Chapter IX:
The Beast
Escape from LofBrusht
Agonas had very little sense of time during his imprisonment in LofBrusht. For an immortal, the passage of time feels differently, as the accumulation of memory renders each new moment less significant. When a thousand years have passed, a year feels no longer than a month or even a week. So Agonas had no idea how long he had remained in captivity. But his captivity was about to end. Of this he was certain. He had decided to abandon his rivalry, his Doom Path, the daughter of Ijjan and everything else from his former life. Zefru would be happy to remain in Sesana, and Gheshtick could go wherever he wished, learning whatever he pleased without risking life and health for Agonas' ambitions. Xan, also, could return to Thure and resume his stewardship over its people.
These hopes were not to be, however. He woke in a fright one morning, his nostrils filled with the smell of burning.
He rose from his bed and grabbed at his side, looking for his sword. He marveled that it should still be his habit to do so.
Zefru was still sleeping; the thief could sleep through just about anything if he wished. Agonas shook him to wakefulness and the two of them peered over the edge of the prison. 'Are there men fighting below?' Agonas asked, knowing the thief's eyes were sharper than his own. Zefru took one look and then nodded.
'I see five men standing against twelve. Nay,' Zefru corrected himself, 'against ten... six. They are dropping quickly!'
Suddenly a voice called to them from the other prison. Xan and Gheshtick had noticed the conflict as well. 'The woods are aflame!' Xan shouted. 'We had better hope Zefru's ropes will hold us after all.'
Toward the east they could see the source of the smoke and ashes, as several of the great Dragon-thorn pines were slowly burning up, their great bulk sending waves of dark smoke into the air.
There was very little that they could do or learn from where they stood, and they were filled with fear and anxiety until at last they beheld a figure ascending. Agonas and Zefru stepped aside and broke the legs from their table to use as clubs. But their weapons were unnecessary, for the head that appeared over the edge of the box belonged to the dwarf Ereg, whom they had not seen now for over two years.
Agonas' heart sunk into his stomach, as he realized that his decision to abandon his fate had been overruled by Fate herself. For he could not now dwell in peace in the Kingdom of Seasons. He could still abandon the North, to be sure, but only to live as a villain and criminal in the Manlands of Kharku or among the dwarves in the west. He greeted Ereg with fondness and gratitude, but he could only feign joy. His Doom Path had followed his feet and overtaken him.
After a few short words the dwarf led them to the lift and the three of them descended. The beautiful tree that had been their home and prison for the last two years passed them by as they dropped lower and lower toward the ground, vanishing from sight even as all hope and peace vanished from his heart. As the son of Parganas considered this new and unexpected turn of events, he began to recall all the people and places he had just cast from his mind. The name of Indra rose up within him like a flame sparked to life by a lightning strike. All the Fateful passion of his race seemed to enter into him, and he felt as if he could smell the blood of the great Monster already. 'You have come, dear dwarf,' Agonas said, pausing to breath in the black smoke deeply, as if he were calling dark spirits into his soul. 'You have come to make an end of the Drake'Ya, and to fulfill your pledge.'
'Not me alone,' Ereg said, pointing toward the ground where his sons waited for him. And there stood Fas and San, Haf and Jah, each with deadly passion in their eyes. The elves did not even seem to notice that Naj was no longer among them.
'We can never repay you for this, Ereg of Sparka,' Agonas said, his voice filled with gratitude. 'Faithful are the dwarves.'
'That l'be see't,' Ereg said gruffly.
The Beast and the Bargain
Not long after Agonas stepped out onto the solid ground, Ereg sent San up to the other prison to rescue Xan and Gheshtick. The dwarves were uneasy as they waited, fearful that a greater force might soon appear. The fire they had started would keep other warriors away from the forest, they hoped. A blazing Dragon-thorn is not a thing to trifle with. Agonas felt a moment of sadness when he saw the bloodied body of Robern lying upon the ground beside the tree. 'So it must be,' he said. 'So I have chosen, and so you have chosen in me, and so it has been chosen for us.' He was not altogether unlike his brother, he thought bitterly.
