by Ben Hale
Bones cracked as the dragon was taken into the fog. Gorewrathian twisted and turned, painfully dodging the remainder before alighting on a ridge. He roared his pain and defiance, but Isray laughed.
What were you saying about being able to defeat an oracle? Isray taunted.
The red dragon unleashed a blast of flames so hot the fog burned away. Isray swerved to the side and then dove. Senia cried out as she nearly lost her seat, and clung to the bony spikes on the dragon’s neck.
The white dragon flew above the great red dragon and unleashed his breath, leaving a frozen line across Gorewrathian’s spine. The king whirled, but injured as he was, he could not turn fast enough.
Again and again Isray scored the great dragon’s body, the ice forming on his wings, back and tail. Gorewrathian’s breathing was labored and blood mingled with the fire in his throat. His fury turned desperate, and even with Senia’s farsight, the great king managed to burn Isray across the side. Isray landed hard and Senia tumbled from his back, injuring her arm.
I’ll rip your spine from your body and hang it on my wall, Gorewrathian snarled, stumbling after Isray. The white dragon bellowed and hid the burned wing behind his body, snapping his jaws and unleashing more ice, the breath burning into the king’s throat. Gorewrathian sought to turn away but the white dragon pounced and used its claws to hold the red dragon’s mouth open. He leaned in and unleashed a blistering blast of ice right down the red dragon’s throat.
Throat and stomach, heart and lungs, the inside of the red dragon turned to ice. He clawed at Isray, scoring lines in his flesh and ripping scales free, but Isray continued pouring ice down the red dragon’s throat. In desperation, Gorewrathian swung his head and bashed Isray against the stone wall, finally knocking him free. Isray tumbled away, but the damage had been done, and Gorewrathian collapsed.
Impossible, the red dragon screamed, his voice fading into silence.
With a great groan, the king of dragons slumped to the side, his weight carrying him over the edge. He fell in silence, but when he landed below, the ice inside his body shattered, claiming his life.
Senia picked her way across the battlefield, holding her elbow where it had broken in her fall. She regarded the fallen king as Isray began to change shape, the white scales turning to flesh, until Rake lay in the grass. He touched the large burn on his side and sucked in his breath.
“Did we win?”
“We did our part,” she said, turning to Xshaltheria in the distance. “Now it’s all up to Lachonus and Fire.”
Chapter 42: Empowered
Mind held his arm, grimacing as he scooted along the ground, pushing himself further from Draeken. He reached to the shard of light and yanked it from his elbow, tossing the bloody shard aside. He clenched his teeth to prevent crying out and ripped the remainder of his sleeve, using it to tie around his arm. He used his teeth to tie it off and then picked up his sword with his good hand.
Draeken stood in the open, daring the others to strike him down. Shadow lay on the ground at his feet, unconscious, while Light lay crumpled against the Titan’s hand, whimpering in pain. Willow sought to staunch the blood seeping from Light’s wounds.
Water darted in and swung his staffblade, but Draeken conjured his own staffblade out of fire and deflected the blow. Then he leapt into the air and soared above Water. He gathered the light around his form, his body shimmering into dozens of replicas, the images soaring above Water.
“The one piece of Power that remains in a fragment,” he said. “But you are not wise enough to recognize your failure.”
A geyser of water burst from the ground and Water stepped on it, leaping into the air and spinning, slicing through mirages on all sides. The copies shattered from the blows—and Draeken plunged a blade of fire into Water’s back.
Water shouted as he fell to the ground, the blade protruding from his chest. Rune leapt to him and yanked the sword free, allowing Water to reach to the still rising geyser and pull the liquid to help knit the wound.
Draeken dropped to Rune and swung, a blade of light forming in his hand. Sentara shouted a warning and Rune whirled, instinctively raising her hands. The blade shattered on an invisible barrier, and Rune retaliated.
Her sword darkened as anti-magic suddenly appeared, her blade cutting deep. Draeken snarled and leapt into the air. Impossibly, Rune did the same, and soared after Draeken, maintaining the assault.
Mind saw the coil of fire rising. “Rune! Beneath you!”
