The dragons, p.40
The Dragons, page 40
part #2 of The Onis Chronicles Series
Looking in a panic up towards the sky, the comrades braced themselves for another dragon. An additional Silver swooped down to the group, batting Nikolean away with its tail as it neared, sending him soaring through the air. The dark elf crashed into the dirt, scraping along his arm and side, bleeding also from where the tail quills had grazed his skin.
Once aside its ally, the Silver freed the two-leggeds’ captive from its roots, ripping them away with its teeth and claws, then forcefully nudged the other dragon back to its feet. The newcomer roared threateningly at its surrounding adversaries as it guarded its friend. While under the protection of its comrade, the injured dragon fought to overcome the dwindling freeze spell, stretching its limbs and waveringly expanding its wings. With the dragon recovering, the Silvers roared viciously at their surrounding foes, eager to crush them and rip them apart.
Intent on distracting them away from his uncle, Davion hurriedly cast more flames at the grounded dragons, scorching their armored hides. Laila joined him with fiery blasts, witnessing how vulnerable they seemed to the fire. In distress and covered in blackened scorches from the burns, the Silvers snarled at them as they turbulently beat their wings, returning back to the skies.
With the massive creatures soaring away, Hort and Glondora cheered triumphantly. Nikolean and Salyaman congratulatory braced forearms while Laila howled proudly after the retreating dragons.
His confidence heightened from his growing powers, Davion grinned egotistically from driving away not one but three dragons. It was a small victory, for the battle was far from over, but it instilled the courage they would need in the moments to follow.
While basking in their success, the sky above them lit with red and orange light, filling with fire. Gothäzer was blazing his unholy flames, attempting to torch the dragons encircling him. The mighty Red kicked and clawed at those clamped on his hide like a pack of wolves bringing down a large buck, their teeth holding tightly to him.
Infuriated from watching the Red being swarmed, Davion screamed brazenly at the top of his lungs, “Come on, you worthless lizards! Come down here if you dare!” He raised his staff tauntingly, begging for their attention.
“Shut yer pie hole, boy!” Hort yelled at him, but the human kept goading them, overly confident, still on a high from the last three wins.
Taking the taunt, two Reds dove at him. Their sneers displayed sharp teeth and a red glow past their slithery tongues as they readied to ignite him.
None of the Reds dared attack the Mighty Gothäzer, perceiving that act to be as egregious as attacking their monarch Ignisar himself. They may not have agreed with Ignisar’s declaration but would always hold too much respect to attack the monarch or his sons. Despite that, they were more than willing to go after the other dragon and two-legged adversaries.
Utilizing his enhanced fire spirit, the young pyromancer hurled fireballs skillfully at the incoming Reds, striking them securely against their hides. Regardless, the beasts continued their descent, a villainous grin across their faces at his pathetic attempts. The fire had not affected them at all. It was becoming apparent that the different dragon clans were more susceptible to elements other than their own.
Davion’s confidence sank as he realized his fire magic would prove almost useless against the fire dragons and his smugness fell instantly away.
Salyaman muttered his cast for his rapid shots and sent arrows flying at the two dragons. Under normal circumstances, shooting arrows at dragons had proven to be a relatively futile attempt, awarding only a distraction. However, it was not his usual magic. Instead of the arrows pinging off of the Red dragons’ scaly hides, they hit with an explosive force, jolting the beasts. Both the dragons and Salyaman alike were surprised as the arrowheads pierced through the thick, scale-armored hides.
The scarlet beasts emitted shrill shrieks at the high elf. A surge of adrenaline coursed through Salyaman as he witnessed the hits and continued shooting the explosive arrows rapidly. He could feel his increased power from his connection with the Gold filling his entire body.
Furious from the piercing arrows and irritating fireball attacks, the Red dragons veered toward their assailants. One aimed for Davion, and the other targeted Salyaman.
Astryma and Glondora united in casting freezing spells toward the Red nearest them, Davion’s attacker. Their spells cooled the dragon’s internal fire, sizzling out the flame from its mouth. Unfortunately, it was too late; a fiery sphere had already escaped. Seconds later, the other dragon shot an additional ball of fire at Salyaman.
