Chapter 26

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

I blinked at her. "What dragon?"

She didn't answer but rushed into the west wing. Fysan swooped after her, and Ben and I followed close on his tail feathers with Cal and Edouard bringing up the rear.

I caught Ben's eyes as we tried to keep up with his spry aunt as she dodged around all the furniture much quicker than we. " What dragon? "

A dire expression lay across his face. "The dragon in the basement."

My mouth dropped open and I almost tumbled over a small statue of a gnome-like creature. "What the hell is a dragon doing in the basement?"

The house shook again and I felt a strange heat flow up from the floorboards. We hurried faster and soon arrived in the room with the door to the basement. Dreda stood in front with her palms pressed against the door in the center of the circle. Her head was bowed and her eyes were shut. A few whispered words flowed from her lips.

"Head my will. Undo this spell. Allow me entrance. Into his cell."

The symbols on the door spun in a circle, distorting them into grayish squiggles before they were absorbed into the door. A heavy clunk sound echoed around the room and Dreda clenched her teeth before she pushed hard against the door. The entrance hardly budged.

Dreda whipped her head around and glared at us. "What are you doing gawking there? Get over here and help me open this door!" We scrambled over the furniture and Ben and I pushed our shoulders against the entrance while the others stood by. "Heave!" she commanded.

Ben and I pushed and the rusted hinges of the door creaked as they were forced to turn for the first time in many years. Our efforts were rewarded by a puff of hot air that stung my face. I started back and fell into a coughing fit as a stench of sulfur invaded my nostrils.

Dreda dove down a long flight of stone steps that led into the abyss. A faint red glow came from somewhere in the depths, but otherwise there was no natural light.

"My Lady!" Fysan shouted as he followed her down.

Ben latched onto my shoulder as he stared down those stairs. I couldn't help but notice that his hand shook. "You shouldn't go down there."

I looked between his quivering hand and his tense face. "Neither should you, but you know we're both going."

I grabbed his hand and tugged him down the stairs. Cal and Edouard followed behind us and the deeper we traveled the brighter the light became. The stairs ended well below ground level and revealed a cavern-like room. The walls and floor were of some rough stone, once gray but now blackened beyond measure. Stalagmites dotted the floor and stalactites hung from the ceiling. Huge stone support columns placed in neat rows were the only evidence that a house stood above us.

The source of the light stood some two hundred feet down a wide break in the columns. My heart skipped a beat when I beheld the fearsome beast. The dragon stood some fifty feet high with the usual long neck and body. A tail swished out behind it and its four feet features claws as thick as my arm. Its scales were the color of ash and a pair of red eyes glared at us from beyond its long snout.

A faint red glow emanated from its whole body, but the light was most pronounced from its mouth. Though the jaws were shut, I could still see a faint red line of fire that at any moment threatened to explode toward us.

The only comfort I had by looking at the beast was the four manacles that were wrapped around each of its legs. A heavy chain was attached to them and dragged across the ground to the walls where they had been melted to the stone.

Dreda stood at the start of the columns and scowled at the creature. "Something has awoken it."

"What are you doing with a creature such as this in your basement?" Edouard snapped as Cal and he hurried up to our sides.

Dreda folded her arms over her chest and shrugged. "To tell the whole truth, my ancestors built the manor on top of his home. When he was accidentally awakened we set him to sleep again and made use of his heat by connecting it to the hot water piping."

I whipped my head around to Dreda and stabbed a finger at the creature. " That's how the water's heated?"

"What other way would there be?" she countered as she pursed her lips. "But blast my memory, what is that spell to make it slumber again?"

"What awoke it to begin with?" Ben mused as he examined the area around us.

A thought struck me, and I scooted closer to Ben and lowered my voice to a whisper. "Is that where your mom got the dragon blood?"

He had a grim expression on his face as he nodded. "It is."

"So how do we get him back to sleep?" Edouard spoke up.

Dreda furrowed her brow. "I'm afraid I can't quite recall how it was done, but surely we'll think of something."

A deep, rumbling growl came from the dragon. He opened his jaws and revealed a gaping maw of hot fire.

"Look out!" Ben shouted as he wrapped his arms around me and threw me behind a pillar.

The others did the same just as the dragon spit out his fire. The flames flew past us and slammed into the stone steps. They were scorched and cracked.

"Everyone think faster!" I shouted.

"Fog!"

The shout came from the opposite side of the room where Cal and Edouard had thrown themselves. The pair of men scrambled to their feet and backed away from the wall as a low bank of fog floated toward them. I followed the wispy trail to the wall and saw that the mist flowed out of a small crack in the stone.

"We need to patch that hole and disperse the fog before we can put the dragon back to sleep!" Dreda ordered us.

Cal half-turned to us. "I can disperse it, but the hole is another problem."

"Leave that to me."

The offer came from Ben as he held up one hand. A ball of fire burst from his palm. Edouard narrowed his eyes at Ben and I could see the wheels of suspicion turn behind them.

Cal nodded. "Very well. Let us perform the task."

The emperor raised his arms and like before, a great wind blew up about him. The gale pushed the fog back and into the crack. Ben rushed across the gap in the columns, catching the dragon's attention. The beast roared and stomped his feet before it shot out another column of fire.

Ben rolled into the opposite row of columns a second before the fire flew past him. He tumbled across the ground and landed on his feet where he pushed off and raced to the wall. The last bit of fog was pushed back into the crack and Ben slammed his blazing hand against the stone. The rock melted beneath his touch and the crack was sealed.

"My God. . ." I heard Edouard murmur.

"Save your prayers for the larger problem!" Dreda scolded him as she grasped the column behind which we both stood and nodded at the beast. "His temper isn't improving!"

Indeed, the beast slammed his tail against the ground, causing the earthquake we had felt upstairs. The creature strained against the chains that bound it to the wall and opened its mouth. It spewed hot fire across the room and forced us to hide behind the columns. The temperature in the cavern went up ten degrees and sweat broke out over my forehead. The air became stiflingly hot and I found myself having trouble breathing.

"Your flute!" Ben shouted from across the way where Cal, Edouard, and he were hidden behind their own columns.

"What about it?" I yelled back.

"Lull it to sleep with a song!"

The color drained from my face and my eyes flitted to the emperor and his guard. "But. . ."

"There's no other choice!" Ben insisted.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded. All eyes were on me as I drew the flute from its container and held it up to my lips. I took a deep breath and blew.

A sweet melody floated out of the instrument, one I didn't remember learning from Elias. The gentle song reverberated around the cavern and wrapped us in a soothing blanket. I noticed Edouard's eyes half close and the man swayed a little. Cal set his hand on his compatriot's back and pinned Edouard against the column to keep him from falling backward.

The song had the same effect on the dragon. The creature swayed from side to side and its eyes became half-lidded. It dropped onto its stomach, shaking the ground, and opened its mouth for a nice, big yawn. The dragon set its head on the dirt and closed its eyes. Soon the music was mingled with the sounds of its snoring.

I tentatively stopped playing and lowered the flute. The dragon remained in restful sleep.

I breathed a sigh of relief as Ben crossed the column gap over to me and wrapped me in a warm hug. "Brilliant," he whispered as he pulled us apart.

Cal joined us with a still-drowsy Edouard following behind him. I clutched the flute close against me to hide the tell-tale markings as the former owner smiled at me. "A wonderful song, Millie. Where did you learn it?"

I shook my head. "I-I don't remember."

"Can we give out the congratulations somewhere that isn't so warm?" Dreda spoke up as she nodded at the stairs. "And those might need to be put on hold until we give the house another search for more of this detestable fog."