Koishi

Chapter 11

Scanning the gateroom as soon as he arrived, Ishi spotted five squat creatures racing through the gate. Unlike goblins, these figures wore spiked helms and sturdy armor. They came to a sudden halt at the sight of him.

The leader gave him a brown-toothed bearded grin. Swinging his axe in a lazy arc, he prowled forward. “Cover the exits. This one’s mine.” He spoke to his comrades in their gravelly language.

Ishi gnashed his flat human-like teeth. Dwarves. Finally, something with fighting skills. He thumped his chest with a double fisted beat. Bring it on. Shifting to dragon form, he laughed as their eyes grew wide at his transformation. Really? The hill of bones at the gate entrance on the Outremer side still wasn’t enough of a hint?

Calling forth lava from the streams that flowed through the room, he snapped them like whips.

The intruders scattered, but there was no cover to be had. Using his control over stone, Ishi had smoothed the area ages ago. However, the dwarves’ gear didn’t melt or catch flame when touched.

Damn them and their metal magic. Lava wasn’t effective enough on these well-armored enemies. Only their skin burned, and even that didn’t deter this tough lot.

With the coordination of a well-trained unit, one distracted him by attacking him head-on as the others jumped him from behind.

Dropping his control over the liquid stone, he rolled across the floor, squashing a hard armored assailant, and unsheathed his sword from its place on the wall. In unison with his sharp tail, he parried their assault. The heavy weapon would have been cumbersome for most large species, but he was Ishi, Gatekeeper of the East. Swinging low to the ground, he cut a dwarf in half. The spray of blood arced over his remaining companions.

“What do you want in this realm?” Ishi shouted at them. Dwarves rarely crossed into Inverness. They valued gold and gems…

He set his clawed feet firmly on the ground at the realization of what they were truly after and drew upon the lava flowing throughout the mountain. No one would get his treasure. He’d melt it first. They couldn’t escape. The fools would bring further confirmation of his existence and next thing he’d know, his den would be infested with the metal-clad vermin. Touching his hoard, stealing it down to their mines, and melting his delicate gold and shiny silver for their own crafts.

Currents of lava increased in flow into the gateroom as his vision narrowed on the dwarves. He’d erupt the fucking volcano before they laid one pudgy finger on his stuff.

Sending his power deep into the Earth, he called to the liquid stone. He’d flood his treasure room if they got past his defenses. The mountain groaned, unbalancing one dwarf to pinwheel his arms and then topple over onto the ground.

Ishi impaled him through his stomach with the tip of his tail.

The other two stopped mid-swing and met each other’s gaze, then raced for escape, leaping toward the gate.

With a twist of his torso, he blocked their way using his tail once more, skewered dwarf still on it and all. Blood dripped from their dead companion.

“Ishi?” A soft voice called out behind him.

He spun around, ankle deep in dwarven menace.

Sandra peeked around the doorway, a vulnerable target.

His heart bronco-ed as he placed himself between her and the intruders. “Get out of here!” he shouted at her. Pain lanced into his shoulder. The sharp burn arched down his arm. He glanced back at an axe embedded above his wing. The little snot just missed, either by bad aim or his dumb luck.

The volcano rumbled again since he was still connected to the core, except now he remembered something more precious than gold stood not far from him. Destroying his den would kill Sandra.

He roared in the face of his enemies. Spit flew from his lips, landing on the horned helm of the nearest dwarf. Drawing upon his power, he focused his call on the lava. A headache blurred his vision with the effort. Spilling the liquid stone across the room from the stream, he encased the closest of the living intruders in molten heat. Their magical armor would survive, but not their exposed flesh. The dwarf screamed and flung himself through the gate.

Ishi sucked in a deep breath and blinked his vision back into focus. Had he given himself an aneurysm?

The scent of roasted dwarf filled the air. Maybe Urgle was hungry?

Something would have to be done about the dwarven colony usurping the goblin hoards. He didn’t care for either race, but the goblins were stupid and easier to manage.

Breathing heavy, Sandra clung to the rock wall. She stared with wide eyes at the cooling glob by the gate. “You fight like this all the time?”

Shrugging, he stepped forward and blocked her view. “This was a small skirmish.” He tilted his head as he watched the color drain from her face. “I’m a gatekeeper. It’s my job.” He stood in a shallow pool of lava, his scales designed for this hot liquid. “Careful.” A small drop would sizzle right through her delicate body.

He had almost sent the flood of lava into his treasure room where he had left her. Fool. He could have killed her.

An aftershock shook the room. Stumbling forward, she wheeled her arms, trying to maintain her precarious balance.

Time slowed as his searing heart froze. As if having a mind of its own, his tail snaked out to catch her, but it dragged with the weight of an impaled dead dwarf still stuck on the barbed end.

The lava wasn’t deep; however, it would sizzle the flesh off her bones.

She let out a high-pitched shriek and tumbled forward.

His lungs seized as he stretched forward, doing a belly flop, to have her land on his face, his mouth, anything else but the lava.

He heard nothing and opened his eyes, surprised to find they were closed.

Sandra hovered over the liquid fire. A thick green arm was wrapped around her waist.

Ishi’s gaze met Urgle’s.

The goblin set her back on her feet, far from the ledge. “I do good?”

The dragon nodded, still sprawled across the receding lava pool. “You did great!”

The goblin grinned. “Okay.”

“Give me time to think of a good reward for you.” He rose to his feet and brushed off his dignity. He was a dragon, not some lounging hound dog.

“Okay.” His pet ambled back toward the work area where he had set him up to work on wind chimes.

