“Enough talk!” she shouted. “The world will be a cleaner place once you are dead.”
“Said the ant to the mountain,” the primal laughed. “Come then. I will allow you the first blow.”
Liliana dropped her head and her hands twisted on her sword hilt. And then to Simon's amazement, her sword began to glow a brilliant silver. A low chime, like a church bell, echoed across the plateau and the paladin bent her knees and glared up at the primal's horrible, grinning face.
“For my people!” she screamed and leaped forward.
Simon could barely see her move, she was that fast. Like a streak of light, she shot toward the primal and then jumped at the last moment. Her sword slashed; once, twice and then she had passed the monster and stopped, her sword resting point-first on the ground.
She fell to one knee, unmoving and the wizard looked back at the primal to gauge its reaction.
“Well, that was very pretty,” it said with amusement. “However, I do not think you accomplished much.”
It began to turn and then a leg buckled beneath it and it fell to one knee, in almost the same pose as Liliana after her attack.
The primal bellowed in pain and Simon saw buckets of green blood running from its slashed leg. The paladin had hamstrung it.
Ear-shattering screams of rage replaced the dragon's mocking laughter and it tried to push itself to its feet. As it began to rise, still roaring with anger and pain, Liliana turned and leaped toward it again.
The primal reacted faster than Simon believed a being that large could. It swung its massive hand and swatted her away like a man would a fly.
From where he was crouched, the wizard heard the thud of the blow and winced. Liliana flew back and hit the ground hard, rolling at least twenty feet before she ended up sprawled on her face, motionless.
Simon looked from his friend's body to the dragon and back again. The primal was still struggling to stand and seemed to be ignoring his victim, so the wizard took a chance and renewed his shield spell. Then he raced across the broken ground until he reached Liliana, keeping one eye in the monster as he went.
He gently rolled the paladin over on to her back and hissed as he saw her face.
She was scraped and bruised. One eye was already swelling and a trickle of blood ran out of her nose. He felt frantically under her jaw for a pulse and finally found one. Her heart was beating too fast, but at least she was alive.
“Liliana? Can you hear me?” he whispered, forgetting about the monster that was still growling and cursing behind him.
He shook her lightly, afraid to do more in case she had broken bones or internal injuries. There was no response.
I have to get her to Clara as soon as I can, he thought desperately. I should have sent her away with the others and faced this nightmare on my own, as always.
He gently pushed a strand of hair off of the paladin's face.
“Don't worry,” he whispered. “You'll be okay, I promise.”
Suddenly his shield collapsed in a shower of sparks and Simon was lifted off of his feet high into the air. His arms were pinned to his sides and his staff fell to the ground far below. The dragon had simply reached down with one horny, scaled hand and picked him up.
His hair whipped across his eyes as he was turned and found himself only a few yards from the primal's hideous face.
The creature was scowling with pain but managed a twisted smile.
“Never turn your back on an enemy in battle, little wizard. Don't you know that?”
It breath was foul and stinking and Simon turned his face away, trying to breathe.
“Ah, what is it, insect? Not pretty enough for you?”
It laughed and then the enormous yellow eyes narrowed. The vertical slits in the center widened as it turned him this way and that, examining him closely.
“Strange,” it mused to itself. “You do not look any different than any of the other humans I have seen. How could such a puny specimen of a weak species like yours defeat not one but two primal dragons? It is a mystery.”
“Maybe I know a secret, monster,” Simon said loudly, trying to sound braver than he felt.
“A secret? What secret is this, little wizard?”
Simon just returned its gaze as steadily as he could.
“Oh come now,” the primal said in a jocular tone. “We both know how this is going to end, do we not? You never stood a chance against me. But you are brave. You and your paladin friend. Very brave. I admire that. So let us make a bargain, shall we? You tell me the secret of how an insect like you destroyed two primal dragons and I will make your end quick and painless. And hers as well. Now how's that for a fair trade, hmm?”
“And if I don't tell you?”
Simon groaned as the fingers around his body tightened. He actually heard his ribs creak and for a moment he couldn't breathe. Then he gasped as the pressure was released.
“Well, if you don't,” the primal said in a mockingly sad voice, “then I shall have no choice but to make you suffer. I will pull off your limbs one by one, the way a man would pull the wings off of a fly. If you do not die at once, well then I think you will eventually tell me what I want to know. Either way, I win, so why choose the hard path?”
Simon was thinking frantically. There was no secret, of course, and if the primal's mind hadn't been twisted by its transformation, it probably would have seen the ruse for what it was; the wizard playing for time. But he knew that his time was almost up.
A breath of wind blew past his ear and a whisper of a voice, barely audible, said “Now.”
“Okay then. I guess since I'm going to die anyway, I might as well tell you. Who's it going to hurt, right?”
“Exactly!” the primal said with a broad smile. “What difference will it make in the grand scheme of things, hmm? The dragons will wipe out your species anyway and you won't be there to try and save them. May as well save yourself some pain.”
“Yes. Fair point. Let's see now. It has to do with a name.”
Simon frowned as if thinking deeply.
