“Mortal, you dare to mock a dragon,” Doronshun said.
The dragon blasted out its flames and Rey Ling created an aero sphere to protect himself. As the flames spun around him the temperature rose quickly and he could barely breathe. The dragon continued to shower Rey in flames as it walked towards him. He was not sure how long he could keep the aero sphere defense since his maju was low. Either I get burned or he runs out of fire, Rey thought. As his aero sphere shrank the flames also began to weaken. At that point Rey began to walk towards the dragon, getting closer to it. Doronshun ran out of flames then attempted to eat him. It opened its mouth revealing countless fangs. With a sword and a shining vial in his hand Rey jumped inside the dragon’s mouth and slid down its throat. Doronshun raised its long neck vertically to swallow Rey and gulped him down.
“You won’t live long in my belly for I am fire and I am…”
Before Doronshun could finish his sentence he groaned. “What are you doing?” the dragon asked then felt a sharp pain in its underbelly and howled. “No! Get out of my body!”
When Doronshun tried to breathe fire it was futile. Instead white light shone. Its yellow eyes then turned white as well and its body began to vibrate.
“What are you doing to me?” the dragon yelled.
Rey Ling burst out of the dragon’s abdomen covered in blood. He rolled on the ground and breathed heavily, wiping blood off his face and spitting out disgusting fluids. “This will be the last time I do something like that again,” he stated as he stood up.
Doronshun collapsed and its body turned to ash as the light destroyed it from the inside.
“It’s not over. I will haunt your family till I get my revenge,” the dragon gave his last words before he vanished.
“Go ahead, rise from the ashes like a phoenix after being destroyed from the inside by your weakness,” Rey mocked. “My sister was right. Your attribute was darkness and the worst thing for a monster like you was swallowing your own weakness, the light.”
Rey Ling rushed over to his sister and knelt next to her, cradling her head and wiped the dust from her green dress. “You are so brave,” Rey complimented. “I hate to admit it, but I would have not been able to defeat the dragon without your help.”
She coughed then Rey watched as she raised her arm and her hand flew across his face.
“Help me up, you idiot,” Sixiam said wearily.
Rey helped her get back on her feet. Her hair was messy and part of her dress was burnt. Her makeup was smeared over her face with dust and sweat. Rey Ling giggled and she jabbed him in the shoulder.
“I told you its attribute was darkness,” Sixiam repeated. “I am not as good as you with magic but I spent more time studying it.”
“Good call,” Rey replied. He scanned the chamber and saw Yochan still laying on the ground paralyzed so he and his sister rushed to aid their assistant.
Sixiam reached inside her cleavage and drew out another vial of shining white fluid.
“How many of those do you have in there?” Rey asked disturbed.
“Just the two,” she answered and smirked. “White magic is always needed.”
Sixiam waved the shining vial over Yochan a few times and within seconds the man was breathing again. Yochan panted and twitched on the ground as if he were having a stroke.
“What’s the matter with him?” Rey Ling asked concerned, holding his friend down. “Why is he twitching all crazy?”
“It’s the paralysis, it stiffened his muscles and I guess he is just recovering,” Sixiam explained.
It took a few minutes for Yochan’s twitching to end.
Moments later the three of them stood in front of the magic circle that had summoned the dragon. They stared at it, trying to figure out what it really was.
“It was not a mandarak,” Rey stated.
“Then what was it?” Yochan asked. “Looks much like one to me. Although I will say this one has too much line work, codex and symbols.”
“And that is exactly why it is not a mandarak,” Rey added. “A mandarak is more like an illustration compressed into a circle with only one symbol in its center. The dragon image in this magic circle is right in the center instead of the symbol of darkness. It’s reversed. This is sealing magic…father knew sealing all these years.”
“Or maybe someone else sealed it for him,” Sixiam added. “Father was too busy and spent little time studying magic.”