With bated breath, tension swept over the group while they watched the first fireball head straight toward the human. The comrades were astounded when Davion didn’t dodge out of the way. Instead, he stood firm and reached out his hands. The flaming sphere stopped abruptly in midair, only a foot away from the human, as he strained to take control of it. Davion heaved with all his might, hollering out intensely while he flung the dragon’s fireball outward. The flaming sphere shot through the sky, forcedly crashing into the other fireball heading for Salyaman, directing it off course and saving the elf.
Recovering from their shock, Glondora and Astryma resumed casting ice spells, cooling the second dragon’s heartfire before it could manage another flaming attack.
With the imminent dragons weakened and their fires vanquished, Laila directed a fierce gale at the two Reds, hindering further advancement toward her friends. The beasts beat their wings frantically against the forces, resisting her, but the Omi Méa strengthened her focus, pulling at the surrounding winds. From the Omi Méa’s power, the air began to twist fiercely, circulating around the two dragons and catching them in a developing funnel. As the wind force grew, a powerful twister began to form. Everyone on the surface backed away from Laila’s storm, watching, afraid of being swept up in the perilous winds, while Hort clung tight to his helmet.
Beating their wings hard against the air currents, the dragons felt themselves losing to it. The Reds decidedly withdrew from the twister before it could manage to take complete control of them. Furious and chagrined, they hastily ascended back toward the other dragons in the clouds, back to Griton, full of shame.
With them gone, Laila released her hold on the developing tornado, and the winds dispersed before its formation was complete.
Meanwhile, in the skies above, the horde of dragons continued their assaults on Gothäzer and Masonel. As dragon attacked dragon, the powerful Gold and mighty Red were finding it increasingly difficult to fend off the several Silvers from their pierced and battered hides.
Becoming overwhelmed, Gothäzer came falling from the sky while three of the Silver’s remained attached to him by their claws and teeth. As he neared the hard surface, the mighty Red dragon twisted at the last moment and crushed one of the Silvers under his extreme mass. The earth quaked fiercely from the impact as Gothäzer pulverized the Silver into the terrain, breaking its bones and rendering it useless. The Red then continued tearing at the other two that were still on top of him.
Davion feared for his dragon upon seeing the extensive slashes covering his immense body and wings, his blue blood trickling down and painting the rocky surface. He ran toward the feuding jumble of dragons, his hands aflame, and forced a powerful column of fire at his targets. The two Silvers atop Gothäzer yelped and reared from being roasted by the human’s attack. One Silver limped away, its leg brutally mauled by Gothäzer, cowardly retreating before Davion’s fiery assault finally died out. Unfortunately, the other kept ruthlessly attacking the Red, its beautiful silver scales sooted black from the fire.
Gothäzer mightily clasped his jaws into the remaining foe’s neck, penetrating through its tough scales. Then, in one savage motion, he yanked his head sideways and ripped out the Silver dragon’s jugular. A spray of dark-blue blood streamed out from the Silver, splashing over the surface. The dragon’s screams died out quickly as it fell limp to the ground, its eyes wide and frozen in shock, and its slithery tongue flopped out past its sharp-toothed jaws onto the dirt.
Laila gasped in shock at the dead dragon on the ground and the crushed one too mangled and broken to move. She felt her heart panging in her chest, making it hard to breathe or focus.
As she gawked at the charred silver-scaled corpse covered in blue blood, the words of the Fearsome Fonzar echoed tormentingly through her mind, there will be times that slaying your enemies will be your only option if you are to succeed. Was this really how it was meant to be?
The elf maiden’s body trembled and shook at the horrific sight before her, wishing it were all just a horrible dream. In spite of that, a mighty roar from Gothäzer snapped her attention back to what was happening around her. The Red victoriously heaved out a column of fire, blaring it into the air toward the enemy dragons, his eyes fixed on Kainüs.
‘Face me!’ he belted challengingly to his brother.
