by Eric Vall
We leveled out just in time to sweep past Phi’s face again, and Ashla laid open an identical scratch on the Archon’s other cheek.
Phi’s golden chains rattled as she snatched toward us again with growing anger, but we dipped out of the way smoothly as Erin guided me from behind.
You’re lucky I need Gryff alive, Phi snapped, or I’d crush you all like flies.
“I don’t buy it,” Erin replied in my ear. “We’ve got this.”
We rose again as the pyrewyrm made as if to do another flyby, but Phi was expecting it this time. Her hands snapped up toward her ears, and she turned her palms toward us as she prepared to snatch us out of the air.
Instead, my pyrewyrm dropped straight down and darted directly under Phi’s upper arm. Ashla laid her axe heavily into the soft flesh of Phi’s upper torso, and her blade cut deep until it glanced off a rib bone and bounced away. The black fabric of Phi’s leotard split open, and blood flowed out readily to drip onto the ground below.
The ice mage wrested her axe back under her control as we peeled away behind Phi’s back. As we went, Erin threw out a gout of fire that seared a flaming line across the lower portion of Phi’s long, ivory hair.
The blue-skinned Archon shrieked and twisted around to try to grab us, but my pyrewyrm dropped again and twisted between her bare, pale legs. I snapped my rhin dagger into my hand as we brushed closely past Phi’s leg, and I ripped a clean line through the soft meat of her thigh as we went.
Blood gushed from the wound as my knife sliced clean through the dermal layers, and Phi swung her leg around to kick us.
“We’re going to get hit!” Ashla screamed over the sound of wind in our ears.
She was right, the kick was inescapable. I crushed my bullet bass crystal between my hands just as the blow neared.
Metal covered our skin in the instant before Phi’s shin connected with my pyrewyrm, and my chrome-coated monster took the blow.
We hurtled through the air as we lost control of our momentum, and the ground flew up to meet us rapidly. I took off the bullet bass coating to give my pyrewyrm every ounce of lift it could use, but we still continued to plummet.
I caught a glimpse of Layla and Cyra’s terrified faces as we whirled, and then they vanished again in a blur of movement. If I didn’t do something drastic, we would crash into the earth at full speed.
Suddenly, Erin clutched tightly to me to show me exactly how to bend the tail and move the wings.
We spun uncontrollably for a few seconds before her careful directions took effect, and my pyrewyrm leveled out with muscles that trembled in effort. A shock of pain rippled through the bond between us, but I checked on my pyrewyrm’s condition carefully and decided nothing was broken. We could still fly unhindered, so we couldn’t afford to rest now.
“Another pass,” I murmured to Erin, and the mimic nodded tightly.
We climbed high and stayed clear of Phi while our speed was still low. My pyrewyrm gained back its strength as we flew, and the trembling in its muscles faded.
You humans are just like little gnats, Phi snapped as she watched us fly. Buzzing around, pestering people, good for nothing except breeding and dying in the span of a sunrise. It makes it all the more infuriating that you stole my world from me.
We climbed higher still, and the wind whipped at us as we spiraled overhead of the Archon.
When I get a hold of you, Gryff, Phi continued, I’m going to rip Sera out of your mind myself. When I seat my mind in her place, there will be nothing left to keep me from reclaiming my rightful land.
“Why do you want me so badly?” I shouted into the wind, but my voice tore away on the air, and I doubted she could hear me.
Gryff, Sera spoke up, you cannot let her win. At all costs, you cannot let her take your mind. She’ll cripple us both if she gets what she wants. Your mind will never be whole again, not with that kind of brute telepathic attack.
I would rather die than let Phi in my skull. I saw what she did to Gawain, and I had no doubt it would be even worse with me.
Good, Sera whispered. Remember that, when she’s about to win. You always have a way out by freeing me …
She won’t win, I told Sera firmly.
“Why the fuck does Phi want in your head so badly?” Ashla yelled.
“I don’t know,” I shouted back honestly, and frustration rose within me. “I wish I did.”
