"Where to?" asked Jared at her retreating form.
"To find a dragon and then to get the heck out of here," she said without even looking back.
"Hell, yeah. That's what I'm talking about," I said, bending down to scoop up three strawberries off the floor. "Come on, guys. Let's go dragon-hunting."
We filed out of the dining room, following the determined strides of Samantha. She was apparently following her nose because the smell of sulfur got stronger and stronger as we went on.
CHAPTER EIGHT
I WASN'T SURE WHERE ALL the dwarves had disappeared to, but we made it through I wasn't sure how much of their mountain home without even seeing or hearing a single one of them. It felt like we walked for an hour, much of it uphill, the smell of dragon breath getting more intense with nearly every step.
"Oh, man, gag a maggot, what is that unholy stench?" asked Finn.
"Dragon stink," I said. "They smell like egg salad sandwiches to me."
"Mmmm," said Spike, "I love egg salad. It's been way too long since I had some of that."
I patted him on the shoulder. "You may change your mind about that once you get an up close and personal whiff of this big daddy," I said, remembering all too clearly the size of the monster we were about to see.
Jared dropped back and walked next to me. "What can you tell us about this dragon, Jayne, or about dragons in general?"
I had to work really hard not to remind him and the others that I wasn't even supposed to be allowed here, and yet now they wanted all my knowledge and skills to help them out. That would have been petty, and I was dragon-hunting right now. I didn't have time for that crap, plus it didn't seem like as much fun right now, anyway. I just wanted to get this done and get home with all my friends in one piece.
"Well, they're about the size of T-rex dinosaurs, only minus the tiny forearms. They have big ones with claws large enough to skewer about three or four ... uh ... ," my gaze caught Niles ahead of me, and I changed my story accordingly, " ... smallish fae on the end of each one."
"They breathe fire, right?" asked Spike.
I half-expected Spike to already know everything about dragons; I had to keep reminding myself that he hadn't been with me in the Underworld, just the demon who looked like him.
"Yeah, they breathe fire. It didn't burn me at all, but that may have had something to do with me being an elemental. The demon there seemed to be pretty afraid of it."
"Any vulnerabilities?" asked Ben, barely sparing me a glance.
I so wanted to ignore him, but I couldn't. Whatever was going to happen to him would happen when we were back home - not here. "None that I saw. But The Dark definitely wanted his fang back, so I would suggest that we not do that - give them back, I mean. I had a feeling it would have made that fire a little hotter or something. Maybe I'm just crazy, but I figured it was better to be safe than sorry."
"No, I think you're right to withhold the weapon from them. There's a reason they're sacrificed during battle. They have power," said Jared.
"They have other teeth too, though. I mean, these beasts aren't defenseless without their fangs. We'd be like appetizers for them."
"What do dragons eat?" asked Finn. "Someone please tell me they hate green elves. Someone. Anyone?"
"They eat whatever they can get their claws on," said Ben. "But I hear around here it's deer and things like that."
I frowned. "You hear from who? Who told you that?"
"Shayla told us," answered Samantha when it seemed like Ben wasn't going to share. "She said they stay in the sides of mountains with openings that lead to caves they can sleep in and store their food in. They prefer ones that are higher up, not very close to the ground."
Well, that explains the upward climb and lack of friggin oxygen up here. "Did she clue you in as to what we could say to these monsters to get them to agree to our plan?"
"Nope. She said we'd hafta commune with the dang dragons, whatever the heck that means," said Finn, sounding very disappointed in our hostess.
"I say we tell them it has to be done ... don't offer them an option," said Ben.
I laughed at his arrogance. "And demanding shit and forcing fae and people into things has worked out so well for you in the past, it can't possibly go wrong with a dragon, is that it, Ben? Seriously?"
He ignored me, walking faster and pulling ahead of us.
"Just let it go," said Tony. "We can't afford to be fighting right now."
"I know," I said, partially disgusted with myself and partially mad at Tony for making me feel like an idiot.
"She's right," said Samantha. "We need to use a little finesse with dragons. They're at the top of the food chain, and the minute we forget that, the sooner we'll be french fried fae."
