The Necromancer's Dragon

by C D Muller

  I don’t know what that engineered monster is, but I recognize the other as a Cyroeraeth! It’s supposed to be the guardian of the Raging River!

  How are we supposed to fight them?

  “Selena, ideas? Now?” Rahim shrieked.

  It gave out a high-pitched cry, and the Cyroeraeth attacked. The golem trudged forward, lifting its massive arm that was actually a golden blade. As it slashed, Selena held up Dragonheart to block its attack.

  “Thor! Take care of the river guardian! I’ll try and ward off the machine’s attacks! Rahim, I need you to listen to me!” she shouted from under the weight of the block. “When I knock its weapon up and out of the way, switch with me and jump in to attack!”

  “I’ll try!”

  With all of her strength, Selena pushed its weapon up to disarm it. Rahim ran over and slashed at it. The clash of steel on metal rang in the air.

  The golem staggered back but regained its balance as Selena and Rahim repeated their maneuver.

  As they fought the mechanical monster, Thor dodged the river guardian’s attack with its long fingernails that were as strong as metal. It turned around and slapped the dragon with its fishtail. He tried attacking from behind, but the creature quickly turned around to throw him off guard and tried to go after his underbelly. In retaliation, Thor swept the ground with his tail, knocking over the foul mermaid.

  I’ll help you two as soon as I take care of this wretch!

  Selena turned around after she and Rahim switched to see it get back up and make its way to her dragon.

  Look out!

  She quickly ran over with her sword in position to block its sneak attack, but the creature swiftly knocked her across the chamber.

  Selena!

  Thor reared up with his wings stretched out. He opened his massive maw and exhaled a massive fire blast that quickly consumed the monster. When the flames disappeared, all that was left was a crater in its wake with a pile of ashes.

  “You… you breathed fire!” she yelled in excitement and ran over to wrap her arms around his neck.

  A puff of smoke came from his nostrils.

  I don’t know what came over me. I was angry and scared, and I felt this overwhelming power consume me.

  “Selena! A little bit of help here!” Rahim cried as he dodged the golem’s attack. “How about you shoot fire over in this direction?”

  Thor reared his head and breathed fire over at the metal monster. Its body heated up and turned red. Steam blew from its limbs and head. The golem stumbled backwards and turned off, the glow disappearing from its eyes.

  *****

  Loki fled through the Hinterlands, sniffing the ground every couple of steps he took. The night wore on. The full moon hung high in the heavens above, glistening above the undisturbed chaos from down below. The fox turned his head to the direction of the unfamiliar fragrance; he saw two Cerberus on chains that were held and guarded by the Mountain Trolls. Loki crept up closer, making sure he was not seen.

  Flying over the pine trees of the Hinterlands was a large white and blue dragon that made him cower, as he recognized the scent immediately.

  His ears twitched a little as he heard the sound of bushes rustling in the distance. He flinched and quickly rolled over to the side as a couple of chains shot through the air towards some of the men from the Lich’s army. Loki quickly ran back into the Hinterlands as he saw a cloaked figure dart out with a few throwing knives, moving swiftly and silently across the ground. Another figure quickly followed suit with a few chains hidden within the sleeves of the black and red cloak.

  Loki immediately recognized them as Kain and Phantom Dust. Kain quickly took down a few from the army who were sitting and lying beside some of the siege towers. All the while, Loki heard him swear under his breath.

  D stopped and turned to face his companion.

  “You must learn to control yourself,” he said in a dark tone.

  Kain growled.

  “I can’t help it,” he barked, “does it not agitate you in any way to know that he always gets us involved in these situations?”

  “Silence yourself,” D said calmly, “even if he had not gotten us involved, we would have had to help nonetheless.”

  His companion growled out of rage and threw one of his throwing knives into the throat of one of the soldiers who was sleeping soundly, killing him instantly. Loki was incredibly impressed by the fact that they were able to converse with each other and kill off part of the Lich’s army without waking or disturbing anyone.

  “Besides, we’re protecting my daughter. She is the one the Oracles spoke of who would help us restore balance to the three realms,” D said again.

  Kain lifted up the hood of his cloak and Loki cowered a little out of fear. Kain’s skin was incredibly pale and glistened in the moonlight. Although he knew that Kain was a vampire, it did not stop him from being afraid.

  His friend moved his hands slightly and the chains shot through the air and disappeared into the sleeves of his cloak.

  “Silver swears that she has hidden abilities from the experiment and that it’s because of it that she will be able to help us.”

  “Fine, Phantom Dust,” he spat to the ground, “but if Silver pisses me off again, poor Selena will be missing her suitor.”

  Phantom Dust paid no mind to his threat.

  “Yes, so I’ve heard,” he said.

  “That doesn’t bother you at all?” Kain asked.

  “Is it supposed to?” D asked coolly.

  “You’re the girl’s father and it doesn’t bother you that a demi-god like Silver fancies her?”

  “He’s not doing anything to make me distrust him in the slightest. If anything, I think she fancies him back,” D said with a little sarcasm.

  His change of tone took Kain by surprise.

