and the wizards. It wasn’t until he came to a stop beside the red-haired lady of legend, and fumbled her dragon tear out of his pocket, that he saw what the beast was doing. He only had time to grab hold of Clover’s belt pouch andyank her back with him before the colossal came stomping at them as if it had never been injured at all.
CHAPTER TWENTY
C lover ducked unnecessarily as a feeble yellow blast of wizard magic shot by a dozen feet off target. Then she felt herself being pulled away by the belt and didn’t fight it. She was feeling the fresh rush of dour magic coming from the teardrop Rikky put in her hand. It was no easy sensation to ignore. With her powerful prize back in her possession, though, she knew she could just turn herself and Rikky invisible, but she had a better idea. These spell-slinging bastards were about to pay for their folly. Aikira had just found a way into Clover’s heart, and now the girl was all but a ruin that Rikky might, or might not, be able to save.
Clover let loose her magic in a controlled fury. The very moment one of the wizards poked his head up to cast at them, she removed it. Then she sent a barrage of concussive energy bursts at the colossal. They were powerful enough to crumble part of the tunnel around the thing.
Come, Rikky
, she called.
Follow me
.
She was glad Rikky didn’t have too bad of a time keeping up. She’d never seen him run on his peg leg before, and running is exactly what she was doing now, for the colossal was free of the carnage and now storming after them as fast as it could negotiate the rubble.
I can’t keep this pace long
, Rikky responded.
How far are we running?
Clover looked back and saw that the beast was already on Rikky’s arse. They still had a bit of distance between them and the area Jenka had piled over for his trap, but there was no way the colossal could go past that barrier. Clover had trouble just getting her bosom through when she’d come back in to set Rikky and Aikira free.
There was no time to struggle through now, though, so she stopped and spun and let loose another series of concussive blasts. The colossal stumbled from a direct impact and faltered in its step. It came at them falling and skidded to a halt in a cloud of dust only a few feet behind Rikky. The boy would never know how close he had come to being the flattest man in the realm.
Clover took Rikky’s side when he caught up to her position and was relieved that the remaining wizards didn’t appear to be pursuing them. She had only killed one of them, and hopefully the colossal. She wanted to kill them all, but one would have to be enough for now.
The opening was there in the distance, barely visible in the thin light of the deeper cavern. Since there was no one chasing them anymore, Clover slowed their pace and started watching behind them as much as in front.
“Where are we going?” Rikky asked.
“Look.” Clover pointed at a spot that was darker than the rest of the walls.
Rikky looked at the wrong area and then back at her and shrugged.
“Just follow me.”
To King Richard’s great surprise, when the time came to climb out of the covered litter in which six men were carrying King Chad, the man did just that. He emerged wearing an immaculately kept set of gauntlets and shin guards that were dulled silver, chased with brass or copper. The designs matched his girdle and shoulder caps perfectly. Under those, the pink-skinned king wore a suit of chainmail with links so fine it was baffling. Richard remembered his armor and decided that, once he had a dragon, he would go retrieve the suit from the vault on King’s Isle, where he’d left it.
“I see you’ve worn that armor before. The slash across the back plate looks like it hurt.” Richard smiled when he spoke.
“It did.” King Chad nodded and was about to start into the story but Richard just kept talking.
“You’ll soon find that there isn’t much need for wearing armor like that when
CHAPTER TWENTY
C lover ducked unnecessarily as a feeble yellow blast of wizard magic shot by a dozen feet off target. Then she felt herself being pulled away by the belt and didn’t fight it. She was feeling the fresh rush of dour magic coming from the teardrop Rikky put in her hand. It was no easy sensation to ignore. With her powerful prize back in her possession, though, she knew she could just turn herself and Rikky invisible, but she had a better idea. These spell-slinging bastards were about to pay for their folly. Aikira had just found a way into Clover’s heart, and now the girl was all but a ruin that Rikky might, or might not, be able to save.
Clover let loose her magic in a controlled fury. The very moment one of the wizards poked his head up to cast at them, she removed it. Then she sent a barrage of concussive energy bursts at the colossal. They were powerful enough to crumble part of the tunnel around the thing.
Come, Rikky
, she called.
Follow me
.
She was glad Rikky didn’t have too bad of a time keeping up. She’d never seen him run on his peg leg before, and running is exactly what she was doing now, for the colossal was free of the carnage and now storming after them as fast as it could negotiate the rubble.
I can’t keep this pace long
, Rikky responded.
How far are we running?
Clover looked back and saw that the beast was already on Rikky’s arse. They still had a bit of distance between them and the area Jenka had piled over for his trap, but there was no way the colossal could go past that barrier. Clover had trouble just getting her bosom through when she’d come back in to set Rikky and Aikira free.
There was no time to struggle through now, though, so she stopped and spun and let loose another series of concussive blasts. The colossal stumbled from a direct impact and faltered in its step. It came at them falling and skidded to a halt in a cloud of dust only a few feet behind Rikky. The boy would never know how close he had come to being the flattest man in the realm.
Clover took Rikky’s side when he caught up to her position and was relieved that the remaining wizards didn’t appear to be pursuing them. She had only killed one of them, and hopefully the colossal. She wanted to kill them all, but one would have to be enough for now.
The opening was there in the distance, barely visible in the thin light of the deeper cavern. Since there was no one chasing them anymore, Clover slowed their pace and started watching behind them as much as in front.
“Where are we going?” Rikky asked.
“Look.” Clover pointed at a spot that was darker than the rest of the walls.
Rikky looked at the wrong area and then back at her and shrugged.
“Just follow me.”
To King Richard’s great surprise, when the time came to climb out of the covered litter in which six men were carrying King Chad, the man did just that. He emerged wearing an immaculately kept set of gauntlets and shin guards that were dulled silver, chased with brass or copper. The designs matched his girdle and shoulder caps perfectly. Under those, the pink-skinned king wore a suit of chainmail with links so fine it was baffling. Richard remembered his armor and decided that, once he had a dragon, he would go retrieve the suit from the vault on King’s Isle, where he’d left it.
“I see you’ve worn that armor before. The slash across the back plate looks like it hurt.” Richard smiled when he spoke.
“It did.” King Chad nodded and was about to start into the story but Richard just kept talking.
“You’ll soon find that there isn’t much need for wearing armor like that when
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