Azure bonds - Kate Novak [136]
Moander let a drop of slime fall away from its body. The slime oozed like a water drop slipping along a strand of spider silk, then it hung ten or so feet before splattering on the ground. The ant-sized figures were on it in a second.
"It's delivered Alias to its followers," Akabar shouted.
The halfling nodded. "We have to land and rescue her."
The mage shook his head in disagreement. "We have to finish our battle with the god first," he said.
"Are you crazy? We could be killed. I want off this ride, now," Olive insisted.
Akabar's eyes glittered with vengeance, and the halfling realized she wasn't going to get anywhere trying to convince him to help her down. Fortunately for her, it wasn't up to him. "Dragonbait!" she hollered, "Alias is down there! We have to land and help her!"
But Olive was not to discover whether the lizard paladin was more concerned with the warrior woman or destroying Moander. Moander took the decision out of his hands. Once it had unloaded its passenger, the god launched itself toward them.
Mist banked sharply, and the mass of fungus, slime, and forest rocketed past them. The sudden movement caused the halfling to lose her grip on the safety rope. She would have fallen to her death if Akabar had not seized the hem of her skirt and pulled her back. Olive suddenly was not feeling hungry-the human equivalent of feeling frightened out of her mind. Mist completed her banking maneuver by turning about to face Meander's return charge.
This time, however, dodging the god was not so easy. As it streaked toward them Moander increased in size. In its approaching side a great maw opened, lined with duskwood tree trunks sharpened to fanglike points.
The Jawed God it was sometimes called, Akabar remembered. But how did it grow without absorbing more mass? he puzzled. It was now four times Mist's size, and the open cavity could swallow the dragon whole.
Mist struggled to gain altitude. She managed to rise above the gaping mouth, but a tree-weighted vine shot out at her, entangling her neck and her wings. The dragon beat her wings furiously, but she was held fast. More red vines, pulsing like blood veins, snaked up the snarevine.
Cursing, Olive drew her dagger, preparing to cut any plants that came her way. She turned, thinking to offer Akabar her sword, but to her surprise he began chanting another spell. She thought he had exhausted the last of his magic on the enchantment to haste the dragon. Apparently he was getting better at the game. He looks worn, though, Olive thought, noticing the lines in his face, deeper and more plentiful than when they'd first met in Cormyr. He was beginning to look like a real wizard, she decided.
With furrowed brows, the Turmish mage completed the last sharp syllables and tossed a handful of iron powder over the dragon's scales. The metal filings sparkled in the air, causing Mist's whole body to glow.
The struggling dragon's scales shifted beneath them. The halfling grabbed at the safety ropes, but they snapped away, as did the majority of the vines tethering Mist to Meander's form. Olive gripped at a scale, but it was difficult to grasp as it grew in size. Akabar, she realized, had enlarged the dragon with his magic.
"Should even the odds," the Turmishman said.
Mist, using her back claws, slashed open Meander's side. A foul vapor burst from the god's wound, and it screamed. The air smelled like a swamp.
Mist jerked her head up, breaking the last cord holding her near the god. The suddenness of her movement sent Dragonbait bouncing high into the air. With a gasp Olive tugged on Akabar's kilt and pointed at the lizard.
Akabar was already aware of the saurial's plight. He stood up nimbly on Mist's shifting back and stretched