War Dragons

by C. K. Rieke

  She watched as the violet fires raged out into the air between Obsidrox and the army of nearly a thousand, and as she saw the white fire whip and rage forward, her stomach sank when she saw the fires of the dragon break through her own fire, sending a spattered flurry of the dragon’s white fire bursting out wildly in a tremendous inferno. The only soul Lilaci was able to see in the madness of the explosion was Alveron, who jumped to the ground with his hands covering her head. And then she saw the fires burn human flesh.

  She watched scores of men as they were blasted by the searing white flames, incinerating them in an instant. Lilaci lashed out with another burst of her own flames, redirecting the mad dragon’s flames for a second or so, but then the huge monster lurched forward with a couple of mighty steps forward, blasting through her second effort to defend the army that had saved her and Kera from the Reevins before. But Lilaci knew she couldn’t protect everyone from such a death-driven dragon, especially in her weakened state, which she had only begun to admit to herself.

  I’m so sorry. I’m not strong enough to protect you all.

  My body aches like fire singing in my bones, and I can’t stay as strong as I was with my fires only weeks ago. This curse I can’t deny further. I’m sorry for your fallen Burr, I only hope I can be strong enough to save my own family from this monster and drive it back to where it came from.

  Lilaci heard the other voices breaking through the screams of the men dying in the dragonfire. Alveron and Veranor yelled at her.

  “Help them,” Kera cried, and her voice felt like a dagger tearing through Lilaci’s chest into her heart.

  I’m trying. But the dragon is too strong, it’s grown too powerful in this madness. I’m sorry, Kera. I can’t save them all.

  “Drive them back!” she heard Alveron yelling.

  “Fall back!” she heard Veranor call out.

  Then the dragons came back. With Herradax and Kôrran screeching, and flapping their wings, they fell upon Obsidrox, biting and clawing. Herradax bit at the massive black dragon with her grayish-blue scales reflecting in the light of the burning fires around the courtyard, her five red stripes on her back barely visible as it nearly matched the color of the fires. Kôrran attacked with the ferocity of a much more mature dragon. Kôrran’s glistening red scales looked blood-like as he bit viciously into the great, black dragon’s back. He even managed to rip a few dragonscales off.

  Obsidrox’s fires diminished, and its long neck curled back to see the two dragons attacking it wildly. Then like thick, black raindrops, the Aridons shot down from the dark sky above onto the dragon’s body; ripping and tearing. The lions growled and snarled as they attacked.

  As Lilaci was making her way back toward Kera, who was now halfway between Obsidrox and where Gogenanth had begun his spell, she was amazed to find that Alveron had urged his remaining troops forward. She watched as the battalion rushed fearlessly at the great black dragon, as they trudged through the ashen bone of their fallen comrades. The fire in the eyes of the soldiers was truly inspirational to her, and she found her spark again.

  She locked her fingers around Kera’s arm, holding the girl back from running any closer to the battle, and the fires of the Sanzoral returned to her chest. Any pain she had faded, and she only had the fight on her mind then.

  Turning her head back toward her party, she yelled out, “Gogenanth, join me!”

  Seemingly feeling as though his spell was needless then, Gogenanth, Fewn, Ezmerelda, and Veranor became visible once again, and Lilaci could already see them running toward them.

  The Knights of the Whiteblade ran toward Obsidrox at that same moment, crying out wild battle roars. And as the dragon was too busy driving away the flurry of Aridons and dragons from it, it didn’t seem to notice or care that the army was quickly approaching.

  Gogenanth and the others were nearly to Lilaci, as Kera was trying to free herself from Lilaci’s grasp.

  “Kera, please, stop,” she said, tugging at her arm. “We are stronger together, just wait a moment.”

  “My dragons!” Kera cried, looking out toward the fight. “It’s going to hurt my babies!”

  Lilaci put both of her palms on Kera’s cheeks and turned her face to look into hers. “Kera, listen to me, they are fine for the moment. Just trust me. Obsidrox is overwhelmed, even as powerful as it is. Just give me a couple of moments.” Kera tried to pull away one more time. “Just a couple of moments, we may have a way through his.”

  Gogenanth had arrived, waiting for a signal as to what was next.

