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Invading Will

Chapter 1

Part 4

By: D. C. Henry ("Ahndeleck")

The day had worn into evening and Deanna turned off the road at one of the last foothills before the main slope of the mountain. Raogothcar followed above her as she walked the horse to the bottom of the grassy hill. Deanna dismounted when she reached a small stream at the bottom of the hill. As she tied up the horse, Raogothcar slowly descended to the hill, making a landing a short distance away from her. As she finished with the horse, Raogothcar trotted up to her.

"This is a very nice place isn't it?" Raogothcar said, "Very green and cool. It's like my den in the mountain. All its missing is the pine trees. If I hadn't found that den I might have taken this place."

"It's a good thing you didn't dragon." Deanna said as she pulled a long blue sword from a pack on the horse, "If you had, we would suspect you for poisoning the prince."

"I hadn't thought of that. I wouldn't like being blamed for Alan's sickness. Why would I do something like that at all?"

"I don't know, but if it was you, I would find out why. I'm still trying to figure out why you might want to actually."

"You think I did that to him? I've never seen him before. I don't even know how to make something as strange as the spores he has."

"But you do know how to cure it don't you?"

Raogothcar frowned as he sat down. He hadn't thought of it that way before. He also didn't like that Deanna thought that he had poisoned Alan. He really couldn't think of how someone else made the spores, and he wasn't completely sure that his mother's cure for poisons would work on the man's illness. The circle wasn't exactly made for spores, but he had to try something. This was his best chance to make the humans here like him.

While he sat, Deanna turned back towards the hill and started for them. Raogothcar turned and followed her once again this time on foot. A minute of walking through the tall grass, they came to a small opening surrounded by small bushes.

Upon reaching the entrance they both stopped for a moment. Raogothcar felt the spines on his back slowly rising in alarm. He wasn't sure why, he had been inside caves before, many of them seemed quite comfortable in the past. As Deanna pulled the blue sword from her belt, Raogothcar thought it might be that he was with an armed human. When his father had his human friends at the den, some of them had swords or bows and other weapons, but that never bothered him either. At his own den, he had felt alarmed when he first saw the other armed guards. Deanna ducked her head to enter through the small opening, and Raogothcar shoved his thoughts aside and followed her.

Raogothcar had to crawl down on his belly at first, but once inside the tunnel spread out to allow him to stand. Deanna stood at one side of the long tunnel and Raogothcar stood in place waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dim light.

Inside the cave he felt even more on edge. He didn't like the cave, but he wasn't sure why. There were no scents out of place, and he couldn't remember seeing anything that might be dangerous. Still the butterflies in his stomach were growing, soon their wings would be bigger than his, and that would be uncomfortable. He looked towards Deanna, and hoped that talking might get his focus away from the feeling.

"Deanna, could you tell me what happened when Alan was here? It might be useful."

"Prince Alan wanders the kingdom when he has free time. When he decides to do anything more adventurous than a small game hunting trip, I go with him. This time since we weren't completely sure what to expect I brought a few of my scouts with us. I figured that the Prince could have his fun down here, and then we would leave. While we were down here, one of the Cickrack attacked us."

"A Cick attacked you here? Father said they don't like to go up north because of the cold. Why would it want to attack you anyway? They don't attack unless their colonies are threatened."

"Well, there was one of them up here, and it charged us. I wasn't about to ask it any questions, and neither were my men. The last thing I would want to explain myself to the King about, was how one of those filthy bugs injured the king.

"After the attack we left the cave as soon as we could. I didn't want to get surrounded by a whole colony of those things, especially since we didn't have anyone with us that could interpret. Although it seems that the worker might have been lost, we didn't see any other Cick down here."

"I've never seen Cickrack before."

Raogothcar's eyes had become well adjusted to the light. Deanna was looking at her drawn sword. The idea that he was so close to any Cick at all was exciting. His father had told him that the insects were as large as humans, and some of the older more important leaders were even larger than dragons. Whenever he asked his father to take him to see one, he would tell him no and that they didn't like visitors. Remembering his father's objection suddenly made him nervous.

