Toby Neighbors - Fierce Loyalty

Ferno made a scathing run that set many of the creatures on fire. The beasts bucked and dropped to the dirt in an effort to extinguish the fire that was burning them. Selix swooped in and landed behind the beasts that were too close to the soldiers to blast with fire. Selix billowed fire at the horde still approaching while also using its golden tail to swat the centaur-like creatures off the shield wall.

“Retreat,” Brianna shouted, and the troops obeyed. They hurried backwards, keeping their shields up. Then Brianna jumped from Selix’s back, flipping through the air and landing behind the golden dragon.

Selix leapt into the air, and the hordes of creatures started to move toward Brianna. But when Brianna let the fire she controlled cover her body, the creatures tried to avoid her. She sent balls of flame flying at the nearest creatures and it was like she was a boulder in a stream. The waves of creatures broke around her, making her efforts almost futile. She ran and jumped as Ferno swooped low, raking the creatures with another fiery pass as Selix dove down and flicked Brianna up with its golden tail.

Brianna shot up higher and higher, holding her arms tight against her body and keeping her legs straight. She rose up through the smoke-like clouds and saw the sun setting and casting the sky in a crimson red color. Below her, the black clouds hovered supernaturally and she dove back through them. Selix was waiting just below the cloud cover and swooped under Brianna just as she slowed her descent. She landed gracefully on Selix’s back and together they renewed their attack.

They had just made another attack when Tig returned. Brianna saw an image of a giant crack in the ground. It stretched out as far as she could see and swarms of the creatures were spilling out in either direction. Her heart sank a little. Then she saw the creatures returning to the dark abyss with humans impaled and writhing on their huge, scorpion tails. They carried the helpless but still living humans down into the dark crevice.

Brianna shuddered at the thought of what was happening to the people captured and carried away. The good news was that the centaur-like creatures could be killed, but there were so many that she simply couldn’t fathom the amount of destruction that would result in their being turned loose on the Five Kingdoms.

Then another image appeared in Brianna’s mind. It was of Zollin, leaping over a pile of rubble in the streets of the city, shooting his unmistakable magical energy into the creatures that pursued him as he dashed into the tower of the Torr.

“Zollin’s alive!” she said out loud, her joy at the sight of her beloved almost making her head spin.

Before she could even think of what to do, Ferno was off. The hulking green dragon hurtled toward the city and Selix dove forward again, once again covering the retreat of the soldiers.

Zollin ran from one heap of rubble to another, always looking over his shoulder for the next wave of creatures that swooped down to attack him. The rubble had become his greatest asset in the fight. Whenever the creatures took notice of him and swarmed down, he pelted them with waves of the loose debris around him. Sending the piles of rubble flying up took less magical strength than blasting them outright. Zollin was tired, but he also felt strong. His magic seemed to be holding steady, and while the waves of debris didn’t always take the hordes of awful creatures out of the fight, it seemed to give him the upper hand.

He was making his way to the one structure in the city that seemed to be enduring the unending nightmare. The tower of the Torr was not as tall and majestic as it had once been. In reality, it looked like a lone fang whose tip had been broken off, but it still stood stalwart above the wreckage of buildings all around it. Zollin lashed out with magical energy at the last two creatures still pursuing him, just before he rushed into the open doorway of the tower. It was pitch-black inside the building, but Zollin could make out the mound of rubble.

He kindled a small flame, illuminating the large interior of the room. Zollin saw the stairway leading up and the wreckage of the floors above him. It didn’t take much imagination to realize that several floors had collapsed. He wondered briefly if perhaps the structure was not a safe place, but after running and fighting for so long, he was glad for the chance to stop and catch his breath. He moved slowly up the stone staircase, which rose in a circling spiral up the wall of the tower. The climb was taxing, but taking it slow allowed Zollin to rest along the way. If the creatures knew he was in the tower, they did nothing to pursue him.

After several minutes, Zollin finally came to the top of the structure. It was several floors below Offendorl’s personal rooms. Two men huddled in a corner where part of the roof was still intact. Zollin could feel the magic radiating from the two men, but both looked out with vacant eyes. Zollin guessed they were warlocks, and it only took a slight magical probe-which caused both men to flinch-to prove his theory was correct. Their minds were drawn inward so deeply that Zollin doubted they had had any idea what was happening around them.

Zollin moved higher up onto the last floor, which was completely exposed. The only light he could see was the winking of the ring of fire on the rooftop of the royal palace, which seemed much farther way. Zollin could see a band of ragged blackness that he guessed was the crevice, and he thought he could see moving shadows far below, which he took for the creatures.

Zollin wasn’t sure what to do now. He felt like he needed to strike a blow at Gwendolyn, but his magic had been unable to penetrate the powerful shield that encapsulated the ring of fire. Then an idea came to Zollin and he let his magic flow out. He was reminded of the night hunts he had gone on while spending the winter with Kelvich in the Great Valley. He would go out in the dead of night, letting his magic flow around him when he couldn’t see to find the animals he was hunting. Now he let his magic stream forth from the broken tower to the castle on the far side of the crevice. He started at ground level, then let his magic move upward through the building, until he understood exactly what was holding the broken structure up. He knew he couldn’t penetrate Gwendolyn’s magical shield, but perhaps he could strike in a different way.

He heaved with magical effort, his power like a raging furnace inside him. Working magic at long distances was like holding a heavy weight with your arm extended. Every muscle in his body tensed with the effort, but finally the wall he was focused on collapsed. Zollin couldn’t see what was happening, so he let his magic stay in the castle, sensing what his effort had produced.

There was a groan as the heavy upper floors of the building lost support, then a pop as a heavy timber beam cracked. Then another. Soon the castle was falling inward. Zollin opened his eyes in time to see the roof of the castle shake, then tilt. Then, as the castle started to fall, Zollin pulled. Sweat sprang up on his forehead and his breath grew labored, but he didn’t give up. The castle was collapsing, but Zollin knew knocking the building down wasn’t enough. He heaved in one last-ditch effort, his magic overflowing his self-constructed containment and leeching the strength from his body, but he didn’t stop. The castle moved, the rooftop tilted again, and then the castle tumbled into the abyss.

Zollin sagged to his knees. He felt lightheaded. Hunger and thirst seemed overwhelming and he could hear his heart beating in his ears. Still, he had succeeded, although whether or not his efforts would make a difference only time would tell. The ring of fire was gone, but the abyss was still there.