Nothing in my life was making sense these past couple of weeks. One minute, I was solving ancient cipher riddles, and the next I was faced with the mystery of my own past. My parents were named, but they were unfindable. My birth village was gone, but there was no record of it ever having existed. Now, Phi was going to lay ruin to the entire earth by starting in my hometown, for the express purpose of drawing me in. I didn’t have any idea what to believe anymore.
“Dive!” I shouted as I shook off my misgivings. “Let’s give her hell!”
My pyrewyrm folded its wings and dropped like a rock. The three of us clutched tightly to its spikes as our legs lifted up with the force of the fall. Tiny adjustments of my pyrewyrm’s folded wings and tail sent us spiraling in completely different directions, and I knew we were nearly impossible to track reliably.
Phi breathed out a cloud of deadly vapor, and it spread like a protective layer over her head. It was difficult to see her through the wisps of white, but I still had my eyes on my target.
“Everybody, hold your breath!” I yelled as we neared the cloud.
I took a deep gulp of air, and we shot through the white mist as a puff of vapor parted before us. Once we were through, I released my held breath and thanked the Maker I’d been right about how it worked.
Phi’s eyes widened in surprise as we zipped unscathed through the mist, but she had no time to react. My pyrewyrm shot directly past her face, and Ashla had her axe primed and ready.
Bessie’s ice-honed blade carved a deep furrow from the middle of Phi’s forehead, through her right eyeball, and halfway through her cheek before it jammed up along the cheekbone. We were going too fast for Ashla to regain her grip, however, and the axe tore free from her hands as we zipped past our target.
Immediately, Phi began to shriek and rage.
My eye, my face! she screamed as she covered the right side of her face with her blue-skinned hands.
Phi ripped Bessie free from her cheekbone by the haft, and in a second, she crushed the axe in the palm of her hand. Metal powder crumbled away between her fingers, and Ashla yelped at the sight.
“Bessie!” the ice mage cried out mournfully as she watched her axe blow away on the wind.
How dare you! Phi bellowed in our heads with ear-splitting volume. I’ll destroy you all! Insolence does not begin to cover your actions today. When I get through with you, there won’t be a shard of bone large enough to bury.
“Another pass!” I yelled to Erin. “Closer this time, we only have my daggers left.”
“Are you sure?” she responded with worry. “Maybe this is where we move on to the next step of the plan. She could be weak enough, like this.”
“Look,” I pointed out, and the mimic’s eyes flicked up watch to the Archon.
Phi had regained control of her temper, and she removed her hands from her face. Blood dripped down her fingertips and painted her chin red, but the wounds themselves no longer flowed. Her wounded eye ran pink with bloody tears, and I doubted she could see out of it, but her eye wasn’t even swollen shut. She seemed able to ignore it as easily as a human would ignore a papercut.
“Maker,” Ashla breathed. “My poor Bessie is gone, and for what? She’s barely even bothered.”
“She’s bothered, alright,” I answered. “Her pride is hurt, even though she’s just as good at fighting with one working eye.”
“So, we take the other one out,” Erin continued grimly.
“We take the other one out,” I confirmed. “One more pass, this time with the daggers.”
“Let’s do it,” the orange-haired m
imic agreed with determination.
My pyrewyrm dashed low to the ground away from Phi, and I gave the signal with waving arms as we flew. There, Cyra and Layla crouched among the trees at the sidelines of the battlefield, and I saw them signal back as they got my message.
Suddenly, a white-scaled monster flashed out onto the field. It was built like a snake with a wide, flat head, no eyes, and small segmented legs that jutted out from its sides. Cyra’s petripede was dazzling to look at in the sun, but its gleaming scales were nothing compared to its ability to stun and blind an opponent. I’d seen Cyra use it successfully on some bandits when I first met her, and I knew how potent the ability could be.
Accompanying Cyra’s petripede was Layla’s keichim, though it was difficult to see it even when I knew where to look. Layla folded her legs underneath her and sat on the ground as the toll of using so much mana took hold of her.
