Dragon magus 2, p.24
Dragon Magus 2, page 24
“Eliza’s there too? And… she can hear us?” Koshi wondered.
Eliza met Raphael’s gaze. He saw specks of golden light dancing in the sapphire depths of her eyes. She nodded. “I can hear you both, Koshi. I can also hear Rayne crying softly in Raphael’s pocket too.”
Without knowing why he did so, Raphael placed a hand on Eliza’s shoulder. Flames from his Draconic Braziers reached through the thread joining their souls and flared into life within Eliza’s being. Golden scales of light blazed into existence over her body.
Eliza sheathed her sword and held out her gauntleted hand. Skyfang appeared in her grasp. She blinked in disbelief. Raphael suddenly felt weaker and slower, and he knew that Eliza now shared some of the strength of his First and Second Draconic Braziers.
I’m not sure how this is happening, but we’ll just have to figure it out later, Raphael thought.
He exchanged a smile with Eliza. “Let’s win this fight together, Eliza.”
“Yes, let’s do just that,” she replied. Eliza unsheathed her enchanted dagger and fell into a combat stance alongside Raphael, wielding the corrosive blade in her left hand and Skyfang in her right.
“Why is that one here, Arunas?” the armored ogre demanded, pointing at Eliza. It spoke a language Raphael had never heard before, but thanks to the light of the Dragon Meridian, he understood it as easily as he did the Common Tongue.
Its robed colleague shrugged. “I don’t know. Does it matter, Subtha? Kill the female. Then incapacitate the male like I told you. General Githara will be most interested in this specimen.”
“Why the young one and not the actual dragon down there? And look at the female. If that isn’t draconic energy, I’ll eat my own socks for dinner,” Subtha grumbled as he pointed at Koshi, then Eliza with his sword. “You sure you don’t want the female as a specimen too? I don’t want to end up killing her, then having to listen to your complaints later, just like the last time with those elves.”
“We can make use of the dragon’s parts after we kill it.” Arunas cast his masked gaze upon Raphael. “But this young male brims with pure draconic energy. It will be much more valuable alive than dead. The female is an afterthought. It’s obvious the male has infused it with draconic energy. The female has none of its own.”
“Fine. Let’s get this over with.” Subtha raised his massive, serrated blade and twirled it in his wrists. “It’s fine if I cut off its limbs, right? You just need it to still be breathing.”
“Yes. Now get to work. Let the hydra keep the humans and their dragon occupied.” Arunas clutched his staff. “I’ll wipe them all out when this is ready again.”
“Ha! Like you did the first time?” Subtha advanced on Raphael and Eliza, his armored boots clicking upon the black stone of the platform with every step. He uttered a word. Dark flames blazed down the length of his sword.
Raphael glanced over his shoulder once more. The hydra was almost upon Koshi. Cyrano and Ginerva stood by the dragon’s side. The armsman had his flail out. Gabriella had dragged Fenix to the side.
She’s probably going to cast Invigorate on him, Raphael thought. Where’s Sylvia?
The elf’s whooping battle cry answered his query. Sylvia soared above the platform, calling forth shadowy copies of her sword around her. She thrust her hands down toward the ogres, and dozens of inky blades cascaded upon them.
Arunas crouched down, hiding behind Subtha’s hulking form. The armored ogre sneered and met Sylvia’s swords with his, bringing his blade around in intricate, looping cuts that dashed each copy of Willowflight into clouds of dark mist upon contact. A few of Sylvia’s shadowy blades still broke through, slicing open the ogre’s armor and rending his flesh before cleaving into the black stone surface of the platform.
But Subtha’s wounds were minor, amounting to little more than a graze above his brow and a few shallow slices across his chest and shoulders. He looked up at the elf.
“Interesting,” the ogre said. “Perhaps you’ll prove to be a much worthier challenge than these two children. Get down here, elf, and match blades with me. I shall mount your lifeless carcass upon my wall, one more trophy amidst the thousands already there.”
Arunas surged to his feet and gestured to the circling harpies. The feathered monsters squawked and swarmed after Sylvia, chasing her through the skies and pushing her away from the platform even as the elf killed them with spell after spell.
“Stop grandstanding!” the robed ogre chided his companion. “Secure the specimen immediately!”