Too late. Like a snake, the fire reached up and snapped, catching Rune’s leg. She screamed as the long teeth buried in her thigh, most of her leg disappearing in the snake’s throat. Draeken darted in—but Rune spun her blade, and plunged it into Draeken’s chest.
The snake dragged her to the ground as Draeken bellowed in pain, the anti-magic sword sparking and spitting, his body darkening. He reached up and snapped the blade sticking out of chest. Then he dropped to Rune and lunged. The young girl raised a wall of earth, but Draeken shattered it. Needles of light appeared above Rune and Draeken clenched his fist. Mind’s hand shot out, slowing their fall, but Draeken was stronger. As the needles fell on Rune, Sentara suddenly appeared and shoved Rune out of the way, the needles sinking into the old woman.
“Sentara!” Rune yanked the snake of fire away and clawed her way to Sentara.
Sentara’s hand trembled as she touched Rune’s face. “You are my greatest memory, my beautiful Rune,” she smiled, and then her eyes shut. Rune cradled the old woman, tears streaking down her dirty cheeks.
“You live at my mercy!” Draeken bellowed, turning to face them all.
Rune whirled, lightning crackling on her fingertips as tears streamed down her face. “You killed her!”
Draeken swung his hand in dismissal and the ground turned into a hand that struck Rune. The girl went soaring into the air, flipping end over end before she collided with a dragon and fell. Mind jumped beneath her and caught her unconscious body. He placed her on the ground, grateful to find her still alive.
“When will you learn?” Draeken shouted as he hovered in the air. “You cannot harm me. You cannot kill me. My army will defeat you all, and you will either serve in my empire or die on this battlefield.”
“It seems unfounded arrogance exists on every world.” Belrisa wiped blood from her cheek.
“A universal rule,” Tardoq agreed, grimacing as he pulled a spike of fire from his shoulder.
Elenyr leapt from the ground and whirled, her sword slicing across Draeken’s cheek. He winced as the blade split his flesh and tried to backhand her, but she’d gone ethereal. She reached the zenith of her jump and flipped. She turned to flesh and sliced again across his side, dragging her sword down his leg as she fell.
“Elenyr,” Draeken snarled. “You have been a thorn in my side for too long. Fortunately I know what can kill you, and so I brought a friend.”
A dragon abruptly dropped from the sky, bursting through the haze and smoke. She landed twenty feet in front of Elenyr, her jaws opening wide. Her azure scales marked her as a lightning dragon, and pure lightning crackled in its throat. Elenyr leapt backward, but the dragon was too close, and Draeken had chosen his moment well.
“Elenyr!” Light screamed.
Water stumbled to reach her, but they were too far. Willow sought to strike the blue dragon. All was in vain. Mind bellowed his helplessness as the lightning burst across the battlefield, streaking for Elenyr’s body. The blast was as thick as a tree trunk, raising Mind’s hair as it passed—and slammed into Queen Rynda’s wide sword.
Rynda held her blade with her metal hand, the lightning ricocheting off the wide greatsword and exploding into the nearby ranks of fiends. Black bodies were shredded by the lightning, and Rynda straightened.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
The blue dragon leaned in and again lightning kindled, but Tardoq and the Bonebreaker struck, their weapons plunging into the blue dragon’s throat. The dragon died in seconds under the ass
ault, and Draeken roared his anger. Mind sagged in relief.
Rynda sniffed as she turned to Draeken. She’d arrived at the head of an alliance army. Flanked by Jeric and Captain Horn, and followed by Thorilian and his wife, Venia, they were surrounded by dozens of others. Warshard Toril and a druid riding a moordraug, members of the Bladed, Moren and Stella, they all advanced to stand with the fragments.
King Dothlore and a contingent of dwarves, standing with Queen Alosia and her elven guard. Queens Annah and Nelia, both stood with soldiers of men and troll. Lira strode through a gap and stood next to Water, nodding to him as two dark elves joined him. Cutter and Black, the last surviving members of the Queen’s Hand.
“You are nothing compared to me!” Draeken shrieked.
Mind looked beyond the army, and realized why they had been able to come. Fiends had begun to disappear, the ranks thinning as quare and kraka evaporated from view. With two of the generals gone, many of the remaining fiends had fallen upon each other, the ranks roiling in a cascade of battle.