“A name? What sort of name? A magical word perhaps?”
The primal pulled him closer eagerly and the wizard found himself only a few feet away from its gaping maw.
“Yeah, a magical word. That's it. And the word is...”
He smiled at the enormous face staring at him.
“Incendus!” he cried.
“What? What kind of a word is that?” the primal asked blankly.
A burst of red light straight over their heads made both Simon and the primal look up. A streak of fire shot out of the sky and down toward them. At the last moment, it spun at right angles, turned and slammed into the injured leg of the dragon.
The primal bellowed and fell back, flinging Simon high into the air. He began to fall toward the plateau below.
Oh, this is going to hurt, he thought grimly and then he found himself floating, skipping across the sky like a leaf in the wind.
“I've got you, sir wizard,” came a familiar voice.
“Aethos?”
“Of course. Sorry for the delay. Are you all right?”
“For now. Liliana is injured though.
Simon reached the ground and was deposited gently on to his feet. The air elemental appeared, a misty man-shape that glowed in the darkness.
“Not to worry. Kassus has transported her to safety below.”
Another bellow from the primal made Simon spin around.
The monster's knee was shattered. The wizard could see bone peeking out of the smoking flesh where the fire elemental had slammed into it. And yet the creature was once again getting to its feet.
“You tricked me, wizard!” it shrieked as its blazing eyes spotted him.
“What can I say,” Simon yelled up at it. “It's what I do.”
“Now you die!”
The wizard chanted quickly and threw up his shield just as the primal pointed a clawed finger at him. A bolt of lightning smashed into the shield, driving Simon to his knees,
but the barrier held.
“Hold strong, wizard,” Aethos said. “I go to direct my forces.”
“Good luck!”
The elemental disappeared just as the primal pulled back its head. Simon heard it drawing in a great breath.
“Crap, it's going to hit me with a blast of frost,” he said to himself and began to run for the shelter of the nearest boulder.
A sudden gasp from the creature made him stop and look over his shoulder. And then he grinned.
The rocky ground beneath the feet of the primal was climbing up its legs like a living thing, holding it fast. The monster roared and began battering at the rock with it fists. But as soon as it shattered one layer, a new one would form.
And then things began to happen quickly.
To Simon's right, a stream of incandescent missiles shot from the ground and slammed into the primal's left arm. It roared and twisted to face the new threat just as jagged bolts of lightning hit the creature's right arm.
The wizard squinted into the darkness, which was rapidly getting thicker as the air was filled with smoke and dust. More magic missiles hit the primal and Simon could finally see their source. It was Tamara.
Her hands were raised and the brilliant bolts of energy shot from her palms. Her expression was dreadful; a mixture of pain and pleasure and the wizard shivered a bit when he saw it.
More lightning splashed against the dragon and Simon could see that Sebastian was casting on the far side of the beast. Unlike his sister, the flashes from his spells showed him looking calm, almost reflective as he attacked.
What an odd pair they are, Simon thought fleetingly.
Streams of blood were coursing down the primal's arms and legs now, but it didn't seem to be weakening it significantly. They needed more firepower.
At that moment, a burst of flame appeared several feet away and hovered over the ground, raising steam from the frozen rock.
“Thank you for coming, Incendus,” Simon said to the living fire.
“A pleasure. Now, meaning no disrespect, but it might be a good time to summon my brethren to join in the fight.”
“Oh right. I'd almost forgotten about them.”
“Focus, wizard. We are in the midst of a battle here and our victory is hardly assured.”
“Got it, got it.”
Simon fished a sheet of paper from inside his robe and squinted, trying to read.
“Um, could you brighten up a little bit. It's a bit hard to read here.”
The fire elemental's flame turned from a deep red to a bright yellow, and Simon felt a wave of heat wash over him.
“Ah, thanks so much.”
“My pleasure,” Incendus replied dryly. “I do not believe that I've ever been used as a light source before.”
“Uh yeah, sorry about that. Here we go.”
Simon stared up at the primal and marked the position in his mind where he wanted the elementals to appear. Then he read out each name quickly and clearly and slipped the paper back inside his robe.
“Thank you, wizard. I go to join the fight.”
The flame disappeared with a loud thump and Simon stood alone, blinking into the darkness.
He had focused on the head of the primal as the target for the fire elementals. He hoped that a concentrated attack on its head would bring the monster down more quickly. Unfortunately, he was mistaken.
The streaks of fire rained down on the monster in rapid succession. For all of its size and its many wounds, the primal was much quicker than Simon gave it credit for. As the elementals shot down at it, the dragon twisted and turned, ducked and weaved and was only struck twice, each blow slamming its head to one side or the other, but doing little damage to its scaled hide.
Fireproof, Simon thought as he kicked himself mentally. He should have had the elementals attack the creature's open wounds instead.
Nevertheless, the fire elementals streaked around the primal, smashing into it again and again. They were doing some damage, but it was taking too long. And the monster was fighting back.
