He pointed. "See them? Dread Ones."
"Do you want me to kill them?"
"Yes."
Gye didn't hesitate. He swooped down like a hawk after a rat. Killum watched and waited with bated breath. That was how battle-mages should fight, astride a powerful dragon mount. They dropped down to fly nape of the earth over the road for a moment, before bursting out of nowhere above the undead orks. The unholy monsters cried out before Gye incinerated them with dragon fire.
Killum cried out in battle joy. "Wahoo! That's how you do it."
"Unfortunately, the undead are inedible. I ate one once, and was sick for a week."
They made another pass to ensure all of the Dread Ones died. Then he ordered Gye back to the lair. As they approached the lair, he used his Farsee to zoom in on them. One and all had looks of wonder. It made him all tingly proud.
Land in front of my friends, Killum thought, mostly to test Gye’s telepathic abilities. Can you carry two of us at once? I'd like to give my friends rides.
"I am very powerful. I can carry all of you on my back all the way across these lands and back."
The battle-mage landed astride his dragon. His friends had the most amazed looks on their upturned faces. Killum carefully remained outwardly calm, as befitting a powerful battle-mage.
"Gye is very powerful. He can carry more than one of us," Killum said. He caught the sorceress's eyes. "Asha, would you like to go for a joy ride first?"
Her jaw dropped. Their gaze became so intense that Killum had to avert his eyes and look at Fergus for a second. Asha looked the dragon over, gnawed on her lip, and finally nodded.
Gye immediately dropped low, pressing his shoulders to the ground to let her climb up. Killum reached down and helped her up. There was only room for one in the saddle, and he was afraid she'd fall off if she sat behind him, so Killum positioned her on his lap and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"You're sure it's safe?"
"Absolutely," he said. "Let's fly, Gye. Hey, it rhymed."
Gye leapt up and started beating his wings. Fergus, Rand, and Tiana were buffeted by the wind and knocked down. Killum glanced back, worrying that he'd hurt them. But they all got up and waved. He and Asha waved back.
"This is amazing," Asha said.
Killum felt her trembling, but she looked and acted excited. Gye flew up, up, up in a great spiral. They almost reached the clouds before he leveled out and glided. That gave them an inspiring view of the land in all directions. It was mostly green forest covered foothills to the south, with a ribbon of the river twisting and turning through it. To the north were ever-rising mountains.
"At the end of the valley is Warlord's Castle," Gye said. "That's where all of the undead come from. I used to collect tribute from the Duke before that damned necromancer conquered the castle."
"Have you seen what is beyond Warlord's Castle?" Asha asked.
"Yes. Countless kingdoms and empires stretch out to the ocean beyond," he said. The dragon craned his head around. "There are oceans on all four sides of the land. Nothing but endless water."
"Are there other lands beyond the oceans?" Killum asked.
"Yes. I've never seen any of them. This is my land. I have no desire to leave."
Killum wondered if Gye was telling him something. Still, if I want to cross the ocean –
Gye turned straight down into a power dive. Asha screamed. Killum felt her lifting off his lap, so tightened his arms around her. She twisted her upper body around and wrapped her arms around his neck and held on desperately. A moment later Gye leveled off, and their eyes met.
Electricity rippled through him. Killum couldn't breathe as they gazed into each other's eyes. Their lips brushed, and it was instant passion. His hands were all over her, while hers were all over him. Before he knew it, she was turned around facing him, legs wrapped around him.
Killum kissed his way down her slender throat, and then across her shoulder. He had his eyes on her deep cleavage and breasts, but didn't want to push it too fast. Her head rolled back and she moaned with pleasure. A smile spread across his face as he started to kiss lower.
Gye landed before the lair.
"What the – " Killum looked down at three grinning friends. Tiana was nodding. Rand was shaking his head.
You're welcome, Gye spoke straight into his head.
Asha cleared her throat, looking a little discombobulated. She quickly slipped out of his lap and back to the ground. Killum gave the back of Gye's head a dirty look, before looking back to his friends.
"Anyone else want to go for a ride?"
"No. I never want to go for a ride with you," Fergus said. He cut an amused look at Asha. "The price is much too high."
Chapter 34
They crawled through the underbrush before dropping to their bellies side-by-side atop a low rise. The road was to their left, and below them were a dozen Dread Ones. One was a female spellcaster of some sort, since she carried an ornate staff with a fist-sized ruby.
Tarissa. Human mage (Lvl 21). -13 Dark. PK: 6.
Killum was pretty sure Tarissa was alive. She moved too well, and her complexion was a beautiful light tan. The mage was blonde and gorgeous, dressed in a skimpy black silk outfit that made Asha look matronly. Really, it was bits of black silk that barely covered her most important areas, all held together with silver jewelry and chains. And she wore black stiletto-heeled thigh boots. The ruby in the middle of her forehead glowed red.
The ruby in her staff wasn't glowing visible to the naked eye, but it radiated enormous power in Killum's magical sight. The staff itself was about six feet long, stained black, with lots of glowing runes carved along its length. His magical sight couldn't discern if an object was Light or Dark, but his normal vision screamed Dark.
That was the largest group of Dread Ones they'd encountered since leaving the dragon's lair two days back. The group spent the night in Gyevikxus' lair before setting out the next morning, with Killum keeping Gye inside the helmet. He only summoned the dragon to go on short scouting flights. It was one of those flights that allowed him to spot the ambush below.
"There's actually two mages," Asha said. She pointed to an ork on the other side of the road. "That really fancy ork is a shaman, but undead."
The battle-mage checked him out. The ork looked like a barbarian shaman, dressed in a leather loincloth, feathered cape, and ornate headdress of bear-skull and feathers. His dark body was covered in ritual tattoos and scaring.
Bearclaw. Ork shaman (Lvl 29). -50 Dark. PK: 77. Undead.
"An undead player?" Tiana said. "Eww. I still can't believe we can be killed in a way that we don't respawn, but become the undead slaves of some stupid necromancer."
"Dark magic is very powerful," Asha said. "But if it makes you feel better, the zombies will be freed from their evil master when we kill them."