“Fine, fine,” Subtha grumbled, clicking his tongue in frustration. It was an uncannily human mannerism, rendered even more disturbing by the ogre’s humanlike features.
Raphael swiftly cast Intermediate Haste and Fortify on himself, seeking to compensate for the draconic strength and speed he’d somehow shared with Eliza. He raised his glaive in readiness to strike.
Behind him, Koshi roared. He must have engaged the hydra. The sound of massive claws and fangs rending through flesh rose into the air, but Raphael dared not look back and divert his attention from the approaching Subtha.
“Sylvia said this one’s a blademaster,” Eliza muttered. “I’ll engage him from the front, Raphael. You have the longer weapon, so see if you can find an opening.”
Before Raphael could protest, Eliza dashed forward, blades leading the way. Subtha’s eyes widened at the woman’s countercharge, but the contemptuous sneer never left his face. He swung his sword down in an arc that would cleave Eliza in half.
Eliza met Subtha’s flaming sword with Skyfang and twirled her wrist in a graceful parry, diverting the ogre’s sword from its path so that its serrated edge hurtled past the top of her helm instead. At the same time, she cross-stepped into a lunge, bringing her dagger directly in line with Subtha’s groin.
The ogre danced away from Eliza’s attack, moving his massive frame more agilely than any street acrobat Raphael had ever seen before. As he did so, he pivoted on his lead foot and changed his earlier downward cut into a sideways one instead, seeking to bisect Eliza at the waist.
Raphael hammered Subtha’s sword aside with the butt of his glaive, readdressed the polearm, and thrust out its blade at the ogre’s face. Subtha leaned back, arcing his body with surprising limberness, so that Raphael’s glaive flashed harmlessly over his nose.
The ogre let the momentum of his evasion bring his entire body into a backflip. As he landed, he lashed out at Eliza once more with another horizontal backhand cut. She vaulted over the ogre’s blade, but Subtha had obviously anticipated the maneuver. His gauntleted fist flashed through the air toward her much-smaller frame.
Raphael thrust his glaive at Subtha’s throat, foiling the ogre’s counterattack once more by forcing Subtha to block with his forearm. As the tip of the glaive skittered off the back of the ogre’s gauntlet, Raphael pirouetted, spinning his weapon high and then low and around, arcing its butt toward Subtha’s ankles in a mighty sweep.
Without even landing from her earlier vault, Eliza let Skyfang take her airborne, bringing the blade of golden light into an upward lunge toward the ogre’s face. At the same time, she hurled her dagger backward, seeking to lodge its corrosive tip between the armored plates sheathing Subtha’s weapon-arm.
The ogre twisted his right hand, bringing one of his elbow plates to bear so that it deflected Eliza’s dagger and sent it clattering harmlessly to the surface of the platform. He leaned his face away from the arc of Skyfang’s edge, but he couldn’t avoid Raphael’s sweeping blow.
Raphael smashed the butt of his glaive into the ogre’s ankles. The impact traveled up the shaft of his polearm and rang painfully along his arms. Subtha fell, swept from his feet, but mid-descent, the ogre slammed an armored palm down onto the black stone beneath him and twisted his body into a graceful somersault that vaulted him above Raphael’s head.
Subtha’s flaming sword came out of nowhere, and it was all Raphael could do to block its serrated edge on the shaft of his glaive, trusting in the quality of Connell Cadogan’s craftsmanship to keep his skull from being cleaved apart.
Fortunately for Raphael, the ogre’s cut came from an awkward angle and carried little strength in its arc. The shaft of his glaive remained intact, save for a deep scratch across its lacquered finish.
“I saw that, Subtha!” Arunas cried. “Don’t kill the male!”
Subtha spat on the platform in response. “They’re better than I’d thought. I’d love to number them among my trophies as well.”
“Take the female’s carcass if you must!” Arunas said. “Or the male’s limbs. But make sure to take it alive!”
Subtha growled.
“I know,” the armored ogre grumbled. “Just be quiet, Arunas, and let me do my job.”
Eliza came to stand beside Raphael. She was breathing hard. The golden specks in her eyes were larger, threatening to drown out the blueness of her irises. Skyfang trembled in her grasp.