As he watched, the primal whipped its arm around and backhanded a fire elemental that was shooting toward its chest. The elemental disappeared in a shower of sparks and embers and Simon heard a single shriek of despair. The primal had destroyed it.
Appalled, the wizard saw the dragon shatter several other elementals as they attacked. He turned to look at Tamara and felt a wave of fear as he saw her strained expression. Her missiles were taking longer to cast and weren't doing as much damage.
Simon looked to her brother and saw him cast another lightning bolt and then stagger back and fall to his knees in exhaustion.
My God, he thought. The damned primal could actually win just by waiting them out.
He stiffened his resolve.
Well, let's see what kind of damage I can do.
He scurried around for a few minutes, frantically looking for his staff. Finally, with some relief, he found it half buried under some rubble. He moved back to a safe distance and looked up at the primal.
The dragon was still fighting, bellowing in rage but then, as Simon watched, it stopped and looked down at the forces arrayed against it. And strangely, it smiled.
“Enough of these games!” it boomed. “I grow weary of this amusement.”
It chanted some strange words in an unknown tongue and pointed toward the gap where the portal had once stood.
Oh crap, Simon thought. It's casting a Gate spell.
A round pulsing field of energy appeared, cracking with power. It looked delicate and translucent and faded in and out of sight. But it was enough.
A figure leapt out of the Gate. Twelve feet tall, with broad wings and carrying a wickedly sharp sword. It was a dragonoid.
Behind it appeared another, and then another.
I've got to close that portal, Simon thought desperately.
He looked up at the primal and saw that it was still pointing at the Gate and muttering to itself.
It's holding the portal open, he thought. How can I break the spell?
He scanned through the spells he had locked in his memory and then smiled. Yes, that might work.
The incantation came easily to mind and as he chanted, Simon pointed his staff directly at the primal's face. And then he unleashed the spell.
“Blizzard!” he yelled and felt the power running from his chest, down his arm and into the staff. An almost invisible dart of light shot from the end of the staff upward toward the primal and vanished.
For an anxious moment, Simon wasn't sure that the spell had worked. And then a swirling fog enveloped the primal's head, thickening to a roaring vortex of intense cold.
The primal shrieked and grabbed at its face with both hands. At the same time, the portal collapsed just as a dragonoid was coming through. It sliced the monster in half.
Simon tore his gaze away from the primal dragon and looked around. He felt a moment of panic as he counted a dozen dragonoids, all armed with massive spears and swords, moving forward as a group. Their nearest target was Sebastian.
“Bastion!” he heard Tamara scream. “Run!”
The young man took one look over his shoulder, struggled to his feet and staggered into an exhausted lope, heading toward his sister.
The dragonoids all laughed and shook their weapons. They were obviously in no hurry and moved forward with frightening deliberation.
They were perhaps a hundred feet away from Simon and he began to retreat toward the opposite end of the mesa. A quick glance up at the primal showed him that the spell was fading but that the monster was still holding its face in its hands. He ignored it for the moment and watched the advancing dragonoids.
The ground between Simon and the dozen mutated dragons suddenly bulged upward, as if it had turned to rubber.
The dragonoids all stopped and stared at it in confusion. More bulges appeared and then all shattered at once into dust.
“Archers! Fire a volley!”
It was Ethmira's voice.<
br />
The hum of fifty enchanted arrows filled the air and Simon watched as they rained down on to the dragonoids.
As one, the creatures roared in confused rage. Several dropped at once, the arrows shearing through their skulls and into their brains.
The rest, those who could still move, drew their wings up behind them and began to trot forward as quickly as they could.
“Fire at will,” Ethmira shouted and the air became thick with missiles. The monsters never even got close to the elves.
As the last one fell, Simon rushed forward until he spotted the elvish maiden.
“You came back!” he said gratefully.
“Gather your arrows,” she said to the archers. “This battle isn't over yet.”
She turned to Simon and grinned impishly.
“Don't be silly, sir wizard. We never left. Aeris told me that you were staying behind, just in case the primal was still in the area. So I had my people wait down below, on the off chance that you were right.”
She looked up at the primal in distaste.
“Obviously you were. How goes the battle?”
“I'm not sure. We can wound the thing, but we can't seem to deliver a killing blow. How the hell do you bring down something that tough?”
She looked at the creature with narrowed eyes.
“I don't know,” she finally admitted. “It's hide is too thick to penetrate and unless we can wound it on the inside, we may end up having to withdraw and fight another day.”
“Leaving it alive to continue creating its twisted mutations,” Simon said bitterly.
“I'm afraid so.”
The archers had gathered up all of their spent arrows and now stood quietly, awaiting orders.
“But we aren't done yet,” Ethmira said and patted his arm. “Let's see how much damage we can do before we admit defeat, shall we?”
She turned to her people.
“Follow me. We are going to give that abomination a taste of elvish steel.”
She smiled at Simon and then trotted away with her people following in ordered ranks.
The wizard watched them move across the plateau but his mind was focused on something the elf had just said.
“Unless we can wound it on the inside,” Simon said under his breath. “On the inside.”
Tales from the New Earth: Volume One Page 117