Kai held her hands up in front of her, her expression an emotionless mask. In one hand, fire sparked to life, in the other, lightning jumped between her fingers. Adathir quirked a brow. He wasn't quite sure what Kai intended to do; but he suspected and what he thought she might be up to was risky, to say the least. Kaidia put her hands together, the lightning and fire mixing together. The arcs of electricity that jumped between her fingers and across her palms were wreathed in flames. Mixing magical elements like that was extremely difficult and no less dangerous. The lightning started jumping faster, the fire grew brighter. The mercenary broke her mask with a smirk.
In sudden realization that Kaidia was about to attack, Adathir raised a hand, black hellfire engulfing, but not burning, the appendage. Rykar arched a brow as he watched. The scene before him reminded him of the stories he'd read as a child about a villain and a hero in a standoff. The power that Adathir and Kaidia were summoning made the air heavy and oppressive. Rykar had trouble breathing. Never before had he seen or felt such force on display.
Kai threw her hands out, lightning wrapped in red and orange fire flying from her fingertips in a great wave. The black hellfire roared from Adathir's hand in a wave of force, equal to Kai's attack. The two waves of magically born fire slammed together in a thunderous crash that tore up the ground between the warring gods. Lightning and fire struggling against hellfire was quite a sight to behold. Both gods displayed the depth of their power as they strained to maintain their spells against one another. Both Adathir's body and Kai's were sweating, straining, their muscles tensed. The magical battle took a toll on the body as well as the mind.
Kaidia took a step forward, the force of her spell like a physical wall that pushed Adathir back a step, much to the dark god's dismay.
A thrill shot through Nadia as her sister took that step. Kaidia was controlling the duel, starting to push Adathir backward. If she could gain the upper hand, she would win.
Adathir had a thrill of a different sort as he was forced to take a step backward. The not so wonderful sort of thrill that one gets when something terrible is imminent. Kaidia took another step forward, forcing Adathir back another step. Pushing forward took tremendous strength. It was akin to pushing a mountain. Even a god struggled to perform such a feat and it became even more strenuous when another god was pushing back.
The raven-haired god took a third step forward and everything went wrong. Her foot slipped in a puddle of blood seeping from one of the many dead bodies lying in the courtyard, breaking her concentration. Adathir sensed the momentary faltering of Kai's magic and gave his own spell a boost of energy. It was taxing, but worth it as the hellfire overwhelmed the combination of fire and lightning before swallowing Kaidia and flinging her backward. She hit the flagstones with a sickening thud and lay still. Everything went silent for several long moments.
An enraged shriek shattered the silence and Nadia charged for Adathir. At the same time, Rykar was trying to concentrate in an effort to cast another bolt of lightning. The pain he was suffering was proving difficult to ignore, however.
Adathir turned to the charging Nadia and deftly grabbed her arm as she tried to slash at him with her short sword. The massive man lifted her off of her feet by her arm and simply flung her. Nadia was too stunned to shout as she was tossed through the air.
Rykar's eyes went wide as he witnessed the dark god chuck Nadia into the air. He watched her flight and realized too late that she was headed right for him.
"Aw, shit," he muttered.
She slammed into Rykar and sent them both sprawling onto the ground, Naidia dazed by her flight through the air, her arm hurting from being wrenched by Adathir. Rykar was wincing as he tried to sit up, his entire body aching. His sudden impact with the younger Valengaard had only aggravated his aches, pains, and wounds.
With Nadia and Rykar momentarily out of the fight, Adathir stepped over to the fallen Kaidia, staring down at her relaxed features. Her eyes were closed, her breathing even. Blood, wet and starting to grow sticky, covered the left side of her face. He bent down and picked up yet another sword, turned it so the blade was pointed downward, as he stood up again. The dark god took several long moments to gloat over his inevitable victory, wanting to burn the moment of victory into his memory. Finally, he raised the blade high, preparing to drive it down into Kaidia's chest.