I tried not to be happy about having her on my side, but it was hard. She was smart and tough. "What do you suggest we do?" I asked her.
"I have no idea. You're the one with dragon experience. What did you do last time to get them to let you go?"
My face started to flame red with the memory. Tony stifled a giggle ahead of me, making we want to give him a flat tire on his stupid shoes, but they went up too high for me to pull the heel-part down. I placated myself with kicking one of his heels over to make his foot hook onto the other one.
He stumbled once but caught himself, speeding up to get out of my range. "Why don't you tell her about your narrow escape, Jayne?" he said over his shoulder, giggling some more.
I shook my head. "You guys don't need to know about the escape, since that was a witch's spell that held me kind of captive. What you need to know is how we communicated. All I can tell you is that it was in my head. The dragon spoke in my brain somehow. It was all lizardy too, with lots of hissing and stuff."
"Lizardy," said Jared, like he was trying the word on for size.
"Yeah. Lizardy. They're big friggin lizards, so what else do you want me to call it?"
He held his hands up. "Hey, lizardy works for me."
Finn and Tony were both laughing now, being smart enough to do it far away from me, up ahead. They were even past Ben now.
Just then I heard what could only be called a lizardy sound, slithering around in my head. I held out my arms to either side, stopping Samantha and Spike from going any farther. "Stop! You guys, stop!"
Finn and Tony kept going, oblivious to my warning.
"What is it?" asked Jared, turning to face me but still walking backwards.
"Don't go any farther!" I whisper-yelled.
Ben had stopped too, his head cocked to the side as if he were listening for something. Jared came up next to him, first watching Ben and then me.
I cupped my hands together to yell at Tony and Finn, but it came too late. Just as the words were leaving my mouth, a mighty roar came at us from up ahead, and the dim amber glow that had been lighting our way was overwhelmed by a bright orange and yellow light flooding every inch of the space.
We all screamed - even the guys - when the flames came right behind the light, lashing out and licking at the ones in front, namely Tony and Finn. They both screeched and ducked, covering their faces and turning to launch themselves in our direction. The flames immediately died down, leaving blackened soot in their wake.
We were back to being in a dimly lit hallway, only now we had two men down. Samantha and I ran over to join our friends who were crowded around Tony and Finn, still lying on the floor.
"Tony!" I yelled. "Finn! Are you guys okay?" I shoved Niles out of my way, dropping down in between them, reaching out to touch first Tony's back. They were both face-down on the stone floor. My hand made contact with Tony's tunic, and I immediately pulled it back, the material uncomfortably hot. I held the sleeping Willy up high so he wouldn't get too warm and wake up.
"Dude, are you okay?" asked Spike. "I smell burnt hair or something. Gah, that's gross."
Spike was right. It was the smell I remembered from when my hair got caught in the back of the hairdryer once. "Tony ... Finn ... talk
to us," I said, placing my hand gently on Tony's back again. Willy snored away, blissfully ignorant to the drama in front of us.
"Uhhhh," moaned Finn. His words came out sounding slurred and at a slower speed then normal, which meant they were now four times slower than a normal person's. "What in the sam hill happened back there. My face is on fire! Did I get sunburned or what?"
"Can you roll over?" asked Samantha. "We can't see your faces."
Finn was the first to comply. As soon as we saw the result of being kissed by dragon fire, we gasped. It was one giant intake of breath by all of us, almost sounding fake it was so perfect.
Spike broke the silence that followed with a short laugh and then, "Damn, Finn. I thought you were ugly before, but now ... boy ... good thing you already have a girlfriend, that's all I have to say."
Tony rolled over next, and we had the same reaction upon seeing his face. I moaned when I saw his skin. "Ohhhh, shit no, Tony! Dammit! Why didn't you listen to me?" I wanted to touch him, but I was afraid I'd hurt him. His face was lobster red, and his eyebrows and eyelashes were gone. So where most of his bangs, too. Small blisters had already popped up on his forehead, nose, and chin.
"Well, I guess we have our answer to one question," said Niles. "Not everyone is immune to dragon fire."
