of all places.”

    “We have Maeve with us,” Chiyo says with confidence. If we stay with her, perhaps we won’t get seen.”

    “Or we’ll be taken as guppies and swallowed whole,” Darius whimpers under his breath.

    “I still can’t believe you didn’t even consider water dragons,” Odd smirks.

    “Enough of your salt in my wound,” Darius snaps at him.

    Chiyo steps between them, as he eyes narrow on the water. She points out. “Look, do you see what I see?”

    “What?” Darius stands beside her.

    “I see a path,” Chiyo whispers.

    The closer I look at the surface of the water, the clearer I see it. There’s a barely visible stream the flows inwards. As we follow it, we come to a part of beach that has no sand, only rock.

    “This could be the entrance,” Darius whispers.

    “That must be the flow of fresh water moving in,” Odd replies. “Which means there must be another channel where it’s flowing out. We could have a back door and a front door situation.”

    “We could have a direct line in and out,” Chiyo replies.

    “And if a ship were to get caught in this current, it would be taken directly in,” Darius whispers. He then claps his hands together in excitement. “We’ve found the path!” He exclaims with excitement.

    We wait until dark when the tide moves out. As it does, a small opening becomes revealed just under the rocky patch of beach. We take the row boats and use them to get inside. The cave opens up more the further we go in and as we do.

    The deeper we go, the hotter it gets, and soon, we come into a room that is glowing as lava flows down from the walls.

    “My god,”  Heinrik whispers. 

    The water is boiling where the lava sinks in. The whole cave is filled with steam and heat. It’s suffocating, and through the steam, I hear some of the crew begin to cry.

    “How are we supposed to find our way out of this?” Blink gasps for breath.

    I stand up and touch the stone on my staff. I whisper my desire to it and push it deep inside the stone as it begins glow. I wave the staff out and the steam dissapates. The lava stops flowing, and a cool breeze fills the cavern.

    Sighs of relief echo everywhere and they start to row forward. I am struggling to keep the lava held. It is strong, and there is so much of it. I have never held fire like this before. My arms start to tremor, and I break out into a cold sweat all over my body.

    “You can do this,” I hear Chi whisper to me. “Just a little more, Maeve.”

    Tears start to roll down my cheek as my arms burn. I can feel the weight of all the lava on my shoulders. “Chi, I can’t-” I strain. 

    “You can!” He urges. “You’re strong!”

    The row boats pass from the firey cave, slipping into a dark channel and I am able to let go. I collapse into the boat and Chi catches me. 

    “You did it,” he whispers.

    I can’t feel my arms and my fingers feel like they’ve been burnt to the bone. 

    “I’ve never seen such power,” Heinrik whispers. “How on earth did you do that?”

    “It isn’t for you to know,” Chi growls as he takes off a layer of my soaked clothes so I can breathe.

    “We need to hurry,” Darius whispers after hours of maneuvering down the path. “Once tide sets in, we could be in real trouble.”

    I sit up in the boat, finally able to hold the weight of my own body. I sense something, and I look down into the dark waters. I can’t see beyond the light of the lanterns we carry, but I feel as if something is staring at me from the depths.

    “Maeve, what are you doing?” Heinrik grabs me by the back of my shirt and yanks me back into the boat. As he does the water rises up, and from within it, something grows. The boats are rocked, and one capsizes into the water.

    I stare up, gazing into the dark pink eyes of some sort of serpent. It stares at me, twisting it’s head this way and that before lowering itself down. Screams surround me, and Heinrik keeps his fist balled into the back of my shirt, holding me in place.

    “Well, well, well,” the serpent chuckles. “I ‘ave not zeen mortalz ‘ere in zo long. Wat a zock.” It’s eyes widen, and it sniffs at me. “Let alone a mortal wit zee dragon in zem.”

    “We’re not here to do any harm,” I say. “We’re looking for someone.”

    “Zomeone? ‘Ere?” The serpent laughs. “Who could ew be looking for ‘ere?”

    “A golden dragon by the name of Addor,” I say.

    “Addor?” the serpent tilts their head. “Nevar ‘erd of ‘im.” The serpent’s head has two horns going against the back of their flat head. Their eyes are wide and trail color as they move. 

    “He just came here to die,” I say. “I want to tell him goodbye.”

