Dominant Species
Issue #7
by Tom Zjaba
Chapter Nine
Black Dogs and Red Dragons
Derrick makes his way down the spiraling staircase. Around and around it goes as
it descends into the mountain. As the mountain gets wider, so does the stairway.
He has been walking for over an hour and as he looks up, he sees that he really
did not cover that much ground. He then looks down and realizes how much further
he has to go. Part of him wants to jump down and get there quicker. But the
thought of falling and landing on the dragon and waking it up is enough to keep
him from going airborne. While he is invincible, something about the magic of
the dragon's breath scares him. He sees how the other animals avoid the scorched
earth left by the dragon. He always assumed he was invincible to anything but
maybe something magical like this could hurt him. He would rather just sneak in,
free his friend if he is there and leave. Let sleeping dragons lie. As he makes
his way down the stone stairway, he doesn't realize he is being followed.
Quietly behind him, a small creature is bobbing up and down in the air. While he
is walking down the stairs, the creature flies up next to him and says "Are you
going to kill the dragon?" Taken by surprise, Derrick jumps back against the
stone wall and waves his dagger at the creature. The creature is a cherub, a
chubby little boy who can fly. Cupid is the most famous of the cherubs, but this
one is just a common cherub. They are often confused with angels because of the
cute baby like features and small angelic wings. This one has a head of curly
blonde hair, large blue eyes and two small wings that flutter quickly like a
hummingbird's wings. The wings are all but a blur as he hovers around like a
little helicopter. "Hey! Watch the weapon." he says as he easily dodges the
swinging dagger. While they look weak and slow, cherubs are formidable fighters.
Their tiny wings are actually quite fast and they move both swiftly and in any
direction, including backwards. This makes them next to impossible to hit with
weapons. While they are physically weak, they have a good selection of magical
spells at their disposal. They also tend to carry small bows that they can shoot
with deadly accuracy. While mostly solitary creatures, they have been known to
hang in flocks of up to a dozen members. While people have only ever seen male
cherubs, rumors abound that there must be female cherubs. Some people believe
they are babies that were never born or died in childbirth. Others believe they
are baby angels. Whatever the case, they are known for being annoying. They like
to talk and sing and can drive a person crazy. No one knows why a cherub will
suddenly decide to start bothering a single individual, but they do seem to
latch onto one person. "What do you want?" Derrick asks as he keeps moving.
"Just want to know if you are going to kill the dragon. You look kinda puny to
fight a dragon." the cherub says as he flies around Derrick, annoying him.
Derrick then turns to the cherub and says "If you want to help me, fly down
there and tell me if there is a boy around my age in a cage." The cherub flies
in front of him and asks "Is he a friend of yours? Is he?" Derrick smiles and
says "Yes, I am going to rescue him from the dragon." The cherub flies in a loop
as he says "That is so cool. I will be right back." With that, he disappears
into the darkness. Derrick keeps making his way down while he waits for the
cherub to return.
The black dogs are baring their teeth as they move towards Howlingmad. They
almost move in unison as each one has its gaze affixed on him. He starts to feel
the skull that was burned on his face the other day starting to burn again. He
waves the burning stick at them, but it does not scare them. He finds it odd as
most animals are scared of fire and will at least flinch when it is waved at
them. He slowly backs up, hoping he can get close to his sword. At the same
time, the dogs start to spread out. Two of them keep moving towards him while
the other two start to fan out. He can tell they are looking to surround him, a
trick many pack animals use. As they move closer, Bearslayer lets loose an arrow
and it hits one of the dogs right between the eyes. It howls in pain as it falls
to the ground and tries to pull the arrow loose. One of the other dogs turns
towards Bearslayer and charges him. He quickly readies another arrow as the dog
rushes towards him. He is able to shoot the arrow into the open mouth of the
dog, sending the arrow out the back of its head and knocking the dog back. The
chief runs over and grabs Howlingmad's sword and throws it to him. He turns to
grab it as the chief calls out to him and in that instance, the dogs jump up and
knock him over. He uses his hands to grab the dog's jaws and hold them closed.