The dwarves led the elves swiftly through the forest, leading them through wild brush and over streams with great haste. At first the elves seemed unable to walk or run, since they had grown so accustomed to the swaying treetops. But after nearly an hour of running and jogging, their steadiness seemed to return to them.
They came suddenly upon a small cave that led underneath the roots of a great Dragon-thorn. The dwarves drove them on into the darkness, helping them keep their feet when they stumbled and pushing them forward when they pleaded for rest. At last they emerged from the cave and realized that they had crossed a large river - the name they did not know - and had come to the northwestern border of LofBrusht.
'From here 'tis a two week journey to Mount Sodeppa, where Drake'Ya yet slumbers,' Ereg informed them.
'Then bring us to the Monster,' Agonas said with an even tone.
Much to his surprise, Ereg replied by saying, 'We l'see. Tomorrow night we l'take council.'
'Why not tonight?' Agonas asked with the frustration apparent in his voice.
'We l'not rest until we know t' Sesana l'not follow. By tomorrow we l'be beyond their grasp.'
When the appointed evening came, the elves and the dwarves, such as remained, gathered around a great fire to speak of their mission. Ereg meant to begin his speech with a harsh complaint about the death of his son, and how it was to avoid such a thing that he had agreed to be their guide. But before he said anything, Gheshtick took him aside by the arm and asked, 'Where is the youngest one? Where is Naj, the archer?' It was clear that the sadness in his face was also in his heart. He alone had noticed that Naj was missing, but he had assumed they would meet up with him ere they continued on toward the mountain. Ereg said nothing, but simply inhaled slowly with his eyes shut, swallowing his pain as was the custom in Sparka.
'Many hardships we suffer't,' Ereg began, taking on a much calmer tone than he otherwise would have used. 'All for your sake. We have no hatred or love for t' Drake'Ya, and would not risk anything t' slay him. This is your quest. You set your wages - t' life of my youngest son. You set t' wages; we pay't t' price. Naj, golem-bane and slayer of many Gargantan, kill't by t' warriors of Fist and Antfister.'
'The warriors of who?' Zefru blurted out with confusion. 'What have we to do with them?'
Gheshtick hissed at him to be silent, and said, 'We honor his death, master Ereg, and we will carry the report of his accomplishments wherever we set foot.'
Ereg nodded and then continued, 'We earn't our reward. We owe nothing.' He spoke this last word swiftly and sharply.
'That is fair,' Agonas said flatly, though his face revealed his anxiety at the way the dwarf was speaking.
'We l'bring you t' Drake'Ya,' Ereg continued, now speaking as slowly and clearly as possible, 'we l'set all our might against him. But we demand greater reward than t' return of your captive.'
'What do you desire?' Agonas asked, growing more and more nervous as the dwarf continued.
'You l'bring us - every last man, woman and child of Sparka, t' Far North. We l'not be servants or thralls to man; we l'be given a place.'
'I swear it,' Agonas said without hesitation, though inwardly he felt anxious about whether or not he could truly give them such a prize.
'I will see to it that this is done,' Gheshtick said firmly, both to comfort Ereg and to hold Agonas to his word.
'May I ask, why?' Xan said, opening his mouth for the first time since the council began. 'Why would you want
to go to the North? What of Sparka?'
'Sparka is people,' San said. 'Our land lies beneath our feet.'
'How will this be arranged?' Agonas said, thinking practically.
'That is not our responsibility,' Ereg said.
'Very well,' Agonas said, accepting that it would be his task to arrange for their transport in some way.
'What of the other people of Sparka?' Xan said, still not satisfied by San's vague answer. 'Are they willing to leave their homeland? Why would you depart from Kharku so suddenly?'
Ereg sighed, obviously unwilling to explain himself any further. Nevertheless, he said, 'The Jee'Nai have spoken.'
Xan's expression seemed to freeze upon his face. He shook his head and leaned back, his face vanishing from the warm glow of the firelight. He no longer seemed interested in the answer.
'For two years,' Ereg explained, 'we listen't t' words of t' Jee'Nai - t' Elementals. We learn't from Fuehar of t' fire, from Ocreov of t' water, and from Eleshi of t' wind - all speak what t' Earth speaks: War l'come t' west, and Sparka l'not survive it. If we do not depart from Kharku we l'be drawn into t' destruction of Turg, and our people l'be scatter't. T' people of Sparka believe us, and their hopes rest upon us.'
