Mouth of the Beast

Carn confronts the demon Mazzikim’ruhin.

19.

Mouth of the Beast

 

 

Carn did not know what Eleazar would do, so he began running down the dark passage, thankful that whoever had carved the rock passage had made the floor smooth and level.    The air grew thicker and fouler and even with the make-shift filter held over his nose and mouth, Carn could just barely breathe.

Just when he thought he could not run another step, he saw a bit of light ahead and felt the air grow slightly cleaner.  

Suddenly a high-pitched scream echoed down the passageway from ahead.    The sound made Carn’s blood turn cold and he froze in his tracks.

A few moments passed and then a thundering voice rumbled down the passage, “WELL, WELL, WELL! WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?    TRYING TO HIDE, ARE WE?”

For an instant, Carn thought the voice was addressing him and he cowered against the side of the wall.    But then his senses returned to him and he realized that it had to be the voice of Mazzikim’ruhin, speaking through what sounded like a colossally large Dragon.

He forced himself to move forward as the voice boomed several more times, as if the demon was speaking to someone from an open space ahead.   

Swallowing his fear and dread, Carn ran toward the sound.

Just as he exited onto a small ledge, he heard what sounded like a war cry or shout.    The scene that greeted him was surreal. 

A gigantic red Dragon, far larger than any Carn had ever thought possible, was looking over the ledge from a cavern below.    Its jaws were wide open and to Carn’s horror, the form of a Drow male wearing wizard’s robes was in the Dragon’s mouth and seemed to be struggling; not to free himself, but to be swallowed.    

The wizard held swords in both hands and was blindly slashing and swinging at the inside of the Dragon’s mouth as the creature tried to use its tongue to maneuver its victim so that it could crush it with its dagger sized teeth.     

Before he could shout out anything, the wizard managed to stab the huge Dragon.    It roared in pain, jerking its neck back, which rolled the wizard forward.   There was a sickening crunching sound and then the Dragon spat the Drow wizard out of its mouth.    He fell back onto the ledge, punctured in a multitude of places from the sharp teeth of the Dragon.    Blood pooled underneath him as his life ebbed away.

The Dragon, still shaking its head and moving its jaws as it endured the pain from its wound, suddenly saw Carn standing there.

His time was up, he had to act.

Carn stepped forward calmly and stared directly into the nightmarish eyes of the Dragon.

“Hello, Mazzikim’ruhin”, He said as calmly as he could appear.

For a moment the demon that controlled the Dragon did not recognize him, and just stared banefully at him.   But then it remembered.

“CARNITHUM!” the Demon exclaimed through the Dragon, “A FAMILIAR FACE - SO TO SPEAK- IN THIS UNLIKELY PLACE!   I SURMISE YOU HAVE EMBRACED YOUR LIFE AS A BUGBEAR AND THE UNDERDARK IS YOUR HOME?   OR RATHER ‘WAS’ YOUR HOME!   SOON NONE SHALL BE ABLE TO DWELL IN THESE MISERABLE HOLES!”

“You seem to have fallen from your pedestal, O once mighty Mazzikim’ruhin!    Look at you, a pawn of a human emperor and his minions, possessing a Dragon and then crawling on your belly like a hungry rat doing their bidding as a slave driver for humanoids.   How amusing to see you groveling, demon!”   Carn taunted, knowing his words would incite the proud Mazzikim’ruhin to rage, “The Great Mazzikim’ruhin controlled like a puppet.”

The Dragon, still licking at the bloody wound made by the wizard, brought its head forward until it was inches away from Carn’s face.    A deep growl vibrated the rocks on all sides as the Demon fumed.

“FOOL!   I DO NOTHING BUT WHAT I CHOOSE TO DO!    IT IS I WHO HAVE THE STUPID HUMANS GROVELLING BEFORE ME, THOUGH THEY DO NOT KNOW WHO I AM!    IT IS FOR AMUSEMENT THAT I PUSH THE GOBLINOIDS FORWARD.    I HAVE INCINERATED HALF OF THE UNDERDARK.    THERE IS NONE AS POWERFUL AS ME!”  

Carn laughed as if the demon’s statement was utterly ridiculous, “Then you are indeed the stupidest demon that exists!    Surely you don’t expect me to believe you are the master, when clearly you are being manipulated and controlled like a beaten dog.”

He knew this would throw him over the edge, and Carn hoped he would lash out in his rage.    But Mazzikim’ruhin was a master of reading minds, so Carn forced his hopes and plans from his mind and focused on thoughts of ridiculing the demon.

Behind him, unseen by the two, a large bat drifted down onto the ledge, concealed in the shadows, then hopped a few steps until it stood next to the bloody mess that was the dying wizard.    The bat found a place on the neck where there was still flesh and quickly bit into it, drinking only a small quantity of blood, before taking flight again.     It again used the shadows, rising up to the top of the cavern, concealed by hanging formations.   

