the skulls of the men who locked them in that cell, but the wood would have to suffice until he could track them down.
Thom flipped his sleeping pallet up and the rage returned. Osric’s men had taken his dragonbone wand, and they had even found the spare sword he kept under his pallet. The knife that had been secured to the bottom of the table was nowhere to be seen, either. Thom left the room and ran down the stairs to find Aron.
He found the gruff looking man who had been his supervisor and mentor for nearly six years in a foul mood. One of the guards was cleaning the angry wound from an eagle claw on Aron’s arm. The injury had festered overnight, and sweat broke out on Aron’s brow as the guard wiped pus and blood from the gash. Even if they could find a weapon, Thom wasn’t sure Aron could wield one.
“Wipe that worried, girlish look off your face. I can swing steel just as well with my other arm. Did you find me a weapon?” Thom glared at Aron but bit back a retort out of respect.
“No, Osric and his cursed, misfit friends cleaned this place out. All of my gear is gone, and they found the dwarven swords, too.” Thom tore a strip of cloth from the hem of his tunic and handed it to the guard to wrap up Aron’s arm. “I will go out and gather some wood for a fire, and then at least we can make some spears.”
“Blast!” Aron punched the irua guard in the throat and loosened the bandage, cradling his arm to his chest. “That’s too tight, you idiot.” He pointed with his good arm at the other guards standing around. “You four, go with him. I want a hot meal and some sharp sticks by mid’day!”
Thom walked out of the volcano, fuming with anger at Osric. Not only had he freed the dragons, isolating everyone on Archana from rapid travel, but he had taken all of Thom’s gear and weapons. Just as the thought about the dragons being free crossed his mind, a great sweeping shadow passed over him, and Thom dove behind the massive tree near the entrance. The other four guards who had been just behind him scurried back into the volcano. Thom crouched behind the tree, expecting a blast of fire to envelop him at any moment, and scanned the sky. He watched the massive, golden-brown beast soar up and away from him, and he recognized the dragon that had stood guard at the entrance for as long as he had been stationed at the volcano.
“Stargon. Blast that wicked creature! He will toy with me like a cat with a mouse.” Thom cursed the dragon under his breath and began breaking the lowest limbs from the tree and hurling them toward the volcano’s entrance. He kept his eyes on the open sky as much as he could while he worked. When he had a sufficient pile of wood between himself and the opening to the volcano, he called out to the other guards. “Gather it quickly and get back inside. The beast is gone for the moment, and I have no intention of being eaten today.” He grabbed several more long, straight limbs and rushed for the entrance, leaping the pile of firewood and nearly colliding with another guard as he emerged tentatively, gazing up at the sky. Thom kicked the careless man for blocking his escape as he dodged past him and dashed back inside the volcano.
The men were able to gather the wood without incident, but the close encounter had them all considering the possibility that they were trapped at the volcano with few supplies and an unknown number of vicious dragons nearby waiting to make meals out of them. The air was thick with tension and unspoken fear as they built a fire in the pit just inside the entrance and began hardening and sharpening long limbs into makeshift spears in the flames. Thom addressed Aron with venom in his tone.
“That nasty beast you kept at the door hasn’t left, and I am sure he has many friends nearby. How do you intend to get us out of here?”
Aron stared at Thom with contempt, but his voice was steady with authority as he responded, “We will stick together and travel light. We have no supplies to weigh us down. Once we make it to the trees, we will have sufficient cover, food