'You have returned to Sparka?' Xan asked, his face suddenly appearing out of the darkness. 'Did you have any news of Thure?'
'Mm,' Ereg grunted truthfully. All of the Elementals had confirmed that some great evil had befallen the Coastmen; but that was no longer, properly speaking, news. Xan would learn soon enough what had befallen his home and his kin. Or, if he were fortunate, he would be slain by the Monster and never need to feel any of the sorrow. 'We return't t' take council with Kuhaf'Da and t' elders. We stay't only two nights, and then returned t' south.'
Zefru thought for a moment before saying, 'But where have you been for all these months? How long have we been in that prison?'
'Two years,' Ereg answered.
'And you returned to Sparka for so short a time?' Zefru marveled. 'If I were in your place I would have abandoned us and went home in peace.'
'We are not free t' do so,' Ereg said. 'We l'not ignore t' words of Elementals.'
'We will bring you to Bel Albor,' Agonas said. 'But now, what of the Beast? Have you any further knowledge concerning his whereabouts? Do you have any idea how he might be slain?'
'We watch't him for a year and a month,' Ereg said. 'And we have carried many weapons from Sparka for t' battle.'
'Is there no way to take him in slumber?' Zefru said, thinking like the thief he was at heart.
'When you see him,' Ereg said, you l'understand.'
Upon Sodeppa
For the next two weeks the elves and dwarves traveled westward, making their way slowly over the foothills of the great mountain range at the center of Kharku. The dwarves were somber and serious, as the region was close to the place all dwarves considered their birthplace - the Deplunds, or the Deeps of Kharka.
This name refers to an enormous system of caverns and caves, underground cities and hidden valleys where the ancient dwarves hid from the rampages of Thaeton the Dragon. Now these lands were overrun by beasts and goblins, and the caves were too massive for any dwarf to hope for a return. Nature had reclaimed them, and the dwarves had no choice but to accept it.
This resignation was considered a sort of coming of age among the dwarves. When a child reached the age of seventeen he was told the history, such as the dwarves recall it, of the Dragon Wars, and how so many thousands of golem-riders perished in the war that drove the Dragon from Kharku forever (some of these stories even credited the dwarves with the raising of the Dragon-thorn pine forest). The natural reaction to this sad tale, of course, would be anger at the thought that the Deplund was lost to the dwarves. But the dwarves are a hardy race of people, and if they could accept this ill turn of Fate, they could accept just about anything else, and endure just about any insult or injury without whimpering.
Just about a week before Lord Pelas and his fleet disembarked from Grenost to chase the Thunder Snake for the second and final time, Agonas and his party came at last to the foothills of Sodeppa, and there they beheld the great Beast of the Earth - the Drake'Ya.
They saw the beast, but they did not comprehend it. To their eyes the mountain looked like any other mountain. A thick covering of snow lay upon its peak, and it was covered with rocks and trees, bushes and streams. At first Agonas thought the dwarves had misled him, bringing him to the place of some deity or Elemental spirit, and not to a real monster.
The dwarves led them along a steep trail up the eastern slope of the mountain. The terrain grew harder as they went, until at last the land seemed to flatten out and begin a more gentle rise toward the top of the mountain. The elves were surprised to find twelve more dwarf warriors, busy at work, hammering iron, felling trees and breaking rocks.
'Where is the beast?' Zefru said confusedly, voicing the question the other elves dared not ask.
'Has he awoken already?' Agonas asked, hoping that the whole endeavor had not been in vain.
'You stand upon his back,' Ereg said firmly. Suddenly, almost as if to confirm what he had said, the whole land trembled and the elves felt the ground rise gently, shaking the trees and rocks as it ascended. This continued for nearly a full minute before the land finally began to quietly settle back to its former state.
'He breathes,' one of the dwarves said, putting down his hammer and approaching the others.
'Ereg,' he said in greeting.
'Yahaf,' Ereg responded.
