Toby Neighbors - Fierce Loyalty

“Clear a spot on the ground,” Zollin said. “Then help me fend off those monsters.”

Ferno spewed fire onto the ground. The flames hit the ground and spread in a big circle. The monsters that flew low to the ground swerved to avoid the flames. Zollin gathered his good leg under him as Ferno landed. Zollin then jumped to the ground, using magic to soften his landing and steady his balance so that he didn’t end up putting weight on his wounded leg. Ferno didn’t wait with Zollin but jumped back into the air, the downdraft from the dragon’s wings stirring up the ash from the grass that had just been incinerated so that the ash floated around Zollin like snowflakes.

Zollin waited while the swarm started to return, then lashed out with magical energy, killing several of the beasts at once. Then Brianna landed lightly beside him, as if she had just stepped down off a ladder instead of leaping to the ground from over a hundred feet in the air.

“What is that thing?” she said, already staring at the giant lumbering slowly toward them.

“I don’t know for sure,” Zollin said. He couldn’t see the giant anymore, but he could hear the huge beast’s thunderous footsteps. “This may sound crazy, but I think you’re the only one who can stop it.”

“Why me?” Brianna asked.

“It’s just a hunch,” Zollin explained, “but it came from underground. I just thought maybe since you made the dragons underground that you could convince it to turn back.”

The dragons were laying down rows of fire to keep the swarms of centaur monsters away from Zollin and Brianna.

Brianna looked at Zollin as if he had lost his mind. He started to tell her to forget the whole thing, but then she turned toward the lumbering creature, her face determined.

“Well then,” she said, her voice harsh, “keep those other things off me for a while.”

“Be careful,” Zollin said.

The giant smashed through the city walls and the mighty crashes of the thick stone walls falling around it’s legs shook the ground. Brianna’s face was full of awe as she watched the giant approaching. To Zollin it was just a vast shadow, but Brianna’s eyes were much like those of her dragons. She could see in the dark almost as well as in the daylight, and even at a great distance she could make out the smallest details. Zollin was waiting for fear to cloud her features, but instead he saw compassion.

As the giant approached, its great tree-like legs stepping wide across the plain, the centaur creatures gave it a wide berth. It tilted its head down, as if it were looking down even though it had no eyes. Ferno and Tig circled the giant’s head like large mosquitos but the giant ignored them.

“What do I do?” Brianna asked.

“I’m not sure, maybe tell it who you are.”

Brianna again looked at Zollin like he was insane. The young wizard just shrugged his shoulders. He was going on instinct. He wished more than ever that Kelvich were alive to tell him he was doing the right thing.

“My name is Brianna,” she said in a loud voice. “I am a fire spirit. I am dragon-kind.” The giant just groaned as it hunched over and raised a huge fist.

Zollin was standing behind Brianna, ready to throw up a magical shield to protect her. He felt ill, like he was hiding behind Brianna, or worse yet, sacrificing her to save himself. “No,” Brianna said. “You don’t want to do that. We don’t want to hurt you. Go back where you came from.”

The fist came hurtling down and Brianna jumped back, summersaulting in the air to avoid the blow. Zollin’s magical shield protected him, but he was knocked off his feet. In the dark he saw bright spots flashing.

“We mean you no harm,” Brianna shouted. She had landed on Selix’s back and was soaring up toward the giant’s head.

The giant raised its other fist, intent on swatting Brianna and Selix from the air. Brianna lashed out with heat so intense that it penetrated the giant’s thick skin. Zollin saw the white-hot flame, almost as bright as a flash of lightning. Then the giant’s gray skin curled back over it’s huge knuckle bones as the fire penetrated. The giant roared in pain, but brought its upraised fist down once again.

Selix dove out of harm’s way, but Brianna jumped from the golden dragon’s back. She flew down near the giant’s feet and turned her intense heat onto the ground. The soil looked for a moment like red-hot embers, then the ground under the giant transformed into lava. Zollin was forced to run back from the giant to avoid the blistering heat. The giant’s legs sank down into the pool of red-hot lava, howling in fury and pain. It flapped its arms and struggled to get up, but Ferno came by and swatted the giant’s head with its spiked tail. The lumbering giant lost its balance and fell back down.

The molten rock splashed up like candle wax, still too hot to touch, but thickening as the air cooled it. Brianna continued to blast the ground with heat so intense that even the dragons seemed uncomfortable. The giant sank back down into the lava, falling onto its hands and knees, then sinking down until only its chest and head were above the molten rock.

It bellowed in fury and pain.

“You left us no choice,” Brianna said. “I’m sorry, but you shall be remembered.”

Brianna then jumped high into the air, her body arched like a diver, then she dove head first into the lava. Zollin had to hold back a scream of despair, trusting that Brianna knew what she was doing. She had told him of heating the rock in the mountains and swimming in the lava, but seeing her disappear into the molten rock scared him more than the giant.

The lava began to bubble and Zollin knew that Brianna was heating the bedrock further down beneath the giant. He just hoped that she didn’t get caught under the massive creature as it continued to sink down.

In a matter of moments the lava was up to the giant’s neck, its arms flailing in an effort to escape the molten rock. The centaur creatures seemed to have stopped coming out of the great crevice, and those that were still in the city were now going around the giant, spreading out to the east and west. Zollin lowered himself to the ground and the dragons came and landed near him. Zollin’s leg was numb and he felt nauseous, but he didn’t want to do anything until he made sure that Brianna was okay.

It took several minutes before the giant’s head sank beneath the surface of the molten pool. Its arms at last went limp and it ceased struggling. Zollin expected Brianna to appear at any minute, but she didn’t.

“Can you communicate with her?” Zollin asked Selix.

The golden dragon looked thoughtful for a moment, then shook its head. Zollin wanted to scream and curse, but he knew it was a waste of energy. He limped as close as he could get to the molten pool. The melting rock gave the area a soft, orange glow, but the darkness around Zollin seemed oppressive. He wanted to curl up in a ball and go to sleep. He wanted to close his eyes and forget everything, to make the pain of losing Brianna all over again disappear. Then she rose up out of the molten rock like a fiery goddess and Zollin understood why the dwarves called them fire spirits.

“Are you okay?” Zollin asked when Brianna came close, the worry making his voice hoarse.

“Yes, I think so,” Brianna managed to say. She had no clothes on, but flames covered her body and her hair was smoking, although not a single strand was singed. Zollin thought she looked more beautiful than he had ever seen her.

“What happened?”

“The giant just sank down. It took a while, but it finally succumbed to the heat.” Brianna closed her eyes. “How long was I gone?”

“About half an hour,” Zollin said. He could see that she was exhausted. Her body was trembling and her eyes blinked slowly. “It’s okay, you’re safe now,” he said, stepping close to her.