by TJ Reynolds
Kai glanced to Freya. And you, sister of flame?
The green dragon glared at the Hintari soldiers. You know I will not make our plan. I will promise to burn hundreds of these fools, however. I will say that I can sense great strength below. I believe hidden among the soldiers are those more powerful than even you, Elder Dragon.
Kai growled, acknowledging the situation. I fear you’re right. I doubt we can win the battle all on our own, not unless we do so cleverly.
Hazel lowered her head and offered her own advice. May I say, your newest spell might go a long way to turning the tide. We must approach from the rear of the battle. Yes, that will prevent us from defending Ban directly, but if we can get the leaders of the army to yield, we may yet prevail.
Calreem followed. Anatoth and Freya should strike first with their ice and fire. When the soldiers respond to counter, Hazel should use her Concussive Gust. Anatoth’s Storm Shriek we can save for if things turn on us. And most of all, I think we need to stay aloft as long as possible.
Rhona cleared her throat. “Well spoken, all of you. Kai will make our final plan, but I would like to add a few things.
“First of all, when the Hintari see five dragons in the sky, it will turn their stomachs to jelly. When I was a soldier, we used to make jokes about it, but there isn’t a man or woman in Anvar who do not fear your kind. Let the bastards fear you.”
The dragons growled as their passions rose like flames in a breeze.
Rhona spurred them on. “Let them fear you, for these are the same Hintari who broke faith with the dragons long ago.
“But heed my words!” she added in a firm voice. “Keep your shivving heads clear and calm. Battle fought in this fashion is unlike anything you’ve experienced, young ones.
“Keep your heads, and protect each other. That’s all I have to say.”
Kai thanked her for the warning with a private thought, and then completed his own plans for all to hear.
We destroy the cavalry first. There are a great many, but they are the most mobile of the Hintari forces. When we finish with those, we’ll attack from two sides, working our way into the center of that formation. Can you all see that man standing below the three banners? He is our ultimate target. But we must come at him carefully.
Methodically, but trying not to waste time, Kai laid out the beginnings of his plan. It wasn’t a fully fleshed-out battle plan.
Such an approach would not only delay them further, but he knew as soon as they revealed their presence, the soldiers would react, changing the situation immediately.
Five minutes later, Kai leapt into the air.
They flowed down the sloping hillside, and when they came within a mile of the army, Kai heard the first panicked cries.
He kept his mouth shut another thirty seconds. Then he unfurled his wings to slow his approach.
Kai roared louder than he’d ever done before, releasing a Flame Spear into the sky a second later.
The brazen announcement of his arrival served not only to strike fear in the enemy forces, but also to give Anatoth and Freya a few moments of precious time.
He flew straight at the army, charging a spell as he approached. A few hundred feet above the surging troops, Kai released it.
A Confounded Core splashed among a throng of burly warriors, all bearing hammers.
Several panicked and ran amuck among the Hintari.
Another froze in place, so confused he couldn’t decide what to do.
But two other men screamed in defiance and smashed their companions with killing blows.
Kai lifted up in the air and dipped down again on the opposite side of the army. This time, he unleashed Flame Spear at the soldiers.
Not wanting to get too close for now, Kai only terrified the men he flew over.
His heart sang for revenge, but discipline held him back. His time would come, and soon, but for now he’d done his job.
Pulling away, the other four dragons emerged at last.
They’d taken an indirect route down the mountainside, using a ravine to conceal their passage.
Now, the four creatures Kai had raised from hatchlings flew up into the sky at the opposite end of the ravine. With wings stretched wide and fangs bared, Kai could not have felt more proud.
Blue, gold, green, and white, the dragons were an echo of a bygone era.
In every way possible, they represented honor, loyalty, and the inevitability of fate.
Kai’s ruse had succeeded in drawing most of the Hintari forces’ attention.
The cavalry opposite his position did not see the attack until it was far too late.
Anatoth let loose first. Winter’s Wrath sprayed across the backs of a dozen horsemen, stopping the slow trot of the column of cavalry.
Horses shrieked and men died as they were frozen solid in the blast.
The cavalry behind them piled up. They tried desperately to wheel away, but Freya timed her attack perfectly.
Forge Storm roasted over twenty men and mounts in an unforgiving inferno. The blaze was so hot that a wide ring of cavalry on all sides were burned by the sheer heat roiling in the air.
The Hintari showed their bold spirit, for a commander ordered a formation of javelin throwers to charge in and defend the cavalry shortly after. They made quick time, running with spears held high.
A few even launches their javelins at Freya when she returned to pluck a man from his saddle in her lusty claws.
The javelin clanged harmlessly off her armor, but the gesture still reminded Kai that though they were dragons, none here were invulnerable.
On cue, Hazel dropped down and buffeted her wings at the men. Concussive Gust struck them with the force of an invisible hammer.
The soldiers staggered about briefly, buying Kai enough time to reach the fray. Then, for the first time since coming home, Kai struck back.
He unleashed the full intensity of Flame Spear. The spell burned in the back of his throat briefly as he dropped over the stunned soldiers. Then the Fire and Wind ether coalesced into pure devastation.