  “I’ve never heard you sound like that before. You seem happy for once.”

  Kain then turned to face one of the siege towers nearby. Phantom Dust nodded and swiftly moved his hand in that direction, shooting out several chains at once from his sleeves to bring it down. The chains wrapped themselves around its base and, with one slight gesture of his hand, the chains tightened and began to crush the foundation of the tower. It leaned over, and fell on top of one of the giant hounds that helped pull the battering ram. At that moment, the sound of the war bell on top of it began to ring and the Lich’s army awoke. A few moments later, the war bell on top of the Pyre back in Alfheim began to ring as well.

  Loki quickly scurried across the ground away from those two and changed into a hawk and flew up into the sky over to Alfheim, still occasionally looking back at them.

  Kain and Phantom Dust were surrounded by Orcs while the rest continued to force their way in the city. Their allies back in Alfheim who operated the catapults quickly went to their stations and began to launch fireballs at the enemy. Dragons from the Imperial Air Force quickly took formation and began attacking the siege towers and battering ram once more.

  Loki quickly scurried his way out of danger and watched D destroy one of the towers by himself. His chains shot out one after another that tore through the foundation. After a few critical strikes, the tower collapsed and crushed all those below. A loud screech rang through the air. Four dragons took to the skies and dove in towards Kain and D.

  Kain took out a few more throwing knives and threw them at two of the dragons that dove in towards his direction. A couple of them pierced the underbelly of one dragon while a few more tore the wing membranes of the other.

  Phantom Dust fought the other two dragons. He moved his hands with great finesse and grace, and several chains shooting up in the air and wrapping themselves around the first while quickly moving his free hand in the other direction to attack the second from behind.

  Loki then flew into the chaos and changed back into a fox after he landed on the ground again. He quickly scurried through the battle scene over towards the two. He lifted up his large tail and struck it against the earth. A burst
of flame appeared and created a circular barrier to protect himself along with the two from the Lich’s men. Kain looked down at Loki in a bit of bafflement, but smiled a little.

  “Where is he, anyway?” Kain growled at D.

  He looked around him for a moment and summoned his chains back into his sleeves again and closed his eyes.

  “If I know him, he's probably going after her right now.”

  “I already told you that he's admitted to having feelings for her,” Kain barked.

  “I know,” D responded coolly.

  “And you're not mad?”

  “Why? Should I be?” He then gently flicked his hands and chains appeared once more, destroying parts of the army that surrounded them in their protective barrier of fire. “After all, even Silver said that it was completely unexpected. You cannot condemn someone for how they feel.”

  “You know why that this could be a problem,” Kain said again.

  “I don't see it that way,” D said again, “but I know that he does make her happy and he does what he can to keep her safe. Isn’t that all a parent can ask for?”

  *****

  Thor held his head high from his proud moment. A full fire blast!

  Selena looked back up at him and placed one hand on his nose with a huge grin. She never felt so proud.

  “I’m afraid to know what else is in here,” Rahim whispered, his body shaking a little.

  “I am too,” Selena whispered and hoisted herself on top of Thor’s saddle once more. He abruptly stopped walking with one still in midair.

  What’s wrong?

  I think I stepped in something.

  Thor arched his neck to notice an old thick piece of rope was caught in his claws. She heard something being shot into the air and quickly took out her shield as a spear flew out of the darkness. It hit the metal and fell to the ground beside Rahim’s feet.

  “Selena! You could have been killed just now!”

  Selena lowered her shield to look at him. It appeared that Rahim was more frightened about what just happened than she was.

  I don’t think this is abandoned anymore.

  I agree. Why would someone put in all of these working traps if there wasn’t something worth protecting?

  Exactly. The dwarves were probably trying to protect the weapon they made after receiving the Fire Lion’s blessing.

  They eventually walked into a large opening. The walls turned to stone with a few metal cages and prison cells. Plants and other vegetation grew through the cracks and up along the stone pillars that sat on either side to support the foundation of the structure. Chains dangled from the ceiling and blood was splattered all over the walls. The moonlight shone through the cracks in the earth ceiling.

  There were several paths that led out of the new chamber room.

  “Come on, this way!” Rahim mentioned for them to follow him and he randomly took one of the passageways.

  “Do you have any idea where you’re going?”

  “No,” Rahim responded after already taking a running start up ahead of them. However, after a moment, Selena heard a distinct crash and Rahim screaming.

  She jumped off her dragon and ran after him.

  The passage came to a dead end, but there was a large hole in the ground that dropped to a lower section. Apparently Rahim fell down below and twisted his ankle.

  “Rahim, you never cease to amaze me,” Selena said, shaking her head, “not only are you ignorant of the dead end, but you ended up falling into a large enough hole to be seen far away, and twisting your ankle.”

  Now you’re being mean, Thor said as he snickered from her joke.

  But he at least gets my sense of humor.

  Rahim looked up at her in a bit of spite while rubbing his leg.

  “Yeah, well I don’t see you coming up with any ideas,” he said.

  Selena smirked a bit.

  “The injured should remain silent.”

  Rahim’s mouth opened up a little, but he was unable to come up with a response.

