by Billy Wong
They climbed out atop the great pile of rubble to see they were surrounded by mangled, broken bodies, hit no doubt by debris propelled outwards when the tower struck earth. The dragon chased soldiers who fled on horse and foot, burning over a score in one breath. Sierra still stood her ground with a few of her bravest men, who aimed bows up though Rose thought they had not much of a chance to do real damage.
"Run!" she yelled to them. "We'll handle it."
"But it's huge," Sierra breathed.
"Don't worry... we have magic." Which would be no more than a drop next to the dragon's ocean, but she didn't mention that. Sierra motioned for her troops to flee, and Rose could see the relief in the eyes of even such courageous men. She too felt the fear, her heart pounding and hands shaking while the dragon wheeled around and recognized they still lived. As it flew back for them, growing in her vision to make her realize again just how ludicrously massive it was, she said reluctantly to Finn, "I think you might have to use that magic." Even if he might risk losing his humanity to do so, she could scarcely imagine defeating such a being without using all they had.
"But its magic must be a hundred times greater than mine," he replied in a voice small with awe.
The dragon drew close, its mouth yawning open, the fire leaping forth. "Then we'll have to not match strength against strength." They dove in opposite directions off the remains of the tower as it was bathed in the torrent of flame that poured down, turning the top molten. "Cover as large an area as you can in mist!" she shouted. They'd never survive for long if they let the dragon continue to get open shots at them with its breath while safely flying high above them.
He chanted a spell which enveloped the field in fog, hopefully obscuring them from sight from above, and she heard him pant with the effort. A voice, so loud it made her instinctively cover her ears though it didn't help, blasted into her mind. So you are the "mighty" ones my pupil told me of... such puny insects. I see you are smart enough to use what little power you have well. But don't you realize I can simply negate your magic? The fog blew away, exposing Rose and Finn. The dragon's titanic mass blocked out the sun. Now go quietly into the sleep eternal!
A waterfall of flame came roaring down. Rose couldn't even bring herself to feel glad Finn was away from her, so great was the terror that weakened her limbs. With no other defense possible, she crouched down and covered herself as best she could with her shield. But the volcanic heat began to melt the surface of the curved steel and turned her armor into a virtual oven, cooking her inside the metal shell. She hear Finn hollering in fear for her nearby, no doubt tortured almost as much to see her burn as she was to feel it. Her skin sizzled, and her stomach threatened to rebel when the scent of herself frying reached her nose. Why didn't the fire stop, the fire wasn't stopping...
For a moment Rose thought to just give up and die, pinned helplessly as she was by the fiery breath. Yet taking one last gamble, she tried to remember the position of the dragon's eye in the split-second she'd seen it before it unleashed its flame. She rose up and threw her sword through the infernal stream, praying against all hope that her aim be true as her exposed arm was burnt to a crisp. A tremendous roar of pain made her ears bleed, but the flames abated.
"Rose!" Finn cried, his voice sounding funny. "Are you alright?!"
She felt burned flesh crack and split with her movements just trying to look at him. But a more immediate problem loomed over them. The thrashing dragon began to right itself in midair, her sword embedded deep in its eye. "Crap, it's still alive! We have to kill it now before it's too late!" But was it even possible, with their relatively puny weaponry?
The colossus' one good eye narrowed as it regarded them, and it began to open its mouth for another breath. Rose ran to her husband's side and together they called into existence a magical bubble of cold, sheltering them momentarily from its fire. But even joining forces, the couple's power was at last no match for their enemy's and the bubble gave, the flames crashing down on Rose for a second time. Crouching under their shields, she saw that Finn too was getting badly burned, and feared for him as his resilience did not quite match hers. He might die right here amidst the inferno, and she didn't know how she'd... but the heat lessened and she realized the dragon had used up most of this breath breaking their shield of cold, and now stopped to inhale again.
Rose and Finn saw their opportunity and struck back, launching a joint lightning strike through the sword in its eye which boiled the orb within its socket and sent a tremendous shock into the monster's brain. Going into spasms high above, the dragon then went limp and fell straight down at the couple.
They tried to dash out of the way, but the body was far too immense. Only sheer luck saved Finn, who found himself standing underneath the dragon's wing which had failed to touch the ground. Rose wasn't similarly spared, being pinned beneath a foreleg the size of a large tree. Groaning, she began to drag herself out from under the steel-hard limb that had crushed her body. Finn limped to her aid, took her hands and yanked her out, the sound of broken bones grating together inside her bringing tears to both their eyes.
"It's dead, right?" she asked pleadingly. "We killed it?"
The dragon roared, shoved itself upright in defiance of her words, and slowly inhaled. Rose reached up with a trembling hand, and understanding what she wanted Finn pulled her to her feet. Even now, she'd fight for their future to the bitter end. Regarding their smoking forms while they leaned against one another for support, the dragon spoke again into their minds.
Impressive for you to put up such a fight. Now I see why he is afraid to face you himself. Perhaps I shouldn't kill you, after all.