Ishi eyed Sandra. “Did any land on you?” He couldn’t touch her like he wanted while still covered in the molten stone. “A drop splash on you?”

“I–I’m fine. Just shaken.” She reached for his snout.

“Don’t. I’m still too hot.”

She jerked away, but a secret smile pulled at her lips.

He narrowed his eyes. “What?”

“You were worried about me.”

His grin matched hers. “I know. Who would have guessed?”

Not her.

With her soul leaping and whooping at Ishi’s statement, Sandra struggled to keep from grinning like a grade school girl. He cared about her. She had traveled halfway around the world, ready to battle a dragon if need be, and instead, he’d swept her off her feet.

Her heart throbbed with a dull ache. She’d almost forgotten what happy felt like.

“Urgle.” He called down the hallway after the goblin who had just saved her life. “Before you go, I need a hand with this.” He plunked his tail onto the ground next to where she stood. A dead, half-charred person was impaled on the tip.

Her tender heart took a nosedive into her stomach, sending a back splash up her throat. She pivoted, falling to her knees, and gagged on her last meal. Oh God, when did she cross over to the Twilight Zone? Dragon lover? Goblin savior? Roasted dwarf? Finally, nothing was left in her stomach and only dry heaves remained.

She listened to Urgle’s grunt as if he struggled with something heavy, but she refused to glance over her shoulder. Could someone theoretically vomit their stomach out? It sure seemed like she was close.

Something wet plopped on the ground and she squeezed her eyes shut.

“Pull the axe out of my shoulder now,” Ishi instructed his pet. More grunting, followed by the ping of metal hitting stone. He sighed. “That’s better. Take away the body. I don’t care what you do with it, but keep it out of her sight.” She sensed Ishi kneeling next to her before he brushed her hair away from her face. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I’m as bad as the goblins. Isolation tends to make manners unnecessary.” He gathered her into his human arms, the skin of his bare chest still heated from the lava.

“I’m okay. I’m just not used to–to…” She glanced around the gateroom with the cooling lava on the floor already turning into stone. “This.” Plopping her head on his shoulder, she sighed. “Don’t you ever get tired of fighting?”

“No.” He stared at her as if she’d grown an extra eye in her forehead.

“Afraid?”

He grunted. “Of what?” He scooped her in his arms and carried her toward his bedroom.

“Nothing frightens you?”

His step faltered. “It scared me when you almost fell.” The intensity of his stare weighed heavy upon her. “You need to stay away from this room. The need to protect you makes me sloppy.” He gestured with his chin at his shoulder.

With her hand, she explored the spot and found it slick with something wet. She glared at the blood on her fingertips. “You’re hurt.” She wiggled in his arms. “Put me down.”

“I’m trying. Stop squirming.”

She half fell, half landed on her feet, but none of that mattered. Skirting around him, she saw the wound on his back, close to his shoulder blade. “Oh dear, you need stitches.”

He twisted his back so he could get a better view. “It’s just a flesh wound. I’ll be fine. Little bugger almost clipped my wing, though. That would have pissed me off.” Rubbing his stomach, he turned to face her. “Nothing like a good fight to make a dragon hungry.”

She made a face. “There’s charred dwarf.”

“Too chewy.” He took her hands in his. “I promised you sushi.”

She made a worse face. Raw fish was for cats. “That’s a promise I could bear to be broken.”

His grin grew wider and his eyelids heavier as he drew closer. “What if I promise to feed you by hand?”

“As long as you wash them.”

He burst into laughter. “Done. First, a shower.” He eyed her I Dream of Jeannie outfit and gave a sad sigh. “You should change.”

She nodded and strode into his bedroom. Her jeans were still wet, so she returned to his trunk of clothes. What would she find next?

Strong hands snaked around her waist, spinning her to face him. “Before you change, make them chime for me again.” He stared at the metal disks hanging from her breasts, and ran his hands along her sides. The carnal hunger in his gaze placed her nipples on the hard setting. If his smolder grew any hotter, she’d melt in his arms.

She was pathetic.

But happy.

She chimed her boobs with a good shake and couldn’t help but laugh as a smug grin spread across his face. “They’re not toys.”

He snorted with an accent of a dragon. “Says you.” He cupped them with a firm grip. “I could play all day. On second thought, maybe we should get take-out.”

“That sounds nice.” She leaned into his touch. “Before we devolve into grunting animals, I need to use the phone.”

“I like grunting.” He pinched her nipple, sending a hot streak of desire straight to her core.

She liked him grunting too.

He leaned away so he could meet her gaze. “Why do you need a phone?”

“I have to call the airline and book a flight home.”

Dropping his hands, he retreated as if slapped. “Home? You just got here.”

The puzzlement in his eyes tore at the thin fabric of her happiness. She hadn’t planned on any of this to happen, but she had to return. “You don’t understand–”

“I understand perfectly well. You got what you wanted from me and now it’s time to leave. Just like a human.” He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the cave walls, his gaze as hard as the stone around them. “I brought you into my den.” He pointed toward the tunnel with a sharp jab of his finger. “I showed you my treasure.” The muscles along his temple ticked. “I shared my bed.”

“I know–”

“You should be nesting by now, preparing to have my babies. Not running away.” She could count his teeth as he yelled in her face.

She swallowed, remembering the roasted body that had decorated his tail not long ago. “But I’m not a dragon.” She managed the words in a whisper.

“No shit?” He rolled his eyes at the ceiling. “You’re just a distraction.” Storming past her, he headed to the bathroom and stopped by the doorway. “The phone’s in there.” He pointed to small alcove carved off the bedroom, then slammed the door behind him.