"Are you sure there was only one of them in here Deanna?"

"Are you sure that a spore is the cause of the prince's illness? Let's go."

The two started down the tunnel, the whole time it slowly curved off to one side till finally the path down came to an end. The tunnel split into three directions at the bottom of the ramp. In the distance they could hear a small underground river and the sound of water dripping onto a rocky floor. Raogothcar stood at the intersection for a little while, then looked down the path to his left,

"Deanna is that where you went that day? Down that tunnel?"

"Yes, down that tunnel. Did you use your magic to know that?"

"I just feel some magic down that way. I know that there are some things in caves that use magic to live down here, and I guessed that Alan would want to see things like that."

Deanna nodded to him slowly, then turned and walked slowly down the tunnel. At first the light was very faint, soft hues from further down lighting the tunnel At the far end of the tunnel, Raogothcar could see that the soft blue light was coming from just around the next corner. Deanna walked quicker, moving further ahead of him.

Raogothcar followed, but the anxious feelings returned as they turned towards the source of the light. The tunnel opened into the largest cavern that Raogothcar had ever seen. His parents' den wasn't even as large as what he was seeing. He could tell the room had to have been mostly undisturbed with all the wild mushrooms, and cave plants growing inside. Near the back of the room, a small waterfall trickled from the ceiling, into a pool. The pool emptied into a small stream that winded a path through most of the cavern flowing elsewhere beyond where he could see. At the farthest side of the room appeared to be another tunnel that led deeper underground. Then at his side, Raogothcar noticed a second smaller tunnel that was shaped in the same smooth fashion as the one they had left.

He could see why he had felt the presence of magic down the tunnel. On either side of the stream small round mushrooms, no larger than mice, glowed silently burning magical force slowly. On the wall furthest away from the fall, a large vine, glowing deep blue, climbed the wall. Cave crickets chirped all around them, and Raogothcar guessed there were many other small creatures scurrying about in the gloom of the cavern.

"That room there on the right wasn't here when I was here last." Deanna pointed with her sword. "Be careful dragon."

"I thought you said that you fought the only one here. How could there be another one so fast?"

"I don't know. I'm just certain that wasn't there when we all left. Maybe another one of the bugs came to see what happened to its fellow and started where the last one left off. I don't understand these things, I only saw one a week ago and I killed it."

"Well with me here we won't have to worry about Cick. They won't bother an armed human and a dragon."

"I'm certain of that dragon," Deanna held her sword out and shook her head before her and walked further into the cavern, "I'm completely certain."

Deanna slowly walked ahead. A few steps behind her, Raogothcar followed. Deanna hopped over the small stream, then turned and motioned for Raogothcar to follow. He stopped at the edge of the stream, then he hopped lightly to the other side. His foot caught the edge of a large rock and dislodged it from the bank. The clatter of stone on stone, followed by the echoing splash filled the room. Raogothcar winced at the noise, then looked up to see Deanna scowling at him.

As the echoes died around them, Raogothcar relaxed and stepped away from the bank, then stopped as a new sound reached his ears. From further in the cave, Raogothcar could make out the sound of small rocks and dirt being scrapped aside. Deanna turned towards the noise and held her sword out at the noise. The shuffling turned into the sounds of feet crunching through newly loosened rocks. Ahead of them, a large dark shape crawled out from behind a large boulder. Then Raogothcar realized it had to be a Cickrack, the only insect that Raogothcar knew of that could be larger than he was.

The creature stood on four of its legs, its grey body seemed to give it the feeling as being as solid as the rocks around it. Its bright red eyes shown in the blue surroundings as it looked back at them. For a moment none of them moved, the insect just tilted his head quickly to one side, to the other, and back again. Then after a soft humming noise, its bright red wings shown from under its dusty grey shell and the insect clicked several times. Neither Deanna nor Raogothcar moved; the insect stopped moving as well.

Raogothcar could only watch when the insect dropped down to its eight legs and charged at Deanna. Deanna lunged behind a large boulder while the bug crossed the distance between them. Raogothcar scrambled behind another boulder himself before the Cick reached him. He heard the insect skitter to a stop, then make a hum like a flock of humming birds.

