Now...the dragon.
Chapter Eight
The sun was just rising above the horizon when they finally reached Cursum Perficio. They stood on a hill overlooking the city and the sparkling coast it stood upon. Tim and Tony looked upon it in awe. Neither man had truly seen the ocean that surrounded the peninsula; both of their hometowns were far inland. Cursum Perficio looked gorgeous, more important and otherworldly than it truly was. The city was bordered by farmland and fields for several hundred yards on the three other sides, and then the tall forest that covered more than half of the kingdom beyond that.
It was a lot of land that they had to cover.
"Should we enter the city, or comb over the land a bit before doing so?" Tony asked him after a moment. Tim looked to Tony in surprise. Right, it was his task. He turned back to the city. Jimmy was down there. Tim wanted badly to at least greet him before they started (Or were stupidly killed. He inwardly winced.) but he would volunteer to help them. No, he couldn't risk someone else's life as well.
"Let us look around a little first." Tim said finally, uncertainly. What else could they do?
o-o
Dusk was beginning to settle into the land, and Tim ached.
Before they had started out, both men had agreed that wearing armor and arming themselves was definitely necessary, so they put on as much as they dared without constricting their ability to run away like frightened children if need to do so arose.
Tim could hear Tony crashing faintly off to his right, cursing and taking out his frustrations of their fruitless search on the innocent flora and fauna. Tim had to admit it was wearing on him as well. The first few hours were incredibly tense and nervous, each man expecting the huge beast to burst out from behind the enormous tree trunks and swallow them whole. Though nothing like that happened, and they didn't encounter anything bigger than a few frightened swallows (Which probably should have been their first clue), and suddenly it was seven hours later.
Tony's cursing and murmured complaints faded as he trundled farther away, widening their search. If Tim was correct they had another day of searching tomorrow, and another after that, and another after that to cover at least three quarters of the land if they hurried. He sighed.
Maybe there wasn't any dragon at all. Just a frazzled old tosspot who saw things, and a murderer who killed shepherds and herds of sheep for fun. Either way, it was very bad news.
"Tony, we should head for the city, 'tis too dark now." Tim called out to Tony, who didn't answer. There was a quiet, barely heard curse far away. Tim blew out a breath in frustration. He started heading off in the direction he thought he might be able to intersect Tony. He swiped out at several thick branches, doing himself more damage than the branches. He cursed under his breath at them and rubbed the bruises underneath his armor. Tim picked his way onto a fallen tree and began to walk across it, arms held out at his sides.
Suddenly a bird darted out from a bush he had knocked an arm into and across his path. He flinched backward, and with all the extra weight, fell heavily to the ground, rolling a few feet down an incline. Tim groaned softly and dizzily leveraged himself into a sitting position. He did a mental check over and found that nothing had broken, only bruised. He felt around in the shadows and retrieved his dropped shield. He smiled as his hand closed around the smooth metal. Tim's eyes slid upward and he froze.
His mind went completely and utterly blank. Two large eyes watched him with utter surprise, placed deeply within an even larger head, connected to an impossibly large body, almost indistinguishable from its surroundings. The dragon dwarfed him twenty times over. Thousands of hard, impenetrable scales gleamed gently in the dying sunlight. Tim didn't move an inch. Neither did the beast. It just watched him disbelievingly.
Tim finally pried his eyes from the dragon and flicked them around once. A clearing. The dragon was nestled in a dug out hole in the side of a big hill. He had fallen straight into its den. The only reason he was still alive was that he had surprised it. Thoughts began to thaw within his mind, mostly ones that hurled self-abuse and accusations of absolute stupidity. He didn't stand a chance. Tim couldn't force himself to move.
"Tony," He squeaked out, and of course, he didn't hear him. Fie. Fie, fie, fie. Slowly he drew his arm and his shield back to him. Progress, but too slow.
"Hey, Squire! Good Sir! We should head back!" Tony shouted from nearby, the beast's gaze redirected for the briefest of seconds, and Tim's iced exterior fractured. He sprang up, shield pressed against his chest, and sprinted toward Tony's voice.
"Tony!" Tim borderline screamed. He was drowned out by the ground rumbling roar close behind him. The beast had finally registered his sudden appearance. Tim sped up and caught sight of Tony a two or three yards ahead, looking shocked by the noise and his sudden appearance.
"Tim, what in God's wounds-"
"Go, go! Dragon, Tony! We are not prepared!" He frantically shouted out fragmented thoughts to Tony, who got the message. Tim didn't need to see Tony's dawning look of horror, to realize the dragon had become visible behind him, he felt the ground quivering underneath his feet, trees were snapping and falling behind him. Tim tripped, fell and scrambled up, palms burning, mind frozen. Tony had finally gotten over his shock and was running ahead of him, urging him onward.
The edge of the forest was in sight, and the castle beyond that. If they could…if they could…
They had nothing. No plan, no tricks, absolutely nothing. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Tim was flung sideways as a huge claw came smashing down, clipping his side. Clods of earth and branches, flung upward, ricochet off his armor. He smashed through two small trees, and lay there winded, stars blossoming before his eyes. He had no chance at all, he never did. A sound akin to a large earthquake exploded in front of him, almost shattering his eardrums. His armor trembled. Tim sat up painfully, and drew his sword, shield held firmly in his other hand. He could at least give Tony a chance to get away. Tim stood with the help of the broken trees he had bulldozed, stepped out, and faced the dragon.
Another screech filled the air and Tim prepared to be shredded in tiny bite-size pieces. Realization took hold after a long second. It wasn't roaring in triumph, or anger, but in pain.
