Dragon Hunter by Charlene Hartnady

Chapter 21

Fog shone the bright flashlight down the cave passage. There was rock, rock, and more rock. Right now, the passageway was pretty wide. Thank fuck! Breathing was fine. A little musty, but they’d survive. It wasn’t going to stay that way, but he didn’t dwell on that thought. To do so would be to court an unwell feeling in the pit of his stomach, which already felt like a lead balloon. Dragons were not made to reside underground. Full fucking stop!

There was a strange scent inside the cave. It had grown stronger as they walked. Fog was sure it was the cave dwellers since it wasn’t a smell he could place. It had an animal-like quality with human edges. Dragon, perhaps, but not like he had ever scented one before.

Fog could hear Avalanche walking behind him. The male was light on his feet, considering his size and the loose stones on the hard floor. A beam from Avalanche’s flashlight flicked past him and onto the cave walls, moving as the male walked. They both had packs with everything they would need to survive for a couple of days. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that. They also had ropes, hooks, and harnesses, in case there was a need to make a descent. They couldn’t rely on their ability to shift and fly in here. In fact, shifting would not be recommended at all.

Not thinking about it!

His throat threatened to close up as he thought about the spaces getting any smaller than they were already. Avalanche hadn’t seemed fazed when they went through the plan one last time. The male was as cool as ice. Fog was grateful for his calm company.

He tried not to think about Riley and failed. He heaved a sigh.

Avalanche grunted.

The sound was strangely comforting. “I’m having female troubles,” he blurted, speaking softly. His voice echoed around them.

Avalanche grunted again. The sound echoed as well.

“It’s the human,” Fog said, softer this time. They probably shouldn’t be talking, but he needed to get it off his chest. “I think I may have accidentally fallen in love with her.”

“Accidentally?” Avalanche rasped. It sounded like he was smiling.

Fog didn’t look back. “Yep! Stupid, I know. I hadn’t meant for it to happen. I’m shocked at how quickly it happened, too. My dragon is all fucking in. I came close to accidentally marking her last night.” To spilling his seed inside her.

Avalanche grunted; it sounded slightly different from his normal grunts.

“I know what you’re thinking. I know exactly what you are thinking.”

Avalanche gave a questioning grunt.

“Don’t deny it. You’re thinking that it isn’t real. That I was heartbroken over Azure just last week, and therefore, this can’t be real as a result. That it’s a rebound relationship.”

“I don’t think you were in love with Azure,” Avalanche said.

Fog frowned. He was waiting for Avalanche to go on, but the male didn’t. “I was in love with her. At least, I think I was.”

“No, you weren’t,” Avalanche said. “You felt something for a female for the first time. It wasn’t love.”

What?

Was Avalanche right?

“This does feel different, so perhaps you are right. This has hit me right in the gut. I’m…I’m so cut up. I wish I could get her to see that…that we’re perfect together. Because we are.”

Avalanche grunted. It sounded like he agreed.

“What should I do? How do I get her to see it? To believe in us?”

“You concentrate on this mission, and then you go back to her as fast as your wings will carry you.”

“I won’t have wings.”

“Semantics,” Avalanche growled.

They walked in silence for a few minutes. That was it! The sum total of his input and yet, the male was right. He made a noise of agreement, even though it was a late response.

A half-hour later, the passageway became increasingly narrow.

The sweat started to drip from Fog’s brow. It had nothing to do with the exertion or with the temperature. Of course, they had expected this, but it was still different experiencing it first-hand. Riley had called it claustrophobia. It was like his throat was closing. Like his heart was beating out of his chest. Like the air was thinning, even though he knew it wasn’t. Logically, he knew this, and yet… Fuck! He had to stop himself from turning around and running as fast as his legs would take him.

No!

He was doing this!

Five minutes later, they walked into a large, cavernous space. Fog bent over his middle; he fought to catch his breath. It felt amazing to be in an open space, even if said space was far beneath the earth.

Not thinking about it!

Avalanche grunted and handed him a bottle of water. Fog grunted back and took it, drinking his fill. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I think we’re close, another half hour. At least according to those ancient maps from the library.”

Avalanche sniffed the air.

“What?” Fog asked. He sniffed as well. In amongst all the minerals and that strange animal scent was the smell of iron. “Blood?” he whispered.

Avalanche grunted, walking to the right of them. The male looked down at the ground, making a rumbling noise. He shone his flashlight on something there.

Fog joined him, looking down at the large dark patches. There were splatters along the walls as well. “It’s definitely blood.” He walked to the far side of the cavern, following the rocky wall, ducking for a couple of stalactites. “Fuck!” he muttered, shining his flashlight down a cave passage that was less than half the size of the one they had come out of. “This can’t be it,” he muttered, knowing full well that it was. He’d seen the blood spatters leading down the small space. This was the way to the cave dwellers.

