Two hundred years as a soldier allowed Regneps to recover from being thrown by the shockwave quickly and he was to Nethe's side as the human was still working to dislodge himself from the snowbank he landed in.
"If you tell me you landed on your feet after that blast I swear I'll shoot you here and now."
Regneps ignored him and said, "The beast was only stunned. It will be on us in seconds."
Having pulled himself up out of the snow, Nethe responded, "That's fine. I plan on being gone in seconds."
Regneps watched as Nethe raised one foot and the snowshoe coming out the sides of his boot retracted into the sole of the boot and a flat stick telescoped out of the front and back creating a ski. Putting his foot down he lifted the other foot which also changed from snowshoe to ski.
"Hop on," Nethe said as pulled out two long devices from his pack from openings on either side of his hips and hooked them onto his belt.
Regneps hesitated as he had only heard rumors about human attaching sticks called skies to their feet to move quickly down snowy mountainsides, but once the sound of heavy footsteps in the snow could be heard approaching he stepped onto the skies.
Nethe clipped a cord onto Regneps' belt and shifted his weight so that they started sliding down the hill; Nethe backwards and Regneps forward.
"I hope this will speed up faster," Regneps said.
"It'll pick up in a moment," responded Nethe as he clipped both guns onto the devices on either hip and then continued, "You might want to step closer if you don't want powder burns."
Regneps had never seen guns that could be taken apart, altered and reassembled so quickly but he had learned to not be surprised at the ingenuity of human crafters.
So feeling it was best to trust the man he stepped right up to Nethe as the human pulled two long muzzles out of each hip device and aimed them up just as the dragon's head appeared over the snow bank. Pulling the triggers at either side of him both devices began to rapidly fire bullets at the dragon.
The bullets still just bounced off the dragon's scales but they still stung enough to cause the beast to stop and turn its head away. Meanwhile the force of the rapid shots pushed the human and elf even faster down the mountain.
Just as they started to arrive at a steep part of the slope Nethe told Regneps to hold on and shifting his weight he managed to turn them around just as they began to really pick up speed.
"Here we go," Nethe shouted.
After a few moments Nethe yelled over the sound of rushing wind asking, "Is it following?"
"Yes," Regneps responded and continued, "but we are pulling away...wait it just took off. Now it's flying after us."
"Snipies!" Nethe exclaimed and disconnected one of the gun assemblies from his hip and pulled yet another attachment from yet another side pocket of his pack and added it to the now very large gun.
Once assembled the human lifted the weapon up and leaning it upside down on his shoulder, pointed it behind him at the dragon. As the beast swooped down at them, Nethe fired off three large objects at the beast which all hit the dragon and all exploded in rapid succession. The dragon veered off and after taking a quick glance, Nethe shouted, "Really? Not even my grenades pierced its scales?"
The dragon started to loop around for another pass and Nethe shouted to Regneps, "You still able to control the wind?"
He could, and in other places he would be formable, but not here.
"Yes, but there is very little life here so my magic is limited," Regneps responded.
"Okay, when I ask for it I'll need the best down draft you can give me right under the dragon," Nethe said as he quickly reloaded.
"I won't be able to pull it to the ground."
"You may not be able to but I think we can," Nethe replied as he finished reloading his weapon and again aimed it behind him resting it on his shoulder. "Get ready!"
Regneps put his hand on the staff strapped to his back and nodded that he was ready. The staff was a magic item controlled the winds but he had to both touch it and supply the magic to it for it to work.
The frost wyrm was again swooping down behind them. Nethe fired four more rapid shots which arched high before dropping on the pursuing dragon. Just as the grenades were about to hit he shouted, "Now!"
The grenades exploded over the wings and body as Regneps used what magic he could channel to pull the air beneath the dragon down. Between the force of the explosion above it and the wind pulling from below the frost wyrm dropped hard out of the sky and into the snow below.
The dragon instantly started rolling behind them and brought an avalanche of snow with it.
Regneps felt Nethe shift seeming to be trying to position them for more speed as he yelled, "It's going to be close but I think we can make it,"
Nethe then hooked a couple more cords to the Regneps' belt and added, “If you can make any more wind then I’ll need you to push us as far forward as you can once we go off the cliff!"
"Cliff? What cliff?" Regneps asked a moment before the ground disappeared.
The cliff wasn't a shot drop. In fact the ground was the valley floor which was several thousand feet below. At first Regneps was panicked but he quickly recovered enough to follow his instructions and use the wind to push them further from the side of the cliff.
After a few moments Nethe reached back and pulled a cord on his pack and the top flap flipped open and a piece of cloth came out and opened up into a large piece of cloth with strings connecting it to the pack.
They instantly began to fall more slowly but before either could speak a massive amount of snow passed right by them with the dragon falling with it.
