Dragon Quest by C.L. Roman & Honey Roman & R. Roman

Author:C.L. Roman & Honey Roman & R. Roman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: dragon, magic, fae, faery, Will-o-the-wisp, wizard, spells, adventure, bully, bullies, bullying
Publisher: Brass Rag Press
Published: 2023-08-26T00:00:00+00:00

13: Charybdis

The shore grew smaller behind them, and the island larger as they approached. They were halfway across the lake when Draggol squeaked in alarm.

“Did you see that?”

A shadow glided through the water. Anthony caught the movement from the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look, he couldn’t see anything.

“I don’t see—” he began.

“There! Look right in front of us. Not on the surface, look under the water.”

“Under the water? How am I supposed to do that?” Anthony’s words slowed as he caught sight of a long, black shadow under the water. It was huge and round at the front end, tapering back to a point at the rear, with three sets of long, frond-like flippers on either side. “What is that?” Anthony whispered.

The thing kept pace with them, rising toward, but not quite breaking, the surface before sinking deeper again.

“Not sure, but maybe you should speed up,” Draggol replied.

Anthony started trotting, the rocks bouncing against his hips as he moved.

The creature immediately changed direction, rising toward the surface and coming right at them. A black, slimy dome of a head broke through the water, its two yellow eyes glaring malevolently.

Anthony found himself grateful that it left its mouth underwater.

“Charybdis. He’s dead vicious, but not too smart,” Draggol whispered. “And he won’t attack head on. He’s just trying to scare you.”

“It’s working,” Anthony whispered back.

“Just keep moving. If he circles us, you need to jump out of the circle right quick. If you don’t, his whirlpool will suck us down to the bottom and drown us.”

The creature veered right around the pair. As Charybdis crossed in front of them, Anthony jumped out of the circle and broke into a run.

The monster picked up speed, changing direction just enough to have them back inside his ring on the next round. Anthony charged forward, jumping outside Charybdis’ track when he came to it.

But it was no use. The beast adjusted his course each time, and the whirlpool sucked the center down, creating a dip in the lake.

“Throw a rock.” Draggol kept his voice low and spoke into Anthony’s ear. “Hard as you can. Make sure it lands as far outside his circle as you can throw it.”

Anthony wasn’t sure what good that would do, but he obeyed anyway. Digging a stone from his pocket, he chucked it as hard as he could. It soared through the air, landing with a splash far outside the circle.

Charybdis stopped, turning in a long coil to trace the stone’s landing spot, then raced toward the splash.

“Quick! The rock will sink, and once he can’t find it, Charybdis will be back. Run!”

The lake evened out, and Anthony sprinted for Tortoise Island. It looked bigger now, the size of a large boulder instead of the small black smudge he’d seen from shore. But it was still too far away.

When he couldn’t find the splash-maker, Charybdis returned. His glowing yellow eyes circled them twice before Anthony dug out another stone and threw it. Another splash, and the monster went for it as he had before.

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