The dog struggles to break free as Howlingmad holds on. He knows if he lets go,
the dog will tear him to shreds. So he hangs on with all his might. As he holds
it, the chief grabs his dagger and stabs it deep into the dog who yelps in pain.
The dog then goes crazy, writhing like a fish out of water as it tries to break
free. The chief continues to stab the dog in the chest. Over and over he slams
the dagger into its flesh and each time it fights to break free as blood pours
from the wounds. Its claws do rake over Howlingmad's arms and dig deep into his
flesh. This finally gets him to let loose of the mad dog, which then recoils in
pain as it tries to lick its wounds. But a well placed arrow in the head quickly
puts it out of its misery. As the dog falls to its side and breaths its last
breath, a spirit rises from the dog. The spirit hovers for a second as it looks
at the Howlingmad. Their eyes meet as he looks into the black non blinking eyes.
He tries to look away but he cannot. He is forced to stare into its eyes. He
then feels the skull on his forehead that the dog left before start to burn. The
burning keeps growing in intensity and he tries to pull his hands up to rub it
but finds that he is completely paralyzed. The pain is now so great the he feels
faint. He begins to black out from the pain but does not fall. He just stands
there as he passes out. The others do not know what to do. Bearslayer shoots an
arrow that just passes through the shadow dog. But it does get the dog to turn
away from Howlingmad. It turns and looks at Bearslayer who starts to back up. He
readies another arrow but before he can shoot it, the dog turns away from him
and flies into the ground. With that, Howlingmad falls to the ground. The chief
and Bearslayer rush over to help him.
In the town, there is a large bonfire and everyone is once again dancing around
the fire. The men are all huddled together as the women all dance seductively
past them. The women smile and wink at the different men as they dance past the
young men who are all yelling and whistling. Spearfisher and Eightdigit are
right there with the rest of them, yelling and trying to get the attention of
the pretty women. They are also drinking once more and feeling the effects of
the alcoholic beverage. One by one the women come over to one of the men and put
their hands out. The man reaches up and she pulls him to her. They then dance
around the fire for a few minutes and then head to one of the houses. A few of
the tribesmen around them get picked. Every time one of the women picks a man
and they leave, the rest of the men yell and clap. Then a pretty blonde girl
comes over to Spearfisher and offers her hands. He reaches out to grab her hands
and she pulls them back. The men all laugh as she turns and shakes her rear at
him. He is stunned and does not know what to do. She then comes over again and
puts out her hands. At first he hesitates. He then looks to the other men who
are smiling and encouraging him. Then in one fast movement, he reaches out and
catches her hands before she can pull them away. She smiles and winks at him as
she pulls him up. Once he is on his feet, she pulls him close and plants a kiss
on his lips. This really gets the men cheering and clapping. Even Eightdigit is
clapping and smiling. Deep down he is jealous and hopes one of the women pick
him. While he isn't certain what happens next, he has a pretty good idea and it
has been a long time since he has been with a woman. After the kiss, she pulls
him to the fire and they dance around it. As they are dancing, she whispers in
his ear "My name is Golden." He smiles and whispers back to her "I'm
Spearfisher." She smiles and says "I know. Nice name, what does it mean?" He
looks into her blue eyes and says "In our village, when a boy becomes a man, he
is given a name. Since I am good at fishing with a spear, I was called
Spearfisher. How about you, what does your name mean?" She smiles at him and
says "My father loved precious metals, so he named each of us after one. I was
the first born, so I was named Golden. My younger brother was named Silver." He
smiles and asks "Is Silver here?" Suddenly her smile leaves her face as she
looks down and says "No, he was killed when he was young." Spearfisher lifts her
head up and looks back in her eyes and says "I'm sorry." She then forces a smile
and says "Thanks." Then she says "Come with me." With that she leads him to one
of the houses.
Fatigue is setting in as Derrick continues down the stairs. It has been nearly
an hour since the cherub went down to the dragon's lair. He is wondering if this
mountain is that big or if the cherub just left. He remembers climbing it and
how big the mountain is but he figures the cherub could fly faster than that.