Yahaf was a white-bearded dwarf dressed in thick leather armor. He looked much older than Ereg, but he did not show any signs of weariness or senility. 'Adapnan?' he asked, looking at the elves one by one.
Ereg nodded.
'All prepare't,' Yahaf said, lifting one shoulder in the direction of the mountaintop. Ereg then surveyed the hillside, looking carefully at all that the dwarves had done. When the elves followed him over to where the other dwarves were working they were shocked to see a series of tunnels dug into the snow covered rock, and great chains rising from below as if the dwarves meant to chain the mountain itself.
'Drake'Ya l'be held in place,' Ereg explained, adding for their sake, 'for only a short while.' If he were speaking to dwarves he would not have needed to say that last part - the dwarves would never be so foolish as to think that chains would hold the Beast for longer than a few moments. But men and elves, he had noticed, were not very good at such calculations.
'When he wakes,' Ereg continued, 'We l'snare his jaw, and bind him to the mountain.'
'Then what?' Agonas said after the dwarf paused.
Ereg sighed and looked down the mountain toward the eastern foothills. 'Then we l'see what the Jee'Nai have plan't for us.'
'Can we kill it?' Agonas said.
'I do not know,' Ereg said. 'and the Jee'Nai would not say whether it was possible.'
'Why should they withhold this from you? Do they wish to see us trampled for naught in a hopeless battle?' Agonas could not hide his frustration. It had always seemed to him that prophets and oracles, for all their foresight, never seemed to have sense enough to speak plainly, or to speak the entire truth.
'Jee'Nai always speak, and speak all,' Ereg answered. 'But there are some things which no man has the skill to hear. The battle l'be difficult, and your path narrow; therefore the words of the Jee'Nai are difficult and narrow. I cannot understand them. I try't for many months.'
This seemed to satisfy Agonas. 'Then for all their wisdom we must cast lots all the same.'
'How shall we slay it?' Xan asked, looking down at the chains. 'And... where is it?'
'Follow,' Ereg commanded, leading the party westward up the mountain. As they drew near a pair of young dwarves, each with blonde hair and braided beards, they saw another great chain fastened around the rocks of the earth it seemed. But nearby they saw a small crevice in the rock, no larger than the girth of a man's head.
r /> 'Is this,' Xan asked in astonishment, 'From whence he breathes?'
'Tis,' Ereg affirmed.
'Why don't we just stop it up, and suffocate the devil?' Zefru asked.
'I'm not sure that would be a good course of action,' Gheshtick said thoughtfully. 'The panic that comes over a choking man is terrible enough. But the Drake'Ya - he will rend these chains and this mountain asunder.'
Ereg nodded. Perhaps not all elves were as foolish as he thought. Gheshtick, at least, seemed to have some sense of the workings of the world. 'His throat, just behind his jawbone, is tender, and can be pierced with dwarf-steel. When he wakes, we must strike and strike hard.'
'What if it is not enough?' Agonas asked.
'We l'perish.'
'How shall we wake him?' Agonas asked.
'He l'wake in three days,' Ereg answered. 'T' Jee'Nai say't so.'
The Beast Awakens
Just before dawn on the third day the elves and dwarves were awakened by a tremendous crash. The whole mountain seemed to have sprung to life, and everything in their small camp was shaking wildly. They quickly rushed from their tents and donned their weapons and armor. Ereg came over to Agonas and handed him a small bundle. 'What is this?' he asked curiously.
'Tis dwarf-made,' Ereg answered, turning to shout commands to the other dwarves. Agonas unwrapped the bundle and drew out a long sword, equal in every way to the one he had lost to the Sesana. The other elves were likewise armed; each being given a sword and what armor they thought would be necessary. They did not wear any plate-mail or anything overly constricting. Any blow from the Beast would be fatal enough, regardless of armor. They might as well retain their mobility.
Zefru refused to take any armor, and traded his sword for a long dagger, saying, 'I am not a warrior - I am as likely to drive it through my own leg as I am to put a hole in the Monster.'
Their camp was just west of where Ereg insisted the beast's head was buried. They wanted to be close to his head so that they could reach him quickly when he roused.