Then, as the Dragon began to rage at the Bugbear, it came behind the huge beast, hovering at the back of its neck as if examining the fastener of a huge silver necklace it wore, with the red Gem of the Oscinate set within it.

The Demon controlling the Dragon did not notice, for fury was boiling over within him at the insolence of the Bugbear.

“YOU WORTHLESS MAGGOT!   HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME THIS WAY!    YOU ARE A SHAMBLING HAIRY BRUTE AND I HAVE CRUSHED YOUR PRIDE!    YOU ARE PLAYING WITH FIRE, CARNITHUM!”

Carn’s plan hung on his next move.   He knew the demon was very crafty and suspicious.    He had to convince Mazzikim’ruhin that his bravado was due to a magic device that would protect him from Dragon fire.    Knowing that the demon was likely telepathically scanning his mind, Carn forced false thoughts into his head of the confidence he had in a magic ring that gave him immunity from all types of fire.   He hoped that the demon would think that Carn did not know about the neutralizing Gem, and so would strike.

He forced himself to think how amused he would be when the Dragon breathed fire on him and it failed due to his magic ring.  

“You can’t harm me, demon!”   Carn said with a cocky snicker, “I doubt your masters would even let you burn me without their consent.    You are a slave, Mazzikim’ruhin, a worthless, powerless slave and I don’t fear your fire!”

Carn held his breath.    This was it, he knew the demon would strike and it would all end in a fiery moment.   

The demon controlling the dragon drew in a deep breath, glaring at the Bugbear, who stood there with his arms folded defiantly.

Come on, Carn thought nervously, come on, and kill me.

The Dragon’s mouth - still wet with blood from a fairly serious injury- opened up as Carn tightened his muscles, preparing to die.   A long moment passed and… nothing.

Carn had closed his eyes, but now opened them in alarm at the delay.    Suddenly the demon laughed, spraying drops of blood from his mouth wound, “VERY WELL DONE, CARNITHUM!   YOU ALMOST TRICKED ME!   A MASTERFUL ATTEMPT, WHICH YOU HAVE PLANNED IN THE LONG CENTURIES OF YOUR TORMENT!   BRILLIANT AND ALMOST DIABOLICALLY CRAFTY!  BUT YOUR EAGERNESS IN YOUR MIND BETRAYED YOU IN THE NICK OF TIME!”

“No!”  Carn screamed in frustration, “Prove yourself, demon, I dare you to strike me!”

“TOO LATE, PITIFUL CREATURE!   I SEE THROUGH YOUR PLAN.   YOU THOUGHT I HAD FORGOTTEN CELATHON’S PROTECTIVE GEIS, DID YOU?    FOOL!    I REMEMBERED HIS GEIS PREVENTING ME FROM KILLING A MEMBER OF HIS FAMILY OR FROM KILLING YOU!    YOU THOUGHT THAT BY INCITING ME TO RAGE THAT I WOULD KILL YOU AND THEN YOU WOULD HEROICALLY CAST ME OUT OF THIS WORLD THROUGH YOUR SACRIFICE!   BUT IT DIDN’T WORK, DID IT?”   The demon laughed through the Dragon, again spraying the Bugbear with blood as the walls shook with the mocking sound.

“GO AWAY, CARNITHUM!” The demon said, “GO BACK INTO YOUR FLEA INFESTED HOLE AND GRIEVE OVER YOUR ETERNITY, FOR I SHALL NEVER LET YOU ESCAPE YOUR TORMENT!   YOU WILL NEVER HAVE ANY RELEASE!”

“Mazzikim’ruhin!” Carn screamed, “I will not let you destroy any more!”

The Dragon leaned in close and grinned a terrible toothy grin, “YOU CANNOT STOP ME!   I AM INVINCIBLE!  LOOK BEHIND YOU, FOOL!   SEE THE WIZARD SPRAWLED BROKEN ON THE FLOOR?   BEHOLD THE FATE OF ALL WHO OPPOSE ME!”

As the demon boasted, inches away from Carn’s face, behind the Dragon there abruptly appeared the form of a Drow woman wearing the typically skimpy type of costume favored by sorceresses.  

She gracefully stood on the Dragon’s outstretched neck, looking like a tiny bug against the enormous form of the creature.

Carn recognized her in a moment - it was Aurei’s mother, the vampire Alleania and immediately he saw her plan- she was going to try to snatch the Gem of the Oscinate from the Dragon’s neck.

 

He had no idea how she would be able to carry away the huge necklace, if she was able to succeed, but Carn knew that he had to do something to distract him before the demon detected her weight against the scales of the beast.  

