Mercy's Trial

by Sever Bronny

  Gavinius then bowed in a surprisingly graceful manner that told Augum the man had been practicing using the dragon.

  The lightning dragon beside Augum reared up on its hind legs and vibrated its wings in a counter display of intimidation, roaring mightily.

  Augum harnessed his thoughts, which clarified and focused around a single trigger phrase requiring perfect pronunciation and gestural precision. As taught, he raised his arms in a praying mantis fashion and crouched forward menacingly, using his soul as a conduit that connected with the arcane ether. The gesture was precise and layered with nuance invisible to all but him. His thoughts, too, formed into the appropriate arcaneological web, the visualizations practiced and ready. He saw himself becoming the dragon as clearly as a Leyan sun blistering over a starry desert. He saw himself becoming the mightiest beast of them all. Then he spoke the sacred and ancient words that, spoken alone, were just words. Yet those words, combined with the vast conceptual knowledge and arcane stamina draw, brought the spell to vivid life.

  “Xae carna draca arcan doma legenda rava!”

  Augum’s clothing was instantly enveloped by a rapidly bulking body. His muscles thickened as his vision gained height, as if someone were telekinetically lifting him up. His fingernails extended into black claws, his nose into an alligator-like snout. Wings sprouted from his back. Throughout, a familiar tingling sensation, one he had not felt since possessing a scion, permeated his being.

  It was the sensation of spell amplification—of raw and primal power.

  He extended to his full height, taller than a giant—yet only half as high as the blue dragon beside him and thus a quarter of the height of the black behemoth opposite. Instinctually, Augum vibrated his wings and opened his snout to unleash a roar that transcended the age of men, harking back to a time of beasts and rabid survival. Eight rings brightened around his right front forearm, as did the lightning around his eyes. He felt his own Fear aura radiate from him like a powerful wave. Disappointingly, he could not see its tendrils, indicating he did not inherently have tendril sight like a normal dragon. On the other hand, while normal dragons cast wild arcanery, he was able to dip into a vast knowledge base of spells that had evolved over the eons into their own lethal tools, tools that were far more precise and nuanced than the dragons’ raw castings.

  “Interesting stunt, yet you are but a worm against my might.” Gavinius swept a clawed forepaw toward Augum and the legions of undead monsters swarmed forth. There had to be thousands of them, some the size of a house. Then Gavinius the dragon reared back and shot upward, as did the lightning dragon.

  Augum sensed that he needed to protect the egg, and so he remained on the ground and charged at the massive army of undead. At first his limbs moved awkwardly, and then he realized that it would be far quicker to gallop on all fours, so he dropped down onto his forepaws and his speed more than doubled.

  A human Ordinary seeing and feeling the primordial menace galloping toward them, with its fearsome aura and lightning eyes and rings, would perhaps have soiled themselves in terror. Unfortunately, the undead did not feel anything at all.

  While a calamitous fight broke out above between Gavinius and the lightning dragon, Augum swept through the army like a boulder, dispersing and crushing anything that got in the way of his massive limbs. He even punched a house-sized slug so hard his fist emerged from the other side of its oozing head.

  But the undead beasts that escaped Augum’s first pass ignored him completely. They streamed by like a river, their goal simple—the egg. This infuriated him, and he whirled about and slapped his scaled wrists together, roaring, “Annihilo bato!” As always, the arcane stamina draw was as cool as a mountain brook, but was now much, much more potent. And yet the reservoir was that much larger to match—whereas before it could be described as a puddle, now it was a pond.

  Two massive bolts of lightning as thick as battering rams blasted through the throng, annihilating every boned monster in their path with a crackling sizzle.

  Yet hundreds of undead still streamed toward the egg. Augum shot forth, swatting the rear ranks like a cat pawing mice. But the job wasn’t adequate enough. And unfortunately, the Spirit of the Dragon simul continuously siphoned his arcane stamina, so every spell had to be absolutely necessary.

  With that in mind, he flexed his arm while making an unsheathing motion, roaring, “Summano arma!” A longsword the length of a tree blasted into existence in his clawed fist, the lightning crackling as loudly as a thunderstorm. With a single swipe, he fried and annihilated twenty undead minions, scattering their charred bones like seeds. And then the eviscerations began in earnest. He hacked and sliced and stamped and obliterated every single boned beast until only a few writhed, and these he ground underfoot to powder.