Adathir thrust the blade downward, but the sword never touched Kai. At the last moment, the woman's eyes opened, flashing a brilliant blue, blinding Adathir. The next moment, something hard and heavy struck Adathir, hurling the god backward and smashing him into the wall of his own temple. The strength of the stone wall prevented Adathir from going through it, instead jarring him with an abrupt, harsh stop that rattled his teeth and cracked a few bones. The God of Eternal Dark struggled to stand, only just managing to do so. What he saw when his vision cleared made even his jaw drop.
Kaidia was standing; bloodied, but strong. Settling on the ground behind her was a massive dragon. Its scales were a deep, rich, vibrant blue, its eyes a chilling silver. It was taller than any of the buildings in the city by far. Immense wings folded against its back, powerful forelegs settled on either side of Kaidia, monstrous claws dug into the stone and earth like it was nothing more than sand. The dragon's powerful tail lashed back and forth, sweeping away buildings behind it as if they were made of sticks and tissue paper. It sat back on its hind legs and growled low in its throat, sending tremors through the ground. Its growl sounded like a distant thunder and sent chills running down Adathir's spine.
Rykar stared up at the dragon, as did Nadia. They couldn't believe their eyes. Dragons had not been seen in centuries and yet, one sat before them now. It was flesh and bone, as real as the sword in Rykar's hand. It wasn't a phantom like the dragon that had appeared during the battle at Vortha four years ago.
"Holy hell!" Nadia exclaimed.
"Indeed," Rykar remarked.
Kaidia raised her hand, and with it, several swords raised up from the ground and pointed toward Adathir and the temple. Without hesitation, the swords shot forward. Adathir could barely stand. He saw the attack coming, but couldn't move quickly enough to get out of the way and the magical ward he summoned shattered when the first sword hit it. That same sword drove through the hand that had conjured the ward and nailed it to the wall of the temple, the blade biting deep into the stone. The next sword drove through the dark god's left thigh, further pinning him. A third sword impaled his chest. Only the fact that he was all but immortal kept him from dying on the spot. He couldn't move, affixed to the wall as he was. He coughed up blood that splashed over the hilt of the sword that was buried in his chest and onto the open veranda of the temple.
"You are a pitiful god, Adathir," Kaidia stated in a monotone before shifting her eyes to the massive dragon. "Burn him."
The dragon leaned its head down as it took in a deep breath, and then opened its maw. Adathir could see the intense radiance of fire deep in the monster's throat. He was looking at his own death. The dragon released a jet of blazing flame from its mouth that engulfed Adathir and the side of the temple. A blood chilling scream rang out from the inferno the dragon was creating. When the beast was satisfied with its work, the breath of fire stopped, and the monstrous dragon sat back on its hind legs once more.
Peering into the hellish blaze the dragon had left behind, Kaidia could see Adathir, still pinned to the wall of the temple by a now melting sword. Adathir's armor was slowly melting off, as was his flesh and muscle, dripping off of him as he lived out his final moments of tortured existence. He threw his head backward in a final, silent scream, then went limp as the very stone he was nailed to melted.
Kaidia relaxed and just started to look away when the body in the fires jerked and the sound and heat of the fire was drawn inward, to the body. Everything went silent for a long moment before erupting out in a massive explosion that rocked the entire city, obliterated the temple, and sent a shockwave out that knocked over buildings i
n all directions and threw bodies, weapons, and other rubble outward, towards the edge of the city. It was so powerful that even the Blade Maiden, now docked once again, shifted in the rippling water of the port. The shockwave parted the blanket of dull, grey clouds above them, revealing a deep blue sky that everyone was too busy to notice for the moment.
The dragon used its body to shield Kaidia from flying debris while Rykar held onto Kai's still half buried sword to keep from being blown away. Nadia held onto Rykar to anchor herself and shield herself from flying stone, bodies, and weapons.
The explosion died and the companions slowly relaxed. Rykar turned and looked to Nadia. A few chunks of stone and various other bits of refuse fell out of the sky around them. Some it of had been blown straight upward, after all.
"You alright?" Rykar asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Nadia answered.
"Good. So what the hell was that?" the wounded nobleman inquired.
"What was what?" Nadia asked, confused.
"Using me as a human shield, that's what!" Rykar exclaimed.
