Aowyn’s light bathed them again and when they turned towards me, I was blown away.
Two dragons stood before me.
11
Dual Dragons
The longer they stood there together, all their wounds seemed to disappear. Aowyn’s glow dimmed as their final wounds were gone, however, when she moved her energy seemed depleted. She stepped forwards and dropped to the floor, transforming back into a human; Joren followed suit. She stood back up and stumbled as she walked closer to me and dropped to her knees beside me.
“Melanie, are you okay?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. How’s Joren?”
She flicked her head back to Joren who was still standing in the beam of sunlight. His body was rigid and his hands were fisted at his sides. I knew he could hear us talking but he still didn’t move.
“He is scared. I can feel his emotions coming through.”
“Is that part of your dragon magic? How long have you known you are a dragon?”
“Yeah, it is.” She sighed for a moment, quickly looking at Joren before turning back to me. “I’ve known since I was ten. I got furious while fighting in my guild and I turned into a small dragon. Although I don’t know much about it, I found that sunlight increases my powers and I am able to use it to calm down as well.”
“I need to get the book I was here to translate. I didn’t get to translate it all, but I know it holds everything both you and Joren need to know about being dragons.”
“Where is it?” she asked. Her voice was now laced with excitement, but I could still hear the wariness along with it.
That was my turn to sigh. “It’s back in a room just off of the centre of the building where they were performing the Dragon Song.”
Aowyn nodded as she linked her arm with mine. Her skin barely touched mine and I wondered why that was. I struggled to stand as the pain in my body erupted and my legs wobbled like I hadn’t stood in days. Aowyn placed her hand on the small of my back and I could feel a small, warm vibration, it stayed for a few seconds before cooling off again.
“I’m sorry, I can’t use my magic to heal you. We are just going to have to carry you there.”
She directed her words to Joren who quickly flicked his eyes towards me. He looked me up and down and I noticed a small pain in his grey eyes. I gave him a slight smile before he grabbed my other arm. My weight was finally off my legs and the pain slightly numbed. They carried me down the hall where Aowyn and I had originally run and back towards the giant room. I hoped any other Order members dispersed to find us and no one would be there anymore.
The long hallway echoed with our footsteps and the grunts coming from all three of us. I knew it was a pain for them to carry me, but I could barely move my body. When we finally made it to the large room, we stopped and Joren let go of me to check if anyone was left. Before he could step one foot into the room, a deep purple shadow came flying towards Joren. He jumped out of the way to dodge it. The shadow flew past us all and crashed directly into the wall behind us, sending bits of brick crumbling to the ground. Aowyn lead me into the room behind Joren and placed me beside the door in case I needed to crawl out. They stood together in front of me, both looked determined and fierce. Although I couldn’t see their faces, I knew they were ready to fight. In the centre of the room were three cloaked men who stood behind their leader. All of them had their hoods down and bore the marks of The Order.
“Give us the dragon back or you will die.”
It was Joren who spoke up. “Aowyn will never be yours again. The Dragon Song is over so if you want to fight, we will give you a fight.”
Aowyn looked at Joren and I could see she was grateful we were there to help. When the men stepped forward, Joren and Aowyn took a step back, both protecting me. Their eyes flicked back to me and I gave them a swift nod. It was time.
The two of them rushed forward, taking the men by surprise. Their quick movements allowed them to get behind the four of them and attack before they knew what was happening. Aowyn sent off a bright light that surrounded them while Joren attacked with his hardened smoke fists.
Their attacks were in sync, one attack led to another while using each other’s strengths and weaknesses to help in the fight. It was like they had been fighting beside one another for centuries. Was this the true power of two dragons? Their attacks were flawless and The Order members were going down one by one; even though they continued to get up, I could tell the attacks were starting to take their toll. They moved to strike another double attack, but before they could get into place, a dark shadow surrounded them, bound them together. Their cries sliced through the air and cut me deep, I desperately wanted to help them, but I still couldn’t move.
They both squirmed in the grasp of the shadow and Joren grunted with each movement. A flash of light appeared and disappeared within the shadow and they began to scream. It was almost like the shadow was sucking the magic from them every time they tried to use it. I watched as the shadow expanded until it became tethered to the leader. He grinned at their pain and suffering before sending more shadows towards them. The shadows looked deadly, their normal purple hue now changed to red lines twisting and moving within the darkness.
Without thinking, I bolted from my position on the floor and ran as fast as I could through the pain in my body until I stood in front of them. I raised my arms above my head and prayed my magic would work for me one more time. My light blue magic circle appeared before my eyes and my water shield appeared. The shadows hit my shield with full force, knocking me back slightly, but I didn’t yield. I sent every sliver of my magic into the water shield. The shadows continued to come and I could see parts of my water starting to thin out. It would collapse soon.
“Your magic is wearing thin, you stupid wizard. You shouldn’t have come to their rescue. You will die if you continue.”
“I am not going to give up! I am an elite wizard and elite wizards never give up!”
My shield finally gave way and the shadows pummelled into me, knocking me back onto the hard floor. When they stopped, I thought it was finally over and he had spared me. I was wrong. I opened my eyes and instantly saw a black magic circle over my body; I wasn’t ready for the pain.