When they were all armed and prepared, Ereg led the whole band, seventeen dwarves and four elves, toward the rising sun.
Just when the light sprung over the horizon in all of its blinding brilliance, sending piercing spears of light into their sleep-heavy eyes, they heard a thunderous sound. The whole mountain shook once more, this time as violently as an earthquake. All but Zefru fell to their knees or stumbled onto their faces as the whole eastern face of the mountain broke apart. The rocks and trees that stood upon the mountain seemed to rise up of their own accord and the snow dropped from the rising mound in great heaps. Trees whose roots had grown as thick as a man slid off the great mass as though they were twigs in a stream and even older trees, some thrice the girth of a Gargantan, cracked and splintered as if they were made of paper as the Beast shook off the bulk that had accrued atop his back in the many long years of his rest. When the dwarves and elves regained their footing they saw him at last, a great hulking Monster, five times longer than the distance the greatest elf hero could toss a stone.
The creature's long legs were like towers, casting dark shadows over the warriors. The Beast's toes ended in claws that were twice the length of a horseman's spearhead. These now dug deep into the rocks and stones below as the Monster tested its newly awoken might. Amidst two massive shoulders hung a head like a lizard's on a long, thick neck. The creature had an enormous snout with a thick lower jaw and a great bony crest atop its head. It's eyes were sharp and filled with cunning. The entire creature was covered with thick scaly armor.
Dumbfounded, the elves and dwarves alike stood motionless as the Beast surveyed the ruined mountainside upon which it had slumbered for so many years. After a short time the Beast's eye fixed its gaze upon Agonas and his companions. For a moment it viewed them curiously, but almost as though it saw in Agonas' own eyes the intentions of this band of fighters, the Beast snarled, splitting the air with its thunderous voice. Fear seized the party, and none of them moved - the Beast was prepared to devour and trample them all. But as it started forward its back legs caught upon the chains and then its hands, and the entire bulk of the creature toppled, breaking the chains, but losing its balance. It split the mountainside into shattered pieces as it fell, breaking rocks and trees beneath it as though they were dry grass and dirt.
As the dust cleared they saw that the Monster lay upon the ground in a daze, its enormous body struggling against its remaining chains.
'Jah'Ereg! Now!' Ereg called out in a fury.
His son lost no time, charging forward with huge javelin to the back of which was fastened an enormous chain. Haf and Fas ran behind him, each helping bear the weight of the chain as their brother made his throw. The spear flew into the air and the chain sang as it followed, each link clinking against the next as it straightened out. The throw was a good one, and the javelin pierced the Monster's nostril. When the monster recoiled, Jah pulled the chain tight, his brothers and the other dwarves grabbing the chain and lending their strength to his own. The javelin pulled tight against the Monster, fixing itself to its head. The other chains that had been placed about the Beast's neck were now pulled taut, bringing the Beast's head low enough for the elves to strike at its throat.
Agonas charged forward, his sword prepared for the deathblow. But as soon as he came within ten paces of the Beast's face it turned suddenly, dragging the dwarves to the ground as it yanked against the chain to look at its attacker. The intelligent and hateful gaze seemed to turn Agonas' blood to ice. He stopped where he stood and could not move. In an instant the Drake'Ya lunged toward him, its jaws opened wide to receive him. But Xan pushed him aside, the two of them rolling away from the creature's mouth.
'Kill!' Ereg shouted, as if the elves needed any such command. Gheshtick rushed forward and took a swing at the Monster, but the great beast was surprisingly agile, quickly pulling its great head backwards, both dodging the blow and preparing a strike of its own. Were it not for Zefru's dagger, which he cast deep into the Beast's throat, and the renewed efforts of the dwarves to restrain him, the Beast would have made an end of Gheshtick that very moment. But his jaws clenched tight nearly a foot from Gheshtick's face. This, of course, was closer than anyone would wish to be to this monstrosity. All he could do was fall back in a faint upon the ground, helpless against the monster's next blow. Fortunately for him, however, the Beast was stunned by Zefru's attack, and did not make a second attempt upon his life. In its confusion, the Beast once again pulled at its bonds, until it broke free from all of its chains.
