Toby Neighbors - Fierce Loyalty

The demon pounced on Zollin, raising its good arm, and Zollin knew it was about to strike him in a way that he could not recover from. Zollin put all his magical prowess into his shield. The demon drove its hand down, the fingers penetrating the magical barrier but stopping short of reaching Zollin. The demon’s eye, spreading wide in furious anger, flashed with the same green light Zollin had seen in Gwendolyn’s eyes. Zollin could feel his magic pushing against the dark magical energy of the demon that wasn’t deterred by its initial failure. The vile creature merely pushed harder against the barrier. Zollin was reminded of when the black dragon Bartoom had managed to catch him in its lair and tried to crush him. His magic had held then, but now he wasn’t sure. His body shook as he poured all his power into the magical barrier, the heat inside him roaring like a forest fire that was out of control.

Then Ferno arrived again, swooping down and snapping its razor sharp teeth into the demon’s wounded shoulder. The teeth sank deep and the dragon’s momentum carried it away, ripping the arm from the demon’s body. There was a roar and then an explosion of fire. Zollin closed his eyes and held tight to his magical shield. Then the world went black.

Zollin came to a moment later. He was lying defenseless in the rubble. His magical shield was gone, and so was the containment he normally kept around his magic at all times. He could feel the magic like a scorching summer wind, blowing through him like a desert storm. He rolled to his good knee, careful not bend or put any weight on his wounded hip. Fire was everywhere around him. Anything that could burn was burning, unless it had been protected by Zollin’s magical shield. He could see the bodies of dozens of the centaur-like creatures, all smoking, their flesh burning. Black smoke rose all around Zollin, choking him and making him feel weak. He coughed and sputtered, then sank back down onto the rough ground where the air was cleaner. He lay back, gasping for breath. He knew he couldn’t stay there for long, but he needed time to catch his breath. His magic felt like it was eating him alive, so he rebuilt the containment around the magic, funneling it so that it was at its peak potency.

Then, he took a second to block the ravaged nerve ending in his leg. He didn’t have the time to heal the wound correctly, so he just blocked the signals from the nerves so that the pain didn’t rob him of his strength and concentration. Then he struggled back up, using his magic to lift his body into an upright position. His stomach felt like a tiny little knot and his mouth was so dry his tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth. Still, he levitated himself up and out of the smoke. It was difficult to see much of what was happening-the light from the fires below Zollin made the Grand City seem even darker. Zollin heard a rumble, like the groan of a giant old man. The rumble was followed by the sounds of rock crunching and rolling down into the crevice.

Zollin strained to see what was happening. Then a huge, shadowy hand appeared out of the deep, black abyss. The hand crashed down into the rubble of the city and pulled up a giant.

Zollin felt despair rise up into his throat and he started to fall. Then a green shadow swooped below him and Zollin landed hard on Ferno’s back. The dragon’s scales were like gravel, but Zollin clung tight. They circled the giant as it climbed up from the great pit that the demon had formed. The giant had no eyes, and no hair on its head. It’s shoulders were huge, easily the size of a large house. Its neck was so short and thick that it seemed like an extension of the great bulbous head.

“Ready to have more fun?” Zollin shouted.

Ferno roared in response. Zollin didn’t know if the dragon was as tired as he was, but the green beast didn’t hesitate. As they flew closer, the giant rose to its full height. Zollin had seen a giant deep in the Northern Highlands, but that giant was a dwarf compared to the great, sightless monstrosity before them. Even Ferno seemed small compared to the giant from the abyss.

Ferno swooped up, unleashing a pillar of fire at the giant, which did nothing to avoid the flames. The dragon’s fiery breath spread across the giant’s naked upper body, singing the thick wiry hair that covered its chest and shoulders, but didn’t harm the otherworldly creature.

“Fly,” Zollin said. “Get us higher.”

Ferno obeyed, flapping the wide green wings. They rose in the air, the giant turning its head as if it could see them. Zollin’s mind was racing. He had never fought anything so massive and he was sure the giant had been sent to kill him. It was extremely powerful, that much was clear, although whether it was acting on Gwendolyn’s command or the creature who had come down from the sky was a complete mystery to Zollin. There had been no sign of the demon after the explosion, but somehow he doubted that he had seen the last of the flaming creature, or at least the last of its kind.

“Keep moving,” Zollin told Ferno. “No matter what happens. If I fall, go back to Brianna.”

Ferno growled, flames licking around the dragon’s broad green head, but it didn’t argue. Zollin closed his eyes and let his magic flow out toward the giant. The creature was repellent, like a strong odor. Zollin’s magic didn’t seem to want to go near it. He forced it closer even as his skin seemed to crawl and he felt goose bumps break out on his arms and neck. The giant was built like a man, but there was nothing human about it. Zollin could feel emotions but no intelligence; he could get no sense of the substance of the creature. It was so huge he had no idea how to fight it. Ferno circled close to the giant’s head, billowing fire as Zollin unleashed magical energy. The giant roared, its mouth full of blackened teeth the size of large doors, and a blackened mark appeared on the giant’s grayish skin where Zollin’s magic had raked across its forehead. Zollin had trouble seeing it in the darkness, but Ferno sent mental images to Zollin that showed the mark. The dragon was hopeful that they had hurt the giant, but Zollin wasn’t convinced.

He needed to find something that would stop the creature. He wasn’t all that interested in harming the giant, but he needed to send it back to where it had come from. In his mind he remembered Brianna saying that she had created the dragons deep under the mountains. At first he rejected the idea, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that Brianna was the only one who could stand against the giant. He hated himself for considering it and felt like a coward, but he could think of nothing else.

“We have to go to Brianna,” Zollin said. “Take me to her.”

Ferno banked sharply and flew out away from the city. Zollin glanced back and saw the giant following. His stomach felt like he was going to vomit. He couldn’t believe what he was doing. He was a wizard. He could do practically anything he could imagine, but he knew instinctively that he couldn’t stop the giant without killing it, and he wasn’t even sure he could do that.

“Tell Brianna we’re coming,” Zollin said.

In the distance, Zollin could see Selix and Tig, both engaging the centaur-like creatures. The dragons’ fiery breath had done more damage than Zollin would have thought possible. The ground beneath them was scorched and littered with the smoldering bodies of the centaur creatures. Shrubs were burning. There were very few trees across the wide plain, but the short grass burned and smoked. It made Zollin cough, but the ground fires didn’t deter the monsters. Then Selix pulled up and flew to meet them. Zollin wished they could find a place to land, but the ground was covered in the creatures, like bees crawling over their hive. Still, he had to talk with Brianna, had to tell her what he was thinking.