Bones of the Dragon - Margaret Weis [228]
Torval glowered at Skylan. “What do you want?”
“I thought you might need to gut some fish,” Skylan replied coolly.
Torval threw back his head and roared.
“Back to back, then,” said Torval, grinning. “Heel to heel.”
Skylan put his back to the god’s back and braced his heels against the god’s. The immense serpents flew at them. Slitted eyes glowed. Their toothless maws gaped. Their wings seemed small for their bodies and were positioned near the front. And then Skylan saw why, as one of the serpents battling Vindrash twisted his body to lash at her with his tail.
Blood dripped onto Skylan’s upturned face. He watched in rage to see the serpent’s tail slice through the dragon’s scales, opening a gash in her body. Another vicious lash from a tail tore through one of the dragon’s feet, sheering off a claw.
Skylan wrenched his gaze from the embattled dragon and focused on his own danger. The three serpents were circling the two warriors, who held sword and axe raised to meet them, shifting their stances to keep the enemy in sight.
“They will strike in a rush,” Torval told Skylan. “Aim for the—”
A serpent darted at Skylan. The slitted eyes grew large as the serpent drew near. Its maw gaped wide, as though it would swallow him whole. Skylan knew a moment’s sheer, panicked terror, and then he felt the god’s back against his, solid and reassuring. Skylan let the serpent get close, and then he swung his sword, putting all the strength of his body and his soul into the blow.
The sword sliced through the serpent’s neck, cut off the head. Blood spurted. The head went spinning off into the night. Skylan gave a triumphant shout that ended in a strangled gargle of horror. Two heads sprouted from the severed neck. Two maws gaped. Four slitted eyes fixed their fiery gaze on him.
“—heart,” Torval finished dryly. “That’s the only way you can kill the slimy worms.”
Skylan wondered where the heart of these slithering monsters was located. He was about to ask, then he saw a serpent streaking down on the god and he called out a warning. “Your left, lord!”
Torval shifted his stance. Shouting defiance, the god swung the blade of his axe in a flaring arc, striking the serpent near the wings, cutting the creature in half. Blood rained down on them. The two halves of the serpents twitched and writhed and then two heads sprouted, two tails lashed. Two serpents sprang into being.
“Bah!” Torval swore and spit blood. “I missed. Look to your right, young dog!”
The heart must be near the wings, Skylan guessed, and he hoped grimly he guessed right, for the two-headed serpent was winging around to attack him again. It dived from the sky. Skylan waited, braced and ready to strike. At the last moment, when it seemed both gaping maws were about to snap off his head, he ducked down into a crouch. The serpent’s forward momentum carried it above his head. Skylan gripped his sword in both hands, and aiming his strike at the body right between the small, rapidly beating wings, he thrust the sword deep.
Blood ran down the groove in the sword that had given Blood Dancer its name. The blood drenched Skylan’s arms and hands, making the sword slippery and difficult to hold. He tightened his grasp and jabbed upward. Impaled upon the sword’s blade, the serpent screamed in pain and fury, twisting its body, trying to free itself, and ended up driving the blade deeper, right into the heart.
The serpent died, but in its death throes, it struck a final blow. Its tail whipped around and caught Skylan across the chest. With a blast like spiked lightning, the tail sliced open flesh and muscle, laying bare the bone. The pain was searing, excruciating. Skylan’s heart, jolted by the shock, pounded erratically. Blood Dancer slipped from his hand. He could not catch his breath, and he fell to the ground, only there was no ground. He fell and kept falling, spiraling downward. He saw Torval continuing to battle his foes. Vindrash had a torn wing and