“Eliza! Stop!” Rayne’s mental voice rang out. “You’re not ready to handle so much Ryu-To-Ki yet! If you don’t let go of Skyfang, you’ll hurt yourself very badly.”
“Rayne?” Eliza smiled. Her words fell from her lips shakily. “That’s your voice? Strangely enough, that’s exactly what I imagined you’d sound like if you could speak.”
“Magus, you must stop her. I can sense her human insides beginning to melt,” the faerie dragon said, poking its head out of Raphael’s pocket.
“How do I do that?” Raphael asked.
“Her Ryu-To-Ki comes from you, shaped and forged through the Braziers you’ve ignited,” Rayne replied. “All you have to do is take it back from her.”
“We can’t have that right now,” Eliza said, pointing Skyfang at the approaching Subtha. “And even if you’re taking your strength back, Raphael, I’m not letting it go. You’ll have to fight me for it, at least until we win this battle.”
“I don’t want to fight you, Eliza,” Raphael said. “So let’s finish this quickly. I have a plan. Just follow my lead,” Raphael replied, sudden inspiration coming to him as he recalled Cyrano’s lecture on ogres in the Guild House’s training hall.
According to the veteran, ogres fought in groups, with each member taking on different roles, much like the Hell Drakes did. But every ogre was more concerned with furthering its own goals or basking in its own glory. Judging from what he’d seen so far, Subtha and Arunas were hardly exceptions to Cyrano’s observation.
Eliza nodded.
“This ogre was protecting the one in robes. Maybe that’s his job,” Raphael sent to Eliza over the light of the Dragon Meridian. “Now we’re between him and the one he’s supposed to protect. If we go after the robed ogre now, the armored one will chase us, and we might be able to catch him on the wrong foot.”
“I don’t know if someone as skilled as him would fall so easily for something like that, Raphael,” Eliza said.
“Trust me.” Raphael met Eliza’s gaze. Her eyes were now entirely gold, and her cheeks were feverishly flushed.
“Always,” she replied.
Chapter 22
Raphael turned and charged at Arunas, knowing that Eliza was close on his heels. He heard Subtha snort with disgusted amusement and burst off into a pounding, armor-bound pursuit.
Irritation showed in every fiber of Arunas’ bearing. Once again, Raphael was struck by how humanlike the ogres’ mannerisms were. He shoved that thought to the back of his mind ruthlessly as the robed ogre raised a hand and began to chant.
Raphael thrust his right hand forward and hurled an Explosive Orb toward Arunas’ face. It was the only spell he’d managed to cast as Battle Magic so far.
The ogre caught the Explosive Orb directly on his mask. The detonation tore the metal apart and smashed Arunas to his knees. The ogre’s face was a ruin of broken bone and lacerated flesh, but his eyes remained intact, and they bore into Raphael’s as he and Eliza closed the distance.
Arunas brought his hand up once more and completed his spell. Darts of blue light burst from his fingertips and streaked toward Raphael.
Raphael wrapped an arm around Eliza’s waist and began back-stepping, his gaze fixed on the magical projectiles slicing through the air and seeking his flesh.
Glancing over his shoulder, Raphael saw that Subtha was right behind them, sword raised in readiness to strike. As the ogre’s blade cut down, Raphael reached his mind out to Rayne.
“Now!” he sent.
“By your will, Magus!” the faerie dragon replied.
Rayne turned Raphael and Eliza incorporeal. Subtha’s sword sliced through their ghostly forms with no effect, and then Raphael was backing through the ogre’s massive, armored frame, pulling Eliza along with him.
They emerged behind Subtha just as he was hit by Arunas’ spell. The darts of blue light ripped entire chunks of armor and flesh from Subtha’s body as they struck home. The ogre blademaster staggered back, a pained grunt escaping his lips.
As Subtha turned, trying to bring his sword to bear, Rayne returned Raphael and Eliza to corporeality. Raphael swept his glaive down and across the ogre’s chest. At the same time, Eliza cut upward in the opposite direction, taking to the air once more with Skyfang’s power. Together, they sliced a crimson cross into Subtha’s torso.
Blood jetted skyward from the massive wound. Subtha gasped. He raised his blade in readiness to strike. Still airborne, Eliza let Skyfang dissipate. Raphael’s eyes widened in wonder as she reached into the Fourth Brazier and drew forth Ragebane instead, the menacing spiked mace coalescing within her grasp.