Kai heard the soldiers scream, but their cries were cut off as their lungs burned out.
He turned toward the remaining cavalry and released a second volley of Flame Spear. Again, his spell incinerated the Hintari.
This is what you get for coming here, Kai shouted in his mind. This is the cost of betrayal!
As Kai flew up, he witnessed the chaos their combined spells had triggered.
A dozen horses were trampling through the army, sending troops running in all directions. A wide swath of javelin throwers and cavalry lay in heaps, their bodies smoking.
The effects had even rippled inward, knocking a handful of men into the chasm below.
Suddenly, a voice called out.
Terror and determination made it sound different than usual, but Kai would always recognize Ban’s voice.
Kai, you’ve made it at last! Ban cried out. The Hintari are still fighting in the tower. We have them stopped on the fourth floor for now, but I don’t know how much longer I can hold them.
Rage kindled anew in Kai’s heart.
The fourth floor was far too close to his Earth Core friend.
With as much calm as Kai could muster, he told his friend the truth of it. We will not abandon you, Ban. We’re here for you. I’ll make these shivving cowards pay.
He turned in the air even as Calreem flew by and strafed the retreating edge of the army with Cluster Smite.
The Holy spell scattered among the ranks. Each sparking offshoot burned into the soldiers. Most weren’t killing blows, but eyes were scorched, armor melted, and utter ruin left in the white dragon’s wake.
Before Kai could return for another attack, something shifted in the army’s center.
Kai spotted five beams of Wind ether converge, striking Calreem on his armor. The beams didn’t reflect or even seem to cause harm, but as the dragon tried to fly away, the silvery ether wrapped around Calreem’s body.
&nbs
p; His flight slowed, and then a wing was hindered by the ensnaring spell.
With shock and horror, Kai realized the young dragon was falling.
A few heartbeats later, Calreem veered into the ground, scattering soldiers in his wake. Panic threatened to overwhelm Kai’s senses, but he beat his emotions down.
Anatoth! he bellowed. Storm Shriek, now! Freya, I need you on the ground. Searing Claws!
Kai flew as quickly as he could, terrified the soldiers might wound Calreem while on the ground.
Several spheres of Wind and Earth ether rose up from the army and pelted Kai’s stomach. He turned his head down and blasted the troops with two Flame Spears in a row.
Then he dropped to the ground fifty feet from Calreem.
Rhona hopped down immediately afterwards and slipped into Spirit Flow. Her body blurred as she darted to stand guard over Calreem.
Kai barked another order as he charged a spell. Hazel, stay in the air and provide support if anything goes wrong.
More elemental attacks flew from the Hintari, but he ignored them. Although each attack shattered scales and bruised his hide, he could take more than a few before they would matter.
Freya descended into the cluster of spearmen closing on Calreem. Her fiery claws extended, and she raged without restraint. Each slash took one or two men, and in between, she crushed soldiers in her jaws.
Another squad of what appeared to be elites ran closer just as Kai’s spell completed. He released Shimmering Shield Wall, and the vast spell blocked off the oncoming troops along with a large section of the army.
He spared ten seconds to cast another spell on Freya. The Golem’s Favor would not last forever, but it would ensure she had some form of shield while she waded in among the enemies.
Kai strode toward Calreem, wishing he could free the dragon from its bonds.
He decided then and there what he had to do. Anatoth flew overhead and released another Winter’s Wrath on one exposed flank while Hazel strafed another, keeping the soldiers at bay.
Kai counted each second as his next spell charged, and after an eternity, he summoned his spectral champion.
The ether-formed creature surged into the Hintari with determination. Then Kai used Breeze Step in quick succession, slamming his tail mace into squads of men as he did so.
Each time, the space around them grew a little bigger.
Knowing he’d bought them a bit of reprieve, Kai started charging one final spell. He held his head up high and searched for the source of the binding spell that held the struggling Calreem.
The glowing strands led toward the center of the army.
He hoped accuracy wasn’t needed for this spell, and he prayed to Briga he would have the time to finish it.
As the seconds ticked by, Kai watched the Hintari fight back with surprising zeal.
Anatoth was filled with a half-dozen javelins, one sinking into the joint of his leg so deep the dragon would have trouble landing.
Freya fought on, lost in her bloodlust, but long gone was her suit of golem armor. Dozens of spears and javelins protruded from her green hide.
Hazel nearly fell to the ground when a volley of elemental attacks struck her wings and belly.
Kai winced when she flew by and sprayed blood from her open mouth.
His own injuries became more substantial as javelin throwers sent volley after volley of their piercing darts into him.
Without Ban’s armor, Kai knew he and the others might have fallen despite their accomplishments. Already, they’d killed hundreds, but the army was vast, and the most powerful fighters had yet to fall.
Rhona alone remained unseen.
She was weaving through the army like a terrible ghost, no doubt covered in Hintari blood.
Kai deflected charging enemies with his tail and backed as far away as he could to buy time. All the while, he groaned internally.