    The serpent snickers. “Ew want to zay goodbye to a dragon? ‘Ere? I ‘ave never ‘erd zuch a ting.”

    “Are you going to let us pass?” Heinrik barks from behind me.

    The serpent lunges forward, screaming at Heinrik and me. 

    “Please!” I plead to it. “Stop!”

    The serpent pulls back and sniffs me again. “Ew bezt be glad it iz I ew came acrozz. Not many would be zo kind.”

    “Thank you,” I whisper.

    “Only becauze of ew.” The serpent slowly slips back under the waters, and for a moment, things are quiet and calm.

    Things start to relax as we think the serpent is gone. But as we start to move, those still trying to get into the capsized boat start to scream. One by one, the few that are still in the water disappear under the inky black.

    “Lets go!” Blink orders. “Now! Move! Move!”

    With urgency, we row forward with no time to mourn for the men we’ve lost. We stop for nothing, eventually seeing sunlight. The rays of dawn reach us as we leave the path and we find ourselves in the center of a great lake. All around us we see mountains and smoke. We pull the boats onto a beach, and all we can do is stand there in silence and awe.

    “We’ve made it,” Heinrik whispers.

    I want to turn to Heinrik and slap him. His ignorance with the serpent was enough to make me want to strangle him. I walk away from him, moving to Chi and taking his hand.

    “You did great back there,” he whispers to me.

    I stay silent and rest my head on his shoulder. 

    We set up camp to rest and recuperate from the journey along the path. We’ve lost five men already, and we have yet to even set our first steps into Grattertock and to the land between the wastes and the everfire where dragons go to die.

    “What was that creature?” Darius asks.

    “I’m not sure,” I murmur as I hold my head between my hands.

    “Remarkable,” he says in awe. “I’ve never seen someone handle something with such poise and calm. It was truly-”

    “Leave her be,” Chiyo growls as he brings me some food. “Do you know what it is like to hold back lava the way she did? She saved our lives back there, and all you can talk about is that fucking creature?”

    I push the food away. “I’m not hungry.”

    “Yes you are,” Chiyo urges me, and I take the plate. 

    Chiyo sits beside me and casts he glances towards Heinrik who is talking to a small group of men. “I wanted to cut his hand off.”

    “I’m glad I’m not the only one,” I whisper.

    Chiyo sneers. “The way he held you,” she says.

    “I know,” I look at her. “Maybe Blink is right,” I say. “Maybe he is someone we should keep our eyes on.”

    Chiyo rubs my back as I pick at the food she brought me. “If I see him do that again, I’ll shoot him.”

    I smile softly. “That’s fine.”

    The next few days are spent walking. We travel along the rocky terrain that is inside the Grattertock mountains. It feels as if we don’t cover much land at all. Everything is so treacherous to pass. It takes us hours just to walk a few feet. 

    I am used to sand and wind back at Bastat. My feet hurt and my body aches from these stones and hills. There is no wind here, only the heat that comes from the ground. We sometimes pass by caves the belch fire and gas. If we are not careful, the gas will take our breath. We’ve lost a few more men to the gasses alone.

    We pass by rivers of fire, having to use our wits on how to cross them. I am used to the heat, but this is something else. The heat of Bastat is nothing compared to the fires and rivers of Grattertock. At least in Bastat, I could breathe. But here you are lucky to cry to find some relief from the heat.

    One day, the rocks end as we comes to the wastes.

    The area is dry and bare, the earth is cracked and brittle. Dust rises on its own, creating a fog of sand and dirt in our faces. Chiyo helps everyone wrap up their heads and faces so we can pass through. In some places, if you walk too hard, the earth crumble, and you fall in. There is no possible way for us to set camp here without worrying that we might fall through and to our deaths. So we keep moving.

“Once we’re out of the wastes we’ll be close,” Darius announces. “They say the graveyard of the dragons is between the wastes and the everfire.”

    “Does that mean we’ll have to go through the everfire to get home?” Chi asks. “What even is everfire?” 

    “Everfire is the beginning and the end,” Heinrik says. “It is where the earth was born and what raised the dragons.” He taps his chin. “Everfire is what a dragon breathes. It is living and eternal. That is why dragons last so long and why they die in embers.”

    Chi rubs my back as Heinrik speaks. 

    “Everfire is what mortals can only hope to achieve,” Heinrik grins in the shadows.