“My army is greater than you!” Flames and light sparkled off Draeken’s arms and shoulders, his eyes wild with rage. “Kill them! Kill them all!”
The surrounding fiends raised their obsidian blades and charged, lunging down the slope. They flooded toward the allies, and Mind shouted for his family to close ranks. Draeken looked on with a disturbing triumph in his gaze. Mind raced to Elenyr—but stumbled when a screaming ball of fire dropped from the sky and landed in the midst of the kraka charge. From the flames a beak and wings appeared, and a phoenix issued a thundering warcry.
“Archeantial!” Elenyr shouted.
They killed the Ancient, the great firebird replied, her tone as dark as midnight. Did you really expect us to miss this?
Another ball of fire landed, and another, the entire flock of phoenixes plummeting into the ring of foes. They exploded in their midst, filling the region in blinding fire. Last to land, a smaller bird swooped into the krakas, flames pouring off his wings to scorch their armored bodies.
My apologies for being late, Reiquen said. We came as soon as we received Fire’s message.
“You’re right on time,” Mind said.
Waves of heat washed across them, the entire group surrounded by flames as tall as the walls of Ilumidora. The firebirds swept through the flame wall, appearing and disappearing with a tip of a wing, or a terrifying current of fire from an open beak.
Mind caught Elenyr’s gaze. “Did you know they were coming?”
She had tears in her eyes. “I had no idea. Fire must have sent a message on his own.”
Cut off from his army, and with only Bartoth at his side, Draeken’s scream of rage was barely audible over the inferno. He turned about, his hands trembling, his eyes wild. Mind thought he would attack the firebirds, but his shock carried a trace of fear, as if he realized that he stood in the jaws of defeat.
“You cannot win here,” Mind said, drawing Draeken’s focus. “The people will not accept you as their ruler.” He picked his way across the broken ground towards Draeken, raising a hand as cinders washed across the battlefield.
“Then I will turn them into fiends,” Draeken snarled. “I still have two generals.”
A large shadow panther appeared from a cavity next to the fallen Titan and slunk into the group, carrying the body of Famine. Shadow smirked as Famine was dropped to the ground. She reached for Draeken with trembling fingers before her body disintegrated.
“Make that one,” Mind said. More fiends went mad, the entire charge faltering.
“War!” Draeken barked, the fear now apparent in his voice. “Kill them!”
But War hesitated. His broken arm still hung at his side, his armor dented and cracked from battling Belrisa and Tardoq. He glanced between Elenyr, the ring of fire, and Draeken, but did not attack.
“You obey my will!” Draeken dropped to the ground and struck War, knocking him back. “These people are insects to be squashed.”
“In the Dawn of Magic there was one lesson I learned,” Jeric said. “When you give people freedom, you grant them valor.”
“You are all born of flesh!” Draeken whirled and stabbed his finger at them. “And not one of you can kill me!”
He reached to the sides and clenched his fists, and shards of light formed in the air. Each as large as a ballistae bolt, the shards hovered over everyone. They dropped from the sky. Willow rolled Light out of the way, while Tardoq and the Bonebreaker jumped aside. Mind darted to Shadow and caught his arm, yanking him beyond the spear, but the weapon sliced across his shoulder.
Draeken charged and caught Mind about the throat, his voice savage and desperate. “You think you can protect your brothers? You think you can stop my power? Have you not learned what I have become?”
Draeken began to squeeze, and Mind’s vision flickered. Others struck at Draeken but he swatted them aside, his eyes fixed on Mind. Tardoq swung his sword but Draeken caught the blade in his bare hand and wrenched it from his grip.
“You will die witnessing your failure,” he snarled to Mind.
Mind then looked beyond Draeken and managed a smile. You first.
A group of fiends managed to get through the firewall, but their bodies disintegrated as if they were made of smoke rather than flesh. Through a gap in the fires, more fiends evaporated, their bodies turning to smoke and fading from sight. Draeken’s eyes widened in shock.
“What is this?” he demanded.
“Serak told us his secret,” Elenyr said from nearby. “He threaded the Dark Gate with magic that linked to every fiend, and when the Gate is destroyed, they are drawn back to Kelindor.”
