“Count Loytan is not at the fort, Highness,” said one of the men. “We met him up on the palace walls but no one has seen him since.”
Rodario was glad he had turned his face away: No one could read his expression. He considered himself a gifted enough actor to conceal his grin, but better safe than sorry.
The gondola swayed in the evening breeze and Mallenia went very pale. The rocking movement was not too severe, however, as the anchoring bolts were all secure.
It was all too slow for Coira’s liking, and she told the guards to release the brakes a little further.
“But Your Highness, that’ll mean we’ll be too fast to stop at the landing stage.” The man risked an objection. “It’s not safe to go any quicker.”
The gondola had already dropped further away from the island when Rodario spied the creature again. “There it is! It’s hanging underneath the rock!”
Mallenia, Coira and the soldiers leaned out for a better view.
It was like a lizard with the wings of a grasshopper. The scaled body was ten paces long, the mouth large enough to swallow a whole cow, and the black skin was shimmering damply in the last of the evening light: Rodario could pick out yellow and blue markings. It was wearing an iron chain around its neck, bearing an onyx pendant the size of a handcart.
“Why aren’t the catapults on the fortress firing?” He was worried now.
The stony eyes had the gondola in their sights.
Mallenia looked down at the arrow slings, which seemed to be aimed straight at them. “It’s because of us. We’re in the line of fire so we’re giving the creature cover.”
“It can’t be the Dragon-no, it’s certainly not Lohasbrand.” Coira stated.
“Perhaps a small friend of his? Has he been sent out as an advance messenger?” Rodario could not make head or tail of the creature’s appearance. He had never met the like in any of the sagas he was conversant with. “It’s staring at me,” he said, moving away from the window. “As if it really likes actors.”
“I’m sure it only eats good ones,” Mallenia teased him, aware once more that she was behaving like a silly girl in love-and that this was a highly unsuitable time for such behavior.
“It’s staring at all of us,” said Coira.
“To be honest, that’s not much of a comfort…” Rodario turned to the queen. “Can’t you send some magic his way? Zap him on the ugly bonce!”
She refused. “We don’t know yet what it wants. Perhaps it’s a peace-loving creature.”
“In Girdlegard? Looking like that?” He watched, shuddering, as the creature dangled a blue tongue. “There! Do you see? It’s getting up an appetite.”
Their gondola was two-thirds of the way across.
The creature dropped down and spun round as it fell, spreading its horny wings to come gliding over to the gondola. It opened its mouth and showed a row of very sharp teeth.
“I think it’s making abundantly clear what it wants.” Rodario sank down in front of Coira to beg. “Save us!”
The queen did not need his plea. She collected the last remnants of her magic powers and sent a red lightning bolt through the window toward the swiftly approaching creature.
Her attack hit home!
The magic energy shattered the creature’s face and part of its neck, and its flight ended in a series of erratic swoops as it entangled itself in the cables holding the gondola aloft. Now the fortress soldiers could use their long-range ballistic weaponry.
The cabin was suddenly jerked upwards with a clank and then came the sound of ripping and tearing. Next moment, they were falling toward the lake.
“Stop!” Rodario yelled, petrified, trying to grab hold of one of the supports. “Coira! Do something! Brakes! We’re falling!”
The cable car turned and Rodario caught sight of the injured creature following them, its talons at the ready.
“Forget what I just said: Make it go quicker. Quicker! Now!” Rodario shouted, falling against Mallenia and yelling in her ear. “The beast is nearly on us!”
Tungdil was on the first fishing boat with Slin, Balyndar, Ireheart and ten of the Zhadar, heading for Lakepride with all sails set. They witnessed exactly what was happening four miles away.
Slin looked back at the small fleet of boats carrying the Black Squadron and the rest of the Zhadar. The villagers had agreed to take the dwarves over to the island when they heard the names Tungdil and Boindil, and when the monster turned up they put on an extra burst of speed. “Coira won’t have any experience yet as a maga.”
“But I’m glad we’ve got a maga we can even consult,” responded Balyndar. “I was shocked to hear of the queen’s death.”
Boindil hopped impatiently from one foot to the other. He felt extremely uneasy being on the lake and had no wish to know how deep it was-only the thinnest of planks separated him from the water. He wanted to start fighting, but how could he do that stuck on this barge? He had not the faintest idea what kind of creature it was that was attacking the cable car. “What on earth is it? It’s not a dragon,” he said to Tungdil.
“I’m trying to work out whether it’s good or bad.” Tungdil stared fixedly ahead and saw the red flash aimed at the creature; the dying monster was tangled in the cables. “Lohasbrand won’t have sent him. Dragons don’t tolerate other monsters in their kingdom. He would have killed this creature himself if it had turned up in the Red Mountains.”
When the cable snapped and the car started to fall to the lake, Ireheart cursed out loud. “Now we’ve lost that maga, too. It’s enough to drive you mad!” The fortress in the lake was shooting tiny black clouds of arrows and spears.
“She should be able to save herself. If she can’t do that she’d be no use to us against Lot-Ionan either.” Tungdil sounded detached.
The flying beast had tugged the cables away on both sides as it flapped its wings helplessly, cutting itself on the ropes. It screamed and reeled after the cabin, as if it wanted to tear it apart.
“Maybe the queen should start doing something?” Ireheart sounded doubtful. “They’re about to crash.”
At that moment the monster completed a final erratic lurch through the air and disappeared head first into the open shaft, streaming with blood and spattering red on the walls.
“Ugh, that’s what I call an unlucky turn of events.” Ireheart could see that the gondola had stopped, mid-fall, and was now swaying like a pendulum, swinging toward then away from the pillar that supported Lakepride island. “Look, one of the ropes has held firm!”
Tungdil grimaced. “I’d also prefer it if the maga actually did something. I’m not convinced of her competence.”
Ireheart was about to say something when a mighty explosion occurred.
A bright green column of fire erupted out of the shaft, blowing the whole construction up to the skies. The dwarves thought they could make out shapes of people, remnants of catapults, parts of the roof, some wooden beams and other bits and pieces hurtling through the air, driven by the force of the blast. The spectacle was accompanied by a whistling screech, the walls of the shaft glowed first red then white from the extreme heat, and then the waters around the area began to boil and steam rose up in clouds.
Another blast. The flames died down, only to be replaced by a ball of light directly over the opening to the shaft.
Below, far down on the bottom of the lake, there was a silvery flash and a circle of shimmering fire spread out. The dwarves could see right down through it as it raced across the lakebed. Ireheart thought he could feel a slight tingling when it went under their boat. The runes on Tungdil’s armor shone out.
Immediately afterwards there was a sound like a volcanic eruption. The lake surface started to shake. Waves swept against the keels of the boats, making them bob erratically.
A third detonation shattered the walls of the shaft as if they had been made of brittle glass and not the toughest of steel.