At least Cyra hadn’t summoned the petripede yet today, so she had just enough mana left to control it, which would be a difficult task. Unlike Layla’s familiar, which was easy to manage even at long distances, Cyra’s management of the petripede would be stretched to its very breaking point as it got further from her.
The silvery outline of Layla’s keichim fluttered on the wind and grew until it was big enough to load the petripede onto its back. The white-scaled petripede winked out of view, and both monsters were practically invisible now.
So far, so good.
Layla’s keichim had the ability to grow and shrink at will, but even at its maximum size, it would have a difficult time flying while laden with the petripede. It was up to us to distract, stall, and protect them until they were close enough to Phi to attack.
The pyrewyrm swept back toward the blue-skinned Archon, and we engaged her for a while by flying wide circles around her. We never got close enough to attack, but we also weren’t close enough to be caught, and that was good enough for now.
Phi’s face formed into an angry snarl as her rage at us grew.
You run only because you know you can’t win, Phi snapped through our minds.
Suddenly, a telltale flutter of a silvery outline caught my eye close by, and I knew the keichim was close enough for the final moment. I ordered my pyrewyrm toward the Archon, and with Erin’s careful guidance, my monster darted just over the top of Phi’s head.
Phi looked up with her eyes wide as she reached to snag us, but it was then that the keichim flickered into view just in front of her face.
Then the petripede released its flash.
Blinding light filled the clearing, but my pyrewyrm flew true and straight as its eyeless face kept it protected. Yellow, piercing light filled my vision despite my own tightly-shut eyes, and I waited for it to fade before I dared to open them again.
When we zipped around the side of the Archon’s head, the petripede was already recalled. I was amazed Cyra was able to control it so well at this distance at all, and I knew she was probably exhausted now.
Phi was struck temporarily blind by the petripede’s attack, and now was our chance to take out her other eye. Once she was fully blind, then we’d have a fighting chance.
I unsheathed my daggers to give the blow just as we skirted past her ear, and I raised my rhin dagger high as I gripped the hilt tightly.
Suddenly, Phi’s hand rose up and slammed into us.
I felt bones crunch as her palm connected with my pyrewyrm’s flank and left wing. Her fingers slammed into my left leg, and I yelled in pain at the full force of it bruised the bones in my foot and leg.
The angle was even worse for Ashla and Erin, and the two mages screamed in agony as Phi’s fingers crushed into them. I knew without a doubt that Ashla would have a broken leg on that side, if not worse.
You thought I would be helpless if I was blind, Phi snapped in rage. Unfortunately for you, I still have ears. I heard it the instant you flew past me.
“No!” I shouted in despair, and my pyrewyrm began to spiral out of control as its left wing struggled feebly against the air.
Now you die, little mages, Phi hissed in satisfaction. If I didn’t need Gryff, I would let the fall kill you. As it stands, I think I’ll enjoy doing it myself.
Phi brought her palm up under my struggling pyrewyrm, and her hand crushed my monster’s legs roughly as we jolted to a stop.
I couldn’t bear my pyrewyrm’s pain any longer, and I recalled it hastily to my hand. Ashla, Erin, and I slumped into Phi’s palm as my monster disappeared from underneath us.
Now, Phi asked with malicious glee, how would you two humans like to die? Crushing, suffocating, or throwing? Personally, I’d pick throwing. It must be nice to really fly before your life is over forever.
The pale fingertips of the Archon’s other hand approached as she made to snag Erin by the fabric of her shirt.
Gryff, Sera urged in my head, you have to summon me. It’s the only way.
“Eat shit,” I snarled out, and I crushed a large, glowing essence crystal between my hands.
My mana sucked away from me in one enormous drain as the sun giant exploded from its crystal.
All hell broke loose.
The giant burst free directly on top of Phi’s palm, and the weight of it instantly dropped the Archon’s hand like a rock. Phi howled and stumbled away in pain as she clutched at her arm.
The giant unfolded to its full height of nearly seventy feet as its feet slammed into the ground in two echoing booms. It was all I could do to order it to grab us as we plummeted from the sky.