'Kill!' Ereg shouted again, as the Beast prepared to lift its head out of their reach.
Agonas rushed forward and leaped atop the creature's snout, thrusting his sword deep into the side of its head.
The Monster thrust its neck back, hurling Agonas from its head to roll senselessly down its back. His body rolled to a stop when it struck a great boulder that yet lay upon the creature. The Monster then lifted its head, no longer constrained by its chains, lifting all seventeen of the dwarves from the ground as they clung desperately to the chain. Yahaf was at the bottom of this strange hanging spectacle, and quickly released his grip, landing gently on the ground. Some of the others followed suit, but those that remained were scattered into the air when the Beast shook the chain violently, sending them flying in every direction. Three of the Sparkans fell from the mountain and were broken to death upon the rocks. San's ankle was broken when he fell, and he did no more during the battle. Jah and Haf fell to the ground in front of the Beast, landing upon the smaller branches of a fallen tree. Ereg and Fas were thrown up over the Monster's head, landing upon his enormous shoulder. The other dwarves fell to the ground like scattered drops of rain, some injuring themselves, but most of the others coming to land upon the ground without great harm.
Yahaf quickly helped pull the others from the ground and gathered the dwarves together. The Beast stepped forward, each stride the length of a tree's height.
He lifted his head and struck down toward the dwarves with deadly speed, his mouth gaping to swallow and devour them. But Haf rushed in front of him and stood with his great shield barring the way.
The Monster plowed into the shield, and Haf's feet were pushed sliding back. The Monster pushed forward, his great bulk forcing Haf to rush backwards.
The Beast lifted his head again, preparing to strike at the shield with all of his might. Haf filled his lungs with air, and swallowed his terror. But as the Beast lunged forward, Jah cast his long spear over his brother's shoulder into the Beast's mouth, where it sunk deep into its flesh. The Monster roared and lifted up onto its hind legs.
For nearly a minute it seemed as though the Beast did nothing more than rise up into the air, its front legs flailing in anger and pain. When it came down again the force of its fall shattered the mountain to pieces, sending dwarves, elves, rocks and trees flying in every direction. It stopped for a moment to survey the devastation and to see if any of its foes remained. But as it paused to look, an arrow flew straight and true from Xan's bow into the creature's left eye. The creature recoiled in terror and pain, turning from them to flee.
'Kill it!' Xan cried desperately, not knowing whether any of the others yet breathed. But he realized in that instant that the monster would trample all of Kharku in its rage before it once again calmed enough to lay down and sleep. 'What have we done?' he asked himself, his face pale in horror. 'This is too great for us! We have destroyed Kharku itself!'
The Beast turned toward the east and lumbered off slowly down the mountainside. I say 'slowly' only because the monster's steps were not rapid in the proper sense of the word. But his strides were so long that he covered more distance and covered it faster than any other creature could hope to manage. Before long he was well beyond any of the dwarves and elves on Mount Sodeppa. 'He is beyond us now,' Xan said as he began to look among the wreckage for survivors. 'And nothing can save Kharku from his wrath.'
Ereg awoke to see a bright sun above him surrounded by a clear blue sky. He shook himself and rose, not sure of his surroundings. He saw that he was standing atop the mountain, but he could recognize nothing. He sat down quickly, thinking that he must be dizzy from his fall. But as he looked around him he realized that it was not his head that spun, rather, it was the movement of the mountain itself that was making everything around it fly past his sight.
He was atop the Drake'Ya and the monster was on a rampage. He quickly climbed higher, trying to get some sense of where he stood. He was standing just below the Monster's shoulders, slightly to the right. On his left he could see the immense ridges of the creature's spine rising high above him. He followed these toward the Beast's head, coming at last to look over the Monster's shoulders at what lay before him. In the distance he could see a great city - Sesno, no doubt. The Monster had been driven from that city before, when thousands of men withstood him. But still more times he had leveled it, forcing the survivors of the Sesana to rebuild the whole habitation anew. This time the Beast was in a fury, and there would be no turning away his wrath.
'It l'flatten Sesno,' a voice said from his left. There, seated calmly atop the monster's neck was his son Fas. Ereg came and stood beside him, quietly watching the gentle rising and falling of the monster's body as it lumbered on in anger.