“Well it does not matter now,” Rey said. “Go ahead. Whisper the words and reveal our glorious treasure.”
Sixiam took a step closer to the seal on the wall. She placed her hands on the circle and whispered the words, “Umbra mahamut ylem.”
The seal on the wall began to glow. For a moment it seemed as though the circle warped, it performed a wavy motion like a ripple through water. Finally the ground beneath their feet began to shake and the wall started to tumble. Sixiam shrieked and ran away from the wall.
Rey, Sixiam and Yochan watched as the wall broke apart and a chamber was revealed behind it. Once the shaking stopped and the wall had completely fallen away they walked into the small chamber. There was a pile of omnithium steel. Large blocks of metal staggered up to nine feet in height. Rey Ling marveled at it and gaped in awe.
“This is at least two thousand pounds of omnithium steel and it is now all mines,” Rey said.
Serena
In her father’s chamber she gave him the lunar fish oil and watched as the thick dark veins in his body shrank. King Severus Sarbock breathed with great relief and was able to sleep more soundly but Serena knew that the fish oil was just a temporary cure. As she sat next to her father’s bed, her maiden, Sheimeh, gave the king his tea and waved a lamp with the strong smell of eucalyptus to aid in easing his pain. Serena held her father’s hand and pondered about her mother and the story her father had told her yesterday. The chosen of the Sapphire Cosmo Jewel, she thought. If that is true then shouldn’t she be here to help her people. Why did she just disappear?
Her father clutched her hand. When she looked at him he was smiling.
“You are thinking about her, aren’t you,” Sarbock guessed.
“How can I not?” Serena confessed. “After that story you told me, I keep wondering. I have never seen her in person but she has appeared in my dreams. Wherever she is, she knows that I am very angry at her.”
“Interesting. Tell me more about this dream of yours,” the king requested and lightly coughed.
Serena closed her eyes as she envisioned the dream about her mother. She touched the family sigil on her forehead, the diamond spiral, then she placed her hand on her heart. “I am walking on water. I don’t know where I am but it is misty and far ahead in the mist I see the figure of a woman. I can see a blue jewel shining a radiant light hovering over her hand. I begin to run towards her. I run and I run but no matter how much I run I cannot reach her. Her voice echoes and it says ‘I love you, I love you, I am sorry, forgive me.’ And I continue to chase her even though I know that I will never reach her, and I shout, ‘Mother, is that you?’ Please mother, come back, don’t leave me. Mother, why did you leave me?’”
Tears trickled down her cheeks. Her father wiped them away and caressed her face.
“There is no stopping you. I know you are going to go search for her,” Severus said.
“Not while you are still sick. I know there is a cure,” Serena replied. “Here, drink your fish oil. I can see your veins getting thicker.”
Serena served her father the fish oil in a ceramic cup but he shoved it aside.
“Father, please, drink, do it for me, please,” she begged.
“I just want to die,” Severus said. “This is too painful. I know I won’t live much longer. You will make a much better ruler than I.”
“I don’t want such responsibility, and you know it,” Serena told him.
“Such responsibility wants you,” Severus responded. “This country needs a trustworthy ruler and I won’t let my other relatives
take the throne. You must take my position and make sure that there is no more war. I know how my siblings and cousins make decisions. They allow their emotions to conquer them. However, you, Serena, you have more control over yourself. You are a warrior woman, you are independent and a powerful water mage just like your mother. You know how to deal with people better than my relatives. No one will lead this country to a better future than you.”
Serena always ran away from the responsibility of being queen the same way she ran away from marriage, like a fish slipping from the hands of a fisherman. Although she had, Samird, he was more of a companion, a lover, but not someone she had to commit to and Samird had accepted that. What about having children? I would rather have a pet dolphin, she thought. If she had to choose between marrying the richest man in the country or being queen, I would rather be queen, she decided. Even at the age of thirty she still did not want to be in a committed relationship.