The giant’s hand caught us gently before we fell too far, but Ashla still yelled as she clutched at her left leg. Blood ran down her leg from a jagged gash in her calf, and I realized her bone must have snapped sideways and punctured her skin before it slid back inside.
This kind of critical injury could heal up perfectly, or it could cripple a warrior for life. I wasn’t about to take chances on Ashla’s future, though, and I wanted her out of the fray as soon as possible.
“Get her back to safety,” I told Erin urgently as the mimic stared wordlessly at the sun giant that held us.
“I … “ Erin said with hollow shock.
“Take her back,” I commanded as I gripped Erin by the shoulder.
The mimic snapped out of her daze, and she nodded as fiery resolve filled her eyes.
“I’ll do it,” she said.
I had the sun giant put both of them down hastily, and I watched as they scurried off into the forest behind the battlefield. With any luck, I could keep that portion of the woods safe from our fight.
I took a moment to examine the sun giant with awe. The most powerful giant I’d ever faced before now was an ice giant, and that was a far cry from the ordinary, garden-variety giant. The might and size of the ice giant paled in comparison to the sun giant.
Where the ice giant’s eyes were white and frosty, the sun giant’s eyes shone like two balls of pure, yellow light. The sun giant’s limbs were long and lean, and its yellow, hardened skin glowed red underneath like the sun itself was trapped in its bloodstream. Its face was characterized most prominently by two, pure-white fangs which curved over its upper jaw from below, and its nose was stubby and squashed below its luminous eyes. The palms of the sun giant’s hands seemed to radiate glowing energy, and heat warped around them like shimmers in the daylight.
Phi glared at me with murder in her eyes as she dropped her injured arm.
You sprained my wrist, she growled in rage. You scheming, slimy little human. Who are you to dare tame a sun giant?
“I’m just using a good man’s gift,” I shouted back at the Archon. “It’s the least I can do for the one who raised me.”
Before I’d left for my first semester at the Academy, Maelor had gifted me the sun giant and asked me to use it well. I didn’t have enough mana, experience, or skill to summon the sun giant for the better part of a year and a half, and I’d never brought it out before now. Truthfully, before I’d summoned it, I hadn’t even known I would be
able to.
There’s no way a child like you can hold that beast, Phi mocked with obvious derision. I could just stand here and wait for your mana to run out, and I’d win.
“Be my guest,” I called back as I wiped the sweat off my forehead. “I’ve got all day.”
I ordered the giant to put me on its shoulder, where I would be more safe, and it complied.
The truth was, every second I held the sun giant under my control, the mana poured from me like sand through my fingers. Just holding the beast in one place made my jaw clench with effort, and I couldn’t imagine ordering it around in combat like I did with my baroquer.
I may have summoned the sun giant, but I was far from ready to use it. What option did I have, though? I had to take Phi out with this monster, or I would truly lose the battle here.
My bluff sounded good, but Phi could see the slump in my shoulders and the trembling in my hands. She must have figured out I started this battle already tired from a day of fighting, or I would’ve used my other monsters more freely. My exhaustion was transparent, no matter how much I tried to hide it.
Let’s test your control, Phi snarled as she advanced toward me with her pale hands upraised.
I ordered my sun giant into a fighting stance, but my control of it was slippery at best, and it opted to simply raise one hand instead.
Phi approached, and I told my giant to back away. Again, it didn’t listen, and its glowing palm radiated more brightly as it stood frozen in place.
Phi launched herself at my giant in one deadly-fast tackle, and my giant’s palm pressed against her chest as she leapt for it. As its palm contacted her torso, an explosion burst into flame between the two.
Fire licked along the edges of the explosion, and liquid lava dribbled down from the heart of the blast. My eyes watered as I struggled to look into the core brightness of it.
Phi shrieked in pain as the lava spattered over her chest, and parts of her leotard burned away completely. Her hair caught on fire, and she stumbled away with a blackened, gruesome wound in the center of her chest.
A few quick swipes of her hands put the fire out, but it was clear Phi was truly damaged by this attack. She panted harshly as pure fury lit her eyes ablaze, and red, blistered flesh began to form around the blackened section.