Maybe the dragon saw him and ate him. While he would hate to go all the way down
this mountain for nothing, at least it would mean the cherub would not bother
him anymore. At least he would have some peace and quiet. Like he was summoned,
the cherub comes flying up from the depths of the mountain. He flies over and
hovers near Derrick. This makes Derrick stop walking as he looks to the cherub
and asks "So is he down there?" The cherub wipes the sweat off his head as he
says "Can't you say welcome back or something? Right to the point with you."
Derrick looks at him and says "So is he?" The cherub flies around his head as he
says "Please is the magic word. Try using it." Realizing that he will not get
anywhere without playing along, he says "Can you please tell me?" The cherub
smiles as he says "Tell you what?" Derrick is getting aggravated. He never was a
very patient person and this guy is testing him. "Whether he is down there or
not." The cherub flies in a circle once again and says "What's the magic word?"
Derrick nods his head in disgust as he says "All right, please." The cherub
break out laughing as he says "Please what?" Derrick has now lost it. He screams
out at the top of his lungs, "Can you please tell me if my friend is down there
in the dragon's den?" The cherub tries to hold a straight face as he says "No."
Derrick waves his hands as if he was gesturing, what's the use. He then turns
around and heads back up the stairs. The cherub flies over and gets in front of
him. "Where you going? Aren't you gonna save your friend?" Derrick stops in his
tracks and turns to the cherub and says "Well, if he isn't here then I am
leaving." The cherub laughs as he says "You asked if he was in the dragon's den.
He is not. But he is down there in a cage. If you ask the question correctly
then you will get a correct answer. The excitement of finding one of his friends
is enough for him to put up with this aggravation. So he starts heading back
down the stairs. The cherub flies over and says "Why are you walking down? I can
take you there quicker. Derrick looks at him and asks "How are you going to get
me there quicker?" The cherub flies behind him and picks him up with his little
hands and lifts him off the ground. "Like this." he says as he flies down the
hole with Derrick in tow.
Golden leads Spearfisher into the house and turns on a light. Spearfisher stares
in amazement when the bulb hanging from the ceiling turns on. "New to
electricity I see." she says as she heads over and grabs his hand. The soft
warmth of her hand is enough to make him break from staring at the light.
"Sorry, this is all so new to me. I am not used to man being able to turn on
fire with a switch." She laughs as she says "It isn't fire, its electricity."
Spearfisher looks at her with an odd look. She can tell he has no idea what
electricity is, so she tries a different approach. "You know what lightning is?"
She then gestures and makes a thunder sound as she does a poor imitation of
lightning. He smiles and says "Arrows of the Gods we call them." She laughs and
says "Arrows of the Gods?" He smiles and explains "In our village, the older
woman say it is the Gods sending down arrows to remind man who is in control. If
you angered the Gods, then they will hit you with their power arrows." She
laughs and says "That is the dumbest explanation for lighting I ever heard." A
sad look comes over his face. He knows she is more advanced than he is, but he
doesn't like feeling inferior. She quickly realizes that she has hurt him and
quickly apologizes "I'm sorry, I didn't mean you are dumb. It is just a funny
story. Come here with me." She tightly grasps both of his hands and slowly leads
him into another room. In there is a bed that is made of a large feather
mattress which is animal skin that has been treated and filled with down. It
lays on a wide board to keep it off the dirt ground. While they are advanced in
many ways, they still have primitive dirt floors. She pulls him over to the bed
and lays down on it. Her hands pull him on top of her. His weight bears down on
her, pinning her to the bed. A large smile comes across her face. She looks deep
in his eyes and says "I want to spend the night with you." He smiles back at
her. She then plants a light kiss on his lips. At first he does not respond. It
feels good, but there isn't much kissing in his village. Sex is more for
procreation than pleasure. Most of the women in his village do it more because
they want children than for enjoyment. Plus the women are not as soft and supple
as she is. Her skin is so soft and her hair and body smell nice. The smell is
intoxicating. He gives her a small kiss back, not sure if it is the appropriate
action or not. She then brings her hands to his head and softly holds it as she
turns his head to the side and kisses him deep on the lips. The kiss is long and
sensual and awakens parts of him that have laid dormant for a long time. He
looks and sees her eyes are closed, so he follows suit. Kissing is but one of
the many new experiences that Spearfisher will experience that night. And for
the time being, he feels he made the right choice staying in the village.