  “What are you thinking?” Fewn asked.

  “I’m thinking, while the attack is happening,” Lilaci said, “we should move in stealthfully, planning our attack, scan for a weakness or opportunity.”

  “What attack?” Veranor asked, glaring up at the massive dragon, emblazoned in a hard-fought, raging battle.

  “I’m not sure exactly,” she replied, “but I did see some of the dragon’s dragonscale fall to the ground, that feels promising.”

  With that, Gogenanth lifted his arms, and chanted, sending the light blue smoky orb of invisibility falling over them.

  Chapter Thirty

  The courtyard glowed in hot, orange fog as the white dragonfire had scorched the ground and everything it touched. Obsidrox’s white flames dimmed to a warm orange and yellowish fire as it burned at high temperatures and sent up embers high up toward the dark sky.

  The black dragon heaved its mighty tale in a massive arc, sending a devastating blow to the army of Whiteblades rushing against it with sharp spears and swords pointed decidedly at the beast. The tail, with its long spikes on the tip, sent many flying up and over it, while others were crushed beneath its weight and force. All the while the dragons and Aridons gnawed and clawed at the mad dragon.

  The Whiteblades were temporarily held back, but quickly shot back in at the dragon. Obsidrox looked unsure as to what to do next, possibly send out another breath of hot dragonfire, or take to the skies as a reprieve from the onslaught—even if it was taking very little damage, if any, Lilaci thought.

  With the mystical, blue flames of the Azulūz wafting down from the orb’s top above them, Lilaci and the others moved forward. They didn’t crawl, but moved at a steady pace, moving around as to creep up to the dragon from its backside. Lilaci did catch Herradax’s gaze at them once or twice, and she wondered why she could see them, but the black dragon couldn’t—or at least was acting as if it couldn’t. But it really didn’t matter, Obsidrox was so preoccupied, being attacked like it was from every direction.

  Lilaci’s suspicions were correct, as the great dragon stood back up on its hind legs, spreading its huge wings outward, and the glow of white dragonfire crept through the thick dragonscales on its chest. Its sleek black head rose high, with its charcoal-colored horns almost disappearing into the plumes of black smoke overhead.

  The Whiteblades dispersed quickly. Alveron yelled out wildly for his troops to move, and Lilaci leaped out of Gogenanth’s orb of invisibility, her hands swirling around each other, dancing in the light of the Sanzoral. As the dragon’s head dipped toward the army, which may have looked like ants running off from beneath a sticky jar of aged vinegar off a tabletop to it, the dragon’s maw opened, and the white light moved from its chest cavity up to its long neck and throat.

  “I will stop you this time,” Lilaci said, with her hands and arms enveloped in the fires of the Sanzoral.

  As the dragon’s stomach stretched thin, the white flames roared from its mouth once again, aiming the tip of its snout directly at Alveron.

  “Strong, Lilaci,” she heard Burr’s voice call from seemingly just over her shoulder. “There is no pain, there is only you and the dragon.”

  Only me and the dragon. Do this like your life depends on it.

  She grunted as she shoved herself forward, sending out an inferno of circulating violet flames up before the dragon’s fire. The two fires collided again, with a devastating explosion of heat and light.
>
  “Argh!” Burr called from behind, and she sensed he was shielding the light from his eye.

  Lilaci could tell the dragon was frustrated with its fires not reaching the army and its leader just before it, so it took a heavy step forward, and rushed more fire down onto Lilaci’s fires. The sound of the dragonfire was deafening, and Lilaci could feel the weight of the dragonfire on her arms and shoulders as if she was holding up a boulder of her own weight on her chest.

  Then, she felt, that sudden, urge to let go as the dragonfire increased in intensity, and the aching in her whole body began to take over. No, don’t give up. Keep pushing, the dragon is surely growing tired too...

  Just as Lilaci felt fires begin to diminish from her fingertips, the fires of Obsidrox blasted through her magical flames, and she felt its fires pour down onto the Whiteblades with its thirst for death, the dragon’s fires died, and it let out a great roar. Its pale, white eyes were hidden by dark-black eyelids shut tight.

  Is the dragon in pain?