Eliza struck Subtha in the side of the head with Ragebane. The distinct sound of breaking bone crunched into the air, but Raphael could tell that Eliza’s blow hadn’t connected squarely. Even so badly wounded, the sublimely skilled ogre blademaster had managed to pull off a partial dodge of Ragebane’s sweep. If he hadn’t, Eliza would have vacated the contents of Subtha’s skull.
Even so, it was still enough to fell the ogre. Subtha collapsed, his massive, armored body striking the platform with a resounding clang. Eliza landed on the ogre’s mangled torso, Ragebane held high in her hands to finish off her foe.
Before Raphael could say anything, Ragebane disappeared from her hands. Eliza’s eyes rolled up in their sockets, and she fell backward. Raphael caught her before she could hit the platform’s surface.
“She’s very badly hurt, Magus!” Rayne cried. “I told her this would happen, but she…”
“It’s all right, Rayne.” Raphael placed his hand on Eliza’s forehead. It was hot to the touch, as if she were running a tremendously high fever. Her breaths also came shallowly and rapidly. He recited the arcane syllables of Lesser Heal and cast the spell on Eliza.
White light pulsed briefly over her. The heat radiating from her forehead lessened. Her breaths evened out slightly. Raphael cast the spell once more with similar effects. He smiled and depressed the stoppers of the healing potions in Eliza’s belt, dispensing their rejuvenating contents into her body. The blonde woman showed further improvement.
“Eliza’s going to be all right, Rayne,” Raphael told the faerie dragon.
“By the Horned Fiend, I have to do everything myself!” Arunas cursed as he surged to his feet and leveled his staff at Raphael. Blue light swirled around its bone tip. “If I can’t collect a live specimen, I suppose I’ll have to make do with dissecting a cadaver instead.”
“A beam of force will hit us even if I turn us incorporeal again, Magus!” Rayne cried.
Then I’ll just have to dodge it. Raphael scooped Eliza up in his arms and began running for the edge of the platform, fully aware that Arunas was tracking them with his staff. Raphael briefly considered using his and Eliza’s invisibility potions, but he knew that he was too close for such a strategy to work. Whatever Raphael did, the ogre wouldn’t miss, not at this range.
Harpy carcasses rained down upon the platform then, bathing its black stone surface in severed limbs and frozen viscera. A titanic, undulating shadow fell over the ogre.
Raphael looked up.
It was Fei Xue and Feng Mo. Astride her chimera, the Grand Princess loomed over Arunas, her features twisted into a mask of rage. Veins bulged and pulsed at her temples, reminding Raphael of Huo Xian when the Grand Prince had been consumed with bloodlust.
“You’re the one in charge, right?” Fei Xue snarled. “Time to die, insect.”
Sylvia swooped into view as well. The elf was covered in blood, but she didn’t seem to be badly hurt at all. She hurtled toward Arunas, her blade leveled at the ogre’s chest.
Arunas redirected his staff upward at Fei Xue and unleashed its power. The beam of pure force tore through Feng Mo’s gray, featureless body as it tried to shield its mistress. The Grand Princess leaped aside with blinding speed, but she wasn’t fast enough.
The force beam clipped her along the right side of her body, ripping her right arm from her torso and tearing her midriff open, before continuing its ascent beyond the clouds. Fei Xue gasped in agony as she fell alongside her mangled mount.
“Fei!” Sylvia cried, breaking off her attack and streaking toward the Grand Princess’s plummeting form.
As Raphael watched, the elf gestured and chanted, calling into existence a net of silver light that caught both Fei Xue and Tian Mo and turned their descent into a gentle, gradual drift to the surface of the plateau.
Arunas spat a mouthful of blood and turned to Raphael. The ogre raised his free hand, ready to cast a spell. Raphael put Eliza down gently and hefted his glaive.
“You’re going to pay for that,” Raphael told Arunas in the ogre tongue.
Arunas’ eyes widened in surprise.
“A lesser being speaking the glorious language of my people?” the ogre said, blood dribbling from his mangled lips with every word. “I don’t know if I should feel surprised or scandalized. And just how did you learn it? No matter. All your secrets will be mine once I cut them from your flesh.”