"I would have put up a ward, but I needed both arms to hang on!" the warrior retorted.
"Oh, sure. Of course," the long haired man said, though he failed to hide his smirk.
"You're just screwing with me!" Nadia huffed and slugged Rykar in the shoulder. Unfortunately for Rykar, it was his wounded shoulder. The nobleman grunted and grabbed said shoulder.
"Oh... that's just not right," he grumbled.
"Oh, shit. Are you okay?" Nadia asked, realizing what she'd done.
"Well, I'm not going to lie... it stings," Rykar said with a bit of a grimace.
Just then, a low rumble made the ground shiver underneath them and the pair looked over to see the massive dragon nuzzling against Kaidia, which about knocked the god over, given the size difference. She nuzzled the beast in return and said something that Rykar nor Naidia could hear, then stepped backward. The afternoon sun shone in the now clear sky, glinting off the richly colored scales of the dragon, and making the creature seem as majestic as it was powerful.
Clamoring over the piles of rubble that had been the city of Niercess, Eris and what looked like most of her crew came running into the courtyard, only to skid to a halt at the sight of the dragon. They had seen it from the ship, of course, but up close, the sight of a dragon left them all staring in slack-jawed fascination. None of them standing there had ever seen one outside of the pages of a picture book.
The dragon looked around at its awestruck audience, then lifted its head to the sky and let out a thundering roar. The sound seemed to give the crew and the companions renewed strength and energy. The dragon was a powerful ally, not a bloodthirsty beast. With a final sweeping look at everyone, the dragon's eyes settled on Kaidia, and the gargantuan creature bowed its head to the warrior, its god, and then disappeared in an abrupt, brief whirlwind of power. When the swirling winds died, the dragon was gone.
Eris rushed up to Kaidia and hugged the weary god tightly.
"I was worried, but you look okay;" Eris said hurriedly, looking Kaidia over.
"There is nothing to worry about, I'm fine," Kai responded, smirking.
"Well, all the same, let's get you back to the ship. Your sister and Rykar too," the half elf muttered, taking Kai's hand, and immediately starting in the direction of the docks. Kaidia just smirked and followed, snatching her sword out of the ground with such ease as she passed by it that Rykar gave her a dirty look. Ro-Noga was fussing over Rykar, her feline ears laid back, her tail lashing back and forth while Rykar tried to placate her with scratches behind the ears and assurances that he was just fine. Meanwhile a couple of the crew were seeing to Nadia, who waved them off with appreciative words and assurances much like Rykar's. She was hurting, but more pissed off that she'd lost her axe. She'd never find it in this mess. She had kept hold of her sword, however, and patted it in its scabbard as she started off after Eris and Kaidia.
Ro-Noga was gently pushing Rykar in the same direction, mewling at him and nuzzling. Apparently she had grown attached. The nobleman just chuckled as he sheathed his sword and started walking.
Kaidia glanced back over her shoulder to make sure her sister and her friend were coming along. She swept her gaze over the decimated city that had served as a battlefield, now bathed in warm sunlight. It was a strange contrast, the sunlight and the desolation and death of the city. Pools of blood reflected the glare of the sun, bodies never to be buried lay in the ruins. Kai turned her gaze away from the scene and to the fiery-haired half elf holding her hand. Eris turned her head to find Kaidia smiling at her.
"What?"
"Nothing. Let's just get the hell out of here."
Chapter Six: Returning Home
The journey back to Black Sand was a quiet one. For the most part, the companions simply rested. Kaidia stayed with Eris in the Captain's quarters. Nadia and Rykar shared a bunk room below deck, with Nadia often grumbling due to Ro-Noga paying special attention to Rykar. It didn't help that Rykar rubbed it in Nadia's face on a few occasions.
When the Blade Maiden docked in Black Sand, everyone was off the ship as soon as it was secured. Night was slowly settling in and Kaidia took a moment to stare up at the deep blue sky that was turning purple and just starting to glitter with stars. A warm spring breeze blew through the docks and Kai took a deep breath. Her damaged armor was in the pack slung over her shoulder. She wore leather pants and boots, along with a sleeveless tunic that showed off the well defined muscles of her arms and the massive tattoo that decorated her right arm.
