Disclaimer: The character from Dungeons & Dragons are not mine. I'm just borrowing them.
My first attempt at fanfiction. Please be patient with me.
The City of Githyanki
Chapter 1: Hunting Ground
The red dragon flew low over the rocky landscape. His prey had fled into the maze of canyons thinking they could elude him. He knew the canyons well and knew that it would be no escape. It was his favourite hunting ground. A flash of yellow and blue caught his eye and he dove into the canyon after it, loosing a blast of fire as he did so.
"It's not my fault!" Eric panted as he reflected the dragon's fireball with his Shield.
"Sure Eric," Presto called back. "It's not like it was an obvious trap."
Sheila materialised next to Bobby and his unicorn. "Maybe we could talk about this later?" she suggested.
"This way guys!" Diana yelled to them. "That dragon won't be able to follow us down this one!"
Hank looked down the crevasse Diana had suggested. It was narrower than the canyon they were following. He glanced behind him and determined that she was right; the dragon wouldn't be able to fly low through the passage like it was doing here. Though it could still see them from above. He hesitated.
"No time to waste, Fearless Leader," Eric said. He raced past Hank toward the crevasse.
"Go!" Hank ordered and turned to fire a few arrows from his Bow. The others filed past him into the narrow canyon.
Above them the dragon wheeled to avoid the golden energy arrows. If the Dungeon Master's pupils could have heard him they would think he chuckled. His hunt was proceeding to plan. Soon the tasty morsels would find themselves at a dead end in a bowl more than wide enough for him to land.
"Stay together!" Hank yelled.
Bobby and Diana had raced ahead. The Acrobat gracefully vaulted over the boulder-strewn landscape and the Barbarian cleared the way with his Club. Hank had lost sight of Sheila, who'd probably Cloaked herself, but he could see Presto running in Booby's path. The Magician clutched his Hat and muttered to himself. That left himself and the Eric bringing up the rear and falling behind.
"Stop it! You're just making him angry!" Eric told the Ranger. Hank rolled out of the way of three quick blasts from the dragon.
"Just keeping him busy. Let's go!" He grabbed Eric's arm and pulled him in the direction of the others.
Ahead, Diana had reached a fork in the canyon. "Which way?" she asked.
A fiery blast from the dragon answered her question. A wall of flame rose up in front of one of the canyon entrances. The Acrobat flipped away from the flames to follow Bobby and Uni down the unobstructed pathway.
Presto twiddled his fingers over the glowing opening of his Hat, "OK Hat, the situation's dire; give me something to protect from fire!" He reached into the Weapon and pulled out a red fireman's helmet.
"That's the best you can come up with? C'mon Presto!"
"I'm not hearing any brilliant suggestions from you!" retorted the Magician.
The Cavalier began a response to Presto's taunt but was interrupted by Hank.
"Look out!" the Ranger shouted and tugged both the other boys backwards. Another fireball exploded in front of them and forced them towards the canyon the others had already entered.
"Whoa! Thanks Hank," Presto said, brushing a few embers out on his robes.
Hank gave his friend a quick smile before the three boys started running again.
"This way!" Sheila called. She'd dropped the Cloak's invisibility to motion them towards another path within the canyon.
The boys ran toward her. Hank fired another volley at the dragon. The arrows peppered the air around the beast as it dodged and weaved. The Ranger joined his friends as the last of the bolts detonated in the air.
They raced down the narrow canyon. The walls rose steeply and constricted as they went up so that the crevasse was nearly closed at the top. Hank's and Eric's shoulders scrapped along the sides and the group had to slow down as they followed the passage. Soon they were forced to inch their way through sideways with the rock pressing in on them.
"The opening's just ahead," Diana called from her position in the lead.
"It looks a lot bigger than this one," Bobby added.
Hank squeezed himself though the exit. "Oh no," he said quietly.
"Are those scorch marks?" Eric asked once he had squeezed himself free.
The group spread out in the wide bowl of the canyon. Each scanned the walls for another exit.
"It's a dead end," Eric declared.
Presto gulped, "Can you not use the "dead" word when we don't know where the dragon is?"
