The Wrath of the Lizard Lord Read Online Free Page B

stomach lurch as the submarine stopped her forward motion and began a slow downward arc.
    Electricity from the Voltalith spat and crackled at the ends of each cable. A blinding blue light bathed the whole room, and even through the thick gauntlets Dakkar could feel his knuckles and joints beginning to stiffen and fizz with the charge.
    For a second, Dakkar hesitated. What if it doesn’t work? What if Oginski isn’t truly dead and this kills him? He took one last look at the white face, made all the more deathly by the livid bruise and the red blood.
    Uttering a silent prayer, Dakkar plunged the cable into Oginski’s chest. Sparks leapt and danced around the two of them as Oginski’s whole body arched and shook. His face tightened into a rictus grin. Every muscle in Oginski’s body knotted and Dakkar heard a long, rattling breath.
    He pulled back, stumbling against the engine as Oginski’s body shook, flopping on the floor like a landed fish. Then he lay still.
    Dakkar leaned against the engine, the two cables still humming in his fists. I’ve failed , he thought as hot tears welled from his eyes and a deep, wracking sob forced its way up from his stomach.
    Oginski gave an enormous gasp and his eyes flew open. Dakkar leapt in surprise, nearly dropping the cables. The big man fell back on the floor, panting for breath.
    ‘Dakkar?’ he said, his voice feeble and cracked. ‘What happened?’
    ‘Oginski! You’re alive!’ Dakkar threw himself down next to his mentor and hugged him awkwardly, trying not to touch him with the cables.
    Oginski groaned. ‘Of course I am,’ he said, wincing. ‘Are . . . we safe?’
    ‘We are. Let’s get you to a bunk,’ Dakkar replied.
    He hastily reconnected the thick cables and then helped Oginski to his feet. Oginski shuffled through the sub, wincing as he went. At one point he stopped, retching blood and falling heavily against the walls of the Nautilus . Finally, he collapsed on to the small pallet bed in his tiny cabin.
    ‘I’ll get the Nautilus to the surface and then we need to find you a doctor,’ Dakkar said, easing Oginski’s head on to a pillow.
     
    The journey back to England took Dakkar several days longer than he expected. On the voyage out to Elba, they had taken turns to captain the Nautilus , allowing each other to rest. With Oginski unconscious below, Dakkar was now the only crew member and had to do everything himself. Despite his best efforts at dressing the wound on Oginski’s shoulder, it grew hot and gave off a horrible smell. He became feverish and would drift in and out of consciousness, shouting deliriously sometimes, crying for help at others. Each time Dakkar had to surface and hurry to Oginski’s cabin.
    ‘Don’t worry,’ Dakkar reassured him, wiping his brow with a damp cloth. ‘We’ll soon have you back in the castle.’ The castle was the name given to their home, a tower house that stood alone on a bleak, Cornish cliff.
    ‘No!’ Oginski said, grabbing Dakkar’s sleeve. ‘Doctor Walbridge. He’s the only one I trust . . .’
    ‘But what about Doctor Ives? He lives close to the castle,’ Dakkar said, easing Oginski back on to his pillow.
    ‘I know Walbridge of old,’ Oginski said, his breathing heavy. ‘I can trust him. Ives is a gossip and a quack!’
    ‘Very well,’ Dakkar said, keeping his voice soft and soothing. ‘Where can I find this Doctor Walbridge?’
    ‘Lyme Regis,’ Oginski replied, his voice becoming drowsy as the effort of speaking became too much. ‘Go to Cutter’s Cove, just west of Lyme . . .’ The big man’s eyelids drooped and soon his snores filled the tiny cabin.
    Dakkar sighed and shook his head as he returned to the helm. He slumped into the captain’s seat. He had only snatched a few hours of sleep since they’d escaped from the island of Elba. The stretch of the Mediterranean Sea they approached now was cluttered with naval vessels from all over the world, not to mention pirates from the coast of