Howlingmad lays there as still as a corpse. They fear for him but they can see
from the heaving of his chest that he is breathing. So they know that he is at
least alive. But he is not moving and does not respond to their voices. It is
like he is in a trance or a coma. He just lays there with his eyes shut and not
moving. They do not know what the spirit of the black dog did to him, but they
know it is bad. The chief does not know what to do. Should he return to the
village and seek help? Or should he wait for Derrick to return? Would Derrick
know enough to return to the village or would he be lost for good? He looks to
Bearslayer asks "Should we return to the village with Howlingmad or should we
wait for Derrick?" Bearslayer is not used to giving advice to the chief. The
chief has always known what to do. He feels that they need to do whatever they
can to save Howlingmad, they owe him at least that much. But they need to help
Derrick as well. Bearslayer finally figures out an answer. "I will take
Howlingmad back to the village and you stay here and wait for Derrick." The
chief thinks about it and while he does not like the idea of splitting the party
any further, it is the best plan. He agrees to it and they begin work on
stretcher of sorts for Bearslayer to carry him with.
The cherub puts Derrick down in a pile of gold. As he looks around, he sees that
he is standing in the midst of an enormous treasure horde. He smiles as he looks
at all the piles of gold coins, precious gems, magical items and other items of
great value. The pile seems to go on and on as he cannot imagine how much value
is there. Derrick just stands there in awe when the cherub gets him out of his
trance. "Your friend is this way." Derrick shakes his head for a second as he
completely forgot about his friend. Seeing all this treasure made him completely
forget about his actual mission. The cherub flies ahead and keeps turning around
to make sure Derrick is following him. Derrick tries to step as lightly as
possible. Every so often he sees some treasure that he wants to pick up, be it a
glowing sword or a magical necklace, but the cherub keeps hurrying him along. He
finally sees a glowing ring and pair of gloves that he cannot resist. He reaches
down and grabs them and quickly puts them in a pocket. The cherub flies over to
him and says "We have no time for that. The dragon is asleep and we need to get
out of here before he wakes up." Derrick is surprised at how worried the cherub
seems to be. Up on the stairs, he was carefree but down here he is all serious.
Wonder if it is the dragon that makes him scared. So they keep walking through
this large cavern. Up ahead he sees where it goes around a corner. The cherub
flies up to the corner and looks around it. He then flies back to Derrick and
says "Be quiet, the dragon is around the corner and he is still asleep." As
Derrick nears the corner, he can hear a grumbling sound. It is faint but it
grows with his every step. As he reaches the corner, he peers around the corner
and there lays the dragon. All two hundred feet of him, coiled up like a great
lizard. His eyes are closed and wisps of smoke rise with each breath from his
great nostrils. Derrick is in awe of the size of the dragon up close and cannot
believe how truly impressive the creature is. When he thinks back to playing
Into the Catacombs and how his friends and him defeated a dragon with their
humanoid character, he realizes how utterly silly that was. He cannot imagine
any person, no matter how great, being able to defeat something his powerful.
Then Derrick looks over behind the dragon and sees the cage. It is hanging up
underneath a pile of bones. Derrick cannot see what is in the cage as it is at
least fifty feet off the ground. The cherub comes over to him and whispers in
his ear "Your friend is in that cage." Derrick looks up at the cage and wonders
how he is going to get up there and more importantly, how he is going to get his
friend down and not wake the dragon. The cherub smiles at him and says "Well, I
am outta of here. Good luck." He then flies off as fast as his little wings will
carry him.
Dominant Species © Tom Zjaba 2006-2008