As if the words were an invocation the dragon dropped out of the sky behind them. It landed heavily. Small wisps of dust puffed up from its feet. It stood over the Young Ones and regarded them with a look of extreme satisfaction. Extending its long, serpentine neck, it gave a triumphant, shrill, call. Its tail lashed as it looked over the group. A forked tongue flicked out and tasted the air in front of it. Slowly a smile spread over its reptilian features and it lowered its head.
Now he was ready to finish the hunt. These children would make an excellent meal. They were strong and pure. He could taste it in the air around him. He briefly considered contacting his allies and offering at least one of them, probably the smallest one, to use as they would.
"Scatter!" Hank ordered.
Sheila scooped up Uni and pulled the Cloak over both of them. Diana extended her Javelin and assumed a defensive stance to Hank's left. Eric stood over Bobby to Hank's right while Presto retreated to the edge of the canyon.
The dragon eyed each of them, deciding whom he was going to eat first. He huffed and little puffs of smoke curled out of his nostrils. With a piercing shriek he leapt into the air again and landed in front of the cowering Magician. It would be an easy meal.
"Twiddle this and twiddle that; find a way to shut its trap!" Presto yelled over his Hat. The Weapon glowed with power and spit something out at the dragon.
"Way ta go, Presto!" Bobby enthused, "Ya muzzled him!"
The dragon was now wearing both a huge dog muzzle and a confused expression. He raised a claw to his face to remove the infernal contraption constricting his maw. What had the tiny human done?
"Bobby! Get him off balance!"
"You got it Hank!" The boy raised his Club and brought it crashing to the ground. Small boulders rolled down the walls of the canyon.
The dragon staggered in the Barbarian-generated quake. The littlest one was definitely going to be eaten next. It would be an appetiser. He then roared in pain as the Ranger's bolts met their marks. Those had hurt more than he had expected. It was time to stop playing with his food.
From the other side of the canyon Sheila yelled, "This way guys! There's another opening!"
The kids made their way toward the Thief and unicorn. Diana reached them first and turned to encourage the rest.
"C'mon!"
The dragon reared up on his hind legs and forced his massive jaws open, snapping through the magically generated restraint. The golden-haired one, definitely the golden-haired one, needed to be dealt with. He inhaled deeply and blasted the Ranger with a huge fireball.
Eric managed to step in front of Hank and raised his Shield to deflect the danger. The dragon continued to pour out a gout of flame which forced the boys back toward the walls.
Bobby raised his Club again and brought it down on the canyon floor. This time the whole area shook and a few more boulders crashed into the bowl. The dragon stumbled but remained on its feet. Hank and Eric, unfortunately, lost their balance completely.
Sheila and Diana had backed into the narrow crevasse and were wildly gesturing for the others to join them.
"Mah-by!" Uni whinnied over the sounds of battle.
"I'm coming Uni!" Bobby yelled back.
The dragon raised one great paw and smashed it to the ground. Two can play this game, tiny human. A chasm opened up from the point of impact and ran toward Bobby.
"Bobby!" Sheila screamed.
"I got it!" Presto yelled and sprinted toward the Barbarian. "Boil and bubble; get us out of here on the double!"
The Magician reached Bobby and the two of them were enveloped in a purple bubble over the crevasse the dragon had created. It floated motionless for a moment. Then it popped.
"They're gone!" Sheila cried.
"I'm sure they're safe Sheila. Presto's Hat'll make sure they're OK," Diana tried to console her friend. "We're still in trouble though."
Hank had regained his feet and was pulling Eric up. The dragon turned from its loss of the Barbarian and the Magician. It narrowed its eyes at the Ranger and the Cavalier and took a deep breath. A solid ball of flame was expelled at them.
Once again, Eric got his Shield up to deflect the blast. The fireball ricocheted off the Shield and into the weakened cliff face above the boys. The stone rumbled and the whole wall of the canyon collapsed down onto Hank and Eric.
"Hank! Eric!" Sheila screamed from the narrow crack she, Diana and Uni were hiding in. She started to run toward the pile of rocks burying the Ranger and the Cavalier but the collapse of the wall had destabilised the whole of the bowl. Diana pulled her back into the crack as huge boulders began to fall.
The dragon pushed off the crumbling ground beneath him and into the air. Two of his prey had disappeared. The other five were buried under the rubble of the canyon. Perhaps it was time to find a new hunting ground.