But Kainüs held steady, glowering down at him. The eldest brother was no fool; he knew he stood little chance against his much mightier younger sibling, Gothäzer, the prized champion son of Ignisar.
Laila sensed that the Silvers high above were strengthening the storm again, screeching and beating their wings heavily, readying the lightning. Focusing her attention and powers on stopping them before they could send any more bolts at the companions, she countered their efforts with her own, trying desperately to calm the storm. Unfortunately, Laila was still having very little success against the air spirit of so many Silvers. Filling with vexation against the relentless dragons, the Omi Méa decided it was time to call upon a different spirit.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Rage
Taking a deep breath, Laila glared at the Silvers hovering above, her rage building up within her. The sky grew even darker than from the storm as though night were approaching prematurely. Everyone on both sides looked around frantically, unaware of what was happening. Laila’s dampened hair whipped wildly in the increasing winds as she called forth the spirit of the phantom realm more intensely than ever before. Gloom hauntingly shrouded over the Omi Méa’s eyes until they were shadowed entirely like two gaping holes. The blackness of her glare spread outward through her veins, visibly darkening and throbbing while the phantom spirit spread consumingly throughout her.
Suddenly, a loud crack echoed through the hills as black lightning unnaturally parted the sky. Except, it wasn’t lightning, and it remained even after its thunder had ceased. The black parting was hazed by an otherworldly cloud with smaller ripples of lightning flashes crackling within the fog.
In the Omi Méa’s demonic guise, she raised her hands, and a harrowing sound of wailing spirits flooded the area, sending chills up everyone’s spines. A vast black mist emerged from the crack in the veil, full of glowing red eyes, as countless wraiths escaped their phantom realm. The menacing spirits aimed straight for the enemy dragons at Laila’s command. The ancients screeched as the wraiths surrounded and swarmed the beasts.
Masonel the Gold used the distraction to dive to the comrades below, eager to be away from the tormenting wraiths and free of the adversary dragons’ assaults.
The spirits scathed the skins of their prey with a cold burn as though brushing against liquid nitrogen and the dragons’ cries from the assailing specters were nerve-wrenching. In an attempt at blocking the piercing pain of the horrifying sounds flooding the expanse, the two-legged companions agonizingly covered their ears. Their hearts pounded hard in their chests, tears filled their eyes as they tried to look away but couldn’t, and their hairs stood on ends while the phantoms ruthlessly ambushed the dragons and overtook the battlefield.
As the spirits continued to be released from the tear in the veil, Laila was finding it increasingly harder to hold control over them. Losing in her struggle against the wills of her ever-increasing specters, they began to scatter. Several of them immediately headed for the two-leggeds and united dragons below, a black mist trailing behind as they screeched a high-pitched ghostly scream.
Panicking, Laila turned her focus to her friends, promptly grabbing hold of as many spirit essences as she could with her mind.
Seeing the phantoms approaching, the companions quickly became terrified. Heightening their dread, they could feel a chilling, other-worldly presence wafting over them, making it harder to breathe. The targeted two-leggeds ran away hysterically, screaming as they evaded the wailing phantoms.
Glondora tripped and fell to her knees, feeling a specter’s deathly chill as it grazed across her while Hort swung at it and tried to scatter it with his shield. Salyaman grabbed Glondora’s arm, dragging her to her feet, and they continued running to escape more attacks.
With Laila’s attention off of the dragons above, the wraiths began easing away from them. The enemy Reds blared flames at the regressing red-eyed mist, and the spirits screamed with their ghastly voices before going up in smoke, disappearing into nothingness. The Silvers beat their great wings, forcing some of the spirits back away from them, and the rival dragons started to recover themselves.
Realizing there were just too many for her to control, Laila felt discouraged as she expelled the phantoms forcefully back through the portal she’d created, a handful at a time. As she continued driving the resistant wraiths into the tear, she was finding it ever more challenging to keep them from breaching back through.
