Azure bonds - Kate Novak [25]
"I accept your surrender," Alias replied. She kept her gaze on the creature and her sword over Mist's nose. No blanket of condensing steam poured from the beast's mouth to indicate she had cooled her inner fires.
Mist has no intention of honoring the pact, Alias realized. She wants me dead even more than ever, but she doesn't dare try to kill me unless she can get the tell-tale bard with the same blow. All she has to do is breathe fire once I'm standing beside Ruskettle.
Alias's mind scrambled for a scheme to delay the dragon's attack, hoping that the halfling had enough wits to play along. "I'd like to be let down over there by my friend," the swordswoman said.
"But, of course," Mist replied, her tone full of sugary venom. The dragon kept her head perfectly steady as she swung her neck over to the ledge, anxious that Alias should not slip or lean on the blade and drive it into an eye.
Alias hesitated before she stepped off Mist's snout. Winking at the halfling, she said, "That ring of fire resistance makes you a lot braver than usual, bard."
"What? Oh, yeah. The ring of fire resistance. Well, you know my motto: If you got it, might as well flaunt it. You think I'd have risked singing to a dragon without one?"
Alias leaped from Mist's head to the ledge and sidled behind the halfling, as if to use her tiny body for a shield. The swordswoman's heart pounded as she ordered the dragon, "Now go fetch the chest of gold you promised me."
Mist's eyes narrowed to tiny slits. Steam rose from her nostrils. Tymora, make her believe the ruse! Alias prayed silently. The dragon turned her head away from the ledge and lumbered toward a pile of gold. Alias swallowed hard.
"Why didn't you kill her when you had the chance?" Ruskettle whispered through clenched teeth.
"And fall to my death or get crushed by a dragon in her death throes? No, thank you. That wasn't what I was paid for. Now, let's get out of here."
"What?" the bard asked.
"We're leaving," Alias replied, grabbing a handful of the halfling's cloak. Alias slipped into the passageway leading out of the lair, trying to tug the halfling with her, but Ruskettle jerked herself loose.
"We have to wait for the gold," the bard insisted.
With an exasperated growl, Alias grasped the small woman by her shoulders, pulled her into the passage, and shoved her in the lead.
Their way dimly lit by the runes embedded in Alias's flesh, Alias prodded and pushed at the halfling until they reached the upper cavern where the swordswoman had waited for Akabar's scouting report. Once they reached this point, however, Ruskettle twisted from her grip and dropped angrily to the floor. Alias slipped her sword arm into her cloak before the halfling caught sight of the glow of the sigils.
"Why'd you do that?" the bard demanded. "She was going to get us some gold!"
"Stupidhalfling!" Alias panted, her words running together. "Mist is a red dragon! That makes her as greedy and as untrustworthy as an Amnite merchant! The only thing that stopped her from burning us to cinders was the fear you would escape and tell someone."
"But she believed your story about me having a ring of fire resistance."
"For the moment. But if she had sniffed any jewelry on you when she first kidnapped you, she would have made you take it off. You aren't wearing any rings. Any minute-now she's going to remember that, and then-"
Cool air from the outside rushed down the passage. Alias could picture Mist sitting by the ledge, inhaling deeply, smoke from her hidden forges pouring out of her snout.
"Come on!" the swordswoman shouted, picking up the halfling, tucking her under her arm, and running for the surface exit. Ruskettle was unexpectedly heavy, and between the extra weight and having to check her footing, Alias felt as though she were running underwater.
A roar began behind her, a deep rumbling sound. Harsh cries followed-ravens, she realized, caught in the conflagration. Her back grew uncomfortably warm as the dragon's breath chased her down the passage. If she didn't reach the exit quickly, the approaching wall of