Not convinced of the beast's intentions to call a truce, Rose spat out a gout of dark liquids and asked harshly, "Who are you?! Are you a servant of the King of Kings, too?"
In a voice that suddenly seemed to hold infinite arrogance, it said, No, woman, I am Rexxon, King of Kings!
Oh. That did sort of make sense. Such a mighty creature would generally be able to call itself whatever it wanted without much disagreement, and she had to remind herself too that this thing had once been a human mage, however long ago. Pushing aside the fright she felt, Rose taunted, "You must be a really old man."
The dragon's lips pulled back in what appeared to be a grin. Older than you can imagine. It has been five millennia since I became the first dragon!
The first dragon, huh? Well, if she and Finn had to die, this would be a fitting opponent to go down to... but she tried not to think about that. "So about your offer not to kill us... I assume you're going to ask us to work for you, and help you build your kingdom of unmatched glory?"
Yes! We will make eternal peace on earth! All will bow before my wisdom!
She hardly needed to hear any more to get the gist of his plans. "Yeah, yeah, destroy all existing nations to make way for your one perfect society, I bet? Sorry, not interested."
Is humanity not divided now into countless nations, managed inefficiently and constantly fighting among themselves, and with leaders who are all relatively very young? Why do you not desire a guiding hand with the experience you lack?
"You think just because you're old, we should trust you? After the way you just callously killed all those soldiers, we'll never accept you." And without another word she ran under its jaw to its blind side, conjuring a hand of air which plucked the sword from its eye to deliver it back into her peeling hand. Rexxon roared, turning its jaws towards her, but before it could bring its flame to bear Rose rolled below its head to come up on the other side. Forcing her badly damaged arm to move she threw her sword again, this time at the other eye. It leaned away, making the blade glance off the scales of its brow. Yet Finn's spear of ice connected where she had missed, piercing the orb as Rexxon screamed.
Totally blind, it unleashed its flames anyway, scorching the earth before it. Rose and Finn hid below its serpentine neck, avoiding the fire's touch though the air itself was superheated by the raging inferno pouri
ng from its mouth. When the dragon finally stopped, it asked, Are you dead yet?
"It'll take a lot more than that to finish us!" Rose said as she picked up her sword, though searing pain permeated her entire frame. To her shock, Rexxon laughed, and she saw its ruptured eyeballs begin to knit themselves back together. "Finn, look! It's healing itself!"
When I see you, you are both dead.
So much for its proposal of a truce. "Finn," she cried as she fumbled a length of chain from her pack, "I'm going up! Cut me out if I don't come out!"
"What?!" he asked, and she leapt just as Rexxon's eyes blinked with renewed sight and its mouth opened again. The air spell she used to lighten her body allowed her to jump a tower's height up into the dragon's mouth. But Rexxon's breath erupted from its throat, smashing into her and tossing her back out of its maw. Rose fell through the air, her clothes aflame, and knew from Finn's gasp that she had been hideously injured. Yet her hand still gripped—and was melded to—the chain she'd looped around an enormous tooth, and she swung towards the juncture of the dragon's jaw and neck. Her sword plunged home just as the first flame-softened link snapped, and she drove it up to the hilt between two great scales. Rexxon threw its head back and whipped it back and forth, trying to dislodge her. Rose put her feet against its neck and pushed, dragging her sword through its flesh. The artery she had nicked burst, and blood cascaded over her. The wound widened, the blade fell out and she plummeted with it to the ground. She looked up to see that Rexxon still towered over her, but leaned back, spraying blood, dying. The blood flow slowed, then stopped, and the mountainous corpse crashed down, leaving the field silent.
Chapter 9
Finn swallowed as he watched Rose struggle to raise herself on her arms, wheezing and coughing blood. Her very armor had been warped by the flame, and she was so badly burned her skin was charred black in many places. Either the shock or infection alone of such burns would easily kill a normal person, and even she must feel unbearable agony. He knelt to cradle her in his arms, his own flesh cracking painfully at various spots. "Damn, you're messed up."
Her body shivered weakly in his grasp as she whispered, "I-I might not make it this time. I feel so c-cold."
"Oh shut up, you're not going to die," he said half teasingly, half to reassure himself. The fact she already worked to separate the chain she held from the skin it had fused to helped him feel better about her chances for survival, however disgusting it looked. It annoyed him a bit that she'd been burned bald, but he was sure it would grow back. "Even if your vitality wasn't up to the task by itself, there's no way I'd let you slip away. Especially after such a feat as killing the first dragon."
Her grotesquely peeled lips bent into a smile, and she gave a painful laugh. "I know, Finn. I was just playing with you. Kind of wish you could fix my hair." But she raised a hand when he started to chant a spell. "No, no more magic. You've put your humanity at risk enough today, and I hope it wasn't already too much."
"I was going to try and heal you a bit, not fix your hair. If you really don't need it, though..."
"You probably couldn't do much for this kind of damage, I think." Her voice grew legitimately shaky. "So h-how bad do I really look?"
Finn almost stroked her face, but stopped himself from touching that burnt mess and said, "Don't worry about it. If anything, we'll hide you in the basement until you look halfway decent again."