As Regneps watched it fall towards the ground Nethe said, "Thanks for the push. I couldn't open the parachute as long as the dragon and snow was falling right above us."
"You could have warned me about the cliff and parachute earlier you know," Regneps complained.
"Sorry, I was preoccupied with staying alive," Nethe answered.
Down below as the mass of dragon and snow approached the ground the frost wyrm suddenly spread its wings and pulled up right before it was about to crash and began climbing back up towards the descending man and elf.
"Well...That's discouraging," Nethe said as he watched the dragon rising up towards them.
"I'm not sure there is any way to escape this creature," Regneps stated.
Nethe loaded his last grenade into his weapon and said, "I'll give up when that thing is suffering from the indigestion eating me will cause it, not before. I'm going to cut us loose and use the backup chute when we are near the ground. It will be a hard landing so an air cushion would be nice; unless you have a better idea."
The dragon was getting close and Regneps quickly said, "Not at the moment."
The dragon rose to meet them and the human watched it. Regneps knew what he was planning would take perfect timing or both of them would end up as lunch.
Just as the dragon began opening its mouth Nethe pulled a cord and suddenly they were in free fall again. The dragon started to adjust itself to catch them but Nethe fired his last grenade which exploded on the beast's chest and it flew right over them as it tried to get control of its flight again.
Firing the grenade sent them spinning as they fell. They were only seconds away from the ground before Nethe finally released his second parachute. Regneps felt the pull of the chute as they stopped spinning and was pulled upright. He immediately used what magic that was left to make an air cushion under them. They still hit the snow hard.
Regneps found himself on top of Nethe who was already unhooking himself from the elf. Nethe said as he finished, "And that my friend is the quick way down the mountain. Thanks for coming but the ride ends here."
He had just finished speaking when he heard a loud thud in the snow. The frost wyrm had landed a couple of hundred yards away and was staring them down.
"Okay, I am done with this," Nethe muttered as he pulled himself to his feet and pulled one last attach
ment from his pack and then dropped the pack to the ground. It was now empty of anything useful.
“You still have bullets?” Regneps asked.
“None, but I’ve been working up and saving magic for this.”
Regneps could feel magic suddenly emanating from Nethe and it seemed to be pouring into his rifle which he aimed at the dragon as the creature started to charge.
"That's right, here kitty, kitty," he said as he prepared to pull the trigger.
The frost wyrm suddenly stopped and raised its head. Which was odd—it seemed to have responded to what Nethe had said. A thought came to Regneps as Nethe started to pull the trigger.
"Wait stop," Regneps cried and pushed his rifle to the side as the gun fired.
A glowing ball of magic shot from the rifle, past the dragon’s head and into the side of the cliff several hundred yards further past the beast. The explosion from the shot blew a huge cavern into the cliff and both Nethe and Regneps had to turn their head and brace themselves as the shockwave hit.
As the dust cloud began to settle Regneps and Nethe stood there both breathing hard looking at the unharmed frost wyrm that seemed to be studying them.
"Regneps...that was my only shot. I can't do that again. Tell me you know what you're doing," Nethe said quietly.
Regneps didn't answer him but instead began speaking to the dragon in another language. It wasn't elvish, in-fact Regneps was sure Nethe would be able to make out some of what he was saying if he listened closely.
"What language is that?" the human asked.
Regneps responded quickly, "Ancient Yucaipan."
Nethe blinked. "And the dragon understands Ancient Yucaipan?"
"Don't you know your own history, Forest Dragons were used by the Yucaipan Kingdom as war mounts. The royal war mount was first tamed by High Lord Gidon Aguerius and used by kings for two hundred years. It was named Kitty because it had a feline appearance. I think it grew into the frost wyrm standing before us."
"They named a forest dragon war mount Kitty?"
"They say Lord Gidon had an unusual sense of humor. When it grew into a mountain dragon it was the first of the elvish flying war mounts. He hasn't been seen or heard of in a thousand years," Regneps explained in awe.
"Soooo, it's not going to eat us now?" Nethe asked.
Regneps began speaking again to the frost wyrm which cocked its head as it listened. After a few moments Regneps stopped speaking and the frost wyrm with a low groan turned and stepped away and after a few steps extended its wings and began to fly away.
Regneps explained, "I apologized for disturbing it and begged its forgiveness. I think it accepted."
"You apologized? You know how long it took me to make all those bullets and grenades? He's the one that tried to eat us," Nethe complained.
"Would you like me to call it back and tell it you want an apology?"
"That's okay. I'm fine," Nethe answered quickly with a smile, "So, you walking back to your base or you going to wait to get a ride from my men who no doubt are in their way to investigate the explosion and hole I just put in the mountainside?"
“I think I’m done taking rides from you for a while, no offence,” Regneps replied.
Other Books by Marc Van Pelt
Mathen’s Flight
Fate’s Foe Book 1
Chapter 1