Draeken’s eyes widened and he spun. “Where is the fragment of Fire?”
“Destroying your Gate,” Shadow said.
Shadow darted into view and drove a dagger into Draeken’s stomach. Draeken snarled and kicked Shadow, sending him tumbling away. Shadow cried out as he collided with a stray kraka blade, the weapon shearing through his shoulder and taking his arm. Draeken turned his baleful gaze on Mind and reached into a pouch at his side, to withdraw a small mirror.
“Looks like I have an infestation to eradicate. I’ll be back in a moment.”
Draeken turned his eyes away from Mind and to the mirror, his thumb rising to press the rune that would open a Gate to Xshaltheria. Mind recognized the moment as his final chance to stop Draeken, to prevent him from killing Fire and returning to destroy them all. Draeken still had his hand around his throat, his fingers like an iron vice.
Mind reached into his magic and saw Draeken for what he was, a being of almost pure magic. He was the fragment of Power, his body and flesh infused with four energies, that of the fragments. Including Mind’s.
Mind reached his hand toward Draeken and connected to the power that had once been his. Like an old friend, it turned and reached back. Draeken grimaced as if he’d been struck, and dropped Mind to the ground. The small mirror tumbled from his grip and fell into a pile of ash.
Draeken touched his chest, and his eyes snapped to Mind. “What did you do?”
Mind clenched a fist and stepped in, driving his fist into Draeken’s chest with all his might. At the point of impact, he summoned the piece of mind magic inside Draeken’s soul. Draeken threw his head back and screamed, the sound of mortal pain. Mind clenched his fist and pulled, wrenching the mind magic from Draeken’s soul. Threads of purple light were torn from Draeken, the light gradually fading to white as it hardened in Mind’s hand.
Draeken fell to his knees, staring in horror at the black hole in his chest, where the magic of mind had been rent from his body. Groaning, he looked up at Mind, who stood over him with the pulsing orb of white in his hand.
“You think to take back my power?” Draeken demanded.
“Never,” Mind said, sensing the power in his palm. “But this amplious can empower anyone. And if I fall, another will wield it.”
A great swelling of sound erupted across the battlefield, and mo
re swaths of fiends disappeared. Inside the city, tens of thousands simply evaporated, leaving stunned defenders with empty streets. Draeken swept his eyes about and saw the truth. His army was being taken before his eyes.
War turned and fled, sprinting to a gap in the firewall. Belrisa stepped on the hilt of an obsidian blade and it spun upward. She caught the hilt and tossed it to Rynda, who stood behind the fleeing general. The rock troll queen leaned forward and hurled the obsidian blade at War’s back. The giant blade plunged into War, piercing the armor and dropping the rock troll to the ground. He bellowed as his armor disintegrated, his body crumbling to dust. Belrisa grinned at Rynda, who nodded in satisfaction.
“Are females stronger than males on this world,” she looked to Tardoq, who laughed.
As the final general died, Draeken gasped and fell to his knees. His generals were dead, his Gate was falling, and the fragment of Mind advanced upon him with a piece of his own power. Draeken gasped for breath, his features frozen in disbelief.
“You would kill your own brother?” he asked.
“You were never my brother,” Mind said.
Mind leapt in, the light in his palm going blinding as he swung his fist, a shard of purple extending from his knuckles. But Draeken extended his hand towards the pocket Gate and it flew into his hand. He pressed the rune and silver light poured into shape beneath Draeken. He fell, disappearing from sight before Mind could stop him. Mind lunged for the Gate but it closed, and he landed in the dirt.
“No!” he shouted.
He knew where Draeken had gone, to Xshaltheria. If he could destroy Fire and repair the Gate, he would return even stronger than before, and the alliance would have lost its one chance at victory.
Elenyr wearily stepped to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s up to the others now.”
More fiends disappeared, and fear entered the hearts of the remainder. Shrieking and screaming, they scattered, sprinting in all directions, the battle forgotten. They swept away from the battlefield, fleeing the mysterious foe that caused their neighbors to turn to smoke and dissipate, and the dragons and firebirds in the sky.