Gerard Skyler was scared, but not of the climb he was about to make. He was comfortable with that. He was also comfortable with the plan they had come up with – at least he was comfortable with it after he had removed all of the Geka lizards, rope ladders and pulley wheels from the proposal, and then simplified it.
The Zard weren’t the smartest of creatures, Gerard decided, after hearing what they had originally been planning to do. And as reptiles they were instinctually afraid of the dragon’s lair. At the moment though, all Gerard could do was tremble, and pray to the goddess that Flick was capable of keeping the huge creatures swimming in the water around their canoe from eating them.
He felt like he was sitting right in the water with the huge, toothy snappers that looked to be all around them. Most of the long, thick gator-like beasts were as big, if not bigger, than the canoe. It would take only one swift chop to splinter the craft to pieces, and it was all Gerard could do to keep from covering his eyes and whimpering.
He didn’t want to know what had made that powerful thumping splash behind them. The waves caused by the ruckus threatened to come up over the sides of the little boat. He would have to stand up in the canoe soon, and he was trying not to think about it. He had no idea how he was going to keep his balance while stood. The only thing he was sure of was that he didn’t want any part of his body in that murky, tooth-filled water. Not even a boot tip.
He did his best to focus his attention on the towering formation he was about to climb. He decided that it was correctly named for it rose up out of the marsh and tapered to a sharp point, while curving slightly to the east – exactly like a fang. It was completely black, and formed out of a rough and porous type of stone. The way it rose up out of the swamp and loomed over the tiny canoe, did little to ease his discomfort.
Gerard motioned for Flick to take them to the western side of the Dragon’s Tooth. The way the east side of it curved slowly outward, it would be impossible to climb. If he tried that side, he would be dangling from his hand holds after the midway point.
To the common eye, the western side looked no easier. It was dauntingly steep, but to Gerard it appeared to be a simple climb. To him, it was like a ladder leading up to where the curve started laying over towards the east. After that, it was more like a steep stairway. It would be one of the easiest climbs he had ever made.
His destination was a cavern that went all the way through the formation, up near the sharp tip of the fang. It was like a giant worm had bored a hole from east to west, all the way through the black rock, a thousand feet above the surface of the swamp. The dragon lived in that hole, but Shaella had a plan to keep it occupied, while Gerard snatched away one of its eggs.
He looked at the surface of the stone as they drew closer, then craned his head back, and looked up towards the dragon’s lair. There were plenty of hand and toeholds, no slick hawkling dung to contend with, no angry mother birds pecking and clawing at him, no sheer freefall down to the Lip, or to the rocky canyon floor below it. If Shaella could keep the dragon away, then this would be easy. If Shaella couldn’t keep the dragon away – Gerard didn’t want to think about that.
Shaella and half a hundred of the creepy Zardmen were to handle her part of the plan. She had sworn to Gerard, over and over since the night of the feast that she would keep the dragon from its lair until he was down, and safely back in the canoe with Flick. Last night, as they lay in each other’s arms, she had sworn it again.
“You’ll never even see the dragon after it comes out to feed,” she had said, and he believed her.
Even though she had wanted him, he hadn’t made love to her last night, or the night before. This had confused her. He explained that having sex before a rigorous climb weakened a man’s legs and softened his heart. He told her that was the reason the Skyler women weren’t allowed near the harvest lodge when he and his clansmen took the hawkling eggs each year. They laughed together when he told her that his grandfather called the complication “love legs” and that his older brother, Hyden, had had to explain to him what it meant, because his mother had been too embarrassed to broach the subject with him. Gerard told Shaella that only a fool would climb after a night in bed with her. She took that as a compliment, and spent the night nestled against him, with her head on his shoulder.