  The egg was safe from the army.

  Above, the battle of the two primordial behemoths came to a climax with a single agonized wail. Augum looked up in time to see the lightning dragon fall, crashing to the ground a hundred feet away in a giant heap. It was covered in bloody gashes, its scales dull.

  “No—!” Augum roared, and took to the air with a single flap of his wings, sword still in hand. But this time, he summoned his shield as well. Gavinius was four times larger than he was, but that would not stop him from trying. The heir to the empire was badly injured, with a slew of new crimson gashes drawn across his scaly flesh. Barrel-sized drops of blood splashed onto the ground, some landing on the lightning dragon, which had to have fought ferociously and bravely to cause such immense damage—it had even managed to scratch one of Gavinius’s eyes, although unfortunately the already useless milky one.

  “Un vun asperio aurum enchantus,” Gavinius hissed, casting Reveal.

  “Un vun asperio aurum enchantus,” Augum echoed, and a vibrant weave of tendrils exploded around Gavinius, indicating he had several enchantments going—or perhaps they were native to the necromantic dragon he had taken over.

  “Fool, you think you can simply copy my Reveal training?” Gavinius growled. “Do you even realize how long it took me to maintain focus on the spell in a duel?”

  “Have to start somewhere,” Augum countered, snapping his wings and tail to gain frightening speed.

  Gavinius snorted before whipping off a volley of minor spells—Mute, Paralyze, Confusion, and a necromantic extension. Augum, able to easily see the spells coming, dipped, dove and dodged around the tendril missiles, though recognized Gavinius was merely toying with him.

  As Augum rapidly neared, a wave of the necromantic dragon’s Fear aura washed over him, but his amplified Mind Armor easily kept it at bay.

  Augum finally got near enough to strike and thrust his lightning longsword at Gavinius’s belly, but he gave a mighty flap of his wings and drew back and to the left, causing Augum to overreach. Gavinius raked at him with a claw and Augum raised his enormous shield in time to hear a scraping thwack. Gavinius then kicked out with both lower feet, bashing Augum’s scaly stomach and knocking the wind out of him—and making Augum lose his concentration with the Reveal spell, snuffing it immediately.

  Gavinius laughed as Augum fell. “You couldn’t even hold the spell after taking a kick, could you? That’s all right, neither could I. On to other matters.”

  Augum fell a hundred feet before catching the air with his wings and soaring away to make another pass, only to witness Gavinius dive at the stirring lightning dragon, tail angling scorpion-like overhead, probably wanting to heal himself by sucking on its life force.

  “No you don’t,” Augum growled, and shoved at the air before him, roaring, “Baka!” Ordinarily, he would have been well out of range for such an attack, but because the spell was amplified, Gavinius received a massive shove just before spearing the lightning dragon with his tail. Instead he slammed into the ground nearby and crumpled with a groan.

  Augum dove after him, conscious of how quickly his stamina was draining. He needed much more training to slow the stamina bleed—and thus extend the simul duration.


  At the end of his dive, he thrust with his sword again. Gavinius had apparently been feigning slowness, for he rolled backward at the last moment, causing Augum to careen into the ground and slide right into his enormous legs, lightning sword disappearing with a crackling fizzle. Gavinius clumsily kicked out, shoving Augum away.

  Augum got back onto all four paws, spell combinations zipping through his dragon mind like volleys of arrows. He settled on a rapid but classic fight combo and reared up on his hind legs while twisting a clawed paw up at Gavinius. “Flustrato, flustrato!” then followed by making an S shape. “Effectus xadius!”

  Gavinius’s head snapped back only a little, indicating Augum’s spells hadn’t been nearly powerful enough to penetrate his battle-hardened Mind Armor. Augum wasted no time, following up by slapping his wrists together and incanting, “Annihilo bato!”

  But Gavinius was more than ready and flexed his left forepaw. The pair of lightning prongs slammed into a shield depicting a crimson castle and the crimson motto Loyaltos fidelema ruthergara—loyalty, faith, ruthlessness.