"I know I ain't," said Finn, struggling to sit up. He looked over at Tony and said, "Holy shee-it! Dang, boy." He turned to face us. "Does my face look as bad as his?"
Now that we knew Finn and Tony were alive, it was really, really hard not to laugh at the freakish picture they both made. Samantha started the giggling, but eventually we all joined in. Even Niles snorted a couple times.
"Seriously, y'all? Is it bad? Am I butt-ugly like Tony is now?"
"Well," said Spike, barely able to breathe, "no one would ever accuse you of being pretty, that's for sure."
Finn looked over desperately at Tony and then me. "Do I have my eyebrows still?"
I shook my head sadly.
"My hair?"
"Not really," I said. "Some of it, but not all."
"Blisters?" he asked in a weak voice.
"Lots," I said. I couldn't even see most of his freckles anymore. They'd been blasted off or something.
"Oh dang-me. What am I gonna say to Becky? She's gonna wipe the floor with my sorry butt when she hears what I did."
I held my hand out to help him up, and Spike did the same for Tony. "Don't worry about her," I said. "She's just going to be happy to have you back alive, period. But do us a favor next time, and don't get so far ahead. I tried to warn you and tell you to come back, but you didn't hear me."
"How'd you know to stop?" asked Jared.
"I heard the lizardy sounds again."
Before anyone could mock me too hard, Ben spoke up. "I heard them too. I know what she means now. It's like a slithering, walking, and hissing. Part lizard part snake or something."
"Yeah ... see?" I ignored the fact that it was Ben lending credence to my stupid descriptions.
"Can you help them, Jayne?" asked Spike. "Give them a shot of The Green or whatever?"
I held Tony's and Finn's hands. "I can try." I pulled some of the energy into me and sent it to them, but I could see right away it was too much. And the dragon sensed it or something, because I could hear it moving around again. "I have to stop," I said, letting the element go. "It's attracting unwanted attention, and it's just too strong over here in this realm. I think it's dangerous to use it."
"It's okay. I feel better already," said Tony, smiling at me. His blisters were flattened and healed, and his lips didn't seem quite so chapped. But his hair was still gone and his skin way too red.
Finn was in pretty much the same shape. "Yeah. That's better. Thanks, girl," he said, hugging me quickly and then letting me go so he could reach up to touch his hair. He winced at what he felt there, whistling low under his breath. "Man, I ain't never been this ugly before, even after I lost a fight against three guys who whooped me every which way but sideways in junior high."
"Hair grows back. Come on, let's go see what's what," I said, urging him forward.
He stayed rooted in place. "Are you outta your cotton-pickin-mind? No way in sam hill am I goin' in there with that fire-breathin' dragon. Huh-uh. I'm stayin' right here. You go on ahead fire girl, if you must, but I don't recommend it. You're awful pretty now, but I ain't sure how pretty you'll be without your eyebrows 'n all."
I looked at the others. "I guess he's right. You guys should stay here." I looked over at Ben. "Are you coming?" I hated the idea of him being with me, but I disliked the idea of being alone even more.
He shrugged. "I'm not sure if I'm immune like you were. We don't even know if you are here like you were in the Underworld."
"I guess we might as well find out," I said. I glanced down at Ben's leg, noticing he still had his fang on him. "I think the dragon we want to talk to is the one who wants that tooth back. Be sure you don't hand it over."
"I know what not to do. I don't need you to tell me." He sounded like he was talking to a child.
I let his disrespect fall off me like water off a ducks ass. Let him screw crap up. I could care less, so long as most of us - everyone but him - got out of here alive and in mostly one piece. Missing a little bit of hair was about as much of an injury as I could handle without losing my cool.
Spike took an extra few seconds to envelop me in a strong hug, making me promise to be careful and taking Willy from me gently, closing his fingers over the pixie's sleeping form. I also transferred the strawberries to Spike's shirt pocket, hoping they wouldn't get too squished. He smiled at me, leaning down to kiss me gently on the mouth. I kissed him back quickly but pushed the warmth that rose up in my heart away, certain that going all mushy before interacting with dragons was a bad idea. I hugged Tony next, worried he hadn't healed enough to manage the rest of our trip, but also pushing those concerns to the side for now. I would mother him later, once I had made a deal with the dragon.