  Lilaci’s eyes darted around the dragon’s body to find a sign of the dragons or Aridon’s finding a weakness, but she quickly found what she was looking for, and a raging fire burned brightly in her once again.

  Kera was clinging to the side of the dragon, her small fist clutched around the grip of her dagger, which was lodged into Obsidrox, right where the dragons had removed only a handful of small scales. Lilaci watched as the great dragon’s head shot back instantly at Kera, and it was already in motion to sink its teeth into her.

  But the fires burned through any pain again in Lilaci’s body, as she felt like she was in some astral body now, like she had no mortal form to hinder her. She already saw that Fewn was rushing up to grab Kera, but Lilaci sent out a swath of sands that rushed in from the right, and they quickly found Kera, brushing her from the dragon just in time to miss the snapping of its jaw. Kera was rushed down into Fewn’s arms who made the trek back toward what must have been Gogenanth’s spell, as they were soon out of sight once again.

  So, you’re not invincible, are you Obsidrox?

  Lilaci shot forth a heaving, hot fire from both hands that carved around the dragon’s long neck covered in charcoal horns and spikes and drove the flames at the spot where Kera’s dagger had punctured the thick hide, if even only by a little.

  The black dragon let out another frightening roar, but its pain was visible in more ways than that, as the dragon fell onto its rear, left knee, near the sight of the fires burning beneath its dragonscale. The other dragons and Aridons saw this and moved toward the area.

  Lilaci’s fires had burned bright, and true, and she let the fires return to her. She felt strong, strengthened by Kera’s spirit and courage, but she knew she needed to reserve the full might of her powers, as such an attack wouldn’t kill the dragon, perhaps only weaken it. If such an attack was to work, the beasts crawling around the huge dragon would have to inflict more damage, and perhaps remove more of the thick scales.

  The dragon roared again, shaking its hide and wings as a dog would do after swimming through a dirty pond to free itself from any parasites that clung to its fur. The dragons and Aridons were thrown off or flew back to avoid taking any damage from the rustling power of the wings or tail. And the dragon began to draw another breath, this time to send its fire down upon Lilaci.

  “Strong,” Burr said, now next to her, aiming an arrow up at the dragon’s head. “This is gonna be a big one. You are stronger than the dragon, show him your fury!”

  The dragon’s inhale was long and drawn out, filling its chest to the brim with hot, intense dragonfire, swirling and vibrating, ready to be sent down upon Lilaci. Sanzoral, don’t fail me now. Be strong, be there for me again, please. Her hands were shaking as the flames eased their way from her fingertips to surround her hands completely.

  As the great, black dragon drew his head back, its scales shining an ominous orange glow, it moved its head quickly forward to spew its menacing flames upon Lilaci, Burr and anyone else around, the flames erupted from its maw, but not how she expected it. The white, hot fire gushed out of the dragon as its neck writhed from side to side, and high up into the air.

  Lilaci, in her surprise, hadn’t the time to move her magical fires out from in front of her, and she watched in horror as one swath of the dragon’s flames engulfed a great many of the Whiteblades. She could feel the pain ripping through Burr behind him, as she could sense he’d been holding his breath for many, long seconds. The fires reached high into the air, sending the relentless heat, harmlessly up into the sky, and as Lilaci tried to discover what had caused such mayhem, her eyes fell to the source of the dragon’s weak spot, and found a familiar face, with the familiar look of the warrior in her eyes—Fewn had driven her sword far down into the scale-less section on its leg. She was twisting and turning the blade with all of her might farther into the sore.

  Then, the dragon’s fires stopped, and its gaze dropped down to Fewn, still hard at working, twisting and grinding away, while dark red blood began to flow down the dragon’s huge leg. With a strong brush of its arm it swatted down at her, which she leaped down from, narrowly evading the swipe, and the dragon let out a frustrated growl, as Fewn’s sword was still firmly held within the wound.

  The dragons and Aridons then fell back down to the mighty dragon quickly, ripping and tearing away at its metallic-looking, black hide. The Whiteblades took longer to regroup than the beasts, as they’d lost many, and Alveron’s voice was missing from the battle, and Lilaci was unable to spot him. Looking over her left shoulder, she saw Burr running off toward his men; he was running fast, and she wondered if he was sprinting off in a panic to find his commander.