  “Ha, ha,” he said, “now, if you’re done being funny, I should tell you that this leads to another unexplored passageway that you may want to check out. It might lead to Ragnarok.”

  Selena blinked a few times and looked behind her, realizing there was still another pathway that they also did not explore.

  Selena, I’m very worried. I’m going to carry him since he can’t walk anymore. Which direction did you want to go?

  Thor walked over the edge of the trap and grabbed Rahim to put him back on the saddle.

  “Thank you all mighty Thor,” Rahim said with gratitude.

  Selena looked back again towards the first way. A slight howl whistled in the air, followed by a light breeze.

  “It feels like it’s pulling me in,” she whispered. “I think we should go this way.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t mean to question your sense of direction or anything but the chance of that being the right way is very slim,” Rahim explained.

  “Just trust me. I feel it in my gut. Just stay low for right now,” Selena said.

  “I kind of don’t have much of a choice,” Rahim grumbled.

  She and Thor walked back to which they came and headed down the unknown corridor, while Rahim dozed off.

  Do you think that we’ll find the sword?

  I honestly don’t know. It has to be real otherwise the Lich would not go to this extent to find it. Besides, I feel that it’s here. I know it is.

  As they advanced further down their path, they were soon shrouded in darkness. Her dragon all of the sudden began to growl, and Selena’s heart began to race. She heard a loud sound coming from the other side of the chamber.

  Selena pulled out her sword and shield, ready for whatever might come through. Thor prepared himself, digging his claws into the ground.

  Moments later, the door busted open and an enormous griffon-like creature came out, with hundreds of eyes all over its body. It was almost as big as Thor; walking on all four legs and snapping its fangs at them.

  What is that? I’ve never even seen such a creature.

  That’s an Argus Panoptes. Its name means ‘all seeing’. I remember this creature from one of the books you used to read to me in Helshire Village.

  Selena jumped off the saddle and held her sword up to slash at it. It backed away and went after her. Rahim jerked awake and screamed.

  “Kill it!” he exclaimed.

  Thor jumped to her aid, trying to dig his claws into the creature’s flesh. He pierced its eyes near its underbelly, the tormented screams ringing within the ruins. It turned around and tried to attack Thor while fighting Selena at the same time.

  Rahim was thrown from the saddle near the edge of the chamber. He quickly scurried his way behind a large boulder.

  “Please tell me when it’s over!” Rahim cried as he cowered down.

  Selena swung her sword and stabbed it into one of its eyes near the monster’s shoulder. It cried out once again and began to fly around the inside of the chamber. She held up her shield to block some of its attacks as it tried to grab her from above with its claws. However, Selena lost her shield and was thrown across the ground with one giant swipe of its claw. The creature was enraged. It flew across the room and knocked over one of the urns to the stone floor.

  Thor flew overhead and opened up his mouth to bite the beast, but he was met with opposition; the Panoptes snapped its fangs in retaliation. The sound of their teeth snapping against each other made her cringe.

  After one quick attack on Thor, the monster was able to break free from being tangled with the dragon and landed on top of Selena. She panicked and immediately started randomly slashing at the beast with her sword. It had her cornered, and Selena did not know what to do. Instead, she used her free hand to summon a large blast of fire to knock it back.

  She grimaced and tried to think of what else she could do when an idea came to her. Instead of fire, what if she tried to use another element?

  She
imagined the earth around her. It was stable and strong. She reached over to touch one of the rocks near her to feel its vitality and stability. If she wanted to move it, she instinctively knew she would have to be stubborn and like a rock herself.

  Without hesitation, she dug her fingers through the stone and ripped it from its place. She started twirling the broken pieces between her fingers and, when the timing was right, she waved her hand and the rocks were hurled into its eyes.

  It shrieked and stumbled around. Thor reared up and Selena thought that he was going to breathe fire again.

  He stood up boldly and proudly on his hind legs with his mouth wide open as he summoned a fluorescent orb within his talons. Growing magical waves swept across the room, each more powerful than the last.

  The Argus Panoptes shrieked as the light blinded it. Selena took advantage of the opportunity and began to attack once more. Although it shrieked with pain, it made no effort to defend itself.

  Selena then took her sword and stabbed it in its chest, thrusting the hilt of her blade deep into its flesh. Screams filled the air as the creature’s body fell to the ground. It cried out once more in pain and within moments, its body disintegrated to dust that seeped through the cracks.

  Thor smiled and spread out his wings.

  That’s incredible! Fire and light!

  I saw that you were using other elemental magic and I wanted to try as well. It was an enormous feeling that I wanted to unleash!

  You’re amazing!

  “Great, now Thor knows how to use fire and light, and Selena learned how to use earth. Can you guys please come and get me? The non magical guy over here?” Rahim called out when he was sure it was safe.

  Selena ran over and helped him back on the saddle, with Thor’s assistance.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “No, it’s fine. I get it. Non magic guy. I just have a sword, nothing special.” Rahim gave her a huff in irritation. “Sorry, I’m just getting annoyed because I have to cower down when we have to fight anything.”