The others dropped back, and Ben and I moved forward side-by-side, me making sure to stay far enough away from him that our arms wouldn't touch. I hated the idea of making contact with him, even just a little bit. We walked in complete silence for a while, the only sound we heard the slapping of my moccasins on the floor.
"I see you've completely disregarded our bonding. How classy of you."
I snorted in disgust. "Our bonding ... oh, you mean that spell you and Maggie cooked up together? Blow it out your ass, Ben. I couldn't give a single shit what you think of me or Spike or anyone else. You mean less than nothing to me."
"You think you know, but you don't. But it doesn't matter. I got what I wanted, and everything's going according to plan."
His devious and self-satisfied smile made me feel sick, but now was not the time to get into a fight with this turd. Let him think he has the upper hand. He'll get his soon enough.
"Can't you walk quieter than that?" he asked, obviously annoyed.
"Can't you shut up and just listen for the dragons?"
We fell into an uneasy silence, part of my brain focused on how much I disliked Ben and the other wondering why we weren't hearing the lizard sounds anymore. We turned a corner in the cave and came upon a pile of stones. Or rather, I thought it was a pile of stones until we got closer, and then I realized they were actually bones, not stones.
"Oh sick," I said, giving the pile a wide berth. "That's just gross." I tried to avert my eyes, but I couldn't help but look for fae skulls. I didn't see any, thank goodness.
Ben held out his arm. "Hold my hand," he demanded.
"Hold your own damn hand," I said, pushing his arm away from me.
"Come on, it'll be safer."
"Says who? I think I'm safer avoiding you, to be honest. You just worry about you, and I'll worry about me."
"Jayne, that's stupid. We're dealing with a dragon here, not a simple fae creature. We need to have each other's backs."
I snorted. "Yeah, right. Like you ha
ve my back ever. The only thing you do with my back is stick a knife in it." I shook my head at his sheer nerve. He really was the most arrogant, conceited a-hole I'd ever had the displeasure of knowing.
"That's not true, Jayne, and you know it. Things between us haven't been all bad."
"No, Ben, I don't know it; and yes, they all have too been bad. I know that you lie, that you cheat, that you steal ... you do anything you want, regardless of the circumstances or who you hurt. You're Dark Fae all the way and destined for the Underworld someday. So keep your black fucking soul the hell away from me."
"That'll be pretty difficult seeing as how we're bound to one another."
I stopped in my tracks and started cackling. Loudly. I pointed at his face and laughed even harder for effect. After I'd emptied my stress out a little, I stood and fixed him with my hardest stare. "You just don't get it, do you? Newsflash, Ben. We are not bound, nor were we ever bound. Your little friggin witchy light show was busted by the angel you tricked and the witch you recruited to help you, and it means nothing. Nothing!" The look on his face was classic. "Yeah, surprise! Happy birthday, asshole! I'm not anymore bound to you than I am to a donkey, which by the way, I'm pretty sure I would have enjoyed a lot more. So you can kiss my big white ass if you even think you're ever coming anywhere near me or living within a mile of me when we get back. We. Are. Through. No more games. No more bullshit. No more lies."
Ben stood there, fuming at me. I watched as emotion after emotion roiled across his face. He was mad, furious even, then confused, then angry all over again. He might have even looked hurt in there at some point, but I didn't give a flying filet-o-fuck about any of it.
"I did what I had to do. I did the right thing," he insisted.
I shook my head, disgusted with his conceit. "You are unbelievable, you know that? Come on. I'm bored. Let's find this dragon and get the hell out of here." I didn't wait for him, I just started walking again, avoiding stepping on any bones as best I could. I followed the stench and lights, knowing I was getting closer when the slithering sounds started up again and the lights began to flicker. I could hear Ben's footsteps as he crunched in the layer of small stones that were on the floor of the cave, but he said nothing and he no longer seemed to be interested in holding my hand. And that was just fine by me.