Dragon Bones And Tombstones (Book 2) by Craig Halloran Page A

They’ll be searching these endless tunnels for hours trying to find us, if we’re careful. Shoot now, and they all swarm us.”
    Point taken, but I didn’t like it. I wanted to move. I needed to get down there and see if Fang could hew through that dragon cage. Below, the goblins, most of them half-drunk or worse, fumbled through their gear and stumbled into the surrounding tunnels. One moment footsteps echoed everywhere, the next moment they faded away. Three goblins remained, surrounding the dragon’s cage, armed with battle axes, swords and spears. I noticed the throne of the magic user was vacant. The magic user was nowhere in sight. The gold coins on the steps were still there, however. Excellent!
    “I’ve got a plan.”
    Brenwar eyed me and said, “You do?”
    Remember those gold coins I gave that goblin? Well, they aren’t coins. They’re something else. An item from Father’s treasure trove I learned to use long ago. I muttered some words of magic of my own. My human finger tips tingled as I twirled them around. One by one, each coin rose on its edge and began to roll. 
    Brenwar huffed under his beard, “Magic.” Then, he moved on. He had some idea what I was thinking. He usually did.
    Tink. Tink. Tink.
    Down the steps they came rolling over the stone floor, towards the dragon cage. The goblins eyed the coins, one looking at the other, curiosity filling their blurry yellow eyes.
    “Just keep watching,” I muttered under my breath.
    The coins circled the cage once, then stopped upright and each fell before a different goblin.  They wanted to grab those coins, each of them; I could feel it. One scratched his head. The other bent forward. The third kept an eye on the throne before stooping closer.
    Poof. Poof. Poof.
    Each coin burst into a cloud of gold dust that coated a goblin from head to toe. They coughed, hacked, and clutched at their necks before falling over. Not dead, mind you. Just sleeping.
    Those coins, well, as I said, they came in handy. I’d figured if that goblin we met ever came back to the hideout and ratted us out, we’d need all the help we could get. So, I planted my own surprise just in case. I hopped off the balcony, landing like a cat on the main floor as the gold dust settled.
    One of the goblins started snoring.
    The dragon, well, she was sitting up in her cage, tail swaying back and forth. She was so beautiful, her scales like shiny blue shields with jagged streaks of black. Her long lashes batted as she stared at me. . She was fine.
    “It won’t be long,” I said. “I’ll have you out of here soon.”
    I tugged at the metal on the bars. It was thicker than I could bend. There was no cage door, either, just where the iron was bolted to the stone. Perhaps Brenwar’s hammer could bust it up, or perhaps my sword could cut through it.
    “Stand back,” I said, drawing Fang. 
    The dragon reared back and struck at me with an angry hiss. Her razor sharp teeth snapped at me.
    “What?” I said. “You have to trust me.” I drew Fang back again.
    She hissed. Louder this time. Opened her mouth to release her breath. I lowered Fang and backed away. 
    Brenwar appeared at my side, pushed me back, and said, “It’s magic.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “See the markings on the floor?”
    Oh, now I saw them. Arcane symbols and designs were beneath the dragon’s feet. The cage was woven with similar designs as well. It left me cold. These dragon poachers were more than what they appeared to be. That was when the unsettling feeling crept back in between my neck and shoulders.
    “Heh-Heh-Heh … go ahead,” a disturbing voice said. “Go ahead, cut into the cage and see what happens.”
    It was the voice of the magic user, who now stood on the balcony where Brenwar and I had stood earlier.
    “The only person who can open that cage is me. And if anyone else tries to open it by any other means, it will be very, very painful for the dragon. Deathly so.”
    The figure flicked a