When Raogothcar slowly poked his head out from behind his rock and found that the insect was gone. He looked over at Deanna who was crouching with her back to a rock looking at him. She jerked her head towards where the Cick had been with a questioning look on her face. Raogothcar shook his head.

Slowly, Deanna turned and crept towards the further side of her boulder. Raogothcar watched as she scanned the room behind them, then turned back and shook her head. Raogothcar knew that the Cick was somewhere. He turned and looked back where the insect had come from, but doubted that it would have circled around them that quickly.

"There!" Deanna shouted, "Behind you."

Raogothcar looked over to her. She was standing on her feet and pointing above him. Without looking Raogothcar ducked his head and leaped forward as hard as he could. As he landed on his chest, he looked back over his shoulder to see the insect crouching over his boulder.

Raogothcar didn't want to stay out in the open any longer than he had to and started scrambling to get behind Deanna's boulder. As he scrambled towards her, Deanna reared back and threw her sword towards the Cickrack. All he heard was the high pitched almost metallic scream of the insect behind him and the soft watery thud of Deanna's blade finding the creature. Then nearly instantly, the sword ripped itself out of the Cick and flew back to Deanna. Raogothcar stopped next to Deanna as she turned back from her catch, confused by the sword's return.

"Look out, he's coming around." She said.

"Al- alright, I'll be ready."

Shaking the thought from his mind, Raogothcar thought he could set a quick circle in the dirt and surprise the Cick. He used a talon and tore a circle in the soil, then quickly filled in several lines. The entire circle took him mere seconds to draw and charge. Then he heard the crunch of the dirt by several feet. When Raogothcar looked up, the Cick started a charge towards him, its near black mandibles wide and sharp.

He pushed back from the circle, and knew he would have to protect himself from the spell. As Raogothcar came back on his hind legs, he opened one wing and pushed a barrier of raw magical force to protect him. A second later the Cickrack stepped inside the circle and an eruption of rock and dirt exploded around him.

His magical barrier around his wing forced most of the rock away from him, took a deep breath and willed his mind into one of his paws. The thudding sound of the insect landing on the ground was muffled by the sound of the small explosion. Small rocks from the ceiling and walls rained down from the concussive force. Raogothcar pulled his wing back and pulled away from the prone insect as quickly as he could.

As Raogothcar scrambled back towards the wall of the cavern, the insect slowly got up to its six feet. With a loud screech, the insect stalked towards Raogothcar. With each step the Cick crushed mushrooms and stamped dust and dirt into the air. The air around the insect appeared to grow darker, as Raogothcar watched his deadly predator come closer. Raogothcar blinded by terror, ran between boulders at the wall of the cavern, realizing to late he was trapped.

The Cick loomed over him, its first two legs above its head for its first strike. Raogothcar cowered at the wall, dread of inevitable pain paralyzing him. Deanna leaped from behind the Cick, her sword high above her head. The eight legged monstrosity heard her approach too late, as Deanna swung her dark blue sword down onto the back of the creature.

The sound was deafening as the insect screamed in surprise and pain. Despite the slimy green covering over Deanna's sword, the insect didn't seem to feel the pain for long as it turned on her. Caught off guard, Deanna grunted as one of the Cick's front legs struck her on the chest; the blow sent her back several feet. She lay in the cloud of mushroom spores and dust for only a moment and regained her footing, ready for the next move from her foe.

Raogothcar stood on his feet, as the insect stamped towards Deanna. He couldn't let the creature hurt her, the other humans would never forgive him if she got hurt. He lunged forward, determined to turn the creature's attention away from Deanna. With a loud growl, Raogothcar leapt at the back of the insect. His back claws dug into the shell of the creature's abdomen, his front legs wrapping around the dangerous legs.

"Hold on dragon!" Deanna shouted.