When she could grab no more, Laila immediately blared a stream of black fire at the tear, forcing the edges of it back together, and she screamed with the force being pulled from within her. While the unholy flames prevented any from escaping, she promptly tethered it closed with tendrils from her mind. Pulling the tethers closed proved to be somewhat more receptive than the veil in the Faolin home, having been freshly created by her own powers. Still, with great strain, she managed to seal the last of it, and the screeching from the wraiths subsided as the black fire dissipated.
Although her attempt had not won the battle, the enemy dragons were wounded, their hides still stinging from the deathly burns.
Trying to recover from the wraith attack, the Silvers’ focus was thankfully no longer on the squall, which had now dried up, the clouds dissipating, and light returned to the battlefield.
Once the fear and pain of the phantom menaces were at rest, the assailing dragons were quick to return to their mission. Unfortunately, they were even more outraged than before as they came at the two-leggeds and their united dragons again.
Weakened from the exertion of her ploy, Laila dropped to her knees. As she placed her hands against the soil, pulling energy from the earth spirit to replenish herself, the grassy hills surrounding her became carpeted with dried brown blades.
Gothäzer glowered up at Kainüs still lurking in the skies and screamed again to his brother, ‘Why won’t you face me, you coward?!’
Kainüs roared in retaliation and anger, then dove toward him, along with several Silvers at his side. But, even with the aid of the others, he was still not willing to take the risk of confronting Gothäzer head-on. Instead, he held back as he neared, sending the Silvers onward ahead of him to tackle the Mighty Gothäzer.
At the same time, another Red dove toward Laila with Nikolean again by her side. It opened its monstrous jaws, hatred seeping from its glare, as it sent a flaming stream shooting down toward them. Laila screamed, raising her hands to it as she shot out her own column of fire from her palms. Their flames collided in the middle in a brilliant light, and Laila struggled against the dragon’s power as it hovered, maintaining a steady flux of the heated attack.
With the Red distracting Laila, a limping Silver came stealthily at them from the side. Nikolean turned to face it, sword ready, but mistakingly looked the ancient directly into the deathly blackness of its eyes. The moment he did, his arms fell feebly to his sides, his sword tip resting in the dirt, and he stood there swaying helplessly, trapped in his own mind as the dragon entranced him. The Silver grinned wickedly as it continued to approach.
Filled with dread of his impending death, Nikolean was astonished when a fierce roar vibrated both through his cerebrum and all around them. The Silver went flying sideways from his sight as the Great Turathyl slammed into the assailant, snapping her jaws on its wing while trying to get a hold of it. The dragon’s enchantment on the drow was broken, and he grinned, pleased with her fortuitous return. The rival Silver growled back at Turathyl before clamping down on her tail, causing her to shriek and lose hold of the menace’s wing.
Nikolean darted toward their foe, quick like the wind and light as a feather, and flitted up its tail onto its back. Then, taking his sword firmly in both hands, he thrust it down hard and deep through the scales and flesh beneath him. The dragon released Turathyl’s tail, crying out as it turned its long neck to face the drow upon its back.
With the dragon’s head nearing him rapidly, Nikolean withdrew his sword, facing the beastly head as it opened its mouth wide to snatch him up. He propelled from the dragon’s back, jumping high into the air above while the beast veered its gaze to follow him. However, he had leapt much higher than he had intended due to his increased air magic from Turathyl being so near him. Flailing his arms and legs, he tried desperately to get a hold of himself as he flew through the air. To his horror, he began to descend right toward the dragon’s open jaws.
Laila’s assailing Red was cast aside by Masonel the Gold as he collided with the larger dragon, bringing it circling toward the ground. Freed from the distracting Red, the elf maiden then gasped as she witnessed Nikolean about to get snapped up by the Silver.
“NIKO!!!” Laila screamed, instantly thrusting her clawed hands outward in the air toward them. She grabbed hold of the dragon’s head with her mind, entwining her thoughts with the blood flowing through its veins. With control over the beast, she forced it to turn its jaw away from Nikolean while the drow rapidly descended toward it. Nikolean swiftly took his sword, pointing it downward, and rammed the blade into the dragon’s immobilized skull as he landed atop it, killing the hostile Silver.