The blessing and curse of being a caster, he thought. And of course, the more powerful the spell, the longer it takes to cast!
Finally, when Kai’s heart was about to break from witnessing his companions suffer, the casting time on his spell completed.
Kai rose up on his hind legs and poured a cascade of Fire ether from his chest and belly. The expulsion of AE seared his core, almost like he was being pressed to a hot skillet.
Craning his head up high, Kai forgot everything but for the location of his casting.
The center, where the wizards huddle in safety. I need it to strike there.
Every scream and battle cry dimmed as Kai’s periphery vanished in red-and-white brilliance.
Then the charging ether released.
Kai slammed back to the ground, and his vision returned. An uncontrollable shiver rocked his core.
The world suddenly seemed so cold.
And then Yugos blessed the mortal world with a finger of his true power. A thick beam of heavenly flames slammed into the battlefield exactly where Kai had wanted.
For a handful of seconds, the pillar scorched the earth. Radiant and terrible, Helio Inferno proved very much worth the 500 AE Kai had just spent on it.
He blinked in amazement as he saw the writhing silhouettes of men vanishing completely. All who stood within the pillar of flame were gone in the first second.
Those standing all around screamed as their flesh melted. The closest slumped to the ground, dead, while the rest simply endured considerable pain.
And when the spell at last ceased to be, a hundred of the army’s most powerful fighters stumbled about, blinded.
Kai glanced to his right and saw Calreem scrambling to his feet.
The constriction spell had been annihilated, the casters responsible along with it.
Before their window of opportunity vanished, Kai held up his head and surveyed their situation.
They’d saved Calreem, and even now Anatoth was helping the white dragon retreat towards a safer corner of the battlefield.
That was likely all they would get, however. Returning to the sky didn’t seem possible, not with how terribly Freya had been wounded.
Kai ran toward the Mireen, casting Restoring Tide along the way.
Pull back to the fallen cavalry! Kai commanded. Anatoth and Hazel, do what you can from the sky.
Then a familiar voice reached out to him. Kai, behind you! Something is happening.
It was Rhona. She’d just stepped back into time again. Her fire-red hair almost seemed pale compared to her gore-spattered face.
Her eyes were filled with terror.
Pointing, she added, You handle that. I’ll make sure Calreem and the other pull back.
Kai nodded and swiveled around.
Striding toward him, parting the enemy soldiers, was a sphere of black ether.
Despite all the destruction he and his dragons had caused, over half the army remained. Among those survivors, at least one powerful wizard still lived.
For the first time, Kai felt the full force of this being’s core. The weight of it alone made him want to flee or bend the knee.
Kai backed away on instinct, but then forced himself to stand his ground.
This man must be Cobalt ascended, Kai thought as he prepared for a fight.
At first, he considered Confounded Core, but the spell would most certainly fail on an enemy so strong.
Kai cast Golem’s Favor on himself, hoping the added protection might be of some good.
The spectral champion he’d summoned surged out of the enemies suddenly. The creature had diminished in size, perhaps worn away by magical attacks.
A foolish part of Kai’s mind hoped he might not have to fight this force of nature alone.
But the sphere of black flickered briefly, and Kai saw a robed figure within. The wizard flicked out his hand, and Kai’s champion ruptured.
All of the ether that had made up its form dissolved before streaking through the air and absorbing into the wizard’s protective dome.
Kai was out of options.
He had claw
and fang.
He had Flame Spear.
With dogged determination, Kai ran at the wizard. If I can at least wound the shivving man… Maybe then my dragons can finish him.
Kai came within fifty feet of the wizard when, suddenly, the black dome winked out.
An old man with inky black eyes stood smiling before him. He flung out his hands, and Kai struck an invisible wall.
His bones ached and his core writhed within.
Somehow, he’d been suspended.
He tried to access Flame Spear, but he couldn’t tap into his ether.
The voice that spoke in Kai’s mind reminded him of a single being: Terrinore, the glutinous basilisk they’d fought in Imogen’s dungeon.
You must be the newly risen Fundamental Dragon, the wizard said, still walking closer. How disappointing. I expected at least some resistance.
Kai fought against the bonds that held his body and mind, but there was no winning this battle.
The wizard was simply too strong.
Kai’s adversary grinned, his Abyss-tainted eyes gleaming like cut stone. Viridian is nothing to scoff at, young dragon, especially in the short time you’ve had to increase your power.
Is it true that you are half human? That might explain why you’ve advanced so quickly. The history books tell that half dragons can ascend by battling their own Earth Core’s minions…
A bit like cheating, though, am I right?
The man stopped a few feet before Kai. He was short, his golden skin wrinkled with age. His elegant robes hung over his frail body almost like they were empty.
You won’t have my Earth Core, Kai said at last, strong enough only to steal back the power of speech. You won’t… win.
The wizard chuckled, gray brows rising in happy surprise. Your will is commendable! I can admit that much. But sorry, young dragon, the Earth Core will be harvested this very day. I’ll make sure to relish its hard-earned Progression.
Kai’s chest rattled as he growled.
No matter how irate he became, however, he could not resist further.