He quickly spun around and knelt down, grabbing up the swords that the dying wizard had used to strike the Dragon.

“I’ll kill you with these!”   He shouted at Mazzikim’ruhin, swinging the swords to make his actions seem like a desperate man’s attempt to try anything after his plan had failed.   

The demon only laughed at his attack and raised his head up slightly, which caused Alleania to wobble and almost slide off the Dragon’s neck as she gently but urgently struggled with the clasp.

Carn knew he had to get Mazzikim’ruhin to focus on him so that her movements would go unnoticed.

He swung a sword at the Dragon’s snout with all his might and hoped it appeared as if he expected it to injure the great reptile.   The sword hit hard, but was easily deflected by the flawless scales that covered the Dragon’s entire body- even his nose.

But the blow drew the attention away from Alleania.  

“A MIGHTY BLOW, CARNITHUM!   BUT POINTLESS!   YOU HOPE TO PROVOKE ME TO STRIKE YOU IN REACTION TO PAIN, BUT THIS DRAGON’S SCALES ARE THICK AND FLAWLESS AND I BARELY EVEN FELT IT!”

“Coward!”   Carn yelled as if he was nearly wild with desperation, “Fight me, you worthless worm!”

“I WEARY OF YOUR DESPERATE CHALLENGES.   FAREWELL, CARNITHUM, I SHALL RETURN TO MY DESTRUCTION OF…”

The Demon paused in mid-sentence, for at that moment Alleania found the opening clasp and immediately the huge necklace slid off the Dragon’s neck onto the floor of the Highway passage below.

Alleania leapt off after it, taking the form of a bat as she jumped.    Mazzikim’ruhin realized what had happened, and whipped the Dragon’s neck around and down, to snatch up the necklace first.

But the jutting ledge and the demon’s unfamiliarity with the large size of the gigantic creature caused him to misjudge his amount of space.    With an ear-splitting boom, the Dragon’s head slammed into the edge of the ledge, sending it crumbling.

Carn and the lifeless wizard, along with pieces of rock, tumbled forward onto the stunned head of the Dragon.   The beast’s head cushioned the fall and Carn rolled off, landing on his knees.  

Mazzikim’ruhin was only momentarily stunned, but that was all that the Vampire lady needed.    In bat form, she hovered over the huge necklace and touched it with the bat’s feet.    To Carn’s shock, as soon as she touched it, the necklace shrank in size so that it was proportionate to her size as a bat.    

He hadn’t expected the device that neutralized all magic would itself react as most magic pieces of jewelry did - changing in size to the one who touched it.    Alleania now easily snatched up the Gem of the Oscinate and quickly fluttered past Carn, heading down the main Highway toward the city of Hor’olorbb and the Goblinoid army that was in the process of overwhelming it.

“Take a narrow passage way!   Somewhere the Dragon can’t go!”   The Bugbear yelled after her as Mazzikim’ruhin regained the faculties of the Dragon that he possessed.  

The deep sound of inhalation of air told Carn what the demon intended to do.

“Fly!  Fly!   He’s coming after you!”   Carn screamed after the bat as it fluttered away.   But he knew she wouldn’t be out of the range of the Dragon fire in time.

Leaping to his feet, he charged at the massive reptile, waving his arms in front of him.

Mazzikim’ruhin started to release a volley of fire, but seeing Carn directly in front of his snout, he stopped with a frustrated roar.    With the speed of a viper, the Dragon’s head snapped forward and grabbed Carn.    He felt the stab of the Dragon’s sharp teeth, but the demon was careful not to crush him, as that would activate the geis.

Instead he spat him out to the side with so much force that Carn skidded across the smooth surface of the Highway and crashed lightly into the stone barrier at the Highway’s edge.    By the time he got to his feet, the Dragon had slithered quickly past in pursuit of the Gem of the Oscinate.    He didn’t breathe fire in front of him, which told Carn that Alleania had managed to get far enough ahead, thanks to his stalling action.

But if she didn’t find a side passage quickly, he’d catch her.    Although he was battered and bled from the points where the Dragon’s teeth had poked him and his lungs burned and tickled from the smoke that hung in the air, Carn scooped up the Wizard’s swords and ran down the passageway in pursuit of the Dragon.   

Reviews

[Elina]

"THERE IS NONE AS POWERFUL AS I!" The "I" ought to be "me" or it could be "...powerful as I am!"
"Alleania leaped off after it..." This should be "leapt."
"Carn and the lifeless wizard tumbled forward, along with pieces of rock, onto the stunned head of the Dragon." Perhaps, instead, "...lifeless wizard, along with pieces of rock, tumbled forward onto..." ?

Yet another excellent chapter!

[Eddie Davis]

Thank you, Elina, I've already finished making the changes you suggested. I'm glad you are enjoying the story.