How to Slay a Dragon - Bill Allen [33]
Greg felt his stomach lurch. Maybe she had a broomstick to lend him.
“The dragon is not the only creature living in the spire,” Hazel continued. “In fact, hundreds of thousands share it with him.”
The knot in Greg’s stomach twisted tighter. He should have known there’d be more to this than just fighting a three-hundred-foot-tall dragon.
“The race was once known as the Canarazas,” Hazel continued. “Roughly translated it means ‘razor teeth.’ These days they are commonly referred to as spirelings. According to prophesy, you will first have to face their army before you can enter the spire.”
Greg gulped. He didn’t want to meet a single creature with razor teeth, let alone an entire army of them. “How big is their army?”
“I just told you. There are hundreds of thousands.”
“In the spire, but how many in the army?”
The witch frowned, as if reconsidering whether Greg was bright for a male. “The Canarazas are a fierce race, known for their brutality in battle. Every man, woman and child is a skilled warrior, and I’m sure you would find even the smallest and weakest to be a most formidable enemy.”
“But h-how can someone like me be expected to go up against hundreds of thousands of razor-toothed warriors?”
Hazel sneered up at him from her rocker. “I can’t imagine. But it is no concern of mine. The prophecy says you’ll get past the army . . .” She studied him long and hard, without the decency to hide her skepticism. “. . . so I can only assume you will. It also says you’ll face Ruuan and win . . .” Again she paused longer than Greg would have liked. “. . . so perhaps you will accomplish that as well. I will lend you the Amulet of Ruuan only because the prophecy states you will need it, but you must promise to bring it back—if you are capable—when you are through.”
“I could do that,” Greg said guardedly.
“Of course,” she added with a cackle that sent tingles up Greg’s spine, “I will need to hold on to those two amulets of yours to ensure you return.”
Greg cringed. “But I have to return these. They’re not mine.”
Her wrinkled face pulled into a wretched smile. “You shall have them back when you return.” The smile dissolved just as quickly as it had appeared. “But you must bring me something else as well.”
Greg clutched the two amulets to his chest. “I don’t have anything else to give.”
“Not yet, perhaps, but you’ll have the opportunity to change that when you enter the Passageway of Shifted Dimensions.” She studied him a moment and then frowned. “It’s a passageway inside the Infinite Spire. You’ll need to use it to find Ruuan. A mortal can reach the lair no other way—in theory anyway. No mortal has ever been to Ruuan’s lair before.”
“Norman Greatheart said he’s been there.”
Hazel’s eyes flashed with rage, and her wrinkled skin instantly reddened. “Norman Greatheart is a fool.”
Don’t argue with a witch, Greg reminded himself.
“No mortal can get to the lair because the passageway is too heavily guarded by spirelings.”
“Then how am I supposed to use it?” Greg asked.
“I don’t know,” Hazel said, calming again in an instant. “Nor can I tell you how to find it, just that to open it you must intone the name of the prophet.”
“Intone?”
“Say the name of the prophet,” Hazel clarified.
“The name of the prophet,” Greg said dutifully.
Hazel frowned. “It is said that the entrance to the passageway cannot be distinguished from the surrounding stone. There is no possible way for you to find it, yet I must assume you will, or the prophecy could not be fulfilled.”
“Yeah, about that—” Greg started.
“Do not doubt the prophecy,” Hazel warned. “It is your faith in the written word that will determine your success or failure.”
Greg gulped. He was in even more trouble than he thought.
“Now listen,” said Hazel. “Inside the Passageway of Shifted Dimensions there exists a fourth amulet, very similar to the real Amulet of Ruuan and the other two you now wear about your neck. It is a very powerful object, even more so than the other three. The spirelings use it to control the magic of the passageway, but I can put it to much better use