"Do not just stand there, thou idiot!" Tony shouted in a hoarse voice. There was a large grunt of exertion. "Run!" An arrow pinged powerfully off the beast's chest. It roared in pure fury and agony. Tim's eyes traveled upward to its head.
Three or four arrows were already buried in the beast's right eye and several in its nostrils. Tony always had been a very good shot. Another arrows sped and imbedded itself in a niche caused by a lost scale. The dragon flinched back for a moment, but clearly not for long.
"McGee, here!"
Tim scrambled backward, tucking his sword away and dodging a massive tail attempting to separate his head from the rest of his body. An arrow singed over his head. Tony probably didn't have too many left. He leapt over a branch and caught up with Tony, who looked exhausted and terrified. He let his bow slide down his shaking arm and matched Tim's frantic pace. There was a furious scream behind them followed by huge booming gallops and the death fell of trees.
They broke the forest line and began racing across the fields. They still had hundreds of yards until the castle, and nowhere to hide. Tony glanced back and gasped. Tim followed in suit. The dragon had almost completely caught up; it was less than thirty feet behind them and gaining. Not stopping, Tony drew his bow out again and fired out a shot that went wild and completely off in another direction. He drew a breath, held it and stopped running. He stood completely still, string pulled taut, arms trembling in effort, aiming upward.
"Tony! Tony come on!" Tim was almost begging now, desperate. The beast picked up speed, sensing a change in tactics. Tony waited, seat pouring down his face, and then fired. With the air of a master, he pulled another arrow out and fitted it into his bow. Tim ran a shaking hand down his face and then drew his sword. He stepped several feet in front of Tony, out of his aim, and put up his shield. The man was insane. Absolutely out of his mind, but as long as he was going to try something that might save their lives, Tim would try and help him, even taking the brunt of the attack so he could try.
Tony let loose an arrow and quickly fitted another in, firing now with reckless abandon. The dragon drew back in pain, gigantic, leathery wings flaring outward as it reached them. Tim stood his ground, tensing, shield facing the dragon and sword held at the ready. The beast slammed the ground with a dense front foot; there was burning anger and pain in its remaining eye. Both men stumbled backward. Tim turned back to Tony and stopped. Tony had a look of resignation on his face, his last two arrows held tightly in a hand, bow in the other. They had no chance.
Tim whipped forward, slashing his sword at the claw that was crashing toward him and jerking himself backward. It was like hitting a boulder, it did absolutely nothing but elicit a clanging sound. Sparks flew and Tim fell onto his backside, barely able to keep the sword in his hand.
One of Tony's last two arrows whistled through the air and pinged off the dragon's scales as it turned its head toward Tony, clearly intent on savaging the person who had been shooting it. Blood dribbled down from the beast's, now unusable, right eye, Tony's arrows still embedded deeply in it.
Tim pushed himself upward, wrist throbbing, and raised his shield as the creature reared upward slightly, and with a horrible screech, swung its club-like claw across toward the two men.
In the space of five seconds, Tony raised his bow again, and with precision, fired his last arrow. Tim leapt in the claw's path, bracing himself.
At the exact same time, the claw smashed into Tim, deflecting it just barely over Tony's head, making his hair flutter slightly, and the arrow connected with the dragon's belly.
Tim was thrown backward into Tony, his shield dented and cracked as horribly inward as his chest plate had become. Tim had an odd sense of déjà vù. There was a sickening crack, though this time not from his ribs, and fireworks exploded in front of his eyes as his head connected with something very, very solid and something warm and wet ran through his hair. He felt incredibly sick, though pain was strangely absent at the moment as his world numbed; however, he had a sneaking suspicion that it would be back soon enough.
Everything dimmed considerably, and sounds seemed to turn their own volume down to a faint buzz. There was a sudden down rush of air upon his face, as something huge and dark took off heavily into the sky with a faint screech.
"Come, Tim." A voice whispered shakily, unsure, in his ear. Something hoisted him up, and supported him on solid shoulders.
The world darkened to nothing.
o-o
He hit a bump and surfaced to consciousness with a strangled whimper.
"Good, thou art up. Focus!" A hand slapped his cheek with considerable force. Tim blinked, attempting to do as the voice requested, but everything remained foggy and far away.
Stars. There were so many…
"Tim, prithee," The exhausted voice came again. "Where does Jimmy live? Thou must tell me, squire. And try not to pass out again, 'tis not a soldier-like thing to do." The voice was strained, but he could practically see a weary grin. "Do not make me tell the other men on our return that thou fainted at the sight of a mere dragon."
There were so many of them, so many stars blurring together. He blinked. Pain and nauseousness swelled together in a horrible symphony that dipped and weaved through him.
"Focus, McGee!" Another slap, this time softly on the back of his head. Coupled with an order to be obeyed no matter the fact his head felt like it had been filled with cotton. "Jimmy! Where is he?"
He knew that. Tim tried to think, everything was painful and thick, thoughts weren't functioning as well as they had a little while ago. "C-Cursum Perficio,"
"Helpful as always, Tim." Frustration, sarcasm and concern mixed in equal doses within the voice. Tony. Thoughts connected.
"…Near the…docks." He was gritting his teeth now. Everything was just…too much, he was jostled again and pain rippled through him. "With Doctor Mallard…ouch." He added in a voice that seemed surprised and very far away. "Only dark blue house…on Arthur's Way." Tim gasped out between gritted teeth.
Darkness encroached his vision, and then swallowed it completely.
"Grammercy, Tim, and do not worry. I will keep thee safe, good sir…" Tony's voice curled into the darkness.
His whisper followed Tim into oblivion, with statements of trust, a bright smile, and a teasing joke.
He knew no more.