The companions and the crew were headed to the Drunken Dwarf with Eris in the lead. Kaidia hung back a bit, pondering over the enormity of what she'd done in the past few days and what she'd discovered. She looked forward to being home again, but wasn't one to pass up a night of good food, better drink, and interesting stories. Besides, she would need a good night's rest before setting out in the morning. The warrior sighed and started on the walk to the Drunken Dwarf.
* * *
Eris pushed open the door to the inn and was followed inside by her crew, Kaidia, Nadia, and Rykar. The crew of the Blade Maiden made for empty tables while Eris, the sisters, and Rykar made their way to empty stools at the bar. They ordered drinks from a rather lovely barmaid who looked them over with an arched brow, but hustled off to get their requested beverages. None of them wore armor tonight, though Eris rarely did anyway. Like Kaidia's armor, both Nadia's and Rykar's sets of armor were in their respective packs. Each one of them was wearing their swords, however.
Rykar had dressed in black leather pants and boots, along with a dark blue, long sleeved tunic. The front of the shirt hung open, showing a bit of the bandages with which Ro-Noga had practically mummified his shoulder. He bore bruises and looked tired. The left side of his head had a few visible bruises and small, half healed wounds thanks to Adathir's gauntlet. Nadia had several scrapes and bruises as a result of the battle as well. Kai sported no such wounds. She'd been healed entirely after a night's sleep. She was startled by it, but delighted as well. She had never recovered from battle wounds that quickly. She still wasn't convinced that she was a god, but something had certainly changed.
Thorgrimm stepped out of the back and walked along behind the bar. When he spotted Kaidia and company, he paused and arched a brow.
"You two look like hell," he informed Rykar and Nadia.
"Thanks, short stack," the lord responded with a chuckle.
"Nice to see you too," Nadia huffed.
"And you two, look stunning, as always," the dwarf said, looking to Eris and Kai.
"Aw, so sweet," Eris cooed. Kaidia just gave a smile.
"So tell me what happened," Thorgrimm requested gruffly, looking between the four adventurers. The four companions proceeded to relive their day spent in Neircess. Kaidia told most of it with Rykar and Nadia adding in details and taking over for the part where Kai was buried under a ton of stone and timber. Eris added in a little here and there, havi
ng only seen so much from the crow's nest of her ship. Rykar especially emphasized the moment when the dragon had appeared and swatted Adathir into his own temple. The story telling had to pause for a few moments while the nobleman laughed. Thorgrimm listened to it all intently, not saying a word until it was finished.
"So you killed the bastard," the dwarf concluded.
"Again," Kai said with a nod.
"Hopefully you don't have to do it again," Thorgrimm muttered.
"Twice was more than enough," Kai grumbled in response.
"I am thrilled to see you all made it through in one piece. Even you, Rykar," Thorgrimm said, giving them a nod.
"I think we're all just as thrilled to have made it out in one piece," Nadia grumbled.
"I share that sentiment. I just want to get home to my warm bed and lovely servant," Rykar said with a sigh.
"First we have to stop in Sarkos again. Xerith needs to know Adathir is dead. Again," Kaidia interjected, turning her eyes to Rykar.
"Right. Well, that place has comfortable beds," Rykar shrugged.
"First thing you have to do is eat and rest," Thorgrimm asserted.
"Why do you think we're here, old friend?" Kai asked.
"Don't call me old!" the dwarf sputtered, and then stumped off back into the kitchen, leaving the companions smirking.
* * *
After a meal that consisted of a thick beef stew and bottles of ale, Kaidia found herself stretching and giving a sigh.
"I think I need to turn in," she said with a satisfied smile.
"I imagine, all this dragon summoning and god killing must be tiring," Thorgrimm remarked with a smirk.
"It is, I assure you," Kai chuckled, then slipped off her stool and moved to drop a gold coin on the bar top. The dwarf stopped her with a shake of his head.
"No, lass. That one is on me. You know, for saving the world from darkness and all that," Thorgrimm said gruffly.
Realms of Valen - Dragon in the Dark (War of the Gods Book 1) Page 15