    “You sound like Bethsabe,” Blink growls. “It’s unsetteling.”

    Heinrik laughs. “Did you know the Empress?” He asks.

    “Once or twice I met with her,” Blink replies. “The Gnolls kept me on a short leash for a long time. Forgetting someone like Bethsabe is hard. I never again want to meet anyone like her.”

    “Then don’t,” Heinrik stands up and walks away, going towards the crowd of men he’s been talking with this whole time.

    “I wish I could figure out why he makes me uneasy,” Blink whispers. “His eyes,” he shakes his head. “I know his eyes.”

    “It’s his voice,” I say. “I know it, but my mind won’t let me remember.”

    “He’s wrong,” Chiyo adds. “If only I knew how to prove it.”

    Darius places his head in his hands. “We can’t fall into this,” he says. “We need to trust one another or else we’ll never make it out of Grattertock alive. Please, I beg of all of you, we cannot do this. We have to survive this.”

    “He’s right,” Blink sighs. “I hate it, but he’s right.”

    “Move forward,” Odd says. “That’s all we can do now.”

    As the sun starts to set the usual rumbling and moving of the ground starts to grow. It becomes like a rumble in a chest. Beyond us, the ground starts to rise and move, bucking and then falling.

    “What is that?” Darius whispers with urgency.

    I follow the moving of the earth, watching as it circles us. I grip hold of Chi and Chiyo’s hands. “It’s following us.”

    “What?” Chi looks at me.

    “Under the ground...its-” I am thrown backward as the ground rises and explodes.

    From the ground a terrible worm-like creature unearths itself. It’s body is striped red and black and as it’s mouth opens another head surges from inside. We’re blown back again as another one bursts from the ground. Everything is chaos and dust. I’m not sure whose hand I’m holding on to, all I know to do is to run.

    “Wait!” I hold back and raise up my staff. I don’t have much time to cast a spell all I can do is act on instinct. I want these creatures to go away, but I don’t know what will work.

    Suddenly, it rains. The cold deluge comes down heavy and hard, and the creatures scream and return to the earth. As the sounds of them, tunneling away start to dissipate the rain turns into a fine mist. I look around myself, trying to see who remains. 

    I smell blood along with the ever present scent of smoke and ash. With the rain, there is the scent of wet earth and dust. We start to regroup, discovering that many of us had been lost to the worms.

    “Where’s my brother?” Odd looks around in a panic. “Blink!” He calls out. “Where the fuck are you? Come on already!”

    “He was near me when the worms attacked,” Heinrik says, and Odd turns to him.

    Heinrik shakes his head and hangs it. “I’m not sure, but I didn’t see him after that. One of them caught my belt, took my knife and everything.”

    Odd’s expression is one I recognize greatly. I reach out to him, taking his hand. “Odd,” I whisper to him.

    “He…” Odd can’t seem to focus. “No,” he laughs. “No, way. Blink would never-” his head jerks around as his hand starts to crush mine. “Blink isn’t-”

    I notice Darius looking at heinrik a confused expression on his face. He shakes his head slowly, walking over towards Chiyo.

    “Do we keep going?” Darius whispers. “Is it even worth it?”

    “We have to now,” Chiyo says with a solemn voice. “If only to reach the exit. It’s up to Odd now.”

    Odd looks up at her. “No I’m not-” His shoulders go slack. “Oh, my gods.” He shakes his head as tears start to fall down his cheeks. “No.”

    “We can’t stop now,” I say as I hold Odd up. “Come on. We can’t linger here. We have to keep moving.”

    “Is that what you tell yourself?” Odd sobs.

    I nod silently to him. “Come on, please.” Chi rushes over to help me support Odd as we keep going.

    We don’t stop until we hit rock again, once there, we all stop to rest. By now, it is dark, and the temperatures have become unbearably cold. We settle down for the evening, but I am woken by Darius. He leads me aside, hiding us behind a tall rock.

    “What’s going on?” I whisper. “What’s the urgency.”

    “I was near Blink when the worms attacked,” he says. “I was right beside him. Heinrik wasn’t beside him. And if one of those worms took his belt as he said I doubt he would’ve gotten out of it!”

    I furrow my brow. “Then...then what are you saying?”

    “I don’t think Blink’s death was an accident.” Darius shivers.