Holy fuck!

Fog continued to walk around the perimeter of the entire space. There was a larger passage down the far end. He sniffed; the strange scent was almost nonexistent. Fog kept going. There were no other passages. “Looks like we can either go back where we came from, head down there.” He pointed to where Avalanche was investigating. “Or we can take the bigger passage at the rear.” Fuck! Fucking fuck! “Everything points to the narrow-as-fuck passage. The scent. The blood. All of it.” Fuuuuck! “It’s time.”

He turned to Avalanche, who nodded once.

“Do you have the ax?” Fog asked even though he could see it strapped to the male’s back.

Avalanche made a sound of affirmation.

“I’m happy to go first,” Fog said. “I’ll shift. You take out my wings. I might struggle to get back into my human form after that, but I’ll try.”

“Me first!” Avalanche growled.

“I can take it,” Fog insisted. Having his wings hacked off was nothing compared to hunching and walking down that passageway. He only prayed it wouldn’t get narrower. That it wouldn’t go on like that for too long.

“I insist,” Avalanche rasped. “I have a high pain threshold. Don’t forget that you will have to do mine afterward.”

Fog had never heard Avalanche talk this much. It was shocking and probably why he found himself nodding. “You’re right. It would be better if you went first.”

“Your aim will need to be accurate.” Avalanche thrust the ax into his hands.

It was heavy and glinted in the unnatural light. This wasn’t going to be fun. Not in the slightest. “Let’s do this!”

“Make it quick. Clean lobs,” Avalanche growled.

Fog lowered the ax. “Why did you come?” he asked. It was a question that had run through his mind ever since Avalanche had volunteered. “I mean, why did you agree even when I told you my crazy plan?” Namely, if and when they got caught, Fog was going to talk the cave dwellers into giving up the human and letting them go. Easy! Avalanche needed to stay silent. He needed to try to be unassuming. Absolutely no violence. It was a good plan as far as shit plans went. It was all they had since they would be greatly outnumbered.

“A female needs saving.” Avalanche shrugged.

“According to everyone back at the lair, a rescue team has been sent or will be soon.”

The male made some strange grunting noises. It took Fog a few seconds to realize that Avalanche was laughing.

“What?” he asked.

Avalanche shook his head. The feral smile on his face was fucking terrifying. He preferred it when Avalanche scowled. Preferred it infinitely. “I wasn’t born yesterday. They wouldn’t send a team for one of our own. They would never send one for a human.” He gave his head another shake and grunted, sounding pissed off. His whole body tensed. “I’ll save her, and maybe she’ll let me rut her.” His feral grin widened.

Fog choked out a laugh. Now that made sense. “We’ll save her.” Fog grinned. Food and females. It seemed it didn’t take much to make Avalanche happy.

“I’m going to enjoy killing those fuckers,” he added, his words echoing around the cavern.

Okay, so food, females, and violence. Then Avalanche’s words registered. “Wait a minute, you can’t kill any of them. They outnumber us by far. We need to stick to the plan. No killing!”

“Of course,” Avalanche grunted. “I forgot for a second. If we are captured, I will keep my mouth closed and let you talk us out of the situation.”

“Yes, that’s better.”

Avalanche grunted again, turning his back to Fog and partially shifting. His wings sprouted, but without being fully-fledged, they would be easier to hack off. “Ready?” Fog asked.

Avalanche blinked, giving the tiniest of inclines of his chin.

Fog sucked in a deep breath. It was best not to overthink any of what was about to happen. Avalanche pushed out his wings, and Fog took a hard swipe. As shifters, they thankfully had high pain thresholds. Avalanche was stronger than most because he didn’t so much as flinch as the blade cleaved through bone, sinew, ligaments, and skin. Hot blood sprayed him on the face and chest. Fog wiped it from his skin with the back of his hand. The whole process had reminded Fog of a hot knife through butter. He was glad he had taken the time to choose the right ax for the job. One clean cut was better than a hack job. Fog moved to the other side. “Ready?”

Avalanche gave the same small incline of his head, and Fog didn’t hesitate; he cleaved his remaining wing from his back. Blood spurted from the gash, splattering onto the floor and the adjacent wall.

When Fog turned, he had a light sheen on his furrowed brow. Otherwise, he gave no indication of the searing pain he must be feeling. Fog handed him the ax. He partially shifted and lifted his stubby wings.

“I have an idea,” Avalanche rasped.

“Oh?” Fog’s voice was guttural since he was in semi-shift.

“Something that will make this easier on you.”

“I’m all ears.” Fog turned towards the male.

Avalanche punched him square in the face. Fog felt his neck snap back. He felt himself falling. Then everything went black.