  In the dragon’s frustration, he shook from side to side again, moving in greater circles, and unleashing the power of his massive tail. Although she assumed Obsidrox couldn’t see any of them under Gogenanth’s spell, as Lilaci couldn’t either, the tail was flying in the direction that she knew they had been. And sure enough, right as the tail flung its way into that direct area, the spell vanished, and they were all shown in clear view, crouching and rolling away as the tail flew just overhead. Kera’s eyes were fixed on Lilaci’s, and Lilaci went immediately running toward her.

  “Lilaci,” Kera cried, running toward her. Gogenanth looked in a panic at the failing of his spell, yet he had rolled and ducked away closer to the dragon, and held his blade up, ready to attack. Ezmerelda was at his side, golden-shimmering sword fixed at her side. Veranor had evaded and was kneeling, peering up at the dragon, she assumed to figure out his next move. Fewn was out of sight, and as Kera ran to Lilaci, yelling out her name, Lilaci saw the dragon’s moon-colored eyes look down upon her.

  Seeming to forget the attack upon it, Obsidrox turned around to square up against Kera, as she and Lilaci were still over a hundred yards apart.

  “Kera, run!” she heard Veranor yell out.

  Obsidrox made a large step toward her, snarling with its sharp teeth showing. Lilaci ran as fast as her feet could take her, and she reached out for the Sanzoral, but in her panic, it was hard to feel out.

  It’ll come to me when I need it. I just need to reach her first, get her behind me. Run.

  Lilaci and Kera were still many yards apart when Obsidrox motioned to strike at Kera, opening its mouth wide, moving at great speed now toward her. Lilaci’s stomach turned, and she knew the Sanzoral must come to her then, so she slowed her running to concentrate. Veranor continued to yell for Kera to run, and he himself was running after her, but far behind, and Gogenanth and Ezmerelda had made their way to the dragon and were hacking away at its hard scales.

  Kera could see the dragon’s teeth moving toward her, and tried to run faster, as Lilaci tried to calm her breathing as to focus on the spell at hand. But then a familiar screech was heard as Kôrran had flown from the dragon’s back to right in front of its eyes, clawing and flapping its wings out to blind Kera’s movement from Obsidrox. His red-scaled body looked so much larger than ever, w
ith its white-tipped tail flinging from side to side, powerfully. The muscles in its back, wings, and legs glistened in the light of the surrounding fires. Lilaci could breathe once again in relief, as Obsidrox pulled back from its attack on Kera, now ready to sink its teeth into Kôrran. Which the dragon nearly did with a powerful bite, but Kôrran was able to pull its right wing and tail out of the maw as it clamped down, clapping together with a loud thud.

  And as Kôrran flew back behind its head, Obsidrox’s gaze fell back upon Kera, who was only twenty yards from Lilaci now, and the black dragon heaved its mighty tail up and over Kera to land between the two in a ground-rattling blow. Lilaci couldn’t believe the speed with which the dragon had done this, but she was also so focused upon summoning her magic, she feared she should have been more focused on reaching Kera.

  I have no choice now. It's only the flames of the Sanzoral that will save her.

  She reached out with both hands aimed at the tall dragon’s head, with the purple fires swirling around them, and then she watched as the gray-scaled body of the dragon with the red stripes roll down from the mighty, black dragon’s back to fall right in front of Kera, staring down Obsidrox with her wild eyes.

  Obsidrox paused, but only for a moment, as it inhaled again deeply, pulling its head back, not even seeming to notice the frenzy of Aridons biting it, Gogenanth heaving blow after blow onto it, and the Knights of the Whiteblade stabbing wildly at it. It only seemed to want to incinerate Kera and Herradax. Its tail slithered back a little while it readied its fire, but only enough that Lilaci could see half of Kera, and only Herradax’s head and top of her wings. She then ran toward Kera.

  Herradax’s head then dipped under the tail, disappearing from Lilaci’s sight, and as Obsidrox expelled its wildfire upon them, Lilaci leaped over the tail to find Herradax spewing out her own, red and orange blazing dragonfire. The two fires met and gushed out in all directions, in a chaotic array of white flames with oranges and reds splintering out.