Page 47 of Mountain of Dragons and Sacrifice

I wriggled forward, then reached for Boss Gob. He made an unintelligible noise as he gestured toward one of the other wounded gnomes beside him.

Guessing at what he meant, I nodded and turned to the other gnome instead. Like any good leader, Boss Gob insisted we help the other gnomes first.

As carefully as I could while lying on my stomach, I eased my hands beneath the injured gnome, keeping him as flat and immobile as possible. I lifted him straight up, getting about two inches of space beneath.

The gnomes jumped into action and slid the first of the stretchers beneath my arms. When it was in place, I lowered the gnome onto it, then released him.

As soon as my hands were out of the way, the gnomes picked up the stretcher and sang a soft chant as they marched the injured gnome from the tunnel at a smooth double-time pace.

I repeated the process for the other gnomes, leaving Boss Gob for last. They didn’t weigh much, but the muscles in my arms and core still burned from the strain of lifting so carefully while lying on my stomach.

As I reached for Boss Gob, something in the nearest wall bubbled, then popped, spilling a stone gremlin into the tunnel.

I shrieked as the creature waved its pincers only inches from my face. I batted at it, but I couldn’t hit it hard enough, lying on my stomach in the narrow tunnel as I was.

“Nessa?” Evander’s deep, dragon voice rumbled outside.

“Don’t pull me out! It’s just a stone gremlin.” I fended off one of the pincers, shoving it away from my face.

The wall rippled again, spilling more stone gremlins into the tunnel. Small rocks and dust rained down onto my head, even as one of the stone gremlins advanced on Boss Gob.

The gnomes screeched and whacked at the stone gremlins. To them, the creatures were nearly to their waists, the pincers as long as an arm.

One gnome picked up my candle like it was a giant log, screamed a high-pitched semblance of a war cry, and jabbed the flaming wick at a stone gremlin. The stone gremlin hissed and retreated, though it didn’t disappear.

I picked up the wooden stretcher and whacked a stone gremlin with it. Instead of sending him scurrying back into the wall, the blobby thing just absorbed the impact, then clacked his pincers even more vigorously, as if my attack had made him mad. The walls bubbled, more cracks splintering through the stone.

The gnomes must have riled a stone gremlin nest. The pests had calmed for a few moments in the wake of the cave-in, but they were about to swarm again, just as they had when I’d kicked the wall of that abandoned tunnel.

“Evander!” I whacked the stone gremlin again, even as more of the nasty creatures oozed from the rock all around me.

Scales brushed against my back, and when I glanced over my shoulder, I found that Evander had stuck his foreleg into the tunnel as far as he could, doing his best to reinforce the ceiling. “Nessa! Hurry!”

With the other gnomes fighting off the stone gremlins as best they could, I set down the stretcher, picked up Boss Gob, and laid him on board. Then I squirmed backwards, dragging the stretcher with Boss Gob with one hand. The gnome leader moaned at each bump and lurch.

The gnomes retreated with me, wielding their pickaxes, stones, and any weapon they could get their hands on. The one still brandished my candle, screeching like a banshee as he tried to light the stone gremlins on fire.

The ceiling above made another, even more ominous cracking sound. I wormed backwards even faster, my heart hammering in my chest. Getting crushed by tons of rock was on my list of ways I didn’t want to die. Better than getting eaten alive, but not by much.

Hands clamped on my ankles, then I was dragged free of the tunnel so fast I barely kept my grip on Boss Gob’s stretcher.

Just as the last of the gnomes tumbled from the tunnel, a grinding noise came from inside, accompanied by a billow of dust.

Evander roared, a thunderous sound pitched with a note of pain. He yanked his foreleg free from the tunnel, even as the ceiling collapsed, burying the tunnel once more.

Still angry and swarming, stone gremlins oozed from the rubble, pincers clacking.

Swiveling his head, Evander gave another roar, this time accompanied by a jet of flame licking in tongues of orange that brightened to blue in the center.

Heat washed over me, and I rolled, shielding my head and face with my arms.

Then all was quiet, and the heat vanished. For a long moment, I lay where I was. No one else moved either, as if another movement or word would send the whole mountain tumbling down onto our heads. A few more stones clattered from the once-again collapsed tunnel, but the rumbling ceased.

Finally, I rolled onto my back, glancing around. All that was left of the stone gremlins were a few smoking ashy splotches on the rocks.

Dorrian and one of the other male fae knelt next to my feet. They must have pulled me out as soon as they could reach me.

I sat up, brushing at the gravel ground into my clothing, only to realize I was smeared with some kind of red-gray blood, likely from the injured gnomes. My fingers were scratched and bleeding in places, my palms stinging.

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