Shadows enveloped me, sending searing pain all over my body while another strike hit me with more force, sending me skating across the floor and into the far wall. My head crashed into the wall hard, sending a shooting pain down my neck and spine. My vision blurred, and I could just barely make out what happened next.
A bright, golden light rained down onto Aowyn and Joren as her eyes stared into the centre of it. The light expanded and released them from the shadow, sending it up towards the ceiling. When it reached the end of its tether, the light grew darker and took the magic from within the shadow, sending it out towards the room. The magic grew more intense until it had nowhere else to go. It exploded and the ceiling collapsed into the room. Joren and Aowyn jumped out of the way, just in time for a giant slab of brick to come crashing down beside their feet.
Sunlight beamed down on the entire room and bathed Aowyn in her golden glow once again. I could see the side of her face and I noticed she was smiling. She pushed her hair back off her shoulder and stared directly into the eyes of the leader. She lifted her hands above her head with flat palms, she created a giant golden magic circle in the sky.
“The heavenly light that shines from the sun, through divine illumination comes judgement and pain to all my enemies. Come forth and rain down on the evil ones.” Her chant continued in the complex Drakor before ending in our language. “Destroy!”
Another bright golden light lit up the entire room. It touched everything and while it made me feel warm, I could hear the screams and cries of the men from The Order. I could still see the magic circle glowing in the sky, it dimmed every few seconds before flickering away. When the golden light disappeared, I noticed all The Order members had burns all over their bodies. However, that didn’t stop them f
rom advancing. Aowyn’s body looked weak as she sunk to her knees, her breathing shallow as she slumped over. Joren stood in front of her, protecting her until she could move again. The golden light spell had taken a lot out of her. I tried to crawl over to Aowyn, but my body protested.
“Do you really think that a little sunlight was going to stop us? We are The Order of the Awakened Sun and we are powerful even without your dragon magic,” their leader bellowed towards Aowyn.
Shadows pummelled against Joren, but he didn’t seem to care. The shadows cut deep through his skin, making him buckle under the pain. He flicked his head back to check on Aowyn but when he saw she was still doubled over, he became filled with anger. His eyes changed to his deep yellow and when he looked over to me, they were glowing again.
Aowyn groaned as she tried to stand and get closer to Joren, but it was no use. His magic pulsed from his body and across the room, hitting the walls and crashing against them. When Aowyn finally stood, she placed a hand on Joren’s shoulder, causing him to snap his head towards her and growl in a tone I hadn’t heard before. The pain on his face had turned into something different, almost desperation. She spoke to him in Drakor but even if he didn’t fully understand her, he raised his head to the sky and let out an intense roar.
The energy in the room snapped as a bright silver light beamed from Joren’s body, matched with an equally bright golden light beside him. The fearful gasps of the leader and his men filled the room but were cut short when two mighty dragons let out their battle cries. As the lights faded and the room was only illuminated by the sunlight, the room suddenly felt small.
Two giant dragons stood in the centre of the room, their eyes locked onto one another as they let out another deafening roar.
They were magnificent. Joren’s dragon body still stunned me to my core, his smoky grey scales glinted in the sunlight, almost looking like they were lined in silver. His dark yellow eyes glowed brightly from the contrast of his scales. Aowyn was fiercely beautiful. Her scales were creamy with flecks of gold glistening in the beaming sunlight and glowed like she had the sun within her body. Her eyes were like Joren’s but instead of a dark yellow, they were a bright golden yellow. She was smaller than Joren, but she still towered over the wizards standing below them.
“Arman! There are two of them! We aren’t prepared for this! What do we do?” One of the men called from the opposite side of the room. Their leader had a name.
I had no idea if Joren or Aowyn would be able to hear me, but I had to try. “Take down the leader, Arman! He is the powerful one!”
Both dragons flicked their heads towards me. Their stare was menacing; I could almost see into their souls, which looked tortured, pained. They huffed in response before they turned back towards The Order. When I finally saw Arman’s face, he was smiling, laughing. With a flick of his arms, a giant circle appeared on the ground below them, I recognised the symbols instantly. It was the Dragon Song.
The symbols within the circle were now red, the dragons tried to move but the instant they did, dark red sparks hit every inch of their bodies, bonding them to the circle. They cried out, sending shockwaves of power through the room, but it didn’t break them free.
“Let them go!” I called from my place on the floor.
Arman laughed. “Why would I? I now have two dragons!”
He focused back on Joren and Aowyn and the Dragon Song. He began the chant that would siphon their power. I didn’t have much time left before their dragon power would become part of The Order of the Awakened Sun. I mustered every ounce of my strength and crawled away from the wall and towards the room they had kept me. Although I couldn’t move quickly, I made it to the room within a few minutes. I scrounged through every piece of paper I had written on but there was nothing that said I could stop it. That was when I remembered that they stopped me partway through translating when they realised I had the spell.