'Peaceful here,' Ereg said, noticing how quiet everything seemed from their vantage point. Beneath the monster the ground quaked and rumbled, but very little of that carnage seemed to affect the Beast himself.
'I am sorry about Naj'Ereg, father,' Fas said, and Ereg noticed that he had tears in his eyes. It was not like dwarves to apologize. If a dwarf acted wrongly, his repentance was assumed. So long as he did not persist in his errors, there was no need for him to say anything more about it. This strange behavior could only mean that Fas now meant to die.
Ereg watched as Fas handled his great axe, contemplating how he might make an end of the Monster. 'Mm,' Ereg grunted. 'You must bring the dwarves North, and make the name of Sparka great in a new land.'
'No!' Fas said, his anger rising. 'I l'do this for Naj'Ereg. I l'trade my life for his glory.'
Ereg struck him, and for a moment a rage and a madness came over his son's face. But he swallowed his anger, and nodded, wiping the tears from his face.
'Bring dwarves glory in t' North, and tell of Naj's last battle in every city. He return't to Jee, and wherever you go, he l'go also. Honor him this way. I l'slay t' Drake'Ya.'
They did not need to speak of it, for both of them understood that to slay the beast they would need to climb beneath his neck and cut his throat. But whoever did so would undoubtedly be slain in the panic that would precede the Monster's death.
'The Elementals say't t' me,' Ereg said, 'that I l'save either Sparka or my own sons, but that I could not save both. But now I see; it is only so long as I survive Drake'Ya's wrath. I know now how t' save both.'
'Mm!' Fas said, shaking his head.
'Bring Sparka to glory, Fas'Ereg! You are my son!' Ereg loosened his sword in its sheath and took hold of the Monster's scaly flesh, slowly climbing down the front of its shoulders.
'Father!' Fas shouted in horror as he watched him vanish beneath the creature's neck.
Ereg's grip was sure and his steps were careful as he made his way under the Monster's neck. He drew the Skatos and with one careful swipe he cut open a gaping wound in the Monster's flesh, pouring down black blood in a shower upon the earth below. The monster stumbled in horror and shock, turning in every direction as if to find some way to stop what the dwarf had done to him. Ereg struck again, widening the wound and pouring out blood in a great waterfall from the Monster's throat.
The Beast of the Earth soon stumbled and fell, landing in a ruinous heap upon the ground, just a league from the gates of Sesno.
'Ereg!' Fas shouted in a mad panic when the monster fell. When the perishing mass had finally come to a halt he took his great axe and slashed ferociously at the Beast's neck until he had broken through the Monster's thick scaly armor and severed its head from its body. By the time the dust had cleared he was already digging through the gore of the monster's ruin to find his father's body.
Soon he was joined by Agonas, who had awakened just in time to see Ereg vanish beneath the monster's throat. Without a word he began digging as well, not sure what the other dwarf expected to find.
In the end they found only the sword - the Skatos of Ereg. They did not find Ereg himself.
Their search was halted by the sound of a trumpet that rose up from somewhere in the city. The guards of Sesno had seen the Beast, and had undoubtedly alerted the people of its coming. Now they could see a great host of horsemen riding across the plain toward the Monster's body.
'Curse them!' Agonas spat. He took his sword and cut a great tooth from the Beast's jaw. 'No other creature could have a tooth of this size. This will have to serve as proof,' he said as he wrapped it in cloth torn from his own cloak. 'We must go, master dwarf.'
Fas looked at him with bloodshot eyes and nodded.
To Agonas he looked like a madman.
In Fas' hand he held the Skatos, the blade of which was now stained dark with the black blood of the Drake'Ya – a darkness that would never wash away. He put the sword in his belt, and leaned his axe over his shoulder. 'It is time,' he affirmed. 'The Drake'Ya is dead. Sparka do't its work in Kharku. All is changed.'
Turning one last time to face the ruin of the Monster he said, 'Farewell, Father, Ereg Drak-bane!' He swallowed his pain and turned to face the north, where the shattered mountain of Sodeppa lay and where the survivors of his brethren would be waiting.