  Gavinius cracked a crocodile grin and began a furious counterattack, swiping first with his right paw and then his left. Augum re-summoned his shield, blocking the right swipe and ducking the left, matching Gavinius’s incredible reflexes.

  An infuriated Gavinius yanked, hissing, “Disablo!” disappearing Augum’s shield. Augum lashed out telekinetically at Gavinius’s throat and squeezed, but Gavinius spun his massive bulk, growling, “Summano arma crax!” By the time he came around, there was an enormous whip in the shape of a hissing viper in his claws, and he lashed Augum with it.

  Augum tried to duck but the snake was alive and changed its trajectory mid-course, coiling around Augum’s neck. Augum instinctively knew Gavinius would yank him close so that he could impale his belly with his tail, and so he sliced the snake with his own claws, disappearing the whip.

  Gavinius shoved at the air, hissing, “Baka!” sending Augum flipping backward—but only a short ways, for Augum spread his wings, using them to settle himself back to the ground. Gavinius made a grand sweeping motion. “Closs pesti!” A massive swarm of bloodsuckers appeared between them, each the size of a man.

  That was a mistake, Augum thought, seeing through the strategy and punching the cloud, for Gavinius had charged. His fist met with Gavinius’s maw. Gavinius grunted, momentarily stunned, and Augum pounced, unleashing a flurry of blows, swipes and kicks, drawing more blood from the necromantic dragon’s belly. But the behemoth was simply too large to be beaten so easily, and although he staggered back with each blow, he managed to swing his tail at an angle hidden from Augum and spear him in the abdomen. As Augum gasped, Gavinius grabbed his forepaws and held him there while the tail began to pulse, sucking out his life force. The numerous cuts Augum had delivered immediately began to heal.

  Augum wasn’t about to let him win so easily. “Virtus vis viray,” he snapped, flexing only half of his muscles in his haste. Nonetheless, the poorly executed Strength spell worked, and he broke free of Gavinius’s grip and yanked out his tail, though the spell failed immediately after.

  The pair of enraged opponents then went at each other full-on, clawing, punching, kicking and biting. Augum, only a quarter of Gavinius’s size, quickly found himself bleeding from head to foot.

  After missing with a clawed punch, he hesitated upon realizing he was not only losing the assault but quickly running out of time, for the Spirit of the Dragon simul was nearing the end of its duration. Gavinius used that hesitation to spin-kick Augum with one of his back legs. Augum grunted and flew thirty feet before crashing to the ground and rolling to a halt, wings mangling.

  Augum shot back to his feet and lashed out telekinetically while Gavinius simultaneously performed the same casting. The two spells slammed into each other and turned into a telekinetic tug-of-war. Except as mighty as Augum’s Telekinesis was, Gavinius’s recent training had combined with the sheer size of the necromantic dragon, and Augum found himself getting dragged until he was abruptly yanked by the neck. He slammed into the ground, gasping and sliding toward Gavinius.

  Instead of pressing his advantage, Gavinius laughed, savoring beating Augum at his own game.

  Augum used the time to scramble back to his feet, wondering if it would be wise to cast Centarro with precious little arcanery remaining. Gavinius opened his massive jaws and let loose a gurgling huff, but instead of shooting a bolt of necromantic energy, he belched a venomous cloud that raced toward Augum, obscuring Gavinius with its girth.

  Augum had seen this trick before and he shoved at the air, shouting, “Baka!” then immediately twirled aside like a dancer. The cloud dispersed just as a massive beam of dark light blew by. Unfortunately, Augum hadn’t accounted for his clumsy wings—the beam blew right through one, causing him to gasp as a searing pain rippled from the spot.

  Gavinius, surprisingly quick for his size and injuries, flicked both front wrists before Augum even finished twirling. Two wispy tentacles like insect tongues darted at Augum, who didn’t have time to jump aside. Instead he summoned his shield and braced. But when nothing happened, he glanced over the lip and saw the tendrils bouncing off harmlessly, dissolving into smoke. He looked up in time to see Gavinius propping himself up on his tail while extending all four limbs. A black light had coalesced around his paws and blasted at Augum—the tentacle attack had been a feint.

