Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary

"Is that a banana?" Seth asked.

The troll tossed the fruit over his shoulder and deftly caught it behind his back. "Your prank will be to replace the horn with a banana. The troll should like that."

Seth laughed. "Are you serious?"

"Entirely."

"Where did you find a banana?"

"I have suppliers. Some of the satyrs cultivate tropical fruit."

Seth folded his arms. "Invisible or not, the maze could be trouble, right?"

"The hardest part," Nero said. "If your instincts fail, the trick with mazes is to always turn left. Only veer right when you can’t turn left. Eventually you will systematically cover all the ground in the maze until you find your destination."

"The entrance will only be open for an hour."

"As I already noted, the maze will be the hardest part."

Seth sat down on a filthy keg. "If I get trapped inside, I’ll have to bide my time until the next night when the entrance opens again. My family will freak. How do we get to Grunhold?"

Nero rubbed his hands together. "The best way is through the marsh. I have a raft. I can land you near the southern side of the circle of stones."

"I hope I can convince Hugo."

"I saw you arrive with the golem. If he would bear us to the raft, it would save time. We should make haste–the hour grows late."

Chapter 14 Heart and Soul

"Up there on the left," Nero directed. "Perfect, you can put us down. I’ll take it from here." Hugo set Seth on the ground. Seth clicked on his flashlight. The golem held Nero by his ankles. The troll hung upside down, staring into the stony hollows of the golem’s eyes. "No hurt Seth," Hugo warned, the words coming out like massive boulders grinding against each other.

"You have my word," Nero pledged, placing a webbed hand over his chest.

The golem turned Nero around and placed him on the ground. He kept hold of one arm. Nero tried to tug away, but Hugo held tight.

"You can release me," Nero invited.

Leaning forward, the golem pinched Nero’s neck between thumb and forefinger. "No hurt Seth."

"I’m on his side," the troll managed in a strangled voice. "I swear it."

"Let him go, Hugo," Seth said. The golem released the troll and stood up straight. "If he ends up harming me, you have my permission to squash him."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Nero gagged bitterly, rubbing his throat.

"Seth no go," Hugo rumbled.

"I have to try, Hugo. We’ve come this far. I need to finish what I’ve started."

"We must reach Grunhold before the warding stones start marching," Nero inserted. "You will need every second."

Seth gave Hugo a hug. The golem patted his back. "Hugo come."

Seth shook his head. "You’re too big. You’ll swamp the raft. And you don’t hold together so well in water. Just wait here so you can take me home after we return." Seth followed Nero toward the raft.

The golem raised a hand in farewell. "Be safe."

"I’ll be right back," Seth promised.

Nero pushed the raft into the water and leapt aboard. The rectangular craft was a little bigger than a king-size mattress. Without guardrails, the mooring cleats were the highest part of the vessel, a scant foot or so above the water. Clutching a long pole, the troll gestured for Seth to join him. Seth jumped onto the flat craft. Leaning on the pole, the troll shoved the raft away from the shore. Ripples spread over the dark, fuming water.

"Extinguish the light," Nero murmured. "From here on, we must avoid attention."

Seth turned off the flashlight. He could see nothing. He listened to the soft sound of water lapping against the raft. "You can see in the dark?" he whispered.

"I can."

"Can you see me?"

"Certainly."

"Shouldn’t I be invisible?"

"Shade walking only works before you’ve been spotted. Once an observer sees you, dimness will no longer hide you."

Seth thought about that. "What if I snuck up on you later?"

"Then you might be cloaked to my eyes."

Seth sat down cross-legged. The air in the swamp felt less cold. A heavy, stagnant odor invaded his nostrils. "Why are you helping me?"

"You are an ally of the night," Nero said. "Graulas is demonic royalty. Long ago he served as the left hand to Gorgrog, the demon king. I owe Graulas a tremendous debt. He gave me my seeing stone."

"You’ll wait for me while I snag the horn?"

"Whether you return tonight or tomorrow, I’ll be waiting with the raft near the shore where I drop you. Silence. Something approaches." Seth listened intently, but could hear nothing. Nero crouched at his side and whispered in his ear. "Lie flat."

Seth sprawled out on his stomach. He could feel the troll lying beside him. A moment later, he heard something sloshing through the water in the distance. It was coming toward them. Seth wished for eyes like his sister so he could pierce the darkness without a light. What could it be? From the sound of it, something big. He held his breath.

The sloshing drew nearer. The rhythm of the splashes suggested a gigantic creature wading through the water. One leg sloshed forward, then the other, then the other, then the other…

Nero eased away from Seth. The swamp was totally black. As the sloshing continued toward them, ripples began to make the raft wobble. But then the raft began to glide forward, away from the path of the approaching threat. Seth heard noisy breathing above and behind them.

Unable to see, he closed his eyes and focused on quieting his own breathing. The creature passed directly behind them, never pausing, and soon the sloshing threat was moving away. The sound had completely faded before Nero resumed poling forward in earnest.

"What was that?" Seth whispered.

"Fog giant," Nero replied. "They don’t see any better than you in the dark. They roam the marshes erratically. But if they find you, that is the end."

"It came close."

"Much too close. We’re fortunate it failed to catch our scent or hear us. The brute must have had a destination in mind."

"The water isn’t deep here," Seth said.

"The water is seldom deep in the marsh. Up to the thighs of a fog giant. Keep silent. Before long we will near the shores of the centaurs. If you are apprehended inside of their territory, they will kill you as surely as any giant would."

Seth stopped speaking. The anticipation of his mission helped offset the boredom. He was about to trespass alone into the centaurs’ secret stronghold armed only with a banana. If the centaurs caught him, not only would he die but he would provoke a war. The thought was sobering.