Suddenly laden with a dragon on its back, the Cickrack, stumbled forward. Then regained its balance and turned his head to look back at the wild dragon on its back. Raogothcar saw the rage burning through the glassy eyes, small specs of hatred glimmering in each facet. Raogothcar found his legs being pried back, slowly, the Cick's legs far more powerful than his own.

Raogothcar felt his grip on the monster weakening. He knew that he had to get distance from the Cick, he would jump off the creatures back. Then he found the Cick had hold of his fore paws. The creature had him, he couldn't escape. The red eyes seemed to gleam at him, eager to tear his body apart.

Raogothcar snapped his wings open and beat hard, trying to force himself away from those deadly eyes. With the second beat of his wings, he felt as if he was falling backwards, and the Cick suddenly looked up as the world spun. His wings were pressed hard against him as he crashed into the ground. Then the Cick landed atop him, the blow knocking the wind from his lungs.

His struggling wing beats had knocked them both over. As the insect screeched above him, Raogothcar realized he was in more danger than he had been on the back of the creature. Gasping for breath Raogothcar and tried to push his legs to move. The insect pushed a stone with a set of legs and began to turn itself over.

Involuntarily, Raogothcar drew his legs and wings close to himself, expecting the pain of the insects mandibles. As the creature righted itself and loomed over him, Raogothcar heard something like a thick wet cloth tearing. The creature above him sagged slowly with the sound, then turned its head slightly, and finally fell as a heavy dead weight against him.

The sudden heavy body knocked the breath from him a second time. He lay dazed for a moment, letting the spots in his eyes clear. When they did, Raogothcar wished he couldn't see again, the Cick's head lay inches from his own. Panic returned to him, and he screeched as he tore at the carcass.

"Settle down dragon. Its dead. If you'd stop struggling maybe I can help get this off of you. Just stop!"

He finally understood what Deanna was saying, and stopped. His breaths came heavy and quick from panic, and staying calm under a lifeless body larger than he was turned out to be difficult. With some effort, Raogothcar turned his head out from under the creature, to look back to Deanna.

"Just hurry," He said, "It might still be alive."

"No, I don't think so." Deanna said as she approached, "I managed to bury my sword in that thing's back. No Cickrack could live through that."

"Its still heavy, and it smells like a trunk full of stink bugs.

Raogothcar managed to move his paws underneath the dead Cickrack and attempted a halfhearted push. The creature barely moved. When he looked back to Deanna, he saw her standing with her hand outstretched towards the back of the creature. A second later, the same wet tearing slashed into the air, as Deanna's sword spun out from the back of the creature. Without moving, Deanna caught the sword with her hand, then calmly returned it to her scabbard. Then she looked down at him and pointed to the other side of the creature.

"Well turn it that way." She said, "Are you ready dragon?"

"More than I say. This thing is terrible."

Deanna stepped over stray legs, to the body. Raogothcar moved his paws slightly to push away better and waited for Deanna. She looked down at him then nodded. They both pushed and the creature shifted slowly away from them. A moment later, Raogothcar managed to struggle out from underneath the insect.

He leaped up to his feet and then shook himself quickly, trying to get the smell of the creature off of him. It didn't work, and he wanted to swim in the pool at his den. He looked behind him at the creature.

"I've never been so scared in my life. You said there was a fight before, was it one of these?"

"Yes it was. Although this one is a little bigger I think. Still I don't think it would have been a problem for me either. But you made it much easier by distracting it."

"Distracting it? It nearly killed me, and it nearly killed you. These things are evil! I hate Cickracks, I hope I never see another one."

"I don't particularly want to either. I doubt we will either." Deanna said as she turned back to the deeper part of the cavern, "Now dragon, you need to find whatever spore it is that you need. I don't want to waste a lot of time in here. Its dark, has bugs, and the prince needs that cure."

"Alright, I'll start looking in a little while," Raogothcar said as he sat down, "I've got to catch my breath. I can't think right now."

Deanna squinted at him, then turned and walked towards the small river at the other side of the room. Raogothcar could tell she wasn't happy with what he had said, but it was true. He had never had to fight for his life before. He had never been in real mortal danger before, and he decided he didn't like it much.