An Infidelitous Earth by Brandon Smalls

Author:Brandon Smalls
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: dark fantasy, epic fantasy, paranormal fantasy, actionadventure, adventure fantasy, gargoyles
Publisher: Melange Books, LLC

Chapter Twenty-Four

The Dragon

“Dream on your own time, Jim,” Uwe murmured, effectively rousing him from his ethereal reverie. They had a need for secrecy.

Surreptitious in their ascent, he and Uwe exchanged only instructions. No platitudes, no jokes, no words spoken aloud. Here was the dwarf in rarest austerity, ravished by the hunt. His disposition stood as a barrier, a crag, a weapon, and a way of life all at once. The garnet on his finger glowed soft in sepia light through his thick gloves, illuminating the shaded cliff in a warm yet chilling tone. At his behest, the rocks in his hold solidified and they made their way up a wall of sheer ice and stone to Solomon’s roost.

After hours hushed in the shadow of the mountain, James could feel his ire slipping. The bloodlust that fueled the hunt was falling from him down, down, down the mountain, deep into the dark. He had no doubt that it would return but was anxious to ease his body’s craving for adrenaline, so he looked up mere meters to Uwe. The dwarf climbed without hesitation, without error, and without words. His old friend’s resolve redoubled his own and he too clawed at the white rock face pockmarked with black earth, pulling himself onwards into the heavens.

Around them, the air currents rampaged in protest as if called by the Grand Cultist himself. The crosswinds bore from the mountain’s crest down into the valley below, tearing at the hunters’ covered faces and tugging them down with the weight of the skies. Even fully bundled and well-equipped as they were to reach the summit, the mountaineers shivered and bowed their heads to the sudden storm. What horrid force was this that aided the dragonlord? Aeolus enraged appeared to be at their necks and the invisible enemy showed no signs of letting up.

Through the wailing winds the demon passed by once more, the third time that hour. The minor light of the dwarf’s ring dissipated and the men attached to the rocky wall held fast and faint and flat against it. There came the dragon’s roar, as earth-shattering as the first cry, and then the beast soared above the chasm and off into the distance. Solomon’s cursory search did not reveal the hunters, but his screech rumbled across the high ridges and drove billows of snow and rock rolling from the peaks.

Without so much as a whisper, the elder hunter slammed his palm into the crag and his ring hummed to life. Eight tons of avalanche poured down towards them. Uwe stretched out his free hand and the earth above them followed his form, sloping and diverting the hulking, crashing ice down around them. James watched it fall with numbed senses, discarding the near-death experience from his thoughts after a few seconds. The trifle was nowhere near the cataclysm he’d need to reinvigorate his spirit, but that would come soon.

The hunters watched Solomon set down beyond the neighboring mountain and began their climb again. They understood that

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