I crawled over to the table and lifted myself back onto the chair. I flicked my eyes to the corner of the room to check if the Oarix crystal was still there. When it wasn’t, I opened Dragon Lore and franticly translated the rest of the spell. A few moments later, I found it.
I knew I could break the spell.
12
The Arcane Guard
From what I read, the spell wouldn’t take much to break but it was something that put me in more danger than I already was. I needed to get close to the circle and rewrite the symbols and once I started, I couldn’t stop. I knew that I needed to try and do it without being seen or someone would attack me and stop me. Before rushing back to the circle, I placed a small magic circle on the book and everything to do with the Drakor and sent it all back to my room in the inn. If I was going to get out of there, I wanted to be able to translate the book again and learn more about the dragons.
As I crawled my way back out to the room, things were looking worse. Both dragons were writhing around in the centre of the circle, their limbs crashing against one another in the small space. The red sparks continued to bind them to the grounded circle. I was finally starting to get the feeling back in my limbs and while the pain was still there, it was slowly dwindling to nothing. All the Order members in the room were focused on the two dragons, it was my only chance to get close to the circle.
Arman was chanting louder now; his eyes were locked onto the dragons as he focused on the Dragon Song. With the words he was chanting, I knew he was getting close to the finish.
When I finally made it to the edge of the circle, I hid my body close behind Joren. The red sparks flicked off towards me, almost zapping my energy that I had just regained. The circle was dangerous as it was and anything that got too close was sucked in with the dragons. I pulled all the magical energy I could from inside my body and focused on changing a few of the symbols within the circle. If I could change the intent of the circle, it would be rendered useless and set Joren and Aowyn free again. The first thing I needed to change was the energy-draining symbol that locked onto the dragon’s power. That was the dangerous part— after I changed that first symbol, the sparks would stop, and they would know something was wrong. I needed to work fast.
I whispered the words I needed in Drakor as I wrote the first symbol. The instant it was drawn, the red sparks stopped but the dragons were still tethered to the circle. A few of The Order members came around the side of the circle and charged towards me. Using my free hand, I created my water shield to try and stop their attacks from hitting me. As I started the second symbol, I could hear the wizards shouting at me on the other side of the shield. Ignoring them, I got the second symbol done.
“The other girl is ruining the Dragon Song!” one of them called.
His chanting stopped. That was when I knew I could do it. His chant worked the exact same way as the spell I was drawing. If you stopped, you needed to start again.
“You idiots! How could you let her get near the circle? Deal with her before I deal with you!”
My shield was starting to weaken under the constant attacks of the wizards behind me and I was still two symbols from finishing the counterspell. Although the final two symbols were smaller than the first, it was still going to be hard with the wizards attacking me. Arman restarted his chant at the same time I began the second symbol. The two Order members behind me were getting desperate, I could hear their exasperations under my own spell. I whispered the words for the second symbol and the circle began to dim. The third symbol was the easiest to draw. It was the symbol that would unbind the circle and release Joren and Aowyn.
Halfway through the final symbol, my shield broke and their attacks finally hit. They pummelled directly into the centre of my back and knocked me into the circle. My stroke of the symbol continued and when I finally whispered the words that would release the dragons, the circle disappeared. Aowyn and Joren stopped moving about and they flicked their heads back to look at me. I nodded to them and looked deep into their yellow and golden eyes.
“You’re free now. Get the
leader, he is tied to all their power. Without him, they will be weaker!”
The dragons turned back towards Arman who was now shrouded in fear. Their bodies towered over him, but his fear didn’t stop him from trying to attack them again. A deep purple magic circle appeared in front of him and his shadows jumped out and surrounded them. They just stood there, not caring about his attack. Both shook their bodies and the shadows disappeared. I laughed at the effort of Arman’s magic. He had used most of it trying to perform the Dragon Song.
Before I could join the dragons in their fight, the other members of The Order surrounded me. Six men stood before me, magic circles appearing in front of them and a second later, I was bombarded with attacks.
My screams echoed throughout the great room. Joren’s head flicked at the sound of my cries and he instantly turned around to help me. Through blurred eyes, I could see Joren’s forelegs slashing through the wizards, using his talons to knock them back towards the wall. My body dropped to the floor and Joren lowered his head towards me. His eyes glinted in the sunlight and I could see his concern for me flowing through them. I placed my hand on his cheek and reassured him that I would be fine.
“Go and join Aowyn, she may need your help.”
He knocked my hand as though to make sure I was alright.
“I am fine, Joren. Go!”
He huffed a small amount of smoke around me as his reaction that he wanted to protest but needed to get back to the fight. As I tried to pull myself up from the ground, Joren used his tail to help me back onto my feet. I nodded my thanks as I turned towards the other wizards who were now picking themselves off the ground as well. Before they could get closer to me, I released my biggest red magic circle and sent a plume of fire directly towards them. Before my flames could extinguish, I sent a barrage of air slicers after it. Three of the six wizards were knocked out, their heads against the wall. The others advanced towards me with great speed, I unleashed my water daggers and bared them beside my body before they wizards got close enough to attack.
The Elite Wizard Games (Elite Wizards Chronicles Book 1) Page 8