"No thanks. I'd rather wear a mask!"
"You'll be okay. You always heal well, and you've got your creams." Though he wasn't sure how much they would do for her this time, but she'd suffered extensive burns before and healed up still beautiful in his eyes. "By the way, did Rexxon try to take you over?" One thing she'd encountered facing dragons before, was them trying to transfer their souls into her upon the death of their physical bodies.
"No, I don't think so. I don't know why."
He looked towards the human form Rexxon had reverted to in death, a man so ancient he would've expected to dig him up from a grave. "Maybe he was so old, it was past time for his spirit to go to the nether realms. So how are you, can you still travel?"
"Well, we're kind of in the middle of nowhere, so I wouldn't have much of a choice." She looped an arm over his shoulders, and he helped her to her feet. "But as for what you actually meant, yeah, I've still got some strength in me yet. Hope my spare cloak is intact so it can hide how I look."
He found the cloak in her pack, a little singed but still wearable, and draped it over her to hide how bad her injuries were. The soldiers led by Sierra gathered back around them, the Golden Knight giving them an appreciative grin while Rose leaned heavily on Finn. "So you two killed that mountain sized monster, eh? You live up to your names."
"Yeah," Finn said. "Rose and Finn are really extraordinary names." Sierra shook her head and went off to count the casualties among her men. "So should we still go on to Jugeld, with you so badly hurt?" he asked. "Since we already killed the King of Kings, everybody else should be able to handle his servant."
"I think we should go. But if you need to rest because of your injuries..."
Of course he would never say that, especially when she was hurt much worse. He very lightly patted her cloaked back, trying his best to not disturb her burns too much. "On to Jugeld then, my indestructible love."
#
The force passed through a line of forts as they traveled into Jugeld, and Rose wondered for a moment why the hell there would be forts on the inner border of the province. Then she realized that was a silly thought, for like much of Kayland, Jugeld had once not been part of the larger kingdom. Still, it was strange that these fortresses far from the border looked to be fully manned. Perhaps the King of Kings had these men sent here, to prepare for the start of a new empire spreading outward from its first conquest. But the soldiers didn't attack Sierra's force or question their arrival, and one even waved to them while they passed. Upon asking her allies, Rose learned Prince Victor had long kept ample defenders in the forts on all sides of his territory, and wondered why that was.
Nearing the heart of Jugeld, the capital of Horne came into sight, and she mused, "No wonder Victor ended up being the way he is. He grew up in a monster's mouth!"
Finn agreed that the strange, inward-curving stone spikes which decorated the high city walls reminded him of great teeth. Riding inside with their allies, they met no resistance, but grew wary as they approached the stout fortified manor at the center. "Maybe our masterless conqueror will just surrender when he sees us," Finn said as they stopped before the great house.
"Or maybe he's saving everything he has for the main event."
The heavy double doors began to creak open, and a figure obscured by a huge cloak pushed its way out between them. As he—or she—walked forward alone, Sierra asked, "Who are you?"
The person stood there as if not knowing what to say, but then spotted Finn—and Rose, though they might not have recognized her at first given the cloak and burns. "It's me, Justin!" he said, keeping his hood up to obscure his visage.
Rose gaped. "Justin, what are you doing here? We heard you'd been missing for months. And why are you hiding your face?"
"We can't talk out here. Just the two of you come with me inside and I'll explain everything."
"Is it alright?" Sierra asked. "You're both badly wounded."
Rose hesitated, but Finn said with a wave and smile, "It'll be fine. We already beat the king, how tough can his servant be?"
"We'll call for help if needed," Rose added. She struggled to dismount, and walking over Finn helped her down.
Justin went back into the house, and they cautiously followed. He led them to a large, sparse bedroom which must have formerly been Victor's, and pulled back his hood to reveal a rocky-skinned dark blue face. Rose sprang back and drew her sword, the movements causing her great pain so that she bit back a scream. Finn hefted his mace and asked edgily, "What the hell? What happened to you?"
"He c-changed me!" Justin stammered. "Rexxon
took control of me, and altered me so I could use magic to better serve as his pawn. Now for some reason, I seem to be myself again—maybe not physically, but my mind... my mind is my own."
"Poor man," Rose said, sword dipping to the floor as sympathy instantly filled her. She might be horribly scarred, but at least most would never mistake her for a monster. "It must be so hard to bear this... And the reason you're yourself again is probably because we killed Rexxon. He won't harm anyone like this ever again."
"How do we know you're back to your old self?" Finn asked, not trusting Justin quite as easily. "There's no rule that magic effects have to end with their creator, and obviously at least some of them linger with you."
Justin paused as if thinking how of an answer. Finn gripped his mace tighter as the transformed man's face grew tense, and carefully watched his every movement. Finally, Justin looked to relax a bit. "I've no proof, only my word. Please believe me, I'm free of his influence now."
Rose put a hand on Finn's arm and said quietly, "He helped us before, even if he had his problems with me. Let him be, he won't harm anyone anymore—will you, Justin?"