“I vow to take the throne if you pass away early,” Serena promised. “I vow to protect the people of this country and make decisions that would benefit the people rather than the elites.”
“I know you will. I trust you, my dear daughter,” her father said then kissed her hand.
Suddenly, a Narb Thale stormed into the room panting and screaming, “Black monsters! Black monsters!”
Serena was startled and snarled at the Narb Thale. “You cannot come in here without permission.”
“My lady, we are being attacked,” the Narb Thale said. “There are black monsters attacking the people and flying around the city.”
Without a second thought Serena grabbed her spear that stood by the door. “Sheimeh, I need you to call the water mages of the castle. Have at least three of them protecting father, understood.”
“Yes my lady,” Sheimeh said.
Serena turned to the Narb Thale that had stormed into her father’s chamber. “Have you alerted the other Narb Thales?”
“Of course,” the warrior said. “Hundreds of them are already out in the city defending the people.”
“Good, now let’s go.”
Serena ran out of her father’s chamber, through the castle hallways of the second floor and down the long staircase. From the direction of the throne room more Narb Thales ran to the door and when she reached the first floor she led them outside of the castle to face these black monsters. Samird came and stood by her side. They nodded at each other, ready to fight side by side. One hundred Narb Thales in her castle marched outside. When Serena reached the port with her warriors, her eyes widened in disbelief. The darkness that flew over the skies of the capital city, Sar Thale, winged monsters as black as night. They screeched and shrieked and roared. Serena looked at the lake and saw dark serpents rising from the water. The monsters shattered the boats in the lake and drowned sailors. She heard screams coming from the slopes of the city. Bat-like creatures lifted men and women with their claws and talons then ripped them apart in the air, dropping them in the water. It was as if the skies of Sar Thale were infected, just another disease like the one her father had. It was as if collective nightmares had come true and there was no waking from it. “Good god,” Serena whispered. “By the ocean spirits and tsunamis, where did these creatures come from?”
A giant octopus rose from the lake rising nearly as high as the castle. The octopus grabbed a boat with its tentacles then hurled it at the castle. Serena gasped, watching the boat flying towards her and yelled, “Out of the way!” Her men jumped aside as the boat flew past them and crashed into the entrance of the castle.
Serena stood up and scowled, releasing her maju and spells that allowed her to shape shift.
“Leave the octopus to me. Raise your bows and take down the monsters in the sky. If anyone knows aeromancy then now is the time to use it. Now go and defend the city! Protect the people!”
Behind her the men shouted and ran into battle. Some of them knew hydromancy and manipulated the water to move around the lake with waves and surfed. Some got on boats and shot arrows at the monsters that flew. As her men engaged she stood alone staring at the giant octopus and watching it break boats in half with its enormous tentacles; a kraken that could easily topple her castle.
Serena ran towards the lake and she chanted, “Aquaja pace.” A mandarak appeared below her feet, keeping her above the water. She then dashed, running as a wolf would run on rough ground. As she ran, the water felt like puddles under her bare feet. “Aquabos lionfish,” she rasped. Her pupils disappeared and her eyes went utterly black, the diamond spiral on her forehead expanded and marked her body with blue and white stripes like a lionfish. Fangs peeked from the sides of her lips and her dreadlocks extended.
Winged monsters dove from above, eyeless with mouths full of fangs. They looked much like bats and were half her size. Serena jumped, spun in the air and slashed the monsters in half. More of the flying monsters screeched and dove towards her as she ran across the lake. She pulled strands of her hair, straightened them with her mouth as she added poison, turning them into needles. She threw the needles at the monsters, and when it touched them they flew unsteadily and crashed against each other.
Serena kept running towards the kraken and around her, the Narb Thales fought in small boats and some could walk on water using the same spell. The lake was tinted with red as her warriors fell. Broken wood from ships floated as well as bodies and limbs that had been torn apart.