  Augum hid behind his shield, but the strike was so strong and his shield casting weak enough that it blasted through the shield and smashed into his belly, sending him rolling with a yowl of pain. When he finally came to a stop, he was a moaning mess, nearly finished. A hundred feet away, Gavinius raised his pointy tail at the lightning dragon still writhing on the ground.

  Lying there, Augum did the only thing he could think of—he shot out a forepaw, hoping he was in range. Amazingly, his Telekinesis latched onto Gavinius’s neck and he yanked, causing Gavinius to stumble back, his tail missing the lightning dragon’s belly by a hairsbreadth and gouging into the ground.

  An exhausted and stinging Augum hauled himself to his feet for the umpteenth time.

  Gavinius looked at him with his one crimson eye. “Let us finish it,” the heir to the empire spat, the mirth gone from his voice.

  Augum, seeing that the badly injured lightning dragon had roused from its stupor and was readying to make a final and desperate strike, accepted the challenge and galloped toward Gavinius.

  It worked—Gavinius didn’t notice the lightning dragon, which slapped its wrists together and shot a massive bolt of lightning that walloped Gavinius’s enormous head. As Gavinius stumbled and turned to face the lightning dragon, Augum slapped his wrists together mid-gallop, incanting, “Annihilo bato!” Two prongs of lightning sliced neatly into the side of Gavinius’s belly, causing blood to squirt from both wounds.

  Gavinius howled in rage and pain as blood ran in rivers down his legs, adding to the already large pool on the ground, then crouched low like a scorpion. His huge tail, spiked with a gleaming black fang, reared up like a cobra before shooting at the lightning dragon, which tried to roll aside. But it was too slow and the massive tail speared its belly, pinning it to the ground. The tail began to throb as Gavinius necromantically sucked the life force from the lightning dragon, the cuts on his belly healing with each pulse.

  Augum was deeply conscious of his critically low stamina. As soon as it depleted, he would revert to mortal form and be completely useless—if the spell didn’t time out first. He knew that whatever he did had to count and so he jumped mid-gallop, flexed all his muscles, and roared, “Virtus vis viray!” Upon reconnecting with the ground, he increased his gallop to a full-on sprint, the now properly cast and dragon-amplified Strength spell having tightened his muscles to the point of bursting.

  The lightning dragon roared in pain and shot out its paws, tearing, scratching and slapping at Gavinius’s massive head. But Gavinius only leaned in with his pulsing tail, ignoring the attacks�
�which quickly healed anyway—and causing the lightning dragon’s movements to slow as it whimpered.

  Augum finally got close enough to jump on Gavinius’s enormous back. Despite their difference in size, he managed to wrap his forepaws around Gavinius’s thick neck—but only barely so. Then he began to squeeze.

  Gavinius reached for Augum’s arms to free himself, but the lightning dragon caught on to what Augum was doing and grabbed both of Gavinius’s forepaws, even though it was rapidly weakening from the drain. The lightning dragon fought to control and hold onto those paws even as they scrambled and scratched at Augum’s dragon arms, which kept squeezing and squeezing, the muscles screaming.

  Augum thought of Leera and how much he wanted to see her again, and so he roared and flexed every iota of strength he had, tightening his hold even further, muscles now threatening to tear. Gavinius began to flail wildly, and yet Augum held on, knowing he would have nothing left after this. Gavinius’s tail withdrew from the lightning dragon’s belly and viciously lashed at Augum. As the tail swung around for a lethal spearing, Augum jumped over Gavinius’s head in a wrestling-like maneuver, maintaining his hold, and the tail pierced Gavinius’s own spine.

  Augum was practically upside down, but this time his weight added to his hold and he felt a mighty crack from Gavinius’s neck. The heir’s wild flailing instantly ceased and he flopped to the ground. Augum knew that this could be a ruse and so held on for as long as he could, muscles quivering, face hot with the strain, until the spell finally timed out and he reverted back to human form with a shloop. He slipped from Gavinius’s neck and slammed into the ground.

  The mighty necromantic dragon vomited.

  Then all went still.

  Augum lay panting for some time, too exhausted to move. When he finally clambered to his feet, he found himself shaky and weak and completely spent of arcane energy. Besides the numerous cuts and scrapes, he had a deeper wound on his back and one in his stomach, but he hoped all would be well after he bandaged them.