The kraken hurled a boat in her direction. Serena jumped high up using the water. She stepped on the boat then flipped in the air, then landed on the water on top of her magic circle. She looked back and saw the boat crash into the second floor of her castle. She hissed and kept running towards the kraken. The black octopus roar then lashed its tentacles at houses on the slope of the city. It destroyed homes and ended lives. Serena growled as she watched the kraken cause havoc.
“I don’t know what in the shark abyss you are but I am going to rip off every tentacle from your body,” she swore.
A black serpent rose from the lake right in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. She somersaulted backwards, landed in a fighting stance with her spear and hissed at the serpent. The serpent hissed back. The sea creature had no eyes. Looking at its fins they seemed to be made of steel. The serpent lunged at Serena. She rolled forward on the water as she would on solid ground then pierced through the thick scales of the serpent. As the black monster dove into the water her spear opened a long gash. The serpent rose out of the water again, this time letting out a loud shriek then collapsed and its body began to turn to ash.
Serena was disturbed when she noticed her lake tinted with black but she quickly ignored it and kept running towards the kraken.
Finally, she was very close to the octopus just a dozen feet away from it. She paused then spun her spear and shouted, “Frostass bombriack!” A white and blue sphere appeared above her left palm. She hurled it at the kraken and it left a trail of shining flakes as it streamed towards the monster. When the sphere touched the kraken it detonated into pillars and spikes of ice, tearing through the slippery skin.
“Go back to the hole from which you came,” Serena said.
The kraken roared. The ice spears cracked and shattered then the beast grew more tentacles. The kraken turned its body around and screeched. It lashed out with one of its tentacles. Serena gasped then she cartwheeled out of the way. Another tentacle lashed out horizontally, she jumped over it and cast another ice spell. “Frostass suz!” she shouted and released a beam of cold energy and froze the kraken’s tentacle. She then thrust her spear into the ice and shattered it.
“I am going to kill you, one way or another,” she said.
Multiple tentacles lashed out at her. Serena swung her spear shouting, “aerous shazt!” She released sharp winds and sliced through five tentacles. She jumped on one and ran up to the main body of the octopus. She was ready to hurl her spear at the kraken, aiming right for its middle, when another sea serpent burst from the lake and unleashed an aquatic
jet, like a geyser, pushing Serena off the kraken. She lost her grip of her spear and the impact from the jet of water felt like a log had smashed into her abdomen. She fell deep into the lake faster than she had ever dove before. It was painful and she was unable to breathe. Her ribs hurt so much she thought she had broken a bone and, desperate for air, she swam back up without a thought for the kraken. The impact left her lungs empty. Usually Serena was able to hold her breath underwater for much longer. Before she could reach the surface, in the blur of the lake she saw one of the tentacles lashing out at her. The tentacle had wrapped around her body before she could escape. It lifted her out of the lake, fifty feet into the air. Unable to move her arms and without her spear she was almost helpless. Her lionfish form contracted back into the family sigil on her forehead.
“Let me go, you bottom feeder,” she gasped and flailed her legs.
The tentacles tightened around her arms, squishing her ribs and adding more pain. Serena screamed and, as she thought of a spell to escape from the grasp of the kraken, she felt her maju being absorbed. Her body felt stiff as the kraken absorbed her maju through its pores. “I will be damned if I am killed by this monster,” she said. She tried to use the pressure of the tentacles squishing her body to dislocate her own shoulder and be able to slip away but then…
A bird-like figured swooped in so fast that the wind blew her dreadlocks. Before she knew it, the tentacles loosened around her body and with her own strength she managed to spread open her arms and drop down to the lake. As she fell she noticed that the tentacle had been cut off the kraken’s body.
Serena swam away from the danger. Using whatever maju she had left, she propelled herself underwater creating a small water twister. She went up to the surface and rested on a piece of debris from one of the destroyed fishing boats.
Blood of Mages (Rift of Chaos Book 3) Page 10
